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| 3. Florence |
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| THE MEDICI FAMILY |
| Early history. The margraviate of Tuscany, set up by the Carolingians, extended from the Po to the Roman state under the Margrave Boniface (d. 1052), whose daughter, the great Countess Matilda (1052–1115), was probably the strongest papal supporter in Italy. Associated with her in the government was a council of boni homines, whose administration during her frequent absences, and after her death, laid the foundation for the emergence of the commune. Florence, already a commercial center, opposed the Ghibelline hill barons, who preyed on her commerce. The burghers continued Guelf in sympathy; trade and financial connections with France made them Francophiles and friendly to Charles of Anjou. Under Matilda the guild organization emerged, which came to form the basis of the city government. Control of the government was concentrated in the hands of the great guilds (one of which included the bankers). Consuls appeared after 1138. The populace was divided into two great groups, the grandi (nobles) and the arti (guilds). Consuls were chosen by the grandi. | 1 |
| On the breakup of the margraviate following Matilda's death, Florence began her advance, and by 1176 was master of the dioceses of Florence and Fiesole. The institution of the podestà (magistrates) after 1202 was favored by the feudal elements and the lesser guilds. Intermittent rivalry of the noble houses continued. Wars were fought with Pisa, Lucca, Pistoia, Siena. Under the podestà, the commune developed a strong organization paralleled by the growth of the popolo (populace) under its capitano (chief). | 2 |
| The great struggle of Guelf and Ghibelline was reflected in Florentine civil strife. After a Guelf regime, Frederick of Antioch (son of Frederick II) as imperial vicar instituted the first mass expulsion in Florentine history by driving out the Guelfs (1249). | 3 |
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| 1252 |
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| The first gold florin (fiorino) was coined, and soon became the standard gold coin in Europe. | 4 |
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| 1260 |
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| Siena, with the aid of Manfred and the Florentine Ghibellines, inflicted a great defeat on the Florentine Guelfs (Montaperti), beginning a Ghibelline dominance that lasted until Manfred's death (1266). This was followed by a reaction, and the expulsion of the Ghibellines. Under the Ghibelline regime the popolo lost all share in the government. | 5 |
| In the reaction following the Ghibelline regime, Ghibelline property was confiscated to support persecution of the Ghibellines. Under Charles of Anjou, the formulas of the old constitution were restored; the party struggle continued. The Sicilian Vespers (1282) weakened Charles, strengthened the commune, and the Florentine “republic” became in effect a commercial oligarchy in the hands of the greater guilds. | 6 |
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| 1282 |
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| According to the Law of 1282, nobles could participate in the government only by joining a guild. The last traces of serfdom were abolished (1289), and the number of guilds increased to 21 (7 greater, 14 lesser). | 7 |
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| 1293 |
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| The ordinance of 1293 excluded from the guilds anyone not actively practicing his profession, and thus in effect removed the nobles from all share in the government. | 8 |
| Two factions arose: the Blacks (Neri), extreme Guelfs led by Corso Donati; and the Whites (Bianchi), moderate Guelfs (and later Ghibellines) under Vieri Cerchi. The Neri favored repeal of the ordinance of 1293. | 9 |
| Emperor Henry VII was unable to capture Florence. | 10 |
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| 1320–23 |
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| Castruccio Castracani, lord of Lucca, humiliated the city in the field. Growing financial troubles, partly the result of Edward III's repudiation of his debts to the Florentine bankers, culminated in the failures of the Peruzzi (1343) and Bardi (1344), and damaged Florentine banking prestige. The government was discredited, and civil war ensued. Walter of Brienne (duke of Athens) was called in, reformed the government, began a usurpation, and was expelled (1343). The restored commune was under the domination of the businessmen, who had three objectives: access to the sea (hence hostility to Pisa), expansion in Tuscany (to dominate the trade roads), and support of the popes (to retain papal banking business). Social conflict continued and grew as the oligarchy gained power and the Guelfs opposed the increasing industrial proletariat. The lesser guilds were pushed into the background, the unguilded were worse off. The first social revolt came in 1345. | 11 |
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| 1347–48 |
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| Famine, followed by the Black Death, reduced the population seriously. | 12 |
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| 1351 |
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| The commutation of military service for cash marked the decline of the citizen militia and the golden age of the condottieri (mercenary captains). War with Milan resulted (1351) from Giovanni Visconti's attempt to reduce Florence and master Tuscany. | 13 |
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| 1375–78 |
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| Papal efforts to annex Tuscany led Florence into a temporary alliance with Milan. | 14 |
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| 1378 |
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| Continued pressure by Guelf extremists to exclude the lesser guilds led to a series of violent explosions. Salvestro de' Medici, gonfalonier, ended the admonitions, which were the basis of the Guelf terrorism, and a violent revolt of the ciompi (the poorest workmen) broke out. The ciompi made temporary gains, but Salvestro was exiled, and by 1382 the oligarchy was back in the saddle and even the admonitions were revived. | 15 |
| Florentine culture: Precursors of the Renaissance. Dante (1265–1321): Vita Nuova, which celebrates in the Tuscan vernacular his love for Beatrice Portinari; the Commedia (the adjective Divina was added in the 16th century), a vernacular poem of 100 cantos, more than 14,000 lines, recounting the poet's journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven, constituting a brilliant synthesis of medieval culture and establishing Tuscan as the literary language of Italy; the De Monarchia, a treatise on the need for kingly dominion over secular affairs, centered at Rome; and De Vulgari Eloquentia, a defense of the vernacular, written in Latin. Petrarch (1304–74), of Florentine origin, greatest of Italian lyricists, brilliant Latinist, the first great humanist; interested in every aspect of humanity; a lover of nature; a universal mind. Boccaccio (1313–75), friend of Petrarch, knew both Greek and Latin, the first modern student of Tacitus, collector of classical manuscripts, first lecturer on Dante (1373); wrote the Decameron, a collection of 100 fictional stories that completely ignore medieval spiritual ideas and exalt bourgeois enterprise and sophistication; founder of Italian prose. Giotto (1276–1337), architect (employed on the cathedral), sculptor, painter, revealed Renaissance tendencies. Villani (d. 1348), author of Chronicon Universale, which has clear bourgeois elements. Chrysoloras (called from Constantinople), the first public lecturer on Greek in the West c. 1350–1415; he had many famous humanists as pupils. | 16 |
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| 1382–1432 |
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| A half century of oligarchic domination in Florentine politics, in many ways the zenith of Florentine power. Constitutional reform (1382) broadened popular participation in government, but little was done for the ciompi, and sporadic revolts continued as the Guelfs slowly regained power. | 17 |
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| 1393 |
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| Maso degli Albizzi's long control of the government began with the exile or disenfranchisement of the Alberti and their supporters. Capitalism had destroyed the guild organization as a vital political force, and Albizzi ruled for the advantage of his own house and the Arte della Lana (wool guild) with which he was associated. Democratic elements in the state had vanished. | 18 |
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