The history of the REnaissance in Florence

1. The History of Florence XIV-XV century (1300-1400)

2. Overview • In thislecture, wewill take a look at the politicalhistory of Florence from the Middle Agesthrough the Renaissance to seehow the town’shistoryhelped to shapeitsinstitutions, traditions, and culture. Just aswehaveseenthateconomicconditions and Florence’spoliticalstructurehelped to create the conditions for the coming of the Renaissance, wewillnowseethatFlorence’spoliticalhistorywas no lessinfluential in thisregard. • Wewillsee the rise to power of the greatpatrician families, theircontributions to the Renaissance, and the manychanges in governmentbrought by the fall of the Medici. Ultimately, wewillexamineeventsthat some consider to signify the end of the Renaissance in Florence with the rise to power of the radical monk Savonarola.

3. Medieval Florence was a city of turbulent politics and frequent social unrest. • A. In many ways, the centralpoliticalstruggle of the high Middle Ageswas the battlebetween the pope and the Holy Roman Emperor for politicaldomination of Europe, butespecially of Italy. • 1. In thisstruggle the supporters of the pope made up a party knownas the Guelphs; the supporters of the emperor made up a party knownas the Guibellines. • 2. The strugglebetweenGuelphs and Guibellineswasespecially intense in Italy, which the emperorwasintent on dominating and the pope intent on defending. Within towns, Guelph and Ghibelline parties struggled for control of the government, while on the wider scene, Guelphcities made war on Ghibelline towns.

6. The 13th century: destruction of noblepower in Florence • 1. The high Middle Ageshadbeen a time of conflict in most Italian communesbetween the nobles and the commercial classes, whostyledthemselves the Popolo (“people”). • 2. Noblescarried on destructivefeudsthathurtcommerce, consideredthemselvesabovetownlaws, and had no regard for the civicgood. Effortswere made to disenfranchisethem. • 3. In Florence, the turningpointwas 1282, when the Great Guildsgot a law passedstipulatingthatonlytheirmemberscouldholdcommunal office. Then, in 1293, another law waspassedexcludingnobles from the guilds. Soon, mostnoblesleft the city.

7. Rule of the Albizzi. • 1. When the Great Guildsreturned to power in 1382, the patricianAlbizzi family controlled the government. Theyruleduntil 1434. • 2. Duringthisperiod, CivicHumanismwasborn in Florence against the background of the struggle with Milan in 1380 - 1402. Although Florence survivedthis war, itfought and lost a second war with Milan in 1425. Not long afterthisdefeat, the Albizzisfell from power.

8. Rule of the Medici, the architects of the Renaissance in Florence: Cosimo. • 1. After the defeat by Milan, law and order once againbroke down in Florence. This time a local leader, the banker Cosimo de’ Medici, steppedforward to restorepeace with his private mercenaryarmy, led by Francesco Sforza. After Cosimo succeeded in this task, he assumedgreatpower in the government and began the period of Medici rule in Florence. • 2. Cosimo himselfheld no office, but he controlled the electioncommittees and gothis supporters elected to office, rulingthroughthem. For support, he had the muscle of Sforza’stroops. But the façade of the republicwasmaintained.

9. History timeline: Medici family and Renaissance masterpieces in Florence Italy https://yourcontactinflorence.com/medici-family-renaissance-florence/

10. Rule of the Medici, the architects of the Renaissance in Florence: Cosimo. • 3. Cosimo was for allintents and purposes a dictator, but he wasalso a great patron of artists and scholars and the mainfinancial promoter of the Renaissance in Florence. • 4. In foreign policy, he pursued a policy of peace. In 1447, he wasable to installhis general Sforza asruler of Milan, afterwardsigning a peacetreaty with Milan. In 1454, he signed the Peace of Lodi, an alliance of Florence, Venice, and Milan designed to create a balance of power in Italy with the twosouthernpowers the PapalStates and Naples. A period of peace and prosperityresulted, in which the Renaissanceflourished.

11. Lorenzo the Magnificent:thegreatest of the Renaissancerulers of Florence. • 1. He took over the reins of governmentwhen Cosimo died in 1464 and ruled for 30 years. • 2. Duringhisrule, Humanism and art flourished. • 3. He pioneered the moderndiplomaticsystem by sendingpermanentresidentambassadors from Florence to all the major Italian powers. He maintained Cosimo’s policy of peace and the Renaissancecontinued to flourish in Florence. • 4. He built a hugelibrary. • 5. When Lorenzo died in 1494, crisisstruck Florence. His successor, Piero de’ Medici, wasnot a competentruler. Meanwhile, Italyfaced an invasion by the armies of French King Charles VIII, whohad a claim on the throne of Naples. • 6. As the French marchedsouth in 1498, Florence wasconquered and the Medici wereejectedasrulers, leaving a powervacuum.

12. The waning of the Renaissance in Florence was the inevitable result of this political crisis. • 1. Into the powervacuumas the new ruler of Florence stepped the radical monk Savonarola. He blamedFlorence’sdefeat by France on the excessluxuriesbrought by the Renaissance. • 2. Savonarola preachedagainstluxury, culture, learning, and Humanism. He evenhad books burned on the city square. Manyconsiderhim to represent the end of the FlorentineRenaissance.

14. The waning of the Renaissance in Florence • 3. In 1502, Savonarola fell from powerafterattacking the pope for being a heretic—now he himselfwasburned on the city square. • 4. A republicwasinstalledas the new government, led by Piero Soderini and hisdeputyNiccolo Machiavelli. Thisgovernmentlasted from 1502-1512. It made concessions to the lowerclasses of Florence, which led to itsunpopularity with the patricians and itseventualcollapse. • 5. In 1512, the Medici returnedasrulers of Florence, this time with the title of duke. Thisreturn to powerwas made possible by pressure created by the Medici Pope Leo X. The creation of an aristocratic court in Florence hasbeenfurtherseenasevidencethat the Renaissancehad come to an end.

16. Questions

17. Essential Reading: • Gene Brucker, Renaissance Florence, chapter 6􀀁end.