Florence, the finest city in all Italy, a most terrible
plague; which, whether owing to the influence of the planets,
or that it was sent from God as a just punishment for our
sins, had broken out some years before in the Levant, and
after passing from place to place, and making incredible havoc
all the way, had now reached the west. There, spite of all the
means that art and human foresight could suggest, such as
keeping the city clear from filth, the exclusion of all
suspected persons, and the publication of copious instructions
for the preservation of health; and notwithstanding manifold
humble supplications offered to God in processions and
otherwise; it began to show itself in the spring of the
aforesaid year, in a sad and wonderful manner. Unlike what had
been seen in the east, where bleeding from the nose is the
fatal prognostic, here there appeared certain tumours in the
groin or under the armpits, some as big as a small apple,
others as an egg; and afterwards purple spots in most parts of
the body; in some cases large and but few in number, in others
smaller and more numerous--both sorts the usual messengers of
death. To the cure of this malady, neither medical knowledge
nor the power of drugs was of any effect. ... Nearly all died
the third day from the first appearance of the symptoms, some
sooner, some later, without any fever or other accessory
symptoms. What gave the more virulence to this plague, was
that, by being communicated from the sick to the hale, it
spread daily, like fire when it comes in contact with large
masses of combustibles. Nor was it caught only by conversing
with, or coming near the sick, but even by touching their
clothes, or anything that they had before touched. ... These
facts, and others of the like sort, occasioned various fears
and devices amongst those who survived, all tending to the
same uncharitable and cruel end; which was, to avoid the sick,
and everything that had been near them, expecting by that
means to save themselves. And some holding it best to live
temperately, and to avoid excesses of all kinds, made parties,
and shut themselves up from the rest of the world. ... Others
maintained free living to be a better preservative, and would
baulk no passion or appetite they wished to gratify, drinking
and revelling incessantly from tavern to tavern, or in private
houses (which were frequently found deserted by the owners,
and therefore common to everyone), yet strenuously avoiding,
with all this brutal indulgence, to come near the infected.
And such, at that time, was the public distress, that the
laws, human and divine, were no more regarded; for the
officers to put them in force being either dead, sick, or in
want of persons to assist them, everyone did just as he
pleased. ... I pass over the little regard that citizens and
relations showed to each other; for their terror was such that
a brother even fled from a brother, a wife from her husband,
and, what is more uncommon, a parent from his own child. ...
Such was the cruelty of Heaven, and perhaps of men, that
between March and July following, according to authentic
reckonings, upwards of 100,000 souls perished in the city
only; whereas, before that calamity, it was not supposed to
have continued so many inhabitants. What magnificent
dwellings, what noble palaces, were then depopulated to the
last inhabitant!"
_G. Boccaccio,
The Decameron,
introd._
See, also, BLACK DEATH.
FLORENCE: A. D. 1358.
The captains of the Guelf Party and the "Ammoniti."
"The magistracy called the 'Capitani di Parte Guelfa,'--the
Captains of the Guelph party,--was instituted in the year
1267; and it was remarked, when the institution of it was
recorded, that the conception of a magistracy avowedly formed
to govern a community, not only by the authority of, but in
the interest of one section only of its members, was an
extraordinary proof of the unfitness of the Florentines for
self-government, and a forewarning of the infallible certainty
that the attempt to rule the Commonwealth on such principles
would come to a bad ending. In the year 1358, a little less
than a century after the first establishment of this strange
magistracy, it began to develop the mischievous capabilities
inherent in the nature of it, in a very alarming manner. ...
{1137}
In 1358 this magistracy consisted of four members. ... These
men, 'born,' says Ammirato, 'for the public ruin, under
pretext of zeal for the Guelph cause' ... caused a law to be
passed, according to which any citizen or Florentine subject
who had ever held, or should thereafter hold, any office in
the Commonwealth, might be either openly or secretly accused
before the tribunal of the Captains of the Guelph Party of
being Ghibelline, or not genuine Guelph. If the accusation was
supported by six witnesses worthy of belief, the accused might
be condemned to death or to fine at the discretion of the
Captains. ... It will be readily conceived that the passing of
such a law, in a city bristling with party hatreds and feuds,
was the signal for the commencement of a reign of terror." The
citizens proscribed were "said to be 'admonished'; and the
condemnations were called 'admonitions'; and henceforward for
many years the 'ammonizioni' [or 'ammoniti'] play a large part
in the domestic history and political struggles of Florence."
_T. A. Trollope,
History of the Commonwealth of Florence,
book 3, chapter 7 (volume 2)._
ALSO IN:
_H. E. Napier,
Florentine History,
chapter 23 (volume 2)._
FLORENCE: A. D. 1359-1391.
The Free Company of Sir John Hawkwood and the wars with Pisa,
with Milan, and with the Pope.
See ITALY: A. D. 1343-1393.
FLORENCE: A. D. 1375-1378.
War with the Pope in support of the oppressed States of the
Church.
The Eight Saints of War.
A terrible excommunication.
In 1375, the Florentines became engaged in war with Pope
Gregory XI., supporting a revolt of the States of the Church,
which were heavily oppressed by the representatives of their
papal sovereign
See PAPACY: A. D. 1352-1378.
"Nevertheless, so profoundly reverenced was the church that
even the sound of war against a pope appeared to many little
less than blasphemy: numbers opposed on this pretence, but
really from party motives alone." But "a general council
assembled and declared the cause of liberty paramount to every
other consideration; the war was affirmed to be rather against
the injustice and tyranny of foreign governors than the church
itself. ... All the ecclesiastical cities then groaning under
French oppression were to be invited to revolt and boldly
achieve their independence. These spirited resolutions were
instantly executed, and on the 8th of August 1375 Alessandro
de' Bardi [and seven other citizens] ... were formed into a
supreme council of war called 'Gli Otto della Guerra'; and
afterwards, from their able conduct, 'Gli Otto Santi della
Guerra' [The Eight Saints of War]; armed with the concentrated
power of the whole Florentine nation in what regarded war." A
terrible sentence of excommunication was launched against the
Florentines by the Pope. "Their souls were solemnly condemned
to the pains of hell; fire and water were interdicted; their
persons and property outlawed in every Christian land, and
they were finally declared lawful prey for all who chose to
sell, plunder, or kill them as though they were mere slaves or
infidels."
_H. E. Napier,
Florentine History,
book 1, chapter 26 (volume 2)._
FLORENCE: A. D. 1378-1427.
Complete democratizing of the commonwealth.
The Tumult of the Ciompi.
First appearance of the Medici in Florentine history.
Though the reign of the Duke of Athens lasted rather less than
a year, "it bore important fruits; for the tyrant, seeking to
support himself upon the favour of the common people, gave
political power to the Lesser Arts at the expense of the
Greater, and confused the old State-system by enlarging the
democracy. The net result of these events for Florence was,
first, that the city became habituated to rancorous
party-strife, involving exiles and proscriptions, and,
secondly, that it lost its primitive social hierarchy of
classes. ... Civil strife now declared itself as a conflict
between labour and capital. The members of the Lesser Arts,
craftsmen who plied trades subordinate to those of the Greater
Arts, rose up against their social and political superiors,
demanding a larger share in the government, a more equal
distribution of profits, higher wages, and privileges that
should place them on an absolute equality with the wealthy
merchants. It was in the year 1378 that the proletariate broke
out into rebellion. Previous events had prepared the way for
this revolt. First of all, the republic had been democratised
through the destruction of the Grandi and through the popular
policy pursued to gain his own ends by the Duke of Athens.
Secondly, society had been shaken to its very foundation by
the great plague of 1348 ... nor had 30 years sufficed to
restore their relative position to grades and ranks confounded
by an overwhelming calamity. ... Rising in a mass to claim
their privileges, the artisans ejected the Signory from the
Public Palace, and for awhile Florence was at the mercy of the
mob. It is worthy of notice that the Medici, whose name is
scarcely known before this epoch, now come for one moment to
the front. Salvestro de' Medici was Gonfalonier of Justice at
the time when the tumult first broke out. He followed the
faction of the handicraftsmen, and became the hero of the day.
I cannot discover that he did more than extend a sort of
passive protection to their cause. Yet there is no doubt that
the attachment of the working classes to the house of Medici
dates from this period. The rebellion of 1378 is known in
Florentine history as the Tumult of the Ciompi. The name
Ciompi strictly means the Wool-Carders. One set of operatives
in the city, and that the largest, gave its title to the whole
body of the labourers. For some months these craftsmen
governed the republic, appointing their own Signory and
passing laws in their own interest; but, as is usual, the
proletariate found itself incapable of sustained government.
The ambition and discontent of the Ciompi foamed themselves
away, and industrious workingmen began to see that trade was
languishing and credit on the wane. By their own act at last
they restored the government to the Priors of the Greater
Arti. Still the movement had not been without grave
consequences. It completed the levelling of classes, which had
been steadily advancing from the first in Florence. After the
Ciompi riot there was no longer not only any distinction
between noble and burgher, but the distinction between greater
and lesser guilds was practically swept away. ... The proper
political conditions had been formed for unscrupulous
adventurers. Florence had become a democracy without social
organisation. ... The time was come for the Albizzi to attempt
an oligarchy, and for the Medici to begin the enslavement of the
State.
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The Constitution of Florence offered many points of weakness
to the attacks of such intriguers. In the first place it was
in its origin not a political but an industrial
organisation--a simple group of guilds invested with the
sovereign authority. ... It had no permanent head, like the
Doge of Venice, no fixed senate like the Venetian Grand
Council; its chief magistrates, the Signory, were elected for
short periods of two months, and their mode of election was
open to the gravest criticism. Supposed to be chosen by lot,
they were really selected from lists drawn up by the factions
in power from time to time. These factions contrived to
exclude the names of all but their adherents from the bags, or
'borse,' in which the burghers eligible for election had to be
inscribed. Furthermore, it was not possible for this shifting
Signory to conduct affairs requiring sustained effort and
secret deliberation; therefore recourse was being continually
had to dictatorial Commissions. The people, summoned in
parliament upon the Great Square, were asked to confer
plenipotentiary authority upon a committee called Balia [see
BALIA OF FLORENCE], who proceeded to do what they chose in the
State; and who retained power after the emergency for which
they were created passed away. ... It was through these [and
other specified] defects that the democracy merged gradually
into a despotism. The art of the Medici consisted in a
scientific comprehension of these very imperfections, a
methodic use of them for their own purposes, and a steady
opposition to any attempts made to substitute a stricter
system. ... Florence, in the middle of the 14th century, was a
vast beehive of industry. Distinctions of rank among burghers,
qualified to vote and hold office, were theoretically unknown.
Highly educated men, of more than princely wealth, spent their
time in shops and counting-houses, and trained their sons to
follow trades. Military service at this period was abandoned
by the citizens; they preferred to pay mercenary troops for
the conduct of their wars. Nor was there, as in Venice, any
outlet for their energies upon the seas. Florence had no navy,
no great port--she only kept a small fleet for the protection
of her commerce. Thus the vigour of the commonwealth was
concentrated on itself; while the influence of citizens,
through their affiliated trading-houses, correspondents, and
agents, extended like a network over Europe. ... Accordingly
we find that out of the very bosom of the people a new
plutocratic aristocracy begins to rise. ... These nobles of
the purse obtained the name of 'Popolani Nobili'; and it was
they who now began to play at high stakes for the supreme
power. ... The opening of the second half of the 14th century
had been signalised by the feuds of two great houses, both
risen from the people. These were the Albizzi and the Ricci."
The Albizzi triumphed, in the conflict of the two houses, and
became all-powerful for a time in Florence; but the wars with
the Visconti, of Milan, in which they engaged the city, made
necessary a heavy burden of taxation, which they rendered more
grievous by distributing it unfairly. "This imprudent
financial policy began the ruin of the Albizzi. It caused a
clamour in the city for a new system of more just taxation,
which was too powerful to be resisted. The voice of the people
made itself loudly heard; and with the people on this occasion
sided Giovanni de' Medici. This was in 1427. It is here that
the Medici appear upon that memorable scene where in the
future they are to play the first part. Giovanni de' Medici
did not belong to the same branch of his family as the
Salvestro who favoured the people at the time of the Ciompi
Tumult. But he adopted the same popular policy. To his sons
Cosimo and Lorenzo he bequeathed on his death-bed the rule
that they should invariably adhere to the cause of the
multitude, found their influence on that, and avoid the arts
of factious and ambitious leaders."
_J. A. Symonds,
Florence and the Medici
(Sketches and Studies in Italy, chapter 5)._
ALSO IN:
_A. von Reumont,
Lorenzo de' Medici,
book 1, chapter 2 (volume l)._
_T. A. Trollope,
History of the Commonwealth of Florence,
books 4-5 (volume 2)._
FLORENCE: A. D. 1390-1402.
War with Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan.
"Already in 1386, the growing power of Giangaleazzo Visconti,
the tenth duke of Milan of that family, began to give umbrage,
not only to all the sovereign princes: his neighbours, but
also to Florence [see MILAN: A. D. 1277-1447]. ... Florence
... had cause enough to feel uneasy at the progress of such a
man in his career of successful invasion and
usurpation;--Florence, no more specially than other of the
free towns around her, save that Florence seems always to have
thought that she had more to lose from the loss of her liberty
than any of the other cities ... and felt always called upon to
take upon herself the duty of standing forward as the champion
and supporter of the principles of republicanism and free
government. ... The Pope, Urban VI., added another element of
disturbance to the condition of Italy. For in his anxiety to
recover sundry cities mainly in Umbria and Romagna ... he was
exceedingly unscrupulous of means, and might at any moment be
found allying himself with the enemies of free government and
of the old Guelph cause in Italy. Venice, also, having most
improvidently and unwisely allied herself with Visconti,
constituted another element of danger, and an additional cause
of uneasiness and watchfulness to the Florentine government.
In the spring of 1388, therefore, a board of ten, 'Dieci di
Balia,' was elected for the general management of 'all those
measures concerning war and peace which should be adopted by
the entire Florentine people.'" The first war with Visconti
was declared by the republic in May, 1390, and was so
successfully conducted for the Florentines by Sir John
Hawkwood that it terminated in a treaty signed January 26,
1392, which bound the Duke of Milan not to meddle in any way
with the affairs of Tuscany. For ten years this agreement
seems to have been tolerably well adhered to; but in 1402 the
rapacious Duke entered upon new encroachments, which forced
the Florentines to take up arms again. Their only allies were
Bologna and Padua (or Francesco Carrara of Padua), and the
armies of the three states were defeated in a terribly bloody
battle fought near Bologna on the 26th of June. "Bologna fell
into the hands of Visconti. Great was the dismay and terror in
Florence when the news ... reached the city. It was neither
more nor less than the fall, as the historian says, of the
fortress which was the bulwark of Florence. Now she lay
absolutely open to the invader." But the invader did not come.
He was stricken with the plague and died, in September, and
Florence and Italy were saved from the tyranny which he had
seemed able to extend over the whole.
_T. A. Trollope,
History of the Commonwealth of Florence,
book 4, chapters 4-5 (volume 2)._
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FLORENCE: 14th-15th Centuries.
Commercial enterprise, industrial energy,
wealth and culture of the city.
"During the 14th and 15th centuries Florentine wealth
increased in an extraordinary degree. Earlier generations had
compelled the powerful barons of the district to live in the
city; and even yet the exercise of the rights of citizenship
was dependent on having a residence there. The influx of
outsiders was, however, much more owing to the attractions
offered by the city, whether in business, profession, or
pleasure, than to compulsion. ... The situation of the city is
not favorable to the natural growth of commerce, especially
under the conditions which preceded the building of railroads.
At a considerable distance from the sea, on a river navigable
only for very small craft, and surrounded by hills which
rendered difficult the construction of good roads,--the fact
that the city did prosper so marvellously is in itself proof
of the remarkable energy and ability of its people. They
needed above all things a sea-port, and to obtain a good one
they waged some of their most exhausting wars. Their principal
wealth, however, came through their financial operations,
which extended throughout Europe, and penetrated even to
Morocco and the Orient. Their manufactures also, especially of
wool and silk, brought in enormous returns, and made not only
the fortunes but also, in one famous case at least, the name
of the families engaged in them. Their superiority over the
rest of Christendom in these pursuits was but one side of that
remarkable, universal talent which is the most astonishing
feature of the Florentine life of that age. With the hardihood
of youth, they were not only ready but eager to engage in new
enterprises, whether at home or abroad. ... As a result of
their energy and ability, riches poured into their coffers,--a
mighty stream of gold, in the use of which they showed so much
judgment, that the after world has feasted to our day, and for
centuries to come, will probably continue to feast without
satiety on the good things which they caused to be made, and
left behind them. Of all the legacies for which we have to
thank Florence, none are so well known and so universally
recognized as the treasures of art created by her sons, many
of which yet remain within her walls, the marvel and delight
of all who behold them. As the Florentines were ready to try
experiments in politics, manufactures, and commerce, so also
in all branches of the fine arts they tried experiments, left
the old, beaten paths of their forefathers, and created
something original, useful, and beautiful for themselves.
Christian art from the time of the Roman Empire to Cimabue had
made comparatively little progress; but a son of the
Florentine fields was to start a revolution which should lead
to the production of some of the most marvellous works which
have proceeded from the hand of man. The idea that the fine
arts are more successfully cultivated under the patronage of
princes than under republican rule is very widespread, and is
occasionally accepted almost as a dogma; but the history of
Athens and of Florence teaches us without any doubt that the
two most artistic epochs in the history of the world have had
their rise in republics. ... Some writers, dazzled by the
splendors of the Medici, entirely lose sight of the fact that
both Dante and Petrarch were dead before the Medici were even
heard of, and that the greatest works, at least in
architecture, were all begun long before they were leaders in
Florentine affairs. That family did much, yes very much, for
the advancement of art and letters; but they did not do all or
nearly all that was done in Florence. ... Though civil discord
and foreign war were very frequent, Florentine life is
nevertheless an illustration rather of what Herbert Spencer
calls the commercial stage of civilization, than of the
war-like period. Her citizens were above all things merchants,
and were generally much more willing to pay to avoid a war than
to conduct one. They strove for glory, not in feats of arms,
but in literary contests and in peaceful emulation in the
encouragement of learning and the fine arts."
_W. B. Scaife,
Florentine Life during the Renaissance,
pages 16-19._
FLORENCE: A. D. 1405-1406.
Purchase and conquest of Pisa.
See ITALY: A. D. 1402-1406.
FLORENCE: A. D. 1409-1411.
League against and war with Ladislas, King of Naples.
See ITALY (SOUTHERN): A. D. 1386-1414.
FLORENCE: A. D. 1423-1447.
War with the Duke of Milan.
League with Venice, Naples, and other States.
See ITALY: A. D. 1412-1447.
FLORENCE: A. D. 1433-1464.
The ascendancy of Cosimo de' Medici.
In 1433, Cosmo, or Cosimo de' Medici, the son of Giovanni de'
Medici, was the recognized leader of the opposition to the
oligarchy controlled by Rinaldo de' Albizzi. Cosmo inherited
from his father a large fortune and a business as a merchant
and banker which he maintained and increased. "He lived
splendidly; he was a great supporter of all literary men, and
spent and distributed his great wealth amongst his fellow
citizens. He was courteous and liberal, and was looked upon
with almost unbounded respect and affection by a large party
in the state. Rinaldo was bent upon his ruin, and in 1433,
when he had a Signoria devoted to his party, he cited Cosmo
before the Council, and shut him up in a tower of the Public
Palace. Great excitement was caused by this violent step, and
two days after the Signoria held a parliament of the people.
The great bell of the city was tolled, and the people gathered
round the Palace. Then the gates of the Palace were thrown
open, and the Signoria, the Colleges of Arts, and the
Gonfaloniere came forth, and asked the people if they would
have a Balia. So a Balia was appointed, the names being
proposed by the Signoria, to decide on the fate of Cosmo. At
first it was proposed to kill him, but he was only banished,
much against the will of Rinaldo, who knew that, if he lived,
he would some day come back again. The next year the Signoria
was favourable to him; another Balia was appointed; the party
of the Albizzi was banished, and Cosmo was recalled. He was
received with a greeting such as men give to a conqueror, and
was hailed as the 'Father of his Country.' This triumphant
return gave the Medici a power in the Republic which they
never afterwards lost. The banished party fled to the court of
the Duke of Milan, and stirred him up to war against the city."
_W. Hunt,
History of Italy,
chapter 6, section 5._
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