_Via de’ Benci. No. 2._
The principal palace of the Bardi family in Via de’ Bardi, where the
beautiful Dianora is supposed to have lived (see p. 57), was bought by
the family of the Tempi, whose name it still bears and for whom it was
entirely altered and modernized by the architect Matteo Nigetti about
1610. Ser Benedetto di Tempo, notary to the Signoria in 1357, was their
ancestor, several of the family were created Senators, while two became
Cardinals. The Marquess Benedetto Tempi, who died in 1770, was the last
of his race, and the palace now belongs to the Marquess Bargagli; so
there is no representative of the ancient and powerful family of the
Bardi in the Oltrarno. They were lords of the castle of Ruballa near
Antella, and took their name from Pagano di Bardo, who made a donation
of land to the church of Sta. Reparata of Florence in 1112. About that
time the family settled in Florence in the Borgo Pidiglioso and built
so many palaces and strong towers that the street was called Via de’
Bardi. Gualterotto de’ Bardi, a canon, joined in the crusade of 1215
and, after fighting at Damietta, became Bishop of Acre. Geri, who bore
the standard of the Guelphs at the battle of Montaperti, was exiled
with the rest of his party by the victorious Ghibellines, and his
nephew Roberto, who wrote the life of Filippo Villani, was Chancellor
of the University of Paris for forty years. Another nephew, Cino,
fought by Dante’s side in the battle of Campaldino in 1289, but there
cannot have been much friendship between them, as Cino’s brother was
the husband of Beatrice Portinari. The fortune of their handsome nephew
Piero, Lord of Vernio and of Mangona, was so large that even after the
failure of the great Bardi-Peruzzi bank he was one of the foremost
citizens of Florence, and aroused such jealousy by his riches, valour
and remarkable personal beauty, that he was excluded from all offices.
Publicly insulted by Jacopo Gabrielli, Captain of the Guard instituted
by the oligarchy of the _Nobili Popolani_ to hold the _Grandi_ in
check, he plotted with Bardo de’ Frescobaldi, who had also been
insulted, to murder the Captain and to “reform” the city. One of his
cousins, terrified at the possible consequences, secretly revealed the
plot to the Signori, who caused the great bell of the palace to be rung
and summoned the people to arms. The Bardi and other nobles fortified
their towers, and civil war would have ensued but for the intervention
of the Podestà, who promised a full pardon for all offences if the
_Grandi_ would lay down their arms. He broke his word, and all the
nobles who had taken part in the conspiracy were banished. They only
re-entered the city after the Duke of Athens became ruler, and a few
years later made themselves so hated that, as Giovanni Villani writes:--
“On the 24th September, 1343, the people rose against the Bardi, Rossi,
Frescobaldi, Mannelli and Nerli, _Grandi_ of the Oltrarno, who at once
seized and held the bridges. The palace of the sons of Messer Vieri
de’ Bardi was strong and the tower well fortified, as was the house
of the Mannelli at the head of the Ponte Vecchio, then built of wood.
The people could not pass over it, nor could they cross the Ponte
Rubaconte (now Ponte alle Grazie), on account of the strength of the
palaces of the Bardi of S. Gregorio; so they left a guard under the
houses of the Alberti and also at the Ponte Vecchio, and then, with
many soldiers on horseback, they went to the Ponte alia Carraja which
was guarded by the Nerli. The people of S. Frediano, Cuculia and the
Fondaccio, were however so numerous that before the others arrived they
had stormed the bridge-head and the houses of the Nerli, who were put
to flight. And thus the victorious people passed over the bridge, and
joined those of the Oltrarno and furiously attacked the Frescobaldi....
The Bardi seeing themselves bereft of any aid from the Rossi and the
Frescobaldi were much alarmed, they nevertheless armed their barricades
and fought in such manner that some were killed and many were wounded
on either side; for the Bardi were well furnished with both horse and
foot and had many mercenaries, so the people tried in vain to force
their stockades. Four companies of those of the Oltrarno were then
ordered to attack them from behind by the hill of S. Giorgio. The Bardi
seeing themselves hotly besieged and assailed on all sides were much
afeard, and began to abandon their barricades on the Piazza or Ponte,
which were guarded by the tower of the Guelph party and by the palace
of the sons of Messer Vieri de’ Bardi, in order to defend themselves
against those who were coming from the cane-brakes of S. Giorgio.
Then a certain Strozza, a German captain, got inside the barricades
of the Piazza a Ponte with his brigade, with great peril to himself
on account of the many stones and bricks which were hurled at him. He
rushed to Sta. Maria Sopr’Arno, followed by the people, and was there
joined by those of this side of the Arno who had crossed the bridge
and, surmounting every obstacle on the other side, had joined with the
people of the Oltrarno. They broke down the resistance and the power of
the Bardi who fled to the Borgo S. Niccolò, imploring their neighbours
and the company of the Gonfalone of the Scala, who had already taken
possession of the palaces of the Bardi of S. Gregorio, to save their
palaces from being sacked and burnt, and their lives from being taken.
So the people who were on guard at the head of the bridge near the
houses of the Alberti, saved the Bardi from death, but all their
houses, from Sta. Lucia as far as the Ponte Vecchio, were robbed of
everything by the _popolo minuto_ ... who in their fury, after sacking
the houses set them on fire. Twenty-two rich and splendid palaces
and houses were burnt and it is estimated that the loss was more than
60,000 golden florins. Thus ended the resistance of the Bardi, in their
great pride and power, against the people.”
Piero scornfully rejected the conditions imposed on the _Grandi_ by
the People and retired to his estate of Vernio where he died in 1345.
His sons Sozzo and Notto were created Imperial Vicarii of the county
of Vernio by the Emperor Charles IV., and the diploma was ratified
by the Emperor Leopoldo in 1697 in favour of their descendants. It
was abrogated by the treaty of Vienna in 1814, when Vernio became an
integral portion of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. As long as Florence
had been republican none of Piero de’ Bardi’s family entered the
city, but under Cosimo I. his grandson Alberto settled there, whose
son Pandolfo played the ugly part of confidant between Francesco de’
Medici and Bianci Cappello, whilst another son was the Franciscan
friar who performed the first (secret) marriage of the Grand Duke and
his mistress only a few days after the death of the Grand Duchess
Joan of Austria. Alberto’s brother Camillo took up his residence in a
palace in Via de’ Benci, bought by his ancestors from the old family
of the Busini in 1482, and here his descendants still live. It is
said to have been built by Brunelleschi and has a pretty courtyard
surrounded by an arcade. The windows of the second floor are untouched,
but the mural paintings (graffite) on the façade, believed to have
been the first done in Florence, have been restored. A grandiloquent
inscription records that Giovanni Bardi, Count of Vernio, founded in
the XVIth century the society whose object was to reform recitative and
melody; the first fruits of which were _Dafne_, with Peri’s music, and
_Euridice_ with music by Caccini.