_Via Parione, No. 7; and Lung’Arno Corsini, No. 10._
The great palace of the Corsini family was built in the XVIIth century
by Ciro Ferri and Pierfrancesco Silvani for the Marquess Filippo
Corsini, where once stood the houses of the Compagni, the Segni and the
Ardinghelli; the last had become the property of the Cardinal Giovan
Carlo de’ Medici, and was sold after his death to pay his debts. The
façade and chief entrance of the palace is in the Via Parione, but in
the last century the terrace joining the two wings was erected in the
Lung’Arno Corsini, with a large gateway into the courtyard, thus the
palace now has two façades.
Neri, father of Bonacolto, from whose son Corsini the family took
their name, came from Poggibonsi in the XIIIth century, writes the
family historian Matteo. The ancient house in the Via Maggio, in
which S. Andrea Corsini was born, is now a police station. Corsini’s
son Neri was Consul of the _Arte della Lana_, or Guild of Wool, in
1270, twenty years later he was the first of fifty-six Priors of his
family, and in 1295 Gonfalonier of Justice, an honour enjoyed by seven
of his descendants. His nephew Tommaso, one of the greatest jurists
of his day, expounded civil law as a young man at the University of
Siena. He served the Florentine Republic in many embassies, and was
successful in promoting treaties of peace with Siena, Perugia and
Arezzo. Appointed to all the highest offices of his native city, he is
mentioned by Villani as a most eloquent orator, whilst his reputation
for honesty stood so high that Queen Joan of Naples named him her
proxy for the sale of Prato to Florence. His last public act was in
1352, when Gonfalonier of Justice he made peace with the Visconti, and
then retired to the monastery of S. Gaggio, of which he had been the
principal founder. He died in 1366, leaving a large fortune to his
sons. They erected in the adjoining church the fine monument by Orcagna
to his memory, now in the Corsini chapel in S. Spirito.
His eldest son Giovanni, knight of the Order of S. John, sent by the
Grand Master on an embassy to the Greek Emperor at Constantinople, by
his beauty and his engaging manners won the heart of the Empress, and
she persuaded her husband to make him Grand Seneschal of Armenia, in
order to keep him at her court. His cousin and contemporary Matteo
records that he was sent by the Pope and the Emperor jointly as
ambassador to the King of Cyprus, and in 1380 was Governor of the
Island of Rhodes. Pietro, the second son, was Bishop of Florence, but
resigned his see on being made a Cardinal, and used all his influence
to make peace between Florence and Gregory XI., which was at last
concluded, chiefly through him, by Urban VI. Tommaso’s third son
Filippo was a great jurist, like his father, and began his public
career at twenty-six as ambassador to Siena, and then to Antwerp. The
Emperor Charles IV. bestowed on him and his heirs after him the title
and the prerogatives of a Count of the Holy Roman Empire. When the
Ciompi riots broke out in 1378, Filippo Corsini was nigh losing his
life, his house was sacked and burnt by the mob, and he fled the city
until order was once more re-established. Though five times elected
Gonfalonier of Justice, he was not often in Florence, as the Republic
always turned to him when an ambassador was needed in those troubled
times. He died in 1321, leaving to his children an honoured name and
immense riches. The gentle Andrea, who at fifteen entered a Carmelite
monastery, was his cousin. After taking the vows he was sent for a time
to Paris to study theology at the Sorbonne. When the terrible plague
of 1348 devastated Florence, his charity and devotion to the sick made
him so popular that the people of Fiesole elected him their bishop, a
choice ratified by the Pope. He lived for the poor and for his beloved
cathedral, which he restored, and of which he built the façade, and was
beatified soon after his death, and canonized in 1629 by Urban VIII.
His younger brother Matteo went as a lad to London in 1342, where his
uncle was Master of the Mint, and made a considerable fortune in trade.
On returning to Florence twenty years later he began the family history
already mentioned, and wrote the _Rosaio della Vita_, often quoted in
the Della Crusca dictionary for purity of style.
Amerigo Corsini was the first Archbishop of Florence, as Martin V.
raised the See to an archbishopric during his tenure, and the great
dome of the cathedral was begun [1423] in his lifetime. His brother
Bertoldo filled various high offices under the Republic, and was a
devoted adherent of the Medici; while Luca, Bertoldo’s eldest son,
was the Prior whose name is famous as shutting the door of the Palazzo
della Signoria in the face of Piero de’ Medici after he had ceded Pisa
and other towns to Charles VIII. of France in 1494. Another son, Piero,
a gallant soldier and a good engineer, was Commissary of several of
the small wars of the Republic and built the first fortifications of
Leghorn, which withstood all the efforts of the Emperor Maximilian.
Gherardo, another son, was a wealthy wool merchant, and four times one
of the _Dieci di Guerra_. He became an adherent of the Medici, and his
son Bertoldo was so trusted by the Duke Alessandro that he made him
Governor of the newly-erected fortress of S. Giovanni. After the murder
of the Duke he offered to give up the arms and ammunition to the people
in order to fight for the liberty of the city. Such an offer from a
well-known Pallesco, as the friends of the Medici were called, was
regarded with suspicion, and Bertoldo fell between two stools. Banished
as a rebel by the young Duke Cosimo I. and ruined by the confiscation
of all he possessed, he joined the exiles, fought at Montemurlo, Siena
and Orbetello, where he was taken prisoner and sold to the Duke for 600
scudi. He was decapitated in March 1555.
With the rich merchant Bartolommeo, elected a Senator in 1601, the
Corsini entered into the ranks of the great landed proprietors. He
bought the large feudal estates of Sismano, Cavigliano and Civitella,
in the Roman States, and many of the fine villas still belonging
to the family in Tuscany were either built or enlarged by him. His
nephew Filippo, created Marquess of Sismano, etc., by Urban VIII.
in 1629, was a partner in the Medici bank at Rome, besides having a
rich silk and wool business of his own. He married Maria Maddalena
Machiavelli, a rich heiress, who bought the house in Via Parione,
afterwards incorporated in the large Corsini palace, where the Cardinal
Giovan Carlo de’ Medici had a private theatre, and used to hold most
unclerical orgies. The Grand Duke Ferdinando II. created him a Senator,
and in 1644 made his son Bartolommeo Marquess of Laiatico, a title
still used by the family, as is that of Marquess of Giovagallo, an
estate in the Lunigiana bought by Bartolommeo from the Spanish crown.
His son Filippo was a friend of the young Prince Cosimo de’ Medici, and
accompanied him on a tour through Europe. The description he wrote,
illustrated with water-colour drawings of the principal places they
visited, is in the Laurentian library, and has been translated into
English. The large palace was built by him after the design of Silvani,
and the gallery augmented by the purchase of many fine pictures.
His brother Lorenzo was destined to raise the fortunes of his house
still higher. Elected Pope in 1730, under the name of Clement XII.,
it is said that he implored the cardinals to let an old, half-blind
man die in peace, and to choose another pope. Clement XII. began his
pontificate by dismissing Cardinal Coscia, the venal favourite of
his predecessor, by reforming the administration of justice, and by
replacing the debased currency by an emission of new coin. He founded
the gallery of the Campidoglio, restored the Vatican, and built the
fountain of Trevi, the façades of S. Giovanni de’ Fiorentini, S.
Giovanni in Laterano, and several other churches. But much of this was
done with money derived from the abominable _giuoco del lotto_, called
by Mocenigo, the Venetian ambassador, “the curse and the ruin of the
people.” It had been abolished by Benedict XIII., when Clement, under
the specious pretext that his subjects would gamble and therefore had
better spend their money at home, restored it. He would have left
a greater name had he shown less partiality to his own family. His
two nephews were summoned to Rome. Bartolommeo was created Prince of
Sismano, Duke of Casigliano, and Captain-General of the Papal Guards;
he identified himself entirely with the Spanish party, seduced by
Charles III., who hinted that Spain would renounce in his favour her
claims on Tuscany and Parma if he aided her in securing the Kingdom of
Naples. The Congress of Vienna put an end to these ambitious projects,
and as some consolation he was made Viceroy of Sicily and a Grandee of
Spain. Neri, brought up as a page of Cosimo III., showed considerable
ability in pleading his master’s cause at various foreign courts, and
when the future of Tuscany was discussed at Cambray in 1723. On his
return he was named Captain of the Guards and when his uncle became
Pope, the diplomatist and soldier was suddenly transformed into a
Cardinal. He practically ruled the Papal States, not only under Clement
XII., but under three of his successors. The great Corsini palace at
Rome was built by him, and filled with a fine collection of works of
art. Intensely hostile to the Jesuits, he used all his influence to
obtain the suppression of the Order, but died before the decree against
them was promulgated. An infant of the family was made a Knight of
Malta while still in swaddling clothes and Prior of Pisa at four years
old, to the indignation of the Grand Master of the Order; another was
Apostolic pro-notary while a lad, and a Cardinal at twenty-four.
Prince Tommaso Corsini began life as Chamberlain to the Grand Duke
Pietro Leopoldo, but when Florence was occupied by the French and
“Death to the aristocrats” was the popular cry, he fled to Sicily. When
Tuscany had been transformed into the Kingdom of Etruria he returned,
and became Master of the Household to the Queen Maria Louisa, who
sent him to receive Napoleon I. at Bologna. He impressed the Emperor
so favourably that he made him a Senator and a Count of the Empire,
and entrusted him with the difficult mission of introducing the
French code of laws into Rome. During the exciting days of 1848 he
was Senator of Rome, but when Pius IX. abandoned the popular party,
Prince Corsini had to fly for his life, and only re-entered Rome with
the French troops. A man of considerable culture, he enriched the
celebrated library in the palace on the Lungara, and added many fine
pictures to the Corsini galleries in Rome and in Florence. His brother
Don Neri was one of the most popular men in Tuscany. He advocated her
independence at the Congress of Vienna, and obtained the restitution
of most of the art treasures which had been carried away to Paris. As
Minister of the Interior under Ferdinando III., he devoted himself to
ameliorating the condition of the people, made new roads, and gave a
great impulse to the great work of draining the Val di Chiana. A strong
free-trader, he successfully withstood his colleagues who wished to
impose a heavy tax on corn; and imbued with a distrust and dislike of
the Jesuits, he resolutely set his face against their re-admittance
into Tuscany. His nephew and namesake Don Neri, Marquess of Laiatico,
was sent as Governor to Leghorn in 1847, when the city was on the brink
of a revolution. By his tact he succeeded in restoring peace, but the
Grand Duke and his counsellors did not approve of his liberal ideas,
and he was recalled. His son Don Tommaso, the present Prince Corsini,
is immensely popular, and by his learning and kindly hospitality has
endeared himself to all his fellow-citizens.