Florence
Florence in the Renaissance was the home of a galaxy of men of talent and genius who find no parallel in history except in ancient Athens. A sketch of the history of the city cannot "explain" the presence of so many outstanding individuals nothing can do that. It can only present some idea of the conditions in which they flourished.
In the first half of the fifteenth century, under the influence of the resistance to the Visconti, there developed in Florence what has been called civic humanism. The humanistic scholars of Florence praised Florence for her devotion to liberty, and sought the origin of the city in the days of the Roman republic. This represented a change from the customary attribution of the origins of the city to Caesar, whose reputation now began to change until he was regarded as a destroyer of Roman liberty. Instead, the beginnings of the city were traced to a settlement by Sulla's soldiers in the last years of the Roman republic. All these ideals were still alive in the thought of Machiavelli in the sixteenth century. To what extent the vaunted liberty of Florence squared with the facts is another question. In any case, civic freedom was forfeited in 1434 when Cosimo de' Medici came to power. Until then he had been the leader of a faction among the ruling class. For a while he had been exiled in Venice, but when his enemies at home became unpopular he had been called to power. From 1434 to his death in 1464 he was the effective ruler of Florence. He was born in 1389, and was a member of one of the richest families in the city, a member of the ruling merchant-banker oligarchy. The basis of the family fortune was the Medici bank, which had been built up by Cosimo's father. The Medici family was the only one of the great ruling houses of the city which enjoyed much support among the poor, to whom they had shown themselves sympathetic during the troubles of 1378.
During the thirty years of Cosimo's ascendancy the city was quiet internally, though there were no doubt many who chafed under one-man rule, no matter how skillfully disguised. In foreign policy, as we have seen, he helped Francesco Sforza take over the government of Milan, which ended threats to Florence from that quarter, and helped to bring about the peace settlement of 1454, which gave Italy some respite from serious conflict and external interference for forty years. At his death, he was buried in the church of San Lorenzo. His body was placed in the nave, and over it is a simple inscription which hails him as Pater Patriae, the Father of the Fatherland.
He had done his work so well that he was succeeded by his son, Piero (1464 69) and Piero's son Lorenzo (1469 92).
His son Lorenzo, later called the Magnificent, was only twenty when he was asked to assume his father's place at the head of the city government. This brilliant man was not only a patron of scholars, poets, and artists, but was himself a poet whose verses are important in the history of Italian literature. He was less successful as a businessman, and the Medici bank suffered great reverses in his time.
Not long after he had assumed power, he was threatened with a very serious conspiracy, which takes its name from the Pazzi, one of the great Florentine families that resented Medici domination. The Pazzi were encouraged by the pope, Sixtus IV, whose nepotism had placed relatives of his in territory too close to Florence for comfort. The plan was evolved of killing both Lorenzo and his younger brother Giuliano at Mass in the cathedral on April 26, 1478. The plotters succeeded in murdering Giuliano; Lorenzo was wounded, but not seriously. The city then rose against the conspirators, who were tracked down and killed. Lorenzo's hold on the city was strengthened.
Lorenzo himself died young on April 8, 1492, at the age of forty-three.
In the first half of the fifteenth century, under the influence of the resistance to the Visconti, there developed in Florence what has been called civic humanism. The humanistic scholars of Florence praised Florence for her devotion to liberty, and sought the origin of the city in the days of the Roman republic. This represented a change from the customary attribution of the origins of the city to Caesar, whose reputation now began to change until he was regarded as a destroyer of Roman liberty. Instead, the beginnings of the city were traced to a settlement by Sulla's soldiers in the last years of the Roman republic. All these ideals were still alive in the thought of Machiavelli in the sixteenth century. To what extent the vaunted liberty of Florence squared with the facts is another question. In any case, civic freedom was forfeited in 1434 when Cosimo de' Medici came to power. Until then he had been the leader of a faction among the ruling class. For a while he had been exiled in Venice, but when his enemies at home became unpopular he had been called to power. From 1434 to his death in 1464 he was the effective ruler of Florence. He was born in 1389, and was a member of one of the richest families in the city, a member of the ruling merchant-banker oligarchy. The basis of the family fortune was the Medici bank, which had been built up by Cosimo's father. The Medici family was the only one of the great ruling houses of the city which enjoyed much support among the poor, to whom they had shown themselves sympathetic during the troubles of 1378.
During the thirty years of Cosimo's ascendancy the city was quiet internally, though there were no doubt many who chafed under one-man rule, no matter how skillfully disguised. In foreign policy, as we have seen, he helped Francesco Sforza take over the government of Milan, which ended threats to Florence from that quarter, and helped to bring about the peace settlement of 1454, which gave Italy some respite from serious conflict and external interference for forty years. At his death, he was buried in the church of San Lorenzo. His body was placed in the nave, and over it is a simple inscription which hails him as Pater Patriae, the Father of the Fatherland.
He had done his work so well that he was succeeded by his son, Piero (1464 69) and Piero's son Lorenzo (1469 92).
His son Lorenzo, later called the Magnificent, was only twenty when he was asked to assume his father's place at the head of the city government. This brilliant man was not only a patron of scholars, poets, and artists, but was himself a poet whose verses are important in the history of Italian literature. He was less successful as a businessman, and the Medici bank suffered great reverses in his time.
Not long after he had assumed power, he was threatened with a very serious conspiracy, which takes its name from the Pazzi, one of the great Florentine families that resented Medici domination. The Pazzi were encouraged by the pope, Sixtus IV, whose nepotism had placed relatives of his in territory too close to Florence for comfort. The plan was evolved of killing both Lorenzo and his younger brother Giuliano at Mass in the cathedral on April 26, 1478. The plotters succeeded in murdering Giuliano; Lorenzo was wounded, but not seriously. The city then rose against the conspirators, who were tracked down and killed. Lorenzo's hold on the city was strengthened.
Lorenzo himself died young on April 8, 1492, at the age of forty-three.