13TH C. FLORENTINE REPUBLIC & GUELF GHIBELLINE CONFLICT
Emperor
Frederick II (1220-50) Hohenstaufen dynasty: asserts Imperial power
in Sicily
and Italy, including right to appoint city officials in communes
Florentine factions
choose sides between Guelfs (papacy) or Ghibellines (Empire)
1248
urban civil war (to 1265) between noble families: Guelfs retreat from
city
Ghibellines (Uberti faction) level towers of Guelf enemies = origins
of
EXILE as central fact of medieval Italian politics (FUORUSCITI
= exiles)
property
confiscated; continue battle from countryside
GUELFISM as symbol of Florentine patriotism; rise of popolo as social class
"PRIMO
POPOLO" 1250-60: "First People's government"
1255 Palazzo del Popolo (later Bargello) start of civic architecture
GHIBELLINES:
faction loyal to Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation; represent
older
feudal landed aristocracy; versus Guelfs = lesser nobility, newer money
1258 Florentine Ghibellines revolt in support of son of Fred II: allies of Siena
1260 BATTLE OF MONTAPERTI: Siena (Ghibelline) victory over Florentine Guelfs
Florentine army wiped out: Villani Chronicle says 2500 dead; 1500 captured
modern historians estimate 10,000 dead; 20,000 prisoners (army of 70,000
men
leader of Florentine Ghibellines = FARINATA DEGLI UBERTI (Dante, Inferno)
Ghibellines take over Florence, send Florentine Guelf leaders into
exile
GUELF
ALLIANCE: Papacy, France, Guelf city states; anti-Imperial focus
Pope
calls on Charles of Anjou (Angevin/French)
1266 BATTLE OF BENEVENTO: Guelf alliance stops Imperial military
threat;
defeat of Manfred by Charles; ends Hohenstaufen rule in ltaly;
next
GUELF
VICTORY in Florence: (1270 Siena & Pisa also conq'd by Guelfs)
1267 Papal/French
forces march on Florence, Ghibellines leave without fight
Guelf defeat of Ghibellines, regarded as traitors due to support of Siena
houses and towers of Uberti & other Ghibellines razed in revenge
(site of Uberti houses later becomes Piazza della Signoria)
Exile of Ghibellines: houses of exiles razed; death sentences in absentia
property confiscated divided in thirds between commune, Parte Guelfa,
and individual Guelfs damaged by previous Ghibelline confiscations.
= political ruin of Florentine Ghibellines, all defined as traitors
GUILD
REGIME in FLORENCE 1282-1434:
priors elected for short 2 month terms (mistrust of officials)
elected from 21
guilds (7 greater guilds, 14 lesser guilds)
must be master craftsmen paying designated amount of taxes
Anti-noble
agenda: 1289 serfdom abolished in Florentine countryside by popolo
1293
Ordinances of Justice: exclude nobility from office holding because of
history of noble violence; only guild members eligible for office
1295 lesser nobility permitted to register in guild to get political
rights
Factional split: BLACK GUELFS versus WHITE GUELFS: origins in family
disputes
Black Guelfs: older Guelf aristocracy closely allied with Papacy
(Corso Donati)
White Guelfs: newer families, money from banking and trade (Vieri
dei Cerchi)
accused of pro-Imperial Ghibelline leanings by their opponents
1300 leaders of both factions exiled by Priors in effort to calm situation
1301 POPE BONIFACE VIII sends Charles of Valois (French noble) to end
conflict
Blacks put in power; Whites condemned as Ghibellines, exiled,
property taken
exiles include Dante Alighieri; Petrarch's father (notary, goes
to Avignon)
Dante on exile: "how lonely is the going up and down of others'
stairs."