15th C. FLORENCE: FROM THE MEDICI TO REPUBLIC OF 1494
1434-1494 Medici
family controls Florentine Republic
quasi-hereditary rule through manipulation of electoral system;
scrutinio: open examination of names by electors controlled by Medici
Cosimo de
Medici: (1434-1464) wealthiest merchant banker in Florence,
banished to Venice by political enemies, recalled in l434
rules from behind the scences through Medici supporters
in office
Foreign Policy under Cosimo: anti-republican
alliance with Milan
Milan: Duchy ruled by Visconti Dukes: succession
crisis
1441 Bianca Visconti (illegitimate daughter)
marries Francesco
Sforza, lowborn condottiere for Milan
1447 death of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti during
war with Venice
1447-1450 Ambrosian Republic (surviving republican sentiments
in Milan)
Cosimo supports Sforza against
Venice and against Milanese republic
Outbreak of general Italian warfare: Milan + Florence
vs Venice + Naples
Venice allies with Naples' King Alfonso; 1453
fall of Constantinople
1454
Peace of Lodi ratified by all Italian states; ends territorial expansion
Balance of power established between surviving major Italian
powers:
Milan (Lombardy), Venice, Florence,
Papal States, Naples:
1454-1494 Period of (relatively) stable inter-state relations
development of diplomatic procedures
(e.g. resident ambassadors)
Benozzo
Gozzoli: Procession of the Magi, fresco in Medici Palace,
Florence (under Cosimo)
the
Medici, once bankers, projected into future as royalty
Chronology of Medici rulers:
Cosimo de Medici (1434-1464)
Piero de Medici (1464-1469) republican opposition grows
Lorenzo the Magnificent (1469-1492) grandson of
Cosimo
1478 Pazzi Conspiracy: attempt at assassination of Lorenzo,
Giuliano killed
Piero de Medici (1492-94) overthrown & expelled
by Republic of 1494
1512: Medici re-instated as rulers of Florence
Lorenzo, son of the second Piero, installed as ruler
Machiavelli dedicates The Prince to him
MACHIAVELLI AND THE FLORENTINE REPUBLIC OF 1494-1512
Context
of French invasion of 1494: Valois King Charles VIII called in by
Ludovico il Moro (Sforza) Duke of Milan, who claims Naples
Role of Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican prior of Convent of San Marco
moral reformer; opposed to corruption and luxury; "bonfire
of vanities"
sees French invasion as God's wrath against Medici for corrupting republic
supports republican govt. as leading to higher standards of
civic virtue
1494-98
political power but no office; followers called piagnoni (weepers)
conflict with Papacy: denounces corruption & immorality of Borgia
Pope
1497 excommunicated by Alexander VI; 1498 interdict; executed by Republic
Institutions on Venetian model: lifetime executive Great Council, Council of Ten
Career of Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
under
Republic: Secretary to Council of Ten (foreign affairs), diplomat
missions to Emperor, French King, Cesare Borgia, Pope Julius II;
organizes Florentine militia; assists
military campaign against Pisa
1512:
fall of Republic, return of the Medici, exiled to country estate
Career as writer: 1512-1513 Prince
and Discourses on Livy (republican)
1520 Art of War; 1520-25 History of Florence = humanist
historian
The Prince - purpose to secure a political position with Medici;
"free Italy from the barbarians;" political theory:
virtu and fortuna
political theory:
medieval tradition of advice to Christian Princes:
virtues of ruler described in speculum principis (mirror for
princes)
Restoration
of Florentine Republic, 1527-1530 (occurs in year of Mach's death)
1527 invasion of Italy by Hapsburg troops at war with France & Pope;
Sack of Rome under Clement VII (second Medici
Pope)
overthrow of Medici (allies of Pope); restored
as Grand Dukes 1530