13 th C. FLORENCE & ITALY: TIME LINE
I. GUELF-GHIBELLINE CONFLICT
1212-1250 Emperor Frederick II Hohenstaufen: supporters = Ghibellines
1216
Buondelmonte murder:
Inf 28 Mosca dei Lamberti (sower of discord)
urges
Buondelmonte’s murder “Cosa fatta capo ha,” no half measures
beginning
of Guelf-Ghibelline struggle in Florence, says chronicler
1237
Battle of Cortenuova, Frederick II defeats Lombard League
of northern Italian cities, Ghibellines in Italy strengthened
1248
Guelfs exiled from Florence by Ghibellines, Guelf houses
razed
1250
Death of Frederick II, last Holy Roman emperor for decades
1250
-1260 Primo Popolo in Florence – first popular guild
govt.
1258
Ghibellines exiled from Florence after death of Frederick II
Farinata degli
Uberti (Inf 10) & others take refuge in Siena
houses of Uberti,
Ghibellines razed (empty area now Piazza della Signoria)
1260
Battle of Montaperti, large Guelf army (70,000 men)
defeated by Siena
& German Imperial troops in surprise attack,
due to Ghibelline
traitors especially Bocca degli Abbati, Inf 32
1260’s Guelf alliance: Papacy calls in French Charles of Anjou, regroup
1266 Battle of Benevento (outside Naples), Guelf alliance beats Ghibellines
1267 Ghibellines
exiled
from Florence as Papal-Angevin alliance
Florence permanently Guelf
after 1267; Dante’s family is Guelf
II.
GUILD REGIME IN FLORENCE 1282-1434 (rise of Medici)
1282
Guild regime (second popular government)
in Florence
rising
against Guelf nobles, establish office of Priors:
8 priors elected for two month terms (mistrust, share honors)
1293
Ordinances of Justice: excludes nobles from holding office
all members
of govt must be guild members (21 guilds)
1295 Ordinances amended to allow lesser
nobles to serve in govt, but only
if
they join a guild. Dante joins guild of Physicians & Apothecaries
III.
BLACK WHITE SPLIT IN GUELF PARTY: (see lecture notes for more detail)
1300
Priors exile leaders of Black and White factions to calm
tensions
1301
Pope Boniface VIII
sends French Charles of Valois to restore Florentine
Blacks to
power, White Guelfs condemned as Ghibellines, exiled.
1302
Dante exiled with White Guelfs of Florence,
never returns to Florence
IV.
FRANCE, PAPACY, EMPIRE :
1303 Pope
Boniface VIII arrested at Anagni by troops Philip IV, escapes, then dies
1305 Papacy
moves to Avignon (south of France) under French Pope Clement V
1310-12
Henry VII brings army into Italy , crowned first in Milan, then Rome
Dante in exile writes enthusiastic letters of support for Emperor
1313
Henry VII dies,
end of realistic hopes of Imperial success in Italy
1315 Dante refuses to admit guilt, rejects amnesty 1321 dies in Ravenna