MACHIAVELI AND 16TH
C ITALIAN POLITICS TO SACK OF ROME (1527)
RENAISSANCE ROME: HUMANISM AND THE PAPACY
POPES: The return to Rome
Martin V Colonna,
Roman noble
1420 enters Rome as first Pope after Schism
Cosimo
di Medici (Florentine) as papal banker
Eugenius IV
1434
Roman uprising; takes refuge in Florence
suppresses
Roman nobility in Latium
Council
of Ferrara/Florence 1438-9;
Eastern
(Greek) Emperor John Palaeologus
&
Orthodox Patriarch seek aid against Turks
NICHOLAS V 1447-55
1st
humanist Pope: studied Greek in Florence;
Founder
of Vatican Library manuscript collector;
scribes
copy all known Latin & Greek manuscripts
building
program for Romes; Flavio Biondi Rome Restored
refortification
of Castel Sant'Angelo
Florentine Humanists in Rome:
Poggio Bracciolini
(1380-1459)
1403
papal secretary; goes to Constance for council
1430-40
writes De varietate fortunae (On the vagaries of fortune)
Maxim:
"Quanto fuit Roma ruina ipsa docet."
"The
ruins themselves show how great Rome was."
Edward
Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire 1780's:
last
chapter: Poggio & Eugenius IV on ruins of Capitoline Hill
1452
back to Florence as Chancellor (same office as Salutati, Bruni)
Flavio Biondi: employed
as humanist scholar at papal court 1433-1463
1444-46
Roma Instaurata (Rome Restored) dedicated to Eugenius IV
urges
Pope to rebuild city of Rome; ancient literary texts
used
to reconstruct ancient Roman archeology & topography
15th C. FLORENCE: MEDICI vs REPUBLIC OF 1494
1434-1494 Medici family
controls Florentine Republic:
through
manipulation of electoral system by
Cosimo de Medici: (1434-1464)
merchant
banker, title “Pater Patriae”
1454
Peace of Lodi
Balance
of power between major Italian powers:
Milan,
Venice, Florence, Papal States, Naples:
1454-1494
Period of (relative) peace in Italy
Lorenzo the Magnificent
(1469-1492) Cosimo’s grandson
1494
Medici overthrown & expelled by Republic of 1494
1512
Medici re-instated as rulers of Florence
Lorenzo's
son Giovanni: first Medici Pope Leo X 1513-1521
Florentine Republic
(1494-1512)
Context
of French invasion of 1494 by Valois King Charles VIII
Role
of Girolamo Savonarola, Dominican preacher
moral
reformer; opposed to corruption and luxury;
republican
govt: higher standards of civic virtue
conflict
with Papacy: denounces corruption
of Borgia Pope
1497
excommunicated by Alexander VI
1498
executed by Republic
The Career of Niccolo
Machiavelli (1469-1527)
under
Republic 1497-1512: diplomatic missions to German Emperor,
French King, Cesare Borgia, Pope Julius II;
1512: fall of Republic, return of the Medici, exiled to country estate
1512-1513
Prince (how a prince should rule) versus Discourses on Livy
(republican themes)
1520-25
History of Florence = humanist
Renaissance Papacy
during late l5th and early 16th C.
(a lot of Popes here, but each important for art history
& history)
Sixtus IV (1471-1480)
Della Rovere (uncle of Julius II, below)
builds
Sistine Chapel in Vatican Palace; nepotism (promotes relatives)
painting
by Melozzo da Forli of Sixtus IV and his nephews, including
the
future Julius II (Giuliano della Rovere)
Innocent VIII (1480-1492)
financial corruption, indulgence sales;
first Pope to publicly recognize his (many)
children while Pope
marriage
arranged between his son & daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent
Alexander VI Borgia (1492-1503)
Spaniard, effort to leave Papal to
son Cesare Borgia
(Duke Valentino) head of papal armies
= Machiavelli's hero: man of action, hope to unify Italy
daughter Lucrezia Borgia married in ceremony in Vatican
Julius II della Rovere
(1503-1513)
"warrior Pope," personally directs Papal
troops in battle
conquest of Bologna; expands boundaries of
Papal States
Erasmus'
pacifistic treatise: (from Julius Exclusus Heaven)
Leo X Medici (1513-1521)
election demonstrates restored Medici power
traditional
alliance of Popes & Florence strengthened
**********************************************************
Next week:
Hadrian VI (1522-23)
Dutch Pope; last non-ltalian pope until 20th
C. Polish Pope
Clement VII Medici (1523-34)
prisoner
during Sack of Rome (1527)
by the German troops of Emperor Charles V Hapsburg
Paul III (1534-1549) Farnese, old Roman family, builds Palazzo
Farnese
finally
calls Council of Trent (1543-63) (off Campo dei Fiori)
Dwarfing of italy, 1494-1527
French (Valois)
invasions of Italy:
1494 Charles VIII
1498
Louis XII called in by Venice against Milan
1515
Francis I -victory at Marignano, occupation of Milan
defeated at Pavia 1525 by Charles V
1519
Imperial election: Hapsburg Charles I of Spain
becomes Emperor Charles V of Holy Roman Empire
Leo
X makes alliance with Charles V against France
Hapsburg - Valois
Wars 1522-1529
1522-4 struggle
for Milan between France & Empire
1525
BATTLE OF PAVIA:
Imperial victory, Francis taken prisoner
Pope & Italian states begin to fear Imperial victory
1528
TREATY OF MADRID:
Francis renounces claims to Burgundy,
Netherlands, Italy; Francis marries Charles sister
1526
LEAGUE OF COGNAC: broad alliance against Charles V by
France, Papacy, Italians (Milan, Florence, Venice)
due to fear of Imperial power taking over all of Italy
(note that Papacy has now changed sides from Empire to France)
1527 SACK OF
ROME: lasts six months
by German Imperial troops, many Lutheran
occupy the Vatican, used to house troops
worst Sack of city in terms of people
killed
Pope
Clement VII (Medici) prisoner in Castel Sant'Angelo
1527
invasion of Italy by Hapsburg troops at war with France & Pope;
overthrow
of Medici (allies of Pope); restored as Grand Dukes 1530
1529 PEACE OF CAMBRAI:
Francis renounces claims to Flanders & ltaly
Charles renounces claim to Burgundy
1529 PEACE OF BARCELONA
Pope confirms Imperial (Hapsburg) claim to Naples
1530 Charles crowned Holy Roman Emperor by Pope Clement VII
ceremony held in Bologna because Rome is disaster zone