RISE OF THE MEDICI: 15th C.
1382-1434
l382 power returned to greater
guilds: Albizzi family vs
exiled Alberti
Foreign policy: from self defense to
territorial expansion
1390-1402 resistance against Milanese Gian Galeazzo Visconti
1384: purchase of
1405: purchase of
1406: revolt of
1421: purchase of Livorno (seaport) from
1422-8: resumption of Milanese war against
Duke Filippo Maria Visconti
1429-33: Lucchese
war: unprovoked attack on
1433 communal elections favor
Medici; Albizzi fear Medici takeover
Cosimo arrested; banished to
1434 Cosimo recalled: control through manipulation of electoral system;
scrutino a mano (by hand) by accoppiatori 10 electors pro-Medici
exile of enemies of 1433: Albizzi & Strozzi
Cosimo’s
office holding: gonfaloniere
of justice 3 terms (6 months out of 30 yrs);
major role = control
of foreign affairs & city finances
Foreign Policy under Cosimo:
1440:
Milanese Duke Filippo Maria Visconti allies with Albizzi exiles,
Battle of Anghiari:
(later Leonardo painting)
Milanese
succession crisis: 1441 Bianca Visconti (illegitimate daughter)
married to Francesco Sforza illegitimate & lowborn condottiere for
Milan
1447: death
of Duke Filippo Maria Visconti during war with
1447-1450:
Ambrosian Republic (guild regime) restored in
Reversal of traditional alliance system with
Cosimo supports Sforza against
Outbreak of general Italian war:
l453 fall of
1454 Peace of
Balance
of power established between surviving major Italian powers:
1454-1494 Period
of (relatively) stable inter-state relations, diplomatic procedures (e.g.
resident ambassadors)
Chronology: Cosimo dei Medici (1434-1464)
Piero di Cosimo dei
Medici (1464-1469) republican opposition grows under Soderini
Lorenzo the Magnificent
(1469-1492) then his son Piero di
Lorenzo dei Medici (1492-94)
1494-1512
1512:
restoration of the Medici in
1527-1530:
restoration of the Republic, second expulsion of Medici
1530:
Medici re-instated as Grand Dukes of Tuscany
Piero de Medici (1464-1469) "Il
Gottoso" (gout-ridden)
Republican
opposition headed by Niccolo Soderini
and Luca Pitti
1465 Soderini leads
campaign to restore secret elections
serves two months
as gonfaloniere; speeches in favor of
"liberty"
1466 death of Francesco Sforza
weakens Cosimo's Florence-Milan alliance
Republicans
encourage
balance of power
restored by
emergency commission (balia)
exiles Niccolo Soderini
(but note Niccolo's
brother, Tommaso
Soderini, remains as leader of the Medici faction)
For republican opposition under Piero,
see Mark Phillips, Memoir of Marco Parenti
Marco
Parenti is merchant who
marries into Strozzi family after exile of
male members of Strozzi by Cosimo in 1434; he writes a political memoir;
Phillips’ other major source is the
correspondence of Alessandra Strozzi:
Letters of Alessandra Strozzi, English
translation available for papers on women
wife & mother of exiled Strozzi
men remains behind in Florence;
corresponds with her sons who are
bankers in Naples & Spain;
excellent source for role of women “behind the scenes” of political
issues,
her major goal is getting her
family re-admitted to Florence
matchmaking
documented as she tries to find local wives for exiled sons.
Lorenzo de Medici (1469-1492) "Il
Magnifico"
1469 marries
Clarice Orsini, old noble Roman family, sign of
princely status
joint heir with brother Guiliano, but Lorenzo assumes leadership
after "petition" by Tommaso Soderini; receives title
of "Magnifico"
1471-1484 Pope
Sixtus IV (Della Rovere) resumes papal conquest of central
1474-80 war to limit Papal expansion:
1476
assassins: republican humanist
motives; classical treatises on tyrannicide
power seized by Ludovico il Moro
(brother in law of Duke's widow)
1478 Pazzi
Conspiracy: direct inspiration from assassination of Sforza Duke
Milan
Pazzi
= old Florentine noble family, banned from politics in 1292;
readmitted to Florence by Cosimo with
marriage alliance, but
Pazzi have
rival bank with headquarters in Rome, resent Medici
plot to kill
Lorenzo & Giuliano, seize government for Pazzi family
mercenary captain
(condottiere) Gian Battista Montesecco hired
but
backs out when plan is set for assassination in cathedral
Papal role: Sixtus IV l476:
l) transfers papal accounts to Pazzi Bank,
2) appoints Francesco Salviati
(Medici enemy) Archbishop of Pisa
3) approves overthrow of Medici, but not
their assassination
4) publicly
denounces Medici "tyranny" as abomination to God
April 26: assassination of Giuliano (killed) and Lorenzo (survived) set for
Sunday
Mass in Florentine Cathedral (Duomo) Santa Maria del
Fiore;
AB Salviati plays
role in revolt, occupies palace for Pazzi
Pazzi on
republican support; Pazzi attempt to use republican
slogan
"Popolo et liberta";
crowd replies "Palle, Palle"
(Medici symbol
Florence remains loyal to Medici, revolt
fails
execution of Francesco Pazzi and Archbishop Salviati
angers Pope
1478-80 war resumed: Florence,
Venice, Milan vs Naples & Papacy
1479 Ludovico's
seizure of power in Milan strengthens Florence
Lorenzo travels to Naples to negotiate with
King Ferrante
1480 Turkish invasion of Otranto distracts
Pope who withdraws from war;
Lorenzo returns as "savior of
Florence" because of truce