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133-460: The fiorino d'oro (gold florin) was used in the Republic of Florence and was the first European gold coin struck in sufficient quantities since the 7th century to play a significant commercial role. The florin was recognised across large parts of Europe. The territorial usage of the lira and the florin often overlapped; where the lira was used for smaller transactions (wages, food purchases),

266-472: A Romanized German, and he in fact ruled over Italy largely through Roman personnel. The Goth minority, of Arian confession, constituted an aristocracy of landowners and militaries, but its influence over the country remained minimal; the Latin population was still subject to Roman laws, and maintained the freedom of creed received by Odoacer. The reign of Theodoric is generally considered a period of recovery for

399-575: A battle axe substituted for the original's sceptre. Gradually the image became more regal looking. The term florin was borrowed elsewhere in Europe. A variant of the florin was the Rheingulden , minted by several German states encompassing the commercial centers of the Rhein ( Rhine ) River valley, under a series of monetary conventions starting in 1354, initially at a standard practically identical to

532-920: A blow to Venetian finances. Eventually, the Peace of Lodi recognized Venetian and Florentine territorial gains and the legitimacy of the Sforza rule in Milan. The Milan-Florence alliance played a major role in stabilizing the peninsula for the next 40 years. The political crisis of 1458 was the first serious challenge to the Medici rule. The cost of wars had been borne by the great families of Florence, and disproportionately so by Medici's opponents. A number of them (Serragli, Baroncelli, Mancini, Vespucci, Gianni) were practically ruined and had to sell their properties, and those were acquired by Medici's partisans at bargain prices. The opposition used partial relaxation of Medici control of

665-699: A brief flirtation with Frankish servitude, to Lothair I , and a Frankish duke, in the person of Duke Contard , the Neapolitan citizenry elected Sergius I their magister militum . Sergius established a dynasty, the Sergi , that was to rule the duchy for the next three hundred years. In Gaeta, as in Naples, the violent situation inland required new power structures to maintain Byzantine authority. The Gaetans received their first imperial Byzantine hypati around

798-569: A checkered history of coups and countercoups against various factions. The Medici faction gained governance of the city in 1434 under Cosimo de' Medici . The Medici kept control of Florence until 1494. Giovanni de' Medici, who later became Pope Leo X , reconquered the republic in 1512. Florence repudiated Medici authority for a second time in 1527, during the War of the League of Cognac . The Medici reassumed their rule in 1531 after an 11-month siege of

931-578: A citizen than master of his city. Political councils were held in his home; the magistrates he chose were elected; he was king in all but name and legal status…. Some asserted that his tyranny was intolerable." Piero the Gouty was the eldest son of Cosimo. Piero, as his sobriquet the gouty implies, suffered from gout and did not enjoy good health. Lorenzo the Magnificent was Piero's eldest son by his wife Lucrezia Tornabuoni . Piero's reign furthered

1064-694: A compromise, and the Pope agreed to militarily aid the Byzantine Emperor. However, upon John VIII's homecoming to Constantinople, the Greeks rejected the compromise, leading to riots throughout what remained of the Byzantine Empire. John VIII was forced to repudiate the agreement with the Roman church to appease the rioters. As a result, no Western aid was forthcoming and the Byzantine Empire's fate

1197-636: A great siege. Louis then tried to set up greater control over all the south by garrisoning his troops in Beneventan fortresses. The response of Adelchis to this action was to imprison and rob the emperor while he was staying the princely palace at Benevento. A month later, the Saracens had landed with a new invasive force and Adelchis released Louis to lead the armies against it. Adelchis forced Louis to vow never to re-enter Benevento with an army or to take revenge for his detention. Louis went to Rome in 872 and

1330-579: A lack of powerful landed magnates – the only notable one being the Margraviate of Tuscany , which had wide lands in Tuscany , Lombardy , and the Emilia , but which failed due to lack of heirs after the death of Matilda of Canossa in 1115. This left a power vacuum – increasingly filled by the papacy and by the bishops, as well as by the increasingly wealthy Italian cities, which gradually came to dominate

1463-578: A manner that it produced a great and universal joy among the citizens." On the death of Pope Leo X in 1521, Adams writes there was a "ready inclination in all of the principal citizens [of Florence], and a universal desire among the people, to maintain the state in the hands of the Cardinal de' Medici; and all this felicity arose from his good government, which since the death of the Duke Lorenzo, had been universally agreeable." When Cardinal Giulio

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1596-466: A new dynasty, the Dauferidi, came to power in 861. In 852, the Saracens took Bari and founded an emirate there. Greek power being significantly threatened, as well as Adriatic commerce, the Byzantine emperor requested an alliance from Louis II of Italy. Similarly, the new prince of Benevento, Adelchis , an independent-minded ruler, also sought his aid. Louis came down and retook Bari in 871 after

1729-620: A number of reasons. In 878 the Arabs captured the crucial city of Syracuse, and by 965 the entire island was under Arab rule. The reminisce of the Lombards laws caused trouble in Salerno. The urban populations were upset with Byzantine taxation, resulting in an uprising in Apulia in the early 980s. In 990, deadly earthquakes directly affected two cities, Benevento and Capua. In the 11th century,

1862-483: A number of smaller cities submitted to Gian Galeazzo, while Lucca withdrew from the anti-Visconti league, with Bologna remaining the only major ally. In November 1400 a conspiracy involving both exiles and internal opponents was uncovered. Two Ricci were implicated as leaders of a plot to eliminate the regime's inner circle and open the gates to the Milanese. Confessions indicated that the plan had wide support among

1995-463: A peace. Lorenzo died in 1492 and was succeeded by his son Piero. Piero ruled Florence for a mere two years. Charles VIII of France invaded Italy in September 1494. He demanded passage through Florence to Naples, where he intended to secure the throne for himself. Piero met Charles at the fringes of Florence to try and negotiate. Piero capitulated to all Charles' demands, and upon arriving back in

2128-488: A platform for the demographic growth of the city, which mirrored the rate of construction of churches and palazzi . This prosperity was shattered when Emperor Frederick I Barbarossa invaded the Italian peninsula in 1185. As a result, the margraves of Tuscany reacquired Florence and its townlands. The Florentines reasserted their independence when Emperor Henry VI died in 1197. Florence's population continued to grow into

2261-1006: A protracted siege . Italy in the Middle Ages Timeline The history of Italy in the Middle Ages can be roughly defined as the time between the collapse of the Western Roman Empire and the Italian Renaissance . Late antiquity in Italy lingered on into the 7th century under the Ostrogothic Kingdom and the Byzantine Empire under the Justinian dynasty , the Byzantine Papacy until

2394-538: A study carried out by Enrico Faini of the University of Florence , there were about fifteen old aristocratic families who moved to Florence between 1000 and 1100: Amidei ; Ardinghi; Brunelleschi ; Buondelmonti; Caponsacchi; Donati ; Fifanti; Gherardini of Montagliari ; Guidi; Nerli; Porcelli; Sacchetti ; Scolari; Uberti; and Visdomini. The newly independent Florence prospered in the 12th century through extensive trade with foreign countries. This, in turn, provided

2527-508: A valuable ally among the other Italian states. In August 1466, the conspirators acted. They received support from the Duke of Ferrara , who marched troops into the Florentine countryside with the intent of deposing Piero. The coup failed. The Florentines were not willing to support it, and soon after their arrival, Ferrara's troops left the city. The conspirators were exiled for life. While

2660-425: A year later. He was excommunicated by Pope Alexander VI in late 1497. In the same year, Florence embarked on a war with Pisa , which had been de facto independent since Charles VIII 's invasion three years before. The endeavour failed miserably, and this led to food shortages. That, in turn, led to a few isolated cases of the plague. The people blamed Savonarola for their woes, and he was tortured and executed in

2793-506: Is not known precisely when Florence formed its own republican/oligarchical government independent of the marquisate, although the death of Rabodo in 1119 should be a turning point. The first official mention of the Florentine republic was in 1138, when several cities around Tuscany formed a league against the then-margrave of Tuscany, Duke Henry X of Bavaria . The country was nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire . According to

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2926-493: Is often stated (the debt was just £13,000) but because of a Europe-wide economic recession. While the banks perished, Florentine literature flourished, and Florence was home to some of the greatest writers in Italian history: Dante , Petrarch , and Boccaccio . They were Europe's first vernacular writers, choosing the Tuscan dialect of Italian (which, as a result, evolved into the standard Italian language) over Latin . Florence

3059-420: Is symbolized as Fl. or ƒ , which means florijn (florin). The English coin first issued in 1344 by Edward III of England is also known as a florin. Originally valued at six shillings, it was composed of 108 grains (6.99828 grams ) of gold with a purity of 23 carats and 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 grains (or 23 + 7 ⁄ 8 carats) – and more recently (minted between 1849-1967 although circulating alongside

3192-616: The Constitutio de feudis in order to secure the support of the vasvassores petty gentry, whose fiefs he declared hereditary. Indeed, Conrad could stable his rule, however, the imperial supremacy in Italy remained contested. Under the Macedonian dynasty , Byzantine power experienced a recovery; and the impact of this was felt in southern Italy. During the late 9th century, the amount of territory under direct Byzantine rule (which in

3325-459: The Alps . As no dominant powers emerged as they did in other parts of Europe, the oligarchic city-state became the prevalent form of government. Keeping both direct church control and imperial power at arm's length, the many independent city states prospered through commerce, based on early capitalist principles, ultimately creating the conditions for the artistic and intellectual changes produced by

3458-854: The Archbishop of Milan with the Iron Crown in Pavia as a prelude to the visit to Rome to be crowned Emperor by the Pope . The Emperor, or his subordinate ruler of the Kingdom of Italy , nominally controlled the Northern Italian communes. In general, the monarch was an absentee, spending most of his time in Germany and leaving the Kingdom of Italy with little central authority. There was also

3591-539: The Battle of Legnano in 1176. This made north Italy a land of quasi-independent or independent city-states until the 19th century (see Italian city-states and history of every city). The revolts were funded by the Byzantine Empire , which hoped to expel the Germanic peoples from Italy; this sponsorship was, like the invasion of the south, part of a 12th-century Byzantine effort to regain the influence it had once held on

3724-585: The Benedictines had a major role both in the economic life of the time, and in the preservation of classical culture (although in the east the Greek authors were much better preserved). After the Lombard invasion, the popes were nominally subject to the eastern emperor, but often received little help from Constantinople, and had to fill the lack of stately power, providing essential services (ex. food for

3857-544: The Duchy of Milan annexed a number of nearby areas including Pavia and Parma . The Duchy of Milan found itself in the focus of European power politics in the 15th century, leading to the drawn-out Italian Wars , which persisted for the best part of the 16th century before giving way to the Early Modern period in Italy . In the 14th century, Italy presents itself as divided between the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily in

3990-677: The Eastern Roman Empire . Lombard rule ended with the invasion of Charlemagne in 773, who established the Kingdom of Italy and the Papal States in large parts of the Northern and Central Italy . This set the precedent for the main political conflict in Italy over the following centuries, between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor , culminating with conflict between Pope Gregory VII and Henry IV and

4123-487: The Exarchate of Ravenna . Southern Italy, with the exception of Apulia , current Calabria and Sicily, were also occupied by the two semi-independent Lombard duchies of Spoleto and Benevento . Under the imperial authority remained also much of the ports, which eventually turned into actually independent city-states ( Genoa , Pisa , Venice , Amalfi ). The Church (and especially the bishop of Rome , by now styled

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4256-504: The Holy Roman Empire . Each city aligned itself with one faction or the other, yet was divided internally between the two warring parties, Guelfs and Ghibellines . The county of Savoy expanded its territory into the peninsula in the late Middle Ages , while Florence developed into a highly organized commercial and financial city-state, becoming for many centuries the European capital of silk, wool, banking and jewelry. Warfare between

4389-624: The Italian Peninsula . Southern Italy was divided amongst the two Lombards duchies of Spoleto and Benevento , who accepted Charlemagne's suzerainty only formally (812), and the Byzantine Empire . Coastal cities like Gaeta , Amalfi , Naples on the Tyrrhenian Sea , and Venice on the Adriatic Sea , were enclaves who were becoming increasingly independent of Byzantium. A conquest of Benevento, otherwise, would have meant

4522-605: The Italian War of 1494–98 . As a result, Italy became a battleground of the great European powers for the next sixty years, finally culminating in the Italian War of 1551–59 , which concluded with Habsburg Spain as the dominant power in Southern Italy and in Milan. The House of Habsburg would control territories in Italy for the duration of the early modern period , until Napoleon 's invasion of Italy in 1796. The term " Middle Ages " itself ultimately derives from

4655-711: The Kalbids , ruled the island until 1053. In 846, Muslim Arabs invaded Rome , looted St. Peter's Basilica , and stole all the gold and silver in it. In response, Pope Leo IV started building the Leonine walls of the Vatican City in 847; they were completed in 853. In the late 9th century, the Byzantines and the Franks launched a joint offensive against the Arabs in southern Italy. With Charlemagne's conquest of 774,

4788-425: The Kingdom of Italy and on 2 February 962 had himself crowned Holy Roman Emperor at Rome, reviving the empire of Charlemagne . From that time on, the kings of Italy were always also kings of Germany, and Italy thus became a constituent kingdom of the Holy Roman Empire , along with the Kingdom of Germany ( regnum Teutonicorum ) and – from 1032 – Burgundy . The German king ( Rex Romanorum ) would be crowned by

4921-536: The Middle Ages . The war with Avignon papacy strained the regime. In 1378 discontented wool workers revolted. The Ciompi revolt , as it is known, established a revolutionary commune. In 1382 the wealthier classes crushed the seeds of rebellion. The famous Medici bank was established by Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici in October 1397. The bank continued to exist (albeit in an extremely diminished form) until

5054-642: The Normans occupied the Lombard and Byzantine possessions in Southern Italy, ending the six century old presence of both powers in the peninsula. The independent city-states were also subdued. During the same century, the Normans also ended Muslim rule in Sicily. Norman rule in what had once been Byzantine territory naturally angered Constantinople, which in 1155 made a last attempt under Emperor Manuel I Komnenos to reassert its authority in Southern Italy. However,

5187-717: The Piazza della Signoria by being burned at the stake by Florentine authorities, in May 1498. In 1502, the Florentines chose Piero Soderini as their first ruler for life. Soderini succeeded where Savonarola had failed, when the Secretary of War, Niccolò Machiavelli , recaptured Pisa in 1509. It was at this time that Machiavelli introduced a standing army in Florence, replacing the traditional use of hired mercenaries. Soderini

5320-641: The Renaissance . Italian towns transitioned out from feudalism , so that their society was primarily based on merchants and commerce. In this era, northern cities and states gained prominence over the south with their merchant republics , especially the Republic of Venice . Compared to feudal and absolute monarchies, the Italian independent communes and merchant republics enjoyed relative political freedom that boosted scientific and artistic advancement. The southern states' knights and mercenaries were internationally renowned and developed in reaction to

5453-535: The Republic of Genoa . Florence obliged, but Milan disregarded its own treaty and occupied a Florentine border town. The conservative government wanted war, while the people bemoaned such a stance as they would be subject to enormous tax increases. The republic went to war with Milan, and won, upon the Republic of Venice 's entry on their side. The war was concluded in 1427, and the Visconti of Milan were forced to sign an unfavourable treaty. The debt incurred during

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5586-638: The Wars in Lombardy . This series of conflicts between the Venetian Republic and the Duchy of Milan for hegemony in Northern Italy lasted from 1423 to 1454 and involved a number of Italian states, that occasionally switched sides according to their changing interests. Filippo Maria Visconti of Milan invaded Florence twice in the 1430s, and again in 1440, but his army was finally defeated in

5719-402: The battle of Anghiari . The Milanese invasions were largely instigated by the exiled Albizzi family. Death of Filippo Maria in 1447 led to a major change in the alliances. In 1450 Cosimo's current ally Francesco Sforza established himself as the Duke of Milan . Florentine trade interests made her support Sforza's Milan in the war against Venice, while the fall of Constantinople in 1453 dealt

5852-400: The pope ), had played an important political role since the time of Constantine. In the politically unstable situation after the fall of the western empire, the Church often became the only stable institution and the only source of learning in Western Europe. Even the barbarians had to rely on clerics in order to administer their conquests. Furthermore, the Catholic monastic orders , such as

5985-461: The 13th century, reaching 30,000 inhabitants. As has been said, the extra inhabitants supported the city's trade and vice versa. Several new bridges and churches were built, most prominently the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore , begun in 1294. The buildings from this era serve as Florence's best examples of Gothic Architecture . Politically, Florence was barely able to maintain peace between its competing factions. The precarious peace that existed at

6118-487: The Black chiefs, consented to set fire to the dwellings of his own kinsmen in Orto-san-Michele; the flames, assisted by faction, spread rapidly over the richest and most crowded part of Florence: shops, warehouses, towers, private dwellings and palaces, from the old to the new market-place, from Vacchereccia to Porta Santa Maria and the Ponte Vecchio, all was one broad sheet of fire: more than nineteen hundred houses were consumed; plunder and devastation revelled unchecked amongst

6251-411: The Bonsignori family of Siena, one of the leading banking families of Europe, went bankrupt, and the city of Siena lost its status as the most prominent banking center of Europe to Florence. In 1304, the war between the Ghibellines and the Guelphs led to a great fire that destroyed much of the city. Napier gives the following account: Battles first began between the Cerchi and Giugni at their houses in

6384-433: The Bonsignori family, several new banking families sprang up in Florence: the Bardis , Peruzzis and the Acciaioli . The friction between the Guelphs and the Ghibellines did not cease, authority still passed between the two frequently. Florence's reign as the foremost banking city of Europe did not last long; the aforesaid families were bankrupt in 1340, not because of Edward III of England 's refusal to pay his debts, as

6517-440: The Byzantine Eastern Orthodox Church with Roman Catholicism . Pope Eugenius IV convened it in reply to a cry for assistance from the Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire (also known as the Byzantine Empire ) John VIII Palaiologos . John VIII's empire was slowly being devoured by the Ottoman Turks. The council was a huge boost to Florence's international prestige. The council deliberated until July 1439. Both parties had reached

6650-447: The Byzantine patrician of Sicily succeeded in creating Anthimus duke. However, Anthimus was unable to control the cities under his rule, Gaeta and Amalfi. Subsequent to Anthimus, the patrician tried to appoint his own candidate without imperial approval. The people rebelled and accepted Stephen III in 821. During Stephen's decade of rule, Naples severed all legal ties to Constantinople and even began minting her own coins. In 840, after

6783-440: The Carolingian emperors but ignore their rulings. As a result, De facto independence was achieved from Frankish as well as Byzantine authority. The Duchy of Benevento reached its territorial peak under Sicard in the 830s. At his time, the Mezzogiorno was suffering the ravages of the Saracens , against whom Sicard warred constantly. He also warred against his Byzantine neighbours, especially Sorrento , Naples , and Amalfi . It

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6916-433: The Eastern Empire and connection with the Western world of France and Germany, which had started three centuries before, was completed at the beginning of the 9th century. Sicily, Calabria, Puglia and Venice were the main exceptions to this rule. After the death of Charlemagne (814) the new empire soon disintegrated under his weak successors. The equilibrium created through the great emperor's charisma fell apart. This crisis

7049-433: The Florentine florin (98% gold, 3.54 grams). By 1419, the weight had been slightly reduced (to 3.51 grams) and the alloy was substantially reduced (to 79% gold). By 1626, the alloy had been slightly reduced again (to 77% gold), while the weight was more substantially reduced (to 3.240 grams). In 1409, the Rheingulden standard (at the time 91.7% gold) was adopted for the Holy Roman Empire's Reichsgulden . The Dutch guilder

7182-451: The Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon the death of Matilda of Tuscany , who controlled vast territories that included Florence. The Florentines formed a commune in her successors' place. The republic was ruled by a council known as the Signoria of Florence . The signoria was chosen by the gonfaloniere (titular ruler of the city), who was elected every two months by Florentine guild members. During

7315-471: The Lombards and gave the papacy legal authority over all of central Italy, thus creating the Papal States . However, the remainder of Italy stayed under Lombard (such as Benevento and Spoleto) or Byzantine (such as Calabria, Apulia and Sicily) control. In 774, upon a Papal invitation, the Franks invaded the Kingdom of Italy and finally annexed the Lombards; as a reward the Frankish king Charlemagne received papal support. Later, on 25 December 800, Charlemagne

7448-411: The Medici. Savonarola's ulterior goal, however, was to transform Florence into a "city of God". Florentines stopped wearing garish colours, and many women took oaths to become nuns. Savonarola became most famous for his " Bonfire of the Vanities ", where he ordered all "vanities" to be gathered and burned. These included wigs, perfume, paintings, and ancient pagan manuscripts. Savonarola's rule collapsed

7581-402: The Mediterranean, leading to an essential role in the Crusades . The maritime republics, especially Venice and Genoa, soon became Europe's main gateways to trade with the East, establishing colonies as far as the Black Sea and often controlling most of the trade with the Byzantine Empire and the Islamic Mediterranean world. The papacy regained its authority, and started a long struggle with

7714-456: The Milanese during the first war. The second war started in March 1397. Milanese troops devastated the Florentine contado , but were checked in August of that year. The war expenses exceeded one million florins and necessitated tax raises and forced loans. A peace agreement in May 1398 was brokered by Venice, but left the struggle unresolved. Over the next two years Florentine control of Tuscany and Umbria collapsed. Pisa and Siena as well as

7847-418: The Republic of Florence for 200,000 florins. Since the Pisans did not intend to voluntarily submit to their long-time rivals, the army under Maso degli Albizzi took Pisa on 9 October 1406 after a long siege, that was accompanied by numerous atrocities. The state authorities had been approached by the Duchy of Milan in 1422, with a treaty, that prohibited Florence's interference with Milan's impending war with

7980-413: The Republic of Florence was the first European gold coin struck in sufficient quantities to play a significant commercial role since the 7th century. As many Florentine banks were international companies with branches across Europe, the florin quickly became the dominant trade coin of Western Europe for large scale transactions, replacing silver bars in multiples of the mark . In fact, with the collapse of

8113-475: The Republic's history, Florence was an important cultural, economic, political and artistic force in Europe . Its coin, the florin , was the dominant trade coin of Western Europe for large scale transactions and became widely imitated throughout the continent. During the Republican period, Florence was also the birthplace of the Renaissance , which is considered a fervent period of European cultural, artistic, political and economic "rebirth". The republic had

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8246-446: The Tyrrhenian cities, and Venice (in North Italy) retained some allegiance to Byzantium until the 11th century-long after becoming de facto independent. The period following the Beneventan civil war was one of confusion, brought on by the independence movements in the various cities and provinces and by the Saracen onslaught. In Salerno, a palace coup removed Siconulf's successor Sico II in 853 and destabilised that principality until

8379-441: The Unfortunate . Lorenzo's brother Giuliano was killed before his own eyes in the Pazzi conspiracy of 1478. This plot was instigated by the Pazzi family. The coup was unsuccessful, and the conspirators were executed in a very violent manner. The scheme was supported by the Archbishop of Pisa, Francesco Salviati , who was also executed in his ceremonial robes. News of this sacrilege reached Pope Sixtus IV (who had also supported

8512-419: The Vandals, who had occupied Sicily , and other Germanic tribes that periodically invaded the peninsula. In 489, however, Emperor Zeno decided to oust the Ostrogoths , a foederatum people living in the Danube, by sending them into Italy. On 25 February 493 Theodoric the Great defeated Odoacer and became the king of the Ostrogoths. Theodoric, who had lived long in Constantinople, is now generally considered

8645-406: The Via del Garbo; they fought day and night, and with the aid of the Cavalcanti and Antellesi the former subdued all that quarter: a thousand rural adherents strengthened their bands, and that day might have seen the Neri's destruction if an unforeseen disaster had not turned the scale. A certain dissolute priest, called Neri Abati, prior of San Piero Scheraggio, false to his family and in concert with

8778-401: The advances of the Guelphs, for example the demolition of hundreds of towers, homes, and palaces. The fragility of their rule caused the Ghibellines to seek out an arbitrator in the form of Pope Clement IV , who openly favoured the Guelphs, and restored them to power. The Florentine economy reached a zenith in the latter half of the 13th century, and its success was reflected by the building of

8911-435: The always fractious political divisions of Florence when he had called up huge debts owed to the Medici Bank. These debts were owed primarily by a Florentine nobleman, Luca Pitti . Lucca called for an armed insurrection against Piero, but a co-conspirator rebutted this. Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan died in 1466, and his son Galeazzo Maria Sforza became the new Milanese duke. With the death of Francesco Sforza, Florence lost

9044-410: The attempt failed, and in 1158, the Byzantines left Italy. Unlike the Norman conquest of England (1066), which took place over the course of a few years after one decisive battle, the conquest of Southern Italy was the product of decades and many battles, few decisive. Many territories were conquered independently, and only later were all unified into one state. Compared to the conquest of England, it

9177-493: The beginning of the century was destroyed in 1216 when two factions, known as the Guelphs and the Ghibellines , began to war. The Ghibellines were supporters of the noble rulers of Florence, whereas the Guelphs were populists . The Ghibellines, who had ruled the city under Frederick of Antioch since 1244, were deposed in 1250 by the Guelphs. The Guelphs led Florence to prosper further. Their primarily mercantile orientation soon became evident in one of their earliest achievements:

9310-445: The bulk of the Italian population. Wars, famines, and disease epidemics had a dramatic effect on the demographics of Italy. The agricultural estates of the Roman era did not disappear. They produced an agricultural surplus that was sold in towns; however slavery was replaced by other labour systems such as serfdom . The withdrawal of Byzantine armies allowed another Germanic people, the Lombards , to invade Italy. Cividale del Friuli

9443-558: The citizens of the state of Florence were in secret very discontented, because the Duke Lorenzo, desiring to reduce the government to the form of a principality, appeared to disdain to consult any longer with the magistrates and his fellow-citizens as he used to do, and gave audiences very seldom, and with much impatience; he attended less to the business of the city, and caused all public affairs to be managed by Messer Goro da Pistoia, his secretary." In 1519, Lorenzo died from syphilis, shortly before his wife gave birth to Catherine de' Medici ,

9576-518: The city in November, he was branded as a traitor. He was forced to flee the republic with his family. After the fall of the Medici, Girolamo Savonarola ruled the state. Savonarola was a priest from Ferrara . He came to Florence in the 1480s. By proclaiming predictions and through vigorous preaching, he won the people to his cause. Savonarola's new government ushered in democratic reforms. It allowed many exiles back into Florence, who were banished by

9709-531: The city, aided by Emperor Charles V . Pope Clement VII , himself a Medici, appointed his relative Alessandro de' Medici as the first "Duke of the Florentine Republic", thereby transforming the Republic into a hereditary monarchy . The second duke, Cosimo I , established a strong Florentine navy and expanded his territory, conquering Siena . In 1569, the pope declared Cosimo

9842-481: The conspiracy against the Medicis). Sixtus IV was "outraged" and excommunicated everyone in Florence. Sixtus sent a papal delegation to Florence to arrest Lorenzo. The people of Florence were obviously enraged by the Pope's actions, and the local clergy too. The populace refused to resign Lorenzo to the papal delegation. A war followed, which lasted for two years until Lorenzo tactfully went about diplomatically securing

9975-609: The country. Infrastructures were repaired, frontiers were expanded, and the economy well cared for. The Latin culture flourished for the last time with figures like Boethius , Theodoric's minister; the Italian Kingdom was again the most powerful political entity of the Mediterranean. However, Theodoric's successors were not equal to him. The eastern half of the Empire , now centred on Constantinople , invaded Italy in

10108-447: The decimal ten pence coin until 1993 when it was withdrawn due to a resizing) relating to a British pre-decimal silver coin (later nickel silver ) also known as a two shilling (or two bob) "bit" (abbreviation 2/-) worth 24 pence or one-tenth of a pound. In Ireland , a silver florin coin (worth one-tenth of an Irish pound , with Irish inscription flóirín ) was minted between 1928 and 1943; it became cupronickel in 1943 and

10241-462: The description of the period of "obscurity" in Italian history during the 9th to 11th centuries, the saeculum obscurum or "Dark Age" of the Roman papacy as seen from the perspective of the 14th to 15th century Italian Humanists . Italy was invaded by the Visigoths in the 5th century, and Rome was sacked by Alaric in 410. The (traditional) last Western Roman Emperor , Romulus Augustus ,

10374-564: The early 6th century, and the generals of emperor Justinian , Belisarius and Narses , conquered the Ostrogothic kingdom after years of warfare, ending in 552. This conflict, known as the Gothic Wars , destroyed much of the town life that had survived the barbarian invasions. Town life did not disappear, but they became smaller and considerably more primitive than they had been in classical Roman times. Subsistence agriculture employed

10507-416: The early 9th century was limited to the toe and heel of the peninsula) expanded dramatically. The Catepanate of Italy was set up to administer the newly acquired territory. The rest of Southern Italy remained divided among the Lombard kings and the Italian cities. Both sets of principalities were de facto independent but paid nominal allegiance to Byzantium. The Southern Italy growth and change stagnated for

10640-677: The elites, including a Medici and several of the Alberti . The republic bankrolled the emperor-elect Rupert . However, he was defeated by the Milanese in the fall of 1401. Visconti then turned to Bologna. On 26 June 1402, combined Bolognese-Florentine forces were routed at Casalecchio , near Bologna, which was taken on the 30th. The road to Tuscany was open. However, Florence was saved after an outbreak of plague had spread from Tuscany to Emilia and Lombardy: Gian Galeazzo died from it on 3 September 1402. The Visconti domains were divided between three heirs. Gabriele Maria Visconti sold Pisa to

10773-568: The empire, about both ecclesiastical and secular matters. The first episode was the Investiture Controversy . In the 12th century, those Italian cities which lay in the Holy Roman Empire launched a successful effort to win autonomy from the Holy Roman Empire . In the north, a Lombard League of communes launched a successful effort to win autonomy from the Holy Roman Empire, defeating Emperor Frederick Barbarossa at

10906-486: The empire. Louis' eldest surviving son, Lothair I , became Emperor and ruler of the Central Franks. His three sons in turn divided this kingdom between them, and Northern Italy became the Kingdom of Italy under Louis II, Holy Roman Emperor in 839. The first half of the 9th century saw other troubles for Italy as well. In 827, Muslim Arabs known as Aghlabids invaded and conquered Sicily ; their descendants,

11039-566: The famed Palazzo della Signoria , designed by Arnolfo di Cambio . The Florentine townlands were divided into administrative districts in 1292. In 1293, the Ordinances of Justice were enacted, which effectively became the constitution of the republic of Florence throughout the Italian Renaissance. The city's numerous luxurious palazzi were becoming surrounded by townhouses built by the ever prospering merchant class. In 1298,

11172-521: The first grand duke of Tuscany . The Medici ruled the Grand Duchy of Tuscany until 1737. The city of Florence was established in 59 BC by Julius Caesar . Since 846 AD, the city had been part of the Marquisate of Tuscany . After Margravine Matilda of Tuscany died in 1115, the city did not submit readily to her successor, Rabodo (r. 1116–1119), who was killed in a dispute with the city. It

11305-400: The flames, whole races were reduced in one moment to beggary, and vast magazines of the richest merchandise were destroyed. The Cavalcanti, one of the most opulent families in Florence, beheld their whole property consumed, and lost all courage; they made no attempt to save it, and, after almost gaining possession of the city, were finally overcome by the opposite faction. The golden florin of

11438-418: The florin was for larger transactions such as those used in dowries, international trade or for tax-related matters. The first minting of the florin occurred in 1252. At the time the value of the florin was equal to the lira , but by 1500 the florin had appreciated; seven lire amounted to one florin. In the 14th century, about a 150 European states and local coin-issuing authorities made their own copies of

11571-520: The florin. The most important of these was the Hungarian forint , because the Kingdom of Hungary was a major source of European gold (until mining in the New World began to contribute to the supply in the 16th and 17th centuries, most of the gold used in Europe came from Africa ). The design of the original Florentine florins was the distinctive fleur-de-lis badge of the city on one side and on

11704-443: The future Queen of France. Following the death of Lorenzo II, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici governed Florence until 1523, when he was elected Pope Clement VII. U.S. President John Adams later characterized his administration of Florence as "very successful and frugal." Adams chronicles Cardinal Giulio as having "reduced the business of the magistrates, elections, customs of office, and the mode of expenditure of public money, in such

11837-659: The head of the Medici Bank. He played a prominent role in the government of Florence until his exile in 1433, after a disastrous war with Tuscany's neighbour, the Republic of Lucca . Cosimo's exile in Venice lasted for less than a year, when the people of Florence overturned Cosimo's exile in a democratic vote. Cosimo returned to the acclaim of his people and the banishment of the Albizzi family, who had exiled him. The Renaissance began during Cosimo's de facto rule of Florence,

11970-474: The history of the Lombard south is one of declining, competing powers. In the Tyrrhenian Greek cities, the violence raging inland, between them and their fellow Greeks on toe and heel, fostered the circumstances of de facto independence. Naples, in particular, had a history of differences with Byzantium and had in the past sought to make herself dependent on other authorities, often papal. In 801,

12103-479: The internal problems were fixed, Venice took the opportunity to invade Florentine territory in 1467. Piero appointed Federigo da Montefeltro , Lord of Urbino , to command his mercenaries. An inconclusive battle ensued, with the Venetians forces retreating. In the winter of 1469 Piero died. Lorenzo succeeded his father, Piero. Lorenzo, as heir, was accordingly groomed by his father to rule over Florence. Lorenzo

12236-571: The introduction of a new coin, the florin , in 1252. It was widely used beyond Florence's borders due to its reliable, fixed gold content and soon became one of the common currencies of Europe and the Near East . The same year saw the creation of the Palazzo del Popolo . The Guelphs lost the reins of power after Florence suffered a catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Montaperti against Siena in 1260. The Ghibellines resumed power and undid many of

12369-540: The latter's " Walk to Canossa " in 1077. In the 11th century, in the Northern and Central parts of the peninsula, began a political development unique to Italy, the transformation of medieval communes into powerful city-states , many of them, modelled on ancient Roman Republicanism . Cities such as Venice , Milan , Genoa , Florence , Siena , Pisa , Bologna among others, rose to great political power, becoming major financial and trading centers. These states paved

12502-493: The main instruments and practices of banking and the emergence of new forms of social and economic organization. During the same period, Italy saw the rise of the Maritime Republics : Venice , Genoa , Pisa , Amalfi , Ragusa , Ancona , Gaeta and the little Noli . From the 11th to the 13th centuries these cities built fleets of ships both for their own protection and to support extensive trade networks across

12635-609: The mid 8th century. The "Middle Ages" proper begin as the Byzantine Empire was weakening under the pressure of the Muslim conquests , and most of the Exarchate of Ravenna finally fell under Lombard rule in 751. From this period, former states that were part of the Exarchate and were not conquered by the Lombard Kingdom, such as the Duchy of Naples , became de facto independent states, having less and less interference from

12768-408: The name Leo X. This effectively brought the Papal States and Florence into a political union. Leo X ruled Florence by proxy, first appointing his brother Giuliano de' Medici to rule in his stead, and then in 1513, replacing Giuliano with his cousin, Lorenzo II de' Medici . Lorenzo II's government proved unpopular in Florence. According to U.S. President and historian John Adams , "at this time

12901-573: The needy) and protecting Rome from Lombard incursions; in this way, the popes started building an independent state. At the end of the 8th century the popes definitely aspired to independence, and found a way to achieve it by allying with the Carolingian dynasty of the Franks: the Carolingians needed someone who could give legitimacy to a coup against the powerless Merovingian kings, while

13034-437: The new German King Henry II of Germany , by the aid of Bishop Leo of Vercelli , move into Italy to have himself crowned rex Italiae . Arduin ranks as the last domestic "King of Italy" before the accession of Victor Emmanuel II in 1861. Henry's Salian successor Conrad II tried to confirm his dominion against Archbishop Aribert of Milan and other Italian aristocrats ( seniores ). While besieging Milan in 1037, he issued

13167-421: The north of Italy was politically separated from the south completely. Though the Byzantines had continued to hold most of Apulia and Calabria and the Lombard duchies of the south had been aloof of Pavian policies for a century, the situation was exacerbated by the loss of a centralising Lombard authority in the north. Under Arechis II of Benevento and his successors, it was the Beneventan policy to pay homage to

13300-583: The other a standing and facing figure of St. John the Baptist wearing a cilice . On other countries' florins, the inscriptions were changed (from "Florentia" around the fleur, and the name of the saint on the other), and local heraldic devices were substituted for the fleur-de-lis. Later, other figures were often substituted for St. John. On the Hungarian forints, St. John was re-labelled St. Ladislaus , an early Christian king and patron saint of Hungary, and

13433-412: The peninsula during the reign of Justinian I . In the 14th century, Northern Italy and upper-central Italy were divided into a number of warring city-states , the most powerful being Milan , Florence , Pisa , Siena , Genoa , Ferrara , Mantua , Verona , and Venice . High Medieval Northern Italy was further divided by the long running battle for supremacy between the forces of the papacy and of

13566-530: The popes needed military protection against the Lombards . In 751 the Lombards seized Ravenna and the Exarchate of Ravenna was abolished. This ended the Byzantine presence in central Italy (although some coastal cities and some areas in south Italy remained under Byzantine control until the 11th century). Facing a new Lombard offensive, the papacy appealed to the Franks for aid. In 756 Frankish forces defeated

13699-565: The principal humanist of Florence. Bracciolini was born Arezzo in 1380. He toured Europe, searching for more ancient Greco-Roman manuscripts for Niccoli. Unlike his employer, Bracciolini also authored his own works. He was made the Chancellor of Florence shortly before his death, by Cosimo, who was his best friend. Florence hosted the Great Ecumenical Council in 1439; this council was launched in an attempt to reconcile

13832-613: The region for the first time in centuries. These five powers were the Venetian Republic, the Republic of Florence , the Duchy of Milan and the Papal States, dominating the northern and central parts of Italy and the Kingdom of Naples in the south. The precarious balance between these powers came to an end in 1494 as the duke of Milan Ludovico Sforza sought the aid of Charles VIII of France against Venice, triggering

13965-508: The republic institutions to demand political reforms, freedom of speech in the councils and a greater share in the decision-making. Medici's party response was to use threats of force from private armies and Milanese troops and arranging a popular assembly dominated by Cosimo's supporters. It exiled the opponents of the regime and introduced the open vote in councils, "in order to unmask the anti-Medician rebels". From 1458 Cosimo withdrew from any official public role, but his control of Florence

14098-631: The seeds of which had arguably been laid before the Black Death tore through Europe. Niccolò Niccoli was the leading Florence humanist scholar of the time. He appointed the first Professor of Greek , Manuel Chrysoloras (the founder of Hellenic studies in Italy), at the University of Florence in 1397. Niccoli was a keen collector of ancient manuscripts, which he bequeathed to Cosimo upon his death in 1437. Poggio Bracciolini succeeded Niccoli as

14231-461: The south and was especially evident in Capua. In 951 King Otto I of Germany had married Adelaide of Burgundy , the widow of late King Lothair II of Italy . Otto assumed the Iron Crown of Lombardy at Pavia despite his rival Margrave Berengar of Ivrea . The thrones of Italy and Germany were united. When in 960 Berengar attacked the Papal States , King Otto, summoned by Pope John XII , conquered

14364-601: The south, the Papal States in Central Italy, and the Maritime republics in the north. The Black Plague ravaged Europe during the 1340s–50s, wiping out almost half the continent's population. Particularly detrimental was the fact that most of the victims were young adults in their prime working years, which left behind an "hourglass" population structure comprised heavily of children and older people, with fewer in-between. The widespread belief of medieval Europe having

14497-474: The statecraft and knights of the Low Countries , the Kingdom of France , and the Holy Roman Empire . Thanks to their favorable position between East and West, Italian cities such as Venice became international trading and banking hubs and intellectual crossroads. Milan, Florence and Venice, as well as several other Italian city-states, played a crucial innovative role in financial development, devising

14630-499: The states was common, invasion from outside Italy confined to intermittent sorties of Holy Roman Emperors . Renaissance politics developed from this background. Since the 13th century, as armies became primarily composed of mercenaries , prosperous city-states could field considerable forces, despite their low populations. In the course of the 15th century, the most powerful city-states annexed their smaller neighbors. Florence took Pisa in 1406, Venice captured Padua and Verona , while

14763-402: The surrounding countryside. The papacy went through an age of decadence, which ended only in 999 when emperor Otto III selected Silvester II as pope. Upon the death of Emperor Otto III in 1002, one of late Berengar's successors, Margrave Arduin of Ivrea , even succeeded in assuming the Italian crown and in defeating the imperial forces under Duke Otto I of Carinthia . Not until 1004 could

14896-502: The time of Ferdinando II de'Medici in the 17th century. But, for now, Giovanni's bank flourished. Beginning in 1389, Gian Galeazzo Visconti of Milan expanded his dominion into the Veneto, Piedmont, Emilia and Tuscany. During this period Florence, under the leadership of Maso degli Albizzi and Niccolò da Uzzano was involved in three wars with Milan (1390–92, 1397–98, 1400–02). The Florentine army, commanded by John Hawkwood , contained

15029-402: The time of the Beneventan civil war. While the first hypati remained Byzantine loyals, in 866, the sudden appearance of a new dynasty under Docibilis I represented Gaeta's move from Byzantium towards independence. The first elected ruler of Amalfi was a prefect appearing in 839, simultaneous with the death of Sicard and the appearance of a Gaetan hyaptus . However, Naples, Gaeta, Amalfi,

15162-597: The total encompassment of the Papal territories, and probably Charlemagne thought it was good for his relationships with the Pope to avoid such a move. The age of Charlemagne was one of stability for Italy, though it was generally dominated by non-Italian interests. The separation with the Eastern world continued to increase. Leo III was the first Pope to date his Bulls from the year of Charlemagne's reign (795) instead of those of Byzantine emperors. This process of isolation from

15295-574: The war was gargantuan, approximately 4,200,000 florins. To pay, the state had to change the tax system. The current estimo system was replaced with the catasto . The catasto was based on a citizen's entire wealth, while the estimo was simply a form of income tax. Apart from war, Filippo Brunelleschi created the renowned dome of the Santa Maria del Fiore , which astounded contemporaries and modern observers alike. The son of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, Cosimo de' Medici succeeded his father as

15428-422: The way for the Italian Renaissance and the end of the perceived obscurity of the Middle Ages . After the three decades of wars in Lombardy between the Duchy of Milan and the Republic of Venice, there was eventually a balance of power between five emerging powerful states, which at the Peace of Lodi formed the so-called Italic League , on the initiative of Francesco I Sforza , bringing relative calm for

15561-568: Was also crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire by the pope, triggering controversy and disputes over the Roman name . A war between the two empires soon followed; in 812 the Byzantines agreed to recognize the existence of two Roman Empires in return for an assurance that the remaining Byzantine possessions in Italy would be uncontested. Throughout this period, some coastal regions, and all of southern Italy, remained under Byzantine or Lombard control. The imperial authority never extended much south of

15694-405: Was beginning to make itself felt. Guaifer of Salerno was on friendly terms with the Saracens, a habit which annoyed the popes and often put a ruler at odds with his neighbours. The south Italian lords continually rotating in their allegiances. Guaifer's successor, Guaimar I , made war on the Saracens. Guaifer had originally associated Guaimar with him as co-ruler, a practice which became endemic to

15827-461: Was deposed in 476 by an Eastern Germanic general, Odoacer . He subsequently ruled in Italy for seventeen years as rex gentium , theoretically under the suzerainty of the eastern Roman emperor Zeno , but practically in total independence. The administration remained essentially the same as that under the Western Roman Empire, and gave religious freedoms to the Christians. Odoacer fought against

15960-569: Was due also to the emergence of external forces, including the Saracen attacks and the rising power of the marine republics. Charlemagne had announced his division of the Empire in 806: the Lombard-Frank reign, together with Bavaria and Alamannia , was to be handed over to his son Pepin of Italy . After Charlemagne's son Louis the Pious died in 840, the treaty of Verdun in 843 divided

16093-428: Was elected Pope Clement VII, he appointed Ippolito de' Medici and Alessandro de' Medici to rule Florence, under the guardianship of Cardinal Passerini . Ippolito was the son of Giuliano de' Medici, while Alessandro was allegedly the son of Clement VII. Cardinal Passerini's regency government proved highly unpopular. In May 1527, Rome was sacked by the Holy Roman Empire. The city was destroyed, and Pope Clement VII

16226-509: Was greater than ever. In the spring of 1459 he entertained the new pope Pius II , who stopped in Florence on his way to the Council of Mantua to declare a crusade against the Ottomans, and Galeazzo Maria Sforza , Francesco's son, who was to escort the pope from Florence to Mantua . In his memoirs, Pius said that Cosimo "was considered the arbiter of war and peace, the regulator of law; less

16359-568: Was hit hard by the Black Death . Having originated in the Orient, the plague arrived in Messina in 1347. The plague devastated Europe, robbing it of an estimated one-third of its population. This, combined with the economic downturn, took its toll on the city-state. The ensuing collapse of the feudal system changed the social composition of Europe forever; it was one of the first steps out of

16492-453: Was imprisoned. During the tumult, a faction of Republicans drove out the Medici from Florence. A new wave of Puritanism swept through the city. Many new restricting fundamentalist laws were passed. In 1529, Clement VII signed the Treaty of Barcelona with Charles V , under which Charles would, in exchange for the Pope's blessing, invade Florence and restore the Medici. They were restored after

16625-420: Was in a war with Naples that Duke Andrew II first called in Saracen mercenaries . In 839, Sicard was assassinated, and a civil war broke out, which illustrated the nature of political power in the south. It was still largely in the hands of the land-owning aristocracy, who had the power to choose a prince. In 839, some chose Radelchis I , the treasurer and assassin, and some chose Siconulf of Salerno , who

16758-516: Was installed at Salerno . This civil war continued apace for a decade, during which the gastaldates of Benevento took the opportunity to entrench their independence, especially Capua , which sided with Siconulf. In 849, the Emperor Louis II , in one of his first acts as King of Italy , invaded the peninsula and imposed peace between the Lombard factions. He divided the principality into two: one at Benevento, one at Salerno. Thenceforward,

16891-549: Was released from his oath by Pope Adrian II on 28 May. His attempts to punish Adelchis were not very successful. Adelchis vacillated between nominal fealty to the Carolingian and Byzantine emperors, but, in fact, by his alterations to the Edictum Rothari , he acknowledged himself as the legitimate Lombard "king." The successors of Adelchis were weak and the principality of Benevento declined just as Salernitan power

17024-407: Was repudiated in September 1512, when Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici captured Florence with Papal troops during the War of the League of Cambrai . The Medici rule of Florence was thus restored. Soon after retaking Florence, Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici was recalled to Rome. Pope Julius II had just died, and he needed to be present for the ensuing Papal conclave . Giovanni was elected Pope, taking

17157-425: Was sealed. Fourteen years later in 1453, Constantinople fell to the Ottomans. Cosimo's fervent patronage transformed Florence into the epitome of a Renaissance city. He employed Donatello , Brunelleschi , and Michelozzo . All these artistic commissions cost Cosimo over 600,000 florins. Foreign relations, both as a backdrop to Cosimo's rise to power and during the first twenty years of his rule, were dominated by

17290-484: Was the first main centre to fall, while the Byzantine resistance concentrated in the coast areas. The Lombards soon overran most of the peninsula, establishing a Kingdom with capital in Pavia , divided into a series of dukedoms. The areas in central-northern Italy which remained under Byzantine control (mostly the current Lazio and Romagna , plus a short corridor between Umbria that connected them, as well as Liguria ) became

17423-500: Was the greatest artistic patron of the Renaissance. He patronised Leonardo da Vinci , Michelangelo and Botticelli , among others. During Lorenzo's reign, the Renaissance truly descended on Florence. Lorenzo commissioned a multitude of amazing pieces of art and also enjoyed collecting fine gems. Lorenzo had many children with his wife Clarice Orsini , including the future Pope Leo X and his eventual successor in Florence, Piero

17556-597: Was unplanned and unorganised, but just as permanent. Thanks to the marriage between the Emperor Henry VI and Constance , heiress to the Sicilian throne, the Kingdom of Sicily was in a personal union with the Holy Roman Empire from 1194 to 1254. The Kingdom of Sicily would last under various dynasties until the 19th century. Between the 12th and 13th centuries, Italy developed a peculiar political pattern, significantly different from feudal Europe north of

17689-560: Was withdrawn from use on 1 June 1994. The Hungarian forint is named after the florin. Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence ( Latin : Res publica Florentina ; Old Italian : Republica di Fiorenza ), known officially as the Florentine Republic , was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany, Italy . The republic originated in 1115, when

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