Hello Campers!
It’s 12:30 on the 10th, Erik and I have just grtt
That’s as far as I got last night before I fell asleep. Long great tour yesterday, followed by several hours at the Saint Lorenzo church and Medici chapel. Erik and I left for dinner at 9:30 and got home at 12:15. I took lots of pictures that hope to be able to. Download one of these days.
Off now to a 13 hour hiking tour of Cinque Terre. Bye!
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Ok, now, we shift in time again and its back to Saturday the 9th, at least in US time and date. Slowly, I'm getting more telephone functions working, as I've added an eSim card and I think the features are working in. I will tell you/warn you:
NOTHING TO DO WITH VERIZON WILL WORK! I HAVE ROAMING OFF AND I HOPE TO HIGH HEAVEN THAT IT DOES NOT KNOW THAT MY PHONE IS ALIVE AND WELL IN EUROPE, I.E., DON'T CALL, DON'T TEXT, BECAUSE NEITHER OF THEM SHOULD BE WORKING!!! I HOPE!! OTHERWISE, ITS $10/DAY FOR SOMETHING THAT SHOULD NOT BE WORKING.
On the other hand, I think I have my phone working. Just don't tell anyone that I am secretly "A French Person", at least according to my eSim. My phone number is +33 6 72 54 73 09 in case you need to get in touch with me, and I am also on WhatsApp at the same number. However, my email is still the same and a safe bet, as often as I read it here.
I'll tell you. I'm struggling with how much background information to give you. To "understand" Florence, you need to know about the geography, the political structure and the Medici family. The first two I can cover with some general brushstrokes. However, Florence is a minor city without the Medici's. Let's try it.
---------------------------- Florence the city
Florence (the yellow marker) is a city in the central upper region of the "boot" of Italy. Strategically, it is the "capital" of the region of Tuscany. It is located above (upstream on the Arno River) the once competing city of Pisa. It was founded by the Romans in 59 BC and was laid out in typical Roman camp design. A north/south and an east/west road intersect in the middle and forms a large plaza, now the Piazza della Repubblica. Roman walls were eventually built around the city, but they were continually enlarged as the city grew. Because of the Roman history, the primary streets in old Florence roughly follow a grid pattern, so you aren't wandering blindly (although
you may think you are).
A Catholic church diocese was established around the end of the first century and a large, formal church was constructed around 500 CE, located where the Duomo (the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, the Cathedral of Saint Marie of the Flowers) is located now. It is the "center of the city."
Around 1050, a bridge was built across the Arno and area of the river became available for small commerce and residences. The bridge is now called the Ponte Vecchio (or Old Bridge) and the area to the south is the Oltrarno.
In 1115, the Republic of Florence was formed and a basic system of government was developed.
1180, craft guilds start being established.
1200 The Medici family moves into Florence, involved mainly in the wool and cloth trades.
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Political Structure
Very briefly, from 1282 to 1532, the governing body of the Republic of was the Signoria of Florence. The Priority consisted of nine men, six from the major guilds and two from the minor guilds. A ninth member was selected from the group by lot to be the leader for a period of two months. He was the Gonfaloniere of Justice. They would live in the Palazzo delle Signoria, which is now known as the Palazzo Vecchio, the Old Palace. While it established as democratic structure, it was limited because it was restricted to just guild members. The general public, the Popolo Minute, the Little People, were not included and could not vote. Neither could the nobility.
1289, slavery is abolished.
1299 Palazzo delle Signoria construction begins, the central government building. The courtyard is the Piazza della Signoria
1348 Black Death reduced to population of Florence from 90,000 to about 45,000
1397 Medici Bank established.
1434 Cosimo the Elder in power, called the Father of his Country
1436 The Duomo is consecrated
1458 Work begins on the Pitti Palace
1464 Cosimo dies, son Pietro the Gouty Medici in power
1469 Pietro dies, Lorenzo the Magnificent in power
1478 Pazzi Conspiracy fails, Lorenzo's brother Guiliano is killed in the Duomo
1489-1493 Michelangelo at age 14 lives with Lorenzo's family for four years
1492 Lorenzo the Magnificent dies succeeded by son Pierro the Unfortunate
1494 Pierro is forced to flee to France
Priest Savonarolla takes over Florence
1497 Bonfire of the Vanities
1498 Savonarolla hung and burned in the courtyard of the the Palazzo Vecchio
Machiavelle's The Prince is published
1504 Michelangelo's David sculpture installed in the Piazza della Signoria where it stands outside until 1873 when it was moved to the Accademia
1540 Duke, later Grand Duke, Cosimo I moves into the Palazzo della Signoria for nine years.
1549 The Pitti Palace is purchased by the Medici family and becomes the seat of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. The Palazza della Signoria becomes the Palazza Vecchio, the Old Palace.
1560-1581 Duke Cosimo I has the Uffizi "The Offices" built to consolidate the Florence government functions into one place. Government offices were on the first floor while some of the Medici
art collection was on the second floor. He also commissions a long, closed, second floor gallery
from the Palazzo Vecchio across the Uffizi, along the Arno to the Ponte Vecchio, across the
bridge to the Pitti Palace so he could safely move from the new palace to the seat of government.
Pierro the Unfortunate's (son of Lorenzo the Magnificent) brother becomes Pope Leo X, known for many things, especially commissioning the arts and having a run-in with a priest named Martin Luther. Further family members become rulers in France and Italy. For example, Catherine Medici married French King Henry II and fathered three French Kings. Other family members join in the Hapsburg lines. And two more popes.
However, when Lorenzo the Magnificent's line died out, a great great grandson of Cosmo the Elder became the Duke of Florence and then the Grand Duke of Tuscany. He took on the name Cosmo I and lived from 1519-74. He moved into the Palazzo delle Signoria permanently as the Duke and the family stayed there until he purchased the Pitti Palace in 1549. Children became the Grand Duke's in succession until 1738. The last Medici was Anna Maria Louisa Medici (1667-1743), who may have been the most important of all to future generations. In her will, she bequeathed all the art works possessed by the Medici family to the City of Florence in perpetuity. It is owned by the city and cannot be sold. And that has made Florence the greatest museum of High Renaissance art in the world.
Just for fun, here is the condensed genealogy of the Medici family. The principate are the primary drivers of the banking and Renaissance art and humanity worlds. However, the grand duchy branch continued to support and develop the great classical artists in all fields.
This is enough for here. I'll start the introductory tour of Florence in the next blog.
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