History & Renaissance

Florence was founded as a Roman colony Florentia in 59 BC — "the Flourishing." But the hill of Fiesole had been an Etruscan center centuries earlier. The Roman city lay on the Via Cassia and had a forum (today's Piazza della Repubblica), an amphitheater, and baths. After the fall of Rome, Florence was ruled by Goths, Byzantines, and Lombards until the city flourished as a free commune in the 11th century.

Guelphs and Ghibellines

In the 12th and 13th centuries, Florence was torn by power struggles between the Guelphs (papal supporters) and Ghibellines (imperial supporters) — family feuds, street battles, and exiles were commonplace. Dante Alighieri was a Guelph — when the Guelphs split into Blacks and Whites, Dante ended up on the losing side and was exiled from Florence in 1302. He never returned and died in 1321 in Ravenna. The "Divine Comedy" is also a work of exile and longing for Florence.

The Cloth Trade Era

Florence's wealth was based on wool and silk. The guild of wool weavers (Arte della Lana) and the bankers made the city one of the richest in Europe in the 13th–14th centuries. The Florin (Fiorino d'oro) became the leading currency of European trade — the equivalent of the dollar in the Middle Ages.

No family has shaped a city like the Medici did Florence. For over three centuries (circa 1400–1737), they determined the fate of the city — as bankers, politicians, popes, and the greatest art patrons in history.

Cosimo the Elder (1389–1464)

Cosimo de' Medici — known as "il Vecchio" (the Elder) — was the founding father of Medici rule. He controlled the largest banking network in Europe and used his wealth to bring the best artists, philosophers, and architects to Florence. He financed Brunelleschi, commissioned the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, and founded the Platonic Academy, which revived ancient Greek knowledge. His motto: "Every painter paints himself" — Cosimo painted Florence as the center of the world.

Lorenzo il Magnifico (1449–1492)

Lorenzo de' Medici — "the Magnificent" — was the golden pinnacle: poet, diplomat, banker, and patron who invited Botticelli, the young Michelangelo, and Leonardo into his palace. Under Lorenzo, Florence experienced its cultural heyday — the High Renaissance. He survived the Pazzi Conspiracy of 1478 (his brother Giuliano was murdered in the cathedral) and ruled Florence with a blend of charm, intelligence, and power politics. His death in 1492 marked the end of the golden era.

Savonarola and the Bonfire of the Vanities

After Lorenzo's death, the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola took control. He preached against corruption and luxury and organized the infamous "Bonfire of the Vanities" (1497) in Piazza della Signoria: paintings, books, mirrors, cosmetics, and luxury goods were burned. A year later, Savonarola himself was hanged and burned on the same square. A bronze plaque on the ground marks the spot.

The Late Medici and the End

Later Medici became Grand Dukes of Tuscany (from 1537) and produced two popes: Leo X (who excommunicated Martin Luther) and Clement VII (who survived the sack of Rome in 1527). The last Medici, Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, bequeathed the entire family's art collection to the city of Florence in 1743 — on the condition that nothing ever leave the city. This "Patto di Famiglia" is why Florence still possesses all its art treasures today.

The Renaissance (Rinascimento) — the "rebirth" of ancient culture — did not begin in Florence by chance. Several factors came together that made this city the birthplace of modernity:

• Money: Florence was one of the richest cities in Europe. The bankers (especially the Medici) had the capital to finance artists and scholars.
• Competition: The guilds, families, and churches competed for the best artworks — a competition that drove quality to unprecedented heights. The famous competition for the Baptistery doors (1401) between Brunelleschi and Ghiberti is considered the starting point of the Renaissance.
• Freedom: Florence was a republic (at least nominally) — with a civic culture that promoted individualism and innovation.
• Ancient Knowledge: After the fall of Constantinople (1453), Greek scholars brought ancient texts to Florence. The Platonic Academy of the Medici translated Plato, Aristotle, and Plotinus into Latin.
• Geniuses: No other city and no other era saw so many geniuses living and working simultaneously: Brunelleschi, Donatello, Masaccio, Botticelli, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Raphael — all in Florence, within 150 years.

The Florentine Renaissance changed everything: art (perspective, anatomy, individual portraits), architecture (return to ancient forms), science (Galileo!), politics (Machiavelli!), and philosophy (humanism). The modern world begins in Florence.