Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Renaissance Belligerence & Beauty
The Renaissance was a time of great art and great tyrants, between which there was an un-
easy relationship. The careful balance of power of the
comuni
became a casualty of the
plague in the 14th century; political control was mostly left to those who survived and were
either strong enough or unscrupulous enough to claim it. In
comuni
such as Florence and
Siena, powerful families assumed control of the
signoria,
the city council ostensibly run by
guild representatives and merchants.
Cities, commercial entities and individual families took sides with either the Rome-
backed Guelphs or the imperial Ghibellines, loyalists of the Holy Roman Empire. Since
each of these factions was eager to put itself on the map, this competition might have
meant a bonanza for artists and architects - but shifting fortunes in the battlefield meant
funds for pet art projects could disappear just as quickly as they appeared.
Tuscany began to resemble a chess game, with feudal castles built only to be overtaken,
powerful bishops aligning with nobles before being toppled, and minor players backed by
key commercial interests occasionally rising to power. Nowhere was the chess game harder
to follow than in the Ghibelline
comune
of Pistoia: first it was conquered by the Florentine
Guelphs, then it was divided into White and Black Guelph splinter groups, then it was cap-
tured by Lucca (which was at that time Ghibelline backed) before being reclaimed by the
Florentines.
The Medici have nothing to hide - at least, not anymore. Dig your own dirt on Florence's dy-
namic dynasty in the archives at
www.medici.org
.
