Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1469-92
Lorenzo de' Medici unofficially rules Florence, despite the 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy, an at-
tempted overthrow that left his brother Giuliano torn to shreds in the
duomo
.
1478-80
A confusing set of overlapping wars break out among the papacy, Siena, Florence, Venice,
Milan and Naples, as individual families broker secret pacts and the dwindling Tuscan
population pays the price.
1494
The Medici are expelled by Charles VIII of France, and Savonarola declares a theocratic re-
public with his Consiglia di Cinquecento.
1498
To test Savonarola's beliefs, rival Franciscans invite him to a trial by fire. He sends a rep-
resentative to be burned instead, but is eventually tortured, hung and burned as heretic.
1527-30
Florentines run the Medici out of town. The Republic of Florence holds out for three years,
until the emperor's and pope's combined cannon power reinstalls the Medici.
1633
Galileo Galilei is condemned for heresy in Rome. True to his observations of a pendulum
in motion, the Inquisition's extreme repression yielded an opposite reaction: Enlighten-
ment.
1656
The plague kills at least 300,000 people across central and southern Italy.
1737
Maria Theresa ends the Medici's dynastic rule by installing her husband as grand duke of
Tuscany. She remains the brains of the operation, reforming Tuscany from behind the
scenes.
1760s
Florence, along with Venice, Milan and Turin, becomes an essential stop for British aristo-
crats on the Grand Tour, a trend that continues until the 1840s.
