FLORENTINE HISTORY***


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THE TWO FIRST CENTURIES OF FLORENTINE HISTORY


      *      *      *      *      *      *

BY THE SAME AUTHOR


THE LIFE AND TIMES OF GIROLAMO SAVONAROLA.

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THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI.

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THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS OF ITALY.

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STUDIES HISTORICAL AND CRITICAL.

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LONDON: T. FISHER UNWIN.

      *      *      *      *      *      *


[Illustration: THE MERCATO VECCHIO BEFORE ITS DEMOLITION.]


THE TWO FIRST CENTURIES OF FLORENTINE HISTORY

The Republic and Parties at the Time of Dante

by

PROFESSOR PASQUALE VILLARI

Translated by Linda Villari

FOURTH IMPRESSION

Illustrated







London
T. Fisher Unwin
1 Adelphi Terrace
1908




AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH VERSION.


_Before deciding to issue this translation I had first to reflect
whether my Florentine studies could be of any use to the English
public. Since Roscoe's day English literature has been enriched
by works of much importance on different phases of the political,
literary, and artistic history of Florence. Both Napier and Trollope
have bequeathed very complete narratives of Florentine events, and
translations of notable foreign works have also been produced. But
nearly all these works appeared before any scientific research as to
the origin of the City and Commonwealth had begun, or, at least, before
it had reached the results I have briefly expounded, and which deserve
notice, not only on the score of intrinsic worth, but also because they
throw new light on the subsequent history of Florence._

_To attempt any new delineation of the special vicissitudes of the
Florentine Republic, already so exhaustively and lucidly treated by
other historians, would have been outside my purpose. As stated in
the preface to the Italian edition, my sole aim was to investigate in
what manner the Republic was formed, the nature of its constitution,
the why and wherefore of its continual transmutations, the first
causes and genuine motives of the factions by which the city was torn,
and likewise to ascertain how it came about that--despite all this
turbulence and strife--commerce and industry, the fine arts and letters
should have been able to achieve such marvellous results. Now, so far
as I know, English literature contains nothing on this particular
theme, although one that can scarcely fail to be of some use and
interest even to readers familiar with greater works and more extended
and detailed accounts of Florentine history._

_These researches are not pursued beyond the times of Dante and Henry
VII., inasmuch as that term actually marks the close of the period
during which the Republic took shape and built up its constitution.
This was followed by a new phase of equally high importance but very
different character, during which the Republic entered, instead, on a
course of decomposition. In fact, we have only to draw a comparison
between the "Divine Comedy" and the "Decameron," to instantly perceive
how deep was the change a few years had wrought in the spirit of
Florence and of all Italy. These two works were almost contemporaneous,
yet when reading them they seem to us the product of two entirely
different ages. Whether in politics, religion, morals, or letters, the
character of these two periods is seen to be essentially diverse. The
Middle Ages, with all their rough primitive originality, have come to
an end; classic learning and the Renaissance have begun. Touching this
second period, there is no scarcity of information, documents, or
chroniclers, as in the case of the first. The historian is confronted
by totally novel problems to which numerous modern writers have given
their attention, and which have also been investigated in previous
works of my own._

_Even this second period would certainly afford matter for another work
on the gradual course of political and moral dissolution, during which
art and literature blossomed to new splendour. Such investigations,
however, would transport me beyond the limits I have set to this book.
Under what conditions and amid what difficulties these researches were
begun and carried forward has been already plainly told in my preface
to the Italian edition. It only remains for me to crave the indulgence
of English readers._

            _PASQUALE VILLARI._




AUTHOR'S PREFACE.


A word of explanation is due to my readers touching the genesis of the
present work.

In 1866 I began a course of lectures at our Istituto Superiore on
the History of Florence, chiefly for the purpose of examining the
political constitution of the Republic, and investigating the various
transformations it had undergone during the long series of internal
revolutions by which the city was harassed. In this way I hoped to
ascertain the veritable causes of those revolutions, to discover some
leading thread through the mazes of Florentine history, which even when
treated by great writers has often been found exceedingly involved and
obscure, and likewise to determine the most logical mode of arranging
it in periods. Even a partial solution of these problems would have
been of some use. I continued the lectures for a considerable time,
but suspended them on reaching the period of Giano della Bella's
"Decrees of Justice" (_Ordinamenti di Giustizia_), 1293. Some of these
discourses were published in the Milan _Politecnico_, others in the
_Nuova Antologia_ at Florence. It was then my intention to collect them
in a volume; but after some hesitation I renounced the idea. It seemed
indispensable to at least add some outline of the course of events
subsequent to the fall of Giano della Bella and the exile of Dante, in
order to conclude the first and most important period of the political
history of Florence. Besides, I saw that the necessity of continuing
these lectures on fixed days had not always allowed sufficient time for
overcoming obstacles encountered by the way. Accordingly, more than a
superficial revisal was required; gaps had to be filled in, certain
pages re-written. Hence fresh researches were demanded, for which other
labours granted no leisure at the moment.

Meanwhile new documents, new dissertations, and monographs on
Florentine history were continually appearing, besides notable works on
a larger scale such as those of Capponi, Del Lungo, Hartwig, Perrens,
&c. All this increased the difficulty of revising and correcting
lectures, now lapsing inevitably more and more out of date. On the
other hand I sometimes found previous deductions confirmed by recently
discovered documents, and that certain general ideas I had enounced
were accepted and followed by writers of note. This naturally inclined
me to be less severe in judging my work, and more disposed to listen to
the tried friends who were urging its republication.

Being thus encouraged to resume my forsaken studies, I lectured in 1888
on the times of Henry VII. of Germany and the exile of Dante. Later
on, in 1890, recognising that my previous work on the origins of the
city and its commonwealth had become altogether inadequate since the
appearance of so much new material, I returned to the subject in a
fresh course of lectures, which likewise saw the light in the _Nuova
Antologia_. Then, I finally began to put the scattered papers together
to revise and correct them.

Hence it will be plainly seen that this book is composed of various
separate parts which, although informed, one and all, by the same
leading idea and treating of the same argument, were produced at
distant intervals during a quarter of a century, in which the study
of Florentine history had made rapid advance through the labours of
numerous and competent writers. Therefore, in spite of devoting my best
efforts to pruning, revising, and arranging my lectures, they are still
old essays more or less disjointed, and containing many unavoidable
repetitions. Greater organic unity could only have been attained by
re-writing the whole and composing a new book; whereas my intention
was merely to republish a series of scattered compositions, under the
fitting title of "Researches."

What finally decided me to reprint them was, that, as I venture to
think, their dominant and fundamental notes still ring true, even
after the numerous works produced by other hands. Indeed, unless I be
mistaken, those works frequently support my observations, and confirm
the ideas expressed throughout on the general character and progressive
development of Florentine history. Whether I be right or wrong in this
belief the reader must decide. At any rate I venture to hope that,
in judging this book, he will kindly make allowance for the time and
manner in which it came into existence.




CONTENTS.


                                                                PAGE
  INTRODUCTION                                                     1

                               CHAPTER I.

  THE ORIGIN OF FLORENCE                                          38

                              CHAPTER II.

  THE ORIGIN OF THE FLORENTINE COMMUNE                            80

                              CHAPTER III.

  THE FIRST WARS AND FIRST REFORMS OF THE FLORENTINE COMMUNE     131

                              CHAPTER IV.

  STATE OF PARTIES--CONSTITUTION OF THE FIRST POPULAR
      GOVERNMENT AND OF THE GREATER GUILDS IN FLORENCE           173

                               CHAPTER V.

  FLORENCE THE DOMINANT POWER IN TUSCANY                         240

                              CHAPTER VI.

  THE COMMERCIAL INTERESTS AND POLICY OF THE GREATER GUILDS
      IN FLORENCE                                                310

                              CHAPTER VII.

  THE FAMILY AND THE STATE IN ITALIAN COMMUNES                   360

                             CHAPTER VIII.

  THE ENACTMENTS OF JUSTICE                                      431

                              CHAPTER IX.

  THE FLORENTINE REPUBLIC IN DANTE'S TIME                        484

                               CHAPTER X.

  DANTE, FLORENTINE EXILES AND HENRY VII.                        521




ILLUSTRATIONS.


  THE MERCATO VECCHIO, BEFORE ITS DEMOLITION         _Frontispiece._

                                                      _To face page_
  VARIOUS REMAINS DISCOVERED IN THE MERCATO VECCHIO, NOW
      IN THE ETRUSCAN MUSEUM, FLORENCE                             1

  THE ARNO RIVER-GOD. BAS-RELIEF. ETRUSCAN MUSEUM                 39

  ETRUSCAN TOMBSTONES, FROM THE MERCATO VECCHIO                   55

  SITE OF ROMAN VILLA, NEAR SAN ANDREA, FLORENCE                  57

  PAVEMENT OF A ROMAN HOUSE, WITH IMPLUVIUM, FOUND UNDER
      THE MERCATO VECCHIO                                         59

  MOSAIC PAVEMENT OF A _SALA DELLE TERME_                         59

  PISCINA FRIGIDARIA, WITH CONNECTED CHILDREN'S BATHS, FOUND
      NEAR THE CAMPIDOGLIO                                        66

  ATTACK ON THE MONKS OF SAN SALVI. BAS-RELIEF BY BENEDETTO
      DA ROVEZZANO; NATIONAL MUSEUM, FLORENCE                     74

  MIRACLE OF SAN GIOVANNI GUALBERTO (EXORCISING A DEVIL).
  BAS-RELIEF BY BENEDETTO DA ROVEZZANO                            78

  A ROMAN HYPOCAUST, PARTLY RECONSTRUCTED                         85

  EXTERIOR VIEW OF THE CALIDARIUM AND FURNACE                     85

  DESCENT TO A ROMAN WELL; DISCOVERED BENEATH THE
      CAMPIDOGLIO, FLORENCE                                       89

  ROMAN CALIDARIUM, WITH FURNACE BENEATH; FLORENCE                93

  IMPLUVIUM OF A ROMAN HOUSE; FLORENCE                            93

  MOUTH OF ROMAN FURNACE (MERCATO VECCHIO)                        96

  CALIDARIUM (_ibidem_)                                           96

  BELFRY OF SAN ANDREA, MERCATO VECCHIO, FLORENCE                130

  PALACE OF THE PODESTA, FLORENCE                                192

  PALAZZO VECCHIO, FLORENCE                                      241

  SUPPOSED PALACE OF THEODORIC IN RAVENNA                        383

  THE TOMB OF THEODORIC, RAVENNA                                 384

  ANCIENT SHRINE, RAVENNA                                        388

  CHURCH OF SAN VITALE