Political situation in Florence
The politics of early Europe is hardly simplistic, hence being almost impossible
to summarize. Each city-state in Italy had established either friendly or
unfriendly relationships with the two main dominant forces of political power
at the time; the Pope and the Holy Roman Empire, whose main locus being
Germany. Both forces maintained their positions as centers of competition
among cities, towns, or even dissenting families.
In Florence, the main object of discord was between democracy and princely
hegemony. The city-state governance system in northern Italy was, with the
exception of Venice, the dominance of the princely families. The most eminent
supporter of democracy was the first Florentine
Chancellor, Caluccio Salutati (1331-1406).
Democratic governance was characterized by a
minority of men eligible for city offices, a shortly
lasting service to prevent conspiracies and
corruption, and a bureaucracy, whose members
were not allowed to occupy higher offices, so as to
be continuity in governance. Although there was
neither king nor aristocracy, Florence was unlike
modern democracies, considering that employees
had no political rights. The democracy that
prevailed in Florence since the middle of the 13th
century had coalesced people and bourgeois in
the struggle against the feudal lords of the
surrounding areas, emperor's allies.
After their defeat, many of the nobles settled on
5) Cozimo the Elder (1389-
1464)
the prevailing social conditions, relocated in
Florence and began to actively contribute to the
bourgeois business.
Cosimo de 'Medici of the Medici House was a banker. Owing to his great
fortune, he attained becoming the governor of Florence, the first of the Medici
to receive this title. In 1433, following the failure to conquer Lucca, a city in
the northwest of Italy, Cosimo was exiled as a culprit, but returned in 1434
and dominated the city's life for the following 30 years.
When he returned, Cosimo de 'Medici began to enhance his political
development, by effectively manipulating the democratic ordinances. In this
way, the power of the Chancellor was weakened.
Lorenzo de 'Medici, the grandson of Cosimo, remained the prince of Florence
from 1469 for life. This was the prerequisite of the Medici princely rule, which,
from 1512, with a brief interruption, was to dominate Florence for several
centuries.
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