FLORENCE (Ital. Firenze, Lat. Florentia), formerly the capital of Tuscany, now the capital of a province of the kingdom of Italy, and the eighth largest city in the country. It is situated
46' N., 1 I° 14' E., on both banks of the river Arno, which here flows through a broad fertile valley enclosed between spurs of the Apennines. The soil is very fertile; wheat, Indian corn, olives, vines, fruit trees of many kinds cover both the plain and the surrounding hills; the chief non-fruit-bearing trees are the stone pine, the cypress, the ilex and the poplar, while many other varieties are represented. The gardens and fields produce an abundance of flowers which justify the city's title of la cittd dei fiori.
Of the very numerous Florentine churches the Duomo (Santa Maria del Fiore) is the largest and most important, founded in 1298 on the plans of Arnolfo di Cambio, completed by Brunelleschi, and consecrated in 2436; the facade, however, was not finished until the 19th century; it was begun in 1875 on the designs of De Fabris and unveiled in 1888. Close by the Duomo is the no less famous Campanile built by Giotto and adorned with exquisite bas-reliefs. Opposite is the Baptistery built by Arnolfo di Cambio in the 13th century on the site of an earlier church, and adorned with beautiful bronze doors by Ghiberti in the 15th century. The Badia, Santo Spirito, Santa Trinita, Santa Croce, Santa Maria Novella, San Lorenzo, are a few among the famous and beautiful churches of Florence. The streets and the piazze of the city are celebrated for their splendid palaces, formerly, and in many cases even to-day, the residences of the noble families of Florence. Among others we may mention the Palazzo Vecchio, the seat of the government of the Republic and now the town hall, the Palazzo Riccardi, the residence of the Medici and now the prefecture, the palaces of the Strozzi, Antinori (one of the most perfect specimens of Florentine quattrocento architecture, now the seat of the British Institute founded by the British Government in 1918), Pitti (the Royal Palace), Davanzati, Corsini, etc. The palace of the Arte della Lana or guild of wool merchants, tastefully and intelligently restored, is the headquarters of the Dante Society, and many im portant monuments, such as the cloister of Santa Maria Novella, the Church of San Miniato, the Houses of the Alighieri family, etc., have been beautifully restored to their ancient splendour.
Florence possesses five important State libraries besides a number of private or circulating collections. The Biblioteca Nazionule, formed from the union of the Magliabechi library with the Palatine and opened in 1747, contains 65o,00o printed volumes, 800,000 pamphlets, over 9,00o prints and draw ings (including 284 by Albrecht Darer), 21,000 portraits, 3,847 maps, 3,575 incunabule, 20,000 mss. and 40,000 letters. The Biblioteca Marucelliana founded in 1752, contains 200,000 books including 700 incunabula, 17,00o engravings and 1,55o manu scripts; it is chiefly remarkable for its collection of illustrated works and art publications. The Biblioteca Mediceo-Laurenziana, formed from the collections of Cosimo the Elder, Piero dei Medici and Lorenzo the Magnificent, was first constituted as a public Library in Florence by Clement VII. who charged Michelangelo to construct a suitable edifice for its reception. This was opened to the public by Cosimo I. in 1571. The printed books it contains are only 11,00o in number, but are almost all of the highest rarity and interest, including 242 incunabula of which 152 are editiones principes. It is however the precious collection of mss. amounting to 9,693 articles, including a number of richly ornamented codices of great beauty and costliness, which gives its chief importance to this world famous library. The Biblioteca Riccardiana, founded in the 16th century by Romolo Riccardi, contains 3,905 mss., 33,00o volumes and 65o incunabula, chiefly relating to Florentine history. The Biblioteca Universitarza, founded in recent years, is rapidly increasing owing to the generosity of many professors who bequeath their collections of books to the University; it contains over 300,00o books mostly of academic character. Among the other libraries is the famous Gabinetto Vieusseux, now be longing to the Comune, which contains over 400,000 volumes. The libraries of the British Institute and the Institut Francais; the Philosophical Library; and the fine collections at the German In stitute of Art, at the Academy of Fine Arts and at the Musical Institute. The State Archives are among the most complete in Italy, and contain over 450,000 filze and registri and 126,000 charters, covering the period from 726 to 1856.
Few cities are as rich as Florence in collections of works of artistic and historic interest, although the great majority of them belong to a comparatively limited pe riod, from the 13th to the 16th century. The chief Art Galleries are the Uffizi, the Pitti and Accademia. The two former are among the finest in the world, and are filled with masterpieces by Raphael, Botticelli, the Lippi, Ghirlandaio, Perugino, Andrea del Sarto, Titian and many other Florentine, Umbrian, Venetian, Dutch and Flemish artists, as well as numerous admirable examples of antique, mediaeval and Renaissance sculpture. The Pitti collec tion is in the Royal Palace, formerly the residence of the grand dukes, and connected with the Uffizi Gallery by means of a covered passage across the Ponte Vecchio. Tl.ere is a splendid museum of mediaeval and Renaissance antiquities in the Bargello, the ancient palace of the Podesta, itself one of the finest buildings in the city; among its many treasures are works of Donatello, Ghiberti, Verrocchio and other sculptors, and large collections of ivory, enamel and bronze ware. The Museum of St. Mark, once a monastery, should be mentioned as containing the most complete collection of Fra Angelico's works, besides authentic relics of Savonarola. The Opera del Duomo contains models and pieces of sculpture connected with the cathedral. The Etruscan museum, greatly enlarged in these last few years, de serves a special mention as being the finest in the world. The Egyptian museum, the gallery of tapestries, the Bardini gallery, the Stibbert museum, the Corsini Palace gallery, the Medici Chapel at San Lorenzo, the frescoes of Benozzo Gozzoli in the Riccardi Palace, the Cenacolo of Andrea del Castagno, the Michelangelo Museum, the museum of natural history, are all important.
Florence is the capital of• a province of the same name, and the central government is represented by a prefect (pre f etto), while local government is carried on by a podesta appointed by the government. The city is the seat of a higher Court of Appeal, besides the ordinary civil and military tribunals. It is the headquarters of an army corps, and an archiepiscopal see. Florence which has always been and still is the intellectual centre of Italy, is particularly fortunate from the point of view of education. The University, formerly Istituto di Studi Superiori e di Perfezionamento, which was given the uni versity status in 1924, comprises the Faculties of Literature and Philosophy, Medicine, Law, Mathematics and Natural Sciences, with 1,300 students in all. The original Studio Fiorentino was founded in the 14th century, and acquired considerable fame as a centre of learning under the Medici, enhanced by the presence in Florence of many learned Greeks who had fled from Con stantinople of ter its capture by the Turks
. The revival of classical studies on scientific principles in modern Italy may be said to have begun in Florence, and great activity has also been displayed in reviving the study of Dante, Dante lectures being given regularly by scholars and men of letters from all parts of the country in the large hall above the church of Or San Michele as in the middle ages, under the auspices of the Society Dantesca. Palaeography, history and Romance languages are among the other subjects to which specia; attention is given. Other very important Institutes are : the Istituto di Scienze Sociali, particularly intended for diplomatic training ; the Institute of Economics, the Academy of Fine Arts, the Conservatoire of music, the Agricultural In stitute, the Institute of Forestry and the Training School for women.
Several of the Florence hospitals are of great antiquity, the most important being that of Santa Maria Nuova, which, founded by Folco Portinari, the father of Dante's Beatrice, has been thoroughly renovated according to modern scientific principles.
The total popula tion of Florence in April 1931, including foreigners, was 267,998. Florence is the centre of a large and fertile agricultural district, and does considerable business in wine, oil and grain, and sup plies the neighbouring peasantry with goods of all kinds. There are no important industries, except a few flour-mills, some glass works, iron foundries, a motor car factory, straw hat factories, and power-houses supplying electricity for lighting and for the numerous tram cars. There are, however, some artistic industries in and around the city, of which the most important is the Ginori Richard porcelain works, and the Cantagalli majolica works. An other very important source of revenue is the so called "tourist industry," which in late years has assumed immense proportions.
(L. V.) Florentia was founded considerably later than Faesulae (Fiesole), which lies on the hill above it. Tacitus mentions it, and Florus describes it as one of the municipia splendidissima. A bishop of Florence is mentioned in A.D. 313. The first event of importance recorded is the siege of the city by the Goths, A.D. 405, and its deliverance by the Roman general, Stilicho. We find the Longobards in Tuscany in S7o, and mention is made of one Gudibrandus Dux civitatis Florentinorurn, which suggests that Florence was then the capital of a duchy.
Under the Carolingian emperors, Tuscany was a march or margraviate, which, in 1054, passed to the famous countess Matilda, daughter of Boniface of Canossa. In the Wars of the Investitures Matilda was on the papal (Guelph) side against the emperor and the faction afterwards known as Ghibelline (see GUELPHS AND GHIBELLINES), and she herself often led armies to battle. While she presided at the courts of justice in the name of the empire, she was assisted by a group of great feudal nobles, judges, lawyers, etc., who formed, as else where in Tuscany, the boni homines or sapientes. The citizens found themselves in opposition to the nobility of the hills around the city, Teutonic feudatories of Ghibelline sympathies, who in terfered with their commerce, and they began to form themselves into groups and associations, which were the germs of the arti or gilds.
After the death of Countess Matilda in 1115 the grandi or boni homines continued to rule, but in the name of the people—a change which marks the foundation of the commune. After 1 138 the boni homines began to be called consules, while the popula tion was divided into the grandi or delle torri, i.e., the noble families possessing towers, and the arti or industrial and mer chant gilds. At first the consules were chosen by the grandi and assisted by a council of ioo, in which the arti were predominant. In 1125 Fiesole was sacked and destroyed, but the feudal nobles of the contado (surrounding country), protected by the imperial margraves, were still powerful. The Florentines waged war against the Alberti family, whose castles they destroyed, and fought successfully against the powerful Counts Guidi. Frederick Bar barossa, however, elected emperor in 1152, made his authority felt in Tuscany, and appointed one Welf of Bavaria as margrave, and a potestas or podesta who resided at San Miniato was ap pointed to represent the emperor and exercise authority in the contado. From the end of the 12th century the podesta was always a foreigner. In the meantime Florence had already be come an important industrial and banking centre.
The work of crushing the nobles of the contado and of assert ing the city's position among rival communes continued. The tumults against the Paterine heretics
among whom were many Ghibelline nobles, indicate a successful Guelphic re action;
when civil war broke out, Frederick of Antioch, im perial vicar in Tuscany, and natural son of Frederick II., entered the city with 1,60o German knights, the Ghibellines triumphed again, and in 1249 the Guelph leaders were driven into exile—the first of many instances in Florentine history of exile en masse of a defeated party.
The Ghibellines being unable to main tain their supremacy, the city came to be divided into two almost autonomous republics, the comune headed by the podesta, and the popolo headed by the capitano and militarily organized into 20 companies; the central power was represented by 12 elders. At this time the podesta's palace (the Bargello) was built, and the gold florin was first coined and soon came to be accepted as the standard gold piece throughout Europe. But, although greatly strengthened, the Guelphs were not wholly victorious, and in 1251 they had to defend themselves against a league of Ghibel line cities (Siena, Pisa and Pistoia) aided by Florentine Ghibel lines. A Florentine army assisted by Guelphs of other towns was met by a Sienese army reinforced by Florentine exiles, and by the cavalry of Manfred of Sicily (q.v.), with the result that the Florentines were totally routed at Montaperti on Sept. 4, 1260. Count Giordano, acting for Manfred, entered Florence, appointed Count Guido Novello podesta, and began a series of persecutions against the Guelphs. The Ghibellines even proposed to raze the walls of the city. Their triumph, however, was short lived: Charles I. of Anjou (q.v.), descended into Italy as the champion of the papacy; Manfred was defeated and killed (1266), and Guido Novello and the Ghibellines were expelled and their property confiscated. But it was not the popolo who triumphed; the pope and Charles were the real masters of the situation. Nevertheless much of the old order was restored ; the podesta who represented King Charles was assisted by 12 buoni uomini, and by the council of the ioo buoni uomini del popolo, but the constitution of the republic, although of very democratic tend encies, seemed designed to promote civil strife and weaken the central power.
While the constitution was evolving in a manner which seemed to argue small political ability and no stability in the Florentines, the people had built up a wonderful commercial organization. Each of the seven arti maggiori or greater gilds was organized like a small State with its councils, statutes, assemblies, magis trates, etc., and in times of trouble constituted a citizen militia. Florentine cloth especially was known and sold all over Europe, and the Florentines were regarded as the first merchants of the age. In 1279 Pope Nicholas sent his nephew, Cardinal Latino Frangipani Malabranca, to reconcile the parties in Florence once more. He succeeded to some extent, and was granted a kind of temporary dictatorship. He raised the 12 buoni uomini to 14 (eight Guelphs and six Ghibellines), to be changed every two months; and they were assisted by a council of 1 oo. A force of 1,000 men was placed at the disposal of the podesta and capitano (now both elected by the people) to keep order and oblige the Guelph nobles to respect the law. After 1282 the signory was composed of the three (afterwards six) priori of the gilds, who ended by ousting the buoni uomini, while a de f ensor artificum et artium replaced the capitano ; thus the republic became an essentially trading community, governed by the popolani grassi or rich merchants.
The republic now turned to the task of breaking the power of the Ghibelline cities of Pisa and Arezzo. In 1289 the Aretini were completely defeated by the Florentines at Campaldino, a battle made famous by Dante's presence. Peace was made in 1293.
The nobles, who had largely contributed to the victory, especially men like Corso Donati and Vieri de' Cerchi, were becoming more powerful, but new laws were passed to reduce their influence. These were reinforced by the Ordinamenti della Giustizia of 1293, by which all who were not of the arti were definitely excluded from the signory. The leading spirit of this reform was Giano della Bella, a noble who by engaging in trade had become a popolano; the nobles strenuously opposed the new measures, and in 1295 a signory favourable to them enacted a law attenuating the Ordinamenti.
The nobles, however, had split into two factions, the Neri (Blacks), headed by the Donati, and the Bianchi (Whites) led by the Cerchi. The pope's attempt to unite them having failed, he summoned Charles of Valois to come to his assistance, promising him the imperial crown, and in 1301 Charles entered Italy with instruc tions from the pope to crush the Bianchi and the popolo and exalt the Neri. On Nov. 1 Charles reached Florence. He prom ised to respect the laws, but the new podesta, Cante dei Gabrielli of Gubbio, who had accompanied Charles, punished many of the Bianchi; among those whom he exiled was the poet Dante (1302 ). Corso Donati, who for some time was the most powerful man in Florence, made himself many enemies by his arrogance, and the irritation against him resulted in a rising in which he was killed (1308). In the same year Henry of Luxembourg was elected king of the Romans, and with the pope's favour he came to Italy in 131o; the Florentine exiles and all the Ghibellines of Italy regarded him as a saviour and regenerator of the country, while the Guelphs of Florence regarded both him and the pope as dangerous to their liberties. In 1312 Henry was crowned em peror as Henry VII. in Rome, but circumstances made him merely a German kaiser who tried to subjugate free Italian communes. He besieged Florence without success, and died in 1313.
In 1325 further constitutional reforms were enacted. The former councils were replaced by the consiglio del popolo, consisting of 30o popolani and presided over by the capitano, and the consiglio del comune of 2 5o members, half of them nobles and half popolani, presided over by the podesta. The priori and other officers were drawn by lot from among the Guelphs over 3o years old who were declared fit for public office by a special board of 98 citizens (1329).
From 1313 to 1338, the Florentines waged war with varying success against Pisa and Lucca. Finally, by the peace of
they obtained a part of Lucchese territory. At the same time they purchased from the Tarlati the protectorate over Arezzo for ten years. But misfortunes fell on the city : Edward III. of Eng land repudiated the heavy debts contracted for his wars in France with the Florentine banking houses of Bardi and Peruzzi
and this eventually led to their bankruptcy, shaking Florentine credit all over the world; Philip VI. of France extorted large sums from the Florentine merchants and bankers in his domin ions by accusing them of usury; in 134o plague and famine wrought terrible havoc in Florence, and riots again broke out between the nobles and the popolo. To put an end to these disorders, Walter of Brienne, duke of Athens, was elected "con servator" and captain of the guard in 1342. An astute, dissolute and ambitious man, half French and half Levantine, he succeeded in getting himself acclaimed by the populace lord of Florence for life. But by his oppressive taxes, and his ferocious cruelty, he accumulated bitter hatred against his rule. On July 26,
the citizens rose in arms, demanded the duke's abdication, and besieged him in the palace. Finally on Aug. 1 he had to resign his lordship.
balia, or provisional government, was appointed to
tute reforms; new constitutional changes were introduced; the ; Ordinamenti were maintained, but in a somewhat attenuated form, and certain nobles as a favour were declared to be of the popolo. Florence became a thoroughly democratic and commer cial republic, but Florentine democracy was limited to the walls of the city, for no one of the contado nor any citizen of the sub ject towns enjoyed political rights, which were reserved for the inhabitants of Florence alone, and not by any means for all of them.
Florence was, in the 14th century, a city of about i oo,000 in habitants, of whom 2 5,00o could bear arms; there were no o churches, 39 religious houses; the shops of the arte della lava numbered over 200, producing cloth worth 1,200,000 florins, and Florentine bankers and merchants were found all over the world, often occupying responsible positions in the service of foreign Governments. It was already a centre of art and letters and full of fine buildings, pictures and libraries. But since the nobles had been suppressed politically, the lowest class of adventurer had come into prominence, thus paving the way for tyranny.
In 1347 the city was again stricken with famine, and in 1348 by a terrible plague, which carried off three-fifths of the population (according to Villani). Yet in spite of these disasters the republic was not vanquished ; it soon regained the suzerainty over many cities which had broken off all connection with it and purchased the over-lordship of Prato. Giovanni Visconti, lord and arch bishop of Milan, having purchased Bologna and allied himself with sundry Ghibelline houses of Tuscany with a view to domi nating Florence, the city made war on him in 1351, and placed itself under the protection of the emperor Charles IV. 0355). This enabled the nobles who dominated the Parte Guelfa to enact stringent measures, punishing with death or heavy fines all who, being Ghibellines, held office, and to exercise a veritable reign of terror. Italy at this time began to be overrun by bands of soldiers of fortune. The first of these bands with whom Florence came into contact was the Great Company, commanded by the count of Lando, which twice entered Tuscany but was expelled both times by the Florentine troops
. From 1362-64 Florence was again at war with Pisa and the latter called Sir John Hawkwood's English company to their aid. Peace was finally made with no advantage gained on either side.
The tyranny of the Parte Guelfa contin ued unabated, and the capitani carried an enactment by which no measure affecting the Parte should be even discussed by the signory unless previously approved by them. This law, however, aroused so much opposition that some of the very men who had proposed it assembled in secret to discuss its abolition, and a quarrel between the Albizzi and the Ricci having weakened the parte, a balia of 56 was agreed upon. Several of the Albizzi and the Ricci were excluded from office for five years, and a council called the Ten of Liberty was created to defend the laws and protect the weak against the strong.
In 1375 Florence became involved in a war which showed how the old party divisions of Italy had been obliterated. The papal legate at Bologna, Cardinal Guillaume de Noellet (d.
although the Church was then allied to Florence, was meditating the annexation of the city to the Holy See; he refused a request of the Florentines for grain from Romagna, and authorized Hawk wood to devastate their territory. An alliance with Bernabo Visconti was thereupon concluded, war declared, and a balia of eight, the Otto della guerra (afterwards called the "Eight Saints" on account of their good management) was created to carry on the campaign. Pope Gregory XI. placed Florence under an inter dict, but by 1378 peace was made, partly through the mediation of St. Catherine of Siena, and the interdict was removed in consideration of the republic's paying a fine of 200,000 florins to the pope.
During the war the eight had been practically rulers of the city, but now the Parte Guelfa, led by Lapo da Castiglionchio and Piero degli Albizzi, attempted to reassert itself. Salvestro de' Medici, however, who had always opposed the parte, was elected gon f aloniere in spite of its intrigues (1378), and the people were anxious to break the power of the parte for good. A large body of wool carders gathered outside the city and conspired to sub vert the signory and establish a popular Government. Although the plot, in which Salvestro does not seem to have played a part, was discovered, a good deal of mob violence occurred, and on July 21 the populace seized the podesta's palace, which they made their headquarters. Once the people were in possession of the palace, a carder named Michele di Lando took the lead. Master of Florence for one day, he quelled disorder and pillage, and reformed the Constitution. But to satisfy the people several of the nobles, including Piero degli Albizzi, were put to death on charges of conspiracy, and many others were exiled. Perpetual rioting and anarchy succeeded, until at last, in 1382, a reaction set in, and order was restored by the gild companies. Again a new constitution was decreed by which the gonfalontere and half the priori were to be chosen from the greater gilds and the other half from the lesser. The demagogues were executed or forced to fly, Michele di Lando was exiled, and the Guelph families gradually regained much of their lost power.
Pisa.—In 1393 Maso degli Albizzi was made gonfaloniere, and for many years remained almost master of Florence. A severe persecution was initiated against the Alberti and other families, who were disfranchised and exiled. Disorders and conspiracies against the merchant oligarchy continued, and the exiles caused the republic much trouble by intriguing against it in foreign States. In 1397-98 Florence was at war with Gian Galeazzo Visconti, who, aspiring to the conquest of Tuscany, acquired the lordship of Pisa, Siena and Perugia ; but just as the Milanese were about to march on Florence, Visconti died. His territories were divided between his sons and his condottieri. In 1404 the Flor entines' attempt to capture Pisa single-handed failed, and Gabriele Maria Visconti, lord of Pisa, placed himself under the protection of the French king. The Florentines then made overtures to France, who had supported the anti-popes all through the Great Schism, and suggested that they too would support the then anti-pope, Benedict XIII., in exchange for the sale of Pisa. With French support they purchased the city in 1405, but a few days later the citizens rose in arms and recaptured it from the mer cenaries. There was great consternation in Florence at the news, and the Florentines attacked Pisa once more. After a six months' siege it surrendered on terms (Oct. 9, 1406), and Florence ac quired a great seaport and was at last able to develop a direct maritime trade.
Except in connection with the Pisan question, the republic had taken no definite side in the Great Schism which had divided the Church since 1378, but in 1408 she appealed both to Pope Greg ory XII. and the anti-pope, Benedict XIII., and suggested a coun cil within her own territory. Gregory refused, but after consult ing a committee of theologians who declared him to be a heretic, the council promoted by Cardinal Cossa and other independent prelates met at Pisa. The council deposed both popes and elected Pietro Filargi as Alexander V. (June 26). But Ladislas of Naples still occupied the papal States, and Florence, alarmed at his grow ing power and ambition, formed a league with Siena, Bologna and Louis of Anjou who laid claim to the Neapolitan throne, to drive Ladislas from Rome. Cortona, Orvieto, Viterbo and other cities were recovered for Alexander, and in Jan. 1410 Rome itself was captured by the Florentines under Malatesta dei Malatesti. Alex ander having died in May, Cardinal Cossa was elected as John XXIII., and Florence purchased Cortona from the pope.
