Under the feeble princes of the Carlovingian family, during the anarchy of the reigns of the dukes of Friuli, and the other petty sovereigns, who successively assum ed the title of king of Italy, and the subsequent disputes between the German emperors and the bishops of Rome, Florence, like the other cities of Tuscany and Lombardy, was gradually acquiring strength along with the spirit of liberty and independence.
Exposed to sudden assaults of hordes of Saracens, Bul garians, and other barbarous nations, against whom their powerless lords were unable to assist them, the first step towards freedom was the right granted them of surround ing their city with walls and fortifications. It was not, how ever, until the reign cf Otho I. about the middle of the tenth century, that the people were allowed to elect ma gistrates for themselves, and establish a regular municipal government. The constitution adopted by the Florentines, was a deliberative council, or senate of 100 persons; and, for the execution of justice, consuls who were chosen from among the most respectable class of citizens. Of these there were originally four, elected by the four quarters of the city. When it was increased to six divisions, two new consuls were also added, who were elected in the same manner.
In the year 1207, the consuls were deprived of the right of judging in civil cases, and of pronouncing and execu ting criminal sentences, and these duties were assigned to a magistrate styled a Podeeta. It was enacted that this person should be a foreigner, that no citizen might draw upon himself odium, by the execution of public justice; while, on the other hand, he might not be deterred by mo tives of fear, or family partialities, from doing what was necessary for the public safety.
Although the Florentine government appears to have oc casionally taken part in the quarrels between the emperors and the popes, and especially in that of Otho IV. and In nocent III. yet the internal peace of the state remained un disturbed. It was not until the year 1215, that a private quarrel having on a sudden kindled the spirit of party, the Florentines were engaged in a civil war, which, after con tinuing for 33 years with various success, at length termi nated in the banishment of the Guelph or Papal party, and forced the republic to take a decided part in the wars of Ita ly. Notwithstanding these long continued dissensions, the
republic seems not to have suffered either in point of po pulation or wealth. The annalists of that period talk of the necessary enlargement of the city, of the erection of public buildings, of the fortification of castles, with many other signs of its increase in strength and riches. It was, indeed, exclusively to such national purposes that the Florentines applied the fruits of their industry. Their manners and mode of living were simple to a degree, and all personal pomp and luxury were strictly repressed by sumptuary laws.
The power of the Ghibelline, or imperial faction, was but of short duration in Florence. The citizens, harassed by the tyranny of the nobles, suddenly took up arms in the year 1250, and having deposed the Podesta, conferred his authority on an officer styled the captain of the people, to whom they appointed as a council, 12 magistrates call ed Auziani, two of whom were chosen by each quarter of the city. To this council they gave the name of the Seig niory, and each of its members was to remain no longer in office than two months. The fortresses of the nobles were demolished, and the materials employed in repairing the walls of the city ; and a public palace was built for the ac commodation of the members of government. On the death of the Emperor Frederic II. in 1251, the people seized the opportunity of recalling the banished faction of the G uelphs; and having forced the chiefs of both parties to sign a trea ty of peace, they added to the captain of the people aPo desta of a Guelph family in Milan.
No sooner was the popular government established in Florence, than the citizens, animatad by the strength they had acquired, endeavoured to bring over the whole of Tus cany to their party. For an account, however, of the wars that ensued, and the subsequent history of Florence, as connected with foreign transactions, we refer our readers to the arti cle ITALY, confining ourselves at present to a brief sketch of the internal revolutions of the republic.