syndics to conduct the negotiations with the French king.
Charles’s demands by no means pleased the citizens, and the
arrogance and violence of his soldiers led to riots in which they
were assailed with stones in the narrow streets. When the king
began to hint at the recall of Piero de’ Medici, whose envoys had
gained his ear, the signory ordered the citizens to be ready to
fly to arms. The proposal was dropped, but Charles demanded
an immense sum of money before he would leave the city; long
discussions followed, and when at last he presented an insolent
ultimatum the syndics refused to accept it. The king said in
Piero Capponi.
a threatening tone, “Then we shall sound our
trumpets,” whereupon Capponi tore up the document
in his face and replied, “And we shall ring our bells.”
The king, realizing what street fighting in Florence would mean,
at once came to terms; he contented himself with 120,000
florins, agreeing to assume the title of “Protector and Restorer
of the liberty of Florence,” and to give up the fortresses he had
taken within two years, unless his expedition to Naples should
be concluded sooner; the Medici were to remain banished, but
the price on their heads was withdrawn. But Charles would not
depart, a fact which caused perpetual disturbance in the city,
and it was not until the 28th of November, after an exhortation
by Savonarola whom he greatly respected, that he left Florence.
It was now intended to re-establish the government on the
basis of the old republican institutions, but it was found that
sixty years of Medici rule had reduced them to mere
shadows, and the condition of the government, largely
controlled by a balìa of 20 accoppiatori and frequently
The revived republic.
Savonarola as a statesman.
disturbed by the summoning of the parlamento, was
utterly chaotic. Consequently men talked of nothing save of
changing the constitution, but unfortunately there was no longer
an upper class accustomed to public affairs, while the lower class
was thoroughly demoralized. Many proposals were made, none
of them of practical value, until Savonarola, who had
already made a reputation as a moral reformer, began
his famous series of political sermons. In the prevailing
confusion the people turned to him as their only hope,
and gradually a new government was evolved, each law being
enacted as the result of his exhortations. A Greater Council
empowered to appoint magistrates and pass laws was formed,
to which all citizens netti di specchio (who had paid their taxes)
and beneficiati (i.e. who had sat in one of the higher magistracies
or whose fathers, grandfathers, or great-grandfathers had done
so) were eligible together with certain others. There were 3200
such citizens, and they sat one-third at a time for six months.
The Greater Council was to elect another council of 80 citizens
over forty years old, also to be changed every six months; this
body, which the signory must consult once a week, together
with the colleges and the signory itself, was to appoint
ambassadors and commissaries of war, and deal with other
confidential matters. The system of forced loans was abolished
and a 10% tax on real property introduced in its stead, and a
law of amnesty for political offenders enacted. Savonarola
also proposed a court of appeal for criminal and political crimes
tried by the Otto di guardia e balìa; this too was agreed to, but
the right of appeal was to be, not to a court as Savonarola
suggested, but to the Greater Council, a fact which led to grave
abuses, as judicial appeals became subject to party passions.
The parlamenti were abolished and a monte di pietà to advance
money at reasonable interest was created. But in spite of
Savonarola’s popularity there was a party called the Bigi
(greys) who intrigued secretly in favour of the return of the
Medici, while the men of wealth, called the Arrabbiati, although
they hated the Medici, were even more openly opposed to the
actual régime and desired to set up an aristocratic oligarchy.
The adherents of Savonarola were called the Piagnoni, or
snivellers, while the Neutrali changed sides frequently.
A league between the pope, the emperor, Venice and Spain having been made against Charles VIII., the latter was forced to return to France. On his way back he passed through Florence, and; although the republic had refused to join the league, it believed itself in danger, as Piero de’ Medici was in the League against Charles VIII. king’s train. Savonarola was again sent to the French camp, and his eloquence turned the king from any idea he may have had of reinstating the Medici. At the same time Charles violated his promise by giving aid to the Pisans in their revolt against Florence, and did not restore the other fortresses. After the French had abandoned Italy, Piero de’ Medici, encouraged by the league, enlisted a number of mercenaries and marched on Florence, but the citizens, fired by Savonarola’s enthusiasm, flew to arms and prepared for an energetic resistance; owing to Piero’s incapacity and the exhaustion of his funds the expedition came to nothing. At the same time the conditions of the city were not prosperous; its resources were strained by the sums paid to Charles and by the war; its credit was shaken, its trade paralysed, famine and plague visited the city, and the war to subjugate Pisa was proceeding unsatisfactorily. Worse still was the death in 1496 of one of its ablest and most disinterested statesmen, Piero Capponi. The league now attacked Florence, for Pope Alexander VI. Alexander VI. against Florence. hated Savonarola and was determined to destroy the republic, so as to reinstate the Medici temporarily and prepare the way for his own sons; the Venetians and Imperialists besieged Leghorn, and there was great misery in Florence. All this decreased Savonarola’s popularity to some extent, but the enemy having been beaten at Leghorn and the league being apparently on the point of breaking up, the Florentines took courage and the friar’s party was once more in the ascendant. Numerous processions were held, Savonarola’s sermons against corruption and vice seemed to have temporarily transformed the citizens, and the carnival of 1497 remained famous for the burning of the “vanities” (i.e. indecent books and pictures and carnival masks and costumes). The friar’s sermons against ecclesiastical corruption, and especially against the pope, resulted in his excommunication by the latter, in consequence of which he lost much of his influence and immorality spread once more. That same year Piero made another unsuccessful attempt on Florence. New Medici plots having been discovered, Bernardo del Nero and other prominent citizens were tried and put to death; but the party hostile to Savonarola gained ground and had the support of the Franciscans, who were hostile to the Dominican order. Pulpit warfare was waged between Savonarola and his opponents, and the matter ended in his being forbidden to preach and in a proposed ordeal by fire, which, however, never came off. The pope again and again demanded that the friar be surrendered to him, but without success, in spite of his threats of an interdict against the city. The Piagnoni were out of power, and a signory of Arrabbiati having been elected in 1498, a mob of Savonarola’s opponents attacked the convent of St Mark where he resided, and he himself was arrested and imprisoned. The commission appointed to try him on charges of heresy and treason was composed Trial and execution of Savonarola (1498). of his enemies, including Doffo Spini, who had previously attempted to murder him; many irregularities were committed during the three trials, and the prisoner was repeatedly tortured. The outgoing signory secured the election of another which was of their way of thinking, and on the 22nd of May 1498 Savonarola was condemned to death and executed the following day.
The pope having been satisfied, the situation in Florence was less critical for the moment. The war against Pisa was renewed, and in 1499 the city might have been taken but for the dilatory tactics of the Florentine commander Paolo Vitelli, who was consequently arrested on a charge of treason and put to death. Louis XII. of France, who now sent an army into Italy to conquer the Milanese, obtained the support of the Florentines. Cesare Borgia, who had seized many cities in Romagna, suddenly demanded the reinstatement of the Medici in Florence, and the danger was only warded off by appointing him captain-general of the Florentine forces at a large salary (1501). The weakness of the government becoming every day more apparent, several constitutional changes were made, and many old institutions, such as that of the podestà and capitano del popolo, were abolished; finally in 1502, in order
