to give more stability to the government, the office of gonfaloniere,
with the right of proposing laws to the signory, was made a life
appointment. The election fell on Piero Soderini (1448–1522),
Piero Soderini.
an honest public-spirited man of no particular party,
but lacking in strength of character. One useful
measure which he took was the institution of a national
militia at the suggestion of Niccolò Machiavelli (1505). In the
meanwhile the Pisan war dragged on without much headway
being made. In 1503 both Piero de’ Medici and Alexander VI.
had died, eliminating two dangers to the republic. Spain, who
was at war with France over the partition of Naples, helped the
Pisans as the enemies of Florence, France’s ally (1501–1504),
but when the war was over the Florentines were able to lay
siege to Pisa (1507), and in 1509 the city was driven by famine
to surrender and became a dependency of Florence once more.
Pope Julius II., after having formed the league of Cambrai
with France and Spain against Venice, retired from it in 1510,
and raised the cry of “Fuori i Barbari” (out with the
barbarians), with a view to expelling the French from
Italy. King Louis thereupon proposed an oecumenical
Schismatic council of Pisa (1510).
council so as to create a schism in the Church, and
demanded that it be held in Florentine territory. After
some hesitation the republic agreed to the demand, and the council
was opened at Pisa, whereupon the pope immediately placed
Florence under an interdict. At the request of the Florentines
the council removed to Milan, but this did not save them from
the pope’s wrath. A Spanish army under Raymundo de Cardona
and accompanied by Cardinal Giovanni de’ Medici and his brother
Giuliano entered the republic’s territory and demanded 100,000
florins, the dismissal of Soderini, and the readmission of the
Medici. Soderini offered to resign, but the Greater Council
supported him and preparations for defence were made. In
August the Spaniards took Prato by storm and committed
hideous atrocities on the inhabitants; Florence was in a panic,
a group of the Ottimati, or nobles, forced Soderini to resign and
leave the city, and Cardona’s new terms were accepted, viz.
the readmission of the Medici, a fine of 150,000 florins, and an
Return of the Medici (1512).
alliance with Spain. On the 1st of September 1512
Giuliano and Giovanni de’ Medici, and their nephew
Lorenzo, entered Florence with the Spanish troops;
a parlamento was summoned, and a packed balìa
formed which abolished the Greater Council and created a constitution
similar to that of Lorenzo the Magnificent. Giuliano
became de facto head of the government, but he did not pursue
the usual vindictive policy of his house, although he resorted
to the Laurentian method of amusing the citizens with splendid
festivities. In 1513, on the death of Julius II., Giovanni de’
Medici was elected pope as Leo X., an event which greatly enhanced
the importance of the house. In March 1514 Giuliano
died, and was succeeded by Lorenzo, who was also created duke
of Urbino. At his death in 1519 Cardinal Giulio de’ Medici (son
of the Giuliano murdered in the Pazzi conspiracy) took charge
of the government; he met with some opposition and had to
play off the Ottimati against the Piagnoni, but he did not rule
badly and maintained at all events the outward forms of freedom.
In 1523 he was created pope as Clement VII. and sent his relatives
Ippolito and Alessandro, both minors and bastards, to Florence
under the tutorship of Cardinal Silvio Passerini. Ippolito was
styled the Magnifico and destined to be ruler of the republic,
but Cardinal Passerini’s regency proved most unpopular, and the
city was soon seething with discontent. Revolts broke out and
Passerini showed himself quite unequal to coping with the
situation. The Ottimati were mostly anti-Medicean, and by 1527
the position was untenable. When Filippo Strozzi, and above
Second expulsion
of the Medici (1527).
all his wife, threw their influence in the scales against
the Medici, and the magistrates declared for their
expulsion from power, Passerini, Ippolito and Alessandro
left Florence (17th of May 1527). A Consiglio
degli Scelti was summoned, and a constitution similar
to that of Savonarola’s time was established. The Greater
Council was revived and Niccolò Capponi created gonfaloniere
for a year. But Florence was torn by factions—the Ottimati
who desired an oligarchy, the Palleschi or Mediceans who generally
supported them, the Adirati who opposed Capponi for his
moderation, the Arrabbiati who were strongly anti-Medicean,
and the Popolani who opposed the Ottimati. “It is almost
impossible that a state so disorganized and corrupt as Florence
then was should produce men of parts and character, but if by
chance any such should arise they would be hated and persecuted,
their dispositions would be soured by indignation, or they
would be hunted from their country or die of grief” (Benedette
Varchi). Capponi did his best to reform the city and save the
situation, and while adopting Savonarola’s tone in internal
affairs, he saw the dangers in the foreign situation, realizing that
a reconciliation between the pope and the emperor Charles V.
would prove disastrous for Florence, for Clement would certainly
seize the opportunity to reinstate his family in power. Having
been re-elected gonfaloniere in spite of much opposition in 1528,
Capponi tried to make peace with the pope, but his correspondence
with the Vatican resulted in a quite unjustified charge of high
treason, and although acquitted he had to resign office and leave
the city for six months. Francesco Carducci was elected gonfaloniere
in his place, and on the 29th of June 1529 the pope and
the emperor concluded a treaty by which the latter agreed to
re-establish the Medici in Florence. Carducci made preparations
for a siege, but a large part of the people were against him,
either from Medicean sympathies or fear, although the Frateschi,
as the believers in Savonarola’s views were called, supported
him strongly. A body called the Nove della Milizia, of whom
Michelangelo Buonarroti was a member, was charged with the
defence of the city, and Michelangelo (q.v.) himself superintended
the strengthening of the fortifications. A most unfortunate
choice for the chief command of the army was the appointment
of Malatesta Baglioni. In August an imperial army under
Philibert, prince of Orange, advanced on the city. In September
Malatesta surrendered Perugia, and other cities fell before the
Imperialists. All attempts to come to terms with the pope were
The siege
of Florence.
unsuccessful, and by October the siege had begun.
Although alone against papacy and empire, the citizens
showed the greatest spirit and devotion, and were
successful in many sorties. The finest figure produced
by these events was that of Francesco Ferruccio (q.v.); by his
defence of Empoli he showed himself a first-class soldier, and
was appointed commissioner-general. He executed many rapid
marches and counter-marches, assaulting isolated bodies of the
enemy unexpectedly, and harassing them continually. But
Malatesta was a traitor at heart and hindered the defence of
the city in every way. Ferruccio, who had recaptured Volterra,
marched to Gavinana above Pistoia to attack the Imperialists in
the rear. A battle took place at that spot on the 3rd of August,
but in spite of Ferruccio’s heroism he was defeated and killed;
the prince of Orange also fell in that desperate engagement.
Malatesta contributed to the defeat by preventing a simultaneous
attack by the besieged. The sufferings from famine within the
city were now very great, and an increasingly large part of the
people favoured surrender. The signory, at last realizing that
Malatesta was a traitor, dismissed him; but it was too late,
and he now behaved as though he were governor of Florence;
when the troops attempted to enforce the dismissal he turned
his guns on them. On the 9th of August the signory saw that
Surrender
of Florence (1530).
all hope was lost and entered into negotiations with Don
Ferrante Gonzaga, the new imperial commander.
On the 12th the capitulation was signed: Florence
was to pay an indemnity of 80,000 florins, the Medici
were to be recalled, the emperor was to establish the new government,
“it being understood that liberty is to be preserved.”
Baccio Valori, a Medicean who had been in the imperialist camp,
now took charge, and the city was occupied by foreign troops.
A parlamento was summoned, the usual packed balìa created, and
all opposition silenced. The city was given over to Pope Clement,
who, disregarding the terms of the capitulation, had Carducci
and Girolami (the last gonfaloniere) hanged, and established
Alessandro de’ Medici, the natural son of Lorenzo, duke of Urbino,
as head of the republic on the 5th of July 1531. The next year
