Governors and Government in Early Sixteenth-Century Florence, 1502-1519

by H. C. Butters

Overview

When Piero Soderino was elected to the new office of Gonfalonier of Justice in 1502, he was faced not only with the problem of foreign invasions of italy but also with a controversial new constitution based on a Great Council of over 3,000 members. With the return of the Medici in 1512, the earlier constitutional order was restored—one that was far more oligarchical, and much less satisfactory, for many Florentines. This book provides a lively account of political alignments and decision making in these two contrasting governments, and analyzes the causes and significance of the Medici overthrow of the popular government of Soderino. Butters also reveals both the skills and shortcomings of the governments' leaders and the impact of the Medici pope, Leo X, on the city's affairs.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780198225935
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/17/1985
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.20(d)

Table of Contents

	Abbreviations	xvii
1	Florentine Politics and Society at the End of the Fifteenth Century	1
2	1502-1504: Soderini's First Year in Office	47
3	Power and Political Alignments	59
4	1504-1506: The Failures at Pisa and the Militia	83
5	1507-1509: The Imperial Problem and the Recovery of Pisa	115
6	1509-1512: The Council of Pisa and the Return of the Medici	140
7	From the Expulsion of Soderini to the Establishment of the Balia	166
8	1512-1513: The First Year of the Medici Regime and the Role of Rome	187
9	Lorenzo, Rome, and the Crisis of 1515	226
10	The Last Years of Lorenzo (1516-1519): War, Marriage, and Death	276
	Conclusion	308
	Appendices	313
	Bibliography	322
	Index	333

Editorial Reviews

"Butters has now filled the last remaining gap [in the history of Renaissance Florence]....His extensive and accurate knowledge of the politics of the period enables him to demonstrate the weaknesses of rival approaches....At last we have an accurate account of the political events and decisions of this period that Machiavelli and Vaglienti would be the first to tell us is the real stuff of history."—Journal of Modern History

"With wit and good humor, and a solid grasp of detail, H.C. Butters defends old-fashioned narrative history as an effective literary strategy for explicating the intricacies and illuminating the dark corners of Florentine politics."—American Historical Review

From the Publisher