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NOT SO ANCIENT FLORENCE
IN TOWN
ACROSS THE RIVER
Florence requires many days to see it correctly. You could spend several days just looking at the art, or architecture, or history. And that’s without even crossing the river where there’s a whole different town to explore.
Why does Florence have so much to see and do? Like most cities in Italy, we need to go back to B.C. to find her beginning. That means there are more than 2,000 years of history to cover.
The Etruscan settle here around 200 B.C. and call the settlement Fiesole. It sits on the hill just north of the river.
Around 60 B.C., Julius Caesar builds a settlement closer to the river. The Romans rule over the town until 476 A.D.
Not So Ancient
For the next 100 years, different factions try to keep the Byzantines from regaining the region. They are, for the most part, successful. But in addition to the Byzantines at the front door, they have to fight other factions at their back.
Finally, in 568 AD, the Germanic Lombards sweep in from the north and control all of the Italian Peninsula.
They have enough strength to defend themselves on all sides. They remain in control for the next two hundred years.
But like many, they conquer and move on, leaving the locals to figure it out.
In 774, a Frankish King captures Italy and declares himself the king of the Lombards. His name is Charlemagne.
Like the Lombards before him, he moves on.
The Frank nobles waste no time taking more control over their lands on a local level. They pretty much self govern themselves for the next 150 years.
In 961, King Otto Of Germany announces he is the new Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. As he tries to rule from afar, nothing changes.
That changes in 1061, when Matilda of Tuscany acquires a substantial area, including present-day Lombardy, Emilia, Romagna, and Tuscany. Not only does she have land, money, and title from her father, but the lady knows how to fight. She quickly becomes the ruler of Northern Italy.
To gain her favor, Emperor Henry V crowns her the Vice-Queen of Italy.
Until her death in 1115, Matilda has more influence on Northern Italy than anyone up to this point. She is responsible for many of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in this area.
After Matilda
Upon her death, the locals create the Republic of Florence as they are over Tuscany’s rule.
There are many attempts to overthrow the new republic, and some are successful. An up and coming family from Tuscany succeeds in taking control in 1434. Their name is Medici. First wool-gatherers, they soon expand into banking.
The Medici grow their kingdom. It soon reaches from Florence to the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Welcome to the Renaissance
Lorenzo Medici is a great patron of the arts, commissioning works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Botticelli. He becomes known as Lorenzo il Magnifico (Lorenzo the Magnificent).
Following his death in 1492, his son takes over.
He is no match for the French king Charles VIII who invades northern Italy in 1493.
The Florentines exile him in 1494, bringing the first period of Medici rule to an end.
A new Republican government takes control of Florence.
By 1512, with help from the Pope, the Medici are back in power.
Pope Clement VII creates the Duchy of the Florentine Republic and names Alessandro de’ Medici as the Duke.
This move makes it a hereditary monarchy, instead of a position requiring a vote.
How did the Medici get the Pope on their side? The Pope’s real name is Giulio di Giuliano de’ Medici, NOT a coincidence.
Next, the Pope elevates the Duke of the Florentine Kingdom to the Grand Duke of Tuscany.
By 1569, the Florentines are a very little fish in a big pond. They no longer have the power to eliminate the Medici. The Medici now rule all of Tuscany.
A Power Failure in Rome
While the Medici family is growing in power, the Pope in Rome takes a significant hit. Martin Luther’s Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences hits in 1517.
In 1521, John Calvin began publishing his work and writings. These writings create a loose consensus among various churches in Switzerland, Hungary, Germany, Scotland, and elsewhere. The reformation is up and running.
The Final Curtain
Unfortunately, the Medici are having so much fun, they forget to have heirs, and they bankrupt all their treasuries. Cosimo III tries altering the Tuscan laws of succession to include his daughter, Anna Maria Luisa de’ Medici.
It fails, and Charles (later Charles III of Spain) becomes the heir to Parma, Piacenza, and Tuscany in 1718. By October 1723, the last male Medici passes away.
Emperor Francis Stephen trades the area of Lorraine for the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1737. The Austrians will rule for approximately 60 years until the arrival of Napoleon.
The Guy With the Napoleonic Complex.
1800 and Napoleon comes, sees, and conquers. He creates two states in Italy. One between the Alps in the north and one on the Bay of Naples in the south.
He makes it the Italian Republic in 1802.
Then in 1805, he names it the Kingdom of Italy and appoints himself king.
Napoleon makes his 1815 visit to Waterloo. The Congress of Vienna swoops in to divide. They leave the Kingdom of Italy looking like a puzzle with a few pieces missing.
Florence goes back to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.
Then in 1859, King Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy begins the unification of Italy. 1860, Tuscany goes to the Kingdom of Sardinia.
By 1861, Victor Emmanuel III assembles the first Italian Parliament in Turin. Parliament proclaims him King of Italy. Italy is born. Only a few pieces of modern Italy are missing from this kingdom.
Florence as a Capital
In 1865, they moved the capital from Turin to Florence. New streets and buildings go in.
By 1871, all of Italy except the Vatican City, San Martino, and land east of Venice are part of Italy. The capital moves again, this time to Rome.
Florence and the World Wars
With the end of WWI, Italy gets the area east of Venice.
The Germans invade Italy in 1943. They remain until August of 1944. The retreating Germans began to demolish all the bridges along the Arno river to slow the Allied troops. The locals convince the Germans to spare the Ponte Vecchio.
Post War Italian History.
After the war, Italy gets a constitution. Florence’s population booms, and their prosperity grows from tourism, trade, and financial services.
Also fashion! For two decades after World War II, Florence was Italy’s fashion capital.
Several fashion powerhouses began and are still in Florence.
Besides Capucci, you have Roberto Cavalli and Emilio Pucci.
Also, two fashion superstars not only have their corporate and flagship stores in Florence but also their museums. Salvatore Ferragamo and Gucci both have fascinating museums for fashion lovers.
Florence is one of Italy’s most popular cities to visit. Even outside of the summer crush, you should plan on crowds and only seeing a few sites per day.
See Florence
Much of the old part of Florence is the UNESCO World Heritage Site: the historical Centre of Florence.
It is like an outdoor historical museum.
See Florence Across the River
The Oltrarno is Florence’s Bohemian neighborhood. It would be home to many of the noble families, but it is the home of the artists. They were there before the nobility and remain today.
See Florence Outside the City.
See Florence Summary
It is possible to get eye strain because there is so much to see. You could spend a full day just doing museums, the Medici homes, and offices or the works by Michelangelo. Day trips are possible to Lucca, Pisa, Livorno, Siena, San Gimignano, and more.
As you can see, Florence has more than a day of offerings.