Florence : the golden age, 1138-1737 / Gene Brucker.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Brucker, Gene A.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Florence (Italy)--History--To 1421.

Florence (Italy).

Florence (Italy)--History--1421-1737.

Physical Description:

278 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 29 cm

Edition:

First paperback edition.

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, 1998.

Summary:

Over the centuries many thousands of visitors have journeyed to Florence to admire the city's great beauty, and to marvel at its unique history. In this century Gene Brucker has been one of the city's most knowledgeable admirers. With the historian's ability to uncover the past, he skillfully relates the story of Florence's Golden Age and the conjoined forces that transformed the city on the Arno into one of the most glorious civilizations the world has known.

Brucker's story of the premier city of the Italian Renaissance tells of great families and common people, wars and economic dislocations, natural catastrophes and religious turmoil, and extraordinary artistic and literary achievement. The creative growth of the city of Dante, Giotto, Brunelleschi, and Michelangelo was made possible through Florence's role as an economic center, the zeal of its small manufacturing industries, and the enterprise of the merchants who spread Florentine influence well beyond the city's walls and territories.

The pages of Florence are enlivened with the voices of historical protagonists, and their words richly convey the tenor of the times. Brucker's accessible writing is complimented by a wealth of paintings and drawings, 200 of them in full color. Also included are a chronology of important historical events, a listing of noted Florentine families, and a genealogy of the famed Medici family. Historians and students will find much of value here; so too will anyone who is in love with -- or who plans to fall in love with -- the shining city of Florence.

Contents:

The Uniqueness of Florence's Historical Experience 7

Florence seen from abroad 10

The Florentine "ingegno" 19

The city straddling the Arno 24

The Great Families 27

The origins 27

"A lust of ... dominion" 29

The old aristocracy and the popolo 34

"One hundred and fifty towers belonging to private citizens..." 38

The consolidation of aristocratic power 44

The life style of the aristocracy 48

The aristocracy under the principato 55

The Florentine palazzo 60

The Economy 65

Florin and lira, gold and silver 70

The great companies 74

Florentine trade and financial activity abroad 82

Profile of the Florentine merchant 84

Florence 1338: some rough statistics 88

The Medici bank 92

From crisis to stasis 96

Florence's wool industry 104

A School for Self-Government 109

The maturing commune 111

Guelfs, Ghibellines and the rise of the popolo 113

The guilds: corporation politics 114

Three witnesses 124

The time of troubles 131

The Renaissance republic 136

The Medici regime 139

Niccolo Machiavelli 144

Excise, valuations, loans, land surveys 154

The Formation of the Florentine Dominion 157

Montaperti 163

"Two bales of pink cloth..." 164

Territorial consolidation 170

The granducato 184

A Civic Culture 191

The monastery of San Marco 192

The cult of antiquity 201

"What a delightful thing is this perspective!" 206

The Laurentian era 213

Andrea del Verrocchio: a master and his workshop 216

Crisis 221

Florentine furniture 226

Florence Under the Principato 229

Games and festivities 232

Illustrious Florentine families 260

The Medici family tree 264.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (page 271) and index.

ISBN:

0520215222

OCLC:

54051441