Villani). Yet in spite of these disasters the republic was
by no means crushed; it soon regained the suzerainty of
The Great Plague (1348).
War with Milan (1351).
many cities which had broken off all connexion
with it after the expulsion of the duke of Athens,
and purchased the overlordship of Prato from Queen
Joanna of Naples, who had inherited it from the
duke of Calabria. In 1351 Giovanni Visconti, lord and archbishop
of Milan, having purchased Bologna and allied himself with
sundry Ghibelline houses of Tuscany with a view to
dominating Florence, the city made war on him, and in
violation of its Guelph traditions placed itself under the
protection of the emperor Charles IV. (1355) for his lifetime.
This move, however, was not popular, and it enabled
the grandi, who, although excluded from the chief offices, still
dominated the parte Guelfa, to reassert themselves. They had in
1347 succeeded in enacting a very stringent law against all who
were in any way tainted with Ghibellinism, which, they themselves
being above suspicion in that connexion, enabled them to drive
from office many members of the popolo minuto. In 1358 the
parte Guelfa made these enactments still more stringent, punishing
with death or heavy fines all who being Ghibellines held
office, and provided that if trustworthy witnesses were forthcoming
condemnations might be passed for this offence without
hearing the accused; even a non-proved charge or an ammonizione
(warning not to accept office) might entail disfranchisement.
Thus the parte, represented by its 6 (afterwards 9) captains,
came to exercise a veritable reign of terror, and no one knew
when an accusation might fall on him. The leader of the parte
was Piero degli Albizzi, whose chief rivals were the Ricci family.
Italy at this time began to be overrun by bands of soldiers of fortune. The first of these bands with whom Florence came into contact was the Great Company, commanded by the count of Lando, which twice entered Tuscany but was expelled both times by the The condottieri.Florentine troops (1358–1359).
In 1362 we find Florence at war with Pisa on account of commercial differences, and because the former had acquired the lordship of Volterra. The Florentines were successful until Pisa enlisted Sir John Hawkwood’s English company; the latter won several battles, but were at last defeated at Cascina, and peace was made in 1364, neither side having gained much advantage. A fresh danger threatened the republic in 1367 when Charles IV., who had allied himself with Pope Urban V., Queen Joanna of Naples, and various north Italian despots to humble the Visconti, demanded that the Florentines should join the league. This they refused to do and armed themselves for defence, but eventually satisfied the emperor with a money payment.
The tyranny of the parte Guelfa still continued unabated, and the capitani carried an enactment by which no measure affecting the parte should be even discussed by the signory unless previously approved of by them. This infamous law, however, aroused so much opposition The parte Guelfa. that some of the very men who had proposed it assembled in secret to discuss its abolition, and a quarrel between the Albizzi and the Ricci having weakened the parte, a balìa of 56 was agreed upon. Several of the Albizzi and the Ricci were excluded from office for five years, and a council called the Ten of Liberty was created to defend the laws and protect the weak against the strong. The parte Guelfa and the Albizzi still remained very influential and the attempts to abolish admonitions failed.
In 1375 Florence became involved in a war which showed
how the old party divisions of Italy had been obliterated. The
papal legate at Bologna, Cardinal Guillaume de Noellet
(d. 1394), although the church was then allied to
Florence, was meditating the annexation of the city to
War with
the church (1375–78).
the Holy See; he refused a request of the Florentines
for grain from Romagna, and authorized Hawkwood to devastate
their territory. Although a large part of the people disliked
the idea of a conflict with the church, an alliance with Florence’s
old enemy Bernabò Visconti was made, war declared, and a
balìa of 8, the Otto della guerra (afterwards called the “Eight
Saints” on account of their good management) was created
to carry on the campaign. Treaties with Pisa, Siena, Arezzo
and Cortona were concluded, and soon no less than 80 towns,
including Bologna, had thrown off the papal yoke. Pope Gregory
XI. placed Florence under an interdict, ordered the expulsion
of all Florentines from foreign countries, and engaged a ferocious
company of Bretons to invade the republic’s territory. The
Eight levied heavy toll on church property and ordered the
priests to disregard the interdict. They turned the tables on
the pope by engaging Hawkwood, and although the Bretons by
order of Cardinal Robert of Geneva (afterwards the anti-pope
Clement VII.) committed frightful atrocities in Romagna,
their captains were bribed by the republic not to molest its
territory. By 1378 peace was made, partly through the mediation
of St Catherine of Siena, and the interdict was removed
in consideration of the republic’s paying a fine of 200,000 florins
to the pope.
During the war the Eight had been practically rulers of the city, but now the parte Guelfa, led by Lapo da Castiglionchio and Piero degli Albizzi, attempted to reassert itself by illicit interference in the elections and by a liberal use of “admonitions” (ammonizioni). Salvestro de’ Salvestro de’ Medici. Medici, who had always opposed the parte, having been elected gonfaloniere in spite of its intrigues, proposed a law for the abolition of the admonitions, which was eventually passed (June 18, 1378), but the people had been aroused, and desired to break the power of the parte for good. Rioting occurred on the 21st of June, and the houses of the Albizzi and other nobles were burnt. The signory meanwhile created a balìa of 80 which repealed some of the laws promoted by the parte, and partly enfranchised the ammoniti. The people were still unsatisfied, the arti minori demanded further privileges, and the workmen insisted that their grievances against the arti maggiori, especially the wool trade by whom they were employed, The riot of the ciompi (1378). be redressed. A large body of ciompi (wool carders) gathered outside the city and conspired to subvert the signory and establish a popular government. Although the plot, in which Salvestro does not seem to have played a part, was revealed, a good deal of mob violence occurred, and on the 21st of July the populace seized the podestà’s palace, which they made their headquarters. They demanded a share in the government for the popolo minuto, but as soon as this was granted Tommaso Strozzi, as spokesman of the ciompi, obliged the signory to resign their powers to the Eight. Once the people were in possession of the palace, a ciompo named Michele di Lando took the lead and put a stop to disorder and pillage. He remained master of Florence for one day, during which he reformed the constitution, probably with the help of Salvestro de’ Medici. Three new gilds were created, and nine priors appointed, three from the arti maggiori, three from the minori, and three from the new ones, while each of these classes in turn was to choose the gonfaloniere of justice; the first to hold the office was Michele di Lando. This did not satisfy the ciompi, and the disorders provoked by them resulted in a new government which reformed the two councils so as to exclude the lower orders. But to satisfy the people several of the grandi, including Piero degli Albizzi, were put to death, on charges of conspiracy, and many others were exiled. There was perpetual rioting and anarchy, and interference in the affairs of the government by the working men, while at the same time poverty and unemployment increased owing to the timidity of capital and the disorders, until at last in 1382 a reaction set in, and order was restored by the gild companies. Again a new constitution was decreed by which the gonfaloniere and half the priori were to be chosen from the arti maggiori and the other half from the minori; on several other boards the former were to be in the majority, and the three new gilds were abolished. The demagogues were executed or forced to fly, and Michele di Lando with great ingratitude was exiled. Several subsequent risings of the ciompi, largely of an economic character, were put down, and the Guelph families gradually regained much of their lost power, of which
