The Story of Bianco Alfani: Reflecting the Nature of 14th Century Florentine Society

Through scholarly research of Florentine politics and daily life during the rule of the Medici, it is affirmed that Giralamo Savonarola used religion and fear to inhibit the progression of the Renaissance in Florence.

The Palazzo Vecchio was the base for guilds in Florentine Renaissance. Construction on the Palazzo finished in 1299, using new ideas in …. Arnolfo di Cambio was the architect of the Vecchio as well as the Duomo and the Santa Croce church. The Vecchio was used as a municipal building during the Renaissance. Arnolfo di Cambio built the Vecchio with sieges in mind because even though the Middle Ages were moving into the age of Renaissance there was still much strife. The roof contains arches that could be used as safe points from which the defenders could protect the building by throwing objects onto their enemies in relative protection from projectiles. The architect also included the clock tower,

In 1296 Ardingo de Medici elected as Gonfaloniere was the first person from the Medici family who held a high public officer rank. In the next 30 years two more members of the family held the rank again. Salvestro de Medici was the person who returned the Medici’s to prominence after the family went through a decline for a short time period afterward. In 1370 and 1378 he held the office rank of Gonfaloniere. The “Ciompi” was a popular mob which was the reason on the basis of which Salvestro rose to power. Salvestro lost his political fortunes simultaneously with the fall of Ciompi. The family's economic status increased and the family became an economic power due to Giovanni which was indeed equivalent to a political power in the Florentine

During the late Fifteenth, the number of woodcarvers were more prevalent than butchers (“Patrons and Artist in Late 15th-Century Florence”). This example indicates that art was a more prioritized commodity than meat, which subsequently means artists were greatly valued. People who treasured art ranged from upper class to middle class, or lower class (“Patrons and Artist in Late 15th-Century Florence”). Much of the artists that were called by patrons in the courts because their projects came from southern Netherland cities such as: Burges, Brussels, Ghent, and Toumai (Davies et al. 476). Apparently, the patrons harbored a lot of jealousy of the unique status their artistic charges, that of independency in addition to the privileges

With Giovanni’s death in 1429, there were those who tried to capitalize on the opportunity to displace the Medici family from its place in the social and political landscape of the time. One such opportunity was taken with the help of a wealthy rival, the Albizzi family, who put in motion a plot to have Giovanni’s son, Cosimo de Medici, arrested on accusations of treason and banished to Venice. This did not happen without consequences. With Cosimo’s exile he took with him a large source of Florentine capital, the Medici Bank. The Pope intervened and restored the Medici’s to power. Thus began Cosimo’s restoration of Florentine pride and the support of great artists that many admire today.

Focusing on the Della Bella speech and Ciompi events, I believe that Francesco di Marco Datini would have viewed these events as a curse or disease to his business. Why a curse or disease? Merchants during this time period of 1434 didn’t want to involve in any politics that might affect their business. There is a reason why merchants dislike politics because they didn’t want the government to take control of their businesses and put their businesses in a huge hole with different business laws which might prevent them to do what they want to do with their businesses or companies. In addition, there were different laws there were demanded during the Ciompi events that allowed the prosecution of loans, interest and nobles. Also, there were introduction

In 1296, Florence, Italy, began a monumental task. They wanted the world to see how they flourished. They built an enormous cathedral but did not finish the roof. After decades of indecision, they came to an agreement; they would build a dome to transcend any other. How to build the dome was another matter. The floor plan was octagonal—eight pie shaped wedges. How could a dome reach the necessary height of 180 feet over the unique pre-existing structure, and not collapse? A contest was held. The architect whose plan was chosen would receive 200 gold florins and the possibility of eternal fame. Many original ideas were offered but the idea that drew the most interest was from a local goldsmith.

The Italian language like many of the other languages in the world is derived from Latin. Some other languages derived from Latin are French, Spanish, Portuguese and Romanian. These 5 languages along with Italian make up the romance languages. The Italian language is a well known adaptation of the Latin tongue that was spread all through the empire by conquering Roman armies. The spread of the romantic languages began in the Italian peninsula and Sicily then spread to France, Spain and Portugal. Soon after that these romantic languages began spreading to western Germany, southern Germany, Austria, Hungary, Switzerland, Romania. Later on they spread to Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.

Economic: During the time of the Italian Renaissance, the economic environment was very stable. More and more people were being commissioned for the work they were doing, so that meant that they had more money to give back into the economy. Like in the political stance of things, the more money you had, the more power. Money was power back then, as it still is today. Politics had more of an influence in the renaissance, you could have all the money in the world and

The navy commander and statesman became a dictator, and during his time in power, the city-state finally experienced the Renaissance to its full extent, which was long overdue. It was shown how Genoa’s belief of equality in social structure won them back what they had lost by how all the clans, families, citizens, and Andrea Doria threw their invaders

The Florentine Sandro Botticelli (1440-1510) is considered one of the greatest painters of the High Renaissance. Botticelli painted Adoration of the Magi in 1478 as a commissioned altarpiece by the wealthy Italian banker “Gaspare di Zanobi del Lama” for a burial chapel in Santa Maria, Novella. This painting is considered as an homage to the Medici family to demonstrate Del Lama’s attachment to the most influential and powerful political dynasty.

Considered to be one of the two leading cities in the Renaissance, Florence is known for promoting the arts. This city-state is located mainland in northern Italy. It is also known as a center for banking. The bulk of the city’s population is in one of two major guilds, the rich and powerful, and the

Florence: Florence is known as the center of banking, has a strong trade market for wool cloth, and connected to mostly all Italian writers and poets. Florentine money is responsible for financing much throughout Europe and parts of Asia. Trading here would be great because it is in the middle of all other main Italian city-states.

The renaissance was a time of great and immeasurable change within all aspects of European life; so much so that it could be seen as beginnings of our modern western society. Leading this revitalization in culture and society in Europe’s historical development were to the two of the most dominant states of renaissance Italy, Florence and Venice. These small city-states were the powerhouses of the time and assisted speeding up the renaissance and helped spur revolutionary developments along the way being the main hubs of influence in the Italian peninsula during the late 13th and early 16th century. Florence could be characterized as a financial centre, with their banking system considered extraordinarily ahead of time; in addition being the main producers of fine elevated their chances to conduct successful trading ventures. Venice was considered one of the largest centers of trade being a coastal city of the shores of the Adriatic Sea, which allowed for prosperous trade with what was then considered the Eastern world; the city was also well known for their quality in ship building as well which likely contributed to them being a large naval power in the region. Now due to fact that both city-states were two different sovereign parts of Italy meant having two different approaches and views on or about a multitude of ideas. To understand the impact of Florence and Venice, the two very influential and affluent republics in renaissance Italy, it is crucial to analyze their over

Located amongst the Mediterranean, the Italian city-states became key centers of commerce and trade. Fleets carried goods all across the Mediterranean, west into the Atlantic and even north to the Baltic Sea (Perry, 295). The growing dominance helped to not only distribute goods but also the increase in learning. The city-states learned to apply ancient learnings to the world around them, the main aspect of the Renaissance. Although the city-states got hit hard by the plague and famine, the growing commerce industry helped turn the city-states into banking centers (Perry, 295). As wealth increased, the city-states began to pull away from feudal control. Now money came more from business and trade (Perry, 295). No longer under the domination of feudal nobility, city-states strayed away from typical government structure and the middle