Editing Florence (section)

== History ==
{{Main|History of Florence}}

{{For timeline}}

{{Quote box |width=25em |align=right |title_bg=#B0C4DE
|title=Timeline of Florence<br /><small>Historical affiliations</small>
|fontsize=80% |quote={{Noflag|[[Roman Republic]]}}, 59–27 BC<br />
{{Noflag|[[Roman Empire]]}}, 27 BC–AD 285<br />
{{Noflag|[[Western Roman Empire]]}}, 285–476<br />
{{Noflag|[[Odoacer|Kingdom of Odoacer]]}}, 476–493<br />
{{Noflag|[[Ostrogothic Kingdom]]}}, 493–553<br />
{{Noflag|[[Byzantine Empire|Eastern Roman Empire]]}}, 553–568<br />
{{Noflag|[[Kingdom of the Lombards|Lombard Kingdom]]}}, 570–773<br />
{{Noflag|[[Carolingian Empire]]}}, 774–797<br />
{{Noflag|[[Kingdom of Italy (Holy Roman Empire)|Regnum Italiae]]}}, 797–1001<br />
{{Noflag|[[March of Tuscany]]}}, 1002–1115<br />
{{flagicon image|State Flag of the Republic of Florence.svg}} [[Republic of Florence]], 1115–1532<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (Medici period).svg}} [[Duchy of Florence]], 1532–1569<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (Medici period).svg}} [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]], 1569–1801<br />
{{flagicon image|Etrurian Kingdom and War Flag with Great Royal Coat of Arms.svg}} [[Kingdom of Etruria]], 1801–1807<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of France (1794–1815, 1830–1958).svg}} [[First French Empire]], 1807–1815<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany (1840).svg}} [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany]], 1815–1859<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of Tuscany (1859).svg}} [[United Provinces of Central Italy]], 1859–1860<br />
{{flagicon image|Flag of Italy (1861-1946) crowned.svg}} [[Kingdom of Italy]], 1861–1943<br />
{{flag|Italian Social Republic}}, 1943–1945<br />
{{flag|Italy}}, 1946–present
}}

[[File:Colored woodcut town view of Florence.jpg|thumb|View of Florence by Hartmann Schedel, published in 1493]]

Florence originated as a Roman city, and later, after a long period as a flourishing trading and banking [[medieval commune]], it was the birthplace of the [[Italian Renaissance]]. It was politically, economically, and culturally one of the most important cities in Europe and the world from the 14th to 16th centuries.<ref name="britannica.com"/>

The language spoken in the city during the 14th century came to be accepted as the model for what would become the [[Italian language]]. Thanks especially to the works of the Tuscans [[Dante Alighieri|Dante]], [[Petrarch]] and [[Giovanni Boccaccio|Boccaccio]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of Italian Language: From the Origins to the Present Day |url=https://www.europassitalian.com/learn/history/ |access-date=19 June 2023 |website=Europass |language=en-US}}</ref> the Florentine dialect, above all the local dialects, was adopted as the basis for a national literary language.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Alighieri |first=Scuole d'italiano Dante |date=9 October 2018 |title=History of the Italian language: the literary language |url=https://www.scuoleditaliano.it/history-of-the-italian-language-the-literary-language/?lang=en |access-date=19 June 2023 |website=Scuole d'italiano per stranieri Società Dante Alighieri. |language=en-US |archive-date=19 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619135414/https://www.scuoleditaliano.it/history-of-the-italian-language-the-literary-language/?lang=en |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=johndeike |date=3 March 2021 |title=The Architects and Origins Behind the Italian Language |url=https://orderisda.org/culture/language/the-architects-and-origins-behind-the-italian-language/ |access-date=19 June 2023 |website=Italian Sons and Daughters of America |language=en-US}}</ref>

Starting from the late [[Middle Ages]], Florentine money—in the form of the gold [[Florin (Italian coin)|florin]]—financed the development of industry all over Europe, from [[United Kingdom|Britain]] to [[Bruges]], to [[Lyon]] and [[Hungary]]. Florentine bankers financed the English kings during the [[Hundred Years' War]]. They similarly financed the papacy, including the construction of their [[Avignon Papacy|provisional capital of Avignon]] and, after their return to Rome, the reconstruction and Renaissance embellishment of Rome.

Florence was home to the Medici, one of European history's most important noble families. [[Lorenzo de' Medici]] was considered a political and cultural mastermind of Italy in the late 15th century. Two members of the family were [[pope]]s in the early 16th century: [[Leo X]] and [[Clement VII]]. [[Catherine de' Medici]] married King [[Henry II of France]] and, after his death in 1559, reigned as regent in France. [[Marie de' Medici]] married [[Henry IV of France]] and gave birth to the future King [[Louis XIII of France|Louis XIII]]. The Medici reigned as [[Grand Dukes of Tuscany]], starting with [[Cosimo I de' Medici]] in 1569 and ending with the death of [[Gian Gastone de' Medici]] in 1737.

The [[Kingdom of Italy]], which was established in 1861, moved its capital from [[Turin]] to Florence in 1865, although the capital was moved to [[Rome]] in 1871.

=== Roman origins ===
{{Main|Florentia (Roman city)}}

Florence was established by the Romans in 59&nbsp;BC as a colony for veteran soldiers and was built in the style of an [[Military camp|army camp]].<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Florence/History |title=History of Florence |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |edition=Online |access-date=9 February 2023}}</ref> Situated along the ''[[Via Cassia]]'', the main route between Rome and the north, and within the fertile valley of the [[Arno]], the settlement quickly became an important commercial centre and in AD 285 became the capital of the [[Tuscia]] region.

=== Early Middle Ages ===
[[File:Totila fa dstruggere la città di Firenze.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|The [[Goths|Goth]] King [[Totila]] razes the walls of Florence during the [[Gothic War (535–554)|Gothic War]]: illumination from the Chigi manuscript of [[Giovanni Villani|Villani's ''Cronica'']].]]

In centuries to come, the city experienced turbulent alternate periods of [[Ostrogoths|Ostrogoth]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] rule, during which the city was fought over, helping to cause the population to fall to as low as 1,000 people.<ref>{{cite book |page=4 |author-link=Christopher Hibbert |last=Hibbert |first=Christopher |title=Florence: The Biography of a City |publisher=Penguin Books |date=1994 |isbn=0-14-016644-0}}</ref> Peace returned under [[Lombards|Lombard]] rule in the 6th century and Florence was in turn conquered by [[Charlemagne]] in 774 becoming part of the [[March of Tuscany]] centred on [[Lucca]]. The population began to grow again and commerce prospered.

=== Second millennium ===
[[File:Firenze-sanminiato01.jpg|thumb|right|The Basilica di [[San Miniato al Monte]]]]
[[Hugh, Margrave of Tuscany|Margrave Hugo]] chose Florence as his residency instead of [[Lucca]] around 1000&nbsp;AD. The [[Golden Age]] of Florentine art began around this time. In 1100, Florence was a "[[Medieval commune|commune]]", meaning a city-state. The city's primary resource was the [[Arno|Arno river]], providing power and access for the industry (mainly textile industry), and access to the Mediterranean sea for international trade, helping the growth of an industrious merchant community. The Florentine merchant banking skills became recognised in Europe after they brought decisive financial innovation (e.g. [[bills of exchange]],<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.economist.com/node/13484709 |title=Cradle of capitalism |date=16 April 2009 |newspaper=The Economist |issn=0013-0613 |access-date=16 October 2016}}</ref> [[double-entry bookkeeping system]]) to medieval fairs. This period also saw the eclipse of Florence's formerly powerful rival [[Pisa]].<ref>defeated by [[Genoa]] in 1284 and subjugated by Florence in 1406</ref> The growing power of the merchant elite culminated in an anti-aristocratic uprising, led by [[Giano della Bella]], resulting in the [[Ordinances of Justice]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Peters |first=Edward |title=The Shadowy, Violent Perimeter: Dante Enters Florentine Political Life |date=1995 |journal=Dante Studies, with the Annual Report of the Dante Society |number=113 |pages=69–87 |jstor=40166507}}</ref> which entrenched the power of the elite guilds until the end of the Republic.

=== Middle Ages and Renaissance ===
{{Main|Republic of Florence|Italian Renaissance}}

==== Rise of the Medici ====
[[File:Statue of Leonardo da Vinci (Uffizi).jpg|thumb|upright|[[Leonardo da Vinci]] statue outside the [[Uffizi Gallery]]]]
[[File:Francesco Rosselli (attribution). Pianta della Catena, 1470.jpg|thumb|Painting based on an original from the late 15th century, attributed to Francesco di Lorenzo Rosselli]]
At the height of demographic expansion around 1325, the urban population may have been as great as 120,000, and the rural population around the city was probably close to 300,000.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Day |first1=W.R. |s2cid=161168875 |title=The population of Florence before the Black Death: survey and synthesis |journal=Journal of Medieval History |date=3 January 2012 |volume=28 |issue=2 |pages=93–129 |doi=10.1016/S0304-4181(02)00002-7}}</ref> The [[Black Death]] of 1348 reduced it by over half<!-- ~50,000 -->.<ref>"[http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Italian_Studies/dweb/plague/ Decameron Web, Boccaccio, Plague]". Brown University.</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Eimerl |first=Sarel |others=et al |title=The World of Giotto: c. 1267–1337 |url=https://archive.org/details/worldofgiottoc1200eime |url-access=registration |publisher=Time-Life Books |year=1967 |isbn=0-900658-15-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/worldofgiottoc1200eime/page/n187 184]}}</ref> About 25,000 are said to have been supported by the city's [[wool]] industry: in 1345 Florence was the scene of an attempted strike by wool combers (''ciompi''), who in 1378 rose up in a brief revolt against oligarchic rule in the [[Ciompi|Revolt of the Ciompi]]. After their suppression, Florence came under the sway (1382–1434) of the [[House of Albizzi|Albizzi]] family, who became bitter rivals of the Medici.

In the 15th century, Florence was among the largest cities in Europe, with a population of 60,000, and was considered rich and economically successful.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pallanti, Giuseppe |title=Mona Lisa Revealed: The True Identity of Leonardo's Model |year=2006 |publisher=Skira |location=Florence, Italy |pages=[https://archive.org/details/monalisarevealed00pall/page/17 17, 23, 24] |isbn=88-7624-659-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/monalisarevealed00pall/page/17}}</ref> [[Cosimo de' Medici]] was the first Medici family member to essentially control the city from behind the scenes. Although the city was technically a democracy of sorts, his power came from a vast [[patronage]] network along with his alliance to the new immigrants, the ''gente nuova'' (new people). The fact that the Medici were bankers to the pope also contributed to their ascendancy. Cosimo was succeeded by his son [[Piero di Cosimo de' Medici|Piero]], who was, soon after, succeeded by Cosimo's grandson, [[Lorenzo de' Medici|Lorenzo]] in 1469. Lorenzo was a great patron of the arts, commissioning works by [[Michelangelo]], [[Leonardo da Vinci]] and [[Sandro Botticelli|Botticelli]]. Lorenzo was an accomplished poet and musician and brought composers and singers to Florence, including [[Alexander Agricola]], [[Johannes Ghiselin]], and [[Heinrich Isaac]]. By contemporary Florentines (and since), he was known as "Lorenzo the Magnificent" (Lorenzo il Magnifico).

Following Lorenzo de' Medici's death in 1492, he was succeeded by his son [[Piero II de' Medici|Piero&nbsp;II]]. When the French king [[Charles VIII of France|Charles&nbsp;VIII]] invaded [[northern Italy]], Piero&nbsp;II chose to resist his army. But when he realised the size of the [[French army]] at the gates of Pisa, he had to accept the humiliating conditions of the French king. These made the Florentines rebel, and they expelled Piero&nbsp;II. With his exile in 1494, the first period of Medici rule ended with the restoration of a republican government.

==== Savonarola, Machiavelli, and the Medici popes ====
[[File:Hanging and burning of Girolamo Savonarola in Florence.jpg|thumb|right|[[Girolamo Savonarola]] being hanged and burned in 1498. The brooding [[Palazzo Vecchio]] is at centre right.]]

During this period, the [[Dominican Order|Dominican friar]] [[Girolamo Savonarola]] had become [[Prior (ecclesiastical)|prior]] of the [[San Marco, Florence|San Marco]] monastery in 1490. He was famed for his penitential sermons, lambasting what he viewed as widespread immorality and attachment to material riches. He praised the exile of the Medici as the work of God, punishing them for their decadence. He seized the opportunity to carry through political reforms leading to a more democratic rule. But when Savonarola publicly accused [[Pope Alexander VI]] of corruption, he was banned from speaking in public. When he broke this ban, he was excommunicated. The Florentines, tired of his teachings, turned against him and arrested him. He was convicted as a heretic, hanged and [[Death by burning|burned]] on the [[Piazza della Signoria]] on 23 May 1498. His ashes were dispersed in the Arno river.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.treccani.it/enciclopedia/girolamo-savonarola_%28Dizionario-Biografico%29/ |title=Treccani – la cultura italiana &#124; Treccani, il portale del sapere}}</ref>

Another Florentine of this period was [[Niccolò Machiavelli]], whose prescriptions for Florence's regeneration under strong leadership have often been seen as a legitimization of political expediency and even malpractice. Machiavelli was a political thinker, renowned for his political handbook ''[[The Prince]]'', which is about ruling and exercising power. Commissioned by the Medici, Machiavelli also wrote the ''[[Florentine Histories]]'', the history of the city.

In 1512, the Medici retook control of Florence with the help of Spanish and Papal troops.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Florence/History |title=History of Florence |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref> They were led by two cousins, [[Pope Leo X|Giovanni]] and [[Pope Clement VII|Giulio de' Medici]], both of whom would later become [[Pope]]s of the Catholic Church, (Leo X and Clement VII, respectively). Both were generous patrons of the arts, commissioning works like [[Michelangelo]]'s [[Laurentian Library]] and [[Medici Chapel (Michelangelo)|Medici Chapel]] in Florence, to name just two.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.michelangelo.net/laurentian-library/ |title=Laurentian Library |work=michelangelo.net |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-team-art-restorers-using-bacteria-clean-michelangelos-sculptures-180977866/ |title=Italian Art Restorers Used Bacteria to Clean Michelangelo Masterpieces |work=[[Smithsonian (magazine)|Smithsonian]] |last=Davis-Marks |first=Isis |date=2 June 2021 |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref> Their reigns coincided with political upheaval in Italy, and thus in 1527, Florentines drove out the Medici for a second time and re-established a theocratic republic on 16 May 1527, (Jesus Christ was named King of Florence).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ucatholic.com/blog/the-time-when-jesus-was-the-king-of-florence/ |title=The Time When Jesus Was The King Of Florence |last=Ryan |first=Billy |work=ucatholic.com |date=19 August 2020 |access-date=15 July 2021}}</ref> The Medici returned to power in Florence in 1530, with the armies of [[Holy Roman Emperor Charles V]] and the blessings of [[Pope Clement VII]] (Giulio de' Medici).

Florence officially became a monarchy in 1531, when Emperor Charles and Pope Clement named [[Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence|Alessandro de' Medici]] as ''[[Duke of the Florentine Republic]]''. The Medici's monarchy would last over two centuries. Alessandro's successor, [[Cosimo I de' Medici]], was named [[Grand Duchy of Tuscany|Grand Duke of Tuscany]] in 1569; in all Tuscany, only the Republic of Lucca (later a [[Duchy of Lucca|Duchy]]) and the Principality of [[Piombino]] were independent from Florence.

=== 18th and 19th centuries ===
[[File:Wenceslaus Werlin-Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor and his family.jpg|thumb|[[Leopold II, Holy Roman Emperor]] and his family. Leopold was, from 1765 to 1790, the [[Grand Duke]] of Tuscany.]]
The extinction of the Medici dynasty and the accession in 1737 of [[Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor|Francis Stephen]], [[Lorraine (duchy)|duke of Lorraine]] and husband of [[Maria Theresa of Austria]], led to Tuscany's temporary inclusion in the territories of the Austrian crown. It became a [[secundogeniture]] of the [[House of Lorraine|Habsburg-Lorraine]] dynasty, who were deposed for the [[House of Bourbon-Parma]] in 1801. From 1801 to 1807 Florence was the capital of the [[Napoleon]]ic client state [[Kingdom of Etruria]]. The Bourbon-Parma were deposed in December 1807 when Tuscany was annexed by [[First French Empire|France]]. Florence was the [[Prefectures in France|prefecture]] of the French département of [[Arno (department)|Arno]] from 1808 to the fall of [[Napoleon I|Napoleon]] in 1814. The Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty was restored on the throne of Tuscany at the [[Congress of Vienna]] but finally deposed in 1859. Tuscany became a region of the Kingdom of Italy in 1861.

Florence replaced [[Turin]] as Italy's capital in 1865 and, in an effort to modernise the city, the old market in the Piazza del Mercato Vecchio and many medieval houses were pulled down and replaced by a more formal street plan with newer houses. The Piazza (first renamed Piazza [[Victor Emmanuel II of Italy|Vittorio Emanuele&nbsp;II]], then [[Piazza della Repubblica (Florence)|Piazza della Repubblica]], the present name) was significantly widened and a large triumphal arch was constructed at the west end. A museum recording the destruction stands nearby today.

The country's second capital city was superseded by Rome six years later, after the withdrawal of the French troops allowed the [[capture of Rome]].

=== 20th century ===
[[File:SanMiniatoAlMonte-Cimetiere.jpg|thumb|''Porte Sante'' cemetery, burial place of notable figures of Florentine history]]

During [[World War II in Europe|World War II]] the city experienced a year-long German occupation (1943–1944) being part of the [[Italian Social Republic]]. Hitler declared it an [[open city]] on 3 July 1944 as troops of the [[British Eighth Army|British 8th Army]] closed in.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2681509 |title=July 3, 1944 newspaper archive|newspaper=Canberra Times |date=3 July 1944 }}</ref> Except for the [[Ponte Vecchio]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Agosto 1944: la battaglia di Firenze « Storia di Firenze |url=https://www.storiadifirenze.org/?temadelmese=agosto-1944-la-battaglia-di-firenze |access-date=22 February 2024 |website=www.storiadifirenze.org}}</ref> in early August, the retreating Germans decided to demolish all the bridges along the [[Arno]] linking the district of [[Oltrarno]] to the rest of the city, making it difficult for troops of the 8th Army to cross.

[[File:1-5MahrattaLightInfantryFlorence1944.jpg|thumb|1/5 Mahratta Light Infantry, Florence, 28 August 1944]]

Florence was liberated by [[2nd New Zealand Division|New Zealand]], [[6th Armoured Division (South Africa)|South African]] and British troops on 4 August 1944 alongside partisans from the [[Tuscan Committee of National Liberation]] (CTLN). The [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] soldiers who died driving the Germans from Tuscany are buried in cemeteries outside the city (Americans about {{convert|9|km|mi|frac=2|spell=in|abbr=off|disp=or}} south of the city, British and Commonwealth soldiers a few kilometres east of the centre on the right bank of the Arno).

At the end of World War II in May 1945, the US Army's Information and Educational Branch was ordered to establish an overseas university campus for demobilised American service men and women in Florence. The first American university for service personnel was established in June 1945 at the School of Aeronautics. Some 7,500 soldier-students were to pass through the university during its four one-month sessions (see [[G. I. American Universities]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://giuniversity.wordpress.com/florence/ |title=University Study Center, Florence « The GI University Project |publisher=Giuniversity.wordpress.com |date=4 July 2010 |access-date=16 November 2012}}</ref>

In November 1966, the [[1966 Flood of the River Arno in Florence|Arno flooded]] parts of the centre, damaging many art treasures. Around the city there are tiny placards on the walls noting where the flood waters reached at their highest point.