Editing Florence (section)

==== 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.