FLORENCE:
A PORTRAIT
By Michael Levey

Selective Chronology 1000-1900

1000:

Florence established on the river Arno as a small walled city of the Holy Roman Empire, held by the Marquis of Tuscany. Its major buildings included the Baptistery, the cathedral (of Santa Reparata), a church of San Lorenzo and the Badia (abbey), founded in 978 by Willa, mother of Ugo, Marquis of Tuscany.

1018:

Foundation of the church of San Miniato al Monte.

1078:

Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, initiates a new circle of walls for the city.

1115:

Death of Matilda and establishment of the Commune as governing body of Florence (effectively recognised by the Emperor Henry VI in 1187).

1173-5:

A new, more extensive circle of walls, built by the Commune. By now the city densely populated around the Ponte Vecchio, sole bridge across the Arno.

1216:

Assassination of Buondelmonte dei Buondelmonti, traditional starting point for feuds between Florentine families, developing into violent opposition parties of the Guelphs (supporters of the Papacy) and the Ghibellines (supporters of the Empire).

1246:

The existing Dominican church of Santa Maria Novella founded.

1252:

First coining of the Florentine florin.

1265:

Birth of Dante.

1267:

Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily, accepted as the city's overlord.

1294/5:

The existing Franciscan church of Santa Croce founded.

1299:

Work begins on the Palazzo dei Priori (Palazzo Vecchio), in use by 1302.

1300:

Arnolfo di Cambio capomaestro of the new cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore); Giovanni Villani commences his chronicle of Florence.

1302:

Exile of Dante, along with other `White' Guelphs.

1313:

Birth of Giovanni Boccaccio (d. 1375) in or around Florence.

1333:

Severe flooding of the Arno destroys the bridges (by then three) and generally damages the city.

1334:

Campanile of the cathedral (designed by Giotto) begun.

1337:

Founding of the existing church of Orsanmichele.

1342:

Walter de Brienne, Duke of Athens, nominated `perpetual' lord of Florence.

1343:

St Anne's Day (26 July), expulsion of the Duke of Athens.

1348:

Grave outbreak of plague, the `Black Death', in Florence, Villani among the many victims; the plague situation utilised by Boccaccio for the opening of the Decameron.

1350:

Decision by the Signoria to build a loggia (the Loggia `dei Lanzi') for official receptions, etc.; work begun 1376.

1378:

Revolt of the `Ciompi', day-labourers chiefly in the woollen industry, only briefly successful before being suppressed.

1400:

Florence and its territories (Prato, Arezzo, etc.) threatened by Gian Galeazzo Visconti, Duke of Milan (d. 1402).

1401:

Competition organised for the second pair of bronze doors for the Baptistery; Brunelleschi and Ghiberti the leading Florentine competitors, Ghiberti finally chosen.

1418:

Brunelleschi wins the commission to build the cupola of the cathedral.

1425:

Ghiberti assigned the commission for the third pair of Baptistery doors (the `Doors of Paradise'); Masaccio and Masolino probably working on the frescoes with Michelozzo, at work on the tomb of the deposed Pope John XXIII in the Baptistery.

1427:

Institution of the `catasto` (civic tax) in Florence.

1429:

Death of Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici, founder of the family's fortune, leaving two sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo, from whom descended two main branches of the family.

1433:

Banishment of Cosimo (and Lorenzo) de' Medici from Florence by the oligarchic faction headed by Rinaldo degli Albizzi.

1434:

Return of Cosimo from exile; thenceforward the Medici party, and he personally by unofficially, dominates the republican government.

1444:

Michelozzo begins a new imposing palace for Cosimo and his family (the Palazzo Medici-Riccardi).

1449:

Birth of Lorenzo `the Magnificent', son of Cosimo de' Medici's elder son, Piero.

1450:

The apothecary Luca Landucci begins keeping his diary of events.

1464:

Death of Cosimo de' Medici and succession of Piero as first citizen in Florence.

1469:

Death of Piero de' Medici; Lorenzo confirmed as his successor by a group of leading citizens. Birth of Machiavelli.

1478:

The Pazzi conspiracy against the Medici fails politically; Florence is placed under edict by Pope Sixtus IV.

1480:

Lorenzo `the Magnificent' negotiates peace and an accord with the Pope. A period of peace in Italy generally follows.

1483:

Birth of Francesco Guicciardini, historian and man of affairs.

1489:

The Ferarrese-born Dominican Fra Girolamo Savonarola attracts attention by his preaching. The foundations of the Palazzo Strozzi are laid, and Lorenzo `the Magnificent' begins his villa at Poggio a Caiano.

1492:

Death of Lorenzo; his position in Florence assumed by his eldest son, Piero (d. 1503).

1494:

Invasion of Italy by Charles VIII of France. Flight and subsequent banishment of Piero de' Medici from Florence; entry of Charles VIII into the city. Florence a reformed republic under the emotional sway of Savonarola.

1496:

The hall of the new governing body, the Great Council, inaugurated in the Palazzo Vecchio, although not finished.

1498:

Savonarola and two fellow-Dominicans convicted of heresy at the instigation of Pope Alexander VI (Borgia) and publicly burnt on the Piazza della Signoria.

1502:

Under a new constitution the head of government in the republic to be the Gonfaloniere di Giustizia (Standard-bearer of Justice), who would hold office for life. Piero Soderini was the first--and, as it proved, the last--to be so appointed.

1504:

Michelangelo's David set up outside the Palazzo Vecchio. Under Soderini, he and Leonardo da Vinci each received a commission to execute a battle-picture in the Hall of the Great Council.

1509:

The city of Pisa surrenders to Florence.

1510:

Publication of Albertini's Memoriale di molte statue e pitture...di Firenze, the city's first printed guide-book.

1512:

The republic threatened by pro-Medici Papal forces; Prato sacked and Florence compelled to accept reinstatement of the Medici.

1513:

Election of Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, son of Lorenzo `the Magnificent', as Pope Leo X.

1515:

Triumphal entry of Leo X into Florence.

1519:

Cardinal Giulio de' Medici created Archbishop of Florence and effectively its governor. Birth of Cosimo de' Medici, future first Grand Duke of Tuscany.

1520:

Cardinal Giulio initiates building of a new Medici sacristy at San Lorenzo, its architecture and sculpture to be designed by Michelangelo.

1522:

Election of Cardinal Giulio de' Medici as Pope Clement VII (d. 1534).

1527:

Sack of Rome by imperial troops of the Emperor Charles V. The Medici expelled from Florence and the republic restored.

1529:

Peace between the emperor and pope, whose combined forces besiege Florence in the Medici cause.

1530:

Florence eventually surrenders.

1531:

Charles V declares the illegitimate Alessandro de' Medici head of government in Florence and in the next year creates him `Duke of the Florentine Republic'.

1537:

Assassination of Duke Alessandro. The ruling circle in Florence nominates the young Cosimo de' Medici as head of government, and he is subsequently confirmed by Charles V as Duke.

1539:

Duke Cosimo marries the younger daughter of the Spanish viceroy of Naples, Eleonora di Toledo.

1540:

The duke and duchess leave the Medici palace to live in the Palazzo Vecchio.

1541:

Birth of the eldest son of the ducal pair, the future Grand Duke Francesco de' Medici.

1549(?):

Purchase by the duchess of the Palazzo Pitti, subsequently the residence of all the grand dukes.

1550:

Vasari publishes the first edition of his Lives of the artists, dedicated to Duke Cosimo (second, much expanded edition, 1568).

1555:

Imperial and Florentine troops capture Siena.

1560:

Vasari directs the start of building the state offices, the Uffizi.

1562:

Death of the duchess and two of her sons.

1564:

Abdication of Duke Cosimo in favour of his eldest son, Francesco.

1565:

Marriage of Francesco de' Medici and Archduchess Joanna of Austria.

1569:

Pope Paul V grants Cosimo the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany.

1574:

Death of Grand Duke Cosimo I.

1584:

Publication of Stefano Bonsignori's huge, detailed map of Florence, dedicated to Grand Duke Francesco.

1587:

Death of Grand Duke Francesco, succeeded by his brother, Cardinal Ferdinando.

1588:

Grand Duke Ferdinando I issues letters patent concerning marbles for a new (Medici) sepulchral chapel at San Lorenzo.

1591:

Publication of F. Bocchi's guide-book, Le bellezze della città di Fiorenza.

1594:

Giambologna's equestrian statue of Grand Duke Cosimo I set up in Piazza della Signoria.

1600:

Peri's opera, Euridice, performed in Florence in celebration of the marriage of the grand duke's niece, Maria de' Medici, to Henri IV of France.

1604:

First stone laid of the church of Santi Michele e Gaetano, and of the Chapel of the Princes at San Lorenzo.

1608:

Giambologna's equestrian statue of Ferdinando I set up in the Piazza Santissima Annunziata.

1609:

Death of Grand Duke Ferdinando I, succeeded by his son, Cosimo II.

1610:

Galileo publishes at Venice his study of the stars, Siderius Nuncius, dedicated to the Medici grand duke.

1621:

Premature death of Grand Duke Cosimo II, succeeded by his son, Ferdinando II, a minor, under a regency of the widowed grand duchesses, his mother and grandmother.

1628:

Ferdinando II assumes power.

1641:

First employment of Pietro da Cortona in decoration of the Palazzo Pitti.

1650:

The Corsini family begin extensive enlargement, to continue into the following century, of their palace on the Lungarno.

1670:

Death of Grand Duke Ferdinando II, succeeded by his son Cosimo III.

1682-3:

Luca Giordano frescoes the ceiling of the galleria in the Medici palace which had been acquired by the Marchese Riccardi.

1683:

Inauguration of the Corsini chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine.

1713:

Death of Grand Prince Ferdinando de' Medici, Cosimo III's heir.

1718:

The chief European powers (including England) choose Don Carlos, son of the King of Spain, to succeed eventually to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

1723:

Death of Cosimo III, succeeded by his childless son, Gian Gastone, the last Medici grand duke.

1735:

The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle assigns succession of the Grand Duchy to Francis Stephen, Duke of Lorraine (husband of Maria Theresa, future Empress of Austria).

1737:

Death of Grand Duke Gian Gastone.

1738:

A triumphal arch erected outside the Porta di San Gallo, designed by J.-N. Jadot, for the entry into Florence of the new grand duke.

1739:

Entry of Francis Stephen and his wife into Florence, and their departure, leaving the city governed by a Regency Council.

1743:

Death in Florence of the widowed Electress Palatine, Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici, Cosimo III's daughter, who bequeathed the vast Medici collections to the new line of grand dukes as inalienable property of the state.

1765:

Death of Francis Stephen, succeeded as grand duke by his second surviving son, Pietro Leopoldo (in Italy), who rapidly established an enlightened, reformist regime throughout Tuscany.

1769:

The Uffizi gallery opened to the public.

1784:

Founding of the Accademia di Belle Arti.

1790:

Death of the childless Austrian Emperor, Joseph II, succeeded by his brother Pietro Leopoldo as Leopold II (d. 1792), who assigns rule of Tuscany to his second son, Ferdinando III.

1799:

French troops occupy Florence; Ferdinando III retreats to Vienna.

1801:

By the treaty of Lunéville, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany is assigned to the Infante Don Lodovico, Prince of Parma, and soon after constituted as the kingdom of Etruria.

1808:

Napoleon as Emperor adds Tuscany to French possessions and installs his sister, Elisa Baciocchi, in Florence as Grand Duchess.

1815:

Following the defeat of Napoleon, Ferdinando III returns as Grand Duke.

1816:

Return to Florence of most of the art treasures removed by the French.

1824:

Death of Ferdinando III and succession of his son, Leopoldo II.

1841-8:

Railway line from Florence to Livorno, via Pisa, constructed.

1848-9:

Leopoldo II temporarily abandons Florence in the face of popular uprising.

1854:

The Alinari brothers open their photographic studio in the city.

1859:

Final departure of Leopoldo II from Florence after renewed popular demonstrations.

1860:

A plebiscite favours Florence and Tuscany joining the kingdom of Sardinia (as part of the emerging kingdom of Italy); King Vittorio Emanuele II arrives in Florence.

1861:

The king opens the large Esposizione Italiana in Florence.

1865-70:

Florence established as the capital of Italy; Giuseppe Poggi begins a radical redevelopment of the city.

1870:

Bartolini's monument to Nicholas Demidoff inaugurated; arrival and death in Florence of the Maharajah of Kohlapur.

1888:

First visit to Florence by Queen Victoria.

1890:

The equestrian statue of Vittorio Emanuele II set up in the eponymous piazza (now della Repubblica).

1895:

Date of restitution of `new life' to the city centre, as inscribed on the triumphal arch in the Piazza della Repubblica.

1899:

Construction begun of the Russian Orthodox church.