The Medici E-Book

George Frederick Young

• Herausgeber: BookRix
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2014

Beschreibung

The Medici: Annotated and Illustrated in Two Complete Volumes by George Frederick Young. The Secrecy, the conspirators, the Rise and Fall of the House of the Medici. In this exquisitely written book, you get the history of thirteen generations of a family who brought Western Europe out of the cultural darkness of their time, the city of Florence to the pinnacle of its glory, and the art of masters like Michelangelo and Botticelli to the world. The Medici is a must read for anyone interested in the Renaissance. It's probably not much of an exaggeration to claim that without Medici patronage of the arts there very well would not have been an Italian Renaissance. Acquire the knowledge about the history of Europe in perhaps its most important period, about the birth of Science,and about the great collections of Art possessed by Florence. Their rise, their course upon the mountain tops of power, and their decline and end-and to keep the parts always in subordination to the whole.

Leseprobe

George Frederick Young

The Medici

Annotated and Illustrated in Two Complete Volumes

BookRix GmbH & Co. KG81371 Munich

The Medici

Annotated and Illustrated in Two Complete Volumes

By George Frederick Young

.

" Facta duds vivent, operosague gloria rerum;

Haec manet; hate avidos effugit una rogos."—Ovid.

" Nescire autem quid antea quani natus sis acciderit,

id est semper esse puerum."—ClCERO..

WITH PORTRAITS AND ILLUSTRATIONS

IN TWO VOLUMES.

[Translation.]

" The leader's deeds and hard won glory live ;

This remains ; this alone survives the funeral fires."—Ovid.

" Not to know the events which happened before one

was born, that is to remain always a boy."—ClCERO..

" The little present must not be allowed wholly to elbow

the great past out of view."—Andrew Lang..

THE MEDICI

Medici family members placed allegorically in the entourage of a king from the Three Wise Men in the Tuscan countryside in a Benozzo Gozzoli fresco, c. 1459.

PREFACE

There are in English several histories of three or four of the more important members of the Medici family; but there is none, either in Italian or English, of that family as a whole, the history of no less than nine out of thirteen generations having remained hitherto unwritten.

The history of the Medici is a deeply interesting story; while, besides its intrinsic interest, it helps us to acquire much knowledge about the re-birth of Learning and Art, about the history of Europe in perhaps its most important period, about the birth of Science, and about the great collections of Art possessed by Florence. For without referring largely to all these subjects no true picture of the Medici can be given.

My aim has been to write of them as a family — their rise, their " course upon the mountaintops of power," and their decline and end — and to keep the parts always in subordination to the whole. It may perhaps be thought that more might have been said in the case of one or two members of the family; but to have gone into greater detail regarding individuals would have had the effect of obscuring the general view, besides making the book far too long.

This history takes a somewhat different view of the Medici from that which has hitherto generally obtained. It is a strange fact that in their case the violent partisanship which swayed the historians of their time has been carried on into our own, and writers about them, whether belonging to their age or ours, are banded into two furiously opposing camps;1 making it very difficult to arrive at a true estimate. Those on the one side can see no faults, and give a picture which one feels to be untrue to life by reason of its successive eulogy ;2 while to those on the other the name of Medici appears to act like an intoxicant, rendering them incapable of seeing what the very facts recorded by themselves demonstrate, and making even facts telling strongly in favour of those concerned appear to such writers only to show a subtle policy towards a nefarious end. And it is those of the latter type who have been best known,8 and have consequently been followed by writers who, in guide - books on the art and history of Florence, have had occasion to allude to the Medici. There have been Florentines of note (now passed away), well read in the archives of their country, who have said that if only the world at large could study those archives it would discover that the time-honoured view of the Medici which has thus grown up was to a very large extent unjust, and far from the truth; but their voices have not been generally heard.

To " whitewash " historical characters is as great an offence to history as to traduce them, and the view to which I have gradually been led regarding the Medici has not been due to any original bias in their favour. On the contrary, I began this study entirely imbued with the time-honoured theory I have mentioned, and was only brought by degrees to a different opinion by coming to see that the admitted facts refused over and over again to square with the view of this family usually presented to us. I have therefore preferred to judge those concerned by their acknowledged deeds, rather than by comments thereon which (emanating from writers violently biassed against them) are found uniformly attributing good actions to ignoble motives, or distorting those actions until they become full of impossibilities..

Avoiding any attempt to make out the Medici as either this or that, I have endeavoured, eschewing all "legends," to detail simply the facts for which we have evidence. No crimes attributed to them have been omitted or slurred over. If the result is to show the Medici in a better light than hitherto has been the case, that is not due to any Such facts, for instance, as that when Cosimo returned to power in 1434 none of those who had attempted to take his life and ruin his family were put to death, or that Piero put down an armed rebellion without the loss of a single life and turned his enemies into friends, or that Lorenzo saved the life of the Cardinal Riario who had just attempted to murder him, are seen in their true significance when looked at apart from all such comments..

desire to " whitewash" them, but is simply the consequence of a want of any evidence for a large proportion of those crimes which have furnished the darker shades in the traditional picture of this family. I have also endeavoured to leave the facts to speak for themselves as far as possible, to narrate rather than to explain, leaving readers to form their own conclusions; as I am confident that in this way what the Medici were and did is likely to be more forcibly appreciated.

As regards the elder branch of the family, this book relates for the first time the histories of Giovanni di Bicci, Piero il Gottoso, and Lorenzo (Duke of Urbino); brings to notice certain points not previously known with reference to Cosimo Pater Patriae, the manner in which that title was given him, and his singular tomb; and throws some new light on the character and deeds of Lorenzo the Magnificent. It takes a different view from that hitherto held regarding Pope Leo X., Catherine de' Medici, and Pietro the Unfortunate. And it discloses for the first time the inner history of Pope Clement VII., the scheme which he formed, the manner in which he carried it out, and the motives underlying his (hitherto imperfectly understood) political manoeuvres with Charles V., Francis I., and Henry VIII.

As regards the younger branch of the family, this history is the first that has been written. In this portion of the subject the most notable points are: The various important achievements of.

Cosimo I. and Ferdinand I.; the character and importance of Eleonora di Toledo; the history of Anna Maria Ludovica, a member of the family who has been practically unknown, though most deserving of record; the solution of a problem long unsolved connected with the feeling regarding the Medici in their own city; the unveiling (through the results of recent research) of many misconceptions regarding Cosimo I. and his sons; the exposure of such errors as the common one of supposing that the palace known as the Pitti Palace was built by that family instead of by the Medici; the demonstration of the unique connection of the Medici with the birth of modern Science; and the disclosure of the immense gift made by the last of the Medici to Florence.

In the absence of any history of this portion of the family, it has not been recognised that the deeds of the younger branch in the domain of Literature, Art, and Science were, though different in character, of scarcely less importance than those of the elder branch. The elder branch advanced Learning and Art by the liberal expenditure of their wealth in that cause, their enlightened patronage, and their artistic taste; their art collections, however, being swept away. The younger branch did for Science what the elder branch had done for Learning; while it was they who collected all those artistic treasures1 which now form the attraction of Florence. Thus this portion of the history necessarily furnishes a large amount of information which was hitherto entirely wanting regarding the artistic possessions of Florence.

Lastly, as regards Art, this book explains for the first time the meaning of certain pictures, hitherto misunderstood, but whose true meaning a complete study of the Medici history reveals.

The chief of these are:—Gozzoli's frescoes in the Riccardi Palace (the Medici Palace), to which frescoes an entire chapter has been devoted; and the true meaning of Botticelli's pictures, " The Adoration of the Magi" " Fortitude" " The Birth of Venus" the "Primavera" and " Calumny." It also brings to notice a hitherto unknown statue by Gian da Bologna, called " The Genius of the Medici"; a hitherto unknown portrait of the celebrated Clarice Strozzi, of whom it had been supposed that no portrait existed; and a hitherto unknown portrait of the Princess Violante Beatrice, of whom also it had been supposed that no portrait existed; and gives the first reproduction of a lost portrait of Maddalena, eldest daughter of Lorenzo the Magnificent, of the recently discovered portrait by Raphael of Giuliano, third son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, which had been lost for three hundred and fifty years, and of nine other portraits of members of the Medici family which have not previously been known. And it demonstrates that the recent theories put forward regarding several of Botticelli's most important pictures are erroneous..

In the chapters relating to the earlier members of the family short notices have been introduced of the prominent artists of the time, not merely in order to show to how large an extent the Medici were concerned in their steady advancement to greater achievements, but still more because this is essential if the Medici are to be shown in their proper "setting." The favourite method of separating the history of the time from the history of its art would in this case have been exceptionally destructive; for it would have excluded from the biographical sketch of each head of the family that which in the case of many of them was their chief interest in life; and even to place such notices at the end of the chapter would have caused a similar separation.

The course adopted preserves better that close touch with the world of Art which is here essential, while it also assists to maintain the due sequence of events in regard to Art. These notices cease after the time of the " Interregnum " (1494-1512); to have continued them beyond that point, when the Tuscan school, which had so long led the way, began to merge into the larger field of Italy, would have had the effect of obscuring the history of the Medici with matters in which they had ceased to be any longer an important factor.

In the earlier chapters short abstracts have been given from time to time of contemporary events taking place in other countries, as this course, though unusual, is I think in the case of a history of this kind helpful, by keeping it in

touch with general history as it proceeds. The need for such abstracts gradually decreases as the history of the family advances.

In regard to the vexed question of references to authorities I have endeavoured to steer a middle course between quoting chapter and verse for every statement (a method as much loathed by the general reader as it is liked by scholars) and quoting no authorities at all. Either method is, of course, open to criticism from one side or the other, but I think the middle course adopted is that likely to be preferred by most readers.

In the notices on contemporary artists I have freely used extracts from other writers in detailing the special characteristics of the art of various painters and sculptors; as on such a subject it has seemed to me preferable to quote the words of others whose opinion must necessarily have far greater weight than my own.

I desire specially to acknowledge my indebtedness to Mr F. A. Hyett's Florence in regard to the characters of Cosimo Pater Patriae and Lorenzo the Magnificent, to Mr E. Armstrong's chapter in vol. iii. of The Cambridge Modern History in regard to the administration of Tuscany under Cosimo I., to his Lorenzo de' Medici in regard to the character and writings of the latter, and to Count Pasolini's Life of Catherine Sforza in regard to that remarkable ancestress of the later generations of the Medici. Also to Miss Hope Rea's Donatello, Mrs Ady's Fra Angelico, Mr Langton Douglas's Fra Angelico, and Dr

Williamson's Pemgino, in regard to the art of those masters.

Original research has been carried out chiefly (though of course not entirely), with regard to that portion of the history relating to the last six generations of the family. And here a very large part of the information has, even more than from books and manuscripts, been gathered from what buildings and tombs, pictures, statues, and monuments have to tell, these having proved as valuable a mine of information as the records of the archives.

Added to this, I am also indebted to the researches of the late Professor G. E. Saltini for much valuable information in regard to this portion of the history of the family.

This book is written primarily for the general reader, but not exclusively so, and I trust that scholars may find in it not a little that is new to them, both in the domain of History and of Art.

At the same time, it does not pretend to be more than a very inadequate memorial of this interesting family; and none know its imperfections so well as myself. G. F. Y.

Florence, 12th October 1910.

VOL. I.

AUTHORITIES CONSULTED HISTORY

Florentine Histori1, by H. E. Napier.

Histoire de Florence, by Perrons.

History of the Commonwealth Florence, by Adolphus Trollope.

The First Tico Centuries of Florentine History, by Professor Yillari.

History of the Popes, by Rankc.

History of the Papacy, by Mandell t'reighton, Bishop of Loudon.

Histoire rles Papes, by Dr Louis Pastor.

The Cambridge Modern History, Vols. II. and III.

Italy and her Invaders, by Professor Hodgkin.

Lectures on Mediceval Church History, by Archbishop Trench.

Florence, by F. A. Hyett.

La Diplomatic Venitienne, by M. Armand Baschet.

Lettres de Catherine de Medicis, edited by Le Comte de la Fcrriere.

La Jetmesse de Catherine de Medicis, by A. de Reumont.

Venetian State Papers (1202-1607).

Spanish State Papers (1558-1G03).

Foreign State Papers—London (1558-1580).

Histoire de France, by Michelet.

Le Istorie Florentine, by Niccolo MachiavellL Istorie della Citta t-'i Firenze, by Nardi.

Storia Fiorentina, by Varchi.

Storia Fiorentina, by Guicciardini.

Ritratti (fhuomini illustri di Casa Medici, by Ammirato.

Histoire des liipubliques Italiennes, by Sismondi.

Storia della Bepubblica di Firenze, by Gino Capponi.

Archivio Storico inguardante la Storia dItalia; Firenze.

Storia del Qranducato della Toscana, by Galluzi.

Serie a"Autori risguardante la celebre famigliu Medici, by Moreni.

Celebrifamiglie Italiane, by Conte Pompeo Litta.

Firenze dai Medici ai Ijorena, by Giuseppe Conti.

Fatti e Aneddoti di .Storia Fiorentina, by Giuseppe Conti.

Firenze Citta Nobillissima, by Migliore.

Sotizie Istoriche delle Chiese Florentine, by Richa.

U Ville Medicee, by Baccini (1897).

Tragidie Medicee, by G. E. Saltiui (1898).

Xotu e Informazione della Signoriu di Firenze, by G. E. Saltini.

Gfi I'Uimi dei Medici, by Emilio Robiony (1905).

Gius Pubblico Popolare dei Toscuni, e Storia della R. Famiglia dei Medici, by il Cav. Comm. S. L. Peruzzi.

Life of Lorenzo the Magnificent, by William Roscoe.

Life of Leo the Tenth, by William Roscoe.

Lorenzo de' Medici, by Professor E. Armstrong.

Life and Times of Savonarola, by Professor Villari.

Life and Times of Niecolo Machiavelli, by Professor Villari.

Luerezia Borgia, by Gregorovius.

The Age of the Condottieri, by Oscar Browning.

Private Life of the Renaissance Florentines, by Dr Guido Biagi.

Florentine Life during the Renaissance, by Walter Scaife.

Cosimo de' Medici, by Miss Ewart.

Beatrice d'Este, by Julia Cartwright (Mrs Ady).

Isabella dEste, by Julia Cartwright (Mrs Ady).

Life of Catherine Sforza, by Count Pasolini.

Life of Charles the Fifth, by William Robertson.

Charles the Fifth, by Professor E. Armstrong.

The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy, by Burckhardt .

The Renaissance in Italy, by J. A. Symonds.

Florence, by C. Yriarte.

The Makers of Florence, by Mrs Oliphant.

Giovanni deUe Bande Nere, by Adolphus Trollope.

Jean des Bandes Noires, by M. Pierre Gautier.

Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini.

Life of Benvenuto Cellini, by J. A. Symonds.

Marie de Medicis and her Court, by Louis Battifol.

Women of the Valois Court, by Imbert de Saint Amand.

Women of Florence, by Professor Isidoro Del Lungo.

Milan under the Sforza, by Miss C. M. Ady.

The Medici Popes, by H. M. Vaughan.

Etudes de Critique et d'Histoire Religieuse, by Dr E. Vacandard.

Man and Manners at the Court of Florence (Horace Mann's letters to Horace Walpole), by Dr Doran.

Siena, by Langton Douglas.

Echoes of Old Florence, by Leader Scott.

Walks in Florence, by the Misses Horner.

The Palaces of Florence, by Mrs Ross.

The Chateaux of Touraine, by M. H. Lansdale.

ART The Lives of the Painters, Sculptors, and Architects, by Vasari.

Modern Painters, by Ruskin.

The Renaissance, by Walter Pater.

Sketches of the History of Christian Art, by Lord Lindsay.

History of Architecture, by Fergusson.

History of Architecture, by Professor Bannister Fletcher.

The Cathedral Builders, by Leader Scott.

Morning in Florence, by Ruskin.

The Principle of Art, by W. White.

Tuscan Sculptors, by Perkins.

The Appreciation of Sculpture, by Russell Sturgis.

Italian Painters, by Morelli.

The Florentine Painters of the Renaissance, by Bernhardt Berenson.

The Painters of Florence, by Julia Cartwright (Mrs Ady).

Bruneileschi, by Leader Scott .

Fra Angelica and his Art, by Langton Douglas.

Fra Angelica, by G. C. Williamson.

Donatello, by Hope Rea.

Donatello, by Lord Balcarres.

Verrocchio, by Miss Cruttwell.

Antonio Pottajuolo, by Miss Cruttwell.

Luca e Andrea della Robbia, by Miss Cruttwell.

Luca della Robbia, by the Marchesa Burlamacchi.

Botticelli, by Steinmann.

Botticelli, by A. Streeter.

Botticelli, by Julia Cartwright (Mrs Ady).

Sandro Botticelli, by H. P. Homo.

Leonardo da' Vinci, by Edward M'Curdy.

life of Michelangelo Buonarotti, by J. A. Symonds.

life of Michelangelo, by Harford.

Piero della Francesco, by W. C. Waters.

Perugino, by G. C. Williamson.

Raphael, by H. Strachey.

Andrea del Sarto, by H. Guinness.

Pinturicchio, by March Phillips.

The Dominican Church of S. M. Novella at Florence, by the Rev.

J. Wood Brown.

CONTEMPORARY HISTORICAL EVENTS

1400-1536.

ART

1400-1512.

THE MEDICI

Volume 1

PROLOGUE.

In the fifth century storm upon storm out of the dark North swept away in a great deluge of barbarism all the civilisation of the western half of the Roman Empire. From the Atlantic to Constantinople, and from the Rhine and Danube to the" deserts of Africa, all that was learned and cultivated, all that was artistic and beautiful, was overwhelmed in an avalanche of ruin in which not only the triumphs of architecture, literature, and art, produced by many centuries of a high civilisation, but also those who could create such things afresh, were involved in one general destruction..

Then after a night of thick darkness, obscuring everything in Western Europe for two hundred years, during which these barbarian races are battling over the dead corpse of the Roman Empire, comes in the eighth century Charlemagne, creating a brief light for forty years. But on his death the darkness settles down again, wrapping all in gloom ; and again we read, " Barbarism and confusion reigned throughout Western Europe for a hundred and fifty years." Meanwhile, from

Arabia another deluge, that of the Mahomedans, sweeps in succession over the fair countries forming the eastern half of the Empire, creating there also a similar desolation. Gradually all that is left of the art and letters of the Roman Empire takes refuge in Constantinople, where it remains shut up, surrounded west, north, east, and south by the barbarian flood.

At length in the twelfth century the re-civilisation of the West is begun by the discovery in Italy of the code of the Roman law. Then come in the thirteenth century Niccol6 Pisano, and in the fourteenth century, Dante, Giotto, and Petrarch, to arouse men again to a sense of the beautiful and the cultivated; and Art and Literature begin to flow back to their long-deserted Western home.

And so, out of the very grave of that old civilisation of Rome, buried deep nine centuries before, comes the new inspiration, the Re-birth.

But as yet there was none with power to make these efforts produce their full fruit; none with power to unearth the treasures so long buried, to spread a knowledge of them throughout the West, and to make the voices of those long dead begin again to speak. While after these four fathers of the Renaissance1 had passed away Art and Literature threatened again to die, and the movement thus inaugurated to become but local and temporary.

And then, in the city which had produced three of theseTmen, arose a family who, with the_DQwer of wealth, and with a great love for these things, lifted Learning from its grave, spread a knowledge of it through "F.nrnpe gave Art the pnrniirnga.

ment it needed in order to advance to its highest achievements, and made that city the Athens of.

CHAPTER I. FLORENCE

"O Foster-nurse of man's abandoned glory, Since Athens, its great Mother, sank in splendour, Thou shadowest forth that mighty shape in story, As Ocean its wrecked fanes, severe yet tender; The light-invested angel Poesy Was drawn from the dim world to welcome thee." —SHELLEY.

STANDING on the hill of San Miniato, and looking down from thence, as so many belonging to bygone generations have done, at the city spread out at our feet, we see before us a city such as none other ever can be to a large portion of mankind, one in which things have had their birth which now form the life-blood of all the intellectual existence of Europe. As Yriarte says: "We must dearly love Florence, for she is the mother of all those who live by thought." Her outward beauty is palpable to all. The domes and spires of a smokeless city bathed in sunshine, the slopes of the Apennines, extending almost to its walls, covered with vineyards, olive plantations, gardens, and numberless luxurious villas, the silver thread of the river Arno winding away in the distance through the beautiful Val d'Arno, the "tender" colouring which in Tuscany is so marked a feature of the distant landscape, all these together make up a whole which is a dream of beauty.

But there is more to be seen than this, and Florence's charms are not confined to her outward beauty. For this is the city which produced the Renaissance,1 an achievement which will ever surround Florence with an unfading glory.

The influence she has thus exercised has secured for her a

world-wide interest. Undoubtedly the main attraction of Florence for the modern world is as a place where there breathes a stiller, higher atmosphere than that of the hurrying, striving twentieth century; a place where, if we will, the history of the past is made to rise before us, and where the masterpieces of Art strive to draw the mind upwards from the low level of the trivial, the ignoble, and the commonplace. It has been said, "The arts are the avenues by which the mind of man soars to its highest limits." If that be so, then in Florence if anywhere in the world must the truth of those words be felt. For in this city of Dante and Petrarch, of Ghiberti. Brunelleschi, Donatello, and Michelangelo, of Giotto, Orcagna, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci, not only one of those avenues, but no less than four of them, have been followed as far as the mind of man has ever penetrated along them.

We are going for a little while to be occupied amidst scenes instinct with the spirit of these men. Therefore, in looking at beautiful Florence let us try to think chiefly, not of her outward beauty, but rather of all the deep interests which she is able to unfold to us—in art, in history, in literature— bound up with the name of Florence for all time. To consider the high-souled thoughts which gave their birth to all that we go there to see: produced by minds which were able to make their city pre-eminent among all cities in painting, in sculpture, in architecture, and in poetry, and at the same time pre-eminent also in learning, and in the science of their age.

Thus, as we look down upon Florence from San Miniato we shall be drawn to think of the high aspirations of those who first planned to build that mighty dome,2 and who directed their cathedral to be designed "so as to be worthy of a heart expanded to much greatness"; to think of the conceptions of him who, while he was the father of all painting, could also be so great in architecture as to design that beautiful bell tower by its side; 3 of the strong character of

those freedom-loving Florentines who erected that solidlybuilt city fortress 4 to guard their supreme council from the effects of their own turbulent spirit; of all that lies collected under that small pointed spire in the background,5 telling of the dawn of the Renaissance of Art; or, again, of what a world of high-souled thought is represented in the line of statues in that colonnade 8—Florence's "Valhalla"—extending from the river to the fortress; that galaxy of the great, in poetry, in art, in learning, and in science, all produced by this single city, and containing, even though Brunelleschi, Ghiberti, Masaccio, Fra Angelico, and Botticelli are not there, at least twelve great names of which any one would suffice to make any other city famous. And as they look down upon us from their niches, they invite us to walk their streets in spirit with them—with Dante, and Giotto, and Orcagna, and Donatello, and Leonardo, and Michelangelo, and Galileo —and to be uplifted into the world where their thoughts dwelt, so that we too may be, if but for a moment, "among the immortals.".

Lastly, we shall be drawn to think of that family who for so many generations took a chief part in all that interests us in Florence; whose care for Learning and Art produced such wide effects; who preserved to the world most of those treasures of art which we now visit Florence to see; and who all lie buried in that church of San Lorenzo 7 which is marked by the smaller dome in the distance, where as their line came near its end they erected tombs which are those of crowned heads, tombs visited by all the world for their masterpieces of art and their magnificence.

The city is what those who once lived in it have made it.

And as we look at the memorials of themselves which they have left behind them (and which still belong to their descendants) we must not omit all thought of the race which made these men what they were. For this is Etruria, a country which has always, from the earliest times, led the way

in Italy, and from whence in the Middle Ages there came forth (as leaders of the movement which we call the Renaissance) a great succession of men of whom it has been said, "The dazzling light of their genius shines on through the centuries to show to future generations what man can be and do."3 So that these memorials of Florence's past are no dead records of a bygone time, but afford the strongest inspiration to us of the present day.

And since the Signoria of Florence, when starting at the end of the thirteenth century to build their cathedral, declared, in the document conveying their instructions to its architect, Arnolfo di Cambio, that the desire which animated them was that it "should be designed so as to be worthy of a heart expanded to much greatness, corresponding to the noble city's soul, which is composed of the souls of all its citizens," the great dome of Florence (whose construction was thus inspired by an aim so different from that which later on called into being its rival at Rome) may well, whenever from far or near it strikes upon the eye, act as a clarion-call to high and noble aims. The men who, in a mere government document ordering a great public work, could reach such a level were no common men. And in commenting on their words, Mr. Walter Scaife justly asks:—"Has the much-vaunted progress of civilisation during the six centuries that have since passed carried us so far beyond either the sentiments or the work of these men?".

But there is yet another attraction which Florence possesses for the modern world. And that is the vividness with which the past is there made to live before us; the way in which the twentieth century is enabled to look at the fifteenth even with the outward eye, and as if four swiftly-flowing centuries that have intervened were rolled back. The massive strength of the Bargello, of the Palazzo Vecchio, and even of ordinary buildings in every direction, forces upon us the recollection of the fierce fighting which these narrow streets have time after time witnessed. And while other cities have preserved

little round which interest connected with men eminent in History, Literature, or Art who passed their lives there can gather, Florence, which has held a leadership in Art and letters equalled by no other city except Athens, teems with memorials of those who gave her that leadership. The dome of the cathedral brings to our minds Brunelleschi, its nave re-echoes with the thundering eloquence of Savonarola, its beautiful campanile recalls to us Giotto; the Loggia de' Lanzi reminds us of Orcagna, the Baptistery bears record of Ghiberti, the Torre del Gallo still keeps alive the memory of "the starry Galileo." We see the house where Dante lived; we pass the shops where Giotto, Botticelli, and Andrea del Sarto worked; we follow the same streets by which Verrocchio, Ghirlandajo and Michelangelo went to their daily tasks; we stand before church doorways made beautiful by the art of Luca della Robbia; we listen to Donatello's voice as we gaze at the statues surrounding Or San Michele; we pace the corridors and cloisters of San Marco accompanied by the spirits of Fra Angelico and Savonarola. And in many an old fresco the faces, dress, and manner of life of the men and women of the Renaissance are brought before us with startling vividness.

But the full effect of this vivid realisation of the past which Florence forces upon us is best seen by comparing her with her great rival Venice. Mrs. Oliphant, speaking of Venice, says: 9— "After the bewitchment of the first vision a chill falls upon the enquirer. Where is the poet, where the prophet, where the princes, the scholars, the men whom could we see we should recognise wherever we met them, with whom the whole world is acquainted? They are not here. In the sunshine of the Piazza, in the glorious gloom of San Marco, in the great council chambers of the Ducal palace, tince so full of busy statesmen and great interests, there is scarcely a figure, recognisable of all, to be met with in the spirit—no one for traces of whom we look as we walk, or whose individual foot-

steps are traceable. Instead of the men who made her what she was, and who ruled ,her with so high a hand, we find everywhere the great image of Venice herself.... In her records the city is everything, the individual nothing. Venice is the outcome, not great names of individual Venetians." Mrs. Oliphant's subsequent remarks show that the root of the reason why Venice produced no prominent men was the inordinate love of money. A race with whom money-making and money-spending is the one serious interest cannot penetrate those "avenues by which the mind soars to its highest limits." Florence also loved money, but it was not her chief interest. And so we have this significant result: Florence, with Art and Learning as her passion, and with her long line of immortal names in every branch of these, the city which led the way in producing the civilisation of Europe; and, on the other hand, Venice, producing next to nothing of the kind,—no great poet, no great scholar, no great sculptor, no great statesman known to all the world, no great painter, even, until her rival had been leading the way in that particular for a hundred and fifty years, and had produced a host of such,—and leaving nothing behind her but her own exalted name, nothing still able to elevate mankind after her own glory had passed away.

It is a great contrast. And just as it is the lack of the human interest in the case of Venice that causes that "chill" to fall upon the enquirer, so on the other hand it is the abundant possession of the human interest that gives Florence her great attraction. The seed from which the fruit grew was, in the one case, the love of money, in the other, the love of Art..

.

CHAPTER II. THE MEDICI

WE turn from this glimpse of the city to those who were for over three hundred years its most prominent citizens.

The history of the Medici covers three and a half centuries (1400-1748), two of those centuries, the fifteenth and sixteenth, being the most interesting period of any both in History and in Art. It is a period which covers the change from mediaeval to modern history (which may be held to commence with the long triangular duel between Francis I, Charles V, and Henry VIII); it covers the time when the conditions changed from those consequent on the feudal system and small, isolated states, to those brought about by regular armies and powerful countries with clawing interests; it covers the time when the chief political power in Europe shifted from the great independent states of Italy (Venice, Milan, Florence, and Naples) to the northern countries, France, England, and Germany; it embraces the Reformation, with all that brought it about and that followed from it; and it includes the extinction of the (Christian) Eastern Empire and establishment of the (Mahomedan) Turkish Empire in its place, the discovery of a new world in America, the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, and in general the settlement of the different nations of Europe, after centuries of transition, in the localities they now occupy. As regards Art the period is even more impor- ''' tant; for with the year 1400 there began that wonderful fifteenth century which saw the birth of the Renaissance in Art, and produced a galaxy of great men in every branch of Art, such as the world had never seen before, and is never likely to see again.

The gradual rise of the Medici from comparative obscurity, and not by military conquests, to so high an eminence is one of the most remarkable things in history. From simple bankers and merchants they rose, in spite of much opposition and many vicissitudes, until they became the most powerful family in Europe, and indeed until there was a Medici on the throne of nearly every principal country.1 They are interesting from several very different points of view:— The important place which they took in history makes their story at times almost that of Europe. Cosimo Pater Patriae, Lorenzo the Magnificent, Pope Leo X, Pope Clement VII, and Catherine de' Medici, not to mention others, have made the name of Medici occupy a larger place in history than was probably ever taken by any other family.

Their patronage of Learning and Art. In this domain the Medici have never been approached by any others among the rulers of mankind. The Rothschilds of their time, their immense wealth was lavishly expended on the revival of Learning and the encouragement of Art. In painting, Fra Angelico, Lippi, Gozzoli, Ghirlandajo, Botticelli, Lorenzo di Credi, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael; in sculpture, Ghiberti, Donatello, Verrocchio, and Michelangelo; in architecture, Brunelleschi, Michelozzo, and Bramante; with a host of lesser names, all owed much to their assistance. As re-_ gards Painting this had specially important results; and just as the age of Pericles in Athens became the "classic period," or period of highest development, of the art of Sculpture, so the age of the Medici has become the classic period of the art of Painting.

Their connection with the Reformation. In this great~~ movement which convulsed all Europe throughout the greater part of the sixteenth century, the two Popes who belonged to this family2 were those chiefly concerned— namely, Leo X, Luther's great antagonist, and Clement VII, the Pope in whose pontificate England repudiated the claim

of the Church of Rome to exercise supremacy over the Church of England. Naturally this again adds much interest to the story of the Medici.

Lastly, owing to an exceptional many-sidedness they touched life at so many points. In statesmanship and financial capacity, in learning and artistic taste, in civil administration and sympathy with the feelings of the people, in knowledge of commerce and agriculture,_in all these different directions did the this was joined ~T6 qualities of courtesy^- agreeableness of manner, absence oT arrogaTTceTand a free and generous disposition, which mucK~enh5nS3Itheir power of influencing those with whol^TieY^ere_bjQjugEtISlcQntact. They were not, however, assisted by any attractions of personal appearance, their portraits showing that they were by no means a handsome family, their only good feature being their fine eyes, which were proverbial. These various characteristics make them an interesting family apart from the other aspects of their history.

Two grave charges have been preferred against them: first, that they by a long course of duplicity deprived their country of its liberty, and exalted themselves into despots over it; and, second, that there is to be attributed to them an evil pre-eminence in crimes of murder. How far these charges are just will be best seen as we follow the course of their history; but regarding the second some general remarks are called for.

The charge is a strange one in view of the contemporary history of other countries. For the history of this family embraces thirteen generations, and out of this number there are no less than ten generations to whom no such crimes have been even attributed. It is not until we reach the seventh generation that we have the first murder committed by a Medici ; and even that was committed by one who had no legitimate right to the name.3 While it is not until we reach

the eighth and ninth generations that we meet with that series of these accusations which has been the main cause of the reputation which has been given to the family.4 Such a charge against a whole family involves comparison; and when we compare even the whole of the cases attributed to the Medici with those authenticated as committed by other contemporary ruling families, not only in Italy, but also in France, England, and Spain, it becomes evident that the popular belief ascribing to the Medici an evil pre-eminence in such crimes can only be due to a lack either of information or of the sense of proportion. Among ruling families of the time there are few to whom there have not been attributed more crimes of this nature than to the Medici.

Nor do we stigmatise the whole line of the sovereigns of England or France because three out of thirteen generations may have committed crimes of this character.

Some writers, while admitting the injustice of this graver charge, and while ready to allow that the Medici were capable, intellectual, and patriotic, assert that nevertheless they were grasping, cruel, intriguing, and stained with vices which were rampant in their times. It is hoped that this history will demonstrate convincingly that the Medici were decidedly not either grasping, or cruel. To say that they were intriguing is merely to say that they were men of their age.

Regarding the fourth point, while they certainly were not free from the vices rampant in their times, the indictment in the manner it is made is an exaggeration, implying as it does that the Medici were worse than others, whereas all evidence tends to show that they were distinctly better in this respect than other contemporary families. This general statement, on a point to which modern histories do not conisider it necessary to allude except in general terms, will perhaps suffice; but it will be found to be borne out by various facts in the lives of many members of the family as these are followed.

Symonds makes a complaint against the Medici that they “were "bourgeois." Of course they were bourgeois: it is the very pith of their story: and instead of giving ground for a gibe to be cast at them it contributes much to their honour. It is the essence of their history that they belonged entirely to the people, that their rise began from their championship of the latter against the nobles, and that theirs was an aristocracy, not of birth, but of talent and culture.

They present to us in following their story the most opposite extremes both of conduct and of fortune. Marvellous as to their rise, pathetic as to their vicissitudes, magnificent as to their liberality towards objects for the lasting benefit of mankind, tragic as to many episodes of their career, despicable as to their ignoble decline and end (except for one last act worthy to rank with those of their best days), their history is like a great drama extending over three hundred years, and played out on the widest of stages..

CHAPTER III. GIOVANNI DI BICCI

Born 1360. Died 1428

IN the year 1400 the Medici were an ordinary middle-class family in Florence. The family can be traced back as far as the year 1201, when Chiarissimo, eldest son of Giambuono de' Medici, and a member of the Town Council, is noted as being the owner of various houses and towers in the Mercato Vecchio; but the only branch of it with which we are concerned is that which made so great a name in history, and was destined to run an eventful course of nearly three hundred and fifty years.1 Of this branch Giovanni de' Medici was at this time the head. For some reason or other his father, Averardo de' Medici, was nicknamed by his companions "Bicci." Among the Medici the same Christian names recur so frequently that each is in history known by some addition or sobriquet, and Giovanni, the founder of the historic branch of the family, is always known as Giovanni di Bicci (i.e., Giovanni, the son of Bicci). He was at this time a man of forty years of age, and highly respected for his character and business ability.

The family were bankers2 and already possessed of considerable wealth, which Giovanni by his financial ability increased. Several of his ancestors had taken part in public affairs. His great-grandfather Averardo, who had begun the prosperity of the family by successful trading operations, had been Gonfaloniere in 1314; his grandfather Salvestro had been one of the envoys of the Republic deputed to conclude the treaty with Venice in 1336 and two of his father's first cousins had 'been Gonfaloniere in, respectively, 1349 and 1354.

But Giovanni di Bicci de' Medicis came of a family which had signalised themselves in another way than this.

For they had on several occasions taken a prominent part in the struggles of the people against the nobles (grandi). A distant cousin of his father (also named Giovanni) had, in 1343, been seized and put to death by the tyrant of Florence, Walter de Brienne, Duke of Athens, as one of the most dangerous of the citizens (popolani). And when Giovanni di Bicci was eighteen years old, he had seen, in 1378, a distant cousin of his grandfather (another Salvestro), by his powerful words in the Signoria, bring about the riot known as that of the Ciompi (the weavers, dyers, and minor workmen of the guild of wool), which riot, we are told, "broke the power of the nobles, and destroyed the oligarchy of the 'Parte Guelfa'"; while another cousin of his father's, Vieri, had pacified the rebellion of 1393. Thus the family had as its tradition antagonism to the nobles and championship of the cause of the people. Giovanni di Bicci was destined to go far in the same course, as well as to found a family whose influence was to spread far beyond the sphere of the petty politics of Florence.

Let us first see what, in this year 1400, were the conditions surrounding him, (i) in his own city, and (ii) in the larger world beyond it.

(i) Florence, after fierce struggles between rival factions for a hundred and fifty years, had at last settled down with the most democratic government on record. In 1260 the banished Ghibellines, under Farinata degli Uberti, had at the battle of Monteaperto defeated the Guelphs and reentered Florence in triumph. The Ghibellines had thereupon proposed to raze Florence to the ground; against this Farinata degli Uberti had "raised his single voice,"4 and prevailed; for which act he has obtained lasting honour in Florence, and his statue (the only Ghibelline one) has received a place among those of Florence's greatest men in the Uffizi colonnade. Then had succeeded in 1289 the battle of Campaldino, giving the final victory to the Guelphs; whereupon the community had been divided into guilds (arti), whose representatives formed the governing body, the Signoria. In 1298 had begun the building of the cathedral, and of the Palazzo della Signoria, the order for the latter to Arnolfo di Cambio, the architect, stating that it was required "for the greater security of the Signoria in this city so given to sudden and violent tumults." But the internecine strifes did not cease even though the Ghibellines had been driven out; the same fierce conflicts as before broke out under new names—Cerchi versus Donati, White Guelphs versus Black Guelphs, and so on. At length, in 1343, Walter de Brienne, a foreigner whom the city had made its governor, was driven out, when a time of anarchy and frequent revolutions followed; during which occurred, in 1348, the great plague described by Boccaccio, and in 1378 the above-mentioned riot of the Ciompi. As a result the Signoria was reconstituted and composed of representatives ("Priors") from each of the twenty-one guilds, instead of from the more important ones only; these were directed to be chosen every two months (afterwards extended to a longer period); while it was ruled that no noble should be eligible as a member of the Signoria. The president of the latter body was the Gonfaloniere, chosen from among the members of the Signoria, and elected for a similar short period. Nor did even this satisfy Florence's fiercely democratic instincts. Although all power was vested in the representatives of the various guilds, yet on any large question the great bell, "the Vacca," in the tower of the Palazzo, della Signoria,5 summoned the whole male population into the square below, when the question was decided (ostensibly, at any rate) "by popular acclamation." This form of gov ernment continued for a hundred and fifty years; it had been established about twenty years at the time our story begins.

Passionately indeed was Florence enamoured of freedom.

In a struggle of some two hundred years she had first gradually shaken herself free from subordination to the emperors, then fought against and thrown off the power of the nobles, and lastly had established "the most republican republic the world has ever seen." And in deep dread of being brought again under the yoke she had developed so greats jealousy of any action, either by an individual or a family, tending, however remotely, to threaten her independence, that this feeling had become a mania. There was a very short shrift in Florence for any one suspected of harbouring an intention of exalting himself into any position of authority above that of an ordinary citizen.

Florence was at this time at a high level of power, ruling over various subject cities, and constantly increasing her territory by little wars with neighbouring states. Republics such as Florence were of a peculiar kind, since only the citizens of the capital city possessed any political power. None others were allowed any voice in the policy of the state. This complete subjection to the capital city accounts for the fierce struggles of Pisa, Prato, Pistoia, Volterra, and other cities gradually conquered by Florence, against being subdued by her. It is also, no doubt, the reason why history at this period always speaks of "Florence" to denote that state which at a later period we speak of as "Tuscany." As regards trade and commerce, Florence was at this time the most flourishing state in Europe. Her citizens owned banks in all countries, and the golden florin 6 had become the general European standard of value; marking the leading position in commerce held by Florence.7 Macaulay, speaking of the revenue about this time, says:-r"The revenue of the Republic amounted to three hundred thousand florins: a sum which, allowing for the depreciation

of the precious metals, was at least equivalent to six hundred thousand pounds sterling: a larger sum than England and Ireland, two centuries later, yielded to Elizabeth."3 The chief trade was in wool and woollen cloth, both that produced by Florence itself and that sent there from other countries to be dyed and refined by a secret process, and reexported: a trade memorialised in the still existing names of two celebrated streets in Florence, the "Calimala" (or Calimara) " and the "Pelleceria." And the guild of the wool merchants was the most important in Florence; so much so that to this guild was committed the work of building the cathedral.10 The principal part of the trade of Florence was with England.

(ii) Turning now to the larger world outside Florence we find the other states in Europe situated as follows:— Venice, a republic of a very different kind and ruled by an oligarchy of nobles, was rapidly advancing to the height of her power, having in 1380 crushed her maritime rival Genoa, and was year by year extending her territories by fresh conquests.

Milan, an imperial duchy, was under the rule of her great Duke, Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the most capable of that family, the builder of the cathedral of Milan and the Certosa of Pavia. He had conquered almost all northern Italy (extending his dominions even as far as Perugia and Spoleto), was at this time only resisted by Florence, and was in full expectation of shortly subduing Florence also, when he would make himself King of Italy.

Naples-and-Sicily, a kingdom, but of the feeblest kind, was in its usual state of anarchy, the bone of contention between the rival houses of Anjou and Aragon, as it had been for a hundred and fifty years.

The Papacy. The situation of the Papacy at this time was most deplorable. There had in 1378 begun "the great schism," with rival Popes at Avignon and Rome: a state of things

•which had brought down the Papacy to the very dust. For there was here no case of an anti-Pope; both Popes had been duly elected, and each had an equal right to be considered the true Pope. On the side of the French Pope were France, Scotland, Spain, Portugal, Savoy, and Lorraine; on the side of the Italian Pope, were England, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, and Poland. Whereas salvation was held to depend on being in communion with the true Pope, none during all this period could feel sure that he was so; while it was at any rate certain that one-half of Europe was not.

The position was. intolerable; and its results during the forty years it lasted were such as to degrade the Papacy to the utmost depth of humiliation.

As regards the remaining countries of Europe:—in England Henry IV had just usurped the kingdom from Richard II, whom he had murdered; in France Charles VI was king, but was mad, and the country in the greatest disorder; Germany was a mass of insignificant states, and the Emperor almost a cypher, the seven princely "electors" invariably choosing as emperor some prince of small dominions and power who would be unable to oppose their own assumption of independence; in the Eastern Empire Constantinople was being closely pressed by the Ottoman Turks; Spain was not as yet one country, Aragon and Castile being still petty independent kingdoms, while all the southern half of Spain was held by the Saracens, or, as they were called, the Moors.

The above is an outline of the general state of Europe before those great changes began in which the Medici were to play so large a part.

The Florence in which Giovanni di Bicci passed his life, though very different in aspect from that with which we are acquainted, nevertheless contained a good deal which we should still recognise. The Baptistery, then already many hundred years old, was much the same as now. So also the Bargello, built about a hundred and fifty years before this

time; and close to it the Badia, built in 1330. The Palazzo della Signoria (known to us as the Palazzo Vecchio), built in 1298, was, as to the front portion, much as we see it, but did not extend at the back down the Via de' Gondi, while along the front ran a raised platform, the ringhiera, from which proclamations were made. The Loggia de' Lanzi had lately been completed. The cathedral,11 which had been building for over a hundred years, was still unfinished; and its great dome had not even been begun, while many doubted whether so vast a space could ever be covered in this way.

Its beautiful campanile, "Giotto's tower," was finished. The Ponte Vecchio, with its shops (though not then jewellers' shops), was as now; except, of course, for the "Passaggio" on the roof of the shops, constructed long afterwards. Of the two chief churches, Sta. Croce and Sta. Maria Novella, the latter was completed, except for its facade, while Sta. Croce was approaching completion. The city was surrounded by its ancient and picturesque walls, which are now gone, but its main streets still follow the same course as then, and many of them present much the same general appearance.

Or San Michele, the curious square church, built by the guild of the wool merchants, was nearly finished; and behind it stood as now the guildhouse of this celebrated "Arte della Lana." As we look at this old house of the great guild of wool (with their emblem of the lamb over the door), and think of the many works in which this guild were then occupied in Florence, we cannot but be impressed with the thought of how many other things besides money-making engaged the attention of this enlightened body of merchants, and of how much in Florence's after-glory has had its birth in that now little-noticed old building.12 And it was in connection with these things that a movement was about to begin which was soon to be the paramount question in Florence. For in our review of the Florence of 1400 we have also to think of the existing state of things in regard to Art and Learning. These, though in the previous

century roused from their long sleep by Dante, Giotto, and Petrarch, appeared to have sunk back again into slumber.

Dante, whose "swanlike dirge of the departing middle ages" had inspired all mankind for a time, had died eighty years before, and no successor to him had arisen. Giotto,13 the shepherd-boy whose kiss had aroused the sleeping beauty, Art, from her nine centuries of slumber in her Byzantine palace, had died sixty-three years before; his great pupil Orcagna had died thirty-two years before; and the painters of the time (the Giotteschi) had no idea beyond that of a slavish copying of Giotto, and so had sunk into a conventionalism almost as complete as that Byzantine tradition from which Giotto had rescued Art. Lastly, Petrarch, the great scholar who had led men to study the long-buried writings of the classic age, had passed away twenty-six years before, and no other like him had arisen.14 Thus, when the year 1400 dawned it seemed as though the movement which had begun in the time of Dante and Giotto was merely a passing phase, already moribund, if not defunct.

It was, however, not so. There was soon to be a fresh movement destined far to surpass all that had gone before.

And the latter half of Giovanni di Bicci's life, with which we have to do, the period from 1400 to 1428, is the time of this "morning" of the Renaissance; of that extraordinary outburst of Art in every branch, which, felt in some degree in other cities of Italy also at this time, seemed in Florence to permeate the whole people with its throbbing life, producing results the influence of which was, before another hundred years were over, to be felt to the utmost bounds of Europe.

Giovanni di Bicci, with his wife, Piccarda Bueri, and his two sons, Cosimo and Lorenzo (who in the year 1400 were boys of eleven and five), lived first in an old house in the Via Larga, and then in one which still stands in the Piazza,

del Duomo; and the familiar view which daily met Giovanni's eye from the windows of his house must have been that of the slowly-rising walls and dome of the cathedral, begun so long before, and intended by Florence to be grander than any yet built..

By the year 1400 Giovanni di Bicci was a man in middle age, gracious in manner, retiring in disposition, and much respected by all around him. He has received very little notice from historians, but he was the author of various important works for the benefit of his countrymen and for the encouragement of art. He was distinguished for his ability as a financier, and for his "prudence" (the quality always specially admired by the Florentines), and had made himself highly popular with the people by the liberal way in which he spent his wealth for the public benefit, and by his constant readiness to be their champion in the never-ceasing struggle against the nobles. Being regardless of fame or notoriety, it is only here and there in the history of the time that notice of him is to be found. Moreover, during his lifetime the chief influence in Florence was possessed by the Albizzi family,10 who, notwithstanding the law affecting the nobles, managed (chiefly by influencing the elections) still to exercise power. Meanwhile Giovanni was laying the foundations of a family which was ere long to obliterate all memory of the sway of the Albizzi.

The first occasion when we find him specially mentioned is in the year 1401. In the picture of the Florence of that age one point has still to be noted without which that picture would not be complete, namely, the terrible outbreaks of the plague which again and again devastated the city in those days, keeping the thought of death and the hereafter ever present in the minds of all men. And our story opens in the midst of one of these awful visitations; and again,, as in 1348 and so many other occasions, large numbers of all classes were being daily carried off by this terrible disease. In this distress Florence determined on a costly

votive offering to be placed in her oldest and most highly venerated church, San Giovanni Battista (better known as the Baptistery), and that this offering should take the form of two pairs of very elaborate bronze doors. An international competition was instituted to settle who should execute this work, and Giovanni di Bicci, as a leading citizen and a great patron of art, was appointed one of the judges in this competition. It is an interesting and significant coincidence that the first mention we have of the first of the Medici should be his taking a prominent part in an event which has always been held as the "birthday" of the Renaissance in Art.

During the next seventeen years (1402-1418) the chief notices which we have of Giovanni are those showing his quiet but steady advancement in public affairs. In 1402 we find him elected by his guild, that of the bankers (Arte del Cambio), as its "Prior," which made him a member of the Government; and we find him again thus elected in 1408 and in 1411. It is specially recorded that he kept aloof from the many political intrigues of the time, and that these and subsequent higher honours were forced upon him unsought.

In 1417 Florence suffered another of those terrible visitations of the plague which afflicted her on so many occasions. This time it carried off 16,000 of the inhabitants.

Giovanni did his utmost to relieve the many sufferings of the people, while we are told that he "did not confine his help only to the poor, but was no less ready to alleviate the misfortunes of the rich." We must now glance at what had been going on in Europe during these eighteen years.

The first eighteen years of the fifteenth century were years of various great events in Europe, all of which closely affected Florence and its Signoria.16 In 1400 the Emperor Wenceslaus was deposed by the "electors" for his worthless, savage, and drunken character.

In his place they chose Rupert, Palatine of the Rhine.

In 1401 the Turks, under Bajazet, having at last come to