SOURCE2 Adapted from the chronicle attributed to Acciaioli, in Chronicles of the Tumult of the Ciompi , ed. and trans. Kantor and Green, 9 On Sunday, all the guilds gathered in their shops. They elected representatives, one for each guild. On Monday morning the colleges assembled early in the signoria, and the representatives came. All that day they stayed with the priors, but they could not reach agreement. Thus, on Tuesday, the guilds began to arm themselves, the guild banners were unfurled. This was brought to the attention of the priors. They immediately chose the ninety-six. Then an uproar arose in the square and people with the guild banners shouted, ‘Long live the people.’
SkillBuilder discussion Causes and consequences 1. What do you think were the causes that led the guilds to begin arming themselves and rallying with banners, as described in SOURCE2 ? 2. How was the formation of new guilds a consequence of the Ciompi Revolt?
SOURCE3 Machiavelli, Florentine Histories , trans. Banfield and Mansfield, 126.
‘The three new guild corporations be formed, one for the carders and dyers, another for the barbers, double makers, tailors, and such mechanical arts, and the third for lesser people; and that from these three new guilds there would always be two Signori and from the fourteen lesser guilds three.’
Did you know? Florentines were so concerned about the possibility of one person taking control of the city that they created rules for election to office, including using bags to draw out names at random and voting using coloured beans for anonymity.
5.4.4 The Medici family Despite the efforts of Florentines to share power between all eligible families, the government was dominated by the wealthiest merchant families. These families used a network of friends and family to influence politics in the city. The most famous of these was the Medici family. The wealth of the family came mainly from the Medici Bank. In the mid-fifteenth century Cosimo de’ Medici came to dominate Florentine politics; however, he took care to ride a donkey in the city in order not to attract jealousy. Cosimo continued to influence Florentine politics until his death in 1464. The Medici family were important figures in Florence, their influence continuing under Cosimo’s son Piero and then his grandson Lorenzo. The influence of the family ceased for a time with the banishing of Piero the Younger from Florence in 1494, when the Florentine government was angered because he made a deal on their behalf with the French to surrender the city. The Medici family returned to Florence in 1512 and established themselves as dukes of the city.
SOURCE4 Niccolò Machiavelli wrote about Cosimo de’ Medici in his History of Florence .
Although he was the chief man in Florence, he never overstepped the bounds of prudence . . . he never appeared anything but a simple citizen.
Jacaranda Humanities Alive 8 Victorian Curriculum Third Edition
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