HISTORY

OF the many conflicting opinions as to the origin of Florence, the one which seem to have the greatest weight of evidence in its favor is that it is Etruscan, or at all events that it owed its creation to the debris of the last Etruscan cities conquered by the Romans. It absorbed those colonists whom the Greeks called Tyrrhenians, but whom the Romans named Tuscans, and who, three centuries before the foundation of Rome, established in the heart of the peninsula a powerful kingdom extending from Pisa to Tarquinium, between the shores of the Mediterranean and the foot of the Apennines. Although Machiavelli, in the first chapter of his " Storie Fiorentine," represents Florence as being a Roman colony, built by the cohorts of Sylla, modern science holds to the opinion that the town on the banks of the Arno was originally a city formed by emigrations from Fiesole, that cradle of so many artists, from eye heights the eye commands so grand a prospect.

Sylla, the proconsul, embellished the city, but about the middle of the sixth century it suffered greatly at the hands of the Goths and Vandals, who descended at that time like a plague upon Italy. For about the space of two hundred years little or nothing is known of Florence, but during the comparative peace and order of Charlemagne's rule she once more emerged from obscurity and began to take a prominent place among the Roman colonies in Tuscany, of which, however, Pisa was at that time the most important.

In the year 1010 the hitherto rival cities of Florence and Fiesole formed an alliance, and the two coats of arms were blended to symbolize the union. Florence abandoned her white lily and Fiesole her blue half-moon, so that the new device was simply a shield divided in the middle, the red field of Florence occupying one side and the white field of Fiesole the other.

The arms of the Republic underwent further changes at each great event in her history (although the standard displayed from the " Caroccio " in time of war was invariably the red and white field adopted in 1010). This accounts for the different coats of arms carved on the facades of some of her public buildings. We find, for instance, the word "Libertas" on a blue field, the device of the Priors of the Arts, which was adopted at the close of the twelfth century, when Florence threw off the imperial yoke. The golden keys crossed on a blue ground, bestowed on the city in 1265 by Clement IV. An eagle trampling a dragon under foot, also bestowed by Clement IV., the Guelphs adding the small golden lily later. The golden lilies on a blue field, with a golden file, adopted when Charles of Anjou assumed the government of the city in 1267. And the shield divided perpendicularly, with golden lilies on a blue field on one side, and red stripes on a golden field on the other, the arms of Robert of Anjou, King of Naples, appointed Lord of Florence in 1313.

During the last half of the eleventh century Florence was ruled by the Countess Matilda. This celebrated woman was the last representative of the powerful house of Canossa. Her mother, Beatrice of Lorraine, had inherited Tuscany, Liguria, part of Lombardy, Modena, and Ferrara, and Matilda, an ardent supporter of Hildebrand (Gregory VII.), put herself and her vast possessions at the disposal of the Pope, bequeathing everything she had to the Holy See at her death, which occurred in 1115. The Emperor denied her right so to dispose of her lands, claiming them as fiefs of the Empire, and thus a large part of Italy was drawn into the struggle between those two halves of God, the Pope and the Emperor," which was destined to distract her for centuries, and convert that beautiful country into a vast battlefield. Florence, however, always keen and wary, contrived to hold aloof, and quietly occupied herself in strengthening her own hands and building up a system of self-government, so that in due course of time she was able not only to resist the demands of the various imperial representatives sent to lieu by Henry IV. and Frederick Barbarossa, but to adopt a very independent tone in her dealings with the Popes themselves. As early, however, as 1177 civil discord broke out among her citizens. Many of the powerful nobles living in the neighboring country or "contado" had been subdued by the Commune, their castles destroyed, and they themselves forced to take up their abode in the city where, for some time at least, they were excluded from the privileges of citizenship and all share in the Government. Thanks to this policy a strong "opposition" party was formed, composed of these immigrant nobles, several powerful families, with the Uberti at their head, who had been kept out of office, and all the other malcontents, from whatever cause, who happened to be in the city. They rose against the Government, and for two years the city was the scene of continuous broils and faction fights.

In 1184 Frederick Barbarossa temporarily reconciled with the Holy See, visited the city in person. The nobles, who had gotten the worst of it in their struggle with the people, made a formal complaint to him, with the result that Florence, by way of punishment, was deprived for a short time of her jurisdiction over the "contado." Party feeling ran high, and it needed but a trifling incident to kindle into flames the smoldering embers of mutual distrust.

In the year 1215 a betrothal took place between a member of the powerful family of Buondelmonte and a daughter of the Amadei. As the former was riding through the city one day he was suddenly accosted by a lady of the house of Donati, who reproached him bitterly for allowing himself to be drawn into an alliance in every way unworthy of him, declaring that she had always intended to bestow her own daughter upon him, having reserved her for this very purpose, and concluded by pointing out the maiden in question, who had followed her mother to the street. No sooner did the bridegroom-elect set eyes upon her than, captivated by her extraordinary beauty, he threw honor and prudence to the winds and announced his intention of marrying her forthwith. Great was the indignation of the Amadei when news of the insult reached them. A meeting was held of all the relatives and adherents of the family, who bound themselves by all oath to avenge the slight ; and on Easter morning, lying in wait for the youthful bridegroom, they dragged him from his horse near the Ponte Vecchio and murdered him forthwith. The whole city at once flew to arms, those whose leanings were towards the Guelphs siding with the Buondelmonti, and the rest, forming a Ghibelline party, with the Amadei at its head. And thus were those names of evil omen imported into Florence, where they became the rallying cries in a struggle which century after century deluged the city with blood, led to the exile of the greatest of her children, and made her an easy prey to foreign powers.

By the middle of the thirteenth century Florence, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo, and Pistoia were firmly established as independent communes, and Florence had engaged in numerous wars, directed chiefly against her neighbors, the Sienese, with whom, however, a treaty of peace was signed in 1235. In 1248 the Emperor Frederick II., who was carrying on a fierce struggle with Pope Innocent IV., treacherously incited the Ghibelline leaders the Uberti to rise, hoping to strengthen the Imperialists in Italy by stirring up party feuds. The Ghibellines were successful, and the Guelphs driven out, some taking refuge in the upper Valdarno and others intrenching themselves in the fortress of Capraia in the lower Valdarno, where the Ghibellines, aided by reinforcements sent by the Emperor, attacked and eventually overcame them. The Ghibellines, left in undisputed power, carried things with so high a hand that before long popular discontent broke out. As soon as the news of their discomfiture at Montevarchi, on October 20, 1250, reached Florence the people assembled, and meeting with little or no resistance, proceeded to establish a new form of Government. Thirty-six Caporali di Popolo; six for each of the six wards of the city were appointed; a Capitano del Popolo to represent the people, as the Podesta became from henceforth more and more the accredited representative of the nobles, and, like him, appointed for but one year, and, to balance these two opposing parties in the. Government, twelve Anziana. (elders) del Popolo, two from each ward. The population was formed into a military organization under the command of the Capitano, the city being divided into twenty armed companies, each with its banner and Gonfaloniere ; and the, ringing of the bell hung in the Tower of the Lion, by the Capitano, was to be the signal for the people to assemble. This civil and military form of Government, so rapidly and quietly constructed and adopted by the Florentine people, was the foundation upon which was built the liberty and strength of the Republic.

The, Ghibellines were cowed for the nonce, and the exiled Guelphs returned. For ten years the new Government lasted a period of great prosperity, as witnessed by her rapid growth in wealth and power. In 1252 the gold florin was first struck. Then came the disastrous battle of Montaperti in September, 1260 when the Guelphs were utterly defeated by an army of Ghibellines collected at Siena by Farinata degli Uberti. So great was the slaughter that Dante speaks of it as having dyed the waters of the Arbia red.

Che fece l'Arbia colorata in rosso.

Inferno, Canto x.

Florence came near paying with her very existence on that occasion for the discord she had let loose among, her children, and to Farinata degli Uberti is due the honor of having saved her from total destruction, for when at the conference of the Ghibelline leaders, which took place at Empoli after the battle, it was suggested to raze the turbulent city to the ground, he alone of all present interposed in her behalf, and to such purpose that the infamous project was abandoned.