Italy
Florence
1289 Florence was in a war with Arezzo. In the Battle of Campaldino (fought between Poppi and Bibbiena), Florence was victorious although Arezzo itself held out. This victory marks the beginning of Florentine dominance in Tuscany and a prolonged period of prosperity. Dante Alighieri was in this battle and was twenty-four years old at the time.
1293 is passed the Ordinances of Justice, giving Florence the constitution that would hold until the reaction against the Ciompi, almost a century later. Minor nobility were allowed into government but greater nobles were excluded. The Ordinances also established that it was not necessary to practice a craft in order to join a guild. In effect this allows anyone to become a Florentine citizen, if they could find both wealth and supporters.
In the 1290s, the Guelf party split into the Blacks and the Whites, following the factions that had developed at Pistoia. Pope Boniface VIII meddled in this, trying to exercise influence in Florence through the Whites. The Whites controlled the government and resented papal interference. By 1300 the government (Dante was an official at the time) had condemned a papal appointee for a crime and Boniface began courting the Blacks, who would agree to anything if the pope could restore them to power.
1301 Charles of Valois, invited by Boniface and urged by Corso Donati, leader of the Blacks, arrived with an army to subdue Italy and act as "mediator" in Florence. All over Tuscany splits were happening. The Blacks were expelled from Pistoia, and Lucca expelled the Whites in retaliation. Charles rode north with 800 cavalry and was joined by contingents from towns all over Tuscany. Regardless of their attitude toward the pope, they were eager to be rid of the Florentine danger.
Charles entered Florence on 1 November 1301. Within days, violence began to break out. Corso Donati snuck into town, seized a nunnery and fortified its bell tower. The violence went on for over a month, and when it was over the Blacks were in power. Many died. The survivors were fined, had their property confiscated, were exiled. Dante was among these.
1302 Charles of Valois left in April, with a reward of 24,000 florins in his pocket.
1303 Boniface VIII died and Benedict XI succeeded. Benedict wanted only to settle the unrest in Tuscany.
1304 brought reconciliation among the Blacks, who had in turn split into factions, but the peace lasts only a few months. Gang wars culminated in an act of arson that burned about 1,400 homes and warehouses in the heart of the city. More or less continual warfare lasted until 1309, by which time Florence under the Blacks was mostly isolated. Her chief remaining ally was Lucca.
During these years, 1289 to 1309, Florence saw a sea-change in politics. The merchants of the town, and their guilds, came to power firmly while the nobility was pushed aside—though some responded by giving up their noble status and becoming bankers or merchants themselves.
1311 Henry VII passed through Pisa and the Maremma. Florence covered up and the emperor did not molest the city. He went on to Rome, where he had to fight a sharp battle even to get crowned. His coronation banquet was outside the Lateran Palace and was scuttled by archers firing on the guests from the Aventine Hill. Florence had sent mercenaries to help defend Rome, while disaffected Florentine nobles had served in Henry's forces. This did local politics continue to mingle with papal and imperial politics. After Rome, Henry moved north, intended to attack Florence and restore the Whites.
1312 Henry VII invaded Tuscany, but he fell ill. He failed to catch Florence by surprise, his army was too small for a lengthy siege, and October rains destroyed his camp. He withdrew to Pisa in March 1313 and finally left Tuscany for other business in the south of Italy. Even though he died there, he's actually buried in Pisa.
In the wake of Henry VII's death there was a scramble for power. There were a number of foreign troops kicking around Italy, and condotierri seized power in Pisa and in Lucca (respectively, Uggucione and Castruccio Castracani). Both towns were now Ghibelline.
March 1315 the Battle of Montecatini: a hard-fought battle in swamplands near Lucca. The Ghibelline forces routed Florence and her allies. Uggucione lost power the following year, but Castracani emerged as Captain for life in Lucca and became a major Ghibelline hero.
1322 Robert of Anjou's overlordship of Florence expired and was not renewed. The Angevins had been corrupt and incompetent, and by now all Florentines hated them. Florence enjoyed over a decade of peace.
Around 1340, though, Florence again came into conflict with Lucca. There was a war, which went badly for the Florentines. In reaction, the magnates attempted a coup in 1341. When it failed, they appealed to Walter of Brienne, who entered the city and became Signore on 8 September 1342. He lasted less than a year (26 July 1343), thrown out by a popular insurrection. The city was now free of external threats, so internal divisions rose to the forefront. Increasing divisions between the Greater and Lesser Guilds, the popolo grasso (the fat cats) and the popolo minuto (the little people).
1345 saw a revolt led by Ciuto Brandini that was put down. He was executed.
1354 A severe law was passed against any expression of Ghibellinism. Nearly all tensions were expressed in terms of Guelf and Ghibelline, even though loyalties were no longer significantly aligned along pope and emperor. Florence was declaring she was utterly and permanently Guelf.
1368 a riot in August followed by a dyer's strike, but no real change in government.
1371 Similar events in Siena, with the workers threatening massacre of the fat cats.
1372 Florence passed a law restricting public assemblies. The War of the Eight Saints suppressed internal tensions for a time.
1375 Sir John Hawkwood (Giovanni Acuto) devastated the Florentine contado (relations with the papacy had worsened again). Florence created a council called the Eight of War in direct defiance of papal orders. These men were later called the Eight Saints—typical Florentine wit.
1376 Florentines encouraged the Romans to rebel. Bologna did. 31 March Pope Gregory XI laid Florence under interdict and evicted 600 Florentine merchants from Avignon, and sent Cardinal Robert of Geneva with an army to attack Florence.
1377 3 February massacre of 2000 citizens in Cesena by Roberts' troops. October, the Eight of War defy the interdict and re-open all churches, ordering the clergy to resume their functions.
1378 March peace negotiations begin. Peace in July. 22-23 June popolani burn houses belonging to the Parte Guelfa. 20 July Michele di Lando leads the Ciompi. They occupy city hall. Three new guilds were formed and given a place in government. But the popolani wanted more and forced more radical change in late August.
1378 31 August a mob rushed the Priors but Lando drove them off. A counter-revolution took place and Lando was forced out of power. The Ciompi guild was dissolved. The other two stayed, and for a while the Lesser Guilds held some genuine power.
1382 The Greater Guilds regained their position. Lando was exiled. So was Salvestro de' Medici, who had supported the Ciompi. The two new guilds were abolished. Florence entered a period of internal stability.
1395 Giangaleazzo Visconti began his rise to power.
1402 Giangaleazzo Visconti dies just as he was invading Tuscany. In 1414 Ladislas of Naples died, removing a second threat.
1406 Florence occupied Pisa. 1421 Florence purchased Livorno from Genoa. 1427 the Florentine catasto.
1433 Medici exiled; 1434 return of Cosimo.