Buona Sera Lovers of Power, Poisonings and Politics,
It's day 3 of our stay here in Florence and it is the most mesmorising town. As a lover of all things politic, if the art that is everywhere in this City is it's oxygen, then the politics and power created by the familglia di Medici is it's blood supply!!!
In the early days, around 14 and early 15 century Florence was a republic with an established system whereby nine "Priors" or leaders, were randomly selected from the populace from a hat and for a period of two months only, were locked away - safe from the corruptive influence of the powerful families of the time, to lead the city, collect and record taxes etc and make plans for the city's development. The Medicis were one such family. This place that the "Priors"- hence the word priority, managed the City from, was called the Palazzo Vecchio and these nine men - and it was men only of course, had their offices there to oversee, parks, streets, monuments, inter state and international relations and sewerage, and other such affairs.
Then a wee bit of rebellion broke out and the City was under siege. The Pope at the time - a Medici supported Pope, decided "better in the tent than out" so he appointed his son, and yes, you read that correctly, to run Florence as the leader as a duke. This guy was Alessandro. Well he ran Florence and then up and died without an heir, so along comes Cossimo I, a 19 year old nephew who everyone pretty much thought they could handle because of his youth and his inexperience.
Well comrades, let's just say that Cossimo took to power like the proverbial duck to water. This was a guy, who immediately commandeered the Palazzo Vecchio as the Palazzo for his family to live in and set about enlarging and re-decorating it immediately. He had statutes built in honor of Gods and saints but funnily enough, all the finished products bear an uncanny resemblance to old Cos himself!! He banned his closest rivals from the City indefinitely and embraced his mantle of power with considerable vigor!! He was a benevolent dictator at best and a despot at worst, not adverse to the odd bit of poisoning or murder to ensure he maintained power.
On the upside, he demonstrated enormous curiosity and a strong desire for urban renewal and saw art, architecture, and science as the means to achieve this in Florence. He is the medieval equivalent of a cross between Eddie Maguire, in that he is everywhere; Richard Branson, insofar as he has a finger in every pie or business development opportunity, and also part Donald Trump, in that he ran around naming stuff after himself and the family!!!
Our first day we headed to the family mausoleum wherein all the heavyweights of the Medicis are buried. Cossimos I,II and III, a couple of Ferdinands and a Francesco, oh and my personal favourite, the very humbly named, Lorenzo di Magnifico. This mob were not at all opposed to Self aggrandizement and promotion. You simply would not believe the grandeur of the place. The Medicis make Betty and the Windsors, the Tudors and even all the Louis' of France seem positively Amish in their sense of decor. To understand the conceit of the Medicis, it is said that you need to see this joint.
Having seen where they spent their afterlife, we just had to see where they spent this mortal lifetime. One of three places was the Palazzo Vecchio right near the Uffizi so we headed there. This was the family's main residence once they commenced running Florence. It was not shabby. But much has been decanted into Museums to ensure it's longevity as these old palaces, as well all know for our own experience of living in them, aren't good for the long term well being of masterpieces many hundreds of years old. We have had the same problem with Palazzo Thornbury del Gooch.
We have only seen a microcosm of this family's influence on Florence so far and already I am amazed Cossimo didn't try for a rename of the City to Medici, so omnipresent is the Medicis influence. We headed to our beautiful Piazza di Republica for dinner and listen to opera being sung in the alcoves as we eat a beautiful pasta of gorgonzola and pear gnocchi.
Bon appetito and buon nuit
Kelly & Siobhan xxx
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