Location:
Italy
Coordinates:
43.7696, 11.2558
Events at Florence (52)
1310
ID: 5291
Dante honors troubadours in Divine Comedy - Arnaut Daniel speaks Occitan in Purgatorio, Bertran de Born appears in Inferno
ID: 5291
1375
ID: 4793
War of Eight Saints begins - Florence vs Pope Gregory XI, Hawkwood fights for both sides
ID: 4793
1377
ID: 4792
Hawkwood switches to Florence - abandons Pope for Florence, begins long association with republic
ID: 4792
1385
ID: 4803
Hawkwood's spy network revealed - extensive intelligence operation between Florence and Milan
ID: 4803
1390
ID: 4797
Hawkwood becomes Florence's Captain-General - permanent command, highest salary in Europe
ID: 4797
1394
ID: 4798
Death of John Hawkwood - dies peacefully in Florence, state funeral, fresco in Duomo by Uccello
ID: 4798
1397
ID: 5126
Giovanni di Bicci de' Medici founds Medici Bank - becomes one of Europe's most prosperous financial institutions
ID: 5126
1401
ID: 5161
Competition for Florence Baptistery doors - Ghiberti defeats Brunelleschi, beginning of Renaissance art
ID: 5161
1402
ID: 5166
Medici bank opens Rome branch - manages papal finances, becomes most profitable branch
ID: 5166
1414
ID: 5167
Medici bank finances Council of Constance - Giovanni de' Medici accompanies Pope John XXIII
ID: 5167
1425
ID: 5162
Masaccio paints Holy Trinity in Santa Maria Novella - first use of mathematical perspective in painting
ID: 5162
1434
ID: 5127
Cosimo de' Medici returns from exile and takes control of Florence - begins 30-year unofficial rule as 'Pater Patriae'
ID: 5127
1435
ID: 5168
Medici bank at peak - branches in Rome, Venice, Geneva, Bruges, London, Avignon, Milan, Pisa
ID: 5168
1436
ID: 4804
Paolo Uccello paints Hawkwood monument - fresco in Florence Cathedral, 'Giovanni Acuto' immortalized
ID: 4804
1436
ID: 5128
Brunelleschi completes dome of Florence Cathedral - engineering marvel without scaffolding, largest masonry dome ever built
ID: 5128
1439
ID: 5129
Council of Florence attempts reunion of Eastern and Western Churches - Cosimo hosts Byzantine Emperor John VIII
ID: 5129
1440
ID: 5163
Cosimo commissions Fra Angelico to paint San Marco monastery - creates devotional frescoes in each cell
ID: 5163
1444
ID: 5130
Cosimo de' Medici founds Biblioteca Medicea (Medici Library) - first European library open to public
ID: 5130
1453
ID: 5131
Donatello completes bronze David for Medici palace - first free-standing nude sculpture since antiquity
ID: 5131
1459
ID: 5132
Cosimo founds Platonic Academy in Florence - Marsilio Ficino leads revival of Platonism in West
ID: 5132
1464
ID: 5169
Medici bank begins decline under Piero - bad loans to princes, mismanagement by agents
ID: 5169
1464
ID: 5133
August 1, 1464
Death of Cosimo de' Medici - 'Father of the Fatherland' buried in San Lorenzo crypt
ID: 5133
1469
ID: 5134
Lorenzo the Magnificent becomes ruler of Florence at age 20 - begins golden age of Renaissance
ID: 5134
1469
ID: 5164
Ficino completes Latin translation of Plato's complete works - first in West, transforms European philosophy
ID: 5164
1472
ID: 5170
Medici bank's Bruges branch collapses - Tommaso Portinari's loans to Charles the Bold fail
ID: 5170
1478
ID: 5135
April 26, 1478
Pazzi Conspiracy - Giuliano de' Medici murdered in cathedral during Mass, Lorenzo wounded but escapes
ID: 5135
1482
ID: 5136
Botticelli paints Birth of Venus for Medici villa - Neo-Platonic allegory becomes icon of Renaissance
ID: 5136
1486
ID: 5137
Pico della Mirandola writes 'Oration on the Dignity of Man' - Renaissance manifesto on human potential, protected by Lorenzo
ID: 5137
1489
ID: 5138
13-year-old Michelangelo joins Medici household - Lorenzo recognizes genius, treats him as son
ID: 5138
1492
ID: 5139
April 8, 1492
Death of Lorenzo the Magnificent - end of Florence's golden age, Savonarola claims deathbed reconciliation
ID: 5139
1494
ID: 5140
Piero the Unfortunate expelled from Florence - Medici bank collapses, Savonarola establishes theocracy
ID: 5140
1497
ID: 5141
February 7, 1497
Bonfire of the Vanities - Savonarola's followers burn art, books, cosmetics, mirrors in Piazza della Signoria
ID: 5141
1498
ID: 5142
May 23, 1498
Savonarola burned at stake in Florence - executed where he held Bonfire of Vanities, ashes thrown in Arno
ID: 5142
1501
ID: 5143
Michelangelo begins carving David from rejected marble block - commissioned by Florence as symbol of republic
ID: 5143
1504
ID: 5144
September 8, 1504
Michelangelo's David unveiled in Piazza della Signoria - symbol of Florentine liberty against tyranny
ID: 5144
1512
ID: 5145
Medici return to Florence with Spanish army - republic overthrown, Machiavelli exiled
ID: 5145
1513
ID: 5147
Machiavelli writes The Prince in exile - dedicates to Lorenzo de' Medici (Duke of Urbino), hopes for return
ID: 5147
1520
ID: 5148
Michelangelo designs Medici Chapel and tombs - New Sacristy at San Lorenzo with allegorical sculptures
ID: 5148
1527
ID: 5151
Florence expels Medici again during Sack of Rome - last Florentine Republic established
ID: 5151
1530
ID: 5152
Siege of Florence ends - Charles V restores Medici, republic falls after 10-month siege
ID: 5152
1532
ID: 5153
Alessandro de' Medici becomes first Duke of Florence - hereditary rule established, end of republic
ID: 5153
1537
ID: 5155
Cosimo I de' Medici becomes Duke - from junior branch, will become Grand Duke of Tuscany
ID: 5155
1537
ID: 5154
January 6, 1537
Alessandro de' Medici assassinated by cousin Lorenzino - called 'the Tyrant', last of main Medici line
ID: 5154
1544
ID: 5669
Pietro Andrea Mattioli names tomato 'pomi d'oro' (golden apple) - first European description, notes similarity to nightshade
ID: 5669
1550
ID: 5165
Vasari publishes Lives of the Artists in Florence - creates concept of Renaissance, biography as art history
ID: 5165
1569
ID: 5158
Cosimo I elevated to Grand Duke of Tuscany by Pope - Medici achieve sovereign princely status
ID: 5158
1574
ID: 5160
April 21, 1574
Death of Cosimo I - established Medici as hereditary rulers, patron of arts and sciences
ID: 5160
1587
ID: 5171
Ferdinando I de' Medici becomes Grand Duke - leaves cardinalate, marries, restores Medici prosperity
ID: 5171
1732
ID: 497
Lord Charles Sackville establishes first English Masonic Lodge in Italy - 'La Loggia degli Inglesi' in Florence
ID: 497
1737
ID: 506
June 1737
Inquisition condemns Florence Masonic lodge; Tommaso Crudeli arrested, tortured, dies from treatment
ID: 506
1737
ID: 5174
July 9, 1737
Death of Gian Gastone de' Medici - last male Medici, Grand Duchy passes to House of Lorraine
ID: 5174
1743
ID: 5175
February 18, 1743
Death of Anna Maria Luisa de' Medici - last Medici, leaves art collection to Florence 'in perpetuity'
ID: 5175