Florence [antikvár]

That portion ofltaly which is today known as Tuscany was colonized around the Eighth and Seventh Cen-turies before Chrisl by the Etruscans, who imposed their chilization and customs on the local inhabitants. Tuscany iras the core of their dominions which extend-ed from Campania in the South to the Po Valley in the North. The name itself derives from them (the Romans in fact called the Etruscans " Tusci ") and alsó, according to somé linguists, the pecuiiar aspirate pronuncialion of consonants which renders the Tuscan language so characteristic within the context of Italian dialects.Fiesole was an Etruscan city built, according to the custom of that people, on the top of a hill. It is probable thai the first settlement in the valley of the Arno situated where the crossing of the river was most viable, nucleus of what was later to become Florence, was comprised of citizens of Fiesole. The expansion of Romé constituted a threat to the Etruscan cities, and towards the Third or Second Century before Christ Fiesole was absorbed, the colony on the banks of the Arno transformed into a Román one and given in concession to the veterans of Cesar's wars. This town \vas called Florentia, " the flourishing ", in a similar fashion to several other cities of continenta! Italy ( Placentia-Piacenza; Faventia-Faenza). Its his-tory nierged with that of the Román state during the Republic and the Empire, during the latter years of which it acquired a certain importance and then feli victim, along with other Román cities, to the incursions and devastations of the barbaric invasions. Florence became a Duchy under the Longobards and later seat of a Count when the Franks assumed control in Central and Northern Italy. The city's prestige grew when, around 1000, it became capital of the March of Tuscany. During the Eleventh Century the Florentines began to wage war against the nearby cities especially those of Pistoia and Siena, to consol-idate their as yet unstable dominion over the terri-tories of the region. By the end of the Twelfth Century Florence was governed as a free Comune in spite of the nominal allegiance owed to the Holy Román Emperor. The growth in wealth and power determined the city's emergence as a cultural center: it was enclosed by walls and the first monumental buildings appeared. Commerce enriched the city and the great power within was that of the " Arti Maggiori ", or corporations of the major trades. By the Thirteenth Century Florence had become one of the'most important úrban centers of Italy, although political factions, whose antagonism rent the Empire, warred against each other in the streets. The supporters of the Popé and those of the Emperor were called Guelphs and Ghibellines, but often these names simply masked local differences. Despite such turbu-lence, poets, scholars and artists like Dante Alighieri, Dino Compagni and Arnolfo di Cambio, emerged and attained success within the city. It assumed a new physical aspect: the seat of civil power was built (Palazzo della Signoria), as well as the that of religion (the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore). The Fourteenth Century was a crucial one for Florence. The growth of the city continued, and new walls marked its perimeter which had reached theactual dimensions. However an economic crisis was developing, due in part to the insolvency of the Euro-pean powers with respecl to the Florentine banking societies and to the obsolescence of the old political institutions. Florence sujfered military defeat from nearby cities, offered its government to foreign " Si-gnori ", was devastated by the plague (1348) and became the scene of bittér social revolts, such as that of the Ciompi, the salaried workers of the wool industry (1378).Yet the city was still able to retain its cultural and artistic primacy. The mendicant orders constructed their churches in two of the poorer quarters of the twon: the Franciscans, Santa Croce, and the Domi-nicans, Santa Maria Novella. Petrarch and Boccaccio rendered Tuscan speech the national language of Italy, over and above the single traditions. Giotto and his school of painting spread the Florentine style through the peninsula, both to the North and the South.