"The present volume grew out of discussions among friends who some years ago were working at the Archivio di Stato in Florence. Although it does not make any pretence at comprehensiveness of a chronological or systematic order, it does not entirely lack unity of purpose or direction. By assembling studies that are representative of contemporary research in Florentine history, it may not only provide the reader with new information on a variety of topics and problems, but also acquaint him with some of the principal currents and aims of that research. Its very incompleteness is not entirely accidental, but reflects a similar incompleteness in historical scholarship. While some aspects and fields of Florentine history have been thoroughly investigated, others still await elucidation; and as so often, the increase in our knowledge has not been without an increased awareness of the gaps that remain to be filled. Even so, our knowledge of Florentine politics and economy from the 14th to the 16th century has been notably widened and deepened during the last 20-odd years; and if the present volume succeeds in conveying to the reader some of this fuller vision, its plan would seem to have been amply justified.
That it could be planned at all on this level and with so great a variety of topics, in itself bears witness to the remarkable flourishing of Florentine historical studies since the Second World War; that all but one of the contributors come from Great Britain and the United States, shows the popularity of these studies in those countries."
Author(s): Nicolai Rubinstein
Publisher: Faber & Faber Ltd.
Year: 1968
Language: English
Tags: Florence, Italy, Florentine Republic, Army of the Florentine Republic, taxation, gabelles, Tuscany, Santa Maria Impruneta, Ciompi Revolution, Medici Bank, Papacy, Pisa, Venice, constitutions, Fortezza da Basso
- Editor’s Preface
1. "The Myth Of Florence", Donald Weinstein
2. "In Buon Tempo Antico", Charles T. Davis
3. "The Army Of The Florentine Republic From The Twelfth To The Fourteenth Century", D. P. Waley
4. "The Florentine Territorial State And Civic Humanism In The Early Renaissance", Marvin B. Becker
5. "Indirect Taxes Or ‘Gabelles’ At Florence In The Fourteenth Century", Charles M. de la Ronciére
6. "From Manor To Mezzadria: A Tuscan Case-Study In The Medieval Origins Of Modern Agrarian Society", P. J. Jones
7. "Santa Maria Impruneta: A Rural Commune In The Late Middle Ages", David Herlihy
8. "Labour Conditions In Florence Around 1400: Theory, Policy And Reality", Raymond de Roover
9. "The Ciompi Revolution", Gene A. Brucker
10. "How The Medici Became The Pope’s Bankers", George Holmes
11. "Florence And The Papacy In The Earlier Fifteenth Century", Peter Partner
12. "Pisa And Florence In The Fifteenth Century: Aspects Of The Period Of The First Florentine Domination", Michael Mallett
13. "Florentine Constitutionalism And Medici Ascendancy In The Fifteenth Century", Nicolai Rubinstein
14. "The Venetian Constitution In Florentine Political Thought", Felix Gilbert
15. "The End Of Florentine Liberty: The Fortezza Da Basso", J.R. Hale
