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Republic of Florence

Republic of Florence
Repubblica Fiorentina
1115–1532
Flag Coat of arms
The Republic of Florence in 1494
Capital Florence
43°47′N 11°15′E / 43.783°N 11.250°E / 43.783; 11.250Coordinates: 43°47′N 11°15′E / 43.783°N 11.250°E / 43.783; 11.250
Languages Tuscan, Italian and Latin
Religion Roman Catholicism
Government Oligarchic republic
Gonfaloniere of Justice
 •  1293–1295 Giano della Bella (first)
 •  1530–1532 Alessandro de' Medici (last)
Podestà
 •  1193–1194 Gerardo Caponsacchi (first)
 •  1502 Vincenzo Nobili (last)
Legislature Priorato delle Arti
 •  Upper house Council of Ancients
 •  Lower house Council of Consuls
History
 •  First established 1115
 •  Marquisate restored
    by Imperial force.
 
1185–97
 •  Ciompi Revolt 1378
 •  Founding of the
    House of Medici.
 
1434
 •  Piero the Unfortunate
    deposed.
 
1494
 •  Declared hereditary
   duchy by the Pope.
1532
Currency Florin (1252–1533)
Preceded by
Succeeded by
Margravate of Tuscany
Duchy of Florence
Today part of  Italy

The Republic of Florence, also known as the Florentine Republic (Italian: Repubblica Fiorentina), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon the death of Matilda, a woman who controlled vast territories including Florence. The Florentines formed a commune in her successors' place. The republic was ruled by a council, known as the signoria. The signoria was chosen by the gonfaloniere (titular ruler of the city), who was elected every two months by Florentine guild members.

The republic had a checkered history of coups and counter coups against various factions. The Medici faction gained governance of the city in 1434, upon Cosimo de' Medici's counter coup against the faction that had sent him into exile the previous year. The Medici kept control of Florence until 1494. Giovanni de' Medici (later Pope Leo X) re-conquered the republic in 1512.

Florence repudiated Medici authority for a second time in 1527, during the War of the League of Cognac. The Medici re-assumed their rule in 1531, after an 11-month siege of the city. The republican government was disestablished in 1532, when Pope Clement VII appointed Alessandro de' Medici "Duke of the Florentine Republic", making the "republic" a hereditary monarchy.

The city of Florence was established in 59 B.C. by Julius Caesar. The city had been part of the Marquisate of Tuscany before the death of Margravine Matilda in 1115. The city did not submit readily to her successor, Rabodo, who was killed in a dispute with the city. The first official mention of the republic was in 1138, when several cities around Tuscany formed a league against Henry X of Bavaria. The country was nominally part of the Holy Roman Empire.


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