It’s our first day in Florence. After arriving by train from Venice, we checked into our hotel and headed out to explore the neighborhood. Walking on Via Calzaiuoli toward Piazza della Signoria, we came to a building called Orsanmichele. Statues of saints lining its walls sent us back to the Dark Ages to get the back-story. Let’s finish what we started last time.
To recap, thanks to the development of the guild system along with commercial banking, little Florence began to lead the rest of Europe out of the Dark Ages. It was the 13th Century, and Florence was on a roll. But then came the miserable 14th century.
The Amazing 13th Century
In the 13th century, Florence grew to be one of the great cities of Europe. Ninety thousand people called themselves Florentines. The establishment of the guild system, unique to Florence, brought prosperity to the city.
Guild representatives participated in Florence’s city council, providing a means for the average person to have some degree of involvement in how the city was managed.
In comparable cities like Naples or Milan, ruling families governed the local population. Florentines were proud to have a more democratic, independent form of city government. It was a great place to be. Then things began to head south.
The Miserable 14th Century
To kick off the 14th century in FLorence, two of the largest Florentine banks failed. Maybe they grew too much too fast. Bank failures have a way of shaking one’s confidence, eh?
Then 1333, a disastrous flood just about wrecked the city. But the worst was yet to come.
In 1348, bubonic plaque – the Black Death – arrived in Florence. By some estimates, 30% of the city’s population succumbed to the plague. That’s difficult to imagine. Let’s not go down that road right now.
Florentines eventually recovered and rebuilt their city. The city council oversaw implementation of a new and improved layout. Most of the main streets and squares that were planned at that time still exist.
The wool and cloth industries came back, too. But due to the plague, there was a severe labor shortage. Given their limited production capacity, clothiers concentrated on making only those products with the highest profit margin – high-end, expensive products.
Other guilds followed suit. Is this why many Italian companies became so adept at producing and marketing high-end products? The fanciest shoes, fastest cars, top fashion designers? Maybe. Don’t know the answer to that one.
Piazza della Repubblica
We continued exploring and found ourselves at Piazza della Repubblica. It’s a square just around the corner from Orsanmichele. This square has been at the city center for hundreds of years.
There’s a well-known café here called Caffè Paszkowski. It started many years ago as a Polish brewery. They expanded and transformed the core business into a rather elegant café and restaurant.
Now, Caffè Paszkowski is a Florentine institution. It’s the ideal place to have something really tasty and of course, to people-watch.
Continuing on, we wound up returning to Piazza della Signoria, where we saw Neptune’s Fountain. We’re almost back where we started.
Savaranola
Piazza della Signoria is where, in 1498, the Powers that Be took care of a guy named Savanarola. Savanarola was a devout Catholic priest who wasn’t happy about the state of affairs at the Vatican.
In those days, the Vatican was Party Central. Wild orgies were the order of the day. Compared to parties thrown by the Pope at the Vatican, Hugh Hefner’s parties at the Playboy Mansion would be akin a proper English afternoon tea.
Savaranola was more than just “not happy.” He was disgusted. He was also really good at getting people riled up.
Savaranola went on a rampage against the Vatican. Florentines started turning against the Pope in significant numbers. You know this isn’t going to end well for Savaranola, right?
It didn’t. The story ends with the Pope having Savanorola burned at the stake right here in Piazza della Signoria. And that was the end of Savaranola.
To be continued…
