The history of Tuscany is extremely interesting – especially the history of Florence. In fact, the history of Tuscan region in Italy has a lot of bearing on how this area was shaped and current culture as it stands today.
Florence and Tuscany have had large impacts on the entire Western civilization. These include impacts with art, sciences, the humanities and even politics when you take into account the early roots of Democracy coming from this area. In fact, the modern language of Italy grew from the dialect spoken in Florence. This area is home to many greats from Michelangelo to Machiavelli, Botticelli, Leonardo and others.
The culture and history of Tuscany traces its roots far back. In Florence, culture developed from a culture of wealth. The wealth came from wool trading, banking and factories that made silk. There were also lots of skilled craftsmen in Florence that helped create a viable and strong middle class. Tuscans showed their pride in their successes. In Florence, they used their great wealth to build up the city and create many monuments to make the city even more beautiful.
Long ago, Florence was actually a republic that was governed by elected officials rather than being dictated by noble people. Most of the power was in the hands of the wealthy. Some of the wealthiest were the Medici family, which is known as the grandfathers of the Renaissance.
The Medici family had banks that had branches in 10 cities across Europe including London and Rome. The florin of Florence was the standard in money for the entire continent.
In many respects, Florence truly dominated Italy. These were in cultural and economic perspectives, however it was not a strong military republic. There were independent Italian city-states that routinely fought for many years until they came together in a movement toward nationalism about 400 years later.
Lorenzo de’ Medici lived from 1449 to 1492, and he inherited the family’s money and power. He enjoyed music and poems and was athletic and smart. He was known as the Renaissance Man and truly enjoyed the arts. He was raised in a very wealthy yet loving family.
One of Lorenzo’s protégés was Michelangelo, who came under Lorenzo’s wing at the young age of 13. He was poor, but Lorenzo adopted him into the Medici family and treated him just a like a father would treat a son.
Growing up, Michelangelo became close with the Medici children. Some of them grew up to be popes – Pope Leo X and Pope Clement VII. These popes would later grant him important artist commissions that we still enjoy today.
In the 15th Century, Rome was becoming a very ugly place filled with crime and filth. The popes started up a campaign to make the city beautiful, and they got artists like Michelangelo and Raphael to come south to Rome with large commissions.
