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TRANSCRIPT
Understanding the
Soap Opera:
Machiavelli’s
Florence
Mr. Phillip Olt
March-April 2010
Europe in 1519
ITALY IN 1494
The players
• Niccolo’ Machiavelli- Politician, Political Advisor, and Philosopher in Renaissance Florence (Italy)
• The Prince was Stalin’s favorite book and kept at his bedside for the duration of his political career.
• Albizzi Family- Opponents of the Medici in Florence
• Rinaldo- Exiled Cosimo de’ Medici in 1433
• Sforza Family- Opponents of the Medici from outside Florence; ruled in nearby warring Milan
• Caterina Sforza (“lady of Forli”)- Had illegitimate children with Giovanni de’ Medici (Grandmother of Cosimo; later descendents included Henry IV [ King of France] and Charles I & II [ Kings of England])
• She was the first person to hire Machiavelli
The players (cont.)
• The Medici Family- The most powerful family in Italy in the 1400s and early 1500s; controlled politics and banking.
• For Machiavelli’s role in the government while the Medici’s were exiled, he was arrested and tortured for about 4 years by Lorenzo II
• Cosimo de’ Medici- Prominent leader during the war between Florence and Lucca; founder of the Medici Dynasty
• Lorenzo, Il Magnifico- The greatest ruler of the Florentine Republic
• Lorenzo II de’ Medici- Ruled Florence from 1513 until 1519 when he died of syphilis
The players (cont.)
• Charles VIII of France- Invaded Florence in 1494 and
deposed the Medici family
• Savonarola- Catholic priest who ruled after the Medici
from 1493-98; attempted to establish a militant,
fundamentalist Catholic state; known for burning
books and art because it was “worldly”; was executed
in 1498 by the state of Florence for being a ridiculously
bad leader; became a lasting symbol of wicked
leadership
The church players
• Pope Sixtus IV (1471-84)- Financer of an assassination
attempt on Lorenzo, Il Magnifico
• Pope Alexander VI (1492-1503)- Fathered 4 children
by a mistress; known for violence, assassinations, and
worldly excesses.
• Cesare Borgia- His father (Pope Alexander VI) made
him Bishop of Pamplona at age 15 and a Cardinal at
age 18; assassinated his older brother Giovanni; his
brothe Jofre’s wife was his mistress; defected the
church and Italian politics to become a French duke.
The church players
(cont.)
• Pope Julius II (1503-1513)- “The Terrible Pope” or
“The Warrior Pope”; fought the Borgia clan (Pope
Alexander VI and Cesare); built an army and fought
many city-states to extort money from them.
Savonarola
The Medici
Cosimo
Lorenzo,
Il Magnifico
Lorenzo II
Popes
Julius II Sixtus IV Alexander VI
Cesare borgia