A History of Florence, 1200 - 1575

by John M. Najemy

In this history of Florence, distinguished historian John Najemy discusses all the major developments in Florentine history from 1200 to 1575.
Captures Florence's transformation from a medieval commune into an aristocratic republic, territorial state, and monarchy Weaves together intellectual, cultural, social, economic, religious, and political developments Academically rigorous yet accessible and appealing to the general reader Likely to become the standard work on Renaissance Florence for years to come

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Italy, Renaissance, Medieval, Historical

528 pages, Hardcover

First published November 3, 2006

Reviews

[Marks54 · Rating 5 out of 5]

After being in COVID-19 prison for over two years (I am on work release right now), I am finally getting the chance to go visit Italy. My wife and I were going to go there in Fall 2020, but something came up and we had to postpone. I read John Najemy’s “A History of Florence, 1200-1575” to help prepare for the trip. I wanted to do some homework so I could have some sense of what I will be looking at when we come to Florence and Tuscany.

Ok, so it is a really thorough history book of a city whose metro population peaked at around 400K before the arrival of the Black Death and did not match that level again for over 400 years. It is a bit on the dense side (and there is no audio version to help you get through it).

But what a history! You have vendettas. You have political struggles between old and new elites, between elites and craftsmen and artisans; between everyone and the working class populations. You have external conflicts between Guelphs and Ghibellines (don’t ask), and with either the Papacy or the Holy Roman Emperor (or both). You have religious conflicts along with Renaissance secularism; Savonarola and the original “Bonfire of the Vanities”. If the politics are not enough, you have world class art and architecture and sculpture all around. All of this came about in a city smaller than Indianapolis and most of it during the time covered in this book.

I had already read a lot about Florence that focused on Machiavelli and his life and the general political context of “virtue politics”. Najemy’s book makes it clear that the rules for political dynamics in Florence, such as they were, had been worked out and road tested long before the Medici and Machiavelli came along.

If there is a criticism to be made of the book, I suspect it is that art and culture are under emphasized relative to politics. That is fair, but Najemy’s book was not trying to cover culture. That just gives me more to read up on. …and the book would have been much longer had that material been included.

I am looking forward to visiting Florence and think that the book will prove to be a big help.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very strong on political and economic history and therefore wonderfully dense, but moves necessarily quickly and therefore doesn't linger on the moments that could be further emphasised with the idiosyncrasies of the characters (including artists and writers other than political theorists or chroniclers, for example) involved. A timeline would be useful, as well as a complied bibliography (which instead appears as notes). Especially good for reference.

[Michael Arnold · Rating 2 out of 5]

The content of this book is exceptional; it is well researched and very easily and intelligently written. However, I found myself reading long pages of things not related to what I am personally interested in, and after 100 pages I found myself dipping in and out of it. This is not a bad book at all, but it is not for the general reader.

[Kiely · Rating 3 out of 5]

fairly comprehensive background information about the history of Florence

[Nick Caputo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The past is a foreign country etc.

[Joe S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely dry but thorough. More for researchers than casual readers.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Najemy's history covers the history of Florence as a republic; that is, until the Medici got outside forces to establish them as dukes in the city. The books details the remarkably complex forces at work: the mix of social classes, the baffling array of political institutions, the increasing influence of outside political actors.

Strengths: Najemy builds ideas on top of one another--for instance, taking side chapters to consider social history or art patronage--so that, by the end, I felt I had a really solid basis for conceptualizing the history of this complex era.

Weaknesses: the book often gets listy, with dozens of names or sheafs of prices. Also, it doesn't focus on people much--only their political import. So: Najemy writes (of course) about Lorenzo Medici, but I don't feel I have a good sense of the man.

In short: a very thorough book, not good for casual reading, but helpful as a solid historical foundation.

[Marios Antoniou · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am conflicted about this book Najemy is clearly an expert on Florentine history, but i feel the book is too 'listy' and mentions a huge amount of statistics and a multitude of names. This is a bonus in some aspects: it is credible, and fully-evidenced but on the downside I feel that I hardly remember the basic points about major historical figures such as Cosimo de Medici. It put me to sleep, I am afraid to say and I skipped parts of it. The reason I gave it 3/5 is its accuracy and the fact that the historian put an enormous amount of effort in creating it. Lastly, I would have like some exploration of historiographical issues of Florentine history. I feel that after reading the book i am none the wiser about what Najemy's thesis is on most debates about Florence.

[Joe Scipione · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of information packed in this book as with most general history books. I did not read all of this just the 150 pages I needed for research. I would probably only read the rest if I was ever going to visit Florence. That being said it is well written and easy to follow. A good book for anyone interested in the subject.

[Gregg Koskela · Rating 2 out of 5]

After visiting Florence, I was looking for a book that would give the history of the renaissance in that city, with an emphasis on the arts. This, instead, is more of a meticulously documented political history of the city. It is meticulous and detailed. And it gives a lot of detail meticulously. I skimmed the last half.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting study in a period of Florence's history. It was well written and researched. There were some dull bits, but that was more to do with the subject matter than the writing. Overall, interesting and worth a read if you have any interest in Italy as a whole or the city in particular.

[Nancy Bielski · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was dry and a little slow. Very densely packed with information, especially on the economics side of things, which really isn't what I'm interested in.

[Lula Leus · Rating 4 out of 5]

The text a little boring and dry. But despite it, it was very informative.

[AskHistorians]

The best, most recent survey of Florence during the Middle Ages written in English.