Florence and the Medici

by J.R. Hale

The enduring fascination of the Medici springs from their ability--as individuals and as a family--to control the government of Florence, first as a quasi-democracy and finally through inheritance. Based on the latest research, this perceptive study, by one of the finest Renaissance scholars of the day, reveals the causes and the nature of the Medicis' power of patronage from the early 15th-century through the early 18th. "...probing, sharp-eyed, utterly unsentimental...some of the most revealing insights come...in a chapter about the growth of the Medici legend.."--Roy Foster.

Genres: History, Italy, Nonfiction, Renaissance

206 pages, Paperback

Published December 31, 2001

About the author

AKA John R. Hale

British historian specializing in the Renaissance, first Professor of History at the University of Warwick.

Reviews

[James Bechtel]

First published in 1977, JR Hale's "Florence and the Medici: the Pattern of Control" centers on the dynamics of power between the city and its most famous family. The time frame is early Renaissance, but not much before, all the way into the 18th century. Politics is central to the book - the structure of Florentine government and the role of the Medici in acquiring political power and altering the government to sustain control. JR Hale details the transformation of the city's republican ideals, conception, and structure to the rise of dynastic, hereditary, authoritarianism. The story is how and why Florentines accepted and legitimized those changes. At only 196 pages and covering such a very long time period it seems to just scratch the surface of things. What's here is not bad, but I think it is possible to find something better. I have read two other books by JR Hale on Early Modern Europe both of which I found to be superior to this one - "The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance" and a short book on Machiavelli. I will have to give this one 3.5 stars.

[Tyler Hochstetler]

A moving portrait of a great family. The power that resided in the Medici family reigned for centuries. Their empire was incredible.

[solène]

Il ritratto della più grande famiglia italiana e del suo potere attraverso i secoli.