Florence (Renaissance City)

Timeline

1. 1300–1348Florence · Republic of FlorenceFlorence's wool industry and Florentine banks (such as the Bardi and Peruzzi families) dominated European finance, with a population exceeding 90,000; construction of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore began, and under the guild republic system the citizenry controlled municipal government, laying the economic foundation for the later artistic flourishing.
2. 1350–1390Florence · Republic of FlorenceAfter the Black Death cut the population nearly in half, the city quickly recovered; after Giotto's death his pupils continued the fresco tradition, humanist pioneers such as Petrarch and Boccaccio were active in Tuscany, the Albizzi family dominated oligarchic politics, and construction of the Palazzo Vecchio and Santa Maria del Fiore continued.
3. 1391–1400Florence · Republic of FlorenceThe Albizzi family controlled the Signoria and rivaled Milan's Visconti; Giotto's Campanile neared completion, Ghiberti won the competition for the Baptistery bronze doors (1401), marking Renaissance sculpture's turn toward classical realism, and the forerunner of the Medici Bank began accumulating wealth.
4. 1434–1600Florence · Grand Duchy of TuscanyAfter Cosimo de' Medici became the republic's de facto ruler he generously patronized the arts; Brunelleschi completed the dome, Masaccio revolutionized perspective, Michelangelo and the David were born here, and the Uffizi and Laurentian Library gathered classical manuscripts, making Florence the undisputed capital of the European Renaissance.