← Explore on the interactive map

Fall of the Florentine Republic

Type Event Region Europe Time 1530

On August 3, 1530, after a ten-month siege, Florentine republicans surrendered to imperial troops, ending the four-century-old Florentine Republic.

Timeline

  1. 1529–1530Florence · TuscanyImperial troops, supported by Pope Clement VII, besieged Florence; republicans under commanders such as Francesco Ferrucci resisted stubbornly for nearly ten months, but with cut-off foreign aid and dwindling supplies, the defenses gradually collapsed.
  2. 1530Florence · TuscanyUnder pressure from imperial forces, republican negotiators signed a surrender agreement and Florence's gates opened to the imperial army. The republican government dating from 1115 ended, and republican leaders were exiled or executed.
  3. 1530–1532Florence · TuscanyCharles V installed Alessandro de' Medici in Florence; in 1532 he was granted the title Grand Duke of Tuscany. The Medici replaced the republic with hereditary monarchy, and Florence became a Habsburg vassal in Italy.

Sources