History Origins-1399 | 1400-1499 | 1500-1699 | Since 1700
The History of Florence in Italy: 1500 to 1699
1500: Leonardo da Vinci returns to Florence, where he will remain until 1506. It was during this period that he painted the famous Mona Lisa.
1501: Arezzo rebels against Florence, which takes over the city with the intervention of King Louis XII of France.
1502: Piero Soderini is appointed Gonfalonier for life.
1504: Michelangelo's statue of David is installed in front of the Signoria Palace (now called Palazzo Vecchio).
This statue is now in the Accademia Museum. The one on Signoria Square is a copy (inferior to the original in our opinion, it does not exude the same power and beauty).
That same year, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo were commissioned to create paintings in the Palazzo Vecchio representing the battles of Anghiari and Cascina.
1504-1508: The painter Raphael is in Florence.
June 8, 1509: After years of war, the Florentines retook Pisa.
July 30, 1511: Birth in Arezzo of the painter and architect Giorgio Vasari.
1512: France's loss of influence in Italy allows the Medici to return to Florence.
1513: The conspiracy led against the Medici by Pietro Paolo Boscoli, and Agostino Caponni is thwarted.
March 11, 1513: At 37, Cardinal Giovanni de Medici, son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, was elected Pope under the name of Leo X. His pontificate would end on December 1, 1521.
1519: Cardinal Giulio de' Medici, posthumous son of Lorenzo the Magnificent's brother, Giuliano, becomes archbishop of Florence and governs it.
May 2, 1519: Leonardo da Vinci died in Amboise.
June 12, 1519: Birth in Florence of Cosimo I de Medici, son of Giovanni delle Bande Nere de Medici and future Grand Duke of Tuscany.
1520-1534: As an architect, Michelangelo designed the new sacristy of San Lorenzo and the sculptures for the Medici tombs.
December 1, 1521: Death of Giovanni de Medici, Pope Leo X.
1522: The conspiracy against Cardinal Giulio de Medici failed. On November 19, he was elected Pope Clement VII. He is the son of Giuliano de Medici, the brother of Lorenzo the Magnificent.
May 1524: Pope Clement VII entrusts the government of Florence to the Cardinal of Cortona.
1525: Pope Clement VII concludes an alliance with Emperor Charles V that guarantees the protection of Florence. The Pope sent Alessandro de Medici, the presumed natural son of Laurent, Duke of Urbino, to Florence.
1526: Pope Clement VII separates himself from Charles V and joins the coalition composed of King Francis I of France, Venice, and Milan.
1527: Following the sacking of Rome on May 6 1527, by imperial troops, the Medici were expelled from Florence, where the republic was restored.
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1529: Treaty of Barcelona between Charles V and Pope Clement VII, under which Charles V promises marriage to Alessandro de Medici, his natural daughter Marguerite. In the same year, the Florentines strengthened the city wall under the direction of Michelangelo.
1529: Birth in Douai in Romanesque Flanders of the sculptor Jean de Bologne or Jehan de Boulogne, Giambologna (in Italian).
October 1529 - August 1530: Florence is besieged by imperial troops. It is the end of the last Florentine republic.
1531: Alessandro de Medici, protected by Charles V, rules Florence.
1532: Modification of the constitution of Florence, which endows itself with a Duke. The first Duke of Florence following this new constitution was Alessandro de Medici.
1533: Daughter of Lorenzo II de Medici, Duke of Urbino, Catherine de Medici, born on April 13, 1519, in Florence, marries Henri, Duke of Orléans and future Henri II, king of France.
1534: Death of Pope Clement VII on September 25. Michelangelo left Florence for Rome, where he remained until his death.
1537: Lorenzino di Pier Francesco de' Medici had his cousin Duke Alessandro de' Medici assassinated. At 18, Cosimo de Medici (Cosimo I of Tuscany), son of Jean des Bandes Noires de Medici, succeeded him at the head of Florence with the support of Charles V.
1539: Cosimo I de Medici marries Eleonora of Toledo, the daughter of the Spanish viceroy of Naples, Don Pierre Alvarez of Toledo.
1540: Cosimo I de Medici leaves his family palace in Via Larga at the Signoria Palace, Palazzo Vecchio. He entrusts the renovation and decoration of the apartments to Giorgio Vasari.
February 23, 1541: Creation by Cosimo I de Medici of the Accademia of Florence.
1545: Cosimo I de Medici reforms the religious community of Florence against the Dominicans of Saint Mark who oppose him. They were expelled from their convent but were allowed to return following the intervention of Pope Paul III.
1548: The Laurenziana Library, of which Michelangelo was the architect, is opened to the public.
1549: Duchess Eleonora de Medici buys Pitti Palace.
1550: Creation of the Boboli Gardens. In the same year, Giorgio Vasari published the first edition of his Lives of Artists.
1552: The population of Florence reached 59,000 inhabitants.
1553: War against Siena, protected by Piero Strozzi at the head of the French army.
1555: Surrender of Siena.
July 3, 1557: Filippo II entrusts Siena to Cosimo I.
1560: Giorgio Vasari begins the work of the Uffizzi.
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1564: Francesco, son of Cosimo I, takes over the regency.
1564: Galileo Galilei (Galileo Galilei) is born in Pisa.
February 18, 1564: Michelangelo died in Rome.
March 8, 1564: Start of work by Vasari on the famous “Corridor Vasariano”, which connects Palazzo Vecchio and Pitti Palace.
August 27 1569: The title of Grand Duke of Tuscany is conferred on Cosimo I de Medici by Pope Pius V.
1572: Cosimo I de Medici asks the Florentine Academy to issue rules for the Tuscan.
April 21, 1574: Cosimo I de Medici dies, and Francesco I succeeds him.
June 27, 1574: Giorgio Vasari died in Florence.
April 26, 1575: Birth in Florence of Marie de Medici, sixth daughter of Francis I (Francesco) de Medici and Jeanne of Austria (1548—1578), archduchess of Austria, daughter of Ferdinand I of the Holy Roman Empire.
June 5, 1578: Francesco I de Medici secretly married the Venetian Bianca Cappello. The wedding would not be made public until a year later.
October 20, 1587: Death of Francesco I de Medici and his wife, Bianca Cappello. Both died within a few hours, and it is not known whether it was arsenic poisoning or a malaria attack.
Recent scientific analyses are contradictory: the two elements, arsenic and the malaria parasite were found in the body of Francesco I. However, arsenic was also used to embalm bodies. Ferdinand I de' Medici succeeded his brother, Francesco I, in leading Florence.
1588: End of the Florence alliance with Spain and partnership with France.
1594: The equestrian statue of Giambologna, representing Cosimo I de Medici, is installed on the Plaza de la Signoria, opposite the Palazzo Vecchio.
April 30 1600: Maria de Medici, daughter of Francesco I de Medici, marries King Henry IV of France.
August 14, 1608: Death of the sculptor Giambologna in Florence.
February 7, 1609: Death of Ferdinand I de Medici. His son, Cosimo II de Medici, succeeded him.
July 14, 1610: Birth of Ferdinand II de Medici, son of Cosimo II de Medici and Marie-Madeleine of Austria.
1618: Breakup with France following the conduct of King Louis XIII with Queen Mother Marie de Medici. The Duke of Lorraine acts as a mediator and ends this rupture.
February 28, 1621: Cosimo II de Medici died. His 10-year-old son, Ferdinand II, succeeded him under a regency.
1622: The population of Florence is now 76,000.
1628: Ferdinand II de Medici alone took over the government of Florence.
1630: The plague affects Florence and its surroundings.
1631: Ferdinand II married Vittoria della Rovere privately. The marriage was formalized in 1634.
February 21, 1632: Galileo, under the protection of Pope Urban VIII and Ferdinand II de Medici, published in Florence his “Dialogue on the two great systems of the world” (Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo).
January 8, 1642: Galileo Galilei (Galileo Galilei) died near Florence.
July 3, 1642: Marie de Medici, the wife of Henri IV, king of France, died in Cologne.
March 24, 1670: Ferdinand II de' Medici died in Florence. His son Cosme III (Cosimo III) de Medici succeeded him.
History Origins-1399 | 1400-1499 | 1500-1699 | Since 1700
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