A History of Siena : From Its Origins to the Present Day

A History of Siena provides a concise and up-to-date biography of the city, from its ancient and medieval development up to the present day, and makes Siena's history, culture, and traditions accessible to anyone studying or visiting the city. Well informed by archival research and recent scholarship on medieval Siena and the Italian city-states, this book places Siena's development in its larger context, both temporally and geographically. In the process, this book offers new interpretations of Siena's artistic, political, and economic development, highlighting in particular the role of pilgrimage, banking, and class conflict. The second half of the book provides an important analysis of the historical development of Siena's nobility, its unique system of neighborhood associations (contrade) and the race of the Palio, as well as an overview of the rise and fall of Siena's troubled bank, the Monte dei Paschi. This book is accessible to undergraduates and tourists, while also offering plenty of new insights for graduate students and scholars of all periods of Sienese history Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Table of contents Preface Acknowledgments Introduction Bibliography Part I From the origins of Siena to the fall of the Sienese Republic 1 The origins of Siena From the Etruscans to the Romans Lombard and Carolingian Siena Notes Bibliography 2 Urban development and the formation of the Sienese state (1000–1260) The rise of Siena The economic boom of the early thirteenth century The growth of the Sienese state Notes Bibliography 3 Siena’s golden age: Montaperti and Good Government (1260–1355) Montaperti and its aftermath Santa Maria della Scala and Siena’s principal institutions The government of the Nine (1287–1355) The artistic legacy of the Nine The fall of the Nine Notes Bibliography 4 Renaissance Siena and the fall of the Republic (1355–1555) A fifty-year crisis: 1355–1404 Siena in the 1400s: consensus and stability Siena’s political system in the fifteenth century The Renaissance in Siena: culture and the arts, society and the contrade From Pandolfo Petrucci to the war for Siena (1487–1555) Notes Bibliography Part II From the age of the Medici to the present day 5 The age of the Medici (1557–1737) An intelligent compromise The new, broad Sienese nobility Beside a changing nobility: Monte dei Paschi and the surroundings The contrade and the Palio in early modern Siena Festivals and culture from Prince Mattias to Violante of Bavaria The twilight of the Medici age Notes Bibliography 6 From the Enlightenment to the World Wars (1723–1945) Hard times? The reforms of the Lorena family The co-management of the Monte dei Paschi and the modern commune (1787): among nobles and the contrade French lights and shadows: Viva Maria! The Lorena family in the age of restoration (1814–1859) Social and economic concerns in nineteenth-century Siena Unification strengthens the civic dream Substantial developments in the new century From the “Red Biennium” to the triumph of Fascism Notes Bibliography 7 Siena from World War II to the present day The postwar economic boom The magnificent 1990s: synthesis of a civilization The fall of Monte dei Paschi Siena today Notes Bibliography Index "A History of Siena provides a concise and up-to-date biography of the city, from its medieval development through to the present day, and makes Siena's history, culture and traditions accessible to anyone studying or visiting the city. Well-informed by archival research and recent scholarship on medieval Siena and the Italian city-states, this book places Siena's development in its larger context, both temporally and geographically. In the process, this book offers new interpretations of Siena's artistic, political, and economic development, highlighting in particular the role of pilgrimage, banking, and class conflict. The second half of the book provides an important analysis of the historical development of Siena's nobility, its unique system of neighborhood associations (contrade) and the race of the Palio, as well as a thorough overview of the rise and fall of Siena's troubled bank, the Monte dei Paschi. This book is accessible to undergraduates and tourists, while also offering plenty of new insights for graduate students and scholars of all periods of Sienese history." --Provided by publisher