The Intellectual Struggle for Florence : Humanists and the Beginnings of the Medici Regime, 1420-1440

The Intellectual Struggle for Florence is an analysis of the ideology that developed in Florence with the rise of the Medici, during the early fifteenth century, the period long recognized as the most formative of the early Renaissance. Instead of simply describing early Renaissance ideas, this volume attempts to relate these ideas to specific social and political conflicts of the fifteenth century, and specifically to the development of the Medici regime. It first shows how the Medici party came to be viewed as fundamentally different from their opponents, the "oligarchs," then explores the intellectual world of these oligarchs (the "traditional culture"). As political conflicts sharpened, some humanists (Leonardo Bruni and Francesco Filelfo) with close ties to oligarchy still attempted to enrich traditional culture with classical learning, while others, such as Niccolo Niccoli and Poggio Bracciolini, rejected tradition outright and created a new ideology for the Medici party. What is striking is the extent to which Niccoli and Poggio were able to turn a Latin or classical culture into a "popular culture," and how the culture of the vernacular remained traditional and oligarchic. The intellectual struggle for Florence' is an analysis of the ideology that developed in Florence with the rise of the Medici, during the early fifteenth century, the period long recognized as the most formative of the early Renaissance. Instead of simply describing early Renaissance ideas, this volume attempts to relate these ideas to specific social and political conflicts of the fifteenth century, and specifically to the development of the Medici regime. It first shows how the Medici party came to be viewed as fundamentally different from their opponents, the 'oligarchs', then explores the intellectual world of these oligarchs (the 'traditional culture'). As political conflicts sharpened, some humanists (Leonardo Bruni and Francesco Filelfo) with close ties to oligarchy still attempted to enrich traditional culture with classical learning, while others, such as Niccolo Niccoli and Poggio Bracciolini, rejected tradition outright and created a new ideology for the Medici party.0What is striking is the extent to which Niccoli and Poggio were able to turn a Latin or classical culture into a 'popular culture', and how the culture of the vernacular remained traditional and oligarchic The Intellectual Struggle for Florence is an analysis of the ideology that developed in Florence with the rise of the Medici, during the early fifteenth century, the period long recognized as the most formative of the early Renaissance. Instead of simply describing early Renaissance ideas, this volume attempts to relate these ideas to specific social and political conflicts of the fifteenth century, and specifically to the development of the Medici regime. It first shows how the Medici party came to be viewed as fundamentally different from their opponents, the'oligarchs', then explores the intellectual world of these oligarchs (the'traditional culture'). As political conflicts sharpened, some humanists (Leonardo Bruni and Francesco Filelfo) with close ties to oligarchy still attempted to enrich traditional culture with classical learning, while others, such as Niccolò Niccoli and Poggio Bracciolini, rejected tradition outright and created a new ideology for the Medici party. What is striking is the extent to which Niccoli and Poggio were able to turn a Latin or classical culture into a'popular culture', and how the culture of the vernacular remained traditional and oligarchic. The book is an analysis of the ideology that developed in Florence with the rise of the Medici during the early fifteenth century, a period long recognized as the most formative of the early Renaissance. Instead of simply describing early Renaissance ideas, it attempts to relate them to specific social and political conflicts of the fifteenth century and to the development of the Medici regime. It first shows how, as a party, the Medici came to be viewed as fundamentally different from their opponents (the “oligarchs”). Then it explores the intellectual world of these oligarchs (the “traditional culture”). As political conflicts sharpened, some humanists—Leonardo Bruni and Francesco Filelfo—were closely tied to oligarchy, yet attempted to enrich traditional culture with classical learning. Others, such as Niccolò Niccoli and Poggio, rejected tradition outright and created a new ideology for the Medici. Two elements are striking: the extent to which Niccoli and Poggio were able to turn a Latin or a classical culture into a “popular culture”; and how a culture of the vernacular remained traditional and oligarchic. Cover 1 The Intellectual Struggle for Florence: Humanists and the Beginnings of the Medici Regime, 1420–1440 4 Copyright 5 Acknowledgments 6 Contents 10 Note on the Text 12 Abbreviations 14 PART I: POLITICAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND 16 1: The Oligarchs and Their Opponents, 1378–1426 18 2: The Political Collapse of the Oligarchic Regime, 1426–1434 41 PART II: TRADITIONAL CULTURE 88 3: Traditional Culture and the Critique of Radical Humanism 90 4: Leonardo Bruni and Civic Humanism 142 5: Francesco Filelfo, Oligarchic Virtue, and Medicean Vice 202 PART III: MEDICI CULTURE 246 6: Niccolò Niccoli, the Man Who Was Nothing 248 7: Poggio and the Ideology of the Medici Regime 291 Conclusion 335 Bibliography 344 PRIMARY SOURCES 344 SECONDARY WORKS 352 Index of Manuscripts 366 General Index 368 Florence in the early fifteenth century is generally regarded as the epicentre of the early Renaissance. This book shows how ideas grew out of the political and social struggles that came with the rise of the Medici, and how, against nearly all historiographical assumptions, the seemingly 'elite' Latin culture was actually the popular culture Content: PART 1: POLITICAL AND SOCIAL BACKGROUND PART 2: TRADITIONAL CULTURE PART 3: MEDICI CULTURE Arthur Field. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 329-350) And Index.