War over Florence, 1529-1530



A.) Prehistory

In 1527 the dominant Medici family again was expelled from the Republic of Florence. Following the Sacco di Roma 1527, Emperor Charles V. offered Pope Clement VII (a Medici) favourable peace conditions; Pope Clement VII turned from an enemy of the Habsburgs to an ally.


B.) The War

In September 1529, a combined Imperial/Spanish and Papal force invaded the territory of the Republic of Florence; on October 29th 1529 they first assaulted the walls of Florence. They proceeded to lay siege to Florence (Pope Clement VII belonged to the Medici family); Florence (Firenze in Italian) was allied with France (which promised aid, but failed to deliver). A Spanish garrison was established at neighbouring Siena. In May, the Imperial/Spanish/Papal forces were victorious in the Battle of Colombaia. Florence signed a treaty acceptimng the Emperor's conditions on August 12th, after a siege lasting 10 months; The Medici were returned to Florence.
The Republic was soon abolished, Florence transformed into a Duchy, held by the Medici.


C.) The Legacy

Duke Alessandro de Medici was assassinated in 1537, succeeded by Cosimo de Medici. The Duchy of Florence was renamed Grand Duchy of Tuscany. When the Spanish garrison of Siena was ousted in 1552, this started the War over Siena, of which the Spanish regarded themselves master.




EXTERNAL
FILES 		Timeline of the History of Florence, from Luca Page
La Caduta di Firenze 1530, from Cronologia, in Italian
Note biografiche di Capitani di Guerra e di Condottieri di Ventura operanti in Italia nel 1330 1550, 1530, in Italian
Guerre d'Italia, from La Chiesa nel Rinascimento, in Italian
DOCUMENTS
REFERENCE Eric Cochrane, Florence in the Forgotten Centuries, 1527-1800, Chicago : UP 1973, pp.3-10



This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted on February 18th 2004, last revised November 17th 2004

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