My paper about Cosimo de Medici

Of the estimated 80,000 inhabitants before the Black Death epidemic of 1348 population is said that about 25,000 were engaged in wool industry in the city: in 1345 Florence was the scene of an attempted strike carders (ciompi), who in 1378 initiated a brief revolt against the oligarchy, call the Revolt of the Ciompi. After their suppression, Florence came under the rule of the Albizzi family (1382-1434), great rivals of the Medici. Cosimo de Medici was the first Medici family member to control the city between racks. Although the city was technically a democracy, its power came from a large network of patronage in addition to its new partnership with immigrants, people nuova. The fact that the Medici were bankers to the pope also contributed to its rise. Cosimo was succeeded by his son Piero, who was succeeded shortly after by Cosimo's grandson, Lorenzo in 1469. Lorenzo de Medici was a great patron of the arts, commissioning works by Michelangelo, Leonardo Da Vinci and Botticelli. Lorenzo was also a talented musician and brought to Florence at some of the most famous composers and singers of the moment, as Alexander Agricola, Johannes Ghiselin, and Heinrich Isaac. After the death of Lorenzo in 1492, was succeeded by his son Piero II. When the French king Charles VIII invaded northern Italy, Piero II chooses to resist; but when you realize the size of the French army at the gates of Pisa, has to accept the humiliating conditions of the French king. This makes the Florentines rebel and expelled Piero II. With his exile in 1494, the first period of Medici government ends with the restoration of a republican government. During this period the Dominican monk Girolamo Savonarola becomes prior of the monastery of San Marco in 1490. He was famous for his sermons recognized in exile of the Medicis work of God, punishing them for their decadence well. He took the opportunity to make political reforms that would lead to a more democratic government. His obsessive pursuit of extended sodomy and other worldly pleasures foreshadowed and influenced most religious controversies of the following centuries. But when Savonarola publicly accused Pope Alexander VI of corruption, he was forbidden to speak in public, but disobeyed and was excommunicated. The Florentines, tired of his radical teachings, turned against him and arrested him. It was declared a heretic and burned at the stake in the Piazza della Signoria on 23 May 1498. Another unusual personality was Niccolo Machiavelli, whose advice for the regeneration of Florence under strong leadership have often been seen as the legitimization of political expediency and even abuse of authority. Machiavelli, by request of the Medici wrote the Florentine Histories, the history of the city. Florence banishes the Medici for a second time and resets the republic May 16, 1527. Again restored with the support of the Emperor and Pope, the Medici in 1537 become hereditary dukes of Florence, and in 1569 Grand Dukes of Tuscany, ruling for two centuries. In all Tuscany, only the Republic of Lucca (later a Duchy) and the Principality of Piombino were independent from Florence.