1 FILIPPO DE'NLRLI, 1485 - 1556; POLITICIAN, ADMINISTRATOR AND HISTORIAN. Kathryn Valerie Underhill* /BIGL LONOIN ProQuest Number: 10107269 All rights reserved INF0RMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed a note will indicate the deletion. uest. ProQuest 10107269 Published by ProQuest LLC(2016). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.Q. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 ABSTRACT. The aim of this study is to examine the life and work of Filiopo de’Werli and to see what this reveals about the politics, society and historiography of his time. The first part of the study is biographical, tracing Nerli's involvement with politics and administration at various stages of his career. His period as governor of Modena is seen in the context of the war of the League of Cognac, the part which he played in cultural activities in Florence is considered, and in particular an attempt is made to analyse the changes which took place in the role of the Florentine ottimati in the mid sixteenth century as a result of the establishment of Medici absolutism. The second part of the study is devoted to an examination of Nerli's history of Florence, The sources of his work, its nature and the extent to which it served as a source for his contemporaries are considered and Herli's relations with his fellow historians at Cosimo's court - and in the Florentine Academy are discussed. Finally an attempt is made to reach certain tentative general conclusions about the nature and methods of historical writing in sixteenth century Florence. The aim throughout is to place Nerli in his correct context and this reveals him as a typical representative of his class who, for that reason, is a valuable subject for a study such as this. CONTENTS. I Introductory. 4 II Nerli’s Formative Years, 1511-1524. 29 III Modena: 1524-1527. 80 IV After Modena - Period of Transition. 132 V Government under Duke Gosimo. 183 VI The Coromeatari. 235 VII Nerli and his fellow historians. 284 VIII Historiography in Sixteenth Century Florence. 55I Conclusion 378 Appendix I 384 Appendix II 386 Bibliography 388 Plate I 161 Chapter I - Introductory. The historian Filippo de*Nerli was horn in Florence on March 9, 1485 and died there on January 17, 1556. His life thus spanned some of the most important events in the history of the city in which he, as a member of one of the leading ottimati families, played an active role. His biography, therefore, not only provides an insight into the life of one of the historians of the sixteenth century but it also gives us some idea of how politics and government in Florence functioned at this period and of the part which the ottimati played in the life of the city. The first part of this study will seek, through a biography of Nerli, to show the kind of political role which men of his class filled and the changes which occured in that role during the early sixteenth century. Previous studies have concentrated upon the workings of the Florentine constitution and only outstanding men such as Guicciardini and Francesco Vettori have been studied 2 individually. More such studies are needed before we can fully understand the way in which government functioned in Florence, a city where personalities were of supreme importance in political life. The second part of the study will be devoted to Nerli as an historian; his work and its relation to that of the other 1)Certain Italian terms, including ottimati and dominio, have been used throughout without inverted commas for the purpose of simplification. 2)e.g. R.Ridolfi - Vita di Francesco Guicciardini.Rome.1960; L.Passy - Un ami de Machiavel. Francois Vettori. sa vie et ses oeuvre 5. Pari s. 1913: R.Hughes - Frandesco Vettori. London Ph.I) thesis 1958. A study of Jacopo Salviati would be of particular value. historians of the sixteenth century. For the major part of Nerli*s life Florentine politics were dominated, as they had been for many previous generations, by the constant struggle which went on between the classes in the city. This struggle dominates the history of Giovanni Villani, Machiavelli is very conscious of it in his Istorie Fiorentine. and Nerli blames the many troubles which have marred Florence’s history on the constant class and faction quarrels and feuds. The ottimati strove constantly to maintain their position vis-a- vis both the Medici and the other members of their own class whilst the people, who had no political rights under the constitution, were ever anxious to gain liberty. The slogan of Liberté became the cry not only of the popolo but also of those ottimati who hoped to increase their own power by supporting republican institutions, though few of them had any genuine desire for liberté. In 1494, for example, the ottimati were prepared to ally with the people, who in normal circumstances they feared, in order to rid themselves of the unpopular rule of 3 Piero de’Medici. To the popolo the idea of liberty was one to which they clung desperatly, looking with envy at the institutions of Venice, but to the ottimati the best form of government was the one which gave them the most power. All too frequently they seem to have had little conception of what was best for the city. 3)See N.Rubinstein - Politics and Constitution in Florence at the end of the fifteenth century, in Italian Renaissance Studies in memory of O.Ady. Ed. E.P.Jacob. London.I960. stirring up trouble to suit their own ends* Guicciardini commented of Bernardo Rucellai “..non potette mai stare contento 4 e quieto a alcun governo”. Yet paradoxically it was the ottimati who formed the basis of any government in Florence by virtue of their wealth and experience. Neither the Medici nor the republican leaders Piero Soderini and Niccolô Capponi could afford to relinquish their services, and Capponi brought about his own downfall by trying to include experienced pro-Medici ottimati in his regime. For the larger part of Nerli*s political life it remained true that the government of the city depended upon the ottimati but their position was constantly threatened by the attempts of the Medici family to increase their own power and establish themselves as absolute rulers. The attempts of Piero de’Medici and of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, met with strong opposition, but Duke Alessandro was successful in laying the foundations of a Medicean bureaucracy in which the role of the ottimati was severly curtailed. The process was continued under Duke Gosimo, who won for himself the title of Grand Duke of Tuscany and virtually reduced the ottimati to the position of civil servants, who have no say in the formation of the policy which they have to implement. We shall be able to see how the ottimati gradually lost their power and why this happened through our study of Nerli’s career. 2p)Guicciardini - Storie Fiorentine dal 1378 al 1509. Bari.1931. Chap.26, p.283-4. At the time when Nerli was horn the Medici family seemed firmly entrenched in their position as leading citizens in Florence. It is, however, important to realize that the family did not in fact possess any constitutional powers over and above those enjoyed by other ottimati families and that the Medici were, therefore, always in danger of attack from other members of their class. An ottimati group led by Luca Pitti had sought to over­ throw Piero di Cosimo and in 1478 Lorenzo had had to contend with the conspiracy of the Pazzi. Under the rule of the skilful Lorenzo the position of the family did seem reasonably secure, for he succeeded in controlling the ottimati families upon whose support he relied and in manipulating the important office - 5 chosing councils by filling them with his own supporters. Under the guidance of Lorenzo the city experienced what came to be regarded as a Golden Age, becoming recognized as the foremost centre of Italian culture. Yet the uncertain nature of the Medici position was underlined when, within two years of the death of •il Magnifico*, the ottimati expelled his son Piero from the city and established a 'republican* régime. In 1494» when Nerli was a boy of nine, the ottimati, angered by Piero's absolutist tendencies and his refusal to consult them on matters of importance, allied with the popolo to set up a new republican government under the guidance of the friar of San Marco, Girolamo 5)See N.Rubinstein - The Government of Florence under the Medici. Oxford.1966. This gives an analysis of the way in which the Medici ruled in Florence. 8 6 Savonarola. Within a few years Savonarola reaped the whirlwind which he had sown when the opposition of the Pope combined with that of his enemies in Florence to bring him to his death at the stake. The constitution which he had helped to set up was modelled upon that of Venice and its chief feature was a Great Council, designed to ensure that government had a broader basis than it had had under the 'packed* councils of the Medici. However, it proved virtually impossible to run the government in this way alone because of the administrative difficulties caused by the rather unwieldly system, notably the problem of inducing the commercially minded citizens to spare enough time to attend the meetings of the council, and it was therefore decided to elect a 7 permanent leader.