History of Siena
The history of Siena begins with the Etruscans , who probably founded the city and named it Saena . Some graves of that age have been found outside the Porta Camollia . After falling under Roman rule, Siena became a Roman colonia in the reign of Augustus or a little earlier . At that time the city was named Saena Iulia and had the same coat of arms as Rome: the she- wolf and the twins . But the city acquired its real importance in the Middle Ages. Few evidence from the Roman era or from the first centuries of Christianity has survived (except for the legend of St. Ansanus), and none at all from the period preceding the Lombard period.
Legend of the city's foundation
According to legend, the children of Remus , Senius and Aschius , had to flee Rome after their father's conflict with Romulus . They reached the banks of the Tressa River and built the Castel Senio (now Castelvecchio) on a hill here . They started a fire that developed black and white smoke and thus became the city colors of Siena (Balzana).
middle Ages
There is documentary evidence that there was a bishop Mauro in Siena in the 7th century during the reign of Rotaris (or Rotari). Attempts to trace previous bishops back to the 5th century have produced vague and contradicting results. The conflicts with the Bishop of Arezzo are documented , when in the first years of the 8th century there was a dispute over the affiliation of some Pieven in the area of the Crete Senesi . Under the Lombards the city government was in the hands of a Gastaldo , under the Carolingians a count, whose authority gradually passed to a bishop, in the course of events similar to those in other Italian cities, whose power in turn gradually diminished and through that of the Consuls was replaced.
There are written records of a consular government in Siena from 1125 to 1212; the number of consuls ranged from three to twelve. This government of gentiluomini, or nobles, did not remain unchanged throughout the period, but was gradually forced to involve the popolani or lower classes, whose efforts to rise to power were steady and focused. In 1137 they received a third part of the government through the restoration of a general council of 100 nobles and 50 popolani. In the same year the fortress of Staggia Senese fell into the Senese sphere of influence. Due to the location on the Via Francigena and the associated increase in population, the city walls of Siena were expanded from the city, which was then only on the Terzo di Città hill , to today's Porta Camollia from the middle of the 12th century . In 1199, the establishment of a foreign podestà (a form of government that became permanent in 1212) dealt a severe blow to the consular office and soon wiped it out. In 1233 the people rose again against the nobles in the hope of completely ousting them from office.
The dispute was essentially of an economic nature, as the people wanted to abolish the tax exemption of the nobility. The attempt was not entirely successful, but the government was now divided equally between the estates through the formation of a supreme magistrate made up of 24 guarantors, 12 nobles and 12 popolani. During the rule of the nobles and the mixed rule of nobles and popolani, the municipality of Siena was enlarged through the fortunate appropriations of land in the neighborhood and the subjugation of feudal lords such as Scialenghi, Aldobrandeschi, Pannocchieschi, Visconti di Campiglia d'Orcia, etc.
Increased military activities began at the beginning of the 13th century. First, Monteriggioni was built by the Podestà Guelfo da Porcari between 1213 and 1219 as a defensive base on the border with Florence, in 1221 places of the Aldobrandeschi in the Maremma were conquered, Grosseto was taken in 1224. The city walls of Montefollonico as a strategic point in the border defense with Montepulciano were reinforced in 1234.
Conflict with Florence
It did not take long before the mutual need for new territory and border disputes, particularly with Poggibonsi and Montepulciano , led to an outbreak of hostilities between Florence and Siena. Thereupon the Sienese sided with the Ghibelline side in order to annoy the rival republic, and the German emperors, starting with Friedrich Barbarossa , rewarded their loyalty with various privileges (right of coinage, jurisdiction, permission to elect consul).
Throughout the 12th and 13th centuries there was sustained unrest, minor wars and quick reconciliations between Florence and Siena until a more binding peace and alliance was made in 1254–1255. But this treaty, despite its apparent stability, led to a more violent dispute within a few years. In 1258, the Florentines complained that Siena had violated the conditions by giving refuge to Ghibellines, who had banished Florence. When the Sienese refused to give in to these protests, both states embarked on extensive war preparations.
Siena turned to Manfred , received from him a strong group of German horsemen under the command of Conte Giordano , and also asked his Ghibelline allies for help. Florence equipped a powerful civil army, whose original registers are still preserved in the volume Il libro di Montaperti in the Florentine archives. The army, led by the Podestà of Florence and twelve Capitani, set out on the march into enemy territories optimistically in April 1260 and won an insignificant victory on May 18 at Santa Petronilla outside the northern city walls of Siena. But in a second and more important campaign, in which the militias of other Guelfi cities of Tuscany took part, the Florentines were decisively defeated on September 4, 1260 at Montaperti .
This defeat broke the power of Florence for many years and apparently wiped out the Florentine Guelphs. But the Battle of Benevento (1266) and the establishment of the dynasty of Charles of Anjou on the Neapolitan throne put an end to the Ghibelline supremacy in Tuscany. Ghibelline Siena soon felt the effects of these changes in the defeat of its army at Colle di Val d'Elsa (1269) against the combined forces of the Guelfan exiles, Florentines and French, and in the death of its powerful citizen Provenzano Salvani (mentioned by Dante) in that battle that had been the leading spirit of government at the time of the victory of Montaperti.
Domestic political changes (1269-1355)
For some time, Siena remained true to the Ghibelline cause. Nevertheless, Guelfi and democratic views began to break out. The Ghibellines were driven from the city on several occasions, and even when a temporary reconciliation between the two parties allowed them to return, they did not regain their former influence.
In the meantime, the popular party had increasingly acquired power in the state. Beside herself about the tyranny of the Salimbeni and other patrician families allied with the Ghibellines, she decided in 1277 to expel all nobles from the supreme magistrate (which in 1270 consisted of 64 instead of 24 members) and insisted that this council consist solely of Guelf merchants and men the middle class should be formed. This constitution was reaffirmed in 1280 by reducing the supreme magistrate to 15 members, all of whom came from lower classes, and was finally sanctioned in 1285 (and 1287) by the establishment of the magistrate of nine.
This council of nine, made up of all citizens, led the government for some seventy years, and its rule was wise and peaceful. The state's territories were enlarged; a friendly alliance with Florence was cultivated; trade flourished. The area for the Senese port in Talamone was acquired in 1303 and the port was expanded. The University of Siena was founded in 1321 , or rather revived by the introduction of scholars from Bologna , the official founding year of the university is now given as 1240; the main buildings that now adorn the city were begun; and the charitable institutions thrived.
Since 1327 the condottiere Guidoriccio da Fogliano was in the service of the city. Under his leadership, conflicts with the Republic of Pisa and the Aldobrandeschi in the Maremma took place . In 1328 he conquered Montemassi against Castruccio Castracani after seven months of siege . This was the reason for the Senese government to commission Simone Martini to create the fresco Guidoriccio da Fogliano all'assedio di Montemassi (Guidoriccio da Fogliano during the siege of Montemassi), which can be found in the room of the maps (Sala del Mappamondo) in the town hall of Siena is located.
The Council of Twelve (1355-1368)
But in the meantime the exclusivity of a single bourgeois class, from whose ranks the main magistrate was recruited, had transformed the government into a closed oligarchy and fueled the hatred of all other classes. Nobles, judges, notaries and the common people rose up in frequent revolts, while the Nine defended their state through a strong citizen militia (1295-1309), which was divided into terzieri (sections) and contrade (districts within the city walls) and these attempts forcibly suppressed. But in 1355 the arrival of Charles IV in Siena gave the rebels new courage. With the support of the imperial authority, they overthrew the government of the nine and established a magistrate of the twelve from the lowest class. These new rulers were, to some extent, influenced by the nobles who had fueled the rebellion, but the latter were again soon excluded from any participation in government.
This was the beginning of a determined struggle for supremacy which for many years was fought between the different classes of the bourgeoisie called ordini or monti . The lower classes sought the reins of power, while the higher classes in office sought to keep all power in their own hands or to divide it up in proportion to the relative strength of each monte. Since this battle is too complex to describe in detail, we must limit ourselves to a summary of the most important episodes.
The Twelve who had replaced the Council of Nine (just as they had previously replaced the Council of Nobles) were both individuals and parties of ignorant, incompetent, stormy men who rule neither the state nor the republic with a firm hand could lead to prosperity. They quickly broke with the nobility, for whose maneuvers they had initially been useful tools, and then split into two parties, one on the side of the Tolomei, the more violent other on the side of the Salimbeni and the Noveschi (followers of the Nine), which always still had influence in the city and probably fueled this disagreement, and, as we shall see later, took advantage of any opportunity that might bring them back to power.
In 1359 the war with Perugia could be ended. In the peace negotiations it was agreed that Montepulciano belonged to the area of Perugia and that Siena was allowed to rule over Cortona .
New upheavals (1368-1369)
In 1368 the opponents of the twelve succeeded in forcibly driving them out of the Palazzo Pubblico and replacing them with a government of 13 nobles and 3 Noveschi. This government lasted only 22 days from September 2nd to September 24th and was easily overthrown by the dominant party of the Dodicini (followers of the Twelve), supported by the Salimbeni and the mob and favored by Emperor Charles IV . The nobles were overwhelmed and driven both from the city and from power; but the absolute rule of the twelve was brought to an end, and the right to participate in government was extended to a wider bourgeois class. After the expulsion of three thirteen from the palace, a council of 124 plebeians formed a new magistrate of twelve difensori (defenders), consisting of 5 members of the popolo minuto or the lowest people (who were now admitted to the government for the first time), 4 members the Dodicini and 3 members from the Noveschi. However, it was short-lived, for the Dodicini were not satisfied with their share, and in December of that year (1368) they teamed up with the popolo minuto to throw the three Noveschi out of the palace.
But the new class, which had already asserted its predominance in the council of riformatori, now ousted the Dodicini and kept the government in its own hands for five days (December 11-16). Fearing the emperor, who had passed through Siena on his way to Rome two months earlier and was supposed to stop there on his return journey, he tried to appease his enemies by founding a new council of 150 riformatori. This replaced the 12 difensori with a new 15-member supreme council, which consisted of 8 Popolani, 4 Dodicini and 3 Noveschi. The formation of a new class, the monte dei riformatori , dates from this renewal ; this title was then bestowed on all citizens who had reformed the government and participated in it since 1368.
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The tumultuous struggle of the Twelve and the Salimbeni, dissatisfied with these changes, quickly turned against the new government. This time Charles IV actively helped them; after returning from Rome, he sent his militia, commanded by the imperial vicar Malatesta da Rima , to attack the Palazzo Pubblico. But the Sienese people, called to arms by the Council of Fifteen, resisted resolutely, routed the imperial troops, captured the banner and imprisoned the emperor in the Salimbeni palace. Thereupon Karl reached an agreement with the government, granted it an imperial patent and left the city, consoled for his humiliation by the donation of a large sum of money.
Despite its broad base and great energy, the monte dei riformatori , the heart of the new government, did not manage to deal satisfactorily with attacks from opposing parties and treacherous allies. In order to get a better grip on them, in 1369 he created a police chief with the title esecutore and a numerous association from Popolani - the casata grande of the people as a bulwark against the nobles who had been called back from exile, and who now, albeit now shackled by strict regulations, eligible for election to state offices.
But the appetite of the common people for power was stimulated rather than satisfied by the establishment of the riformatori in the chief posts of power. Among the lowest-class wool chamberlains who lived in the sloping streets around Porta Ovile there was an organization that called itself the Society of the Worm. During the famine of 1371 this society rose up in revolt, looted the houses of the rich, stormed the Palazzo Pubblico, expelled the 4 members of the Dodicini and the 3 members of the Noveschi from the Council of Fifteen. When they had retired to their quarters, they were suddenly attacked by angry citizens (Noveschi and Dodicini) who broke into houses and workshops and killed many residents regardless of age or gender. The popular roofers then avenged these misdeeds with many executions in the piazza. This turmoil was only slowed down by new changes in the Council of Fifteen. It was now formed from 12 from the larger people and 3 Noveschi. The dodicini were banished from the city.
Riformatori period (1369-1385)
Meanwhile, the government also faced difficulties outside the city walls. The neighboring lords raided and plundered the city's territories; Serious injuries were inflicted by the trader groups, particularly the Betrons and Gascons. The rival claims of Carlo di Durazzo and Louis of Anjou to the Neapolitan kingdom caused renewed unrest in Tuscany. The Sienese government hoped to take possession of the city of Arezzo , which was occupied first by Durazzo's people and then by Enguerrand VII de Coucy for Louis of Anjou. But while the Sienese were still dreaming of the conquest, the French general surprisingly sold the city to the Florentines, whose negotiations had been conducted with admirable skill (1384).
The emerging anger of the Sienese, especially the middle class, against their rulers was culminated by this bitter disappointment. Their dissatisfaction had gradually grown with various domestic and foreign policy decisions during the riformatori's sixteen-year rule, and the concessions to the supporters of the twelve and their re-election to office had not helped to reconcile them. Eventually the revolt broke out and gained the upper hand in March 1385. The riformatori were excluded from power and banished from the city.
Siena's trade suffered considerable damage from the exile of so many artisan families. The fifteen were replaced by a new supreme magistrate composed of 10 priors, elected in the following proportions: 4 from the Dodicini, 4 from the Noveschi and 2 from the common people. All those who had participated in the government or sat among the riformatori in the council were excluded. So began a new estate or monte del popolo , consisting of families of the same class as the riformatori, but who had not previously been involved in the government. However, they enjoyed very limited privileges.
Visconti and Florence (1385–1409)
In 1387 another dispute with Florence over Montepulciano led to an open war, which was exacerbated by the interference of the ambitious Duke of Milan Gian Galeazzo Visconti in Tuscan affairs. The Sienese formed an alliance with him in 1389, accepted his hegemony ten years later and gave up the freedoms of their state. But in 1402 the death of Gian Galeazzo eased their yoke. In that year the first plot against the rule of the Visconti , hatched by the Dodicini and the Salimbeni and fomented by the Florentines, was violently suppressed and led to the ousting of the Dodicini from office; but in the following year, a balia created as a result of the uprisings overturned the duke's supremacy and restored the city's freedoms.
During this period the Supreme Magistrate had taken on a more popular form. Due to the partial re-admission of the riformatori and the exclusion of the dodicini, the permanent balia was now composed of 9 priors (3 from the Noveschi, 3 from the people and 3 from the riformatori) and a captain of the people, who alternately from each of the three monti was chosen. Peace was made with the Florentines on April 11, 1403, and Siena enjoyed several years of peaceful prosperity.
Confrontation with Naples and the papacy (1409–1452)
But the great western schism that then stirred up the Christian world brought unrest to Siena again. As a consequence of the decisions of the Council of Pisa , Florence and Siena had opposed Gregory XII. explained (1409). As a supporter of the Pope, Ladislaus of Naples therefore took the opportunity to carry out raids on the territory of Siena, devastating it and threatening the city. The Sienese resisted bitterly until the death of this monarch in 1414 freed them from the attacks.
Another war with Florence broke out in 1431, caused by the Florentine efforts at Lucca and continued as a result of the Florentine alliance with Venice and Pope Eugene IV and the Sienese alliance with the Duke of Milan and the Roman King Sigismund . This monarch stopped in Siena on his way to Rome for his coronation and received an extremely princely welcome.
In 1433 the opposing alliances signed a peace treaty, and although it was detrimental to the Sienese and they were often tempted to break it, they remained faithful to its terms. During this comparatively quiet period, Siena was visited by Pope Eugene IV (1433) and Emperor Frederick III. honored. There the emperor received his bride Eleanor of Portugal from the hands of Bishop Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini , his secretary and historian (1452). This meeting is recorded on the monument column that can be seen outside the Camollia Gate.
1452-1480
Hostilities against Florence resumed in 1452 in response to invasions and devastation on Sienese territory committed by Florentine troops in their conflicts with Alfonso of Naples . In 1447 he made Tuscany his battlefield. In 1454 peace was made with Florence again. Next, Siena was at war with Aldobrandino Orsini , Count of Pitigliano, and Jacopo Piccinini for several years and suffered many disasters due to betrayal by its generals. At about the same time the republic faced even more serious danger, for some of its leading citizens conspired to seize power and bring the city under the rule of Alfonso, as it had previously been under that of the Duke of Milan. But the plot came to light; their ringleaders were beheaded and many others were exiled (1456). Alfonso's death finally ended all dangers from this side.
During these critical times, the government of the state was strengthened by a new executive magistrate, named balia , which from 1455 acted independently of the priors or the consistory. Until then it had only been a provisional committee attached to the latter. But from now on the balia had supreme jurisdiction in all affairs of the state, although it always nominally retained the character of an extraordinary magistrate until the fall of the republic.
The election of Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, who took the name Pius II , to the papal seat in 1458 delighted the Sienese extremely. As a compliment to their celebrated fellow citizen, they complied with the nobles' request and allowed them to participate in government again. This reluctantly granted concession remained in force for only a few years, and after the Pope's death (1464) it was revoked, except for members of the House of Piccolomini, who were counted as Popolani and who were allowed to keep all their privileges. Meanwhile new disagreements were brewing among the plebeians at the forefront of affairs. The Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank was founded in 1472 and is now the oldest bank in the world still in existence.
The revolution of 1480 and its consequences
The Pazzi Conspiracy of 1478 led to a war in which Florence and Milan faced the Pope and King of Naples, and which ended with the peace of March 13, 1480. Thereupon Alfonso, Duke of Calabria , who had fought in Tuscany at the side of his father Ferdinand, came to an agreement with Siena. In the same way as his grandfather Alfonso, he tried to gain dominion over the city and the recall of the exiled rebels in 1456. The Noveschi (who included most of the rebels) favored his claims, but the Riformatori were against him.
Many of the people were on the side of the Noveschi, rose up in revolt on June 22nd, 1480 and, supported by the duke's soldiers, reorganized the government for their own benefit. They shared power between the two estates of the Noveschi and the Popolani and excluded the Riformatori. They were replaced by a new and heterogeneous class, called aggregati , which consisted of nobles, exiles from 1456 and citizens from other classes who had never been in office before.
But this violent and dangerous overthrow of the republic's internal freedoms did not last long. A decree by the Neapolitan king (1482) deprived Siena of certain territories in favor of Florence, which completely alienated them from this monarch. Meanwhile, the monte der Noveschi , the main supporter of the revolution of 1480, was exposed to the growing hatred and envy of its former ally, the monte del popolo , who was aware of its superior strength and numbers and now tried to destroy the Noveschi and take their place the power to kick.
This was accomplished through a series of revolts between June 7, 1482 and February 20, 1483. The monte del popolo took the lion's share of the government; the Riformatori were recalled, the aggregati abolished and the Noveschi sentenced to perpetual banishment from the government and the city. But in perpetuo was an empty phrase in those turbulent Italian republics. The Noveschi, with their powerful connections, skills and traditions, gained increasing influence in exile; and five years later, on July 22nd, 1487, they returned to Siena triumphantly, dispersing the few supporters of the popolo who resisted, murdering the captain of the people, reorganizing the state and placing him under the protection of the Virgin Mary. Since their own supremacy was assured by their numerical strength and influence, they gave the other monti an equal share of power.
Pandolfo Petrucci (1487–1512)
Among the returning exiles was Pandolfo Petrucci , leader of the Noveschi, who would soon head the government. During the domination of this man (who, like Lorenzo de Medici, was nicknamed il Magnifico ), Siena enjoyed many years of prosperity. Strictly speaking, Petrucci was never master of the state and left the established form of government intact; but he exercised despotic authority because of the strength of his character and the steady growth of his personal power. He based his foreign policy on the alliance with Florence and France and directed the internal affairs of the state through a council ( collegio ) of the Balia, which was occasionally reorganized to appease the rival parties, but which was always subordinate to his will.
Similarly, he gained power by assuming the captain's office (1495) and later by buying several remote castles from the depleted commune (1507). Nor did he shrink from murder and acts of revenge. The murder of his father-in-law Niccolò Borghesi (1500) is an indelible mark on his name. He resisted all opposition within the state until he was finally deposed in his fight with Cesare Borgia and expelled from Siena in 1502. The exile was lifted on March 29, 1503 through the friendly mediation of the Florentines and the French king. He retained power until his death at the age of sixty on May 21, 1512 and was buried at public expense with princely ceremonies in the Basilica dell'Osservanza . During his reign, the Bruna dam broke in 1492.
Petrucci's successor (1512-1524)
After his death, his family did not last long in Siena. Pandolfo did not have the qualities necessary to establish a dynasty like that of the Medici . He lacked the high intellect of a Cosimo or a Lorenzo, and the atmosphere of freedom-loving Siena with its ever-changing parties was in no way suited to his purpose. His eldest son, Borghese Petrucci, was incompetent, haughty, and utterly corrupt. He stayed at the top for only four years and fled disgracefully in 1516. In favor of Leo X , he was succeeded by his cousin Raffaele Petrucci , previously bishop of Grosseto, governor of Sant'Angelo and later cardinal.
This Petrucci was a bitter opponent of Pandolfo's children. He arranged for Borghese and a younger son named Fabio to be declared rebels, while a third son, Cardinal Alfonso, was strangled on July 16, 1517 by order of Leo X. He was a tyrannical ruler and died suddenly in 1522. The following year Clement VII insisted on the revocation of Fabio Petrucci, but two years later a renewed popular uprising drove him out of Siena forever. The city then placed itself under the protection of Emperor Charles V , created a magistrate of ten conservators of the freedoms of the state (December 1524) and united the various monti into one.
Under the reign of the emperor (1524–1552)
The so-called free government, which was subject to the empire, lasted 27 years. As early as 1526 she had to defend herself against a siege by the Fiorentines and Clement VII. The siege was ended by the military victory of the Senese in the so-called Battaglia di Camollia on July 25, 1526. Afterwards Baldassare Peruzzi was used as Architetto della Repubblica from 1527 to 1532 to expand the defenses of Siena and the associated province. The city walls were reinforced and five new bastions were built (Bastione di Porta Laterina, Bastione di San Marco, Bastione di San Prospero, Bastione San Viene and Fortino delle Donne), of which three still exist today. In addition, the fortresses in Sarteano and Torrita di Siena were expanded. The desired protection of Spain then weighed more and more until it became a tyranny. The imperial legates and captains of the Spanish guard in Siena crushed both the government and the people through constant blackmail and improper interference in the functions of the Balia. Charles V traveled through Siena in 1535 and, like in all other cities of enslaved Italy, was received with great pomp; but it brought neither peace nor freedom.
From 1527 to 1545, the city was torn by party fighting and violent revolts against the Noveschi and was a place of frequent bloodshed, while the contentiousness and bad government of the Sienese caused great discontent in Tuscany. The Balia was reinstated several times by imperial representatives, in 1530 by Don Lopez di Soria and Alfonso Piccolomini, Duke of Amalfi , in 1540 by Granvella (or Granvelie) and in 1548 by Don Diego Hurtado de Mendoza (1503-1575). But the government was as bad as before, and hatred of Spanish rule increased. When in 1549 Don Diego announced the intention of the emperor to build a fortress (citadel Cittadella imperiale ) in Siena to control the citizens, the general hatred erupted into indignant protests.
Historian Orlando Malavolti and other special envoys were sent to the emperor in 1550 with a petition signed by more than a thousand citizens asking him to spare them such a terrible danger. But their mission failed: they returned unheard. In the meantime Don Diego had laid the foundations of the citadel and was driving the project forward. As a result, certain Sienese citizens in Rome - led by Aeneas Piccolomini (a relative of Pius II ) - entered into negotiations with representatives of the French king, and after they had raised men and money with their help, they marched on Siena and forced themselves on 26th July 1552 the way through the new gate (the Porta Romana ). The townspeople, encouraged and reinforced by outside help, immediately rose to revolt, attacked the Spanish troops, disarmed them and drove them to seek refuge in the citadel (July 28). Finally, by agreement with Cosimo I de 'Medici , Duke of Florence, the Spaniards were sent away on August 5, 1552, and the Sienese took possession of their fortress.
Under French influence (1552–1555)
The government has now been reinstated under the protection of French officials. The Balia was abolished, as its name had become disreputable by the Spanish tyranny, and replaced by a similar magistrate called capitani del popolo e reggimento . Siena rejoiced at his regained freedom, but dark clouds soon gathered again. At first the emperor was enraged by the influence of France on the politics of the republic. Then Cosimo, who was no less jealous of the French, considered the plan to incorporate Siena into his own domain.
The first hostile actions of the imperial troops in the Val di Chiana (1552–1553) caused little damage. But when Cosimo entered the field with an army commanded by the Marquis of Marignano , the downfall of Siena was sealed. On January 26, 1554, Marignano captured the fortress of Porta Camollia (which had helped build the entire population of Siena, including women) and besieged the city. On August 2 of the same year, he achieved a complete victory over the Sienese and French troops in the Battle of Scannagallo , a moat south of Marciano della Chiana between Pozzo della Chiana and Santa Luce (now part of Foiano della Chiana ) in the Val di Chiana Piero Strozzi , the Florentine exile and Marshal of France .
also known as the Battle of Marciano ( La Battaglia di Marciano della Chiana )
Meanwhile, Siena was strongly besieged. A glorious account of the suffering of the population can be found in the diary of the Sienese historian Sozzini and in the comments of Blaise de Monluc , the French representative in Siena. On April 17, 1555, the city was forced to surrender to the Florentine imperial army due to food shortages due to a siege lasting several months. On April 21, the Emperor's Spanish troops stepped through the gates. As a result, many patriots gave up the city, took refuge in Montalcino and cultivated a shadowy form of a republic there until the peace of Cateau-Cambrésis in 1559.
Siena as part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany
Cosimo I de 'Medici was enfeoffed with the state of Siena by a patent dated July 3, 1557 from Philip II of Spain and formally took possession of the city on the 19th of the same month. A lieutenant general was appointed to represent his authority; the Council of Balia was re-established with twenty members elected by the duke. The consistory and the general council remained in place, but were deprived of their political autonomy. In this way, Siena was annexed to the Florentine State and became an integral part of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Still, it kept a separate administration for more than two centuries until the general reforms of Grand Duke Pietro Leopoldo, French rule, and finally the Restoration swept away any differences between the Sienese and Florentine systems of government. In 1560 Cosimo commissioned Baldassare Lanci to build a new fortress near the destroyed citadel, now called Fortezza di Santa Barbara and Fortezza Medicea .
On May 26th, 1798, Siena was hit by an earthquake . The greatest damage was caused to the Basilica di San Domenico , whose campanile and roof collapsed. The Basilica di San Clemente in Santa Maria dei Servi was also badly damaged. The 8.5 magnitude quake on the Mercalli scale also damaged the Chiesa di San Cristoforo and the Teatro dei Rinnovati in the Palazzo Pubblico . The troops of Napoleon Bonaparte occupied the city on 29 March 1799 and stayed until the 1814th
From the 19th century
The railway line to Empoli was inaugurated in 1849, and the connection to Chiusi was added in 1862 . The line to Grosseto was built in the early 1870s. The station was at that time as head station just outside the Barriera di San Lorenzo . Today's through station was inaugurated on November 25, 1935. In 1859 Siena was the first Tuscan city to vote for incorporation into Piedmont and the Victor Emmanuel II monarchy . This decision of June 17th was the first step towards the unification of Italy. From 1858 to 1868 the Piazza del Campo was redesigned. The sculptor Tito Sarrocchi replaces the figures of Jacopo della Quercia , created between 1409 and 1419, at the Fonte Gaia fountain . The fountain was moved 9.60 meters to the west and 1.60 meters to the south and is now centrally located on the piazza in front of the Palazzo Casino dei Nobili . The old figures of Jacopo della Quercia are now in the room called Fienile in the Museum of Santa Maria della Scala , where, in addition to the original figures , the plaster casts for the design of the copies of Sarrocchi are exhibited. From 1895 the aqueduct Acquedotto del Vivo (also Acquedotto di Siena ) was built for the modern water supply , which was inaugurated in 1914.
During the Second World War , Siena suffered relatively little damage. The Basilica dell'Osservanza , lying outside, was almost completely destroyed in a bomb attack by the armed forces of the United States on January 23, 1944, with the exception of the facade and a few side walls, later (1945 to 1949) using the stones that had not been destroyed, it was almost true to the original rebuilt. In the 1960s, the first restricted traffic area in Italy was created within the city walls in Siena. The new hospital outside the city walls, called Policlinico Santa Maria le Scotte , which replaced that of Santa Maria della Scala, started operating in the 1980s and Santa Maria della Scala was converted into a museum complex.
literature
- Mario Aschieri: Storia di Siena. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri. Edizioni Biblioteca dell'Immagine, Pordenone 2013, ISBN 978-88-6391-138-1
- William M. Bowsky: A Medieval Italian Commune: Siena under the Nine, 1287-1355. University of California Press, Berkeley / London 1981.
- Langton Douglas: A History of Siena. Betti Editrice, Siena 2000 (Org. London 1902), ISBN 88-86417-61-6
- Emanuele Repetti: SIENA (SENAE, anticamente SAENA) nella Val-d-Arbia. In Dizionario Geografico Fisico Storico della Toscana (1833–1846), online edition of the University of Siena (pdf, ital.)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Langton Douglas: A History of Siena. P. 6 f.
- ↑ a b c d e Enciclopedia Italiana
- ↑ Ettore Pellegrini: Fortificare con arte. Mura, porte e fortezze di Siena nella Storia. Betti Editrice, Siena 2012, ISBN 978-88-7576-228-5 , p. 31 ff.
- ↑ Roberta Mucciarelli: I Tolomei. Banchieri di Siena. Protagon Editori, Siena 1995, ISBN 88-8024-012-9 , p. 241 f.
- ^ Mario Aschieri: Storia di Siena. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri. P. 249 and 87
- ↑ Paolo Golinelli: FOGLIANO (de Foliano) Guidoriccio there. In: Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani , accessed on January 27, 2014 (Italian)
- ^ Langton Douglas: A History of Siena. P. 212 f.
- ^ Fausto Landi: Gli ultimi anni della Repubblica di Siena 1525–1555. Edizioni Cantagalli, Siena 1994, p. 11 ff.
- ↑ Ettore Pellegrini: Fortificare con arte. Mura, porte e fortezze di Siena nella Storia. Betti Editrice, Siena 2012, ISBN 978-88-7576-228-5 , pp. 132 ff.
- ↑ Hurtado de Mendoza, Diego at Enciclopedie on line Treccani , accessed on January 28, 2014 (ital.)
- ^ Ettore Pellegrini: La caduta della Repubblica di Siena. Part II: la guerra. nuova immagine editrice, Siena 2007, ISBN 88-7145-248-8 , p. 138
- ^ Website of the Institute and Museum of the History of Science of the Museo Galileo in Florence for the Fortezza Medicea di Siena, accessed on January 26, 2014 (ital.)
- ↑ Marina Gennari: La orribil scossa della vigilia di Pentecoste. Siena e il terremoto del 26 maggio 1798. In: Rivista Accademica n. 8 - Accademia dei Rozzi , online version ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed on January 29, 2014 (Italian, pdf)
- ^ Mario Aschieri: Storia di Siena. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri. P. 197
- ^ Mario Aschieri: Storia di Siena. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri. P. 197 ff.
- ^ Mario Aschieri: Storia di Siena. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri. P. 207
- ↑ Zeffiro Ciuffoletti, Maurizio Degl'Innocenti: La città nostra. Siena dal Risorgimento all'Unità. Protagon Editori, Siena 2011, ISBN 978-88-8024-318-2 , p. 170 ff.
- ^ Stefano Maggi: Il piano regolatore di Siena del 1956. All origini della città fuori le mura. Protagon Editori, Siena 2011, ISBN 978-88-8024-309-0 , p. 28
- ↑ Zeffiro Ciuffoletti, Maurizio Degl'Innocenti: La città nostra. Siena dal Risorgimento all'Unità. Protagon Editori, Siena 2011, ISBN 978-88-8024-318-2 , p. 122
- ↑ Official website of Santa Maria della Scala zum Fienile, with illus. ( Memento of the original from May 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed January 29, 2014
- ^ Mario Aschieri: Storia di Siena. Dalle origini ai giorni nostri. P. 233
- ↑ Santa Maria: il corso del tempo, Frammenti di memorie e istantanee del presente. (pdf; 22.5 MB) (No longer available online.) Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Senese, Santa Maria alle Scotte, December 2006, archived from the original on February 22, 2014 ; accessed on January 29, 2014 (Italian). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
