Week 13
The Medici were Florentines. And in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries they became the most important family in Florence. Then in the disastrous year of 1494, they were run out of Florence and spent years in exile as guests of their various Italian aristocratic friends. In 1513, Giovanni de'Medici was elected Pope Leo X, and with this sudden elevation to power, the Medici now became one of the great families of Italy again.
REQUIRED READING: This week, Chapter XIV, "Lorenzo de' Medici"
RECOMMENDED READING:
J. R. Hale, The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance. This study of the whole Renaissance period in all of Europe was the final masterpiece of one of the greatest historians of the Early Modern period. John Hale was working on this book when he suffered a debilitating stroke. But his wife, Sheila Hale, and other scholars finished the book for publication and we are all enriched by its availability. It is in print, but you might also look at used copies of the original quality paperback. This book will serve us for the whole year-long course. It is especially useful for Winter and Spring Quarters.
The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance,
Scribner, Reprint edition (June 1, 1995),
ISBN 0684803526
