Church and Politics in Renaissance Italy
This book examines the life of Cardinal Francesco Soderini (1453–1524) from a variety of perspectives and using a range of techniques. It analyses the relationship between Machiavelli, Piero and Francesco Soderini, and reinstates the crucial role played by Rome and contacts with Rome in late fifteenth-century and early sixteenth-century Florentine politics. Soderini's position as one of the chief powerbrokers of papal Rome, in opposition to the Medici, enables a reappraisal of political and ecclesiastical patronage and clientele systems. The cardinal also encouraged cultural, intellectual and building activities. Overall, through the book's collation of archival sources in and outside Italy, a new vision emerges of the lifestyle and activities of a learned and politically astute Italian cardinal.
- One of two books which launch the new series 'Cambridge Studies in Italian History and Culture'
- Presents a 'picture in the round' of one of the most influential church politicians of his time
- Covers many areas of interest, such as political and church life, intellectual history, art patronage, and collecting
Product details
September 2002Paperback
9780521529358
332 pages
229 × 152 × 23 mm
0.527kg
10 b/w illus. 2 tables
Available
Table of Contents
- List of illustrations
- Acknowledgements
- List of abbreviations
- Genealogical tables
- Introduction
- Part I. Preparation for Power: Soderini's Florentine Background and Early Career:
- 1. Soderini's early years
- 2. Soderini as a servant of the Florentine state
- Part II. The Cardinal as a Political Force, 1503–1513:
- 3. Soderini's elevation to the cardinalate
- 4. The Renaissance cardinalate and the concept of the political cardinal
- 5. A principal or a supporting role in Florentine politics?
- 6. Relations and rivalry between the Soderini and the Medici
- 7. The Soderini and the kings of France
- Part III. New Times and Challenging Circumstances, 1513–1524:
- 8. The fortunes of the Soderini and family strategy in relation to Florentine, the Medici and France, 1513–17
- 9. The 'conspiracy' of 1517
- 10. Soderini as a disaffected cardinal in exile, 1517–21
- 11. Soderini opposition to the Medici in Florence and Rome, 1521–3
- 12. The 'conspiracy' of 1523 and its aftermath
- 13. Soderini's last days
- Part IV. The Lifestyle of the Renaissance Cardinal:
- 14. Official duties in the curia: the conciliar, the ceremonial, the social
- 15. Soderini's ecclesiastical career: the accumulation and deployment of bishoprics and benefices
- 16. Palaces and other property
- 17. Private and personal possessions
- 18. Household and entourage
- 19. Financial resources: wealth, income, credit, loans and pawn
- 20. Intellectual life and the influence of humanism
- 21. In praise of Francesco Soderini: Battista Casali's funeral oration of 1524
- Excursus: the portraits of Piero and Francesco Soderini
- Bibliography
- Index.