Church and Politics in Renaissance Italy
The Life and Career of Cardinal Francesco Soderini, 1453–1524
Church and Politics in Renaissance Italy
The Life and Career of Cardinal Francesco Soderini, 1453–1524
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Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521529358
Number of Pages: 332
Published: 05/09/2002
Width: 15.2 cm
Height: 22.9 cm
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.
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.
