While the Ciompi were clashing with the Grassi, Archbishop Giovanni Visconti’s nephew, Bernabò Visconti (who had allied himself by marriage to Mastino II della Scala of Verona), was constructing a powerful base in Central Italy by conquering papal territory on the Tuscan border.
The Guelph elite might have regained power permanently had the various families been able to work together in harmony, but the Donati, Adimari, and Tosinghi were constantly at odds.
Florence had always been close to Rome, and her relationship with the Papacy would be encouraged by the war which broke out between Florence and Ghibelline Pisa and then with Ghibelline Siena.
Children are often asked by adults, especially by those who have made a stinking mess of their own lives, what they want to be when they grow up. Mercifully, before the child is able too speak for himself, there are parents on hand to answer the question. I always say I want Vasily to become a painter.
I am going forward on the assumption that everyone has received his copy of Living Lanugage.
What we do know is the Florence was settled by Romans in the late Republic but was never as important as nearby Fiesole, much less Lucca or Pisa
The U.S. Supreme Court has handed down its ruling on partial – note, partial – presidential immunity. President Biden mumbled through a short speech – no questions, please, I have dementia – objecting to the case and insisting, “No one is above the law
Rex and Dr. Fleming look back on the foreign policy/natural security blunders that have defined the regime
Cyril Kornbluth was a popular science fiction writer of the 50’s and 60’s, and a frequent collaborator with the somewhat better known Frederick Pohl.
Machiavelli had to walk a thin and twisting line, balancing his love of republican liberty with the practical realities of an Italy engulfed in strife between the regional powers and the periodic invasions of Barbarians.
