November, 1494: Politics in Motion in the Streets of Florence

Abstract

Abstract The spectacular entry of Charles VIII into Florence in 1494 initiated a series of political negotiations and maneuvers in which the French monarch, the local government, and the embattled Medici family vied for control over the city. With the threat of violence so present and reliable information so scarce, Florentines had to perform subtle interpretations of the movements of these actors in order to determine what was happening to their city. These eye-witness accounts reveal that the most elaborately staged ritual and the most improvised single gesture were part of a moving tableau whose meaning was contingent on understanding the relationship between the paths taken, the places visited, and the manner in which the protagonists moved through the city. As a result, we can learn how early modern cities were constituted by the ceaseless exchanges between the ephemeral movements of communities and the solidity of the built environment.