Firenze al tempo di Semifonte

Between 1198 and 1202, Semifonte, a pugnacious little town recently founded on the hills of the Val d’Elsa, was a thorn in the side of the powerful city of Florence – how was this possible? This paper demonstrates that the Florentine society of that era was deeply divided – on one side the ancient aristocracy of the milites, and on the other a new elite – noveaux riches from the artes eager to share in their power. Several clues also indicate another fracture within the group of the milites. In fact, between the 1196 and 1197 one faction of aristocrats (that led by the Visdomini and Tosinghi) prevailed over the other (headed by Caponsacchi). It appears that the conflict between the two groups involved a series of betrayals – the Caponsacchi faction maintained an ambiguous position during the war, perhaps secretly supporting Semifonte, while the Visdomini/Tosinghi faction came to the fore, opening the city government to the new social groups (the urban artisans, the artes). These actions played a part in fragmenting the compact brotherhood of the militia, and perhaps these ‘betrayals’ contributed to the reinforcement of Semifonte’s position.