The Republic of Siena (Italian: Repubblica di Siena) was a historic state consisting of the city of Siena and its surrounding territory in Tuscany, central Italy. It existed for over four hundred years, from 1125 to 1555.
«T
he greater part of Tuscany was subject to the Florentines. Lucca and Siena alone were governed by their own laws; Lucca was under the Guinigi; Siena was free».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book I, Chapter VII.
«
All this, however, was insufficient to relieve the people of Colle; for, having consumed their provisions, they were compelled to surrender on the thirteenth of November, to the great grief of the Florentines, and joy of the enemy, more especially of the Sienese, who, besides their habitual hatred of the Florentines, had a particular animosity against the people of Colle».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book VIII, Chapter IV.
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The Sienese, ever ready to suspect the Florentines, persuaded themselves that this outrage had been committed with their cognizance, and made heavy complaints to the pope».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book VII, Chapter VI.
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At the same time the enmity of the Venetians transpired by a treaty with the Sienese, and the expulsion of all Florentine subjects from their cities and territories».
Niccolò Machiavelli's History of Florence - Book VI, Chapter V.
TERRITORY
Siena possessed most of the southern Tuscany, in central Italy, including a coastline on the Tyrrhenian Sea. The land has no natural borders with Florence and Papal States, and could be subject to raids by foreign armies. In the south, the land of Grosseto is the Maremma, a marshy and unhealty land.
ECONOMY
Siena prospered as a city-state, becoming a major centre of money lending and an important player in the wool trade.
MONEY LENDING
The largest bank of the time, the Gran Tavola dei Bonsignori, went bankrupt in 1304 for the inability to reobtain the huge sums loaned to guelph politicians. Their collapse affected the Kings of England and France, and debts are still paid by the heirs. Since then, lesser banks have started their trade, but they will not have the same success.
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture constitutes Siena's primary trade. Wheat and wine are the most common products.
WOOL TRADE
As exports of English raw wool fell during XIV century, Florentine merchants sought either quality wool from Spain or cheap wool from Siena.
SALT TRADE (GROSSETO)
Salt was very important to Europe because it was hard to obtain in inland territory. Natural salines were highly sought, and salt trade was heavily taxed. Lending contracts of salines were a common way for states to obtain a fixed income from entrepreneurs.
MINING AND METALLURGY
Sienese territory has large quantities of mining areas. They are underdeveloped, as the mining outcrops are scarce and costly to extract. The main sites are on the aptly named Colline Metallifere ("Metal-bearing Hills"), nearby the boundary to Piombino and Pisa, exploited since Etruscan times. A second minerary location is on the southwest border, close to Mount Amiata, where cinnabar and marble are extracted.
POLITICS
In the 13th century, Siena was predominantly Ghibelline, in opposition to Florence's Guelph position. Siena was devastated by the Black Death of 1348, and also suffered from ill-fated financial enterprises.
In 1355, with the arrival of Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg in the city, the population rose and suppressed the government of the Nove (the Nine) that governed the city since then. Several short-lived collegial governments ensued, until in 1399 the Twelve Priors gave the city's lordship to Gian Galeazzo Visconti, the Duke of Milan, in order to defend it from Florentine expansionism.
Five years later, the House of Visconti was expelled in 1404, and a new government of Ten Priors was established, this time in alliance with Florence against King Ladislaus of Naples.
RELATIONS WITH FLORENCE
The best way to describe the relationship between Florence and Siena is that of "frenemies". Always politically at odds, Sienese economy live through commerce with Florence, providing them wool, marble, copper and other goods. It is no mistery that Florence would love to incorporate Siena; however, the Sienese republic would be a mouthful too big to swallow for them.
RELATIONS WITH PAPAL STATES
If relations with Florence are troublesome, those with the Papal States are even worse. In 1375 the Senese litoral was sacked by papal troops, who occupied the port of Talamone until 1378, when Siena bought back the land. The nearby papal lands are in the power of the Farnese and Orsini, families that can muster condottieri.
OTHER POWERS
In 1379 the Aragonese haggled a most-favoured nation contract for trade in Siena. The Angevine king of Naples raided the Sienese coast in 1410 with the help of the Genoese.
RELATIONS WITH NEARBY LORDSHIPS
The Aldobrandeschi had large fiefs south of Siena, between Grosseto and Orvieto. As the family vanished in lesser branches, they originated several small states that were either gobbled up by the Papal state or Siena. The only surviving independent lands are the County of Sovana, that of Santa Fiora and that of Pitigliano.
ARMY
The Sienese army was always a combination of mercenaries and homegrown forces, mainly militias. Siena mustered the Masse, that were militia troops from the Terzieri, the three town subdivision, and from the Contado, the subject countryland. In mid-XIV century Sienese land was ravaged by large German, English and Breton mercenary companies, but that did not stop the city to rely on them during wartime.
Sources inform us about a "citizen cavalry" and "Citizen infantry", with a strong accent on "crossbowmen from the Masse". Crossbowmen were entrusted with guardianship of the city.
SOURCES
William Caferro,
Mercenary Companies and the Decline of Siena, Johns Hopking University Press, 1998.
Luca Fusai,
La storia di Siena dalle origini al 1559, Volume 1, Siena, Il Leccio, 1987.
Langton Douglas,
Storia Politica e Sociale della Repubblica di Siena, Betti, 2000.
Mario Ascheri,
Antica Legislazione della Repubblica di Siena, Siena, Il Leccio, 1993.
[Modificato da Mylae 24/09/2018 19:04]
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