The Construction of Political Authority in the Governing Councils of the Florentine Republic (1494-1502)

The institutional changes in November-December 1494 upset the balance of power in Florence. After several years of hard struggle between the oligarchy and the middle classes, a modus vivendi is stated, based on a separation between the places where politics is considerated and the places where it is implemented. The election of Piero Soderini to the gonfalonierato for life, November 9, 1502, formalizes this new dichotomy between the centers of power and the heart of the political authority, opening onto a structural imbalance which is a major cause of the fall of the regime in 1512.