Last updated The Medici palle on their coat-of-arms at the Villa Medici, Rome
The palleschi, also known as bigi, were partisans of the Medici family in Florence. The name derived by the Medici coat-of-arms, bearing six 'balls' (palle).
Massimo D'Azeglio, Italian writer and historian, in his Niccolò de' Lapi, or the Palleschi and the Piagnoni (1866), wrote explicitly: "the part of the citizens which improved their reputation and got rich under the Medici.... was called pallesca".[1]
On April 26, 1478, at the end of the so-called Pazzi conspiracy which resulted the death of Giuliano de' Medici (brother of Lorenzo, who was himself seriously wounded), the people of Florence responded to the cry "Freedom, Freedom!" by the conspirator Jacopo de' Pazzi with "Palle, palle!", in a clear reference to the Medici coat-of-arms and, more broadly, to their partisans the palleschi. Aldo Arcangeli, in his book The Strozzavolpe Castle writes that the conspirator Jacopo Bracciolini, secretary of Girolamo Riario, 'was hung by the Palleschi because of the Pazzi conspiracy" (Arcangeli, 1960).
The substantial equivalence between Palleschi and Medici partisans is confirmed by the letter written by the Florentine philosopher, writer and politician Niccolò Machiavelli "Il ricordo ai Palleschi del 1512" , a plea to the Palleschi, returned in Florence after twenty years of exile, in favor of the Gonfaloniere Piero Soderini "exiled by the government of the Florence Republic" (Vivanti, 1997).
Likewise, the rivalry between the Palleschi, partisans of the Medici family, and the Piagnoni ("Weepers"), followers of Girolamo Savonarola, developed into conflict. Massimo D'Azeglio in Niccolò de' Lapi says that "the parts of Piagnoni and Palleschi, rivals for old rancors and new insults, kept the city divided' (D'Azeglio, 1866).
After the death of Savonarola, the interests of the Palleschi came to be differentiated from purely Medici interests, as testified by the Storia Fiorentina of Benedetto Varchi (Firenze 1503–1565) in relation to the opposition of the Palleschi against the Medici Pope Clement VII (Varchi, 1857).
The fortunes of the Palleschi were nevertheless strictly connected to the Medici. For example, during the siege of Florence by Charles V when the Florentine government hardly repressed "the enemies within the walls", references the Palleschi who stayed in the city (Bertelli, 1986)
Many of them preferred the exile to Venice, Bologna or Rome so as to avoid being arrested or falling victim to the violence described by D'Azeglio in "Niccolò de' Lapi" (D'Azeglio, 1866)
F. Serafino Montorio, "Lo Zodiaco di Maria", Napoli 1715
Benedetto Varchi, "Storia Fiorentina", Felice Le Monnier, Firenze 1857
Massimo D'Azeglio, "Niccolò de' Lapi, ovvero, i Palleschi e i Piagnoni", Felice Le Monnier, Firenze 1866
Sergio Bertelli, Franco Cardini, Elvira Galbero Zorzi, "Le Corti Italiane del Rinascimento", Mondadori 1986
Aldo Arcangeli, "Il castello di Strozzavolpe", Ed. Nencini, Poggibonsi 1960.
"Niccolò Machiavelli - Opere - volume I", a cura di Corrado Vivanti, Einaudi-Gallimard, Torino 1997
Related Research Articles
Florence is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici was an Italian statesman, banker, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo the Magnificent by contemporary Florentines, he was a magnate, diplomat, politician and patron of scholars, artists, and poets. As a patron, he is best known for his sponsorship of artists such as Botticelli and Michelangelo. He held the balance of power within the Italic League, an alliance of states that stabilized political conditions on the Italian peninsula for decades, and his life coincided with the mature phase of the Italian Renaissance and the Golden Age of Florence. On the foreign policy front, Lorenzo manifested a clear plan to stem the territorial ambitions of Pope Sixtus IV, in the name of the balance of the Italian League of 1454. For these reasons, Lorenzo was the subject of the Pazzi conspiracy (1478), in which his brother Giuliano was assassinated. The Peace of Lodi of 1454 that he supported among the various Italian states collapsed with his death. He is buried in the Medici Chapel in Florence.
Cosimo I de' Medici was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death.
The Republic of Florence, known officially as the Florentine Republic, was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany, Italy. The republic originated in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon the death of Matilda of Tuscany, who controlled vast territories that included Florence. The Florentines formed a commune in her successors' place. The republic was ruled by a council known as the Signoria of Florence. The signoria was chosen by the gonfaloniere, who was elected every two months by Florentine guild members.
The Pazzi conspiracy was a plot by members of the Pazzi family and others to displace the Medici family as rulers of Renaissance Florence.
Francesco Guicciardini was an Italian historian and statesman. A friend and critic of Niccolò Machiavelli, he is considered one of the major political writers of the Italian Renaissance. In his masterpiece, The History of Italy, Guicciardini paved the way for a new style in historiography with his use of government sources to support arguments and the realistic analysis of the people and events of his time.
Piero di Tommaso Soderini also known as Pier Soderini, was an Italian statesman of the Republic of Florence.
Benedetto Varchi was an Italian humanist, historian, and poet.
Luca Pitti (1398–1472) was a Florentine banker during the period of the republic presided over by Cosimo de' Medici. He was awarded a knighthood, and received lavish presents from both the Signory of Firenze and the Medici family as a reward for helping maintain the government during the last years of Cosimo's rule when Cosimo was too old and feeble to maintain power alone.
Fabrizio Maramaldo was an Italian Condottiero.
Gonfaloniere of Justice was a post in the government of medieval and early Renaissance Florence. Like Florence's Priori, it was introduced in 1293 when Giano Della Bella's Ordinances of Justice came into force.
This timeline lists important events relevant to the life of the Italian diplomat, writer and political philosopher Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469–1527).
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Florence, Tuscany, Italy.
The Valori family belonged to Florence during a period of the Italian Renaissance, they were prominent in Florentine politics for five generations.
Bianca de' Medici was a member of the de' Medici family, de facto rulers of Florence in the late 15th century. She was the daughter of Piero di Cosimo de' Medici, de facto ruler of the Florentine Republic, and sister of Lorenzo de' Medici, who succeeded his father in that position. She married Guglielmo de' Pazzi, a member of the Pazzi family. She was a musician, and played the organ for Pope Pius II and the future Pope Alexander VI in 1460; she was a landowner.
43°45′46.95″N11°15′23.48″E
The Statue of Dante Alighieri is a monument to Dante Alighieri in Piazza Santa Croce, outside the Basilica of Santa Croce, in Florence, Italy. Erected in 1865, it is the work of the sculptor Enrico Pazzi.
Medici is a historical drama television series created by Frank Spotnitz and Nicholas Meyer. The series was produced by Italian companies Lux Vide and Rai Fiction, in collaboration with Frank Spotnitz's Big Light Productions.
The Stinche Prison was a prison on Via Ghibellina in the city of Florence, Italy. It stood more or less on the site now occupied by the Teatro Verdi.
Guglielmo di Antonio de' Pazzi, Lord of Civitella was an Italian nobleman, banker and politician, husband of Bianca de' Medici, sister of the Lord of Florence Lorenzo the Magnificent.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
