party of the hill – The Medici Podcast

Piero de’ Medici seems to be enjoying a smooth transition to power, but soon enough a rival political party takes shape on the high ground just across the river from the Palazzo de’ Medici. When legal measures fail to dislodge the Medici, the so-called “Party of the Hill” proves itself more than willing to resort to more drastic measures. Meanwhile we get a better look at Piero, the math professor of the Renaissance, and his wife Lucrezia, wife/mother/patron/businesswoman/writer.

The Palazzo Pitti, which was built by banker-politician Luca Pitti to rival the Palazzo de’ Medici which lied just across the River Arno. Since the palace sat on high ground, it inspired the name given to Luca’s anti-Medici political party, the Party of the Hill. Today, it houses the largest museum complex in Florence. Source: Ed Webster.

A portrait of Luca Pitti, date and painter unknown. Source: Kursk State Art Gallery, Kursk Oblast, Russian Federation.

A portrait of Lucrezia de’ Medici, née Tornabuoni, by Domenico Ghirlandaio (c. 1475). Source: National Gallery of Art, Washington DC.

A bust of Piero de’ Medici at the Bargello in Florence. Source: Yair Haklai.

Transcript

Something I didn’t really get into was that, while Cosimo was able to cling tightly to power since the general assembly he called under the steely gaze of armed troops, discontent had been simmering in the last years of his unofficial reign. Many of Cosimo’s top lieutenants who helped ensure the government would carry out his wishes, especially Agnolo Acciaiuoli, Luca Pitti, and Dietisalvi Neroni, all became increasingly critical of the Medici and their tactic of pre-selecting candidates for office, even though they did not dare do anything to act upon their criticisms or voice them too loudly.