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The Ponte Vecchio and the Buondelmonte murder

Ponte Vecchio, another famous landmark of Florence was, like much of 14th century Florence, theater of bitter conflict between the Guelphs and Ghibellines, and described by Dante in his Paradise. This is where to find the Tower of the Amidei, in which Buondelmonte was murdered by the Amidei after having broken his engagement with one of the family's female members.

The Amidei were a prominent family in Florence and Tuscany. They owned lands and a castle in Mugnana. The family business began as production of olive oil and wine, and had developed into banking. In fact there was one or more wills in which the father stated he was leaving some credits that had to be withdrawn. In 1182, Bongianni of the Amidei was a Florentine councillor. In the early thirteenth century, the Amidei were allied with the Ghibelline faction, led by the Uberti and Lamberti families. Their strongold was on via Por San Maria, which connected the Ponte Vecchio to the Mercato Nuovo and Mercato Vecchio. The remains of their tower, Torre degli Amidei, still be seen.

The Amidei are best remembered for a particular event during the Guelf and Ghibelline conflicts. In 1215, during a banquet celebrating the ennoblement of a young Florentine, one of the guests, Buondelmonte de' Buondelmonti, stabbed a rival in the arm. In restitution for the injury and dishonor, the elders decided that young Buondelmonte should wed a girl from the Amidei. That arranged, the Amidei and Buondelmonti families arranged a engagement ceremony, where Buondelmonte was to publicly pledge troth to the Amidei girl. With the Amidei assembled in the piazza, the young Buondelmonte man rode past the Amidei, and instead asked for the hand of a girl from the Donati family, members of the Guelf faction.

Furious, the Amidei and allies plotted revenge. They debated whether they should scar Buondelmonte's face, beat him up, or kill him. Mosca di Lamberti took the floor and argued that they should kill him at the place where he had dishonoured them. His famous words, 'cosa fatta capo ha', were recorded in Dante's Inferno and an earlier chronicle known as Pseudo-Latini. On Easter morning on his way to marry the Donati girl, as Buondelmonte crossed the Ponte Vecchio, he was waylaid by the Amidei and their allies, and murdered. The Buondelmonte murder and its associated clan rivalry became the legendary origin of the Guelf and Ghibelline conflict in Florence, but early 14th century chroniclers, including Dino Compagni and Giovanni Villani, manipulated the story to lay blame for the conflict on one group or another.[1]


The Battle of Montaperti

The Battle of Montaperti from an illustrated manuscript of Giovanni Villani's Nuova Cronica in the Vatican Library (ms. Chigiano L VIII 296 - Biblioteca Vaticana)

[1] The Chronicle of Dino Compagni: Translated by Else C. M. Benecke and A. G. Ferrers Howell, Publisher JM Dent and Co., Aldine House , London, 1906, pages 5-6. Legend of the Amidei family The Amidei family descended from the family of Cotius or Cozzi, who, always according to a legend, descended from the Gens Julia family, of which Julius Caesar was part. There was in fact Marcus Juulius Cotius who had an important role in the Cozius Alpes. The Amidei were related to the Piccolomini for a certain Giulius Piccolominis Amideis, and as soon as they knew that their relatives descended from the Gens Julia, they decided to call one of them Enea Silvio Piccolomini, who became pope Pius II, and his nephew became pope Pius III. Saint Amadeus One of the Amidei was called Bartholomeus Amadeus of the Amidei and was one of the seven saint founders of a religious congregation, very spread world wide, especially in Germany. He moved from Florence to Mount Senarius (18 km away from the city), with his other six friends, in order to be left alone and to concentrate himself on his devotion to God. He died 12 February 1266, and according to the legend, the other Father Founders saw a flame rising to the sky as a symbol of his love for God. In 1888 he, along with the other six saints, was sanctified by Pope Leo XIII. Coat of arms Their coat of arms consists in a gold shield with three red stripes on it. The stripes started with the red one and then alternated with the gold shield. After some years there was a slight modification; the shield started with the gold stripe and then always alternated with the red stripes. Sources Giovanni Villani, Nuova Cronica, ed. G. Porta. 6.38. Dante, Inferno, XXVIII. Pseudo-Latini, "Cronica", ed. O. von Hartwig in Altesten (Halle, 1880). Dino Compagni, Cronica, ed. I. del Lungo (Citta di Castello, 1913). Gordon, N.P.J. (2006). "The murder of Buondelmonte". Renaissance Studies 20 (4). [2] Giovanni Villani, Nuova Cronica, ed. G. Porta. 6.38.
Art in Tuscany \| Florence \| The Nuova Cronica Giovanni Villani: Florentine chronicle, translation by David Burr \| www.fordham.edu Giovanni Villani: La Nuova Cronica \| Un'opera emblematica della storiografia trecentesca \| www.cli.di.unipi.it The murder of Buondelmonte: contesting place in early fourteenth-century Florentine chronicles \| www. onlinelibrary.wiley.com 'In 1215 a young nobleman was murdered in a vendetta at the foot of the Ponte Vecchio. The tale captured the Florentine imagination and the place of his death was immortalised. In the first half of the fourteenth century, however, the tale undergoes a number of subtle changes in the chronicles of Pseudo-Latini, Dino Compagni, and Giovanni Villani. These changes altered the meanings of the story and, consequently, affected the values tied to the place where the story was set. In this respect, each version can be read as an attempt to attack or legitimize a civic identity associated with Buondelmonte and the entry to the old city where he was murdered.(...)
This article incorporates material from the Wikipedia article Amidei, published under the GNU Free Documentation License.

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The Tower of Buondelmonti The Tower of Buondelmonti is an ancient tower, located in Via delle Terme in Florence. Lowered in 1200 as most of the towers, the current look is very faithful to its original state. The Buondelmonti family had several towers in the area. Built in 1200, it was annexed in the adjacent family palace in the fifteenth century. Castello di Pergolato In the heart of the Chianti region, in San Casciano stands Castello Buondelmonti, set on a hillside overlooking the valley of the river Pesa. This extraordinary example of Tuscan medieval castle was built, on the foundations of a Roman Settlement, in the 10th Century by the Buondelmonti family, who ruled the surrounding area as the Imperial Visdomini. Later on they converted the Feudal Castle into a Renaissance Villa between the years 1450 and 1500. In this period the castle was the residence of Caterina Picchena wife of a member of the family Buondelmonti. She became famous for her turbulent love affairs of which the castle was the theatre and the witness. “Castrum Pergolato” is first mentioned in a document dated 1185 and is believed to have been built over the ruins of a Roman settlement by the Buondelmonti. Pergolato gave this powerful family, Lords of Bibbione and Fabbrica, control over the two banks of the river Pesa and over the Roman road. The castle’s Medieval structure, rising on a cliff and defended by a tall tower, is also from the 12th century. In 1520, as inscribed over one of the reception room doors, Alessandro di Lorenzo Buondelmonti transformed the Medieval fortress into a pleasant stately home. A harmonious Renaissance loggia overlooking the valley was added to the oldest part of the castle and its interior was decorated with pietra serena doors, lavabos and corbels, all bearing the Buondelmonti shield depicting a cross over three mountains. It was here, in Pergolato, that Saint John Gualbert’s brother, Ugone, was violently killed. It was during the hunt for his brother’s murderer that the Saint discovered his vocation which led him to found the Vallombrosian monastic order. Just above the castle lies the small Church of San Pietro, which dates back to the Romanesque period, but underwent a 19th century Restoration. The doorway bears the shield of the Buondelmonti, the church’s patrons. [Source: Castello di Pergolato in Chianti \| Discover Chianti \| www.discover-chianti.coml] Address: Via di Pergolato, San Casciano Val di Pesa