War of the Eight Saints
Encyclopedia
The War of the Eight Saints (1375–1378) was a war between Pope Gregory XI
and a coalition of Italian city-states led by Florence
, which contributed to the end of the Avignon Papacy
.
The causes of the war are rooted in interrelated issues: Florentine opposition to the expansion of the Papal States
in central Italy (which the Avignon Popes had set as a condition for their return) and antipathy toward the Parte Guelfa
in Florence. Specifically, Florence feared in the autumn of 1372 that Gregory XI intended to reoccupy a strip of territory near Lunigiana
, which Florence had conquered from Bernabò Visconti
, and that the Ubaldini might switch from Florentine to Papal allegiance.
Gregory XI also harbored various grievances against Florence for their refusal to directly aid him in his war against the Visconti
of Milan
. When Gregory XI's war against Milan ended in 1375, many Florentines feared that the pope would turn his military attention toward Tuscany; thus, Florence paid off Gregory XI's main military commander, English condottiere
John Hawkwood
, with 130,000 florins, extracted from local clergy, bishops, abbots, monasteries, and ecclesiastical institutions, by an eight-member committee appointed by the Signoria of Florence
, the otto dei preti. Hawkwood also received a 600 florin annual salary for the next five years and a lifetime annual pension of 1,200 florins.
The transalpine mercenaries employed by Gregory XI against Milan, now unemployed, were often a source of friction and conflict in papal towns.
Florence formed an alliance with Milan
in July 1375, immediately prior to the outbreak of the war, and the prosecution of the war was entirely delegated to an eight-member committee appointed by the Signoria of Florence
: the otto della guerra.
Florence incited a revolt in the Papal States
in 1375. Florentine agents were sent to more than forty cities in the papal states—including Bologna
, Perugia
, Orvieto
, and Viterbo
—to foment rebellion, many of which had only been re-submitted to papal authority by the efforts of Cardinal Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz. Humanist
Chancellor of Florence Coluccio Salutati
disseminated public letters urging the cities to rebel against the "tyrannical" and "corrupt" papal rule, instead urging a return to all'antica Republicanism
.
Pope Gregory XI excommunicated
all members of the government of Florence and placed the city under interdict
on March 31, 1376, banning religious services in Florence and legalizing the arrest and enslavement of Florentines and the confiscation of their property throughout Europe. Initially, rather than attempting to disobey the interdict, Florentines organized extra-ecclesiastical processions (including flagellants) and confraternities
, including the re-emergence of groups such as the Fraticelli
, who had previously been deemed heretical
. The edifice of the Florentine inquisition was destroyed and the Signoria roled back legal restrictions on usury
and other practices frowned on by the (now defunct) ecclesiastical courts.
However, on October 1377, the government of Florence forced the clergy to resume religious services causing Angelo Ricasoli, Bishop of Florence, and Neri Corsini, Bishop of Fiesole, to flee Florentine territory. The heavy fines and confiscations issued by the Signoria on prelates who left their posts, the "most extensive liquidation of an ecclesiastical patrimony attempted anywhere in Europe before the Reformation
," may have been motivated to pay for the increasingly expensive conflict. The total cost of the war for Florence would reach approximately 2.5 million florins.
As a result of Gregory XI's economic sanctions, merchants of the Florentine "diaspora" were hurt economically throughout Europe, particularly the Alberti
bankers in Avignon
, although the interdict was ignored by many, including Charles V of France
.
Hawkwood honored his agreement with the Florentines not to make war in Tuscany, limiting himself to putting down the various rebellions within the papal states; in 1377 Hawkwood abandoned Gregory XI entirely and joined the anti-papal coalition. Gregory XI's other condottieri
also limited their acitivities to Romagna
, notably sacking Cesena
in February 1377. In the spring of 1377, papal mercenaries recaptured Bologna, which up until that point had been a key Florentine ally.
In 1377, Cardinal Robert of Geneva (future Avignon Pope Clement VII) led the army of Gregory XI in an attempt to quell the revolt, and Gregory XI himself returned to Italy to secure his Roman possessions, de facto ending the Avignon Papacy. Gregory XI arrived in Rome in January 1378, after a difficult journey (including shipwreck), and died there in March 1378.
in July 1378, negotiated with Pope Urban VI
following the death of Gregory XI and with the beginning of the Western Schism
. Under the treaty, Florence was to pay the Pope 200,000 florins (as opposed to Pope Gregory XI's original indemnity
requirement of 1,000,000 florins), repeal all laws placed against the Church by the secular government, and restore all property confiscated or looted from the clergy. The Pope, in return, was to repeal the interdict
placed on Florence and mend the ecclesiastical community's diminished favor of Florence.
during the war. When Florence arranged a nonaggression pact with Hawkwood at a cost of 130,000 florins, a special commission of eight citizens was created to levy a one-year, forced loan on the clergy of Florence and Fiesole to cover the sum. A second council of eight men was later created to make the military and diplomatic arrangements necessary to carry on a war against the Pope.
The group identity of the Eight Saints remains a controversial subject. The levy committee is most widely accepted as the otto di santi by scholars, though some argue that otto di santi refers to the war council. The first historical reference to the Eight of War as the otto santi occurs in 1445 with the account of Florentine historian Domenico Buoninsegni; it does not appear in the accounts of contemporaries of the war such as Leonardo Bruni
and Giovanni Morelli
. Buoninsegni had applied the appellation—used in August 1378 to refer to an eight-member group (Gli Otto Santi del Popolo di Dio) formed by the Ciompi revolt
, which ensued immediately after the War of the Eight Saints—to the otto della guerra. In contrast, the moniker is used in the March 31, 1376 bull of excommunication
to refer to the otto dei preti (the levy committee, literally meaning "eight priests").
The otto dei preti, appointed July 7, 1375 to carry out the taxation of the clergy for the nonaggression pact included:
The otto della guerra (war council) were appointed August 14, 1376 and consisted of four guild
representatives and four members of the nobility.
Major Guild
Representatives
Minor Guild Representatives
Members of Elite Florentine Families
Pope Gregory XI
Gregory XI was pope from 1370 until his death.-Biography:He was born Pierre Roger de Beaufort, in Maumont, in the modern commune of Rosiers-d'Égletons, Limousin around 1336. He succeeded Pope Urban V in 1370, and was pope until 1378...
and a coalition of Italian city-states led by Florence
Republic of Florence
The Republic of Florence , or the Florentine Republic, was a city-state that was centered on the city of Florence, located in modern Tuscany, Italy. The republic was founded in 1115, when the Florentine people rebelled against the Margraviate of Tuscany upon Margravine Matilda's death. The...
, which contributed to the end of the Avignon Papacy
Avignon Papacy
The Avignon Papacy was the period from 1309 to 1376 during which seven Popes resided in Avignon, in modern-day France. This arose from the conflict between the Papacy and the French crown....
.
Causes
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
in central Italy (which the Avignon Popes had set as a condition for their return) and antipathy toward the Parte Guelfa
Guelphs and Ghibellines
The Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, respectively, in central and northern Italy. During the 12th and 13th centuries, the split between these two parties was a particularly important aspect of the internal policy of the Italian city-states...
in Florence. Specifically, Florence feared in the autumn of 1372 that Gregory XI intended to reoccupy a strip of territory near Lunigiana
Lunigiana
The Lunigiana is an historical territory of Italy, which today falls within the provinces of La Spezia and Massa Carrara. Its borders derive from the ancient Roman settlement, later the medieval diocese of Luni, which no longer exists....
, which Florence had conquered from Bernabò Visconti
Bernabo Visconti
Bernabò Visconti was an Italian soldier and statesman, who was Lord of Milan.-Life:He was born in Milan, the son of Stefano Visconti and Valentina Doria. From 1346 to 1349 he lived in exile, until he was called back by his uncle Giovanni Visconti...
, and that the Ubaldini might switch from Florentine to Papal allegiance.
Gregory XI also harbored various grievances against Florence for their refusal to directly aid him in his war against the Visconti
House of Visconti
Visconti is the family name of two important Italian noble dynasties of the Middle Ages. There are two distinct Visconti families: The first one in the Republic of Pisa in the mid twelfth century who achieved prominence first in Pisa, then in Sardinia where they became rulers of Gallura...
of Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. When Gregory XI's war against Milan ended in 1375, many Florentines feared that the pope would turn his military attention toward Tuscany; thus, Florence paid off Gregory XI's main military commander, English condottiere
Condottieri
thumb|Depiction of [[Farinata degli Uberti]] by [[Andrea del Castagno]], showing a 15th century condottiero's typical attire.Condottieri were the mercenary soldier leaders of the professional, military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy, from the late Middle Ages...
John Hawkwood
John Hawkwood
Sir John Hawkwood was an English mercenary or condottiero who was active in 14th century Italy. The French chronicler Jean Froissart knew him as Jean Haccoude and Italians as Giovanni Acuto...
, with 130,000 florins, extracted from local clergy, bishops, abbots, monasteries, and ecclesiastical institutions, by an eight-member committee appointed by the Signoria of Florence
Signoria of Florence
The Signoria was the government of medieval and renaissance Florence. Its nine members, the Priori, were chosen from the ranks of the guilds of the city: six of them from the major guilds, and two from the minor guilds...
, the otto dei preti. Hawkwood also received a 600 florin annual salary for the next five years and a lifetime annual pension of 1,200 florins.
The transalpine mercenaries employed by Gregory XI against Milan, now unemployed, were often a source of friction and conflict in papal towns.
The War
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
in July 1375, immediately prior to the outbreak of the war, and the prosecution of the war was entirely delegated to an eight-member committee appointed by the Signoria of Florence
Signoria of Florence
The Signoria was the government of medieval and renaissance Florence. Its nine members, the Priori, were chosen from the ranks of the guilds of the city: six of them from the major guilds, and two from the minor guilds...
: the otto della guerra.
Florence incited a revolt in the Papal States
Papal States
The Papal State, State of the Church, or Pontifical States were among the major historical states of Italy from roughly the 6th century until the Italian peninsula was unified in 1861 by the Kingdom of Piedmont-Sardinia .The Papal States comprised territories under...
in 1375. Florentine agents were sent to more than forty cities in the papal states—including Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
, Orvieto
Orvieto
Orvieto is a city and comune in Province of Terni, southwestern Umbria, Italy situated on the flat summit of a large butte of volcanic tuff...
, and Viterbo
Viterbo
See also Viterbo, Texas and Viterbo UniversityViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 80 driving / 80 walking kilometers north of GRA on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and...
—to foment rebellion, many of which had only been re-submitted to papal authority by the efforts of Cardinal Gil Álvarez Carrillo de Albornoz. Humanist
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
Chancellor of Florence Coluccio Salutati
Coluccio Salutati
Coluccio Salutati was an Italian Humanist and man of letters, and one of the most important political and cultural leaders of Renaissance Florence.-Birth and Early Career:...
disseminated public letters urging the cities to rebel against the "tyrannical" and "corrupt" papal rule, instead urging a return to all'antica Republicanism
Republicanism
Republicanism is the ideology of governing a nation as a republic, where the head of state is appointed by means other than heredity, often elections. The exact meaning of republicanism varies depending on the cultural and historical context...
.
Excommunication
Excommunication is a religious censure used to deprive, suspend or limit membership in a religious community. The word means putting [someone] out of communion. In some religions, excommunication includes spiritual condemnation of the member or group...
all members of the government of Florence and placed the city under interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
on March 31, 1376, banning religious services in Florence and legalizing the arrest and enslavement of Florentines and the confiscation of their property throughout Europe. Initially, rather than attempting to disobey the interdict, Florentines organized extra-ecclesiastical processions (including flagellants) and confraternities
Confraternity
A confraternity is normally a Roman Catholic or Orthodox organization of lay people created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, and approved by the Church hierarchy...
, including the re-emergence of groups such as the Fraticelli
Fraticelli
The Fraticelli, sometimes confusingly called Fratricelli, were medieval Roman Catholic groups that could trace their origins to the Franciscans, but which came into being as a separate entity. The Fraticelli were declared heretical by the Church in 1296 by Boniface VIII...
, who had previously been deemed heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. The edifice of the Florentine inquisition was destroyed and the Signoria roled back legal restrictions on usury
Usury
Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
and other practices frowned on by the (now defunct) ecclesiastical courts.
However, on October 1377, the government of Florence forced the clergy to resume religious services causing Angelo Ricasoli, Bishop of Florence, and Neri Corsini, Bishop of Fiesole, to flee Florentine territory. The heavy fines and confiscations issued by the Signoria on prelates who left their posts, the "most extensive liquidation of an ecclesiastical patrimony attempted anywhere in Europe before the Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
," may have been motivated to pay for the increasingly expensive conflict. The total cost of the war for Florence would reach approximately 2.5 million florins.
As a result of Gregory XI's economic sanctions, merchants of the Florentine "diaspora" were hurt economically throughout Europe, particularly the Alberti
Alberti
-Places:* Alberti Partido, a partido of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina* Alberti, Buenos Aires, the main town of the partido-Other:*Alberti bass, a musical accompaniment figuration, usually in the left hand on a keyboard instrument...
bankers in Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
, although the interdict was ignored by many, including Charles V of France
Charles V of France
Charles V , called the Wise, was King of France from 1364 to his death in 1380 and a member of the House of Valois...
.
Hawkwood honored his agreement with the Florentines not to make war in Tuscany, limiting himself to putting down the various rebellions within the papal states; in 1377 Hawkwood abandoned Gregory XI entirely and joined the anti-papal coalition. Gregory XI's other condottieri
Condottieri
thumb|Depiction of [[Farinata degli Uberti]] by [[Andrea del Castagno]], showing a 15th century condottiero's typical attire.Condottieri were the mercenary soldier leaders of the professional, military free companies contracted by the Italian city-states and the Papacy, from the late Middle Ages...
also limited their acitivities to Romagna
Romagna
Romagna is an Italian historical region that approximately corresponds to the south-eastern portion of present-day Emilia-Romagna. Traditionally, it is limited by the Apennines to the south-west, the Adriatic to the east, and the rivers Reno and Sillaro to the north and west...
, notably sacking Cesena
Cesena
Cesena is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, south of Ravenna and west of Rimini, on the Savio River, co-chief of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. It is at the foot of the Apennines, and about 15 km from the Adriatic Sea.-History:Cesena was originally an Umbrian...
in February 1377. In the spring of 1377, papal mercenaries recaptured Bologna, which up until that point had been a key Florentine ally.
In 1377, Cardinal Robert of Geneva (future Avignon Pope Clement VII) led the army of Gregory XI in an attempt to quell the revolt, and Gregory XI himself returned to Italy to secure his Roman possessions, de facto ending the Avignon Papacy. Gregory XI arrived in Rome in January 1378, after a difficult journey (including shipwreck), and died there in March 1378.
Resolution
The war ended with a peace treaty concluded at TivoliTivoli, Italy
Tivoli , the classical Tibur, is an ancient Italian town in Lazio, about 30 km east-north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills...
in July 1378, negotiated with Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI
Pope Urban VI , born Bartolomeo Prignano, was Pope from 1378 to 1389.-Biography:Born in Itri, he was a devout monk and learned casuist, trained at Avignon. On March 21, 1364, he was consecrated Archbishop of Acerenza in the Kingdom of Naples...
following the death of Gregory XI and with the beginning of the Western Schism
Western Schism
The Western Schism or Papal Schism was a split within the Catholic Church from 1378 to 1417. Two men simultaneously claimed to be the true pope. Driven by politics rather than any theological disagreement, the schism was ended by the Council of Constance . The simultaneous claims to the papal chair...
. Under the treaty, Florence was to pay the Pope 200,000 florins (as opposed to Pope Gregory XI's original indemnity
Indemnity
An indemnity is a sum paid by A to B by way of compensation for a particular loss suffered by B. The indemnitor may or may not be responsible for the loss suffered by the indemnitee...
requirement of 1,000,000 florins), repeal all laws placed against the Church by the secular government, and restore all property confiscated or looted from the clergy. The Pope, in return, was to repeal the interdict
Interdict
The term Interdict may refer to:* Court order enforcing or prohibiting a certain action* Injunction, such as a restraining order...
placed on Florence and mend the ecclesiastical community's diminished favor of Florence.
The Eight Saints
The Eight Saints may refer to one or both of two, eight-member balía appointed by the Signoria of FlorenceSignoria of Florence
The Signoria was the government of medieval and renaissance Florence. Its nine members, the Priori, were chosen from the ranks of the guilds of the city: six of them from the major guilds, and two from the minor guilds...
during the war. When Florence arranged a nonaggression pact with Hawkwood at a cost of 130,000 florins, a special commission of eight citizens was created to levy a one-year, forced loan on the clergy of Florence and Fiesole to cover the sum. A second council of eight men was later created to make the military and diplomatic arrangements necessary to carry on a war against the Pope.
The group identity of the Eight Saints remains a controversial subject. The levy committee is most widely accepted as the otto di santi by scholars, though some argue that otto di santi refers to the war council. The first historical reference to the Eight of War as the otto santi occurs in 1445 with the account of Florentine historian Domenico Buoninsegni; it does not appear in the accounts of contemporaries of the war such as Leonardo Bruni
Leonardo Bruni
Leonardo Bruni was an Italian humanist, historian and statesman. He has been called the first modern historian.-Biography:...
and Giovanni Morelli
Giovanni Morelli
Giovanni Morelli was an Italian art critic and political figure. As an art historian, he developed the "Morellian" technique of scholarship, identifying the characteristic "hands" of painters through scrutiny of diagnostic minor details that revealed artists' scarcely conscious shorthand and...
. Buoninsegni had applied the appellation—used in August 1378 to refer to an eight-member group (Gli Otto Santi del Popolo di Dio) formed by the Ciompi revolt
Ciompi
The Revolt of the Ciompi was a popular revolt in late medieval Florence by wool carders known as ciompi , who rose up in 1378 to demand a voice in the commune's ordering....
, which ensued immediately after the War of the Eight Saints—to the otto della guerra. In contrast, the moniker is used in the March 31, 1376 bull of excommunication
Papal bull
A Papal bull is a particular type of letters patent or charter issued by a Pope of the Catholic Church. It is named after the bulla that was appended to the end in order to authenticate it....
to refer to the otto dei preti (the levy committee, literally meaning "eight priests").
The otto dei preti, appointed July 7, 1375 to carry out the taxation of the clergy for the nonaggression pact included:
- Matteo Malefici
- Antonio di Forese Sacchetti
- Bardo di Guglielmo Altoviti
- Salvi Filippo Salvi
- Giovanni d'Angiolo Capponi
- Antonio di Filippo Tolosini
- Recco di Guido Guaza
- Michele di Puccio
The otto della guerra (war council) were appointed August 14, 1376 and consisted of four guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
representatives and four members of the nobility.
Major Guild
Guild
A guild is an association of craftsmen in a particular trade. The earliest types of guild were formed as confraternities of workers. They were organized in a manner something between a trade union, a cartel, and a secret society...
Representatives
- Giovanni Dini - Spices
- Guccio Gucci - Woolen-cloth manufacturingArte della LanaThe Arte della Lana was the wool guild of Florence during the Late Middle Ages and in the Renaissance. It was one of the seven greater Arti of Florence, separate from the Arti Minori...
Minor Guild Representatives
- Matteo Soldi - Wine Retail
- Giovanni di Mone - Grain Manufacturing
Members of Elite Florentine Families
- Alessandro de' Bardi
- Giovanni Magalotti
- Andrea Salvati
- Tommaso Strozzi
Further reading
- Chambers, D.S. 2006. Popes, Cardinals & War: The Military Church in Renaissance and Early Modern Europe. I.B. Taurus. ISBN 1-84511-178-8. p. 32-33.