D'Auvergne, Edmund B. (Edmund Basil) · London, T.W. Laurie · leaf 220
Florence hadbeen mainly aristocratic, and all its functions were per-formed by the nobles; but by 1282 the Arts or guilds,among which the Wool-Weavers and Silk-Workers werethe most important members, had gained possession ofthe executive power, which they entrusted to their ownPriori or… … THREE FAMOUS COMMUNAL PALACES 175 democratic despotism of the Medici. The fortress-likeappearance of the palace is due to the fact that thecommercial oligarchy had to hold its own by forcewithin the city against the great nobles on the onehand, and popular rising on the other. ^ The facade fronting…
Castles · Palaces
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