1 Prime pagine ok.indd - accademia degli intronati

Mary, sovereign of Siena, Jesus, king of Florence 109
Thus, the idea that Florence had Christ for its king was given
new life; and its meaning deepened, too, as the republic adjusted its
understanding of this divine monarchy to its special needs. Gonfaloniere
Capponi connected it, rather awkwardly it must be said, to a public
recognition of the republic’s utter dependence on God for its existence
(lest it share the fate of Savonarola’s republic); and the new legislation
of June 1529, which we shall come to presently, initiated some clearer,
riper thinking on this matter. It began with Savonarola’s perception of a
natural affinity between this monarchy and a reformed people united in
brotherly love, which at the time of the siege would lead Florentines to
conclude, with a huge boost to their morale, that a just God would not
fail to defend them, as long as genuine steps were taken to make theirs a
true republic founded on justice for all. Too, the oath to accept Christ as
their king – and none other! – became a sacred commitment to defend the
republic, making surrender tantamount to abandoning Christ.
Capponi’s second proposal (the “provedimento spirituale,”
according to Cambi) reformed the annual Carnevale celebrations (25
February). This was a further attempt (after the blasphemy legislation)
to recreate the Florence of Savonarola’s day, when this feast, infamous
for its unseemly behavior, was transformed into one of holy observance
that included public alms giving on a large scale. Now, instead of
offending God, Florentines would process through the city to show that
– in accordance with the thanksgiving strategy – they were “grateful
for such benefits” and to God and His mother Mary to liberate them
from the plague and the dearth that presently oppressed them. Clearly,
the epidemic and its consequences lingered still, as, consequently, did
the need to assuage God’s wrath.
In May 1529, some two years after the Sack of Rome, shared
interests produced the seemingly impossible, a rapproachment between
pope and emperor; and at Barcelona on 29 June – the feast of St. Peter, as
Varchi notes – the two sides concluded an alliance, whose “fatal (ninth)
article,” which committed Charles to restore Clement’s Medici kinsmen
to power in Florence, would prove the republic’s downfall. And, it was