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Klappentext This book examines the life of Cardinal Francesco Soderini (1453 1524) from a variety of perspectives and using a range of techniques. It analyses the relationship between Machiavelli! Piero and Francesco Soderini! and reinstates the crucial role played by Rome and contacts with Rome in late fifteenth-century and early sixteenth-century Florentine politics. Soderini's position as one of the chief powerbrokers of papal Rome! in opposition to the Medici! enables a reappraisal of political and ecclesiastical patronage and clientele systems. The cardinal also encouraged cultural! intellectual and building activities. Overall! through the book's collation of archival sources in and outside Italy! a new vision emerges of the lifestyle and activities of a learned and politically astute Italian cardinal. Zusammenfassung This book is an extended study of a leading Italian Renaissance cardinal! offering a new vision of his lifestyle and activities. It challenges received opinion about the nature of political and ecclesiastical patronage and clientele systems! and offers new insights into the rivalry between the Medici and Soderini. Inhaltsverzeichnis List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Genealogical tables; Introduction; Part I. Preparation for Power: Soderini's Florentine Background and Early Career: 1. Soderini's early years; 2. Soderini as a servant of the Florentine state; Part II. The Cardinal as a Political Force, 1503-1513: 3. Soderini's elevation to the cardinalate; 4. The Renaissance cardinalate and the concept of the political cardinal; 5. A principal or a supporting role in Florentine politics?; 6. Relations and rivalry between the Soderini and the Medici; 7. The Soderini and the kings of France; Part III. New Times and Challenging Circumstances, 1513-1524: 8. The fortunes of the Soderini and family strategy in relation to Florentine, the Medici and France, 1513-17; 9. The 'conspiracy' of 1517; 10. Soderini as a disaffected cardinal in exile, 1517-21; 11. Soderini opposition to the Medici in Florence and Rome, 1521-3; 12. The 'conspiracy' of 1523 and its aftermath; 13. Soderini's last days; Part IV. The Lifestyle of the Renaissance Cardinal: 14. Official duties in the curia: the conciliar, the ceremonial, the social; 15. Soderini's ecclesiastical career: the accumulation and deployment of bishoprics and benefices; 16. Palaces and other property; 17. Private and personal possessions; 18. Household and entourage; 19. Financial resources: wealth, income, credit, loans and pawn; 20. Intellectual life and the influence of humanism; 21. In praise of Francesco Soderini: Battista Casali's funeral oration of 1524; Excursus: the portraits of Piero and Francesco Soderini; Bibliography; Index....
