Attempts to Create a Regional State in Tuscany in the 12th-13th Сenturies: Difficulties and Failures in the Formation of Unions Using the Example of the Florentine Dominion

Abstract

The article examines the initial processes of the formation of a territorial state around the city-commune of Florence in the 12th - 13th centuries. The main directions of expansion of the Florentines are explored: Siena, Pistoia, Pisa, then, in the second half of the 13th century - Volterra and Arezzo. It is noted that in the 12th century the main objects of conquest were mainly feudal castles seeking to control trade and make predatory forays into lands subject to Florence. From the end of the 12th century the conquest of settlements, which the modern Italian researcher Enrico Faini designated as “almost cities”, begins: ancient Fiesole with its Cyclopean walls, which arose before Florence, the very small settlement of Certaldo, as well as Semifonte, in which urbanization processes rapidly developed. The fate of these first objects of Florentine expansion is traced. Fiesole, located only 5 km from Florence, was destroyed as a very strong fortress that posed a threat during the war with Siena; the inhabitants were resettled to Florence. Semifonte suffered a similar fate due to its rapid urbanization - the organization of communal rule and Ghibelline orientation. However, Certaldo, which posed no threat to the republic, was rapidly developed as a city under the auspices of Florence.