History of Florence

V th Century B.C. Etruscans founded Fiesole
59 B.C. The roman colony of Florentia is founded
405 Florence is besieged by Ostrogoths Late Vth Century Florence is taken by Ostrogoths
774 Florence is taken by Carolingians
962 Emperor Ottone I st gives the city a territory of six miles
1082 Emperor Henry II nd effortlessly besieges the city
1154 Florence is defeated by Pistoia
1174 Conflicts between Florence and Siena
1207 Florence battles and beats Siena
1216 Nobles of Florence split into two rival categories: Guelfs and Ghibellines
1220 The ambassadors of Florence and Pisa have a dispute to cause a long lasting rivalry
1229 War between Florence and Siena
1248 Guelfi are banned
1251 Guelfi are re-admitted, some Ghibellini families are banned
1252 Florence has its own currency
1258 Ghibellini are all banned
1260 Florence is defeated by Siena
1265 Ghibellini are back, Dante Alighieri comes to birth
1268 War and victory against Pisa
1269 War and victory against Siena
1280 Peace between Guelfi and Ghibellini
1300 Guelfi split into white Gulelfi and black Guelfi
1302 White Guelfi are banned
1306 Florence takes the nearby city of Pistoia
1313 Giovanni Boccaccio comes to birth
1321 Death of Dante Alighieri
1338 With a population of about 100,000, Florence buys the city of Lucca
1348 Peast hits Florence
1350 Florence takes the nearby city of Prato
1362 War against Pisa
1374 Francesco Petrarca dies
1375 Giovanni Boccaccio dies
1377 Filippo Brunelleschi comes to birth
1384 Florence buys the city of Arezzo
1386 Donato di Niccolò di Betto, known as Donatello comes to birth
1400 Luca della Robbia comes to birth
1401 Tommaso di ser Giovanni, known as Masaccio comes to birth
1406 Florence takes Pisa
1421 Florence buys the city of Livorno
1449 Lorenzo de' Medici called the magnificent comes to birth
1451 Amerigo Vespucci comes to birth
1452 Leonardo da Vinci comes to birth
1469 Niccolò Machiavelli comes to birth
1475 Michelangelo Buonarroti comes to birth
1492 Death of Lorenzo de' Medici
1498 Girolamo Savonarola is burnt in Piazza della Signoria
1527 The medici family is banned from Florence
1531 The medici family is restored in Florence by Charles V th
1533 Caterina de' Medici becomes wife of the Henry of Orleans, future king of France
1539 Cosimo marries Eleonora doughter of Don Pietro di Toledo, vice king of Neaples
1549 Eleonora de' Medici buys the Pitti palace
1564 Francesco, Cosimo's sun becomes the city's lord, Michelangelo dies in Rome
1569 The pope Paolo V th gives Cosimo the entire Tuscany
1574 Cosimo dies and Francesco inherits full power
1587 Francesco and Bianca Cappello die, Ferdinando gets the power
1600 Maria de' Medici marries Henry IV th of France
1609 Ferdinando dies, his sun Cosimo II nd comes to powers
1621 Cosimo II nd dies, his sun Ferdinando II nd comes to power
1630 Peast hits Florence and surroundings
1670 Ferdinando II nd dies, his sun Cosimo III rd comes to power
1691 Cosimo III rd is titled "Royal Highness"
1718 After the death of Cosimo's sun, it's proposed that Carlo di Borbone succeed Cosimo III rd
1723 Cosimo III rd dies, his sun Gian Gastone comes to power
1731 Gian Gastone recognizes succession rights to Carlo di Borbone
1734 Carlo di Borbone invades the reign of Neaples, succession rights of Florence are reassessed
1737 Gian Gastone dies, Marco di Craon comes to power delegated by Francesco Stefano Lorena
1740 Extraordinary flooding of the Arno river
1765 Emperor Francesco Stefano Lorena dies, his second sun Pietro Leopoldo inherits Florence
1790 Emperor Giuseppe II nd dies, Pietro Leopoldo inherits his rights and gives Florence to his sun Ferdinando III rd
1799 France invades Florence, Ferdinando III rd escapes. 72 paintings are taken to France. France abandones Florence which is taken by Austria three days later
1800 France invades Florence again
1801 Ferdinando III rd renounces to Florence that is given to Don Lodovico di Borbone
1803 Lodovico dies, his sun Carlo Lodovico comes to power
1808 Florence is unified to France
1814 Ferdinando III rd comes back to power
1816 The paintings taken from France are returned to Florence
1824 Ferdinando III rd dies, his sun Leopoldo II nd comes to power
1859 Leopoldo II nd abandones Florence
1865 Florence becomes the Capital of Italy
1944 Germans abandone Florence
1966 Extraordinary flooding of the Arno river
1993 Terrorists place a bomb in front of the Uffizi gallery. Five people die and the gallery is severely damaged

from www.florence.ala.it/history.htm