page_title: Gonfaloniere of Justice
section_title: After the Ordinances
hierarchical_section_title: Gonfaloniere of Justice / History / After the Ordinances
caption_attribution_description: 1530 Siege of Florence.
context_page_description: Gonfaloniere of Justice was a post in the government of medieval and early Renaissance Florence. Like Florence's Priori, it was introduced in 1293 when Giano Della Bella's Ordinances of Justice came into force.
  He was one of the nine citizens selected by drawing lots every two months, who formed the government, or Signoria. As Gonfaloniere di Giustizia he was the temporary standard-bearer of the Republic of Florence and custodian of the city's banner, which was displayed from the yardarm of a portable cross. Along with the voting rights of the other Priori, he was also in charge of the internal security forces and the maintenance of public order. To distinguish him from his other eight colleagues, his crimson coat, lined with ermine, was further embroidered with golden stars. Each of Florence's neighborhoods, or rioni, had its own priore who might be selected to serve on the council, and its own gonfaloniere di compagnia selected from the first families of each quarter.
context_section_description: The post of Gonfaloniere survived practically until the abolition of the Republican constitution by the Medici on their return to the city in 1530. Indeed, in the 15th century the post was given to many members of the Medici family and their neighbouring and allied families, giving them a kind of recognised power within the republican framework and de facto (though never de jure) allowing them to take over the powers of the other old magistracies.
  After the expulsion of Piero the Unfortunate in 1494 and during the brief rule of Girolamo Savonarola (executed in 1498), the Florentine families tried to reorganise the city government on the model of the old communal magistracies. Pier Soderini was in 1502 appointed gonfaloniere for life, but only held it until the end of 1512, when the Medici returned and Piero decided to abandon the city. During his tenure, Soderini held more direct political responsibility than either Cosimo de' Medici or Lorenzo de' Medici. Machiavelli served as his secretary. Although many of the Ottimati or aristocrats had supported Soderini's candidacy for Gonfaloniere a Vita, believing he would support their interests, they turned against him when his popular leanings became clear. In 1512, after fierce resistance to imperial troops under Charles V and pope Julius II, it was finally forced to surrender. This marked the end of the republican dream and its offices, with the start of the ascent of the grand-ducal Medici dynasty.
caption: Siege of Florence in 1530
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