The Lost Towers of Florence, A Vanished Medieval Skyline

By Chris Dobson

The modern visitor to the city of Florence might wonder what on earth this book is about. Surely it is Bologna or San Gimignano that are famous for their towers, or maybe even Lucca, but not Florence? Yet in the High Middle Ages - long before the Medici came to power - the skyline of the city was entirely different from what we see today, studded with hundreds of massive towers built by the rival Guelph and Ghibelline factions that plunged Florence into a bloody and pitiless civil war that plagued the city for generations.

In this short eBook, historian Chris Dobson describes those now-vanished towers: how they came to be built, why they have almost entirely disappeared, and where you can still get an impression of what these incredible buildings were like, if you know where to look. It is written for the general reader who is visiting Florence or Tuscany, but it also has much to offer the ‘armchair traveller’ or history enthusiast.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chris Dobson
• Release date: Feb 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9780954163365

Chris Dobson

Chris Dobson comes from a background in the history of applied arts: he has worked in and around museums for over 30 years. Chris is unique in his various fields of study, and in fact in most of the museum world: not only does he have the 'hands-on' experience of an artist but he also carries out independent academic research and curatorial work for public and private collections.Chris's speciality has always been the Middle Ages and Renaissance in Italy, and from the very beginning his research has incorporated the work of Italian artists and sculptors. In time it has included ever more graphic art and sculpture, and almost inevitably, the Florentine Renaissance now forms the main focus of his work. Today he writes and publishes books on the art and history of Italy, and particularly Florence.

Book preview

Lost Towers Cover epub

The Lost Towers

of

Florence

A Vanished Medieval Skyline

CHRIS DOBSON

First published 2014 by Christopher Dobson,

Unit 10, Bench Barn Farm,

Stoke Road, Clare,

Suffolk CO10 8HQ,

England.

The right of Christopher Dobson to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

Smashwords edition ISBN 978-0-9541633-6-5

Thank you for downloading this ebook. You are welcome to share it with your friends. This book may be reproduced, copied and distributed for non-commercial purposes, provided the book remains in its complete original form. If you enjoyed this book, please return to your favorite ebook retailer to discover other works by Chris Dobson. Thank you for your support.

© Christopher Dobson 2014

For details of more publications go to:

www.chrisdobson.net

Photographic credits:

The cover and all photographs in this eBook

© Christopher Dobson.

Cover: medieval towers in the Via San Matteo, San Gimignano 

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Rise of the Towers

Tower Complexes

Vendetta

The End of an Age

Afterword

Bibliography

About the Author

Introduction

The modern visitor to the city of Florence might wonder what on earth this book is about. Surely it is Bologna or San Gimignano that are famous for their towers, or maybe even Lucca, not Florence? Yet in the High Middle Ages - long before the Medici came to power - the skyline of Florence was entirely different