The Florentine Republic

I was playing Europa Universalis III and was playing as Tuscany at the start date of 1399. I realized I did not know much of the Republic of Tuscany and decided to go research the topic myself.

That might be because.. the Republic of Tuscany never existed! in 1197 the Republic of Florence was born and it would become one of most influential merchant republics on the Italian peninsula. Shortly after the banking crisis in the Republic of Sienna, Florence would quickly become to replace what Sienna was.

However, they went above and beyond Sienna and completely changed economics in Europe and the Near East. The Florentines came up with a gold coin known as a Florin. This was the first time a viable currency was developed and it quickly spread throughout Europe. The Florin is credited with being the single greatest invention of bringing Europe out of the Dark Ages.

There are many other fabulous achievements for Florence, but on a grander scale, the only one greater than the Florin was the Italian Renaissance which began by the government in Florence. There is plenty of information around, and definitely romanticized opinions, to tell the story of how this single event changed the face of Europe forever.

However, by 1532 the Medici family began to dominate Florentine politics and would soon get a Pope sanctioned Duke-ship to firmly end the Republic of Florence forever. The Duchy of Florence was born. Less than a century later, the Duchy of Florence would get claims on Pisa and become the Grand Duchy of Tuscany. Tuscany would exist in one form or another for centuries to come until the unification of Italy in the 19th century.

In other words, the Florentine Republic is one of the least known places, most likely due to their lack of military power, but revolutionized the whole face of Europe in the four centuries it lasted.