1. MedievWorld1_fm_4pp.qxd

Fontenay, Battle of 265

controlled by them through a political and social class of
supporters and clients who voted and ruled in a way
generally acceptable to Medici interests. The rule of this
famous family led to a great cultural flowering and peace
during the period between 1465 and the 1490s, tradi-
tionally considered the heart of the Italian RENAISSANCE.
This “golden age” under Lorenzo de’ Medici ended with
the cultural repression brought about by SAVONAROLA
and his followers and the invasion of Italy by the French
in the 1490s, which led to decades of war well into the
next century.
See alsoALBERTI,LEONBATTISTA;ALIGHIERI,DANTE;
ANGELICO,FRA;BOTTICELLI,SANDRO;BRACCIOLINI,POG-
GIO;BRUNELLESCHI,FILIPPO;BRUNETTO LATINI;FER-
RARA–FLORENCE,COUNCIL OF;FICINO,MARSILIO;
GHIBERTI,LORENZO;GHIRLANDAIO,DOMENICO;GIANO
DELLABELLA;GIOTTO DIBONDONE;GUELFS(WELFS) AND
GHIBELLINES;LIPPI,FRAFILIPPO;MASACCIO,TOMASSO DI
GIOVANNI DISIMONE CASSAI;MIRANDOLA,PICO DELLA;
PODESTÀ;SAVONAROLA,GIROLAMO.
Further reading:Gene A. Brucker, ed., The Society
of Renaissance Florence: A Documentary Study (New
York: Harper & Row, 1971); Marvin B. Becker, Florence
in Transition,2 vols. (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univer-
sity Press, 1967–68); Gene A. Brucker, Renaissance Flo-
rence(1969; reprint, Berkeley: University of California
Press, 1983); Richard A. Goldthwaite, The Building of
Renaissance Florence: An Economic and Social History
(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1980);
Richard Goy, Florence: The City and Its Architecture
(London: Phaidon, 2002); John R. Hale, Florence and the
Medici: The Pattern of Control(London: Thames and
Hudson, 1977).

Florence-Ferrara, Council of SeeFERRARA-FLORENCE,

COUNCIL OF.

Fontenay, Abbey of This was a CISTERCIAN abbey

founded by BERNARD DECLAIRVAUXin 1119 in a valley in

BURGUNDY. Fontenay has remained one of the finest

European specimens of 12th-century Cistercian abbeys

with a well-preserved 12th-century church, CLOISTER,

chapter room, dorter, warming room, and forge. The con-

struction of these buildings, was based on extensive

drainage. The abbey prospered during the 12th century

but never really recovered from various attacks it suffered

during the HUNDREDYEARS’WAR. After the French Revo-

lution, its use as a paper mill saved most of its buildings,

and an exemplary restoration gave it its present medieval

appearance. It was classified as a world heritage site by

the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO) in 1981.

Further reading:David Heald, Architecture of Silence:

Cistercian Abbeys of France(New York: Harry N. Abrams,

2000); Meredith P. Lillich, ed., Studies in Cistercian Art

and Architecture(Kalamazoo, Mich.: Cistercian Publica-

tions, 1982).

Fontenay, Battle of This was a decisive and bitter

battle leading to the division of the Carolingian Empire

in what became FRANCEand GERMANY. It was probably

fought on June 25, 841, between a coalition of Louis the

German (r. 840–876), the ruler of Bavaria and northern

Germany, and CHARLESI THEBALD, against the emperor

Lothair (r. 840–855), who ruled Lorraine and Italy and

theoretically more. They were battling over the terms of

View of Florence in 1490 (18th-century reproduction in tempera), Museo di Firenza com’era, Florence, Italy(Alinari /
Art Resource)