the magnificent Renaissance buildings which have sur-
vived there. These include several fine churches (Sta.
Croce, the Duomo), palaces (della Signoria, Pitti, Rucellai,
Strozzi, UFFIZI), and other public works (Boboli gardens,
Ponte Vecchio).
Further reading: Gene A. Brucker, Renaissance Flo-
rence (New York: Wiley, 1969; new ed. Berkeley, Calif.:
University of California Press, 1983); Richard A. Goldth-
waite, The Building of Renaissance Florence: An Economic
and Social History (Baltimore, Md. and London: Johns
Hopkins University Press, 1980; new ed. 1990); Christo-
pher Hibbert, Florence: The Biography of a City (London
and New York: Penguin, 1993); George Holmes, The Flo-
rentine Enlightenment, 1400–1450 (London: Weidenfeld &
Nicolson, 1969; rev. ed. 1992); Michael Levey, Florence: A
Portrait (London: Cape, 1996).
Florence, Council of The Church council that secured
a short-lived reconciliation between the Western (Roman
Catholic) and Eastern (Greek Orthodox) Churches and
reasserted papal supremacy over the councils. It was in
fact held in three cities—Ferrara (1438–39), Florence
(1439–43), and Rome (1443–45). In 1437 Pope EUGENIUS
IVdissolved the Council of BASLEand ordered the next as-
sembly to meet at Ferrara. The new council was to seek a
religious reconciliation with the Greeks who were solicit-
ing support against the OTTOMAN TURKS; Ferrara was con-
sidered to be a mutually convenient location for talks. The
Council of Basle, offended by the pope’s command to dis-
solve, continued to sit, refused to recognize the Ferrara
Council when it met in 1439, deposed Eugenius, and
elected in his place Felix V (antipope 1439–49).
Despite this, negotiations began with the Greek em-
peror, John VIII Palaeologus, and Joseph, patriarch of
Constantinople, resulting in the Decree of Union, promul-
gated on July 6, 1439 at Florence. By this decree the
Greeks accepted the Latin statement of doctrine, includ-
ing the contentious Filioque (“and from the Son”) clause
in the Creed. Although some points, including the con-
cept of papal primacy, caused much difficulty, eventually
all the Greek bishops, except Mark of Ephesus, accepted
its dictates, though many were to recant shortly after.
Hugely advantageous to papal prestige, the decree assured
popular recognition of Eugenius’s primacy in the West as
well as the legality of his council at Florence. The mem-
bers of the schismatic Basle assembly were excommuni-
cated for heresy, and in 1441 the Bull Etsi non dubitemus
declared the subservience of councils to popes. The re-
maining work of the council was directed at attaining fur-
ther unions with other Eastern churches before its
dissolution in 1445.
The Council of Florence was also significant in the in-
cidental role it played in bringing from the East scholars
of the calibre of BESSARIONand PLETHON, who helped in-
augurate GREEK STUDIESin Italy.
Further reading: Joseph Gill, Personalities of the
Council of Florence (Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell, 1964).Florentine Academy See ORTI ORICELLARI; PLATONIC
ACADEMYFFlloorreennttiinnee AAccaaddeemmyy 1 18833Florence The Duomo. Work on the
cathedral was begun in 1294 by Arnolfi
di Cambio (died c. 1305); Brunelleschi’s
dome (1420) was an outstanding 15th-
century technical achievement. Giotto’s
fine campanile (left) has a decorative
scheme illustrating the attainment of
divine grace, through the arts, learning,
and virtue.
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