Compagnacci was a group or political faction numbering one hundred fifty men in

Florence, Italy Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

. They were opposed to Girolamo Savonarola, a Dominican friar who came to dominate Florentine religious life and politics in the 1490s. Along with

Pope Alexander VI Pope Alexander VI ( it, Alessandro VI, va, Alexandre VI, es, Alejandro VI; born Rodrigo de Borja; ca-valencia, Roderic Llançol i de Borja ; es, Rodrigo Lanzol y de Borja, lang ; 1431 – 18 August 1503) was head of the Catholic Churc ...

they were a crucial part of Savonarola's demise in the early spring of 1498. The Compagnacci were also known as ''the Rude, Rowdy or Ugly Companions''. Their leader was a nobleman named Dolfo Spini. He was assisted in his opposition to Savonarola by two

Medici The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...

brothers of the

cadet branch In history and heraldry, a cadet branch consists of the male-line descendants of a monarch's or patriarch's younger sons ( cadets). In the ruling dynasties and noble families of much of Europe and Asia, the family's major assets— realm, title ...

, one of whom married a

Sforza The House of Sforza () was a ruling family of Renaissance Italy, based in Milan. They acquired the Duchy of Milan following the extinction of the Visconti family in the mid-15th century, Sforza rule ending in Milan with the death of the last mem ...

princess. The Compagnacci were dedicated pleasure seekers who dressed finely and partied with music as an accompaniment. Their influence was reinforced by support they picked up during street demonstrations. In time the Compagnacci won votes in the Great Council.''Scourge and Fire'', Lauro Martines,

Jonathan Cape Jonathan Cape is a London publishing firm founded in 1921 by Herbert Jonathan Cape, who was head of the firm until his death in 1960. Cape and his business partner Wren Howard set up the publishing house in 1921. They established a reputation ...

, 2006, pg. 155.

In popular culture

An opera, ''I Compagnacci'' was written by Italian composer

Primo Riccitelli Primo Riccitelli (9 August 1875 – 27 March 1941), was an Italian composer. One of six children, he was born in the village of Cognoli, Campli in the Abruzzo region of Italy. His father, Giuseppe, was a small landowner and his mother, Maria M ...

in the early twentieth century and performed in Rome.

References

{{reflist History of Tuscany 1490s in Europe 15th century in the Republic of Florence Culture in Florence History of Catholicism in Italy