Piero di Tommaso Soderini (March 17, 1451 – June 13, 1522) also known as Pier Soderini, was an Italian statesman of the

Republic of Florence The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic ( it, Repubblica Fiorentina, , or ), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flo ...

Biography

Soderini was born in

Florence 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 ...

to Tommaso di Lorenzo Soderini, a member of an old family who had become famous in medicine, and his second wife Dianora Tornabuoni, also of a prestigious Florentine family and in-law of Piero de'Medici. Soderini's brother was the statesman and supporter of

Savonarola Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of ...

Paolo Antonio Soderini Paolo Antonio Soderini (1448 — after 1500) was a noble Florence, Florentine jurist active in the anti-Medicean Republic of Florence, Florentine republic, who spent some years resident at Rome. He was the older brother of the statesman Piero Soder ...

. Their third brother was Cardinal

Francesco Soderini Francesco di Tommaso Soderini (10 June 1453 – 17 May 1524) was a major diplomatic and Church figure of Renaissance Italy, and brother of Piero Soderini. He was an adversary of the Medici family. Biography On 27 Mar 1486, he was ordained a priest ...

bishop of Volterra The Diocese of Volterra ( la, Dioecesis Volaterrana) is a Roman Catholic ecclesiastical territory in Tuscany, central Italy. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Pisa.Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici (15 February 1472 – 28 December 1503), called Piero the Fatuous or Piero the Unfortunate, was the lord of Florence from 1492 until his exile in 1494. Early life Piero di Lorenzo de' Medici was the eldest son of ...

, receiving from him, in 1493, the honour of being the Ambassador to the

Kingdom of France The Kingdom of France ( fro, Reaume de France; frm, Royaulme de France; french: link=yes, Royaume de France) is the historiographical name or umbrella term given to various political entities of France in the medieval and early modern period. ...

. He was elected ''

gonfaloniere The Gonfalonier (in Italian: ''Gonfaloniere'') was the holder of a highly prestigious communal office in medieval and Renaissance Italy, notably in Florence and the Papal States. The name derives from ''gonfalone'' (in English, gonfalon), the ter ...

'' for life in 1502 by the Florentines, who wished to give greater stability to their republican institutions, which had been restored after the expulsion of Piero de' Medici and the execution of

. Soderini's rule proved moderate and wise, although he did not possess the qualities of a great statesman. He introduced a system of national

militia A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

in the place of foreign

mercenaries A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

. During his government the long war with

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

was brought to a close with the capture of that city by the Florentines in 1509. Niccolò Machiavelli, author of ''

The Prince ''The Prince'' ( it, Il Principe ; la, De Principatibus) is a 16th-century political treatise written by Italian diplomat and political theorist Niccolò Machiavelli as an instruction guide for new princes and royals. The general theme of ''The ...

'' and '' Discourses on Livy'', served under him as second chancellor and as ambassador to

Cesare Borgia Cesare Borgia (; ca-valencia, Cèsar Borja ; es, link=no, César Borja ; 13 September 1475 – 12 March 1507) was an Italian ex- cardinal and '' condottiero'' (mercenary leader) of Aragonese (Spanish) origin, whose fight for power was a major ...

, Rome and France. Although Machiavelli initially had much respect for Soderini, his attitude was changed by the events that led to Soderini's fall. Grateful to France, which had assisted him, Soderini always took the French side in Italian politics. But in 1512 the Medici returned to Florence with the help of a Spanish army, deposed Soderini, and drove him into exile. He took refuge at Orašac (near Dubrovnik) in

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; hr, Dalmacija ; it, Dalmazia; see #Name, names in other languages) is one of the four historical region, historical regions of Croatia, alongside Croatia proper, Slavonia, and Istria. Dalmatia is a narrow belt of the east shore of ...

, where he remained until the election of

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political an ...

, who summoned him to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

and conferred many favours on him. Soderini lived in Rome for the rest of his life and worked for the good of Florence, to which he was never allowed to return. He died in Rome in 1522 and was buried in the church of S. Maria del Popolo.Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani
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References

Bibliography

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Acknowledgment

* This work in turn cites: ** Silvano Razzi, ''Vita di Pier Soderini'' (Padua, 1737) {{DEFAULTSORT:Soderini, Piero Rulers of Florence 1451 births 1522 deaths Ambassadors of the Republic of Florence Italian politicians 15th-century people of the Republic of Florence 16th-century people of the Republic of Florence 16th-century rulers in Europe Italian republicans