Membership in the Florentine Guelph party had…
November 1301 CE
Membership in the Florentine Guelph party had by 1300 become a prerequisite for holding political office; thus elevating anti-Imperial Guelphism to the status of a political ideology.
The division between Guelphs and Ghibellines is especially important in Florence, although the two sides have frequently rebelled against each other and taken power in many of the other northern Italian cities as well.
Essentially the two sides are now fighting either against German influence (in the case of the Guelphs), or against the temporal power of the Pope (in the case of the Ghibellines).
In Florence and elsewhere, the Guelphs usually include merchants and burghers, while the Ghibellines tend to be noblemen.
They also have adopted peculiar customs such as wearing a feather on a particular side of their hats, or cutting fruit a particular way, according to their affiliation.
After the Guelphs finally defeated the Ghibellines in 1289 at Campaldino and Caprona, the victors had divided into two factions: the White Guelphs (Guelfi Bianchi)—Dante Aligheri's party, led by Vieri dei Cerchi—and the Black Guelphs (Guelfi Neri), led by Corso Donati.
Although initially the split had been along family lines, ideological differences have arisen based on opposing views of the papal role in Florentine affairs, with the Blacks supporting the Pope and the Whites wanting more freedom from Rome.
The Whites, in power at the outset, had expelled the Blacks.
Suspicious of Pope Boniface VIII's designs on Florence, the Whites gradually assume the political coloration of the Ghibellines, whose ideal is a unified, peaceful Italy under the temporal authority of the Holy Roman emperor.
In response, Pope Boniface VIII is planning a military occupation of Florence.
Charles de Valois, brother of the French king, is expected to visit Florence in 1301 because the Pope has appointed him peacemaker for Tuscany.
But the city's government had treated the Pope's ambassadors badly a few weeks before, seeking independence from papal influence.
As it is believed that Valois will eventually receive other unofficial instructions, …