Editing Ciompi Revolt (section)

==Background==

===Unstable government===
In the years preceding the 1378 revolt, certain aspects of Florentine society set the stage for the uprising. Tensions within the [[oligarchy]] were already present decades before the revolt occurred.<ref name=fourteenth />{{rp|77}} The Arti Minori, or minor guilds, were constantly in contention with the Arti Maggiori, or the seven major guilds. Between the years of 1339 to 1349, wealthy houses went bankrupt and markets were reduced. The economy never peaked nor declined sharply again, aside from minor political and military disputes familiar to Florence.<ref name=fourteenth />{{rp|78}} Economic grievances had drawn artisans and wage-labourers into Florentine politics from the mid-fourteenth century. These workers, however, were forbidden from associating by city government.<ref name=najemy>Najemy, John M. ''A History of Florence''. Malden: Blackwell, 2008.</ref>{{rp|160}} The oligarchy was unstable, as many either died from [[Black Death|the plague]] or fled to safer territories.<ref name=fourteenth />{{rp|78}} From these turbulent times emerged the ''gente nuova'' ('new men') a class of mainly immigrants with no aristocratic background who grew their wealth from trade.<ref name=fourteenth />{{rp|79}} Together, the ''gente nuova'' and Arti Minori bonded over their dislike of the oligarchy. Each side sought to gain control over the other, as the oligarchy used the [[Guelphs and Ghibellines|Guelph Party]] to justify their patriciate status, while the ''gente nuova'' appealed to the middle and lower classes for support. In 1375 the ''gente nuova'' seriously challenged the privileges of the oligarchy, sparking concerns from the latter of their possible collapse. In addition, war broke out against the papacy in the same year, increasing the costly burdens on the city.<ref name=fourteenth />{{rp|80}} In late 1377 to early 1378, the oligarchy and the ''gente nuova'' formed a truce, only to be broken by the oligarchy in June, the month of the revolt.<ref name=fourteenth />{{rp|81}}

===Upper class versus lower class and the origins of the term ''ciompi''===
Tensions between the upper and lower classes were a major factor in bringing about the revolt. It is unclear who exactly qualified as belonging to the Florentine upper class, unlike in [[Venice]], where the class hierarchy was solidly entrenched.<ref name=laboring />{{rp|44}} For the most part of the 14th century, a [[Patrician (post-Roman Europe)|patriciate]] could be identified by the presence of a family name.<ref name=laboring />{{rp|45}} On the other side of the spectrum were the ''popolo minuto'', or the labouring classes of Florence, which also had no set boundaries.<ref name=laboring />{{rp|65}} For example, an artisan could be considered elite if he was wealthy and successful.<ref name=laboring />{{rp|66}} The majority of the ''popolo minuto'', however, consisted of poor labourers flocking from villages to the city for work.<ref name=laboring />{{rp|67}} Forced loans, high taxes and an even higher incidence of indebtedness kept the ''ciompi'' impoverished. In 1355, the ''miserabiles'', defined as having no property, whose possessions were worth less than 100 lire and had no trade or profession, accounted for 22% of households in Florence.<ref name=najemy />{{rp|160}} The most important aspect of this class is that they had no representation in the Florentine government, which would be one of the main changes implemented by the ''ciompi'' later on. These artisans and labourers were not part of guilds until the ''ciompi'' and the Arti Minori took over the government beginning in 1378.<ref name=laboring />{{rp|67}} In becoming the ''ciompi'', the word derives from the florentine word for ‘cardare la lana’ or ‘ciompare’ as the wool workers were the most representative and numerous group of people involved in the revolt although it included also other groups. Records of condemned ''ciompi'' rebels show, in fact, that tavern owners were also found to be part of the revolt.<ref name=laboring />{{rp|89}}

===Rising taxes===
In Florence in 1371, unequal taxation was the norm; in particular, the highlanders paid three times more in taxes than plain dwellers.<ref name=creating />{{rp|80}} This increase in taxation was not due to Florence's wars with [[Pisa]] from 1362–1364, or to the revolt of [[San Miniato]] from 1369–1370, but from the need to pay for increased military forces to push back against the [[Ubaldini]] and their allies. The Ubaldini were a feudal family who had strong influences over the peasants living in the Alpi Fiorentine, and Florence wished to break these ties for control in the north. Adding to the need for more military forces was the increased crime and attacks directed at merchants and at pilgrims passing through Florence that developed after the Black Death.<ref name=creating />{{rp|81}} To pay these militias, however, Florence was getting deeper in debt, and the oligarchy burdened those living in the countryside with increasing taxation.<ref name=creating />{{rp|107}} As taxes kept on increasing, the highlanders chose to flee, worsening a labour shortage, already present after the Black Death.<ref name=creating />{{rp|108}} Furthermore, there were increasing differences in wealth between the ''popolo minuto'' and the patriciates.<ref name=laboring />{{rp|129}} In fact, before the ''ciompi'', there were already rebellions organized by labourers, such as the 9 October 1343 revolt by wool workers led by the Sienese [[Aldobrando di Ciecharino]], who lived in Florence.<ref name=laboring />{{rp|139}}