The History of Florence Trivia Quiz

Answer: Soldiers

The area that became Florence was deemed the most fertile lands around the Arno River and Caesar reserved it for his best soldiers when they left service. Florence was set up in a grid-shaped pattern, much like how military camps were in those days. It was originally named Florentia before it was called Firenze, in Italian.

Answer: Goths

The Goths were led by the pagan King Radagaisus, who wanted to destroy Rome because of its Christian beliefs of its senators. The Goths were able to pass through the northern part of Italy with little problem until they reached Florence where over a third of the Goth soldiers were killed. Roman General Stilicho was able to save Florence just as it was about to surrender.

Answer: Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio translates to "Old Bridge" in English. There were shops and stalls built into it like most major bridges at the time. The Ponte Vecchio has been severely damaged and destroyed a few times by flooding, notably in 1117, 1333 and 1966.

Answer: The Pope

The Guelphs and the Ghibellines did not just war in Florence, but in most other Italian city-states as well, especially in the north located close to the Holy Roman Empire. The Guelphs triumphed over the Ghibellines in 1289 and the Pope had a dominating, but not complete, influence over Florence.

In the next century, the Guelphs split into two factions, those supporting the Pope and those who did not. The Black Guelphs, those in favor of the Pope, won control of Florence and exiled many White Guelph leaders, including poet Dante Alighieri.

Answer: Cosimo

Giovanni de Medici was not interested in governmental matters at all and repeatedly refused to take part in civic duties. He preferred the banking industry which paid off when the de Medici Family became the bankers to the Pope. Cosimo de Medici, however, could not wait to gain control.

At the time, Florence had a loose democracy and Cosimo refused to give the appearance that he had political ambitions. However, behind the scenes, he was actively buying votes and manipulating politicians. During their reign, the de Medici family was constantly removed from power and restored to it with the help of various people, usually the reigning Pope.

Answer: Siena

The Battle of Marciano is also known as the Conquest of Siena. Siena was one of the last city-states in Tuscany not controlled or heavily influenced by Florence. Siena had a smaller army than Florence but were aided by France and political enemies of the de Medicis who had been exiled from Florence. Still, Florence, aided by the Holy Roman Empire and others, were able to decisively defeat Siena.

Answer: Fortepiano

The fortepiano is something of a precursor to the grand piano. It was not a very popular instrument at first as it produced an 'unpleasant' sound, was expensive and heavy. The fortepiano did not become popular until Gottfried Silbermann, a German, started working on improvements in the 1730s and 1740s.

Answer: Turin

Florence was selected as the capital for a number of reasons. It was the center of the arts and trade, which was deemed a plus. Florence was also further away from France and Germany, two countries the Kingdom of Italy had strained relations with, than Turin was.

After it became the capital, many of the old sites such as the Piazza del Mercato Vecchio were torn down and replaced with more modern structures, plazas and buildings.

Answer: Hitler said it was too beautiful to destroy.

Nazi Germany had occupied Florence in 1943 and destroyed many of the city's old buildings and monuments. When the British came to liberate Florence in 1944, the Germans blew up many of the bridges to make it more difficult for the British. The Ponte Vecchio was spared allegedly on the orders of Hitler who claimed the bridge was to beautiful to reduce to rubble.

In Florence's town squares the Germans murdered many Italians who resisted them. After the war, the new Italian government rebuilt the bridges that were destroyed from the rubble that remained.

Answer: Uffizi

The attack was apparently in response to a new Italian law that forced imprisoned mafia members into harsher prison conditions. In addition to the five people who were killed, forty-eight people were injured. The Mafia also attacked churches throughout Italy in the summer of 1993 in response to how the Roman Catholic Church was trying to control or destabilize the mafia.

The Uffizi was built in 1581. Each year, about two million visitors come from around the world to view classic works of Italian art including "The Birth of Venus" by Sandro Botticelli and "Madonna and Child with Angel" by Fra Filippo Lippi.