Dear Reader,

Few of us have a real handle on the medieval time period and Italy’s history. So here are a few reminders before you dive back into Gabi and Lia’s story.…

In this era, Italy was volatile and divided into lots of city-states. The Vatican had been moved to Avignon, France, because the pope(s) felt safer there. The Vatican would stay away from Rome for almost seventy years total.

City-states were sometimes called communes, or republics, and were run by semidemocratic bodies or groups of elected leaders. In Siena, this group was the Council of Nine. Florence, or Firenze, had two councils with more than five hundred men; I’ve chosen to represent them with the fictional grandi, based on a smaller group that actually served as city advisors to the Fiorentini (people of Florence).

Other territories were ruled by rich lords with hilltop fortresses or castles—but most had to be in league with others (or had powerful connections) if they hoped to hold their territory for any length of time. Many hired mercenaries or knights to help them fight off anyone attempting to take what was theirs.

Florence and Siena, like all of the big city-states, alternated between peace and a struggle for power and territory. In the thirteenth century, the terms Guelph and Ghibelline came into use as people fought either for the emperor’s imperialistic goals (Ghibelline) or to follow the pope’s leadership (Guelph). For the purposes of this fourteenth-century series, Florence/Firenze is referred to as “Guelph” and Siena as “Ghibelline,” which is a simplistic generalization of their loyalties. But trust me, if we went deeper, I’d really risk losing you.

I see the backdrop of politics and history as seasoning to the fictional stew; the heart of the meal is the story itself. My hope is that this recap helps you stay with that!

—LTB