Farinata degli Uberti
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Manente degli Uberti (1212 – 11 November 1264), known as Farinata degli Uberti,
Life
Farinata belonged to one of the most ancient and prominent noble families of
Farinata's allies wanted to ensure that Florence would never again rise to threaten them. Following the example of Roman ruthlessness towards its enemy Carthage, they voted to raze Florence utterly to the ground. Only Farinata stood out against them, declaring himself to be a Florentine first and a Ghibelline second, and vowing that he would defend his native city with his own sword. The Ghibellines thereupon took the lesser course of destroying the city's defences and the homes of the leading Guelphs, knocking down 103 palaces, 580 houses, and 85 towers.
When the Guelphs regained control of the city in 1266, they repeated in reverse the demolitions, by destroying every building belonging to the Uberti clan, which were in what is now Piazza della Signoria, decreeing as well that no building should ever be erected in that accursed space. This is why Palazzo Vecchio, begun in the 1290s, is not in the centre of the piazza, but squeezed over to one side.
Heresy
Farinata died in Florence in 1264. In 1283, his body and that of his wife, Adaleta, were exhumed from their resting place in
He was of the opinion of Epicurus, that the soul dies with the body, and maintained that human happiness consisted in temporal pleasures; but he did not follow these in the way that Epicurus did, that is by making long fasts to have afterwards pleasure in eating dry bread; but was fond of good and delicate viands, and ate them without waiting to be hungry; and for this sin he is damned as a Heretic in this place.
Therefore, Farinata appears with several other
Farinata is also mentioned in
Notes
- durum wheat flour.
References
- ^ "Farinata degli Uberti Biography". Britannica.com. Retrieved 6 May 2021.