Because this is intended as a popular book, I have not included a comprehensive list of sources. Quotes in the text are generally attributed, and many relevant works are mentioned. Listed below are sources for each chapter, which may prove of interest for further reading.
Prologue: High Noon
My description of the events that took place during the Pazzi conspiracy draws on several contemporary and historical sources. The best eyewitness account is that of Angelo Poliziano, which is drawn upon by all who describe this event in any detail. Unfortunately, this has not been translated. April Blood by Lauro Martines (Cape, 2003) is a scholarly, but highly readable, account of the entire conspiracy.
Part 1: Origins of a Dynasty
Chapters 1–2
The best authority on early Florence is Renaissance Florence by Gene A. Brucker (Wiley, 1969). Raymond de Roover’s The Rise and Decline of the Medici Bank (Harvard University Press, 1963) is the classic work on the subject and is filled with all manner of unexpected gems, details of the accounts, tales of misdeeds by errant managers of far-flung branches, and so forth. It gives a fascinating picture of Medici banking during the period from 1397 to 1494.
Chapter 3
The most perceptive work on this period is Dale Kent’s The Rise of the Medici (Oxford University Press, 1970). For sources nearer the period, try Francesco Guicciardini’s The History of Italy and the History of Florence (abridged) (Brown, 1966) and Niccolò Machiavelli’s The History of Florence (Bell, 1995). Neither is utterly reliable, but they give the flavour of the period and paint a vivid picture of many vital incidents. I have drawn extensively on these books throughout.
Chapters 4–5
Try Cosimo de Medici pater patriae by Curt S. Gutkind (Oxford University Press, 1938) for a good, authoritative account of Cosimo’s early period up to 1464.
Part 2: Out of the Darkness
Chapters 6–7
Cosimo de’ Medici by K. D. Ewart (Hale, 1989) remains a good read despite its age. Marcel Brion’s The Medici: A Florentine Family (Elek, 1969) has been translated from the French, and also covers this period well, especially the artistic influence. Two Renaissance Book Hunters by Phyllis W. G. Gordan (Columbia University Press, 1974) fills in the fascinating background to a number of Cosimo’s scholarly humanist friends.
Chapter 8
The Council of Florence by Joseph Gill (Cambridge University Press, 1959) is the fascinating and probably definitive account of this event. It contains all manner of exotic details, and draws a compelling picture of a little-known period, as well as explaining the truly Byzantine theological disputes.
Chapter 9
A highly readable and deservedly popular book, which goes into this subject matter in some detail, is Brunelleschis Dome by Ross King (Chatto & Windus, 2000). The Life of Brunelleschi by Antonio Manetti (Pennsylvania State University, 1970) is perhaps the best modern source for his life and times.
Chapters 10–11
Florence and the Medici by J. R. Hale (Phoenix, 2001) is the best scholarly work on the politics and power shifts of this period. It is also highly readable and filled with many intriguing insights.
Part 3: The Prince and the Prophet of Doom
Chapters 12–13
The classic biography is Lorenzo the Magnificent by W. Roscoe (Bohn, 1872), though it does not adopt a modern approach; for the Pazzi conspiracy, see the Prologue. The Penguin Book of the Renaissance, ed. J. H. Plumb (Penguin, 1982) has a wide range of excellent essays on this period of the Renaissance. Those interested should try Lorenzo de’Medici: Selected Poems and Prose, ed. John Thiem (Pennsylvania State University, 1991).
Chapter 14
Surprisingly, there are no good biographies of Pico della Mirandola in English. For an example of his work, with some good explanatory notes, see the classic reprint Pico Della Mirandola, ed. Sir Thomas More (Nutt, 1890). The best early study of the period remains the celebrated The Civilization of the Renaissance by Jacob Burckhardt (2 vols, Torch Books, 1958).
Chapter 15
By far the most readable work on the Renaissance artists remains Giorgio Vasari’s Lives of the Artists (Penguin, 1991). Though not all the stories he tells are true, they are seldom less than illuminating. He has chapters on the major artists mentioned in this work. A good biography of Botticelli is Wadia Bettina’s Botticelli (Hamlyn, 1968). For Michelangelo’s life, try Howard Hibbard’s Michelangelo (Penguin, 1998) or Herbert Von Einem’s Michelangelo (Methuen, 1973), which is translated from the German. There are several good editions of Michelangelo’s Sonnets. The best popular work on Leonardo da Vinci is the recent biography by Michael White, Leonardo the First Scientist (Little Brown, 2000).
Chapters 16–17
Savonarola by Roberto Ridolfi (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1959) is the most extensive work on his life. Although it is something of a whitewash, it is easy to see one’s way around much of his special pleading.
Part 4: The Pope and the Protestant
Chapters 18–19
The best popular work on Michelangelo’s David is undoubtedly Anton Gill’s Il Gigante (Review, 2003), which is in English, despite its title. Those wishing to know more about this aspect of the artist’s work should try Martin Weinberger’s Michelangelo the Sculptor (2 vols, Roudedge & Kegan Paul, 1967).
Chapter 20
The most interesting and readable popular modern biography of Machiavelli is Niccolò’s Smile by Maurizio Viroli (Taurus, 2001). For a more detailed, but almost equally readable study of the themes in Machiavelli’s life try the award-winning Machiavelli in Hell by Sebastian De Grazia (Papermac, 1996).
Chapter 21
Biographies of popes are few and far between these days. Leo X by W. Roscoe (2 vols, Bohn, 1883) may be comparatively ancient, but it contains much fascinating detail.
Chapter 22
Martin Luther: An Illustrated Biography by Peter Manns (Crossroad, 1982) gives an intriguing picture of the life, religion and times of this always interesting figure. For a popular biographical approach, try Luther the Reformer: the Story of the Man and His Career by James Kittelson (Augsburg, 1986).
Chapter 23
The best popular life of Clement VII appears in the classic The Medici Popes by Herbert M. Vaughan (Methuen, 1908), which contains a mine of information and remains highly readable throughout; worth reading for Leo X as well. The highly readable and highly unreliable The Autobiography of Benvenuto Cellini, trans. George Bull (Penguin, 1998), remains a classic of its kind; one of the first autobiographies, it paints a lively picture of Renaissance Italy, as well as all kinds of scrapes and unlikely victories achieved by its unscrupulous but endearing author.
Part 5: The Battle for Truth
Chapters 24–25
The turbulent period covered by these chapters is best described in the more comprehensive works on the Medici. The earliest classic is G. F. Young’s The Medici (2 vols, Murray, 1909), which has very fixed and exultant views on the art. Some may find it a little old-fashioned for their taste. A more modern work is The Medici by James Cleugh (Hale, 1976), which remains consistently interesting and covers much background family material.
Chapter 26
The two formidable and much-maligned figures of this chapter are long overdue a critical reassessment. At the moment the most comprehensive biographies remain Catherine de Médicis by Paul Van Dyke (2 vols, Murray, 1923) and Marie de Médicis by Julia S. H. Pardoe (3 vols, Samuel Bagsten & Sons, 1902), which concentrates on her time in France. For a good illustrated life, try Catherine de Médicis by Hugo Ross Williamson (Michael Joseph, 1973).
Chapter 27
Stillman Drake’s Galileo at Work (Chicago University Press, 1978) remains the classic biography of this always fascinating subject. He also relates the man and his scientific development to the age around him.
Chapters 28–9
The final decline in all its lurid splendour and squalor is lovingly depicted in Harold Acton’s The Last Medici (Methuen, 1973). Another general work on the Medici that catches this period well is Christopher Hibbert’s classic The Rise and Fall of the House of Medici (Penguin, 1995).