Paula C. Clarke's detailed account of the careers of two brothers, Tommaso and Niccolo Soderini, and their relationship with the Medici family opens up a new perspective on the political world of Renaissance Florence. The Soderini were at different times supporters and adversaries of the Medici, whose rise to power remains the subject of historical debate. Based on hitherto unpublished sources, particularly from the archives of Florence and Milan, The Soderini and the Medici examines the nature of the ascendancy of the Medici and of the opposition to them, the sources of their power, the operation of their system of patronage, the bonds connecting one of the most successful political elites in Renaissance Italy, and the development of the political institutions of the Florentine state. It is an important contribution to our understanding of the political and constitutional history of Florence.

Paula C. Clarke's profile page

Paula C. Clarke is Assistant Professor of History at McGill University, Montreal.

"This book has the scholarly merits of a long-matured thesis. The research upon which it is based has been painstakingly done and the material has been intelligently assembled to produce a valuable book."

--John N. Stephens, University of Edinburgh, History '92 01/12/1992

"This book has the scholarly merits of a long-matured thesis. The research upon which it is based has been painstakingly done and the material has been intelligently assembled to produce a valuable book."

--John N. Stephens, History 25/01/1993

"deeply and meticulously researched book ... Clarke's discussions provide rich detail ... she has written a solid book"

--Anthony Molho, Brown University, American Historical Review, December 1992 06/04/1993

"Clarke has provided helpful illumination of a dark chapter in the making of the regime through the story of one of its rival families."

--Dalhousie Review 10/10/1995

"The book's strength lies in its precision ... well-documented and well-written study."

--Carol Bresnahan Menning, University of Toledo, The Historian 23/09/1993

"Clarke's research is based almost entirely on political documents, including correspondence ... there is much material in this book for social historians"

--Journal of Interdisciplinary History 14/12/1993

"In Clarke's discussion of the Medici ascendancy, its attendant problems and its inherent instability, her book is closely and suitably aligned with Rubinstein's work. Clarke has done much to clarify how the business of the regime was conducted in a symbiotic relationship between the Medici and their powerful and equally ambitious friends ... this book will rightfully take its place among the standard works in the field of Florentine Quattrocento studies."

--Roger J. Crum, University of Dayton, Renaissance Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, March 1993 27/09/1993

"a noteworthy addition to the prosopographical tradition of Medicean studies..., Clarke's narrative is absorbing and clear, integrating its microhistorical findings with major developments of 15th-century Florentine history. This is a book serious students of 15th-century Florentine history will need to have at hand."

--T. C. P. Zimmermann, Choice Jul/Aug '92