CHAPTER II.

LIFE IN FLORENCE.

Benedetto Dei’s Comparison of Florence and Venice—Description of Florence in the latter Part of the Fifteenth Century—Industry and Trade—Interest on Money and Money-Lenders—Mode of Life of the Higher Classes—Splendour of Festivities—Benedetto Salutati’s Banquet at Naples—Life in Florence—Town and Villa—Amusements—Athletic Exercises—Hunting—Plays—Religious Representations and Processions—The Potenza and its Growth—Carnavals and Parades—Reaction against Carnavals—Historical and Mythological Processions—Bartolommeo Benci’s Carnaval Procession—Buffoonery—Piovano Arlotto—The Fat Carpenter—Good and Bad of the Social Condition—Benedetto Varchi’s Description of the People of Florence—System of Family Life—Distinguished Women—Knighthood—Cavalieri di Popolo—The Embassies—Splendour of Embassies in the Fifteenth Century 338