16 A City of Two Tales: Late Medieval Siena
In: The Medieval Chronicle 15Search for other papers by Alison Williams Lewin in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Purchase instant access (PDF download and unlimited online access):
Italians living during the Great Schism (1378–1417) experienced turmoil on a regular basis as division in the Church exacerbated rivalries both great and small across the peninsula. While noble rivals, each backed by a pope, fought for dominance in Italy and brought in armies of mercenaries, Italians suffered from their depredations, in addition to the usual hazards of medieval life such as plague, famine, flooding and fire. As a fairly important city, Siena could escape neither normal disasters nor diplomatic and military entanglements. Two contemporary Sienese chroniclers each left detailed accounts of these tumultuous decades, yet the two accounts barely overlap in content. This paper explores possible explanations for the two very different accounts from artisan authors who might well have known one another and who surely lived through the same shared experiences.