The public festivals of Siena known as the “Palio delle Contrade” have a European celebrity. They are held in the public square, the curious and historic Piazza del Campo (now Piazza di Vittorio Emanuele), on 2d July and 16th August of each year; they date from the Middle Ages and were instituted in commemoration of victories and in honour of the Virgin Mary (the old title of Siena, as shown by seals and medals, having been “Sena vetus civitas Virginis”). In the 15th and 16th centuries the celebrations consisted of bull-fights. At the close of the 16th century these were replaced by races with mounted buffaloes, and since 1650 by (ridden) horses. Siena is divided into seventeen contrade (wards), each with a distinct appellation and a chapel and flag of its own; and every year ten of these contrade, chosen by lot, send each one horse to compete for the prize palio or banner. The aspect of Siena during these meetings is very characteristic, and the whole festivity bears a mediaeval stamp in harmony with the architecture and history of the town.

Among the noblest fruits of Sienese art are the public buildings adorning the city. The cathedral, one of the finest examples of Italian Gothic architecture, was begun in the early years of the 13th century, and in 1317 its walls were extended to the baptistery of San Giovanni; a further enlargement was begun in 1339 but never carried out, and a few ruined walls and arches alone remain to show the magnificence of the uncompleted design. The splendid west front, of tricuspidal form, enriched with a multitude of columns, statues, and inlaid marbles, was finished in 1380. Space fails for the enumeration of the art treasures of the interior, but conspicuous among them is the well-known octagonal pulpit by Niccolò Pisano, dating from about 1274. The cathedral pavement is almost unique. It is inlaid with designs in colour and black and white, representing Biblical and legendary subjects, and is supposed to have been begun by Duccio della Buoninsegna. But the finest portions beneath the domes, with scenes from the history of Abraham, Moses, and Elijah, are by Domenico Beccafumi and are executed with marvellous boldness and effect. The choir stalls also deserve mention: the older ones (remains of the original choir) are in tarsia work; the others, dating from the 16th century, are carved from Riccio's designs. The Piccolomini Library, adjoining the duomo, was founded by Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini-Todeschini (afterwards Pius III.) in honour of his uncle, Pius II. Here are Pinturicchio’s famous frescos of scenes from the life of the latter pontiff and the collection of choir books (supported on sculptured desks) with splendid illuminations by Sienese and other artists. The church of San Giovanni, the ancient baptistery, beneath the cathedral is approached by an outer flight of marble steps built in 1451. It has a beautiful façade designed by Giovanni di Mino del Pellicciaio in 1382, and a marvellous font with bas-reliefs by Donatello, Ghiberti, Giacomo della Quercia, and other 15th-century sculptors. The other churches are—the Collegiata di Proyenzano, a vast building of some elegance, designed by Schifardini (1594); Sant’ Agostino, rebuilt by Van vitelli in 1755, containing a Crucifixion and Saints by Perugino, a Massacre of the Innocents by Matteo di Giovanni, the Coming of the Magi by Sodoma, and a St Antony by Spagnoletto or his school; the beautiful church of the Servîtes (15th century), which contains another Massacre of the Innocents by Matteo di Giovanni and other good examples of the Sienese school; San Francesco, designed by Agostino and Agnolo about 1326, and now (1887) being restored, which once possessed many fine paintings by Duccio Buoninsegna, Lorenzetti, Sodoma, and Beccafumi, but some of these perished in the great fire of 1655, and the rest were removed to the Institute of Fine Arts after 1862 during the temporary desecration of the church; San Domenico, a fine 13th-century building with a single nave and transept, containing Sodoma’s splendid fresco the Swoon of St Catherine, the Madonna of Guido da Siena, and a crucifix by Sano di Pietro. This church crowns the Fontebranda hill above the famous fountain of that name immortalized by Dante, and in a steep lane below stands the house of St Catherine, now converted into a church and oratory, and maintained at the expense of the inhabitants of the Contrada dell’ Oca. It contains some good pictures by Pacchia and other works of art, but is chiefly visited for its historic interest and as a striking memorial of the characteristic piety of the Sienese.

The communal palace in the Piazza del Campo was begun in 1288 and finished in 1309. It is built of brick, is a fine specimen of Pointed Gothic, and was designed by Agostino and Agnolo. The light and elegant tower (Torre del Mangia) soaring from one side of the palace was begun in 1325, and the chapel standing at its foot, raised at the expense of the Opera del Duomo as a public thank-offering after the plague of 1348, dates from 1352. This grand old palace has other attractions besides the beauty of its architecture, for its interior is lined with works of art. The atrium has a fresco by Bartolo di Fredi and the two ground-floor halls contain a Coronation of the Virgin by Sano di Pietro and a splendid Resurrection by Sodoma. In the Sala dei Nove or della Pace above are the noble allegorical frescos of Ambrogio Lorenzetti representing the effects of just and unjust government; the Sala delle Balestre or del Mappamondo is painted by Simone di Martino (Memmi) and others, the Cappella della Signoria by Taddeo di Bartolo, and the Sala del Concistorio by Beccafumi. Another hall is now being prepared in memory of Victor Emmanuel II., and its frescos and decorations are to be entrusted exclusively to Sienese artists. The former hall of the grand council, built in 1327, was converted into the chief theatre of Siena by Riccio in 1560, and, after being twice burnt, was rebuilt in 1753 from Bibbiena’s designs. Another Sienese theatre, the Rozzi, in Piazza San Pellegrino, designed by A. Doveri and erected in 1816, although modern, has an historic interest as the work of an academy dating from the 16th century, called the Congrega de’ Rozzi, that played an important part in the history of the Italian comic stage.

The city is adorned by many other noble edifices both public and private, of which we will mention the following palaces—the Tolomei (1205); Buonsignori, formerly Tegliacci, an elegant 14th-century construction, restored in 1848; Grottanelli, formerly Pecci and anciently the residence of the captain of war, recently restored in its original style; Sansedoni; Marsilii; Piccolomini, now belonging to the Government and containing the state archives; Piccolomini delle Papesse, like the other Piccolomini mansion, designed by Bernardo Rossellino, and now the national bank; the enormous block of the Monte de’ Paschi, enlarged and partly rebuilt in the original style between 1877 and 1881, and including the old Dogana and Spannocchi palaces; the Loggia di Mercanzia (15th century), now a club; the Loggia del Papa, erected by Pius II.; and other fine buildings. We must also mention the two celebrated fountains, Fonte Gaia and Fontebranda; the Fonte Nuova, near Porta Ovile, by Camaino di Crescentino also deserves notice. Thanks to all these architectural treasures, the narrow Sienese streets with their many windings and steep ascents are full of picturesque charm, and, together with the collections of excellent paintings, foster the local pride of the inhabitants and preserve their taste and feeling for art.

History.— The origin of Siena, like that of other Italian cities, is lost in a mist of legendary tradition. It was probably founded by the Etruscans, and then falling under the Roman rule became a colony in the reign of Augustus, or a little earlier, and was distinguished by the name of Saena Julia. Few memorials of the Roman era or of the first centuries of Christianity have been preserved, and none at all of the interval preceding the Lombard period. We have documentary evidence that during this epoch, in the reign of Rotaris (or Rotari), there was a bishop of Siena named Mouro. Attempts to trace earlier bishops as far back as the 5th century have yielded only vague and contradictory results. Under the Lombards the civil government was in the hands of a gastaldo, under the Carolingians of a count, whose authority, by slow degrees and a course of events similar to what took place in other Italian communes, gave way to that of the bishop, whose power in turn gradually diminished and was superseded by that of the consuls and the commonwealth.

We have written evidence of the consular government of Siena from 1125 to 1212; the number of consuls varied from three to twelve. This government, formed of gentil-uomini or nobles, did not remain unchanged throughout the whole period, but was gradually forced to accept the participation of the popolani or lower classes, whose efforts to rise to power were continuous and determined. Thus in 1137 they obtained a third part of the government by the reconstitution of the general council with 100 nobles and 50 popolani. In 1199 the institution of a foreign podestà gave a severe blow to the consular magistracy, which was soon extinguished; and in 1233 the people again rose against the nobles in the hope of ousting them entirely from office. The attempt was not completely successful; but the Government was now equally divided between the two estates by the creation of a supreme magistracy of twenty-four citizens,—twelve nobles and twelve popolani. During the rule of the nobles and the mixed rule of nobles and popolani the commune of Siena was enlarged by fortunate acquisitions of neighbouring lands and by the submission of feudal lords, such as the Scialenghi, Aldobrandeschi, Pannocchieschi, Visconti di Campiglia, Ac. Before long the reciprocal need of fresh territory and frontier disputes, especially concerning Poggibonsi and Montepulciano, led to an outbreak of hostilities between Florence and Siena. Thereupon, to spite the rival republic, the Sienese took the Ghibelline side, and the German emperors, beginning with Frederick Barbarossa, rewarded their fidelity by the grant of various privileges.

During the 12th and 13th centuries there were continued disturbances, petty wars, and hasty reconciliations between Florence and Siena, until in 1254-55 a more binding peace and alliance was concluded. But this treaty, in spite of its apparent stability, led in a few years to a fiercer struggle; for in 1258 the Florentines complained that Siena had infringed its terms by giving refuge to the Ghibellines they had expelled, and on the refusal of the Sienese to yield to these just remonstrances both states made extensive preparations for war. Siena applied to Manfred, obtained from him a strong body of German horse, under the command of Count Giordano, and likewise sought the aid of its Ghibelline allies. Florence equipped a powerful citizen army, of which the original registers are still preserved in the volume entitled Il Libro di Montaperti in the Florence archives. This army, led by the podestà of Florence and twelve burgher captains, set forth gaily on its march towards the enemy’s territories in the middle of April 1260, and during its first campaign, ending 18th May, won an insignificant victory at Santa Petronilla, outside the walls of Siena. But in a second and more important campaign, in which the militia of the other Guelf towns of Tuscany took part, the Florentines were signally defeated at Montaperti on 4th September 1260. This defeat crushed the power of Florence for many years, reduced the city to desolation, and apparently annihilated the Florentine Guelfs. But the battle of Benevento (1266) and the establishment of the dynasty of Charles of Anjou on the Neapolitan throne put an end to the Ghibelline predominance in Tuscany. Ghibelline Siena soon felt the effects of the change in the defeat of its army at Colle di Valdelsa (1269) by the united forces of the Guelf exiles, Florentines, and French, and the death in that battle of her powerful citizen Provenzano Salvani (mentioned by Dante), who had been the leading spirit of the Government at the time of the victory of Montaperti. For some time Siena remained faithful to the Ghibelline cause; nevertheless Guelf and democratic sentiments began to make head. The Ghibellines were on several occasions expelled from the city, and, even when a temporary reconciliation of the two parties allowed them to return, they failed to regain their former influence.

Meanwhile the popular party acquired increasing power in the state. Exasperated by the tyranny of the Salimbeni and other patrician families allied to the Ghibellines, it decreed in 1277 the exclusion of all nobles from the supreme magistracy (consisting since 1270 of thirty-six instead of twenty-four members), and insisted that this council should be formed solely of Guelf traders and men of the middle class. This constitution was confirmed in 1280 by the reduction of the supreme magistracy to fifteen members, all of the humbler classes, and was definitively sanctioned in 1285 (and 1287) by the institution of the magistracy of nine. This council of nine, composed only of burghers, carried on the government for about seventy years, and its rule was sagacious and peaceful. The territories of the state were enlarged; a friendly alliance was maintained with Florence; trade flourished; in 1321 the university was founded, or rather revived, by the introduction of Bolognese scholars; the principal buildings now adorning the town were begun; and the charitable institutions, which are the pride of modern Siena, increased and prospered. But meanwhile the exclusiveness of the single class of citizens from whose ranks the chief magistrates were drawn had converted the government into a close oligarchy and excited the hatred of every other class. Nobles, judges, notaries, and populace rose in frequent revolt, while the nine defended their state (1295-1309) by a strong body of citizen militia divided into terzieri (sections) and contrade (wards), and violently repressed these attempts. But in 1355 the arrival of Charles IV. in Siena gave fresh courage to the malcontents, who, backed by the imperial authority, overthrew the government of the nine and substituted a magistracy of twelve drawn from the lowest class. These new rulers were to some extent under the influence of the nobles who had fomented the rebellion, but the latter were again soon excluded from all share in the government. This was the beginning of a determined struggle for supremacy, carried on for many years, between the different classes of citizens, locally termed ordini or monti,— the lower classes striving to grasp the reins of government, the higher classes already in office striving to keep all power in their own hands, or to divide it in proportion to the relative strength of each monte. As this struggle is of too complex a nature to be described in detail, we must limit ourselves to a summary of its leading episodes.

The twelve who replaced the council of nine (as these had previously replaced the council of the nobles) consisted —both as individuals and as a party—of ignorant, incapable, turbulent men, who could neither rule the state with firmness nor confer prosperity on the republic. They speedily broke with the nobles, for whose manoeuvres they had at first been useful tools, and then split into two factions, one siding with the Tolomei, the other, the more restless and violent, with the Salimbeni and the noveschi

(partisans of the nine), who, having still some influence in the city, probably fomented these dissensions, and, as we shall see later on, skilfully availed themselves of every chance likely to restore them to power. In 1368 the adversaries of the twelve succeeded in driving them by force from the public palace, and substituting a government of thirteen,—ten nobles and three noveschi. This government lasted only twenty-two days, from 2d to 24th September, and was easily overturned by the dominant faction of the dodicini (partisans of the twelve), aided by the Salimbeni and the populace, and favoured by the emperor Charles IV. The nobles were worsted, being driven from the city as well as from power; but the absolute rule of the twelve was brought to an end, and right of participation in the government was extended to another class of citizens. For, on the expulsion of the thirteen from the palace, a council of 124 plebeians created a new magistracy of twelve difensori (defenders), no longer drawn exclusively from the order of the twelve, but composed of five of the popolo minuto, or lowest populace (now first admitted to the government), four of the twelve, and three of the nine. But it was of short duration, for the dodicini were ill satisfied with their share, and in December of the same year (1368) joined with the popolo minuto in an attempt to expel the three noveschi from the palace. But the new popular order, which had already asserted its predominance in the council of the riformatori, now drove out the dodicini, and for five days (11th to 16th December) kept the government in its own hands. Then, however, moved by fear of the emperor, who had passed through Siena two months before on his way to Rome, and who was about to halt there on his return, it tried to conciliate its foes by creating a fresh council of 150 riformatori, who replaced the twelve defenders by a new supreme magistracy of fifteen, consisting of eight popolani, four dodicini, and three noveschi, entitled respectively “people of the greater number,” “people of the middle number,” and “people of the less number.” From this renewal dates the formation of the new order or monte dei riformatori, the title henceforth bestowed on all citizens, of both the less and the greater people, who had reformed the government and begun to participate in it in 1368. The turbulent faction of the twelve and the Salimbeni, being dissatisfied with these changes, speedily rose against the new Government. This time they were actively aided by Charles IV., who, having returned from Rome, sent his militia, commanded by the imperial vicar Malatesta da Rimini, to attack the public palace. But the Sienese people, being called to arms by the council of fifteen, made a most determined resistance, routed the imperial troops, captured the standard, and confined the emperor in the Salimbeni palace. Thereupon Charles came to terms with the Government, granted it an imperial patent, and left the city, consoled for his humiliation by the gift of a large sum of money.

In spite of its wide basis and great energy, the monte dei riformatori, the heart of the new Government, could not satisfactorily cope with the attacks of adverse factions and treacherous allies. So, the better to repress them, it created in 1369 a chief of the police, with the title of esecutore, and a numerous association of popolani— the company or casata grande of the people—as bulwarks against the nobles, who had been recalled from banishment, and who, though fettered by strict regulations, were now eligible for offices of the state. But the appetite for power of the “less people” and the dregs of the populace was whetted rather than satisfied by the installation of the riformatori in the principal posts of authority. Among the wool-carders—men of the lowest class, dwelling in the precipitous lanes about the Porta Ovile—there was an association styling itself the “company of the worm.” During the famine of 1371 this company rose in revolt, sacked the houses of the rich, invaded the public palace, drove from the council of fifteen the four members of the twelve...