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Tinto Flavour #2 - 17th of January 2025 - Florence

Hello, and welcome for the second week to Tinto Flavour, the new series in which we will show the flavour content of the latest super secret Project Caesar!

Today we will be taking a look at Florence! I hope you get visually stunned by what you see, but not a rapid heartbeat, fainting, confusion, or hallucinations, as it happened to Stendhal when he visited the city in 1817. So, let’s start!



The Florentine domain stands strong at the cusp of a new age! Our republic has stood the test of time and is located in a prime position to take advantage of our region's prosperity and affluence. Around us, rivaling states and potential allies all make their moves in a bid to influence and expand their territory in Italy. \n\nHowever, few are as well known for their aptitude in arts and cultural influence as our forums of thought in Florence. Under the guidance of a capable administration and an educated people, the coming century will elevate our people and have us shine brightly as pioneering innovators during a time of great enlightening.

Country Selection.png

As usual, please consider the UI, 2D and 3D art as WIP.

We have two elements here that appear in the Country Selection screen, AKA the Lobby. The first is the flavour immersion text that countries with unique content have. They have dynamic localization keys, which are the two words in bold that appear in the text, and which while hovered, allow to check a game concept. The second is a screenshot of the country name, flag, ruler, and the three main elements that define the country - Government Type (Republic), Country Type (Settled Country), and Country Rank (County). The courtroom illustration is the generic one for European countries, but it can potentially be unique.

Let’s jump into the country itself...
Florence.png

Tuscany is a lovely place, isn’t it?

The Republic of Florence is a Signoria, which is a unique, major Government Reform for Italian countries:
Signoria.png
Signoria Description.png

This reform unlocks a Succession Law, the Elective Potestate:
Elective Potestate.png

Florence also has a unique Estate Privilege for its ‘Senate’ (the flavour name of ‘Nobility’ for Republics, the ‘Signoria Council’:
Signoria Council.png

And a unique Estate Privilege for the Burghers, ‘Florence Guilds’:
Florence Guilds.png

This unlocks a unique Socioeconomic Law, the ‘Primacy of Florentine Guilds’, in which you can pick one of three different policies to embrace, promoting one of the three different types of Guilds:
Primacy of Florentine Guilds.png

Primacy of Florentine Guilds 2.png

Florence has another unique policy for the Legal Code Law, which is the 'Consiglio Maggiore':
Consiglio Maggiore.png

Florence also has unique advances, 13 in total, spread among the different Ages, of which I’m going to show a few selected ones:
Arte della Lana.png

Fiorino d'Oro.png

Florentine City Militia.png

Uffizi.png

You might notice that 3 of them have unique icons/illustrations, while the one for the Florentine Citizen Militia still uses a generic one.

Speaking of the Florentine Citizen Militia, it unlocks a unique type of Army Levy Unit:
Florentine City Militia 2.png

Florentine City Militia 3.png

And the Uffizi unlock a unique building:
Uffizi 2.png



All that I’ve shown you so far is what we internally consider ‘structural content’, that is, the type of content that would show up and could be (mostly) checked when starting a new game and digging and hovering over the different panels in the game. Let’s now start with the ‘narrative content’, the one that appears dynamically as you play the game. Oh, and one comment: although we usually have a minimum amount of 'structural content' and 'narrative content' for each country with unique flavour, it's widely diverse, so some countries have more 'structural ones' than others that have more 'narrative content', and vice versa, with others having a balanced amount of each type.

Florence can suffer two disasters during the game, an outlier in the game. You may see that they have some associated effects as long as they’re active, and that they also have associated events that may also trigger (8 for the Ciompi, 13 for Savonarola). Here you have the first one, the 'Ciompi Revolt':
Ciompi Revolt.png

Ciompi Revolt.png

And here the second one, 'The Rise of Savonarola':
Savonarola 1.png

Savonarola 2.png

Savonarola 3.png

Savonarola 4.png

The background illustration is the generic one, but it will receive a unique one. Oh, also, inviting Savonarola to Florence might not be a wise decision…

Besides disasters, there are a bunch of interesting flavour DHEs (‘dynamic historical events’) that can happen to Florence, of which I’m going to show you a selection.

The first is the creation of the Medici bank, in the form of a Building Based Country, ruled by a member of the Medici family, of course:
Medici Bank.png

If you select the first option, you will continue playing as Florence, while the second makes you to continue playing as the Bank of Medici! This is not a common type of content, at all, but a very special one, worth showing.

The event creates a building in the location of Florence, a Bank, and also an independent BBC, the Bank of Medici:
Bank.png

Bank of Medici.png

Two more banking countries are starting in Florence in 1337, the Banks of Peruzzi and Bardi:
Peruzzi, Bardi, Medici.png

It also showcases the Medici, after triggering the event.

There are more events related to the Medici's rise of power in Florence, but let me not reveal all the interesting content today, so let’s continue with other events…

An interesting historical character in Florence’s 14th century is Sir John Hawkwood, an infamous condottiere:
John Hawkwood.png

If you decide to hire him, you will be able to hire a unique mercenary company, the ‘White Company’, led by Hawkwood as general:
White Company.png

We also have some famous artists from the Florentine Renaissance, such as:
Leonardo Bruni.png

Da Vinci.png

Donatello.png

Do we have here two of the Ninja Turtles, maybe?

But besides characters, you also have events that may be related to buildings, such as the construction of the Duomo of Florence, that may end up with a unique Work of Art:
Event Florence Cathedral.png

Duomo.png



… And much more Florence-related content, as there are dozens of unique flavour events! But I think that this is enough showcase for today, as we don’t want to spoil the fun of starting a game for the first time! Next week we will be taking a look at the unique flavour content for Novgorod, cheers!
 

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can we have the Ciompi revolt having a chance to turn Florence into a peasant republic as one of its possible outcomes?

If there's a revolt in a foreign country, can similar sized countries get the option to intervene in it (like a casus belli or something)?

can we just just change the religious - humanist sidebar into a religious - laical one?

the church was one big player in humanism as artistical and philosophical concept, yet I'd argue they're pretty religious indeed

humanist could go in a

"traditional - humanist" slider imo
 
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Can you rename the tier 1 Italian republics to Commune?
Screenshot_20250110_161604_Chrome.jpg

It's kinda weird to see these three being called republics and maybe make Florence a tier 2 country
 
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Not having received a response in the dedicated Tinto Maps, I'm rewriting here my proposal that Orvieto should be a playable tag!
You can find my post with all the information here:
Orvieto should be a playable tag!

In line with what was supported by "Flying Roman", all the locations in the Central-Apennine area of the Papal Possessions should be independent, i.e. the provinces of the game called "Perugia" and "Spoleto", such as Viterbo, Assisi, Todi, Narni but also for example Foligno, not present as a territory in the game, and located between Assisi and Spoleto, and Orvieto, the topic of this Post (All the following municipalities were part of the Guelph League).

Orvieto (transposition into imaginative medieval Italian of the Latin "Urbevetus" or Old Town), already known in Gothic times as a formidable fortress (the city is located on a large spur of tuff where it dominates the entire territory), included in the Lombard Tuscia and then in the various imperial donations to the Patrimony of San Pietro, it officially became an independent municipality in 1157, when Pope Adrian IV, the Englishman, stayed there to await the arrival of Emperor Frederick Barbarossa, and, in line with the municipal governments of the time , from 1157 Orvieto was governed by Two Consuls who, in this case, swore loyalty to the Pope and his successors in the guise of Vassals. From this moment Orvieto will begin a process of territorial expansion in all directions, subjugating or purchasing, initially its own countryside, but then the localities of Chiusi, Marsciano, and the County of Soana, later known as the County of Pitigliano, with the strategic port of Orbetello ("Orvietellus" The Little City, translated by many as Little Orvieto), arriving to count in the period of its maximum expansion, i.e. from 1313 to 1337, more than thirty thousand inhabitants in the fortress of the City alone (more populous than Rome and a third of that of Florence), and managing to deploy in 1335 against the rebellion of Guido Orsini, count of Soana, around 5500 men (800 crossbowmen, 150 knights, 800 infantrymen from the city, 3500 infantrymen from the countryside and 200 knights from the countryside ), with whom he regained full control of the county. Furthermore, from its fortress it dominates the Via Francigena and the Via Cassia, the two most important roads that led from Rome to Northern Europe.

View attachment 1192327

(The comune of Orvieto at its maximum expansion 1313)

The protagonists of this fortunate period of expansion were an infinite series of changes of alliances (initially allied with Siena, with which the Aldobrandesca County was divided in 1216, and then allied with its rival Florence in 1229 again for the county) wars (with Florence, Siena, Perugia, Todi, Viterbo and also with the Pope for the Control of the lands adjacent to Lake Bolsena) and types of governments (from the consulate to the government of the people, from the oligarchy to the lordship of Ermanno "Manno" Monaldeschi from 1334 to 1337 with the natural death of Manno) which made the rise of Orvieto a vivid example of the rapid rise of a medieval municipality. With Manno's death in July 1337, his son Corrado and his brother Beltramo, bishop of Orvieto, failed to grasp Manno's political legacy, dragging Orvieto into a bloody family war between the various branches of the Monaldeschi, and thus creating a rapid political instability and combined with the very serious plague epidemic of 1348, led to the dismemberment of its territories, the temporary occupation of the Visconti 1352, and the destruction of the municipality in 1354 with the conquest of Cardinal Egidio Albornoz during his campaign for control of the church's territories.

View attachment 1192329

(The Aldobrandesca county in 1216 which will then be divided between Siena, Orvieto and the Pope.)

Bibliography:

- Orvieto Medievale, Waley
- Orvieto nel Medioevo, Lattanzi
-Conflitti di Popolo, Poggi

I am available for any information or clarification ;)

(P.S. Orvieto is a playable tag in all three starting dates of Crusader Kings 3)
 
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Great Britain is a geographical region here, not a country.
Thanks for clarifying that, though it still feels a bit iffy. Does it always reference the region the character hails from? Maybe you should narrow the scope and display just an area instead, or the majority culture of the location the character is considered to be from, otherwise we end up with these kind of oddities, or stuff like X being from the Baltics or Poland or Scandinavia or Anatolia or whatever other region.
 
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@Pavía I made an whole post regarding the Italian Signorias and how they work in the Italy feedback, Florence in 1337 wasn't exactly a Signoria in the same way as Milan is, the tldr is that essentially a Signoria was a Commune ruled by a lord "in the shadow" as the lords usually didn't have an official presence in the government and used corruption and threats to govern the republics, therefore can you change the name of the government to "Italian/Medieval Commune" please?
Link it please, but that's not necessarily our approach. Italian Late Medieval Signorias evolved from High Medieval Commune, indeed, with a city usually become the 'Signor' ('lord') over its hinterland ('il contado'). In that regard, if it was ruled by a communal govern, by a podestà or by a lord would greatly vary. We also have a different type of succession law for inherited podestates, BTW.
 
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Two more banking countries are starting in Florence in 1337, the Banks of Peruzzi and Bardi:
View attachment 1244289
It also showcases the Medici, after triggering the event.

Both Peruzzi and Bardi had influential presence in Bruges. Here's an overview of Italian banking companies in Bruges.
So they should have buildings there. Perhaps tied to a 'stock market'-related advance?

TL;DR:
- Bardi at least since 1315-1317
- Peruzzi at least since 1306-1308
- In 1416 De Medici about 20 years after their establishment in 1397

Others:
- Rapondi (Lucca) in 1360
- Pazzi (Florence) in 1439
- Borromei (Milan/Venice) in ca. 1420.
 
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Is it possible to show the effects of the events to be triggered? I wish I know what I get into.
What about the magic of discovering it while in the game for the first time? :p

I'll try to show some more event options in future TFs.
 
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Should it be the "de' Medici" family, though (and not DI Medici)? Plenty of historical references findable online
It's taking the generic Italian dynastic root, we potentially might need to hook some exceptions to it.
 
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It seems like Versailles is a building that produces culture after being fed luxuries, while the works of art don’t seem to need any inputs to give out their bonuses, is that the general trend?
You need to pay an artist to produce a work of art; but in general terms, that is correct.
 
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can we have as Florence content to take over and vassalize the banks / behave eventually as a bank?

can the bank in turn try and do the same to Florence?

Also can Banks own trade companies? And can you sell trade companies?
 
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ohhhhh

so they can elect the pope as their ruler, or the Duke of Milan, so on so forth

are there any chances you can rig your way as another Italian country into becoming elected as the head of Florence as well?
That's the fun of playing in Italy, isn't it?
 
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besides dudes like Michelangelo and Machiavelli, can we have a representation of the Thornton expedition and eventually the creation of a Florentine colony in the Americas?
 
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How many of the Florentine noble families are represented in game? I imagine there must be a cut off point where the members of lesser houses are generated as needed, while a family like the Medici would receive the same treatment as a German duke in the HRE.
 
Speaking of the Florentine Citizen Militia, it unlocks a unique type of Army Levy Unit:
I assume that the big L is a placeholder for "levy", right?

And the Uffizi unlock a unique building:
Usually, what would be the more limiting factor for building "important" buildings like this? The price (500 Florins), or the material requirements?

Is this overall an extensive building?

The Arnolfini Portrait and the Mona Lisa in the SAME WORKSHOP? Scandalous! /s
 
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