For a change, this week's cultural talk was in Italian, something which rather daunted me beforehand. Our expert was Domenico Savini, who currently teaches the history of Europe's most important families at the University of the Third Age at Faenza, but who also appears regularly on Italian TV to talk about royal families, particularly on the programme Porta a Porta. This emphasis on family history means that the subject matter doesn't really feel like history as we know it; rather, it feels like we are told individual stories, which, concerning powerful families, have implications far beyond their immediate family unit. This all became clear in Savini's talk, and I soon discovered, much to my relief, that following the story wasn't as entirely impossible as I had first thought.
The talk focussed on the three British Queens to have visited Florence: Queen Victoria, Queen Mary (wife of King George V) and the regent Queen Elizabeth II. While focussing on these three, Savini made the astute observation that links between Florence and the UK royals in fact goes centuries further. After all, King Edward III relied on money from the Florentine Bardi and Peruzzi banks to finance the Hundred Years War in the 14th and 15th Centuries, a costly endeavour which caused him to default on his debts, thus bringing down the great banking families for the time being. Savini also mentioned how, technically speaking, the British Royal Family still holds an account with the Frescobaldi family from around this time, which goes to show how deeply rooted the links are.
In terms of these three monarchs' visits, though, their story was told as much through their places of stay as through their exploits while in Florence. The first of the sumptuous villas used for the royal reception was the Villa Palmieri in Fiesole, visited thrice by Queen Victoria in 1888, 1893 and 1894. Savini noted humorously on the pressure exerted upon the Queen's attendants for this visit, since at the time, near the zenith of the British Empire, she would have enjoyed at least nominal command over about a third of the world's population, hence one wonders how possibly to accommodate such a figure! Indeed, it was truly thanks to Queen Victoria's custom that a telephone line was established at the Villa Palmieri, thus making it the first private residence in the Florence area to enjoy the then cutting-edge technology.
the second stop in the royals' excursions to Florence was the Villa Maiano, also near Fiesole. The interior of this villa was in fact used for the classic Anglo-Florentine film A Room with a View, owing to the fact that much of the furnishings have remained as they were in Edwardian times, when Forster's novel was written. It is also known as one of the places of retreat from the plague used in 14th Century writer Boccaccio's magnum opus, The Decameron. Savini told of how Victoria would enjoy walking through the gardens with her servant (now thought to be an important confidant of the monarch, and is the centrepiece of the newly released Film Victoria and Abdul) Abdul Karim. The Villa can be visited today and is famed for both these gardens and its Neo-Gothic tower beside a large pond.
Both Queen Mary, known also as Mary of Teck, and Queen Elizabeth II made visits to various villas surrounding the city, such as the Villa Medici a Fiesole, the Villa Sparta and the Villa Capponi. The Queen Mother too looked fondly upon her childhood sojourns to the latter residence, and Savini showed us a film from 1937 which showed the Villa Sparta visited by royals from Greece, Denmark and UK alike. He told these tales with nostalgia aplenty, and we were lucky enough to be joined by many current owners of these country houses. Savini gave heartfelt thanks to each of these individual families, as the upkeep of these buildings today is an immense burden in terms of both time and money. It certainly wasn't something I knew anything about before going, but it was great to be given a window into this world of royalty, while also getting good Italian listening practice!
The talk focussed on the three British Queens to have visited Florence: Queen Victoria, Queen Mary (wife of King George V) and the regent Queen Elizabeth II. While focussing on these three, Savini made the astute observation that links between Florence and the UK royals in fact goes centuries further. After all, King Edward III relied on money from the Florentine Bardi and Peruzzi banks to finance the Hundred Years War in the 14th and 15th Centuries, a costly endeavour which caused him to default on his debts, thus bringing down the great banking families for the time being. Savini also mentioned how, technically speaking, the British Royal Family still holds an account with the Frescobaldi family from around this time, which goes to show how deeply rooted the links are.
In terms of these three monarchs' visits, though, their story was told as much through their places of stay as through their exploits while in Florence. The first of the sumptuous villas used for the royal reception was the Villa Palmieri in Fiesole, visited thrice by Queen Victoria in 1888, 1893 and 1894. Savini noted humorously on the pressure exerted upon the Queen's attendants for this visit, since at the time, near the zenith of the British Empire, she would have enjoyed at least nominal command over about a third of the world's population, hence one wonders how possibly to accommodate such a figure! Indeed, it was truly thanks to Queen Victoria's custom that a telephone line was established at the Villa Palmieri, thus making it the first private residence in the Florence area to enjoy the then cutting-edge technology.
the second stop in the royals' excursions to Florence was the Villa Maiano, also near Fiesole. The interior of this villa was in fact used for the classic Anglo-Florentine film A Room with a View, owing to the fact that much of the furnishings have remained as they were in Edwardian times, when Forster's novel was written. It is also known as one of the places of retreat from the plague used in 14th Century writer Boccaccio's magnum opus, The Decameron. Savini told of how Victoria would enjoy walking through the gardens with her servant (now thought to be an important confidant of the monarch, and is the centrepiece of the newly released Film Victoria and Abdul) Abdul Karim. The Villa can be visited today and is famed for both these gardens and its Neo-Gothic tower beside a large pond.
Both Queen Mary, known also as Mary of Teck, and Queen Elizabeth II made visits to various villas surrounding the city, such as the Villa Medici a Fiesole, the Villa Sparta and the Villa Capponi. The Queen Mother too looked fondly upon her childhood sojourns to the latter residence, and Savini showed us a film from 1937 which showed the Villa Sparta visited by royals from Greece, Denmark and UK alike. He told these tales with nostalgia aplenty, and we were lucky enough to be joined by many current owners of these country houses. Savini gave heartfelt thanks to each of these individual families, as the upkeep of these buildings today is an immense burden in terms of both time and money. It certainly wasn't something I knew anything about before going, but it was great to be given a window into this world of royalty, while also getting good Italian listening practice!
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| Savini (fourth from right) pictured with modern-day owners of some of the villas referenced in his talk |
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