We wish to address the usefulness of a set of documents which are conserved in the archives of Florence to the understanding of the birth and development of Renaissance political thought. These are the protocols of the Consulte e Pratiche, which were meetings organized in Florence to help the main government organs of the period spanning from 1494 to 1512. These sources are crucial to the understanding of the operation of Florentine institutions from the late XVth. Century. In them we can see the echoes of a century of humanistic culture, and the forging of the new political reflection. We want to explore the philosophical use that can be made of these Florentine texts. Our hope is that of drawing attention to a couple of themes that can contribute to a better understanding of the wider question of the relation between political philosophy and history.
Renaissance; Florence; Humanism