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Founded as a Roman settlement in the first century BC, Firenze was much like any other Tuscan city-state in the Middle Ages, caught in the quest for dominance between the Guelphs, who favored the Pope and were supported by the middle-class trade guilds, and the Ghibellines who supported Austria's Holy Roman Emperor and were backed by the land-owning aristocracy. Florence, being a city of merchants, bankers and tradesmen, was predominantly Guelph.

The turbulence of those days is still reflected in austere and forbidding architecture of Firenze's palazzi. These unwelcoming palaces, built by the city's prominent families, safely guarded the beautiful treasures within. Even today, many visitors are put off by these fortress-like houses, unless through an open door they glimpse the welcoming courtyard within.