Amidei

   La casa, di che nacque il vostro fleto
per lo giusto disdegno che v’ ha morti
e posto fine al vostro viver lieto,
   era onorata essa e suoi consorti.

(Paradiso XVI.136-39)

   The house, whence was born your mourning
on account of the just disdain that laid you low
and put an end to your happy lives,
   was honored for itself and its allies.

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The origins of the Amidei family are obscure. Legend has it that they came from Rome, but the proof is scarce. Like the Della Bella family, the Amidei were given special privileges by Hugh of Tuscany. Together with the Uberti and the Lamberti, the Amidei were naturally solid Ghibellines and some of them even fought at Montaperti. The Amidei who remained in Florence after 1266 were able to do so only by joining the Guelphs.

The Amidei owned numerous houses, palaces and towers in this area. Everything behind the wall of this tower on which the Dante plaque was affixed was severely damaged during WWII.

With these verses, Dante recalls the sad events of 1215 that caused the schism between the Guelphs and Ghibellines in Florence. According to legend, Buondelmonte de’ Buondelmonti, after having been betrothed to a woman of the Amidei family, broke off the engagement before the wedding in favor of another woman.

Lambertuccio degli Amidei, who lived here, was part of Buondelmonte’s murder a few steps away at the head of Ponte Vecchio. This has traditionally been seen as the event that split the city into two warring factions. The side supporting the Buondelmonti family became Guelph and the other Ghibelline.

Coat of arms of the Amidei family