Markets and Food

If you wandered through the markets, you’d find a variety of goods: fine cloth from Flanders, spices from the East, Tuscan wines, olive oil, cheeses, and fresh produce. Street vendors sold bread, roasted chestnuts, and simple fare.

Florentine cuisine was rooted in local produce—beans, bread, game meats, and hearty soups. Wealthy families enjoyed banquets featuring multiple courses, while the lower classes ate more modest meals.

Clothing and Fashion

Florentines dressed according to their social class. Wool and linen were common fabrics, but wealthy merchants and nobility wore silk imported from the East. Men typically wore tunics with hose, while women wore long gowns with veils or headscarves.

Colors and styles often indicated status, with rich dyes like crimson reserved for the wealthy.

Festivals and Public Events

Public life included frequent religious festivals and civic celebrations. The Feast of Saint John the Baptist, Florence’s patron saint, was a major event marked by processions, games, and fireworks.

The carnival season offered a chance for revelry before Lent. Public executions, while grim, were also communal spectacles reflecting the justice system of the time shutdown123