I get it, that most people with a passing interest are probably already confused by the time period, but I'm sick of seeing bad history. And if your core viewership is people who care about history, then the show fails.
Its not the contractions of some historical persons' roles into others (e.g., Pazzi assumes the role of Strozzi in 1434 in not supporting Albizzi, presumably because the Pazzi play a bigger role in later Florentine politics in the 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy; in a later season?), but it's the omissions that bother me.
What really marked Florence was her humanism. Perhaps not that dramatic, but the humanist's war of words lead to actual sword play. Florence's very chancellor, Leonardo Bruni, perhaps the most famous man in Italy (certainly the most read humanist of his time), is completely absent, with Guadagni apparently performing his functions. Moreover, the humanist Filelfo was the one in the not-finished duomo who railed against Cosimo on behalf of the Albizzi faction (the show has Rinaldo do this himself), before being exiled himself and ultimately fleeing to Visconti Milan. Filefo, now Visconti's primary humanist (in a role that was regime PR mixed with foreign relations), rallies the exiled Albizzi faction to attack Florence in 1440, backed by a Visconti army. Strozzi, Bruni and Filelfo were just as important as Rinaldo Albizzi (Cosimo and his brother had Filelfo attacked by an assassin!), but all are AWOL. Instead, way too much time was wasted on the made-up dreams of Cosimo the artist. He was simply a patron (who did not solely underwrite the dome - that was a civic project from the get-go). Opportunity missed here to do history right....
Its not the contractions of some historical persons' roles into others (e.g., Pazzi assumes the role of Strozzi in 1434 in not supporting Albizzi, presumably because the Pazzi play a bigger role in later Florentine politics in the 1478 Pazzi Conspiracy; in a later season?), but it's the omissions that bother me.
What really marked Florence was her humanism. Perhaps not that dramatic, but the humanist's war of words lead to actual sword play. Florence's very chancellor, Leonardo Bruni, perhaps the most famous man in Italy (certainly the most read humanist of his time), is completely absent, with Guadagni apparently performing his functions. Moreover, the humanist Filelfo was the one in the not-finished duomo who railed against Cosimo on behalf of the Albizzi faction (the show has Rinaldo do this himself), before being exiled himself and ultimately fleeing to Visconti Milan. Filefo, now Visconti's primary humanist (in a role that was regime PR mixed with foreign relations), rallies the exiled Albizzi faction to attack Florence in 1440, backed by a Visconti army. Strozzi, Bruni and Filelfo were just as important as Rinaldo Albizzi (Cosimo and his brother had Filelfo attacked by an assassin!), but all are AWOL. Instead, way too much time was wasted on the made-up dreams of Cosimo the artist. He was simply a patron (who did not solely underwrite the dome - that was a civic project from the get-go). Opportunity missed here to do history right....