The Bianchi and Neri (Whites and Blacks) are the two factions into which the victorious Guelphs of Florence split around 1300, a schism “caught from Pistoia”; they form the political backdrop of the gesta of 1300.
| Type | Political factions |
| City | Florence |
| Era | c. 1300 |
| Spanish entry | Bianchi y Neri |
Factions
- Neri (Blacks): the hardest-blooded houses — the Donati, led by Corso Donati (La Zara), and the Spini, the Pope’s bankers, from whom Lucio Spini descends.
- Bianchi (Whites): the Cerchi, and with them Dante.
History
During his two months as prior, Dante decided to exile the leaders of both factions so that the city could breathe; he himself would end in exile. The city stood on the brink of civil war in the Jubilee year, with Pope Boniface VIII and the French princes pulling the strings. The Florentines moved between Whites and Blacks as between two rising tides.