Description: List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; List of abbreviations; Genealogical tables; Introduction; Part I. Preparation for Power: Soderini's Florentine Background and Early Career: 1. Soderini's early years; 2. Soderini as a servant of the Florentine state; Part II. The Cardinal as a Political Force, 1503-1513: 3. Soderini's elevation to the cardinalate; 4. The Renaissance cardinalate and the concept of the political cardinal; 5. A principal or a supporting role in Florentine politics?; 6. Relations and rivalry between the Soderini and the Medici; 7. The Soderini and the kings of France; Part III. New Times and Challenging Circumstances, 1513-1524: 8. The fortunes of the Soderini and family strategy in relation to Florentine, the Medici and France, 1513-17; 9. The 'conspiracy' of 1517; 10. Soderini as a disaffected cardinal in exile, 1517-21; 11. Soderini opposition to the Medici in Florence and Rome, 1521-3; 12. The 'conspiracy' of 1523 and its aftermath; 13. Soderini's last days; Part IV. The Lifestyle of the Renaissance Cardinal: 14. Official duties in the curia: the conciliar, the ceremonial, the social; 15. Soderini's ecclesiastical career: the accumulation and deployment of bishoprics and benefices; 16. Palaces and other property; 17. Private and personal possessions; 18. Household and entourage; 19. Financial resources: wealth, income, credit, loans and pawn; 20. Intellectual life and the influence of humanism; 21. In praise of Francesco Soderini: Battista Casali's funeral oration of 1524; Excursus: the portraits of Piero and Francesco Soderini; Bibliography; Index.

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