since Florence's commercial revolution 150 years prior to the rebellion. Social tension existed between the poor Ciompi and wealthy merchants who dominated the lucrative wool industry, and the Florentine government, which continued to increase taxation. The Political tension was between the Ciompi, gente nuova, and the oligarchy, with the former two challenging the latter for more participation in government. The Ciompi Rebellion was the eruption of these long existing tensions, which could no longer be contained. Impacts on 15th century Florence After the Ciompi Uprising, the restored Florentine government did attempt to alleviate the plight of Ciompi artisans, such as a reform to lessen the burden of taxation. Yet, the rebellion left a permanent scar in the Florentine elites' mind (both the new and the old nobility) and created their everlasting fear and hatred toward the Ciompi. This scar built a tension between the new nobility and the lower labouring class greater than that prior to the uprising, as the elites constantly feared the rabble's secret plots. The elites thus began to favour a more authoritative government, which may be more centralized and stronger in crushing a revolt. This eventually gave rise to the Medici family, the most powerful banking family of Florence, whose power outweighed Salvestro de' Medici's bad reputation, and became the de facto ruler of Florence in the 15th century, drastically changing the character of the Florentine communal government. Impacts on historians from different eras In the 15th century, it would not be surprising for Florentine scholars, who were part of the elite, to view the uprising negatively. Leonardo Bruni regarded the uprising as a mob out of control, whose members viciously looted and murdered the innocent. He viewed this event as a historical cautionary tale, which presented the horrendous consequence when rabbles managed to seize control from the ruling class. In the 16th century, Niccolò Machiavelli harbored a somewhat different view than Bruni. Although he echoed Bruni's perspective, also referring to them as the mob, the rabbles, preoccupied by fear and hatred, he was more favorable than Bruni in viewing the event as a whole. According to Machiavelli, the revolt was a social phenomenon between one group of people, who were determined to obtain freedom, while the other determined to abolish it. In the 19th century, however, historians began to show sympathy to the Ciompi. Romantic historians had a tendency to interpret history as an epic