History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy

by Niccolo Machiavelli

was with difficulty prevented by those around. He who made the

  greatest disturbance, and incited the city to violence, was Benedetto

  degli Alberti, who, from a window of the palace, loudly called the

  people to arms; and presently the courtyards were filled with armed

  men, and the Colleagues granted to threats, what they had refused to

  entreaty. The Capitani di Parte had at the same time drawn together a

  great number of citizens to their hall to consult upon the means of

  defending themselves against the orders of the Signors, but when they

  heard the tumult that was raised, and were informed of the course the

  Councils had adopted, each took refuge in his own house.

  Let no one, when raising popular commotions, imagine he can afterward

  control them at his pleasure, or restrain them from proceeding to the

  commission of violence. Salvestro intended to enact his law, and

  compose the city; but it happened otherwise; for the feelings of all

  had become so excited, that they shut up the shops; the citizens

  fortified themselves in their houses; many conveyed their valuable

  property into the churches and monasteries, and everyone seemed to

  apprehend something terrible at hand. The companies of the Arts met,

  and each appointed an additional officer or Syndic; upon which the

  Priors summoned their Colleagues and these Syndics, and consulted a

  whole day how the city might be appeased with satisfaction to the

  different parties; but much difference of opinion prevailed, and no

  conclusion was come to. On the following day the Arts brought forth

  their banners, which the Signory understanding, and being apprehensive

  of evil, called the Council together to consider what course to adopt.

  But scarcely were they met, when the uproar recommenced, and soon the

  ensigns of the Arts, surrounded by vast numbers of armed men, occupied

  the courts. Upon this the Council, to give the Arts and the people

  hope of redress, and free themselves as much as possible from the

  charge of causing the mischief, gave a general power, which in

  Florence is called /Balia/, to the Signors, the Colleagues, the Eight,

  the Capitani di Parte, and to the Syndics of the Arts, to reform the

  government of the city, for the common benefit of all. While this was

  being arranged, a few of the ensigns of the Arts and some of the mob,

  desirous of avenging themselves for the recent injuries they had

  received from the Guelphs, separated themselves from the rest, and

  sacked and burnt the house of Lapo da Castiglionchio, who, when he

  learned the proceedings of the Signory against the Guelphs, and saw

  the people in arms, having no other resource but concealment or

  flight, first took refuge in Santa Croce, and afterward, being

  disguised as a monk, fled into the Casentino, where he was often heard

  to blame himself for having consented to wait till St. John's day,

  before they had made themselves sure of the government. Piero degli

  Albizzi and Carlo Strozzi hid themselves upon the first outbreak of

  the tumult, trusting that when it was over, by the interest of their

  numerous friends and relations, they might remain safely in Florence.

  The house of Lapo being burnt, as mischief begins with difficulty but

  easily increases, many other houses, either through public hatred, or

  private malice, shared the same fate; and the rioters, that they might

  have companions more eager than themselves to assist them in their

  work of plunder, broke open the public prisons, and then sacked the

  monastery of the Agnoli and the convent of S. Spirito, whither many

  citizens had taken their most valuable goods for safety. Nor would the

  public chambers have escaped these destroyers' hands, except out of

  reverence for one of the Signors, who on horseback, and followed by

  many citizens in arms, opposed the rage of the mob.

  CHAPTER III

  Contrary measures adopted by the magistrates to effect a

  pacification--Luigi Guicciardini the Gonfalonier entreats the

  magistrates of the Arts to endeavor to pacify the people--Serious

  riot caused by the plebeians--The woolen Art--The plebeians

  assemble--The speech of a seditious plebeian--Their resolution

  thereupon--The Signory discover the designs of the plebeians--

  Measures adopted to counteract them.

  This popular fury being abated by the authority of the Signors and the

  approach of night, on the following day, the Balia relieved the

  admonished, on condition that they should not for three years be

  capable of holding any magistracy. They annulled the laws made by the

  Guelphs to the prejudice of the citizens; declared Lapo da

  Castiglionchio and his companions, rebels, and with them many others,

  who were the objects of universal detestation. After these

  resolutions, the new Signory were drawn for, and Luigi Guicciardini

  appointed Gonfalonier, which gave hope that the tumults would soon be

  appeased; for everyone thought them to be peaceable men and lovers of

  order. Still the shops were not opened, nor did the citizens lay down

  their arms, but continued to patrol the city in great numbers; so that

  the Signory did not assume the magistracy with the usual pomp, but

  merely assembled within the palace, omitting all ceremony.

  This Signory, considering nothing more advisable in the beginning of

  their magistracy than to restore peace, caused a relinquishment of

  arms; ordered the shops to be opened, and the strangers who had been

  called to their aid, to return to their homes. They appointed guards

  in many parts of the city, so that if the admonished would only have

  remained quiet, order would soon have been re-established. But they

  were not satisfied to wait three years for the recovery of their

  honours; so that to gratify them the Arts again met, and demanded of

  the Signory, that for the benefit and quiet of the city, they would

  ordain that no citizens should at any time, whether Signor, Colleague,

  Capitano di Parte, or Consul of any art whatever, be admonished as a

  Ghibelline; and further, that new ballots of the Guelphic party should

  be made, and the old ones burned. These demands were at once acceded

  to, not only by the Signors, but by all the Councils; and thus it was

  hoped the tumults newly excited would be settled.

  But since men are not satisfied with recovering what is their own, but

  wish to possess the property of others and to revenge themselves,

  those who were in hopes of benefiting by these disorders persuaded the

  artificers that they would never be safe, if several of their enemies

  were not expelled from the city or destroyed. This terrible doctrine

  coming to the knowledge of the Signory, they caused the magistrates of

  the Arts and their Syndics to be brought before them, and Luigi

  Guicciardini, the Gonfalonier, addressed them in the following words:

  "If these Signors, and I with them, had not long been acquainted with

  the fate of this city, that as soon as external wars have ceased the

  internal commence, we should have been more surprised, and our

  displeasure would have been greater. But as evils to which we are

  accustomed are
less annoying, we have endured past disturbances

  patiently, they having arisen for the most part without our fault; and

  we hoped that, like former troubles, they would soon have an end,

  after the many and great concessions we had made at your suggestion.

  But finding that you are yet unsettled, that you contemplate the

  commission of new crimes against your fellow-citizens, and are

  desirous of making new exiles, our displeasure increases in proportion

  to your misconduct. And certainly, could we have believed that during

  our magistracy the city was to be ruined, whether with or without your

  concurrence, we should certainly, either by flight or exile, have

  avoided these horrors. But trusting that we had to do with those who

  possessed some feelings of humanity and some love of their country, we

  willingly accepted the magistracy, thinking that by our gentleness we

  should overcome your ambition. But we perceive from experience that

  the more humble our behavior, the more concessions we make, the

  prouder you become, and the more exorbitant are your demands. And

  though we speak thus, it is not in order to offend, but to amend you.

  Let others tell you pleasing tales, our design is to communicate only

  what is for your good. Now we would ask you, and have you answer on

  your honor, What is there yet ungranted, that you can, with any

  appearance of propriety, require? You wished to have authority taken

  from the Capitani di Parte; and it is done. You wished that the

  ballotings should be burned, and a reformation of them take place; and

  we consent. You desired that the admonished should be restored to

  their honours; and it is permitted. At your entreaty we have pardoned

  those who have burned down houses and plundered churches; many

  honorable citizens have been exiled to please you; and at your

  suggestion new restraints have been laid upon the Great. When will

  there be an end of your demands? and how long will you continue to

  abuse our liberality? Do you not observe with how much more moderation

  we bear defeat than you your victory? To what end will your divisions

  bring our city? Have you forgotten that when disunited Castruccio, a

  low citizen of Lucca, subdued her? or that a duke of Athens, your

  hired captain did so too? But when the citizens were united in her

  defense, an archbishop of Milan and a pope were unable to subdue it,

  and, after many years of war, were compelled to retire with disgrace.

  "Then why would you, by your discords, reduce to slavery in a time of

  peace, that city, which so many powerful enemies have left free, even

  in war? What can you expect from your disunion but subjugation? or

  from the property of which you already have plundered, or may yet

  plunder us, but poverty? for this property is the means by which we

  furnish occupation for the whole city, and if you take it from us, our

  means of finding that occupation is withdrawn. Besides, those who take

  it will have difficulty in preserving what is dishonestly acquired,

  and thus poverty and destitution are brought upon the city. Now, I,

  and these Signors command, and if it were consistent with propriety,

  we would entreat that you allow your minds to be calmed; be content,

  rest satisfied with the provisions that have been made for you; and if

  you should be found to need anything further, make your request with

  decency and order, and not with tumult; for when your demands are

  reasonable they will always be complied with, and you will not give

  occasion to evil designing men to ruin your country and cast the blame

  upon yourselves." These words conveying nothing but the truth,

  produced a suitable effect upon the minds of the citizens, who

  thanking the Gonfalonier for having acted toward them the part of a

  king Signor, and toward the city that of a good citizen, offered their

  obedience in whatever might be committed to them. And the Signors, to

  prove the sincerity of their intentions, appointed two citizens for

  each of the superior magistracies, who, with Syndics of the arts, were

  to consider what could be done to restore quite, and report their

  resolutions to the Signors.

  While these things were in progress, a disturbance arose, much more

  injurious to the republic than anything that had hitherto occurred.

  The greatest part of the fires and robberies which took place on the

  previous days were perpetrated by the very lowest of the people; and

  those who had been the most audacious, were afraid that when the

  greater differences were composed, they would be punished for the

  crimes they had committed; and that as usual, they would be abandoned

  by those who had instigated them to the commission of crime. To this

  may be added, the hatred of the lower orders toward the rich citizens

  and the principals of the arts, because they did not think themselves

  remunerated for their labor in a manner equal to their merits. For in

  the time of Charles I., when the city was divided into arts, a head or

  governor was appointed to each, and it was provided that the

  individuals of each art, should be judged in civil matters by their

  own superiors. These arts, as we have before observed, were at first

  twelve; in the course of time they were increased to twenty-one, and

  attained so much power, that in a few years they grasped the entire

  government of the city; and as some were in greater esteem than

  others, they were divided into MAJOR and MINOR; seven were called

  "major," and fourteen, the "minor arts." From this division, and from

  other causes which we have narrated above, arose the arrogance of the

  Capitani di Parte; for those citizens who had formerly been Guelphs,

  and had the constant disposal of that magistracy, favored the

  followers of the major and persecuted the minor arts and their

  patrons; and hence arose the many commotions already mentioned. When

  the companies of the arts were first organized, many of those trades,

  followed by the lowest of the people and the plebeians, were not

  incorporated, but were ranged under those arts most nearly allied to

  them; and, hence, when they were not properly remunerated for their

  labor, or their masters oppressed them, they had no one of whom to

  seek redress, except the magistrate of the art to which theirs was

  subject; and of him they did not think justice always attainable. Of

  the arts, that which had always had, and now has, the greatest number

  of these subordinates, is the woolen; which being both then, and

  still, the most powerful body, and first in authority, supports the

  greater part of the plebeians and lowest of the people.

  The lower classes, then, the subordinates not only of the woolen, but

  also of the other arts, were discontented, from the causes just

  mentioned; and their apprehension of punishment for the burnings and

  robberies they had committed, did not tend to compose them. Meetings

  took place in different parts during the night, to talk over the past,

  and to communicate the danger in which they were, when one of the most

  daring and experienced, in order to animate the rest, spoke thus:

  "If the question now wer
e, whether we should take up arms, rob and

  burn the houses of the citizens, and plunder churches, I am one of

  those who would think it worthy of further consideration, and should,

  perhaps, prefer poverty and safety to the dangerous pursuit of an

  uncertain good. But as we have already armed, and many offenses have

  been committed, it appears to me that we have to consider how to lay

  them aside, and secure ourselves from the consequences of what is

  already done. I certainly think, that if nothing else could teach us,

  necessity might. You see the whole city full of complaint and

  indignation against us; the citizens are closely united, and the

  signors are constantly with the magistrates. You may be sure they are

  contriving something against us; they are arranging some new plan to

  subdue us. We ought therefore to keep two things in view, and have two

  points to consider; the one is, to escape with impunity for what has

  been done during the last few days, and the other, to live in greater

  comfort and security for the time to come. We must, therefore, I

  think, in order to be pardoned for our faults, commit new ones;

  redoubling the mischief, and multiplying fires and robberies; and in

  doing this, endeavor to have as many companions as we can; for when

  many are in fault, few are punished; small crimes are chastised, but

  great and serious ones rewarded. When many suffer, few seek vengeance;

  for general evils are endured more patiently than private ones. To

  increase the number of misdeeds will, therefore, make forgiveness more

  easily attainable, and will open the way to secure what we require for

  our own liberty. And it appears evident that the gain is certain; for

  our opponents are disunited and rich; their disunion will give us the

  victory, and their riches, when they have become ours, will support

  us. Be not deceived about that antiquity of blood by which they exalt

  themselves above us; for all men having had one common origin, are all

  equally ancient, and nature has made us all after one fashion. Strip

  us naked, and we shall all be found alike. Dress us in their clothing,

  and they in ours, we shall appear noble, they ignoble--for poverty and

  riches make all the difference. It grieves me much to think that some

  of you are sorry inwardly for what is done, and resolve to abstain

  from anything more of the kind. Certainly, if it be so, you are not

  the men I took you for; because neither shame nor conscience ought to

  have any influence with you. Conquerors, by what means soever, are

  never considered aught but glorious. We have no business to think

  about conscience; for when, like us, men have to fear hunger, and

  imprisonment, or death, the fear of hell neither can nor ought to have

  any influence upon them. If you only notice human proceedings, you may

  observe that all who attain great power and riches, make use of either

  force or fraud; and what they have acquired either by deceit or

  violence, in order to conceal the disgraceful methods of attainment,

  they endeavor to sanctify with the false title of honest gains. Those

  who either from imprudence or want of sagacity avoid doing so, are

  always overwhelmed with servitude and poverty; for faithful servants

  are always servants, and honest men are always poor; nor do any ever

  escape from servitude but the bold and faithless, or from poverty, but

  the rapacious and fraudulent. God and nature have thrown all human

  fortunes into the midst of mankind; and they are thus attainable

  rather by rapine than by industry, by wicked actions rather than by

  good. Hence it is that men feed upon each other, and those who cannot

  defend themselves must be worried. Therefore we must use force when

  the opportunity offers; and fortune cannot present us one more

  favorable than the present, when the citizens are still disunited, the

  Signory doubtful, and the magistrates terrified; for we may easily

  conquer them before they can come to any settled arrangement. By this

  means we shall either obtain the entire government of the city, or so