History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy

by Niccolo Machiavelli

Lunigiana, and, being brought to Florence, was put to death in prison.

  This government, during the eight years it continued, was violent and

  insupportable; for Cosmo, being now old, and through ill health unable

  to attend to public affairs as formerly, Florence became a prey to a

  small number of her own citizens. Luca Pitti, in return for the

  services he had performed for the republic, as made a knight, and to

  be no less grateful than those who had conferred the dignity upon him,

  he ordered that the priors, who had hitherto been called priors of the

  trades, should also have a name to which they had no kind of claim,

  and therefore called them priors of liberty. He also ordered, that as

  it had been customary for the gonfalonier to sit upon the right hand

  of the rectors, he should in future take his seat in the midst of

  them. And that the Deity might appear to participate in what had been

  done, public processions were made and solemn services performed, to

  thank him for the recovery of the government. The Signory and Cosmo

  made Luca Pitti rich presents, and all the citizens were emulous in

  imitation of them; so that the money given amounted to no less a sum

  than twenty thousand ducats. He thus attained such influence, that not

  Cosmo but himself now governed the city; and his pride so increased,

  that he commenced two superb buildings, one in Florence, the other at

  Ruciano, about a mile distant, both in a style of royal magnificence;

  that in the city, being larger than any hitherto built by a private

  person. To complete them, he had recourse to the most extraordinary

  means; for not only citizens and private individuals made him presents

  and supplied materials, but the mass of people, of every grade, also

  contributed. Besides this, any exiles who had committed murders,

  thefts, or other crimes which made them amenable to the laws, found a

  safe refuge within their walls, if they were able to contribute toward

  their decoration or completion. The other citizens, though they did

  not build like him, were no less violent or rapacious, so that if

  Florence were not harassed by external wars, she was ruined by the

  wickedness of her own children. During this period the wars of Naples

  took place. The pope also commenced hostilities in Romagna against the

  Malatesti, from whom he wished to take Rimino and Cesena, held by

  them. In these designs, and his intentions of a crusade against the

  Turks, was passed the pontificate of Pius II.

  Florence continued in disunion and disturbance. The dissensions

  continued among the party of Cosmo, in 1455, from the causes already

  related, which by his prudence, as we have also before remarked, he

  was enabled to tranquilize; but in the year 1464, his illness

  increased, and he died. Friends and enemies alike grieved for his

  loss; for his political opponents, perceiving the rapacity of the

  citizens, even during the life of him who alone restrained them and

  made their tyranny supportable, were afraid, lest after his decease,

  nothing but ruin would ensue. Nor had they much hope of his son Piero,

  who though a very good man, was of infirm health, and new in the

  government, and they thought he would be compelled to give way; so

  that, being unrestrained, their rapacity would pass all bounds. On

  these accounts, the regret was universal. Of all who have left

  memorials behind them, and who were not of the military profession,

  Cosmo was the most illustrious and the most renowned. He not only

  surpassed all his contemporaries in wealth and authority, but also in

  generosity and prudence; and among the qualities which contributed to

  make him prince in his own country, was his surpassing all others in

  magnificence and generosity. His liberality became more obvious after

  his death, when Piero, his son, wishing to know what he possessed, it

  appeared there was no citizen of any consequence to whom Cosmo had not

  lent a large sum of money; and often, when informed of some nobleman

  being in distress, he relieved him unasked. His magnificence is

  evident from the number of public edifices he erected; for in Florence

  are the convents and churches of St. Marco and St. Lorenzo, and the

  monastery of Santa Verdiana; in the mountains of Fiesole, the church

  and abbey of St. Girolamo; and in the Mugello, he not only restored,

  but rebuilt from its foundation, a monastery of the Frati Minori, or

  Minims. Besides these, in the church of Santa Croce, the Servi, the

  Agnoli, and in San Miniato, he erected splendid chapels and altars;

  and besides building the churches and chapels we have mentioned, he

  provided them with all the ornaments, furniture, and utensils suitable

  for the performance of divine service. To these sacred edifices are to

  be added his private dwellings, one in Florence, of extent and

  elegance adapted to so great a citizen, and four others, situated at

  Careggi, Fiesole, Craggiulo, and Trebbio, each, for size and grandeur,

  equal to royal palaces. And, as if it were not sufficient to be

  distinguished for magnificence of buildings in Italy alone, he erected

  an hospital at Jerusalem, for the reception of poor and infirm

  pilgrims. Although his habitations, like all his other works and

  actions, were quite of a regal character, and he alone was prince in

  Florence, still everything was so tempered with his prudence, that he

  never transgressed the decent moderation of civil life; in his

  conversation, his servants, his traveling, his mode of living, and the

  relationships he formed, the modest demeanor of the citizen was always

  evident; for he was aware that a constant exhibition of pomp brings

  more envy upon its possessor than greater realities borne without

  ostentation. Thus in selecting consorts for his sons, he did not seek

  the alliance of princes, but for Giovanni chose Corneglia degli

  Allesandri, and for Piero, Lucrezia de' Tornabuoni. He gave his

  granddaughters, the children of Piero, Bianca to Guglielmo de' Pazzi,

  and Nannina to Bernardo Ruccellai. No one of his time possessed such

  an intimate knowledge of government and state affairs as himself; and

  hence amid such a variety of fortune, in a city so given to change,

  and among a people of such extreme inconstancy, he retained possession

  of the government thirty-one years; for being endowed with the utmost

  prudence, he foresaw evils at a distance, and therefore had an

  opportunity either of averting them, or preventing their injurious

  results. He thus not only vanquished domestic and civil ambition, but

  humbled the pride of many princes with so much fidelity and address,

  that whatever powers were in league with himself and his country,

  either overcame their adversaries, or remained uninjured by his

  alliance; and whoever were opposed to him, lost either their time,

  money, or territory. Of this the Venetians afford a sufficient proof,

  who, while in league with him against Duke Filippo were always

  victorious, but apart from him were always conquered; first by Filippo

  and then by Francesco. When they joined Alfonso against the Florentine

  republic, Cosmo, by his commercial credit
, so drained Naples and

  Venice of money, that they were glad to obtain peace upon any terms it

  was thought proper to grant. Whatever difficulties he had to contend

  with, whether within the city or without, he brought to a happy issue,

  at once glorious to himself and destructive to his enemies; so that

  civil discord strengthened his government in Florence, and war

  increased his power and reputation abroad. He added to the Florentine

  dominions, the Borgo of St. Sepolcro, Montedoglio, the Casentino and

  Val di Bagno. His virtue and good fortune overcame all his enemies and

  exalted his friends. He was born in the year 1389, on the day of the

  saints Cosmo and Damiano. His earlier years were full of trouble, as

  his exile, captivity, and personal danger fully testify; and having

  gone to the council of Constance, with Pope John, in order to save his

  life, after the ruin of the latter, he was obliged to escape in

  disguise. But after the age of forty, he enjoyed the greatest

  felicity; and not only those who assisted him in public business, but

  his agents who conducted his commercial speculations throughout

  Europe, participated in his prosperity. Hence many enormous fortunes

  took their origin in different families of Florence, as in that of the

  Tornabuoni, the Benci, the Portinari, and the Sassetti. Besides these,

  all who depended upon his advice and patronage became rich; and,

  though he was constantly expending money in building churches, and in

  charitable purposes, he sometimes complained to his friends that he

  had never been able to lay out so much in the service of God as to

  find the balance in his own favor, intimating that all he had done or

  could do, was still unequal to what the Almighty had done for him. He

  was of middle stature, olive complexion, and venerable aspect; not

  learned but exceedingly eloquent, endowed with great natural capacity,

  generous to his friends, kind to the poor, comprehensive in discourse,

  cautious in advising, and in his speeches and replies, grave and

  witty. When Rinaldo degli Albizzi, at the beginning of his exile, sent

  to him to say, "the hen had laid," he replied, "she did ill to lay so

  far from the nest." Some other of the rebels gave him to understand

  they were "not dreaming." He said, "he believed it, for he had robbed

  them of their sleep." When Pope Pius was endeavoring to induce the

  different governments to join in an expedition against the Turks, he

  said, "he was an old man, and had undertaken the enterprise of a young

  one." To the Venetians ambassadors, who came to Florence with those of

  King Alfonso to complain of the republic, he uncovered his head, and

  asked them what color it was; they said, "white": he replied, "it is

  so; and it will not be long before your senators have heads as white

  as mine." A few hours before his death, his wife asked him why he kept

  his eyes shut, and he said, "to get them in the way of it." Some

  citizens saying to him, after his return from exile, that he injured

  the city, and that it was offensive to God to drive so many religious

  persons out of it; he replied that, "it was better to injure the city,

  than to ruin it; that two yards of rose-colored cloth would make a

  gentleman, and that it required something more to direct a government

  than to play with a string of beads." These words gave occasion to his

  enemies to slander him, as a man who loved himself more than his

  country, and was more attached to this world than to the next. Many

  others of his sayings might be adduced, but we shall omit them as

  unnecessary. Cosmo was a friend and patron of learned men. He brought

  Argiripolo, a Greek by birth, and one of the most erudite of his time,

  to Florence, to instruct the youth in Hellenic literature. He

  entertained Marsilio Ficino, the reviver of the Platonic philosophy,

  in his own house; and being much attached to him, have him a residence

  near his palace at Careggi, that he might pursue the study of letters

  with greater convenience, and himself have an opportunity of enjoying

  his company. His prudence, his great wealth, the uses to which he

  applied it, and his splendid style of living, caused him to be beloved

  and respected in Florence, and obtained for him the highest

  consideration, not only among the princes and governments of Italy,

  but throughout all Europe. He thus laid a foundation for his

  descendants, which enabled them to equal him in virtue, and greatly

  surpass him in fortune; while the authority they possessed in Florence

  and throughout Christendom was not obtained without being merited.

  Toward the close of his life he suffered great affliction; for, of his

  two sons, Piero and Giovanni, the latter, of whom he entertained the

  greatest hopes, died; and the former was so sickly as to be unable to

  attend either to public or private business. On being carried from one

  apartment to another, after Giovanni's death, he remarked to his

  attendants, with a sigh, "This is too large a house for so small a

  family." His great mind also felt distressed at the idea that he had

  not extended the Florentine dominions by any valuable acquisition; and

  he regretted it the more, from imagining he had been deceived by

  Francesco Sforza, who, while count, had promised, that if he became

  lord of Milan, he would undertake the conquest of Lucca for the

  Florentines, a design, however, that was never realized; for the

  count's ideas changed upon his becoming duke; he resolved to enjoy in

  peace, the power he had acquired by war, and would not again encounter

  its fatigues and dangers, unless the welfare of his own dominions

  required it. This was a source of much annoyance to Cosmo, who felt he

  had incurred great expense and trouble for an ungrateful and

  perfidious friend. His bodily infirmities prevented him from attending

  either to public or private affairs, as he had been accustomed, and he

  consequently witnessed both going to decay; for Florence was ruined by

  her own citizens, and his fortune by his agents and children. He died,

  however, at the zenith of his glory and in the enjoyment of the

  highest renown. The city, and all the Christian princes, condoled with

  his son Piero for his loss. His funeral was conducted with the utmost

  pomp and solemnity, the whole city following his corpse to the tomb in

  the church of St. Lorenzo, on which, by public decree, he was

  inscribed, "FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY." If, in speaking of Cosmo's

  actions, I have rather imitated the biographies of princes than

  general history, it need not occasion wonder; for of so extraordinary

  an individual I was compelled to speak with unusual praise.

  CHAPTER II

  The duke of Milan becomes lord of Genoa--The king of Naples and

  the duke of Milan endeavor to secure their dominions to their

  heirs--Jacopo Piccinino honorably received at Milan, and shortly

  afterward murdered at Naples--Fruitless endeavors of Pius II. to

  excite Christendom against the Turks--Death of Francesco Sforza,

  duke of Milan--Perfidious counsel given to Piero de' Medici by

  Diotisalvi Neroni--Conspiracy of Diotisalv
i and others against

  Piero--Futile attempts to appease the disorders--Public spectacles

  --Projects of the conspirators against Piero de' Medici--Niccolo

  Fedini discloses to Piero the plots of his enemies.

  While Florence and Italy were in this condition, Louis XI. of France

  was involved in very serious troubles with his barons, who, with the

  assistance of Francis, duke of Brittany, and Charles, duke of

  Burgundy, were in arms against him. This attack was so serious, that

  he was unable to render further assistance to John of Anjou in his

  enterprise against Genoa and Naples; and, standing in need of all the

  forces he could raise, he gave over Savona (which still remained in

  the power of the French) to the duke of Milan, and also intimated,

  that if he wished, he had his permission to undertake the conquest of

  Genoa. Francesco accepted the proposal, and with the influence

  afforded by the king's friendship, and the assistance of the Adorni,

  he became lord of Genoa. In acknowledgment of this benefit, he sent

  fifteen hundred horse into France for the king's service, under the

  command of Galeazzo, his eldest son. Thus Ferrando of Aragon and

  Francesco Sforza became, the latter, duke of Lombardy and prince of

  Genoa, and the former, sovereign of the whole kingdom of Naples. Their

  families being allied by marriage, they thought they might so confirm

  their power as to secure to themselves its enjoyment during life, and

  at their deaths, its unencumbered reversion to their heirs. To attain

  this end, they considered it necessary that the king should remove all

  ground of apprehension from those barons who had offended him in the

  war of John of Anjou, and that the duke should extirpate the adherents

  of the Bracceschi, the natural enemies of his family, who, under

  Jacopo Piccinino, had attained the highest reputation. The latter was

  now the first general in Italy, and possessing no territory, he

  naturally excited the apprehension of all who had dominions, and

  especially of the duke, who, conscious of what he had himself done,

  thought he could neither enjoy his own estate in safety, nor leave

  them with any degree of security to his son during Jacopo's lifetime.

  The king, therefore, strenuously endeavored to come to terms with his

  barons, and using his utmost ingenuity to secure them, succeeded in

  his object; for they perceived their ruin to be inevitable if they

  continued in war with their sovereign, though from submission and

  confidence in him, they would still have reason for apprehension.

  Mankind are always most eager to avoid a certain evil; and hence

  inferior powers are easily deceived by princes. The barons, conscious

  of the danger of continuing the war, trusted the king's promises, and

  having placed themselves in his hands, they were soon after destroyed

  in various ways, and under a variety of pretexts. This alarmed Jacopo

  Piccinino, who was with his forces at Sulmona; and to deprive the king

  of the opportunity of treating him similarly, he endeavored, by the

  mediation of his friends, to be reconciled with the duke, who, by the

  most liberal offers, induced Jacopo to visit him at Milan, accompanied

  by only a hundred horse.

  Jacopo had served many years with his father and brother, first under

  Duke Filippo, and afterward under the Milanese republic, so that by

  frequent intercourse with the citizens he had acquired many friends

  and universal popularity, which present circumstances tended to

  increase; for the prosperity and newly acquired power of the

  Sforzeschi had occasioned envy, while Jacopo's misfortunes and long

  absence had given rise to compassion and a great desire to see him.

  These various feelings were displayed upon his arrival; for nearly all

  the nobility went to meet him; the streets through which he passed

  were filled with citizens, anxious to catch a glimpse of him, while

  shouts of "The Bracceschi! the Bracceschi!" resounded on all sides.

  These honors accelerated his ruin; for the duke's apprehensions