The Portable Machiavelli

by Niccolo Machiavelli

  This rout made Castruccio’s name truly great—to such an extent that Uguccione became so jealous and suspicious of his position that he could think of nothing but how to eliminate him, believing that he had lost power, and not gained it, by this victory. While he thought in these terms and waited for an honest opportunity to bring it about, it happened that Pier Agnolo Micheli, a man of worth and of great esteem, was killed in Lucca. His murderer sought refuge in Castruccio’s home. When the police came to arrest him, they were repulsed by Castruccio; as a result, the murderer saved himself. Hearing this, Uguccione, who was then in Pisa, felt that he now had a good reason to punish him. Calling his son, Neri, to whom he had given the rule of Lucca, he ordered him to arrest and execute Castruccio under the pretense of inviting him to a banquet. Castruccio therefore went to the ruler’s palace without fearing any harm; he was first detained for supper by Neri and then arrested. But Neri, fearing that the people might revolt if he executed him without any good reason, kept him alive in order that Uguccione might give him more detailed instructions. The latter, cursing the slowness and cowardice of his son, left Pisa for Lucca with four hundred horsemen to finish the matter. He had gone no farther than Bagni when the Pisans revolted, killed Uguccione’s lieutenant and the other members of his family who had stayed behind in Pisa, and proclaimed Count Gaddo della Gherardesca as their ruler. Uguccione heard about what had happened in Pisa before reaching Lucca, but he thought it unwise to return since the Luccans might close the gates of the city on him, following the example of the Pisans. But the people of Lucca, having heard about the news from Pisa, found the means to liberate Castruccio in spite of the fact that Uguccione had come to Lucca. They first began to speak disrespectfully in groups around the public squares, then to make noise, and finally to take up arms, demanding that Castruccio be released. Uguccione was so afraid that he released him from prison. Whereupon Castruccio immediately joined his supporters and, with the aid of the people, attacked Uguccione. When he saw that he had no alternative, Uguccione fled with his friends and went to Lombardy to serve the Della Scala family, where he died in poverty.

  From the status of a prisoner Castruccio became, in all but name, prince of Lucca, and with the aid of his friends and the recent favor of the people he managed to be named captain of their army for a year. Having obtained this, in order to establish his reputation as a soldier, he planned to regain for Lucca many of the territories that had rebelled after Uguccione’s departure. So he marched, with the support of his Pisan allies, against Serezana. In order to conquer it, he built a fort above it—which has since been surrounded by a wall by the Florentines, who today call it Serezanello—and in two months he captured the town. Then, with this under his belt, he took Massa, Carrara, and Lavenza, and in a short time he had occupied all of Lunigiana. To block the pass between Lombardy and Lunigiana, he captured Pontremoli and exiled its ruler, Messer Anastagio Palavisini. Returning to Lucca after this victory, he was met by the entire population. Castruccio concluded that he should no longer put off making himself prince; with the aid of Pazzino dal Poggio, Puccinello dal Portico, Francesco Boccansacchi, and Cecco Guinigi—men of great reputation in Lucca who were bribed by him—he became lord and was declared prince by a solemn decree of the people.

  At that time, Federigo of Bavaria, king of the Romans, had come into Italy to take the crown of the empire. Castruccio became his friend and went to meet him with five hundred horsemen, leaving Pagolo Guinigi behind in Lucca as his deputy; because of the memory of his father, Castruccio treated him as if he were his own son. Castruccio was received honorably by Federigo, was granted many privileges, and was made his lieutenant in Tuscany. Because the Pisans had driven out Gaddo della Gherardesca, having turned to Federigo for aid out of fear of him, Federigo made Castruccio lord of Pisa. The Pisans accepted his rule because of their fear of the Guelfs, especially the Florentines.

  When Federigo returned to Germany, after leaving a governor in Rome, all of the Lombard and Tuscan Ghibellines who belonged to the emperor’s camp turned to Castruccio, and each promised him sovereignty over their states if he would assist them to return there. Among these were Matteo Guidi, Nardo Scolari, Lapo Uberti, Gerozzo Nardi, and Piero Buonaccorsi—all Ghibellines and all Florentine exiles. Using their support and his own strength, Castruccio was planning to make himself ruler of all Tuscany. In order to increase his prestige, he made an alliance with Messer Matteo Visconti, Prince of Milan, and called the entire city and the surrounding countryside to arms. Since Lucca had five gates, he divided the territory into five parts and armed each, giving them commanders and banners, so that at short notice he could bring together twenty thousand men, not counting those who could aid him from Pisa. When Castruccio had surrounded himself with these forces and allies, it happened that Messer Matteo Visconti was attacked by the Guelfs of Piacenza, who had exiled the Ghibellines with the support of the Florentines and of King Robert. Matteo therefore asked Castruccio to attack the Florentines so that they might recall their forces from Lombardy. And so Castruccio attacked the Arno Valley and occupied Fucecchio and San Miniato, doing great damage to the countryside; whereupon the Florentines were forced to recall their troops. No sooner had they come back into Tuscany than Castruccio was himself forced to turn back to Lucca.

  The Poggio family in that city was powerful, not only because it had supported Castruccio but also because it had made him ruler. Thinking that it had not been rewarded according to its merits, the family conspired with other families of Lucca to foment rebellion and to drive Castruccio out of the city. Taking advantage of an opportunity one morning, they assaulted Castruccio’s lieutenant in charge of justice and killed him. They wanted to go on to incite the populace to revolt, but Stefano di Poggio, a peace-loving old man who had taken no part in the conspiracy, came forward and by means of his authority compelled his family to lay down their arms, offering himself as a mediator between them and Castruccio in order to obtain their goals. And so they abandoned their arms with no more caution than when they had taken them up; meanwhile, hearing the news from Lucca, Castruccio left Pagolo Guinigi in charge of the main army and, without losing any time, came to Lucca with part of his forces. Finding the disturbance under control, contrary to his fears, and thinking that he could easily make himself secure there, he placed his armed supporters in all the strategic positions. Stefano di Poggio, believing that Castruccio was under an obligation to him, went to find him and begged him on behalf of his family (but not on his own account, thinking that he needed no such mercy) to make allowances for youth and to remember the old friendship and the obligation owed to their family. To this Castruccio replied graciously and told him not to worry, saying that he was happier to see the disturbances quelled than he was angry over their beginning; and he asked Stefano to bring them all to him, saying that he thanked God for the opportunity to demonstrate his clemency and goodwill. When they had all come forward, trusting in the word of both Stefano and Castruccio, they were imprisoned and, together with Stefano, executed.

  The Florentines had meanwhile recovered San Miniato. Castruccio felt that he should put an end to this war, for until he could be sure of Lucca he could not leave home. Tempting the Florentines with a truce, he found them eager to agree, for they were worn out and anxious to put an end to their expenditures. A two-year truce was signed, and each side kept what it held. When Castruccio was rid of the war, in order not to run the risks he had incurred before, he used various pretexts and excuses to eliminate all those in Lucca who might aspire to his position. Nor did he forgive anyone, stripping them of their citizenship, their property, and for those whom he could lay his hands on, of their lives, saying that he had learned by experience not to trust any of them. Furthermore, to increase his security he built a fortress in Lucca, using the materials from the towers of those he had exiled or murdered.

  While Castruccio had halted his war with the Florentines and was fortifying himself in Lucca, he did not cease doing those things tha
t would increase his greatness without war. Having a great desire to occupy Pistoia, since he felt he might have a foothold in Florence in holding that town, in various ways he gained the friendship of the whole mountain area and conducted himself in such a manner that all of the Pistoian factions trusted him. The city was split in those days, as always, between the Whites and the Blacks. The leader of the Whites was Bastiano di Possente; that of the Blacks, Iacopo da Gia. Each had secret communications with Castruccio, and each wanted to exile the other to such an extent that, finally, after much mutual suspicion, they came to blows. Iacopo fortified the Florentine gate and Bastiano the Luccan gate, Relying more upon Castruccio than upon the Florentines, since they both judged him quicker in matters of war, each secretly asked him for help. Castruccio promised aid to both, telling Iacopo that he would come in person and Bastiano that he would send his protégé, Pagolo Guinigi. Giving each of them a meeting time, he sent Pagolo by way of Pescia while he came directly to Pistoia; by midnight, as Castruccio and Pagolo had planned, both were in Pistoia, each being received as a friend. Once inside the city, Castruccio gave a signal to Pagolo when he thought the time was right, after which one killed Iacopo da Gia and the other murdered Bastiano di Possente; all their partisans were either captured or executed. Pistoia fell to them without further opposition. Having thrown the Signoria out of the palace, Castruccio forced the people to render obedience to him, cancelling many old debts and making many promises. And he did the same thing in the surrounding countryside, a large part of which had run to see the new prince, so that everyone, filled with hope and moved, in large measure, by Castruccio’s abilities, settled down.

  At that time the Roman people began to riot because of the high cost of living, blaming this condition on the absence of the Pope, then living in Avignon, and cursing the German authorities. As a result, daily murders and other disorders occurred. Enrico, the emperor’s lieutenant, could do nothing about it. This caused Enrico to suspect that the Romans might call in King Robert of Naples, chase him out of Rome, and return the city to the Pope. Having no closer friend to whom he could turn than Castruccio, he sent him a message asking him not only to send help but to come in person to Rome. Castruccio judged that he could not ignore the request if he wanted to render a service to the emperor; furthermore, since the emperor was not in Rome, he could see no other course of action. Leaving Pagolo Guinigi in Lucca, he set out for Rome with six hundred mounted men, where he was received by Enrico with the greatest honors. In a very short time his presence gave the emperor’s party so much prestige that, without bloodshed or violence, he restored order. Castruccio removed the cause of the disturbances, since he had a great deal of grain brought in by sea from the Pisan area. Afterward, partly by means of threats and partly by punishing the Roman leaders, he returned the people willingly to the rule of Enrico. Castruccio was named a senator of Rome and was given many other honors by the Roman people. Castruccio assumed this of fice with the greatest of ceremony and wore a brocaded toga bearing an inscription in front that read, “He is the man God wills,” and another in the back that read, “He shall be what God wills.”

  Meanwhile, the Florentines, angry that Castruccio used the truce to take control of Pistoia, were scheming about how to make the city rebel—something they thought would be an easy matter because of his absence. Among the Pistoian exiles in Florence were Baldo Cecchi and Iacopo Baldini, both men of authority and ready to risk everything. These men had secret contacts with their friends inside Pistoia. With the aid of the Florentines, they entered Pistoia by night and drove out Castruccio’s supporters and officials, killing some of them and restoring the city to its former liberty. This greatly annoyed and displeased Castruccio. Taking leave of Enrico, he returned to Lucca by forced marches with his troops. When they heard of his return, the Florentines, believing that he would not stand idle, decided to anticipate him and to enter the Nievole Valley first with their troops, thinking that if they occupied the valley they would cut off the road needed to reoccupy Pistoia. They raised a large army composed of all the Guelf sympathizers and entered Pistoian territory. At the same time, Castruccio arrived with his troops at Montecarlo. When he had learned where the Florentine army was located, he decided neither to meet it in the plain of Pistoia nor to wait for it in the plain of Pescia, but rather to confront it in the Serravalle Pass if that were possible. He believed that if this plan worked, his victory would be assured, since he had learned that the Florentines had thirty thousand men while he had chosen twelve thousand of his own. And although he had faith in their ability and industry, he was nevertheless afraid of being surrounded by a superior force in a battle joined in an open space.

  Serravalle is a fort between Pescia and Pistoia, set on a hill that closes the Nievole Valley, not exactly on the pass itself but about two bowshots above it. The passage through it is narrow rather than steep, since it slopes up gently on both sides; but it is so narrow that twenty men standing side by side would span it, especially where the waters divide on the hill. This was the spot where Castruccio meant to face the enemy, both because his smaller forces would have an advantage and because his men would only see the enemy the minute the battle started; for Castruccio feared that his troops might be frightened if they saw ahead of time how great the size of the enemy was. Messer Manfredi, of German descent, was the keeper of the castle; he had been placed in charge of the town as a common ground for both Lucca and Pistoia before Castruccio took Pistoia. Neither city had reason to attack him, since he had promised to remain neutral and to have no obligations to anyone; because of this, and because of his strong position, he had remained in power. But in view of these new circumstances, Castruccio grew anxious to occupy the stronghold. Being very friendly with a certain citizen there, he arranged with him to have four hundred of his men let in to kill the ruler the night before the battle was to begin.

  Once things were organized in this manner, he did not move the army from Montecarlo in order to encourage the Florentines to enter the pass. Since the latter wished to shift the fighting from Pistoia to the Nievole Valley, they camped below Serravalle, intending to cross the hill the next day. But, having taken the castle that evening without a sound, Castruccio left Montecarlo at midnight and arrived in silence with his troops at the foot of Serravalle in the morning. And so, at the same time, each on his own side, both he and the Florentines began to climb the slope. Castruccio had sent his foot soldiers along the main road and a band of four hundred cavalry toward the castle on the left. The Florentines, on the other side, had sent ahead four hundred horsemen; they had moved their infantry, stationing their men-at-arms behind them. They did not expect to find Castruccio on the hill, since they did not know that he had taken the castle. So the Florentine cavalry, having climbed the slope, came upon Castruccio’s foot soldiers unexpectedly, and they found themselves so close to their enemy that they hardly had time to lace their helmets. Since, therefore, the unprepared were assaulted by the prepared and well organized, Castruccio’s troops attacked valiantly and their opponents could hardly resist. Nevertheless, some fought back, and by the time the noise reached the rest of the Florentine camp everything was confused: the horsemen were hemmed in by the infantry; the infantry by the horsemen and the wagons; the commanders could neither go forward nor backward because of the narrowness of the place; the result was that no one knew what they could or should do in all this confusion. In the meantime, the Florentine cavalrymen, fighting the enemy infantry, were killed and slaughtered without being able to defend themselves because of the difficulty of the terrain; nevertheless, they resisted more out of tenacity than ability, for they had the mountains on their flanks, their friends behind them, and the enemy in front of them, which left them no means of escape.

  Meanwhile, Castruccio, seeing that he did not have enough men to rout the enemy, sent a thousand foot soldiers through the castle; having them descend together with four hundred horsemen that he had sent ahead, they hit the enemy on their flanks with su
ch fury that the Florentine soldiers, unable to withstand the impetus of the charge, fled, defeated more by the terrain than by the enemy. The rout began with those who were in the rear, toward Pistoia; they spread out over the plain, each saving his own neck as best he could.

  This was a great and bloody rout. Many leaders were captured, among them Bandino de’ Rossi, Francesco Brunelleschi, and Giovanni della Tosa—all Florentine noblemen. Also soldiering with the Florentines were many other Tuscans and Neapolitans who had been sent by King Robert to aid the Guelfs.

  As soon as the Pistoians heard about the defeat, they drove out the Guelf party without delay and gave themselves up to Castruccio. Not content with this, Castruccio occupied Prato and all the strongholds of the plain on both sides of the Arno River; he camped with his forces in the Peretola Plain, two miles from Florence. There he stayed for many days, dividing up the booty and celebrating his victory; he had money coined and he organized races to be run by horses, men, and whores in order to insult the Florentines. Nor did he miss the chance to bribe some noble citizens in order to have the gates of Florence opened at night; but the plot was discovered, and Tommaso Lupacci and Lambertuccio Frescobaldi were captured and beheaded.