day following he was made a prisoner by the neighbouring peasants,
who, regardless of his entreaties to put him to death, brought him to
Florence, and delivered him up to the magistrates. As his guilt was
manifest, his execution was instantaneous, and afforded from the windows
of the palace another spectacle that gratified the resentment of the
enraged multitude. His nephew Renato, who suffered at the same time,
excited in some degree the commiseration of the spectators. Devoted to
his studies, and averse to popular commotions, he had refused to be an
actor in the conspiracy, and his silence was his only crime. The body
of Jacopo had been interred in the church of Santa Croce, and to this
circumstance the superstition of the people attributed an unusual and
incessant fall of rain that succeeded these disturbances. Partaking
in their prejudices, or desirous of gratifying their revenge, the
magistrates ordered his body to be removed without the walls of the
city. The following morning it was again torn from the grave by a great
multitude of children who, in spite of the restrictions of decency and
the interference of some of the inhabitants, after dragging it a long
time through the streets, and treating it with every degree of wanton
opprobrium, threw it into the river Arno. Such was the fate of a man who
had enjoyed the highest honours of the republic, and for his services to
the state had been rewarded with the privileges of the equestrian rank.
The rest of the devoted family were condemned either to imprisonment
or to exile, excepting only Guglielmo de’ Pazzi, who, though not
unsuspected, was first sheltered from the popular fury in the house of
Lorenzo, and was afterwards ordered to remain at his own villa, about
twenty-five miles distant from Florence.
[Sidenote: [1478-1480 A.D.]]
Although most diligent search was made for the priests who had undertaken
the murder of Lorenzo, it was not till the third day after the attempt
that they were discovered, having obtained a shelter in the monastery
of the Benedictine monks. No sooner were they brought from the place of
their concealment, than the populace, after cruelly mutilating them,
put them to death, and with difficulty were prevented from slaughtering
the monks themselves. Montesicco, who had adhered to the cause of the
conspirators, although he had refused to be the active instrument of
their project, was taken a few days afterwards, as he was endeavouring to
save himself by flight, and beheaded, having first made a full confession
of all the circumstances attending the conspiracy, by which it appeared
that the pope was privy to the whole transaction. The punishment of
Bernardo Bandini was longer delayed. He had safely passed the bounds of
Italy, and had taken refuge at length in Constantinople; but the sultan
Muhammed, being apprised of his crime, ordered him to be seized and sent
in chains to Florence, at the same time alleging as the motive of his
conduct the respect which he had for the character of Lorenzo de’ Medici.
He arrived in the month of December in the ensuing year, and met with the
due reward of his treachery. An embassy was sent from Florence to return
thanks to the sultan, in the name of the republic.[d]
LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT IN POWER
The ill success of the conspiracy of the Pazzi strengthened, as always
happens, the government against which it was directed. The Medici had
been content till then to be the first citizens of Florence: from that
time Lorenzo looked upon himself as the prince of the city; and his
friends, in speaking of him, sometimes employed that title. In addressing
him, the epithet of “most magnificent lord” was habitually employed. It
was the mode of addressing the condottieri, and the petty princes who
had no other title. Lorenzo affected in his habits of life an unbounded
liberality, pomp, and splendour, which he believed necessary to make
up for the real rank which he wanted. The Magnificent, his title of
honour, is become, not without reason, his surname with posterity. On
the failure of the conspiracy, he was menaced by all Italy at once.
The pope fulminated a bull against him on the 1st of June, 1478, for
having hanged an archbishop. He demanded that Lorenzo de’ Medici, the
gonfalonier, the priori, and the balia of Eight should be given up to
him, to be punished according to the enormity of their crime. At the
same time he published a league, which he had formed against them with
Ferdinand of Naples and the republic of Siena. He gave the command of
the army of the league to Federigo di Montefeltro, duke of Urbino, and
ordered him to advance into Tuscany.[e]
The Florentines now prepared for war, by raising money and collecting
as large a force as possible. Being in league with the duke of Milan
and the Venetians, they applied to both for assistance. As the pope had
proved himself a wolf rather than a shepherd, to avoid being devoured
under false accusations they justified their cause with all available
arguments, and filled Italy with accounts of the treachery practised
against their government, exposing the impiety and injustice of the
pontiff, and assured the world that the pontificate which he had wickedly
attained he would as impiously fill.
The two armies, under the command of Alfonso, eldest son of Ferrando
and duke of Calabria, who had as his general Federigo, count of Urbino,
entered the Chianti, by permission of the Sienese, who sided with the
enemy, occupied Radda with many other fortresses, and having plundered
the country, besieged the Castellina. The Florentines were greatly
alarmed at these attacks, being almost destitute of forces, and finding
their friends slow to assist; for though the duke sent them aid, the
Venetians denied all obligation to support the Florentines in their
private quarrels, since the animosities of individuals were not to be
defended at the public expense. The Florentines, in order to induce the
Venetians to take a more correct view of the case, sent Tommaso Soderini
as their ambassador to the senate, and, in the meantime, engaged forces,
and appointed Ercole, marquis of Ferrara, to the command of their army.
Whilst these preparations were being made, the Castellina were so hard
pressed by the enemy, that the inhabitants, despairing of relief,
surrendered, after having sustained a siege of forty-two days.
The enemy then directed their course towards Arezzo, and encamped before
San Savino. The Florentine army, being now in order, went to meet them,
and having approached within three miles, caused such annoyance that
Federigo d’Urbino demanded a truce for a few days, which was granted, but
proved so disadvantageous to the Florentines that those who had made the
request were astonished at having obtained it; for, had it been refused,
they would have been compelled to retire in disgrace. Having gained these
few days to recruit themselves, as soon as they were expired they took
the castle in the presence of their enemies. Winter being now come, the
forces of the pope and the king retired for convenient quarters to the
Sienese territory. The Florentines also withdrew to a more commodious
situation, and the marquis of Ferrara, having done little for himself and
less for others, returned to his own territories.
At this time, ambassadors came to Florence from the emperor, the king of
France, and the king of Hungary, who were sent by their princes to the
pontiff. They solicited the Florentines also to send ambassadors to the
pope, and promised to use their utmost exertion to obtain for them an
advantageous peace. The Florentines did not refuse to make trial, both
for the sake of publicly justifying their proceedings, and because they
were really desirous of peace. Accordingly, the ambassadors were sent,
but returned without coming to any conclusion of their differences. The
Florentines, to avail themselves of the influence of the king of France,
since they were attacked by one part of the Italians and abandoned
by the other, sent to him as their ambassador Donato Acciajuoli, a
distinguished Latin and Greek scholar, whose ancestors had always ranked
high in the city; but whilst on his journey he died at Milan. To relieve
his surviving family and pay a deserved tribute to his memory, he was
honourably buried at the public expense, provision was made for his sons,
and suitable marriage portions given to his daughters, and Guid’ Antonio
Vespucci, a man well acquainted with pontifical and imperial affairs, was
sent as ambassador to the king in his stead.
The attack of Signor Roberto upon the Pisan territory, being unexpected,
greatly perplexed the Florentines; for having to resist the foe in the
direction of Siena, they knew not how to provide for the places about
Pisa. To keep the Lucchese faithful, and prevent them from furnishing
the enemy either with money or provisions, they sent as ambassador Piero
di Gino Capponi, who was received with so much jealousy, on account of
the hatred which that city always cherishes against the Florentines
from former injuries and constant fear, that he was on many occasions
in danger of being put to death by the mob; and thus his mission gave
fresh cause of animosity rather than of union. The Florentines recalled
the marquis of Ferrara, and engaged the marquis of Mantua; they also
as earnestly requested the Venetians to send them Count Carlo, son of
Braccio, and Deifobo, son of Count Jacopo, and after many delays, they
complied; for having made a truce with the Turks, they had no excuse to
justify a refusal, and could not break through the obligation of the
league without the utmost disgrace. The counts Carlo and Deifobo came
with a good force, and being joined by all that could be spared from the
army, which, under the marquis of Ferrara, held in check the duke of
Calabria, proceeded towards Pisa, to meet Signor Roberto, who was with
his troops near the river Serchio, and who, though he had expressed his
intention of awaiting their arrival, withdrew to the camp at Lunigiana,
which he had quitted upon coming into the Pisan territory, while Count
Carlo recovered all the places that had been taken by the enemy in that
district.
[Illustration: HUNTING COSTUME OF AN ITALIAN BARON]
The Florentines, being thus relieved from the attack in the direction of
Pisa, assembled the whole force between Colle and Santo Geminiano. But
the army, on the arrival of Count Carlo, being composed of Sforzeschi and
Bracceshi, their hereditary feuds soon broke forth, and it was thought
that if they remained long in company they would turn their arms against
each other. It was therefore determined, as the smaller evil, to divide
them; to send one party, under Count Carlo, into the district of Perugia,
and establish the other at Poggibonzi, where they formed a strong
encampment in order to prevent the enemy from penetrating the Florentine
territory. By this they also hoped to compel the enemy to divide their
forces; for Count Carlo was understood to have many partisans in Perugia,
and it was therefore expected either that he would occupy the place,
or that the pope would be compelled to send a large body of men for its
defence. To reduce the pontiff to greater necessity, they ordered Niccolo
Vitelli, who had been expelled from Città di Castello, where his enemy
Lorenzo Vitelli commanded, to lead a force against that place, with the
view of driving out his adversary and withdrawing it from obedience to
the pope. At the beginning of the campaign, fortune seemed to favour the
Florentines; for Count Carlo made rapid advances in the Perugino, and
Niccolo Vitelli, though unable to enter Castello, was superior in the
field, and plundered the surrounding country without opposition. The
forces also at Poggibonzi constantly overran the country up to the walls
of Siena.
These hopes, however, were not realised; for, in the first place, Count
Carlo died while in the fullest tide of success, though the consequences
of this would have been less detrimental to the Florentines had not the
victory to which it gave occasion been nullified by the misconduct of
others. The death of the count being known, the forces of the church,
which had already assembled in Perugia, conceived hopes of overcoming
the Florentines, and encamped upon the lake, within three miles of
the enemy. On the other side, Jacopo Guicciardini, commissary to the
army, by the advice of Roberto da Rimino, who, after the death of Count
Carlo, was the principal commander, knowing the ground of their sanguine
expectations, determined to meet them; and coming to an engagement near
the lake, upon the site of the memorable rout of the Romans by Hannibal,
the Carthaginian general, the papal forces were vanquished. The news of
the victory, which did great honour to the commanders, diffused universal
joy at Florence, and would have insured a favourable termination of the
campaign, had not the disorders which arose in the army at Poggibonzi
thrown all into confusion; for the advantage obtained by the valour of
the one was more than counterbalanced by the disgraceful proceedings
of the other. Having made considerable booty in the Sienese territory,
quarrels arose about the division of it between the marquis of Mantua and
the marquis of Ferrara, who, coming to arms, assailed each other with
the utmost fury; and the Florentines, seeing they could no longer avail
themselves of the services of both, allowed the marquis of Ferrara and
his men to return home.
_The Florentines Routed at Poggibonzi_
The army being thus reduced, without a leader, and disorder prevailing
in every department, the duke of Calabria, who was with his forces near
Siena, resolved to attack them immediately. The Florentines, finding
the enemy at hand, were seized with a sudden panic; neither their arms
nor their numbers, in which they were superior to their adversaries,
nor their position, which was one of great strength, could give them
confidence; but observing the dust occasioned by the enemy’s approach,
without waiting for a sight of them, they fled in all directions, leaving
their ammunition, carriages, and artillery to be taken by the foe. Such
cowardice and disorder prevailed in the armies of those times that the
turning of a horse’s head or tail was sufficient to decide the fate of an
expedition. This defeat loaded the king’s troops with booty and filled
the Florentines with dismay, for the city, besides the war, was afflicted
with pestilence, which prevailed so extensively that all who possessed
villas fled to them to escape death. This occasioned the defeat to be
attended with greater horror; for those citizens whose possessions lay
in the Val di Pesa and the Val d’Elsa, having retired to them, hastened
to Florence with all speed as soon as they heard of the disaster, taking
with them not only their children and their property, but even their
labourers; so that it seemed as if the enemy were expected every moment
in the city.
Those who were appointed to the management of the war, perceiving the
universal consternation, commanded the victorious forces in the Perugino
to give up their enterprise in that district and march to oppose the
enemy in the Val d’Elsa, who, after their victory, plundered the country
without opposition; and although the Florentine army had so closely
pressed the city of Perugia that it was expected to fall into their hands
every instant, the people preferred defending their own possessions to
endeavouring to seize those of others. The troops, thus withdrawn from
the pursuit of their good fortune, were marched to San Casciano, a castle
within eight miles of Florence, the leaders thinking they could take up
no other position till the relics of the routed army were assembled. On
the other hand, the enemy being under no further restraint at Perugia,
and emboldened by the departure of the Florentines, plundered to a large
amount in the districts of Arezzo and Cortona; whilst those who under
Alfonso, duke of Calabria, had been victorious near Poggibonzi, took
the town itself, sacked Vico and Certaldo, and after these conquests
and pillagings encamped before the fortress of Colle, which was
considered very strong; and as the garrison was brave and faithful to
the Florentines, it was hoped they would hold the enemy at bay till the
republic was able to collect its forces. The Florentines being at San
Casciano, and the enemy continuing to use their utmost exertions against
Colle, they determined to draw nearer, that the inhabitants might be the
more resolute in their defence and the enemy assail them less boldly.
With this design they removed their camp from San Casciano to Santo
Geminiano, about five miles from Colle, and with light cavalry and other
suitable forces were able every day to annoy the duke’s camp.
All this, however, was insufficient to relieve the people of Colle; for,
having consumed their provisions, they were compelled to surrender on the
13th of November, to the great grief of the Florentines and joy of the
enemy, more especially of the Sienese, who, besides their habitual hatred
of the Florentines, had a particular animosity against the people of
Colle.
It was now the depth of winter, and the weather so unsuitable for war
that the pope and the king, either designing to hold out a hope of
peace or more quietly to enjoy the fruit of their victories, proposed
a truce for three months to the Florentines, and allowed them ten days
to consider the reply. The offer was eagerly accepted; but as wounds
are well known to be more painful after the blood cools than when they
were first received, this brief repose awakened the Florentines to a
consciousness of the miseries they had endured; and the citizens openly
laid the blame upon each other, pointing out the errors committed in
the management of the war, the expenses uselessly incurred, and the
taxes unjustly imposed. These matters were boldly discussed, not only
in private circles, but in the public councils; and one individual even
ventured to turn to Lorenzo de’ Medici and say, “The city is exhausted
and can endure no more war; it is therefore necessary to think of peace.”
Lorenzo was himself aware of the necessity, and assembled the friends in
whose wisdom and fidelity he had the greatest confidence, when it was
at once concluded that, as the Venetians were lukewarm and unfaithful,
and the duke in the power of his guardians, and involved in domestic
difficulties, it would be desirable by some new alliance to give a better
turn to their affairs. They were in doubt whether to apply to the king
or to the pope; but having examined the question on all sides, they
preferred the friendship of the king as more suitable and secure; for the
short reigns of the pontiffs, the changes ensuing upon each succession,
the disregard shown by the church towards temporal princes, and the
still greater want of respect for them exhibited in her determinations,
rendered it impossible for a secular prince to trust a pontiff, or safely
to share his fortune; for an adherent of the pope would have a companion
in victory, but in defeat must stand alone, whilst the pontiff was
sustained by his spiritual power and influence.
_Lorenzo’s Embassy to Naples_
Having therefore decided that the king’s friendship would be of the
greatest utility to them, they thought it would be most easily and
certainly obtained by Lorenzo’s presence; for in proportion to the
confidence they evinced towards him, the greater they imagined would be
the probability of removing his impressions of past enmities. Lorenzo,
having resolved to go to Naples, recommended the city and government
to the care of Tommaso Soderini, who was at that time gonfalonier of
justice. He left Florence at the beginning of December, and having
arrived at Pisa, wrote to the government to acquaint them with the cause
of his departure. The seigniory, to do him honour, and enable him the
more effectually to treat with the king, appointed him ambassador from
the Florentine people, and endowed him with full authority to make such
arrangements as he thought most useful for the republic.
At this time Roberto da San Severino, with Lodovico and Ascanio (Sforza,
their elder brother, being dead), again attacked Milan, in order to
recover the government. Having taken Tortona, and the city and the
whole state being in arms, the duchess Bona was advised to restore the
Sforzeschi, and to put a stop to civil contentions by admitting them to
the government. The person who gave this advice was Antonio Tassino,
of Ferrara, a man of low origin, who, coming to Milan, fell into the
hands of the duke Galeazzo, and was given by him to his duchess for
her valet. He, either from his personal attractions, or some secret
influence, after the duke’s death attained such influence over the
duchess, that he governed the state almost at his will. This greatly
displeased the minister Cecco, whom prudence and long experience had
rendered invaluable; and who, to the utmost of his power, endeavoured
to diminish the authority of Tassino with the duchess and other members
of the government. Tassino, aware of this, to avenge himself for the
injury, and secure defenders against Cecco, advised the duchess to
recall the Sforzeschi, which she did, without communicating her design
to the minister, who, when it was done, said to her, “You have taken a
step which will deprive me of my life, and you of the government.” This
shortly afterwards took place, for Cecco was put to death by Lodovico,
and Tassino being expelled from the dukedom, the duchess was so enraged
that she left Milan, and gave up the care of her son to Lodovico who,
becoming sole governor of the dukedom, caused, as will be hereafter seen,
the ruin of Italy.
Lorenzo de’ Medici had set out for Naples, and the truce between the
parties was in force, when, quite unexpectedly, Lodovico Fregoso, being
in correspondence with some persons of Sarzana, entered the place by
stealth, took possession of it with an armed force, and imprisoned
the Florentine governor. This greatly offended the seigniory, for
they thought the whole had been concerted with the connivance of King
Ferdinand. They complained to the duke of Calabria, who was with the
army at Siena, of a breach of the truce; and he endeavoured to prove,
by letters and embassies, that it had occurred without either his own or
his father’s knowledge. The Florentines, however, found themselves in
a very awkward predicament, being destitute of money, the head of the
republic in the power of the king, themselves engaged in a long-standing
war with the latter and the pope, in a new one with the Genoese, and
entirely without friends; for they had no confidence in the Venetians,
and on account of its changeable and unsettled state they were rather
apprehensive of Milan. They had thus only one hope, and that depended
upon Lorenzo’s success with the king.
Lorenzo arrived at Naples by sea, and was most honourably received, not
only by Ferdinand, but by the whole city, his coming having excited the
greatest expectation; for it being generally understood that the war
was undertaken for the sole purpose of effecting his destruction, the
power of his enemies invested his name with additional lustre. Being
admitted to the king’s presence, he spoke with so much propriety upon
the affairs of Italy, the disposition of her princes and people, his
hopes from peace, his fears of the results of war, that Ferdinand was
more astonished at the greatness of his mind, the promptitude of his
genius, his gravity and wisdom, than he had previously been at his
power. He consequently treated him with redoubled honour, and began to
feel compelled rather to part with him as a friend, than detain him as
an enemy. However, under various pretexts he kept Lorenzo from December
to March, not only to gain the most perfect knowledge of his own views,
but of those of his city; for he was not without enemies, who would
have wished the king to detain and treat him in the same manner as
Jacopo Piccinino; and, with the ostensible view of sympathising for him,
pointed out all that would, or rather what they wished should result
from such a course; at the same time opposing in the council every
proposition at all likely to favour him. By such means as these the
opinion gained ground that, if he were detained at Naples much longer,
the government of Florence would be changed. This caused the king to
postpone their separation more than he would have otherwise done, to see
if any disturbance were likely to arise. But finding everything going
quietly on, Ferdinand allowed him to depart on the 6th of March, 1479,
having, with every kind of attention and token of regard, endeavoured
to gain his affection, and formed with him a perpetual alliance for
their mutual defence. Lorenzo returned to Florence, and upon presenting
himself before the citizens, the impressions he had created in the
popular mind surrounded him with a halo of majesty brighter than before.
He was received with all the joy merited by his extraordinary qualities
and recent services, in having exposed his own life to the most imminent
peril, in order to restore peace to his country. Two days after his
return, the treaty between the republic of Florence and the king, by
which each party bound itself to defend the other’s territories, was
published. The places taken from the Florentines during the war were to
be given up at the discretion of the king; the Pazzi confined in the
tower of Volterra were to be set at liberty, and a certain sum of money,
for a limited period, was to be paid to the duke of Calabria.
_Peace with Honour_
As soon as this peace was publicly known, the pope and the Venetians were
transported with rage; the pope thought himself neglected by the king;
the Venetians entertained similar ideas with regard to the Florentines,
and complained that, having been companions in the war, they were not
allowed to participate in the peace. Reports of this description being
spread abroad, and received with entire credence at Florence, caused a
general fear that the peace thus made would give rise to greater wars;
and therefore the leading members of the government determined to confine
the consideration of the most important affairs to a smaller number, and
formed a council of seventy citizens, in whom the principal authority
was invested. The new regulation calmed the minds of those desirous of
change, by convincing them of the futility of their efforts. To establish
their authority, they in the first place ratified the treaty of peace
with the king, and sent as ambassadors to the pope, Antonio Ridolfi and
Piero Nasi. But, notwithstanding the peace, Alfonso, duke of Calabria,
still remained at Siena with his forces, pretending to be detained
by discords amongst the citizens, which, he said, had risen so high,
that while he resided outside the city they had compelled him to enter
and assume the office of arbitrator between them. He took occasion to
draw large sums of money from the wealthiest citizens by way of fines,
imprisoned many, banished others, and put some to death; he thus became
suspected, not only by the Sienese but by the Florentines, of a design to
usurp the sovereignty of Siena; nor was any remedy then available, for
the republic had formed a new alliance with the king, and was at enmity
with the pope and the Venetians. This suspicion was entertained not only
by the great body of the Florentine people, who are subtle interpreters
of appearances, but by the principal members of the government; and it
was agreed, on all hands, that the city never was in so much danger of
losing her liberty.
The Turkish emperor, Muhammed II, had gone with a large army to the siege
of Rhodes, and continued it for several months; but though his forces
were numerous, and his courage indomitable, he found them more than
equalled by those of the besieged, who resisted his attack with such
obstinate valour that he was at last compelled to retire in disgrace.
Having left Rhodes, part of his army, under the pasha Akhmet, approached
Velona, and, either from observing the facility of the enterprise, or
in obedience to his sovereign’s commands, coasting along the Italian
shores, he suddenly landed four thousand soldiers, and attacked the city
of Otranto, which he easily took, plundered, and put all the inhabitants
to the sword. He then fortified the city and port, and having assembled
a large body of cavalry, pillaged the surrounding country. The king,
learning this, and aware of the redoubtable character of his assailant,
immediately sent messengers to all the surrounding powers, to request
assistance against the common enemy, and ordered the immediate return of
the duke of Calabria with the forces at Siena.
This attack, however it might annoy the duke and the rest of Italy,
occasioned the utmost joy at Florence and Siena; the latter thinking she
had recovered her liberty, and the former that she had escaped a storm
which threatened her with destruction. These impressions, which were
not unknown to the duke, increased the regret he felt at his departure
from Siena; and he accused fortune of having, by an unexpected and
unaccountable accident, deprived him of the sovereignty of Tuscany. The
same circumstance changed the disposition of the pope; for although he
had previously refused to receive any ambassador from Florence, he was
now so mollified as to be anxious to listen to any overtures of peace;
and it was intimated to the Florentines that, if they would condescend to
ask the pope’s pardon, they would be sure of obtaining it. Thinking it
advisable to seize the opportunity, they sent twelve ambassadors to the
pontiff, who, on their arrival, detained them under different pretexts
before he would admit them to an audience. However, terms were at length
settled, and what should be contributed by each in peace or war.
The messengers were then admitted to the feet of the pontiff, who, with
the utmost pomp, received them in the midst of his cardinals. They
apologised for past occurrences, first showing they had been compelled
by necessity, then blaming the malignity of others, or the rage of the
populace, and their just indignation, and enlarging on the unfortunate
condition of those who are compelled either to fight or die; saying
that, since every extremity is endured in order to avoid death, they had
suffered war, interdicts, and other inconveniences brought upon them by
recent events, that their republic might escape slavery, which is the
death of free cities. However, if in their necessities they had committed
any offence, they were desirous to make atonement, and trusted in his
clemency, who, after the example of the blessed Redeemer, would receive
them into his compassionate arms.
The pope’s reply was indignant and haughty. After reiterating all the
offences against the church during the late transactions, he said that,
to comply with the precepts of God, he would grant the pardon they asked,
but would have them understand that it was their duty to obey; and that,
upon the next instance of their disobedience, they would inevitably
forfeit the liberty which they had just been upon the point of losing;
for those merit freedom who exercise themselves in good works and avoid
evil; that liberty, improperly used, injures itself and others; that to
think little of God, and less of his church, is not the part of a free
man, but a fool, and one disposed to evil rather than good, and to effect
whose correction is the duty not only of princes but of every Christian.
So that in respect of the recent events, they had only themselves to
blame, who, by their evil deeds, had given rise to the war, and inflamed
it by still worse actions, it having been terminated by the kindness of
others rather than by any merit of their own. The formula of agreement
and benediction was then read; and, in addition to what had already been
considered and agreed upon between the parties, the pope said that, if
the Florentines wished to enjoy the fruit of his forgiveness, they must
maintain fifteen galleys, armed and equipped, at their own expense,
so long as the Turks should make war upon the kingdom of Naples. The
ambassadors complained much of this burden in addition to the arrangement
already made, but were unable to obtain any alleviation. However, after
their return to Florence, the seigniory sent, as ambassador to the pope,
Guid’ Antonio Vespucci, who had recently returned from France, and who by
his prudence brought everything to an amicable conclusion, and obtained
many favours from the pontiff, which were considered as presages of a
closer reconciliation.
Having settled their affairs with the pope, Siena being free, themselves
released from the fear of the king by the departure of the duke of
Calabria from Tuscany, and the war with the Turks still continuing, the
Florentines pressed the king to restore their fortresses, which the duke
of Calabria, upon quitting the country, had left in the hands of the
Sienese. Ferdinand, apprehensive that if he refused they would withdraw
from the alliance with him, and by new wars with the Sienese deprive him
of the assistance he hoped to obtain from the pope and other Italian
powers, consented that they should be given up, and by new favours
endeavoured to attach the Florentines to his interests.
The castles being restored, and this new alliance established, Lorenzo
de’ Medici recovered the reputation which first the war and then the
peace, when the king’s designs were doubtful, had deprived him of; for
at this period there was no lack of those who openly slandered him with
having sold his country to save himself, and said that in war they had
lost their territories, and in peace their liberty. But the fortresses
being recovered, an honourable treaty ratified with the king, and the
city restored to her former influence, the spirit of public discourse
entirely changed in Florence, a place greatly addicted to gossip, and in
which actions are judged by the success attending them, rather than by
the intelligence employed in their direction; therefore, the citizens
praised Lorenzo extravagantly, declaring that by his prudence he had
recovered in peace what unfavourable circumstances had taken from them in
war, and that by his discretion and judgment he had done more than the
enemy with all the force of their arms.
[Illustration: FONTA GAZZA, SIENA]
_Further Papal Wars_
[Sidenote: [1480-1481 A.D.]]
The invasion of the Turks had deferred the war which was about to break
forth from the anger of the pope and the Venetians at the peace between
the Florentines and the king. But as the beginning of that invasion
was unexpected and beneficial, its conclusion was equally unlooked
for and injurious; for Muhammed dying suddenly, dissensions arose
amongst his sons; and the forces which were in Apulia, being abandoned
by their commander, surrendered Otranto to the king. The fears which
restrained the pope and the Venetians being thus removed, everyone became
apprehensive of new troubles. On the one hand was the league of the pope
and the Venetians, and with them the Genoese, Sienese, and other minor
powers; on the other, the Florentines, the king, and the duke, with whom
were the Bolognese and many princes. The Venetians wished to become
lords of Ferrara, and thought they were justified by circumstances in
making the attempt, and hoping for a favourable result. Their differences
arose thus: the marquis of Ferrara affirmed he was under no obligation
to take salt from the Venetians, or to admit their governor; the terms
of convention between them declaring that, after seventy years, the
city was to be free from both impositions. The Venetians replied that,
so long as he held the Polesine, he was bound to receive their salt
and their governor. The marquis refusing his consent, the Venetians
considered themselves justified in taking arms, and that the present
moment offered a suitable opportunity; for the pope was indignant against
the Florentines and the king; and to attach the pope still further, the
count Girolamo, who was then at Venice, was received with all possible
respect, first admitted to the privileges of a citizen, and then raised
to the rank of a senator--the highest distinctions the Venetian senate
can confer. To prepare for the war, they levied new taxes, and appointed
to the command of the forces, Roberto da San Severino, who being offended
with Lodovico, governor of Milan, fled to Tortona, whence, after
occasioning some disturbances, he went to Genoa, and whilst there, was
sent for by the Venetians, and placed at the head of their troops.
[Sidenote: [1481-1482 A.D.]]
These circumstances becoming known to the opposite league, induced it
also to provide for war. The duke of Milan appointed as his general
Federigo d’Urbino; the Florentines engaged Costanzo, lord of Pesaro; and
to sound the disposition of the pope, and know whether the Venetians
made war against Ferrara with his consent or not, King Ferdinand sent
Alfonso, duke of Calabria, with his army, across the Tronto, and asked
the pontiff’s permission to pass into Lombardy to assist the marquis,
which was refused in the most peremptory manner. The Florentines and the
king, no longer doubtful concerning the pope’s intentions, determined
to harass him, and thus either compel him to take part with them, or
throw such obstacles in his way as would prevent him from helping the
Venetians, who had already taken the field, attacked the marquis, overrun
his territory, and encamped before Figaruolo, a fortress of the greatest
importance. In pursuance of the design of the Florentines and the king,
the duke of Calabria, by the assistance of the Colonna family (the Orsini
had joined the pope) plundered the country about Rome, and committed
great devastation; whilst the Florentines, with Niccolo Vitelli, besieged
and took Città di Castello, expelling Lorenzo Vitelli, who held it for
the pope, and placing Niccolo in it as prince.
The pope now found himself in very great straits; for the city of Rome
was disturbed by factions, and the country covered with enemies. But
acting with courage and resolution, he appointed Roberto da Rimini to
take the command of his forces; and having sent for him to Rome, where
his troops were assembled, told him how great would be the honour if
he could deliver the church from the king’s forces and the troubles in
which it was involved; how greatly indebted not only himself, but all his
successors would be, and that not mankind merely, but God himself would
be under obligations to him. The magnificent Roberto, having considered
the forces and preparations already made, advised the pope to raise as
numerous a body of infantry as possible, which was done without delay.
The duke of Calabria was at hand, and constantly harassed the country
up to the very gates of Rome, which so roused the indignation of the
citizens that many offered their assistance to Roberto, and all were
thankfully received. The duke, hearing of these preparations, withdrew
a short distance from the city, that in the belief of finding him gone,
the magnificent Roberto would not pursue him, and also in expectation of
his brother Federigo, whom their father had sent to him with additional
forces. But Roberto, finding himself nearly equal to the duke in cavalry,
and superior in infantry, marched boldly out of Rome, and took a position
within two miles of the enemy. The duke, seeing his adversaries close
upon him, found he must either fight or disgracefully retire. To avoid
a retreat unbecoming a king’s son, he resolved to face the enemy; and
a battle ensued which continued from morning till midday. In this
engagement, greater valour was exhibited on both sides than had been
shown in any other during the last fifty years, upwards of a thousand
dead being left upon the field.
[Sidenote: [1482-1483 A.D.]]
The troops of the church were at length victorious; for her numerous
infantry so annoyed the ducal cavalry that they were compelled to
retreat, and Alfonso himself would have fallen into the hands of the
enemy, had he not been rescued by a body of Turks, who remained at
Otranto, and were at that time in his service. The lord of Rimini, after
this victory, returned triumphantly to Rome, but did not long enjoy the
fruit of his valour; for having, during the heat of the engagement, taken
a copious draught of water, he was seized with a flux, of which he very
shortly afterwards died. The pope caused his funeral to be conducted with
great pomp, and in a few days sent the count Girolamo towards Città di
Castello to restore it to Lorenzo, and also endeavour to gain Rimini,
which being by Roberto’s death left to the care of his widow and a son
who was quite a boy, his holiness thought might be easily won; and this
would certainly have been the case, if the lady had not been defended by
the Florentines, who opposed him so effectually as to prevent his success
against both Castello and Rimini.
Whilst these things were in progress at Rome and in Romagna, the
Venetians took possession of Figaruolo and crossed the Po with their
forces. The camp of the duke of Milan and the marquis was in disorder;
for the count of Urbino, having fallen ill, was carried to Bologna for
his recovery, but died. Thus the marquis’ affairs were unfortunately
situated, whilst those of the Venetians gave them increasing hopes of
occupying Ferrara. The Florentines and the king of Naples used their
utmost endeavours to gain the pope to their views; and not having
succeeded by force, they threatened him with the council, which had
already been summoned by the emperor to assemble at Bâle; and by means
of the imperial ambassadors, and the co-operation of the leading
cardinals, who were desirous of peace, the pope was compelled to turn
his attention towards effecting the pacification of Italy. With this
view, at the instigation of his fears, and with the conviction that the
aggrandisement of the Venetians would be the ruin of the church and
of Italy, he endeavoured to make peace with the league, and sent his
nuncios to Naples, where a treaty was concluded for five years, between
the pope, the king, the duke of Milan, and the Florentines, with an
opening for the Venetians to join them if they thought proper. When
this was accomplished, the pope intimated to the Venetians that they
must desist from war against Ferrara. They refused to comply, and made
preparations to prosecute their design with greater vigour than they had
hitherto done; and having routed the forces of the duke and the marquis
at Argenta, they approached Ferrara so closely as to pitch their tents in
the marquis’ park.
The league found they must no longer delay rendering him efficient
assistance, and ordered the duke of Calabria to march to Ferrara with his
forces and those of the pope, the Florentine troops also moving in the
same direction. In order to direct the operations of the war with greater
efficiency, the league assembled a diet at Cremona, which was attended by
the pope’s legate, the count Girolamo, the duke of Calabria, the seignior
Lodovico Sforza, and Lorenzo de’ Medici, with many other Italian princes;
and when the measures to be adopted were fully discussed, having decided
that the best way of relieving Ferrara would be to effect a division of
the enemies’ forces, the league desired Lodovico to attack the Venetians
on the side of Milan, but this he declined, for fear of bringing a war
upon the duke’s territories, which it would be difficult to quell. It was
therefore resolved to proceed with the united forces of the league to
Ferrara, and having assembled four thousand cavalry and eight thousand
infantry, they went in pursuit of the Venetians, whose force amounted
to twenty-two hundred men-at-arms, and six thousand foot. They first
attacked the Venetian flotilla, then lying upon the river Po, which they
routed with the loss of above two hundred vessels, and took prisoner
Antonio Justiniano, the purveyor of the fleet. The Venetians, finding all
Italy united against them, endeavoured to support their reputation by
engaging in their service the duke of Lorraine, who joined them with two
hundred men-at-arms; and having suffered so great a destruction of their
fleet, they sent him, with part of their army, to keep their enemies at
bay, and Roberto da San Severino to cross the Adda with the remainder,
and proceed to Milan, where they were to raise the cry of “The duke and
the lady Bona!”--his mother; hoping by this means to give a new aspect to
affairs there, believing that Lodovico and his government were generally
unpopular.
[Illustration: A FLORENTINE, FIFTEENTH CENTURY]
[Sidenote: [1483-1484 A.D.]]
This attack at first created great consternation, and roused the citizens
in arms, but eventually produced consequences unfavourable to the designs
of the Venetians; for Lodovico was now desirous to undertake what he
had refused to do at the entreaty of his allies. Leaving the marquis of
Ferrara to the defence of his own territories, he, with four thousand
horse and two thousand foot, and joined by the duke of Calabria with
twelve thousand horse and five thousand foot, entered the territory of
Bergamo, then Brescia, next that of Verona, and, in defiance of the
Venetians, plundered the whole country; for it was with the greatest
difficulty that Roberto and his forces could save the cities themselves.
In the meantime, the marquis of Ferrara had recovered a great part of his
territories; for the duke of Lorraine, by whom he was attacked, having
only at his command two thousand horse and one thousand foot, could not
withstand him. Hence, during the whole of 1483 the affairs of the league
were prosperous.
The winter having passed quietly over, the armies again took the field.
To produce the greater impression upon the enemy, the league united
their whole force, and would easily have deprived the Venetians of all
they possessed in Lombardy, if the war had been conducted in the same
manner as during the preceding year; for by the departure of the duke of
Lorraine, whose term of service had expired, they were reduced to six
thousand horse and five thousand foot, whilst the allies had thirteen
thousand horse and five thousand foot at their disposal. But, as is often
the case where several of equal authority are joined in command, their
want of unity decided the victory to their enemies. Federigo, marquis of
Mantua, whose influence kept the duke of Calabria and Lodovico Sforza
within bounds, being dead, differences arose between them which soon
became jealousies. Giovanni Galeazzo, duke of Milan, was now of an age
to take the government on himself, and had married the daughter of the
duke of Calabria, who wished his son-in-law to exercise the government
and not Lodovico; the latter, being aware of the duke’s design, studied
to prevent him from effecting it. The position of Lodovico being known to
the Venetians, they thought they could make it available for their own
interests, and hoped, as they had often before done, to recover in peace
all they had lost by war; and having secretly entered into treaty with
Lodovico, the terms were concluded in August, 1484.
When this became known to the rest of the allies, they were greatly
dissatisfied, principally because they found that the places won from
the Venetians were to be restored; that they were allowed to keep Rovigo
and the Polesine, which they had taken from the marquis of Ferrara, and
besides this retain all the pre-eminence and authority over Ferrara
itself which they had formerly possessed. Thus it was evident to everyone
they had been engaged in a war which had cost vast sums of money, during
the progress of which they had acquired honour, and which was concluded
with disgrace; for the places wrested from the enemy were restored
without themselves recovering those they had lost. They were, however,
compelled to ratify the treaty, on account of the unsatisfactory state
of their finances, and because the faults and ambition of others had
rendered them unwilling to put their fortunes to further proof.
The Florentines, after the pacification of Lombardy, could not remain
quiet; for it appeared disgraceful that a private gentleman should
deprive them of the fortress of Sarzana; and as it was allowed by the
conditions of peace not only to demand lost places, but to make war upon
any who should impede their restoration, they immediately provided men
and money to undertake its recovery. Upon this, Agostino Fregoso, who
had seized Sarzana, being unable to defend it, gave the fortress to the
bank of St. George, which readily accepted it, undertook its defence, put
a fleet to sea, and sent forces to Pietrasanta to prevent all attempts
of the Florentines, whose camp was in the immediate vicinity. The
Florentines found it would be essentially necessary to gain possession
of Pietrasanta, for without it the acquisition of Sarzana lost much of
its value, being situated between the latter place and Pisa; but they
could not, consistently with the treaty, besiege it, unless the people
of Pietrasanta, or its garrison, were to impede their acquisition of
Sarzana. To induce the enemy to do this, the Florentines sent from Pisa
to the camp a quantity of provisions and military stores, accompanied
by a very weak escort, that the people of Pietrasanta might have little
cause for fear, and by the richness of the booty be tempted to the
attack. The plan succeeded according to their expectation; for the
inhabitants of Pietrasanta, attracted by the rich prize, took possession
of it.
This gave legitimate occasion to the Florentines to undertake operations
against them; so leaving Sarzana they encamped before Pietrasanta, which
was very populous, and made a gallant defence. The Florentines planted
their artillery in the plain, and formed a rampart on the hill, that
they might also attack the place on that side. Jacopo Guicciardini was
commissary of the army; and while the siege of Pietrasanta was going on,
the Genoese took and burned the fortress of Vada, and, landing their
forces, plundered the surrounding country. Bongianni Gianfigliazzi was
sent against them with a body of horse and foot, and checked their
audacity, so that they pursued their depredations less boldly. The fleet
continuing its efforts went to Leghorn, and by pontoons and other means
approached the new tower, playing their artillery upon it for several
days, but being unable to make any impression they withdrew.
[Sidenote: [1485-1486 A.D.]]
In the meantime the Florentines proceeded slowly against Pietrasanta, and
the enemy taking courage attacked and took their works upon the hill.
This was effected with so much glory, and struck such a panic into the
Florentines, that they were almost ready to raise the siege, and actually
retreated a distance of four miles; for their generals thought that
they would retire to winter quarters, it being now October, and make no
further attempt till the return of spring.
When this discomfiture was known at Florence, the government was filled
with indignation; and, to impart fresh vigour to the enterprise, and
restore the reputation of their forces, they immediately appointed Guid’
Antonio Vespucci and Bernardo del Neri commissaries, who, with vast sums
of money, proceeded to the army, and intimated the heavy displeasure
of the seigniory, and of the whole city, if they did not return to the
walls; and what a disgrace, if so large an army and so many generals,
having only a small garrison to contend with, could not conquer so poor
and weak a place. They explained the immediate and future advantages
that would result from the acquisition, and spoke so forcibly upon the
subject, that all became anxious to renew the attack. They resolved, in
the first place, to recover the rampart upon the hill; and here it was
evident how greatly humanity, affability, and condescension influence
the minds of soldiers; for Guid’ Antonio Vespucci, by encouraging one
and promising another, shaking hands with this man and embracing that,
induced them to proceed to the charge with such impetuosity, that they
gained possession of the rampart in an instant. However, the victory was
not unattended by misfortune, for Count Antonio da Marciano was killed by
a cannon-shot. This success filled the townspeople with so much terror
that they began to make proposals for capitulation; and to invest the
surrender with imposing solemnity, Lorenzo de’ Medici came to the camp,
when, after a few days, the fortress was given up. It being now winter,
the leaders of the expedition thought it unadvisable to make any further
effort until the return of spring, more particularly because the autumnal
air had been so unhealthful that numbers were affected by it. Guid’
Antonio Vespucci and Bongianni Gianfigliazzi were taken ill and died, to
the great regret of all, so greatly had Antonio’s conduct at Pietrasanta
endeared him to the army.
Upon the taking of Pietrasanta, the Lucchese sent ambassadors to
Florence, to demand its surrender to their republic, on account of its
having previously belonged to them, and because, as they alleged, it was
in the conditions that places taken by either party were to be restored
to their original possessors. The Florentines did not deny the articles,
but replied that they did not know whether, by the treaty between
themselves and the Genoese, which was then under discussion, it would
have to be given up or not, and therefore could not reply to that point
at present; but in case of its restitution, it would first be necessary
for the Lucchese to reimburse them for the expenses they had incurred
and the injury they had suffered, in the death of so many citizens; and
that when this was satisfactorily arranged, they might entertain hopes
of obtaining the place. The whole winter was consumed in negotiations
between the Florentines and Genoese, which, by the pope’s intervention,
were carried on at Rome; but not being concluded upon the return of
spring, the Florentines would have attacked Sarzana had they not been
prevented by the illness of Lorenzo de’ Medici and the war between the
pope and King Ferdinand; for Lorenzo was afflicted not only by the gout,
which seemed hereditary in his family, but also by violent pains in the
stomach, and was compelled to go to the baths for relief.
The more important reason was furnished by the war, of which this was the
origin. The city of Aquila, though subject to the kingdom of Naples, was
in a manner free; and the count di Montorio possessed great influence
over it. The duke of Calabria was upon the banks of the Tronto with his
men-at-arms, under pretence of appeasing some disturbances amongst the
peasantry, but really with a design of reducing Aquila entirely under the
king’s authority, and sent for the count di Montorio, as if to consult
him upon the business he pretended then to have in hand. The count obeyed
without the least suspicion, and on his arrival was made prisoner by the
duke and sent to Naples. When this circumstance became known at Aquila,
the anger of the inhabitants arose to the highest pitch; taking arms
they killed Antonio Cencinello, commissary for the king, and with him
some inhabitants known partisans of his majesty. The Aquilani, in order
to have a defender in their rebellion, raised the banner of the church,
and sent envoys to the pope, to submit their city and themselves to
him, beseeching that he would defend them as his own subjects against
the tyranny of the king. The pontiff gladly undertook their defence,
for he had both public and private reasons for hating that monarch; and
Signor Roberto da San Severino, an enemy of the duke of Milan, being
disengaged, was appointed to take the command of his forces, and sent
for with all speed to Rome. He entreated the friends and relatives of
the count di Montorio to withdraw their allegiance from the king, and
induced the princes of Altimura, Salerno, and Bisignano to take arms
against him. The king, finding himself so suddenly involved in war had
recourse to the Florentines and the duke of Milan for assistance. The
Florentines hesitated with regard to their own conduct, for they felt all
the inconvenience of neglecting their own affairs to attend to those of
others, and hostilities against the church seemed likely to involve much
risk. However, being under the obligation of a league, they preferred
their honour to convenience or security, engaged the Orsini, and sent
all their own forces under the count di Pitigliano towards Rome, to the
assistance of the king. The latter divided his forces into two parts;
one, under the duke of Calabria, he sent towards Rome, which, being
joined by the Florentines, opposed the army of the church; with the
other, under his own command, he attacked the barons, and the war was
prosecuted with various success on both sides. At length, the king, being
universally victorious, peace was concluded by the intervention of the
ambassadors of the king of Spain, in August, 1486, to which the pope
consented; for having found fortune opposed to him he was not disposed
to tempt it further. In this treaty all the powers of Italy were united,
except the Genoese, who were omitted as rebels against the republic of
Milan, and unjust occupiers of territories belonging to the Florentines.
Upon the peace being ratified, Roberto da San Severino, having been
during the war a treacherous ally of the church, and by no means
formidable to her enemies, left Rome; being followed by the forces of the
duke and the Florentines, after passing Cesena, he found them near him,
and urging his flight reached Ravenna with less than a hundred horse. Of
his forces, part were received into the duke’s service, and part were
plundered by the peasantry. The king, being reconciled with his barons,
put to death Jacopo Coppola and Antonello d’Aversa and their sons, for
having, during the war, betrayed his secrets to the pope.
The pope having observed, in the course of the war, how promptly and
earnestly the Florentines adhered to their alliances, although he had
previously been opposed to them from his attachment to the Genoese,
and the assistance they had rendered to the king, now evinced a more
amicable disposition, and received their ambassadors with greater
favour than previously. Lorenzo de’ Medici, being made acquainted with
this change of feeling, encouraged it with the utmost solicitude; for he
thought it would be of great advantage, if to the friendship of the king
he could add that of the pontiff.
The pope had a son named Francesco, upon whom designing to bestow states
and attach friends who might be useful to him after his own death, he
saw no safer connection in Italy than Lorenzo’s, and therefore induced
the latter to give him one of his daughters in marriage. Having formed
this alliance, the pope desired the Genoese to concede Sarzana to the
Florentines, insisting that they had no right to detain what Agostino
had sold, nor was Agostino justified in making over to the bank of St.
George what was not his own. However, his holiness did not succeed with
them; for the Genoese, during these transactions at Rome, armed several
vessels, and, unknown to the Florentines, landed three thousand foot,
attacked Sarzanello, situated above Sarzana, plundered and burned the
town near it, and then, directing their artillery against the fortress,
fired upon it with their utmost energy. This assault was new and
unexpected by the Florentines, who immediately assembled their forces
under Virginio Orsini, at Pisa, and complained to the pope that, whilst
he was endeavouring to establish peace, the Genoese had renewed their
attack upon them. They then sent Piero Corsini to Lucca, that by his
presence he might keep the city faithful; and Pagolantonio Soderini
to Venice, to learn how that republic was disposed. They demanded
assistance of the king and of Signor Lodovico, but obtained it from
neither; for the king expressed apprehensions of the Turkish fleet, and
Lodovico made excuses, but sent no aid. Thus the Florentines in their
own wars were almost always obliged to stand alone, and found no friends
to assist them with the same readiness they practised towards others.
Nor did they, on this desertion of their allies (it being nothing new
to them), give way to despondency; for having assembled a large army
under Jacopo Guicciardini and Piero Vettori, they sent it against the
enemy, who had encamped on the river Magra, at the same time pressing
Sarzanello with mines and every species of attack. The commissaries being
resolved to relieve the place, an engagement ensued, when the Genoese
were routed, and Lodovico de’ Fieschi, with several other principal men,
made prisoners. The Sarzanesi were not so depressed at their defeat as
to be willing to surrender, but obstinately prepared for their defence,
whilst the Florentine commissaries proceeded with their operations, and
instances of valour occurred on both sides.
The siege being protracted by a variety of fortune, Lorenzo de’ Medici
resolved to go to the camp, and on his arrival the troops acquired
fresh courage, whilst that of the enemy seemed to fail; for perceiving
the obstinacy of the Florentines’ attack, and the delay of the Genoese
in coming to their relief, they surrendered to Lorenzo, without asking
conditions, and none were treated with severity except two or three who
were leaders of the rebellion. During the siege, Lodovico had sent troops
to Pontremoli, as if with an intention of assisting the Florentines; but
having secret correspondence in Genoa, a party was raised there who gave
the city to Milan.[r]
LAST YEARS OF LORENZO
[Sidenote: [1486-1491 A.D.]]
From this period until the death of Lorenzo Italy remained at peace and
little of any moment occurred at Florence. Lorenzo’s power augmented
daily, and like a deep and rapid stream looked clear and smooth and
beautiful until crossed by some obstacle; then its force mounted up and
swept everything violently away. Nor was it alone in Florence that its
strength and volume were felt; Lorenzo’s true object and interest, like
Ferdinand’s, was peace, and they held the balance in their hand; the
unquiet nature of Alfonso was doubtful and dangerous, but Lorenzo ruled
the unextinct energies of a powerful republic with the decision and unity
of an absolute monarch and would allow no seeds of discord to be sown
without an instantaneous effort to destroy; he influenced all the smaller
states, and the vast weight of Florence cast on the side of one or other
of the greater was never without its consequences. Disputes for instance
occurred this year between Lodovico Sforza and Alfonso of Calabria about
the former’s virtually usurping the whole sovereign authority of Milan
from his nephew; and these, partly by persuasion, and partly by threats
of placing himself on the side of the injured party, Lorenzo settled
as he did most others; for he was well convinced that nothing would
prove more dangerous to his own authority than any increase of power in
either of these potentates. By such judicious management he maintained
the peace of Italy, well knowing that no ties, whether of relationship,
or obligation, or personal attachment, would ever have the beneficial
effects that are produced by fear on sovereign princes.
If Cosmo purchased the liberties of Florence, Lorenzo received back the
money with interest, not in power alone, but in gold and silver: under
the gonfaloniership of Piero Alamanni in July and August, 1490, the
disorder of his finances had become so great as to make a fresh grant
of public money absolutely necessary to restore them, and in the year
1491, other fraudulent means were adopted to make up the deficiency.
His extensive commercial establishments were necessarily left in the
hands of agents who, puffed up with the importance of their master’s
name, squandered his substance while they neglected his affairs; from
the beginning his credit had been sustained by occasional grants of
public money to a large amount; but now the evil was so alarmingly
increased that a violent effort of the commonwealth became necessary to
remove it, and that effort no less than public bankruptcy! On the 13th
of August, 1490, a balia of seventeen members with the full powers of
the whole Florentine nation was created to examine the condition of the
coinage, the state of the various _gabelle_, and the public finances as
connected with the private necessities of Lorenzo; to ascertain also
what was spent on the occasion of making his son a cardinal, which with
subsequent donations amounted to 50,000 florins. The disorder both of the
public revenues and the private resources of the Medici was extreme, the
former having even been anticipated and spent by his own and his agents’
extravagance: the portions of young women, already mentioned as forming a
public stock based on national faith and moral integrity, were the first
and greatest sufferers; this branch of the public debt which previously
paid three per cent. per annum was at once reduced by the authority of
the commission to half that interest; and the instantaneous fall of
public credit reduced the _luoghi di monte_, or shares of 100 florins of
public stock, from twenty-seven to eleven and a half! The young women
who married were allowed a sufficient sum from their portions to pay the
contract duty, which of course immediately returned to the treasury; the
remainder was reserved, and a payment of seven per cent. promised at the
end of twenty years!
One consequence of this was a sudden check to marriage; and when the
portions were invested in public securities, dowers of 1500, 1800, and
even 2000 florins were given by parties of equal rank to make up the
deficiency between real and nominal portions, where 1100 had previously
served. There were consequently few marriages except those accomplished
by force of ready money, and even for these Lorenzo’s permission became
necessary!
“Now,” says Giovanni Cambi,[n] with all the indignation that might be
expected from the son of the persecuted Neri, “now let all reflect on
what it is to set up tyrants in the city and create balias, and assemble
parliaments.” The depreciated currencies of Siena, Lucca, and Bologna
affected that of Florence, so that to keep the silver coin in the country
it was in like manner depreciated; this measure was considered fair and
necessary at the moment by many; but for the people’s quiet, who first
and most sensibly feel such evils and who now justly began to murmur, it
was announced as a measure for enabling government to pay those marriage
portions which had been stopped the previous year. The public for a
season appear to have acquiesced in this, not immediately perceiving that
they were paying Lorenzo de’ Medici’s debts; but when this new money,
called the _quattrino bianco_ was issued at one-fifth more than its real
value and not taken by the treasury for more than its actual worth, the
citizens saw plainly that they were defrauded and that every species
of taxation was virtually augmented by it to that amount, whereupon a
deep murmur of indignation pervaded the community. Their anger was vain;
Lorenzo’s private necessities required the sacrifice, and his power
enforced it!
[Sidenote: [1491-1492 A.D.]]
When Innocent VIII made Lorenzo’s son, Giovanni de’ Medici, a cardinal
ere the boy had completed the age of fourteen, being rather ashamed of
his work he accompanied this honour by a stipulation that the hat was not
to be worn for three years. That time had now elapsed; Innocent sent the
long-desired insignia, and thus prepared the way for a pontificate which
encouraged Italian genius and established Medicean grandeur. The ceremony
of assuming this hat was performed with great pomp on the 10th of March,
1492, and on the 9th of the following April Lorenzo breathed his last at
Careggi in the forty-fourth year of his age.
On his death-bed Lorenzo is said to have sent for Girolamo Savonarola
(whom he had always unsuccessfully courted), to confess and grant him
absolution. The monk first demanded whether he placed entire faith in
the mercy of God, and was answered in the affirmative. He next asked if
Lorenzo were ready to surrender all the wealth which he had wrongfully
acquired. And this, after some hesitation, was also answered in the
affirmative. The third question was if he would re-establish popular
government and restore public liberty; but to this he would give no
answer, or according to others gave a decided negative; upon which the
uncompromising churchman quitted him without bestowing absolution. The
authenticity of this anecdote has been questioned, but it is in keeping
with the character of both men.[p]
VON REUMONT’S ESTIMATE OF LORENZO
Lorenzo de’ Medici was called from this world at the age of forty-three
years--a short life in which to have accomplished so much, to have
achieved fame so widespread and enduring. In the character of this
remarkable man, the foremost representative of a remarkable period, we
find the irresistible onward impulse of creative power united to a deep
knowledge of the stages that succeed each other in the development of the
new; we find the highest degree of receptivity combined with a student’s
seriousness and capacity for taking pains; we see a keen and joyous
appreciation of art go hand in hand with the practical sense necessary to
the proper conduct of life; we find him to possess, in a word, all the
qualities that go to make the statesman, the poet, the citizen, and the
prince.
He knew no fatigue under the multiplicity of public affairs that fell to
him as head of a peculiarly constituted state; with sure and rapid view
he could take cognisance of the whole mass of business while giving his
attention to the smallest details. In his later years he became wary and
discreet, never acting save as the result of deep reflection, holding
steadfastly to the goal he had set himself, conscious, but not unduly,
of the dignity of his position and that of the state he represented. In
his home and family life he was gay and companionable. As a husband he
was not above reproach, it is true; but he was tenderly attached to the
wife he had not chosen, devoted to the excellent mother with whom he had
many qualities in common, and to his children he was always a generous
provider, a wise counsellor and guide. He had the faculty of attracting
to himself people of the widest diversity of character, and was capable
of forming warm and lasting friendships; amid all the cares of state he
was never too busy to render assistance to a friend, and was as ready to
exert himself in behalf of the low as of the high.
It is not to be denied, however, that he possessed a share of the
weaknesses and failings of his times, which were chiefly apparent in
his political life, superior as it was in consistency and honesty of
purpose to that of most foreign or Italian statesmen of his day. His
interior policy, in particular, has received sharp blame, as much for
its refashioning of the constitution to permit an increase in personal
power as for the corrupt methods employed to gain undisputed control over
the state funds. As regards the latter charge it is difficult to see how
in later years--had longer life been granted to Lorenzo--a catastrophe
could have been avoided, unless a protracted peace had allowed the
maintenance of a perfect balance in the state expenditures. In respect
to the first shortcoming many contemporaries expressed the opinion that
Lorenzo’s fixed and secret aim was to create for himself a principality,
to attain which end he was merely awaiting a favourable opportunity--the
appointment to the office of gonfalonier, for example, when he should
have reached the proper age.
When all has been weighed and judged, undoubtedly the worst evil in
the rule of Lorenzo the Magnificent is just this lack of agreement
between form and fact, this diversion of the highest authority from
its proper centre. Personality had become the most powerful factor in
all departments of the administration--the political, the financial,
the judicial. Nevertheless if Florence was free from the excesses that
disgraced every other Italian state, if Lorenzo’s rule was mild and
blameless compared to that of Cosmo, not only the continuance of peace,
the assured position of the country, and the habit on the part of the
people of submitting to such a rule were to be thanked for it, but the
views and ability of the man who stood at the head. Lorenzo de’ Medici
was determined to be obeyed, but he was no tyrant: on the one hand too
keen-sighted a reader of men, and too well-versed in the traditions
of his people; on the other he was of a nature too magnanimous and
richly endowed, too open, too necessitous of friendship to fall into an
extreme of despotism. Above all he was a citizen of Florence, and if
left to himself, would have allowed nothing in his outer circumstances
to distinguish him from the rest of his fellow-citizens; but after the
Pazzi conspiracy it was deemed necessary that he should be accompanied
everywhere by a guard, formed at first of four trusted friends, later of
twelve paid members of the nobility.
As regards his arbitrary administration of the state finances opinions
varied even in his own time. Had he not diverted to his own purposes a
portion of the public funds, argued some, he would have been ruined,
and his ruin would have entailed that of countless others. All that he
took from first to last, as well to preserve his credit as to carry on
an extravagant mode of life, was as nothing compared to the losses an
incompetent ruler would have brought upon the state; one ill-considered
or untimely public regulation alone would have cost the treasury dearer
than Lorenzo’s entire rule. The final aim of all the Medici, so ran the
general opinion, was their own profit or advancement, but they remained
Florentine citizens to the end, and in most cases their interests and
those of their city were identical. To the kindly disposed who rendered
this judgment after Lorenzo’s death, the answer was indeed given that
the aim of the Medici had been none the less sole dominion, because it
was given the form of democracy by the destruction of the patrician
influence, and the raising to favour of members of the lower classes;
that a subtle, crafty tyranny, like that of Cosmo de’ Medici, or one
tempered by generosity and benevolence, like Lorenzo’s, was the more
dangerous for the people inasmuch as it paved the way for a severer form.
In the ninth chapter of his _History of Florence_ Guicciardini[q] gives a
masterly summing up of Lorenzo de’ Medici’s influence over the city that
gave him birth. “Florence,” he says, “did not become free under Lorenzo
de’ Medici, but a better master no city could have had. Incalculable good
resulted to it as the outpouring of his own benevolent nature, while the
evils that are inseparable from tyranny in any form were limited in their
workings--rendered almost harmless, in fact, when his will came into
play. There were doubtless many who rejoiced at his death; but all who
took any part in the administration regretted it deeply, even those who
thought they had grounds of complaint against him, for none could tell
what a change of rulers might bring about.”[c]
[Illustration: POPE LEO IV ARRESTING THE CONFLAGRATION
(By Raphael)]