The commencement of the sixteenth century found Italy suffering from the
foreign interference of France and Spain. The chief Italian states at
this period were the kingdom of Naples, the Papal States, the duchy of
Milan, and the republics of Venice, Florence, and Genoa. Ferdinand V of
Aragon and Louis XII of France, who had hereditary claims through his
grandmother Valentina Visconti, had concluded a secret and perfidious
treaty for the partition of the kingdom of Naples, the effects of which
Frederick II, the King, vainly sought to avert. They conquered Naples in
1501, but disagreed over the division of the spoil, and, the French
army being defeated by the Spanish on the Garigliano in 1503, Spanish
influence soon after became dominant in Italy.
In the march of the French army on Naples in 1501, the French commander
had for lieutenant Caesar Borgia, son of Pope Alexander VI, whose career
furnishes a vivid illustration of the internal conditions of Italy at
this period. Borgia, who had resigned from the cardinalate conferred on
him by his father, had been created Duke of Valentinois by the King of
France, had married the daughter of the King of Navarre, and was invested
with the duchy of Romagna by his father in 1501.
By force and treachery he reduced the cities of Romagna, which were
ruled by feudatories of the papal see, and, with the assistance of his
relations, endeavored to found an independent hereditary power in Central
Italy.
The contemporaneous account of these events, by the celebrated Niccolo
Machiavelli, possesses a fascinating interest, which is greatly enhanced
by the fact that Machiavelli himself was a participant in the events of
which he writes.
A Florentine by birth, Machiavelli was sent by his fellow-citizens, in
1502, on a mission to Borgia, who had just returned from a visit to the
King of France in Lombardy. During Borgia's absence, friends and former
colleagues, alarmed at his ambition and cruelty, had entered into a
league with his enemies, and invited the Florentines to join them.
The Florentines refused, but sent Machiavelli to make professions of
friendship and offers of assistance to the Duke, and at the same time to
watch his movements, to discover his real intentions, and endeavor to
obtain something in return for their friendship. Borgia, who had the
reputation of being the closest man of his age, had to deal with a
negotiator who, though young, was a match for him, and the account of the
mission is very curious; there was deep dissimulation on both sides.
Machiavelli returned to Florence in January, 1503, after three eventful
months passed in the court and camp of Borgia.
The treatise _The Prince_ has been described as "a display of cool,
judicious, scientific atrocity on the part of Caesar Borgia (Duke
Valentino), which seemed rather to belong to a fiend than to the most
depraved of men. Principles which the most hardened ruffian would
scarcely hint to his most trusted accomplice, or avow without the
disguise of some palliating sophism even to his own mind, are professed
without the slightest circumlocution, and assumed as the fundamental
axioms of all political science."
On being reproved for the maxims contained in the work, Machiavelli
replied, "If I taught princes how to tyrannize, I also taught the people
how to destroy them"; and in these words posterity has vindicated the
reputation of the talented Italian statesman and author.
Those who from a private station have ascended to the dignity of princes,
by the favor of fortune alone, meet with few difficulties in their
progress, but encounter many in maintaining themselves on the throne.
Obstructed by no impediments during their journey, they soar to a great
height, but all the difficulties arise after they are quietly seated.
These princes are chiefly such as acquire their dominions by money or by
favor. Such were the men whom Darius placed in Greece, in the cities of
Ionia and of the Hellespont, whom, for their own security and glory, he
raised to the rank of sovereigns.
Such were the emperors who from a private station arrived at the empire
by corrupting the soldiery. They sustained their elevation only by the
pleasure and fortune of those who advanced them, two foundations equally
uncertain and insecure. They had neither the experience nor the power
necessary to maintain their position. For, unless men possess superior
genius or courage, how can they know in what manner to govern others who
have themselves always been accustomed to a private station? Deficient in
knowledge, they will be equally destitute of power for want of troops
on whose attachment and fidelity they can depend. Besides, those states
which have suddenly risen, like other things in nature of premature and
rapid growth, do not take sufficient root in the minds of men, but
they must fall with the first stroke of adversity; unless the princes
themselves--so unexpectedly exalted--possess such superior talents that
they can discover at once the means of preserving their good-fortune,
and afterward maintain it by having recourse to the same measures which
others had adopted before them.
To adduce instances of supreme power attained by good-fortune and
superior talent, I may refer to two examples which have happened in our
own time, viz., Francis Sforza and Caesar Borgia. The former, by lawful
means and by his great abilities, raised himself from a private station
to the dukedom of Milan, and maintained with but little difficulty
what had cost him so much trouble to acquire. Caesar Borgia, Duke of
Valentinois--commonly called the duke of Valentino--on the other hand,
attained a sovereignty by the good-fortune of his father, which he lost
soon after his father's decease; though he exerted his utmost endeavors,
and employed every means that skill or prudence could suggest, to retain
those states which he had acquired by the arms and good-fortune of
another. For, though a good foundation may not have been laid before a
man arrives at dominion, it may possibly be accomplished afterward by
a ruler of superior mind; yet this can only be effected with much
difficulty to the architect and danger to the edifice. If therefore we
examine the whole conduct of Borgia, we shall see how firm a foundation
he had laid for future greatness. This examination will not be
superfluous--for I know no better lesson for the instruction of a prince
than is afforded by the actions and example of the Duke--for, if the
measures he adopted did not succeed, it was not his fault, but rather
owing to the extreme perversity of fortune. Pope Alexander VI, wishing
to give his son a sovereignty in Italy, had not only present but future
difficulties to contend with. In the first place, he saw no means of
making him sovereign of any state independent of the Church; and, if he
should endeavor to dismember the ecclesiastical state, he knew that the
Duke of Milan and the Venetians would never consent to it, because Faenza
and Rimini were already under the protection of the latter; and the
armies of Italy, from whom he might expect material service, were in the
hands of those who had the most reason to apprehend the aggrandizement of
the papal power, such as the Orsini, the Colonni, and their partisans.
It was consequently necessary to dissolve these connections and to throw
the Italian states into confusion in order to secure the sovereignty of a
part. This was easy to accomplish. The Venetians, influenced by motives
of their own, had determined to invite the French into Italy. The Pope
made no opposition to their design; he even favored it by consenting to
annul the first marriage of Louis XII, who therefore marched into Italy
with the aid of the Venetians and the consent of Alexander. He was no
sooner at Milan than the Pope availed himself of his assistance to
overrun Romagna, which he acquired by the reputation of his alliance with
the King of France.
The Duke, having thus acquired Romagna, and weakened the Colonni, wished
at the same time to preserve and increase his own principality; but there
were two obstacles in his way. The first arose from his own people, upon
whom he could not depend, the other from the designs of the French. He
feared that the Orsini, of whose aid he had availed himself, might fail
at the critical moment, and not only prevent his further acquisitions,
but even deprive him of those he had made. And he had reason to apprehend
the same conduct on the part of France, and was convinced of the trifling
reliance he could place on the Orsini; for after the reduction of Faenza,
when he made an attack upon Bologna, they manifested an evident want of
activity. As to the King, his intentions were easily discerned; for when
he had conquered the duchy of Urbino, and was about to make an irruption
into Tuscany, the King obliged him to desist from the enterprise. The
Duke determined, therefore, neither to depend on fortune nor on the arms
of another prince. He began by weakening the party of the Orsini and the
Colonni at Rome, by corrupting all the persons of distinction who adhered
to them, either by bribes, appointments, or commands suited to their
respective qualities, so that in a few months a complete revolution was
effected in their attachment, and they all came over to the Duke.
Having thus humbled the Colonni, he only waited an opportunity for
destroying the Orsini. It was not long before one offered, of which he
did not fail to avail himself. The Orsini, perceiving too late that the
power of the Duke and the Church must be established upon their ruin,
called a council of their friends at Magione, in Perugia, to concert
measures of prevention. The consequence of their deliberations was the
revolt of Urbino, the disturbances of Romagna, and the infinite dangers
which threatened the Duke on every side, and which he finally surmounted
by the aid of the French. His affairs once reestablished, he grew weary
of relying on France and other foreign allies, and he resolved for the
future to rely alone on artifice and dissimulation--a course in which
he so well succeeded that the Orsini were reconciled to him through the
intervention of Signor Paolo, whom he had gained over to his interests
by all manner of rich presents and friendly offices. And this man, being
deceived himself, so far prevailed on the credulity of the rest that they
attended the Duke at an interview at Sinigaglia, where they were all
put to death. Having thus exterminated the chiefs, and converted their
partisans into his friends, the Duke laid the solid foundations of his
power. He made himself master of all Romagna and the duchy of Urbino, and
gained the affection of the inhabitants--particularly the former--by
giving them a prospect of the advantages they might hope to enjoy from
his government. As this latter circumstance is remarkable and worthy of
imitation, I cannot suffer it to pass unnoticed.
After the Duke had possessed himself of Romagna, he found it had been
governed by a number of petty princes, more addicted to the spoliation
than the government of their subjects, and whose political weakness
rather served to create popular disturbances than to secure the blessings
of peace. The country was infested with robbers, torn by factions, and a
prey to all the horrors of civil commotions. He found that, to establish
tranquillity, order, and obedience, a vigorous government was necessary.
With this view, he appointed Ramiro d'Orco governor, a cruel but active
man, to whom he gave the greatest latitude of power. He very soon
appeased the disturbances, united all parties, and acquired the renown of
restoring the whole country to peace.
The Duke soon deemed it no longer necessary to continue so rigorous and
odious a system. He therefore erected in the midst of the province a
court of civil judicature, with a worthy and upright magistrate to
preside over it, where every city had its respective advocate. He was
aware that the severities of Ramiro had excited some hatred against him,
and resolved to clear himself from all reproach in the minds of the
people, and to gain their affection by showing them that the cruelties
which had been committed did not originate with him, but solely in
the ferocious disposition of his minister. Taking advantage of the
discontent, he caused Ramiro to be massacred one morning in the
market-place, and his body exposed upon a gibbet, with a cutlass near it
stained with blood. The horror of this spectacle satisfied the resentment
of the people and petrified them at once with terror and astonishment.
The Duke had now delivered himself in a great measure from present
enemies, and taken effectual means to secure himself by employing against
them arms of his own, putting it out of the power of his neighbors to
annoy him. To secure and increase his acquisitions, he had nothing to
fear from anyone but the French. He well knew that the King of
France, who had at last perceived his error, would oppose his further
aggrandizement. He resolved, in the first place, to form new connections
and alliances, and adopted a system of prevarication with France, as
plainly appeared when their army was employed in Naples against the
Spaniards who had laid siege to Gaeta. His design was to fortify himself
against them, and he would certainly have succeeded if Alexander VI had
lived a little longer. Such were the methods he took to guard against
present dangers.
Against those which were more remote--as he had reason to fear that the
new pope would be inimical to him and seek to deprive him of what had
been bestowed on him by his predecessor--he designed to have made four
different provisions: In the first place, by utterly destroying the
families of all those nobles whom he had deprived of their states, so
that the future pope might not reestablish them; secondly, by attaching
to his interests all the gentry of Rome, in order, by their means, to
control the power of the Pope; thirdly, by securing a majority in the
college of cardinals; fourthly and lastly, by acquiring so much power,
during the lifetime of his father, that he might be enabled of himself
to resist the first attack of the enemy. Three of these designs he had
effected before the death of Alexander, and had made every necessary
arrangement for availing himself of the fourth. He had put to death
almost all the nobles whom he had despoiled, and had gained over all the
Roman gentry; his party was the strongest in the college of cardinals;
and, for a further augmentation of his power, he designed to have made
himself master of Tuscany. He was already master of Perugia and Piombino,
and had taken Pisa under his protection, of which he soon afterward took
actual possession. His cautious policy with regard to the French was no
longer necessary, as they had been driven from the kingdom of Naples
by the Spaniards, and both of these people were under the necessity of
courting his friendship. Lucca and Sienna presently submitted to him,
either from fear or hatred of the Florentines. The latter were then
unable to defend themselves; and, if this had been the case at the time
of Alexander's death, the Duke's power and reputation would have been so
great that he might have sustained his dignity without any dependence on
fortune or the support of others.
Alexander VI died five years after he had first unsheathed his sword. He
left his son nothing firmly established but the single state of Romagna.
All his other conquests were absolutely visionary, as he was not only
enclosed between two hostile and powerful armies, but was himself
attacked by a mortal disease. The Duke, however, possessed so much
ability and courage, was so well acquainted with the arts either of
gaining or ruining others as it suited his purpose, and so strong were
the foundations he had laid in that short space of time, that if he had
either been in health or not distressed by those two hostile armies, he
would have surmounted every difficulty.
As a proof of the soundness of the foundation he had laid, Romagna
continued faithful to him and was firm to his interest for above a month
afterward. Although the Baglioni, the Vitelli, and the Ursini all came
to Rome at that time, yet--half dead as he was--they feared to attempt
anything against him. If he could not elect a pope of his own choice,
he was at least able to prevent the election of one unfriendly to his
interests. If he had been in health when Alexander died, he would have
succeeded in all his designs; for he said, the very day that Julius II
was elected, that he had foreseen every obstacle which could arise on
the death of his father, and had prepared adequate remedies, but that he
could not foresee that at the time of his father's death his own life
would be in such imminent hazard.[1]
Upon a thorough review of the Duke's conduct and actions, I cannot
reproach him with having omitted any precaution; and I feel that he
merits being proposed as a model to all who by fortune or foreign arms
succeed in acquiring sovereignty. For as he had a great spirit and vast
designs, he could not have acted otherwise in his circumstances; and if
he miscarried in them, it was solely owing to the sudden death of his
father, and the illness with which he was himself attacked. Whoever,
therefore, would secure himself in a new principality against the
attempts of enemies, and finds it necessary to gain friends; to surmount
obstacles by force of cunning; to make himself beloved and feared by the
people, respected and obeyed by the soldiery; to destroy all those who
can or may oppose his designs; to promulgate new laws in substitution of
old ones; to be severe, indulgent, magnanimous, and liberal; to disband
an army on which he cannot rely, and raise another in its stead; to
preserve the friendship of kings and princes, so that they may be ever
prompt to oblige and fearful to offend--such a one, I say, cannot have
a better or more recent model for his imitation than is afforded by the
conduct of Borgia.
One thing blamable in his actions occurred on the election of Julius II
to the pontificate. He could not nominate the prelate whom he wished,
but he had it in his power to exclude anyone whom he disliked. He ought
therefore never to have consented to the election of one of those
cardinals whom he had formerly injured, and who might have reason to fear
him after his election; for mankind injure others from motives either
of hatred or fear. Among others whom he had injured were St. Peter ad
Vincula Colonna, St. George, and Ascanius. All the other candidates for
the pontificate had cause to fear him except the Cardinal of Rouen
and the Spanish cardinals--the latter were united to him by family
connections--and the Cardinal d'Amboise, who was too powerfully supported
by France to have reason to fear him.
The Duke ought by all means to have procured the election of a Spaniard,
or, in case of failure, should have consented to the proposal of the
Archbishop of Rouen, but on no account to the nomination of St. Peter ad
Vincula. It is an error to think that new obligations will extinguish
the memory of former injuries in the minds of great men. The Duke
therefore in this election committed a fault which proved the occasion
of his utter ruin[2].
[Footnote 1: On August 18, 1503, he and his father drank, by mistake, a
poison which they had presumably prepared for one of their guests. The
father died, and Borgia's life was for a time in extreme danger.]
[Footnote:2 Within thirteen months he lost all his sovereignties, and was
imprisoned, but escaped to Spain, where he was killed in the attack on
Viana in 1507.]
PAINTING OF THE SISTINE CHAPEL
THE SPLENDOR OF RENAISSANCE ART UNDER MICHELANGELO
A.D. 1508
CHARLES CLÉMENT
In the history of the Renaissance the revival of art adds a new glory
to that of letters, and among the masters of that revival there is none
greater than Michelangelo Buonarroti, sculptor, painter, architect, poet,
and heroic man. He was descended from an ancient but not distinguished
Florentine family, and was born at Caprese, Italy, March 6, 1475. In 1488
he was apprenticed to the painter Ghirlandajo. He studied antique marbles
in the garden of San Marco, where he was discovered by Lorenzo de'
Medici, who in 1489 took him into his palace. There the young student
remained until his patron's death (1492), improving the great
opportunities presented to him. The Mask of a Faun was sculptured during
this time.
Before the expulsion of the Medici he went to Bologna, and there executed
several works. Returning to Florence in 1495, he was called next year
to Rome, where he lived till 1501, producing works which displayed his
extraordinary genius, the most important of them being the Pieta di San
Pietro (1498). Again returning to Florence, he carved his first David
from an immense block of Carrara marble. In 1505 he was summoned again
to Rome, by Pope Julius II, to design his tomb, and this work occupied
Michelangelo, from time to time, throughout the remainder of his life.
He was forced--probably through the intrigues of Bramante, his rival in
architecture--to leave Rome, and once more (1506) returned to Florence.
In the intervals between all these dates he produced many of his
masterpieces.
From this period the historian follows Michelangelo through an important
stage of his active career, showing how "the hand that rounded Peter's
dome," and created so many other of the greatest works of art, toiled
on with patient heroism, in spite of hinderances almost incredible. The
painting of the Sistine Chapel, upon which his fame so largely rests, is
here described in language that reveals the manhood no less clearly than
the artistic genius of Michelangelo.
In 1508 Michelangelo returned to Rome and resumed his labors on the
mausoleum. He had soon again to abandon them. Bramante had persuaded the
Pope that it was unlucky to have his tomb erected, but advised him to
employ Michelangelo in painting the chapel built by his uncle Sixtus IV.
It was, in effect, in the beginning of this year that he commenced this
gigantic decoration, which was destined to be his most splendid work.
We shall see the resistance he first opposed to Julius' desire, and the
ardor with which he undertook and the rapidity with which he accomplished
the work, once he made up his mind to accept it; but first, since, at the
period we have come to, most of the statues which now adorn the tomb of
Julius II at San Pietro in Vinculo, and those more numerous that belonged
to the original project, but which have been dispersed, were blocked out
or finished, I wish to give, in order not to return to the subject, a
general idea of this monument, to show what, from reduction to reduction,
the original design has become, and what annoyances it occasioned its
author.
The original magnificent design remained unmodified until 1513; but on
Julius' death, his testamentary executors, the Cardinals Santiquatro and
Aginense and the Duke of Urbino, reduced to six the number of statues
that were to form the decoration, and reduced from ten thousand to six
thousand ducats the sum to be employed on it.