_THE FLORENTINE REPUBLIC IN DANTE'S TIME._
I.
After the enforcement of the Enactments of Justice (1293) and the
expulsion of Giano della Bella, the Florentine Republic passed through
a phase of extraordinary and almost delirious confusion. Its incidents
are very familiar to us, owing to the splendid series of chroniclers
and historians who, from that moment, began to record the minutest
particulars of all that occurred under their eyes. Modern writers have
also studied that period and ransacked its archives; more especially
Professor Del Lungo, who has recently given proofs of an industry
and learning which cannot be sufficiently praised. Nevertheless, I
believe that some useful work may be done by trying to bring all those
facts together and scrutinising their organic unity, in order to
ascertain whence they proceeded, whither they tended, and thus explain,
if possible, the primary cause of so much disorder and the real
significance of the new revolutions undertaken. I may also add that
such investigation might prove to have much historical importance,
since it concerns the time in which not only a new art, new literature,
and new civilisation first sprang into being, but when the old mediæval
social order was decaying and fading away, and the society of the
Renaissance beginning to take shape.
In the midst of these events the figure of Dante Alighieri stands forth
in giant mould, instantaneously arousing the most earnest attention,
and enhancing the value of all his surroundings.
As we have frequently observed and repeated, the history of Florence
runs a very plain course down to the year 1293, through the series
of wars and revolutions, during which the Guelph inhabitants of the
city first attacked the Ghibelline feudal lords, who, castled on every
surrounding hill, impeded all trade; and then, having conquered them,
demolished their strongholds, and forced them to dwell inside the
city walls, subject to the laws of the Commune. Next, the people were
compelled to combat and break down the surviving feudal element that
sought to assert itself in the city. Before the year 1293 this too
had been destroyed, and only the _Grandi_ were left, namely, nobles
stripped of their titles and of the old feudal privileges of their
class. The Enactments of Justice, which dissolved their associations
and excluded them from all share in the government, had increased,
on the other hand, the strength of the guilds and the people. These
accordingly were the masters of Florence, and the new law supplied
them with a most efficacious means of continuing the persecution and
routing the nobles in the tribunals of the State. The terms Guelph
and Ghibelline were still retained, but had lost their original
meaning. The old aristocracy, constituting the real nucleus of the
Ghibelline party, having now disappeared, the city was wholly Guelph.
The general condition of Italy also fostered this state of things. In
fact, owing to the fall of the Hohenstauffens and the success of the
Angevins, summoned to Italy by the Pope, the Guelph party had triumphed
throughout the Peninsula. The murder of Conradin (1298) had proved the
death knell of the Ghibellines.
The triumph of France was more and more assured, and during the
interregnum of the Empire Philip the Beautiful played almost the part
of an emperor. At the same time Boniface VIII. loudly declared that the
Pope stood above all kings and princes of the earth, and that all were
bound to yield him submission.
But division still reigned in Florence. First of all, germs of future
discord were lurking in the bosom of the people itself, owing to
its subdivision into rich people (_popolo grasso_), or the Greater
Guilds, and small people (_popolo minuto_), or Lesser Guilds, having
the populace at their back. The Greater Guilds, at the head of the
principal manufacturing business and the vast export and import trade,
were always ready to undertake fresh wars, which, by burdening the
city with taxes, greatly diminished the internal luxury upon which
the Lesser Guilds, engaged in small crafts, depended for their daily
support. It needed little to convert this clash of material interests
into a political conflict, especially when we remember that the Greater
Guilds had taken possession of the government without allowing the
Smaller Crafts any share in it. For the moment, however, the lower
class, although so turbulent and numerically strong, lacked cohesion
and experience, and had no leading men at its head. But although
without real elements of political strength, and still incapable of
forming a party, it was excellently suited to swell the ranks of
already constituted parties having the wit to use its aid in their
progress to power.
The nobles, on the other hand, although defeated, persecuted, and
oppressed, were by no means stamped out, and still retained some
measure of influence and skill. The expulsion of Giano della Bella was
an instance in point; for, by contriving to make the people believe him
its foe, they induced it to desert him and then provoked the mob to
attack him. Although deprived of legal authority, the nobles were still
practically strong. Always boasting of their victory of Campaldino,
they had undoubtedly played a prominent part in all the greater wars
of the Republic in past times, and even now made far better soldiers
than the popular class. As the wealthy proprietors of town and country
mansions, castles, and farms, they were undistracted by commercial
cares, and had more leisure for military pursuits; while the material
independence they enjoyed made them all the more sensitive to the
sting of political ambition. It was natural that they should seek and
obtain the co-operation of the populace in their contest with the
burghers. Thus, in junction with the former, they constituted a vast
and dangerous body of agitators, but without organic cohesion, and all
equally ineligible to office, inasmuch as the nobles had been excluded
from power in 1293, and the populace had never been allowed any share
of it.
II.
At this time the world began to perceive what results the subtle craft
of the Florentines was capable of achieving. The art of secretly
becoming masters of the State, that, at a later period, gave Cosimo
and Lorenzo dei Medici such triumphant supremacy in the Republic,
enabling them to hold sovereign rule while remaining private citizens
in the eyes of the law, this art was now discovered by the nobles. It
consisted in leaving republican institutions untouched, and showing no
desire to be concerned in them, yet contriving that none save personal
adherents should be admitted to power. The offices of the Guelph
Society afforded an efficacious means to this end, for, as we know,
the nobles were eligible to those offices, and when holding them could
declare any citizen a Ghibelline, confiscate his property, and exclude
him from the government at their own pleasure. Thus, without being
members of the Signory, they had found a more or less legal method of
preventing their worst enemies from entering it. Giano della Bella was
fully awake to this danger, and had tried to avert it; but the nobles
had frustrated his purpose by compassing his expulsion from the city.
As another useful means of regaining their forfeited power, the nobles
managed to obtain the right of choosing the magistrates, in order
to exercise a personal influence over them. Many of the magistrates
were foreigners who came provided with foreign notaries, chancellors,
and subordinate judges, while certain others, as, for instance, the
Podestà and the Captain of the People, were necessarily bound to be
knights--that is to say, nobles. They gave judgment in political as
well as civil and criminal cases. In fact, it was the function of the
Podestà and Captain, in junction with the Gonfalonier, to enforce
the enactments; and besides this, political and common law were so
intermixed at the time, that it was impossible to separate the one from
the other. Originally, as we have already seen, the Podestà was the
virtual head of the Commune. He commanded the army, signed treaties
of peace; and even as ancient historians recorded Roman events in the
name of the Consuls in office, so the Florentine chroniclers registered
the events of their city under the name of its Podestà and even
occasionally of its Consuls. But towards the close of the thirteenth
century things were changed. With the destroyal of feudalism, the
development of civil equality and increased recognition of Roman law,
the political importance of those offices was lessened. The Podestà and
Captains of the People were gradually lowered to the status of ordinary
high judges. Hence both they and their subordinates steadily declined
in authority and strength; and being worse paid and less feared, became
more open to bribery, and more easily subjected to the influence of the
nobles. Many of these officers came from Romagna, and the Marches, and
the greater number from Gubbio. Reared under tyrannical governments and
trained to Roman law in the school of Bologna, they had no previous
knowledge of the real significance of party conflicts in Florence, and
seldom succeeded in acquiring it; hence they also failed to discern
the true meaning of laws such as the Enactments of Justice, which were
mainly political laws. All this contributed to render them easily
and blindly subservient to those desiring to use them as tools. In
fact, the whole literature of the period teems with fierce invectives
against "the wicked, accursed, and perverted judges bringing ruin upon
cities."[490]
Thus by favour of the lower class and the mob, by the unjust verdicts
of the Captains of the Guelph Society and the corruption of alien
judges, the nobles endeavoured to regain their lost ground and again
seize possession of the government. Nor was it an altogether impossible
plan, seeing that at this moment (as will be presently shown) they
received powerful foreign aid. But unity was indispensably required,
and no unity was to be secured among a party composed of not only
different, but heterogeneous elements. Accordingly it was already easy
to foresee that, sooner or later, the fiercest discord must inevitably
break out in their midst.
Dino Compagni remarks in his Chronicle, that "the powerful citizens
were not all nobles by birth, but were sometimes styled _Grandi_ for
other reasons."[491] The _Grandi_, in fact, were composed of ancient
aristocratic families, despoiled of feudal privileges and titles; of
old-established burghers raised to a higher position on the score
of their wealth and of those proclaimed _Grandi_ by the people for
the sole purpose of subjecting them to the penalty of exclusion from
power. Naturally the old aristocracy were full of distrust and contempt
for new-comers, who often continued (if not personally, by means of
their kinsmen) to carry on trades and manufactures, and thus maintain
their relations with the rich burghers opposed to the lower classes,
whereas the latter were more in sympathy with the really influential
and aristocratic section of the _Grandi_. Nor was this all. The latter
party likewise comprised country nobles, such as the Ubertini, the
Pazzi of Valdarno, and more particularly the Ubaldini owning nearly the
whole of the Mugello and dominating it with their fortified castles.
The fortress of Montaccenico, one of their main strongholds, guarded
by a triple circuit of walls, had been founded by the Cardinal Ottavio
degli Ubaldini, who has a place in Dante's "Inferno," and who once
said, "If I ever had a soul, I have lost it, for the sake of the
Ghibelline cause." All these territorial lords clung to their feudal
traditions with far greater tenacity than the rest, and being very
hostile to the people, were equally opposed to the Republic, which
was always at strife with them. When residing in the city they were
undoubtedly compelled, like the others, to obey the common laws; but in
their own castles they and their kindred still asserted the rights of
feudal barons.
In order to sap the strength of the Pazzi and Ubertini, the
Florentines, in 1296, established the two colonies of San Giovanni and
Castelfranco between Figline and Montevarchi in the Upper Valdarno.
All adherents of the nobles willing to settle on these domains were
freed from vassalage and exempted from taxation for ten years.[492] But
measures of this kind would have been useless against the Ubaldini, and
prolonged and sanguinary hostilities had to be engaged with them. By
logical rule these territorial lords should have been Ghibellines and
imperialists; but the Empire was now distant and feeble, France and the
Pope were menacing close at hand. Accordingly they rather tended to
combine with the Guelph nobles of Florence, and more particularly with
those of ancient descent, thus forming a new element in that curious
agglomeration of diverse forces. Also, seeing that private jealousies
and hates are always readier to burst into flame when unrestrained by
the organic unity and common interest of a well-organised party, it
will be easy to understand what confusion and disorder prevailed.
III.
Notwithstanding the powerful support of one kind or another furnished
to the nobles from abroad, and in spite of their really menacing
attitude, there remained one inexorable truth that must be always
kept in view, since it affords the best explanation of the phase of
Florentine history. It consisted in the fact that the aristocratic
faction, doomed to decay and dissolution, was confronted by the young
and vigorous party united in the Greater Guilds, bound by common
interests, and constituting the real motive power and future of the
Commune. The history of those times is nothing more, in short, than
the history of the process by which the Greater Guilds succeeded in
becoming the very core of the Republic, in spite of the numerous
obstacles in their path, and likewise succeeded in eliminating all
hostile or alien elements. For some time past these guilds, and
especially the first five, on which all the others were more or less
dependent,[493] had been prospering to an extraordinary degree. And
when their position was farther strengthened by the Enactments of
Justice, their statutes, with the amendments then introduced, very
clearly showed that in augmenting their own wealth they purposed not
only to enrich the Republic, but also to heighten its power. Before
long the five leading guilds jointly constituted an _Universitas
Mercatorum_ that rose to the authority of a regular commercial tribunal
in 1308, and issued a definite set of statutes in 1312. Indeed all this
may be considered the main part of the reforms promoted by Giano della
Bella,[494] and the point on which, favoured by the conditions of the
period, he was most successful. We have the best proof of this in the
fact that incessant party strife notwithstanding, the prosperity of
Florence increased, at that time, to a positively prodigious extent.
Villani repeatedly alludes to this state of prosperity and general
well-being, adding that continual festivities were then held in
Florence, and that the Republic could call to arms as many as 30,000
men in the city, and 70,000 in the territory.[495] What was of still
greater moment, its bankers manipulated the chief trade of the world,
and flooded all markets with Florentine goods. They conducted the
affairs of the Roman Curia; they managed nearly the whole commerce of
France and Southern Italy; all the sovereigns of Europe came to these
bankers for aid, and frequently employed keen-witted, enterprising
Florentines in their mints, their treasuries, and their embassies. Thus
money flowed into the city from all sides; and it was at this moment,
so it is said, that Boniface VIII., giving audience to the ambassadors
of various powers, and finding to his surprise that all of them were
Florentines, cried out, "You Florentines must be the fifth element!" As
a natural result of this state of things the petty Republic became a
first-class power, wielding everywhere, and over Italy in particular,
a preponderating influence. All neighbouring cities, great and small,
tried to copy the laws and institutions they deemed the source of its
amazing prosperity. Even Rome herself seemed desirous to organise her
magistracies, councils, and Commune on the Florentine pattern.[496]
It was this that most irritated the Popes in their perpetual struggle
with the Roman municipality, and now specially irritated Boniface
VIII., who seemed determined to crush the Commune. But he was
strenuously opposed by the nobility and people, who gave him no truce,
and drove him to wander, almost a fugitive, from town to town. Of
haughty temper and boundless ambition, his conception of the papal
authority rose to the height of craving universal rule. Hence he could
not be resigned to the stubbornness of the Romans, and still less to
the example and encouragement afforded them by Florence. He therefore
conceived the plan of subduing the latter city and reducing it almost
to the condition of a fief of the Church, under a governor of his
own choice. Having once formed this scheme, he began to prosecute
it with his customary ardour. There was certainly a good chance of
success, save for one insurmountable obstacle that he omitted to take
into account. The chance in his favour was the fact that Florence,
being now a republic of traders, had small means of offering armed
resistance. The army of 100,000 men, so proudly enumerated by Villani,
consisted of a species of national guard of artisans and peasants
having the barest smattering of military training, with no officers
and no generals fitted to take command. It comprised no mounted
troops, since nobles alone could find time for the requisite cavalry
training. The Commune naturally feared to place any trust in the nobles
of the town, while those of the territory were avowedly hostile. The
Companies of Adventure, afterwards open to hire, had not yet begun to
be established. Nevertheless, an army was needed, and, moreover, one
commanded by competent leaders, if the Republic wished to preserve its
authority in Italy, and protect its trade from the growing jealousy
of its neighbours. This was the reason formerly inducing its rash
acceptance of Vicars nominated by the Popes, and that had also induced
it to confer supremacy for ten years on Charles of Anjou, who had
accordingly supplied the State with captains and soldiery. Why should
not Boniface be able to clench a similar bargain on even more effective
and permanent terms? The Republic's need of a military leader was as
urgent, nay, more urgent than before; while the consent and support
of the nobles might be considered assured. But the insurmountable
obstacle, unforeseen by the Pope, was that the Florentines had always
wanted and still wanted defenders, but refused to have rulers; nor
would it be easy to induce them to yield this point, either by craft or
persuasion. The subject on which they were most tenacious, and would
never give way, was the popular government of the guilds, and this
government would have to be destroyed or reduced to submission before
the Pope's scheme could be carried into effect.
The task certainly had its difficulties. In fact, the problem could
only be solved by force, and Boniface was not the man to shrink from
employing it; hence collision was unavoidable. As an additional
complication, the Republic, about to bear the brunt of the Pope's
fury, was thoroughly and determinately Guelph, not only Guelph from
sentiment or by force of old traditions, but even more from motives of
interest. In fact, it had risen to existence by centuries of struggle
with powerful Ghibellines and aristocrats, and had finally built up the
government of the guilds on the ruins of those adversaries' strength,
and greatly assisted therein by the success of the Angevins summoned
to Italy by the Popes. The chief trade of the Republic, and main
source of its vitality and power, was that carried on with France, with
Southern Italy--now held by the Angevins--and with Rome. Hence it could
not entertain the idea of rousing the enmity of the French king, Pope,
and Angevins, who were all allied at the time. Besides, the Ghibelline
party in Tuscany was then represented by all the cities hostile to
Florence. Sienna, Arezzo, and Pistoia inclined more or less openly
to the Ghibelline side. The Pisan Republic, which had so zealously
assisted Conradin's cause, still flaunted the Ghibelline flag. This
State was in perpetual rivalry with Florence, and sought to bar her
from access to the sea, the command of which was now more pressingly
needed than before. The strife between these republics could only end
in the annihilation of the one or the other. Therefore the Florentines
were compelled to keep on good terms with the Pope, yet at the same
time forced into opposition against him. In this condition of affairs
all will understand why Florentine history should be so complicated and
obscure.
IV.
After the expulsion of Giano della Bella, the nobles seemed again
masters of the city for a time; and their spirits were immoderately
raised by their success in procuring the election of a Signory (June
15, 1295) exclusively composed of their own friends. By the beginning
of July they had concerted their plans, and repaired to the Piazza
armed for the fray. But the people were already gathered there and
in superior force, so that civil war would have instantly broken
out had not certain friars and citizens intervened, and fortunately
contrived to pacify the public excitement. Nevertheless, the Signory
being favourable to the nobles, determined to turn the opportunity
to account, and on July 6, 1295, managed to get the Bill passed that,
as we have previously related, was incorporated in the enactments
for the purpose of modifying them and considerably attenuating their
severity.[497]
Some of these modifications were of a purely formal kind, but others
encroached on the substance of the law. As the enactments now stood,
accomplices in the offences decreed punishable were no longer classed
with the direct authors of crimes, a single _Capitanus homicidii_ now
being recognised. Nor was the testimony of two witnesses of good repute
any longer considered sufficient proof of the crime, the testimony
of three witnesses now being required. Finally it was no longer
indispensable that candidates to the Signory should be practically
engaged in some trade, _continue artem exercentes_; their enrolment
in the guild of the trade being decreed sufficient proof of their
eligibility, _qui scripti sint in libro seu matricola alicuius artis_.
This last concession was, in fact, slighter than it appeared, seeing
that even before then the _practical_ exercise of trade had been more
often apparent than real. But the principle for which men had fought
was now cast aside, and putting together the various concessions
granted in 1295, we plainly see that the amendment of the law was a
genuine victory for the nobles. In fact, the popular discontent ran
high at the passing of this Bill, and Villani tells us that the Signory
who had proposed and carried it were treated with much contumely and
scorn on leaving office, and even greeted with volleys of stones in the
public streets.[498] Accordingly a popular reaction ensued that proved
to be the germ of new and serious discord among the citizens. The first
step taken was to deprive the nobles of certain of their weapons; the
next to proclaim some of the less factious aristocrats members of the
popular class, in order to weaken their party.[499] Besides this, fresh
laws were soon decreed to restore the pristine force of the enactments,
followed by other measures of the same kind, culminating in the
creation of a new magistrate for the express purpose, as will be seen,
of ensuring the strict fulfilment of the law. But it was impossible for
these changes to be effected without fresh discord and bloodshed in the
city.
For there was not only fiercer strife just then between the nobles
and the people, but the former now split into two divisions, formed
respectively of those bent on doing away with the enactments, and those
who had renounced that idea. These new factions were designated by the
names of the two families acting as leaders, namely, the Donati and the
Cerchi. The latter were of humble origin, but had made their way up and
were now counted among the richest merchants in the world. They boasted
a wide-spreading kindred, numerous friends, owned vast estates both in
town and country, and lived in grand style. They had recently purchased
many palaces of the Counts Guidi, members of the oldest Florentine
nobility; and by lending their houses at St. Procolo to the Signory, to
whom no palace had yet been assigned, were more easily enabled to keep
in favour with the heads of the State. Villani, being of the opposite
party, says that the Cerchi were "easy-going, innocent, and savage."
They were, in fact, business folk, unpractised in warfare, and with
small aptitude for political intrigue. The term "savage" was applied
to them on account of their humble descent, and Dante himself, though
an adherent of their party, speaks of it as "savage" (_selvaggia_).
In virtue of their origin and continued practice of trade, they were
liked and esteemed by the people, and their avowed opposition to the
Donati[500] won them still higher favour. Besides the advantages of
wealth and of wide-spreading family ties, their courtesy of manner
helped to advance their popularity.
On the contrary, the "gentle-born and warlike" Donati, as Villani
calls them, were of old feudal descent. Messer Corso, the head of the
family, was a daring, shrewd, hard-hitting man, of moderate means, but
so immoderately haughty and ambitious as to tolerate no equals, and
least of all among the enriched merchants. He was known as the baron,
and Compagni, who was on the Cerchi side, says that whenever Corso rode
through the streets, "he seemed the lord of the earth" ("_che la terra
fosse sua_"). Many magnates of the city, many nobles of the territory,
and particularly the Pazzi of the Upper Valdarno, considered him their
leader. Some of the merchants also adhered to him, and among others the
Spini, who owned a bank in Rome, and as business agents for the Pope
and the Curia, drove a very profitable trade. This Donati faction was
detested by the burghers, but in favour with the populace, who greeted
the baron with shouts of applause as he passed through the streets. But
although Corso's courage and subtlety stood him in good stead during
the struggle now impending, his arrogance alienated many followers
and disposed them to join the Cerchi. The Cavalcanti were among his
opponents, and that graceful poet and valorous knight, young Guido
Cavalcanti, had conceived so special and deadly a hatred for him that
the two never met in the streets without drawing their swords. The
Donati's influence in the city was chiefly owed to the favour of the
captains of the party, while that of the Cerchi was maintained by the
support of the Signory. Thus the palace of the Guelph Society and of
the Priors became the headquarters, as it were, of the two opposing
camps. The two families likewise owned neighbouring estates in the
country and dwelt near each other in town. Their respective houses were
situated in the St. Piero quarter or _sesto_ of the city, which, on
account of the continual disturbances occurring there at the time, was
known by the name of "The Scandalous Sesto" (_Sesto dello Scandalo_).
Everything served as fuel to the flame. Words uttered by either party
were reported and exaggerated to the other. How Corso Donati always
spoke of Guido Cavalcanti as Guido Cavicchia; how, when alluding to the
head of the family and party chief, Vieri de' Cerchi, he would ask,
"Has the ass of Porta brayed to-day?" On the other hand, the Donati
were styled by their adversaries "The Ill-famed," as being men of bad
repute and doers of evil.
It is not easy to exactly ascertain how and when these parties first
became known as _Bianchi_ and _Neri_, for the chroniclers are rather
vague and not altogether agreed upon the point. Both names were of
old usage in Florence as distinctive family appellations; in fact,
there had already been White Cerchi and Black Cerchi, but the latter
afterwards became the chiefs of the White party.[501] The same names
had then been employed to designate two opposite factions of the
Cancellieri house waging fierce strife in Pistoia. The Florentines,
who exercised great authority in that town, mediated between the two
sides to bring them to make peace; and to achieve this intent sent some
members of the Pistoian, Bianchi, and Neri to Florence. The Whites
were quartered in the Frescobaldi palace, the Blacks in the house of
certain Cerchi, to whom they were related. But this measure had a very
unexpected result, for, as Villani[502] remarks, even as one sick sheep
infects another with disease, so the Pistoians communicated their party
hatred to the Florentines, who thus became increasingly divided. At all
events, from that time the Donati were Blacks, the Cerchi Whites.
Hence it may be clearly seen that this division of parties no longer
corresponds with that of the Guelphs and Ghibellines. Principles are
set aside and personal passions and hatreds more and more dominant.
But, in the nature of things, no Florentine family at the time could
have a better claim to be entitled Ghibellines than the Donati, a
line boasting feudal descent, and connected with the oldest nobility
of the city and its territory. The head of the house was Messer
Corso, who, after the death of his first wife, contracted a second
marriage with one of the Ubertini, an old Ghibelline family that had
been always opposed to the popular government, and seemed to have
the very blood of the tyrants of Romagna and Lombardy in its veins.
Yet it was principally through Corso Donati that events again took
another unexpected turn. Spurred by his devouring ambition, he started
a secret intrigue with Boniface VIII. through his Roman agents, the
Spini, and the Pope believed that at last he had found a man after his
own heart.[503] And before very long these secret practices produced
visible results.
V.
The Pope's purpose of exercising undue interference in Florentine
affairs was plainly seen when the question was discussed as to revoking
the banishment of Giano della Bella. Though without any lawful voice
in the matter, he not only made violent opposition to the proposal,
but also, on January 23, 1296, addressed a letter to the Florentines,
threatening them with interdict, unless they abandoned the idea.[504]
No one, however, was yet aware that he had already formed a scheme, and
was secretly plotting to carry it into effect; nor did any one imagine
that _Papa Bonifacius volebat sibi dari totam Tusciam_,[505] although
this was afterwards ascertained to be the case, and written proof
of it is extant in an old document that serves to explain his real
aims.[506] These were also formulated clearly enough by the chronicler
Ferreto, when he wrote that Boniface meditated "faesulanum popolum iugo
supprimere, et sic Thusciam ipsam, servire desuetam, tyrannico more
comprehendere."[507] In fact, in May, 1300, the Pope had already sent
word to the Duke of Saxony that the Tuscan factions having infected his
own States, it was impossible for him to achieve any result without
first reducing Tuscany to subjection. And he continued that although
able to do this on his own authority, he nevertheless preferred to gain
the consent of the electoral princes, and likewise that of Albert of
Austria, king of the Romans, to whom he forwarded a minute of the act
of renunciation.[508] Donati, being privy to the scheme, had hastened
to assume the attitude of the most Guelph of all Guelphs, and denounce
the Cerchi as Ghibellines. Consequently all who distrusted the Pope
were increasingly willing to join the Cerchi side.
Suddenly Florence was startled by receiving well certified news of the
clandestine intrigues Donati was carrying on in Rome through the agency
of the Spini. Messer Lapo Salterelli, an advocate of much skill but
doubtful integrity, and always ready to go with the tide, came before
the magistrates accompanied by two personal friends,[509] and publicly
accused of treasonable attempts against the State three Florentines
domiciled in Rome at Spini's bank, three "mercatores Romanam Curiam
sequentes."[510] Corso Donati was not in Florence at the time, but at
Massa Trabaria, a city in the States of the Church and close to the
Tuscan frontier, where he had just been appointed rector by the Pope, a
circumstance that heightened suspicion, and made the danger appear all
the more serious and imminent. Determined to be on the alert, without
giving undue provocation to the Pope, the magistrates immediately
sentenced the three citizens in question to pay heavy fines, but
awaited fresh intelligence before proceeding against all the other
persons undoubtedly concerned in the plot. To allay the suspicions
roused against him, the Pope should have now maintained a prudent
silence, but his impetuous nature brooked no restraint. Therefore,
giving vent to his fury, he wrote on April 24, 1300, threatening
excommunication on the city for daring to sentence _his own familiars_,
and summoned the three accusers to come to Rome without delay.[511]
He gained nothing by this move--on the contrary, Lapo Salterelli,
having just been elected a prior, raised the question of jurisdiction
by denying his right of interference with the internal affairs of the
Republic. Meanwhile Boniface had called Vieri de' Cerchi to Rome, for
the purpose of inducing him to make peace with Donati, who had already
arrived there. But Cerchi, without betraying any knowledge of the
trial, merely declared that he bore no hatred to any man, and alleging
other vague excuses, declined the proposed reconciliation, thus
stirring the Pope's wrath to the highest degree.[512] It was naturally
very important for him to pacify the nobles, since this was the only
means of compassing the subjection of the people. But precisely on
that account the people preferred to keep them divided, and therefore
throwing its weight on the side of the Cerchi, vehemently urged the
latter to oppose the Donati.
VI.
Such was the state of public feeling on the day known to some as the
fatal May Kalend. According to an old custom, the maidens of Florence
greeted the coming of spring in the year 1300 by performing a dance
in the S^{ta} Trinità Square. Crowds flocked to the spot, struggling
for a better sight of the festivity. Certain youths on horseback, both
of the Bianchi and Neri factions, came into collision while pressing
to the front. Hot words were exchanged followed by blows, swords
flashed out, and many wounds were inflicted. Ricoverino de' Cerchi had
his nose slashed off, an injury naturally demanding mortal revenge.
So, in the same way that the Buondelmonti tragedy was declared by the
chroniclers to have given birth to the Guelph and Ghibelline factions,
this May-day festival was now considered by others to be the origin
of the White and Black factions.[513] Yet this, too, was only the
sudden outburst of long repressed passions, now raised to boiling point
by the plots of the Pope. In consequence of these disturbances, the
councils immediately passed a decree (4th of May), granting the Signory
full powers to reduce the city to order; to enforce the Enactments of
Justice; to guard "the ancient, customary, and continued independence
of the Florentine Commune and people, in present danger of being
changed to servitude by many perilous innovations _tam introrsum, quam
etiam de foris venientes_."[514] The concluding words clearly referred
to Boniface, and accordingly on the 15th of May the Pope despatched
from Anagni a most violent letter to the bishop and the inquisitor of
Florence. He made complaint against those "children of iniquity who,
in order to turn the people from their submission to the Keys of St.
Peter, were spreading the rumour that he sought to deprive the city of
its power of jurisdiction, and diminish its independence, whereas, on
the contrary, he wished to enlarge its freedom." But he then proceeded
to cry: "Is not the Pontiff supreme lord over all, and particularly
over Florence, which for special reasons is bound to be subject to
him? Do not emperors and kings of the Romans yield submission to
us, yet are they not superior to Florence? During the vacancy of
the Imperial throne, did not the Holy See appoint King Charles of
Anjou Vicar-general of Tuscany? Was he not recognised as such by
themselves? The Empire is now vacant, inasmuch as the Holy See has not
yet confirmed the election of the noble Albert of Austria." And thus,
in a rising _crescendo_, he threatened the Florentines that, failing
obedience, "he would not only launch his interdict and excommunication
against them, but inflict the utmost injury on their citizens and
merchants, cause their property to be pillaged and confiscated in all
parts of the world and release all their debtors from the duty of
payment." He again inveighed against the three audacious informers,
vowing to have them treated and punished as heretics, and wrote with
special acrimony of Lapo Salterelli for having dared to declare that
the Pope had no right to meddle with the tribunals of the Commune.
And he wound up by insisting that the sentence on his three familiars
should be annulled.[515]
The Florentines refused to heed his words, and the Neri then began to
feel anxious, dreading lest the White, or, as they already called it,
the Ghibelline party, "should be exalted in Florence, which, under
pretence of good government, already wore a Ghibelline aspect."[516]
They accordingly induced the Pope to send the Cardinal of Acquasparta
to arrange the pacification of the nobles. The Cardinal arrived at
the beginning of June, at once requested full powers to conclude the
agreement, and likewise proposed that the Signory should be chosen
by lot, in order to avert the disturbances always accompanying their
election.[517] The Florentines lavished verbal promises on him, but
refused to invest him with the desired Balia. Previous experience
had warned them that peace between the nobles meant "ruin to the
people," and a fresh proof to this effect was afforded at the moment.
In fact, the Cardinal had barely begun to dispose the nobles towards
reconciliation, than they rose to arms, and on St. John's Eve (23rd
of June), almost under the Cardinal's eyes, made a violent assault on
the Consuls of the Guilds, who were bearing offerings to the shrine of
the saint, and shouted while raining blows on them: "We are the men
that routed the foe at Campaldino, yet you have driven us from office
and power in our own city."[518] So enormous an outrage demanded heavy
punishment, and as the Signory was then composed of burghers of the
White party, including Dante Alighieri, it exiled several nobles of
either side within twenty-four hours.[519]
The Bianchi promptly obeyed the decree and withdrew to Sarzana; but
the Neri rebelled against it, and only when threatened with worse
chastisement, removed to Castel della Pieve in the Perugian territory.
It was said that they had ventured to resist because they had the
Cardinal's permission to await help from Lucca, which after all was
never sent. And it was added that this succour was withheld because
the Florentines, gaining some inkling of the scheme, had prepared
for defence, and advised Lucca to that effect. Whether this were
true or false, it is an ascertained fact that the public wrath was
so hot against the Cardinal, that the people aimed their crossbows
at the windows of the bishop's palace where he was lodged. One of
the bolts actually struck the beam of his ceiling, and so greatly
alarmed him, that after first removing to another house he took his
departure, leaving the city under interdict and excommunication.[520]
Nevertheless, animosity and riot continued to prevail; and before
long the exiled Bianchi were permitted to return. This indulgence was
accorded them, partly because the climate of Sarzana was so unhealthy
that Guido Cavalcanti contracted an illness there, of which he
subsequently died, but partly too because the Bianchi nobles were on
far better terms with the people. The Neri, on the contrary, joined
more actively than before in the Pope's plots, and seconded by the
Captains of the Party, conspired for the purpose of trying conclusions
by force.
Meanwhile Boniface was pressingly urging Charles of Valois, the king's
brother, to march into Tuscany from France, and Charles II. of Anjou
had already implored that prince to come to aid him in his struggle
with the Sicilians. The Valois was an enterprising and cruel leader.
During the Gascon campaign of 1294 he had hung sixty citizens, and
slaughtered the inhabitants of Rèole after they had laid down their
arms. He had fought in Flanders at the beginning of the year 1300, and
after capturing various cities, had compelled the reigning Court to
open to him the gates of Ghent. Then, after swearing in the name of the
king to restore his States, he nevertheless sent him to Paris, and in
violation of the oath he had taken, annexed the county to France.[521]
This was the man now summoned to Florence by the Pope. To induce him
to come promptly and with good will, the Pope even dazzled him with
hopes of the imperial crown. In any case, by right of the authority he
asserted during the interregnum, he would appoint him vicar-general
and peacemaker in Tuscany, "to enforce the execution of his purpose
there."[522] In what that purpose consisted, even Villani, who was on
his side, admits that Boniface intended "to crush the people and the
Whites."[523] Accordingly the Blacks own displayed great activity,
with the aid of their adherents in town and country. They held various
meetings, of which the most notorious and turbulent was that assembled
in June at Santa Trinità, for the purpose of urging the Pope to send
Charles of Valois to straighten their affairs, and declaring that, for
their own part, they were ready to join him at any cost.[524] Naturally
all this could not be kept secret, and in fact the Signory immediately
sentenced the conspirators to various penalties. Messer Corso, being
absent, was condemned in contumacy to confiscation as well as personal
punishment; some of the Blacks were relegated to a fixed domicile;
others mulcted in 2,000 lire each, and even their friends at Pistoia
expelled from that city, for the greater enfeeblement of the party.
Meanwhile Charles of Valois marched across the Alps, and the same
summer was already in occupation of Parma, "cum magno arnese equorum
et somariorum."[525] Reaching Bologna on the 1st of August he found
convoys from the Bianchi and the Neri awaiting him there. The latter
party had already handed over to the "curia domini Papæ" the large sum
of 70,000 florins to assist the expedition which was now absolutely
decided.[526] As a preliminary step, Valois went to Anagni with 500
knights, saw King Charles of Naples, and made arrangements with him
concerning the Sicilian campaign. The Pope hastened to create Valois
Count of Romagna, and afterwards, in the name of the vacant Empire,
Mediator (_Paciaro_) in Tuscany.[527] So, without farther delay, the
Court started for Florence, joined on the road by the exiles who
flocked to his ranks. His mission was to crush the Bianchi and the
people and to uplift the Neri. He had deliberately undertaken the
task, but rather for the purpose of satisfying the Pope, of whose
support in Sicily the Angevins had now pressing need, than from any
personal motive. In fact, knowing that he could never hope to be lord
of Florence, he felt very little interest in the matter. Nevertheless
he counted on being able to extort a considerable sum of money from
the city, and to this end brought Messer Musciatto Franzesi with
him to serve, Villani tells us, as his _pedotto_, _i.e._, as guide
and factotum. This man was a well-known merchant of the Florentine
territory, who had made his fortune in France by illegal as well
as lawful means and had been knighted by the French king in reward
for many services, among others for having suggested a device for
replenishing the treasury during the war in Flanders by debasing the
coinage.[528] Charles of Valois hoped to gain much by this man's
assistance; whereas the Florentines regarded the said _pedotto_ with
great distrust.
On the 13th of September all the councils assembled in the palace of
the Podestà--Dante Alighieri sitting among them that day--to decide
"quid sit providendum et faciendum super conservatione Ordinamentorum
Iustitiæ et Statutorum Populi."[529] This, and not the struggle between
the Bianchi and Neri, was always the main point with the Florentines.
Hence it was resolved that, for the present, everything should remain
in the hands of the magistrates of the Republic, and that it would be
advisable to dispatch an embassy to the Pope. Whether Dante Alighieri
was one of the ambassadors sent, as asserted by the historians, has
been no less disputed than all other incidents of the poet's life. At
that time he was ardently devoted to politics, and although belonging
to the old nobility, was not only enrolled in the guilds and a partisan
of the Bianchi, but thoroughly at one with the people, a supporter of
the Enactments of Justice, and opposed to the Pope's designs. From
the 15th of June to the 15th of August, 1300, he had been one of the
Priors who had exiled the leaders of the Bianchi and the Neri. In the
"Consulte" of 1296 we find him combating the proposal of furnishing a
subsidy to Charles of Anjou, to assist his Sicilian campaign. In 1301
he took an even more prominent share in the debates of the councils,
and always manifested unchanged opinions. In fact, during the debates
of the 14th of April, when it was proposed to supply a hundred soldiers
at the expense of the Commune, for the Pope's service, Dante twice,
at least, made reply, "Quod de servitio faciendo domino Papæ nihil
fiat."[530] He had been also frequently employed in other public posts:
accordingly it is quite possible that he may have been sent to Rome
at this time, as many of his biographers have stated. What could be
said to the Pope? It was now hopeless to expect him to refrain from
sending Charles of Valois; but in addition to soothing him with fair
words, it might be neither inopportune nor useless to endeavour to
make him understand that it could not serve his purpose to expel the
Bianchi and aggrandise the Neri, seeing that the government of the city
would still remain in the hands of the guilds. It would, therefore, be
wiser for him to come to terms with the people, which was steadfastly
Guelph, and, once pacified, might consent, as in past times, to accept
from him, in the future, a provisional Vicar, always provided that
the freedom of its popular government, its statutes and enactments,
were left intact. But this popular government was precisely what the
Pope was determined not to tolerate any longer. Therefore, without
many words, and almost without giving any heed to the ambassadors,
he only replied to their arguments by saying, so Compagni relates:
"Make humiliation to us." According to the same chronicler, two of the
ambassadors returned to Florence without delay, but Dante, who was the
third, lingered in Rome for a while.[531]
VIII.
Meanwhile Valois, with his usual deceit, and to hoodwink every one
more completely, wrote to the Commune of San Gimignano on the 20th
of September in the following terms: "Be assured that neither the
Pope nor I have the slightest intention 'de juribus iurisdictionibus
seu libertatibus, quæ per comunitatis Tusciæ tenentur et possidentur,
in aliquo nos intromictere, sed potius ... favorare.'"[532] The
Florentines, however, were not to be tricked by these false promises,
and on the 7th of October elected a new Signory, in advance of the
usual time, trying to assign either faction an equal share in it, in
the hope of effecting some mitigation of party rancour. But, as justly
observed by Compagni, this was rather the time "for the sharpening of
swords." Valois, being at Sienna on the 14th, dispatched ambassadors
thence to announce his arrival, and these envoys were received by
the councils in full assembly, including that of the Guelph Society.
Accordingly many Neri and Grandi being present, and joining with those
who at every time and everywhere invariably go with the winning side,
they all vied warmly with one another in proposing to welcome the
stranger with open arms.[533] In point of fact, no one was inclined to
oppose what had now become an unavoidable necessity, particularly as
Charles had again given the Florentine envoys at Sienna written as well
as verbal assurances of his intention to respect the city's laws and
rights of jurisdiction.[534] So, on All Souls' Day, 1st of November,
welcomed with great pomp and display of force, Valois entered Florence
as "Peacemaker," and, as Villani says, "with his men disarmed." But in
the "Divina Commedia" Dante describes his entry thus:--
"Per far conoscere meglio sè e i suoi,
Senz 'armi n'esce solo con la lancia
Con la qual giostrò Giuda, e quella ponta
Si che a Fiorenza fa scoppiar la pancia."[535]
His troops had gained so many recruits by the way as to now amount to
about 800 foreign and 1,400 Italian horse. They were certainly too
few to besiege or enslave Florence; but Valois had the influence of
Rome and France at his back, and the Neri were ready to fly to arms.
Hence, assured of safety, he established his quarters across the river
(Oltrarno) in the house of the Frescobaldi, once friends, but now foes
of the Cerchi. After resting there quietly for a few days, in order to
mature his plans, he demanded the lordship and custody of the city,
with a view to its pacification. Accordingly a solemn meeting was
held in Santa Maria Novella on the 5th of November, attended by all
the leading citizens and magistrates of Florence. Valois's request
was granted when he pledged his princely word to preserve the city in
good order, peace, and independence. Villani, who was present at the
ceremony, and favourable to Charles, relates, nevertheless, that "he"
(Valois) "and his troops immediately began to do the contrary." In
fact, by the advice of Musciatto Franzesi, who had connived with the
Neri to that effect, violence was resorted to without delay, and all
Florence rose in a tumult, perceiving that the moment for assault and
treachery had now arrived.
The Signory being attacked by the Neri, betrayed by Charles and
forsaken by the Bianchi on the charge of having allowed itself to
be surprised unprepared for defence, was utterly powerless, and the
Republic was left without a government. The new Podestà, Messer Cante
dei Gabrielli of Gubbio, had entered the city with Charles de Valois,
and for what purpose may be easily divined. At this juncture Corso
Donati appeared, sword in hand, with his followers at the Pinti gate.
Finding it closed, he managed to break through the postern door, with
the help of friends within, and, entering the city, was hailed by
the mob with the usual cries of "Viva Messer Corso, viva il Barone!"
Hastening first to throw open the prisons, he then went to the Public
Palace, and driving out the Signory, compelled them to return to their
homes. Villani relates that "during all this laceration of the city,
Charles, violating the terms he had just sworn to observe, never
attempted to check the fray, but only looked on."[536] The Bianchi
were speedily overpowered, many wounded and killed, and their houses
sacked. This "pestilence lasted for five days in Florence, and for
eight in the territory, armed bands scouring the country, maltreating
the inhabitants, and plundering and burning their dwellings. Some of
the worst and most ferocious excesses were committed by the Medici
family.[537] By the 7th of November the Signory were so overwhelmed
with terror as to suggest a decree authorising them to withdraw before
the legal expiration of their term. Therefore on the following day a
new Signory was appointed to hold office until the 14th of December,
when, according to the law, another one would have to be elected in
regular course. The existing Signory hastened to announce to all the
fortunate triumph of the Church party under the auspices of the Pope
and Valois, by whose means "Populus roboratus, Status et Ordinamenta
Iustitiæ, iurisdictiones, honores et possessiones Populi et Comunis
Florentiæ suorumque civium observata."[538] In spite of these very
hypocritical words, we know that even then no one dared attempt to
annul the enactments, or to remove the government from the grasp of
the people; while it was equally true that with a Signory composed of
Neri, a Podestà such as Cante dei Gabrielli and Valois, with Musciatto
Franzesi and Corso Donati at his elbow, the Bianchi were doomed to
destruction. In fact, the work of pillage never ceased; exiled friends
were recalled, the banishment of adversaries was rigidly maintained,
and Charles began to extort money from the citizens by threat.[539] His
first victims were the members of the late Signory, who were given the
choice of opening their purses or being sent as prisoners to Puglia, an
alternative of which the meaning was clear.[540]
Meanwhile, the Pope having little confidence in Valois, or in the
latter's scanty knowledge of Florence, and still adhering to his plan
of reconciling the magnates in order to crush the people, again sent
the Cardinal of Acquasparta, for the purpose--as stated in his letter
dated 2nd of December, 1301--"of seconding Charles's efforts, by
checking dissension among the citizens and converting them to peace
and charity."[541] These were vain hopes, however. The Cardinal did
his utmost, and arranged a few reconciliations and even some marriages
between Bianchi and Neri; but when he proposed that either party should
have an equal share in the government, the Neri, backed by Charles,
made the most vehement opposition. And as the Cardinal persisted in his
fruitless endeavours, Messer Niccolò de' Cerchi, when riding out to the
country for a day's pleasuring with his friends, was attacked in Piazza
Santa Croce, pursued by Corso Donati's son Simone, and murdered by him
on the Africo bridge. But in the course of the struggle the victim
dealt his assailant a mortal wound that soon brought him also to the
grave.
As Simone was Corso's favourite son, it may be imagined how this
effected the peace that the Pope had hoped to establish through the
Cardinal's mediation. Messer Cante dei Gabrielli had already begun to
pronounce sentences on the Bianchi, which were subsequently transcribed
on the first pages of the still extant "Libro del Chiodo." Four of the
Bianchi faction were exiled on the 18th of January, 1302; five more,
including Dante Alighieri, on the 27th. In February four other verdicts
were issued for the banishment of over one hundred nobles and burghers
of the city and territory.[542] Enraged by these proceedings, the
Cardinal hurried off, again leaving Florence under interdict, but not
before he had received the 1,100 florins assigned to him on the 27th of
February, 1302, in remuneration of his abortive efforts.
In the meantime Charles of Valois had gone to Rome, though for what
purpose is scarcely ascertained. Compagni says that he went to seek
money from the Pope, who replied to him: "I have sent thee to the
source of gold; now profit by it as best thou canst." It is, therefore,
highly probable that he went to convince the Pope of the impossibility
of the pacification His Holiness had dreamt of arranging, and that the
only thing to be done was to exalt the Neri and crush the Bianchi,
together with the people abetting them. Knowing little of the Italian
communes in general or of Florence in particular, he failed to discern,
that though the Bianchi might be crushed, not so the people. To quell
the latter, nothing short of wholesale slaughter could suffice, and
even this would have failed in the long run.
At any rate, on returning to Florence on the 19th of March, Valois
feigned to have discovered that the Bianchi had formed a plot against
him with the connivance of one of his barons, Pietro Ferrando of
Provence; and an agreement signed and sealed by the conspirators was
actually produced.[543] The chroniclers, Villani included, declare
that the plot was entirely fictitious; nevertheless, the agreement
in question, dated 26th of March, is still extant in the Florentine
Archives.[544] Either it was forged at the time to furnish an excuse
for fresh arrangements, or was drafted by Pietro Ferrando for the
purpose of entrapping the Bianchi and giving Charles another weapon
against them. In fact, he immediately subjected them to fresh
persecutions. The heads of the party were cited to appear; but
disregarding the summons, they hastily fled to Pistoia, Arezzo, and
Pisa, there reinforcing, the Ghibellines and all other enemies of
Florence. Eleven of their number were outlawed as rebels; their houses
and property confiscated or destroyed.
Having dealt the Bianchi this fresh blow, and secured the triumph
of the Neri, Valois took his departure, but not without obtaining
a promise of further subsidies from his friends. In fact 20,000
florins were awarded him in December, and 5,000 more sent in October,
1303.[545] Meanwhile the Podestà, Messer Cante, continued to rain
penalties on the town. By May no fewer than 250 condemnations had been
pronounced, and as his successor pursued the same course, more than
600 sentences of confiscation, exile, and death were issued during the
year 1302.[546] Villani says in conclusion: "Thus by the agency of
Charles and the orders of Boniface VIII., the hated Bianchi faction
was defeated and expelled, wherefrom great trouble ensued later
on."[547] Up to this point the succession of events may be traced with
sufficient ease. But from the moment the exiles sought friends abroad,
and waged war on their native city, it became increasingly difficult
to disentangle the chaos of parties, and comprehend the real meaning
of all that took place. Therefore this is the moment to test whether
our previous remarks have served to cast any new light upon a period of
history that is still somewhat obscure, in spite of the close study and
deep learning devoted by so many writers to its investigation.