pride of Luca Pitti and his party-Death of Cosmo de' Medici. CHAP. II. The duke of Milan becomes lord of Genoa-Jacopo Piccinino murdered-Fruitless endeavours of Pius II. to excite Christendom against the Turks-Death of Francesco Sforza-Conspiracy of Diotisalvi CHAP. III.-Niccolo Soderini drawn Gonfalonier of Justice-Reform of government in favour of Piero de' Medici-Fall of Luca Pitti-Letter of Agnolo Acciajuoli to Piero de' Medici-Piero's answer CHAP. IV.-War between the Venetians and the Florentines-Peace re- established-Death of Niccolo Soderini-Accession of Sixtus IV.— Tommaso Soderini declares himself in favour of the Medici CHAP. V.-Corruption of Florence-The duke of Milan in Florence-The church of Santo Spirito destroyed by fire-Rebellion of Volterra 338 CHAP. VI.-Animosity between Sixtus IV. and Lorenzo de' Medici-Con- CHAP. I.-State of the family of the Medici at Florence-Enmity of Six- CHAP. II.-Giuliano de' Medici slain-Lorenzo escapes-The pope and the king of Naples make war upon the Florentines-Florence excommuni- CHAP. III. The Florentines prepare for war against the pope-The Flo- rentines repulse their enemies-They attack the papal states CHAP. IV. The duke of Calabria routs the Florentine army at Poggi- bonzi-Lorenzo de' Medici goes to Naples to treat with the king-Peace CHAP. V.-New occasions of war in Italy-Differences between the mar- quis of Ferrara and the Venetians-The king of Naples and the Flo- rentines attack the papal states-Lodovico Sforza CHAP. VI.-Affairs of the pope-He is reconciled to Niccolo Vitelli-The Colonnesi and the Orsini-Death of Sixtus IV.-Innocent VIII. elected -Bank of St. Giorgio--The Lucchese lay claim to Pietro Santa CHAP. VII. The pope becomes attached to the Florentines-The Geno- ese seize Serezanello-Genoa submits to the duke of Milan-Osimo re- volts from the church-Count Girolamo Riario slain by a conspiracy- Galeotto, lord of Faenza, is murdered by the treachery of his wife- Death of Lorenzo de' Medici-Establishment of his family-The univer- Different kinds of principalities-Of hereditary principalities-Of mixed APPENDIX-1. Savonarola-2. Murder of Vitellozzo, Vitelli, and others, by Cæsar Borgia-3. To rise from a middling station, &c.-4. To Francisco Vettori-5. On neutrality-6. Instructions to Raphael Giro- lami—7. Of fortune, chance, providence—8. He that would wish for MEMOIR OF MACHIAVELLI. NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI was born at Florence, on the 5th of May, 1469, being the last year of the mild administration of Piero de' Medici. His family was descended from the ancient marquesses of Tuscany, and traced its origin more especially to a marquis Ugo, who flourished about 850. The Machiavelli were lords of Montespertoli; but, preferring the rank of citizens of a prosperous city to the unprofitable preservation of an illustrious ancestry, they submitted to the laws of Florence, for the sake of enjoying the honours which the republic had to bestow. Thirteen times they enjoyed the rank of Gonfaloniere of Justice,* and fifty-three different members of the family were at various times elected priors,+ another of the highest offices of government. Bernardo Machiavelli, the father of Niccolo, was jurisconsult and treasurer of the march; and by aid of these offices he maintained, in some degree, the lustre of his family, which was obscured by the poverty into which it had fallen. His wife Bartolomea, daughter of Stefano Nelli, was equally well descended; her family being derived from the ancient counts of Borgonuovo, of Fucecchio, who flourished in the tenth century. She had been previously married to Niccolo Benizzi, and was distinguished for her cultivated understanding and poetic talent. But little is known of the education of Machiavelli. During his childhood Florence was distracted by the various tumults and struggles occasioned by the party that sought to prevent the succession of Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici, which at length were terminated by the unsuccessful conspiracy of the Pazzi before Machiavelli had completed his tenth year. The remainder of his youth was passed under the popular government of Lorenzo de' Medici; but the first years of his manhood had scarcely expired before the death of Lorenzo again exposed Florence to internal jealousies and foreign ambition. It will thus be readily perceived that Machiavelli could not have commenced his political career at a moment which required more arduous duties or a greater share of energy and skill. Having received a liberal education, he was placed as secretary in the office of Marcello di Virgilio de' Adriani, one of the chief officers of the Florentine court of chancery, whose pupil he had formerly been. There is no trace of his taking any part in the political disturbances of this time. Florence was then agitated by the preaching of Savonarola, concerning whom there is an account still extant given by Machiavelli in a letter, dated May 8, 1497. (See Appendix A, page 488). Five years passed away in the quiet fulfilment of his duties, during which none of his writings were composed. He must, however, have distinguished himself † Vide page 60. * Vide page 61. by his talents, for when, at the expiration of that period, his employer, Marcello, was elected high chancellor, Machiavelli was chosen from among four other competitors to the office of chancellor of the second court; and in the course of the following month he was named secretary to the Council of Ten, a board entrusted with the management of foreign affairs and diplomatic negotiations, which situation he held for fourteen years, when the return of the Medici to Florence overthrew the government he served. In this position the political genius of Machiavelli was rapidly developed, and his abilities and penetration being soon perceived by his superiors, he was successively employed on several missions, many of which were of the utmost importance. The first was in 1498, when he was sent to Jacopo Apiani, lord of Piombino, for the purpose of engaging him to join the Florentine troops which were besieging Pisa, whilst their general Vitelli defended the Florentine territory against the Venetians, who were making incursions from the borders of Romagna, assisted by the emigrant partizans of the Medici. In the following year, 1499, he was despatched to Catharine Sforza, countess of Forli, in order to make arrangements for her son Ottaviano to engage as condottiero in the service of the republic. In 1500 he was employed as a commissioner to the Florentine camp before Pisa, and was present at the arrival of a body of French and Swiss auxiliary troops under De Beaumont, sent by Louis XII., who had just re-conquered Lombardy, and had formed an alliance with Florence. Dissensions, however, rose between the allies, concerning the pay of the auxiliaries. The Swiss mutinied and insulted Luca degli Albizzi, one of the Florentine commissioners; and the French, under the pretence of a delay of pay, abandoned the attack against Pisa. The king of France accused Florence of being the cause of this affront sustained by his arms; and to appease him, and obtain if possible further assistance, the republic deputed Francesco della Caza and Machiavelli as envoys to the French court. This was a very delicate mission. Louis XII. and his minister, Cardinal d'Amboise, were prejudiced against the Florentines, and had an interest in favouring the Borgias, who at that time threatened Florence. Machiavelli and his fellow envoy remained in Florence three months, following the king and his court to Montargis, Melun, Plenis, and Tours. They were faithful and industrious in their duties, more especially Machiavelli, as Francesco della Caza was taken ill, and compelled to spend the greater portion of his time at Paris. They failed in their object; yet, by dint of much skilful management, of fair promises and professions, and of timely suggestions, they left Louis better disposed towards Florence than they had found him, and made him watchful and jealous of the movements of Cæsar Borgia. This jealousy proved the salvation of the Florentines; for when the ferocious and unprincipled Borgia entered Tuscany a few months after, with eight thousand men, and encamped near Florence, the French king sent him letters forbidding him to molest the republic. In 1502, Machiavelli was sent on a mission to Cæsar Borgia, also called Duke Valentino, who was then at Imola in Bologna. Borgia had just returned from Lombardy, where he had endeavoured to clear himself to Louis XII. from the charge of having countenanced the revolt of Arezzo and other places in the Vale de Chiana against the Florentines. During his absence there, his own friends and former colleagues, Vitellozzo Vitelli, Oliverotto da Fermo, Baglioni of Perugia, and the Orsini had taken alarm at his ambition and cruelty, and entered into a secret league with Bentivoglio of Bologna and Petrucci of Sienna, who were his declared enemies, and invited the Florentines to join them. The latter, however, held an old pique against Vitelli and the Orsini, and moreover were afraid of incurring the displeasure of France, who protected Borgia, they therefore not only refused to join them, 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 (which was not an easy thing, for Borgia was the closest man of his age), and endeavour to obtain something in return for their friendship. The account of this mission is extremely curious; there was deep dissimulation on both sides. Borgia hated Florence as much as the Florentines hated him; but they were both kept in check by the fear of France, and both Borgia and Machiavelli made the fairest and apparently the most candid professions towards each other. Borgia even assumed a confidential tone, and began to tell Machiavelli of the treachery of his former friends; he added, that he knew how to deal with them, and was only waiting for his own time; he also expatiated on his well-disciplined forces, his artillery, and the assistance he expected from France; and all this in order to persuade the Florentines of the great value of his friendship, and that they should give him a condotta, that is to say, the chief command in their army. Borgia, however, had to do with a negotiator who, though young, was a match for him. "I answered," says Machiavelli, in the twenty-first letter of that mission, "that his excellency the duke must not be compared to the generality of other Italian lords, but that he must be considered as a new potentate in Italy, with whom it is more fit and becoming to make a treaty of alliance than a mere condotta or mercenary convention. And I added that as alliances are maintained by arms, which are the only binding security for either party, your lordships (the magistrates of Florence) could not see what security there would be for them if three-fourths or threefifths of your forces were to be in the hands of the duke." Still the negotiations went on about the condotta, whilst Borgia was meditating another stroke of his usual policy. Machiavelli had a foretaste of it at Cesena, where a certain Rimino, a confidential agent of Borgia, and, as such, hateful to the people, was suddenly arrested by order of his master, and the next morning (on the 26th of December) was found in the middle of the square cut into two pieces. "Such," says Machiavelli," has been the duke's pleasure, for he wishes to show that he can do and undo his own men as he thinks proper." On the last day of December, Borgia, followed by Machiavelli, marched with his troops to Sinigaglia, where the Orsini, Vitellozzo, and Oliverotto were waiting for him, to have a conference and settle matters. As soon as his troops had entered the town he arrested those chiefs, strangled two of them that very night, and kept the Orsini in prison until he heard that his father, the pope, had secured the person of their relative Cardinal Orsini at Rome, after which they also were put to death. On the same night Borgia sent for Machiavelli, and said that he had done a great service to Florence in ridding the world of those men who were the sowers of discord. He then expressed his wish to attack Sienna and revenge himself on Petrucci; but the Florentines, being cautioned by Machiavelli, took measures to thwart his plans, and Petrucci was saved. Machiavelli returned to Florence in January, 1503, after three eventful months passed in the court and camp of Borgia, which was the most complete school of that policy which he afterwards illustrated in his treatise of "The Prince." His letters (fifty-two in number), written during that mission, have a certain dramatic character which awakens feelings of surprise, terror, and intense curiosity. Machiavelli wrote a detached report of the Sinigaglia tragedy, for a translation of which see Appendix B, page 491.* He obtained one thing from Borgia by this mission, viz. a free passage through Romagna to all Florentine travellers and merchants, and their goods and other property. On the 28th of August, 1503, Alexander VI. died, and his successor, Pius III., died a few days after. A new conclave being assembled in October, the Florentines sent Machiavelli to Rome, where he was present at the election of Julius II., and soon after witnessed the fall of Cæsar Borgia, who was arrested at Ostia by order of the pope, and all his illgotten dominions were taken from him. His troops, in passing through Tuscany, were disarmed and disbanded agreeably to Machiavelli's secret advice. In January, 1504, Machiavelli was sent to France to rouse Louis XII. to the danger threatening both Florence and the state of Milan from the Spaniards, who were advancing from Naples towards North Italy. The truce between France and Spain put an end to this mission. After several minor missions to Piombino, to Baglioni of Perugia, Petrucci of Sienna, and the duke of Mantua, Machiavelli was sent, in August, 1506, to Pope Julius II., whom he met on his march to dispossess *No part of Machiavelli's political career has given rise to so much misrepresentation as his embassy to the Duke Valentino, on the occasion of his rupture with Vitelozzo, Oliverotto, and the Orsini. The reader who confines his examination of this period to the narrations of Roscoe and some other modern historians, will be led to concur in the darkest views of the character of Machiavelli. An attentive perusal of the original documents will lead to a very different conclusion. The perilous situation of the Florentine republic exerted at this moment a peculiar influence upon her policy; and the friendship of Borgia and of Alexander, instead of forming a question of general interest or of probable advantage, could easily decide the destruction or preservation of the state. It was under such circumstances that Machiavelli was despatched to the court of Borgia. The history of his embassy is fully detailed in his official correspondence; but the master-piece of treachery by which Borgia secured his vengeance upon greater villains than himself, is also related in the letter in the Appendix, which originally either formed a part of the despatches, or was prepared like the other historical fragments, to be interwoven in the continuation of the Florentine histories. That Machiavelli, far from assisting to devise the treachery of Borgia, had no knowledge of his intentions with regard to Vitelozzo and his associates, is evident from the whole course of his letters. It appears from these, that the duke never confided his plans even to his favourite counsellors; that his probable conduct was, on this occasion, a subject of general conjecture; Machiavelli gives his own, and inclines to suspect the seeming reconciliation of Borgia and his enemies. It appears also that Borgia, instead of seeking the advice of Machiavelli, never admitted him to an audience, except when new despatches from Florence rendered it impossible to refuse, and the conversation at these interviews is fully related. They who blame him for not having returned immediately upon the discovery of Borgia's crime, apart from the new principle which they establish for ambassadors, fall into two errors: they forget that he had repeatedly solicited a recall, and been ordered to remain; secondly, that the state of roads rendered all passing difficult and dangerous, some of his own despatches were lost,-and there was no possibility of his escaping to Florence. |