Medieval Sourcebook:
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527):
History of Florence: Lorence de' Medici
History of Florence
After the successful termination of the war of Serezana, the Florentines lived in
prosperous tranquillity until the death of Lorenzo de' Medici in 1492; for after having
established peace by his good judgment and authority, Lorenzo devoted his attention to the
aggrandisement of the city and of his own family. He married his eldest son Piero to
Alfonsina, daughter of the Cavaliere Orsini, and had his second son promoted to the
dignity of cardinal, which was the more remarkable as it was unprecedented, the youth
having hardly completed his thirteenth year. This was in fact a ladder by means of which
his house was enabled to mount to heaven itself, as indeed it happened in the course of
time. He could not provide equally good fortune for his third son, as he was still too
young when Lorenzo died. Of his daughters, one was married to Jacopo Salviati, another to
Francesco Cibo, and a third to Piero Ridolfi; but the fourth, who, by way of keeping the
family united, had been married to Giovanni de' Medici, her cousin, died. In his
commercial affairs, however, Lorenzo was very unfortunate; for through the irregularity of
his agents, who managed his affairs, not like those of a private individual, but of a
prince, the greater part of his private fortune was consumed; so that he was obliged to
call upon his country to aid him with large sums of money. In consequence of this he gave
up all commercial operations, and turned his attention to landed property, as being a more
safe and solid wealth. He acquired large possessions in the districts of Prato and Pisa,
and in the Val di Pesa, and erected upon them useful and elegant buildings, not like a
private citizen, but with truly royal magnificence. After that he directed his attention
to extending and embellishing the city of Florence, in which there was still much vacant
land. Here he had new streets laid out and built up with houses, whereby the city was
greatly enlarged and beautified. And to secure greater quiet and security within the
state, and to be able to resist and combat its enemies at a greater distance from the
city, he fortified the castle of Firenzuola, in the mountains towards Bologna; in the
direction of Siena he began the restoration of the Poggio Imperiale, which he fortified in
the most complete manner. Towards Genoa he closed the road to the enemy by the acquisition
of Pietrasanta and Serezana. Besides this, he maintained his friends the Baglioni in
Perugia with subsidies and pensions, and the same with the Vitelli in Citta di Castello;
and in Faenza he kept a special governor; all of which measures served as strong bulwarks
to the city of Florence.
In peaceful times he often entertained the people with various festivities, such as
jousts, feats of arms, and representations of triumphs of olden times. He aimed to
maintain abundance in the city, to keep the people united and the nobility honoured. He
had the greatest love and admiration for all who excelled in any art, and was a great
patron of learning and of literary men, of which his conduct towards Cristofano Landini
and Messer Demetrius the Greek furnishes the strongest proof. For this reason the Count
Giovanni della Mirandola, a man of almost supernatural genius, was attracted by the
magnificence of Lorenzo, and preferred to establish his home in Florence rather than in
any other part of Europe, all of which he had visited in his travels. Lorenzo took the
greatest delight in architecture, music and poetry; and many of his own poetic
compositions, enriched with commentaries, appeared in print. And for the purpose of
enabling the Florentine youths to devote themselves to the study of letters, he
established a university in the city of Pisa, where he employed the most eminent men of
all Italy as professors. He built a monastery for Fra Mariano da Chianozzona, of the order
of St Augustine, who was a most admirable pulpit orator. And thus, beloved of God and
fortune, all his enterprises were crowned with success, whilst those of his enemies had
the opposite fate. For besides the conspiracy of the Pazzi, Battista Frescobaldi also
attempted his assassination in the church of the Carmine; and Baldinatto of Pistoia tried
the same at his villa. Each of these, together with their accomplices, suffered the most
just punishment for their nefarious attempts.
Thus Lorenzo's mode of life, his ability and good fortune, were recognised with
admiration, and highly esteemed, not only by all the princes of Italy, but also by those
at a great distance. Matthias, King of Hungary, gave him many proofs of his affection; the
Sultan of Egypt sent ambassadors to him with precious gifts; and the Grand Turk gave up to
him Bernardo Bandini, the murderer of his brother. These proofs of regard from foreign
sovereigns caused Lorenzo to be looked upon with the greatest admiration by all Italy; and
his reputation was daily increased by his rare ability, for he was eloquent and subtle in
speech, wise in his resolves, and bold and prompt in their execution. Nor can he be
charged with any vices that would stain his many virtues, though very fond of women, and
delighting in the society of witty and sarcastic men, and even taking pleasure in puerile
amusements – more so than would seem becoming to so great a man, so that he was often
seen taking part in the childish sports of his sons and daughters. Considering, then, his
fondness for pleasure, and at the same time his grave character, there seemed as it were
united in him two almost incompatible natures. During his latter years he was greatly
afflicted with sufferings from his malady, the gout, and oppressed with intolerable pains
in his stomach, which increased to that degree that he died in the month of April, 1492,
in the forty-fourth year of his age. Neither Florence nor all Italy ever lost a man of
higher reputation for prudence and ability, or whose loss was more deplored by his
country, than Lorenzo de' Medici. And as his death was to be followed by the most ruinous
consequences, Heaven gave many manifest indications of it. Amongst these was that the
highest pinnacle of the church of the Santa Reparata was struck by lightning, so that a
large part of the pinnacle fell to the earth, filling every one with terror and amazement.
All Florence, then, as well as all the princes of Italy, lamented the death of Lorenzo; in
proof of which there was not one who did not send ambassdors to Florence to express his
grief at so great a loss. And events very soon after proved that they had just cause for
their regrets; for Italy being deprived of Lorenzo's counsels, no means could be found to
satisfy or check the ambition of Lodovico Sforza, governor of the Duke of Milan. From
this, soon after Lorenzo's death, there began to spring up those evil seeds of trouble,
which ruined and continue to cause the ruin of Italy, as there was no one capable of
destroying them.
Source.
The Historical, Political and Diplomatic Writings of Niccolò Machiavelli,
trans. C. E. Detmold, 4 vols, Boston 1882. Extract from `The History of Florence', Vol. 1,
Book 8, 36.
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