History of Florence
by Nicolo Machiavelli
Book II
Chapter I
The custom of ancient republics to plant
colonies, and the advantage of it -- Increased population
tends to make countries more healthy -- Origin of
Florence -- Aggrandizement of Florence -- Origin of the
name of Florence -- Destruction of Florence by Totila --
The Florentines take Fiesole -- The first division in
Florence, and the cause of it -- Buondelmonti --
Buondelmonti slain -- Guelphs and Ghibellines in Florence
-- Guelphic families -- Ghibelline families -- The two
factions come to terms.
Among the great and wonderful institutions of the
republics and principalities of antiquity that have now gone
into disuse, was that by means of which towns and cities
were from time to time established; and there is nothing
more worthy the attention of a great prince, or of a
well-regulated republic, or that confers so many advantages
upon a province, as the settlement of new places, where men
are drawn together for mutual accommodation and defense.
This may easily be done, by sending people to reside in
recently acquired or uninhabited countries. Besides causing
the establishment of new cities, these removals render a
conquered country more secure, and keep the inhabitants of a
province properly distributed. Thus, deriving the greatest
attainable comfort, the inhabitants increase rapidly, are
more prompt to attack others, and defend themselves with
greater assurance. This custom, by the unwise practice of
princes and republics, having gone into desuetude, the ruin
and weakness of territories has followed; for this
ordination is that by which alone empires are made secure,
and countries become populated. Safety is the result of it;
because the colony which a prince establishes in a newly
acquired country, is like a fortress and a guard, to keep
the inhabitants in fidelity and obedience. Neither can a
province be wholly occupied and preserve a proper
distribution of its inhabitants without this regulation; for
all districts are not equally healthy, and hence some will
abound to overflowing, while others are void; and if there
be no method of withdrawing them from places in which they
increase too rapidly, and planting them where they are too
few the country would soon be wasted; for one part would
become a desert, and the other a dense and wretched
population. And, as nature cannot repair this disorder, it
is necessary that industry should effect it, for unhealthy
localities become wholesome when a numerous population is
brought into them. With cultivation the earth becomes
fruitful, and the air is purified with fires -- remedies
which nature cannot provide. The city of Venice proves the
correctness of these remarks. Being placed in a marshy and
unwholesome situation, it became healthy only by the number
of industrious individuals who were drawn together. Pisa,
too, on account of its unwholesome air, was never filled
with inhabitants, till the Saracens, having destroyed Genoa
and rendered her rivers unnavigable, caused the Genoese to
migrate thither in vast numbers, and thus render her
populous and powerful. Where the use of colonies is not
adopted, conquered countries are held with great difficulty;
districts once uninhabited still remain so, and those which
populate quickly are not relieved. Hence it is that many
places of the world, and particularly in Italy, in
comparison of ancient times, have become deserts. This has
wholly arisen and proceeded from the negligence of princes,
who have lost all appetite for true glory, and of republics
which no longer possess institutions that deserve praise. In
ancient times, by means of colonies, new cities frequently
arose, and those already begun were enlarged, as was the
case with Florence, which had its beginning from Fiesole,
and its increase from colonies.
It is exceedingly probable, as Dante and Giovanni Villani
show, that the city of Fiesole, being situate upon the
summit of the mountain, in order that her markets might be
more frequented, and afford greater accommodation for those
who brought merchandise, would appoint the place in which to
told them, not upon the hill, but in the plain, between the
foot of the mountain and the river Arno. I imagine these
markets to have occasioned the first erections that were
made in those places, and to have induced merchants to wish
for commodious warehouses for the reception of their goods,
and which, in time, became substantial buildings. And
afterward, when the Romans, having conquered the
Carthaginians, rendered Italy secure from foreign invasion,
these buildings would greatly increase; for men never endure
inconveniences unless some powerful necessity compels them.
Thus, although the fear of war induces a willingness to
occupy places strong and difficult of access, as soon as the
cause of alarm is removed, men gladly resort to more
convenient and easily attainable localities. Hence, the
security to which the reputation of the Roman republic gave
birth, caused the inhabitants, having begun in the manner
described, to increase so much as to form a town, this was
at first called the Villa Arnina. After this occurred the
civil wars between Marius and Sylla; then those of
César, and Pompey; and next those of the murderers of
César, and the parties who undertook to avenge his
death. Therefore, first by Sylla, and afterward by the three
Roman citizens, who, having avenged the death of
César, divided the empire among themselves, colonies
were sent to Fiesole, which, either in part or in whole,
fixed their habitations in the plain, near to the then
rising town. By this increase, the place became so filled
with dwellings, that it might with propriety be enumerated
among the cities of Italy.
There are various opinions concerning the derivation of
the word Florentia. Some suppose it to come from Florinus,
one of the principal persons of the colony; others think it
was originally not Florentia, but Fluentia, and suppose the
word derived from fluente, or flowing of the Arno;
and in support of their opinion, adduce a passage from
Pliny, who says, "the Fluentini are near the flowing of the
Arno." This, however, may be incorrect, for Pliny speaks of
the locality of the Florentini, not of the name by which
they were known. And it seems as if the word Fluentini were
a corruption, because Frontinus and Cornelius Tacitus, who
wrote at nearly the same period as Pliny, call them
Florentia and Florentini; for, in the time of Tiberius, they
were governed like the other cities of Italy. Besides,
Cornelius refers to the coming of ambassadors from the
Florentines, to beg of the emperor that the waters of the
Chiane might not be allowed to overflow their country; and
it is not at all reasonable that the city should have two
names at the same time. Therefore I think that, however
derived, the name was always Florentia, and that whatever
the origin might be, it occurred under the Roman empire, and
began to be noticed by writers in the times of the first
emperors.
When the Roman empire was afflicted by the barbarians,
Florence was destroyed by Totila, king of the Ostrogoths;
and after a period of two hundred and fifty years, rebuilt
by Charlemagne; from whose time, till the year 1215, she
participated in the fortune of the rest of Italy; and,
during this period, first the descendants of Charles, then
the Berengarii, and lastly the German emperors, governed
her, as in our general treatise we have shown. Nor could the
Florentines, during those ages, increase in numbers, or
effect anything worthy of memory, on account of the
influence of those to whom they were subject. Nevertheless,
in the year 1010, upon the feast of St. Romolo, a solemn day
with the Fiesolani, they took and destroyed Fiesole, which
must have been performed either with the consent of the
emperors, or during the interim from the death of one to the
creation of his successor, when all assumed a larger share
of liberty. But then the pontiffs acquired greater
influence, and the authority of the German emperors was in
its wane, all the places of Italy governed themselves with
less respect for the prince; so that, in the time of Henry
III. the mind of the country was divided between the emperor
and the church. However, the Florentines kept themselves
united until the year 1215, rendering obedience to the
ruling power, and anxious only to preserve their own safety.
But, as the diseases which attack our bodies are more
dangerous and mortal in proportion as they are delayed, so
Florence, though late to take part in the sects of Italy,
was afterward the more afflicted by them. The cause of her
first division is well known, having been recorded by Dante
and many other writers; I shall, however, briefly notice
it.
Among the most powerful families of Florence were the
Buondelmonti and the Uberti; next to these were the Amidei
and the Donati. Of the Donati family there was a rich widow
who had a daughter of exquisite beauty, for whom, in her own
mind, she had fixed upon Buondelmonti, a young gentleman,
the head of the Buondelmonti family, as her husband; but
either from negligence, or, because she thought it might be
accomplished at any time, she had not made known her
intention, when it happened that the cavalier betrothed
himself to a maiden of the Amidei family. This grieved the
Donati widow exceedingly; but she hoped, with her daughter's
beauty, to disturb the arrangement before the celebration of
the marriage; and from an upper apartment, seeing
Buondelmonti approach her house alone, she descended, and as
he was passing she said to him, "I am glad to learn you have
chosen a wife, although I had reserved my daughter for you";
and, pushing the door open, presented her to his view. The
cavalier, seeing the beauty of the girl, which was very
uncommon, and considering the nobility of her blood, and her
portion not being inferior to that of the lady whom he had
chosen, became inflamed with such an ardent desire to
possess her, that, not thinking of the promise given, or the
injury he committed in breaking it, or of the evils which
his breach of faith might bring upon himself, said, "Since
you have reserved her for me, I should be very ungrateful
indeed to refuse her, being yet at liberty to choose"; and
without any delay married her. As soon as the fact became
known, the Amidei and the Uberti, whose families were
allied, were filled with rage, and having assembled with
many others, connections of the parties, they concluded that
the injury could not be tolerated without disgrace, and that
the only vengeance proportionate to the enormity of the
offence would be to put Buondelmonti to death. And although
some took into consideration the evils that might ensue upon
it, Mosca Lamberti said, that those who talk of many things
effect nothing, using that trite and common adage, Cosa
fatta capo ha. Thereupon, they appointed to the
execution of the murder Mosca himself, Stiatti Uberti,
Lambertuccio Amidei, and Oderigo Fifanti, who, on the
morning of Easter day, concealed themselves in a house of
the Amidei, situate between the old bridge and St.
Stephen's, and as Buondelmonti was passing upon a white
horse, thinking it as easy a matter to forget an injury as
reject an alliance, he was attacked by them at the foot of
the bridge, and slain close by a statue of Mars. This murder
divided the whole city; one party espousing the cause of the
Buondelmonti, the other that of the Uberti; and as these
families possessed men and means of defense, they contended
with each other for many years, without one being able to
destroy the other.
Florence continued in these troubles till the time of
Frederick II., who, being king of Naples, endeavored to
strengthen himself against the church; and, to give greater
stability to his power in Tuscany, favored the Uberti and
their followers, who, with his assistance, expelled the
Buondelmonti; thus our city, as all the rest of Italy had
long time been, became divided into Guelphs and Ghibellines;
and as it will not be superfluous, I shall record the names
of the families which took part with each faction. Those who
adopted the cause of the Guelphs were the Buondelmonti,
Nerli, Rossi, Frescobaldi, Mozzi, Bardi, Pulci, Gherardini,
Foraboschi, Bagnesi, Guidalotti, Sacchetti, Manieri,
Lucardesi, Chiaramontesi, Compiobbesi, Cavalcanti,
Giandonati, Gianfigliazzi, Scali, Gualterotti, Importuni,
Bostichi, Tornaquinci, Vecchietti, Tosinghi, Arrigucci,
Agli, Sizi, Adimari, Visdomini, Donati, Passi, della Bella,
Ardinghi, Tedaldi, Cerchi. Of the Ghibelline faction were
the Uberti, Manelli, Ubriachi, Fifanti, Amidei, Infangati,
Malespini, Scolari, Guidi, Galli, Cappiardi, Lamberti,
Soldanieri, Cipriani, Toschi, Amieri, Palermini,
Migliorelli, Pigli, Barucci, Cattani, Agolanti,
Brunelleschi, Caponsacchi, Elisei, Abati, Tidaldini,
Giuochi, and Galigai. Besides the noble families on each
side above enumerated, each party was joined by many of the
higher ranks of the people, so that the whole city was
corrupted with this division. The Guelphs being expelled,
took refuge in the Upper Val d'Arno, where part of their
castles and strongholds were situated, and where they
strengthened and fortified themselves against the attacks of
their enemies. But, upon the death of Frederick, the most
unbiased men, and those who had the greatest authority with
the people, considered that it would be better to effect the
reunion of the city, than, by keeping her divided, cause her
ruin. They therefore induced the Guelphs to forget their
injuries and return, and the Ghibellines to lay aside their
jealousies and receive them with cordiality.
History of Florence
Book II
by Nicolo Machiavelli
Book I
<<< Book II
Contents >>> Chapter
II
Main
Contents
|
