every noble with his relations and friends defended himself against
the forces of the Priors and the Capitano. To remedy this evil, the
leaders of the Arts' companies ordered that every Signory at the time
of entering upon the duties of office should appoint a Gonfalonier of
Justice, chosen from the people, and place a thousand armed men at his
disposal divided into twenty companies of fifty men each, and that he,
with his gonfalon or banner and his forces, should be ready to enforce
the execution of the laws whenever called upon, either by the Signors
themselves or the Capitano. The first elected to this high office was
Ubaldo Ruffoli. This man unfurled his gonfalon, and destroyed the
houses of the Galletti, on account of a member of that family having
slain one of the Florentine people in France. The violent animosities
among the nobility enabled the companies of the Arts to establish this
law with facility; and the former no sooner saw the provision which
had been made against them than they felt the acrimonious spirit with
which it was enforced. At first it impressed them with greater terror,
but they soon after returned to their accustomed insolence, for one or
more of their body always making part of the Signory, gave them
opportunities of impeding the Gonfalonier, so that he could not
perform the duties of his office. Besides this, the accuser always
required a witness of the injury he had received, and no one dared to
give evidence against the nobility. Thus in a short time Florence
again fell into the same disorders as before, and the tyranny
exercised against the people was as great as ever; for the decisions
of justice were either prevented or delayed, and sentences were not
carried into execution.
In this unhappy state, the people not knowing what to do, Giano della
Bella, of a very noble family, and a lover of liberty, encouraged the
heads of the Arts to reform the constitution of the city; and by his
advice it was ordered that the Gonfalonier should reside with the
Priors, and have four thousand men at his command. They deprived the
nobility of the right to sit in the Signory. They condemned the
associates of a criminal to the same penalty as himself, and ordered
that public report should be taken as evidence. By these laws, which
were called the ordinations of justice, the people acquired great
influence, and Giano della Bella not a small share of trouble; for he
was thoroughly hated by the great, as the destroyer of their power,
while the opulent among the people envied him, for they thought he
possessed too great authority. This became very evident upon the first
occasion that presented itself.
It happened that a man from the class of the people was killed in a
riot, in which several of the nobility had taken a part, and among the
rest Corso Donati, to whom, as the most forward of the party, the
death was attributed. He was, therefore, taken by the captain of the
people, and whether he was really innocent of the crime or the
Capitano was afraid of condemning him, he was acquitted. This
acquittal displeased the people so much, that, seizing their arms,
they ran to the house of Giano della Bella, to beg that he would
compel the execution of those laws which he had himself made. Giano,
who wished Corso to be punished, did not insist upon their laying down
their arms, as many were of opinion he ought to have done, but advised
them to go to the Signory, complain of the fact, and beg that they
would take it into consideration. The people, full of wrath, thinking
themselves insulted by the Capitano and abandoned by Giano della
Bella, instead of going to the Signory went to the palace of the
Capitano, of which they made themselves masters, and plundered it.
This outrage displeased the whole city, and those who wished the ruin
of Giano laid the entire blame upon him; and as in the succeeding
Signory there was an enemy of his, he was accused to the Capitano as
the originator of the riot. While the case was being tried, the people
took arms, and, proceeding to his house, offered to defend him against
the Signory and his enemies. Giano, however, did not wish to put this
burst of popular favor to the proof, or trust his life to the
magistrates, for he feared the malignity of the latter and the
instability of the former; so, in order to remove an occasion for his
enemies to injure him, or his friends to offend the laws, he
determined to withdraw, deliver his countrymen from the fear they had
of him, and, leaving the city which at his own charge and peril he had
delivered from the servitude of the great, become a voluntary exile.
After the departure of Giano della Bella the nobility began to
entertain hopes of recovering their authority; and judging their
misfortune to have arisen from their divisions, they sent two of their
body to the Signory, which they thought was favorable to them, to beg
they would be pleased to moderate the severity of the laws made
against them. As soon as their demand became known, the minds of the
people were much excited; for they were afraid the Signors would
submit to them; and so, between the desire of the nobility and the
jealousy of the people, arms were resorted to. The nobility were drawn
together in three places: near the church of St. John, in the New
Market, and in the Piazza of the Mozzi, under three leaders, Forese
Adimari, Vanni de Mozzi, and Geri Spini. The people assembled in
immense numbers, under their ensigns, before the palace of the
Signory, which at that time was situated near St. Procolo; and, as
they suspected the integrity of the Signory, they added six citizens
to their number to take part in the management of affairs.
While both parties were preparing for the fight, some individuals, as
well of the people as of the nobility, accompanied by a few priests of
respectable character, mingled among them for the purpose of effecting
a pacification, reminding the nobility that their loss of power, and
the laws which were made against them, had been occasioned by their
haughty conduct, and the mischievous tendency of their proceedings;
that resorting to arms to recover by force what they had lost by
illiberal measures and disunion, would tend to the destruction of
their country and increase the difficulties of their own position;
that they should bear in mind that the people, both in riches,
numbers, and hatred, were far stronger than they; and that their
nobility, on account of which they assumed to be above others, did not
contribute to win battles, and would be found, when they came to arms,
to be but an empty name, and insufficient to defend them against so
many. On the other hand, they reminded the people that it is not
prudent to wish always to have the last blow; that it is an
injudicious step to drive men to desperation, for he who is without
hope is also without fear; that they ought not to forget that in the
wars the nobility had always done honor to the country, and therefore
it was neither wise nor just to pursue them with so much bi
tterness;
and that although the nobility could bear with patience the loss of
the supreme magistracy, they could not endure that, by the existing
laws, it should be in the power of everyone to drive them from their
country; and, therefore, it would be well to qualify these laws, and,
in furtherance of so good a result, be better to lay down their arms
than, trusting to numbers, try the fortune of a battle; for it is
often seen that the many are overcome by the few. Variety of opinion
was found among the people; many wished to decide the question by arms
at once, for they were assured it would have to be done some time, and
that it would be better to do so then than delay till the enemy had
acquired greater strength; and that if they thought a mitigation of
the laws would satisfy them, that then they would be glad to comply,
but that the pride of the nobility was so great they would not submit
unless they were compelled. To many others, who were more peaceable
and better disposed, it appeared a less evil to qualify the laws a
little than to come to battle; and their opinion prevailing, it was
provided that no accusation against the nobility could be received
unless supported with sufficient testimony.
Although arms were laid aside, both parties remained full of
suspicion, and each fortified itself with men and places of strength.
The people reorganized the government, and lessened the number of its
officers, to which measure they were induced by finding that the
Signors appointed from the families, of which the following were the
heads, had been favorable to the nobility, viz.: the Mancini,
Magalotti, Altoviti, Peruzzi, and Cerretani. Having settled the
government, for the greater magnificence and security of the Signory,
they laid the foundation of their palace; and to make space for the
piazza, removed the houses that had belonged to the Uberti; they also
at the same period commenced the public prisons. These buildings were
completed in a few years; nor did our city ever enjoy a greater state
of prosperity than in those times: filled with men of great wealth and
reputation; possessing within her walls 30,000 men capable of bearing
arms, and in the country 70,000, while the whole of Tuscany, either as
subjects or friends, owed obedience to Florence. And although there
might be some indignation and jealousy between the nobility and the
people, they did not produce any evil effect, but all lived together
in unity and peace. And if this peace had not been disturbed by
internal enmities there would have been no cause of apprehension
whatever, for the city had nothing to fear either from the empire or
from those citizens whom political reasons kept from their homes, and
was in condition to meet all the states of Italy with her own forces.
The evil, however, which external powers could not effect, was brought
about by those within.
CHAPTER IV
The Cerchi and the Donati--Origin of the Bianca and Nera factions
in Pistoia--They come to Florence--Open enmity of the Donati and
the Cerchi--Their first conflict--The Cerchi head the Bianca
faction--The Donati take part with the Nera--The pope's legate at
Florence increases the confusion with an interdict--New affray
between the Cerchi and the Donati--The Donati and others of the
Nera faction banished by the advice of Dante Alighieri--Charles of
Valois sent by the pope to Florence--The Florentines suspect him--
Corso Donati and the rest of the Nera party return to Florence--
Veri Cerchi flies--The pope's legate again in Florence--The city
again interdicted--New disturbances--The Bianchi banished--Dante
banished--Corso Donati excites fresh troubles--The pope's legate
endeavors to restore the emigrants but does not succeed--Great
fire in Florence.
The Cerchi and the Donati were, for riches, nobility, and the number
and influence of their followers, perhaps the two most distinguished
families in Florence. Being neighbors, both in the city and the
country, there had arisen between them some slight displeasure, which,
however, had not occasioned an open quarrel, and perhaps never would
have produced any serious effect if the malignant humors had not been
increased by new causes. Among the first families of Pistoia was the
Cancellieri. It happened that Lore, son of Gulielmo, and Geri, son of
Bertacca, both of this family, playing together, and coming to words,
Geri was slightly wounded by Lore. This displeased Gulielmo; and,
designing by a suitable apology to remove all cause of further
animosity, he ordered his son to go to the house of the father of the
youth whom he had wounded and ask pardon. Lore obeyed his father; but
this act of virtue failed to soften the cruel mind of Bertacca, and
having caused Lore to be seized, in order to add the greatest
indignity to his brutal act, he ordered his servants to chop off the
youth's hand upon a block used for cutting meat upon, and then said to
him, "Go to thy father, and tell him that sword wounds are cured with
iron and not with words."
The unfeeling barbarity of this act so greatly exasperated Gulielmo
that he ordered his people to take arms for his revenge. Bertacca
prepared for his defense, and not only that family, but the whole city
of Pistoia, became divided. And as the Cancellieri were descended from
a Cancelliere who had had two wives, of whom one was called Bianca
(white), one party was named by those who were descended from her
BIANCA; and the other, by way of greater distinction, was called NERA
(black). Much and long-continued strife took place between the two,
attended with the death of many men and the destruction of much
property; and not being able to effect a union among themselves, but
weary of the evil, and anxious either to bring it to an end, or, by
engaging others in their quarrel, increase it, they came to Florence,
where the Neri, on account of their familiarity with the Donati, were
favored by Corso, the head of that family; and on this account the
Bianchi, that they might have a powerful head to defend them against
the Donati, had recourse to Veri de Cerchi, a man in no respect
inferior to Corso.
This quarrel, and the parties in it, brought from Pistoia, increased
the old animosity between the Cerchi and the Donati, and it was
already so manifest, that the Priors and all well-disposed men were in
hourly apprehension of its breaking out, and causing a division of the
whole city. They therefore applied to the pontiff, praying that he
would interpose his authority between these turbulent parties, and
provide the remedy which they found themselves unable to furnish. The
pope sent for Veri, and charged him to make peace with the Donati, at
which Veri exhibited great astonishment, saying that he had no enmity
against them, and that as pacification presupposes war, he did not
know, there being no war between them, how peacemaking could be
necessary. Veri having returned from Rome without anything being
effected, th
e rage of the parties increased to such a degree, that any
trivial accident seemed sufficient to make it burst forth, as indeed
presently happened.
It was in the month of May, during which, and upon holidays, it is the
custom of Florence to hold festivals and public rejoicings throughout
the city. Some youths of the Donati family, with their friends, upon
horseback, were standing near the church of the Holy Trinity to look
at a party of ladies who were dancing; thither also came some of the
Cerchi, like the Donati, accompanied with many of the nobility, and,
not knowing that the Donati were before them, pushed their horses and
jostled them; thereupon the Donati, thinking themselves insulted, drew
their swords, nor were the Cerchi at all backward to do the same, and
not till after the interchange of many wounds, they separated. This
disturbance was the beginning of great evils; for the whole city
became divided, the people as well as the nobility, and the parties
took the names of the Bianchi and the Neri. The Cerchi were at the
head of the Bianchi faction, to which adhered the Adimari, the Abati,
a part of the Tosinghi, of the Bardi, of the Rossi, of the
Frescobaldi, of the Nerli, and of the Manelli; all the Mozzi, the
Scali, Gherardini, Cavalcanti, Malespini, Bostichi, Giandonati,
Vecchietti, and Arrigucci. To these were joined many families of the
people, and all the Ghibellines then in Florence, so that their great
numbers gave them almost the entire government of the city.
The Donati, at the head of whom was Corso, joined the Nera party, to
which also adhered those members of the above-named families who did
not take part with the Bianchi; and besides these, the whole of the
Pazzi, the Bisdomini, Manieri, Bagnesi, Tornaquinci, Spini,
Buondelmonti, Gianfigliazzi, and the Brunelleschi. Nor did the evil
confine itself to the city alone, for the whole country was divided
upon it, so that the Captains of the Six Parts, and whoever were
attached to the Guelphic party or the well-being of the republic, were
very much afraid that this new division would occasion the destruction
of the city, and give new life to the Ghibelline faction. They,
therefore, sent again to Pope Boniface, desiring that, unless he
wished that city which had always been the shield of the church should
either be ruined or become Ghibelline, he would consider some means
for her relief. The pontiff thereupon sent to Florence, as his legate,
Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta, a Portuguese, who, finding the Bianchi,
as the most powerful, the least in fear, not quite submissive to him,
he interdicted the city, and left it in anger, so that greater
confusion now prevailed than had done previously to his coming.
The minds of men being in great excitement, it happened that at a
funeral which many of the Donati and the Cerchi attended, they first
came to words and then to arms, from which, however, nothing but
merely tumult resulted at the moment. However, having each retired to
their houses, the Cerchi determined to attack the Donati, but, by the
valor of Corso, they were repulsed and great numbers of them wounded.
The city was in arms. The laws and the Signory were set at nought by
the rage of the nobility, and the best and wisest citizens were full
of apprehension. The Donati and their followers, being the least
powerful, were in the greatest fear, and to provide for their safety
they called together Corso, the Captains of the Parts, and the other
leaders of the Neri, and resolved to apply to the pope to appoint some
personage of royal blood, that he might reform Florence; thinking by
this means to overcome the Bianchi. Their meeting and determination
became known to the Priors, and the adverse party represented it as a
conspiracy against the liberties of the republic. Both parties being
in arms, the Signory, one of whom at that time was the poet Dante,
took courage, and from his advice and prudence, caused the people to
History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy Page 10