houses from behind. This attack overcame the resolution of the Bardi,
and decided the day in favor of the people; for when those who
defended the barricades in the street learned that their houses were
being plundered, they left the principal fight and hastened to their
defense. This caused the Old Bridge to be lost; the Bardi fled in all
directions and were received into the houses of the Quaratesi,
Panzanesi, and Mozzi. The people, especially the lower classes, greedy
for spoil, sacked and destroyed their houses, and pulled down and
burned their towers and palaces with such outrageous fury, that the
most cruel enemy of the Florentine name would have been ashamed of
taking part in such wanton destruction.
The nobility being thus overcome, the people reformed the government;
and as they were of three kinds, the higher, the middle, and the lower
class, it was ordered that the first should appoint two signors; the
two latter three each, and that the Gonfalonier should be chosen
alternately from either party. Besides this, all the regulations for
the restraint of the nobility were renewed; and in order to weaken
them still more, many were reduced to the grade of the people. The
ruin of the nobility was so complete, and depressed them so much, that
they never afterward ventured to take arms for the recovery of their
power, but soon became humbled and abject in the extreme. And thus
Florence lost the generosity of her character and her distinction in
arms.
After these events the city remained in peace till the year 1353. In
the course of this period occurred the memorable plague, described
with so much eloquence by Giovanni Boccaccio, and by which Florence
lost 96,000 souls. In 1348, began the first war with the Visconti,
occasioned by the archbishop, then prince of Milan; and when this was
concluded, dissensions again arose in the city; for although the
nobility were destroyed, fortune did not fail to cause new divisions
and new troubles.
BOOK III
CHAPTER I
Reflections upon the domestic discords of republics--A parallel
between the discords of Rome and those of Florence--Enmities
between the families of the Ricci and the Albizzi--Uguccione de'
Ricci causes the laws against the Ghibellines to be renewed in
order to injure the Albizzi--Piero degli Albizzi derives advantage
from it--Origin of admonitions and the troubles which result from
them--Uguccione de' Ricci moderates their injustice--Difficulties
increase--A meeting of the citizens--They address the Signory--The
Signory attempt to remedy the evils.
Those serious, though natural enmities, which occur between the
popular classes and the nobility, arising from the desire of the
latter to command, and the disinclination of the former to obey, are
the causes of most of the troubles which take place in cities; and
from this diversity of purpose, all the other evils which disturb
republics derive their origin. This kept Rome disunited; and this, if
it be allowable to compare small things with great, held Florence in
disunion; although in each city it produced a different result; for
animosities were only beginning with the people and nobility of Rome
contended, while ours were brought to a conclusion by the contentions
of our citizens. A new law settled the disputes of Rome; those of
Florence were only terminated by the death and banishment of many of
her best people. Those of Rome increased her military virtue, while
that of Florence was quite extinguished by her divisions. The quarrels
of Rome established different ranks of society, those of Florence
abolished the distinctions which had previously existed. This
diversity of effects must have been occasioned by the different
purposes which the two people had in view. While the people of Rome
endeavored to associate with the nobility in the supreme honors, those
of Florence strove to exclude the nobility from all participation in
them: as the desire of the Roman people was more reasonable, no
particular offense was given to the nobility; they therefore consented
to it without having recourse to arms; so that, after some disputes
concerning particular points, both parties agreed to the enactment of
a law which, while it satisfied the people, preserved the nobility in
the enjoyment of their dignity.
On the other hand, the demands of the people of Florence being
insolent and unjust, the nobility, became desperate, prepared for
their defense with their utmost energy, and thus bloodshed and the
exile of citizens followed. The laws which were afterward made, did
not provide for the common good, but were framed wholly in favor of
the conquerors. This too, must be observed, that from the acquisition
of power, made by the people of Rome, their minds were very much
improved; for all the offices of state being attainable as well by the
people as the nobility, the peculiar excellencies of the latter
exercised a most beneficial influence upon the former; and as the city
increased in virtue she attained a more exalted greatness.
But in Florence, the people being conquerors, the nobility were
deprived of all participation in the government; and in order to
regain a portion of it, it became necessary for them not only to seem
like the people, but to be like them in behavior, mind, and mode of
living. Hence arose those changes in armorial bearings, and in the
titles of families, which the nobility adopted, in order that they
might seem to be of the people; military virtue and generosity of
feeling became extinguished in them; the people not possessing these
qualities, they could not appreciate them, and Florence became by
degrees more and more depressed and humiliated. The virtue of the
Roman nobility degenerating into pride, the citizens soon found that
the business of the state could not be carried on without a prince.
Florence had now come to such a point, that with a comprehensive mind
at the head of affairs she would easily have been made to take any
form that he might have been disposed to give her; as may be partly
observed by a perusal of the preceding book.
Having given an account of the origin of Florence, the commencement of
her liberty, with the causes of her divisions, and shown how the
factions of the nobility and the people ceased with the tyranny of the
duke of Athens, and the ruin of the former, we have now to speak of
the animosities between the citizens and the plebeians and the various
circumstances which they produced.
The nobility being overcome, and the war with the archbishop of Milan
concluded, there did not appear any cause of dissension in Florence.
But the evil fortune of the city, and the defective nature of her
laws, gave rise to enmities between the family of the Albizzi and that
of the Ricci, which divided her citizens as completely as those of the
Buondelmonti and the Uberti, or the Donati and the Cerchi had formerly
done. The pontiffs, who at this time resided in France, and the
emperors,
who abode in Germany, in order to maintain their influence
in Italy, sent among us multitudes of soldiers of many countries, as
English, Dutch, and Bretons. As these, upon the conclusion of a war,
were thrown out of pay, though still in the country, they, under the
standard of some soldier of fortune, plundered such people as were
least prepared to defend themselves. In the year 1353 one of these
companies came into Tuscany under the command of Monsignor Reale, of
Provence, and his approach terrified all the cities of Italy. The
Florentines not only provided themselves forces, but many citizens,
among whom were the Albizzi and the Ricci, armed themselves in their
own defense. These families were at the time full of hatred against
each other, and each thought to obtain the sovereignty of the republic
by overcoming his enemy. They had not yet proceeded to open violence,
but only contended in the magistracies and councils. The city being
all in arms, a quarrel arose in the Old Market place, and, as it
frequently happens in similar cases, a great number of people were
drawn together. The disturbance spreading, it was told the Ricci that
the Albizzi had assailed their partisans, and to the Albizzi that the
Ricci were in quest of them. Upon this the whole city arose, and it
was all the magistrates could do to restrain these families, and
prevent the actual occurrence of a disaster which, without being the
fault of either of them, had been willfully though falsely reported as
having already taken place. This apparently trifling circumstance
served to inflame the minds of the parties, and make each the more
resolved to increase the number of their followers. And as the
citizens, since the ruin of the nobility, were on such an equality
that the magistrates were more respected now than they had previously
been, they designed to proceed toward the suppression of this disorder
with civil authority alone.
We have before related, that after the victory of Charles I. the
government was formed of the Guelphic party, and that it thus acquired
great authority over the Ghibellines. But time, a variety of
circumstances, and new divisions had so contributed to sink this party
feeling into oblivion, that many of Ghibelline descent now filled the
highest offices. Observing this, Uguccione, the head of the family of
the Ricci, contrived that the law against the Ghibellines should be
again brought into operation; many imagining the Albizzi to be of that
faction, they having arisen in Arezzo, and come long ago to Florence.
Uguccione by this means hoped to deprive the Albizzi of participation
in the government, for all of Ghibelline blood who were found to hold
offices, would be condemned in the penalties which this law provided.
The design of Uguccione was discovered to Piero son of Filippo degli
Albizzi, and he resolved to favor it: for he saw that to oppose it
would at once declare him a Ghibelline; and thus the law which was
renewed by the ambition of the Ricci for his destruction, instead of
robbing Piero degli Albizzi of reputation, contributed to increase his
influence, although it laid the foundation of many evils. Nor is it
possible for a republic to enact a law more pernicious than one
relating to matters which have long transpired. Piero having favored
this law, which had been contrived by his enemies for his stumbling-
block, it became the stepping-stone to his greatness; for, making
himself the leader of this new order of things, his authority went on
increasing, and he was in greater favor with the Guelphs than any
other man.
As there could not be found a magistrate willing to search out who
were Ghibellines, and as this renewed enactment against them was
therefore of small value, it was provided that authority should be
given to the Capitani to find out who were of this faction; and,
having discovered, to signify and ADMONISH them that they were not to
take upon themselves any office of government; to which ADMONITIONS,
if they were disobedient, they became condemned in the penalties.
Hence, all those who in Florence are deprived of the power to hold
offices are called /ammoniti/, or ADMONISHED.
The Capitani in time acquiring greater audacity, admonished not only
those to whom the admonition was applicable, but any others at the
suggestion of their own avarice or ambition; and from 1356, when this
law was made, to 1366, there had been admonished above 200 citizens.
The Captains of the Parts and the sect of the Guelphs were thus become
powerful; for every one honored them for fear of being admonished; and
most particularly the leaders, who were Piero degli Albizzi, Lapo da
Castiglionchio, and Carlo Strozzi. This insolent mode of proceeding
was offensive to many; but none felt so particularly injured with it
as the Ricci; for they knew themselves to have occasioned it, they saw
it involved the ruin of the republic, and their enemies, the Albizzi,
contrary to their intention, became great in consequence.
On this account Uguccione de' Ricci, being one of the Signory,
resolved to put an end to the evil which he and his friends had
originated, and with a new law provided that to the six Captains of
Parts an additional three should be appointed, of whom two should be
chosen from the companies of minor artificers, and that before any
party could be declared Ghibelline, the declaration of the Capitani
must be confirmed by twenty-four Guelphic citizens, appointed for the
purpose. This provision tempered for a time the power of the Capitani,
so that the admonitions were greatly diminished, if not wholly laid
aside. Still the parties of the Albizzi and the Ricci were continually
on the alert to oppose each other's laws, deliberations, and
enterprises, not from a conviction of their inexpediency, but from a
hatred of their promoters.
In such distractions the time passed from 1366 to 1371, when the
Guelphs again regained the ascendant. There was in the family of the
Buondelmonti a gentleman named Benchi, who, as an acknowledgment of
his merit in a war against the Pisans, though one of the nobility, had
been admitted among the people, and thus became eligible to office
among the Signory; but when about to take his seat with them, a law
was made that no nobleman who had become of the popular class should
be allowed to assume that office. This gave great offense to Benchi,
who, in union with Piero degli Albizzi, determined to depress the less
powerful of the popular party with ADMONITIONS, and obtain the
government for themselves. By the interest which Benchi possessed with
the ancient nobility, and that of Piero with most of the influential
citizens, the Guelphic party resumed their ascendancy, and by new
reforms among the PARTS, so remodeled the administration as to be able
to dispose of the offices of the captains and the twenty-four citizens
at pleasure. They then returned to the ADMONITIONS with greater
audacity than ever, and the house of the Albizzi became powerful as
the head of this faction.<
br />
On the other hand, the Ricci made the most strenuous exertions against
their designs; so that anxiety universally prevailed, and ruin was
apprehended alike from both parties. In consequence of this a great
number of citizens, out of love to their country, assembled in the
church of St. Piero Scarraggio, and after a long consideration of the
existing disorders, presented themselves before the Signors, whom one
of the principal among them addressed in the following terms:--
"Many of us, magnificent Signors! were afraid of meeting even for
consideration of public business, without being publicly called
together, lest we should be noted as presumptuous or condemned as
ambitious. But seeing that so many citizens daily assemble in the
lodges and halls of the palace, not for any public utility, but only
for the gratification of their own ambition, we have thought that as
those who assemble for the ruin of the republic are fearless, so still
less ought they to be apprehensive who meet together only for its
advantage; nor ought we to be anxious respecting the opinion they may
form of our assembling, since they are so utterly indifferent to the
opinion of others. Our affection for our country, magnificent Signors!
caused us to assemble first, and now brings us before you, to speak of
grievances already great and daily increasing in our republic, and to
offer our assistance for their removal: and we doubt not that, though
a difficult undertaking, it will still be attended with success, if
you will lay aside all private regards, and authoritatively use the
public force.
"The common corruption of all the cities of Italy, magnificent
Signors! has infested and still vitiates your own; for when this
province had shaken off the imperial yoke, her cities not being
subject to any powerful influence that might restrain them,
administered affairs, not as free men do, but as a factious populace;
and hence have arisen all the other evils and disorders that have
appeared. In the first place, there cannot be found among the citizens
either unity or friendship, except with those whose common guilt,
either against their country or against private individuals, is a bond
of union. And as the knowledge of religion and the fear of God seem to
be alike extinct, oaths and promises have lost their validity, and are
kept as long as it is found expedient; they are adopted only as a
means of deception, and he is most applauded and respected whose
cunning is most efficient and secure. On this account bad men are
received with the approbation due to virtue, and good ones are
regarded only in the light of fools.
"And certainly in the cities of Italy all that is corruptible and
corrupting is assembled. The young are idle, the old lascivious, and
each sex and every age abounds with debasing habits, which the good
laws, by misapplication, have lost the power to correct. Hence arises
the avarice so observable among the citizens, and that greediness, not
for true glory, but for unworthy honors; from which follow hatred,
animosities, quarrels, and factions; resulting in deaths, banishments,
affliction to all good men, and the advancement of the most
unprincipled; for the good, confiding in their innocence, seek neither
safety nor advancement by illegal methods as the wicked do, and thus
unhonored and undefended they sink into oblivion.
"From proceedings such as these, arise at once the attachment for and
influence of parties; bad men follow them through ambition and
avarice, and necessity compels the good to pursue the same course. And
most lamentable is it to observe how the leaders and movers of parties
sanctify their base designs with words that are all piety and virtue;
they have the name of liberty constantly in their mouths, though their
actions prove them her greatest enemies. The reward which they desire
from victory is not the glory of having given liberty to the city, but
History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy Page 16