BOOK THE FIRST.
CHAPTER
XVI.
1317
- 1326
Uguccione’s
expulsion dissipated the apprehensions of Florence and a general peace which
was ratified in April, secured all those commercial advantages in the port of
Pisa that she had been accustomed to enjoy: the citizens were in general
against a peace yet as anxious to benefit by it as the Pisans were unwilling to
favour them, so that the admission of that article which insured free trade to
Florence was only acquired by a stratagem.
The state of
Tuscany left Robert free to strengthen his influence throughout Italy; Germany
gave him no uneasiness, for Louis of Bavaria and Frederic of Austria, both
elected in 1314, were yet struggling for the empire. Clement V died about the
same time, and had just been replaced, after two years’ vacancy, by Pope John
XXII the son of a cobbler, and entirely devoted to Robert. Genoa was distracted
by faction but the Guelphs were paramount; the families of Doria and Spinola
had retired from the town in alarm and left the Fieschi and Grimaldi in full
possession of it; the former, enemies in prosperity, were reconciled in
misfortune; they assembled troops, were promised succours from the Lombard
Ghibelines and resolved to besiege their native city. Robert who had been
maintaining an unsuccessful war for three years in Lombardy intending if
possible to crush the Ghibelines, became anxious for the fate of Genoa and
determined to defend it in person: he was a potent monarch but had to do with
rich and powerful adversaries; Cane della Scala of Verona, Matteo Visconte of
Milan, Castruccio Castracani of Lucca, Passerino Bonacossi of Mantua, and
Frederic of Montefeltro Lord of Urbino worked well together, all uniting to
check his ambition and preserve their own independence.
Tho war with
Sicily was still continued in a succession of sudden descents and all that
sweeping devastation which marked the character of the age. Ferrara had
revolted from the pope and King Robert and restored the house of Este, while
Florence, relieved from the tyranny of Lando d’ Agubbio and the fear of
Uguccione, beheld the unusual spectacle of a revolution in its government
unaccompanied by death, exile, or confiscation.
This gentle
transition was owing to the sober management of Count Guido di Battifolle a
wise and moderate man who armed with vicarial authority, his personal
influence, and high in public esteem, maintained the general tranquillity. He
was intrusted by the commonwealth with unlimited power to enlist any number of
foreign mercenaries, except Aragonese and Catalans, that he might deem
expedient, even though he were opposed by the twelve captains of the republic
who acted in military affairs with considerable authority. The same influence
proved also very effective at the beginning of this year in seeming a seignory
entirely devoted to the king’s party, and amongst them we see for the first
time as a public man, the name of Giovanni Villani, whose chronicles says
Ammirato: “After remaining in obscurity for two hundred years, never having
previously been brought to the light of men, but finally published in the last
years of our fathers, show how great is the obligation we owe to such writers;
he having given to us clear and distinct notice of many remarkable things which
occurred in his time not only at Florence but throughout the world; besides
leaving us an image of the purity of Florentine language, which having suffered
continual corruption in the mouth of man, he chastely and religiously preserves
together with the truth of history in his volumes”.
Nor did Count
Guido’s benign influence rest here; almost a Florentine himself he was well
acquainted with every peccant humour of the state both public and private, was
familiar with their original causes and became anxious to unite the citizens by
private and individual pacification. This was no easy task and yet the most
important benefit that could be conferred on the community; as from the time of
Buondelmonti almost every public dissension had hitherto sprung from private
discord, and there were then no less than fifty of the principal families at
deadly war with each other, all of whom he reconciled : the result was public
peace and union in the town in stead of that continual change from war to
internal anarchy, and again from domestic turbulence to external war, which had
hitherto marked in bloody characters the Florentine history.
This unusual
quiet encouraged domestic improvements, enabled government to call in all the
base money of Lando d’ Agubbio, and issue a new silver coinage under the
popular denomination of “Guelphs” valued at thirty denari each: several public works were likewise commenced; many places which had
suffered in the war were relieved from taxation; the Brescians were assisted
with money against Cane della Scala who was pressing them closely; and Robert
of Naples, again a favourite at Florence through his vicar's popularity, was
liberally supplied with funds for his Sicilian wars.
An alteration
in the manner of arming the troops also took place at this time in consequence
of an unusual slaughter of the men-at-arms whose armour was found to be unfit
for resisting the Pisan cross-bows at the battle of M. Catini: thenceforward
every horseman was commanded to have a visored helmet, with back, breastplate,
and bracelets, all of iron.
Count Guido’s
year of office having expired and with it the period of Robert’s power in
Florence, his authority was renewed for three years with little opposition; but
stipulating that a vicar should be sent every six months by the king, in
default of which the citizens were to appoint one themselves, and that he was not
to meddle with any public officer except for the latter’s protection: under
these conditions the Count of Caserta was appointed to succeed Guido di
Battifolle in spite of the opposition of two recusant friars, who however could
not prevent this decree from passing through all the councils.
King Robert’s
anxiety for the fate of Genoa, which was invested on the twenty-fifth of March
by the Ghibelines of Lombardy has already been noticed; it was the keystone of
his power, the connecting link between his French and Italian states, and
therefore of the last importance that the Guelphic faction should govern there:
but for this purpose the expulsion of the potent houses of Doria and Spinola
became necessary because they were from the beginning opposed to Ins family,
and in Sicily bad always befriended the rival family of Aragon. He had long
been endeavouring to accomplish his objects and therefore when intelligence
reached Naples that Marco Visconti chief of the united armies of Lombardy and
the exiles, had actually begun the siege, be hurried on his preparations for
its defence: leaving Naples therefore on the tenth of July he landed at Genoa
on the twenty-first with provisions, stores, a fleet of nearly a hundred sail
of various descriptions, twelve hundred men-at-arms, and a very numerous infantry:
the city was sorely pressed, but this reinforcement infused new vigour into the
besieged without compelling the enemy to slacken his exertions so that the
operations continued with un abated energy for six months longer.
There was an
appearance of free and chivalrous generosity in Robert’s unsolicited aid which
so pleased the citizens that they instantly conferred on him and the pope
conjointly the supreme power for ten years, and this was precisely what the
king required, for he hoped ere long with the resources of such a state to
reconquer Sicily and overcome all his enemies. The renowned and magnificent
Genoa assailed by all the power of Lombardy and defended by a king in person
accompanied by his queen and two of his brothers, princes of Taranto and the
Morea, was an event too conspicuous not to rekindle the spirit of faction and
chivalry throughout the Italian peninsula. Guelphs and Ghibelines therefore
hurried to the war; the Marquis of Montferrat and Castruccio Castracani served
in person, while the Pisans, Frederic of Sicily, and even the emperor of
Constantinople sent their contingents to the Ghibeline camp; the Florentines
were foremost in the cause of Robert, who also drew succours from Bologna and
all the Guelphic powers of Romagna, so that his men-at-arms alone amounted to
two thousand five hundred, with a vast body of infantry, while the Ghibelines
mustered in all but fifteen hundred horse; as many probably ns could act
effectively amongst the rugged hills of Genoa. The besiegers were active on
every Bide, sallies were frequent, mines excavated, towers overthrown, whole
ramparts shattered, bold assaults attempted and repelled, and every stratagem
of war, every engine of destruction, every daring act that the spirit and
knowledge of the age could suggest was adopted for the attack and defence of
Genoa. Neither party gained a step, the besieged held their ground, the
besiegers continued their efforts, and fighting occupied both armies
incessantly until the fifth of February 1319.
Robert then
detached nearly sixteen thousand men of all arms to make a descent on Sestre-di-ponente and cut off the exiles’ communication
with their magazines at Savona while he with a large body of troops should
simultaneously dislodge the enemy from the heights of Saint Bernard immediately
above the town. Both were successful. After three destructive repulses, Sestre was carried, the Milanese troops dispersed with
great slaughter; Saint Bernard’s heights retaken and then fresh quarrels
breaking out between the Doria and Spinola families, Marco Visconti determined
to raise the siege and retire into Lombardy.
Robert the
Good; as he is sometimes called; in order to commit the Guelphs and strengthen
his own influence encouraged them to abuse their victory by a wholesale
destruction of the villas and splendid palaces of the Ghibelines; the valleys
of Bisagno and Polsevera were devastated with all their country houses and luxurious gardens, and
afterwards the king, clergy, and citizens went in solemn state preceded by the
relics of Saint John the Baptist to thank the God of peace for having permitted
them to commit so much crime with impunity.
Robert soon
after withdrew a part of his forces and repaired to Avignon, but the Ghibeline
army quickly reassembled, again invested the city, reoccupied the suburbs, and
continued the siege for four years while the whole Genoese territory was
similarly vexed with war. It was however secondary to that in Lombardy where
the great Ghibeline chiefs acted in person under the command of Cane della
Scala and old Maffeo Visconti. Ferrara as already noticed had revolted,
restored the house of Este, and joined the Ghibeline league; Padua was besieged
by Cane della Scala, the whole Ghibeline faction was excommunicated by the
cardinal of Saint Marcel, and Lombardy in a general state of hostilities.
All Italy at
this period was divided into Guelph and Ghibeline that is to say the parties
of the pope and emperor; but in reality these denominations were retained and
these princes courted because their power or sanction was indispensable to the
success of a faction. The Guelphic states were Naples, the Holy See and
Florence; the Ghibeline states consisted of the Milanese and the greater part
of Lombardy, but many other cities in Lombardy Tuscany and Romagna held to the
one or the other party according to the faction actually predominant. Each
however had its “Fuorusciti” or exiles, composed of
the weaker side, who driven from their homes sought refuge in those cities
where their faction happened to be in power and demanded aid for their own
restoration. Either from pity or policy or the more grateful indulgence of party
spirit; it was seldom refused; it was the cause of nearly all the Florentine
ware in Tuscany and kindled the flame that afterwards scorched her so severely
in Lombardy. The Florentines were also in the habit of considering the latter
province as their outwork against the emperors, whose presence in Italy always
filled them with alarm: these princes having to pass through Lombardy on their
way to Rome for their coronation, and being generally ill supplied with money,
it became an object of state policy at Florence to give them so much trouble
there as to insure their arrival in Tuscany somewhat weak and exhausted. The
same fears and wishes directed the policy of Rome and Naples and drew both those
states into a close and permanent union with Florence; the second was further
moved by the hereditary ill-will that still existed between the house of Anjou
and the German emperors since the death of Manfred and Conradine, and from
which much evil was anticipated at each successive coronation. The Ghibelines
on the contrary strained every nerve to weaken their opponents and confirm
their own title to possessions that they for the most part held under the
empire and which it was consequently their interest to support; but without any
more real attachment than their antagonists who worked so hard to prevent any
German prince from endangering their independence by acquiring power in Italy:
self-preservation was the aim of both.
For these
reasons the Florentines availed themselves of the tranquil state of Tuscany and
their own domestic peace to assist king Robert and the Lombard Guelphs of
Cremona and Brescia with a thousand men-at-arms of the Guelphic league, three
hundred of whom were Florentines; by their aid Cremona was recovered from Cane
della Scala and the Guelphs reinstated there. Upon this Maffeo Visconti
determined on finding them enough work in Tuscany to prevent their meddling in
more northern wars Jind for this purpose selected an admirable coadjutor in
Castruccio Castracani, who, besides a great reputation, had during four years
of peace managed to confirm his own power in Lucca, amass considerable
treasure, and form an army of experienced soldiers ready and able for any
enterprise, lie therefore informed Castruccio that Florence in concert with the
pope and the king of Naples had invited Philip of Valois into Lombardy as
imperial vicar with a strong body of troops to act against the Ghibelines, but
more especially against himself as excommunicate for the assistance he was
giving to the Genoese exiles. Matteo also took care to impress on Castruccio’s
mind the certainty of his own ruin, lord only of the single city of Lucca, if
he, Visconti, the master of Milan, of Pavia of Piacenza, Lodi, Como, Bergamo,
Novara, Vercelle, Tortona and Alexandria; followed
also by the most powerful chieftains of Lombardy, were once compelled to yield.
This reasoning
was scarcely necessary to convince Castruccio whose clear vision and sound
judgment were conspicuous in everything, especially in what administered to
personal ambition and the general policy of his party. Almost all Lombardy had
fallen under the sway of Ghibeline tyrants; the once free cities of Romagna
were equally fettered; Rimini bowed to the Malatesti; Forli to the Ordilaffi;
the Manfredi ruled Faenza, and Guido di Pollenta the father of Dante’s Francisca,
was paramount in Ravenna. Arezzo was directed by her aspiring bishop of the
Tarlati race, and Pisa although now uncontrolled was still thoroughly
Ghibeline: the general character of this faction was therefore essentially
aristocratic and monarchical; that of the Guelphs absolutely republican, and
identified with political liberty as liberty was then understood. Florence,
Siena, Perugia and Bologna were closely united to uphold their free Guelphic
institutions, while Prato, Pistoia, Volterra and other smaller states, which
though nominally independent were really controlled by Florence, attached
themselves to the same party. Castruccio Castracani the scion of a Ghibeline
stock was devoted to the Ghibeline cause: for four years successively he had
been freely elected to command the Lucchese with almost sovereign power: he
knew men and how to govern them; knew what enmities to despise or punish and
what friendships to win and retain. As a daring soldier and skilful general he
was beloved by the troops, for he was not blind to merit and knew how to reward
it, but cared little about the morality of his followers if they only did their
duty and quietly submitted to the rigid discipline that he established and
enforced. No man was more beloved by the people or more generally popular with
every class of citizen; they admired his talents and were proud of his fame. In
1320 he felt so confident of his position in the public mind that he ventured
to expel the Avocati, who with about one hundred and eighty great Guelphic
families now bid adieu to their country, and then boldly demanded the supreme
authority: out of two hundred and ten senators there was but one voice against
him, and the people unanimously confirmed this election. He was therefore a
legitimate ruler. His economical management of the public revenue was exemplary
and productive; he had amassed great treasure, and his system of military
honours and rewards heightened and improved the warlike spirit of the people
until it had acquired a more professional character. All the neighbouring
predacious chiefs wore allured to his standard by the hope of future conquest,
and rough and unscrupulous as they were he made them all bend to his
discipline.
Thus prepared
on every hand to begin that career of ambition to which he felt himself more
than equal, Matteo Visconti’s proposal was warmly received, and Philip of
Valois’ expedition with the ready assistance of the Guelphic league were
together considered an infringement of the general peace, or at least a
sufficient excuse for retaliation on the part of the Ghibelines.
Uguccione della
Faggiola was dead, a circumstance that lightened the anxiety of both Castruccio
and the Florentines, particularly the latter whose dread of this veteran chief,
blinding them as it did to the dangerous ambition of his successor, had never ceased
since the disaster of Montecatini.
Such was the
state of affairs in April 1320, when Castruccio Castracani with some Pisan
auxiliaries suddenly occupying Cappiano, Monte Falcone, and the bridges of the
Gusciano, broke into the Florentine territory carrying death and devastation as
far as Cerreto Guidi, Vinci, and Empoli; then getting possession of Santa
Maria-a-Monte by treachery, returned in triumph to Lucca. Afterwards invading
Lunigiana and Garfagnana he dispossessed Ispinetto Malespina of several places
necessary for his own military operations and then marched with all his force
to aid the siege of Genoa. This city still maintained a fierce and bloody
struggle with its own exiles and the Lombard Ghibelines; war raged not only
round the walls but throughout the whole “Riviera” or coast distinct; it
extended to Sicily and Naples and involved even more distant countries in its
action, so that the siege of Troy itself, as Villani asserts, was hardly equal
to it for heroic deeds, marvellous exploits, and hard-fought battles by land
and water, without any cessation either in summer or winter.
The Florentines
determined to prevent a junction that would probably have settled the fate of
Genoa, therefore made a powerful diversion in the Lucchese states which
compelled Castruccio to return ere he had joined the besiegers : avoiding an
action they retreated to the frontier at Fucecchio while the enemy halted in
front of Cappiano, both armies remaining nearly inactive until the advancing
season drove them into winter quarters.
To make amends
for this inglorious campaign more vigorous measures were pursued and an
alliance concluded with the Marquis Spinetto Malespina, who although a Ghibeline had been too much injured by Castruccio on
account of his friendship for Uguccione not to seize the first opportunity of
revenge. Florentine troops were despatched to his aid, yet Castruccio was not
apprehensive of anything in that quarter, but prepared with the help of a
powerful body of Lombard Ghibelines for a more serious struggle on the side of Florence
and soon marched to raise the siege of Monte Vettolini at the head of sixteen hundred men-at-arms. The Florentines, having only half
that number, immediately retired and allowed him to devastate their territory
with impunity for the last twenty days of June, after which he retired to
chastise the Malespini in Lunigiana.
Discontent ran
high in Florence and the retiring seignory were much censured for their feeble
conduct; the Agubbio faction was still powerful, and probably the inconvenience
of a fluctuating administration was beginning to be felt, as the foreign
affairs with a more complex character embraced a wider circle: to remedy this
twelve counsellors, two for each sesto under
the denomination of “Buonomini” were added to the new
seignory but to continue six months in office instead of two, and without whose
sanction nothing important could be undertaken. To check also the increasing
intimacy, and consequent favouritism between citizens and foreign officers of
state which led to great abuse, it was decreed that no stranger who brought a
kinsman in his suite could have a place in the commonwealth and that until ten
years from his resignation of office he could not be re-elected. Some taxes
were then reduced, the gold and silver currency reformed and preparations made
for a fresh campaign: Azzo of Brescia was appointed captaingeneral;
a hundred and sixteen knights and one hundred and sixty mounted cross-bowmen
were enlisted and under the command of Jacopo da Fontana soon checked
Castruccio’s incursions so as to protect the line of the Gusciana: but Philip
of Valois’ expedition had in the meanwhile failed, and in Lombardy the Tuscans
were defeated at Bardo in the Val-di-Taro, their captain the Marquis of
Cavalcabò was killed, Cremona recaptured, and Visconti everywhere victorious.
The lordship of
King Robert over Florence had now entirely ceased after more than eight years’
duration, again leaving free that community of determined republicans; but
which, determined as they were, had so long and often given themselves up to
the absolute control of a powerful monarch without any protection to freedom
beyond the simple promise of their chosen master. Such proceedings, and they
were not unusual in Florence, would argue the incompetency of any pure republic
to steer a steady course in perilous times and circumstances: Rome took refuge
in a dictator, Sparta had kings, Carthage fell almost as much by her own
dissensions as the Roman arms, and if Athens and other Grecian states held out
for a season, it was because all simultaneously revelled in that tumultuous
licence miscalled liberty, a mere multiplication of tyrants, or the liberty of
choosing who should be so; but where the weak had no protection and the strong
were without control; where the poor man had no voice in the commonwealth beyond
the unwholesome shout of the forum which usually condemned honest men at the
bidding of scoundrels.
Florence
partook somewhat of this character, and if the Kings of Naples, wiser than he
of the fable, made no attempt upon public liberty, it was because of her golden
eggs; because they already governed despotically; and because in the then
fretful state of Italy the loss of such an adherent would have outbalanced all
the advantages of a forced and uneasy sovereignty: the spirit too of these
republicans was then soaring at its height, and their so-called freedom had
become a national jewel; they were willing to give themselves away under the
pressure of circumstances but were not then to be easily taken either by force
or cunning.
One of the most
interesting events of this year was the death of Dante. “In the month of July
1321,” says Villani with less than his usual brevity; “died the Poet Dante
Alighieri of Florence, in the city of Ravenna in Romagna after his return from
an embassy to Venice for the Lords of Polenta with whom he resided; and in
Ravenna before the door of the principal church he was interred with high
honour, in the habit of a poet and great philosopher. He died in banishment
from the community of Florence at the age of about fifty-six. This Dante was an
honourable and ancient citizen of Porta San Piero at Florence and our
neighbour; and his exile from Florence was on the occasion of Charles of Valois
of the house of France coming to Florence in 1301 and the expulsion of the
White party as has already in its place been mentioned. The said Dante was of
the supreme governors of our city and of that party although a Guelph; and
therefore without any other crime was with the said White party expelled and
banished from Florence; and he went to the University of Bologna and into many
parts of the world. This was a great and learned person in almost every science
although a layman; he was a consummate poet and philosopher and rhetorician; as
perfect in prose and verse as he was in public speaking a most noble orator; in
rhyming excellent, with the most polished and beautiful style that ever
appeared in our language up to his time or since. He wrote in his youth the
book of The Early Life of Love, and afterwards when in exile made twenty
moral and amorous canzonets very excellent, and amongst other things three
noble epistles: one he sent to the Florentine government complaining of his
undeserved exile; another to the Emperor Henry when he was at the siege of
Brescia, reprehending him for his delay and almost prophesying; the third to
the Italian cardinals during the vacancy after the death of Pope Clement,
urging them to agree in electing an Italian Pope; all in Latin with noble
precepts and excellent sentences and authorities, which were much commended by
the wise and learned. And he wrote the Commedia where in polished verse
and with great and subtle arguments, moral, natural, astrological,
philosophical and theological, with new and beautiful figures, similes, and
poetical graces, he composed and treated in a hundred chapters or cantos,
of the existence of hell, purgatory, and paradise; so loftily as may be said of
it, that whoever is of subtle intellect may by his said treatise perceive and
under stand. He was well pleased in this poem to blame and cry out in the
manner of poets, in some places perhaps more than he ought to have done; but it
may be that his exile made him do so. He also wrote the Monarchia where he treats of the office of popes and emperors. And he began a comment on
fourteen of the above named moral canzonets in the vulgar tongue which in
consequence of his death is found imperfect except on three, which to judge
from what is seen would have proved a lofty beautiful subtle and most important
work; because it is equally ornamented with noble opinions and fine
philosophical and astrological reasoning. Besides these he composed a little
book which he entitled ‘De Vulgari Eloquentia’ of
which he promised to make four books, but only two are to be found perhaps in
consequence of his early death; where in powerful and elegant Latin and good
reasoning he rejects all the vulgar tongues of Italy. This Dante, from his knowledge,
was somewhat presumptuous, harsh, and disdainful, like an ungracious
philosopher; he scarcely deigned to converse with laymen; but for his other
virtues, science, and worth as a citizen it seems but reasonable to give him
perpetual remembrance in this our chronicle; nevertheless his noble works left
to us in writing bear true testimony of him and honourable fame to our city.
The Florentines
being now independent of foreign control, instead of a royal vicar elected
their Podestà and Captain of the People as formerly all being well pleased,
except perhaps the nobles, to be relieved from the enormous pressure of expense
and subjection to one master, which was felt by every rank.
The defences of
Florence were still unfinished although so many years had elapsed since the
outer circuit of walls had been first begun: at the period of Henry the Seventh’s
invasion the ramparts were only completed from the river to the gate of “Ognissanti” now the “Porta Prato” although
the foundation of the whole line to “Porta San Gallo” was laid;
nevertheless a greater part of both circuits of the ancient ramparts had been
sold to the citizens and destroyed, the space being occupied by new buildings.
Terror of the emperor caused those already founded to be raised about fifteen
feet high and every other part was ditched and palisaded; the first were
completed in Lando d’Agubbio’s time but the whole
palisaded line from Porta San Gallo to that of Saint Ambrogio, now Santa Croce,
was still unfinished.
One of the
first public measures in 1321 therefore was to complete the whole circuit and
strengthen it by flanking towers fifty-five feet high at regular intervals of
more than a hundred and eighty feet apart: a work that was doubtless
accelerated by their apprehension of Castruccio which had now taken a more
alarming character from some recent proceedings at Pistoia.
This ever-vexed
city harassed by external war and inward troubles finally elected the Abate da Pacciana de’ Tedici, a tool of Castruccio, as their ruler;
he was a weak intriguing man, who catching at a popular opinion was suddenly
floated into power by the stormy multitude without ballast enough to steady
him. Castruccio made good use of him, and a truce was suddenly concluded with
that leader against all the influence of Florence, by which according to Villani,
(though unnoticed by the anonymous author of the “Istorie Pistolese”) an annual tribute of three thousand
florins was to be paid by Pistoia. The dread of Castruccio was rapidly and
generally spreading; Siena became alarmed at the movement of a small detachment
he had sent towards Arezzo and demanded aid of Florence; and Colle after
repelling an attack of its own exiles, drew closer to the republic. On the
other hand Guido de’ Tarlati Bishop of Arezzo assisted by Lucca and Pisa
devastated the lands and destroyed the towns of the Guidi of Battifolli and other friends of the league. Pisa was full
of tumult revolution and blood until Coscetto da
Colle, once the patriot who had expelled Uguccione, fell in his turn and Nieri
or Mieri della Gerardescha gained the ascendant.
These accidents
along with the fall of Frederic of Montefeltro, about this period put to death
by the people of Urbino, exhibited the unstable condition of republican lords,
based on the evanescent passions of the multitude, and did not fail to awaken
the fern’s of Castruccio who determined to take precautions against similar
accidents in his own history, therefore constructed a vast fortress called “L'Augusta” which flanked with twenty-nine massive
towers occupied one-fifth part of the whole city of Lucca serving at once as a
palace a prison and a citadel. Already possessed of the castle and mountain
pass of Serravalle near Pistoia he soon stretched his spear over all the
highlands while his Pisan allies broke faith with Florence by imposing duties
on her commerce and treating every remonstrance with contempt.
Thus worried on
every side yet elated by the recent death of old Maffeo Visconti one of the
ablest of the Ghibeline leaders, the Florentines sent a strong detachment of
troops into Lombardy on condition that in the following summer the Genoese and
other Guelphic powers were to attack Lucca on every side and annihilate the
rising power of Castruccio. Scarcely had an army been assembled for this
purpose, when intelligence arrived that their principal condottiere, Jacopo di Fontanabuona, had passed over with all his following to the
enemy: he had been commissioned to make himself master of Buggiano and other places by treachery but failed, and soon after joined Castruccio with
two hundred men-at-arms.
This officer
who had hitherto served well and faithfully, was disgusted by a diminution of
pay; by the separation of his corps into detachments under other colours, and
by the prospect of being himself soon made subservient to another leader,
wherefore he was the first to lead the way in that course of treachery that
subsequently marked the character of Italian wars while the safety of Italian
states was intrusted to the selfish spirit of these mercenaries. They were in
fact the only regular troops of the time, were eternally at war therefore
always embodied disciplined and experienced in all the military skill and
science of the age, while the old unpaid civic bands had already hung up their
arms for great emergencies and began to dwindle into a mere militia without
self-confidence. This defection agitated all Florence, not so much from the
physical loss as the moral effect and a consequent distrust in the remainder of
their army; the expedition to Lucca was therefore abandoned, and it seems
probable that a sudden and apparently uncalled-for dismission of the
confederate forces which Villani places in the previous August might have
occurred at this period.
Castruccio with
this reinforcement and the possession of his enemy’s secrets crossed the
Gusciano on the thirteenth of June, attacked Fucecchio and other places,
ravaged the surrounding country, then passed the Arno, devastated the territory
of San Miniato and Montepopoli with all the Vale of
Elsa and inarched quietly back to Lucca. On the first of July he suddenly
reappeared in front of Prato only ten miles from the capital with six hundred
men-at-arms and four thousand infantry; the citizens sent in terror to Florence
for help, but paralysed by Fontanabuona’s treachery
she was nearly destitute of regular troops. The citizens however had not quite
forgotten the use of arms and their spirit was still high: the shops were
immediately closed, a candle was placed at the Prato gate, and every individual
liable to serve summoned to the ranks ere it burned out, under the penalty of
losing a limb; a proclamation being simultaneously issued to announce that all
exiles who instantly joined the army would be pardoned and restored to their
country. By these prompt measures 2,500 men-at-arms and 20,000 infantry were in
the field round Prato on the second of July only one day after Castruccio’s
appearance, 4,000 of whom were exiles! Castruccio’s rash advance with so small
a force might have ended disastrously if the Florentines had been well commanded;
but he retired in the night and made an unmolested retreat to Serravalle, the
discord in the Florentine camp an offset from civil dissension having saved
him. The nobles, who formed the cavalry and ever took the lead in war, vexed by
the ordinances of justice, which probably had been somewhat relaxed by the
Neapolitan viceroys, disdained even to conquer under a democratic government:
the law which made one of a family answerable for another’s crimes was what
especially annoyed them, and they now indulged their ill-humour in ridiculing
the fiery courage of these citizen-soldiers who were so clamorous for battle,
exposed their want of knowledge and discipline, and predicted confusion and
defeat the moment they took the field against a regular army. But the citizens’
spirit was good and neither reason nor ridicule could damp their pugnacity or
persuade them they were not invincible: they would fight: reference was made to
Florence and in a moment the whole city was similarly inflamed; shouts of
“Battle” “Battle” “Let the traitors die” were echoed oil every side and
vehement in proportion to their distance from the danger; even the very
children caught the general cry and believing that they also had a voice in the
commonwealth advanced in threatening array and backed by an angry populace
demolished the windows of the public palace. Night closed in, the tumult
redoubled, the Seignory became alarmed, and orders were finally dispatched for
the advance of the army. The Count Beltram or Novello of Naples who commanded,
after two days’ delay, marched to Fucecchio with an army increased by
reinforcements from the Guelphic states, but disorganised by contention:
nothing was done; Castruccio was at Lucca; yet the nobles would not consent to
cross the Gusciana, but advised the exiles, who already suspected that faith
would not be kept with them, to march on Florence and endeavour to force an entrance.
This failed, and then government was unreasonably called upon to fulfil its
promise but refused. An order for the return of the troops was dispatched at
the exiles’ first appearance and the nobles exerted all their power to make the
Seignory receive the latter; but fearing a coalition between these malcontents
the priors remained firm.
Deputies from
the exiles were subsequently admitted, and being unable to succeed they in
conjunction with the nobles attempted to surprise Florence on the night of the
tenth of August by forcing the Fiesole gate; but the people were already on the
alert, though alarmed by their uncertainty about the mischief fermenting within
the walls. The plot failed; but so many of the nobles were implicated that it
was thought most prudent to hush everything up after Amerigo Donati, Teggia Frescobaldi, and Sotteringo Gherardini were fined and banished for a time by a kind of ostracism now for
the first time invented for the purpose of accusing and condemning the
aristocracy without fear of personal vengeance: so potent were the Florentine
nobles still! even when excluded from public authority, in despite of the
ordinances of justice and with the power of secret accusation! The delinquents
in this case were well known, but none dared even to name, much less accuse
them! Yet the Florentines believed themselves free because they could
tumultuously assemble in the market-place, storm the palace of government,
force the seignory to succumb to popular fury, and destroy the property while
they banished the persons of obnoxious citizens!
The method now
adopted and frequently practised, was for all members of the public councils to
write in sealed billets the names of those that each individual deemed most
guilty and these were afterwards opened by the captain of the people. Thus were
the above nobles secretly and safely accused; but it still required all the
persuasion of the Podestà to lead them quietly before the courts and with the
promise of their life induce them to confess even a knowledge of this design
while they denied any direct participation in it
Thus ended this
singular campaign in which the army scarcely saw an enemy but which brought
back danger and revolution to the state: the Florentines however now for the
first time discovered that the urban companies were not sufficiently officered
by one gonfalonier, wherefore three subalterns under the name of “Pennonieri” were added to each so that the whole force
became infinitely more flexible and divisible, and better adapted to real service.
The Città di
Castello a place of great importance to the Guelphs was at this time ruled by
Branca Guelfucci, but tired of his tyranny the people
demanded aid from Tarlatino Tarlati the Bishop of Arezzo’s brother who
accordingly expelled him; but suddenly turning on his Guelphic supplicants
drove four hundred of them in confusion from the town and reduced it to a pure
Ghibeline dependency. Such a catastrophe coupled with the Ghibelines’
increasing power filled the Guelphic league with so much alarm that its ambassadors
immediately assembled at Florence to consider their means of defence. The
situation of that republic was at this moment extremely perplexing; a powerful
and discontented nobility within, an able and determined enemy without; a
bitter faction of ill-used exiles watching every opening for revenge and
secretly corresponding with numerous adherents in the city; an undisciplined
but self-confident and presumptuous militia; suspected and doubtful retainers;
allies either by force or stratagem rapidly falling off; and finally, a
periodical excitement at every official change which kept the people in a state
of continual agitation.
Up to this
period each administration had been elected by its predecessor which being
composed of the priors just leaving office, the
twelve Buonomini, the sixteen gonfaloniers of
companies, and a certain number of citizens chosen for the occasion,
represented in a certain manner the whole nation, and as a high moral
responsibility rested with these in choosing their successors some pains were
taken to select men of known character and ability; but the frequent recurrence
of these elections agitated the community, and being combined at this
particular moment with the stormy aspect of public affairs generated a strong
desire for improvement. The seignory of July and August 1323 having gained
credit by detecting the late plot now ventured to propose an alteration in the
form of government and received full powers from the various councils to effect
it: their object was to avoid these frequent elections by at once choosing a
sufficient number of priors to supply the successive administrations for
forty-two months. Twenty-one sets of priors were thus elected with the
accustomed forms, all their names being inclosed in a
“Borsa” or purse, and the required number quietly drawn by lot every two months
but with a prohibition to serve again in the same office for the space of
twenty-four. Hence the only security for efficient magistrates was in the
original election. This was called the “Imborsazione”,
and subsequently “Squittino” or scrutiny; the rest
was chance; but as people are more heedless of future and distant events than
of those which bring immediate consequences, much less circumspection was now
used about real character, and those who sought public honours were more
careless of deserving them than when exposed directly and frequently to the
public eye. This scrutiny became in time a focus of political intrigue yet was
popular at the moment, not only in Florence but throughout Italy where it was
eagerly adopted, so generally felt was the inconvenience, or a desire for
tranquillity, besides awakening the ambition of a larger number of citizens.
Disturbances are the thorns of freedom and they were certainly blunted by this
change, but the flower was not unscathed; much of that lively interest and
jealousy of power that previously attended elections declined along with them
and a present convenience blinded many to the hidden defects of this system.
It even
appeared, says Sismondi, more democratic than the former; established a greater
equality amongst the candidates and called a superior number of citizens to
public honours. This last advantage was undoubtedly what seduced the people; it
soothed the secret jealousy of middling men who saw with vexation a limited
number of distinguished persons always appointed by the public voice. The Borse of the three supreme magistracies alone, must for forty-two months have
contained the names of six or seven hundred candidates; and all the others
having been, very soon after, submitted to the same procedure, there was at
last one hundred and thirty-six magistracies or different offices which were
provided for by lot. Thus but little choice remained: and every citizen had the
certainty of obtaining some place. The electors often admitted incapable men
who would never have been chosen if they had been at once obliged to commence
their official duties.
In the midst of
these reforms Castruccio, whose system was prompt decision, sudden execution,
and the gain of everything in every way, whether by treachery, stratagem, or
open war, recommenced his successful incursions but was generally too weak to
oppose the united strength of Florence : the moral effect of his character was
however very imposing in both states and nothing was too daring either for his
arms or conscience. His Ghibeline allies the Pisans were deeply engaged in war
with the king of Aragon for the defence of Sardinia, which offered him a
favourable occasion as he thought of becoming their master: the conspiracy was
however discovered; the conspirator Betto or
Benedetto Malepra de’ Lanfranchi with many others
lost his head; all friendship or alliance with Lucca was renounced by Pisa, and
ten thousand golden florins offered for the head of Castruccio. About two
months afterwards he suddenly left his capital at the head of a small
detachment on the nineteenth of December and by the treachery of an inhabitant
of Fucecchio was admitted at night into the town during a deluge of rain, which
at first concealed his aggression: the subsequent struggle was fierce and
bloody; a great part of the place was taken but alarm fires on the towers
brought strong reinforcements from the neighbouring garrisons: Castruccio held
on with desperate resolution against an overwhelming force of soldiers and
citizens until wounded fatigued and hopeless of success he sullenly retired
with the loss of banners and horses, but still unmolested : for the glory of
repulsing him was deemed sufficient, and the habitual dread of his prowess left
no appetite for a second encounter.
Nothing of
importance occurred between Castruccio and the Florentines in the following
year, for the former was busy with his intrigues against Pisa and Pistoia and
the latter employed reducing some petty chieftains in the Mugello but still
more seriously on the side of Arezzo where the bishop was rapidly gaining
ground against the Guelphs. Five hundred men-at-arms were engaged in France and
other preparations making for the day of battle which the Florentines foresaw
must come before Castruccio could be arrested in the rapid course of his
ambition: a new confederacy was therefore formed in March between Florence,
Bologna, Siena, Perugia, Orvieto and Agubbio; with other communities and
Guelphic lords, for the recovery of Citta di Castello which was to be effected
by a combined army of three thousand men-at-arms levied for three years, a
great part of which was maintained by the Florentines.
In Lombardy an
unsuccessful war was carried on against the Visconti by the papal Guelphs who
were several times defeated, and their commander Raimond of Cardona with Simonino della Torre a chief of sense and valour, were
finally taken by Galeazzo and Marco Visconti; but Simonino was afterwards drowned in the Adda to the great regret of his party. To balance
this, Spoleto surrendered after two years’ siege to the Perugians and Florentines, the Pisan fleet was defeated by Prince Alphonso of Aragon and
the authority of that republic soon after ceased altogether in Sardinia.
The two last
events gave little pleasure to the Florentines who saw nothing in the weakness
of Pisa but augmented strength for Castruccio and increasing danger to
themselves; neither was their dissatisfaction lessened by the conduct of Count
Novello, who at the moment when the friendship of Pistoia was of the last
importance to Florence suddenly seized on its dependent town of Carmignano in
consequence of an insult offered by the former to his royal master, and would
have reduced the citadel of Pistoia also if the seignory, unconscious of the
intrigues then in activity between Castruccio and the Tedici had not commanded
him to quit the place: his engagement soon after expired and he returned with
no great credit to Naples.
Meanwhile a
suspicion began to prevail in Florence that the original formation of the
“Borse” had not been honestly conducted and public jealousy was awakened, more
especially against the family of Bordoni who together with their friends and
consorts were known by the general name of Serraglini” and were said to have acquired an
undue influence in the government. This produced a reopening and reformation of
the Borse from which many names were cast forth and a number added sufficient
for six changes of priors which as yet was the only magistracy drawn by lot:
but this reform was almost immediately after deemed insufficient and
notwithstanding the recent tricks even at the very commencement of the system,
not only the seignory of six priors and the gonfalonier, the colleges of Good
Men and gonfaloniers of companies, but also the consuls of trades and
commanders of hired troops were made subject to the new law of election. This
calmed the fears of the citizens, and they were still further quieted by the appearance
of five hundred French cavalry, all nobles, with no less than sixty belted
knights amongst them who came by agreement to serve under the banners of
Florence.
The arrival of
this band of gentlemen, who with their squires alone could not have mustered
less than fifteen hundred horse, was what principally encouraged the
Florentines to recommence hostilities more vigorously in the following year:
Castruccio meanwhile had moved towards the Pistoian mountains and repairing the castle of Brandelli whence there was a view of both Pistoia and Florence, called it Bellosguardo and gazed with a longing eye on either city;
one was only his own in perspective, the other was almost in his grasp; and
Filippo Tedici who had driven his uncle from the government of Pistoia, and was
in treaty both with Castruccio and Florence, pretending the greatest alarm
demanded assistance of the latter with whose aid he hoped to better his bargain:
a body of troops was directly sent under command of the Podesta, but
discovering his object, this officer returned in disgust; upon which he made
his terms with Castruccio and Pistoia was suffered for a while to exist as an
independent state. Florence had attempted to gain it by treachery but failed,
and Castruccio tired of Filippo s intrigues offered him ten thousand florins
and his daughter Dialta in marriage for immediate
possession of the city. This secured Filippo who before daylight on the fifth
of May 1325 opened a gate to the Lucchese general; but the latter distrusting his
ally would not enter until he had actually unhinged it, and then took
possession of the place in the manner of the time by scouring the streets at
the head of his cavalry and trampling upon all that came in his way.
The fall of
Pistoia was an event of great importance: equally distant from Florence and
Lucca and on the confines of both, it formed a rallying point for the armies of
either and its friendship or enmity had considerable influence on every
operation of the war; hence the eagerness of Florence at all times to preserve
her authority there, and hence the general consternation when intelligence of
its capture arrived at the capital.
She might have
bought it for the same price or even less than Castruccio, because Filippo felt
himself too insecure not to make both friends and money by the sacrifice of his
country; but failing, either from want of skill or perhaps dishonesty in her agents,
she repeated her attempts to surprise the place thus forcing him into the arms
of Castruccio, and he poisoned bis own wife to complete the union. Rumours of
this event reached Florence while the magistrates were engaged in public
festivities on the occasion of two foreign officers of state being dubbed
knights by the republic, and the banquet was going on in the church of San
Piero Scheraggio when the news was confirmed: in a
moment the whole assembly fell into confusion, the tables were overturned, and
even man was immediately armed and in his saddle: believing that a part of the
town might still hold out, a rapid march was made as far as Prato where hearing
the whole truth they returned dejected and mortified to Florence. The following
day brought some consolation in the arrival of Ramondo da Cardona who had been
sent in the preceding November from Milan on a mission to Rome: he had promised
to return but was absolved by the pope and sent instantly to Florence as
commander-in-chief of the republican forces. His presence gave new spirit to
the people which was increased by the capture of Artimino on the twenty-second of May; one of the finest armies ever assembled by the
republic soon took the field at the enormous expense of three thousand florins
a day; the city bells tolled as a declaration of war; the public standard waved
over San Piero a Monticelli; the Soldati or mercenary troops first moved to
Prato, and the “Cavallate” with all the mass of civic
infantry joined them on the following morning. One of the city bells which had
been captured at Montale broke while in the act of sounding; three weeks before
there had been a violent earthquake in Florence, and the following evening a
broad stream of fiery vapour flared over the city: all these circumstances were
dwelt upon with anxious and gloomy foreboding by numbers of citizens over whose
mind the talents and success of Castruccio had gained a superstitious
ascendancy. The cavalry consisted of five hundred gentlemen of the highest rank
in Florence under the name of Cavallate or
men-at-arms on horseback, all magnificently equipped and a hundred of them
mounted on “Destrieri” the largest and finest
war-horses of the time and which few could afford to purchase : none cost less
than a hundred and fifty golden florins or near two hundred pounds of our
present money, yet there were three hundred of these, natives and strangers, in
the Florentine army. Besides the Cavallate there were fifteen hundred foreign cavalry in the pay of Florence of whom eight
hundred were French and German gentlemen of the highest rank and distinction:
the general-in-chief, Raimond of Cardona a Spanish Condottiere, and his
lieutenant, Borneo of Burgundy, were followed by a troop of two hundred and
thirty Catalan and Burgundian cavalry and lastly there were four hundred and
fifty Gascons, French, Flemings, Italians and men of Provence picked with great
care from the veteran companies of Masnadieri, and
all experienced soldiers. Fifteen thousand well-appointed infantry between
citizens and rural troops, completed the personal force of this fine army, and
eight hundred canvas pavilions and other great tents, with six thousand “Ronzini” and baggage horses attended its movements.
Except two
hundred Senese cavalry no allies had yet joined, but hostilities commenced on
the seventeenth of June by devastating the Pistoian territory up to the gates of the capital, capturing many small places,
insulting Castruccio who was in that city by running for the Palio under its
walls, and sending him repeated challenges to battle. Castruccio drily answered
that “It was not the right time”, and the Florentines marched directly to
besiege Tizzano a strong town about seven miles from Pistoia on the road to
Florence: there every preparation was apparently made for a regular siege while
Cardona on the ninth of July sent his lieutenant Borneo with five hundred
picked men towards Fucecchio; and to engage Castruccio’s attention a strong
detachment was at the same time directed to alarm Pistoia and the surrounding
country. Borneo was joined at Fucecchio by a hundred and fifty Lucchese exiles
and a numerous infantry, besides some reenforcements from the garrisons in Val d’ Arno. Carrying with him a pontoon bridge,
apparently the first noticed by the early historians of these campaigns, he
threw it silently over the Gusciano at Rosaiuolo during the night and the whole division crossed that river without being
perceived by the garrisons at the bridge of Cappiano or Monte Falcone scarcely
a mile above and below the point of passage!
On hearing this
Raimond suddenly quitted Tizzana, passed the lofty
range of Monte Albano and by nightfall had joined his detachment and invested
the fortified bridge and fortress of Cappiano. This was an unexpected stroke
for the Lucchese general who believed himself safe in that quarter, and would
appear to have doubted the possibility of so sudden a passage of the Gusciana
by any soldiers; so that this operation increased the fame of Cardona, the
confidence of the league, and the spirit of the Florentines. His frontier line
being thus broken Castruccio immediately quitted Pistoia and entering the Val
di Nievole threw his army in position amongst the
hills above Vivinaia which he endeavoured to strengthen while he pressed for
the cooperation of all his friends: Pisa disregarded this summons in
consequence of his recent treachery; but from Lucca, Arezzo, La Marca, Romagna,
and the Maremma, he assembled thirteen hundred men-at arms and a numerous
infantry, with which he reenforced all his positions from Vivinaia to Porcari,
strengthening the latter with additional works and troops to secure his
communications with Lucca; and finally cut a trench from the hills to the marsh
of Bientina which was guarded with the utmost solicitude.
The bridge of
Cappiano was taken by Cardona on the thirteenth of July, the town itself next
fell; two days after Montefalcone was summoned and
reduced in eight days, and thus the whole line of the Gusciana was cleared of
the enemy. This rapid success brought numerous reenforcements from Siena, Perugi, Bologna, Ogobbio,
Grosseto, Montepulciano, Chiusi. Colle, San Gimignano,
Volterra, San Miniato, Faenza, Imola, Count Battifolle and the exiles from
Lucca and Pistoia; all eager to assist in overwhelming this formidable
chieftain; so that the army had already swelled to three thousand four hundred
and fifty-four men-at-arms and a proportionate number of infantry. With this
immense force Cardona advanced, and on the third of August invested the strong
fortress of Altopascio which crowns a hill rising from the marshes north of the
Bientina lake: the place although impregnable to an assault was so damaged by
the battering engines and so poisoned by heat, sickness, and the horrid stench
of filthy matter which it was then usual to cast into besieged towns, that on
hearing of the discomfiture of a Lucchese detachment sent from Pistoia to make
a diversion towards Florence it immediately surrendered. The capture of this
place was succeeded by doubts, discussion and delay; the troops had become
sickly from heats and malaria, and the army proportionally reduced; discontent
and intrigues were plentiful, and Castruccio quick in the use of corruption,
seized the favourable moment to bribe two Frenchmen of high rank, but was detected
and baffled. Cardona himself, although proof against Castruccio’s temptations,
was false and ambitious; he had seen Florence in periods of distress repeatedly
surrender her liberties, and determined by getting her into difficulties to try
if he also could not become her master; the fall of Altopascio elated him, his
pockets were filled and his camp emptied by the bribes of rich citizens who
tired of a long campaign and alarmed at increasing sickness, cheerfully
exchanged their money for leave of absence and the pleasures of the capital.
The cavalry being generally composed of these, was reduced along with the rest
of the army to almost half its original number, and Cardona wished this; for
his thoughts ran high, and hence his delays, discussions, and repeated demands
to be invested with the same power in the city that he already exercised in the
army; in order as he said, to insure the necessary obedience. But finding that
the government would not listen to his request he lay idle amongst the Biantina marshes while Castruccio, with the eyes and
activity of a lynx, strained every nerve to catch him in his toils, and
succeeded; so that he who at first neglected the means of victory through bad
faith, was at last through incapacity unable to save himself from destruction.
Dissension arose both in the camp and city about the propriety of withdrawing
the army to a more healthy quarter or boldly pushing on to Lucca: the most
cautious advised the former course from a suspicion of the general’s views and
the state of the troops; but their opponents prevailed both in camp and
council, some of them even favouring Cardona’s wildest speculations. It was
therefore resolved to advance towards Lucca, but instead of cutting through the
enemy’s position while he was weak, by a direct movement, as might have been
effected; a bad unhealthy post was occupied on the edge of the Sesto marsh
which decimated the troops while it still more augmented the gains of the
general.
Castruccio did
not fail to profit by this delay although his army also had decreased from want
of funds and sickness, and therefore could not long maintain its position
without reenforcements, but he discovered in that of
the enemy the seeds of certain victory. By reason, money, and promises, he had
already prevailed on Galeazzo Visconti to send his son with eight hundred horse
into Tuscany; and with two hundred more from Passerino lord of Mantua and
Modena he hoped soon to recover his ascendancy: in the meanwhile his situation
was very precarious, for Cardona by a vigorous effort might have cut his line
of communication; the latter now sensible of his errors and probably urged by
the general discontent, had actually detached a hundred men-at-arms and a body
of pioneers to clear a passage over the mountain. Castruccio’s outposts soon
checked their progress and were followed by a stronger body then descending the
hill in order of battle: skirmishing began, and voluntary reenforcements pushed out unordered from the Florentine camp below. It was entirely an
encounter of cavalry; the green slopes of the hills were covered with armed and
plumed knights; the whole scene resembled a tournament rather than a real
battle and the effect is described as beautiful. Each party was broken four
different times and each reuniting in compact order returned unconquered to the
charge : many lances were shivered, many gentlemen unhorsed, and arms and
wounded and expiring men lay scattered on the mountain side. The Florentines with
only half its numbers for three hours sustained and repulsed the charges of
Castruccio’s chivalry and might have finally prevailed if they had been well
supported: but Cardona in complete order of battle looked on inactively, his
troops cooped up in a narrow angle of the plain below whence they could not
move without incurring danger. This did not escape Castruccio who therefore
pushed boldly on with augmenting numbers, and though unhorsed by a German
knight, wounded, and some of his bravest followers slain by nightfall had
succeeded in driving the enemy back to their entrenchments in face of a much
superior army.
Forty
men-at-arms were either killed or taken on the side of Florence and many
wounded, but all in front; for the Florentines did not turn, but battled
proudly, and retreated sullenly, more angry with their own commander than with
the enemy they made no prisoners but must have smote well in the conflict, for
no less than a hundred of their opponents’ horses had galloped to the plain
with empty saddles from the field of battle.
The trumpets of
either host answered each other in defiance until after dark and neither
choosing to own a defeat both remained under arms long after night set in; but
the Florentines lost their spirit from that day’s fight and no longer trusted
either in the faith or talents of their general. Castruccio being anxious to
keep the Spaniard in his difficult position directed the governors of several
towns in the Val-di-Nievole to entangle him in a
fictitious intrigue with the expectation of their surrender, and Cardona thus
duped, notwithstanding every warning chose to continue in this state of vain
inactivity.
On hearing of
Azzo Visconti’s arrival at Lucca with eight hundred men-at-arms be took fright
and hastily retreated to Altopascio whilst Castruccio apprehensive of his
escape hurried back to the capital to accelerate the march of the Lombards.
Visconti was so unwilling to proceed without repose or money that it required
all the influence of Castruccio’s wife seconded by the blandishments of the
most beautiful women in Lucca and the payment of six thousand florins, to gain
his promise of inarching on the following morning: Castruccio then departed
leaving to the women the care of keeping the young Milanese chieftain to his
engagement. On the morning of the twenty-third of November the allied army
paraded ostentatiously in front of Castruccio s position, with flying colours
and sound of many trumpets, daring him as it were to battle, and the latter
fearful of losing such a moment sent out some troops to amuse them with a
prospect of victory while he kept his main body in hand awaiting the junction
of Visconti. This was completed at nine in the morning when Castruccio was seen
once more descending from the hills with three-and-twenty hundred men-at-arms
in majestic movement towards the plain, while the greater part of his infantry
remained in the mountain and took no part in the events of this day. An
advanced squadron of one hundred and fifty French and Italian gentlemen began
the fight by a bold charge directly through Visconti’s line; but the second
line or main body of Feditori consisting of seven
hundred horsemen under Borneo of Burgundy who had been corrupted by Azzo or
Castruccio, turned when it was time to charge and fled from the encounter. The
whole army, whose confidence was already shaken, were confounded and some
others began to fly; but had Raimond promptly’ moved forward to the support of
his first line, which had charged so effectively, the battle might still have
been maintained on equal terms: instead of which he remained motionless and
added to the general consternation. Presently the main body of cavalry scarcely
tarrying to exchange a single lance-thrust, hurried off in universal confusion
leaving everything to the infantry who still maintained their ground with
undaunted courage; but neither their arms nor discipline were calculated to
stand alone against such masses of man and steel as came successively upon
them, and after an obstinate resistance they also were discomfited. The battle
lasted but a short time, few were killed in the fight but many in the pursuit,
for Castruccio instantly sent on a detachment to Cappiano, took possession of
the bridge which had already been abandoned, and cut off all direct means of
escape: the slaughter was therefore considerable but uncertain; the prisoners
amongst whom were Raimond of Cardona and his son, were numerous; the Carroccio,
the Martinella, with all the public standards, banners, and baggage of the army
were taken; Cappiano and Montefalcone soon
capitulated, and Altopascio not many days after. Thus did the tide of fortune
turn and bear forward Castruccio to prouder hopes and higher dignities. On the
twenty-seventh of September his whole army assembled at Pistoia and was
reenforced by that garrison, while Castruccio in all the confidence of victory
dismantled the bridge and forts of Cappiano and Montefalcone,
and secure in the possession of Pistoia left the rest of his frontier open to
the Florentines whose territory he ravaged for nearly seven weeks without
interruption. Policy and necessity dictated this course, for his funds were
exhausted, Azzo Visconti was still unsatisfied, and the army in arrears of pay;
so that nothing but the plunder of Florentine citizens could supply his present
necessities. Carmignano was his first conquest; he then marched to Lecore, to Signa, Campi, Brozzi,
and Guaracchi; all were captured or fell a prey to
flames and plunder: Peretola, within two miles of
Florence, became for a while his head quarters while from the Arno to the
mountains he ravaged all the plain, a plain covered then as now, but more
richly, with magnificent villas and beautiful gardens the delight of the
citizens and the admiration of the world. All was destroyed. The wealth was
plundered, the monuments of then reviving art were carried away and reserved
for the conqueror’s triumph. Games were celebrated and races run on the very
spot, time out of mind reserved by the Florentines for their public spectacles.
A course of horsemen began the sports; that of footmen followed; and
afterwards, to make the insult still more disgusting a bevy of common
prostitutes ran together in mockery, deriding the impotence of the Florentines,
not one of whom had the courage to come forth and check these insulting
spectacles. Yet the city was full of troops, and thousands had escaped from the
fight, but the star of Castruccio shed its influence over them; their spirit
was subdued, their courage wasted, and distrust of those great families whose
kinsmen were prisoners to Castruccio lest they should treat with him secretly,
completely distracted their judgment. After another course of devastation the
invaders reassembled on the twenty-sixth of October and repeated their insults
to please Azzo Visconti, who thus revenged a similar proceeding of the
Florentine auxiliaries, not long before, under the walls of Milan.
Signa next
occupied Castruccio, as it gave him command of the Arno at this point with a
free entrance into the Val di Pesa and all the southern country; he therefore
reenforced and strengthened it coined silver money there with the imperial
image as an act of high sovereignty and passed them current under the name of “Castruccini”.
Florence was
during this time in a painful state of suspicion and dismay; all the prisoners’
kinsmen were regarded with distrust and deprived of office bath within and
without the city; half the Contado was a desert, its
starving inhabitants huddled together in the capital where a
wide-spreading-mortality was the natural consequence. Deaths were so frequent
that the public crier, whose business it was to proclaim the decease of a
citizen according to ancient custom, was prohibited from exercising his calling
during the continuance of the malady: every precaution was adopted to secure
the city; the walls were strengthened, San Miniato a Monte fortified, and even
the citadel of Fiesole repaired from mere apprehension of Castruccio, who
threatened to restore it and beleaguer Florence; and this he probably would
have done had not the Bishop of Arezzo and the Ubaldini from incipient jealousy
refused to lend their assistance. Fearful of internal war all exiles but the
regular “Escettati” of 1311 were restored to
their country on payment of a trifling impost; assistance was demanded from
King Robert and the allies, but with little success; for through terror of
Castruccio only Colle and San Miniato Tedesco answered the call. King Robert
afterwards sent some trifling aid, but still Florence did not despair and a
bold attempt was made to cut off Castruccio’s whole army in a pass of the Val
di Marina near Calenzano. New taxes were imposed to
the annual amount of a hundred and eighty thousand florins beyond the ordinary
revenue; levies were made in Mantua and in Germany; Monte Buoni and other
important posts were fortified to protect the district: yet in the middle of
all this danger two hundred cavalry were magnanimously despatched to Bologna
which was sorely pressed and its army soon after defeated at Monteveglio by Passerino lord of Mantua, with the
assistance of Azzo Visconti and his followers, fresh from their Tuscan
victories.
But this
Milanese chief ere he finally quitted Tuscany offered a parting insult to
Florence by holding public games in the very bed of the Arno. He then returned
with five-and-twenty thousand florins as his share of the general plunder,
while Castruccio loaded with prisoners and booty resolved to enter his capital
in triumph like a Roman conqueror.
The fame of
this event attracted a crowd of spectators from all parts of Italy eager to
witness the revival of an ancient ceremony but more eager to behold a hero
whose reputation had already become familiar to the world. On the 10th of
November, being the festival of Saint Martin, Castruccio made this triumphal
entry into Lucca; not in a car, but on a magnificent courser, and at some
distance from the gates a solemn procession of the clergy nobility and almost
all the women of exalted rank in the city received him like a royal personage.
At the head of his procession were the prisoners of least note with uncovered
heads and arms crossed upon the breast, stooping as it were in humble
supplication for the mercy of their conqueror: next came the Florentine Carroccio
rolling heavily along, drawn by the same oxen and decked with the same
trappings they had borne in the field, and overhung by the reversed and now
degraded standard of that republic. Then followed other Florentine banners,
those of the party Guelph and the kings of Naples, with flags and pennons of
inferior note and various communities, all trailing in the dirt and as it were
sweeping the path of the conqueror. Immediately after this mortifying spectacle
walked the same chiefs who had so often borne these flags to victory. Here
Raimond of Cardona also had full leisure to contemplate the effects of his own
dishonesty; and the gallant Urlimbach, a German
knight who had unhorsed Castruccio, could also muse on the instability of
fortune, as despoiled of arms and spurs he swelled the train of the victor. A
multitude of noble captives followed in this insulting procession which was
closed by Castruccio and his legions in all the pride and insolence of victory.
But nothing mortified the prisoners so much as being compelled to bear large
waxen torches as offerings to Saint Martin the tutelar saint of Lucca and dear
to her troops because of the Bacchanalian licence usual at his festival on
pretence of tasting the various flavour of the new-made wines, and because the
saint himself had once been a soldier.
The day after
this pageant Castruccio invited fifty of his principal prisoners to an
entertainment but afterwards it is said compelled them by extreme severity and
even torture, to ransom themselves with enormous sums, by which he collected a
hundred thousand florins for the prosecution of the war. Allowing himself no
unnecessary repose he almost immediately led his army to Signa and on the 27th
of November invested Montemurlo between Prato and Pistoia: this fortress being
strong and well defended by the Pazzi and Adimari, required a regular siege and
allowed him to employ his disposable troops in overrunning the neighbouring
country to the gates of the capital winch he could do with impunity, for
although there were three hundred Neapolitan cavalry in Florence the government
could not induce them to quit the town. A company of Flemings indignant at
these insults sallied out with more courage than order and being unsupported
were quickly driven in again with loss; another disorderly attempt was made,
through mere shame, by the citizens with little better success.
Thus bearded at
their very gates, insulted, ridiculed, the country a desert, Signa occupied by
the enemy, Prato at his mercy, Montemurlo still unsuccoured and ready to fall, the Bolognese army, their only bulwark against Lombardy,
defeated: their best chieftains prisoners, their army diminished, their
expenses increased, their allies daunted, death raging within the city and
destruction without, all things adverse to them, and fortune courting their
enemies; under such a pressure the people at last gave way, and despair once
more compelled them to a temporary surrender of their independence.
Charles Duke of
Calabria was therefore, and perhaps not unexpectedly, offered the lordship of
Florence for ten years on certain conditions, with which as showing the nature
of such concessions we may finish this chapter.
It was decreed
that the Prince should remain for thirty months consecutively within the
Florentino state, or at war in the enemy’s dominions, and the three succeeding
summer months in addition should hostilities continue.
That in time of
war he was to maintain one thousand Transalpine cavalry and have an annual
allowance from the republic of two hundred thousand golden florins; half that
sum in peace with the obligation of maintaining only four hundred and fifty
men-at-arms.
If in time of
peace the Duke wished to be absent he was bound to appoint a lieutenant of the
blood royal or of some other great and powerful family; also to nominate a
vicar for the administration of justice, who was not to alter any part of the
government, but on the contrary defend and maintain the priors and gonfalonier,
the executor of the ordinances of justice, and the sixteen chiefs of companies.
This decree
which passed on the 23rd of December 1325 was despatched with a solemn embassy
to Naples and finished the transactions of that unfortunate year, which began
so brightly for the Florentines.
Contemporary
Monarchs.—England: Edward II.—Scotland: Robert Bruce.— France : Philip V, (The
Long) 1322. Charles IV, (The Fair).—Castile and Leon: Alphonso XI.—Aragon:
Jacob II.—Portugal: Denis, till 1325. Alphonso IV. The Empire distracted by
Civil War between Louis of Bavaria and Frederic of Austria.—Naples : Robert
(The Good).—Sicily . Frederic II (of Aragon).—Greek Empire: Andronicus Paleologos.—Ottoman
Empire: Othman.—Pope : John XXII.
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