The essential writings of Machiavelli (50 page)

The rout and slaughter were great. More than ten thousand men were killed, among them many captains and prominent Guelph nobles from throughout Tuscany as well as princes who had rallied to aid them, such as King Roberto’s brother Piero, the king’s nephew Carlo, and Prince Filippo of Taranto.
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Castruccio, on the other hand, lost only about three hundred men, among them Uguccione’s young and valiant son Francesco, who was killed at the very beginning of the attack.

This victory brought Castruccio such prominence that Uguccione became jealous and suspicious, and was possessed by the idea of destroying him. Uguccione was convinced that the triumphant victory had not increased his own power but in fact had decreased it. Consumed by these thoughts, he waited for the opportunity to strike at Castruccio, which presented itself when Pier Agnolo Micheli, a man of great accomplishment and repute, was murdered in Lucca. His murderer fled to Castruccio’s house, and when the officers came to arrest the murderer, Castruccio sent them away. The murderer managed to escape with his help. Uguccione, who was in Pisa, heard of the incident and saw the perfect chance to even the score with Castruccio.
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He sent for his son Nieri, to whom he had given the rule of Lucca, and ordered him to invite Castruccio to a banquet in order to apprehend him there and put him to death.

Castruccio gladly accepted the invitation to Nieri’s palace, not suspecting foul play and was seized at the dinner. But Nieri feared that the people of Lucca would be outraged if he put Castruccio to death without justification, so he locked him in a dungeon and waited for his father to send word on what he should do next. Uguccione was furious at his son’s wavering and cowardice, and set out from Pisa with four hundred horsemen to bring the matter to a conclusion. But he had not yet reached Bagni
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when the Pisans took up arms, killed his deputy and all the members of Uguccione’s family in Pisa, and made Count Gaddo della Gherardesca their new lord.
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Uguccione heard the news from Pisa before he arrived in Lucca, but he knew that it would be unwise to turn back and give Lucca the opportunity to imitate Pisa’s example and close its gates to him too. However, the people of Lucca had also heard the news, and despite Uguccione’s arrival seized the opportunity to try to free Castruccio. They flocked to the town squares to denounce Uguccione, took up arms, and began to stir up unrest, demanding that Castruccio be released. Uguccione, fearing the turn of events, freed him, upon which Castruccio immediately rejoined his allies. With the support of the populace, he attacked Uguccione, who was compelled to flee with his men, escaping to Lombardy to the domain of the Princes della Scala, where in due course he died in poverty
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From being a prisoner, Castruccio now practically became prince of Lucca. With the help of his partisans and the populace’s renewed favor, he was elected captain general of the army for a year. He was determined to increase his standing even further through war, and set out to win back for Lucca many of the towns that had revolted after Uguccione had been driven out. He marched on Sarzana with the backing of the Pisans, with whom Castruccio had formed an alliance, and during the siege built a fortress that was later walled in by the Florentines and is today known as Sarzanello.
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Within two months he had conquered Sarzana, and then went on to occupy Massa, Carrara, and Lavenza. Soon all of Lunigiana was his, and to secure the mountain pass that led from Lombardy to Lunigiana he stormed Pontremoli, driving out Messer Anastagio Palavisini, who was its prince. When Castruccio returned victorious to Lucca and was greeted by large crowds, he felt the time had come to make himself prince, and with the support of some of the foremost men of Lucca—Pazzino dal Poggio, Puccinello dal Portico, Francesco Boccansacchi, and Cecco Guinigi—all of whom he had bribed, he made himself lord of Lucca, and then in a solemn ceremony was elected prince by the people.
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When King Frederick of Bavaria, the Holy Roman Emperor, came to Italy to claim his imperial crown, Castruccio offered his allegiance. He rode out to meet him with a cavalry of five hundred, leaving Pagolo Guinigi, who was held in high esteem by the people in memory of his father, in charge of Lucca. Frederick received Castruccio with much ceremony, bestowing on him an array of privileges and making him his governor in Tuscany
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In the meantime, the Pisans had expelled Gaddo della Gherardesca,
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and, fearing his retaliation, had turned to Frederick, who appointed Castruccio as prince of Pisa. The people of Pisa accepted Castruccio as their new ruler, as he was a Ghibelline who could keep them secure from the Guelph faction, and from the Florentines.

When Frederick returned to Germany, leaving a governor in Rome, all the Tuscan and Lombardian Ghibellines who were his followers turned to Castruccio for help, each promising to support him with their cities’ forces if Castruccio would help them regain power. Among these were Matteo Guidi, Nardo Scolari, Lapo Uberti, Gerozzo Nardi, and Piero Buonaccorsi, all Ghibellines, and Florentine exiles. Castruccio’s design was, by combining his forces with theirs, to become prince of all Tuscany. In order to strengthen his position even further, he allied himself with Matteo Visconti, the prince of Milan,
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and began arming Lucca and its territories. As Lucca had five city gates, he divided its territories into five sections, which he armed and put under captains and banners so that he could swiftly and with ease bring together twenty thousand men, not counting those he could call on from Pisa.

It was at this time that Matteo Visconti was attacked by the Guelphs of Piacenza, who had ousted the Ghibellines with the help of forces sent by Florence and King Roberto of Naples. Visconti asked Castruccio to attack Florence so that the Florentines, forced to defend their homes, would withdraw their army from Lombardy Castruccio obliged, and marched on Valdarno with a large army, occupying Fucecchio and San Miniato,
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causing great damage to the land and forcing the Florentines to withdraw their men from the battle with Visconti.

But as the Florentine army marched back toward Florence, an emergency forced Castruccio to return to Lucca. The Poggio family had been powerful enough to make Castruccio not only a great man, but prince. But now they felt that they had not been sufficiently rewarded, and joined with other families of Lucca to trigger a revolt to topple Castruccio. One morning they seized the opportunity, killed Castruccio’s chief magistrate, and incited the populace to rise up. But Stefano di Poggio, an old and peaceable man who had not taken part in the conspiracy, stepped forward, and with his authority compelled the conspirators to lay down their arms, offering to act as mediator with Castruccio and to ensure that he would grant them what they demanded. The conspirators, however, laid down their arms with no greater prudence than they had taken them up in the first place, for when news of the conspiracy reached Castruccio, he immediately headed back to Lucca with some of his soldiers, leaving Pagolo Guinigi in charge of the rest. In Lucca, Castruccio was taken aback to find that the uprising had subsided, but still took the precaution of posting armed men throughout the city. Stefano di Poggio, who was certain that Castruccio would be obliged to him for his intercession, stepped before him, pleading clemency not for himself, as he felt he had nothing to fear, but for the other members of his family. He entreated Castruccio to pardon the recklessness of youth, and reminded him of the favors and friendship that the di Poggio family had accorded him. Castruccio replied with grace, reassuring the old man and declaring that he was happier at finding the uprising abated than he had been angry at hearing of its outbreak. He asked Stefano to have everyone come to him, affirming that he thanked God for the opportunity to demonstrate his clemency and charity. Assured by Stefano, they all came, and Castruccio had every one of them, including Stefano, seized and killed.
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The Florentines had in the meantime retaken San Miniato. But Castruccio felt he should put an end to the war, as he knew he could not venture far from Lucca until he had secured peace. He appealed to the Florentines for a truce and found them quite willing to accept, as they were exhausted and wanted to put an end to the expense. They agreed to a two-year peace and that each side could keep the territories it was then holding.

Freed from the burden of war, Castruccio set about ensuring that he would never again have to face the kind of dangers he had faced at home, and under various pretenses eliminated all those whose ambition might make them aspire to become prince. He spared no one, depriving his potential rivals of their citizenship and possessions, and those he managed to capture of their life. Experience, he avowed, had shown that he could not place any trust in their loyalty. So that he would be more secure he built a castle in Lucca, using the stones of the towers of those he had exiled and killed.
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During the period of peace with Florence, while Castruccio was building up his fortifications in Lucca, he did everything he could to increase his power short of going to war. He had his mind set on occupying Pistoia, knowing that once it was his he would almost have one foot in Florence. To this end he gathered supporters throughout the mountains.
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As for the factions in Pistoia, Castruccio made certain that each placed its trust in him. The city was divided, as it has always been, between White and Black factions: The leader of the Whites was Bastiano di Possente, and the leader of the Blacks, Iacopo da Gia.
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They both conducted secret talks with Castruccio, as each wanted to drive the other party out. The tensions between the White and Black partisans grew until finally they took up arms, Iacopo positioning his forces at Pistoia’s Florentine Gate, Bastiano at the Lucca Gate. Both leaders trusted Castruccio more than they did the Florentines, considering him more resolute and ready to fight than the Florentines were, and so both covertly sent to him for help. Castruccio promised Iacopo that he would come in person, and Bastiano that he would send Pagolo Giunigi, and told them when to expect them. He sent Pagolo over the Pescia road, while he headed directly to Pistoia. At midnight both Castruccio and Pagolo arrived at Pistoia, and as allies they were allowed through the gates. Once inside, Castruccio gave Pagolo a sign, at which point Castruccio killed Iacopo da Gia, and Pagolo killed Bastiano di Possente, and then they slaughtered or took prisoner all their supporters. Castruccio and Pagolo occupied Pistoia without further opposition, expelling the magistrates from the Signoria, and Castruccio compelled the populace to show him obedience, annulling many old debts and making many promises. He did the same for all the territory around Pistoia, a good part of the people having come into the city to see the new prince. Everyone was impressed by Castruccio’s qualities and filled with hope, so the people of Pistoia soon calmed down.
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In the meantime, the populace of Rome had become unruly because of rising costs triggered by the loss of the pope, who had moved to Avignon.
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The Romans blamed the German governors for the disorder and daily murders. Enrico, the Holy Roman Emperor’s governor,
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found he was helpless, and feared that the Romans might turn to King Roberto of Naples and have him expelled from Rome and the pope reinstated. Having no closer ally than Castruccio to turn to, he sent him word beseeching him not only to send forces but to come to Rome in person. Castruccio realized that he had to act immediately, both to pay his debt to the emperor and also because if the emperor was expelled from Rome, his own position would be severely weakened.
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He left Pagolo Guinigi in charge of Lucca and rode with six hundred horsemen to Rome, where he was received by Enrico with much pomp and ceremony. With Castruccio present, the emperor’s cause quickly gained so much ground that peace was restored without bloodshed or violence: Castruccio had arranged for a large quantity of grain to be shipped from Pisa, thus removing the reason for much of the turmoil. Thus, partly reprimanding, partly punishing the leaders of Rome, Castruccio forced them to submit to Enrico’s government. Castruccio was made senator of Rome and accorded many other honors by the Romans. He took office with much fanfare, wore a brocaded toga with the words “This is what God wants” embroidered on the front, and the words “And what God wants shall be” embroidered on the back.
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The Florentines were angry that Castruccio had taken over Pistoia after agreeing to a period of truce, and deliberated on how best to make the city rebel. They felt that this might be easy enough, seeing that Castruccio was away in Rome. Among the exiled Pistoians in Florence were Baldo Cecchi and Iacopo Baldini, both fearless men of authority. The two sent word to their friends in Pistoia, and with the help of the Florentines entered the city one night and chased out or killed all of Castruccio’s supporters and officials, restoring liberty to Pistoia. This news greatly angered Castruccio. He took leave of Enrico and returned to Lucca in a relentless march. When the Florentines heard that Castruccio was back, they knew that he was bound to strike at them without delay, and decided to forestall him by entering the Val di Nievole with their army before he could get there with his. They were aware that if they held the valley, they could hinder him from reaching and regaining Pistoia. Gathering a large army of Guelph supporters, they positioned themselves on the Pistoian plain, while Castruccio marched his army to Montecarlo. But he decided not to confront the Florentines on the plains of Pistoia, nor to wait for them on the plains of Pescia, but, if he could, to encounter them in the Pass of Serravalle, judging that victory would be his if his design succeeded. Castruccio knew that the Florentines had thirty thousand men to his twelve thousand, and though he had confidence in his skill and his men’s valor, he did not want to risk being engulfed by the superior numbers of the enemy forces should he engage them in the open.