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COMMISSION TO PISA AT THE TIME OF THE COUNCIL. * - Niccolo Machiavelli, The Historical, Political, and Diplomatic Writings, vol. 4 (Diplomatic Missions 1506-1527) [1506]

Edition used:

The Historical, Political, and Diplomatic Writings of Niccolo Machiavelli, tr. from the Italian, by Christian E. Detmold (Boston, J. R. Osgood and company, 1882). Vol. 4.

Part of: The Historical, Political, and Diplomatic Writings, 4 vols.

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COMMISSION TO PISA AT THE TIME OF THE COUNCIL.*

I.

THE TEN TO THE CARDINALS THAT WERE AT PISA.

2 November, 1511.

Reverendissimi in Christo Patres, etc.: —

Mittimus ad reverendissimas dominationes vestras Nicolaum Machiavellum civem et Secretarium nostrum; mandavimusque illi multa quæ referat coram reverendissimis dominationibus vestris: quibus placeat super eis nostra de causa fidem illi habere certissimam. Quæ bene valeant.

II.

THE TEN TO THE SEIGNEUR DE LAUTREC.

2 November, 1511.

Illustrious Seigneur: —

We send to your Lordship our citizen and Secretary, Niccolo Machiavelli, to whom we have entrusted certain matters which we desire your Lordship should know; and we therefore beg your Lordship to give him the most entire credence.

III.

THE TEN TO NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI.

3 November, 1511.

We have nothing to communicate to you by this letter except that since your departure from here we have heard from Rosso Ridolfi and Antonio Portinari that matters are going on quietly enough at Pisa; and therefore it seems to us proper to say to you that, unless some special necessity should occur for the three hundred infantry, you will not raise them. But should you see that they are necessary, then you will act according to the original order given you on the subject. We have nothing else to say, for whatever is new here we write to Rosso Ridolfi, from whom you will learn all we communicate to him.

IV.

Magnificent Signori, etc.: —

You will have learned through the letters from the Lords Commissioners how matters are going on here. By these presents I have thought to make known to you that I went this morning to make a visit to the Cardinal Santa Croce, with whom I had a long interview, my sole object being to point out to him the difficulties which this locality and the times bring with them, and which will constantly increase, the longer the cardinals remain, and the more people come here, and therefore your Lordships begged him to excuse them, etc., etc. To this the Cardinal replied, that although there was no abundance, yet the scarcity was supportable, and that therefore they did not complain. That they were fully aware that the palaces were not equal to those of Milan, nor life so agreeable as in France; still, if either on their own account, or on account of your Lordships, it was deemed advisable to change the locality, it might be done.

I told him that I should speak upon this point only according to my own opinion, and that I believed it would be a wise thing to go from here; for, first, they would be relieved of the anxiety respecting lodgings; and secondly, the removal of the Council from his immediate neighborhood would make the Pope cool down, and render him less active in opposing it by arms and other means; and thirdly, by the transfer of the Council to some place, either in France or Germany, the people there would be found more disposed to obey than what the people of Tuscany are, because the Emperor and the King can control their people more easily than what your Lordships ever could do. And as the opportunity seemed to me favorable, I entreated him not to consent to have your Lordships constrained to do what you neither could nor should do; and that I believed that the coming of one man voluntarily to this Council would give it more reputation than twenty that were forced to come against their will. I went on trying to persuade him to the best of my ability, and finally concluded by coming back to the proposition to remove the Council from here, but as coming entirely from myself; demonstrating to him that it would be a wise and most useful thing to do, and calculated to produce the best effects.

The Cardinal replied to me that he would speak with his colleagues about it, but that it would be necessary to write to France and to the Emperor; whereupon I reminded him that at San Donnino he and the other cardinals had told me that, after two or three sessions of the Council at Pisa, it should be transferred to another place. He admitted the truth of this, and said that he would think of what they ought to do; and that I might rest assured that nothing unbecoming would be asked of your Lordships. “In fact,” added he, “your Signori will not be satisfied that we should dismiss those priests who will not obey us.” To which I replied, that I did not know what support your Lordships could render them, but as to dismissing the priests, you had nothing whatever to do with it; and that that was a matter which they must settle amongst themselves.

His Eminence said nothing further on that point, but it seems to me that it will not be long before some new demand will be made of your Lordships, and of a sort that will not be very much to your mind. I have communicated all this to the Lords Commissioners, and they have thoroughly looked into the matter, and will make a report to your Lordships, to whom I recommend myself. Valete!*

Servitor

Niccolo Machiavelli,
Secret.

Pisa, 6 November, 1511.

V.

Magnificent Signori, etc.: —

Our last letter to your Lordships was of yesterday, and we gave you therein full account of everything that had occurred. This morning the third session of the Council was held, with the usual ceremonies and sermons. After that two of the cardinals and four of the bishops were named as Commissioners of the Council; and without letters from them, or at least signed by two thirds of them, no prelate could leave the Council. And then it was announced that after the ceremonies of to-day’s session every one was free to leave, at their convenience; with the obligation, however, to be on the 10th of next month at Milan, where, on the 13th, the day of Santa Lucia, the fourth session of the Council was to be held in the cathedral; and that in the interim they were to ask for a safe-conduct from the Pope, so as to enable them to send an ambassador to his Holiness to arrange for the transfer of the Council to some neutral place that would offer security to both parties.

This is the sum and substance of what was done this morning. At the twentieth hour a general meeting is to be held at the house of the Cardinale di Santa Croce; and this morning they have ordered Rosso to notify the Rectors to be there, so as to take leave of them. We know of nothing else that they would wish to say to them.

Rosso Ridolfi et Antonio Portinari,
Commissioners, etc.

Pisa, 12 November, 1511.

COMMISSION FOR RAISING TROOPS.

LETTERS PATENT.

We, Nine of the Ordinance and Florentine Militia,*

Make known to all who may see these our letters patent, that the bearer of the same is Niccolo Machiavelli, son of Messer Bernardo Machiavelli, Secretary of our Illustrious Signori, and who is sent by us into the province of Romagna to select and enroll men capable of bearing arms, to serve on foot in our militia organization, under such banners as we shall assign to that province. And therefore we command all our subjects in the said province of Romagna to render him all obedience; and you Rectors and officials are to give him all the aid and support he may need in selecting and enrolling these men.

Dat. inPalatio Florentino, 2 December, 1511.

LETTER.

Magnificent Signori, etc.: —

To-day I have given the advance to one hundred new men to serve in the cavalry, and have distributed them under the same banners; namely, Val d’ Arno, Val di Chiana, and Casentino. I found the two hundred infantry of the first levy in the best order; and these new ones will be fully equipped during this month, after which your Lordships can employ these three hundred cavalry wherever you may wish. I leave here to-day for Val di Bagno, to execute the order of the Nine, and commend myself to your Lordships, quæ bene valeant.

Servitor

Niccolo Machiavelli,
Secret.

Bibbiena, 5 December, 1511.

[* ]The two preceding legations and the present commission to Pisa relate to the celebrated differences between Pope Julius II and Louis XII., king of France, at whose instigation a General Ecclesiastical Council had been convoked at Pisa, for the purpose of deposing Pope Julius II., who had contemptuously rejected all offers of peace, and had carried his violence so far as to have the French ambassador arrested, and had launched interdicts and excommunications against his enemies. The Emperor of Germany, Maximilian I., had joined the king of France in the project of deposing Pope Julius II. by a General Council; having himself the extraordinary idea of assuming the papal tiara with his imperial crown, in the event of Pope Julius’s deposition by the Council. The Florentines at the request of the king of France had consented to allow the Council to be held at Pisa; but they soon became alarmed at the dangers threatened in consequence by the vengeance and violence of the Pope, with the Venetian army at the north, and that of the Spaniards at the south. The Signoria saw no other way to avert these dangers than to endeavor to persuade the king of France to dissolve the Council and make peace with the Pope. It was for this purpose that Machiavelli had been sent on these missions to the court of France, where Roberto Acciaiuoli was at the time the accredited ambassador.

The Florentine Signoria had already sent several commissioners to Pisa to be present at the meetings of the Council; and after Machiavelli’s return from France, where he had successfully accomplished his mission, he was sent by the Signoria to take a body of troops to Pisa, as a guard to watch the Florentine interests; and above all to dispose the prelates to leave that city, which had been conceded with the utmost reluctance by the Florentine Signoria for the purpose of this Council.

[* ]It may not be amiss to give here the relation of the sessions of the Council held at Pisa, at which Machiavelli was present, and which were reported by the Commissioners, who, in writing to the Signoria at Florence, say that with regard to these reports they refer to the wisdom of Machiavelli himself, he having greater experience in these matters than themselves.

“This morning, the 5th of November, the most reverend Monsignore di Santa Croce celebrated a solemn mass in the cathedral, assisted by the other three cardinals, Monseigneur de Lautrec, and the other archbishops, bishops, and prelates, all seated in the greatest silence and devotion. After the mass, the deacon, who was the Abate Zaccaria, proclaimed twice in a loud voice, ‘Let all laymen leave the choir.’ And then all the bishops put on their mitres, and Monsignore di Santa Croce seated himself before the altar, turning his face towards the prelates and the people, and intoned the Psalm of David, ‘Deus qui glorificatur in Concilio Sanctorum, magnus et terribilis super omnes, qui in circuita ejus sunt”; and then exhorted all the prelates most earnestly to dispose themselves by prayers and vigils for this holy Council, appealing to them with many other words, etc., even unto tears. After this discourse Monsignore di Santa Croce said three prayers with the utmost devotion; and then the aforesaid deacon cried aloud, ‘Orate!’ Whereupon all made three genuflections, and, having taken off their mitres, prayed in the greatest silence. Then the litanies were sung by the chanters with great devotion, and when these were finished, being at the words, ‘Ut Ecclesiam tuam sanctam,’ the said President, that is to say Santa Croce, turned towards the prelates and the people giving them his benediction, and chanting in a loud voice, ‘Ut hanc sanctam Synodum benedicere, regere et conservare digneris’; to which all the prelates replied, ‘Te rogamus, audi nos.’ Thereupon the Bishop of Lodeve, son of the Cardinale di San Malo, with the cope on his shoulders and the mitre on his head, ascended the pulpit, and published four decrees passed at the first session of the Council. The first of these declared that the holy Council of Pisa, by the reasons alleged in the letters of convocation, was legitimately convoked and convened, and that the city of Pisa was deemed proper for the meeting of the said Council, unless some new impediments should occur that would necessitate the transfer of the Council to some other locality. The second decree declared all the interdicts, censures, and deprivations of office that have been or may be pronounced by Pope Julius II. against the said Council, its adherents and supporters, to be of no validity whatsoever; and as they are in fact, so they are declared, absolutely null, and are not to be obeyed in any way by any one. The third decree declares that all who had been summoned must appear, and if they do not make their appearance the sacred Council will proceed, as by right, without them in the prosecution of its object; and severe pains and penalties were fulminated against all who by any means attempt to interpose any obstacle, or in any way do any injury or damage to any adherent or supporter of the present Council. And it further declares the Council convoked by Pope Julius II. to be null by prevention, by the want of security in the place where it is to convene, and by the sins by which he has scandalized the Church of God; and which, being all chargeable to the head of the Church, deprive him of the right to convoke a Council. The fourth decree appoints officers of the sacred Council;namely, Monsignore di Santa Croce, President, although he has declared that he accepts the office only for one month; Monseigneur de Lautrec as guardian; and four prothonotaries, in allusion to the four Evangelists, whose duty it is to revise and correct all writings that may be made during the continuance of the Council; and besides these a number of minor officials. After this the Abate Zaccaria with cope and mitre went to ask, first the most reverend cardinals, and then each prelate, one after the other, whether the decrees that had just been read had their approbation. And although all had replied in the affirmative, he nevertheless returned to the altar and repeated the question, saying in a loud voice, ‘Placet?’ All replied, ‘Ita nobis placet.’

“Messer Ambrogio, whom we have already mentioned to your Lordships as Procurator of his Imperial Majesty, has asked that an authentic minute shall be made of all these acts, and has indicated the next session of the Council to be on Friday next at the third hour.

“Yesterday morning, November 7, the most reverend cardinals and the other prelates held the second session in the cathedral. Mass was chanted by the most reverend Cardinale di San Malo; and the same ceremonies were gone through as at the first session, and after mass the Abate Zaccaria chanted the Evangely, ‘Homo quidam fecit cœnam magnam et invitavit multos,’ etc.; and then he ascended the pulpit and delivered a sermon on the following text from St. John: ‘Lux venit in mundum, et magis dilexerunt homines tenebras quam lucem.’ His sermon related mainly to the reformation of the Church, and concluded with an exhortation that the most reverend cardinals and prelates ought to reform themselves before attempting to reform the Church. When he had finished, Monseigneur d’Haussun, ambassador of his Most Christian Majesty, ascended the chair, and published four decrees: —

“1st. A decree by the Council of Toledo on the profound silence to be observed in the Council, where no one is to speak except in his turn; and whoever contravenes this rule will be excommunicated for three days.

“2d. A decree which suspends all actions against the adherents of the Council, which cannot be judged except before the Council.

“3d. A decree appointing four bishops to hear the cases ‘fidei et reformationis Ecclesiæ, et ad examinandos testes, et ad referendum sacro Concilio,’ which would then proceed to the final sentence.

“4th. A decree appointing sundry officials, such as scrutators of votes, and messengers to announce and to summon.”

The third session of the Council was held, not on the 14th, but on the 12th; as may be seen from the following letter of the Commissioners. After this session the prelates prepared for leaving Pisa, where they had fallen into great disrepute with the people, and where they had been tolerated with no good will by the Florentines.

[* ]The Nine of Ordinance was a magistracy instituted when the national militia was established, in which Machiavelli had taken so prominent a part.