CHAPTER I.

PIERO DE’ MEDICI, HIS FAMILY AND FRIENDS.

AT the death of Cosimo de’ Medici, his descendants, besides his natural

son Carlo, who once more entered the ecclesiastical order, consisted

of Piero, surnamed the Gouty (_il Gottoso_), and his four children.

Piero was born in 1416, and was now forty-eight years old. He was

a youth when the swift change of fortune in his father’s life took

place, which, at first threatening his house with ruin, had suddenly

raised it to supreme power, and his manhood passed during the envied

but not seriously disputed exercise of that power. His health was

feeble, yet this did not hinder him from undertaking various civil

offices, and may, perhaps, have been of service to him by covering his

mediocre character and intellect, and enabling him to preserve that

middle course which is so difficult for the head of a party filled with

great and ambitious men. He was a sensible, quiet man, experienced

in business, with a sound judgment and far more kindliness of heart

and sincerity than his father, but without his political acuteness,

knowledge of men, and talent for steering safely among the numerous

rocks that beset his position.

A clever wife stood beside him. At a time when Florence had no lack of

distinguished women, Lucrezia, the daughter of Francesco Tornabuoni,

surpassed most in intellectual gifts and domestic virtues. Her family

was a branch of an ancient and noble Florentine race, which, since

the democratic reforms of 1293, had been excluded from holding civic

offices, yet without losing importance. Like many others, Simon

Tornaquinci, a hundred years later, had altered his coat-of-arms,

enrolled himself among the plebeian families under the name of

Tornabuoni, and attached himself to the Medicean party, in which

his son Francesco took a not unimportant position. Tornaquinci and

Tornabuoni possessed considerable landed property in the western part

of Florence. A gate of the second wall, since called San Pancrazio,

was once named after the former, and a street still bears the name of

the latter.[103] Lucrezia de’ Medici never experienced the anguish of

exile; neither, separated from an exiled husband, had she to remain

at the head of a ruined household, like so many noble ladies in those

days of magnificence so often changing into misery. She beheld three

generations in the possession of power, with its charge of care and

sorrow. While conducting her household, which never lost its simple

character, she paid homage to the muse in lyric poems and translations

of Biblical histories. We shall speak later of her intercourse with

Luigi Pulci (whom she encouraged to complete his poem on the legends

of Charlemagne), with Politian and others. Lucrezia possessed great

influence over her eldest son, whose youth she guided, and she lived to

enjoy the period of his highest greatness.

Lucrezia gave birth to seven children, four of whom, two sons and two

daughters, survived. Lorenzo was born January 1, 1449.[104] Nature had

given him strength, but not beauty. To judge from his exterior, one

might have prophesied him a long life, but not a brilliant one. He was

above the middle height, broad-chested, powerfully built, and agile of

limb. His features were, however, unpleasing; the sight weak, the nose

flattened, the chin sharp, with a pale complexion. He was entirely

destitute of the sense of smell, and his voice was harsh.[105] These

natural defects he conquered with equal skill and perseverance, but

the advantages of his bodily health and strength did not last long.

His early education was confided to Gentile de’ Becchi of Urbino,

afterwards canon at Florence and Pisa, and finally Bishop of Arezzo, a

man of great ability and deeply attached to the family, an attachment

which, at an important epoch in the life of his pupil and in Florentine

history, led him to exaggerations which did not suit the ecclesiastical

dignity.

Cosimo had attracted Gentile[106] and entrusted him with the education

of his grandson. This learned man, who was connected with the most

famous scholars of his time, such as Francesco Filelfo, Marsilio

Ficino, Cardinal Ammanati, Giovan. Antonio Campano, Politian, and

others, certainly spared no pains in the education of the richly-gifted

boy. Under his guidance and that of Ficino, Cristoforo Landino, and

John Argyropulos, one of the Greek fugitives received by Cosimo, the

youth amassed an amount of knowledge not often possessed even at that

time, when learned culture was so general among the rich. He developed

his excellent talents in many directions. A letter addressed by his

tutor to Piero de’ Medici, June 3, 1454,[107] with its assertion

that the boy of sixteen excited the admiration of the whole city,

is a pattern of that courtly style which began to be practised by

the dependants of powerful families. It is worth mentioning here,

because it speaks of a visit the boy paid to the Duke John of Anjou,

who was then staying in Florence. ‘On the day before your departure,

Lorenzo assumed the French costume, which suited him so well that we

had scarcely set out when we were surrounded by a crowd of children

and adults, who followed us on the way to King René’s son, whom we

intended to visit. The Duke received him with great pleasure, as if he

had been a little Frenchman fresh from his native country, and kept him

the whole day in his presence. But not many were deceived by him, for

his gravity, so little suited to the French character, betrayed his

individuality.’

His education was serious according to the custom of the time. Several

hours were devoted to religious exercises, especially in the evening,

when a fraternity of St. Paul was visited. His mother was especially

particular in this respect, as she was also in inculcating on the youth

habits of benevolence, by appointing dowries for poor girls, supporting

poor convents, giving abundant alms to the needy, and pursuing every

noble stratagem that would lead to popular favour. In bodily exercises

Lorenzo soon surpassed most of his companions, and he early displayed

that love for beautiful horses which he preserved all his life; he was

also an accomplished rider. He was highly delighted when, just out of

his boyhood, a valuable horse was sent him from Sicily. He made a rich

present in return, and upon its being suggested to him that it would be

better under such circumstances to buy the horse than receive it as a

gift, he replied, ‘Do you not know that it is a royal gift, and does it

not seem royal not to be conquered in liberality?’[108]

Piero’s younger son, Giuliano, was born in 1453. He was not permitted

to arrive at maturity. Compared with his brother, he was rather in the

shade, yet he promised to rival him in many things, as he certainly did

in knightly exercises. He was tall, handsome, and strong, according to

Angelo Politian’s description,[109] who was intimately associated with

him; had lively dark eyes, dark complexion, black hair falling on his

shoulders, excelled in all bodily exercises, and was an eager huntsman.

His expression and bearing were commanding. He was fond of poetry, and

took a lively interest in the fine arts. Giuliano did not, however,

equal his brother in versatile talents; his character rather resembled

his father’s than his grandfather’s.

The elder of the two daughters, Bianca, was married in Cosimo’s

lifetime to Guglielmo de’ Pazzi. The great influence which the Pazzi

family had on the fortunes of the Medici and of the State makes it

necessary to dwell awhile upon their history.[110] Their origin is

veiled in obscurity. Some have considered them as identical with

the lordly family of the same name in the Arno valley, which was

connected with the Donati, frequently mentioned in the heroic days

of Florence, and related to Dante Alighieri. Others have traced them

from Fiesole, whence the old family arms are said to be derived—six

moons, alternately blue and red, in a silver field, a device which they

exchanged in 1388 for that granted by the dukes of Bar, two golden

barbs in a blue field, and at present changed into dolphins with four

small double crosses. According to unauthenticated tradition, Pazzo

de’ Pazzi went to Jerusalem in Godfrey de Bouillon’s army, and the

people of Florence preserved a fragment of stone which he is said to

have brought home from the Saviour’s tomb. At one time placed in Sta.

Maria del Fiore, and then in Sant’Apostolo, this stone was used to

strike the sparks from which the tapers were lighted, and in Sta. Maria

del Fiore, during the mass, it set alight the Columbina, a squib in

the shape of a dove, which ignited a cart full of rockets and other

fireworks exploded between the church and baptistery. This cart,

called the Carro de’ Pazzi, drives round a part of the inner town,

and stops at the entrance of the Borgo degli Albizzi, named after the

family, where one of their palaces forms the corner. About the middle

of the twelfth century we meet with the name of the Pazzi in documents;

towards the close they became divided into three principal branches.

In the bloody battle of Montaperti, Jacopo de’ Pazzi bore the banner

of Florence, which, when the traitor Bocca degli Abati hewed his hands

off, he pressed to his breast with the stumps till he sank down dead.

His son Pazzino stood at the head of the Black party in the desolating

party strife which preceded the Roman expedition of the Emperor Henry

of Luxemburg. At the beginning of the fifteenth century the still

flourishing line was strictly aristocratic, and only passed over to the

plebeian families in 1434. This change arose out of the circumstance

that so many of the families hitherto admitted to hold office were

proscribed by being ranked among ‘the great,’ so that Cosimo feared

to increase their numbers and consequently their power. He therefore

caused the old noble families, if they did not exactly oppose him and

his family, to be ranked among the plebeians. Thus it happened with

Andrea de’ Pazzi, who was born in 1372, and with whom the importance

of the family in civic affairs commences. He was already experienced

in embassies, and had treated with Pope John XXIII. When, as has been

already related, King René resided in Florence in 1442, Andrea de’

Pazzi was assigned to him as escort, and obtained the favour of that

prince, who, though neither skilful nor successful in things political

or military, had talents and was amiable. He made Andrea a knight, and

stood godfather to one of his children, who was called Renato after

the King. He erected the beautiful chapel of Sta. Croce and the palace

at the Canto de’ Pazzi, which, rebuilt by his son Jacopo, is still a

monument of a style uniting severity with elegance, and is, moreover,

the witness of an occurrence which has made the name of the family

historical.

Andrea de’ Pazzi left several sons by his wife Caterina Salviati, two

of whom, Piero and Jacopo, played an important part. Piero was one of

the most brilliant and cultivated persons of his time. Niccolò Niccoli,

to whom so many of his countrymen were indebted for mental culture,

roused in him an interest in scholarship. ‘Piero de’ Pazzi,’ relates

Vespasiano da Bisticci,[111] ‘was a most beautiful youth, and pursued

his pleasures without thinking of graver employments, while his father,

a wealthy merchant, who cared little for literature, which he did not

understand, thought to dedicate him to his own pursuits. As he one day

passed the Palazzo del Podestà, Niccolò Niccoli, another Socrates,

saw him. Impressed by his exterior, he called him to him, and asked

whose son he was and what he was doing. The youth, not unaware of the

respect paid to the excellent man, replied that he was the son of

Messer Andrea de’ Pazzi, and passed his time as he best might. Niccolò

continued, “As you are the son of such a highly placed citizen, and

yourself of such favourable appearance, it is a shame that you do not

study Latin literature, which would be a great accomplishment for you.

If you do not learn it, you will reap no honour, and remain without

inward resources when the bloom of youth has vanished.” Piero was

struck, and answered that he would willingly follow the good advice

if Niccolò would procure him a suitable teacher.’ Thus he began his

studies under the guidance of Pontano, and soon made so much progress

that he was a pattern for all the youths in the city. When he went

with the Archbishop of Pisa, Filippo de’ Medici and Buonaccorso

Pitti, in October 1461, to France, to congratulate King Louis XI.

on his accession,[112] he displayed extraordinary pomp and princely

liberality, as well as skill and political address, and he was knighted

by the King. When he returned he met with a brilliant reception. ‘At

his entry,[113] the whole city seemed to rejoice, for he was beloved

by all on account of his kindness and liberality. All the streets

and windows were filled with people who awaited him. He came with a

suite in attire completely new, with costly pearls on their hats and

sleeves. In the memory of man no knight had entered Florence as he did,

which was a great honour for his family. He rode to the palace of the

Signory, dismounted at the great door, and went in to fetch the banner,

like those who returned home as knights. He then mounted again and rode

to the palace of the principal men of the Guelph party, to receive the

party badge. Here Messer Piero Acciaiuoli welcomed him in the presence

of many, with a well-composed speech in the vulgar tongue. Upon this

he received the badge, took the banner in his hand, and rode with a

great suite home again, where for some days open house was kept. If a

reproach could be cast upon him, it was that of excessive liberality.

Only the man who asked for nothing received nothing from him. At the

death of his father it was found that he had spent 12,000 gold florins,

of which there was no account. To be sure, he had spent all, or nearly

all, on things which, according to worldly ideas, sufficed for his

honour and distinction.’

We know that Andrea de’ Pazzi formed a friendship with King René. Piero

attached himself to that king’s son when he came to Florence in 1454.

The connection served Duke John when he made war against the Aragonese,

and the money of Florence and of Florentine citizens, especially of

the Medici and Pazzi, was of great assistance. Had the Angevin been

fortunate, Piero would undoubtedly have become a great lord like Nicola

Acciaiuoli in older times. His friendly connections with Piero de’

Medici led to the marriage of Medici’s daughter Bianca with Guglielmo

de’ Pazzi, Piero’s nephew. Piero attained to the office of Gonfaloniere

in 1462, and died not long afterwards, a little over forty-six years

old. ‘Had he,’ remarks Vespasiano da Bisticci, ‘who surpassed all

his family in good sense, lived longer, they would not have fallen

into the disorders which brought ruin to them and to the city.’ His

brother Jacopo, who was involved in these troubles, was nevertheless

a clever man, and seemed to stand as high in the popular favour as

Piero. After he had administered the office of Gonfaloniere in the

beginning of 1469, the dignity of knighthood was accorded to him by a

public vote, and bestowed on him by Messer Tommaso Soderini. He went

twice as ambassador to the Emperor Frederick III. After his tragical

end, his widow, Maddalena Serristori, retired into the cloister of the

Franciscan nuns of Monticelli, before the Porta Romana. Here also the

veil was taken by Jacopo’s natural daughter Caterina, whose tutor had

been a man who played a sad part in the tragedy of 1478. Caterina,

after her death in 1490, was venerated as a saint. Of Antonio, a third

son of Andrea, who died in 1459, there is not much to say; the three

sons whom Cosa degli Alessandri bore him, Guglielmo, who married Bianca

de’ Medici, Giovanni, whose wife was Beatrice Borromeo, and Francesco,

will often be mentioned again.

In the year 1466, Bianca’s younger sister, Nannina, married Bernardo

Rucellai. His family,[114] which has been supposed to come from

Germany, was called Alamanno. They are first met with in the second

half of the thirteenth century as members of the woollen guild, having

risen to their position by industrial activity, as the name itself

intimates; for Rucellai is nothing but a corruption of Oricellari,

and at the present day one of the streets of a new part of Florence

is called from the Latin name of the turnsole Oricella, or Roccella

Tinctoria. The Florentine tradesman discovered in the East that the

dye of this plant, treated with acids, gives a beautiful violet. The

dyeing-works of Alamanno brought him and his descendants rich gain.

His well-earned wealth was speedily followed by civic honours, and

after 1302 a share in the highest offices of state. The fourteenth

century witnessed the rise and fall of several of the Rucellai, till

they attained the highest respect and great wealth at the beginning

of the fifteenth century. Giovanni Rucellai, the grandson of a man

who had played some part in the times of the Duke of Athens, was born

in 1403. His mother, Caterina Pandolfini, a widow after three years

of wedlock, brought the boy to Palla Strozzi, who assigned him a post

in his bank, and grew so fond of him that he gave him his daughter

Jacopa in marriage when he had attained the age of twenty-four. The

events which expelled Palla and his sons did not leave his son-in-law

unmolested. Though Giovanni Rucellai was not banished, he was excluded

from all offices, and remained out of the administration up to the

last days of Cosimo, when the latter deemed it advisable to procure

adherents in the family he had until then oppressed. This did not,

however, prevent him from increasing his wealth and making use of it

for the general good, in which he was aided by the genius of Leon

Battista Alberti. He completed the marble façade of Sta. Maria Novella,

on which his name may still be read. He erected a chapel near the

church of San Pancrazio, with an exact imitation in marble of the

Saviour’s tomb, as measured and copied by his orders in Jerusalem.

This is still to be seen, though the church has long been disused for

Divine worship. His family palace, already mentioned, in the Via della

Vigna Nuova, with the Loggia opposite, now unfortunately walled up,

is the most graceful example of the transition style from the ancient

severity of the immense freestone façade to the antiquated ornaments

of the Renaissance. He and his son will be mentioned later. The latter

was born in 1448, a few months before Lorenzo de’ Medici, whose

grandfather, by becoming his sponsor, gave public expression to the

reconciliation of the two families. Near relationship, however, could

not make him feel attached to the family whose blood flowed in the

veins of his children.

Thus was Piero de’ Medici’s family composed. Other connections of

equal importance belonged to them. Foremost of all were the two

Soderini, Niccolò and Tommaso.[115] Their ancestors are said to have

been Counts of Gangalandi, and heads of the Ghibelline party, but they

are found as a Florentine plebeian family in the second half of the

twelfth century. They attained importance only 200 years later. Tommaso

Soderini, like so many of his countrymen, spent a great part of his

life in business matters at Papal Avignon, and returned in 1370 to his

home, where, as a member of the magistracy of the Guelph party, he took

so violent a part in the proscriptions, that in the insurrection of

1378 he was one of the first to have his house plundered and burnt. He

went into exile to Tarascon, on the Rhône, but returning home after the

victory of the oligarchy, he again attained to office and influence.

In 1395, seven years before his death, he was Gonfaloniere. His two

sons, Francesco and Lorenzo, went separate ways. Francesco, the son

of Elisabetta Altoviti whom Tommaso had married after his return to

Avignon, passed through the usual career of distinguished Florentines

who attained to civic offices and embassies as soon as they reached

the legal age. One of his missions took him to Mantua to celebrate

the marriage of Ludovico Gonzaga with Barbara of Hohenzollern, the

granddaughter of Frederick I., elector of Brandenburg. Like his father,

he belonged to the party of the Albizzi, and had one of the daughters

of Palla Strozzi as his wife. When Cosimo de’ Medici went into exile he

was one of the magistracy of eight that escorted him to the frontiers.

He was not expelled when the Medici gained the victory, but his

influence was at an end, and he only became Podestà in towns of Umbria

and Romagna, and for a time he lay in prison on suspicion of having

shared in the movements of his partisans. Niccolò da Uzzano destined

him to be the rector of his university, and Donatello has given us his

portrait in one of the statues which are to be seen on the front of

the bell-tower of Sta. Maria.[116] It is the figure standing next to

the church called that of St. John the Baptist, and in its natural free

bearing reminds one of the famous St. George of Or San Michele.

Lorenzo, Tommaso’s other son, passed through a stormy career. Born at

Avignon, of a woman of Auvergne, he endeavoured to cover his want of

legitimacy by the diplomas of a Count Palatine and of Gian Galeazzo

Visconti. After having been enrolled by King Charles V. of France in

an order of knighthood, and married in Florence to Ghilla Cambi, he

conceived the unfortunate idea, after his father’s death, of proving

the legality of his birth and his right to more wealth by means of

forged documents. The severity, of the laws sentenced him to death,

which he suffered in 1405. His two sons, Niccolò and Tommaso, born, the

former in 1401, the latter in 1403, became eager partisans of Cosimo

de’ Medici on the sole ground of hatred of their uncle, to whom they

attributed a participation in the tragical end of their father, and

who took the other side. Niccolò received the dignity of Gonfaloniere

in 1451, Tommaso in 1449 and 1454. The latter, by far the most

distinguished, filled various offices in the provincial towns at an

early age; when thirty-five he sat in the magistracy of the Priori. By

his marriage with Dianora Tornabuoni, Lucrezia’s sister, he was riveted

to the Medicean interests, which no one supported with greater zeal

and success, or with more statesmanlike ability. To no one did Piero

or Lorenzo owe so much as to this man. We have already mentioned other

families with whom the Medici were connected. Further mention will be

made of them in the course of this history.