Lorenzo de' Medici, the Magnificent (vol. 2 of 2)

by Alfred von Reumont

When Lorenzo performed this service for the Pope, a family alliance had already been sealed between them. The course of political events has caused us to lose sight of the
mi pare mettere una gran parte dello honore e fede mia.’
Medici family since the complications and conflicts which sprang from the Pazzi conspiracy. The house in the Via Larga was full of children; besides the three sons, Piero, Giovanni, and Giuliano, there were four blooming daughters, Lucrezia, Maddalena, Luigia, and Contessina. Lucrezia, the eldest of all, was early betrothed to Jacopo Salviati, for the sake of blotting out the memories of 1478. Luigia, the third daughter, was the bride of Giovanni de’ Medici, the younger grandson of Cosimo the Elder’s brother Lorenzo. When the eldest daughter’s marriage took place in 1487, her grandmother was dead. Lucrezia Tornabuoni died on the Feast of the Annunciation, 1482. The loss of his excellent mother was deeply felt by Lorenzo. ‘My reverence for your Excellency,’ he wrote on the same day to the Duchess of Ferrara, Eleonora d’Aragona d’Este,[307] ‘commands me to announce to you the sad and overwhelming event which has this day befallen me, the death of my dearest mother Madonna Lucrezia. It has plunged me in a grief which your Excellency can imagine, for I have lost, not only my mother, but my only refuge amid my many cares and difficulties, the only helper who could aid and counsel me in my many troubles. It is true that we must submit with patience to the will of God, but I have not enough strength of mind to bear such a calamity with calmness. I pray God to send me more composure and comfort, and to grant peace and blessedness to her soul. Your Excellency, towards whom I give free course to my sorrow, will understand the state of mind of your faithful servant, who commends himself to you as heartily as he can.’

It is self-evident that Lorenzo had to consider his peculiar position in planning the future connections of his children as they grew up. He strove to reconcile the political needs of this position with the traditions of the country, which were against foreign marriages. The family alliance which he formed between the Medici and the Cybò has this peculiarity, that in this case, for the first time, the son of a Pope was in some degree recognised and brought on the political stage, the sad beginning of a grievous error in the history of the Popedom. Before the middle of March, 1487, Giovanni Lanfredini went to Rome to arrange preliminaries for a contract of marriage between Lorenzo’s second daughter, Maddalena, and Franceschetto Cybò, son of Innocent VIII.[308] On the 22nd Lorenzo publicly announced ‘the family connection concluded with me by his Holiness.’ The allies, Naples and Milan, had been informed of the negotiations in question. Lorenzo attached especial importance to the king’s approval, because there had once been a project of marriage between Franceschetto and a daughter of Ferrante, and it was not till he had made sure of the latter’s agreement that he formally concluded the contract with Rome, or even discussed the matter with the Florentine magistrates, to whom he submitted it for approval. ‘Our opinion of the illustrious Lorenzo,’ so run Ferrante’s instructions addressed, on May 1, to Trojano de’ Bottuni, who was going as ambassador to Rome, Florence, and Milan,[309] ‘is so firmly established that the whole world could produce no change in us. Wish him joy of the new connection, which, in my opinion, is likely to be no less useful to us than to him; for his influence on the Pope will operate favourably to smooth the misunderstandings between his Holiness and ourselves, and we only regret not having known of the plan earlier that we might immediately have given it our full agreement.’

‘Now may God guide all for the best,’ wrote Lorenzo to the Florentine ambassador at Naples,[310] ‘and give me grace that the thing may benefit ourselves and others, and be for our personal and the general advantage. Such things are wont to be judged by their results more than by the rules of reason.’ And he adds these honourable words: ‘As the king wishes that the new connection shall have no disturbing influence on our alliance, I give my word that this connection shall not make me other than I was; for I have never been so exclusively and passionately interested in my own private affairs as to forget public honour or that which beseems a straightforward and honest man. I believe the king considers me as such, and he may be sure that if the Pope should intend anything that might disturb peace I should be the first to resist him. I know where to seek the foundation of things, and what difficulties arise from the daily events which go on gradually evolving themselves. I think I have with no little trouble, care, and expense proved my devotion to the king, and he may be sure that I shall not sacrifice a substance to a shadow.’

Franceschetto Cybò has left no brilliant name in the history of his father’s pontificate. He is supposed to have been born in 1449 at Naples, where Giambattista Cybò—then only seventeen—was living with his father Arano before taking holy orders. When the father became Pope, Franceschetto had a sister, Teodorina, who married into the Usodimare family of Genoa. The mother’s name and rank are unknown, and of Franceschetto himself nothing is known till the time when he made this sudden appearance on the world’s stage. He naturally was in no want of external honours. He was made governor of Rome and captain-general of the Church; his brother-in-law, Leo X., afterwards gave him the government of Spoleto, and he was made a count of the Empire by the Emperor Frederic. Fiefs were added to his titles. But he was without talent, at once greedy of gain and a careless spendthrift. One night, when taking part in the disorderly doings of some young nobles, he lost 14,000 ducats at play to Cardinal Raffaelle Riario. When the Pope lay in a seemingly hopeless condition, struck by apoplexy, his son tried to get possession of his treasures; the result of which attempt was that the cardinals made an inventory of them and entrusted one of their own college with the care of them, though it was said that Franceschetto had already managed to convey a portion safely to Florence. His bride was still so young that the marriage was put off. In the interval many things happened which might have tempted Lorenzo to change his mind, but for his earnest desire to gain a hold on Rome and his hope of dominating the weak Pope, which was strengthened by the events of 1487.

Only a few weeks after the conclusion of the treaty disputes again arose between the Church and Naples, when Aquila was subdued, the papal governor put to death, and the papal banner torn down. An outbreak of persecution against the barons increased the disagreement, and then the king broke his word to the Pope by denying that either he or his son had consented to pay the actual tribute. The management of benefices went on in the usual arbitrary manner. Innocent saw himself and his authority openly set at naught. In January 1487, the Prince of Salerno, who had quitted the kingdom before the net could be drawn tight round him, arrived at Rome, where he was received with all honours.[311] His report of the proceedings added fuel to the flame. Lodovico il Moro, who was always playing a double game, declared himself unreservedly in opposition to the king—with whom he was nevertheless at that moment treating for the marriage of his nephew Gian Galeazzo—and held out a threat of Venice taking part with the Pope, all of which did not dispose Innocent to regard Ferrante’s conduct calmly. The king soon discovered that his position was one of some danger. On May 1, he sent Trojano de’ Bottuni as envoy-extraordinary to Rome, Florence, and Milan.[312] He was to make the most of the undecided affair of Osimo and the services therein rendered to the Pope; to put prominently forward the danger from the Turks; to explain the king’s financial difficulties caused by the long-continued wars; and to appeal to Lorenzo and Lodovico for support in case of invasion. All this was mere show. If the Pope proved obstinate the ambassador was instructed to explain that the tribute was a formality rather than a contribution of money. The king did not hold himself bound to the Pope, and he had never ratified the consent given to the treaty of peace. Moreover, the conditions of this peace had not been fulfilled by his barons, and after the Pope had brought him into endless difficulties and dangers, he was in nowise minded to weaken his own forces still further in order to elevate his Holiness. As for the Duke of Bari’s threat about Venice, the ambassador might take the opinions of the Florentine Signoria and Lorenzo, and try if possible to obtain a written promise of help. The conduct of the barons had required renewed and severer measures; their discontent greatly astonished the king, as it would only bring trouble on the Pope and the Venetians, and perhaps occasion a more troublesome disaffection than the last. He relied entirely on Florence and Lorenzo; the whole world should not be able to change his opinion of the latter. Gioviano Pontano, the same man who had made the treaty with the Pope, drew up by the king’s orders instructions which repudiated all the obligations undertaken at the peace.

Ferrante was not mistaken in his expectation that Lorenzo would do all in his power to prevent another conflagration; but he was very much mistaken if he believed, as he pretended to believe, that Lorenzo approved of his proceedings. On his return from Sarzana, free at last from that care, Lorenzo spoke out unreservedly his opinion respecting his allies. He must have been angry indeed when he, the true representative of Italian national policy, in his delight at the progress of the French arms against Maximilian in Flanders went so far as to declare that he still hoped to see the king of France lord of all Italy.[313] ‘This shows,’ adds the Ferrarese ambassador, ‘how greatly his Magnificence is put out; may God turn his heart to the best.’ ‘The arrest of the barons,’ reports the same writer, July 11, ‘has greatly displeased not only the illustrious Lorenzo but also the whole city, and it is spoken of to the king’s dishonour.’ The annexation of Genoa to Milan, and the losses of Venice in the war with Archduke Sigismund (so thought the ambassador), would probably incline the Signoria to extreme caution, but Lorenzo’s expressions against Lodovico, whom he regarded as the real disturber of peace, were most violent. If the Duke of Bari continued his crooked policy, Lorenzo believed the end would be that the King of Naples would lay down the law for both Florence and the Pope. If they both acted reasonably they would keep together like their fathers before them and not plunge Italy into danger. Lorenzo said he wished he could go and bury himself for six months in some place where no rumour of Italian affairs could reach his ears.

Lorenzo’s ill-humour and anxiety is displayed in the many letters written by him at this time to Lanfredini. It was necessary, he wrote on July 17,[314] that the Pope should make sure of the attitude of Venice, but at the same time take up a firm position, that he might not be suspected of believing the king’s assurances that his proceedings against the barons had been occasioned by their conduct since the peace; for that suspicion would deprive him of all firm security. Ten days after, he expressed his irritation at the double-dealing of Sforza, who, pressed by the Neapolitan envoy, wrote at the same time letters to his brother the cardinal in favour of the king, and others to his agent in Rome in agreement with the Papal views. The object of Sforza’s apparent partisanship with Ferrante was probably to hinder the latter from forming an alliance with Venice if he saw Florence and Milan arrayed against him. But the first thing to be done was for all the Italian States to stand fast by the Pope and show no wavering. ‘Certainly all desire peace, but I think no one will suffer the Pope to be insulted and oppressed.’

The king’s defence of his proceedings convinced nobody. In the latter half of July, Innocent held a consistory on the condition of affairs in Naples. The whole college of Cardinals agreed with him that the honour of the Holy See no longer permitted him to look on unmoved. Letters were to be written concerning the breach of the treaty to the King of Spain, to Milan and Florence, who had guaranteed its fulfilment. A nuncio was to be sent to Naples to protest, and, in case the barons had recently failed in their duty, to move for proper legal proceedings against them, with the participation of the Pope. Instructions to this effect were drawn up on July 24 for Pietro Vicentino, bishop of Cesena.[315] But the king treated the nuncio in the most unworthy manner.[316] He refused him an audience; and when the bishop, having watched the moment when Ferrante was starting for the chase, stopped him in the doorway and compelled him to listen to his demands, he gained nothing by it. He demanded in the Pope’s name three things; payment of the tribute, abstinence from all unlawful meddling in spiritual affairs, and the cessation of proceedings against the barons. To the first point Ferrante answered that he had no money, having spent everything on the war begun against him by the Pope, so that the latter must still be patient for a few years. To the second, that he knew what persons in the kingdom were fit for benefices, but the Curia did not, and it was sufficient for the Pope to confirm those appointed by the King. Lastly, as to the third point; as the Pope had upon treasonable practices imprisoned Cardinals Colonna and Savelli, and set them free again at his own will and pleasure, so the king had a right to arrest traitorous subjects and let them go again just as he thought good. Thereupon he caused the horns to be blown and rode away to the chase, without even turning to salute the bishop. ‘If I have lately been silent as to the Neapolitan business,’ wrote Lorenzo to Lanfredini on August 10,[317] ‘the reason is not that I have changed my mind, but that I will take no more trouble for nothing. If his Holiness has confidence in me, as you say, it is my duty to regard only his Holiness’s honour. The more I think over the matter, the more I am confirmed in my view, that the Pope must neither yield his rights to the king nor make war upon him. The way to avoid both extremes seems to me to be this: that the Pope should without delay take every measure to maintain his rights as to the question of homage, but on the other hand avoid everything that might lead to a passage of arms or to an interdict. We are not in a fit condition for making war, and the circumstances of Italy in general, as well as those of the States of the Church in especial, will not sustain a shock. An interdict unsupported by arms produces little effect; therefore I think for the present the matter is best left alone. But this would not be the case if the Pope gave in about the tribute, whether by diminishing or remitting the debt; for at this moment it would do no good, and be a clear loss. If the king attaches to this affair the importance he seems to do, then, should a concession be needed, a time more favourable to the Pope’s interests could be found. I do not in the least fear that because the Papal rights are upheld, the king will proceed to a hostile demonstration. He would stand without justification, and others would not support him. This is my opinion, expressed only for the Pope himself; for it is better for our object that I should appear to be persuading him to come to terms with the king. My lord Lodovico and many others hold the same view. If the Pope agrees, he must manage so as not to get me and others into trouble, but wait for time and opportunity.’ The attitude of Venice confirmed Lorenzo still more in his view that Rome must not push matters to an extremity. ‘The Venetians’ answer,’ he wrote on August 31, ‘seems to me to be very vague and gives little response to the confidence placed in the Republic by his Holiness. I think it would be well if the Pope showed some little vexation at it, without exactly taking the thing really amiss, particularly with regard to their war with the Germans, and the defeat and death of my lord Roberto [Sanseverino]. In any case, however, they must be impressed with the king’s power, and the ease with which he could damage the States of the Church, so as to get their views in case of such an event, and find out how far they may be reckoned on. It would at the same time be an opportunity for urging them to peace with the Germans; for, in truth, all sorts of evil fruits arise from their being busy in that quarter; and I think the Pope would do well to exhort the Venetians to make peace, and to support them, that they may regain freedom of action.’

Thus did Lorenzo look to the distant as well as the immediate prospect. But Innocent VIII. was not the man to take up a firm position; he let himself be ruled by momentary impulses. On September 3, Gian Jacopo Trivulzio, loaded with honours by the Pope after the settlement of the Osimo affair, on his return to Milan came to Florence; here he was splendidly received by the foreign ambassadors and many distinguished citizens, with Piero de’ Medici at their head, and lodged in the convent of Sta. Croce. The cardinal of S. Peter in Vinculis was with him. Lorenzo was at Pisa. Trivulzio was commissioned by the Pope to tell him that he trusted entirely to him, and would be guided by him; but if he guided him amiss it would be the ruin of both. And hereupon the Pope broke into violent complaints against the king. But the Milanese captain’s account of Innocent was not such as to strengthen the confidence of the Republic in him. ‘Messer Gian Jacopo,’ wrote the Ferrarese ambassador, ‘tells of the Pope’s faint-heartedness and want of head and spirit, and that he acts after the fashion of an utter simpleton;’ and adds that ‘if somebody does not put a little spirit into him and keep him alive, he will come to a most pitiful end.’ On the 6th the news reached Florence that the king had appealed to the council. Though Innocent regarded the appeal as null, and declared it contrary to Ferrante’s own agreements with his predecessor, still it was believed that the threat would frighten him.[318] This, however, proved a mistake.

About the beginning of the second week in September Lorenzo went from Pisa to the hill-country of Volterra, where he had an estate on the heights that slope down towards the lower part of the Era valley; a district beautifully cultivated, but less fertile than the valley of the Arno. This estate had been during the thirteenth century a settlement of the Hospitaliers of Altopascio, and had thence taken the name of Spedaletto.[319] Here Lorenzo was wont to take the waters of Morba, brought to him daily by messengers on horseback; for Spedaletto was more healthily situated and more convenient for communication. Hither, on September 10, just as he had despatched Francesco Valori with commissions to Naples, recommending him to consult with Lanfredini at Rome, there arrived at his residence a Papal secretary who had vainly sought for him at Pisa. This was Jacopo Gherardi of Volterra, sent by Innocent with secret commissions to Lorenzo and Lodovico.[320] The object of the interview was to draw both, together with Venice, into a formal league against King Ferrante. Lorenzo’s reception of the Pope’s proposals shows that he, who, notwithstanding his friendship and connection with Innocent, had anything but a high opinion of the latter’s political tact and firmness, was anxious not to risk the peace of Italy, attained with so much difficulty. However much he might be angered by Ferrante’s faithlessness and violence, yet the weakness of the Pope, the trickery of Sforza, and the ambition of Venice caused him such grave anxiety that he determined to ward off a new conflict as much as possible. He held to the views expressed to Lanfredini, and warned the Pope against using either his spiritual or temporal power in arms. The Papal treasury was exhausted, the armed force slight, there was no good leader at hand equal to the responsibility, nor would it be easy to find one; the king was prepared, the inhabitants of the States of the Church were not at unity among themselves, and many were discontented. Neither was there harmony in the College of Cardinals. The circumstances of the Pope and his State were not such that he ought to enter on a fresh war; the interests of all the other Italian States demanded peace. As for honour, which in Innocent’s opinion was endangered by the conduct of the king, Lorenzo thought that a Pope’s honour could never be endangered through his defending his rights by means of just protestations, without disturbing the peace of Italy.