Villani's Chronicle / Being Selections from the First Nine Books of the Croniche Fiorentine of Giovanni Villani

by Giovanni Villani

The Sienese and the Florentine refugees, perceiving how ill the Florentines had fared in the assault of so small a number of German horsemen, considered that if they had a greater number thereof, they would be victorious in the war. Immediately they provided themselves with money, procuring from the company of the Salimbeni, which were merchants of those days, 20,000 florins of gold, and gave them in pledge the fortress of Tentennana and several more castles of the commonwealth, and sent their ambassadors again into Apulia with the said money to King Manfred, saying how his few German followers by their great vigour and valour had undertaken to assail the whole host of the Florentines, and had turned a great part thereof to flight; but if they had been more, they would have had the victory; but by reason of their small number, they had all been left upon the field, and his standard had been dragged about and insulted in the camp and in Florence and round about. And beside this they plied the best reasons they knew to move Manfred, who, having heard the tidings, was wrath, and with the money of the Sienese, who paid half the charges for three months, and at his own cost, sent into Tuscany Count Giordano, his marshal, with 800 German horsemen, to go with the said ambassadors; who reached Siena in the end of July, the year of Christ 1260, and by the Sienese were received with great rejoicing, and they and all the Ghibellines of Tuscany drew thence great vigour and courage. And when they were come to Siena, immediately the Sienese sent forth their host against the castle of Montalcino, which was under the commands of the commonwealth of Florence, and sent for aid to the Pisans and to all the Ghibellines of Tuscany, so that, what with the horsemen of Siena and the Florentine refugees, and the Germans and their allies, there were found 1,800 horsemen in Siena, whereof the greater part were Germans.

§ 77.—How the Ghibelline refugees from Florence prepared to deceive the commonwealth and people of Florence, and cause them to be betrayed.

1260 a.d.

The Florentine refugees, by whose embassy and deed King Manfred had sent Count Giordano with 800 German horsemen, thought within themselves that they had done nothing if they could not draw the Florentines out into the field, inasmuch as the aforesaid Germans were not paid save for three months, and already more than one month and a half of this had passed, since their coming, nor had they more money wherewith to pay them, nor did they look for any from Manfred; and should the time for which they had been paid pass by without having done aught, they would return into Apulia, to the great peril of the state. They reasoned that this could not be contrived without skill and subtlety of war, which business was committed to M. Farinata degli Uberti and M. Gherardo Ciccia de' Lamberti. These subtly chose out two wise minor friars as their messengers to the people of Florence, and first caused them to confer with nine of the most powerful men of Siena, who made endless show to the said friars that the government of Messer Provenzano Salvani was displeasing to them, who was the greatest of the citizens of Siena, and that they would willingly yield Purg. xi. 109-142. up the city to the Florentines in return for 10,000 florins of gold, and that they were to come with a great host, under guise of fortifying Montalcino, as far as the river Arbia; and then they with their own forces, and with those of their followers, would give up to the Florentines the gate of Santo Vito, which is on the road to Arezzo. The friars, under this deceit and treachery, came to Florence with letters and seals from the aforesaid, and were brought before the Ancients of the people, and proposed to them means whereby they might do great things for the honour of the people and commonwealth of Florence; but the thing was so secret that it must under oath be revealed to but few. Then the Ancients chose from among themselves Spedito di Porte San Piero, a man of great vigour and boldness, and one of the principal leaders of the people, and with him Messer Gianni Calcagni, of Vacchereccia; and when they had sworn upon the altar, the friars unfolded the said plot, and showed the said letters. The said two Ancients, who showed more eagerness than judgment, gave faith to the plot; and immediately the said 10,000 golden florins were procured, and were deposited, and a council was assembled of magnates and people, and they represented that of necessity it behoved to send a host to Siena to strengthen Montalcino, greater than the one sent in May last to Santa Petronella. The nobles of the great Guelf houses of Florence, and Count Guido Guerra, which was with them, not knowing of the pretended plot, and knowing more of war than the popolani did, being aware of the new body of German troops which was come to Siena, and of the sorry show which the people made at Santa Petronella when the hundred Germans attacked them, considered the enterprise not to be without great peril. And also esteeming the citizens to be divided in mind, and ill disposed to raise another host, they gave wise counsel, that it were best that the host should not go forth at present, for the reasons aforesaid; and also they showed how for little cost Montalcino could be fortified, and how the men of Orvieto were prepared to fortify it, and alleged that the said Germans had pay only for three months, and had already served for half the time, and by giving them play enough, without raising a host, shortly they would be scattered, and would return into Apulia; and the Sienese and the Florentine refugees would be left in worse plight than they were before. And the spokesman for them all was M. Tegghiaio Aldobrandi degli Adimari, a wise knight and valiant in arms, and of great Inf. vi. 79. xvi. 40-42. authority, and he counselled the better course in full. His counsel ended, the aforesaid Spedito, the Ancient, a very presumptuous man, rudely replied, bidding him to look to his breeches if he was afraid; and M. Tegghiaio replied that at the pinch he would not dare to follow him into the battle where he would lead; and these words ended, next uprose M. Cece de Gherardini to say the same that Messer Tegghiaio had said. The Ancients commanded him not to speak, and the penalty was 100 pounds if any one held forth contrary to the command of the Ancients. The knight was willing to pay it, so that he might oppose the going; but the Ancients would not have it, rather they made the penalty double; again he desired to pay, and so it reached 300 pounds; and when he yet wanted to speak and to pay, the command was that his head should be forfeit; and there it stopped. But, through the proud and heedless people, the worse counsel won the day, that the said host should proceed immediately and without delay.

§ 78.—How the Florentines raised an army to fortify Montalcino, and were discomfited by Count Giordano and by the Sienese at Montaperti.

1260 a.d.

The people of Florence having taken the ill resolve to raise an army, craved assistance from their friends, which came with foot soldiers and with horse, from Lucca, and Bologna, and Pistoia, and Prato, and Volterra, and Samminiato, and Sangimignano, and from Colle di Valdelsa, which were in league with the commonwealth and people of Florence; and in Florence there were 800 horsemen of the citizens and more than 500 mercenaries. And the said people being assembled in Florence, the host set forth in the end of August, and for pomp and display they led out the carroccio, and a bell, which they called Martinella, on a car with a wooden tower on wheels, and there went out nearly all the people with the banners of the guilds, and there did not remain a house or a family in Florence which went not forth on foot or on horseback, at least one for each house, and for some two or more, according to their power. And when they found themselves in the territory of Siena, at the place agreed upon, on the river Arbia, at the place called Montaperti, with the men of Perugia and of Orvieto, which there joined with the Florentines, there were gathered together more than 3,000 horse and more than 30,000 foot. And whilst the host of the Florentines was thus preparing, the aforesaid framers of the plot, which were in Siena, in order that it might be the more fully accomplished, sent to Florence certain other friars to hatch treason with certain Ghibelline magnates and popolani which had not been exiled from Florence, and would therefore have to join the general muster of the army. With these, then, they plotted that when they were drawn up for battle, they should from divers quarters flee from their companies, and repair to their own party, to confound the Florentine army. And this plot they made because they seemed to themselves to be but few in comparison with the Florentines; and so it was done.

Now it happened that when the said host was on the hills of Montaperti, those sage Ancients who were leading the host, and had managed the negotiations, were awaiting the opening of the promised gate by the traitors from within. A magnate from among the people, a Florentine from the gate of S. Piero, which was a Ghibelline, and was named Razzante, having heard something of the expectation of the Florentine host, was commissioned by consent of the Ghibellines in the camp which were meditating the treason, to enter Siena; whereupon he fled on horseback from the camp to make known to the Florentine refugees how the city of Siena was to be betrayed, and how the Florentines were well equipped, and with great strength of horse and foot, and to urge those within not to advise battle. And when he was come unto Siena, and these things had been disclosed to the said M. Farinata and M. Gherardo, the plotters, they said thus to him: "Thou wilt slay us, if thou spreadest this news throughout Siena, inasmuch as fear will fall upon every man, but we desire that thou shouldest say the contrary; for if we do not fight while we have these Germans we are dead men, and shall never return to Florence, and for us death and defeat would be better than to crawl about the world any longer:" and their counsel was to try the fortune of battle. Razzante, instructed by these two aforesaid, determined and promised to speak thus; and with a garland on his head, on horseback with the said two, showing great gladness, he came to the parliament to the palace where were all the people of Siena and the Germans and other allies; and then, with a joyful countenance, he told great news from the Ghibelline party and the traitors in camp, how the host was ill-ordered and ill-led, and disunited, and that if they attacked them boldly, they would certainly be discomfited. And Razzante having made his false report, at the cry of the people they all moved to arms, calling out: "Battle, battle." The Germans demanded a promise of double pay, and this was given them; and their troop led the attack from the gate of San Vito, which was to have been given over to the Florentines; and the other horse and foot sallied out after them. When those among the host which were expecting that the gate should be given to them saw the Germans and the other horse and foot sally forth towards them from Siena in battle array, they marvelled greatly, and were sore dismayed, seeing their sudden approach and unlooked-for attack; and they were the more dismayed that many Ghibellines who were in the host, both on horse and foot, beholding the enemy's troops approaching, fled from divers quarters, as the treason had been ordered; and among them were the della Pressa and they of the Abati, and many others. But the Florentines and their allies did not on this account neglect to array their troops, and await the battle; and when the German troop violently charged the troop of Florentine horse (where was the standard of the cavalry of the commonwealth, which was borne by M. Jacopo del Nacca, a man of great valour, of the house of the Pazzi in Florence), that traitor of a M. Bocca degli Abati, which Inf. xxxii. 78-111. was in his troop and near to him, struck the said M. Jacopo with his sword, and cut off the hand with which he held the standard, and immediately he died. And this done, the horsemen and people, beholding the standard fallen, and that there were traitors among them, and that they were so strongly assailed by the Germans, in a short time were put to flight. But because the horsemen of Florence first perceived the treason, there were but thirty-six men of name of the cavalry slain and taken. But the great mortality and capture was of the foot soldiers of Florence, and of Lucca, and of Orvieto, because they shut themselves up in the castle of Montaperti, and were all taken; but more than 2,500 of them were left dead upon the field, and more than Inf. x. 85-87. 1,500 were taken captive of the best of the people of Florence, from every house, and of Lucca, and of the other allies which were in the said battle. And thus was abased the arrogance of the ungrateful and proud people of Florence. And this was on a Tuesday, the 4th day of September, in the year of Christ 1260; and there was left the carroccio and the bell called Martinella, with an untold amount of booty, of the baggage pertaining to the Florentines and their allies. And thus was routed and destroyed the ancient Popolo of Florence, which had continued in so many victories and in great lordship and state for ten years.

§ 79.—How the Guelfs of Florence, after the said discomfiture, departed from Florence and went to Lucca.

1260 a.d.