The exiles invaded Tuscany, but were beaten; Strozzi was made prisoner at Montemurlo, together with Bacio Valori, and they were taken to Florence mounted on miserable peasants’ horses in August, 1537. Filippo was immured in the fortress of S. Giovan Battista (now Fortezza del Basso), for which but four years before he had advanced the funds to Clement VII. He was put on the rack, but no avowal of guilt was wrung from him; so his friend Giuliano Gondi was tortured, and his confession—or what purported to be his confession—was sent to the Emperor Charles V. and an order obtained from him to give up Filippo Strozzi to the Duke Cosimo. On the morning of the 18th December, 1538, he was found dead in his prison, but how he came by his death was never known. The anonymous writer who finished the biography begun by his brother Lorenzo, states as a fact that he killed himself with a sword left by chance by one of his guards, and gives a document which he says was found in the prison in his handwriting. Three contemporary chroniclers state that he was beheaded, and Segni adds: “His body was never seen; nor was it ever known where he was buried.” It was generally believed that he had killed himself when he knew that he was to be delivered into the hands of the executioner. Signor Bigazzi gives a facsimile of two epitaphs in Filippo’s handwriting, one to be used “In my own country, if in these times it shall be permitted,” consisting of these few proud words:
Philippo Strozzae.
Satis hoc; caetera norunt omnes;
the other, also in Latin, “for a cenotaph in some foreign city,” gives us his opinion of himself.
“To Filippo Strozzi, by far the most illustrious of all Tuscans in nobility, learning and wealth; who, when Rome was sacked by the Imperial forces, and Pope Clement was besieged therein, restored his country, then reduced to base slavery, to liberty. Ten years afterwards, when again opposing resuscitated despotism, he was taken prisoner at the castle of Montemurlo, and soon after cruelly put to death. His seven surviving sons placed this monument to his memory amid the tears of all good men. The tyrant did not blush to buy his blood at a vast price, for he could find no means of remaining in security while so powerful an enemy lived. But Liberty, knowing well that all her hopes fell with him, willed to be buried in the same tomb. Pour forth then, stranger, abundant tears if the Florentine Republic is aught to thee; for thou wilt never have cause to mourn the loss of a greater citizen. He lived forty-eight years, ... months, ... days. His last words were, ‘It is sweet to die by whatsoever death for one’s country.’”
Filippo’s supposed will was commonly reported to have been written by Pierfrancesco of Prato, who had been tutor to Duke Cosimo, and was devoted to his interests.
The anonymous writer before mentioned gives the following description of the great banker: “Filippo was tall of stature, and of a cheerful and pleasing countenance; sallow of complexion, agile, and made more for a life of action than for one of repose. No one was more agreeable in manner, in gesture, deed and word; he was extremely affable, almost always smiling when he first met people. His step was extraordinarily rapid, and when his friends remarked upon it he would say nothing was so irksome to him as loss of time, and that he did not see why, when he could go quickly from place to place, he should go slowly. When he could pass a day according to his fancy he was wont to divide it into three portions; one he gave to his studies, one to his private concerns, and one to his pleasures.... He was more inclined to pleasure than was perhaps fitting, not only from inclination, but to adapt himself to the wishes of his superiors and friends. When he was at any public or private assembly where there were ladies, he would lightly fall in love, for he was much inclined to the society of women; attaching himself rather to those remarkable for elegance and grace of manner than to those who were merely beautiful in feature. He was exceedingly fond of music, sang well and accurately, and was not ashamed to sing the penitential psalms at night in public together with his brother Lorenzo and others such on holidays. He took much pleasure also in composing in our own tongue both in prose and verse, as may be seen by the translations and madrigals of his which are sung at the present day. He was sumptuous in dress; as much so as any other man in the city. He delighted in travel, and in seeing new manners and people, but his many and various affairs did not permit him to indulge this desire. To sum up his character in one word, those who were acquainted with literature thought that he had never given his attention to other things; while those who had business relations with him, and knew in how masterly a fashion he conducted his affairs, could not easily be persuaded that he ever attended to other matters; whilst those who knew him as a man of pleasure could scarcely believe that he found time for aught else.”
Filippo’s son, Piero Strozzi, went to Barcelona to plead the cause of the exiles before Charles V., and after their disastrous defeat at Montemurlo and his father’s murder, entered the service of Francis I., who created him Lord of Belleville and a knight of S. Michael. When the Marquess Del Vasto was beaten by the Conte d’Enghien in 1544 at Ceresole, Piero Strozzi attempted to seize Milan. Failing in this, he crossed the Po at Piacenza, and fought his way down to Serravalle, but had to retire into Piedmont, where he besieged and took the town of Alba. He was recalled to France in 1545, when he fought against the English, and the following year he joined the Protestant army in Germany against Charles V. Later he took part with the Duc de Guise in defending Metz, when besieged by the Emperor. On the Sienese appealing to Francis I. for help against Duke Cosimo I. backed by Charles V., Strozzi rushed to their assistance armed with full powers from the King, who made him a Marshal of France. When Siena was forced to capitulate Piero, who knew that Duke Cosimo had offered a large reward for his head, fled in disguise, but returned to Italy in 1556, sent by Henry II. to the aid of Pope Paul IV. against the Emperor. After the battle of St. Quintin in the Netherlands, where the Spaniards gained a decisive victory, Strozzi was recalled to France, and assisted at the taking of Calais by the Duc de Guise. Two years later he was killed at the siege of Thionville.
His brother Leone, Prior of Capua, went to Malta, where he became a Knight of the Order and Captain of the galleys. He fought with distinction under Andrea Doria, and in 1541 entered the service of Francis I., whose rivalry with the Emperor Charles V., patron of the Medici, gave him hopes of revenging the murder of his father and of liberating Tuscany from the yoke of a family he hated. In 1547 Leone fought against England, and is said to have been the first European admiral to sail through the Straits of Gibraltar. Four years later after vainly trying to force Andrea Doria to fight, he drove his fleet from the coasts of France, and setting sail for Barcelona, captured several of the enemy’s ships within sight of shore. Discovering that the Connetable Anne de Montmorency was intriguing against him, Leone sent back his standard to the King and, breaking the chains which closed the port of Marseilles, sailed back to Malta, where he planned the fortifications of S. Elmo and S. Michael. When the Sienese rose against Cosimo I. he re-entered the service of France and, summoned by his brother Piero, preceded the fleet with three swift galleys and landed at Scarlino on the coast of Tuscany, where he was killed whilst reconnoitring.
The noble palace belongs to Prince Piero Strozzi, head of the family; as in 1568 Cosimo I. restored to the Cardinal Lorenzo Strozzi and his nephew Leone the half of the building confiscated by the State when Filippo Strozzi rebelled.[97]