[80] For an account of the Consuls of the Sea, see Pisa, “Mediæval Towns.” Dent, London, 1909.
[81] A piece torn out of the letter.
[82] Arch. Med. ante Prin., Filza ii. No. 546.
[83] Cosmi Vita, op. cit. ii. 246.
[84] A monastery built by Cosimo not far from Cafaggiuolo, in the forest.
[85] Cosmi Vita, &c., op. cit. ii. 251.
[86] Epistole Marsilii Ficini Florentini. XV Decembris MCCCCXXXXIIII. Florentiæ.
PIERO DI COSIMO DE’ MEDICI
(1416-1469)
Pietro, or, as he was commonly called, Piero de’ Medici, was forty-eight when his father died in 1464, and had neither the moral nor the physical strength necessary for his position. He was a martyr to gout, from whence his surname il Gottoso. Kindly and indolent by nature, he could be stern, terse, and eloquent when roused, and his political insight was keen. The commencement of his reign, if one may use the word, was unfortunate. Cosimo on his deathbed had recommended his son to consult Diotisalvi Neroni, and to follow his advice. The shrewd old man had been singularly deceived in his estimate of the character of the man he bade Piero take as his right hand. Machiavelli’s account of the conspiracy which so nearly wrecked the power of the house of Medici is as follows: