Lives of the early Medici

by Unknown

Piero de’ Medici.[100]

S. John’s Day (24th June) is still a great holiday in Florence. The cathedral and the baptistery are illuminated, and fireworks (the scaffoldings for which used to be erected on the Ponte della Carraja until the tramway took possession of the bridge) are now let off on the Piazza Michelangelo. An old chronicler writes: “On the day of S. John, the patron saint of the city, and on the vigil thereof, not only are there infinite demonstrations of spiritual joy, but everything that can be done in such a city is done to show temporal happiness and gaiety. Swift horses called Barberi race in public for a palio, or banner, of cloth of gold lined with precious fur. Merchants display untold riches in gold, jewels, pearls, and money, and in cloth of gold, silks, and woollen goods of incredible value. There are illuminations, bonfires, and fireworks, both public and private, and the whole city is given over to rejoicing. Among other diversions is jousting. This is a game played by men clothed in the richest damasks and costumes and varied liveries, according to the costumes and liveries of their families, who place themselves in proper order in the field (having first triumphantly escorted an emperor in a gilded car, with a fine and noble procession of kings, dukes, marquesses, counts, soldiers, and baggage waggons), on splendidly caparisoned horses, well trained to race. First they race in the public squares, and then in certain places set apart for breakneck exercises they break lances with no small dexterity.”

On that day also the Signori, surrounded by their attendants, and the soldiers and trumpeters of the Commune, sat on the ringhiera[101] of the Palazzo Vecchio, in their magnificent official costumes, which must have been rather trying in hot summer weather. The Gonfalonier was clad in a long loose crimson velvet coat lined with ermine and embroidered with golden stars; his berretta, or cap, was turned up with ermine and trimmed with gold lace, pearls, and silver embroidery, like the rays of stars. The crimson coats of cloth worn by the Priors were also lined with ermine, and had ermine collars and cuffs, and they wore a large red berretta or a hood. The Podestà dressed like the Priors, but without a hood; the Preposto’s coat was of black satin, and his lucco of black velvet was lined with satin of various colours, and he always wore a hood. Seated thus in state, the Signori received tribute from all the cities, castles, and villages that were under their rule or protection.

Dati enlarges on the magnificent and marvellous aspect of the Piazza della Signoria, “with one hundred towers, which shone like gold, some on waggons, some borne on the shoulders of men. These last, made of wood, pasteboard, and coloured wax figures, are called tapers (ceri). Inside the towers are men, who cause these figures to move and to turn round. They represented horsemen tilting, foot-soldiers with spears or waving banners, and girls dancing in a ring. Near and around the ringhiera hung a hundred or more palii or banners, their staves being stuck into the iron rings on the walls. First were those of the chief cities who send tribute to the Commune, as Pisa, Arezzo, Pistoja, Volterra, Cortona, Lucignano, and Castiglione Aretino, and of certain lords of Poppi and Piombino, who are under the protection of the Commune, made of thick velvet, lined with satin or with silk; the rest are of strips of thinner velvet, or of other cloth or silk; so that the sight is truly marvellous. The first offering in the morning is made by the Captains of the Guelph party, with all their knights and gentlemen, and ambassadors and foreign knights who accompany them, and a great number of the most honourable citizens of Florence; the great banner of the Guelph party being borne before them by one of their followers on a tall horse, caparisoned in white cloth embroidered with the device of the Guelph party. Then followed the afore-mentioned palii, or banners, each one carried by a man on horseback, and both man and horse are clothed in silk. One after another they go in the order in which they were called to offer the said palii to the church of S. Giovanni, which are the tributes paid by the places conquered by the Florentines.

“The ceri, or tapers, which resemble golden towers, are the tributes of the most ancient possessions of the Florentines, and according to their rank they proceed one after another to offer them to S. Giovanni, and the next day the tapers are all stuck up round the inside of the church where they remain until the next feast-day, when they are removed and used for the altars, and some are sold by auction. After the tapers a marvellous quantity of large wax candles are offered, some of a hundred pounds weight, some of fifty or less, carried by the peasants belonging to the villas from whence they are sent. Then the Masters of the Mint offer a splendid taper, borne on a richly adorned car drawn by a pair of oxen whose loin-cloths bear the device of the Mint, and the said Masters are accompanied by about four hundred venerable men, all matriculated in and belonging to the Guild of Cloth-weavers. The last to make offerings are the Signori, the Priors, and their colleagues, with the Podestà and the Captain, in great pomp with many servants, and so many instruments, fifes and trumpets, that the whole world seemed to resound. After the Signori had left, all the horses that have come for the race are presented, and then the Flemings and Brabanters—weavers of woollen cloth—who are in Florence make their offering; and lastly, twelve prisoners, delivered from gaol for love of God in honour of S. Giovanni, are offered to him. When all this has been done, men and women return home to dine, and in all the city that day are so many marriages and great banquets, with innumerable fifes, music, songs, dances, and gaiety, that it seemed as though the place was Paradise.”

In 1466 Piero sent Lorenzo, then eighteen years of age, to Rome on a mission of great moment both politically and commercially. Perhaps the most important part of the private business was to secure from the Pope a monopoly of working the alum mines discovered not many years before in the short range of volcanic hills lying round the little village of La Tolfa (Tofa), about eleven miles due west of Civita Vecchia and within the Pope’s dominions. A few deposits of alum had been known and partially worked in Europe, i.e. at Volterra and Ischia: but for all practical purposes almost all the alum used in Christendom came from Asia Minor, and the supply was always inferior to the increasing demand. A certain Giovanni di Castro prospecting among the hills round La Tolfa found what he believed to be an inexhaustible supply, “seven hills of alum.” Castro made sure of his find by calcinating the stone. He then hastened to Rome, appeared before the Pope, and somewhat grandiloquently announced his discovery. “I make known to you a victory over the Turk. He draws yearly from the Christians more than 300,000 pieces of gold, paid to him for the alum with which we dye wool of various colours, because none is found in Italy, save a little at Ischia.... I have found seven hills so abounding in alum that they might supply seven worlds. If you will send workmen, cause furnaces to be built and the stone to be calcined, you may furnish almost all Europe, and what money the Turk used to acquire will fall into your hands.” The Holy See made haste to secure the newly-found treasure, and in order to have a monopoly in the sale the Pope excommunicated every one who tried to import alum into Europe from the Turkish dominions. So determined were the Popes to maintain what in modern language would be called their “corner in alum,” that in the proclamation of Indulgences it was always expressly declared that the pardon promised did not include those who imported alum into Europe from the Turkish dominions.

Such a deposit needed capital to work it properly and the Holy See farmed out the monopoly, protected by excommunication, to a firm of capitalists. Young Lorenzo was instructed to secure, and did obtain, this very valuable concession for his family. Hereafter the profits of the monopoly of alum were a source of great wealth to the Medici.

The political problem, overshadowing all others, entrusted to the youthful Lorenzo was the maintenance of the league between the King of Naples, Milan, and Florence. This was the keystone of Piero’s foreign policy. He believed it to be essential to the balance of power and the preservation of peace in the peninsula. The alliance received an almost deadly blow in the somewhat sudden death of Francesco Sforza, the Duke of Milan, and Piero’s fears are reflected in the despairing letters he wrote to his son. The league between the three powers survived the shock. Francesco Sforza’s son Galeazzo was, after some little delay, universally recognised as his father’s successor, and the foreign policy of Piero de’ Medici was maintained.

But the note of despair in Piero’s letters was probably occasioned by a presentiment of what might, and what actually did, occur within Florence herself. As has been said, many of the hitherto strenuous supporters of the Medici within the Republic were inclined to revolt against the continuance of their rule, and the death of Francesco Sforza furnished the occasion for testing their strength. It had been part of Cosimo’s foreign policy to support Sforza at Milan by a subsidy from the Florentine treasury. On his death the question was at once raised whether the grant was to be continued to his successor Galeazzo. Piero supported its continuance. It was part of the Triple Alliance and an essential portion of his foreign policy. Yet it was also capable of being represented as something which concerned only the internal affairs of the city. This was at once seized upon by Luca Pitti and Diotisalvi Neroni. We see all these fears reflected in the letters of Piero to Lorenzo while the latter was at Rome.

The letter from Luigi Pulci shows how the young Lorenzo was already recognised as one of the foremost citizens of Florence and the future lord of the city, round whom aspiring men desired to rally. Pulci had been banished from Florence and was in hiding on account of his brother’s debts for which he had become surety.