History of Florence and of the Affairs of Italy

every noble with his relations and friends defended himself against

  the forces of the Priors and the Capitano. To remedy this evil, the

  leaders of the Arts' companies ordered that every Signory at the time

  of entering upon the duties of office should appoint a Gonfalonier of

  Justice, chosen from the people, and place a thousand armed men at his

  disposal divided into twenty companies of fifty men each, and that he,

  with his gonfalon or banner and his forces, should be ready to enforce

  the execution of the laws whenever called upon, either by the Signors

  themselves or the Capitano. The first elected to this high office was

  Ubaldo Ruffoli. This man unfurled his gonfalon, and destroyed the

  houses of the Galletti, on account of a member of that family having

  slain one of the Florentine people in France. The violent animosities

  among the nobility enabled the companies of the Arts to establish this

  law with facility; and the former no sooner saw the provision which

  had been made against them than they felt the acrimonious spirit with

  which it was enforced. At first it impressed them with greater terror,

  but they soon after returned to their accustomed insolence, for one or

  more of their body always making part of the Signory, gave them

  opportunities of impeding the Gonfalonier, so that he could not

  perform the duties of his office. Besides this, the accuser always

  required a witness of the injury he had received, and no one dared to

  give evidence against the nobility. Thus in a short time Florence

  again fell into the same disorders as before, and the tyranny

  exercised against the people was as great as ever; for the decisions

  of justice were either prevented or delayed, and sentences were not

  carried into execution.

  In this unhappy state, the people not knowing what to do, Giano della

  Bella, of a very noble family, and a lover of liberty, encouraged the

  heads of the Arts to reform the constitution of the city; and by his

  advice it was ordered that the Gonfalonier should reside with the

  Priors, and have four thousand men at his command. They deprived the

  nobility of the right to sit in the Signory. They condemned the

  associates of a criminal to the same penalty as himself, and ordered

  that public report should be taken as evidence. By these laws, which

  were called the ordinations of justice, the people acquired great

  influence, and Giano della Bella not a small share of trouble; for he

  was thoroughly hated by the great, as the destroyer of their power,

  while the opulent among the people envied him, for they thought he

  possessed too great authority. This became very evident upon the first

  occasion that presented itself.

  It happened that a man from the class of the people was killed in a

  riot, in which several of the nobility had taken a part, and among the

  rest Corso Donati, to whom, as the most forward of the party, the

  death was attributed. He was, therefore, taken by the captain of the

  people, and whether he was really innocent of the crime or the

  Capitano was afraid of condemning him, he was acquitted. This

  acquittal displeased the people so much, that, seizing their arms,

  they ran to the house of Giano della Bella, to beg that he would

  compel the execution of those laws which he had himself made. Giano,

  who wished Corso to be punished, did not insist upon their laying down

  their arms, as many were of opinion he ought to have done, but advised

  them to go to the Signory, complain of the fact, and beg that they

  would take it into consideration. The people, full of wrath, thinking

  themselves insulted by the Capitano and abandoned by Giano della

  Bella, instead of going to the Signory went to the palace of the

  Capitano, of which they made themselves masters, and plundered it.

  This outrage displeased the whole city, and those who wished the ruin

  of Giano laid the entire blame upon him; and as in the succeeding

  Signory there was an enemy of his, he was accused to the Capitano as

  the originator of the riot. While the case was being tried, the people

  took arms, and, proceeding to his house, offered to defend him against

  the Signory and his enemies. Giano, however, did not wish to put this

  burst of popular favor to the proof, or trust his life to the

  magistrates, for he feared the malignity of the latter and the

  instability of the former; so, in order to remove an occasion for his

  enemies to injure him, or his friends to offend the laws, he

  determined to withdraw, deliver his countrymen from the fear they had

  of him, and, leaving the city which at his own charge and peril he had

  delivered from the servitude of the great, become a voluntary exile.

  After the departure of Giano della Bella the nobility began to

  entertain hopes of recovering their authority; and judging their

  misfortune to have arisen from their divisions, they sent two of their

  body to the Signory, which they thought was favorable to them, to beg

  they would be pleased to moderate the severity of the laws made

  against them. As soon as their demand became known, the minds of the

  people were much excited; for they were afraid the Signors would

  submit to them; and so, between the desire of the nobility and the

  jealousy of the people, arms were resorted to. The nobility were drawn

  together in three places: near the church of St. John, in the New

  Market, and in the Piazza of the Mozzi, under three leaders, Forese

  Adimari, Vanni de Mozzi, and Geri Spini. The people assembled in

  immense numbers, under their ensigns, before the palace of the

  Signory, which at that time was situated near St. Procolo; and, as

  they suspected the integrity of the Signory, they added six citizens

  to their number to take part in the management of affairs.

  While both parties were preparing for the fight, some individuals, as

  well of the people as of the nobility, accompanied by a few priests of

  respectable character, mingled among them for the purpose of effecting

  a pacification, reminding the nobility that their loss of power, and

  the laws which were made against them, had been occasioned by their

  haughty conduct, and the mischievous tendency of their proceedings;

  that resorting to arms to recover by force what they had lost by

  illiberal measures and disunion, would tend to the destruction of

  their country and increase the difficulties of their own position;

  that they should bear in mind that the people, both in riches,

  numbers, and hatred, were far stronger than they; and that their

  nobility, on account of which they assumed to be above others, did not

  contribute to win battles, and would be found, when they came to arms,

  to be but an empty name, and insufficient to defend them against so

  many. On the other hand, they reminded the people that it is not

  prudent to wish always to have the last blow; that it is an

  injudicious step to drive men to desperation, for he who is without

  hope is also without fear; that they ought not to forget that in the

  wars the nobility had always done honor to the country, and therefore

  it was neither wise nor just to pursue them with so much bi
tterness;

  and that although the nobility could bear with patience the loss of

  the supreme magistracy, they could not endure that, by the existing

  laws, it should be in the power of everyone to drive them from their

  country; and, therefore, it would be well to qualify these laws, and,

  in furtherance of so good a result, be better to lay down their arms

  than, trusting to numbers, try the fortune of a battle; for it is

  often seen that the many are overcome by the few. Variety of opinion

  was found among the people; many wished to decide the question by arms

  at once, for they were assured it would have to be done some time, and

  that it would be better to do so then than delay till the enemy had

  acquired greater strength; and that if they thought a mitigation of

  the laws would satisfy them, that then they would be glad to comply,

  but that the pride of the nobility was so great they would not submit

  unless they were compelled. To many others, who were more peaceable

  and better disposed, it appeared a less evil to qualify the laws a

  little than to come to battle; and their opinion prevailing, it was

  provided that no accusation against the nobility could be received

  unless supported with sufficient testimony.

  Although arms were laid aside, both parties remained full of

  suspicion, and each fortified itself with men and places of strength.

  The people reorganized the government, and lessened the number of its

  officers, to which measure they were induced by finding that the

  Signors appointed from the families, of which the following were the

  heads, had been favorable to the nobility, viz.: the Mancini,

  Magalotti, Altoviti, Peruzzi, and Cerretani. Having settled the

  government, for the greater magnificence and security of the Signory,

  they laid the foundation of their palace; and to make space for the

  piazza, removed the houses that had belonged to the Uberti; they also

  at the same period commenced the public prisons. These buildings were

  completed in a few years; nor did our city ever enjoy a greater state

  of prosperity than in those times: filled with men of great wealth and

  reputation; possessing within her walls 30,000 men capable of bearing

  arms, and in the country 70,000, while the whole of Tuscany, either as

  subjects or friends, owed obedience to Florence. And although there

  might be some indignation and jealousy between the nobility and the

  people, they did not produce any evil effect, but all lived together

  in unity and peace. And if this peace had not been disturbed by

  internal enmities there would have been no cause of apprehension

  whatever, for the city had nothing to fear either from the empire or

  from those citizens whom political reasons kept from their homes, and

  was in condition to meet all the states of Italy with her own forces.

  The evil, however, which external powers could not effect, was brought

  about by those within.

  CHAPTER IV

  The Cerchi and the Donati--Origin of the Bianca and Nera factions

  in Pistoia--They come to Florence--Open enmity of the Donati and

  the Cerchi--Their first conflict--The Cerchi head the Bianca

  faction--The Donati take part with the Nera--The pope's legate at

  Florence increases the confusion with an interdict--New affray

  between the Cerchi and the Donati--The Donati and others of the

  Nera faction banished by the advice of Dante Alighieri--Charles of

  Valois sent by the pope to Florence--The Florentines suspect him--

  Corso Donati and the rest of the Nera party return to Florence--

  Veri Cerchi flies--The pope's legate again in Florence--The city

  again interdicted--New disturbances--The Bianchi banished--Dante

  banished--Corso Donati excites fresh troubles--The pope's legate

  endeavors to restore the emigrants but does not succeed--Great

  fire in Florence.

  The Cerchi and the Donati were, for riches, nobility, and the number

  and influence of their followers, perhaps the two most distinguished

  families in Florence. Being neighbors, both in the city and the

  country, there had arisen between them some slight displeasure, which,

  however, had not occasioned an open quarrel, and perhaps never would

  have produced any serious effect if the malignant humors had not been

  increased by new causes. Among the first families of Pistoia was the

  Cancellieri. It happened that Lore, son of Gulielmo, and Geri, son of

  Bertacca, both of this family, playing together, and coming to words,

  Geri was slightly wounded by Lore. This displeased Gulielmo; and,

  designing by a suitable apology to remove all cause of further

  animosity, he ordered his son to go to the house of the father of the

  youth whom he had wounded and ask pardon. Lore obeyed his father; but

  this act of virtue failed to soften the cruel mind of Bertacca, and

  having caused Lore to be seized, in order to add the greatest

  indignity to his brutal act, he ordered his servants to chop off the

  youth's hand upon a block used for cutting meat upon, and then said to

  him, "Go to thy father, and tell him that sword wounds are cured with

  iron and not with words."

  The unfeeling barbarity of this act so greatly exasperated Gulielmo

  that he ordered his people to take arms for his revenge. Bertacca

  prepared for his defense, and not only that family, but the whole city

  of Pistoia, became divided. And as the Cancellieri were descended from

  a Cancelliere who had had two wives, of whom one was called Bianca

  (white), one party was named by those who were descended from her

  BIANCA; and the other, by way of greater distinction, was called NERA

  (black). Much and long-continued strife took place between the two,

  attended with the death of many men and the destruction of much

  property; and not being able to effect a union among themselves, but

  weary of the evil, and anxious either to bring it to an end, or, by

  engaging others in their quarrel, increase it, they came to Florence,

  where the Neri, on account of their familiarity with the Donati, were

  favored by Corso, the head of that family; and on this account the

  Bianchi, that they might have a powerful head to defend them against

  the Donati, had recourse to Veri de Cerchi, a man in no respect

  inferior to Corso.

  This quarrel, and the parties in it, brought from Pistoia, increased

  the old animosity between the Cerchi and the Donati, and it was

  already so manifest, that the Priors and all well-disposed men were in

  hourly apprehension of its breaking out, and causing a division of the

  whole city. They therefore applied to the pontiff, praying that he

  would interpose his authority between these turbulent parties, and

  provide the remedy which they found themselves unable to furnish. The

  pope sent for Veri, and charged him to make peace with the Donati, at

  which Veri exhibited great astonishment, saying that he had no enmity

  against them, and that as pacification presupposes war, he did not

  know, there being no war between them, how peacemaking could be

  necessary. Veri having returned from Rome without anything being

  effected, th
e rage of the parties increased to such a degree, that any

  trivial accident seemed sufficient to make it burst forth, as indeed

  presently happened.

  It was in the month of May, during which, and upon holidays, it is the

  custom of Florence to hold festivals and public rejoicings throughout

  the city. Some youths of the Donati family, with their friends, upon

  horseback, were standing near the church of the Holy Trinity to look

  at a party of ladies who were dancing; thither also came some of the

  Cerchi, like the Donati, accompanied with many of the nobility, and,

  not knowing that the Donati were before them, pushed their horses and

  jostled them; thereupon the Donati, thinking themselves insulted, drew

  their swords, nor were the Cerchi at all backward to do the same, and

  not till after the interchange of many wounds, they separated. This

  disturbance was the beginning of great evils; for the whole city

  became divided, the people as well as the nobility, and the parties

  took the names of the Bianchi and the Neri. The Cerchi were at the

  head of the Bianchi faction, to which adhered the Adimari, the Abati,

  a part of the Tosinghi, of the Bardi, of the Rossi, of the

  Frescobaldi, of the Nerli, and of the Manelli; all the Mozzi, the

  Scali, Gherardini, Cavalcanti, Malespini, Bostichi, Giandonati,

  Vecchietti, and Arrigucci. To these were joined many families of the

  people, and all the Ghibellines then in Florence, so that their great

  numbers gave them almost the entire government of the city.

  The Donati, at the head of whom was Corso, joined the Nera party, to

  which also adhered those members of the above-named families who did

  not take part with the Bianchi; and besides these, the whole of the

  Pazzi, the Bisdomini, Manieri, Bagnesi, Tornaquinci, Spini,

  Buondelmonti, Gianfigliazzi, and the Brunelleschi. Nor did the evil

  confine itself to the city alone, for the whole country was divided

  upon it, so that the Captains of the Six Parts, and whoever were

  attached to the Guelphic party or the well-being of the republic, were

  very much afraid that this new division would occasion the destruction

  of the city, and give new life to the Ghibelline faction. They,

  therefore, sent again to Pope Boniface, desiring that, unless he

  wished that city which had always been the shield of the church should

  either be ruined or become Ghibelline, he would consider some means

  for her relief. The pontiff thereupon sent to Florence, as his legate,

  Cardinal Matteo d'Acquasparta, a Portuguese, who, finding the Bianchi,

  as the most powerful, the least in fear, not quite submissive to him,

  he interdicted the city, and left it in anger, so that greater

  confusion now prevailed than had done previously to his coming.

  The minds of men being in great excitement, it happened that at a

  funeral which many of the Donati and the Cerchi attended, they first

  came to words and then to arms, from which, however, nothing but

  merely tumult resulted at the moment. However, having each retired to

  their houses, the Cerchi determined to attack the Donati, but, by the

  valor of Corso, they were repulsed and great numbers of them wounded.

  The city was in arms. The laws and the Signory were set at nought by

  the rage of the nobility, and the best and wisest citizens were full

  of apprehension. The Donati and their followers, being the least

  powerful, were in the greatest fear, and to provide for their safety

  they called together Corso, the Captains of the Parts, and the other

  leaders of the Neri, and resolved to apply to the pope to appoint some

  personage of royal blood, that he might reform Florence; thinking by

  this means to overcome the Bianchi. Their meeting and determination

  became known to the Priors, and the adverse party represented it as a

  conspiracy against the liberties of the republic. Both parties being

  in arms, the Signory, one of whom at that time was the poet Dante,

  took courage, and from his advice and prudence, caused the people to