The essential writings of Machiavelli (52 page)

Then Castruccio called to his side the men of Lucca, Pisa, and Pistoia who had fought under him, and presented Pagolo Guinigi to them. Castruccio made them swear obedience to Pagolo, and died. All who knew him and were his friends had happy memories of him, and he was mourned like no other prince. His funeral was celebrated with the greatest honors, and he was buried in the church of San Francesco in Lucca. But skill and Fortune were not as forthcoming for Pagolo Guinigi as they had been for Castruccio. He was soon to lose Pistoia and then Pisa, and with difficulty held on to power in Lucca, which remained under his family’s rule until the reign of his great-great-grandson Pagolo.
⁴⁰

As I have demonstrated, Castruccio was a rare man not only in his era, but in all eras that had come before. He was taller than average, each limb in perfect harmony with the others. His features were so handsome, and he received everyone with such grace, that none who left his presence ever spoke badly of him. His hair had a reddish tint, and he wore it short above the ears, and always and in all weather—in rain or snow—he left his head uncovered.

He was kind to his friends, ruthless to his enemies, fair to those under his rule, and unfair to those who were not. If he could win through deception, he never sought to win through force. “Victory brings glory” was his motto—it mattered little how victory was achieved.

No man was bolder in encountering dangers, nor more cautious in emerging from them. He used to say that man must attempt everything and fear nothing, and that God loved strong men because one could see that God always punished the weak through the strong.

Castruccio was also admirable with his quick answers and retorts, which at times could be pointed or elegant, and because he had no misgivings about directing his wit at anyone, he also was not angered when wit was directed at him. So we know of many witticisms that he uttered, and many that he heard good-naturedly.

Castruccio had once bought a partridge for a ducat, and when a friend rebuked him at the expense, Castruccio asked him: “Why, you mean you would not have given more than a brass coin for it?” When his friend said no, Castruccio replied: “A ducat is worth far less to me.”
⁴¹

Once he had spat at a flatterer in derision, upon which the flatterer said: “A fisherman will let the waves of the sea wash over him to catch a tiny fish. I, on the other hand, will gladly let myself be wetted by a little spit to catch a whale.”
⁴²
Castruccio not only heard him good-naturedly, but rewarded him.

He was told by someone that his extravagant way of life was evil, to which he replied: “If that were a vice, then we should not dine so lavishly on the feast days of our saints.”
⁴³

Walking down the street, Castruccio saw a young man coming out of a prostitute’s house, the young man blushing with shame at being seen. But Castruccio said: “There is no need to be ashamed when you come out of there, only when you go in.”
⁴⁴

A friend handed him a complicated knot to untie, to which Castruccio said: “You fool, do you think I wish to untie something that gives me so much trouble tied?”
⁴⁵

Castruccio said to a man whose trade was philosophy: “You are made of the stuff that dogs are, always following behind those who feed them.” The philosopher replied: “In fact, we are more like doctors who go to the houses of those who need us most.”
⁴⁶

On his way by ship from Pisa to Livorno there was a sudden tempest that made Castruccio quite anxious. A man in his entourage reproved him for his faintheartedness, saying that he himself feared nothing, to which Castruccio replied that he was not surprised, as every man valued his soul at what it was worth.
⁴⁷

Castruccio was once asked by a man what he should do to gain respect, and he replied: “When you go to a banquet, be sure that one block of wood is not sitting on another.”
⁴⁸

A man prided himself for having read much, to which Castruccio said: “It would be better to pride yourself if your mind had retained much.”
⁴⁹

A man expressed pride at being able to drink a great deal without becoming drunk, to which Castruccio said: “An ox can do the same.”
⁵⁰

Castruccio was living with a young woman and was reproached by a friend who told him that it was bad to be taken in by her. “You are mistaken,” Castruccio replied, “I have taken her, not she me.”
⁵¹

Someone blamed him for eating food that was too sumptuous, to which Castruccio replied: “So you do not spend as much as I do?” The man replied that this was true. “Then,” Castruccio said, “you are more miserly than I am gluttonous.”
⁵²

Castruccio was invited to dinner by Taddeo Bernardi of Lucca, a very rich and ostentatious man. When Castruccio arrived at his house, Taddeo showed him a room beautifully draped, its floor composed of elegant stones interwoven in an array of colors representing flowers, leaves, and foliage. Suddenly Castruccio cleared his throat and spat in Taddeo’s face, and seeing that Taddeo was taken aback, said: “I was not sure where my spitting would offend you less.”
⁵³

Asked how Caesar died, Castruccio remarked: “God wanted me to die as he did!”
⁵⁴

One night, Castruccio was at the house of one of the gentlemen of his entourage where many ladies had gathered for a ball. There he danced and amused himself more than was seemly for a man of his position, and when a friend called him to account, he replied: “He who is considered wise during the day will never be considered foolish at night.”
⁵⁵

A man came to ask Castruccio for a favor, and when Castruccio pretended not to hear, the man threw himself on his knees. When Castruccio reproved him, the man answered: “You are the reason why I am kneeling, as your ears are in your feet.” At this, Castruccio granted him twice the favor he asked.
⁵⁶

Castruccio used to say that the path to hell was easy, since you went downward with your eyes shut.
⁵⁷

A man was bothering Castruccio for a favor with a stream of words, to which Castruccio said: “The next time you want something from me, send someone else.”
⁵⁸

A similar man, having annoyed Castruccio with a long speech, concluded by saying: “I have perhaps tired you with speaking too much.” “Not at all,” Castruccio replied. “I haven’t listened to a word you said.”
⁵⁹

Castruccio used to say about a handsome man who had been a handsome boy that he was quite destructive, having first taken husbands from their wives, and then wives from their husbands.
⁶⁰

To an envious man who laughed, he said, “Are you laughing because you are doing well, or because someone else is doing badly?”
⁶¹

While he was still in the care of Messer Francesco Guinigi, one of his companions said to him: “What can I give you in exchange for letting me give you a blow on the nose?” “A helmet with a visor,” Castruccio replied.
⁶²

Castruccio put to death a citizen of Lucca who had been instrumental in his rise to greatness. When people said that he had done a bad thing in killing an old friend, he replied that they were wrong, as he had put to death a new enemy.

Castruccio greatly praised men who chose a bride but then did not marry her, as he praised those who prepared to go on a sea voyage but then did not go.

Castruccio expressed surprise that a man who bought a clay or glass pot would tap it first to see if it was good, but in taking a wife was content just to look at her.

As Castruccio was dying, someone asked him how he wished to be buried, to which he replied: “Face down, as I know that once I am dead everything in this land will be upside down.”
⁶³

When asked if he had ever thought of taking up the cloth to save his soul, he replied that he had not, because it seemed strange to him that Brother Lazarus should go to Heaven while Uguccione della Faggiuola should go to Hell.
⁶⁴

When he was asked at what time it was best for a man’s health to eat, he replied: “If you are rich, eat when you are hungry. If you are poor, eat when you can.”
⁶⁵

When he saw a gentleman in his retinue have one of his servants button him up, he said, “I hope to God that you also have him feed you.”

Once he saw that someone had written above a door in Latin: “May God preserve this house from the wicked,” to which he said: “In that case, the head of that household had better not go in.”
⁶⁶

Walking down the street, he saw a small house with a big door, to which he said: “That house will escape through its own door.”
⁶⁷

On being told that a certain foreigner had ruined a boy he said: “That man must be from Perugia.”
⁶⁸

When asked which city was renowned for cheaters and frauds, he replied: “Lucca, where all men are cheaters and frauds, except for Bonturo.”
⁶⁹

Castruccio was in discussion with an emissary of the King of Naples concerning the property of some exiles, and voices were raised. At which the ambassador said: “But are you not afraid of the king?” Castruccio replied: “Is this king of yours good or bad?” When the emissary replied that he was good, Castruccio said, “Then why do you think that I should be afraid of a good man?”
⁷⁰

I could relate many other things that Castruccio said—both witty and serious things—but I think these are a sufficient testimony to his great qualities. He lived for forty-four years and remained a great prince in good and bad fortune. Since much has been said about his good fortune, I have wanted to present as well moments when his fortune was bad. The manacles with which he was chained in prison can still be seen today in the tower of his home, where he had them put so they would always bear witness to his adversity. In his life he was in no way inferior to Philip of Macedon, Alexander’s father, nor Scipio of Rome, and he died at the same age they did. Had he not been born in Lucca, but in Macedonia or Rome, he would doubtless have surpassed both of them.

1.
This is a fictitious account. Castruccio Castracani was born in 1281 to Gerio Castracani of the wealthy and influential Antelminelli family that was exiled from Lucca in 1301 when Castruccio was twenty.

2.
The Guinigi of Lucca were a prominent mercantile family. Machiavelli, however, invented Messer Francesco.

3.
The Ghibellines, for the most part feudal aristocrats and their partisans, were supporters of the Holy Roman Emperor, and their opponents, the Guelphs, wealthy merchants, supported the papacy. Throughout the Middle Ages, the two factions vied for power in Italian cities. The Castracani were Ghibellines.

4.
Machiavelli’s account is fictitious. In 1301 Castruccio and his family were banished from Lucca. On his father’s death that year, Castruccio went to the court of King Edward I in England, after which he was said to have moved to Flanders before returning to Italy, where he worked as a mercenary captain.

5.
The Obizi family had been instrumental in the exiling of the Castracani and the other Ghibelline families in 1301.

6.
Lucca and other Tuscan cities had sought the protection of King Roberto I of Naples in 1311, when Henry VII of Germany marched against the Italian states in his mission to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Guelph faction in Lucca were supporters of King Roberto, while Castruccio, a Ghibelline, supported the Holy Roman Emperor.

7.
Uguccione della Faggiuola (c. 1250–1319) was one of the most influential members of the Ghibelline faction of Tuscany. He had been elected chief magistrate of Pisa, then commander of the army, and in 1314, already in his late sixties, seized power and became tyrant of Pisa. Machiavelli is moving events back in time to fit the plot of his narration, as Castruccio was in fact in his mid-thirties and an experienced mercenary by the time of these events. See also
Florentine Histories
, Book II, chapter 25.

8.
Giovanni Villani’s
Nuova Cronaca
(New Chronicles), which Machiavelli used as a source, lists the Antelminelli (Castruccio’s clan) joining with the Quartigiani, the Pogginghi, and the Onesti in this conspiracy.

9.
Montecatini is a town eighteen miles northeast of Lucca, and Montecarlo seven miles.