The Prince - 10

danger. These men kept up communications with their friends in Pistoia,
and with the aid of the Florentines entered the city by night, and
after driving out some of Castruccio’s officials and partisans, and
killing others, they restored the city to its freedom. The news of this
greatly angered Castruccio, and taking leave of Enrico, he pressed on
in great haste to Pistoia. When the Florentines heard of his return,
knowing that he would lose no time, they decided to intercept him with
their forces in the Val di Nievole, under the belief that by doing so
they would cut off his road to Pistoia. Assembling a great army of the
supporters of the Guelph cause, the Florentines entered the Pistoian
territories. On the other hand, Castruccio reached Montecarlo with his
army; and having heard where the Florentines’ lay, he decided not to
encounter it in the plains of Pistoia, nor to await it in the plains of
Pescia, but, as far as he possibly could, to attack it boldly in the
Pass of Serravalle. He believed that if he succeeded in this design,
victory was assured, although he was informed that the Florentines had
thirty thousand men, whilst he had only twelve thousand. Although he
had every confidence in his own abilities and the valour of his troops,
yet he hesitated to attack his enemy in the open lest he should be
overwhelmed by numbers. Serravalle is a castle between Pescia and
Pistoia, situated on a hill which blocks the Val di Nievole, not in the
exact pass, but about a bowshot beyond; the pass itself is in places
narrow and steep, whilst in general it ascends gently, but is still
narrow, especially at the summit where the waters divide, so that
twenty men side by side could hold it. The lord of Serravalle was
Manfred, a German, who, before Castruccio became lord of Pistoia, had
been allowed to remain in possession of the castle, it being common to
the Lucchese and the Pistoians, and unclaimed by either—neither of them
wishing to displace Manfred as long as he kept his promise of
neutrality, and came under obligations to no one. For these reasons,
and also because the castle was well fortified, he had always been able
to maintain his position. It was here that Castruccio had determined to
fall upon his enemy, for here his few men would have the advantage, and
there was no fear lest, seeing the large masses of the hostile force
before they became engaged, they should not stand. As soon as this
trouble with Florence arose, Castruccio saw the immense advantage which
possession of this castle would give him, and having an intimate
friendship with a resident in the castle, he managed matters so with
him that four hundred of his men were to be admitted into the castle
the night before the attack on the Florentines, and the castellan put
to death.
Castruccio, having prepared everything, had now to encourage the
Florentines to persist in their desire to carry the seat of war away
from Pistoia into the Val di Nievole, therefore he did not move his
army from Montecarlo. Thus the Florentines hurried on until they
reached their encampment under Serravalle, intending to cross the hill
on the following morning. In the meantime, Castruccio had seized the
castle at night, had also moved his army from Montecarlo, and marching
from thence at midnight in dead silence, had reached the foot of
Serravalle: thus he and the Florentines commenced the ascent of the
hill at the same time in the morning. Castruccio sent forward his
infantry by the main road, and a troop of four hundred horsemen by a
path on the left towards the castle. The Florentines sent forward four
hundred cavalry ahead of their army which was following, never
expecting to find Castruccio in possession of the hill, nor were they
aware of his having seized the castle. Thus it happened that the
Florentine horsemen mounting the hill were completely taken by surprise
when they discovered the infantry of Castruccio, and so close were they
upon it they had scarcely time to pull down their visors. It was a case
of unready soldiers being attacked by ready, and they were assailed
with such vigour that with difficulty they could hold their own,
although some few of them got through. When the noise of the fighting
reached the Florentine camp below, it was filled with confusion. The
cavalry and infantry became inextricably mixed: the captains were
unable to get their men either backward or forward, owing to the
narrowness of the pass, and amid all this tumult no one knew what ought
to be done or what could be done. In a short time the cavalry who were
engaged with the enemy’s infantry were scattered or killed without
having made any effective defence because of their unfortunate
position, although in sheer desperation they had offered a stout
resistance. Retreat had been impossible, with the mountains on both
flanks, whilst in front were their enemies, and in the rear their
friends. When Castruccio saw that his men were unable to strike a
decisive blow at the enemy and put them to flight, he sent one thousand
infantrymen round by the castle, with orders to join the four hundred
horsemen he had previously dispatched there, and commanded the whole
force to fall upon the flank of the enemy. These orders they carried
out with such fury that the Florentines could not sustain the attack,
but gave way, and were soon in full retreat—conquered more by their
unfortunate position than by the valour of their enemy. Those in the
rear turned towards Pistoia, and spread through the plains, each man
seeking only his own safety. The defeat was complete and very
sanguinary. Many captains were taken prisoners, among whom were Bandini
dei Rossi, Francesco Brunelleschi, and Giovanni della Tosa, all
Florentine noblemen, with many Tuscans and Neapolitans who fought on
the Florentine side, having been sent by King Ruberto to assist the
Guelphs. Immediately the Pistoians heard of this defeat they drove out
the friends of the Guelphs, and surrendered to Castruccio. He was not
content with occupying Prato and all the castles on the plains on both
sides of the Arno, but marched his army into the plain of Peretola,
about two miles from Florence. Here he remained many days, dividing the
spoils, and celebrating his victory with feasts and games, holding
horse races, and foot races for men and women. He also struck medals in
commemoration of the defeat of the Florentines. He endeavoured to
corrupt some of the citizens of Florence, who were to open the city
gates at night; but the conspiracy was discovered, and the
participators in it taken and beheaded, among whom were Tommaso Lupacci
and Lambertuccio Frescobaldi. This defeat caused the Florentines great
anxiety, and despairing of preserving their liberty, they sent envoys
to King Ruberto of Naples, offering him the dominion of their city; and
he, knowing of what immense importance the maintenance of the Guelph
cause was to him, accepted it. He agreed with the Florentines to
receive from them a yearly tribute of two hundred thousand florins, and
he sent his son Carlo to Florence with four thousand horsemen.
Shortly after this the Florentines were relieved in some degree of the
pressure of Castruccio’s army, owing to his being compelled to leave
his positions before Florence and march on Pisa, in order to suppress a
conspiracy that had been raised against him by Benedetto Lanfranchi,
one of the first men in Pisa, who could not endure that his fatherland
should be under the dominion of the Lucchese. He had formed this
conspiracy, intending to seize the citadel, kill the partisans of
Castruccio, and drive out the garrison. As, however, in a conspiracy
paucity of numbers is essential to secrecy, so for its execution a few
are not sufficient, and in seeking more adherents to his conspiracy
Lanfranchi encountered a person who revealed the design to Castruccio.
This betrayal cannot be passed by without severe reproach to Bonifacio
Cerchi and Giovanni Guidi, two Florentine exiles who were suffering
their banishment in Pisa. Thereupon Castruccio seized Benedetto and put
him to death, and beheaded many other noble citizens, and drove their
families into exile. It now appeared to Castruccio that both Pisa and
Pistoia were thoroughly disaffected; he employed much thought and
energy upon securing his position there, and this gave the Florentines
their opportunity to reorganize their army, and to await the coming of
Carlo, the son of the King of Naples. When Carlo arrived they decided
to lose no more time, and assembled a great army of more than thirty
thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry—having called to their aid
every Guelph there was in Italy. They consulted whether they should
attack Pistoia or Pisa first, and decided that it would be better to
march on the latter—a course, owing to the recent conspiracy, more
likely to succeed, and of more advantage to them, because they believed
that the surrender of Pistoia would follow the acquisition of Pisa.
In the early part of May 1328, the Florentines put in motion this army
and quickly occupied Lastra, Signa, Montelupo, and Empoli, passing from
thence on to San Miniato. When Castruccio heard of the enormous army
which the Florentines were sending against him, he was in no degree
alarmed, believing that the time had now arrived when Fortune would
deliver the empire of Tuscany into his hands, for he had no reason to
think that his enemy would make a better fight, or had better prospects
of success, than at Pisa or Serravalle. He assembled twenty thousand
foot soldiers and four thousand horsemen, and with this army went to
Fucecchio, whilst he sent Pagolo Guinigi to Pisa with five thousand
infantry. Fucecchio has a stronger position than any other town in the
Pisan district, owing to its situation between the rivers Arno and
Gusciana and its slight elevation above the surrounding plain.
Moreover, the enemy could not hinder its being victualled unless they
divided their forces, nor could they approach it either from the
direction of Lucca or Pisa, nor could they get through to Pisa, or
attack Castruccio’s forces except at a disadvantage. In one case they
would find themselves placed between his two armies, the one under his
own command and the other under Pagolo, and in the other case they
would have to cross the Arno to get to close quarters with the enemy,
an undertaking of great hazard. In order to tempt the Florentines to
take this latter course, Castruccio withdrew his men from the banks of
the river and placed them under the walls of Fucecchio, leaving a wide
expanse of land between them and the river.
The Florentines, having occupied San Miniato, held a council of war to
decide whether they should attack Pisa or the army of Castruccio, and,
having weighed the difficulties of both courses, they decided upon the
latter. The river Arno was at that time low enough to be fordable, yet
the water reached to the shoulders of the infantrymen and to the
saddles of the horsemen. On the morning of 10 June 1328, the
Florentines commenced the battle by ordering forward a number of
cavalry and ten thousand infantry. Castruccio, whose plan of action was
fixed, and who well knew what to do, at once attacked the Florentines
with five thousand infantry and three thousand horsemen, not allowing
them to issue from the river before he charged them; he also sent one
thousand light infantry up the river bank, and the same number down the
Arno. The infantry of the Florentines were so much impeded by their
arms and the water that they were not able to mount the banks of the
river, whilst the cavalry had made the passage of the river more
difficult for the others, by reason of the few who had crossed having
broken up the bed of the river, and this being deep with mud, many of
the horses rolled over with their riders and many of them had stuck so
fast that they could not move. When the Florentine captains saw the
difficulties their men were meeting, they withdrew them and moved
higher up the river, hoping to find the river bed less treacherous and
the banks more adapted for landing. These men were met at the bank by
the forces which Castruccio had already sent forward, who, being light
armed with bucklers and javelins in their hands, let fly with
tremendous shouts into the faces and bodies of the cavalry. The horses,
alarmed by the noise and the wounds, would not move forward, and
trampled each other in great confusion. The fight between the men of
Castruccio and those of the enemy who succeeded in crossing was sharp
and terrible; both sides fought with the utmost desperation and neither
would yield. The soldiers of Castruccio fought to drive the others back
into the river, whilst the Florentines strove to get a footing on land
in order to make room for the others pressing forward, who if they
could but get out of the water would be able to fight, and in this
obstinate conflict they were urged on by their captains. Castruccio
shouted to his men that these were the same enemies whom they had
before conquered at Serravalle, whilst the Florentines reproached each
other that the many should be overcome by the few. At length
Castruccio, seeing how long the battle had lasted, and that both his
men and the enemy were utterly exhausted, and that both sides had many
killed and wounded, pushed forward another body of infantry to take up
a position at the rear of those who were fighting; he then commanded
these latter to open their ranks as if they intended to retreat, and
one part of them to turn to the right and another to the left. This
cleared a space of which the Florentines at once took advantage, and
thus gained possession of a portion of the battlefield. But when these
tired soldiers found themselves at close quarters with Castruccio’s
reserves they could not stand against them and at once fell back into
the river. The cavalry of either side had not as yet gained any
decisive advantage over the other, because Castruccio, knowing his
inferiority in this arm, had commanded his leaders only to stand on the
defensive against the attacks of their adversaries, as he hoped that
when he had overcome the infantry he would be able to make short work
of the cavalry. This fell out as he had hoped, for when he saw the
Florentine army driven back across the river he ordered the remainder
of his infantry to attack the cavalry of the enemy. This they did with
lance and javelin, and, joined by their own cavalry, fell upon the
enemy with the greatest fury and soon put him to flight. The Florentine
captains, having seen the difficulty their cavalry had met with in
crossing the river, had attempted to make their infantry cross lower
down the river, in order to attack the flanks of Castruccio’s army. But
here, also, the banks were steep and already lined by the men of
Castruccio, and this movement was quite useless. Thus the Florentines
were so completely defeated at all points that scarcely a third of them
escaped, and Castruccio was again covered with glory. Many captains
were taken prisoners, and Carlo, the son of King Ruberto, with
Michelagnolo Falconi and Taddeo degli Albizzi, the Florentine
commissioners, fled to Empoli. If the spoils were great, the slaughter
was infinitely greater, as might be expected in such a battle. Of the
Florentines there fell twenty thousand two hundred and thirty-one men,
whilst Castruccio lost one thousand five hundred and seventy men.
But Fortune growing envious of the glory of Castruccio took away his
life just at the time when she should have preserved it, and thus
ruined all those plans which for so long a time he had worked to carry
into effect, and in the successful prosecution of which nothing but
death could have stopped him. Castruccio was in the thick of the battle
the whole of the day; and when the end of it came, although fatigued
and overheated, he stood at the gate of Fucecchio to welcome his men on
their return from victory and personally thank them. He was also on the
watch for any attempt of the enemy to retrieve the fortunes of the day;
he being of the opinion that it was the duty of a good general to be
the first man in the saddle and the last out of it. Here Castruccio
stood exposed to a wind which often rises at midday on the banks of the
Arno, and which is often very unhealthy; from this he took a chill, of
which he thought nothing, as he was accustomed to such troubles; but it
was the cause of his death. On the following night he was attacked with
high fever, which increased so rapidly that the doctors saw it must
prove fatal. Castruccio, therefore, called Pagolo Guinigi to him, and
addressed him as follows:
“If I could have believed that Fortune would have cut me off in the
midst of the career which was leading to that glory which all my
successes promised, I should have laboured less, and I should have left
thee, if a smaller state, at least with fewer enemies and perils,
because I should have been content with the governorships of Lucca and
Pisa. I should neither have subjugated the Pistoians, nor outraged the
Florentines with so many injuries. But I would have made both these
peoples my friends, and I should have lived, if no longer, at least
more peacefully, and have left you a state without a doubt smaller, but
one more secure and established on a surer foundation. But Fortune, who
insists upon having the arbitrament of human affairs, did not endow me
with sufficient judgment to recognize this from the first, nor the time
to surmount it. Thou hast heard, for many have told thee, and I have
never concealed it, how I entered the house of thy father whilst yet a
boy—a stranger to all those ambitions which every generous soul should
feel—and how I was brought up by him, and loved as though I had been
born of his blood; how under his governance I learned to be valiant and
capable of availing myself of all that fortune, of which thou hast been
witness. When thy good father came to die, he committed thee and all
his possessions to my care, and I have brought thee up with that love,
and increased thy estate with that care, which I was bound to show. And
in order that thou shouldst not only possess the estate which thy
father left, but also that which my fortune and abilities have gained,
I have never married, so that the love of children should never deflect
my mind from that gratitude which I owed to the children of thy father.
Thus I leave thee a vast estate, of which I am well content, but I am
deeply concerned, inasmuch as I leave it thee unsettled and insecure.
Thou hast the city of Lucca on thy hands, which will never rest
contented under thy government. Thou hast also Pisa, where the men are
of nature changeable and unreliable, who, although they may be
sometimes held in subjection, yet they will ever disdain to serve under
a Lucchese. Pistoia is also disloyal to thee, she being eaten up with
factions and deeply incensed against thy family by reason of the wrongs
recently inflicted upon them. Thou hast for neighbours the offended
Florentines, injured by us in a thousand ways, but not utterly
destroyed, who will hail the news of my death with more delight than
they would the acquisition of all Tuscany. In the Emperor and in the
princes of Milan thou canst place no reliance, for they are far
distant, slow, and their help is very long in coming. Therefore, thou
hast no hope in anything but in thine own abilities, and in the memory
of my valour, and in the prestige which this latest victory has brought
thee; which, as thou knowest how to use it with prudence, will assist
thee to come to terms with the Florentines, who, as they are suffering
under this great defeat, should be inclined to listen to thee. And
whereas I have sought to make them my enemies, because I believed that
war with them would conduce to my power and glory, thou hast every
inducement to make friends of them, because their alliance will bring
thee advantages and security. It is of the greatest important in this
world that a man should know himself, and the measure of his own
strength and means; and he who knows that he has not a genius for
fighting must learn how to govern by the arts of peace. And it will be
well for thee to rule thy conduct by my counsel, and to learn in this
way to enjoy what my life-work and dangers have gained; and in this
thou wilt easily succeed when thou hast learnt to believe that what I
have told thee is true. And thou wilt be doubly indebted to me, in that
I have left thee this realm and have taught thee how to keep it.”
After this there came to Castruccio those citizens of Pisa, Pistoia,
and Lucca, who had been fighting at his side, and whilst recommending
Pagolo to them, and making them swear obedience to him as his
successor, he died. He left a happy memory to those who had known him,
and no prince of those times was ever loved with such devotion as he
was. His obsequies were celebrated with every sign of mourning, and he
was buried in San Francesco at Lucca. Fortune was not so friendly to
Pagolo Guinigi as she had been to Castruccio, for he had not the
abilities. Not long after the death of Castruccio, Pagolo lost Pisa,
and then Pistoia, and only with difficulty held on to Lucca. This
latter city continued in the family of Guinigi until the time of the
great-grandson of Pagolo.
From what has been related here it will be seen that Castruccio was a
man of exceptional abilities, not only measured by men of his own time,
but also by those of an earlier date. In stature he was above the
ordinary height, and perfectly proportioned. He was of a gracious
presence, and he welcomed men with such urbanity that those who spoke
with him rarely left him displeased. His hair was inclined to be red,
and he wore it cut short above the ears, and, whether it rained or
snowed, he always went without a hat. He was delightful among friends,
but terrible to his enemies; just to his subjects; ready to play false
with the unfaithful, and willing to overcome by fraud those whom he
desired to subdue, because he was wont to say that it was the victory
that brought the glory, not the methods of achieving it. No one was
bolder in facing danger, none more prudent in extricating himself. He
was accustomed to say that men ought to attempt everything and fear
nothing; that God is a lover of strong men, because one always sees
that the weak are chastised by the strong. He was also wonderfully
sharp or biting though courteous in his answers; and as he did not look
for any indulgence in this way of speaking from others, so he was not
angered with others did not show it to him. It has often happened that
he has listened quietly when others have spoken sharply to him, as on
the following occasions. He had caused a ducat to be given for a
partridge, and was taken to task for doing so by a friend, to whom
Castruccio had said: “You would not have given more than a penny.”
“That is true,” answered the friend. Then said Castruccio to him: “A
ducat is much less to me.” Having about him a flatterer on whom he had
spat to show that he scorned him, the flatterer said to him: “Fisherman
are willing to let the waters of the sea saturate them in order that
they may take a few little fishes, and I allow myself to be wetted by
spittle that I may catch a whale”; and this was not only heard by
Castruccio with patience but rewarded. When told by a priest that it
was wicked for him to live so sumptuously, Castruccio said: “If that be
a vice then you should not fare so splendidly at the feasts of our
saints.” Passing through a street he saw a young man as he came out of
a house of ill fame blush at being seen by Castruccio, and said to him:
“Thou shouldst not be ashamed when thou comest out, but when thou goest
into such places.” A friend gave him a very curiously tied knot to undo
and was told: “Fool, do you think that I wish to untie a thing which
gave so much trouble to fasten.” Castruccio said to one who professed
to be a philosopher: “You are like the dogs who always run after those
who will give them the best to eat,” and was answered: “We are rather
like the doctors who go to the houses of those who have the greatest
need of them.” Going by water from Pisa to Leghorn, Castruccio was much
disturbed by a dangerous storm that sprang up, and was reproached for
cowardice by one of those with him, who said that he did not fear
anything. Castruccio answered that he did not wonder at that, since
every man valued his soul for what is was worth. Being asked by one
what he ought to do to gain estimation, he said: “When thou goest to a
banquet take care that thou dost not seat one piece of wood upon
another.” To a person who was boasting that he had read many things,
Castruccio said: “He knows better than to boast of remembering many
things.” Someone bragged that he could drink much without becoming
intoxicated. Castruccio replied: “An ox does the same.” Castruccio was
acquainted with a girl with whom he had intimate relations, and being
blamed by a friend who told him that it was undignified for him to be
taken in by a woman, he said: “She has not taken me in, I have taken
her.” Being also blamed for eating very dainty foods, he answered:
“Thou dost not spend as much as I do?” and being told that it was true,
he continued: “Then thou art more avaricious than I am gluttonous.”
Being invited by Taddeo Bernardi, a very rich and splendid citizen of
Luca, to supper, he went to the house and was shown by Taddeo into a
chamber hung with silk and paved with fine stones representing flowers
and foliage of the most beautiful colouring. Castruccio gathered some
saliva in his mouth and spat it out upon Taddeo, and seeing him much
disturbed by this, said to him: “I knew not where to spit in order to
offend thee less.” Being asked how Caesar died he said: “God willing I
will die as he did.” Being one night in the house of one of his
gentlemen where many ladies were assembled, he was reproved by one of
his friends for dancing and amusing himself with them more than was
usual in one of his station, so he said: “He who is considered wise by
day will not be considered a fool at night.” A person came to demand a
favour of Castruccio, and thinking he was not listening to his plea
threw himself on his knees to the ground, and being sharply reproved by
Castruccio, said: “Thou art the reason of my acting thus for thou hast
thy ears in thy feet,” whereupon he obtained double the favour he had
asked. Castruccio used to say that the way to hell was an easy one,
seeing that it was in a downward direction and you travelled
blindfolded. Being asked a favour by one who used many superfluous
words, he said to him: “When you have another request to make, send
someone else to make it.” Having been wearied by a similar man with a
long oration who wound up by saying: “Perhaps I have fatigued you by
speaking so long,” Castruccio said: “You have not, because I have not
listened to a word you said.” He used to say of one who had been a
beautiful child and who afterwards became a fine man, that he was
dangerous, because he first took the husbands from the wives and now he
took the wives from their husbands. To an envious man who laughed, he
said: “Do you laugh because you are successful or because another is
unfortunate?” Whilst he was still in the charge of Messer Francesco
Guinigi, one of his companions said to him: “What shall I give you if
you will let me give you a blow on the nose?” Castruccio answered: “A
helmet.” Having put to death a citizen of Lucca who had been
instrumental in raising him to power, and being told that he had done
wrong to kill one of his old friends, he answered that people deceived
themselves; he had only killed a new enemy. Castruccio praised greatly
those men who intended to take a wife and then did not do so, saying
that they were like men who said they would go to sea, and then refused
when the time came. He said that it always struck him with surprise
that whilst men in buying an earthen or glass vase would sound it first
to learn if it were good, yet in choosing a wife they were content with
only looking at her. He was once asked in what manner he would wish to
be buried when he died, and answered: “With the face turned downwards,
for I know when I am gone this country will be turned upside down.” On