The Prince

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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
they 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
they 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 make 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 than 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
being asked if it had ever occurred to him to become a friar in order to
save his soul, he answered that it had not, because it appeared strange
to him that Fra Lazerone should go to Paradise and Uguccione della
Faggiuola to the Inferno. He was once asked when should a man eat to
preserve his health, and replied: "If the man be rich let him eat
when he is hungry; if he be poor, then when he can." Seeing on of his
gentlemen make a member of his family lace him up, he said to him: "I
pray God that you will let him feed you also." Seeing that someone had
written upon his house in Latin the words: "May God preserve this house
from the wicked," he said, "The owner must never go in." Passing through
one of the streets he saw a small house with a very large door, and
remarked: "That house will fly through the door." He was having a
discussion with the ambassador of the King of Naples concerning the
property of some banished nobles, when a dispute arose between them, and
the ambassador asked him if he had no fear of the king. "Is this king of
yours a bad man or a good one?" asked Castruccio, and was told that he
was a good one, whereupon he said, "Why should you suggest that I should
be afraid of a good man?"

I could recount many other stories of his sayings both witty and
weighty, but I think that the above will be sufficient testimony to
his high qualities. He lived forty-four years, and was in every way a
prince. And as he was surrounded by many evidences of his good fortune,
so he also desired to have near him some memorials of his bad fortune;
therefore the manacles with which he was chained in prison are to be
seen to this day fixed up in the tower of his residence, where they were
placed by him to testify for ever to his days of adversity. As in
his life he was inferior neither to Philip of Macedon, the father of
Alexander, nor to Scipio of Rome, so he died in the same year of his
age as they did, and he would doubtless have excelled both of them had
Fortune decreed that he should be born, not in Lucca, but in Macedonia
or Rome.