"THE AGE OF THE MEDICI" "EPISODE TWO:" "THE POWER OF COSIMO" "Ten months have passed since Cosimo's exile and we have suffered no losses." "Our bank has great resources, but the small banks are in trouble, as are the merchants who work with us." "I have some news for you." "The Pope has fled Rome by boat on the Tiber hounded by Fortebracci's troops who were summoned to Rome by the Colonna family." "The Colonnas are still offended by the fact that a Venetian monk was elected Pope instead of one of theirs." "The Pope arrived in Livorno by boat and the Signoria of Florence sent a group of envoys to meet him and offer him hospitality." "The Papal Court fled Rome as best it could." "A few convoys of papers were able to leave in time with a small escort." "It is hoped that they will arrive safely in Florence." "But there is no news of the Cardinals, or of the apostolic and curial secretaries who will start trickling into Florence in small groups." "But it will not be easy for them." "Fortebracci's troops will certainly control all the roads between Rome and Florence, and they may force them to pay heavy tolls." "Agnolo, was not Mr. Novelletto with you?" "Mr. Novelletto is still in Careggi." "At the Bankers' Guild, the Priors say that having the Pope in Florence will be a great boon for our banks." "Well, of course." "At the Silk Weavers' Guild they are worried." "They say that if business goes well, the people will be more content, and it will be difficult to keep them angry at the Signoria and difficult to make them wish for Cosimo's return." "We must waste no time." "You, Bellaccio, will go together with lonetto di Silvestri to send Cosimo de' Medici's respects to our revered Pope and to offer him the use of our houses and any credit he may need from our bank." "He must know that in Florence he will want for nothing that is in our power to give." "I ask you to go immediately to talk to the intriguers." "They are to spread word throughout the city, among the merchants and the commoners, that no merit is to be attributed to the Signoria if they have offered asylum to the Pope." "How could they have refused?" "Cosimo de' Medici, on the other hand, devoutly offers him unlimited access to his finances." "Let Mr. Cosimo know that we have followed his instructions regarding the Pope." "Let him also know that we are doing all we can to ensure that the selection favors those who are faithful and devoted friends of the Medici family." "We are scrutinizing with great care the names the republic's couplers are to place in the bags from which they will draw the members of the next Signoria." "Otherwise, assure him that we are tirelessly vigilant of the good health of his family and friends." "Alberti, we shall go directly to the diocesan curia." "They will be able to tell us where the Holy Father is staying." "I shall go to my brother's." "I will join you as soon as possible." "Show me your pass." "Leon Battista Alberti," "Ciriaco dal Paso," "Guidobaldo Belmonte," "Gian Lorenzo Nucci."" "You may pass." "Take my horse." "Leon Battista!" "Brother!" "Welcome back to your home, Leon Battista." "We were expecting you because the Pope has been in Florence for over a month now." "We were forced to hide several times during the trip." "You know that the roads are dangerous in the best of times." "If that were not enough, the Colonnas's mercenaries chased us right to the borders of Florence." "You are an Alberti and this house is yours as well as mine." "The only thing that matters is that you are here now, safe and sound." "How was the Pope received in Florence?" "With great respect." "He is a guest of the republic in the Convento di Santa Maria Novella and there you will find the Papal Court has gathered." "And in the city?" "Nothing new." "The Signoria, the guilds, the noblemen and the commoners, the old Guelfs and Ghibellines, the merchants, artisans and usurers unfortunately have not ceased their squabbling, the old fight that began on the day Florence was founded." "They continue to trip each other up and they live happily enough." "Currently the city is in the hands of the Albizi, but Cosimo still has numerous friends." "In fact they say that now their numbers have increased." "Come, Leon Battista." "Come and visit my wife and son." "They will be very glad to see you again, finally." "Rinaldo degli Albizi was certain that the gonfalonier, a friend of his family, Bernardo Guadagni, would sentence Cosimo to death." "But he was not careful enough." "He underestimated the ability and cunning of his enemy." "He did not foresee that Cosimo from prison would succeed in secretly sending the gonfalonier 1 ,200 gold florins." "So what did Guadagni do?" "He immediately paid off his debts." "He offered dinner to Cosimo, who had not eaten in three days, fearing that his enemies might poison him." "And then he had him escorted to the border, and sent him safely into exile for 1 0 years." "Now everyone awaits the drawing for the nomination of the new Signoria." "If the new priors and the new gonfalonier are not friends of the Albizi like the current ones, things will certainly change." "And how is business?" "This is not a felicitous time for large trades." "You know that six years ago, at the end of our family's exile, when I came back here and reopened this house - those were good times, but my funds were scarce." "If Uncle Riccardo had not managed to defraud us of the inheritance left to us by our father, more than 4,000 gold ducats each, today I would certainly be a rich merchant and you would not be a member of the curia." "What matters is to live with dignity, even if it can be difficult at times." "Yes, of course." "Do you need money?" "My last pay was three months ago, but I still have a few sols." "Now that you are in Florence again, you could work for me, if you wanted to." "No, Carlo, I have never wanted to be a merchant, not even when Uncle Riccardo and the rest of the family tried to force me into it at all costs, and I certainly will not start now." "My pay is meager, but my freedom is great." "You must forgive me, but you see, it is very difficult for an Alberti to grasp the concept that there may exist another activity more noble than commerce." "What is it, Alberti?" "I have prepared a draft of the letter to the parish priest of Borghetto." "The letter will be signed by the cardinal." "What did you write?" "After thanking him for his sincere letter," "I invited him to leave the convent immediately and without hesitation to take possession of the old parish church." "As for his unfortunate birth - as you know his mother is unknown - this has been remedied by papal dispensation." "Instruct him also to ignore the inevitable slander." "And tell him to give his bishop a report of his ministry three months after he has taken possession of the church." "All right." "Read it back to me." " Has the courier arrived?" " Yes." "Read the message, then." "From Florence they ask for instructions for the ship of Demoteo Felicino, when it arrives in Naples with the spices from the Syrian province of Antioch." "Tell them to send the ship to Genoa and arrange for the spices to be sold in France and Switzerland." "Novelletto informs us that there are rumors about the names to be drawn for the next election of the Signoria." "He says that many think it likely that the names drawn will belong to true friends of yours, and in this case, your exile would come to an end." "I wonder how Novelletto can make such a prediction." "Perhaps it is not merely a prediction." "I too have heard Florentine merchants passing through Venice mention that Florence expects your return before Christmas." "We shall see." "With the permission of the great Signoria which will exit office next August 31 , we shall now proceed to the drawing of the names of the new priors, from among the citizens of Florence who are regular members of the greater and lesser guilds." "They will form the new Signoria which will begin its tenure as government of the republic starting September 1 of the year of grace 1434." "The couplers are:" "Luca di Bonaccorso Pitti," "Piero di Mario Luigi Guicciardini," "Meo di Filippo di Puccio del Meo," "Antonio di Silvestro Serristori." "Gentlemen, in these bags there are 411 names of citizens belonging to the greater guilds and 380 belonging to the lesser guilds." "Present for the drawing of the new Signoria are also the representatives of the Colleges of Florence, the nine Capitani di Parte Guelfa, the Servi di Mercanzia, the Proconsul of the Guild of Judges, Lawyers and Notaries," "as well as the heads of the guilds and the current great Signoria." "Draw the names." "Mario Giuliano di Nicolao Davanzati," "Giovanni di Nico Capponi" " Do you know him?" " Of course." "He is a good man who will serve Florence well." " You know it as well as I." " Luca di Neri Pitti." "I think there is someone who would pay dearly to get his hands in those bags and be able to select the names that would serve him best." "It is my first time at the drawing." "Who selects the names in the bags?" "The couplers are the ones who decide the eligibility of the citizens." "Simone di Francesco Guiducci." "Another one of theirs." "Only the names of those who are not guild members or have not paid their taxes cannot be put in the bags." "One thing I do not understand, why are there so many bags?" "There are six for the greater guilds and two for the lesser guilds." "Two of the nine names for the election of the Signoria are drawn from the bags of the lesser guilds." "The other seven come from those of the greater guilds." "Incredible." "And how is the gonfalonier elected?" "The magnificent gonfalonier does not belong to the lesser guilds." "His name is drawn from the bags of the greater guilds." " Neri di Bonaccorsi." " Did you hear that?" "These are very respectable men." "They are all friends of Cosimo de' Medici." "Fabriano di Antonio Martini." "This is the most important drawing, the selection of the new gonfalonier." "Niccolo di Cocco Donati is the new gonfalonier." "Hurray, long live Niccolo!" "Palla Strozzi, damn you, where is your courage, where are the troops you had promised me?" "What will the Signoria do now?" "They have locked themselves in the palazzo for fear of our swords." "The priors and the gonfalonier should have realized that we would never consent to Cosimo de' Medici's return from exile." "And why is Giovanni Guicciardini not here?" "Mr. Giovanni Guicciardini sends the message that he has a more important task to take care of at home." "He has to hold back his brother Piero to stop him from going out with his soldiers to help the Signoria against you, Mr. Rinaldo." "We can count on more than 800 soldiers, even without the men of Giovanni Guicciardini, of Palla Strozzi and many others that are now shut in their houses waiting to see the outcome of this game." "We still have more than enough men to make the Signoria tremble." "Stop, stop." "What are you looking for among our swords?" "Through our mouths the Signoria wishes to express its astonishment." "The gonfalonier and the priors have assembled having heard that you and your followers have taken up arms." "But we do not understand why you have so poorly judged the new Signoria." "It is a servant of the city." "And as all the Signorie that have governed Florence, it is willing to make any sacrifice necessary for peace." "The gonfalonier says that we never intended to offend you." "We never intended to pardon Cosimo and invite him back to Florence." "We wish, on the contrary, to learn of his machinations in the Republic of Venice." "The rumor of war has persuaded the Signoria to abandon its nefarious plan for the republic." "The Signoria harbored no such nefarious plan." "Have we been tricked, then?" "Are the rumors about a decision to invite Cosimo back to Florence all lies told by the enemies of the Signoria?" "Who will give me proof that what you say is true?" "Sir," "Mr. Rinaldo, friend," "I have come to implore you to lay down your arms." "Cardinal Vitelleschi, our arms are no threat to you." "They are the salvation of the city." "I believe you." "But please heed the message I bring you on behalf of Pope Eugenio." "He has been in Florence but a short while and has no desire to interfere in the affairs of the city which has so kindly offered him its hospitality." "But as he is a just and loving father, he dearly wishes for peace." "If there is a controversy between you, one of its cherished sons, and the Signoria that governs the city, he begs you to seek justice by resorting to reason and persuasion, and not by taking up arms." "Who will assure me that once I have laid down my arms the Signoria will not do what it says, out of fear, it never intended to do?" "Listen to me, Rinaldo." "Make a clear pact with the Signoria and then you will decide wisely." "Release your soldiers." "If we lay down our arms, we shall be defeated." "We shall not lay down our arms." "Let us proceed to the Signoria armed." "Very well, we shall accompany you." "Come forward, Rinaldo." "Do you doubt the judgment of the Signoria of Florence?" "The rumors we have heard make us fear that the magistrates of the city have taken leave of their senses." "You are unjust." "It is no secret that some of us are old friends of Cosimo de' Medici." "Who among us does not have friends belonging to different factions?" "However, Cosimo de' Medici has been given a sentence, 1 0 years in exile." "The Signoria will make no decisions against this sentence, nor would it have the authority to do so." "What you say reassures me, but I fear you may change your mind this evening or tomorrow." "I must remind you that by assembling armed men you have violated one of the laws of our republic." "But these are friends, friends of mine, and now friends of the Signoria." "If today they are armed, tomorrow they will lay down their arms and will remain your friends and mine." "Cardinal Vitelleschi, the messenger of the Pope who is a guest of Florence," "is my witness." "He himself has asked you to lay down your arms and has recommended that the Signoria take no legal action against you." "We intend to honor his request." "With the cardinal's permission and with yours," "I will now consult my men." "Rinaldo." "The promises made by the Pope and by yourself have been broken." "The Signoria has called the troops back from Pistoia." "But the gonfalonier pardoned you and guaranteed absolute tolerance and respect toward you and your men." "The little faith of those who were supposed to follow me and the excessive faith I placed in you have ruined me and my country." "But above all, I accuse myself, for believing that you, expelled from Rome, your home, could have done anything to keep me in mine." "But I have experienced the whims of fate, and as I have always mistrusted prosperity, the adversity I face today offends me but little." "This morning, eight wagons and 1 2 mules left Palla Strozzi's house." "All the noblemen of Florence are moving to the country today." "Even Francesco Filelfo is fleeing." "You are right." "Citizens, hear, hear." "The Balia created with full power by the citizen's parliament of Florence, convened by the Signoria to restore order in the city, has pronounced a sentence." "The Republic of Florence has decided to revoke Cosimo de' Medici's exile, having judged that this exile was unjustly imposed upon him." "Citizens, hear, hear." "Mr. Cosimo has returned." "Mr. Cosimo is coming." "Mr. Cosimo?" "Cosimo." "Come." "I rode here from Padua almost without stopping." "During the journey, I received brief tributes from Ferrara and other cities." "Even Pistoia invited me, but I did not stop lest I be detained." "I will stop here only long enough to change my cape, then I will continue to Florence on foot." "To Florence?" "Right away?" "Yes, on foot and alone." "I do not want anyone to recognize me as I enter the city." "Bring your master a cape." "Tomorrow you too shall join me in the city." "May God watch over you, for your children's sake and mine." " Is that not Mr. Cosimo de' Medici?" " It is he." "Of course, I recognize him." "Cosimo de' Medici has returned to Florence." " Let us go." " Cosimo de' Medici has returned." "This is Mr. Bepi of Venice's account." "We had loaned him 20 ducats which he promised to repay with seven rolls of embroidered silk from Persia." "Give me a report of the sale." "Two lengths of cloth to Mr. Antonio del Troscia, hotel owner:" "Ten silver sols." "Two lengths of cloth to Francesco di Paolo Canacci, master craftsman:" "Ten silver sols." "Four lengths of cloth to Mr. Antonio di Vieri AItoviti:" "One florin and 1 0 silver sols." "Three lengths of cloth to Mr. Bernardo di Pecolotto Valducci:" " 1 5 silver sols." " Mr. Carlo," "Cosimo de' Medici has returned to Florence." " Really?" " Yes, he has been seen in the city." "Leave it." "Let us close shop." "Come on, let us go." "Leon Battista." "Leon Battista!" "Leave your books." "Let us go see Cosimo de' Medici who has returned to Florence." "I am coming." "Come, quickly." "I am curious to see him." "As am I, let us go." "Marta, have you heard?" "Medici has returned." "Let us go see." "Gianni, come." "Mr. Cosimo is back." " Trade will pick up again." " Do you think so?" "Of course." "He is as modest as his father." "His sentence was unjust." "The Medici have always been on the side of the people." "Cosimo, welcome back." "Cosimo?" "He is on his way to accept the apology of the Signoria." "He is alone." "Welcome back, sir." "May God be praised for your return." "We are glad to see you again in Florence, may the Lord watch over you." "I am glad to be back." " Are you watching over the shop?" " Yes, sir." " What is your name?" " Antonio Rossellino." "Are you related to Bernardo, the architect?" "Yes, I am his brother." "Why are you not in his shop?" "Bernardo says that he is glad for me to come here to absorb the teachings of Mr. Donatello, because I like his sculpture." " Where is Donatello now?" " He has left Florence." "He went away as a protest when Mr. Cosimo was exiled." "But now I am certain that he too will return." "Let him return soon for the greater glory of Florence." "Magnificent." "Magnificent." "I swear that nothing this beautiful has been seen since ancient times." "It seems alive." "For whom was this magnificence made?" "Cosimo de' Medici." "I hope it does not end up confined within a niche." "It is perfect from every side." "Both the crafting and the casting." "In fact, it was conceived to live free." "Mr. Donatello says," "Enough of the sculpture that comes from the barbarians and which is used only as a decoration of architecture."" "What else does he say?" "He says we should study nature to understand what is real." "He speaks well, very well." "But not everyone agrees with him." "We spend our evenings in the shop discussing these matters." "It is right to discuss in search of the truth." "Mr. Donatello is right because he who cannot see the many things that are in man" "is not himself a man." "It is what Mr. Donatello says." "I will see you again soon." "I will come and greet Mr. Donatello." "Leon Battista, Leon Battista." "I am going to see Burchiello to find out the comments, the truth, the gossip about what has happened." "I shall come with you." "All right." "Good day, sir." "Greetings, Mr. Carlo, I did not expect to see you in my shop this morning." "Why not?" "Ever since we heard the news of Mr. Cosimo's return, my clients have all disappeared." "If we come here for a shave, we should pay double." "Not only do we get a shave, but we also hear the latest gossip about Florence." "But it is true, the shop is nearly deserted this morning." "Today the world is backwards." "Acquitted is the thief, the righteous sent to death and he who does the worst is by luck favored." "I see son from father parted and one brother by the other battered." "Without the proper friends, of no avail are reason and art." "He alone will get his part who of betrayal can master the art." "And little harm is done by he who of power has none."" "Your verses are very sad this morning." "They say, Lucky is the man who does not serve filth."" "But since there is a lot of filth in Florence these days, I say," "Lucky is he whose actions and conscience keep him clean."" "Thank God, I have never spoken ill either of the Albizi or of the Medici." "I have my shop to think of." "Do you know what I do with the oven in my bakery?" "I burn all the slander that is spread throughout Florence." "That is because you have no heart." "Your business is everybody's business and the business of Florence is also yours." "This is true." "The war that some pushed us to wage against Lucca has almost depleted the republic's funds and it was we, shop owners, who paid for it." "They forced us to report all our earnings to them." "I pay 30 florins a year." "That is why I am glad that Medici has returned." "Cosimo is very rich." "He has always given money to the republic." "He certainly will not come and ask us for ours." "Yes, of course." "But not a single foreign merchant will enter Florence without speaking with Cosimo beforehand." "And the other merchants will have to get in line before doing any business." "Medici is a leech." "Tell them, Leon Battista, you who spent so much time in Rome with the Pope, how much money did the Medici bank extort from Rome?" "Ever since it opened, in the space of a few years, he has brought thousands of florins from Rome to Florence." "And where did they end up?" "In Cosimo's private coffers, certainly not in the purses of the Florentines." "Burchiello, unprejudiced and free, though of humble origins, in whose bountiful compositions the Muses cannot stay hidden." "Now you are stealing my profession." "Do you also compose verses?" "I am sorry, Burchiello." "You are a quick wit, though one of the people." "Now it is your turn, Mr. Alberti." "Welcome back to your city, from which you were unjustly banished." "For that I thank my fellow citizens." "Now that we have done justice to you, we wish to ensure that peace be maintained in the city." "I am here to tell you that I intend to help you in your endeavors." "I do not wish for those who opposed me to be punished, if they acted out of conviction that it was best for the city." "Gentlemen, right now, it is not blood that Florence needs." "It is your responsibility, and yours alone, to strictly prosecute those who have violated the laws of the republic." "If someone is guilty of that, may he be judged and punished." "The Signoria appreciates your sense of justice and the people will appreciate it even more." "I must tell you that no sooner had we heard of your return than the ambassador of the republic of Venice asked to see you." "He will always be welcome in my home." "It is well known that I spent my exile in the Republic of Venice and I was a guest of the Doge." "However, I think it best to wait a few days before I meet with the ambassador." "Now, with your permission, I will go to the bank to work." "Here you are among us once again, in your own home." " Good morning, Mr. Cosimo." " May God bless your return." "There is something we must attend to right away." "Michelozzo, who voluntarily followed me into exile in Padua, will soon return to Florence, and it is necessary for him to find everything he needs to continue construction on my palace in via Larga." "And you, llarione, must go on my behalf to the pawnshop." "Now tell me, how many florins do we have on hand today?" "Just a moment." "Here is the ledger." " Who is it?" " Open up." "It is Ilarione de'Bardi." "I have brought you a bag of pure gold so that you can make 5,000 florins under seal." "At your service, sir." "I would like the ledger for 1 433." " Which month?" " September." "The month in which Cosimo de' Medici was exiled." "Exactly." "But your name is not in it." "I do not wish to look for my name, but for those of others." "And I certainly cannot stop you." "It is every citizen's right to come here and read the names of those who owe debts to the republic." "This is the office of public shame, after all." "I shall read." "Giovanni di Stefano Corsini, 25 florins." "Guido di Tommaso Abati, 80 florins." "Nicolo di Fenicio Duccio, 1 5 florins." "Cross him out and mark him as paid." "Astorre di Nicolo Bernardino, 40 florins and 1 5 sols." "Francesco Guidetto Guidetti, 32 florins and 25 sols." "Cross him out as well." "Simone di Nofri Bonaccorsi, 1 40 florins." "Yes, cross him out too." "But who will pay for them?" "Cosimo de' Medici respects his friends." "Mr. Cosimo is a good man." "Giovanni di Betto Rustichi, 70 florins." "He is a friend of the Albizis." "Go on, go on." "Francesco di Bernardo Coluzzi, 80 florins." "Cross him out and mark him as paid." "Here are three silver florins." "Come back in a month and your hourglass will be here." "Thank you." " I would like to see your ledger." " Why?" "I am here to pay off the debts of a few friends." "If you have the money." "Piero di Mariotto di Cenni left his sword here." " Yes." " Tell him to pick it up." "That will be 30 florins." "And tell Andrea Nicolo Davanzati to come and pick up his wife's jewelry." " 420 florins?" " 420 florins." "Welcome, Mr. Cosimo." "Good day, Mr. Pippo Brunelleschi." "I hear you will take part in the competition for Santa Maria del Fiore." "I am curious to see what you will come up with this time." "Look, Mr. Cosimo, that is the lantern that I will put on top of the dome, which, as you know, is a very solid construction." "Just so, it is beautiful." "Just so, I like it." "You know that Ghiberti is also preparing a design for the competition?" "What does that mean?" "Everyone knows that Ghiberti is an excellent architect." "But why would they put a lantern designed by him on my dome?" "Pippo, you must not dismiss Mr. Cosimo's warning." "He knows how the envy of the Florentines goes well beyond the precision of any calculation." "What are you saying I should do?" "Do not worry, Mr. Pippo." "There is a solution to everything in life, especially for things like this one, which is not very complicated." "Good day, sir." " Would you like to see a perspective?" " Yes, of course." "Come here and I will show you." "There." "Amazing." "A work of genius." "Brunelleschi, what is that?" "I have always liked experimenting with machines." "I think that machines for measuring time will be very useful in the future, do you not agree?" "Interesting." "Thank you, Mr. Pippo." "You see, Alberti, the lantern will rest upon the eye of the dome and the buttresses are made of solid stone." "Furthermore, we inform the Signoria of Florence that the Holy Father has exhorted the fathers of the Greek and Latin churches convened in the city of Basel for the Ecumenical Council to help the Church find in unity its original spirit of charity" "and to reform its customs where they have become corrupt." "Unfortunately, Basel is far from Rome and from Italy and it is too close to the influence of the German princes and the noblemen of France." "The Council should be moved to Italy, to Florence, for it to be free from influence." "Where are you going, Mr. Alberti?" "I want to arrive at the Opera del Duomo in time." "Today they are choosing the architect for the construction of the lantern on the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore." "You must decide between the curia, sculpture, painting or architecture." "You spend more time in the workshops of the Florentine artisans than you do here in the curia working for us." "One cannot be merely a member of the curia, or merely a scholar of ancient texts or merely a sculptor, merely a painter, merely a priest or merely a merchant." "Each art contains parts of all the others, because the arts of man live in the same reality of the world in which all things, though appearing to be separate, live together with all others and only together with the others" "can be known, possessed and loved." "You know that our fathers in Florence were not merely merchants or merely men of letters, merely priests or merely artisans." "I appreciate your thoughts, but I exhort you not to neglect the work for which the curia pays you." "Of course not." "Thank you." " Go on." " All right." "Whoever the winner is, he has his job cut out for him." "Putting a lantern as big as a house on the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore will not be easy." "Have you also come to see the outcome of the competition, Mr. Alberti?" "If the Council of the Opera del Duomo has any good sense, they will select the design of your master, Pippo Brunelleschi." "If Mr. Pippo wins, we will all go back to being slaves." "There is no doubt that he is an able architect, but he is a bad master." "When we were building the dome we told him we did not agree with his method of squaring the stones and he fired us." "The next day he hired us all back, all except the master builder, who had spoken up for all of us, and he told us he would reduce our pay." "Mr. Filippo Brunelleschi has been awarded the commission for the lantern on the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore." " Bravo, Brunelleschi." " Bravo, Mr. Pippo." "You deserve it." "No, Ghiberti should have won." "My sympathies, Mr. Ghiberti." "My lantern would have been better." "But they were all biased in favor of our dear Mr. Pippo." "And what is worse is that many people will revel in my humiliation." "You must not deny him his merits, though." "Tell me, who in Florence would have been able to build such an admirable work as the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore?" "No, no, Brunelleschi can take no credit for the dome." "After all it was merely a matter of executing a calculation, and anyone can do that." "One merely needs to know numbers." "Only Mr. Pippo Brunelleschi could have done that calculation." "Even Paolo Toscanelli agrees, and he is the greatest mathematician in the world." "Everyone in Florence knows that Pippo Brunelleschi has bewitched you." "It is no secret." "You have even dedicated two books to him, in which you tell everyone how they should sculpt statues and paint canvases." "You, who do not even know what the hairs of a paintbrush look like, or the tip of a chisel." "You should stick to the curia." "You have neither painted nor sculpted." "You have never been an artist." "What do you know about it?" "And you do not speak, you bleat like a goat." "And like a goat, you certainly cannot read Latin." "Come, Niccolo." "Let us go." "The men of this century and of this city believe themselves to be the only masters and creators of everything." "They seek knowledge in the writings of pagans and forget that living and reasoning are born of the spirit that God has given them." "They forget that nobility of spirit is more beautiful than the sun, than the moon, than the stars and the sky, and that none of the things created by God is superior to it, because he created it in his image." "Let man, then, retire to his room and let no one come between God and himself." "Stand before the Lord God and think and think again and leave every other matter or occupation by the wayside." "Because matters of conscience are more important than those of the world." "Earning money, providing for your families, protecting yourself from your enemies, all of these things are important." "But saving your soul is more important." "The soul, in greatness and virtue, is above water, above fire, above air, above the entire earth, above the moon, Mercury and Venus," "above the Sun and Mars, above Jupiter and Saturn and all the signs among them." "The soul is above all 7 2 constellations." "If there were as many empyreans as there are drops in the sea, as much sand in the desert or stars in the sky, all their beauty taken together could not be compared to the excellence of the human soul." "But it is a most miserable thing when it strays from God." "Mothers, do you know who is the most miserable of men?" "Who is the poorest?" "A bird is born with feathers, a fish with scales." "But man is by nature born naked." "The puppy barks, the fish swims, the bird takes flight." "Man, when he is born, knows only how to cry." "We must all remember that man lives because he is mind incarnate, troubled soul, a container of brief duration, an ephemeral ghost of time." "He is born, he scans the road ahead, consumes his life, is always on the move like a wanderer passing through, a guest where he is welcomed, a slave to death." "And where is his salvation?" "His salvation is in his faith in Christ which he fulfills by being true to himself, to his family, to his city." "As for the faith that is our salvation, as an example I will tell you an ancient story." "A man had left his young son under an oak tree, guarded by a dog called Bonino." "Upon returning from the fields, he found his son dead, with his throat bitten, and next to the body was the trembling dog." "In a fit of rage, the man killed the dog with an ax and only then did he realize that under its belly the dog held in its paws a horrible snake, a snake it had killed to defend his son." "In tears, the man regretted his ire, and buried the dog with a stone on which he inscribed this saying:" "Here lies Bonino, faithful champion to the end, killed by the ire of an unjust man."" "The years went by and the pilgrims on their way to Jerusalem became accustomed to stopping to pray over this tomb, thinking it the resting place of a champion of their faith." "One day, a man afflicted with a serious illness, after having prayed, was healed." "Others prayed and the miracles continued to multiply." "The men of the area then erected a chapel in order to give a more seemly burial to the body of the man they considered a saint." "But when they devoutly opened the tomb to move the bones, they saw that they were the bones of a dog and were scandalized." "An old and saintly monk then comforted them with these words:" "Where there is faith, even by means of a dog, God can perform miracles and exhort men to repent." "In prayer, our soul calls out to God and God answers the soul and gives it what it needs without giving weight to the words themselves."" "These days here in Florence all we hear spoken is the vulgate." "And it is true eveeywhere, no matter the circumstances, with no respect for the topic of conversation, alas." "It is incredible." "We complain that at the Studio Fiorentino they are reading the Latin authors and we miss Francesco Filelfo, who read texts in the vulgate." "Filelfo has rightly been exiled, he had a malicious tongue." "But he was a great teacher, both in the vulgate and in Latin." "But no matter, Florence attracts great minds, and we shall welcome them." "Their teaching is worth gold and silver to the city that listens to them." "The Studio Fiorentino has always been the heart of the city and the heart should never rebel against the mind." "And in Florence there are illustrious men who could occupy Filelfo's chair." "Men who do not love rebellion and eschew malicious gossip." "Of course, you are right." "Francesco Filelfo tickled the fancy of the commoners by reading Dante, making people think that even those who only speak the vulgate and do not know Latin can be learned." "Carlo Marsupini could easily surpass the fame of Francesco Filelfo." "Carlo Marsupini can teach Latin at the Studio Fiorentino." "As for Dante and the use of the vulgate, not everyone thinks as you do, gentlemen." "We have some learned men of the curia among us." "Let us ask them what they think." "The language of the ancient writers is the only one worthy of being used by the scholars to speak of everything that is lofty and sublime and to exchange their most elevated thoughts." "Latin is a language that has the same dignity as Greek, in which Pythagoras, PIato, Aristotle, Hippocrates and Galen with philosophy and science" "laid the foundation of all human knowledge, valid from now until all eternity." "The language in which Pindar, Sappho and Homer, with sublime verses, sang of the vices and virtues of all men." "So, let us leave Latin and Greek to the scholars, and the vulgate to the commoners." "And you, Mr. Alberti, what do you say?" "Italy has been occupied and taken over many times by so many peoples:" "Gauls, Goths, Vandals, Longobards and other such barbarians." "Thus, over time, our once cultured and admired Latin has become somewhat wild and has been divested of its perfection." "Its decline pains us because it is the Iast and saddest sign of the decline of our ancient civilization." "But do you think that those ancient authors would have written so diligently and the orators would have recited their orations in a language known only by a select few?" "Anyone who writes or speaks should aim to be understood." "Therefore I declare that, yes, Latin is splendid and perfect, but our Tuscan language is not less worthy and should not be scorned." "Those who are more learned than I, and many would make that claim, would find in the vulgate language, no less ornament than in the Latin." "Alighieri, Petrarch, Boccaccio and many others prove it." "And if Mr. Cosimo will allow it," "I would like to hold a contest here in Florence, a challenge between scholars and members of the populace, to reward who is better able to sing the praises in vulgate of love, passion, beauty." "Mr. Alberti, I like the idea of your contest." "Today we must be very mindful of making mistakes." "Do you know the story of the Podesta from Modena who, when reading a letter from his duke, confused the word accipiter with the word arcipretis and instead of sending him a falcon gave him a prelate in chains?" "From that day on, the duke decided to write all his letters in vulgate... so as to avoid such confusion." "Of fair and dark I am alike the slave;" "white-skinned or sunburnt, I adore them all." "'Twas to her golden hair Aurora owed her beauty." "In a word, of all the beauties they rave about in Rome, there's none whose lover I am not faint to be."" "You like Venus for her amber skin and you love Aurora for her golden hair." "Fair, blond or brunette, your Cupid love every girl covets." "Do not tell me that Venus does not have many sisters in Florence and that you have not loved almost all of them?" "No, I cannot deny it." "But the women celebrated in the verses of your Ovid are certainly not Florentine." "Ovid would not have known how to sing the praises of the Florentine women." "Listen to these rhymes in the vulgate." "So gentle and virtuous she appears, my lady, when greeting other people that every tongue tremblingly grows silent, and eyes do not dare gaze upon her." "She passes by, hearing herself praised, graciously clothed with humility." "And she appears a heavenly creature come to earth to show forth a miracle."" "The women of ancient Rome were men's chattel." "They were all courtesans and slaves." "And Venus, mother of Cupid, had given them over to men's power." "I see that your woman has softened your heart." "Uniquique suum, to each his own." "To me, my woman, and to you, Filelfo's chair." "Sir, are you Carlo Marsupini?" "Yes, I am." "Who are you?" "You do not know me, but I have been sent to Florence to seek you out." "Have you brought me a message?" "No, I have come to Florence for you, but I do not bear a message." "Then I do not understand." "Francesco Filelfo has sent me." "Are you interested?" "I see." "Come in, then." "In Siena, Mr. Francesco Filelfo paid me 25 florins and promised to pay me 25 more if I do what he has requested of me here in Florence." "Fifty florins!" "With 50 florins you could buy a villa in the country." "Sir, I have decided to come to speak to you and to warn you of what he is plotting." "I am certain that you will be willing to pay me not only the 25 florins that Filelfo would pay me for this deed, but much more." "You know how to reward those who do favors for the Medicis." "Of course, you deserve a reward." "And a Iarge one, at that, when you learn of the proposal made to me by Filelfo." "But I strive to be honest in my work." "You see, when it comes to the murder of an evil man," "I am always ready." "And I assure you that I have never failed to complete an assignment I have taken on." "But when I am asked to kill a good man, it is a different story." "And am I the good man in question?" "No, sir, though you are a good man." "But Filelfo hired me to kill another man in Florence." "Who?" "His greatest enemy." "And I must warn you that even now he is in danger, even though I refused the assignment." "Filelfo speaks also of you with disdain, because you occupy his chair at the Studio Fiorentino." "He says you have desecrated it " "Forgive me, these are his words." "Go ahead, speak freely." "According to him, sir - forgive me - you are as ignorant as a donkey, treacherous as a viper, and your words are nothing more than the excrement of a pig who has been well fattened in the stables of Cosimo de' Medici." "We all know his biting tongue." "But tell me, who is the designated victim of Filelfo's assassins?" "This is a very important piece of information, one that you might sell yourself." "It is a piece of information worth 25 more florins." "I do not doubt it, but at this time" "I do not have such an amount in my house." "Come back tomorrow." "Bring this to the Bargello right away." "This is Niccolo de' Conti." "The Pope has sent this Venetian to me, who is a little Christian and also a little Muslim." "Greetings, gentlemen." "I am here to do penance by order of the Pope, because I falsely renounced the Christian faith to escape from the Turks." "The truth is that I should be the one doing penance." "The Pope has absolved him on condition of his coming here to tell me his story, which I am then to write." "A good penance, as the Pope knows that you too have your sins to pay for." " Tell us, Niccolo, tell us." " Tell us your story." "I was born in Chioggia." "As a boy, I took to the sea and became a merchant." "I stayed in Damascus for a long time." "I was not yet 20 and already fluent in Arabic." "My family, in Venice, traded in all sorts of goods, from spices to silk, from precious stones to gold." "We got our silk from Mongol merchants." "They transported it along a very long route traveled by only one European, a Venetian named Marco Polo." "The bales of silk from China travel a long route that passes below huge mountains at the edge of an endless desert." "The route travels through Lan-chou, Anxi, Tarashuan, Cascar, east of the great Samarkand, reaching all the way to Baghdad." "From here they shipped it toward the ports of the Mediterranean, where the Venetian ships awaited it." "In Damascus" "I joined a caravan of Persians and with them I crossed the desert and Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and the Euphrates." "Pursuing my trade, I entered the lands of Tamerlane and went down the coast of the Arabian Sea to Malabar." "Were you never in danger?" "At times I lived as a servant, at others I lived as a lord." "Once I even owned a ship." "Many times I was an adviser to princes and great merchants." "For over 1 0 years, I traveled between the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal, and I got all the way to Bago, a land where the men are as small as the Chinese, with almond-shaped eyes, but their skin is light brown" "similar to that of certain Indians." "Their religion makes them kind, sweet and hospitable." "I left the Bay of Bengal by boat, went up the Ganges, the sacred river in India, for three months." "And then on foot I traveled down the coast meeting new and unknown peoples and trading with them." "In spite of my flourishing trade," "I became tired of wandering and decided to return home, to see Venice and Chioggia once again." "On a merchant ship with my wife and children" "I doubled Cape Comorin, at the tip of the Indian Peninsula." "It was then, during the crossing of the Red Sea, that I feared I would never again see Chioggia and Venice." "We were captured by Muslims." "They captured me, my wife, my children and two servants." "By now, they are either slaves or dead." "And I, in order to regain my freedom, had to pretend to embrace the religion of Muhammad." "I never missed a chance to make a good deal." "When I felt safe, I bought the complicity of my guards, organized my escape and arrived in Italy." "After 25 years of adventures and travels" "I can tell tales that few have knowledge of." "Very interesting." "I would very much like to question you at length, if you will give me the honor." "Incredible, this man has traveled the world over." "He started from Venice, he has seen unknown peoples, and finally has sought refuge in Florence." "Yes, Florence is the center of the world because this is where the florins are, and they are the true center of the world." "As you can see, the first level is solid, massive, rusticated ashIar, but then the building becomes lighter and acquires a bright, smooth look." "Well done, Michelozzo." "Your design, in its sobriety, is superior to that done for me by Brunelleschi before my exile." "You understand that I want not a palace fit for a prince, but for a man." " Am I right, Mr. Donatello?" " I agree with you." "Yours must be the house of a man of the city." "Mr. Cosimo, the messenger from the gonfalonier of justice is here." "Leave me, gentlemen." "I will see you tomorrow." "Here is the decision of the Balia, according to the Iaw." "Let me read the list of those who will be exiled." "Eighty exiled, even Palla Strozzi." "He will certainly remove from Florence his lovely library." "The Signoria, with its authority, could prevent it." "No, one cannot take away the books of a man who loves them so without committing the vilest of offenses, especially if he is one of the 80 men sent into exile." "As for them, they will join the ranks of the other exiles, who never tire of plotting and spreading evil gossip, like Filelfo." "The captain of the Balia, Jacopo dei Levagnoli, will execute the mandates and pursue other citizens who may be suspected of conspiring against the republic in collusion with the exiles." "Particular attention has been paid to the work of the couplers." "When the names are chosen and put in the bags for the election of the next city magistrature, there will not be one person who has been unfaithful to the laws of the republic." "In a few days, there will be a drawing for the new Signoria." "Many in the city are asking fate to allow your name to be drawn and that the title of gonfalonier be given to you." "I do not share this wish." "Twenty florins for this, a headless statue?" "It is a very beautiful Venus." "If we dig near where it was found, we may find the head and be able to restore it." "Well, if it had a head, it might be worth 20 florins." "Welcome, gentlemen." "I was expecting you." "Here, I received this from a merchant from Mainz." "It is Lucian's Charon." "Observe, sir, it is a precious work." "It is a rare text, but it is not new." "Aurispa translated it from Greek into Latin many years ago." "Why are they selling it?" "The German merchants are not well known for their scholarship." "They are selling it for enough money to purchase 60 bales of silk." "It is not only the merchants, but also the German princes who disdain scholarship." "They prefer the company of horses and dogs to that of poets." "What is this?" "It is not a classic." "It is a text on Arab cosmology requested by Mr. Toscanelli." "You are making a lovely copy." "I shall go and read it at Mr. Paolo Toscanelli's home." "Look, this is the Argonautica by Valerius Flaccus." " It is a good copy." " Yes, it is." " I would like to buy it, but..." " I know, you do not have the money." "What are you doing so humbly dressed?" "I liked you better when you were dressed as a Muslim." "I am here as a good Christian, to read what you read and to try to understand you Florentines." " Do we seem so strange to you?" " Yes, indeed." " Why is that?" " Why?" "Because Florence is a unique city." "In the rest of the world, the cites, the countries are ruled by princes." "The principalities are stable and everything is done according to the will of only one man." "The aristocracy merely consents respectfully to his deliberations." "It is the prince who commands and gives orders." "But here, it is completely the opposite." "Why does Florence constantly change its governors?" "Why do you elect a new Signoria every year?" "Because here every mood counts, and whoever is dissatisfied creates a faction of his own." "So for a while the heads of government are the Uzzanos, the Albizis or the Medicis." "And then you start over with the Medicis, the Albizis or the Uzzanos." "Athenian democracy is what made Athens great." "You are enthusiastic about the ancients and you have made me curious about them and their works." "The elevation of the spirit." "You elevate the spirit and meanwhile you fill your purses with gold." "You who are a merchant would tell us that we are wrong?" "No, not at all." "I must admit that I have much to learn from you." "Even the Arab merchants could learn much from you, and I have never met anyone more cunning and greedy than they." "You mean we are greedier than they?" "Much more." "You have done what I never would have thought possible." "You have made robbery ethical, you have made greed reasonable, and to give nobility to this greed, you explain with scholarly knowledge that florins are a gift of God." "You build monuments, churches, domes, statues, sacred frescoes so the world will see you as devout, humble, God fearing men." "Between philosophy, knowledge and commerce, one wonders what our world is coming to." "Vtg"