Notes

PROLOGUE

Renaissance Italy: For a general introduction to Italian city-states, one can still profitably read the classic Burckhardt, The Civilization.

“While I was still mere flesh and bones”: Dante, Inferno, XXVII, 73–78.

“since it is necessary for a prince”: Machiavelli, The Prince, chapter 17.

PART I: WINTER 1476–SPRING 1478

1. MILAN IS FOR MURDER

In the first half of the fifteenth century: On the Visconti wars with Florence, see the classic Baron, The Crisis.

When the condottiere Francesco Sforza suddenly: See Ilardi, “The Italian League.”

“The soul of Duke Giovanni”: Giovanni Maria Visconti, Duke of Milan, was murdered in 1412.

“And such is the fate of cruel man”: See Antonio Cornazzano’s Del modo di regere et di regnare (PML M. 731).

He tried on a decorative breastplate: Many details of the narrative in this chapter come from Bernardino Corio’s History of Milan, first published in 1503 (pp. 1398–1410); Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, drew his dramatic rewriting from it; the other major eyewitness account is the letter by Orfeo da Ricavo to Sforza Bettini, Milan, January 1, 1477 (ASFi, Carte Strozziane I, filza XXXXV, cc. 96–97), published in Casanova, “L’uccisione” see Belotti, Il dramma; see also Ilardi, The Assassination.

he had had an instincto: Corio, pp. 1398ff.

“All the ink in Tuscany”: Galeazzo Maria Sforza to Francesco Sforza, Florence, April 17, 1459 (Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 118). On Galeazzo, Lubkin, A Renaissance Court, is very informative. For the 1471 visit: Wright, A Portrait, and also her The Pollaiuolo Brothers.

the penitential season of Lent: Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VII, 28.

In his portrait of a dandified Galeazzo: See Strehlke, “Li magistri,” p. 14.

he begged Galeazzo not to walk: Casanova, “L’uccisione,” p. 304.

He embraced and kissed the boys: The touching detail of Galeazzo’s goodbye to his sons comes from Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VII, 34. I suspect that Machiavelli heard the story directly from Hermes Sforza, who visited Florence in 1503, when Machiavelli was secretary of the Republic.

The façade of the “blessed church”: Casanova, “L’uccisione,” p. 304.

“Sic transit gloria mundi!”: Santi, p. 463.

“Make room!”: Ibid.

“I am dead”: Casanova, “L’uccisione,” p. 305; see also other sources, like Parenti, 3.

The Mantuan ambassador Zaccaria Saggi: See Saggi’s many letters in Carteggio; in particular on Galeazzo’s murder, Zaccaria Saggi to Ludovico Gonzaga, Milan, December 26, 1476 (in Belotti, Il dramma, pp. 186–87). But D’Adda, “La morte di Galeazzo,” p. 287, quotes another eyewitness report according to which “Zaccaria fled in fear.”

Cicco was a “very good shield”: Zaccaria Saggi to Ludovico Gonzaga, Cremona, August 21, 1471 (Carteggio, VIII, p. 550). On Cicco, see Simonetta, Rinascimento, pp. 127ff.

Cicco replied that “these were rotten things to do…”: Cicco Simonetta to Gerardo Cerruti, Milan, February 13, 1473 (ASMi PE Romagna 178; cf. Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 123).

Girolamo Olgiati was “very literate and erudite”: Casanova, “L’uccisione,” p. 306.

“What a thousand armed phalanxes could not do…”: Corio, p. 1407; cf. D’Adda, “La morte di Galeazzo,” p. 286–87. On Olgiati and Lampugnani, cf. Belotti, Il dramma. On Sallust’s influence, see P. J. Osmond, Catiline and Catilinarism in the Italian Renaissance (unpublished essay; I wish to thank the author for sharing it with me).

“Pull yourself together, Girolamo!”: Corio, p. 1408.

Apparently, Lampugnani’s wife had also fallen prey: The allegation about Galeazzo’s rape deserves a closer analysis. In a letter dated June 14, 1468, Lampugnani had duly informed Cicco Simonetta that his wife was not following him to Genoa, where he had been posted from Milan on a diplomatic mission. But having heard that the Milanese envoys had left without him, Lampugnani asked Cicco to give him the chance to “clear his innocence,” in case he had unwillingly disappointed the duke for some mysterious reason. It is possible that, under the circumstances, Cicco would cover up his lord’s nasty plans to sleep with his subject’s wife, but one has to acknowledge that Lampugnani might have been slightly paranoid about the supposed abuse. This allegation was wholly based on circumstantial evidence. (Interestingly, the verb sforzare in Italian also means “to rape”).

“Everything was done,” added Orfeo da Ricavo: Casanova, “L’uccisione,” p. 307.

“be favorable to our enterprise…” Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VII, 34; see also Frazier, Possible Lives, p. 151.

as did some well-timed tax cuts: See Belotti, Il dramma, p. 154, Cicco’s letter of January 8, 1477, to fix a fair price of grains.

directing a desperate appeal to the pope: On Bona’s appeal, see Breisach, Caterina Sforza, p. 26; see Bona of Savoy to Celso Maffei, Milan, early January 1477 (BNP It. 1592, 95–96; see also the theological debate, BNP It. 1592, 97).

among them was Lucia Marliani: On her alleged role in Galeazzo’s burial, see Vaglienti, “Anatomia” see also the thrilling historical novel by Laura Malinverni, Una storia del Quattrocento.

must have had a “secret virtue”: Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 18; Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 161.

which gave full governing powers to the council: Bona of Savoy to the Secret Senate, Milan, December 30, 1476 (ASMi 932; Lettere, II, pp. 249–50); see Fubini, Osservazioni e documenti; see also Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 157–58. On Gian Giacomo Simonetta, see ibid., pp. 135–36.

Galeazzo’s first cousin Roberto da Sanseverino: See Simonetta, Rinascimento, pp. 197ff., with bibliography.

had actually moved into Galeazzo’s private apartments: Zaccaria Saggi to Ludovico Gonzaga, Milan, January 31, 1477 (ASMa b. 1626).

2. OVERLY CAUTIOUS

He hired Florentine architect Antonio Averlino: On his work for the Sforza castle, see Welch, Art and Authority.

What’s more, these two brilliant brains shared: Pelling, The Curse, argues that the Bein. Ms. 408 was in fact created by Filarete with the help of Cicco’s cryptographic techniques.

Cicco had selected the best agents: For a series of biographies of the Sforza ambassadors and a collection of Cicco’s ciphers, see Cerioni, La diplomazia, and Cicco’s Diari.

instituted the first resident ambassadors: Ilardi, “The First Permanent Embassy.”

obtain what he wanted “the military way”: Acta, January 6, 1477.

could do so only “as private courtiers”: Sforza Maria Sforza to Federico Gonzaga, Naples, January 12, 1479 (ASMa b. 1608).

was “more shadow than fact”: Ibid.

In early February, the three accomplices hired a man named Ettore Vimercati: For his trial, see Fubini, Osservazioni e documenti, pp. 77ff.; cf. Magenta, Visconti e Sforza, II, pp. 390–92; on the Simonetta family rules, see Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 130; cf. Pecchiai, “Il cuoco di Cicco Simonetta.”

He would have succeeded, “had Cicco not been alerted”: Ercole d’Este a Nicolò Bendidio, Florence, February 9, 1477 (Lettere, II, p. 296).

thanking Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici for their heartfelt condolences: Lorenzo and Giuliano de’ Medici to Bona of Savoy, Florence, December 29, 1476.

recalling their “old friendship”: Bona of Savoy to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Milan, January 6, 1477 (Lettere, II, pp. 247–50).

In January 1477 Cicco had also sent as gifts: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Bona of Savoy, Florence, January 18, 1477 (Lettere, II, p. 262). The coded meaning of the gift is my own interpretation.

his best falcon-trainer, a man named Pilato: Galeazzo Maria Sforza to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Milan, July 11, 1476 (MAP XLVII 253; Lettere, II, pp. 239–40). On the rise of the Medici family, see Rubinstein, The Government; Parks, Medici Money.

“Quant’è bella giovinezza”: In Lorenzo’s collected poems; see Parks, Medici Money, p. 239.

“the content of the republic’s letters…”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Tommaso Soderini and Luigi Guicciardini, Florence, February 17, 1477 (Lettere, II, pp. 280–89; cf. 290–93, in which he writes a separate postscript to be shown, at the ambassadors’ discretion, only to Cicco.)

Cicco had first met Lorenzo: For Lorenzo’s trip to Lombardy in 1465, see Lettere, I, pp. 14–16. On the Visconti-Sforza Library, see D’Adda, Indagini storiche.

“As long as I live and whatever becomes…”: Lorenzo to Bianca Maria and Galeazzo Maria Sforza Dukes of Milan, Florence, June 9, 1466. Lettere, I, pp. 21–22.

“clean”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Andrea Petrini (his agent in Milan), Florence, February 17, 1477, Lettere, II, p. 296, referring to the plot against Cicco by Vimercati).

Federico da Montefeltro’s condotta, or hiring contract: Lettere, II, p. 292.

“This is a very little thing, very easy…”: Federico da Montefeltro to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Fossombrone, January 25, 1477 (MAP XLVII 396); another letter of the same content was written from Gubbio, May 24, 1477 (MAP XLV 283).

“Today, peace in Italy is dead.”: Corio, p. 1410.

“We urge you to do all you can…”: The Signoria of Florence to Sixtus IV, to Ferrante of Aragon, to the Republic of Venice, and to Federico da Montefeltro, Florence, December 29, 1476, in Casanova, “L’uccisione,” pp. 311–13.

after the “untimely and most atrocious” the assassination had killed his pensiero bello: Santi, pp. 469–70. Santi also digressed in his versified biography about the dangers of living like a tyrant. If a private citizen (like Lorenzo) wants to administer the republic and become important, he will inevitably begin to degenerate and spread trouble around him, which results either in death or exile. Torments, woes, and pains multiply themselves, Santi continued. The tyrant lives to die a violent death, surrounded by a “sea of doubts,” “slave of a thousands thieves,” and “criminals.” It is better to enjoy one’s riches in hiding, avoiding the “dangerous style” of rule. Indeed “cruel fate” and “bitter death” had hit Galeazzo, who had feared neither the powerful and strong (like Federico), nor the poor and powerless. The Duke of Milan, so confident in his wealth and might, lording over a state of which all Italy was in awe, now lay dead in the ground, killed by a lowly servant (Santi, pp. 466–69).

“I will write to Nomio”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Gentile de’ Becchi, Florence, February 1, 1477 (Lettere, II, pp. 272–76).

It was under Gonzaga’s scrutiny that finally, on February 24: Published in Rosmini, Dell’istoria di Milano, IV, pp. 158–62.

He knew one man: On his relationship with Sanseverino, see Simonetta, Rinascimento, pp. 197ff. Pulci had inserted a cameo of Sanseverino in his poem celebrating the 1469 Florentine joust that Lorenzo had predictably won. For all the letters by Luigi Pulci to Lorenzo de’ Medici, from 1473 to early 1477, see Morgante e Lettere, pp. 983ff.

“Despite the fact that he is an insipid…”: Angelo Della Stufa to Galeazzo Sforza, Florence, April 19, 1476 (ASMi PE Firenze 291).

“I heard about the duke’s death…”: Luigi Pulci to Lorenzo de’ Medici, January 3, 1477 (Morgante e Lettere, p. 1000).

Cicco did not approve of “the hellish picture”: The Dukes of Milan to Filippo Sacramoro, Milan, March 19, 1477 (ASMi PE Firenze 292).

Once a powerful maritime republic, over the last decades Genoa: See Federico da Montefeltro to the Dukes of Milan, Urbino, April 17, 1477 (ASMi PE Marca 149; the letter is published with no date in Lettere di Stato, pp. 57–58).

He targeted one captain, Donato del Conte: For his capture, see Zaccaria Saggi to Ludovico Gonzaga, Milan, May 26, 1477 (ASMa b. 1627).

“I was bored with the Council’s meetings…”: Roberto da Sanseverino to the Marquis of Monferrato, Asti, May 28, 1477 (Rosmini, Dell’istoria di Milano, IV, p. 164).

“some stratagem that goes against any good”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Roberto da Sanseverino, Florence, May 29, 1477 (ASMi PE Firenze 292; Lettere, II, pp. 258–61).

“human things are subject to change…”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Filippo Sacramoro in Milan, Florence, June 5, 1477 (Lettere, II, pp. 367–71).

“Ma la fortuna attenta sta nascosa”: The quote is from Pulci’s Morgante, Cantare 1.12.1–2.

“I am sorry for anyone’s misfortune…”: Federico Montefeltro to the Dukes of Milan, Gubbio, June 3, 1477 (ASMi PE Umbria 141).

“select few who govern and they suffer…”: Tommaso Soderini to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Milan, June 30, 1477 (MAP XXXII 113; cf. Fubini, Italia quattrocentesca, p. 112).

3. NOTHING UNSAID

Federico da Montefeltro was born: For the biographies of Federico, see Scrivano, Biografie; and, in chronological order, Paltroni, Santi, Vespasiano da Bisticci, Baldi, Dennistoun, Tommasoli, Roeck. See also Bonvini Mazzanti, Battista Sforza.

The Gubbio studiolo mirrored Federico’s: See Raggio, The Gubbio Studiolo.

That morning, preparing for dictation, Federico undoubtedly summoned: The duke’s secretary was Federico Galli who, according to De’ Rossi’s biography, went on to live until he was 106 years old; more important from our standpoint, the biographer emphasized the fact that “the Duke always wanted to see his letters and subscribe them personally” (Vita, p. 84).

The duke’s letter to Cicco Simonetta: Federico da Montefeltro to Matteo [Benedetti] in Milan, Urbino, July 2, 1477 (ASFi, Urbino, Classe I, Div. G., filza CIV, n. 12; italics mine). This letter was published in Fubini, Federico da Montefeltro, pp. 451–58. This seminal essay was the first to outline Montefeltro’s role in the buildup of the Pazzi conspiracy; its Appendix contains other key documents.

Fortunately for Federico, Cicco Simonetta had warned: Cf. Corio, disputed by Baldi.

had no knowledge of the plot: For Federico’s role in the murder of his stepbrothers, see Scatena, Oddantonio.

as a result of a mischievous move by his opponent: Guidangelo de’ Ranieri. For the incident in the mock-joust, see Santi, pp. 152–55. Perhaps he is the same mentioned in Santi, pp. 129–30, as a brave soldier.

One of the victims was a Jewish merchant named Menahem ben Aharon: For his Hebrew library, see Delio Proverbio’s essay in the Morgan exhibition catalogue Federico da Montefeltro and His Library.

The condottiere was welcomed triumphantly: See Sacramoro da Rimini to Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Florence, June 26, 1472 (ASMi PE Firenze 283) on the Florentine citizenship and other gifts, including the intention of giving him Luigi Scarampo’s house. According to Vespasiano da Bisticci he was given the villa in Rusciano which belonged to Luca Pitti, the failed anti-Medici plotter of 1466.

He was granted Florentine citizenship and was promised: See Francesco Prendilacqua to Ludovico Gonzaga, Urbino, April 2, 1473 (ASMa b. 845; quoted in Paltroni, p. 275) on the reception of the helmet, produced by Antonio Pollaiuolo.

Disputationes Camaldulenses: A critical edition of Cristoforo Landino’s work with a facing English translation is being edited by Jill Kraye.

Landino avoided any reference to the sack of Volterra: For Federico’s role in it, see at least Paltroni, pp. 267–76, and Santi, pp. 390–407.

make a “clone” out of wax: Corio, p. 1369.

a little treatise on code-writing, De furtivis litteris: See Valentini, “Uno scritto ignorato.”

4. THE INVISIBLE HANDS

“all the people who understand…”: Baccio Ugolini to Lorenzo’s secretary Niccolò Michelozzi, Rome, January 16, 1477 (BNCF, Ginori Conti, 29, 18).

“if it wouldn’t create a scandal…”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Baccio Ugolini, Florence, February 1, 1477 (Lettere, II, p. 269). Lorenzo’s visit to Sixtus in 1471, Ricordi. For basic background on Sixtus IV and the della Rovere family: Un pontificato; Lombardi, “Sisto IV” see also Clark, Melozzo da Forlì.

“incredible goodness and true love”: Pietro Riario to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Rome, August 14, 1472 (MAP XLVI 184; quoted in Lettere, I, p. 392). On Pietro Riario, see Santi, pp. 425–28; partially translated by Dennistoun, I, pp. 195–96.

Federico da Montefeltro, for his part: Sacramoro da Rimini to Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Rome, November 9, 1473 (ASMi PE Roma 73). On Imola see Breisach, Caterina Sforza. See Cicco’s Diari for Caterina’s wedding ceremony in Milan (January 14, 1473).

“candle of the Virgin Mary”: Federico da Montefeltro to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Naples, July 29, 1474 (MAP LXI 155). This letter is commented by Lorenzo’s secretary Niccolò Michelozzi writing to Gentile Becchi, Florence, August 8, 1474 (BNCF, Ginori Conti, 29, 67); in several letters of the following days Michelozzi reports about the suspicious activities of Federico, who might be acting like “an evil malicious traitor.” For the Roman ceremony, see Baldi, III, pp. 234–35 and the important addenda P-Q-R, pp. 278–81; see Dennistoun, I, pp. 209–11.

“awaited like a Messiah”: Gian Pietro Arrivabene to Federico Gonzaga, Rome, August 13 and 21 and October 1, 1474 (ASMa b. 845) for Federico’s Collar of the Ermine and his attention to fashionable clothing. On Federico in Città di Castello, see Santi, pp. 440–42 (p. 444 quote of the “deadly hatred”).

“she-cat who licks you in front…”: See Tommasoli, Vita, pp. 159–60; Santi, p. 446, pp. 449–50; on Piero Felici’s last mission in Florence, see Filippo Sacramoro to Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Florence, October 10, 1474 (ASMi PE Firenze 288).

Later the same month, in Urbino: Santi, pp. 453–57 (translated by Dennistoun, who also collected many other documents about the king of England in his Appendix VII: I, pp. 424–32).

It should have come as a warning sign that: On the jousting horse, Federico da Montefeltro to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Urbino, December 30, 1474 (MAP XXX 1079; Lettere II, 123).

“small in body but great in spirit”: Parenti: 12:17. On Francesco Pazzi, see Poliziano, Congiura, pp. 12–16, and Santi, p. 493.

This was Francesco Salviati: See Poliziano, Congiura, pp. 10–12.

“would mind his own business…”: Francesco Nori to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Rome, January 19, 1475 (MAP LXI 98; partially ciphered ).

“they would join their hands to God…”: Federico da Montefeltro about Lorenzo de’ Medici, as reported by Francesco Maletta to Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Naples, July 13, 1475 (ASMi PE Napoli 227; Lettere, II, p. 117).

“all my troubles derive from the same source…”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Galeazzo Maria Sforza, Florence, September 7, 1475 (Lettere, II, pp. 121–27); quoted in Parks, Medici Money, p. 205: “Puffed up by his Majesty…”—cutting the reference to the Duke of Urbino.

“If the fish is not worthy of you…”: Francesco Salviati to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Pisa, June 20, 1476 (MAP XXXIII 479).

The following account of the events: Montesecco Confession, released May 4, 1478, printed on August 4 by the Florentines (note that other historians, including Martines, April Blood, have used this key document, but this is the first “chronological” reconstruction of the sequence of reported events).

“Such proceedings of justice are limited…”: Francesco Salviati to Nicolò Baldovini, Rome, July 11, 1477 (BL Add. 24.213, 40; italics mine).

“enter into evil” “a gutsy pope”: Machiavelli, The Prince, respectively chapters 17 and 11.

“Men cannot govern states…”: Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VII. 6. This maxim was attributed to Cosimo de’ Medici by various Florentine contemporary writers.

“Magnificent Lorenzo”: Girolamo Riario to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Rome, September 1, 1477 (BNP It. 2033, 36).

“Your Lordships of Milan…”: Sacramoro da Rimini to the Dukes of Milan, Rome, September 14 and 16, 1477 (ASMi PE Roma 84).

“secret expenses”: Tommasoli, Vita, p. 274.

“any deliberation or enterprise…”: Lorenzo de’ Medici in consultation with the Florentine officials to Francesco Salviati, Florence, September 18, 1477 (Lettere, II, p. 416).

“very hard job at hand…”: Federico da Montefeltro to the astrologer Antonuccio da Gubbio, published in Lettere di Stato, p. 113, is translated and commented by Dennistoun, I, p. 233, but referred to a later siege (Castel Sansavino or Poggio Imperiale).

Ugolini had some understanding: Baccio Ugolini to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Rome, October 6 and 25, 1477 (MAP XXVI 189 and 388; partially ciphered ); in the hardly legible ciphered part of the P.S., he wrote that the pope spoke “to Mantua,” that is, to Cardinal Francesco Gonzaga, Rodolfo’s brother.

5. ELIMINATE THEM!

“more a city in itself than a palazzo”: Baldassarre Castiglione’s Book of the Courtier (I, 2); the Urbino palace was built by Luciano Laurana and Francesco di Giorgio.

He also hired humanists: Santi, p. 423; for the studiolo and the library, see Federico da Montefeltro and His Library.

In early October 1477 Federico summoned: For Federico’s troops movements, Iacopo Ammannati to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Siena, October 9, 1477 (MAP XXXIV 206, in Ammannati’s Lettere, p. 2158).

It is unclear whether this was: Santi, pp. 489ff.; See also Tommasoli, Vita, p. 275.

bad humors: See Santi, p. 491; for the surgical details see Petrus Paulus Pegnis to the Dukes of Milan, Urbino, January 31, 1478 (ASMi PE Marca 149). On the humors, see Noga Arikha, Passions and Tempers. A History of the Humours, New York, 2007.

In November Count Riario dispatched his favorite henchman: See my entry in the Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani; Lettere, II, p. 456, also for Felici…had been summoned to the Curia. See letter by Federico da Montefeltro to Piero Felici, of February 11, 1478, quoted in Lettere, II, p. 463, reply to the ciphered letter to the Duke of Urbino by his Roman ambassadors, Rome, February 6, 1478 (in Fubini, Federico da Montefeltro, pp. 462–72). See also Federico da Montefeltro to Piero Felici, Urbino, February 7, 1478 (PML, MA 4338), in which he thanks him for communicating to him the support of the Duchess of Milan (Cicco) to his “honor,” that is, his condotta.

The words in Federico’s coded letter: Federico da Montefeltro to Piero Felici and Agostino Staccoli, Urbino, February 14, 1478 (Ubaldini; almost completely ciphered. I discovered it in summer 2001, and published it in 2003; see also Afterword).

Cicco’s Rules: Regule and extrahendum litteras zifratas, sine exemplo attributed to Cicco Simonetta, pages cut from his Diari, Pavia, July 4, 1474 (BNP It. 1595, 441r).

Fortunately, these same symbols happened: Vat. lat. 998 (BAV). I discovered it in summer 2004; I thank Nick Pelling for his tip.

Shortly after Guidobaldo had received the gift: Clark, Melozzo da Forlì, thought that Guidobaldo’s portrait was by Melozzo, but recent reattribution ascribed it to Bartolomeo della Gatta (Simonetta, Federico da Montefeltro).

“Piero. I received your letter…”: Ottaviano Ubaldini to Piero Felici, Urbino, February 15, 1478 (Ubaldini).

Raffaele Riario was Girolamo’s nephew: He was made cardinal on December 10, 1477. According to Filippo Sacramoro he arrived on March 5, 1478, at the Pazzi villa; see the letter by Raffaele Riario written in Montughi on March 30, 1478 (MAP XXXVI 392): this means that he stayed around Florence for at least a month before the conspiracy struck (see Fubini, Federico da Montefeltro, p. 432).

the officially pro-Medici philosopher Marsilio Ficino gave Jacopo Bracciolini: See Simonetta, Rinascimento, pp. 181ff.; on Ficino’s involvement in the plot, Fubini, Quattrocento fiorentino, pp. 235–301 (Ficino e i Medici all’avvento di Lorenzo il Magnifico and Ancora su Ficino e i Medici).

“Knowing Sir Jacopo, son of Poggio”: See the two letters on behalf of Jacopo Bracciolini written by Girolamo Riario to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Rome, January 15, 1478 (MAP XXXIV 49 and 275).

On March 27, a secret meeting: See the official letter of King Ferrante of Naples, Sarno, April 1, 1478, referring to the March 27 meeting, in Fubini, Federico da Montefeltro, pp. 467–68.

Giustini rushed all the way back to Urbino: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Urbino, April 1, 1478 (ASMa b. 846).

one of his favorite weapon-makers: Ibid.

“the Duke of Urbino and some others…”: Giovanni Lanfredini to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Venice, January 3, 1478 (Lettere, II, p. 468); see Leonardo Botta to the Dukes of Milan, Venice, January 18, 1478 (ASMi PE Venezia 363; see Ilardi, The Assassination, p. 100).

“Watch yourself!”: Filippo Sacramoro to the Dukes of Milan, Florence, September 13, 1477 (ASMi PE Firenze 293; Lettere, II, p. 413).

“The words, the countenance, the most recent acts…”: Sacramoro da Rimini to Cicco Simonetta, Rome, April 2 and 24, 1478 (ASMi PE Roma 85).

The high point of Cicco’s government: See Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 158; Frazier, Possible Lives, p. 156.

PART II: SPRING 1478–SUMMER 1482

6. FLORENCE IS FOR FEAR

There are a few published Renaissance reports: Sources for this chapter are multiple: Montesecco’s Confession; Poliziano, Congiura; Strozzi, Ricordo; Landucci 15–19; Parenti, Storia fiorentina, pp. 12–20; Conti, Storie, pp. 22ff. (talks about the “devil as the sower of war,” as pointed out by Chambers, Popes, Cardinals and War, p. 75); Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 1–9.

starsi alla dimesticha: Parenti 14:81; anghio: Parenti 15:84.

stomacans: Giovanni di Carlo, 136r.

“Watch out, O brother: by wanting…”: Giovanni di Carlo, 136v and Machiavelli Florentine Histories, VIII, 2.

“a cargo of Indian spices and Greek books…”: Edward Gibbon as quoted by John Hale, England and the Italian Renaissance, p. 83. Description of the Medici Palace and quote from Virgil (Aeneid. II, pp. 248–49): Giovanni di Carlo, 140v–141r.

“thing truly worthy of memory”: Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 6.

Somebody else spread the rumor that a number of unidentified crossbowmen: Parenti 17:166.

“Take this, traitor!”: Parenti 18:182. Machiavelli, Discourses, III, 6, argues that Francesco Pazzi shouted, giving Lorenzo the chance to save himself from the attack.

helped by a young man from a wealthy family: Giovanni di Carlo, 142r; it was a member of the Cavalcanti family.

with their hearts in their throats: Strozzi, Ricordo, 521.

he had to visit his ailing mother: Parenti 17:152.

They had set themselves up: Poliziano, Congiura, p. 38; Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 7; cf. VII, 26 for another plot narrating the courage of Cesare Petrucci (see also Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 187).

According to Giovanni di Carlo’s History: Giovanni di Carlo, 140r.

“naive soul”: Giovanni di Carlo, 140v; Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 6; also Parenti, 18:205–10, speculates on the “occult cause” that prevented Montesecco from acting against Lorenzo.

The immediate, chaotic aftermath of the conspiracy was vividly described: Filippo Sacramoro to Cicco Simonetta, Florence, April 27 and 28, 1478 (ASMi PE Firenze 294); see Cicco’s Diari, pp. 237–39.

“ferocity of his soul”: Giovanni di Carlo, 143v; various details about the “payback,” passim.

“in the name of the Holy Spirit to be pronounced cardinal”: Filippo Sacramoro, April 27 (quoted above).

Somebody did claim from li indicij de li panni: Filippo Sacramoro, April 27, (quoted above).

Jacopo’s daughter was deprived: Giovanni di Carlo, 144v.

the first portrait was transformed into one…: See Wright, The Pollaiuolo Brothers, p. 136.

On the last day of April, the funeral of Giuliano de’ Medici: Landucci, p. 17 (“Ascension Day”).

A commemorative bronze medal that he had cast: See Barocchi and Caglioti, Eredità del Magnifico, pp. 62ff.

In the middle of the courtyard he could see: Ibid.

7. EXTREME MEASURES

“The political régime which was founded…”: See Rubinstein, The Government of Florence.

“Nonetheless, things having happened in the way…”: Federico da Montefeltro to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Urbino, May 1, 1478 (MAP XLV 284, published in Viti, Lettere familiari, pp. 484–85 with the wrong date of May 11).

The Milanese envoy in Florence: Filippo Sacramoro to Cicco Simonetta, Florence, April 27 [2 letters] and 28, 1478 (quoted above); May 3, 1478; and Cicco Simonetta to Filippo Sacramoro, Milan, April 30, 1478 (ASMi PE Firenze 294).

An anonymous Florentine poem: See Flamini, “Versi in morte,” pp. 321 and 330–34 (partially translated in Martines, April Blood, p. 184).

“From this situation in Florence…”: Federico da Montefeltro to Cicco Simonetta, Urbino, May 8, 1478 (ASMi PE Marca 149).

Federico’s secretary sent to Cicco’s son: [Federico Galli] to Gian Giacomo Simonetta, Urbino, May 13, 1478 (ASMi PE Marca 149). I discovered these two key documents in spring 1998 and began my quest.

“most excellent”: Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 18; The Prince, chapter 22 (see Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 127).

Without naming names, Cicco then alluded: The Dukes of Milan to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Milan, May 9, 1478 (ASMi PE Firenze 294; autograph corrections by Cicco Simonetta).

“word by word”: Filippo Sacramoro to the Dukes of Milan, Florence, May 12, 1478 (ASMi PE Firenze 294).

Lorenzo’s reply of May 12 to Cicco: Lorenzo de’ Medici to the Dukes of Milan, Florence, May 12, 1478 (Lettere, III, pp. 21–23).

Then he spoke in his nasal voice: Giovanni di Carlo, 148v–153v, for Lorenzo’s oration and the response to it; Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 10–11. See Rubinstein, “Lorenzo de’ Medici,” p. 86 (quoting ASFi, Consulte e pratiche, 60, ff. 159r–160r).

army of lawyers: See De Benedictis, Una guerra d’Italia, pp. 37–40, on the legal battle between Lorenzo and Sixtus IV.

Florentine Synodus: See the autograph in ASFi, Miscell. Repubblicana, n. 264; BE for the only extant incunable; Dissension (Bein.); Montefeltro Bible, Urb. lat. 2 (BAV); see La Bibbia di Federico; exhibition catalogue Federico da Montefeltro and His Library.

And Arezzo was the town: Giovanni Lanfredini to the Dieci di Balia, Foggia, September 28, 1485 (Corrispondenza, p. 320: it is interesting that the seasoned Florentine ambassador recalled this detail seven years later, while denouncing “the ambition of the priests”).

“You say to me that I should become…”: Gentile Becchi to Federico Galli [Cafaggiolo], November 4, 1478 (in Fubini, Federico da Montefeltro, pp. 469–70).

On June 21 Federico thanked Lorenzo: Federico da Montefeltro to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Urbino, June 21, 1478 (MAP XXXVI 824, in Viti, Lettere familiari, pp. 485–86).

saddle-chair: See Giovanni Angelo Talenti and Filippo Sacramoro to the Dukes of Milan, Florence, June 25, 1478 (ASMi PE Firenze 295); Sforza Bettini to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Camucia, June 28, 1478 (MAP XXXIV 171).

“nasty war”: Santi, pp. 504ff.

After their three-hour-long secret meeting: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Urbino, June 17, 1478 (ASMa b. 846). Contugi was the resident spy in Urbino on behalf of the Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, competitor of the Montefeltro.

They were probably wrapped into cheese shapes: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Urbino, June 17, 1478 (quoted above); for other gifts to Federico transported with the same ingenious technique, see Lorenzo da Rieti to Ludovico Gonzaga, Milan, February 25, 1478 (ASMa b. 1626); see also the poem on Cicco’s demise by a Baldassarre da Bologna in Marc., misc. 1945, 48 (see Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 163).

unum velle et unum nolle: Cicco Simonetta to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Milan, July 3, 1478 (MAP XLV 188).

When Lorenzo received this letter: Landucci, p. 20.

Feast of San Giovanni: Landucci, p. 20.

8. LIVES AT STAKE

In his dialogue The Art of War as much as in his Florentine Histories: Machiavelli, The Art of War.

The battles of the Pazzi war: Conti, Storie, pp. 41ff.; Baldi, III, pp. 246–57; Santi, pp. 505ff.

He boasted in a letter to Matthias Corvinus, king of Hungary: Quoted from Dennistoun, I, pp. 236–37 (Italian names in Allegretti, Diarii Senesi, in Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, XXIII, pp. 784ff.). The first year of war is evoked in the boasting letter by Federico da Montefeltro to King Matthias Corvinus of Hungary, Dennistoun, I, pp. 234–35 (Lettere di Stato, pp. 51–52).

On July 25, an angry and anxious Pope Sixtus IV: Sixtus IV to Federico da Montefeltro, Rome, July 25, 1478 (MAP LXXXIX 247; Acton, Pazzi Conspiracy, p. 104). Dennistoun, I, p. 230n, comments that the letter is “curious rather from the eccentricity of its illiterate style, in which barbarous Latin forms a strange medley with uncultivated Italian.”

“Naked and on their knees”: Santi, pp. 516–17.

A Florentine official who was trying to resist: Episode of the 1478 siege of Castellina from the Book of the Courtier (II, 52).

Cain: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Ferrara, October 16, 1478 (ASMa b. 1229).

Florentine Castle of Sansavino: Santi, pp. 521–56.

“more than a thousand horses”: Ibid., p. 544.

“Sometimes a captain needs to be…”: Ibid., p. 554.

In early August 1478, for example, he helped Genoa: See Cicco’s Diari, pp. 252ff.; Gallo, Commentarius, pp. 67ff.; Zaccaria Saggi to Federico Gonzaga, Milan, August 9, 1478 (ASMa b. 1626, in Carteggio XI, pp. 100ff.).

In this most tragic moment of his career: Cicco Simonetta to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Milan, December 29, 1478 (MAP LXXXVIII 281); for Cicco’s library, Simonetta, Rinascimento, pp. 131ff.

“scarier than that of the Turks”: Gian Giacomo Simonetta to Lorenzo, Milan, January 9 and 22, 1479 (MAP XXXIV 274–75 and 433).

it came too late: The draft for peace of May–June 1479 in Lettere, IV, pp. 355–57; already in the draft of July 1479 (ibid., pp. 359–61) the explicit clause about maintaining Cicco’s “status and good condition” was suppressed.

“dictator of your letters”: Ferrante of Aragon to the Dukes of Milan, Naples, August 15, 1478, in Zimolo, “Le relazioni” see Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 219.

“worm coming from the earth”: Ferrante of Aragon to the Dukes of Milan, Naples, January 12, 1479 (in Magenta, Visconti e Sforza, II, p. 399).

“because of his unbelievable fatness”: Corio, p. 1422. Zaccaria Saggi to Federico Gonzaga, Milan, September 7, 1479 (ASMa b. 1626, in Carteggio XI, pp. 433ff.). Most of the information in this section is from his dispatches.

vivere allegramente: Zaccaria Saggi to Federico Gonzaga, Milan, September 28, 1479.

“Madonna, in little time I will lose my head…”: Corio, p. 1423; Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 18 (on Tassino, see Simonetta, Rinascimento, pp. 161ff.).

When Lorenzo received the news about Cicco’s imprisonment: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Girolamo Morelli, Florence, September 11 and 18, 1479 (Lettere, IV, pp. 190 and 200ff.).

While the Simonetta brothers were rotting: On Giovanni Simonetta’s work being read to Ludovico Sforza, see Zaccaria Saggi to Marsilio Andreasi, Milan, September 29, 1479 (ASMa b. 1626).

“We will sack all those palaces…”: Gian Francesco Mauruzzi da Tolentino to Girolamo Riario, Milan, October 13, 14 and 18, 1479 (MAP LXXXIX 300, 185 and 350; partially ciphered ).

Orlando: That is, Roland, the famous paladin of Charles Magne. See Morgante e Lettere.

“Willingly, O Lord, would I go along…”: Baldi, III, pp. 254–56

“stratagem used by Federico against the Medici”: De’ Rossi, Vita, p. 74.

Evidence of Federico’s shifting plans comes from: See his Confession in Lorenzi, Studio storico, pp. 56, 76–77.

9. TRAVELING SOUTH

“throw myself into the arms…”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Girolamo Morelli, Florence, September 25, 1479 (Lettere, IV, p. 215); for the trip to Naples, see De Angelis, Lorenzo a Napoli.

Early in 1479 a spy in Urbino: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Urbino, February 5, 1479 (ASMa b. 846).

Giovanni di Carlo recorded it: Giovanni di Carlo, 171r for Niccolò Giugni’s fictional speech mocking Lorenzo.

At the beginning of the Pazzi war: Santi, p. 517.

Federico thoughtfully added that: And other quotes from ibid., pp. 615–16.

“dear and much loved Lorenzo”: Alfonso of Aragon to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Pisa, December 4, 1479 (MAP XLV 224).

“following the given order”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Alfonso of Aragon and to Federico da Montefeltro, Florence, December 6, 1479 (Lettere, IV, pp. 249–52).

“Most Illustrious Lords. Given that…”: Lorenzo de’ Medici to the Signoria of Florence, San Miniato, December 7, 1479 (Lettere, IV, pp. 265–70).

There were some historical precedents: Episodes of 1435 (capture and release of Alfonso V of Aragon) and 1465 (capture and death of Iacopo Piccinino) in Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, V, 5; VII, 8; VIII, 19.

The “immortal” Francesco Sforza: he died on March 8, 1466.

“old ahead of time”: Piero de’ Medici to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Florence, March 15, 1466 (MAP XX 142; see Luigi Pulci to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Florence, March 12, 1466, PML, MA 1390 Auto. Misc. Ital.)

“the greatness of his enemies…”: Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 19.

In his later confession, the scheming Cola Montano: See Montano Confession, p. 62, and Valori’s biography of Lorenzo for the details of the stay in Naples.

Ippolita Sforza, Princess of Calabria: See Simonetta, Rinascimento, pp. 211ff.; see also the document-based historical novel by Laura Malinverni, Il ramo di biancospino.

A prophecy of King Alfonso to King Ferrante: Letters, 5, pp. 23–30. On Giustini, Lorenzo’s departure from Naples, and Michelozzi’s mediation, Lettere, IV, pp. 321–40: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Niccolò Michelozzi, Florence, March 16, 1480, thanking the Duke of Urbino on his behalf if he will not insist on including his trip to Rome among the peace conditions. See Francesco Gaddi to Lorenzo, Rome, March 18, 1480 (MAP XXXVII 26) for the pro-Medicean rejoicing.

Giovanni di Carlo gave a firsthand account: Giovanni di Carlo, 173v, on Lorenzo’s return to Florence and on the peace conditions; 174v on the creation of the College of the Seventy as a “true tyranny of the powerful.”

“a wife and a mother full of concern and anxiety”: Elisabetta Visconti to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Milan, January 19, 1480 (MAP LI 4).

“dangerous dangers”: See chapter 3, above, for Federico’s warnings about Lorenzo.

The Urbino poet Giovanni Santi: Santi, p. 618.

In May 1480 the spy Contugi: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Urbino, May 18 and 22, 1480 (ASMa b. 846). The anonymous policymaker is called “our friend.”

“I have been jailed, robbed and disgraced undeservedly…”: See Diarium Parmense, Rerum Italicarum Scriptores, XXII, p. 323.

So the trial began: Cicco’s trial records are published in Rosmini, Dell’istoria di Milano, IV, 190–215 (see Simonetta, Rinascimento, p. 162).

10. RESTING IN PEACE

the poet Bonino Mombrizio: See Frazier, Possible Lives.

“I was faithful to the Prince…”: Corio, 1429.

“forgetful both of honor and maternal duty”: Ibid., p. 1430.

“Which kind of patriotism are you invoking?…”: Giovanni di Carlo, 183v–187v, for Sixtus IV’s lengthy response to the Florentine ambassadors; the official letter of absolution in Carusi, “L’istrumento,” p. 290.

“Moreover, to strengthen his position…”: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Urbino, November 28, 1481 (ASMa b. 846; see Lettere, VI, p. 74).

“You can be most certain that…”: Federico da Montefeltro to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Fossombrone, November 29, 1481 (MAP XLV 285).

Contugi, however, would not be: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Urbino, December 13, 1481 (ASMa b. 846); Dante, Inferno, XXXI, pp. 55–57.

“This is a lie! the Duke of Urbino…”: Sacramoro da Rimini to the Duke of Milan, Rome, March 6, 1482 (ASMi PE Roma 91).

“but even to walk in his own garden”: Anello Arcamone to the King of Naples and the Duke of Milan, Rome, March 12, 1482 (ASMi PE Roma 91).

Urbino figs: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Urbino, between February 18–March 9, 1482 (ASMa b. 846); see Lettere, VI, p. 274. Contugi also on Federico’s “marketing” and the details of his condotta (see Lettere, VI, p. 339).

According to the papal historian Sigismondo de’ Conti: Conti, Storie, pp. 120–21ff. on the War of Ferrara. On Federico’s plans and concerns about astrology, see many letters for the context: Guidantonio Vespucci to Lorenzo, Rome, March 9, 1482 (MAP XXXVIII 109); Pier Filippo Pandolfini to Lorenzo, Urbino, March 31, 1482 (MAP LI 103); Pier Filippo Pandolfini to Lorenzo, Urbino, April 12, 1482 (MAP LI 117, 161r).

Montefeltro was soon hired to defend the city of Ferrara: See also Lettere, VI, pp. 265–341; Dennistoun, I, pp. 247–56; Santi, pp. 644ff. (p. 662 on Federico’s visit to Florence and meeting with Lorenzo); Baldi, III, pp. 262–66.

needful provisions: Federico da Montefeltro to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Revere, May 4, 1482 (MAP XXXVIII 444; translated in Dennistoun, I, pp. 251–52). See Chambers, “Visit”: perhaps we can identify the “Pietro miniador” as Guidaleri, who came from Mantua in May 1482 to bring a map of the river Oglio and of the surrounding castles, which was commissioned by Federico for his war operations in defense of Ferrara (see Federico da Montefeltro and His Library, cat. 2).

Federico’s reply to the sermon was: Dennistoun, I, pp. 253–54, from Marin Sanudo’s Diaries.

“These two captains died just when…”: Landucci, p. 36; for Federico’s death, Baldi, III, pp. 267–72 and 283; Santi, pp. 740–43; Conti, Storie, p. 145, also on Roberto Malatesta’s burial.

Light of Italy: The epithet used by Baldassarre Castiglione in the opening of his Book of the Courtier (I, 2); “Federico had done a good thing…”: De’ Rossi, Vita, pp. 76–77.

It was dressed in an elegant robe: Baldi, III, p. 271; Dennistoun, I, p. 271.

PART III: THE SISTINE CHAPEL AND BOTTICELLI’S SPRING

11. OMINOUS ENDS

In fact, one year before the papal absolutions: Bredekamp, The Medici, esp. pp. 293–95. On p. 294: In April 1480 the Florentine authorities informed Rome that they had complied with this request: “We have had the picture of the Archbishop of Pisa eradicated and have removed every element that could in any way demean the standing of the archbishop” (“Habbiamo facto levare la pittura dell’Archivescovo di Pisa, e tolto ogni cagione che potessi in qualche modo dedecorare il grado Archiepiscopale”). The quote is from Uccelli, Il Palazzo del Podestà, p. 173.

Archival evidence to document the process: See my entry on “Work Begins on the Sistine Chapel (1477–1482),” with bibliography. Ettlinger, The Sistine Chapel, is the most extensive study of the topic to date; it gives a theological more than historical interpretation of the whole cycle. Monfasani, A Description, publishes and summarizes a very important document, the description of the decorated chapel by Andrea Trapeziuntius, dated May 1482. Goffen, Friar Sixtus IV, proposed theological reading of the cycle in “Franciscan terms,” based on the newly discovered Tituli, the original Latin inscriptions of the frescoes. Shearman, La storia della cappella Sistina, provides an overview after the Vatican restorations. New evidence in Nesselrath, ed., Gli affreschi dei Quattrocentisti nella Cappella Sistina.

heretical archbishop of Krein, Andreas Zamometic: Ettlinger mentions the Zamometic hypothesis. But Lorenzo had not yet sent his agent Baccio Ugolini to Basel, from where he reported about the attempted anti-pope council: see letters by Baccio Ugolini to Lorenzo de’ Medici, Basel, September 20 and 30, and October 25, 1482 (MAP XXXVIII 490, 493, and 519; cf. Lettere, VII, p. 116; a copy with autograph variants of the letter of September 30 is in BNCF, Ginori Conti, 29, 97, where there is also another letter by Baccio Ugolini to the Dieci di Balia, Basel, October 2, 1482).

lodge a request for compensation: On Botticelli’s missed payments, see Covi, “Botticelli and Sixtus IV.”

The Primavera, or Allegory of Spring: Secondary literature on the Spring is very wide-ranging. I drew from selected sources: Levi D’Ancona, Botticelli’s Primavera (but not from her less than persuasive Due quadri del Botticelli); most important, La Malfa, “Firenze e l’allegoria,” and Villa, “Per una lettura della Primavera,” both came to the convincing conclusion that Martianus Capella’s tract is the main structural inspiration for the Spring.

well known for his sense of mischief: On Botticelli’s wicked humor, see Giorgio Vasari’s Vita: “Sandro Botticelli was a very good-humoured man and much given to playing jokes on his pupils and friends.”

Count Riario, once deprived of the protection: On Gerolamo Riario’s assassination, see Pellegrini, Congiure di Romagna.

Spy Contugi reported how: Matteo Contugi to Federico Gonzaga, Urbino, between February 18 and March 9, 1482 (ASMa b. 846), in Simonetta, Federico da Montefeltro architetto, pp. 97–98.

But what is he reading in the picture? On the Double Portrait see Federico da Montefeltro and His Library,” cat. 1.

“Foremost on one hand…”: Santi, p. 420 (translated by Dennistoun, I, p. 56).

“was loved by fortune and by God…”: Machiavelli, Florentine Histories, VIII, 36.

“What the prince does the many also soon do…”: The quotation, also in Machiavelli, Discourses, III, 29, comes from Lorenzo de’ Medici’s Rappresentazione di San Giovanni e Paolo.

Lorenzo acknowledged his family’s gratitude: Lorenzo de’ Medici to Giovanni de’ Medici, Florence, March 1492, in Capponi, Storia, pp. 528–30.

Considered in this new light, the Last Judgment: See Hall, Michelangelo’s Last Judgment.