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I Io HISTORICAL ABSTRACT.
1500. proceedings of the Florentines having been misrepresented to him,
he begins to lay the whole blame upon them, for having selected
Beumont as general, and for failing to properly provision the army
before Pisa. [Guicciardini, Op. Ined. iii. 228-9: the Commissione
in campo contro i Pisani--Op. vi. 32-46, and Opere, P. M. iii. 37 ft.,
with additional documents--contains only one letter of Machiavelli,
dated July 9: the rest contain inter alia a vivid picture of the
unfortunate position of Luca degli Albizzi.] To pacify Louis XII,
and to explain the real nature of the occurrences before Pisa,
Francesco della Casa and Maehiave!li are deputed to go to France
(appointed July i8).
_[achiavelli. First :French Legation.--Francesco della Casa and
Machiavelli arrive at Lyons, July 28: find Louis XII departed;
ovcrtake him at Nevers, and have their first audience, August 7.
Address themselves mainly to George d'Amboise, the most influential
man at the French court ('laissez faire /t Georges'): he
refuses to discuss the conduct of the army before Pisa, as such
considerations are out of date ('cose passate'). The negotiations
turn upon the following points :--
A. Louis XII, dissatisfied with the Florentines for not having
given to the Swiss, who mutinied before Pisa, the money for their
return journey, as stipulated in the agreement made at Milan
by Piero Soderini, has himself paid them 38,ooo francs : he now
demands that Florence should repay him the sum expended.
B. Louis XII offers to supply fresh troops for the 'impresa dl
Pisa,' to be paid by Florence : these are refused except on condition
that the money shall only be paid after the actual capture of
Pisa. Louis, who wishes to maintain an army in Italy at the
expense of Florence, refuses to accept the condition.
C. The Florentine ambassadors, Francesco Gualterotti and
Lorenzo Lenzi, having left the French court shortly after
Machiavelli's arrival, it is urged that others ought to be sent at
once, and that nothing can be decided till their arrrival.
Machiavelli, without friends or money, in a difficult position : the
French court filled with agents from the Italian States [Pisa, the
Pope, Lucca, Naples, etc.] all urging their separate interests,
winning their way by bribes and intrigues, and calumniating
Florence. Louis XII keeps moving from place to place, and the
Florentine emissaries are hard pressed for money. Nothing is
decided, till the Florentines ultimately agree to pay a portion of
the sum demanded by Louis XII, and appoint an ambassador
[Piero Francesco Tosinghi]. Machiavelli leaves for Florence,
December 2, where he arrives January 14, i5oi.
[Legazione alla corte di Francia, Op. vi. 47-I65 : a series of twentyeight
letters :from September 26 onwards, Francesco della Casa being