henry frowde oxford university press warehouse amen corner, ec

CAPITOLO SETTIMO. _I7
non fusse Stato di Chiesa; e volgendosi a tOrre quello
della Chiesa, sapeva che il duca di Milano e i.Viniziani
non gliene consentirebbero, perch& Faenza e Rimino erano
The ideally evil man, with political genius, and ability above all
others, is after all a mere abstraction ; and the curious thing is that
Machiavelli, with all his desire to hold fast to the real and practical,
has none the less been led to think that his ideal ' new prince ' was a
possible character. [Vlllari's theory has been doubted by Heidenheimer,
by Antonio Medin (Rivista Europea, vol. xxxiii, fase. iii.
June z6, x883),and by Yriarte, whose chapter on Machiavelli and Cesare
Borgia is among the best, vol. 1. x74 ; Janet accepts Cesare Borgia as
the true hero of The Prince, but adds, 'fl admire l'art dans un grand
tyran, C_sar Borgia ; il le donne eomme module _ eeux qui voudront
l'imiter; mais rien de plus: Gregorovms refuses to admit _the
existence of any Borgian idea or policy; see Geschichte der Stadt
Rom, vol. vii. 4zI ; viii. 28.]
3. Faenza e 1Rimino ... Viniziani]. During the war with Pisa
which broke out after the return of Charles VIII to France, the
Venetians had the opportunity of extending their influence in many
of the cities of the Romagna. They had stationed a 'proweditore' in
Faenza to protect the interests of Astorre Manfredi ; while they were
opposed to a papal conquest of Rimini, which might be a menace to
Ravenna and even Comaeehio. Negotiations between Alexander VI
and Vemee were carried on during September z499 through the
agency of the Cardinal Giovanni Borgia; the substance of the
Venetian reply was 'quanto a Faenza e Rimini non puol permettere
ehe '1papa sen' impazza ; ma de i altri luoghi [Imola, Forli, Pesaro],
the la no far_ prohibition alguna' [Malipiero, eked by Alvisi, p. 6o].
Negotiations on the subject were renewed in May, z5oo ; ' le s_nat
fit savoir au pape par ses ainbassadeurs que la Sdr6nissime lui serait
toujours particuh_rement d_voude, mais que Rlmini et Fa_nza, au
temps o_ l'on dtait, constituaient pour lui deux grosses affaires:
"Ma di Rimini e Faenza son gran cosse a questi tempi." ' [Yriarte,
vol. i. p. 22z.] After receiving French assistance, Cesare Borgm
could attack both places without scruple; Rimini surrendered in
October I5oo, and Faenza in April z5oI. [Cf. Op. vi. 85, Legaz. alla
corte di Franeia; letter of August z2, i5oo: 'Ritrassi . . . the il
Pontefiee con ogni istanza ricerca da questa Maest_--Louis XII_
fav,,, per 1'impresa di Faenza, per aggiungnerla a Furli e Imola
per il suo Valentinese ; aehe non s' intende il re esser molto volto,
parendogli avergli fatto benefizio assai. Pure non ne lo dispera, ma
vallo intrattenendo come ha sempre fatto; e liVeneziani, e qualcun altro
di Corte favoriseano assai il Signore di Faenza [Astorre Manfredi].'