1 Prime pagine ok.indd - accademia degli intronati

124
John Koenig
they faced, they had to turn first to God. Discussion also focused on
the topic of unione, which a couple speakers saw as the condition for
divine assistance. Zanobi Bartolini, for example, observed that unione
would give them, the city and its military, “animo e regola” and cause
God to aid them more. There were similar pieties from Agnolo Doni and
Lorenzo Strozzi 158 .
On the diplomatic front, a decision was taken to send another
envoy to the imperial camp, namely, stolid republican Bernardo
Castiglione; and Lorenzo Segni, who spoke warmly of liberty, urged
that he depart on his mission as soon as possible. But, above all he
urged recourse to God, who alone could guarantee their safety. His
particular recommendation, which is, deservedly, given additional
space, was a general crisis procession (“demonstrationi universali”)
that would bring all Florentines together in public prayer. He had
no doubt that “when done effectively and from the heart [emphasis
added],” God would sheath his sword, as the example of Nineveh (the
Ninevite supplication [Jon 3]), among others, clearly demonstrated.
Thus, Lorenzo singled out as the essential ingredient of the religious
supplication a proper internal disposition, which, as proof of a genuine
religious state of mind, was pivotal to Gonfaloniere Carducci’s June
program for propitiating God based on Isa 29:13. There was noticeable
support for this display of humility, from Tommaso Lapi, speaking for
the Twelve, and Giovanni Popoleschi, whose view it was that in the
defense of liberty “si ricorra a dio publicamente.”
The pratica of 28 September also dealt with a matter of grave
importance, which brought the early discussions of siege diplomacy to a
head. A letter from the ambassadors in Rome, who had begun arriving in
the ravaged city on the 22 nd , indicated that the pope was taking a hardline.
Varchi informs us that he wanted the Florentines to submit to him (“in
lui si facesse la remissione libera”), promising in return to treat them
favorably (“mostrebebbe il suo buon animo verso la patria”). The pratica
2, 158ff.
158 ASF, Pratiche 71, ff. 89v-99; ROTH, Last Florentine Republic, 173; VARCHI, Storia fiorentina