1 Prime pagine ok.indd - accademia degli intronati

160
John Koenig
to the calamities of war and starvation, the city now fell victim to the
plague 234 .
Following these false celebrations, the government deluded itself
with false hopes of a military victory, deciding without dissent that the
time had come to take the offensive and wage war (“che si dovesse
combattere senza manco nessuno”). On the 23 rd , the gonfaloniere
conveyed this decision to the assembled political and military leaders,
including Malatesta and the other mercenary captains: they (the
professional soldiers) would now face the enemy; and with customary
valor, in a just cause, with Christ as their king, they would certainly
achieve a great victory against an adversary who was not nearly as
strong as he was said to be. They would also in this way avenge Italy,
which, after its glorious imperial past, had become, to the shame of its
people, the humbled servant of barbarous nations, earning eternal fame
and glory by vanquishing the enemy’s soldiers, who were no less their
human enemies than rebels against God (emphasis added), who had
most cruelly sacked and burned Rome and despoiled all Italy. Their valor
would save the noble city of Florence from being razed and its women
from being violated. Having finished, Girolami wept as, with open arms,
he fixed his gaze on the heavens 235 . In response, Malatesta and the other
captains signalled their eagerness to take up arms.
This was not, however, a decisive step towards action. The pratica
that met later that day continued the search for a religious solution, with
Girolami stressing the need to attend to spiritual as well as military
needs by devoutly confessing and communicating 236 ; and on 29 July, the
234 Ibid., 412-13. See n. 240; this was a serious outbreak.
235 This recalls the ancient Roman supplicatory position – “ad caelum manus tendere.” Ibid., 419-
24. For another example of this prayer position – raising hands towards heaven “supplichevolmente,”
n. 151. 236 Having noted the extreme danger in which the city found itself and the consequent need for
God’s mercy, Bernardo Castiglione, representing the Ten on War, wanted litanies chanted during all
masses, which is suggestive of a direct state involvement in such “church matters,” which at Siena is
well documented. He also wanted the city’s female religious to pray on behalf of the government for
divine guidance in its decision making. Then, turning his attention to practical matters, he cited the