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The second part of the life of Kastruccio Kastrakanti of Luka.
Whilst Kastruccio made peace with the Florentines and strengthened his position in Luka, he neglected
no opportunity short of open war of increasing his importance elsewhere.
It appeared to him that if he could get possession of Pistolia, he would have the foot in Florence,
which was his great desire.
He therefore, in various ways, made friends with the mountaineers, and worked matters so in Pistolia
that both parties confided their secrets to him.
Pistolia was divided as it has always been into the Bianchi and Neri parties.
The head of the Bianchi was Bastino Diposenti, and of the Neri, Jacco Boldeguia.
Each of these men held secret communications with Kastruccio, and each desired to drive the
other out of the city.
And after many threatening they came to blows, Jacco Boldeguia fortified himself at his
Florentine gate, Bastiano at that of the Riccasi side of the city.
Both trusted more in Kastruccio than in the Florentines because they believed that Kastruccio
was far more ready and willing to fight than the Florentines, and they both sent to him for assistance.
He gave promises to both, saying to Bastiano that he would come in person, and that to Jacco Bold
that he would send his pupil, Pagolo Giulini.
At the appointed time he set forward Pagolo by way of Pisa, and went himself direct to Pistolia.
At midnight, both of them met outside the city, and both were admitted as friends.
Thus the two leaders entered, and at a signal given by Kastruccio, one killed Jacco Boldeguia,
the other Bastiano de Pocente, and both took prisoners or killed the partisans of either faction.
Without further opposition, Pistolia passed into the hands of Kastruccio,
who, having forced the Signora to leave the palace, compelled the people to yield obedience to him,
making them many promises and remitting their old debts.
The countryside flocked to the city to see the new prince, and all were filled with hope and quickly settled down.
Influenced in great measure, by his great valor.
About this time great disturbances arose in Rome, owing to the dearness of living,
which was caused by the absence of the pontif at Avignon.
The German governor, Enrico, was much blamed for what happened.
Murders and tumultes following each other daily without his being able to put an end to them.
This caused Enrico much anxiety, lest the Romans should call in Roberto the King of Naples,
who would drive the Germans out of the city, and bring back the Pope,
having no dearer friend to whom he could apply for help.
Thank Kastruccio, he sent to him, making him not only to give him assistance,
but also to come in person to Rome.
Kastruccio considered that he ought not to hesitate to render the emperor this service,
because he believed that he himself would not be safe if at any time the emperor ceased to hold Rome.
Leaving Pagolo Ginini, in command at Luca, Kastruccio set out for Rome with 600 horsemen,
where he was received by Enrico with the greatest distinction.
In short time, the presence of Kastruccio obtained such respect for the emperor that,
without bloodshed or violence, good order was restored, chiefly by reason of Kastruccio,
having sent by sea from the country round Pisa, large quantities of corn,
and thus removed the source of the trouble.
When he had chastised some of the Roman leaders and admonished others,
voluntary obedience was rendered to Enrico.
Kastruccio received many honors and was made a Roman senator.
This dignity was assumed with the greatest pomp,
Kastruccio being clothed in a brocaded toga, which had the following words embroidered on its front,
I am what God wills, whilst on the back was what God desires shall be.
During this time the Florentines, who were much enraged that Kastruccio should have seized Pistoria during the truce,
considered how they could tempt the city to rebel, to do which they thought would not be difficult in his absence.
Among the exiled Pistolians in Florence were Baldolchechi and Jacopo Baldini,
both men of leading and ready to face danger.
These men kept up communications with their friends in Pistoria,
and with the aid of the Florentines entered the city by night,
and after driving out some of Kastruccio's officials and partisans and killing others,
they restored the city to its freedom.
The news of this greatly angered Kastruccio, and taking leave of Enrico,
he pressed on in great haste to Pistoria.
When the Florentines heard of his return, knowing that he would lose no time,
they decided to intercept him with their forces in the vowed in a vial,
under the belief that by doing so, they would cut off his road to Pistoria.
Assembling a great army of the supporters of the Gulf Cause,
the Florentines entered the Pistorian territories.
On the other hand, Kastruccio reached Monte Carlo with his army,
and, having heard where the Florentines lay,
he decided not to encounter it in the plains of Pistoria,
nor to await it in the plains of Pesia,
but, as far as he possibly could, to attack it boldly in the past of Saravalle.
He believed that if he succeeded in this design, victory was assured,
although he was informed that the Florentines had 30,000 men,
whilst he had only 12,000.
Although he had every confidence in his own abilities and the valor of his troops,
yet he hesitated to attack his enemy in the open,
lest he should be overwhelmed by their numbers.
Saravalle is a castle between Pesia and Pistoria,
situated on a hill which blocks the Valdeneviol,
not in the exact pass, but about a bowshot beyond.
The pass itself is in places narrow and steep,
whilst in general it ascends greatly,
but is still narrow, especially at the summit where the waters divide,
so that twenty men side by side could hold it.
The Lord of Saravalle was Manfred, a German who,
before Castricio, became Lord of Pistoria,
had been allowed to remain in possession of the castle,
it being common to the Lucaisy and the Pistoyans,
and, unclaimed by either, neither of them wishing to displace Manfred,
as long as he kept his promise of neutrality,
and came under obligations of no one.
For these reasons, and also because the castle was well fortified,
he had always been able to maintain his position.
It was here that Castricio had determined to fall upon his enemy,
for here his few men would have the advantage,
and there was no fear, lest, seeing the large masses of the hostile force
before they became engaged, they should not stand.
As soon as this trouble with Florence arose,
Castricio saw the immense advantage,
which possession of this castle would give him,
and, having an intimate relationship with the resident in the castle,
he arranged matters so that with him that four hundred of his men
were to be admitted to the castle,
the night before the attack on the Florentines,
and the Castilon put to death.
Castricio, having prepared everything,
had now to encourage the Florentines to persist in their desire
to carry the seat of war away from Pistoria,
into the Valdenevio.
Therefore, he did not move his army from Monte Carlo.
Thus the Florentines hurried on until they reached their encampment
under Saravalle, intending to cross the hill on the following morning.
In the meantime Castricio had seized the castle at night,
and had also moved his army from Monte Carlo,
and, marching from then set midnight and in dense silence,
he had reached the foot of the Saravalle.
Thus, he and the Florentines commenced the Ascent of the Hill
at the same time in the morning.
Castricio set forward his infantry by the main road,
and a troop of four hundred horsemen by a path on the left toward the castle.
The Florentines set forward four hundred cavalry ahead of their army,
which was following, never expecting to find Castricio
in possession of the Hill, nor were they aware of his having seized the castle.
Thus it happened that the Florentine horsemen moving to the Hill
was completely taken by surprise when they discovered the infantry of Castricio,
and so close were they upon it that they scarcely had time to pull down their visors.
It was a case of unready soldiers being attacked by ready,
and they were assailed with such bigger that with difficulty they could hold their own,
although some few of them got through.
When the noise of their fighting reached the Florentine camp below,
it was filled with confusion.
The cavalry and infantry became inextricably mixed.
The captains were unable to get their men either backward or forward,
owing to the narrowness of the past, and admit all this tumult,
no one knew what ought to be done, or what could be done.
In a short time the cavalry who were engaged with the enemy's infantry were scattered or killed,
without having made any effective defense because of their unfortunate position,
although in sheer desperation they had offered a stout resistance.
Retreat had been impossible, with the mountains on both flanks,
whilst in front with their enemies, and to their rear, their friends.
When Castricio saw that his men were unable to strike a decisive blow at the enemy
and put them to flight, he sent 1,000 infantrymen round by the castle,
with orders to join the 400 horsemen he had previously dispatched there,
and commanded the whole force to fall upon the flank of the enemy.
These orders they carried out with such fury that the Florentines
could not sustain the attack but gave way and were soon in full retreat,
conquered more by their unfortunate position than by the valor of their enemy.
Those in the rear returned towards Pistoia, and spread throughout the plains,
each man seeking only his own safety.
The defeat was complete and very sanguinary.
Many captains were taken prisoners, among them were Bandini de Rossi,
Francesco Brunicelli and Giovanni del Atossa,
all Florentine noblemen, with many Tuscans and Neopolitans
who fought on the Florentine side, having been sent by King Roberto to assist the Goaps.
Immediately the Pistoians heard of this defeat,
they drove out the friends of the Goaps and surrendered to Castricio.
He was not content with occupying Prato and all the castles on the plains
on both sides of the Arno, but marched his army onto the plain of Peritola,
about two miles from Florentine.
Here he remained many days, dividing the spoils and celebrating his victory
with feasts and games, holding horse races and foot races for men and women.
He also struck medals in commemoration of the defeat of the Florentines.
He endeavored to corrupt the sum of the citizens of Florence,
who were to open the city gates at night, but the conspiracy was discovered
and the participators in it taken and beheaded,
among whom were Tomaso Lupacci and Nembertucchio Frisco Baldi.
This defeat caused the Florentines great anxiety,
and, despairing of preserving their liberty,
they sent envoys to King Roberto of Naples, offering him the dominion of their city,
and he, knowing of what immense importance the maintenance of the Gulf cause was to him, accepted it.
He agreed with the Florentines to receive from them a yearly tribute of two hundred thousand Florence,
and sent his son Carlo to Florence with four thousand horsemen.
Shortly after this, the Florentines were relieved in some degree of the pressure of Castricio's army,
owing to his being compelled to leave his positions before Florence and March on Pisa,
in order to suppress the conspiracy that had been raised against him by Vandetto L'Anfranci,
one of the first men of Pisa, who could not endure that his fatherland should be under the dominion of the Lucaisi.
He had formed this conspiracy, intending to seize the Citadel,
kill the partisans of Castricio and drive out the garrison.
As, however, in a conspiracy, posity of numbers is essential to secrecy,
so for its execution a few are not sufficient,
and, in seeking more adherence to his conspiracy,
L'Anfranci encountered a person who revealed the design to Castricio.
This betrayal cannot be passed by without severe reproach,
to Bonifacio Chertzi and Giovanni Guidi,
to Florentine exiles who were suffering their banishment in Pisa.
Therefore Castricio seized Benedetto and put him to death,
and beheaded many other noble citizens,
and drove their families into exile.
It now appeared to Castricio that both Pisa and Pistoria were thoroughly disofected.
He employed much thought and energy upon securing his position there,
and this gave the Florentines their opportunity to reorganize their army,
and to await the coming of Carlo, the son of the King of Naples.
When Carlo arrived, they decided to lose no more time,
and assembled a great army of more than 30,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry,
having called to their aid every gulf there was in Italy.
They consulted whether they should attack Pistolia or Pisa first,
and decided that it would be better to march on the latter,
of course owing to the recent conspiracy more likely to succeed,
and more advantage to them, because they believed that the surrender of Pistoria
would follow the acquisition of Pisa.
In the early part of May 1328, the Florentines put in motion this army
and quickly occupied Lastra, Signa, Montelupo and Embolli.
Passing from thence to San Miniato, when Castricio heard of the enormous army
which the Florentines were sending against him, he was in no degree alarmed,
believing that the time had now arrived when fortune would deliver the empire of Tuscany into his hands.
For he had no reason to think that his enemy would make a better fight,
or had better prospects for success at Pisa or Cerevela.
He assembled 20,000 foot soldiers and 4,000 horsemen,
and with this army went to Fucciccio,
whilst he sent Pagolo Giulini to Pisa with 5,000 infantry.
Fucciccio has a stronger position than any other town in the Pisa district,
owing to its situation between the rigors Arno and Giuschiana,
and its slight elevation about the surrounding plain.
Moreover, the enemy could not hinder its being virtual,
unless they divided their forces, nor could they approach it either from the direction of Luca or Pisa,
nor could they get through Pisa or attack Castricio's forces except at this advantage.
In one case they would find themselves placed between his two armies,
the one under his own command and the other under Pagolo,
and in the other case they would have to cross the Arno to get the close quarters with the enemy,
an undertaking of great hazard.
In order to tempt the Florentines to take this latter course,
Castricio withdrew his men from the banks of the river,
and placed them under the walls of Fucciccio,
leaving a wide expanse of land between them and the river.
The Florentines having occupied San Miniato held a council of war
to decide whether they should attack Pisa or the army of Castricio,
and having weighed the difficulties of both courses they decided upon the latter.
The river Arno was at that time low enough to be fordable,
yet the water reached to the shoulders of the infantrymen and to the saddles of the horsemen.
On the morning of the 10th of June, 1328,
the Florentines commenced the battle by ordering forward a number of cavalry and 10,000 infantry.
Castricio, whose plan of action was fixed and knew who knew well what to do,
at once attacked the Florentines with 5,000 infantry and 3,000 horsemen,
not allowing them to issue from the river before he charged them.
He also said 1,000 light infantry up the river bank and the same number down the Arno.
The infantry of the Florentines were so much impeded by their arms and the water
that they were not able to mount the banks of the river,
whilst the cavalry had made passage of the river more difficult for the others,
by reason of the few who had crossed having broken up the bed of the river.
And this being deep with mud many of the horses rolled over with their riders
and many of them stuck so fast that they could not move.
When the Florentine captains saw the difficulties their men were meeting,
they withdrew them and moved higher up the river,
hoping to find the river less treacherous and the banks more adapted for landing.
These men were met at the bank by the forces which Castricio had already sent forward,
who, being light armed with bucklers and javelins in their hands,
let fly with tremendous shots into the faces and bodies of the cavalry.
The horses, alarmed by the noise and the wounds, would not move forward
and trampled each other in great confusion.
The fight between the men of Castricio and those of the enemy
who succeeded in crossing was sharp and terrible.
Both sides fought with the utmost desperation and neither would yield.
The soldiers of Castricio fought to drive the others back into the river,
whilst the Florentines strove to get a footing on the land,
to make room for the others pressing forward,
who, if they could but get out of the water, would be able to fight,
and in this obstinate conflict they were urged on by their captains.
Castricio shouted to his men that these were the same enemies whom they had before conquered at Sarabella,
while the Florentines reproached each other that the money should be overcome by the few.
At length Castricio, seeing how long the battle had lasted,
and that both his men and the enemy were utterly exhausted,
and that both sides had many killed and wounded,
pushed forward another body of infantry to take up position at the rear of those who were doing the fighting.
He then commanded these latter to open their ranks as if they intended to retreat,
and one part of them to turn to the right and another to the left.
This cleared a space of which the Florentines at once took advantage,
and thus gained possession of a portion of the battlefield,
but when these tired soldiers found themselves at close quarters with Castricio's reserves,
they could not stand against them, and at once fell back into the river.
The cavalry of either side had not as yet gained any decisive advantage over the other,
because Castricio, knowing his inferiority in that arm,
had commanded his leaders only to stand on the defensive against the attacks of their adversaries,
as he hoped that, when he had overcome the infantry,
he would be able to make short work of the cavalry.
This fell out as he had hoped,
for, when he saw the Florentine army driven back across the river,
he ordered the remainder of his infantry to attack the cavalry of the enemy.
This they did with Lanson Javelin, and, joined by their own cavalry,
fell upon the enemy with the greatest fury, and soon put him to flight.
The Florentine captains, having seen the difficulty,
their cavalry had met withding crossing the river,
had attempted to make their infantry cross lower down the river,
in order to attack the flanks of Castricio's army.
But here also the banks were steep, and already lined by the men of Castricio,
and this movement was quite useless.
Thus the Florentines were so completely defeated at all points
that scarcely a third of them escaped, and Castricio was, again,
covered with glory.
Many captains were taken prisoners, and Carlo, son of King Roberto,
with Michelangelo Falconi, and today Odeglial Britsi,
the Florentine commissioners fled to Embole.
If the spoils were great, the slaughter was infinitely greater,
as might be expected in such a battle.
Of the Florentines there fell twenty thousand two hundred and thirty-one men,
while Castricio lost one thousand five hundred and seventy men.
But fortune, growing envious of the glory of Castricio,
took away his life, just at the time when she should have preserved it,
and thus ruined all those plans which, for so long a time,
worked to carry into effect, and, in the successful prosecution of which,
nothing but death could have stopped him.
Castricio was in the thick of battle the whole of the day,
and when the end of it came, although fatigued and overheated,
he stood at the gate of Foucaixio to welcome his men on their return from victory,
and personally to thank them.
He was also on the watch for any attempt of the enemy to retrieve the fortunes of the day.
He, being of the opinion that it was the duty of a good general to be the first man in the saddle,
and the last out of it.
Here Castricio stood exposed to a wind which often rises at midday on the banks of the Ardo,
and which is often very unhealthy.
From this he took a chill of which he thought nothing,
as he was accustomed to such troubles, but it was the cause of his death.
On the following night he was attacked with a high fever,
which increased so rapidly that the doctors saw it must prove fatal.
Castricio, therefore, called Paolo Gianini to him,
and addressed him as follows.
If I could have believed that fortune would have cut me off in the midst of the career
which was leading to that glory, which all my successes promised,
I should have labored less, and I should have left the, if a smaller state,
at least with fewer enemies and perils,
because I should have been content with the governerships of Luca and Pisa.
I should have neither subjugated the Bistolians nor outraged the Florentines with so many injuries,
but I would have made both of these peoples my friends,
and I should have lived, if no longer, at least more peacefully,
and have left you a state without a doubt smaller,
but one more secure and established on a sure foundation.
But fortune, who insists upon having the arbitrary month of human affairs,
did not endow me with sufficient judgment to recognize this from the first,
nor time to surmount it.
Thou hast heard, for many have told thee, and I have never concealed it,
how I entered the house of thy father whilst yet a boy,
a stranger to all those ambitions which every generous soul should feel,
and how I was brought up by him, and loved, as though I had been born of his blood,
how, under his governance, I learned to be valiant and capable of availing myself
all that fortune, of which Thou hast been witness.
When thy good father came to die, he committed thee and all his possessions to my care,
and I have brought thee up with that love, and increased thy estate with that care which I was bound to show,
and in order that Thou should not only possess the estate which thy father left,
but also that which my fortune and abilities have gained, I have never married,
so that the love of children should never deflect my mind from that gratitude which I owed the children of thy father.
Thus I leave thee a vast estate of which I am well content,
but I am deeply concerned in as much as I leave it thee unsettled and insecure.
Thou hast the city of Luka on thy hands, which will never rest contented under thy government.
Thou hast also pizza, where the men are of nature changeable and unreliable,
who, although they may sometimes be held in subjection, yet they will ever disdain to serve under a Lucaisy.
Bistoya is also disloyal to thee, she being eaten up with factions and deeply incensed against thy family,
by reason of the wrongs recently inflicted upon them.
Thou hast, for neighbours, the offended Florentines, injured by us in a thousand ways,
but not utterly destroyed, who will hail the news of my death with more delight than they would the acquisition of all Tuscany.
In the Emperor, and in the princes of Milan, Thou canst place no reliance, for they are far distant, slow, and their help is very long in coming.
Therefore Thou hast no hope in anything but thine own abilities, and in the memory of my valor, and in the prestige which this latest victory has brought thee,
which, as thou knowest how to use it with prudence, will assist thee to come to terms with the Florentines,
who, as they are suffering under this great defeat, should be inclined to listen to thee.
And whereas I have sought to make them my enemies, because I believe that war with them would conduce to my power and glory,
Thou hast every inducement to make friends of them, because their alliance will bring the advantages and security.
It is of the greatest import in this world, that a man should know himself, and that the measure of his own strength and means be known.
And he who knows that he has not a genius for fighting, must learn how to govern by the arts of peace.
And it will be well for thee to rule thy conduct by my counsel, and to learn in this way to enjoy what my lifework and dangers have gained.
And in this thou wilt easily succeed when thou hast learned to believe that what I have told thee is true, and thou wilt be doubly indebted to me in that I have left thee this realm,
and have taught thee how to keep it.
After this there came to Castrucio those citizens of Pisa, Pistolia, and Luca who had been fighting at his side,
and whilst recommending Pagolo to them, and making them swear obedience to him as his successor, he died.
He left a happy memory to those who had known him, and no prince of those times was ever loved with such devotion as he was.
His obsequies were celebrated with every sign of mourning, and he was buried in San Francesco at Luca.
Fortune was not so unfriendly to Pagolo Janini as she had been to Castrucio, for he had not the abilities.
Not long after the death of Castrucio, Pagolo lost Pisa, and then Pistolia, and then only with difficulty held on to Luca.
This latter city continued in the family of Janini until the time of the great grandson of Pagolo.
From what has here been related, it will be seen that Castrucio was a man of exceptional abilities, not only measured by men of his own time, but also by those of an earlier date.
In stature he was above the ordinary height and perfectly proportioned. He was of a gracious presence, and he welcomed men with such urbanity that those who spoke with him rarely left him displeased.
His hair was inclined to be red, and he wore it cut short above the ears, and whether it rained or snowed he always went without a hat.
He was delightful among friends, but terrible to his enemies, just to his subjects, ready to play false with the unfaithful, and willing to overcome by fraud those whom he desired to subdue,
because he was want to say that it was the victory that brought the glory, not the methods of achieving it.
No one was bolder in facing danger, no one more prudent in extricating himself. He was accustomed to say that men ought to attempt everything and fear nothing,
that God is a lover of strong men, because one always sees that the weak gotchestized by the strong.
He was also wonderfully sharp or biting, though courteous in his answers, and, as he did not look for any indulgence in this way of speaking from others, so he was not angered when others did not show it to him.
It has often happened that he has listened quietly when others have spoken sharply to him, as on the following occasions, he caused a ducket to be given for a partridge, and was taken to task for doing so by a friend.
To whom Castruchio had said, you would not have given more than a penny. That is true, answer the friend. Then Castruchio said to him, a ducket is much less to me.
Having about him a flatterer, on whom he had spat to show that he scorned him, the flatterer said to him,
fishermen are willing to let the waters of the sea saturate them in order that they may make a few little fishes, and I allow myself to be wetted by spittle, that I may catch a whale.
And this was not only heard by Castruchio with patience, but rewarded. When told by a priest that it was wicked for him to live so sumptuously, Castruchio said, if that be a vice, then you should not fare so splendidly at the feasts of our saints.
Passing through the street he saw a young man as he came out of a house of ill fame blush at being seen by Castruchio, and said to him, thou shouldst not be ashamed when thou comest out, but when thou ghost in to such places.
A friend gave him a very curiously tied not to undo and was told, full, do you think that I wish to untie a thing which gave you so much trouble too fastened?
Castruchio said to one who professed to be a philosopher, you are like the dogs who always run after those who give them the best to eat, and was answered, we are rather like the doctors,
who go to the houses of those who had the greatest need of them. Going by water from Pisa to Leghorn, Castruchio was much disturbed by a dangerous storm that sprang up, and was reproached for cowardice by the one of those with him, who said that he did not fear anything.
Castruchio answered him that he did not wonder at that since every man valued his soul for what it was worth.
Being asked by one what he ought to do to gain estimation, he said, when thou ghost to a banquet, take care that thou dost not seat one piece of wood upon another.
To a person who is boasting that he had bred many things, Castruchio said, he knows better than to boast of remembering many things.
Someone bragged that he could drink much without becoming intoxicated, Castruchio replied, an ox does the same.
Castruchio was acquainted with a girl with whom he had had intimate relations, and being blamed by a friend who told him it was undignified for him to be taken in by a woman, he said, she has not taken me in, I have taken her.
Being also blamed for eating very dainty foods, he answered, thou dost not spend as much as I do.
And being told that it was true he continued, then thou art more avaricious than I am gluttonous.
Being invited by Tadeo Bernardi, a very rich and splendid citizen of Luca to supper, he went to the house that was shown by Tadeo to a chamber hung with silk and paved with fine stones representing flowers and foliage of the most beautiful coloring.
Castruchio gathered some saliva in his mouth and spit it out upon Tadeo, and seeing him much disturbed by this he said to him,
I knew not where to spit in order to offend thee less.
Being one night in the house, self one of his gentlemen, where many ladies were assembled, he was reproofed by one of his friends for dancing and amusing himself with them more than was usual in one of his station, so he said, he who is considered wise by day, will not be considered a fool at night.
A person came to demand the favor of Castruchio, and thinking he was not listening to his plea through himself on his knees to the ground, and being sharply reproofed by Castruchio said, thou art the reason of my acting thus, for thou hast thy ears in thy feet, whereupon he obtained double the favor he had asked.
Castruchio used to say that the way to hell was an easy one, seeing that it was downward direction that you traveled blindfolded.
Being asked a favor by one who used many superfluous words, he said to him, when you have another request to make, send someone else to make it.
Having been worried by a similar man with a long oration who wound up saying, perhaps I have fatigued you by speaking so long, Castruchio said, you have not, or I have not listened to a word you said.
He used to say of one who had been a beautiful child and who had afterwards become a fine man, that he was dangerous, because he first took the husbands from the wives, and now he took the wives from the husbands.
To an envious man who laughed, he said, do you laugh because you are successful, or because another is unfortunate.
Whilst he was still in the charge of Mr. Francesco Giannini, one of his companions said to him, what shall I give you if you will let me give you a blow on the nose?
Castruchio answered, a helmet.
Having put to death the citizen of Luca, who had been instrumental in raising him to power, and being told that he had done wrong to kill one of his old friends, he answered that people deceived themselves, he had only killed a new enemy.
Castruchio praised greatly those men who intended to take a wife, and then did not do so, saying they were like the men who said they would go to sea, and then refused when the time came.
He said that it always struck him with surprise that whilst men in buying an earthen or glass vase should sound at first, to learn if it were good, yet in choosing a wife, they were content with only looking at her.
He was once asked in what manner he would wish to be buried when he died, and he answered, with the face turned downwards, for I know when I am gone, this country will be turned upside down.
On being asked if it had ever occurred to him to become a friar in order to save his soul, he answered that it had not, because it appeared strange to him that fra las aronne should go to paradise, and ucucione de la fagiolo to the inferno.
He was once asked when should a man eat to preserve his health, and replied, if the man be rich, let him eat when he is hungry, if he is poor, then let him eat when he can.
Seeing one of his gentlemen make a member of his family lace him up, he said to him, I pray God that you will let him feed you also.
Seeing that someone had written upon his house in Latin the words, may God preserve this house from the wicked, he said, the owner must never go in.
Passing through one of the streets he saw a small house with a very large door and remarked, life house will fly through that door.
He was having a discussion with the ambassador of the king of Naples concerning the property of some banished nobles when the dispute arose between them, and the ambassador asked him if he had no fear of the king.
Is this king of yours a bad man, or a good one, asked Kestruchio, and was told that he was a good one, whereupon he said, why would you suggest that I should be afraid of a good man?
I could recount many other stories of his sayings, both witty and witty, but I think that the above will be sufficient testimony to his high qualities.
He lived forty-four years and was in every way a prince. He was surrounded by many evidences of his good fortune, so he also desired to have near him some memorials of his bad fortune.
Therefore the manacles, with which he was chained in prison, are to be seen to this day fixed up on the tower of his residence, where they were placed by him to testify forever to his days of adversity.
As in his life he was inferior neither to Philip of Macedon, the father of Alexander, nor to Scipio of Rome, so he died in the same year of his age as they did, and he would doubtless have excelled both of them, had fortune decreed that he should be born, not in Luka, but in Macedonia, or in Rome.
And that was the end of the life of Castricio Castricani of Luka, written by Nicolò Machiavelli.
