grew quickly weary of that infamous Exercise and stealing away from Court he went to perform his Apprenticeship in Martial Affairs under the famous Braccio and since under Francesco Sforza with whom he passed through all the Degrees and then mounted up to the Lieutenant-Generalship when his Commander made himself Duke of Milan Afterwards the Venetians enticed him away to give him the Supreme Command of their Armies wherein he acquired great Reputation and so much Riches that the ready Money he had scrap'd together is said to have amounted to Two hundred thousand Crowns and this Sum was then so prodigious that the Italians could by no means imagine that Coglione would have rendred himself the Pitti's Subject but with design of subduing the State of Florence to the Venetians or to conquer it for himself after the Example of him that had taught him his Trade who had newly raised upon much weaker Foundations the most topping Soveraignty in Italy This spread a general Alarm from the Alps unto the Adriatick Sea The Florentines seeing the Storm ready to pour down upon them did what they were wont in the most difficult Conjunctures I mean they abandoned the Government of their City to Piero â—e Medici's Friends who had the principal Interest in the Affair These caused the People to assemble put them in Arms drove away all the suspected Persons and made the Exiles be declared Enemies of the Republick Afterwards they levy'd Troops and put them into such Places of their State as they saw were likely to be first attack'd But as it was not possible to assemble in so short a time an Army powerful enough to keep the Field against that of the Exiles or to oppose against Coglione a Leader near his Equal in repute recourse was of necessity to be had to those Powers whose Counterballance maintained at that time what was free in Italy namely the Duke of Milan and the King of Naples I have already noted That the last Act of Cosmo de Medici's Life was to acquire to his Son the Alliance of those two Princes But what had appeared so easie on the Board and when there needed only promising became almost impossible in the Performance so many Obstacles did there arise to cross it For on the one side the King of Naples did indeed consent to grant the Florentines part of the Troops design'd for the Defence of his Kingdom but he would by no means yield that they should act joyntly with those of the Duke of Milan whom he look'd on as his Capital Enemy and forbid them to have any Communication with them Nay he could not so much as endure that they should encamp near one another and tho' they represented to him that it would be giving them over to Slaughter to expose them separated to Coglione's Mercy who had the repute of being the most vigilant Captain that Italy had produc'd since Julius Caesar and to spend whole Nâ—ghts on Horseback for the surprising of Quarters tho' it was very easie for this General to cut them in pieces after one another if he came to discover that they acted under different Orders This Peril how evident soever did not touch the Mind of the King of Naples after so sensible a manner as the fear of his Soldiers being debauch'd by the Duke of Milan as they had been in the foregoing Conjunctions for the making War upon the Infidels On the other side the Duke of Milan spoke with great Pomp of the Succours he gave the Florentines He propos'd sending into Tuscany Troops in equal number and better equipage than the King of Naples He proceeded further offering to Head them with Federigo d' Vrbino whom he kept in his Service with almost the same Pensions as the Venetians gave Coglione and who would make War so much the better vpon this General as for that there was a laudable Emulation between them which engaged them reciprocally to practise all the Stratagems of the Military Art to surprise and hinder being surprised But he pretended before all things that the King of Naples should be bound not to send any Fleet into the River of Genoua capable of giving any Jealousie to the State of Milan with which the Neopolitan was the more loth to comply in that he was extraordinarily provok'd against the Genoueses who had back'd the Revolt of his Barons and besides it goar'd him very sensibly in that he must receive the Law from his Enemy for the obliging him to defend an Ally In the mean while the Friends of Piero adjusted these Differences sooner than was expected and propounded a Temperament which equally fitted the King of Naples and Duke of Milan's turn They assured the King of Naples that his Troops should only be employ'd in the defence of Pisa and its Territory where they should not be oblig'd to receive a Companion which he accepted and caused them to depart with all expedition under the Conduct of Galeazzo de St. Severini Afterwards they nick'd their time so well to attack his weak side which was Vanity and represent to him how glorious it would be for him to sacrifice a Desire of Revenge tho' it was lawful to the Safety of his Allies and what a Tarnish on the contrary his Reputation would receive if he hindred the Genoueses to assist the Florentines in the War he was going to declare against them that this Prince gave his Word to suspend his Resentment until the Peace was re-established in Tuscany Thus the Duke of Milan having no more Pretext to defer the March of his Auxiliary Troops and the Friends of Piero having gain'd him to all intents and purposes by the Offer they made of giving him the principal Honour of the Defence by confiding in his Troops the keeping of Florence he dispatch'd Federigo d' Vrbino with all diligence to give order for the fortifying the Suburbs and caus'd him to be attended by choice Companies of Horse and Foot in so splendid an Equipage that the like had not been seen in Italy since it had been ravaged by Barbarous Nations Not a Trooper was there but had his Led-Horse and his Arms enrich'd with all that Luxury had then invented most Rare and Curious The Helmets and Corselets which the Infantry made use of were engraven They had their Trappings deck'd with Cyphers and Devices which noted the Amours and principal Adventures of each Foot-Soldier Their Swords were adorned with Tufts of Gold in Embroidery and the Guidons and Ensigns displayed all the Fineries of Needle-work These Soldiers entred Florence in the posture of Triumphers rather than of Auxiliaries and their presence made Coglione change the Design of approaching it But Piero's Friends seeing them too curl'd and finical and too assiduous at Balls to have a good Opinion of their Prowess thought there was no trusting so far in their Valour as not to raise other Troops They knew that the Ecclesiastick State had ever been a Nursery of Soldiers and that the two most
sole Heiress of his House in a Curb'd Head-strong and Rebellious Town whose Inhabitants he had reduc'd to despair by a Siege of eighteen Months Moreover the Writer of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 makes a scrupule of charging himself with pompous matters and as he principally aims at knowing what is peculiar in the Inclinations he stops sometimes to glean up such matters as were neglected and flung aside by the Historian An unforeseen Answer serves him to penetrate into the bottom of Peoples Intentions If he had been at Florence with Alessandro de Medici one bare word of that Duke wou'd have suffic'd him to make his Pourtraict He wou'd have suppos'd that the impenetrability of his Secret his being his own sole Confident was it self his true Character as soon as he had heard him say that he was himself the Keeper of his own Designs but a Keeper so Jealous that he did not allow 'em to stir one moment out of his heart to take the Air upon the brink of his Lips I ingenuously own that the Historian does not do the like and willingly do I leave him in possession of that fine Maxime of Adrianus Marcellinus Discurrere per Negotiorum Celsitudines non humilium minutias indagare Causarum I take it kindly of Lucian for having rally'd those who wou'd go another way to Work and I blame Guichiardini for having so often violated this Rule but I pretend likewise to be left in my turn to enjoy peaceably the Priviledge of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and to relate with a serious Air the smallest trifles when they have been th' Origine or occasion of the greatest Matters Perhaps I shall have the Validity of these Priviledges deny'd me upon that Procopius who has advantag'd himself of 'em so often has no where taken the pains to establish them But I answer in the first place that tho' it were so I shou'd still have left a Possession of above twelve hundre◠years which in good Law equal◠at least a new Title And in the second I maintain that Procopius hi◠silence cannot turn to my disadvantage since it is contradicted by th◠contrary use of the same Author following the Maxime of Philosophers who give force to the Negative Argument only when there is nothing opposite in the same Place from whence it is drawn And I observ◠in the third that a Man cannot b◠well grounded to draw an Inference of that Nature from Procopius hi◠Books of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 because this Wor◠has not been preserv'd absolutely entire as is easie to judge by the Passages cited in Suidas and Evagrius that are not now a days found in any of our Editions or Manuscripts Which wou'd give me always occasion on to pretend that Procopius might have spoken in the Fragments which we want of what People will needs have him to have forgotten and omitted But after all tho' I shou'd be depriv'd of Procopius his Authority I shou'd still have a reason left which ought in my Opinion to pass for Fundamental in the matter now in hand namely That notwithstanding the Writer of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is no less oblig'd than the Historian to tell the Truth yet he is not oblig'd to tell it in the same manner for the Historian is not properly bound to tell it but when the Transactions he relates are so true as that they are probable and Guichiardin will be ever blamed for having related * In the Fifth Book of his History the Case of two Rival Brothers th' one of whom having known that th' other was better belov'd because he had finer Eyes tore them out from him and sent them in a Box to his Mistress There shou'd he have stopt and not have added that these same Eyes were remitted in their place by so delicate a hand that they recover'd th' use of sight Yet am I not of their Opinion who think this single Instance sufficient to make Guichiardin's Process and Convict him not only of Falsehood but likewise of manifest Error against common Sense I am willing to suppose with the Adorers of this Historian that the two Persons of whom he speaks were sufficiently Eminent in Italy to be known and that the Place of the Blindness and of the Cure which they are minded to maintain was not so remote from Florence but that a Man might be inform'd of it in a short time and without difficulty What I now find fault with is that so Tragical and Capricious an Event tho' it may be true was not probable at least in its utmost particularity which ought to be omitted or related with the due Precautions for the persuading the Reader that there was no design to impose on his Credulity On the contrary the Writer of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 has for Object Truth in all its Extent he considers it equally either that it be probable or not probable and the same Procopius who had taken such pains to be believ'd when herelates * In the first Book of the Gothick War in his History that one single Isaurian Cavalier had put to rout a whole Army of the Goths the self same Procopius says I use neither Precaution nor Preamble in my 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 when the thing in hand is to describe the strange Postures of the Emperour Justinian in the Night time After his Example shall I take the freedom to examine all the Symptoms of the Great Cosmo de Medici his sickness and indeavour to sift by what accidents of Fatigue or of Debauchery that Princes Body lost the three Functions of the Mind one after th' other during the three last years of his Life and was deprived by a successive alteration of his Organs first of Reason then of Motion and of Sentiment and at last of Life But if the Writer of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 has on this side more Liberty than the Historian he has it not on another which wou'd be much more material to him for he cannot propose to himself or Interest or Glory for the end of his enterprize and the Field he cultivates is to him so useless that it produces him only Thorns and Briars He runs a risque of losing all instead of profiting and the same Conastagio who had been promis'd ten thousand Crowns besides an ample Pension for Life for writing the History of the re-union of Portugal to the Crown of Castile was threatned with Bastinadoes as soon as it came to be known that he elsewhere than at the Spanish Ambassadours House at Genoua sought after Memoirs for writing the late Revolutions of the Low Countries He wou'd not so much as dare to hope to raise his Name from Oblivion by causing others to revive and in the Most Christian King's Library have I read several Manuscripts which Infallibly will be never Printed because they draw the Picture a little too much to the Life of some Illustrious Persons in whom History has not hitherto found any Defects or
by the quality of the Presents that were made them or by fear of the Punishments wherewith they were threatned But yet there has been so few of them principally in the two last Ages that I have been able but to find out a pair whose Example it will not be perhaps amiss to relate in this place for the rarity of the matter Never was there a King that was more concern'd for what wou'd be said of him after his Death than the last Alfonso that wore the Crown of Naples He not only labour'd at winning of Battels and doing those sorts of actions which savour of the Romance but he was likewise solicitous to find out Pens worthy of writing them and capable of embelishing them Not one famous one was there but he endeavour'd to gain or corrupt and all such as were in Repute receiv'd from him Pensions or Presents in whatever Country of Europe Birth or Fortune had confin'd them yet never was yet never was there a Monarch whose Infirmities have been better particulariz'd than his We are not strangers to the least of his Frailties and what avails it to read in Pontanus Panormus Benedicti and in sixty four other Historians that he possess'd all the Noble qualities that form Heroes No body believes 'em and the World is rather inclin'd to give Credit to Bernardino Cerico who attributes to him only very common Affections tho' this Cerico is otherwise a very piteous Historian Castruccio Castracani on the contrary has been defamed by thirty celebrated Historians of Italy ten of whom are of Florence He has been reproach'd with all the excesses whereof Tyranny is capable when above the reach of Fear And Machiavel has writ a piece on purpose in so terse maligne a stile that he turns into Ridicule all the actions he cannot blame Yet has he not been believ'd no more than his Country-men and though Nicolas Tegrinus who made at the same time that Great Captain 's Apology was inferiour to Machiavel in all the other parts that make up a perfect Historian Nevertheless People have jugd'd Tegrinus to be the sincerest of the two They have approv'd the Contradictions he puts in his Preface for the undeceiving those who had been prepossess'd to the Prejudice of Truth and 't is now allow'd on all hands that neither the Testimony of Machiavel nor that of the other Florentines is receiveable in what relates to Castracani as being suspected of designing to revenge their Countrey at least with the Pen for the Affronts which it had receiv'd from a General of an Army who had been its most formidable Enemy though they were convinc'd that this General had no other failures than what proceeded from his living in a Conjuncture wherein it was not possible to exercise Military Virtues by lawful means But as the two Events which I have newly related are perhaps those only wherein rigorous Justice has been done to oppressed Truth ever since History was written it is not to be expected but by a due course of proceeding The shelve is to be avoided which commonly wrecks those who do not fancy that too much exactness can be used in detecting the most secret matters You must remember that though a Writer of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is more often and more strictly bound to speak the Truth than an Historian yet he is not so in all occasions to speak without exception on the contrary he ought to suppress it all along where it is not possible to reveal it without acting against good Manners Town that Procopius has fail'd against this Principle and I am too sincere not to abandon him in thiâ— point I do not undertake either to excuse him or defend him and 〈◊〉 should go my self astray as well aâ— deviate my Readers if I follow'd hiâ— steps I take it kindly of thaâ— Man's Modesty Thâ— German Doctor causing his 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to be Printeâ— has retrench'd such Passages whereiâ— the Infamies of the Empress Theodora when she assisted at the Publicâ— Divertâ—sements were too lively represented I wish this Vacuum maâ— be never fill'd and that those whâ— are able to do it may have neitheâ— the Will nor the Leisure This Priography is in the Galleâ—y of the French King's Library I have little less Aversion for the Impudence of Petrus Candidus December who wrote two hundred years agon the Lives of the Dukes of Milan and People wou'd have been well enough satisfy'd without knowing why Filippo Visconti caus'd the young Gentlemen of Milan to play at Tennis so often in his presence The art of the most Infamous Prostitution ought not to be learnt in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 no more than in History and the Laws of Decency well deserve to be as scrupulously kept in the one as in th' other Dangerous thoughts ought not to be imprinted in Peoples Minds under the Cant of rendring to them Vice the more abominable nor fill 'em with shameful Ideas when the business is to ammate them to the pursuit of Glory by laying before them the most eminent Virtues Neither ought it to be suffer'd in 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or in History that in publick there appear things as would not be heard without a Horrour in a well regulated Conversation and if the Ordures that are read in the Old Romances are not wanting to produce pernicious effects though we are forewarn'd of their false-hoods what will not those do which the memory shall endeavour to retain because they are true Never was there any Republick that has giv'n a Right to private Persons over anothers Reputation and but has punish'd those who went to disturb'd the Dead in their very Graves The Morals of the Fathers and Councils will have us hold him for an honest Man who had the repute of so being at the Moment he ceas'd living when that there is no evident proofs to the contrary and 't is principally for this last Consideration that I shall draw the Curtain over the Amours of Cosmo de Medici with Camilla Martelli and over those of Duke Francisco his Son with Bianca Capello I shall leave the principal Circumstances of them in the Memoirs wherein I have seen them and shall only thence cull those that have so peculiar a Connexion with the most notable Events of those two Princes Lives that for want of having chosen them neither Manuce nor Civi nor th' other Historians are intelligible in the passages of their great Volumes which are ferreted with too much Curiosity But it s too long stopping the Reader at the entrance of this I must introduce him within doors and render him Judge whether I have put well in practise the Speculations wherewith I have been entertaining him THE CONTENTS OF THE BOOKS The First Book THE great Riches of Cosmo de Medici Surnam'd the Old acquir'd by Traffick rend'ring him suspected to the Florentines four of the most Illustrious Families Conspire against him and got him clapt into Prison The Design is
the Ambition of the Princes of Italy by proposing to them so rich a Booty and seeing they were pall'd by the Difficulties of seising it which seem'd to them invincible he sollicited Foreign Powers and fell to minding the Germans of their ancient Pretensions upon Tuscany As to the King of Naples true it is he was not excommunicated nor his Realm interdicted for there was neither Reason nor Pretext sufficient to come to that Extremity But bating this a stop was put to all the Graces the Neapolitans were wont to receive from the Holy See They were barr'd all hope of any in the future And as it was known that the Nobless of the Country were reduc'd to their Obedience to King Ferrand meerly by the Menaces of being retrench'd from the Communion of the Church they were sollicited to revolt under the Lure of Impunity and a beginning was made to cavil the Investiture of Naples which the foregoing Popes had granted to the House of Arragon But as the Pope's Humour was nice in matter of Hatred the Aversion he had for Lorenzo de Medici proceeded from a Motive so much the more difficult to cease as it was the less known by those who might inter-meddle in the Reconciliation For tho' this Pontiff had much ado to digest that Lorenzo had hindred him from exalting his House to the Soveraignty of Tuscany tho' the same Lorenzo had in hand Matters sufficient to convict him of the basest and blackest of Crimes and had shewn the Originals of them to the King of Naples tho' he had spirited this Prince from his Alliance and had made the Troops of the Church receive the most sensible Affront by exposing them to a shameful Retreat after the Duke of Calabria's Desertion yet all this was not precisely what lay heaviest at the Pope's Heart He was more ingenious to torment himself than were his very Enemies and laying aside the Interest of his Grandeur and Reputation he could not endure that Lorenzo after having despair'd of saving his Republick by continuing the War had chose rather to go throw himself into the Arms of the King of Naples than into his and making the due Comparison he might well in this Occasion he pois'd the Holiness of the Head of the Church and his Quality of Common Father of the Christians with the King of Naples's Character who was reckon'd in Europe for the most Cruel the most Perfidious and the most Self-interessed of all Princes He from thence concluded That Lorenzo de Medici must needs have imagin'd that this King as Vicious as he was was still better than his Holiness since he had preferr'd him before him in the nicest Choice that can be made in Civil Life by confiding in him both his Life and his Fortune Thus the Pope would have omitted nothing of what he judg'd proper to push on his Resentment had not the Turks at that time seis'd on the City of Otranto and put therein Troops they had assembled in Epirus So sudden an Invasion was more efficacious than had been all Divine and Humane Considerations It reunited the Princes of Italy it reconcil'd Lorenzo with the Pope it caus'd the Censures to be taken off that were fulminated against the Florentines and the Pope reinstated them in the Communion of the Church on condition they would send Fifteen Gallies to block up the Port of Otranto and maintain them there at their own Charges as long as the Siege should last before that Place As it does not appertain to a Writer 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to dwell upon Sieges I shall say noâ— thing of this save that the Infidels therâ— taught the Christians to make regular Foâ—tifications and that the Besieged after haâ—ings shewn more Resolution than the Besiegers demanded to capitulate as soon as they were inform'd of the Death of their Emperour Mahomet the Second as if they had desponded of their Good-fortune under another Head The Princes of Italy having no more Common Enemies fell to sparring with one another And the Senate of Venice hearing of the Death of Borso da Esté Marquis of Ferrara imagin'd it would be easie for them to seise on his Territory because Hercule da Esté his Successor was too young and too voluptuous to support the Fatigues of the War But as it was hardly possible to give a specious Colour to that Usurpation without hooking in the Pope the Senate had him pump'd by their Emissaries and propos'd to him the sharing that Marquisate with the Republick after it was conquer'd at their mutual Charges The Pope embrac'd the Proposition because that well perceiving his Death was near at hand he would make as much haste as he could to aggrandize his Nephews Thus the League was concluded and the new Marquis attack'd by his two Neighbours when he onely expected from them Compliments of Condolance upon his Father's Death The first thought he had while a putting himself in a Defensive Posture was to have recourse to Lorenzo de Medici who was become so potent in Florence by the late Service he had render'd his Commonwealth that he dispos'd of it almost in the same manner as if he were a Despotick Soveraign The Marquis caus'd an Envoy extraordinary to represent to him the Injustice that was done him and the dangerous Consequences of the War newly declar'd against him Lorenzo who had already foreseen those Consequences was not satisfy'd with assisting him with the Succours of Florence but moreover wrought him a Counter-League between the King of Naples the Dukes of Milan and Vrbino and the Republick of Florence for the Conservation of the Land of Ferrara Thus in a little time after four Armies appear'd in the Field whose Success was pretty well balanc'd That of Venice under Roberto da San Severino who commanded it since Coglione's Death and who nicking the unexpected Death of the Duke d' Vrbino General of the Troops appointed for the Guard of the Dutchy of Ferrara dissipated them without hazarding a general Battel and came pouring on Victorious to the Gates of Ferrara But on the other side the Duke of Calabria having advanc'd too far into the Ecclesiastick State with the rest of the Confederated Troops was defeated at Velitre by Roberto Malatesta Lord of Rimino General of the Pope's Army The Principal Lords of Naples were slain or taken Prisoners in this Action And the Conquerour was already preparing to march to the Conquest of that Kingdom when Riario far from suffering him to have still that Occasion of becoming more Famous and Recommendable having resolv'd to dispatch him three days after the Battel had him poyson'd of which he died in two hours time Then Riario was contriving to put into Rimino such Soldiers as in whom he might confide But Lorenzo de Medici having notice of his Intention by his Spies caus'd other Troops to slip into it that secur'd the Place for Malafesta's Heirs This Precaution however mended little the Affairs of the better Party for the Army
for the Peoples Diversion and they afterwards found they had all mutiny'd against an extraordinary great and furious Lion so as that their Keepers were not able to hinder them from tearing him piece-meal and that after this Execution they were of themselves appeas'd As the Italians easily puzzle their Heads with Thoughts of the Future they fail'd not to make Predictions upon these three Prodigies which were almost all justify'd by the Event But none save Savanarola a Religious of the Order of St. Dominic carried the Prophecy to its due Extent by preaching in the most famous Auditory of Florence That the Italians having fill'd the measure of their Sins God who would no longer defer their Punishment was going to bereave them of the onely Man that maintain'd their Tranquillity and that incontinently after his Death they would worry one another and be expos'd a Prey to Foreign Nations Yet however eminent was already Savanarola's Renown and tho' he employ'd all his Eloquence the greatest of the latter Ages to procure Belief he hardly persuaded any to give credence to his Assertions and those who were most concern'd to appease the Anger of Heaven lov'd rather to imagine that this admirable Preacher threatned them through a prepossession of Spirit disadvantageous to the House of Medici than resolve upon doing Penance The End of the Third Book THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF MEDICIS The Fourth Book NEver was any Disease more treacherous than that which seis'd Lorenzo de Medici on the very Day the Comet first appear'd It was in the beginning onely a very slight Fever and so much the less to be dreaded in that his Friends thought they knew its Causes They judg'd it to be excited by an Obstruction complain'd of by the Patient and that this Obstruction could onely be imputed to the Malignity of the Rhewm of which he suffred ev'ry Moment strange Defluxions Yet the Fits continuing tho' not augmenting Lorenzo's Relations and Adherents sent for Piero Leoni the most celebrated Physician in Italy from Spoleto That what I am going to relate may be the better understood it is necessary to presuppose That this Leoni was the first who since the fall of the Roman Empire had thought of questing after the Medicinal Art in the Ancient Greek Authors whereas those of his time addicted to that Profession commonly study'd onely the Writings of Arabian Physicians He had translated with so much fidelity and eloquence the most considerable Works of Galen and was become so famous by the Novelty and Importance of this Performance as to be offer'd the Principal Professor of Physick's Chair at Padoua where he had taught with applause during several Years But his ill Genius pushing him into the Snare wherein most Physicians were then entangled I mean Judicial Astrology he was become so expert that way as to be consulted from all Parts of Italy One day the Fancy took him to calculate his own Nativity He found he was born under so malign a Constellation that he must infallibly be drown'd by an unforeseen Accident The fear he was in of this falling out accordingly made him quit Padoua as being call'd to Venice whither he could not go but by Water And that besides by making a long abode at Padoua he could by no means have dispens'd passing over the Bridge which he suppos'd would fall under him He had Estate sufficient to subsist on any where at ease and if he preferr'd dwelling in his own Country before others he did it on the account of there being neither Torrent nor River Whereupon he return'd to Spoleto where he remain'd Ten years without setting Foot over his Threshold But at length his Renown attracted him so great a number of Visits that Civility pressing him to repay some of them he grew insensibly wean'd from that hideous Apprehension he had harbour'd of Waters He began to pass over the Bridge on Foot afterwards pass'd in on Horseback He since ventur'd to Ferry over Rivers He went by Boat on Brooks But as Hazard does ever extraordinary things when Prudence has resolv'd to bring about some surprising Contingencies it came into Lorenzo's Friends thoughts to commit to Leoni the Concern of his Cure They invited him to Carrego with all the Reasons and Allurements of Honour and Profit capable of tempting him and prevail'd with him at last to undertake the Journey after having been thorowly inform'd there were no Risques for him to run He came saw the Sick Man observ'd all the Symptoms of his Malady with the utmost exactness joyn'd the Predictions of Judicial Astrology to the Indications of Physick and from all these things together unhappily concluded That there was nothing to be fear'd in the Distemper they had in hand that there needed not any Remedy and that Nature that would not fail to rouse it self in due time would have sufficient strength to loosen and disperse the ill Humours which fed the Fever and to reestablish the Patient in perfect Health Leoni's Advice was follow'd with the utmost punctuality but they likewise perceiv'd that Nature in stead of making its Efforts in the Critical Days grew still weaker and weaker and insensibly sunk and dwindl'd Ludovico Sforza having Spies throughout all Italy was inform'd how Matters stood And as he had an Int'rest in Lorenzo de Medici's Life as thinking him too Pacifick to suffer any Disturbance in the Tutelage of the Dutchy of Milan tho' he had usurp'd the Station he sent with all diligence to Carrego Lazaro de Plaisanza the most famous Physician of Lombardy dwelling then at Pavia Lazaro visiting the Sick despair'd of him at the very first and plainly declar'd it was impossible to cure him He shew'd the Malignity of the Phlegm which had so seis'd upon the Noble Parts that Remedies were no longer capable of driving it thence And or that the loss of so Great a Person augmented his Indignation or that he was overjoy'd with having found an Occasion to disparage Leoni the onely Physician that gave a Jealousie to his Fame he took delight in demonstrating by indubitable Proofs and even by Trials made upon the Patient's Body that had he been prescrib'd the Common Courses he would infallibly have recover'd his pristine Vigour While the Family of Medici were cursing Leoni's Negligence and Temerity Lorenzo being inform'd that his End was near at hand appear'd no more mov'd than if some indifferent News had been brought him and carry'd his steadiness of Courage to the very last Degree that Philosophy teaches it can go He comforted his Friends gave them all the Orders and Directions he judg'd to be necessary after his Death regulated his Domestick Concerns by a Will which could not be more humble or judicious and taking his leave of the World refus'd seeing any other than Ecclesiastick and Religious Persons He expir'd in their Arms after having giv'n Tokens of a most Christian Submission and receiv'd all the Sacraments There wanted three Months of his having accomplish'd forty
made him Keeper of the Vatican Library but he dy'd at twenty eight years old when on his Journey to take possession of his new Dignity Titus Sforza was a famous Latin Poet of Ferrara he Compos'd several Eclogues and put into Verse the History of the House of Esté None wou'd have disputed with him the Crown of Lawrel he laid claim to after Petrarch's Example if he had not got a Son that prov'd a better Poet than himself Hercules Sforza made such fine Verses at sev'nteen years old as created a Jealousie in his very Father and as he had no less Qualities for the Court than for Parnassus he became the Duke his Master's Favourite and made Love to that Prince's Sister while he wrote Verses worthy of Antiquity for the Dutchess Lacretia Borgia He was Gallant and very Ingenuous in Repartees as he made a Lady sensible upon her twitting him with his being Lame for he extemporaneously reply'd that Venus who understood her self as well as she at least in Love had nevertheless preferr'd Vulcan before others But to his bane the Beauteous Toreti the Duke's Mistress inspir'd him with Love They agreed to steal a little Matrimony Clandestinely for fear their Nuptials might be cross'd and afterwards to proclaim their Marriage as soon as it shou'd be a time fitting they supposing the Duke wou'd leave off loving Toreti when he came to know she had thrown her self into the Arms of another But they were mistaken for hardly was the business known but that Sforza coming to sup at the Palace was kill'd without any inquest being since made into th' Assassination Barthelemi Cocles study'd only Chiromancy and Metoposcopy but he became so knowing that no body ever made so many true Predictions He was more hardy than other Wizzards for he caus'd a Book to be Printed enrich'd with Figures wherein he reveal'd all the secret of his Art explain'd all the Lines of the Hand all the different Features of the Face and laid open the signification of each thing in particular The Learned Achillini made a Preface to it equally admir'd by the Friends and Enemies of the Art of Fortune-telling and Cocles confirm'd his Positions by an Experience which brought him into a general Vogue Luca Gaurie so famous in Judicial Astrology cou'd not make his own Horoscope for want of knowing the day and hour and place of his Birth He had recourse to Cocles who viewing his Hand foretold him that he wou'd suddenly undergo a Punishment without having deserv'd it but yet dye of it he wou'd not And indeed Bentivoglio Lord of Bologna being inform'd that Gaurie had foretold that he shou'd be driven out of his Territory before the years end caus'd him to be Kidnapt and commanded he shou'd have the Strapado giv'n him five times together which was accordingly executed but also was he divested in the time that Gaurie had noted As to Cocles he had no less foreseen the day and hour of his own Death He knew it his Fate to be kill'd by a blow on his Head and had Arm'd himself with an Iron Coif under his Hat and with a two-handed Sword with which he Fenced Competently well Yet Hermes Bentivoglio the Great Lord of Bologna's Son had desir'd him so earnestly to tell him his Fortune that he had declar'd to him he shou'd be banish'd and kill'd in a Battel which happen'd afterwards But then Hermes the most Brutal Man of his time wou'd needs be reveng'd on Cocles in causing him to be assassinated by Caponi the most resolute of his Father's Guards Capani excus'd doing it a long while and wou'd never have resolv'd upon it had not the Fancy took him one day to consult Cocles who not knowing him told him Alas my Friend you 'l commit a detestable Murther before it 's yet night Caponi being surprizâ—d at so unexpected a Prediction imagin'd Cocles impos'd on his Credulity as he had done on that of Hermes and thereupon took his measures to kill him He went and disguis'd himself in the accoutrements of a Porter for the better performing his Design and return'd in the moment that Cocles who had been constrain'd for an indispensable Affair to go abroad came back and was just putting the Key into the Lock of his Door he gave him so great a blow with an Ax that the Iron Coif cou'd not hinder Cocles head from being cloven In his Closet a Book was found written with his own hand containing Predictions for those of his Acquaintance whose Hands and Countenance he had observ'd and the Event justify'd 'em to be all infallible there not being a Person of that number but dy'd after him of the Death he had noted Johannes Cotta was Catullus his Country-man and had almost the same Genius He gave himself to Barthelemi de Lalviano and offer'd to keep him Company when the French had taken him at the Battel of Laghiara Dadda and this Office being declin'd he went to Rome to hasten his Benefactor 's Ransome and dy'd there of the Plague at eight and twenty years old His Epigrams have the turn of those of Martial and his Orations shew he had already read good Books He had likewise Compos'd a Chorography in Verse and Observations upon Pliny but it 's not known what are become of those two Works Peter Crinitus was Politianus his ablest Scholar and succeeded him in the Chair and Education of the Youth of Florence THE END The Printed Authors and Manuscripts whence the First Book is taken THE Acts of the Foundation of San Lorenzo's Church at Florence The Paintings of the Old Palace de Medici The Second Tome of Giorgio Vasavii The Eulogy of Cosmo the Old among the little Eulogies of Paulus Jovius The Rights of the House of Savoy to the Kingdom of Cyprus The Fifth Part of Pogiodes Works The First Edition of Coleon's Life Antonius Campanus in the Life of Braccio Filippo Strozzi and his Childrens Manifest against Cosimo de Medici The Printed Authors and Manuscripts whence the Second Book is taken SImoneta's Manuscript in the French King's Library Senator Moccenigo's History of Venice The Memorial of the Seditions that happen'd at Florence under the Government of the Republick The Topographick History of Volterra Onuphrius in the Life of Sixtus the 4th Politianus his Pazzi's Conspiracy of old Aldus Menuceus his first Edition The Printed Authors and Manuscripts whence the Third Book is taken CArdinal Nardi's Negotiations with Ferrand of Naples and the Duke of Calalabria his Son Two Italian Letters of Lorenzo de Medici one to justifie his Voyage to Naples address'd to the Council of Eight at Florence and the other written to all the Magistrates of the Republick to give them an Account of the Treaty he had there concluded the Neapolitan King's War against the Barons by an unknown Author in the French King 's sixth Library The History of Venice by Sabellieus Platina's Continuator in the Life of Sixtus the 4th Andréa Doria's Life by Carolus Sigonius The Printed Authors and Manuscripts whence the Fourth Book is taken THE Tuscan Relation of Aetius Sincerus d'Anazar The Index of Leonard Aretin's Works by Mr. de la Marc. The Saint Denis and the Diogenes Laertius of Amboise de Camaldoli The Fourth Tome of Pontanus his Works by Aldus Manuceus The Decades of Blondus The History of Filippo Visconti The Life of Charlemain by Achaiolis The Combat of Philadeste and Timotée in Mirtavis The Conclave of Sixtus the 4th The Greek Poems of Lascaris and the Latin of Majoranus The Epigrams of Marulus The Preface to Plato's Works The Eulogies of Politian The Corrections and the History of the Visconti's by Merula Politian's Epitaph by Cardinal Bombe The Life of Savonarola the Jacobin The Printed Authors and Manuscripts whence the Fifth Book is taken THE Discourse of the Medici's Exile by Cardinal Bibiana The Conclave of Julius the 2d The Manifest of Lewis the 12th against the same Pope The Acts of the Council held at Pisa during the Dissentions of Lewis the 12th and Julius the 2d Pompeo Colonna's Harangue to the Romans to persuade them to recover their Liberty while the Pope was sick The Relation of the Cardinal Legat's flight after the Battel of Ravenna by Barnabé de Malespina Machiavel's Life Mario Musuoi's Observations upon that of Castruccio The Printed Authors and Manuscripts whence the Sixth Book is taken LEO the 10th's Conclave His entry into Florence by Francisco de Sangallo A Memorial of the Offices the Republick of Genoua has render'd at sundry times to France Géneâ—rard's and Mr. du Puit's Observations upon the Concordate A Collation of Guichiardini's Errors by Giovanni Battista Leoni Lorenzo de Medici's Negotiation with the Heiress of Bologna between the Duke d'Albania and Cardinal Bibiana That of the Election of Charles the Fifth by Adolphus Vander Marck Bishop of Liergi Leo the 10th's Instruction to Roberto Ursini upon the same subject The Life of the first Duke of Urbin of the House della Rovere A Journal containing the Secret and Circumstances of Cardinal Petrucci's Conspiracy The ten Books of Pope Leo's Epistles The Printed Authors and Manuscripts whence the Sev'nth Book is taken THE Eulogies of Pontanus and of Domitius The Collection of Anonymous Authors The Life of Duke Valentinois Pesaro's Topographick History Guichiardini's first Book A Dissertation by an unknown Hand upon the Infelicity of Men of Literature Floridus Sabinus in his Eulogies The History of Remini Beroalde Senior's Commentary upon Apuleius his Golden Ass The Eulogies of the Vatican Library Keepers Julius the 2d's Manifest against Giovanni Bentivoglio Cotta's Eulogy in Julius Caesar Scaliger Justinian's History of Venice Mascardi in the Art of History Antonio Possevino in the History of the Gonzaga's Longeuil's Judgment upon Erasmus and Budeus Paulus Jovius his Dialogue with the Marquis du Guast The Neapolitan Families d'Ammirato The Postscripts of Budeus to divers Manuscripts in the French King's Library FINIS