A CRIMINAL HISTORY OF MANKIND

Pope Sixtus was understandably furious at the failure of the plot, and the murder of Salviati seemed
a direct challenge to his power. He ordered that Lorenzo should be sent to Rome to be tried for the
crime. Florence, of course, refused. So the pope excommunicated the city and called for a crusade
to destroy it. There were many rival cities who were delighted to answer the call: Siena, Urbino,
Naples. The Sienese began to raid Tuscany as did the dukes of Calabria and Urbino. And, most
dangerous of all, so did the armies of King Ferrante of Naples, known as one of the toughest and
least scrupulous rulers in Italy. Florence’s half-hearted mercenaries allowed themselves to be
driven back; soon Ferrante commanded most of the Mediterranean coast. Then, as Florence fought
with its back to the wall, the plague suddenly arrived, and people began to die at the rate of eight a
day. Lorenzo knew his Florentines just as well as Dante knew them; it could only be a matter of
time before they decided to hand him over.
But he fought back grimly. His ally the French ambassador managed to stop Lucca from declaring
war by threatening to freeze the city’s goods in French ports. Florence’s allies, Venice and Milan,
were persuaded to attack the forces of the pope and King Ferrante in the rear, which at least created
a diversion. The pope countered by hiring Swiss troops to cross the Alps into Italy. Things began to
look desperate.
And at this point, Lorenzo played the masterstroke of his career. As a man who kept his ear to the
ground, he gathered that King Ferrante would like to see Florence humbled, but not destroyed.
Besides, the French King Louis XI believed he had a claim to the throne of Naples. As a friend of
Lorenzo’s, he would be sure to try to avenge his death by turning his armies against Naples. It was
not good sense for Ferrante to place his head on the block merely to oblige a thoroughly
treacherous pope.
And so Lorenzo walked straight into the lion’s mouth - into Naples. It was a dangerous thing to do -
Ferrante was known as a man who would offer a safe conduct and then stab his guest in the back.
Lorenzo was, quite simply, relying on his famous charm, and on the fact that he knew more about
Italian politics than any other man. It took three months, but finally Lorenzo’s charm and good
sense carried the argument. King Ferrante agreed to peace. The pope was furious and helpless. As
Lorenzo returned to Florence, crowds cheered until they were hoarse and every bell in the city rang
all day.
In the fluid state of Italian politics, the tide would no doubt have turned against Lorenzo sooner or
later - in fact, the king of Naples regretted his decision as soon as he made it, and tried to get
Lorenzo to return when he was on the high seas. Then, in 1480, Florence received aid from an
unlikely ally - the Turks. They had taken Constantinople in 1453; now they besieged Otranto, in the
‘heel’ of Italy. And the man behind it - so everyone believed - was Lorenzo; he had casually told
King Ferrante that he had some influence with the Turks, and now it looked as if he was telling the
truth. Otranto fell, and there was a general belief that Mahomet II intended to march on Rome. The
pope decided it was time to make peace. He received an embassy from Florence - naturally,
Lorenzo stayed away - and granted the city absolution, while a crowd outside screamed
orchestrated abuse at the ‘Florentine dogs’. Mahomet II died the following year, and Florence
entered on a well-deserved period of peace that lasted until Lorenzo’s death in 1492.
By that time, Pope Sixtus had been dead for eight years, replaced by a belligerent nonentity called
Innocent VIII. He died in the same year as Lorenzo the Magnificent. It was known that his own
choice as a successor was the nephew of Pope Sixtus, Giuliano della Rovere; in fact, at the first
ballot, the cardinals unhesitatingly elected him. Then the rival candidate proceeded to distribute