⚜ Avvisi

Day 7 - What have the Medici ever done for us?

Siena → Ponte D’Arbia (26 km)

If you missed the other days, you can access them here.

Dear avvisi addicts,

It’s been a week since I’ve started walking and writing. If you’ve been following along, thank you, thank you, thank you. It’s essential to have accountability every day, as otherwise there are too many barriers in the way: the exhaustion after walking 26 km, parts of it in the midday sun; shitty Internet; the tempting Tuscan wine and the brain fog after eating delicious carbs. But knowing that some of you are opening these emails, even maybe just to browse through the photos, means a lot to me. Why? Because I’m doing this pop-up newsletter to improve my writing. I’m also trying to enjoy it as an experience and not be a total hermit. The thoughts may sometimes be half-baked, the wording clunky and the photos over-edited. But sticking to the daily posts helps me practise the discipline and commitment to the creative craft. You’re probably expecting today’s avviso, not my TMI therapy in public. All of that reminded myself of this great joke of the moth who goes to a podiatrist.

Allora.

Today should be about Siena and the celebrations this morning, but a bit more research is required before saying anything of substance. Instead, we’ll turn to Siena’s favourite enemy: Florence.

You may have wondered why there is a lilly flower (⚜) in the name of this newsletter. It’s on the Florentine coat of arms and sometimes, the Medici family used it in their crest (even though their original one only shows the 5 balls most of the time). Now, who were the Medici?

To understand, we should go to a certain room in Rome in 1477. There we have Pope Sixtus IV, whose remaining description says: “a big, gruff, toothless man with a massive head”. Let’s say his physical qualities matched the character of this ambitious man. By this point, he was on bad terms with Lorenzo de Medici, the head of the family at the time, because the Florentine did not grant him a loan to buy a city. Even more preposterous, he raised troops to defend another one that the Pope wanted. The Medicis had been the Pope’s bankers since the 14th century, but Lorenzo’s latest actions convinced the Pope to turn to the Pazzi family – the Medici’s greatest rivals, also bankers. Let’s say they were over the moon about it.

So, here we have Pope Sixtus IV, Francesco de Pazzi, Francesco Salviati (disgruntled Archbishop of Pisa), Girolamo Riario (ruler of the small town of Imola, the city of dispute) and one of the cardinals in Rome. They are discussing a plot to get rid of Lorenzo and his brother, Giuliano and overthrow their control over Florence.

“Lorenzo is a villain and something must be done. And after all, what have the Medici ever done for us?” the Pope said, looking over at everyone and expecting nods. A few seconds of silence pass.

“They’ve been our bankers, Your Holiness?” the cardinal whispered.

“Alright, yes. Anyone can do so and would want to do that once they are rich. But apart from that, what have these tyrants ever done for the people of Florence?” The Pope continued.

“They’ve sponsored Donatello, Michelangelo and Botticelli?” the same cardinal said meekly.

“Obviously that, it goes without saying when you have so much money,” the Pope grumbled.

“Pioneered double-entry bookkeeping for the Italian banks? Even we started using it,” Francesco de Pazzi said.

“They’ve also built quite a lot of infrastructure in Florence, I have to say. I was impressed when I went there,” Riario said. The Pope’s eyes grew bigger.

“Oh and some beautiful gardens and palaces, indeed. It’s beautiful to walk around,” Franesco Salviato added.

“Their Platonic Academy is also pretty good. The scholarship is excellent,” de Pazzi said, lifting his palms up.

“And the Laurentian library!” Salviato said. “You can’t find so many books anywhere else!”

“Alright, then,” The Pope said. “I grant you these. Apart from lending money, being patrons of the arts, some fancy architecture, serving scholarship and improving the city of Florence, what have they really ever done for anyone?”

“Kept Florence independent and its people safe?” the cardinal almost whispered.

“Enough!” The Pope said, red-faced, dropping his fist on the table. “That furfante¹ must be removed and this matter of Florence should be taken immediately into capable hands.”

The three conspirators saw to it to continue plotting the assassination of the two Medici brothers, now knowing that the Pope would condone anything. How it turned out, we’ll find in the next few days.