DISCOURSE ON PISA

Pisa had belonged to Florence until 1494, when Piero de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence, was compelled to cede Pisa and other territories to the French during Charles VIII’s Italian campaign. Within a year, Pisa had declared independence from French rule. To Florence, however, Pisa provided access to a port and was thus absolutely vital, so the Florentines began an expensive military and diplomatic effort to regain it. Other Italian states initially came to Pisa’s aid against Florence, but their support gradually fell away until Venice, its last ally and Florence’s great commercial rival, engaged Florence in battle at Casentino. In April 1499 the Duke of Ferrara, who was asked to mediate, negotiated Venice’s ceding Pisa to Florence for 180,000 florins. The Venetians retreated from Pisa, but without handing the city over to the Florentines. Machiavelli probably wrote this piece in May 1499, shortly after the Venetian withdrawal from Pisa.

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As no one doubts that Florence must regain Pisa if it wants to maintain its independence, I do not feel I need argue the matter with other reasons than those we already know. I will examine only the ways that can or will lead to our regaining Pisa, which are either by force or by love. In other words, either we will besiege Pisa, or Pisa will willingly throw herself into our arms. As the course of love would be more secure, and consequently more desirable, I shall examine whether it is feasible. I propose that if Pisa should throw herself into our arms without our having to march into battle, then she will do so either of her own accord, handing herself over to us, or she will be handed over to us by someone who has taken control of her. Pisa’s current predicament is reason enough to believe that she might want to return to our patronage, as she is alone and weak, lacking all defense, shunned by Milan, turned away by Genoa, frowned upon by the pope, and mistreated by Siena, doggedly waiting in a vain hope for weakness and disunion in Florence and others. Nor have the Pisans—this is how perfidious they are—ever been prepared to accept our emissaries or our slightest sign of goodwill. But though at present they are in such a dire state, they still will not bow their heads: hence we cannot believe that they will voluntarily submit themselves to our dominion. As for Pisa being handed over to us by someone who has managed to take possession of her, we must conjecture that such a man will have entered Pisa at their beckoning, or by force. If by force, we cannot reasonably expect him to hand Pisa over to us, because if he is powerful enough to occupy Pisa he will be powerful enough to defend and keep her for himself, as Pisa is not the kind of city to be voluntarily relinquished by whoever has become her lord. As for our entering Pisa through love, called in by the Pisans themselves—and I base my views on the recent Venetian example—I cannot believe that anyone would deceive Pisa and, under the guise of coming to her defense, betray her and hand her over as a prisoner. The only way another power’s intervention would cause Pisa to come under our jurisdiction would be by that power abandoning Pisa and leaving her to us as prey, the way the Venetians did. For these reasons there does not seem to be any possibility of our reacquiring Pisa without force. As force is necessary, I believe we must now weigh whether it behooves us to use it in such times as these.