ON THE NATURE OF THE FRENCH
Machiavelli’s first diplomatic contact with the French was early in 1500 on the Pisan front when Florence, after its failed campaign against Pisa, sought the help of King Louis XII, who had come to Italy to conquer Milan and Naples. Later that year Machiavelli had his second diplomatic encounter with the French at the court of Louis XII in Lyons. This piece, titled originally in Latin De natura Gallo rum, is believed to be from that period. It reflects Florentine anti-French sentiment, for though Louis XII was prepared to support Florence’s quest to regain its former territories, his help cost Florence a large sum of money and the exorbitant expense of provisioning and quartering the French army, which Louis used primarily for his own campaigns.
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The French are so intent on immediate advantage or injury that they have little memory of past wrongs or benefits, and little care for future good or evil.
For the French, first agreements are always best.
While they might not be able to do you a good turn, this does not hinder them from promising to do so. Yet if they are in a position to do you a good turn, they will do so only with great reluctance, or never. The French are most humble in bad fortune, and most insolent in good.
They are miserly rather than cautious.
They weave their bad cloth with vigor and expertise.
They care little for what is said or written about them.
They are more eager for money than blood.
The French court is generous only at audiences.
A victorious Frenchman is constantly summoned into the presence of the king, he who loses a battle, rarely. Therefore, anyone who is about to embark on a campaign must first weigh whether he is likely to succeed or not, and whether or not this is likely to please the king. Cesare Borgia knew this well, which enabled him to march to Florence with his army6
If a courtier and gentleman disobey the king in a matter concerning a third party, if he is in favor with the king he is not punished, but must show obedience in the future. If he is not in favor, he must stay away from the royal court for four months. This has twice cost us Pisa: once when Entragues held the citadel, and the second time when the French troops came to Pisa.7
He who wishes to conduct business at court must have money, great diligence, and good fortune.
If the French are asked to do a favor, they will first weigh the benefit it will bring them.
Unlike Italian gentlemen, they are usually not very particular about their honor. They were not overly concerned about losing face when they sent to Siena to demand the town of Montepulciano and were not obeyed.8
They are capricious and nonchalant.
They have the arrogance of the victor.
They are enemies of the Latin language and of the glory of Rome.
Italians have a bad time at the French court, except for those whose ship is heading for the rocks and who have nothing more to lose.
6. Cesare Borgia, as head of the papal army, with assistance from Louis XII of France, marched through Florentine territory in 1501. (Machiavelli was one of the Florentine ambassadors attached to his camp.)
7. In 1496, Robert de Balzac, Comte d’Entragues, returned the occupied citadel of Pisa to the populace against the wishes of Charles VIII, and in 1500 the French army refused to help the Florentines recapture Pisa, despite a promise by Louis XII, Charles’s successor, to do so.
8. Louis XII sent Francesco da Narni to Siena to ask Pandolfo Petrucci, Lord of Siena, that the town of Montepulciano be returned to Florence, which Petrucci refused to do, despite being an ally of Louis XII.