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i
Books, People, and Military Thought
© koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2020 | doi:10.1163/9789004432000_001
ii
Thinking in Extremes
Machiavellian Studies
Series Editors
Filippo Del Lucchese (Brunel University)
Fabio Frosini (Università degli Studi di Urbino)
Vittorio Morfino (Università di Milano Bicocca)
Editorial Board
Étienne Balibar (Université de Paris-Ouest and Kingston University London)
Thomas Berns (Université libre de Bruxelles)
Alison Brown (Royal Holloway, University of London)
Jean-Louis Fournel (Université Paris 8)
Marie Gaille (Université Paris Diderot – CNRS)
Andrea Guidi (Università dell’Insubria/ SFB 1015 Muße)
Giorgio Inglese (Sapienza Università di Roma)
Warren Montag (Occidental College)
Gabriele Pedullà (Università degli Studi Roma Tre)
John P. McCormick (University of Chicago)
Peter Stacey (University of California, Los Angeles)
Sebastian Torres (National University of Córdoba)
Miguel Vatter (The University of New South Wales, Australia)
Stefano Visentin (Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo)
Yves Winter (McGill University)
Jean-Claude Zancarini (ENS de Lyon, Triangle)
VOLUME 3
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/tie
iii
Books, People, and Military
Thought
Machiavelli’s Art of War and the Fortune of the Militia
in Sixteenth-Century Florence and Europe
By
Andrea Guidi
LEIDEN | BOSTON
iv
The publication of this book has been funded by a Lila Wallace – Reader’s Digest Publications Subsidy
at Villa I Tatti, and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) –
Projektnummer 197396619 – SFB 1015.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Guidi, Andrea, author.
Title: Books, people, and military thought : Machiavelli’s Art of War and
the fortune of the militia in sixteenth-century Florence and Europe / by
Andrea Guidi.
Other titles: Machiavelli’s Art of War and the fortune of the militia in
sixteenth-century Florence and Europe
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2020] | Series: Thinking in
extremes, 2352-1155 ; vol. 3 | Includes bibliographical references and
index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020014924 (print) | LCCN 2020014925 (ebook) | ISBN
9789004432093 (hardback) | ISBN 9789004432000 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Militia--History--16th century. | Europe--History,
Military--1492-1648. | Machiavelli, Niccolò, 1469-1527. Arte della
guerra. | Military art and science--History--16th century. | Florence
(Italy)--History, Military.
Classification: LCC D214 .G845 2020 (print) | LCC D214 (ebook) | DDC
355.00945/51109031--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020014924
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 2352-1155
isbn 978-90-04-43209-3 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-43200-0 (e-book)
Copyright 2020 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi, Brill
Sense, Hotei Publishing, mentis Verlag, Verlag Ferdinand Schöningh and Wilhelm Fink Verlag.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system,
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This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
ContentCsontents v
Contents
List of Figures IX
Abbreviations x x
Introduction 1
1 Why New Research on Florentine Militias and on the Art of War? 1
2 Overview 6
3 Acknowledgements 9
Part 1
“Il modo dello armare presente”: Machiavelli and the Ordinanza
of 1527-30
Introduction to Part 1: History and Historiography 13
1 History 13
2 Historiography 15
1 “Il modo dello armare presente” (“Fanterie d’oggi”), Section 1
Hand Firearms in Machiavelli, and in the 1528-30 Ordinanza 19
1 Hand Firearms at the Time of Machiavelli 19
1.1 Individual Firearms in the Documents of Machiavelli’s Time 20
2 Hand Firearms at the Time of the 1527-30 Ordinanza 25
3 Conclusions 31
2 “Il modo dello armare presente” (“Fanterie d’oggi”), Section 2
Comparisons and Relationships between Machiavelli’s 1506 Militia and
the Ordinanza of 1528-30 35
1 A Shared Background 35
1.1 The Need for New, Large, Permanent Armies 40
2 Differences 41
2.1 The Separation between the City and the Country Battalions 41
2.2 The Role of the New Militia Battalions in the Structure of the
Florentine Army 53
2.3 Different Infantry Battle Techniques 57
Contents
Contents
Figures
Abbreviations
Introduction 1
1 Why New Research on Florentine Militias and on the Art of War? 1
2 Overview 6
3 Acknowledgements 9
Part 1
“Il modo dello armare presente”
Machiavelli and the Ordinanza of 1527-30
Introduction to Part I
History and Historiography 13
1 History 13
2 Historiography 15
Chapter 1
“Il modo dello armare presente” (“Fanterie d’oggi”), Part 1 vi Contents
Hand Firearms in Machiavelli, and in the 1528-30 Ordinanza 19
1 Hand Firearms at the Time of Machiavelli 19
1.1 Individual Firearms in the Documents of Machiavelli’s Time 20
2 Hand Firearms at the Time of the 1527-30 Ordinanza 25
3 Conclusions 31 3 “Il modo dello armare presente” (“Fanterie d’oggi”), Section 3
Chapter 2
“Il modo dello armare presente” (“Fanterie d’oggi”), Part 2
Comparisons and Relationships between Machiavelli’s 1506 Militia and the Ordinanza of 1528-30 35 The Role of the Peasants: Innovations within the Machiavellian
1 A Shared Background 35
12. 1 TDhifefe Nreenecde fso r N4e1w, Large, Permanent Armies 40 Militia 63
2.1 The Separation between the City and the Country Battalions 41
2.2 The Role of the New Militia Battalions in the Structure of the Florentine Army 53 1 The Administration of Justice 64
2.3 Different Infantry Battle Techniques 57
Chapter 3
“Il modo dello armare presente” (“Fanterie d’oggi”), Part 3 2 Benefiting and Rewarding 67
The Role of the Peasants: Innovations within the Machiavellian Militia 63
1 The Administration of Justice 64
2 Benefiting and Rewarding 67 3 Conclusions 70
3 Conclusions 70
Chapter 4
“Il modo dello armare presente” (“Fanterie d’oggi”), Part 4
Infantry Battle Techniques and Infantry Tactics in Machiavelli’s Militia of 1506 and in 1521 Art of War 73
1 Ravenna as a Turning Point: From the Swiss Model in the 1506 Militia to the ‘Third Order’ of Infantry in the Prince, Up to the Roman Archetype in the Art of War 76 4 “Il modo dello armare presente” (“Fanterie d’oggi”), Section 4
2 Conclusions 95
Part 2
The Reception of Machiavelli’s Art of War and the Fortune of the Militia Concept in Europe Infantry Battle Techniques and Infantry Tactics in Machiavelli’s Militia
Introduction to Part II
A Brief Introduction to the Fortune of Machiavelli in the Sixteenth Century 101 of 1506 and in 1521 Art of War 73
1 Machiavelli and Machiavellism 101
2 Historiography on the Art of War and This Book 106
Chapter 5 1 Ravenna as a Turning Point: From the Swiss Model in the 1506 Militia
The Circulation of Machiavelli’s Art of War in
Early-Modern Europe, and Its Influence on Cultures of Warfare and on Experiments with Organizing Militias 111
1 France 112 to the ‘Third Order’ of Infantry in the Prince, up to the Roman
1.1 The First French Translation of the Arte della guerra and the Publication of French Military Treatises Inspired by Machiavelli 118
12. 2 A Ba Lsoles,t SLwatitinze Trlraanndsl aatnido nth? e G13e3rman-Speaking World 139 Archetype in the Art of War 76
2.1 Appendix a Little-Known (Anonymous) Huguenot French Theorist of Military Doctrine in Basle 142
3 The Creation of Infantry Legions in Sixteenth-Century France 154 2 Conclusions 95
4 Spanish Provinces: The Uses and the Misuses of Machiavelli by European Sovereigns 163
5 The Long-Standing Influence of the Art of War. Training and Discipline in the Late Sixteenth Century. The War in the Flanders and the Militia in England 170
Chapter 6
Fortune, Misfortune, and the Decline of the Machiavellian Heroic Model of Military Glory in Early-Modern Europe 175
1 Collective Virtue: ‘Heroic’ Visions of the Infantry as ‘Warrior’. Contacts and Exchange of Ideas in Europe 176
2 Individual Virtue: The Machiavellian Concept of ‘Heroism’ and Its Transformations in Subsequent Military Thinking 188
3 The Declining Fortune of Machiavelli’s Concepts of Glory and Heroism 195
Chapter 7 Part 2
Conclusions 203
1 The Relationship between the Art of War, the New Standing Armies, the Wider Power Structures of European States, and the Connected Cultures of Warfare 203
3 Political Engagement and Civic Activism 211 The Reception of Machiavelli’s Art of War and the Fortune of the
Appendix 215
1 Introduction: Some Notes on the Military Documentary Production of the Time, and on the Available Documentation 215
1.1 Practical and Administrative Records: Production, Preservation and Availability 215 Militia Concept in Europe
1.2 The Records of the Nove di Ordinanza e Milizia from 1527 to 1530: Loss, Preservation and New Discoveries 219
1.3 Short Summary of the Sources Effectively Used in This Appendix 223
2 Documents 224
2. 1 Letter from Giulio Gasparre Mariscotti to the gonfaloniere Niccolò Capponi, Marradi 6 August 1527. 224
2.2 Letter from Carlo Strozzi to the Nine of the Militia in Florence, Volterra, 24 August 1527. 225
2.3 Letter from Carlo Strozzi to the Priors of Pomarance, Volterra, Introduction to Part 2: A Brief Introduction to the Fortune of
9 September 1527 226
2 2.. 45 ELextttrearc tfrso omf a C laertltoe rS ftrroomzz iF troa nthcees Ncoin Pee otrfu tchcei Mtoi ltihtiea S, Vigonltoerrir, a“R, 2o cNcohveetmtab deir C 15o2ll7e ” 72 O27ctober 1527 (“alli VII di ottobre MDXXVII”) 227 Machiavelli in the Sixteenth Century 101
2.6 Extract of a Letter from the Nine of the Militia to Carlo Strozzi in Volterra, Florence 4 November 1527 228
2.7 Patent for Babbone da Bersighella, 28 August 1528 228 1 Machiavelli and Machiavellism 101
2.8 Announcement Concerning the Oath of the City Battalions,
16 January 1529 229
2.9 Letter from Ceccotto Tosinghi to the Nove, 17 March 1529. 231 2 Historiography on the Art of War and This Book 106
2. 10 Letter from Ceccotto Tosinghi to the Vicar of Vicchio, Certosa,
20 March 1529 232
2.11 Letter from Pasquino da San Benedetto (Captain of the Battalion of Poggibonsi) to Ceccotto Tosinghi, San Gimignano, 24 aprile 1529 233
2.12 Letter from Alessandro Monaldi Captain of the Battalion of Pietrasanta to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Pietrasanta, 28 May 1529. 234
2.13 Letter from Alessandro Monaldi Captain of the Battalion of Pietrasanta to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Pietrasanta, 7 June 1529 235 5 The Circulation of Machiavelli’s Art of War in Early-Modern Europe, and
2.14 Announcement that Every Conscript Must Present Himself at the General Review of the City-Militia, Florence 12 June 1529 236
2.15 Extracts of a Letter from Alessandro Monaldi Captain of the Battalion of Pietrasanta to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Pietrasanta, 13 June 1529 237
2. 16 Letter from the Nove to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Florence 15 June 1529 238 Its Influence on Cultures of Warfare and on Experiments with
2. 17 Payments of the Nove of the Militia, Date Unclear 239
2.18 Copy of a Letter from Giannozzo Capponi Captain and Commissioner of Pietrasanta, to the Dieci, 24 June 1529 239
2. 19 Payments to Constables of the Ordinanza, August 1530 241 Organizing Militias 111
2. 20 Extract of a Letter from Matteo Bongianni to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Florence, 18-19 July 1529 241
2. 21 Extracts of a Letter from Ciaio Ottaviani to Ceccotto Tosinghi, 1 France 112
24 July 1529 242
2.22 Extracts of a Letter from Giannozzo Capponi to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Pietrasanta 27 July 1529 (: “ 242
2.23 Letter from the Dieci, Written by Their Chancellor Donato Giannotti, to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Florence 9 August 1529 (“ad hore 24”). 243 1.1 The First French Translation of the Arte della guerra and the
2.24 Extract from a report of the Pratica of 10 August 1529 244
2. 25 Payments of the Dieci to the Captain Raffaello Ricoveri, Florence 1529 244
2.26 Extracts of a Letter from Pieradovardo Giachinotti, General Commissioner in Livorno, to Ceccotto Tosinghi, 16 August 1529 244 Publication of French Military Treatises Inspired by
2. 27 Letter from Matteo Bongianni to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Florence,
19 Aug2u. 2st8 1 529 24E5xtract of a Letter from Giovan Battista Tanari da Arezzo to the Ten, 6 September 1529 246 Machiavelli 118
2.29 Notes about the Ammunition Stored for the Garrison of Pisa, 1529 247
2.30 Extract of a Letter from the Dieci to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Florence, 1.2 A Lost Latin Translation? 133
9 October 1529 247
2.31 Letter from Bati di Benedetto Bati Captain of the Battalion of Campiglia to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Campiglia, 10 October 1529 248
2.32 Extract of a Letter from Giovanbattista Vivini da Colle to Leonardo Bartoli Vicar & Commisioner of Lari, Volterra, 14 October 1529 249 2 Basle, Switzerland and the German-Speaking World 139
2. 33 Letter from Andrea Borgognoni to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Campiglia,
15 Oct o2.b3e4r 1529 2L4e9tter from Bati di Benedetto Bati Captain of the Battalion of Campiglia to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Campiglia, 15 October 1529 250 2.1 Appendix: a Little-Known (Anonymous) Huguenot French Theorist
2.35 Extract of a letter from Giuliano Vaglienti to Ceccotto Tosinghi, place not specified, 16 October 1529 251
2.36 Letter from Alessandro Monaldi Captain of the battalion of Pietrasanta to Ceccotto Tosinghi, place not specified (Empoli?), 25 October 1529 251 of Military Doctrine in Basle 142
2.37 Extract of a letter from Strozzo degli Strozzi to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Pontedera, 27 October 1529 252
2.38 Letter from Strozzo degli Strozzi to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Pontedera
30 October 1529 253 3 The Creation of Infantry Legions in Sixteenth-Century France 154
2.39 Extract of a letter from Bastiano Galeotti to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Livorno 13 November 1529 254
2.40 Extract of a letter from Girolamo Corbinelli to Ceccotto Tosinghi, Cascina 14 November 1529 254
2.41 Announcement that every peasant living in Florence must enroll in the city militia, Florence 12 January 1530 255 4 Spanish Provinces: The Uses and the Misuses of Machiavelli by
2.42 Payments concerning firearms, Florence 31 January 1530 256
2.43 Announcement that every peasant living in Florence must enroll in a militia and bring their own digging tools, Florence 12 February 1530 256 European Sovereigns 163
2.44 Extracts from a report of the Pratica of 18 February 1530 257
2.45 Extracts from a report of the Pratica of 18 February 1530 258
2.46 Payments concerning firearms and Vannoccio Biringucci, Florence, May 1530 261
2.47 Extracts from a report of the Pratica of 8 May 1530 262
2.48 Appointment of Biringuccio da Siena to the post of Procurator of the Artillery in Florence, 17 May, or June 1530 263
2.49 Extract of a Patent for the Commissioner Dante da Castiglione (“alli XX di giugno 1530”) 264
2.50 Extract of a Letter from the Dieci to Lorenzo Carnesechi Commissioner of Castracaro, Florence (“el dì davanti), Approximately 20 June 1530 264
2.51 Extracts from a Report of the Pratica of 6 July 1530 265
2.52 Payments for Salaries and Expenses of the Commissioners. No Date, Approximately Spring 1530 266
Bibliography 267
Index of Names 295
Contents vii
5 The Long-Standing Influence of the Art of War. Training and Discipline
in the Late Sixteenth Century. The War in the Flanders and the Militia
in England 170
6 Fortune, Misfortune, and the Decline of the Machiavellian Heroic Model
of Military Glory in Early-Modern Europe 175
1 Collective Virtue: ‘Heroic’ Visions of the Infantry as ‘Warrior’: Contacts
and Exchange of Ideas in Europe 176
2 Individual Virtue: The Machiavellian Concept of ‘Heroism’ and Its
Transformations in Subsequent Military Thinking 188
3 The Declining Fortune of Machiavelli’s Concepts of Glory and
Heroism 195
7 Conclusions 203
1 The Relationship between the Art of War, the New Standing Armies,
the Wider Power Structures of European States, and the Connected
Cultures of Warfare 203
3 Political Engagement and Civic Activism 211
Appendix 215
1 Introduction: Some Notes on the Military Documentary Production of
the Time, and on the Available Documentation 215
1.1 Practical and Administrative Records: Production, Preservation
and Availability 215
1.2 The Records of the Nove di Ordinanza e Milizia from 1527 to 1530:
Loss, Preservation and New Discoveries 219
1.3 Short Summary of the Sources Effectively Used in This
Appendix 223
2 Documents 224
Bibliography 267
Index of Names 295
viii Contents
FiguresFigures ix
Figures
1 Holbein, Hans, the Younger. Battle Scene. c. 1524 (drawing, pen and ink and
brush, grey wash, 28.6 × 44.1 cm). Kunstmuseum Basel, Wikimedia
Commons 7 November 2017 177
2 Burgkmair, Hans, the Elder (or perhaps Leonhard Beck, Hans Schäufelein or
Hans Springinklee). The Battle of Ravenna. c. 1513-18 (woodcut from Der Weiss
Kunig). Austrian National Library Vienna, Wikimedia Commons
7 November 2017 182
2 bis The same illustration, my arrows added 183
3 Beck, Leonhard (?). St. Aubin du Cormieu. c. 1513-18 (woodcut from Der Weiss
Kunig). Austrian National Library Vienna, Wikimedia Commons
7 November 2017 184
4 Mor, Anthonis (formerly attributed to Titian). Portrait of Fernando Álvarez de
Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba. 1549. Fundación Casa de Alba, Madrid,
Wikimedia Commons 7 November 2017 194
5 Velázquez, Diego. The Surrender of Breda. c. 1635 (oil on canvas, 307 × 367 cm).
Museo del Prado, Madrid, Wikimedia Commons 7 November
2017 198
6 Rubens, Peter Paul. The Consequences of War. 1637-1638 (oil on canvas, 206 × 342
cm). Pitti Palace, Florence, Wikimedia Commons 7 November
2017 200
7 Lupi, Simonzio. The Battle of Pavia, from The Triumphs of Emperor Charles V.
c. 1556-1575 (miniature, 200 × 290 mm). British Library (London),
Additional 33733, f. 6, The British Library Online 7 November
2017 200
x Abbreviations Abbreviations
Abbreviations
ASF Archivio di Stato di Firenze
BL British Library
BNCF Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Firenze
Please note: Unless otherwise noted, all quotations from the original text of the Art of
War and the Discourses on Livy in the footnotes include the paragraph number, and are
from: N. Machiavelli, L’arte della guerra. Scritti politici minori (“Edizione Nazionale
delle Opere,” vol. III), ed. by J.-J. Marchand, G. Masi, D. Fachard (Rome: Salerno edi-
trice, 2001); and N. Machiavelli, Discorsi sopra la prima Deca di Tito Livio («Edizione
Nazionale delle Opere» vol. II), ed. by F. Bausi, 2 vols. (Rome: Salerno editrice, 2001).
