Abstract:Abstract After Francis I’s defeat at the hands of Charles V at Pavia (February 1525), the Italian states joined forces with France in the anti-imperial League of Cognac (May 1526). Each ally, however,...Abstract After Francis I’s defeat at the hands of Charles V at Pavia (February 1525), the Italian states joined forces with France in the anti-imperial League of Cognac (May 1526). Each ally, however, focused primarily on his particular interest, thereby losing sight of the common goal of driving the imperial forces out of Italy. As a result, the league wasted precious time: not only did it fail to exploit the weakness of the imperial army in Milan, but it did not even try to stop the lansquenets when they descended into Italy. In January 1527, the imperial forces and the lansquenets merged south of Piacenza and prepared to cross the Apennines. Machiavelli was sent on his last mission to Francesco Guicciardini, Lieutenant General of the Papal army, at the camp of the league to make sure that the preparations for defence were adequate. This chapter presents excerpts from Machiavelli’s dispatches during this mission. These dispatches reveal his frustration: the enemies are disorganized, weak, seditious, tormented by bad weather.Read More
Publication Year: 2014
Publication Date: 2014-01-30
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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