17-05-1521

Otium, Contemplation and Diplomacy

Compared to the important diplomatic missions conducted by M. during his time as a secretary of the Florentine republic, minor commissions such as this one were obviously not too demanding and contained many moments of inactivity, waiting time, and otiose leisure, which he filled with jocular writing and burlesque modes of contemplation. These include M.’s reflections on who would be a suitable preacher for the Florentine republic, or his phantasy of stirring up a fight between the friars in order to make them attack each other with their wooden clogs (“che facessino […] alle zoccolate”). Guicciardini will get back to several elements of M.’s ironic reflections on this ‘otiose’ mission to the friars (see letter from 18-05-1521).

 

“Otio religioso”, Satire and Contemplation

By stressing the otiose character of his diplomatic (in)activity, M. might also take up the topos of the “otio religioso” (as analyzed by Petrarch for instance) within the context of a satire on religious communities and their members. On the other hand, the remoteness and the moments of leisure during his mission provide an occasion for contemplation and literary activity. Guicciardini will return to this aspect by stressing the benefit that “these three days’ idleness” might have for M’s political thinking, albeit in a highly ironic manner (see letter from 18-05-1521).

 

Revaluation of Otiose Leisure

While the term ‘ozio’ in Machiavelli’s political work Discourses on Livy almost always refers to socio-political realities or communities and therefore is associated with a negative example as in the case of the Venetians (see letter of 30-3-1513. In this, as well as other letters, the consequences of political and military inactivity are subject to a significant, although ambiguous revaluation. Being a former diplomat of the Florentine Republic now commissioned with low-profile legations, M. still deplores inactivity, yet it is also associated with fun and leisure and might even have enabled him to discover new modes of expression, writing, and political contemplation. Moreover, his epistolary writing during the mission to Carpi not only was a way to occupy free time, but a way to further promote himself as a poet and/or a novelist (on this aspect, see F. Bausi, “Politica e poesia,” 383-84, and cf. M.’s letters of 29-11-1509 and 8-12-1509.

 

Otiose Letter Writing and Human Comedy

The letters from Carpi, such as this one, provide fine examples of a kind of epistolary writing which stages a sort of human comedy with M. as its tragicomic protagonist. It recalls earlier sections of his correspondence that were written during free time and breaks of his work as a diplomatic agent (for another example, see letter of 9-12-1509), and that are characterized by a similar interplay of facts and fictions. In the case of the correspondence from Carpi the sending and receiving of letters becomes itself part of the comedy enacted by M. and Guicciardini. Through their frequent exchange of letters, and their use of the personal couriers of the governor, they make the friars believe that M. is an important political figure and diplomat – as he once was before he lost his post as secretary.

In a similar line of argument, Giulio Ferroni (“Le cose vane,” 257-64) characterizes this part of the correspondence as a refined technique of reversal, which is characteristic not only of M.’s epistolary writing, but also of his political thinking. In the letters that were written during the mission to Carpi, M. develops a comic strategy of oppositions: between “cose vane” and serious matters; between the crude banalities of everyday life and the political responsibility of the citizen; between M.’s current situation and his former diplomatic activities; and between reality and appearances. While sitting on the toilet, M. thinks about choosing a suitable preacher for the Florentine republic. While condemned to the idleness of a mission of scarce importance, M. makes his host treat him like a high-ranking diplomat who is involved in international politics. On a more implicit level, the comical effects of the politics of reversal in the present letter also draw a kind of self-portrait: one of a wise man who was mistaken in his political predictions, but whose grotesque situation is only a mirror of a corrupt reality, i.e. the wise becomes the fool in order to unveil the foolishness of political reality. By hiding the inanity and sadness of his personal situation, M. disguises a concept of himself as a prudent diplomat who is in disarray and not rewarded by his fellow citizens by means of a comic masquerade. Ultimately, this implies a fierce critique against a certain conformism of the Florentines, against which M.’s profession of selfless love for his native city stands out even more in this letter.

 

Writing Scenes

Apart from the description of receiving Guicciardini’s letters, the letter contains also one of the rare passages on M.’s writing practice available in his œuvre. However, in this letter M. stages his writing as a spectacle for the friars, who watch him as if he were a demoniac (cf. the comments of Inglese in his edition of Machiavelli, Lettere a Vettori e Guicciardini, 293). M. presents himself in the guise of an “inspired” or “possessed” writer surrounded by a group of friars who are staring at him with their mouths open and their caps in their hands while he pens down his response to Guicciardini. This grotesque writing scene does not only, as De Grazia (Machiavelli in Hell, 373) highlighted, demonstrate “the subject’s [i.e. writing] importance, while treating it irreverently”. It also puts all forms of inspired writing (whether of prophets, poets or ‘diabolic’ authors such as M.) into an ironic perspective, while at the same time enhancing the status of the ‘otiose’ letter by a conspicuous leveling of genres and styles: a literary technique which is characteristic of Machiavellian writing and its ambiguities.