03-01-1526
M. replies to Guicciardini’s doubts concerning the performance of the Mandragola in Faenza and comments on the political situation and the eventuality of war.
Niccolò Machiavelli to Francesco Guicciardini
Discover the different practices and forms of Machiavellian otium across a selection of letters taken from Niccolò Machiavelli’s correspondence between 1512 and 1527.
M. replies to Guicciardini’s doubts concerning the performance of the Mandragola in Faenza and comments on the political situation and the eventuality of war.
Guicciardini gives instructions to M. concerning the performance of Mandragola in Faenza and emphasizes the importance of comedy during times of hardship.
M. explains idiomatic and proverbial expressions from his Mandragola, which were unclear to Guicciardini. He provides a report on the state of the preparations in Florence as to the performance of this comedy in Faenza.
M. starts to exchange ideas with F. Guicciardini about the plan to stage La Mandragola in the Romagna.
Nerli congratulates M. on the tremendous success of his Clizia staged on the Florentine countryside in the gardens of “Il Fornaciaio” (Jacopo di Filippo Falconetti).
M. replies to Guicciardini, who, in previous letters (see for instance the letter of 18-5-1521), had made fun of M.’s mission to the friars of Carpi and helped him to increase his reputation at his host’s house by sending him seemingly important letters and legations.
This letter is a response to M.’s previous letters, in which he had asked for Francesco Guicciardini’s advice on how to negotiate with the friars of Carpi and requested, in a playful way, the dispatch of further couriers from the Governor in order to increase the ex-secretary’s reputation at Carpi.
M. writes in a playful and jocular manner in relation to his rather ‘otiose’ mission to the Minorite Friars at Carpi, where he had been sent by the Otto di Pratica of Florence in order to negotiate for installation of a new governor and administrative reforms for the Order. In this letter to Francesco Guicciardini he reflects on religion, writing, and his own role as a citizen and diplomat of Florence and as a writer.
Soderini presents an offer of employment to M. and urges him to enter into the service of Prospero Colonna instead of becoming a client of the Medici.
Nerli writes about the circulation of M.’s latest writings, which he had not been able to read at that time. In particular, he requests a copy of M.’s De re militari, i. e. the Libro dell’arte della Guerra (Art of War), which Giulio de’ Medici has shown some interest in. Moreover, he passes on an additional request from Lucrezia Salviati for a comment on a contemporary text about the life of Alexander the Great.
Comments of Buondelmonti and many other friends from the Orti Oricellari on M.’s Vita di Castruccio Castracani.
Della Palla relays the good news to M. that he will receive an official commission by the Medici for writing the History of Florence.
