Chapter VII: The Republics: Venice and Florence

Venice in the fifteenth century 62

The inhabitants 63

Dangers from the poor nobility 64

Causes of the stability of Venice 65

The Council of Ten and political trials 66

Relations with the Condottieri 67

Optimism of Venetian foreign policy 68

Venice as the home of statistics 69

Retardation of the Renaissance 71

Mediæval devotion to reliques 72

Florence from the fourteenth century 73

Objectivity of political intelligence 74

Dante as a politician 75

Florence as the home of statistics: the two Villanis 76

Higher form of statistics 77

Florentine constitutions and the historians 82

Fundamental vice of the State 82

Political theorists 83

Macchiavelli and his views 84

Siena and Genoa 86

CHAPTER VIII.

FOREIGN POLICY OF THE ITALIAN STATES.

Envy felt towards Venice 88

Relations to other countries: sympathy with France 89

Plan for a balance of power 90

Foreign intervention and conquests 91

Alliances with the Turks 92

Counter-influence of Spain 94

Objective treatment of politics 95

Art of diplomacy 96

CHAPTER IX.

WAR AS A WORK OF ART.

Firearms 98

Professional warriors and dilettanti 99

Horrors of war 101