Introduction

This is how a biographer describes the impact on Machiavelli of the events of late 1512.

Abandoned by its ally, Florence felt the wrath of France’s enemies, Pope Julius II and the Spanish, who aimed to oust Machiavelli’s patron, Piero Soderini and to restore the Medici family to power. At the end of August 1512, a force of five thousand hardened Spanish troops broke through the walls of Prato, twelve miles northwest of Florence. After the militiamen defending the city threw down their arms and ran, the half-starved Spaniards went on a rampage, killing several thousand people. Panic-stricken Florence yielded to the will of the Medicis. In mid-September, a general assembly, or parlamento, controlled by their supporters sent Soderini into exile and abolished the Great Council and the Nine Officials of the Ordinance and Militia.