WRITTEN BY NICOLO MACHIAVELLI
And sent to his friends Zanobi BUONDELMONTI And
Luigi ALAMANNI
It appears, dearest Zanobi and Luigi, a wonderful
thing to those who have considered the matter, that
all men, or the larger number of them, who have performed
great deeds in the world, and excelled all others in
their day, have had their birth and beginning in baseness
and obscurity; or have been aggrieved by Fortune in
some outrageous way. They have either been exposed
to the mercy of wild beasts, or they have had so mean
a parentage that in shame they have given themselves
out to be sons of Jove or of some other deity.
It would be wearisome to relate who these persons
may have been because they are well known to everybody,
and, as such tales would not be particularly edifying
to those who read them, they are omitted. I believe
that these lowly beginnings of great men occur because
Fortune is desirous of showing to the world that such
men owe much to her and little to wisdom, because she
begins to show her hand when wisdom can really take
no part in their career: thus all success must
be attributed to her. Castruccio Castracani of
Lucca was one of those men who did great deeds, if
he is measured by the times in which he lived and
the city in which he was born; but, like many others,
he was neither fortunate nor distinguished in his birth,
as the course of this history will show. It appeared
to be desirable to recall his memory, because I have
discerned in him such indications of valour and fortune
as should make him a great exemplar to men. I
think also that I ought to call your attention to
his actions, because you of all men I know delight
most in noble deeds.
The family of Castracani was formerly numbered among
the noble families of Lucca, but in the days of which
I speak it had somewhat fallen in estate, as so often
happens in this world. To this family was born
a son Antonio, who became a priest of the order of
San Michele of Lucca, and for this reason was honoured
with the title of Messer Antonio. He had an only
sister, who had been married to Buonaccorso Cenami,
but Buonaccorso dying she became a widow, and not
wishing to marry again went to live with her brother.
Messer Antonio had a vineyard behind the house where
he resided, and as it was bounded on all sides by gardens,
any person could have access to it without difficulty.
One morning, shortly after sunrise, Madonna Dianora,
as the sister of Messer Antonio was called, had occasion
to go into the vineyard as usual to gather herbs for
seasoning the dinner, and hearing a slight rustling
among the leaves of a vine she turned her eyes in
that direction, and heard something resembling the
cry of an infant. Whereupon she went towards it,
