But to return to the early days of Leo’s pontificate.  Vettori marks his interference in the affairs of Lucca as the first great mistake he made.[1] His advisers in Florence had not reflected ’what infamy it would bring upon the Pope in the opinion of all men, or what suspicion it would rouse among the princes, if in the first months of his power he were led to sanction an attack by the Florentines upon the Lucchese, their neighbors and allies.  How too could the burghers of Florence, who had urged him to this step, remind the pontiff that he ought to moderate his desire of gaining dominion for the Church and for his kin, by the example of former Popes, all of whom, in the interest of their dependents, had acquired to their own dishonor with peril and expense what in a few days upon their death returned to the old and rightful owners?’ The conduct of Leo with regard to Lucca, his policy in Florence, and the splendor maintained by his brother at Rome, did in fact rouse the jealousy of the Italian powers both great and small.[2] ’King Ferdinand remarked:  If Giuliano has left Florence, he must be aiming at something better, which can be nothing but the realm of Naples.  The Dukes of Milan, Ferrara, and Urbino said the same.  The Sienese thought:  If the pope allows the Florentines to attack Lucca, which is so strong, well furnished, and harmonious, far more will he consent to their encroaching upon us, who are weak, ill-provided, and at odds among ourselves.  The Duke of Ferrara had further reasons for discontent in respect to Modena and Reggio.’  Altogether, Leo began to lose credit.  Secret alliances were formed against him by the della Rovere, the Baglioni, and the Petrucci; and though he took care to attend public services and to fast more than etiquette required, nobody believed in him.  Vettori’s comment reads like an echo of Machiavelli and Guicciardini.[3] ’Assuredly it is most difficult to combine temporal lordship with a reputation for religion:  for they are two things which will not harmonize.  He who well considers the law of the Gospel will observe that the pontiffs, though called Christ’s Vicars, have originated a new religion unlike that of Christ except in name.  His enjoins poverty; they desire riches.  He preached humility; they follow after pride.  He commanded obedience; they aim at universal sovereignty.  I could enlarge upon their other vices; but it is enough to allude to these, without entering into inconvenient discourses.’  While treating of the affairs of Urbino,[4] however, Vettori remarks that Leo could not have done otherwise than punish Francesco Maria della Rovere, if he wished to maintain the Papacy at the height of reputation to which it had been raised by his predecessors.

    [1] P. 301.

    [2] P. 303.

    [3] P. 304.

    [4] P. 319.