For the greater safety of the city, he kept in pay
the Baglioni, at Perugia, and the Vitelli, at Citta
di Castello, and held the government of Faenza wholly
in his own power; all which greatly contributed to
the repose and prosperity of Florence. In peaceful
times, he frequently entertained the people with feasts,
and exhibitions of various events and triumphs of
antiquity; his object being to keep the city abundantly
supplied, the people united, and the nobility honored.
He was a great admirer of excellence in the arts, and
a patron of literary men, of which Agnolo da Montepulciano,
Cristofero Landini, and Demetrius Chalcondylas, a
Greek, may afford sufficient proofs. On this
account, Count Giovanni della Mirandola, a man of almost
supernatural genius, after visiting every court of
Europe, induced by the munificence of Lorenzo, established
his abode at Florence. He took great delight
in architecture, music, and poetry, many of his comments
and poetical compositions still remaining. To
facilitate the study of literature to the youth of
Florence, he opened a university at Pisa, which was
conducted by the most distinguished men in Italy.
For Mariano da Chinazano, a friar of the order of
St. Augustine, and an excellent preacher, he built
a monastery in the neighborhood of Florence. He
enjoyed much favor both from fortune and from the Almighty;
all his enterprises were brought to a prosperous termination,
while his enemies were unfortunate; for, besides the
conspiracy of the Pazzi, an attempt was made to murder
him in the Carmine, by Batista Frescobaldi, and a
similar one by Baldinetto da Pistoja, at his villa;
but these persons, with their confederates, came to
the end their crimes deserved. His skill, prudence,
and fortune, were acknowledged with admiration, not
only by the princes of Italy, but by those of distant
countries; for Matthias, king of Hungary, gave him
many proofs of his regard; the sultan sent ambassadors
to him with valuable presents, and the Turkish emperor
placed in his hands Bernardo Bandini, the murderer
of his brother. These circumstances raised his
fame throughout Italy, and his reputation for prudence
constantly increased; for in council he was eloquent
and acute, wise in determination, and prompt and resolute
in execution. Nor can vices be alleged against
him to sully so many virtues; though he was fond of
women, pleased with the company of facetious and satirical
men, and amused with the games of the nursery, more
than seemed consistent with so great a character; for
he was frequently seen playing with his children,
and partaking of their infantine sports; so that whoever
considers this gravity and cheerfulness, will find
united in him dispositions which seem almost incompatible
with each other. In his later years, he was greatly
afflicted; besides the gout, he was troubled with excruciating
pains in the stomach, of which he died in April, 1492,
in the forty-fourth year of his age; nor was there
ever in Florence, or even in Italy, one so celebrated