July Miscellany, 1496

In Florence, based on the effects of the Corbizzi scandal which began in May , and swelled into June, the Grand Council decided to reject pleas for clemency on the perpetrators. These were found guilty of conspiring to bring the forces of Piero de' Medici back into places of influence. Savonarola's sermon on June 17 was in favor of 'justice', in this case rejecting the pleas by the families and relatives of the Corbizzi. [p.198] This positive interpretation 'for justice', by implication, both condoned the acts of toture and forced confessions from captured witnesses by the state, and even the judgement upon Filippo Corbizzi and his many adherents to be sent into exile.

There had been calls for the refining of the Parlemento in Florence that summer. That great expansion of the representatives of Florence in Parlemento, following the revolution in the days of the French 'occupation', needed in time, some admitted modification. Even Savonarola agreed and then began demanding that unqualified men be purged from the rolls and new eligibility requirements be set.

There were economic troubles aplenty that year as well. In July, the Signoria proposed a new tax in the form of interest charged to churches for loans previously given by the state. It was against canon law but money was needed all over for everything that the church supplied. [p. 200]

from Donald Weinstein: Savonarola: the rise and fall of a renaissance prophet , Yale University Press, New Haven, 2011
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In Forli, Caterina Sforza was repeatedly called on by a handsome thirty-year old member of the cadet branch of the de' Medici family, Giovanni di Pierfrancesco. A businessman with a civic agenda, he wanted to hire some of Caterina's well-trained troops to add to those of Florence and her allies who were looking to take back Pisa. Her economic problems began to fade as he plied her with gifts and various resolutions to debts. They both were educated and knew about the problems of leadership, its responsibilities and tragedies. There was much to talk about. Elizabeth Lev in her sharp biography of Caterina says that political observers sensed that "... his real motive was to lure the countess of Forli to the side of Florence and France in the latest arrangement of Italian political divisions."

Her uncle after all, was the Duke Ludovico Sforza in Milan, who had to keep up appearances with his allies the pope and Venice for a bit longer. But in the summer this alliance was to fray beyond repair.

from pp. 194-5; Elizabeth Lev: The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy's most courageous and notorious countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de'Medici : 2011, USA, Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt Publishing Company
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Forces from Venice, recruits from Genoa, Corsica, Umbria and elsewhere had assembled with Pisan forces near Vicopisano and driven out Florentine cavalry. As Venetian historian Pietro Bembo later tells it,

"... the people of Pisa were suffering from lack of supplies owing to the time of year, and conveyed this to the senators [in Venice]. The Senate immediately sent a transfer of money to their agent in Genoa and told him to buy grain and send it to Pisa. He carried out the Senate's orders with all speed, and revived the city's spirits by easing the food supply." [ii,46]

The Senate also sent, Bembo says, an army of 500 stradiots to Pisa under the command of Giustiniano Morosini. These left in mid July.

from Pietro Bembo: History of Venice; edited and translated by Robert W Ulery, Jr.; in english and latin, The I Tatti Renaissance Library; The President and Fellows of Harvard College, USA 2007
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It was in July as well that the pope appointed a special ambassador known as a legate a latere and had talks to discuss how to convince Emperor Maximillian for his support in protecting Pisa and Italy. This consistory extended into August  and was a major move in rapprochment and against tradition by both men. Meanwhile Maximillian had crossed the Alps with his train of attendants who then waited at Lake Como as ambassadors came to greet him and seek an audience with him.

Everyone seemed concerned about the events in Italy. Henry VII in far-off England even agreed to join the alliance with Venice and Milan and the pope. But Henry had grown more concerned about a usurper named Perkin Warbeck that styled himself as the Duke of York. He had been making friends all over Europe and by summer was said to be marshalling forces in Scotland. King Ferdinand of Aragon sent his able ambassador Pedro de Ayala as an aid to Henry to discuss this with James IV in Scotland and convince him to join forces against the French. Perkin Warbeck was an interesting character but just one of many usurpers against Henry Tudor. John Cabot left to explore west and 'investigate, claim and possess lands' beyond that ocean this summer, as well. Here's the 'patent' that Henry VII gave him in March..

from J.D. Mackie: The Earlier Tudors 1485-1558 ; Oxford, UK 1957
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Columbus stayed in Seville the summer after his second voyage west. Hugh Thomas tells us there were too many other activities that occupied the King and Queen. Columbus also learned that Alfonso Fernandez de Lugo had finished capturing Tenerife the largest of the Canary Islands. De Lugo was also granted a parade to show off his capture in Almazán where the monarchs were staying. Word had also circulated that Bishop Fonseca's fleet left for the Caribbean 16 June on a mission that Admiral Columbus had not been consulted on. Columbus may have even spent time that year reading books, like the newly produced Travels of Marco Polo.

Thomas, Hugh: Rivers of Gold: The Rise of the Spanish Empire ; Penguin/ Random House, UK; 2003
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