Sermon 13 on Haggai: on the government of Florence

“Be instructed, you who judge the earth, and serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice in him with trembling.” … Since man is a social animal, who does not know how and is not able to live alone, it has been necessary for men to gather and assemble together, either in cities or in castles or in villages, and to form communities together for their common needs, one for another. And so that in these communities they might understand one another, nature found and gave them speech and language, to express their thoughts to one another according to their need. Every assembled multitude of men, then, is ordered to some end, which it can reach by various ways, and it needs someone to direct and regulate all the others; and every people and place that tends toward its natural good needs government. These governments are distinguished and differ in several ways. Some are ruled by one head alone; some by several persons; some are ruled by the whole people together. The rule and government of one head alone, when that head is good, is the best, a better government than any other, and it is more easily kept united. The reason is this: it is harder to bring many to unity than few, and where power is more united it has more strength, and it is more easily brought together in one than in many. Therefore the government of one is better than that of many, when the one who rules the others is good. But when that one head is bad, there is no worse government and rule than this, since the worst is the opposite of the best.

And so, according to the diversity of men and of countries, different and various governments have been devised. In the hot regions of this hemisphere men are more faint-hearted than elsewhere, because little blood abounds in them; and so in those places people easily let themselves be ruled by one head alone, and obey him easily, and willingly remain subject to him. In the cold northern regions, where blood abounds greatly and wit is scant, they likewise remain steady and subject to one lord and head. But in the middle regions, such as Italy, where blood and wit abound together, men do not remain patient under one head alone, but each of them would like to be the head who governs and rules the others, and who can command and not be commanded. And from this arise the dissensions and discords among the citizens of a city, where one man wants to make himself great and dominate the others. Experience has shown this many times, both in the time of the Romans, and every day examples of it have been seen and are seen in the cities of Italy. And in your own city, too, you have seen and experienced it many times, and in our own days. Therefore it is the counsel of the sacred doctors that in these places, where it seems that the nature of men does not tolerate a superior, the government of many is better than that of one alone; and this can be said above all to be fitting for the city of Florence, where both blood and wit abound greatly in the nature of men. But this government of many must be taken in a well-ordered form; otherwise you would always be in dissension and faction; and within a few years restless men divide and form sects, and one party drives out the other and is made rebel by the city.

Therefore you must pay close attention to the form you are to take, as the words we took as our text say: “Be instructed, you who judge the earth, and serve the Lord in fear”; that is, learn well, you who judge the earth, and serve God with great fear; and this is the matter we mean to treat this morning. Florence, I cannot tell you everything I feel within me, because you are not disposed to bear it at present. Oh, if I could tell you everything, you would see that I am like a new vessel full of new wine, and sealed, which boils on every side but cannot get out! Many secrets are sealed up here, which cannot come out, above all because you would not believe them! Florence, if you have not been willing to believe until now, believe at least now; and if you have believed, believe more than ever this morning; and do not consider me, a poor little friar, a useless little man, and full of sins! God has willed that you should see and experience my incapacity, so that you may see and consider all the more that it is he, and not I, who does everything, “and who has made manifest to me things uncertain and hidden.” You know that in these past years in which I have preached to you, when it seemed that everything was at peace and that Florence was so quiet, I foretold to you then that much evil and many tribulations would come; and you did not believe it, because no sign of it was seen. Now you have seen, and you see, that they have begun, and you see the beginning of what I told you, and you cannot deny it.

Therefore you ought now to believe all the more what I shall tell you, having seen what was said in the past begin to come true. And if then I foretold evil to you, and you have seen it, now that I tell you good, you must believe it; for there will not always be a prophet who pronounces evil. Understand, I say, Florence, this morning, what I tell you! Understand what God has inspired in me. I trust in Christ alone in what I tell you; and do it, for it will be good for you if you do it. Do, I tell you, first the two things I have told you before, namely that everyone confess and remain purified from sins, and that you all attend to the common good of the city. And if you do this, your city will be glorious, because in this way it will be reformed both in the spiritual and in the temporal, that is, in its people; and from you will go out the reformation of all Italy; Florence will become richer and more powerful than she has ever been, and will extend her empire into many places. But if you do not do what I tell you, God will choose some of those whom I told you want to see your division; and this will be your final destruction. If you know what I have told you: this is the fire and this is the water; now you choose! I have told you before, and so know it and hold it most firmly, that God wants to renew his Church; do not doubt this at all; and that he will renew it, with the sword of tribulations, and soon.

And likewise, do not doubt that the Turks and pagans are to be baptized, and hold it for certain that this is the time when they are to come to baptism. This is the fifth state of the Church; and many who are here will see it. I have told this secret, Florence, above all so that you may be more encouraged to reform yourself according to God, and so that you may spread your wings for the reformation of other peoples; and blessed will be he who finds himself in these things. Put away from you, then, O Florence, the old things, and renew yourself wholly according to God. Open your ears, Florence, and attend to what I tell you. There is a proverb among many, although it is wrongly said, that states are not governed with prayers or with paternosters. A kingdom, the more spiritual it is, the stronger and better it will be, because, being nearer to God and sharing more in the spirit and in the divine, it must be better and more stable and more perfect. Spirituality is spoken of in two ways, namely by nature or by grace; nor is the one greater than the other, according as God grants it. Grace is a participation in the divinity, because God by his grace draws the soul of man as the magnet draws iron, and makes that soul share in God. It follows, then, that the kingdom which is founded in the grace of God will be more spiritual than one founded and ruled only by natural light, and consequently it will be stronger and more stable. So this proverb is not true, that states cannot be ruled with prayers and paternosters; on the contrary, it is quite the opposite: they are ruled far better by the spirit than by other human things.

You have the example of this in our Saviour, who founded his kingdom in grace. See how powerful it was from the beginning: those poor, simple, barefoot men, with only the grace that Christ lent them, conquered the power of the world with weakness, riches with poverty, the wisdom of the world with the foolishness of the cross. Now see that the strength of the spirit and of being spiritual is worth more than anything else. See also, and read all the ancient histories: the more men were in grace, the more they obtained and conquered. Look at Moses; look at Joshua; look at Gideon and the others, of whom Scripture and the ancient histories are full… On the contrary, where there is no charity, the citizens do not love one another; where there is no obedience, they divide and do not have, nor can they have, good counsel among themselves, because of the division between them. And so their kingdom becomes weak and perishable, and through pleasures men become effeminate and consequently weaker. And so riches are consumed by their lasciviousness; from which there follows the infamy of the city among all its neighbours. And virtuous men flee from it, seeing the government going down a bad road, and murderers and wicked men flock to it. Now you see that your proverb is false, you who have said that states ought not to be governed with prayers and good living. And therefore, Florence, if you want your government to be stable and strong and to last long, you must return to God and to good living; otherwise you will be ruined.

“Serve the Lord, then, in fear.” Further, it is necessary that the magnificent Signoria order the removal from the city of all those things that are contrary to divine worship. And first, to act and order that the clergy be good; for priests are to be the mirror of the people, in which everyone looks and learns right living. And therefore bad priests and bad religious should be excluded. I do not say that you should do it on your own authority, nor that you should deprive them of their benefices; but that with the authority of the Supreme Pontiff you should work to make the clergy and religious of your city good. And they ought not to spread themselves so much in possessions, but give them for God's sake to the poor and leave off so many of their superfluities; and in this way they would gain Paradise. It is necessary, I say, to provide that the clergy be good and that everything be reformed. Likewise, it is necessary that the Signoria make a law against that accursed vice of sodomy, for which Florence is infamous throughout all Italy. And this infamy arises perhaps because you speak and chatter so much about this vice; perhaps it is not so much in fact as is said of it. Make a law about it, I say, that is without mercy, namely that such persons be stoned and burned. On the other side, you must put away from you these poems and games and taverns, and the evil fashions of women's clothing; and so everything that is harmful to the salvation of the soul must be sent away, so that everyone may live to God and not to the world, and all with simplicity and charity, so that we may all sing: “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell in unity!”

“Lay hold of discipline,” etc.: learn to live well, purified according to God. Let this be our first conclusion. The second: attend to the common good. O citizens, if you join together and with good will attend to the common good, each of you will have more temporal and spiritual goods than if each attended only to his own private good. Attend, I say, to the common good of the city; and whoever would raise his head above the rest, let him be deprived of all his goods. Florence, learn to preserve the whole, and attend to the common good rather than to the private. And whoever attends to the common good rather than to his own, to him God grants temporal, spiritual and eternal goods. And whoever has his love upright and not twisted will always love the common good more than his own; just as the love that God has implanted in creatures leads them to love their cause and the universal more than themselves. And if you do not know this, believe that your love is neither upright nor ordered love. Citizen, if you want to be an upright citizen, do not seek power or offices unless they are given to you; and if they are given to you, exercise them for the public and common good and not for yourself. Set your love right, I say, in God, who is the highest good, and do not twist your love toward vain things! Do it, first, for the honour of God; second, so as not to spoil the order which wills that you love God more than yourselves, and the common good more than your own; and God will pour every good into you, and will give you of his light, so that you may know how to rule your city and yourselves well.

Further, the good order of the city will also give you this: you will be loved by everyone, if you walk uprightly as you ought. And not only will you be loved within the city, but outside it too good citizens will be loved and will have a good name everywhere. And if the city is good in this way and full of charity, God will also make it abound in riches; and the citizens will be able to share in them when they have been employed and benefited by it, and whoever is rich will be able to relieve and help the poor. This is the way of good government, if you want it to last and be stable and to please God! It is also necessary, in a well-regulated city, that those who govern see to it that the taxes paid for the city and its dominion be imposed justly and on property, and not at will, as has sometimes been done, so that men may exert themselves for the general good. And also take care that the taxes laid on property be so moderated that the tax is never more than the income from the property. And likewise the duties, so moderated that the public and the private each receive their due. And in effect every tyranny and every wrongdoing must be removed. It is also good that dowries be moderated by some measure; for one sees that many times houses and families are impoverished when dowries are too excessive. For example, the largest dowries of the citizens ought not to exceed five hundred ducats, and those of the artisans about three hundred, as seems best to those whose task it is to fix these things.

And no one, on this account, should spoil the dowries of the Monte, which are a common good in which everyone shares. Above all you must take care that no one makes himself head, or superior lord over the others in the city. Such men are people deprived of the grace of God or of his spiritual providence, and commonly they are the worst of men, deprived of understanding and without faith; indeed they rule and govern all their affairs by astrology, which is contrary not only to Sacred Scripture but also to natural philosophy, because they cannot know future contingent things, nor many particulars that may happen. Moreover, such men have no true friendship with anyone, and trust no one. True and joyful friendship is necessary for human affairs and preserves the virtues; but such men have no good virtue at all, nor do they form true friendship. They always hate the good and those who are not like them in their ways, and they fear them; nor can they have just men about them, because justice makes men great-souled, and they do not want such men near them. Only the worst and wicked people keep company with them; and they say: “You will defend me; I will defend you.” And often they do not trust their own people, sometimes not even their wife or their children. And continual fear does not let them have pure gladness, even in their amusements. And in effect their reign cannot be long and lasting, because the whole people, though it does not show it, hates their tyranny.

It is said that the people under a tyrant is like water held in and kept back by force, which, as soon as it finds a little hole to get out, bursts out all at once with violence and ruin. And divine justice also wills this; for these tyrants are given to peoples for their sins, as Scripture says: “I will give you a king in my wrath.” And when the punishment is completed, which cannot be perpetual, because God shows mercy, then the tyrant is sent away, and the whole people rises against him. And therefore, when God wills to show mercy, he removes the tyrant. Take care, then, that such men do not raise their heads in your city, and attend to the common good. And how this is to be done I shall tell you, as God will have inspired me. I told you, in these past days, that when nature wants to make something, all its attention is on the form of that thing; and so I told you that you must take a good form in this new government of yours, and above all that no one should think of making himself head, if you want to live in liberty. The form you have begun cannot stand unless you order it better. I believe there is none better than that of the Venetians, and that you should take example from them, cutting away, however, some things that are not to the purpose nor to your need, such as the office of the Doge. And so I also believe it would be good, to encourage everyone to behave virtuously, that the artisans should in some way be benefited and drawn to behave well, so as to be honoured.

And so also it would not be out of place that the greater offices be given by election, and the lesser by lot. Come, then, take first, I say, a good form, and afterwards we will speak about the other circumstances, and you will provide those that are necessary. And what I have told you so far does not conflict with what you have begun. And I urge you to act as quickly as possible: so God has inspired me. The most illustrious Signoria will see that it is hastened, so that your crown may not be taken from you. If you do with good will all that I have told you, I promise you on God's behalf the remission of all your sins and great glory in Paradise. You, citizen of the other regime, say that you would like to be safe. Behold, you will be safe: the form of a different way of life that is being taken will make you safe; the city's being ruled according to God will make you safe, if you are willing to live quietly with the others. “Let the old things depart, and let all things be new”; let everything be renewed; and the form that will be taken will make everyone safe, because everyone will be given what is his and what befits him. And therefore no one should fear, and the whole city will belong to everyone; and it is better to have the whole than the part. Come, let it begin today! Let today be the beginning of good living! And first, the first thing you must do is a universal peace with all the citizens, and let all old things be forgiven and wiped out; and so I tell you and command you on God's behalf.

Forgive everyone, I tell you, and consider that what was done by those others anyone would have wanted to do who had been asked. And if you do what I have told you, both parties will be safe. And if it is not so, take me and do me every harm you wish! If you citizens all together make this peace and are united, believe me, when this union is heard of, all your enemies will fear you, and in this way you will be safer and stronger than they. Now, since this universal peace is to be made among all the citizens, both of the old and of the new regime, you must first have recourse to God, from whom comes every grace and every gift. Therefore let prayer be made for three days continuously in every place, so that God may dispose everyone's heart to make it willingly. And meanwhile, in order to take a good form for your government, you can, to deliberate on it better, adopt this procedure. You have in your city sixteen Gonfalonieri di compagnia (for so you call them), who take under them and embrace the whole city and all the citizens. Let the citizens assemble, each at his own gonfalone, and deliberate and examine what seems to them the best form to take for your government. And let each gonfalone take the form its citizens agree on, and so there will be sixteen forms. And then let the said Gonfalonieri all assemble together and choose four of all those forms that seemed to them best and most stable, and bring them to the magnificent Signoria. And, after the Mass of the Holy Spirit has been sung in their hall, let them elect one of those four.

And hold without doubt that the one chosen in this way will be from God. And I believe, as I said above, that the form of government of the Venetians is very good; and do not think it shameful to learn from others, because that form which they have was given them by God; and since they took it, there has never been civil dissension among them. And know this also, Florence: God has made and appointed himself your physician, if you observe what I have told you; and do not fear your enemies, because you will always be more powerful than they; and God will defend you, “who is blessed for ever and ever. Amen.”