The 48 Laws Of Power

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PART11:DONOTC.(.)MMl'1‘TOANYONE—-

STAYABOVETHEFRAY

Donotlet

peopledragyou

intotheir

pettyfights

and

squabbles.

Seeminter-

estedand

suppcwtive,

but

find

a

way

tomnain

neutral;

letothersdo the

fighting

while

you

stand

back,

watchandwait.Whenthe

fightingpatties

am

good

andtired

thvy

willbe

ripefor

the

picking.

Youcanmakeita

prac-

tice,

in

fact,

tostir

upquarrels

betweenother

people,

andthen

offer

tomedi-

ate,

gainingpower

asthe

go-between.

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAW

Inthelatefifteenth

century,

the

strongestcity~states

in

Italy-——Venice,

Flo-

rence,Rome,

andMilan~—-foundthemselves

constantlysquabbling.

Hover-

ing

abovetheir

struggles

werethenationsofFranceand

Spain,ready

to

grab

whatever

they

couldfromtheweakenedItalian

powers.

And

trapped

inthemiddlewasthesmallstateof

Mantua,

ruled

by

the

young

Duke

Gianfrancesco

Gonzaga.

Mantuawas

strategically

located in northern

Italy,

anditseemed

only

amatteroftimebeforeoneofthe

powers

swal-

lowedit

up

and

it

ceased

toexistasan

independentkingdom.

Gonzaga

wasafiercewarriorandaskilledcommanderof

troops,

and

hebecameakindof

mercenzuy

general

forwhateverside

paid

himbest.In

the

year

1490,

hemarriedIsabella

d’Este,

daughter

oftherulerofanother

smallItalian

duchy,

Ferrara.Sincehenow

spent

mostofhistime

away

iron

Mantua,

it

fellto

Isabella

toruleinhisstead.

lsabellzfs

first

truetestasrulercamein

1498,

when

King

LouisXIIof

Francewas

preparing

armiestoattackMilan.Intheirusual

perfidious

fash«

ion,

theItalianstates

immediately

lookedfor

ways

to

profit

fromMila.n’s

difficulties.

Pope

AlexanderVI

promised

notto

intervene,

therebygiving

theFrenchcarteblanche.The

Venefians

signaled

that

they

wouldnot

help

Milan,

either—andin

exchange

for

this,

theyhoped

theFrenchwould

give

themMantua.Therulerof

Milan,

Lodovico

Sforza,

suddenly

foundhim-

self

aloneand

abandoned.

HeturnedtoIsabella

d’Este,

oneofhisclosest

friends

(also

rumored

tobehis

lover),

and

begged

herto

persuade

Duke

Gonzaga

tocometohisaid.Isabella

tried,

butherhusband

balked,

forhe

sawSforza’scauseas

hopeless.

And

so,

in

1499,

Louis

swooped

downon

Milanandtookitwithease.

Isabella

nowfacedadilemma:Ifshe

stayedloyal

to

Lodovico,

the

Frenchwouldnowmove

against

her.But

if,instead,

shealliedherself

with

France,

shewouldmakeenemieselsewhere

in

Italy,compromising

Man-

tuaonceLouis

eventually

withdrew.AndifshelookedtoVeniceorRome

for

help,they

would

simply

swallow

up

Mantuaunderthecloakof

coming

toheraid.Yetshehadtodo

something.

The

mighty

king

ofFrancewas

breathing

downherneck: Shedecidedtobefxiend

him,

asshe

had

be~

friendedLodovicoSforzabeforehim——-with

alluringgifts,witty,intelligent

letters,

andthe

possibility

ofher

company,

forIsabellawasfamousas

a

womanof

incomparablebeauty

andcharm.