The 48 Laws Of Power

willwork

underground

to

destroyyou.

DoastheAtheniansdid:Banish

thembeforeitistoolate.

Separate

themfromthe

group

before

they

be-

comethe
eye

ofa

whirlpool.

Donot

give

themtimetostir

up

anxieties

andsew
discontent;
do
not
give

themroomtomove.Letone

person

suf-

fersothattherestcanlivein
peace.

Whenthe

tree‘/"alts,

the

monkeys

scatter.

Chinese

saying

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAWII

In 1296 thecardinalsoftheCatholicChurchmetin
Rome
to
select
anew

pope.They

choseCardinal

Gaetani,

for

he

was

incomparably

shrewd;

such
amanwouldmaketheVaticana

greatpower.Taking

thenameBoni~

face
VIII,
Gaetanisoon

proved

hedeservedthecardinals’

highopinion

of

him:He

plotted

hismoves

carefully

in

advance,

and

stopped

at

nothing

to

get

his

way.

Oncein

power,

Boniface

quickly

crushedhisrivalsand

uni-

fiedthe

Papal

States.

The

Europeanpowersbegan

tofear

him,

andsent

delegates

to

negotiate

withhim.TheGerman

King

AlbrechtofAustria

even

yielded

some

territory

toBoniface.Allwas

proceeding

according

to

the

pope’splan.

One

piece

didnotfallinto

place,

however,

andthatwas

Tuscany,

the

richest
part

of

Italy.

IfBonifacecould

conquer

Florence,

Tuscany’s

most

powerfulcity,

the

region

wouldbehis.ButFlorencewasa

proudrepublic,

andwouldbehardtodefeat.The
pope

hadto

play

hiscards

skillfully.

Florencewasdivided

by

tworival

factions,

theBlacksandtheWhites.

The Whiteswerethemerchantfamiliesthathad

recently

and

quickly

risento
power

and

wealth;

theBlacks

weretheolder

money.

Because

of

their

popularity

withthe

people,

theWhitesretainedcontrolofthe

city,

to

theBlacks’

increasing

resentment.Thefeudbetweenthetwo

grewsteadily

morebitter.

HereBonifacesaw

his

chance:Hewould

plot

to

help

theBlackstake

overthe
city,

andFlorencewouldbe

in

his

pocket.

Andashestudiedthe

situationhe

began

tofocusonone

man,

Dante

Alighieri,

thecelebrated

writer,
poet,

andardent

supporter

oftheWhites.Dantehad

always

been

interestedin

politics.

Hebelieved

passionately

inthe

republic,

andoften

chastisedhisfellowcitizensfor theirlackof

spine.

Healso

happened

tobe

the

city’s

most

eloquentpublic

speaker.

In

1300,

the

year

Boniface

began

plotting

totakeover

Tuscany,

Dante’sfellowcitizenshadvotedhiminto

Florence’s

highest

elected

position,making

himoneofthe

city’s

six

pri-

ors.
During

hissix-monthterminthe

post,

hehadstood

firmlyagainst

the

Blacksand

against

allof

the

pope’sattempts

to

sowdisorder.

By

1301,however,

Bonifacehadanew

plan:

HecalledinCharlesde

Valois,powerful

brotherofthe

king

of

France,

to

helpbring

ordertoTus»

cany.

AsCharlesmarched

through

northern

Italy,

andFlorenceseethed

with
anxiety

and

fear,

Dante

quicklyemerged

asthemanwhocould

rally

THE\V(lL\'l:‘.‘s‘\\4‘l)

Ull’..<lIF.l£l’

Once

upon

(1

lime,

the

wolvessentan

embassy

10 the

sheep.(lesiring

thatthere

might

be

peace

betweenthem

for

thelimetocome.

“Why."

said

they.

“shouldwebe

for

ever

waging

thisdeudlv

strife?

Thosewicked

dogs

arethecause

of

all;

they

are

irtcersixnrly

barking

at

us,

and

provoking

us.Send

them

away,

andthere

will

be

no

longerany

obstacletoouretemul

friendship

and

peace.

"

The

sillysheep

listerml,

the

dogs

were

dlSmiSSt’d,

andthe

flock,

thus

deprivedof

theirbest

prmectors,

becamean

easyprey

to

theirtreacherous

enemy.

FABLES.

A5501‘.

SIXTHCENTURYac.

LAW 42 361