The 48 Laws Of Power

In 1500 Louis

invitedIsabellatoa

greatparty

inMilantocelebratehis

victory.

LeonardodaVincibuiltanenormousmechanicallionfortheaf-

fair:Whenthelion

opened

its

mouth,

it

spewed

fresh

lilies,

the

symbols

of

French

royalty.

Atthe

party

Isabellaworeoneofhercelebrateddresses

(she

had

by

farthe

largest

wardrobeof

any

oftheItalian

princesses),

and

just

asshehad

hoped,

she

charmedand

captivated

Louis,

who

ignored

all

theotherladies

vying

forhisattention.Shesoonbecamehisconstantcom-

panion,

andin

exchange

forher

friendship

he

pledged

to

protect

Mantua’s

independence

fromVenice.

Asone

danger

receded,however,another,

more

worrying

one

arose,

thistime

from

the

south,

in

the

formof

Cesare

BorgiaStarting

in

1500,

Borgia

hadmarched

steadily

northward,

gobblingup

allthesmall

king-

domsinhis

path

inthenameofhis

father,

Pope

Alexander.Isabellaunder»

stood Cesare

perfectly:

He couldbe neither tnisted 1101'in

any way

offended.Hehadtobe

cajoled

and

kept

atarm’s

length.

Isabella

beganby

sending

him

gifts——falcons,prize dogs,perfumes,

and

dozens

of

masks,

whichsheknewhe

always

worewhenhe

walked

the

streets

of

Rome.She

sent

messengers

with

flattering

greetings(although

these

messengers

also

actedasher

spies).

Atone

point

Cesareaskedifhecouldhousesome

troops

in

Mantua;

Isabella

managed

todissuadehim

politely,knowing

full

wellthatoncethe

troops

were

quartered

inthe

city,they

wouldnever

leave.

Evenwhile Isabellawas

charming

Cesare,

sheconvinced

everyone

aroundhertotakecarenevertoutteraharshwordabout

him,

sincehe

had

spieseverywhere

andwoulduse the

slightestpretext

forinvasion.

WhenIsabellahada

child,

she

askedCesaretobethe

godfather.

Sheeven

dangled

in

frontofhimthe

possibility

ofa

marriage

betweenher

family

andhis.Somehowitall

worked,

for

although

elsewhereheseized

every-

thing

inhis

path,

he

spared

Mantua.

In 1503 Cesare’s

father,Alexander,died,

andafew

years

laterthenew

pope,Julius

II,

went

to

war

to

drivetheFrench

troops

from

Italy.

When

therulerof

Fe1rara——Alfonso,

Isabella’sbrother—sidedwiththe

French,

Julius

decidedtoattackandhumblehim.Once

again

Isabellafoundherself

inthemiddle:the

pope

onone

side,

theFrenchandherbrotheronthe

other.Shedarednot

ally

herselfwith

either,

but

to

offendeitherwould

be

equally

disastrous.

Again

she

played

thedouble

game

atwhichshehad

be-

comeso

expert.

Ontheonehandshe

got

herhusband

Gonzaga

to

fight

for

the

pope, knowing

hewouldnot

fight

very

hard.Onthe othershelet

French

troopspassthrough

MantuatocometoFerrara’said.Whileshe

publiclycomplained

thattheFrenchhad“invaded”her

territory,

she

pri-

vatelysupplied

themwithvaluableinformation.Tomakethe invasion

plausible

to

Julius,

she

evenhadtheFrench

pretend

to

plunder

Mantua.

It

workedonce

again:

The

pope

leftMantuaalone.

In

1513,

aftera

lengthysiege,Julius

defeated

Ferrara,

andtheFrench

troops

withdrew.Wornout

by

the

effort,

the

pope

dieda

fewmonthslater.

Withhis

death,

the

nightmarishcycle

ofbattles

and

pettysquabblesbegan

to

repeat

itself.

leisurely/keding

onthe

deadkitesandcrows.

andthen

left

the

place

Italyand

hearty,

observing,

"TheIvmk

hem?/itby

Ilze

1]M(lI‘I‘tf].¥

of

(he

mighty."

INDIAN

EARLF3

Men

ofgreat

abilities

areslow:0act.

for

itis

easierInavoidncca«

.s'irm.r

forcommiltirzg

yourself

thanto(‘only

wellnut

(If

acommit-

mml.

Such

0L'L'llSf07lS

test

yourjudgmeut;

itis

safer

toavoidthem

thanto

emerge

victurr

nus

from

them.One

obligation

loadstoa

greater

one.and

you

mme

very

neur

tn

the

brink

0/'di.m.\'ter.

BALTASARGR/u'1A:\‘.

16014658

LAW 20 I51