Page 111 - the-prince

Messer Giovanni,[*] who was in childhood: immediately af-
ter his assassination the people rose and murdered all the
Canneschi. This sprung from the popular goodwill which
the house of Bentivogli enjoyed in those days in Bologna;
which was so great that, although none remained there af-
ter the death of Annibale who was able to rule the state,
the Bolognese, having information that there was one of the
Bentivogli family in Florence, who up to that time had been
considered the son of a blacksmith, sent to Florence for him
and gave him the government of their city, and it was ruled
by him until Messer Giovanni came in due course to the
government.
[*] Giovanni Bentivogli, born in Bologna 1438, died at
Milan 1508. He ruled Bologna from 1462 to 1506. Machia-
velli’s strong condemnation of conspiracies may get its edge
from his own very recent experience (February 1513), when
he had been arrested and tortured for his alleged complicity
in the Boscoli conspiracy.
For this reason I consider that a prince ought to reck-
on conspiracies of little account when his people hold him
in esteem; but when it is hostile to him, and bears hatred
towards him, he ought to fear everything and everybody.
And well-ordered states and wise princes have taken every
care not to drive the nobles to desperation, and to keep the
people satisfied and contented, for this is one of the most
important objects a prince can have.
Among the best ordered and governed kingdoms of our
times is France, and in it are found many good institutions
on which depend the liberty and security of the king; of these

110 The Prince