Analecta machiavelliana. L'11 settembre del Segretario fiorentino tra due colpi di Stato
Résumé
A manuscript of Machiavelli, recently found and published by Andrea Guidi, testifies for the first time of the Florentine Secretary’s activities between
the coups of August 31st and September 16th, 1512, when the Medici seized power by force. According to Guidi, the document attests to Machiavelli’s efforts to avoid an institutional transformation into an authoritarian regime, albeit in line with the political strategies of the aristocrats who brought
down Piero Soderini. If Machiavelli had actually written it, it would merit inclusion among his minor political works. This paper, starting from textual and intertextual analysis, proposes a more detailed reconstruction of the context, and shows the limits of Guidi’s interpretation. Even if there is no doubt that the document was written by the Florentine Secretary, this paper argues that he participated in its drafting more likely as a copyist than as an author.