# 27. Very rarely do Men know how to be either Wholly Good or Wholly Bad

Pope Julius II, on going to Bologna in 1505 to expel from that state the house of Bentivogli, who had held that city as a principality for a hundred years, resolved also to remove Giovampagolo Baglioni from Perugia, where he was ruling as a tyrant, for the Pope had sworn to be rid of all tyrants who had seized the estates of the Church. Being thus minded and for this purpose, as everyone knew, he hurried to Perugia and did not wait for the army which was to protect him before entering the city, but entered it unarmed, in spite of the fact that Giovampagolo was there in person with a strong body of troops which he had collected for his defence. Carried away by that impetuosity which characterized all his actions, he thus placed himself and the simple guard he had with him in the hands of his enemy; yet took his enemy away with him, and left in the city a governor who should be responsible to the Church.

Prudent men who were with the Pope were astonished at the pope’s rashness and at the cowardice displayed by Giovampagolo; nor could they understand how it came about that the latter did not acquire perpetual fame by getting rid of his enemy at a single stroke and enriching himself with the booty; for with the Pope were all the cardinals in all their splendour. They could not believe that it was any good motive, or his conscience, that held him back, for the heart of a criminal who had committed incest with his own sister and to gain the throne had put to death his cousins and his nephews, could scarce be influenced by any pious consideration. So they concluded it must be due to men not knowing how to be either magnificently bad or perfectly good; and that, since evil deeds have a certain grandeur and are open-handed in their way, Giovampagolo was incapable of performing them.

Thus Giovampagolo, who thought nothing of incest or of publicly murdering his relatives, knew not how, or better, did not dare, to avail himself of an excellent opportunity to do what would have caused everyone to admire his courage and would have gained for him immortal fame, since he would have been the first to show prelates how little men are respected who live and rule as they do, and would have done a thing the greatness of which would have obliterated any infamy and any danger that might arise from it.





Book One



[DISCOURSES 28–32]


[Ingratitude]