ble to
hold office had to enter the ranks of the people, as did many great
houses of quality, and matriculate into one of the arts. Which thing,
while it partly allayed the civil strife of Florence, almost wholly
extinguished all noble feeling in the souls of the Florentines; and the
power and haughtiness of the city were no less abated than the insolence
and pride of the nobles, who since then have never lifted up their heads
again. These arts, the greater as well as the lesser, have varied in
numbers at different times; and often have not only been rivals, but
even foes, among themselves; so much so that the lesser arts once got it
passed that the Gonfalonier should be appointed only from their body.
Yet after long dispute it was finally settled that the Gonfalonier could
not be chosen from the lesser, but that he should always rank with the
greater, and that in all other offices and magistracies, the lesser
should always have a fourth and no more. Consequently, of the eight
Priors, two were always of the lesser; of the Twelve, three; of the
Sixteen, four; and so on through all the magistracies.

[1] The name Calimala was given to a trade in cloth carried on
at Florence by merchants who bought rough goods in France,
Flanders, and England, and manufactured them into more delicate
materials.

[2] Marco Foscari, quoted lower down, estimates the property
the Arts at 200,000 ducats.

As a consequence from what has been said, it is easy to perceive that
all the inhabitants of Florence (by inhabitants I mean those only who
are really settled there, for of strangers, who are passing or
sojourning a while, we need not here take any account) are of two sorts.
The one class are liable to taxation in Florence, that is, they pay
tithes of their goods and are inscribed upon the books of the Commune,
and these are called contributors. The others are not taxed nor
inscribed upon the registers of the Commune, inasmuch as they do not pay
the tithes or other ordinary imposts; and these are called
non-contributors: who, seeing that they live by their hands, and carry
on mechanical arts and the vilest trades, should be called plebeians;
and though they have ruled Florence more than once, ought not even to
entertain a thought about public affairs in a well-governed state. The
contributors are of two sorts: for some, while they pay the taxes, do
not enjoy the citizenship (_i.e._ cannot attend the council or take a