6 - Finding friends

Summary

Maxims on how any government would prefer to deal with those in power in another state rather than with their exiles, or on how those ‘inside’ would always be held in higher regard than those forced ‘outside’, can have carried only limited conviction for the politicians of Renaissance Italy. They would know of too many instances when rival powers had been happy to have dealings with both a regime and its exiles, too many episodes when the exiles of a rival power formed an integral part of an enemy's assault. Exiles might be prone to nourishing unrealistic hopes not just of sympathy but of money and men to help them return, but their hopes were not always ill-founded.

The exiles most to be feared by their enemies were the ones bent on return who were of sufficient status and reputation to claim the attention of powerful men who were in a position to help them to force their way back. Princes or the members of the governing councils of republics were not the only men to be worth courting. Condottieri with a company of soldiers of their own, barons who often were condottieri but could also call on the services of their tenants, subjects and political allies, papal nipoti or cardinals with political ambitions, could all be very useful allies or patrons. The challenge for exiles was to identify which of the potential sources of support could be most useful.