Here below you will find an outline of the Selected Letters of Alessandra Strozzi, translated with an introduction and notes by Heather Gregory, University of California Press, 1997. (ISBN: 0520203909)
PAGE
NUMBER
29 Letter 1 (1447) The Wedding
This is the first letter that we have from Alessandra written in 1447, when she is almost forty and living in Florence. It is full of great details about the impending wedding of her daughter Caterina to Marco Parenti.
37 Letter 2 (1448) Matteo
Alessandra writes about her beloved youngest son Matteo. Filippo and others are urging her to send him to Naples where his older brother can introduce him to the world of business, but Alessandra cannot face the idea of life without him in Florence: "I feel very sad when I think about being left so alone . . ." a heartrending passage that is so familiar. So many mothers so sad to see all their children leave the nest.
49 Letter 4 (1449) Death of Cousin Filippo
Alessandra laments the death of cousin Filippo di Lionardo, "which has made me very sad and still does, considering the harm it will do to us first and then to the whole family."
53 Letter 5 (1450) A Mother's Lecture
Here is something we all recognize: Mother's lecture on making the most of our opportunities: " . . .manage everything in a way that does you credit."
65 Letter 8 (1453) Lorenzo in Bruges
Alessandra writes to her other son Lorenzo and delivers another lecture on life: "you're old enough to behave in a different sort of way from how you have been; you've got to sort yourself out and concentrate on living properly."(p. 69)75 Letter 10 (1459) Politics
Here Alessandra writes about Florentine politics.
The Strozzi versus the Medici.
79 Letter 11 (1459) Death of Matteo
This is the most unforgettable of all the letters. Alessandra has been informed that her youngest son Matteo has died at age 23 in Naples. This is the most terrible blow of all. She had adored this precious last child, she had protected him, and then had resisted pressure to send him away for education and business experience with his older brother, and she had worried all the time. Now she had lost him.
97 Letter 14 (1461) Letters Being Opened
This short letter is interesting about the letters; she tells Lorenzo that the letters are being opened. They are being watched. This little detail alerts us to the reality of the Florentine political situation in the middle of the fifteenth century. Although the Republic was a democracy with elections, the truth was that the Medici circle was slowly undermining the democratic truth in favor of a more and more oligarchical regime. This regime was not controlled by the Medici alone; there was a cabal of upper class families allied with the Medici with the head of the Medici family as head of the oligarchy.
103 Letter 16 (1464) Alessandra's Moral Code
Letter 16 written in March of 1464 contains a stunningly simple statement of what Alessandra believed about life here on this earth: "Our life in this world is so short we have to try to make sure we live in peace in the next life, which lasts forever. And not doing our duty by our neighbor is one of the things which damns us, because the Bible says: 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you.'" This statement is so simple. There is no ambiguity about either the idea or her acquiescence in its direction. She believed this simple Christian proposition and she lived it.
Also interesting is the detail that Marco Parenti could buy a small farm in the Mugello for 400 florins (Caterina's dowry was 1000 florins).
(p. 107)
119 Letter 19 (1464) Death of Cosimo de' Medici
The death of Cosimo de' Medici on August 1, 1464 opened up the question of the future status of the carefully constructed Medicean political machine. Would Cosimo's son Piero be able to hold the oligarchy together? Would the other families remain loyal to this new leader? Was Piero up to it? He was physically frail and therefore Florentines were not even sure he would have the energy to control the delicate machinery of government the way his father had done for thirty years. As Alessandra notes in her letter: "There's no doubt that this death has given many of the citizens some new ideas about how the land should be governed . . ." And of course, any change in the nature of the regime immediately opened up the possibility that the exile of the Strozzi men might also be affected. Notice how careful and how canny Alessandra is. Everything will move forward with the greatest care: many quiet consultations with allies behind the scene; one must find out what everyone thinks. Put it all together slowly one step at a time. And here we see how valuable Alessandra must have been to the Strozzi sons operating from the distance of Naples. She was a consumate politician and could have ruled Florence herself!
129 Letter 21 (1465) Lorenzo Strozzi's Visit
In 1465, Alessandra's son Lorenzo came to the southern border of Florentine territory with the hope that he would be able to come closer to the city and meet with friends and family. All this required considerable political maneuver and Alessandra was in the middle of it. The safe-conduct was forthcoming and Alessandra met with her middle son just outside the city. This relaxation of the Strozzi exile conditions pointed to a larger loosening of the regime's political control. This new looseness got out of control and in 1466 there was a near-coup. We can read all about it in the memoire of Alessandra's son-in-law Marco Parenti.
135 Letter 22 (1465) Post-Visit Depression
Alessandra is sad after the visit of Lorenzo: "I haven't been feeling well since Lorenzo left, so I've eaten some eggs; I haven't had a fever but my head has felt weak and sometimes it feels as if my brain is turning around." (p. 137).
139 Letters 23-26 (1465) Filippo's Wife
Beginning in Letter 23 and continuing for a number of letters, Alessandra takes up the important topic of finding a wife for her elder son Filippo, whom Alessandra considers well past the marrying age. The letters are wonderful and hilarious and it is clear that Alessandra is way more dedicated to the task than is the prospective bridegroom. My favorite passage is her account of her visit to the cathedral of Florence (called here Santa Liperata) to see the Adimari girl and instead found herself near the Tanagli whom she follows out of the church to get a good look. The whole scene is unforgettable and gives you a good look at the marriage market of fifteenth-century Florence (p. 155).
147 Letter 24 (1465) Alessandra on God, Family, Life
There is a beautiful passage in letter 24 on page 147 where Alessandra muses on their life and their blessings: "What you say is very true, that you (and we too) have been given more grace than we deserve, but I put my faith in Him . . ."
