Cosim9 I., Duke of Florence. By Cecily Booth. (Cambridge University
Press. 25s. net.)--Cosimo, a member of the younger branch of the Medici and son of the famous general, Giovanni delle Bande Nere, was elected Duke of Florence in 1537 after the murder of his dissipated kinsman Alessandro. He was a hard man, and showed no mercy to the Florentine Republicans or to the old families who still cherished their jealousy of the Medici. With Spanish help he took Siena after a long siege and held it as a Spanish fief. After years of intrigue he accused recognition as Grand Duke of Tuscany. He obtained Elba and fitted out a small squadron which did useful service against the Turk. He died in 1574, leaving Tuscany orderly and prosperous. Miss Booth's careful biography, which is well illustrated, is avowedly intended to show that Cosimo was by no means so black as his enemies painted him. She points out the difficulties that beset a sixteenth-century Italian prince, between Spain and France, with the Pope as an uncertain friend and with the -other Italian potentates incessantly intriguing against him. Cosimo was not an amiable person, but he was at least a capable ruler. Miss Booth's chapter on the condition of Tuscany in his day is distinctly interesting.
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