furbizia

In reality Federico became lord of Urbino by killing his brother and 'achieved eminence more by the exercise of treacherous furbizia cunning than by military skill'; whereas Sigismondo was 'among the foremost field commanders of his time, his presence worth a thousand men in battle', and a man who married his mistress for love 'at a time when his circumstances urgently demanded a dynastic wedding, accompanied by a large dowry'.

Review of Vendetta: High Art and Low Cunning at the Birth of the Renaissance, by Hugh Bicheno 2008