The time had now come for the Duke of Valentinois to continue the
pursuit of his conquests. So, since on the 1st of May in the preceding
year the pope had pronounced sentence of forfeiture in full consistory
against Julius Caesar of Varano, as punishment for the murder of his
brother Rudolph and for the harbouring of the pope’s enemies, and he had
accordingly been mulcted of his fief of Camerino, which was to be handed
over to the apostolic chamber, Caesar left Rome to put the sentence in
execution. Consequently, when he arrived on the frontiers of Perugia,
which belonged to his lieutenant, Gian Paolo Baglioni, he sent
Oliverotta da Fermo and Orsini of Gravina to lay waste the March of
Camerino, at the same time petitioning Guido d’Ubaldo di Montefeltro,
Duke of Urbino, to lend his soldiers and artillery to help him in this
enterprise. This the unlucky Duke of Urbino, who enjoyed the best
possible relations with the pope, and who had no reason for distrusting
Caesar, did not dare refuse. But on the very same day that the Duke of
Urbina’s troops started for Camerino, Caesar’s troops entered the duchy
of Urbino, and took possession of Cagli, one of the four towns of the
little State. The Duke of Urbino knew what awaited him if he tried to
resist, and fled incontinently, disguised as a peasant; thus in less
than eight days Caesar was master of his whole duchy, except the
fortresses of Maiolo and San Leone.
The Duke of Valentinois forthwith returned to Camerino, where the
inhabitants still held out, encouraged by the presence of Julius Caesar
di Varano, their lord, and his two sons, Venantio and Hannibal; the
eldest son, Gian Maria, had been sent by his father to Venice.
The presence of Caesar was the occasion of parleying between the
besiegers and besieged. A capitulation was arranged whereby Varano
engaged to give up the town, on condition that he and his sons were
allowed to retire safe and sound, taking with them their furniture,
treasure, and carriages. But this was by no means Caesar’s intention;
so, profiting by the relaxation in vigilance that had naturally come
about in the garrison when the news of the capitulation had been
announced, he surprised the town in the night preceding the surrender,
and seized Caesar di Varano and his two sons, who were strangled a short
time after, the father at La Pergola and the sons at Pesaro, by Don
Michele Correglio, who, though he had left the position of sbirro for
that of a captain, every now and then returned to his first business.
Meanwhile Vitellozzo Vitelli, who had assumed the title of General of
the Church, and had under him 800 men-at-arms and 3,000 infantry, was
following the secret instructions that he had received from Caesar by
word of mouth, and was carrying forward that system of invasion which
was to encircle Florence in a network of iron, and in the end make her
defence an impossibility. A worthy pupil of his master, in whose school
he had learned to use in turn the cunning of a fox and the strength of a
lion, he had established an understanding between himself and certain
young gentlemen of Arezzo to get that town delivered into his hands. But
the plot had been discovered by Guglielma dei Pazzi, commissary of the
Florentine Republic, and he had arrested two of the conspirators,
whereupon the others, who were much more numerous than was supposed; had
instantly dispersed about the town summoning the citizens to arms. All
the republican faction, who saw in any sort of revolution the means of
subjugating Florence, joined their party, set the captives at liberty,
and seized Guglielmo; then proclaiming the establishment of the ancient
constitution, they besieged the citadel, whither Cosimo dei Pazzi,
Bishop of Arezzo, the son of Guglielmo, had fled for refuge; he, finding
himself invested on every side, sent a messenger in hot haste to
Florence to ask for help.
Unfortunately for the cardinal, Vitellozzo’s troops were nearer to the
besiegers than were the soldiers of the most serene republic to the
besieged, and instead of help—the whole army of the enemy came down upon
him. This army was under the command of Vitellozzo, of Gian Paolo
Baglioni, and of Fabio Orsino, and with them were the two Medici, ever
ready to go wherever there was a league against Florence, and ever ready
at the command of Borgia, on any conditions whatever, to re-enter the
town whence they had been banished. The next day more help in the form
of money and artillery arrived, sent by Pandolfo Petrucci, and on the
18th of June the citadel of Arezzo, which had received no news from
Florence, was obliged to surrender.
Vitellozzo left the men of Arezzo to look after their town themselves,
leaving also Fabio Orsina to garrison the citadel with a thousand men.
Then, profiting by the terror that had been spread throughout all this
part of Italy by the successive captures of the duchy of Urbino, of
Camerino, and of Arezzo, he marched upon Monte San Severino,
Castiglione, Aretino, Cortone, and the other towns of the valley of
Chiana, which submitted one after the other almost without a struggle.
When he was only ten or twelve leagues from Florence, and dared not on
his own account attempt anything against her, he made known the state of
affairs to the Duke of Valentinois. He, fancying the hour had came at
last for striking the blow so long delayed, started off at once to
deliver his answer in person to his faithful lieutenants.
But the Florentines, though they had sent no help to Guglielmo dei
Pazzi, had demanded aid from Chaumont dumbest, governor of the Milanese,
on behalf of Louis XII, not only explaining the danger they themselves
were in but also Caesar’s ambitious projects, namely that after first
overcoming the small principalities and then the states of the second
order, he had now, it seemed, reached such a height of pride that he
would attack the King of France himself. The news from Naples was
disquieting; serious differences had already occurred between the Count
of Armagnac and Gonzalva di Cordova, and Louis might any day need
Florence, whom he had always found loyal and faithful. He therefore
resolved to check Caesar’s progress, and not only sent him orders to
advance no further step forwards, but also sent off, to give effect to
his injunction, the captain Imbaut with 400 lances. The Duke of
Valentinois on the frontier of Tuscany received a copy of the treaty
signed between the republic and the King of France, a treaty in which
the king engaged to help his ally against any enemy whatsoever, and at
the same moment the formal prohibition from Louis to advance any
further. Caesar also learned that beside the 400 lances with the captain
Imbaut, which were on the road to Florence, Louis XII had as soon as he
reached Asti sent off to Parma Louis de la Trimouille and 200
men-at-arms, 3000 Swiss, and a considerable train of artillery. In these
two movements combined he saw hostile intentions towards himself, and
turning right about face with his usual agility, he profited by the fact
that he had given nothing but verbal instructions to all his
lieutenants, and wrote a furious letter to Vitellozzo, reproaching him
for compromising his master with a view to his own private interest, and
ordering the instant surrender to the Florentines of the towns and
fortresses he had taken, threatening to march down with his own troops
and take them if he hesitated for a moment.
As soon as this letter was written, Caesar departed for Milan, where
Louis XII had just arrived, bringing with him proof positive that he had
been calumniated in the evacuation of the conquered towns. He also was
entrusted with the pope’s mission to renew for another eighteen months
the title of legate ’a latere’ in France to Cardinal dumbest, the friend
rather than the minister of Louis XII. Thus, thanks to the public proof
of his innocence and the private use of his influence, Caesar soon made
his peace with the King of France.
But this was not all. It was in the nature of Caesar’s genius to divert
an impending calamity that threatened his destruction so as to come out
of it better than before, and he suddenly saw the advantage he might
take from the pretended disobedience of his lieutenants. Already he had
been disturbed now and again by their growing power, and coveted their
towns, now he thought the hour had perhaps come for suppressing them
also, and in the usurpation of their private possessions striking a blow
at Florence, who always escaped him at the very moment when he thought
to take her. It was indeed an annoying thing to have these fortresses
and towns displaying another banner than his own in the midst of the
beautiful Romagna which he desired for his own kingdom. For Vitellozzo
possessed Citta di Castello, Bentivoglio Bologna, Gian Paolo Baglioni
was in command of Perugia, Oliverotto had just taken Fermo, and Pandolfo
Petrucci was lord of Siena; it was high time that all these returned:
into his own hands. The lieutenants of the Duke of Valentinois, like
Alexander’s, were becoming too powerful, and Borgia must inherit from
them, unless he were willing to let them become his own heirs. He
obtained from Louis XII three hundred lances wherewith to march against
them. As soon as Vitellozzo Vitelli received Caesar’s letter he
perceived that he was being sacrificed to the fear that the King of
France inspired; but he was not one of those victims who suffer their
throats to be cut in the expiation of a mistake: he was a buffalo of
Romagna who opposed his horns to the knife of the butcher; besides, he
had the example of Varano and the Manfredi before him, and, death for
death, he preferred to perish in arms.
So Vitellozzo convoked at Maggione all whose lives or lands were
threatened by this new reversal of Caesar’s policy. These were Paolo
Orsino, Gian Paolo Baglioni, Hermes Bentivoglio, representing his father
Gian, Antonio di Venafro, the envoy of Pandolfo Petrucci, Olivertoxo da
Fermo, and the Duke of Urbino: the first six had everything to lose, and
the last had already lost everything.
A treaty of alliance was signed between the confederates: they engaged
to resist whether he attacked them severally or all together.
Caesar learned the existence of this league by its first effects: the
Duke of Urbino, who was adored by his subjects, had come with a handful
of soldiers to the fortress of San Leone, and it had yielded at once. In
less than a week towns and fortresses followed this example, and all the
duchy was once more in the hands of the Duke of Urbino.
At the same time, each member of the confederacy openly proclaimed his
revolt against the common enemy, and took up a hostile attitude.
Caesar was at Imola, awaiting the French troops, but with scarcely any
men; so that Bentivoglio, who held part of the country, and the Duke of
Urbino, who had just reconquered the rest of it, could probably have
either taken him or forced him to fly and quit the Romagna, had they
marched against him; all the more since the two men on whom he counted,
viz., Don Ugo di Cardona, who had entered his service after Capua was
taken, and Michelotto had mistaken his intention, and were all at once
separated from him. He had really ordered them to fall back upon Rimini,
and bring 200 light horse and 500 infantry of which they had the
command; but, unaware of the urgency of his situation, at the very
moment when they were attempting to surprise La Pergola and Fossombrone,
they were surrounded by Orsino of Gravina and Vitellozzo. Ugo di Cardona
and Michelotto defended themselves like lions; but in spite of their
utmost efforts their little band was cut to pieces, and Ugo di Cardona
taken prisoner, while Michelotto only escaped the same fate by lying
down among the dead; when night came on, he escaped to Fano.
But even alone as he was, almost without troops at Imola, the
confederates dared attempt nothing against Caesar, whether because of
the personal fear he inspired, or because in him they respected the ally
of the King of France; they contented themselves with taking the towns
and fortresses in the neighbourhood. Vitellozzo had retaken the
fortresses of Fossombrone, Urbino, Cagli, and Aggobbio; Orsino of
Gravina had reconquered Fano and the whole province; while Gian Maria de
Varano, the same who by his absence had escaped being massacred with the
rest of his family, had re-entered Camerino, borne in triumph by his
people. Not even all this could destroy Caesar’s confidence in his own
good fortune, and while he was on the one hand urging on the arrival of
the French troops and calling into his pay all those gentlemen known as
"broken lances," because they went about the country in parties of five
or six only, and attached themselves to anyone who wanted them, he had
opened up negotiations with his enemies, certain that from that very day
when he should persuade them to a conference they were undone. Indeed,
Caesar had the power of persuasion as a gift from heaven; and though
they perfectly well knew his duplicity, they had no power of resisting,
not so much his actual eloquence as that air of frank good-nature which
Macchiavelli so greatly admired, and which indeed more than once
deceived even him, wily politician as he was. In order to get Paolo
Orsino to treat with him at Imola, Caesar sent Cardinal Borgia to the
confederates as a hostage; and on this Paolo Orsino hesitated no longer,
and on the 25th of October, 1502, arrived at Imola.
Caesar received him as an old friend from whom one might have been
estranged a few days because of some slight passing differences; he
frankly avowed that all the fault was no doubt on his side, since he had
contrived to alienate men who were such loyal lords and also such brave
captains; but with men of their nature, he added, an honest, honourable
explanation such as he would give must put everything once more in statu
quo. To prove that it was goodwill, not fear, that brought him back to
them, he showed Orsino the letters from Cardinal Amboise which announced
the speedy arrival of French troops; he showed him those he had
collected about him, in the wish, he declared, that they might be
thoroughly convinced that what he chiefly regretted in the whole matter
was not so much the loss of the distinguished captains who were the very
soul of his vast enterprise, as that he had led the world to believe, in
a way so fatal to his own interest, that he could for a single instant
fail to recognise their merit; adding that he consequently relied upon
him, Paolo Orsino, whom he had always cared for most, to bring back the
confederates by a peace which would be as much for the profit of all as
a war was hurtful to all, and that he was ready to sign a treaty in
consonance with their wishes so long as it should not prejudice his own
honour.
Orsino was the man Caesar wanted: full of pride and confidence in
himself, he was convinced of the truth of the old proverb that says, "A
pope cannot reign eight days, if he has hath the Colonnas and the Orsini
against him." He believed, therefore, if not in Caesar’s good faith, at
any rate in the necessity he must feel for making peace; accordingly he
signed with him the following conventions—which only needed
ratification—on the 18th of October, 1502, which we reproduce here as
Macchiavelli sent them to the magnificent republic of Florence.
"Agreement between the Duke of Valentinois and the Confederates.
"Let it be known to the parties mentioned below, and to all who shall
see these presents, that His Excellency the Duke of Romagna of the one
part and the Orsini of the other part, together with their confederates,
desiring to put an end to differences, enmities, misunderstandings, and
suspicions which have arisen between them, have resolved as follows:
"There shall be between them peace and alliance true and perpetual, with
a complete obliteration of wrongs and injuries which may have taken
place up to this day, both parties engaging to preserve no resentment of
the same; and in conformity with the aforesaid peace and union, His
Excellency the Duke of Romagna shall receive into perpetual
confederation, league, and alliance all the lords aforesaid; and each of
them shall promise to defend the estates of all in general and of each
in particular against any power that may annoy or attack them for any
cause whatsoever, excepting always nevertheless the Pope Alexander VI
and his Very Christian Majesty Louis XII, King of France: the lords
above named promising on the other part to unite in the defence of the
person and estates of His Excellency, as also those of the most
illustrious lords, Don Gaffredo Borgia, Prince of Squillace, Don
Roderigo Borgia, Duke of Sermaneta and Biselli, and Don Gian Borgia,
Duke of Camerino and Negi, all brothers or nephews of the Duke of
Romagna.
"Moreover, since the rebellion and usurpation of Urbino have occurred
during the above-mentioned misunderstandings, all the confederates
aforesaid and each of them shall bind themselves to unite all their
forces for the recovery of the estates aforesaid and of such other
places as have revolted and been usurped.
"His Excellency the Duke of Romagna shall undertake to continue to the
Orsini and Vitelli their ancient engagements in the way of military
service and on the same conditions.
"His Excellency promises further not to insist on the service in person
of more than one of them, as they may choose: the service that the
others may render shall be voluntary.
"He also promises that the second treaty shall be ratified by the
sovereign pontiff, who shall not compel Cardinal Orsino to reside in
Rome longer than shall seem convenient to this prelate.
"Furthermore, since there are certain differences between the Pope and
the lord Gian Bentivoglio, the confederates aforesaid agree that they
shall be put to the arbitration of Cardinal Orsino, of His Excellency
the Duke of Romagna, and of the lord Pandolfo Petrucci, without appeal.
"Thus the confederates engage, each and all, so soon as they may be
required by the Duke of Romagna, to put into his hands as a hostage one
of the legitimate sons of each of them, in that place and at that time
which he may be pleased to indicate.
"The same confederates promising moreover, all and each, that if any
project directed against any one of them come to their knowledge, to
give warning thereof, and all to prevent such project reciprocally.
"It is agreed, over and above, between the Duke of Romagna and the
confederates aforesaid, to regard as a common enemy any who shall fail
to keep the present stipulations, and to unite in the destruction of any
States not conforming thereto.
"(Signed) CAESAR, PAOLO ORSINO.
"AGAPIT, Secretary."
At the same time, while Orsino was carrying to the confederates the
treaty drawn up between him and the duke, Bentivoglio, not willing to
submit to the arbitration indicated, made an offer to Caesar of settling
their differences by a private treaty, and sent his son to arrange the
conditions: after some parleying, they were settled as follows:—
Bentivaglio should separate his fortunes from the Vitelli and Orsini;
He should furnish the Duke of Valentinois with a hundred men-at-arms and
a hundred mounted archers for eight years;
He should pay 12,000 ducats per annum to Caesar, for the support of a
hundred lances;
In return for this, his son Hannibal was to marry the sister of the
Archbishop of Enna, who was Caesar’s niece, and the pope was to
recognise his sovereignty in Bologna;
The King of France, the Duke of Ferrara, and the republic of Florence
were to be the guarantors of this treaty.
But the convention brought to the confederates by Orsino was the cause
of great difficulties on their part. Vitellozza Vitelli in particular,
who knew Caesar the best, never ceased to tell the other condottieri
that so prompt and easy a peace must needs be the cover to some trap;
but since Caesar had meanwhile collected a considerable army at Imola,
and the four hundred lances lent him by Louis XII had arrived at last,
Vitellozzo and Oliverotto decided to sign the treaty that Orsino
brought, and to let the Duke of Urbino and the lord of Camerino know of
it; they, seeing plainly that it was henceforth impossible to make a
defence unaided, had retired, the one to Citta di Castello and the other
into the kingdom of Naples.
But Caesar, saying nothing of his intentions, started on the 10th of
December, and made his way to Cesena with a powerful army once more
under his command. Fear began to spread on all sides, not only in
Romagna but in the whole of Northern Italy; Florence, seeing him move
away from her, only thought it a blind to conceal his intentions; while
Venice, seeing him approach her frontiers, despatched all her troops to
the banks of the Po. Caesar perceived their fear, and lest harm should
be done to himself by the mistrust it might inspire, he sent away all
French troops in his service as soon as he reached Cesena, except a
hundred men with M. de Candale, his brother-in-law; it was then seen
that he only had 2000 cavalry and 2000 infantry with him. Several days
were spent in parleying, for at Cesena Caesar found the envoys of the
Vitelli and Orsini, who themselves were with their army in the duchy of
Urbino; but after the preliminary discussions as to the right course to
follow in carrying on the plan of conquest, there arose such
difficulties between the general-in-chief and these agents, that they
could not but see the impossibility of getting anything settled by
intermediaries, and the urgent necessity of a conference between Caesar
and one of the chiefs. So Oliverotto ran the risk of joining the duke in
order to make proposals to him, either to march on Tuscany or to take
Sinigaglia, which was the only place in the duchy of Urbino that had not
again fallen into Caesar’s power. Caesar’s reply was that he did not
desire to war upon Tuscany, because the Tuscans were his friends; but
that he approved of the lieutenants’ plan with regard to Sinigaglia, and
therefore was marching towards Fano.
But the daughter of Frederic, the former Duke of Urbino, who held the
town of Sinigaglia, and who was called the lady-prefect, because she had
married Gian delta Rovere, whom his uncle, Sixtus IV, had made prefect
of Rome, judging that it would be impossible to defend herself against
the forces the Duke of Valentinois was bringing, left the citadel in the
hands of a captain, recommending him to get the best terms he could for
the town, and took boat for Venice.
Caesar learned this news at Rimini, through a messenger from Vitelli and
the Orsini, who said that the governor of the citadel, though refusing
to yield to them, was quite ready to make terms with him, and
consequently they would engage to go to the town and finish the business
there. Caesar’s reply was that in consequence of this information he was
sending some of his troops to Cesena and Imola, for they would be
useless to him, as he should now have theirs, which together with the
escort he retained would be sufficient, since his only object was the
complete pacification of the duchy of Urbino. He added that this
pacification would not be possible if his old friends continued to
distrust him, and to discuss through intermediaries alone plans in which
their own fortunes were interested as well as his. The messenger
returned with this answer, and the confederates, though feeling, it is
true, the justice of Caesar’s remarks, none the less hesitated to comply
with his demand. Vitellozzo Vitelli in particular showed a want of
confidence in him which nothing seemed able to subdue; but, pressed by
Oliverotto, Gravina, and Orsino, he consented at last to await the
duke’s coming; making concession rather because he could not bear to
appear more timid than his companions, than because of any confidence he
felt in the return of friendship that Borgia was displaying.
The duke learned the news of this decision, so much desired, when he
arrived at Fano on the 20th of December 1502. At once he summoned eight
of his most faithful friends, among whom were d’Enna, his nephew,
Michelotto, and Ugo di Cardona, and ordered them, as soon as they
arrived at Sinigaglia, and had seen Vitellozzo, Gravina, Oliveratta, and
Orsino come out to meet them, on a pretext of doing them honour, to
place themselves on the right and left hand of the four generals, two
beside each, so that at a given signal they might either stab or arrest
them; next he assigned to each of them his particular man, bidding them
not quit his side until he had reentered Sinigaglia and arrived at the
quarters prepared for him; then he sent orders to such of the soldiers
as were in cantonments in the neighbourhood to assemble to the number of
8000 on the banks of the Metaurus, a little river of Umbria which runs
into the Adriatic and has been made famous by the defeat of Hannibal.
The duke arrived at the rendezvous given to his army on the 31st of
December, and instantly sent out in front two hundred horse, and
immediately behind them his infantry; following close in the midst of
his men-at-arms, following the coast of the Adriatic, with the mountains
on his right and the sea on his left, which in part of the way left only
space for the army to march ten abreast.
After four hours’ march, the duke at a turn of the path perceived
Sinigaglia, nearly a mile distant from the sea, and a bowshot from the
mountains; between the army and the town ran a little river, whose banks
he had to follow for some distance. At last he found a bridge opposite a
suburb of the town, and here Caesar ordered his cavalry to stop: it was
drawn up in two lines, one between the road and the river, the other on
the side of the country, leaving the whole width of the road to the
infantry: which latter defiled, crossed the bridge, and entering the
town, drew themselves up in battle array in the great square.
On their side, Vitellazzo, Gravina, Orsino, and Oliverotto, to make room
for the duke’s army, had quartered their soldiers in little towns or
villages in the neighbourhood of Sinigaglia; Oliverotto alone had kept
nearly 1000 infantry and 150 horse, who were in barracks in the suburb
through which the duke entered.
Caesar had made only a few steps towards the town when he perceived
Vitellozzo at the gate, with the Duke of Gravina and Orsina, who all
came out to meet him; the last two quite gay and confident, but the
first so gloomy and dejected that you would have thought he foresaw the
fate that was in store for him; and doubtless he had not been without
some presentiments; for when he left his army to come to Sinigaglia, he
had bidden them farewell as though never to meet again, had commended
the care of his family to the captains, and embraced his children with
tears—a weakness which appeared strange to all who knew him as a brave
condottiere.
The duke marched up to them holding out his hand, as a sign that all was
over and forgotten, and did it with an air at once so loyal and so
smiling that Gravina and Orsina could no longer doubt the genuine return
of his friendship, and it was only Vitellozza still appeared sad. At the
same moment, exactly as they had been commanded, the duke’s accomplices
took their posts on the right and left of those they were to watch, who
were all there except Oliverotto, whom the duke could not see, and began
to seek with uneasy looks; but as he crossed the suburb he perceived him
exercising his troops on the square. Caesar at once despatched
Michelotto and d’Enna, with a message that it was a rash thing to have
his troops out, when they might easily start some quarrel with the
duke’s men and bring about an affray: it would be much better to settle
them in barracks and then come to join his companions, who were with
Caesar. Oliverotto, drawn by the same fate as his friends, made no
objection, ordered his soldiers indoors, and put his horse to the gallop
to join the duke, escorted on either side by d’Enna and Michelotto.
Caesar, on seeing him, called him, took him by the hand, and continued
his march to the palace that had been prepared for him, his four victims
following after.
Arrived on the threshold, Caesar dismounted, and signing to the leader
of the men-at-arms to, await his orders, he went in first, followed by
Oliverotto, Gravina, Vitellozzo Vitelli, and Orsino, each accompanied by
his two satellites; but scarcely had they gone upstairs and into the
first room when the door was shut behind them, and Caesar turned round,
saying, "The hour has come!" This was the signal agreed upon. Instantly
the former confederates were seized, thrown down, and forced to
surrender with a dagger at their throat. Then, while they were being
carried to a dungeon, Caesar opened the window, went out on the balcony
and cried out to the leader of his men-at-arms, "Go forward!" The man
was in the secret, he rushed on with his band towards the barracks where
Oliverotto’s soldiers had just been consigned, and they, suddenly
surprised and off their guard, were at once made prisoners; then the
duke’s troops began to pillage the town, and he summoned Macchiavelli.
Caesar and the Florentine envoy were nearly two hours shut up together,
and since Macchiavelli himself recounts the history of this interview,
we will give his own words.
"He summoned me," says the Florentine ambassador, "and in the calmest
manner showed me his joy at the success of this enterprise, which he
assured me he had spoken of to me the evening before; I remember that he
did, but I did not at that time understand what he meant; next he
explained, in terms of much feeling and lively affection for our city,
the different motives which had made him desire your alliance, a desire
to which he hopes you will respond. He ended with charging me to lay
three proposals before your lordships: first, that you rejoice with him
in the destruction at a single blow of the mortal enemies of the king,
himself, and you, and the consequent disappearance of all seeds of
trouble and dissension likely to waste Italy: this service of his,
together with his refusal to allow the prisoners to march against you,
ought, he thinks, to excite your gratitude towards him; secondly, he
begs that you will at this juncture give him a striking proof of your
friendliness, by urging your cavalry’s advance towards Borgo, and there
assembling some infantry also, in order that they may march with him,
should need arise, on Castello or on Perugia. Lastly, he desires—and
this is his third condition—that you arrest the Duke of Urbino, if he
should flee from Castello into your territories, when he learns that
Vitellozzo is a prisoner.
"When I objected that to give him up would not beseem the dignity of the
republic, and that you would never consent, he approved of my words, and
said that it would be enough for you to keep the duke, and not give him
his liberty without His Excellency’s permission. I have promised to give
you all this information, to which he awaits your reply."
The same night eight masked men descended to the dungeon where the
prisoners lay: they believed at that moment that the fatal hour had
arrived for all. But this time the executioners had to do with
Vitellozzo and Oliverotto alone. When these two captains heard that they
were condemned, Oliverotto burst forth into reproaches against
Vitellozzo, saying that it was all his fault that they had taken up arms
against the duke: not a word Vitellozzo answered except a prayer that
the pope might grant him plenary indulgence for all his sins. Then the
masked men took them away, leaving Orsino and Gravina to await a similar
fate, and led away the two chosen out to die to a secluded spot outside
the ramparts of the town, where they were strangled and buried at once
in two trenches that had been dug beforehand.
The two others were kept alive until it should be known if the pope had
arrested Cardinal Orsino, archbishop of Florence and lord of Santa
Croce; and when the answer was received in the affirmative from His
Holiness, Gravina and Orsina, who had been transferred to a castle, were
likewise strangled.
The duke, leaving instructions with Michelotto, set off for Sinigaglia
as soon as the first execution was over, assuring Macchiavelli that he
had never had any other thought than that of giving tranquillity to the
Romagna and to Tuscany, and also that he thought he had succeeded by
taking and putting to death the men who had been the cause of all the
trouble; also that any other revolt that might take place in the future
would be nothing but sparks that a drop of water could extinguish.
The pope had barely learned that Caesar had his enemies in his power,
when, eager to play the same winning game himself, he announced to
Cardinal Orsino, though it was then midnight, that his son had taken
Sinigaglia, and gave him an invitation to come the next morning and talk
over the good news. The cardinal, delighted at this increase of favour,
did not miss his appointment. So, in the morning, he started an
horseback for the Vatican; but at a turn of the first street he met the
governor of Rome with a detachment of cavalry, who congratulated himself
on the happy chance that they were taking the same road, and accompanied
him to the threshold of the Vatican. There the cardinal dismounted, and
began to ascend the stairs; scarcely, however, had he reached the first
landing before his mules and carriages were seized and shut in the
palace stables. When he entered the hall of the Perropont, he found that
he and all his suite were surrounded by armed men, who led him into
another apartment, called the Vicar’s Hall, where he found the Abbate
Alviano, the protonotary Orsino, Jacopo Santa Croce, and Rinaldo Orsino,
who were all prisoners like himself; at the same time the governor
received orders to seize the castle of Monte Giardino, which belonged to
the Orsini, and take away all the jewels, all the hangings, all the
furniture, and all the silver that he might find.
The governor carried out his orders conscientiously, and brought to the
Vatican everything he seized, down to the cardinal’s account-book. On
consulting this book, the pope found out two things: first, that a sum
of 2000 ducats was due to the cardinal, no debtor’s name being
mentioned; secondly, that the cardinal had bought three months before,
for 1500 Roman crowns, a magnificent pearl which could not be found
among the objects belonging to him: on which Alexander ordered that from
that very moment until the negligence in the cardinal’s accounts was
repaired, the men who were in the habit of bringing him food twice a day
on behalf of his mother should not be admitted into the Castle Sant’
Angelo. The same day, the cardinal’s mother sent the pope the 2000
ducats, and the next day his mistress, in man’s attire, came in person
to bring the missing pearl. His Holiness, however, was so struck with
her beauty in this costume, that, we are told, he let her keep the pearl
for the same price she had paid for it.
Then the pope allowed the cardinal to have his food brought as before,
and he died of poison on the 22nd of February—that is, two days after
his accounts had been set right.
That same night the Prince of Squillace set off to take possession, in
the pope’s name, of the lands of the deceased.