From the effect produced at Rome by Alexander’s death, one may imagine
what happened not only in the whole of Italy but also in the rest of the
world: for a moment Europe swayed, for the column which supported the
vault of the political edifice had given way, and the star with eyes of
flame and rays of blood, round which all things had revolved for the
last eleven years, was now extinguished, and for a moment the world, on
a sudden struck motionless, remained in silence and darkness.
After the first moment of stupefaction, all who had an injury to avenge
arose and hurried to the chase. Sforza retook Pesaro, Bagloine Perugia,
Guido and Ubaldo Urbino, and La Rovere Sinigaglia; the Vitelli entered
Citta di Castello, the Appiani Piombino, the Orsini Monte Giordano and
their other territories; Romagna alone remained impassive and loyal, for
the people, who have no concern with the quarrels of the great, provided
they do not affect themselves, had never been so happy as under the
government of Caesar.
The Colonnas were pledged to maintain a neutrality, and had been
consequently restored to the possession of their castles and the cities
of Chiuzano, Capo d’Anno, Frascati, Rocca di Papa, and Nettuno, which
they found in a better condition than when they had left them, as the
pope had had them embellished and fortified.
Caesar was still in the Vatican with his troops, who, loyal to him in
his misfortune, kept watch about the palace, where he was writhing on
his bed of pain and roaring like a wounded lion. The cardinals, who had
in their first terror fled, each his own way, instead of attending the
pope’s obsequies, began to assemble once more, some at the Minerva,
others around Cardinal Caraffa. Frightened by the troops that Caesar
still had, especially since the command was entrusted to Michelotto,
they collected all the money they could to levy an army of 2000 soldiers
with. Charles Taneo at their head, with the title of Captain of the
Sacred College. It was then hoped that peace was re-established, when it
was heard that Prospero Colonna was coming with 3000 men from the side
of Naples, and Fabio Orsino from the side of Viterbo with 200 horse and
more than 1000 infantry. Indeed, they entered Rome at only one day’s
interval one from another, by so similar an ardour were they inspired.
Thus there were five armies in Rome: Caesar’s army, holding the Vatican
and the Borgo; the army of the Bishop of Nicastro, who had received from
Alexander the guardianship of the Castle Sant’ Angelo and had shut
himself up there, refusing to yield; the army of the Sacred College,
which was stationed round about the Minerva; the army of Prospero
Colonna, which was encamped at the Capitol; and the army of Fabio
Orsino, in barracks at the Ripetta.
On their side, the Spaniards had advanced to Terracino, and the French
to Nepi. The cardinals saw that Rome now stood upon a mine which the
least spark might cause to explode: they summoned the ambassadors of the
Emperor of Germany, the Kings of France and Spain, and the republic of
Venice to raise their voice in the name of their masters. The
ambassadors, impressed with the urgency of the situation, began by
declaring the Sacred College inviolable: they then ordered the Orsini,
the Colonnas, and the Duke of Valentinois to leave Rome and go each his
own, way.
The Orsini were the first to submit: the next morning their example was
followed by the Colonnas. No one was left but Caesar, who said he was
willing to go, but desired to make his conditions beforehand: the
Vatican was undermined, he declared, and if his demands were refused he
and those who came to take him should be blown up together.
It was known that his were never empty threats they came to terms with
him.
[Caesar promised to remain ten miles away from Rome the whole time the
Conclave lasted, and not to take any action against the town or any
other of the Ecclesiastical States: Fabio Orsino and. Prospero Colonna
had made the same promises.]
[It was agreed that Caesar should quit Rome with his army, artillery,
and baggage; and to ensure his not being attacked or molested in the
streets, the Sacred College should add to his numbers 400 infantry, who,
in case of attack or insult, would fight for him. The Venetian
ambassador answered for the Orsini, the Spanish ambassador for the
Colonnas, the ambassador of France for Caesar.]
At the day and hour appointed Caesar sent out his artillery, which
consisted of eighteen pieces of cannon, and 400 infantry of the Sacred
College, on each of whom he bestowed a ducat: behind the artillery came
a hundred chariots escorted by his advance guard.
The duke was carried out of the gate of the Vatican: he lay on a bed
covered with a scarlet canopy, supported by twelve halberdiers, leaning
forward on his cushions so that no one might see his face with its
purple lips and bloodshot eyes: beside him was his naked sword, to show
that, feeble as he was, he could use it at need: his finest charger,
caparisoned in black velvet embroidered with his arms, walked beside the
bed, led by a page, so that Caesar could mount in case of surprise or
attack: before him and behind, both right and left, marched his army,
their arms in rest, but without beating of drums or blowing of trumpets:
this gave a sombre, funereal air to the whole procession, which at the
gate of the city met Prospero Colonna awaiting it with a considerable
band of men.
Caesar thought at first that, breaking his word as he had so often done
himself, Prospero Colonna was going to attack him. He ordered a halt,
and prepared to mount his horse; but Prospera Colonna, seeing the state
he was in, advanced to his bedside alone: he came, against expectation,
to offer him an escort, fearing an ambuscade on the part of Fabio
Orsino, who had loudly sworn that he would lose his honour or avenge the
death of Paolo Orsina, his father. Caesar thanked Colanna, and replied
that from the moment that Orsini stood alone he ceased to fear him. Then
Colonna saluted the duke, and rejoined his men, directing them towards
Albano, while Caesar took the road to Citta Castellana, which had
remained loyal.
When there, Caesar found himself not only master of his own fate but of
others as well: of the twenty-two votes he owned in the Sacred College
twelve had remained faithful, and as the Conclave was composed in all of
thirty-seven cardinals, he with his twelve votes could make the majority
incline to whichever side he chose. Accordingly he was courted both by
the Spanish and the French party, each desiring the election of a pope
of their own nation. Caesar listened, promising nothing and refusing
nothing: he gave his twelve votes to Francesco Piccolomini, Cardinal of
Siena, one of his father’s creatures who had remained his friend, and
the latter was elected on the 8th of October and took the name of Pius
III.
Caesar’s hopes did not deceive him: Pius III was hardly elected before
he sent him a safe-conduct to Rome: the duke came back with 250
men-at-arms, 250 light horse, and 800 infantry, and lodged in his
palace, the soldiers camping round about.
Meanwhile the Orsini, pursuing their projects of vengeance against
Caesar, had been levying many troops at Perugia and the neighbourhood to
bring against him to Rome, and as they fancied that France, in whose
service they were engaged, was humouring the duke for the sake of the
twelve votes which were wanted to secure the election of Cardinal
Amboise at the next Conclave, they went over to the service of Spain.
Meanwhile Caesar was signing a new treaty with Louis XII, by which he
engaged to support him with all his forces, and even with his person, so
soon as he could ride, in maintaining his conquest of Naples: Louis, on
his side, guaranteed that he should retain possession of the States he
still held, and promised his help in recovering those he had lost.
The day when this treaty was made known, Gonzalvo di Cordovo proclaimed
to the sound of a trumpet in all the streets of Rome that every Spanish
subject serving in a foreign army was at once to break his engagement on
pain of being found guilty of high treason.
This measure robbed Caesar of ten or twelve of his best officers and of
nearly 300 men.
Then the Orsini, seeing his army thus reduced, entered Rome, supported
by the Spanish ambassador, and summoned Caesar to appear before the pope
and the Sacred College and give an account of his crimes.
Faithful to his engagements, Pius III replied that in his quality of
sovereign prince the duke in his temporal administration was quite
independent and was answerable for his actions to God alone.
But as the pope felt he could not much longer support Caesar against his
enemies for all his goodwill, he advised him to try to join the French
army, which was still advancing on Naples, in the midst of which he
would alone find safety. Caesar resolved to retire to Bracciano, where
Gian Giordano Orsino, who had once gone with him to France, and who was
the only member of the family who had not declared against him, offered
him an asylum in the name of Cardinal dumbest: so one morning he ordered
his troops to march for this town, and, taking his place in their midst,
he left Rome.
But though Caesar had kept his intentions quiet, the Orsini had been
forewarned, and, taking out all the troops they had by the gate of San
Pancracio, they had made along detour and blocked Caesar’s way; so, when
the latter arrived at Storta, he found the Orsini’s army drawn up
awaiting him in numbers exceeding his own by at least one-half.
Caesar saw that to come to blows in his then feeble state was to rush on
certain destruction; so he ordered his troops to retire, and, being a
first-rate strategist, echelonned his retreat so skilfully that his
enemies, though they followed, dared not attack him, and he re-entered
the pontifical town without the loss of a single man.
This time Caesar went straight to the Vatican, to put himself more
directly under the pope’s protection; he distributed his soldiers about
the palace, so as to guard all its exits. Now the Orsini, resolved to
make an end of Caesar, had determined to attack him wheresoever he might
be, with no regard to the sanctity of the place: this they attempted,
but without success, as Caesar’s men kept a good guard on every side,
and offered a strong defence.
Then the Orsini, not being able to force the guard of the Castle Sant’
Angelo, hoped to succeed better with the duke by leaving Rome and then
returning by the Torione gate; but Caesar anticipated this move, and
they found the gate guarded and barricaded. None the less, they pursued
their design, seeking by open violence the vengeance that they had hoped
to obtain by craft; and, having surprised the approaches to the gate,
set fire to it: a passage gained, they made their way into the gardens
of the castle, where they found Caesar awaiting them at the head of his
cavalry.
Face to face with danger, the duke had found his old strength: and he
was the first to rush upon his enemies, loudly challenging Orsino in the
hope of killing him should they meet; but either Orsino did not hear him
or dared not fight; and after an exciting contest, Caesar, who was
numerically two-thirds weaker than his enemy, saw his cavalry cut to
pieces; and after performing miracles of personal strength and courage,
was obliged to return to the Vatican. There he found the pope in mortal
agony: the Orsini, tired of contending against the old man’s word of
honour pledged to the duke, had by the interposition of Pandolfo
Petrucci, gained the ear of the pope’s surgeon, who placed a poisoned
plaster upon a wound in his leg.
The pope then was actually dying when Caesar, covered with dust and
blood, entered his room, pursued by his enemies, who knew no check till
they reached the palace walls, behind which the remnant of his army
still held their ground.
Pius III, who knew he was about to die, sat up in his bed, gave Caesar
the key of the corridor which led to the Castle of Sant’ Angelo, and an
order addressed to the governor to admit him and his family, to defend
him to the last extremity, and to let him go wherever he thought fit;
and then fell fainting on his bed.
Caesar took his two daughters by the hand, and, followed by the little
dukes of Sermaneta and Nepi, took refuge in the last asylum open to him.
The same night the pope died: he had reigned only twenty-six days.
After his death, Caesar, who had cast himself fully dressed upon his
bed, heard his door open at two o’clock in the morning: not knowing what
anyone might want of him at such an hour, he raised himself on one elbow
and felt for the handle of his sword with his other hand; but at the
first glance he recognised in his nocturnal visitor Giuliano della
Rovere.
Utterly exhausted by the poison, abandoned by his troops, fallen as he
was from the height of his power, Caesar, who could now do nothing for
himself, could yet make a pope: Giuliano delta Rovere had come to buy
the votes of his twelve cardinals.
Caesar imposed his conditions, which were accepted.
If elected, Giuliano della Rovere was to help Caesar to recover his
territories in Romagna; Caesar was to remain general of the Church; and
Francesco Maria delta Rovere, prefect of Rome, was to marry one of
Caesar’s daughters.
On these conditions Caesar sold his twelve cardinals to Giuliano.
The next day, at Giuliano’s request, the Sacred College ordered the
Orsini to leave Rome for the whole time occupied by the Conclave.
On the 31st of October 1503, at the first scrutiny, Giuliano delta
Rovere was elected pope, and took the name of Julius II.
He was scarcely installed in the Vatican when he made it his first care
to summon Caesar and give him his former rooms there; then, since the
duke was fully restored to health, he began to busy himself with the
re-establishment of his affairs, which had suffered sadly of late.
The defeat of his army and his own escape to Sant’ Angelo, where he was
supposed to be a prisoner, had brought about great changes in Romagna.
Sesena was once more in the power of the Church, as formerly it had
been; Gian Sforza had again entered Pesaro; Ordelafi had seized Forli;
Malatesta was laying claim to Rimini; the inhabitants of Imola had
assassinated their governor, and the town was divided between two
opinions, one that it should be put into the hands of the Riani, the
other, into the hands of the Church; Faenza had remained loyal longer
than any other place; but at last, losing hope of seeing Caesar recover
his power, it had summoned Francesco, a natural son of Galeotto
Manfredi, the last surviving heir of this unhappy family, all whose
legitimate descendants had been massacred by Borgia.
It is true that the fortresses of these different places had taken no
part in these revolutions, and had remained immutably faithful to the
Duke of Valentinois.
So it was not precisely the defection of these towns, which, thanks to
their fortresses, might be reconquered, that was the cause of uneasiness
to Caesar and Julius II, it was the difficult situation that Venice had
thrust upon them. Venice, in the spring of the same year, had signed a
treaty of peace with the Turks: thus set free from her eternal enemy,
she had just led her forces to the Romagna, which she had always
coveted: these troops had been led towards Ravenna, the farthermost
limit of the Papal estates, and put under the command of Giacopo
Venieri, who had failed to capture Cesena, and had only failed through
the courage of its inhabitants; but this check had been amply
compensated by the surrender of the fortresses of Val di Lamane and
Faenza, by the capture of Farlimpopoli, and the surrender of Rimini,
which Pandolfo Malatesta, its lord, exchanged for the seigniory of
Cittadella, in the State of Padua, and for the rank of gentleman of
Venice.
Then Caesar made a proposition to Julius II: this was to make a
momentary cession to the Church of his own estates in Romagna, so that
the respect felt by the Venetians for the Church might save these towns
from their aggressors; but, says Guicciardini, Julius II, whose
ambition, so natural in sovereign rulers, had not yet extinguished the
remains of rectitude, refused to accept the places, afraid of exposing
himself to the temptation of keeping them later on, against his
promises.
But as the case was urgent, he proposed to Caesar that he should leave
Rome, embark at Ostia, and cross over to Spezia, where Michelotto was to
meet him at the head of 100 men-at-arms and 100 light horse, the only
remnant of his magnificent army, thence by land to Ferrara, and from
Ferrara to Imola, where, once arrived, he could utter his war-cry so
loud that it would be heard through the length and breadth of Romagna.
This advice being after Caesar’s own heart, he accepted it at once.
The resolution submitted to the Sacred College was approved, and Caesar
left for Ostia, accompanied by Bartolommeo della Rovere, nephew of His
Holiness.
Caesar at last felt he was free, and fancied himself already on his good
charger, a second time carrying war into all the places where he had
formerly fought. When he reached Ostia, he was met by the cardinals of
Sorrento and Volterra, who came in the name of Julius II to ask him to
give up the very same citadels which he had refused three days before:
the fact was that the pope had learned in the interim that the Venetians
had made fresh aggressions, and recognised that the method proposed by
Caesar was the only one that would check them. But this time it was
Caesar’s turn, to refuse, for he was weary of these tergiversations, and
feared a trap; so he said that the surrender asked for would be useless,
since by God’s help he should be in Romagna before eight days were past.
So the cardinals of Sorrento and Volterra returned to Rome with a
refusal.
The next morning, just as Caesar was setting foot on his vessel, he was
arrested in the name of Julius II.
He thought at first that this was the end; he was used to this mode of
action, and knew how short was the space between a prison and a tomb;
the matter was all the easier in his case, because the pope, if he
chose, would have plenty of pretext for making a case against him. But
the heart of Julius was of another kind from his; swift to anger, but
open to clemency; so, when the duke came back to Rome guarded, the
momentary irritation his refusal had caused was already calmed, and the
pope received him in his usual fashion at his palace, and with his
ordinary courtesy, although from the beginning it was easy for the duke
to see that he was being watched. In return for this kind reception,
Caesar consented to yield the fortress of Cesena to the pope, as being a
town which had once belonged to the Church, and now should return;
giving the deed, signed by Caesar, to one of his captains, called Pietro
d’Oviedo, he ordered him to take possession of the fortress in the name
of the Holy See. Pietro obeyed, and starting at once for Cesena,
presented himself armed with his warrant before Don Diego Chinon; a
noble condottiere of Spain, who was holding the fortress in Caesar’s
name. But when he had read over the paper that Pietro d’Oviedo brought,
Don Diego replied that as he knew his lord and master was a prisoner, it
would be disgraceful in him to obey an order that had probably been
wrested from him by violence, and that the bearer deserved to die for
undertaking such a cowardly office. He therefore bade his soldiers seize
d’Oviedo and fling him down from the top of the walls: this sentence was
promptly executed.
This mark of fidelity might have proved fatal to Caesar: when the pope
heard how his messenger had been treated, he flew into such a rage that
the prisoner thought a second time that his hour was come; and in order
to receive his liberty, he made the first of those new propositions to
Julius II, which were drawn up in the form of a treaty and sanctioned by
a bull. By these arrangements, the Duke of Valentinois was bound to hand
over to His Holiness, within the space of forty days, the fortresses of
Cesena and Bertinoro, and authorise the surrender of Forli. This
arrangement was guaranteed by two bankers in Rome who were to be
responsible for 15,000 ducats, the sum total of the expenses which the
governor pretended he had incurred in the place on the duke’s account.
The pope on his part engaged to send Caesar to Ostia under the sole
guard of the Cardinal of Santa Croce and two officers, who were to give
him his full liberty on the very day when his engagements were
fulfilled: should this not happen, Caesar was to be taken to Rome and
imprisoned in the Castle of Sant’ Angelo. In fulfilment of this treaty,
Caesar went down the Tiber as far as Ostia, accompanied by the pope’s
treasurer and many of his servants. The Cardinal of Santa Croce
followed, and the next day joined him there.
But as Caesar feared that Julius II might keep him a prisoner, in spite
of his pledged word, after he had yielded up the fortresses, he asked,
through the mediation of Cardinals Borgia and Remolina, who, not feeling
safe at Rome, had retired to Naples, for a safe-conduct to Gonzalva of
Cordova, and for two ships to take him there; with the return of the
courier the safe-conduct arrived, announcing that the ships would
shortly follow.
In the midst of all this, the Cardinal of Santa Croce, learning that by
the duke’s orders the governors of Cesena and Bertinoro had surrendered
their fortresses to the captains of His Holiness, relaxed his rigour,
and knowing that his prisoner would some day or other be free, began to
let him go out without a guard. Then Caesar, feeling some fear lest when
he started with Gonzalvo’s ships the same thing might happen as on the
occasion of his embarking on the pope’s vessel—that is, that he might be
arrested a second time—concealed himself in a house outside the town;
and when night came on, mounting a wretched horse that belonged to a
peasant, rode as far as Nettuno, and there hired a little boat, in which
he embarked for Monte Dragone, and thence gained Naples. Gonzalvo
received him with such joy that Caesar was deceived as to his intention,
and this time believed that he was really saved. His confidence was
redoubled when, opening his designs to Gonzalvo, and telling him that he
counted upon gaining Pisa and thence going on into Romagna, Ganzalva
allowed him to recruit as many soldiers at Naples as he pleased,
promising him two ships to embark with. Caesar, deceived by these
appearances, stopped nearly six weeks at Naples, every day seeing the
Spanish governor and discussing his plans. But Gonzalvo was only waiting
to gain time to tell the King of Spain that his enemy was in his hands;
and Caesar actually went to the castle to bid Gonzalvo good-bye,
thinking he was just about to start after he had embarked his men on the
two ships. The Spanish governor received him with his accustomed
courtesy, wished him every kind of prosperity, and embraced him as he
left; but at the door of the castle Caesar found one of Gonzalvo’s
captains, Nuno Campeja by name, who arrested him as a prisoner of
Ferdinand the Catholic. Caesar at these words heaved a deep sigh,
cursing the ill luck that had made him trust the word of an enemy when
he had so often broken his own.
He was at once taken to the castle, where the prison gate closed behind
him, and he felt no hope that anyone would come to his aid; for the only
being who was devoted to him in this world was Michelotto, and he had
heard that Michelotto had been arrested near Pisa by order of Julius II.
While Caesar was being taken to prison an officer came to him to deprive
him of the safe-conduct given him by Gonzalvo.
The day after his arrest, which occurred on the 27th of May, 1504,
Caesar was taken on board a ship, which at once weighed anchor and set
sail for Spain: during the whole voyage he had but one page to serve
him, and as soon as he disembarked he was taken to the castle of Medina
del Campo.
Ten years later, Gonzalvo, who at that time was himself proscribed,
owned to Loxa on his dying bed that now, when he was to appear in the
presence of God, two things weighed cruelly on his conscience: one was
his treason to Ferdinand, the other his breach of faith towards Caesar.