James Dennistoun

Count Federigo’s domestic life—His second marriage—New war for the Angevine succession to Naples—Battle of San Fabbiano—Conclusion of the war—Humiliation of the Malatesta.

THOSE readers who have thus far followed our narrative of Count Federigo's military career may perhaps regret that its somewhat limited and monotonous interest should not have been varied by glimpses of his domestic life. A prince whose engagements were observed with rare fidelity, whose chivalrous honour was happily combined with practical good sense and unflinching justice, must have been almost necessarily a good husband and kind master. But, in accordance with the habits of his age and the calls of his condottiere profession, most of his time was passed in the field, and unfortunately in those times few bards and biographers considered any incense worth offering which did not savour of

"The pomp and circumstance of glorious war."

His marriage with Gentile being hopelessly barren, he had followed the example of his father by obtaining papal briefs of legitimation, in 1454, for his natural sons Buonconte and Antonio. With the latter we shall make acquaintance by and by; the former, a youth of remarkable promise, is supposed to have been his destined heir,[100] but having been sent on a mission to Alfonso at Naples, in October, 1458, he died there of the plague; and another brother, Bernardino, who had accompanied him on that journey, scarcely survived his return. Berni, speaking from personal knowledge of these two princes, applies to them Virgil's high-flown compliment to Marcellus:—

"Ah, couldst thou break through Fate's severe decree, A new Marcellus shall arise in thee! Full canisters of fragrant lilies bring, Mixed with the purple roses of the spring; Let me with funeral flowers his body strew."[101]

Federigo and Battista

P. della Francesca, pinx. L. Ceroni, sculp.

Alinari

FEDERIGO, DUKE OF URBINO, AND BATTISTA, HIS WIFE

From the picture by Piero della Francesca in the Uffizi Gallery

These bereavements probably predisposed their father to a proposal made to him at Mantua by the Duke of Milan, that he should marry his niece Battista Sforza, daughter of the Lord of Pesaro, whose descent we have already explained, and who was now about thirteen years of age.[102] Her mother's death, when she was but eighteen months old, had occasioned her being carried at an early age to the court of Milan, where those gifts and endowments were well cultivated for which her mother and great-grandmother had been renowned. Nearly of an age with her cousin Hippolita Maria, one of the paragon princesses of her age, whose marriage to the heir presumptive of the Neapolitan crown we have noticed, she shared her laborious education, and amply redeemed her own hereditary claim to the talents and classical acquirements then in vogue among the pedantic dames of Italy. With the like showy scholarship and precocious command of Latin rhetoric to which her female predecessors had been trained, she was put forward to welcome illustrious visitors at Milan and Pesaro, in harangues which we are assured were sometimes prepared, sometimes extempore, but always elegant and appropriate.[103] The same contemporary authority attributes her engagement with Federigo to the influence of King Alfonso immediately upon Gentile's death; but the dispensation is dated the 4th of October, 1459,[104] and in the following month the betrothal took place at Pesaro, where great satisfaction was displayed, and a donation of 3000 bolognini, or 75 florins, was voted by the council to Alessandro, of which he would accept but two-thirds. The marriage was celebrated at Urbino, on the 10th of February, 1460; and we turn to Sanzi's Chronicle, in the hope of finding some interesting details commemorated by an eye-witness. These pomps are, however, unfortunately curtailed by the poet, anxious to resume the dull recital of little wars. He describes the bride as

"A maiden With every grace and virtue rare endowed, That heaven at intervals on earth vouchsafes, In earnest of the bliss reserved on high."

Muzio most unaccountably omits all notice of the marriage; we, however, learn from Betussi that she was tiny in person, but inherited the gifts and eloquence of her grandmother, Battista di Montefeltro. These she publicly exercised at Mantua, in an oration addressed to Pius II., and answered in a compliment dictated either by his gallantry or critical acumen. Bernardo Tasso has pleasingly embodied the testimony of her contemporaries:—

"The first of them in equal favour holds Demosthenes and Plato; reading, too, Plotinus, while, in wisdom as in words, Arpino's orator she well shall match; Consort of one unconquered, Frederick, Urbino's Duke and long-tried champion."[105]

Allegory

CLARVS INSIGNI VEHITVR TRIVMPHO
QVEM PAREM SVMMIS DVCIBVS PERHENNIS
FAMA VIRTVTVM CELEBRAT DECENTER
SCEPTRA TENENTEM

Alinari

ALLEGORY

After the picture by Piero della Francesca in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Allegory

QVEMODVM REBVS TENVIT SECVNDIS
CONIVGIS MAGNI DECORATA RERVM
LAVDE GESTARVM VOLITAT PER ORA
CVNCTA VIRORVM

Alinari

ALLEGORY

After the picture by Piero della Francesca in the Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Yet much learning distracted her not from the practical affairs of life. During her husband's ever-recurring absences, she administered his state with singular propriety, besides bringing him many children. On the fourth day after the ceremony, Federigo left his capital to visit the Pope at Siena, where he was magnificently entertained, returning home to pass the carnival with his bride.

New elements of discord were meanwhile fermenting, by which the Turkish crusade was indefinitely postponed. The popularity gained by the noble character of Alfonso of Naples, and confirmed by his residence in Italy, descended not to his successor. Ferdinand was already unfavourably known, from his sombre and revengeful temper, his falsehood and avarice; yet we look in vain for provocations or grievances adequate to justify the factious proceedings of his great barons. Resolved to supplant him, they made overtures to Jean, King of Navarre, the successor to Alfonso's hereditary dominions, whose eldest son, Count Viane, had already gathered golden opinions in Lower Italy. But Jean, more anxious to consolidate his kingdom than to augment it by outlying appendages, declined interfering, and the malcontents turned to the Angevine claimant of the Neapolitan crown. RenÉ the Good still reigned in Provence, occupied with his pen and pencil, and better fitted to be the bard of chivalry than its hero. His son, the titular Duke of Calabria, had established himself at Genoa in 1458, with almost sovereign authority, on the invitation of her citizens, who, finding themselves worsted in a contest, unwisely renewed by Alfonso, after the peace of Lodi, in order to avenge himself of the obstinately Angevine policy of that republic, naturally called to their aid his French rival. The Duke's winning qualities, and the sound judgment which he had manifested in their service, were well calculated to render him a competitor very formidable to the unprepossessing Ferdinand. The Genoese, whose hearts he had thus gained, were ready to back him with a naval armament, reinforced by some galleys originally fitted out at Marseilles for the Turkish expedition, but placed by Charles VII. at RenÉ's disposal. Florence, a tried partisan of the Angevine succession, was faithful to her prescriptive policy, and now urged upon Venice the recent grudge which both republics owed to Alfonso of Aragon. But it was in vain that the Duke sought support from Francesco Sforza and the Pope. The former, with comprehensive glance, calculated the risks of French domination in Italy, and took his stand on the treaty of Lodi, which, uniting all her powers in one solemn national league, guaranteed the succession of Naples. He therefore respectfully declined from the Angevine candidate the same bribe which Celestine had vainly offered him of his father's holdings in the Abruzzi, and during the Congress at Mantua confirmed the Pontiff's inclination for the Aragonese dynasty.

In October, 1459, the Duke of Calabria made a descent on the Neapolitan coast, and his arrival gave the signal for an almost universal rising of the great barons of the kingdom. At this crisis of his fortunes, Ferdinand succeeded, through the Duke of Milan's strenuous exertions, in detaching from the Angevine party Venice and Florence, which assumed a neutral position. He also summoned Piccinino from schemes of personal aggrandisement in La Marca, to defend his crown; but that greedy freebooter, indignant at being called off his quarry, took the usual licence of condottieri, and opened a correspondence with his master's competitor. Warned of this by the Count of Urbino, the King and the Duke of Milan made every effort to retain Giacopo under the banner of Aragon, and we are assured that the Count, in their interest, went so far as to promise him a surrender of part of his newly recovered territory, should the adventurer not make good for himself any other seigneury.[106] But trusting little to that slippery soldier, they desired Federigo and the Lord of Pesaro to concert measures for preventing his march into the Abruzzi. Their precautions were, however, defeated, for Piccinino, who then lay in Romagna, sent his baggage and camp-followers to be embarked at the nearest ports, and partly by dexterously misleading them as to his route, chiefly by forced marches of extraordinary rapidity, in three days scoured the Adriatic coast, and reached the Tronto without impediment. On the last day he is said to have done fifty miles, with twenty squadrons of men-at-arms and two thousand infantry—a feat which cost him many horses, and which he was believed to have effected by aid of the Lady of Loretto, before whose shrine he found time to prefer a passing orison. Possibly more important to his success was the adhesion of Ercole d'Este, and of the Lords of Rimini and Camerino, to the cause of Anjou, as well as orders privately given by the papal legate to accelerate the passage of his formidable company through the ecclesiastical territory.

Although the army of the League, following closely on that of Piccinino, had crossed the Tronto early in April, it was unable to effect a junction with Ferdinand, in consequence of the eastern side of the kingdom having risen against him, and of the passes being all well guarded. In this state of affairs the King's defeat at Sarno rendered his prospects still more gloomy, and his only remaining hope seemed to rest on the confederate force in the Abruzzi. It consisted of a strong contingent from Lombardy, led by Bosio Sforza, and of a less important brigade of ecclesiastical troops, besides the hardy mountaineers of Montefeltro and the well-tried company of Alessandro Sforza, the whole commanded by the Count of Urbino. It was kept in check by Piccinino's army, superior especially in infantry and cross-bowmen, although of late considerably weeded of the Braccian veterans, many of whom had taken service under the Lords of Pesaro and Urbino.

In July these contending armaments were in presence at San Fabbiano, on the Tordino, the Angevines encamped on the hill-side, the Aragonese in the plain, separated by a considerable extent of intervening level ground, on which marauding or exploring parties from each camp daily met. During one of these skirmishes, a defiance was given by Nardo da Marsciano to Francesco della Carda to break a lance, which was cheerfully accepted; and the challenge being repeated by Serafino da Montefalcone, it was taken up by one Fantaguzzo da S. Arcangelo. Two days were allowed for preparations, and, when the encounters took place, victory declared for the Aragonese knights, who, by order of Piccinino, were crowned with laurel, and escorted back to their camp by a pompous array of martial music. While aiding to keep the lists, Federigo, in making a dash at a straggler, spurred his charger, which suddenly bounding, so wrenched his back that he was rendered incapable of motion, and was lifted from his horse in exquisite pain. Being put to bed, with the prospect of a tedious cure, a council of war was held in his tent, when Alessandro Sforza, the next in command, advocated a general action; but the Count spoke long and strongly in favour of defensive tactics, and of saving the troops from continual skirmishes, exhausting to their strength and temper. The latter opinion was unanimously approved of; but Alessandro having exclaimed, with some show of mortified feeling, "You, however, have thrice had a tussle with the enemy," Federigo replied, "Well then, you may do the same, but with two or three squadrons only, not putting the whole encampment under arms." Accordingly, two days after,[107] a partial onset was made, which, as both sides were supported by repeated reinforcements, gradually brought on a general action. The battle, thus commenced without plan or object, became a disorderly pell-mell fight, and hence, probably, its results were far more fatal than the usually bloodless engagements of hired companies, more anxious about their own safety than the cause which they supported for the nonce. Little can be gathered from the confused accounts of the Urbino writers, and that of Simonetta is obviously incomplete. From the latter it would seem that the Braccians strove to cross a deep ditch in front of their quarters, whilst Ricotti makes them successful in breaking through the enemy's line, too much extended under an apprehension of being outflanked by superior numbers. Again, the biographers of Federigo tell us that, learning the impending loss of a battle brought on against his advice, he rose from bed, had himself swathed in bandages, and, though unable to don his armour, was lifted on horseback, heading a charge of the reserve, which, although not crowned by victory, averted a certain and signal defeat. The contest was prolonged when night had closed in, and, after seven hours of severe fighting, the combatants withdrew to their respective quarters. Baldi, who dwells very fully on the Count's gallantry, quoting contemporary manuscripts, mentions that two horses were killed under him: but his courage was shown in triumphing over the agony of his malady even more than by exposing himself in the brunt of a battle which had become almost desperate. His conduct in both respects was done justice to by his followers, and much of his military reputation dated from the disastrous fight of San Fabbiano. It is to be regretted that no return of its casualties has reached us, as it would have been curious to know the losses of the most bloody action of this age. Berni merely says that 400 horses and many men were slain. As to its immediate consequences, our authorities are again at issue. Simonetta, the historian of the Sforzas, and, consequently, a partisan of the League, admits that, though apparently a drawn battle, the disadvantage was greatly on the allies' side; that a portion of their troops fled from the field, and never drew bridle until they had crossed the Tronto, followed by the rest, during the stillness of the subsequent night. Sismondi also claims a victory for the Angevines, with the loss to their opponents of all their baggage and most of their horses. On the other hand, Baldi quotes two contemporary authorities, one of them a spectator, to prove that Federigo's army sacrificed scarcely more than four hundred horses, and that he did not break up his cantonments for at least ten days later, and even then only in consequence of progressive disaffection in the Abruzzi. He admits, however, that the confederate army exhibited a most pusillanimous spirit, and, but for their captain-general's exertions and authority, would have actually done what Simonetta lays to their charge, instead of eventually retiring beyond the Tronto rapidly, but in good order, with baggage and wounded, their retreat covered by a succession of ambuscades, which checked and severely punished the columns of Piccinino, while in disorderly pursuit.

The tournament which preluded this mortal strife proves that a spirit of chivalry still animated the Italian condottieri,[*108] who, in the words of Dante,

"Hired to a hireling, still with hirelings fights, Ne'er asks the cause of quarrel nor its rights."

An anecdote of Federigo which occurred a few days later illustrates the same feeling. Piccinino, informed by spies of the panic prevailing among the allies, sought by all means to aggravate it, in order to rid himself of them without further bloodshed. He, therefore, on various pretexts, sent into their camp bearers of bad news, and exaggerated rumours from the south. One of these emissaries, being taken before the Count and asked what tidings, represented himself as commissioned by Giacopo to request that their plate and valuables might not be sent away, as he wished to have them for his own special use. Federigo, though blessed with uncommon command of temper, was irritated by this boastful and ill-timed insult, and, starting to his feet, exclaimed, "Reply to Piccinino, or whoever else sent you on this mission, that he who would win my property will have enough to do, and must first stake his own." Then, looking towards the sun, he added, "It is now late, but to-morrow I shall inquire by what means he is to get them." In the morning he accordingly sent his secretary, Paltroni, to inform the General that, having received such a message in his name, he desired to know how he proposed to gain these things, by pitched battle or single combat; that he was welcome to choose what way he pleased, as they would be well defended against one or many. But Giacopo repudiated the bravado imputed to him, and sent back the envoy with many compliments, so that this intended discouragement was, by the Count's tact, converted into a sort of triumph, at the expense rather than to the advantage of his designing adversary.

Ferdinand having lost every place of importance but his capital, the cause of Aragon was now most critically situated; and had the Duke of Calabria moved directly upon Naples, there can be little doubt that the French dynasty would have been seated, and probably established, upon the throne of one of the Sicilies. But he let slip the favourable moment, influenced it is said by Orsini, Prince of Tarento. Such was the predominance enjoyed by this overgrown feudatory, that Alfonso had conceived a marriage with his niece Isabella sufficient to secure the crown to Ferdinand; yet was he the first to disturb the succession, and his whole power had been directed against her husband. It is said that love or duty, ambition or pique, working on woman's wit, induced her to hazard an appeal to her uncle's mercy, and that, disguised as a Franciscan monk, she made her way to his tent, where her expostulations moved the stern baron to give breathing time to Ferdinand, by diverting the Angevine arms from the capital to less important places. Simonetta, omitting this little romance of history, ascribes Orsini's policy to the selfish motive of prolonging a civil war which augmented his individual importance. Under this pressing necessity all thoughts of the Turkish crusade were abandoned; and even Pius postponed to a more fitting season, what he regarded as the cause of Christendom, in favour of one which Sforza had satisfied him was that of Italy. Both these sovereigns promptly advanced subsidies, and a small contingent of troops from Lombardy arrived in the confederate camp. The Count of Urbino's service as captain-general expired in September, when he would gladly have quitted a cause forsaken apparently by fortune, in order to protect home interests, always in peril from his neighbour of Rimini. But he was persuaded to accept a renewed engagement from the Pontiff, who in the autumn was recalled from Siena by the exigency of his capital.

Piccinino, consulting as much the advantage of his own company as that of the house of Anjou, made a descent upon the Sabine territory, and scoured the rich Campagna, until the Romans, tracing from their walls his path of fire, trembled for their insecure city. The army of the League was summoned in all haste for its defence, but their march was delayed by divided councils and private aims, the leaders being averse to leaving exposed their interests in Romagna; and had Giacopo ventured to attack the Eternal City, instead of intriguing with a few of her discontented inhabitants, he might have anticipated those scenes of plunder and outrage inflicted on her in the following century by the lawless host of the Constable Bourbon. But it was reserved for a French renegade, leading a horde of ultra-montane banditti, to strike a blow, from which the Italian condottiere may have recoiled as sacrilegious. Fortunately, Federigo was thus spared the disgrace which tarnishes his grandson Duke Francesco Maria I., of sacrificing the metropolis of Christendom to dilatory movements and selfish ends. After losing three months inactively on the Adriatic, the confederates advanced into the Sabine country, and recovered several places lately seized by the Angevines. November having arrived, both armies went into winter quarters; the Count of Urbino at Magliano, near Narni, where he learned that his departure from La Marca had encouraged Malatesta to seize upon Mondavio, which under the late arrangement had become his, Sinigaglia being re-annexed to the Church.

Federigo and Alessandro Sforza repaired to Rome for the Christmas ceremonies, when there occurred a singular proceeding, commemorated by Pius in his Commentaries. An advocate of the papal courts brought before a full consistory the malpractices of Sigismondo Malatesta in a formal pleading, accusing him of rapine, wilful fire-raising, slaughter, rape, adultery, incest, parricide, sacrilege, treason, lese-majesty, and heresy, and praying his Holiness to listen to the suppliant voices of those who could no longer endure the tyrant's cruel yoke, and to avenge them by at length freeing Italy from a foul and abominable monster, in whose cities no good man's life was safe. None having replied to this oration, the Count of Urbino and his neighbour of Pesaro resumed the charges, alleging that many of the culprit's worst enormities had been passed over; that his treacheries equalled the number of his transactions, that none ever trusted him without being betrayed, that he scoffed not at one or another point of faith, but at the whole evangelical system, in utter ignorance of religion. The Pontiff then, in a long speech, took credit for leniency, in not summarily consigning the offender to eternal perdition, and remitted the cause to the Cardinal of S. Pietro-ad-vincula. The report by his Eminence pronounced him guilty of all these crimes, and of disbelief in the resurrection or the soul's immortality; whereupon sentence went forth, depriving him of his state and dignities, and condemning him to the punishment of heresy. On a vast pile of combustibles raised before the steps of St. Peter's, was placed an effigy of Sigismondo from the mouth of which issued a scroll inscribed, "Here am I, Sigismondo Malatesta, son of Pandolfo, king of traitors, foe of God and man, condemned to the flames by a sentence of the sacred college." Fire being applied, the figure was consumed amid the curses of thousands, and in Easter week of 1461, formal excommunication went out against the brothers Malatesta.[109]

Malatesta

Alinari

SIGISMONDO MALATESTA

Detail from the fresco by Piero della Francesca in the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini

When spring permitted new operations, the League, by a series of petty successes, restored the papal authority in the revolted townships, and punished Savelli, one of the great Campagna chiefs who had sided with the Angevine pretender. Then crossing the frontier into the Abruzzi, Alessandro Sforza encompassed Sulmona, whilst Federigo, by a most difficult march among the Apennine sierras, made a successful foray upon the enemy's unprotected country. From thence he suddenly returned, on hearing that Pius contemplated retiring from Rome to Tivoli during the dog-day heats, and warmly remonstrated with his Holiness on risking his person among a proverbially treacherous population, by whom Piccinino had been recently welcomed. To these entreaties, seconded by the cardinals, the Pope replied that a residence among them was the surest means of recovering the affections of these citizens, and confirming their attachment to the Holy See. Thither accordingly he was escorted by the Count of Urbino with ten troops of horse; and the Pontiff dwells in glowing terms on their splendid horses, arms, and accoutrements, their shields glittering in the morning sun, their crests and morions dazzling beholders, each troop a forest of spears. "As they rode along the Campagna, Federigo, whose reading was extensive, inquired of his Holiness whether the generals of antiquity were armed like those of our day? Pius replied that all the weapons in actual use, as well as many now obsolete, may be found in Homer and Virgil, for though poets sometimes invent, yet they generally describe pretty correctly what has at some period existed. The conversation turning upon the Trojan war, which the Count endeavoured to depreciate, the Pontiff demonstrated its importance, and that its great reputation was not unfounded. Such pleasant and spirited discourse upon ancient history was prolonged between them to the Lucano Bridge, where the guard was dismissed; but, thereafter, his Holiness availed himself of a leisure moment at Tivoli to detail from Ptolemy, Strabo, Pliny, Quintus Curtius, Julius Solinus, Pomponius Mela, and other old authors, many appropriate particulars regarding Asia Minor and its limits, which had by chance been mentioned."

This interesting episode concluded, Federigo rejoined his army, and after accumulating vast booty from the villages, and carrying several fastnesses, dictated terms to the important city of Aquila. Thus passed the summer, and in October he was instructed to bring to obedience the Duke of Sora, who had thrown off allegiance to Ferdinand. Before attacking the town of that name he found it necessary to reduce the mountain fortress of Castelluccio, near the Garigliano; but its tiny garrison, availing themselves of a strong position, held out against the defective artillery of that day until a large force had assembled for its relief. These, however, met from him so warm a reception that they were glad to retire, and leave not only the place but all the duchy of Sora at his mercy. This service was most grateful to Pius, who gladly saw an enemy on his very frontier brought to terms. In the next consistory he remarked that "this captain of ours with his single eye sees everything," and addressed to him the following complimentary brief, which Muzio has preserved. "To our well-beloved son, health and apostolic benediction: We have been duly informed of the courage wherewith you have met the enemy, and in how short a time you have carried the stronghold you were beleaguering. These marvellous exploits content us much, and are worthy of your wonted prowess and magnanimity. Dear to us is your person, and we would cherish your worth and valour. Proceed as you have commenced, and daily add to your good offices in behalf of ourselves and of his Majesty: let it be your endeavour by every exertion to augment your reputation, and you shall always be the son of our benediction. From Rome, at St. Peter's, under the fisher's ring, this 1st of October, 1461, in the eighth year of our pontificate."

During the dead season Federigo visited the Pope and Ferdinand, to concert measures for the ensuing campaign, and on its opening was again obliged to proceed against the Duke of Sora, who had evaded a submission extorted from him in the autumn. It was not, however, by such petty achievements that the Neapolitan succession was to be settled. Nominally a republic, Genoa was really an oligarchy, the sport of rival factions; but there had long been a leaning to the Angevine alliance, and no support could have been more useful to that house in its pretensions upon Naples. Without command of the sea, such pretensions were absolutely vain, and that commercial community, situated between Provence and Lower Italy, not only secured to these a mutual intercourse, but formed a most available entrepÔt for reinforcements and military stores. The French, originally received within its walls as allies, had become virtually masters of the maritime state; but in the spring of 1461 a popular revolution, occasioned by financial burdens consequent upon the Neapolitan war, and promoted by the Duke of Milan, overthrew the Angevine party, and obliged the French to seek shelter in the fortress. An army chosen from the chivalry of Languedoc and France was embarked at Marseilles to succour the Duke of Calabria, but his father directed the fleet conveying it to stand into the bay of Genoa, in hopes of easily re-establishing there the Angevine interests. He was, however, repulsed thence in July by a defeat so bloody and complete that his army was annihilated and his influence entirely overthrown. The cause of RenÉ, hitherto almost uniformly successful, never recovered this check, by which he lost at once a highly important reinforcement and a most serviceable ally. Other discouragements followed in rapid succession: the death of Charles VII. deprived him of a powerful coadjutor, the unlooked for convalescence of Francesco Sforza restored energy to his most active adversary, and a sudden descent upon Apulia by George Scanderbeg, the hero of Greece, with a seasonable reinforcement of Castriot horse, cheered Ferdinand's drooping spirits, and enabled him during the campaign of 1462 to recover his lost advantages.

Sigismondo Malatesta having recovered most of his territories in the previous year, Piccinino conceived the opportunity favourable for employing in the French interests his soldiery, no longer required for his own ends. He therefore dispatched an emissary with sufficient funds to retain some minor condottieri of Lombardy and Romagna, and to persuade Malatesta to march at their head into the Abruzzi. By this effort a force was raised which gave extreme uneasiness to the Pope for the safety of La Marca, and from which great expectations were raised by the Angevines, in the belief that it would promptly advance southward. There was thus little difficulty in allowing Federigo to hasten from the seat of war in order to meet this new danger; and although he hurried onwards with extraordinary rapidity, he reached Sinigaglia an hour after it had been treacherously surrendered to its former master, the Lord of Rimini. Sigismondo, alarmed at this unexpected descent, made overtures to his old rival in an altered tone, interlarding general professions of regard with many wily suggestions that their common interests would be far safer with Sinigaglia in his hands than in those of the Church. Without entering upon this view of the matter, Federigo replied that, being in the field not as Count of Urbino but as captain of his Holiness, such private considerations must be postponed to a more fitting moment.

The rising sun was gilding the slumbering Adriatic on the 12th of August, when the Count appeared before Sinigaglia, after a forced march from the Chiento, thirty long miles distant, effected within as many hours.[110] During that day his army passed the Nevola, and sat down within a bow-shot of the enemy's camp. Had Malatesta at once charged these toil-worn troops, his victory might have been complete; had he occupied the city, or kept possession of his own well-fortified entrenchments, he might have waited another opportunity for striking a decisive blow. But from folly or cowardice irreconcilable with the fair reputation he held among contemporary free captains, he adopted the extraordinary resolution of a retreat upon Fano, and shortly before midnight silently quitted his camp. Federigo was, however, on the alert, and throwing himself on horseback, sped on with a few mounted squadrons, whilst he ordered all his troops to follow with their utmost diligence. As he hurried forward, some of his staff, unaware of the precautions taken against surprise, remonstrated at the risk of thus rushing into danger; but he cheered them on, saying it was in like manner, and the same hour, and through this very country, that Claudius Nero had advanced after Asdrubal, when he beat and utterly overthrew him. Thus pressing onward he overtook the enemy at the streamlet of the Cesano, and with trumpet and shouts raised the cry to battle. Sigismondo, deeming it impossible for the army to follow after its severe exertions of the preceding night, conceived his pursuers to be but a handful of skirmishers whom it were well at once to dispose of. He therefore formed his rear-guard to receive their attack, thus giving the main body of his adversaries time to arrive. A full moon enabled the Count to perceive his advantage, without exposing his weakness; and, waiting until he was sufficiently supported, he charged with an impetuosity which cleared the rivulet, and so thoroughly routed the enemy that even their van felt the shock and took to flight. Before dawn Malatesta's army, although said to have outnumbered Federigo's as five to two, was scattered to the winds, whilst he escaped into Fano, and his eldest son to Mondolfo. The victor, after a day to recruit his men, withdrew into his own state, having no artillery wherewith to reduce Sinigaglia.

Sigismondo, ever prepared to cloak defeat by hypocrisy, sent a confidential envoy to the Count, charged with the same arguments and professions he had a few days before proposed to him, and commissioned to offer the hand of his eldest son Roberto for one of Federigo's infant daughters, in guarantee of their perfect reconciliation. For reply, the latter taunted him with his ever-broken faith, and rejected propositions which it would be dishonourable in him to entertain, as an officer of the Pope, whose service he infinitely preferred to amity or relationship with Malatesta. This negotiation being reported to his Holiness by the legate, was approved in the following papal brief addressed to Federigo.

"If it be as reported to us, that accomplished master of treason and wicked plotter of profanity, Sigismondo Malatesta, a true son of perdition, has attempted in many and various ways to undermine your still incorruptible faith; and this, as we have heard, and as you have in part informed us, since he was worsted and overthrown near Sinigaglia, nay, driven to a disgraceful flight, by your superior might and the bravery of your soldiers: and he has at the same time added that, if we reduce him to do our kitchen service and to set our meat in order, you too will end by becoming our muleteer; promising you, however, an alliance with his family, provided you will either reinstate him in our favour, or abstain from annoying him: but we are aware how wisely you replied to his folly, and how your good sense brought him to confusion. It is superfluous for us to advise you as to the most prudent course; we would but encourage you heartily to persevere and keep at him, letting slip no opportunity of oppressing and humbling the enemy, and that you do your utmost speedily to terminate this war, and to liberate us and yourself from a most rascally foe, with whom no terms of peace can ever be relied on. And do not imagine, however much our ally the King of France may desire a truce in the kingdom of Hither Sicily, including in it Sigismondo as his adherent, that we shall suffer any to interfere as arbiter or judge between us and our subjects, except the Holy See which we represent. Proceed then, conquer, destroy, and consume this accursed Sigismondo, and in him neutralise the poison of Italy. Which if you do, as we hope, you will be most dear not only to us, but to all our successors in time to come, and we shall acknowledge your deserts by such recompense as shall by all be considered adequate. It is not nobility that we hate, as is falsely asserted by him, but profligate and faithless nobles like himself, who has not hesitated to betray his mother and sovereign the Roman Church, and we shall not neglect to chastise him as God may give us opportunity. You, and all such as imitate your ways, we love right heartily, and shall honour and exalt to the utmost of our power while life endures, knowing well that authority is best maintained by punishments and rewards, and that in the opinion of all the world, Sigismondo has earned the former and you the latter. From Petriuolo with our own hand, this 6th of October, 1462."[111]

In implement of these promises, the Count, on the 3rd of November, received a commission as lieutenant-general of the ecclesiastical forces, which he had hitherto led as captain-general, and under his authority pursued with energy the invasion of his enemy's territory. On the 20th of September he obtained Mondavio, whose inhabitants averted a sack by paying 3000 ducats. This was followed by a surrender of the whole vicariat of Sinigaglia and territory of Fano, which he did his best to save from the miseries of war: but as it was necessary to keep his soldiery in good humour, he at Barchi allowed all the people to remove; then closing the gates, and disarming his men, he gave the word for a general assault upon the abandoned fortress, whose pillage was thus in some degree divested of the horrors usually attendant on such scenes, which are described by Sanzi in these feeling terms:—

The Count now carried his victorious arms into the country of Rimini, and, after taking Mondaino, laid siege to Montefiori, which capitulated on the 22nd of October, when Giovanni, a son of Sigismondo, was made prisoner. Being demanded by the papal legate, it was not without considerable discussion that a preferable claim to his ransom was established for the lieutenant-general, who proved that the war was on his part one neither of selfishness nor vengeance, by freely restoring his liberty and personal effects, and escorting him in person from the camp with many kind and consolatory expressions. It is curious to contrast this chivalrous conduct with the unworthy trick by which Federigo dexterously, and apparently without any stain upon his good name, gained the citadel of Verucchio after the town had surrendered. He caused a letter, forged in the name of Sigismondo, and fastened with an old impression of his seal,[112] to be transmitted to the castellan, informing him that on a stated night a reinforcement of twenty men would arrive, whom he should be prepared to admit. At the indicated hour a detachment stealthily approached the gate, which was hastily opened to them on an alarm rising in the besieger's camp; rushing upon the guard, they were quickly supported by their confederates, and the place was carried ere the garrison were aware that they had admitted enemies in the guise of friends. The few remaining weeks of open weather sufficed to reduce all the territory of Rimini, with most of that around Cesena; and when the snow fell Federigo repaired to Verucchio, whence he blockaded the city of Rimini during the winter.

The misfortunes thus heaped upon Malatesta were paralleled by those which befel the Angevine cause. Hastening to obtain succours from Piccinino, he found him paralysed by an almost equally decisive defeat received before Troia on the 18th of August. Within a month the Prince of Tarento gave his adherence to Ferdinand, a clear proof that the star of Aragon was in the ascendant; and although this example was not adopted by Giacopo until the following autumn, his intermediate exertions were directed to securing the means of dictating favourable terms for himself, rather than to saving the Duke of Calabria from reverses rapidly accumulating around him. In August, 1463, he made his peace, receiving Sulmona and many adjoining townships as a sovereign principality, and in spring the Duke, whose footing had during many months been limited to the island of Ischia, returned to Provence, finally abandoning his pretensions to Lower Italy. These evil tidings are said to have found his father RenÉ so absorbed in painting a partridge that the loss of a kingdom neither shook his hand nor ruffled its plumage.

After his bootless visit to the Angevine camp Sigismondo turned for aid to Venice, and obtained the Signory's mediation with Pius in his behalf. But the Pontiff, by a long allocution recorded in his Commentaries, justified to their ambassador the strong measures required against so incorrigible an offender, who thereupon directed his energies to providing Fino and Rimini with means of resistance. In the reopening campaign his opponent's first measure was to bring Macerata and some other mountain fastnesses to terms, for which the noise of his guns sufficed. Thence he descended upon Fano, then held by Roberto Malatesta, and after the manner of the age preluded his attack by gathering in the harvest that awaited the townspeople's sickles. This delay allowed the languid ecclesiastical levies to arrive, and in July the siege was formed. Under a system of improved warfare few places would be more untenable, its position affording it no natural advantages, and lying open to assault by sea or land. It was otherwise in the infancy of artillery and military engineering. Much time and labour and some lives were expended before the besiegers' pieces could be brought to bear, or be protected from the heavy stones, weighing each 300 pounds, which were fired upon them from the ramparts. Sigismondo commanded the sea by means of vessels chartered at Venice, supplying the place with men, ammunition, and provisions; and although his fleet was seriously damaged by a flotilla of boats hastily manned by Federigo's orders, communications were quickly re-established under protection of some Venetian galleys: after these had been recalled, in consequence of urgent representations made to the Signory on behalf of the Pope, this service was performed by two Angevine galleys hired by Malatesta for the purpose. Neither perseverance nor courage in its proper sense were qualities of the Italian soldiery, even in their age of military reputation, and the discouragement resulting from this state of affairs was so aggravated by a terrific thunder-storm, under cover of which a sally captured their artillerymen and dismounted their guns, that it was with the utmost difficulty, and only by urgent representations to Pius himself, the lieutenant-general could keep his troops together. Aware that success constituted his best hold upon them, he redoubled his exertions, and in a short time had the satisfaction not only of remedying these reverses, but of seeing his operations put on a really satisfactory footing. The prospect of pillage now carried his army to the opposite extreme; they could not be restrained from an assault, which they gave with such impetuosity that the terrified citizens capitulated whilst Roberto with his mother and sisters retired into the castle. These ladies, remembering the Count's generous conduct to their Giovanni at Montefiori, and preferring his clemency to the risks of further resistance, induced Roberto to surrender it on the third day, before a shot had been fired in its defence. The conditions appear to have been a general assurance of protection to persons and property; and when the Malatesta family presented themselves before their conqueror, the ladies in convulsive grief, he was assailed by persuasions from the legate and most of his officers and advisers—

They urged upon him that, in dealing with an enemy who had again and again set good faith at defiance, it was weakness to adhere to a capitulation, and thus lose the opportunity at length offered by fortune of avenging past injuries on the son of his foe; at all events that, under provocations so aggravated, he would be amply justified in observing the terms rather to the letter than in their spirit, and in exacting an ample ransom for his prisoners, as Sigismondo would, in the like circumstances, have assuredly done. These suggestions, though entirely conformable to the morality and honour of the age, were rejected by Federigo, to whose candid and generous mind they seemed mere sophistry. He, therefore, not only liberated the Malatesta, but escorted them to the place of their embarkation for Rimini. Pius has himself recorded the feelings with which he learned the fall of Fano. Rising from table, he spread his hands towards heaven, and poured forth thanks to the Almighty, who thus loaded him with benefits. After which, he said apart, "There is now nothing to keep me at home; God calls me to his own war, and lays open the way; there is no reason for further delay." These, however, were projects destined to remain unfulfilled.

The moral influence of the Count's moderation, as well as of his success, was proved in the speedy surrender of Mondolfo and Sinigaglia, by which the whole vicariat finally passed from the Malatesta, and lapsed to the Church. Fano has ever since been included in the ecclesiastical territory, but Sinigaglia, conferred by Sixtus IV. on his nephew, Giovanni della Rovere, son-in-law of Federigo, became the cradle of the second ducal dynasty of Urbino, and an integral portion of their duchy. In order to reduce what remained of the Rimini fiefs, the Count presented himself before the stronghold of Gradara, a mountain village, even now retaining some interesting memorials of the Malatesta, which quickly followed the example of Sinigaglia,[113] as did Maiuolo, Penna di Billi, and S. Agata, in Montefeltro.

Accident now intervened to save Sigismondo from utter destruction. Some disputes between Venice and the Emperor, originating in commercial jealousies, exposed Trieste to an attack by the former. It happened that Pius, having been bishop of that place, interposed in his behalf. The Venetian Signory had observed with jealousy the progress of the Church along the Adriatic, which they looked upon as their own lake, and where their ascendancy was apparently secure, so long as its western sea-board continued to be partitioned among petty feudatories and communities. Their plan of indirectly thwarting the siege of Fano having failed, they seized this opportunity of making the recal of their armament against Trieste conditional upon an arrangement between his Holiness and Malatesta, urging that it ill became him to preach Christian union as a preliminary to the Turkish crusade, whilst he pertinaciously instigated a selfish contest. It was not easy to evade or answer a plea which appealed to the Pontiff's ruling passion, especially as apprehensions began to be entertained that Sigismondo might in desperation sell his services, or even his territory, to the Infidel. Availing himself of this favourable opening, the culprit sent envoys from Rimini to Rome, to sue for peace on any terms. Those dictated by Pius were abundantly stringent to gratify vengeance and disarm apprehension. In order to expiate his flagrant heresies, commissioners, formally authorised by him, were to appear in the church of the Santissimi Apostoli, on a festival, during celebration of mass, and there publicly confess and recant their master's atheistical tenets. As an atonement for his treasons and temporal misdeeds, his possessions were forfeited to the Church, except Rimini and a few miles of the surrounding country, his conquests from Federigo being at the same time restored. Conditions of nearly equal severity were imposed on Malatesta of Cesena, and the remnant of territory allowed to the brothers was continued to them only during life, under burden of a heavy annual tribute. But for the imperious Sigismondo there was reserved a deeper humiliation. As the bishop who was commissioned to raise the interdict approached his capital, he and his people met him in suppliant guise. Proceeding to the cathedral, the prelate set forth the sins of the sovereign, and imposed upon the community three days of fasting and penance, with suspension of Divine ministrations. At the end of that interval, Sigismondo appeared on his knees before the bishop at the high altar, to acknowledge his errors, implore their remission, and pledge his future obedience: whereupon he and his people, who crowded around in the same abject attitude, were absolved, and received the benediction.

Thus ended twenty-four years of strife between Sigismondo and Federigo, which, necessarily occupying our narrative, may have unduly taxed the patience of our readers. When it began, the Malatesta owned the whole coast from Cervia and Cesena to the Fiumisino, near Ancona. Had their conduct equalled their daring ambition, they might, by acquiring the comparatively unimportant fiefs of Urbino, Durante, and Gubbio, and by absorbing the petty holdings which adjoined their northern frontier, have established a powerful state in the fairest and strongest provinces of Central Italy. But when the struggle closed, it left them but a precarious life-interest in mere fractions of that ample territory, the rest of which had gone to enrich the Church, or to aggrandise their especial enemies, the Montefeltri and the Sforza. The portion now accruing to Federigo, by authority of the Pope and the consistory, included about fifty townships between the Foglia and the Marecchia, which had been partly seized from himself and his predecessors, partly held as debatable land, subject to the strongest, but which henceforward continued incorporated with Urbino.