James Dennistoun

The Duke returns to his state—His struggle with the usurper—His victory at Montebartolo.

MEANWHILE the fatal wars originating in the League of Cambray were finally concluded, by a treaty offensive and defensive, between the young monarchs of France and Spain, guaranteeing their respective Italian possessions, which was signed at Nogon on the 13th of August, and was followed by that of London on the 29th of October, to which the Pope, the Emperor, Charles V., and Henry VIII., were parties. A general pacification having been thus obtained, Francesco Maria was further than ever from assistance in recovering his rights, yet the moment seemed not unfavourable for a single-handed attempt at asserting them. The numerous condottieri of all nations, thus thrown loose without prospect of new occupation, offered him their services on very easy terms, preferring employment on the credit of eventual pay, with the chance of interim pillage, to a life of listless beggary. The French and Venetians secretly favoured any adventure which should rid their territories of such odious inmates, and the Duke found no great difficulty in mustering, by the beginning of the year, three thousand eight hundred infantry and six hundred light horse. He placed the latter under his wife's cousin, Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Bozzolo, a young man who singularly mingled the staid wisdom of a veteran commander with the jovial manners of a free companion, and was thus equally the confidential adviser of his general, and the idol of his men. He had also become a personal enemy of Lorenzo, from having been deprived by him of the command committed to him by Giuliano de' Medici. This motley army was composed of tried soldiers, but was deficient in the material for a sustained campaign, notwithstanding the Duke's great exertions and sacrifices, by borrowing money at all hands, and by selling his wife's valuables, to provide for it the most necessary munitions. Before taking the field, he, on the 17th of January, addressed to the Sacred College, and publicly placarded, this earnest protest and vindication of his measures, which, although prolix, is an important manifesto.

"Most reverend and respected Lords: I have ever flattered myself that the long persecutions, which exposed me to so many perils, have not lost me your Reverences' favour, nor rendered you personally hostile to me; indeed, I feel assured that you have always looked upon me with compassion, and pitied my misfortunes. Nor did I enjoy, amid such adversities, any consolation more efficacious than my conviction that your Sacred College considers me in nowise worthy of such persecutions. But, as I always have been, am, and shall through life continue, your most humble and obedient servant, I hold myself bound to account to you for every action, and to defend myself from whatever imputations my enemies may have made to your very reverend Lordships, in whom repose all my hopes of protection.

"I presume that you have heard of my new enterprise against my own state, dictated, not by any desire to disturb, embarrass, or molest the interests of the Church, but rather by a wish to commit my life upon the hazard of the war, trusting that God will so direct its issue as that my innocence, so known to his divine providence, may be equally manifested to all the world. And in this assurance I proceed, not rashly or presumptuously, but aware that neither my resources, which are at present next to nothing, nor those of the most potent monarch, would suffice to resist the might of his Holiness, supported as he is by all the sovereigns and powers of Christendom; relying, moreover, on Almighty God, the King of kings, who can, and, as I hope, will, aid and defend me in this calamity, since He, to whom the hearts of men are open, knows that I have no other expedient left for my peace or life itself. After having betaken myself to the illustrious Lord Marquis, my father-in-law, at Mantua, and placed myself in a sort of voluntary imprisonment; after having lost my fortresses, and nearly all my worldly possessions; and having even made up my mind to promise his Holiness not to make any attempt upon my state, or disturb his nephew, to whom he had given it,—my sole wish being to live; still, so far from obtaining a relaxation of the censures, other and harsher interdicts were constantly issued against me, with positive injunctions to my distinguished father-in-law not to harbour me in his territory. Nay, I daily discover plots against my life by poison or the dagger; which, however, I attribute not to my Lord his Holiness, convinced that his clemency and goodness are irreconcilable with so ardent a thirst for my blood, and such perfidious ingratitude for the numberless benefits which, setting aside more remote recollections, he and all his house received from myself, when in straits similar to what I now endure, but rather to my enemies, who, in effecting my ruin, bring infamy upon his Holiness, and think thus to force me to flee for my life into Turkey.

"Compelled, then, by these considerations, I have set forward towards my own home, in the belief that, even should my death ensue, infamy never can; and in the conviction that, if it was right for his Holiness, whilst living as a cardinal in honour and dignity, to occasion the cruel sack of Prato, in order to regain those rights of citizenship from which he had been outlawed, it will be far more justifiable in me, an outlaw, not from one city, but from all Christendom, and deprived, not merely of my temporal dignities, but almost of the means of subsistence, the sacraments of the Church, and the intercourse of mankind, by a persecution which directs at once temporal and spiritual weapons against my station, life, and soul;—it will, I say, be justifiable for me to attempt my restoration to the state, of which, in the opinion of my own people, and of all men except his Holiness, I am the legitimate sovereign. I therefore supplicate your most reverend Lordships, by the pity due to such as have blamelessly fallen into misfortune, that you will deign to afford me protection, falling upon some means or expedient for mitigating the Pontiff's feelings; seeing I cannot but think that your influence, his own natural goodness, and my innocence must break down that obduracy which the unjust lips and guileful tongues of my adversaries have raised towards me in the mind of his Holiness; for, to regain his favour, there is no submission or endurable penance that I would refuse. And, should I not be deemed worthy of such compassion, you, my very reverend Lords, may at least condescend in silence to favour my cause with your best wishes and thoughts, and efficiently to recommend me to the unfailing bounty and justice of God. If my success be as signal as I hope, I shall stand indebted to your most reverend Lordships, believing that the Almighty has heard your reasonable desires, and extended his protection to me through your merits. Or, on the other hand, should my puny force not be overborne by the weight of the papal power, backed by spiritual weapons, it will be a palpable miracle, and proof sufficient that my innocence, though on earth condemned by men, will be cleared in Heaven by a higher and more equitable Judge. And so, ever kissing humbly your Reverences' hands, I commend myself to your favour. From Sermene, the 17th of January, 1517."

The narrative of Giraldi[269] is a safe authority as to many details of this enterprise, his uncle Benedetto having been an officer much in the Duke's confidence. We, therefore, venture to extract the harangue which he puts into the mouth of Francesco Maria, before marching from Sermene, not, of course, as his verbatim address to his followers, but as containing the understanding on both sides of their respective obligations.

"'Soldiers and Comrades, I have assembled you here, in order that you may fully learn my mind and intentions, and that I may know yours. I therefore acquaint you that I have arranged with your leaders, who have promised, and bound themselves by articles, to accompany me into my state of Urbino, and to re-establish me in my home, and to maintain me there during life, indifferent to pay or remuneration beyond such as I may be able to give,—I confiding to them my state and person, in reliance upon your good faith. I now wish to know if you are all agreed to follow me in this enterprise; and, should this be your pleasure, I desire from you an oath never to abandon me on any contingency that may occur, and that, in case of being forced to quit me by the pressure of events without completing our undertaking, you will oblige yourselves to return to this place as a rendezvous, and, further, that you shall not desert me for any offers or bribes of the enemy. Avowing to you at the same time that, at this moment, I have not above a ducat a-piece to give you, I nevertheless feel confident our gains will be great, unless fortune be more than adverse; and I promise that all the booty will be yours, and that I shall be your comrade, never sparing my life while it lasts. If you accept these my terms, you must all swear to observe them; otherwise I shall not move from this territory of my brother-in-law.' Whereupon they all, with extended hands, took an oath never to abandon him during life; and so they set forth in the name of God, on the 17th of January, led by Federigo di Bozzolo."

The Pontiff was taken at unawares, for, believing his enemy utterly crushed, he made light of such warnings as had reached him of a contemplated movement against the duchy; but now that the expedition was matured, he knew well the slight hold which the usurper had upon the affections of his nominal subjects. Nor was he more at ease as to the inclinations of his new allies in Lombardy, whose stipendiaries had thus suddenly turned their arms against him. His anxiety was in no way diminished by the representations of his confidential friend Bibbiena, who, actuated perhaps by some lurking kindness for the house of Urbino, urged him to abandon the Borgian policy he had in hand, until such persuasions were silenced by the threatened poignard of Lorenzo. Ere effectual precautions could be adopted in Romagna, Francesco Maria had rallied round him eight thousand infantry and fifteen hundred horse, most of them veterans, and with these he marched about the middle of January. Passing Rimini, where his rival lay "sorely perplexed and bewildered" (to use the phrase of Minio, the Venetian envoy), he advanced under every discouragement of an inclement season, his men wading through snow to the middle, and swimming frequent-swollen torrents. From the secrecy of his preparations and the poverty of his resources, his commissariat was altogether inadequate; but, on reaching his frontier, the refusal of Gradara to submit afforded his men an excuse for compensating their privations by its sack.

His subjects had been prepared by emissaries for a general revolt. On the 1st of February, Count Carlo Gabrielli raised the cry of "Feltro! Feltro!" at Gubbio, and it was enthusiastically responded to through the smaller towns. On the 5th, the Duke was within a few miles of Urbino, then held by Bishop Vitelli, with a garrison of two thousand men, who, distrusting the inhabitants, summoned their militia to muster at S. Bernardino, and closed the gates as soon as the city had thus been cleared of its able-bodied men, refusing to readmit them on pain of instant death. The excluded citizens vented their indignation at this trick, in threats and abuse of the garrison from under the very walls, which at length provoked a sortie of four hundred infantry in order to disperse them. At this juncture, a squadron of one hundred cavalry, sent on by Francesco Maria under Benedetto Giraldi of Mondolfo, for the purpose of supporting the expected rising in his favour, arrived three miles below Urbino, and, whilst breathing their horses, heard that the enemy were abroad. Benedetto immediately left his little force in charge of his brother Annibale, and rode on with but five officers to reconnoitre. The adventure which followed, equally worthy of a bold knight-errant and a Christian soldier, must be told as in the Dialogue of his nephew Tranquillo. "Coming suddenly upon the detachment, about half a mile from the town, Benedetto exclaimed, 'Look there! as these are the first of our master's foes we have fallen in with, it would surely be a shame to let them get back to the city without a taste of us: I am therefore resolved to make a dash at them, and if you will follow me, by God's grace we shall have the first victory.' This said, he rushed into the midst of them, with vizor up and lance in rest, overthrowing many by the shock. His weapon having broken, he performed prodigies with his sword, and, aided by his followers, who had not shrunk from his summons, the enemy's leaders were slain, and their whole battalion dispersed in panic through the fields, where most of them were put to death by the excluded townsfolk, who had mustered at the first alarm. I, too, came up with our squadron, in time to cut off a good many of them; but I had little cause to congratulate myself upon that success, for, passing near my brother [Benedetto], he said to me, 'Annibale, I am killed.' Whereupon, looking towards him, I observed a cut in his face, and told him to fear nothing, as face wounds were not mortal; but he replied, 'It's worse than that, for I am run through the body by a pike.' At these words my heart seemed riven asunder; yet, in order not to alarm him, I desired him to cheer up, and commend himself to God Almighty, and to the most glorious Mother of the Saviour, and to vow his armour and horse to Loreto, adding that I too would offer a housing worth twenty-five ducats. 'I am content,' answered he, 'to give this horse, a gallant Turkish charger bestowed upon me by the Marquis of Mantua, along with these arms; but I have only one favour to ask of the Saviour of mankind, which is, that he will permit me to live long enough to confess myself.' As he said this an Observantine friar, who had on former occasions confessed him, came up, and, after thanking God for having heard his prayer, he summoned the monk, and returning to Cavallino confessed himself. There being no surgeon at hand, a gentleman of Mantua named Stigino cleansed the wound by suction, and ascertained that the bowels were not pierced, which afforded me much hope. I sent for many surgeons. The first that arrived was Maccione of Fossombrone, who dressed the wound with charmed bandages, a thing that much displeased my brother; and for conscience-sake he refused to be doctored in that way, until persuaded by a friar, who assured him there was no sin, seeing that there had been no diabolical incantation used; and, being told of numerous miracles effected by these cloths, he submitted to them, and ere long was restored to health."

The sally-party from the garrison having been repulsed by Giraldi's squadron, aided by a considerable force from Gubbio, Fossombrone, and Sinigaglia, which just then most opportunely appeared, they found little safety by returning to quarters. The citizens still within the walls rushed to arms, even the women and children showered missiles on the retreating soldiery, and the Bishop, dispirited by the disaster, capitulated next day. But being seized with a panic, his garrison withdrew ere their safe-conduct was signed, and were beset by the infuriated troops and inhabitants, who attacked them on every side with arms, bludgeons, and stones, slaying or capturing them to a man. The Duke thus entered his capital, and was welcomed with demonstrations of joy, only equalled by those which, fourteen years before, had hailed his uncle's return in similar circumstances.

As it was no easy task to restrain an army so composed from reaping the spoils of victory in a way opposite to wishes and the interests of Francesco Maria, he lost no time in employing them against Fano, a town which, not belonging to his state, might with less scruple be abandoned to plunder. The assault, however, miscarried through Maldonato, a Spanish captain, whose treasonable correspondence with Rome began already to be intercepted, and was ere long exposed. After this check, the troops were dispersed among the villages, until the inclement weather should pass; their head-quarters were at Montebaroccio, a very strong position midway between the upper part of the duchy, which acknowledged its legitimate sovereign, and the cities of Pesaro, Fano, and Sinigaglia, which were garrisoned by the ecclesiastical troops.

Meanwhile the Pope, trusting to time more than the sword for ridding him of an enemy destitute of all resources, had directed his nephew to leave them an open field, until his preparations for their destruction should be complete. He hastily called upon the Emperor and the Kings of France and Spain for assistance, whilst Lorenzo was mustering the ecclesiastical and Florentine militia, under Guido Rangone of Modena, Renzo da Ceri, and Vitello Vitelli. No expense was spared from the papal treasury to raise an overwhelming force, and Lorenzo borrowed 50,000 golden florins from his fellow-citizens. Charles contributed four hundred Neapolitan lances, and Francis promised three hundred more, on condition of the surrender by Leo of Modena to his ally the Duke of Ferrara. By these means was levied an army of fifteen to eighteen thousand infantry, a thousand men-at-arms, and at least as many light cavalry, with fourteen pieces of artillery.

The Lord of Urbino appears to have looked without reason for reinforcements from Venice,[*270] but Minio mentions that his army now consisted of twelve thousand foot, and that he had received a money subsidy from an unknown quarter, probably his father-in-law, the Marquis of Mantua. Yet his position was in all respects critical. In an enterprise depending on prompt success, each hour lost was the enemy's gain. His present life of bootless and bootyless inaction disgusted his Spaniards, who not only murmured, but, unmindful of their vow of service, began to desert to the ecclesiastical camp, attracted by superior pay. Worst of all, the enthusiasm that had enabled Guidobaldo to win back his state for a brief interval, now languished in the cause of his nephew, whose coup-de-main had failed, and whose resources were inadequate to a prolonged struggle, the burden whereof must fall upon his loyal subjects. In these circumstances, he resorted to an expedient which relieved the dull incidents of a petty campaign by one of a novel and romantic character. Hoping to bring the war to a speedy issue, he sent Suares de Lione, a Spanish officer, and his own Secretary, Orazio Florido, with the following instructions, and message to his adversary:—

This step, natural to a gallant soldier of almost desperate fortunes, with neither means nor inducement for a prolonged struggle, could have no recommendation for his opponent, now at the head of an overwhelming force, backed by the papal treasury and the united arms of most European powers. Lorenzo felt nettled at a proposal which it would have been folly to accept, but which could scarcely be declined without incurring a slur; and, after answering that he could entertain no such cartel until his challenger had evacuated those places which he had forcibly seized, his temper showed itself by arresting its bearers, notwithstanding their safe-conduct. The Spaniard was speedily released; but the secretary was sent to Volterra or Rome, to be disposed of by the Pope, where, with revolting treachery and meanness, he was subjected to imprisonment and torture, in the hope of drawing from him the secrets of his master, whose vigorous resistance Leo strongly suspected to be backed by the French monarch.

The war was now carried on by manoeuvres and skirmishes, which have no interest beyond the light they throw on the spirit of this unequal contest. Among the reinforcements that flocked to the papal standard was an undisciplined band which crossed the Apennines from Tuscany, carrying fire and sword through the highlands of Montefeltro. The Duke was unable to leave the low country exposed by marching in person to the relief of his faithful mountaineers, but sent into these defiles a squadron of light horse, who, falling upon the rabble at unawares, amply avenged their excesses. On the 25th of March, the inhabitants of Montebaroccio, having voluntarily admitted a body of papal troops, were visited by severe retribution as a warning to others; the place was sacked and burned by the Spaniards, seven hundred men and fifty old women being put to the sword,—a repulsive comment upon the Duke's boast, that though the walls of his towns were held for others, the hearts they contained were all his own. These partial successes turned the tide of feeling somewhat more favourably for the della Rovere cause, and we learn from the Minio despatches, that the war, unpopular at Rome from the first, now occasioned great anxiety to the government, from the difficulty in raising funds to continue it. The Pope retired frequently to his villa at La Magliana, less from the love of field sports, than to indulge his chagrin.[*272] Such were his straits for money, that he deposited jewels in pawn with the Cardinal Riario, for a loan of 7000 ducats. This sum, with 5000 more, having been despatched to Pesaro in a convoy of waggons, was captured by the Duke, and along with it were found certain letters, written in name of his Holiness, advising Lorenzo, in the event of any suspicion attaching to the Gascons in his service, either to ship them at once for Lombardy, or to have them summarily massacred. These missives, having been circulated in the ecclesiastical camp, occasioned a prodigious ferment, and it was with the utmost difficulty that Lorenzo, by denying their authenticity, induced the French troops to remain under his command, until an opportunity offered of conciliating them by the plunder of Sta. Costanza.

After many complicated movements in the lower valley of the Metauro, attended with no decided advantage, and important only as having enabled the youthful Giovanni de' Medici to flesh that sword which soon after won him the laurels of a bright but brief career, the papal army sat down before Mondolfo. The resistance of that small town was encouraged by the state of the besiegers, and embittered by their savage reputation. The Minio despatches of this date represent them as suffering from a scarcity of provisions and a dearth of bread and wine, adding that "the captured castles envy the dead, by reason of the cruelties practised on the survivors." Its garrison consisted of two hundred Spaniards and three hundred militia, so determinedly supported by the inhabitants, that breaches opened during the day were made up before morning, mines were met by counter-excavations, and subterranean galleries were often scenes of death-struggles. Provoked by this obstinacy, Lorenzo swore never to raise the siege until he had razed the place to its foundations, put the males to the sword, and handed over the women to the Devil's service. But in the end of March, a few days after he had uttered this savage bravado, his own career was arrested. Whilst, with more bravery than prudence, he served a battery in the dress of a common soldier, a Spaniard, to whom his person was known, marked him from the walls, and shot him as he leaned upon a cannon to take aim. The ball took effect above the left ear; and the wound extended down his neck to the shoulder.[273] He was removed to Ancona, and for above a week continued in extreme danger, refusing to be trepanned; but by the end of the month his convalescence was complete.

The Pontiff "evinced extreme grief" at so untoward an accession to the mishaps of this ill-advised and unlucky campaign. It had hitherto been conducted by Renzo da Ceri and Vitellozzo Vitelli, who were supposed to thwart the usurper from an apprehension that he might become another Cesare Borgia. The Cardinal de' Medici, however, attributed these successive miscarriages to the incapacity of Renzi, and seriously complained to the Venetian envoy that, in consequence of his reputation in the Signory's service, "we engaged him for this undertaking, and don't perceive that he has effected anything. While he commanded a small infantry force, he appeared never to be idle for a day, yet, since he has been at the head of an entire army, he has contrived to demean himself very ill, and to show that he is not a man of great exploits." It will be curious to find this very officer afterwards employed by the Cardinal when Pope, and fully bearing out the mean opinion here expressed of him, when his present impugner had the folly to instruct him with the defence of Rome itself.

Neither the dissatisfaction of his subjects nor the coldness of his allies inclined Leo to abandon an enterprise which exhausted his resources and bathed Italy in civil blood. Thundering forth a new and more severe excommunication against Francesco Maria and his abettors, he, on the 30th of March, despatched a cardinal legate to the camp, under whose command things went from bad to worse. The defence of Mondolfo was protracted with extraordinary resolution. Even after a large space of wall had been thrown down by two mines, the besiegers were kept at bay during ten hours of hard fighting, whilst the women supplied missiles and coppers of boiling water, and the priests, waving aloft their crucifixes, mingled absolution of the dying with prayers for the survivors. This vain struggle against fearful odds ended in an ill-observed capitulation, in defiance of which the town was sacked and set on fire. Two incidents may illustrate the undisciplined state of the troops. Before entering the place, two Spanish and a Ferrarese soldier agreed to share equally their respective booty. Whilst the Italian fought, his comrades were plundering, and eventually refused to divide the spoil according to stipulation, an evasion in which they were backed by their countrymen. The Ferrarese, with permission of his officers, challenged his faithless partners, and a ring, or rather square, having been cleared, by tying together eight pikes, he sprang into it, armed but with sword and half-shield, offering to fight them both at once, a proposal which they prudently evaded by surrendering a just portion of their plunder. After the town had capitulated, "a wrangle arose between an Italian and a German about a flagon of wine, the former raising the shout of 'Italy! Italy!' the latter responding 'Germany! Germany!' Whereupon the infantry came to blows, and many were killed on either side; and when, at the peril of his life, the right reverend Cardinal had well nigh quelled the fray, an Italian struck a German captain on the head with his musket and killed him. This made the fight rage fiercer than ever, and the Spaniards having sided with the Germans, the Italians were routed, and all their quarters pillaged, including those of Signor Troilo Savello. The army remains divided and dispersed; most of the Italians are departed, whilst the infantry have betaken themselves towards Fano, and continue thus separated." It is curious to detect in these and similar incidents[274] an undercurrent of national feeling, during that dreary age when the Peninsula was torn into sections by communal policy and dynastic ambition. Had that cry of Italia! Italia! been then raised by her leading spirits, with earnest good faith, apart from individual ends, how different had been her after fate and present attitude!

The legate, who thus, with difficulty and personal danger, averted a general massacre, was the Cardinal Bibbiena, not de' Medici, as accidentally misstated by Roscoe. After long employing his diplomatic talents against his former friend, the Lord of Urbino, he now compassed his final ruin by exertions of the camp, for which he was less qualified. The mutinous mÊlÉe which he had witnessed prepared him for the discovery, that moneys raised by extraordinary exertions were ill-spent upon an army "thrice as numerous on pay-day as in action." It was, therefore, to the commissariat and finance that his chief attention was given; but, warned by the recent explosion of national antipathies, he separated the quarrelsome soldiery in various cantonments around Pesaro. The Italians garrisoned the city and Rimini, the Spaniards were encamped on the adjoining Monte Bartolo, the Germans lay on the middle of that hill around the Imperiale palace, the Corsi (Dalmatians) occupied the foot of it, and the Gascons bivouacked on the adjacent plain. The last of these were in very bad repute at Rome; and finding themselves kept for several weeks in that exposed situation, many deserted to the della Rovere camp at Ginestreto, near Montebaroccio. After letting slip an apparently favourable opportunity for striking a blow at these disorganised troops, Francesco Maria subsequently did so by a surprise, which we shall narrate in his own words, addressed next morning to the Duchess.

To this spirited despatch little remains to be added. The assailants ascended from the Rimini side, leaving below a strong body of horse to cut off the fugitives. The troops being discouraged by the absence of Maldonato's Spaniards, who had straggled behind, and by the late hour at which, owing to blunders of their guides, they reached the mountain, the Duke encouraged them with assurances that the chances of success were greatest after daybreak, as the sentinels would be less on the alert; and for an omen of victory, and a badge to distinguish them from the enemy, he desired them to twine oak twigs, emblematic of his name, round their headgear. He led their file in person; and after a complete victory was left with eight hundred prisoners on his hands, besides the entire camp equipage and much booty. Next day the Gascons, who had not shared in the rout, came over in a body to Francesco Maria, headed by Monsieur d'Ambras, who returned to the court of Francis I., after publicly declaring that he would no longer permit his men to be sacrificed by officers that could neither protect them nor annoy their enemy, but would leave them under a prince whose tactics and discipline were a pattern even to his foes. This secession did not, however, prevent his master bolstering up the papal policy by loans of 100,000 livres Tournois to Lorenzo, and half that sum to the Pontiff, a course condemned by Sismondi in his French history.