PiccininoNICCOLÒ PICCININOFrom a bronze medal by Pisanello
Piccinino
NICCOLÒ PICCININO
From a bronze medal by Pisanello
da FeltreVITTORINO DA FELTREFrom a medal by Pisanello in the British Museum
da Feltre
VITTORINO DA FELTRE
From a medal by Pisanello in the British Museum
In the autumn of 1432, the Emperor Sigismund, while returning from his coronation at Rome, was entertained by Count Guidantonio with magnificent hospitalities at Gubbio[*61]and Urbino, and bestowed knighthood both on the Count and his son Oddantonio.[*62]On reaching Mantua,he conferred the like honour on the Gonzaga princes, and extended it to their guest the young Federigo, who was recalled home whenever his father had been restored to a good intelligence with the Pontiff. His marriage was celebrated on the 2nd of December, 1437, after he had completed his fifteenth year, and he at once entered upon the government of his wife's paternal fief.
In an age when society consisted of those who fought, those who wrought, and those who prayed, the young Count of Mercatello belonged to the first of these classes, and the duty now devolved upon him of carrying into practice those lessons of warfare which had varied the routine of his more abstruse studies. Under the military system which we have already explained, he had to choose what free captain he would serve with, until experience should qualify him to raise an independent banner. The condottieri then of greatest name were Nicolò Piccinino and Francesco Sforza, names which will soon be familiar to our pages. The first of these was of birth so humble as to own no other surname than that conferred on him in ridicule of his tiny stature, and appears to have been equally destitute of those varied talents and enlarged views which enabled several of his contemporaries to consolidate and transmit the power gained by their swords. But though unworthy of historic fame,[*63]his dwarfish body contained a daring and indomitable spirit, which, after considerable service under Braccio di Montone, the first general of his age, was rewarded with the hand of hisniece; and, notwithstanding the blame of occasioning his defeat and death at the Lake of Celano in 1424, Nicolò kept together his veterans, obtaining, as leader of that gallant band, a reputation of which his own qualities were unworthy. Yet he was unable to cope with Francesco Sforza, whose first service had been under Joanna II. of Naples, but who after having, in 1441, won from Filippo Maria Visconti, rather by fear than favour, the hand of his natural daughter Bianca Maria,[*64]eventually established himself as his successor in the duchy of Milan.
The Council of Basle, opened in July, 1431, to concert measures for extirpation of the Bohemian heresy, had occupied itself in reforming alleged abuses in the Church and the papal prerogatives. A collision with Eugene IV. was the natural result, when he fled to Florence, leaving his state a prey to Sforza, Piccinino, the Colonna, and other military adventurers. As the best means of bridling these bandits, he bribed the first of them to turn his arms against the others, by offering him the vicariate of La Marca,
But by degrees all Italy was involved in the struggle, Alfonso of Naples, the Florentines, Genoese, and eventually the Venetians, supporting the Pontiff, whilst Filippo Maria Visconti, the Angevine party at Naples, and the city ofBologna sided with the Council. In this war Piccinino led the Milanese army, and among his independent captains was Bernardino della Carda, who dying in 1437, his company of 800 men-at-arms was divided between his son Ottaviano and the young Federigo di Montefeltro. In the end of May, 1438, the latter set out for Piccinino's camp, assisting at the siege of Brescia, and in the opening of the Lombard war, where the rival generalship of Nicolò and Sforza was first brought to the test, with results more interesting in a military than an historical view. It is not to be supposed that services performed by so youthful a soldier could much influence the campaign, but they appear to have been approved by his commander.
Guidantonio Manfredi, generally known by the contemptuous abbreviation of Guidaccio, had been brought up at the court of Urbino, during his father's temporary banishment from his hereditary fief of Faenza, and had married a daughter of Count Guidantonio di Montefeltro. In the division of parties which we have just explained, both these feudatories adhered to the Milanese, but as their neighbour, the Lord of Rimini, was at first a partisan of the league, and as Bologna had but recently thrown off the papal authority, Filippo Maria considered it advisable to strengthen his forces in Romagna. Federigo was accordingly ordered to join his brother-in-law Guidaccio, and acquitted himself creditably in various skirmishes with the Tuscan troops, under Gianpaolo Orsini. The only personal incident preserved of this petty war is one to which he was in the habit of alluding, with something of the superstitious dread that pervades the good Sanzi's account of it, although its character was rather grotesque than horrible. Having marched from Faenza in bright moonlight, with a party of 400 horse on a foraging expedition, a noise like the clashing of arms was suddenly heard at a distance, which immediately being repeated close at hand, the troops, with fierce and terrified aspect,rushed on each other, and for about ten minutes fought and struggled pell-mell, while their frightened horses, partaking in the panic, neighed and bolted in all directions. Dawn discovered a scene of strange confusion; the infantry mounted, the cavalry on foot, many lying wounded on the ground, not a few horses killed, others with broken or disordered harness. This senseless alarm was never accounted for, and was consequently ascribed to diabolical influence.
But he was soon recalled by home interests from under the command of Guidaccio. The Malatesta, whose descent will be found in the annexedtable, had for some generations held several fiefs in Romagna and the March of Ancona, and although a bold and warlike race, the usage in their family of separating its seigneuries among various sons, legitimate or natural, prevented any of them from acquiring more than a provincial reputation or influence, until Sigismondo Pandolfo made himself famous by his struggle with Count Federigo, and by the memorials of art which embalm his otherwise detested name. The youngest of three bastard brothers,[*66]he survived to unite their territories with his own, and although connected with the Montefeltrian princes by the marriages of his aunt and brother, he became a bitter enemy to the Count of Urbino. Indeed the latter of these alliances, which we have noticed atpage 48, served to foster the family feud. Violante diMontefeltro had from Eugene IV. in 1431, when a mere infant, some form of grant of her native mountain-land in vicariate, in virtue whereof, and of her assumed rights as heiress of her nephew Duke Oddantonio, in default of his male issue, a pretended title was eventually trumped up, in competition with Federigo's succession,[67]at all events as regarded Montefeltro, some townships of which had already passed in various ways to the Malatesta, with whom she intermarried. An incursion upon the territory of Guidantonio, in the autumn of 1439, accordingly commenced a strife which, with occasional brief interludes, endured above twenty years, and which Sanzi thus deplores:—
Had Sigismondo Pandolfo possessed temper and judgment equal to his courage and ambition, he might have obtained and consolidated a powerful sovereignty, which his liberal and cultivated tastes would have rendered glorious in arts as well as arms. But deeply tainted with—
"That poison foule of bubbling pride,"
his lofty daring was sustained by no continuous impulse,his impetuous efforts were crowned by no success; the selfishness of his political aims was equalled by the vainglorious direction he gave to art; his energies were wasted in contests with Federigo, a rival against whom he had neither any just quarrel, nor any chance of success; his patronage was monopolised by poets who flattered, and medalists who portrayed himself and his favourite mistress Isotta.
The first foray of Sigismondo into the wild valleys of Montefeltro was repaid by Federigo, in a successful descent upon the richer possessions of the Malatesta; but he was checked by a serious wound, before the petty fortress of Campi, and on his recovery rejoined Guidaccio. Piccinino, having again changed the seat of war from Lombardy to Romagna, crossed into Tuscany, and during the summer of 1440, carried on an active but unsuccessful campaign in the upper valley of the Tiber, till it was closed by his complete defeat at Anghiari, leaving his baggage and half his army in the hands of the Florentines. This battle has obtained a singular notoriety, and affords a valuable test of condottiere tactics, where combats were interested calculations, not internecine onsets. Machiavelli, the opponent of that system, asserts that only one man lost his life, out of some thirty or forty thousand combatants, and he by a fall from his horse; whilst the largest calculation of slaughter on both sides gives but seventy killed and six hundred wounded. Federigo was little interested in that campaign, but ere long found occupation in the defence of his wife's rights, disputed by Alberigo di Brancaleone. This pretender had seized on Santa Croce and Montelocco, both of which the Count recovered in the autumn of 1442, after a severe action, which first tested his military skill. Sigismondo Pandolfo, having secretly abetted this onset, was punished by an attack upon S. Leo.
That small city was the capital of Montefeltro, althoughthis honour has been claimed for Penna di Billi. Its situation is perhaps the most singular in Europe. In a country whose rugged mountains and precipitous ravines seem monuments of some tremendous primeval convulsion, there stand uptossed two isolated pinnacles, the very obelisks of nature, rising on three sides sheer from the valley. On the remaining side of each, a narrow and rapidly descending ridge connects the summit with the surrounding level, affording toilsome and precarious footing to mules and mountaineers. On either peak, a fortress commands a cluster of dwellings, nestled wherever the rocky crest afforded footing, and inhabited by men of iron hearts and stout sinews. The larger of these is S. Leo, the smaller Maiuolo, and we shall often have occasion to mention them as the chief strongholds of Montefeltro, to which they both originally belonged,[*69]though S. Leo had for some time been possessed by the Malatesta. Its loftiest pinnacle was crowned, in classic times, by a temple dedicated to Jupiter Feretrius, affording an easy etymology for Montefeltro: a later era found it sheltering a Christian hermit, whose ascetic virtues obtained canonisation, and who left his name to the township which rose around his cell. During the competition for her crown which ravaged Italy in the tenth century, and rendered that the most dismal as well as confused period of her dark ages, S. Leo became the refuge of King Berengarius, from whence he long defied the arms of his eventually successful rival Otho the Great: of its protracted siege, however, in 962-3, no incidents worthy of credit have come down to us. Its circuit is estimated at two miles, and not the least peculiar of its phenomena is a spring of excellent water near the summit, sufficient perennially to supply the mills. The accompanying engraving, from a sketch taken on the spot,will best convey an idea of this remarkable site, but we may quote Sanzi's description of it, and of its surprise by Federigo.[70]
San LeoA. Nini, del.A. Marchetti, sculp.SAN LEO AND MAIUOLOFrom a drawing by Agostino Nini
San Leo
A. Nini, del.A. Marchetti, sculp.
SAN LEO AND MAIUOLO
From a drawing by Agostino Nini
A somewhat different account of the means by which S. Leo was taken, has been adopted by Baldi, from Volpelli's history of that place.[71]Matteo Grifone, who, from being a miller at S. Angelo in Vado, became astaunch follower of Count Federigo, and subsequently a general in the Venetian service, obtained permission to attempt a surprise. Accompanied by twenty picked men, he, in a dark and rainy night, gradually made his way to an outpost which he knew to be seldom occupied, and there left all but one comrade, with whom he effected an entrance by means of scaling-ladders. Silently and stealthily they two went from house to house, fastening each door with the chain which usually hung outside. At dawn, Federigo by concert led his troops to a feigned assault, to repel which the garrison sallied down the ridge. Grifone then, hastily admitting his men, closed the gates upon these skirmishers, and displaying in the piazza eight pair of colours which he had brought, raised the cry of Feltro! Feltro! The few defenders left in the citadel, conceiving the town to have been carried, and its inhabitants (who being barred into their dwellings could offer no resistance) to have sided with the enemy, surrendered without a blow. A temporary reconciliation with Sigismondo soon followed, by the interposition of Francesco Sforza, who gave to Malatesta his natural daughter Polissena in marriage, as a means of strengthening his hold on La Marca.
The father of Sforza, whether by birth a peasant or a gentleman, had owed his fortunes to his sword, which won him wealth and honours in various Italian states, especially in Romagna and Naples.[*72]His son succeeded to these honours, as well as to the command of his veterans, and inherited talents and address of still higher quality. Availing himself of the enfeebled papacy, and the confusion into which the ecclesiastical states fell during the contest ofEugenius IV. with the Council of Basle, he overran La Marca, whilst Fortebraccio menaced Rome itself. In order to save the latter, Eugenius abandoned the former to Sforza, with the title of Marquis, and the authority of Vicar; this bribe was accepted, and the service rendered for it was the restoration of his supremacy over the rest of the papal territory. On the death of Joanna of Naples, Francesco Sforza, now the first soldier of his day, acknowledged René as her successor, and when that monarch, by withdrawing in 1442, left the kingdom to his rival Alfonso, Sforza lost his Neapolitan dignities and estates. The sacrifice was more than compensated by his marriage with the Duke of Milan's natural daughter; yet for a time this splendid alliance brought with it no good fruits. Filippo Maria had acceded to it with indifferent grace, and jealousy of his son-in-law led him, in 1443, to join Eugenius and Alfonso in a combination for wresting from Francesco the March of Ancona.
Nicolò Piccinino being again hired to serve against his old enemy, Count Federigo preferred, after his father's obsequies, joining him before Monteleone to remaining idle at home, Sanzi assuring us,—
He immediately attended his general to an interview with the King of Naples at Terracina, embarking at Civita Vecchia; and the impression made by him on that monarch is thus finely given by the same chronicler, in language splendid as his reception:—
After three days spent in concerting plans for an attack upon La Marca, Nicolò returned to Tuscany, but Federigo was invited by Alfonso to remain with him until the campaign should open. Ere long, however, he rejoined his troops at Viterbo, and, after a foraging march through the enemy's country, reached Fano just before Sforza, who had for some time remained there awaiting his Venetian and Florentine contingents, put Piccinino once more to the rout at Monteluro. Giovanni Sanzi, then a youth residing at Colbordolo, went forth to see the battle, which he describes with much spirit:—
The Count shared not in this defeat, but lent opportune aid to rally the broken and disorganised troops, and wasabout this time rewarded by Eugenius with his promised investiture of the countship of Mercatello. In July he repaired to the baths of Campagnatico, in the Maremma, to recruit from an attack of fever, but on his return found new occupation from the Lord of Rimini.
The grandfather of that seigneur was Galeotto Malatesta, whose patrimony included Rimini, Faenza, and Fossombrone, and whose elder brother, Malatesta Malatesta, had transmitted the fief of Pesaro to his great-grandson Galeazzo. This Galeazzo was a man of feeble parts and degraded character, altogether unable to maintain his authority over a disgusted people, or to cope with his bold and ambitious cousin Sigismondo of Rimini. After the defeat of Monteluro, he had reluctantly received into Pesaro some of Piccinino's stragglers, and Sigismondo availed himself of this pretext to persuade his father-in-law Sforza to seize and make over to him that city. But Francesco, intent on sustaining his interests in La Marca, soon left the affair in the hands of Sigismondo, who, although able to overrun the surrounding country, could make no impression upon the capital, held by Count Federigo, even after its poor-spirited lord had withdrawn to Forlì. Thus baffled for eighteen months, the impetuous Sigismondo, by way of cutting short the contest, sent to Federigo this insolent challenge:—
"To the Lord Federigo of Montefeltro, Captain-General of the illustrious Count Francesco Sforza."Mighty Lord,"Your lordship knows the difference long existing between us, and, if you judge rightly, you will perceive the fault to lie on your side, not on mine. Patience is no virtue of mine, and so far from appearing disposed to amend them, you daily multiply your errors. Anew have you written calumnies against me to the Court of Rome, and caused ill to be spoken of me. I am determined tobear it no longer, but to show, with my person against yours, that I am a better man than you, for in sooth you are a bad one, and do amiss to affront me. I therefore send to you Signor Giovanni da Sassoferrato, my chancellor, with full authority to inquire as to the duel which by your letter you have already accepted. And although Signor Giovanni holds a public instrument of mandate, I wished to write this letter as of more ample authority, praying that you will accept it: which I feel assured you, as the brave man you avow yourself and ought to be, will do; and that you will thereupon please to send one of your people of weight, informed of your wishes as to the manner, time, and place of our fighting, so that all may be settled. I have said of weight, that he may be qualified to fix upon a place with him whom I shall send, so that we may understand each other. And that this your agent may repair hither in safety with four horses, this letter will be an ample and valid safe conduct for his freely coming, staying, and returning. And in case of your refusal, which I do not believe, I warn you that I shall proceed against you more or less, according to the usual practice, as I may see fit."Sigismondo Podolfo di Malatesta.[74]"Rimini, the 21st of February, 1445."
"To the Lord Federigo of Montefeltro, Captain-General of the illustrious Count Francesco Sforza.
"Mighty Lord,
"Your lordship knows the difference long existing between us, and, if you judge rightly, you will perceive the fault to lie on your side, not on mine. Patience is no virtue of mine, and so far from appearing disposed to amend them, you daily multiply your errors. Anew have you written calumnies against me to the Court of Rome, and caused ill to be spoken of me. I am determined tobear it no longer, but to show, with my person against yours, that I am a better man than you, for in sooth you are a bad one, and do amiss to affront me. I therefore send to you Signor Giovanni da Sassoferrato, my chancellor, with full authority to inquire as to the duel which by your letter you have already accepted. And although Signor Giovanni holds a public instrument of mandate, I wished to write this letter as of more ample authority, praying that you will accept it: which I feel assured you, as the brave man you avow yourself and ought to be, will do; and that you will thereupon please to send one of your people of weight, informed of your wishes as to the manner, time, and place of our fighting, so that all may be settled. I have said of weight, that he may be qualified to fix upon a place with him whom I shall send, so that we may understand each other. And that this your agent may repair hither in safety with four horses, this letter will be an ample and valid safe conduct for his freely coming, staying, and returning. And in case of your refusal, which I do not believe, I warn you that I shall proceed against you more or less, according to the usual practice, as I may see fit.
"Sigismondo Podolfo di Malatesta.[74]
"Rimini, the 21st of February, 1445."
This cartel was answered as became a high-spirited knight; but, on reaching the rendezvous under the walls of Pesaro, Federigo was surprised to find his adversary absent. No explanation appears of this failure beyond Sanzi's expressive exclamation,—
"Ah! foul dishonour to the recreant lord!"
and Sigismondo, covered with ridicule, was glad to patch up a truce with his cousin Galeazzo.[*75]
Count Federigo succeeds to Urbino and acquires Fossombrone—His connection with the Sforza family, whereby he incurs excommunication—His campaign in the Maremma—Loses his eye in a tournament.
Count Federigo succeeds to Urbino and acquires Fossombrone—His connection with the Sforza family, whereby he incurs excommunication—His campaign in the Maremma—Loses his eye in a tournament.
IT was during the siege of Pesaro that Federigo heard of the horrible catastrophe, by which his brother Oddantonio, on the 22nd July, 1444, atoned the excesses of his brief sovereignty. But this assassination, the result of a sudden outbreak, indicated no general disloyalty to the race of Montefeltro. The virtues and moderation of Guidantonio were fresh in men's minds; Federigo was personally liked, and his recent feats of arms, under the eyes of his countrymen, were accepted as first fruits of a growing fame. The fief might indeed be held as lapsed by the close of the male line, but there were abundant precedents of reinvestitures to illegitimate successors, and the citizens of Urbino, shocked at their own outrage, sought to remedy the past by a prompt return to duty.[*76]Sanzi accordingly tells us that the factious and blood-thirsty populace wonderfully united in electing as their seigneur the heroic Federigo, who, meanwhile, informed by the bishop of the tumult and its results, had repaired to Urbino, where, on the following day, conditions were formally offered and accepted as the terms on which he was chosen. The instrument containing the demands of the people, and his replies to each, will be found in theAppendix IV., and throws some light upon the extent of popular rights, and the manner of enforcing them, in the despotic communities of Italy. Divested of the rude style in which they were expressed, these concessions were to the following purpose:—
1. A general amnesty for the recent revolution.[77]
2. Bimonthly election of the priors of Urbino, with certain powers, and with a salary of fifteen ducats.
3. A new house for the priors.
4. A reduction of assessments from five and a half to foursoldiin thelira.
5. Revocation of all donations made posterior to Guidantonio.
6. Similar revocation of immunities and privileges granted to the nobility and communes.
7. Control by the citizens of the watching and warding fees.
8. Application of a tierce of all escheats to the use of public works.
9. Promise to impose no new taxes, except in urgent circumstances.
10. Trimestral elections of the chamberlain.
11. The notaries acting as clerks of military orders and of sentences to be boxed (imbussolari) with their salaries and perquisites.
12. Reform of the measures for salt.
13. Semestral change of the podestà and certain other officers, without intervention of the Count.
14. Appointment of two medical officers bound to attend to all ratepayers, their salaries to be charged on the community.
15. Similar appointment of a schoolmaster and assistant.
16. The camp-captains of Urbino to be citizens.
17. Abolition of recent oppressive tolls, which impede the passage of merchants.
18. Payment to creditors of the two last sovereigns.
19. Biennial election of twoappassati[78]for Urbino.
20. An additional clerk for the priors.
FederigoAlinariFEDERIGO OF URBINOFrom the XV. Century relief in the Bargello, Florence
Federigo
Alinari
FEDERIGO OF URBINO
From the XV. Century relief in the Bargello, Florence
On the 1st of August proclamation was made of a reduction of imposts, the regulation of salt measures at thirty-three pounds to the quarter, and the remission of condemnations. Besides these conditions, Federigo granted or confirmed to his capital a constitution, which, however, was rather of a municipal than political character, and which consisted in two general councils, one composed of thirty-two, the other of twenty-four, citizens. These preliminaries arranged, deputations flocked from Gubbio and the other communities to offer their obedience, and were soon followed by congratulations from neighbouring powers.
The political aspect of Central Italy, and the condition of her princes, during this century, are thus sketched by a recent writer:—"Their feeble and unquiet domination was obtained sometimes by usurpations from rivals, from the people, or from the Church, sometimes by authority wrested originally from pope or emperor, and subsequently sanctioned, which was wielded now with more, now with less, rigour; but all of them were encompassed by a numerous following, were devoted to the profession of mercenary war, and were at once the abettors and dreaders of rebellions, ambushes, poisonings. Various were the vicissitudes of these chiefs. In order to oust a competitor, they would offer large concessions to the Church or the populace, and having attained to sovereignty would gradually curtail these until the community called in another master, to be in like manner supplanted by a third. In other cases they compromised their disputes by partitioning cities or principalities. Frequently the Pontiff wouldfavour one faction in order to put down another, and to profit by their mutual strife; again, he would elevate a third over them both, under cloak of freedom. It was, in short, constant wavering between abuses and concessions, tyranny and licence; the seigneur intent upon extending his influence, although by dishonest means, the people prompt to diminish it even to anarchy."[79]
This description might be justly applied to the Montefeltrian holdings under most of their early counts, but a brighter day dawned upon the duchy with Federigo's accession, and Urbino had the singular fortune during the next hundred and ninety years, and under the sway of two dynasties numbering five sovereigns, to be equally exempt from oppression and disorder, from domestic broils and disputed successions; to be governed by princes not less beloved at home than respected abroad, whose brows might be graced by olive or laurel, according to the spirit or the exigencies of the time, but who ever entwined with it the myrtle wreath.
The policy and manners of Federigo, equally prudent and conciliatory, confirmed the favourable anticipations previously formed, and are thus depicted by his contemporary Sanzi:—
If the accusation be well founded, which we have formerly stated against Sigismondo Pandolfo Malatesta, of corrupting Oddantonio's morals, in the hope of supplanting him in his seigneury, the easy succession of Federigo must have brought him bitter disappointment. His total failure before Pesaro aggravated this annoyance, and he vented his spite by simultaneous inroads on two opposite quarters of Urbino. A conspiracy against Federigo, discovered about this time, was also perhaps the fruit of his intrigues; but, being discovered, its authors were led to the block, whilst the adherents of Malatesta were repulsed from the frontier. In this state of matters, the Count of Urbino (for the dukedom had died with Oddantonio) was surprised by an offer from Galeazzo Malatesta to sell him the seigneuries of Pesaro and Fossombrone, nominally his, which he found himself incompetent to defend from his rapacious neighbour of Rimini. The proposal was tempting, for both these possessions lay admirably to Urbino, and would extend its frontier to the Adriatic. But Federigo's position was one of delicacy between Sigismondo Malatesta on one hand, and Francesco Sforza on the other, both anxious to acquire those fiefs, and both his personal enemies. The death at this very juncture of his old friend and commander Nicolò Piccinino, which appeared to complicate his embarrassment, proved the means of relieving it. Sforza, having watched his rising reputation, calculated more advantage from his friendship than his opposition, and availed himself of the opportunity presented by Piccinino's demise, to make conciliatory overtures. Before committing himself, Federigo offered his services to the Pope, which being declined, with full licence to dispose of them as he pleased, he at once closed with Sforza, accepting a command, with four hundred lances and as many infantry, for the common defence of their respective states. This arrangement transferred his banner from the Braccian to the Sforzan party, battalions originally embodied underthe rival captains from whom they were respectively designated, but distinguished in name, and regarded as the type of opposite systems, long after their founders had passed away. The tactics of Braccio di Montone were rapid and decisive, the policy of Attendolo Sforza cautious to a proverb; extremes which the Count of Urbino's practice was considered happily to have combined. In order to complete the necessary stipulations, he repaired to Fermo on a visit to Francesco, and passed some weeks there, returning on the 10th of December.
It remained to adjust the affair of Pesaro and Fossombrone. The despicable lord of these fiefs had a granddaughter, Costanza Varana, whose pedigree in relation to the Montefeltrian princes we have explained, and who had gained the affections of Alessandro, brother of Francesco Sforza. Federigo, unable to pay for both seigneuries, or unwilling to hazard the odium which so sudden an aggrandisement might incur, proceeded on the 9th of January to Jesi, and proposed to the two Sforza that Francesco should purchase Pesaro for Alessandro, who should marry Costanza, whilst Fossombrone should be united to Urbino.[*80]The suggestion being no less agreeable than beneficial to all parties, it was heartily acceded to, and, ere many weeks passed, an arrangement was completed, whereby Galeazzo, exchanging the alarms of insecure sovereignty for a contemptible retirement, made over Pesaro to Alessandro and Fossombrone to Federigo, for the respective sums of 20,000 and 13,000 ducats or florins of gold, reserving the mills and his other allodial property; and thereafter withdrew to Florence, where, on the death of his talented and neglected wife Battista di Montefeltro in a convent, he married a lady of the Medici, and is said to have ended his ignoble life in misery. Onthe 16th of March, the nuptials of Alessandro Sforza with Costanza Varana were happily accomplished; she inherited much of her grandmother's capacity, and transmitted it to her youngest daughter, Battista, who in due time became second wife of Count Federigo.[81]
This partition, apparently so advantageous to Francesco Sforza, was but the beginning of mischief. His son-in-law Sigismondo, ever
"On brawls and battle-fields intent,"
could ill brook the disappointment of his designs upon two fiefs long in his family, and admirably suited to consolidate his territory by incorporating Fano with Rimini; still less could he submit to be cut out of them by his especial enemy Federigo. Another circumstance had lately occurred to exasperate against Francesco his ever jealous father-in-law the Duke of Milan. Ciarpelion, one of his favourite captains, had been induced to accept from Visconti the command vacated by Piccinino's death, but his application for a furlough was answered by the provost-marshal, who hanged him after inflicting horrible tortures. Thus were his wife's father and his daughter's husband united against the Lord of La Marca, nor did they find it difficult to rekindle in the Pope and the King of Naples their dormant jealousies of a soldier of fortune, whose possessions were desirable spoil to them both. He was consequently assailed at once by three of the chief powers of Italy, and by several of the petty feudatories and independent captains, whilst, as Florence and Venice were but lukewarm allies, he had no efficient aid to look for, beyond that of his recent but faithful friend Federigo. With him accordingly he drew moreclosely the bonds of amity, and in the end of June paid him a visit of five days at Urbino, accompanied by his family, when Sanzi tells us they exchanged reciprocal pledges of a romantic brotherhood in arms, preparatory to the empty dignity of general-in-chief, conferred upon the Count by Sforza on the 15th of July.
The province which accidental circumstances had subjected to Francesco gave him but a feeble tenure of sovereignty. It extended along the Adriatic sea-board from Sinigaglia to the Tronto, including the Marshes of Ancona and Fermo, lately the richest portion of the Papal States. But time was wanting to consolidate his dominion, and to give him that hold upon the affections and interests of his people which is ever wanting to upstart potentates. The very extent of his territory thus became an element of peril, and the danger was aggravated by the ill-timed accession to it of Upper Abruzzo as far as Pescara, which, throwing off the yoke of Alfonso, placed itself under his protection, giving another pretext to the confederates for accelerating their attack. This, however, the Marquis[82]anticipated by hurrying to the north, and attacking his son-in-law's possessions about Fano. Leaving there an army, under his brother Alessandro and the Count of Urbino, to intercept the Milanese forces, he proceeded to Florence, and by the aid of Cosimo de' Medici obtained a considerable sum of money. On his return he carried La Pergola after a gallant defence. But these exertions were all in vain. His subjects, proverbially fickle, bound to him by no hereditary attachment, and alarmed by the extensive preparations maturing for his destruction, prepared to abandon his cause, and seek for protection under their former ecclesiastical masters. Ascoli first raised the standard of insurrection, andslew Rinaldo, uterine brother of the Marquis; but the contagion quickly spread, and although, by forced marches and the most strenuous efforts, he for a time kept the country in obedience, and even recovered several revolted castles, the loss of Rocca Contrada, seduced by the intrigues of Sigismondo, closed the most available pass that remained to him. From that moment his cause seemed desperate, and it became his object to provide for the safety of his troops and few remaining strongholds during the approaching winter, in the hope that spring might bring him better fortune. The garrisons of Fermo and Jesi were succoured, and his cavalry were quartered in the valleys of Urbino, whilst he took up his quarters in Pesaro. But ere the year ended, Fermo his capital rose, and the garrison were starved into a capitulation.
Federigo had shared in all the fatigues of this campaign, and had gained what distinction could be gathered from its skirmishes and petty sieges. He thus earned the special indignation of Eugenius, whose legate vainly represented to him the folly of adhering to a cause irretrievably lost. Even after Alessandro Sforza had been induced by these arguments to give his adhesion to the Pontiff, the Count of Urbino, deeming it disgraceful to swerve from his plighted troth, afforded shelter and protection at Gubbio to the Marquis's family, thus compelled to retire from Pesaro. His reward was papal excommunication, and a new inroad on his devoted state by the Perugian troops, at the instance of Filippo Maria Visconti.
But the tide of adversity had nearly spent itself. The Venetians and Florentines, at length roused to exertions in behalf of their ally, brought their forces into the field. The former advanced to support Cremona, which belonged to Sforza, but was now assailed by his father-in-law; the latter marched three thousand cavalry and a thousand foot into Romagna. Francesco and Federigo, on the strength of this seasonable reinforcement, resumed theoffensive, and challenged the ecclesiastical army to a trial of strength, the Count adding a special defiance to personal combat with Sigismondo. Both invitations were evaded or declined, and as the Sforza battalions marched round the camp of an enemy superior in numbers,—a clang of triumph echoing from their trumpets,—and assailed them with hisses and insulting cries, the moral effect was perhaps equal to a victory.[83]This was in October, and during the autumn many petty successes were gained over Malatesta about Pesaro, Alessandro Sforza having reunited his interests with those of his brother. The Venetians were meanwhile so pressing upon Visconti in Lombardy that he hastened to make overtures of reconciliation with his son-in-law, who, gladly profiting by the opportunity to retrieve his damaged position, found some paltry excuse to shake himself loose from the Republic, and, by one of those rapid tergiversations which free lances were privileged to perform, turned his arms against his defenders. Policy, if not honour, justified this course, for the declining health of Filippo Maria held out to Sforza new hopes of the Milanese succession, and gave him a strong inducement to defend that territory from neighbours so powerful and ambitious. The confederacy being thus broken up, peace was restored to Romagna by a treaty of the 11th March, 1447; but Sigismondo, deeply disgusted at the entire failure of his calculations, which, presuming on the utter ruin of Federigo, had made sure of acquiring Urbino, Montefeltro, Durante, Gubbio, Fossombrone, and Pesaro, impatiently awaited an opportunity for revenge.In the autumn of that year he was enabled by the cabal of a few discontented citizens to seize Fossombrone, but within three days it was recovered by Federigo, to the great joy of its inhabitants, who celebrated by thanksgivings and festivals their release from a tyrant's odious yoke. The misery of these intestine wars is illustrated by an anecdote mentioned of this assault, that the Count conceived it necessary to stimulate the ardour of his soldiery by promising them the pillage of this his own city; and he is stated to have earned the praise of a most just and lenient prince, by restraining their fury until he had placed the women in safety.
During the year 1447, there occurred two deaths of great moment to Italy, those of Pope Eugenius IV. and Filippo Maria Duke of Milan. Gabriele Condolmiere of Venice owed his promotion to his countryman Gregory XII., whose nephew he is said to have been, and received the triple tiara in March, 1431, when but forty-eight years of age. His reign was one of turbulence, for the convulsions consequent upon his policy disorganised Italy, and threatened Christendom with a new schism. Putting himself at once in hostility with the Colonna, whose power had grown formidable under their kinsman Martin V., he exposed Rome to be pillaged by their lawless bands. Soon after, he was glad to fly in disguise to Florence, leaving his capital in the hands of a republican faction, and oppressed by the partisans of Braccio. As the last hope of recovering a portion of his territory from the various condottieri who ravaged it, and "dreading a perilous contest more than an ignominious peace,"[84]he recognised Francesco Sforza, the most influential of them, as Lord or Marquis of La Marca, and created him Gonfaloniere of the Church. But with the bad faith which marked the age, he sought to rid himself of the instrument as soon as his purpose was served. Restless in his policy, headstrong inhis counsels, to him in a great measure was owing that perturbed state of Italy, which, when once become normal, continued, until the descent of the French in 1492, to realise the graphic description of Machiavelli: "Peace it cannot be called, whilst the princes were frequently fighting; neither can such struggles well be regarded as warfare, where men were not slain, nor cities sacked, nor sovereignties sacrificed; for so feeble became these strifes, that they were commenced without alarm, were conducted without risk, and closed without damage."[85]Nor was his management of spiritual interests more commendable. His quarrel with the Council of Basle gave him a rival antipope, and might have cost him his tiara, but for an unexpected overture of the last Emperor of Constantinople to unite the Greek and Latin Churches. Such, however, was his good fortune, that the completion of that union, the cruel persecutions he directed against the Hussites, and his ascetic rejection of personal indulgences to which he was indifferent, have gained for him the reputation of a zealot in faith, a saint in morals, and withal a pillar of the papacy.
The Pontiff's death was followed within six months by that of Filippo Maria, last of the Visconti, a race whose sway in Milan is alleged to date from the eleventh century, and whose twelve princes of that city have been commemorated by the flattering pen of Giovio. They owe their place in history rather to the importance of their duchy, and to the European marriages of their later generations, than to personal illustration. The immediate succession to Filippo Maria convulsed Upper Italy during nearly three years, and the dispute, when revived half a century later, brought upon the Peninsula those barbarian aggressions from which she has till now been a chronic sufferer. His only child, the illegitimate Bianca Maria, had been reluctantly bestowed by him on Francesco Sforza, whom his jealous temper regarded as a rival andenemy, instead of conciliating as a son and useful ally. The house of Orleans were heirs of line of his family, but their title derived little strength by their mother's legitimacy, where female descent could give no valid claim to inheritance. The late Duke's testamentary bequest of his sovereignty to Alfonso of Naples, was clearly beyond his legal powers, so that the best right seemed that of the Emperor, in virtue of the lapsed fief. But ere any one of these four competitors was aware that the succession had opened, the citizens of Milan possessed themselves of the vacant authority, and their example was partially followed in neighbouring towns, several of which attempted to establish a Lombard republican confederacy with Milan at its head. In the struggles which ensued, and to which Venice and Florence became parties, the Count of Urbino took no share. The fate of Milan was decided rather by famine than the sword, and in February, 1450, the populace escaped from their sufferings by accepting Sforza as successor of his father-in-law.
The Milanese succession was not, however, without its influence on Central Italy, and upon the fortunes of Count Federigo of Urbino. In the late contest on the Lombard plains, Florence and Venice had, in observance of a long-established and obvious policy, opposed the ambitious projects of Filippo Maria, but had acceded to the new Pontiff's proposal for a congress at Ferrara, in order to arrange a general peace. To this Visconti lent himself in no good faith, having concerted with the King of Naples that they should each attack one of these republics, as soon as Francesco Sforza should be secured to their side. Even whilst the congress was sitting, Alfonso obtained a footing in the Upper Val d'Arno, and although the death of his confederate abrogated their secret understanding, the opportunity of pursuing his selfish designs upon Tuscany continued favourable; for Venice was occupied in a fresh struggle with Sforza, and his own pretensionsupon Milan, under the late Duke's will, would be much enhanced could he bear the trophies of Florence to the banks of the Po. He, however, offered to abstain from hostilities, on condition that free passage and provisions were allowed to his army, and that the city, now ruled by Cosimo de' Medici, should renounce its Venetian alliance. It required but little consideration to reject terms which would have opened to him the Milanese, where his success must have destroyed the balance of power in the Peninsula.
Disappointed of Siena, which refused his fair offers, Alfonso turned into the valley of the Cecina, and having possessed himself of Pomerance, Campigli, Castiglione,[*86]and other townships in the Maremma, proposed to winter there. But he was promptly checked by Count Federigo, whom the Florentine Council had taken into their service,[87]and the spring arrived without any considerable movement or advantage on either side. There now occurred an incident highly characteristic of his bitter foe Sigismondo, in which he showed to advantage by the contrast. The Lord of Rimini, having been engaged by Alfonso, received from him 30,000 ducats in advance of pay, but, more intent upon selfish ends than on his promised service, he misapplied the money, and availed himself of the Count's absence from Urbino to repeat his attack upon Fossombrone and some neighbouring castles. In order to palliate this breach of faith, he wrote to the King that it was in truth a well-laid scheme for his benefit, Federigo being sure to hasten from Tuscany for the defence of his own subjects. The calculation was however defeated, as the Count, with the fidelity seldom found orexpected among free lances, refused to quit his post, resting the safety of his people upon their own gallantry and devotion. When Alfonso perceived this, he summoned Malatesta to join him, but, whether from innate treachery or apprehension, he preferred offering himself and his contingent of above two thousand men to the Florentines, against whom he was actually engaged to serve. Apart from the unpleasant position in which it placed himself, this tergiversation seemed to Federigo so outrageous a treason as to require from him a special protest; but his usual conscientious adherence to a temporary banner prevailing over honourable scruples and personal disgust, he kept the field, and even consented to adjourn all private quarrels with Sigismondo to the end of the campaign. It was marked by no circumstance of interest beyond the King's ineffectual attempt upon Piombino, the peninsular capital of a petty fief belonging to the Appiani, then confederates of the Republic. The marsh-fever of the Maremma,
seconded its brave resistance, and Alfonso was glad to return home in the autumn after sacrificing a portion of his army, while the Count of Urbino retired to his state. But during their joint service under the Florentine banner, Sigismondo had found opportunity for the exercise of his intriguing spirit. Demanding audience of Federigo, he remonstrated against his having aided in the establishment at Pesaro of a stranger, to the vast detriment of its hereditary seigneurs the Malatesta, so long neighbours and kindred of the Montefeltri; and in token of the thanklessness of that service he showed a bond, whereby Alessandro Sforza had allied himself with Sigismondo for the partition of Urbino and its dependencies. With such evidence before him, Federigo lent himself to an offer made by the falseLord of Rimini to turn the tables against Sforza, and to surrender all of the Montefeltrian territory that he had gained two years before, provided the Count would aid him in ousting the intruder from Pesaro. But with characteristic treachery he availed himself of a favourable moment to attack that town single-handed, and Federigo, satisfied of his utter faithlessness, rushed to the rescue, reclaiming by this new and noble-minded service the gratitude of Alessandro and of his brother. As soon as the latter was acknowledged Duke of Milan, he offered the Count of Urbino an engagement, in highly complimentary terms, stating that, after full consideration to whom he could worthily commit the conduct of his army, whereon depended the whole welfare of his state, he had fixed upon Federigo, having long known and clearly ascertained his extraordinary and unfailing fidelity, authority, gravity, prudence, promptitude, justice, wisdom, and diligence in the conduct of every great enterprise.[*88]The Tuscan war being over, this appointment was readily accepted by the Count, although suffering from a painful and dangerous accident.