CRISTO RAUL.ORG

POPE ALEXANDER VI. A.D. 1492-1503.

CHAPTER I.

Election and Coronation of Alexander VI.

DURING the long sickness of Innocent VIII, there had been much disorder in Rome, and the approaching vacancy of the Papal throne was anticipated with some apprehension; but the stringent precautionary measures adopted by the Cardinals and the Roman Magistrates proved sufficient, and all went off quietly enough. One of the Envoys reports, August 7, 1492, “It is true that a few were killed and others wounded, especially during the time that the Pope was in extremis, but afterwards things went better.” Nevertheless the situation was sufficiently critical to make the Cardinals anxious to get the funeral over as soon as possible. During the interval Raffaele Riario, as Camerlengo, was an able and energetic ruler. Jean Villier de La Grolaie, Abbot of St. Denis, for whom a few years later, Michael Angelo carved his Pietà, was then Governor of Rome.

The question at once arose whether the two Cardinals, Sanseverino and Gherardo, nominated but not proclaimed by Innocent VIII, would be admitted to the Conclave. The first arrived in Rome on the 24th July and was immediately received into the Sacred College. Gherardo, who arrived on August 4th, bringing with him a strong letter of recommendation from the Venetian Council of Ten, was acknowledged as Cardinal on the following day. Many prophesied that his white Camaldolese habit would be a passport for him to the supreme dignity.

Immediately upon the conclusion of the obsequies on August 6th, the Conclave began; twenty-three Cardinals were present in the Sistine Chapel. The usual address was spoken by the Spanish Bishop, Bernaldino Lopez de Carvajal. He drew an impressive picture of the melancholy condition of the Church, and exhorted the Assembly to make a good choice and to choose quickly. The foreign Ambassadors and a number of noble Romans undertook the guardianship of the Conclave.

In view of the failing health of Innocent VIII, the Cabinets of the Italian Powers had for some time been occupied with the probability of a Papal election. In the Milanese State Archives there is an undated memorandum from an Envoy of Sforza, which probably belongs to the beginning of the year 1491, and gives much interesting information. According to it, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza seems to have believed that he could reckon with security on seven of the cardinals and probably on four more. His rival, Giuliano della Rovere, had nine on his side; neither, therefore, possessed the necessary majority of two-thirds. The writer of this account thought that Cardinal Ardicino della Porta or the Portuguese Cardinal Costa, most probably the latter, had the best chance.

On July 25, 1492, when the death of Innocent VIII was hourly expected, the intrigues in regard to the election were at their height. After Costa and Ardicino della Porta, Caraffa and Zeno were most spoken of. Some were for Piccolomini and some again for Borgia. The Florentine Envoy writes, “In regard to these intrigues I will not attempt to enter into details which would only serve to bewilder you and myself, for they are innumerable and change every hour.” The same Envoy, on the 28th July, mentions strenuous efforts on the part of the Roman Barons to influence the election, and the foreign Powers were equally active. It was currently reported that Charles VIII of France had paid 200,000 ducats into a bank, and the Republic of Genoa 100,000, in order to secure the election of Giuliano della Rovere. On the strength of this they fully expected that their countryman would be chosen.

As soon as it became known that the Pope was seriously ill an eager interchange of communications at once commenced between the Italian Powers, but they were unable to come to any agreement. Naples and Milan were at daggers drawn. The King of Naples, made doubly cautious by defeat, was anxious to conceal his views on the important subject as far as possible. On the 24th of July, the Milanese Ambassador at Naples reports that the King had declared that he would not meddle in any way with the Papal election; he had seen what came of that at the making of the last Pope, and would let things take their course at Rome, as far as he was concerned. All the same, the Ambassador was convinced that Ferrante was busily occupied with the approaching Conclave. In his opinion the King would favour the election of Piccolomini, and Camillo Pandone would be sent to Rome to win over Giuliano della Rovere to his side. Ferrante’s letters to his Ambassador, Joviano Pontano, which however have not yet been fully known, throw somewhat more light upon this subject.

From the first of these, dated July 20, it appears that the King favoured the election of Giuliano della Rovere; he commissioned Virginio Orsini, who was in his pay, to promote it, and desired Fabricio and Prospero Colonna secretly to approach Rome. The second letter in cypher to Pontano bears date July 22. The King here pronounces against the election of Costa and prefers Pietro Gundisalvo de Mendoza; Pontano is told to inform Cardinal Giuliano of this. Giuliano seems to have had the King’s entire confidence, and the election of Zeno was only contemplated as an alternative in case that of Giuliano could not be secured. Naples and France, though preparing for a final and decisive hostile encounter, supported meanwhile the same candidate for the Papal Chair.

Giuliano della Rovere did not want for rivals. An extremely interesting, as yet unprinted report of Giovanni Andrea Boccaccio, Bishop of Modena, to Eleonora, Duchess of Ferrara, gives Ardicino della Porta, of the party of Ascanio Sforza, and universally popular on account of his kindly disposition, as the first of these. He puts Caraffa in the second place, Ascanio Sforza in the third, Rodrigo Borgia in the fourth. Of this latter he says, that on account of his connections he is extremely powerful, and able richly to reward his adherents. In the first place, the Vice-chancellorship, which is like a second Papacy, is in his gift; then there are the towns of Civita Castellana and Nepi, an Abbey at Aquila, with a revenue of 1000 ducats, a similar one in Albano, two larger ones in the kingdom of Naples; the Bishopric of Porto, worth 1200 ducats, the Abbey of Subiaco including twenty-two villages, and bringing in 2000 ducats. In Spain he possesses upwards of sixteen bishoprics, and a number of abbeys and other benefices. Besides these, the Bishop mentions as aspirants to the Supreme office the Cardinals Savelli, Costa, Piccolomini, and Michiel, and many also, he adds, speak of Fregoso, Domenico della Rovere and Zeno. All these Cardinals had dismantled their palaces, for on such occasions it often happens that false reports are started to provide an excuse for plundering the house, as is customary when any one is elected Pope. Besides all these, continues the Ferraresc Envoy, the name of Cardinal Giuliano is whispered in secret, and yet after all, only one can be chosen, unless indeed there should be a schism. A despatch dated August 4, from the Milanese Ambassador, confirms the statement that Ardicino della Porta had good prospects. It says that Giuliano sees that neither he nor Costa are likely to succeed, and that he must therefore support some adherent of Ascanio, and among these Ardicino della Porta is the only satisfactory one. He will not have Borgia at any price, and Piccolomini is an enemy of his; Ferrante’s opposition makes Caraffa impossible; there is a chance, however, that Cardinal della Rovere may prefer Zeno to Ardicino della Porta. The same Ambassador also mentions an interview on the 4th of August between della Rovere and Ascanio in the Sacristy of S. Peter’s, in which the former was supposed to have offered the Milanese Cardinal his personal support and that of his friends.

The situation on the eve of the Conclave seemed to be that Giuliano della Rovere, who was hated for the influence he had exerted over the late Pope and for his French sympathies, had no chance whatever, while the Cardinals Ardicino della Porta and Ascanio Sforza, favoured by Milan, had good reason to hope for success. The chances were against Borgia because he was a Spaniard, and many of the Italian Cardinals were determined not to elect a foreigner; but the wealth of the Spanish Cardinal was destined to turn the scales in the Conclave, as the shrewdness of the Ambassador had foreseen.

The Conclave began on August 6th. An election Capitulation was drawn up, and then the contest began. For a long time it remained undecided. On the 10th of August the Florentine Ambassador, who was one of the guards of the Conclave, writes that there had been three scrutinies without result; Caraffa and Costa seemed to have the best chance. Both were worthy men, and one, Caraffa, was a man of distinguished abilities. The election of either would have been a great blessing to the Church. Unfortunately a sudden change came over the whole situation. As soon as Ascanio Sforza perceived that there was no likelihood that he would himself be chosen, he began to lend a willing ear to Borgia’s brilliant offers. Rodrigo not only promised him the office of Vice-Chancellor with his own Palace, but in addition to this the Castle of Nepi, the Bishopric of Erlau with a revenue of 10,000 ducats, and other benefices. Cardinal Orsini was to receive the two fortified towns of Monticelli and Soriano, the legation of the Marches and the Bishopric of Carthagena; Cardinal Colonna, the Abbacy of Subiaco with all the surrounding villages; Savelli, Civita Castellana and the Bishopric of Majorca; Pallavicini, the Bishopric of Pampeluna; Giovanni Michiel the suburban Bishopric of Porto; the Cardinals Sclafenati, Sanseverino, Riario and Domenico della Rovere, rich abbacies and valuable benefices. By these simoniacal means, counting his own vote and those of the Cardinals Ardicino della Porta and Conti who belonged to the Sforza party, Borgia had thus secured 24 votes, and only one more was wanting to complete the majority of two-thirds. This one however was not easy to obtain. The Cardinals Caraffa, Costa, Piccolomini and Zeno were not to be won by any promises however brilliant; and the young Giovanni de’ Medici held with them. Cardinal Basso followed Giuliano della Rovere, who would not hear of Borgia’s election. Lorenzo Cibò also held aloof from these unhallowed transactions. Thus Gherardo, now in his ninety-sixth year and hardly in possession of his faculties, alone remained, and he was persuaded by those who were about him to give his vote to Borgia. The election was decided in the night between the 10th and 11th August, 1492, and in the early morning the window of the Conclave was opened and the Vice-Chancellor, Rodrigo Borgia, was proclaimed Pope as Alexander VI. The result was unexpected; it was obtained by the rankest simony. Such were the means, as the annalist of the Church says, by which in accordance with the inscrutable counsels of Divine Providence, a man attained to the highest dignity, who in the early days of the Church would not have been admitted even to the lowest rank of the clergy, on account of his immoral life. The days of distress and confusion began for the Roman Church; the prophetic words of Savonarola were fulfilled; the sword of the wrath of God smote the earth and the time of chastisement had arrived.

However just in itself this view of the matter may be, it must not be supposed that the general feeling of the time was unfavourable to the election of Alexander VI. On the contrary Rodrigo Borgia was looked upon as the most capable member of the College of Cardinals. He seemed to possess all the qualities of a distinguished temporal ruler; and to many he appeared to be just the right man to steer the Papacy, now more than ever the fulcrum on which all the politics of the time were balanced, through the complications and difficulties of the situation. That this was considered enough to outweigh all objections from the ecclesiastical point of view is significant of the tendencies of the time. One of his contemporaries in describing him only says, he is an ambitious man, fairly well-informed and ready and incisive in speech; of a secretive temperament; singularly expert in the conduct of affairs. Sigismondo de’ Conti who had opportunities of getting to know Borgia well, characterises him as an extremely accomplished man, uniting to distinguished intellectual gifts a thorough knowledge of business and capacity for it. “It is now thirty-seven years” he continues “since his uncle Calixtus III made him a Cardinal, and during that time he never missed a single Consistory unless prevented by illness from attending, which very seldom happened. Throughout the reigns of Pius II, Paul II, Sixtus IV and Innocent VIII, he was always an important personage; he had been Legate in Spain and in Italy. Few people understood etiquette so well as he did; he knew how to make the most of himself, and took pains to shine in conversation and to be dignified in his manners. In the latter point his majestic stature gave him an advantage. Also he was just at the age, about sixty, at which Aristotle says men are wisest; robust in body and vigorous in mind, he was admirably equipped for his new position”. Further on the same writer completes the picture, adding, “He was tall and powerfully built; though he had blinking eyes, they were penetrating and lively; in conversation he was extremely affable; he understood money matters thoroughly.” The Spanish Bishop Bernaldino Lopez de Carvajal, in 1493 speaks in enthusiastic terms of the physical beauty and strength of the newly elected Pope. Still greater stress is laid upon his imposing presence, a quality that has always been highly valued by the Italians, in the description given of him by Hieronymus Portius in the year 1493: “He is tall, in complexion neither fair nor dark; his eyes are black, his mouth somewhat full. His health is splendid, and he has a marvellous power of enduring all sorts of fatigue. He is singularly eloquent in speech, and is gifted with an innate good breeding, which never forsakes him”.

In all these descriptions nothing is said about Borgia’s moral character; but it must not be inferred from this that it was unknown, but rather that public opinion in those days not only in Italy, but also in France and Spain, was incredibly lenient on that point. Among the upper classes a dissolute life was looked upon as a matter of course; in Italy, especially, the prevailing state of things was deplorable. The profligacy of the rulers of Naples, Milan, and Florence of that time was something almost unheard of. The fact that the lives of many princes of the Church were no better than those of the temporal rulers gave little or no scandal to the Italians of the Renaissance. This was partly due to the general laxity of opinion in regard to morals, but the habit of looking upon the higher clergy mainly as temporal governors, had also something to do with it.

At the same time, while the irregularities of the Cardinal’s earlier life were apparently easily forgiven, much indignation was aroused by the shameless bribery by means of which he had secured his election. There is a stinging irony in Infessura’s words; “Directly he became Pope, Alexander VI proceeded to give away all his goods to the poor,” which are followed by the enumeration in detail of the rewards bestowed on each of the Cardinals who voted for him. In speaking of this simoniacal election, the Roman notary Latinus de Masiis exclaims: “Oh, Lord Jesus Christ, it is in punishment for our sins that Thou hast permitted Thy vicegerent to be elected in so unworthy a manner!”

Nevertheless, it is a fact that Borgia’s election was hopefully welcomed by many both in Italy and abroad. On the 16th of August, 1492, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola despatched a letter of congratulation to Alexander VI which is full of sanguine anticipations. In Rome it was said that the election of so distinguished and genial a Pope, whose good looks and dignified bearing also won the hearts of the common people, augured a brilliant Pontificate. As early as August 12 the conservators with some of the most notable of the citizens, 800 in all, came in procession on horseback with lighted torches to the Vatican to greet the new Pope. Bonfires blazed in all directions throughout the city.

The coronation on August 26 was unusually splendid. Both the Florentine and the Mantuan Ambassadors agree in declaring that they had never witnessed a more brilliant ceremony. Innumerable multitudes flocked into Rome; nearly the whole of the nobility of the Patrimony was assembled. The streets were decorated with costly hangings, exquisite flowers, garlands, statues and triumphal arches. All the grace and beauty of the Renaissance was displayed, but its darker side was not absent. The Roman epigraphists and poetasters, who some years later were remorselessly to load the name and memory of this Pope with opprobrium, surpassed themselves in the ingenuity and rank paganism of their compliments. It would be impossible to exceed the profanity of some of their productions, of which the following distich is a specimen:—

“Rome was great under Caesar, greater far under Alexander,

The first was only a mortal, but the latter is a God.”

It is not surprising that good men such as Delfini, the General of the Camaldolese, were scandalised at such unmeasured adulation. “An incident which I saw with my own eyes,” writes Delfini to a friend, “forcibly reminded me of the instability of all human things. In the Lateran Basilica the Pope suddenly fainted, and water had to be dashed on his face before he could recover consciousness.” Indeed, at the end of the great day the whole Court was utterly worn out with fatigue, aggravated by the heat and dust. “Your Highness can imagine,” writes Brognolo the Mantuan envoy, “what it was to have to ride from eight to ten miles at a stretch in such a crowd.” Thus the statement of Guicciardini, a bitter opponent of Alexander, that the news of his election filled all men with dismay is proved entirely false. On the contrary, it was hailed with the greatest satisfaction by several of the Italian Powers, notably by Milan. An Envoy reports that Duke Ludovico il Moro was in the highest spirits at the success with which his brother Cardinal Ascanio Sforza’s efforts had been crowned. He had good reason to rejoice. Senator Ambrogio Mirabilia writes on August 13, that Cardinal Ascanio is the man who made Alexander VI Pope, consequently it is impossible to exaggerate the power and influence that he possesses; indeed, he is held to be as much Pope as Alexander himself.

In Florence as in Milan the election was received with public rejoicing and ringing of bells. Before the coronation festivities both Sforza and Alexander himself had written letters to Piero de’ Medici, assuring him of their friendly dispositions; and indeed, the son of Lorenzo had reason to expect kindness from the new Pope. The Grand-Master of the Knights of S. John was convinced that the wisdom and justice of Alexander VI would rid the East of the tyranny of the Turks. It is not surprising that in various parts of Italy there should have been some who were dissatisfied with the result of the Conclave. Some such malcontents were to be found even in Genoa, where grateful memories of Calixtus III caused the majority to hail the elevation of his nephew with joy, and when Guicciardini says that Ferrante, King of Naples, wept when he heard that Borgia had been elected, we must not accept the statement too literally. In the King’s letters there is nothing to support it, nor was he the sort of man who would have been likely to shed tears on such an occasion; at the same time, Borgia’s elevation, which he had throughout strenuously opposed, could not have been agreeable to him; but Ferrante had quite wit enough to conceal his sentiments. He immediately despatched a letter of congratulation to Alexander, couched in the most friendly terms; and on the 15th of August desired Virginio Orsini to assure the Pope of his devotion “as a good and obedient son”. Ferrante may at that time have thought it possible to win Alexander VI, though, considering the existing relations between Naples and Rome, which were such that open war might be declared at any moment, the task was not an easy one.

At the Spanish Court the tension between Rome and Naples excited serious apprehensions. In Spain, Alexander’s enterprising disposition was well-known, and he was credited with an ardent desire to accomplish something that should be remembered. While only a Cardinal he had founded the Dukedom of Gandia; and now that he was Pope, what might he not attempt for the aggrandisement of his family?

The Venetians made no secret of their displeasure at Alexander’s elevation. Their Ambassador at Milan, spoke very plainly to the Envoy from Ferrara of the means by which the election had been carried. It had been obtained, he said, by shameless simony and fraud; and France and Spain would certainly withhold their obedience when they became aware of this abominable crime. Many of the Cardinals had been bribed by the Pope, but there were ten who had received nothing, and who were thoroughly disgusted; the hope here insinuated that a schism would ensue was not realised, for almost all the Powers hastened to profess their obedience to the new Pope in the most obsequious terms. Lodovico il Moro had proposed that all the Envoys of the League,—Milan, Naples, Ferrara, and Florence,—should present themselves in Rome together; but the vanity of Piero de’ Medici, who was bent on coming to Rome and making his entry with great pomp at the head of the Florentine mission, upset this plan. After the Florentines, followed the representatives of Genoa, Milan, and Venice. According to the custom of the time, these delegates were chosen from the ranks of the most distinguished Humanists and scholars. Thus Florence was represented by Gentile Becchi, and Milan by the celebrated Giason del Maino. The addresses delivered on this occasion were admired as masterpieces of humanistic eloquence, and extensively disseminated through the press. They were crammed with quotations from the classics; but, “though the great qualities of the newly elected Pope were eulogised in borrowed terms, a real underlying conviction that his gifts were of no common order can be plainly traced.”

In foreign countries a high opinion was entertained of the new Pontiff. The German chronicler, Hartmann Schedel, wrote soon after he came to the throne that the world had much to hope for from the virtues of such a Pope. The new Pope, he says, is a large-minded man, gifted with great prudence, foresight, and knowledge of the world. In his youth he studied at the University of Bologna, and obtained there so great reputation for virtue, learning, and capability that his mother’s brother, Pope Calixtus III, made him a Cardinal; and it is a further proof of his worth and talents that he was called at such an early age to a place in this honourable and illustrious assembly, and was also made Vice-Chancellor. Such things being known of him, he was quickly elected to govern and steer the barque of S. Peter. Besides being a man of a noble countenance and bearing, he has, in the first place, the merit of being a Spaniard; secondly, he comes from Valentia; thirdly, he is of an illustrious family. In book-learning, appreciation of Art, and probity of life he is a worthy successor of his uncle, Calixtus of blessed memory. He is affable, trustworthy, prudent, pious, and well-versed in all things appertaining to his exalted position and dignity. Blessed indeed therefore is he adorned with so many virtues and raised to so high a dignity. We trust that he will prove most serviceable to all Christendom, and that in his pilgrimage he will pass safely through the raging surf and the high and dangerous rocks, and finally reach the steps of the heavenly throne.” The Swedish Chancellor, Sten Sture, sent a present of horses and costly furs to Rome as a token of good-will.

The new Pope began his reign in a manner which tended to confirm these good opinions. He at once took measures to secure a strict administration of the laws. This had become exceedingly necessary, as in the short time which had elapsed between the commencement of the illness of Innocent VIII and Alexander’s coronation, two hundred and twenty murders had been committed in Rome. Alexander VI ordered a searching investigation into these crimes; he nominated certain men to visit the prisons, and appointed four commissioners to hear complaints in Rome; and on Tuesdays he himself gave audiences to all who had any grievance to bring before him. He endeavoured by the strictest economy to repair the disordered state of the finances, as is proved by the household accounts. The whole monthly expenditure for housekeeping was only 700 ducats. His table was so plain that the Cardinals, unaccustomed to such simple fare, avoided invitations as much as possible. The Ferrarese Envoy, writing in 1495, says: “the Pope has only one course at dinner; he requires this to be of good quality, but Ascanio Sforza and others, such as Cardinal Juan Borgia and Caesar, who, in former days, often dined with him, by no means relish this frugality, and avoid being his guests as much as they can.”

In other points also the new Pope made a favourable impression. He said to the Florentine Envoy on the 16th of August, that he would do his utmost to preserve peace and to be a father to all without distinction. The Envoy from Ferrara reports that Alexander means to reform the Court; there are to be changes in regard to the secretaries and officials connected with the press; his children are to be kept at a distance. The Pope told the Milanese Ambassador that he was resolved to restore peace to Italy, and to unite all Christendom to withstand the Turks; his uncle Calixtus had set him an example on this point which he was determined to follow.

It is probable that there was a moment in which Alexander really entertained the idea of restraining his family ambition and devoting himself to the duties of his office. Unfortunately these good intentions were but short-lived; his inordinate attachment to his family soon burst forth again. To establish the power of the house of Borgia on secure and lasting foundations became the one purpose of his whole life. Even in the Consistory of the 31st August, in which the rewards to the electors were dispensed, Alexander gave the Bishopric of Valencia, which was worth 16,000 ducats, to his son Caesar, although Innocent VIII had already bestowed on him that of Pampeluna. In the same Consistory he made his nephew Juan, the Archbishop of Monreale, Cardinal of Sta. Susanna. Six Legates were also either appointed or confirmed at this Consistory: Giuliano della Rovere to Avignon; Fregoso to Campania; Savelli to Spoleto; Orsini to the Marches; Sforza to Bologna; and Medici to the Patrimony.

Unfortunately for Alexander, as had happened with Calixtus, all his relations immediately flocked to Rome, fully and recklessly determined to make the most of the golden opportunity. Not only his near relations, but all who could in any way claim kinship or friendship with the new Pope, trooped thither to seek their fortunes. Gianandrea Boccaccio, writing to the Duke of Ferrara, declares that “ten Papacies would not have sufficed to provide for all these cousins”. The motive which only too soon brought about a complete and unfortunate revolution in Alexander’s conduct, was in itself not an ignoble one, namely, his affection for his family, and more especially for his children, Caesar, Jofre, and Lucrezia. The latter whose name has become historical, was her father’s greatest favourite. “Chroniclers and historians have conspired with the writers of epigrams, romances, and plays to represent Lucrezia Borgia as one of the most abandoned of her sex, a heroine of the dagger and poison-cup. The times were bad, the Court was bad, the example of her own family detestable, but even if Lucrezia may not have been wholly untainted by the prevailing corruption, she by no means deserves this evil reputation. The most serious accusations against her, rest on stories which, in their foulness and extravagance, surpass the bounds of credibility and even of possibility, or on the lampoons of a society famed for the ruthlessness of its satire. Numbers of well attested facts prove them to be calumnies.” All that is known also of Lucrezia’s personal appearance is out of harmony with such a character.

All her contemporaries agree in describing her as singularly attractive with a sweet joyousness and charm quite peculiar to herself. “She is of middle height and graceful in form,” writes Nicolo Cagnolo of Parma, “her face is rather long, the nose well cut, hair golden, eyes of no special colour; her mouth rather large, the teeth brilliantly white, her neck is slender and fair, the bust admirably proportioned. She is always gay and smiling.” Other narrators specially praise her long golden hair. Unfortunately we have no trustworthy portrait of this remarkable woman; at the same time we can gather from some medals which were struck at Ferrara during her stay there, a fair notion of her features. The best of these medals, designed apparently by Filippino Lippi, shows how false the prevailing conception of this woman’s character, woven out of partisanship and calumny, has been. The little head with its delicate features is rather charming than beautiful, the expression is maidenly, almost childish, the abundant hair flows down over the shoulders, the large eyes have a far-off look. The character of the face is soft, irresolute and gentle; there is no trace of strong passions; and rather it denotes a weak and passive nature incapable of self-determination. Thus Lucrezia’s fate was entirely in the hands of her relations. At eleven years old she was betrothed to a Spanish grandee, Juan de Centelles, and later to Don Gasparo, Count of Aversa. Both of these engagements were broken off. The all-powerful Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, then proposed an alliance with a member of his own family, Giovanni Sforza, Count of Cotignola and Lord of Pesaro, a brilliant offer which Alexander gladly accepted.

Caesar Borgia shared with his sister Lucrezia the smiling countenance and ready laugh which both inherited from their father, however little resemblance there may have been in their characters either to him or to each other. “Caesar possesses distinguished talents and a noble nature,” writes the Ferrarese Envoy in 1493, “his bearing is that of the son of a prince; he is singularly cheerful and merry, and seems always in high spirits. He never had any inclination for the priesthood; but his benefices yield more than 16,000 ducats. He was well-versed in the culture of the time, loved Art, and associated with poets and painters and had a poet attached to his court. Personally, however, his taste was rather for war and politics. He combined unusual military and administrative talents with an iron will. Like most of the princes of the day his one aim was to obtain power, and no means were too bad for him provided they would serve his end. When he had got what he wanted he showed his better side. He was a first-rate Condottiere, excelled in all knightly arts, and surpassed the best “Espadas” in a bull-fight; with one blow he completely severed the head of a powerful bull from the trunk. His complexion was swarthy; in his latter years his face was disfigured with blotches. The expression of his eyes which were deep-set and penetrating, betrayed a sinister nature, voluptuous, tyrannical and crafty. All the members of Caesar’s household, his servants, and latterly his fighting men and even his executioner were Spaniards; he and his father usually spoke Spanish to each other.

Ferrante had already taken umbrage at the project of an alliance between Sforza and Caesar’s sister; and soon, other events occurred which further disturbed the relations between Rome and Naples. King Ladislaus of Hungary had announced that he did not consider his betrothal to Ferrante’s daughter binding, and there was reason to believe that the Pope would decide in his favour. In addition to this family affair, the ambitious projects of Lodovico il Moro were a still more serious cause of apprehension to the King of Naples. Lodovico was bent on dethroning his nephew Giangaleazzo of Milan, who was married to a granddaughter of Ferrante. France was already on his side and he further hoped to secure the assistance of the Pope through his brother Ascanio Sforza, whose influence in Rome was unbounded. Hence the King awaited with feverish anxiety the result of the visit of his second son, Federigo of Aragon, Prince of Altamura, to Rome. He had gone there on the 11th November 1492, to profess obedience in his father’s name, and to persuade the Pope to enter into an alliance with Naples. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere had prepared a handsome apartment for him in his palace. Federigo proffered his obedience on the 21st December, and on Christmas Day received from the Pope a consecrated sword. On the 10th January 1493, he left Rome without obtaining anything. There was no chance of an alliance, and in the matter of the betrothal the Pope was not encouraging. Nor indeed was this at all surprising, for just at this moment Alexander had received information of an intrigue against the States of the Church which the King had been carrying on.

After the death of Innocent VIII Franceschetto Cibò had fled to his brother-in-law Piero de’ Medici, and from thence endeavoured to sell his property in the Romagna. On the 3rd September 1492, an arrangement was entered into through the mediation of Ferrante and Piero by which in consideration of a payment of 40,000 ducats, Virginio Orsini became lord of Cervetri and Anguillara. It was clear Virginio could never have produced so large a sum without the assistance of Ferrante. Alexander VI was completely taken by surprise, and fully determined when he heard of the sale, that this important domain should not remain in the hands of a man who had once threatened to throw Innocent VIII into the Tiber. Virginio Orsini was Commander-in-Chief of the Neapolitan army, and altogether on intimate terms with both Naples and Florence. Thus the Pope had good reason to suspect that his neighbours had a hand in the transaction by which the most powerful of the Roman barons obtained an important accession of strength. There was no need of those machinations on the part of Lodovico il Moro and Cardinal Ascanio of which Ferrante complained; the danger to Rome of a power like that of the Prefects of Vico springing up in its near neighbourhood must be patent to everyone. When the Pope heard that Virginio’s troops had already occupied these cities, he entered a protest before the Cardinals in Consistory, and a formal complaint against Giuliano della Rovere who had favoured the acquisition of this important territory by an enemy of the Holy See. Giuliano replied that it would have been a worse evil to have allowed these cities to fall into the hands of a relation of Cardinal Ascanio. As in the Conclave, so now in the Consistory, Ascanio Sforza and Giuliano della Rovere stood in bitter opposition to each other; the latter could count on the support of Naples and the Orsini and Colonna. Nevertheless he did not feel himself secure in Rome and retired towards the end of the year to the fort which Sangallo had built for him in Ostia. Ferrante approved of this step and promised his protection to the Cardinal. At Ostia, Giuliano received Federigo of Aragon on his return journey from Rome, and soon after also Virginio Orsini, who promised to support him in every way. The Envoy who relates this adds that Ostia is thoroughly defensible.

The fort of Ostia was in those days supposed to be impregnable; it commanded the mouth of the Tiber, Giuliano’s action in entrenching himself there was a direct menace to the Pope. An incident related by Infessura shows how much alarmed Alexander was. One day he had gone over to the villa Magliana intending to spend the day there; on his arrival a cannon was fired off as a salute which so terrified him that he at once returned to the Vatican; he apprehended an attack from some of Giuliano’s adherents and thought the shot was a preconcerted signal.

At this time Civita Vecchia was fortified by his orders, which is another proof that he was thoroughly frightened. Disturbances also began to appear in the States of the Church, in which Ferrante and Piero de’ Medici seemed to have a hand, and this further inclined the Pope to look favourably on a proposal suggested by Ascanio Sforza and Lodovico il Moro, for entering into a defensive alliance with Venice. The King of Naples now became uneasy and put forth all his diplomatic skill to prevent this. In March 1493, he sent the Abbot Rugio to Rome, to settle the dispute about Cervetri and Anguillara, and other Envoys to Florence and Milan with the same object. Overtures were made for a marriage between Caesar Borgia, who wished to return to secular life, and a daughter of the King; later, negotiations were begun for a marriage between Caesar’s younger brother Jofre and a Princess of the house of Aragon. This proposal was eagerly accepted by Ferrante; but both projects soon fell through; probably Ascanio had a hand in bringing this about. Ferrante complained bitterly; “the Pope ought to consider,” he wrote, “that we have come to years of discretion, and have no notion of allowing him to lead us by the nose.” At the same time he kept up close communications with Giuliano della Rovere and threw troops into the Abruzzi. The treaty between Alexander, Venice and Milan was now concluded. On the 25th April 1493, the new League, in which Siena, Ferrara, and Mantua were included, was announced in Rome; Milan and Venice engaged at once to send several hundred men to help the Pope against Virginio Orsini.

Meanwhile Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere still remained at Ostia. A Milanese Envoy reports on the 7th of March 1493, that he never went out of the Castle without a strong escort.

Later, Giuliano asked Ferrante’s advice as to some other strong place to which he might retire. All this time the Neapolitan King was doing his utmost to stir up the other Cardinals who sided with Rovere and urge them on to resist the Pope’s project of creating new Cardinals. In June he privately informed them that his troops were ready, in case of need, to support them against the Pope. At the same time, Ferrante despatched a letter to Antonio d’Alessandro, his Envoy at the Court of Spain, vehemently protesting his innocence, and accusing the Pope of being the only true disturber of the peace. Alexander’s main object in all his policy, he said, was to stir up scandals and strife in Italy; his purpose in his nomination of new Cardinals, was merely to raise money in order to attack Naples. “Alexander VI” he writes, “has no respect for the holy Chair which he occupies, and leads such a life that everyone turns away from him with horror; he cares for nothing but the aggrandisement of his children by fair means or by foul. All his thoughts and all his actions are directed to this one end. What he wants is war; from the first moment of his reign till now, he has never ceased persecuting me. There are more soldiers than priests in Rome; the Pope thinks of nothing but war and rapine. His cousins (the Sforzas) are of the same mind, all their desire is to tyrannise over the Papacy so that when the present occupant dies they may be able to do what they like with it. Rome will become a Milanese camp.”

A few months later, Ferrante entered into the closest relations with this same much abused Pope. Of course there can be no doubt that the charges against Alexander’s conduct were well-founded. The proof is not far to seek. On the 12th June 1493, marriage of Lucrezia Borgia with Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro was celebrated at the Vatican with great pomp, in the presence of Alexander VI. At the wedding feast the Pope and twelve Cardinals sat down at table with the ladies who were present, among whom was the notorious Giulia Farnese. “When the banquet was over” says the Ferrarese Envoy, “the ladies danced, and as an interlude, we had an excellent play with much singing and music. The Pope and all the others were there. What more can I say? my letter would never end were I to describe it all; thus we spent the whole night, whether well or ill, I will leave to your Highness to determine.”

Directly after these festivities, Diego Lopez de Haro, Ambassador of Ferdinand the Catholic, arrived in Rome to tender his obedience. According to Infessura, Lopez availed himself of this opportunity (June 19, 1493), to express the dissatisfaction of the King, who lived in internecine conflict with the infidels, at the breaches of the peace in Italy, and to require that the Marani (crypto-Jews) who had been allowed to establish themselves in Rome, should be expelled. According to the same authority, the Ambassador also demanded the surplus revenues, amounting to over 100 ducats, from the Spanish benefices, for the King, to assist him in his war with the infidels; if this were refused, the King would find means to take it without leave. He adds that Diego Lopez complained of the simony which prevailed in Rome, and warned the Pope not to give away anything of more value than a parish benefice. The rest of his observations in regard to the reform of the Church, says Infessura, I pass over. On the other hand, not a word of all this is to be found in Burchard, who was present at the Ambassador’s audience. As it is in itself extremely improbable that an Ambassador sent to tender obedience should have exceeded his commission in this way, grave doubts must rest upon this story of Infessura. The statement of the Spanish historian Zurita, who only says that Lopez told the Pope that the King looked upon the affairs of Naples and of the House of Aragon as his own, is probably nearer to the truth.

Ferrante was naturally greatly rejoiced at this declaration on the part of the Spanish Ambassador. He saw clearly, however, that there was nothing in this to warrant any relaxation in his efforts to counteract Lodovico il Moro’s plans, for obtaining through the mediation of his brother Ascanio, the investiture of Naples from the Pope for the King of France and continued to labour with feverish energy to avert this danger. Towards the end of June, he again sent his second son, Federigo of Altamura, to Rome to endeavour to arrange the affairs of Anguillara and detach the Pope from the League. He now adopted a menacing attitude. Federigo joined the party of the Cardinals of the opposition, attaching himself especially to Cardinal della Rovere, while Alfonso of Calabria with his troops threatened the frontier of the States of the Church. The immediate effect of these measures, however, was to increase the influence of Ascanio Sforza. Ferrante then resolved to try other tactics. Federigo, who was at Ostia negotiating with the Cardinals of the Opposition, della Rovere, Savelli and Colonna, desired to return to Rome, at any price, to get the Orsini affair set to rights, to promise the payment of the investiture tribute without delay, and to conclude a family alliance with the Borgia before the French Ambassador Perron de Baschi could arrive in Rome. The matrimonial projects for Jofre Borgia again came to the fore. He was to marry Sancia a natural daughter of Duke Alfonso of Calabria, and to receive with her the principality of Squillace and the countship of Coriata; the engagement was to be kept secret till Christmas. At the same time the Spanish Ambassador proposed a marriage between Juan Borgia, second Duke of Gandia, and Maria, daughter of King Ferdinand’s uncle.

It was not in Alexander’s power to withstand the bait of such advantageous offers for his belongings. At the same moment, also his allies in the League, Venice and Milan, adopted an attitude which seemed to threaten ultimate desertion, and this made him all the more ready to lend a willing ear to these proposals. The only remaining difficulty now was to come to a satisfactory arrangement with Virginio Orsini and Giuliano della Rovere. After much discussion the former agreed to pay 35,000 ducats to the Pope, and in return received from him the investiture of Cervetri and Anguillara. At the same time a reconciliation between Giuliano della Rovere and Alexander was effected. On the 24th of July, Cardinal della Rovere and Virginio came to Rome, and both dined with the Pope. On the 1st of August, Federigo was able to announce to his father that Alexander had signed the articles of agreement. On the 2nd of August his much-loved son Juan, Duke ol Gandia, gorgeously equipped, set out for Spain to be united to his Spanish bride.

A few days later Perron de Baschi arrived in Rome to demand the investiture of Naples for Charles VIII. The Pope sent an answer couched in vague terms, and in the subsequent private audience his language was equally indecisive. The French Envoy had to depart on the 9th of August without having accomplished his mission.

Ferrante now flattered himself that the dreaded storm had blown over. He wrote in high spirits to his Envoy in France. “When Perron de Baschi gets back to France, many projects will have to be given up, and many illusions will be dissipated. Be of good cheer, for perfect harmony now reigns between me and the Pope.” On the 17th of August the deed of investiture was ready for Virginio Orsini; on the previous day Jofre Borgia had been married by procuration to Sancia the daughter of Alfonso of Calabria. Alexander communicated the arrangement in regard to Cervetri and Anguillara to Lodovico il Moro on the 21st of August. Eight days before this a Milanese Envoy had written home “Some people think that the Pope has lost his head since his elevation; as far as I can see, the exact contrary is the case. He has negotiated a League which made the King of Naples groan; he has contrived to marry his daughter to a Sforza, who, besides his pension from Milan, possesses a yearly income of 12,000 ducats; he has humbled Virginio Orsini and obliged him to pay; and has brought King Ferrante to enter into a family connection with himself. Does this look like a man whose intellect is decaying? Alexander intends to enjoy his power in peace and quietude.” As to Cardinal Ascanio, the writer believes that he will not lose his influence, in spite of the favour which Giuliano della Rovere now enjoys. He was mistaken in this, however, for the immediate result of the Pope’s reconciliation with Ferrante, Giuliano and the Orsini, was the temporary disgrace of the hitherto all-powerful Cardinal Ascanio who was forced to leave the Vatican.

Meanwhile, the relations between Alexander VI and Ferrante had, very soon after their reconciliation, been again disturbed, had then improved for a short time, but quickly changed anew for the worse. In any case it must have disagreeably affected Ferrante to find that in the nomination of the new Cardinals on September 20th, 1493, his was the only important State which was not represented.

Raimondo Peraudi was recommended by Maximilian of Austria; Charles VIII asked for Jean de la Grolaie, Ferdinand of Spain for Bernaldino Lopez de Carvajal. A Cardinal was given to England in the person of John Morton, Archbishop of Canterbury; Venice had the eminent theologian, Domenico Grimani; Milan, Bernardino Lunati; Rome was represented by Alessandro Farnese (hitherto head of the Treasury) and Giuliano Cesarini; Ferrara had Ippolito d’Este. The Archbishop of Cracow, Frederick Casimir, was made Cardinal at the request of King Ladislaus of Hungary, and King Albert of Poland. Alexander added Caesar Borgia, and Giovanni Antonio Sangiorgio, Bishop of Alessandria, noted for his great juridical learning and the blamelessness of his life.

In these first nominations of Alexander there is in the main, nothing to find fault with; the various nationalities were all considered, and many both able and worthy men are to be found among the new Cardinals. The elevation of Ippolito d’Este aged only fifteen, and that of Caesar Borgia who was far more fit to be a soldier than an ecclesiastic, cannot of course be defended. Sigismondo de’ Conti says that Alessandro Farnese was nominated at the request of the Romans, while other writers speak of an unlawful connection between Alexander VI and Farnese’s sister Giulia (la bella). “If this was the case, Farnese’s personal worth was such as to give him the means of causing this questionable beginning to be soon forgotten.”

The creation of these Cardinals on 20th September,1493, was a great addition to Alexander’s power and a terrible blow to the Cardinals of the opposition. They could not contain themselves for rage, while the crafty Ferrante, with an eye to the future, took pains to conceal his annoyance. Giuliano della Rovere especially was furious; and now quarrelled again with the Pope. When the news was brought to him at Marino, he uttered a loud exclamation and fell ill with anger. The Milanese Envoy writes in great delight, 24th September: “Words would fail me to describe the honour which this success has brought to your Highness and Cardinal Ascanio.” On the 28th September the latter informs his brother: “The Cardinals of the opposition continue their demonstrations against the Pope. Cardinal Caraffa keeps away from Rome. Costa intends to retire to Monte Oliveto. Giuliano is as he was ; Fregoso and Conti follow him. Nothing is to be heard of Piccolomini. Such being the state of things, the Pope fears there may be disturbances, and would be glad of your Highness’s advice.”

CHAPTER II.

Alliance between Alfonso II of Naples and Alexander VI.

Flight of Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere to France. Invasion of Italy by Charles VIII.

As the year 1493 drew to its close, signs of a fresh rupture between Ferrante of Naples and Alexander VI began to appear. On the 5th of December, Ferrante complained of the too amicable relations between the Pope and the King of France; and on the 18th he wrote a letter to his Envoy in Rome, in which the facts of the case are somewhat distorted. “We and our father,” he says, “have always been obedient to the Popes, and yet, one and all, they have invariably done us as much mischief as they could; and now, although this Pope is a countryman of our own, it is impossible to live with him a single day in peace and quietude. We know not why he persists in quarrelling with us; it must be the will of Heaven, for it seems to be our fate to be harassed by all the Popes.” All the latter correspondence of the King is filled with complaints against Alexander VI, who, he says, breaks all his promises, and does nothing to hinder the designs of the French against Naples. Through all the bluster, however, we detect a secret hope, which he never relinquishes, of eventually winning Alexander’s friendship.

Ferrante instinctively felt that the catastrophe could no longer be averted, and that the kingdom which he had built up at the cost of so much bloodshed was doomed. The marriage of Maximilian of Austria with Bianca Sforza was to him an additional reason for being on his guard against Lodovico il Moro. The last months of Ferrante’s life were full of care and anxiety. On the 27th of January 1494, the news of his death reached Rome. The question of the moment now was, what line the Pope would adopt in regard to the new King, Alfonso II. Charles VIII at once despatched an embassy to Rome. If Alexander seemed inclined to be favourable to Alfonso, he was to be threatened with a General Council. At the same time the French King entered into communication with Giuliano della Rovere, whose friendship with the Savelli, the Colonna, and Virginio Orsini, made him one of the most dangerous enemies of the Holy See.

Meanwhile, in the Pope’s cabinet the Neapolitan question was already decided. Alfonso had done everything in his power to win Alexander; he not only paid the tribute about which his father had made so many difficulties, but undertook to continue it in the future, and persuaded Virginio Orsini to promise complete submission to the Pope. As early as the first week in February, Alexander warned the French Envoys against any attack upon Naples, and at the same time wrote a letter to the King, in which he expressed surprise that Charles should entertain designs against a Christian power when a close union between all European States was indispensable in order to resist the Turks. To mitigate this rebuff, the Golden Rose was sent to him on the 8th March 1494. On the 14th the Neapolitan embassy, consisting of the Archbishop of Naples, Alessandro Caraffa, the Marquess of Gerace, the Count of Potenza, and Antonio d’Alessandro arrived and made their obedience privately on the 20th. Two days later a Consistory was held, at which a Bull was read containing the Pope’s formal decision in favour of the House of Aragon. Innocent VIII had already granted the investiture of Naples to Alfonso as Duke of Calabria, and now this could not be revoked. When Alfonso also complied with Alexander’s demands in regard to the Duke of Gandia and Jofre Borgia, a further step in his favour was taken. At a Consistory on the 18th of April, the Pope commissioned Cardinal Juan Borgia to crown Alfonso at Naples. The Consistory lasted eight hours; the Cardinals of the opposition protested vehemently; the French Envoy threatened a General Council. All was in vain. On the same day the Bull appointing the Legate for the Coronation was drawn up.

Great was the astonishment and dismay at the French Court at Alexander’s defection. Letters came from them announcing that Charles VIII would withdraw his obedience, and that all French benefices would be taken away from the Cardinals who sided with the Pope, and given to Cardinal Ascanio Sforza.

Another danger for Alexander was to be feared from the Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere. Already, on March 8, in a despatch in cypher of the Milanese Envoy, Taberna, the possibility is suggested of detaching this Cardinal from Naples and winning him over to the French cause and thus attacking the Pope from the ecclesiastical side. Secret negotiations in this direction were begun. On the 26th of March Giuliano came to Rome; but even before the Consistory of April 28 he again betook himself to Ostia, whence he proceeded to enter into close relations with the Colonna. “If Cardinal Giuliano can be got to ally himself with France,” writes Taberna on the 2nd May, “a tremendous weapon will have been forged against the Pope.” And this was accomplished.

On the 24th of April, 1494, the news was brought to Alexander that Giuliano had fled on the preceding night in a ship, with a retinue of twenty persons, leaving the fort of Ostia provisioned for two years, under the charge of the prefect of the city, Giovanni della Rovere. The Pope immediately sent to the Neapolitan Envoy to request the King’s help to enable him to recover this important post, which commanded the mouth of the Tiber. A similar command was despatched to the Orsini and the Count of Pitigliano, who arrived on the evening of the 25th. “Ammunition and troops,” says the Mantuan Envoy on the following day, “are being collected in all directions to act against Ostia.” Strong as it was, the fort did not hold out long. By the end of May it had capitulated through the mediation of Fabrizio Colonna. “The conquest of this fortress was of the highest importance to the Pope. Ostia was the key to the Tiber, and communication by sea was absolutely necessary to the security of the alliance with Naples.”

Alfonso was crowned in Naples by Cardinal Juan Borgia on the 8th of May. On the previous day the marriage of Jofre Borgia with Sancia had been solemnised. Jofre became Prince of Squillace, with an income of 40,000 ducats; his brothers Juan and Caesar were not forgotten. The former received the principality of Tricarico and the latter sundry valuable benefices.

Cardinal Giuliano had in the first instance fled to Genoa, from whence Lodovico il Moro enabled him to proceed to France. He went first to his episcopal palace at Avignon, and then to the camp of Charles VIII, who had already, on the 17th of March, announced his intention of starting for Italy, long before the arrival of Giuliano, which did not take place till the 1st of June. The Cardinal’s vehement representations, now added to the entreaties of the Neapolitan refugees and the intrigues of Lodovico il Moro, materially contributed to hasten the French invasion.

This alliance between Giuliano and the French King threatened a serious danger for Alexander VI. From the beginning the enemies of the Pope had counted upon the Cardinal to carry the war into the purely ecclesiastical domain. Accordingly, the King at once informed Rovere that he desired to have him at his side at his meeting with the Pope, when the question of the reform of the Church would be broached. Giuliano himself openly declared the necessity of calling a Council to proceed against Alexander VI. There could be no doubt of the effect this must produce upon the Pope. “His simoniacal election was the secret terror of his whole life. He dreaded above all things the use that might be made of this blot in his title to the Papacy, by the Cardinals of the opposition and his other enemies to bring about his downfall, in view of the universal feeling of the crying need of reform in the Church. In addition to this, the Gallican tendencies in France threatened the power of the Church, both materially and spiritually. Hence, when Ascanio Sforza, in a letter in cypher to his brother on the 18th of June, says that the Pope is in the greatest alarm at the efforts of Cardinal Giuliano to support the calling of a Council and the Pragmatic Sanction, his statement is in all probability perfectly true. Alexander’s dismay could not be concealed, when in May Charles’s Envoys arrived in Rome, to assert the right of their master to the throne of Naples and demand his investiture. By his orders they were treated with all possible consideration. In his reply the Pope spoke of reconsidering the evidence in favour of the rights of the King. The Envoys, however, saw plainly that Alexander meant to adhere to his alliance with Naples, and occupied themselves with preparing the way in secret for stirring up troubles in the States of the Church by subsidising Prospero and Fabrizio Colonna as well as other Roman nobles. It was Ascanio Sforza who had brought about the defection of the Colonna; on the 28th of June, he betook himself to their strongholds. The Pope had an enemy in his own house, says Sigismondo de’ Conti; his army was insignificant, and he could not expect any effectual help either from the King of the Romans or from any other European power. The loyalty of the more distant parts of the States of the Church, such, for instance, as Bologna, was very doubtful. It was not surprising, therefore, that the Pope’s alarm almost bordered on despair, and the steps which he took to defend himself betrayed these sentiments.

His ally, Alfonso, was already on friendly terms with the Sultan Bajazet. The Pope made no objection to this, and on May 12th wrote a letter to Bajazet, bespeaking his goodwill for Naples. In June, Alexander requested Bajazet to send the accustomed yearly payment (40,000 ducats) for Dschem, as the money was needed to enable him to defend himself against Charles VIII. His messenger, the Genoese, Giorgio Bocciardo, was commissioned to inform the Sultan that the French King intended to get Dschem into his hands, in order, when he had conquered Naples, to set him up as sovereign at Constantinople. Bocciardo was also to beg the Sultan to persuade Venice to abandon her attitude of strict neutrality, and take an active part in withstanding Charles. Later, the Pope made another attempt, through his Legate in the same direction, but in vain. Alexander and the King of Naples found themselves completely isolated in presence of the French invasion. They met at Vicovaro on the 14th of July, to arrange their plan of operations. It was agreed that Alfonso, with a portion of his forces should occupy Tagliacozzo, while Virginio Orsini was to remain in the Campagna, to hold the Colonna in check. The mass of the Neapolitan and Papal troops, supported by the Florentines under Alfonso’s eldest son, Ferrantino, Duke of Calabria, were to march into the Romagna, and from thence threaten Lombardy; Federigo of Aragon, the King’s brother, was Admiral of the fleet which was intended to conquer Genoa.

If this plan had been quickly and resolutely carried out, it might have succeeded. But from the very beginning the reverse was the case. The attitude of the Bolognese caused the Pope great anxiety; and that of his own immediate surroundings, many of whom had been tampered with by Charles VIII, was even more unsatisfactory. At the end of August he commanded the Cardinals who had fled from Rome to return under pain of losing their benefices, but without effect. Ascanio Sforza remained with the Colonna, and Giuliano della Rovere with the French. Both said openly that Alexander had not been lawfully elected, and must be deposed.

Charles VIII, secure of the friendship of Lodovico il Moro and of the neutrality of Venice, had advanced, on August 23, 1494, as far as Grenoble. Shortly before this he had commanded all French prelates to leave Rome, and had strictly forbidden any money to be sent thither. On the 29th August he took leave of the Queen, and on the 3rd of September he crossed the frontier between France and Savoy, with the avowed object of making good by force of arms the old, but unjustifiable, claims of the House of Anjou to the Crown of Naples.

The strength of the French army, which included several thousand Swiss, has been much exaggerated. A careful investigator estimates the land forces at 31,500 men, with 10,400 on board the ships, and, for the Italy of those days, a considerable force of artillery. The young commander of this army was a small and weakly man, with a large head and puny limbs. “The French King,” wrote the Venetian ambassador, Zaccaria Contarini, “is insignificant in appearance; he has an ugly face, large lustreless eyes, which see badly, an enormous hooked nose, and thick lips which are always open. He stutters and has a disagreeable, convulsive twitching in his hands, which are never still.” The hideous head of this ungainly little man, whose physical defects made him doubly repulsive to the artistic temperament of the Italians, was teeming with the most ambitious projects. He proposed to conquer the kingdom of Naples, “to possess himself of the Italian peninsula between the new French state and the continent; to attain imperial dignity, whether in the East or the West, remained for the present undetermined; to make the Papacy again dependent on France, and himself the master of Europe.” It is difficult to believe that he could have entertained any serious hopes of conquering Jerusalem in the course of his intended expedition against the Turks; but there is no doubt that the attack upon Italy, always such a tempting object to a conqueror, was entirely his own doing. Charles encountered nothing but opposition and discouragement from his councillors and generals, who had not the slightest desire to embark in a bloody war of subjugation; but the King carried his purpose, and commenced an undertaking, the result of which was to effect a complete alteration in the relations which had hitherto obtained between the southern and south-western states of Europe.

CHAPTER III.

CHARLES VIII BEFORE ROME

Soon you will see every tyrant submerged, 

And you will see all of Italy conquered 

With its shame, disgrace, and harm. 

Rome, you will soon be captured; 

I see the knife of wrath coming upon you, 

And time is short and every day flies by. 

My Lord wants to renew the Church 

And convert every barbarian people, 

And there will be one flock and one shepherd. 

But first, all of Italy will be in sorrow, 

And so much blood must be shed there, 

That it will be rare among all its people.

These lines by Fra Benedetto are a summary of the prophecies of his master, Savonarola. In his Lent sermons of the year 1494, the great preacher had announced the coming of a new Cyrus, who would lead his army in triumph through the whole of Italy, without breaking a lance or meeting with any resistance.

This “resuscitated Cyrus” made his entry into Turin on September 5, 1494. Had he been the acknowledged sovereign of Savoy, his welcome could not have been more brilliant or joyous. Throughout the whole country he was equally well received. At Chieri the children came out to meet him, carrying banners bearing the French arms; and at Asti he was greeted by Lodovico Sforza, Ercole of Ferrara, and Giuliano della Rovere. The French King, on his side, did his best to impress the lively imagination of the Italians, and the white silken standard of the army bore the mottoes Voluntas Dei, and Missus a Deo interwoven with the Royal arms.

During his stay at Asti the news arrived of the victory of his brother-in-law, Louis of Orleans, at Rapallo, over Federigo of Aragon; the moral effect in Italy of this success was immense. At that moment the progress of the expedition was temporarily checked by the sudden illness of Charles. He soon recovered, however, and it was plain that he had not relinquished his plans. On the 14th of October, he entered Pavia in triumph; on the 18th he was in Piacenza, where an Envoy from the Pope made vain endeavours to come to an agreement on the Neapolitan claim. At Piacenza he heard of the death of the unfortunate Giangaleazzo, Duke of Milan. By this event Lodovico il Moro obtained the Ducal throne of Milan, which had been for so long the object of his desires. Shortly after, the news arrived that Caterina Sforza and her son Ottaviano had declared for France. This was the beginning of troubles for Alexander and Alfonso in the Romagna itself. About the same time the French troops crossed the Apennines by the Col de la Cisa, and encamped before the Florentine fortress of Sarzana. As the news spread of this irresistible stream of foreign barbarians pouring unchecked into Italy, it created indescribable consternation throughout the country. The Italians were used to the game of brag played by the mercenary troops; but now they found themselves face to face with war in earnest, with all its horrors and bloodshed. Rumour magnified the army into a host that could not be counted, and told tales of giants and savages, and invincible weapons. In Rome the alarm was aggravated by the revolt of the Colonna and Savelli instigated by Ascanio Sforza. On the 18th of September Ostia was treacherously handed over to the Colonna, who immediately hoisted the French flag. French galleys soon began to appear at the mouth of the Tiber, which made the occupation of Ostia still more serious for Alexander. In dread lest he should lose more cities in the States of the Church, the Pope, after a consultation with Virginio Orsini, determined to declare war against the rebels. On the 6th of October an ultimatum was sent to them, commanding them to lay down their arms; troops were collected, and it was decided that Cardinal Piccolomini should be sent to Charles VIII. The French King, in a letter to his Envoy at Rome, announced that the Colonna were under his protection; and at the same time informed the Pope that he had bound himself by a vow to visit the Holy Places in Rome, and hoped to be there by Christmas.

It was fortunate for Alexander that the Colonna had but few fighting-men; there was no want of will on their part to do him as much mischief as possible. A conspiracy was discovered which aimed at nothing less than the seizure of Dschem, a revolution in Rome, and the imprisonment of the Pope; simultaneously with this there was to be a rising in the southern parts of the States of the Church. Alexander and Alfonso took measures to protect themselves; Dschem was shut up in the Castle of S. Angelo, the Colonna were outlawed and troops sent against them. Although they were not powerful enough to carry out their plans in their entirety, their revolt had the effect of preventing the King of Naples from employing all his forces against the French in the Romagna.

Meanwhile Charles VIII had entered Tuscany. There was so little attempt at resistance that the French were amazed at their good fortune. Commines repeatedly exclaims that God himself was with them. The veil of aesthetic culture which had hitherto partially concealed the moral and political corruption of Italy was rent asunder, its utter disunion, and the shortsighted selfishness of the various states became glaringly apparent. Piero de’ Medici, on the 26th October, presented himself at the French camp and quietly yielded up all his fortified cities to the conqueror without ever drawing a sword. This dastardly act, however, instead of saving him, proved his ruin. “The sword has arrived,” cried Savonarola, on the 1st of November, from his pulpit in the Cathedral in Florence; “the prophecies are on the eve of their fulfilment, retribution is beginning; God is the leader of this host.” To the eloquent Dominican it was due that, in spite of the universal excitement, so few excesses were committed in Florence, and the inevitable overthrow of the Medici was so quietly effected. On the 9th of November the Florentines rose with the war cry, “The people and liberty, down with the Balls” (the Medici arms). Piero and his brother, the Cardinal, fled, and their palace, with all the art-treasures which it contained, was plundered by the populace.

Charles VIII entered Lucca on the 8th November, and it was here that Cardinal Piccolomini, who had been sent by Alexander VI to endeavour to come to terms, found him but the French King refused to see him, saying that he was coming to Rome in order to treat with the Pope himself. Alexander could have no illusions as to what this meant. On the 4th November Piccolomini had written to him from Lucca that the French proclaimed that their King was coming to Rome “to reform the Church.” On the 9th November Charles was welcomed at Pisa by the citizens, as their liberator from the tyranny of Florence. Here he received Savonarola and the Florentine deputation. Savonarola greeted him as the most Christian King, the messenger of God sent to deliver Italy out of her distresses and to reform the Church. At the same time, he warned Charles that he must be merciful, especially towards Florence, otherwise God would punish him severely.

On the 17th November, the French army entered Florence, which was decked in festal array to receive it. The mob shouted “Viva Francia”; at night the city was illuminated. After the festivities came the negotiations, which were not easy to arrange. After a good deal of discussion, it was agreed that Charles should be given the title of protector and restorer of the liberties of the Florentines, and should receive 12,000 golden florins. He was not to retain the fortified places which Piero had yielded for more than two years, and was to deliver them up before that time if the war with Naples were concluded earlier. The Medici were to remain in exile.

It was about this time that Cardinal Giuliano’s brother fell upon Bocciardo, who was on his way home accompanied by a Turkish Envoy bringing the annual pension for Dschem, ten miles before they reached Ancona, and succeeded in getting possession of all his letters and the money. The manifesto to all Christian nations, written in the style of an Emperor and Pope rolled into one, which Charles VIII issued on the 22nd of November, has been connected with this occurrence. In this document he declared that the object of his expedition was not conquest, but simply following in the footsteps of his predecessors, the overthrow of the Turks and the liberation of the Holy Land. He only desired to recover possession of his Neapolitan kingdom in order to accomplish this. He asked nothing from the Pope but a free passage through the States of the Church, and supplies for his troops on their march; if this were refused, he would take it without leave. He protested beforehand against being held responsible for any ill consequences that might ensue, and, if necessary, would renew this protest before all the princes in Christendom, whom he purposed to summon to join him in his expedition against the Turks. This manifesto was published in Latin and French, and soon after translated into German, and dis­seminated through the press.

Charles’s manifesto contained for Alexander a hardly-veiled threat of a Council and deposition. It was the strongest pressure that the King could put upon him; and Charles, knowing how apprehensive he was on this point, had good reason to hope that it would prove effectual.

The Pope had completely broken down before the rapid progress of the French, and the extreme improbability of help being forthcoming, either from Venice or from any other quarter. The King of Naples urged him to proceed against Charles and Lodovico il Moro with spiritual weapons, but Alexander could not make up his mind to this. Alfonso complained to the Florentine Envoy of the Pope’s niggardliness and nepotism, and of his cowardice. It is easy to see from the reports of this Ambassador that the King no longer felt secure of the Pope’s support. Alexander was, indeed, in great difficulties. The rebellion of the Barons made the neighbourhood of Rome thoroughly insecure; French ships were continually bringing reinforcements to the defenders of Ostia, and to the Colonna and Savelli. All the Pope’s enemies were unwearied in proclaiming that the French King was going to summon a Council and have the Pope deposed. The manifesto of November 22nd showed what Charles’s dispositions were; and at his side stood Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere to bear witness, as no one better could, to the simony by which his election had been secured. His heart sank within him at the future that lay before him. Sanudo expressly mentions this terror of his, lest Charles should determine to depose him and set up an anti-Pope.

Under these circumstances it appeared not impossible, even at the last moment, to win Alexander over for France. Two attempts were made in this direction. On the 2nd of November, Ascanio Sforza came to Rome and had several long conversations with the Pope; the first lasted five hours, and did not conclude till midnight. Ascanio enumerated all the dangers that were to be feared from the French King, and tried to persuade Alexander to adopt a neutral attitude. The Pope is said to have replied that he would rather sacrifice his crown, his dominions, and even his life, than abandon Alfonso. It is certain that at that time he thought of making his escape from Rome, and enquired at Venice whether he might hope to find a refuge there. Some people thought they perceived an air of satisfaction in Ascanio’s demeanour when he was leaving Rome, which convinced them that he had come to an understanding with the Pope. This, however, was not the case. A few days later Pandolfo Collenuccio, acting on behalf of the Duke of Ferrara, made another attempt to persuade Alexander to side with France; but he emphatically declared that he would rather leave Rome, and even give up both life and crown than become the slave of the French King, who was bent on being master of the whole of Italy. When the news arrived, on November 14, that Charles had refused to receive Piccolomini, the French Cardinal Peraudi was immediately appointed Legate, and despatched to the King. He was commissioned to inform Charles VIII that Alexander would come to meet him, in order to consult with him about the proposed Crusade; but the crafty King declined this great honour, saying that he wished to do homage to the Pope in the Holy Father’s own palace. At the same time, he succeeded in talking over Cardinal Peraudi, who was really eager for the Crusade, and winning him to his side. Thus Alexander found his policy defeated on every side. As a last resource he sent a third Legate, Cardinal Sanseverino, who had been in France, and belonged to the party of Ascanio, to arrest if possible the onward march of the French. But Charles informed him that he had resolved to keep Christmas with the Pope in Rome, and there to treat with the Holy Father in person. In great haste Sanseverino hurried back to Rome—he only took 36 hours to accomplish the 100 miles from Siena— to bring this news to the Pope. Soon after, came the alarming announcement that Viterbo had opened her gates to the enemy, the Papal governor had fled, and Virginio Orsini with his troops had arrived too late. The advance of the French was so rapid and unexpected that Giulia Farnese, who was travelling, fell into the hands of the enemy, but was soon released at Alexander’s request. The Envoy who relates this closes his report with the words: “The French King will not meet with the smallest resistance in Rome”.

The Pope continued to cast about on all sides to find someone who would deliver him from this terrible Pilgrim. On the 24th November he sent for Maximilian’s Ambassador, the Prince of Anhalt. Charles VIII, he said, not only aimed at the conquest of all the Emperor’s possessions in Italy, but at obtaining the imperial dignity for himself. Even with the knife at his throat he, the Pope, would never consent to this. Hence he desired the Ambassador to urge the King of the Romans to come forward as the protector of the Church. He also implored the Venetian Envoys to stand by him.

The excitement in Rome increased from day to day. The city was blockaded on the seaside by Ostia and on the land by the Colonna, and food was already beginning to become scarce. The gates of the city were closed with chains and some were walled up; S. Angelo was put in a state of defence. It was said that Alexander would fly to Venice or Naples, to escape being deposed by the French. Cardinal Sanseverino advised the Pope to try for a reconciliation with Ascanio Sforza, who was on the most intimate terms with Charles VIII. This was attempted, and on the 2nd of December, Ascanio again came to Rome; Cardinals Sanseverino and Lunati conducted the negotiations, in his name with Juan de Lopez, the Pope’s confidant; they seemed to be on the point of coming to an agreement, in accordance with which Sforza and Prospero Colonna were to march against Viterbo. When, on the 9th December, Sforza and Colonna were preparing to depart, they, together with the two Cardinals, were arrested and put in prison by the Pope’s orders; and the French Ambassador was informed that passage through the States of the Church could not be granted to Charles VIII. What could have induced Alexander to act in this manner? The reason is not far to seek. The Duke of Calabria, Giulio Orsini, and the Count of Pitigliano were encamped with the Neapolitan army before Rome. On the 10th December they entered the city. Alexander hoped, through the imprisonment of Prospero Colonna and the Cardinals, to regain his power over Ostia, and to induce the inhabitants of the Campagna to rise against the French. Neither of these hopes were realised. Charles VIII steadily advanced, meeting with no serious resistance anywhere, and favoured by the unusual mildness of the winter.

The more the Pope saw of the Neapolitan army the more convinced he became that it was no match for the French. Consequently, the more distinguished Germans and Spaniards in the city were requested to undertake the military organisation of their country­men; Burchard, the Prefect of Ceremonies at the Papal Court, called the Germans together at the Hospital of the Anima. The assembly resolved not to comply with the Pope’s wish, because the German corps would have to be under the orders of the city authorities. Alexander grew more and more helpless from hour to hour. “At one moment he wanted to defend himself, the next to come to terms; then, again, he thought of leaving the city.” On the 18th December Burchard relates that everything in the Vatican, down to the bedding and table service, was packed for flight; all valuables had been sent to S. Angelo; the Cardinals’ horses were standing ready to start. On the same day, the Milanese Envoy writes that he is convinced that Alexander intends to fly from Rome that night, taking the imprisoned Cardinals with him. After all the Pope did not fly, probably because now, flight was hardly possible.

On the 17th December, Civita Vecchia was taken by the French; and on the same day a still more disastrous event occurred; the Orsini went over to the French King and admitted him to their strong castle of Bracciano, where he set up his headquarters. It was on the 19th also that the first French outposts appeared on Monte Mario. From the windows of the Vatican the Pope could see the enemy’s cavalry galloping their horses in the meadows under S. Angelo. Cardinal Sanseverino was now released, in order to treat with Charles VIII. Meanwhile the scarcity in Rome was becoming intolerable. The Romans sent word to the Pope that if he did not come to terms with Charles within two days, they would themselves admit him into the city. The Duke of Calabria advised Alexander to fly to Naples, and promised him 50,000 ducats a year and the fortress of Gaeta. To give effect to this proposal a deed was drawn up and was only awaiting the Pope’s signature, when, at the last moment, he again changed his mind. He determined to release Cardinal Sforza, to give up resisting and irritating the French King, and permit him to enter the city. On the morning of Christmas-day he informed the Cardinals and the Duke of Calabria of this decision. Charles VIII granted to the latter a letter of safe conduct, with which the Duke and his troops left Rome the same day, going in the first instance to Tivoli and then to Terracina. During the night three French Envoys had entered Rome; their suite coolly took possession of the places in the chapel reserved for the prelates. The pedantic Prefect of Ceremonies, Burchard, wanted to turn them out; but the terrified Pope prevented him, angrily exclaiming: “You will cost me my head; let the French put themselves wherever they please.”

The Pope and the King found it extremely difficult to come to an understanding, because Charles demanded that Dschem should be at once delivered over to him, while the Pope was not prepared to do this until the Crusade had actually begun. This point was left undecided for the present. Charles promised to respect all the Pope’s rights, both temporal and spiritual; the whole of the city on the left bank of the Tiber was given up to be occupied by his troops. A Commission was appointed to arrange for the billeting of the French, who, since the 27th of December, had been arriving in detachments, while the Pope’s army (consisting only of 1000 horsemen and a few foot soldiers) occupied the Borgo. Alexander shut himself up with his Spanish bodyguard in the Vatican.

CHAPTER IV.

The Holy League of March 1495.

Flight of the Pope. Retreat of the French from Italy.

The French King decided to make his formal entry into Rome on S. Silvester’s Day which had been declared auspicious by the Astrologers. Early in the morning the Pope sent Burchard, the Prefect of Ceremonies, to meet him at the village of Galera, and to arrange the details of the reception. Charles told him that he wished to make his entry quietly and without pomp. To the address of the delegates of the Roman citizens who accompanied Burchard, he gave a short and colourless reply. “The King made me ride by him” says Burchard, “and in the course of our journey of four miles asked me so many questions about the customary ceremonial, the Pope, Cardinal Caesar Borgia, and other things, that it was all I could do to give satisfactory answers to them all.”

At the Borghetto, Cardinal Sforza came to meet the King, at the Ponte Molle, he was received by Cardinal Cibò. At the Porta del Popolo, the keys of all the city gates were handed over to the King’s Grand-Marshal. The entry of the troops lasted from 3 o’clock in the afternoon till 9 in the evening, amid cries from the mob of Francia, Colonna, Vincoli (Giuliano della Rovere). The Via Lata, now the Corso, was lighted with lamps when darkness came on, and crowded with spectators.

A long file of mercenaries, Swiss and German, headed the march, powerful men and splendid soldiers, keeping line and time perfectly, to the sound of their trumpets. Their uniforms were short, many coloured and close-fitting; some had plumes in their helmets. They were armed with short swords, and spears ten feet long, made of oak and pointed with iron; a fourth part of them, instead of spears, carried strong halberds fitted for striking as well as thrusting. Five thousand Gascons, mostly cross-bow men, followed the Swiss and Germans, forming a strong contrast to them by their small stature and sober uniforms. Next came 2500 heavy cavalry with sharp lances and iron maces, and amongst them rode the flower of the French nobility in gorgeous silk mantles and costly helmets with gilt chains. Each knight was followed by three horsemen, his esquire and two grooms, all armed. The horses were large and powerful, with close cropped ears and tails, according to the fashion of those days in France. Attached to these were about 5000 light cavalry, armed with English long-bows and long arrows which carried far. Some of these also had daggers with which to stab those who had been ridden down by the dragoons. The arms of their chiefs were embroidered in silver braid on their cloaks. Four hundred archers, of whom one hundred were Scots, came next to the King, whose bodyguard was formed of two hundred of the noblest of the French knights, on foot. They carried iron maces like heavy axes on their shoulders; but when on horse­back they were armed like the Dragoons, and only distinguished by their finer horses and magnificent accoutrements.

The Cardinals Ascanio Sforza and Giuliano della Rovere rode beside the King, and behind him Cardinals Colonna and Savelli. Prospero and Fabrizio Colonna and the other Italian generals rode amongst the French nobility. The men and horses and banners of the French loomed larger and more numerous even than they were, in the uncertain light of the torches, and struck terror into the hearts of the Romans; but the climax of fear and wonder was reached when the artillery appeared on the scene, more than 36 bronze cannons rattling over the pavement at a rapid trot. Each of these guns was eight feet long, weighed six thousand pounds, and had a bore of the size of a man’s head. In addition to these there were field-pieces half as long again, and falconets, the smallest of which discharged shot as large as a pomegranate.

Besides those already mentioned, the Cardinals Jean de la Grolaie, Peraudi, Sanseverino and Lunati were also in the King’s train, and accompanied him to his residence, the Palace of San Marco. All the important points of the city were occupied that same evening by detachments of French soldiers. A portion of the artillery was stationed in front of the King’s palace.

All the Cardinals except Caraffa and Orsini came to pay their respects to Charles, who received them haughtily and without the usual honours. The only exception that was made was in favour of Cardinal Cesarini. Charles required from the Pope that the Castle of S. Angelo and Prince Dschem should be delivered over to him, and that Caesar Borgia should accompany him to Naples. On the 5th January, a Consistory was to have been held to deliberate on these points, but had to be postponed till the following day, the Pope having had a fainting fit. The result was a resolution that all three demands should be refused. When the Cardinals, who had been charged with the negotiations, informed the King of this decision he replied: “My Barons will acquaint the Pope with my will.” Alexander then expressed his readiness to give up Cività Vecchia, but not S. Angelo at any price. The Envoys were greatly alarmed as to the possible consequences of this reply.

In the city the panic was so great that the inhabitants buried all their valuables. “The discontent of the people is at its height” says Brognolo the Mantuan Envoy on January 6th, 1495, “the requisitions are fearful, the murders innumerable, one hears nothing but moaning and weeping. In all the memory of man the Church has never been in such evil plight.” “It is impossible” he writes two days later “for so large an army to remain long in Rome, both provisions and money are beginning already to fail. Today, in consequence of a paltry quarrel between the French and the Swiss, all the troops were called out and the streets swarmed with armed men.” Although the King had gallows erected in the public squares, the disorders amongst the soldiers continued. On the 7th January the Pope, accompanied by six Cardinals (Caraffa, Orsini, Giovanni Antonio di S. Giorgio, Pallavicini, Juan and Caesar Borgia), fled through the underground passage to the Castle of S. Angelo. It was not only his personal security which was now in danger, but his actual existence as Pope. The five Cardinals (G. della Rovere, A. Sforza, Peraudi, Savelli and Colonna), who had constant access to Charles VIII, were unwearied in urging him to call a Council in order to depose the simoniacal Pope, and reform the Church. “Reform” was only a pretext, as Commines himself, though a Frenchman, acknowledged. The accusation of simony at the election, he observes, was true; but the man who preferred it, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, was the one who of all others had received the highest pay for his vote at the Conclave. In a later account he says that the draft of the decree for Alexander’s deposition was already on paper at that time; but it was not Charles’s intention, nor would it have been for his interest, to proceed to this extremity.

Briçonnet, writing about this time to the Queen of France says, “the King desires the Reform of the Church but not the deposition of the Pope.” The French King has recently been severely blamed for not having followed up his victory and destroyed his opponent. Such a judgment betrays a complete misapprehension of the circumstances of the case.

Only those who, like the Germans, knew nothing personally of Charles VIII could have supposed that the young and pleasure-loving King could be seriously anxious for the reform of the Church. Commines remarks that “the King was young, and his surroundings were not of a nature to fit him for so great a work as the reform of the Church.” Lodovico remarks with a sneer that the French King would do well to begin by reforming himself. As regards the deposition of Alexander, Charles must have felt that the great powers of Europe, already jealous of his successes, would not have stood quietly by had he attempted to take such a step as this; Maximilian, Ferdinand and Isabella, and Venice, would all have supported the Pope. He must also have been aware that he would have had to face opposition among his own subjects whose veneration for the Head of the Church would have recoiled from such an extreme measure.

Apart, however, from all this, what would Charles have gained by substituting Giuliano della Rovere or Ascanio Sforza for Alexander? was he not far more likely to get what he wanted from the timid and vacillating Borgia. As a matter of fact, the policy which he pursued was that of squeezing as much as possible out of Alexander by playing upon his fears. Threat followed upon threat. Commines relates that the French artillery was twice got ready for action. If Alexander had hitherto believed that the Castle of S. Angelo was capable of standing a siege he was undeceived on the 10th January 1495; during that night a considerable piece of the wall of the fort fell down of its own accord. There was nothing for it but to give way. “Although the terms were hard in the extreme” writes Sigismondo de’ Conti “the Pope agreed to everything for fear of being attacked.”

The terms of the agreement of 15th January 1495, were the following; Caesar Borgia was to accompany the army as Cardinal Legate (really as a hostage) for the next four months. Dschem was to be handed over to Charles during the expedition against the Turks; the Pope notwithstanding, still to receive the 40,000 ducats for his pension. The Cardinals, Barons, and Cities, with their Prefects, who had joined the French, were to receive a complete amnesty. Cardinal Giuliano was to retain Ostia, the Legation of Avignon, and all his other possessions and benefices. Cardinal Peraudi was to be confirmed in his Bishopric, and Cardinal Savelli reinstated in the Legation of Spoleto. In future all Cardinals were to be free to leave Rome whenever they pleased. The Pope granted a free passage to the French army through the whole of the States of the Church, and gave up Civita Vecchia to the King. Governors, acceptable to the King, were to be appointed to the cities in the March of Ancona and the Patrimony, and a similar condition was to be observed in regard to the Legates of the Campagna and Maritima during the expedition against Naples. The Pope was to keep the Castle of S. Angelo, and, on Charles’ departure, the keys of the city were to be restored to Alexander. Charles was to profess obedience to the Pope, to impose no constraint upon him either in things spiritual or temporal, and to protect him against all attacks. In regard to the election capitulation, the King and the Pope were to come to terms.

The agreement contains nothing about the investiture with Naples; Alexander had been as firm on this point as on that of the Castle of S. Angelo. It was also an important gain for the Pope to have managed to avert the attack on his spiritual power. The vexation of the Cardinals of the opposition was intense. Ascanio Sforza and Lunati left Rome at once. Peraudi is said to have gone to Alexander and rated him soundly to his face; but of all the irreconcilables, Giuliano della Rovere was the worst. Charles VIII twice personally endeavoured to mollify him, but without success. He absolutely refused to trust Alexander, even when the Pope in an autograph Brief assured him that he should not be molested on any pretext. He remained with the King.

On the same day, 16th January, 1495, that the Cardinals Sforza and Lunati left Rome, the French King accepted the Pope’s invitation to take up his abode in the Vatican, where the so-called apartment, stanze nuove, had been prepared for him. Alexander VI came through the covered way from S. Angelo to receive the King, who on his part hastened to forestall the Pope. They met at the garden entrance of the tunnel, and the moment the first salutations were over Charles asked for the Red Hat for his friend and favourite, Briçonnet. The request was granted on the spot, and all possible honour in every way was shown to the King. On the 18th January the agreement was officially ratified, and on the following day Charles presented himself in the Consistory to make his obedience to the Pope. After the three prescribed genuflections he kissed the Pope’s foot and hand, who then raised and embraced him. The President of the French Parliament, De Ganay, then said that the King had come to profess his obedience, but that first he had a favour to ask, namely, the investiture with Naples. Alexander answered evasively; but nevertheless Charles proceeded to make his obedience, pronouncing in French the prescribed formula. “Holy Father, I am come to offer obedience and homage to your Holiness, as my predecessors the Kings of France have done before me”. When Charles had ceased speaking, de Ganay added that his master acknowledged Alexander as the true Vicar of Christ, and successor of the Apostles SS. Peter and Paul.

Alexander had now surmounted his greatest danger; he had obtained the recognition of the ruler of France and conqueror of Italy. He showed his gratitude by making the King’s cousin, Philip of Luxemburg, a Cardinal on January 21st. On the 25th of January, the Feast of the Conversion of S. Paul, the Pope and the King proceeded together in state, accompanied by the Cardinals and Ambassadors, from S. Peter’s to S. Paul’s as a public manifestation of their friendship. “Alexander VI” says the Mantuan Envoy, “endeavours to gratify the French in every way; all possible expectancies, reservations and favours of all sorts are bestowed on them.” The Ferrarese Envoy was convinced that Charles had received the investiture of Naples, and been named Emperor of Constantinople. Similar rumours were circulated throughout Italy and Germany. In reality, beyond the agreement of January 15th, the King had obtained nothing except the nomination of two Cardinals.

The commissariat for the French army in Rome became daily more and more difficult, and the disputes between the citizens and the soldiery were incessant. Charles could have had no motive for lingering there any longer, unless it were that he still hoped to obtain the investiture of Naples. If so, he was mistaken. When at last he took leave of the Pope on January 28th, the only document that he received was the Bull granting free passage to his army through the States of the Church.

In splendid weather, Charles VIII set out to attack Naples, along the same Roman road which had been selected by Charles of Anjou, 229 years before. Giuliano della Rovere and Peraudi awaited him in Marino, and it was here that he was informed of Alfonso II’s abdication. So abject was the terror of the despotic ruler of the two Sicilies, that he would start up in his sleep crying that “he heard the French coming, and all the trees and rocks calling France”. He fled to Sicily, leaving to his youthful son Ferrantino a ruined kingdom with the enemy at the gate.

At Velletri, Charles met with a significant token of the change in the temper of the Great Powers of Europe which had been wrought by his conquests in Italy. The Envoys of Ferdinand the Catholic, expressed the displeasure of their King at his disrespectful treatment of the Pope, his occupation of the strongholds in the States of the Church, and, finally, of this expedition against Naples; they reminded him of the conditions in the treaty of Barcelona, which conferred on their King the right to defend the Church, and they demanded that Ostia should be restored, Caesar Borgia released, and the attack upon Naples relinquished. Charles refused, and high words passed between them.

Another unpleasant surprise befell Charles at Velletri; Caesar Borgia suddenly disappeared. The King complained to the Pope, who professed utter ignorance of the whereabouts of the missing Prince, and expressed his regret, but did not send any other Cardinal. Charles however, still continued his southward march, lured on by easy victories, for everywhere the party of Anjou rose to meet his troops. On the 27th January, Ferrantino himself announced to his Envoy “Aquila has raised the standard of Franco, Sulmona and Popoli have followed suit; in the Abruzzi all is lost as far as Celano.”

To please the Colonna, Charles permitted the storming of the fastnesses of the Conti, although these were within the States of the Church. The Fort of Monte S. Giovanni, close to the Neapolitan border, fell at the first onslaught, and was set on fire, while nearly all its inhabitants were cut to pieces. The destruction of this stronghold which had been supposed impregnable, and the barbarity which accompanied it, so terrified the Neapolitans that they retired without striking a blow. The French found the fortified cities, the passes, and even the important post of S. Germano, undefended. Even the weather seemed to be on their side. The February of that year was unusually mild; the fields were brilliantly green and studded with spring flowers. On the 16th February Gaeta fell. Capua had opened her gates on the 13th to the French. Ferrantino waited in vain for help from Spain and the Turks. On the 22nd February he fled to Ischia, while Charles VIII enthusiastically welcomed by the populace, entered Naples in triumph. Caesar’s boast “I came, I saw, I conquered,” wrote Sigismondo de’ Conti, “was surpassed”. “In the short space of a few weeks,” remarks another contemporary writer, “the French conquered as by a miracle, a whole kingdom, almost without striking a blow.” “The French,” said Alexander VI, “came in with wooden spears and found they had nothing to do but the quartermaster’s work of marking the doors with chalk.”

There was nothing now to delay the Crusade for the conquest of the Holy Land, which had been so solemnly announced by Charles, and within his own immediate circle voices were not wanting to remind him of the fact. One of the most urgent of these was that of Cardinal Peraudi, whose whole life had been devoted to this cause. There are clear indications that Charles VIII at this time was seriously considering the project of the war against the Turks, for which Alexander VI had promulgated a Bull in February; but he never got so far as to take any action in the matter. He preferred to remain in Naples and revel in the delights of the earthly paradise which had been so easily won; the prowess of the zealous champion of Christendom and reformer of the Church expended itself in enterprises of a very different character. This, however, did not prevent the French from threatening Alexander with a Council which was to reform both the Pope and the Church.

DEATH OF PRINCE DSCHEM.

Dschem’s death which took place February 25, 1495, was a severe blow to the King, but not more so than to the Pope. In those days, all cases of sudden death were invariably attributed to poison; and the enemies of Alexander at once accused him of the crime, but without the smallest ground. It is clear that Dschem died a natural death; probably the result of his disorderly life. According to Sigismondo de’ Conti, it was in consequence of his death that the King gave up all thoughts of the Crusade. To the French army the prolonged stay in Naples was most disastrous. Bacchus and Venus reigned paramount among the soldiers.

While Charles VIII was thus revelling in the delights of the South, a storm was gathering against the “foreign barbarians” in the North. The unexampled good fortune of the French aroused an alarm in Italy which was shared by the Cabinets of foreign powers. It seemed as if France was on the point of obtaining that imperial power and worldwide domination at which she had so long been aiming. The opposition of Spain has already been mentioned. Upon the first successes of Charles, Maximilian I had entered into an alliance with Venice, where many were already beginning to perceive the consequences of the neutrality of the government; but the negotiations proceeded but slowly, until the fall of the Aragonese kingdom startled them into brisker life. Lodovico il Moro, who had long ceased to be friends with the French King, in telling the bad news to the Venetian Envoy, added that now there was not a moment to lose. In Venice the consternation was so great that Commines compares it to that which was caused in Rome by the news of the battle of Cannae. Secret negotiations were at once set on foot. From the unsatisfactory answer to the request made at the end of March by the French Envoy for the investiture with Naples, Charles could easily guess that the Pope was aware of what was going on. Alexander openly alluded to the League which he had been requested to join, and sent the golden Rose to the Doge. By the time his messenger had got to Venice the coalition against France was well started.

On the 31st March 1495, a Holy League for 25 years was concluded between Venice, Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, Maximilian I, Lodovico il Moro, and the Pope, for the defence of Christendom against the Turks, and for the preservation of the dignity of the Chair of S. Peter and the rights of the Holy Roman Empire. The members of the League engaged to defend each other’s dominions against all attacks of foreign powers who, at the present time, had possessions in Italy, and this was to hold good even though such powers should have lost the territories that now belonged to them. Each member was to furnish 8000 horsemen and 1000 foot soldiers, the Pope to provide half this number, but with the condition that he should use his spiritual powers.

On Palm Sunday, April 12th, the League was solemnly announced in the various States which had joined it. The Pope ordered the Vicars and Governors in the States of the Church to have the event solemnly celebrated in their Vicariates and cities. On the 5th of April the Venetian Envoy officially informed Charles of the conclusion of the League. He was furious at the news; Cardinal Giuliano endeavoured in vain to calm him.

The only chance of salvation now lay in a rapid retreat before the allies should have time to collect their forces. Instead of this, the French King, with incomprehensible fatuity, wasted the precious moments in endeavouring by alternate entreaties and menaces to induce the Pope to grant him the investiture of the kingdom. When he saw that the case was hopeless, he proceeded on May 12th, to the Cathedral of Naples, crowned, carrying the Imperial Orb in his left hand and the Sceptre in his right, and accompanied by a splendid retinue, to assert his claim before all the world both to the Kingdom of Naples and the Empire of the East. The strange procession elicited no demonstration of any sort. Not till May the 20th, did the King with the half of his army commence his retreat; the rest of the troops remained under the command of Montpensier to hold the conquered kingdom.

To Alexander this meant a renewal of the perilous situation of the previous December. In the beginning of May he complained to the Envoys of Spain, Venice, and Milan, that Venice was the only member of the League which had sent him any troops; could not the Powers see, he said, that he would have to bear the first brunt of the attack; he did not wish to lose his tiara. On May 3rd, a consultation was held in Consistory as to whether the Pope should leave Rome. The general opinion was in favour of his remaining; especially as the Romans were confident of their ability to defend the city; but on the 4th, Alexander informed the Cardinals that, as the presence of the French was likely to cause disturbances in Rome, he intended to retire to Orvieto. On the 6th of May, Charles despatched a tranquillising letter to the Pope; he pledged his Royal honour that during his stay in Rome he would undertake nothing to the disadvantage either of Alexander or the Romans. The Pope replied that he and the Sacred College could not sanction the King’s project of coming to Rome, let him choose some other meeting-place, Orvieto or Spoleto; two Legates would be sent to conduct him through the States of the Church. Accordingly, on May 11th, Cardinals Morton and Carvajal were selected in Consistory for the office. At the same time, Rome was put in a state of defence, and entrenchments were thrown up before the Castle of S. Angelo. On the 19th of May, fresh Envoys arrived from the King, Cardinal de la Grolaie, M. de Bresse, and Francois de Luxemburg. They offered in the name of the King a yearly tribute of 50,000 ducats, and the payment of the 100,000 ducats still owing from Alfonso and Ferrante, if the Pope would grant him the investiture of Naples; in regard to the Turkish war, Charles would personally arrange with Alexander. The Pope refused, although the Envoys spoke in a menacing tone.

The excitement in the city meanwhile increased from day to day. “People are in terror” writes an Envoy on the 20th of May, “not only for their property, but for their lives also. During the last hundred years Rome has never been so entirely cleared of silver and valuables of all sorts. Not one of the Cardinals has plate enough to serve six persons; the houses are dismantled. Every day fresh troops come in; bastions have been erected at four of the gates.” Some days earlier the same writer had announced that the Pope meant to fly without waiting for any more communications with the King. This intention was carried out. On the 27th, Alexander left Rome accompanied by his bodyguard, some Venetian and Milanese mercenaries, and twenty Cardinals, and went by Civita Vecchia to Orvieto. In the Consistorial Acts, it is stated that the Pope left Rome in order to avoid disturbances which might arise during the passage of the King’s army, in consequence of the different nationalities comprised in the Papal and French troops.

On the 1st of June Charles VIII, accompanied by the Cardinals Giuliano, Fregoso, and La Grolaie, arrived at the gates of Rome. By the Pope’s orders, Cardinal Morton, the Legate who had been left behind, invited him to take lip his residence in the Vatican. The King declined this, and after a visit to S. Peter’s, established himself in the Palace of Cardinal Domenico della Rovere in the Borgo. The garrisons were now withdrawn from Terracina and Civita Vecchia, but that of Ostia remained. The King, anxious to give no handle of accusation to his enemies, enforced the strictest discipline. The Swiss soldiers were not allowed to enter the city. Except for one or two isolated cases of robbery, the French occupation this time passed off without disorder. On the 3rd of June Charles moved on to Baccano.

Charles VIII still hoped that the Pope and he might meet, and sent an embassy to Orvieto to endeavour to bring this about. Even Cardinal Sforza on the 1st of June still believed that Alexander would see the King; but the Pope could not bring himself to trust the French, and on June 5 he hurried away to Perugia with his Cardinals and the Envoys. Now at last, Charles became convinced that there was no chance of a meeting. When his scouts announced that the Venetian and Milanese troops were on their way to join each other at Parma he hastened his retreat.

On the 13th of June the French King reached Siena, and soon after arrived at Poggibonzi, where Savonarola came to meet him. “Most Christian Prince” he said “you have incurred the wrath of God by neglecting that work of reforming the Church which, by my mouth, He had charged you to undertake, and to which He had called you by so many unmistakeable signs. This time you will escape from the danger which threatens you; but if you again disregard the command which He now, through me His unworthy slave, reiterates, and still refuse to take up the work which He commits to you, I warn you that He will punish you with far more terrible misfortunes, and will choose another man in your place.”

Charles succeeded in crossing the Apennines in safety with all his artillery! It was not till he reached the Taro at Fornuovo that he came across the army of the allies under the command of the Marquess Francesco Gonzaga. On the 6th of July they fought; the battle was sharp but short. Charles plunged into the thickest of the fray, nor was the Marquess Gonzaga behind-hand in daring; he had three horses killed under him. The King’s army might have been practically annihilated, if it had not been for the undisciplined Bohemians who formed part of the Italian force, and who at once began to ransack the enemy’s baggage. This enabled the French to cut their way through, though not without severe loss. The booty was large and valuable, consisting of all the plunder which had been gathered during the course of their victorious progress through the unfortunate country which had been so easily mastered. There were innumerable chests filled with jewels and gold and silver plate, two banners, Charles’s helmet and sword, and his golden seal, together with a book containing the portraits of many fair ladies whose favours the gallant monarch had won in the various cities through which he had passed. It was not wonderful that the Italians should have claimed the victory, although the object of the battle had not been attained. The beautiful Madonna della Vittoria, which was painted by Mantegna by order of the Marquess of Mantua, remains as a standing memorial of this claim. It is now in the Louvre in Paris.

The patriotism of the Italian poets burst into flame over the success of their arms at Fornuovo, and they are almost unanimous in singing of it as a brilliant victory . Antonio Cammelli is the only one who, with a calmer and clearer insight than the rest of his countrymen acknowledges that.

I surpass the Frankish king, Italy, despite you 

Something the Roman people never did, 

With the mast still and the sword in hand, 

With enemies at the back and in front of the chest. 

Caesar and Scipio, I have read about him, 

Tamed enemies hand by hand: 

And he, like a dog that goes far off, 

Biting this one and that, passed cleanly away.

Not till the 15th of July, when he reached Asti, was Charles able at last to give a little well-earned rest to his jaded troops. Fortune seemed now to have entirely abandoned the French. The expedition against Genoa was unsuccessful, and Ferrantino drove Charles’ troops out of Naples and forced them to retire to Castelnuovo.

The Pope had returned to Rome on the 27th of June. A few days later he forbade the Swiss mercenaries to take part in the war against the allies. Stronger measures soon followed. At the request of the Venetians on the 5th of August a monition was issued threatening Charles with excommunication; but the most pressing danger for the King was the impending double attack upon France from Ferdinand of Spain on one side, and the Emperor Maximilian on the other. It was imperatively necessary to get home as soon as possible. He was fortunate enough by the conclusion of a separate peace with Ludovico Sforza at Vercelli on the 9th of October, to withdraw that vacillating Prince from the League, and soon after re-entered his own dominions. All his lofty projects had failed and the shock which had been given to international relations in the South of Europe had rendered the prospect of the Crusade, of which the expedition to Italy was to have been the prelude, more gloomy than at any previous period.

This disastrous year, which had twice seen Rome at the mercy of the French, closed with one of the most destructive inundations that had ever been known in the Eternal City. Mementos of the high

water marks of 1495 are still to be found in places. On November 25, 1495, the weather was exceptionally cold. On December 1st it snowed a little and then the temperature rose suddenly and torrents of rain fell. When this had lasted for two days and a half, on the 4th, the sky cleared and fine weather set in. Presently, the Tiber began to rise with extraordinary rapidity, and submerged all the lower part of the city. Just as the Cardinals were coming out of a Consistory, the flood reached the streets round the castle of S. Angelo, and in a moment turned them into a swirling sea. They only just succeeded, with great difficulty, in getting across the bridge. Cardinal Sclafenati found it impossible to reach his palace; when he turned his horse the water was up to the saddle. “After dinner,” says one of the Venetians, “our Ambassador Girolamo Zorzi rode out to look at the inundation. We made our way towards the street by the riverbank (called Canal del Ponte because it was so frequently flooded), and found the whole place under water; the Ponte Sisto was almost covered and the river was still rising, roaring fearfully and full of the wreckage of mills, wooden bridges, and cottages. We tried to go to Sta Maria del Popolo but that was out of the question. The sight of the falling houses, and the wretched fugitives escaping from them, was so heart-rending that we could bear it no longer and resolved to go home. The water was up to the saddles of our horses. At one in the morning the flood reached our own street. We did our best to dam up the doors and windows in the basement so as not to lose the wine in the cellars, but in vain, the water burst up through the floor, and had not the servants taken the casks on their shoulders and carried them up to the story above, we should have had none left. Presently the rising waves washed away our barricades, and in a moment the courtyard was a lake; the servants in the cellars had to fly for their lives. Our neighbours the Flemings were also forced to fly, lamenting the loss of all their goods, which they had to leave behind. Our landlord Domenico de’ Massimi strove in vain to rescue the costly comestibles with which his shop was stocked. The water came pouring down in conflicting streams through the various streets, and everything was washed away. His shopmen could only save themselves by swimming, and he and his servants had to wade through the water breast-high. His loss is estimated at 4000 ducats. We provided him and all our neighbours with wine, while he supplied us with bread. The water continued to rise till the evening of Saturday. In our courtyard it was seven feet deep and ten feet in the street. Nearly all the city was in the same plight. People went about in boats, reminding us of our own lagoons, carrying provisions to the imprisoned inhabitants of the houses.” In many places the water rose so rapidly that the people were drowned in their beds. Many lost their lives, and a still greater number all that they possessed. All night long cries of distress were to be heard from those who had been overtaken by the waters. For three hours a terrific storm raged; it seemed as though we were at sea.

The distress in many quarters of the city was extreme in consequence of the destruction of the food supply and of the wells. “Though we were surrounded with water” writes the Venetian narrator, quoted above, “many are perishing with thirst even at this moment. In Trastevere it is feared that all the bridges will be destroyed. Many houses and palaces have fallen, and their inhabitants have been buried under the ruins. The Mosaic pavements in the churches are broken up; the tombs are burst; all the food in the city is spoilt. Almost all the cattle in the neighbourhood have been drowned; the herds took refuge in the trees; many died of hunger and cold, others contrived to reach the city by swimming with the help of uprooted trees or branches, and arrived half-dead. It is feared that no crops can be grown next year where the water has been. There were great floods in the reigns of Popes Sixtus IV and Martin V but never one like this. Many are filled with terror, and think there is something beyond nature in it; but it is not for me to say anything on this point. There is every reason to fear that there will be great mortality among the cattle, as has always been the case after calamities of this sort. These parts of Rome have suffered so much that it makes the heart ache to see it. The Pope has ordered processions to implore the mercy of God. Rome, December 4, 1495.”

On the night of Saturday to Sunday the flood slowly began to subside. “Yesterday morning” writes a Venetian to his friends at home, “the water had receded out of the streets, but the courtyards and cellars are filled with dead animals and filth of all sorts; it will take more than three months to cleanse them. The damage done to the city is incalculable; a quarter of a century will hardly suffice to repair it. The boats on the Tiber, the mills and all the old houses are destroyed, and all the horses that were in the stables have been drowned. In consequence of the destruction of the mills there will soon be no bread to be had. Thank God all our own people are safe. Many of the prisoners in Torre di Nona were drowned. The moats surrounding the Castle of S. Angelo are still as full as they can hold of water. Many of the labourers in the vineyards have perished, and nearly all the herds of cattle in the flooded districts. On Friday evening a poor fellow was fished out of the river at the Ripa Grande, more dead than alive, clinging to the trunk of a tree; he had been caught by the water at Monte Rotondo, eleven miles from Rome, and carried down all that way. The brothers of S. Paolo came to see our Ambassador yesterday evening; they said the water in their church was up to the High Altar; you know how high that is, and can imagine what it must have been in other places. The havoc that the Tiber has wrought on this occasion is incredible. I could fill a quire of paper with marvels and with the account of the damage the city has sustained. I beg your Excellency to forward this report to Marino Sanudo; in very truth since Rome has been Rome, such a flood as this has never been seen. Rome, December 8, 1495.” The Venetian Annalist who has preserved this letter estimates the damage to the city at 300,000 ducats.

We cannot be surprised to find that the popular imagination was vividly impressed by such a calamity as this. The fate of Sodom and Gomorrah was recalled; the Venetian letter of December 8, already quoted, speaks of a belief in many minds that “the judgments of God were about to burst on the city, and that it would be entirely destroyed.” The prevailing excitement found vent in portentous stories, which were widely circulated and believed. One of those which was most highly credited was told of a monster said to have been found on the banks of the Tiber in January 1496. The Venetian Envoys describe it as having “the body of a woman and a head with two faces. The front face was that of an ass with long ears, at the back was an old man with a beard. The left arm was human; the right resembled the trunk of an elephant. In the place of a tail, it had a long neck with a gaping snake’s head at the end; the legs, from the feet upwards and the whole body, were covered with scales like a fish.” The Romans looked upon this and other reported marvels of a similar character as omens announcing fresh disasters,—war, famine and pestilence. In other parts of Italy the same feeling prevailed. Thus, the strange beast which was found at the door of the Cathedral of Como was thought to portend the approach of evil times. On all sides men’s minds were filled with gloomy forebodings.

The mighty voice of Savonarola in Florence thundered prophecies of woe upon woe. “I announce to you ” he cried in his Lent sermons of the year 1496, “that all Italy will be convulsed, and those who are most exalted will be most abased. O Italy! trouble after trouble shall befall thee; troubles of war after famine, troubles of pestilence after war, trouble from this side and from that. There will be rumours upon rumours—now rumours of barbarians on this side, then rumours of barbarians on that. Rumours from the East, from the West; from all sides rumour after rumour. Then men will yearn for the visions of the prophets, and will have them not; for the Lord saith, ‘Now do I prophesy in my turn.’ Men will lean on astrology, and it will profit them nothing. The law of the priesthood shall perish, and priests be stripped of their rank; princes shall wear hair-cloth; the people be crushed by tribulation. All men will lose courage, and as they have judged, so shall they themselves be judged.”

CHAPTER V.
EXPEDITION OF MAXIMILIAN I TO ITALY. MURDER OF THE DUKE OF GANDIA

The withdrawal of Charles VIII from Italy was far from including the complete liberation of the Peninsula from French occupation. His troops still held the important frontier fortress of Asti and the Florentine castles, to keep the road across the Apennines open, while ten thousand French soldiers yet remained in the Neapolitan territory. Charles VIII himself spoke openly of returning, and the Florentines were doing their best to enable him to do so. Thus it was of the highest importance that the French should be got out of the kingdom of Naples as quickly as possible; but although Ferrantino was supported by a contingent of Papal and Spanish troops under the celebrated Gran-Capitano Gonsalvo de Cordova, it seemed far from certain that he would succeed in accomplishing this. They still held their ground in Calabria, a portion of the Abruzzi, and in Terra di Lavoro; Tarento, Salerno, Gaeta, and other strong places were in their hands. In the beginning of the year 1496, provisions were introduced into Gaeta by French ships, together with a reinforcement of 2000 men and a store of ammunition. In spite of remonstrances from the Pope, Virginio Orsini gratified his spite against the Colonna, who were fighting on Ferrantino’s side, by taking service with the French, who achieved some successes in the Abruzzi.

A change for the better in Charles’ fortunes was by no means impossible. The Pope showed his consciousness of the danger by expending a large sum on the fortifications of S. Angelo, and he often personally inspected the works during their construction. The pecuniary loss to the Court, now that no French ecclesiastics ever came to Rome for their benefices, was very considerable. “In spite of all, however,” says Sanudo, “the Pope still held fast by the League.” The Briefs of those days showed that he was doing his utmost to uphold Ferrantino. It was about this time that the Papal Nuncio, Lionello Cheregato, begged Maximilian I to come to Italy.

The first reverse sustained by the French in Naples was consequent upon the arrival of assistance from Venice, for which Ferrantino had paid by handing over Brindisi, Otranto, and Trani to the Republic. The French general, Montpensier, now saw plainly that all was lost unless he could obtain efficient help from the King. By the month of April 1496, the French had hardly any footing left in Calabria, Apulia, and Terra di Lavoro. Duke Guidobaldo of Urbino, who would have been well pleased to see the Pope turning his attention to the conquest of Virginio Orsini’s possessions, was taken into the pay of the League in May. By the end of June, the rest of the French army, with Montpensier and Orsini, were shut up in Atella, situated in the Basilicata, and a month later they were forced to capitulate.

The success of the League was complete; and when, on its renewal on July 18, 1496, England also joined it, it became a European coalition. Shortly afterwards Maximilian I appeared in Upper Italy, and was welcomed at Mende, near Milan, on August 31, by the Papal Legate, Cardinal Carvajal. The entire force of the King of the Romans numbered only 4000 men; not one of the German Princes put in an appearance. In the matter of funds his ease was even worse, Venice failing to produce the promised subsidies. The Venetian government knew from trustworthy sources that Charles had no real intention of resuming the war in Italy, and by no means welcomed the arrival of the Emperor, whom they had invited under very different circumstances. His well-chosen plan of operations added still more to their disgust, as it would have effectually barred the way to the accomplishment of their designs on Milan. He purposed to force Savoy and Montferrat to join the League, and to wrest Asti from the French, in which case it would naturally have returned to Lodovico il Moro. They adhered to their policy of tacit opposition in spite of stringent remonstrances from the Pope. “We do not consider,” Alexander wrote on the 4th September, 1496, to the Doge, “that the French ought to be left alone because for the moment they are not attacking us. As long as they, refuse to evacuate Naples and Ostia, and to withdraw the declaration of war against Italy, and continue daily to pour troops and ammunition into the country, to send warships to Gaeta, and to forbid the customary missions to Rome,—in short, to do all the things that are done in time of war, so long must we look upon them as enemies. They want not the will to do worse things, but only the power. We see all the signs of war and none of peace. In going on with the war and occupying the passes we are not attacking them, but merely defending ourselves.”

All his remonstrances, however, were ineffectual, and Maximilian found it impossible to carry out his plans. He therefore now resolved to endeavour to force the Florentines to relax their hold on Pisa, and to relinquish the French alliance, by possessing himself of their port at Leghorn. But here, too, he failed mainly for want of the promised and indispensable help which Venice and Milan still withheld. Towards the end of the year, he returned to the Tyrol thoroughly disgusted with the faithless allies who had so meanly failed to keep their engagements.

Meanwhile, Alexander VI was busily occupied in taking advantage of the altered conditions in the Neapolitan kingdom to carry out his own purposes. “By the expulsion of the French from Italy he was now relieved from the danger which had hung over him for so long,” and he at once set to work to crush his disloyal nobles. “The French invasion had brought to light the utter untrustworthiness of the Papal feudatories. The great majority of them, and especially those who were most powerful, had faithlessly abandoned the Pope in the hour of danger. Some, regardless of their oath of fealty, had simply gone over to the enemy; others had made separate terms with him, leaving their sovereign helpless and defenceless.”

The most guilty of all were the Orsini; it was their defection which had practically delivered the Pope into the hands of the French; it was right that the first blow should be aimed at them. Already, in February 1496, Virginio Orsini had been proclaimed a rebel; as he and his family still held to the French, on the 1st June the extreme censures of the Church were pronounced against them, with confiscation of all their possessions. Alexander VI no doubt intended to bestow their property on some of his relations.

The task of chastising the Orsini was assigned to Juan Borgia, Duke of Gandia, Alexander’s son, who was married to the first cousin of King Ferdinand the Catholic, and who was summoned from Spain to Rome for this purpose. The Pope had a mistakenly high opinion of the military talents of this Prince. When he arrived in Rome, on August 10, the French garrison at Atella had already been forced to capitulate. The effect of this was to hand over Virginio Orsini and his son Giovanni Giordano to Ferrantino, who, by the Pope’s orders, kept them shut up in prison. Thus the Orsini were deprived of their ablest leader and chief.

This was an opportunity too precious to be lost. Extensive preparations for the expedition against the Orsini were at once commenced, and the Duke of Urbino was also summoned. The Duke of Gandia had already in September been chosen Legate for the Patrimony, and was, on the 26th October, in S. Peter’s, appointed Commander-General of the Papal troops. Besides the Duke of Urbino, he was to be accompanied by Cardinal Lunati as Legate. On the following day the expedition started to conquer the strongholds of the Orsini. At first all went well. Scrofano, Galera, Formello, and Campagnano were rapidly subdued, one after the other. Anguillara opened its gates without making any resistance.

The next step was to proceed to lay siege to the family Castle of Bracciano. This majestic fortress, with its five round towers, still crowns the height above the blue lake in grey and massive grandeur. Here the whole clan, with all their forces, was assembled. The youthful Alviano, with his high-spirited consort Bartolomea, Virginio’s sister, commanded the defenders. The French flag floated over the towers, and the war cry was ‘France.’ At the beginning of the siege the Duke of Urbino was wounded, and thus the leadership devolved on the inexperienced Duke of Gandia, who from the first was far from successful. Simultaneously with Bracciano, Trevignano, on the other side of the lake, had also been invested, but without result. No progress was made until the end of November, when the guns which the Pope had borrowed from the King of Naples arrived, and then first Isola, and soon after Trevignano, fell; but Bracciano still held out. The troops suffered much from the bad weather and rain; when winter began in earnest it was still more difficult to keep the field. The besieged made numerous sorties; detachments appeared even close under the walls of Rome, where the party of the Orsini began to stir in a very disquieting manner. The Pope was beside himself; his illness on Christmas Day was attributed to vexation at the ill-success of his army. Reinforcements were despatched to Bracciano, and it was hoped that at last, either by force of arms or starvation, the garrison would be compelled to yield. It certainly could not have held out had it not been relieved by the force which Vitellozzo, the tyrant of Citta di Castello, and Carlo and Giulio Orsini, with the help of French gold, were able to send to its assistance. The approach of these troops obliged the Papal army to raise the siege and withdraw the artillery to Anguillara for security, while the rest of the forces went forth to encounter the new enemy. They met at Soriano on January 25, 1497, and the battle ended in the total defeat of the Papal troops. Guidobaldo was taken prisoner, Gandia was wounded, and their army completely routed; the Orsini were now masters of the Campagna.

Alexander VI now made peace as quickly as possible (on the 5th of February). All their castles were restored to the Orsini on payment of 50,000 golden florins, the Pope only retaining Anguillara and Cervetri. The Duke of Urbino was not included in the treaty, and remained in prison in Soriano; he had later to ransom himself.

The Pope’s unfortunate attack upon the Orsini left him in an extremely isolated position. The only friend whom he could now trust was Gonsalvo de Cordova, the General of the Spanish sovereigns, on whom he had recently bestowed the title of “Catholic.” On the 19th February Gonsalvo came to Rome, and after a brief sojourn of three days, proceeded with 600 horsemen and 1000-foot soldiers to attack Ostia, which, still in the hands of the French, was a standing menace to the Pope. On the 9th March it was forced to yield. About the same time the Pope decided, by his own personal authority, to deprive Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere of his benefices, and his brother Giovanni, who had sided with Vitellozzo, of the Prefecture of Rome.

On the 15th of March 1497, Gonsalvo de Cordova and the Duke of Gandia, “the one an able general and states­man, the other a mere stage prince bedizened with ornaments and tinsel,” returned to Rome. Modern writers assert that the Spanish leader seriously remonstrated with Alexander on his nepotism and his misconduct; but there is no mention of this in contemporaneous authorities. There was certainly occasion enough for such remonstrances, considering the life Alexander was then leading and his partiality towards his family. It was about this time that Cardinal Peraudi said to the Florentine Envoy, “When I think of the lives of the Pope and some of the Cardinals, I shudder at the idea of residing at the Court; I will have nothing to say to it unless God reforms His Church.” In Rome also Alexander was extremely unpopular, mainly because he had surrounded himself almost exclusively with Spaniards. Since February 1496 the Spanish party in the College of Cardinals had received a great accession of strength; on the 19th Alexander had added four, namely—Juan Lopez, Bartolomeo Martini, Juan de Castro, and his sister’s son Juan Borgia, to the five which it already contained. In May 1497 Juan Borgia was made Legate of Perugia. On the 7th June a secret Consistory was held, in which the Duchy of Benevento and the cities of Terracina and Pontecorvo were granted to the Duke of Gandia and his legitimate male descendants. Out of the 27 Cardinals who were present, Piccolomini was the only one who raised his voice against this alienation of these Church lands, and his remonstrance was unavailing. According to the Spanish historian Zurita, the Ambassador of Ferdinand and Isabella had also endeavoured to prevent it, on the ground that it was an injury to the Church and to Christendom.

These distinctions, conferred at the cost of the Church on a man who had shown himself such an incapable commander in the field, were made all the more scandalous by the Duke’s notorious immorality. On the 8th of June the Pope appointed Cardinal Caesar Borgia, Legate for Naples, where he was to crown the new King Federigo.

On the 14th June a banquet was given in the vineyard of Vanozza, close to S. Pietro in Vincoli, at which the Duke of Gandia and his brother Caesar, with many of their friends, and among them Juan Borgia, were present. It was somewhat late in the evening when the two brothers, with Cardinal Juan, mounted their mules in order to return to the Papal palace. Close to the Cesarini palace, where Cardinal Ascanio Sforza was then residing, the Duke of Gandia took leave of his companions, saying that he was going to pay a visit which he wished to make unattended. The others endeavoured to persuade him to take an adequate number of servants with him, but he refused, and disappeared into the darkness, accompanied by only one groom and a man in domino, whom he had brought with him to the feast, and who for the last month had visited him daily. When he got to the Piazza degli Ebrei he dismissed the groom, also desiring him to wait an hour for him, and if he did not return by the end of that time to go back to the palace. Then he took the domino up on the mule behind him and rode off, whither no one knew.

When, on the following morning (June 15), his confidential servants found that he did not return, they sent word to the Pope. Alexander was a good deal disturbed, but both he and the servants consoled themselves with the probability that the Duke might be engaged in some gallant adventure, and was afraid of compromising himself if he were seen to leave the house. When, however, night came on, and still the Duke was missing, the Pope’s distress became acute, and he commanded that every possible effort should be made to discover what had happened to him. All Rome was filled with dismay and apprehension; many of the citizens closed their shops and barricaded their doors; there was no knowing what the enemies of the Borgia might do. Excited Spaniards went about the streets with drawn swords. The Orsini and Colonna called their troops together. At last the groom was found badly wounded and unable to give any information; and soon after, the Duke’s mule was caught, the stirrups bearing traces of a struggle; but of the Duke himself nothing could be heard. At length, on the 16th June, the searchers were put on the right track by a Slavonian timber merchant, whose yard was close to the Hospital of his nation, on the banks of the Tiber. He was in the habit of keeping watch at night over his property, and deposed to having seen on Thursday, “about two o’clock in the morning, two men come out of the street to the left of the Hospital and return again, after having looked round cautiously in all directions, as though to see if the coast were clear. Soon after, two other men appeared from the same place, and after looking about in a similar manner, and seeing no one, made a signal. Upon this a horseman issued from the lane, riding a white horse, and carrying a corpse in front of him, the trunk and legs hanging on either side of the horse, being supported by the two men whom he had seen at first. The other two carried dark lanterns, and when the ghastly cortege had reached a place on the bank where rubbish was shot into the river, the men took the body and hurled it into the water, flinging it as far as they could. The horseman asked if they had thrown it well in, to which they replied, ‘Right well, Signor,’ and then the five men disappeared down the street which leads to the Hospital of S. James.” When the man was asked why he had not informed the authorities, his answer was significant of the state of Rome under the Borgia. “In the course of my life,” he said, “I have seen more than a hundred bodies thrown into the Tiber at this spot, and never heard of any one troubling himself about them.”

Men were immediately set to work to drag the river, and about midday of the same day, a body was found not far from Sta Maria del Popolo, and close to a garden belonging to Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. It was that of the Duke of Gandia. The throat had been cut, and it bore nine ghastly wounds. His purse, containing 40 ducats, and his rich garments were untouched. Robbery, therefore, had had nothing to do with the murder. The corpse was taken at once to S. Angelo and there washed and clothed in ducal robes, and then taken on an open bier to lie in state at Sta Maria del Popolo. In addition to the Duke’s suite and the Spanish and Milanese Envoys, many prelates and other persons joined the procession.

“When Alexander VI heard that the Duke had been murdered and his body thrown like carrion into the Tiber, he was perfectly overcome; he shut himself up in his room, overwhelmed with grief, and wept bitterly. From Wednesday evening until Sunday morning he neither ate nor drank, nor had he a moment’s sleep from Thursday morning till Sunday.” So says Jakob Burchard, though we seek in vain for any account of the murder itself in his pages. There were many indications that the crime had been planned long before and carried out with great skill. The only person who could have told in which direction the Duke had gone was the groom, and he had been rendered incapable of saying anything. The time that had elapsed before the body was found was a great advantage for the murderers, enabling them to obliterate all traces which might have led to their discovery. In Rome all sorts of wild rumours were flying about, which rapidly developed into still wilder tales. The consternation and distress in the Papal palace were unexampled. The complete failure of the police to discover anything left a free field for the invention of any number of myths. Suspicion fell first upon the Orsini and Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, who had a short time before had a violent quarrel with the Duke. This, however, did not prevent many others from being suspected, amongst whom were Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro, brother-in-law of the murdered Prince, Cardinal Sanseverino, the Duke of Urbino, the rebels of Viterbo, and Count Antonio Maria della Mirandola. Many believed that the Duke had fallen a victim to the jealousy of some Roman husband.

On the 17th of June, the Governor of the City received orders from the Pope to have all the houses on the banks of the Tiber thoroughly searched up to Sta Maria del Popolo. The Palace of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, who on the previous day had sent a confidential account to his brother in Milan of the event, was included in the investigation. The Cardinal commended the action of the Pope, and remarked that he would have been still better pleased if the examination had been made the day before; he begged that the Governor would begin with his house. Out of considerations of personal dignity he absented himself from his palace for the time; he told the Milanese Envoy that the Governor of the City had informed him that amongst the Duke’s papers, letters had been found from Fabrizio Colonna earnestly warning him against a Roman citizen in whom Gandia had great confidence. On the 20th June, Cardinal Ascanio wrote to his brother: “Although all possible pains have been taken, as yet nothing certain has been discovered either as to the place of the murder or the person who did it. The Duke was last seen that night close to the cross in the street leading to Sta Maria del Popolo; it is thought that the crime was committed somewhere near this cross, because both horse­men and others on foot were seen there. The uncertainty which prevails has given rise to many different conjectures. Some think it had to do with a love affair; the Duke of Urbino, the Orsini, and Cardinal Sanseverino have also been suspected. Again, it is said that some of my people may have done it on account of the recent quarrel with the Duke. Finally, it has been asserted that either Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro or his brother Galeazzo is the murderer.” At the end of his epistle Ascanio refers to letters from his brother saying that Giovanni Sforza had come to Milan, and that his brother Galeazzo had never left Pesaro. “Although it is incredible,” he continues, “that either of them should have been guilty of such a cruel act, still I am glad that Giovanni has written here to prove that he and his brother are innocent. Now that it is known that he had gone to Milan and that Galeazzo had not left Pesaro, people here are starting fresh hypotheses and seeking in all possible ways to find out the truth.”

In corroboration of this, there is a letter to Giovanni Bentivoglio of June 20th, 1497, which says “two days ago the brother of the Lord of Pesaro was openly spoken of as the assassin; now this is no longer believed. All sorts of contradictory opinions are held. But since every word and every judgment connected with this affair is beset with doubt and danger, I leave the matter to those whom it concerns. The Pope is deeply distressed at the loss he has sustained, and is minded to change his life and become a different man. He has gone to S. Peter’s and intends to erect the Tribune for the High Altar there, according to the design of Nicholas V, which will cost 50,000 ducats; in Sta Maria Maggiore there is also to be a new Tribune for the Papal Benediction, and already 2000 ducats have been set apart for this. Moreover, yesterday in the Consistory he promised a reform of the Church, both in temporal and spiritual matters, and appointed a commission of six Cardinals and three Prelates for this purpose. Finally, he announced his intention of equipping forty squadrons, but will have no Roman Barons among them. It is thought that he will give the command to Gonsalvo de Cordova, who is a truly able and worthy man. He has also promised many other excellent things; time will soon shew whether he is in earnest.”

In regard to the proceedings at the Consistory of June 19th, we have a detailed report of the Venetian Ambassador and a letter from Ascanio Sforza. It was attended by all the Cardinals in Rome, excepting Ascanio, and, in addition to the representatives of the League, by the Ambassadors of Spain, Naples, Venice and Milan. After the Cardinals had each severally offered their condolences, the Pope addressed them in a speech in which he freely gave vent to his grief. “The blow which has fallen upon us” he said, “is the heaviest that we could possibly have sustained. We loved the Duke of Gandia more than anyone else in the world. We would give seven Tiaras to be able to recall him to life. God has done this in punishment for our sins, for the Duke had done nothing to deserve this mysterious and terrible death. It has been said that Giovanni Sforza is the criminal. We are convinced that this is not the case, and equally so, that neither his brother nor the Duke of Urbino are guilty; may God forgive the murderer. We, on our part, are resolved to amend our own life and to reform the Church. The reform of the Church will be put into the hands of six Cardinals and two Auditors of the Rota. From henceforth benefices shall only be given to deserving persons, and in accordance with the votes of the Cardinals. We renounce all nepotism, We will begin the reform with ourselves and so proceed through all ranks of the Church till the whole work is accomplished.” Six Cardinals were appointed on the spot to constitute the Commission of Reform.

When the Pope had finished his speech, the Spanish Ambassador Garcilaso della Vega stood up to apologise for the absence of Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. The Cardinal, he said, desired him to entreat his Holiness to give no credence to the reports that were going about that he was the murderer, and had assumed the leadership of the Orsini party. If the Pope permitted, he would come forward and defend himself. He had only kept away from today’s Consistory out of fear of the Spaniards. The Pope replied “God forbid that I should harbour any such horrible suspicions of the Cardinal. I have always looked upon him as a brother and he will be welcome whenever he comes.”

On the same day, 19th of June, the death of the Duke of Gandia was officially announced to the Italian and foreign Powers. “We do not know,” the letter says, “by whom the murder was committed, or what was its cause.” The loss of one whom he loved only too dearly was, he considered, a visitation from God and a warning to him to amend his life. The Powers replied at once with letters of condolence. The Emperor Maximilian expressed a hope that the Pope would persevere in his good resolutions and carry them out. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, between whom and the Pope negotiations for a reconciliation were in process, and Girolamo Savonarola also expressed their sympathy. In the anguish of the first shock Alexander had written to the King of Spain that he was thinking of resigning the Tiara. Ferdinand, who knew the Pope well, advised him to do nothing in a hurry and spoke of the healing hand of time.

On the 26th June 1497, the Pope received the Envoys of the League and of Federigo of Naples; he assured them that he was anxious to do everything that was possible in the cause of peace and the well-being of Italy. On the following day, the Milanese Envoy wrote home that Cardinal Ascanio Sforza was much disturbed at the suspicions of which he was the object; he declared that nothing worse could have happened to him than the death of the Duke, which had put a stop to important negotiations which were just approaching completion. The Envoy adds in cypher that indications had at last been discovered which pointed to the Orsini as the authors of the murder, these were being followed up with all possible energy; the clearer they became, the greater the Pope felt was the necessity for caution, lest anything should transpire prematurely. In the same letter he mentions that Alexander was beginning to doubt whether it would not be better to send Cardinal Ascanio to Naples as Legate for the Coronation, instead of Caesar. Coupled with this, the fact that on June 21st, he had a long conversation with the Pope, seems to prove that Alexander really did not believe in his guilt. On the other hand, all this may have been merely a blind. In any case the Pope soon changed his opinion. Venetian reports announce in July that Sforza and Alexander were now bitterly estranged, because it became certain that the former was the Duke’s murderer. The Cardinal, on account of the strong feeling against him amongst the Spaniards, thought it prudent to leave Rome. He went first to Frascati and then to Grottaferrata and Genazzano. The Venetian Envoy thinks that he is now turning to the Colonna because the Orsini are trying to make friends with the Pope. The same writer reports that in August he came to Rome to attend the funeral of his friend Cardinal Lunati, and had a long interview with the Pope, and that every one believes Ascanio to have been the murderer of the Duke.

In a letter, partly in cypher, from the Cardinal to his brother, dated Genazzano, July 26th, 1497, the former refers to a previous communication of July 6th, in which he had told him of Alexander’s expressed suspicions of the Orsini, on whom he would avenge himself if they proved to be well-founded. Some new results of the investigations would be communicated to the Duke of Milan, and the Pope would do nothing without his advice. Later, in August, the Venetian Ambassador announces that Ascanio is in Rome and the Pope displays no hostile feeling against him, although it is held for certain that he had murdered the Duke of Gandia. Alexander VI could not have shared this opinion, for when he and Ascanio fell out in December 1498, this accusation does not appear in the violent recriminations which they hurled at each other, and it was not till July 1499, and for reasons quite unconnected with the tragedy of 1497, that the Cardinal finally left the Court. In June 1498 he wrote to his brother that the new accusation lately raised against him, of his having been the intermediary between Prospero Colonna and Giovanni Sforza in the matter of the Duke’s assassination, troubled him very little; which looks as if his conscience was clear. The charges made against the Orsini and Giovanni Sforza of having been implicated in the bloody deed seem much more likely to be true.

Since the Spring of the year, the Tyrant of Pesaro had become completely estranged from Alexander on account of his refusal to agree to the dissolution of his marriage with Lucrezia, which the Pope desired. In March he fled from Rome to Pesaro. According to a Venetian account he had come secretly to Rome just at the time of the murder, but a Milanese letter states that he was then staying with Lodovico il Moro. On the other hand he had plenty of grievances both personal, and probably also political, and might very well have employed hired assassins; and “his violent conduct in Pesaro, in 1503, showed him to be quite capable of such a deed.” At the same time the fact that on the 19th June, Alexander VI formally dismissed the charge against him, and that from that time he was held to be clear of suspicion, speaks in favour of his innocence. In the whole course of the long negotiations about the dissolution of his marriage, while many other evil things were said of Giovanni Sforza, he was never accused of the murder.

On the other hand, the charge of being the chief instigators and contrivers of the crime was openly and persistently preferred against the Orsini. “The Orsini certainly had ample cause for hating the Pope and the Duke. They had been the first to be attacked by Alexander in order to carve out of their estates a principality for his son, and found the House of Borgia. Their reply had been the victory of Soriano, and the peace in the end was a far from dishonourable one for them; but the relations on both sides remained hostile, and the Orsini could not but be aware that whenever a good opportunity presented itself the contest would be resumed. If the Duke, who was the chief cause of the attack upon them, were put out of the way, they might hope to be secure against the probability of its renewal.” What happened was the exact contrary: Alexander, convinced that they were responsible for the murder, was bent on revenge. In December it was known that the destruction of the Orsini had been determined on; but at this point Venice intervened and compelled the Pope to desist from his purpose. He did not, however, relinquish it, and indeed could not, considering their attitude towards him. In February 1498, it was reported that they were plotting against his life. From Alexander’s later action we gather that in pursuing the Orsini he believed that he was executing a just vengeance on the murderers of his son, and contemporary accounts from Rome fully confirm the truth of this view.

We do not possess the requisite materials for attaining to perfect certainty in regard to the guilt of the Orsini, and it always remains a possibility that the assassination had nothing to do with politics. The dissolute life of the Duke of Gandia was notorious in the city, and at first, it was very commonly believed that he had come by his death in some intrigue. It is quite probable that this natural explanation is the true one. The investigations were prolonged for more than a year, but brought to light nothing new. In consequence, the air was thick with rumours. Nothing stimulates the imagination so much as a mystery, and where no one knows the truth the most impossible things are believed. Every one who could in any conceivable way be supposed to have an interest in the Duke’s death was suspected; amongst the names mentioned were not only the Orsini, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, and Giovanni of Pesaro, but even Gandia’s brother Jofre. In the Consistory of June 19th, the Pope at once put aside all the other names, but made no remark when the Orsini were spoken of. This is certainly significant. Probably the actual history of this ghastly tragedy will never be completely unveiled, but the more we study the facts, both preceding and subsequent to it, the more do they seem to tend towards the implication of this family. It may very well be that knowing the Prince’s character, they sought and found in some love adventure the easiest and safest means of putting him out of the way; but the evidence against them is not strong enough to justify anything more definite than a well-grounded suspicion.

In all the reports written at the time, as far as they are known, there is not the slightest hint to be found of that which came a few years later to be almost universally believed, namely, that Caesar Borgia was the assassin. The earliest accusation against him was started nine months later, and is found in a Report ot the Ferrarese Envoy to Venice, which fact is noteworthy. Many of the Orsini, and Giovanni Sforza who had been so deeply injured by Caesar, had taken refuge in Venice, and the news soon spread from thence. Paolo Capello repeated it in his Report of September 1500, and Silvio Savelli in his pamphlet of November 1501. Even at that time, however, it had not yet acquired a very wide circulation. The Neapolitan poets, writing before 1500, though ascribing every imaginable vice to the Borgia do not mention fratricide in the lists; and even later the murder is ascribed to many other persons besides Caesar; but the belief in his guilt continued to strengthen with time, until at last it came to be accepted as a certainty. When we remember the intense and universal hatred which Caesar Borgia eventually aroused against himself, both in Rome and in the whole of Italy, we cannot be surprised that “one undeserved accusation should be added to the many which he so richly merited; and considering what the times were, it is equally easy to understand that it should be widely believed. Also, in those days court scandals passed quite as rapidly from one court to another as they do in our own day, and thus the rumour soon reached Spain, and there too, found many to credit it.” It was not, however, generally adopted in Spain. Bernaldez, in his Chronicle narrating the murder of the Duke, naturally mentions the Cardinal, but does not in any way connect his name with the crime.

There does not seem any sufficient reason which could have induced Caesar to commit this unnatural crime at this particular juncture “when he was about in a signal manner to participate in the honours and dignities which the Pope was preparing for the Borgia family, by crowning the King of Sicily. In order to excuse or account for the atrocity which filled Spain and Portugal with horror, it has been said that Caesar disliked and wished to escape from his ecclesiastical position, and that Don Juan stood in his way; but it is plain that on the Duke of Gandia’s death, his son and not Caesar would succeed to the title. It would also be necessary to show that Don Juan was really an obstacle to his brother’s plans, and that these could only be realised by getting rid of him. No proof of this, however, is forthcoming”. On the contrary, it may be justly asked how could the Duke of Gandia, whose military incapacity had just been made patent in the campaign against the Orsini, in any way compete with such a man as Caesar. His conduct also after the murder seems to prove his innocence. “He remained quietly in Rome and only left it on the 22nd July, to accomplish his mission at Naples. Thus he was present throughout all the proceedings there from the 14th June to the 22nd July, and nothing in his actions or demeanour could be adduced to justify any suspicions against him. It is also incredible that the Pope, if he had believed him guilty, could have made him his brother’s executor, and thus forced Donna Maria, the King of Spain’s cousin, into close and frequent intercourse with her husband’s murderer.”

Whether the Duke of Gandia fell a victim to the revenge of the Orsini and Giovanni Sforza, or to his own profligacy, or to both, it is certain that Caasar was not implicated in this crime. “But for Alexander VI—the death of the son, the one whom he so dearly cherished, on whom all his hopes were concentrated, torn from him in such a horrible manner—the blow came as an unmistakeable summons to stop short in the course he was pursuing, and to change his life. In the first moments of anguish he seriously and earnestly resolved to take measures at once for the reformation of the Church, and the amendment of his own life; and in order to carry out the first of these intentions he appointed a Commission of six Cardinals, on the 19th of June. This was the turning point in his career. If he meant to fulfil the resolutions embraced in the hour of sorrow, to look upon himself as the Steward, and not the Lord of the Church, to put an end to simony, and to no longer make the advancement of his children the one aim and purpose of his Pontificate, if he in reality meant, as he had declared in that first moment, to be the Father of Christendom and live up to his exalted vocation, he had now received a stern warning to make no further delay. It was still possible for him, supported by the general demand for reforms, by a consistent course of eradicating abuses, above all that formed by the official sale of benefices in Rome, to set the current flowing in a better direction. The reform, however, would have to be steadily carried out step by step. It must begin with the Pope himself, and so pass on to the College of Cardinals, and gradually embrace the bishops and prelates, the priests and monks, and finally the whole of the laity.

There is no doubt that in those sorrowful days of the Summer of 1497, Alexander VI sincerely desired and intended to institute searching reforms. “The Reform Commission sits every morning in the Papal Palace,” writes the Florentine Envoy on the 22nd June. In July the Venetians were lost in amazement at the accounts which reached them of the proposed changes in Rome. Such men as the pious General of the Camaldolese, Peter Delphinus, were full of joyful hopes that this terrible event might pave the way for a real amendment. In August it was reported that Alexander had commanded Jofre and his wife to leave Rome and take up their abode in the Castle of Squillace, which belonged to the Prince; and on the 7th of the month the order was obeyed. It was also understood that for the future the Pope was resolved not to permit either his children or nephews to reside in his neighbourhood, and that even Lucrezia would be sent to Valencia. Other councillors were added to the original six Cardinals, and those belonging to the Court who were absent were summoned to meet in November in order to deliberate on measures of reform.

The amount of preparatory work done by Costa and Caraffa shows how thoroughly in earnest the Cardinals of the Commission of Reform were. On the one hand, the decrees and various schemes of reform of earlier Popes were collected, on the other, opinions were taken on the abuses to be remedied, especially those in the Papal Chancery. Proposals founded on the data thus obtained were then put forward, carefully worked out, and finally formulated into resolutions. At last, a comprehensive Bull of Reform was drafted, which began with the following words:

“By the providence of God we have been raised on the Watchtower of the Apostolic See in order that in one measure we should exercise our pastoral office by removing what is bad and promoting what is good. Therefore, with our whole soul we desire an amendment in morals, having observed a gradual deterioration in this respect. The ancient and salutary decrees by which Councils and Popes had endeavoured to stem the tide of sensuality and avarice have been violated. Licentiousness has reached an intolerable pitch; for the nature of man is prone to evil and will not always obey reason, but holds the spirit, in the words of the Apostle, captive under the law of sin. Even when we were only a Cardinal under Pius II, Paul II, Sixtus IV, and Innocent VIII, we strove to accomplish something in this direction, and also at the commencement of our Pontificate we desired to attend to this matter, but the very grave position in which we were placed by the arrival of Charles VIII of France, obliged us to lay it aside until now. We mean to begin with the reform of Our own Court, which is composed of members of all Christian nations, and should be an example of virtue to all. For the inauguration of this most necessary and long desired work, we have selected six of the best and most God-fearing of the Cardinals; namely, Olivero Caraffa, Giorgio Costa, Antoniotto Pallavicino, Giovanni Antonio di S. Giorgio, Francesco Piccolomini, and Raffaele Riario. With their assistance, after a careful review of the enactments of our predecessors and due consideration of the needs of the present day, in the plenitude of our Apostolic power we publish the following ordinances, to be binding for all time. We command that they be inviolably observed; but without prejudice to the validity of the decrees of our predecessors on the same subjects.’’

The Bull begins with various ordinances relating to the Pope himself and his Court. Regulations on sacred Liturgy in the Papal Chapel then follow, which contain strict injunctions in regard to silence during the Offices; and the morals generally of the singers and other court officials are dealt with.

The enactments which follow against simony and reservations are still more stringent. A special section is directed against the alienation of any portion of the States of the Church. The Pope is also forbidden to give away any Church territories under the title of a Vicariate. All decrees contravening these enactments in any way are null, unless they have received the consent of the Cardinals. This section also includes regulations dealing with governors and castellans within the States of the Church, and in the same connection there is an important clause prohibiting promises to Princes of presentations to Bishoprics. In regard to the deposition and translation of Bishops, the existing legal provisions are strengthened.

The Bull then proceeds to the reform of the College of Cardinals. The most important points are that no Cardinal shall possess more than one Bishopric or draw an annual revenue from benefices exceeding 6000 ducats. Cardinals are not to retain Legations for more than two years, so as to fulfil their obligation of residence in Rome with punctuality. Stringent enactments are drawn up against simoniacal practices at Papal elections and against the worldly lives of the Cardinals. The canonical prohibitions against gaming and field-sports are confirmed. Visits to the Courts of secular Princes without a written permission from the Pope are also forbidden, together with any entanglements in the worldly affairs of Princes, taking part in tournaments or carnival sports, or attending representations of the Pagan drama. The households of Cardinals are not to consist of more than eighty persons, of whom at least twelve must be in Sacred Orders, and they are not to keep more than thirty horses. Conjurors, strolling comedians and musicians must not enter their palaces; nor may they employ boys and youths as body servants. Residence at the Court was to be more strictly enforced. No funeral obsequies were to cost more than 1500 florins.

These regulations are in themselves enough to show what abuses had crept into the College of Cardinals, but a deeper insight into the prevailing corruption is furnished by those relating to the papal officials, more especially such as had been guilty of extortion in the collection of taxes. The sale of offices was to be done away with. Detailed instructions arc given in regard to the maintenance of the fabric of S. Peter’s and the staff for architectural works.

The provisions dealing with expectancies and reservations, and those regarding concubinage reveal the prevalence of serious evils. Respecting the latter it is decreed that all priests of whatever degree must conform to the enactments of the Bull within ten days of its publication; failing this, at the end of a month the culprit will be deprived of his benefices and pronounced incapable of holding any others.

The Bull then goes on to forbid wharf-ducs, and to regulate the corn supply of the city, but soon returns to ecclesiastical affairs. Amongst other things, solemn vows taken by children arc pronounced invalid. Further rules are laid down in regard to the granting of tithes to secular Princes, the abuse of commendams, and irregularities in religious houses of men and women. The reform of the Apostolic Chancery is dealt with in great detail. The grave and manifold abuses in this department were to be put down with a strong hand. A secretary for example was not to accept anything beyond the prescribed fee however freely it might be offered. If he had done so he must either return the money or give it to the poor. Anything of the nature of bribery was strictly forbidden.

We see in all these prescriptions the result of Alexander’s long experience in the vice-chancellorship. He knew what bitter feelings had been aroused in all parts of the world by the corrupt practices of the secretaries of the Court with which the whole of Christendom was in constant communication. The concluding part of the document was devoted to the reform of the Penitentiary.

Unfortunately, the Bull which contained all these excellent provisions never got beyond the draft stage. The work of reform was put off at first, and then forgotten. Meanwhile, his distress and compunction had subsided, and it became evident that Alexander “did not possess the moral strength to give up his licentious habits. In such a case, where salvation could only be found in setting a noble example of a complete transformation of life, a passing resolve adopted in a moment of anguish and horror and quickly forgotten, was of no avail. The only alternative to the cloister would have been to have entirely broken with the past and, what was perhaps still more difficult, with his whole surroundings in the present; but he would not have been Rodrigo Borgia, he would not have been Pope Alexander had he had the courage to make such a change.” The old spirit of nepotism gradually revived and grew stronger than ever, and all desire for better things was stifled by the demon of sensuality. The latter state became worse than the former. The Pope now fell more and more under the influence and control of Caesar Borgia.

On the 22nd July, Caesar had left Rome for Naples as Legate for the Coronation, with a large retinue. There, his demands for money and favours of all sorts were so importunate that the Florentine Ambassador wrote “It would not be surprising if the poor King were driven to throw himself into the arms of the Turks to escape from his tormentor.” In the beginning of September, the Cardinal returned to Rome. Jakob Burchard says that at his reception in the Consistory, the father and son did not speak a word to each other. It soon became known that Caesar intended to resign his cardinalate and to marry. It would appear that in December Alexander had not yet given his consent to this step; or, if he had done so, it seems impossible to understand his having in that month bestowed on Caesar the benefices, bringing in a revenue of 12,000 ducats which had been held by Cardinal Sclafenati who had just died. Nevertheless, the Venetian Ambassador, writing at this time, says that it was proposed to bestow on him the lordships of Cesena and Fano. On December 24, 1497, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza announces to his brother in a report in cypher “I and King Federigo and your Highness’s Envoys had a conversation with the Pope which lasted more than four hours. Briefly, the subject was the daily increasing efforts which Caesar is making to obtain leave to resign his seat in the College of Cardinals. The Pope is anxious, if this is to be, that it should be carried out under the best pretext that can be found, and in such a manner as to give as little scandal as possible.” In this conversation another topic was also touched upon which was equally calculated to provoke unfavourable comments, and do no good to Alexander’s reputation, namely, that of the annulling of Lucrezia’s childless marriage with Giovanni Sforza.

The negotiations concerning this disgraceful affair had been going on ever since the Spring of 1497. At first Lucrezia seems to have stood by her husband; but on the 14th of June we hear of a complete breach between the pair. At that time, the Pope, supported by Caesar and the Duke of Gandia, declared that Lucrezia must not be permitted to remain in the hands of such a man; the marriage they said had never been consummated and could and should be annulled. Even the murder of the Duke of Gandia produced no abatement in the energy with which the case was prosecuted. Accordingly, in August a new marriage was already in contemplation for Lucrezia; but up to the end of December Giovanni Sforza offered a most determined resistance. At last, however, yielding to the strong pressure put upon him by his kinsmen Lodovico il Moro and Cardinal Ascanio, he consented to declare in writing that the marriage with Lucrezia had never been consummated. On the 20th of December the dissolution of the marriage was formally pronounced, and Sforza was required to return his wife’s dowry to the amount of 31,000 ducats. The injured man took his revenge by attributing to Alexander the worst possible motives. The annulling of this marriage gave so much scandal that people were prepared to believe anything that could be said by the enemies of the Borgia, and credited them with crimes “which the moral sense shrinks from putting into words.”

At the same time, Alexander VI cannot be acquitted of the charge that his conduct was such as to shock the public opinion of a profoundly corrupt age, to a degree hitherto unexampled. There seemed no end to the accumulation of scandals in the Borgia family. First there was the flight of Sforza from Rome; then came the mysterious assassination of the Duke of Gandia, next the dissolution of Lucrezia’s marriage securing obvious political advantages, then Caesar’s resignation of the Cardinalate, and finally the abandonment of the scheme of reform, and the return of the Pope to his old way of living. Can we wonder that where the Borgia were concerned nothing was thought too horrible to be believed? “I will make no comment on these matters” writes the Venetian Envoy in September 1497, alluding to the scandalous reports then current in Rome, “but it is certain that this Pope permits himself things that are unexampled and unpardonable.”

Meanwhile, the sensational tales of the doings of the Borgia family which amused the profligate upper classes, led the populace to believe that demoniacal agencies were at work. On the 14th June, 1499, strange noises were said to have been heard in S. Peter’s and torches carried by no human hands appeared and vanished in all parts of the building; a seeress declared the bearers to be the prince of hell and his myrmidons. On December of the year following, the ghost of the Duke of Gandia was supposed to have appeared in the Castle of S. Angelo, moaning fearfully. When, on the 29th of October, 1497, the powder magazine in the Castle was struck by lightning, the alarm became more intense. The explosion destroyed the upper portion of the fortress, shattered the marble angels and hurled large stones across the water as far as the Church of S. Celso. “The reign of Pope Alexander,” writes the Venetian chronicler Malipiero, “is full of startling and portentous events; his antechamber was struck by lightning, the Tiber overflowed and flooded the city; his son has been horribly murdered, and now the Castle of S. Angelo has been blown up.”

CHAPTER VI.

Savonarola and Alexander VI.

As it became more and more evident that nothing in the way of reform was to be hoped for from Alexander VI, the eyes of many in Italy began to turn towards the eloquent Dominican, who seemed to concentrate in himself all the elements of resistance to the anti-Christian Renaissance and the secularisation of the Church, personified in the Pope, which the country contained.

In Florence, corrupted as it had been by the Medici, and made into a nest of “heathen philosophers, voluptuaries, dilettanti, moneylenders and traders, intriguing politicians and sharp-witted critics Savonarola had, at least for the moment, succeeded in bringing about an amazing moral revolution. There seemed reason to hope that the reform bf Rome might be achieved by the same hand, especially as in his preaching he dwelt so much on the vocation of Florence as “the heart of Italy” to diffuse the renovating lights throughout the whole world. In his sermons he incessantly insisted, with ever-growing vehemence, on the absolute necessity of a complete reformation of Rome, the Pope, and the Court. At that time this sort of plain speaking gave little or no offence there. Alexander was extremely indifferent to strictures of that kind; no doctrine of the Church was assailed, and he had no desire to curtail the orator’s liberty of speech. Had Savonarola confined himself to the subjects proper to his vocation as a preacher and a religious, he would probably never have come into serious collision with the Pontiff; but as, on the contrary, his passionate zeal drove him in his discourses to trench more and more on political ground, they soon provided his enemies with a good excuse for calling on the Pope to intervene.

Savonarola’s growing influence threatened to make him the virtual “King of Florence,” and his enemies were both numerous and powerful. Foremost amongst them was Piero de’ Medici with his adherents, and next to them came those who disliked and resented the democratic and theocratic ideals and the stern moral discipline which he wished to introduce into the constitution of the State. This party was known as the Arrabiati, while the followers of the Friar were called Frateschi or Piagnoni (mourners over the corruption of the times). Finally, there were the anti-Gallican Italian States. Florence was the only Italian power which withstood the Pope on this point, and Savonarola was the indefatigable and passionate advocate of the French alliance. The Divine commission, which he persistently claimed for him­self, emphatically included this advocacy. From first to last he believed the frivolous, dissolute King of France to be God’s chosen instrument for the reformation of the Church. He predicted that Charles would be always victorious, and that Florence, if she remained faithful to him, would regain all her lost possessions. In almost every one of his sermons he insisted on the necessity of joining France. He reiterated again and again that “Charles VIII would certainly reform the Church.”

When we call to mind that the King of France had repeatedly threatened the Pope with a so-called Reformation Council,—in other words, a Council to depose him,—it can­not seem strange that Savonarola should gradually come to be regarded with more and more suspicion in Rome; and all the more so as it Was notorious that the one thing that the Pope had most at heart, namely, that Florence should join the League, had no more determined opponent than the Friar. Savonarola felt himself perfectly secure in the favour of the people; all accounts agree in describing his influence as unbounded. “He is invoked as a Saint and revered as a prophet,” writes the Ferrarese Envoy the Florentine chronicler Landucci says that “many were so infatuated with the new prophet that they would have had no hesitation in going to the stake for him”. Encouraged by the enthusiastic support of his followers, the hot-blooded Dominican embarked in. a general war of extermination against his opponents. In one of his sermons, he went so far as to demand, crucifix in hand, that all who attempted to bring the tyrants back to Florence should be punished with death. At last Alexander VI felt it necessary to take some steps; but he proceeded with the greatest moderation. On the 25th of July 1495, a Brief couched in very friendly terms, summoned Savonarola, “in the name of holy obedience,” to come at once to Rome to give an account of the prophecies for which he claimed Divine inspiration. On the 30th the Friar sent his reply; while acknowledging the duty of obedience, especially in a religious, he excused himself from coming, on the ground of the state of his health, and his conviction that his enemies would throw the whole city into confusion if he left Florence at this moment.

Upon this a second Brief was sent in September addressed to the friars of S^ta Croce, who were on bad terms with those of S. Marco. In this Brief, Savonarola was described as “a certain Fra Girolamo” who gave himself out to be a prophet without being able to prove his claim either by miracles or direct evidence from Holy Scripture. The patience of the Pope, it continued, was now exhausted. Savonarola must abstain from preaching of any kind, and the Convent of S. Marco was henceforth to be reunited to the Lombard congregation, to whose Superior the Friar must now render obedience. All recalcitrants were declared, ipso facto, under the ban of the Church.

This command of the Pope marked the turning point in Savonarola’s life. As a priest and Friar he had sworn obedience to the Head of the Church. Alexander’s personal character and the political motives by which he was actuated in no way affected this obligation. In issuing the ordinance contained in the Brief of September 8, the Pope was clearly acting within his canonical rights. Savonarola did not deny this. Writing to a brother of his Order in Rome on 15th September, he says: “I know the root of air these plots, and know them to be the work of evil-minded citizens who would fain re-establish tyranny in Florence... Nevertheless, if there, be no other way of saving my conscience, I am resolved to make submission, so as to avoid even a venial sin.” His answer to Alexander, sent on 29th September, was not quite so clear or decided. In it he lamented that his enemies should have succeeded in deceiving the Holy Father ... “As to my doctrines,” he continued, “I have always been submissive to the Church; as regards prophecy, I have never absolutely declared myself a prophet, although this would be no heresy; but I have undoubtedly foretold various things, of which some have been already fulfilled; and others, that will be verified at some future time. Moreover, it is known to all Italy that the chastisement hath already begun, and how solely, by means of my words, there hath been peace in Florence, the which failing, all would have suffered greater woes.” ... “As to leaving our case to the decision of the Lombard Vicar, this implies making our adversary our judge, since the quarrels between the two congregations are publicly known.” In separating themselves from this congregation they had only passed from a laxer to a stricter rule, which all authorities agree may lawfully be done. “Our reunion with the Lombard Friars at this moment would only deepen the rancour already, unhappily, existing between the two congregations, and give rise to fresh disputes and fresh scandals. Arid finally, inasmuch as your Holiness declares that you desire this union in order to prevent others from lapsing into my errors, and inasmuch as it is now most plain that I have not lapsed into error, the cause being non-existent, neither should its effect remain. Having therefore proved the falsity of all the charges brought against me, I pray your Holiness to vouchsafe a reply to my defence and to grant me absolution. I preach the doctrine of the Holy Fathers ... and am ready if I should be in error ... to avow it publicly, and make amends before the whole people. And now again I repeat that which I have always said, namely, that I submit myself and all my writings to the correction of the Holy Roman Church.”

In his next Brief, despatched on the 16th of October, Alexander displayed admirable moderation and prudence. With “great consideration” it yielded the most important point, that of the reunion of the Convent of S. Marco to the Lombard Province, only insisting that Savonarola should absolutely abstain from preaching. In fact, for the Friar of S. Marco, politics and preaching were almost synonymous. The Brief began with a review of the action of Rome up to the present moment.  In the beginning the Pope had expressed his disapproval of the disturbances in Florence, which had been in a great measure caused by Savonarola’s preaching, because, instead of directing his ser­mons against the vices of the Florentines, he had filled them with predictions of future events, which, he said, had been revealed, to him by the Holy Ghost. Such preaching was full of danger for many souls and could not fail to engender strife. Therefore, after mature deliberation, he had decided to summon Savonarola to Rome, there to give an account of his doings. Now, however, to his great joy, he gathered from the letter which he had lately received, and from what he had been told by others, that the Friar was ready, as a good Christian, to submit to the Church; in, all things. Hence, he would willingly believe that Savonarola had erred rather through excess of zeal than with any evil intent. The matter, however, was too important to be passed over lightly, and therefore he determined to write to him again, commanding him in the name of holy obedience to abstain from all preaching, either in public or privately, until he was able, conveniently and safely, to appear himself in Rome, or until a commission had been sent to Florence. If he obeyed this command, the former Briefs would be rescinded.

Meanwhile, on the 11th of October, Savonarola, seeing Florence in imminent danger from Piero de’ Medici, had thrown all other considerations to the winds and re­ascended the pulpit, in order to rouse his fellow-citizens to a strenuous resistance. Again, he called for the death of all who attempted to bring back the Medici. “They must be treated,” he cried, “as the Romans treated those who wished to bring Tarquinius back. You would rather let Christ be struck than strike a fellow citizen. Let justice take its course. Off with the head of the traitor, were he even the chief of the first family in the city. Off, I say, with his head”. Similar expressions recurs in the sermons of 16th and 26th October. For some hitherto unexplained cause, the Bull of 16th October did not arrive till after this latter date. Savonarola had by this time succeeded in baffling Piero de' Medici’s attempt; but he must have been forced to own to himself that he had violated his pledge of the 16th September, and acted.in direct opposition to his Superiors, from whom alone his mission as a preacher was derived. The Brief must have caused him the greatest embarrassment. One fact, which is certainly not to his credit, shews that, in his excitement, he did not at all expect such lenient treatment. Through the Florentine Envoy of the Duke of Ferrara, he had secretly entered into relations with that Prince, and asked for his assistance in case the Pope should not accept his excuse and proceed further against him. Now that Alexander had shown himself so placable and ready to make concessions, and since also the chief object of his sermons, the frustration of Piero de’ Medici’s enterprise, had been achieved, to abstain from preaching during Advent entailed no very great sacrifice on Savonarola. And in addition to this, his party were gaining more and more the upper hand in the city. A loyal and lasting submission was never contemplated by him; on the contrary, he brought every influence that he could control to bear upon the Pope to induce him to withdraw the prohibition. The Government of Florence interested itself strongly in this direction, and addressed itself especially to Cardinal Caraffa, the Protector of the Dominicans in Rome. Florentine reports from Rome went so far as to assert that the Cardinal had, in a conversation with Alexander, persuaded the latter to permit Savonarola to preach again, provided he confined his sermons to matters of religion. The Friar himself, however, never ventured to maintain that any such permission had been granted. The attitude of the Signoria in Florence also shews clearly that nothing was even said by the Pope that could be so construed; of course, no Brief to that effect was forthcoming. They decided, on 11th February 1496, to command Savonarola, under pain of their indignation, to resume his sermons in the Cathedral. The Friar, who had found so many excuses for evading the commands of his spiritual supe­riors, lost no time in obeying the order of the secular power.

On 17th February Savonarola again ascended the pulpit and preached regularly throughout the whole of Lent. His first sermon shewed that he had already entered on the devious paths which henceforth he was to follow. Like Huss in earlier times, he saw nothing incongruous or unbecoming in making his own subjective convictions the standard of the duty of ecclesiastical obedience. “The Pope,” he said, ‘'cannot command me to do anything which is in contradiction to Christian charity or the Gospel. I am convinced that he never will; but were he to do so, I should reply : “At this moment you are in error and no longer the chief pastor or the voice of the Church”. If there can be no doubt that the command of a superior contradicts the Divine precepts, and especially the law of Christian charity, no one ought to obey it. If, however, the matter is not perfectly evident, so that no doubt is possible, we ought to submit”. He declared that he had earnestly examined all his ways and found them pure; for he had always submitted his teaching to the doctrines of Holy Church. Though convinced that the Briefs sent from Rome were invalid, inasmuch as they were solely inspired by lying reports, he had yet resolved to be prudent. Thus he had so far kept silence, but when he saw many of the good growing lukewarm, and the wicked more and more bold, he felt himself constrained to return to his post. “First of all, however, I sought the Lord, saying: I was rejoicing in my peace and tranquillity, and Thou drewest me forth by showing me Thy light.... I would fain repose, but find no resting-place—would fain remain still and silent, but may not, for the word of God is as a fire in my heart, and unless I give it vent, it will consume the marrow of my bones. Come then, O Lord, since Thou would’st have me steer through these deep waters, let Thy will be done.”  He seemed to have already forgotten that it was the secular power which had commanded him to preach, and launched him forth again on these “deep waters.”

Savonarola’s second sermon was directed mainly against the vices of Rome. He began with a curious application of the passage in Amos, IV, I. “Hear this word, ye fat kine, that are in the mountains of Samaria”. “For me,” he said, “these fat kine signify the harlots of Italy and Rome ... Are there none in Italy and Rome? One thousand, ten thousand, fourteen thousand are few for Rome; for there both men and women are made harlots.” And pursuing this strain, he describes the vices of Rome in terms scarcely to be repeated at the present day. The preacher seemed utterly regardless of the fact that his audience included hundreds of innocent children, for whom a special gallery round the walls of the Church had been provided.

This discourse, on the second Sunday in Lent, was by no means an isolated outburst of passion; the whole course of sermons teemed with these extravagant diatribes against the sins of Rome. Politics were frequently touched upon, but every topic led back in the end to declamation against the Curia. “Flee from Rome,” he cried out, “for Babylon signifies confusion, and Rome hath confused all the Scriptures, confused all vices together, confused everything.” In his last Lenten sermon in 1496, Savonarola emphatically repeated his new theory of what constituted obedience to the Church, which, had it prevailed, must have overthrown all order and discipline. “We are not compelled,” he said, “to obey all commands. When given in consequence of lying report they are invalid; when in evident contradiction with the law of charity, laid down by the Gospel, it is our duty to resist them.”

Even in the face of all this provocation, Alexander VI still maintained an attitude of great moderation and patience. He allowed more than six months to elapse before taking any action, so that Savonarola had ample time for consideration. Meanwhile, however, in Rome, the conviction that further steps must be taken continued to strengthen. On the one hand, from the ecclesiastical point of view, it was impossible permanently to tolerate his open defiance of the Brief forbidding him to preach, the abusive tone of his sermons, and finally, his unauthorised assumption of the office of a prophet. On the political side, his efficacious advocacy of the French alliance in Florence, threatened the Pope with a repetition of the French King’s invasion of Italy, involving possibly his deposition and a schism.

As time went on, the excitement of the contending parties in Florence continued to increase, and Savonarola’s preaching added fresh fuel to the flames. The accounts from Florence declared that he railed at the Pope as worse than a Turk, and the Italian powers as worse than heretics. His fulminations soon found their way abroad; and he often said that he had received letters of sympathy even from Germany. It was reported that the Sultan had caused his sermons to be translated into the Turkish language. There was certainly quite enough in all this to cause Alexander to bestir himself, without needing any further stimulus from the League or from Cardinal Ascanio Sforza. The terrorism exercised by Savonarola and his adherents grew daily more and more intolerable. The prophet declared that no one could be a good Christian who did not believe in him. His most zealous disciple, Fra Domenico da Pescia, went so far as to say that earth and sea and heaven would pass away, the Cherubim and Seraphim, our Lady and even Christ Himself, sooner than any of Savonarola’s teaching.

On the 7th November 1496, the Pope despatched a new Brief with the object of putting an end to these scandals and removing Savonarola, who was the soul of the French party, from Florence, while sparing him as much as possible. The plan of uniting S. Marco with the unfriendly congrega­tion of Lombardy was entirely dropped. Instead of this the Pope proposed to form a new congregation out of the Dominican Convents in the provinces of Rome and Tuscany, with a separate Vicar to be elected in conformity with the statutes of the Order by the several Priors of the monas­teries every two years. For the first two years Cardinal Caraffa, who had always been friendly to Savonarola, was appointed vicar.

This time the prophet’s answer to his Superiors was an unconditional refusal. The reasons which he gave in justification of this were peculiar. In his “Apology for the Congregation of S. Marco,” he says: “The union with the new congregation does not depend on my decision alone, but needs the consent of 250 other monks, who have all written to the Pope protesting against it; and I am neither able nor willing to oppose their wishes on this point, since I hold them to be honest and just.” After explaining the reasons against it, he continues: “This union is therefore impossible, unreasonable, and hurtful; nor can the brethren of S. Marco be bound to agree to it, inasmuch as Superiors may not issue commands contrary to the rules of the Order, nor contrary to the law of charity and the welfare of our souls. We must therefore take it for granted that our Superiors have been misled by false information, and resist meanwhile a command that is contrary to charity. Neither must we allow ourselves to be cowed by threats nor excommunica­tions, but be ready to face death rather than submit to that which would be poison and perdition to our souls.” At the same time, Savonarola preached frequently, descanting much on his prophetical gifts, and still more on politics.

All this, retailed with exaggeration by his enemies in Rome, was naturally extremely irritating to Alexander VI.     Nevertheless, with that practical statecraft which his contemporaries so highly praise in him, the Pope still held back from plunging into a direct conflict with the Friar. He resolved first to try another expedient. In order to detach the Florentines from the French alliance he promised to give them Pisa, and requested them to send an Envoy to negotiate on this subject. Accordingly, on the 4th March, 1497, Alessandro Bracci was despatched for this purpose by the Signoria: to Rome. On the 13th he had an audience from the Pope. Alluding to Lodovico Moro, Alexander said:—“May God forgive him who invited the French into Italy; for all our troubles have arisen from that.” He then endeavoured to persuade the Florentine Ambassador to renounce the alliance with France. “Keep to us,” he exclaimed; “be loyal Italians, and leave the French in France I I must have no more fine words, but some binding security that you will do this.” It was in vain for the Ambassador to point out the reasons which determined the Government to hold still with France; the Pope held to his point, and insisted that Florence must change her policy? He knew very well, he said, that this conduct, so unworthy of an Italian power was prompted by the belief of the Florentines in the predictions of a fanatic. He was deeply wounded at the way in which the Government of Florence permitted this Friar to attack and threaten him and hold him up to scorn.

There was ample justification for these complaints on the part of the Pope, for accusations against Rome again constituted the principal theme of the Lent sermons of the year 1497. The language of the preacher became more and more violent. “Come here, thou ribald Church,” he cried out. “The Lord saith, I gave thee beautiful vestments, but thou hast made idols of them. Thou hast dedicated the sacred vessels to vainglory, the sacraments to simony; thou hast become a shameless harlot in thy lusts; thou art lower than a beast, thou art a monster of abomination. Once, thou felt shame for thy sin, but now thou art shameless. Once, anointed priests called their sons nephews; but now they speak no more of their nephews, but always and everywhere of their sons. Every­where hast thou made a public place, and raised a house of ill-fame. And what doth the harlot? She sitteth on the throne of Solomon and soliciteth all the world; he that hath gold is made welcome, and may do as he will; but he that seeketh to do good is driven forth.... And thou, O prostitute Church, thou hast displayed thy foulness to the whole world, and stinkest up to Heaven.”

Language such as this was calculated to alienate many who had hitherto favoured the Florentine prophet. The General of his Order and Cardinal Caraffa now ceased to defend him; and in Rome his cause was practically lost, while in Florence, also, public opinion was beginning to turn against him. His irreconcilable opponents, the Arrabiati and the Compagnacci (boon companions and lovers of the table), began to get more and more the upper hand. The excitement became so great that at last the Signoria issued a decree forbidding all monks of all Orders to preach after Ascension Day. On this day (4th May) Savonarola once more stood up in the Cathedral pulpit and boldly repeated his former assertion, that all who persecuted him were fighting against God; Italy, and especially Rome, would be terribly chastised, and then would come the reformation of the Church. It was untrue to say that he ought not to have preached that day because his preaching might give rise to disturbances; the Signoria might forbid preaching, but all the same there would be strife to determine whether such tyranny ought to be endured. At this moment a tumult began in the Church which soon spread into the streets. A regular pitched battle between the opponents and adherents of Savonarola seemed imminent. An Envoy in Florence writes: “We have got back to the days of the Guelfs and the Ghibellines”. The authors of these disturbances remained unpunished, and the preacher could not fail to see that his party had lost its ascendency. Under these circumstances he resolved to make an attempt to avert the storm that was gathering against him in Rome. On the 22nd May he wrote a letter to the Pope, beginning with the words, “Why is my lord so wroth with his servant?” He had never, he declared, made any personal accusations in his sermons against any one, least of all against the Vicar of Christ—further, he asserted that he was always ready to submit himself to the judgment of the Church, and preached no other doctrine than that of the Holy Fathers, as would soon be proved to the whole world in his forthcoming work, The Triumph of the Cross.

While Savonarola was penning these words, judgment had been already pronounced against him in Rome. Even his former friend and supporter, Cardinal Caraffa, had now become convinced of the necessity for this step. Savonarola had invented all sorts of flimsy pretexts for evading the examination into his prophetical gifts which Rome was bound to require, and to which it was his clear duty to submit. What would become of the authority of the Holy See if everyone were to follow his example? At the same time, while withholding from his Superiors that submission to which his vows had bound him, he claimed unquestioning obedience to his own commands, as Divine revelations!

On the 12th May 1497, Alexander attached his signature to the Brief of Excommunication. He had delayed his action as long as he could, and given the hot-headed Friar ample time to come to a better mind. Referring to the complaints brought to Rome of Savonarola’s proceedings, the Florentine Envoy expressly says that Alexander had let it be clearly seen that he “was not inclined to make use of all the weapons that he had in his hand.” But Savonarola’s obstinate refusal to carry out the orders of the Holy See, in regard to the union of the Convent of S. Marco with the newly erected Tuscan and Roman congregation, and his persistent disregard of the prohibition against his preaching, displayed an amount of insub­ordination towards the Papal authority that could not be left unchallenged. In addition to this, there were his incessant diatribes against Rome, and the assumption of prophetical authority on which these were founded; and no doubt political motives tended in the same direction, since Alexander was making every effort to detach Florence from France, and Savonarola was in this his strongest antagonist. However, the Friar’s persistent insub­ordination was certainly the main determining factor in the final decision against him. “It was impossible for even an Alexander VI to tolerate a prophet overriding the Hierarchy.”

The Brief of Excommunication runs as follows: “We have heard from many persons worthy of belief, that a certain Fra Girolamo Savonarola, at this present said to be Vicar of S. Marco in Florence, hath disseminated per­nicious doctrines to the scandal and great grief of simple souls. We had already commanded him, by his vows of holy obedience, to suspend his sermons and come to us to seek pardon for his errors; but he refused to obey, and alleged various excuses which we too graciously accepted, hoping to convert him by our clemency. On the contrary, however, he persisted still more in his obstinacy; wherefore, by a second Brief (7th November 1496), we commanded him, under pain of excommunication, to unite the Convent of S. Marco to the Tuscan-Roman Congregation recently created by us. But even then, he still persisted in his stubbornness, thus, ipso facto, incurring the Censure. Wherefore we now command you, on the feast days and in the presence of the people, to declare the said Fra Girolamo excommunicate, and to be held as such by all men, for his disobedience to our apostolic admonitions and commands; and, under pain of the same penalty, all are forbidden to assist him, hold intercourse with him, or abet him either by word or deed, inasmuch as he is an excommunicated person, and suspected of heresy. Given in Rome, 12th May 1497.”

In order to spare the Florentines as much as possible, the Brief was not sent to the Government but to the several convents. It was not solemnly published until the 18th of June. Meanwhile the Florentine Envoys in Rome were working hard to obtain from the Pope the withdrawal, or at least the suspension, of the sentence. Savonarola’s letter of 22nd May had arrived in the interim and produced a softening effect on Alexander, who from the first had been doing his best to avoid extreme measures. It seems most probable that at this juncture, in spite of the intrigues of the enemies of the Friar, it would have been possible to have obtained a suspension of the Brief. Alexander VI was cut to the heart by the murder of the Duke of Gandia, and frightened also, as the assassin could not be discovered. So prudent a statesman could not have desired to aggravate the tension of the situation just then by embarking in a new conflict. The fact that he put Savonarola’s case into the hands of the newly-appointed commission for the reform of the Church, for further consideration, seems to prove that a pacific solution of it was quite within the bounds of possibility.  

At this critical moment it was Savonarola’s own inconsiderate violence which effectually crushed this last chance of a reconciliation. On the 19th of June he wrote in great haste an “Epistle against the surreptitious Excommunica­tion addressed to all Christians and friends of God.” In it he endeavoured to defend himself against his opponents, and repeated his claim to a Divine mission. At the close he says: “This Excommunication is invalid before God and man, inasmuch as it is based on false reasons and accusations devised by our enemies. I have always submitted, and will still submit, to the authority of the Church, nor will ever fail in my obedience; but no one is bound to submit to commands opposed to charity and the law of God, since in such a case our Superiors are no longer the representatives of the Lord. Meanwhile, seek by prayer to make ready for that which may befall you. If this matter is pursued further, we will make the truth known to all the world.” This theory is in direct contradiction to the teach­ing of the Church, which enjoins obedience even to an un­just Interdict, and would obviously destroy all discipline. Savonarola was bound to obey the Holy See, however it might be desecrated by such an occupant as Alexander VI.

The Pope had no choice but to treat this step as a declaration of war. On the 26th June he told the Florentine Envoys that he was determined to proceed against the disobedient Friar, in the manner prescribed by the Church for dealing with rebels and those who contemned her authority. The Florentines still hoped by diplomacy to avert the catastrophe, especially as Alexander declared that, if Florence would give up the French alliance, he would do everything in his power to meet all the wishes of the Republic. The Florentine Envoy was also indefatiga­ble in exerting himself to influence the Cardinals in favour of Savonarola, and not entirely without result, for some members of the commission recommended that the Censure should be suspended for two months, and the Friar induced meanwhile to come to Rome. But these views did not prevail. The commission of Cardinals agreed with the Pope that it was out of the question to comply with the request of the Signoria, unless Savonarola would first consent to yield obedience to the commands of the General of his Order and of the Holy See. People began to say that the Interdicts would be extended to the city itself. Still the Florentine Envoy refused to relinquish all hope, but was forced on the 12th February 1498, to confess, after months of toil, that the case presented extraordinary difficulties.

Meanwhile Savonarola, more than ever convinced of his divine mission, did everything that in him lay to increase these difficulties and to exasperate the Pope and make a reconciliation impossible.

Hitherto, even during the Plague, he had abstained from attempting to exercise any sacerdotal functions; he well knew that to do so while under a formal sentence of Excommunication would be a sacrilege.

At the end of the year 1497 he changed his mind on this point. On Christmas Day he celebrated three masses and gave communion to all his religious and a large number of the laity. Many of his partisans even disapproved of this sacrilegious act. Presently it was announced that he intended to begin again to preach. The excommunication, he explained to the Ferrarese Envoy, was unjust and had no power to bind him; he did not mean to take any notice of it; see what a life Alexander VI was leading; nothing should hinder him from preaching, “his commission came from One who was higher than the Pope, higher than any creature.” The Vicar of the Archbishop of Florence tried to prevent this by issuing a mandate forbidding all from being present at the sermons, and desiring the parish priests to explain to their flocks that the excommunication was perfectly valid, and that any one attending Savonarola’s preaching incurred the same penalty himself, and would be cut off from the Sacraments and from Christian burial. The Signoria, however, made short work of this proclama­tion, threatening the Vicar with the severest penalties if he did not withdraw it at once.

On Septuagesima Sunday, 11th February 1498, Savon­arola again entered the pulpit of S. Marco under the aegis of the secular power and in open defiance of the commands of his spiritual superiors. In burning words he defended his disobedience. “The righteous prince or the good priest,” he declared, “is merely an instrument in the Lord’s hands for the government of the people, but when the higher agency is withdrawn from prince or priest, he is no longer an instrument, but a broken tool. And how, thou would’st say, am I to discern whether or no the higher agency be absent? See if his laws and commands be contrary to that which is the root and principle of all wisdom, namely of godly living and charity; and if contrary, thou may’st be truly assured that he is a broken tool, and that thou art nowise bound to obey him. Now tell me a little, what is the aim of those who, by their lying reports, have procured this sentence of Excommunication? As all know, they sought to sweep away virtuous living and righteous government, and to open the door to every vice. Thus, no sooner was the Excommunication pronounced, than they returned to drunkenness, profligacy, and every other crime. Thus, I will not acknowledge it, for I cannot act against charity. Any one who gives commands opposed to charity is Excommunicated by God. Were such commands pronounced by an angel, even by the Virgin Mary herself and all the saints (which is certainly impossible), anathema sit. If pronounced by any law, or canon, or council, anathema sit. And if any Pope hath ever spoken to a contrary effect from this, let him be declared excom­municate. I say not that such a Pope hath ever existed; but if he hath existed he can have been no instrument of the Lord, but a broken tool. It is feared by some that, though this excommunication be powerless in Heaven, it may have power in the Church. For me it is enough not to be interdicted by Christ. Oh, my Lord, if I should seek to be absolved from this excommunication, let me be sent to hell; I should shrink from seeking absolution as from mortal sin.”

“The Pope may err,” Savonarola asserted in his sermon on 18th February, “and that in two ways, either because he is erroneously informed, or from malice. As to the latter because we leave that to the judgment of God, and believe rather that he has been misinformed. In our own case I can prove that he has been falsely persuaded. Therefore anyone who obstinately upholds the excommunication and affirms that I ought not to preach these doctrines is fighting against the kingdom of Christ, and supporting the kingdom of Satan, and is himself a heretic, and deserves to be excluded from the Christian community.”

These and similar utterances which occur in all his ser­mons were the result of Savonarola’s unfortunate conviction derived from his visions, that he had a mission from God, and his attacks on the Italian, and especially the Roman clergy, became more violent than ever. “The scandals,” he says, “begin in Rome and run through the whole of the clergy; they are worse than Turks and Moors. In Rome you will find that they have, one and all, obtained their benefices by simony. They buy preferments and bestow them on their children or their brothers, who take possession of them by violence and all sorts of sinful means. Their greed is insatiable, they do all things for gold. They only ring their bells for coin and candles; only attend Vespers and Choir and Office when something is to be got by it. They sell their benefices, sell the Sacraments, traffic in masses; in short, money is at the root of everything, and then they are afraid of excommunication. When the evening comes one goes to the gaming table, another to his concubine. When they go to a funeral a banquet is given, and when they ought to be praying in silence for the soul of the departed they are eating and drinking and talking. They are steeped in shameful vices; but in the day-time they go about in fine linen, looking smart and clean. Many are absolutely ignorant of their rule and where to find it, know nothing of penance or the care of souls. There is no faith left, no charity, no virtue. Formerly it used to be said, if not pure, at least demure. Now no one need try to keep up appearances, for it is considered a disgrace to live well. If a priest or a canon leads an orderly life he is mocked and called a hypocrite. No one talks now of his nephew, but simply of his son or his daughter. The ... go openly to S. Peter’s ; every priest has his concubine. All veils are cast aside. The poison is so rank in Rome that it has infected France and Germany and all the world. It has come to such a pass that all are warned against Rome, and people say, ‘If you want to ruin your son make him a priest’.”

But the scene which Savonarola permitted himself to enact on the last day of the Carnival, was even more outrageous than his language. He began by saying mass in S. Marco and giving communion to his monks and a large number of laymen. Then he mounted a pulpit which had been erected before the door of the Church, carrying the Blessed Sacrament in his hand, and, almost beside himself with excitement, blasphemously exclaimed, “Oh Lord, if my deeds be not sincere, if my words be not inspired by Thee, strike me dead this instant.”

“O ye priests,” Savonarola cried out from the pulpit on the 1st March, “you have surpassed the pagans in contradict­ing and persecuting the truth of God and His cause. O my children, it is evident now that they are worse than Turks. Now must we resist the wicked as the martyrs resisted the tyrants. Contend ye evil-doers against this cause like pagans; write to Rome that this Friar and his friends will fight against you as against Turks and unbelievers. It is true that a Brief has come from Rome in which I am called a son of perdition. Write that he whom you thus designate says that he has neither concubines nor children, but preaches the Gospel of Christ. His brethren, and all who follow his teaching, reject all such deplorable things, frequent the Sacraments, and live honestly. Nevertheless, like Christ Himself, we will somewhat give way to wrath, and thus I declare to you, that I will preach no more from this pulpit except at the request of those who desire to lead a good life. I will preach in S. Marco but to men only, not to women: under the present circumstances this is needful”

Nothing could have pleased Savonarola’s enemies better than this aggressive tone. His friends were in the greatest embarrassment. The Florentine Ambassador in Rome knew not what reply to make to the Pope’s complaints of the intemperate sermons of the Friar and the obstinacy of the Florentines in clinging to their prophet and to the French alliance. On the 25th February 1498, Alexander told the Envoys that “even Turks would not endure such insubordi­nation against lawful authority,” and threatened to lay an Interdict on the city. A few days later he attached his signature to a Brief to the Florentines, which ran thus: “On first receiving notice of the pernicious errors diffused by that child of iniquity, Girolamo Savonarola, we required him to abstain entirely from preaching, and to come to Rome to implore our pardon and make recantation; but he refused to obey us; We commanded him, under pain of excommunication, to join the Congregation of S. Marco to the new Tuscan-Roman Congregation, and again he refused to obey, thus incurring, ipso facto, the threatened excommunication. The which sentence of excommunication we caused to be pronounced and proclaimed in your principal churches, likewise declaring that all who heard, or addressed, or held intercourse with the said Girolamo would incur the same penalty. Nevertheless, we now hear that, to the grave hurt of religion and the souls of men, this Friar still continues to preach, despises the authority of the Holy See, and declares the excommunication to be null and void. Wherefore we command you, by your duty of holy obedience, to send the said Fra Girolamo to us, under safe custody; and if he return to repentance, he will be paternally. received by us, inasmuch as we seek the conversion, not the death, of the sinner. Or at least put him apart, as a corrupt member, from the rest of the people, and keep him confined and guarded in such wise that he may have speech of none, nor be able to disseminate fresh scandals. But if ye refuse to obey these commands, we shall be forced to assert the dignity of the Holy See, by subjecting you to an Interdict and also to other and more effectual remedies.”   

This Brief, therefore, does not contain the Interdict itself I but only threatens it. In a second the Canons of the Cathedral are enjoined not to allow Savonarola to preach on any pretext whatsoever. Thus the Pope still abstained from doing anything more than that which was absolutely necessary, and demanded nothing that was not strictly within his rights. According to the ecclesiastical laws of that time Savonarola was unquestionably a delinquent, and being a religious, Alexander had a right to require that he should be handed over to the Holy See for judgment. It is quite true that, from the beginning and throughout, the fact that the Friar was the soul of the French party in Florence was one of the weights in the scale, and not a light one; but it is an exaggeration to assert that I Alexander’s only motive in his proceedings against Savonarola was to induce Florence to join the Italian League against France; at this moment it is clear that in the Pope’s mind the vindication of the authority of the Church was the foremost consideration. “If the monk will prove his obedience,” he said on 27th February to the Florentine Envoy, “by abstaining from preaching for a reasonable time, I will absolve him from the censures which he has brought upon himself; but if he persists in his disobedience, we shall be obliged to proceed against him with the Interdict and all other lawful punishments, to vindicate our own dignity and that of the Holy See.” The Pope again expressed himself in similar terms when, on the 7th of March, the Florentine Envoy presented the reply of his Government to the Brief of 26th February. The reply pointed out that Savonarola had never entered the pulpit in the Cathedral since the arrival of the Brief, defended him warmly on all points, declaring that he had been calumniated, and said that the Government was unable to comply with the Pope’s request. Alexander, however, was well aware that Savonarola continued to preach and abuse him in S. Marco in exactly the same manner as he had done in the Cathedral. “This is a sorry letter,” he said to the Florentine Envoy on the 7th of March, “that your Government has written to me. I am not misinformed, for I have myself read the sermons of this Friar of yours, and conversed with people who have heard them. He despises the censures and has had the insolence to call the Pope a ‘broken too’ and to say that he would sooner go to hell than ask for absolution.” With growing irritation Alexander went on to complain that the Signoria still permitted Savonarola to preach. More than once it had been at their express desire that the Friar had re-entered the pulpit at S. Marco; the Pope demanded that he should be absolutely silenced, otherwise he would lay the city under Interdict. The Envoy strove to mollify the Pope by point­ing out that there was nothing reprehensible in Savonarola’s teaching. Alexander replied that it was not the Friar’s doctrines that he condemned, but his conduct in refusing to ask to be absolved from the excommunication, declaring it to be null and void, and continuing to preach in spite of his express prohibition. Such an example of open defiance of his and the Church’s authority was most dangerous. This declaration was endorsed by a new Brief dated 9th March, again denouncing in the strongest terms Savonarola’s disobedience in preaching and exercising sacerdotal functions, notwithstanding his excommunication, and in disseminating through the press his denial of the validity of the Papal censures, and other subversive doctrines. “Does the Friar think,” it said, “that he alone was excepted when our Lord conferred the power of binding and loosing on our predecessor S. Peter? ... Our duty as Pastor of the flock forbids us to tolerate such conduct any longer. We therefore once more command you either to send Savonarola to Rome, or to shut him up in some convent where he can neither preach nor speak to any one until he comes to himself and renders himself worthy to be absolved. If this is not done we shall lay Florence under Interdict; all that we require is that Savonarola shall acknowledge our supreme authority.”

The numerous letters of the Florentine Ambassador show the extremely embarrassing position in which he was placed by the perfectly legitimate demands of the Pope. From Florence he received nothing but fair words excusing Savonarola, while Alexander VI insisted on deeds. On the 16th of March, in a very outspoken letter, he again ex­plained the true state of things to his government. The Pope, he says, absolutely requires that Savonarola shall be silenced; if not, the Interdict will certainly be pronounced. They may spare themselves the trouble of any more fair words and apologies for the Friar; they make no impression on anyone. On the contrary, everyone laughs at their notion that Savonarola’s Excommunication can be set aside. The power of pronouncing censures is by no means an insignificant part of the authority of the Holy See. They need not fancy that they will be permitted to question it. “I repeat once more,” he adds, “what I have so often written to you, if the Pope is not obeyed, the Interdict will be laid on the city. Consider, moreover, how you yourselves would act if one who owed you obedience not only frankly acted against your commands, but flouted you into the bargain.”

 A few days later the Ambassador announced that the Pope had received further accounts of the abuse showered upon him, the Cardinals, and the whole Roman Court by Savonarola in his sermons. The result of a consultation with several of the Cardinals was that to forbid his preaching was not enough, he must be sent to Rome; otherwise, not only would an Interdict be laid upon Florence, but all Florentines residing in Rome would be arrested and put in prison and their property confiscated.

It was so obviously the fault of the Signoria that matters should have been brought to such a pass as this, that their conduct has been suspected of having been due to the intrigues of Savonarola’s enemies, whose influence was growing from day to day. The Milanese Ambassador in Florence wrote to his Government on the 2nd March, 1498, that the Signoria were endeavouring to irritate the Pope to the utmost, in order to provide themselves with a plausible pretext for taking proceedings against the Friar. It is not necessary to determine whether this view is correct or not, but the fact remains that the behaviour of the Signoria did necessarily greatly embitter Alexander against Savonarola. The Pope complained of the Friar’s disobedience and of his being permitted openly to set his authority at defiance. The Signoria replied that the preacher was doing a great deal of good and was a true reformer, and that therefore they could not comply with Alexander’s commands. When the accounts from Rome became more menacing, they gave way so far as to forbid him from preaching; but allowed his followers, Fra Domenico and Fra Mariano Ughi, to go on declaiming against Rome in their sermons as freely as ever. The Pope complained of this in a conversation with the Florentine Ambassador on the 23rd of March and demanded an answer to his Brief. “I do not require,” he said, “that the friars should be prevented from preaching, but these attacks on the authority of the Church and abusive language against myself must be put a stop to.” Referring to Savonarola, he added: “If he would be obedient for a while and then ask for absolution, I would willingly grant it, and permit him to resume his sermons, but he must cease from abusing the Holy See, the Pope, and the College of Cardinals; for I do not object to his doctrines, but only to his preaching without having received absolution, and to his contempt of myself and of my censures; to tolerate this would be to give away my apostolic authority.” These words are remarkable as clearly proving that at this time the vindication of the Church was the first consideration.

Could the proud Friar at this juncture have made up his mind to humble himself before the Pope and ask for absolution, possibly the storm which was ultimately to overwhelm him might, even at the last moment, have been averted. But nothing could have been further from his thoughts; blinded by his false theory, that a Council is superior to the Pope, he obstinately persisted in pushing matters to an extreme. On the 13th March he addressed an angry letter to Alexander, accusing him of having “made a compact with his enemies, and let loose savage wolves upon an innocent man.” Then, following in the way of all other rebels, he urged that a Council should be held to depose the Pope as “guilty of simony, a heretic, and an unbeliever.” Savonarola’s friends pressed the Florentine Envoy in France and Spain to support this plan; he himself addressed a letter to all the great Christian Princes, to the Kings of France, Spain, England, and Hungary, and the Emperor of Germany, strongly urging them to convoke an anti-Papal Council. “The hour of vengeance has arrived,” he wrote in this document, “God desires me to reveal His secret counsels and to announce to all the world the dangers to which the barque of Peter is exposed in consequence of your slackness. The Church is steeped in shame and crime from head to foot. You, instead of exerting yourselves to deliver her, bow down before the source of all this evil. Therefore, the Lord is angry and has left the Church for so long without a shepherd. I assure you, in verbo Domini, that this Alexander is no Pope at all and should not be accounted such; for besides having attained to the Chair of S. Peter by the shameful sin of simony, and still daily selling Church benefices to the highest bidder; besides his other vices which are known to all the world, I affirm also that he is not a Christian, and does not believe in the existence of God, which is the deepest depth of unbelief.” After this introduction, he required all Christian Princes to unite in convoking a Council as soon as possible in some suitable and neutral place. On his side he not only bound hinjself to substantiate all his charges with irrefragable proofs, but also assured them that God would confirm his words by miraculous tokens.

The agitation in favour of a Council acquired a real force and extension from Alexander’s growing unpopularity. The way in which he had given up the projects of reform which he had announced before the death of the Duke of Gandia, and his unblushing nepotism necessarily aroused bitter feelings against him, both in Italy and abroad. There was fermentation on all sides. The greatest danger seemed to lie in Savonarola’s friendship with the French King Charles VIII who had already, on 7th January 1497, obtained a pronouncement in favour of his plans for calling a Council from the Sorbonne. Alexander had got to know of these intrigues, either through intercepted letters or through some unwary speaker. He now thought that he had good reason to fear that Savonarola’s mysterious threats, such as “Some day I will turn the key,” or “I will cry, Lazarus, come forth,” were more than mere empty words. No doubt he recalled to mind Andrea Zamometic’s attempts to bring about a Council, and especially dreaded combinations between the Friar and Princes or Cardinals who were hostile to him, with the object of getting him deposed by a Council. “From henceforth all his moderation and gentleness vanished.” At the same time the tempest burst upon Savonarola from another quarter.

At the very moment that the Friar was thus attempting to stir up a revolt amongst the Princes of Europe his standing ground in Florence was slipping away from under his feet.

The days in which Savonarola was the guide and ruler of almost the whole of Florence had long gone by. The turning point for him came in the year 1497 with the failure of Piero de’ Medici’s attempt to make himself master of the city, and the execution of five of his adherents. Their relations set themselves as avengers of blood to hunt Savonarola down and the influence of the Arrabiati became so great that from that time his followers had to fight hard to hold their ground. The position of the Frateschi naturally was very much damaged when, on the top of this, the excommunication also came, for it produced a great impression in the city, and many held it to be binding. The disputes on this point and on the guilt or innocence of the Friar grew more and more vehement. The revolutionary character of Savonarola’s attitude it was severely stigmatised by the Franciscans of S Croce. When he was silenced by the Government they redoubled their attacks upon him. The Dominicans were unwearied in defending him; their chief argument was his Divine mission. In his sermons he had repeatedly asserted that supernatural tokens of the righteousness of his cause would not fail to be forthcoming if the natural evidence were insufficient. For a time the moderation of his conduct and the fact that many of his prophecies came true had caused him to be widely believed. Gradually people became more and more sceptical, and he found himself more and more obliged to stand on the defensive against the cavillers who disbelieved in his prophecies. The very palpable disadvantages consequent on the state of tension between Florence and Rome which was the natural result of her championship of an excommunicated religious, and especially the Pope’s refusal to consent to the levying of a tithe on Church property, had a considerable effect in increasing the number of sceptics. The deliberations of the Council in March 1498, on the course to be pursued in their relations with Rome, shew how far matters had gone in this respect. Francesco Valori, Savonarola’s confidential friend, and others, stood up for him, but they were strongly opposed.

His enemies took pains to point out, in addition to higher considerations, the material inconveniences that must attend persistence in the course which Florence had hitherto been pursuing. Giovanni Conacci observed that the Pope’s jurisdiction was universal, and he ought to be allowed to have what rightly belonged to him. Giuliano Gondi reminded the Florentines of their profession of obedience; in refusing to obey the Pope they were breaking a solemn oath. The result of Savonarola’s preaching, denying that Alexander was a true Pope and vilifying his person, would be that a sect would be formed in Florence. It was not worthwhile to make enemies of the Pope and all the Italian powers for the sake of such a man; in the end the Florentines would be declared rebels against the Church, and would be treated as such. Giovanni Brunetti remarked that however good and learned Savonarola might be, he was still not infallible. Guid’ Antonio Vespucci said that, looking at the case on all sides, he thought it would be better to obey the Pope. “You have got an envoy in Rome,” he said, “who is commissioned to request the Pope to restore his consent to the tax on the clergy, without which the city cannot exist. For this end he is charged to do all he can to conciliate the Holy Father; there is no sense in contradicting a man from whom you are seeking to obtain a favour. Whether Savonarola be innocent or guilty is of no moment; the Holy See holds him to be guilty, and unless we satisfy the Pope on this point we shall certainly get nothing from him, and it is much to be feared that the Interdict, with all its disastrous consequences, will come upon us. Stress has been laid on the harm that will be done by silencing the Friar, but since his own Superiors have forbidden him to preach it is not at our doors that the sin will lie. For Rome the matter is far from being so unimportant as some would make it out. Censures are the weapons of the Apostolic See; if it is deprived of these, how can it maintain its dignity and authority? This is perfectly understood in Rome. It is said that we ought to consider God and His honour. I agree; but the Pope is Christ’s Vicar on earth, and derives his authority from God. It is therefore more meritorious to accept his censures, whether they be just or unjust, than to defend the Friar. No doubt if we could be sure that Savonarola was sent by God it would be right to protect him against the Pope; but as we cannot be certain of this, it is more prudent to obey Rome.”

Meanwhile Savonarola unflinchingly maintained the supernatural origin of his prophecies, and asserted that, if necessary, they would be confirmed by a miracle. On the last day of the Carnival of the year 1498, before all the people, holding the Blessed Sacrament in his hand, he prayed, “O God, if my words are not from Thee, I entreat Thee to strike me down this very moment.”  On Quinquagesima Sunday of the same year, in his sermon he cried out, “I entreat each one of you to pray earnestly to God that if my doctrine does not come from Him, He will send down a fire upon me, which shall consume my soul in hell.” In other sermons he had repeatedly told stories to his audience of cases in which the truth was not recognised until manifested by some direct token from God, and offered himself to pass through the fire in order to prove the reality of his mission. After such utterances as these it was not surprising that on 25th March 1498, the Franciscan, Francesco of Apulia, in a sermon in S^ta Croce, should have taken up the challenge, and undertaken to submit to the ordeal by fire with Savonarola. “I fully believe,” Francesco said, “that I shall be burnt, but I am ready to sacrifice myself to free the people from this delusion. If Savonarola is not burnt with me then you may believe him to be a prophet.”

Savonarola meanwhile showed no great inclination to prove his mission by the ordeal, but it was otherwise with his followers. Not only the enthusiastic Fra Domenico da Pescia but also many other Dominicans, and even several laymen and many women, announced their readiness to undergo it. “It is wonderful,” writes a Florentine to his friend on 29th March 1498, “to see how many here are ready to go through the ordeal as joyfully as if they were going to a wedding.”

Savonarola’s enemies recognised at once that the question thus started might, and possibly must, entail the destruction of their hated foe. “If he enters the fire” they said, “he will be burnt; and if he does not, he will forfeit the faith of his adherents, and it will be easy to stir up a riot, during which he may be arrested.” They therefore resolved to do their best to have the trial by ordeal carried out. For this it was necessary to obtain the consent of the Government; and here there was considerable opposition from many who recognised the scandalous nature of the proposal; also Savonarola’s refusal to take up the challenge in person was embarrassing. However, the majority agreed that all possible means must be tried, including the ordeal, if necessary, to heal the divisions in the city. Savonarola’s party were the most eager advocates of the ordeal. Again and again their master had told them that one day his words would be miraculously confirmed and his enemies destroyed, and now it seemed as if the day had come. With fanatical confidence they clamoured for the ordeal; convinced that when the decisive moment arrived, the master would no longer be able to restrain himself, he would plunge into the flames, and then would come the miracle.

The propositions, the truth of which Domenico da Pescia hoped to establish by means of the ordeal by fire, were those which were most contested by Savonarola’s opponents. They were the following: “The Church of God is in need of reform; she will be chastised first and then renovated. Florence also will be chastised and afterwards restored and flourish anew. All unbelievers will be converted to Christ. These things will come to pass in our own time. The Excommunication pronounced against our revered father, Fra Girolamo Savonarola, is invalid and may be disre­garded without sin.”

The attitude of the Government towards the ordeal should have caused Savonarola and his followers to pause; but common-sense had long been thrown to the winds by the Friar’s party, to make way for a blind belief in the som­nambulistic oracles of Fra Silvestro Maruffi. On the 30th of March, the Signoria had decreed, in regard to the ordeal, that the party whose champion succumbed must immedi­ately leave the city; that if either of the combatants refused to enter the fire, he would incur the same penalty; that if both were burnt, the Dominicans would be considered the vanquished party. In a new decree on 6th April there was no longer any mention of a penalty for the Franciscans; it simply announced that if Fra Domenico perished, Savonarola would have to leave Florence within three hours.

When the news of these proceedings reached Rome, Alexander at once expressed his disapprobation. The Florentine Ambassador endeavoured in vain to obtain his sanction for the ordeal. He condemned it in the strongest terms, as did also the Cardinals and the whole Roman Court. The Ambassador insisted that the only way of preventing it would be for the Pope to absolve Savonarola, an obviously impossible alternative.

Meanwhile the 7th of April, the day fixed for the ordeal, had arrived. Savonarola’s misgivings had been dissipated by a vision of angels which had been vouchsafed to Fra Silvestro. On the morning of the appointed day he said mass and delivered a brief address to those who had attended it. “I cannot promise you,” he said, “that the ordeal will take place, for that does not depend upon us; but, if it does, I have no hesitation in assuring you that our side will triumph.” Then he set out for the Piazza accompanied by all his friars singing the Psalm, “Let God arise and let His enemies be scattered,” as they walked in procession. The Franciscans, who had come quietly, were already there. An enormous multitude had assembled and were eagerly awaiting the unwonted spectacle. The Signoria had taken every precaution to secure the preservation of order. Two piles of faggots forty yards long and saturated with oil and pitch were prepared, divided by a space wide enough to allow a man to pass between them. It had already struck twelve when the Dominicans and their adherents, walking in solemn procession (Savonarola carrying the Blessed Sacrament), reached the Piazza. The Franciscans had come earlier, simply and without any demonstration, and now stood in silence on their side of the Loggia, while the Dominicans prayed aloud. All was ready. But now a difference arose between the two parties as to what each of the champions should be allowed to take with him into the flames. Fra Domenico insisted on taking the Crucifix, and this the Franciscans refused to permit. While this question was being discussed, a heavy shower came on, threatening to drive the spectators away, but they were too eager to be easily scared and it ceased in a few minutes as suddenly as it had begun. Fra Domenico persisted in his determination not to lay aside the Crucifix. At last he said that he would be willing to take the Sacred Host instead. Against this not only the Franciscans but the whole body of spectators energetically protested, rightly judging that such a proceeding would be nothing less than an outrage on the Blessed Sacrament. Savonarola and Fra Domenico were of a different opinion; later, Fra Domenico acknowledged that the reason he refused to give way on this point was, that Fra Silvestro’s angel had expressly ordered him to carry the Blessed Sacrament with him into the fire. The only possible explanation of Savonarola’s persistence in this matter was the influence exercised over his mind by this friar. As a priest he must have known that to introduce the Sacred Host in such a manner into a personal experiment was absolutely forbidden by Canon Law. He seemed to have entirely forgotten that in the Church the only purposes for which the body of the Lord can lawfully be used are for the adoration of the faithful, or for their food. He maintained that only the species could be burnt, and that the Host itself would remain untouched, and quoted a number of doctors of the Church in support of his view, which the Franciscans as resolutely contested. Meanwhile it was growing dark and Savonarola’s opponents were becoming more and more violent. The only course now open to the Signoria was to command both parties to withdraw. The mob, disappointed of the spectacle to which they had been so eagerly looking forward, were furious. Their wrath naturally was directed against the Dominican, “whose proposal of carrying the Sacred Host into the fire was looked upon as an insult to the Blessed Sacrament.” The bad impression produced by this was all the stronger because the Franciscan had been ready to enter the fire without any more ado and without expecting any miraculous interposition. The conduct of Savonarola and his party was universally condemned, especially after having so confidently I announced that a miracle would take place in their favour;  “the idea that the whole thing was a fraud gained ground from moment to moment.” If Savonarola was so confident that God would protect him, it was said, why did he shrink from himself undergoing the ordeal? Also, why did he insist on Domenico’s being allowed to carry the Blessed Sacrament with him into the flames? Even those who believed in the prophet said that if the proof of his Divine mission were to be held as really incontestable, he ought to have entered the fire alone. Thus, in a single day, Savona­rola by his own act had dissipated the prophetic halo which had hitherto surrounded him in the eyes of the people. His fate was sealed. “He had himself led the populace to look for, and believe in, such tokens as the ordeal would have been, and whenever the masses find themselves disappointed in their expectations, and think themselves cheated and insulted, their resentment is bitter and ruthless.”

On the following morning, Palm Sunday, Savonarola still further damaged his position by again preaching in S. Marco in direct contradiction to the command of the Signoria. On the same day his banishment was decreed; but this sentence was not carried out. The Compagnacci resolved to take advantage of the anger and disappoint­ment of the populace in order once for all to crush the Frateschi. Before Palm Sunday was over the two parties into which the city was divided had come to blows. The sermon of a Dominican friar who was preaching in the Cathedral was violently interrupted. Francesco Valori, Savonarola’s chief supporter, was murdered, and the Convent of S. Marco was stormed. At first Savonarola thought of defending it, but when the city officials presented themselves and summoned him to appear before the Signoria, he followed them. By torchlight he and Domenico da Pescia were led to the palace through the seething crowd, which hooted and jeered at the prophet as he passed.

The Signoria lost no time in acquainting the Pope and the various Italian powers with what had taken place. The Florentine Ambassador in Rome was also charged to beg for a general absolution from all Church penalties that might have been incurred by having allowed the Friar to go on preaching for so long, or by proceedings against ecclesiastical persons. In addition they asked for powers to try the religious who had been arrested, and also again approached the question of the tax on the clergy. Alexander VI expressed his satisfaction that the scandal caused by the excommunicated Friar was at last put an end to; he willingly granted the absolution, but desired that the prisoners should be sent to Rome. Although this request was afterwards repeated with considerable urgency, no attention was paid to it in Florence. To send the delinquents to Rome was held not consistent with the dignity of the Republic; the sentence ought to be carried out where the crime had been committed. It was finally decided that two Papal Delegates were to assist in the trial, and on May 19th the General of the Dominicans, Gioacchino Turiano, and Francesco Romolino, Bishop of Ilerda, came to Florence in this capacity. But long before they arrived the trial had begun, and it was evident that Savonarola’s opponents were now complete masters of the city and were prepared to employ any amount of torture and falsification of evidence to ensure his destruction.

It is plain that Savonarola’s statements, forced from him by torture and further distorted by interpolated sentences and omissions, cannot be accepted as proofs of anything. Thus the justice of his sentence can never be either proved or disproved; but the excitement of Florence was so great that the Government believed that it was absolutely necessary to put a stop to the Friar’s proceedings. No doubt Alexander VI. was urgent in his demands that the rebel who had intended to call in the help of the secular powers to achieve his dethronement should be punished. Nevertheless, the responsibility for the severity with which he was treated must rest on the rulers of Florence. It has been truly said, in excuse for this, that the Republic was at that time in such a critical position, both externally and internally, that the Government were convinced that this was a case for the application of the old Roman maxim, “the good of the State before everything else,” and that they were bound to adopt any measures, however extreme, that seemed expedient for its defence.

What was given out as Savonarola’s “Confessions” was of a nature to shake the faith even of his most trustful disciples in his Divine mission and his prophetic character, and the mass of his disciples began rapidly to fall away. “On the 29th April 1498,” writes the loyal Luca Landucci in his Diary, “I was present at the reading of the depositions at the trial of Savonarola, whom we had all believed to be a prophet. He confessed that he was no such thing and that his prophecies were not from God. When I heard this I was filled with amazement and confusion. My soul was pierced with anguish when I perceived that the whole of the edifice which my faith had reared was founded on lies and was crumbling away. I had thought that Florence was to be a new Jerusalem, out of which would proceed the law of holy life, the reformation of the Church, the conversion of unbelievers, and the consolation of the good. Now all this has vanished. My only comfort is in the word: “By your will, Lord, all things have flourished”. The majority even of the friars of San Marco now abandoned their master. On the 21st of April they sent a letter of apology to Alexander. “Not merely ourselves,” they said, “but likewise men of far greater talent, were deceived by Fra Girolamo’s cunning. The plausibility of his doctrines, the rectitude of his life, the holiness of his manners; his pretended devotion, and the good results he obtained by purging the city of immorality, usury, and every species of vice; the different events which confirmed his prophecies in a manner beyond all human power and imagination, were such that had he not made retractation himself, declaring that his words were not inspired by God, we should never have been able to renounce our faith in him. For so firm was our belief in him that we were all most ready to go through the fire in support of his doctrines.”

As everyone had foreseen, the trial resulted in the sentence of death being pronounced upon Savonarola, Fra Domenico, and Fra Silvestro, “for the monstrous crimes of which they had been convicted.” On the following day the sentence, death by hanging, was executed.

All three met their fate courageously and calmly. Before being delivered over to the secular arm, they were degraded from their priestly dignity as “heretics, schismatics, and contemners of the Holy See.” One of the spectators is said to have called out to Savonarola, “Now is your time, Prophet, let us have the miracle.” When life was extinct the bodies were taken down and burnt; a gust of wind for a moment blew the flames aside, and many cried, “A miracle, a miracle”; but in another moment the corpses were again enveloped. The ashes were thrown into the Arno so as to leave no relics of the prophet for his disciples to venerate.

Such was the end of this highly gifted and morally blameless, but fanatical, man. His greatest faults were his interference in politics and his insubordination towards the Holy See. His intentions, at least in the earlier years of his active life, were pure and noble; later, his passionate nature and fanatical imagination carried him far away and led him to overstep the bounds of what was permissible in a religious and a priest. He became the head of a political party and a fanatic, openly demanding the death of all enemies of the Republic; this could not fail in the end to bring about his destruction.

In theory Savonarola remained always true to the dogmas of the Catholic Church; but in his denial of the penal authority of the Holy See, and in his plans for calling a Council, which, if they had succeeded, must inevitably have produced a schism, his tendencies were practically uncatholic.

It may justly be urged in Savonarola’s defence that in Florence and in Rome, and indeed throughout Italy, a deplorable corruption of morals prevailed, and that the secularisation of the Papacy in Alexander VI had reached its climax; but in his burning zeal for the reformation of morals he allowed himself to be carried away into violent attacks on men of all classes, including his superiors, and he completely forgot that, according to the teaching of the Church, an evil life cannot deprive the Pope or any other ecclesiastical authority of his lawful jurisdiction. He certainly was quite sincere in his belief that he was a prophet and had a Divine mission, but it soon became evident that the spirit by which he was led was not from above, for the primary proof of a Divine mission is humble submission to the authority which God Himself has ordained. In this, Savonarola was wholly wanting. “He thought too much of himself and rose up against a power which no one can attack without injuring himself. No good can come of disobedience; that was not the way to become the apostle of either Florence or Rome.”

CHAPTER VII.

Cesar Borgia resigns the Cardinalate, and becomes Duke of Valentinois.—Change in the Papal Policy.—Alliance between Alexander VI and Louis XII.

ONLY a few weeks before Savonarola’s execution the Prince on whom the visionary Dominican had hung such strangely baseless hopes for the reformation of the Church and the salvation of Italy, had passed away. Charles VIII died suddenly in the prime of life on the 7th April 1498. He was succeeded by Louis XII. The new ruler showed at once what Italy had to expect from him by assuming not only the title of King of Jerusalem and the two Sicilies, but also, as descendant of one of the Visconti, that of Duke of Milan.

These pretensions were hailed with satisfaction in Flor­ence, and still more so in Venice, the Republic having fallen out with Milan about Pisa. Louis lost no time in securing the services of the turbulent Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, and Venice, in the same breath with her congratulations on his accession, proposed an alliance.  The French King had announced his accession to the Pope in remarkably friendly terms. Alexander hastened, on the 14th of June, to respond to these advances by sending persons of unusual distinction, the Archbishop John of Ragusa, the protonotary Adrian of Corneto, and Raimondo Centelles, as Envoys to France. They were charged, first of all, to congratulate the new King on his accession, and to call his attention to the war against the Turks; in the next place, they were to say that the Pope would investigate certain claims made by Louis in regard to the Neapolitan question; and to warn him against making any attack upon Milan. They were to ask him to endeavour to obtain the restitution of Pisa and Florence. Finally, they were to require him to give up the alliance with the Orsini and Colonna, and to abstain from taking the banished ex-Prefect of Rome, Giovanni della Rovere, under his protection. On the 14th of June the Envoys were again desired to impress upon the King that nothing must be done against Milan.

About the same time an Envoy from Louis XII appeared in Rome, asking for the dissolution of his marriage with his consort Jeanne, to which he had been con­strained in earlier days by Louis XI. The King swore that he had never consummated the marriage. The Pope, on the 29th July 1498, appointed a judicial commission to examine into the case, and in December they decided in favour of the dissolution. On the 13th of September Alexander had already granted a dispensation to Louis to contract a fresh marriage with Anne of Brittany, the widow of his predecessor, stipulating at the same time that something was to be done for his beloved Caesar. The advances made to France, formerly so energetically repelled, though only begun in June, soon developed into a firm friendship. Many causes, besides those already mentioned, conduced to this result, and especially the conduct of Naples.

Ever since the Autumn of 1497 Caesar Borgia, who was only in minor orders, had been seeking to return to the secular state, to obtain a principality, and to marry a Princess. The Pope at first seems to have been averse to these projects; but Caesar had little difficulty in overcoming this feeling, and Alexander’s ambition began forthwith to busy itself with a plan for obtaining the throne of Naples for the house of Borgia by means of an Aragonese alliance. Caesar was to marry Carlotta, the daughter of the Neapolitan King, and receive the principality of Tarento. Then Mantuan Envoy states expressly that this was the Pope’s real object in bringing about the marriage between Lucrezia and Alfonso, the natural son of Alfonso II, and now Prince of Bisceglia and Quadrata. On the 15th July Alfonso came incognito to Rome, and was cordially received by Alexander and Caesar.  On the 21st the marriage itself took place very quietly, but was celebrated on the following days with great festivities, in which Alexander took part with boyish gaiety. On this occasion a sharp encounter took place between Caesar’s retainers and those of the Duchess, not a good omen for the future. Alfonso’s good looks are much vaunted by one of the chroniclers, and this marriage of Lucrezia’s was a happy one. On the other hand, Caesar’s alliance with Carlotta, who had been brought up at the French Court, fell through. She herself refused, and her father was even more opposed to it than she was. On the 24th of July, writing to Gonsalvo de Cordova, he said that the Pope was insatiable, and that he would rather lose both his kingdom and his life than consent to this marriage. In this remarkable letter the King confesses the extreme weakness of his Government. The Pope was perfectly aware of all this, and the knowledge made him still more desirous of entering into closer relations with the growing power of France. Yet another motive was added by the conflict between the Orsini and Colonna, which had broken out afresh. The Orsini, in spite of their union with the Conti, were completely defeated at Palombara on 12th April, 1498. The Pope’s efforts to bring about even a truce between the contending parties were unsuccessful. It seemed as if both sides were bent on continuing the contest until one or other was destroyed, when suddenly, on 8th July, they came to an agreement to place the decision in regard to Tagliacozzo and Alba in the hands of King Frederick of Naples. This mysterious reconciliation meant a combination against the Pope. In his own palace, one day, a set of verses were put up, urging the Colonna and Orsini to come forward bravely to the rescue of their afflicted country; to slay the bull (a play upon the Borgia arms) which was devastating Ausonia; to fling his calves into the raging Tiber, and himself into hell.

Alexander VI and Caesar meanwhile had succeeded in obtaining what they wanted, and on the 17th of August Caesar resigned his Red-hat with the consent of all the Cardinals. Sigismondo de’ Conti calls this a new and unheard of proceeding; but at the same time dwells on the fact that Caesar was naturally a warrior, and unsuited for the priesthood. Sanuto, in his Diary, is much more severe in his judgment. He says: “When Cardinal Ardicino della Porta wished to resign the Cardinalate in order to become a monk, many in the Consistory were against it, while all gave their consent to Caesar’s plan; but now in God’s Church everything is topsy-turvy.” The disposal of Caesar’s benefices, which were worth 32,000 ducats, was left with the Pope, who later gave the Archbishopric of Valencia to Cardinal Juan Borgia.

On this same 17th August the French King’s Envoy, Louis de Villeneuve, arrived in Rome in order to accompany Caesar to France. The preparations for the journey took so long that they did not start until the 1st of October.ll A few days earlier Alexander addressed an autograph letter to Louis XII, in which he commended Caesar to him as one who was more dear to him than anything else on earth. In this Brief Caesar is called Duke of Valentinois; thus this principality must have been already bestowed upon him, although the formal investiture did not take place till later. It is a curious coincidence that the former Archbishop of Valencia should have become Duke of Valentinois, so that he still retained the appellation Valentinus, which could stand for either.

The new Duke set forth on his journey in royal state; 100,000 ducats were said to have been spent on his outfit. He was clad in silk and velvet and bedizened with gold and jewels. The equipment of his suite corresponded with his own. The trappings of his horses were mounted in silver, and their saddle-cloths were embroidered with costly pearls. French galleys were waiting for him at Cività Vecchia. On the 3rd of October he embarked for Marseilles, where on the 19th he was received with royal honours. In Avignon, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere, who was now completely reconciled with the Pope, and in August had been reinstated in Ostia, also gave him a splendid reception. Slowly, and with great pomp, the proud Duke pursued his journey through Lyons to the Royal camp, which was then at Chinon. On the 19th of December (according to other accounts, the 20th) he made his entry there with a splendour hitherto unknown in France. He brought to the King the Bull of dispensation for his marriage, and a Red-hat to the Archbishop of Rouen, George d’Amboise. At this time Louis spoke openly of his designs on Milan, in which he expected the Pope’s support.

The closer relations with France caused a breach between the Pope and Ascanio Sforza and Lodovico Moro. As early as September 1498, we find this mentioned in the Envoy’s reports. The Colonna and Frederick of Naples were on the side of Ascanio Sforza. Their attitude was so menacing that on All Saints’ Day the Pope appeared in the Church with a strong guard; and later this occurred again several times.

Even when the Portuguese Envoys, on 27th November, came for their audience, they found a large guard in the antechamber. If, as many thought, this was intended to overawe the Envoys, it quite failed in its effect. On the contrary, they remonstrated in unsparing terms with Alexander on his nepotism, his simony, and his French policy, which, they said, endangered the peace of Italy, and, indeed, of the whole of Christendom. If the Pope persevered in this they openly threatened a Council. “The demeanour of the Portuguese Envoys,” Ascanio Sforza wrote on 3rd December, “is all the more unpleasant to the Pope in that he believes their Spanish Majesties to be at the bottom of it, and that the Spanish Envoys, who are daily expected, will say the same things, or worse. He thinks the King of the Romans also has a hand in it, as he has made similar representations.” Under these circumstances Alexander VI awaited with keen anxiety the announcement from France, which, he hoped, would bring the assurance of the French alliance.

In the Consistory, in December, the Pope and Ascanio Sforza came to a sharp passage of words. The testy Cardinal declared that Alexander, in sending Caesar to France, was bringing ruin on Italy. “Are you aware, Monsignore,” replied Alexander, “that it was your brother who invited the French into Italy?” The Venetian Envoy, who reports this incident, adds that Ascanio intended, with the help of Maximilian I and King Ferdinand of Spain, to get a Council summoned to dethrone Alexander. We can understand with what misgivings the advent of the Spanish Envoys was awaited.

They arrived on the 19th December. On the same day Cardinal Borgia started for Viterbo, in order to quell the disturbances which had broken out there. Three days later they appeared before the Pope with that display of anxious concern for the welfare of the Church which Ferdinand’s successors were so apt at employing, while, in fact, their aims were entirely political. Ferdinand of Spain dreaded, above all things, an alliance between Rome and Louis XII, which would give to France the pre­dominance in Italy, and frustrate all his designs in regard to Naples. Consequently, he had charged his Envoys to threaten Alexander with a Council and reform. They began by telling the Pope to his face that the means by which he had obtained the Pontificate were notorious. Alex­ander interrupted them with the remark that, having been unanimously elected Pope, his title was a far better one than that of their Spanish Majesties, who had taken possession of their throne in defiance of all law and conscience. They were mere usurpers, and had no right whatever to their kingdom. The rest of the audience corresponded with this beginning. The Envoys reproached Alexander with his simony and his nepotism, and threatened a Council. The Pope justified himself, and accused the Spanish Ambassador, Garcilasso de la Vega, of concocting false reports. When the Envoys spoke of the death of the Duke of Gandia as a Divine chastisement, he angrily replied that the Spanish monarchs were more severely punished than he was, for they were without direct successors, and this was doubtless on account of their encroachments on the rights of the Church.

Louis XII endeavoured to tranquillise the Pope by informing him that he had an agreement with Ferdinand, and consequently there was nothing to fear from him. Meanwhile, Alexander became more and more disturbed, as he found the Portuguese and Spanish Envoys making common cause and combining to threaten him with a Council. In January 1499, the Ambassadors of Portugal and Spain presented themselves together before the Pope. In presence of Cardinals Costa, Ascanio, Carvajal, de S. Giorgio, and Lopez, one of the Envoys told the Pope to his face, that he was not the lawful Head of the Church. Alexander in his anger threatened to have him thrown into the Tiber, and retorted by attacking the conduct of the Queen of Spain, and complaining of the interference of both King and Queen in matters concerning the Church. The Venetian Ambassador thought he perceived that the Pope, in his alarm, was beginning to repent of his alliance with France and to wish to be friends again with Ascanio. To add to his annoyance, news came from France that, in spite of all Giuliano della Rovere’s persuasions, the daughter of the King of Naples persisted in her refusal to marry Caesar. Alexander laid the blame of this on Louis XII. In a letter of 4th February 1499, to Giuliano della Rovere, he complained of the King’s faithlessness, which had made him the laughing-stock of the world; as everyone knew that, but for this marriage, Caesar would never have gone to France. On the 13th of February he spoke in a similar strain to Ascanio, and begged him to endeavour to persuade the King of Naples to agree to the marriage. Ascanio, however, replied that this was impossible. The Cardinal thought that the Pope was very much afraid of Spain and thoroughly mistrustful of France. Just at this time Louis XII concluded his treaty with Venice for the partition of Milan, leaving it open to the Pope to join in the League if he pleased. At this juncture it seemed extremely unlikely that this would take place. If Caesar had not been in France, the Venetian Envoy, in a report of 12th March, says he believes that Alexander would have allied himself with Milan. Perhaps that was too much, but it is certain that at that time Alexander was extremely dissatisfied with France, and was still in the same mood when Louis XII offered the hand of the charming Charlotte d’Albret to Caesar.

Alexander’s position was an extremely critical one. In Rome, the probability that Germany and Spain would renounce their obedience was freely discussed. There can be no doubt that in both these countries there was a strong party hostile to Rome. This explains why Christopher Columbus, when on 26th February 1498, he settled his estate upon his son Diego, commanded him to employ his wealth in the support of a crusade, “or in assisting the Pope if a schism in the Church should threaten to deprive him of his seat or of his temporal possessions.” The danger from Spain was pressing. In order to remove at least one of that country’s grounds of complaint, Alex­ander resolved, on the 20th of March 1499, to take Benevento away from the heirs of the Duke of Gandia and restore it to the Church. In May, Alexander promised to send his children away from Rome and to carry some reforms into effect; he granted powers for the adjustment of ecclesiastical affairs in Spain, and made large concessions to the King and Queen in regard to their control. In con­sequence, his relations with Spain became more friendly. Alexander had nearly given up all hope of the realisation of Caesar’s marriage with the French Princess, when an autograph letter from Louis arrived announcing that it had taken place. On the 24th of May Cardinal Sanseverino read the letter in the Consistory. This event created a complete revolution in the Pope’s dispositions; he now openly embraced the French side and that of Venice, and announced that the Milanese dynasty must be done away with. Cardinal Ascanio Sforza saw that Rome was no longer the place for him; on the 14th of July he quitted the city, taking all he had with him. In the first instance he went to the Colonna at Narni, and thence sailed in a Neapolitan ship to Genoa, whence he fled to Milan. Thither he was afterwards followed by the Cardinals Colonna and Sanseverino, and Alfonso, Lucrezia’s husband. Lucrezia was, on the 8th of August, made Regent of Spoleto, and went there at once, accompanied by her brother Jofre.

Alexander’s children had all now been removed from Rome; but this had no effect on his nepotism. Nepi was soon bestowed upon Lucrezia, and the governor left there by Ascanio Sforza had to hand it over; meanwhile, the plans for Caesar’s advancement were maturing.

CHAPTER VIII.

The French in Milan. Caesar Borgia conquers Imola and Forli.  Restoration of Lodovico Moro. Louis XII conquers Milan a Second Time. Anarchy in Rome. Murder of the Duke of Bisceglia.  Frivolity and Nepotism of Alexander VI. Partition of the Kingdom of Naples between France and Spain.

By the month of July of the year 1499, a French army had already crossed the Alps, and fortress after fortress went down before the “rush of the Swiss and the French.” Venice would have chimed in from the eastern side had not her hands just then been overfull with the war against the Turks. Lodovico Moro had hoped that the German Emperor and Frederick of Naples would have come to his aid, but Maximilian was fully occupied in fight­ing the Swiss. Frederick was to have declared war against the Pope; but when Alessandria fell into the hands of the French, he gave up all thoughts of this. Thus Lodovico was left to face the French entirely alone. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, on the evening of 1st September he fled to the Tyrol, to put himself under Maximilian’s protection. Cardinals Ascanio Sforza and Sanseverino followed him. The moment he was gone the Milanese opened their gates to the French; on the 6th September Trivulzio entered the city, and the fort surrendered almost immediately. A few days later Cremona submitted to the Venetians. Upon this Louis, XII hastened to Italy to enjoy his triumph. On the 6th October he entered Milan, and was greeted with acclamations by the populace. The King was accompanied by the Marquesses of Mantua, Montferrat, and Saluzzo, the Dukes of Ferrara and Savoy. Caesar Borgia, the Cardinals d’Amboise and Giuliano della Rovere, as well as the Envoys from Genoa, Florence, Siena, Lucca, and Pisa.

Alexander VI, now that the alliance with Louis XII was turning out so favourably for his beloved Caesar, hailed the success of the French arms with unconcealed delight, quite regardless of the scandal he was causing throughout the whole of Europe. On the 24th of August, 1499, two Portuguese Envoys arrived in_: Rome and at once asked for an audience. On the part of their Government, they animadverted strongly on the Pope’s nepotism, on Caesar’s resignation of the Cardinalate, and on the French alliance, which was fatal to the peace of Europe. If he persisted in these paths, the result would be the calling of a Council. Alexander was annoyed and troubled at these new threats, but did not make any change in his proceedings. On the 25th September he went to Lucrezia at Nepi. Here it was arranged that Caesar was to conquer the Romagna. The King of France manifested his gratitude by placing a portion of his army at the Duke’s disposal. “It was not difficult to make the expedition appear as though undertaken for the interests of the Church, though in reality the interests of the family were the first consideration. The relations between the rulers of the cities of the Romagna and their feudal Lord were so variable, and often so unsatisfactory, as easily to afford a handle for proceeding against them to any Pope who wished to do so. Alexander resolved to make use of this opportunity to strike a crushing blow. Bulls were issued declaring the Lords of Rimini, Pesaro, Imola, Faenza, Forli, Urbino, and Camerino to have forfeited their fiefs by the non-payment of their dues. Louis XII arranged that proceedings should only be taken against those who belonged to the party of the Sforza, and this plan had also the advantage of satisfying the susceptibilities of the Venetians.

In the middle of November Caesar began the campaign by attacking Caterina Sforza and the sons of Girolamo Riario. Imola opened her gates of her own accord, and the fort fell in the early part of December. In Forli, also, the inhabitants offered no resistance, but the citadel here was far stronger and was bravely defended by the high-spirited Caterina herself; yet on 12th January 1500, it was forced to capitulate.

When Caesar’s nephew, Cardinal Juan Borgia, heard at Urbino the good news of the fall of Forli, he set out on horseback, although suffering from fever, to offer his personal congratulations, but was prostrated by a fresh attack of the malady before he could get beyond Fossombrone. Later, an utterly groundless story was concocted of Caesar’s having poisoned his nephew.

Just as Caesar was preparing to proceed against Cesena and Pesaro, an event occurred which deprived him of his French troops and brought the whole campaign to a stand­still. The Milanese rose against the extortions of the French, while Lodovico Moro appeared in Como at the head of a body of Swiss and German troops; and on the 5th of February 1500, re-entered the city in triumph. The French lost the whole of Lombardy as quickly as they had won it. Without the help of the French troops, which had now been sent against Lodovico Moro, it was impossible to go on with the conquest of the Romagna, the more so as Venice had grown jealous and now strongly supported the Lords, of Faenza and Rimini. Caesar, therefore, returned to Rome and made his triumphal entry into the city on the 26th February, clothed in black velvet and with a gold chain round his neck; all the Cardinals and Envoys came to meet him. Alexander VI was beside himself with joy; he wept and laughed in the same breath. Amongst the Carnival-plays the triumph of Julius Caesar was represented in the Piazza Navona. On Laetare Sunday (29th March), the Duke received from the hands of the Pope the insignia of a standard-bearer of the Church and the Golden Rose. The power of the Duke of Valentinois was now almost unlimited. Even on the 23rd of January a report from Rome announced that, at the approaching nomination of Cardinals, Caesars influence would be decisive: he was the person to apply to. No Castellans were appointed to any of the strong places within the Papal States but such as were devoted to him; the governorship of the Castle of St. Angelo was given to one of his retainers.

Meanwhile the state of affairs in Lombardy had again completely changed. Louis XII had lost no time in sending a fresh army across the Alps, and the battle at Novara proved a decisive victory for France. The Swiss refused to fight against their kinsmen in the French army, and abandoned Lodovico, who was taken prisoner (10th April, 1500). Louis XII shut him up in the fortress of Loches in Touraine; Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, who fell into the hands of the Venetians, was delivered over to the French, and imprisoned in Bourges; thus reaping the reward of his unprincipled conduct at Alexander’s election.

On the evening of the 14th of April 1500, the news of Lodovico’s catastrophe reached Rome; the Pope is said to have given 100 ducats to the messenger who brought it the Orsini lighted bonfires everywhere, and Rome re­sounded with cries of “France and the Bear” ( Orsini). This occurred in the midst of the Jubilee festivities, which had filled the city with pilgrims from foreign parts. “The events of the year and the state of Rome were anything but suitable however to a religious celebration. In spite of the precautions taken by Alexander, even in the previous year, the insecurity of both life and property in the city was frightful; murders occurred nearly every day. The severest punishments effected no improvement in its condition, which indeed was not worse than that of most of the other Italian cities; but the events which took place in the Borgia family attracted more attention than any of these deeds of violence.

Next to Caesar, Lucrezia at that time again stood highest in the Pope’s favour. In the Spring of the year 1501 Sermoneta, which had just been snatched away from the Gaetani, was added to Spoleto and Nepi, which had already been bestowed upon her. As she was on excellent terms with her present husband, there seemed nothing now to mar her happiness. It was, however, not destined to last long: on the evening of the 15th of July, as Alfonso was returning from the Vatican he was set upon by five assassins in the Piazza di San Pietro. Though badly wounded he succeeded in making his escape. He was so much afraid of poison that he refused all medical help, and sent word to the King of Naples that his life was in danger, as his own physician had endeavoured to destroy him by this means. A report was immediately circulated that the attempt originated from the same quarter as the murder of the Duke of Gandia. All the probabilities of the case point to the Orsini, who believed that Alfonso was intriguing against them with the Colonna, who were allied with the King of Naples. It is most unlikely that Caesar had anything to do with it. Nevertheless, Alfonso was convinced that his brother-in-law was the author of this foul deed, and the moment he felt himself recovering he was bent on re­venging himself. Lucrezia and Sancia strove to make peace, and the Pope posted a guard at the door of the sick­room, but all was in vain. In a despatch of 18th August, which was forwarded at once, Paolo Capello, the Venetian Ambassador, writes that on that day Alfonso, looking out of the window, saw Caesar walking in the garden. In a moment he had seized a bow, and discharged an arrow at his detested enemy. Caesar retaliated by having Alfonso cut to pieces by his own bodyguard. Lucrezia, who had been herself nursing her husband with the tenderest care, was inconsolable. Overwhelmed with grief she went back to Nepi to hide herself in its solitude. Some of Alfonso’s Neapolitan servants were arrested on a charge of having planned an attempt on Caesar’s life, but nothing of any importance was extracted from them. When the Neapolitan Envoy heard what had happened he at once took refuge in the palace of the Spanish Ambassador. Alexander told the Venetian Envoy, who came to see him on the 23rd August, that Alfonso had tried to kill Caesar. Beyond this nothing on the subject was allowed to transpire; a few conjectures were whispered about, but no one dared to speak above his breath. Evidently Alexander VI thought it prudent to hush up the whole affair as much as possible; no doubt he too was afraid of Caesar.

Shortly before the murder, Alexander’s own life had been in great danger. In the ninth year of his reign, on the Feast of SS. Peter and Paul, Sigismondo de’ Conti relates, just as the Pope was about to give his audience, the sky being clear, suddenly, with no warning, a tornado of wind sprung up and tore off the very solid roof of the upper part of the Sala de’ Papi as though it had been made of straw. In consequence, that portion of the roof under which the Pope was sitting also gave way, but the balcony over his head, still remaining attached to the wall, protected him from the falling masonry, and the gold embroidered hanging over his throne from the smothering dust. Half an hour elapsed before his servants could make their way through the wind and dust to the place where he lay, bleeding and apparently hardly alive. He was carried into the adjoining hall and there soon recovered consciousness. His physicians found that two fingers of the right hand had been injured, and he had a wound in his head. The first night he was very feverish, but soon began to get better. “If nothing unforeseen occurs,” the Mantuan Envoy writes on the 2nd July, “he will recover.” This Envoy states that on the previous day also Alexander had a narrow escape of being killed by a heavy iron chandelier, which fell just in front of him. Any other man would have been led to look into himself and consider his ways by such a series of narrow escapes; but Alexander was a true Borgia, he thanked God and the Blessed Virgin and SS. Peter and Paul for his preservation, and lived on as before. Writing of Alexander in September 1500, Paolo Capello says: “The Pope is now seventy years of age; he grows younger every day, his cares never last the night through; he is always merry and never does anything that he does not like. The advancement of his children is his only care, nothing else troubles him.”

In Caesar’s eyes this accident was a warning to carry out his plans with as little delay as possible. His campaign against the Tyrants of the Romagna required a considerable sum of money and the acquiescence of Venice, where, since the month of May, a Papal Nuncio, Angelo Leonini, had been permanently residing. He succeeded in obtaining both money from the creation of Cardinals of 2nd September 1500, and the consent of Venice in return for the help against the Turks given them by Alex­ander.

On the morning of the 1st of October, 1500, Caesar set out from Rome at the head of an army of 10,000 men. He had in his pay some Roman Barons of the houses of Orsini and Savelli, Giampolo Baglione of Perugia, Vitellozzo Vitelli of Città di Castello, and other chiefs, who, frightened at the alliance with France, thought there was less danger in siding with the dreaded foe than in resisting. The Lords of Pesaro and Rimini, Giovanni Sforza and Pandolfo Malatesta, made no attempt to de­fend themselves and sought safety in flight. Faenza was not so easily conquered; its ruler, Astorre Manfredi, was beloved by all his subjects, and was supported by the Florentines and by his maternal grandfather, Giovanni Bentivoglio. The citizens defended themselves with resolution, and when winter came on, the siege had to be raised. When the Spring returned, Caesar again invested the city (7th March 1501) and on the 25th April it was forced to capitulate. Astorre Manfredi was faithlessly carried off to the Castle of St. Angelo where, in January 1502, Caesar had him and his younger brother put to death. Next came the punishment of Giovanni Bentivoglio, who had supported Faenza in its resistance. When several castles had been taken, he sued for mercy, gave up Castel Bolognese also, and promised to supply Caesar for five years with 300 horsemen. Alexander now bestowed on Caesar the title of Duke of Romagna, thus making the largest province of the Church hereditary in the Borgia family, in utter indiffer­ence to the probability that this might easily entail on the Church the loss of all these States.

Encouraged by these rapid successes Caesar now turned his attention to Florence, at that time seriously weakened by the war with Pisa. In great alarm the Florentines pur­chased peace by granting him for three years a subsidy of 36,000 ducats, and promising not to help Piombino. The Lord of this principality, Jacopo d’Appiano, lost in a very short space of time the greater part of his possessions. After this the Duke returned to Rome, where he was wanted on account of the state of affairs in Naples. Highly important decisions were come to in relation to this kingdom in the next few weeks. Hitherto it had been a constant tradition of Roman policy that no foreign power was to be allowed to obtain a footing in Naples. Now Alexander VI abandoned this principle.

Soon after Caesar’s arrival on the 25th June 1501, a Bull was drafted assenting to the secret treaty of 11th November, 1500, between France and Spain for the partition of Naples between, them. Louis XII was to be King of Naples and to possess Terra di Lavoro and the Abruzzi. Ferdinand was to take Apulia and Calabria with the title of Grand Duke. Both were to hold their lands in fief from the Church. The way in which the King of Naples had been dallying with the Turks served as the pretext for his deposition. One motive which strongly inclined Alexander VI to agree to the plan was the blow that it would deal to the rebellious Roman Barons, who would now be deprived of all support. On the 27th June 1501, the League with France and Spain was announced; and the French army, which was already encamped near Rome, began its southward march. On the 4th July Caesar joined it with his troops.

Frederick of Naples had had no suspicion of Ferdinand’s perfidy, and knew nothing of it until the Papal Bull was published. The French reached Capua, destroying the villages of the Colonna on their way, almost without resistance, and successfully stormed and sacked that city before the end of July. Gaeta now also capitulated, and the French army under d’Aubigny appeared before Naples. Frederick fled to Ischia and surrendered to the French King, who gave him the Dukedom of Anjou and a yearly pension. France and Spain divided his kingdom between them.

CHAPTER IX.

Alexander VI and the War against the Turks in the years 1499-1502.

ALEXANDER’S unabashed nepotism and wholly worldly aims in politics cast their baneful shadows also over the resistance to the Turkish advance during his reign. The Pope’s nepotism repeatedly acted as a direct hindrance to efforts against the Turks, but its indirect effects were perhaps still more injurious; for no one trusted him, and whatever he put his hand to was believed to have, for its ultimate object, nothing but the aggrandisement of the house of Borgia. Nevertheless, even such a man as Alexander could not remain entirely inactive in presence of the danger from the East. The noble generosity of his predecessors in assisting the refugees from the countries which had been conquered by the Turks was continued under his rule, and towards the close of the century he appeared to be thoroughly in earnest in his efforts to organise a Crusade. Prince Dschem, in the hands of the Christians, acted to a certain degree as a check upon the Sultan; but after his death fresh attacks on Christian lands recommenced almost at once. In Bosnia, in the year 1496, a number of small fortresses, still occupied by the Hungarians, were invested by Turkish troops and many of them conquered.

In Moldavia the inroads of the Turks, beginning in the same year, were of a more serious character. In 1498 a band of Turks and Tartars, combined with Moldavians, swooped down on Poland itself. Far and wide they ravaged the country; “the land was strewn with corpses. All the towns on the hills and plains round Lemberg and Przemysl as far as Kanczug were plundered and burnt; the harpies encamped in the fields for a short time and then returned whence they came, loaded with booty.”

Already in the previous year the friendly relations hitherto subsisting between Venice and the Porte had been sharply disturbed. The Turks had for some time past been busily occupied in strengthening their armaments, and especially their navy. The object of these preparations was kept a profound secret, and the Venetians, with all their sagacity, were completely deceived. When the preparations were completed, the Sultan, without any declaration of war, began hostilities by arresting all the Venetians in Constantinople. Venice was plunged in dismay and distress, and, to make matters worse, the finances of the Republic were at that moment at a very low ebb. To meet the heavy expense of fitting out a fleet it was necessary to raise all tolls and taxes and to impose new ones. All the officials of the republic were required to surrender the half of their salaries to the State, and the clergy had to contribute a third of their revenues, this with the Pope’s consent. By dint of these exertions an imposing fleet of 130 sails was equipped. But even this was quite insufficient to cope with that of the Turks, which numbered 270. On the 26th of August, Lepanto, the only important sea-port in the Gulf of Corinth that still remained in the hands of the Venetians, fell. At the same time 10,000 Turkish horsemen from Bosnia made a successful raid on the mainland of Venice. The whole district on one side to Tagliamento and even near Vicenza, and on the other as far as Drau, was devastated with fire and sword, and all the inhabitants slain or carried into captivity.

In the Summer of 1499, the Turkish question was re­peatedly discussed in Consistory. It was then thought, from the report of the Grand-Master of Rhodes, that the attack was to be directed against that island. While the deliberations on the help to be sent to Rhodes were going on, the news came of the descents on Venetian territory. In the beginning of August, letters from the French Envoy in Venice to a French Cardinal came to hand, accusing the Milanese Government of having instigated the Turkish attack. The Milanese Envoy in Rome defended the conduct of his master in view of the hostile attitude of the Venetians, and declared openly that Milan would not scruple to use the Turks and the Moors in self-defence. It never came to this, however, for in the Autumn of that year Lodovico Moro was driven out of Milan.

In consequence of the increasingly menacing reports which continued to arrive from the East, Alexander, in the late Autumn of 1499, issued an invitation to all the Christian Princes to send representatives to Rome in the ensuing March to deliberate on the formation of a League against the Turks.  This invitation met with so little response that in February 1500, it was found necessary to repeat it. Even this produced but little result. On the 11th March a secret Consistory was held, to which all the Envoys in Rome were invited. These consisted of the representatives of Maximilian, Louis XII, Henry VII of England, and Ferdinand of Spain, besides those of Naples, Venice, Savoy, and Florence. Alexander VI put before the assembly the great danger now threatening Europe from the Turks, and expressed his regret that his summons of the previous Autumn had met with so little attention. He went on to say that Venice was the bulwark of Christen­dom and that it was the duty of all Christian powers to support her. The answers of the Envoys were so unsatisfactory that the Pope made no secret of his displeasure with Germany, France, and Naples; Spain was the only Government to which he awarded unqualified praise. In the beginning of May, Alexander VI proposed in Consistory that a Legate should be sent to Hungary and that a tithe should be levied on the clergy of France, Germany, and Hungary; also that the Cardinals should be taxed, beginning with himself. Many of the Cardinals objected, but the Pope stood firm. In spite of all this the Venetian Envoy still refused to believe in Alexander’s sincerity, which is significant of the prevailing opinion in regard to him. These doubts were dissipated by his later acts.

A Bull, dated 1st June 1500, was addressed to all Christendom, setting forth the fury and cruelty of the Osmanli and their hatred of the Christian name, and urging all to unite against the common enemy. The purpose of the Turks, it affirmed, was, first to conquer Rome, and then to subjugate all the Christian populations. Consequently, the Roman Church had now formally declared war against the hereditary foe. To meet the expenses of the contest, a tithe was to be levied on all ecclesiastical benefices without exception, and on all the officials in the States of the Church. All who resisted the impost were threatened with Excommunication. This Crusade-Bull was to be publicly read, in the vulgar tongue, on some feast-day in all the dioceses of the world. The Jews were required to contribute a twentieth of their property. At the same time a Brief was drawn up addressed to the King of France. In it the Pope said that Envoys had been summoned to Rome in March, in order to take counsel on the war against the Turks. Many had not come, and those that had appeared were not provided with sufficient powers. Although the summons had been repeated, as yet the Pope had received nothing from the Princes but fair words. Hence, he now once more turned to the King of France, who, now that he was ruler of Milan, was doubly bound to come forward to protect Italy from the Turks, and requested him to send representatives at once. Spain and Venice were full of zeal, thus there was a good prospect of success. For his own part, he had imposed a tithe upon all the inhabitants of the Papal States and on the clergy throughout the world, and was prepared to make even greater sacrifices.

A further proof that Alexander was then in earnest in regard to the war is given by the fact that at the end of June he recalled Cardinal Peraudi, the eager advocate of the Crusade, to the Court, and in the Spring of the following year began to collect the contributions of the Cardinals, out of which a fleet was to be equipped.

In the beginning of September, the Venetian Envoy in Rome wrote that the Pope had been doing all he could throughout the Summer for the support of Venice and Hungary, and had given peremptory orders to the commander of the Spanish fleet to join that of Venice; that his dispositions in regard to the Crusade were excellent, if he only carried out the half of what he had promised it would be quite sufficient. The doubt again implied in these words was not deserved; a few days earlier Alexander had despatched various Briefs, the contents of which amply prove his sincerity; and he was exerting himself to the utmost to bring about the union of the Spanish fleet with the Venetian.

Soon after this the Venetian Envoy received the sad tidings that Modon had fallen into the hands of the Turks, and the loss of Navarino and Koron followed almost immediately. Since the fall of Negroponte such conster­nation and dismay as now prevailed in Venice had not been caused by any of her other disasters. The possession of these old and important colonies was held to be so essential to the maintenance of her navy, both for commerce and for war, that the Council of Ten declared that all her sea-power depended upon them. This terrible blow was formally announced by the Signoria to all the powers of Europe. “On the 10th of August,” writes Raphael Brandolinus Lippi from Rome to a friend, “the unhappy city of Modon was conquered. The few inhabitants who fell into the hands of the Turks were all barbarously impaled; not one was spared. This is what we have come to through the troubles in Italy! To this have, we been brought by our internal dissensions! The eloquent Venetian Envoy, Marinus Giorgius, delivered such a splendid oration on the Turks, that his Holiness and the whole College of Cardinals were deeply stirred. Now at last we may hope that the Pope will insist on the formation of a League for the destruction of' the Turks.”

Vain hope! Eager as, the “Christian” powers were to avenge the smallest indignity inflicted on themselves, they were utterly indifferent where only the honour of the Christian name was concerned. But on this occasion it was not Alexander’s fault that so little was done to check the enemy’s advance. On the 11th of September, 1500, it was decided in Consistory that two things must be done: first, every possible effort must be made to bring the Spanish fleet to bear against the Turks; secondly, Legates must be sent to Hungary, France, and Germany. On the 5th October the new Legates were chosen: Giovanni Vera for Spain, Portugal, and England; Petrus Isvalies for Hungary and Poland; Peraudi for Germany and the northern kingdoms. At the same time a Brief was sent to Gonsalvo de Cordova ordering him to join the Venetian fleet with his ships as quickly as possible; and the Cardinals were asked for their tithe. In spite of all this the Venetian Ambassador was not satisfied, and continued to question the sincerity of the Pope’s assurances that he would do all that could be done. However true it may be that if Alexander had completely given up his policy of nepotism, more especially his plans for Caesar Borgia’s aggrandisement, he might have accomplished more in this direction, still it must be admitted that he did a great deal. It was the fault of the “Christian” Princes, not of the Pope, that all his efforts produced so little result. Hardly anywhere was any enthusiasm to be found or willingness to make any sort of sacrifice. At that very time it had been resolved at the Diet at Augsburg that the Pope should be required to refund a portion of the money which had flowed into Rome for Jubilee Indulgences and annates, for the assistance of the administration, because “the empire had thereby been too much impoverished and drained of its coin.”  It required indeed a zeal no less fervent than that which burned in Peraudi’s heart to undertake the German Legation under such circumstances as these. Though suffering frojn gout, he set out on the 26th October, full of hope that he would succeed in effecting a reconciliation between Maximilian and the German Princes and the King of France. But even on the frontier, he was met “by serious difficulties, in all influential quarters.” Although Alexander had expressly commanded that all moneys brought in by the Jubilee from Germany should be exclusively devoted to the Turkish war, neither, at Court nor throughout the Empire was it believed that this would be carried out. Maximilian went so far as to refuse permission to Peraudi to enter the Empire. It is probable that Lodovico Moro, then there in exile, had a hand in this decision. His chances would have been unfavourably affected by a reconciliation between the Christian powers and a Crusade; but Peraudi would not lose heart. At Roveredo he spent his days and nights in writing letters to all the German, Danish, and Swedish Princes and prelates, admonishing them to make peace with each other and combine in turning their arms against the Turks. In his zeal for the Crusade, he was prepared to defy the Royal prohi­bition, go straight to the Diet, and there, if necessary, in virtue of his apostolic powers, pronounce the Ban of the Church against the King of the Romans and some of the Princes; like the Carthusian Thomas he thought nothing of death if it were in defence of the Christian faith.

 After keeping him the whole winter in Roveredo, Maximilian at last came to a better mind, and allowed him to enter the Empire. Here he met with the greatest difficulties in dealing with the administration, although he was able to give the most positive assurances that the Pope and Cardinals had decided to leave all moneys coming in on account of the Jubilee Indulgences and other privileges absolutely untouched, in the keeping of the Empire, for the Crusade. It was not till the nth of September 1501, at the Diet at Nuremberg, that he at last succeeded in coming to an agreement with the assembly and the Imperial Government; and this convention was loaded with vexatious and obstructive conditions for the Legate.

Maximilian, on his side, for political reasons, deferred his permission for preaching the Indulgences until January, 1502. Thus more than a year had passed away before Peraudi was able to begin to execute his mission. In spite of the unfavourableness of the season, in the early months of the year 1502 he travelled with astonishing rapidity through the whole of South-Western Germany, and preached the Indulgence in the Dioceses of Constance, Augsburg, Strasburg, Spires, Mayence, Treves, and Cologne. Towards the end of the year he visited the North-Eastern part of the Empire to announce the Jubilee there, and make peace between Lübeck and Denmark. During this journey the weather was very bad, and in consequence Peraudi was repeatedly confined to his bed from attacks of gout. This, and still more the hopeless indifference to the Crusade which confronted him among all classes of people, princes, townsmen, and clergy, so discouraged him, that more than once he entreated the Pope to recall him.

Gasparo Pons had been sent to England by Alexander VI, in order to collect the tithe from the clergy, and announce the Jubilee Indulgences, the proceeds of which were to go to the Crusade. The clergy paid the tithe, and the King, Henry VII, contributed £4000, but absolutely refused to send any assistance in the shape of men or ships. It was right and good, he said, that the Pope should endeavour to induce the Princes of Christendom to be reconciled with each other and combine for this holy purpose. He himself, thank God, had long been at peace with all men; he could not, however, send material help; that should be done by France and Spain, and equally by Hungary and Poland.

The King of France was occupied with plans which had no connection with the war against the Turks. The French clergy were extremely irritated against Alexander for having imposed the tithe without previously acquainting them of his purpose and asking their consent. “Many openly opposed it and appealed to a General Council against whatever censures they might thereby incur. On the 1st April the Theological Faculty of Paris pronounced that censures inflicted after an appeal had been already made to a Council, were invalid, and that the appellants therefore need not pay any regard to them and need not abstain from celebrating mass and exercising other ecclesi­astical functions.”

Amongst the Hungarian prelates the spirit of sacrifice was almost entirely absent. The secular nobles were not so averse to the war, but they too made difficulties. “They were not content with the Pope’s offer to hand over to the King the Jubilee Indulgence moneys, the tithe on Church property in Hungary, and a Crusade-tax. They thought the income to be derived from these sources uncertain, or that the burdens would all fall on their shoulders.” As Venice was bent on beating down the demands of the Hungarians, the negotiations dragged on for a long time, and it was mainly due to the exertions of Thomas Bakocs that an agreement was at last arrived at. This high principled and able man had been appointed Primate of Hungary in the year 1497, in the place of Ippolito d’Este, in order to satisfy the national feeling of the Hungarians, who objected to the highest spiritual office in the kingdom being held by a foreigner. Bakocs was made a member of the Sacred College by Alexander VI on the 28th of September 1500, as a reward for his diligence in this matter. At the end of May in the following year, a League was at last concluded between Hungary, Venice, and the Pope. Alexander VI bound himself to contribute 40,000 ducats annually as long as the war should last. Venice promised 100,000 ducats and the prosecution of the war at sea, while Hungary undertook to attack the Turks by land. Unfortunately, Hungary only contributed a few “freebooting expeditions on an extensive scale.” Mean­while, at sea some slight successes were achieved. The new Venetian Admiral Benedetto Pesaro, “an experienced and resolute sailor,” late in the Autumn of 1500 made an expedition into the Aegean Sea and reconquered Aegina. He was at last joined, in tardy compliance with the Pope’s commands, by the Spanish fleet of 65 sail, under the famous Admiral Gonsalvo de Cordova. The combined fleets succeeded before the close of the year in wresting the island of Cephalonia from the Turks and thus obtaining a new point of vantage in the Ionian Sea.

The year 1501 was spent in “alternations of successes and failures.” Alessio was won but Durazzo was lost. In the Spring of the following year the Papal fleet, consisting of 13 galleys and 2500 men, was ready to sail.

Bishop Giacopo da Pesaro was appointed by Alexander to the command of the fleet. His portrait is familiar to all lovers of art in Titian’s altarpiece representing the Pesaro family venerating the Blessed Virgin and the Divine Child. In this picture, by the side of the Legate, his brother is represented in full armour, holding aloft in one hand the Papal banner of the Crusade, and with the other leading two Turkish captives who follow him. Pesaro’s first step was to join Benedetto, who was waiting for him at Cerigo with 50 Venetian ships. Together they sailed at once for the island of S^ta Maura (the ancient Leucadia), and in spite of a desperate resistance on the part of the enemy, they succeeded towards the end of August in making themselves masters of this, from a strategic point of view, very important place. In this battle the Papal Legate Giacopo greatly distinguished himself, and at last planted the Papal banner with his own hands on the battlement of the conquered fort. It was not destined to float there. Both Venice and Constantinople had begun to weary of the war. The Porte found itself threatened in Asia by the new Persian empire, and the finances of Venice were nearly exhausted, while her trade was suffering severely. The Hungarian alliance had proved of little value, the war being very feebly carried on by King Ladislaus. In consequence, the Republic lent a willing ear to the Turkish overtures for peace and S^ta Maura was hardly conquered before it was again restored to the Sultan.

On the 14th of December, 1502, a temporary agreement was arrived at in Constantinople, which paved the way for the formal Peace which was announced by Venice on the 20th of May 1503. Without the support of Venice, Hungary was far too weak to face the Turks. Hence we cannot be surprised at finding King Lladislaus also laying down his arms. On the 20th of August 1503, he concluded a truce with the Porte for seven years. While the war lasted Hungary received very large sums from Rome. The account books prove that, in the years 1501 and 1502, Lladislaus received from the Cardinals 6851 ducats; 1884 ducats, 16 solidi, and 8 denare; 6686 ducats and 6 solidi; 6666 ducats; 3587 ducats and 10 solidi; 1884 ducats, 16 solidi, and 8 denare; 6700 ducats; 222 ducats; 51,687 ducats; 2328 ducats and 12 solidi; 2534 ducats; 13,3333 ducats; finally, 2325 ducats and 16 solidi. To all this must be added the pensions given to the numerous refugees from the countries which had been conquered by the Turks, and to the widows and children of those who had fallen in the war. Putting all this together, and taking into account the difference between the value of money then and in our own day, it must be admitted that Alexander was not as remiss in regard to the Crusade as has been represented by the enemies of the House of Borgia. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that the Pope could have accomplished a great deal more if he had given up his gross nepotism and thought less of Caesar’s advancement. A glance at the state of things in the States shews how far he was from doing this in any way.

CHAPTER X.

Cesar Borgia Governor of Rome and Duke of the Romagna. Plans upset by the Death of Alexander VI.

ONE of the immediate results of the Neapolitan war had been the downfall of the Roman Barons. Ever since the invasion of Italy by Charles VIII the Colonna had leant for support upon the House of Aragon. When the agree­ment between Spain and France had finally sealed the fate of this family they sought to shelter themselves from the coming storm by proposing to give up the keys of their fortresses to the College of Cardinals; but Alexander required that they should be delivered to him, and in June, 1501, he succeeded in obtaining this. On the 22nd of the month Francesco Borgia started from Rome in order to take possession in the Pope’s name of Rocca di Papa and the other castles belonging to the Colonna. On the following day about twenty of the vassals of the family came to Rome, and swore fealty to the Pope.

On the 27th of July Alexander went to Castel Gandolfo and Rocca di Papa and thence to Sermoneta. He had the effrontery to hand over the Regency of the palace to Lucrezia Brgia during his absence, with power to open his correspondence. Soon after his return from this expedition a Bull was drawn up in which the Colonna and Savelli were declared to be rebels on account of their league with Federigo of Naples, and were excommunicated, and their property confiscated. Out of the possessions of the Colonna, Savelli, and Gaetani the Pope carved two Dukedoms for his family; a few of the forts and villages belonging to the Savelli were given to Giovanni Paolo Orsini; but all the most beautiful and fertile districts fell into the hands of the Borgia. A Bull of 17th September, 1501, gave to Rodrigo, the son of Lucrezia and Alfonso, then two years old, the Dukedom of Sermoneta with Ninfa, Cisterna, Nettuno, Ardea, Nemi, Albano, and other towns. The Dukedom of Nepi, which included Palestrina, Olevano, Paliano, Frascati, Anticoli, and other places, was bestowed on Juan Borgia, also an infant. This child was legitimised by a Bull on 1st September 1501, as the natural offspring of Caesar, and his age incidentally mentioned as about three years. A second Bull of the same date legitimised this same Juan as Alexanders own son. These undoubtedly genuine documents nullify all attempts to rebut the accusations against the moral conduct of the Pope. “Almost the whole of the States of the Church were now the property of the Borgia; the Romagna and other territories belonged to Caesar, and another member of the House possessed the hereditary estates of the Roman Barons. This was something entirely new in the annals of the Church.” Meanwhile, Lucrezia Borgia was not forgotten. By a marriage with Alfonso, the heir-apparent of Ferrara, she was to enter one of the noblest and oldest families in Italy, and at the same time secure Caesar’s sovereignty in the Romagna, and help forward his designs on Florence and Bologna. At first both Alfonso and his father, Ercole, refused to listen to the project, and Maximilian I was equally against it. But Louis XII, Alexander’s ally, intervened, and when the Pope had engaged himself to grant a relaxation of feudal rights and a reduction of fief dues, the betrothal took place in September 1501. Lucrezia was wild with delight. Still young and beautiful, all her sorrow for Alfonso was forgotten in the brilliant prospect of high position and gratified vanity that opened out before her. The Ferrarese Envoys gave feast after feast in her honour. One evening she so overfatigued herself with dancing that she was laid up with fever the next day. The bride’s outfit was truly royal. Alexander told the Ferrarese Envoys that he meant Lucrezia to have “beautiful pearls than any other Italian princess. ” At the same time, regardless of the duty imposed upon him by the dignity of his office, the Pope permitted himself to be present at scandalous dances of a similar character to those which had drawn on him the rebuke of Pius II in former days. Society at that time was so corrupt that even this gave but little offence; everything bad was believed, but no one thought much of anything.

On the 9th of December the bridal escort, consisting of Cardinal Ippolito d’Este and four other members of the ducal family, with a retinue of 500 persons, started from Ferrara. It reached Rome on the 23rd, and on the same day the Ferrarese Envoy, writing to his master, expresses the favourable impression produced on him by Lucrezia. “She is singularly graceful in everything she does, and her manners are modest, gentle, and decorous. She is also a good Christian, and more, she is going to confession and to communion on Christmas Day. As regards good looks she has quite sufficient, but her pleasing expression and gracious ways make her seem even more beautiful than she is. In short, she seems to me to be such that there is nothing to fear, but rather the very best to be hoped, in every way from her.” On the 30th December Lucrezia’s marriage with Alfonso, by procuration, was celebrated with great splendour in the Vatican. The bride’s dress was of gold brocade and crimson velvet trimmed with ermine. The hanging sleeves touched the ground, and her long train was borne by maids of honour. A black band confined her golden hair, and she wore on her head a light coif of gold and silk. Her necklace was a string of pearls with a locket consisting of an emerald, a ruby, and one large pearl. From thence until the day of her departure (6th January, 1502) one entertainment succeeded another in a perpetual round of gaiety. Plays, among others Plautus’ Menaechmi, balls, and allegorical representations alternated with races, tournaments, and bull-fights.

Lucrezia’s marriage with the heir of Ferrara was the turning point in her life. In spite of all the investigations of recent times much in the Roman life of this remarkable woman remains shrouded in darkness; but this is not the case in regard to its closing period in Ferrara. During this time Lucrezia, who was Duchess of Ferrara from 1505 till 24th June, 1519, when she died in her confinement, not only won the love of her husband, but also that of her people. All accusations in regard to her conduct, which no doubt were not entirely groundless,ffrom henceforth wholly cease. Lucrezia is only heard of as a faithful and loving wife, and the consoler and advocate of all who were poor or oppressed. Her beauty, added to her sweetness and kindness, captivated the hearts of all. She encouraged arts, and was surrounded and praised by cultivated men such as Ariosto, Bembo, Strozzi, and others.

Lucrezia Borgia, whose beauty,

virtue, and honest reputation, and fortune

are growing hour by hour,

no less than a young plant in soft soil;

is the description of her in Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso (XIII, 19). Without giving credit to every flattering word that may occur in the strains of a Court-poet, we may fairly assume that he would not have written anything that was in flagrant contradiction with the general opinion. “The art of flattery has its laws and its limits; he who would praise a royal personage for qualities in which he or she was notoriously deficient, must be utterly unacquainted with the world and the usages of society. Such praise would practically be satire, and the foolish courtier would certainly not be rewarded.” The poets, however, are not the only witnesses in her favour. Scholars, statesmen, and historians all agree in pronouncing the same verdict, so that the latest biographer of the Duchess says at the close of his work: “This at least is certain, that during her life at Ferrara she was regarded as a pattern of womanly virtue.” More especially in times of scarcity she showed herself a “Mother’ of the people”; and actually pawned her jewels in order to help the poor. Jovius tells how completely she renounced all the luxury to which she had been accustomed from her youth, and lived a simple, religious life. He lays special stress on her solid practice of virtue; her religion was no mere show. As a proof of her practical charity he states that she founded a convent and chapel for well-born ladies out of her own private purse.

After Lucrezia’s departure from Rome, Caesar’s influence became absolutely unbounded. He was the real master; in almost everything the Pope conformed absolutely to the iron will of this man, the most terrible of all the cruel offspring of the Renaissance. Caesar was the tyrant of Rome, which he filled with his spies and minions. A word against him was a crime of high treason. A man who had made too free with his name when in domino had his hand and his tongue cut off and fastened together. The Venetian Ambassador was unable to protect one of his countrymen who was supposed to have circulated a pamphlet which contained reflections on Alexander and his son. He was murdered and his body cast into the Tiber. The Pope himself, though callous as a rule about such things, blamed his son for this. “The Duke,” he said to the Ferrarese Envoy, “is a good-natured man; but he cannot tolerate an insult. I have often told him that Rome is a free city, and that here everyone has a right to write and say what he likes. Plenty of things are said of me, but I take no notice. The Duke replied, “That may be all very well for Rome, but I will teach such people to be sorry for what they say.” Finally the Pope reminded his son how many of the Cardinals, whom Charles VIII had himself acknowledged to have been traitors to their master, had been forgiven by him. “I could easily,” he said, “have had the Vice-Chancellor and Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere killed; but I did not wish to harm any one, and I pardoned fourteen of the nobles.” A short time before this Alexander had proved that this was not mere palaver.

At the close of the year 1501 a pamphlet against the Borgia had appeared which surpassed all former attacks in virulence. It was in the form of a letter to one of the exiled Roman Barons, Silvio Savelli, then living at the Court of Maximilian I, and was dated from the Spanish camp at Tarento, 15th November 1501. “You are mistaken, my dear friend,” it said, “if you think that you ought to attempt to come to terms with this monster. He has betrayed you, banished you, and resolved on your destruc­tion, simply out of greed and faithlessness, and for no other reason. Therefore, you should repay an enmity that will never cease with an unalterable hatred. You must choose a different path and disclose the misery of Rome to the true physician. Lay before the Emperor and the other Princes of the empire all the evil that has proceeded from this cursed beast for the perdition of Christendom; narrate the abominable crimes by which God is set at naught, and the heart of religion pierced through. Describe these horrors in detail before the Diet, and take care that they shall be disseminated from mouth to mouth. It is idle for Christendom to groan over the nations which are torn from her arms by her old enemy the Turk, while this new Mahomet far surpasses the old one in the havoc he causes in what yet remains of faith and religion by his filthy crimes. These are the days of Antichrist, for no greater enemy of God, Christ, and religion can be conceived.” It goes on to accuse all the Borgia, Alexander, Lucrezia, and Caesar, of every imaginable crime and vice. All that could be invented by political hatred in Milan, Venice, and Naples, and all the venom that Roman satire could hatch, is heaped together and poured forth in unmeasured language. “There is no sort of outrage or vice,” it says in one place, “that is not openly practised in the Palace of the Pope. The perfidy of the Scythians and Carthaginians, the bestiality and savagery of Nero and Caligula are surpassed. Rodrigo Borgia is an abyss of vice, a subverter of all justice, human or divine. God grant that the Princes may come to the rescue of the tottering Church, and steer the sinking barque of Peter out of the storm and into the haven! God grant they may rise up and deliver Rome from the destroyer who was born to be her ruin, and bring back justice and peace to the city¡”

This diatribe, brimming over with political hatred and the spirit of revenge, cannot, of course, be regarded as historically trustworthy. But it shows what dangerous weapons the disgraceful conduct of the Borgia put into the hands of their enemies.

Alexander had this libel read to him; but, indifferent as he was to public opinion, it never occurred to him to attempt to curtail the liberty of speech or writing in Rome. We hear nothing of any measures to check the circulation of the pamphlet, or any attempt to prosecute its author. Silvio Savelli, in whose interest it was professedly written, was allowed later to return to Rome and was received in audience by the Pope.

Alexander paid heavily for his indifference to all these attacks and accusations. Writings like these exercised a lasting effect on the judgments regarding him, both of his contemporaries and of later times.

The longer this “incredible liberty” in the expression of opinion lasted in Rome the more freely was it taken advantage of by the enemies of the Borgia. “Sannazaro certainly wrote his epigrams in a place of comparative security, but others said the most hazardous things at the very doors of the Court.” Epigrammatic satire developed enormously in literary circles in Rome. Literary men vied with each other in producing the most melodramatic and unheard of accusations, and spicing them with the most caustic wit.

Alexander was often now loaded with vituperation by the very same persons who had formerly “praised him to the skies.” Just at this time (1511) Cardinal Caraffa had had an ancient statue, supposed to represent Hercules strangling Geryon, placed on a pedestal just outside his palace, which was situated in one of the most frequented thoroughfares of Rome. Burchard relates how, in August 1501, on the pedestal of this antique fragment, which then went by the name of Pasquino (it is now thought to be Ajax with the body of Achilles), a prophecy of the death of the Pope was affixed, which was quickly circulated throughout the whole of Rome. This prediction, he adds, was posted up in several other parts of the city: in the Campo di Fiore, the Bridge of St. Angelo, the doors of the Vatican Library, and the gates of the Papal Palace. The number of places here mentioned proves that at that time the popular and courtly epigram was not yet a fixed institution in Rome. Up to the time of Leo X the statue of Pasquino is only occasionally mentioned as the place on which epigrams were posted. It had not yet acquired any special distinction in this respect. It was in his reign that it first became the recognised place for affixing all the epigrams and witticisms of the Roman satirists. It seems thus equally clear that the origin of the Pasquinade literature, centred here, was scholarly rather than popular. From the year 1504, on the Feast of S. Mark (25th April), this figure was dressed up in masquerade as Minerva, Jupiter, Janus, Apollo, Flora, etc., while the members of the literary circles covered its pedestal with witty epigrams. For the rest of the year Pasquino relapsed into silence; as yet he was still in the youthful, academic stage of his existence.

There can be no doubt that the comic poems of that time in Rome were often accompanied by caricatures. When later (in the year 1509), collections of these Pasquin­ades began to be made, the pictures were thrown away, and only the epigrams were kept. Thus valuable materials for the history of culture have been lost and we can never hope to recover them. Even such things as abortions like, for instance, the monster that was said to have been found in January 1496, at the time of the overflow of the Tiber, were, as Alexander’s misgovernment grew worse and worse, caught hold of by the enemies of the Borgia, and interpreted in their own sense.

Five weeks after Lucrezia’s departure, Alexander and Caesar, accompanied by six Cardinals, set out for Piombino, which had surrendered in the previous September. The object of their journey was to inspect the fortifications which were being constructed there, apparently under the direction of Leonardo da Vinci. On the 17th February, 1502, they set out by way of Civita Vecchia and Corneto, and after Piombino the island of Elba was also visited. The return journey was begun on the 1st of March, but a violent storm came on, and they did not succeed in reaching Porto Ercole till the 4th. Although the gale had by no means subsided, the voyage was pursued as far as Corneto; but when they got there the sea was running so high that it was impossible to land. As the storm still continued to increase, the terrified crew threw themselves on their faces on the deck, the Cardinals wept, the Pope alone remained perfectly calm. In the evening they were obliged to return to Porto Ercole, and from thence Alexander travelled back to Rome by Corneto and Civita Vecchia and arrived there on the 11th of March.

There was a political reason for this expedition. Piombino was to form the basis of Caesar’s operations against Tuscany, where the enmity between Florence and Siena, and the war against Pisa, created a favourable situation for him. In other directions, also, the moment was opportune. The King of France was thought to be safe, as he required the help of the Pope in the coming struggle with the Spanish League. The Roman Barons had been crushed, and all was quiet in the Romagna. Ferrara was an ally; Venice was too busy with the Turks to interfere; there was nothing to fear from Germany. Such a happy combination of circumstances called for prompt action, and all possible speed was made in the preparations. The artillery of the dethroned King of Naples was purchased for 50,000 ducats.  The fact that Caesar alone, in May 1502, drew the sum of 54,000 florins out of the Papal treasury, shows what large demands were made upon it by the Pope’s nephews. This did not include the cost of weapons and ammunition. Between 10th May and 12th July the Apostolical treasury paid for 83,098 pounds of powder (each 1000 pounds cost 40 ducats). A separate register was kept in the Secretariat for the ordnance expenses.

On 13th June Caesar left Rome at the head of his army. No one, says Sigismondo de’ Conti, knew whither he was bound, but all the inhabitants of the States of the Church trembled at the approach of his troops, who in their violence and exactions behaved as though they were in an enemy’s country.

The Duke proceeded to Spoleto, and from thence entered the Duchy of Urbino. By dint of fraud and treachery he succeeded in making himself master of the whole country, its deluded ruler, Guidobaldi, barely escaping out of his hands by a timely flight. In the following month he took Giulio Cesare Varano, the murderer of his brother Rudolf, prisoner, and conquered Camerino. He now received the title of Caesar Borgia of France, by the Grace of God Duke of the Romagna and of Valencia and Urbino, Prince of Andria, Lord of Piombino, Standard-bearer and General-in-Chief of the Church.

When the Pope heard of the conquest of Camerino he was “almost beside himself with joy,” writes the Venetian Envoy, Antonio Giustinian. “He could so little contain himself that, to give some vent to his feelings and mark the importance of the news, he got up from his chair and went to the window, and there had the letter of his Duke of 20th July from Urbino read aloud.” Camerino was given to the infant Juan Borgia, while Caesar’s plans took larger and larger scope. He was, in fact, on the high road to become King of the whole of Central Italy. He was already beginning to think of turning his arms against Bologna when Louis XII came forward, in connection with Neapolitan relations with Asti, and gave it to be under­stood that he would not permit any further developments. All the enemies of the Borgia were besieging the King with complaints of, and warnings against, the Duke of the Romagna. Caesar’s resolution was promptly taken. Disguising himself, he hastened to the royal camp at Milan, and arrived on the 5th of August. He was successful in winning Louis by the promise of help in Naples, in return for which the King engaged to support him in his attack on Bologna and the Orsini.

At this moment a conspiracy against Caesar was formed amongst the chief captains of the mercenary troops under his command. “They were afraid that the dragon was preparing to swallow them one by one.” On the 9th of October the conspirators met at La Magione, not far from the Lake of Thrasimene. Many of the Orsini came, the Cardinal, the Duke of Gravina, Paolo, and Franciotto, besides Hermes, the son of Giovanni Bentivoglio, as the representative of his father, Antonio da Venafro, representing Pandolfo, Petrucci, Gentile, and Giampaolo Baglione, and Vitellozzo Vitelli. They proceeded at once to action, and on the 15th of October Paolo Orsini entered Urbino, and Guidobaldi immediately joined him there. Without the help of France, Caesar would have been lost, and he exerted himself to obtain the support of Venice and Florence also. It was at this time that Machiavelli was sent as Envoy to Caesar at Imola, and gave the first indication of his genius as a political historian by his judgments of the “inscrutable Duke who hardly ever spoke, but acted.”

Ferrara promised to send troops to Rome if the Pope should require help against the Orsini. Actually, however, the only help received by Caesar came from France alone; but that sufficed, for in the meanwhile his opponents lost time in negotiations, and split among themselves.

The Duke exerted all his craft to break up the League, and fool the conspirators; and they on their part walked blindly into the net that he had laid for them. Antonio da Venafro and Paolo Orsini came to Imola and concluded an alliance offensive and defensive with the Duke, by which they bound themselves to recover Urbino and Camerino for him. Bentivoglio entered into separate negotiation with Caesar ; and on the 2nd of December they came to terms. Soon after Urbino and Camerino were restored to him.

On the 10th December Caesar, who a short time before had received considerable sums from the Papal treasury, proceeded with his troops from Imola to Cesena. “No one knew or could guess the object of the movement,” writes Machiavelli, “for this Signor never speaks of his intentions until he carries them out, and he carries them out at the proper moment.” Soon, however, it became evident that the Duke’s purpose was to take Sinigaglia. Andrea Doria was in command of the Castle. When he found that Caesar was hurrying towards the city, and already preceded by the troops of Vitellozzo and the Orsini, he fled to Venice. The commander whom he left in charge declared that he would give up the citadel to Caesar but to no one else. The Duke arrived on the 31st of December, and was joined at the gates by Vitellozzo, Paolo Orsini, the Duke of Gravina, and Oliverotto of Fermo. He received them in the friendliest manner, and they entered together; but no sooner were they within the walls than he had them arrested, and their people disarmed. That very same evening Vitellozzo and Oliverotto were ruthlessly put to death. The Orsini soon after met with the same fate. In justification of these murders it was said later that those chiefs had agreed to rise against the Duke and assassinate him. No proofs of this are to be found; but it is not unlikely that it may have been true.

Caesar now turned with lightning-like rapidity on his other foes. On 1st January 1503, he set off for Perugia on his way to Siena. “At his approach all the smaller despots (such as the Vitelli of Città di Castello, Giampaolo Baglione of Perugia, etc.) fled as from that of a hydra.”

The Duke’s “extraordinary good fortune and super­human sagacity,” to use Machiavelli’s words, so encouraged the Pope, that he determined to proceed now himself against the Orsini. On the 3rd of January 1503, Cardinal Orsini, now blind, but still spending his nights in play and feasting, was arrested in the Vatican, and taken first to Torre di Nona and then to St. Angelo. At the same time, Rinaldo Orsini, Archbishop of Florence, Giacomo Santa Croce, and other adherents of the family were put in prison. Cardinal Orsini’s palace and all his property were confiscated by Alexander VI. The other Cardinals inter­ceded for him, but without effect. The Pope declared that his treachery and participation in the captains’ conspiracy could not be left unpunished. In Rome the numerous arrests created quite a panic. Many fled from the city, so that at last Alexander found it necessary to send for the Conservators, and assure them that all the guilty persons had now been disposed of; the other citizens were to remain in Rome and enjoy the Carnival. In the latter respect he himself set them the best example.

On the 5th of January, Jofre Borgia set out to occupy Monte Rotondo and the other strongholds of the doomed family. This was the signal for a final effort to avenge themselves on the part of the remains of the Orsini party in combination with the Savelli and a few of the Colonna. They entrenched themselves in Cere and Bracciano, and on the 23rd January attacked the Ponte Nomentano. The attack was repulsed; but the Pope was so much alarmed that he had the Vatican barricaded and commanded Jofre to return at once.

On the 20th February 1503, the Pope advised the Cardinals to fortify their palaces, for there was fear of an attack from the Orsini. Two days later Cardinal Orsini died after an illness of twelve days. The report that he was poisoned by the Borgia was widely circulated, but the truth of this is doubtful. Such was the death of the man who, next to Ascanio Sforza, had the greatest influence in procuring the election of Alexander VI.

Meanwhile Caesar had advanced against the Orsini from Umbria, and, devastating the country as he went along, had made himself master of all the places belonging to Giovanni Giordano Orsini with the exception of Cere and Bracciano, which last was their chief stronghold. A short time after, it was said that the Duke had been seen in Rome; but no one could be sure, as he always wore a mask when he went out. Meanwhile the war against the Orsini dragged on. Cere did not fall until the beginning of April; 6000 cannon balls had been discharged at this fortress. Upon this Giovanni Giordano Orsini concluded an armistice (4th April) and be­took himself to his protector, the King of France, for aid in the negotiation to follow. Louis at that moment was greatly disturbed at the unfavourable turn taken by events in Naples.

In April the Spaniards, under Gonsalvo de Cordova, had opened the campaign with a brilliant victory over the French. On the 16th of May the Spanish General entered Naples in triumph. Louis XII, however, was not disposed to relinquish this noble possession without a struggle, and a new army was immediately equipped.

The French reverses in Naples were of great advantage to Caesar. He could now ask a high price for his assistance, and it was not necessary to consider France so much as heretofore in shaping his plans. The important point now was to get money so as to have as strong an army as possible wherewith to control the impending disturbances. Even on the 29th March the Venetian Ambassador reports that in the Consistory of that day it had been resolved by the Cardinals that a Bull should be issued to create eighty new offices in the Court; the price of each was to be 760 ducats. “I leave it to your highness to count how much money the Pope has secured.”

These were innocent expedients in comparison with others adopted by the man before whom all Rome, not excepting the Pope himself, trembled. In the night of the 10th of April, the wealthy Cardinal Michiel died after two days of violent vomiting. Recent investigations have had the effect of acquitting Caesar of many crimes laid upon him by the hatred of his contemporaries, but the death of Cardinal Michiel is not one of these. It is extremely probable that Caesar poisoned the Cardinal in order to obtain the money that he wanted. Still, however, there was not enough. On May 31 the Venetian Envoy, A. Giustinian, writes: “Today there was a Consistory. Instead of four new Cardinals, as people expected and as the Pope had said, nine were nominated. Five of these are Spaniards, Giovanni Castelar of Valencia, Francesco Remolino, Francesco Sprats, Jacopo Casanova, and Francesco Iloris; three are Italians, Niccolo Fiesco, Count of Lavagna, Francesco Soderini, and Adriano da Corneto; one is a German, Melchior Copis von Meckau, Bishop of Brixen. Most of them are men of doubtful reputation; all have paid handsomely for their elevation, some 20,000ducats and more, so that from 120,000 to 130,000 ducats have been collected. If we add to this 64,000 ducats from the sale of the offices in the Court, and what Cardinal Michiel left behind him, we shall have a fine sum. Alex­ander VI is showing to the world that the amount of a Pope’s income is just what he chooses.”

There was another side also to this creation of Cardinals on 31st May. It indicated a change in the Borgia politics, an inclination to draw nearer to Spain and retire from France consequent on the latter’s humiliation. But no decision was come to as yet. “The reversal of a policy which had now been followed for some years was in itself a thing not to be done hastily, and the objections to it were heightened by the approach of a large French army destined for the reconquest of Naples, and which was now close to the Papal frontier. Thus all was tension and uncertainty.” One thing, however, is clear, and that is, that at this time Alexander and Caesar were preparing to fly at higher game. The Pope was in robust health and felt as young as ever; they both looked forward to a prolonged Pontificate. Consequently, Caesar now began to look forward with confidence to the Lordship of the whole of Tuscany. The Ferrarese Envoy reports on the 10th of August that negotiations were going on between the Pope and the Emperor, to obtain for the Duke the investiture of Pisa, Siena, and Lucca. At the same time Caesar’s troops had occupied Perugia and there awaited his orders. At this point a higher hand inter­vened; the forbearance of God had reached its appointed term.

The heat and drought of August had caused the malaria that year to be worse than usual, and it claimed a greater number of victims than was its wont. On the 5th of the month Juan Borgia, Cardinal of Monreale, died suddenly. The Envoys mention a great deal of sickness, which was not, they say, caused by the Plague, but by a specially virulent form of Roman fever, which was very speedily fatal. When the Venetian Ambassador was with the Pope on the 7th of August he found him in low spirits. Alexander told him that the sickness and many deaths in Rome alarmed him, and that he meant to take great care of himself. His depression was increased by the approach of the French troops.

The 11th of August was the anniversary of the Pope’s election. Alexander appeared at the celebration in the chapel, and the Ambassador was again struck by his air of depression in contrast with the gaiety which was habitual to him on all such occasions. After Mass he conversed with the Ambassador on the critical situation in regard to politics. “See,” he said, “how disastrous it has been that no understanding should have been arrived at between your Signoria and ourselves.” Some days before, Alexander had watched from his window the funeral procession of Juan Borgia, who like himself had grown very corpulent. As it passed the Pope exclaimed, “This month is a bad one for fat people.” The next moment an owl flew in and fell at his feet. “A bad, bad omen” he cried out and hastily retired into his bedroom.

On the morning of Saturday, 12th August, the Pope felt unwell; in the afternoon vomiting and fever came on and lasted throughout the night. At the same time Caesar, who was on the point of starting to join his troops at Perugia, also sickened. “The cause,” writes the Venetian Envoy on 13th August, “seems to have been that a week ago (therefore on the 5th or 6th of August) both Alexander and Caesar dined at a villa belonging to Cardinal Adriano da Corneto and remained there till after nightfall. All who were there fell ill, Cardinal Adriano first, who on Friday had a severe attack of fever, which was repeated on the two following days.”

August is well known to be the most dangerous month in Rome, and at that season it is especially perilous to be out of doors about nightfall. The malignant form of plague, often brought on by an imprudence of this sort, is called Malaria perniciosa: in a few hours the temperature may rise to above 106 and the strongest constitution may succumb to the violence of the poison. The neighbourhood of the Vatican is one of the quarters in which malaria is especially prevalent. An Envoy on the 14th of August o remarks that no one can be surprised that Alexander and Caesar were ill, as the bad air in the Papal Palace had caused much sickness there.

On the 13th of August the physicians endeavoured to relieve the Pope by copious bleeding, a favourite remedy in those days. During all that day he was more comfortable and played at cards; but after a fairly good night another attack of fever supervened on the 14th, resembling that of the 12th, so that those about him became very anxious. Although it seemed a risk to repeat the bleeding of a patient of seventy-three, this was done. The Pope felt somewhat better on the 15th and had no fever, but on the 16th it returned.

Caesar also grew worse; the fever fits succeeded each other more and more rapidly. This, and his political anxieties, acted injuriously on the Pope’s health. The, physicians considered his case very serious, but the details were kept as secret as possible; even Beltrando Costabili, the Ferrarese Envoy, could find out but little. According to a report of his the whole of the next day (17th) Alexander was more at ease and quieter, so that Costabili’s agent hoped that the fever might not return the following day, or only slightly. Here the Pope’s illness is distinctly designated as the well-known Terzana; it was feared that it might develop into a Quartana. On the 18th he had a bad night, the fever returned with greater violence than before, and the case was felt to be hopeless. Alexander made his confession to the Bishop of Carinola and received Holy Communion. In the Palace the greatest excitement prevailed; many lost no time in removing their property to a place of security. On the 18th Caesar Borgia was better; the younger man had strength to battle against the malady, but for Alexander, at seventy-three, the last hour had struck. About 6 o’clock in the evening he had a fit of suffocation and became unconscious; for a moment he came to him­self again, but immediately after passed away, about the hour of vespers.

In consequence of the simultaneous illness of both the Pope and his son, and the rapid decomposition of the body, which, considering the heat of the weather, was perfectly natural, the cry of poison was raised at once; but on the 19th of August the Mantuan Envoy writes that there was no sort of ground for supposing this. All the best informed contemporary writers are here agreed; neither the Venetian Ambassador Giustinian nor Jakob Burchard say anything of poison. These men were in Rome at the time of Alexander’s death, which Guicciardini, Bembo, Jovius, Peter Martyr, and Sanuto were not. The narrative of the latter is self-contradictory in many places and must obviously be relegated to the realm of fiction. It is clear that Alexander succumbed the well-known Roman fever; one of the physicians thought the actual death was caused by a fit of apoplexy. The interval of seven or eight days between the dinner and the first appearances of illness, and the periodical character of the fever fits, quite excludes the hypothesis of poison.

In accordance with Roman usage, Alexander was buried at the end of twenty-four hours in the Church of S. Andrea, then called S^ta Maria della Febbre, adjoining S. Peter’s. The funeral was of the simplest character; the enemies of the Borgia made no secret of their joy; they loaded the dead man with abuse, and circulated a story of the devil’s having come to fetch his soul.

Although some friends were not wanting who strove to draw attention to Alexander’s better qualities, the general judgment on the life and career of this unhappy man was a most unfavourable one. When Julius II, who was an implacable enemy of the Borgia, occupied the Papal Chair, it became usual to speak of Alexander as a “Maraña” and the impersonation of all that was horrible and bad. The noble Marcantonio Altieri openly expressed his satisfaction that now “all the Borgia had been uprooted from the soil and cast out as poisonous plants, hated by God and noxious to man,” and this was by no means the worst of the things that were said.*He was universally described as a monster and every sort of foul crime attributed to him.

Modern critical research has in many points judged him more fairly and rejected some of the worst of the accusations against him. But even though we must beware of accepting without examination all the tales told of Alexander by his contemporaries, “even serious and honest historians are not wholly free from bias”; and though the bitter wit of the Romans found its favourite exercise in tearing him to pieces without mercy, and attributing to him in popular pasquinades and scholarly epigrams a life of incredible foulness, still so much against him has been clearly proved, that we are forced to reject the modern attempts at whitewashing him as an unworthy tampering with truth. “The reign of this Pope, which lasted eleven years, was a serious disaster, on account of its worldliness, openly proclaimed with the most amazing effrontery, on account of its equally unconcealed nepotism, lastly, on account of his utter absence of all moral sense both in public and private life, which made every sort of accusation credible, and brought the Papacy into utter discredit, while its authority still seemed unimpaired. Those better qualities which Alexander undoubtedly did possess shrink into nothing in the balance when weighed with all this.” From a Catholic point of view, it is impossible to blame Alexander VI too severely, and, indeed, he has met with his deserts from Egidius of Viterbo in his reign of Leo X, and later, from the Annalists of the Church, Raynaldus and Mansi. It was the very first duty of a Pope in those days of growing worldliness to make every effort to stem the tide of corruption; but Alexander, like any secular Prince, cared for nothing but the advancement of his family. Even when the shock of his son’s death recalled him for a moment to the sense of his true vocation, his repentance was of the shortest duration, and he very soon returned to his old ways and lived the immoral life of the secular sovereigns of his day.

Thus he who should have been the guardian of his time, saving all that could be saved, contributed more than any other man to steep the Church in corruption. His life of unrestrained sensuality was in direct contradiction with the precepts of Him whose representative on earth he was; and to this he gave himself up to the very end of his days, but it is noteworthy that in matters purely concerning the Church, Alexander never did anything that justly deserves blame; even his bitterest enemies are unable to formulate any accusation against him in this respect. Her doctrines were maintained in all their purity. It seemed as though his reign were meant by Providence to demonstrate the truth that though men may hurt the Church they cannot harm her.

In the Church there have always been unworthy priests as well as bad Christians; and that no one might be scandalised by this, our Lord Himself has foretold it. He likens her to a field in which the tares grow up with the wheat; to a net in which are both good and bad fish; even amongst His disciples he endured a Judas.

Just as the intrinsic worth of a jewel is not lessened by an inferior setting, so the sins of a priest cannot essentially affect his power of offering sacrifice or administering Sacraments or transmitting doctrine. The personal holiness of the priest is, of course, of the highest importance for the lives of the faithful, inasmuch as he constitutes a living example for them to follow, and compels the respect and esteem of those who are outside. Still the goodness or badness of the temporary minister can exercise substantial influence on the being, the divine character, or the holiness of the Church; on the word of revelation; on the graces and spiritual powders with which she is endowed. Thus, even the supreme high priest can in no way diminish the value of that heavenly treasure which he controls and dispenses, but only as a steward. The gold remains gold in impure as in pure hands. “The Papal office belongs to a higher sphere than the personality of its occupant for the time being, and can neither gain nor lose in its essential dignity by his saintliness on one side, or his unworthiness on the other”. Even the first Pope, S. Peter, had sinned deeply in denying his Lord and Master: and yet the office of Supreme Pastor was given to him. In the words of the great S. Leo:  The dignity of Peter does not fail even in an unworthy heir.

CHAPTER XI.

Alexander VI.’s action in the Church. The Great Jubilee of the year 1500. Edict for Censorship of the Press. Missions in America and Africa. Papal Decision in regard to the Colonial  Possessions of Spain and Portugal.

Notwithstanding the predominance of secular interests throughout the whole of the reign of Alexander VI, this Pope was not inactive in matters regarding the Church. In all essentials, in spite of abuses, the government of the Church was steadily carried on; no doubt, however, this was partly owing to the marvellous perfection of her organisation.

Like his predecessors, Alexander gave a hearty support to the monastic orders, enriched them with many privileges and did all he could to secure and promote their well-being and their work. Innocent VIII had in 1490 granted to the Church of the Augustinians the same indulgences as could formerly only be gained by visiting the stations in Rome. Alexander VI in 1497 bestowed on this order, permanently and exclusively, the office of Sacristan of the Chapel of the Papal Palace. From that time a special prayer for the Pope was ordered to be said in all Augustinian Churches and Convents. Thus the Order, from which the most violent and powerful foe of Rome was to proceed, was bound to the Holy See by the closest ties.

The Dominicans were not only confirmed in their inquisi­torial powers, but also favoured in many other ways. The Pope punished those who laid hands on the property of the Order, encouraged devotion to S. Thomas Aquinas, promoted the reform and foundation of Dominican convents, and granted to the Dominicans equal privileges with those of the other mendicant orders, and the right of establishing confra­ternities of the Rosary. The old and very extensive privileges of the Franciscans were also confirmed afresh by him. Substantial favours were bestowed upon the Congregation of Canons Regular of S. Saviour by Alexander and on the Gesuati. The protection of the Pope was also extended to the Congregation of Augustinian Hermits in Italy, who were known by the name of Apostolic Brothers. Innocent VIII in 1484 had bestowed on this body a more solid organisation by binding them to observe the rule of the Hermits of S. Augustine and giving them a habit. Alexander VI completed the work of his predecessor in a Bull of the year 1496. Among other things it was ordained that in future they might take solemn vows according to the rule of the Augustinian Hermits, and enjoy all their privileges. Their General resided at S. Rocco in Genoa. In the year 1497 he united the Cistercian convents of Upper and Central Italy into one congregation, to which he gave the name of the Congregation of S. Bernard.

In 1494 the Order of the Knights of S. George, and in 1501 the Order of Nuns founded by S. Jane of Valois for the closer imitation of the Blessed Virgin, received the Papal approbation. A more important approbation was that bestowed by him on the Order of S. Francis of Paula in 1493, and in 1505 on his Tertiaries, to whom he granted many privileges. In the year 1496 the Pope reconstituted the Order of the Holy Sepulchre. Alexander VI frequently came forward as the protector of convents against their oppressors, whether ecclesiastical or secular, and energetically withstood encroachments on the liberties of the Church.

In this respect Alexander’s attitude in regard to the absolutist pretensions of the authorities in the Netherlands' is especially interesting. In spite of the supineness of the clergy in that country, who took no notice of the infringements of their privileges and immunities, the Pope acted with the greatest decision. Quite at the beginning of his reign, he threatened the magistrates of Brabant with excommunication, but they refused to desist from their encroachments on the rights of the Church. Immediately he addressed himself to Duke Philip of Burgundy, pointing out how the liberties of the Church were violated in his dominion, especially in Brabant, and calling upon him to put a stop at once to these proceedings. A Brief was despatched to the Bishop of Liege, sharply rebuking him for having neglected the defence of the rights of the Church, and for not having informed the Holy See, and commanding him, under pain of suspension and Interdict, to repair his negligence without delay. Similar letters were written to many other persons who were in a position to have influence in the Netherlands.

Alexander took pains on many occasions to promote devotion to S. Anne and the Blessed Virgin. In re­gard to the latter, the ordinance restoring the ringing of the Angelus in August 1500, was an act of wide and lasting importance. No canonisations took place during this Pope’s reign, but several causes were intro­duced, and the investigations in regard to conduct and miracles were conducted with great care and circumspection. Papal instructions on these points are to be found in connection with Bishop Benno, Henry VI of England, and S. Frances of Rome. Amongst other ecclesiastical acts of Alexander VI.should be men­tioned his confirmation of the Bull of Sixtus IV on the Immaculate Conception of Our Lady, and in the year 1501, his affirmative decision of the question as to whether it was allowable for the Bishop Albert of Wilna to take up arms to defend himself against the Tartars. On the 20th of'August of the same year, he declared the form of baptism in which the passive mood is used (which is customary amongst the Ruthenes in Lithuania and others of the Greek rite) to be valid, and forbade the reiteration of the Sacrament; grounding his decision on that of Eugenius IV. On the 8th of June, 1451, he wrote to the Grand Duke of Lithuania, admonishing him to do everything in his power to persuade his consort to “abjure the Russian religion, and accept the Christian Faith.” In the year 1496 Constantine, Prince of Georgia, sent the Basilian monk Nilus to Rome with overtures for a reunion in religion and an alliance against the Turks. Alexander in reply sent him the Decree of the Council of Florence and other information on the subject.

In accordance with the decree of Paul II, that each twenty-fifth year should be a Jubilee, the year 1500 was so kept under Alexander VI, and preparations for it were begun in 1498.

On the 28th March 1499, the Jubilee Bull was discussed in Consistory, and it was decided that all other indulgences and faculties should be suspended during this year. All the Cardinals gave their assent to this last resolution, which in many places, and especially in Germany, gave considerable dissatisfaction, and on the same day the Bull was published. On the 22nd December a similar Bull was brought out in Rome in Latin and Italian, granting special privileges to the Penitentiary of S. Peter; and all the clergy of the city were invited to the opening of the Jubilee.

The Pope himself performed this ceremony on Christmas Eve, 1499, having taken pains to settle all the details be­forehand with his Master of Ceremonies. The ceremonial observed on these occasions was no modern invention, but, as the Bull of indiction expressly says, was founded on ancient rites and full of symbolic meaning. The Pope was carried to S. Peter’s arrayed in full pontificals, holding a gilt lighted candle in one hand and blessing the people with the other. All the Cardinals and Prelates who accompanied him also carried lighted candles. The pro­cession stopped in front of the Church, and the Papal Choir began the usual Antiphons. Then the Pope proceeded on foot to the so-called sacred door, where a hammer was put into his hand in token of the power entrusted to him, in virtue of which he “openeth and no man shutteth; shutteth and no man openeth” (Apoc. III. 7). With a few blows of the hammer he made a breach in the wall with which this door is closed, the bricks having already been loosened, and the rest was cleared away by workmen. This part of the ceremony occupied about half an hour. Then the Pope, holding the lighted candle in his left hand, entered first, the rest following, while the Te Deum was intoned; after which Vespers were sung immediately.

On the 14th of April the Pope visited the four principal churches in order to gain the Jubilee Indulgence. On Easter Day he celebrated the High Mass in S. Peter’s, and afterwards gave the solemn blessing and absolution. According to Burchard, the crowd which assisted at these solemnities numbered 200,000 persons. Although this may be an exaggeration, still it is certain that, in spite of the troubles of the times and the insecurity in Rome itself, the numbers attending this Jubilee were very large. Even in December a vast crowd of pilgrims passed through Florence. A Bull to provide for the safety of the way­farers on their journey was issued in February; and many precautionary measures were adopted to maintain order in Rome, though they failed to prove completely effectual. Nevertheless visitors still continued to arrive. A pious Camaldolese monk was greatly consoled by the sight of so many thousands who had not perished in Sodom.  “God be praised,” he exclaimed, “who has brought hither so many witnesses to the Faith”. “All the world was in Rome” (orbis in urbe), writes Sigismondo de’ Conti. No difficulties or dangers seemed capable of checking the inflow of pilgrims, showing how deeply rooted the Faith still was in the hearts of the various nations. Not a few succumbed to the Plague which was raging in many parts of the States of the Church. Those who came by sea were in danger of being captured by pirates, and Alexander stationed a cruiser at Ostia for their protection. By land, the Italians especially suffered much from the hated French troops, nevertheless a great number appeared.

Thousands arrived from Germany, the Netherlands, and Hungary. “Men and women, widows and maidens, monks and nuns,” says Trithemius, “came flocking to Rome to gain the Indulgence.” In the Confraternity-book of the Hospital of S^to Spirito in Rome in the month of January, 1500, not less than 150 Hungarian pilgrims are entered, and in the course of the year they numbered more than 500. Nor were the Italians behindhand. The Neapolitans had a procession of their own, in which the venerated picture of S^ta Maria del Carmine was carried, many scourging themselves as they walked till the blood came. The fact that the deaths of foreigners in Rome between Christmas and S. John's Day were estimated at 30,800, shews how large the number of pilgrims must have been.

Amongst the celebrities who made this pilgrimage, the first to be mentioned is Nicholas Copernicus, who arrived in Rome about Easter, and remained there a whole year. He lectured then, but not, as is almost universally supposed, in the capacity of a mathematical professor at the High-school, but as a private teacher, giving the lectures freely, according to the custom of the time. Amongst his hearers were many distinguished and learned men. Michael Angelo and Alessandro Farnese (afterwards Paul III) are supposed to have been amongst them. Of Italian pilgrims one of the most notable was Elizabetta Gonzaga, the wife of Guidobaldo of Urbino. It was a perilous enterprise, as at that time Caesar Borgia was planning his attack on Urbino, but in spite of the dissuasions of her brother she insisted on undertaking it. She went incognita with one or two attendants, and only remained a few days, merely long enough to gain the Indulgence. This lady, and numbers of other women, were only brought to Rome, where they must have seen so much to grieve them, by genuine piety. Even those who, like Sigismondo de’ Conti, were far from being hostile to the Borgia, could not conceal their disapproval of Alexander’s unrestrained nepotism. Caesar was incessantly asking for money to carry out his enterprises in the Romagna, and his father, without another thought, handed over to him all the receipts from the Jubilee, which, as Sigismondo says, former Popes, such as Nicholas V and Sixtus V, had employed in restoring and adorning the churches of Rome.

Towards the end of the Jubilee year Rome was visited by a great calamity. On the 1st November, an eye-witness writes, after several days of rain the Tiber began to over­flow, and the houses along its banks were flooded. In two more days the Vatican was cut off from the rest of the city, and on the 4th the waters rose to such a height that many churches and houses were flooded. This high water lasted fifteen hours, after which the inundation subsided; but the streets were smothered in mud and hardly passable. People consoled themselves as best they could by saying it was not as bad as that of five years before.

In December the Jubilee in Rome was prolonged until the Feast of the Epiphany and extended first to the whole of Italy and then to the whole of Christendom. According to these Bulls, all Christians living at a distance from Rome might, in the following year, gain the great Indulgence with­out visiting the city, by fulfilling certain conditions and paying a certain sum. The Pope left all moneys collected in Venetian territory in the hands of the Republic for the war against the Turks. The same thing was done in Poland, though there the money was not employed for the purpose specified. In Italy, Caesar had the effrontery to appropriate the Jubilee moneys on his own authority. The Florentine historian Nardi relates how his emissaries appeared in Florence and demanded the money in the Jubilee chest, “to enable him to pay the soldiers who were plundering us, and it was no small sum.” The knowledge that these things were done, goes a good way towards explaining the resistance which those who were commis­sioned to preach the Jubilee Indulgences met with in Switzerland as well as in Germany. Cardinal Peraudi had to put up with all sorts of harassing restrictions in the empire, and to undertake that all the money there collected should be handed over untouched to the administration for the Crusade.

This Cardinal took advantage of his visit to Germany to endeavour to do something for the revival of religion amongst the people, taking up to some extent the work of Nicholas of Cusa. He himself preached to the common people, though he had to employ an interpreter. He devoted himself especially to the reform of the convents, many of which had become sadly relaxed. He also laboured to put down concubinage amongst the clergy, and, on the other hand, to defend their privileges and the liberty of the Church.

If Alexander VI did nothing towards the reform of the Church, yet he was not wanting in earnest care to preserve the purity of her doctrine. His Censorial edict for Germany, dated 1st June, 1501, is a very important document in this respect.

In this, which is the first Papal pronouncement on the printing of books, it is declared that the art of printing is extremely valuable in providing means for the multiplica­tion of approved and useful books; but may be most mischievous if it is abused for the dissemination of bad ones. Therefore, measures must be taken to restrain printers from reproducing writings directed against the Catholic Faith or calculated to give scandal to Catholics. The Pope has been credibly informed, that in many places, especially in the Dioceses of Cologne, Mayence, Treves, and Magdeburg, many books and pamphlets have been, and still continue to be, printed, containing various errors and perverted doctrines. “Since” the Bull goes on to say, “we desire to put a stop to so detestable an evil without any delay, in accordance with the duty imposed upon us by our pastoral office, we hereby, in virtue of our apostolical authority, forbid all printers and their assistants residing in the above named Dioceses, under pain of excommunication latae sententiae, and a fine to be imposed by the Archbishops of Cologne or their Vicars-General or other officials, and paid into the Apostolic Chancery, from henceforth either to print or cause to be printed, any book, pamphlet, or work of any sort, without first submitting the same to the above named Archbishops or their Vicars-General or officials, and obtaining their express permission, gratuitously given. Further, we lay it upon the Archbishops and their Vicars and officials as a duty of conscience, not to grant this permission without examining the books in question, or causing them to be examined by capable and Catholic persons, so as to prevent anything from being printed that is contrary to the Catholic Faith or ungodly or capable of causing scandal. And because it is not enough to guard against the future printing of bad books without providing that those already printed shall be suppressed, in virtue of our authority we charge the said Archbishops, Vicars and officials to command all printers and other persons residing in their respective Dioceses, what­ever may be their dignity, position or condition, within a certain fixed time, to notify all printed books in their possession to the said Archbishops, Vicars or officials, and without prevarication of any kind, to deliver up whatever books or treatises shall be judged by them to contain anything contrary to the Catholic Faith, or ungodly, or capable of causing scandal, or ill-sounding in any way, equally under pain of excommunication and a fine to be determined as aforesaid.”

In Italy Alexander VI energetically repressed the heretical tendencies which were especially prevalent in Lombardy. On the 31st of January 1500, two inquisitors were sent by him with letters of recommendation to the Bishop of Olmutz, to proceed against the very numerous Picards and Waldensians in Bohemia and Moravia, who led extremely immoral lives. Ever since the year 1493 Alexander had been taking great pains to win back the Bohemian Utraquists; but these efforts had failed completely.  When in the year 1499 some of the more moderate Utraquists showed an inclination to be reconciled with the Church, Alexander had the matter discussed in Consistory and bestowed special powers on the clergy in Prague.

In common with most other Popes of the 15th Century, Alexander VI showed great toleration to the Jews; he protected them both in Rome and Avignon. At the same time, he forbade the Spanish Dominicans to receive converted Jews into their Order.

The indulgence shown to the Jews was, however, in a great measure connected with politics; and the concessions granted by Alexander VI to the Spanish Monarchs in regard to the Inquisition, which went far beyond what was allowable, were equally due to political motives.

The judicial proceedings against the crypto-Jews or Marana in the States of the Church, instituted by Alexander VI in 1493, were also motived by Spanish influence. When, later, he discovered that they had made their way into the Court he was unsparing in his determination to root them out. Peter d’Aranda, Bishop of Calahorra, and his bastard son, who had obtained the office of Protonotary, were tried in the year 1498, degraded, and imprisoned in the Castle of St. Angelo. They were accused of denying the doctrines of the Trinity, the sufferings of Christ, Hell, Purgatory, and Indulgences. Forty crypto-Jews in all were brought before the Court, the majority of whom abjured their errors.

Alexander exerted himself not only to maintain the purity of the Christian faith, but also, to provide for its propagation. The magnificent discoveries of the Portuguese and Spaniards offered a wide field to the Church in this direction. It is consoling to note how much, even under Alexander VI, was done in the way of spreading the knowledge of the Gospel amongst the heathen.

Greenland, being that part of America which was in earliest communication with Europe, was naturally also the first to profit by the pastoral care of the Popes. According to the Scandinavian Sagas, Christianity was introduced into Greenland by S. Olaf II, King of Norway, between A. D. 1015-30. This account is confirmed by a letter of Nicholas V of 22nd September, 1448, addressed to the Bishop of Skalholt and Holar in Iceland.

The occasion of this letter was a request from the Greenlanders to the Pope to send them new priests and a Bishop. In the first decade of the 15th Century the heathen pirates from the neighbouring coast had swooped down upon their country, slaughtered the greater part of the Christian inhabitants and carried off the rest into slavery. The churches were all destroyed excepting nine, which were situated in remote places, difficult of access. In the course of time some of the captives managed to make their escape and return to their homes, where they now found themselves destitute of all spiritual aids, as the churches that still remained were in places inaccessible to many of them, and now the few priests who were left had all died. Nicholas V desired the Bishops to supply their needs.

His letter, however, does not seem to have reached its destination, and in the reign of Innocent VIII the Green­landers again addressed Rome. They described their sad plight in touching words. The sea surrounding their inhospitable coast was so blocked with ice that in the course of eighty years no foreign vessel had anchored there. Left without a Bishop and without priests, many had forgotten the Faith of their fathers and relapsed into heathenism. The only relic which remained to those who still cherished it was the corporal with which the last priest had celebrated his last Mass. This was brought out once a year and publicly venerated. In response to this appeal Innocent VIII, at the close of his reign, appointed the zealous and self-sacrificing Benedictine monk Mathias, Bishop of Gardar or Greenland. Alexander in the year 1492 or 1493 confirmed this appointment, and commanded that the Bishop should receive all his nomination papers tax free.

Just at the time that the Bishop of Greenland was receiving his powers at Rome an event had occurred which was destined to make large demands on the pastoral care of the successor of S. Peter: Christopher Columbus had discovered the New World. A hot dispute arose almost immediately between Spain and Portugal as to the possession of the newly-found territory, and the Pope was called upon to mediate between them. The Holy See was still regarded by all Christian Princes and nations as the international arbiter, the highest tribunal for the decision of all national rights and important political questions. Acting on this principle, the Portuguese had turned to the Popes to obtain security in their rights over their discoveries along the West Coast of Africa. It was Calixtus III who, in one of these most useful decisions, granted to Portugal the exclusive rights of trading and founding colonies on the coast between Cape Bojador and Guinea. In the year 1479 Spain had acquiesced in this award at the peace of Alcacevas. No sooner had Columbus, who had been rejected by Portugal, returned from his famous voyage than King Emmanuel set up a claim to the newly-found lands on the ground of this treaty. The relations between the two countries soon became such that war seemed imminent. Justly estimating the importance of obtaining a decision from the Holy See, the astute King Ferdinand at once addressed himself to Rome. His confidential agent there was the Cardinal Bernardino Carvajal, who, in a very short time, achieved a marked success. On the 3rd and 4th May 1493, Alexander put his signature to three highly important documents. The first, dated 3rd May, confers on Spain an exclusive right of possession over all the islands and countries now discovered by Columbus and all future discoveries of his, on condition of propagating the Christian Faith in them, and provided such lands are not already occupied by a Christian power. Thus Spain received exactly the same rights and privileges as those which had been bestowed upon Portugal for her colonies on the West Coast of Africa. The second, dated the same day, described these rights in detail; while the third, dated 4th May, defined the limits of what we should now call the spheres of influence of Spain and Portugal. The boundary line between the two powers was drawn from the North to the South Pole, 100 Spanish leagues to the West of the most westerly island of the Azores; all that was East of the line belonged to Portugal, and all that was West of it to Spain. A later document of 28th September, 1493, added some further complementary details, amongst other things, granting all new discoveries, consequent 011 westerly or southerly voyages, to Spain.

The line of demarcation fixed by Alexander VI, which was pushed 270 leagues further to the West by the Treaty of Tordesillas on 7th June 1494, formed the basis of all negotiations and agreements between the two great colonising powers in regard to the partition of the New World. The peaceful settlement of a number of thorny boundary questions between Spain and Portugal was entirely due to Papal decisions, and should therefore justly be regarded as one of the glories of the Papacy. Nothing but complete misunderstanding and blind party spirit could turn it into a ground of accusation against Rome.

It is simply absurd to speak of Alexander VI as having given away what did not belong to him, and taken no account of the liberties of the Americans. The word “grant” here signifies nothing more than the confirmation of a title legitimately acquired; and was understood in that sense by contemporary and later theologians, and by the Spaniards themselves. How little such grants were looked upon as controlling the liberties of even heathen nations is shown by the fact that, in a similar concession to Portugal in 1497 the same word “grant” is used, with the condition appended of the free consent of the inhabitants. If this formula is wanting in the document of 1493, it is merely because it was understood as included in the title itself. In all these deeds the grant refers to the other European Princes and not to the populations of the New World. “These privileges conferred on the monarchs who received them, a right of priority in regard to the territories discovered by them. As nowadays patents are given for inventions and copyrights for literary productions and works of art, so in former times a Papal Bull, enforced by the censures of the Church, protected the laborious discoverer from having the hard-won fruits of his toil wrested from him by a stronger hand.”

As the choice by the Catholic Sovereigns of Alexander as arbiter was grounded in the first instance on the authority which he possessed as Pope, and their respect for the dignity of the Head of the Church, he was empowered to add to the perfect freedom of his decision, grounded on a full knowledge of the facts, the sanction of that apostolic authority which was their reason for selecting him as umpire in these important matters. He had power, and indeed was bound, to decide with the authority of the Church on these questions, which concerned the avoidance of bloodshed between Christian powers and the propagation of the Christian religion in those newly discovered countries. All grants were accompanied by the condition that the Spanish monarchs should bind themselves to promote the spread of Christianity.

In the preparations for Columbus’ second voyage, both Ferdinand and Isabella and Alexander took pains to provide missionary priests for the evangelisation of the native races. Their choice of a leader for the band of preachers shows with what care the selection was made. A friend of S. Francis of Paula, the Benedictine Bernard Boyl, was the first apostle of the New World. In a Brief of 25th June, 1493, Alexander VI conferred upon this distinguished and in every way most competent man and his twelve companions, all the powers and privileges which they needed for the success of their holy enterprise. Amongst his companions may be mentioned the celebrated Bartolomeo Las Casas, Fray Jorge, Commander of the Knights of Santiago, and Pedro de Arenas, who is supposed to have said the first Mass ever celebrated on the newly discovered islands. In the Instruction which Columbus received from the Spanish monarchs for his second and third voyages, the conversion of the new countries to Christianity is put before him as the consideration which should lie nearest to his heart. How rapidly the numbers of religious and converted Indians increased in Espanola (Hayti) may be seen from the fact that in 1501 negotiations were already begun in Rome for the establishment there of a separate hierarchy. At the instigation of the great Cardinal Ximenes in 1502 a number of Franciscan missionaries were sent to America. Alexander equally exerted himself to promote the spread of Christianity in the countries beyond the sea which had been discovered by the Portuguese:  their enterprises were regarded in Rome as Crusades for the Propagation of the Faith.

CHAPTER XII.

Alexander VI as a Patron of Art.

It is with a sense of relief that the historian now turns from all the moral miseries of the reign of Alexander VI to another region in which some things that were really great and beautiful were achieved.

Judging from the magnificent palace which he built for himself, while yet a Cardinal only, we should expect to find in Alexander a liberal patron of Art; and in fact, in spite of all the turmoil and confusion of his reign, his name is immortalised by its association with many splendid monuments in this domain.

The Pope’s attention was especially directed to the Trastevere, the northern half of Rome, the Leonine city, which had grown up out of ecclesiastical foundations and the various national hospitals, and become the most important division of the city. Containing the Church of S. Peter and the Castle of St. Angelo, and being, in the 15^th Century, the principal seat of the Court and of the Cardinals, it became the central point of the city, and by him was transformed into the handsomest quarter of Rome, a distinction which it retained until the reign of Clement VII. “These were the days of pageants, of ecclesiastical and secular processions and cavalcades, carnival-races, tournaments and bull-fights, the days in which the retinues of Lucrezia and Caesar Borgia were numbered by hundreds when they rode forth in state, and Cardinals, the scions of royal houses, vied with Princes in the splendour of their equipages when they went to the Vatican, days in which ecclesiastical decorum was trampled under foot by worldly vanity and profane pomp. ”

The great increase of street traffic in the Leonine city owing to the numbers of Cardinals, Prelates, and members of the Court who lived there, had already induced Sixtus IV to make a wide street, originally called by his name (now Borgo St. Angelo), running from the moat of the Castle of St. Angelo to the gate of the Papal Palace. Alexander VI added a second one parallel with this and called it the Via Alessandrina (now Borgo Nuovo and the main thoroughfare of this quarter).

This street was planned primarily on account of the Jubilee. In the Consistory of 26th November, 1498, the Pope spoke of the necessity of making room in the streets for the concourse of pilgrims that was to be expected, and desired Cardinal Raffaele Riario, who understood archi­tecture, to confer with other experts in these matters and see what would be required in the way of thoroughfares and bridges. In January 1499, this Cardinal was put in charge of the new approaches to the Vatican. In April the work was begun and carried through so rapidly that the new street was opened with' the Jubilee year on the 24th of December 1499. Unfortunately, one result of the Via Alessandrina was the complete destruction of an interesting ancient monument, the so-called Meta. Mediaeval antiquarians thought it to be the. tomb of Scipio Africanus; some went so far as to say it was that of Romulus. Some time before it had been divested of its marbles and transformed into an outwork of the, Castle of St. Angelo, and now was done away with altogether to make room for the opening of the new street.

The completion of the Via Alessandrina entailed other changes in its neighbourhood, and especially in the portion of the Castle of St. Angelo nearest the bridge.

During the course of his reign Alexander VI made extensive alterations in the Castle. The whole building was completely fortified in the best style of the day with parapets and towers, and surrounded by a wall and ditch. These works were begun immediately after his accession and hurried on in consequence of the approach of the French, and afterwards prosecuted with energy and more methodically. This is proved by inscriptions as well as by the entries of disbursements in the account-books. Antonio da Sangallo, Giuliano’s brother, was the architect and master of works. Substantial changes were made in the edifice, both internally and in its exterior. The old Porta Aenea in the wall of St. Angelo was thought too small and closed up, and a new gate built. The adjoining houses and vineyards were removed and the Piazza enlarged and paved to form the opening of the Via Alessandrina. A strong tower made of blocks of Travertine was erected by San­gallo, to command the bridge, which remained standing till the reign of Urban VIII. The outworks of the Castle were considerably strengthened and the ditch made broader and deeper. It was thought that the mainstream of the Tiber was to be diverted so as to flow through it. Sanuto reports in January 1496, that the cost of the works was estimated at 80,000 florins. The Pope frequently inspected them in person. He also secured to himself, by a special agreement, the possession of whatever might be found in the course of the excavations.

This precaution, which bears witness to the growing interest in the relics of antiquity, proved well-judged. In constructing the earthworks, the colossal bust of Hadrian which now adorns the Rotunda in the Vatican was dis­interred. I11 the interior a new staircase with shallow steps was put in, and a military magazine, water tanks, and five subterranean dungeons were constructed. Coins were struck to commemorate these works. After the gun­powder explosion of 1497, the upper rooms which had been destroyed, were rebuilt and decorated by Pinturicchio in the antiquated style then in vogue (the so-called grotesque). According to Vasari, the same master painted in a lower tower (probably that adjoining the bridge) a series of pictures representing the principal events in the first years of Alexander’s reign and containing many portraits. Unfortunately, not a trace remains of these paintings. The only indications of their existence are to be found in the inscriptions of the frescoes: these were written by the German, Laurent Behaim, who for twenty-two years was Maggiordomo to Rodrigo Borgia; they are in Hartmann Schedel’s collection. They included the meeting between Alexander VI and Charles VIII, and the profession of obedience and departure of this monarch.

The prison of Torre di Nona on the left bank of the Tiber was also fortified anew. These two strongholds completely commanded the stream, and, by their artillery, the greater part of the city.

The Arcade, which leads from the Castle of St. Angelo to the Vatican, was not built by Alexander as has been supposed by many; it was already in existence; but the Borgia arms affixed in many places show that it was extensively restored by him. One of these shields over the door of the court of the Swiss Guards bears the date 1492, and shows in what direction the Pope’s earliest apprehensions lay. We learn, from a report of the Ferrarese Envoy of 8th April 1499, that work was going on in the Arcade at that date.

A Bull of the year 1500 bestowed certain privileges on all who assisted in building the houses in the new Via Alessandrina.

The Porta Settimiana which closes the Via della Lungara was rebuilt and has remained unaltered up to the present day. Cardinal Juan Lopez de Valencia, a former secretary of Alexander, was commissioned by him to erect a fountain in the Piazza of S^ta Maria in Trastevere. That of Innocent VIII in the Piazza of S. Peter’s, which had also been newly paved, was adorned by Alexander with four gilt Bulls, the Borgia arms. Nor was the Vatican itself and its surroundings neglected. The Loggia used for the Papal Blessing was completed in the form depicted in Raphael’s fresco of the “Fire in the Borgo.” Within the Vatican a large number of nobly conceived works were executed. The architectural designs of Nicholas V were carried out, and the decoration of the Pope’s private apartments was entrusted to Pinturicchio, who had already before that time been painting in Rome. Till quite lately these rooms had been used for keeping the engravings in the Vatican Library and were only accessible to a few privileged persons. In the year 1889 the present Pope ordered this part of the Vatican to be restored, and when this is completed it is to be turned into a museum for objects of art of the mediaeval and Renaissance periods.

The dwelling rooms of Alexander VI (Appartamento Borgia) are on the ground floor of that part of the Vatican which lies between the Court of the Belvedere and the little Cortile del Papagallo. This portion was built by Nicholas III, and restored and enlarged by Nicholas V. It contains six rooms, the first is a spacious hall into which three nearly square smaller chambers open; these apartments are exactly under the famous Stanze which contain Raphael’s frescoes. The new part built by Alexander consists of a square tower (Torre Borgia), the upper storey of which, where the frescoes in memory of Pius IX now are, was the Pope’s private chapel, while the lower floor, divided into two rooms and connected with the older part by a short stair­case, closes the Appartamento Borgia on that side.

Almost immediately after his accession Alexander set to work at the renovation of these rooms and the erec­tion of the Tower. Their decoration was intrusted to Pinturicchio. He accomplished his task with a celerity which could only be explained by supposing that he largely availed himself of the help of others. A close inspection of the paintings makes it only too clear that this was the case. Pinturicchio by no means overworked himself; in fact in 1494 he slipped away to Orvieto and had to be recalled by a Brief from the Pope! However, both in their drawing and still more in their composition, the greater part of these paintings are certainly his work. “As a whole the work should justly be ascribed to him, and deserves the highest praise for the evenness of its execution, and the careful schooling and sagacious selection in regard to the parts assigned to them, of the pupils whom he evidently employed.”

The large hall through which the apartments were entered was used as an audience chamber, and called, on account of the portraits which it contained, the hall of the Popes. It was here that in the Summer of 1500 Alexander so narrowly escaped being killed by the falling in of the roof. Pinturicchio’s share in the paintings in this hall cannot be ascertained, as Leo X caused the whole of it to be decorated afresh in the style of the antique frescoes in the baths of Titus, by two pupils of Raphael, Perino del Vaga and Giovanni da Udine.

The three rooms which open into the Sala dei Papi remain in all essentials exactly as they were in the time of Alexander. Each of these chambers is lighted by one window looking into the Belvedere Court. The ceiling, consisting of a double-cross vault, was intersected length­wise by a broad arch resting on two pillars, thus forming two spans on the side-walls bounded by pointed arches; and on those facing, and containing the window, lunettes double the breadth of these. On these spans, paintings were executed under Pinturicchio’s direction, and all the rest was richly decorated with gold and stucco-work in which the Borgia arms, the Bull, repeatedly appears.

The subjects of the pictures in the first of these rooms are exclusively religious, taken from the lives of Christ and of the Blessed Virgin. In the arches of the ceiling the Kings David and Solomon, and the prophets Isaias, Jeremias, Malachias, Sophonias, Micheas, and Joel are represented in half-length figures. The most striking of the wall-paintings is the one of the Resurrection of Christ, before whom a Pope, unmistakeably Alexander VI, kneels in adoration, in full pontificals, but bare-headed, with the Tiara on the ground beside him. This admirable portrait and that of another ecclesiastic in the picture of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, are evidently from the hand of Pinturicchio himself, while the other paintings were probably executed by his pupils.

This picture is not only highly interesting as a portrait of the Pope in his prime, as his contemporaries knew him, but is noteworthy also because it explodes a story which, first set afloat by Vasari, has been repeated again and again. Vasari says that Pinturicchio painted over the door of one of the rooms in the palace a picture of the Virgin Mary, which was a portrait of Giulia Farnese, and in the same painting a likeness of Pope Alexander adoring her. In reality the only picture in which Alexander appears is that of the Resurrection of our Lord. There is a representation of the Madonna, but it is in the next room, and the Pope is not in it, nor is there any other picture in any of the rooms which corresponds with Vasari’s description. Evidently, he had never been inside the Appartamento Borgia.

The next room contains scenes taken from the lives of S. Catherine of Alexandria, S. Antony, and S. Sebastian, a picture of the Visitation and the story of Susanna. On the ceiling there are curious mythological representations of the history of Osiris and Io, probably plays on the Borgia arms, which a study of the poems of the Humanists of Alexanders Court might elucidate. It is overloaded with small figures and arabesques in stucco gilt, but many of the details are strikingly beautiful, and the pomp and richness of the decorations in this room have caused it to be looked upon as the masterpiece of the whole. The third room, like the first, is simpler. In the lunettes, personifications of Mathematics, Dialectics, Jurisprudence, Geometry, Arithmetic, Music, and Astronomy are painted, each accompanied by charming subsidiary figures. This room was probably the Pope’s study. Perugino is supposed to have had a hand in the painting of the frescoes. From this room the chambers in the Borgia Tower are reached by a marble staircase. According to the inscription the Tower was finished in 1494. The first room contains the figures of the twelve apostles and twelve prophets; each carries a scroll on which a sentence from the Creed or one of the prophets is written. The last, which is almost square and was probably the Pope’s bedchamber, has mythological representations of the planets on the ceiling. In each of the twelve lunettes a prophet and a sybil converse together. As in the former chamber, they carry scrolls containing prophecies of the kingdom of Christ.

In spite of the many faults that may be found with the separate paintings, the decoration of the Appartamento Borgia is, as a whole, an eminently harmonious and pleas­ing work.

Pinturicchio left Rome on account of the disturbances there caused by the invasion of Charles VIII; later he returned and painted the series of historical pictures of the events of the Pope’s life in the Castle of St. Angelo, which have already been mentioned, and executed the decorations in the grotesque style there which have also been mentioned before, and by which this new form of Art was introduced in Rome. This bright and fantastic style of Art was especially congenial to the taste of the age of Alexander VI. The serious and sculpturesque manner which belongs to fresco painting jarred on the sensuous frivolous habit of mind of the Borgia and their courtiers, in whom the aesthetic sense was so largely bound up with vanity and display. Continued development in this direction would have been fatal to Art. Thus, it was most fortunate that the stern influence of Julius II. recalled the painters whom he employed to a severer style.

In Rome itself Alexander completed the roof of S^ta Maria Maggiore which had been commenced by his uncle Calixtus. Tradition says that the first gold brought from America was used for the decoration of the panels there, which are the most charming of all Roman works of this kind. In April 1498, the Pope visited this church to inspect the work on its completion.

Restorations were executed by this Pope in S. Peter’s, in his own former titular Church of S. Niccolo in Carcere, in that of the SS. Apostoli and on the city walls. Grati­tude is due to Alexander for the rebuilding of the University; in its present form it dates from Alexander VII, who belonged to the Chigi family.

For jewellery and metal work but little was done by Alexander beyond the regular necessary orders for the golden roses, swords of honour for princes, chalices for churches, and medals. Beyond these the only large order for goldsmith’s work was that for the statues of the twelve Apostles in silver gilt, which were destined for his private chapel. Outside as well as inside Rome, Alexander did a great deal in the way of building. He spent 9000 ducats on the Castle of Subiaco, and extensive works were executed in the citadels of Tivoli, Civitella, Civita Castellana, Nepi, Osimo, and Civita Vecchia; the erection of a tower at Viterbo, and of dwelling-rooms in the citadel at Ostia. He also contributed to the building of the Cathedral at , Perugia, and helped in the erection of the shrine of S. Anthony at Padua.

The architectural energy displayed by Alexander had a stimulating effect upon the rest of Rome. New churches and palaces arose in all directions and quite changed the aspect of the city. The two greatest patrons of Art were the wealthy Cardinals Riario and Giuliano della Rovere. The latter built a palace for himself close to S. Pietro in Vincoli; his architect was Giuliano da Sangallo. Riario’s palace, the famous Cancellaria which had been begun by Alexander VI, was finished in his reign. This magnificent building, with its exquisite pillared halls, was for a long time attributed to Bramante. Recent research has shewn that this view is untenable. The Cancellaria is, on the contrary, one of the last productions of the Tuscan style which was superseded by Bramante. For the same reason Cardinal Castellesi’s splendid palace in the Borgo (now Giraud—Torlonia), the architecture of which is similar in character, cannot be the work of the author of the revival of the classical style in Rome.

Bramante came to Rome in the year 1499, and is supposed to have been employed by Alexander VI in the erection of the fountains mentioned in the beginning of this chapter. The remains of the ancient city which he then saw, inspired him with such enthusiastic admiration that, though already in his fifty-sixth year, he succeeded in an amazingly short time, in making the spirit of classical architecture completely his own. The result appeared in the famous Tempietto in the court of the Franciscan Convent near S. Pietro in Montorio, erected by him for Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain in commemoration of the martyrdom of the Prince of the Apostles. It was finished in the year 1502, and marks the change from the Lombard to the Roman Bramante, and the division between the arts of two centuries. It was no longer a mere imitation of classical forms, but a new creation so completely in the spirit of the old architecture that nothing in the building indicated its recent origin, and it was studied and measured by the architects of the day as though it had been a newly discovered monument of classical times.

There are equally no grounds for connecting Bramante’s name with the Church of the German Hospice of S^ta Maria dell’ Anima, the foundation-stone of which was laid by Matthaeus Lang, the Ambassador of the German Emperor, on the nth of April, 1500. The church was consecrated in 1511, and, according to the inscription, the fagade completed in 1514. The somewhat Gothic interior must undoubtedly be ascribed to a German architect.

The list of churches erected in the reign of Alexander VI includes, besides the German National Church, that of SS. Trinita de’ Monti on the Pincio, founded by Cardinal Brigonnet at the instigation of S. Francis of Paula, S. Rocco on the quay of the Ripetta, S. Maria di Loreto, a Confraternity-church not completed until the 17th Century, the Church of the Guild of the Bakers of Rome, and S^ta Maria di Monserrato, the Spanish National Church .

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BOOK 10

PIUS III. A.D.1503 & JULIUS II. 1503-1513.