seconded its brave resistance, and Alfonso was glad to return home in the autumn after sacrificing a portion of his army, while the Count of Urbino retired to his state. But during their joint service under the Florentine banner, Sigismondo had found opportunity for the exercise of his intriguing spirit. Demanding audience of Federigo, he remonstrated against his having aided in the establishment at Pesaro of a stranger, to the vast detriment of its hereditary seigneurs the Malatesta, so long neighbours and kindred of the Montefeltri; and in token of the thanklessness of that service he showed a bond, whereby Alessandro Sforza had allied himself with Sigismondo for the partition of Urbino and its dependencies. With such evidence before him, Federigo lent himself to an offer made by the false Lord of Rimini to turn the tables against Sforza, and to surrender all of the Montefeltrian territory that he had gained two years before, provided the Count would aid him in ousting the intruder from Pesaro. But with characteristic treachery he availed himself of a favourable moment to attack that town single-handed, and Federigo, satisfied of his utter faithlessness, rushed to the rescue, reclaiming by this new and noble-minded service the gratitude of Alessandro and of his brother. As soon as the latter was acknowledged Duke of Milan, he offered the Count of Urbino an engagement, in highly complimentary terms, stating that, after full consideration to whom he could worthily commit the conduct of his army, whereon depended the whole welfare of his state, he had fixed upon Federigo, having long known and clearly ascertained his extraordinary and unfailing fidelity, authority, gravity, prudence, promptitude, justice, wisdom, and diligence in the conduct of every great enterprise.[*88] The Tuscan war being over, this appointment was readily accepted by the Count, although suffering from a painful and dangerous accident.
Alinari
FRANCESCO SFORZA
From the XV. Century relief in the Bargello, Florence
In honour of the Duke's exaltation, he had proclaimed a tournament at Urbino, which Sanzi assures us was preceded by omens of evil. In particular, his mother, influenced by a horrible dream, besought him on her knees to abandon the intention. Though a firm believer in astrology, his mind repudiated this superstition, which however diffused among all ranks a feeling of vague anxiety as the jousting day approached. Just then there arrived Guidangelo de' Ranieri, a gentleman of Urbino, who had gained the prize in a recent passage of arms at Florence; he was met at the city gates by the Count, who embraced him, placing on his neck the knightly guerdon of a golden chain. Being asked to run a course with him, Guidangelo would have excused himself, and is even said to have earned a sharp reproof for forbearing to touch him, in deference to the prevailing apprehension of some impending mishap. On repeating the course, the knight being mounted on a small charger, his lance, after striking Federigo's armour, glanced upwards, and was shivered against his vizor. He received the stunning blow between the eyebrows, where it shattered the bone of his nose and knocked out his right eye. Recovering himself, however, he kept his seat, and consoled those who flocked around in consternation, by assuring them of a speedy cure, and that one of his two good eyes remaining, he would still be able to see better than with a hundred ordinary ones. This courageous bearing was perhaps the best recipe, and his cure appears to have been rapid and easy; but the damage to his features may be presumed from subsequent portraits representing him in profile, which, whilst concealing the loss of his eye, exaggerated the prominence of his broken nose.[*89]