[CHAPTER XXXV]
The Duke returns to his state—His struggle with the usurper—His victory at Montebartolo.
MEANWHILE the fatal wars originating in the League of Cambray were finally concluded, by a treaty offensive and defensive, between the young monarchs of France and Spain, guaranteeing their respective Italian possessions, which was signed at Nogon on the 13th of August, and was followed by that of London on the 29th of October, to which the Pope, the Emperor, Charles V., and Henry VIII., were parties. A general pacification having been thus obtained, Francesco Maria was further than ever from assistance in recovering his rights, yet the moment seemed not unfavourable for a single-handed attempt at asserting them. The numerous condottieri of all nations, thus thrown loose without prospect of new occupation, offered him their services on very easy terms, preferring employment on the credit of eventual pay, with the chance of interim pillage, to a life of listless beggary. The French and Venetians secretly favoured any adventure which should rid their territories of such odious inmates, and the Duke found no great difficulty in mustering, by the beginning of the year, three thousand eight hundred infantry and six hundred light horse. He placed the latter under his wife's cousin, Federigo Gonzaga, Marquis of Bozzolo, a young man who singularly mingled the staid wisdom of a veteran commander with the jovial manners of a free companion, and was thus equally the confidential adviser of his general, and the idol of his men. He had also become a personal enemy of Lorenzo, from having been deprived by him of the command committed to him by Giuliano de' Medici. This motley army was composed of tried soldiers, but was deficient in the material for a sustained campaign, notwithstanding the Duke's great exertions and sacrifices, by borrowing money at all hands, and by selling his wife's valuables, to provide for it the most necessary munitions. Before taking the field, he, on the 17th of January, addressed to the Sacred College, and publicly placarded, this earnest protest and vindication of his measures, which, although prolix, is an important manifesto.
"Most reverend and respected Lords: I have ever flattered myself that the long persecutions, which exposed me to so many perils, have not lost me your Reverences' favour, nor rendered you personally hostile to me; indeed, I feel assured that you have always looked upon me with compassion, and pitied my misfortunes. Nor did I enjoy, amid such adversities, any consolation more efficacious than my conviction that your Sacred College considers me in nowise worthy of such persecutions. But, as I always have been, am, and shall through life continue, your most humble and obedient servant, I hold myself bound to account to you for every action, and to defend myself from whatever imputations my enemies may have made to your very reverend Lordships, in whom repose all my hopes of protection.
"I presume that you have heard of my new enterprise against my own state, dictated, not by any desire to disturb, embarrass, or molest the interests of the Church, but rather by a wish to commit my life upon the hazard of the war, trusting that God will so direct its issue as that my innocence, so known to his divine providence, may be equally manifested to all the world. And in this assurance I proceed, not rashly or presumptuously, but aware that neither my resources, which are at present next to nothing, nor those of the most potent monarch, would suffice to resist the might of his Holiness, supported as he is by all the sovereigns and powers of Christendom; relying, moreover, on Almighty God, the King of kings, who can, and, as I hope, will, aid and defend me in this calamity, since He, to whom the hearts of men are open, knows that I have no other expedient left for my peace or life itself. After having betaken myself to the illustrious Lord Marquis, my father-in-law, at Mantua, and placed myself in a sort of voluntary imprisonment; after having lost my fortresses, and nearly all my worldly possessions; and having even made up my mind to promise his Holiness not to make any attempt upon my state, or disturb his nephew, to whom he had given it,—my sole wish being to live; still, so far from obtaining a relaxation of the censures, other and harsher interdicts were constantly issued against me, with positive injunctions to my distinguished father-in-law not to harbour me in his territory. Nay, I daily discover plots against my life by poison or the dagger; which, however, I attribute not to my Lord his Holiness, convinced that his clemency and goodness are irreconcilable with so ardent a thirst for my blood, and such perfidious ingratitude for the numberless benefits which, setting aside more remote recollections, he and all his house received from myself, when in straits similar to what I now endure, but rather to my enemies, who, in effecting my ruin, bring infamy upon his Holiness, and think thus to force me to flee for my life into Turkey.
"Compelled, then, by these considerations, I have set forward towards my own home, in the belief that, even should my death ensue, infamy never can; and in the conviction that, if it was right for his Holiness, whilst living as a cardinal in honour and dignity, to occasion the cruel sack of Prato, in order to regain those rights of citizenship from which he had been outlawed, it will be far more justifiable in me, an outlaw, not from one city, but from all Christendom, and deprived, not merely of my temporal dignities, but almost of the means of subsistence, the sacraments of the Church, and the intercourse of mankind, by a persecution which directs at once temporal and spiritual weapons against my station, life, and soul;—it will, I say, be justifiable for me to attempt my restoration to the state, of which, in the opinion of my own people, and of all men except his Holiness, I am the legitimate sovereign. I therefore supplicate your most reverend Lordships, by the pity due to such as have blamelessly fallen into misfortune, that you will deign to afford me protection, falling upon some means or expedient for mitigating the Pontiff's feelings; seeing I cannot but think that your influence, his own natural goodness, and my innocence must break down that obduracy which the unjust lips and guileful tongues of my adversaries have raised towards me in the mind of his Holiness; for, to regain his favour, there is no submission or endurable penance that I would refuse. And, should I not be deemed worthy of such compassion, you, my very reverend Lords, may at least condescend in silence to favour my cause with your best wishes and thoughts, and efficiently to recommend me to the unfailing bounty and justice of God. If my success be as signal as I hope, I shall stand indebted to your most reverend Lordships, believing that the Almighty has heard your reasonable desires, and extended his protection to me through your merits. Or, on the other hand, should my puny force not be overborne by the weight of the papal power, backed by spiritual weapons, it will be a palpable miracle, and proof sufficient that my innocence, though on earth condemned by men, will be cleared in Heaven by a higher and more equitable Judge. And so, ever kissing humbly your Reverences' hands, I commend myself to your favour. From Sermene, the 17th of January, 1517."
The narrative of Giraldi[269] is a safe authority as to many details of this enterprise, his uncle Benedetto having been an officer much in the Duke's confidence. We, therefore, venture to extract the harangue which he puts into the mouth of Francesco Maria, before marching from Sermene, not, of course, as his verbatim address to his followers, but as containing the understanding on both sides of their respective obligations.