This step, natural to a gallant soldier of almost desperate fortunes, with neither means nor inducement for a prolonged struggle, could have no recommendation for his opponent, now at the head of an overwhelming force, backed by the papal treasury and the united arms of most European powers. Lorenzo felt nettled at a proposal which it would have been folly to accept, but which could scarcely be declined without incurring a slur; and, after answering that he could entertain no such cartel until his challenger had evacuated those places which he had forcibly seized, his temper showed itself by arresting its bearers, notwithstanding their safe-conduct. The Spaniard was speedily released; but the secretary was sent to Volterra or Rome, to be disposed of by the Pope, where, with revolting treachery and meanness, he was subjected to imprisonment and torture, in the hope of drawing from him the secrets of his master, whose vigorous resistance Leo strongly suspected to be backed by the French monarch.
The war was now carried on by manœuvres and skirmishes, which have no interest beyond the light they throw on the spirit of this unequal contest. Among the reinforcements that flocked to the papal standard was an undisciplined band which crossed the Apennines from Tuscany, carrying fire and sword through the highlands of Montefeltro. The Duke was unable to leave the low country exposed by marching in person to the relief of his faithful mountaineers, but sent into these defiles a squadron of light horse, who, falling upon the rabble at unawares, amply avenged their excesses. On the 25th of March, the inhabitants of Montebaroccio, having voluntarily admitted a body of papal troops, were visited by severe retribution as a warning to others; the place was sacked and burned by the Spaniards, seven hundred men and fifty old women being put to the sword,—a repulsive comment upon the Duke's boast, that though the walls of his towns were held for others, the hearts they contained were all his own. These partial successes turned the tide of feeling somewhat more favourably for the della Rovere cause, and we learn from the Minio despatches, that the war, unpopular at Rome from the first, now occasioned great anxiety to the government, from the difficulty in raising funds to continue it. The Pope retired frequently to his villa at La Magliana, less from the love of field sports, than to indulge his chagrin.[*272] Such were his straits for money, that he deposited jewels in pawn with the Cardinal Riario, for a loan of 7000 ducats. This sum, with 5000 more, having been despatched to Pesaro in a convoy of waggons, was captured by the Duke, and along with it were found certain letters, written in name of his Holiness, advising Lorenzo, in the event of any suspicion attaching to the Gascons in his service, either to ship them at once for Lombardy, or to have them summarily massacred. These missives, having been circulated in the ecclesiastical camp, occasioned a prodigious ferment, and it was with the utmost difficulty that Lorenzo, by denying their authenticity, induced the French troops to remain under his command, until an opportunity offered of conciliating them by the plunder of Sta. Costanza.
After many complicated movements in the lower valley of the Metauro, attended with no decided advantage, and important only as having enabled the youthful Giovanni de' Medici to flesh that sword which soon after won him the laurels of a bright but brief career, the papal army sat down before Mondolfo. The resistance of that small town was encouraged by the state of the besiegers, and embittered by their savage reputation. The Minio despatches of this date represent them as suffering from a scarcity of provisions and a dearth of bread and wine, adding that "the captured castles envy the dead, by reason of the cruelties practised on the survivors." Its garrison consisted of two hundred Spaniards and three hundred militia, so determinedly supported by the inhabitants, that breaches opened during the day were made up before morning, mines were met by counter-excavations, and subterranean galleries were often scenes of death-struggles. Provoked by this obstinacy, Lorenzo swore never to raise the siege until he had razed the place to its foundations, put the males to the sword, and handed over the women to the Devil's service. But in the end of March, a few days after he had uttered this savage bravado, his own career was arrested. Whilst, with more bravery than prudence, he served a battery in the dress of a common soldier, a Spaniard, to whom his person was known, marked him from the walls, and shot him as he leaned upon a cannon to take aim. The ball took effect above the left ear; and the wound extended down his neck to the shoulder.[273] He was removed to Ancona, and for above a week continued in extreme danger, refusing to be trepanned; but by the end of the month his convalescence was complete.
The Pontiff "evinced extreme grief" at so untoward an accession to the mishaps of this ill-advised and unlucky campaign. It had hitherto been conducted by Renzo da Ceri and Vitellozzo Vitelli, who were supposed to thwart the usurper from an apprehension that he might become another Cesare Borgia. The Cardinal de' Medici, however, attributed these successive miscarriages to the incapacity of Renzi, and seriously complained to the Venetian envoy that, in consequence of his reputation in the Signory's service, "we engaged him for this undertaking, and don't perceive that he has effected anything. While he commanded a small infantry force, he appeared never to be idle for a day, yet, since he has been at the head of an entire army, he has contrived to demean himself very ill, and to show that he is not a man of great exploits." It will be curious to find this very officer afterwards employed by the Cardinal when Pope, and fully bearing out the mean opinion here expressed of him, when his present impugner had the folly to instruct him with the defence of Rome itself.
Neither the dissatisfaction of his subjects nor the coldness of his allies inclined Leo to abandon an enterprise which exhausted his resources and bathed Italy in civil blood. Thundering forth a new and more severe excommunication against Francesco Maria and his abettors, he, on the 30th of March, despatched a cardinal legate to the camp, under whose command things went from bad to worse. The defence of Mondolfo was protracted with extraordinary resolution. Even after a large space of wall had been thrown down by two mines, the besiegers were kept at bay during ten hours of hard fighting, whilst the women supplied missiles and coppers of boiling water, and the priests, waving aloft their crucifixes, mingled absolution of the dying with prayers for the survivors. This vain struggle against fearful odds ended in an ill-observed capitulation, in defiance of which the town was sacked and set on fire. Two incidents may illustrate the undisciplined state of the troops. Before entering the place, two Spanish and a Ferrarese soldier agreed to share equally their respective booty. Whilst the Italian fought, his comrades were plundering, and eventually refused to divide the spoil according to stipulation, an evasion in which they were backed by their countrymen. The Ferrarese, with permission of his officers, challenged his faithless partners, and a ring, or rather square, having been cleared, by tying together eight pikes, he sprang into it, armed but with sword and half-shield, offering to fight them both at once, a proposal which they prudently evaded by surrendering a just portion of their plunder. After the town had capitulated, "a wrangle arose between an Italian and a German about a flagon of wine, the former raising the shout of 'Italy! Italy!' the latter responding 'Germany! Germany!' Whereupon the infantry came to blows, and many were killed on either side; and when, at the peril of his life, the right reverend Cardinal had well nigh quelled the fray, an Italian struck a German captain on the head with his musket and killed him. This made the fight rage fiercer than ever, and the Spaniards having sided with the Germans, the Italians were routed, and all their quarters pillaged, including those of Signor Troilo Savello. The army remains divided and dispersed; most of the Italians are departed, whilst the infantry have betaken themselves towards Fano, and continue thus separated." It is curious to detect in these and similar incidents[274] an undercurrent of national feeling, during that dreary age when the Peninsula was torn into sections by communal policy and dynastic ambition. Had that cry of Italia! Italia! been then raised by her leading spirits, with earnest good faith, apart from individual ends, how different had been her after fate and present attitude!
The legate, who thus, with difficulty and personal danger, averted a general massacre, was the Cardinal Bibbiena, not de' Medici, as accidentally misstated by Roscoe. After long employing his diplomatic talents against his former friend, the Lord of Urbino, he now compassed his final ruin by exertions of the camp, for which he was less qualified. The mutinous mêlée which he had witnessed prepared him for the discovery, that moneys raised by extraordinary exertions were ill-spent upon an army "thrice as numerous on pay-day as in action." It was, therefore, to the commissariat and finance that his chief attention was given; but, warned by the recent explosion of national antipathies, he separated the quarrelsome soldiery in various cantonments around Pesaro. The Italians garrisoned the city and Rimini, the Spaniards were encamped on the adjoining Monte Bartolo, the Germans lay on the middle of that hill around the Imperiale palace, the Corsi (Dalmatians) occupied the foot of it, and the Gascons bivouacked on the adjacent plain. The last of these were in very bad repute at Rome; and finding themselves kept for several weeks in that exposed situation, many deserted to the della Rovere camp at Ginestreto, near Montebaroccio. After letting slip an apparently favourable opportunity for striking a blow at these disorganised troops, Francesco Maria subsequently did so by a surprise, which we shall narrate in his own words, addressed next morning to the Duchess.
"To the most illustrious Lady, my Consort, my lady Eleonora di Gonzaga, Duchess of Urbino, &c.
"Most illustrious Lady, my Consort,
"Since the enemy took the field I have often wished to come to action, and have used my ingenuity for this object, little heeding their superiority to my brave band, both in men-at-arms and in infantry, but all to no purpose. At length, finding that his Reverence the Legate, Renzo di Ceri, Vitelli, and their other principal leaders had retired into Pesaro, with a host of men-at-arms, whilst about three thousand foot, with the light horse and the Gascon wings, lay on the road to Fano, the Spanish lansquenets and the Corsi, to the number of at least six thousand, being quartered in the Imperiale, there seemed a chance of having at them. Accordingly, at half-past eleven o'clock last night, on ascertaining their position, and the most effective mode of attacking it, I advanced at the head of my infantry and a detachment of cavalry. After passing the Foglia, I sent the latter to a certain spot in the plain, and, leading the rest by the hill-side to the summit of the Imperiale, I charged the enemy about two hours after daybreak, and, by God's grace and the gallantry of my men, routed them ere they could form, killing, and taking many. So sudden and vigorous was our onset over the rocks on the seashore, that they were unable to gain their houses; and, as we drove them with great loss over the hill, they were intercepted below by my cavalry, so that between the two few escaped. Some of the officers made their way into the church of S. Bartolo, and into the palace of the Imperiale, where they attempted to fortify themselves, but with a few of my people I soon captured them all. We followed the fugitives with great slaughter to the very gates of Pesaro, the garrison of which, at least five thousand strong, would neither support nor admit them, whilst the Gascons, though witnessing the rout and drawn up in battle array, equally withheld succour. Thus, without loss, we remained masters of their camp, their colours, many prisoners, and all their officers but two who were killed; and I, having taken up my quarters here, hasten to inform your Excellency of these particulars.
"But I must not omit to tell your Ladyship how, three days since, as Signor Troilo Savello, on his march from Rome with fifteen hundred foot and some horse, was avoiding the outpost at Sassoferrato, and attacking my castle of Sta. Abonda, he was routed and rifled by a couple of hundred infantry and a few cavalry from my garrison at Pergola, and scarcely escaped being himself taken. In Montefeltro, too, several incursions of the Florentines have been repulsed; and between Massa and Lamole seven hundred of them, who had taken post on a hill and in a very strong pass, were well beaten and driven out of it by a hundred of my people.