According to the statement of the Venetian orator, the King of France was to furnish six hundred men-at-arms and the same number of Swiss, in case it should be necessary to crush the Bentivoglio of Bologna, who might attempt to aid their kinsmen in Faenza, Rimini, and Pesaro. On the advice of the King they had withdrawn their protection from the Malatesta and the Manfredi.
When the letter of the Signory was delivered by the ambassadors, Capello and Giorgi, the Pope was so delighted that in spite of his promise to keep it secret, the whole palace knew of it at once, and the same night a great banquet was given in celebration of the event.
When Valentino was ready to set forth on the second campaign for the conquest of Romagna, he had about ten thousand soldiers, partly enlisted by himself and partly by Paolo Orsini and Giampaolo Baglioni, who were waiting for him and his army in Perugia.
Caesar’s departure from Rome having become known, October 5th, Pandolfo Malatesta sent his wife and children to the Court of his brother-in-law, Giovanni Bentivoglio, in Bologna, and fortified himself in the castle of Rimini, knowing he could no longer count on the help of Venice.
To secure funds for the second campaign in Romagna, Alexander created twelve cardinals, charging each of them one-tenth of the ecclesiastical revenues. To this was added the plunder derived from the Gaetani and other Roman nobles, and large sums were borrowed from the great banker Agostino Chigi. This was one of the worst scandals of Alexander’s reign. At this creation two members of the Borgia family were made cardinals—Francesco of Sueca and Pier Luigi, the Pope’s nephew. All the cardinals except the last paid well for the dignity. The Bishop of Catania paid the highest—the enormous sum of 25,000 gold ducats; Louis, Bishop of Acqui, and Jacobus, Archbishop of Oristano, paid 5,000 each; while D’Albret, Caesar’s brother-in-law, was charged ten thousand.
It is Burchard himself who gives the amount each cardinal was required to pay. This creation was entirely political. Caesar had found that he needed money for his undertakings, and he had enjoined the Sacred College to ratify the nominations, and he had fixed the prices himself.
September 26th Capello wrote the Signory: “I understand that orders have been given so that—the cardinals having been selected—the Duke of Valentinois may set out in two or three days, provided the astrologers say that the moment is favourable.”
The Holy Father, by the agreement with the King of France, was to help Louis in case he decided to undertake the conquest of Naples, and the King was to aid Caesar, to whom he now sent a considerable force under Yves d’Allegre.
Caesar’s foot-soldiers were clad in red and yellow doublets with his insignia, and were armed with short pikes and swords and casques of iron. They were well drilled, and far superior to the earlier troops, which had been little more than poorly armed mobs.
The army set forth the last of September, and it soon became known that it was Caesar’s intention to drive Giovanni Sforza from Pesaro, and the last of the Malatesta from Rimini. Sforza was a military commander of no little reputation, and he decided to resist. He first endeavoured to secure the help of his former wife’s brother, Francesco Gonzaga, and also that of the Emperor Maximilian, with whom he was connected through Bianca Sforza.