Caesar remained in Rome until February 17, 1502, when he and the Pope, accompanied by several cardinals, left for Piombino, where they arrived the 21st. On the 25th they sailed for Elba to inspect two strongholds which Caesar was having his engineers construct on the island. When they were returning, March 1st, there was a severe storm, which made it impossible for them to leave the vessels for five days, and Burchard remarks that the Pope and cardinals who were in the captain’s ship were so frightened that they fell ill. They did not succeed in getting back to Rome until the 11th of March.
The strongholds on the island of Elba were probably built by Leonardo da Vinci, who had left Cesena in the fall of 1501 to go to Rome to confer with Caesar, and not by Antonio di Sangallo, who was engaged on the works in the vicinity of Civita Castellana during the early months of 1502.
In October, Caesar had declared his intention of attacking Camerino, but, owing to various causes, had been compelled to defer his undertaking. We have few details regarding Valentino during the months which he spent in Rome, but the chroniclers have left minute records of the administrative measures of his lieutenants in the Romagna. The petty States had been allowed to retain their own laws and customs, and, so far as possible, their own peculiar governmental systems; but all officials were responsible to the Governor of Romagna, Don Remiro de Lorca, an overbearing martinet, feared and hated by every one.
CHAPTER VIII
The third campaign in Romagna—Caesar goes to Spoleto—The Duke of Urbino flees to Florence—Valentino takes possession of Urbino—Florence sends envoys to him—Machiavelli’s first impression of Caesar—The King of France warns Valentino not to molest Florence—Caesar plunders the palace of Urbino—Michael Angelo’s “Cupid”—Camerino surrenders to Valentino’s lieutenants—Louis XII. receives Caesar and Alfonso d’Este at Milan—The King and Valentino enter into an agreement—Caesar goes to Imola—Affairs of Bologna—Valentino prepares to attack Giovanni Bentivoglio of Bologna.
Caesar was compelled to wait until the conclusion of the Neapolitan campaign before he could resume his own projects in the Romagna, where there were a few independent lords still left—these few knew that their time would soon come; among them were the Varano of Camerino and the Duke of Urbino, Guidobaldo di Montefeltre, who was greatly beloved by his people.
To complete his conquest of Romagna, Caesar determined to secure possession of Camerino, Urbino, and Sinigaglia. The early months of 1502 had been occupied with the trips to Piombino, Elba, and the towns belonging to the Colonna, and he was obliged to remain in Rome until after the Easter festivities; he was, therefore, unable to set about the execution of his projects until June.
Shortly before his departure the body of the youthful Lord of Faenza, who had so heroically defended his domain, was found in the Tiber, “strangled and dead.”
On surrendering to Caesar, Astorre’s life had been spared, and he had been allowed to depart with his personal belongings, and, as we have seen, trusting in Valentino’s word, he had gone to Rome, where he had almost immediately been thrown into prison.