 Section 18 of Celebrated Crimes Vol. 1, this is a LibriFox recording. All LibriFox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriFox.org. Recording by Anjulie Formalien. Celebrated Crimes Vol. 1 by Alexandre Dumas. Translated by G. B. Ives. Section 18. The Borgias. Chapter 10. Part 1. The French army was now preparing to cross at the Alps a second time under the command of Trivuls. Louis XII had come as far as Lyon in the company of César Borgia and Giuliano della Rovere, and whom he had forced reconciliation, and towards the beginning of the month of May had sent his vanguard before him, soon to be followed by the main body of the army. The forces he was employing in the second campaign of conquest were 1600 lances, 5000 Swiss, 9000 Gascans, and 3500 infantry, raised from all parts of France. On the 13th of August, this whole body, amounting to nearly 15,000 men, where to combine their forces with the Venetians, arrived beneath the walls of Arezzo and immediately laid siege to the town. Ludovico Tvorica's position was a terrible one. He was now suffering from his imprudence in calling the French into Italy, all the allies he had thought he might count upon were abandoning him at the same moment, either because they were busy about their own affairs, or because they were afraid of the powerful enemy that a duke of Milan had made for himself. Maximilian, who had promised him a contribution of 400 lances to make up for not renewing the hostilities with Louis XII, that had been interrupted, had just made a leech with the Circle of Sorbia to war against the Swiss, whom he had declared rebels against the Empire. The Florentines, who had engaged to furnish him with 300 men at arms and 2000 infantry, if he would help them to retake Pisa, had just retracted their promise because of Louis XII's threats, and had undertaken to remain neutral. Frederick, who was holding back his troops for the defence of his own states, because he supposed, not without reason, that Milan once conquered, he would again have to defend Naples, sent him no help, no men, no money, in spite of his promises. Ludovico Sforza was therefore reduced to his own proper forces. But as he was a man powerful in arms and clever in artifice, he did not allow himself to succumb for the first blow, and in all haste fortified Anonna, Novarro and Alessandria, sent off Cajazzo with troops to that part of the Milanese territory which bored us on the state of Venice, and collected on the Po as many troops as he could. But these precautions availed him nothing against the impetuous onslaught of the French, who in a few days had taken Anonna, Arezzo, Novarro, Vojera, Casalnovo, Ponte Corona, D'Artone and Alessandria, while Trivuls was on the march to Milan. Seeing the rapidity of this conquest and their numerous victories, Ludovico Sforza, despairing of holding out in his capital, resolved to retire to Germany, with his children, his brother, Cardinal Ascanio Sforza, and his treasure, which had been reduced in the course of eight years, from one and a half million to two hundred dukards. But before he went, he left Bernardino da Carte in charge of the castle of Milan. In vain did his friends warn him to distrust this man. In vain did his brother, Ascanio, offer to hold the fortress himself, and offer to hold it to the very last. Ludovico refused to make any change in his arrangements, and started on the 2nd of September, leaving in the citadel three thousand foot, and enough provisions, ammunition and money to sustain a siege of several months. Two days after Ludovico's departure, the French entered Milan. Ten days later, Bernardino da Carte gave up the castle before a single gun had been fired. Twenty-one days had sufficed for the French to get possession of the various towns, the capital, and all the territories of their enemy. Loewe de Twelth received the news of this success while he was at Lyon, and he had once started for Milan, where he was received with demonstrations of joy that were really sincere. Citizens of every rank had come out three miles distance from the gates, to receive him, and forty boys, dressed in cloth of gold and silk, marched before him, singing hymns of victory, composed by poets of the period, in which the king was stung as their liberator and the envoy of freedom. The great joy of the Milanese people was due to the fact that friends of Loewe had been spreading reports beforehand that a king of France was rich enough to abolish all Texas, and so soon as the second day from his arrival at Milan, the congruence made some slight reduction, granted important favours to certain Milanese gentlemen, and bestowed the town of Bigavano on trivuls as a reward for his swift and glorious campaign. But Cesar Borgia, who had followed Loewe de Twelth, who was a viewer to playing his part in the great hunting ground of Italy, scarcely waited for him to attain his end, when he claimed the fulfilment of his promise, which if the king with his accustomed loyalty hastened to perform, he instantly put up the display of Cesar, three hundred lances under the command of Yves d'Allegre, and four thousand Swiss under the command of the bailiff of Dijon, as a help in his work of reducing the vicarse of the church. We must now explain to our readers who these new personages were whom we introduce upon the scene by the above name. During the eternal wars of Guelbes and Gibilines, and the long exile of the Popes at Avignon, most of the towns and fortresses of the Romagna had been usurped by patty tyrants, who for the most part, are hard to receive from the empire the investiture of their new possessions. But ever since German influence had retired beyond the Alps, and the Popes had again made Rome the centre of the Christian world, all the small princes robbed of their original protector, had rallied round the papal sea, and received at the hands of the Pope a new investiture. And now they paid annual dues, for which they received the particular title of Duke, Count or Lord, and the general name of vicar of the church. It had been no difficult matter for Alexander, scrupulously examining the actions and behaviour of these gentlemen during the seven years that had elapsed since he was exalted to St. Peter's throne, to fight in the conduct of each one of them something that could be called an infraction of the treaty between Vessels and Sous-Rain. Accordingly he brought forward his complaints at a tribunal established for the purpose, and obtained sentence from the judges, to the effect that the vicar of the church, having failed to fulfil the conditions of their investiture, were dispoiled of their domains, which would again become the property of the Holy See. As if the Pope was now dealing with men against whom it was easier to pass a sentence than to get it carried out, he had nominated, as Captain General, the new Duke of Valentinois, who was commissioned to recover the territories for his own benefit. The lords in question were the Maladesti of Rimini, the Sforza of Bessaro, the Manfredi of Venza, the Riari of Imola and Farli, the Variani of Camerina, the Montefeltri of Urbino, and the Cetani of Cermoneta. But at Duke of Valentinois, eager to keep as warm as possible his great friendship with his ally and relative Louis XII, was, as we know, staying with him at Milan, so long as he remained there, where, after a month's occupation, the king retraced his steps to his own capital. The Duke of Valentinois ordered his men at arms, and his swiss to await him between Parma and Modena, and departed post-Hase for Rome, to explain his plans to his father, Vivovoce, and to receive his final instructions. When he arrived, he found that the fortune of his sister Lucretia had been greatly augmented in his absence, not from the side of her husband Alfonso, whose future was very uncertain now in consequence of Louis's successes, which had caused some coolness between Alfonso and the Pope, but from her father's side, upon whom, at this time, she exercised an influence more astonishing than ever. The Pope had declared Lucretia Borgia of Aragon, life-covener of Spoleto, and in Staci, with all emoluments, rides and revenues acturing thereunto. This had so greatly increased her power, and improved her position, that in these days she never showed herself in public without a company of two hundred horses, written by the most illustrious ladies and noblest knights of Rome. Moreover, as a twofold affection of her father was a secret to nobody, the first relate him the church, the frequenters of the Vatican, the friends of his holiness, were all her most humble servants. Cardinals gave her their hand when she stepped from her litter or her hoofs. Archbishop disputed the honour of celebrating Mars in her private apartments. But Lucretia had been obliged to quit Rome in order to take possession of her new estates, and as her father could not spend much time away from his beloved daughter, he resolved to take into his hands the town of Nepi, which on a former occasion, as to read a well-doubless remember, he had bestowed on Ascarnio Sforza in exchange for his suffrage. Ascarnio had naturally lost this town when he attached himself to the fortunes of the Duke of Milan, his brother, and when the Pope was about to take it again, he invited his daughter Lucretia to join him there, and be present at the rejoicings held in honour of resuming its possession. Lucretia's readiness in giving way to her father's wishes, brought her a new gift from him. This was a town and territory of sermoneta, which belonged to the Getani. Of course the gift was yet a secret, because the two owners of the signuri had first to be disposed of, one being Monsignore Giacomo Getano, apostolic pronotary, the other Prospero Getano, a young cavalier of great promise, but as both lifted Rome, and entertained no suspicion, but indeed supposed themselves to be in high favour with his holiness, the one by virtue of his position, the other of his courage, the matter seemed to present no great difficulty. So, directly after the return of Alexander to Rome, Giacomo Getano was arrested, on what pretext we know not, was taken to the castle of Sant'Angelo, and there died shortly after of poison. Prospero Getano was strangled in his own house. After these two deaths, which both occurred so suddenly as to give no time for Iza to make will, the people declared that sermoneta and all of her property appertaining to the Getani devolved upon the apostolic chamber, and they were sought to Lucretia for the sum of eighty thousand crowns, which her father refunded to her the day after. Though Cesare hurried to Rome, he found when he arrived, that his father had been beforehand with him, and had made the beginning of his conquests. Another fortune also had been making British strides during Cesare's stay in France, was the fortune of John Borgia, the Pope's nephew, who had been one of the most devoted friends of the Duke of Gandia, up to the time of his death. It was certain Rome, and not in a whisper, that young Cardinal Oat of the Favours heaped upon him by his holiness, less to the memory of the brother than to the protection of the sister. Both these reasons made John Borgia a special object of suspicion to Cesare, and it was with an inward fowl that he should not enjoy his new dignities very long, that the Duke of Valentinois heard that his cousin John had just been nominated Cardinal Alateri of all the Christian world, and had quitted Rome to make a circuit through all the Pontifical States, with a suit of archbishops, bishops, brilates, and gentlemen, such as would have done honor to his Pope himself. Cesare had only come to Rome to get news, so he only stayed three days, and then, with all the troops his holiness could supply, rejoined his forces on the borders of the Udza, and marched at once to Imola. This town, abandoned by its chiefs, who had retired to Forli, was forced to capitulate. Imola taken, Cesare marched straight upon Forli. There he met with a serious Jack, a Jackmar over, which came from a woman, Caterina Sforza, widow of Girolamo, and mother of Odaviano Riario, had retired to this town, and stared up the courage of the garrison, by putting herself, her goods, and her person under their protection. Cesare saw that it was no longer a question of a sudden capture, but of a regular siege, so he began to make all his arrangements with the view to it, and placing a battery of cannon in front of the place where the walls seemed to him the weakest, he ordered an uninterrupted fire to be continued until the breach was practicable. When he returned to the camp after giving this order, he found Sir John Borgia, who had gone to Rome from Ferrara, and was unwilling to be so near Cesare, without paying him a visit. He was received with effusion, and apparently the greatest joy, and stayed three days. On the fourth day, all the officers and members of the court were invited to a grand farewell supper, and Cesare bade farewell to his cousin, charging him with dispatches for the Pope, and lavishing upon him all the tokens of affection he had shown on his arrival. Cardinal John Borgia posted off as soon as he left the supper table, but on arriving at Urbino, he was seized with such a sudden and strange indisposition that he was forced to stop. But after a few minutes, feeling rather better, he went on. Scarcely, however, had he entered Rocca Cantrara, when he again felt so extremely ill that he resolved to go no farther, and stayed a couple of days in the town. Then, as he thought he was a little better again, and as he had heard the news of the taking of Ferli, and also that Caterina Sforza had been taking prisoner while she was making an attempt to retire into the castle, he resolved to go back to Cesare, and congratulate him on this victory. But at Fossumbrane, he was forced to stop a third time, although he had given up his carriage for a litter. This was his last halt. The same day he sought his bed, never to rise from it again. Three days later, he was dead. His body was taken to Rome and buried without any ceremony in the Church of Santa Maria del Popolo, where lay awaiting him the corpse of his friend, the Duke of Gandia, and there was now no more talk of the young Cardinal, high as his rank had been, than if he had never existed. Thus, in gloom and silence passed away all those who were swept to destruction by the ambition of their terrible trio, Alexander, Lucretia and Cesare. End of section 18. Section 19 of celebrated crimes volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Shaliva Maliam. Celebrated crimes volume 1 by Alexandre Dumas. Translated by GB Ives. Section 19, The Borges. Chapter 10, Part 2. Almost at the same time, Rome was terrified by another murder. Don Giovanni Giorvigliani, a gentleman by birth and a brave soldier, captain of the Pope's men-at-arms, was attacked one evening by the spirit, as he was on his way home from supping with Don Alicia of Pignatelli. One of the men asked his name, and as he pronounced it, seeing that there was no mistake, plunged a dagger into his breast, while a second man with the backstroke of a sword cut off his head, which lay actually at his feet, before his body had timed to fall. The governor of Rome lodged a complaint against this assassination with the Pope, but quickly perceiving, by the way his intimation was received, that he would have done better to say nothing. He stopped the inquiries he had started, so that neither of the murderers was ever arrested. But the rumor circulated, that Cesar, in the short stay here to meet at Rome, had had a rendezvous with Giovigliani's wife, who was a bourger by birth, and that her husband, when he heard of this infringement of conjugal duty, had been angry enough to threaten her and her lover, too. The threat had reached Cesar's ears, who, making long arm of Michelotto, had himself at Forli, struck down Giovigliani in the street of Rome. Another unexpected death followed so quickly on that of Don Giovanni Giovigliani, that it could not but be attributed to the same originator, if not the same cause. Monsignore Agnelli of Mantua, Archbishop of Cotsenza, clerk of the chamber and vice-lecate of Ividetbo, having fallen into disgrace with his holiness, how it is not known, was poisoned at his own table, at which he had passed a good part of the night, and cheerful conversation with three or four guests, the poison gliding meanwhile through his veins, then going to bed in perfect health, he was found dead in the morning. His possessions were at once divided into three portions, the land and houses were given to the Duke of Valentinois, the bishopric went to Francesco Borgia, son of Calixtus III, and the office of clerk of the chamber was sold for 5,000 eucids to Ventura Bonasai, a merchant of Siena, who produced this song for Alexander, and settled down the very same day in the Vatican. This last death served the purpose of determining a point of law, hitherto uncertain. As Monsignoria Nellis, natural heirs, had made some difficulty about being disinherited, Alexander issued a brief whereby he took from every cardinal and every priest the right of making a will, and declared that all their property should henceforth devolve upon him. But Cesar was stopped short in the midst of his victories, thanks to the 200,000 eucids that yet remained in his treasury, Ludovico Sforza had levied 500 men-at-arms from Burgundy and 8,000 Swiss infantry, with whom he had entered Lombardy. So Trivuls, to face if this enemy had been compelled to call back Yves de Lago, and the troops that Louis XII had lent to Cesar. Consequently, Cesar, leaving behind a body of Pontifical soldiery as garrison at Vorley and Imola, betook himself with the rest of his force to Rome. It was Alexander's wish that his entry should be triumph, so when he learned that a quarter-masters of the army were only a few leagues from the town, he sent out runners to invite the royal ambassadors, the cardinals, the Brillates, the Roman barons and municipal dignitaries to make procession with all their suite to meet the Duke of Valentinois, and as it always happens, that a bride of those who command is surpassed by the baseness of those who obey, the orders were not only fulfilled to the latter, but beyond it. The entry of Cesar took place on the 26th of February 1500. Although this was the great Jubilee year, the festivals of the carnival began nonetheless for that, and where conducted in a manner even more extravagant and licentious than usual, and the conqueror after the first day prepared a new display of ostentation, which he concealed under the veil of a masquerade. As he was pleased to identify himself with the glorious genius and fortune of the great man whose name he bore, he resolved on a representation of the triumph of Julius Cesar to be given on the Piazza di Navona, the ordinary place for holding the carnival fit. The next day, therefore, he and his retinue started from that square and traversed all the streets of Rome, wearing classical costumes and riding in antique cars, on one of which Cesar stood, clad in the robe of an emperor of old, his raw crowned with a golden royal wreath, surrounded by lectures, soldiers, and ensign-bearers, who carried banners whereon was inscribed the motto, out Cesar, out Nihil. Finally, on the 4th of Sunday in Lent, the Pope conferred upon Cesar the dignity he had so long coveted and appointed him General and John Fallonieri of the Holy Church. In the meanwhile, Sforza had crossed at the Alps and passed at the Lake of Como, amidst acclamations of joy from his former subjects, who had quickly lost the enthusiasm that a French army and Louis's promises had inspired. These demonstrations were so noisy at Milan, that, trivus, judging that there was no safety for a French garrison in remaining there, made his way to Navarra. Experience proved that he was not deceived, but scarcely had the Melonese observed his preparation for debauchery when a suppressed excitement began to spread through the town, and soon the streets were filled with armed men. This murmuring crowd had to be passed through, soared in hand, and lanced in rest, and scarcely had the French God outside the gates when the mob rushed out after the army into the country, pursuing them with shouts and hooting, as far as the banks of the Ticino. Trivus left four hundred lances at Navarra, as well as three thousand Swiss, that Yves de Lager had brought from the Romagna, and erected his course with the rest of the army toward Mortara, where he stopped at last to await the help he had demanded from the King of France. Behind him, Cardinal Ascarno and Ludovico entered Milan amid the acclamations of the whole town. Nyser of them lost any time, and wishing to profit by this enthusiasm, Ascarno undertook to besiege the castle of Milan, while Ludovico should cross up the Ticino and attack Navarra. Their besieges and besieged were sons of the same nation, for Yves de Lager had scarcely as many as three hundred French with him, and Ludovico five hundred Italians. In fact, for the last sixteen years, the Swiss had been practically the only infantry in Europe, and all the powers came, purse in hand, to draw from the mighty reservoir of their mountains. The consequence was that these rude children of William Tell put up to auction by the nations, and carried away from the humble, hardy life of the mountain people into cities of wealth and pleasure, had lost not their ancient courage, but that rigidity of principle for which they had been distinguished before their intercourse with other nations. From being models of honour and good faith, they had become a kind of marketable wear, always ready for sale to the highest bidder. The French were the first to experience this venality, which later on proved so fatal to Ludovico's forte. Now, the Swiss in the garrison at Navarra had been in communication with their compatriots in the vanguard of the Ducal army, and when they found that they, who as a fact were unaware that Ludovico's treasure was nearly exhausted, were better fed as well as better paid than themselves, they offered to give up the town and go over to the Milanese if they could be certain of the same pay. Ludovico, as we may well suppose, closed with his bargain. The whole of Navarra was given up to him except the citadel, which was defended by Frenchmen. Thus the enemy's army was recruited by three thousand men. Then Ludovico made the mistake of stopping to besiege the castle instead of marching on to Mortara with a new reinforcement. The result of this was that Louis XII, to whom runners had been sent by trivuls, understanding his perilous position, hastened the departure of the French agenda in Brie, who were already collected to cross into Italy, sent off the bailove of Dijon to L'Avignon's Swiss forces, and ordered Cardinal Amboise, his prime minister, to cross at the Alps and take up a position at Asty, to hurry on the work of collecting the troops. There the Cardinal found a nest-echk of three thousand men. That remu added fifteen hundred lances and six thousand French infantry. Finally, the bailove of Dijon arrived with ten thousand Swiss, so that, counting the troops which trivuls had at Mortara, Louis XII found himself master on the other side of the Alps of the first army any French king had ever let out to battle. Soon, by good marching, and before Ludovico knew the strength of or even the existence of this army, it took up a position between Novara and Milan, cutting off all communication between the Duke and his capital. He was, therefore, compelled, in spite of his inferior numbers, to prepare for a pitched battle. But it so happened, that just when the preparations for a decisive engagement were being made on both sides, the Swiss diet, learning that the sons of Helvetia were on the paint of cutting one another's throats, sent orders to all the Swiss serving in either army to break their engagements and return to the fatherland. But during the two months that had passed between the surrender of Novara and the arrival of the French army before the town, there had been a very great change in the fate of things, because Ludovico Sforza's treasure was now exhausted. New confabulations had gone on between the outposts, and this time, thanks to the money sent by Louis XII, it was a Swiss in the service of France who were found to be the better fed and the better paid. The worthy Helvetians, since they no longer fought for their own liberty, knew the value of their blood too well to allow a single drop of it to be spilled for less than its weight in gold. The result was that, as they had betrayed Yves de Legre, they resolved to betray Ludovico Sforza too, and while the recruits brought in by the bailiff of Dijon were standing firmly by the French flag, careless of the order of the diet, Ludovico's auxiliaries declared that in fighting against their Swiss brethren, they would be acting in disobedience to his diet, and would risk capital punishment in the end, a danger that nothing would induce them to incur unless they immediately received the arrears of their pay. The Duke, who had spent the last duke that he had with him, and was entirely cut off from his capital, knew that he could not get money till he had fought his way through to it, and therefore invited the Swiss to make one last effort, promising them not only the pay that was an arrears, but a double hire. But, unluckily, the fulfilment of this promise was dependent on the doubtful issue of a battle, and the Swiss replied that they had far too much respect for their country to disobey its decree, and that they loved their brothers far too well to consent to shed their blood without reward, and therefore Sworta would all well not account upon them, since indeed the very next day they proposed to return to their homes. The duke then saw that all was lost, but he made a last appeal to their honour, adoring them at least to ensure his personal safety by making it a condition of capitulation. But they replied that even if a condition of such a kind would not make capitulation impossible, it would certainly deprive them of advantages which if they had arrived to expect, and on which they counted as indemnification for the arrears of their pay. They pretended, however, at last, that they were touched by the prayers of the man whose orders they had obeyed so long, and offered to conceal him dressed in their clothes among their ranks. This proposition was barely plausible, for Sworta was short, and by this time an old man, and he could not possibly escape recognition in the midst of an army where the oldest was not past thirty, and the shortest not less than five foot six. Still, this was his last chance, and he did not reject it at once, but tried to modify it, so that it might help him in his trades. His plan was to disguise himself as a Franciscan monk, so that mounted on a shabby horse he might pass for their chaplain. The others, Galliazzo di Sanseferino, who commanded under him and his two brothers, were all tall men, so adopting the dress of common soldiers, they hoped they might escape detection in the Swiss ranks. Scarcely were these plans settled, when the Duke heard that a capitulation was signed between Trivus and the Swiss, who had made no stipulation in favour of him and his generals. They were to go over the next day with arms and baggage right into the French army, so the last hope of direct Ludovico and his generals must needs be in their disguise. And so it was. Sanseferino and his brothers took their place in the ranks of the infantry, and Sworta took his among the baggage, clad in amongst frock, with a hood pulled over his eyes. The army marched off, but the Swiss, who had first trafficked in their blood, now trafficked in their honour. The French were warned of the disguise of Sworta and his generals, and thus they were all full recognised, and Sworta was arrested by Trimouy himself. It is said that a price paid for this treason was a town of Belindona, for it then belonged to the French, and when the Swiss returned to their mountains and took possession of it, Louis XII took no steps to get it back again. When Askania Sworta, who as we know had stayed at Milan, learned of the news of this cowardly desertion, he supposed that his cause was lost, and that it would be the best plan for him to fly, before he found himself a prisoner in the hands of his brothers or subjects. Such a change of face on the people's part would be very natural, and they might propose perhaps to purchase their own pardon at the price of his liberty. So he fled by night, with the chief nobles of the Robiline party, taking the road to Piacenza on his way to the Kingdom of Naples. But when he arrived at Urivolta, he remembered that there was living in their town an old friend of his childhood, by name Conrad Lando, whom he had helped to much wealth in his days of power, and as Askania and his companions were extremely tired, he resolved to back his hospitality for a single night. Conrad received them with every sign of joy, putting all his house and servants at their disposal. But scarcely had they retired to bed when he sent a runner to Piacenza to inform Carlo Arsini of the time commanding of the Venetian garrison, that he was prepared to deliver up Cardinal Askania and the chief men of the Milanese army. Carlo Arsini did not care to resign to another so important an expedition, and, mounting hurriedly with twenty-five men, he first surrounded Conrad's house and then entered, sword in hand, the chamber where in Askania and his companion delay, and being surprised in the middle of their sleep, they yielded without resistance. The prisoners were taken to Venice, but Louis XII claimed them, and they were given up. Thus, the king of France found himself mass of Ludovico Sforza and of Askania, of a legitimate nephew of the great Francesco Sforza named Hermes, of the two bastards named Alessandro and Cortino, and of Francesco. Son of the unhappy John Galliadza had been poisoned by his uncle. Louis XII, wishing to make an end of the hill family at the blow, forced Francesco to enter Cloister, shut up Cardinal Askania in the tower of Borges, flew into prison Alessandro, Cortino and Hermes, and finally, after transferring the ratchet Ludovico from the fortress of Pierroces to Lise Saint-Georges, he relegated him for good and all to the castle of Loce, where he lived for ten years in solitude and utter destitution, and there died, cursing the day when the idea first came into his head of enticing the French into Italy. The news of the catastrophe of Ludovico and his family caused the greatest joy at Rome, for, while the French were consolidating their power in Malinese territory, Lise was gaining ground in the Romagna, where no further opposition was offered to Caesar's conquest. So the runners who brought the news were rewarded with a valuable presence, and it was published throughout the whole town of Rome due to the sound of the trumpet and drum. The war cry of Louis, France and that of Orsina also, ran through all the streets, which in the evening were illuminated, as though Constantinople or Jerusalem had been taken. And the Pope gave the people feats and fireworks, without troubling his head, the least in the world, either about it being a holy week, or because Jubilee had attracted more than two hundred thousand people to Rome, the temporal interests of his family seeming to him far more important than the spiritual interests of his subjects. End of section 19 Section 20 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Morgan Scorpion Celebrated Climes Volume 1 by Alexander Dumas, translated by G. B. Ives Section 20 The Borges Chapter 11 Part 1 One thing alone was wanting to assure the success of the vast projects that the Pope and his son were founding upon the friendship of Louis and an alliance with him. That is, money. But Alexander was not the man to be troubled about a paltry worry of that kind. True, the sale of benefits was by now exhausted. The ordinary and extraordinary taxes had already been collected for the whole year, and the prospect of inheritance from cardinals and priests was a poor thing now that the richest of them had been poisoned. But Alexander had other means at his disposal, which were nonetheless efficacious because they were less often used. The first he employed was to spread a report that the Turks were threatening an invasion of Christendom, and that he knew for a positive fact that before the end of the summer Badgeset would land two considerable armies, one in Romania, the other in Calabria. He therefore published two bulls, one to levy tithes of all ecclesiastical revenues in Europe of whatever nature they might be, the other to force the Jews into paying an equivalent sum. Both bulls contained the severest sentences of excommunication against those who refused to submit or attempted opposition. The second plan was the selling of indulgences, a thing which had never been done before. These indulgences affected the people who had been prevented by reasons of health or business from coming to Rome for the jubilee. The journey by this expedient was rendered unnecessary, and sins were pardoned for a third of what it would have cost, and just as completely as if the faithful had fulfilled every condition of the pilgrimage. For gathering in this tax a veritable army of collectors was instituted, a certain Lodovico delatory at their head. The sum that Alexander brought into the Pontifical Treasury is incalculable, and some idea of it may be gathered from the fact that 799,000 leavers in gold was paid in from the territory of Venice alone. But as the Turks did as a fact make some sort of demonstration from the Hungarian side, and the Venetians began to fear that they might be coming in their direction, they asked for help from the Pope, who gave orders that at twelve o'clock in the day, in all his states, and Arvée Maria should be said to pray God to avert the danger which was threatening the most serene republic. This was the only help the Venetians got from his holiness in exchange for the 799,000 leavers in gold that he had got from them. But it seemed as though God wished to show his strange vicar on earth that he was angered by the mockery of sacred things, and on the eve of St. Peter's Day, just as the Pope was passing the Campanile on his way to the Tribune of the Venetians, an enormous piece of iron broke off and fell at his feet, and then, as though one warning had not been enough, on the next day, St. Peter's, when the Pope happened to be in one of the rooms of his ordinary dwelling with the Cardinal Capirano and Monsignore Proto, his private chamberlain, he saw through the open windows that a very black cloud was coming up. For seeing a thunderstorm, he ordered the Cardinal and the Chamberlain to shut the windows. He had not been mistaken, for even as they were obeying his command, there came up such a furious gust of wind that the highest chimney of the Vatican was overturned just as a tree is rooted up, and was dashed upon the roof, breaking it in, smashing the upper flooring. It fell into the very room where they were. Terrified by the noise of this catastrophe, which made the whole palace tremble, the Cardinal and Monsignore Proto turned round, and seeing the room full of dust and debris strung out upon the perpet and shouted to the guards at the gate. The Pope is dead! The Pope is dead! At this cry the guards ran up and discovered three persons lying in the rubbish on the floor, one dead and the other two dying. The dead man was a gentleman of Siena, called Lorenzo Chigi, and the dying were two resident officials of the Vatican. They had been walking across the floor above, and had been flung down with the debris. But Alexander was not to be found, and as he gave no answer, though they kept on calling to him, the belief that he had perished was confirmed, and very soon spread about the town. But he had only fainted, and at the end of a certain time he began to come to himself and moaned whereupon he was discovered, dazed with the blow and injured, though not seriously, in several parts of his body. He had been saved by a little short of a miracle. A beam had broken in half, and had left each of its two ends in the side walls, and one of these had formed a sort of roof over the pontifical throne. The pope, who was sitting there at the time, was protected by this overarching beam, and had received only a few contusions. The two contradictory reports of the sudden death and the miraculous preservation of the pope spread rapidly through Rome, and the Duke of Valentinois, terrified at the thought of what a change might be wrought in his own fortunes by any slight accident to the Holy Father, hurried to the Vatican, unable to assure himself by anything less than the evidence of his own eyes. Alexander desired to render public thanks to heaven for the protection that had been granted him, and on the very same day was carried to the church of Santa Maria del Popolo, escorted by a numerous procession of prelates and men-at-arms, his pontifical seat borne by two valleys, two equaries, and two grooms. In this church were buried the Duke of Gandia and Gian Borgia, and perhaps Alexander was drawn thither by some relics of devotion, or maybe by the recollection of his love for his former mistress, Volsapa Natsa, whose image, in the guise of the Madonna, was exposed for the renovation of the faithful in a chapel on the left of the high altar. Stopping before this altar, the pope offered to the church the gift of a magnificent chalice in which were three hundred gold crowns, which the cardinal of Siena poured out into a silver pattern before the eyes of all, much to the gratification of the pontifical vanity. But before he left Rome to complete the conquest of the Romagna, the Duke of Valentinoire had been reflecting that the marriage, once so ardently desired, between Lucrezia and Alfonso had been quite useless to himself and his father. There was more than this to be considered. Louis XII's rest in Lombardy was only a halt, and Milan was evidently about the stage before Naples. It was very possible that Louis was annoyed about the marriage which converted his enemy's nephew into the son-in-law of his ally. Whereas, if Alfonso were dead, Lucrezia would be the position to marry some powerful lord of Paralla or Brescia, who would be able to help his brother-in-law in the conquest of Romagna. Alfonso was now not only useless but dangerous, which to anyone with the character of the Borgias perhaps seemed worse, the death of Alfonso was resolved upon. But Lucrezia's husband, who had understood for a long time past what danger he incurred by living near his terrible father-in-law, had retired to Naples. Since, however, neither Alexander nor Caesar had changed in their perpetual dissimulation towards him, he was beginning to lose his fear. When he received an invitation from the Pope and his son to take part in a bullfight which was to be held in the Spanish fashion in honour of the Duke before his departure. In the present precarious position of Naples it would not have been good policy for Alfonso to afford Alexander any sort of pretext for a rupture, so he could not refuse without a motive and betook himself to Rome. It was thought of no use to consult Lucrezia in this affair, for she had two or three times displayed an absurd attachment for her husband and they left her undisturbed in her government of Spoleto. Alfonso was received by the Pope and the Duke with every demonstration of sincere friendship and rooms in the Vatican were assigned to him that he had inherited before with Lucrezia, in that part of the building which is known as the Torre Nuova. Great lists were prepared on the piazza of St. Peter's, the streets about it were barricaded and the windows of the surrounding houses served as boxes for the spectators. The Pope and his court took their places on the balconies of the Vatican. The fates were started by professional toreadores after they had exhibited their strength and skill. Alfonso and Caesar in their turn descended to the arena and to offer a proof of their mutual kindness settled that the bull which pursued Caesar should be killed by Alfonso and the bull that pursued Alfonso by Caesar. Then Caesar remained alone on horseback within the lists, Alfonso going out by an improvised door which was kept ajar in order that he might go back on the instant if he judged that his presence was necessary. At the same time from the opposite side of the lists the bull was introduced and was at the same moment pierced all over with darts and arrows, some of them containing explosives which took fire and irritated the bull to such a point that he rolled about with pain and then got up in a fury and perceiving a man on horseback rushed instantly upon him. It was now in this narrow arena pursued by his swift enemy that Caesar displayed all that skill which made him one of the finest horsemen of the period. Still clever as he was he could not have remained safe long in that restricted area from an adversary against whom he had no other resource than flight had not Alfonso appeared suddenly just when the bull was beginning to gain upon him waving a red cloak in his left hand and holding in his right a long, delicate, arrogant sword. It was high time the bull was only a few paces distant from Caesar and the risk he was running appeared so imminent that a woman's scream was heard from one of the windows. But at the sight of a man on foot the bull stopped short and judging that he would do better business with the new enemy than the old one he turned upon him instead. For a moment he stood motionless, roaring, kicking up the dust with his hind feet and lashing his sides with his tail. Then he rushed upon Alfonso, his eyes all bloodshot, his horns tearing up the ground. Alfonso awaited him with a tranquil air, then when he was only three paces away he married a bound to one side and presented instead of his body his sword which disappeared at once to the hilt. The bull, checked in the middle of his onslaught, stopped one instant motionless and trembling then fell upon his knees, uttered one dull roar and lying down on the very spot where his course had been checked breathed his last without moving a single step forward. Applause resounded on all sides so rapid and clever had been the blow. Caesar had remained on horseback seeking to discover the fair spectator who had given so lively a proof of her interest in him without troubling himself about what was going on. His search had not been unrewarded for he had recognised one of the maids of honour to Elizabeth Alfonso Ribino, who was betrothed to John Batista Calcualo, Captain General of the Republic of Venice. It was now Alfonso's turn to run from the bull, Caesar's to fight him. The young men changed parts and when four mules had reluctantly dragged the dead bull from the arena and the valleys and other servants of his holiness had scattered sound over the places that were stained with blood Alfonso mounted a magnificent Andalusian steed of Arab origin, light as the wind of Sahara that had wedded with his mother, while Caesar, dismounting, retired in his turn to reappear at the moment when Alfonso should be meeting the same danger from which he had just now rescued him. Then a second bull was introduced upon the scene, excited in the same manner with steel darts and flaming arrows. Like his predecessor when he perceived a man on horseback he rushed upon him and then began a marvellous race in which it was impossible to see so quickly did they fly over the ground whether the horse was pursuing the bull or the bull the horse. But after five or six rounds the bull began to gain upon the son of Arobi for all his speed and it was plain to see who fled and who pursued. In another moment there was only the length of two lances between them and then suddenly Caesar appeared armed with one of those long two-handed swords which the French are accustomed to use Just when the bull, almost close upon Don Alfonso, came in front of Caesar he brandished a sword which flashed like lightning and cut off his head, while his body, impelled by the speed of the run, fell to the ground ten paces farther on. This blow was so unexpected and had been performed with such dexterity that it was received not with mere clapping but with wild enthusiasm and frantic outcry. Caesar, apparently remembering nothing else in his hour of triumph but the scream that had been caused by his former danger, picked up the bull's head and, giving it to one of his equaries, ordered him to lay it as an act of homage at the feet of the fair Venetian who had bestowed upon him so lively a sign of interest. This fate, besides affording a triumph to each of the young men, had another end as well. It was meant to prove to the populace that perfect good-will existed between the two since each had saved the life of the other. The result was that if any accident had happened to Caesar nobody would dream of accusing Alfonso and if any accident had happened to Alfonso nobody would dream of accusing Caesar. There was a supper at the Vatican. Alfonso made an elegant toilet and about ten o'clock at night prepared to go from the quarters he inhabited into those where the pope lived but the door which separated the two courts of the building was shut and knock as he would no one came to open it. Alfonso then thought that it was a simple matter for him to go round by the piazza of St. Peter so he went out unaccompanied to one of the garden gates of the Vatican and made his way across the gloomy streets which led to the stairway which gave on the piazza but scarcely had he set foot on the first step when he was attacked by a band of armed men. Alfonso would have drawn his sword but before it was out of the scabbard he had received two blows from a halberd one on his head the other on his shoulder he was stabbed in the side and wounded both in the leg and in the temple. Struck down by these five blows he lost his footing and fell to the ground unconscious. His assassins supposing he was dead at once remounted the stairway and found on the piazza forty horsemen waiting for them by them they were calmly escorted from the city by the porter Portesa. Alfonso was found at the point of death but not actually dead by some passersby some of whom recognized him and instantly conveyed the news of his assassination to the Vatican while the others lifting the wounded man in their arms carried him to his quarters in the Torre Nuova. The Pope and Caesar who learned this news just as they were sitting down to table showed great distress and leaving their companions at once went to see Alfonso to be quite certain whether his wounds were fatal or not and on the next morning to divert any suspicion that might be turned towards themselves they arrested Alfonso's maternal uncle Francesco Gazzella who had come to Rome in his nephew's company. Gazzella was found guilty on the evidence of false witnesses and was consequently beheaded. But they had only accomplished half of what they wanted. By some means fair or foul suspicion had been sufficiently diverted from the two assassins but Alfonso was not dead and thanks to the strength of his constitution and the skill of his doctors who had taken the lamentations of the Pope and Caesar quite seriously and thought to please them by curing Alexander's son-in-law the wounded man was making progress towards convalescence. News arrived at the same time that Lucrezia had heard of her husband's accident and was starting to come and nurse him herself. There was no time to lose and Caesar summoned Michelotto. The same night, says Bucardus, Don Alfonso who would not die of his wounds was found strangled in his bed. The funeral took place the next day with a ceremony not undercoming in itself though unsuited to his high rank. Don Francesca Baglia, Archbishop of Crescenza acted as Chief Mourner at St. Peter's where the body was buried in the Chapel of Santa Maria de la Febre. Lucrezia arrived the same evening. She knew her father and brother too well to be put on the wrong scent and although immediately after Alfonso's death the Duke Caballantornel had arrested the doctors, the surgeons and a poor deformed wretch who had been acting as valet she knew perfectly well from what quarter the blow had preceded. In fear therefore that the manifestation of a grief she felt at this time too well might alienate the confidence of her father and brother she retired to Nepi with her whole household, her whole court and more than six hundred Cavaliers there to spend the period of her mourning. This important family business was now settled and Lucrezia was again a widow and in consequence ready to be utilised in the Pope's new political machinations. Caesar only stayed at Rome to receive the ambassadors from France and Venice but as their arrival was somewhat delayed and considerable inroads had been made upon the Pope's treasury by the recent festivities the creation of twelve new cardinals was arranged this scheme was to have two effects, viz to bring six hundred thousand ducats into the pontifical chest each hat having been priced at fifty thousand ducats and to assure the Pope of a constant majority in the sacred council. End of section number twenty section twenty-one of celebrated crimes volume one this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Morgan Scorpion celebrated crimes volume one by Alexander Dumas translated by G. B. Ives section twenty-one for Borges chapter eleven part two the ambassadors at last arrived the first was Monsieur de Villeneuve the same who had come before to see the Duke of Valentinois in the name of France just as he entered Rome he met on the road a masked man who without removing his domino expressed the joy he felt at his arrival this man was Caesar himself who did not wish to be recognised and who took his departure after a short conference without uncovering his face Monsieur de Villeneuve then entered the city after him and at the Porta del Populo found the ambassadors of the various powers and among them those of Spain and Naples whose sovereigns were not yet it is true in declared hostility to France though there was already some coolness the last named fearing to compromise themselves merely said to their colleague of France by way of complimentary address sir you are welcome well upon the master of the ceremonies surprised at the brevity of the greeting asked if they had nothing else to say when they replied that they had not Monsieur de Villeneuve turned his back upon them remarking that those who had nothing to say required no answer he then took his place between the Archbishop of Regia Governor of Rome and the Archbishop of Ragusa and made his way to the Palace of the Holy Apostles which had been got ready for his reception some days later Pierre Georgie Ambassador Extraordinary of Venice made his arrival he was commissioned not only to arrange the business on hand with the Pope but also to convey to Alexander and Caesar the title of Venetian nobles and to inform them that their names were inscribed in the golden book a favour that both of them had long coveted less for the empty honours sake than for the new influence that this title might confer then the Pope went on to bestow the twelve cardinals hats that had been sold to the Church with Don Diego de Medosta Archbishop of Seville Jacques Archbishop of Orestanie the Pope's Vicar General Thomas Archbishop of Strygania Pierre Archbishop of Regia Governor of Rome Francesco Bardia Archbishop of Cossenza Treasurer General Gian Archbishop of Salerno Vice Chamberlain Luigi Bardia Archbishop of Valencia Secretary to his Holiness and brother of the Gian Borgia whom Caesar had poisoned Antonio Bishop of Colmar Gian Battista Ferraro Bishop of Medena Amadea de Albrey son of the King of Navarre brother in law of the Duke of Valentinois and Marco Conaro of Venetian noble in whose person his Holiness rendered back to the most serene republic the favour he had just received then as there was nothing further to detain the Duke of Valentinois from a rich banker named Agostino Cigchi brother of Lorenzo Cigchi who had perished on the day when the Pope had been nearly killed by the fall of a chimney and departed for the Romagna accompanied by Vitalozzo Vitelli Gian Piollo Baglione and Giacobo di Santa Croce at the time his friends but later on his victims his first enterprise was against Pissarro this was the polite attention of a brother in law who knew what would be its consequences for instead of attempting to defend his possessions by taking up arms or venturing on negotiations unwilling moreover to expose the fair lands he had ruled so long to the vengeance of an irritated foe he begged his subjects to preserve their former affection towards himself in the hope of better days to come and he fled into Dalmatia Malatesta, Lord of Bimini followed his example and meanwhile entered both these towns without striking a single blow Caesar left a sufficient garrison behind him and marched on to Paenza but there the face of things was changed Paenza at that time was under the wall of Astor Manfredi a brave and handsome young man of 18 who relying on the love of his subjects towards his family had resolved on defending himself to the uttermost although he had been forsaken by his near relatives and by his allies the Venetian and Florentines who had not dared to send him any aid because of the affection felt towards Caesar by the King of France accordingly when he perceived that the Duke of Valentinois was marching against him he assembled in hot haste all those of his vassals who were capable of bearing arms together with the few foreign soldiers who were willing to come into his pay and collecting victual and ammunition he took up his position and was not greatly disconcerted he commanded the magnificent army composed of the finest troops of France and Italy led by such men as Paolo and Giulio Orsini Vitellozzo Vitelli and Paolo Balione not to speak of himself that is to say by the first captains of the period so after he had reconnoitred he had once began the siege pitching his camp between the two rivers Amana and Marziano placing his artillery on the side and placing his bases on folly at which point the besieged army had erected a powerful bastion at the end of a few days busy with entrenchments the breach became practicable and the Duke of Valentinois ordered an assault and gave the example to his soldiers by being the first to march against the enemy but in spite of his courage and that of his captains beside him Astor Manfredi made so good a defence that the besiegers were repulsed with great loss of men and trenches but Faenza in spite of the courage and devotion of her defenders could not have held out long against so formidable an army had not winter come to her aid surprised by the rigor of the season with no houses for protection and no trees for fuel as the peasants had destroyed both beforehand the Duke of Valentinois was forced to raise the siege and take up his winter quarters in the neighbouring towns in order to be quite ready to be held in check by a little town which had enjoyed a long time of peace was governed by a mere boy and deprived of all outside aid and had sworn to take his revenge he therefore broke up his army into three sections sent one third to Imola the second to Foley and himself took the third to Cessena a third-rate town which was thus suddenly transformed into a city of pleasure and luxury indeed the Caesar's active spirit there must needs be no cessation so when war was interrupted fades began as magnificent and as exciting as he knew how to make them the days were passed in games or in displays of horsemanship the nights in dancing and gallantry for the loveliest woman of the Romania that is to say of the whole world had come hither to make a seraglio for the victor which might have been envied by the Sultan of Egypt or the Emperor of Constantinople while the Duke of Valentinois was making one of his surgeons with his retinue of flattering nobles and titled courtesans who were always about him he noticed a cortege on the Romini road so numerous that it must surely indicate the approach of someone of importance Caesar soon perceiving that the principal person was a woman approached and recognised the very same lady in waiting to the Duchess of Urbino who on the day of the bullfight had screamed when Caesar was all but touched by the infuriated beast at this time she was betrothed by Caesar, general of the Venetians Elizabeth of Gonzaga her protectress and grandmother was now sending her with a suitable retinue to Venice where the marriage was to take place Caesar had already been struck by the beauty of this young girl one at Rome but when he saw her again she appeared more lovely than on the first occasion so he resolved on the instant that he would keep this fair flower of love for himself having often before reproached himself therefore he saluted her as an old acquaintance inquired whether she was staying any time at Cessena and ascertained that she was only passing through travelling by long stages as she was awaited with much impatience and that she would spend the coming night at Forley this was all that Caesar cared to know he summoned Mitchell Otto and in a low voice said a few words to him which were heard by no one else the cortege only made a halt at the neighbouring town as the fair bride had said and started at once for Forley although the day was already far advanced but scarcely had a league been covered when a troop of horsemen from Cessena overtook and surrounded them although the soldiers in the escort were far from being in sufficient force they were eager to defend their genitals bride but soon some fell dead and others terrified took to plight and when the lady came down from her litter to try to escape the chief seized her in his arms then ordering his men to return to Cessena without him he put his horse to the gallop in a cross direction and as the shades of evening were now beginning to fall he soon disappeared into the darkness Coac Eolol learned the news to one of the fugitives who declared that he had recognised among the lavishes the Duke of Valentinois soldiers at first he thought his ears had deceived him so hard was it to believe this terrible intelligence but it was repeated and he stood for one instant motionless as it were thunderstruck then suddenly with a cry of vengeance he threw off his stupa and dashed away to the ducal palace where sat the doge Barbarigo and the council of ten unannounced he rushed into their midst the very moment after they had heard of Caesar's outrage most serene lords he cried I am come to bid you farewell for I am resolved to sacrifice my life to my private vengeance though indeed I had hoped to devote it to the wounded in the soul's noblest part in my honour the dearest thing I possessed my wife has been stolen from me and the thief is the most treacherous the most impious the most infamous of men it is Valentinois my lords I beg you will not be offended if I speak thus of a man whose boasted is to be a member of your noble ranks and to enjoy your protection it is not so he lies even as he is unworthy of the life whereof my sword shall deprive him in truth his very birth was a sacrilege he is a fratricide a usurper of the goods of other men an oppressor of the innocent and a highway assassin he is a man who will violate every law even the law of hospitality respected by the various barbarian a man who will do violence to a virgin who is passing through his own country where she had every right to expect from him not only the consideration due to her sex and condition but also that which is due to the most serene republic whose condottieri I am and which is insulted in my person and in the dishonouring of my bride this man I say merits indeed to die by another hand than mine yet since he who ought to punish him is not for him a prince and judge but only a father quite as guilty as the son I myself will seek him out and I will sacrifice my own life not only in avenging my own injury but also in the blood of so many innocent beings but also in promoting the welfare of the most serene republic on which it is his ambition to trample when he has accomplished the ruin of the other princes of Italy the doge and the senators who as we said were already apprised of the event that had brought carcciolo before them listened with great interest and profound indignation for they as he told them were themselves insulted in the person of their general hands and not yield to his rage which could only work his own undoing either his bride should be rendered up to him without a smirk upon her bridal veil or else a punishment should be dealt out proportions to the affront and without delay as a proof of the energy wherewith the noble tribunal would take action in the affair Luigi Manetti secretary to the ten was sent to Imola where the Duke was reported to be that he might explain to him the most serene republic viewed the outrage perpetrated upon the condottieri at the same time the council of ten and the doge sought out the French ambassador in treating him to join with them and repair in person with Manetti to the Duke of Valentinois and summon him in the name of King Louis XII immediately to send back to Venice the lady he had carried off the two messengers arrived at Imola where they found Caesar implying that he had been in any way connected with the crime nay, authorising Manetti and the French ambassador to pursue the culprits and promising that he would himself have the most active search carried on the Duke appeared to act in such complete good faith that the envoys were for the moment hoodwinked and themselves undertook a search of the most careful nature they accordingly repaired to the exact spot and began to procure information on the high road there had been found dead and wounded by the gallop carrying a woman in distress on his saddle he had soon left the beaten track and plunged across country a peasant coming home from working in the fields had seen him appear and vanish again like a shadow taking the direction of a lonely house an old woman declared that she had seen him go into this house but the next night the house was gone as though by enchantment and the plowshare had passed over where it stood so that none could say what had become of the people who had dwelt in the house and even the house itself were there no longer Menenti and the French ambassador returned to Venice and related what the Duke had said what they had done and how all search had been in vain no one doubted that Caesar was the culprit but none could prove it so the most serene republic which could not considering their war with the Turks be embroiled with the Pope forbade Coarchiola to take any sort of private vengeance as the current was no more mentioned but the pleasures of the winter had not diverted Caesar's mind from his plans about Frenza scarcely did the spring season allow him to go into the country then he marched anew upon the town camped opposite the castle and making a new breach ordered a general assault himself going up first of all but in spite of the courage he personally displayed and the able seconding of his soldiers they were repulsed by Aster who at the head of his men at the top of the rampart rolled down stones and trunks of trees upon the besiegers after an hour's struggle man to man Caesar was forced to retire leaving two thousand men in the trenches about the town and among the two thousand one of his bravest condottieri Valentino Farnese then seeing that neither ex-communications nor assaults could help him Caesar converted the siege into a blockade all the roads leading to Frenza were cut off and as various signs of revolt had been remarked at Cicena a governor was installed there whose powerful will was well known to Caesar Ramiro d'Orco with powers of life and death over the inhabitants he then waited quietly before Frenza till hunger should drive out the citizens from those walls they defended with such vehement enthusiasm at the end of a month during which the people of Frenza had suffered all the horrors of famine delegates came out to parlay and the intent to do in the Romania was less hard to satisfy than might have been expected and the town yielded on condition that he should not touch either the persons or the belongings of the inhabitants that Alstom Alfredi the youthful ruler should have the privilege of retiring whenever he pleased and should enjoy the revenue of his patrimony wherever he might be the conditions were faithfully kept so far as the inhabitants were concerned but Caesar when he had seen Astor the youth who was like a woman he kept him by his side in his own army showing him honors befitting a young prince and evincing before the eyes of all the strongest affection for him one day Astor disappeared just as Caracola's bride had disappeared and no one knew what had become of him Caesar himself appeared very uneasy saying that he had no doubt made his escape somewhere and in order to give credence to this story he sent out couriers to seek him in all directions a year after this double disappearance there was picked up in the Tiber a little below the castle of St. Angelo the body of a beautiful woman her hands bound together behind her back and also the corpse of a handsome youth with the boasting he had been strangled with tied around his neck the girl was Caracola's bride the young man was Astor during the last year both had been the slaves of Caesar's ledgers now tired of them he had had them thrown into the Tiber the capture of Venza had brought Caesar the title of Duke of Romagna which was first bestowed on him by the Pope in full consistory and afterwards ratified by the King of Hungary the Republic of Venice and the Kings of Castile in Portugal the news of the ratification arrived at Rome on the eve of the day on which the people are accustomed to keep the anniversary of the foundation of the eternal city this fate which went back to the days of Pomponius Lightus they rise from the joyful events that had just happened to their sovereign as a sign of joy Canon were fired all day long in the evening there were illuminations and bonfires and during part of the night the Prince of Squilacce with the chief lords of the Roman nobility marched about the streets bearing torches and exclaiming long live Alexander long live Caesar long live the Borges long live the Orsini Section 22 of Celebrated Crimes Volume 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Kevin Maxin Celebrated Crimes Volume 1 by Alexander Dumas translated by GB Ives Section 22 the Borges Scarcely was he master of Fianza before excited by the Mariscotti old enemies of the Bentevolio family he cast his eyes upon Bologna but John de Bentevolio whose ancestors had possessed this town from time immemorial had not only made all preparations necessary for a long resistance but he had also put himself under the protection of France so scarcely had he learned that Caesar was crossing the frontier of the Bolognese territory with his army to Louis XII to claim the fulfillment of his promise Louis kept it with his accustomed good faith and when Caesar arrived before Bologna he received an intimation from the King of France that he was not to enter on any undertaking against his ally Bentevolio Caesar not being the man to have his plans upset for nothing made conditions for his retreat to which Bentevolio consented only too happy to be quit of him at this price the conditions were the session of Castello Bolognese between Imola and Faenza the payment of a tribute of 9000 ducats and the keeping for his service of 100-minute arms and 2,000 inventory in exchange for these favors Caesar confided to Bentevolio that his visit had been due to the councils of the Mariscotti then reinforced by his new allies contingent he took the road for Tuscany but he was scarcely out of sight when Bentevolio shut the gates of Bologna and commended his son Hermes to assassinate with his own hand Agamemnon Mariscotti the head of the family and ordered the massacre of 4 and 30 of his near relatives, brothers, sons, daughters and nephews and 200 other of his kindred and friends the butchery was carried out by the noblest use of Bologna whom Bentevolio forced to bathe their hands in this blood so that he might attach them to himself through their fear of reprisals Caesar's plans with regard to Florence were now no longer a mystery since the month of January there was a pizza for 10 or 1200 men under the command of Reniero della Sassetta and Piero da Gamba Corti and as soon as the conquest of the Romagna was complete he had further dispatched Olivero di Fermo with new detachments his own army had he reinforced as we have seen by 100 men at arms and 2000 infantry he had just been joined by Vitellozzo Vitelli Lord of Citta di Castello and by the Orsini who had brought him another 2 or 3000 men to Pisa he had under his control 700 men at arms and 5000 infantry still in spite of this formidable company he entered Tuscany declaring that his intentions were only Pacific protesting that he only desired to pass through the territories of the Republic on his way to Rome and offering to pay and ready money for any victual his army might require but when he had passed the defiles of the mountains and arrived at Barbarino he began to put a price on the friendship he had at first offered freely and to impose his own conditions instead of accepting those of others these were that Piero di Medici kinsman and ally of the Orsini should be reinstated in his ancient power that six Florentine citizens to be chosen by Vitellozzo should be put into his hands that they might by their death expiate that of Paolo Vitelli unjustly executed by the Florentines that the Signoria should engage with the lord of Pionbino whom Caesar intended to dispossess of his estates without delay and further that he himself should be taken into the service of the Republic for a pay proportionate to his desserts but just as Caesar had reached this point in his negotiations with Florence he received orders from Louis XII to get ready so soon as he conveniently could to follow him with his army and to help in the conquest of Naples which he was at last in a position to undertake Caesar dared not break his word to so powerful an ally he therefore replied that he was at the king's orders and as the Florentines were not aware that he was acquitting them on compulsion he sold his retreat for the sum of 36,000 ducats per annum in exchange for which some he was to hold 300 mended arms always in readiness to go to the aid of the Republic at her earliest call and in any circumstances of need but hurried as he was he still hoped that he might find time to conquer the territory of Piambino as he went by and take the capital by a single vigorous stroke so he made his entry into the lands of Yacopo IV of Apiano the latter he found however had been beforehand with him and to rob him of all resource had laid waste in his own country burned his fodder felled his trees torn down his vines and destroyed a few fountains that produced salubrious waters Severeto, Scarlino the Isle of Elba and La Pianosa but he was obliged to stop short of the castle which opposed a serious resistance as Louis XII's army was continuing its way towards Rome and he received a fresh order to join it he took his departure the next day leaving behind him Vitellozzo and Gianpaolo Bagliani to prosecute the siege in his absence Louis XII was this time advancing upon Naples not with the unconscious ardor of Charles VIII but on the contrary with that prudence and circumspection which characterized him besides his alliance with Florence and Rome he had also signed a secret treaty with Ferdinand the Catholic who had similar pretensions through the house of Doris to the throne of Naples to those Louis himself had through the house of Anjou by this treaty the two kings were sharing their conquests beforehand Louis would be the master of Naples and Jerusalem Ferdinand reserved for his own share the Apulia and Calabria with the title of Duke of these provinces both were to receive the investiture from the Pope and to hold them of him this partition was all the more likely to be made in fact because Frederick supposing all the time that Ferdinand was his good and faithful friend would open the gates of his towns only to receive into his fortresses conquerors and masters instead of allies all this perhaps was not very loyal conduct he had long desired and had just now received the surname of Catholic but it mattered little to Louis who profited by reasonable acts he did not have to share the French army which the Duke of Valentinois had just joined consisted of 1,000 lances 4,000 Swiss and 6,000 Gaskins and adventurers further Philip of Rabenstein was bringing by sea six Breton and Provencal vessels and three Genoese Carracks and 200 invaders against this mighty host the king of Naples had only 700 men at arms 600 light horse and 6,000 infantry under the command of the Colonna whom he had taken into his pay after they were exiled by the Pope from the states of the church but he was counting on Gonsovall of Cordova who was to join him at Gaeta and to whom he had confidingly opened all his fortresses in Calabria but the feeling of safety inspired by Frederick's faithless ally was not destined to endure long on their arrival at Rome the French and Spanish ambassadors presented to the Pope the treaty signed at Grenada on the 11th of November 1500 between Louis XII and Ferdinand the Catholic a treaty which up to that time had been secret Alexander foreseeing the probable future had by the death of Alfonso loosened all the bonds that attached him to the house of Aragon and then began by making some difficulty about it which was demonstrated that the arrangement had only been undertaken to provide the Christian princes with another weapon for attacking the Ottoman Empire and before this consideration one may readily suppose all the Pope's scruples vanished on the 25th of June therefore it was decided to call a consistory which was to declare Frederick deposed from the throne of Naples when Frederick had heard all at once that the French army had arrived at Rome that his ally Ferdinand had deceived him and that Alexander had pronounced his name he understood that all was lost but he did not wish it to be said that he had abandoned his kingdom without even attempting to save it so he charged his two new condottieri Fabrizio Colonna Aranuzia di Marziano to check the French before Capua with 300 men at arms some light horse and 3000 infantry in person he occupied Versa with another division of his army while Prospero Colonna was at the side of Calabria these dispositions were scarcely made when Daubigny having passed the Volturno approached to lay seas to Capua and invested the town on both sides of the river scarcely were the French encamped before the ramparts that they began to set up their batteries which were soon in play much to the terror of the besieged who poor creatures were almost strangers to the town and had fled thither from every side expecting to find protection beneath the walls and Fabrizio Colonna the French from the moment of their first assault inspired so great and blind to terror that everyone began to talk of opening the gates and it was only with great difficulty that Colonna made this multitude understand that at least they ought to reap some benefit from the check the besiegers had received and obtained good turns of capitulation when he had brought them around to his view he set out to demand a parley with Daubigny and the conference was fixed for the next day but one in which they were to treat the surrender of the town but this was not Caesar Borgia's idea at all he had stayed behind to confer with the Pope and had joined the French army with some of his troops on the very day on which the conference had been arranged for two days later and the capitulation of any nature would rob him of his share of the booty and the promise of such pleasure as would come from the capture of a city so rich and populous as Capua so he opened up negotiations on his own account with a captain who was on guard and was cunning supported by bribery proved as usual more prompt and efficacious than any others at the very moment when Fabrizio Colonna in a fortified outpost was discussing the conditions of capitulation with the French captains suddenly great cries of distress were heard these were caused by Borgia who without a word to anyone had entered the town with his faithful army from Romagna and was beginning to cut the throats of the garrison which had naturally somewhat relaxed the French when they saw that the town was half taken rushed on the gates with such impetuosity that the besieged did not even attempt to defend themselves any longer and forced their way into Capua by three separate sides nothing more could be done then to stop the issue butchery and pillage had begun and the work of destruction must needs be completed in vain did Fabrizio Colonna and Don Hugo de Cordona attempt to make head against the French and Fabrizio Colonna and Don Hugo were made prisoners Renuzio wounded by an arrow fell into the hands of the Duke of Valentinois seven thousand inhabitants were massacred in the streets among them the trader who had given up the gate the churches were pillaged the convents of nuns forced open and then might be seen the spectacle of some of these holy versions casting themselves into pits or into the river to escape the soldiers three hundred of the noblest ladies of the Noir broke in the doors chased out for himself forty of the most beautiful and handed over the rest to his army the pillage continued for three days Capua once taken Frederick saw that it was useless any longer to attempt defense so he shut himself up in Castel Nuevo and gave permission to Gaeta and to Naples to treat with the conqueror Gaeta brought him immunity from pillage with sixty thousand ducats and Naples with the surrender of Dominier by Frederick himself a condition that he should be allowed to take the island of Isia his money jewels and furniture and there remain with his family for six months secure from all hostile attack the terms of this capitulation were faithfully adhered to on both sides Dominier entered Naples and Frederick retired to Isia thus by a last terrible blow never to rise again fell this branch of the House of Aragon which had now reigned for sixty five years Frederick its head demanded and obtained a safe conduct to pass into France where Louis XII gave him the Duchy of Anjou and thirty thousand ducats a year and condition that he should never quit the kingdom and there in fact he died on the 9th of September 1504 his eldest son Dan Ferdinand Duke of Calabria retired to Spain where he was permitted to marry twice but each time with a woman and there he died in 1550 Alfonso the second son who had followed his father to France died it is said of poison at Grenoble at the age of twenty two lastly Caesar the third song died at Ferrara before he had attained his 18th birthday Frederick's daughter Charlotte married in France Nicholas Count of Laval Governor and Admiral of Brittany a daughter was born of this marriage and Laval rights were transferred to the house of La Trimoie which were used later as a claim upon the kingdom of the two Sicilies the capture of Naples gave the Duke of Valentinois his liberty again so he left the French army after he had received a fresh assurances on his own account of the king's friendliness and returned to the siege of Pionbino which he had been forced to interrupt during this interval Alexander had been visiting the scenes with Lucrezia who was now consoled for her customs death and had never before enjoyed such favor with his holiness so when she returned to Rome she no longer had separate rooms from him the result of this recrudence of affection was the appearance of two pontifical bulls converting the towns of Nepe and Sermonetta into duchies one was bestowed on John Bardia an illegitimate child of the Pope who was not the son of either Linozza or Giulia Varnese the other and Don Roderico of Aragon son of Lucrezia and Alfonso the lands of the Colonna were an appendage to the two duchies but Alexander was dreaming of yet another addition to his fortune this was to come from a marriage between Lucrezia and Don Alfonso d'Este son of Duke Hercules of Ferrara in favor of which alliance Louis XII had negotiated his holiness was now having the same day that Pionbino was taken and that Duke Hercules had given the King of France his assent to the marriage both of these pieces of news were good for Alexander but the one could not compare an importance with the other and the intimation that Lucrezia was to marry the heir presumptive to the duchy of Ferrara was received with a joy so great that it smacked of the humble beginnings of the Borgian house the Duke of Valentinois was invited to return to Rome the Governor of Sant'Angelo received orders that Kenan should be be fired every quarter of an hour from noon to midnight at two o'clock Lucrezia attired as a fiance and accompanied by her two brothers the Ducs of Valentinois and Squilace issued from the Vatican followed by all the nobility of Rome and proceeded to the church of the Madonna del Papalo where the Duke of Gandia and Cardinal John Borgia were buried in the evening accompanied by the same cavalcade which shown them more brightly under the torch light and brilliant illuminations she made procession through the whale town greeted by cries of long live Pope Alexander the sixth long live the duchess of Ferrara which were shouted aloud by Harold's clad in cloth of gold the next day an announcement was made in the town that a race course for the women was open between the castle of Sant'Angelo and the piazza of St. Peter's in Spanish fashion and that from the end of the present month which was October until the first day of Lent masquerades would be permitted in the streets of Rome such was the nature of the Fets outside the program of those going on within the Vatican was not presented to the people for by the account of Bucciargo and eyewitness this is what happened on the last Sunday of the month of October fifty courtesans sucked in the apostolic palace in the Duke of Valentinois rooms with equaries and servants first wearing their usual garments afterwards in dazzling draperies when supper was over the table was removed candlesticks were set on the floor in a symmetrical pattern and a great quantity of chestnuts was scattered on the ground these the fifty women skillfully picked up running about gracefully in and about between the burning lights the Pope, the Duke of Valentinois and his sister Lucrezia who were looking onto this and they received prizes of embroidered garters velvet boots golden caps and laces then new diversions took the place of these we humbly ask forgiveness of our readers and especially of our legney readers but though we have found word to describe the first part of the spectacle we have sought them in vain for the second suffice it to say that just as there had been prizes for feats of a draughtness others were given now to the dancers who were most daring and brazen which calls to mind the Roman evenings in the days of Tiberius, Nero and Helio Gabales, Lucrezia clad in a robe of golden brocade her train carried by young girls dressed in white and crowned with roses issued from her palace to the sound of trumpets and clarions and made her way over carpets that were laid down in the streets through which she had to pass accompanied by the novelist Cavaliers and the loveliest women in Rome she betook herself to the Vatican where in the Pauline Hall Montignois, Don Ferdinand axing his proxy for the Duke Alfonso and his cousin Cardinal d'Este the Pope sat on one side of the table while the envoys from Ferrara stood on the other in their midst came Lucrezia and Don Ferdinand placed on her finger the nuptial ring this ceremony over Cardinal d'Este approached and presented to the bride four magnificent rings set with precious stones then a casket was placed on the table and the ceremony whence the Cardinal drew forth a great many trinkets chains, necklaces of pearls and diamonds of workmanship as costly as their material these he also begged Lucrezia to accept before she received those the bridegroom was hoping to offer himself which would be more worthy of her Lucrezia showed the utmost delight in accepting these gifts then she retired into the next room leaning on the Pope's arm and followed by the ladies of her suite leaving the Duke of Valentinois that evening the guests met again and spent half the night in dancing while a magnificent display of fireworks lighted up the piazza of San Paolo the ceremony of betrothal over the Pope and the Duke busied themselves with making preparations for the departure the Pope who wished the journey to be made with a great degree of splendor sent in his daughter's company in addition to the two brothers-in-law and gentlemen in their suite the senate of Rome and all the lords present in their costumes and liveries among this brilliant throng might be seen Olivero and Ramiro Mattei sons of Piero Mattei Chancellor of the town and a daughter of the Pope whose mother was not Rosa Venosa besides these the Pope nominated in consistory Francesco Borgia Cardinal of the Sosenza Legate Allaterre to accompany his daughter to the frontiers of the ecclesiastical states which should be received as sovereign lady and mistress grand preparations were at once set on foot for the fulfillment of his orders but the messengers reported that they greatly feared that there would be some grumbling at Sosena where it will be remembered that Caesar had left Ramiro Dorco as governor with plenary powers to calm the agitation of the town now Ramiro Dorco had accomplished his task so well that there was nothing more to fear in the way of rebellion and this situation was that it was improbable that the same demonstrations of joy could be expected from a town plunged in mourning that were looked for from Imala, Fienza, and Pizarro the Duke of Valentinois averted this inconvenience in the prompt and efficacious fashion characteristic of him alone one morning the inhabitants of Sosena awoke to find a scaffold set up in the square and upon it was Ramiro Dorco no one ever knew by whose hands the scaffold had been raised by night nor by what executionals the terrible deed had been carried out but when the Florentine Republic set to ask Machiavelli their ambassador at Sosena what he thought of it he replied magnificent lords I can tell you nothing concerning the execution of Ramiro Dorco except that Cesar Borgia as the prince of Machiavelli the Duke of Valentinois was not disappointed and the future Duchess of Ferrara was admirably received in every town along her route and particularly at Sosena while Lucreti was on her way to Ferrara to meet her fourth husband Alexander and the Duke of Valentinois resolved to make progress in the region of their last conquest the Duchy of Pionbino the apparent object of this journey was that the new subjects might take their oath to Caesar in the arsenal in Jacopo da Piano's capital within the reach of Tuscany a plan which neither the Pope nor his son had ever seriously abandoned the two accordingly started from the port of Corneto with six ships accompanied by a great number of cardinals and prelates and arrived that same evening in Pionbino the Pontifical Court made a stay there of several days partly with the view of making the Duke known to the inhabitants of Pionbino's capital functions of which the most important was a service held on the third Sunday in Lent in which the cardinal of Cossenza sang a mass and the Pope officiated in state with the Duke and the cardinals after the solemn functions the customary pleasures followed and the Pope summoned the predious girls of the country and ordered them to dance their national dances before him following on these dances came feasts of unheard of magnificence the abject of all these feats was to scatter abroad a great deal of money and so to make the Duke of Valentinois popular while poor Jacopo D'Apiano was forgotten when they left Pionbino the Pope and his son visited the island of Elba where they only stayed long enough to visit the old fortifications and issue ordered for the buildings of new ones then the illustrious travelers embarked upon their return journey to Rome but scarcely had they put out to sea when weather became adverse in the port of Farajo they remained five days on board though they had only two days provisions during the last three days the Pope lived on fried fish that were caught under great difficulties because of the heavy weather at last they arrived inside of Corneto and there the Duke who was not on the same vessel as the Pope seeing that his ship could not get in had a boat put out and so was taken ashore the Pope was obliged to continue on his way towards Ponticoli he was countering so violent a tempest that all who were with him were utterly subdued by either sickness or the terror of death the Pope alone did not show one instant fear but remained on the bridge during the storm sitting on his armchair invoking the name of Jesus making the sign of the cross at last his ship entered the roads of Ponticoli where he landed and after sending to Corneto to fetch horses he rejoined the Duke who was there awaiting him then they returned by slow stages to Vecchia and Palo and reached Rome after an absence of a month almost at the same time Dalbrey arrived in quest of his Cardinals hat he was accompanied by two princes of the house of Navarre who were received not only with those honors which seemed their rank but also his brother-in-laws to whom the Duke was eager to show and what spirit he was contracting this alliance end of section 22