XIV. A. t. 4. assented to the treaty.(a) On the same day he CHAP. (a) We are informed by Guicciardini, that on the conditions of the treaty being reduced into writing, the duke required the insertion of certain words, importing, that the Spaniards had conceded the dominions of Urbino to the pope, which not being assented to, the duke refused to affix his signature, and hastening from the place, accompanied by Federigo da Bozzolo and others of his followers, proceeded through Romagna and the Bolognese to Mantua. Storia d' Ital. lib. xiii. ii. 151. I have, however, preferred the authority of Leoni, who allows that the duke assented to the treaty; nor indeed, without such assent, could he have been entitled to the advantages for which he had stipulated. "Venne la capitulatione," says Leoni, "sottoscritta in"sieme con una patente amplissima del papa in 'mano de' "Ministri Francesi, i quali la presentorno al Duca in Ur-. "bino; & egli con publico & autentico protesto di quanto "comportavano le sue ragioni, accettandola, partì il mede"simo giorno di quella città, con incredibile franchezza "d'animo in tanta mestitia & afflittione universale." Vita di Fr. Maria duca d' Urbino, lib. ii. p. 262. CHAP. A. D. 1517. A. Et. 42. A. Pont. V. 66 "of a million of crowns, which it was said throughout Italy had only purchased for "him disgrace and insult to his soldiers, his states, and his commanders; and with the acquisition of the duchy of Urbino, lost "indeed by the trial of arms, but obtained by "the influence of his authority." Without wholly agreeing with this author in his commendations of the conduct and character of the exiled duke, it must be confessed that the motives of the pope in this undertaking were as culpable as the conduct of his commanders was disgraceful; whilst the enormous expenses which he incurred exhausted his treasury, and induced him to resort to those measures for replenishing it which were shortly afterwards productive of such disastrous consequences to the Roman church. 66 66 poison the pope, ConspiraDuring the war of Urbino, an alarming ey of the conspiracy was discovered at Rome, the object cardinals to of which was to destroy the pope by poison; and if the name of religion had not been already sufficiently prostituted, the Christian world might have shuddered to hear that the authors of this crime were found among the members of the sacred college. The chief instigator of this attempt was the cardinal Alfonso Petrucci, the brother of Borghese Pe XIV. trucci, who had lately been deprived of his CHAP. authority in Siena and expelled from that place by the interference of the pope. This total subversion of the dignity and fortunes of his family, which had been accompanied with the confiscation of his own hereditary revenues, sunk deep into the mind of the cardinal. He considered the conduct of the pope in this transaction, as in itself highly oppressive and unjust; but when he compared it with the services rendered by his father Pandolfo to the family of the Medici, as well on their restoration to Florence as on other important occasions, and recollected the very active part which he had himself taken, with the rest of the younger cardinals, in raising the pope to his high dignity, his resentment rose to such a degree as could not be restrained either by the sense of guilt or the fear of punishment. In the first paroxisms of his anger he determined to assassinate the pope with his own hand; but from this he was deterred by the difficulty of effecting his purpose rather than by the horror of such a crime, or the scandal that must have arisen to the church from the murder of a pope by the hands of a cardinal.(a) Changing therefore his means, but not his object, he (a) Guicciard. lib. xiii. ii. 144. A. D. 1517. A. Et. 42. 4. Pont. V. XIV. CHAP. he resolved to destroy the pope by poison, for which purpose he engaged as the partner of his guilt Battista da Vercelli, a celebrated practitioner of surgery at Rome. The manner in which this was to be accomplished was agreed upon.(a) During the absence of the surgeon who usually attended the pope, on account of a dangerous and painful complaint, with which he had long been afflicted, Battista was introduced to him as a person of superior skill; and if Leo had not, by a fortunate delicacy, and contrary to the entreaties of his attendants, refused to discover his complaint to a stranger, it was intended to have mingled the ingredients of poison in the medicaments to be applied. The impatience of Petrucci could not however brook delay, but frequently and involuntarily burst forth in complaints against the ingratitude of the pontiff, and in expressions A. D. 1517. A. Et. 42. 1 (a)" Id eo respiciebat, ut Pontifex curandæ caussa fistulæ, quæ jamdiu illi in ima sede, quemadmodum alibi "innuimus, nata erat, et ob quam semel iterumque in vi"tæ periculum adductus fuit, illo chirurgo, veteri remoto, 66 ac venenato medicamento uteretur. Locus Vercellensi "erat patefactus, nisi Leo, cunctis adversantibus, salutari "quadam verecundia minime se novo chirurgo aperiendum judicasset." Fabron. vita Leon. x. p. 115. et v. Jovii, vitam Leon. x. lib. iv. p. 76. 66 * expressions of enmity and revenge. This CHAP. XIV. conduct soon attracted notice, and Petrucci being aware of the danger which he had incurred by his imprudence, thought it expedient to retire for a short time from Rome. He did not, however, relinquish his project, which he had communicated to his secretary Antonio Nino, who was to accelerate its execution in his absence and with whom he maintained a frequent interchange of letters. (a) Some of these being intercepted, sufficiently disclosed the criminal nature of the correspondence, and Leo, under the pretext of consulting with Petrucci on the arrangement of his family concerns, required his presence in Rome: Conscious of his guilt, Petrucci manifested some reluctance in complying with this. request, but Leo removed his apprehensions by granting him a safe-conduct, at the same time undertaking by his solemn promise to the Spanish ambassador, not to violate his own act. Confiding in assurances so solemnly sanctioned, Petrucci instantly repaired to Rome. On his arrival he was introduced, in company with the cardinal Bandinello (a) Jovii, vita Leon. x. lib. iv. p. 76. Fabronii, vita Leon. X. p. 116. A. D. 1517. A. Et. 49. A. Pont. V. |