VI.

1

CHA P. related. The friends of Lorenzo were watchful for his safety. Frescobaldi was seized; and having upon his examination disclosed his accomplices, was executed with them on the 6th day of the following month". The treachery of Frescobaldi occasioned at Florence general surprise, and was almost regarded as an instance of insanity. He had been the consul of the Florentine republick at Pera, and it was at his instance that Bandini, the murderer of Giuliano, had been delivered up by Mahomet II. Yet neither the atrociousness of the crime, nor the dread of the example, deterred him from a similar enterprise. From this circumstance Lorenzo perceived the necessity of being more diligently on his guard against the attempts of his profigate antagonists; and whilst he lamented the depravity of the times, that rendered such a precaution necessary, he was generally surrounded, when he appeared in publick, by a number of tried friends and adherents. In this respect he has not, however, escaped censure, although from a quarter where it should have been silenced by the sense of decency, if not by the feelings of gratitude. The kindness shewn

by

b The other conspirators were Filippo Balducci, and Amoretto, the illegitimate son of Guido Baldovinetti. v. Ammir. lib. 25.

VI.

by him to Raffaello Maffei, the brother of An- CHAP. tonio, who, in the conspiracy of the Pazzi, had undertaken to be the immediate instrument of his destruction, has before been noticed. In return for such unmerited attention, this historian has availed himself of a measure which was rendered necessary by repeated instances of treachery, to represent Lorenzo as a gloomy tyrant, who supported his authority, and secured his safety in Florence, by the aid of a band of ruffians, and who found in musick alone a solace from his anxiety. The reputation of Lorenzo is not, however, likely to suffer more from the pen of one brother, than his person did from the dagger of the other.

On the conclusion of the contest with the Expulsion of papal see, the first object not only of Lorenzo, the Turks but of all the Italian potentates, was the expul

sion

to.

c Vol. i. p. 277.

d" Post hæc Laurentius defunctus periculo, resi"piscere paulatim, majoreque postmodum apud suos "cives esse auctoritate, ac Tyranno propius agitare; 66 cum sicariis incedere, excubiis ac nunciis diligentius "invigilare, denique amissas in bello facultates unde"cunque recuperare cœpit. Vir aspectu tristi, ore tru❝culento, sermone ingratus, animo factiosus, in curis "agitans continuo, præter unum musica solatium.”

Raph. Volt. Com. Urb. p. 153.

VOL. II.

VI.

CHAP. Sion of the Turks from Otranto. For this purpose league was concluded, to which the Venetians only refused to accede. Suspicions had already been entertained that Mahomet II. had been incited to his enterprise by the representations of that state; and these suspicions were strengthened by the indifference which the Venetians manifested on so alarming an occasion. It is, however, probable, that they kept aloof from the contest, merely for the purpose of availing themselves of any opportunity of aggrandizement, which the exhausted situation of the neighbouring states might afford. With the powers of Italy, the kings of Arragon, of Portugal, and of Hungary, united their arms. The city of Otranto was attacked by a formidable army under the command of the duke of Calabria; whilst the united fleets of the king of Naples, the pope, and the Genoese, were stationed to prevent the arrival of further aid to the besieged. The place was, however, defended with great courage, and the event yet remained doubtful, when intelligence was received of the death of the Emperour Mahomet II. who had established the seat of the Turkish empire at Constantinople, and been the scourge of Christendom for nearly half a century. Upon his death, a disagreement arose between his two sons Bajazet and Zizim; in consequence of

which,

which, the Turkish troops destined to the relief c HAP. of Otranto were recalled, and the place was VI. left to its fate. A capitulation was concluded on the tenth day of September 1481, by which the Turks stipulated for a free return to their native country; but the duke of Calabria, on the surrender of the city, found a pretext for eluding the treaty, and retained as prisoners about fifteen hundred Turks, whom he afterwards employed in the different wars in which he was engaged.

tians and

duke of

Whilst the other states of Italy were thus The Veneengaged in the common cause, the Venetians the pope had been devising means for possessing them- attack the selves of the dominions of Ercole d'Este, duke Ferrara. of Ferrara, and, by the assistance of Girolamo Riario, had prevailed upon the pope to countenance their pretensions. The duke had married the daughter of Ferdinand, king of Naples; an alliance which, as it contributed to his credit and independence, had given great dissatisfaction to the Venetians. The first aggression was the erection of a fortress by those haughty republicans, on a part of the territory of Ferrara, which

CHAP. which they pretended was within the limits of VI. their own dominions. An embassy was imme

1

diately despatched by the duke to Venice, to avert, if possible, the hostile intentions of the senate, and to conciliate their good-will by the fairest representations, and the fullest professions of amity. Finding his efforts ineffectual, the duke resorted for succour to the pope; but Sixtus was already apprized of the part he had to act, and whilst he heard his solicitations with apparent indifference, was secretly preparing to join in his ruin. The motives by which Sixtus was actuated are not difficult to be discovered. If the family of Este could be deprived of their dominions, many circumstances concurred to justify the pretensions of the papal see to the sovereignty of Ferrara. That city was itself ranked among those over which the pontiffs asserted a signorial claim, which lay dormant, or was revived, as circumstances required; and although Sixtus could not singly contend with the Venetians in the division of the spoil, yet he well knew that the rest of Italy would interpose, to prevent their possessing themselves of a territory which would add so considerably to their power. In the contest therefore which he supposed must necessarily take place, Sixtus was not without hopes of vesting the government

of