H E materials I have used for the present l i fe of Bar

tolomeo Colleon i have been in the main the fol lowing .

I have taken - as a foundat ion the work of Sp ino, H is tor ia

del l a v i ta et fatti del l’

eccelentissimo Capi tano di guerra

Bartolomeo Cogl ione scri tta per M . P ietro Spino, I n Vinetia

appresso G ratioso Percaccino and the l i fe of

Colleon i i n “ II Castel lo d i Cavernago ei Conti Martinengo

Col leoni, memorie stori che del l’ avvocato Giuseppe Maria

Bonomi,Bergamo , Fratel l i Bol i s 1 884 . S ignor Bonomi

has a large acquai ntance with the arch ives of the Martinengo

fam i ly, and has been instrumental i n recovering the house

of Col leoni i n Bergamo for the mun ic ipal i ty . The second

edi tion of Spino, publ i shed at Bergamo , MDCC&&&I I , contains

two funeral orations and some add it ional in formation . The

l i fe of Spino is founded on that by Cornazzano, a poet who

l ived with Colleoni at Malpaga . The l i fe, wri tten i n Lat in ,

i s contained in th e Thesaurus of G raevius . I have not

found i t of any great value . I am also indebted to a l i fe of

Col leon i by Professor Gabriel e Rosa, kindly len t me by the

v i Pmfizce.

author . He i s wel l ‘acquainted wi th the h istory of the t ime

of which he treats . The “ Annal i d ’ I tal ia,” by Muratori ,

have been constantly i n my hands, as also the H is toi re des

Republ iques I tal iennes ,” by S ismondi . There is some diffi

cul ty in correlat ing the personal h istory of Colleoni with th e

history of h is t ime,because his b iographers and panegyrists

attribute to h im exploits wh ich,i n ordinary h istorians , are

referred to other people . N 0 one who attempts to write the

l ife of Col leon i can d ispense wi th the magnificently pri nted

work , Institutio P i i Loc i Magnificae Pietatis Bergom i &c .

Bergom i which contai ns, also, Colleoni’

s wil l , with

its codi ci ls . I found i n the l i brary at Bergamo abstracts of

papers i n the Venet ian arch ives relating to Colleon i ; these I

had copied , and I have used them in my book . I have paid

several vis i ts to Bergamo and its neighbourhood , and in the

exploration of s i tes connected with Colleon i ’s l i fe have been

greatly ass i sted by Da Ponte ’s “ Dizionario Odeporico ” Ber

gamo , 1 8 1 9 ,an admirable work of its kind

The bes t authori ty for the v is i t of K ing Chris t ian of

Denmark to I tal y I have found to be the “ Holstei n

Chron icle , quoted by H v itfeld i n h is H istory of Christ ian I . ,

publ ished in 1 5 99 . I t has been trans lated for me from the

black letter Dan ish by Mr . Bain of the Brit ish Museum , to

whom the best thanks of the Arunde l Soc iety are due . I

have been able to make some corrections from the German

translation of the same chron icle i n the Bri tish Museum . I

am much obl iged to Professor H enry M iddleton and Mr .

P ref ace . v i i

Edmund O ldfield for having looked through the proof

sheets,and also to Mr. Charles Sayle , of St . J ohn

’

s Col lege,

Cambridge , for ass i sting me in prepari ng the i ndex .

I t is poss ible that many interesting detai l s of Colleoni s

l i fe have escaped my research . I n th is case I shal l be obl iged

to anyone who wil l commun icate them to me.

OSCAR BRO& NING .

K I NG’S COLLEGE, CAMBR IDGE,M arc/z 1 6111 , 1 89 1 .

L I ST OF I LLUSTRAT IONS .

HEAD AND BUST OF COLLEON I , FROM THE EQUESTR IAN STATUE AT VENICE,B& VEROCCH IO.

PORTRA IT OF COLLEON I, FROM SPINO’

S“ L I FE OF COLLEON I .

MEDAL OF COLLEON I , B& M . GUID IZZAN I .

EQUESTR IAN PORTRA IT OF COLLEONI , I N H I S H OUSE AT BERGAMO .

ARMOR IAL BEAR I NGS, FROM SPINO’S

“ L I FE OF COLLEON I .

PORTRA IT OF COLLEON I IN THE FRANC I SCAN CONVENT, FOUNDED B& H I MAT MARTINENGO .

THE CASTLE OF MALPAGA,NEAR BERGAMO .

FACS IM ILE OF COLLEON I ’S HAND& R IT ING,FROM THE PUBL IC L IBRAR& AT

BERGAMO .

THE L IFE OF BARTOLOMEO COLLEON I .

MONG the many monuments of med iaeval I taly wh ichcover the plains of Lombardy, none is more i nteresting

than the castle Of Trezzo, seated on the r ight bank of the

Adda about midway on i ts passage from the gorges Of the

lower Alps to the broad wate rs of the PO . The green

rush ing river winds round a promontory which is almos t an

i sland . The mass ive Castle rises i n the midst . I t is bui l t of

closely compacted blocks of pudding-stone mixed wi th courses

of brick . I n i ts present ru ined condi tion i t presents an

untidy appearance to a close inspect ion, but i n the days of i ts

prime i t was faced with smooth slabs of stone on which

no foot or scal i ng-ladder could rest . -Descend ing steeply

i n to the river or ris ing from foundat ions of prec ip i tous rock , i t

seemed to defy attack . I t was connected with the left bankby a triple bridge of strong

'

construction , the lower path

leading to the dungeons, the middle way to the quarters

Of the garri son , whil e the upper road would conduct themaster of the castle and h is lad ies to their chambers . The

cas tl e was bui l t by Barnabo Visconti , and the bridge was

destroyed by Carmagnola . From the tower of the keep the

eye ranges over a v iew rich in beauty and in h istorical asso

B

2 Th e Lif e ofBar tolomeo Col/eom'

.

c iations . To the south the plain of Lombardy is los t i n the

haze,watered by canals

,teeming wi th maize and v ine , dotted

with countless campmzz

'

l z'

. To the east, near at hand , i s the

h i l l c i ty of Bergamo, far away to the west is discerned

the slender spire wh ich crowns the marble duomo of M i lan .

To the north the eye, after plunging from the giddy height

i nto the lovely waters Of the Adda, rises to th e h il ls . The

Resegone of Lecco bounds the view ; sti l l nearer are the h il ls

wh ich enc ircl e the monastery Of Pontida,the birthplace of the

Lombard league . Conspicuous at the edge of the plain is a

con ical h i l l topped by a ru i n called the Torre dei Colleon i , the

b irthplace of that noble family , and just below is the church

tower of Solza, a l i ttle v i l l age on the Adda about six miles

from Trezzo , where Bartolomeo was born in the year 1 400 .

The room In which he saw the l ight is s t i l l reverenced by h is

fel low-countrymen .

~The Colleon i were an ancient family of Bergamo . The

ci ty was torn asunder , l ike other I tal ian towns , by the rival

factions of Guel f and G h ibel l ine . The Ghibe l l ine cause was

sustained by the Suardi , the Guelf by the Rivola and the

Co lleon i . A document dated Bergamo, 1 1 0 1 , bears the s igna

ture of Olricus S ivardus , and G is ilbertus Co-leone ,the l ion ’s

head , which testifies to the anc ient spel l ing of the name . I n

1 1 8 2 and 1 1 89 we find a Carpigl ione Cogl ione hold ing an

honourable pos i t ion at I sola and at Calusco . The son of

Carpigl ione was Alberigo, of Alberigo G h isalberto ,who was a

j udge , of Gh isalberto Galeazzo , of Galeazzo Carpigliata,who

was a powerful captain under Pope U rban V . ( 1 362

Carpigl iata had two sons , G uard ino and G u idotto ; G u idotto

T/ze L g’

fe of B ar l o/omeo Golleow . 3

had a son , Paulo, famil iarly corrupted i nto Puho , who was the

father of Bartolomeo . We read Of a Sozzan dei Cogl ion i who

was appoin ted a judge of appeal i n Bergamo with remainder to

h i s descendants by the Emperor Frederick I I . i n the year

1 2 24, also of a Tresado Cogl ion i, who became Podesta of

Lodi in 1 2 70 . I n 1 3 73 , BarnaboVisconti , i n order to avenge

the death Of h is son Ambrogio , attacked Gugl i elmo Colleon i ,

and drove h im into the monastery of Pontida,and put h im to

death after he had surrendered upon promise of having his l i fe

spared.

The name of Bartolomeo’

s mother was Ricardona Valva

sori dei Saigu in i . H is father was not very weal thy, but he

pos sessed the two castles of Sol za and Ch ignolo . On September 3rd, 1 40 2 , when Colleon i was two years old, Gian

Galeazzo Visconti , ruler of Milan, died at Marignano on the

Lambro ; he div ided h is domin ions between h is two legiti

mate sons Gian Mari a and F i l ippo Maria,and an il l egi t imate

son Gabriel lo whom he had recognized . As his ch i ldren

were under age he confided the regency to h is w i fe Cateri na,

with the ass istance of a counci l which cons is ted of Francesco

Gonzaga, lord of Mantua, Count Anton io of U rbino , J acopo

del Verme,Pandolfo Malateste , Coun t Alberico da Barb iano,

and Francesco Barbavara of N ovara . The regents soon

began to quarrel amongst themselves and to rebel against the

Duchess,being d isgusted at the favour which she exhibi ted

towards Barbavara . The large terri tory so labor iously

amassed was v iolently torn asunde r . Ugo Cavalcabo se i zed

upon Cremona and Crema,Fran ch i no Rusca made himsel f

mas ter of Como, the Guelf party occup ied a large part Of

4 Tae L ife ofBar tolomeo Co/leom'

.

Bresc ia, Bergamo was torn asunder by confl ict ing fact ions .

I n the general confusion PuhO Col leoni sei zed upon

the castl e of Trezzo, a most important bulwark of the

M ilanese terr i tory towards the terri tory of Bergamo. I t

i s said that Puho,having establ ished h imself at Trezzo,

i nc i ted h is fi rst cous ins Giovann i , Dondacc io, Tes t i no and

Paolo to share his fortunes, as they were exi led from

Bergamo and were i n a poor cond it ion . One day the fourbrothers

,led by Giovann i the e ldest, attacked Puho as he

was playing at draughts,ki ll ed h im

,and threw h is widow into

one of the dungeons of the fortress . Bartolomeo took refuge

with a schoolmaster in the mountai ns of Bergamo,unti l , after

the lapse of a year, he rej o ined h is mother at Solza . Even

here he was not left i n peace, but was thrown i nto prison by

Giorgio Benzone, l ord of Crema, unti l he cou ld pay from his

mother’s dowry some debts wh ich were due from h is elder

brother Anton io to that tyrant .

On May 1 6th , 1 4 1 2, Gian Maria V isconti , who was

detested for h is cruel ty, was murdered by a body of con

spirators while he was hearing mass i n the church of S .

Gottardo . H is brother F il ippo Maria now became Duke of

Milan,and his fi rs t Obj ect was to recover the domin ions of h is

father . The castle of Trezzo was taken by the ooua’oflz

'

ere

Carmagnola i n 1 4 1 6 , and the Co lleoni were turned out .

Probably before th is t ime Bartolomeo had entered the service

of F il ippo Arcel l i, l ord of P iacenza , where he received the

ord inary education of a page . I n course of t ime Arcel li was

h imself defeated by F il ippo Maria Viscont i , and the bod ies of

h is son and brothers were impaled upon the wal ls before h i s

The Lye of B arfo/omeo Col/eom'

. 5

eyes . Colleon i had to fly for h is l i fe . He betook h imsel f to

the south of I taly, where the princ ipal oona’oi z‘

z’

ere capta ins of

the age were then engaged . At th is t ime the kingdom of

Naples was i n a state of the utmost confusion . The ti tular

Queen was J oanna I I . , the degenerate descendant of the great

Charles Of Anjou . Pope Martin V . who had fi rs t crowned

and then found that he could not tolerate her,had cal led in

as a rival Louis I I I . of Anjou,a sc ion of the house of Valois .

Joanna in 1 42 1 proclaimed Alfonso of Aragon her successor,

whom th irteen years later she deserted for René of Anjou ,

t i tular Duke of Lorrai ne . After a series of l ong and ru inous

wars, peace was eventual ly secured by the entrance of Alfonso

i nto Naples i n 1 4 22 . The grand cons table of the Queen was

Sforza Attendolo , who from being a s imple wood -cutter had

risen to the pos ition of the most powerfu l eofza’otz‘z'

er e of h is age.

The Pope now sent for Sforza and persuaded him to support

the cause of the Duke Of Anjou . He marched to Naples ,

returned to Queen Joanna h is i ns ign ia as constable , andordered her to renounce the crown . Bes ides the proclama

tion of Alfonso She thought i t advi sabl e to cal l i n the

assistance of Braccio, coun t of Montone , whom She i nvested

with the pri ncipal i ty of Capua . H is reputation as a mer

cenary general was only second to that of S forza . Braccio

took possess ion of Sulmona and marched to the capture of

Aversa,where Sforza met h im . At th is t ime J acopo Caldora ,

one of the barons who had revol ted against Queen J oanna

and had joined Sforza, suddenly came over to the s ide of

Braccio . The two generals marched together to Naples , and

arrived there on J une 26th,1 42 1 , j us t at the moment when

6 Tfie Life of B arfo/omeo Colleom'

.

K ing A lfonso entered the harbour with his fl eet . Not long

after th is Queen J oanna quarrel led with Alfonso and cal led

Sforza to her aid.

I nto the surging sea of d iscord the young Bartolomeo was

thrown . He fi rs t attached h imself to Bracc io, who knowing

noth ing of h im except h is appearance, placed h im amongst

h is ragazzz’

,who were l i ttle better than stable-boys . SO he

left Bracc io and jo ined Caldora, who was then fighting on the

s ide of Sforza . A story that he crossed the sea to take

service i n France, was captu red by pirates near Marsei l les,

and was brought back to Naples,has probably but l i ttl e foun

dation . Caldora first gave him command of twenty horses

and then of fifteen more . I t IS sa id that he attracted the

attention , and poss ibl y the love, of Queen J oanna, who gave

h im the we l l-known badge, which he constantly used , of two

l ions’ heads jo ined by a red band , between two narrower

bands of whi te .

Towards the close of 1 423 , Braccio undertook the s iege

Of the c i ty of Aquila, which had declared for Queen J oanna

aga inst the K ing of Aragon . The s iege lasted for more

than a year. I t was during its progress that S forza,hasten

ing to the rel i ef of the C i ty, was drowned at the mouth of

the river Pescara on J anuary 4th , 1 4 24 . The stream was

swollen by the t ide , Sforza was impatient to reach the

oppos i te bank . When i n the midst of the stream he turned

round to catch a drown ing page by the hair . H is horse lost

i ts footing, and he fe l l from the saddle . Twice he raised

mai led hands i n suppl icat ion , but h i s helmet and h is armour

weighed him down, and h is body was never recovered.

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

8 Th e s e of Bartolomeo Col leom'

.

Spino tel l s us in h is biography of Col leoni , that the leaders

of the attack were Colleoni , Mocenigo da Lugo, and the

son of Ugol ino CavalcabO, l ord of Cremona, and that Col leon i

was the fi rst to mount the battl ements . Cavalcabb expected

to obtain the ass i stance of h i s countrymen wi th i n the wal ls .

Whatever may have been the true ci rcums tances of the case ,

Carmagnola was suddenly summoned to Venice on April 8th ,

1 43 2 , was brought to trial before the Counci l of Ten , and on

May 5 th i n the same year was beheaded , with a gag between

h is tee th,between the two columns on the P iazetta of S t.

Mark .

Col leon i now took serv ice under the great Republ ic .

Carmagnola had entrusted him with forty horsemen, he now

had command of eighty. I t must be remembered that i n

the mercenary companies each lance or caval lo comprisedthree men , the caporale or man-at-arms, the pz

'

atta or squ ire,

and the ragazzo or page . The fi rs t two rode chargers, and

the page had a pony as a nag. Five lances usually made

up a f osta , and five f oste made a éaaa’z

’

era . There was also

general ly an Officer for every ten lances . Peace had been

made be tween M ilan and Ven ice by the treaty of Ferrara ,

s igned on Apri l 1 9th , 1 4 28 . The Venetian domin ion was

extended as far as the Adda , i ncluding the great C i t ies of

Bresc ia and Bergamo . The truce d id not l ast long . Fran

cesco S forza, who had entered in to the service of the Viscont i,

urged a renewal Of the struggle, i n wh ich Carmagnola played

a prominent part on the s ide of Venice . After h is execution ,

the Venetian army crossed the Ogl io ,and took the castles of

Bordelano, Romanengo, Fontane l la, and Sonci no . They over

The L g'

fe of Bar tolomeo Golleow'

. 9

ran the Val Camon ica and the Val tel l i na . P icc in ino,the

general of the Visconti , was at fi rst beaten , but won after

wards victories at Lecco . Col leon i i s sa id to have been

equal ly conspicuous in v ictory and in defeat. Together w ith

the famous eoh a’ottz

'

ere, Stefano da Narn i, cal led Gattame lata,

he col lected the fugi t ives, and brought them through the

mountai n paths of the Val Sassina and the Val San Marti no.

The Venetians now intrusted the command of the ir arm ies

to Gian Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, who re

covered the Val Camonica and the Valtel l i na .

A second peace of Ferrara was conc l uded i n Apri l , 1 433 ,On February 2md

,1 435 , J oanna I I . of Naples d ied . Her wil l

appointed as her heir René, Count of Provence and Duke

of Anjou, the father of the unfortunate Margaret, wife of

Henry V I . of England . The val id ity of thi s testament was

contested by Alfonso, who hurr ied from S ici l y to defend h is

kingdom,whi le the Pope declared that i n the fai lure of the

heirs of Charles of Anjou , the crown of Naples reverted to him

as a Papal fief. The Duke of M ilan took the s ide of René

against Alfonso,and sent a Genoese flee t to the rescue Of

Gaeta . The fleet of Alfonso was defeated in August, 1 435 ,

off the is land of Ponza, and Alfonso , with h is brother J ohn ,

K ing of Navarre , was taken prisoner. They were con

ducted first to Genoa and then to M ilan, where Alfonso by

h is abi l i ty and charm completely subdued the capric ious

F il ippo Maria . He persuaded him that i t was h is real

interest to prefer the advancemen t of Aragon to that of

France,and left h im a devoted friend . This sudden and

romantic change produced a great impress ion in Europe .

1 0 The L g’

fe ofBar tolomeo Golleow’

.

The Pope was i n despai r . Soon after th i s the F lorentine

exiles persuaded F il ippo Maria to attack their c i ty,and a league

was formed between Florence and Venice, so that the great

war began again in the spri ng of 1 43 7 . Gonzaga was ordered

to cross the Adda, which he attempted to do by a bridge of

fishing-boats ; he was, however, compel led by P icc in ino to re

treat, and retired to Bolgare .

Spino relates a great serv ice which Col leoni rendered to

the Venet ians at th is t ime . While th e Venetian army was

posted at Bolgare , on the Cherio, P icc in ino, i n cons iderablygreater s trength , was encamped near Malpaga , about twomil es distant . P iccin ino proceeded to occupy Montice l l i i n the

rear of the Venet ians,and a retreat became necessary for them .

Gonzaga advised the abandonment of al l the i r baggage and

encampments, and a hasty night march to Palazzuolo , where

they would be able to cross the Ogl io . Col leon i Opposed the

cowardly conduct of deserting the i r standards , and argued

e l oquently for an immediate advance to Pontogl io ,which was

eas ier and Shorter . Piccin ino, reinforced by Ludovico Gon

z aga,who deserted the Venet ians and his father, attacked

them in the rear , bu t the Venetian army got away safely. The

fie l d in wh ich th is great danger assailed them has ever s ince

been known as the “ Fie ld of Fear .” By these movements

Bergamo was left deserted , but Col leon i and D iotesalv i Lupo

hastened to its defence . Picc in ino, i nstead of attacking it ,

marched to the castle of Calepio on th e Ogl io which was de

fended by Count Trusardo . After hold ing out twenty days,

i t surrendered on May 2 5 th , 1 43 7 , and was destroyed by

Picc in ino . That general then la id waste the terri tory of the

Th e s e of Bartolomeo Col leom’

. 1 1

Bergamasque,but, being successful ly resi sted i n th e mountain s

by Bartolomeo Col leon i, turned h is attention to Bresc ia . The

Venetian army had , however, suffered such cons iderable losses ,

that the Senate transferred the command from Gonzaga to

Gattamelata . Colleon i, see ing that Bergamo was safe, re

covered the castle of Gorzone , i n the Val Camon ica, from the

enemy,and hastened to the post of danger at Bresc ia . Here

he received an embassy from the Venet ians . A hundred lances

were added to h is command, and he was placed in enti re

control of the infantry .

I n the year 1 439 Gattamelata was bes ieged in Brescia .

I f the garrison was to holdi

out i t was absolu tely necessary

to dimin ish the number of mouths which had to be fed . The

plai n was hel d by the enemy’s troops , and the only escape

was through the mountains . Leav ing a force of s ix hundred

horse and a thousand foot beh ind them , Gattamelata and

Colleon i passed by Santo Eusebio , the lake of I dro, and the

Val d i Ledro i nto the val ley of the Adige . They were met on

the banks of the Sarca by the troops of P icc in ino under the

command of Ludovico dal Verme, but they succeeded i ndriv ing them back

,and on the fourth day from leaving Brescia

,

reached the terri tory of Verona in safety. Passing i nto the

Val Lagarnia they took the towns of Borgo, Corvaria, and

Penetre,and especial ly the town of Torbole , s i tuated on the

extrem i ty of -the lake wh ich was special l y conven ien t for

the convoy of prov is ions to Brescia . That town now began

seriousl y to feel the pangs of hunger . Soldo,the h istorian

,

relates that he saw a hundred ch ildren in the market-place

crying,Bread

,bread for the love of God & The population

1 2 The Lif e of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

fed on dogs, horses , and even weeds . At the end of the

s iege the th irty thousand inhabi tants were reduced to fifteen

thousand , and wolves came down into the c ity itsel f to seek

thei r prey . Picc in ino was i n possess ion of Pesch iera and

the southern shores of Garda . The Venetians came to the

conclus ion that the only means of forc ing a passage was to

convey a floti l la on to the lake of Garda. I n the Space

of fifteen days, with the he lp of two thousand oxen and an

expense of fi fteen thousand sequ ins,they placed upon the lake

twenty-five boats and s ix gall eys . The sh ips were rowed

and towed up the Adige and dragged by main force over the

mountai n which separates th e val ley of that river from the

lake at Torbole . Spino gives the credi t of thi s bold project

to Col leon i , but the Venetian h istorians ass ign i t to N iccolo

Sorbolo , a native of Candia, who was certainl y the principal

engineer in the Operat ion . Shortly after th i s Co lleon i ’s com

mand was increased to three hundred lances , and he was

intrusted wi th the government and the defence of the ci ty of

Verona . Francesco Sforza now j oined the Venetian army in the

hOpe of one day succeed ing to the inheri tance Of the Viscont i .

He un ited h is troops with those of Gattamelata at the head of

the lake of Garda . Picc in ino was encamped not far off. The

al l ies attacked h im at the castle of Tenna, completely de

feated h im and took G onzaga, Cesare Martinengo and

Sacramoro Visconti prisoners . Piccin i no escaped,carried off

i n a sack,l ike a dead body , by a sturdy German . He re

appeared at Verona, wh ich he succeeded i n wresti ng from the

Venetians , al l bu t the quarters of Caste l Vecch io and San

Fel ice . Three days later S forza and Col leon i succeeded in

Th e L ife of Bartolomeo Col leon i ; 1 3

recovering it. Gattamelata became serious l y i l l , and wasobl iged to ret i re to Padua, where he d ied three years later .

I n the fol lowing year, 1 440, Picc in ino was sen t by the Duke

of Milan into the Marches and Tuscany . While there he

heard of the v ictory which the Venetian flot i l la on the

lake of Garda had gained over that of the Duke of Milan .

This led to the rais ing of the s iege of Bresc ia,which

Sforza and Col leon i entered in triumph i n J une, 1 440 .

Col leoni cont inued to fight under the orders Of Sforza

against P i cc in ino, and a number of h is most i l lustrious exploits

were attributed to h is ch ie f. I n the battle of Cignano,which

las ted from morn ing to even ing, Sforza would undoubtedly

have been de feated i f i t had not been for the ass i stance Of

Col leon i who was summoned from Bresc ia . Shortly after

th i s when P icc in ino crossed the Ogl io at Ponte Vico i nto the

terri tory of Cremona, Colleoni occup ied the passage of

Pontoglio, and was thus able to defend the whole of the

Bergamasque . Another confl ict took place between Romano

and Martinengo of whi ch Sforza gave the ful l credi t to

Col leon i . The peace of Capriana was at last made at the

close of J uly, 1 44 1 . I t was confirmed by the marriage of

Sforza to B ianca Maria the daughter of Fil ippo Visconti , then

s ixteen years old . Bianca brought with her the c i ty of

Cremona as a dowry, and the beauti ful church of San

S igismundo,about two miles outs ide the wal ls, was erected in

1 463 to commemorate the event . The al tar-piece of the

high al tar painted by Giul io Camp i represents Francesco

Sforza and h is wife be ing presented to the Virgin by San

Gri sante and S t . J erome .

1 4 Th e s e of Bar tolomeo Col leom’

.

I n recogni t ion of these services the Counc i l of Ten atVenice passed a decree on Apri l 3rd, 1 44 1 , declaring Col leon i

to be one of the principal ooh a’ottz

'

er z'

of the republ ic and

necessary to the ir securi ty . They confirmed h im in h is

emoluments and invested him with the fiefs of Romano,Covo

and Antegnate . Romano is a large town south of Bergamo

formed out of a Roman praetorian camp . The castle was

frequently i nhab i ted by Col leon i , and a large number of

houses S ti l l standing, decorated wi th the l ion of Saint Mark,

were left by Col leon i to the mun ic ipal i ty i n h is wil l . Covo

and Antegnate are v i llages i n the neighbourhood of Romano

both provided wi th castles . Col leon i was to have al l the pos

sessions of Counts P ietro and Giovann i d i Covo, who had

rebel led against the s tate, but on the condit ion that these

lands must fi rs t come into the possess ion of the Republ i c .

This condi t ion was fulfi l l ed by the conclus ion of the peace of

which we have already Spoken,and the i nvestiture was

confirmed by a ducal patent on March 4th , 1 443: This later

date corresponds with Col leoni ’s v is i t to M ilan , and the step

was probably taken with the design of retain ing h im in the

serv ice of the Republ ic . P icc in i no, discontented wi th the

peace which deprived him of hi s employment,took service

wi th th e Pope , and induced his Hol iness to deprive Sforza of

h is pos i t ion as standard-bearer of the Church . Accord ing to

the historian Sanuto , a new league was formed on October1 6th , 1 442 , between K ing Alfonso, Picc in ino , and the Duke

of M i lan against the Venetians , the F lorentines and Francesco

Sforza . Col leoni marched with a body of fifteen hundred

lances to fight agains t P iccin ino. At th i s t ime Gherardo

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1 6 The L if e of Bartolomeo Col leom'

.

was to S in igaglia to take a posi ti on between the two armies

of Piccin ino and Sforza . H is i nstructions were to stay there

ti l l he'

waS ‘

attacked, and to prevent too serious a confl ic t

taking place between them . H e was successful i n th i s difficul t task, but after h is recal l S forza defeated N icolo P iccin i no

at Monte Lamo, and afterwards h i s son Francesco with

great s laughter at Mont’ O lmo . Picc in i no was so overcome

with grief that he'

died at M i lan i n the middle of O ctober,1 444

I h the fol lowing year Col leon i was sent to repress some

disturbances i n the terri tory of Bologna, arfii i n 1 446 to

recover Cremona for the Duke . This c i ty had been given to

Francesco Sforza as a dowryw i th h is wife B ianca . The Duke ,

however, declared that i t had only been intrus ted to him

for money which had not been paid and should therefore

revert to h is possess ion . Whils t Colleon i was engaged i n th i s

operation he was suddenly sei zed and thrown in to prison at

Monza,where he rema ined for more than a year, t i l l the

death of the Duke on Augus t 1 3 th , 1 447 . This extraordinary

step gave rise to many rumours . Some bel ieved that i n the

prev ious year, when Colleon i was opposed to the Venet ians , he

had shown a d isposi tion to enter i nto negotiations wi th them .

O thers thought that h is imprisonment was due to the jealousyof Francesco P iccin i no . Another report was that Colleon i

was taking steps to become the head o f the Guel f party,

another that the captured c i ties paid more honour to Col leoni

than they did to F i l ippo, while some attributed i t to the

anc ient.

j ealousy of the Col leon i famil y by the treasonable

cap ture of Trezzo by Puho . & e need not, at this date, look

Th e L if e of Ba rtolomeo Co/leom'

. 1 7

for any other reason than the wil fulness and treachery Of the

Duke h imsel f. Col leon i was ordered into the terri tory of

P iacenza. As he was cross ing the Po he was se i zed by N icolo

Guerriero and taken into the castle of P iacenza . I n the mean

time everyth ing which Colleon i possessed at Adorno had been

removed to Pavia, but was honestly returned to h im when he

was set at l iberty . Spino enables us to quote an i nteresting

letter of the Duke ’s to Col leon i ’s tenants at Romano.

a

“ To our beloved commune and men of Romano the

Duke of Milan, Count of Pavia and Angh iari , Lord of

Genoa .“ Our beloved, that you may not be aston ished , and be

d istressed at anyth ing which has been done against the

person of the honourable Bartolomeo Col leon i , we advi se

you that what has been done ,has not been done because we

have any intention of doing him harm , nor of i nfl ict ing any

inj ury on his person . Any one who behaves i l l to him,wi l l

behave i l l to us . But i t has been -done that we may be

more clear from any trouble . & e advise you and comfort

you that you may be of good wi l l and Cheerfu l,because

in a short t ime he wi l l be i n favour,and that i n a way to

be greater than ever, and you shal l be consoled and wel l

content . We comfort you therefore and Charge you to

have good care Of the land , and to keep i t and guard i t i n

the name Of the sa id Colleon i . And if you have need of

any ass istance i n defence for i t , ask for i t , because we wil l

do for the defence of that land, what we have previous ly

done before the new l ine of conduct taken by us towards the

sa id Bartolomeo , and even bette r s t i l l , and as we ac t towards

D

1 8 Th e L g’

fe of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

our lands wh ich are most i n favour with us . G iven at

M ilan , Sept. 26 ,

Whilst Col leon i was in pri son the fortunes of the Duke

went on from bad to worse. The Venetians occup ied in turn

Ghiara d ’

Adda, Crema, and Lodi . They passed the Adda at

Casciano, and devastated the terri tory of Pav ia, threaten ing

even M ilan i tse l f. They then conquered the fortress of

Briv io in the Brianza, together with Cassano and Lecco . I n

th is d istress F i l ippo d id everyth ing to gain Sforza over to

h is s i de . Sforza asked the counsel of Cos imo de ’ Medici as to

what course he should pursue . Florence was beginn ing to be

j ealous of the success of the Venetians, so that Cosimo

advised Sforza to th ink Of his own i n terests, and i f he had no

money to give P isa to h is soldiers . J ust at th is moment

F i l ippo Maria V isconti d i ed , on August 1 3 th , 1 44 7 , i n h is

palace at the Porta Zobbia . He left no male heir. I mme

diately after h is death there were cries of“ Long l ive

l iberty & The people of M i lan establ ished the Ambros ianRepubl ic . O ther c i ties fol lowed the example. Parma pro

claimed a republ ic ; Lodi and P iacenza asserted thei r in

dependence, and joi ned themselves to Ven ice . Pavia, where

Madonna Tisbe and her daughter were l iv ing, surrendered

to S forza. The news of these events was not long i n

reach ing Monza . Col leon i , l earn ing or suspecting what had

happened , determined to escape . He pretended to be

seriously i l l , and asked for bands Of l inen to wrap round

h i s body . H e fastened one end of these to a bench and

let h imse l f down i nto the d i tch . The escape was d iscovered .

The tocs i n rang ; al l the ne ighbourhood was i n arms . I n

Th e L if e of Bar tolomeo Col leoh z'

. 1 9

the confus ion Col leon i crawled unperce i ved from the di tch ,

and joined those who were cal l i ng ou t his name . I n the

crowd he met an Old sold ier of h is , Giorge tto Poma of

Bergamo, who furnished h im wi th a horse , upon which he

fled to Landriano , where he was rece ived wi th enthusiasm by

his own troops . H e then betook h imself to Pavia, where he

rejoined his wife . S forza refused to give up Pav ia to M ilan ,

but neverthe less the c ity took h im into her serv i ce in order

to cont inue the war against Ven ice . On h is s ide foughtCol leoni , Francesco and Jacopo P icci n i no, and also Carlo

Gonzaga , the Marquis of Mantua , who had deserted the

Republ ic . The firs t s tep of S forza i n h is new command was

to assaul t P iacenza and take i t by s torm . I t was then given

up to plunder and every kind of horror for fifty days .

Charles Duke Of O rleans , 5 011 of Valentino V isconti , and

t itular lord of As ti , managed to rescue that C i ty after the death

of F i l ippo. The king of France sent h im an army of about

three thousand cavalry and infantry, under the command of

Rinaldo de Dudresnay . With th is ass istance h e attacked the

terri tory of Alessandria, captured a number of cas tles, giving

no quarter to the enemy . I n the beginn i ng of OctoberCol leoni was sent against h im with a thousand horse, and

Astore da Faenza with five hundred . Colleon i engaged with

them in the terri tory of BOSCO, entire ly defeated them , and took

Dudresnay prisoner, whom he confined i n h is castle of Romano .

After th is exploi t he attacked the terri tory of Tortona,and

reduced i t to submission . He was next sent to attack Lecco,

wh ich was i n the hands of the Venetians. The bridge

across the Adda had two strong towers at each end and

20 Th e L if e of Bartolomeo Col leom’

.

one i n the centre, al l strongly garrisoned . Col leon i had taken

two of these towers , and was prepari ng to attack the th i rd ,

when the place was rel ieved by M iche letto Attendolo, who had

marched to its ass istance through the val ley of San Martino .

For some reasons which are imperfectly known to us ,Colleon i

now determ ined to desert S forza and to re turn to the al legiance

of Venice . This happened when the Milanese armies were

besieging Lodi , on J une 1 5 th , 1 448 . He took with h im a force

of about fifteen hundred men . The Venet ian army was now

encamped in the plain of Bergamo, under the command of

M ichele A ttendolo . Col leon i rece ived a salary of ten thousand

ducats, and was confirmed i n the possess ion of Romano, Covo ,

and Antegnate. Many ski rmishes took place i n the n e ighbour

hood of Caravaggio , which the Venetians were especiall y

anx ious to preserve . The dec is ive battl e was fought on Sep

tember 1 sth . The Vene tians began the attack when Sforza was

e ither at mass or at breakfas t,suspect ing noth ing. The soldiers

immediate ly around h im were routed , but fortune soon changed .

He sent two thousand cavalry through a wood to attack the

Venet ians i n the rear . Thei r defeat was immediate and com

plete ; of twelve thousand Venetian cavalry only fifteen hun

dred escaped . The terror of the calamity deprived Brescia

and Bergamo of al l power of res istance . Sforza entered Cara

vaggio, and cross ing the Ogl io found h imself master of both

these prov inces . The battle of Caravaggio claimed many

victims . None was more lamented by Col leon i than Anton i

azzo,who had grown up with h im from a l i ttle boy

,and who

now had command of a hundred lances . H e sent h is body

to be buried with al l honour i n the ci ty of Romano . Afte r

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22 Th e L ife of Bartolomeo Col leom'

.

Visconti , who resided at M ilan , where she was respected by

the magistrates and the people , negotiated an al l iance

between her brother Lou is Duke of Savoy and the republ i c

of M i lan . The K ing of France , Charl es V I I . , gave to the

duke the servi ces of J ean des Compeys , lord of Torrens . He

had an army of s ix thousand horsemen , two — thi rds of them

Savoyards , so noted for their cruel ty that the I tal i ans cal led

them barbarians . They invaded the terri tory of Novara , and

Colleon i was sent against them . Col leon i was not al lowed to

cross the r iver Sesia, which formed the frontier between M ilanand P iedmont . After a number of skirmishes , the first serious

engagement took place on Apri l I st, 1 449, i n wh ich Compeys

and four hundred sold iers were taken prisoners . Three weeks

later, on April 23rd, a st i l l more serious battl e was fought on

the flat ground betwee n Borgomanero and Carp ignano . The

fight was hotly contes ted . The I tal ians had thei r first ex

perience of the archers of P icardy, who dismounted from

horseback,t ied the i r an imals to trees , fixed pointed s takes in

the ground so as to form a s tockade, and fought beh ind its

protect ion . At length the French, worn ou t by fatigue and

by the weigh t of their arms , took refuge in fl ight ; they were

pursued for two mi les and cut to p ieces . A thousand

prisoners were taken , amongst whom were J acopo Ce lendo ,

J acopo Aborte , and G aspare Vares i no . Whilst Col leon i was

engaged in these exploi ts , Sforza was occupi ed i n the s iege of

Vigevano,wh ich submitted to him after a long res istance . The

castle of that town , although bui l t i n the prev ious century, st i l l

bears the inscription Ludovi co Sforza V iscont i ,” as he eh

larged i t and surrounded i t with new gal leries . He now

Th e L ife ofBartolomeo Col leom'

. 23

recal led Col leon i from Novara,who returned to him wi th

triumphal pomp, and was rece ived with every mark of honour

and dist inction . Sforza pronounced h is praises i n a publ ic

assembly, and Col leon i was able to Obtai n for the peop le of

Vigevano more favourable terms than had been accorded toP iacenza and other s im i lar conquests . The fame of these

v ic tories of Colleon i over the French passed over the Alps

and reached the ears of Charles the Bold and Lou is & I . ,king

Of France .

After the submission of V igevano Sforza proceeded , as he

said,to cut the green corn i n al l the terri tory of the

M ilanese . That C i ty charged E nrico Pan igarda to plead

their cause with Ven ice . The Venet ians began to perce ive

the error they had committed , and Opened negot iations with

M i lan w ithout S forza ’s knowledge . Their Operations were

hastened by S forza’s treachery, who contrived that the towns

of Crema and Lod i should be given up to him on September

1 1 th . The Counci l of Ten now informed h im that an armis

t ice had been S igned between Venice and the Ambrosian

Republ ic and Col leon i was summari ly recal led .

The peace between the two republ ics was s igned at

Brescia on Septembe r 2 7th , 1 449, and communicated to

S forza three days later . By i ts condi tions he was left with

considerable power. H e was to restore Lodi and surrender

h is Claim on M ilan and Como, but he was recognized as l ord

of Novara, Tortona, Alessandria, Pav ia, P iacenza, Parma,

and Cremona . H e was,however, dissat isfied with these

terms, and only concluded a de l usive truce of twenty days

wh ils t he al lowed the negotiations for peace to drag on . At

24 Th e L if e of Bar tolomeo Col leom’

.

the exp irat ion of the armistice he refused to rati fy the treaty,

upon which the Venet ians determined to give active ass istance

to M ilan . The commander-in-ch ief of their armies was

S igi smundo Malatesta, and the most d ist inguished of h is

l ieutenants ‘

was Bartolomeo Colleoni . They threw two

bridges across the Adda, one of wood at B riv io , high up in the

moun tains , and one of boats at Trezzo, lower down the stream .

They then marched towards M ilan , but they found the plain

so completely occupied by the troops of Sforza that they

could make no progress i ~ Co l leon i, who seems to have

possessed a kindred genius to Garibald i i n mountain warfare,

determined to reach M ilan by another route . He ascended

the Val San Marti no , crossed over a pass i nto the Val

Sass ina, then in possess ion of the Vene tians , which runs

from Lecco paral le l to the lake of Como, and descended i t to

B el lano, which he took from Sforza , as well as Asso in the

Brianza . Spino tel l s u s that Co lleon i now succeeded in

effecting a j unction'

with J acopo P icc in ino , and i n rel ieving

M ilan , but the best author it ies deny th i s , and say that al l

attempts to ass is t the beleaguered c i ty were i n vai n .

“

The

town was experiencing al l the horrors of famine . The rich

we re compe l led to feed on horse s , mules and dogs , while the

poor were susta ined by the roots and herbs wh ich grew upon

the ramparts . Thousands lay dead i n the s tree ts ; thousands

more took refuge i n the country bu t were driven back by

S forza into the town . The government O f Milan in despa i r

met i n the church of Santa Maria del la Scala,and prepared

to surrende r thei r c i ty i nto the hands of the Vene tians .

Whilst they were de l iberating, the s tarv ing populace rose

Th e L ife ofBar tolomeo Col leom'

. 25

i n tumul t on February 2sth . The palace was attacked, one

wing of wh ich was occupied by the government,and the

other by Maria Visconti , the widow of the last duke .

Leonardo Ven ieri , the Venet ian ambassador, while attempting

to defend the palace, was cut down by the i nsu rgents . This

ended in offe rs of the sovereignty of M ilan to FrancescoSforza, who made hi s triumphal entry into the town on

March 2 5 th ,1 450 . The Ambros i an Republ i c had lasted two

years, s even months , and th irteen days .

Colleon i was now recalled,and was sent to I sola

del la Scala in the terri tory of Verona, on the borders of

Mantua . H e occupied h imse l f i n erect ing a strong fortress

on the Mantuan marshes . The command of the Venetian

army was now d ivided between S igismundo Malatesta, Genti le

del la L ionessa, the brother Of Gattamelata , and J acopo P icc i

n ino . Col leoni was offended at being passed over, and began

to th ink of deserting the serv ice of the Venetians . They

made various efforts to retai n h im . They sent envoys to

h im , on Apri l 3rd , 1 45 2, begging h im to remain . They

repeated the attempt ten days later, and asked the Pope and

the K ing of Aragon to act as mediators . We are told by

Spino that the government of Veni ce ordered h is arres t

wh i le he was encamped at Montech iaro , and that he was i n

danger of suffering the fate Of Carmagnol a . Heari ng the tramp

of armed men , he leaped upon a horse, and rode at ful l gal lop

towards Mantua wi th only three fol lowers . H e was pursued

by l ight caval ry sold iers, and h is horse became weary. So

he exchanged i t for a mule belonging to a peasant, which he

rode wi thout a saddle,and arrived i n safe ty at Mantua, where

E

26 Th e s e of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

he was received by the Duke Ludovi co Gonzaga with dis

tinguished honours . Col leon i’

s troops, amount ing to more

than fifteen hundred eaoal l z'

,were captured in their quarters .

H is wife and daughters were made prisoners , but a sum was

ass igned for thei r support . Sanuto tel ls us that the money

wh ich came into the hands of the Venet ians belonging to

Colleon i amoun ted to between e ighty and a hundred thousand

golden florins . Out of th is a sum of two thousand ducats waspaid to Gherardo di Mart inengo who had married Colleoni’s

daughter O rs ina . H is fief of Romano was made over by the

Republ ic to Fe rmo Maffei . I t may eas i ly be supposed that

Ludovico Sforza did not neglect an opportun i ty of securing so

important an al ly as Colleoni . He gave him a command of

two thousand horse,and five hundred infantry . H e ass igned

to h im a larger stipend than he had asked for, and presen ted

h im with a ri ch standard embroidered wi th the arms of Sforza,

a s i lver eagle on a sh ield of gold . The treaty between them

prov ided that i n the war against Venice i f Bergamo and

Brescia should be conquered Colleon i was to have on appro

priate es tate in one of these terri tories , and'

that the fi rst

prisoners made by the M i lanese should be given i n exchange

for Madonna T isbe and her daughters .

The war was renewed on May 1 6 th , 1 45 2 . Cos imo de i

Medic i and the French took the side of Sforza ; Alfonso of

Naples and the Duke of Montferrat the s ide of the Venet ians .

S forza assembled h is troops to the north of Cremona, and

cross ing the Ogl io at Pontev ico invaded the terri tory of

Brescia . The strong castle Of Pontev ico held out for two

days , and the ski l l of Col leon i was conspicuous i n i ts capture .

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28 The L z'

f e of Bar tolomeo Col leom’

.

two thousand head of cattle . The Venetians were forced to

raise the s iege of Cremona,and to ret ire upon Brescia .

The Venet ian army was encamped near Porzano, i n a

place so surrounded by marshes, that i t was imposs ibl e to

escape except by a very narrow passage . Sforza was pos ted

about four mi les off i n a favourable pos i t ion . He was anxious

to bring about a decisive engagement . The Venetian com

manders,Gentile of Lionessa, and Jacopo P i ccin ino, decl ined

the chal lenge . Upon th is Col leon i determined to lead an

assaul t, which was enti rely successful . The narrow pass

wh ich formed the only ex i t was bombarded . by two large

cannon,wh ich took the Venet ian columns i n flank . Colleon i

took the princ ipal share in these Operations . The war now

passed into the terri tory of Lodi ; the Venetians crossed the

Adda by a bridge of boats at the monastery of Cereto .

Sforza did hi s utmost to destroy i t by throwing logs of wood

i nto the upper river,and le tt ing them be carried down by the

rush ing current ; the Venetians opened the bridge in the

centre and let th e logs pass through . Several other assaul ts

were made,both on the bridge and the outworks wh ich de

fended it, but without success, unti l Sforza was obl iged to

invoke the aid of Col leoni . He succeeded in carrying i t anddestroying the outworks by a mani fes tat ion of personal bravery,

which recal ls the prowess of the firs t Napoleon three centuries

and a half later. This happened at the close of December,

1 45 2 . I n the meantime Will iam of Montferrat, i n the pay

of K ing Alfonzo of Naples, who was i n al l iance wi th the

Venetians, had made a successful attack on the terri tory of

Alessandria, and had reduced many of the castles to sub

The L tfe ofBartolomeo Col leom'

. 29

jection . He then moved on towards Tortona and Pavia .

Sforza sent Col leoni to oppose h is progress ; he was joined

by Rainald de Dudresnay, whom he had previously taken

prisoner at the battle of Bosco. He was that t ime acting

as governor of the c i ty of Asti for the K ing of France .

Sforza now received a new al ly i n the person of René of

Anjou , the ti tular K ing of Naples, who had received a large

subsidy from the F lorenti nes to take part i n the war . He

arr ived at Alessandri a with th irty-five squadrons of picked

cavalry, and two thousand foot sold iers . As René was closely

connected with the house of Montferrat, he attempted to make

peace between the contending hosts . Col leon i suspecting

that h is objec t was only to gain time , made a sudden attack

on the castle of Borgo San Martino , and succeeded i n cap

turing i t . This led to a peace between the Marquis of Mont

ferrat and the Duke of Milan , which was final ly conc luded on

September 1 5 th , 1 4 5 3 .

I n the absence of Col leon i th ings had been go ing better

for the Venetian s i n the territory of Bresc i a. They succeeded

i n taking the fortress of Manerbio,butGent ile d i L ionessa was

ki l led in the assaul t,and was succeeded in the command of

the army by Jacopo P icc in ino. The new general , whom

Spino cal ls a fierce and warl ike youth, got possession of

Pontev ico,and obtained command of the passage over the

Ogl io . Colleoni joi ned Sforza with h is combined forces at

Ghede . A counc il Of war was he l d,i n which the opi n ion of

Col leon i, fi rst to secure the country between the Oglio and

the Adda , prevai led over that of Gonzaga, who proposed to‘

march into the Veronese . With the help of the reinforce

30 The L ife of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

ments Pontev ico was soon recovered , the French troops

exhib it i ng their accustomed cruel ty and inhumanity . All the

cas tles in that d is trict except Martinengo and Sonc ino were

recovered . The Venet ians evacuated the country, retreating

towards B rescia,and Col leoni hastened to recover h is ancient

fiefs by h is personal influence . He soon succeeded in reducing

Martinengo, Romano , Covo, and Trescorre , under the authori ty

of the Duke . Rovato fel l on November 7th , 1 45 3 , O rz i onthe 22nd of the same month . Then Col leon i turned to the

conquest of Palazzuolo and I seo , and avoiding the lake of

I seo,which was dominated by a Venet ian floti l la, he marched

into the Val Camonica and took Breno , the cap ital of the

val ley,on February 24th , 1 4 54 . Sforza now confirmed

Colleoni i n the free s ignory of h is old possessions , Martinengo

and Romano, with the addi tion of the important fiefs of

U rgnano and Cologno , on the other s ide of the Serio . The

Val Camonica was only reduced after repeated efforts . Start

i ng from Clusone Col leon i descended the Val Ser iano,wh ich

was firm in i ts al legiance to Venice .

'

At Nembro he defeated

Ludovico Malvezz i, and captured the castles of Brivio and

Baiedo i n the Val Sass ina. Bergamo itsel f remained fai thful

to Ven ice,and Col leoni had too much affection for h is ancestral

c i ty to take i t by storm .

Noth ing i s more remarkable i n Col leon i ’s career than theSkil l w i th wh ich he adapted h imse l f to c i rcumstances . Spino

tel ls us that whi l e engaged in the Val Seriana, i n the depth of

wi nter,he conceived the idea of sending some of his p icked

i nfantry up the s ide of the mountain , where they converted

large stones into huge snowball s, wh ich they rol led down

The s e of Bar tolomeo Golleow'

. 3 1

upon the enemy,horses and men envel oped i n coats of mail ,

and threw them i nto i rremed iable confusion . He attacked

them at the same time i n front , i n flank , and in rear . The

horses , driven wild by the masses Of snow thundering down

from an unknown source,fel l i nto the river and were drowned .

Many of the enemy were ki l led, and the rest taken prisoners .

Notwithstanding th is apparent devot ion to the cause of

S forza, Col leon i was ev idently preparing for another change of

masters . He was qu ite ready to pass over to the Venetians

if he could obtai n favourable terms . I ndeed , reading between

the l ines of the adulation of h i s biographers , we see that he

kept h is mind steadi ly fixed on the acqu is i t ion of the fiefs with

which he had been original ly i nvested,and wh ich he probably

preferred to hold u nder a republ ic,than under a master who

would be a rival . N or was i t to his i n teres t that Bergamo

should pass into the power of Sforza . An event had j ust

occurred which produced a profound effect throughout

Europe . Constant inopl e was captured by Mahomet I I . on

May 29th , 1 45 3 . The last EmperorConstantine Palaeologus

had been massacred wi th forty thousand Christ ians . Great

numbers of I tal ian merchants had been deprived of thei r

property and made prisoners . When thi s news reached the

camp of Sforza and P icc in i no, they became ashamed of the

i nterneci ne war that they were waging. The Pope,N icolas V .

,

cal led on the princes of Chris tendom to drop the i r private

quarre ls , and to turn thei r arms agains t the Turks . We

cannot penetrate i nto the secre t dip lomacy of those days,

and we do not know what influence th i s cris is had on the

mind of Colleoni . & e find proofs in the Venetian arch ives

3 2 The Life of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

that as early as O ctober 1 2th , 1 45 3 , the Counci l of Ten had

offered Co lleon i twenty-five golden ducats . Also i n January

of the preced ing year they had made arrangements for

restori ng him to h is ancient fiefs, and for prov id ing h im with

a fi tt ing reception in the ci ty of Bergamo . Spino in forms us

that Madonna Tisbe , who remained with her daughters a

prisoner i n Venice,did her best to i nfluence the mind of her

husband in a s im i lar d irect ion . The knowledge of th i s

approach ing defecti on and of that of S igismundo Malates ta,

made Sforza more anxious for peace . The treaty was concluded

at Lodi on Apri l 9th ,1 454 . The distri c t of Ghiara d ’

Adda was

made over to Sforza, but he agreed to restore to Venice al l h i s

conques ts i n th e terri tories of Bergamo and Brescia . I n the

meantime Madonna T isbe and her daughters came to Romano,

where they were j oined by Col leon i .

The treasury of the Venetian Republ ic was i n a very

exhaus ted condi tion , and was unable to fulfil the promises

wh ich had been made to the i l lus trious general . They wrote

to Col leon i on November 7th , 1 454, guaranteeing the l iquida

t ion of the i r debts . COl leon i repl ied on the same day from

Brescia,i n a letter written i n h is own hand, the greater part

of which is pri nted by Bonomi . H e explains that he i s much

out of pocket, and beseeches for regular payment . The result

of these negotiat ions was that on March 1 o th , 1 45 5 , he was

created Captain-General of the Republ ic ; and on the St .

John ’s day fol lowing was solemnly presented wi th the baton

of command i n the old square of Brescia , the same baton

which had been given i n Bresc ia to Carmagnola i n 1 43 1 , and

to Genti le d i Lionessa in 1 45 2 . He was ass igned an annual

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34 The s e of Bartolomeo Col leom’

.

the Doge and the s ignory, i n the second the senators and

other magistrates , i n the th ird the ambassadors accredi ted to

the Republ ic . Col leon i was received on board the Doge’s

Bucentaur, and seated by h i s s ide . The Grand Canal was

crowded with spectators . Disembarking at the p iazzetta

of St . Mark , the Doge and his guest entered the cathedral ,

and proceeded to the h igh altar, where al l the treasures of

the chapter were exposed . Mass was sung and a sermon

preached,after wh ich the Doge

,tak ing the staff of office

from the altar presented i t to Col leon i with these words,

By the author ity and desire Of the most excel lent c i ty of

Ven ice , of ourse lves, the Prince , and of the Senate , thou

shal t be Commander and Captain-General of al l our people

and arms on land . Take th is mil i tary Mtoa , i n s ign of thy

power, with good auspices and fortune from our hands ;

l et the majesty,the fidel i ty , and the del iberations of th i s

command be thy care and enterprise , to maintain and defend

with dign i ty and decorum ; thou shal t come to no defin ite

battle w ith the enemy except by our orders, neither pro

voking nor even when provoked ; we give thee free juris

diction and authori ty over each of the soldiers, unles s i t be a

ques tion of h igh treason .

” After these words Col leoni

rece ived the éeitoh with reverence and reti red to the palaceprepared for h im , accompanied by the s ignory and a great

part of the Senate . Ten days were spent in festiv i ty . Two

solemn tournaments were he ld , one of which was only open to

commanders of at least fifty lances . The prize was a piece of

gold brocade worth five hundred ducats . The other was

open to everyone , and the pri ze was a piece of scarle t cloth .

The Life of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

. 3 5

The fi rst prize was won by Antonel lo dal l e Corna,and the

second by one of Co l leon i ’s men —at-arms . Col leon i’

s name was

i nscribed among the Venetian nobi l i ty i n the G olden Book .

I t happened that the fi rst t ime he attended the Gran Cons igl io

a meeting was being held and Col leon i drew the golden ball .

I n v i rtue of th is he proposed N iccolo Mal ip iero as Podestaof

Padua,which was accepted with great applause . When he left

the c i ty he was accompanied by two senators . All th is hap

pened in the month Of June , 1 4 5 8 , and whi ch of u s who knows

Venice does not wish that he had been there to see the s ight

Col leon i held the post of Captain -General t il l h is death i n

1 475 . The rest of h i s l i fe was passed in comparative peace ,

but he neglected no Opportun i ty of exertion that presented

i tself. H e did not apparentl y engage in any act of war unt i l

1 46 7 , when he gave h is ass istance to the F lorenti ne exi les , as

wi l l be shown later on. & e have, however, some noti ces

about h im in the arch ives of Bergamo . On August 23rd ,

1 460,he rece ived perm iss ion to cons truct a bridge over the

Brembo,and to exact a tol l of one sota’o for passengers on

foot,and two for those on horseback . Calci nata

, Morn ico and

Gh isalba were ass igned to h im in May of the same year,i n

payment of a debt due to h im by the Republ ic. Ghisalba

was rather an important place on the r ight bank of the Serio,

close to the Basel la, where Col leon i’

s daughter Medea was

buried . I n 1 46 2 th e Republ ic made a new agreement with

h im to pay h im sixty thousand florins i n t ime of peace , and a

hundred thousand i n t ime of war ; confirm ing him in posses

s ion of the fiefs of Romano, Cologno, and U rgnano . H e had

at th is t ime in h is pay four thousand horse and ten thousand

36 The s e of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

foot soldiers . He appears from his l etters to have spent the

greater part of h is t ime at Malpaga . On J une 9th , 1 465 , theVenet ian senate gave him the power of dispos i ng at h is

death of al l the lands , castles, and towns wh ich he held as

fiefs . They also added the v i l lage of Solza to h is possess ions,

as we have said above .

We now come to the period of the war of 1 46 7 . I taly

was at th is t ime ful l of F lorentine ex iles driven out at various

t imes by the predominant family of the Medic i . The great

ness of that house was founded upon the ru in of the Soderin i ,

the Acc iaiuol i , and the P i tti , who preceded them . The

exi les who had been driven out by Cos imo in 1 434 jo ined

with those who had been expel led by h is son P iero i n 1 466 .

Gian Franceso, son of Pal la S trozz i , might be cons idered ashead of the fi rs t, Angelo Acciaiuol i as l eader of the second .

F inding i t imposs ible to make terms with the Medici , they

betook themselves to Venice , where they held frequent

conferences w i th the Pregad i and with Bartolomeo Colleoni .

The Medic i,hearing of th is , denounced the ex i l es as rebels

and set a price on their heads . At the same time they

prepared for war, and strengthened thei r al l iance with the

Duke of M ilan and the K ing of Naples . The Venetians

d id not Openly espouse the cause of the ex i les , but they gave

permiss ion to Colleon i to assis t them . Money was not want

ing . The exi les were ri ch , and the Republ ic was ready to

advance funds . Besides Co lleon i they obtained the help

of Alessandro Sforza , lord of Pesaro, and Constanzo, his

son ; of E rcole d’

Este , brother of Duke Borso ; of P ino

degl i Ordelaffi, l ord of Forll ; of Marco and Lionel lo de’ P i i

,

The Life ofBar tolomeo Col leom'

. 3 7

lords of Carpi, of Galeotto P ico , l ord of Mirandola, making in

al l an army of fifteen thousand men . Astorre de i Manfred i ,

l ord of Faenza, had promised to ass i s t the Medic i , but after

having received thei r money he was seduced by the large

offers of the Venetians . The scene of war was in the

Romagna . Colleon i took the castl es of Mordano,Bagniara,

Bubano and Dovadola. On O ctober 2nd, 1 46 7 , he was

encamped at V il l a Franca in the neighbourhood of Forli ,

when ambassadors arrived from the Emperor Freder ick I I I .

asking for a safe conduct to enable h im to proceed to Rome

and to return . This document, drawn up wi th great modes ty,

is sti l l preserved in the arch ives of Bergamo, and a transla

t ion of i t is printed at th e end of Spino’

s Life . A battle

between the two arm ies took place at Mol inel la in the

terr i tory of Bologna on J uly 25 th , 1 46 7 , the feast of S t .

J ames . The battle lasted s ixteen hours during the whole of

a long summer’s day . I t was indec is ive in its results . More

than three thousand were ki l l ed and wounded . Among the

latter was E rcole of E ste, who remained lame al l h is l i fe .

Consp icuous in the army of Col leon i were his three sons

in-law,al l Martinengh i , Gherando, Gasparre , and J acopo .

The war had at present effected l ittl e results except to lay

waste the terri tor i es of Bologna, Ravenna and Faenza . Both

sides began to wish for peace . Gasparre Vimercate, on behal f

of the Duke of Milan , and Gherardo Mart inengo, on behal f

of Col leon i , began to treat at the court of Duke Borso of

Ferrara . The affair, however, was on ly finally concluded by

Pope Paul I I .,who proclaimed a general pacification on the

day of the Purification of the Virgi n , February 2nd, 1 468 .

38 The s e of Bartolomeo Col leom'

.

One of the conditions was that Col leoni was to become thegeneral of a holy league against the Turks , for which a yearly

contribut ion of a hundred thousand golden ducats was to be

made by the various I tal ian states . Ferd inand , K ing of

Naples,the Duke of M i lan

,and the F lorentines rej ected

these cond it ions, and expressed thei r op in ion that the Pope

should rather have pun ished the adventurer who destroyed

their peace than have rewarded h im . The Pope was there

fore obl iged to give up th is article, and the peace was

defin i tely concluded on Apri l 2 5 th. The letter of Paul I I . ,

given under the “ seal of the fisherman ,” i s pri nted i n the

appendix to Spino. I t is addressed to “ our beloved son ,

the strenuous man, Bartolomeo de’ Cogl ion i , Captai n

General of us and of al l I taly against the Turks .” Although

the appointment came to noth ing Colleon i always regarded

the hav ing received i t as one of the palmary honours of

h is l ife .

That Ferd inand of Naples was an enemy to Colleon i was

sufficien t reason why h i s r ival , Rene of Anjou , should be h is

friend . We find , therefore , that he sends letters patent to the

great general dated from the castle of Anjou,May 1 4th ,

1 46 7 , by which he authorizes h im and h is legitimate offspring

to bear the arms of Anjou , which were the golden l i l ies of

anc ien t France, semees on an azure fie ld , surrounded by a border

gules . I n th is instrument René s tyles h imsel f by the grace

of God , K ing of Aragon , Of J erusalem , of S ici ly, on e i ther

s ide of the strai ts of Valencia, of the Majorcas , of Sardin ia ,

and of Cors ica, Duke of Anjou and Bar, Count of Provence,

of Avignon (Folcalqu iero) , and of P iedmont. Col leoni also

Th e L ife ofBar tolomeo Col leom’

. 39

received an inv i tation from the c i t i zens of S iena to ass ist

them against the attacks of J acopo P icc in i no . But wh il e the

Venetians were de l iberat i ng as to whether they should give

h im leave the Vienese chose another commander .

A few years afterwards,Lou is & I . , K ing of France, en

gaged i n war with the nobles of h is kingdom , made Colleon i an

offer through Louis Valpergo, h is ambassador, to make him

captain of al l h is armies , offering h im a salary Of fi fty thousand

crowns . At a later period, by means of Alan , cardinal of

Avignon, he Offered h im the ti tl e of Lieutenant and Governor

General w ith an increased salary of two hundred thousand

crowns if he would ass is t h im with a body of a thousand horse .He did not accep t the offer out of respect to the Venetians,

for Lou is & I . had always been thei r enemy , and a partizan of

Sforza . Lastly, Charles the Bold of Burgundy wrote to h im

from Bruges on J anuary 5 th , 1 4 73 , giving h im the permiss ion

wh ich had never been given before to bear the t i tl e of Bur

gundy, and to quarter the arms of Burgundy, wh ich were the

l i l ies of France surrounded by a border gules and argent,

impaled with the anc ient sh ield of Burgundy of transverse

stripes , al ternately blue and whi te . O n J anuary 1 7th th is was

fol lowed by an agreement, printed i n Spino’

s Life, by which

Colleon i i s created his captai n and l i eutenant-general for three

years,with a yearly stipend of a hundred and fi fty thousand

gold ducats , paid monthly . I f Ven ice should be engaged

in war Colleon i i s to be al lowed to proceed to the as sistance

of the Republ i c , otherwise he is to serve the Duke with at

least a thousand men-at-arms, and fifteen hundred foot sold iers,

armed in accordance wi th the good custom of I taly . He i s

40 The L ife ofBar tolomeo Col leoh z'

.

to exhibi t them once a year to the Duke in battle array. He

is to have absolute control over al l h i s t roops , saving only the

dign i ty and author i ty of the Duke . This agreement did not

lead to any practical re'

sul t ; indeed , Colleon i was now an old

man of seventy-two , and d ied three years later. The fact

that these exceptional honours were Offered to Colleon i shows

that he was more tempted by them than by money. He

always bore the t i tl es of Anj ou and Burgundy .

Duri ng h is residence at Malpaga , besides the works of art

and beneficence , of wh ich we shal l speak later on ,he was

accustomed to Surround himsel f wi th men of letters and

abil i ty, amongst whom was Anton io Cornazzano,who wrote

h is l i fe . He was not given to the study of books , but he was

fond of i ntel l igent conversat ion . H e i s said to have taken

great pleasure i n hearing the Opin ions of -astrologers and

ph i losophers,and d iscuss ing points of natural sci ence , al though

he was of op in ion that the secrets of nature could never be

ascertai ned with certa in ty by man , but rested wi th the supreme

Creator of the un iverse . He always held h is own i n these

discuss ions, and by hi s cl ear—sighted j udgment threw l ight on

questions which had puzzled more l earned brains . H is l i fe

was rel igious and h is works good , accord ing to the standard of

those times . H e was s imple i n the hab i ts Of h is l ife , tem

perate i n food and insleep . Cornazzano tel ls us that he

often accompanied h im on a six miles walk for the sake of

exerc ise,and that he wearied out younger men . H is court

was crowded with pages, whom he brought up in stri c t

princ ip les of moral i ty . He was especial l y part ial to natives

of P iacenza, for whom he fel t a particular sympathy . He

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Th e s e of Bartolomeo Col leom'

. 4 1

always rose with the sun ,a circumstance which stood h im in

good s tead i n h is campaigns . After a s imple di nner he would

spend hal f an hour in conversation,recounting

,wi th an ex

cellen t memory, the famous exploits of h is youth , talking with

the s impl ic i ty of h is nat ive dialect,and yet w i th a dign i ty

befi tt ing his age . Some of h is repartees are reported .

When Cecco S imoneta, secre tary Of F rancesco Sforza, came

to Romano to persuade Colleon i to return to the serv ice

of the Duke , he repl ied that he would rather be free .

Upon which S imoneta said S forza would observe : “ &ou

are a brave man but you can eas i ly be conquered by a few

thousand ducats . “&ou may tel l the Duke,

” answered

Colleon i ,“ that to h is Shame and reproach he has allowed

h imse l f to be conquered not‘

by a few thousand, but by a

s ingle‘

Ducat Once when a certain prince expressed wonder that a man of Co lleon i ’s mature years should

al low h imse l f to be overcome by the love of women,he

answered : “ I am much more surpri sed that SO young a man

should be so overcome by hatred of women , that he could

not even suffer h is mother to l ive . Col leon i was a man of

remarkable s trength and v igour, which he retained ti l l h is

death . When a young man in the service of Braccio he could

outrun the swiftest of h is infantry, clad in h is coat of mai l .

H is s tature was l ofty and e rect , and h is figure wel l formed,

and wel l proportioned . H is complexion was rather dark , but

ful l of l i fe . H e had black eyes , bright, penetrating, and terrible .

H is countenance represented a noble manl iness, combined with

kindl iness and wisdom . The one faul t h is biographer admits

was a weakness for the fair sex ,wh ich he excuses by h is des i re

42 Th e L tfe of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

to leave male descendants . H is wife , T isbe Martinengo , bore

h im only one daughter , Cateri na, whom he married to Gasparre

Martinengo .

The great event of Co lleon i ’s l ater years was the v is i t

wh ich Christ ian L,K ing of Denmark , Sweden and Norway ,

paid h im in 1 4 74 , of which a ful l a ccount wi l l be given in the

explanation of th e p ictures wh ich accompany th i s book . He

suffered a severe blow in the death of his youngest daughter ,

Medea, i n 1 4 70 , to whom he erected an exqu is i te marble

monument i n the l i t tl e church of the Basel la , which is now

trans ferred to the‘

Col leon i chapel at Bergamo .

He died on Friday, November 3rd, 1 4 75 , i n h is castl e of

Malpaga, at the age of seventy-five . The nigh t fol low ing

h is corpse was borne to the c i ty,placed on a rich ly

adorned catafalque before the al tar of Santa Maria Maggiore ,

and exposed for three days to publ ic v iew , surrounded by

burn ing torches . H is funeral took place on the 4th of

J anuary fol lowing . I t i s said that the sold iers of h is band

were kept together for fourteen years after h is death by the

authori ty of h is name alone .

THE CONNECTION OF COLLEONI & ITH ART .

The l i fe of Col leon i which we have narrated is that of an

honourable man— the last of the ooralottz'

er z

’

, but also the best,

one who d id not seek to make h imsel f a prince or duke , bu t

who sought a comparat ive ly modest patrimony as a reward for

h is l abours , and s tud ied to surround himsel f with the grateful

partic ipants of h is beneficence and good fortune . The closer

examinat ion of h is l i fe wil l show that he is more intimately

Th e Lif e of Ba r tolomeo Col leom'

. 43

connected with the art of h is t ime than we should have

imagined upon a casual observation . One of h is pri nc ipal actsof benevolence was the foundation of a laogo p l

'

o, a Charitable

i nst i tution i n Bergamo, which st i l l ex ists in a flourish ing con

di tion , and serves to endear his name to h is townspeople . I n

1 465 he presented a large amount of property to found an

insti tut ion for giv ing portions to marr iageable girls, with the“ idea of securi ng publ ic moral i ty by promoting marriages ,

which are the basis of the family, the family being the stablefoundat ion of soc iety . This was confi rmed and enlarged by

a solemn donation of many mortgages and other property for

the purposes of the P z

'

eta, as i t was cal led . The insti tut ion

was to be managed by five persons . Every year the i ncome

was to be distributed i n giv ing dowries to damsels who were

des irous to marry , and to two who wished to enter convents .

There was a strong prohib i tion agai nst using the money in

any othe r way . To the lad ies of the House of Colleoni were

to be ass igned a dowry of a hundred and fifty imperial

pounds ; to those of the ancient and original famil ies of the

c i ty, a hundred pounds ; and to those of the terri tory Of Ber

gamo, forty pounds, supposing that they could not prov ide

sufficient dowry for themselves . I f there were not a sufficient

number of el igible girls i n the terri tory of Bergamo,the priv i

lege was to be extended to that of Brescia . The donation

was confirmed by the Pope and by the S ignory of Venice .

The wil l of Bartolomeo Col leon i , executed oh' October

27th , 1 4 7 5 , a week before h is death , with a codi c i l dated a few

days later, i s a mos t remarkabl e document . I n i t he disposes

of all hi s numerous possess ions i n the terri tories of Bergamo

44 Th e Life of Bartolomeo Col leohz'

.

and Brescia, and in almost every case he imposes as a cond it ion a rent-charge of a certai n amount, to be paid yearly to

the F ield. H e'leaves al l h is property in the c ity Of Bergamo

to the insti tu tion , and with th is the house i n wh ich he used to

l ive in the neighbourhood of Sant’ Agata . This i s to be th e

seat of the insti tution , and is to be ent i tl ed Domas P z

'

etatz'

s .

I t i s never to be sold , or let, or mortgaged for any other use.

Unfortunately , the P z'

eta has not observed this condit ion .

Some time at the beginn ing Of th is century i t sold the house ,

and purchased one of larger s ize i n the lower part of the

town . The original house is, however, s ti ll standing, and the

v is i tor w il l have l i ttl e d ifficul ty in bringing i t back in imagina

t ion to i ts pris ti ne condit ion . I t is approached from the street

through a narrow passage covered wi th an arbour of vines .

The door bears the inscription , (tomas fiz’

etatz’

s, and over the

door is the window of a smal l S i tt ing-room . The ground

floor cons i sts of two large rooms, the outer be ing a reception

room,and the inner a din ing-room . They have been

covered with coarse wall-papers, the frescoes have beenremoved and sold , but they have now been restored by

the efforts of S ignor Bonomi , and can to some extent be

deciphered . I n the outer room , which is l ighted by two win

dows looking out into a garden , there is a noble fresco of

Col leon i on horseback , a Copy of wh ich wil l be found in the

present work . The d in ing-room is approached through double

doors . The l ittl e passage be tween them has on one s ide a

smal l k itchen for warming dishes , and on the other a wine

cel lar,both useful for the purposes of the apartment . The

din ing -room is about th irty-s ix feet by eighteen,and is vaul ted .

The L ife of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

. 45

The door stands at the south s ide . On the west s ide there isa handsome fire-place between two windows . The subject Of

the p ictures is mainly rel igious . I n the centre of the cei l i ng

is God the Father in the act of bless ing . I n the spring of the

arches are th e heads of n ine apostles i n lunettes . I n other

places are the heads of various members of the Col leon i

family— h is daughters and h is sons-in-law , the Counts Marti

nengo . The pictures on the wall s are, so far as they can be

made out,as fol lows on the left of the door, as one enters

,is

the figure of a female with a dog, poss i bly Madonna Tisbe ,

Col leon i’

s wife ; on the right is the Annunciat ion . Then fol

low along the eas t wal l the cardi nal v irtues— Prudence with

three heads,Forti tude with a sword and crown , Temperance

with a wine—flask,and J us ti ce with the rol l of the l aw . The

figures on the north wal l should be Fai th , Hope , and Charity,

the three theological v irtues . Charity is firs t represented

with two ch i ldren ; then , i n the centre , the Virgin i n Glory,

which may represen t Fai th ; the’

th ird picture , which should

represent H ope, cannot be made out. O ther spaces on the

wal ls are occup ied by the various armorial bearings of the

Colleoni family, of which i t may be wel l to give here some

account . The original shie l d of the Co l leon i family is canting

heraldry— party per fess gules and argent three cogl ion i (or

cuori hearts, as they are cal led ) , arranged two and one ,

counterchanged . For th is Bartolomeo substi tuted argent

two bends gul es i ssu ing from two l ion ’s heads or, some

times with , sometimes wi thout the cogl ion i . When Colleon i

received from the Dukes of Anjou and Burgundy the privi

lege of us ing their arms , he bore them in ch ief with h is own,

46 Th e L tfe of Bartolomeo Col leom'

.

the Anjou arms being azure semée of fleurs-de-l is or, and the

Burgundy arms the same,with the addition of the old arms of

Burgundy, or three bendlets azure . H e apparently omitted

the distinguish ing borders wh ich ought properly to form part

of these arms . Bes ides th is he bore in d ifferent ways the

cognizance of the d ifferen t powers whom he had served — the

hz’

sez’

a of the Viscontis,the eagle of the Sforzas , the l ion of St .

Mark , and the keys of the Papacy , the mounted St . Ambrose

of the Archbishopri c of Milan . Further he invented a banner

for h is special use, of wh ich the fol lowing account is given by

Spino . He says that i t was probably made expressly for the

expedi tion of the Duke of Burgundy, and hung in Spino’

s

t ime at the right hand of Co lleon i’

s sepulchre i n h is chape l at

Bergamo .

“ A man armed from head to foot nobly in the

anc ient manner, has on h is helmet as a crest the figure of a

l ion rampant,with h is l egs raised i n front of him . The armed

man,with both his hands, which are clad i n gauntlets, holds

by the back hair, and forc ibly draws towards h im , a most

beautiful lady ’s head . She, surrounded by rays,with wings

ful l of eyes , ri ses breast h igh out of a C loud— if one may cal l a

c loud what is a bundle of ribbons, i ndented l ike leaves, of

d ifferent colours , waving round h er heart . The standard

above and below has two suns , one in each corner, which shi ne

half covered by the same e nvelope . The warrior s tands on a

flowery meadow , surrounded by th irteen l ion-heads, without

tongues,turned towards him . All the rest of the standard is

covered by rays and flakes of gold , which sparkle from the

sh in ing head of the l ady . Some of the rays pierce that

Cl oudy envelope . Spino decl ines to exp lain the device,but

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48 Th e Lif e ofBar tolomeo Col leom'

.

distri cts , he found that the Old canal derived from the Serio

was in sufficient he therefore improved i t and gave i t the name

of Colleonesca. He'

then,i n 1 4 73 , made a new canal of

l arge d imens ions , furnished with mil ls , saw-mil ls and wine

presses, which , i n memory of h is newly-won honours , he

called Borgogna . Before th is he had enlarged the Roggia

Montana on the right bank of the Serio , wh ich was i n its turn

cal led the Colleonesca . H e also had des igns for drawing a

canal from the Brembo, and another from the Cherio , but he

was not able to put h is plans i nto execut ion .

& e now pass to the more direct connection of Col leon i

with the art of h is t ime . On the right bank of the Serio j us t

oppos i te to Malpaga , the battlemen ts of whi ch are vis ible

from the tower of the church , l ies the l i ttle sanctuary of the

Base l la, cons is ting now of a very pretty church and a parson

age house and farm , with a neglected but p icturesque garden .

The history of the place is i n teresting . On the n igh t ofApril 7th , 1 35 6 , a heavy hoar frost covered the plains of

Bergamo, doing a great deal of harm to the crops . On thefol lowing morn ing . Marina, daughter of Pietro Leone

,of

Borgo d i U rgnano, an i l l -educated gi rl of fi fteen , went into

one of her fathe r’

s fields whi ch was sown with flax . Seeing

that i t was en ti rely destroyed , she burs t i nto tears and

lamentat ions , and cried out,“What is th is , oh , Virgin Mary ?

After th is she passed to another p iece of land,not far Off

,to

gather straw , and here there appeared to her a very beautiful

lady in a bri l l iant dress , with a l i ttl e ch i ld holdi ng her hand .

When she saw the lady she began to pray . The lady said,

Do not fear ; why do you weep and l ament and Marina

Th e L i e ofBar tolomeo Col leon i . 49

answered, Do you not see how much harm and des truction“ th is fros t has done , so that the poor wi l l have to die of

hunger ? The Virgin comforted Marina, saying that the

year would be more than usual ly abundant . Marina then

asked her who she was , and she repl ied , &ou wil l see me i n“the same place with in n ine days

,and then I w il l expla in to

you who I am , with other matters wh ich I now refra i n

from tel l i ng you .

” On the n inth day fol lowing Marinareturned alone to the same place, and the same lady appeared

to her in the same dress. She said, “ Thou hast done wel l .“ &ou must promise to keep yoursel f a v irgin . The girl

promised . Then she said , “ Know that i n th is place there i s

a church dedicated to me which has long been buried underground . Tel l the men of U rgnano to dig here and they wi l l

find i t.” Marina said,

“ They wil l not bel i eve me . Then

the lady p laced three stones in order, and said , “ Under these“ stones they wil l find the al tar, and when the church is

rebu il t tel l them to procure a pries t who has never yet sa id

mass , and let h im celebrate here h is first mass,and every

fortnight let a mass be ce l ebrated for the souls of the dead

who are here buried .

” A good deal more was said which

we need not repeat . The al tar and the foundat ions of the

anc ient Church were found as the Virgin had described . A

new church was bui l t and greatly frequented . Fourteen

m iracles were performed there . The church was vis i ted with

great pomp by Barnabo and by Gian Galeazzo Visconti .

Barnabo presented to the church a cross with some of

the holy thorns . Galeazzo gave a number of valuable

offerings and was cured of h is gout . H e probably bu i l t

H

50 The L ife of Bartolomeo Col leom'

.

the parsonage, the tower , and some portions of the present

church .

Colleon i frequently passed by th is sanctuary on h is way

to Cologno and U rgnano . H e en larged the bu i ld ing, and

placed i n th is conven t Dominican fathers from the monastery

of San S tefano in Bergamo . After th is commencement he

continued h is favours , and a year before h is death procured

the separation of the convent from the monas tery Of San

Stefano . He lengthened the church , and placed a rosewindow in the facade , adorn ing the church with terra-cotta

ornaments . Here also he buried hi s beloved daughter Medea,

who died at a tender age . He confided the execution of her

beauti ful monumen t to the famous sculptor and arch itect

Amide i , who was then engaged upon the lectern of Pavia .

The tomb was sold by the proprietor i n 1 842 , and removed

to th e Colleon i chapel at Bergamo, where i t s t i l l remains .

After Colleoni ’s death the Basel la passed to the Martinengh i ,

who conti nued the i r protection to i t .

The steam tramway which passes Close to Malpaga fi rs t

reaches Marti nengo , and then Romano , both intimately

assoc iated with the name of Colleon i . Oppos i te the westerngate of Marti nengo, at a l i ttle d istance in the fields

,stands

the Franc iscan convent, which was only l i censed by Pope

S ixtus I V . and ded icated to the I ncoronata on September i 8th ,

1 4 7 5 , a short time before Colleon i ’s death . I t was formed

ou t of a refuge for pi lgrims which he had begun to bui ld

as early as 1 4 70 . I n the C lo i ster of the Church of the

I ncoronata , i n a room on the ground floor, is a fresco repre

sent ing Chris t upon the Cross , with S t . Francis on one s ide

The Life of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

. 5 1

and Co l leoni on the other. The great Captain is kneel ing

with bare head, and holds h is well -known red cap i n h is hand .

I t i s supposed by some to be the bes t exist ing portrai t of

Colleoni, representing h im as being advanced in years . A

copy of i t wil l be found in the present work . Below is an

i nscription commemorating the foundation of the monastery

b'

y Colleon i , as wel l as that of Santa Ch iara in the town of

Martinengo i tse l f, i n answer to the pious wishes of Madonna

Tisbe . The inscription closes thus , Obi i t autem Nobi l i s etI l l . supradic tus Bartolomaeus, 1 4 7 5 , die 3 Novembris et

ideo d i e i l lo Fratres et monial es annuatim pro anima ejus

celebrant offic ium ne ingratitudin is vi tium incurrant.

” There

is al so i n the fields a country church founded by Co l leon i, i n

order that the labourers might have th e opportun i ty of

attending sacred min istrations . I n Romano , which may be

regarded as the capi tal of th is rural d istrict , Col leon i restored

the church,i ncreased the stipend of the priest

,and in return

received the al ternate presentation to the benefice , wh ich

remains with h is heirs to the present day . He also provided

for the maintenance of a chaplain in the Church of San

G i ovann i at Malpaga .

The h istory of the castl e of Malpaga, which contains the

frescoes , cop ies of which are issued with this book by the

Arundel Soc iety,i s imperfectly known . I t came i nto the pos

session of the Venet ian Republ ic i n the year 1 450 , bu t we have

no information e i ther as to when i t was bu i l t, or to whom i t

prev ious l y belonged . I t was purchased by Co lleon i i n the

year 1 45 6 for a hundred ducats of gold . He rece ived i t i n

absolute property,free from al l taxes and jurisdict ion . I t

5 2 Th e s e ofBartolomeo Col leom'

.

was with Romano his favourite place of residence . I t i s

si tuated a l i ttl e d istance from the high road , about seven

mi les from Bergamo, on the banks of the Serio . I t was

enlarged and remodelled by Colleoni , and sti l l retains the

form which he gave to i t , except that the roof of the court

yard has been seriously curtai led , thus destroying the great

fresco attributed to Giorgione , which represented Col leoni

receiving the baton of commander from the Pope . I t i s one of

the most perfect and interesting spec imens of the feudal castl e

of the latter half Of the fifteen th century, bu i l t not so much

for purposes of war as for those of res idence and of the chase .

The d in ing room , which contai ns th e wel l-known frescoes,

i s on the ground floor , but the whole castle was apparently

ful l of s im ilar decorat ions, which are now covered by white

wash,while the wall s and floors are encumbered with I ndian

corn,s i lkworms , and other agricul tural lumber. This is

particularly noticeable i n the bedroom,i n which Col leon i

made h is will , and in which he died . I t i s a p i ty that the

Conte Roncal l i , the present possessor, does not at least clean

out the bu i ld ing from these unsightl y and ruinous eucum

brances . I t i s qu i te possibl e that treasures of mediaeval art

may be concealed in i t . The wall s are battlemented , and in that

wide plain are conspicuous for a long d is tance . The l i ttle

tower i s surmounted by a bel l wh ich announced the coming

guest,and wh ich tol led for Colleoni

’

s death .

We have already mentioned Col leoni's funeral . The

orde r Of the process ion which accompanied i t is sti l l preserved .

I t Opened wi th a long row of clergy,regular and secular

,the

D isc ip l i nes , the Servi , the Carmin i,the Franc iscans

,the

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5 4 The L if e of Bartolomeo Col leoh z'

.

The funeral sermon was preached by G ugl i elmo Paiel lo,

a most eloquent h istorian , and was printed i n Latin at

Vicenza on J anuary 28th , 1 4 76 . He made touching al lus ions

to the trai l i ng s tandards , the sorrowful war-horse, the weeping

family, and espec ial ly the faithful Don Abbond io , now deserted

by h is master. Don Abbondio of Como was Col leon i’

s

i ntendant , and is described by Cornazzano as being the ch ie f

deposi tary of h is secrets . The clos ing days of winter he says

wil l not permit h im to be long . H e passed l ightly over th e

events of Col leon i ’s early l i fe , which seem to have been matters

of general notoriety, with copious references to Scripture . He

describes h im i n h is youth as handsome,s trong, and temperate.

H e attributes to h im the ch ief glory of the capture of Brescia

at the age Of twenty-s ix . He compares h im to Hann ibal i n

the manner i n which he crossed the Alps and launched h is

gall eys on the lake of Garda.

“ He was by far the fi rst of“ warriors e i ther on horse or foot , he was the fi rs t to enter

battle,the las t to leave i t . No general was more compl etely

trusted by h is sold iers . He was the only leader found

worthy to conduct the campaign agains t the Turks . He

records h is imprisonment at Monza, the i nv i tations addressed

to him by numerous kings and potentates, and the s trong

desire of Charles the Bold of Burgundy to adopt h im as

maste r in the art of war. He commemorates h is services to

art and to rel igion , i n res toring or found ing the castles of

Malpaga and Romano,the churches of the Basel la, of Mar

tinengo,of St . Peter, of Romano, and the Co lleon i Chapel

at Padua. He then passes to the foundat ion of the P ieta,

7 aeet aa/e oea/os, he proceeds, Bartholomeus a Coleo

Th e s e ofBar tolomeo Col leom’

. 5 5

jacet Patriae Pater, Patriae Splendor, Patriae Salus, Ital iae

Pacis auctor et conservator : an imus i l le imperiosus qu i v ix

orbis ambitu cap i poterat, brev iss imo lectulo clausu s est ; S i l et

i l l a l ingua, quae toties armatos phalanges ad d im icandum

exhortata est, toties victis peperc it, toties pacem inter dis

sidentes Princ ipatus composu it, tot ies frement i prae l io paucis

cum copiis majores hosti l es turmas sapientia et magnan i

m itate superavi t ; jacet Barto lomeus ante ocu los exangu is

et concivium aut m il itum querelas aud ire non potest .” The

oration then passes to long panegyrics of Bergamo replete

w ith h is toric lore . After some further al lus ions to the events

of Colleoni ’s l i fe and h is happy and peacefu l death , he ad

dresses h im in person , and enumerates the mourners : N icco lo

Coreggio , h is son — in-l aw , Gerardo Martinengo, Gasparre ,

of the same fami ly, and Bernardo Ladrone . Let them

take example by the l i fe and by the death of the great Captain,

who feel ing h i s end approaching confessed h is s i ns and re

ce ived the Sacrament , then s igned his w i l l , keep ing an even

mind in the ch i l l and fever of exhaus t i ng ague , and at las t

cal led h is friends around h im ,and lean ing upon h is elbow

,

made them a dying speech .

Col leoni, by the codic i l of h is wi l l , left to the Venetian

Republ i c a hundred thousand ducats of gold , for the purpose

of conducting the war against the Turks he also remitted al l

the arrears of pay which they owed him . He further gave

them the ten thousand ducats of gold wh ich were due to h im

self from the Marqu is of Ferrara . I n the fourth sect ion of the

cod ic i l Co lleon i most devoutly requests the most i l lustrious

senate of Ven ice to deign to have made a statue of h imse l f

56 Th e L ife ofBar tolomeo Col leom'

.

on a bronze horse, and to place i t i n the square of S t . Mark ,

i n perpetual memory of the testator . The first care of the

Venetian s ignory was to receive the legacies given to theRepubl ic: by nominating three P rom/{sor t i n Malpaga to ascer

tai n and‘

to'

send; to:Ven ic e the money belonging to Colleon i .T he &Counc il Of Ttend eterm ined that the hundred thousandduca

’

tS' co uld -

riot bem used for any other purpose except the

T urkish “war; a nd shouldrbeSent z toVen ice i n three batches at

three days’dnterval . T he -money found in Colleoni

’

s differen t

palaces far surpassed the amount of the legacies, so that by

November f2:5th , 1 475 , th ree weeks after h is death , two hun

dred a

'

an'd s ix teen ‘

thOusand '

duCats- . had entered into the

coffers .Of the ”S tate: s Th‘

ese rwei‘ e placed in an i iron chest , to

bek ep t in a secret and secure place where ’

the treasure of S t .

Mark was stored & ? Of t hese ducats a . hundred an d n inety

tho usand . were . to; be reserved ‘

fo'r . the~'waraga inst

‘ the 'Turks &

or some oth'er ‘

great necessi ty of'wS tate ; the Other, twentv ix

thousand were to be keptfo r : the‘ payment o f legacies. Z‘ This

moneywas des’patch ‘ed i n‘ cons igned to the head

of the&Cou’

n'c

’

il p f Ten ; contai n ing abou t ten thousand ducats

each, in thef ‘

go insi'of tvar

’

i ous m ints— Venice , Hungary, Flo

rence’, Alfonso Of Naples ; andJOthers .

Notwithstanding the generous manner i n wh ich Colleon i

had treated the Reptibl i c , and its appropriation of n inety

t housand ducats wh ich d id. not belong to i t , and which oughtto have go ne

’

to th‘

evPie

'

taof Bergamo , the s ignory behaved

bad ly“ to 'himz in ‘

Other fways . The lands of Romano, Marti

nengow COlOgno ,

’

Calc inata,Ghisalba, Mornico, and Palusco

had bee n ass igned to Co l leon i , fi rst as lie fs , afterwards as free

Th e L ife ofBar tolomeo Col leom'

. 5 7

and absolute domin ions, with power to d ispose of them ei ther

i n h is l i fetime, or by h is last w il l . This latter power he had

made use ‘Of. But on the pretence of the ex igencies and the

securi ty of the State the Republ ic , by a decree of December,1 4 75 , determined that these fortified terri tor ies should return

to the domin ion of the Pope . H is heirs were left onl y with

Cavernago and Malpaga, the canal s of irrigat ion , and those

lands which were the private property Of Col leon i i n the terri

tory of Brescia . Th is was a mani fes t i nj ust ice, for these

domains had been given to Colleoni i n payment of money

legal ly due to h im, and they ought not to have been confis

cated without proper compensat ion . Venice did, however, show

a sense of gratitude by erecti ng a statue to the great com

mander, not, i ndeed, i n the square of S t . Mark, for no statue

was al lowed to be erected there, but in the square of San

Giovann i e Paolo, close by the Gu ild -house of St . Mark . The

wax model of the horse and the rider was completed by Ver

rocch io, the master of Leonardo da Vinci , and the casting was

done by Leopardi . I t bears the inscription “BARTH OLOMEO

COLLEONO, BERGOMENSI , OB M ILITARE IMPER IUM OPT IME GESTUM ,

”

and is , perhaps , the most enduring monument of h is fame .

THE V 1 SIT OF K 1NG CHRi STIAN I . OF DENMARK TO

BARTOLOMEO COLLEON I AT MALPAGA .

I t on ly remains for us to give an account of the v is i t of

Christ ian,K ing of Denmark , to Colleon i , at Malpaga, which

i s the immediate subj ect of the frescoes wh ich accompany th i s

work . Chris t ian I . ,Duke of Schleswig and Holste in , Count

5 8 Th e Lif e of Bartolomeo Col leom'

.

of O ldenburg and Delmenhorst,K ing of Denmark , Sweden ,

and Norway, was a remarkable man . He was born in 1 426 ,

and was therefore at the t ime of h is v is i t to Col leon i forty

eight years of age ; H e d ied in 1 48 1 . He was son of Count

D ietrich , of O ldenburg, and H e i l ing, s ister of Adol f V I I I . ,

Duke of Schleswig and Count of Hols te in . He succeeded to

the throne of Denmark in 1 448, marrying the w idow of the

former K ing Christof. I n 1 4 50 he was recognized as K ingof Norway, which was then i ndissolubly bound to Denmark .

He received the crown of Sweden by the defeat of Karl

K nudson i n 1 4 5 7 . On the death of h is uncle Adolf i n 1 459 ,

he laid c l aim to the provinces of Schleswig and Holste in ,and i n M arch he concluded the celebrated Handfeste, a

compact by which the two provinces were never to be divided ,

which became of great importance four centuries later . He

lost the Swedish crown in 1 46 7 , which passed fi rst to Karl

K nudson and then to S ten S ture . H is daughter, Margaret ,

married J ames , K ing of Scotland , i n 1 468 , and brought with

her as a dowry the O rkney and Shetland I slands.An account of K ing Chris tian ’s famous p i lgrimage to

Rome in 1 474 , has been transcribed from a Holste in chron icl e

by Hvitfeld i n h is h istorical account of Christ ian I . ,printed

at Copenhagen in 1 599 . The narrative,obv ious ly wri tten by

an eye-witness , i s so naive and picturesque that i t has been

thought worth whi le to give the whole of i t i n this place .

I n the year 1 4 74 , King Chris tian went to Rome, of his

great p iety, pi lgrimwise , to vis i t th e church of St . Peter and

S t . Paul as was the custom in those days .

And that i t may be known how such journey wen t off,

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The s e (fBartolomeo Col leom'

.

marchers, who were mos t noxious to al l their neighbours

round about and would submit to none, and he desired

the Emperor, of h is imperial authori ty, to give unto him

thi s same people inasmuch as i t was not good that th is

people should l ive wi thout court or prince,and he des i red

moreover that h is imperial majesty would grac iously make

a duchy of the three lands , Hols te in , S tormarch , and

Ditmarch .

“ The Emperor made no d ifficul ty about i t, gave h im

Ditmarch i n fief, made of the three counties a duchy, and

invested the K ing with i t as is proved by the golden bul l ,

and other duly sealed electoral l etters of endowment which

were given to h im .

On FebrI'I ary 24th , King Christian came to I nnsbruck,

whi ther D uke S igismund of Austria sent h i s consort,the

Scotch king’ s daughter, to meet h im with three gi lded

carriages , fi l led with dames and damsels , and five dames anddamsels on horseback . And he himself came to meet h im

with 300 horses .“ And he let th ree pair of them run ti l ts before h im on the

turf before he led him to his inn .

“ The Duke showed h im great honour , and the K ing

stayed with him three days and three n ights .

On March 1 1 th , the K ing came to Brixia, and there met“ him there the Venet ian G overnor with much peopl e

,both

on horse and on foot, and they led h im i nto a palace i n the

town w ith great pomp .

On March i 2th the K ing came to Malapago i n Venetian

terri tory, and the Lord of Hoya came out to meet him with

The s e ofB artolomeo Col leom'

. 6 1

”

500 horses , and l ed him i nto h i s castle . The next day he

gave the K ing an escort to the bounds of h is domains with

loud war-cri es of Hoya, Hoya“ March 1 3 th the K ing came to Tarv isium, where he

entered the terri tory of D uke Galeatzo of Milan , who sent

to meet h im at h is boundaries, 500 drengs on foot clad i n

white,each one of whom had a l i ttle banner i n h is hand

upon a pole,and on one side was painted the K ing’ s

escutcheon , and on the other S ide the Duke’

s , they were to

receive the K ing with al l pomp and loud war-cries . F irst

they al l cr ied ‘ Chris tiano , Christiano de Dan ia ,’ and then

Galeatzo, Galeatzo,’ and las t of al l Duca, Duca.

’ So they

kept on crying one after the other, t i l l they came tothe town .

And the Duke sen t to meet h im far beyond h is borders ,

h is brother and h is senate , and much people on horse and

foot . Last of al l the Duke himse l f met h im with much

people , kn ights, and squ i res ; the common people came

runn ing out of M ilan , and would see the K ing while he was

yet a good five miles off, and stood on both s ides of the way

along which the K ing rode, so that one saw noth ing.

but

people, and they al l cried out, as has before been said of

the drengs .

When he came to the town al l the clergy were in proces

s ion at the gates, with migh ty fine Chants, and all the bel ls

were r inging, and the people of the ci ty stood at their doors

dressed most gorgeously . All the streets through which the

K ing must ride were overhung with the arms of the K ing

and the Duke , and were draped above and below, and

62 The L if e ofBar tolomeo Col leom'

.

bestrewn with may and sweet herbs . SO magnificently

was the K ing rece ived by the Duke .

The Duke gave the K ing ducats and two mules

w ith gi lded saddles,together with many pieces of gold and

silken stuffs . And the Duke caused to be borne before h imthe keys of al l h is castles and towns wh ithersoever he came

,

and paid al l h i s tavern expenses . And he went w ith h im by

sh ip to Pavia, and there he gave the K ing a necklace with a

sapph ire as good as ducats .

They lay that n ight at Pavia, and the K ing dubbed two

of the Duke’s lords kn igh ts .

Thence the Duke made h i s people convey him by ship

to the marqu isate of Mantua, Vedian ,or Vittel iana ; but the

horses went overland .

All th is honour and largesse the Duke displayed to the

K ing,to the end that he might on h is return journey recon

c i le h im with the Emperor, i n whose disfavour he was , which

th ing also happened .

March 2oth the K ing came to Vedian , th ither the Mar

qu is Lou is of Mantua sent h is son and h is senate with many

horsemen to meet h im,and welcomed h im honourably

,

The next day the K ing rode from Vedian ,when the Marqu is

came to the boundary to mee t him with h i s consort Barbara ,

the daughter of Queen Dorothy of Denmark ’s own s ister ,

and with much people , and received him right bravely .

And he stayed with the Marqu is two n ights .

Apri l 3rd the K ing rode to Aquapendent ; th i ther sen t

Pope S ixtus IV . two card inal s to meet h im ,who received

h im there,and escorted h im to Rome . There the Pope

Th e L ife ofBar tolomeo Col leom'

. 63

sent to meet the K ing al l the card inals , bishops , and pre

lates who were at Rome, bes ides the senate, the nobi l i ty,

and the common folk,both on horse and foot .

“ They brought the K ing through Rome to the Pope ’s

palace, where he rece ived h im and h is lords honourably , and

gave h is hand to the K ing, and the princes and prelates who

were with h im , and let them kiss his foot . This took place

on the Wednesday before Easter,which was the 6 th Apri l .

The K ing s tayed at the Pope’s palace, with twenty

persons and twenty horses , for twenty-one days . And the

rest of h is people remained at the in ns i n the town .

When the Pope perceived that the K ing knew no Latin

he was much amazed that such a goodly lord had not

studied .

On Maundy Thursday the Pope, i n honour of h is royalguest

,gave h is benediction to al l who were personal ly pre

sent, as wel l as i ndulgence , remiss ion of al l the ir s i ns, and

release from torments and purgatory.

“ On Easter Day the Pope with his own hand adm in is ~

tered the blessed sacrament to the K ing and h is su i te .

On Monday the Pope placed in the K ing’

s

'

hand the

hal lowed and consecrated rose for S t . Pe ter’s Monastery,

and he carried i t Openly through the c i ty of the Romans to

the palace of the Cardinal ad vincula Petri , who had begged

the K ing to be h is guest, and al l the cardinal s, bishops ,

prelates, and the whole ,Court fol lowed him on horse and foot .

The Pope gave the K ing great gifts— to wi t, a beauti ful

girdle, hose , and bonnet of cloth of gold ; a mule with a

gi lded saddle ; a gold stick, as good as 700 ducats, some

64 Th e Life of Bartolomeo Col leom'

.

gold crosses , and an agnus dei a p iece of the wood of the

holy cross , and manifold rel i cs, i ndulgences , consecratedneckerch iefs, handkerch iefs , and priv i leges and concess ions

which he had demanded .

The Pope also held the K ing free , both with in and

beyond Rome, so far as h is terri tories extended .

The K ing brought wi th him to Rome three sorts Of gifts

from his realm— to wi t, dried herring, dried cod, and ermine,

whereof he beseemingly dis tr ibuted to the Pope and the

cardi nals .

Cardinal Franc is of Mantua sent to the King three

mules , each with two golden pann iers and i ts own muleteer .

Wednesday after M isericordias Domin i, which was April

27th , the K ing left Rome again , and the Pope sent two

card inals to escort h im over the border.

May 3rd the K ing came to F lorence, where he dubbed

two Florent in es kn ights .“ May 6 th he came to Bononia

,where , in the K ing

’s

honour, Mag . Herman Reinsberger i n the cathedral i n the

daytime , and Mag . J ohan H essen at the K ing’s i nn i n the

even ing,at the K ing’s reques t , were advanced to the degree

of Doctores , by the four ch ie f doctors in the Univers ity there .

May 9th he rode to Man tua, where he rested six n ights .

The Marquis paid the K ing great honour. I n particular he

held a tournament i n h is presence , which lasted two days ,whereat many were thrown , and over 1 00 spears broken .

The K ing there kn ighted two noblemen , and gave the

Marquis the O rder of the E lephant.May 23rd he came to Lacus Cumanus, where the Duke

Th e s e ofBar tolomeo Col leom'

. 65

of M ilan made ready Ships to convey the K ing across th e

Lake of Como, which is twelve miles long, and half a m i le

broad .

The K ing in particu lar had a beauti ful sh ip, with a brave

and lofty tent therein .

“ With the K ing. were four s ingers and other music i ans andof prov is ions no lack .

“ There were twelve other sh ips with sold iers therein , as

also the Duke ’s major-domo, with song and mus ic and great

pomp .

“ The sold iers escorting the K ing sai led in front and

behind as well as on both s ides of h is sh ips, and made great

pastime wi th their war-cries .

“ And from many places along the lake came dames and

damse l s who boarded the K ing’s ship,sang songs i n h is

honour,and presented h im with wheat bread and wine.

“ J une 3rd the K ing came to Augsburg, where were the

Emperor with the E lectors and many other pri nces,who

were there for the K ing’s sake and for divers other reasons,

requesting various th ings , among whom were many princes

des i r ing his counsel and good offi ces, wherefore also the

papal legate had come th i ther, there the K ing remained

with them seven and ten days .

“ At that t ime there was a quarrel between Archbishop

Rupert of Cologne and the Chapter of the same ci ty,

for which reason the B ishop had sought the protect ion ofDuke Charles of Burgundy, who was ge tt ing together great

armaments w ith the i ntent of besieging and sacking the

town of Nus which belonged to the Chapter .

K

66 Th e L ife ofBartolomeo Col leom'

.

To prevent thi s the Emperor and the E lectors , with the

royal and the papal legate , sent a stately

’

legation to Duke

Charles, and di l igently urged h im to forbear from his intent

and let the matter be amicably arranged .

Henry, B ishop of Muns ter, and Admin istrator of Bremen ,

had at that t ime , i n v iolation of the compact he had made

with the K ing before he set out for Rome, attacked his

brother, Count Gert of O ldenburg. For which cause the

K i ng complai ned to the Emperor and the E lectors, whowrote to the B ishop , that he should recal l h is troops from

O ldenburg (fai l i ng which he should lose h is fief) and abideby the compact he had made wi th the K ing unti l he came

back again .

“ The K ing composed the difference between the Emperor

and the Duke of M ilan , as he had promised .

“ J uly i st, the K ing travel l ed with Margrave A lbert from

Augsburg and came on J u ly 3rd to Quoldsbach ,where the

K ing remained with the Margrave seventeen n ights . The

Margrave showed h im great honour with tourneys,dancing

,

s inging, games and the chase .

“ There the K ing rece ived t idings that B ishop Henry

of Munster, i n obed ience to the Emperor’s mandate

,had

withdrawn h is men from O ldenburg.

Aug. 28th he came to Brunswick, and found there those

whom he had sent from Augsburg to the Duke of Burgundy.

They told h im that he had bes ieged Nus .

The K ing also reconci led Duke Wil l iam’

s sons , Will iam“ and Freder ick, Dukes of Brunswick , with Duke Magnus of

Mecklenburg , and wi th the D iocese of H ildesheim ,who were

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68 The L z'

f e of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

the r iver Po as far as “ Vedian , now cal led Viadana i n the

terri tory of Guastal la. H e reached Rome on Apri l 6th and

left i t on Apri l 2 7th . H e came to F lorence on May 3rd,

and to Bologna,having crossed the Apenn ines on May 6th .

On May 9th he rode to Mantua, rather more, one would th ink ,than a day’s j ourney , and stayed there s ix n ights . The

March ioness of Mantua was Christ ian ’s s ister, not h is n iece,

and is rightl y so cal led in the German vers ion of the chron icl e .

We may presume that he l eft i t on May i 7th or i 8th , and

reached the lake of Como on May 23rd . This would al low

time for a few days’ v is i t to Malpaga, wh ich is scarcely more

than a days’ ride from Lecco,pass ing Solza on the way . I f

th is second v isi t took place i t is a p ity that no account of i t

has been preserved by the Chron i cler. I t wi l l be seen also

that Sp ino especial l y mentions that th is v is i t was paid “ i n

th e'

summer season and there would be a great difference

i n the cl imate of Bergamo in the second week of March and

the th i rd week of May .

Spino gives the fol lowing account of the v is i t of K ing Chris

t ian to Malpaga Christ ian , K ing of Dacia, return ing from his

pi lgr image to Rome wished to see Colleon i, and to v is i t h im

at Malpaga before he departed from I tal y . Bartolomeo re

ce ived h im there wi th great and sumptuous preparations ,

and entertai ned h im with banquets , i n tournaments , i n hunts,

and other royal sports, that great K ing marvel l ing, that i n

an almost sol i tary spot there should be so much magn ificence

and splendour and a plenti ful supply Of al l the choicest

th ings . But what appeared to Chris tian the most nove l and

most de l ightful spectacle was the gree t i ng which Barto

The s e of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

. 69

lomeo gave h im . I n order to l eave the whole of h i s castle

at l iberty for the K ing and h is su ite, i t was very numerous

(and i t was i n the summer season ) , and to present at the

same time the fore ign king a specimen Of the arms and mil i

tary d isc ipl ine of I taly, he formed at a l i ttl e d istance from

Malpaga, i n a plain by the s ide of the road by which the

K ing travel led , the appearance of a real encampment wi th

tents,d i tches , and stockades. When the King approached ,

Bartolomeo came to mee t h im , mounted on a large courser,

thoroughly equipped for war, as was Colleon i himself, ful ly

armed l ike a general except h is head,two squi res fol l owing

h im,who carried h is helmet and lance , and at a short i nterval

h is whole band of six hundred horses i n battle array wi th

h is condottieri and captains of squadrons , all i n the flower

of the i r age, and most nobly armed and mounted , with

banners flying to the bray of trumpets,as i f he was real ly

leading them to battle, a s ight truly proud and marvel lous .

Christ ian had amongs t h is fol lowers a Dacian,a man of re

markable and mons trous s ize . Few there were who dared,

none was there who was able to overcome h im in wres tl ing .

The K ing took pleasure i n exhibi ting by h im the feroc i ty

and robustness of h is nation . One day, when the K ing and .

Bartolomeo were present , th is man had played with and

conquered several opponents who had come to the unequal

trial of strength with more courage than judgment . When

everyone now decl ined the confl ic t, i t came to pass that ou t

s ide th e circle, amongs t those who were looking at the Sport

was a mountai neer of our country, who on that day brought

charcoal for the court . H e was a young man five-and

70 Th e Lz'

f e of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

twenty years old , with a body very sol id and squarely made .

He Observed that al though the Dac ian had the advantage

i n size and bodi ly strength , yet he was wanting in mastery

and dexteri ty i n the Sport. Not being able to suffer that a

barbarian should vaunt h imself wi th so much contempt for

h is own countrymen,he said to h imself

,

‘ i f he had to do

with me perhaps he would not conquer me .’ This was

heard by someone who reported i t to Bartolomeo Colleoni ,

who then cal led him as ide, examined h im from head to foot,

and judged h im capable of doing what he promised . He

had h im stripped,cleaned up, and clothed nobly i n m il i tary

dress . Go with courage,

’ he said, ‘ and i f you bear yourself

val iantly these clothes Shal l be yours .

’ The charcoal

burner descended into the l i sts and engaged with the

Dacian . He parried for some time h is extraordinary

strength with ski lful fe ints, and suddenly se iz ing a good

Opportun i ty he curved h is head and his back and rushed at

h is adversary . He then seized him under the haunches,

l i fted h im up and set h im on the ground with h is head down

and his feet i n the air to the joyful shouting and applause of

al l the bystanders . They laughed wi th s t i l l greater merri

ment when Bartolomeo caused h is d irty clothes to be

returned to the champion , who made a bundle of them ,and

threw them round h is neck and went off as i f he were carry

ing a noble trophy of hi s v ictory . Bartolomeo gave to the

K ing at h is departure one of his su i ts of armour,a fine

and prec ious work, and he gave to al l the K ing’s servants

new garments of red and white which was h is l ivery.

”

The pictures which accompany th is volume give a repre

Th e L ife of Bartolomeo Col leom'

. 7 1

sentation of this memorable vis i t, and they may be considered

as, to a great exten t, historical ly accurate, and certainly as

representing the costumes of the time when they were

painted .

The fi rst of the series i s that which is cal led The Arrival

of King Christ ian at Malpaga . We see the drawbridge of

the castle much as i t ex ists at the present day ; over the

doorway are the arms Of Col leoni, and beneath them the

l ions of Denmark . Round the castle are the tents of which

Spino speaks . Col leon i, c lad i n coat of mai l , with a rich

surcoat charged with h is own beari ngs, wearing a cap on hi s

head i nstead of a helmet, rece ives the K ing of Denmark .

Close by are a body of men-at-arms , a troop of Colleoni’

s,

with two banners bear ing h is wel l-known devices. I t i s

imposs ible to identi fy the various figures, but we may suppose

that the horseman with the plumed cap in Colleon i’

s colours

was one of h is pri ncipal Condottieri , or perhaps a Martinengo ,

one of his sons-in-law . Behind h im a mai led figure rid ing a

pranc ing steed bears aloft the banner of Denmark , and the

figure sti l l further to the left, mounted on a wh ite horse with

a fur coat over h i s su i t o f mail , and a staff i n h is hand , may

be the Duke of Lauenburg, who was Christian’s pri ncipal

compan ion on h is p ilgrimage . The l i ttle boy on a white

charger to the right of the picture is probably one of Colleon i ’s

grandch i ldren . The whole scene is ful l of v igour and

an imation . I t i s imposs ible to say i n what order the events

connected with K ing Christian ’s s tay at Malpaga took place .

We will , however, next describe the scene of the tournament .The l is ts are Obvious l y arranged j ust outs ide the cas tle of

7 2 Th e Lif e of Bar tolomeo Col leorzz'

.

Malpaga . There is a v iew of Bergamo in the distance eas i ly

recognizable by anyone who knows i t in i ts present condi t ion .

The l ists are composed of two narrow gangways paral lel to

each other, divided by a strong barrier of planks, so that the

contending knights might reach each other wi th their spears

without the horses col l id i ng . The hil l s i n the distance are

sti l l apparently covered with snow . I t i s imposs ible to say

who all the people represented are . The two knights

charging in the l ists both bear the Col leon i badge . At the

s ide of the l ists is a smal l tribune for the j udges , five in

number ; from this tribune, suspended on a pole, hangs a

handsome piece of gold brocade , the customary pri ze of those

days . The K ing of Denmark surveys the Scene from alogg z

'

a at the back, Colleon i seated by h is s ide . The ladies

occupy one half of the tribune, and the men the other .

Another incident ‘

is represented by the H unt, a chromo

l i thograph of which has been publ ished by the Society . I t

takes place on the banks of a river,ei ther the Serio or the

Cherio , or perhaps the Adda, i n the neighbourhood of Solza .

The various forms of the Chase are represented at the same

time . A l i ttle dog is s tarting some wild fowl to be pursued by

a hawk , which a mounted attendant holds on h is wris t . I n the

Sky a hawk is seen striking i ts prey . I n one part of the

meadow the deer hounds have run down a s tag, which men

are prepari ng to despatch with thei r spears . I n another part

greyhounds are cours i ng a hare . Two s qu ires i n Co lleon i ’s

l ivery hold a greyhound i n sl ip . K ing Christian is repre

sen ted as a noble figure r id ing on a black horse , he has a

grey beard , and looks older than h is forty-eight years .

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The s e ofBar tolomeo Col leom'

. 73

He justifies the express ion used towards h im by Pope

S ixtus I V . , Pulchra bestia s i rion careret l oquela, referr i ng

to his ignorance of the Lati n language . Col leoni rides by h i s

s ide. I t may be mentioned that i n th is picture Co lleon i ’s

attendants wear a parti-coloured un iform, one hal f of the dress

being striped with blue and whi te . This may have reference

to the arms of Burgundy, which Colleon i was enti tl ed to

assume by Special l icense . The Burgundy colours are,how

ever, blue and gold .

Another interesting scene is the banquet , held in the ve ry

room in which these frescoes are now extant . The K ing s its

alone at the head of the table, the other guests being placed

with Co l leoni h imsel f, below the triangular sal t-cel lar . By hi s

S ide stands the grey-bearded seneschal,whose name we know

— Alberto de i Ouarengh i— with a napkin over h i s Shoulder

,

carving a bird . Col leon i is represented i n profile— a s triking

l ikeness . The lady Opposite, dressed in the Colleoni colours,

i s one of h is daughters,married to a Martinengo . The dign i

fied figure i n th e pl umed hat is, perhaps , the Duke of Lauen

burg. The l i ttl e boy seated on h is mother ’s knee i s one . of

Colleon i's grandch i ldren . Behind, three men are blowing

shawms, and one a bagpipe ; th i s i s probably to announce the

arrival of a new course, which is be i ng brought in by l iveried

servants, preceded by the butler with a staff. The walls are

covered with tapestry,i n al ternate stripe s of blue and wh ite .

Three bottles of w ine in p icturesque decanters s tand before

the K ing .

Another scene represents the di stribution of l iveries to the

K ing’

s attendants, as described by Spino . This took place i n

74 Th e s e of Bar tolomeo Col leom'

.

the courtyard of the castle, probably on the morn ing of the

King’s departure . Colleon i is seated by a table on which the

l iveri es are displayed , and is represented as giv ing one to

a man who i s taking off h is hat i n acknowledgment . At the

other end of the picture the l iveries are being packed up in

readiness for the journey . The K ing of Denmark is not pre

sent . I t was a lucky circumstance that Col leoni’

s own colours

were the same as those of Denmark— red and wh ite . A con

spicuous figure i n the central group is the K ing’s trumpeter .

From his trumpet , which is suspended over h is Shoulders ,

hangs the blazon of the Danish arms . The floor is composed

of red bri ck, as is cus tomary i n I tal ian houses . Two stai r

cases lead up from the courtyard , and cou ld doubtless beidentified at the present day .

The last p icture of the series i s the Departure of K ing

Christian from Malpaga . A noble company of men-at-arms

i n ful l martial equ ipment rides along the hol low road . The

K ing’s trumpeter, with the three l ions Of Denmark , i s a con

spicuous obj ect, on a white horse . Beh ind h im two of Col

leon i ’s trumpeters are sound ing a fanfare ; we know the name

of one of them— Lorenzo del la Scarperia . K ing Christian

and his host ride s ide by S ide . A Dane i n fur mantle and capis crossi ng the drawbridge , whil e another company of men-at

arms i s wai t ing to close the process ion .

Another p i cture, representing the wrestl ing match between

the Dan ish gian t and the Bergamasque charcoal burner,

decorates the wal ls of the banquet ing hal l at Malpaga ; but i ti s so much defaced that i t cou ld not be copied .

These p ictures , whatever may be thei r artistic meri t, are

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BBONDIO, DON

Aborte (Jacopo)Acc iaiuoli (Angelo)Acc iaiuol i fam i lyAddaAdigeAdolf VI I IAdornoA lan, Cardina l of AvignonAlbert (Margrave)A lessandriaAlfonso, King

of Aragon .

A lfonzo ofNap les .

co in of

AlpsAmbrosian Repub l icAm i deiAngh iariAnjou

armsDuke of

An tegnateAntoniazzo

Apenn inesAquapendenteAqui l aAragon

King of

René of. René.

INDE& .

78 Index .

Arcel l i (Fi l ippo)AssoAst iAttendo lo (Michelet to)Attendolo (Sforza)AugsburgAugust in iansAustriaAversaAvignon

Bagn iara

BagpipesBaiedo

B andz'

era

Bar

Barbara Marchesa of Man tuaBarbavara (Francesco) of NovaraBarbarossaBarbiano (Alberico da) , CountBarby . See Mi l l ingen .

Basel laBel lanoBel lsBenedic t ine nuns

Benzone (Giorgio)Bergamo 2

, 3 , 4 , 8 , 1 0 , 1 1 , 1 3 ,

Col leoni Chapeltomb

Martino

35 > 42, 54

24

6 1

4 7

4

3 2 1 3 5 1 3 7 , 43 ; 44,

4 7 , 48 : 5 2 : 5 5» 68

46

5 6

44

5 o

46

I O

7» I 6, 3 7 1 64

3 2

8

1 1

29

49

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80 Index .

CarpignanoCasc ianoCassanoCavalcabo (Ugo)Cavalcabo (Ugo l ino) h is son

Celendo (J acopo)CelestinesCeretoChan tsCharles VI I . of France .

of Anjouthe Bold o'f Burgundy

Cherio

Chignolo

Christian L,King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway

Christof, King of DenmarkC ignanoClergyClusoneCogl ione (Cogl ion i) . See under Col leoni .Co leo. See Col leoni .

Col leonesca

Col leoni , fam i ly ofbirthp lacesusta in the Guel f causeorigin of the namegenealogyturned out of Trezzotheir coa t-of-arms

propertyTorre dei Col leon ichapel a t Bergamo

Col leon i (Alberigo)Col leoni (An ton io)Col leon i (Bartolomeo) , birthp lace

his fa therh is motheron th e murder of h is father, takes refuge in the moun ta ins of

Bergamojoins h is mother a t Sol za

PAGE

22

1 8

22

5 3

28

6 1

2 2

S: 9

1 0,23, 48

3

42, 5 8-66

,68

, 7 2-3

5 8

I 3

6 1

30

Index .

Col leoni thrown in to prisoneducated as a pagea t Nap lesimprobab le story of h is service in Fi anceh is badge given h im by Queen Joanna I I . of Nap lesga ins dist inc t iontakes service under CarmagnolaSpino

’s biography of h im

a t Cremonaen ters the service of Ven iceat Leccoon the “ Field of Feardefends Bergamoresists Picc in inoround Veronafea ts wrongly at tribu ted to h immade Governor of Veronaen ters Bresc ia ( 1 440 )in the bat t le of C ignanoeoaztottz

’

ere -of the Repub l icleaves i ts servicevisi ts Mi lan ( 1 443)a t Cremona ( 1 446)thrown in to prisonlet ter concern ing h im from the Duke of Mi lan ( 1 446)esc apes from Monzasen t against the Duke of Orleansdeserts Sforza for Ven ice ( 1 448 )assists S forza aga inst M i l anreduces Parmadefeats the troops of Charles VI I .recal led from Novarasen t aga inst Sforzal ike Garibaldirecal leddeserts the Venet iansrece ived by Duke Ludovico Gonzagasecured by Ludovico Sforza as an al lycap tures Pon tevicoat tacks B resc iasen t aga inst & i l l iam de Mon tferra t

M

8 1

82 Ino’ex .

Col leon i cap tures Borgo San Mart inorecovers his possessionsh is strategical ski l llet ter to the Venetian Repub l ic ( 1 45 4 )created Cap ta in-Generalsummoned to Ven icefest ivi t ies thereconsu l ted by th e F loren t ine exi lesin the war in the Romagnathe let ter of Pope Pau l I I . to h iminvi ted by the Sienese to resist P icc in inooffer from Lou is &I .

quarters the arms of Burgundyh is courth is habi t and appearancevisi t of Chri st ian I . of Denmarkdeath ( 1 47 5 )the l ast and best of th e condottieri

chari tab le ac tsh is coat-of-armsh is tombrestores the baths of Trescerreimproves irrigationh is work a t the Basel laportrai t of h imwork at Romanopurchase of Malpaga .

h is funeralh is wi l lstatue to h imChristian I . of Denmark’s v isi t to h imcal led Co leo

(Carpigl iata)

(Ca terina)(Dondacc io)

(Galeazzo)(Gh isalberto)

(Giovann i )(Gisilbert)

(Gnardino)(Gugl ielmo)

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84

Domin icans

Dorothy, Queen of DenmarkDovado laDrengs

Dudresnay (R inaldo de)

Elephan t, Order of theEste (Borco duke

(Ercole d’)Eugene IV.

,Pope

Faenza(Astore da)

Ferdinand, king of Nap lesFerrara

treaty ofMarqu is ofSecond peace of

Field Of Fear, the

F lorencecoin of

exi les fromFolcaquiero

Fon tanel l aForl iFoscari

Francearmy of

Franc is (Cardinal) of Man tuaFranc is (St. )Franc iscansFrederick I I .Frederick I I I .

Frescoes

Gae taGaleazzo, Duke of Mi l an

Ino’ex .

3 7

I 9

38

3 7

8

5 5

9

1 0

5 6

3 5 , 36

3 8

8

36, 3 7

3 2

9, 26. 39

64

5 0

3

so, 5 7 9

Ina’ex .

GardaGari baldiGa t tamelata . See Stephano da NARN I .Gat tamelataGenoaGenoese fleetGhede

Gh iara d ’AddaGh ibel l inesGh isalbaGiorgioneGolden Ball

,the

Golden BookGonzaga (Carlo) , Marqu is of Man tuaGonzaga (Francesco ) , lord of Man tuaGonzaga (Gian Francesco)Gonzaga (Ludovico)GorzoneGuastallaGuelfsGuerriero (Nicolo)Guns

Hann ibalH eiffensteen (Louis, Coun t of)Hei l ingHenry VI . of EnglandHeraldryHeraldsHessen (John )H i ldesheimHolste inHoya, Lord ofHungary

,co in of

H vitfeld

86

Isol aIso la del la Scala

J ames,king of Scot land

JerusalemJoanna I I .

,queen of Nap les

John, king of Navarre

Knudson (Karl)Koya. See Hoya .

Ladrone (Bernardo)LambroLandrianoLauenburg. S ee Saxony .

Lauenburg (the duke of)LeccoLedro,

Valdi

Leone (Marina)(Pietro)

LeopardiLionessa (Gen ti le del la)LodiLombard leagueLombardyLorra ineLou is, Duke of SavoyLou is I I I . of AnjouLou is & I . of FranceLugo (Mocen igo da)Lupo (Dio tesalvi)

Maffe i (Fermo)Mahomet I I .MajorcasMalapago . See Malpaga .

Malateste (Pando l fo)Malatesta (Sigismundo )Malghera

Ino’ex .

73

1 1

48-9

48

5 7

1 2

5

2 2

5

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88 Ino’ex .

Mol ine l laMon t ’ UlmoMon tech iaroMon te LamoMon tferra t

,Duke of

Mon t icel l iMontoneMon zaMordanoM ornico

Munster (Henry, B ishop of)Muratori

Nap lesNap les

,King of ?

Napoleon I .Narn i (Stefano da)NavarreNavig l io GrandeNembroNico las V .

,Pope

NorwayNovaraNus

Ogl io

OldenburgO ldenburg (Coun t Gert of)Ordelaffi (Pino deg l i ) Lord of Forl‘iOrder of the Elephan tOrkney IslandsOrleans, Duke of See C . Viscon t i .

PaduaPai el lo (Gugl ielmo)Palaeologus (Constan t ine)Palazzuo loPaloscoPalusco

Pan igarda (Enrico)

Ina’ex .

Picardy archersPicc in inoPicc in ino (Franc .)

(Jacobo)(Niccolo)h is son

Pico (Galeot to) , lord of Mirandol aPiedmontField, the

Pi i (Marco and Lionello lords of Carp iPisaPistolsPit t iPo

’

Poma (Giorget to)Pontevic ino

Pon te VicoPon tevicoPon t i daPontogl io

Porcel l iPorta ZobbiaPorzano

1 8 ,

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46

5 7

9, 1 47

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26,

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9

1 1

3 6

6

1 2

23, 4°

2 2

I 6, 3 9

1 6

1 6

3 7

1 8

I S

I 7 , 4 7

I 9

30

I S

I S, Z 7

90 Ino’ex .

Quarenghi (Alberto dei)Quoldsbach

Ragazzo

RavennaReinfeldReinsberg, or Reinsberger (Herman)Réné, Count of Provence and Duke of AnjouRené of Anjou, t i tular King of NaplesR i val taR ivolaRoggia MontanaRoggia SeriolaRomagnaRomanengoRoman inoRomano 1 3 , 1 4, 1 7 , 1 9, 20, 2 1 , 32, 3 5 , 4 1 ,

RomeSee Papacy, etc .

Roncal l i, Con teRose

, The

RothenburgRova toRusca (Franch ino)

Saiguini (Ricardona Valvasori dei)San Leonardo, friars ofSan Mart inoSan Spiri to, friars ofSanckensted (Henry)Santo EusebioSanuto

SarcaSardiniaSavoySaxony (John, Duke of) and LauenburgScarperia (Lorenzo del la)SchleswigSco tlandSegeberg

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92 Ina’ex .

Trescerre

Trescerre, San StefanoTrevi . See Trevigl io.

Trevig l ioTreviso for Trevigl ioTrezzoTrivigli . See Trevigl io .

Trusando (Coun t) 1 0, 1 6, 24

'TurksTuscany 1 3

Um i l iat i, The

Urban V.

Urbino (Coun t An ton ioUrgnano

Vagerland

Val Camon icaVal di LedroVal Lagarn ia

Pel lina

San Mart inoSassina

SerianoValenc ia Stra i tsValo is, House ofValpergo (Louis)Varesino (Gaspare)Vedian. See Viadana .

Ven ice 7 , 8 , 9, 1 0 , 1 3 , 1 6, 1 8, 2 1 , 23, 24, 25 , 26, 2 7 ,

arms of 46

Counc i l of Ten 8, 1 4, 23 , 3 2, 33 , 5 6

Go lden Bal l 3 5

Go lden Book 3 5

Gian Consig l io 35

P iazetta 8, 34

San Giovann i e San Paolo 5 7

San Marco 34

Ven ice, Signory 43 , 4 7

Ven ieri (Leonardo) 25

Verme (Jacobo del)Verme (Ludovico dal)Verocchio

VeronaVerona, Castel Vecch io

San Fel iceViadanaVicenzaVigevanoVi l la FrancaVimercate (Gasparre)Vinc i, Leonardo daViscont i (Ambrogio)

(Barnabo)

(B ianca Maria)

Ina’ex .

(Charles), Duke of OrleansFi l ippo Maria)

h is wi fe(Gian Galeazzo)(Gian Maria)(Ludovico Sforza)(Maria)(Mary of Savoy, w idow of Fi l ippo

Sacramoro)

(Valen tino)Viscon t i fami ly

armsVittel iana

93PAGE

3

1 1

5 7

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1 2

1 2

-8

54

3 7

3 7

5 7

3

L 3 1 49

I 3

I 9

4 ’ 1 3 ) 1 8

2 1

3 , 49

2 2

25

2 1

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UNIVERS IT& OF CAL IFORNIA LIB RAR&, LOS ANGELESCOLLEGE LIBRAR&

Th is b ook is due on th e l ast date stamped bel ow .

B ook S l i p— l orn ( 3 7 27 5 4 ) 4280

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