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TRANSCRIPT
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.
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
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
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 .
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
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
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
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
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,
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
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 .
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
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
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)
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
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 .)
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Pico (Galeot to) , lord of Mirandol aPiedmontField, the
Pi i (Marco and Lionello lords of Carp iPisaPistolsPit t iPo
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Pon te VicoPon tevicoPon t i daPontogl io
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1 2
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90 Ino’ex .
Quarenghi (Alberto dei)Quoldsbach
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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 ,
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Roncal l i, Con teRose
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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
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)
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(B ianca Maria)
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93PAGE
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1 1
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