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286 Italy: Faenza, Fabriano Tuscany against the king of Aragon.828 This later caused him much harm. For when negotiations were held in Naples to achieve peace throughout Italy, the king remembered this insult and wanted Sigismondo to be excluded from the general peace, since he had not remained loyal to him. He then sent a force against him under Count Jacopo Piccinino and Federico, lord of Urbino, who deprived him of several important towns and laid waste to his land with sword and fire. After vainly begging for help from all quarters, Sigismondo finally decided to settle his differences with Alfonso and sent an emissary,829 which was his only means of salvation. His pleas have yet to be heeded, though the king’s clemency has aroused no little hope of an agreement.830 63 ITALY: FAENZA, FABRIANO 257. IN FAENZA, on the death of Guidantonio, of whom there are reported many illustrious feats in war, his brother Astorre,831 who was also well-known as a soldier, seized the rulership. Because he campaigned for the Florentines against the king, he was declared an enemy by Alfonso, just like Sigismondo, and excluded from the general peace.832 258. The people of Fabriano, who had long been oppressed by 828. Malatesta had been hired and paid by Alfonso to assist him in his Tuscan campaign in 1447, but he failed to appear, taking up arms on Florence’s behalf instead in 1448; Ryder, Alfonso, 277–80. 829. Adding nuntio (Urb. Lat. 885) to van Heck’s text, misso ad eum. 830. Alfonso obtained a loophole in the Peace of Lodi (1454), which allowed him to attack Sigismondo at will for his disloyalty in 1447. Federico da Montefeltro was eager to curb his neighbor Sigismondo’s power and campaigned with Piccinino (who was being funded by Alfonso) in Sigismondo’s territories in late 1457. Sigismondo, meanwhile, sought to appease Alfonso, but only the latter’s death in June 1458 saved him; see Ryder, Alfonso, 405. 831. Astorre II Manfredi (r. 1448–68). 832. Astorre, like Sigismondo, had reneged on an agreement with Alfonso and was not protected by the Peace of Lodi (1454). Italy: Aquila 287 a tyranny, finally killed fifteen members of the family which had usurped rule; the rest fled.833 After this, they returned to the rule of the church and for many years led a quiet and peaceful existence. This year, they threw into prison some citizens who had been incited to rebel and either consented or were suspected of doing so; after extracting a confession of treason through torture and interrogation , they imposed on them the supreme penalty. 64 ITALY: AQUILA 259. IN AQUILA, a city of the Marsians,834 it happened within living memory that the much-feared general Braccio of Perugia died after besieging the city for a year and being defeated by the army of the blessed Pope Martin V.835 Saint Bernardino of Siena, having traveled throughout Italy preaching the name of Christ, completed the course of his mortal life. He was buried there in Aquila and is said to be famous for his miracles.836 260. Bernardino came from a high-ranking family in Siena. There is no truth to the allegation of those who assert that Massa was his native town, though he completed some of his early training there as a boy because his mother was from Massa. But his father and a long line of ancestors were counted among the nobility 833. The ruling Chiavelli family was murdered in the church of Fabriano in 1435. 834. The classical name for the ancient peoples who dwelled in the Apennines southeast of Avezzano. Today, the name survives in towns like San Benedetto dei Marsi and Luca dei Marsi. Pietragalla renders it as Marsica in her translation of Facio’s Rerum gestarum Alfonsi regis libri. 835. Braccio da Montone (1368–1424), renowned condottiere and ruler of Perugia (r. 1420–24), was campaigning in Aquila in the service of Alfonso of Aragon in his bid for the kingdom of Naples. He was captured in battle by his nemesis, Francesco Sforza, and his former comrade in arms, Jacopo Caldora, and died of his wounds on June 5, 1424; see Mallett, Mercenaries and their Masters, 73–74. 836. St. Bernardino of Siena (1380–1444) died in Aquila. Miracles were attributed to his intercession and a basilica (completed in 1472) was built in his name to house his relics. ...

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