Italy, however, was in a very divided and disorganized state. There was a King of Naples, a Duke of Venice, a Duke of Milan, a separate state life at Pisa, Genoa, Florence and elsewhere. In order to build himself up and become very powerful, and to give preferment to each of his sons, some of these states had to be conquered and controlled; and so the old gentleman, without conscience and without mercy except as suited his whim, was for playing politics, making war, exercising treachery, murdering, poisoning, persuading, bribing--anything and everything to obtain his ends. He must have been well thought of as a man of his word, for when he had made a deal with Charles VIII of France to assist him in invading and conquering Naples, the king demanded and obtained Cæsar, Alexander’s son, aged twenty-one, as a hostage for faithful performance of agreement. He had not taken him very far, however, before the young devil escaped and returned to Rome, where subsequently his father, finding it beneficial to turn against the King of France, did so. But to continue. While his father was politicking and trafficking in this way for the benefit of himself and his dear family, young Cæsar was beginning to develop a few thoughts and tendencies of his own. Alexander VI was planning to create fiefs or dukedoms out of the papal states and out of the Kingdom of Naples and give them to his eldest son, Giovanni, and his youngest, Giuffré. Cæsar would have none of this. He saw himself as a young cardinal being left out in the cold. Besides, there was a cause of friction between him and his brother Giovanni over the affections of their youngest brother Giuffré’s wife, Sancha. They were both sharing the latter’s favors, and so one day, in order to clear matters up and teach his father (whose favorite he was) where to bestow his benefits and so that he might have Sancha all to himself--he murdered his brother Giovanni. The latter’s body, after a sudden and strange absence, was found in the Tiber, knife-marked, and all was local uproar until the young cardinal was suspected, when matters quieted down and nothing more was thought of it. There was also thought to be some rivalry between Cæsar and Giovanni over the affections of their sister Lucrezia.