June 5th the entire Pontifical Court set out for Perugia, and they had no sooner left the town of Orvieto than a royal envoy arrived with instructions to follow the Pope and see him at any cost. As soon as the messenger learned of Alexander’s departure he left for Perugia. At Toscanella his people were refused lodging, a fight ensued, and blood was shed. At Santa Fiora the French learned that Guido Sforza was in command of the citadel and they immediately took him prisoner, an act due to their hatred of his kinsmen Ludovico il Moro, who had betrayed their sovereign. In the meantime the Pope and Caesar had arrived at Perugia, and thus avoided the meeting they feared. Charles had entered Rome--June 1st--and had remained there only over night. On the 5th he was in Viterbo, and thence he advanced into Lombardy; he avoided Florence and refused to give up Pisa. He reached Pontremoli and crossed the Apennines without encountering any resistance, but found the armies of Milan and Venice, under the command of Francesco Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua, lying in wait for him on the other side of the mountains. After a brief struggle at Fornovo, on the Taro, the King with his army of 10,000 men broke through the allied forces of 35,000--who lost about 3,500--and escaped to Turin and thence to France, where he apparently forgot all about his conquest of Naples, for he left his Viceroy, Gilbert de Montpensier, to look after himself as best he might. Immediately after the battle of Fornovo, Ferdinand II. with a few Spanish troops surprised Naples and captured Montpensier, and the French dominion in the Regno came to an end as quickly as it had been established. Before leaving Italy Charles had made peace with Ludovico independently of the Moor’s allies. The danger passed, the inhabitants of Orvieto, anxious for the Pope to return to their city, sent a delegation to request him to do so, and June 21st he did return, but was so anxious to be back in Rome that he remained only a day. The Pontiff, however, appreciated the strategic advantages of the castle of Orvieto so highly that he made the town a legation _a latere_ and appointed his son legate and governor for life. [Illustration: ORVIETO _From an early engraving._ To face p. 98.] The Pope’s letter announcing Caesar’s nomination is dated July 22, 1495, and is as follows:--