"On the next day, when the condottieri were ordered to attack a small town southwest of our camp, the inhabitants of which had treated us decently, knowing that we bore them no ill-will, we disregarded the order. By prearrangement, each captain at the head of his men assembled in front of the legate's quarters, when as spokesman I asked an audience. "In a short while he came forth in his regalia, surrounded by a group of carpet knights and peremptorily demanded: "'What do you want and why have not you and your comrades begun the assault as ordered?' "'As spokesman for the English, Dutch and Breton condottieri, I am directed to inform you that we have concluded to sever our connection with your army and seek more satisfactory employment. Our sympathies are with the Florentines rather than the church.' "'Those of you who refuse to execute my commands shall be put to death.' "'Who will execute your order? Surely not your three thousand carpet knights, who can scarcely sit their horses and are coached by their squires. They know nothing of warfare; they but wear their swords as ornaments. Why, my three hundred horsemen alone are more than a match for your knights. They and you do your fighting by proxy. It takes something more than a jeweled sword, bright armor and a coat of arms to make a soldier, and something more than a miter, a string of beads and a colossal capacity for deception, torture and persecution, to make a commander whom men trust and obey.' "'So it is your intention to quit my service?' "'Yes, and immediately, we shall leave your camp today.' "Whereupon I returned to my men. After a brief conference we raided the general stores and appropriated a week's supplies; then, loading our pack horses, mounted and by easy stages rode to Florence. "The legate, finding himself deserted by his mercenaries, his forces reduced to less than three thousand undisciplined troops, with no one competent to command, hastily retreated to Bologna and sought to make peace with the Florentines. "But they, justly resentful of his avaricious and unprovoked invasion, refused to make peace, and until his death, nearly three years thereafter, having entered into a league with Barnabo of Milan and certain cities hostile to the church, conducted a successful war against him. "Three days thereafter we crossed through the pass and camped on the south mountain slope within sight of Florence. The city from the foothills as you look out upon it seems an island forest of tall towers, surrounded by a verdant plain. "A wall 9350 meters in length, protected by a deep moat, surrounds the city. Every one hundred and sixty meters there is a tower forty meters high and fourteen meters broad. The twelve gates, six on the left bank of the river and six on the right, are strengthened by barbicans.