family of Montefeltro; the last acknowledged the presumed mediation of the Gubbian saint.[160] [Footnote 158: BEMBI, _Opera_, I., p. 588. The portentous tale is gravely repeated by BALDI in his _Life of Duke Guidobaldo_; and as an instance of the twaddle of Italian biographies, we may translate literally the reverend abbot's exposition of the exertions through which the Count and Countess at length obtained a male heir: "Meanwhile, being both of them resolved to leave nothing untried, they, under the direction of prudent physicians, unceasingly employed potent remedies, calculated to invigorate them, and, in as far as practicable, to supply by artificial means the defects of nature. Aware more especially of the efficacy of pious works, accompanied by righteous and fervent prayers to the Most High, they distributed vast alms, aiding them with vows and with public and private prayers." After this sample, we need not dwell upon the prodigies preceding, nor the astrological calculations occasioned by the appearance of the _dieu-donné_.] [Footnote *159: 24 January, 1472. Cf. UGOLINI, _op. cit._, vol. I., p. 497. Cf. _infra_, p. 282.] [Footnote 160: Berni, the annalist of Gubbio, says the names were Ubaldo Girolamo Vincenzio.] The next partial interruption to the peace which reigned through the Peninsula arose on the side of Tuscany, and called forth the energies of Federigo. There are varying accounts how the squabbles of a few miners brought on a sanguinary contest; but its origin may thus be explained. Volterra, though nominally independent, was tributary to Florence, and under her protection. That community possessed a wide extent of rocky and barren pastures, leased annually by auction for the public good. The poverty of their surface was amply compensated by minerals buried under an arid volcanic soil, which contained abundance of alum, vitriol, salt, and sulphur, besides a sprinkling of precious metals. Some enterprising speculators having obtained a five years' lease of a portion of these grazing lands, formed a mining company along with several Florentine capitalists. The success attending their adventure roused the jealousy of certain Volterran citizens, who grudging such gains at the public expense raised a riot, in which the company's works were injured. The merchants of Florence appealed to their own government, and the intervention thus commenced led to further outrages, until, at the instance of Lorenzo de' Medici, an expedition to humble this contumacy was resolved on. After explaining to the confederate powers the causes of quarrel, the Florentine executive thus announced to their troops Count Federigo's appointment as their leader:--