The time had now come for the Duke of Valentinois to continue the
pursuit of his conquests. So, since on the 1st of May in the preceding
year the pope had pronounced sentence of forfeiture in full consistory
against Julius Caesar of Varano, as punishment for the murder of his
brother Rudolph and for the harbouring of the pope’s enemies, and he had
accordingly been mulcted of his fief of Camerino, which was to be handed
over to the apostolic chamber, Caesar left Rome to put the sentence in
execution. Consequently, when he arrived on the frontiers of Perugia,
which belonged to his lieutenant, Gian Paolo Baglioni, he sent
Oliverotta da Fermo and Orsini of Gravina to lay waste the March of
Camerino, at the same time petitioning Guido d’Ubaldo di Montefeltro,
Duke of Urbino, to lend his soldiers and artillery to help him in this
enterprise. This the unlucky Duke of Urbino, who enjoyed the best
possible relations with the pope, and who had no reason for distrusting
Caesar, did not dare refuse. But on the very same day that the Duke of
Urbina’s troops started for Camerino, Caesar’s troops entered the duchy
of Urbino, and took possession of Cagli, one of the four towns of the
little State. The Duke of Urbino knew what awaited him if he tried to
resist, and fled incontinently, disguised as a peasant; thus in less
than eight days Caesar was master of his whole duchy, except the
fortresses of Maiolo and San Leone.
The Duke of Valentinois forthwith returned to Camerino, where the
inhabitants still held out, encouraged by the presence of Julius Caesar
di Varano, their lord, and his two sons, Venantio and Hannibal; the
eldest son, Gian Maria, had been sent by his father to Venice.
The presence of Caesar was the occasion of parleying between the
besiegers and besieged. A capitulation was arranged whereby Varano
engaged to give up the town, on condition that he and his sons were
allowed to retire safe and sound, taking with them their furniture,
treasure, and carriages. But this was by no means Caesar’s intention;
so, profiting by the relaxation in vigilance that had naturally come
about in the garrison when the news of the capitulation had been
announced, he surprised the town in the night preceding the surrender,
and seized Caesar di Varano and his two sons, who were strangled a short
time after, the father at La Pergola and the sons at Pesaro, by Don
Michele Correglio, who, though he had left the position of sbirro for
that of a captain, every now and then returned to his first business.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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