But the king being arrived in the city of Florence, a treaty[310] was made between him and the Florentines, and I am of opinion the citizens embraced it very heartily. They gave the king sixscore thousand ducats, of which they paid him fifty thousand down, and the rest in two short payments afterward. They lent him all the above-mentioned fortresses, and changed their arms, which were the red fleur-de-lis, and adopted those of the king, who took them under his protection, and swore upon the altar of St. John to restore the towns which they had put into his possession, within four months after his arrival at Naples, or sooner, if he should return to France; but matters happened otherwise, as you will find in the sequel of these Memoirs. The king made but a short stay at Florence; but advanced with his army to Sienna, where he was well received; thence he advanced to Viterbo[311], where the enemy (Don Ferrand), having retreated towards Rome, designed to post and fortify themselves, and fight, if they saw an advantageous opportunity, as King Alphonso’s and the Pope’s ambassadors at Venice told me; and truly I expected the arrival of King Alphonso in person there (for he had the reputation of being a man of courage), and that he would have left his son in the kingdom of Naples to manage affairs in his absence. According to my judgment the place would have been most advantageous for him; for he would have had his own kingdom and the States of the Church, and the towns and places belonging to the Ursini behind him. And I was extremely surprised to receive letters from the king announcing that he was at Viterbo, and that one of the commanders had delivered up the castle upon the intercession of the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula (who was governor of it) and of the Colonne. I fancied then that God would put an end to this affair, and began to repent of having advised and written to the king to come to an accommodation; for they offered him very fair terms. Aquapendente, Montefiascone, and all the adjacent towns, were delivered up before the surrender of Viterbo, as I was informed by letters from the king and the Signory of Venice, who had daily intelligence of what passed from their ambassadors, which they either showed me, or else ordered their secretaries to give me an account. From Viterbo the king marched towards Rome, and thence through the dominions of the Ursini, which were all surrendered to him by the Lord Charles Ursini[312], who pretended that he had orders from his father to do so (who was still in Alphonso’s service), and said that, whilst Don Ferrand was entertained in the territories of the Church, so long would he wait on the king, and no longer. This was exactly according to the custom in Italy, both among princes and captains, and all persons; for there they carry fair with their very enemies, for fear it should be their misfortune to be of the weakest side. The king was accordingly