WSIM24B Ch. 18

WSIM24B Chapter 18

Sorry for the delay (my fault this time). Family illness, travel... better now.

This next chapter is largely devoted to political intrigue and warfare. I apologize in advance if that's not to your liking. It also covers a larger time-span than previous chapters.

Gina began to relax a little more. Motherhood suited her, and little Maria Elise thrived. Gina herself began to trust in me a little more - specifically, that I wouldn't get her pregnant again. We still only made love every week or two, but she was more receptive to my advances.

Fiametta was happy if I visited her with the same frequency. Every time I saw her, she made it a memorable occasion. But that meant that the bulk of my free time was devoted to my wife. It had only taken me twelve years in the Sim to realize that marriage could be a wonderful state of affairs - and that I'd been a fool not to insist more strongly on Charlotte joining me in Italy years earlier.

The Pope and I studied maps, counted our money and our troops, and made plans for our coming campaign. I wasn't at all sure how we would co-exist in command roles, but it was, technically, his army and his money; it would be up to me to make adjustments.

Alberini provided us with all of the information we needed - and more. We had at least three options, all of which were specifically designed to surprise and confuse our enemies. My favourite plan, though, relied on some kind of pretext to make it work. And then the Fates conspired to create the perfect circumstances.

Ercole d'Este, Duke of Ferrara, died on the 25th of January, 1505. I was on my way by February 2nd, with Miguel and Vicente, the Ramires brothers, a hundred men-at-arms, and a hundred light cavalry. It was a bit large for an escort, but given the hostile territories we had to pass through, my caution was understandable. I went by way of Orvieto and Montepulciano to Florence, then north to Bologna and Ferrara. With the speed (and unexpectedness) of our movement, no one had time to organize a force to intercept or interfere with us, even if they had dared.

I arrived in time to present my condolences to the new duke, Alfonso (Lucrezia's husband) and to his sister Isabella (the wife of Francisco Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua - Lucrezia's former lover). Alfonso was honoured by my presence, and we shared a couple of brief conversations in which I made sure that he knew what side was better for him, and for Ferrara.

Gonzaga was civil, and Isabella seemed quite pleased to see me. Lucrezia, however, was openly delighted. She believed that I come, in large part, to see her. I did nothing to disabuse her of that notion. To my great relief, I discovered that her affair with Gonzaga had run its course.

- "It was only lust." she admitted. "Not love. Not like what you have. Charlotte is adorable."

- "She is."

***

You have to understand that I was something of a celebrity by this time. Alright, I was downright notorious; probably Public Enemy Number One for a significant portion of Italy. My dash to Ferrara, accompanied by 200 horse, had everyone talking.

It gave me an idea.

When I explained it to my boss, he laughed aloud.

- "I love it!"

Unfortunately, Church politics became complicated, and the Pope decided that he wanted a deeper war-chest before we did anything with the army. That ended up postponing our venture until next year.

Equally unfortunately, the Pope wanted me to remain in Rome. Having me by his side gave continuing proof of his magnanimity and generosity - the della Rovere Pope forgiving one of his worst enemies, a Borgia. It also showcased his cleverness and clear-headedness, as he made use of the talents of said former enemy.

It wasn't until the summer of 1506 that we were ready to move. On the 6th of July, I repeated my dash to Ferrara, with a hundred men-at-arms and a hundred more light cavalry. Alfonso d'Este had no idea what to make of my surprise visit (though Lucrezia was delighted).

That same day (the 6th), our artillery train left Rome, headed north for Terni. Three days later, Pope Julius II did the same, at the head of 300 men-at-arms, 200 light horse, and 3,500 infantry. It's only 175 kilometres from Rome to Perugia, which meant that by the time Gian Paolo Baglioni realized that the Papal army was on its way, he had less than a week. That wasn't enough time to organize a coalition, or even to communicate with all of the far-flung towns who might have considered supporting him.

Baglioni was no fool. Staying to face a siege was a losing proposition. But instead of fleeing, he and a group of his supporters went out to meet the Pope, caps in hand - and on their knees. They begged forgiveness, and mercy.

Had I been there (and Miguel, of course), Baglioni would never have dared to take this approach. He'd have known that he had a date with the garrote. He was the one major conspirator who had escaped Senigallia (unless you included Petrucci of Siena and the Bentivoglios of Bologna).

Julius forgave him, of course. With 25 Cardinals in attendance (he'd dragged them all the way from Rome), the Pope decided on a special display of magnificence and magnanimity. He received Perugia back into the bosom of the Church, assigned Gian Paolo Baglioni penance, and warned him that future transgressions would be harshly punished.

- "Do it again, and I'll hang you." said the Pope.

Now the Papal army was ideally placed. They could backtrack a bit, and strike east, to Camerino, where Baglioni had helped the Varano family return to power. From there, Julius could continue to Fermo, and seal off the southern flank of the Romagna.

Or he could march north, to Citta di Castello, which he did, covering 55 kilometres in three days. The remaining Vitellis had no interest in sharing the fate of Vitellozzo: they fled. Julius made a triumphant entry into the town.

Once again, the Pope was literally at a crossroads. He could move east, to Urbino. Whether he would attack, or negotiate passage with Guidobaldo de Montefeltro, was anyone's guess. Beyond Urbino, on the Adriatic coast, lay Pesaro and Fano. Or, the Papal army could continue north, to Cesena - and that was what they ended up doing.

My little force, in the meantime, had come back from Ferrara to Imola, where I collected another hundred horse, plus 400 foot from the Val di Lamone, thanks to Dionigi di Naldo and his brothers. Now Faenza and Forli were possibly threatened from two sides.

The Manfredis in Faenza had help from Venice; they prepared to face a siege. The Ordelaffis in Forli could feel the glares cast at them, almost as a palpable thing. My rule had been popular there, and most of the people were keen to have me back. The Ordelaffis lost their nerve, and fled.

In Rimini (according to Alberini), Pandolfo Malatesta wanted to flee, but the mercenaries he'd hired (paid for by the Venetians) kept him there as a virtual captive.

Forli was an open town, then. Everyone waited to see which way the Pope and I would turn: against Faenza, or towards Rimini? Given our limited manpower, it had to be one or the other - it couldn't be both.

In fact, it was neither. The Pope marched to Forli, where he detached a force to protect the town. He continued on to Faenza - and bypassed it. Now he picked up the pace. While the artillery, well-escorted, reached Imola, the bulk of the infantry and cavalry linked up with my force.

Now the Bentivoglios had to regret ever having surrendered Castel Bologna (which I had had razed). They had no bastion to block our advance, no forward scouts to detect our approach early. The Papal army was on Bologna's doorstep before they could prepare any effective defence. Giovanni Bentivoglio fled to Milan - an odd choice.

Julius II got to enjoy another triumphant entry. It was another tremendous feat, a surprising coup that excited admiration across most of Italy. There were many who hastened to name him a greater military leader than I'd ever been (on the grounds that I'd never succeeded in taking Bologna). I didn't begrudge him his laurels, or the limelight, or whatever imagery works best. It was all a balm to his ego, after all the years when I'd been the one winning victories while he schemed and negotiated in Rome and paid my bills.

The Pope's appetite had only been whetted. By the beginning of 1507, he had even more grandiose plans.

- "I want Rimini, Faenza, and Ravenna!" he shouted, slamming his fist on the table.

- "Ravenna?" I raised an eyebrow at that. We'd discussed the matter before, of course. Faenza would fall, eventually, once we'd surrounded it and set up our artillery. Rimini would be a little more difficult, if the Venetians were serious about defending it, because the town could be supplied from the sea.

Ravenna would be even more difficult. It had been under Venetian control since 1441. I doubted that they would let it go easily.

The situation was simple, but fraught with peril for both sides. Technically, Venice and the Pope were allies, and both were allied to France. Where would Louis come down if they came to blows? I was firmly of the opinion that we couldn't beat Venice by ourselves. They had a powerful fleet, great wealth, and a strong army who had experience fighting the Turks. They could also draw on auxiliaries from Dalmatia, Albania, and elsewhere.

"We're going to need help." I said, again.

Unfortunately, the French were busy, for the moment. A popular revolt in Genoa had ousted the pro-French nobility. Louis was organizing an army to bring the city back under his control.

Meanwhile, Maximilian von Hapsburg, the King of the Romans, had expressed a desire to come to Italy in order to be crowned Holy Roman Emperor by the Pope. I know that it sounds strange, but the ruler of Germany had used the title 'King of the Romans' for 500 years. I think that it went back to Charlemagne (the very first Holy Roman Emperor). By tradition, the German Emperor couldn't become 'Holy Roman' unless he came to Rome in person to be crowned by the Pope.

The Hapsburgs were very, very good at marrying into other families and inheriting everything. Maximilian, the ruler of most of Austria, married Mary of Burgundy (heiress of Charles the Bold - her lands included Burgundy, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Switzerland). His second wife was Bianca Maria Sforza. His son Philip was married to Joanna (the Mad) of Castile, eldest remaining daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. Crazy, right?

Maximilian's desire to travel to Rome - with an army - didn't fool the Venetians: they weren't about to let him onto their territory.

- "Is he a player in the Sim?" I asked.

- "Probably." said the Pope. "Nah: better than probably. France, Spain, the Empire, me, and the Turkish Sultan... that makes the most sense, doesn't it? Damn: that means that it's back to the drawing board."

- "More negotiations?"

- "Lots more."

The Pope left me in command, to begin the siege of Faenza. I'd been here before, and I wasn't going to launch a premature assault. I had hopes for my artillery, but I was prepared to wait as long as it took before I would risk major bloodshed.

Charlotte was due to deliver our second child in May, but I couldn't leave the Romagna - not when the threat of direct intervention by Venice hung over our heads. The Varanos had fled Camerino again, and Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro had left his town, going into exile in Venice for the third time. But I had to watch Bologna, where the poorest, most downtrodden classes had welcomed us, but the wealthier families feared for their privileges.

Conduct a siege. Watch Bologna. Watch Venice. Watch all of the Romagna - despite all of our victories, there was always the threat of a powerful family, backed by Venice or Florence, launching a coup in one the towns we considered 'safe'.

I miss you, love wrote Charlotte. I pray for your safety every day, and every night. So do Gina and Fiametta. I would have come to join you, but the doctors deem it unwise to travel. I wish that I had your courage, to overrule them.

I cannot decide on the child's name without you. How do you feel about Anne, if it is a girl?

I wrote back. You have no idea, love, how I enjoy your letters. It makes me think of all the words you wrote while I was apart, which I never got to see. I worry, too, and pray that you may deliver safely again.

Anne is a lovely name, especially if it reminds you of the French Queen. If it is a boy, would you accept Nicola?

Machiavelli would love the name. I had never told him (or anybody, for that matter), that it was close to my own original name.

***

The Pope had tons of energy. It might have been because Julius was twelve years younger than Alexander had been. Whatever the reason, he was getting a lot done. First, he ratified the Treaty of Tordesillas, effectively dividing the New World between Spain and Portugal. Then he hired a contingent of Swiss mercenaries to act as a permanent Papal Guard, so that he wouldn't have to fear the Orsinis, the Colonnas, or any other Roman family.

He also rewarded Alberini quite handsomely, because my spymaster had come through again with a major piece of intelligence.

- "King Louis met with Ferdinand of Aragon. In person." he told me. "It was at Savona, a town west of Genoa, on the Ligurian coast. They spoke of Venice. They also contracted a marriage."

- "For Ferdinand?" His wife Isabella, the Queen of Castile, had died in November of 1504.

- "Good guess. Ferdinand is to marry Germaine de Foix, the niece of King Louis."

- "Dirty old goat." Ferdinand was 54; Germaine was 18. It was an important match, though. It seemed to suggest that France and Spain were prepared to be allies, rather than rivals. That might not bode well for Italy.

Armed with information like that, the Pope was able to make more effective plans. He left the siege of Faenza to me, and concentrated on briefing the envoys that he would be sending to Louis, to Ferdinand, and to Maximilian. He also sent envoys to Venice, giving them one more chance to stop supporting our enemies in the Romagna.

Faenza finally fell. In keeping with the Pope's new spirit of clemency, I sent a handful of prisoners to Rome (instead of putting them in the ground), and was lenient with the leading families of the town - all of whom claimed that the Manfredis had forced them to cooperate. I gave them an indemnity to pay, which they accepted without too much grumbling. Given my reputation (and Miguel's), they had expected much worse.

The Pope came up in person, to take a tour of the re-captured town, to impress the locals, and to install his own governor. Technically, that should have been up to me, as Duke. He could have conferred with me over his choice, at least. I told him so.

- "Don't get your shorts in a knot." said the Pontiff. "We're re-claiming these lands for the Church, so I have to put Churchmen in charge. Besides, what do you care? The Sim only has another eleven years to run. What does it matter to you who actually governs these towns?"

- "I have a son, Admiral. And a wife and daughter. I want them looked after."

My boss looked at me oddly. I suppose he'd never heard me say anything like this before. Was I changing? Or was it him? As Pope Alexander, he had been preoccupied with advancing the careers of his Borgia 'children'. Now that he was Pope Julius, he didn't have the same dynastic impulses (although he had arranged a good marriage for his daughter Felice).

- "Alright." he said. "You've got a point there. I'll have a document drawn up that cedes Cesena, Forli and Imola to you and your heirs."

- "And the Val di Lamone."

His eyes narrowed for a moment, but then he nodded. "Alright. But I can't guarantee that future Popes will honour the agreement."

- "I understand."

On a much, much brighter note, he had brought Charlotte and the children to Cesena. "They'll be nearby, then, when you begin the siege of Rimini."

We met again the next day, still in Faenza.

"I have news from Germany." he said. "The Imperial Diet - the assembly of nobles - voted to give Maximilian an army of 12,000 men. That's not what he wanted, of course. Max wanted to attack France and take Milan for himself. But with those numbers, he's adjusted his sights."

- "Venice."

- "Exactly."

- "Technically, they're our ally. With France."

- "Right. And I'll help Venice just as much as they've helped me."

I noticed the personal pronoun, but let it slide.

"So you besiege Rimini, raise more troops if you can, and watch what happens in Venetian territory. I'll keep you informed."

I was delighted to be reunited with Charlotte and the babies. My wife had only recently turned 26, but I found her even more attractive than when we were married. It took less than an hour for me to take her to bed. After we'd made love, we indulged in a few more private moments.

- "I'll take you to Forli, and to Imola, as well," I told her, "so that you can decide which one you like best - and we'll make a home there."

- "I asked Gina if she wanted to come, but she said that she would remain in Rome, so that you would have someone to be with if your travels brought you there."

- "She can't bear to be parted from her gardens, more like." I said. "But it was very kind of you to make the offer. You continually go out of your way to make others happy."

Charlotte was pleased to be complimented. Who isn't? But her smile was such a genuine mixture of pleasure and shyness that I had to take her in my arms.

***

Rimini didn't fall until November. By then, we knew that Charlotte was pregnant once again.

Emperor Maximilian opened his Italienzug - his Italian War - in February of 1508. Venice appealed to France, but didn't bother asking the Pope for aid (they had to know that it wouldn't be forthcoming). Several thousand French troops were dispatched from Milan.

Imperial troops sacked Ampezzo, captured Castello di Botestagno, and then Pieve. All of this took place well to the north of Venice. The Venetians sent their army that way, under the command of Bartolomeo d'Alviano. You may remember him: he was married to Bartolomea Orsini, and contributed to the defeat of Juan Borgia (Gandia). Now D'Alviano was married to the sister of Gian Paolo Baglioni. He was now assisted by, of all people, Pandolfo Malatesta of Rimini (whose city I had just recaptured).

The Battle of Rusecco (or Rio Secco) took place in March. The Germans had solid infantry, but couldn't match the light cavalry and the estradiots of the Venetians. The Imperial flanks were turned, and their artillery was captured. Almost two thousand Germans were killed, and hundreds more captured - over a third of their forces.

The Venetians drove into Imperial territory, with considerable success. They captured Trieste in May. At that point, they brokered a three-year truce with Maximilian - without consulting their French allies. That proved to be a serious mistake.

I didn't hear about that last part immediately, though, because I was directly involved in another stratagem. To be fair, it was the Pope's idea, but it was based on a move I'd pulled off years before, in exactly the same location.

Julius went to Citta di Castello (the former Vitelli stronghold), supposedly to consecrate a new church. I had to take a few thousand troops to quell an uprising in Pesaro. In fact, it was only a bit of a riot, provoked by some of Alberini's agents. Meanwhile, Juan de Cardona had gone to Fano and Senigallia weeks earlier, with a few hundred troops. Then he secretly marched for Cagli, where reinforcements would join him.

We invaded Urbino from three sides. Guidobaldo de Montefeltro was no more prepared this time than he had been the first. Apparently he was thoroughly deceived by the Pope's invitation to come to Rome for the next Carnaval. He had few troops, and couldn't defend in three directions. Once again, he fled, leaving the Duchy of Urbino to fall into our hands. All of Italy shook their heads at Guidobaldo's guilelessness and gullibility, and admired the Pope's cleverness.