, and who, after receiving his instructions, soon found
an opportunity of carrying them into effect. The patriarch, having
determined to go into Tuscany, prepared to leave Rome on the following
day, and ordered the castellan to be upon the drawbridge of the fortress
in the morning, for he wished to speak with him as he passed. Antonio
perceived this to be the favorable moment, informed his people what they
were to do, and awaited the arrival of the patriarch upon the bridge,
which adjoined the building, and might for the purpose of security be
raised or lowered as occasion required. The appointed time found him
punctual; and Antonio, having drawn him, as if for the convenience
of conversation, on to the bridge, gave a signal to his men, who
immediately raised it, and in a moment the cardinal, from being a
commander of armies, found himself a prisoner of the castellan. The
patriarch's followers at first began to use threats, but being informed
of the pope's directions they were appeased. The castellan comforting
him with kind words, he replied, that "the great do not make each other
prisoners to let them go again; and that those whom it is proper to
take, it is not well to set free." He shortly afterward died in prison.
The pope appointed Lodovico, patriarch of Aquileia, to command his
troops; and, though previously unwilling to interfere in the wars of
the league and the duke, he was now content to take part in them, and
engaged to furnish four thousand horse and two thousand foot for the
defense of Tuscany.

The Florentines, freed from this cause for anxiety, were still
apprehensive of Niccolo, and feared confusion in the affairs of
Lombardy, from the differences of opinion that existed between the count
and the Venetians. In order the better to become acquainted with the
intentions of the parties, they sent Neri di Gini Capponi and Giuliano
Davanzati to Venice, with instructions to assist in the arrangement of
the approaching campaign; and ordered that Neri, having discovered how
the Venetians were disposed, should proceed to the count, learn
his designs, and induce him to adopt the course that would be most
advantageous to the League. The ambassadors had only reached Ferrara,
when they were told that Niccolo Piccinino had crossed the Po with six
thousand horse. This made them travel with increased speed; and, having
arrived at Venice, they found the Signory fully resolved that Brescia
should be relieved without waiti