being close to the door of the
apartments in which the assassins were concealed, Bartolommeo gave them
the signal, upon which they rushed out, and finding Baldaccio alone and
unarmed, they slew him, and threw the body out of the window which looks
from the palace toward the dogano, or customhouse. It was thence carried
into the piazza, where the head being severed, it remained the whole day
exposed to the gaze of the people. Baldaccio was married, and had only
one child, a boy, who survived him but a short time; and his wife,
Annalena, thus deprived of both husband and offspring, rejected every
proposal for a second union. She converted her house into a monastery,
to which she withdrew, and, being joined by many noble ladies, lived
in holy seclusion to the end of her days. The convent she founded, and
which is named from her, preserves her story in perpetual remembrance.

This circumstance served to weaken Neri's power, and made him lose both
influence and friends. Nor did this satisfy the citizens who held the
reins of government; for it being ten years since their acquisition of
power, and the authority of the Balia expired, many began to exhibit
more boldness, both in words and deeds, than seemed consistent with
their safety; and the leaders of the party judged, that if they wished
to preserve their influence, some means must be adopted to increase it.
To this end, in 1444 the councils created a new Balia, which reformed
the government, gave authority to a limited number to create the
Signory, re-established the Chancery of Reformations, depriving Filippo
Peruzzi of his office of president in it, and appointing another wholly
under their influence. They prolonged the term of exile to those who
were banished; put Giovanni di Simone Vespucci in prison; deprived the
Accoppiatori of their enemies of the honors of government, and with
them the sons of Piero Baroncelli, the whole of the Seragli, Bartolommeo
Fortini, Francesco Castellani, and many others. By these means they
strengthened their authority and influence, and humbled their enemies,
or those whom they suspected of being so.

Having thus recovered and confirmed their government, they then
turned their attention to external affairs. As observed above, Niccolo
Piccinino was abandoned by King Alfonso, and the count having been
aggrandized by the assistance of the Florentines, attacked and routed
him near Fermo, where, after losing nearly the whole of his troops,
N