fter many delays, they
complied; for having made a truce with the Turks, they had no excuse
to justify a refusal, and could not break through the obligation of the
League without the utmost disgrace. The counts, Carlo and Deifobo, came
with a good force, and being joined by all that could be spared from
the army, which, under the marquis of Ferrara, held in check the duke
of Calabria, proceeded toward Pisa, to meet Signor Roberto, who was with
his troops near the river Serchio, and who, though he had expressed his
intention of awaiting their arrival, withdrew to the camp at Lunigiana,
which he had quitted upon coming into the Pisan territory, while Count
Carlo recovered all the places that had been taken by the enemy in that
district.

The Florentines, being thus relieved from the attack in the direction of
Pisa, assembled the whole force between Colle and Santo Geminiano. But
the army, on the arrival of Count Carlo, being composed of Sforzeschi
and Bracceschi, their hereditary feuds soon broke forth, and it was
thought that if they remained long in company, they would turn their
arms against each other. It was therefore determined, as the smaller
evil, to divide them; to send one party, under Count Carlo, into the
district of Perugia, and establish the other at Poggibonzi, where
they formed a strong encampment in order to prevent the enemy from
penetrating the Florentine territory. By this they also hoped to compel
the enemy to divide their forces; for Count Carlo was understood to have
many partisans in Perugia, and it was therefore expected, either that
he would occupy the place, or that the pope would be compelled to send
a large body of men for its defense. To reduce the pontiff to greater
necessity, they ordered Niccolo Vitelli, who had been expelled from
Citta di Castello, where his enemy Lorenzo Vitelli commanded, to lead a
force against that place, with the view of driving out his adversary
and withdrawing it from obedience to the pope. At the beginning of the
campaign, fortune seemed to favor the Florentines; for Count Carlo made
rapid advances in the Perugino, and Niccolo Vitelli, though unable to
enter Castello, was superior in the field, and plundered the surrounding
country without opposition. The forces also, at Poggibonzi, constantly
overran the country up to the walls of Sienna. These hopes, however,
were not realized; for in the first place, Count Carlo died, while in
the fullest tide of success; thoug