uke of Calabria, who was with his forces near
Sienna, resolved to attack them immediately. The Florentines, finding
the enemy at hand, were seized with a sudden panic; neither their arms,
nor their numbers, in which they were superior to their adversaries,
nor their position, which was one of great strength, could give them
confidence; but observing the dust occasioned by the enemy's approach,
without waiting for a sight of them, they fled in all directions,
leaving their ammunition, carriages, and artillery to be taken by the
foe. Such cowardice and disorder prevailed in the armies of those times,
that the turning of a horse's head or tail was sufficient to decide the
fate of an expedition. This defeat loaded the king's troops with booty,
and filled the Florentines with dismay; for the city, besides the war,
was afflicted with pestilence, which prevailed so extensively, that all
who possessed villas fled to them to escape death. This occasioned the
defeat to be attended with greater horror; for those citizens whose
possessions lay in the Val di Pesa and the Val d'Elsa, having retired to
them, hastened to Florence with all speed as soon as they heard of the
disaster, taking with them not only their children and their property,
but even their laborers; so that it seemed as if the enemy were expected
every moment in the city. Those who were appointed to the management
of the war, perceiving the universal consternation, commanded the
victorious forces in the Perugino to give up their enterprise in that
direction, and march to oppose the enemy in the Val d'Elsa, who, after
their victory, plundered the country without opposition; and although
the Florentine army had so closely pressed the city of Perugia that
it was expected to fall into their hands every instant, the people
preferred defending their own possessions to endeavoring to seize those
of others. The troops, thus withdrawn from the pursuit of their good
fortune, were marched to San Casciano, a castle within eight miles of
Florence; the leaders thinking they could take up no other position till
the relics of the routed army were assembled. On the other hand, the
enemy being under no further restraint at Perugia, and emboldened by
the departure of the Florentines, plundered to a large amount in the
districts of Arezzo and Cortona; while those who under Alfonso, duke
of Calabria, had been victorious near Poggibonzi, took the town itself;
sacked Vico and Certaldo, and af