d espoused his cause. Upon the establishment of peace,
the Orsini demanded its restoration by virtue of the treaty. The pope
had frequently intimated to the Colonnesi that it ought to be restored;
but they, instead of complying with the entreaties of the Orsini, or
being influenced by the pope's threats, renewed hostilities against the
former. Upon this the pontiff, unable to endure their insolence, united
his own forces with those of the Orsini, plundered the houses they
possessed in Rome, slew or made prisoners all who defended them, and
seized most of their fortresses. So that when these troubles were
composed, it was rather by the complete subjugation of one party than
from any desire for peace in the other.

Nor were the affairs of Genoa or of Tuscany in repose, for the
Florentines kept the Count Antonio da Marciano on the borders of
Serezana; and while the war continued in Lombardy, annoyed the people
of Serezana by inroads and light skirmishes. Battistino Fregoso, doge of
Genoa, trusting to Pagolo Fregoso, the archbishop, was taken prisoner,
with his wife and children, by the latter, who assumed the sovereignty
of the city. The Venetian fleet had attacked the kingdom of Naples,
taken Gallipoli, and harassed the neighboring places. But upon the peace
of Lombardy, all tumults were hushed except those of Tuscany and Rome;
for the pope died in five days after its declaration, either in the
natural course of things, or because his grief for peace, to which he
was always opposed, occasioned his end.

Upon the decease of the pontiff, Rome was immediately in arms. The Count
Girolamo withdrew his forces into the castle; and the Orsini feared the
Colonnesi would avenge the injuries they had recently sustained. The
Colonnesi demanded the restitution of their houses and castles, so that
in a few days robberies, fires, and murders prevailed in several parts
of the city. The cardinals entreated the count to give the castle into
the hands of the college, withdraw his troops, and deliver Rome from
the fear of his forces, and he, by way of ingratiating himself with the
future pontiff obeyed, and retired to Imola. The cardinals, being thus
divested of their fears, and the barons hopeless of assistance in their
quarrels, proceeded to create a new pontiff, and after some discussion,
Giovanni Batista Cibo, a Genoese, cardinal of Malfetta, was elected, and
took the name of Innocent VIII. By the mildness of his disposition (for
he was