me from Venice,
whence the Florentine exiles, under the command of Filippo negli
Strozzi's two sons, Piero and Roberto, who had married Lorenzino's
sisters, Laudomia and Maddalena, raised, with the assistance of the King
of France, a strong force, and invaded Tuscany.

It needed not the persuasion of Madonna Maria to urge Cosimo to action,
although her active representations to the Emperor--which obtained the
Imperial sanction and promise of co-operation--were important factors in
his resolution. Cosimo gathered together what men he could rely upon in
Florence, and when once his battle-banner was unfurled with the black
pennon of his redoubtable father, numbers of old campaigners hastened to
his support.

On 31st July, 1537, the opposing forces met in the valley of Montemurlo.
Cosimo displayed much of the daring and ability of his father, and
victory was never in doubt. The Strozzi and Baccio Valori were taken
prisoners to Florence, bound upon broken-down farm-horses, and their
forces were dispersed. It was reported that in the heat of the battle
Otto da Montanto, an Imperial officer, riding past Cosimo, lowered the
point of his sword as he shouted, "Forward, Signore, to-day the fortunes
of the Emperor and of Cosimo de' Medici will prevail!"

Cosimo wore no velvet gloves in dealing with his enemies, secret and
pronounced. Arrest, confiscation, torture, banishment, and execution
thinned once more the ranks of the noblest families of Tuscany. Filippo
negli Strozzi, who was regarded as the leader of the anti-Cosimo party,
was taken prisoner and cast into the fortress of San Giovanni.
Apparently his aim was not a restoration of a Papal nominee to the
Headship of the State, but his own advancement to that position. He was
put on the rack, and eventually done to death by Cosimo's orders.

The years 1538, 1539 and 1540, are deeply dyed with the blood of
victims. Florentine vengeance again proved itself satisfied only with
wholesale annihilation. It has been computed that in the latter year
alone, nearly five hundred men and women, chiefly of good family and
high distinction, came by violent deaths. Of these, one hundred and
forty-six were decapitated by Cosimo's express orders!

Perhaps "The Terror" was inevitable, but it revealed in a lurid light
the revengeful and implacable temper of the young ruler. If he had
inherited, through many generations, the craft and pushfulness of the
Medicis, he had also become possessed of