a of Naples in France, and having again tried to win her
over in vain, he had to content himself with Charlotte d'Albret, sister
of the king of Navarre (May 1499). Alexander now contemplated sending
Cesare to Romagna to subdue the turbulent local despots, and with the
help of the French king carve a principality for himself out of those
territories owing nominal allegiance to the pope. Cesare made Cesena his
headquarters, and with an army consisting of 300 French lances, 4000
Gascons and Swiss, besides Italian troops, he attacked Imola, which
surrendered at once, and then besieged Forli, held by Caterina Sforza
(q.v.), the widow of Girolamo Riario. She held out gallantly, but was
at last forced to surrender on the 22nd of January 1500; Cesare treated
her with consideration, and she ended her days in a convent. The Sforzas
having expelled the French from Milan, Cesare returned to Rome in
February, his schemes checked for the moment; his father rewarded him
for his successes by making him _gonfaloniere_ of the church and
conferring many honours on him; he remained in Rome and took part in
bull fights and other carnival festivities. In July occurred the murder
of the duke of Bisceglie, Lucrezia Borgia's third husband. He was
attacked by assassins on the steps of St Peter's and badly wounded;
attendants carried him to a cardinal's house, and, fearing poison, he
was nursed only by his wife and Sancha, his sister-in-law. Again Cesare
was suspected as the instigator of the deed, and in fact he almost
admitted it himself. Bisceglie was related to the Neapolitan dynasty,
with whose enemies the pope was allied, and he had had a quarrel with
Cesare. When it appeared that he was recovering from his wounds, Cesare
had him murdered, but not apparently without provocation, for, according
to the Venetian ambassador Cappello, the duke had tried to murder Cesare
first.

In October 1500 Cesare again set out for the Romagna, on the strength of
Venetian friendship, with an army of 10,000 men. Pandolfo Malatesta of
Rimini and Giovanni Sforza of Pesaro fled, and those cities opened their
gates to Cesare. Faenza held out, for the people were devoted to their
lord, Astorre Manfredi, a handsome and virtuous youth of eighteen.
Manfredi surrendered in April 1501, on the promise that his life should
be spared; but Cesare broke his word, and sent him a prisoner to Rome,
where he was afterwards foully outraged and put to death. After taking
Castel Bo