s knees, breeches of the same, and a pair of clumsy
shoes. Lastly, the guards took him, and led him into one of the deepest
dungeons of the castle of Sant' Angelo, where for furniture he found
nothing but a wooden crucifix, a table, a chair, and a bed; for
occupation, a Bible and a breviary, with a lamp to read by; for
nourishment, two pounds of bread and a little cask of water, which were
to be renewed every three days, together with a bottle of oil for burning
in his lamp.

At the end of a year the poor archbishop died of despair, not before he
had gnawed his own arms in his agony.

The very same day that he was taken into the dungeon, Caesar Borgia, who
had managed the affair so ably, was presented by the pope with all the
belongings of the condemned prisoner.

But the hunting parties, balls, and masquerades were not the only
pleasures enjoyed by the pope and his family: from time to time strange
spectacles were exhibited. We will only describe two--one of them a case
of punishment, the other no more nor less than a matter of the stud farm.
But as both of these give details with which we would not have our
readers credit our imagination, we will first say that they are literally
translated from Burchard's Latin journal.

"About the same time--that is, about the beginning of 1499--a certain
courtesan named La Corsetta was in prison, and had a lover who came to
visit her in woman's clothes, a Spanish Moor, called from his disguise
'the Spanish lady from Barbary!' As a punishment, both of them were led
through the town, the woman without petticoat or skirt, but wearing only
the Moor's dress unbuttoned in front; the man wore his woman's garb; his
hands were tied behind his back, and the skirt fastened up to his middle,
with a view to complete exposure before the eyes of all. When in this
attire they had made the circuit of the town, the Corsetta was sent back
to the prison with the Moor. But on the 7th of April following, the Moor
was again taken out and escorted in the company of two thieves towards
the Campo dei Fiori. The three condemned men were preceded by a
constable, who rode backwards on an ass, and held in his hand a long
pole, on the end of which were hung, still bleeding, the amputated limbs
of a poor Jew who had suffered torture and death for some trifling crime.
When the procession reached the place of execution, the thieves were
hanged, and the unfortunate Moor was tied to a stake piled round with
w