first glance he recognised in his nocturnal visitor Giuliano della
Rovere.

Utterly exhausted by the poison, abandoned by his troops, fallen as he
was from the height of his power, Caesar, who could now do nothing for
himself, could yet make a pope: Giuliano delta Rovere had come to buy the
votes of his twelve cardinals.

Caesar imposed his conditions, which were accepted.

If elected, Giuliano delta Ravere was to help Caesar to recover his
territories in Romagna; Caesar was to remain general of the Church; and
Francesco Maria delta Rovere, prefect of Rome, was to marry one of
Caesar's daughters.

On these conditions Caesar sold his twelve cardinals to Giuliano.

The next day, at Giuliano's request, the Sacred College ordered the
Orsini to leave Rome for the whole time occupied by the Conclave.

On the 31st of October 1503, at the first scrutiny, Giuliano delta Rovere
was elected pope, and took the name of Julius II.

He was scarcely installed in the Vatican when he made it his first care
to summon Caesar and give him his former rooms there; then, since the
duke was fully restored to health, he began to busy himself with the
re-establishment of his affairs, which had suffered sadly of late.

The defeat of his army and his own escape to Sant' Angelo, where he was
supposed to be a prisoner, had brought about great changes in Romagna.
Sesena was once more in the power of the Church, as formerly it had been;
Gian Sforza had again entered Pesaro; Ordelafi had seized Forli;
Malatesta was laying claim to Rimini; the inhabitants of Imola had
assassinated their governor, and the town was divided between two
opinions, one that it should be put into the hands of the Riani, the
other, into the hands of the Church; Faenza had remained loyal longer
than any other place; but at last, losing hope of seeing Caesar recover
his power, it had summoned Francesco, a natural son of Galeotto Manfredi,
the last surviving heir of this unhappy family, all whose legitimate
descendants had been massacred by Borgia.

It is true that the fortresses of these different places had taken no
part in these revolutions, and had remained immutably faithful to the
Duke of Valentinois.

So it was not precisely the defection of these towns, which, thanks to
their fortresses, might be reconquered, that was the cause of uneasiness
to Caesar and Julius II, it was the difficult situation that Venice had
thrust upon them. Venice, in the spring of the s