s given, and without being observed
Uguccione approached the gate of San Piero and set fire to the
portcullis. Castruccio raised a great uproar within the city, calling
the people to arms and forcing open the gate from his side. Uguccione
entered with his men, poured through the town, and killed Messer Giorgio
with all his family and many of his friends and supporters. The governor
was driven out, and the government reformed according to the wishes of
Uguccione, to the detriment of the city, because it was found that more
than one hundred families were exiled at that time. Of those who
fled, part went to Florence and part to Pistoia, which city was the
headquarters of the Guelph party, and for this reason it became most
hostile to Uguccione and the Lucchese.

As it now appeared to the Florentines and others of the Guelph party
that the Ghibellines absorbed too much power in Tuscany, they determined
to restore the exiled Guelphs to Lucca. They assembled a large army in
the Val di Nievole, and seized Montecatini; from thence they marched to
Montecarlo, in order to secure the free passage into Lucca. Upon this
Uguccione assembled his Pisan and Lucchese forces, and with a number
of German cavalry which he drew out of Lombardy, he moved against
the quarters of the Florentines, who upon the appearance of the enemy
withdrew from Montecarlo, and posted themselves between Montecatini and
Pescia. Uguccione now took up a position near to Montecarlo, and within
about two miles of the enemy, and slight skirmishes between the horse
of both parties were of daily occurrence. Owing to the illness of
Uguccione, the Pisans and Lucchese delayed coming to battle with the
enemy. Uguccione, finding himself growing worse, went to Montecarlo to
be cured, and left the command of the army in the hands of Castruccio.
This change brought about the ruin of the Guelphs, who, thinking
that the hostile army having lost its captain had lost its head, grew
over-confident. Castruccio observed this, and allowed some days to pass
in order to encourage this belief; he also showed signs of fear, and
did not allow any of the munitions of the camp to be used. On the other
side, the Guelphs grew more insolent the more they saw these evidences
of fear, and every day they drew out in the order of battle in front
of the army of Castruccio. Presently, deeming that the enemy was
sufficiently emboldened, and having mastered their tactics, he decided
to join battle wit