Chapter 54

CHAPTER IV

The duke of Calabria routs the Florentine army at Poggibonzi--
Dismay in Florence on account of the defeat--Progress of the duke
of Calabria--The Florentines wish for peace--Lorenzo de' Medici
determines to go to Naples to treat with the king--Lodovico
Sforza, surnamed the Moor, and his brothers, recalled to Milan--
Changes in the government of that city in consequence--The Genoese
take Serezana--Lorenzo de' Medici arrives at Naples--Peace
concluded with the king--The pope and the Venetians consent to the
peace--The Florentines in fear of the duke of Calabria--
Enterprises of the Turks--They take Otranto--The Florentines
reconciled with the pope--Their ambassadors at the papal court--
The pope's reply to the ambassadors--The king of Naples restores
to the Florentines all the fortresses he had taken.

The army being thus reduced, without a leader, and disorder prevailing
in every department, the duke of Calabria, who was with his forces
near Sienna, resolved to attack them immediately. The Florentines,
finding the enemy at hand, were seized with a sudden panic; neither
their arms, nor their numbers, in which they were superior to their
adversaries, nor their position, which was one of great strength,
could give them confidence; but observing the dust occasioned by the
enemy's approach, without waiting for a sight of them, they fled in
all directions, leaving their ammunition, carriages, and artillery to
be taken by the foe. Such cowardice and disorder prevailed in the
armies of those times, that the turning of a horse's head or tail was
sufficient to decide the fate of an expedition. This defeat loaded the
king's troops with booty, and filled the Florentines with dismay; for
the city, besides the war, was afflicted with pestilence, which
prevailed so extensively, that all who possessed villas fled to them
to escape death. This occasioned the defeat to be attended with
greater horror; for those citizens whose possessions lay in the Val di
Pesa and the Val d'Elsa, having retired to them, hastened to Florence
with all speed as soon as they heard of the disaster, taking with them
not only their children and their property, but even their laborers;
so that it seemed as if the enemy were expected every moment in the
city. Those who were appointed to the management of the war,
perceiving the universal consternation, commanded the victorious
forces in the Perugino to give up their enterprise in that direction,
and march to oppose the enemy in the Val d'Elsa, who, after their
victory, plundered the country without opposition; and although the
Florentine army had so closely pressed the city of Perugia that it was
expected to fall into their hands every instant, the people preferred