accompanied by Giulio de' Medici, the bastard son of the murdered
Giuliano. They installed themselves in the restored palace, assumed much
of the wonted state of their family in bygone days, and were accorded
public recognition and honour.

The following year Cardinal Giovanni was elected Pope as Leo X., and, at
the same time, Giuliano was created Duke of Nemours--a dignity bestowed
by Francis I. of France--and Lorenzo became Duke of Urbino. The
conferring of these titles stirred the rancour of a considerable number
of ambitious _Signori_, and intrigue and plots to upset the rising
fortunes of the Medici were rife. The very next day after the death of
Pope Julius II., Bernardo de' Capponi and Pietro Papolo de' Boscoli were
condemned to be hung within the Palace of the Podesta, for an attempt
upon the lives of Giuliano, Lorenzo, and Giulio de' Medici. Eighteen
accomplices were tortured and many others banished: Niccolo Macchiavelli
was implicated in the conspiracy, but he appears to have escaped
punishment.

Quietly but persistently the power of the great family was recovered.
"The Pope and his Medici" became a proverb throughout Italy: all men
noted their rising fortunes and their bids for power. Giulio was
preconised Cardinal, Giuliano appointed _Gonfaloniere_ of the Papal
army, and Lorenzo became the virtual Head of the Florentine Republic.
Giuliano died in 1516, Lorenzo in 1519, and Pope Leo X. in 1521. The
first left no legitimate offspring, and the second only one daughter,
Caterina, besides a natural son, Alessandro.

* * * * *

Upon the death of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici