was a mere arsenal and fortress; the mother and daughters were as
warlike as their kinsmen. In his thirtieth year Jacopo ran away and
fled to Panicale to the Papal Condottiere Boldrino -- the man who even
in death continued to lead his troops, the word of order being given
from the bannered tent in which the embalmed body lay, till at last a
fit leader was found to succeed him. Jacopo, when he had at length made
himself a name in the service of different Condottieri, sent for his
relations, and obtained through them the same advantages that a prince
derives from a numerous dynasty. It was these relations who kept the
army together when he lay a captive in the Castel dell'Uovo at Naples;
his sister took the royal envoys prisoners with her own hands, and
saved him by this reprisal from death. It was an indication of the
breadth and the range of his plans that in monetary affairs Jacopo was
thoroughly trustworthy: even in his defeats he consequently found
credit with the bankers. He habitually protected the peasants against
the license of his troops, and reluctantly destroyed or injured a
conquered city. He gave his well-known mistress, Lucia, the mother of
Francesco, in marriage to another, in order to be free for a princely
alliance. Even the marriages of his relations were arranged on a
definite plan. He kept clear of the impious and profligate life of his
contemporaries, and brought up his son Francesco to the three rules:
'Let other men's wives alone; strike none of your followers, or, if you
do, send the injured man far away; don't ride a hard-mouthed horse, or
one that drops his shoe.' But his chief source of influence lay in the
qualities, if not of a great general, at least of a great soldier. His
frame was powerful, and developed by every kind of exercise; his
peasant's face and frank manners won general popularity; his memory was
marvelous, and after the lapse of years could recall the names of his
followers, the number of their horses, and the amount of their pay. His
education was purely Italian: he devoted his leisure to the study of