show his corpse to the people. The last notable example of such
usurpers is the famous Castellan of Musso, who during the confusion in
the Milanese territory which followed the battle of Pavia (1525),
improvised a sovereignty on the Lake of Como.

The Smaller Despotisms

It may be said in general of the despotisms of the fifteenth century
that the greatest crimes are most frequent in the smallest States. In
these, where the family was numerous and all the members wished to live
in a manner befitting their rank, disputes respecting the inheritance
were unavoidable. Bernardo Varano of Camerino put (1434) two of his
brothers to death, wishing to divide their property among his sons.
Where the ruler of a single town was distinguished by a wise, moderate,
and humane government, and by zeal for intellectual culture, he was
generally a member of some great family, or politically [ dependent on
it. This was the case, for example, with Alessandro Sforza, Prince of
Pesaro, brother of the great Francesco, and stepfather of Federigo of
Urbino (d. 1473). Prudent in administration, just and affable in his
rule, he enjoyed, after ; years of warfare, a tranquil reign, collected
a noble library, and passed his leisure in learned or religious
conversation. A man of the same class was Giovanni II Bentivoglio of
Bologna (1463-1508), whose policy was determined by that of the Este
and the Sforza. What ferocity and bloodthirstiness is found, on the
other hand, among the Varani of Camerino, the Malatesta of Rimini, the
Manfreddi of Faenza, and above all among the Baglioni of Perugia. We
find a striking picture of the events in the last-named family towards
the close of the fifteenth century, in the admirable historical
narratives of Graziani and Matarazzo.