us an opportunity for
quarrelling for the Corsicans to neglect; and the Corsican bishops and
clergy were more ready with the carnal than with spiritual weapons. The
suffragans of Genoa fought for Benedict XIII., those of Pisa for John
XXIII.; and when Vincentello returned with an Aragonese force he was
able to fish profitably in troubled waters. He easily captured Cinarca
and Ajaccio, came to terms with the Pisan bishops, mastered the Terra di
Comune and built a strong castle at Corte; by 1419 the Genoese
possessions in Corsica were again reduced to Calvi and Bonifacio.

Aragonese intervention.

At this juncture Alphonso of Aragon arrived, with a large fleet, to take
possession of the island. Calvi fell to him; but Bonifacio held out, and
its resistance gave time for the Corsicans, aroused by the tyranny and
exactions of the Aragonese, to organize revolt. In the end the siege of
Bonifacio was raised, and the town, confirmed in its privileges, became
practically an independent republic under Genoese protection. As for
Vincentello he managed to hold his own for a while; but ultimately the
country rose against him, and in 1435 he was executed as a rebel by the
Genoese, who had captured him by surprise in the port of Bastia.

The anarchy continued, while rival factions, nominal adherents of the
Aragonese and Genoese, contended for the mastery. Profiting by the
disturbed situation, the Genoese doge, Janus da Fregoso, succeeded in
reducing the island, his artillery securing him an easy victory over the
forces of Count Paolo della Rocca (1441). To secure his authority he
built and fortified the new city of San Fiorenzo, near the ruins of
Nebbio. But again the Aragonese intervened, and the anarchy reached its
height. An appeal to Pope Eugenius IV. resulted in the despatch of a
pontifical army of 14,000 men (1444), which was destroyed in detail by a
league of some of the _caporali_ and most of the barons under the bold
leadership of Rinuccio da Leca. A second expedition was more fortunate,
and Rinuccio was killed before Biguglia. In 1447 Eugenius was succeeded
on the papal throne by Nicholas V., a Genoese, who promptly made over
his rights in Corsica, with all the strong places held by his troops, to
Genoa. The island was now, in effect, divided between the Genoese
republic; the lords of Cinarca, who held their lands in the south under
the nominal suzerainty of Aragon; and Galeazzo da Campo Fregoso, who was
supreme in the