n on the northern frontier of the kingdom. On the
first of September, 1556, Alva, attended by a gallant band of cavaliers,
left the capital, and on the fourth arrived at the place appointed. The
following day he crossed the borders at the head of his troops, and
marched on Pontecorvo. He met with no resistance from the inhabitants,
who at once threw open their gates to him. Several other places followed
the example of Pontecorvo; and Alva, taking possession of them, caused a
scutcheon displaying the arms of the sacred college to be hung up in the
principal church of each town, with a placard announcing that he held it
only for the college, until the election of a new pontiff. By this act
he proclaimed to the Christian world that the object of the war, as far
as Spain was concerned, was not conquest, but defence. Some historians
find in it a deeper policy,--that of exciting feelings of distrust
between the pope and the cardinals.[146]

Anagni, a place of some strength, refused the duke's summons to
surrender. He was detained three days before his guns had opened a
practicable breach in the walls. He then ordered an assault. The town
was stormed and delivered up to sack,--by which phrase is to be
understood the perpetration of all those outrages which the ruthless
code of war allowed, in that age, on the persons and property of the
defenceless inhabitants, without regard to sex or age.[147]

One or two other places which made resistance shared the fate of Anagni;
and the duke of Alva, having garrisoned his new conquests with such
forces as he could spare, led his victorious legions against Tivoli,--a
town strongly situated on elevated ground, commanding the eastern
approaches to the capital. The place surrendered without attempting a
defence; and Alva, willing to give his men some repose, made Tivoli his
head-quarters; while his army spread over the suburbs and adjacent
country, which afforded good forage for his cavalry.

The rapid succession of these events, the fall of town after town, and,
above all, the dismal fate of Anagni, filled the people of Rome with
terror. The women began to hurry out of the city; many of the men would
have followed but for the interference of Cardinal Caraffa. The panic
was as great as if the enemy had been already at the gates of the
capital. Amidst this general consternation, Paul seemed to be almost the
only person who retained his self-possession. Navagero, the Venetian
minister, was p