kingdom and a large army, under the command of the principal leaders of
Italy, among the first of whom was Sforza of Cotignuola, reputed by the
soldiery of that period to be a very valiant man. The queen, to shun the
disgrace of having kept about her person a certain Pandolfello, whom she
had brought up, took for her husband Giacopo della Marca, a Frenchman of
the royal line, on the condition that he should be content to be called
Prince of Tarento, and leave to her the title and government of the
kingdom. But the soldiery, upon his arrival in Naples, proclaimed him
king; so that between the husband and the wife wars ensued; and although
they contended with varying success, the queen at length obtained the
superiority, and became an enemy of the pope. Upon this, in order
to reduce her to necessity, and that she might be compelled to throw
herself into his lap, Sforza suddenly withdrew from her service without
giving her any pervious notice of his intention to do so. She thus found
herself at once unarmed, and not having any other source, sought the
assistance of Alfonzo, king of Aragon and Sicily, adopted him as her
son, and engaged Braccio of Montone as her captain, who was of equal
reputation in arms with Sforza, and inimical to the pope, on account of
his having taken possession of Perugia and some other places belonging
to the church. After this, peace was made between the queen and the
pontiff; but King Alfonzo, expecting she would treat him as she had her
husband, endeavored secretly to make himself master of the strongholds;
but, possessing acute observation, she was beforehand with him, and
fortified herself in the castle of Naples. Suspicions increasing between
them, they had recourse to arms, and the queen, with the assistance
of Sforza, who again resumed her service, drove Alfonzo out of Naples,
deprived him of his succession, and adopted Louis of Anjou in his stead.
Hence arose new contests between Braccio, who took the part of Alfonzo,
and Sforza, who defended the cause of the queen. In the course of the
war, Sforza was drowned in endeavoring to pass the river Pescara; the
queen was thus again unarmed, and would have been driven out of the
kingdom, but for the assistance of Filippo Visconti, the duke of Milan,
who compelled Alfonzo to return to Aragon. Braccio, undaunted at the
departure of Alfonzo, continued the enterprise against the queen, and
besieged L'Aquilla; but the pope, thinking the greatness of Brac