ed, and for disobedience, declared
a rebel; nor did two hours pass over between the accusation and the
sentence. The judgment being given, the Signory, with the companies of
the people under their ensigns, went in search of him, who, although
seeing himself abandoned by many of his followers, aware of the sentence
against him, the power of the Signory, and the multitude of his enemies,
remained undaunted, and fortified his houses, in the hope of defending
them till Uguccione, for whom he had sent, should come to his Relief.
His residences, and the streets approaching them, were barricaded and
taken possession of by his partisans, who defended them so bravely that
the enemy, although in great numbers, could not force them, and the
battle became one of the hottest, with wounds and death on all sides.
But the people, finding they could not drive them from their ground,
took possession of the adjoining houses, and by unobserved passages
obtained entry. Corso, thus finding himself surrounded by his foes, no
longer retaining any hope of assistance from Uguccione, and without a
chance of victory, thought only of effecting his personal safety, and
with Gherardo Bordoni, and some of his bravest and most trusted friends,
fought a passage through the thickest of their enemies, and effected
their escape from the city by the Gate of the Cross. They were, however,
pursued by vast numbers, and Gherardo was slain upon the bridge of
Affrico by Boccaccio Cavicciulli. Corso was overtaken and made
prisoner by a party of Catalan horse, in the service of the Signory, at
Rovezzano. But when approaching Florence, that he might avoid being seen
and torn to pieces by his victorious enemies, he allowed himself to fall
from horseback, and being down, one of those who conducted him cut his
throat. The body was found by the monks of San Salvi, and buried without
any ceremony due to his rank. Such was the end of Corso, to whom his
country and the Neri faction were indebted for much both of good and
evil; and if he had possessed a cooler spirit he would have left behind
him a more happy memory. Nevertheless, he deserves to be enumerated
among the most distinguished men our city has produced. True it is, that
his restless conduct made both his country and his party forgetful of
their obligation to him. The same cause also produced his miserable
end, and brought many troubles upon both his friends and his country.
Uguccione, coming to the assistance of hi