velvet and a mantle of gold brocade, bestrode a tall and very beautiful
charger, and entered the city riding with his lance levelled--a martial
attitude then considered as a sign of conquest. All this rendered the
meanness of his person the more grotesquely conspicuous. By his side rode
the haughty Cardinal of St. Piero in Vincoli, the Cardinal of St. Malo,
and a few marshals. At their heels came the royal bodyguard of one
hundred bowmen, composed of the finest young men in France, and then
two hundred French knights marching on foot with splendid dresses and
equipment. These were followed by the Swiss vanguard, resplendent and
party-colored, bearing halberds of burnished steel, and with rich waving
plumes on their officers' helmets. The faces of these men expressed the
mountaineer spirit of daring, and the proud consciousness of being the
first infantry in Europe; while the greater part of them had scornfully
thrown aside the cuirass, preferring to fight with their chests bared.

The centre consisted of Gascon infantry, small, light, agile men, whose
numbers seemed to multiply as the army advanced. But the grandest sight
was the cavalry, comprising the flower of the French aristocracy, and
displaying finely wrought weapons, mantles of gorgeous brocade, velvet
banners embroidered with gold, chains of gold, and other precious
ornaments. The cuirassiers had a terrible aspect, for their horses seemed
like monsters with their cropped tails and ears. The archers were men of
extraordinary height, armed with very long wooden bows; they came
from Scotland and other northern countries, and, in the words of a
contemporary historian, "seemed to be beast-like men" _("parevano uomini
bestiali")_.

This well-ordered and disciplined army, composed of so many different
nationalities, with such varied attire and strange weapons, was as new
and amazing a sight to Florence as to almost all Italy, where no standing
armies were as yet in existence, and mercenaries the only soldiery known.
It is impossible to give the number of the forces accompanying the King
to Florence, for his artillery were marching toward Rome by another
route; he had left garrisons in many strongholds, and sent on another
body of men by Romagna. Gaddi, who witnessed the entrance of the French,
says that their numbers amounted to twelve thousand; Rinuccini, who was
also present, estimated them at a lower figure; others at a higher. In
any case the city and suburbs we