e same time, Giuliano was created Duke of Nemours--a dignity bestowed
by Francis I. of France--and Lorenzo became Duke of Urbino. The
conferring of these titles stirred the rancour of a considerable number
of ambitious _Signori_, and intrigue and plots to upset the rising
fortunes of the Medici were rife. The very next day after the death of
Pope Julius II., Bernardo de' Capponi and Pietro Papolo de' Boscoli were
condemned to be hung within the Palace of the Podesta, for an attempt
upon the lives of Giuliano, Lorenzo, and Giulio de' Medici. Eighteen
accomplices were tortured and many others banished: Niccolo Macchiavelli
was implicated in the conspiracy, but he appears to have escaped
punishment.

Quietly but persistently the power of the great family was recovered.
"The Pope and his Medici" became a proverb throughout Italy: all men
noted their rising fortunes and their bids for power. Giulio was
preconised Cardinal, Giuliano appointed _Gonfaloniere_ of the Papal
army, and Lorenzo became the virtual Head of the Florentine Republic.
Giuliano died in 1516, Lorenzo in 1519, and Pope Leo X. in 1521. The
first left no legitimate offspring, and the second only one daughter,
Caterina, besides a natural son, Alessandro.

* * * * *

Upon the death of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, Cardinal Giulio de' Medici
hastened to Florence, where he was permitted to assume almost autocratic
control of State affairs. Possibly he was regarded in the light of
Regent for Lorenzo's only legitimate child, Caterina. He had undoubtedly
personal fitness for the post of Chief of the Republic. During the
brief period, barely five months, of his administration, he did very
much to place public interests upon a firm and practical basis.

Very adroitly he played off the "_Ottimati_," under Pietro de' Ridolfi,
against the "_Frateschi_," led by Giacopo de' Salviati, without
identifying himself with either party. Recalled to Rome on the death of
Leo X., he left Cardinal Silvio Passerini of Cortona his deputy: a man
useful as a tool but of no ability or judgment. Adrian VI., who
succeeded to the Papacy, was a weak pontiff, and Rome became a hot-bed
of intrigue and villainy.

A plot to assassinate Cardinal de' Medici failed, and, in 1523, he was,
after many weeks of wrangling, elected Pope, with the title of Clement
VII. In the Vatican, that "refuge for bastards and foundlings," room was
found for two boys, cousins, each the off