paymaster, the
Sforza formally invested Gian Giacomo de' Medici with the perpetual
governorship of Musso, the Lake of Como, and as much as he could wrest
from the Grisons above the lake. Furnished now with a just title for
his depredations, Il Medeghino undertook the siege of Chiavenna. That
town is the key to the valleys of the Spluegen and Bregaglia. Strongly
fortified and well situated for defence, the burghers of the Grisons
well knew that upon its possession depended their power in the Italian
valleys. To take it by assault was impossible, Il Medeghino used
craft, entered the castle, and soon had the city at his disposition.
Nor did he lose time in sweeping Val Bregaglia. The news of this
conquest recalled the Switzers from the Duchy; and as they hurried
homeward just before the battle of Pavia, it may be affirmed that Gian
Giacomo de' Medici was instrumental in the defeat and capture of the
French King. The mountaineers had no great difficulty in dislodging
their pirate enemy from Chiavenna, the Valtelline, and Val Bregaglia.
But he retained his hold on the Trepievi, occupied the Valsassina,
took Porlezza, and established himself still more strongly in Musso as
the corsair monarch of the lake.

The tyranny of the Sforzas in Milan was fast going to pieces between
France and Spain; and in 1526 the Marquis of Pescara occupied the
capital in the name of Charles V. The Duke, meanwhile, remained a
prisoner in his Castello. Il Medeghino was now without a master; for
he refused to acknowledge the Spaniards, preferring to watch events
and build his own power on the ruins of the dukedom. At the head of
4,000 men, recruited from the lakes and neighbouring valleys, he
swept the country far and wide, and occupied the rich champaign of the
Brianza. He was now lord of the lakes of Como and Lugano, and absolute
in Lecco and the adjoining valleys. The town of Como itself alone
belonged to the Spaniards; and even Como was blockaded by the navy of
the corsair. Il Medeghino had a force of seven big ships, with three
sails and forty-eight oars, bristling with guns and carrying marines.
His flagship was a large brigantine, manned by picked rowers, from
the mast of which floated the red banner with the golden palle of the
Medicean arms. Besides these larger vessels, he commanded a flotilla
of countless small boats. It is clear that to reckon with him was a
necessity. If he could not be put down with force, he might be bought
over by c