blessings of his mother instead of the curses she had
given him before.'

[6] See Matarazzo, p. 134, for this detail.

After the death of Grifonetto, and the flight of the conspirators,
Gianpaolo took possession of Perugia. All who were suspected of
complicity in the treason were massacred upon the piazza and in the
Cathedral. At the expense of more than a hundred murders, the chief
of the Baglioni found himself master of the city on the 17th of
July. First he caused the Cathedral to be washed with wine and
reconsecrated. Then he decorated the Palazzo with the heads of the
traitors and with their portraits in fresco, painted hanging head
downwards, as was the fashion in Italy.[1] Next he established
himself in what remained of the palaces of his kindred, hanging the
saloons with black, and arraying his retainers in the deepest
mourning. Sad indeed was now the aspect of Perugia. Helpless and
comparatively uninterested, the citizens had been spectators of
these bloody broils. They were now bound to share the desolation of
their masters. Matarazzo's description of the mournful palace and
the silent town, and of the return of Marcantonio from Naples,
presents a picture striking for its vividness.[2] In the true style
of the Baglioni, Marcantonio sought to vent his sorrow not so much
in tears as by new violence. He prepared and lighted torches,
meaning to burn the whole quarter of Sant' Angelo; and from this
design he was with difficulty dissuaded by his brother. To such mad
freaks of rage and passion were the inhabitants of a mediaeval town
in Italy exposed! They make us understand the _ordinanze di
giustizia_, by which to be a noble was a crime in Florence.

[1] See Varchi (ed. Lemonnier, 1857), vol. ii. p. 265,
vol. iii. pp. 224, 652, and Corio (Venice, 1554), p. 326,
for instances of _dipinti per traditori_.

[2] P. 142. 'Pareva ogni cosa oscura e lacrimosa: tutte
loro servitore piangevano; et le camere de lo resto de li
magnifici Baglioni, e sale, e ognie cosa erano tutte
intorno cum pagnie negre. E per la citta non era piu
alcuno che sonasse ne cantasse; e poco si rideva,' &c.

From this time forward the whole history of the Baglioni family is
one of crime and bloodshed. A curse had fallen on the house, and to
the last of its members the penalty was paid. Gianpaolo himself
acquired the highest reputation throughout Italy for his courage and
sagacity both as a general a