they succeeded they were sure to make money. The coffers
of the Church and the republics lay open to their not too scrupulous
hands; the wealth of Milan and Naples was squandered on them in
retaining-fees and salaries for active service. There was always the
further possibility of placing a coronet upon their brows before they
died, if haply they should wrest a town from their employers, or obtain
the cession of a province from a needy Pope. The neighbours of the
Montefeltri in Umbria, Romagna, and the Marches of Ancona were all of
them Condottieri. Malatestas of Rimini and Pesaro, Vitelli of Citta di
Castello, Varani of Camerino, Baglioni of Perugia, to mention only a few
of the most eminent nobles, enrolled themselves under the banners of
plebeian adventurers like Piccinino and Sforza Attendolo. Though their
family connections gave them a certain advantage, the system was
essentially democratic. Gattamelata and Carmagnola sprang from obscurity
by personal address and courage to the command of armies. Colleoni
fought his way up from the grooms to princely station and the _baton_ of
S. Mark. Francesco Sforza, whose father had begun life as a tiller of
the soil, seized the ducal crown of Milan, and founded a house which
ranked among the first in Europe.

It is not needful to follow Duke Frederick in his military career. We
may briefly remark that when he succeeded to Urbino by his brother's
death in 1444, he undertook generalship on a grand scale. His own
dominions supplied him with some of the best troops in Italy. He was
careful to secure the good-will of his subjects by attending personally
to their interests, relieving them of imposts, and executing equal
justice. He gained the then unique reputation of an honest prince,
paternally disposed toward his dependants. Men flocked to his standards
willingly, and he was able to bring an important contingent into any
army. These advantages secured for him alliances with Francesco Sforza,
and brought him successively into connection with Milan, Venice,
Florence, the Church of Naples. As a tactician in the field he held high
rank among the generals of the age, and so considerable were his
engagements that he acquired great wealth in the exercise of his
profession. We find him at one time receiving 8000 ducats a month as
war-pay from Naples, with a peace pension of 6000. While Captain-General
of the League, he drew for his own use in war 45,000 ducats of annual
pay. Retaining-f