r
dependents, had acquired to their own dishonor with peril and expense
what in a few days upon their death returned to the old and rightful
owners?' The conduct of Leo with regard to Lucca, his policy in
Florence, and the splendor maintained by his brother at Rome, did in
fact rouse the jealousy of the Italian powers both great and small.[2]
'King Ferdinand remarked: If Giuliano has left Florence, he must be
aiming at something better, which can be nothing but the realm of
Naples. The Dukes of Milan, Ferrara, and Urbino said the same. The
Sienese thought: If the pope allows the Florentines to attack Lucca,
which is so strong, well furnished, and harmonious, far more will he
consent to their encroaching upon us, who are weak, ill-provided, and at
odds among ourselves. The Duke of Ferrara had further reasons for
discontent in respect to Modena and Reggio.' Altogether, Leo began to
lose credit. Secret alliances were formed against him by the della
Rovere, the Baglioni, and the Petrucci; and though he took care to
attend public services and to fast more than etiquette required, nobody
believed in him. Vettori's comment reads like an echo of Machiavelli and
Guicciardini.[3] 'Assuredly it is most difficult to combine temporal
lordship with a reputation for religion: for they are two things which
will not harmonize. He who well considers the law of the Gospel will
observe that the pontiffs, though called Christ's Vicars, have
originated a new religion unlike that of Christ except in name. His
enjoins poverty; they desire riches. He preached humility; they follow
after pride. He commanded obedience; they aim at universal sovereignty.
I could enlarge upon their other vices; but it is enough to allude to
these, without entering into inconvenient discourses.' While treating of
the affairs of Urbino,[4] however, Vettori remarks that Leo could not
have done otherwise than punish Francesco Maria della Rovere, if he
wished to maintain the Papacy at the height of reputation to which it
had been raised by his predecessors.

[1] P. 301.

[2] P. 303.

[3] P. 304.

[4] P. 319.

In his general estimate of Leo, Vettori confirms all that we know about
this Pope from other sources. He insists more perhaps than other
historians upon the able diplomacy by which Lodovico Canossa, Bishop of
Tricarico, made terms with Francis after Marignano,[1] and traces Leo's
fatal alliance with Charles V. in 1520 to the influence of Jero