life than they could have gained within the narrow
circuit of their little states.

[1] Vol. v. p. 207.

[2] This is the commonly received legend. Corio, p. 255, does not
draw attention to the lowness of Sforza's origin, but says that he
was only twelve years of age when he enlisted in the corps of
Boldrino da Panigale, condottiere of the Church. His robust physical
qualities were hereditary for many generations in his family. His
son Francesco was tall and well made, the best runner, jumper, and
wrestler of his day. He marched, summer and winter, bareheaded;
needed but little sleep; was spare in diet, and self-indulgent only
in the matter of women. Galeazzo Maria, though stained by despicable
vices was a powerful prince, who ruled his duchy with a strong arm.
Of his illegitimate daughter, Caterina, the wife of Girolamo Riario,
a story is told, which illustrates the strong coarse vein that still
distinguished this brood of princes. [See Dennistoun, 'Dukes of
Urbino,' vol. i. p. 292, for Boccalini's account of the Siege of
Forli, sustained by Caterina in 1488. Compare Sismondi, vol. vii. p.
251.] Caterina Riario Sforza, as a woman, was no unworthy inheritor
of her grandfather's personal heroism and genius for government.

[3] I shall have to notice the evils of this system in another
place, while reviewing the _Principe_ of Machiavelli. In that
treatise the Florentine historian traces the whole ruin of Italy
during the sixteenth century to the employment of mercenaries.

The biography of one of these Condottieri deserves special notice, since
it illustrates the vicissitudes of fortune to which such men were
exposed, as well as their relations to their patrons. Francesco
Carmagnuola was a Piedmontese. He first rose into notice at the battle
of Monza in 1412, when Filippo Maria Visconti observed his capacity and
bravery, and afterwards advanced him to the captaincy of a troop. Having
helped to reduce the Visconti duchy to order, Carmagnuola found himself
disgraced and suspected without good reason by the Duke of Milan; and in
1426 he took the pay of the Venetians against his old master. During the
next year he showed the eminence of his abilities as a general; for he
defeated the combined forces of Piccinino, Sforza, and other captains of
the Visconti, and took them prisoners at Macalo. Carmagnuola neither
imprisoned nor murdered hi