No wonder then if we find them full of contempt for all
sacred things, cruel and treacher- ous to their fellows men who cared
nothing whether or no they died under the ban of the Church. At the
same time, and through the force of the same conditions, the genius and
capacity of many among them attained the highest conceivable
development, and won for them the admiring devotion of their followers;
their armies are the first in modern history in which the personal
credit of the leader is the one moving power. A brilliant example is
shown in the life of Francesco Sforza; no prejudice of birth could
prevent him from winning and turning to account when he needed it a
boundless devotion from each individual with whom he had to deal; it
happened more than once that his enemies laid down their arms at the
sight of him, greeting him reverently with uncovered heads, each
honoring in him 'the common father of the men-at-arms.' The race of the
Sforza has this special interest that from the very beginning of its
history we seem able to trace its endeavors after the crown. The
foundation of its fortune lay in the remarkable fruitfulness of the
family; Francesco's father, Jacopo, himself a celebrated man, had
twenty brothers and sisters, all brought up roughly at Cotignola, near
Faenza, amid the perils of one of the endless Romagnole 'vendette'
between their own house and that of the Pasolini.
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