The Venetians,
fearing that worse would follow, and urged also by the Pope, ordered
Pandolfo, 'with the kindest intentions,' to take an opportunity of
arresting his good friend: the arrest was made, though 'with great
regret,' whereupon the order came to bring the prisoner to the gallows.
Pandolfo was considerate enough to strangle him in prison, and then
show his corpse to the people. The last notable example of such
usurpers is the famous Castellan of Musso, who during the confusion in
the Milanese territory which followed the battle of Pavia (1525),
improvised a sovereignty on the Lake of Como.
The Smaller Despotisms
It may be said in general of the despotisms of the fifteenth century
that the greatest crimes are most frequent in the smallest States. In
these, where the family was numerous and all the members wished to live
in a manner befitting their rank, disputes respecting the inheritance
were unavoidable. Bernardo Varano of Camerino put (1434) two of his
brothers to death, wishing to divide their property among his sons.
Where the ruler of a single town was distinguished by a wise, moderate,
and humane government, and by zeal for intellectual culture, he was
generally a member of some great family, or politically [ dependent on
it. This was the case, for example, with Alessandro Sforza, Prince of
Pesaro, brother of the great Francesco, and stepfather of Federigo of
Urbino (d.
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