It
was otherwise with nepotism, which threatened at one time to destroy
the Papacy altogether. Of all the 'nipoti,' Cardinal Pietro Riario
enjoyed at first the chief and almost exclusive favour of Sixtus. He
soon drew upon him the eyes of all Italy, partly by the fabulous luxury
of his life, partly through the reports which were current of his
irreligion and his political plans. He bargained with Duke Galeazzo
Maria of Milan (1473), that the latter should become King of Lombardy,
and then aid him with money and troops to return to Rome and ascend the
papal throne; Sixtus, it appears, would have voluntarily yielded to
him. This plan, which, by making the Papacy hereditary, would have
ended in the secularization of the papal State, failed through the
sudden death of Pietro. The second 'nipote,' Girolamo Riario, remained
a layman, and did not seek the Pontificate. From this time the
'nipoti,' by their endeavors to found principalities for themselves,
became a new source of confusion to Italy. It had already happened that
the Popes tried to make good their feudal claims on Naples un favour of
their relatives, but since the failure of Calixtus III. such a scheme
was no longer practicable, and Girolamo Riario, after the attempt to
conquer Florence (and who knows how many others places) had failed, was
forced to content himself with founding a State within the limits of
the papal dominions themselves.
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