After a long and tense summer in Italy, October was full of action and surprises. A number of troop movements in several directions set counter actions in motion. One after the other, as news of the attacks and movements circulated, the reports would have felt like another hammer blow, another door slamming.
The death of the legitimate duke of Milan, Gian Galeazzo, perhaps on Otober 21, 1494, was sudden, but unsurprising to those who knew or suspected Ludovico, the acting Duke of Milan. He had been planning and meeting with the King near Asti over the previous month. At some point he and his retinue returned to Milan. A number of squadrons of soldiers and artillery and lances were sent strategically both east and south.
The king of France, recovering from his ailment, had travelled to and agreed to meet with the young duke Gian Galeazzzo in Pavia. His wife, the daughter of the new king of Naples, Isabella of Aragon, though with a newborn baby and pregnant with another, threw herself before the young king Charles, pleading for him not to attack her family. The king excused himself and went ahead to Piacenza.
In Ostia, known as the port of Rome, troops sent ahead and perhaps even masquerading as Spanish affiliates, quickly took the place over by surprise. Pope Alexander VI, the 'Spanish' pope Borja immediately sent word for papal troops near Bologna to travel south to retake Rome's outlet to the sea. When this became known, it became clear that the pope was most concerned about his own holdings rather than any support for the king of Naples.
Advance troops, including Swiss lances and artillery, arrived in the neighborhood of Forli. The Napoleon troops under Ferdinando had been waiting most of the summer farther north toward Ferrara. But before the Swiss arrived they moved south again and entrenched themselves near Faenza.
Caterina Sforza, in nearby Forli, in her fortress Ravaldino, sent out toughened veterans to the strongholds at Imola, Bubano and Mordano. Through September she ordered the bakers of Forli to stay making bread for all the Napoleon troops nearby. It was true, she had received offers all summer, from her uncle in Milan, from the pope in Rome, and soldiers and envoys from Naples, all beseeching rights for passage, seeking reassurances of alliance. But it was the pope who offered her the papal stronghold of Mauro and 16,000 ducats. Caterina took this and promised to hold her own.
The French and Swiss advance troops, Guicciardini tells us, struck first at Bubano. There the moats were filled and many french died. So, according to Elizabeth Lev, on October 20, 1494, 2000 French and Milanese troops turned to the stronghold of Mordano and attacked. [p. 176] The troops there fought bravely all morning and afternoon but were overwhelmed by cannon and sheer numbers. Combatants were captured and killed. The rest of the town of Mordano was razed, except for the city hall. The women who all had hid in the church were captured and taken away by French soldiers. The Napoleon troops under Ferdinando had turned and retreated further east to Cesena. But the French advance paused, the armies gathered their dead and wounded, and took stock of the new situation.
Meanwhile the king had amassed a huge number of troops before Sarzanello, on the far side of Italy along the coastal road. This commanded the route south to Lepanto, Pisa and ultimately Florence. It was here, Guicciardini tells us, that the French king met with Piero de Medici, If the French were to proceed south and, for now, avoid the Napoleon troops on the far side of the mountains, they would have to pass through lands controlled by Florence. King Charles made a bunch of demands, threatening to sack all the towns thereabout, and Piero gave up what he felt he had to. He conceded to Charles Pisa, Lepanto, and the fortress of Sarzanello until that time that the French had taken control of Naples. There was little else by then that Piero felt he could do if he wanted to keep the French from taking Florence itself. He had let himself be convinced by Ludovico that the French might be completely put off or paid off. By accepting these demands of the French king, Piero had given up the keys of control for the Florentine world, though Florence itself, he thought, might be spared.
As recently as July, the pope had agreed to a pact with Naples and Venice to support each other against all enemies. By this point in October, the army of Ferdinando was shut up near Ravenna, the papal forces were in Ostia fighting the French alone, and the Venetians were nowhere near any fighting. Charles, meanwhile had forces on both sides of the mountains, with the wide valley of Tuscany open to him. The news came that the young duke Gian Galeazzo whom he had just met had died of a stomach ailment. Now Ludovico il Moro was the undisputed ruler in Milan having completely cut off any irritating marriage alliance with Naples. Gian Galeazzo, now former duke of Milan, was also the younger brother of Caterina Sforza of Forli.
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Elizabeth Lev, The Tigress of Forli: Renaissance Italy's most courageous and notorious countess, Caterina Riario Sforza de'Medici : 2011, USA, Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt Publishing Company
