ABSTRACT
Alfonso d’Este proved himself a valiant and resourceful soldier. He could be wildly reckless. On one occasion there was a sudden emergency, and Alfonso, who had no weapon with him, picked up a stick and led an attack upon a detachment of the enemy. Alfonso maneuvered his twenty-four large cannon, including his largest and finest called “the Great Devil,” around and behind the French army until he could take up a position on the extreme left. There his guns worked terrible havoc on the enemy. The triumph of the French was complete. The enemy was routed, and panic spread in the Vatican. But war’s unpredictability reversed the result. The boy Federigo Gonzaga entertained his uncle Alfonso in the Vatican and showed him Pinturicchio’s frescoes in the Borgia apartments, which Pope Julius had vacated because he did not like being reminded of his hated enemy Pope Alexander VI.
