DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42863#0286
CHAPTER XXXVI
1527—1529
Siege of Rome—Death of Bourbon—Rome sacked during three
days—Alessandro and Ferrante Gonzaga protect Isabella’s
palace—Scenes of carnage in the city—Cruelty and sacrilege
of the soldiers—Isabella leaves Rome for Ostia—Returns to
Mantua—Is received with great joy—Escape of the Venetian
ambassador—General horror at the capture and sack of Rome
—Grief of Isabella’s friends—Letters of Bembo, of Erasmus,
and of Sadoleto—Death of Castiglione in Spain.
On the evening of Sunday the 5th of May, the
Imperialist army crossed Monto Mario and encamped
under the walls of Rome. At midnight the trumpets
sounded, and in the early dawn the assault began.
The point chosen for attack was on the Vatican hill,
between the Porta Torrione and S. Spirito, where
the walls were lowest, and the assailants were hidden
by the thick white fog which clung to the banks of
the river. But a heavy fire from Renzo da Ceri’s
men on the walls and from the guns of Sant’ Angelo
thinned their ranks. For a moment the result
seemed doubtful. Then Bourbon, a splendid figure
in his silver armour, sprang from his horse, seized
a ladder, and, calling on his men to follow him,
began to scale the wall near the Campo Santo. But
hardly had he set foot upon it than he fell back,
struck by a musket-ball in the groin, crying, “ Ha,
Notre Dame,je suis mort.” The Prince of Orange
threw his mantle over him, and his attendants bore
258
1527—1529
Siege of Rome—Death of Bourbon—Rome sacked during three
days—Alessandro and Ferrante Gonzaga protect Isabella’s
palace—Scenes of carnage in the city—Cruelty and sacrilege
of the soldiers—Isabella leaves Rome for Ostia—Returns to
Mantua—Is received with great joy—Escape of the Venetian
ambassador—General horror at the capture and sack of Rome
—Grief of Isabella’s friends—Letters of Bembo, of Erasmus,
and of Sadoleto—Death of Castiglione in Spain.
On the evening of Sunday the 5th of May, the
Imperialist army crossed Monto Mario and encamped
under the walls of Rome. At midnight the trumpets
sounded, and in the early dawn the assault began.
The point chosen for attack was on the Vatican hill,
between the Porta Torrione and S. Spirito, where
the walls were lowest, and the assailants were hidden
by the thick white fog which clung to the banks of
the river. But a heavy fire from Renzo da Ceri’s
men on the walls and from the guns of Sant’ Angelo
thinned their ranks. For a moment the result
seemed doubtful. Then Bourbon, a splendid figure
in his silver armour, sprang from his horse, seized
a ladder, and, calling on his men to follow him,
began to scale the wall near the Campo Santo. But
hardly had he set foot upon it than he fell back,
struck by a musket-ball in the groin, crying, “ Ha,
Notre Dame,je suis mort.” The Prince of Orange
threw his mantle over him, and his attendants bore
258