was, thinking his plans undiscovered, consented to an interview with Charles at Peronne, a town belonging to the latter. But Charles, who had detected his correspondence with the Liegeois, detained him as a prisoner, and not only obliged him to renounce all treaties with them, and agree to such terms of peace as he dictated, but caused him to join in a campaign against Liege, and to witness the utter ruin of that city. Lewis, on regaining his liberty, renewed the war with Charles, and took from him Amiens and St. Quentin; and there was no kind of ill office which these two neighbours did not practise against each other, either openly or secretly. The constable St. Pol, who acted a double part between the two, and inflamed their mutual enmity, fell at length a sacrifice to the suspicions of both. When openly attacked by Lewis, he took refuge with the duke of Burgundy, trusting to a safe conduct sent him by that prince; but a bargain was already made, by which the duke was to give up the constable for the towns of Ham, Bohain, and St. Quentin; and Charles did not scruple for such an advantage to violate his faith, and fix a perpetual stain on his memory. He further augmented his territories by seizing the duchy of Guelderland, and the county of Zutphen; and extending his ambitious views into Germany, he laid siege to Nays on the Rhine, which the troops of the empire at length obliged him to raise. For the purpose of joining Burgundy to the Low Countries, he projected an invasion of Lorraine, which gave occasion to a league against him between the dukes of Lorraine and Austria, and the Swiss, that ended in his destruction. Switzerland was at that time so poor, that its deputies represented to Charles, that all he could conquer from them would not be worth the spurs and bits of his cavalry. In 1476, however, leaving Lorraine, where he had reduced Nanci and other places, Charles laid siege to Grandson, a town which the Swiss had taken in Pais de Vaud, and obliged it to surrender at discretion. He cruelly put to death the whole of the garrison, almost eight hundred men; and then, with a well appointed army, proceeded against the Swiss, who had assembled in no great numbers at the entrance of their mountains. His vanguard, moving to attack, was suddenly seized with a panic, and by retreating occasioned the rout of the whole army, with the loss of all the artillery, and camp equipage. Such was the simplicity of the Swiss, that they had no idea of the value of the booty they acquired. Pieces of silver plate were sold by the captors for pewter; and the duke's great diamond, one of the finest in Christendom, was offered to a priest for a florin. To repair his loss, Charles speedily collected another powerful army, with which he engaged the Swiss and their German allies, near Morat, in the canton of Berne. He was again signally defeated. This event, one of the most illustrious in the history of Switzerland, was commemorated by

a charnel-house at Morat, in which the bones of the slain were deposited, with an inscription importing that Charles the Bold, duke of Burgundy, having invaded the country with a mighty force, left behind him this monument of his exploits. The effect of these disasters on his spirits was such, that he passed some weeks in a sullen retirement. The duke of Lorraine embraced the opportunity of recovering several places; and at length took the capital, Nanci. This roused Charles from his lethargy; he assembled his troops, and laid siege to Nanci in the midst of winter. The duke of Lorraine, on the other hand, with his German auxiliaries, formed an army to protect it. Charles, whose force was inadequate to the attempt, and who was further weakened by the desertion of one of his confidential officers, the count Campobasso, a Neapolitan, was in vain advised to retire. He obstinately persisted in continuing before Nanci, where, on January 6, 1477, he was attacked by the duke of Lorraine, his troops defeated, and himself slain and stript on the field of battle. Such was the end of this turbulent and obstinate prince, whose whole career was spent in inflicting evils on his subjects and neighbours, which at length recoiled with double force on his own head. He was four times married, once to Margaret of York, sister to Edward IV., which united him in interest with that king and his house. He left by his last wife, a sole heiress, Mary of Burgundy, who, after having been addressed by a number of princes, at length conveyed her rich inheritance to the house of Austria, by her marriage with the archduke Maximilian.

MARGARET, of York, sister of Edward IV., married Charles duke of Burgundy. She opposed the elevation of Henry VII. to the throne of England..

SAPPHIRA, the wife of a rich merchant in Gueldres, equally distinguished for her beauty and her virtue. Rhinsauld, a German officer, and governor of the town of Gueldres, became enamoured of her; and not being able to secure her either by promises or presents, he imprisoned her husband, pretending that he kept up a traitorous correspondence with the enemies of the state. Sapphira yielded to the passion of the governor, to release her husband from chains; but private orders had already been given to put him to death. His unhappy widow, overwhelmed with grief, complained to Charles duke of Burgundy. He ordered Rhinsauld to marry her, and to make over to her all his possessions. As soon as the deed was signed, and the marriage over, Charles commanded him to be put to death. Thus the children of a wife whom he had seduced, and of a husband whom he had murdered, became lawful heirs to all his wealth.

SAVOY.

AMADEUS IX., count of Savoy, was surnamed the "Happy," on account of his virtue and piety, his readiness to forgive those who offended, his love of justice, and his study to promote the welfare of his subjects. He succeeded Lewis in 1464, and though his bodily infirmities prevented his engaging in any great exploits, he acquired and maintained a very exemplary character. He was eminently distinguished by the benevolence of his disposition. Being once asked by a courtier, whether he kept hounds? he pointed to a great number of poor people, who were seated at tables, eating and drinking, and replied, "Those are my hounds, with whom I go in chace of heaven!" When he was told that his alms would exhaust his revenues; "Take the collar of my order," he said, "sell it and relieve my people." He married Tolando of France, who concurred with him in all his good deeds. His death, in 1472, at the age of 37, and after a reign of seven years, was universally regretted.

SWITZERLAND.

ST. NICHOLAS DE FLUE, a very distinguished patriot of Switzerland, was born at Saxelen in 1417. Descended from an ancient family, he signalized himself in defence of his country, and particularly during the war which the Swiss supported against Sigismund archduke of Austria. He was no less remarkable for humanity and valour. To his countrymen, when they were preparing to pillage and burn the convent of St. Margaret, near Diessenhosen, he exclaimed, "If God grant you victory over your enemies, use it with moderation, and spare those edifices which are consecrated to him." This remonstrance was effectual, and preserved the convent from destruction. To the most excellent qualities of the heart and understanding, to great political sagacity, he added the exterior graces of figure, dignity of character, and the most winning affability. Raised by his countrymen to high employments in the state, he repeatedly declined the office of landamman from motives of delicacy, because he disapproved the principles of the governing party. At length, hurried away by his detestation of evil, and a zeal for monkish devotion, he quitted his family in the 50th year of his age, and retiring from the world in a fit of gloomy superstition, turned hermit. The place of his retreat was Ranft, a few miles from Saxelen, where he built an hermitage, and a small chapel, and practised all the severities required by that austere mode of life with the strictest observance. But though he withdrew from the world, the flame of patriot

ism was not extinct, but he was the happy instrument of rescuing Switzerland from the impending horrors of civil discord. When a quarrel took place among the cantons, and the deputies assembled, in 1481, at Stantz, in order to compromise the difference, De Flue quitted his hermitage, and in the 64th year of his age, travelled during the night, and arrived at Stantz on the very morning when the deputies, having failed to terminate their dispute amicably, were preparing for their departure. He conjured them to remain; and, having by his mediation succeeded in composing the public dissensions, returned to his hermitage, where he died, in 1487, in the 70th year of his age, regretted and esteemed by all Switzerland. Such a general opinion of his extreme piety prevailed among his contemporaries, that the bigotry of those times ascribed to him an exemption from the common wants of human nature. The following epitaph was inscribed on his tomb: "Nicholas de Flue quitted his wife and children to go into the desert; he served God nineteen years and a half without taking any sustenance, He died in 1487."

ITALY.

BARTHOLOMEW COLLEONE, an Italian adventurer, was born of a noble family at Bergamo, in 1400. When young in years he escaped, by the contrivance of his mother, from the castle of Trezzo, where their cousins had confined them, who aimed at being sole lords of their seigniory, and who had murdered Bartholomew's father and uncle. He took refuge with the lord of Crema; and as the youth grew up, he became page to Arcello the tyrant, or lord, of Placentia, who instructed him in military tactics. He was distinguished as well for courage as for bodily strength and agility. When in complete armour, he could outrun the lightest footmen; and without arms he could overtake a horseman on the gallop. He preserved this extraordinary vigour to a great age. He first served under Braccio de Montone, and then entered into the service of Joan, queen of Naples, and that queen was greatly indebted to his valour for the recovery of her dominions. He commanded the Venetians in the war with Philip Visconti, duke of Milan. He rendered several important services to the republic, particularly in destroying the army of Nicholas Piccinino, which he effected by conveying a fleet into the lake of Garda, across the mountain of Torboli. On the concluding of peace, he was nobly recompensed, but quarrelling with the Venetian proveditor, he went over, in 1445, with a body of 1500 horse, to the party of Philip Visconti, and after his death continued to serve Francis Sforza, for whom he gained the VOL. IV. F

battle of Frascata, over the French. He again entered into the Venetian service, and again, upon a dispute, left it, and engaged with Sforza, now become their bitter enemy, and victory seemed to change sides as he did. The Venetians, at length, determined durably to fix him; and they made him generalissimo. During nearly twenty years, in which he held this high office, he was the terror of all the enemies of the Venetians. Many sovereigns and states made him the most magnificent offers to draw him over to their service, but in vain; the Venetians found means to secure his attachment by liberal emoluments, and every mark of esteem and confidence. Such was his reputation, that he was appointed commander-in-chief of a holy league against the Turks, for which Paul II. published a bull in 1468, but which was rendered abortive by the death of that pontiff. Colleone principally resided at the castle of Malpaga, in the territory of Bergamo, and no prince or person of eminence, who travelled in that part of the country, neglected to pay him a visit. He was a patron of literature, and loved to entertain men of learning, to whose disputes he listened with pleasure. He amassed vast wealth, the greatest part of which he left to public purposes, having no direct heirs, and being dissatisfied with his collateral relations. He died in 1475, at his castle of Malpaga; and the Venetians honoured his memory with an equestrian statue of gilt bronze, of excellent workmanship, erected in the square of St. John and St. Paul, and bearing this inscription: "Bartholomeo Coleono Bergomensi, ob militare imperium optime gestum. Senatus consultus Joanne Mauro et Marino Venerio curatoribus, A. S. 1495." It is said that Colleone left as his dying advice to the Venetians, that they should never entrust so much power to another general, which they carefully observed. After his death 4000 of his soldiers refused to obey any other com mander, and served for fifteen years without a leader, practising the discipline he taught them.

RENATUS ACCIAIOLI, descended from a noble family of Florence, atchieved the conquest of Athens, Corinth, and a part of Boeotia. Having no male issue by Eubois, his wife, he bequeathed Athens to the Venetians, Corinth to Theodosius Palæologus, who had married his eldest daughter, and he gave Boeotia to Anthony, his natural son, who also made himself master of Athens; but it was taken from his successors in 1455, by Mahomet II.

FRANCIS SFORZA, the son of James Sforza, by Lucia, Trezana, was born in 1401, and trained up by his father to the profession of arms. At the age of twenty-three he defeated the troops of Braccio, who disputed with him the passage of the Aterno. In this action his father was drowned, and Francis, though illegitimate, succeeded him. He fought