Page:The Prince (translated by William K. Marriott).djvu/274

244 were conferred upon him, and he was appointed the emperor's Lieutenant in Tuscany. At this time the Pisans were in great fear of Gaddo della Gheradesca, whom they had driven out of Pisa, and they had recourse for assistance to Frederic. Frederic created Castruccio the lord of Pisa, and the Pisans, in dread of the Guelph party, and particularly of the Florentines, were constrained to accept him as their lord.

Frederic, having appointed a governor in Rome to watch his Itahan affairs, returned to Germany. All the Tuscan and Lombardian Ghibellines, who followed the Imperial lead, had recourse to Castruccio for help and counsel, and all promised him the governorship of his coimtry, if enabled to recover it with his assistance. Among these exiles were Matteo Guidi, Nardo Scolari, Lupo Uberti, Gerozzo Nardi, and Piero Buonacorsi, all exiled Florentines and Ghibellines. Castruccio had the secret intention of becoming the master of all Tuscany by the aid of these men and of his own forces; and in order to gain greater weight in affairs, he entered into a league with Messer Matteo Visconti, the Prince of Milan, and organised for him the forces of his city and the country districts. As Lucca had five gates, he divided his own country districts into five parts, which he supplied with arms, and enrolled the men under captains and ensigns, so that he could