CHAPTER VIII.

POPE SIXTUS IV., KING FERRANTE, AND THE MEDICI.

Feelings of Sixtus IV. towards the Medici—Plan for obtaining the Cardinalate for Giuliano—Cardinal Pietro Riario, Archbishop of Florence—Eleanor of Aragon Este in Florence—Arrival of Cardinal-Archbishop Riario—Beginning of the Misunderstanding between Sixtus and the Medici—Dynastic Ambition of the Pope—Girolamo Riario, Lord of Imola—Affairs of the City of Castello—The Vitelli—Niccolò Vitelli in Contention with the Pope—Florence supports the Vitelli—Displeasure of Sixtus at the Policy of Florence—Federigo of Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, won by the Pope—King Ferrante in the Conflict with Venice and the Pope—Complications in the East—Alliance of Florence with Milan and Venice—Alliance of Sixtus IV. with Naples—Uncertain Policy—Second Marriage of King Ferrante 284