Note *63 — Chapter IV

Which among the condottieri is worthy of what Dennistoun seems to regard as only to be bestowed on the best of men? However, he is wrong about Piccinino. Of all the Bracceschi, he alone was an honourable man. Gaspare Broglio, one of Sigismondo Malatesta's captains, gives him the fifth place among the soldiers of Italy; after Carmagnuolo, Francesco Sforza, Sigismondo himself, and Federigo of Urbino. A fine fighter, an excellent strategist, it was his weakness to be true to his master. And then he was what Sforza never was, nor could the dukedom of Milan make him—a gentleman. Cf. Edward Hutton, Sigismondo Malatesta (Dent, 1906), passim, and G. Campano e G.B. Poggio, Vite di Braccio Fortebraccio e di Nic. Piccinino Perugini (Perugia, 1636).