512 GUISE DEFENDS METZ, 1552. קמב men, and Monseigneur de Guise* was head over them. And they went out against them from the city daily, and joined battle with them, and returned again into the city; and the French were not afraid of them; and they fortified themselves, and builded a second wall within. And the fame of them went throughout all the earth. And the men of the emperor became weary of their livest, because of the terrible cold, and the sore famine in the camp, and there died of them about thirty thousand men. And also upon the horses was the hand of the Lord‡, and there died also of them by the cold, and for want of all things, about three thousand. And the emperor came into the camp, and they that were left cried unto him, "Alas!" And he commanded, and they departed from it on the twenty-eighth day of the month of December; and they drew back. And they gathered themselves into the fenced cities which were round about it, and were quiet there. 1303. And Don Ferrante, the chief of the emperor's host, journeyed to march unto Alba on the nineteenth day of the month of December, and with him were about ten thousand men. And he brought the rams also out to convey them thither; but he repented on the road, and he led the people + Gen. xxvii. 46. .ומונסיניור די גישה * Comp. Exod. ix. 3. קמב SPANIARDS SMITTEN, JAN. 1553. 513 about by the way of San Damiano*, and encamped against it, and cast up a bank against it, and they set up against it round about eighteen rams, and cast the walls thereof to the ground, and the earth shook at their voice. And they cast against it about two thousand iron balls; but they were not afraid of them, and fortified themselves yet more. And from Alba also, about two hundred men, clothed in coats of mail, were sent thither to help them; and they came into the city with a high hand. And it grieved Don Ferrante much. And when he saw that he prevailed not against itt, he commanded, and they undermined it; and those who were within, countermined also from within. And they took one of the men who were in the mines, and the governor of the city asked him of the matters of Don Ferrante and about his communication. And the man told him concerning the things whereof he had asked him. And he made supplication unto him, and the governor of the city had compassion upon him, and they gave him gain of money§, and sent him on his way. And day by day the men of the city went out against them suddenly, and slew some of them with the edge of the sword. And the men of Don Ferrante were * Comp. Exod. xiii. 17, 18. 2 Kings ix. 11. VOL. II. Gen. xxxii. 25 (26). § Jud. v. 19. L L 514 ALBA, VILLA NUOVA, CISTERNA, 1553. P grieved because of them, and because of the terrible cold. And they became tired of abiding there, therefore they went away from it on the sixteenth day of the month of January with shame. And in their haste they left there the provision also. And the men of the city went out, and carried them into the city, and gave thanks unto God. And about five hundred men died in the camp of Don Ferrante in that war. 1304. And it came to pass, as they journeyedt, that the men of Alba, and the men of Villa Nuovat, and the men of Cisterna§, and the men of San Damiano, pursued after them, and smote the hindmost of them, even all that were feeble behind them. And they returned unto Asti**, and remained quietly therett. And the Lord humbled the hosts of the emperor before the hosts of the king in those days. And they gathered themselves into the fenced cities, and fortified themselves there. 1305. And the viceroy of the emperor journeyed from Naples, to go to war against the lords of Siena and it came to pass, when he was at *Exod. i. 12. + Gen. xi. 2. ציסטירנה $ ווילה נובה ! .סאן דאמיאן || .אסטי ** Deut. xxv. 18. Comp. Jud. xviii. 7. קמב BERNARDIN, DON FERRANTE, 1553. 515 Leghorn*, that he ended his day; and he died and was put in a coffint. 1306. And Bernardin di Zirit, the chief of Don Ferrante's hosts, sought to deliver him up unto the captains of the king; and when the thing was known, they seized him, and put him in prison; but Bernardin fled from them, and the keepers died in his stead, life for lifes. And Bernardin went unto the camp of the king, and strangers spoiled his labor at that time. 1307. Now Massin¶ was a very strong fortress in Piedmont; and the men thereof said with subtlety unto the captains of the king, "Make ye a covenant with us, and we will give the fortress into your hand, and we will become one people**." And they hearkened unto their voice. And they gathered about five thousand footment into the valley of Calusott on the twenty-first day of the month of March; with a strong people set in battle array‡‡. And it came to pass, when they were in the field§§, that behold dogs ran after a hare, and it fled before them and passed 516 WAR AT SIENA, 1553. למב through the midst of the people, and all the camp was moved*. And the Lord put faintness into their heart, and they fled, when none pursued‡; and there were not two found together. And it came to pass, when their spirit returned, that they returned every one unto his place, ashamed. And the captain of the host divined, saying, “This is nothing else but§ a sign from God, that for mischief went we out this day from our place, to die in the field of Massin." And they were astonished. And when it was known to him that the men of Massin had spoken unto him with subtlety, he gave the signal, and they turned back, and marched all the night until every one had returned unto his house. 1308. And the war was strong in the borders of Siena at that time. And they went against Monte Cieli¶, and the lords of Siena sent thither men of valor, who made among the Spaniards a great slaughter. And the horsemen of the emperor fell upon them, wherefore the men of Siena drew back into the city. And Monte Cieli was besieged; yea, the men of the emperor besieged it round about, and battered its walls, until they *Ruth i. 19. Lev. xxvi. 17. Exod. xxxii. 12. † Lev. xxvi. 36. § Comp. Gen. xxviii. 17. מונטי צילי | |