brothers, Philip, who was poisoned in 1479, and Ascanio,
afterward cardinal, he returned to Milan a few days
after the assassination of Galeasso Mario, which took
place in the Church of San Stefano, December 26, 1476,
and assumed the regency, the Duke being then but eight
years old. From that time, although his nephew was
now twenty-two, Ludovico had continued to govern the
State, and in all probability would continue to do so for
a long time to come ; for a day or two after the young
Duke manifested a purpose to take the reins into his
own hands, he fell suddenly ill, and it was said openly
that he had taken one of those lingering, deadly poisons,
which the princes of that day resorted to so frequently
that, even when a malady was due to natural causes,
people always sought to attribute it to some hidden
motive. However it may have been, Ludovico had sent
his nephew, who was too weak to attend to the affairs of
his duchy, to the Castle of Pavia, where he was pining
away under the care of his wife, who was a daughter of
Ferdinand of Naples.
Ludovico, himself, was an ambitious mortal, very bold
and very deep, equally familiar with the sword and with
poison, which he used indifferently, as occasion offered,
without any decided preference or repugnance for either,
and he was thoroughly determined to inherit from his
nephew whether he died or did not die.
