Chapter 299 The Sack of Rome

John immediately led his men to the camp. Peter had been waiting for a long time. He knew that Florence would agree. Such a war was completely coerced by Venice. Now that Venice was gone, it was natural to withdraw.

"Your Highness, Florence has agreed to your conditions."

Then boxes of gold coins were brought in, and all the people of the Obichi family were handed over to the other party.

"You are the fastest among all countries to sign a treaty. Now the two countries can coexist peacefully."

"Florence is willing to maintain friendly relations with your country. This accident is a thing of the past. The two countries should look to the future."

Roman Empire Caesar Peter and Florence Consul John signed a peace treaty in Pistoia. Florence withdrew from the war with Rome and became the second country to withdraw. (The first was Venice)

Florence gave the Roman army the right of passage, which meant that they could use the avenue between Florence and Rome to quickly go there and plunder. Now the army has changed its way of plundering. In addition to buying food at a low price, it does not plunder farmers. There is no profit. Their targets were dignitaries and religious figures.

As the center of Catholicism, there are many monasteries and churches in and around Rome. In addition, there are many private residences of cardinals, which contain their mistresses and wealth. Robbing these is the most profitable.

A fat and big-eared bishop was pulled out of the house by soldiers, and he said only one sentence, you will go to hell.

It is not up to them to decide whether to go to hell or not, after all, Peter said that he himself is hell. The soldiers beat him up and robbed his property and walked away.

Through the road of Florence, Peter can reach Rome within ten days. The current Pope Boniface IX did not know what was wrong with him, and he did not leave here. He had a kind of momentum that he would not leave the city if the city was there.

He ordered all the troops to gather and prepare to guard Rome. But now the famous Swiss Guard has not been formed, so only 4,000 militia troops were recruited. These soldiers cannot resist the Roman army.

In the south, Naples and Aragon confronted each other in the Strait of Messina. Aragon's navy caused damage to the coastal cities of Naples, but Laszlo had no way to deal with it. However, he went north to annex the Principality of Urbino to recover some of the losses.

The public conversion caused internal divisions in Naples, with Catholic nobles and nobles who supported Laszlo confronting each other. Under the leadership of the cardinal, the Catholic League was established with its headquarters in Sapri.

But Laszlo would not die obediently. He pulled out the new army he had trained in the past few years to fight against these Catholic nobles. The nobles who benefited from various reforms also stood on Laszlo's side, and when Rome destroyed Venice, those neutral nobles immediately turned against each other and announced their conversion to Orthodoxy.

Martin of Aragon sent his navy to continue to cause damage to Naples, and the Roman Empire Navy also came immediately because of the king's invitation. The good days of the Aragonese Navy were about to end.

(Okay, let's go back to the north)

Peter led the army along the ancient Roman road. Along the way, you can see the aqueduct and other relics from the Roman Empire.

"These are all products left over from distant times. It's a pity that these people didn't cherish them well."

Peter looked at these relics. He felt differently when he saw the same relics in different time zones for hundreds of years.

"Your Highness, we have received news that Rome has assembled 4,000 militiamen for defense."

"Where is the heretic?"

"He is still in Rome"

Peter heard that the Pope was still in Rome and had to admire his courage. But it is also possible that he had nowhere to run. It is not impossible for him to plunder Rome. Anyway, he is also a Wallachian barbarian from the north, and a heretic. It is not too much to rob.

At this time, Peter had 50,000 troops and 160 artillery pieces. The modified gun carriage can be pulled by horses, which is lighter. This can also save a lot of time. Finally, on the twelfth day, the Roman Empire army came to Rome. This is the second time he came here after Belisarius.

"Papa, they are coming."

At this time, Boniface IX was not staying in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, but in the Castel Sant'Angelo. The Castel Sant'Angelo was first used as a fortress to prevent the invasion of the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, then used as a prison, and finally converted into a gorgeous papal palace.

Here are the most elite troops of the Papal States, but they are only slightly better than those militias. The Pope was afraid after all, and he could only pray to God to protect him from being killed by heretics.

As soon as the Roman army arrived in Rome, it immediately began artillery bombardment. The defenders in the city had never seen such a battle and were directly scared away. The Roman army broke through the city of Rome in just 7 hours, so fast that even Peter was incredible.

Peter entered the city of Rome. This eternal city was not bad under the governance of the Papal States. It is another major pilgrimage site besides Jerusalem and Santiago de Compostela. During this period, Rome built many important buildings, including the world's largest church, the old St. Peter's Basilica.

"Pack up everything here. The city has suffered too much filth and must be cleaned up."

Peter's order meant that planned looting began again, and a large number of artworks and property were looted. The property of those religious people such as cardinals, bishops, and nuns was gone. If they were not stripped of all their property, their name as the locust army would be abolished.

What Peter valued most was not the property, but the books in the basement. They were all packed and shipped back to Constantinople, including books of great religious importance, including the Vatican Codex and a Bible with 1.5 kg of gold on the pages. In addition, early printed copies of the works of Aristotle, Dante and Virgil, and a large number of manuscripts before the 2nd century were all here.

Peter looked at these things. These were all cultural treasures. Wouldn't it be a waste to keep them here? It would be better to change their home so that they could realize their value.

Then the army looted them wantonly. For three consecutive days, the city of Rome was in this state. A large amount of treasures were transported away by the stolen oxcarts and horse carriages, and the Pope did not show any expression at the Castel Sant'Angelo. He thought to himself that he would just let them rob and leave quickly. Don't come again. But who made the church too rich? The income from tithes, the sale of priesthoods, donations from believers, and the occasional sale of indulgences was enough to equal the income of a country for several years. How could they not take more to justify the mobilized army of Rome?