Journey of Pius II. to Mantua, Jan. 1459.

Pius, with the Cardinals Bessarion, Estouteville, Alain, Calandrini, Barbo, Colonna and Borgia, left Rome on January 22, 1459. The long procession of the Curia set forth on horseback. The peasantry everywhere streamed forth to gaze upon the Pope, who, like no one before him, rode across the open country with but a scanty-armed escort. The travel-loving Piccolomini enjoyed a journey even as Pope; but his pleasure was marred on his arrival at Narni, where the greedy inhabitants rushed upon him, to snatch away the canopy carried over his head. Swords flashed before his eyes, and he may have been reminded of the barbarous scene to which Frederick III. had been exposed when journeying through Viterbo to Rome. Henceforward he travelled in a litter, the bearers of which were changed every five hundred paces. Thus, reckoning his sojourns in different cities, four long months were spent in the journey from Rome to Mantua.

Pius II. in Perugia.

After a visit to his sister Catarina in Spoleto, and a brief rest in Assisi, Pius II. entered Perugia, riding a white mule. The magistrates of the city carried a purple baldacchino over his head, and he was preceded by twelve white horses, which grooms led by golden bridles. His entry into the capital of Umbria must have furnished a royal spectacle. No pope had been seen in this capital for seventy years. He received the homage of Frederick of Montefeltro, and elected him his general.