At that epoch, moreover, they were systematized and controlled by the methods of _condottiere_ warfare, which offered a legitimate outlet to the passions of turbulent young men.

But when Italy sank into the sloth of pacification after the settlement of Charles V.at Bologna in 1530, when there were no longer _condottieri_ to levy troops in rival armies, when political parties ceased in the cities, the old humors broke out again under the aspect of private and personal feuds.

Though the names of Guelf and Ghibelline had lost their meaning, these factions reappeared, and divided Milan, the towns of Romagna, the villages of the Campagna.

In the place of _condottieri_ arose brigand chiefs, who, like Piccolomini and Sciarra, placed themselves at the head of regiments, and swept the country on marauding expeditions.

Instead of exiles, driven by victorious parties in the state to seek precarious living on a foreign soil, bandits, proscribed for acts of violence, abounded.