Pestilence raged in Rome and the troops grew riotous; from England and France arose threatenings of war. Prince Philibert in consequence wished to make peace with the Pope. But the army would not hear of treaties. The greater part of the pillagers were again in a state of beggary, and many others in weariness and satiety even committed suicide. The prophet of Siena, whom they kept with them, had prophesied truly when he said : “ Dear comrades, now is the time, rob and take all that you can find; you must, however, yield everything up again; the property of priests and the spoils of war go as they come. ” Soldiers, in possession of more than 30,000 florins, loudly clamoured for their arrears of pay. They demanded the Pope as hostage, and permission to sack S. Angelo, in which they believed that the treasures of the world were collected. Orange tranquillised the mutineers by promising to yield himself as security for their demands, and so strangely had circumstances altered, that the pillagers, choked with their spoils, found themselves in yet worse condition than their enemies in S. Angelo.

Even before the withdrawal of the allied army, Clement had summoned Lannoy from Siena to Rome to afford him the support of his authority ; for Lannoy still remained faithful to the Pope, and was still carrying on negotiations with friends and enemies, with the allies and the imperialists at the same time.