The pope and his circle remained barricaded in the Castel Sant’Angelo for a month, only negotiating their safety on June 7, at the price of four hundred thousand ducats. Even then, although most of those who had been cooped up in the fortress were allowed to leave, Clement himself was forced to stay there for his own safety. He was only released in early December—under the cover of darkness, for fear of enraging the rank and file of the occupying army.
