severity, arousing the distaste of King Ferdinand. Niccolò had to make the trip to Naples, seek an audience, and make his explanations. Ferdinand died on 24 January 1494, and Bonafede thought it best to leave the kingdom and take counsel with Castellar, who was also governor of Perugia In Perugia, Castellar was involved in a dispute with the Baglione family, and when they appealed to Rome, Castellar sent Niccolò Bonafede to represent him before the Pope. Niccolò was successful, and Pope Alexander was so taken with him that he decided to retain him in papal service, and appointed him a papal chamberlain (cubicularius) (1494). A few months later, Niccolò submitted a petition, asking to be named to the papal chapel; instead, Pope Alexander named him a Protonotary Apostolic, and dispensed him from having to pay the usual fees. At the beginning of 1496, Bonafede was appointed governor of the city of Tivoli. He entered Tivoli on 10 February, and remained there for around two years. His tenure was plagued by foreign soldiers, as well as troops of the Orsini and of the Colonna. The Orsini made war against the Pope, and in January 1497 captured Guidobaldo da Montefeltro, the Duke of Urbino and captain general of the papal army. Bonafede led a troop of fifty cavalry against the Orsini properties around Vicovaro in punishment. Pope Alexander was so delighted that he appointed Niccolò his ambassador to Venice. Bonafede arrived in Venice on 3 January 1498, and remained there for twelve months, to the satisfaction of both the Signoria of the Serene Republic and Pope Alexander VI, no easy task. After a short rest and recuperation in his native land, he returned to Rome, where he was immediately assigned, on 15 January 1499, to be governor of Benevento, which was being attacked and subverted by agents of King Ferdinando of Naples. He arrived there on 11 February 1499, and held the position until mid-1501. He was not actually in Benevento for long. In the late summer of 1499, Pope Alexander decided to take advantage of the troubles in Lombardy brought about by the expulsion of Ludovico Sforza from Milan, and the invasion of King Louis XII of France to aid the Milanese against him, but also because Louis intended to pursue his family's claims to the crown of Naples. To assist Cesare Borgia in the Pope's plan to reclaim the Duchy