the Sack of Rome of that year, in which he took part. While his brother Ranuccio withdrew to Castel Sant'Angelo to defend the Pope; Pier Luigi crossed the Tiber and quartered his men in the family palace, thus saving it from destruction. Critics accused the Farnese of backing both sides, but Pope Clement VII refused to condemn him. Finally when the plague hit the city, the imperial troops decided to withdraw. Pier Luigi withdrew from Rome into the Roman countryside, taxing it without mercy and permitting a climate of theft and murder. Pope Clement, tired of this behaviour, eventually threatened him with excommunication, until Cardinal Alexander tried diplomatically to reconcile his son with the pope. In 1528 Pier Luigi, still under imperial pay, fought in Apulia against the French army and distinguished himself in the defence of Manfredonia. Captain General of the Church When his father was elevated to the papacy as Paul III in 1534, great festivities were celebrated at Valentano, after which Pier Luigi left for Rome. Paul's first action was to make Pier Luigi's eldest son, Alessandro Farnese, a cardinal. But Charles V only reluctantly allowed the granting of titles to Pier Luigi over the city of Novara, agreeing an annual pension on the condition that the news was not made public. In the hope of speeding things up, Pier Luigi took direct part in the negotiations while leading troops into the lands occupied by his Farnese relatives. Novara and its surrounding territory was finally established as a marquessate in favour of Pier Luigi, but had to wait until February 1538 until formal investiture could be made. In the meantime the office of Captain General of the Church had become vacant, and Paul nominated his son on 31 January 1537. Pier Luigi travelled through the Papal States defeating pockets of resistance before arriving in triumph at Piacenza. Duke of Castro Meanwhile, Paul III gradually recovered the family lands around Castro which had been split after the death of Ranuccio the Elder. To this he added the territory of Ronciglione. Pier Luigi was invested with the titles of "Montalto" which gave the right to export grain without paying taxes; and Paul accepted feudal rights over Canine, Gradoli, Valentano, Latera and Marta. He exchanged the city of Frascati for the fortress at Castro, and at bought Bisenzio from the diocese of Montefiascone. As a final act, Paul created a