Then he (Pope Urban) sent letters to Benevento, to Anthony Bulcanus, a soldier from Naples and a relative of his, and also to Lord Peter of Lupae who was treasurer of the Apostolic Chamber. In these letters he informed them that he would be coming to Benevento. The citizens of Benevento were less than pleased about this and used a range of secret plans to frustrate the Pope's entry into the town. When they realised that their subterfuges were proving ineffective a number of them took advantage of treachery within the Pope's camp one night (this was revealed later that same night by forces loyal to the Pope). [Control of ] The town was betrayed to the pope's enemies and any loyal supporters of the Pope found there were condemned to death. The soldier Anthony, mentioned earlier, was told of this and as a result immediately ordered a night guard to be set up at the fort [the Rocca was on a hill within the city walls at the top of the town with a superb view of the town below and its ramparts]. Around the third hour of the night a noise was heard by the guards near the town wall and a fight broke out. This caused the people of the town to take up arms, unaware of the earlier act of treachery.

Those of us in the Pope's contingent who had been in the monastery of St Sophia made a hasty and breathless dash to the fort. Meanwhile those outside who had been trying to terrify us, or rather either those who we feared had come, or others whose identity we failed to ascertain, heard the commotion of the crowd and secretly withdrew. We had previously upset the Pope's enemies, learning of his escape we had roused the town with ringing of bells in the monastery, lighting torches and shouts of celebration. But nobody in the town, the camp or even the surrounding countryside had responded with the sort of similar signs of celebration as are customary in those parts. This was a considerable concern to us as we were only four in number. For several days in the tower [The Rocca] we stored up bread and wine so that if an attack had been mounted against us we would have been able to withstand any immediate danger.

The Lord Urban in the fort of Flumeri received further news about his supporters and the town and decided to frustrate one act of deception with another. He made it known that he had no wish to go to Benevento, but would instead send the Cardinal of Naples, who was later elected Pope. When he got near the town his opponents were confused by the mixed messages but were not in a position to stand in his way. They pretended to have a different concern from the one they really felt. They asked why their Lord the Pope had failed to give them appropriate notice of his arrival and so had prevented them from receiving him with the proper respect due to the dignity of his office. The Pope however entered the town and went straight to the Church of St Bartholomew after passing through the camp. Then after conducting a service and making an address he went up to the camp with the members of his retinue and the captive cardinals.

From the account by Gobelinus Persona (edited by Max Jansen) Cap LXXX