I suppose Count Fieschi would have been as despotic as the Dorias had he managed his coup. Nipped in the bud, he ended up being depicted as either a hero or a lout according to the author's political credo. De Gondi managed to avoid slipping on a plank at the least, lead a fascinating life and die of old age. If Fieschi was an adolescent construct for de Gondi, he quickly outdid him.