Having received a condotta by the Visconti of Milan, in 1434 he moved against Rome. Giovanni Vitelleschi was sent against him, but as he was called to quench a revolt in Romagna, Fortebraccio managed to capture Tivoli. Eugene IV fled from Rome, a Republic, under the Colonna aegis, being established in the city. Considering too great for him the lordship of Rome, Fortebraccio moved away. Escaped from a plot against him, he conquered Assisi and married Ludovica da Battifolle.
After failing to adhere to the general truce which had momentarily ended the wars in Italy, a league was formed against Fortebraccio, under the capitano generaleFrancesco Sforza. On 15 August 1435 Niccolò defeated and took as prisoner Leone Sforza, but on the following 23 August Alessandro Sforza routed him at the siege of Fiordimonte, near Camerino. Wounded, blocked under his horse's corpse, Fortebraccio was abandoned to his agony by Sforza, until he died-killed by Cristoforo da Tolentino.