Attempting to get a new libretto underway, Verdi approached Francesco Maria Piave, found him engaged as a soldier for the new Venetian republic, and so contacted Cammarano in Naples with the idea of "L'assedio". But, as it turned out, Cammarano had to tell Verdi that the Naples censors rejected the outline of a subject which had interested Verdi very much since the time he prepared his previous opera, "La battaglia di Legnano". His inability to continue to develop the project came as a blow. Verdi's biographer Julian Budden notes that "next to "Re Lear" ("King Lear"), this was to be the most fascinating of Verdi unrealized subjects" and his biographer, and Mary Jane Phillips-Matz, adds that she regards "L'assedio di Firenze" as "one of Verdi's most important uncomposed works."