CHAP. VII. VII. A. D. 1503. A. At. 28. Causes of dissension between the French IN the course of human events, it is not un- CHAP. -common, that rapacity and injustice find, in the very success of their measures, their own punishment. This was strikingly exemplified in the conquest and dismemberment of the kingdom of Naples, which instead of affording to the victors the advantages they expect ed, opened the way to new contests, more bloody and destructive than any that Italy the kinghad of late experienced. In the partition dom of Naof that country, it had been agreed that the ples. king of France should possess the districts called Terra di Lavoro and Abruzzi, and the king of Spain those of Appulia and Calabria, and Spanish monarchs in i СНАР. A. Et. 28. as being most contiguous to his Sicilian dominions; but when the commanders of the alliA. D. 1503. ed armies began to adjust their respective boundaries, it appeared that their sovereigns had not been sufficiently acquainted with the territories which they claimed, to define the limits in an explicit, or even an intelligible manner. The first difficulty that occurred was respecting the district called Basilicata, the ancient Lucania, which had not been allotted in express terms to either of the parties; the Spanish general, Gonsalvo, asserting that as it actually separated the provinces which were expressly allotted to his master, it must be considered as a part of his dominions. The pretensions of the French general, Louis d'Armignac, duke of Nemours, rested on the general rights of his sovereign, as king of Naples, to all such parts as had not been particularly conceded by treaty. A similar dispute arose respecting the subdivision of Appulia, called the Capitanato, lying on the confines of Abruzzi, and divided from the rest of Appulia, by the river Ofanto; the French general, like the Spanish, insisting on the indispensable utility of this district, to the other dominions of his sovereign, and on its being more properly a part of Abruzzi, than of Appulia. The division of the revenues arising from the pasturage of Appulia, VII. A. t 28. Appulia, one of the chief sources of the royal CHA P. income, formed another cause of dissension; and although the commanders had, during the A. D. 1503. first year, accommodated this dispute by an equal division of the income, yet in the next, each of them endeavoured to obtain as much of it as possible; thereby giving rise, not only to great vexation and dissatisfaction among the inhabitants of Appulia and the principal barons of the kingdom, but to acts of open hostility between the two armies.(a) French For the purpose of effecting a pacific ad- Successes justment of these differences, a negotiation of the was opened, by the intervention of the chief army. nobility of Naples, between the French and Spanish commanders, which was protracted for several months; in the course of which time, the duke of Nemours having repaired to Melfi, and Gonsalvo to Atella, those generals had a personal interview. It was, however, found impracticable to terminate the dispute, and they were therefore under the necessity of referring for its decision to their respective sovereigns; having in the mean time agreed, (a) Guicciard. lib. v. 1. 275. Giannone, Storia di Napoli, lib. xxix. cap. 4. v. iii. p. 400. VII. A. Et. 28. tion. CHAP. agreed, that neither of them should attempt. any innovation on the territories possessed by A. D. 1503. the other. This truce was not of long duraThe duke of Nemours, confident in the superiority of his forces, and unwilling by delay to allow the Spanish general to recruit his army, of which he had a much greater facility than the French, notified to Gonsalvo, that unless the district of the Capitanato was surrendered to him, he would commence hostilities. This threat he instantly carried into execution, by sending a detachment to occupy the city of Tripalda, and attempting to possess himself of all the strong places within the Capitanato. The arrival of a reinforcement to the French army of two thousand Swiss and a greater number of Gascons, was a sufficient indication, that Louis XII. chose rather to decide the dispute by arms than by pacific measures. For the purpose of expediting further supplies, that monarch first repaired to Lyons, whence he soon afterwards hastened to Milan, in order to be nearer the theatre of action.(a) These efforts were attended with signal success. The fortress of Canoza, although bravely defended by Pietro Navarro, with six hundred men, was compelled (a) Giannone, lib. xxix cap. 4. vol. iii. p. 400. |