XIV. CHAP. dinand king of Naples, and the young prince of Calabria his son, leaves a stain on his character which cannot be varnished even by the brilliancy of success. In England his name was odious for breach of faith, and the French had still greater cause to complain of his perfidy. To réproaches of this kind he was himself indifferent; and provided he could accomplish his purpose, he rather gloried in his talents than blushed for his crime. To his secretary Quintana, who informed him that Louis XII. had complained that he had twice deceived him, "The drunkard lies," he exclaimed, "I have cheated him upwards of ten "times."(a) The disgrace and infamy of this conduct he endeavoured to cover by pretensions to extraordinary piety and an invariable obedience to the injunctions of the Roman To him is to be referred the introduction into Spain of the horrible tribunal of the inquisition, which was first intended to compel the Moors and the Jews to enter the pale of the church, but was afterwards extended to all those who presumed to differ in opinion from the infallible doctrines of the holy see. The see. A. D. 1516. A. Pont, IV. A. Et. 41. (a) "L'yvrogne en a menti, je l'ai trompè plux de dix "foix." Ligue de Camb. liv. v. ii. 535 XIV. The bigotry of Ferdinand descended to his CHAP. successors. After tarnishing the character of Charles V. it was concentrated in that of A. D. 1516. Philip II. and became the scourge of Europe during the greater part of the sixteenth century. A. Et. 41. A. Pont. IV. Francis I. the king The death of Ferdinand of Aragon was an event which had been impatiently waited forms defor by Francis I. who was ambitious of adding signs upon the conquest of Naples to that of Milan. Dur- dom of Na ing his interview with Leo X. at Bologna, ples. there can be no doubt that this subject had been discussed; nor is it improbable that the pontiff, instead of directly opposing the views of the king, had advised him to postpone any hostile attempts until the death of Ferdinand; an event which from his advanced age and infirm state of health it was supposed could not be far distant. Having therefore complied with the advice of the pontiff, Francis might reasonably expect that he would now favour his pretensions; and as he well knew that the archduke Charles was threatened with some impediments in his succession to the crown of Aragon, he conceived that it might not be impracticable, either by negotiation or by force, to deprive him of the dominion of Naples.(a) In (a) Charles derived his pretensions to the crown of Ara gon The em In the midst of these dreams of aggrandizement, Francis was suddenly awakened by the alarm of hostilities on the part of the emperor elect Maximilian, who seemed at length to have roused himself from his lethargy and peror elect to have formed the resolution of repairing by Maximilian his own efforts the disasters of his allies. By enters Italy the seasonable aid of one hundred and twenty in great force. thousand crowns, which had been sent to him from Spain shortly before the death of Ferdinand, he was enabled to subsidize a body of fifteen thousand Swiss mercenaries, to which he had united at least an equal number of troops collected from various parts of the Austrian dominions. His preparations were hastened by the critical situation of the cities of Brescia and Verona, in consequence of a body of three thousand men, sent as an escort with supplies for the relief of those garrisons, having been intercepted by the Sieur de Lautrec the commander of the French troops in the Venetian service, and defeated with CHAP. A. D. 1516. A. Et. 41. A. Pont. IV. gon from his mother Joanna, the daughter of Ferdinand and XIV. pass A. D. 1516. with great slaughter. (a) With a promptitude CHAP. which astonished all Europe, Maximilian took the field in person early in the year, and ing through the Tyrol, arrived at Verona. A. Pont. IV. The united arms of the French and Venetians were unable to oppose his progress ;(b) and Lautrec, after having threatened in vain that he would arrest his course, was obliged to relinquish successively the passes of the Mincio, the Oglio, and the Adda, and eventually to take shelter within the walls of Milan.(c) His inef tempt This sudden and unexpected alteration in the aspect of public affairs once more awaken- fectual at ed in the mind of Leo X. the hopes of a against Mispeedy expulsion of the French from Italy; lan. and notwithstanding his alliance with Francis I. he immediately dispatched the cardinal da Bibbiena as his legate to the emperor; at the same time directing his general Marc-Antonio Colonna, then at the head of a small VOL. III. I body (a) Ligue de Cambr. lib. v. ii. 539. (b) "Fu creduto," says Muratori, "che quell' esercito "ascendesse a sei mila Cavalli, e a venticinque migliaja di "Fanti." Annali d'Ital. x. 124. (c) Guicciard. Hist. d' Ital. lib. xii. ii. 113. XIV. he CHAP. body of Roman troops, to join the imperial army.(a) The government of Milan had been intrusted by Francis I. to Charles duke of Bourbon, who avowed his resolution of defending the city to the last extremity. With the most vigilant attention he suppressed the symptoms of tumult among the inhabitants; he imprisoned such of them as he suspected of disaffection to his cause; even set fire to the suburbs of the city, to the great dissatisfaction and injury of the inhabitants, who attributed this measure to the advice of the Venetian Provveditore and the effects of national jealousy; and finally he omitted no measures that were likely to harrass the emperor in providing supplies for his numerous troops. The imperial army had now arrived in the vicinity of the city, and was increased by a considerable party of the Milanese exiles. Colonna had possessed himself of Lodi; where, contrary to his intentions, and notwithstanding his precautions, a great number of the French and their adherents were put to the sword; but whilst Maximilian was preparing for the attack of Milan, the arrival at that city of a body of ten thousand Swiss, whom A. D. 1516. A. Pout. IV. A. Et. 41. (a) Ligue de Cambr. liv. v. ii. 543. |