 Section 7 The Borges, Chapter 4, Part 1. On the occasion of each new election to the Papacy, it is the custom for all the Christian states to send a solemn Embassy to Rome to renew their oath of allegiance to the Holy Father. Ludovico Zforza conceived the idea that the Ambassadors of the Four Powers should unite and make their entry into Rome on the same day, appointing one of their envoy, Viz the Representative of the King of Naples, to be spokesmen for all four. Unluckily this plan did not agree with the magnificent projects of Piero dei Medici. That proud youth, who had been appointed Ambassador of the Florentine Republic, had seen in the mission entrusted to him by his fellow citizens the means of making a brilliant display of his own wealth. From the day of his nomination onwards, his palace was constantly filled with tailors, jewelers, and merchants of priceless stuffs. Magnificent clothes had been made for him embroidered with precious stones which he had selected from the family treasures. All his jewels, perhaps the richest in Italy, were distributed about deliveries of his pages, and one of them, his favourite, was to wear a collar of pearls valued by itself at one hundred thousand ducats, or almost a million of our francs. In his party, the Bishop of Arezzo, Gentile, who had once been Lorenzo dei Medici's tutor, was elected as second ambassador, and it was his duty to speak. Now Gentile, who had prepared his speech, counted on his eloquence to charm the ear quite as much as Piero counted on his riches to dazzle the eye. But the eloquence of Gentile would be lost completely if nobody was to speak but the Ambassador of the King of Naples, and the magnificence of Piero dei Medici would never be noticed at all if he went to Rome mixed up with all the other ambassadors. These two important interests, compromised by the Duke of Milan's proposition, changed the whole face of Italy. Lurovico Tzvortza had already made sure of Ferdinand's promise to conform to the plan he had invented, when the old king at the solicitation of Piero suddenly drew back. Tzvortza found out how this change had come about, and learned that it was Piero's influence that had overmastered his own. He could not disentangle the real motives that had promised the change, and imagined that there was some secret league against himself. He attributed the changed political program to the death of Lorenzo dei Medici. But whatever its cause might be, it was evidently prejudicial to his own interests. Florence, Milan's old ally, was abandoning her for Naples. He resolved to throw a counterweight into the scales, so, betraying to Alexander the policy of Piero and Ferdinand, he proposed to form a defensive and offensive alliance with him and admit the Republic of Venice. Duke Erkul III of Ferrara was also to be summoned to pronounce for one or the other of the two leagues. Alexander VI, wounded by Ferdinand's treatment of himself, accepted Ludovico Tzvortza's proposition, and an act of confederation was signed on the 22nd of April 1493, by which the new allies pledged themselves to set on foot for the maintenance of the public peace, an army of 20,000 horse and 6,000 infantry. Ferdinand was frightened when he beheld the formation of this league, but he thought he could neutralize its effects by depriving Ludovico Tzvortza of his regency, which he had already kept beyond the proper time, though as yet he was not strictly a usurper. Although the young Galliazzo, his nephew, had reached the age of 2 and 20, Ludovico Tzvortza nonetheless continued regent. Now Ferdinand definitely proposed to the Duke of Milan that he should resign the sovereign power into the hands of his nephew on pain of being declared a new usurper. This was a bold stroke, but there was a risk of inciting Ludovico Tzvortza to start one of those political plots that he was so familiar with, never recoiling from any situation however dangerous it might be. This was exactly what happened. Tzvortza, uneasy about his duchy, resolved to threaten Ferdinand's kingdom. Nothing could be easier. He knew the warlike notions of Charles VIII and the pretensions of the House of France to the Kingdom of Naples. He sent two ambassadors to invite the young king to claim the rights of Anjou usurped by Aragon, and with a view to reconciling Charles to so distant and hazardous an expedition, offered him a free and friendly passage through his own states. Such a proposition was welcomed to Charles VIII, as we might suppose from our knowledge of his character. A magnificent prospect was opened to him as by an enchanter. What Ludovico Tzvortza was offering him was virtually the command of the Mediterranean, the protectorship of the whole of Italy. It was an open road through Naples and Venice that well might lead to the conquest of Turkey or the Holy Land, if he ever had the fancy to avenge the disasters of Nicopolis and Mansoura. So the proposition was accepted, and a secret alliance was signed with Count Charles de Belgio Jassa and the Count of Cajasa acting for Ludovico Tzvortza, and the Bishop of San Malo and Seneschal de Bocaire for Charles VIII. By this treaty it was agreed that the King of France should attempt the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples, that the Duke of Milan should grant a passage to the King of France through his territories and accompany him with five hundred lances, that the Duke of Milan should permit the King of France to send out as many ships of war as he pleased from Genoa, Lastly, that the Duke of Milan should lend the King of France two hundred thousand dockets, payable when he started. On his side Charles VIII agreed to defend the personal authority of Ludovico Tzvortza over the Duchy of Milan against anyone who might attempt to turn him out. To keep two hundred French lances always in readiness to help the House of Tzvortza at Asti, a town belonging to the Duke of Orleans by the inheritance of his mother Valentina Visconti. Lastly, to hand over to his ally the Principality of Tarentum immediately after the conquest of Naples was affected. This treaty was scarcely concluded when Charles VIII, who exaggerated its advantages, began to dream of freeing himself from every let or hindrance to the expedition. Precautions were necessary for his relations with the great powers were far from being what he could have wished. Indeed Henry VII had disembarked at Calais with a formidable army and was threatening France with another invasion. Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, if they had not assisted at the fall of the House of Anjou, had at any rate helped the Aragon Party with men and money. Lastly the war with the Emperor acquired a fresh impetus when Charles VIII sent back Margaret of Burgundy to her father Maximilian and contracted a marriage with Anne of Brittany. By the Treaty of Etape on the 3rd of November 1492 Henry VII cancelled the alliance with the King of the Romans and pledged himself not to follow his conquests. This cost Charles VIII 745,000 gold crowns and the expenses of the war with England. By the Treaty of Barcelona dated the 19th of January 1493 Ferdinand the Catholic and Isabella agreed never to grant aid to their cousin Ferdinand of Naples and never to put obstacles in the way of the French King in Italy. This cost Charles VIII, Perpignan, Roussillon and the Sardine, which had all been given to Louis XI as a hostage for the sum of 300,000 ducats by John of Aragon, but at the time agreed upon Louis XI would not give them up for the money, for the old fox knew very well how important were these doors to the Pyrenees and proposed in case of war to keep them shut. Lastly by the Treaty of Sennlis dated the 23rd of May 1493 Maximilian granted a gracious pardon to France for the insult her King had offered him. It cost Charles VIII the Counties of Burgundy, Artois, Charley and the Seigneurée of Noyer which had come to him as Margaret's dowry, and also the towns of Aire, Hezden and Bethune which he promised to deliver up to Philip of Austria on the day he came of age. By dint of all these sacrifices the young King made peace with his neighbours and could set on foot the enterprise that Ludovico Sforza had proposed. We have already explained that the project came into Sforza's mind when his plan about the deputation was refused and that the refusal was due to Pierro de' Medici's desire to make an exhibition of his magnificent jewels and Gentili's desire to make his speech. Thus the vanity of a tutor and the pride of his scholar together combined to agitate the civilised world from the Gulf of Tarentum to the Pyrenees. Alexander VI was in the very centre of the impending earthquake and before Italy had any idea that the earliest shocks were at hand he had profited by the perturbed preoccupation of other people to give the lie to that famous speech we have reported. He created Cardinal John Borgia, a nephew who during the last pontificate had been elected Archbishop of Montreal and Governor of Rome. This promotion caused no discontent because of John's antecedence and Alexander, encouraged by the success of this, promised to César Borgia the Archbishopric of Valencia, a benefice he had himself enjoyed before his elevation to the papacy. But here the difficulty arose on the side of the recipient. The young man, full-blooded, with all the vices and natural instincts of a captain of Condottieri, had very great trouble in assuming even the appearance of a churchman's virtue. But as he knew from his own father's mouth that the highest secular dignities were reserved for his elder brother, he decided to take what he could get for fear of getting nothing, but his hatred for Francesco grew stronger. For from henceforth he was doubly his rival, both in love and ambition. Suddenly Alexander beheld the old King Ferdinand returning to his side and at the very moment when he least expected it. The Pope was too clever a politician to accept a reconciliation without finding out the cause of it. He soon learned what plots were hatching at the French court against the Kingdom of Naples and the whole situation was explained. Now it was his turn to impose conditions. He demanded the completion of a marriage between Goffredo, his third son, and Dona Sancia, Alfonso's illegitimate daughter. He demanded that she should bring her husband as dowry, the Principality of Squilos, and the County of Caryati, with an income of 10,000 ducats and the office of Proto-Notary, one of the seven great crown offices which are independent of royal control. He demanded for his eldest son, whom Ferdinand the Catholic had just made Duke of Gandia, the Principality of Tricarico, the Counties of Charamanti, Loria, and Carinola, an income of 12,000 ducats and the first of the seven great offices which should fall vacant. He demanded that Virginia Orsini, his ambassador at the Neapolitan court, should be given a third great office, viz that of Constable, the most important of them all. Lastly he demanded that Giuliano de la Rivera, one of the five cardinals who had opposed his election and was now taking refuge at Ostia, where the oak wence he took as name and bearings is still to be seen carved on all the walls, should be driven out of that town and the town itself given over to him. In exchange he merely pledged himself never to withdraw from the House of Aragon the investiture of the Kingdom of Naples accorded by his predecessors. Ferdinand was paying somewhat dearly for a simple promise, but on the keeping of this promise the legitimacy of his power wholly depended. For the Kingdom of Naples was a thief to the Holy See, and to the Pope alone belonged the right of pronouncing on the justice of each competitor's pretensions. The continuance of this investiture was therefore of the highest conceivable importance to Aragon, just at the time when Anju was rising up with an army at her back to dispossess her. For a year after he mounted the papal throne, Alexander VI had made great strides as we see in the extension of his temporal power. In his own hands he held, to be sure, only the least in size of the Italian territories. But by the marriage of his daughter Lucrezia with the Lord of Pizarro he was stretching out one hand as far as Venice, while by the marriage of the Prince of Squilas with Dona Sancia and the territories conceded to the Duke of Gandia he was touching with the other hand the boundary of Calabria. When this treaty so advantageous for himself was duly signed he made Cesar cardinal of Santa Maria Novella, for Cesar was always complaining of being left out in the distribution of his father's favours. Only as there was as yet no precedent in Church history for a bastard's donning the scarlet the Pope hunted up four false witnesses who declared that Cesar was the son of Count Ferdinand of Castile who was as we know that valuable person Don Manuel Melchior and who played the father's part with just as much solemnity as he had played the husband's. The wedding of the two bastards was most splendid, rich with a double pomp of church and king. As the Pope had settled that the young bridal pair should live near him Cesar Borgia, the new cardinal undertook to manage the ceremony of their entry into Rome and the reception and Lucrezia who enjoyed at her father's side an amount of favour hitherto unheard of at the papal court desired on her part to contribute all the splendour she had in her power to add. He therefore went to receive the young people with a stately and magnificent escort of lords and cardinals while she awaited them attended by the loveliest and noblest ladies of Rome in one of the halls of the Vatican. A throne was there prepared for the Pope and at his feet were cushions for Lucrezia and Dona Sancia. Thus writes Tomaso Tomasi, by the look of the assembly and the sort of conversation that went on for hours you would suppose you were present at some magnificent and voluptuous royal audience of ancient Assyria rather than at the severe consistory of a Roman pontiff whose solemn duty it is to exhibit in every act the sanctity of the name he bears. But continues the same historian, if the eve of Pentecost was spent in such worthy functions the celebrations of the coming of the Holy Ghost on the following day were no less decorous and becoming to the spirit of the Church for thus writes the master of the ceremonies in his journal. The Pope made his entry into the Church of the Holy Apostles and beside him on the marble steps of the pulpit where the canons of St. Peter are wont to chant the Epistle and Gospel sat Lucrezia his daughter and Sancia his son's wife. Round about them a disgrace to the Church and a public scandal were grouped a number of other Roman ladies far more fit to dwell in Messalina's city than in St. Peter's. So at Roman Naples did men slumber while ruin was at hand. So did they waste their time and squander their money in a vain display of pride and this was going on while the French thoroughly alive were busy laying hands upon the torches with which they would presently set Italy on fire. Indeed the designs of Charles VIII for conquest were no longer for anybody a matter of doubt. The young king had sent an embassy to the various Italian states composed of Perone de Bashi, Brigonet, Dobigny and the President of the Provençal Parliament. The mission of this embassy was to demand from the Italian princes their cooperation in recovering the rights of the Crown of Naples for the House of Anjou. The embassy first approached the Venetians demanding aid and counsel for the king their master. But the Venetians faithful to their political tradition which had gained for them the subricot of the Jews of Christendom replied that they were not in a position to give any aid to the young king so long as they had to keep ceaselessly unguard against the Turks. That as to advice it would be to create a presumption in them to give advice to a prince who was surrounded by such experienced generals and such able ministers. Perone de Bashi, when he found he could get no other answer next made for Florence. Pierro de Medici received him at a grand council for he summoned on this occasion not only the Seventy but also the gonfalonieri who had sat for the last thirty-four years in the Signoria. The French ambassador put forward his proposal that the Republic should permit their army to pass through her states and pledge herself in that case to supply for ready money all the necessary victual and fodder. The magnificent Republic replied that if Charles VIII had been marching against the Turks instead of against Ferdinand she would be only too ready to grant everything he wished but being bound to the House of Aragon by a treaty she could not betray her ally by yielding to the demands of the King of France. Everything's are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Celebrated Crimes volume one by Alexander Dumas translated by GB Ives Section VIII. The Borgias Chapter IV Part II The ambassadors next turned their steps to Siena. The poor little republic terrified by the honour of being considered at all replied that it was her desire to preserve a strict neutrality, that she was too weak to declare beforehand either for or against such mighty rivals, for she would naturally be obliged to join the stronger party. Furnished with this reply, which had at least the merit of frankness, the French envoys proceeded to Rome, and were conducted into the Pope's presence where they demanded the investiture of the kingdom of Naples for their king. After the sixth replied that, as his predecessors had granted this investiture to the House of Aragon, he could not take it away unless it were first established that the House of Anjou had a better claim than the House that was to be dispossessed. Then he represented to Perone de Ibasci that as Naples was a thief of the holy sea, to the Pope alone the choice of her sovereign properly belonged, and that in consequence, to attack the reigning sovereign, was to attack the church itself. The result of the embassy we see was not very promising for Charles VIII, so he resolved to rely on his ally Ludovico Sforza alone, and to relegate all other questions to the fortunes of war. A piece of news that reached him about this time strengthened him in this resolution. This was the death of Ferdinand. The old king had caught a severe cold and cough on his return from the hunting field, and in two days he was at his last gasp. On the 25th of January, 1494, he passed away at the age of seventy after a thirty-six years' reign, leaving the throne to his elder son Alfonso, who was immediately chosen as his successor. Ferdinand never belied his title of the happy ruler. His death occurred at the very moment when the fortune of his family was changing. The new king Alfonso was not a novice in arms. He had already fought successfully against Florence and Venice, and had driven the Turks out of Otranto. Besides, he had the name of being as cunning as his father in the torturous game of politics, so much in vogue at the Italian courts. He did not despair of counting among his allies the very enemy he was at war with when Charles VIII first put forward his pretensions. We mean Bejesus II. So he dispatched to Bejesus one of his confidential ministers, Camillo Pandoni, to give the Turkish emperor to understand that the expedition to Italy was to the king of France nothing but a blind for approaching the scene of Mohammedan conquests, and that if Charles VIII were once at the Adriatic it would only take him a day or two to get across and attack Macedonia. From there he could easily go by land to Constantinople. Consequently he suggested that Bejesus, for the maintenance of their common interests, should supply 6,000 horse and 6,000 infantry. He himself would furnish their pay so long as they were in Italy. It was settled that Pandoni should be joined at Tarentum by Giorgio Bucciarda, Alexander VI's envoy, who was commissioned by the Pope to engage the Turks to help him against the Christians. But while he was waiting for Bejesus' reply, which might involve a delay of several months, Alfonso requested that a meeting might take place between Piero de Medici, the Pope and himself, to take counsel together about important affairs. This meeting was arranged at Vicovaro near Tivoli, and the three interested parties duly met on the appointed day. The intention of Alfonso, who before leaving Naples had settled the disposition of his naval forces, and given his brother Frederick the command of a fleet that consisted of thirty-six galleys, eighteen large and twelve small vessels, with injunctions to wait at Livorno and keep a watch on the fleet Charles VIII was getting ready at the port of Genoa, was above all things to check with the aid of his allies the progress of operations on land. Without counting the contingent he expected his allies to furnish, he had at his immediate disposal a hundred squadrons of heavy cavalry, twenty men in each, and three thousand bowmen and light horse. He proposed, therefore, to advance at once into Lombardy to get up a revolution in favour of his nephew Galliazzo and to drive Ludovico Sforza out of Milan before he could get help from France, so that Charles VIII, at the very time of crossing the Alps, would find an enemy to fight instead of a friend who had promised him a safe passage, men, and money. This was the scheme of a great politician and a bold commander, but as everybody had come in pursuit of his own interests, regardless of the common, this plan was very coldly received by Piero dei Medici, who was afraid lest in the war he should play only the same poor part he had been threatened with in the affair of the Embassy. By Alexander VI that was rejected because he reckoned on employing the troops of Alfonso on his own account. He reminded the King of Naples of one of the conditions of the investiture he had promised him, vis that he should drive out the cardinal Giuliano della Rovera from the town of Ostia and give up the town to him, according to the stipulation already agreed upon. Besides the advantages that had accrued to Virginia Orsini, Alexander's favourite, from his Embassy to Naples, had brought upon him the ill will of Prospero and Frabrizio Colonna, who owned nearly all the villages round about Rome. Now the Pope could not endure to live in the midst of such powerful enemies, and the most important matter was to deliver him from all of them, seeing that it was really of moment that he should be at peace, who was the head and soul of the League, where of the others were only the body and limbs. Although Alfonso had clearly seen through the motives of Piero's coldness, and Alexander had not even given him the trouble of seeking his, he was nonetheless obliged to bow to the will of his allies, leaving the one to defend the Apennines against the French, and helping the other to shake himself free of his neighbours in the Romagna. Consequently he pressed on the siege of Ostia and added to Virginia's forces, which already amounted to two hundred men of the Papal Army, a body of his own light horse. This little army was to be stationed round about Rome, and was to enforce obedience from the colonas. The rest of his troops Alfonso divided into two parties, one he left in the hands of his son Ferdinand, with orders to scour the Romagna and worry the petty princes into levying and supporting the contingent they had promised, while with the other he himself defended the defiles of Abruzzi. On the twenty-third of April at three o'clock in the morning, Alexander the Sixth was freed from the first and fiercest of his foes. Giuliana della Rovera, seeing the impossibility of holding out any longer against Alfonso's troops, embarked on a brigantine which was to carry him to Savona. From that day forward, Virginia Orsini began that famous partisan warfare which reduced the country about Rome to the most pathetic desolation the world has ever seen. During all this time Charles the Eighth was at Lyon, not only uncertain as to the route he ought to take for getting into Italy, but even beginning to reflect a little on the chances and risks of such an expedition. He had found no sympathy anywhere except with Ludovico Sforza, so it appeared not unlikely that he would have to fight not the kingdom of Naples alone, but the whole of Italy to boot. In his preparations for war he had spent almost all the money at his disposal. The Lady of Beaujeu and the Duke of Bourbon both condemned his enterprise. Brickonet, who had advised it, did not venture to support it now. At last Charles, more irresolute than ever, had recalled several regiments that had actually started when Cardinal Giuliano della Rivera, driven out of Italy by the Pope, arrived at Lyon and presented himself before the King. The Cardinal, full of hatred, full of hope, hastened to Charles and found him on the point of abandoning that enterprise on which, as Alexander's enemy, della Rivera rested his whole expectation of vengeance. He informed Charles of the quarreling among his enemies. He showed him that each of them was seeking his own ends. Piero de Medici, the gratification of his pride, the Pope, the aggrandisement of his house. He pointed out that armed fleets were in the ports of Ville-Franche, Marseille, and Genoa, and that these armaments would be lost. He reminded him that he had sent Pierre Dourf, his grand equary, on in advance to have splendid accommodations prepared in the spinola and Doria palaces. Lastly, he urged that ridicule and disgrace would fall on him from every side if he renounced an enterprise so loudly vaunted beforehand for whose successful execution moreover he had been obliged to sign three treaties of peace that were all vexatious enough, viz with Henry VII, with Maximilian, and with Ferdinand the Catholic. Piero de la Rovera had exercised true insight in probing the vanity of the young king, and Charles did not hesitate for a single moment. He ordered his cousin, the Duke of Orléans, who later on became Louis XII, to take command of the French fleet and bring it to Genoa. He dispatched a courier to Androine de Besse, Baron de Tricastel, bidding him to take to Asti the two thousand Swiss foot soldiers he had levied in the cantons. Lastly, he started himself from Vienne in Dauphine on the twenty-third of August, fourteen ninety-four, crossed the Alps by Montgeneuve, without encountering a single body of troops to dispute his passage, dissented into Piedmont and Montferrato, both just then governed by women regents, the sovereigns of both principalities being children. Charles John M.A. and William John aged respectively six and eight. The two regions appeared before Charles VIII, one at Turin, one at Cassal, each at the head of a numerous and brilliant court, and both glittering with jewels and precious stones. Charles, although he quite well knew that for all these friendly demonstrations they were both bound by treaty to his enemy Alfonso of Naples, treated them all the same with the greatest politeness, and when they made protestations of friendship asked them to let him have a proof of it, suggesting they should lend him the diamonds they were covered with. The two regions could do no less than obey the invitation, which was really a command. They took off necklaces, rings and earrings. Charles VII gave them a receipt accurately drawn up and pledged the jewels for twenty thousand ducats. Then enriched by this money he resumed his journey and made his way towards Asti. The Duke of Orleans held the sovereignty of Asti, as we said before, and Hither came to meet Charles, both Ludovico Zforza and his father-in-law, Hercules d'Este, Duke of Ferrara. They brought with them not only the promised troops and money, but also a court composed of the loveliest women in Italy. The balls, fates and tornies began with the magnificence surpassing anything that Italy had ever seen before, but suddenly they were interrupted by the king's illness. This was the first example in Italy of the disease brought by Christopher Columbus from the New World and was called by the Italians the French and by Frenchmen the Italian disease. The probability is that some of Columbus's crew who were at Genoa or their abouts had already brought over this strange and cruel complaint that counterbalanced the gains of the American gold mines. The king's indisposition, however, did not prove so grave as was at first supposed. He was cured by the end of a few weeks and proceeded on his way towards Pavia where the young Duke John Galliazzo lay dying. He and the king of France were first cousins, sons of two sisters of the house of Savoy, so Charles VIII was obliged to see him and went to visit him in the castle where he lived more like prisoner than lord. He found him half reclining on a couch, pale and emaciated, some said in consequence of luxurious living, others from the effects of a slow but deadly poison. But whether or not the poor young man was desirous of pouring out a complaint to Charles he did not dare say a word, for his uncle Ludovico Sforza never left the king of France for an instant. But at the very moment when Charles VIII was getting up to go the door opened and a young woman appeared and threw herself at the king's feet. She was the wife of the unlucky John Galliazzo and came to entreat his cousin to do nothing against her father Alfonso nor against her brother Ferdinand. At sight of her Sforza scowled with an anxious and threatening aspect, for he knew not what impression might be produced on his ally by this scene. But he was soon reassured, for Charles replied that he had advanced too far to draw back now and that the glory of his name was at stake as well as the interests of his kingdom and that these two motives were far too important to be sacrificed to any sentiment of pity he might feel, however real and deep it might be and was. The poor young woman, who had based her last hope on this appeal, then rose from her knees and threw herself sobbing into her husband's arms. Charles VIII and Ludovico Sforza took their leave. John Galliazzo was doomed. Two days after, Charles VIII left for Florence accompanied by his ally. But scarcely had they reached Parma when a messenger caught them up and announced to Ludovico that his nephew was just dead. Ludovico at once begged Charles to excuse his leaving him to finish the journey alone. The interests which called him back to Milan were so important, he said, that he could not under the circumstances stay away a single day longer. As a fact, he had to make sure of succeeding the man he had assassinated. But Charles VIII continued his road not without some uneasiness. The sight of the young prince on his deathbed had moved him deeply, for at the bottom of his heart he was convinced that Ludovico Sforza was his murderer, and a murderer might very well be a traitor. He was going forward into an unfamiliar country with a declared enemy in front of him and a doubtful friend behind. He was now at the entrance to the mountains, and as his army had no store of provisions and only lived from hand to mouth, a forced delay however short would mean famine. In front of him was Fivizzano, nothing it is true but a village surrounded by walls, but beyond Fivizzano Le Sarzano and Pietro Santa, both of them considered impregnable fortresses. Worse than this, they were coming into a part of the country that was especially unhealthy in October, had no natural product except oil, and even procured its own corn from neighboring provinces. It was plain that a whole army might perish there in a few days, either from scarcity of food or from the unwholesome air, both of which were more disastrous than the impediments offered at every step by the nature of the ground. The situation was grave, but the pride of Pietro de Medici came once more to the rescue of the fortunes of Charles VIII. CHAPTER VIII. Pietro de Medici had, as we may remember, undertaken to hold the entrance to Tuscany against the French. When, however, he saw his enemy coming down from the Alps, he felt less confident about his own strength and demanded help from the Pope. But scarcely had the rumour of foreign invasion begun to spread in the Romagna, then the Colonna family declared themselves the French king's men, and collecting all their forces seized Ostia, and there awaited the coming of the French fleet to offer a passage through Rome. The Pope, therefore, instead of sending troops to Florence, was obliged to recall all his soldiers to be near the capital. The only promise he made to Pietro was that if Bejesus should send him the troops that he had been asking for, he would dispatch that army for him to make use of. Pietro de Medici had not yet taken any resolution or formed any plan when he suddenly heard two startling pieces of news. A jealous neighbour of his, the Marquis of Tordariovo, had betrayed to the French the weak side of Fivizzano, so that they had taken it by storm, and had put its soldiers and inhabitants to the edge of the sword. On another side, Gilbert of Montpancier, who had been lighting up the sea coast so as to keep open the communications between the French army and their fleet, had met with a detachment sent by Paolo Orsini to Sarzano to reinforce the garrison there, and after an hour's fighting had cut it to pieces. No quarter had been granted to any of the prisoners. Every man the French could get hold of they had massacred. This was the first occasion on which the Italians, accustomed as they were to the chivalrous contests of the 15th century, found themselves in contact with savage foreigners who, less advanced in civilization, had not yet come to consider war as a clever game, but looked upon it as simply a mortal conflict. So the news of these two butcheries produced a tremendous sensation at Florence, the richest city in Italy, and the most prosperous in commerce and in art. Every Florentine imagined the French to be like an army of those ancient barbarians who were wont to extinguish fire with blood. The prophecies of Savonarola, who had predicted the foreign invasion and the destruction that should follow it, were recalled to the minds of all. And so much perturbation was evinced that Piero dei Medici, bent on getting peace at any price, forced to decree upon the Republic whereby she was to send an embassy to the conqueror, and obtained leave resolved as he was to deliver himself in person into the hands of the French monarch, to act as one of the ambassadors. He accordingly quitted Florence, accompanied by four other messengers, and on his arrival at Pietrasanta sent to ask from Charles VIII the safe conduct for himself alone. The day after he made this request, Brigonette N. de Piennes came to fetch him, and led him into the presence of Charles VIII. Piero dei Medici, in spite of his name and influence, was in the eyes of the French nobility, who considered it a dishonorable thing to concern oneself with art or industry, nothing more than a rich merchant with whom it would be absurd to stand upon any very strict ceremony. So Charles VIII received him on horseback, and addressing him with a haughty air as a master might address a servant, demanded whence came this pride of his that made him dispute his entrance into Tuscany. Piero dei Medici replied that with the actual consent of Louis XI his father Lorenzo had concluded a treaty of alliance with Ferdinand of Naples, that accordingly he had acted in obedience to prior obligations, but as he did not wish to push too far his devotion to the House of Aragon or his opposition to France, he was ready to do whatever Charles VIII might demand of him. The king, who had never looked for such humility in his enemy, demanded that Sarzano should be given up to him. To this Piero dei Medici at once consented. Then the conqueror, wishing to see how far the ambassador of the Magnificent Republic would extend his politeness, replied that this concession was far from satisfying him, and that he still must have the keys of Pietro Santa, Pisa, Librafata, and Livorno. Piero saw no more difficulty about these than about Sarzano and consented, on Charles's mere promise by word of mouth to restore the town when he had achieved the conquest of Naples. At last Charles VIII, seeing that this man who had been sent out to negotiate with him was very easy to manage, exacted as a final condition, a sine qua known, however, of his royal protection, that the Magnificent Republic should lend him the sum of two hundred thousand florins. Piero found it no harder to dispose of money than a fortresses, and replied that his fellow citizens would be happy to render this service to their new ally. Then Charles VIII set him on horseback and ordered him to go on in front, so as to begin to carry out his promises by yielding up the four fortresses he had insisted on having. Piero obeyed, and the French army led by the grandson of Cosimo the Great, and the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, continued its triumphal march through Tuscany. On his arrival at Lucca, Piero de Medici learned that his concessions to the King of France were making a terrible commotion at Florence. The Magnificent Republic had supposed that what Charles VIII wanted was simply a passage through her territory, so when the news came there was a general feeling of discontent which was augmented by the return of the other ambassadors whom Piero had not even consulted when he took action as he did. Piero considered it necessary that he should return, so he asked Charles's permission to proceed him to the capital. As he had fulfilled all his promises except the matter of the loan which could not be settled anywhere but at Florence, the King saw no objection, and the very evening after he quitted the French army, Piero returned incognito to his palace in the Villalargo. The next day he proposed to present himself before the Signoria, but when he arrived at the piazza del Palazzo Vecchio, he perceived the gunfall in Yare Jacopo de Nerly coming towards him, signalling him that it was useless to attempt to go farther and pointing out to him the figure of Lucca Corsini standing at the gate sword in hand. Behind him stood guards ordered if need were to dispute his passage. Piero de Medici, amazed by an opposition that he was experiencing for the first time in his life, did not attempt resistance. He went home and wrote to his brother-in-law, Paolo Orsini, to come and help him with his John d'Armes. Unluckily for him his letter was intercepted. The Signoria considered that it was an attempt at rebellion. They summoned the citizens to their aid. They armed hastily, sallied forth in crowds, and thronged about the piazza of the palace. Meanwhile Cardinal John de Medici had mounted on horseback, and under the impression that the Orsini were coming to the rescue, was riding about the streets of Florence accompanied by his servants and uttering his battle cry, Palle, Palle. But times had changed. There was no echo to the cry, and when the Cardinal reached the Via dei Callizzioli a threatening murmur was the only response, and he understood that instead of trying to arouse Florence he had much better get away before the excitement ran too high. He promptly retired to his own palace, expecting to find there his two brothers, Piero and Giuliano. But they, under the protection of Orsini and his John d'Armes, had made their escape by the Porto San Gallo. The peril was imminent, and John de Medici wished to follow their example, but wherever he went he was met by a clamour that grew more and more threatening. At last as he saw that the danger was constantly increasing he dismounted from his horse and ran into a house that he found standing open. This house by a lucky chance communicated with a convent of Franciscans. One of the friars lent the fugitive his dress and the Cardinal, under the protection of this humble incognito, contrived at last to get outside Florence and joined his two brothers in the Apennines. The same day the Medici were declared traitors and rebels, and ambassadors were sent to the King of France. They found him at Pisa, where he was granting independence to the town, which eighty seven years ago had fallen under the rule of the Florentines. Charles VIII made no reply to the envoys, but merely announced that he was going to march on Florence. Such a reply one may easily understand terrified the Republic. Florence had no time to prepare a defence and no strength in her present state to make one. But all the powerful houses assembled and armed their own servants and retainers and awaited the issue, intending not to begin hostilities, but to defend themselves should the French make an attack. It was agreed that if any necessity should arise for taking up arms, the bells of the various churches in the town should ring appeal and so serve as a general signal. Such a resolution was perhaps a more significant moment in Florence than it could have been in any other town. For the palaces that still remain from that period are virtually fortresses, and the eternal fights between gulfs and gibbalines had familiarised the Tuscan people with street warfare. The King appeared on the seventeenth of November in the evening at the gate of San Friano. He found there the nobles of Florence clad in their most magnificent apparel, accompanied by priests chanting hymns, and by a mob who were full of joy at any prospect of change and hoped for a return of liberty after the fall of the Medici. Charles VIII stopped for a moment under a sort of gilded canopy that had been prepared for him and replied in a few evasive words to the welcoming speeches which were addressed to him by the Signoria. Then he asked for his lance. He said it in rest and gave the order to enter the town, the whole of which he paraded with his army following him with arms erect, and then went down to the palace of the Medici which had been prepared for him. The next day negotiations commenced, but everyone was out of his reckoning. The Florentines had received Charles VIII as a guest, but he had entered the city as a conqueror. So when the deputies of the Signoria spoke of ratifying the Treaty of Piero dei Medici, the King replied that such a treaty no longer existed as they had banished the man who made it, that he had conquered Florence as he proved the night before when he entered Lance in hand, that he should retain the sovereignty and would make any further decision whenever it pleased him to do so. Further he would let them know later on whether he would reinstate the Medici or whether he would delegate his authority to the Signoria. All they had to do was to come back the next day and he would give them his ultimatum in writing. This reply threw Florence into a great state of consternation, but the Florentines were confirmed in their resolution of making a stand. Charles, for his part, had been astonished by the great number of the inhabitants. Not only was every street he had passed through thickly lined with people, but every house from garret to basement seemed overflowing with human beings. Florence indeed, thanks to her rapid increase in population, could muster nearly one hundred fifty thousand souls. The next day at the appointed hour the deputies made their appearance to meet the King. They were again introduced into his presence and the discussion was reopened. At last, as they were coming to no sort of understanding, the Royal Secretary, standing at the foot of the throne upon which Charles VIII sat with covered head, unfolded a paper and began to read, article by article, the conditions imposed by the King of France. But scarcely had he read a third of the document when the discussion began more hotly than ever before. Then Charles VIII said that thus it should be, or he would order his trumpets to be sounded. Hereupon Piero Caponi, Secretary to the Republic, commonly called the Scipio of Florence, snatched from the Royal Secretary's hand the shameful proposal of capitulation and tearing it to pieces, exclaimed, Very good, sire, blow your trumpets, and we will ring our bells. He threw the pieces in the face of the amazed reader and dashed out of the room to give the terrible order that would convert the streets of Florence into a battlefield. Still against all probabilities this bold answer saved the town. The French supposed from such audacious words addressed as they were to men who so far had encountered no single obstacle that the Florentines were possessed of sure resources to them unknown. The few prudent men who retained any influence over the King advised him accordingly to abate his pretensions. The result was that Charles VIII offered new and more reasonable conditions which were accepted, signed by both parties, and proclaimed on the 26th of November during mass in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiori. These were the conditions. The Signoria were to pay to Charles VIII as subsidy, the sum of 120,000 Florence in three installments. The Signoria were to remove the sequestration imposed upon the property of the Medici and to recall the decree that set a price on their heads. The Signoria were to engage to pardon the peasants on condition of their again submitting to the rule of Florence. Lastly the Signoria were to recognize the claims of the Duke of Milan over Sarzano and Pietrasanta, and these claims thus recognized were to be settled by arbitration. In exchange for this the King of France pledged himself to restore the fortresses that had been given up to him, either after he had made himself master of the town of Naples, or when this war should be ended by a peace or a two years truce, or else when, for any reason whatsoever, he should have quitted Italy. Two days after this proclamation, Charles VIII, much to the joy of the Signoria, left Florence and advanced towards Rome by the route of Pogibondi and Siena. The Pope began to be affected by the general terror. He had heard of the massacres of Fivizzano, of Lungiani and of Imola. He knew that Piero de' Medici had handed over the Tuscan fortresses that Florence had succumbed and that Catherine Sforza had made terms with the conqueror. He saw the broken remnants of the Neapolitan troops past disheartened through Rome to rally their strength in the Abruzzi, and thus he found himself exposed to an enemy who was advancing upon him with the whole of the Romagna under his control, from one sea to the other, in a line of march extending from Piambina to Ancona. It was at this juncture that Alexander VI received his answer from Bejesus II. The reason of so long a delay was that the Pope's envoy and the Neapolitan ambassador had been stopped by John de la Rivera, the cardinal Giuliano's brother, just as they were disembarking at Senegalia. They were charged with a verbal answer, which was that the Sultan at this moment was busied with a triple war, first with the Sultan of Egypt, secondly with the King of Hungary, and thirdly with the Greeks of Macedonia and Epirus, and therefore he could not, with all the will in the world, help his holiness with armed men. But the envoys were accompanied by a favorite of the sultans bearing a private letter to Alexander VI, in which Bejesus offered on certain conditions to help him with money. Although as we see the messengers had been stopped on the way, the Turkish envoy had all the same found a means of getting his despatch sent to the Pope. We give it here in all its naivete. Quote, Bejesus the Sultan, son of the Sultan Mohammed II, by the grace of God, emperor of Asia and Europe, to the father and lord of all the Christians Alexander VI, Roman Pontiff and Pope by the will of heavenly providence. First, greetings that we owe him and bestow with all our heart. We make known to your highness by the envoy of your mightiness, Giorgio Bucciarda, that we have been apprised of your convalescence and received the news thereof with great joy and comfort. Among other matters the said Bucciarda has brought us word that the king of France now marching against your highness has shown a desire to take under his protection our brother Degem, who is now under yours, a thing which is not only against our will, but which would also be the cause of great injury to your highness and to all Christendom. In turning the matter over with your envoy Giorgio, we have devised a scheme most conducive to peace and most advantageous and honorable to your highness, at the same time satisfactory to ourselves personally. It would be well if our aforesaid brother Degem, who, being a man is liable to death and who is now in the hands of your highness, should quit this world as soon as possible, seeing that his departure, a real good to him in his position, would be of great use to your highness and very conducive to your peace, while at the same time it would be very agreeable to us, your friend. If this proposition is favourably received, as we hope, by your highness, in your desire to be friendly towards us, it would be advisable, both in the interests of your highness and for our own satisfaction, that it should occur rather sooner than later, and by the surest means that you might be pleased to employ, so that our said brother Degem might pass from the pains of this world into a better and more peaceful life, where at last he may find repose. If your highness should adopt this plan and send us the body of our brother, we, the above-named sultan Bejeset, pledge ourselves to send to your highness wheresoever and by whatsoever hands you please, the sum of three hundred thousand ducats, with which some you could purchase some fair domain for your children. In order to facilitate this purchase we would be willing, while awaiting the issue, to place the three hundred thousand ducats in the hands of a third party, so that your highness might be quite certain of receiving the money on an appointed day in return for the dispatch of our brother's body. Moreover we promised your highness herewith, for your greater satisfaction, that never so long as you shall remain on the pontifical throne shall there be any hurt done to the Christians, neither by us, nor by our servants, nor by any of our compatriots, of whatsoever kind or condition they may be, neither on sea nor on land. And for the still further satisfaction of your highness, and in order that no doubt whatever may remain concerning the fulfillment of our promises, we have sworn and affirmed in the presence of Buchiarda, your envoy, by the true God whom we adore and by our holy gospels, that they shall be faithfully kept from the first point unto the last. And now for the final and complete assurance of your highness, in order that no doubt may still remain in your heart, and that you may be once again and profoundly convinced of our good faith. We the aforesaid sultan Bejesus, do swear by the true God, who has created the heavens and the earth, and all that therein is, that we will religiously observe all that has been above said and declared, and in the future will do nothing and undertake nothing that may be contrary to the interests of your highness. Given at Constantinople in our palace on the 12th of September A.D. 1494. End of Section 9 Section 10 of Celebrated Crimes, Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Celebrated Crimes, Volume 1 by Alexander Dumas. Translated by G.B. Ives. Section 10. The Borges, Chapter 5, Part 2 This letter was a cause of great joy to the Holy Father. The aid of four or five thousand Turks would be insufficient under the present circumstances, and would only serve to compromise the head of Christendom. While the sum of three hundred thousand ducats, that is nearly a million francs, was good to get in any sort of circumstances. It is true that, so long as Degem lived, Alexander was drawing an income of one hundred and eighty thousand leavers, which as a life annuity represented a capital of nearly two millions. But when one needs ready money, one ought to be able to make a sacrifice in the way of discount. All the same Alexander formed no definite plan, resolved on acting as circumstances should indicate. But it was a more pressing business to decide how he should behave to the king of France. He had never anticipated the success of the French in Italy, and we have seen that he laid all the foundations of his family's future grandeur upon his alliance with the House of Eragon. But here was this House tottering, and a volcano more terrible than her own Vesuvius was threatening to swallow up Naples. He must therefore change his policy and attach himself to the victor. No easy matter, for Charles VIII was bitterly annoyed with the Pope for having refused him the investiture and given it to Eragon. In consequence he sent Cardinal Francesco Piccolomini as an envoy to the king. This choice looked like a mistake at first, seeing that the ambassador was a nephew of Pius II, who had vigorously opposed the House of Anjou. But Alexander, in acting thus, had a second design, which could not be discerned by those around him. In fact he had divined that Charles would not be quick to receive his envoy, and that, in the parliings to which his unwillingness must give rise, Piccolomini would necessarily be brought into contact with the young king's advisors. Now besides his ostensible mission to the king, Piccolomini had also secret instructions for the more influential among his counselors. These were Brickone and Philippe Deluxembourg, and Piccolomini was authorized to promise a Cardinal's hat to each of them. The result was just what Alexander had foreseen. His envoy could not gain admission to Charles and was obliged to confer with the people about him. This was what the pope wished. Piccolomini returned to Rome with the king's refusal, but with a promise from Brickone and Philippe Deluxembourg, that they would use all their influence with Charles in favour of the Holy Father, and prepare him to receive a fresh embassy. But the French all this time were advancing and never stopped more than forty-eight hours in any town, so that it became more and more urgent to get something settled with Charles. The king had entered Siena and Viterbo without striking a blow. Yves d'Alegre and Louis de Ligny had taken over Ostia from the hands of the colonas. Saviti Vecchia and Connetto had opened their gates. The Orsini had submitted, even John Sforza, the pope's son-in-law, had retired from the alliance with Aragon. Alexander accordingly judged that the moment had come to abandon his ally and sent to Charles the bishops of Concordia and Terny and his confessor Monsignore Graziano. They were charged to renew Brickone and Philippe Deluxembourg the promise of the cardinal ship and had full powers of negotiation in the name of their master, both in case Charles should wish to include Alfonso II in the treaty, and in case he should refuse to sign an agreement with any other but the pope alone. They found the mind of Charles, influenced now by the insinuation of Giuliano de la Rivera, who, himself a witness of the pope's simony, pressed the king to summon a council and depose the head of the church, and now by the secret support given him by the bishops of Mons and Sanmallow. The end of it was that the king decided to form his own opinion about the matter and settle nothing beforehand, and continued his route, sending the ambassadors back to the pope with the addition of the Marshal de Guy, the Sénéchal de Bocaire, and Jean de Garnet, the first president of the Paris Parliament. They were ordered to say to the pope, one, that the king wished above all things to be admitted into Rome without resistance, that on condition of a voluntary frank and loyal admission he would respect the authority of the Holy Father and the privileges of the church. Two, that the king desired that Dijem should be given up to him in order that he might make use of him against the Sultan when he should carry the war into Macedonia or Turkey or the Holy Land. Three, that the remaining conditions were so unimportant that they could be brought forward at the first conference. The ambassadors added that the French army was now only two days distant from Rome, and that in the evening of the day after next Charles would probably arrive in person to demand an answer from his holiness. It was useless to think of parlaying with a prince who acted in such expeditious fashion as this. Alexander accordingly warned Ferdinand to quit Rome as soon as possible in the interests of his own personal safety. But Ferdinand refused to listen to a word and declared that he would not go out at one gate while Charles VIII came in at another. His sojourn was not long. Two days later, about eleven o'clock in the morning, a sentinel placed on a watchtower at the top of the Castile St. Angelo, whither the pope had retired, cried out that the vanguard of the enemy was visible on the horizon. At once Alexander and the Duke of Calabria went up on the terrace which tops the fortress and assured themselves with their own eyes that what the soldier said was true. Then and not till then did the Duke of Calabria mount on horseback and, to use his own words, went out at the gate of San Sebastiana at the same moment that the French vanguard halted five hundred feet from the gate of the people. This was on the 31st of December, 1494. At three in the afternoon the whole army had arrived and the vanguard began their march, drums beating, ensigns unfurled. It was composed, says Paolo Giove, an eyewitness, Book II, page 41 of his history, of Swiss and German soldiers with short tight coats of various colors. They were armed with short swords, with steel edges like those of the ancient Romans, and carried ashen lances ten feet long with straight and sharp iron spikes. Only one-fourth of their number bore halberts instead of lances. The spikes cut into the form of an axe and surmounted on a four-cornered spike to be used both for cutting like an axe and piercing like a bayonet. The first row of each battalion wore helmets and queer-asses which protected the head and chest, and when the men were drawn up for battle they presented to the enemy a triple array of iron spikes, which they could raise or lower like the spines of a porcupine. To each thousand of the soldiery were attached a hundred fusiliers. Their officers, to distinguish them from the men, wore lofty plumes on their helmets. After the Swiss came the archers of Gascony. There were five thousand of them wearing a very simple dress that contrasted with the rich costume of the Swiss soldiers, the shortest of whom would have been a head higher than the tallest of the Gascony's. But they were excellent soldiers full of courage, very light, and with a special reputation for quickness in stringing and drawing their iron bows. Behind them rode the cavalry, the flower of the French nobility, with their gilded helmets and neck-bands, their velvet and silk surcoats, their swords each of which had its own name, their shields each telling of territorial estates, and their colors each telling of a lady love. Besides defensive arms each man bore a lance in his hand like an Italian John Darme, with a solid grooved end, and on his saddle-bow a quantity of weapons, some for cutting and some for thrusting. Their horses were large and strong, but they had their tails and ears cropped according to the French custom. These horses, unlike those of the Italian John Darmes, wore no caparizons of dressed leather which made them more exposed to attack. Every night was followed by three horses, the first ridden by a page in armor like his own, the two others by equaries who were called lateral auxiliaries, because in a fray they fought to right and left of their chief. This troop was not only the most magnificent, but the most considerable in the whole army, for as there were 2,500 knights, they formed each with their three followers a total of 10,000 men. 5,000 light horse rode next, who carried huge wooden bows, and shot long arrows from a distance like English archers. They were a great help in battle, for moving rapidly wherever aid was required they could fly in a moment from one wing to another, from the rear to the van, then when their quivers were empty could go off at so swift a gallop that neither infantry nor heavy cavalry could pursue them. Their defensive armor consisted of a helmet and half-quarros. Some of them carried a short lance as well, with which to pin their stricken foe to the ground. They all wore long cloaks adorned with shoulder knots, and plates of silver whereon the arms of their chief were emblazoned. At last came the young king's escort. There were four hundred archers, among whom a hundred Scots formed a line on each side, while two hundred of the most illustrious knights marched on foot beside the prince, carrying heavy arms on their shoulders. In the midst of this magnificent escort advanced Charles VIII, both he and his horse covered with splendid armor. On his right and left marched Cardinal Ascanio Zorza, the Duke of Milan's brother, and Cardinal Giuliano de la Rivera, of whom we have spoken so often, who was afterwards Pope Julius II. The Cardinals, Colonna and Civelli followed immediately after, and behind them came Prospero and Fabrizio Colonna, and all the Italian princes and generals who had thrown in their lot with the conquerors, and were marching intermingled with the great French lords. For a long time the crowd that had collected to see all these foreign soldiers go by, a sight so new and strange, listened uneasily to a dull sound which got nearer and nearer. The earth visibly trembled, the glass shook in the windows, and behind the king's escort thirty-six bronze cannon were seen to advance, bumping along as they lay on their gun carriages. These cannons were eight feet in length, and as their mouths were large enough to hold a man's head, it was supposed that each of these terrible machines, scarcely known as yet to the Italians, weighed nearly six thousand pounds. After the cannons came culverans sixteen feet long, and then falconettes, the smallest of which shot balls the size of a grenade. This formidable artillery brought up the rear of the procession and formed the hindmost guard of the French army. It was six hours since the front guard entered the town, and as it was now night and for every six artillery men there was a torch-bearer, this illumination gave to the objects around a more gloomy character than they would have shown in the sunlight. The young king was to take up his quarters in the Palazzo di Venezia, and all the artillery was directed towards the plaza and the neighbouring streets. The remainder of the army was dispersed about the town. The same evening they brought to the king, less to do honour to him than to assure him of his safety, the keys of Rome and the keys of the Belvedere Garden. Just the same thing had been done for the Duke of Calabria. The Pope, as we said, had retired to the Castel Sant'Angelo with only six cardinals, so from the day after his arrival the young king had around him a court of very different brilliance from that of the head of the church. Then arose anew the question of a convocation to prove Alexander's simony and proceed to depose him. But the king's chief counsellors, gained over as we know, pointed out that this was a bad moment to excite anew schism in the church, just when preparations were being made for war against the infidels. As this was also the king's private opinion, there was not much trouble in persuading him. And he made up his mind to treat with his holiness. But the negotiations had scarcely begun when they had to be broken off. For the first thing Charles VIII demanded was the surrender of the Castel Sant'Angelo, and as the Pope saw in this castle his only refuge, it was the last thing he chose to give up. Twice in his youthful impatience Charles wanted to take by force what he could not get by good will, and had his cannons directed towards the Holy Father's dwelling place. But the Pope was unmoved by these demonstrations, and obstinate as he was this time it was the French king who gave way. This article, therefore, was set aside and the following conditions were agreed upon. That there should be from this day forward between his Majesty the King of France and the Holy Father a sincere friendship and a firm alliance. Before the completion of the conquest of the Kingdom of Naples, the King of France should occupy for the advantage and accommodation of his army the fortresses of Sevitavecchia, Terracina, and Spoleto. Lastly, the Cardinal Valentino, this was now the name of César Borgia after his Archbishopric of Valencia, should accompany the King in the capacity of Apostolic Ambassador, really as a hostage. These conditions fixed the ceremonial of an interview was arranged. The King left the Palazzo de Venetia and went to live in the Vatican. At the appointed time he entered by the door of a garden that joined the palace, while the Pope, who had not had to quit the Castel Sant'Angelo thanks to a corridor communicating between the two palaces, came down into the same garden by another gate. The result of this arrangement was that the King the next moment perceived the Pope and knelt down, but the Pope pretended not to see him and the King advancing a few paces knelt a second time. As his holiness was at that moment screened by some masonry, this supplied him with another excuse, and the King went on with the performance, got up again, once more advanced several steps, and was on the point of kneeling down the third time face to face, when the Holy Father at last perceived him, and walking towards him as though he would prevent him from kneeling, took off his own hat, and pressing him to his heart, raised him up and tenderly kissed his forehead, refusing to cover until the King had put his cap upon his head, with the aid of the Pope's own hands. Then after they had stood for a moment exchanging polite and friendly speeches, the King lost no time in praying his holiness to be so good as to receive into the sacred college William Brickonet, the Bishop of Sant'Angelo, as this matter had been agreed upon beforehand by that prelate and his holiness, though the King was not aware of it, Alexander was pleased to get credit by promptly granting the request, and he instantly ordered one of his attendants to go to the house of his son, Cardinal Valentino, and fetch a cape and hat. Then taking the King by the hand, he conducted him into the hall of Papagalli, where the ceremony was to take place of the admission of the new Cardinal. The solemn oath of obedience which was to be taken by Charles to his holiness as Supreme Head of the Christian Church was postponed till the following day. When that solemn day arrived every person important in Rome, noble, cleric, or soldier, assembled around his holiness, Charles on his side made his approach to the Vatican with a splendid following of princes, prelates, and captains. At the threshold of the palace he found four Cardinals who had arrived before him. Two of them placed themselves one on each side of him, the two others behind him, and all his retinue following. They traversed a long line of apartments full of guards and servants, and at last arrived in the reception room where the Pope was seated on his throne with his son Cesar Borgia behind him. On his arrival at the door the King of France began the usual ceremonial, and when he had gone on from genuflections to kissing the feet, the hand, and the forehead, he stood up while the first president of the Parliament of Paris, in his turn stepping forward, said in a loud voice, Very Holy Father, behold my King ready to offer to your holiness that oath of obedience that he owes to you. But in France it is customary that he who offers himself as vassal to his Lord shall receive in exchange therefore such boons as he may demand. His Majesty therefore, while he pledges himself for his own part to behave unto your holiness with a munificence even greater than that wherewith your holiness shall behave unto him, is here to beg urgently that you accord him three favors. These favors are, first, the confirmation of privileges already granted to the King, to the Queen his wife, and to the Dauphin his son. Secondly, the investiture for himself and his successors of the Kingdom of Naples. Lastly, the surrender to him of the person of the Sultan de Gem, brother of the Turkish Emperor. At this address the Pope was for a moment stupefied, for he did not expect these three demands, which were more overmade so publicly by Charles that no manner of refusal was possible. But quickly recovering his presence of mind, he replied to the King that he would willingly confirm the privileges that had been accorded to the House of France by his predecessors, that he might therefore consider his first demand granted. That the investiture of the Kingdom was an affair that required deliberation in a council of cardinals, but he would do all he possibly could to induce them to exceed to the King's desire. Lastly, he must defer the affair of the Sultan's brother till a time more opportune for discussing it with the sacred college, but would venture to say that as this surrender could not fail to be for the good of Christendom, as it was demanded for the purpose of assuring further the success of a crusade, it would not be his fault if on this point also the King should not be satisfied. At this reply Charles bowed his head in sign of satisfaction, and the first president stood up, uncovered, and resumed his discourse as follows. Very Holy Father. It is an ancient custom among Christian Kings, especially the most Christian Kings of France, to signify through their ambassadors the respect they feel for the Holy See, and the sovereign pontiffs whom divine providence places thereon. But the most Christian King, having felt a desire to visit the tombs of the Holy Apostles, has been pleased to pay this religious debt which he regards as a sacred duty, not by ambassadors or by delegates, but in his own person. This is why, very Holy Father, his Majesty the King of France is here to acknowledge you as the true vicar of Christ, the legitimate successor of the Apostles Saint Peter and Saint Paul, and with promise and vow renders you that filial and respectful devotion which the Kings his predecessors have been accustomed to promise and vow, devoting himself and all his strength to the service of your holiness and the interests of the Holy See. End of Section 10. Section 11 of Celebrated Crimes, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Celebrated Crimes, Volume 1 by Alexander Dumas. Translated by G. B. Ives. Section 11. The Borgias. Chapter 5, Part 3. The Pope arose with a joyful heart. For this oath, so publicly made, removed all his fears about a council. So inclined from this moment to yield to the King of France anything he might choose to ask, he took him by his left hand and made him a short and friendly reply, dubbing him the Church's eldest son. The ceremony over, they left the hall, the Pope always holding the King's hand in his, and in this way they walked as far as the room where the sacred vestments are put off. The Pope feigned a wish to conduct the King to his own apartments, but the King would not suffer this, and embracing once more they separated, each to retire to his own domicile. The King remained eight days longer at the Vatican, then returned to the Palazzo San Marco. During these eight days, all his demands were debated and settled to his satisfaction. The Bishop of Mons was made cardinal. The investiture of the Kingdom of Naples was promised to the Conqueror. Lastly, it was agreed that on his departure the King of France should receive from the Pope's hand the brother of the Emperor of Constantinople, for a sum of one hundred and twenty thousand leave. But the Pope, desiring to extend to the utmost the hospitality he had been bestowing, invited Dijem to dinner on the very day that he was to leave Rome with his new protector. When the moment of departure arrived, Charles mounted his horse in full armor, and with a numerous and brilliant following made his way to the Vatican, arrived at the door he dismounted, and leaving his escort at the piazza of St. Peter went up with a few gentlemen only. He found his holiness waiting for him, with cardinal Valentino on his right, and on his left Dijem, who as we said before was dining with him, and round the table thirteen cardinals. The King at once, bending on his knee, demanded the Pope's benediction, and stooped to kiss his feet. But this Alexander would not suffer. He took him in his arms, and with the lips of a father and heart of an enemy, kissed him tenderly on his forehead. Then the Pope introduced the son of Muhammad II, who was a fine young man with something noble and regal in his air, presenting in his magnificent oriental costume a great contrast in its fashion and amplitude to the narrow, severe cut of the Christian apparel. Dijem advanced to Charles without humility and without pride, and like an emperor's son treating with the king, kissed his hand and then his shoulder. And then, turning towards the Holy Father, he said in Italian, which he spoke very well, that he entreated he would recommend him to the young king, who was prepared to take him under his protection, assuring the pontiff that he should never have to repent giving him his liberty, and telling Charles that he hoped he might someday be proud of him if, after taking Naples, he carried out his intention of going on to Greece. These words were spoken with so much dignity, and at the same time with such gentleness, that the king of France, loyally and frankly, grasped the young sultan's hand, as though he were his companion in arms. Then Charles took a final farewell of the Pope and went down to the piazza. There he awaited Cardinal Valentino, who was about to accompany him, as we know, as a hostage, and who had remained behind to exchange a few words with his father. In a moment Cesar Borgia appeared, riding on a splendidly harnessed mule, and behind him were led six magnificent horses, a present from the Holy Father to the king of France. Charles at once mounted one of these to do honor to the gift the Pope had just conferred on him, and leaving Rome with the rest of his troops, pursued his way towards Marino, where he arrived the same evening. He learned there that Alfonso, belying his reputation as a clever politician and great general, had just embarked with all his treasures in a flotilla of four galleys, leaving the care of the war and the management of his kingdom to his son Ferdinand. Thus everything went well for the triumphant march of Charles. The gates of towns opened of themselves at his approach. His enemies fled without waiting for his coming, and before he had fought a single battle he had won for himself the surname of Conqueror. The day after at dawn the army started once more, and after marching the whole day stopped in the evening at Folletterie. There the king, who had been on horseback since the morning with Cardinal Valentino and Dijem, left the former at his lodging and taking Dijem with him went on to his own. Then César Borgia, who among the army baggage had twenty very heavy wagons of his own, had one of these opened, took out a splendid cabinet with the silver necessary for his table, and gave orders for his supper to be prepared as he had done the night before. Meanwhile night had come on, and he shut himself up in a private chamber, where, stripping off his Cardinal's costume, he put on a groom's dress. Thanks to this disguise he issued from the house that had been assigned for his accommodation without being recognized, traversed the streets, passed through the gates, and gained the open country. Nearly half a league outside the town a servant awaited him with two swift horses. César, who was an excellent rider, sprang to the saddle, and he and his companion at full gallop retraced the road to Rome, where they arrived at break of day. César got down at the house of one Flores, auditor of the Rota, where he procured a fresh horse and suitable clothes. Then he flew at once to his mother, who gave a cry of joy when she saw him, for so silent and mysterious was the Cardinal for all the world beside, and even for her, that he had not said a word of his early return to Rome. The cry of joy uttered by Rosa Venosa when she beheld her son was far more a cry of vengeance than of love. One evening while everybody was at the rejoicings in the Vatican, when Charles VIII and Alexander VI were swearing a friendship which neither of them felt, and exchanging oaths that were broken beforehand, a messenger from Rosa Venosa had arrived with a letter to César in which she begged him to come at once to her house in the Via della Longara. César questioned the messenger, but he only replied that he could tell him nothing, that he would learn all he cared to know from his mother's own lips. So, as soon as he was at liberty, César in layman's dress and wrapped in a large cloak, quitted the Vatican, and made his way towards the Church of Regina Caeli in the neighborhood of which it will be remembered was the house where the postmistress lived. As he approached his mother's house, César began to observe the signs of strange devastation. The street was scattered with the wreck of furniture and strips of precious stuffs. As he arrived at the foot of the little flight of steps that led to the entrance gate, he saw that the windows were broken and the remains of torn curtains were fluttering in front of them. Not understanding what this disorder could mean, he rushed into the house and threw several deserted and wrecked apartments. At last, seeing light in one of the rooms, he went in, and there he found his mother sitting on the remains of a chest made of ebony all inlaid with ivory and silver. When she saw César, she rose, pale and disheveled, and, pointing to the desolation around her, exclaimed, Look, César, behold the work of your new friends! But what does it mean, mother asked the cardinal, whence comes all this disorder? From the serpent replied Rosa Venosa, gnashing her teeth. From the serpent you have warmed in your bosom. He has bitten me, fearing no doubt that his teeth would be broken on you. Who has done this, cried César? Tell me, and by heaven mother he shall pay and pay indeed. Who replied Rosa? King Charles VIII has done it by the hands of his faithful allies, the Swiss. It was well known that Melchior was away, and that I was living alone with a few wretched servants, so they came and broke in the doors, as though they were taking room by storm. And while cardinal Valentina was making holiday with their master, they pillaged his mother's house, loading her with insults and outrages which no Turks or Saracens could possibly have improved upon. Very good, mother, very good, said César, be calm, blood shall wash out disgrace. Consider a moment. What we have lost is nothing compared with what we might lose. And my father and I, you may be quite sure, will give you back more than they have stolen from you. I ask for no promises, cried Rosa, I ask for revenge. My mother said the cardinal, you shall be avenged, or I will lose the name of Son. Having by these words reassured his mother, he took her to Lucretia's palace, which in consequence of her marriage with Pizarro was unoccupied, and himself returned to the Vatican, giving orders that his mother's house should be refurnished more magnificently than before the disaster. These orders were punctually executed, and it was among her new luxurious surroundings, but with the same hatred in her heart, that César on this occasion found his mother. This feeling prompted her cry of joy when she saw him once more. The mother and son exchanged a very few words. Then César, mounting on horseback, went to the Vatican, whence as a hostage he had departed two days before. Alexander, who knew of the flight beforehand, and not only approved, but as Sovereign Pontiff had previously absolved his son of the perjury he was about to commit, received him joyfully, but all the same advised him to lie concealed, as Charles in all probability would not be slow to reclaim his hostage. Indeed, the next day when the king got up, the absence of cardinal Valentina was observed, and as Charles was uneasy at not seeing him, he sent to inquire what had prevented his appearance. When the messenger arrived at the house that César had left the evening before, he learned that he had gone out at nine o'clock in the evening and had not returned since. He went back with this news to the king, who at once suspected that he had fled, and in the first flush of his anger let the whole army know of his perjury. The soldiers then remembered the twenty wagons so heavily laden, from one of which the cardinal in the sight of all had produced such magnificent gold and silver plate, and never doubting that the cargo of the others was equally precious, they fetched them down and broke them to pieces. But inside they found nothing but stones and sand, which proved to the king that the flight had been planned a long time back, and incensed him doubly against the pope. So without loss of time he dispatched to Rome Philip de Bress, afterwards Duke of Savoy, with orders to intimate to the Holy Father his displeasure at this conduct. But the pope replied that he knew nothing whatever about his son's flight, and expressed the sincerest regret to his majesty, declaring that he knew nothing of his whereabouts, but was certain that he was not in Rome. As a fact the pope was speaking the truth this time, for César had gone with cardinal Orsini to one of his estates, and was temporarily in hiding there. This reply was conveyed to Charles by two messengers from the pope, the bishops of Napey and Sutri, and the people also sent an ambassador in their own behalf. He was Monsignori Porcari, dean of the rota, who was charged to communicate to the king the displeasure of the Romans when they learned of the cardinal's breach of faith. Little as Charles was disposed to content himself with empty words, he had to turn his attention to more serious affairs. So he continued his march to Naples without stopping, arriving there on Sunday the 22nd of February 1495. Four days later the unlucky de gem who had fallen sick at Capua died at Castel Nuovo. When he was leaving at the farewell banquet, Alexander had tried on his guest the poison he intended to use so often later on upon his cardinals, and whose effects he was destined to feel himself, such as poetical justice. In this way the pope had secured a double haul, for in his twofold speculation in this wretched young man, he had sold him alive to Charles for one hundred and twenty thousand leave, and sold him dead to Bejesus for three hundred thousand ducats. But there was a certain delay about the second payment, for the Turkish emperor, as we remember, was not bound to pay the price of fratricide till he received the corpse, and by Charles's order the corpse had been buried at Gaeta. When César Borgia learned the news, he rightly supposed that the king would be so busy settling himself in his new capital, that he would have too much to think of to be worrying about him. So he went to Rome again, and anxious to keep his promise to his mother, he signaled his return by a terrible vengeance. Cardinal Valentino had in his service a certain Spaniard, whom he had made the chief of his bravos. He was a man of five and thirty or forty, whose whole life had been one long rebellion against society's laws. He recoiled from no action, provided only that he could get his price. This Don Michele Correglia, who earned his celebrity for bloody deeds under the name of Michelotto, was just the man César wanted. And whereas Michelotto felt an unbounded admiration for César, César had unlimited confidence in Michelotto. It was to him the Cardinal entrusted the execution of one part of his vengeance, the other he kept for himself. Don Michele received orders to scour the Campania and cut every French throat he could find. He began his work at once, and very few days he lapsed before he had obtained most satisfactory results. More than a hundred persons were robbed or assassinated, and among the last the son of Cardinal de Sant Malo, who was on his way back to France, and on whom Michelotto found a sum of three thousand crowns. For himself César reserved the Swiss, for it was the Swiss in particular who had despoiled his mother's house. The Pope had in his service about a hundred and fifty soldiers belonging to their nation, who had settled their families in Rome, and had grown rich partly by their pay and partly in the exercise of various industries. The Cardinal had every one of them dismissed, with orders to quit Rome within twenty-four hours, and the Roman territories within three days. The poor wretches had all collected together to obey the order with their wives and children in baggage on the piazza of Saint Peter, when suddenly by Cardinal Valentino's orders they were hemmed in on all sides by two thousand Spaniards, who began to fire on them with their guns and charge them with their sabers, while César and his mother looked down upon the carnage from a window. In this way they killed fifty or perhaps sixty, but the rest coming up made a charge at the assassins, and then without suffering any loss, managed to beat a retreat to a house where they stood a siege, and made so valiant a defence that they gave the Pope time—he knew nothing of the author of this butchery—to send a captain of his guard to the rescue, who with a strong detachment succeeded in getting nearly forty of them safely out of the town. The rest had been massacred on the piazza, or killed in the house. But this was no real and adequate revenge, for it did not touch Charles himself, the sole author of all the troubles that the Pope and his family had experienced during the last year. So César soon abandoned vulgar schemes of this kind, and busied himself with loftier concerns, bending all the force of his genius to restore the League of Italian Princes that had been broken by the defection of Sforza, the exile of Piero dei Medici, and the defeat of Alfonso. The enterprise was more easily accomplished than the Pope could have anticipated. The Venetians were very uneasy when Charles passed so near, and they trembled lest when he was once master of Naples, he might conceive the idea of conquering the rest of Italy. Ludovico Sforza on his side was beginning to tremble, seeing the rapidity with which the King of France had dethroned the House of Aragon, lest he might not make much difference between his allies and his enemies. Maximilian, for his part, was only seeking an occasion to break the temporary peace which he had granted for the sake of the concession made to him. Lastly, Ferdinand and Isabella were allies of the dethroned House. And so it came about that all of them, for different reasons, felt a common fear, and were soon in agreement as to the necessity of driving out Charles VIII, not only from Naples, but from Italy, and pledged themselves to work together to this end by every means in their power, by negotiations, by trickery, or by actual force. The Florentines alone refused to take part in this general levy of arms, and remained faithful to their promises. According to the articles of the treaty agreed upon by the Confederates, the alliance was to last for five and twenty years, and had for ostensible object the upholding of the majority of the Pope and the interests of Christendom. And these preparations might well have been taken for such as would proceed a crusade against the Turks, if Bejesus' ambassadors had not always been present at the deliberations, although the Christian princes could not have dared for very shame to admit the Sultan by name into their league. Now the Confederates had to set on foot an army of thirty thousand horse and twenty thousand infantry, and each of them was taxed for a contingent. Thus the Pope was to furnish four thousand horse, Maximilian six thousand, the King of Spain, the Duke of Milan, and the Republic of Venice, eight thousand each. Every Confederate was, in addition to this, to levy and equip four thousand infantry in the six weeks following the signature of the treaty. The fleets were to be equipped by the Maritime States, but any expenses they should incur later on were to be defrayed by all in equal shares. The formation of this league was made public on the 12th of April, 1495, Palm Sunday, and in all the Italian states, especially at Rome, was made the occasion of fates and immense rejoicings. Almost as soon as the publicly known articles were announced, the secret ones were put into execution. These obliged Ferdinand and Isabella to send a fleet of sixty galleys to Ischia, where Alfonso's son had retired, with six hundred horsemen on board and five thousand infantry, to help him to ascend the throne once more. Those troops were to be put under the command of Gonzovo of Cordova, who had gained the reputation of the greatest general in Europe after the taking of Granada. The Venetians, with a fleet of forty galleys under the command of Antonio Grimani, were to attack all the French stations on the coast of Calabria and Naples. The Duke of Milan promised for his part to check all reinforcements as they should arrive from France and to drive the Duke of Orleans out of Oste. Lastly there was Maximilian, who had promised to make invasions on the frontiers, and Bejesus, who was to help with money, ships, and soldiers, either the Venetians or the Spaniards, according as he might be appealed to by Barbarigo or by Ferdinand the Catholic. This leak was all the more disconcerting for Charles because of the speedy abatement of the enthusiasm that had hailed his first appearance. What had happened to him was what generally happens to a conqueror who has more good luck than talent. Instead of making himself a party among the great Neapolitan and Calabrian vassals, whose roots would be embedded in the very soil by confirming their privileges and augmenting their power, he had wounded their feelings by bestowing all the titles, offices, and fiefs on those alone who had followed him from France, so that all the important positions in the kingdom were filled by strangers. The result was that just when the leak was made known, Tropea and Amantea, which had been presented by Charles to the senior depressi, rose in revolt and hoisted the banner of Aragon, and the Spanish fleet had only to present itself at Reggio in Calabria for the town to throw up in its gates, being more discontented with the new rule than the old. And on Federigo Alfonso's brother and Ferdinand's uncle, who had hitherto never quitted Brindisi, had only to appear at Tarentum to be received there as a liberator. Section 12 of Celebrated Crimes Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Morgan Scorpion Celebrated Crimes Volume 1 by Alexander Dumas, translated by G. B. Ives. Section 12. The Borges Chapter 6 Part 1 Charles learned all this news at Naples, and, tired of his late conquests, which necessitated a labour in organisation for which he was quite unfitted, turned his eyes towards France, where victorious faiths and rejoicings were awaiting the victor's return. So he yielded at the first breath of his advisers, and retraced his road to his kingdom, threatened, as was said, by the Germans on the north and the Spaniards on the south. Consequently, he appointed Gilbert de Montpensier of the House of Bourbon, Viceroy, de Obigny of the Scotch-Stewart family, Lieutenant-in-Collabria, Etienne de Vez, Commander-at-Gator, and Don Giuliano, Gabrielle de Montfalcon, Guillaume de Villeneuve, George de Lili, the bailiff of Vitry and Guadziano-Guerra, respectively, governors of Sant'Angelo, Manfredonia, Trani, Catanzaro, Aquila, and Salmon, then leaving behind in evidence of his claims the half of his Swiss, a party of his Gascon, eight hundred French lances, and about five hundred Italian men at arms. The last under the command of the prefect of Rome, Prospero and Fabrizio Colonna, and Antonio Cervelli, he left Naples on the twentieth of May at two o'clock in the afternoon, to traverse the whole of the Italian peninsula with the rest of his army, consisting of eight hundred French lances, two hundred gentlemen of his guard, one hundred Italian men at arms, three thousand Swiss infantry, one thousand French, and one thousand Gascon. He also expected to be joined by Camilla Vitelli and his brothers in Tuscany, who were to contribute two hundred and fifty men at arms. A week before he left Naples, Charles had sent to Rome one senior de Saint Paul, brother of Cardinal de Luxembourg, and just as he was starting he dispatched to the New Watch Bishop of Lyon. They both were commissioned to assure Alexander that the King of France had the most sincere desire and the very best intention of remaining his friend. In truth, Charles wished for nothing so much as to separate the Pope from the League, so as to secure him as a spiritual and temporal support. But a young king, full of fire, ambition and courage, was not the neighbour to suit Alexander, so the latter would listen to nothing, and as the troops he had demanded from the Doge and Ludovico's Forza had not been sent in sufficient number for the defence of Rome, he was content with provisioning the castle of St Angelo, putting in a formidable garrison, and leaving Cardinal Sant'Anastasio to receive Charles while he himself withdrew with Caesar to Orvieto. Charles only stayed in Rome three days, utterly depressed because the Pope had refused to receive him in spite of his entreaties. And in these three days, instead of listening to Giuliano del Torolveri, who was advising him once more to call the council and depose the Pope, he rather hoped to bring the Pope round to his side by the virtuous act of restoring the citadels of Teresina and Civiter Veccia to the authorities of the Romagna, only keeping for himself Ostia, which he had promised Giuliano to give back to him. At last, when the three days had elapsed, he left Rome and resumed his march in three columns towards Tuscany, crossed the states of the church, and on the thirteenth reached Siena, where he was joined by Philippe de Comines, who had gone as ambassador extraordinary to the Renaissance Republic, and now announced that the enemy had forty thousand men under arms, and were preparing for battle. This news produced no other effect on the king and the gentleman of his army than to excite their amusement beyond measure, for their enemy, by their easy conquest, that they could not believe that any army, however numerous, would venture to oppose their passage. Charles, however, was forced to give way in the face of facts, when he heard at Santoranza that his vanguard, commanded by Mauritiel de Guy, and composed of six hundred lancers and fifteen hundred Swiss, when it arrived at Fornova had come face to face with the Confederates, who had encamped at Durolet. The Mauritiel had ordered an instant halt, and he too had pitched his tents, utilising for his defence the natural advantages of the hilly ground. When these first measures had been taken, he sent out, first, a herald to the enemy's camp to ask from Francesco de Gonzaga, Marcus of Mantua, generalissimo of the Confederate troops, a passage for his king's army, and provisions at a reasonable price, and secondly he dispatched a courier to Charles VIII, pressing him to hurry on his march with the artillery and rearguard. The Confederates had given an evasive answer, for they were pondering whether they ought to jeopardise the whole Italian force in a single combat, and putting all to the hazard attempt to annihilate the king of France and his army together, so overwhelming the conquer in the ruins of his ambition. The messenger found Charles busy superintending the passage of the last of his cannon over the mountains of Pontremorley. This was no easy matter, seeing that there was no sort of track, and the guns had to be lifted up and lowered by main force, and each piece needed the arms of as many as two hundred men. At last, when all the artillery had arrived without accident on the other side of the upper lines, Charles started in hot haste for Fornevar, where he arrived with all his following on the morning of the next day. From the top of the mountain, where the mausoleum de qui had pitched his tents, the king beheld both his own camp and the enemies. Both were on the right bank of the tarot, and were at either end of a semi-circular chain of hills resembling an amphitheatre, and the space between the two camps, a vast basin during the winter floods by the tarant, which now only marked its boundary, was nothing but a plain covered with gravel, where all manoeuvres must be equally difficult for horse and infantry. Besides, on the western slope of the hills there was a little wood which extended from the enemy's army to the French, and was in the possession of the Stradiotes, who, by help of its cover, had already engaged in several skirmishes with the French troops during the two days of halt while they were waiting for the king. The situation was not reassuring. From the top of the mountain which overlooked Fornevar, one could get a view, as we said before, of the two camps, and could easily calculate the numerical difference between them. The French army, weakened by the establishment of garrisons in the various towns and fortresses they had won in Italy, were scarcely eight thousand strong, while the combined forces of Milan and Venice exceeded a total of thirty-five thousand. So Charles decided to try once more the methods of conciliation, and sent Commine, who, as we know, had joined him in Tuscany, to the Venetian Provedittori, whose acquaintance he had made when on his embassy, he having made a great impression on these men, thanks to a general high opinion of his merits. He was commissioned to tell the enemy's generals, in the name of the king of France, that his master only desired to continue his road without doing or receiving any harm, and therefore he asked to be allowed a free passage across the fair plains of Lombardy, which he could see from the heights where he now stood, stretching as far as the eye could reach, away to the foot of the Alps. Commine found the Confederate army deep in discussion, the wish of the Milanese and Venetian party being to let the king go by and not attack him. They said they were only too happy that he should leave Italy in this way, without causing further harm, but the ambassadors of Spain and Germany took quite another view. As their masters had no troops in the army, and as all the money they had promised was already paid, they must beat the gainer in either case from a battle, whichever way it went, for if they won the day they would gather the fruits of victory, and if they lost they would experience nothing of the evils of defeat. This want of unanimity was the reason why the answer to Commine was deferred until the following day, and why it was settled that on the next day he should hold another conference with a plenipotentiary to be appointed in the course of that night. The place of this conference was to be between the two armies. The king passed the night in great uneasiness. All day the weather had threatened to turn to rain, and we have already said how rapidly the tarot could swell. The river, affordable to-day, might from tomorrow onwards prove an insurmountable obstacle, and possibly the delay had only been asked for with a view to putting the French army in a worse position. As a fact the night had scarcely come when a terrible storm arose, and so long as darkness lasted great rumblings were heard in the Appennines, and the sky was brilliant with lightning. At break of day however it seemed to be getting a little calmer, though the tarot only a stream that the day before had become a torrent by this time and was rapidly rising. So at six in the morning the king ready and armed on horseback summoned Cumin and made him make his way to the rendezvous that the Venetian proveditori had assigned. But scarcely had he contrived to give the order when loud cries were heard coming from the extreme right of the French army. The Stradiotis, under cover of the wood stretching between the two camps, had surprised an outpost, and first cutting the soldiers' throats were carrying off their heads in their usual way at the Saddlebow. A detachment of cavalry were sent in pursuit, but like wild animals they had retreated to their lair in the woods and there disappeared. This unexpected engagement, in all probability arranged beforehand by the Spanish and German envoys, produced on the whole army the effect of a spark applied to a train of gunpowder. Cumin and the Venetian proveditori each tried in vain to arrest the combat on either side. Light troops eager for a skirmish, and in the usual fashion of those days, prompted only by that personal courage which led them on to danger, had already come to blows, rushing down into the plain as though it were an amphitheatre where they might make a fine display of arms. For a moment the young king, drawn on by example, was on the point of forgetting the responsibility of a general in his zeal as a soldier. But this first impulse was checked by Mauricelle de Guy, Messier Claude de la Charte de Guise and Monsieur de la Trumile, who persuaded Charles to adopt the wiser plan and to cross the tower without seeking a battle, at the same time without trying to avoid it, should the enemy cross the river from their camp and attempt to block his passage. The king accordingly, following the advice of his wisest and bravest captains, thus arranged his divisions. The first comprised the van and a body of troops whose duty it was to support them. The van consisted of three hundred and fifty men at arms, the best and bravest of the army, under the command of Mauricelle de Guy and Jacques de Volce. The corps, following them, consisted of three thousand Swiss, under the command of Engelbert de Cleve and de Larnay, the queen's grand aquarii. Next came three hundred archers of the guard, whom the king had sent to help the cavalry by fighting in the spaces between them. The second division, commanded by the king in person and forming the middle of the army, was composed of the artillery, under Jean de la Grange, a hundred gentlemen of the guard with Gilles Caron for standard bearer, pensioners of the king's household under Amar de Prix, some Scots, and two hundred crossbowmen on horseback, with French archers besides, led by Monsieur de Crusole. Lastly, the third division, i.e. the rear, preceded by six thousand beasts of burden bearing the baggage, was composed of only three hundred men at arms, commanded by de Guise and by de la Trois-Muis. This was the weakest part of the army. When this arrangement was settled, Charles ordered the van to cross the river, just at the little town of Forneville. This was done at once, the riders getting wet up to their knees, and the footmen holding to the horse's tails. As soon as he saw the last soldiers of his first division on the opposite bank, he started himself to follow the same road and cross at the same ford, giving orders to de Guise and de la Trois-Muis to regulate the march of the rearguard by that of the centre, just as he had regulated their march by that of the van. His orders were punctually carried out, and about ten o'clock in the morning, the whole French army was on the left bank of the tarot. At the same time, when it seemed certain from the enemy's arrangement that battle was imminent, the baggage, led by the captain, Odeto Rebarac, was separated from the rearguard, and retired to the extreme left. Now, Francesco de Gonzaga, general-in-chief of the Confederate troops, had modelled his plans on those of the King of France. By his orders, Count de Cajazzo, with four hundred men at arms and two thousand infantry, had crossed the tower where the Venetian camp lay, and was to attack the French van, while Gonzaga himself, following the right bank as far as for novel, would go over the river by the same ford that Charles had used, with a view to attacking his rear. Lastly, he had placed the stradiotes between these two fords, with orders to cross the river in their turn, so soon as they saw the French army attach both in van and in the rear, and to fall upon its flank. Not content with offensive measures, Gonzaga had also made provision for retreat by leaving three reserve corps on the right bank, one to guard the camp under the instruction of the Venetian Proveditori, and the other two arranged in echelon to support each other, the first commanded by Antonio de Montefeltro, the second by Annibale Bentivoglio. Charles had observed all these arrangements, and had recognised the cunning Italian strategy, which made his opponents the finest generals in the world. But as there was no means of avoiding the danger, he had decided to take a sideways course, and had given orders to continue the march. But in a minute the French army was caught between Count de Cajazzo, barring the way with his four hundred men at arms and his two thousand infantry, and Gonzaga in pursuit of the rear, as we said before, leading six hundred men at arms, the flower of his army, a squadron of stradiotes, and more than five thousand infantry. This division alone was stronger than the whole of the French army. End of section number 12