The Catholic king viewed it in this light, and sent repeated and earnest remonstrances to Louis the Twelfth against his aggressions on the church, beseeching him not to interrupt the peace of Christendom, and his own pious purpose more particularly, of spreading the banners of the Cross over the infidel regions of Africa. The very sweet and fraternal tone of these communications filled the king of France, says Guicciardini, with much distrust of his royal brother; and he was heard to say, in allusion to the great preparations which the Spanish monarch was making by sea and land, "I am the Saracen against whom they are directed."'s To secure Ferdinand more to his interests, the pope granted him the investiture, so long withheld, of Naples, on the same easy terms on which it was formerly held by the Aragonese line. His holiness further released him from the obligation of his marriage treaty, by which the moiety of Naples was to revert to the 15 Istoria, lib. 9, p. 135.—Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1511.-Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 225.-Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 465.—Machiavelli's friend Vettori, in one of his letters, speaks of the Catholic king as the principal author of the new coalition against France, and notices three hundred lances which he furnished the pope in advance, for this purpose. (Machiavelli, Opere, Lettere famigliari, no. 8.) He does not seem to understand that these lances were part of the services due for the fief of Naples. The letter above quoted of Martyr, a more competent and unsuspicious authority, shows Ferdinand's sincere aversion to a rupture with Louis at the present juncture; and a subsequent passage of the same epistle shows him too much in earnest in his dissuasives to be open to the charge of insincerity: "Ut mitibus verbis ipsum, Reginam ejus uxorem, ut consiliarios omnes Cabanillas alloquatur, ut agant apud regem suum de pace, dat in frequentibus mandatis." Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., ubi supra. See further, epist. 454. French crown in case of Germaine's dying without issue. This dispensing power of the successors of St. Peter, so convenient for princes in their good graces, is undoubtedly the severest tax ever levied by superstition on human reason.' 16 On the 4th of October, 1511, a treaty was concluded between Julius the Second, Ferdinand, and Venice, with the avowed object of protecting the church,—in other words, driving the French out of Italy." From the pious purpose to which it was devoted, it was called the Holy League. The quota to be furnished by the king of Aragon was twelve hundred heavy and one thousand light cavalry, ten thousand foot, and a squadron of eleven galleys, to act in concert with the Venetian fleet. The combined forces were to be placed under the command of Hugo de Cardona, viceroy of Naples, a person of polished and engaging address, but without the resolution or experience requisite to military success. The rough old pope sarcastically nicknamed him "Lady Cardona." It was an appointment 16 Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., no. 441.—Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 29, cap. 24.-Giovio, Vitæ Illust. Virorum, p. 164.—Sandoval, Hist. del Emp. Carlos V., tom. i. p. 18.-The act of investiture was dated July 3d, 1510. In the following August the pontiff remitted the feudal services for the annual tribute of a white palfrey, and the aid of 300 lances when the estates of the church should be invaded. (Zurita, Anales, tom. vi. lib. 9, cap. 11.) The pope had hitherto refused the investiture, except on the most exorbitant terms; which so much disgusted Ferdinand that he passed by Ortia on his return from Naples, without condescending to meet his Holiness, who was waiting there for a personal interview with him. Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 353.-Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. iv. p. 73. 17 Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, p. 207.—Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 30, cap. 5.-Rymer, Fœdera, tom. xiii. DD. 305 353 that would certainly never have been made by Queen Isabella. Indeed, the favor shown this nobleman on this and other occasions was so much beyond his deserts as to raise a suspicion in many that he was more nearly allied by blood to Ferdinand than was usually imagined. 18 Early in 1512, France, by great exertions and without a single confederate out of Italy, save the false and fluctuating emperor, got an army into the field superior to that of the allies in point of numbers, and still more so in the character of its commander. This was Gaston de Foix, duke de Nemours, and brother of the queen of Aragon. Though a boy in years, for he was but twenty-two, he was ripe in understanding, and possessed consummate military talents. He introduced a severer discipline into his army, and an entirely new system of tactics. He looked forward to his results with stern indifference to the means by which they were to be effected. He disregarded the difficulties of the roads and the inclemency of the season, which had hitherto put a check on military operations. Through the midst of frightful morasses, or in the depth of winter snows, he performed his marches with a celerity 18 Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, p. 208.-Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. ii. lib. 12.-Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 30, cap. 5, 14.-Peter Martyr, Opus Epist., epist. 483.-Vettori, it seems, gave credence to the same suggestion: "Spagna ha sempre amato assai questo suo Vicerè, e per errore che abbia fatto non l'ha gastigato ma più presto fatto più grande, e si può pensare, come molti dicono, che sia suo figlio, e che abbia in pensiero lasciarlo Re di Napoli." (Machiavelli, Opere, let. di 16 Maggio, 1514.) According to Aleson, the king would have appointed Navarro to the post of commander-inchief, had not his low birth disqualified him for it in the eyes of the allies. Annales de Navarra, tom. v. lib. 35, cap. 12. VOL. III.-23 unknown in the warfare of that age. In less than a fortnight after leaving Milan, he relieved Bologna (Feb. 5th), then besieged by the allies, made a countermarch on Brescia, defeated a detachment by the way, and the whole Venetian army under its walls, and, on the same day with the last event, succeeded in carrying the place by storm. After a few weeks' dissipation of the carnival, he again put himself in motion, and, descending on Ravenna, succeeded in bringing the allied army to a decisive action under its walls. Ferdinand, well understanding the peculiar characters of the French and of the Spanish soldier, had cautioned his general to adopt the Fabian policy of Gonsalvo, and avoid a close encounter as long as possible." This battle, fought with the greatest numbers, was also the most murderous, which had stained the fair soil of Italy for a century. (April 11th, 1512.) No less than eighteen or twenty thousand, according to authentic accounts, fell in it, comprehending the best blood of France and Italy." The viceroy Cardona went off somewhat too early for his reputation. But the Spanish infantry, under the count Pedro Navarro, 19 Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 230, 231.-Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 260-272.-Giovio, Vita Leonis X., apud Vitæ Illust. Virorum, lib. 2, pp. 37, 38.-Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 48.-Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 26-28. 20 Ariosto introduces the bloody rout of Ravenna among the visions of Melissa; in which the courtly prophetess (or rather poet) predicts the glories of the house of Este: "Nuoteranno i destrier fino alla pancia Nel sangue uman per tutta la campagna ; behaved in a style worthy of the school of Gonsalvo. During the early part of the day, they lay on the ground, in a position which sheltered them from the deadly artillery of Este, then the best mounted and best served of any in Europe. When at length, as the tide of battle was going against them, they were brought into the field, Navarro led them at once against a deep column of landsknechts, who, armed with the long German pike, were bearing down all before them. The Spaniards received the shock of this formidable weapon on the mailed panoply with which their bodies were covered, and, dexterously gliding into the hostile ranks, contrived with their short swords to do such execution on the enemy, unprotected except by corselets in front, and incapable of availing themselves of their long weapon, that they were thrown into confusion, and totally discomfited. It was repeating the experiment more than once made during these wars, but never on so great a scale, and it fully established the superiority of the Spanish arms." The Italian infantry, which had fallen back before the landsknechts, now rallied under cover of the Spanish charge; until at length the overwhelming clouds of French gendarmerie, headed by Ives d'Alègre, who 2 Brantôme, Vies des Hommes illustres, disc. 6.-Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 290-305.-Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 231, 233.-Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 54.—Du Bellay, Mémoires, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. xvii. p. 234.—Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 29, 30.-Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. ii. lib. 12.— Machiavelli does justice to the gallantry of this valiant corps, whose conduct on this occasion furnishes him with a pertinent illustration, in estimating the comparative value of the Spanish, or rather Roman arms, and the German. Opere, tom. iv., Arte della Guerra, lib. 2. |