a fair claim; which fcheme he alfo prevailed on the pope to embrace, under an opinion that there was no other way left for him either to be revenged of Ferdinando, or of procuring fuitable preferments for his children.

The king of Naples was not negligent in providing meafures to defend himfelf againft, or to break this confederacy; to this purpose he fincerely fet himself to work to procure a reconciliation with Alexander, in which he at laft fucceeded; tho' in his attempt upon Lodovico, (who very artfully foothed the allies, fometimes making them believe, he never intended to favour a French invafion) he was difappointed; nor was it long before the good intelligence between the pope and Ferdinando vifibly declined.

Numberĺefs were the intrigues of the principal powers in Italy, for the attainment of their respective purposes, and mutual were their jealoufies of each other; in this ftate of confufion began the year 1494, in the beginning of which Charles ordered the Neapolitan ambafladors, as minifters of an enemy, to quit the kingdom.

About the fame time died Ferdinando, king of Naples, whofe death was generally esteemed a confiderable lofs to the common cause he was fucceeded by Alphonfo, his fon, who upon his first coming to the crown fent ambaffadors to the pope, and by making great conceffions to him, and promifing to provide amply for his three fons, obtained an alliance with him for the defence of their respective dominions.-He alfo endeavoured to treat with Lodovico, and offered a compliance with the fame terms that had been proposed by his father; but Sforza continued to act the fame part he had before done with Ferdinando, by amufing Alphonfo with fallacious hopes, and at the fame time. inftigating the king of France to haften his march.-Negotiations were alfo fet on foot by the pope and Alphonfo, with other powers, for affiftance, but with various fuccefs.

In the mean while Charles difpatched an embaffy into Italy, to engage the Italian states in his favour; the republic of Florence and the holy fee were particularly applied to: of the former was asked an alliance, or that at leaft they would agree to give a free paffage through their territorics to the French army; and of the latter they were to demand the inveftiture of the kingdom of Naples for Charles, as his indubitable right; but from both they received evafive and diffatisfactory answers, infomuch that the Florentine ambaffadors were immediately ordered to quit France.

Military preparations were now pursued with great earnestnefs on all hands; Genoa was an object that equally attracted

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the

the attention of both parties; an attempt was made upon that city by Alphonfo, which was render'd abortive by the vigilance of Lodovico; and on the 9th of September Charles arrived at Afti. The character and defcription of this prince, is too remarkable to be paffed over unnoticed: he was,' according to our author, from his youth, of a weak, infirm conftitution; 'fhort and ugly; had indeed fome fprightliness in his eyes, ⚫ but his limbs were so difproportioned, that he had rather the of a monster than a man. appearance He was not only exceedingly illiterate, but hardly knew the names of the letters: a foul afpiring after dominion, but no ways capable of it. He was ever impofed on by his courtiers; with whom he knew not how to preferve either majefty or authority. Indolent in every thing that required trouble; and what he undertook was conducted with little prudence or judgment; if he had any thing in him commendable, it was farther re• moved from virtue than vice: for he had an inclination for glory, but then he acted rafhly and without counfel. He ་ was liberal, but profufely fo, without measure or distinction; fteady, fometimes, in his refolutions, but more through • obftinacy than firmness; and what was in him called goodnefs, deferved rather the name of pufillanimity.'-To fuch a a king, the avarice of our Henry VII. facrificed the dutchy of Bretagne; and to him were owing the long feries of calamities that for several years afflicted Italy.-The day of his arrival at Afti he was welcomed with the news of a victory gained by his forces under the duke of Orleans, at Rapalle, whereby Genca was effectually fecured to him; and the enemy's general, Federigo, fo difheartened, that he retired with his fleet to Leghorn, to recruit.

Lodovico Sforza and Hercole, duke of Ferrara, met the king at Afti; when, after fome conferences, it was refolved, without lofs of time, to march forward with the army; but Charles being feized with the fmall-pox, was detained here a whole month, contrary to the inclinations of Lodovico, who had advanced a large fum of money, purpofely to prevent the army's wintering in his dominions in the mean time there arrived at Genoa from Marseilles, a great quantity of field-pieces and battering cannon, fuch as Italy had hitherto been a ftranger to.

During thefe tranfactions in favour of the French, the Arragonians were not idle; a confiderable army had been raised, and the command of it given to Ferdinando, duke of Calabria, eldest fon of Alphonfo, king of Naples. Thefe forces for fome time maintained a fuperiority, till fresh difturbances happening in the neighbourhood of Rome, the pope found himself

under

under a neceffity of recalling part of his troops; whereby the duke's power was weakened, while, on the contrary, that of the enemy was increafing daily.-Both armies, in their turn, fhewed refolution; but this was when one thought the other inferior: but now their forces were nearly equal, neither cared to engage; fo that, what rarely happens, the fame conduct pleased both parties: the French thought they had gained their ends, if they prevented the Neapolitans from advancing into Lombardy; and Alphonfo thought it no fmall advantage, if he retarded the French all the winter from entering his kingdom; wherefore he gave strict orders to his commanders not to hazard a battle, the lofs of which would in all probability be fatal to Naples.

But thefe precautions could not fecure Alphonfo; for Charles, as foon as his ftrength permitted, marched his army to Pavia, and lodged in the caftle, where Giovanni, duke of Milan, lay dangerously ill, and foon after died, not without a fufpicion of his having been poisoned by the direction of his uncle Lodovico, who thereupon, by his intrigues, procured the ducal dignity to be conferred on himself, to the prejudice of the son of the deceased duke.-From Pavia the king went to Piacenza, where he staid fome days, uncertain whether to proceed further or not; want of money, the tardiness of the Italians in joining him, and a jealousy of Lodovico, made him doubtful of his fuccefs: however, it was at laft refolved to go on, and after some debates their rout was fettled through Tuscany.

The commonalty in general, and many of the better fort in Florence, were againft difobliging the king of France; nevertheless, Piero de Medici, who, as is before obferved, had fuc ceeded to his father's power in that ftate, and had closely attached himself to the Arragonian intereft, by a fecret convention, unknown to his republic, engaged with Alphonfo and Alexander to act against the French. In confequence whereof he at firft only gave orders that the Neapolitan fleet should be permitted to anchor and take in provision at Leghorn, or any other Florentine port; but foon after he directed fome Florentine regiments and artillery, to join Ferdinando's army. When Charles first came to Afti, he had again fent an ambassador to the Florentines, with feveral advantageous offers, if they would grant him a paffage through their dominions, and abstain from affifting Alphonfo; at the fame time threatning them with his refentment, in cafe of a refufal.

Tho' the Florentines did not return an abfolutely negative answer to these propofals, yet their reply was fo far evafive, as to give Charles great offence, and was one motive for his determining

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termining his rout through Tufcany; to which he was farther inftigated by Lorenzo and Giovanni de Medici, two eminent citizens of Florence, who having been for fome time confined to their country-houfes for a confpiracy againt Piero, had efcaped from thence, and prefented themselves to the king the day he left Piacenza, defiring him to march towards Florence, where he might be affured of a ready reception from the people, as well on account of their natural affection to the house of France, as from their hatred of Piero.

The French army, according to the aforementioned refolution, pursued their march; in the courfe of which they af faulted Fivizano, which town was taken and plundered, the garrifon, with many of the inhabitants, being put to the fword. Maffacres of this kind being new to them, amazed and terrified the Italians, who had been long accustomed to fee their wars carried on with only pomp and magnificence, which gave their army rather an appearance of grandeur than of terror and danger.

The Florentines feemed to be refolved to oppofe the French forces, and had fixed upon Sarzana to be the scene of their principal efforts: this place and its neighbouring fort, Sarzanello were judged, from their ftrength and fituation, capable of making a length of refiftance, and would in all probability have confiderably embarraffed the king's affairs, had they not been relieved by an unexpected accident.

Piero de Medici found the citizens of Florence were generaily dilatisfied with his conduct, particularly with his having involved them in thefe difficulties; at the fame time he was convinced, that he could not depend either on the pope or the king of Naples for affiftance; wherefore he took a fudden refolution, to feek among his enemies that fafety he feared was not to be met with among his friends.-To this purpose he went and offered himself in person to Charles, and submitted at once to every demand: he agreed, that Sarzana, Sarzanello, and Pietra Santa, which were the keys of the Florentine dominions, with the citadels of Pifa and Livorno (Leghorn), places of the utmost importance to the ftate, fhould be delivered to the king; who figned an agreement to restore them, when he fhould be poffeffed of the kingdom of Naples; belides which he engaged that the Florentines fhould lend his majefty two hundred thousand ducats, upon which terms they fhould be admitted into his alliance, and be under his protection. The former part of this agreement was immediately carried into execution, the places fpecified were forthwith put into his

hands;

hands; but what related to the money was to be ratified at Florence, when Charles came thither.

The news of these conceffions incensed the Florentines to the utmost degree: they were fenfible that the republic was unable to defend Pifa and Livorno, nor could they hope, that the king would recede from any part of the treaty; yet to separate the counfels of the government from thofe of Piero, they immediately fent ambassadors to Charles, chufing the most difaffected to the Medici. Piero being informed of what paffed in Florence, took leave of the king, under pretence of fettling the performance of what he had agreed to: he was apprehenfive of a revolution, and was in hopes, by his prefence, to have prevented it; but he was greatly disappointed, for the day after his arrival, Nov. 9. he was not only forbid entering the palace appointed for the refidence of the chief magiftrate, but was alfo, with his two brothers, declared a rebel, and obliged to make a precipitate flight to Bologna.

From Sarzana Charles moved to Pifa, at the fame time Lodovico returned to Milan, having firft, for a fum of money, obtained the inveftiture of Genoa to himself and his defcendants: notwithstanding which, he departed diffatisfied, for having been refufed to put a garrifon of his own into Pietra Santa and Sarzano, as this denial might obftruct his becoming mafter of Pifa, which had always engaged his particular attention.

On the fame day the revolution was brought about at Florence, while the king was at Pisa, the inhabitants of that city affembled in a tumultuous manner, and intreated his majesty to reftore them to their liberty, which had been ufurped by the Florentines; to which request Charles inconfiderately replied, tho' contrary to his agreement at Sarzana, that they fhould be redreffed. On which the people immediately took up arms and pulled down the Florentine ftandards, and cried out Liberty! The king hardly knowing what he had promifed, ordered the Florentine magiftrates to remain, and exercise their functions, and at the fame time gave the old caftle to the cuftody of the Pifans, but kept for himself the new citadel, which was of much more importance.

From Pifa, Charles proceeded towards Florence, having ordered his troops to join him, that he might ftrike the more terror in that city at his entry; which he made with great magnificence, appearing with all the enfigns of a conqueror : and in the treaty, which was immediately begun, he torily required the entire dominion of Florence; alledging, that by coming into the city in that armed manner, he was

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