Chapter X: Book THE SEVENTH (3)

The king sent with the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula to Ostia, Peron de Basche, the steward of his household, who three days before had brought the king twenty thousand ducats by sea, which was part of the money lent him by the Duke of Milan. This Peron de Basche landed at Piombino, and left the fleet (which was but small) under the command of the Prince of Salerno, and the Baron of Sernon[317] in Provence; but being overtaken suddenly by a storm, their ship was much shattered, and driven upon the coast of Sardinia, where they lay a long time without doing us any service till they could be repaired, though they cost us a vast expense, and came not to us till the king was in Naples.

There were with the Cardinal at Ostia about five hundred men-at-arms, and two thousand Swiss under the command of the Count de Ligny[318] (the king’s cousin-german by his mother’s side), the Lord of Allegre[319], and others. Their design was to have passed the Tiber, and enclosed Don Ferrand in Rome, by the favour and assistance of the Colonne, of whom the chief were Prospero and Fabritio Colonna, and the Cardinal Colonna[320], who had two thousand foot under their command, to pay whom the king remitted money by Peron de Basche, though they had raised and mustered them at their own pleasure at Sansonna[321], a town belonging to them.

We must here observe that several affairs are coincident in this place, and of every one of them something must be said. Before the king had made his entrance into Viterbo, he had sent the Lord de la Tremouille[322], his chamberlain, the President of Gannay[323], who had the seal, and Monsieur Bidaut[324], to Rome, to treat with the Pope, who was never without some underhand practices, according to the mode of the Italians. While they were at Rome, the Pope in the night received Don Ferrand and his whole army into the town, so that our people were seized for a short time, but dismissed the same day by the Pope; only the Cardinal Ascanio, vice-chancellor and brother to the Duke of Milan, and Prospero Colonna, were detained (some say by their own consent). I had news of all this immediately, by letters from the king, and the Signory of Venice had a more ample account of it from their agents; and it happened before the king got into Viterbo, for he never stayed above two days in any place, and all things succeeded better for our interest than we could have expected or hoped, and no wonder, for God’s providence appeared so visibly for our assistance, that nobody could deny it.

The badness of the weather had rendered the army in Ostia utterly unserviceable. But you must understand that the forces under the command of the Lord d’Aubigny had been marched back, and he himself had no further employment there. The Italians were likewise dismissed, who had been raised in Romagna, and brought to the army by Count Rodolph of Mantua[325], the Lord Galeot de la Mirandola[326], and Fracasse[327], brother to Galeas di St. Severino; who were well paid by the king, and were in all about five hundred men. At his departure from Viterbo the king advanced to Naples[328] of which the Cardinal Ascanio was then governor. And it it is most certain that, whilst our forces were in Ostia, twenty fathoms of the wall fell down at Rome, on that side where we designed to enter.

The Pope, observing this young prince advance so briskly, and with such unexpected success, consented to receive him into Rome (and to speak truth he could not help it), upon condition he would give safe conduct under his hand and seal to Don Ferrand, Duke of Calabria, and only son to Alphonso; but Ferrand marched away in the night towards Naples, and the Cardinal Ascanio conducted him to the very gate. The king entered Rome[329] in arms, as a prince who had authority to do what he pleased wherever he came. There came out to meet him several cardinals, and the governors and senators of the town, who attended him to his lodgings in the palace of St. Mark (which belonged to the Colonne, who were then his servants and friends); and the Pope himself retired to his castle of St. Angelo.

CH. XIII.—How King Alphonso caused his Son Ferrand to be crowned King; his Flight into Sicily; and of the evil Life his Father (old Ferrand) and he had led during their Reigns.—1495.

Could any man have imagined that so imperious a prince as Alphonso, inured all his lifetime to wars, and his son and the Ursini, who had so great a party in Rome, should have been afraid to make a stand there? Especially when they perceived the Duke of Milan and the Venetians wavering, and a secret alliance on foot, which would certainly have been concluded, had any resistance been made, either at Viterbo or Rome, that might have stopped the progress of the king’s arms, though but for three or four days. But God was willing to demonstrate to the world that all these things were beyond the contrivance and comprehension of human wisdom; and, as we said before, that above twenty fathoms of the city wall fell down, so now there fell down above fifteen fathoms of the outer wall of the castle of St. Angelo, as I have been told by several persons, and particularly by two cardinals who were there. But now we must say something of King Alphonso.

As soon as the Duke of Calabria, called the young Ferrand (whom we have already often mentioned), was returned to Naples, his father, King Alphonso, abdicated the crown, thinking himself unworthy of it on account of the mischiefs and cruelties he had committed against several princes and lords who had trusted to his and his father’s honour, causing them to be put to death (to the number of four-and-twenty), after the decease of his father, who had kept them alive for some time after their wars against him. Two more he also caused to be executed, who had surrendered upon his father’s security; one was the Prince of Rossano, Duke of Sessa[330], a person of great authority. This Prince of Rossano had married King Ferrand’s sister, and had by her a son[331] of very great parts and understanding. To make sure of him, he had been married to a daughter of King Ferrand (for the Prince of Rossano had been engaged in a most abominable treason against his king, and had deserved the worst punishment that could have been inflicted, had he not surrendered himself upon assurance of a pardon). As soon as he had surrendered, the king ordered him to be closely confined in a stinking prison, where he continued for the space of four-and-twenty years, and whither his son was sent, when he was about fifteen or sixteen years old, to bear him company. Alphonso, immediately upon his accession to the throne, ordered all the prisoners to be removed to a small island not far from Naples, called Ischia (of which you shall hear further hereafter), and put all of them to death after a most barbarous and inhuman manner, except Rossano’s son and the noble Count of Popoli[332], whom he still kept prisoners in the castle of Naples.

I inquired very carefully how they were so cruelly murdered (because many people believed them alive when the king entered Naples), and I was told by their principal servants that they were horribly and villanously knocked on the head by a Moor of Africa, who, immediately after their execution, was dispatched into Barbary, that no notice might be taken of it. I was informed he did not even spare those ancient princes, some of whom had been kept in prison for four or five-and-thirty years. Never was any prince more bloody, wicked, inhuman, lascivious, or gluttonous than he. Yet his father was more dangerous, because no man knew when he was angry or pleased; for he would betray men in the midst of his entertainments and caresses, as he betrayed Count James[333], whom he caused on a sudden to be apprehended, and put to a horrible death, though he was in the quality of an ambassador at his court from Francis, Duke of Milan, whose natural daughter he had married; but to that barbarous action Francis was consenting, for they were both afraid of his courage and interest with the Bracci[334], for he was son to Nicolo Piccinino.[335] In the same manner (as report goes) he served several others; for this Ferrand had nothing of tenderness or compassion in him, as I have been informed by his nearest friends and relations, nor was he ever known to take the least pity of his own necessitous subjects in relation to their taxes. The whole trade of buying and selling he engrossed to himself all through his kingdom. He delivered hogs to his people to feed, and required them to make them fat, that they might fetch a good price; and if any of them chanced to die, the people were forced to pay for them. In Apulia and other countries which are plentiful in olives, he and his son bought up all the oil, almost at their own price; the same they did with their corn, buying it at a cheap rate before it was ripe, and then selling it again as dear as they could; but if the price of any of their commodities happened to fall in the meantime, they obliged the people to take them off their hands; and whilst they were disposed to sell, nobody durst buy of any one else.

If a baron, or the lord of any country, was a thrifty man, and saved anything out of his revenue by management and industry, they sent presently to borrow it, and the owners were forced to comply with their unreasonable demands. They also took away their breed of horses (of which in those parts there are several), and caused them to be managed and trained for them and their use; so that they had in horses, mares, and colts many thousands, which they sent up and down the kingdom to be kept for them, to the great detriment of the masters. Both father and son had ravished several women; they made no conscience of sacrilege, nor did they retain the least respect or obedience for the church. They sold their bishoprics, as that of Tarento, which the father sold for thirteen thousand ducats to a Jew for his son, who the Jew pretended was a Christian. He gave abbeys to falconers and others for their children, telling them, “You shall keep me so many hawks, and mew them, and keep me such a number of soldiers at your expense.” The son never kept Lent in his life, nor so much as pretended to do it; and for many years he never was at confession, nor ever received the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. In short, it is scarce possible that any prince could be guilty of greater villanies than they were. Some will have the young Ferrand to be the worst of the two; though at his death he grew humble and civil, but then indeed he was in distress.

CH. XIV.—How King Alphonso fled into Castile, and did Penance.—1495.

Perhaps the reader may think that what I have written of these two princes proceeds from some particular pique against them; but upon my conscience that is not the motive that induces me to do it; for I have given you this history of their lives, only to continue my Memoirs, in the beginning of which I freely declared my opinion that I thought it impossible for those who had the management of our affairs to have carried on this expedition so prosperously, had not God himself undertaken to conduct it for our young king, whom he supplied with provisions in the extremity of his wants, that he might make him his instrument to scourge and chastise these Italian princes, who were wise, rich, powerful, and experienced in the affairs of the world: had wise and able ministers to defend and take care of their dominions, and were supported by powerful alliances; and, though they beheld the storm afar off, yet had they not courage or wisdom enough at that time either to resist or avoid it. For, except the castle of Naples, there was not one place which stopped the progress of the king’s arms for a day, which occasioned Pope Alexander VI. to say that the French came into Naples with wooden spurs, and chalk in their harbingers’ hands to mark out their lodgings, which they took up without any more trouble. The wooden spurs he mentioned because it was the custom at that time, when young gentlemen rode about the streets, for their pages to put a sharp piece of wood into the heels of their shoes, with which they pricked their mules forward. In short, this expedition into Italy was performed with so much ease, and so little resistance, that our soldiers scarce ever put on their armour during the whole expedition, and the king marched with his army from Asti to Naples in four months and nineteen days; an ambassador with his retinue could hardly have got thither sooner.

I conclude, therefore, with several pious and religious men, and the general voice of the people (which is the voice of God), that God intended to make an example of these princes, that by their chastisement others might be excited to conform their lives according to his commandments. For these princes of Arragon lost their honour, their kingdom, and their treasure, besides their rich furniture of all sorts, which has been so strangely dispersed, it is hardly to be known what is become of it; and, finally, they died themselves, three in one year[336], or a little more; but I hope their souls are in paradise. For King Ferrand, who was natural son to Alphonso the Great[337] (a wise, good, and honourable prince), was highly concerned to see his kingdoms invaded with such a powerful army, and to find himself not in a condition to oppose it. He was also sensible of the notoriously bad lives that he and his son had led, and that they had become odious to the people. And besides, in the pulling down of a chapel (as I have been assured by several of his nearest relations), there was a book found with this title, _Truth, with its secret Counsel_[338], in which (it is said) was contained a full prophecy of his misfortunes; but there were only three persons who had a sight of it, for as soon as he had read it, he committed it to the flames.

Another thing that troubled him was, that neither his son Alphonso, nor his grandson Ferdinand, could be persuaded of the king’s coming into Italy; but they talked arrogantly and contemptuously of him, hectoring and threatening that they would go as far as the mountains to meet him. But some were so wise as to make it their solemn petition to God Almighty that a king of France might never come into Italy; for they had only seen a poor indigent prince of the family of Anjou, who had troubled all Italy before it could get rid of him, namely, Duke John, King René’s son. Ferrand laboured hard, by means of his ambassador Camillo Pandone[339], to stop the king’s expedition into Italy before he left France, offering him a tribute of fifty thousand ducats a year, and to do him homage for his kingdom. But finding he could neither purchase his peace with the King of France, nor compose the differences of the city of Milan, he fell sick, confessed his sins, and died[340], and, I hope, repented of his wickedness. His son Alphonso, who was so cruel and terrible, and in such reputation for his experience in military affairs before the King of France’s departure from Rome, renounced the crown, and was seized with such a panic fear, that in the night he would cry out he heard the French, and that the stones and trees shouted, “France, France.” Nor durst he ever stir boldly out of Naples; but upon his son’s return from Rome he resigned the government of his kingdom to him, and caused him to be crowned, and carried on horseback through the streets of Naples, attended by the chief persons of the city, to wit, his brother Don Frederic, and the Cardinal of Genoa (between whom the new king rode), and all the foreign ambassadors that were there; and after all this pomp and solemnity was performed, Alphonso himself fled into Sicily, and took with him the queen his mother-in-law[341] (sister to Ferrand, King of Castile, who is now reigning, and heir to the kingdom of Sicily), to a place[342] where she had a strong garrison.

This was looked upon as a very surprising turn of affairs all over Europe, but especially at Venice, where I was then as the king’s ambassador. Some said he had retired to the Turkish court, others that his resignation was only in favour of his son, who was less odious to the people; but I was always of opinion it proceeded from nothing but real cowardice; for no person that was cruel was ever courageous, as all histories inform us; for so Nero and several other tyrants perished in despair. In short, Alphonso was in so great a consternation, that (as I was informed by some who were about him) he told his mother-in-law, on the very day of their departure, that if she would not go he would leave her behind; and when she entreated him to put off his departure for three days longer, that it might be said she had been a whole year in his kingdom, he replied that, rather than not go then, he would throw himself out of the window; “For do not you hear (saith he), how everybody cries out, ‘France, France?’” Upon which they immediately went on board their galleys. He took along with him all sorts of wines (which he loved above all things), and seeds for his gardens, without taking any care of his property or furniture, which was left mostly in the castle of Naples; some jewels and a little money he carried with him besides, and away they sailed for Sicily, to the place above mentioned; and from thence to Messina, where he sent for and carried along with him certain monks, to whom he pretended and swore he would have no further conversation with the world. Among the rest, he took a particular fancy to the monks of Mount Olivet, whose habit is white (as they told me at Venice, where the body of St. Helena is deposited in their monastery), and with them he lived a most strict and austere life, serving God at all hours both of the day and night, as the monks did in their convents, spending his time in prayers, fasting, and alms; by which austerity and severe way of living he contracted a sad distemper of excoriation and gravel; and the monks told me they never saw any man suffer greater misery, and yet he endured it with abundance of patience, having resolved to spend the remainder of his days in a monastery at Valentia, and to take upon him the monkish habit; but he was surprised with a violent illness, and died in a short time after. If we may judge from the greatness of his penitence, we may conclude his soul is glorious in paradise. His son outlived him not long, for he died of a fever and a flux, and I hope they are better where they are, than they were in this world. To conclude, in less than two years’ time there were five kings crowned in Naples; the three I have mentioned before, Charles VIII. of France, and Don Frederic[343], Alphonso’s brother, who now reigns.

CH. XV.—How, after Ferrand the Younger was crowned King of Naples he encamped with his Forces at St. Germain, in order to oppose King Charles; and of the Agreement King Charles made with the Pope during his stay at Rome.—1495.

Now for the better understanding of all these affairs, you must know that King Ferrand, after his coronation was over, became a new man, supposing all the odium and resentment of past injuries were buried in oblivion upon his father’s abdicating the throne. He assembled all the forces he could raise, both of horse and foot, and marched with them to St. Germain[344], which is a strong place, and easy to defend (though the French passed it twice), upon the frontiers of his kingdom. Having encamped there, and put a strong garrison, with all manner of provisions, into the town, his friends began to take heart. The town is defended in two ways, by a small river[345] that is fordable sometimes, and by a great mountain which seems to hang over it.

The king in the meantime was at Rome, and continued there about twenty days, during which time several affairs of importance were transacted. There were with him about eighteen cardinals, and others from various parts; among whom there were the Lord Ascanio, vice-chancellor and brother to the Duke of Milan, and the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula (great foes to one another, but mortal enemies to the Pope), the Cardinals of Gurce[346], St. Dennis[347], St. Severino[348], Savelly[349], Colonna, and others; all of them earnest for a new election, and that the Pope might be deposed, who was then in his castle. Twice our great guns were made ready to fire (as I have been told by several persons of quality); but both times the king in his mercy opposed it. The place is not defensible, being built upon a small hill, and that merely artificial. It was alleged that the walls had fallen down by miracle, and they charged his Holiness with having given money for the papacy, and they said the truth; but Cardinal Ascanio was the principal merchant, for it was he that drove the bargain and received most of the money, besides the house in which the Pope lived when he was vice-chancellor, with all the rich furniture, and his vice-chancellorship, and several other places of St. Peter’s patrimony besides; for they two were competitors for the popedom. However, I am of opinion they would both have consented to a new election at the king’s pleasure, though it had been to choose a Frenchman. I will not pretend to say whether the king acted well or ill, but I think his best way was to compose matters amicably, as he did; for he was a young man, and incapable of performing so important a work as the reformation of the Church, though, perhaps, his strength might have been sufficient. Could he have undertaken and gone through with it, I question not but all men of wisdom and reason would have acknowledged it to have been a good, great, and holy work; but great mystery would have been necessary. However, the king’s intentions were good, and are so still, if he were vigorously assisted.

The king took another course, and came to an accommodation[350] with the Pope, which could not possibly last long, for it was too violent in some points, and there was great talk of making an alliance, of which we shall speak more hereafter. By this agreement there was to be peace between the Pope and his cardinals; and the said cardinals were to receive all the rights and perquisites belonging to their dignities, as well absent as present; and the Pope was to deliver four towns to the king, Terracina, Civita Vecchia, Viterbo (which was in his hands already), and Spoleto; but this last he never delivered, notwithstanding his promise. All these towns were to be restored to the Pope upon the king’s return out of Naples, which was performed on the king’s part, though the Pope had not dealt fairly with him. By this agreement he also delivered the Grand Seignior’s brother[351] to the king, for whom he received constantly every year of the Great Turk forty-five thousand ducats, for he was greatly afraid of him. He further promised not to put a legate into any place under the jurisdiction of the Church without the king’s approbation. There were other articles relating to the consistory, for which and the rest, his son the cardinal of Valentia[352] was given in hostage, who attended the king instead of a legate. The king on his part did his filial obedience with all imaginable humility, and the Pope created two cardinals at his request; one was Monsieur Brissonet, who had before been made Bishop of St. Malo; the other was the Bishop of Mans[353], of the house of Luxembourg, and then resident in France.

CH. XVI.—How the King departed from Rome to Naples; of the Transactions in that Kingdom in the Meantime; and an Account of the Places the King of France passed through in his March.—1495.

Matters being adjusted after this manner, the king left Rome[354] seemingly in great friendship with the Pope, but eight cardinals left the town in a rage, of whom six were partisans of the vice-chancellor and the cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula, though it was supposed this was only a feint of Ascanio’s, and that at bottom he was agreed with the Pope; but his brother[355] had not then declared himself our enemy. The king marched with his army to Genzano, and from thence to Velitri, where the Cardinal of Valentia gave him the slip.

The next morning the king took Monte-fortino by storm, and put the garrison to the sword. The place belonged to James Visconti, who had entered into the king’s service, and afterwards deserted him; for the Visconti are of the faction of the Ursini. From thence the king marched to Valmontone, which belonged to the Colonne, and thence advanced to within four miles of Mount St. John, a strong place, which he battered seven or eight hours with his heavy cannon, and then took it by storm[356], and put all or nearly all the garrison to the sword. It was church land, and belonged to the Marquis di Pescara[357]; and there our whole army joined. From thence the king marched about sixteen miles to St. Germain, where the new King Ferrand was encamped, as I said before, with all the forces he was able to assemble. There was now no remedy; this was the place for him to fight in or not at all, for it was the entrance into his kingdom, and he was advantageously posted, both in respect of the river and the mountain. He had also sent a strong detachment to secure the pass at Cancello, which is in the mountains, about six miles from St. Germain; but before the king’s approach, Ferrand retired with great precipitation, and abandoned both the town and the pass. Monsieur de Guise[358] commanded the van that day, and the Lord de Rieux[359] was ordered to take the pass at Cancello, which the Arragonians ought to have defended; but they also abandoned their post, so that the king entered St. Germain[360] without any resistance. King Ferrand retreated to Capua, where they received him and some few of his retinue, but refused to admit his whole army. He made no long stay among them at that time, but only entreated them to continue faithful to him, promising to return the next day; and away he posted to Naples, suspecting the rebellion which afterwards happened there. The greater part of his army he left behind, and commanded them to attend him at Capua; but when he came back the next day they were all fled. Virgil Ursini, and his cousin the Count de Pettilane, went to Nola, where they and their party were taken by our men. They affirmed that they had a safe-conduct, and that we did them wrong; and it was true enough, but their passport had not yet come to their hands; however, they paid nothing for their ransom, only they were plundered, and, to speak the truth, their loss was very considerable.

From St. Germain the king marched to Mignano and Teano, and encamped at Calvi, two miles from Capua, where the inhabitants of that city came to treat with him, and the king entered it with his whole army.[361] From Capua he marched the next day to Aversa, midway between Capua and Naples, about five miles distant from both. The chief of the Neapolitans waited on his majesty there, and they came to an accommodation, by which their ancient liberties and privileges were secured to them. The king sent thither before him the Marshal de Gié, the Seneschal of Beaucaire, the President Gannay, who kept the seals, and his secretaries. King Ferrand, finding how matters went, and seeing the people and nobility in arms against him, and his great stables plundered before his face, got immediately aboard a galley, and made the best of his way to Ischia, which is a small island about eighteen miles from Naples. And the King of France was received into the city of Naples with great solemnity and joy[362]; all the people came out to meet him, and those who were under the greatest obligation to the house of Arragon came first, as particularly the family of the Caraffi, who had at that time from the house of Arragon above forty thousand ducats a year, in lands and employments; for the kings in that country can dispose of their own demesnes, as well as other people’s; and I am of opinion there are not three considerable estates in the whole kingdom which are not held of the crown or other persons.

Never people expressed so great zeal and affection to any king or nation as they did to ours; for they supposed themselves delivered from all tyranny, so that everywhere they willingly submitted to us. The whole country of Calabria yielded, and the Lord d’Aubigny and Peron de Basche were sent to command them, without any forces of their own. The Abruzzi revolted of their own accord, and the town of Aquila, which was always in the French interest, set them an example. In Apulia they did the same, all but the castle of Brindisi, which is strong and well-manned, and the town of Gallipoli, which had also a strong garrison in it, or else the inhabitants would have revolted. In Calabria there were three places which held out for King Ferrand; two of them were Amantea and Tropea, anciently devoted to the house of Anjou, and they at first set up the arms of France; but, because the king had given them to Monsieur de Persi[363], and would not make them part of his own demesnes, they pulled down his arms, and erected the banners of Arragon. The third place was the castle of Reggio, which continued firm to the house of Arragon; but all that stood out did so for want of being summoned to surrender; for there was not a sufficient body of troops sent into Apulia and Calabria to have kept one castle for the king. Tarento voluntarily surrendered both castle and town, and so did Otranto, Monopoli, Trani, Manfredonia, Barletta, and all but those places which I excepted before. They came three days’ journey to meet our army, and begged of us to receive their respective cities into our protection. They sent likewise all of them to Naples, and all the princes and great lords of the kingdom came thither to do homage to our king, except the Marquis de Pescara, but his brothers and nephews came. The Count d’Acri and the Marquis de Squillazzo fled into Sicily, because our king had given their estates to the Lord d’Aubigny. There also arrived at Naples the Prince of Salerno, newly come from sea; but he had done nothing considerable. His cousin, the Prince of Bisignano, was there also with his brothers, and the Dukes of Melfi[364] and Gravina[365], and the old Duke of Sora, who heretofore had sold his duchy to the Cardinal of St. Peter ad Vincula, whose brother[366] enjoys it at this day. The Counts of Monterio, Fondi, Tripalda, and Celano (which last had been banished a long time, and was returned with the king) came also to Naples. The Count de Troye, a young Scottish gentleman, but educated in France, was there also, and the Count de Popoli, whom we found prisoner in Naples. The young Prince of Rossano, who, as I said before, was long a prisoner with his father, who had been confined thirty-four years, was released, and accompanied King Ferrand to Ischia. There came also to Naples the Marquis de Venafro, all the Caldoresques[367], the Count de Matalon, and the Count de Merillano, whose predecessors had always governed the house of Arragon; and, in short, all the nobility of that kingdom, except the three persons whom I mentioned before.

CH. XVII.—How King Charles was crowned King of Naples; the Errors he committed in his Government of that Kingdom; and of the Discovery of a Design in his Favour against the Turks by the Venetians.—1495.

King Ferrand, when he fled from Naples, left the Marquis of Pescara and some Germans in the castle, and sailed himself into Sicily to demand succour of his father. Don Frederic still kept at sea with some few galleys, and came twice (with a passport) to treat with our king. His demands were, that some part of the kingdom should be left to his nephew, with the title of king; and that he should himself enjoy all the lands which belonged to him and his wife. His request was not unreasonable, for his own estate was but small: the king offered to give both him and his nephew an equivalent in France; and I am of opinion his majesty would have given them some considerable duchy, but they did not think fit to accept it; besides, there was no trusting them in the kingdom of Naples; for they would have observed no articles of agreement any longer than it had been for their advantage. So we erected our batteries against the castle of Naples, and began to fire upon it. The Marquis de Pescara was gone out of it, and there were only a few Germans in it. Had we sent but four of our great guns into the island, we had certainly carried it; but from thenceforward our misfortunes returned. For all the rest of the towns (which were not above four or five) would have fallen into our hands of course; but we spent our time in gaiety, entertainments, dancing, and tournaments, and grew so insolent and vain, we scarce considered the Italians to be men. Our king was crowned, and had his lodgings in the castle of Capoana, and sometimes went to Mont-Imperial[368]: to the subjects of that kingdom he did many good acts, and abated their taxes; so that I believe the people would never have rebelled of themselves (though they are naturally inconstant), had we but obliged some few of the nobility; but they were slighted, and treated uncivilly at the very gates. Those of the house of Caraffa (though friends to the house of Arragon) were used the best; yet they escaped not quite without loss. Every one else was deprived of his offices and estate; and the partisans of the house of Anjou fared a great deal worse than the friends of Arragon. Orders were sent into the county of Merillano, and the President Gannay and the seneschal (lately made Duke of Nola, and grand chamberlain of the kingdom) were suspected to have taken money for obtaining them: by those orders every one was to be confirmed in his possessions, only the partisans of the house of Anjou were to be excluded from their estates, unless they could make good their titles by law; and for such as had entered of their own accord (as the Count di Celano) they were to be ejected by force. All estates and offices were conferred upon two or three Frenchmen, and all the stores of provision in the castle of Naples (which were found to be very considerable upon the taking of it) were given to any man that asked, with the king’s knowledge and consent.

During these transactions the Germans capitulated, and delivered up the castle, keeping all the goods that were in it (to a vast value) for themselves. Another castle, called Castel del Ovo, was taken by storm; by which it may be perceived that what was done was not done so much by the conduct or dexterity of the agents, as by the providence of God; but the great faults that were committed were the works of men puffed up by vain glory, and unwilling to acknowledge from whence their success and honour proceeded; and their misfortune was the pure product of their own depraved nature and experience: so that their fortune changed as suddenly and visibly as the day rises in Norway or Iceland, where the days in summer are longer than in other parts, and one day is scarce ended until within a quarter of an hour before the next begins to dawn. In the same manner a wise man might have observed the face of their good fortune after, and that enterprise miscarry (which, if had been ascribed to the true manager of it), would have contributed mightily to the honour and advantage of all Christendom. For the Turkish empire would have been as easily shaken as Alphonso’s kingdom; for the emperor is still alive, and is a man of no reputation or courage, and his brother was in our king’s hands (though he lived but a few days after the Cardinal of Valentia made his escape, and was supposed to have been poisoned), and the sultan dreaded him above all persons in the world. Besides, in the very heart of his empire there were thousands of Christians ready to take up arms; and from Otranto to Valona[369] is not above sixty miles, and from Valona to Constantinople about eighteen days’ journey, as I have been informed by men who have often travelled between those places, and in all the way there are not above two or three strong towns, the rest having been dismantled. The countries that lie between are Albania, Sclavonia, and Greece, all of them very populous, and acquainted with the fame and character of our king by their correspondents in Venice and Apulia, to whom they wrote constantly, and awaited only their directions to rebel. The king sent thither to them the Archbishop of Durazzo[370], who was an Albanian born; and, discoursing with multitudes of the children and grandchildren of several great lords, descendants of Scanderbeg[371], one son of the Emperor of Constantinople[372] several of the nephews of the Lord Constantine[373] (at present Governor of Montferrat), and some nephews or cousins to the King of Servia, he found them all inclinable to revolt. In Thessaly above five thousand men would have appeared, and Scutari and Croia would have been surprised by means of the Lord Constantine, who lay concealed several days in my house at Venice; for Macedonia and Thessaly, which formerly belonged to Alexander the Great, were his inheritance. Valona is situated in them; Scutari and Croia are not far off; but in his time his father or uncle[374] mortgaged them to the Venetians, who lost Croia, and Scutari was surrendered to the Turk upon articles of peace[375]. The said Lord Constantine was at that time within three leagues of them; and the enterprise would have been executed, had not the Archbishop of Durazzo stayed at Venice some time after Constantine’s departure. I pressed him hard to depart, for I thought him a person that could not keep a secret long; and he went up and down boasting that he was about an affair which would make him celebrated all over Christendom. By ill fortune, on the very day that the Venetians had news of the death of the Turk’s brother, whom the Pope had delivered to our king, they resolved to give notice of it to the Sultan by one of their secretaries; and being assured that whoever brought the first news would be certain of a great reward, they ordered that no vessel should pass between the two castles in the night (which castles command the entrance of the gulf of Venice); to prevent which they posted guards at both of them, being fearful of nothing so much as the small vessels and grips[376], as they call them, of which there are great numbers in the ports of Albania, and their islands in Greece.

The poor archbishop happened that very night to set out upon the Lord Constantine’s enterprise, and carrying along with him abundance of swords, bucklers, and javelins, for the use of his confederates who wanted them; as he passed between the two castles he was stopped and taken, and himself and servants secured in one of them; but the vessels had leave to go on. They searched him, and found letters about him that discovered the whole plot; and the Lord Constantine has told me since that the Venetians sent immediate notice to all the Turkish garrisons that were near, and an express to the Grand Signor himself; so that, had it not been for the grip which they suffer to pass (whose master was an Albanian who gave him notice), the Lord Constantine had been taken; but he escaped by sea, and got away into Apulia.

CH. XVIII.—A Digression or Discourse, by no Means unconnected with the main Subject, in which Philip de Commines, Author of this present Book, speaks at some Length of the State and Government of the Signory of Venice, and of what he saw, and what was done, while he was Ambassador from the King of France in the City of Venice.—1495.

It is now high time for me to say something of the Venetians, and of the occasion of my being sent thither in an embassy while the king was employed in his affairs at Naples. I was sent from Asti to return them thanks for the civil and obliging answers they had given to two former ambassadors from his majesty, and to endeavour, if possible, to continue them in his friendship, and to cultivate a good understanding with them; for he saw their power, wisdom, and conduct was more like to disturb him than any other state in Italy. The Duke of Milan hastened my despatch, and wrote to his resident there (where he constantly had one) to assist me, and give me instructions to whom I should apply myself. His ambassador had an allowance from the Signory of a hundred ducats a month, his lodgings well furnished, and three gondolas to carry him about the town without expense; and the Venetian ambassador has the same at Milan, excepting the boats; for there they go on horseback, and at Venice in boats. In my journey thither I passed by several of their cities, Brescia, Verona, Vicenza, Padua, and other places. I was treated very civilly wherever I came, in honour to the monarch who sent me, and the people came out to meet me in great bodies, with their Podestà or captain[377]; both of them never came out together, but the captain met me at the gate. When I had entered the town I was conducted to my lodgings; the master of the house was commanded that I should want nothing, and my whole charges were borne, and mighty good words given me into the bargain; yet, if you compute what must necessarily be given to the drums, trumpets, and officers in those ceremonies, an ambassador will be found to save but little; however, my reception was most honourable.

The day that I made my entry into Venice they sent to meet me as far as Fusina, which is five miles from Venice; there you leave the boats which bring you down the river[378] from Padua, and get into little boats covered with tapestry and very neat, with fair carpets within, and velvet cushions to sit upon. To this place you come from Venice by sea, as it is the next place to Venice upon _terra firma_; but the sea (unless agitated by some storm) is very calm, which is the reason of the great abundance of all sorts of fish. I was extremely surprised at the situation of this city, to see so many churches, monasteries, and houses, and all in the water; and the people have no other passage up and down the streets but in boats, of which, I believe, they have near thirty thousand, but they are very small. About the city, within less than the compass of half a French league, there are seventy religious houses both of men and women, all situated in little islands, very beautiful and magnificent both in building and furniture, with fair gardens belonging to them; without reckoning those in the city, where there are the four orders of mendicants, and seventy-two parishes, besides several fraternities; and, indeed, it is most strange to behold so many stately churches in the sea.

I was met and complimented at Fusina by five and twenty gentlemen, richly dressed in silks and scarlets; they welcomed me with abundance of civility, and conducted me to St. Andrew’s church, which was near the town, where as many other gentlemen met and complimented me. These were accompanied by the ambassadors of Milan and Ferrara; and after they had made another speech to me I was conducted into other larger boats, which they called Plats, two of which were covered with crimson satin, and spread with tapestry at the bottom, big enough to hold forty persons; and placing me between the two ambassadors (the middle being the most honourable place in Italy), I was conducted through the principal street, which they call the Grand Canal, and it is so wide that galleys frequently cross one another; indeed I have seen vessels of four hundred tons or more ride at anchor just by the houses. It is the fairest and best-built street, I think, in the world, and goes quite through the city; the houses are very large and lofty, and built of stone; the old ones are all painted; those of about a hundred years standing are faced with white marble from Istria (which is about a hundred miles from Venice), and inlaid with porphyry and serpentine. Within they have, most of them, two chambers at least adorned with gilt ceilings, rich marble chimney-pieces, bedsteads of gold colour, their portals of the same, and most gloriously furnished. In short, it is the most triumphant city that I have ever seen, the most respectful to all ambassadors and strangers, governed with the greatest wisdom, and serving God with the most solemnity; so that, though in other things they might be faulty, I believe God blesses them for the reverence they show in the service of the church.

In the company of these fifty gentlemen I was conveyed to St. George’s (which is an abbey of reformed black friars), where I had an apartment prepared for me. The next morning they came to wait on me again, and conducted me to the Signory, where I delivered my credentials to the Doge[379], who presides in all their councils, and is honoured as a king. All letters are addressed to him, but of himself he cannot do much; yet this one had greater authority than any of his predecessors, for he had been Doge for above twelve years; and I found him a prudent man, of great experience in the affairs of Italy, and civil and courteous in his person. The first day of my arrival was spent in receiving their compliments, and viewing three or four chambers in the duke’s palace; in which the ceilings, beds, and portals were all richly gilt; the apartments are very fine, but the court is not large. The palace is splendid and rich in all it contains, being built of finely carved marble, and the whole front and facings are of stone, gilt an inch thick; and there are in this palace four handsome saloons, richly gilt, and very spacious. The Doge from his own chamber can hear mass at the high altar in the chapel of St. Mark, which, for a chapel, is the most magnificent piece of building in the universe, being built of mosaic work in every part, of which they pretend to be the inventors; and, indeed, it is a great trade amongst them, as I have seen.

In this chapel their treasure (of which so much is said) is kept, and intended only for the decoration of their churches; there are twelve or fourteen rubies, the largest I ever saw; one of them weighs seven, the other eight hundred carats, but both of them are unpolished; there are twelve other stones in cases of gold, with the edges and forepart set richly with very fine jewels. There are also twelve crowns of gold, wherewith, anciently, upon certain festivals in the year, twelve women of the city were crowned; and being styled and attended as queens, they passed in great pomp and solemnity through all the churches and islands. But, at length, certain robbers from Istria and Friuli (which are not far off), concealed about those islands, took their opportunity and surprised a number of the women of the city. Their husbands pursued, overtook, and recovered them; upon which they offered up their crowns to St. Mark, and founded a chapel, to which the Signory repairs every year upon the day of their victory. There is also great store of rich ornaments for the church, with several fair pieces of gold, many fine amethysts and agates, and some small emeralds. But this is not a treasure of equal value with ready money, and, indeed, they have not much of that kind of treasure; for the Doge told me in the Senate-house that it is a capital crime among them to suggest collecting a treasure of that nature; and they are right, for it might cause dissension among them. After they had shown me their treasure I was carried to see their arsenal, where their galleys are equipped, and all things necessary provided for their navies; which, perhaps, is even now the finest in the world, and was formerly under better order and regulation.

In short, I resided there eight months at their expense, and all the other ambassadors who were there had the same treatment; in which time I can assure you I found them so wise, and so intent upon enlarging their territories, that, if it be not prevented in time, all the neighbouring States may lament it too late. For since our king’s expedition into Italy they have been much more dexterous and skilful in attacking and defending themselves than formerly; for they are still at war with him, and yet they have extended their dominions, and lent money upon the security of seven or eight cities in Apulia, which I am not sure will ever be restored.[380] Besides, at the king’s first coming into Italy they did not imagine towns could have been taken so easily (contrary to their custom), nor in so short a time; but since they have been better instructed in the art of war, they have fortified their towns very strongly, and other commonwealths have done the same. It is not to be expected that they should attain to the perfection and grandeur of the old Romans, for their bodies are not so able to bear the fatigues of war, neither are they of such a martial genius; for they never make war upon the continent in their own persons, as the Romans did; but they send their Proveditori and other officers, with their general, to furnish his army with provisions, and assist him in his councils of war. But their naval expeditions are wholly managed by their own people; their fleet, both galleys and ships, being manned with their own subjects, and commanded by their own nobility. Another great advantage they have by not going in person to the wars upon _terra firma_, and that is, there is no man among them of that boldness or interest as to dare to make any attempt to seize the government, as they did in Rome; which is great wisdom, and prevents many civil contentions, against which they have provided in several ways, and all very wisely. They have no tribunes of the people, as they had in Rome (and those tribunes were in part the cause of its destruction); the people among them are of no authority, are consulted in no affair of state, and are incapable of bearing any office; for all their officers, except the secretaries, are chosen out of the gentry; and thus the greater part of the people have no share in the government. Titus Livius has acquainted them perfectly with the defects of the Roman government, and they have his history in great esteem, and his bones are preserved in their palace at Padua; so that, for these and many other reasons which I observed amongst them, I do once more affirm that they are in a fair way to be a very powerful people hereafter.

CH. XIX.—What were the Subjects of the Embassy of the Lord of Argenton to the Republic of Venice.—1495.