Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/31

PARTITION OF NAPLES. 5 and to the lust of territorial acquisition, consented to ciiaptkk unite her arms with those of France against Milan, • '- — in consideration of a share (not the lion's share) of the spoils of victory. Florence, and many other inferior powers, whether from fear or weakness, or the shortsighted hope of assistance in their petty international feuds, consented either to throw their weight into the same scale, or to remain neutral. ^ Having thus secured himself from molestation in Italy, Louis the Twelfth entered into negotiations with such other European powers, as were most likely to interfere with his designs. The Emperor Maximilian, whose relations with Milan would most naturally have demanded his interposition, was deeply entangled in a war with the Swiss. The neutrality of Spain was secured by the treaty of Marcoussis, August 5th, 1498, which settled all the existing differences with that country. And a treaty with Savoy in the following year guarantied a free passage through her mountain passes to the French army into Italy. ^ Having completed these arrangements. Louis lost Jo'Jf ye^'^Mi no time in mustering his forces, which, descending '^°' 1499 . like a torrent on the fair plains of Lombardy, sept effected the conquest of the entire duchy in little more than a fortnight ; and, although the prize was snatched for a moment from his grasp, yet French valor and Swiss perfidy soon restored it. The miserable Sforza, the dupe of arts which he had so 1 Guicciardini, Istoria, torn. i. 2 Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, lib. 4, p. 214. ed. 1645. — Flassan, torn. iii. pp. 397-400. — Flassan, Diplomatie Francaise, torn. i. pp. Diplomatic Francaise, torn. i. p. 275, 277. 279.