40 ITALIAN WARS. PART II. 15 2, July. The French arm}. tions in person, and, to be near the theatre of ope^ rations, crossed the Alps, and took up his quarters at Asti. At length, all being in readiness, he brought things to an immediate issue, by command- ing his general to proclaim war at once against the Spaniards, unless they abandoned the Capitan- ate in four-and-twenty hours.*° The French forces in Naples amounted, accord- ing to their own statements, to one thousand men- at-arms, three thousand five hundred French and Lombard, and three thousand Swiss infantry, in addition to the Neapolitan levies raised by the Angevin lords throughout the kingdom. The com- mand was intrusted to the duke of Nemours, a brave and chivalrous young nobleman of the an- cient house of Armagnac, whom family connexions more than talents, had raised to the perilous post of viceroy over the head of the veteran D'Aubigny. The latter would have thrown up his commission in disgust, but for the remonstrances of his sove- reign, who prevailed on him to remain where his counsels were more than ever necessary to supply the inexperience of the young commander. The jealousy and wilfulness of the latter, however, de- feated these intentions ; and the misunderstanding of the chiefs, extending to their followers, led to a fatal want of concert in their movements. With these officers were united some of the best and bravest of the French chivalry ; among whom JO D'Auton, Ilist. do Louys Guicciardini,Istoria, lib. 5,pp. 274, XII., part. 2, chap. 8. — Giannono, 27-1. i — Buonaccorsi, Diario, p. 61. Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4. —
