Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/277

253 PART SECOND. I. CHAPTER I. ITALIAN WARS. — GENERAL VIEW OF EUROPE. — INVASION OF ITALY BY CHARLES VIII., OF FRANCE. 1493 __ 1495. Europe at the Close of the Fifteenth Century. — More intimate Rela- tions between States. — Italy the School of Politics. — Pretensions of Charles VIII. to Naples. — Treaty of Barcelona. — The French in- vade Naples. — Ferdinand's Dissatisfaction. — Tactics and Arms of the different Nations. — Preparations of Spain. — Mission to Charles VIII. — Bold Conduct of the Envoys. — The French enter Naples. We have now reached that memorable epoch, chapter when the different nations of Europe, surmounting the barriers which had hitherto confined them within their respective limits, brought their forces, as if by a simultaneous impulse, against each other on a common theatre of action. In the preceding part of this work, we have seen in what manner Spain was prepared for the contest, by the concentration of her various states under one government, and by such internal reforms, as enabled the government to act with vigor. The genius of Ferdinand will ^^r*" o O polit appear as predominant in what concerns the foreign FeSinand relations of the country, as did that of Isabella in its interior administration. So much so, indeed. ign politics directeJ bv