Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/300

276 276 ITALIAN WARS. II. satisraction. PART reflect how great a scandal this must necessarily bring on the Christian cause ; above all, he cau- tioned him against forming any designs on Naples, since that kingdom was a fief of the church, in whose favor an exception was expressly made by the treaty of Barcelona, which recognised her alli- ance and protection as paramount to every other obligation. Silva's discourse was responded to by the president of the parliament of Paris in a formal Latin oration, asserting generally Charles's right to Naples, and his resolution to enforce it previously to his crusade against the infidel. As soon as it was concluded, the king rose and abruptly quitted the apartment. ^^ cuaries's dis- Somc davs after, he interrogated the Spanish ambassador, whether his master would not, in case of a war with Portugal, feel warranted by the terms of the late treaty in requiring the cooperation of France, and on what plea the latter power could pretend to withhold it. To the first of these prop- ositions the ambassador answered in the affirmative, if it were a defensive war, but not, if an offensive one, of his own seeking ; an explanation by no means satisfactory to the French monarch. In- deed, he seems not to have been at all prepared for this interpretation of the compact. He had relied on this, as securing without any doubt the non- interference of Ferdinand, if not his actual cooper- ation in his designs against Naples. The clause touching the rights of the church was too frequent 27 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Hernando, ubi supra.