Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/314

290 290 ITALIAN WARS. PART have bound to his interests by the treaty of Senlis, '- — took umbrage at his assumption of the imperial title and dignity. The Spanish ambassadors, Garcilasso de la Vega, and his brother, Lorenzo Suarez, the latter of whom resided at Venice, were indefatiga- ble in stimulating the spirit of discontent. Suarez, in particular, used every effort to secure the cooper- ation of Venice, representing to the government, in the most urgent terms, the necessity of general concert and instant action among the great powers of Italy, if they would preserve their own liber- ties.^^ League of Vcnlcc, from its remote position, seemed to afford the best point for coolly contemplating the general interests of Italy. Envoys of the different Euro- pean powers were assembled there, as if by com- mon consent, with the view of concerting some scheme of operation for their mutual good. The conferences were conducted by night, and with such secrecy as to elude for some time the vigilant eye of Comines, the sagacious minister of Charles, then resident at the capital. The result was the celebrated league of Venice. It was signed the last day of March, 1495, on the part of Spain, Austria, Rome, Milan, and the Venetian republic. The ostensible object of the treaty, which was to last twenty-five years, was the preservation of the estates and rights of the confederates, especially of "•5 Giovio, Hist, sui Temporis, 120. — Zurita, Hist, del Rcy Her- lib. 2, p. 50. — Guicciardini, Isto- nando, lib. 2, chap. 3, 5. — Co- ria, torn. i. pp. 86, 87. — Bembo, mines, M6moires, liv. 7, chap. 19. Istoria Viniziana, torn. i. lib. 2, p.