Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. II.djvu/330

306 306 ITALIAN WARS. I'ART 'pi^g presence of their moDarch revived the dor- mant loyalty of his Calabrian subjects. They thronged to his standard, till at length he found himself at the head of six thousand men, chiefly composed of the raw militia of the country. He marched at once with Gonsalvo on St. Agatha, which opened its gates without resistance. He Marches on ^jjgjj dlrcctcd hls coursc towards Seminara, a place of some strength about eight leagues from Reggio. On his way he cut in pieces a detachment of French on its march to reinforce the garrison there. Seminara imitated the example of St. Agatha, and, receiving the Neapolitan army without opposition, unfurled the standard of Aragon on its walls. While this was going forward, Antonio Grimani, the Venetian admiral, scoured the eastern coasts of the kingdom with a fleet of four and twenty galleys, and, attacking the strong town of Monopoli, in the possession of the French, put the greater part of the garrison to the sword. D'Aubigny, who lay at this time with an incon- siderable body of French troops in the south of ment to check the further progress of the enemy. He determined to concentrate his forces, scattered through the province, and march against Ferdinand, Castilian envoy, Garcilasso ilc la Abarca assures his readers, " was Vega, was instructed to direct Gon- unwilling to give cause of com- salvo, that, "in case any inferior plaint to any one, unless he were places had been since put into his greatly a gainer ly it." Reyes de hands, he should restore them ; if Aragon, rey 30, cap. 8. — Zurita, they were of importance, however. Hist, del Rey Hernando, torn. v. he was first to confer with his own lib. 2, cap. 8. government." King Ferdinand, as
 * Calabria, saw the necessity of some vigorous move-