Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/30

4 4 ITALIAN WARS. PART II. Louis XII. 's designs on Italy. Politics of that country. cost so dear and ended so disastrously. Italy, too, it might have been presumed, lacerated and still bleeding at every pore, would have learned the fatal consequence of invoking foreign aid in her domestic quarrels, and of throwing open the gates to a tor- rent, sure to sweep down friend and foe indiscrim- inately in its progress. But experience, alas ! did not bring wisdom, and passion triumphed as usual. Louis the Twelfth, on ascending the throne, assumed the titles of Duke of Milan and King of Naples, thus unequivocally announcing his intention of asserting his claims, derived through the Visconti family, to the former, and through the Angevin dynasty, to the latter state. His aspiring temper was stimulated rather than satisfied by the martial renown he had acquired in the Italian wars ; and he was urged on by the great body of the French chivalry, who, disgusted with a life of inaction, longed for a field where they might win new laurels, and indulge in the joyous license of military adven- ture. Unhappily, the court of France found ready in- .struments for its purpose in the profligate politi- cians of Italy. The Roman pontiff, in particular, Alexander the Sixth, whose criminal ambition as- sumes something respectable by contrast with the low vices in which he was habitually steeped, wil- lingly lent himself to a monarch, who could so effectually serve his selfish schemes of building up the fortunes of his family. The ancient republic of Venice, departing from her usual sagacious poli- cy, and yielding to her hatred of Lodovico Sforza,