Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/68

42 42 ITALIAN WARS. PART II. Gonsalvo re- tires to Barleta. 1502, July. barons of the Aragonese faction, who were most numerous as well as most powerful in the northern section of the kingdom, which had been assigned to the French. He was particularly fortunate in gaining over the two Colonnas, whose authority, powerful connexions, and large military experience proved of inestimable value to him.'^ With all the resources he could command, how- ever, Gonsalvo found himself, as before noticed, unequal to the contest, though it was impossible to defer it, after the peremptory summons of the French viceroy to surrender the Capitanate. To this he unhesitatingly answered, that " the Capi- tanate belonged of right to his own master ; and that, with the blessing of God, he would make good its defence against the French king, or any other who should invade it." Notwithstanding the bold front put on his affairs, however, he did not choose to abide the assault of the French in his present position. He instantly drew off* with the greater part of his force to Bar- leta, a fortified seaport on the confines of Apulia, on the Adriatic, the situation of which would en- able him either to receive supplies from abroad, or to effect a retreat, if necessary, on board the Span- ish fleet, which still kept the coast of Calabria. 13 Zurita, Hist, del Rey Her- nando, lib. 4, cap. 62, 65. — Carta del Gran Capitan, MS. Pr(is|)ero Colonna, in particular, was distintjiiished not only for his military science, but his fondness for leitars and the arts, of which he is cornmemorated by Tiiaboschi as a munificent patron. (Lettera- tura Italiana, torn. viii. p. 77.) Paolo Giovio has introduced his portrait amonp: the effigies of illus- trious men, who, it must be con- fessed, are more indebted in his work to the hand of the historian than the artist. Elogia "'irorum Bellica Virtule lUustrium, (Basi- lia;, 1578,) lib. 5.