Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/69

43 RESOLUTION OF THE SPANIARDS. 43 The remainder of his army he distributed in Bari, chapter Andria, Canosa, and other adjacent towns ; where ^^' ne confidently hoped to maintain himself, till the arrival of reinforcements, which he solicited in the most pressing manner from Spain and Sicily, should enable him to take the field on more equal terms against his adversary.^^ The French officers, in the mean time, were divided in opinion as to the best mode of conduct- ing the war. Some were for besieging Bari, held by the illustrious and unfortunate Isabella of Ara- gon;^^ others, in a more chivalrous spirit, opposed the attack of a place defended by a female, and advised an immediate assault on Barleta itself, whose old and dilapidated works might easily be forced, if it did not at once surrender. The duke of Nemours, deciding on a middle course, deter- mined to invest the last-mentioned town ; and, cut- tins off all communication with the surroundins: country, to reduce it by regular blockade. This plan was unquestionably the least eligible of all, as it would allow time for the enthusiasm of the French, thefuria Francese, as it was called in Italy, which carried them victorious over so many obsta- cles, to evaporate, while it brought into play the l"* D'Auton, Hist, de Louys XII., her the most unfortunate female on part. 2, chap. 8. — UUoa, Vita di record, had seen her father, xllfonso Carlo v., fol. 10. — Chronica del II., and her husband Galeazzo Sfor- Gran Capitan, cap. 42. — Sum- za, driven from their thrones by the monte. Hist, di Napoli, torn. iii. p. French, while her son still remained 541. in captivity in their hands. No i3 This beautiful and high-spir- wonder they revolted from accu- •ted lady, whose fate has led Boc- mulating new woes on her devoted calini, in his whimsical satire of the head. " Ragguagli di Parnasso," to call