Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/40

 2 Readings in European History relating to that king's reign (1464- 148 3). Under Charles VIII, Commines had ample opportunity, as ambassador to Venice, to observe the manner in which France, Spain, and Germany were beginning to meddle in Italian affairs. Just after Charles' death he added two books to his memoirs, dealing especially with the years 1494 to 1498 and the expedition into Italy. No one can fail to see in Commines' account, given below, of the attitude of the various Italian states (Milan, Venice, and Florence) toward the intervention of France, that keen insight and sense of humor, combined with a certain youthful freshness and sim- plicity, which have commended his memoirs for well- nigh four centuries to readers of all European nations. 1 HowLudo- An invitation to Charles VIII to try his fortune in Mu°htSd r of Ital y came from Milan > where Ludovico, of the house Charles viii f Sforza, was endeavoring to exclude his nephew, Gian of France Galeazzo, the rightful heir to the duchy of Milan, from his inheritance. The chief difficulty in Ludovico's way was not Gian himself, but his spirited wife, a Neapolitan princess, who might call in her relatives to support the rights of her inefficient husband. 231. Atti- None of the subjects or relations of Gian Galeazzo, duke tude of the f Milan, gave the lord Ludovico the least disturbance in stated m s designs upon the duchy except Duke Gian's wife, who toward was a young lady, and a wise daughter to Alphonso, duke France. 1 The Memoires were translated into English in the seventeenth cen- tury. A modern and pretty accurate translation based upon a good text is published in the Bohn Library. An admirable edition of the original French, reproduced from a recently discovered manuscript more com- plete than any hitherto known, has just been published by Mandrot in the Collection de textes pour servir a V etude et a V enseignement de Vhis- toire, 2 vols., 1901-1903; with an excellent introduction on Commines and his work at the opening of Vol. II.