Proclamation of the new league against France at Venice--Charles VIII.
at Naples--Demoralization of the victors--Charles leaves Naples and
returns to Rome--The Duke of Orleans refuses to give up Asti--Arrival of
the imperial ambassadors at Milan--Lodovico presented with the ducal
insignia--_Fêtes_ in the Castello--The Duke of Orleans seizes
Novara--Terror of Lodovico--Battle of Fornovo--Victory claimed by both
parties--The French reach Asti--Isabella's trophies restored by
Beatrice.
1495
On the evening of the 27th of February, while the joy bells were ringing
in the Milanese churches in honour of the French king's triumph, the
duke sent for the Venetian ambassadors.
"I have had bad news," he said. "Naples is lost, and the French king has
been joyfully welcomed by the people. I am ready to do whatever the
Republic desires. But there is no time to waste; we must act at once."
All eyes now turned to Lodovico as the only man who could save Italy
from the French invaders. The emperor and the Venetians had been urging
him to declare war against France for the last eight weeks, and now
Ferrante of Aragon, in his despair, appealed to him by the Sforza blood
that flowed in both their veins to deliver him and his kingdom from the
dominion of the foreigner. The duke himself could not feel safe as long
as Louis of Orleans remained at Asti, and declared that he was ready to
place himself at the head of a league for the defence of Italy. He wrote
to congratulate Commines, the French ambassador at Venice, on his
master's success, but the same day he sent the Bishop of Como and
Francesco Bernardino Visconti to Venice, there to negotiate a new league
between himself, the Signoria, the Pope, the King of the Romans, and
the King and Queen of Spain. The presence of the German and Spanish
ambassadors, as well as the arrival of the two new Milanese envoys,
excited Commines' suspicions, while the long faces and terror-struck air
of the Venetian senators, when the news from Naples arrived, reminded
him of the Romans after the defeat of Cannæ. But so well was the secret
kept that he knew nothing of the league until after it had been signed,
late on the night of the 31st of March, in the bedchamber of the old
Doge. Early the next morning he was summoned to the palace, and, in the
presence of a hundred senators, solemnly informed of the new treaty.
"Magnificent ambassador," said the prince, "our friendship for your
master makes it our duty to inform you of all that concerns the state.
Know, then, that yesterday, in the name of the Holy Spirit, of the
glorious Virgin Mary, and the blessed Evangelist Monsignore S. Marco,
our patron, a league has been concluded for the protection of the Church
and the defence of the Holy Roman Empire and your own states, between
his Holiness the Pope, his Majesty the King of the Romans, the King and
Queen of Spain, our Signoria, and the Duke of Milan. Tell this, we pray
you, to your Most Christian Majesty." Before the prince had done
speaking, Commines heard the bells of St. Mark's ringing to celebrate
the new league, and, still dazed by the unexpected news, he stammered
out, "What will happen to my king? Will he be able to return to France?"
"Certainly," replied the prince, "if he comes as a friend to the
league."
Without another word, Commines left the palace, but as he went down the
grand staircase, he asked the secretary who accompanied him to repeat
the Doge's words, since he could hardly take them in. Then he told his
gondoliers to row him back to his house, near S. Giorgio Maggiore, and
on the way he met the ambassador of Naples, in a fine new robe, with a
smiling face, as he well might have, "for this," adds Commines, "was
great news for him." Marino Sanuto, who narrates the incident, was much
struck by Commines' rage and dismay, and, like a true Venetian, remarks
contemptuously, "He did not know how to dissimulate his feelings, as one
should do in such a case." And, in the same spirit, he goes on to
admire the presence of mind displayed by the Milanese ambassadors, who
to all Commines' remonstrances replied courteously, that of course their
duke had nothing to do with all this. "They acted," he adds, "as the
wise act in the government of states. They persuade their enemies that
they mean to do one thing, and then they do another."
At night all Venice was illuminated, and from his covered gondola the
French ambassador saw the fireworks and the banquetings that were held
at the palaces of the other envoys. He understood what it all meant, and
trembled for his king's safety. But he lost no time, and sent warnings
both to Orleans at Asti and to Charles at Naples, of the coming storm. A
week or two later he left Venice, and went to meet Charles at Florence.
On Palm Sunday, the 10th of April, the League was solemnly proclaimed on
the Piazza of St. Mark, and all the ambassadors marched in procession
round the square, while images of united Italy, and of all the kings and
princes of the League, were carried about in triumph, and the golden
rose was given by the Pope to the Venetian ambassador in Rome. "To-day,"
said the Duke of Milan, "will see the dawn of the peace and prosperity
of Italy."
King Charles, meanwhile, unconscious of the dangers that threatened to
impede his return home, was revelling in the delights of Naples, and
holding jousts and banquets in the sunny gardens and fair palaces of
that enchanted bay. "My brother," he wrote to the Duke of Bourbon, "this
is the divinest land and the fairest city that I have ever seen. You
would never believe what beautiful gardens I have here. So delicious are
they, and so full of rare and lovely flowers and fruits, that nothing,
by my faith, is wanting, except Adam and Eve, to make this place another
Eden."
While the king and his nobles were eating off gold and silver plate and
drinking out of jewelled goblets in King Alfonso's tapestried halls, the
French soldiers were to be seen lying about in the streets, intoxicated
with the strong and luscious wines of Southern Italy. The whole army was
given over to luxury and vice, and the outrages which the troops
committed soon made them hated by the fickle populace, who a few weeks
before had welcomed them as deliverers from the tyrant's yoke. "From the
moment of the king's arrival until his departure," writes Commines, "he
thought of nothing but pleasure, and those about him only cared to seek
their own profit. His youth may excuse him, but for his servants there
could be no excuse." The news of the league between the powers came to
startle Charles out of this fool's paradise. On the 8th of April, the
Count of Caiazzo was suddenly recalled to Milan, and when Charles asked
Lodovico to send him Messer Galeazzo instead, the duke replied curtly
that he had need of him at home. By degrees the king began to realize
the formidable combination which had arisen against him, and prepared to
march northward with the bulk of his army, leaving the Duke of
Montpensier with a few hundred French troops and some thousand Swiss
mercenaries to defend his newly conquered kingdom. On the 20th of May,
he finally left Naples, and on the 1st of June entered Rome by the Latin
gate, two days after the Pope had fled to Orvieto. Almost at the same
moment, King Ferrante returned to Calabria, and his subjects flocked to
join the old banner of the house of Aragon.
Lodovico's first step was to send Galeazzo di Sanseverino with a body of
newly raised troops against Asti, on the 19th of April, and to summon
the Duke of Orleans to surrender the town and to drop the title of Duke
of Milan. In this he was supported by the Emperor Maximilian, who sent
an imperious order to Louis forbidding him to assume the title, on pain
of forfeiting his fief of Asti. Orleans replied proudly that Asti formed
part of his heritage, and that he was ready to defend it to the last
drop of his blood against Signor Lodovico or any other foe. At the same
time he sent an urgent appeal to the Duke of Bourbon for reinforcements,
and prepared to act on the offensive.
On the 14th of the same month, the Duke of Milan wrote a gay letter to
Isabella d'Este, informing her of his intention to attack Asti, and
regretting that she was not present to join the expedition on her fleet
charger. But Asti was too strongly fortified, and the forces under
Galeazzo were too raw and ill paid, for him to attempt an assault; so he
remained in his camp at Annona, and contented himself with cutting off
the supplies of the beleaguered city.
Towards the end of April, the imperial envoys were at length despatched
with the long-promised privileges, and in the middle of May they reached
Milan, where they were magnificently entertained by the duke and duchess
in the Castello. On the 26th of May, the festival of S. Felicissimo, the
great ceremony took place. An imposing tribunal, hung with crimson satin
embroidered with gold mulberry leaves and berries, was erected for the
occasion on the piazza at the doors of the Duomo, and here, after
attending high mass, Lodovico Sforza was solemnly proclaimed Duke of
Milan, Count of Pavia and Angera, by the grace of God and the will of
his Cesarean Majesty, Maximilian, Emperor-elect and chief of the Holy
Roman Empire. The imperial delegates, Melchior, Bishop of Brixen, and
Conrad Stürzl, Chancellor of the King of the Romans, first read aloud
the privileges in their master's name, and then invested Lodovico with
the ducal cap and mantle, and placed the sceptre and sword of state in
his hands. Giasone del Maino, the celebrated Pavian jurist, recited a
Latin oration, after which the duke, accompanied by the imperial
ambassadors, and followed by the duchess and a brilliant suite of
courtiers and ladies, rode in procession to the ancient basilica of S.
Ambrogio to return thanks for his accession. Then the whole company
returned, "with immense rejoicing and triumph," to the Castello, where a
series of splendid _fêtes_ were given in honour of the occasion, and
rich presents were made to the imperial ambassadors and court officials.
Two days afterwards another imposing ceremony was held in the Castello,
when the heads of houses from the different quarters of the city were
assembled, and each citizen in turn swore fealty, first to Duke Lodovico
and afterwards to Duchess Beatrice, whom, in the event of his own death,
he had appointed to be regent of the State and guardian of his sons. The
Marquis of Mantua was among the guests present, and Beatrice felt the
keenest regret that the marchioness was unable to accompany him and
witness the wonderful scene before the Duomo, which, she exclaims in her
youthful enthusiasm," was the grandest spectacle and noblest solemnity
that our eyes have ever beheld."
It was the proudest day of Lodovico's life, and his adored wife, who
shared the cares of State as well as the festivities of his court, might
well join in his exultation. But his confidence in the favours of
Fortune and in the security of his position was destined to receive a
rude shock. Before the week was ended, on the very day when Beatrice
wrote her triumphant letter to her sister, Louis of Orleans,
strengthened by the arrival of fresh troops, made a successful sally
from Asti at nightfall and appeared before the walls of Novara. The
citizens, who were already disaffected by reason of the oppressive
exactions of the Duke of Milan, opened their gates, and after a short
siege the citadel surrendered. Suddenly the Duke of Milan, who was
resting after the fatigues of the recent festivities at Vigevano, heard
that his rival, at the head of a strongly armed force, was within twenty
miles of his palace gates. An irresistible panic seized him, and he
retired, first to Abbiategrasso, beyond the Ticino, and then to Milan,
where he took refuge in the Castello with his wife and children. The
Venetian annalist Malipiero records how, on the 20th of June, two
Lombard friars arrived at the convent of San Salvador in Venice,
bringing word that the duke had fled in terror of his life to the Rocca,
and would hardly see or speak to a single soul. "He is in bad health,
with one hand paralyzed, they say, and is hated by all the people, and
fears they will rise against him." In this critical moment, Beatrice
showed a courage and presence of mind which contrasted curiously with
her husband's weakness. She sent for the chief Milanese noblemen, spoke
brave words to them, and took prompt measures for defending the Castello
and city. Fortunately, the Venetian general, Bernardo Contarini, arrived
on the 22nd of June at the head of several thousand Greek Stradiots to
the duke's assistance, while the French were held in check by Galeazzo's
force and compelled to remain within the walls of Novara. This momentary
panic over, Lodovico recovered his health and nerve, but his treasury
was exhausted by the large subsidies granted to his allies and the
extravagant expenditure of the last two years, and the forced loans
which he exacted from his subjects created a general feeling of
discontent. Galeazzo's force was weakened by continual desertion, and
the duke had great difficulty in raising sufficient money to maintain
two separate armies. Rumours of the disaffection of the Milanese and of
the perils which threatened his ally had reached Maximilian's ears at
Worms, and on the 18th of June he sent Lodovico a grave warning by his
envoy, Angelo Talenti, begging the duke to place German troops in the
fortress of Lombardy, and to provide guards for the castles of Milan and
Como, "in order that he may be able to sleep in peace." Two days later
he spoke again to the envoy, and begged him to urge the duke to remove
his womankind from the Castello to Cremona, where he heard that he had a
fine palace, saying that the presence of women had often caused the loss
of citadels. Perhaps, if Maximilian had known Duchess Beatrice as well
as he did a year later, he would have thought this warning superfluous.
Lodovico, however, thanked his Majesty for his thoughtfulness, and
applied himself, with the help of Leonardo, to fortify the Castello of
Milan and make it an impregnable citadel. That winter he had appointed
Bernardino del Corte, one of his favourite and most devoted servants, to
be governor of the Rocca, which held his treasure and jewels together
with all his most precious possessions, and on the 12th of January, a
fortnight before the birth of Beatrice's child, the new castellan had
taken a solemn oath of fealty to the duke and duchess, swearing, with
his hand on the crucifix, that he would hold the Castello for his liege
lord and lady till his latest breath. Messer Galeazzo and his brother,
Antonio Maria di Sanseverino, Giasone del Maino, Ambrogio di Rosate, the
astrologer, Galeotto Prince of Mirandola, and Giovanni Adorno, a
powerful Genoese nobleman, who had married a sister of the Sanseverini
brothers, were all present in Beatrice's room in the Rocchetta on this
occasion, and signed the document as witnesses of Bernardino's oath.
Maximilian now sent his long-promised contingent of Swiss and German
troops to join the Count of Caiazzo's horse, and the Venetian army,
under the generalship of Gian Francesco Gonzaga, and the allied forces,
amounting in all to some twenty-five thousand men, prepared to cut off
the retreat of the French king and prevent his return to Asti. "Here I
am," wrote the Marquis of Mantua to his wife, "at the head of the finest
army which Italy has ever seen, not only to resist, but to exterminate
the French." And Isabella wrote back in high spirits at the "great
enterprise" that was before him, sending him a cross with an Agnus Dei
to wear round his neck in battle, and telling him that her prayers and
those of all the priests of Mantua were with him.
On Sunday, the 5th of July, the French army, reduced by sickness and
desertion to less than ten thousand in number, and fatigued by long
forced marches across the Apennines, descended into the valley of the
Taro, and encamped at the village of Fornovo, on the right bank of the
mountain torrent. Further along the same bank, down in the plains, lay
the army of the league, and, in order to reach Lombardy, the French had
to cross the river in full view of the enemy's camp. Early on Monday
morning, the 6th of July, Charles, mounted on his favourite charger,
"Savoy," and wearing white and purple plumes in his cap, led the van of
his army across the Taro, swollen as it was by the late heavy rains. At
the same moment, the Marquis of Mantua and the Count of Caiazzo, at the
head of their light cavalry, attacked the French rear-guard, and the
battle began. Paolo Giovio describes the engagement that followed as the
fiercest battle of the age, in which more blood was spilt than in any
other during the last two hundred years, although Commines, who was
present with his monarch, says that the actual fighting only lasted a
quarter of an hour. On both sides the leaders fought with heroic
courage. Charles VIII. himself repeatedly led the charge against the
Milanese horse, and, calling on the chivalry of France to live or die
with him, dashed into the thickest of the fray. Once mounted on his
war-horse, and face to face with the foe, the ugly little deformed man
became a true king, and risked his life and liberty at the head of his
subjects. Francesco Gonzaga, on his part, performed prodigies of valour,
and had three horses killed under him, while his uncle, Rodolfo Gonzaga,
and many other gallant knights were left dead on the field. But personal
exploits could not atone for his want of generalship, and while the
marquis and his immediate followers were engaged in a desperate
hand-to-hand fight with the foe, a large body of his reserve remained
inactive on the banks of the Taro, and his Stradiots were engaged in
plundering the French camp. The result was that, in spite of their
superior numbers, the Italian ranks were broken and many of the
Venetians fled in confusion towards Parma, while the French succeeded in
crossing the river, and, early on Tuesday morning, continued their march
across the Lombard plain. But, as the camp and baggage remained in the
hands of the allies, the Italians claimed the victory. The Venetians
celebrated their triumph with public rejoicings and illuminations on the
Piazza of S. Marco, and lauded their brave captain to the skies. Both at
Milan and Mantua there was great exultation when the news became known;
poets and painters alike did honour to the victors: Sperandio designed
his noble medal, and Mantegna painted the Madonna della Vittoria to
immortalize Francesco Gonzaga's triumph. But the marquis himself,
writing to his wife from the camp the day after the battle, remarks that
if only others had fought as he and his followers did, the victory would
have been complete, and laments the disobedience and cowardice of the
Stradiots, who first plundered the enemy's camp and then fled, although
no one pursued them. "These things," he adds, "have caused me the
greatest grief that I have ever known."
Lodovico's congratulations on the victory were coldly worded, and evoked
a reply from his brother-in-law, saying that if he had foiled in
courage, he would have been a dead man. But the duke could not forgive
Gonzaga for allowing the French to pursue their way unmolested. Only the
Count of Caiazzo and his brothers had attempted to follow them with
their light cavalry, who were too few in number to do the enemy serious
damage, and by the 8th of July, Charles and his tired army reached Asti
in safety.
"God Himself was our guide," devoutly ejaculates Commines, "and led us
home with honour, as that good man Fra Girolamo of Florence had
foretold. But, as he said truly, we were made to suffer for our sins,
for we were in sore need of food, and so great was our want of water
that men drank of the ditches along the road; but no one was heard to
complain, although it was the hardest journey I ever took in my life,
and I have had many bad ones."
Among the booty which fell into the hands of the marquis after the
battle was the French king's tent with all its contents. These included
a sword and helmet, said to have belonged to Charlemagne, a silver
casket containing the royal seals, besides a set of rich hangings and
altar-plate, and a jewelled cross and reliquary on which Charles set
great value, because it held a sacred thorn and piece of wood from the
holy cross, a vest of our Lady, and a limb of St. Denis, which were
objects of his especial devotion. Many of these relics were eventually
restored to the king, who, not to be outdone in courtesy, sent the
marquis a favourite white horse of his, which had been captured by the
French, gorgeously apparelled in gold trappings. Among the spoils sent
to Mantua were a magnificent set of embroidered hangings from the royal
tent, and a curious book of paintings, containing portraits of the chief
Italian beauties who had fascinated King Charles. These, together with
the hilt of the broken sword with which the marquis himself had fought
in the _mêlèe_, were joyfully received by Isabella, who counted these
trophies among her proudest possessions. She was, accordingly, a good
deal annoyed when, a week later, her husband desired her to send back
the French king's hangings, as he wished to give them to her sister
Beatrice. Her protest on this occasion is very characteristic.
"MOST ILLUSTRIOUS LORD,
"Your Excellency has desired me to send the four pieces of drapery that
belonged to the French king, in order that you may present them to the
Duchess of Milan. I of course obey you, but in this instance I must say
I do it with great reluctance, as I think these royal spoils ought to
remain in our family, in perpetual memory of your glorious deeds, of
which we have no other record here. By giving them to others, you appear
to surrender the honour of the enterprise with these trophies of the
victory. I do not send them to-day, because they require a mule, and I
also hope that you will be able to make some excuse to the duchess and
tell her, for instance, that you have already given me these hangings.
If I had not seen them already, I should not have cared so much; but
since you gave them to me in the first place, and they were won at the
peril of your own life, I shall only give them up with tears in my eyes.
All the same, as I said before, I will obey your Excellency, but shall
hope to receive some explanation in reply. If these draperies were a
thousand times more valuable than they are, and had been acquired in any
other way, I should gladly give them up to my sister the duchess, whom,
as you know, I love and honour with all my heart. But, under the
circumstances, I must own it is very hard for me to part with them.
"Mantua, July 24, 1495."
In this case Beatrice showed herself, as she habitually was, the more
generous of the two. The marquis had his way, and sent the four hangings
to Milan, followed by a fifth belonging to the suite, which he had in
the mean time recovered.
On the 25th of August, Beatrice, having duly received and admired her
brother-in-law's gift, sent them all back to Mantua, with the following
note, thanking him for his kindness, but declining to accept a present
that she felt belonged of right to her sister:--
"I have to-day received, by your Highness's courier, one of the pieces
of drapery belonging to the King of France. Andrea Cossa had already
brought me the other four, for which I thank you exceedingly; but I feel
that, under the circumstances, I ought not to keep them. As it is, I
have great pleasure in seeing them all together, and now your Highness
can give them back to the Marchesana."[60]
FOOTNOTES:
[60] Luzio-Renier, _op. cit._, pp. 632, 633.