[18] Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 230, 231.—Guicciardini,
Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 260-272.—Giovio, Vita Leonis X., apud Vitae
Illust. Virorum, lib. 2, pp. 37, 38.—Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 48.—
Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 26-28.
[19] Ariosto introduces the bloody rout of Ravenna among the visions of Melissa; in which the courtly prophetess (or rather poet) predicts the glories of the house of Este.
"Nuoteranno i destrier fino alla pancia
Nel sangue uman per tutta la campagna;
Ch' a seppellire il popol verrâ inanco
Tedesco, Ispano, Greco, Italo, e Franco."
Orlando Furioso, canto 3, st. 55.
[20] Brantôme, Vies des Hommes Illustres, disc. 6.—Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 290-305.—Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 231, 233.—Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 54.—Du Bellay, Mémoires, apud Petitot, Collection des Mémoires, tom. xvii. p. 234.—Fleurange, Mémoires, chap. 29, 30.—Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. ii. lib. 12.
Machiavelli does justice to the gallantry of this valiant corps, whose conduct on this occasion furnishes him with a pertinent illustration, in estimating the comparative value of the Spanish, or rather Roman arms, and the German. Opere, tom. iv., Arte della Guerra, lib. 2, p. 67.
[21] Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 54.—Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 306-309.—Peter Martyr, epist. 483.—Brantôme, Vies des Hommes Illustres, disc. 24.
The best, that is, the most perspicuous and animated description of the fight of Ravenna, among contemporary writers, will be found in Guicciardini (ubi supra); among the modern, in Sismondi, (Républiques Italiennes, tom. xiv. chap. 109,) an author, who has the rare merit of combining profound philosophical analysis with the superficial and picturesque graces of narrative.
[22] "Le foudre de l'Italie." (Gaillard, Rivalité, tom. iv. p. 391.)— light authority, I acknowledge, even for a sobriquet.
[23] One example may suffice, occurring in the war of the League, in 1510. When Vicenza was taken by the Imperialists, a number of the inhabitants, amounting to one, or, according to some accounts, six thousand, took refuge in a neighboring grotto, with their wives and children, comprehending many of the principal families of the place. A French officer, detecting their retreat, caused a heap of faggots to be piled up at the mouth of the cavern and set on fire. Out of the whole number of fugitives only one escaped with life; and the blackened and convulsed appearance of the bodies showed too plainly the cruel agonies of suffocation. (Mémoires de Bayard, chap. 40.—Bembo, Istoria Viniziana, tom. ii. lib. 10.) Bayard executed two of the authors of this diabolical act on the spot. But the "chevalier sans reproche" was an exception to, rather than an example of, the prevalent spirit of the age.
[24] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. v. lib. 10, pp. 310-312, 322, 323.— Chrónica del Gran Capitan, lib. 3, cap. 7.—Mariana, Hist. de España, tom. ii. lib. 30, cap. 9.—Giovio, Vita Magni Gonsalvi, lib. 3, p. 288.— Carbajal, Anales, MS., año 1512.—See also Lettera di Vettori, Maggio 16, 1514, apud Machiavelli, Opere.