[27] Since 1494 the sceptre of Naples had passed into the hands of no less than seven princes, Ferdinand I., Alfonso II., Ferdinand II., Charles VIII., Frederic III., Louis XII., Ferdinand the Catholic. No private estate in the kingdom in the same time had probably changed masters half so often. See Cartas del Gran Capitan, MS.
[28] Guicciardini, Istoria, tom. i. p. 304.—Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, lib. 29, cap. 4.—Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. viii. p. 250.—Summonte, Hist. di Napoli, tom. iii. pp. 552, 553.—Muratori, Annali d'Italia, tom. xiv. p. 40.—Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 81.—Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 18.
[29] The Italians, in their admiration of Pedro Navarro, caused medals to be struck, on which the invention of mines was ascribed to him. (Marini, apud Daru, Hist. de Venise, tom. iii. p. 351.) Although not actually the inventor, his glory was scarcely less, since he was the first who discovered the extensive and formidable uses to which they might be applied in the science of destruction. See Part I. Chapter 13, note 23, of this History.
[30] Zurita, Hist. del Rey Hernando, tom. i. lib. 5, cap. 30, 31, 34, 35. —Giovio, Vitae Illust. Virorum, fol. 255-257.—Garibay, Compendio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 15.—Bernaldez, Reyes Católicos, MS., cap. 183.— Guicciardini, Istoria, lib. 6, pp. 307-309.—Ulloa, Vita di Carlo V., fol. 18, 19.—Ammirato, Istorie Florentine, tom. iii. p. 271.-Summonte, Hist. di Napoli, tom. iii. p. 554.—Chrónica del Gran Capitan, cap. 84, 86, 87, 93, 95.—Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom. xv. pp. 407-409.
CHAPTER XIII.
NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE.—UNSUCCESSFUL INVASION OF SPAIN.—TRUCE.
1503.
Ferdinand's Policy Examined.—First Symptoms of Joanna's Insanity.—
Isabella's Distress and Fortitude.—Efforts of France.—Siege of Salsas.—
Isabella's Levies.—Ferdinand's Successes.—Reflections on the Campaign.
The events noticed in the preceding chapter glided away as rapidly as the flitting phantoms of a dream. Scarcely had Louis the Twelfth received the unwelcome intelligence of Gonsalvo de Cordova's refusal to obey the mandate of the archduke Philip, before he was astounded with the tidings of the victory of Cerignola, the march on Naples, and the surrender of that capital, as well as of the greater part of the kingdom, following one another in breathless succession. It seemed as if the very means on which the French king had so confidently relied for calming the tempest, had been the signal for awakening all its fury, and bringing it on his devoted head. Mortified and incensed at being made the dupe of what he deemed a perfidious policy, he demanded an explanation of the archduke, who was still in France. The latter, vehemently protesting his own innocence, felt, or affected to feel, so sensibly the ridiculous and, as it appeared, dishonorable part played by him in the transaction, that he was thrown into a severe illness, which confined him to his bed for several days. [1] Without delay, he wrote to the Spanish court in terms of bitter expostulation, urging the immediate ratification of the treaty made pursuant to its orders, and an indemnification to France for its subsequent violation. Such is the account given by the French historians.
The Spanish writers, on the other hand, say, that before the news of Gonsalvo's successes reached Spain, King Ferdinand refused to confirm the treaty sent him by his son-in-law, until it had undergone certain material modifications. If the Spanish monarch hesitated to approve the treaty in the doubtful posture of his affairs, he was little likely to do so, when he had the game entirely in his own hands. [2]