In 1496, the King of France again prepared to invade Italy, not for the purpose of renewing his attempt on Naples, but in order to support the pretensions of the house of Orleans to the duchy of Milan. But the Duke of Orleans, who was heir to the crown of France, refused to take upon him the command of the army destined for this purpose. This re fusal probably originated not so much from his apprehen sion of the danger and difficulty of the enterprise, as from his belief that Charles, worn out by debauchery, could not possibly long survive. In consequence of his refusal, and of some other circumstances, particularly his apparent sa tisfaction at the death of the dauphin, which opened up to him the immediate and almost certain prospect of the throne, he was disgraced, and retired from court to the cas tle of Blois. The king being thus disappointed in his hopes respecting Italy, and being too sensible that his health was rapidly declining, turned his thoughts entirely to the internal economy of his kingdom, and at the same time relinquished his irregularities with regard to women, and retired with his queen to the castle of Amboise. Here, in 1498, lie accidentally struck his head against the top of a door, which brought on a fit of apoplexy, of which he died in a few hours, in the 15th year of his reign, and 28th of his age. His character is admirably drawn by Comines: " He was a man of little person, and slender understanding ; but so sweet in his disposition, that it was impossible to find a better temper. His widow, Anne of Brittany, was incon solable ; and two of his domestics are said to have died of grief for the loss of their master. One of the consequences of the invasion of Italy by the French, in this reign, is said to have been the introduction, among the latter, of a more refined and delicate cookery. Before this period, French cookery was distinguished by such a profusion, that their kings, more than once, were under the necessity of issuing edicts on the subject.
In Charles VIII. ended the direct line of the house of Valois ; the crown on his death descended to Louis He of Orleans, grandson to the first Duke of Orleans. He was 36 years of age when lie became king : his disposition and temper were excellent ; and he was by no means destitute either of prudence or experience. He soon discovered that he was resolved to forgive the indignities he might have suffered before he came to the throne, remarking, with true magnanimity, that it was not for the king of France to revenge the quarrels of the Duke of Orleans. Louis the XII. (for so he was called) married a daughter of Louis Xl. ; a princess deformed in her person, and incapable of hearing children, but of excellent qualities. As, however, it was on many accounts desirable that he should have an heir to the throne, he procured a divorce from the Pope, and married Anne of Bretagne, widow of his predecessor. Soon after this marriage, lie turned his thoughts to the claims which his family had to the duchy of Milan. Sforza, anticipating Louis's intentions, had made every prepara tion to defend his dukedom. He repaired all the fortifica zines ; but he wanted the support and good opinions of his own subjects ; and he had too much reason to apprehend, that whenever Louis should appear in Italy, they would desert him. The republic of Venice also, to whom sonic part of the Milanese territory lay very convenient, were tempted to unite with Louis, in the hope, or on the condi tion, of sharing in his conquests. Maximilian, who before had opposed the French in their invasion of Italy, was now on good terms with Louis : so that Sforza had every cause for despondency. Louis himself was persuaded not to lead his army in person ; but to give the command to Louis of Luxemburgh, Robert Stuart, Lord D'Aubigny, and John Trevalzeo, a native of Milan. The French army amount ed to 30,000 excellent troops : with these, the assistance of the Venetians, and the disaffection of the Milanese to Sfor za, success beyond expectation was accomplished. Even the castle of Milan was given up. As soon as the king of France was informed of these successes, he hastened to cross the Alps, and entered the capital of his newly acqui red territories. He continued three months in Milan, dur ing which period he gave great satisfaction, by recalling those who had been banished by Sforza, remitting a fourth of the imposts, and establishing a court of justice. But, either from the natural fickleness of the Italians, from their dislike to the dominion of a foreigner, and that foreigner a Frenchman, or from some other cause, scarcely had Louis reached France, when Sforza, who had retired to Inspruck, returned, and found the gates of the principal cities of thy Milanese opened at. his approach. Even Milan itself re
ceived him. But his success was of short duration : He had in his pay a body of Swiss troops: these conspired against him, and delivered him up to the French, by whom he was sent to Lyons, where Louis then resided. The hu manity of the king of France pleaded powerfully for Sforza, notwithstanding his repeated treachery and enormities, so that he was not put to death, but only confined in the cas tle of Loches, where every thing that he could wish for was granted him. Here he died, after a captivity of ten years.
The success of Louis with respect to Milan, induced him to extend his views to Naples : but this kingdom he could not expect to conquer without assistance ; he therefore agreed to divide it with Ferdinand of Arragon : the city of Naples and the northern half were to be the portion of Louis. Ile also entered into a treaty with Pope Alexan der VI.; but the simplicity and honour of the French mo narch were no match either for Ferdinand or Alexander. The confederates indeed were successful. The King of Naples fled from his own territories ; and Fer dinand, who had betrayed him, after having actually con cluded a treaty of alliance with him, he threw himself on the liberality of Louis, who assigned him an asylum in An jou, with a pension of 30,000 crowns. But scarcely was the conquest of Naples achieved, when Louis and Ferdi nand turned their arms against each other : the Spaniards began the quarrel, but the French were by no means slow in revenging the insult offered them, and Louis in a short time was so successful against his new enemies, that he might have added Ferdinand's portion of Naples to his own, had he riot been persuaded to a reconcilement of their differencOs. In 1503, Philip, son of the Emperor Maximi lian, who had married the daughter of Ferdinand, passing through France, had an interview with Louis, at which he concluded a treaty with him in the name of the King of Spain, who had granted him full powers for that purpose. By this treaty, among other conditions, the two monarchs were bound to a cessation of arms, and the provinces of Naples originally ceded, were to be guaranteed to each. As soon as the treaty was concluded, it was announced to the commanders of the French and Spanish troops in Italy. The French commander immediately offered to retire with his troops, but Gonsalvo, who commanded the Spaniards. under the pretext that Philip had acted without powers from Ferdinand, stated his determination to wait for further instructions. In the mean time he was reinforced by 10,000 Germans, sent by Maximilian ; and receiving information that Louis was likely to be deserted by his allies, the Pope and the Venetians, and that 4000 French troops which had been intended foe their army in Naples were disbanded, tin der the idea of peace, he was influenced by these circum stances to attack the French general. 'The result of the battle of Cerignoles was the utter defeat of the French, the death of their commander, and the acquisition of the whole of Naples, with the exception of a few places. As soon as Philip was informed of this treacherous behaviour, consi dering his own character and honour as deeply concerned, he returned instantly to France, and placed himself in the power of the French monarch. He also remonstrated strong ly with Ferdinand ; his remonstrances, however, were of no effect. Ferdinand preferred power to reputation ; but in order still to deceive Louis, he publicly offered to restore Naples to its rightful sovereign, while at the same time he sent orders to use every endeavour to expel the French These orders were obeyed, and were successful. Louis al first took this treacherous conduct of Ferdinand very coolly ; but soon afterwards he changed his feelings and his determi nation. He assembled three large armies, for the purpose of invading Arragon on every side, while, at the same time, a considerable fleet was fitted out, to insult the coasts of Ca talonia and Valencia, and to intercept the communication between Spain and Naples. But a variety of unforeseen and untoward circumstances disappointed the hopes and the projects of Louis, while he himself was attacked by a fever that threatened his life. As soon as he recovered, A. D. 1505, he diligently applied himself to terminate a war, which had proved so unfortunate ; and a treaty was at length con cluded, according to which, the Neapolitan nobility, who had been the adherents of Louis, and on that account had been imprisoned by the Spanish commander, were to be released.