The Pope had asked King Frederic for the hand of his daughter Carlotta for Caesar, but both he and the princess absolutely refused. In his anxiety, however, to escape the Pope’s wrath he made one sacrifice and consented to the marriage of Lucretia and Don Alfonso, Sancia’s younger brother. This youth of seventeen came to Rome unattended by any pomp and the betrothal took place in the Vatican June 20, 1498, and the marriage the 21st of the following month. Lucretia was about a year older than her husband. CHAPTER IV Louis XII. succeeds to the throne of France--His bargain with the Pope--Caesar prepares to go to France--He renounces his cardinalate--He arrives in Avignon, where he meets Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere--Louis XII. and Caesar meet--Caesar’s entry into Chinon--Duke of Valentinois--Caesar’s shrewdness--Charlotte d’Albret--Her marriage to Caesar--The projected conquest of Milan--Ludovico il Moro--The French army invades Italy--Caesar leaves France--He enters Milan with Louis XII. Charles VIII. died April 7, 1498, and was succeeded by Louis XII., who was endeavouring to secure from the Pope the necessary dispensation to enable him to repudiate his wife Jeanne and marry his predecessor’s widow, Queen Anne, whose dowry would include the Duchy of Bretagne. The Pope, with his usual clairvoyance with respect to his personal interests, immediately saw an opportunity to profit by the circumstances, and he made a bargain by which, in return for his dispensation, the King agreed to bestow the county of Valence--which was to be raised to a duchy--upon Caesar, who was to renounce his cardinalate. The King also promised to find him a princess for wife. The Cardinal of Valencia was thus to become the Duke of Valentinois. The King also agreed to give him a pension of twenty thousand livres--a great sum for those days--and also to maintain a company of one hundred men-at-arms for him. The bargain also included a cardinal’s hat for the King’s Prime Minister, Georges d’Amboise, Bishop of Rouen, who was always careful not to overlook his own interests. [Illustration: LVIGI XII·RE DI FRANCIA LOUIS XII. OF FRANCE. _From an early engraving._ To face p. 122.]