Europe in the Sixteenth Century, 1494-1598, Fifth Edition: Period 4 (of 8), Periods of European HistoryJohnson, A. H. (Arthur Henry)
History
Europe in the Sixteenth Century, 1494-1598, Fifth Edition: Period 4 (of 8), Periods of European History
Johnson, A. H. (Arthur Henry)
Europe -- History -- 1492-1648
Naples and Milan conquered, Western Europe found itself dominated
by two great leagues, that of Louis XII., closely allied with the
Pope and some of the German princes, and that of the Austro-Spanish
houses. The latter was a family league cemented by the marriage of the
Archduke Philip, son of the Emperor Maximilian, with Joanna, eldest
daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella,[14] and included England and
Portugal. At this moment there seemed a prospect of these two leagues
coalescing. In 1501, it had been agreed that Charles, the young son
of the Archduke Philip, should marry the Princess Claude, daughter
of Louis XII. The children were yet young, but the joint conquest
of Naples by the Spanish and the French seemed a guarantee of their
future friendship, and that the marriage would eventually take place.
Had this compact stood, Europe would have been united as it had never
been before, and, if there was some danger that this powerful league
would have destroyed the political balance, and ridden rough-shod over
the smaller princes, at least a crusade to check the advance of the
Turks, or even to drive them from Europe, might have been possible.
The dream, however, was soon to be dispelled by the quarrel of Louis
and Ferdinand over their spoil in Naples. In the original treaty of
partition no definite mention had been made of the Basilicata,[15] the
Capitanata, and the two districts of the Principati. These furnished
an easy cause of dispute, which was further complicated by the claim
to the tolls paid on the sheep-flocks as they passed from their summer
pasture in the Abruzzi to their winter quarters in the Capitanata. The
quarrel might possibly have been compromised had it not been fomented
by the internal factions of the country. The old partisans of Anjou
were strongest in Apulia, while the Spaniards found many adherents in
districts held by the French.
| The War of Naples. July 1502.
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