By the Treaty of Barcelona (January, 1493) Roussillon and Cerdagne passed back therefore into Spanish hands, and Ferdinand with many compliments and protestations of friendship agreed to an alliance with France against all enemies and to assist him in his crusade on the understanding that such terms should not affect his relations with the Holy See. His allegiance to the “Vicar of Christ” must stand before all other claims. Satisfied that he might now proceed on his road to fame without the interference of the great Powers of Europe, Charles crossed the Alps early in September, 1494. His forces, which comprised not only the chivalry of France eager to prove its metal but also companies of Swiss and German mercenaries armed with pike, halberd, and arquebus, were further strengthened by a formidable array of artillery, mounted on carriages drawn by horses. These could be moved almost as fast as the infantry; and Italy, accustomed to the old-fashioned heavy guns dragged across the country by teams of oxen, heard the report of the invader’s superior ordnance with amazement, even with incredulity. In Naples, the idea of a new Angevin expedition had at first aroused laughter, and only the old King Ferrante had treated it as a serious issue. In January, 1494, he died, and his son Alfonso II., realizing at last that Ludovico’s threats were no mere cry of “wolf!” leagued himself with the Pope and Florence to protect the frontiers of Romagna and Tuscany. The campaign that followed is perhaps the most amazing in the history of European warfare. In September, Charles was at Asti, indulging as Ludovico’s guest in festivities and excesses scarcely in keeping with the ideal of a Christian crusader. Pleasure thus delayed him a month; but from November, when he entered Florence, master of her principal fortresses and acclaimed as a conquering hero by the populace, his triumphant progress southwards was almost unimpeded. January, 1495, found him in Rome, at peace with the Pope on the strength of a hastily-constructed agreement, and by February, he had reached the northern boundary of the kingdom of Naples. The abdication of Alfonso in favour of his son Ferrante II.; the latter’s retreat from San Germano, where he had intended to make a determined stand against the enemy; and finally a revolution in the town of Naples itself to overthrow its Aragonese defenders—these completed the downfall of what might truly be called a “House of Cards.” Ferrante, declaring that the sins of his fathers and not his own had been visited on his head, fled to Sicily; and on February 22d, Charles, clad in imperial purple and holding a golden sceptre in his hand, entered the capital in triumph and was duly crowned as “King of Naples and Jerusalem and Emperor of the East.”