But the Florentines, though they had sent no help to Guglielmo dei
Pazzi, had demanded aid from Chaumont d’Amboise, governor of the
Milanese, on behalf of Louis XII, not only explaining the danger they
themselves were in but also Caesar’s ambitious projects, namely that
after first overcoming the small principalities and then the states of
the second order, he had now, it seemed, reached such a height of pride
that he would attack the King of France himself. The news from Naples
was disquieting; serious differences had already occurred between the
Count of Armagnac and Gonzalva di Cordova, and Louis might any day need
Florence, whom he had always found loyal and faithful. He therefore
resolved to check Caesar’s progress, and not only sent him orders to
advance no further step forwards, but also sent off, to give effect to
his injunction, the captain Imbaut with 400 lances. The Duke of
Valentinois on the frontier of Tuscany received a copy of the treaty
signed between the republic and the King of France, a treaty in which
the king engaged to help his ally against any enemy whatsoever, and at
the same moment the formal prohibition from Louis to advance any
further. Caesar also learned that beside the 400 lances with the captain
Imbaut, which were on the road to Florence, Louis XII had as soon as he
reached Asti sent off to Parma Louis de la Trimouille and 200
men-at-arms, 3000 Swiss, and a considerable train of artillery. In these
two movements combined he saw hostile intentions towards himself, and
turning right about face with his usual agility, he profited by the fact
that he had given nothing but verbal instructions to all his
lieutenants, and wrote a furious letter to Vitellozzo, reproaching him
for compromising his master with a view to his own private interest, and
ordering the instant surrender to the Florentines of the towns and
fortresses he had taken, threatening to march down with his own troops
and take them if he hesitated for a moment.
As soon as this letter was written, Caesar departed for Milan, where
Louis XII had just arrived, bringing with him proof positive that he had
been calumniated in the evacuation of the conquered towns. He also was
entrusted with the pope’s mission to renew for another eighteen months
the title of legate ’a latere’ in France to Cardinal d’Amboise, the
friend rather than the minister of Louis XII. Thus, thanks to the public
proof of his innocence and the private use of his influence, Caesar soon
made his peace with the King of France.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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