short, all the nobility of that kingdom, except the three persons whom I mentioned before. CH. XVII.—How King Charles was crowned King of Naples; the Errors he committed in his Government of that Kingdom; and of the Discovery of a Design in his Favour against the Turks by the Venetians.—1495. King Ferrand, when he fled from Naples, left the Marquis of Pescara and some Germans in the castle, and sailed himself into Sicily to demand succour of his father. Don Frederic still kept at sea with some few galleys, and came twice (with a passport) to treat with our king. His demands were, that some part of the kingdom should be left to his nephew, with the title of king; and that he should himself enjoy all the lands which belonged to him and his wife. His request was not unreasonable, for his own estate was but small: the king offered to give both him and his nephew an equivalent in France; and I am of opinion his majesty would have given them some considerable duchy, but they did not think fit to accept it; besides, there was no trusting them in the kingdom of Naples; for they would have observed no articles of agreement any longer than it had been for their advantage. So we erected our batteries against the castle of Naples, and began to fire upon it. The Marquis de Pescara was gone out of it, and there were only a few Germans in it. Had we sent but four of our great guns into the island, we had certainly carried it; but from thenceforward our misfortunes returned. For all the rest of the towns (which were not above four or five) would have fallen into our hands of course; but we spent our time in gaiety, entertainments, dancing, and tournaments, and grew so insolent and vain, we scarce considered the Italians to be men. Our king was crowned, and had his lodgings in the castle of Capoana, and sometimes went to Mont-Imperial[368]: to the subjects of that kingdom he did many good acts, and abated their taxes; so that I believe the people would never have rebelled of themselves (though they are naturally inconstant), had we but obliged some few of the nobility; but they were slighted, and treated uncivilly at the very gates. Those of the house of Caraffa (though friends to the house of Arragon) were used the best; yet they escaped not quite without loss. Every one else was deprived of his offices and estate; and the partisans of the house of Anjou fared a great deal worse than the friends of Arragon. Orders were sent into the county of Merillano, and the President Gannay and the seneschal (lately made Duke of Nola, and grand chamberlain of the kingdom) were suspected to have taken money for obtaining them: by those orders every one was to be confirmed in his possessions, only the partisans of the house of Anjou were to be excluded from their estates, unless they could make good their titles by law; and for such as had entered of their own accord (as the Count di Celano) they were to be ejected by force. All estates