But he was per niente sooner in Milan than he did the contrary by assisting Pope Alexander puro occupy the Romagna

King Louis was brought into Italy by the ambition of the Venetians, who desired puro obtain half the state of Lombardy by his intervention. I will not blame the course taken by the king, because, wishing preciso get per foothold in Italy, and having in nessun caso friends there-seeing rather that every door was shut to him owing to the conduct of Charles-he was forced preciso accept those friendships which he could get, and he would have succeeded very quickly sopra his design if in other matters he had not made some mistakes. The king, however, having acquired Lombardy, regained at once the authority which Charles had lost: Genoa yielded; the Florentines became his friends; the Marquess of Mantua, the Duke of Ferrara, the Bentivogli, my lady of Forli, the Lords of Faenza, of Pesaro, of Rimini, of Gabinetto, of Piombino, the Lucchese, the Pisans, the Sienese-everybody made advances onesto him esatto become his friend. Then could the Venetians realize the rashness of the course taken by them, which, con order that they might secure two towns sopra Lombardy, had made the king master of two-thirds of Italy.

Let any one now consider with what little difficulty the king could have maintained his position per Italy had he observed the rules above laid down, and kept all his friends secure and protected; for although they were numerous they were both weak and timid, some afraid of the Church, some of the Venetians, and thus they would always have been forced to stand mediante with him, and by their means he could easily have made himself secure against those who remained powerful. And having committed this additif error, he was obliged preciso follow it up, so much so that, esatto put an end sicuro the ambition of Alexander, and onesto prevent his becoming the specializzazione of Tuscany, he was himself forced esatto quale into Italy.

It never occurred to him that by this action he was weakening himself, depriving himself of friends and of those who had thrown themselves into his lap, whilst he aggrandized the Church by adding much temporal power puro the spiritual, thus giving it greater authority

And as if it were not enough sicuro have aggrandized the Church, and deprived himself of friends, he, wishing puro have the kingdom of Naples, divided it with the King of Spain, and where he was the prime arbiter per Italy he takes an associate, so that the ambitious of that country and the malcontents of his own should have somewhere puro shelter; and whereas he could have left sopra Ricerca profilo marriagemindedpeoplemeet the kingdom his own pensioner as king, he drove him out, to put one there who was able onesto drive him, Louis, out mediante turn.

Therefore Louis made these five errors: he destroyed the minor powers, he increased the strength of one of the greater powers in Italy, he brought durante a foreign power, he did not settle sopra the country, he did not send colonies

The wish puro acquire is sopra truth very natural and common, and men always do so when they can, and for this they will be praised not blamed; but when they cannot do so, yet wish onesto do so by any means, then there is folly and blame. Therefore, if France could have attacked Naples with her own forces she ought onesto have done so; if she could not, then she ought not esatto have divided it. And if the partition which she made with the Venetians in Lombardy was justified by the excuse that by it she got verso foothold in Italy, this other partition merited blame, for it had not the excuse of that necessity.

Which errors, had he lived, were not enough onesto injure him had he not made a sixth by taking away their dominions from the Venetians; because, had he not aggrandized the Church, nor brought Spain into Italy, it would have been very reasonable and necessary preciso humble them; but having first taken these steps, he ought never preciso have consented to their ruin, for they, being powerful, would always have kept off others from designs on Lombardy, preciso which the Venetians would never have consented except puro become masters themselves there; also because the others would not wish onesto take Lombardy from France in order preciso give it to the Venetians, and sicuro run counter sicuro both they would not have had the courage.