Pagina 47 de 310

This was easy for him to do, because he found the Venetians,

moved by other reasons, inclined to bring back the French into

Italy; he would not only not oppose this, but he would render it

more easy by dissolving the former marriage of King Louis.

Therefore the king came into Italy with the assistance of the

Venetians and the consent of Alexander. He was no sooner in Milan

than the Pope had soldiers from him for the attempt on the

Romagna, which yielded to him on the reputation of the king. The

duke, therefore, having acquired the Romagna and beaten the

Colonnesi, while wishing to hold that and to advance further, was

hindered by two things: the one, his forces did not appear loyal

to him, the other, the goodwill of France: that is to say, he

feared that the forces of the Orsini, which he was using, would

not stand to him, that not only might they hinder him from

winning more, but might themselves seize what he had won, and

that the king might also do the same.