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Alexander the Sixth, in wishing to aggrandize the duke, his son,

had many immediate and prospective difficulties. Firstly, he did

not see his way to make him master of any state that was not a

state of the Church; and if he was willing to rob the Church he

knew that the Duke of Milan and the Venetians would not consent,

because Faenza and Rimini were already under the protection of

the Venetians. Besides this, he saw the arms of Italy, especially

those by which he might have been assisted, in hands that would

fear the aggrandizement of the Pope, namely, the Orsini and the

Colonnesi and their following. It behoved him, therefore, to

upset this state of affairs and embroil the powers, so as to make

himself securely master of part of their states.