ent into exile; and they
were now in France, prophesying easy triumphs if Charles VIII
would extend his hand to take the greatness that belonged to the
heir of the house of Anjou. They were followed by the most
important of the Italian Cardinals, Della Rovere, nephew of a
former Pope, himself afterwards the most famous pontiff who had
appeared for centuries. Armed with the secrets of the Conclave,
the Cardinal insisted that Alexander VI should be deposed, on the
ground that he had paid for the papacy in ascertainable sums of
money and money's worth; whereas spiritual office obtained in
that way was ipso facto void.

The advent of the French, heralded by the passionate eloquence of
Savonarola, was also hailed by Florence and its dependencies, in
their impatience of the Medicean rule, now that it had dropped
from the hands of the illustrious Lorenzo into those of his less
competent son. Lodovico Sforza, the Regent of Milan, was also
among those who called in the French, as he had a family
quarrel with Naples. His father, Francesco, the most successful
of the Condottieri, who acquired the Milanese by marriage with a
Visconti, is known by that significant saying: "May God defend me
from my friends. From my enemies I can defend myself." As the
Duke of Orleans also descended from the Visconti, Lodovico wished
to divert the French to the more alluring prospect of Naples.

In September 1494 Charles VIII invaded Italy by the Mont Genevre,
with an army equal to his immediate purpose. His horsemen still
displayed the medieval armour, wrought by the artistic craftsmen
of the Renaissance. They were followed by artillery, the newer
arm which, in another generation, swept the steel-clad knight
away. French infantry was not thought so well of. But the Swiss
had become, in their wars with Burgundy, the most renowned of all
foot-soldiers. They were unskilled in manoeuvres; but their
pikemen, charging in dense masses, proved irresistible on many
Italian fields; until it was discovered that they would serve for
money on either side, and that when opposed to their countrymen
they refused to fight. At Pavia they were cut down by the
Spaniards and their fame began to wane. They were Germans,
hating Austria, and their fidelity to the golden lilies is one of
the constant facts of French history, until the Swiss guard and
the white flag vanished together, in July 1830.

Charles reached Naples early in 1495, having had no resist