iewed himself as heir of Milan. She was Valentina
Visconti, wife to that Duke of Orleans who had been murdered by John the
Fearless. Louis himself never advanced further than to Milan, whose
surrender made him master of Lombardy, which he held for the greater
part of his reign. But after a while the Spanish king, Ferdinand, agreed
with him to throw over the cause of the unfortunate royal family of
Naples, and divide that kingdom between them. Louis XII. sent a
brilliant army to take possession of his share, but the bounds of each
portion had not been defined, and the French and Spanish troops began a
war even while their kings were still treating with one another. The
individual French knights did brilliant exploits, for indeed it was the
time of the chief blossom of fanciful chivalry, a knight of Dauphine,
named Bayard, called the Fearless and Stainless Knight, and honoured by
friend and foe; but the Spaniards were under Gonzalo de Cordova, called
the Great Captain, and after the battles of Cerignola and the Garigliano
drove the French out of the kingdom of Naples, though the war continued
in Lombardy.

3. The Holy League.--It was an age of leagues. The Italians, hating
French and Spaniards both alike, were continually forming combinations
among themselves and with foreign powers against whichever happened to
be the strongest. The chief of these was called the Holy League, because
it was formed by Pope Julius II., who drew into it Maximilian, then head
of the German Empire, Ferdinand of Spain, and Henry VIII. of England.
The French troops were attacked in Milan; and though they gained the
battle of Ravenna in 1512, it was with the loss of their general, Gaston
de Foix, Duke of Nemours, whose death served as an excuse to Ferdinand
of Spain for setting up a claim to the kingdom of Navarre. He cunningly
persuaded Henry VIII. to aid him in the attack, by holding out the vain
idea of going on to regain Gascony; and while one troop of English were
attacking Pampeluna, Henry himself landed at Calais and took Tournay and
Terouenne. The French forces were at the same time being chased out of
Italy. However, when Pampeluna had been taken, and the French finally
driven out of Lombardy, the Pope and king, who had gained their ends,
left Henry to fight his own battles. He thus was induced to make peace,
giving his young sister Mary as second wife to Louis; but that king
over-exerted himself at the banquets, and died six weeks afte