hout falling out with the
other, and at the same time I do not wish to offend. I ask that
your Holiness may be pleased to define my position so that I may
not become an enemy of my own blood, and not act contrary to the
obligations into which I have entered by virtue of my agreement
with your Holiness and the illustrious State of Milan." He replied,
saying that I took too much interest in his affairs, and that I
should choose in whose pay I would remain according to my contract.
And then he commanded the above-named monsignor to write to your
Excellency what you will learn from his lordship's letter. My lord,
if I had foreseen in what a position I was to be placed I would
sooner have eaten the straw under my body than have entered into
such an agreement. I cast myself in your arms. I beg your
Excellency not to desert me, but to give me help, favor, and advice
how to resolve the difficulty in which I am placed, so that I may
remain a good servant of your Excellency. Preserve for me the
position and the little nest which, thanks to the mercy of Milan,
my ancestors left me, and I and my men of war will ever remain at
the service of your Excellency.

GIOVANNI SFORZA.
ROME, _April, 1494_.

The letter plainly discloses other and deeper concerns of the writer;
such, for example, as the future possession of his domain of Pesaro. The
Pope's plans to destroy all the little tyrannies and fiefs in the States
of the Church had already been clearly revealed.[31]

Shortly after this, April 23d, Cardinal della Rovere slipped away from
Ostia and into France to urge Charles VIII to invade Italy, not to
attack Naples, but to bring this simoniacal pope before a council and
depose him.

At the beginning of July Ascanio Sforza, now openly at strife with
Alexander, also left the city. He went to Genazzano and joined the
Colonna, who were in the pay of France. Charles VIII was already
preparing to invade Italy. The Pope and King Alfonso met at Vicovaro
near Tivoli, July 14th.

In the meantime important changes had taken place in Lucretia's palace.
Her husband had hurriedly left Rome, as he could do as a captain of the
Church, in which capacity he had to join the Neapolitan army, now being
formed in Romagna under the command of the Duke Ferrante of Calabria. By
his nuptial contract he was bound to take his bride with him to Pesaro.
She was accom