Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: A. d. loll.] THE HOLY LEAGUE. . 15 divisions, he fell on the rearmost division, which was commanded by d'Alviano himself. From some misunderstanding or other, the leading battalions could not be brought back to d'Alviano's support, and he was left with half his force to resist as he might the attack of the whole French army encouraged by the presence of their king. The contest was too unequal: his division was completely defeated, he himself being taken prisoner; and Venice had no resource but to submit for a time, and to trust to her political and diplomatic address to regain what she had lost by arms- No doubt the wily statesmen who administered her government foresaw that they should not have long to wait. However divided on other subjects, all Italian States agreed in looking on the French as foreigners, if not barbarians. Ferdinand, in virtue of his possession of Naples, looked on himself as an Italian prince ; and when Pope Julius began to plan a new confederacy to expel the French from Italy, and when Louis, having accurate information of his designs, anticipated his enmity by invading the Papal States, and occupying Bologna, His Catholic Majesty again found out that his duty to the Head of the Church was paramount to any obligation to his ally ; and in the autumn of 1511 entered into a fresh alliance with Julius and Venice, which the Pope honoured with the title of the Holy League, and the avowed object of which was the expulsion from Italy of the very king whom, three years before, two of the three confederates had engaged to aid in invading that country. They were nearly having cause to repent their perfidy. Louis, the moment that his suspicions were aroused, had begun to strengthen his army, and resigned the command of it to a new leader, only twenty-two years...