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HISTORICAL ABSTRACT. 1o 9
Affairs at l_flan (Guicciardini, St. d'Italia, lib. iv. oh. 5).--The 1600.
Milanese, discontented with the French rule, _con tutto che i modi
de' Franzesi non fussmo stati disonesti in verso loro.., e in effetto
non si potessino dolere della signoria loro' (Guicciardini, Op. Ined.
iii.2a3/, negotiate with Ludovieo Moro for his return. He arrives
from Germany with an army of Germans and Swiss, and recovers
Milan on February 5 Lores XII sends La Trdmouille ('non
ignorant le Seigneur de la Trdmoille estre heureux en ses entreprises'
; Mdm. de L. de la Trdmmlle, ch. ix) with a force of Io,ooo
Swiss to assist Trivulzio. A battle takes place m the neighbourhood
of Novara, April 5, in which Ludovico is defeated, owing to the desertion
of the Swiss m hls army, who refuse to fight against their
countrymen. He is taken prisoner, April Io, and confined at
Loches, where he dies after ten years. Ascamo Sforza escapes,
but is subsequent]y captured and confined at Bourges [liberated
in i5o3]. George d'Ambotse appointed by Louis XII governor
of Milan. (' E cosi sl not6 che tre grand1 Case, d_ Ragona, Sforzeschi
e Medici, che avevano acquistato potenza in Itaha, quasi in uno
tempo medesimo averla ancora perduta' ; Guicciardini.)
Death of Machiavelh's father [Tommasini, i. i95. Amico, p. 8, gives l_ay 19
the date May zo].
The War with Pisa [couhnued].--Piero Tommaso Soderini, ambas-
sador from Florence, is sent to Milan, to arrange details of the force
to be sent against Pisa (see agreement of October i2, i499). The
conditions unfavourable to the Florentines, who are obhged to undertake
to pay the majority of the soldmrs. 50o men-at-arms, 400o
Swiss, and 2oo Gascons under Hugo de Beumont ('il quale, per averci
al tempo del re Carlo restituito Livorno, era rlputato amico e confidato
alla citt_ ') advance slowly to the neighbourhood of P_sa, clamouring
for pay and harassing the inhabitants of the country through whmh
they pass. The Florentines send Giovanni Battista Bartolim as
commissmner to the camp, with two adjuncts, Luca degli Alb_zzi
and Giovan Battista Ridolfi: Wraohiavelli is sent with them.
They join the army at Camamre, and reach Cascina on June 23:
on June 29 arrive beneath the walls of Pisa. The assault is at once
begun, but is unsuccessful. The troops nmtiny: the Gaseons
desert, July 7 : Beumont (' sta come smarrito ') is unable to restrain
the Swiss, who take prisoner, July 9, Luca degh Albizm, who is in
danger of his hfe : he is forced to undertake to pay a body of Swiss,
newly arrived : when he has pledged himself to pay them, the
remainder of the mercenaries disband. Piero Vespucci and
Francesco della Casa are sent from Florence to attempt to collect
fresh forces m the neighbourhood.
Louis XII, on receiving news of the conduct of his troops,
professes great dissatisfaction (Opere, P. M. Hi. 65 ft.) ; but the