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They gave quarter to their foes upon the battle-field, and were horrified with the massacres in cold blood perpetrated at Fivizzano and Rapallo by the army of Charles VIII. But when the demon of cruelty possessed the imagination of an Italian, when, like Gian Maria Visconti, he came to relish the sight of torment for its own sake, or when he sought to inspire fear by the spectacle of pain, then no Spaniard surpassed him in the ingenuity of his devices.
The Garfagnana, again, cannot be bettered if you avoid such touristry as Bagni di Lucca; but then Castelnuovo is bare, and though Barga is fine enough, Piazza al Serchio is a mere huddle of houses, and it is not till you reach Fivizzano on the other side of the pass that you find what you want. In Casentino alone there is everything mountains, rivers, woods, and footways, convents and castles.
The Italian States confront the Great Nations of Europe Policy of Louis XI. of France Character of Charles VIII. Preparations for the Invasion of Italy Position of Lodovico Sforza Diplomatic Difficulties in Italy after the Death of Lorenzo de' Medici Weakness of the Republics II Moro The year 1494 Alfonso of Naples Inefficiency of the Allies to cope with France Charles at Lyons is stirred up to the Invasion of Italy by Giuliano della Rovere Charles at Asti and Pavia Murder of Gian Galeazzo Sforza Mistrust in the French Army Rapallo and Fivizzano The Entrance into Tuscany Part played by Piero de' Medici Charles at Pisa His Entrance into Florence Piero Capponi The March on Rome Entry into Rome Panic of Alexander VI. The March on Naples The Spanish Dynasty: Alfonso and Ferdinand Alfonso II. escapes to Sicily Ferdinand II. takes Refuge in Ischia Charles at Naples The League against the French De Comines at Venice Charles makes his Retreat by Rome, Siena, Pisa, and Pontremoli The Battle of Fornovo Charles reaches Asti and returns to France Italy becomes the Prize to be fought for by France, Spain, and Germany Importance of the Expedition of Charles VIII.
He and his companions had simply brought their prisoners into the city that they might beg money for their ransom: two of the prisoners were Tuscan soldiers taken in Lunigiana; the other, an elderly man, was with a party of Genoese, with whom the French foragers had come to blows near Fivizzano. He might be mad, but he was harmless.
The pope began to be affected by the general terror: he had heard of the massacres of Fivizzano, of Lunigiane, and of Imola; he knew that Piero dei Medici had handed over the Tuscan fortresses, that Florence had succumbed, and that Catherine Sforza had made terms with the conqueror; he saw the broken remnants of the Neapolitan troops pass disheartened through Rome, to rally their strength in the Abruzzi, and thus he found himself exposed to an enemy who was advancing upon him with the whole of the Romagna under his control from one sea to the other, in a line of march extending from Piombina to Ancona.
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