The pope was to furnish six thousand men, and the
other Italian States twelve thousand. Maximilian promised to furnish
nine thousand. Venice granted the troops of the emperor a free passage
through her dominions.
These important first steps being thus taken secretly and securely, the
emperor summoned a diet of Germany to enlist the States of the empire in
the enterprise. This was the most difficult task, and yet nothing could
be accomplished without the cooeperation of Germany. But the Germanic
States, loosely held together, jealous of each other, each grasping
solely at its own aggrandizement, reluctantly delegating any power to
the emperor, were slow to promise cooeperation in any general enterprise,
and having promised, were still slower to perform. The emperor had no
power to enforce the fulfillment of agreements, and could only
supplicate. During the long reign of Frederic the imperial dignity had
lapsed more and more into an empty title; and Maximilian had an arduous
task before him in securing even respectful attention to his demands. He
was fully aware of the difficulties, and made arrangements accordingly.
The memorable diet was summoned at Worms, on the 26th of May, 1496.
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