The question of right
or wrong, seemed seldom to enter any one's mind. Louis fixed his eyes
upon the duchy of Milan as the richest and most available prize within
his grasp. Conscious that he would meet with much opposition, he looked
around for allies.
"If you will aid me," he said to Pope Alexander VI., "I will assist you
in your war against the Duke of Romagna. I will give your son, Caesar
Borgia,[1] a pension of two thousand dollars a year, will confer upon
him an important command in my army, and will procure for him a marriage
with a princess of the royal house of Navarre."
[Footnote 1: Caesar Borgia, who has filled the world with the renown of
his infamy, was the illegitimate son of Alexander VI., and of a Roman
lady named Yanozza.]
The holy father could not resist this bribe, and eagerly joined the
robber king in his foray. To Venice Louis said--
"If you will unite with me, I will assist you in annexing to your
domains the city of Cremona, and the Ghiaradadda." Lured by such hopes
of plunder, Venice was as eager as the pope to take a share in the
piratic expedition. Louis then sent to the court of Turin, and offered
them large sums of money and increased territory, if they would allow
him a free passage across the Alps.
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