The reconquest of Milan by Louis, and the capture of Ludovico, alarmed
Maximilian and roused him to new efforts. He again summoned the States
of the empire and implored their cooeperation to resist the aggressions
of France. But he was as unsuccessful as in his previous endeavors.
Louis watched anxiously the movements of the German diet, and finding
that he had nothing to fear from the troops of the empire, having
secured the investiture of Milan, prepared for the invasion of Naples.
The venal pope was easily bought over. Even Ferdinand, the King of
Arragon, was induced to loan his connivance to a plan for robbing a near
relative of his crown, by the promise of sharing in the spoil. A treaty
of partition was entered into by the two robber kings, by which
Ferdinand of Arragon was to receive Calabria and Apulia, and the King of
France the remaining States of the Neapolitan kingdom. The pope was
confidentially informed of this secret plot, which was arranged at
Grenada, and promised the plunderers his benediction, in consideration
of the abundant reward promised to him.
The doom of the King of Naples was now sealed. All unconscious that his
own relative, Ferdinand of Arragon, was conspiring against him, he
appealed to Ferdinand for aid against the King of France.
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