Note *248 — Chapter XV

Ludovico was alarmed at the alliance of Florence and Naples, and tried to meet it with a league between the Pope, Milan, and Venice [cf. Codice, Aragonese, II., 254, etc.] On April 25, 1493, Alexander VI., guarded by an armed escort, celebrated Mass in S. Marco, and after published his league with Venice, Milan, Siena, Mantua, and Ferrara. The Pope's object was the recovery of the possessions of the Holy See. Ferrante saw this, and immediately wrote to Spain speaking of him as a profligate and accusing him of stirring up strife—the one weak point in the Pope's armour. The Spanish ambassador, Don Diego Lopez de Haro, came to Rome to offer the obedience of the Catholic kings, and at once began to plead for the peace of Italy, which was enforced by a hostile demonstration on the part of Naples. Alexander agreed to negotiate. The result was that peace was established. Orsini was allowed to keep the castles he had bought from Cibò on condition that he paid 40,000 ducats to the Pope. Peace with Naples was cemented by the marriage of the Pope's son Jofre and Sancia, a daughter of Alfonso.