Note 490 — BOOK THE EIGHTH. (continued 3)

“The Spanish writers,” says Mr. Prescott, “impute the first suggestion of this project for the conquest and division of the kingdom of Naples by the combined powers of France and Spain, to the French, who, they say, went so far as to specify the details of the partition subsequently adopted; according to which the two Calabrias were assigned to Spain. However this may be, there is little doubt that Ferdinand had long entertained the idea of asserting his claim at some time or other to the crown of Naples. The accession of Frederic, in particular, had given great umbrage to the Spanish monarch; and the Castilian envoy, Garcilasso de la Vega, agreeably to the instructions of his court, urged Alexander the Sixth to withhold the investiture of the kingdom from Frederic, but unavailingly, as the Pope’s interests were too closely connected by marriage with those of the royal family of Naples.”—History of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. ii. p. 311.