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HISTORY OF NAPLES.
In the year 1493, Charles VIII., being at
peace with Spain, England, and the Low
Countries, determined to support the claims of
he house of Austria to the kingdom of Naples;
ne was lively and ardent, his favourites en¬
couraged him to undertake this conquest, and
ne accomplished the desired object; he entered
Naples on the 21st February 1495; he made
his entry with the imperial ornaments, and
was saluted with the name of Cæsar Augustus,
for the Pope Alexander VI. had declared him
Emperor of Constantinople, on his passage
into Rome : it is true that Charles VIII. had
besieged him in the castle of St. Angelo, but
he atoned for this offence by waiting on him
at mass, and paying him filial obedience in the
most solemn manner.
A short time after, the Venetians, the Pope,
the Emperor, and the King of Arragon, being
leagued against Charles VIII., he could not
preserve his conquest, and he would with dif¬
ficulty have regained France, had he not won
the battle of Fornoua in 1495. Ferdinand II.