lies, he applied to Henry VII.
of England, and even invited the Turks to attack the Venetians in
Friuli. Maximilian helped him with men and money, as far as his slender
resources would allow, and summoned the German Diet to meet at Augsburg
in February, in the hope of obtaining support from the electors. But the
Moro's impatience could brook no delay. At Christmas he came to Brixen,
and there succeeded in collecting a force of eight or ten thousand Swiss
and German _Landsknechten_, supported by a body of Stradiots and his own
Milanese horse. At the head of this little army, Lodovico left Brixen on
the 24th of January, and set out on his gallant but ill-fated attempt to
recover his dominions.

Meanwhile Girolamo Landriano, the General of the Umiliati, who had been
the first to yield Milan to the French, was actively engaged in plotting
the restoration of Lodovico, with the help of the leading ecclesiastics
in the city. "To say the truth," writes Jean d'Auton, "the whole duchy
of Milan was secretly in favour of Lodovico, and all the Lombards were
swollen with poison, and ready like vipers to shoot out the deadly venom
of their treason." A general rising was fixed for Candlemas Day, but so
well was the secret kept, that not a whisper reached the vigilant ears
of Trivulzio, and all remained quiet until the last few days of January.
On the 24th, a band of children at play, engaged in a mimic fight
between the supposed French and Milanese armies, ending with the rout of
the French and a procession in which the effigy of King Louis was
dragged through the streets tied to a donkey's tail. Some French
soldiers, who witnessed the scene, fired on the children, killing one
and wounding others, upon which the citizens rose in arms, and drove the
foreigners back into the Castello. This was followed by a more serious
riot on the 31st of January, and Trivulzio gave orders for a general
disarming of the people, which, however, he was unable to enforce.
Already news had reached Como that the Moro had crossed the Alps, and
was on his way to Milan.

The course of Lodovico's victorious march is best described in a letter
which he addressed to his sister-in-law, Isabella d'Este, on the day
after his triumphal entry into his old capital.

"ILLUSTRIOUS LADY AND DEAREST SISTER,

"On the 24th of last month we left Brixen by the grace of God, and
crossed Monte Braulio into the Valtellina with a body of
_Landsknechten_. Monsignore the Vice-cha