adventurous policy abroad. And, indeed,
his government did present these two phases, so different and
inharmonious. By his policy at home Louis XII. deserved and obtained the
name of Father of the People; by his enterprises and wars abroad he
involved France still more deeply than Charles VIII. had in that mad
course of distant, reckless, and incoherent conquests for which his
successor, Francis I., was destined to pay by capture at Pavia and by the
lamentable treaty of Madrid, in 1526, as the price of his release. Let
us follow these two portions of Louis XII.'s reign, each separately,
without mixing up one with the other by reason of identity of dates. We
shall thus get at a better understanding and better appreciation of their
character and their results.

Outside of France, Milaness [the Milanese district] was Louis XII.'s
first thought, at his accession, and the first object of his desire. He
looked upon it as his patrimony. His grandmother, Valentine Visconti,
widow of that Duke of Orleans who had been assassinated at Paris in 1407
by order of John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, had been the last to
inherit the duchy of Milan, which the Sforzas, in 1450, had seized.
When Charles VIII. invaded Italy in 1494, "Now is the time," said Louis,
"to enforce the rights of Valentine Visconti, my grandmother, to
Milaness." And he, in fact, asserted them openly, and proclaimed his
intention of vindicating them so soon as he found the moment propitious.
When he became king, his chance of success was great. The Duke of
Milan, Ludovic, the Moor, had by his sagacity and fertile mind, by his
taste for arts and sciences and the intelligent patronage he bestowed
upon them, by his ability in speaking, and by his facile character,
obtained in Italy a position far beyond his real power. Leonardo da
Vinci, one of the most eminent amongst the noble geniuses of the age,
lived on intimate terms with him; but Ludovic was, nevertheless, a
turbulent rascal and a greedy tyrant, of whom those who did not profit
by his vices or the enjoyments of his court were desirous of being
relieved. He had, moreover, embroiled himself with his neighbors the
Venetians, who were watching for an opportunity of aggrandizing
themselves at his expense. As early as the 20th of April, 1498, a
fortnight after his accession, Louis XII. addressed to the Venetians a
letter "most gracious," says the contemporary chronicler Marino Sanuto,
"and testifying grea