addressing him with a
haughty air, as a master might address a servant, demanded whence came
this pride of his that made him dispute his entrance into Tuscany.
Piero dei Medici replied, that, with the actual consent of Louis XI,
his father Lorenzo had concluded a treaty of alliance with Ferdinand of
Naples; that accordingly he had acted in obedience to prior obligations,
but as he did, not wish to push too far his devotion to the house of
Aragon or his opposition to France, he was ready to do whatever Charles
VIII might demand of him. The king, who had never looked for such
humility in his enemy, demanded that Sarzano should be given up to him:
to this Piero dei Medici at once consented. Then the conqueror, wishing
to see how far the ambassador of the magnificent republic would extend
his politeness, replied that this concession was far from satisfying
him, and that he still must have the keys of Pietra Santa, Pisa,
Librafatta, and Livorno. Piero saw no more difficulty about these than
about Sarzano, and consented on Charles's mere promise by word of mouth
to restore the town when he had achieved the conquest of Naples. At last
Charles VIII, seeing that this man who had been sent out to negotiate
with him was very easy to manage, exacted as a final condition, a
'sine qua non', however, of his royal protection, that the magnificent
republic should lend him the sum of 200,000 florins. Piero found it
no harder to dispose of money than of fortresses, and replied that his
fellow-citizens would be happy to render this service to their new ally.
Then Charles VIII set him on horseback, and ordered him to go on in
front, so as to begin to carry out his promises by yielding up the four
fortresses he had insisted on having. Piero obeyed, and the French
army, led by the grandson of Cosimo the Great and the son of Lorenzo the
Magnificent, continued its triumphal march through Tuscany.
On his arrival at Lucca, Piero dei Medici learnt that his concessions
to the King of France were making a terrible commotion at Florence.
The magnificent republic had supposed that what Charles VIII wanted was
simply a passage through her territory, so when the news came there was
a general feeling of discontent, which was augmented by the return of
the other ambassadors, whom Piero had not even consulted when he took
action as he did. Piero considered it necessary that he should return,
so he asked Charles's permission to precede him to the capital. A
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