, and changed the whole complexion of the politics of
Europe.

[1] Read, however, Sismondi's able argument against the view
that Italy, united as a single nation under a sovereign, would
have been better off, vol. vii. p. 298 et seq. He is of opinion
that her only chance lay in a Confederation. See chapter ii.
above, for a discussion of this chance.

The invasion of Italy had been long prepared in the counsels of Louis
XI. After spending his lifetime in the consolidation of the French
monarchy, he constructed an inheritance of further empire for his
successors by dictating to the old King Rene of Anjou (1474) and to the
Count of Maine (1481) the two wills by which the pretensions of the
House of Anjou to the Crown of Naples were transmitted to the royal
family of France.[1] On the death of Louis, Charles VIII. became King in
1483. He was then aged only thirteen, and was still governed by his
elder sister, Anne de Beaujeu.[2] It was not until 1492 that he
actually took the reins of the kingdom into his own hands. This year, we
may remark, is one of the most memorable dates in history. In 1492
Columbus discovered America: in 1492 Roderigo Borgia was made Pope: in
1492 Spain became a nation by the conquest of Granada. Each of these
events was no less fruitful of consequences to Italy than was the
accession of Charles VIII. The discovery of America, followed in another
six years by Vasco de' Gama's exploration of the Indian seas, diverted
the commerce of the world into new channels; Alexander VI. made the
Reformation and the Northern Schism certainties; the consolidation of
Spain prepared a way for the autocracy of Charles V. Thus the
commercial, the spiritual, and the political scepter fell in this one
year from the grasp of the Italians.

[1] Sismondi, vol. vi. p. 285. The Appendix of Pieces
Justificatives to Philip de Comines' _Memoirs_ contains the
will of Rene King of Sicily, Count of Provence, dated July 22,
1474, by which he constitutes his nephew, Charles of Anjou,
Duke of Calabria, Count of Maine, his heir-in-chief; as well as
the will of Charles of Anjou, King of Sicily, Count of
Provence, dated December 10, 1481, by which he makes Louis XI.
his heir, naming Charles the Dauphin next in succession.

[2] Her husband was a cadet of the House of Bourbon.

Both Philip de Comines and Guicciardini have described the appearance
and the character of the prince w