second him in his attempt; and besides the Venetians, who had already
been gained over by King Louis, endeavoured to secure the aid of the
Florentines and Pope Leo X.; thinking that were he to succeed in getting
these others to take part with him, his enterprise would be easier. For
the forces of the Spanish king were then in Lombardy, and the army of
the Emperor at Verona.

Pope Leo, however, did not fall in with the wishes of Francis, being,
it is said, persuaded by his advisers that his best course was to stand
neutral. For they urged that it was not for the advantage of the Church
to have powerful strangers, whether French or Swiss, in Italy; but that
to restore the country to its ancient freedom, it must be delivered from
the yoke of both. And since to conquer both, whether singly or together,
was impossible, it was to be desired that the one should overthrow the
other, after which the Church with her friends might fall upon the
victor. And it was averred that no better opportunity for carrying out
this design could ever be found than then presented itself; for both the
French and the Swiss were in the field; while the Pope had his troops in
readiness to appear on the Lombard frontier and in the vicinity of the
two armies, where, under colour of watching his own interests, he could
easily keep them until the opposed hosts came to an engagement; when, as
both armies were full of courage, their encounter might be expected to
be a bloody one, and likely to leave the victor so weakened that it
would be easy for the Pope to attack and defeat him; and so, to his own
great glory, remain master of Lombardy and supreme throughout Italy.

How baseless this expectation was, was seen from the event. For the
Swiss being routed after a protracted combat, the troops of the Pope
and Spain, so far from venturing to attack the conqueror, prepared
for flight; nor would flight have saved them, had not the humanity or