So Ludovico allied himself with the disgruntled Naples aristocrats who shared his goal, and in order to ensure this goal, he also invited Charles VIII to take an interest and made it clear that he would seize the throne of Naples. This is a big risk, because the French monarch wants Milan to surpass Naples through the front line of Orleans. However, Ludovico, who is an adventurer at heart, is confident that he can stop such a threat. Facts have proved that this is a wrong decision. Because of this motive and calculation, Italy was forcibly opened by the invaders, although it almost didn't happen at the last minute. King Charles' advisers expressed doubts about the trip and repeatedly stressed the difficulties they were about to encounter. The king thought that Ludovico and Italians were generally untrustworthy and worried, so he ordered the marching troops to stop. However, Della Roveri appeared in time, and after some earnest persuasion, the king rekindled his enthusiasm.
1494 In September, 60,000 French troops crossed the Alps. In Guicciardini's words, they brought "seeds of endless disasters". At first, after some confusion and indecision, Alexander formed a defense alliance with Florence and Naples, but this alliance collapsed at the beginning of its establishment. Florence defected because Piero de Medici, the eldest son of Lorenzo who died two years ago, chickened out. In the face of the arrival of the enemy, Piero suddenly became timid and secretly reached an agreement with France to open the city gate. In this way, Charlie occupied Florence without bloodshed, and then the army went straight to Rome. The pope in despair had to kneel down after a painful struggle. It took the invaders six hours to get all the troops into Rome.
Cavalry with crossbows, long queues like trains; Swiss mercenaries carry halberds and spears, knights wear armor, royal guards carry iron scepters on their shoulders, and at the end of the procession are 36 cannons, which will make a terrible rumble when they drive through cobblestone roads. The army flooded in and the whole city trembled. Ambassador Mantua described it this way: "It's terrible to take it home. There are countless murders and people cry for their parents in the street. In human memory, the church has never been in such a bad predicament. " Intense negotiations began between the conqueror and the Pope. Although Alexander was forced to give up Naples and hand over Prince Cem, he resolutely opposed two demands: he refused to hand over Santangelo Castle to the French; Refused to formally award the crown of Naples to Charlie. Although he had to agree that France had the right to establish a passage to Naples through the papal territory, it took great courage to refuse these two requests in the face of heavy resistance.
At all stages of the negotiations, the only undisputed topic is reform. Although Bishop Della and his party earnestly urged him, the uneasy and clumsy French king could not form a committee to sponsor the reform or abolition of the Pope. Alexander's position was retained; The French entered Naples without bloodshed; The only violence is their own attack on the city and robbery along the way. King Alfonso abdicated and hid in a monastery to escape the unrest. His son ferrante II threw away his sword and ran away. The entry of the French into southern Italy finally aroused the joint resistance of all countries, which was initiated by Spain. Spain wants to control Naples by itself, so it is determined not to let France succeed. So King Ferdinand persuaded the Holy Roman Emperor maximilian, who had been worried about French expansion for a long time, to form an alliance with him, and at the same time proposed to marry his daughter Juana to maximilian's son Philip. With the alliance between Spain and the Roman Empire, the Pope and Milan can now deal with France with peace of mind.
Later, Venice joined in and formed the Venice Union, which was called the Holy Union from 65438 to 0495. The establishment of the "Holy Alliance" made the French, who had been a street rat in Naples for a long time, worry that they would be trapped in Italy. So they set foot on their way home, fighting the Allies in Forneau Vaud, Lombardy. This operation was also a battle, because it was only a harassment war, so it didn't play a decisive role. Later, they returned to France. Alfonso and his son immediately made a comeback and resumed their rule over Naples. Although no one benefited from this stupid but significant adventure, especially France, the powers did not stop there, but returned to the same stage again and again to fight for Italy. Since then, wars, alliances, struggles, complicated diplomatic mediation, and ever-changing divisions and alliances have been staged in turn, until they finally reached an amazing climax. 1527, Rome was looted by the Spanish royal army.
In this Italian war that lasted for 33 years, every progress or turning point and every deployment were faithfully and thoroughly recorded in the history books, so that some contents are difficult to arouse people's interest today. The war had a certain impact on history, some of which were extremely important and some were very small, but they were unforgettable: the Florentines were extremely indignant at Piero's surrender, so they rose up and overthrew medici family's rule and announced the establishment of a republic; The marriage between the Spanish and the Habsburg dynasty brought the future Charles V, the supreme emperor of the next century; Ludovico Moreau of Milan paid the price for his stupid behavior and died in a French prison. In the most famous battle of pavia, French king Francis I was captured, but people will always remember what he said: "I have nothing but honor." In addition, the Italian war had a great impact on the papacy, which not only made the pope more associated with politics, but also further reduced his influence.