§ 56. LEO X. 1513-1521. 481
on the arches, spanning the streets, might be seen side by side statues of Cosmas and Damian, the patrons of the Medicean house, and of the Olympian gods and nymphs. On one arch at the Piazza di Parione were depicted Perseus, Apollo, Moses and Mercury, sacred and mythological characters conjoined, as Alexander Severus joined the busts of Abraham and Orpheus in his palace in the third century. A bishop, afterwards Cardinal Andrea della Valle, placed on his arch none but ancient divinities, Apollo, Bacchus, Mercury, Hercules and Venus, together with fauns and Ganymede. Antonio of San Marino, the silversmith, decorated his house with a marble statue of Venus, under which were inscribed the words —
Mars ruled ; then Pallas, but Venus will rule forever. ^
As a ruler, Leo had none of the daring and strength of his predecessor. He pursued a policy of opportunism and stooped to the practice of duplicity \yith his allies as well as with his enemies. On all occasions he was ready to shift to the winning side. To^ counteract the designs of the French upon Northern Italy^he^ntered with Maximilian, Henry VIH, and Ferdinand of Spain into the treaty of Mechlin, April 5, 151^. He had the pleasure of seeing the French beaten by Henry Vni. at the battle of the Spurs ^ and again driven out of Italy by the bravery of the Swiss at Novara, June 6. Louis easily yielded to the pope's advances for peace and acknowledged the authority of the Lateran council. The deposed cardinals, Carvajal and Sanseverino, who had been active in the Pisan council, signed a humiliating confession and were reinstated. Leo
1 See Schulte, p. 198 sq., andKeumont, III., part II., p. 57. In front of the house of the banker, Agostino Chigl, were seen two persons representing Apollo and Mercury, and two little Moors, together with the inscription —
Ollm habuit Cypria sua temiwra, tcmpora Mavors Olim habuit, sua nunc tempora Pallas habet. The goddess of Cyprus had her day and also Mars, But now Minerva reigns.
2 August 15, 1513. The Scotch king, James IV., who had married Henry's sister, Margaret, joined the French. The memorable defeat at Flodden followed, Sept. 9, 1513. James and the flower of the Scotch nobility fell. Leo recognized Henry's victories by conferring upon him the consecrated sword and hat which it was the pope's custom to set aside on Christmas day.
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482 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.D. 1294-1517.
remarked to them that they were like the sheep in the Gospel which was lost and was found. A secret compact, entered into between the pontiff and King Louis, and afterwards joined by Henry VIII., provided for the French king's marriage with Mary Tudor, Henry's younger sister, and the recognition of his claims in Northern Italy. But at the moment these negotiations were going on, Leo was secretly engaged in the attempt to divorce Venice from the French and to defeat the French plans for the reoccupation of Milan. Louis' career was suddenly cut short by death, Jan. 1, 1515, at the age of 52, three months after his nuptials with Mary, who was sixteen at the time of her marriage.
The same month Leo came to an understanding with Maximilian and Spain, whereby Julian de' Medici, the pope's brother, should receive Farm; , iPiacenza and Reggio. Leo purchased Modena from the em )eror for 40,000 ducats, and was sending 60,000 ducats monthly, for the support of the troops of his secret allies.
At the very same moment, faithless to his Spanish allies, the pope was carrying on negotiations with Venice to drive them out of Italy.
Louis' son-in-law and successor, Francis L, a warlike and enterprising prince, held the attention of Europe for nearly a quarter of a century with his campaigns against Charles V., whose competitor he was for the imperial crown. Carrying out Louis' plans, and accompanied by an army of 35,000 men with 60 cannon, he marched in the direction of Milan, inflicting at Marignano, Sept., 1515, a disastrous defeat upon the 20,000 Swiss mercenaries.! At the first news of the disaster, Leo was thrown into consternation, but soon recovered his composure, exclaiming in the presence of the Venetian ambassador, " We
1 The battle is vividly described by D. J. Dierauer, Gesch. der schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft, 2 vols., Gotlia, 1892, vol. II. 451 sqq. On the second day of the battle, the arrival of the Venetian troops gave victory to the French. Of the 12,000 left on the field dead, the most were Swiss. Before entering the battle, as was their custom, the mountaineers engaged in prayer, and the leader, Steiner of Zug, after repeating the usual formula of devotion uut.o doath, threw, in the name of the Trinity, a handful of earth over his fellow-soldiers' heads.