第7部分(第1/7 页)

er　very　slightly　……　yet　now　a　king　of　Francetrembles　before　it；　and　it　has　been　able　to　drive　him　from　Italy；　and　toruin　the　Veians　……　although　this　may　be　very　manifest；　it　does　notappear　to　me　superfluous　to　recall　it　in　some　measure　to　memory。Before　Charles；　King　of　France；　passed　into　Italy；　this　country　wasunder　the　dominion　of　the　Pope；　the　Veians；　the　King　of　Naples；　theDuke　of　Milan；　and　the　Florentines。　These　potentates　had　two　principalanxieties：　the　one；　that　no　foreigner　should　enter　Italy　under　arms；　theother；　that　none　of　themselves　should　seize　more　territory。　Those　aboutwhom　there　was　the　most　anxiety　were　the　Pope　and　the　Veians。　Torestrain　the　Veians　the　union　of　all　the　others　was　necessary；　as　itwas　for　the　defence　of　Ferrara；　and　to　keep　down　the　Pope　they　made　useof　the　barons　of　Rome；　who；　being　divided　into　two　factions；　Orsini　andColonna；　had　always　a　pretext　for　disorder；　and；　standing　with　arms　intheir　hands　under　the　eyes　of　the　Pontiff；　kept　the　pontificate　weak　andpowerless。　And　although　there　might　arise　sometimes　a　courageous　pope；such　as　Sixtus　＇IV＇；　yet　neither　fortune　nor　wisdom　could　rid　him　ofthese　annoyances。　And　the　short　life　of　a　pope　is　also　a　cause　ofweakness；　for　in　the　ten　years；　which　is　the　average　life　of　a　pope；　hecan　with　difficulty　lower　one　of　the　factions；　and　if；　so　to　speak；　onepope　should　almost　destroy　the　Colonna；　another　would　arise　hostile　tothe　Orsini；　who　would　support　their　opponents；　and　yet　would　not　havetime　to　ruin　the　Orsini。　This　was　the　reason　why　the　temporal　powers　ofthe　pope　were　little　esteemed　in　Italy。Alexander　VI　arose　afterwards；　who　of　all　the　pontiffs　that　have　everbeen　showed　how　a　pope　with　both　money　and　arms　was　able　to　prevail；　andthrough　the　instrumentality　of　the　Duke　Valentino；　a