"Returning to Rome, the pope decided to create a new union, which would include, together with the papal state, Venice, Spain, England and, if possible, the Holy Roman Empire. The combined forces of this alliance would have expelled France from the Apennine Peninsula once and for all. In early July, negotiations began, which did not cause serious disagreements. Ferdinand of Spain has already received everything he could from the Cambrian League, and did not want to see further gains of the French in Italy. In England, Ferdinand's son-in-law, Henry VIII, willingly agreed to keep his rival occupied in the north, while the other allies would do the same in the south. Venice, which during the negotiations fought hard, and in general successfully, did not demand anything else. Emperor Maximilian hesitated, but even without it, the new league looked powerful enough.
Meanwhile, the idea of a church council in Pisa proved discredited. Four of the nine cardinals, who were considered the initiators of the council, said that this idea had never even been discussed with them, and that they would not participate in it. Then Pope Julius announced that he would convene a properly established council next May. As a result, the September meeting was becoming nothing more than an awkward political move. Since the non-canonical council lost the necessary support, the date of its opening was postponed from September to November, and Milan was elected as the venue. But even there, under the protection of the French, so openly made fun of the cathedral that even the local chronicler refrained from reporting on the holding of the cathedral.
Meanwhile, on October 4, the Pope proclaimed the creation of the "Holy League" (England officially announced its accession to it on November 17). League members began preparing for the 1512 campaign. The French king, too, did not waste time and appointed one of the outstanding commanders of the era, his nephew Gaston de Foix, as commander-in-chief of French troops in Italy. In February 1512, a detachment under the command of de Foix swiftly advanced from Milan and repelled an attempt by the papal army (mainly consisting of Spanish troops, led by Ramon de Cardona, the Spanish viceroy of Naples) to repel Bologna. The citizens of Brescia and Bergamo decided to take advantage of the care of the French army and return under the authority of Venice, but de Foix, swiftly returning back (and destroying the Venetian army who tried to stop him), found themselves under the walls of Brescia faster than enough recruits could come to the fortifications. Brescia was stormed, the leader of the rebels was publicly beheaded in the town square, and the city was given to a five-day looting, during which French and German troops massacred such that it took another three days to remove 15 thousand corpses from the city streets. To avoid the same fate, the inhabitants of Bergamo hastily paid a ransom of 60 thousand ducats, which ended the uprising…"
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Armand
proves himself a fan of splintered oars, crashing beakheads, and drummers yelling "come'mon, you scurves! The Captain wants to go water skiing, so pull harder!"
