On Whether the Venetians Should Ally with the King of the Romans or Stick to the Alliance with the King of France
This chapter considers the delicate position that the Venetians had found themselves in during the spring of 1507. At the time, Maximilian I, King of the Romans, was getting ready to pass into Italy for the sake of being finally crowned emperor by the Pope and, in particular, of settling matters with Louis XII, King of France, over the Duchy of Milan, to which both monarchs claimed rights and which the French had seized in 1499. To that purpose, he asked the Venetians for leave to pass through their dominion and invited them to make an alliance with him against the French. Should they refuse his offer, he threatened to find an agreement with Louis at their expense. The French King, in turn, invoked the existing alliance with the Venetians, urged them to oppose the coming of Maximilian, and offered a new alliance and the assistance of all his forces.