Lastly, that the Duke of Milan should lend the King of France 200,000
ducats, payable when he started.

On his side, Charles VIII agreed:--

To defend the personal authority of Ludowico Sforza over the duchy of
Milan against anyone who might attempt to turn him out;

To keep two hundred French lances always in readiness to help the house
of Sforza, at Asti, a town belonging to the Duke of Orleans by the
inheritance of his mother, Valentina Visconti;

Lastly, to hand over to his ally the principality of Tarentum immediately
after the conquest of Naples was effected.

This treaty was scarcely concluded when Charles VIII, who exaggerated its
advantages, began to dream of freeing himself from every let or hindrance
to the expedition. Precautions were necessary; for his relations with
the great Powers were far from being what he could have wished.

Indeed, Henry VII had disembarked at Calais with a formidable army, and
was threatening France with another invasion.

Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, if they had not assisted at the fall of
the house of Anjou, had at any rate helped the Aragon party with men and
money.

Lastly, the war with the emperor acquired a fresh impetus when Charles
VIII sent back Margaret of Burgundy to her father Maximilian, and