THE FRENCH INVASION OF ITALY, 1494-95that the kingdom of Naples would eventually be his; he also
handed over to him the Ottoman prince Jem, long held in
detention in the west, thereby signifying that Charles must
pursue the war against the Turk as soon as the affair of Naples
had been settled. Once the depths of winter had passed,
all was ready for the final assault on Naples. Indeed, Alfonso
II of Naples seemed to recognise the futility of resistance;
obsessed with his past sins, he abdicated the crown before
the year was out, passing it on to Ferrandino (Ferrante II),
and hurried in despair to Sicily, where he lived out his few
remaining days behind the walls of a convent. This once
famous military commander, whose experience of govern-
ment stretched far back to his teens, when his father had
appointed him his lieutenant during the war against Jean de
Calabre, threw himself with pious passion into a life of deep
religious devotion. He was well aware that he commanded
fear rather than respect, and in abdicating he aimed not to
hand his kingdom over to Charles but to grant his able and
vigorous son a chance to win back the goodwill of his sub-
jects, barons and townspeople alike.
Ferrandino's influence was whittled away by the mile as the
French worked their way into the kingdom of Naples during
February 1494. Retreating to Naples, Ferrandino recognised
that he had no hope of withstanding the French, not just
because of their might, but because of the defections which
occurred day by day. He and his family, including his uncle
Federigo, took ship for Ischia, hoping only that the Neapol-
itans would recognise before long that 'the natural arrogance
of the French' (the words are Guicciardini's) would lead
them some day to recall the house of Aragon.
THE FALL OF NAPLES TO THE FRENCH
So on 24 February^1495 Charles VIII solemnly entered
Naples. Violence was largely contained, with an important ex-
ception: the Jews became the scapegoats for the misfortunes
of the Regno, and even before the French reached Naples
the Jewish quarter was sacked by local Christians. Overall, to
judge from his surviving administrative acts, Charles tried
to ensure that local methods of government, which had
been so successful in ensuring both central control and the