In  Italy,  the  breaking  out  of  hostilities  was  hastened  by  a  very  ill-con-
certed attack  of  the  French  on  the  town  of  Reggio,  where  they  intended
to  carry  off  some  Milanese  emigrants.  In  July,  1521,  Prospero  Colonna,
to  whom  the  supreme  command  over  the  combined  papal  and  imperial
forces  was  given,  left  Bologna  to  attack  Parma  ;  a  fleet  was  sent  to  sea
against  Genoa  ;  in  Trent,  German  foot-soldiers  nocked  to  the  standard
of  Francesco  Sforza,  son  of  Luigi  il  Moro  ;  while  the  exiled  Ghibellines
appeared  with  a  few  boats  on  the  Lake  of  Como,  where  they  had  always
carried  on  a  sort  of  banditti  warfare.2

But  to  what  could  all  these  detached  efforts  lead,  when  the  force  from
which  the  grand  attack  on  the  Milanese  was  expected  had  now  made
common  cause  with  the  enemy,  whose  confidence  was  thus  raised  at  all
points  ?  The  enterprises  against  Genoa  and  Como  completely  failed.  It
was  fortunate,  that  at  least  the  Germans  from  Trent  found  means  to  effect
a  junction  with  the  army  before  Parma,  where  the  troops  which  had  been
destined  for  the  attack  upon  Genoa  now  likewise  collected  ;  but,  even  with
this  addition,  they  did  not  feel  themselves  strong  enough  for  a  serious  and
decisive  attack  :  on  the  12th  of  September  the  siege  was  raised.3

The  French  at  this  time  possessed  an  unquestioned  superiority  over
their  enemies.     The  Venetians  had  sent  into'the  field  five  hundred  men-at-

1  "  Ut  cognoscant  intimum  amorem,  Hberalitatem,  benevolentiam,  et  affec-
tionem  dicti  Christianissimi  regis  in  eos." — Dumont,  iv.  i.,  p.  334.
2  Benedictus  Jovius  Historia  Novocomensis  in  Grasvii  Thes.  Ital.  iv.,  p.  71,
names,  as  leader,  Johannes  a  Brinzia,  cognomento  stultus  ;  that  is,  Matto  da
Brinzi,  as  he  is  otherwise  called.
