League of Cambrai Forms

December 10, 1508

Pope Julius II, Louis XII of France, Maximilian of Austria, and Ferdinand of Aragon signed a secret pact to dismember the Venetian Republic. Each coveted a slice of its mainland empire. Venice, rich and haughty, was about to learn that there were no permanent friends in Italian diplomacy. The pact's coalition of traditional enemies, united only by jealousy, illustrated Italian diplomacy at its most cynically Machiavellian.