Editing Pope Julius II (section)

===Charles VIII and the French war over Naples===
Della Rovere at once determined to take refuge from Borgia's wrath at [[Ostia (Rome)|Ostia]]. On 23 April 1494, the Cardinal took ship, having placed his fortress at Ostia in the hands of his brother Giovanni della Rovere, and traveled to Genoa and then to Avignon. He was summoned by King Charles VIII to [[Lyon]]s, where the two met on 1 June 1494.{{sfn|Gregorovius|1900|loc=VII.1, p. 357}} He made an agreement with Charles VIII, who undertook to take Italy back from the Borgias by military force.<ref name=Ott1910>{{cite encyclopedia |last=Ott |first=Michael |date=1910 |title=Pope Julius II |encyclopedia=The Catholic Encyclopedia |volume=8 |location=New York |publisher= Robert Appleton Co.}} [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08562a.htm From New Advent website]</ref> The King entered Rome with his army on 31 December 1494, with Giuliano della Rovere riding on one side and Cardinal Ascanio Sforza riding on the other. The King made several demands of Pope Alexander, one of which was that the [[Castel Sant'Angelo]] be turned over to French forces.<ref>"Accompanying the young king on his military campaign, [della Rovere] entered Rome along with him, and endeavoured to instigate the convocation of a council to inquire into the conduct of the pope with a view to [deposing him], but Alexander, having gained a friend in Charles VIII's minister [[Guillaume Briçonnet (Cardinal)| [Guillaume] Briçonnet]], Bishop of S. Malo, by the offer of a cardinal's hat, succeeded in counterworking [defeating] the machinations of his enemy [della Rovere], the death of [Pope] Alexander VI in 1503, where his son [[Cesare Borgia]] wished to be elevated, fell ill at the same time Della Rovere supported the candidature of Cardinal Piccolomini of [[Milan]], who was consecrated under the name of [[Pope Pius III]] on 8 October 1503,…then suffering from an incurable malady, of which he died in little more than a month afterward." BelfordClarke</ref> This Pope Alexander refused to do, claiming that Cardinal della Rovere would occupy it and become master of Rome.<ref>{{cite book|author=Jules de La Pilorgerie|title=Campagne et bulletins de la grande armée d'Italie commandée par Charles VIII, 1494–1495: d'après des documents rares ou inédits, extraits, en grande partie, de la bibliothèque de Nantes|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jJk4AAAAMAAJ |date=1866 |publisher=V. Forest et É. Grimaud|location=Nantes|language=fr|page=147}}<br>{{harvnb|Creighton|1903|loc=IV, p. 233}}.</ref> Charles soon conquered [[Naples]], making his triumphal entry on 22 February 1495, but he was forced to remove most of his army. As he was returning to the north, his army was defeated at the [[Battle of Fornovo]] on 5 July 1495, and his Italian adventure came to an end. The last remnants of the French invasion were gone by November 1496.<ref>{{harvnb|Creighton|1903|loc=IV, pp. 237–247}}.<br>{{cite book |last=Ritchie |first=Robert |date=2004 |title=Historical Atlas of the Renaissance |publisher= Checkmark Books |isbn=978-0816057313 |page=64}}</ref> Ostia, however, remained in French hands until March 1497, causing difficulties in the provisioning of the city of Rome.{{sfn|Pastor|1902|loc=V, p. 491}}

Back in Lyon in 1496, Charles VIII and Giuliano della Rovere were planning another war. Giuliano was traveling back and forth from Lyon to Avignon, raising troops. It was being reported in France by June 1496, moreover, that King Charles intended to have a papal election in France and to have Cardinal della Rovere elected pope.<ref>{{harvnb|Pastor|1902|loc=V, p. 485, note †}}.<br>{{harvnb|Sanuto ''I Diarii''||loc=[https://archive.org/details/idiariidimarino00unkngoog/page/n130/mode/2up Vol. I p. 219]}}.</ref>

In March 1497 Pope Alexander deprived Cardinal della Rovere of his benefices as an enemy of the Apostolic See, and Giovanni della Rovere of the Prefecture of Rome. His action against the Cardinal was done not only without the consent of the cardinals in consistory, but in fact over their vigorous objections.<ref>{{harvnb|Pastor|1902|loc=V, p. 491}}.<br>{{harvnb|Sanuto ''I Diarii''||loc=[https://archive.org/details/idiariidimarino00unkngoog/page/n296/mode/2up Vol. I p. 555]}}.</ref> By June, however, the Pope was in negotiations with the Cardinal for reconciliation and return to Rome.{{sfn|Pastor|1902|loc=V, p. 502 note *}} His benefices were restored to him after an apparent reconciliation with the Pope in August 1498.{{sfn|Pastor|1902|loc=VI, p. 61}}