Venice granted the troops of the emperor a free passage through her dominions.
These important first steps being thus taken secretly and securely, the emperor summoned a diet of Germany to enlist the States of the empire in the enterprise.

This was the most difficult task, and yet nothing could be accomplished without the cooeperation of Germany.

But the Germanic States, loosely held together, jealous of each other, each grasping solely at its own aggrandizement, reluctantly delegating any power to the emperor, were slow to promise cooeperation in any general enterprise, and having promised, were still slower to perform.

The emperor had no power to enforce the fulfillment of agreements, and could only supplicate.

During the long reign of Frederic the imperial dignity had lapsed more and more into an empty title; and Maximilian had an arduous task before him in securing even respectful attention to his demands.