However, Ludovico soon found that he had made a serious mistake by encouraging the French invasion, because the Duke of Orleans, who would later become King Louis XII, had accompanied Charles to Italy and claimed Milan as his own because of his relationship to the Visconti family. Ludovico joined Pope Alexander VI and the other Italian powers to push Charles out of Italy. Louis XII returned to Milan and forced Ludovico to flee in 1499. Ludovico returned to power briefly in 1500, but was betrayed and taken prisoner by the French a few months later. He died in a French castle in 1508. After the departure of the French, the Sforza family ruled Milan with some interruptions until 1535.
Machiavelli mentions Ludovico with undisguised contempt, regarding him as one of the primary causes of Italy's misery. Ludovico was a plotter and intriguer, constantly making alliances and counter alliances that he imagined would propel him to greatness. He was ultimately undone by forces too powerful for him to manipulate. He was also a great patron of the arts. Leonardo da Vinci was in his employ at Milan for several years, and it was Ludovico who commissioned the painting of da Vinci's "Last Supper" for his favorite church.
