In Literature the Quattrocento is famous mainly because of Niccolò Machiavelli and Ludovico Ariosto. Indeed, the fundamental characteristic of this literary epoch is that it perfected itself in every kind of art, in particular uniting the essentially Italian character of its language with classicism of style. This period lasted until about a few years after 1494 when Charles VIII of France descended into Italy, marking the beginning of Italy's foreign domination and political decadence.