FRANCIS I. (OK FRAXCE.) 



FUANCIS I. (OF FRANCE.) 



alive. The frontier states to France on the tide of Flanders and of 

 the Pyrenees were thus in the hands of one and the same monarch. 

 Tbe treaty of Noyon (151(5* ra-e-tablUhed for a abort time the peace 

 at Euro| ; and the King of France endeavoured to prepare himself 

 against future war* by securing tho friendship of th Swiss, whom he 

 bad learnt to appreciate a* enemies. The Venetian* and the Pope 

 >J*i became hU alliea. 



On the death of Maximilian, emperor of Germany (1519), Charles 

 and Francis declared themselves candidates for the imperial crown. 

 The former urged his claim* as one of tbe house of Austria and a* 

 the only prince in Europe who, by uniting the wealth of the New 

 World and the arms of the Old, could arrest the progress) of the 

 Sultan Seliin II. Frami put forward his greater experience iu war, 

 and dwelt on the impolicy of placing the joint power of Spain, 

 Flanders. Naple*. and the empire iu the hands of an Austrian prince. 

 H- my VIII. of England was inclined to become a competitor himself, 

 while Leo X. would gladly have seen on tbe Oerman throne some 

 prince of le importance than Charles or FrancU, and one who had 

 no power or claim in Italy. It i* said that the crown was offered to 

 tbe elector of Saxony, who declined it and secured the election of 

 Charle*. FrancU bad an interview with the King of England between 

 Uuin-s and Ardrvs, and Charles landed at Dover on hU voyage from 

 Coruona to the Netherlands (1520). 



In 1521 Francis made an attempt to recover Navarre for the family 

 of Jean D'Albret; but after tbe capture of Pampeluna the French 

 were ropuUed from before Logrono, and finally lost all they had pre- 

 viously gained. Another cause of quarrel arose from Robert de la 

 Mark, lord of Bouillon, declaring war against the emperor and throwing 

 himself on France. Mezieret was defended by Bayard against the 

 imperial army, and a pretended attempt at medUtion having been 

 made by Wolsey, who was intriguing for the papal crown, a league 

 was concluded against Francis by the emperor, the king of England, 

 and the pope. Lautrec, tbe general of FrancU. being deserted by 

 hU SwLw auxiliaries, was driven from the Milanese by Prosper Colonna ; 

 Parma and Placentia were united to the ecclesiastical states ; and tbe 

 death of Leo X. is said to have been accelerated by joy at the sue- 

 oestM of bis allies (1521). The French, although reinforced by 

 10,000 Swiss, were defeated at Bicocca, and while Milan and Qenoa 

 ware being lost in Italy, Henry of England attacked Picardy and 

 Normandy. In 1523 the Venetians, hitherto friendly to Francis, 

 joined tbe pope and the emperor against him ; and his own subject, 

 tbe con. table of Bourbon, exposed to the vengeance of slighted love 

 on the part of the king'* mother, fled to hU enemies. The French 

 under Bonnivet however passed the Ticino iu spite of the veteran 

 Prosper Colonna; and the failure of three attack* on the side of 

 Uaooony, Burgundy, and Picardy left FrancU in as good a position as 

 the strength of his adversaries could allow him to hope for. In the 

 spring of 1524 Pescara and Bourbon defeated the French on the 

 Se.ia ; and in this battle fell Bayard, " the knight without fear and 

 without reproach." An attempt on the port of tbe imperialist* to 

 maintain the war in Provrnce was frustrated by the king, who passed 

 the CvnU and advanced on Milan. Of that city he obtained possession ; 

 but by laj ing siege to Pavia, which was gnllnntly defended by 

 Antonio de Leyva, he gave time for the impeiial genera:* to reorganise 

 their force*. This they did with such effect, that on the 24th of 

 February 1525, they utterly defeated tbe French troops, and Francis 

 bimaelf remained a prisoner in tbe hand* of Lannoy, vice-king of 

 Naple*. He announced the result of tbe battle of Pavia to hU mother 

 in the celebrated words, " Tout est perdu for* 1'honneur I " 



Charles demanded, a* the raiuom of the French king, Burgundy for 

 himself, Provence and Daupbiny for Bourbon, and the renunciation of 

 all claim* on the Italian state*. He caused hU prisoner to be conveyed 

 by Ma from tienoa to Barcelona, sud tbenou to Madrid, where he 

 detained him in rigorous confinement, until the alteration in hi* 

 health made the emperor fear the loss of all tbe advantage* which he 

 had anticipated. At length tbe treaty of Madrid was arranged (1526). 

 FrancU was to cede Burgundy, to give up all claims on Italy or on 

 the sovereignty of Flanders and ArtoU, to re*tora Bourbon to bis 

 dignitie* and estate*, to marry Eleanor, queen dowager of Portugal, 

 aUter to tho emperor, and finally to deliver hU eldest and second tons 

 a* hostage* for the fulfilment of these stipulations. While ho pledged 

 hU oath and honour for tbe observance of the condition* of the treaty, 

 he caused a secret protest against the validity of bu promise to be 

 prepared, H* set foot in France a little more than a year after the 

 battle of Pavia, and mounting hU hone, put him into a gallop, 

 exclaiming, " I am yet a king I " 



It very soon became obvious that the French king did not intend to 

 adhere to tbe treaty of Madrid. While Charles in vain demanded tho 

 fulfilment of bU oath, from which the pop* bad absolved him, Francis 

 uterad into a league with the Venetian., Clement, and Henry of 

 England. The imperial general*, taking advantage of a delay on the 

 part of tho French, reduced the cattle of Milan, though obstinately 

 vd by Sforza, whom Charle* bad already decl.red to have for- 

 feited hi* duchy. In 1527 Bourbon a-lvanoed upon Rome; he bimaelf 

 fell in the aMMult of that city, whi.-h rnffcred more from tbe army of 

 a Christian emperor, the es|.ial patron of tbe Roman see, than it had 

 v r done from tbe mo*t barlroua of it* heathen invader*. Clement 

 himself, hut up in tbe castle of St. Angelo, was at length obliged to 



surrender, and was only released for a heavy ransom at the termination 

 of six month*. 



Notwithstanding some disposition on the part of tho emperor to 

 relax the term* of the treaty of Madrid, the negotiation* terminated 

 in a delaralion of war on the part of Franc* and England. Charle* 

 accused his rival of perjury, to which FrancU replied by a challenge 

 to single combat 



In February 1528, the imperial army, wasted by the disease consc- 

 qu-nt on it* excesses, was with difficulty dragged off from the mise- 

 rable city on which it had preyed for ten mouths. Lautrec followed 

 them, and sat down before Naples; but the French army w.-r.- in 

 their turn attacked by disease, and tin illy reduced to a wretched 

 remnant, which surrendered to the Prince of Or.inge at Aver**. 

 Andrew Doria, disgusted with the conduct of the French, renounced 

 their alliance, nnd liberated Qenoa, while Antonio de Leyva ruined 

 the French army in the Milanese as completely a* the Prince of Orange 

 had ruined that which besieged Naples. The sueces* of the Turk in 

 Hungary, and the progress of the Reformation, inclined the emperor 

 to peace, and the treaty of Cambray was concluded by the : 

 ations of Margaret of Auitria and Louisa of Savoy ( AuuiHt 5, 1529). 

 Charle* agree I not to urge his claim on Burgundy, while Francis 

 renounced the sovereignty of Flanders abandoned Italy, and bound 

 himself to pay 2,000,000 crown* as the ransom of his sons. In conse- 

 quence of a treaty between the pope and the emperor, Florence was 

 restored to the Medici, and Clement allowed himself to bo guided by 

 the wishes of Charles as to the divorce of Catherine of Aragon from 

 Henry VII[. Ha met however with eagerness a proposal on tbe part 

 of Francis for the marriage of big niece, Catherine de' Medici, to the 

 Duke of Orleans, afterwards Henri II. 



The dissensions in the empire manifested by the diet of Augsburg 

 (1530) and the league of Schumlkalden, induced the French king to 

 encourage that reluious party iu Oermany which he persecuted iu hi-t 

 own dominions. During the absence of Charles in Africa (l. r > 

 advanced iuto Italy under pretext of punishing Sforza, now returned 

 to hi* duchy, for the execution of hU ambassador, ami m-i/.ed tho 

 territory of Savoy. It was not until the spring of 1536 that tho 

 emperor was able to take active measures against him. Sforza died, 

 and the imperial troops drove, tho French out of Savoy and advanced 

 to the frontier* of Provence. The French bad laid waste the wbole 

 of Dauphiny ; and although Aries and Marseille were besieged, Mont- 

 moreucy, a second Fabius, kept hU troops under the walls of Avignon 

 and refused to risk a battle. This policy succeeded go well, that at 

 the end of two months tbe imperial army was compelled to retreat in 

 a miserable stato. After an attack by the French ou tho side of 

 Flanders, a cessation of arms was at length agreed on through the 

 mediation of the two dialers, the queens of Hungary and 1 

 Tbe exhausted state of his treasury, and the fear of an alliance 

 between Francis and the Turk, induced Charles to consent to a cessation 

 of arms in Piedmont also, which was followed by a truce for ten yean, 

 concluded at Nice. 



Charles then embarked for Barcelona, but being detained by con- 

 trary winds ou th- coast of Provence, FraucU proposed a personal 

 interview. Tin- French king went on board the emperor's galley, and 

 the latter returned his vi-it at Aigues Mortes. Thus after years of 

 the bitterest hostility and enmity, after accusations of perjury on the 

 one baud and of murder on tbu other, and after a challenge to mortal 

 combat, those two princes presented tbe singular spectacle of apparent 

 reliance on each other's good faith and honour. The marriage of 

 James V, of Scotland with Magdalen of France, and afterwards with 

 Mary of Uuise, tended greatly to estrange Henry of England from the 

 French court, while a better understanding scorns to have followed 

 the interview of Charle* and Francis. A proposal made by the 

 citizen* of Ghent to deliver their town into the hands of the utter, 

 was not ouly rejected, but the designs of the malcontents were be- 

 trayed to the emperor (1539). Charles put the sincerity of his new 

 friendship to a more severe test, by asking permission to pass through 

 France on his way from Spain to the Low Countries. Francis mot 

 him at Chatellerault and received him as hi* guest iu Paris. A pro- 

 mise was made of investing the duke of Orleans with the duchy of 

 Milan; but all demands for its fulfilment on tbe part of the ambas- 

 sador* of Francis were evaded by tbe emperor. 



While the latter was preparing his expedition to Algiers the king of 

 France sent to demand satisfaction for the murder of his ambassador 

 to the Porte, Rincon, who was assassinated, if not by the orders, at 

 least with the connivance of the Marquis del Vasto, the governor of 

 Milan. On the ground of this outrage war was again declared (1542), 

 but the king of England and the Protestant princ<- remained firm to 

 the emperor. The subsequent operations in Roussillou. Flanders, and 

 Pie Imunt, produced no events of importance until tbe battle of 

 Cerisoles (April 11, 1544), in which the French were completely 

 victorious. On tbe other hand, Charles advanced into Champagne 

 with a large and well-appointed army, and Henry VIII. besieged 

 Boulogne. On the llth September 1544, a penco was concluded at 

 Crespi, which the emperor consented to, principally from fear of the 

 Turk and from the increasing strength of the Protestants. Francis 

 did his utmost to animate these two parties; but in 1547, on the hut 

 day of March, the death of the French king relieved his opponeut 

 from many of the apprehensions which he had entertained. 



