560 
Hisery. would himself be willing to execute such stipulations 
—y— or, if he were, that hie states would permit the king- 
ahich be 
vades 
dom to be so dishonoured ; and, even while he was yet 
at Madrid, he assembled the few counsellors in whom 
he could confide, and before them solemnly Dylan 
against a treaty which had been extorted him, 
and which he therefore deemed null and void. The 
articles, however, were ratified in France, as, till that 
ratification arrived at Madrid, eg was not to be e 
‘liberty to depart ; but, as soon as Francis passed 
boundaries between France and Spain, he mounted his 
horse, waved his hand over his head, and joyfully ex- 
claimed several times, “‘ ] am yet a king!” 
Scarcely had he reached Paris, before he disavowed 
the principal article of the treaty of Madrid, that by 
which he agreed to cede the province of Burgundy to 
Charles ; but, in order to colour and excuse this infrac- 
tion of the treaty, the deputies of that province waited 
on the king, in the presence of the ambassadors from 
Charles, and represented, that no sovereign could alie- 
nate their country from the crown, or transfer it to ano- 
ther, without their consent ; and that, therefore, as 
Frantis had done that, which he had no right or autho- 
rity to do, the cession of Burgundy must be looked 
upon as void. Francis assented to these arguments ; 
but at the same time he offered in lieu of Burgundy, to 
pay the emperor two imillions of crowns. Charles, as 
might be expected, rejected the proposal ; and resolved 
to have recourse to arms, for the purpose of compelling 
his adversary to fulfil the treaty of Madrid. 
But while the fate of Francis had excited thepity,—the 
ambition and power of Charles had roused the jealousy, 
or the apprehensions of the other European sovereigns. 
The Pope, the republic of Venice, and the Duke of 
Milan, entered into the confederacy, of which, under 
the appellation of the Holy League, Henry King of 
England was declared the head and the protector. 
Scarcely, however, was this confederacy formed A. D. 
‘Phe Cardi- 1527, when its dissolution appeared at hand: The Mi- 
nal Bour- 
ben march. 
against 
Rome. S. 
A.D, 1527. had antici 
lanese, indeed, had been over-run by the Constable 
Bourbon ; but his soldiers not reaping from the con- 
quest of this exhausted territory all plunder they 
Rome, This march, perhaps as much as any of the ex- 
ploits of the Cardinal, proved the greatness of his mili- 
tary talents: it was executed in the depth of winter, 
with an army of 25,000 men, destitute of money, ma- 
gazines, and artillery, and in the face of a superior 
army ; but Rome was reached; and Bourbon was on 
the point of witnessing the capture of the capital of the 
ancient world, when a random shot deprived him of 
life. The command of his troops devolved on the Prince 
of Orange ; they were eager for booty, and for revenge, 
on account of the death of their general; and Rome 
became a theatre of carnage and desolation, the Pope 
himself being made prisoner. 
But the splendour of this expedition, and its imme- 
diate success, by no means com for the injury 
se it did to the cause of Charles: the Milanese were 
exposed ; Catholic Europe was indignant and hor- 
rified at the treatment of the Pope ; the states of Italy 
were wearied with the yoke of Charles, and an army 
sent under these circumstances by Francis, was recei- 
ved with congratulation and gratitude. After the 
The French French commander had succeeded in reconquerin 
succenfully Nearly the whole of the Milanese, he directed his marc 
in 
ly 
wade Iw- towards Rome, from which place, after paving i 
libe- 
rated the Pope, he resolv to proceed to les. 
The imperial army was unable to contend wid fie ; 
1 
, he was obliged to march them against” 
FRANCE, 
the fleet of the em 
all the Neapolitan ory, with the exception of 
the capital and Mis gs (a er to the invaders; 
; e 
was defeated 
ve secured the 
at last seemed to object, i 
and so frequently directed their 
they had ‘so long 
= id and splendid rprises, than for such 
or rapid and splendid enterprises, a for suc! 
as required continued effort, circumspection, and fore- 
sight: Elated with his success, he forgot that his troops 
still must be supported and paid ;__he neglecte 
his Admiral Doria, to whose skill and valour he 
al been indebted for his naval’ vi ; he even or- 
dered him to be arrested, because, with atreedom, which 
the circumstances justified, which his republican bitth 
and education might have excused, and which proba- 
bly arose in some d from his attachment to 
Francis, he opposed some designs of the king, which 
he deemed injurious to his honour, as well as to the in« 
terests of Genoa. Doria, apprised of his danger, escaped 
the meditated arrest, entered into a negociation with 
the emperor, and sailed back to Naples, which he pro- 
tected and delivered. In the mean time, the discon- 
tents of the French army increased ; they were in great 
want of provisions ; constantly harassed by their op- 
ponents, and at last attacked with a contagious disorder: 
of this their general died ; and his successor found him- 
self under the necessity of evacuating Naples. Doria 
now triumphing over Francis, was resolved to effect 
the liberation of his native city ; and as the French 
ison of Genoa was reduced by desertion to a very 
Foconsiderable number, he had soon the satisfaction of 
of the Turks, the 
progress of the Frotestint sebapod in Germany, and 
the discontents in Spain. 
Francis, on his part, renounced all his right 
lanese, Flanders, and Artois, and espoused nope 
sister, the widow of the King of eno ' 
agreed to give two millions of crowns of gold for the 
ransom of his sons. With this money he was supplied 
But Francis’ character was much better suit- Their ad- 
vantages 
lost 
Francis, 
In consequence of this mu- Treaty of 
tual disposition for peace, the treaty of Cambray was Cambray. 
formed, Charles gave up his pretensions to esky A.D, 153 
ts 4 
by Henry VIII. of England. These terms were not . 
very honourable or advantageous to France. But the 
French monarch stained his em e by abandoning 
his allies, the Venetians, the Florentines, and the Duke 
of Ferrara, to the mercy of Charles. 
Francis now had been for nine years, from 1525 to- 
1534, almost constantly at war. His kingdom was. 
nearly exhausted ; and not only did. its finances require- 
his care, but its internal ations in almost every 
other To these objects, therefore, he devoted: 
some part of his time; but a we oye of it was. 
given up to luxury, the patronage of letters, and the 
protection of the fine arts. During this repose from 
war, the most important events were the annexation of 
the province of Bretagne to the crown of France with 
the consent of the states, and the marriage of his se- 
= son ax! with = Rees Catherine of Me. 
icis, by which union he again to open a . 
for the facies of the French into Italy. a 
Francis. had never regarded the terms of the : 
of: Cambray, as advan us.or honourable to him- 
self; and consequently eagerly “<— forward: 
* 
—s 
