I T A L Y. 



*361 



B*t!t of 

 ParU. 



A*IX li 



A.D. 



*. D. 



manded by Bayard, was completely routed by the im- 

 perialuts under Bourbon, and their gallant general slain. 

 Irritated by these reveries, the king of France again en- 

 tered Italy, where he was joined by the pope and the 

 Florentine*, and laid siege to Pavia. On the advance 

 of the imperial army to relieve it, Francis was so int'a- 

 tuated as to listen to the advice of Bonnivet, and leave 

 an advantageous position to give them battle. The re- 

 sult was fatal to the French ; and the captivity of their 

 monarch left the eroperor apparently undisputed mas- 

 ter of Italy. But a conspiracy was now formed by 

 Clement, Francis duke of .Milan, and the Venetians, to 

 throw oft his yoke ; and they attempted to gain over 

 to their interest Ferdinand, marquess of Pescara, the 

 imperial general, by the offer of the crown of Naples. 

 The marquess remaining faithful to his master, imme- 

 diately seized on the Milanese, and besieged the duke 

 in his citadel, who was forced to surrender ; and Charles 

 of Bourbon, on whom the emperor conferred the inves- 

 titure, remained master of the duchy, and, at the head 

 of an army of 20,000, laid siege to Rome, and prepared 

 for an assauft. On the first attack, Bourbon was killed 

 by a musket-shot ; but his troops, commanded by Philli- 

 bert of Chalons, prince of Orange, made themselves 

 nmtfii of Rome, and the holy city was left a prey to 

 T M** cn **' t y IM ' rapacity of the soldiery. Clement re- 

 " tired to the castle of St. Angelo, but was soon obliged, 

 by famine, to surrender, and was retained in the same 

 puce a prisoner and * witness of the calamities of hi* 

 unfortunate abject*. 



The confinement of Clement gave the last impulse 

 in the favour of liberty to the republic of Florence ; 

 the adherents of the Medici were expelled, and the 

 statues of Leo and Clement destroyed. At the head 

 of this revolution was Philip Strout, the husband of 

 Clarice, daughter of the unfortunate Peter di Medici, 

 who herself contributed in no small degree to the suc- 

 ona of the revolution. The newly emancipated repub- 

 lic embraced the cause of Francis, and were joined 

 by the Venetian* ; while I.autrcc, the French gene- 

 uivaded Italy. Their came was at first ncMsVol. 

 By the askistance of Andrew Dona. Genoa again ac- 

 knowledged the French dominion, Pavia and Alexan- 

 dria surrendered to Lautrec, who now marched to- 

 ward* Naples; and Clement, during a negociation for 

 ransoming himself, contrived to escape from his con- 

 faaairnr. These apparent advantages, however, were 

 soon frustrated. The pope, who saw no opportunity 

 of regaining his ascendancy at Florence, through Fran- 

 cis the ally of the republic, began to treat secretly with 

 !. The army of Lautrec was weakened by pes- 

 tilence, and its valiant leader fell a victim to it* ravages ; 

 and Doria, indignant at the overbearing insolence of 

 the French, deserted the service of Francis, and mat- 

 ed his fellow.citizen* in asserting the liberties of their 

 country. (tempt of Francis on the Milanese 



failed by the skill of Oe Leyva, the Spanish gene- 

 ral. and the Count de St. Pol waa defeated and taken 

 prisoner. 



These reverses at length obliged the king of France 

 to listen to term* of accommodation ; and the peace of 

 Canbray was concluded, by which he renounced all 

 claims to Milan, Genoa, ana Naples ; and, what was 

 still mart degrading, left his Italian allies to the mer- 

 cy of the emperor. But the formidable invasion of the 

 Turks made that prince unwilling to excite fresh wars 

 !>y any severity ; and hi* proceeding* during his visit 



VOL. XII. PART I. 



to Italy, were in general conciliating. Francis Sforza Hittory. 

 was reinstated at Milan, and united to the niece of the ^^ "V 

 emperor; the duke of Ferrara's dominions were, not- 

 withstanding the remonstrances of the pope, left invio- 

 late ; and an equitable treaty granted to the republic 

 of Venice. Florence, however, with a fortitude wor- 

 thy of its better days, resisted, for several months, the 

 imperial armies ; but its efforts were unavailing; and, 

 on its surrender, Alexander di Medici, who assumed 

 the title of duke of Florence, was confirmed by the 

 sanction of the emperor. On the death of the marquess 

 of Montterrat without issue, the inheritance, disputed 

 by the duke of Savoy, the marquess of Saluces, and the 

 marquess of Mantua, was decided by Charles in favour 

 of the last claimant. From this period the affairs of 

 Italy became comparatively of little interest ; the petty 

 intrigues, and crooked policy of its tributary chiefs, 

 are unworthy the attention of the historian; and its 

 annals in future, enly contain the alternate victories 

 and defeats c f those potentates who contended for its 

 dominion, while the natives themselves remained the 

 passive and obedient slaves of him who gained the vic- 

 tory. 



The attention of the emperor was now chiefly occu- 

 pied by the progress of the reformers in Germany, 

 and, anxious to bring to a conclusion the divisions in 

 the church, he repeatedly urged Clement to call a ge- 

 neral council, but without effect Francis, aware that 

 the importunity with which this measure was demand- 

 ed, was extremely disagreeable to the pope, now again 

 endeavoured to detach him from the emperor. In this 

 he completely succeeded, l>y the marriage of his son, 

 Henry duke of Orleans, to Catherine di Medici, his 

 grand-niece. Clement, however, still appeared devoted 

 to Charles ; but his unfortunate reign now drew near a Death of 

 cloee. The defection of Henry of England, and the ''lenient 

 complete emancipation of that kingdom from the papal v '|: 

 dominion, an event, to which the intemperate violence ' ' 

 of the Roman court had in no small degree contributed, 

 deeply affected Clement's mind, and at length injured 

 his health to such a degree, as to occasion his death. 

 He was immediately succeeded by Alexander Farnese, 

 who assumed the name of Paul III. whose prudent 

 government maintained, for some time longer, peace in 

 fivope. 



At length Sforza, duke of Milan, having put to F "cis in. 

 death one of Francis' emissaries, the impatient spirit " J " "''I- 

 of t hr monarch could contain no longer, and though 

 unable to gain a single ally, he marched with his troops 

 into Italy. His first attempt was against the duke of 

 Savoy, who, not receiving assistance from Charles, then 

 engaged in the siege of Tunis, was expelled from Sa- 

 voy, and obliged to take refuge in Piedmont. Francis 

 now prepared to turn his arms against Sforza, but his 

 plans were altered by the sudden death of that prince, 

 whose duchy, as he left no heirs, was seized by Charles 

 as a vacant fief of the empire. 



Francis now lost his time in making out legal claims 

 to the succession, while Charles, now arrived in Italy, 

 and at the head of a powerful army, carried the war 

 into France. This war, which was carried on with 

 great exertions on both sides, was terminated by the 

 conclusion of a truce for ten years, through the me- 

 diation of Paul III. This was signed at Nice, in June 

 1538. 



In the meantime, an attempt was made to excite a Murder of 

 revolution at Floreoce. Alexander di Medici had rcn- 



2z 



M Mcdiei. 



