Read Henri II: His Court and Times for Free Online

quickly justified, for on November 25, the day after
Wolsey, with many misgivings, had signed the treaty confirming
the Bruges agreement and pledging England to an
offensive alliance with the Emperor, came the news that the
Imperialists and the Papal forces, aided by a popular rising,
had occupied Milan.
    The tide now turned strongly against France: Tournai at
once capitulated; the incapable Lautrec, 10 who commanded for François in Italy, left without money, supplies,
or reinforcements, retreated towards the Swiss frontier, and all the
towns of Lombardy, with the exception of a few scattered
fortresses, followed the example of the capital. As the months
passed, the outlook grew more and more gloomy. The death
of Leo X (December 21, 1521) was followed by the election
to the Pontifical chair of the Emperor's old tutor, Adrian of
Utrecht; at the end of the following April, Lautrec, who,
reinforced by the Venetians and 16,000 Swiss mercenaries,
had re-entered the Milanese, rashly attacked the Imperialists
in their almost impregnable position at La Bicocca, a country-house
surrounded by a great moat near Milan, with the result
that he met with a disastrous repulse and was compelled to
evacuate Italy altogether, while shortly afterwards Henry VIII
declared war against France, and an English force invaded
Picardy, though it effected little.
    The summer of 1523 witnessed the formation of a general
league against France, which comprised the Pope, theEmperor, Henry VIII, Charles V's younger brother Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, Francesco Sforza, now again
Duke of Milan, Venice, Savoy, Florence, Montferrato, and
Lucca; while, at the very moment when all the resources of
the kingdom were being strained to the utmost to make head
against this formidable coalition, came the defection of the
Connétable de Bourbon.
    A few words concerning Bourbon and the reasons which
induced him to betray his sovereign and his country may not
be without interest.
    Charles de Bourbon-Montpensier, head of the younger
branch of the House of Bourbon, was, thanks to his marriage
with his cousin, Suzanne de Bourbon, heiress of the elder
branch of that family, 11 the most powerful feudal prince in
France, and until the birth of sons to François I had been
heir presumptive to the throne. Never had there been a more
magnificent noble; in all Europe no one could vie with him
in splendour or generosity. At the supper which followed the
King's coronation he appeared wearing a robe of gold cloth,
with a train twelve ells long lined with ermine, and a velvet
cap sparkling with precious stones, which were said to be
worth a hundred thousand crowns. When, in 1517, he entertained François at Moulins, where he kept almost regal state,
the King was served at the banqueting-table by five hundred
gentlemen in velvet costumes, each wearing a gold chain
passed three times round his neck.
    But Bourbon had other titles to respect besides his wealth
and magnificence. He was one of the most renowned soldiers
of his time, who had greatly distinguished himself in the
Italian wars of Louis XII, and had had no inconsiderable share
in the victory of Marignano; a just man in the highest sense
of the word, ruling his people and his soldiers with equal
firmness and gentleness, while, in a licentious age, his private
life seems to have been comparatively pure. Unfortunately, he
was also ambitious, imperious, and overweeningly proud, and
this, combined with his immense power and popularity, ended
by arousing the resentment of François I, who, though he
had created Bourbon Constable of France on his accession to
the throne, soon began to treat him with marked coldness.
    The King's attitude appears to have been largely due to the
malevolent insinuations of Louise of Savoy, who, notwithstanding that she was fourteen years the Constable's senior,
had conceived for him a violent passion, and had never
forgiven his contemptuous rejection of her advances. Any
way, when war broke out in