Henri II: His Court and Times

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Book: Read Henri II: His Court and Times for Free Online
Authors: H Noel Williams
1521, although Bourbon had
raised at his own expense a force of 800 men-at-arms and
6,000 foot, François would not trust him with any command,
and in the Flemish campaign even refused him the right to
lead the vanguard, on the pretext that he wished to keep him
near his own person. This affront deeply wounded the pride
of Bourbon; but it proved to be but an earnest of what was
in store for him. Towards the close of the year his wife died,
and her death was soon followed by that of his three sons and
his mother-in-law, Madame de Bourbon, his staunchest supporter
at the Court. Thereupon Louise of Savoy claimed her
cousin Suzanne's inheritance, alleging that the marriage-contract,
which had assured the inheritance of the Bourbon
possessions to the survivor, was null and void; while the
Attorney-General, Lizet, asserted that the duchies of Auvergne
and the Bourbonnais, with the county of Clermont, reverted
to the Crown by inalienable right. At the same time, it was
suggested to the Constable that all conflicting interests might
easily be reconciled by his consenting to marry the King's
mother; but he repulsed the proposal with scorn, declaring
that "never would he wed a shameless woman." These words
were reported to Louise, who, beside herself with indignation,
determined to leave no stone unturned to compass his ruin,
and, thanks to the machinations of Du Prat, in August 1523,
the
Parlement
of Paris sequestrated all Bourbon's estates, and
referred the case to the King's Council, whose decision was, of
course, a foregone conclusion.
    The shameful persecution to which he was subjected had
already proved too great a strain on the Constable's loyalty
and patriotism, and since the previous autumn he had been in
communication with the agents of Charles V. The Emperor
hoped much from Bourbon's defection, and, though the latter's
terms were high, he resolved to accede to them; and in the
spring of 1523 a secret treaty for the dismemberment of
France was concluded between the Constable, Charles, and
Henry VIII, by which it was agreed that, in the event ofsuccess, an independent kingdom should be given to Bourbon,
composed of Aries, Dauphiné, and Provence, with his former
possessions of Auvergne and the Bourbonnais, and the hand
of the Emperor's eldest sister Eleanor, Queen-Dowager of
Portugal; 12 while
the Emperor received as his share of the
spoil Burgundy, Champagne, and Picardy, and Henry VIII
the old English inheritance in the south and west.
    Had Bourbon issued his challenge to his ungrateful
sovereign from his own dominions, it might have awakened
a response which would have torn the sceptre from François's
grasp, for the whole country was seething with discontent
under the intolerable burdens laid upon it for a war in which
neither noble, citizen, nor peasant had any interest. But
he delayed too long; his plans were discovered, and he
was obliged to fly for his life to Italy, where he arrived
with but a scanty following, and accepted a command in
the Imperial Army of Italy under Lannoy, Viceroy of
Naples. 13
    Although Bourbon's conspiracy had failed, the uneasiness
which it aroused, joined to a combined invasion of the
English and Imperialists, who advanced to within eleven
leagues of Paris, prevented François from again leading the
French across the Alps, as he had intended. He remained at
Lyons, and entrusted the command of the invading army to
Bonnivet, who owed his appointment to the solace for
Bourbon's disdain which he had brought to Louise of Savoy's
wounded heart. Less successful in the field than in the boudoir,
he proved no match for the ex-Constable and the Imperialist
generals Lannoy and Pescara, 14 and in the spring of 1524,weakened by the desertion of the Swiss, who declared that
François's failure to send the reinforcement of cavalry which
he had promised 15 freed
them from their engagements, he
was driven back across the Sesia. His retreat has been
rendered memorable by the death of the celebrated Bayard

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