The Project Gutenberg eBook of the Chronicles of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, Vol 12 of 13 by Enguerrand de Monstrelet.

FOOTNOTES:

[62] Marignano,—eleven miles SE. from Milan.

[63] The marshal de Trivulce said that he had been at eighteen pitched battles, but that they were children's play compared with this.

Not long after this victory, the townsmen of Milan waited on the king, to beg his mercy and pardon for what they had done, and to present him with the keys of their gates. The king mercifully received them, and forgave them, but not without making them pay a heavy fine. The french army now marched to lay siege to the castle of Milan, into which Maximilian Sforza with a body of Swiss, and others whom he collected, had thrown themselves. The artillery made, within a few days, several breaches in the outworks; and Pedro de Navarre had worked his mines under the walls of the castle with such success great part of them fell down.

Maximilian, perceiving himself in danger, made offers to capitulate, when the king sent his chancellor with other gentlemen to treat with him. They were all handsomely dressed: the chancellor had on a flowing robe of raised cloth of gold. Having entered the castle, they instantly began a negotiation with Maximilian for peace, and proceeded in it so far that he accompanied them to the king's camp, where the treaty was concluded, on condition that the Swiss in the castle should be allowed to march away with their baggage in safety, and be paid the whole of the money that had been promised them by the king of France.

Maximilian, by this treaty, resigned all pretensions to the duchy of Milan [64] to the king, who received him with kindness, and had him escorted to France, where he was henceforth to reside. The king made a brilliant entry into Milan, and staid there some time, during which he was magnificently feasted by the nobles and gentlemen of the town and duchy.

In regard to the inhabitants of Pavia, they escaped being pillaged from their poverty, for all of the richer sort had retired into Milan so soon as they heard of the king's successes,—and a treaty was concluded with them by means of a sum of money.

FOOTNOTES:

[64] This was brought about by the constable of Bourbon, who bargained that Maximilian should enjoy a yearly pension of 30,000 ducats, &c.

See the french and italian historians, and particularly Mr. Roscoe's Lorenzo de Medici and Leo X.

About this period died the commander of the venetian forces, the lord Bartholomew d'Alviano. His death was caused by a fever, from overheating himself. He was much regretted for his valour and his attachment to the french interest. The Lansquenets received from the king, at two different times, double pay. And during his residence at Milan, a treaty was concluded by him with the Swiss-cantons, by means of a large sum of money paid them, notwithstanding they had been so lately conquered by the French.

When this treaty was signed, ambassadors were sent from the pope to the king, to invite him to Bologna, that they might hold a conference on the state of the affairs of Italy, and for the mutual strengthening of their friendship and alliance. The king, in consequence, left Milan with a numerous attendance, especially of men at arms, and arrived at Bologna, where he had a welcome reception from the pope, who entertained him handsomely,—and they had frequent and long conversations together.

One day, the pope performed a solemn service in the cathedral, at which the king assisted. It lasted some time; after which, an alliance was concluded between them. The pope gave up to the king several towns that belonged to him in right of the duchy of Milan. He gave also a cardinal's hat to the bishop of Constance, brother to the grand master of France.

When every thing had been concluded between the pope and the king, he returned to Milan, and thence took the road to France, leaving the duke of Bourbon, constable of France, his lieutenant-general of the Milanese [65]. He made all diligence in crossing the Alps, and arrived at La Baûme, where the queen and his lady-mother were waiting for him. He was joyfully received there, as well as in many other towns in Provence. On leaving La Baûme, they all came together to Avignon, and had a handsome entry. Thence they proceeded to Lyon, where the queen made her public entry, and was received with all demonstrations of joy.

At this time died Ferdinand king of Arragon, who, during his reign, had made many conquests, more especially over the Moors, whom he had subjected to his obedience. At this period, also, died the magnificent Lorenzo de Medici, brother to pope Leo X., who had lately married a sister to the duke of Savoy, and sister also to the countess of Angoulême, mother to Francis I. king of France. He had been appointed generalissimo of the army of the church.

Nearly at this period, a furious battle was fought between the Sophi, called Ishmael, and the grand Turk, and won by the latter, when more than one hundred and sixty thousand men were slain [66]. The Sophi, however, undismayed, collected fresh troops, and marched a considerable army against the Turk, whom he, in his turn, defeated, and drove him beyond the walls of Constantinople into Greece. The Sophi remained in possession of all the conquered country, while the Turk was like a captive within the territories of Christendom, and the war was continued on both sides.

FOOTNOTES:

[65] Is not this a mistake? was not Lautrec governor of the Milanese? and who offended the inhabitants by his severity.

[66] In the 'Art de Verifier les Dates,' I find that Selim I. emperor of the Ottomans, marches in the year 1514 against Ishmael king of Persia, defeats him in the plain of Chaldéron, and gains Tauris. War was continued between them until the year 1516, when Selim turned his arms against Kansou sultan of Egypt.

While the king of France was at Lyon, and toward the end of Lent, in the year 1516, another war broke out in Italy, through the usual manœuvres of the emperor Maximilian: he, at this time, was excited by the angels of king Henry of England, which had not for a long time flown in his country,—and by their means he subsidised the cantons of Swisserland and the Grisons. He also urged the citizens of Milan to revolt, principally through Galeas Visconti; and thinking every thing in a good train, he marched toward Milan with a body of troops that he had collected, under the brother of Maximilian Sforza, now resident in France according to the treaty that had been concluded with him after the battle of Marignano.

The emperor having, as I have said, assembled an army, marched it from the plains of Verona to Lodi; but the constable, whom the king had left, as his lieutenant, in the Milanese, hearing of this, collected as many men together as the shortness of the time would allow, and advanced to meet the enemy. His numbers were not great, on account of this expedition of the emperor being unexpected, although he had received hints of his intention, some seven weeks before, but he was not certain of the truth.

The constable marched his army to the river Adda, and found the enemy posted on the opposite bank. A short time prior to this, the king of France had summoned some of the nobles of Milan to come to him, who proceeded as far as Suza, to the number of thirty-seven, when they held a consultation; and on the morrow, thirty-three of them fled to join the emperor,—but the other four remained loyal to the French, continued the road to Lyon, and related to the king the shameful conduct of the others.

To return to our subject; the duke of Bourbon, when on the Adda, dispatched messengers to the Swiss-cantons, to hasten the troops the king had agreed for,—and in consequence, about nine or ten thousand infantry for the preservation of Milan, marched to Jurea. The duke of Bourbon was preparing to attack the imperialists, when he heard that Milan was on the point of a revolt; and as he had not sufficient force to meet the army of the emperor with advantage, he was advised to retreat to Milan, although he was himself most desirous to try the event of a combat, and wait the coming of the Swiss, who remained very long at Jurea.

The duke retreated with his army back to Milan with all diligence, to the great surprise of the inhabitants: he immediately had strict inquiries made after the authors of the intended revolt: several were confined in prison, and many were beheaded. The other citizens, seeing that the French were completely masters of their town, and that they were not the strongest, determined to suffer all extremities should the French continue their ill treatment.

The emperor, when he heard of this sudden retreat of the French, thought he had already conquered them, and, crossing the Adda, marched his army toward Milan, and fixed his quarters near to Marignano. You may easily imagine how much the burghers of Milan were now alarmed,—for the constable had one of the suburbs burnt, to prevent the enemy from fortifying it.

A few days after, the duke of Bourbon sent presents of cloths of gold, and of silk, to the principal leaders of the Swiss, to hasten their march, which had the desired effect,—and they soon appeared before the castle, wherein they were joyfully received by the constable. He had immediately Milan strengthened with ditches and outworks, so that it was much stronger than ever. The emperor advanced with his army, now very numerous, before the walls, and saluted them with a large train of artillery, which was as boldly returned from the ramparts by the garrison.

The emperor was much surprised that his army should be in the utmost distress for provision, as he expected that Milan would have opened its gates on his appearing before them, according to the promises he had received from Galeas Visconti: but just the contrary happened; and as he had heard of the reinforcements the French had obtained, and felt how much his own army suffered from want of provision, and also that he had now no great quantity of english angels, he retreated toward Bergamo, and summoned that town to surrender. The inhabitants, perceiving that no succours could be expected from Milan, raised a sum of money among themselves, and offered it to the emperor, on his marching away. He thence retreated toward Lodi, plundered and burnt great part of the town, and put to death many of the inhabitants, which was a great pity.

The duke of Bourbon followed close on the rear of the emperor's army, when skirmishes frequently happened, to the loss of the imperialists in killed and wounded. Maximilian, finding his situation become disagreeable, went away under pretence that the death of the king of Hungary was the cause of his sudden departure, leaving his army in a very doubtful state, which then was broken up, and the men retreated to their homes.

The emperor, however, pocketed fifty thousand angels the king of England had sent to his aid, thinking that he was in the quiet possession of the Milanese,—but he was far enough from it.

About this time, the king of France sent some of the gentlemen of his bedchamber to assist the duke of Bourbon in managing the affairs of the Milanese.

About Whitsuntide, in this year of 1516, the king of France departed from Lyon, accompanied by many gentlemen, to fulfil a vow he had made of a pilgrimage to the church of the Holy Handkerchief in Chambery. As he had vowed to perform it on foot, he set out accordingly, with his train of attendants. They formed a handsome spectacle; for they were all splendidly dressed in fancy habiliments, decorated with plenty of feathers. Thus they followed the king on foot as far as Chambery, where he met the duke of Bourbon on his return from Italy. This meeting gave much joy to both,—and the king was entertained at Chambery, during his stay there, by the duke of Savoy.

At this time, a treaty was concluded between the Spaniards and the garrison in the castle of Brescia, who marched away with their arms and baggage. The Venetians, to whom the place belonged, immediately took possession of the town and castle, conformably to an agreement made with the late king of France, Louis XII. Somewhat prior to this, several counts in Germany collected bodies of men, and entered Lorraine, where they committed much mischief. The cause of this warfare was a claim the Lansquenets made on certain mines in that country, on the borders of Germany, which they attempted to gain; but the duke of Lorraine repulsed them, and nothing more was done. These counts waited afterwards on the king of France, at Tours, and were presented to him by the lord de Florenge, son to the captain de la Marche.

On the king's return from Savoy, he went into Touraine. About this time, the king of Navarre died: he was son to the lord d'Albret, and had been driven out of his kingdom by Ferdinand the Catholic, as has been before mentioned. A treaty of peace was now concluded between the king of France and the archduke king of Spain, which was proclaimed at Paris and throughout the realm. One of the conditions was, that the king of Spain should marry the princess Louisa, only daughter to the king of France.

A conference on the subject of peace was holden at Noyon. The commissioners from the king of France were, the grand master, the bishop of Paris, the president Olivier, and others,—and the great lords of Flanders and of Spain, on the part of the king of Spain. The lord de Ravenstein was afterwards sent by him, as his ambassador to the king of France, grandly accompanied by the barons of Picardy.

On Saturday, the 6th day of October, in the before-mentioned year, the king arrived in his good city of Paris, where he was received with the usual demonstrations of joy. On the morrow, he departed for the abbey of St Denis, in order to replace the saints in their shrines, which, at his request, had been taken down for the general welfare of his realm, and to return them his humble thanks for the great victory he had obtained through their means and intercessions. This was the usual custom for the kings of France to perform, in person, on their return from foreign wars.

Page 6. line 12. Lord de Guise.] Claude, second son of René the second, duke of Lorraine, was ancestor of the dukes of Guise. He died in 1550 and therefore must have been very young at this period.

Page 6. line 5. from the bottom. Melfy. Q. Amelfi?] Mary, natural daughter of king Ferdinand, married to Anthony, duke of Amelfi, of the house of Piccolomini.

Page 24. line 7 from the bottom. Marquis of Mantua.] Francis III. fourth marquis of Mantua, of the house of Gonzaga.

Page 24. line 3 from the bottom. Lord of Ferrara.] Hercules d'Este, first duke of Modena.

Page 29. line 13. Bastard of Bourbon.] Matthew lord of Roche, eldest of the bastards of John II. duke of Bourbon.

Page 31. line 4 from the bottom. Prince.] His surviving children were 1. Charles first duke of Vendôme, the father (by Frances de Longueville duchess of Beaumont) of Anthony king of Navarre. 2. Louis, cardinal of Vendôme. 3. Anthonia, wife of Claude duke of Guise. 4. Louisa abbess of Fontevraud. 5. Francis, lord of St Pol, a title which he inherited from his mother the eldest daughter of Peter, son of the constable. See vol. xi. page 213. note.

Page 35. line 4 from the bottom. Died.] Prince John, to whom the unfortunate Margaret of Austria was betrothed after her rejection by Charles the eighth.

Page 35. line 3 from the bottom. Duke of Savoy.] Charles John Amadeus, commonly called Charles the second, duke of Savoy, died this year at the tender age of eight years. The suspicion of poisoning the waters, which is no where that I can find alluded to by Guicciardini, probably refers to his successor Philip count of Bresse who died the year following just at the time that he had intended to leave the party of the king of France and embrace that of the confederates. Philip had three sons; Philibert II. who succeeded him and died in 1504 without issue by Margaret of Austria his wife; Charles III; and Philip duke of Nemours. Louisa, who married Charles count of Angoulême, and is so celebrated in history as the mother of Francis the first, was one of his daughters.

Page 38. line 10. Lord of Montpensier.] This prince, by his wife Clara Gonzaga, left issue, 1. Louis count of Montpensier who died in 1501, 2. Charles, who married Susanna daughter and heiress of Peter II. duke of Bourbon, was made constable of France in 1515, was afterwards condemned for treason, and was killed in the imperial service at the siege of Rome in 1527, 3. Francis duke of Chatelherault, died 1515; 4. Louisa, lady of Chavigny, 5. Reparata, married to Anthony duke of Lorraine. Neither of the sons left any issue surviving.

Page 39. line 7. Soul.] See Philip de Comines, whose most valuable memoirs conclude with this event.

Page 39. line 8. from the bottom. Lord John Peraule.] Raymond Perault, bishop of Saintes, Cardinal in 1493, died in 1505.

Page 46. line 4 from the bottom. Count Gayache.] Qu. Count of Cajazzo? He was of the family of the San Severini, and connected by marriage with the house of Sforza, but not, that I can find, with that of Visconti.

Page 87. line 9. Lord Peter of Bourbon.] Peter II. duke of Bourbon, the last of the eldest line of Robert de Clermont son of St. Louis. His only daughter and heir, Susanna, married Charles de Bourbon-Montpensier, afterwards constable of France and duke of Bourbon.

Page 97. line 3. from the bottom. Wife.] Eleanor, countess of Ligny princess of Altamura, duchess of Venosa, &c. &c.

Page 100. line 15. Brother.] Charles III. surnamed the good. Their younger brother was Philip, who married Charlotte, daughter of Louis, duke of Longueville, and was created duke of Nemours.

Page 100. line 17. Duchess of Berry.] Jane daughter of Louis XI. the repudiated wife of Louis XII. who after her divorce was called duchess of Berry.

Page 103. line 4. Lord of Foix.] Germaine de Foix, daughter of John viscount de Narbonne. See note to vol. x. p. 187.

Page 105. line 12. 1506.] Leaving issue, by Joanna daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, 1. Charles, afterwards emperor, and king of Spain, 2. Eleanor, the wife, first, of Emanuel king of Portugal, 2ndly of Francis the first, 3. Isabella, the wife of Christian the second king of Denmark; 4. Ferdinand, King of Hungary, and emperor of Germany after the death of his brother; 5. Mary, the wife of Lewis the second king of Hungary; 6. Catherine, the wife of John the third king of Portugal.

Page 105. line 14. August.] Anne the wife of Uladislaus king of Bohemia, who succeeded to the crown of Hungary on the death of Matthias Corvinus in 1490. By this marriage she had Lewis, afterwards king of Hungary, and Anne the wife of Ferdinand of Austria, in whose right he became king of Hungary on the death of Lewis in 1526 without issue.

Page 106. line 13. John de Bentivoglio.] John the second of the name, son of Hannibal, and grandson of John, who made himself master of Bologna in 1400. See the historians of Bologna, especially the "historie memorabili" of Gasparo Bombaci who is by far the most interesting of these writers.

She was the daughter of Giovanni Trivulzio and Angela di Martinengo, and is celebrated equally by the historians and poets of the age.

Page 120. line 11 from the bottom. King.] She was married to Hercules the second, duke of Ferrara, and died in 1575.

Page 132. line 4. Pedro de Navarre.] Pedro Navarro, a great commander in the Spanish army.

Page 132. line 5. Marquis of Pescara.] Ferdinand d'Avalos, Marquis of Pescara.

Page 132. line 15. Marquis de la Padulla.] Della Palude. See Guicciardini Lib. 10. for an account of this great battle.

Page 132. last line. Utrecht.] More probably Trajetto, Vespasian the son of Prospero Colonna was called duke of Trajetto, and though I do not find his name among those present at the battle of Ravenna, it is not unlikely that he was there under his relation Fabricio Colonna, duke of Palliano who commanded the Italian forces.

Page 151. line 3 from the bottom. Duke of Valois.] Francis count d'Angoulesme the presumptive heir to the crown of France, had lately been honoured with this title.

Page 164. line 5 from the bottom. Brittany.] Francis was duke of Brittany in right of the princess Claude who succeeded to that duchy on the death of her mother queen Anne. For, although the two crowns, the royal and ducal, had been united in the person of Louis XII, yet the duchy remained distinct from the kingdom, and would have passed away from it again had the princess Claude not married the heir of the crown of France. The countries were not incorporated till the reign of Francis I. who procured an act of union and settlement to be passed.

Page 167. line 2. Lord of Alençon.] Charles the second duke of Alençon, son of René and grandson of John II. who was beheaded. He married Margaret the sister of Francis the first, afterwards wife of Henry d'Albret king of Navarre.

Page 167. line 3. Lord of Vendôme.] Charles duke of Vendôme and Francis lord of St Pol, both mentioned before.

Page 167. line 4. Louis de Nevers.] Count of Auxerre, 2d son of Engilbert of Cleves count of Nevers who died in 1506.

Page 167. line 10. Madame de Nevers.] Mary d'Albret, the wife of Charles Count of Nevers eldest son of Engilbert of Cleves.