1536. STATE OF EUROPE: THE FOLY OF THE KINGS

 

During the interval of leisure gained in this manner, Charles, on his return from Tunis, assembled the states both of Sicily and Naples, and as they thought themselves greatly honored by the presence of their sove­reign, and were no less pleased with the apparent disinterestedness of his expedition into Africa, than dazzled by the success which had attended his arms, he prevailed on them to vote him such liberal subsidies as were seldom granted in that age. This enabled him to recruit his veteran troops, to levy a body of Germans, and to take every other proper precaution for executing or supporting the measures on which he had determined. Bellay, the French envoy in Germany, having discovered the Intention of raising troops in that country, notwithstanding all the pretexts employed in order to conceal it, first alarmed his master with this evident proof of the emperor’s insincerity.

But Francis was so possessed at that time with the rage of negotiation, in all the artifices and refinements of which his rival far surpassed him, that instead of beginning his military operations, and pushing them with vigour, or seizing the Milanese before the Imperial army was assembled, he satisfied himself with making new offers to the emperor, in order to procure the investiture by his voluntary deed. His offers were, indeed, so liberal and advantageous, that if ever Charles had intended to grant his demand, he could not have rejected them with decency. He dexterously eluded them by declaring that until he consulted the pope in person, he could not take his final resolution with regard to a point which so nearly concerned the peace of Italy. By this evasion he gained some farther time for ripening the schemes which he had in view.

The emperor at last advanced towards Rome, and made his public entry into that city with extraordinary pomp [April 6]; but it being found necessary to remove the ruins of an ancient temple of peace, in order to widen one of the streets through which the cavalcade had to pass, all the historians take notice of this trivial circumstance, and they are fond to interpret it as an omen of the bloody war that followed. Charles, it is certain, had by this time banished all thoughts of peace; and at last threw off the mask, with which he had so long covered his designs from the court of France, by a declaration of his sentiments no less singular than explicit.

The French ambassadors having in their master’s name demanded a definitive reply to his propositions concerning the investiture of Milan, Charles promised to give it next day in presence of the pope and cardinals assembled in full consistory. These being accordingly met, and all the foreign ambassadors invited to attend, the emperor stood up, and addressing himself to the pope, expatiated for some time on the sincerity of his own wishes for the peace of Christendom, as well as his abhorrence of war, the miseries of which he enumerated at great length, with studied and elaborate oratory; he complained

that all his endeavors to preserve the tranquility of Europe had hitherto been defeated by the restless and unjust ambition of the French king;

that even during his minority he had proofs of the unfriendly and hostile intentions of that monarch;

that, afterwards, he had openly attempted to wrest from him the Imperial crown which belonged to him by a title no less just than natural;

that he had next invaded his kingdom of Navarre;

that not satisfied with this, he had attacked his territories, as well as those of his allies, both in Italy and the Low-Countries;

that when the valor of the Imperial troops, rendered irresistible by the protection of the Almighty, had checked his progress, ruined his armies, and seized his person, he continued to pursue by deceit what he had undertaken with injustice;

that he had violated every article in the treaty of Madrid to which he owed his liberty, and as soon as he returned to his dominions took measures for rekindling the war which that pacification had happily extinguished;

that when new misfortunes compelled him to sue again for peace at Cambray, he concluded and observed it with equal insincerity;

that soon after he had formed dangerous connections with the heretical princes in Germany, and incited them to disturb the tranquility of the empire;

that now he had driven the duke of Savoy, a prince married to a sister of the empress, and joined in close alliance with Spain, out of the greater part of his territories;

that after injuries so often repeated, and amidst so many sources of discord, all hope of amity or concord became desperate, and though he himself was still willing to grant the investiture of Milan to one of the princes of France, there was little probability of that event taking place, as Francis, on the one hand, would not consent to what was necessary for securing the tranquility of Europe, nor, on the other, could he think it reasonable or safe to give a rival the unconditional possession of all that he demanded.

“Let us not, however”, added he, “continue wantonly to shed the blood of our innocent subjects; let us decide the quarrel man to man, with what arms he pleases to choose, in our shirts, on an island, a bridge, or aboard a galley moored in a river; let the duchy of Burgundy be put in deposite on his part, and that of Milan on mine; these shall be the prize of the conqueror; and after that, let the united forces of Germany, Spain, and France be em­ployed to humble the rower of the Turk, and to extirpate heresy out of Christendom. But if he, by declining this method of terminating our differences, renders war inevitable, nothing shall divert me from prosecuting it to such extremity, as shall reduce one of us to be the poorest gentleman in his own dominions. Nor do I fear that it will be on me this misfortune shall fall; I enter upon action with the fairest prospect of success; the justness of my cause, the union of my subjects, the number and valor of my troops, the experience and fidelity of my generals, all combine to ensure it. Of all these advantages, the king of France is destitute, and were my resources no more certain, and my hopes of victory no better founded than his, I would instantly throw myself at his feet, and with folded hands, and a rope about my neck, implore his mercy”.

This long harangue the emperor delivered with an elevated voice, a haughty tone, and the greatest vehemence of expression and gesture. The French ambassadors, who did not fully comprehend his meaning, as he snake in the Spanish tongue, were totally disconcerted, and at a loss how they should answer such an unexpected invective; when one of them began to vindicate his master’s conduct, Charles interposed abruptly, and would not permit him to proceed.

The pope, without entering into any particular detail, satisfied himself with a short but pathetic recommendation of peace, together with an offer of employing his sincere endeavors in order to procure that blessing to Christendom; and the assembly broke up in the greatest astonishment at the extraordinary scene which had been exhibited. In no part of his conduct, indeed, did Charles ever deviate so widely from his general character.

Instead of that prudent recollection, that composed and regular deportment so strictly attentive to decorum, and so admirably adapted to conceal his own passions, for which he was at all other times conspicuous, he appears on this occasion before one of the most august assemblies in Europe, boasting of his own power and exploits with insolence; inveighing against his enemy with indecency; and challenging him to combat with an ostentatious valor, more becoming a champion in romance, than the first monarch in Christendom. But the well known and powerful operation of continued prosperity, as well as of exaggerated praise, even upon the firmest minds, sufficiently account for this seeming inconsistency. After having compelled Solyman to retreat, and having stripped Barbarossa of a kingdom, Charles began to consider his arms as invincible. He had been entertained, ever since his return from Africa, with repeated scenes of triumphs and public rejoicings; the orators and poets of Italy, the most elegant at that time in Europe, had exhausted their genius in panegyric on his conduct and merit, to which the astrologers added magnificent promises of a more splendid fortune still in store. Intoxicated with all these, he forgot his usual reserve and modera­tion, and was unable to restrain this extravagant sally of vanity, which became the more remarkable, by being both so uncommon and so public.

He himself seems to have been immediately sensible of the impropriety of his behavior; and when the French ambassadors demanded next day a more clear explanation of what he had said concerning the combat, he told them that they were not to consider his proposal as a formal challenge to their master, but as an expedient for preventing bloodshed; he endeavored to soften several expressions in his discourse; and spoke in terms full of respect towards Francis. But though this slight apology was far from being sufficient to remove the offence which had been given, Francis, by an unaccountable infatuation, continued to negotiate, as if it had still been possible to bring their differences to a period by an amicable composition. Charles, finding him so eager to run into the snare, favored the deception, and, by seeming to listen to his proposals, gained farther time to prepare for the execution of his own designs.

 

THE RETREAT OF THE INVINCIBLE ARMY