THE SIEGE OF MILAN

THE account of the cruel manner in which the pope had been treated filled all Europe with astonishment or horror. To see a Christian emperor, who by possessing that dignity ought to have been the protector and advocate of the holy see, lay violent hands on him who represented Christ on earth, and detain his sacred person in a rigorous captivity, was considered as an impiety that merited the severest vengeance, and which called for the immediate interposition of every dutiful son of the Church. Francis and Henry, alarmed at the progress of the Imperial arms in Italy, had even before the taking of Rome, entered into a closer alliance; and in order to give some check to the emperor’s ambition, had agreed to make a vigorous diversion in the Low-Countries. The force of every motive which had influenced them at that time was now increased; and to these were added the desire of rescuing the pope out of the emperor’s hands, a measure no less politic than it appeared to be pious.

This, however, rendered it necessary to abandon their hostile intentions against the Low-Countries, and to make Italy the seat of war, as it was by vigorous operations there they might contribute most effectually towards delivering Rome, and setting Clement at liberty. Francis being now sensible that, in his system with regard to the affairs of Italy, the spirit of refinement had carried him too far; and that by an excess of remissness, he had allowed Charles to attain advantages which he might easily have prevented; was eager to make reparation for an error, of which he was not often guilty, by an activity more suitable to his temper. Henry thought his interposition necessary, in order to hinder the emperor from becoming master of all Italy, and acquiring by that means such superiority of power, as would enable hire for the future to dictate without control to the other princes of Europe. Wolsey, whom Francis had taken care to secure by flattery and presents, the certain methods of gaining his favor, neglected nothing that could incense his master against the emperor. Besides all these public considerations, Henry was influenced by one of a more private nature; having begun about this time to form his great scheme of divorcing Catherine of Aragon, towards the execution of which he knew that the sanction of papal authority would be necessary, he was desirous to acquire as much merit as possible with Clement, by appearing to be the chief instrument of his deliverance.

The negotiation, between princes thus disposed, was not tedious. Wolsey himself conducted it, on the part of his sovereign, with unbounded powers. Francis treated with him in person at Amiens [July 11], where the cardinal appeared, and was received with royal magnificence. A marriage between the duke of Orleans and the princess Mary was agreed to as the basis of the confederacy; it was resolved that Italy should be the theatre of war, the strength of the army which should take the field, as well as the contingent of troops or of money, which each prince should furnish, were settled; and if the emperor did not accept of the proposals which they were jointly to make him, they bound themselves immediately to declare war, and to begin hostilities [Aug. 18]. Henry, who took every resolution with impetuosity, entered so eagerly into this new alliance, that, in order to give Francis the strongest proof of his friendship and respect, he formally renounced the ancient claim of the English monarchs to the crown of France, which had long been the pride and ruin of the nation; as a full compensation for which he accepted a pension of fifty thousand crowns, to be paid annually to himself and his successors.

The pope, being unable to fulfill the conditions of his capitulation, still remained a prisoner under the severe custody of Alarcon. The Florentines no sooner heard of what had happened at Rome, than they ran to arms in a tumultuous manner; expelled the cardinal di Cortona, who governed their city in the pope’s name; defaced the arms of the Medici; broke in pieces the statues of Leo and Clement; and declaring themselves a free state, reestablished their ancient popular government. The Venetians, taking advantage of the calamity of their ally the pope, seized Ravenna, and other places belonging to the church, under pretext of keeping them in deposite. The dukes of Urbino and Ferrara laid hold likewise on part of the spoils of the unfortunate pontiff, whom they considered as irretrievably ruined.

Lannoy, on the other hand, labored to derive some solid benefit from that unforeseen event, which gave such splendor and superiority to his master’s arms. For this purpose he marched to Rome, together with Moncada, and the marquis del Guasto, at the head of all the troops which they could assemble in the kingdom of Naples. The arrival of this reinforcement brought new calamities on the unhappy citizens of Rome; for the soldiers envying the wealth of their companions, imitated their license, and with the utmost, rapacity gathered the gleanings, which had escaped the avarice of the Spaniards and Germans. There was not now any army in Italy capable of making head against the Imperialists; and nothing more was requisite to reduce Bologna, and the other towns in the ecclesiastical state, than to have appeared before them.

But the soldiers having been so long accustomed, under Bourbon, to an entire relaxation of discipline, and having tasted the sweets of living at discretion in a great city, almost without the control of a superior, were become so impatient of military subordination, and so averse to service, that they refused to leave Rome, unless all their arrears were paid; a condition which they knew to be impossible. At the same time, they declared, that they would not obey any other person than the prince of Orange, whom the army bad chosen general. Lannoy, finding that it was no longer safe for him to remain among licentious troops, who despised his dignity, and hated his person, returned to Naples; soon after the marquis del Guasto and Moncada thought it prudent to quit Rome for the same reason. The prince of Orange, a general only in name, and by the most precarious of all tenures, the good will of soldiers, whom success and license had rendered capricious, was obliged to pay more attention to their humors, than they did to his commands. Thus the emperor, instead of reaping any of the advantages which he might have expected from the reduction of Rome, had the mortification to see the most formidable body of troops that he had ever brought into the field, continue in a state of inactivity, from which it was impossible to rouse them.

This gave the king of France and the Venetians leisure to form new schemes, and to enter into new engagements for delivering the pope, and preserving the liberties of Italy. The newly restored republic of Florence very imprudently joined with them, and Lautrec, of whose abilities the Italians entertained a much more favorable opinion than his own master, was, in order to gratify them, appointed generalissimo of the league. It was with the utmost reluctance he undertook that office, being unwilling to expose himself a second time to the difficulties and disgraces, which the negligence of the king, or the malice of his favorites, might bring upon him.

The best troops in France marched under his command; and the king of England, though he had not yet declared war against the emperor, advanced a considerable sum towards carrying on the expedition. Lautrec’s first operations were prudent, vigorous, and successful. By the assistance of Andrew Doria, the ablest sea officer of that age, he rendered himself master of Genoa, and reestablished in that republic the faction of the Fregosi, together with the dominion of France. He obliged Alexandria to surrender after a short siege, and reduced all the country on that side of the Tesino. He took Pavia, which had so long resisted the arms of his sovereign, by assault, and plundered it with that cruelty, which the memory of the fatal disaster that had befallen the French nation before its walls naturally inspired.

All the Milanese, which Antonio de Leyva defended with a small body of troops, kept together, and supported by his own address and industry, must have soon submitted to his power, if he had continued to bend the force of his arms against that country. But Lautrec durst not complete a conquest which would have been so honorable to himself, and of such advantage to the league. Francis knew his confederates to be more desirous of circumscribing the Imperial power in Italy, than of acquiring new territories for him; and was afraid, that if Sforza were once reestablished in Milan, they would second but coldly the attack which he intended to make on the kingdom of Naples. For this reason he instructed Lautrec not to push his operations with too much vigor in Lombardy; and happily the importunities of the pope, and the solicitations of the Florentines, the one for relief, and the other for protection, were so urgent as to furnish him with a decent pretext for marching forward, without yielding to the entreaties of the Venetians and Sforza, who insisted on his laying siege to Milan.

 

A PRICE FOR A POPE