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And with

Henry

The friendship of Henry VIII. was not CHAP. less an object of importance to the French monarch than that of the archduke, and he therefore sent instructions to the president of Rouen, his ambassador in England, to propose a renewal of the treaty made with Louis XII. which, upon Francis entering into a new ob- VIII. ligation for the payment of the million of crowns for which Louis had engaged himself, was willingly assented to, and the treaty was signed at Westminster on the fourth day of April, 1515. Leo X. is named therein, with other sovereigns, as the ally of both the contracting parties; but it is particularly specified that this nomination shall have no reference to the states of Milan, which the French king claims as his right; and through the whole treaty he has cautiously affixed to his other

7

titles

the archduke in recovering the dominions of his maternal ancestors on the death of his grandfather the king of Aragon; in return for which the archduke agreed not to oppose the king in his attempt on Milan. Ligue de Cambr. ii. 397. It would have been very indecorous and indeed very impolitic in Charles, to have introduced a clause of this nature, which would have had a direct tendency to throw doubts upon his title to his hereditary dominions in Spain; nor are any such specific stipulations contained in the treaty, which is couched only in general terms. v. Dumont, Corps Diplomat. tom. iv. par. i. p. 199.

CHAP. titles those of duke of Milan and lord of

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Genoa.(a)

The negotiations of Francis with Ferdinand of Aragon and the emperor elect Maximilian were not however attended with the expected success. To the former he proposed the renewal of the treaty which had subsisted between him and Louis XII. omitting only the article which guaranteed the tranquillity of Milan; but as this held out to Ferdinand no adequate advantages for a concession which might prove eventually dangerous to his Italian possessions, it is not surprising that he And with rejected the proposition; and the emperor the Vene- elect, who at this time regarded Ferdinand as an oracle of political wisdom, was easily prevailed upon to join his irresolute and feeble aid in opposing the designs of the French monarch.

tian state.

(a) Du Mont, Corps Diplomat. vol. iv. par. i. p. 204. Rymer, Fadera, vol. vii. par. i. p. 98. The great attention paid by the pope to Henry VIII. at this period sufficiently appears by a letter from him to that monarch, respecting the appointment of the archbishop of St. Andrews to the office of pontifical legate, in which he assures the king that he esteems him before all the sovereigns of the time, and is ready to do all in his power for his gratification. v. App. No. CXXI.

monarch. Whilst these negotiations were CHAP. depending, Francis had forborne to treat with

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the Venetians, who still remained firmly attached to the cause of the French; but no A. Pont. III. sooner were his propositions to the two sovereigns rejected, than he agreed with the senate to renew the treaty of Blois, by which Louis XII. had promised to assist them in recovering the possessions of which they had been deprived by the emperor elect in Lombardy. At the same time he assured the Venetian ambassador, that before the expiration of four months, he would unite his arms with those of the republic on the banks of the Adda.(a)

A

The Swiss, whom the breach of the treaty of Dijon had rendered irreconcileable enemies of France, still continued to breathe from their mountains defiance and revenge. herald whom Francis sent to demand passports for his ambassadors, instead of obtaining the object of his mission, was ordered to return and inform his sovereign that he might soon expect another visit from them, unless he speedily fulfilled the treaty. In one re

(a) Ligue de Cambray, liv. iv. tom. ii, þ. 402.

spect

CHAP.
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A. Pont. III.

Leo X.

wishes to remain neuter.

spect this avowed hostility was, however, serviceable to the king, as it enabled him, under the pretext of opposing the Swiss, to carry on, without exciting the jealousy of surrounding states, those formidable preparations which he intended to direct towards another quarter.

Under this alarming aspect of public affairs, which evidently portended new calamities to Europe, Leo availed himself of the friendly terms which he had cautiously maintained with the contending powers to decline taking an active part in favour of any of them, whilst he continued as the chief of christendom to administer his advice to all. In this conduct, which was no less consistent with the dignity of his office than with his own private interest, he was for some time encouraged to persevere by the open sanction or the tacit assent of all parties. Francis I. instead of pressing him to favour an enterprise towards the success of which he well knew the pope was decidedly adverse, contented himself with sending an embassy to request that he would not enter into any engagements which might prevent those friendly connexions that would probably take place between them, in case his expedition against Milan should prove success

ful;

CHAP.

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ful:(a) and to assure him that there was, no one who esteemed more highly the favour of the holy see, or who would make greater sacrifices for the service of the pontiff and the A. Pont. III. honour of his family, than himself.(b) This communication, which in fact left the pope at full liberty to preserve his neutrality until the event of the contest was known, induced him to decline the offers which were made to him about the same period, by the emperor elect, the king of Aragon, and the Helvetic states, to enter into the league which they had lately concluded for the defence of the Milanese, and in which a power had been reserved for the pope to accede to it within a limited time. By this treaty it had been agreed that the Swiss should send a powerful body of troops to the defence of Milan, and should at the same time march an army into

(a) Leo had written to Francis I. soon after his accession, congratulating him on that event, and assuring him of his perfect confidence in his good intentions towards the holy see; at the same time requesting him to confer on the cardinal Giulio de' Medici the archbishoprick of Narbonne, with which the king complied. App. No. CXXII.

(b) Guicciard. Storia d'Ital. lib. xii. v. ii. p. 81.