(2)

and exhibitions on that occasion-Procession of the pope-He visits the tomb of his father -Arrives at Bologna-His interview with Francis I-Particular occurrences on that occasion-Abolition of the Pragmatic Sanction and establishment of the Concordat-Leo X. returns to Florence-Raffaello Petrucci obtains the chief authority in Siena-Death of Giuliano de' Medici-Escape of the pope from barbarian corsairs at Civita Lavinia.

(3)

CHAP. XIII.

XIII.

A. Et. 40.
A. Pont. III.

Francis

I. assumes the title of

duke of Mi

ALTHOUGH the death of Louis XII. had CHAP.
for the present relieved the Roman pontiff
from the apprehensions which he had enter- A. D. 1515.
tained for the repose of Italy, yet that event was
by no means favourable to his views. By the
united efforts of his spiritual arms and his tem-
poral allies, Leo had not only repressed the
ambitious designs of the French monarch, but
had acquired an ascendency over him which
might have been converted to very important
purposes; and if he could not induce the king
to relinquish his designs upon Milan, yet he
had made such arrangements as to be prepared
for whatever might be the event of that ex-
pedition.

B 2

lan.

XIII.

A. D. 1515.

. A. Et. 40.

A. Pont. III.

CHAP. pedition. By the death of this monarch, he therefore lost in a great degree the result of his labours; and this he had the more reason to regret, as the duke of Angoulême, who succeeded to the crown at the age of twenty-two years, by the name of Francis I. was of a vigorous constitution, an active disposition, and courageous even to a romantic extreme. On assuming the title of king of France, he forgot not to add that of duke of Milan; but although the salique law had preferred him to the two daughters of Louis XII. as the successor of that monarch, the sovereignty of Milan was considered, under the imperial investiture, as the absolute inheritance of the late king and liable to be disposed of at his own pleasure. Preparatory to the negotiation which had taken place for the marriage of Reneé, youngest daughter of Louis XII. with the archduke Charles, her father had made a grant to her of the duchy of Milan and the county of Pavia, with a limitation, in case of her dying without offspring, to his eldest daughter Claudia the queen of Francis I.(a)

Soon

(d) There was also a further limitation to Francis, in case the two princesses died without children. The grant is preserved in Du Mont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. iv. þar. i. p. 177.

Soon after the accession of Francis, the queen, therefore, by a solemn diploma, transferred to the king her rights to the duchy of Milan and its dependent states; in consideration, as it appears, of a grant previously made to her of the duchies of Aragon and Angoulême, and a stipulation on the part of Francis of providing a suitable match for the princess Reneé.(a)

CHAP.

XIII.

A. D. 1515. A. Pont. III.

A. At. 40.

Forms an

alliance

with the

Charles.

The character of Francis I. was a sufficient pledge that the title which he had thus assumed would not long be suffered to remain merely nominal. From his infancy he had archduke been accustomed to hear of the achievements of his countrymen in Italy. The Glory of Gaston de Foix seemed to obscure his own reputation, and at the recital of the battles of Brescia and of Ravenna, he is said to have expressed all those emotions of impatient regret which Cæsar felt on contemplating the statue of Alexander. He was, however, sufficiently aware, that before he engaged in an enterprise of such importance as the conquest of Milan, it would be necessary not only to confirm his alliances with those powers who

were

(a) This act is giving by Lünig, Codex Italia Diplomaticus, i. 522. Also by Du Mont, Corps Diplomat. tom. iv. par, i. p. 211.

CHAP.

XIII.

A. D. 1515.

A. Et. 40.

were in amity with France, but also to obviate as far as possible the opposition of such as might be hostile to his views. His first overA. Pont. III. tures were therefore directed to the young archduke Charles, who, although then only fifteen had assumed the governyears of age, ment of the Netherlands, which he inherited in right of his grandmother Mary daughter of Charles last duke of Burgundy. The situation of the archduke rendered such an alliance highly expedient to him; and the conditions were speedily concluded on. By this treaty the contracting parties promised to aid each other in the defence of the dominions which they then respectively held, or which they might thereafter possess; and that if either of them should undertake any just conquest, the other should upon a proper representation, afford his assistance, in such a manner as might be agreed upon. Many regulations were also introduced respecting the territories held by the archduke as fiefs from the crown of France, and the contract for the marriage of the archduke with the princess Reneé was again revived under certain stipulations, which it would be superfluous to enumerate, as the marriage never took place.(a)

The

(a) The author of the Ligue de Cambray informs us, that by this treaty the French monarch undertook to assist

the