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Soon after the accession of Francis, the
queen,
therefore, by a solemn
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)

(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.

A. Pont. III,

Forms an alliance

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 with the 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

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 over-
A. Pont. III. tures were therefore directed to the young
archduke Charles, who, although then only
fifteen years of age,
had assumed the govern-
ment of the Netherlands, which he inherited
in right of his grandmother Mary daughter of
Charles last duke of Burgundy. The situa-
tion 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 arch-
duke with the princess Reneé was again re-
vived 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

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XIII.

A. D. 1515.

A. Et. 40.

A. Pont. II.

And with

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. Henry 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 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.

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CHAP, titles those of duke of Milan and lord of

XIII.

Genoa.(a)

A. D. 1515.

A. Ất. 40.

4. Pont. III.

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.

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XIII.

monarch. Whilst these negotiations were CHAP. depending, Francis had forborne to treat with the Venetians, who still remained firmly attached to the cause of the French; but no 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)

"

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. A 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

spect

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

A. D. 1515.

A. Et. 40.

A. Pont. III.

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