The wars of Italy had a wonderful fascination for Louis XII., and he
eagerly united with the Emperor, the King of Spain, and the Pope in the
League of Cambray against Venice, hated for her great wealth and success.
In the spring of 1509 the King collected another army, in which he made a
great point of the foot-soldiers, whose importance he fully appreciated,
and for the first time he chose captains of high renown to command them. He
sent for Bayard and said to him: "You know that I am crossing the mountains
to fight the Venetians, who have taken Cremona from me, and other places. I
am giving you the command of a company of men-at-arms ... but that can be
led by your lieutenant, Captain Pierre du Pont, while I wish you to take
charge of a number of foot-soldiers."
"Sire," replied the Good Knight, "I will do what you wish; but how many
foot-soldiers do you propose to give me?"
"One thousand," said the King; "no man has more."
But Bayard suggested that five hundred of these soldiers, carefully
chosen, would be quite enough for one man to command if he did his duty
thoroughly, and to this the King agreed, bidding the Good Knight bring them
to join his army in the duchy of Milan.
The important city of Padua, which had been restored to the Emperor
Maximilian, was left through his carelessness with a small garrison of only
800 "landsknechte" (German foot-soldiers). Two Venetian captains contrived
an ingenious stratagem for recovering the city. It was the month of July by
this time, and immense waggons of hay, from the second mowing, were
entering Padua every day. A number of Venetians made an ambush under some
thick trees about a bow-shot from the walls, then they hid behind the
hay-waggons and crept in through the gates, which at a given signal they
opened to their comrades. The German soldiers, taken by surprise, were put
to death, and the command was given to the brave General Pitigliano, who
repaired and strengthened the fortifications, knowing of what immense
importance this city was to his Republic.
Maximilian was extremely annoyed by the loss of Padua, and collected a
great army, composed of men from all the allies, to besiege it. He also
brought to bear against it the strongest artillery ever used--one hundred
and six pieces of cannon and six immense mortars, "so heavy that they could
not be raised on gun-carriages, they could only be loaded with stones, and
were fired off not more than four times a day." The city was strongly
fortified and defended, and it was decided to attack the most important
gate which led to Vicenza. This being a most perilous enterprise, the
command was given to Bayard of the attacking party. The gate was approached
by a long, straight road between deep ditches, and there were four great
barriers at two hundred steps from each other, all thoroughly defended.
There was a fierce contest at every one of these barriers, and many gallant
knights fell in the attack, but the last one was the worst, for it was only
a stone's-throw from the battlements. The besieged rained stones on them
with their artillery, and the assault lasted more than an hour with pike
and battle-axe.
Then the Good Knight, seeing that this became tedious, cried to his
companions: "Gentlemen, these men give us too much play; let us charge on
foot and gain this barrier." Thirty or forty men-at-arms sprang from their
horses and with raised visors dashed at the barrier with their lances, but
the Venetians met them again and again with fresh relays of men. Then
Bayard shouted: "At this rate, gentlemen, they will keep us here for six
years; we must give them a desperate assault and let each man do as I do!"
This they promised, and the trumpet was sounded, when with one tremendous
rush they drove back the defenders by the length of a lance, and with a
ringing war-cry Bayard sprang over the barrier followed by his friends.
When the French saw the danger in which these gallant men were, there was
such a charge against the final barrier that the enemy was driven back in
disorder into the town. Thus the approaches were gained, and the Emperor's
artillery was brought forward, and remained there for six weeks until the
siege was raised.
A few days later the Good Knight heard, through one of his spies, that in
the castle of Bassano, about thirty miles off, there was a strong company
of cross-bowmen and horsemen, who made a point of sallying out from the
castle and seizing all the supplies of cattle which were on the way to the
camp. They were said to have four or five hundred oxen and cows already
within their walls. Bayard felt that this must be put a stop to, and his
picked companions readily joined him, for this fighting was their very life
and they asked for nothing better. So they set forth an hour before
daybreak and rode steadily towards Bassano, till they reached a place where
the spy pointed out to them a little wooden bridge which the band from
Treviso would have to cross, where two men could keep five hundred in
check. This the Good Knight left to be defended by a few men-at-arms and
archers, who were to remain in ambush until they had seen the troop from
Treviso go by, and await their return. Then Bayard gave directions to one
of his company to take thirty archers with him, and when he saw the enemy
well on their way he was to advance as though to skirmish with them, then
suddenly pretend to be frightened and ride off at full gallop in the
direction where the main French force was hidden behind rising ground. This
was all carried out, and the Good Knight with his men rushed forth upon the
pursuers, taking many prisoners, while the rest escaped in the direction of
Treviso, but were stopped at that wooden bridge and compelled to fight or
yield.
When the fighting was over, Bayard said: "Gentlemen, we really must take
that castle with all the spoils in it." When it was pointed out to him that
it was very strong and they had no artillery, he remarked that he knew a
way by which they might possess it in a quarter of an hour. So he sent for
the two captains who were taken and said to them: "I insist that the castle
be surrendered to me at once, for I know that you have the power to command
it, otherwise you will lose your heads." They saw that he was in earnest,
and one, who was the seneschal, sent orders to his nephew and the gates
were opened.
The Good Knight took possession of the castle, and within the walls of
Treviso found more than five hundred head of cattle and much other booty,
which was all sold later at Vicenza and divided amongst the victors. As
Bayard sat at table with the two Venetian captains, a young page of his,
named Boutières, came in to show a prisoner he had taken during the
fighting--a big man twice his size. The boy had seen this standard-bearer
trying to escape, had made a rush at him with his lance, struck him to the
ground, and called upon him to surrender. He had given up his sword, to
Boutières' great delight, and the lad of sixteen, with the standard he had
taken and his sturdy-looking prisoner, had caused great amusement in the
French company. When he was thus brought into the dining-hall before his
own captains, the standard-bearer looked very much ashamed of himself, and
protested that he had simply yielded to the force of numbers, not to that
boy. Thereupon Boutières offered to give the man back his horse and his
arms and to fight him in single combat. If the standard-bearer won he
should go free without ransom; but if the young page won the man should
die. The Good Knight was delighted at this brave offer, but the Venetian
was afraid to accept it, and all the honour remained with the boy, who was
known to come of a brave race and proved himself worthy in the days to
come.
Most of the French army retired into the duchy of Milan, but Bayard appears
to have remained behind with the garrison of Verona. By one of those rapid
changes so common in Italian politics, before the end of the year Louis
XII. found himself deserted by most of the allies, the Pope, the King of
Spain, Henry VIII., and the Swiss having joined the "Holy League" to drive
the French out of Italy.
[Illustration: ANDREA GRITTI DOGE _of_ VENICE
_from the portrait by Titian Vecelli_.]