The next year, 1514, brought many changes in France. First came the death
of the good Queen Anne of Brittany, who was greatly lamented by her husband
and mourned by all her people. The next notable event was the marriage of
the Princess Claude, her daughter, to the young Duke of Angoulème, who was
to succeed to the throne under the name of Francis I.
He had not long to wait for his inheritance as Louis XII., having made an
alliance with England, was induced for political reasons to marry the
Princess Mary, sister of Henry VIII. The poor King was already in
ill-health, and he only survived his wedding three months, dying on New
Year's day, 1515. He had a splendid funeral at St. Denis, which was
scarcely over before all the great nobles of the realm put off their
mourning and hastened in splendid magnificence to Rheims to the coronation
of the new King, Francis I., a gay and handsome youth of twenty.
The young King at once set about carrying out the desire of his heart--the
conquest of Milan. Charles de Bourbon was made Constable of France, and a
great army was collected at Grenoble. But secret news was received that the
Swiss were guarding on the other side the only passes which were then
thought possible for the crossing of armies. One was the Mont Cenis, where
the descent is made by Susa, and the other was by the Mont Genèvre.
Bourbon, however, heard of a new way by the Col d'Argentière, and meantime
sent several French generals and the Chevalier Bayard to cross the
mountains by the Col de Cabre and make a sudden raid upon Prospero Colonna,
who with a band of Italian horsemen was awaiting the descent of the French
army into Piedmont. The gallant little company rode across the rocky Col,
where cavalry had never passed before, descended by Droniez into the plain
of Piedmont, crossed the Po at a ford, where they had to swim their horses,
inquired at the Castle of Carmagnola and found that Prospero Colonna and
his company had left barely a quarter of an hour before.
The captains considered what they should do: some were for advancing,
others hesitated, for if Colonna had any suspicion of their plan he
would call the Swiss to his help, for there was a large force in the
neighbourhood. It was Bayard who settled the question by saying: "Since we
have come thus far, my advice is that we continue the pursuit, and if we
come across them in the plain, it will be a pity if some of them do not
fall into our hands."
All cried that he was quite right, and that they must start as soon as
possible, but first it would be well if some one were sent on in advance,
in disguise, to find out the exact position of the enemy. This duty was
given to the lord of Moretto, who carried out the inquiry very quickly,
bringing back word that Colonna and his escort were preparing to dine at
Villafranca in full security.
They next settled the order of their match: Humbercourt was to go in front
with one hundred archers; a bow-shot behind him Bayard would follow with
one hundred men-at-arms, and then Chabannes de la Palisse and d'Aubigny
would bring up the rest of their men.
Prospero Colonna had good spies, and he heard from them as he was going to
Mass at Villafranca that the French were in the fields in great numbers. He
replied that he was quite sure it could only be Bayard and his company,
unless the others were able to fly over the mountains. As he was returning
from Mass, other spies came up to him with the news: "My lord, I have seen
close by more than a thousand French horsemen, and they are coming to find
you here." He was a little taken aback, and turned to one of his gentlemen,
to whom he said: "Take twenty horsemen and go along the road to Carmagnola
for two or three miles, and see if there is anything to alarm us."
All the same he commanded the Marshal of his bands to have the trumpet
sounded, and to start for Pignerol, where he would follow when he had eaten
a mouthful. Meantime the French were marching forward in haste, and were
about a mile and a half from Villafranca, when, coming out of a little
wood, they met the scouts sent by the lord Prospero to find them. When
these caught sight of the approaching enemy they turned straight round and
galloped off as hard as they could go. The lord of Humbercourt and his
archers pursued them at full speed, sending word to Bayard to make haste.
The French knights rode at such a pace that they reached the gate of the
town at the same time as the Italians, and with their cry of "France!
France!" they managed to keep the gate open until the arrival of the Good
Knight and the rest of their company, when after some sharp fighting it
was strongly held. They also secured the other gate of the town, but two
Albanians managed to escape and carry news of the disaster to a company of
four thousand Swiss about three miles off.
Prospero Colonna was surprised at dinner, and would have defended himself,
but when he saw that defence was hopeless he yielded himself most
reluctantly to this Bayard, whom he had vowed "that he would catch like a
pigeon in a cage." As he cursed his ill-fortune in having been thus taken
by surprise, instead of meeting the French in the open field, the Good
Knight with his usual courteous chivalry tried to comfort him, saying: "My
lord Prospero, it is the fortune of war! You lose now, and will win next
time! As for meeting us in the open field, it would be a great pleasure to
us French, for if you knew our men when they are roused to battle you would
not find it easy to escape...." The Italian lord replied coldly: "In any
case I should have been glad to have the chance of meeting!"
Besides Colonna, several great captains were taken prisoners, and the place
was found to be full of rich spoils, gold and silver plate, splendid
equipments, and above all in value, six or seven hundred valuable horses.
Unfortunately for the French they were not able to carry away all this, for
news arrived of the approach of the Swiss troop which had been summoned;
indeed they entered Villafranca at one gate as the French rode out with
their prisoners on the other side, but there could be no pursuit as the
Swiss were all on foot.
The chief military advantage of this wonderful raid was that it kept all
these Italian horsemen away from the coming battle at Marignano.
Francis I. was delighted to hear of Bayard's success, and finding that the
Swiss were retreating towards Milan he followed in pursuit of them, took
Novara on the way, and advanced with his army as far as Marignano.
A terrible mêlée followed, for as the light failed confusion increased. We
hear of a most striking adventure which befell the Good Knight Bayard late
in the evening. His horse had been killed under him, and the second which
he mounted became so frantic when his master charged the Swiss lances that
he broke his bridle and dashed into the midst of the enemy until he became
entangled in the vines trained from tree to tree. Bayard kept his presence
of mind, and in order to escape instant death, slipped gently from his
horse, cast off his helmet and the thigh-pieces of his armour, and then
managed to creep on hands and knees along a ditch until he reached his own
people. The first man he met was the Duke of Lorraine, who was much
surprised to see him on foot, and at once gave him a wonderful horse which
had once belonged to the Good Knight himself, and had been left for dead on
the field of Ravenna, but was found next day and brought back to Bayard,
who cured him. This was a most unexpected piece of good fortune, and he was
able to borrow a helmet from another friend and so return to the fight,
which continued for a while by moonlight.
We have a vivid account of the weird and strange night which followed, when
the trumpets of France sounded the retreat and the Swiss blew their
cowhorns, as is their custom, and the two armies, with neither ditch nor
hedge between them, awaited the coming day within a stone's-throw of each
other. Those who were mounted sat on their horses with only such food or
drink as they chanced to have with them ... "and it is the firm belief that
no man slept during all those hours." In the King's letter to his mother,
Louise of Savoie, he says "that he remained on horseback with his helmet
on, until he was compelled to rest for a while on a gun-carriage, under the
care of an Italian trumpeter ... when the young King asked for water, it
could only be obtained from the ditch close by."
When the morning broke, the battle began again with fresh vigour on both
sides; thousands of brave men fell, and the noblest names of France were
amongst the slain on that fatal field. In the end the victory remained with
the French, and the survivors of the vanquished Swiss retreated in good
order, for the King, who never knew when he might need their services, gave
orders that they were not to be pursued. When all was over, on the Friday
evening, Francis I., who had fought throughout with gallant spirit and
valour, requested the honour of knighthood from the noble Bayard. In this
the young King showed his just appreciation of his most gallant subject,
the very flower of French chivalry, the hero of so many battles.
The French army now continued its victorious march to Milan, which
surrendered at once, and the King, after leaving Charles de Bourbon as his
Lieutenant-General, went to meet Pope Leo X. at Bologna and soon after
returned to his own land. Bayard was left in Milan and did good service
when it was attacked later by the Emperor Maximilian.
In 1519 the Emperor Maximilian died, and was succeeded in his dominions by
his grandson, Charles V., already King of Spain. It was a great blow to
Francis I., who had used every effort to obtain this honour himself; and
the rivalry then started continued all his life. As Mézières was in danger
of being attacked, Francis I. immediately issued orders that Bayard should
be sent to defend it, as there was no man in his kingdom he would sooner
trust for so important an enterprise.
This city was of immense importance at that moment, if it could be held
against the might of the Emperor until the French army should be made up to
its full strength and reach the frontier, where the Germans had arrived,
commanded by two great captains, the Count of Nassau and the famous
_condottiere_, Franz von Sickingen.
Bayard most gladly obeyed the King's command and lost no time in making his
way to Mézières with certain young nobles, amongst whom was the young lord
Montmorency, and with a goodly company of men-at-arms. When he arrived he
found the place in a very poor condition to stand a siege, and he at once
set to work with his usual enthusiasm to improve the fortifications. He
worked himself as hard as any day labourer to encourage the others, and
there was never a man-at-arms or a foot-soldier who did not eagerly follow
his example. The Good Knight would say to them: "It shall not be our fault
if this place is taken, seeing what a fine company we are. Why, if we had
to defend a field with only a four-foot ditch round it, we would fight a
whole day before we should be beaten. But, thank God, here we have ditches,
walls, and ramparts, and I believe that before the enemy enters many of
their men will sleep in those ditches."
In short, such was the magic of his eloquence, that all his men thought
they were in the strongest place in the world. This was soon put to the
test when it was besieged on two sides, from beyond the River Meuse and
from the land. Count Sickingen had about fifteen thousand men, and the
other captain, Count Nassau, more than twenty thousand. A herald was sent
to Bayard to point out to him that he could not hold Mézières against their
arms, that it would be a pity for so great and famous a knight to be taken
by assault, and that they would give him excellent terms. And much more of
the same flattering nature.
When the Good Knight had heard all the herald had to say, he asked no
man's advice, but replied with a smile: "My friend, I am surprised at
these gracious messages from your masters, whom I do not know. Herald,
you will return and say to them that as the King has done me the honour
to trust me, I hope with God's help to keep this frontier town so long
that your captains will be more tired of besieging it than I shall to be
besieged...." Then the herald was well feasted and sent away. He bore to
the camp the Good Knight's reply, which was by no means pleasant to my
lords, and there was present a captain who had seen service under Bayard in
Italy. He assured the company that so long as the Good Knight was alive
they would never enter into Mézières; that when cowards fought under him
they became brave men, and that all his company would die with him at the
breach before the enemy set foot in the town ... and that his mere presence
was of more value than two thousand men....
This was not pleasant to hear, and the Emperor's captains made a furious
attack with their artillery on the ramparts, which continued during four
days. The Good Knight noticed that special damage was done to the walls
from the camp of Count Sickingen, and considered by what means he could be
induced to go back the other side of the river. So he wrote a letter to the
lord Robert de la Marck, who was at Sedan, in which he hinted at a rumour
he had heard that the Count might be persuaded to become an ally of the
King of France. Bayard added that he desired nothing more, but Sickingen
must lose no time, for his camp would soon be hemmed in by the approaching
Swiss and by a sortie well timed from the town. This information was to be
kept quite private....
The letter was written giving other particulars, and was then given to a
peasant with a crown and the order to take it at once to Sedan from the
Captain Bayard. The good man set off with it, but, as Bayard had foreseen,
he had not gone far before he was taken and gave up the letter to save his
life. This message greatly troubled Count Sickingen, who was already
suspicious of the other general, and was not slow to imagine that he had
been betrayed and left in the post of danger. The more he thought of it the
more his rage increased, and at last he gave orders to sound the retreat
and cross the river, to the dismay and indignation of Count Nassau, who saw
that this was practically raising the siege. Angry messages passed between
the two generals, until at length they were on the point of actual
fighting.
The Good Knight had been watching all this from the ramparts to his great
amusement, and he now thought it time to add to the confusion by a
well-aimed attack of artillery, which so added to the nervous alarms of the
besiegers that next morning they packed up their tents and camp equipment,
and the two Counts went off in different directions, while it was a long
time before they became friends again. Thus it was that Bayard kept at bay
the overwhelming forces of the enemy for three weeks, until the King of
France himself arrived with a great army. We see how it was that enemies of
the Good Knight could never get over a kind of supernatural terror both of
his splendid valour and his endless resources. King Francis sent for Bayard
to his camp, and on his way thither the indomitable captain retook the town
of Mouzon. He was received with the greatest honour by the King, who
bestowed on him the famous order of St. Michael and the command of a
hundred men-at-arms. He also made many promises of future greatness, and
both he and his mother, the Queen Louise, praised Bayard to the skies. But,
unfortunately, the only results of all this praise were a few empty honours
and an immense amount of jealousy and ill-feeling amongst the courtiers.
Indeed, we find that after this time Bayard never had any important charge
given to him, and never attained the position, which he so richly deserved,
of commander in time of war. It is very interesting to notice that the
"Loyal Servitor"--that faithful chronicler who followed Bayard through all
his campaigns, and probably often wrote at his dictation--never allows us
to suspect that the Good Knight felt any bitterness at this neglect. Not
one word of complaint is ever heard; he never murmured, he asked for
nothing; his only anxiety was to serve his country and his king.
If Bayard was not rewarded with the prizes of his profession he was
certainly always chosen when any dangerous or wearisome business was on
hand.
The Good Knight was not recalled to Court, and it is supposed that, besides
the jealousy which his brilliant deeds had awakened, he was also in
disgrace on account of his warm friendship for Charles de Bourbon, who was
now being driven to despair and ruin through the hatred of Louise de
Savoie.
Bayard having been made lieutenant of the Governor of Dauphiné in 1515, it
was easy to keep him at a distance from Paris at his post, and with his
keen and devoted interest in all matters that concerned his country, these
years in a far-off province were a veritable exile. Several of his letters
written during this period have been preserved, and we have also a friendly
note from the King, written in December 1523, when he had settled to make
another expedition to Italy to recover his former conquests there and to
restore his prestige. It is evidently written in answer to an urgent appeal
from Bayard to be allowed to join him, and, probably in a moment of
impulse, he warmly agrees to employ his bravest captain; but, alas for
France! it was not to be in the position of command and responsibility
which his splendid talents and courage demanded. It was to be his last
expedition, with a hero's death as his only guerdon.
In the beginning of the year 1524 the King of France sent an army into
Italy under the command of the lord of Bonnivet, his admiral, who had no
qualifications for his high post beyond personal courage. He was a man
of narrow views, wilful and obstinate, and from these faults in a
commander-in-chief great disasters followed. A strong Imperial party,
supported by Charles de Bourbon and Giovanni dei Medici, held the city of
Milan, and the French camp was at a little town called Biagrasso, when
Bonnivet said to the Good Knight: "My lord Bayard, you must go to Rebec
with two hundred men-at-arms and the foot-soldiers of de Lorges, and so
find out what is going on in Milan and check the arrival of their
provisions." Now the Good Knight never murmured at any command given him,
but he saw at once what a wild and foolish scheme this was, and replied:
"My lord, the half of our army would scarcely be sufficient to defend that
village, placed where it is. I know our enemies, they are brave and
vigilant, and you are sending me to certain shame; I pray you therefore, my
lord, that you consider the matter well." But the Admiral persisted that it
would be all right, for not a mouse could leave Milan without his hearing
of it, until, much against his own judgment, Bayard set forth with the men
given to him. But he only took two of his own horses, for his mules and the
rest of his train he sent to Novara, as though foreseeing the loss of all
he had with him.
When he had reached this village of Rebec he considered how he could
fortify it; but there was no means of doing so except by putting up a few
barriers, for it could be entered on every side. The Good Knight wrote to
Bonnivet several times, pointing out what a dangerous place it was and that
he must have reinforcements if he was to hold it long, but he received no
answer. Meantime the enemy in Milan had learnt through spies that the Good
Knight was at Rebec with a small company, and greatly rejoiced, for it was
decided to go and surprise him by night. This was exactly what Bayard
feared, and he always placed half his men on the watch, and himself
remained on the look-out for several nights, until he fell ill and was
compelled to remain in his chamber. However, he ordered the captains who
were with him to keep a good watch on all sides, and they went, or
pretended to do so, until there came on a little rain, which sent them all
back except a few archers.
It was this very time which the Spaniards and Italians had chosen for their
attack. They marched on through the night, which was very dark, and in
order to recognise each other they all wore a white shirt over their
armour. When they arrived near the village they were amazed to see no one,
and began to fear that the Good Knight had heard of their enterprise and
had retired to Biagrasso. A hundred steps farther on they came upon the few
poor archers on the watch, who fled, crying, "Alarm! Alarm!" But they were
so hotly pursued that the foe was at the barriers as soon as they were.
The Good Knight, who in such danger never slept without his steel
gauntlets and thigh-pieces, with his cuirass by his side, was soon armed,
and mounted his horse, which was already saddled. Then, with five or six of
his own men-at-arms, he rode straight to the barrier, and was joined by de
Lorges and some of his foot-soldiers, who made a good fight. The village
was already surrounded, and eager search was made for Bayard, who was the
sole object of the expedition, and there was much shouting and confusion.
When the Good Knight at the barrier heard the drums of the enemy's
foot-soldiers, he said to the Captain Lorges: "My friend, if they pass this
barrier we are done for. I pray you, retire with your men, keep close
together and march straight for Biagrasso, while I remain with the horsemen
to protect your rear. We must leave the enemy our baggage, but let us save
the men." Lorges at once obeyed, and the retreat was carried out so
cleverly that not ten men we're lost. The Emperor's people were still
seeking for the Good Knight when he had already reached Biagrasso and
spoken his mind to the Admiral. Bayard was quite broken-hearted at the
misfortune which had befallen him, although it was certainly not his fault,
but there is more chance in war than in anything else.
Still, there was more than chance in these disasters of the French in
Italy. They had quite miscalculated the strength of their enemies, amongst
whom was now the famous general, Charles de Bourbon, late Constable of
France. The young French King, at a time when Spain, England, and Italy
were all against him, had most unwisely deprived Bourbon of the whole of
his vast estates by means of a legal quibble; and his greatest subject,
driven to desperation by this ungrateful treatment, had passed over to the
service of Charles V., and was now in command of the Spanish army. It was
he who urged the immediate pursuit of the French when Bonnivet, discouraged
by ill success and sickness in his camp, retreated from his strong position
at Biagrasso. He made one blunder after another, for now that it was too
late he sent a messenger to raise a levy of six thousand Swiss to join him
by way of Ivria.
According to his usual gallant custom, as the army retired with forced
marches towards the Alps, Bayard took command of the rear-guard, and as the
Spaniards followed day by day he bore all the brunt of the constant
skirmishing which took place. It was a most perilous office, for the enemy
was well provided with artillery, and when the Good Knight made a gallant
charge with his company and drove back the men-at-arms, he would be
attacked by a shower of stones from the arquebusiers. He seemed to bear a
charmed life, though ever in the post of danger, for others were wounded or
killed while he escaped unhurt until a certain fatal day when the
retreating French army had reached the valley of the Sesia beyond Novara.
Here it was that Bonnivet saw his expected troop of Swiss allies on the
opposite bank of the river, and at once sent word to them to cross over and
join him. But what was his dismay when the Swiss captains replied that the
King of France had not paid them or kept his word, and they had come to
fetch away their comrades who were in the French army. Worse still, when
this became known, all the Swiss mercenaries in his camp rose in open
rebellion against Bonnivet, and lost no time in crossing the river,
overjoyed to leave a losing cause and go back to their homes with so good
an excuse.
The unfortunate French commander was in despair and hoping to hide the
catastrophe from the pursuing enemy, he ordered a brisk skirmish, in which
he took part with plenty of courage and was severely wounded in the arm.
The Good Knight Bayard did prodigies of valour, driving back a whole
company of arquebusiers, but in the moment of triumph he was struck by the
stone from an arquebus and received mortal injury. Raising the hilt of his
sword in the sign of the cross, he cried aloud: "Miserere mei, Deus
secundum magnam misericordiam tuam!" He refused to be taken away, saying
that he had never turned his back on his enemy, and his faithful steward
Jacques Jeffrey and his squire lifted him from his horse and placed him
with his back to a tree, still facing the foe with a brave countenance.
We have a most pathetic and touching account of this last scene, in which
the Good Knight without Fear and without Reproach died as he had lived,
bearing himself with humble devotion towards God and loving care and
thought towards all men. His friends would have borne him away, but he
implored them to leave him and seek their own safety, for he was in such
terrible pain that he could not endure to be moved. He sent his last
salutations to the King his master, and to all his companions, and took an
affectionate leave of his heart-broken friends, who obeyed his command, all
but the one faithful attendant who remained with him to the end. This was
his steward, Jacques Jeffrey, and we are told of the poor man's grief and
despair, while his master sought to comfort him with brave and noble words.
"Jacques, my friend, cease your lament, for it is the will of God to take
me away from this world where by His grace I have long dwelt and received
more good things and honours than I deserve. The only regret that I have in
dying is that I have failed in my duty ... and I pray my Creator in His
infinite mercy to have pity on my poor soul...."
Nothing could exceed the consternation and sorrow which spread through the
French camp when the news reached them that Bayard was wounded and in
mortal agony. The same feeling was shared by his enemies, for to them the
name of Bayard represented the most perfect knight in all the world, the
pattern of chivalry whom every true man sought to imitate from afar.
In sad procession the captains of Spain and Italy came to do honour and
reverence to the dying hero. Amongst them the Marquis of Pescara (the
husband of Vittoria Colonna) found noble words to speak the praise and
admiration which filled the hearts of all. "Would to God, my gentle lord of
Bayard, that I had been wounded nigh unto death if only you were in health
again and my prisoner; for then I could have shown you how highly I esteem
your splendid prowess and valour ... since I first made acquaintance with
arms I have never heard of any knight who even approached you in every
virtue of chivalry.... Never was so great a loss for all Christendom....
But since there is no remedy for death, may God in His mercy take your soul
to be with Him...." Such were the tender and pitiful regrets from the
hostile camp for the cruel loss to all chivalry of the Good Knight without
Fear and without Reproach.
They would have tended him with devoted service, but Bayard knew that he
was past all human help, and only prayed that he might not be moved in
those last hours of agony. A stately tent was spread out above him to
protect him from the weather, and he was laid at rest beneath it with the
gentlest care. He asked for a priest, to whom he devoutly made his
confession, and with touching words of prayer and resignation to the will
of his heavenly Father, he gave back his soul to God on April 30, 1524.
With the greatest sorrow and mourning of both armies, his body was carried
to the church, where solemn services were held for him during two days, and
then Bayard was borne by his own people into Dauphiné.
A great company came to meet the funeral procession at the foot of the
mountains, and he was borne with solemn state from church to church until
Notre Dame of Grenoble was reached, and here all the nobles of Dauphiné and
the people of the city were gathered to do honour to their beloved hero
when the last sad rites were performed. He was mourned and lamented for
many a long day as the very flower of chivalry, the Good Knight without
Fear and without Reproach.
[Illustration: The Death of Bayard.]