after the manner of his predecessors, kings of France. On the morrow
he made a triumphant entry into Paris, and supped at the palace. When
all these solemnities were ended, each person withdrew to different
places, as ordered by the king. The first who made any opposition to
him was the lord de Vergy,--but the war was soon ended in Burgundy.
The duke de Valentinois, said to be the son of pope Alexander VII.[12]
arrived at Lyon on the 18th of October, and made his public entry into
that city. The king had given him the county of Valentinois[13],--and
he was now come to France to conclude his marriage with the daughter of
the lord d'Albret. This duke was also a cardinal; but he had left that
dignity behind him, and appeared in secular clothes with the utmost
pomp and grandeur.
The 2d and 3d of December, the wind was so high at Lyon that the
greatest alarm was caused by it; and the custodium, in which the hosts
were kept, on the high altar, in the church of the Cordeliers, was
burst open, owing to a broken pane in the window, and the sacred wafers
blown all about the church, to the great scandal of devout persons. It
happened somewhat before eight o'clock in the morning.
This year, the king gave the princess Jane of France the duchy
of Berry; and, for the benefit of the realm, he espoused, by a
dispensation from pope Alexander VII. the widowed queen of France, Anne
of Brittany,[14] which was of the greatest public utility.
In the course of this year 1499, the head of St Bonaventure was
deposited, in a very rich shrine of silver, in the church of the
Cordeliers at Lyon,--and a most solemn procession was made on the
occasion by the friars of the convent. On the 10th of June, in this
year, the king made his public entry into Lyon, which was very
magnificent. The streets were hung with tapestries,--and many fine
mysteries were represented in the squares. He was very anxious to
recover possession of the Milanese, and had sent thither a large
army, which, within fifteen days, reconquered Milan, on the 4th of
September. Duke Ludovico was in the town, and narrowly escaped being
taken, by quitting the place in disguise. The town of Alexandria della
Paglia[15], having shown much hatred to the French, was plundered, and
the greater part of it destroyed.
When the king heard of the capture of Milan, he left Lyon, giving
orders to the lord de Bersac to destroy all the benches and awnings
before the doors in that city. He made his public entry into Milan, and
regulated its government.
On the Friday before All-souls-day, in this year, the bridge of Nôtre
Dame, at Paris, fell down, which was a heavy loss; and the king sent
thither John de Doyac to superintend the immediate construction of
another.
The year 1500 was a grand year of jubilee at Rome, celebrated by pope
Alexander VII. and attended by great numbers. There would have been
more, if, on the 3d of January, duke Ludovico Sforza had not, in
person, regained Milan, by the aid of a considerable body of Germans.
He won the town through the treason of the inhabitants, who surrendered
themselves to him; but the French fought valiantly, and kept possession
of the castle, whence they battered the town.
Several Frenchmen, going to the jubilee at Rome, were murdered at the
inns on the road,--which being discovered, justice was done on the
perpetrators by burning their houses, with their inhabitants, to serve
for examples to all others. The duke of Milan, Ludovico Sforza, gave a
ducat to every one who brought him the head of a Frenchman. The count
Gayache and his wife now came to France; he was brother to the late
Galeas Visconti.
On the 19th of March in this year, the queen of France made a second
public entry into Lyon, the streets being hung with tapestry, and
several beautiful mysteries represented. About eight days after, a
number of prisoners of war were brought before the king, at Lyon, for
having broken their oaths, at which the public greatly murmured.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 12: This was the notorious Cæsar Borgia,--a worthy son of so
worthy a father!]
[Footnote 13: Valentinois,--a county on the Rhône: Valence is the
capital.]
[Footnote 14: Her fate seems to have destined her to marry those who,
to obtain her, were forced to be divorced. Charles VIII. was betrothed
to Margaret of Flanders, and Louis XII. was married to the daughter of
Louis XI.]
[Footnote 15: Alexandria della Paglia--is about 38 miles from Milan.]
CHAP. X.
DUKE LUDOVICO SFORZA IS MADE PRISONER BEFORE NOVARA, AND CARRIED TO
FRANCE.
On Thursday before Palm-Sunday, the French in Italy acted with such
vigour that duke Ludovico fled from Novara with one hundred horse,
abandoning his army and artillery in that town. When the french
captains approached, a burgundian leader, called the captain of the
Yotiers, came out of Novara and surrendered himself and men to them.
The bailiff of Dijon went into Novara to practise with the Swiss in the
pay of the duke of Milan (about four thousand in all), who only asked
for payment of what was due to them. In regard to the Lansquenets, they
knew not how to act; for the Swiss in the king's service would not show
them any mercy, although their captains did all they could that matters
might be settled without effusion of blood.
There were in Novara twenty thousand combatants; eight thousand
Lansquenets, four thousand Swiss, eight hundred Burgundians, and the
rest Lombards. In addition to these, a reinforcement of fifteen hundred
men were on their march to join them, and within a mile of Vercelli,
not including those in Vigeue.[16]
Shortly after, Ludovico returned and marched his army out of Novara,
and encamped them near to the French; but God, knowing the usurpation
and wickedness of Ludovico, inspired the French with courage to defend
themselves, when attacked by him. Notwithstanding the duke of Milan
thought himself certain of destroying the French, the matter ended
without blood being spilt, and without a battle. It was said, that the
Lansquenets, refused to fight against their countrymen; and likewise,
that the duke had not paid his men their arrears, which made them
unwilling to serve him. On the other hand, the French were determined
on battle; but when they marched to charge the milanese army, it
surrendered to them without striking a blow.
The duke of Milan, observing this, disguised himself in the frock of
a cordelier monk, and, by mixing with his men, thought to escape;
but the lord de Ligny and the lord de la Trimouille made such good
arrangements with their army, it was impossible; for they ordered
the whole of the milanese force to pass under the pikes, so that the
duke was discovered, made prisoner, and put under the guard of the
French in Novara, which place had thrown open its gates. The lord
Jean Jacques[17] was present at this conquest, for he had always
been faithful to the king. The duke had in his pay an astrologer or
necromancer, in whom he put great confidence; but his astrology was of
no avail to prevent him being made prisoner.
According to agreements entered into with the milanese army, they were
allowed to depart in safety with their arms and baggage,--but the
duke and his artillery remained with the French. The lord-cardinal of
Amboise was then at Vercelli, and vowed the king under the protection
of our Lady des bonnes nouvelles.
Intelligence of this success came to the king at Lyon, the vigil of
Palm-Sunday, which rejoiced him exceedingly; and bonfires were made in
the streets, for joy that the French had been victorious. Immediately
after, news was brought that the duke of Milan was a prisoner, which
caused the rejoicings to be repeated by all ranks of persons in Lyon.
The children of the duke were sent into Germany.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 16: Vigeue. Q. Vigevano.]
[Footnote 17: The lord Jean Jacques. Trivulce, a Milanese, marquis of
Vigevano, governor of Milan, captain of one hundred lombardy men at
arms and of two hundred archers, king's lieutenant of the french armies
in Italy. He was present at the battles of Foronuovo and Aignadello,
and held great and honourable employments under Charles VIII., Louis
XII., and François I. He was made marshal of France in 1500, died in
1518. He was uncle to Theodore Trivulce, governor also of Milan, and
marshal of France.
See Brantome, vol. ii. des Vies des Hommes illustres étrangers.]
CHAP. XI.
THE CARDINAL ASCANIUS, BROTHER TO THE DUKE OF MILAN, IS TAKEN
PRISONER, AND CARRIED TO FRANCE.
The cardinal Ascanius, brother to the duke of Milan, was in that city
when he heard of the duke being a prisoner: he instantly departed
thence, with six hundred horse and some artillery, accompanied by the
higher nobility of Milan. He had also with him a considerable body of
Estradiots; and the commander of the whole was count John, brother to
the marquis of Mantua, who intended to march for the Bolognese,--but
it was said, that he was met by a venetian captain, of the name of
Soucin Bienson[18], with a body of troops, who attacked the cardinal.
At this unexpected onset, the cardinal cried out, 'Qui vive?' and was
answered, 'St Mark and France!' The battle lasted four hours,--and the
venetian captain was severely wounded, with many of his men,--but when
the cardinal, who was in armour, saw the fortune of the day was against
him, he fled to a castle called Rivoli, which was immediately besieged
by the Venetian.
To make short of this matter,--the cardinal lost many of his men, and
the brother to the marquis of Mantua was ransomed. With this venetian
captain was another called Charles des Ursins. A milanese captain, of
the name of Badin, was made prisoner, with the abbot of Senselles,
and four viscounts,--and upwards of a hundred thousand ducats were
taken, without including the baggage. The cardinal, astonished to find
himself besieged in this castle without provision or money, entreated
the captain to ransom him, which he refused,--so that he surrendered
himself on the sole conditions of having his life spared, and of being
given up to the king of France.
The captain would have carried him a prisoner to Venice,--but the
seneschal of Beaucaire, the lord de Montoison, and the chief justice
of Provence, who had gone thither to receive the cardinal, prevented
it. The Venetians also, knowing that the cardinal was an enemy to the
king, that he had been taken on the king's territories near Piacenza,
and wishing likewise to be on good terms with France, had the cardinal
delivered into the hands of the before-named persons.
The inhabitants of Milan, on their duke and his brother the cardinal
being made prisoners, opened a negotiation, for the surrender of their
town, with the cardinal of Amboise, lieutenant for the king.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 18: Soucin Bienson. Q.]
CHAP. XII.
THE INHABITANTS OF MILAN ARE BRIBED INTO SUBJECTION.
On the 17th of April, which was Good Friday, in this same year,
the inhabitants of Milan, acknowledging the great crimes they had
committed against the king of France, their duke, most humbly besought
the reverend father in God the lord George d'Amboise, cardinal-priest
of the apostolical see, lieutenant-general for the said king, that
he would be pleased (after having granted some small sums for their
relief, to assist them in paying their fine, and also to save them
from the pillage and destruction which the army was ready to inflict
on them) to come to the duke's palace in the city of Milan to receive
their submissions, which they were determined to make publicly in
acknowledgment of their misconduct, and to entreat the clemency of the
king, on payment of such a fine as their means would admit of.
This reverend cardinal acceded to their request, and came to the palace
called La Court-vieille, whither arrived in procession all the nobles,
burghers, tradesmen and inhabitants, preceded by little children
dressed in white linen, and bareheaded, having a large crucifix, and
the great banner of our Lady, borne before them.
The lord-cardinal being seated on the throne prepared for him in the
great court of this palace, and surrounded by many of the king's
counsellors and captains, master Michael Touse, doctor of laws, and
town-advocate, ascended a rostrum that had been there erected, and made
the following harangue:
'Unworthy as I am to ascend this rostrum, my most reverend and most
illustrious lord-cardinal, I am very anxious to have it remembered,
and thus publicly to express the complete submission and devotion
my countrymen, the people of Milan, as well as myself, feel toward
our sovereign lord and duke, the most Christian king of France;
and although I know my own incapacity to express their wishes,
notwithstanding my earnest desire so to do, yet, as a good citizen, I
could not refuse their requests to undertake it,--and I will accomplish
it to the best of my abilities.
'Among all the cities and towns of Italy, Milan, without doubt, must
be considered as the principal, when governed with justice by an
upright lord, as all good and loyal citizens have desired. Since God
the Creator, has been pleased to place them in the hands of the most
Christian king, their legitimate lord, they cannot wish for a better
nor a more powerful prince: their duty is to persevere in the fidelity
and loyalty which they have sworn to him when he received them with
such benignity and humanity. It may be said, that he had reintegrated
the citizens to their country, and their country to the founder; for
the French had founded and built the city of Milan,--and the country,
to this day, retains the name of Gallia Cisalpina. But, alas! we
have sadly displayed the instability of our tempers, and committed
the crimes of treason and rebellion without any reason for so doing;
for neither the king our lord nor the deputies he sent to govern us,
have done any things that ought to have displeased us, or make us
discontented. In regard to our lord himself, we have always found him
full of humanity, affection, and clemency; and in regard to the lord de
Luson, who had been appointed our chief justice, we cannot accuse him
of any improper acts,--for he ever received us kindly, and heard our
complaints attentively, doing justice to all parties, like as a good
father would to his children.
'In like manner, the lord Jean Jacques, who has ruled us without
distinction of persons, or the smallest partiality, punishing rather
his own people than ours, just as those excellent Romans, Brutus and
Torquatus, put to death their children for the good of their country.
He also has afforded us all necessary support. The lord-bishop of Como
and others of the family of Trivulce have acted in a similar kind
manner to us. We feel the more beholden to the lord Jean Jacques,
because knowing, as he did, the wicked intentions of many of the chief
exciters to the late rebellion, he attempted to gain them over from
their intentions by gratuities and honours, rather than dip his hands
in the blood of his countrymen. He preferred also retiring into the
castle to destroying the town by fire and sword, as perhaps strict duty
would have forced him to,--and from thence he departed, to return with
so much the greater glory. The preservation of the town from ruin is
solely owing to his prudent conduct: a superior victory to any achieved
by arms, seeing that Ludovico Sforza and almost all the king's enemies
are become prisoners. The cardinal Ascanius and others attached to his
party were, by God's merciful providence, induced to leave the town,
when they might otherwise have injured it by obstinately holding out
against the troops of our legitimate lord. The inhabitants, therefore,
are greatly indebted to God and the king, who has kindly overlooked
their faults, and not punished them according to their deserts.
'To check the fury of his victorious army, the king has been pleased to
send you, my lord cardinal, hither, with full powers to act according
to your discretion; and this you have done with such prudence that you
have saved the town to the king,--for which we, our children, and our
successors, shall be ever beholden to you.
'We also thank my aforesaid lord the bishop of Como for his good
recommendations of us to you, and for the means he has taken for the
preservation of his country.
'Since, most reverend father in God, you have been pleased, out of your
bounty and clemency, following the kind will of our lord the king, to
grant to us, the inhabitants of Milan, this public audience, they have
commissioned me to make, in their name, the following requests.
'In the first place, that it may be your good pleasure, when you
shall return to the king, to recommend us most humbly to his good
graces,--and to assure his majesty that the people of Milan will never
again rise in rebellion to his power and authority. They somewhat
resemble St Peter, who, having denied God the Redeemer, had afterwards
such grief for his sin that he was more ardent and determined in his
service than ever, continually supplicating mercy for his crime. In
like manner, most reverend father in God, and in the name of the king
our lord, do I, on my bended knees, for myself, the nobles, burghers,
and the inhabitants of Milan, beseech you to pardon the rebellion
perpetrated by us, which was contrary to the usual custom of the
Milanese, celebrated for their fidelity and loyalty.
'Secondly, most reverend father, in respect to the expenses the king
our lord has been put to in countermanding the troops sent hither to
punish us for our ill conduct, we have promised to pay the sum of
three hundred thousand crowns: fifty thousand on the 12th of this
month, fifty thousand on the 1st day of May, and the remaining two
hundred thousand at his pleasure. We beseech you to intercede for us
to his majesty, that he would be graciously inclined to remit payment
of the balance of the two hundred thousand crowns,--for it will be
impossible to raise so large a sum without totally ruining the town.
Its whole wealth consists in merchandize, and in cloths of silk and
woollen,--and should so large a sum be withdrawn from trade, all these
works must stop, to the utter ruin of the city and duchy of Milan,
which depends so much upon it. The duty of a king is to enrich and not
impoverish his subjects.
'Thirdly, we most humbly supplicate, that you would dismiss all the men
at arms from the duchy as speedily as possible, that the fruits of the
coming harvest may be preserved for the use of our lord's subjects.
'Fourthly, we beseech you, that all persons may be restored to the
offices they before enjoyed.
'And, lastly, that since, out of your great mercy and wisdom, you
have been pleased to separate the principal instigators of the late
rebellion from the more peaceable inhabitants of the town,--and that,
through the mercy of God, the cardinal Ascanius and the chiefs of that
party are now, for the welfare of the country, detained prisoners,--we
beseech you to use your interest with the king our lord, that such
provisions be made to prevent them henceforth from troubling the city
and duchy, as they have lately done, and put us again in danger of
losing our lives and fortunes, whence we have been relieved by the
merciful bounty of the king our lord.
'We assure you, most reverend father in God, and most noble lord, that
we are determined to remain faithful to our sovereign prince in body
and soul; and, by granting us our requests, you will never again hear
of any disturbances or factions in this town,--for the inhabitants
will, henceforward, be united in his service, as experience shall
prove. We have full confidence that your benignant goodness will do
every thing, in regard to us, becoming the race whence you descend,
which will be agreeable to God, and worthy to be engraved on marble,
as a perpetual memorial of your wisdom, and to the glory of your name:
all of which I and the people of Milan now assembled here, again on our
bended knees, beseech you to grant.'
Master Michael having finished his harangue, the lord-cardinal of
Amboise consulted the marshal of Trivulce, the bishop of Luson[19],
chancellor of Milan, the lord de Neufchatel, and others of the king's
counsellors, and ordered master Michael Ris, doctor of civil and canon
law, and counsellor to the king in his court of parliament of Burgundy,
and in the senate of Milan, to make a reply, which he did in manner
following.
'Misertus est Dominus super Ninevem civitatem; eo quod pænitentiam egit
in cinere et cilicio.' My lords and gentlemen of the Milanese, the
very reverend father in God and most noble cardinal here present, as
lieutenant general for the king in this duchy, has more attentively
listened to your humble propositions and requests than your demerits
deserved. That his bounty and mercy may be more manifest, he has
ordered me to lay before you your great and inexcusable rebellion,
which his excellency would willingly have done himself could he have
addressed you in your own language. I am, therefore, employed to do it
by his command. I must, therefore, remind you, that on the day when
you swore fidelity to the most Christian king, I then addressed you by
his orders, and exhorted you to remain firm in your loyalty to him,
whence you would derive great honour, and by acting contrary inevitable
evils and disgrace would follow. I am now commanded by the most noble
lord-cardinal, here present, to explain your great disloyalty and
infidelity, that the exceeding clemency and pity of the king, our lord,
may be the more apparent.
'Your crimes and your demerits are so enormous, O Milanese! that no
punishments can be adequate to them,--and they are deserving of a
similar punishment from the king as the Romans inflicted upon the
Samiens, as related to us by historians: 'Ita ruinas urbis diruerunt ut
hodie Samus in ipsa Samo requiratur.' Or one equal to what Archila[20]
king of the Goths inflicted on the Romans, whose marks are now visible
on the walls and buildings of Rome. Or what Alexander did to the
Thebans. It may be seen in numerous histories, that for much smaller
crimes, Charles the great, king of France, and the emperor Frederick I.
punished most severely this city of Milan.
'To make your ingratitude more public, you have allowed that the most
Christian king is your true and legitimate lord, to whom you owe love
and obedience, according to the laws of God and man; for the wise
regulation of the Spartans says, 'Populum in obsequia principum,
principes ad justitiam imperatorum infirmabit.' In addition to the most
Christian king being your natural and lawful lord, he has conferred
upon you numberless benefits: he came in person to deliver you from
slavery,--not out of a disorderly ambition to gain kingdoms, but
from the pity he felt for you as subjects of duke John Galeazzo, your
first duke, whose most excellent daughter, the princess Valentina, was
his grandmother. He recalled Justice to your country, which had been
banished thence. He secured to you your lives and properties, which
before no one could call his own. He allowed you the liberty to marry
your children as you should please, which before this could not be
done; for a father could not marry a daughter, nor a mother a sister,
but according to the will and appetite of the lord. Offices which were
temporary he made perpetual. He abolished all pillories, concussions,
and exactions.
'Besides these and numberless other benefits that he showered upon you,
you were bounden by your oaths of allegiance to be faithful unto him:
nevertheless, many of you, even when taking these oaths, were plotting
to deceive him. All of you, ye Milanese! forgetful of the salvation
of your souls and honour, and regardless of the danger into which you
threw your wives, your children, and your town, have conspired against
your true lord in favour of a tyrant, quitting the first of kings in
Christendom for a mean fellow of low birth,--a most potent prince for
one as poor in courage as in wealth and friends. Had I the powers of
language to display the extent of such a crime, I should be incapable
to do it under two days; but your own consciences will make you more
sensible of it than I can,--and you may apply to yourselves what is
written, 'Populus dure cervicis,' when you committed that base act of
recalling your Ludovico in opposition to your true lord.