Enguerrand de Monstrelet

“ Here the queen and the duchess of Bourbon his sister were waiting, with many noble ladies and damsels, impatient to receive him; and indeed he was deserving of such eagerness.
The king held most sumptuous justs at three different places in Lyon: at La Grenette in front of the convent of Cordeliers, in the Juerie, and before the palace: at all of them, he was foremost to offer himself, and performed many gallant feats with lance and sword, on horseback and on foot, as did several others of the french lords. ”

“ A few days after, the duke of Bourbon sent presents of cloths of gold, and of silk, to the principal leaders of the Swiss, to hasten their march, which had the desired effect,—and they soon appeared before the castle, wherein they were joyfully received by the constable. He had immediately Milan strengthened with ditches and outworks, so that it was much stronger than ever. The emperor advanced with his army, now very numerous, before the walls, and saluted them with a large train of artillery, which was as boldly returned from the ramparts by the garrison. ”

“ Only one man of rank was made prisoner on the side of the French, namely, Matthew bastard of Bourbon, who had most valiantly defended the king, and he was taken when pursuing the enemy up to their lines. Not more than nine or ten french gentlemen were killed, although their enemies were ten to one against them, the greater part of whom saved themselves by flight. This proves, beyond a doubt, that Divine Providence assisted the French, and gave them the victory over their disloyal enemies, who were conquered in so very short a space of time. ”

“ Some Spaniards sallied out of their camp, and the French rushed in,—when both parties met, and two superb and bold nations might then be seen contending with courage and earnestness for the victory. Never was heard such clattering of swords and lances: the gallant duke of Nemours hastened forward, fighting most wonderfully, to encourage his men; and it was for some time uncertain which side would have the advantage,—for the Spaniards shouted at times 'Victory! Julius, Julius!' at others, the French cried out 'Victory, Nemours!' [Pg 131] At length, the French made their enemies fly. ”

“ They thence marched to besiege the city of Ravenna, which they took by storm, killed the greater part of the inhabitants, and plundered the town: there was much confusion, for it was almost entirely destroyed. When this was done, the french returned to the field of the late battle, to raise the bodies of the duke of Nemours and the other lords, to give them an honourable interment in sacred ground. The body of that most noble prince and viceroy of Italy, was carried in mournful triumph to Milan, from the ground where he had fallen, to be magnificently interred becoming so great a prince. ”

“ The king and his nobles, in sign of triumph and victory, supped and lay on the field of battle,—where they ate and drank what they could find, and as it pleased God, to whom they gave their most humble thanksgivings and praises for their success, as indeed they were bounden to do. ”

“ Feasts and entertainments were every where displayed to welcome his arrival, and for his short-lived victories when he gained Novara.
'Observe now, O Milanese! how strongly the justice of God, the Creator, has been made manifest, and the great power that it has pleased Him to invest the king our lord with: for when you thought that you had done every thing by gaining Novara, at that moment you lost the whole, and your idol, the lord Ludovico, carried away a prisoner,—so that what was said of the Persians may be applied to him, 'Servit alteri cui nuper mediolanum serviebat.'
'O Milanese! ”

“ The commander in chief, the marshal de Rieux, a Breton, marched away to Narbonne, to the great discontent of the French, as the camp was left without a leader. Every one behaved with the utmost courage, and raised the siege, carrying off the artillery and baggage without loss in their retreat. However, had all behaved as they ought to have done, conformable to their engagements with the king, in a short time they would have made great advances into the enemy's country, considering the fine army of the French. ”

“ Having staid a few days in Abbeville to solace themselves, they set out for Paris; and through the towns of Picardy they passed, the greatest honours were paid them. In every town, the queen gave liberty to the prisoners, by the king's command. On their arrival at St Denis, the ceremony of the queen's coronation took place, which was very splendid, and numerously attended by archbishops, bishops, and nobility. ”

“ The king of France, about this time, through the means of the cardinal of Amboise, concluded a treaty at Cambray between the pope, the emperor, the king of Spain, and the lady Margaret, governess of the low countries. This treaty, although of no long duration, was the cause of the deaths of two hundred thousand men, as you will hereafter see, through the treachery of the confederates, in various battles and engagements that took place; and what is worse, we of the present time, unless God shall be pleased to apply a remedy, are still suffering from the effects of this unfortunate treaty. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The generals, or at least those who had the management of the finances for the army, imagined that, by the happy event of this battle, all Italy was subdued, as far as Rome, if not farther, and disbanded great bodies of infantry at the very time when they should have sought reinforcements, to garrison the towns and castles that had been lately conquered. ”

“ Bologna was besieged by the duke of Nemours, who acted as viceroy in Italy, and the Bolognese fled before him, so that he soon reconquered that town, as you shall hear. About this time, pope Julius excited the Swiss to invade the duchy of Milan, which they did, and advanced to the walls of that city, committing every sort of mischief, particularly to a monastery of nuns, whom they ravished, and plundered the convent of all within it. ”

“ The king of Scotland, on entering England, did great mischiefs. A battle took place, in which very many English fell, as well as Scots,—but the greatest loss to France was the death of the king of Scotland, who was killed valiantly fighting. It is rare to find such friends as will put their lives and fortunes to the chance of war [Pg 155] in the support of a friend, especially when absent [51] . ”

“ The pope, considering that there was no prince in all Christendom so well able to afford him support in this project as the king of France (that firm pillar of the church, who had been every where victorious) , made him acquainted with his claims and intentions of recovering the bolognese territories.
The king, eager to serve the holy [Pg 107] church, ordered a large detachment of men at arms to join the pope's forces from the Milanese, for him to use at his pleasure. The pope's army was besieging Bologna on the side toward Rome,—but when joined by the French, it was besieged on all sides. ”

“ About this time, the town of Mirandola was valiantly reconquered by the French, and the town of Udina delivered up to the king of the Romans. The marquis of Mantua was taken prisoner by the Venetians, and carried to Venice, whence, some time after, he easily obtained his liberty. A fresh war now commenced between the pope and the duke of Ferrara, an ally of France,—for which reason, the king left the count Gaston de Foix, whom he had lately created duke of Nemours, his lieutenant-general in the Milanese, who did marvellous feats of arms during his command in Italy. ”

“ 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 [Pg 48] (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. ”

“ The good king of Navarre—was of so indolent a character that his queen, a woman of high spirit, told him, 'Had you been mademoiselle Catherine, and I don John, we had never lost our realm.' Henault.
[47] Henry VIII. was the dupe of Ferdinand of Arragon. The english forces landed at Guipi-coa, under the command of the marquis of Dorset, but were never joined by the Spaniards to unite in the siege of Bayonne. The English returned, having gained nothing but disgrace, while Ferdinand possessed himself of the kingdom of Navarre. ”

“ Not more than two hundred were slain of the king's army, while full fifteen thousand fell on the side of the [Pg 115] enemy. After the battle, the king ordered the dead to be buried, and a chapel to be erected on the spot, endowed sufficiently for the celebration of daily masses for the souls of those who had died in a state of grace. It was not long afterward before those towns which the Venetians had usurped surrendered to the king's obedience,—such as Bergamo, Brescia, Crema, Cremona, that had formed part of the duchy of Milan. ”

“ Louis XI. had defeated, when dauphin, a body of three or four thousand: a duke of Milan had also conquered a body of two thousand, which inclines me so much to exalt this victory of the king over enemies so determined and numerous, for thirty-six thousand men had marched out of Milan.
Toward the end of the combat, a reinforcement of Venetians arrived, which the constable of Bourbon had gone to seek. The troops made all diligence, were well accoutred and ready for battle; but they found the Swiss defeated, and flying in all directions, for Como and Milan. ”

“ The enemy were much surprised at the good order of the French; and to endeavour to break it, they sent a detachment of Estradiots, and some Albanians, across a hill, to fall on the baggage. Those who had the guard of it had been very negligent in not keeping themselves in readiness to resist an attack, by reason of some dispute among themselves, for which they suffered; but it was not much, as shall be told hereafter,—and the army remained unbroken.
The Italians, seeing this, sent a herald to the king to demand a truce. ”

“ The king marched away, on the Wednesday, with his army and artillery, and repassed several towns wherein he had halted on his advance to Naples, notwithstanding the attempts of the enemy to prevent it. He came at length to Novara, and delivered the duke of Orleans, who had been shut up in that town, with a party of his men, by the traitor Ludovico of Milan. Thence the king proceeded to Asti and to Vercelli, where the duke of Orleans came to meet him. The king received him with much friendship, and they supped together. ”

“ 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 ”

“ This same year, the garrisons that had guarded different places in Italy returned to France, in consequence of the treaty concluded with the Swiss before Dijon,—namely, those from the castle of Milan; the lord of Aubigny, his lance on his thigh, with his garrison, from the castle of Brescia. When these garrisons marched away, the Spaniards took possession of the castles, which the Venetians thought had been done for them; but when the Spaniards had established themselves securely, they chaunted to the Venetians the Evangile des Vierges. Such are the chances of war. ”

“ When this conduct was noticed by certain bloodsuckers and turbulent spirits, they collected troops in divers parts, to [Pg 139] endeavour to regain honour by attacking the French; for, seeing them dispersed in their garrisons, they were aware that courage, when disunited, is not so much to be dreaded as when in a collective body. The holy father the pope, smarting from the losses he had suffered from the French, three times excited the Swiss-cantons to rise in arms against them, for they had of late been neglected by the king of France. ”

“ Notwithstanding this, d'Imbercourt boldly advanced to enter Villa Franca,—when as his trumpet was within the gates, and had sounded his charge, his horse's neck was inclosed within them; but the men at arms came to his relief, by crossing their lances over the horse, and put to death all who had opposed them at the gate. ”