Henri II: His Court and Times (6 page)

F
RANÇOIS
I K
ING OF
F
RANCE
FROM AN ENGRAVING AFTER THE DRAWING IN THE BIBLIOTHÈQUE NATIONALE

But François committed a fatal error when, contrary to the
advice of La Palice, the new Constable,
²³
he proceeded to weaken his army by detaching 4,000 men to attack Genoa and
sending nearly three times that number, under John Stuart,
the last Duke of Albany,
²⁴
to the frontier of Naples. For Antonio de Leyva succeeded in
inspiring the garrison and citizens of Pavia with his own indomitable spirit, and the
stubborn defence of the town caused the siege to degenerate
into a blockade and gave time to Pescara to reorganise his forces
behind the shelter of the Adda; to Bourbon to return from
Germany with a strong force of
landsknechts
, which his great
name had attracted to his banner; and to Lannoy, the Viceroy
of Naples, to join his colleagues at the head of a considerable
body of Spaniards and Italians.

Towards the end of January, the Imperialists quitted their
camp at Lodi,
²⁵
and advanced to the relief of Pavia. François's
most prudent officers, La Palice, La Trémoille, and the Grand
Master of the Artillery, Galiot de Génouillac, warned him of
the danger of permitting himself to be shut in between the
relieving army and the garrison of Pavia, and urged that they
should temporarily raise the siege and retire on Milan, or
occupy a strong defensive position in the environs. Bonnivet
and the junior officers, however, cried out with one voice
against this proposal, the former declaring that "we other
Frenchmen are not accustomed to make war by military
artifices, but with banners waving, particularly when we have
for general a valiant king, who ought to inspire the greatest
poltroons to combat bravely."
²⁶
Such advice was too much in accord with François's own inclinations
not to be acceptable, and he accordingly determined to remain
before Pavia.

It must be admitted that the position which he took up was
one of great strength. Earthworks bristling with cannon protected his front; his right was sheltered by the Ticino; while
his left lay within the high walls of the park of Mirabello,
the favourite villa of the dukes of Milan, whose beauties had
been so often celebrated by the poets and artists of Italy.

For three weeks the Imperialists remained in sight of the
French camp without attempting any decisive movement,
though they succeeded in throwing a supply of ammunition
into Pavia. By that time their provisions were exhausted,
and it was only with the greatest difficulty that their generals
could prevent the army from disbanding. On the other hand,
François's forces had been still further reduced by the withdrawal
of 6,000 Swiss mercenaries, who had been recalled
to the Grisons to defend their valleys against a
condottiere
in the pay of Charles V, who had seized Chiavenna, on
Lake Como. Their departure, however, left the French still
superior to the enemy, particularly in cavalry and artillery.
At length, faced with the alternative of fighting or disbanding,
the Imperialist generals decided to attack,
²⁷
and in the early hours of St. Matthias's Day (February 24) they advanced to
the assault of the French position. During the night, several
companies of soldiers and sappers had been detached to
breach the Mirabello wall, which, as we have mentioned,
covered the French left, and had succeeded in doing so in
three places; and it was on these points that the Imperialists
directed their attack.

Accounts of the battle which followed are many and unusually
conflicting, but the following details seem to be well
authenticated:

The flank march of the Imperialists over the open ground
which lay between them and the French exposed them to so
murderous an artillery fire that, according to Du Bellay, "you
saw only arms and heads flying in the air." To check this
havoc, Pescara issued orders for the troops to take shelter in a
hollow to the northward of the French position, for which
they accordingly made, the infantry at the double and the
cavalry at a gallop. Observing this, François concluded that
the Imperialists were in full retreat and that victory was
assured, and charged furiously down from the rising ground
which he occupied, at the head of his bodyguard of nobles and
gentlemen and the French men-at-arms. By this movement,
he not only got between his own artillery and the enemy, and
obliged the gunners to cease fire,
²⁸
but cut himself off from the main body, and left his centre and
right wing unsupported by cavalry. As soon as the King charged,
the whole army quitted their entrenchments and pressed forwards
likewise, the
landsknechts
, led by the attainted Duke
of Suffolk
²⁹
and François de
Lorraine, younger brother of Claude, Duc de Guise, being on
the right, the Swiss in the centre, and the French foot on
the left.

The King at first carried all before him, killed with his lance
the Marchese di Civita San-Angelo, who led the Imperialist
light horse,
³⁰
scattered
the men-at-arms of Lannoy, and broke
right through a body of pikemen. But Pescara and Bourbon
rallied the fugitives; and the steady fire of the Spanish
arquebusiers, which no armour could withstand, checked the
triumphant progress of the French men-at-arms and drove
them back upon the Swiss, whom they threw into hopeless
disorder. In the meanwhile, the
landsknechts
on the French
right were attacked on one flank by their compatriots in the
Imperial service, and on the other by some Spanish battalions,
and, after a gallant struggle, were overwhelmed by numbers
and perished almost to a man, both Suffolk and François de
Lorraine being killed. The victorious troops then advanced
against the disordered Swiss, upon whom the arquebusiers
were now directing their fire, and, disheartened by the fate of
their German allies, the Swiss gave way and retreated towards
Milan. On the left, the Duc d'Alencon, who commanded the
cavalry of that wing, lost his head on learning of the defeat
of the right, and fled without striking a blow, followed by his
men;
³¹
and, though
the French infantry, under La Palice, offered
a stout resistance, they eventually shared the fate of the Germans,
the Constable being amongst the slain.
³²
Finally, Antonio de Leyva sallied out from Pavia, dispersed the corps which had
been left to hold him in check, destroyed the bridge over the
Ticino — the principal avenue of escape — and fell upon the
rear of the French cavalry whom François had so imprudently
led to the charge, and who were now the only troops which
still held their ground. They, comprising as they did the
élite
of the French nobility, and inspired by the example of
their King, performed prodigies of valour, but, hemmed in on
every side by overwhelming numbers, their courage was useless;
François's horse fell dead under him,
³³
and the King, who
had already been wounded in three places, was made prisoner,
and almost all his followers were either killed or taken. Never,
indeed, had there been so great a slaughter of nobles. Besides
Suffolk, François de Lorraine, and La Palice, who had fallen
earlier in the engagement, the gallant old Louis de la Tremoille,
who had taken part in every war which France had waged
since the accession of Charles VIII, Louis d'Ars, the kinsman
and teacher of Bayard, René, the Bastard of Savoy, Grand-Master of France,
³⁴
the Grand Equerry San-Severino, chief
of the French party in the kingdom of Naples, the Maréchal
de Foix, and Bonnivet were either killed or mortally wounded;
while Henri d'Albret, King of Navarre, the Comte de Saint-Pol, brother of the Duc de
Vendôme,
³⁵
Anne de Montmorency,
afterwards Constable of France, Chabot de Brion, afterwards
Admiral, the Prince de Talmont, heir of La Trémoille, and the
Sénéchal d'Armagnac were among the prisoners. In less than
two hours France was deprived of her sovereign and a whole
generation of paladins. Altogether, it is believed that over
10,000 of the French and their auxiliaries perished on the
field of battle, or were drowned in attempting to escape
across the Ticino, and at least 4,000 were taken prisoners.
The loss of the victors was comparatively small, probably
not more than 1,000.