Henri II: His Court and Times (7 page)

François in captivity — His letter to his mother — Critical situation of France:
energetic measures of Louise of Savoy — Demands of Charles V — The King is
removed to Spain— Truce of six months granted by the Emperor — François's
journey to Madrid — His rigorous imprisonment in the Alcazar — He falls seriously
ill, and is visited by Charles V — Arrival of the Duchesse d'Alencon (Marguerite
d'Angoulême) — The King is believed to be dying: scene at his bedside — His
recovery — Negotiations at Toledo: the Emperor insists on the cession of Burgundy — François announces his intention of abdicating in favour of the Dauphin,
but changes his mind and directs the French envoys to accede to the Emperor's
demands — Treaty of Madrid — Stipulation that the two elder sons of the King, or
the Dauphin and twelve of the principal personages of the kingdom, are to be
delivered up as hostages — Charles V's reasons for consenting to the release of
his rival considered — François swears to execute the treaty, but makes a formal
protest against it privately — Betrothal of the King to the Emperor's eldest sister,
Eleanor, Queen-Dowager of Portugal — He remains a prisoner in the Alcazar —
Meeting between him and the Emperor — Visit of the two monarchs to Queen
Eleanor at Illescas — François sets out for France — Louise of Savoy decides to
send Henri, as well as the Dauphin, as a hostage to Spain — The English Ambassador's impressions of the young princes — The exchange of the King for his
sons takes place on the Bidassoa — Joy of François on regaining his freedom —
Departure of the princes for Vittoria

T
HE
day after the battle, François I was conducted to
the citadel of Pizzighitone, there to await the Emperor's pleasure.
Before leaving the Imperialists'
camp, the captive monarch wrote to his mother the letter in
which occurs that phrase which tradition reshaped for him
into the famous "
Tout est perdu fors l'honneur
." Here is the
actual text:

"Madame, in order that you may be acquainted with the
rest of my misfortunes, know that
of all things there remains to
me naught save honour and life, which are safe.
"

And he adds:

"And, so that in your adversity this news may bring you a
little consolation, I have requested permission to write you
this letter, which has been readily accorded me; begging
you not to despair, but to employ your usual prudence; for I
have hopes that in the end God will not abandon me; recommending your grandchildren and my children to your care
and requesting you to give a safe-conduct to the bearer of
this to go to and to return from Spain, for he journeys to
the Emperor, to learn in what manner he wishes me to be
treated."
⁰¹

For the moment, it certainly seemed that François had not
exaggerated the gravity of the situation. The overwhelming
disaster of Pavia not only rendered the loss of Italy certain,
but it exposed France herself to the gravest peril. With her
King a prisoner, the troops to whom she looked for her
defence against foreign aggression destroyed or dispersed,
her best generals dead or in captivity, her treasury exhausted,
it was difficult to see how she could escape dismemberment,
if her enemies prosecuted the war with vigour before she had
time to recover from the blow which she had received; while,
even if they stayed their hands, the disturbed condition of the
country and the hatred with which the Regent and Du Prat
were regarded threatened serious trouble.

However, Louise of Savoy, with all her faults and her vices,
did not lack courage and capacity, and took energetic steps to
meet the danger. She assembled at Lyons what troops she
could muster and entrusted the command to the Duc de
Vendome, with whom she associated Lautrec and Claude
de Lorraine, Duc de Guise. She summoned delegates from
the
Parlement
of Paris to Lyons, "gave them many fair
words" and submitted to them the measures which she
proposed to take for the preservation of the kingdom.
⁰²
She convened a council of notables, which controlled Louise
herself sometimes, but which put an end to all dissension, at least
so far as regarded armaments and foreign negotiations; and
she sought friends everywhere, "even in hell," since not only
did she renew the old alliance with the Venetians, and induce
Henry VIII, jealous of the growing power of the Emperor,
to recall his troops from the frontier of Picardy and enter into
a treaty of neutrality with her, but opened negotiations with
the Porte, the first of that long series of friendly dealings
between France and Turkey directed against the House of
Austria.

Even before the defection of England, whose co-operation
was of course essential to the success of a fresh invasion of
France, Charles V had already abandoned all idea of such an
undertaking, which would have entailed demands upon the
Imperial coffers which they were at that moment in no
condition to meet, and had decided to confine his efforts
to the exaction of a favourable treaty. He announced that
he intended to use his victory with moderation, but, though
his terms were not unjust, they could scarcely be called
moderate, including as they did the cession of the duchy
of Burgundy, with its dependencies of Maçon, Auxerre,
Auxonne, and Bar-sur-Seine. The indignation in France was
extreme when they were made known; while François
refused even to consider them. However, Charles believed
that his rival's impatience of imprisonment would ere long
assure their acceptance.

In June, Lannoy, at François's own request, took upon
himself the responsibility of removing the illustrious prisoner
to Spain, in order that he might treat in person with the
Emperor.
⁰³
The King sailed from Genoa on June 10, and
arrived at Barcelona nine days later, where he was lodged in
the palace of the Archbishop of Tarragona and treated with
all the honours due to royalty. Next day, he re-embarked
and sailed for Valencia, where he was conducted to the castle
of Benisano, which belonged to the governor of the province,
Don Geronimo Cabanillas.

Charles V was then at Toledo, holding the Cortes of Castile,
and thither Lannoy proceeded, to ascertain the wishes of his
master in regard to his royal captive. François, on his side,
sent Anne de Montmorency, who had accompanied him to
Spain,
⁰⁴
to demand a
personal interview with the Emperor,
which he believed would suffice to smooth over all difficulties;
a truce which would permit François de Tournon, Archbishop
of Embrun, and Jean de Selve, First President of the
Parlement
of Paris, to come to Spain, furnished with powers from
the Regent to treat regularly for peace, and a safe-conduct for
his sister, the Duchesse d'Alençon, whose presence would
console his captivity and serve to facilitate the negotiations.

After some hesitation, Charles consented to the truce, which
was to last six months, and accorded the safe-conduct for the
Duchesse d'Alençon, at the same time intimating that if the
princess did not arrive with power to surrender Burgundy, she
might spare herself the fatigue of the journey. On the question of the interview which François had demanded he was
silent, being resolved not to see his prisoner until after the
negotiations had been concluded.
⁰⁵

In order that the French envoys on their arrival might be
able to communicate easily with their sovereign, Charles
directed that the King should be transferred to the Alcazar
at Madrid. On July 20, accordingly, François quitted
Benisano, accompanied by the governor of Valencia and a
great number of nobles and gentlemen, who escorted him
as far as Requeña, where he found the Bishop of Avila, who
had been deputed to convey to him the Emperor's compliments.
His journey to Madrid, which occupied three weeks,
resembled rather that of a king than a captive. At
Guadalajara, the Duke of Infantado, to whom that town belonged,
gave the most magnificent fetes in his honour;
⁰⁶
and the three days which he spent there were one round of tournaments,
bull-fights, balls and banquets, while at Alcala, the whole town
came out to meet him, headed by the authorities and students
of the university.

But what a cruel deception awaited him when, on August 17,
he reached Madrid! There, after being confined for a few
days in the tower of los Lujanes, the strongest of the towers
which flanked the ramparts of the city, he was lodged in a
narrow chamber in the donjon of the Alcazar, containing only
such furniture as was absolutely necessary, and lighted by a
single window with two iron gratings fixed into the massive
walls, which overlooked the Manzanares, almost dry at this
season of the year, and the arid plain beyond. A company of
arquebusiers guarded the tower, and no one but the King's
gaolers and personal attendants was permitted to have access
to him. This close and galling confinement, which could
scarcely have been more rigorous had François been a State
criminal awaiting his trial on a charge of high treason, and
was, of course, designed to exhaust his powers of resistance to
the Imperial demands, soon began to have its effect upon the
health of the unfortunate monarch, and on the evening of
September 18, as Charles V was returning from hunting in the
forest of Segovia, word was brought him that his captive was
dying.

In great alarm, he immediately mounted his horse, rode,
almost without drawing rein, to Madrid, and proceeded at
once to the Alcazar. On perceiving the Emperor, who entered
his room accompanied by Lannoy and preceded by Montmorency,
carrying a torch, François painfully raised himself
into a sitting posture and bowed. Charles threw himself into
his arms, and "they remained for some time in a close
embrace, without saying a word." The King was the first
to break the silence. "My lord," said he, "you see before
you your prisoner and your slave." "No," replied the
Emperor affectionately, "but my good brother and true
friend, whom I look upon as free." "Your slave," rejoined
the King. "My good brother and friend, who will recover
his freedom," insisted the Emperor. "My most ardent
desire is your recovery; think only of that. All the rest
will be done, my lord, according to your wishes." "It
will be as you order," replied François, "for it is yours to
command, but, my lord, I entreat of you, let there be no
intermediary between us." The King then fell back exhausted
on his pillow, and Charles withdrew, having assured him that
when the Duchesse d'Alençon, who was expected, arrived,
peace and his liberty would speedily follow.
⁰⁷

The following day, the Emperor again visited François and
did all in his power to console him; but the royal prisoner
was in a very weak state, spoke as though he did not expect to
recover, and besought Charles, in the event of his death, not
to be too hard upon his sons, but to take them under his
protection and defend them against those who might attempt
to despoil them. The Emperor promised that everything
should be arranged in accordance with his wishes, so soon as
his sister arrived.

While he was still with the King, a message was brought him that Marguerite
had entered Madrid and was approaching the Alcazar. Learning on the road from Barcelona of
the illness of her brother, she had travelled with all possible
despatch, and had arrived two or three days before she was
expected. The Emperor received her at the foot of the
staircase of the Alcazar.
⁰⁸
She was dressed all in white, on
account of the recent death of her husband, the Duc d'Alençon,
and her face was stained with tears. Charles embraced her
and begged her not to despair, and then conducted her to
François's apartment, where he left the brother and sister
together, and set out for Toledo, at which city the conferences
with the French envoys were to be held.

The visits and assurances of the Emperor and the presence
of his devoted sister served to arouse François from the depths
of discouragement into which he had fallen. But, though
Charles appears to have been under the impression that his
illness was due far more to moral than to physical causes, this
was certainly not the case. The King was suffering from an
abscess in the head (
un' appostema nella testa
)
⁰⁹
and, three days after the departure of his "good brother," he had so
serious a relapse, that both his own and the Emperor's
physicians held out no hope of his recovery. According to one
of the French envoys, the Président de Selve, all the signs of
approaching death were evident, and he lay for several hours
without speaking or recognising any one.

Believing that the end was at hand, Marguerite caused
an altar to be set up in the sick-room, summoned all her
own and his Majesty's attendants, and directed the Arch-
bishop of Embrun to celebrate Mass, and afterwards, if
possible, to administer the Holy Sacrament to the King.
"At the moment of the elevation," writes Selve, "when the
archbishop exhorted him to regard the Host, my sovereign
lord (who neither saw nor heard) turned his head, raised
his hands, and murmured: 'It is my God, who will restore
me both in body and soul. I entreat you to let me receive
Him.'" As it was doubtful whether he would be able to
swallow the consecrated wafer, his sister suggested that it
should be divided into two portions, one of which she
received herself, while the other was given to the King, who
received it very devoutly, amid the tears of all present.
¹⁰

The agitation caused by his receiving the Holy Sacrament had a salutary
effect upon the sick man, for the abscess in the head opened, happily in an
outward direction, and though he remained for some time in a very weak state, he
was soon out of danger; and Marguerite was able to proceed to Toledo with the
French envoys, for the conferences which she hoped would soon restore her brother
to liberty.