him with having
done anything unworthy of a gentleman of honour, he lied
in his throat;" and begged him to fix a time and place where
they might meet in mortal combat. The Emperor thereupon
sent the herald-at-arms "Burgundy," with a letter in which
he ironically suggested a meeting on the Bidassoa, between
Fontarabia and Andaye. This letter he was instructed to read
to François before his Court. But when, on September 9,
after being kept waiting seven weeks on the frontier, he
reached Paris and was admitted to the royal presence,
François demanded the safe-conduct he had asked for, and,
as "Burgundy" refused to deliver it before he had done his
office in the form prescribed, and his Majesty refused to hear
him otherwise, he eventually retired with the cartel still in his
hand. 12 Perhaps, François was reluctant to allow his Court to
hear the exceedingly candid opinion which the Emperor
expressed of his conduct; perhaps, he was glad of a pretext to
evade the proposed meeting. Anyway, he refused to accord
the herald a second audience, and Wolsey's hope that "these
yong corragious passions should finally be converted into
fume" was realised.
While this quarrel, which did little honour to the two
rivals, was engaging the attention of their respective Courts,
the fate of Italy was trembling in the balance. Lautrec
advanced southwards without encountering anything but the
feeblest opposition, for disease had so terribly avenged the
Romans of the brigands who had despoiled them that theywere now a mere wreck of an army, and, on the approach
of the French, they evacuated the city and the surrounding
country and fell back on Naples. If Lautrec had showed a
little more activity, he might have destroyed them, in which
case Naples must have fallen, but he allowed them to escape
him. However, by the end of April he was besieging the
town, while the French and Genoese fleets blockaded the port.
The plight of the garrison was desperate, for neither supplies
nor reinforcements could reach them; and when, in the last
days of May, the viceroy's fleet was annihilated in a desperate
attempt to break the blockade, and Moncada himself killed, 13 their last hope seemed extinguished.
Had Naples fallen, the loss of Milan must have soon
followed, for with Genoa, the water-gate of Italy, in the hands
of the French, it was impossible for Spanish troops to reach
Lombardy; and then not a foot of the peninsula would have
remained to the Emperor.
However, the apathy and folly of François ruined everything. He sent scarcely any reinforcements or money to
Lautrec; he alienated the Genoese by depriving them of their
free constitution and converting Savona into a rival port; and,
by these measures and the haughtiness and injustice with
which he treated him, he mortally offended their compatriot
Andrea Doria, who had long served France with a squadron
organised and equipped by himself. At the beginning of
July, Doria withdrew the Genoese fleet from the Bay of
Naples, upon which troops and supplies from Spain and
Sicily were at once thrown into the city. A few weeks later,
the French, amongst whom pestilence had been making the
most terrible ravages, 14 Lautrec himself being amongst the
victims, raised the siege and evacuated the whole kingdom
of Naples; but they were followed by the Imperialists and
compelled to capitulate.
The catastrophe of Naples was followed by other reverses.
About the middle of September, Andrea Doria, who had nowgone over with his ships to the Emperor, appeared off Genoa,
incited the city to revolt, drove out the French garrison, and
re-established the republic, under Imperial protection; while,
in June 1529, a second French army under the Comte de
Saint-Pol, which had been sent into Lombardy, was totally
defeated by Antonio de Leyva at Landriano, and, almost
immediately afterwards, the Pope deserted the League and
made an "Eternal Peace" with Charles.
Although his Italian allies were for continuing the war,
François now decided
done anything unworthy of a gentleman of honour, he lied
in his throat;" and begged him to fix a time and place where
they might meet in mortal combat. The Emperor thereupon
sent the herald-at-arms "Burgundy," with a letter in which
he ironically suggested a meeting on the Bidassoa, between
Fontarabia and Andaye. This letter he was instructed to read
to François before his Court. But when, on September 9,
after being kept waiting seven weeks on the frontier, he
reached Paris and was admitted to the royal presence,
François demanded the safe-conduct he had asked for, and,
as "Burgundy" refused to deliver it before he had done his
office in the form prescribed, and his Majesty refused to hear
him otherwise, he eventually retired with the cartel still in his
hand. 12 Perhaps, François was reluctant to allow his Court to
hear the exceedingly candid opinion which the Emperor
expressed of his conduct; perhaps, he was glad of a pretext to
evade the proposed meeting. Anyway, he refused to accord
the herald a second audience, and Wolsey's hope that "these
yong corragious passions should finally be converted into
fume" was realised.
While this quarrel, which did little honour to the two
rivals, was engaging the attention of their respective Courts,
the fate of Italy was trembling in the balance. Lautrec
advanced southwards without encountering anything but the
feeblest opposition, for disease had so terribly avenged the
Romans of the brigands who had despoiled them that theywere now a mere wreck of an army, and, on the approach
of the French, they evacuated the city and the surrounding
country and fell back on Naples. If Lautrec had showed a
little more activity, he might have destroyed them, in which
case Naples must have fallen, but he allowed them to escape
him. However, by the end of April he was besieging the
town, while the French and Genoese fleets blockaded the port.
The plight of the garrison was desperate, for neither supplies
nor reinforcements could reach them; and when, in the last
days of May, the viceroy's fleet was annihilated in a desperate
attempt to break the blockade, and Moncada himself killed, 13 their last hope seemed extinguished.
Had Naples fallen, the loss of Milan must have soon
followed, for with Genoa, the water-gate of Italy, in the hands
of the French, it was impossible for Spanish troops to reach
Lombardy; and then not a foot of the peninsula would have
remained to the Emperor.
However, the apathy and folly of François ruined everything. He sent scarcely any reinforcements or money to
Lautrec; he alienated the Genoese by depriving them of their
free constitution and converting Savona into a rival port; and,
by these measures and the haughtiness and injustice with
which he treated him, he mortally offended their compatriot
Andrea Doria, who had long served France with a squadron
organised and equipped by himself. At the beginning of
July, Doria withdrew the Genoese fleet from the Bay of
Naples, upon which troops and supplies from Spain and
Sicily were at once thrown into the city. A few weeks later,
the French, amongst whom pestilence had been making the
most terrible ravages, 14 Lautrec himself being amongst the
victims, raised the siege and evacuated the whole kingdom
of Naples; but they were followed by the Imperialists and
compelled to capitulate.
The catastrophe of Naples was followed by other reverses.
About the middle of September, Andrea Doria, who had nowgone over with his ships to the Emperor, appeared off Genoa,
incited the city to revolt, drove out the French garrison, and
re-established the republic, under Imperial protection; while,
in June 1529, a second French army under the Comte de
Saint-Pol, which had been sent into Lombardy, was totally
defeated by Antonio de Leyva at Landriano, and, almost
immediately afterwards, the Pope deserted the League and
made an "Eternal Peace" with Charles.
Although his Italian allies were for continuing the war,
François now decided
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