than, like a great warrior as he was, he entered the town, one arm bare, and his sword on his wrist, shouting out "France!" in which he was echoed by all Frenchmen. The Venetians, thunderstruck, took to flight through one of the gates, but numbers were slain* and made prisoners, of whom were many of high rank in Venice, who were sent to France.

The inhabitants having attempted to defend themselves, the town was given up to plunder; and you might have seen several French adventurers tearing to pieces, out of spite, large bales of cloths of gold and of silk: such merchandise might then have been bought for almost nothing. The ladies and children made piteous moans on seeing their husbands and fathers murdered and cast out of the windows, and all their effects pillaged. To make short of the matter: they thought that God's whole indignation and wrath had been poured on them; for the French treated them with every cruelty, in revenge for the resistance that had been made by throwing stones and beams from the tops of the houses, by which some great French lords suffered severely. The place was completely conquered, in spite of all that the Brescians and Venetians could do to prevent it,—and the streets were filled with dead bodies, besides the numbers that were slain in the open country: in the whole, there must have been many thousands killed. Among the prisoners were, sir Andrew Gritti, sir John Paulle †, Caufre and his son, the count Ludovico Adanago, who had been the chief adviser of the town to revolt, for which it had been treated as you have heard.

After this victory, the towns and castles in the territories of Brescia were re-garrisoned, and provided with abundance of provision and stores of all kinds,-and the lord d'Aubigny was appointed governor of Brescia. The town of Bergamo also surrendered, as well as several other places, which had revolted, and in consequence suffered great miseries. News was brought to the duke of Nemours, that the Spaniards had left all their heavy artillery and baggage at Imola, and were advancing by forced marches into the plain, boasting that they would form a junction with the Venetians and relieve Brescia; but I believe that, when they learned what had passed there, they changed their intentions.

About this time, there lived in the town of Augsbourg a virgin, named Anne, who had arrived at the age of forty years, without eating, drinking, sleeping, or having any natural evacuations!!! by which it may be known, that she was under the especial grace of our Lord JESUS CHRIST,-and she had given herself up to devout contemplations. Another great wonder was seen in the city of Ravenna, where a monster was born with a horn on its head, wings of a bat, one foot like a bird of prey, the other like a human foot! It had an eye on its knee, and was of both sexes! It had a mark of a Y on its breast, and an appearance of a cross, with a crescent beneath,-which signs, according to my lords the philosophers and prognosticators, signify many things!!

CHAPTER CCXXX.-THE DUKE OF NEMOURS DEFEATS THE UNITED ARMIES OF THE POPE, THE VENETIANS, AND THE SPANIARDS, NEAR TO RAVENNA,—BUT IS HIMSELF SLAIN, AFTER HE HAD GAINED THE VICTORY AND TOTALLY REPULSED THE ENEMY.

WE must now return to the wars in Italy, and elsewhere. During the Lent of the year 1512, the duke of Nemours marched his army before Ravenna, wherein that of the pope, the Venetians, and Spaniards were seeking opportunities to retaliate on the French,-and they had made great preparations for this purpose. The duke of Nemours, having had information of this, advanced thither, accompanied by many nobles and valiant captains, such as the lord de la Palisse, the lord d'Alegre and his son, the lord Jean Jacques of Trivulce, the lord de Châtillon governor of Paris, the lord de Molarc, Maugeron, La Crotte, and other officers of renown. When he had approached Ravenna, the French remained some time

Numbers were slain. Guicciardini says, about eight thousand of the inhabitants and Venetian soldiers. † Sir John Paulle. Q. Giampaolo Manfrone and his son Guicciardini mentions also as prisoners Antonio Justiniano, the Venetian governor of the town; il cavaliere

della Golpe, Baldassare di Scipione, un figliuolo d'Antonio de Pii, Domenico Busecco, captain of the light cavalry, Count Luigi Avogaro was beheaded in the market-place.See GUICCIARDINI.

Ludovico Adanago. Q. Luigi Avogaro and his son !

encamped from a scarcity of provision, and many suffered by it. Perceiving that their supplies had failed, like hardy warriors, stirred on by the eager desire of the duke of Nemours for the combat, they resolved, on the eve of Easter-day, to offer the enemy battle on the morrow, which was the feast of the Resurrection of our Lord. The French advanced boldly to the combat, having their artillery in front, which played four hours incessantly, and did great damage to the Spaniards, principally to their men-at-arms. 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 uncer, tain which side would have the advantage,-for the Spaniards shouted at times "Victory! Julius, Julius!" at others, the French cried out "Victory, Nemours! At length, the French made their enemies fly.

During the battle, the lord de Molarc was killed by a cannon-shot,-a great loss to the king, for he was a valiant and enterprising captain. He led that day the French infantry, a most courageous and steady band. La Crotte and captain Jacobs, who commanded the Lansquenets, were among the first of the slain; and their loss was a heavy blow: however, both French and Lansquenets advanced with greater courage to revenge the deaths of their captains, and pushed on until they came to where the baggage was, and some famished adventurers had already begun to knock in the heads of the casks of different wines,—when, having drunk their fill, they ran away as fast as they could not so the Spaniards, who still held on fighting,—for I can assure you, that these Spanish troops were no way faint-hearted, and there had not been so severe a battle fought as this for a long time. May God pardon those who were killed! The remnant of the Spaniards and Italians that escaped wandered here and there. Upwards of twenty of the great lords of Italy lay dead on the field. There were many prisoners made: in the number were Pedro de Navarre*, don John de Cardona, the marquis of Pescarat, Pomare, Epinose, Castinago, John Antony Vosino, the count de Montelon, the marquis de Bitonto, the marquis de l'Estelle, the son to the count of Consege, and others of renown. No one knew what became of the duke du Traict‡, who was of their company. The viceroy of Naples § saved himself by flight, until he gained the sea-shore, and embarked for Naples. The marquis de la Padulla and the count del Popolo made good a retreat before the end of the conflict, with eleven or twelve hundred horse, as well men-atarms as light cavalry, and from sixteen to seventeen hundred infantry, the remains of their army, and saved themselves as well as they could. Numbers of Frenchmen were doubtless slain, for the Spaniards fought with the utmost bravery; and when the French men-at-arms, returning from the pursuit, passed over the field of battle, the wounded laid hands on any swords near them, and, in the miserable state they were in on the ground, cut the legs of the horses the French were mounted on.

Pope Julius was at Rome when news of this event was brought him. God knows how he bore it, for he had been a very great sufferer in that battle. The instant he heard it, he would have set off without delay, fearing that the French would follow up their victory, and come to seek him even in Rome.

After this defeat, the illustrious and gallant duke of Nemours, having perceived a small body of the enemy that had not dispersed, like a magnanimous prince, but too unmindful of the signal victory God had just given him, required of the nobles and captains around him, that they would be pleased to march with him and drive them away. Some of them who, from long experience, knew the uncertainty of the chances of war, remonstrated with him on being too adventurous, and that he should remain satisfied with the success he had gained. Notwithstanding the truth of these remonstrances, he persisted in his resolution, and said

army.

Pedro Navarro, a great commander in the Spanish among those present at the battle of Ravenna, it is not

Ferdinand d'Avalos, marquis of Pescara.
Duke du Traict. Q. Utrecht More probably
Trajetto. Vespasian, the son of Prospero Colonna, was
called duke of Trajetto, and though I do not find his name

unlikely that he was there under his relation Fabricio Colonna, duke of Palliano, who commanded the Italian forces.

§ Don Raymond de Cardona.

aloud, "Let all who love me follow me." Upon this, the lord d'Alegre, his son, Maugeron, the bastard of Cliete, seeing him thus determined and already advancing, followed him. The duke of Nemours was the first to attack this body of the enemy, who were greatly superior in number; and the gallant prince performed such feats of arms as astonished them, and cleared all around his horse with such rapid and mortal blows that none dared approach him. It was a grand sight to view so young a man displaying such extraordinay courage. The enemy, observing how few the French were, and that no reinforcements were coming to them, recovered their courage and surrounded the young hero. They first killed his horse, and then fell upon him with battle-axes, pikes, and every sort of weapon, that he, and all his companions, died a glorious death.

This was a most heavy loss to France, for he was a magnanimous prince, worthy to be placed on a triumphant throne in a temple of brave men. His liberality and frankness had gained him the love of the army, who would have followed him anywhere, even without pay, and within four months he had gained three decisive battles.

When this melancholy event was known, the lord de la Palisse and other captains hastened to revenge his loss, and put to death the whole body of the enemy that had slain the duke, the lord d'Alegre and the others, without suffering one to escape. 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.

authorities.

The body of the duke of Nemours arrived at Milan the 26th of April, in the year 1412, preceded by all the prisoners taken at the battle of Ravenna. The banners, guidons, and

standards, the French had so valiantly conquered, as well from the Italians as from the Venetians and Spaniards, and of the different lords who had fallen in this battle, were borne before him, which added joy intermixed with grief at this mournful interment. Great order was observed in the procession,-and it was a triumphantly melancholy spectacle. The nobles and captains were in deep mourning,—and there was no heart so hard not to weep on seeing his body thus carried untimely to the grave. His pages and attendants led his horses of parade and for war: his helmet and victorious sword, as lieutenant-general for the king, were borne before the body. In short, those of his army who attended the funeral were loud in their lamentations; for they had always found him liberal and courteous, and never sparing of his own personal efforts in war. The principal inhabitants and churchmen of Milan came out to meet the body, dressed in mourning cloaks and hoods, with a blaze of lighted torches, on which were the arms of the deceased emblazoned. The body, surrounded by two hundred of the choicest lances in the army and a numerous escort of infantry, was conducted, with great pomp of grief, to the cathedral, where a most solemn service was performed for the repose of his soul.

Think how great must have been the sorrow of the king and queen, when they heard of this sad event at Blois, for they loved him as if he had been their own child; and I can assert for truth, that those who had never seen him bewailed his loss, on the reports they had heard of his uncommon virtues and gallantry. May God receive his soul!

FRENCH FROM ITALY, THE SWISS TAKE

CHAPTER CCXXXI.-ON THE DEPARTURE OF THE
THE TOWN OF MILAN AND OTHER PLACES HELD BY THE KING OF FRANCE.

AFTER this battle of Ravenna, where, as well as in the preceding ones, great quantities of human blood were shed, principally of the Italians and their allies, but also of the French, and of some of the noblest families, by which many ladies and damsels in France became widows and orphans,—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. When this conduct was noticed by certain bloodsuckers and turbulent spirits, they collected troops in divers parts, to 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. They chiefly depend, for their maintenance, on pensions from kings and princes,-and the pope having made the bishop of Sion a cardinal, he was an active and able tool, by his public preachings and intrigues, to prevail on them to comply with the wishes of his holiness. Maximilian also, having turned his coat, was to allow them an entrance to Italy through his territories of the Veronese and elsewhere. The Spaniards likewise assembled from various parts of Italy; and they all advanced toward Milan, whence the government had been withdrawn to France, so that the poor Milanese were in despair, and knew not how to act. However, the French having left them, they, as usual, fell in with the strongest, and the enemy was admitted into the town. The castle was held by the French, under the command of the lord de Louvain; and other castles were also in their possession: that of Brescia was held by the lord d'Aubigny.

When the French were returning from Italy, a sharp skirmish took place at a bridge near to Pavia, between a small body of French adventurers and the enemy, and they were inhumanly treated by the townsmen. Among others of their villanous acts, I shall mention one. A Frenchman, unable to keep up with the rest, was met by an inhabitant of Pavia, who said to him, "My friend, I love the French nation: come, I beg of you, to my house, and I will save you from being killed." The poor adventurer, confiding in his fair words, followed him; but he was no sooner within his doors than he treated him most brutally, cut off his

private parts, and thrust him into the street in his shirt, bawling aloud, "Here is another Frenchman!" on which numbers rushed out of their doors, and hacked him to pieces with their swords. There was another inhabitant of Pavia who had even devoured the heart of a Frenchman, by way of revenge.

I am persuaded that all the evils that have befallen Italy have been caused by their wickedness, and infamous practices similar to those of Sodom and Gomorrah. The air would be infected, were I to recite them. May God amend them, and all others! On the other hand, the French have a shameful custom (which was increased when in Italy) of blaspheming our Lord JESUS CHRIST, and Our Lady, with divers indecent oaths, in which they seem to take pleasure. God may, perhaps, have been angered by such detestable blasphemies, and by that great vanity with which the French are always filled, and suffered them to experience the late unfortunate reverses, to show that from Him alone come victories and good fortune. The French, on leaving Italy, were in a great alarm,-and they were so rejoiced when returned to France, they attributed it to the favour of Heaven. Such are the chances of this world.

In this year of 1512, pope Julius, returning evil for good, was violently animated against the French; and having partly accomplished his wish of being the chief cause of their expulsion from Italy, died at Rome in the ninth year of his pontificate. May God pardon him!

About this time, a truce was concluded between the kings of France and of Arragon, for a certain space of time. Leo X. was now the reigning pope: he was consecrated at Rome the successor of pope Julius II. Leo was a native of Florence, of very wealthy and renowned parents. His father was Lorenzo de' Medici, to whose family Louis XI., king of France, had granted permission to add the three flowers de luce to their armorial bearings*.

CHAPTER CCXXXII.-OF THE WAR IN GUIENNE.-THE KING OF FRANCE SENDS SUCCOURS TO THE KING OF NAVARRE.-THE KING OF ENGLAND MAKES PREPARATIONS TO INVADE FRANCE.-A SEA-FIGHT BETWEEN TWO LARGE ENGLISH AND FRENCH SHIPS.

It was not long before a war broke out in Guienne, or rather in Navarre; which kingdom the king of Arragon had entered, and taken the town of Pampeluna, with others belonging to the king of Navarre, under pretence of being heir to that crown in right of his wife, sister to the late duke of Nemours, count of Foix, slain after the battle of Ravenna. The good king of Navarre †, in consequence, demanded succour from the king of France, to recover the places he had lost. Louis XII., considering how faithful an ally he had always been, ordered a large body of men-at-arms and infantry to his assistance, under the command of the duke of Longueville and Dunois. This war was very expensive to the king of France, for the army remained long without striking a blow. In addition to this, the English, excited by the king of Arragon, as well as by a desire to regain Guienne, which they claimed as an inheritance, made a landing near to Roncevaux and St. John Pied du Port,—but not being able to effect a junction with the Spaniards, they returned.

In the year 1513, Henry king of England, son to king Henry VII., who, by the aid of Charles VIII. king of France, succeeded peaceably to the crown of England, after the death of Richard of York, instead of being grateful for such services to the king of France, although his late father had charged him on his deathbed to do nothing against that king, if he wished to prosper, instantly on the death of his father acted directly contrary. King

* I must refer the reader for further particulars of the French wars in Italy to Guicciardini and other Italian historians, and to Mr. Roscoe's Lives of Lorenzo de' Medici and of Leo X. The grant of Louis XI. to the Medici, to bear the arms of France, is in the Appendix to Comines.

+ 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.

Henry VIII. was the dupe of Ferdinand of Arragon. The English forces landed at Guipuscoa, 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.