hopeless He did not, however, on this emergency omit the usual forms of exhorting his associates to bear their misfortunes with constancy, and to repair them by their courage; but whilst he thus endeavoured to support a consistency of conduct in the eyes of the world, he had already engaged the duke of Savoy to unite his efforts with those of his envoy, Lodovico Canossa, to effect an alliance with the king. In truth, the situation of the pope was such as would not admit of longer delay. Already the king had given orders to construct a bridge over the Po, for proceeding to the attack of Parma and Piacenza; and although a veneration for the Roman see might prevent him from attacking the ecclesiastical dominions, this sentiment did not apply to the state of Florence, which had taken a decided and hostile part against his arms. Fortunately, however, for the pope, the king was not averse to a reconciliation, which, whilst it relieved him from those spiritual censures that had occasioned such anxiety and humiliation to his predecessor, might be of essential service to him in securing the possession of his newly acquired dominions. A negotiation was accordingly opened, when it was proposed that the pope and the king should mutually assist each other in the defence of their respective dominions; that the king should take under his protection the state of Florence and the family of Medici, particularly Giuliano, the brother, and Lorenzo, the nephew of the pontiff, and should maintain to them and their descendants the authority which they enjoyed in the Florentine state. In return for these favours it was proposed, that the pope should surrender to the king the cities of Parma and Piacenza; the king promising, in return, that his subjects in Milan should be obliged to purchase their salt from the ecclesiastical states. It had also been proposed that the duke of Savoy should be authorised to inquire and determine whether the Florentines had infringed their treaty with Louis XII.; in which case he should impose upon them such penalty as he might think reasonable, the king expressly declaring that this clause was introduced rather to satisfy his own honour than for any other cause. But although these propositions were assented to by Canossa, they were by no means satisfactory to the pope, who had flattered himself with the expectation of retaining the states of Parma and Piacenza; and would gladly have postponed the ratification of

the treaty, in the hopes of hearing the determination or the Helvetic diet assembled at Zurich, for the purpose of debating on the expediency of giving fresh succours to the duke of Milan. But Canossa having assured the pope, that the French monarch had already made preparations for attacking the papal dominions in Lombardy, and despatching a body of troops into the Tuscan states, the pope had no alternative but to conclude the treaty. He did not, however, ratify it without some modifications, the principal of which was, that the Florentines should not be subjected to any penalty or inquiry with respect to their pretended breach of faith to Louis XII. It was also expressly agreed that the king should not protect any feudatory or subject of the ecclesiastical state against the just rights of the Roman see; a stipulation which, although expressed as a matter of course, and in such vague and general terms as perhaps not to be fully understood by the king, had objects of no inconsiderable importance in view, which a short time sufficiently disclosed.8

Francis was well aware that the pope had suffered great mortification in being deprived of the territories of Parma and Piacenza, and he therefore endeavoured to justify himself for the part which he had acted, by alleging that they were a portion of the states of Milan which he could not, consistently with his honour, relinquish. In order, however, to reconcile the pope to this sacrifice, and to lay the foundation of a lasting amity between them, he requested to be admitted to an interview with him, which on the part of Leo X. was assented to not only with willingness but alacrity. It is not improbable, that on this occasion the pontiff conceived that he might be enabled, by his eloquence and personal address, to influence the young sovereign to admit of some relaxation in the severity of the terms agreed on; or at least that it might afford him an opportunity of indemnifying himself for his losses, and providing for the establisment of his family in some other quarter. He did not, however, think it prudent to admit the king into either Rome or Florence, but named for that purpose the city of Bologna, where he promised to meet him as soon as the necessary arrangements could be made for their reception.

Encouraged by the success of Francis I. the Venetians began to entertain hopes that they should be enabled tc

recover their continental possessions, of which they had been dispossessed by the Imperialists and the Spaniards, in consequence of the league of Cambray. They therefore despatched to the king at Milan an embassy, consisting of four of their most respectable citizens, to congratulate him on his success, and to concur with him in such measures as might appear conducive to the mutual interests of himself and the republic. The ambassadors were accompanied by the learned Battista Egnazio, who by his extraordinary acquirements had raised himself from a humble rank to great consideration among his countrymen, and who upon this occasion gave an additional proof of his talents, in the composition of a Latin panegyric on Francis I. in heroic verse, celebrating his arrival in Italy, and his victory over the Swiss. This poem he soon afterwards published, with a dedication to the chancellor Du Prat, and the king, as a mark of his approbation, gave the author a medallion of gold with his own portrait."

Whilst the Venetians were thus soliciting the king, and preparing their own forces for the recovery of their continental possessions, the sudden death of their chief general, Bartolommeo D'Alviano, which happened at Gheddi on the first day of October, 1515, retarded for a while their efforts and dispirited their troops. During twenty-five days, the Venetian soldiers, then proceeding to the attack of Brescia, carried along with them in great pomp the body of their favourite commander, determined to convey it to Venice for interment. Nor would they condescend to ask a passport from Marc-Antonio Colonna, who then commanded the Imperial troops, it having been gallantly observed by Theodoro Trivulzio, cousin of the marshal, that such a request ought not to be made after his death, for a man who, whilst living, had never feared his enemies.1 His remains were accordingly interred at Venice, by a decree of the senate, with extraordinary honours. funeral oration was pronounced by the celebrated Andrea Navagero, then very young, in a strain of eloquence which may be considered as the earnest of his future celebrity. If we assent to the opinion of Guicciardini, D'Alviano was rather a brave soldier than a skilful general. He was not only frequently defeated, but it had been observed that whenever he held the chief command he had never obtained the victory. Yet it

10

His

must be confessed that the man who by his activity, courage, and perseverance, could frustrate the efforts of such a powerful alliance as had been formed against the Venetian states, had no slight pretensions to the applause and gratitude of his country. In the elegant Latin oration of Navagero, which yet remains, are briefly enumerated the principal transactions of his life; and we learn from the same authority, that his few hours of leisure were sedulously devoted to the cultivation of literature, in which he had made a much greater proficiency than could have been expected from a person devoted to the ceaselese duties of a military profession.* Of the solidity of his judgmen a sufficient proof may be found in the early patronage which he afforded to Girolamo Fracastoro, who was destined to be one of the principal literary ornaments of the age, and who was chiefly indebted to this celebrated commander for those opportunities of improvement which have conferred immortality on

his name.

The important changes which had taken place in the affairs of Italy, naturally led to some alteration in the conduct of the pontiff towards the other sovereigns of Europe, and particularly towards Henry VIII.; between whom and Francis I. a degree of emulation had arisen, which was already sufficiently apparent. On the death of Cardinal Bambridge, Wolsey had succeeded him as archbishop of York; but this preferment, although it increased the revenues, did not gratify the ambition of this aspiring ecclesiastic, who had flattered himself with the hope of obtaining also the hat of a cardinal lately worn by his predecessor. In soliciting from the pope this distinguished favour, Wolsey had relied on the assistance of Adrian de Corneto, bishop of Bath, and cardinal of S. Crisogono, the pope's collector in England, under whom, as the cardinal resided at Rome, Polydoro Virgilio acted as sub-collector." The cardinal was either unable or unwilling to render the service expected; and such was the resentment of Wolsey, who conceived that he had been betrayed by him, that under some trivial pretext he seized upon his deputy Polydoro, and committed him to the Tower. This violent measure had been the subject of frequent representations from the court of Ronie ;

• Naugerii Orat. in funere Bart. Liviani, p. 7. Ed. Tacuin. 1530.

but although the cardinal Giuno de' Medici and the pope himself had written to the king, requesting the liberation of their agent, he still remained in confinement.* The apparent disrespect thus manifested by the English monarch to the holy see, had induced the pontiff to listen to the representations of Francis I., who was extremely earnest to obtain the restoration of Louis Guillard, ex-bishop of Tournay, to that rich benefice, of which he had been deprived by the intrusion of Wolsey. Whilst the pope was yet hesitating, not perhaps as to the rights of the respective claimants, but as to which of the rival sovereigns it would be most expedient to attach to his interests, the success of the French arms effected a speedy decision, and Leo immediately granted a papal bull for restoring Guillard to his benefice, and even authorising him to make use of the secular arm for obtaining possession. It may well be conceived that this measure gave great offence, not only to Wolsey, but to Henry VIII., who had lately incurred an immense expense in fortifying the city of Tournay; and warm remonstrances were made upon it to the court of Rome, in consequence of which the business was referred to the decision of two cardinals, who showed no great disposition to bring it to a speedy termination. In the mean time Francis, who was well apprised where the chief difficulty lay, conceived that if he could obtain for Wolsey an equivalent for the loss of his bishopric, he should find no further obstacles from that quarter. He therefore gave him to understand that he should promote his interests at Rome to the utmost of his power. In the weighty discussions now depending between Francis and the pontiff, the appointment of a cardinal was an object of small comparative importThe promotion of Wolsey to that dignity was determined on, of which Francis took care to send Wolsey the first intelligence; and at a consistory held for that purpose on the tenth day of September, 1515, he was the sole person raised to that high rank, his title being that of S. Cecilia trans Tiberim. About the same time the pope's agent in England was liberated from his confinement; but Wolsey, having obtained nis object, still refused to relinquish his claims to the bishopric of Tournay; and is supposed to have stimulated his sovereign to a new Herbert's Life of Henry VIII.

ance.

* Rymer, tom. vi. par. i. p. 105.