Louis now, A. D. 1513, was threatened with a confe deracy similar to that which had so lately humbled Ve nice. The Pope, Leo X. was to enter Dauphine ; the emperor, Champagne ; the Swiss, Burgundy ; the King of England, Picardy ; and the King of Spain, Guienne and Languedoc. But the elements of this confederacy were too discordant long to hang together : the Pope was not fond of the emperor accepted subsidies, but neglect ed to supply an army ; and Ferdinand looked to his more immediate interest, as well as to an easier enterprise, in seizing on the kingdom of Navarre. Of all the confede rates, therefore, Henry, King of England, was the only formidable one that remained ; and he was eager after glory : this he obtained at the battle of Spurs. But the Swiss, who had entered Dauphine, having retreated, and the rest of the allies, as we have mentioned, having desert ed the cause, the King of England, on the approach of winter, re-embarked for his own country.
Anne of Bretagne died the following year, 1514, and Louis, in the hope of having an heir, and in order to de stroy effectually the confederacy against him, married the sister of the King of England. Louis was much older than his wife ; this he forgot ; and in three months after his nuptials, he was seized with a violent disorder, which carried him off. In him expired the older branch of the house of Orleans, and the crown of France passed to that of Angouleme.
The taxes, which had been lessened by Charles were still further diminished by Louis, while, at the same time, by a judicious mode of levying and collecting them, he rendered those which were continued less irksome and unpopular. Even in the midst of his Italian wars, he laid on no new burdens. It is true, he extended and syste matized the practice of disposing of offices for money, but he carefully excepted the judicial functions from this dan ger and disgrace ; they were always filled by men dis tinguished for their intelligence and virtue. The parlia ment of Paris not being adequate to the discharge of its duties, since it had been made sedentary, Philip the Fair and his successors had instituted several other parlia ments. Louis X1I. still further increased their number, and he issued an edict, by which he gave them authority to recall him to the fundamental laws of the state, if ever he discovered a disposition to evade or abrogate them ;—a proof this of his wish to govern according to law, but no surety of the object which he had in view. It is said that he always kept two lists, one of the places and favours which he had to bestow, the other of the persons in each province most fit to fill or enjoy them ; and on such alone they were conferred. This monarch made a wise, just, and humane distinction between those who offended him in his private character, and those who offended him as the sovereign of France : the last he punished, because he was of opinion that he thus best secured the safety and pros perity of the state ; the former he suffered to pass un punished.. Perhaps in no part of his conduct did he dis
play more good sense, or better consult the welfare of his subjects, than in the choice of his ministers; and in the case of the Cardinal Amboise, he even seems to have had the merit, or the talent, of making the same man, under him, the instrument of happiness, who, under another, would probably have been the instrument of oppression and misery.
As soon as it was ascertained that the widow of Louis XII. was not pregnant, Francis, Count of Angoulcmc, and Duke of Valois, took the title of king. He was at this time 21 years of age, full of spirit and confidence, fond of war and glory, and disposed, as well as enabled, from the circumstances in which he was placed, to give way to that propensity. Before he ascended the throne, he married Claude, the daughter of the late monarch, by Anne of Bretagne. Mary the widow of Louis bestowed her hand on Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.
The first and darling object of the new sovereign was, the recovery of the Milanese ; and he resolved to profit by the preparations which had been made by his prede cessor; but as money was still wanting, Francis, by the advice of his chancellor Duprat, not only restored the taxes which Louis had abolished, but exposed the offices of the crown to sale, and endeavoured to augment his treasures, by means, if possible, still more unjust, impolitic, and arbitrary. As soon as he deemed himself quite prepared for the conquest, he openly avowed his determination to march against Milan. As his designs had been suspect ed, a confederacy had been formed against him, consist ing of Maximilian, Ferdinand of Arragon, Leo X., Sforza, and the Swiss. But the character of Francis was of such a cast, that the knowledge of this confederacy, instead of leading him to drop or suspend his designs, only prompted him to their more speedy and resolute execution. As the Swiss guarded the Alps, it was necessary either to force the passes of the mountains, or to elude the vigilance of their protectors. Francis chose the latter. His soldiers, into whom he had inspired his own zeal and ardour, cut new roads ; and his forces were in Italy, before his op ponents thought that he had disentangled himself from the Alps. The first enemy which the forces of Francis en countered were the papal troops, which were negligently, and securely, as they thought, encamped on the banks of the Po. On these the French poured down, so unexpect edly and with so much violence, that they were speedily and easily discomfited. Hitherto Francis had remained in his own kingdom ; but as soon as he learnt of this suc cess, he hastened to put himself at the head of his armies, leaving his mother, Louisa of Savoy, regent during his absence.