As soon as he was sufficiently recovered, he prepared for hostilities ; and taking the field with a numerous army, spread terror through the Low Countries: Charles, on his part, was not slow in meeting his antagonist ; and near Valenciennes, the two monarchs, at the bead of their re spective forces, were opposed to each other. A thick fog at this time prevailed, and the Constable Bourbon entreat ed his sovereign to take advantage of it, and commence the attack. Francis, however, jealous of the military re putation of the Constable, refused to listen to his advice, and even manifested his jealousy, by bestowing the com mand of the van, to which the Constable, by virtue of his office, had an undoubted right, on Charles D'Alencon, the first prince of the blood. From this period, the Constable's dislike of Francis may naturally be dated.
Nothing of consequence occurred in the Netherlands; but Charles, who trusted as much, or more, to his intrigues as to his army, contrived to engage Henry VIII. and the Pope on his side. By the treaty entered into by them, it was agreed, that the Pope and the Emperor should unite their forces, for the purpose of driving the French from the Milanese, which was to be restored to Francisco Sforza ; that Parma and Placentia should be restored to the Pope, whom the emperor should also assist in conquering Ferrara. Henry, on his part, agreed to invade France on the side of Picardy with 40,000 men, and to bestow on Charles his only daughter, the Princess Mary.
As soon as Francis was apprised of the storm which threatened his Italian dominions, he prepared for their de fence ; but as his forces were either employed in the Low. Countries, or assembling on the frontiers of Spain, he was obliged to hire a body of men from the Swiss. For this purpose, he raised a large sum of money, which, however, his mother intercepted ; and, in consequence of the Swiss troops not receiving their pay, they retired front the stan dard of Francis. At this juncture, Milan was betrayed to the general of the Pope ; the other cities of the duchy fol lowed its example ; and the castle of Milan, with a few in considerable forts, alone remained to Francis. This great success, however, was indirectly the cause of the dissolu tion of the confederacy ; for Leo X. received the news with such transports of joy as brought on a fever and occasion ed his death. He had kept alive the confederacy, which expired with him. But Francis was still unable to recon quer his territories in the Milanese ; and in 1522, Fran cisco Sforza was restored to the whole of his paternal do minions.
The loss of the Milanese was not the only misfortune which assailed Francis at this time. Genoa expelled the French troops, and opened her gates to the army of' Charles. Henry of England openly declared war ; and his forces, united with the Flemings, invaded Picardy. But the French, inferior in numbers, baffled the designs of the invaders, by adhering to the politic plan of not fighting ; so that at last the English and Flemings were compelled to retreat. As soon as Francis saw that his territories were secure on the side of Flanders, he resolved to march himself into the Milanese. Before, however, he could put this plan into execution, he was alarmed by a conspiracy formed against him at home. The jealousy of the king with regard to the Constable Bourbon, has been already noticed. This nobleman, on his part, could not but feel indignant at the treatment to which this jealousy had given rise. His services, especially at the famous battle of Ma rignano, had never been requited ; on the contrary, the king, in more than one instance, had purposely slighted him. Perhaps, however, the feelings which this con duct on the part of the king produced, would not have stirred up the Constable to rebellion, had it not been for another circumstance. The mother of Francis, forget ting her age, fell in love with him. She offered him marriage. Ile refused her. Her love was thus converted into the most deadly hatred and revenge. A law-suit was commenced against him for the estates which he held in right of his deceased wife. The issue was such as might be expected ; justice was set at nought, and the Constable Bourbon found himself deprived of the greatest part of his property. In this state, he began or renewed his intrigues with Henry and Charles, who gladly embraced his alliance, and formed an actual treaty with him, according to which the conquest of France was projected, and if it were ef fected, Provence and Dauphine were to be assigned to the constable, with the title of King. In furtherance of this plan, the English monarch was to invade Picardy ; the em peror was to enter France by the Pyrenees ; and Bourbon was to penetrate with an army of Germans into Burgundy, where he expected to be joined by his numerous and pow erful adherents. The period for carrying these enterprises into execution was fixed ; as soon as Francis had crossed the Alps, the confederates were to put their respective ar mies into motion.