A treaty was concluded between the king of France and the archduke, and a marriage agreed on between the archduke and the princess Renée, daughter to the late king, Louis XII. by the count of Nassau, and other ambassadors dispatched for this purpose. The count of Nassau was also betrothed to the daughter of the prince of Orange, whom he afterwards married. At this time, the duke of Bourbon was made constable of France,—and while the king remained at Paris, the duke of Suffolk espoused the queen-dowager of France, sister to Henry king of England. That king had sent the duke of Suffolk to France,—and when he carried his queen to England, he was grandly accompanied by the highest of the nobility. Thus was confirmed the peace between the two kingdoms. At this time also, the king of France sent to seek Pedro de Navarre, a prisoner of war, whom he set at liberty, gave him many rich gifts, and the command of a large body of men.
When all these marriages, and other matters, had been concluded, the king celebrated the feast of Easter in Paris, and then, with his queen and court, went by water as far as Montereau-faut-Yonne. He thence went, on the 1st of May, to a small castle called Egreville, where were some justings, and proceeded to Montargis and Briare, where he embarked on the Loire for Amboise. He made a public entry into all the towns he passed,—namely, Mehun, Montereau, Montargis, Blois, Amboise, and other small towns, where every honour was paid him.
While he was hunting at Amboise, a thorn pierced his leg, through boot and hose, and gave him such pain that he was for a time very ill.—During his residence at Amboise, the lord de Lorraine was married to mademoiselle de Bourbon, sister to the constable of France. Great feasts were displayed on the occasion, and the court of the donjon of the castle was covered with an awning of cloth, to keep off the rays of the sun. In the evening of that day were great maskings and mummeries, with morris-dancers richly dressed, and divers pastimes.
These feastings being over, the king departed, very early one morning, for Romorantin[55], where he was also grandly entertained by the lady, his mother. While with her, he received intelligence that the Swiss had entered Dauphiny, near to Briançon, and burnt a village close to Château Dauphin; on which, he took a hasty leave of his mother, and set off suddenly for Bourges, where he made a public entry. The king departed, on the morrow, in haste, for Moulins, where the duchess of Bourbon handsomely received him,—and his entry was splendid for so small a town; for there were triumphant cars, filled with the handsomest ladies of the country, representations of ships and wild beasts, mounted by the beauties of the town, who preceded the king on his entry. The king left Moulins for Lyon, where a most magnificent entry was prepared for him. He gave there his final orders respecting the provision and stores, which were in a state of forwardness to be transported over the Alps, for the prosecution of the war in the Milanese. During his absence in Italy, he nominated his mother, the duchess of Anjou and Maine, countess of Angoulême, &c. regent of the kingdom.
Shortly after, the king departed from Lyon, and went to Grenoble, where he made a handsome entry, and staid there until his preparations should be completed. About this period, the young son of Frederic late king of Naples died: he had already commenced a warlike career; and had he lived I believe he would have made a figure as a warrior, for he was very courageous and virtuous.
When the king set out from Grenoble, he passed through Embrun, although his army, or the greater part, had taken the road through the small town of Duissant, for there had been formed stores of provision on all that line of march. The king halted at Guillestre[56], and afterward at Saint Paul[57], and then traversed a road so bad that it was thought no man had ever before attempted it. Great difficulties attended this march, and the poor infantry suffered much; for as the artillery was to pass this road, the cannon were dismounted, and dragged by men over the rocks.
During this time, the pope had sent fifteen hundred horse, well appointed, under the command of Prospero Colonna, to join the forces of Maximilian, in the hope of surprising the king before he could pass the mountains; but Prospero, ignorant how near he was to the French, or that they had succeeded in passing the Alps, had halted at a town in Piedmont called Villa-franca[58]. Of this circumstance, a peasant of that country had informed one of the king's gentlemen, named the lord de la Morette, and that, as Prospero was quite unsuspicious of the French being so near, it would be easy to surprise him. The lord de la Morette lost no time to carry this news to the marshal de la Palisse, the lord d'Aubigny, the lord d'Imbercourt, Bayard and others, who all instantly agreed to follow the lord d'Imbercourt in the attempt to surprise Colonna. He had sent forward one of his archers to reconnoitre, who reported, that as Colonna and his men were just sitting down to dinner, and entirely off their guard, an immediate attack would be necessary: d'Imbercourt sent, therefore, to hasten the march of La Palisse and the others.
Notwithstanding this, d'Imbercourt boldly advanced to enter Villa Franca,—when as his trumpet was within the gates, and had sounded his charge, his horse's neck was inclosed within them; but the men at arms came to his relief, by crossing their lances over the horse, and put to death all who had opposed them at the gate.