By this time another marriage for Christina was being seriously discussed at the Imperial Court. Even before the Duke's death, the French King had done his best to provoke a quarrel with him, and had begun to make active preparations for war. Hardly had Francesco breathed his last, than he openly renewed his old claim to Milan, and sent an Ambassador to the Emperor at Naples, demanding the duchy for his second son, Henry, Duke of Orleans, the husband of Catherine de' Medici. This plan, which would have made the French supreme in North Italy, could not be entertained for a moment, but Charles, in his anxiety to avoid war, was ready to accept almost any other alternative. When his sister Eleanor implored him to agree to her husband's proposal, and, by way of cementing the alliance, give "the little widow of Milan" in marriage to the King's third son, the Duke of Angoulême, he replied that he would gladly treat of the proposed marriage, but only on condition that Angoulême, not Orleans, was put in possession of Milan.
The union of the French Prince with Christina now became the subject of prolonged negotiations between the two Courts. The Imperial Chancellor, Granvelle, drew up a long and careful memorandum, dwelling on the obvious advantages of the scheme, on the virtues and charms of the young Duchess, on her large dowry and great popularity in Milan, and Charles told Francis plainly that he would agree to no scheme by which the widowed Duchess was removed from the State, "where she was so much beloved and honoured, and where the people placed all their hopes of tranquillity in her presence." One great object of these negotiations, he wrote, "is to find a noble and suitable husband for our niece, the Widow of Milan, who is to us almost a daughter, and who has always shown herself so discreet and so obedient to our wishes."[131]
March, 1536] MANY SUITORS
Both the Pope and the Venetians supported this scheme as the best means of avoiding war and preserving the independence of Milan. At the same time Pope Paul did not fail to put in a plea for his own kinsman, the son of his niece Cecilia Farnese, and Count Bosio Sforza, a descendant of Francesco I.'s half-brother. Bosio had been a loyal supporter of the late Duke, but died soon after Christina's marriage, leaving a son of fifteen, who was brought up at the Court of Milan. The Pope himself addressed a grateful letter to Christina, thanking her for the kindness which she had shown the boy, and throwing out a hint that a marriage with her young Sforza cousin might be possible. Another husband whom Granvelle proposed for her was Duke Alexander of Florence, but, fortunately, Charles decided to give him his own illegitimate daughter Margaret, and Christina thus escaped union with this reckless and profligate Prince, who was soon afterwards murdered by his kinsman.[132] Meanwhile the Scottish Ambassadors at the French Court made proposals to the Emperor on behalf of their King, James V., who had not yet made up his mind to wed Magdalen of Valois, and these negotiations were only interrupted by the high-handed action of King Henry's new favourite, Thomas Cromwell. Thus, a few weeks after the Duke of Milan's death his widow's hand had become the subject of animated controversy in all the Courts of Europe.[133]
But while others were negotiating the French were arming. On the 6th of March, the first day of Carnival, news reached Milan that a French army had crossed the Alps. The strong citadel of Montmélian was betrayed by the treachery of a Neapolitan captain, and after a gallant defence the Duke of Savoy was compelled to evacuate Turin, and take refuge with his wife and children at Vercelli. All hope of peace was now over, and, in a consistory held in the Vatican on the 8th of April, the Emperor appealed to the Pope to bear witness how earnestly he had tried to prevent war, and how fruitless his efforts had proved. At Granvelle's suggestion, he determined to carry the war into the enemy's country, and, following in the steps of Charles VIII., crossed the Apennines, and marched by the Emilian Way and along the banks of the Po towards Asti.
May, 1536] MEETING WITH CHARLES V.
The dread of a French invasion had united all parties in Milan. The citizens forgot their hatred of the Spaniards in their terror of another siege, and cheerfully submitted to fresh taxes to pay the defending army. It was a late spring that year in Lombardy, the weather was bitterly cold, and by the end of April the vines had only put forth tiny shoots, and the roses were not yet in flower. Nothing was heard in the streets but the din of approaching warfare, and the tramp of armed Landsknechten marching from Tyrol on their way to the frontier. But in the last days of April Christina's dull life was brightened by the sudden arrival of the Duchess of Savoy, who fled from the camp at Vercelli to take refuge in the Castello of Milan. Times were altered since the two Princesses had met at Turin, and the Duchess Beatrix, who had welcomed the little bride so warmly, was sadly changed in body and mind. She had lost her eldest son, and been driven out of her home by foreign invaders, never to return there again in her lifetime. With her she brought her two remaining children, the little Princess Catherine and Emanuel Philibert, who was one day to become famous as the bravest captain in Europe. And she also brought a treasure which excited the utmost enthusiasm among the Milanese—the Holy Shroud of St. Joseph of Arimathea, which had been preserved for centuries at Chambéry. Crowds flocked to the Duomo when Beatrix's Franciscan confessor preached, in the hope of seeing the precious Shroud; but the Duchess would not allow the relic to leave the Castello, and on the 7th it was exposed on the ramparts to the view of an enormous multitude assembled in the piazza.[134]
A week later Francesco Sforza's cousin, Ferrante Gonzaga, and the Duke of Savoy, came to Milan, but soon left for the camp. Beatrix then obtained permission to pay the Emperor a visit on his journey north, and by Charles's express request took Christina with her. On the 18th of May the magistrates of Pavia received orders from the Duchess of Milan's maggiordomo, Benedetto da Corte, to prepare lodgings for Her Excellency and the Duchess of Savoy, as near to each other as possible.[135] The Castello of Pavia had suffered terribly in the siege by Lautrec in 1528, but a few rooms were hastily furnished, and on the 20th Beatrix and Christina arrived, escorted by Count Massimiliano and several courtiers. Early on the following morning the two Duchesses rode out to Arena on the Po, where they found the Emperor awaiting them. Charles was unfeignedly glad to see both his sister-in-law and the niece whom he had left as a child at Brussels four years before, and welcomed them affectionately.[136] But the interview was a short one, and the next day he continued his journey to Asti, where he joined Antonio de Leyva and Ferrante Gonzaga, and prepared to invade Provence.
Oct., 1536] CARDINAL CARACCIOLO
Meanwhile Beatrix and Christina returned to Milan, and spent the summer together in the Castello. A close friendship sprang up between the two Duchesses. Beatrix took a motherly interest in her young companion, and the children's presence helped to cheer these anxious months. At first the Emperor's arms were entirely successful. The French retired before him to Avignon, laying the country waste, and he met with no opposition until he reached Aix, which resisted all his attacks. During the long siege which followed, his soldiers suffered severely from disease and famine, and many youths of the noblest Milanese families were among the victims.[137] Early in September, while Christina's own secretary, Belcorpo, was robbed and murdered on his way to the camp, Antonio de Leyva, the redoubtable Commander-in-Chief, died, and was buried in S. Eustorgio at Milan. The Papal Legate, Cardinal Caracciolo, a Neapolitan by birth, was appointed to succeed him as Viceroy of Milan. He had only just assumed the reins of office, and paid his first visit to the young Duchess, when he received a summons from the Emperor to join him at Genoa. Finding it impossible to reduce Aix, Charles had determined to abandon the campaign, and on the 16th of November a three months' truce was signed between the two monarchs. The Emperor was anxious to return to Spain, where his presence was sorely needed. But before his departure he sent for the Cardinal, desiring him to leave some trusty lieutenant to govern the State in his absence, and take charge of his niece the Duchess. Accordingly, Caracciolo went to Genoa on the 4th of October, accompanied by Beatrix of Savoy, who, after a long interview with the Emperor, joined her husband at Nice, the only city which still belonged to him. Soon after this her health gave way under the prolonged strain, and this once brilliant and beautiful woman died in January, 1538, as she said herself, of a broken heart.