Free Henri II: His Court and Times by H Noel Williams

and consented, by perpetual and irrevocable
edict, that our very dear and beloved son François should be
henceforth declared Very Christian King of France, and as
King should be crowned, anointed, and consecrated." Louise
of Savoy, or, in the event of her death, the Duchesse d'Alençon, was appointed Regent, and he reserved to himself
the right of resuming the Crown, if he ever recovered his
liberty. 11
    This heroic resolution was duly communicated to the
Emperor by Montmorency, accompanied by a request that he
would permit his Majesty's entourage to be placed on such a
footing as would be suitable for an ex-sovereign who had
resigned himself to the idea of spending the remainder of his
days in captivity. Charles, however, did not appear to be
greatly perturbed by the announcement. He knew that
François was a bad subject for prison life, however much
latitude might be allowed him, and believed that he was far
too selfish to sacrifice himself for his kingdom.
    Events justified this belief, for on December 19, 1525, at
the moment when Montmorency was on the point of setting
out for France with the deed of abdication, the King directed
the French envoys to surrender Burgundy in full sovereignty,
stipulating, however, that their master should first be set atliberty, since the cession of so large an extent of territory presented difficulties which could only be overcome by the
presence of François in his own realm. To this stipulation
Charles consented, and on January 14, 1526, the Treaty of
Madrid was concluded.
    By the terms of this famous treaty, François engaged to
"restore" to the Emperor the possessions of Charles the
Bold, the latter, however, abandoning the counties of Maçon
and Auxerre and the
seigneurie
of Bar-sur-Seine, which he
gave by way of dowry to his sister Eleanor, whom François
undertook to marry. The King of France resigned all claims
on the Milanese, Genoa, Asti, and Naples; abandoned Italy
entirely to the Emperor; promised that a French fleet should
escort Charles when he went to Italy for the purpose of his
coronation, and that he would co-operate with him in person
in a crusade against the Infidel and in the suppression of
Lutherans and other heretics; renounced all his rights of
suzerainty over Flanders and Artois; withdrew his protection
from Henri d'Albret, King of Navarre, and his allies on the
Flemish frontier, Robert de la Marck and the Duke of
Guelders, and restored Bourbon and his accomplices to their
estates and dignities. Nothing was said about Bourbon's
promised kingdom in South-Eastern France, but it was understood that, as compensation for this and the hand of Eleanor,
he was to receive the Milanese, of which Francesco Sforza,
who had placed himself at the head of an abortive movement
for the independence of Italy, and was being blockaded by
the Spaniards in the citadel of Milan, was to be deprived.
Lastly, either the two elder sons of the King, the Dauphin
François and Henri, Duc d'Orleans, or the Dauphin and
twelve of the principal personages of the kingdom 12 were to be delivered up as hostages until all the stipulations of the
treaty had been fulfilled.
    It is not at first sight easy to understand how the shrewd
and cautious Charles could have consented to the release of
his prisoner until this treaty, so humiliating for France, had
been executed, or at least until he had been placed inpossession of Burgundy; and the Chancellor Gattinara protested in the
strongest terms consistent with respect against a step which he declared would
inevitably compromise, and perhaps lose altogether, the fruits of Pavia. But,
though the Emperor entertained far from an exalted opinion of François's character, he probably found it difficult to believe that he
intended to play him false. The long and stubborn resistance
which the King had opposed to his demands seemed to be a
guarantee of his good faith, for, if his intentions were otherwise, why had he not yielded before and escaped those