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

weary
months in the Alcazar? Besides, the alternative was a
renewal of the war, since the truce was on the point of
expiring; and war at the present juncture would risk all that
was assured by the treaty. For Charles could no longer rely
on the support of those who had hitherto sustained him, or
on the neutrality of those who had permitted him to conquer.
Henry VIII, without as yet declaring himself his enemy, had
become the ally of France; Venice, Florence, the Pope, and
the Duke of Milan were intriguing against him; his brother
Ferdinand, crippled by a rebellion in the Tyrol, was quite
unable to render him assistance. He was, in fact, completely
isolated, and, so far from being in a position to invade France,
would be obliged to act entirely on the defensive.
    For these reasons he decided to disregard the advice of
Gattinara, and to accept the advantages which were conceded
to him under the conditions on which they were offered. If,
however, he consented to the liberation of François, he did
not fail to take every possible precaution to render the treaty
inviolable. Not only did he insist upon the most precious
hostages, but he demanded that the King should swear upon
the Gospel to fulfil his engagements, and give his word of
honour as a knight that he would return to prison, if within
four months all the conditions of the treaty were not realised.
    François complied readily enough, but he had not the
remotest intention of keeping his word. What moral fibre he
possessed had been hopelessly sapped by his imprisonment;
and on January 13, 1526 — the day before the treaty was signed
— he had summoned to the Alcazar the Président de Selve, the
Archbishop of Embrun, Chabot de Brion, Jean de la Barre,
Provost of Paris, and his secretary Bayard, and, after exacting
from each of them an oath of secrecy, entered a solemnprotest against the treaty to which he was being compelled to
submit "by force and constraint," and declared the obligations
which he was on the point of contracting "null and of no
effect," as attempts upon the rights of his crown, hurtful to
France, and injurious to his honour. 13
    Six days after the conclusion of the Treaty of Madrid,
François was betrothed to the Queen-Dowager of Portugal.
As the King was suffering from an attack of fever, and, indeed,
was too ill to leave his bed, the ceremony had perforce to take
place in his apartment at the Alcazar, Lannoy representing
his future consort. A betrothal in such circumstances could
scarcely be considered to augur well for the happiness of the
royal pair; but Charles V was impatient to secure yet another
guarantee for the fulfilment of his Most Christian Majesty's
engagements.
    Since etiquette required François to address a complimentary
letter to his fiancée, he wrote to the Emperor to inquire
by what title it was his wish that he should address her; and
Charles in reply authorised him to address her by the name of
wife, "which before God she already is."
    As some weeks must elapse before the hostages could arrive
in Spain, François was obliged to remain at Madrid. It might
be supposed that during this interval he would have been
permitted to exchange his gloomy prison for some more
cheerful residence, or, at least, that the constraint to which
he had been so long subjected would have been relaxed.
But, in spite of the representations of the gentlemen of his
suite and the Archbishop of Embrun, he remained in the
Alcazar and was kept under perpetual surveillance. Arquebusiers mounted guard at the door of his chamber, both night
and day, and even while he slept his attendants were obliged
to admit the officers of the fortress, who came at intervals to
satisfy themselves that he was still there. 14 The only concession was permission to leave his prison, though always
accompanied by his guards, in order to go and hear Mass atcelebrated churches or to visit convents. On these occasions,
the populace, whose admiration the had gained by his handsome presence