A. C. 1490 deavouring to detach Henry from the intereft of Charles fends an embaffy to follicit peace. Anne, but in reality to learn what he had to hope. er to fear from the English monarch. For this England to purpoie he chofe Francis' de Luxembourg, viscount de Martigues, Valéran de Sams, and Robert Gaguin, minifter-general of the order of the Trinity. Thefe ambaffadors arriving in England, had an audience of the king at London, at which nothing material was tranfacted: but Richard Fox, bishop of Exeter, Thomas earl of Ormond, and fome others, being appointed commiffioners to treat with them, the general of the trinity, at their firft conference, in a very humble fpeech, obferved, that he and his collegues were fent to demand peace of the king of England, for whom Charles had the most profound efteem; that their mafter proposed to make a conqueft of Naples, which was unjustly detained from him by a baftard of the houfe of Arragon; and that, after having finished that enterprize, his intention was to carry his armsinto the Eaft, and overthrow the Ottoman empire; that in these sentiments he made no fcruple to demand peace of all the European princes, that he might not, by their means, be diverted from the execution of a project that would redound fo much to the glory and advantage of the chriftian religion; and finally, that, as a mark of his eager defire to maintain a good correfpondence with the king of England, he, though undoubted lord paramount of Bretagne, and confequently intitled to the wardship of the dutchefs, defired that king. Henry would confent to his difpofing of her in marriage as he fhould think proper. To this lowly remonftrance, the chancellor, in the king's name, made a very lofty reply. He faid the good underftanding between his mafter and the French king was not to be reftored by words but by actions; that, with refpect to the marriage of Anne dutchefs dutchess of Brittany, king Henry had no intention A. C. 1490. to intermeddle in the affair, provided Charles would act by the law and not by the fword; and as for his defigns upon the kingdom of Naples, he would only make one obfervation, which was, that if Charles thought his honour engaged to recover that realm, he could not be surprised that the king of England would do his utmost endeavour to retrieve the poffeffion of Guienne, Normandy, and the whole kingdom of France, which was his lawful inheritance. The French ambaffadors, furprised at this declaration, answered with fome warmth, that the king their fovereign was not afraid of fuch menaces, and knew how to defend his juft rights against any prince or perfon who should attempt to invade them. The chancellor replied without emotion, that the king expected no other anfwer from them, but that he would in a little time fend ambaffadors into France, in order to explain his intentions to their mafter. Mean while he asked if Charles would be contented, fhould the king of England confent to his difpofing of the dutchefs of Bretagne in marriage, with an exclufion of his own perfon. To this queftion the ambaffadors replied, that their king was fo far from entertaining any thought of efpoufing the dutchefs, that he had given them no inftructions on the fubject. Henry, upon this occafion, fpun his thread of politics too fine. His intention was to intimidate Charles; and for that purpose, he made ufe of a rhodomontade which produced a contrary effect. The French king knew he was too wife to embark in fuch an enterprize as the conqueft of France, and therefore interpreted his menaces into an artifice for deterring him from the conqueft of Brittany, which he refolved to profecute without further hesitation. In the month of February, the king, according to his promife, fent ambaffadors to France, with T 3 power T fieges the Brittany in Renues. A.C. 1491. power to treat of all the differences fubfifting beCharles be- tween him and Charles, as well as concerning the affairs of Brittany; and immediately after he had difmiffed these envoys, he received an embaffy from Anne. Thinking it unneceffary to conceal her marriage with Maximilian any longer from the knowledge of Henry, who affumed the name of her protector, fhe fent a folemn deputation, compofed of the prince of Orange, the count de Dunois, and the chancellor, to notify it to him, and follicit his immediate fuccour. Charles was no fooner informed of this match, than he befieged the dutchess in her capital city of Rennes; and during the fiege, which lafted feveral months, fhe fent repeated envoys to Henry, demanding affiftance. He made ufe of thefe preffing follicitations, as a pretence for raifing loans of money through the whole kingdom. He renewed the league with Ferdinand and Maximilian, who fent two thousand men to the affiftance of his wife, while his allies engaged to enter France at the head of two good armies, by the month of June in the following year. Not that either of thefe allies intended to fulfil this engagement. Ferdinand was otherwife employed in the war of Gre nada; the king of the Romans was deftitute of troops and money; and Henry, perceiving at laft that Bretagne muft certainly be conquered, would by no means engage alone in its defence. Their views therefore in this alliance had a very different termination. Ferdinand hoped his league with Henry would induce Charles to purchase his for bearance with the reftitution of Rouffillon. The king of the Romans wanted to involve Ferdinand and Henry in a war, of which he would reap the whole fruit, without bearing any fhare of the labour; and the fole aim of Henry was, by the terror of this triple alliance, to extort from Charles fecurity fecurity for the payment of the demands which he A., 1491.. had upon France and Brittany. efs confents Charles. The French king, without being much disturbed The dutchby these negotiations, continued the fiege of Ren- to marry nes; but, as he made little progrefs in his operations, and the feafon was already far advanced, he took a more efficacious method to fecure the poffeffion of Bretagne. He bribed all the counfellors of the young dutchefs, to perfuade her to renounce her marriage with Maximilian, and receive himself as her husband. The princess, who was then about fifteen years of age, at first refifted all their follicitations, observing that he could not in honour abandon a prince whom the had voluntarily married. But they alledged that Maximilan had abandoned her, in relinquishing her interest and living quietly in Germany, without offering to come in perfon and undertake her defence, or fending fuccours proportioned to her occafions. They reprefented that, confidering the prefent fituation of affairs, Brittany would certainly become a province of France, and Maximilian would manifeft ftill lefs regard for her, when he should fee her ftripped of her dominions; fo that fhe would have the completed mortification to lose her hufband and her dutchy, and fee her fubjects reduced to flavery that in marrying the king of France she might fecure to herself the fovereignty of Bretagne, and preferve the liberty of her people and that the age of Charles was more fuitable to her own than that of Maximilian, who was already advanced in years. The king of France, finding her deaf to all these remonftrances, devised another expedient to overcome her obftinacy. Knowing what an afcendency the duke of Orleans had gained over the mind of this young princefs, he released him from the tower of Bourges, in which he had been onfined fince the battle of St. Aubin, on condition 4. C. 1491 Argentré. Mezerai. Henry con liament, that he fhould employ all his influence with the dutchefs, in obtaining her confent to the marriage. The duke, tired of his imprisonment, readily undertook the office, and repairing to Rennes, actually reconciled the dutchefs to the propofal; fo that the match was concluded on the fixteenth day of December. While this affair was in agitation, Charles convokes a par- tinued to amufe the English ambaffadors, who and declares were no fooner informed of the purposed marriage on to invade than they retired without taking leave, and report his refoluti France. ed their discovery to Henry, who was not a little confounded at finding himfelf fo egregiously duped, and in fuch danger of lofing the money which he had expended in the defence of Bretagne. Nevertheless, he had ftill another advantage over Charles, of which he did not fail to avail himself. That prince had projected the conqueft of Naples; and as a rupture in England would have greatly interfered with the execution of his defign, he fought to avoid it with the utmost care and circumfpection. Henry, being well acquainted with his views, affected the warmest refentment of the affront he had received, and threatened vengeance against the author. As foon as his ambaffadors had made their report, he iffued orders for levying troops and preparing transports, and declared he would forthwith carry the war into the bowels of France. Maximilian breathed nothing but revenge, when he understood that he was deprived of his wife in fuch an outrageous manner: he, like Henry, threatened to lay wafte the kingdom of France with fire aad fword; and the archduke Philip demanded that his fifter Margaret, who had been betrothed to Charles, might be fent back from Paris, where the refided for her education. The court of France however would not as yet comply with this demand, and feemed to difregard the threats |