It must not be forgotten that the boundaries of France varied considerably during the sixteenth century. Thus Artois and Flanders, at the accession of Francis the First, were nominally fiefs of the French crown, for which Charles of Austria sent to France a very honorable embassy, with Henry, Count of Nassau, at its head, to do homage to the young prince. It was on this occasion that Francis, desirous of gratifying Charles, proposed or consented to the marriage of his favorite with Claude de Châlons, daughter of the Prince of Orange (Jean de Serres, Inventaire Général de l'Histoire de France, 1619, ii. 4, Motley, Dutch Republic, i. 234). Eleven years later, January, 1526, by the Treaty of Madrid, Francis renounced his suzerainty over the counties of Artois and Flanders, as a condition of his release from captivity (Inventaire Général, ii. 96). On the other hand, not to speak of the "Three Bishoprics"--Metz, Toul, and Verdun--definitely incorporated with the French dominions in 1552, France had for a longer or shorter time possession of the Duchy of Milan, of the island of Corsica, and of Piedmont. Not only Bresse, but the very Duchy of Savoy, were for years merged in the realm of France, until restored to Philibert Emmanuel by the disgraceful Treaty of Cateau-Cambrésis. FOOTNOTES: [Footnote 3: Mignet, Essai sur la formation territoriale et politique de la France depuis la fin du onzième siècle jusqu'à la fin du quiinzième. Notices et Mémoires Historiques, ii. 154.] [Footnote 4: Mignet, 157, 158.] [Footnote 5: A manuscript chronicle of the time of Charles the Sixth, quoted by Guizot, Histoire de la Civilisation en France, iv. 144, states the interesting fact that the inhabitants of Périgord and the adjoining districts, thus surrendered to Henry the Third of England, for centuries bore so hearty a grudge against the French king, of whom the rest of France was justly proud, and whose name the church had enrolled in the calendar, that they never would consent to regard him as a saint or to celebrate his feast day!] [Footnote 6: "Le quali tutte provincie sono così bene poste," etc. Relazione di Francia dell' Amb. Marino Cavalli, in Relations des Ambassadeurs Vénitiens (Tommaseo, Paris), i. 220.] [Footnote 7: "Dico che il regno di Francia per universal consenso del mondo fu riputato _il primo regno di cristianità_," etc. Commentario del regno di Francia del clarissimo sig. Michel Suriano, Rel. des Amb. Vén., i. 470.] [Footnote 8: "Dopo il papa che è universal capo della religione, e la signoria di Venezia, che, come è nata, s'è conservata sempre cristiana." Suriano, _ubi supra_, i. 472.] [Footnote 9: This was in the early part of Queen Elizabeth's reign, Dec. 15, 1559, MSS. British Museum. I use the summary in the Calendar of State Papers (Stevenson), p. 197, note.]