King Henry having, in 1509, given proofs of his peculiar goodwill towards the De la Poles, by excepting them in distinct terms from a general pardon, we cannot be surprised to learn that Richard--"Blanche Rose" they called him in France--had grown busy scheming against his sovereign. Louis XII. was then at war with Henry, and it served Louis's purpose to turn to account the "_instrument de trouble que le roi dans l'occassion pouvait faire agir en Angleterre--une étincelle qui pouvait y rallumer les anciennes incendies_." In 1512 we have John Stile reporting to Henry, that "your sayd rebel was mayde a Capytan of the Almaynys that went you to Navar, where many of the Almaynys now of late be slayne." "The Almaynys" were Richard's _lansquenets_, who indeed suffered great "hurte and los" in that ill-starred campaign. Richard fought there side by side with Bayard, and half starved with him on bread made of millet; and though their defeat meant disaster to the King of Navarre, the army were not altogether sorry to be called back to Artois, invaded by the English. Richard's command of the "French fleet for a rising in England," recorded by Peter Martyr, was probably only of brief duration. For we find him again at the head of his 6000 _lansquenets_ at Therouenne, besieged by the English, and taking part in the inglorious "battle of the Spurs"--so named because the French, taken by surprise while riding, not their war-horses, but their "hackneys," trusted more to their spurs than to their swords. That day of Guinegate helped to bring peace to England and France--and to send Richard to Metz. The Duc de Longueville, taken prisoner on that day, turned his captivity to account for negotiating a treaty of peace--one condition of which was that the Princess Mary, Henry VIII.'s sister, should be married to the all but dying Louis XII.--as the clerics of the Basoche said, "_Une hacquenée pour le porter bientost et plus doucement en enfer ou en paradis_." Another condition was, that Richard should be given up. To this Louis would not agree, but answered in almost the same terms which his cousin had used, "_Qu'il aimait mieux perdre tout ce qu'il possédait que de le conserver en violant l'hospitalité_." Some people say that this was mere bounce. But it had its effect.