The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol. I., Part C.: From Henry VII. to Mary
David Hume · en
The opposition which Henry met with in Scotland from the French
intrigues, excited his resentment, and further confirmed the resolution
which he had already taken of breaking with France, and of uniting
his arms with those of the emperor. He had other grounds of complaint
against the French king; which, though not of great importance, yet
being recent, were able to overbalance those great injuries which he had
formerly received from Charles. He pretended that Francis had engaged to
imitate his example in separating himself entirely from the see of
Rome, and that he had broken his promise in that particular. He was
dissatisfied that James, his nephew, had been allowed to marry, first
Magdalene of France, then a princess of the house of Guise; and
he considered these alliances as pledges which Francis gave of his
intentions to support the Scots against the power of England.[**] He had
been informed of some railleries which the French king had thrown out
against his conduct with regard to his wives. He was disgusted that
Francis, after so many obligations which he owed him, had sacrificed
him to the emperor; and, in the confidence of friendship, had rashly
revealed his secrets to that subtle and interested monarch. And he
complained that regular payments were never made of the sums due to him
by France, and of the pension which had been stipulated. Impelled by
all these motives, he alienated himself from his ancient friend and
confederate, and formed a league with the emperor, who earnestly courted
his alliance.
* Buchanan, lib. xv. Drummond.
** Pere Daniel.
This league, besides stipulations for mutual defence, contained a plan
for invading France; and the two monarchs agreed to enter Francis’s
dominions with an army, each of twenty-five thousand men; and to require
that prince to pay Henry all the sums which he owed him, and to consign
Boulogne, Montreuil, Terouenne, and Ardres, as a security for the
regular payment of his pension for the future: in case these conditions
were rejected, the confederate princes agreed to challenge, for Henry,
the crown of France, or, in default of it, the duchies of Normandy,
Aquitaine, and Guienne; for Charles the duchy of Burgundy, and some
other territories.[*] That they might have a pretence for enforcing
these claims, they sent a message to Francis, requiring him to renounce
his alliance with Sultan Solyman, and to make reparation for all
the prejudice which Christendom had sustained from that unnatural
confederacy. Upon the French king’s refusal, war was declared against
him by the allies. It may be proper to remark, that the partisans
of France objected to Charles’s alliance with the heretical king of
England, as no less obnoxious than that which Francis had contracted
with Solyman: and they observed, that this league was a breach of the
solemn promise which he had given to Clement VII., never to make peace
or alliance with England.