DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.63221#0180
140
THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE
lists as heir to the Bourbon dominions. She based her claim on
the fact that she was Suzanne’s first cousin, whereas the Con-
stable’s kinship was more distant. The lawsuit ended in a ver-
dict which gave the lands to the Crown. The King presented
them to his mother—thus ruining Bourbon, who soon after lost
other territories left him by Anne de Bretagne. He appealed
against the decision of the Judges, and a Commission was
instituted to go down to the disputed province of the
Bourbonnais and enquire into the business. The Commissioners,
refusing to be responsible, referred the matter to the Parlement.
But the Constable was prudent as well as impetuous. He
knew how to make friends with the children of unrighteous-
ness. As early as 1521 he began his plottings with the
Emperor; in ’22, they took more definite form; and in ’23,
at Bourg-en-Bresse, he made a formal pact with Charles V.
Bourbon swore to serve him against all his enemies, in return
for a large sum of money, a leading position in the army,
and one of the Emperor’s sisters, Eleonora or Catherine, in
marriage. Charles V was to invade France with his ally,
Henry VIII, and Bourbon was to have a free hand with
the English troops. At first he refused the condition imposed
by Henry,—that, when the war ended in the Allies’ partition
of the French Kingdom, the Constable should acknowledge
the English monarch as King both of England and France;
but he acceded later, on the promise of the whole of Provence.
He was also to regain the Bourbonnais. With overweening
pride, he refused the Emperor’s offer of the Order of the
Golden Fleece. It is difficult to detect the goal for which
his giant daring was making. It was probably nothing less
than the throne of France.
THE FRENCH RENAISSANCE
lists as heir to the Bourbon dominions. She based her claim on
the fact that she was Suzanne’s first cousin, whereas the Con-
stable’s kinship was more distant. The lawsuit ended in a ver-
dict which gave the lands to the Crown. The King presented
them to his mother—thus ruining Bourbon, who soon after lost
other territories left him by Anne de Bretagne. He appealed
against the decision of the Judges, and a Commission was
instituted to go down to the disputed province of the
Bourbonnais and enquire into the business. The Commissioners,
refusing to be responsible, referred the matter to the Parlement.
But the Constable was prudent as well as impetuous. He
knew how to make friends with the children of unrighteous-
ness. As early as 1521 he began his plottings with the
Emperor; in ’22, they took more definite form; and in ’23,
at Bourg-en-Bresse, he made a formal pact with Charles V.
Bourbon swore to serve him against all his enemies, in return
for a large sum of money, a leading position in the army,
and one of the Emperor’s sisters, Eleonora or Catherine, in
marriage. Charles V was to invade France with his ally,
Henry VIII, and Bourbon was to have a free hand with
the English troops. At first he refused the condition imposed
by Henry,—that, when the war ended in the Allies’ partition
of the French Kingdom, the Constable should acknowledge
the English monarch as King both of England and France;
but he acceded later, on the promise of the whole of Provence.
He was also to regain the Bourbonnais. With overweening
pride, he refused the Emperor’s offer of the Order of the
Golden Fleece. It is difficult to detect the goal for which
his giant daring was making. It was probably nothing less
than the throne of France.