all
her address in order to procure his liberty on more reasonable terms.
Henry of England interposed his good offices to the same purpose; but
both with so little success that Francis, in despair, took suddenly the
resolution of resigning his crown, with all its rights and prerogatives,
to his son, the Dauphin, determining rather to end his days in prison
than to purchase his freedom by concessions unworthy of a king. The deed
for this purpose he signed with legal formality in Madrid, empowering
his sister to carry it into France, that it might be registered in all
the parliaments of the kingdom; and, at the same time, intimating his
intention to the Emperor, he desired him to name the place of his
confinement, and to assign him a proper number of attendants during the
remainder of his days.

This resolution of the French King had great effect; Charles began to be
sensible that, by pushing rigor to excess, he might defeat his own
measures; and instead of the vast advantages which he hoped to draw from
ransoming a powerful monarch, he might at last find in his hands a
prince without dominions or revenues. About the same time one of the
King of Navarre's domestics happened, by an extraordinary exertion of
fidelity, courage, and address, to procure his master an opportunity of
escaping from the prison in which he had been confined ever since the
battle of Pavia. This convinced the Emperor that the most vigilant
attention of his officers might be eluded by the ingenuity or boldness
of Francis or his attendants, and one unlucky hour might deprive him of
all the advantages which he had been so solicitous to obtain. By these
considerations he was induced to abate somewhat of his former demands.
On the other hand, Francis' impatience under confinement daily
increased; and having received certain intelligence of a powerful league
forming against his rival in Italy, he grew more compliant with regard
to his concessions, trusting that, if he could once obtain his liberty,
he would soon be in a condition to resume whatever he had yielded.

Such being the views and sentiments of the two monarchs, the treaty
which procured Francis his liberty was signed at Madrid on January 14,
1526.

SACK OF ROME BY THE IMPERIAL TROOPS

A.D. 1527

BENVENUTO CELLINI T. ADOLPHUS TROLLOPE

Charles, Duc de Bourbon, known as the Constable de Bourbon,
became famous in the wars of the emperor Charles V with
Francis I, King