XXIX. 1521. rather hurt the cause by his imprudent exercise of those CHAP. virtues. He frankly confessed, that many abominable and detestable practices prevailed in the court of Rome; and by this sincere avowal he gave occasion of much triumph to the Lutherans. This pontiff, also, whose penetration was not equal to his good intentions, was seduced to concur in that league which Charles and Henry had formed against France'; and he thereby augmented the scandal occasioned by the practice of so many preceding popes, who still made their spiritual arm subservient to political purposes. 1522. The emperor, who knew that Wolsey had received a disappointment in his ambitious hopes, by the election of Adrian, and who dreaded the resentment of that haughty minister, was solicitous to repair the breach made in their friendship by this incident. He paid another visit to England; and, besides flattering the vanity of the king 26th May. and the cardinal, he renewed to Wolsey all the promises which he had made him of seconding his pretensions to the papal throne. Wolsey, sensible that Adrian's great age and infirmities promised a speedy vacancy, dissembled his resentment, and was willing to hope for a more prosperous issue to the next election. The emperor renewed the treaty made at Bruges, to which some articles were added; and he agreed to indemnify both the king and Wolsey for the revenue which they should lose by a breach with France. The more to ingratiate himself with Henry and the English nation, he gave to Surrey, Admiral of England, a commission for being admiral of his dominions; and he himself was installed knight of the garter at London. After a stay of six weeks in England, he embarked at Southampton, and in ten days arrived in Spain, where he soon pacified the tumults which had arisen in his absence *. France. The king declared war against France; and this mea- War with sure was founded on so little reason, that he could allege nothing as a ground of quarrel, but Francis's refusal to submit to his arbitration, and his sending Albany into Scotland. This last step had not been taken by the French king till he was quite assured of Henry's resolution to attack him. Surrey landed some troops at Cher i Guicciardini, lib. 14. VOL. III. k Petrus de Angleria, epist. 765. XXIX. 1522. CHAP. bourg in Normandy; and, after laying waste the country, he sailed to Morlaix, a rich town in Britany, which he took and plundered. The English merchants had great property in that place, which was no more spared by the soldiers than the goods of the French. Surrey then left the charge of the fleet to the vice-admiral, and sailed to Calais, where he took the command of the English army destined for the invasion of France. This army, when joined by forces from the Low Countries, under the command of the Count de Buren, amounted in the whole to eighteen thousand men. Invasion of The French had made it a maxim, in almost all their wars with the English since the reign of Charles V., never, without great necessity, to hazard a general engagement; and the Duke of Vendôme, who commanded the French army, now embraced this wise policy. He supplied the towns most exposed, especially Boulogne, Montreuil, Teroüenne, Hedin, with strong garrisons and plenty of provisions: he himself took post at Abbeville, with some Swiss and French infantry, and a body of cavalry the Count of Guise encamped under Montreuil with six thousand men. These two bodies were in a situation to join upon occasion; to throw supply into any town that was threatened; and to harass the English in every movement. Surrey, who was not provided with magazines, first divided his troops for the convenience of subsisting them; but finding that his quarters were every moment beaten up by the activity of the French generals, he drew together his forces and laid siege to Hedin. But neither did he succeed in this enterprise. The garrison made vigorous sallies upon his army: the French forces assaulted him from without: great rains fell: fatigue and bad weather threw the soldiers into dysenteries: and Surrey was obliged to raise the siege and put his troops into winter quarters about the end of October. His rear guard was attacked at Pas, in Artois, and five or six hundred men were cut off; nor could all his efforts make him master of one place within the French frontier. The allies were more successful in Italy. Lautrec, who commanded the French, lost a great battle at Bicocca, near Milan, and was obliged to retire with the remains of his army. This misfortune, which proceeded from Francis's negligence in not supplying Lautrec with money', was followed by the loss of Genoa. The castle of Cremona was the sole fortress in Italy which remained in the hands of the French. CHAP. XXIX. 1522. Scotland. Europe was now in such a situation, and so connected by different alliances and interests, that it was almost impossible for war to be kindled in one part and not diffuse itself throughout the whole: but of all the leagues among kingdoms, the closest was that which had so long subsisted between France and Scotland; and the English, while at war with the former nation, could not hope to remain long unmolested on the northern frontier. No War with sooner had Albany arrived in Scotland, than he took measures for kindling a war with England; and he summoned the whole force of the kingdom to meet in the fields of Rosline". He thence conducted the army southwards into Annandale, and prepared to pass the borders at Solway-Frith. But many of the nobility were disgusted with the regent's administration; and observing that his connexions with Scotland were feeble in comparison with those which he maintained with France, they murmured that, for the sake of foreign interests, their peace should so often be disturbed, and war, during their king's minority, be wantonly entered into with a neighbouring nation, so much superior in force and riches. The Gordons, in particular, refused to advance any farther; and Albany, observing a general discontent to prevail, was obliged to conclude a truce with Lord Dacres, warden of the English west marches. Soon after he departed for France; and lest the opposite faction should gather force in his absence, he sent thither before him the Earl of Angus, husband to the queendowager. Next year, Henry, that he might take advantage of 1523. the regent's absence, marched an army into Scotland under the command of Surrey, who ravaged the Merse and Teviotdale without opposition, and burned the town of Jedburgh. The Scots had neither king nor regent to conduct them the two Humes had been put to death: Angus was in a manner banished: no nobleman of vigour or authority remained, who was qualified to as1 Guicciardini. lib. 14. m Buchanan, lib. 14. Drummond. Pitscottie. XXIX. 1523. CHAP. Sume the government: and the English monarch, who knew the distressed situation of the country, determined to push them to extremity, in hopes of engaging them, by the sense of their present weakness, to make a solemn renunciation of the French alliance, and to embrace that of England". He even gave them hopes of contracting a marriage between the Lady Mary, heiress of England, and their young monarch; an expedient which would for ever unite the two kingdoms: and the queendowager, with her whole party, recommended every where the advantages of this alliance, and of a confederacy with Henry. They said, that the interests of Scotland had too long been sacrificed to those of the French nation, who, whenever they found themselves reduced to difficulties, called for the assistance of their allies; but were ready to abandon them as soon as they found their advantage in making peace with England: that where a small state entered into so close a confederacy with a greater, it must always expect this treatment, as a consequence of the unequal alliance: but there were peculiar circumstances in the situation of the kingdoms which, in the present case, rendered it inevitable: that France was so distant, and so divided from them by sea, that she scarcely could by any means, and never could in time, send succours to the Scots, sufficient to protect them against ravages from the neighbouring kingdom: that nature had in a manner formed an alliance between the two British nations; having enclosed them in the same island; given them the same manners, language, laws, and form of government; and prepared every thing for an intimate union between them; and that if national antipathies were abolished, which would soon be the effect of peace, these two kingdoms, secured by the ocean and by their domestic force, could set at defiance all foreign enemies, and remain for ever safe and unmolested. The partisans of the French alliance, on the other hand, said, that the very reasons which were urged in favour of a league with England, the vicinity of the kingdom and its superior force, were the real causes why a sincere and durable confederacy could never be formed n Buchanan, lib. 14. Herbert. • Le Grand, vol. iii. P. 39. XXIX. 1523. with that hostile nation: that among neighbouring CHAP. states occasions of quarrel were frequent; and the more powerful would be sure to seize every frivolous pretence for oppressing the weaker, and reducing it to subjection: that as the near neighbourhood of France and England had kindled a war almost perpetual between them, it was the interest of the Scots, if they wished to maintain their independence, to preserve their league with the former kingdom, which balanced the force of the latter: that if they deserted that old and salutary alliance, on which their importance in Europe chiefly depended, their ancient enemies, stimulated both by interest and by passion, would soon invade them with superior force, and bereave them of all their liberties; or if they delayed the attack, the insidious peace, by making the Scots forget the use of arms, would only prepare the way for a slavery more certain and more irretrievable". The arguments employed by the French party, being seconded by the natural prejudices of the people, seemed most prevalent: and when the regent himself, who had been long detained beyond his appointed time by the danger from the English fleet, at last appeared among them, he was able to throw the balance entirely on that side. By authority of the convention of states, he assembled an army, with a view of avenging the ravages committed by the English in the beginning of the campaign; and he led them southwards towards the borders. But when they were passing the Tweed at the bridge of Melross, the English party raised again such opposition, that Albany thought proper to make a retreat. He marched downwards along the banks of the Tweed, keeping that river on his right; and fixed his camp opposite to Werk-castle, which Surrey had lately repaired. He sent over some troops to besiege this fortress, who made a breach in it, and stormed some of the outworks; but the regent, hearing of the approach of an English army, and discouraged by the advanced season, thought proper to disband his forces, and retire to Edinburgh. Soon after, he went over to France, and never again returned to Scotland. The Scottish nation, agitated by their domestic factions, were not during several P Buchanan, lib. 14. |