Splendour of the Sun: redone

Chapter 11:
Matrimony leads to war:

With the marriage of Catherine of York and Francis of Angouleme relations between England, France and the Duchy of Brabant reached an all time low.

It wasn't the only alliance that would push Europe into war either - In May of 1508 Ludovico Sforza the deposed Duke of Milan died in captivity.

The Emperor stated that the true line of succession should be restored in Milan and proclaimed and recognised Francesco Sforza (the teenaged son of Gian Galeazzo Duke of Milan who had been deposed by Ludovica) - Francesco was also in captivity in France though his mother and sister had fled. The same year his sister Bona was betrothed to the Archduke Frederick (the emperors only surviving son by Elizabeth of York).

This alliance was a direct challenge to Louis XII's hold on the Duchy but given his and Maximilian's involvement with the Pope in attacking Venice any disagreement could be held off for a while.

Historians have often described the political relationships of 1508/09 as a tinder box and have stated that war was inevitable.

Treaty and Alliances 1508/1509:
Spain and France (tied by the Treaty of Marseilles that gave France her only ally, Spain is also technically still treaty bound to England, Louis is determined to hold on to Franche Comte and to prevent any restoration of the Duchy of Burgundy to Philip the Fair, he is also keen to end England's hold on Brittany)

England and Brabant (tied by treaty and long standing resentment of France - England is determined to retain Calais and Brittany and Edward V dreams of the long lost Angevin Empire, whilst Philip of Brabant is determined to regain the Duchy of Burgundy and extend his influence along the border between France and the Empire by reviving his grandfather's ambition to absorb the ancient Duchy of Lorraine into his territories.)

Scotland - is tied to England by the Treaty of Perpetual Peace but resentment of England remains and James IV wants to restore his country's ancient alliance with France.

Austria and the Empire - Maximillian's interests have turned to reforming the empire and looking to the east and the growing threat of the Ottoman Turks. However his resentment of France remains and his interests are concentrated on removing France from Milan an imperial territory.

Rumblings of War:

Although the Italian Wars had ended Pope Julius II was determined to curb Venetian expansion particularly into the Romagna region which was part of the Papal States and which Venice had seized in the chaos that had followed the end of the Borgia Papacy and Cesare Borgia's control of the Papal Armies.

He appealed to both the Emperor and France who for once were at peace with each other.

Maximillian had happily offered the Pope his services but in early 1508 his army's were humiliated forcing him to a truce with the Venetians.

The Pope again tried to form a new alliance - Louis XII and Maximilian II were browbeaten by the Papacy into coming to terms as was Ferdinand of Aragon.

On 10 December 1508, representatives of the Papacy, France, the Holy Roman Empire and Spain concluded the League of Cambrai against the Republic.

The agreement provided for the complete dismemberment of Venice's territory in Italy and for its partition among the signatories: Maximilian, in addition to regaining Istria, would receive Verona, Vicenza, Padua and the Friuli; France would annex Brescia, Crema, Bergamo and Cremona to its Milanese possessions; Ferdinand would seize Otranto; and the remainder, including Rimini and Ravenna, would be added to the Papal States.

On 15 April 1509, Louis left Milan at the head of a French army and moved rapidly into Venetian territory. On 14 May, Venetian forces confronted the French at the Battle of Agnadello; despite orders to retreat the army fought and was destroyed by the French.

The Venetian collapse continued and Louis proceeded to occupy Venetian territory with speed, Maximillian reinvaded and occupied the major cities that had not been occupied by the French - Padua, Verona and Vicenza. Julius, having in the meantime issued an interdict against Venice that excommunicated every citizen of the Republic, invaded the Romagna and seized Ravenna.

However revolts in Venetian cities would soon cause problems for the Emperor forcing him to despatch a larger Imperial army to the region in August laying seige to Padua.

All out War:

Edward V and Philip of Brabant had been approached to join the League but had both rejected papal overtures, given their relations with Louis were so poor.

The marriage of Catherine of York and Francis of Angouleme in the summer gave both men the excuse they'd wanted to take advantage of Louis' latest Italian adventure.

On August 21st Edward V's emmissaries confronted the King in Italy demanding that Edward's pension be increased, that Catherine of York's dowery from France be increased to an appropriate level and that the King of France recognise the rights of the Prince of Wales to succeed his mother in Brittany should Edward have no further sons by Anne of Brittany.

The English also requested that the French recognise Breton independence of the French crown and that the Duchy should be permanently attached to the English Crown. The offer was rejected outright - but Louis offered to allow the Pope to arbitrate any dispute with his "his dear brother" confidant that Julius would support him.

The same day Philip of Brabant's armies crossed into the Duchy of Lorraine, ill prepared and supporting the French King in Italy the Duchy's defences soon crumbled and Philip laid siege to Nancy by the second week of September.

Philip's invasion caused considerable discomfort for the Pope - who had no wish to discomfort Philip's father Maximilian but equally was keen to keep Louis XII happy. However Julius came under pressure from Louis and the Duke of Lorraine who urged him to put Philip under interdict for attacking without cause and whilst Lorraine was in the service of the Pope.
Julius dithered keen to keep everyone on side.
 
All out war continued:

In late September Edward V moved to attack, declaring that he could no longer tolerate insults from the King of France, English troops based in Brittany under the direct command of the King crossed the Breton border into Poitiers laying siege to the Port of La Rochelle, a second English army under the command of the Duke of York marched across central France laying siege to Angers.
Parliament had granted Edward an unprecedented levy to pay for his invasion of France, and numerous loans had been taken from merchents in London, Calais, Bruges and Antwerp.

With Louis XII still in Italy, co-ordinating the French defence fell to his teenaged cousin Francis of Angouleme and the Queen, Catherine of Aragon.

Catherine appealed to her father to provide assistance in curbing English aggression but received little support, likewise Louis again urged the Pope to pressure the Emperor to order Philip the Fair to desist his invasion of Lorraine, this was no more pressing for France as the bulk of Philip's army had started to move into Franche Comte and Louis was concerned that Philip's aim was to march south to the coast cutting his supply lines to his troops in Italy.

By November the situation in Italy was mixed.

Maximilian's initial successes had failed to lift the siege of cities like Padua which had revolted against Imperial rule and Venetian troops were soon able to retake many of their lost cities. Meanwhile Louis XII's troops still harried Venice preventing the Venetians from building on their achievements and tired of war and running low on funds an appeal was sent to the Pope - Julius' terms were harsh - Rome would regain the Romagnan cities, reparations would be paid to the Pope and Venice would lose her power to appoint clergy within the Republic - a truce was declared in early December and the full treaty would be signed on New Year's Day 1510.

Louis XII was furious at the signing of the truce between Venice and the League and simply ignored it. However the situation in France was causing him serious concerns.

Through the end of 1509 the French government had dithered over how to deal with the English invasion - Edward V had shown some skill and La Rochelle and other french ports had fallen to the English - and by January 1510 Edward's troops had moved inland laying siege to Poitiers.

The Duke of York had had less success - Angers had held out for three months and only fell to the English at Christmas. But by February 1510 England was moving to take much of Anjou and Poitiers largely unopposed.

The Brabantian force in the North had finally taken Nancy and Epinal and Philip's army had begun to march further south deep into Franche Comte, defences against Philip in the area were weak as many welcomed their 'lost duke' home.

In February the French finally acted - a force of French nobles led by the teenaged Francis of Angouleme met with Philip's larger army on a field near Chalon on February 26th - the Battle of Chalon would become the first major part of the fame of the young French Prince....thousands died turning the Saône River red.

Amidst the Butchery of Chalon - one man would pay a heavy price for his ambition - as the sun set over Chalon, Philip the Fair urged his troops onwards to crush the French who had been holding out since Noon refusing to give ground. The Duke's horse slid in the mud pitching him onto the ground, under normal circumstances he would have been protected by the men of his household who rode out with him, but riding fast they'd had to turn back to reach him. At the same moment a group of Frenchman noticed the Duke upon the ground and rushed towards him - a bloody slaughter followed as the French hacked the Duke and his men to death. As his army witnessed the slaughter they dissolved fleeing the field. Leaving Francis the victor.

The news of the Duke's death spread rapidly and bells in French towns were rung to celebrate this great victory...as Francis turned his troops northwards forcing the remnants of Philip's army back towards the Duchy of Lorraine.

The widowed Duchess of Brabant acted swiftly gathering her children she pushed the estates to acknowledge her son as Duke and she was named regent for the young boy.

This came at a high price - the estates demanded she on behalf of her son recognise their staunch privileges and forced her to repeal the Parlement of Bruges established by Philip in 1506 as an attempt to carve a nation state out his numerous sovereign territories.

She immediately prepared to defend her territories - appealing to her brother Edward V to allow English troops defending Calais to help protect the County of Picardy from any French counter-attack.

She also gave orders for the Brabantian commanders to continue to hold Epinal and Nancy against the forces of the french at all costs.
The French meanwhile sent emmisaries to the Duchess hoping to push her into peace enabling them to attack and push the English out of France for good.

Although the death of Duke Philip might have wiped out his early victories - the French were still in grave difficulty. Financially they were stressed - mercenary troops in Italy hadn't been paid for several months and supplies were limited - by March many were forced to live of their plunder in Northern Italy - increasing the resentment of the Italians under their control. In France, Francis of Anjouleme had pushed the remnants of Philip's army out of Franche Comte but had still to liberate Lorraine and there was still the matter of England's occupation of Anjou and Poitiers.

The same month, French emmisaries arrived at James IV's court, urging the King to break off relations with the English and invade Northern England - the hope that a swift victory would force Edward V to return home.

James was hesitant but the final persuasion was the promise of a French bride for the King's son - most likely the Princess Claude and the offer that the French pension paid for so many years to the English King would instead go to the King of Scots. On March 31st James signed the Treaty of Stirling with France, repudiating the Treaty of Perpetual Peace with England - and began plans for the invasion of England - this time he would move swiftly south and skirt the heavily fortified border town of Berwick.

 
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