-president of
Parliament. "Worth alone," say the historians, "carved out for Montholon
at a later period the road to the office of keeper of the seals."

The constable's fall and ruin were complete. He at an early stage had a
presentiment that such would be the issue of his lawsuit, and sought for
safeguards away from France. The affair was causing great stir in
Europe. Was it, however, Charles V. who made the first overtures as the
most efficient supporter the constable could have? Or was it the
constable himself who, profiting by the relations he had established
after the capture of Hesdin with the Croys, persons of influence with the
emperor, made use of them for getting into direct communication with
Charles V., and made offer of his services in exchange for protection
against his own king and his own country? In such circumstances and in
the case of such men the sources of crime are always surrounded with
obscurity. One is inclined to believe that Charles V., vigilant and
active as he was, put out the first feelers. As soon as he heard that
Bourbon was a widower, he gave instructions to Philibert Naturelli, his
ambassador in France, who said, "Sir, you are now in a position to marry,
and the emperor, my master, who is very fond of you, has a sister
touching whom I have orders to speak to you if you will be pleased to
hearken." It was to Charles V.'s eldest sister, Eleanor, widow of Manuel
the Fortunate, King of Portugal, that allusion was made. This overture
led to nothing at the time; but the next year, in 1522, war was declared
between Francis I. and Charles V.; the rupture between Francis I. and the
Duke of Bourbon took place; the Bourbon lawsuit was begun; and the duke's
mother-in-law, Anne of France, daughter of Louis XI., more concerned for
the fate of her House than for that of her country, and feeling herself
near her end, said one day to her son-in-law, "My son, reflect that the
House of Bourbon made alliance with the House of Burgundy, and that
during that alliance it always prospered. You see at the present moment
what is the state of our affairs, and the lawsuit in which you are
involved is proceeded with only for want of alliances. I do beg and
command you to accept the emperor's alliance. Promise me to use thereto
all the diligence you can, and I shall die more easy." She died on the
14th of November, 1522, bequeathing all her possessions to the constable,
who was day by day more disposed