he war; and the English alliance with France could abate
no iota of the concessions which Charles extorted from Francis (p. 168)
in January, 1526, by the Treaty of Madrid.[476] Francis surrendered
Burgundy; gave up his claims to Milan, Genoa and Naples; abandoned his
allies, the King of Navarre, the Duke of Guelders and Robert de la
Marck; engaged to marry Charles's sister Eleanor, the widowed Queen of
Portugal; and handed over his two sons to the Emperor as hostages for
the fulfilment of the treaty. But he had no intention of keeping his
promises. No sooner was he free than he protested that the treaty had
been extracted by force, and that his oath to keep it was not binding.
The Estates of France readily refused their assent, and the Pope was,
as usual, willing, for political reasons, to absolve Francis from his
oath. For the time being, consideration for the safety of his sons and
the hope of obtaining their release prevented him from openly breaking
with Charles, or listening to the proposals for a marriage with the
Princess Mary, held out as a bait by Wolsey.[477] The Cardinal's
object was merely to injure the Emperor as much as he could without
involving England in war; and by negotiations for Mary's marriage,
first with Francis, and then with his second son, the Duke of Orleans,
he was endeavouring to draw England and France into a closer alliance.
For similar reasons he was extending his patronage to the Holy League,
formed by Clement VII. between the princes of Italy to liberate that
distressful country from the grip of the Spanish forces.

[Footnote 475: _L. and P._, iv., 1525, 1531, 1600,
1633.]

[Footnote 476: _L. and P._, iv., 1891.]

[Footnote 477: _Ibid._, iv., 2039, 2148, 2320,
2325.]

The policy of Clement, of Venice, and of other Italian States had been
characterised by as much blindness as that of England. Almost without
exception they had united, in 1523, to expel the French from Italy.
The result was to destroy the balance of power south of the Alps, (p. 169)
and to deliver themselves over to a bondage more galling than that
from which they sought to escape. Clement himself had been elected Pope
by imperial influence, and the Duke of Sessa, Charles's representative
in Rome, described him as entirely the Emperor's creature.[478] He
was, wrote Sessa, "very reserved, irresolute, and decides few things