Henri II: His Court and Times by H Noel Williams Read Free Book Online Page B

well
authenticated:
    The flank march of the Imperialists over the open ground
which lay between them and the French exposed them to so
murderous an artillery fire that, according to Du Bellay, "you
saw only arms and heads flying in the air." To check thishavoc, Pescara issued orders for the troops to take shelter in a
hollow to the northward of the French position, for which
they accordingly made, the infantry at the double and the
cavalry at a gallop. Observing this, François concluded that
the Imperialists were in full retreat and that victory was
assured, and charged furiously down from the rising ground
which he occupied, at the head of his bodyguard of nobles and
gentlemen and the French men-at-arms. By this movement,
he not only got between his own artillery and the enemy, and
obliged the gunners to cease fire, 28 but cut himself off from the main body, and left his centre and
right wing unsupported by cavalry. As soon as the King charged,
the whole army quitted their entrenchments and pressed forwards
likewise, the
landsknechts
, led by the attainted Duke
of Suffolk 29 and François de
Lorraine, younger brother of Claude, Duc de Guise, being on
the right, the Swiss in the centre, and the French foot on
the left.
    The King at first carried all before him, killed with his lance
the Marchese di Civita San-Angelo, who led the Imperialist
light horse, 30 scattered
the men-at-arms of Lannoy, and broke
right through a body of pikemen. But Pescara and Bourbon
rallied the fugitives; and the steady fire of the Spanish
arquebusiers, which no armour could withstand, checked the
triumphant progress of the French men-at-arms and drove
them back upon the Swiss, whom they threw into hopeless
disorder. In the meanwhile, the
landsknechts
on the French
right were attacked on one flank by their compatriots in the
Imperial service, and on the other by some Spanish battalions,
and, after a gallant struggle, were overwhelmed by numbers
and perished almost to a man, both Suffolk and François de
Lorraine being killed. The victorious troops then advanced
against the disordered Swiss, upon whom the arquebusiers
were now directing their fire, and, disheartened by the fate oftheir German allies, the Swiss gave way and retreated towards
Milan. On the left, the Duc d'Alencon, who commanded the
cavalry of that wing, lost his head on learning of the defeat
of the right, and fled without striking a blow, followed by his
men; 31 and, though
the French infantry, under La Palice, offered
a stout resistance, they eventually shared the fate of the Germans,
the Constable being amongst the slain. 32 Finally, Antonio de Leyva sallied out from Pavia, dispersed the corps which had
been left to hold him in check, destroyed the bridge over the
Ticino — the principal avenue of escape — and fell upon the
rear of the French cavalry whom François had so imprudently
led to the charge, and who were now the only troops which
still held their ground. They, comprising as they did the
élite
of the French nobility, and inspired by the example of
their King, performed prodigies of valour, but, hemmed in on
every side by overwhelming numbers, their courage was useless;
François's horse fell dead under him, 33 and the King, who
had already been wounded in three places, was made prisoner,
and almost all his followers were either killed or taken. Never,
indeed, had there been so great a slaughter of nobles. Besides
Suffolk, François de Lorraine, and La Palice, who had fallen
earlier in the engagement, the gallant old Louis de la Tremoille,
who had taken part in every war which France had waged
since the accession of Charles VIII, Louis d'Ars, the kinsman
and teacher of Bayard, René, the Bastard of Savoy, Grand-Master of France, 34 the Grand Equerry San-Severino, chief
of the French party in the kingdom of Naples, the Maréchal
de Foix, and Bonnivet were either killed or mortally wounded;
while Henri d'Albret, King of Navarre, the Comte de Saint-Pol, brother of