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HISTORICAL ABSTRACT. 161
vincia,' etc. Op. cit. p. 287, letter of July 26 : ' Dite a nostro Signore 159.5.
the il Maehiavello, per avere qualche neeessit/t di andare insino a
Firenze per certe sue faccende, ha prese partito di andarvi stamani,
giudicando non importare il trovarsi pifl qui che quivi; perch6
sempre in uno tratto sar_t dove Sua Sanit_ gli ordinerh.'] Is
sent on August 19 to Venice to support the interests of some
Florentine merchants [Legazione aVenezia; Op. vii. 450]. Leaves
for Florence, September _5. [At Venice Machiavelli is said to
have won two to three thousand ducats in a lottery ; Op. viii. 173 :
letter from Fllippo de' Nerli, September 6: _Voi avete pure un
tratto cimentata la sorte .... Voi avete riscontro alla lotta due o
tremila ducati.' We have no means of determining whether this
was more than an idle rumour, but his own silence, and his poverty
at his death, is against it.] During his absence he is made eligible
to hold office at Florence [Op. viii. 171-2 ]. Corresponds with Guicciardini
; Op. viii. 166 foll.
Treaty of Madrid, between Francis I and Charles V: signed January 159.6.
14. Chief articles : i. Francis to be set free and allowed to return
to France ; ii. Francis to restore the duchy of Burgundy and its dependencies
to the Emperor, after recovering his liberty ; iii. Francis
to renounce all his pretensions in Italy [Mila_n, Naples], and restore
to Bourbon and his adherents all their property ; iv. Francis to marry
the Emperor's sister, Queen-dowager of Portugal ; v. Francis, if he
fails to tulfil the stipulations of the treaty, is to return to Spain.
[Varchi, vol. i. p. 36; Guiceiardini, bk. xvi. ch. vi. etc. The treaty
itself in Dumont, Corps Dip. vol. iv. i. pp. 399-4IO.]
_rancis I returns to l_ranee, March I8.
Clement VII, alarmed at the preponderance of the Imperial
power in Italy, and possibly with some hope of restoring the
independence of Italy, abandons his alliance with Charles. On
May 22 the Treaty of Cognac is concluded, between the Pope,
Venice, and the Duke of Milan [Francesco Sforza] on the one hand,
and Francis I on the other. Milan is to be restored to Francesco
Sforza, Genoa and Naples to be attacked: the Emperor, against
whom the whole league is directed, is allowed three months within
which to join it. The Pope refuses to include the Duke of Ferrara
[Guicciardini, bk. xvii. ch. ii]. Francesco Maria della Rovere,
Duke of Urbino, is appointed General of the Venetian troops1;
Guido Rangone, governor general of the Papal troops. Charles V
determines to abide by the treaty of Madrid, though the Pope
absolves Francis I from his oath to observe it.
The Imperialists [Bourbon, Marquis del Vasto, Antonio de
Leyva] continue the siege of the citadel of Milan. The citadel
1 The whole management of the war devolved upon him. His appointment
was a supreme blunder. Cf. Rlcotti, vol. iv. p. 36.
M