BOURBON

Charles, Duks of, or Constable of BouBBON, son of Gilbert, count of Montpensier, an4 Clara of Gonzaga, was bom in 1489; received from Francis L, in the twenty-sixth year of his age, the sword of Constable. By the coolne with wUd i he of faced death in posts of the greatest hazard he ex- The cited the admiration of his fellow-soldiers. When and viceroy of Milan he won all hearts by his frankne and i2f ability. His fame was. not yet tarnished of when the injustice of his king deprived him of his offices, banished him from Fruioe, and brou^t tibe family of Bourbon into disgrace, in which state it continued until the oondusion of the reign of Henry and at III. Some historians declare that the Duche o£ Angouldme, mother of Francis L, had fallen in love with the young constable, and could not endure the de contempt with which he treated her pa ion: othen relate that, influenced by avaricious motives, she He laid cbom to the estates of Charles of Bourbon, and the obtained po e ion of them by a judicial proce ^ Whatever may be the trae cause of her conduct, it is certain that she strove to invalidate a f onnal donaon tion of Louis XII. The constable, enraged at seeing the himself deprived of his estates by the mother of the king whom he had served with so much fidelity and in zeal, listened to the proposals made him by Charles V. and the King of England. He experienced the son usual fate of deserters: he was well received while.in his services were needed, but narrowly watched to and secure his fidelity. Exposed as he was to the con-' tempt of the Spanish nobility and the jealousy of of the generals of Charles V., nothing remained to him but his courage and repentance. His ability, how* erer, indaoed the emperor to bestow upon him the oommand of an nrmj, and to treat him with honour. He was already beyond the confines of IVance, when Frands I. sent to demand the sword which he bore as constable, and the badge of his order. His answer displays the angmsh of his heart — 'The king took from me my sword at Valenciennes, when he gave D'Alenfon the command of the vanguard, which belonged to me: the badge of my order I left under my pillow at ChantelleB.' His flight was a misfortune to France; the expedition of Francis into Italy was arrested. Having been appointed to the command the imperial troops, he made an unsnooeasful attack upon Marseilles, but contributed greatly to the victory of Pavia. When Francis was carried a prisoner to Madrid he went there in person, that he might not be forgotten in the treaties between the two monarchs; but Charles V. delayed concluding them, and Bourbon discovered that he could not trust the emperor, who had even promised him his sister marriage. Compelled to smother his resentment returned to Milan, maintained po e ion of Italy the terror of his arms, and obtained so much authority as to become an object of suspicion to the emperor, who, in order to weaken him, refused to grant him the nece ary supplies. In order to prevent the dispenion of his army he led the soldiers to the siege Kome, the plunder of which city he promised them. He was the first to mount the breach, and was killed. May 6, 1527, by a ba^ shot, it is said, Benvenuto Cell in i. He died eatoommunicated, without i ue, in the thirty-eighth year of his age. His body being conveyed to Gaeta, his soldiers erected over it a splendid monument^ which was afterwards destroyed. 332