Page:Readings in European History Vol 2.djvu/61

 Europe at the Opeiiing of the Sixteenth Century 23 days had distinguished himself above all the rest, as he was accustomed to do in other places under the same circum- stances. The king did him the greatest honor, for he received the order of knighthood from his hand, and he had good reason for it ; he could have found no better man. 1 The lord Maximilian Sforza, who occupied the duchy of Milan ceded Milan, as had his father, Ludovico il Moro, before him, t0 Fr ancis L remained in the castle of Milan, where he was besieged, but he speedily surrendered and for an indemnity agreed to cede his duchy to the king ; and those who were in the city were allowed to depart with their possessions. I shall say nothing about what happened for the next two months, but in December the king of France went to visit the pope in the city of Bologna, where he was received with great pomp. They consulted together over many things, with which I will not delay my story. 2 1 Another historian of the Good Chevalier gives a brief account of how Francis was knighted. The king, before he dubbed the knights, called the noble Chevalier Bayard and said to him : " Bayard, my friend, I wish to-day to be made knight by your hands; because you have fought on foot and on horseback in many battles and are held and reputed to be above all others the most worthy. . . ." To these words of the king, Bayard responded, " Sire, he who is called, crowned, and anointed with the oil sent down from heaven, and is king of so noble a realm and the eldest son of the Church, is a knight above all other knights." But the king said, "Come, Bayard; make haste." Then Bayard took his sword and said : " May you be able to do all things as if you were Roland or Oliver, Godfrey or Baldwin, his brother. Assuredly you are the great- est prince who ever was made knight. God grant that in war you shall never take flight." Then after the manner of a play, he cried aloud to his sword, holding it aloft in his right hand: " You are happy indeed to have conferred the order of chivalry to-day upon so fine and powerful a king. Certes, my good sword, you will be cared for hereafter like a sacred relic and honored above all others, and you shall never be carried again except it be against the Turks, Saracens, or Moors." Then he made two passes with his sword and put it back into its scabbard. (From Champier, Les Gestes, ensemble la vie dti preulx Chevalier Bayard; a very early life, quoted by Roman in his edition of the Loyal Serviteur, p. 386, note.) 2 See History of Western Europe, p. 366, note (Vol. II, p. 14, note).