Page 167 - sfogliabile 49

«No great glory in chasing a pirate». The manipulation of news during the 1535 433

be less aggressive in his demands for an alliance . She was right. Du
87
Bellay had been sent to Italy to negotiate with potential allies in late
June, and despite the intervening events his instructions were not
altered .
88
Once the niceties of the formal audience were over, there was silence
from Francis I. Carpi’s correspondence, so frequent and full of other
matters, did not mention Tunis again until 29 September, when he
reported that Francis I and his council had been meeting frequently in
secret to discuss the implications of the emperor’s victory, but failed to
agree on strategy. His secret informant also told him some counsellors
favoured an alliance with the emperor if he provided a kingdom for the
king’s younger son in Africa or elsewhere. Others proposed accepting
imperial expansion in North Africa in exchange for Milan . Francis I,
89
usually so open and loquacious with some diplomats, would not speak
on the matter. He admitted to the Venetian ambassador, Marin
Giustiniano, that his alliance with the Turks was regrettable but vital
to undermine the emperor and to secure the return of Milan, and would
not be drawn on the impact of the imperial victory in Tunis. In the
absence of information, Giustiniano was reduced to imagining what the
French king was thinking, and sent this to the Doge and his advisers in
Venice in lieu of a factual report. Given his intimacy with Francis I, it is
worth considering.
Giustiniano reckoned that the French saw Charles V’s victory as a
serious blow against the Turks and their naval forces, and that it had
substantially strengthened the emperor. The victory had transformed
the international situation and radically altered the direction of French
policy, he argued. Whereas before Francis I had regarded himself as
the emperor’s rival, Giustiniano believed he was now afraid of Charles
V. Before, Francis I’s primary goal had been to recover Milan; now, it
was to contain imperial power . As for the relationship with
90

87 KFI, V, p. 317, Mary of Hungary to Ferdinand I, 4 September 1535: «Et croy que
les bonnes nouvelles de l’emp. qu’ilz eurent de la prinse de Thunès y a aydé …mais quoy
qu’il couste, ilz auroient voulentiers ung pied en l’Ytalie, toutesfois qu’ilz s’en
resfroidissent de le demander si expressement». Knecht argues that Admiral Chabot was
hostile to the king’s inactivity, Francis I cit., pp. 276-277.
88 Du Bellay, II, pp. 1-10 instructions, 26 June 1535; first negotiations, 35-50, s.d.
[mid-August 1535].
89 Ang, Carpi, pp. 69-73 this at pp. 71-72, cits. p. 72, Carpi to Ricalcato, 26
September 1535.
90 Relation de Marin Giustiniano ambassadeur en France, 1535, in M.N.Tommaseo
(ed.), Relations des ambassadeurs Vénetiens sur les affaires de France au XVI e siècle,
vol. I, Imprimerie Royale, Paris, 1838, pp. 41-111, this at p. 64; fear at p. 66 and in p.
56: «Quindi è nasciuto tanto timore … ora primieramente hanno l’occhio alla grandezza
di Cesare, e secondariamente a Milano».

Mediterranea - ricerche storiche - Anno XVII - Agosto 2020
ISSN 1824-3010 (stampa) ISSN 1828-230X (online)