The following day Cesare made his formal entry into Chinon, crossing the bridge over the Vienne with the great medieval castle, stronghold of the Plantagenet kingdom in France, looming mightily over the town. He was accompanied by Georges d’Amboise, whose red hat was in the duke’s baggage, along with the papal dispensation that would allow Louis XII to marry Anne of Brittany. A man who was there gave a description of the occasion:
The Duke of Valence entered thus on Wednesday, the eighteenth day of December 1498… preceded by twenty-four handsome mules carrying trunks, coffers and chests, covered with cloths bearing the Duke’s arms, then again come another twenty-four mules with their trappings halved in red and yellow… Then twelve mules with coverings of yellow striped satin. Then came six mules with trappings of cloth-of-gold… And after came sixteen beautiful great chargers, led by grooms, covered in cloth-of-gold, crimson and yellow… after these came eighteen pages, each one on a fine charger, of whom sixteen were dressed in crimson velvet, the two others in cloth-of-gold… Then came six fine mules richly equipped with saddles, bridles and trappings in crimson velvet, accompanied by grooms dressed in the same. Then two mules carrying coffers and all covered in cloth-of-gold… Then after came thirty noblemen clad in cloth-of-gold and silver, followed by three musicians, two tambours and one rebec, dressed in cloth-of-gold according to the style of their country, and their rebecs had strings of gold. They marched between the gentlemen and the Duke of Valence, playing all the while. Then came four musicians with trumpets and clarions of silver, richly dressed, playing their instruments without ceasing. There were also twenty-four lackeys all clad in crimson velvet halved with yellow silk, and they were all around the Duke; beside him rode [Georges d’Amboise], conversing with him.
As to the Duke, he was mounted on a great tall horse very richly harnessed, with a covering of red satin, halved with cloth-of-gold and embroidered with very rich gems and large pearls. In his cap were two double rows of five or six rubies, as large as a big bean, which gave out a great light. On the brim of his cap there were also a great quantity of jewels, even to his boots, which were all adorned with chains of gold and edged with pearls.
Cesare rode through the town of Chinon, glittering with jewels and the finest clothes. From the castle windows high above, the king and his courtiers watched the procession and were exceedingly entertained by what they considered the ‘vanity and ridiculous pomposity of this duke.’ On entering the château, Cesare made ‘a profound reverence to the ground to His Majesty,’ reported the Venetian ambassador, ‘then, half way across the great hall, he made another reverence, and then, coming up to the King, he made as if to kiss his foot, but the King prevented this, so he kissed his hand instead, as did the gentlemen of his suite.’ And after dinner Cesare was escorted to the royal apartments, where he remained with the king ‘to the fourth hour of the night,’ and the following day Louis XII entertained Cesare in the company of several fashionable ladies. Indeed, despite his earlier ridicule, the king was clearly deeply impressed with this extraordinary youngman, who could be so agreeable when he chose to be so, especially when flattered by royalty.
On December 21, in a magnificent ceremony in the Church of St-Mexme at Chinon, in the presence of King Louis and Cesare, Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere solemnly invested Georges d’Amboise with his cardinal’s hat. ‘On the journey from the royal court to the church,’ reported Burchard, who was not there but was informed of the event, ‘the illustrious Cesare, Duke of Valence, formerly cardinal, carrying the hat for all to see, walked behind the other princes and immediately in front of the King, as if he were the royal equerry.’
Cardinal Giuliano sent news to Rome of Cesare’s success at the French court. ‘I cannot refrain from informing Your Holiness that the most illustrious Duke is so endowed with prudence, ability and every virtue of mind and body, that he has conquered everybody,’ he wrote to the pope on January 18, 1499. ‘He has found so much favour with the King, and all the princes of this court,’ he added, ‘that everyone holds him in esteem and honour of which fact I willingly and gladly give testimony.’
Louis XII and Anne of Brittany were married in the castle at Nantes on January 6, 1499. Cesare’s marital prospects, however, were not looking so positive. He had hoped that by now Carlotta of Aragon might have changed her mind about marrying him; but the Neapolitan princess was more stubborn than ever in her refusal to do so, ‘unless,’ so Cardinal della Rovere reported, ‘her father insists on it.’ King Federigo would only agree to the marriage if his rightful position as king of Naples was confirmed by both Alexander VI and Louis XII; Louis XII had his own ideas about who was the rightful king of Naples. For his own part, he did try to force Carlotta to consent to the marriage, and faced by what he saw as her ‘feminine perversity,’ even went so far as to threaten to exile her from the French court. It was all to no avail, and in due course she married the Breton with whom she had fallen in love.
Cesare, whose principal reason for going to France was to get married, was furious, blaming the French king for not doing more to help him and threatening to return to Rome to complain of his treatment to his father, who was as angry as his son. ‘All Europe,’ Alexander VI declared, ‘was very well aware that, but for the definite promise of the King of France to find a wife for him, Cesare would have remained in Italy.’
In Rome, meanwhile, the issue of the alliance with France was causing violent rifts in the college. ‘Yesterday in consistory,’ the Venetian ambassador had reported in December 1498, ‘Cardinal Ascanio [Sforza] told the Pope that sending his son to France would be the ruin of Italy. The Pope shouted in reply that it had been Ascanio’s brother who had first brought the French into Italy.’ Alexander VI had a point — it was Ludovico who had encouraged the adventurous Charles VIII to invade Italy and assert his claim to the kingdom of Naples, a policy that, in hind sight, appeared rash in the extreme, particularly now his successor to the throne of France had a better claim to Milan than did Ludovico and his brother. The quarrel ended with the pope threatening to hurl Ascanio into the Tiber.
Yet, despite all the difficulties, Cesare was persuaded to stay on in France. There were hopes that all had been resolved when it was reported that King Louis and Cesare had had dinner alone together. In late February Burchard reported the rumour that ‘the Pope’s son, Cesare, lately the Cardinal of Valence, has contracted matrimony with the daughter of the King of Naples, who is living in France,’ adding that ‘the marriage has been consummated.’ Less than a week later, this was flatly contradicted in a letter from Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere: ‘The marriage of Duke Valentino with the daughter of the King,’ he wrote, ‘is now definitely excluded.’
Rumours of a possible French bride were now rife in Rome and causing such concern and confusion that the pope not only had to receive deputations of protest from several European powers, even from Portugal, but felt obliged to appear in public with an armed guard. The pope declared to the Venetian ambassador, who came to see him about some other matter, that at the moment he cared little about other problems; he was waiting for news from France. ‘He is very anxious to hear what is happening there and is kept in suspense.’
Finally, after anxious weeks of waiting on the part of the pope, and increasing impatience on the part of Cesare, Louis XII proposed that since a marriage to Carlotta of Aragon could not be arranged, Cesare should marry — instead of an Italian bride — a French one. The king’s choice was the sixteen-year-old Charlotte d’Albret, a quiet, religious, good-looking, and good-tempered girl who had excellent royal connections; her father was the Duke of Guienne, her mother was related to the new queen, and her brother was the king of Navarre.