Novara. On February 8, 1538, a defensive league against the Turk was concluded between the Pope, the Emperor, Ferdinand, and Venice, which prepared the way for a favourable intervention of the Pope between the two great Powers.
However, in October, 1537, Montmorency with a new army had appeared in Savoy, and the imperial troops were obliged to evacuate Pinerolo and Turin. But these successes led to nothing further. Both monarchs were ready for peace; an armistice was concluded (November, 1537); negotiations began in earnest, but were long prolonged, so many were the questions at issue between the rivals. After the conclusion of the League against the Turks the Pope left Rome, and journeyed to Nice, to mediate between Francis and Charles. Here some ill-feeling was aroused because the Duke of Savoy refused to put the fortress of Nice, his last remaining possession, in Charles' hand for the meetings. In a neighbouring monastery therefore the Emperor and King negotiated personally and separately with the Pope, and a truce was arranged for ten years (June 17, 1538), on the basis of uti possidetis. The Pope and Emperor set forth at once for Genoa to concert operations against the Turk.
Although at Nice the King and the Emperor had refused to meet, it soon became known that a future interview had been arranged, perhaps through the mediation of Queen Eleonora. At Aiguës-Mortes the visits took place on July 14-16, with the most surprising demonstrations of good feeling. Nothing definite was arranged, but hopes of agreement succeeded to something like despair. And Charles was anxious to make the most of the apparent friendship.
For the Emperor the war of 1536-7 had been on the whole far less successful than those of 1522-9. Francis had overrun almost the whole of Savoy and Piedmont, he had invaded Artois, and successfully repelled two invasions of France. He was content for the present to rest upon his conquests, to hold Savoy, an outpost for defence, a ready road for attack, and to defer the settlement of other outstanding questions for a season. Charles was the more willing to leave Savoy in Francis' possession because the Duke had offended him deeply in the matter of Nice. On the other hand he needed peace above all for his affairs in Germany, and to meet the Turkish danger. A long truce with the appearance of durability suited him as well or better than a peace, which could only have been secured at the price of humiliating and damaging concessions. In fact the two Powers, after violent oscillations to* and fro, had reached a position of comparatively stable equilibrium. They had learnt their own limitations, and the strength of their adversaries. A stage was reached on the road to the more permanent settlement of Cateau-Cambrésis.
The truce between the great Powers and the League of 1538 led to
