Series 3 > Letters of James the Fourth, 1505-1513

287
1513] LETTERS OF JAMES IV
match, as she would hear fully from Montjoye, King-of-
Arms.
516. James IV to Julius II, Edinburgh, February 12,
1512-13. n.l. 378 ; b.m. 215 ; R. 179 ; brodie, 1615.
The papal briefs delivered to him lately by Octavian
Olarius, gave him enormous pleasure. In them His Holiness
deplored the shedding of Christian blood by Christians,
and studious of the unity of Christendom, proposes an
expedition against the enemies of Christ, which is not only
necessary but, on the evidence of the inhabitants of Ragusa,
will be most beneficial, and which is all the more to be
hoped for because he has recovered the possessions of the
Church, and because the Sultan, having usurped the im¬
perial authority by force, is threatening the frontiers of
Christendom. Therefore His Holiness has charged James,
by the bowels of Our Lord (per viscera Salvatoris) to give his
whole mind to securing peace in the Church, and persuading
the King of France to imitate the deeds of his ancestors, so
that the united armies of Christendom may march together
against the Turk. Letters from the King of France with
proposals for peace were in his possession, and when Louis
entered into a league with him, he sent the papal letters
by his herald to the King of England, asking a safe-conduct
for ambassadors negotiating a peace. But Henry wrote to
His Holiness to say that he had changed his mind in the
interval, had no intention of making peace, and had made
a pact with the King of the Romans. Henry, being in a
warlike mood and in no haste to incline the Pope to peace,
refused the Scottish ambassadors passage through his
territory. James, eager to carry out the instructions of
His Holiness, and turn away from Christian souls the
flames of war that have burst out, thinking that it would
be sacrilege to leave anything undone that might lead to
peace, proposed to his brother of England to forgive the
heavy losses that he had inflicted on the Scots, and to
endure his insults to himself and his house, as long as it
was for the good of Christendom. He has had no reply