FRANÇOIS I. 3 letters signed "Françoys", of which 2 countersigned by his secretary Robert Gédoyn and one countersigned by his secretary Nicolas de Neufville, addressed to the vice-chancellor of Milan, Jean de Selve. [Probably 1519]. Addresses on the spines, margins trimmed a bit short, marginal binding stains. Proclaimed king in January 1515, Francis I immediately embarked on a great warlike expedition to retake Milan, a duchy conquered in 1499 by his father-in-law and predecessor Louis XII who lost it in 1513. With the help of the condottier Gian Giacomo Trivùlzio, who had already participated in the conquest of 1499, the king won the victory of Marignan, which opened the gates of Milan to him in September 1515. He was then able to return to France in January 1516, entrusting Jean de Selve with the judicial reorganization of the duchy, and the Constable of Bourbon with the military authority, replaced in 1516 by the marshal of Lautrec, Odet de Foix. - Saint-Germain-en-Laye, July 8. " ... Desiring that the affairs which concern the public good of my duchy of Millan and the prouffict of my House be well conducted, I HAVE MADE SOME ORDINANCES WHICH I SENT YOU, that, concerning the faict of criminal causes, fines and compositions of these, the places of which I intend that the hunts be kept and also the orders of the bledz of par-della and the restrinction of the offices, as all will be able to see, and I beg you that the monstrés and communicquez to my cousin the lord of Lautrec my lieutenant general in Ytalie, and if he finds them good as I panse that he will do, seeing that IT IS THE PROUFFICT OF MY FINANCES AND MY SUBGETCTZ, I order you to pass them through the Senate and to publish them and cry in the places where they are published, and to draw them up with the other decrees of my Duchy of Millan, making them be held and observed by all those to whom they are addressed... " (1 p. in-folio). - Saint-Germain-en-Laye, July 21. Addressed jointly to his advisors in the Senate of Milan. "We have made see certain procedures which were made by the vicar of our cappetaine of justice in Milan OR MRS. JEHAN CLEMENT STANGUE CHARGED AND IMPUTED FOR THE DEATH OF MRS. GASPARD STANGUE HIS BROTHER [from a great family of Cremona, Gian Clemente Stanga killed his brother Gasparo, was condemned to death then pardoned and passed to the service of Francis I] and we heard that almost all the acts of this matter were made more to the justification of the said Stangue than to find the truth of the said case, for which adjuver we do not see that in nothing was made any diligence by the said vicar that gives us occasion to be rather unhappy and to think that there is some intelligence. We have also seen the orders which you have made in the aforementioned matter and affair in our Senate which seem to us to be justified, given the procedures which have been produced to you and of which you have sent the double...". He asks that the time limit for finding evidence and proofs be extended, "SO THAT THE FAULT OF THIS HOMICIDE LEDICT DOES NOT REMAIN IMPUGNY... CASE SI ENORME FAIT EN PLAIN JOUR" (1 p. in-folio). - Malesherbes, August 23. François I insists on the same subject as above: "... I especially wish that the truth could be shaken of the aforementioned cases & charges, SEEING THE ENORMITY AND GREAT SCANDAL OF ICEULX... ONE COULD NOT DO ME MORE PLEASANT SERVICE THAN TO TRY TO PREVENT SUCH A MURDER. And believe that I will do all that is possible to have such manners of people who have used and use such and similar ways of doing things punished and brought to justice, for as you can see, these are things that Our Lord does not allow to remain unpunished..." (1 p. 1/2 in.) (1 p. 1/2 in-folio). A HIGH MAGISTRATE AND DIPLOMAT CLOSE TO THE ROYAL POWER, JEAN DE SELVE (1475- 1529) came from a family of merchants who had long been in the service of the monarchy. A jurist, he had a brilliant judicial career, first as a counselor in the parliament of Toulouse, then successively as first president of the parliaments of Rouen, Bordeaux and finally Paris. He began his personal rise under Louis XII, but after the battle of Pavia (1525) he became an important advisor, first to Louise of Savoy, then to François I. In Paris, Jean de Selve was one of the regent's loyal supporters, helping her to deal with the criticism of the Court and Parliament against the royal policy at the time of the king's captivity (1525-1526), and then played a central role in the two most resounding trials of his time: that of the Constable of Bourbon (1522-1523) and that of the financier Jacques de Beaune, Baron of Semblançay (1525). He was also employed in Italy as VICE-CHANCELLOR OF THE DUCHY OF MILAN DURING ITS OCCUPATION BY FRANCE (1515-1520), and was entrusted with several diplomatic missions: to negotiate the marriage of Louis XII with Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII (1514