Gattinara was not an idealist when it came to policy. The Treaty of Madrid was forced upon Francis I of France by Charles after Francis was captured. The treaty spoke in romantic hyperbole and ended with an oath for both rulers to undertake a crusade together. While François signed the treaty under duress, Gattinara refused to affix the imperial seal to the document, because of his sense of "realpolitik". François would subsequently break the terms of the treaty, which had been to renounce claims in Italy, surrender Burgundy, and abandon suzerainty over Flanders and Artois.