1619
The Duc d'Epernon leaves Metz--A traitor--A minister at fault--The Duc
de Bellegarde offers an asylum to the Queen-mother--Marie de Medicis
escapes from Blois--She is conducted by M. d'Epernon to
Angoulême--Gaieties of the capital--Marriages of the Princesse Christine
and Mademoiselle de Vendôme--Louis XIII is apprised of the escape of the
Queen--Alarm of the King--Advice of De Luynes--The Council resolve to
despatch a body of troops under M. de Mayenne to remove Marie de Medicis
from the keeping of the Duc d'Epernon--Discontent of the citizens--Louis
XIII enters into a negotiation with his mother--She rejects his
conditions--Richelieu offers himself as a mediator, and is accepted--The
royal forces march on Angoulême--Marie prepares for resistance--The
Princes withdraw from her cause--Schomberg proposes to blow up the
powder-magazine at Angoulême--Critical position of the Queen-mother--She
appeals to the Protestants, but is repulsed--Schomberg takes up arms
against the Duc d'Epernon--Alarm of Marie de Medicis--Richelieu proceeds
to Angoulême--He regains the confidence of the Queen--Successful
intrigue of Richelieu--Marie is deserted by several of her friends--A
treaty of peace is concluded between the King and his mother--The envoy
of Marie incurs the displeasure of Louis XIII--The malcontents rally
round the Queen-mother--The Princes of Piedmont visit Marie at
Angoulême--Their reception--Magnificence of the Duc d'Epernon--The
Queen-mother refuses to quit Angoulême--Ambition of Richelieu--Weakness
of Marie de Medicis--Father Joseph endeavours to induce the Queen-mother
to return to the Court--She is encouraged in her refusal by
Richelieu--The rival Queens--Marie leaves Angoulême--Her parting with
the Duc d'Epernon--She is received at Poitiers by the Cardinal de Retz
and the Duc de Luynes--The Prince de Condé offers the hand of his sister
Eléonore de Bourbon to the brother of De Luynes as the price of his
liberation---The sword of the Prince is restored to him--Duplicity of
the favourite--Marie resolves to return to Angoulême, but is dissuaded
by her friends--The Duc de Mayenne espouses the cause of the
Queen-mother--A royal meeting--Return of the Court to Tours--Marie
proceeds to Chinon, and thence to Angers--The Protestants welcome the
Queen-mother to Anjou--Alarm of De Luynes--Liberation of the Prince de
Condé--Indignation of Marie de Medicis--Policy of Richelieu--De Luynes
solicits the return of the Queen-mother to the capital--She refuses to
comply--De Luynes is made Governor of Picardy--His brothers
are ennobled.
The Duc d'Epernon, to whom had been confided the important task of
effecting the escape of the Queen-mother from her fortress-prison, had
discussed all the necessary measures with the Abbé Rucellaï, who had, as
we have stated, acquired his entire confidence; and his first step was
to request permission of the King to leave Metz (where he had been
ordered to remain for the purpose of watching the movements in Germany),
and to proceed to Angoulême. But as he was aware that this permission
would be refused, he did not await a reply, and commenced his journey on
the 22nd of January (1619), accompanied by a hundred gentlemen well
armed, forty guards, and his personal attendants; taking with him the
sum of eight thousand pistoles together with the whole of his jewels. In
consequence of the amount of his baggage he was not enabled to travel
more than ten leagues each day; but as no impediment presented itself,
he arrived safely at Confolens in Poitou, where he was joined by his son
the Archbishop of Toulouse, who was awaiting him in that city with the
principal nobles of his several governments.[24]
Meanwhile Rucellaï had entrusted one of his lackeys with letters for the
Queen-mother, in which he informed her of the day of the Duke's intended
departure from Metz; but this man, convinced by the earnest manner in
which his master enjoined him to take the greatest precautions in the
delivery of his despatches, that the packet in his possession was one of
importance, instead of proceeding to Blois, hastened to the capital, and
offered to some of the followers of De Luynes to put a secret into the
possession of their master, provided he were well recompensed for his
treachery. The favourite was duly informed of the circumstance, but
prosperity had rendered him incautious, and he neglected to avail
himself of the intelligence; suffering several days to elapse before he
made any inquiry as to the nature of the communication which had thus
been volunteered. Fortunately for the Queen-mother, one of her own
adherents was less dilatory; and having ascertained that the
confidential lackey of Rucellaï had arrived in Paris, he caused him to
be found, and took possession of the letters before they could be
transferred to the hands of her enemy. As, however, he in his turn
delayed to forward them to Marie de Medicis, she became alarmed by the
silence of the Duc d'Epernon, and believed that her friends had
abandoned her to her fate; a conviction which reduced her to despair.
Her hopes had latterly been excited; the representations and arguments
of Suffren, seconded by her own desires, had quieted the scruples of her
conscience; and this new check was bitter in the extreme. A thousand
fears assailed her; treachery and hatred enveloped her on all sides; and
superadded to her own ruin, she was forced to contemplate that of all
who had adhered to her fallen fortunes; when, precisely as she was about
to abandon all hope, Du Plessis, the confidant of M. d'Epernon, arrived
at Blois with the welcome intelligence that the Duke was awaiting her at
Loches, very uneasy on his side at the non-receipt of her reply to
his letters.
The appearance of the messenger quieted the apprehensions of Marie, but
she still remained in a position of considerable perplexity from the
fact that all her most devoted adherents were absent negotiating with
the great nobles on her behalf, having found their mission one of far
greater difficulty than the profuse professions of the latter had led
her to anticipate. The Duc de Bellegarde, her relative, had written to
dissuade her from placing herself in the hands of a noble whose
arrogance could not fail to disgust those who desired to serve her. "As
for myself, Madame," he concluded, "I am quite ready to receive your
Majesty in my government of Burgundy, but I cannot offer my services in
any part of the kingdom which is subject to the authority of M.
d'Epernon." Such an assurance alarmed the Queen-mother, who had great
reason to fear that the same objection would be even more stringently
urged by others less interested in her safety; but she had now gone too
far to recede. The Duke had already incurred the risk of the King's
displeasure by leaving Metz without the royal permission; he was at that
moment anticipating her arrival at Loches, whence he was to conduct her
to the château of Angoulême; and finally, she felt all the force of the
arguments of Du Plessis, who reminded her that every moment was
precious, as from hour to hour the enterprise might become known to the
favourite, and consequently rendered abortive.[25]
Hasty preparations were made; and during the night of the 21st of
February she escaped by a ladder from the window of her closet, attended
only by the Comte de Brienne, a single waiting-woman, and two
individuals of her household. It was not, however, without considerable
difficulty that she accomplished this portion of her undertaking, as at
the last moment it was discovered that, from her great bulk, the
casement would scarcely admit the passage of her person. Despair
nevertheless made her desperate; and after several painful efforts she
succeeded in forcing herself through the aperture; but her nerves were
so much shaken by this unlucky circumstance, that when she had reached
the platform, whence a second ladder was to conduct her to the ditch of
the fortress, she declared her utter inability to descend it; and she
was ultimately folded in a thick cloak, and cautiously lowered down by
the joint exertions of her attendants. The Comte de Brienne and M. du
Plessis then supported her to the carriage which was in waiting at the
bridge; and Marie de Medicis found herself a fugitive in her son's
kingdom, surrounded only by half a dozen individuals, and possessed of
no other resources than her jewels.
The fugitives travelled at a rapid pace until they reached Montrichard,
where the Archbishop of Toulouse, the Abbé Rucellaï, and several other
persons of note had assembled to offer their congratulations to the
Queen. Relays of horses were also awaiting her; and after a brief halt
the journey was resumed. At a short distance from Loches she was met by
the Duc d'Epernon at the head of a hundred and fifty horsemen; hurried
greetings were exchanged, and without further delay the whole party
entered the town; where the first act of Marie de Medicis, after she had
offered her acknowledgments to her liberators, was to address a letter
to the King, wherein she set forth her reasons for leaving Blois without
his permission, in terms as submissive as though he had not broken his
faith towards herself; coupled with assurances of her affection for his
person, and her zeal for his welfare.
Nothing, perhaps, is more painfully striking than the mutual deception
practised by mother and son throughout the whole correspondence
consequent on their separation. The abuse of terms was so open and so
palpable, and the covert rancour so easily perceptible in both, that it
is impossible to suppress a feeling of disgust as the eye rests upon the
elaborately-rounded periods and hollow professions with which their
several letters abound.
Marie remained two days at Loches, in order to await those of her
attendants who were to rejoin her upon the instant; and then proceeded,
still under the escort of the Duc d'Epernon, to Angoulême; where she was
shortly afterwards joined by several disaffected nobles who had retired
from the Court, unable to brook the authority of the favourite; while,
anxious to retain the confidence of those who were personally attached
to her, although they had declined to join her faction, she despatched a
confidential messenger to the capital with numerous letters, and among
others one to the Maréchal de Bassompierre, in which she explained the
motives of her flight.
Paris had, meanwhile, been a scene of constant festivity. The
dissipations of the Carnival, and the Fair of St. Germain, had occupied
the time and thoughts of the whole Court; while the Louvre had put forth
all its magnificence in honour of the nuptials of the Princesse
Christine and the Prince de Piedmont; as well as those of Mademoiselle
de Vendôme, the natural sister of the King, and the Duc d'Elboeuf.
Ballets, balls, and banquets were given by all the great nobles;
fireworks and illuminations amused the populace; and finally, the young
sovereign became so thoroughly weary of the tumult about him that he
retired to St. Germain-en-Laye, in order to escape from it, and to
obtain the rest which he was not, however, destined to find even there;
for he had no sooner arrived than he was followed by a courier charged
with despatches announcing the escape of the Queen-mother.
Alarmed by the intelligence, Louis immediately returned to the capital
and summoned his Council, before whom he laid the letter written by
Marie at Loches, and a second also addressed to himself by M. d'Epernon,
in which, with consummate sophistry, the Duke endeavoured to justify his
share in her flight. Nor was De Luynes less terrified than his royal
master by this sudden transition of affairs; and he consequently
laboured to impress upon the King and his ministers the absolute
necessity of refusing to hold any intercourse with the Queen-mother
until Louis should be in a position to compel her obedience to his will,
and to reduce the insurgent nobles who had openly declared in her favour
to complete submission. The letters which were laid before the Council
containing, moreover, a demand for the reform of the government, every
individual holding office under the Crown had a personal interest in
supporting this advice; and it was consequently resolved that Louis
should affect to believe that his mother had been forcibly removed from
Blois by the Duc d'Epernon, and that a large body of troops should be
forthwith assembled for her deliverance, under the command of the Duc de
Mayenne, from whom it was known that she had parted on bad terms.[26]
So extreme a resolution no sooner became known, however, than it created
general dissatisfaction. The unnatural spectacle of a son in arms
against his mother inspired all right-minded people with horror; and
when the King a few days subsequently proceeded to the Parliament to
verify some financial edicts (the enormous recent outlay of the Court
having exhausted the royal treasury) he was coldly received, and instead
of the loyal acclamations with which he had hitherto been greeted, he
heard on all sides murmured expressions of discontent and impatience.
These manifestations of popular disaffection alarmed the ministers, and
a new council was held, at which it was determined that before
proceeding to the _ultima ratio regum_ a negotiation should be attempted
with the emancipated Princess; and for this purpose the Comte de Béthune
and the Abbé Bérulle[27] were despatched to Marie de Medicis with full
powers to conclude a treaty between herself and the King.
The first suggestion offered to the Queen-mother by the royal envoys was
her abandonment of M. d'Epernon; but she indignantly refused to adopt so
treacherous a line of policy, declaring that she would listen to no
compromise which involved a disavowal of her obligations to one whom she
justly considered as her liberator. "Moreover, Messieurs," she said
proudly, "even were I capable of such an act of treachery, I am unable
so to misrepresent the conduct of the gallant Duke, who holds in his
possession not only the letter of the King, wherein he gives me full
authority to leave Blois, and to proceed whithersoever I may see fit in
the interest of my health, but also one which I myself addressed to him
from Blois entreating his assistance in my escape from that fortress,
and his escort to Angoulême. I request, therefore, that as loyal
gentlemen you will refrain from accusing M. d'Epernon of an act of
violence which the respect due to the mother of his sovereign would have
rendered impossible on his part. I am here because I was weary of the
constraint and insult of which I had been so long the victim; and I am
ready to accept the whole responsibility of the step which I have seen
fit to take."
As the determined attitude of the Queen-mother rendered all further
discussion upon this point at once idle and impolitic, De Luynes
resolved to induce her to come to terms with the King without any
allusion to M. d'Epernon; and for this purpose the Archbishop of Sens
was directed to act in concert with the two original envoys, and to
endeavour to convince her that a prolonged opposition to the will of
the sovereign could only terminate in her own destruction. Still,
however, Marie remained firm, rejecting the conditions which were
proposed to her as unworthy alike of her rank and of the position she
had hitherto held in the kingdom; and the month of March went by without
the attainment of any result. De Luynes, irritated by a pertinacity
which threatened his tenure of authority, renewed his entreaties for the
formation of a strong army with which he could secure the overthrow of
the Duc d'Epernon; and at the same time he suggested to Louis the recall
of the Bishop of Luçon, who had once more offered his services as a
negotiator between the contending parties.
The young King, who saw only through the eyes of his favourite, was
induced to comply with both proposals; and Marie de Medicis no sooner
ascertained that the royal troops were about to march upon Angoulême,
than she made preparations for defence. In order to do this more
effectually she addressed autograph letters to the Ducs de Mayenne and
de Rohan, to the Maréchal de Lesdiguières, and to several other great
nobles, soliciting their support in the impending struggle; but with the
sole exception of M. de Rohan, they all returned cold and negative
replies, informing her that the duty which they owed to the King would
not permit them to comply with her request; after which they forwarded
her letters to the Court, together with the answers which they had made,
thus purchasing their safety at the expense of their honour. The Duc de
Rohan, on receiving her application, also declined to assist her, it is
true; but he did so loyally and respectfully, assuring her Majesty that
he greatly regretted she should so long have delayed requesting his
co-operation, as he would have served her zealously and faithfully,
whereas he was now no longer in a position to espouse her interests, the
King having commanded him to remain in his government of Poitou in order
to maintain peace in that province, a duty which his honour consequently
enforced upon him; but declaring at the same time that even while
obeying the commands of her son, he would not undertake anything
inimical to her own interests, and entreating her to effect an
understanding with the sovereign in order to avert the evils of a civil
war, and to ensure to herself the liberty and safety which could alone
enable her to rally about her person all those who were sincerely
desirous of serving her.
Although touched by the manliness and dignity of this reply, the
Queen-mother bitterly felt the loss of such an ally; nor were her
disappointment and mortification lessened when she discovered that the
Maréchal de Schomberg, anxious to convince Louis of the extent of his
zeal, and so to possess himself of the royal favour, had formed the
design of blowing up the powder-magazine of Angoulême, and thus
terminating the negotiation by a _coup de main_ of which she and her
adherents were destined to be the victims. The project was indeed
discovered and defeated, but the impression which it left upon her mind
was one of gloom and discouragement.[28]
We have already seen that the Duc de Mayenne had protested to Rucellaï
his attachment to the cause and person of Marie; yet he did not hesitate
to accept the command of the army which was organized against her, and
to march upon the province of Angoumois at the head of twelve thousand
men. The position of the Queen--mother was critical. She issued
continual commissions for the levy of troops, but she was unable to
furnish the necessary funds for their support, and in this difficulty
she resolved to appeal to the Protestants who were at that time holding
their General Assembly at La Rochelle. She was aware that they were
inimical to De Luynes, and she trusted that they might consequently be
induced to join her own faction. Once more, however, she was doomed to
disappointment. They were dissuaded from such a project by Du
Plessis;[29] and M. d'Epernon, after the most strenuous efforts, could
not succeed in raising more than six thousand foot and one thousand
horse with which to make head against the royal army.
Moreover, Schomberg, Lieutenant of the King in Limousin under M.
d'Epernon, who was the governor of the province, declared against him,
and took the town of Uzerche which was feebly garrisoned,[30] while the
Duke was engaged in checking the advance of Mayenne; nor was it long
ere intelligence arrived at Angoulême that Boulogne-sur-Mer had opened
its gates to the royal forces, and thus revolted against the authority
of Epernon, who was also governor of Picardy.[31]
These disasters were a source of great anxiety to Marie de Medicis, who
began to apprehend that should the Duke be in like manner despoiled of
his other fortified cities he would no longer be in a position to afford
her any protection; but fortunately De Luynes had also taken alarm. The
citizens made no attempt to conceal their dissatisfaction, the populace
openly murmured in the streets, and the favourite had not yet had time
to forget the popular vengeance which had been wreaked upon the wretched
Concini; no wonder therefore that he trembled for himself. Richelieu had
been, as already stated, recalled from his exile at Avignon, and the
moment was now arrived in which his services were essential to De
Luynes, by whom he was forthwith despatched to Angoulême, on the
understanding that the King had perfect confidence in his fidelity, and
placed implicit reliance on his desire to prove his affection to his
person. The astute prelate required no further explanation as to what
was required of him; he was aware that his compulsory absence had caused
his services to be more than ever coveted by the Queen-mother, and he
lost no time in setting forth upon his treacherous errand, furnished
with a letter to Marie, below which Louis wrote with his own hand: "I
beg you to believe that this document explains my will, and that you
cannot afford me greater pleasure than by conforming to it."
The effect of Richelieu's presence at the Court of the Queen-mother soon
became apparent. He had so thoroughly possessed himself of her
confidence that she suffered him to penetrate even to the inmost
recesses of her heart; and great and dignified as she could be under
excitement, we have already shown that Marie de Medicis never had
sufficient strength of character to rely on herself for any lengthened
period. Exhausted by the violence of the sudden emotions to which she
was often a prey, all her energy deserted her after the impulse had
passed away, and she gladly clung to the extraneous support of those who
professed to espouse her interests. Richelieu had studied her
temperament, and understood it. Before he had been many days at
Angoulême the Duc d'Epernon and his son became aware that they no longer
possessed the same influence as heretofore, while the Abbé Rucellaï,
indignant at the coldness with which his advice was received and his
services were requited, withdrew in disgust, accompanied by several of
her most attached servants; among others the Marquis de Thémines, who,
shortly afterwards, irritated by a reverse of fortune which he had not
foreseen, sought a pretext of quarrel with Henri de Richelieu, the elder
brother of the Bishop of Luçon, whom he challenged and left dead upon
the field. Thus the unhappy Queen now lay wholly at the mercy of her
insidious counsellor; while he, on his part, acted with so subtle a
policy that his services were alike essential to both parties, and he
saw himself in a position to profit by the projected reconciliation, in
whatever manner it might be ultimately accomplished.
Meanwhile the Archbishop of Sens, the Comte de Béthune, and the Abbé de
Bérulle, in conjunction and with the assistance of Richelieu, were still
proceeding with the negotiation; and, finally, the King, anxious to
terminate the affair, gave a commission to the Cardinal de la
Rochefoucauld to conclude the treaty. The conditions were easily agreed
upon, as Marie was enslaved by the influence of Richelieu, and
disheartened by the lukewarmness of her former friends, while Louis was
weary of a contention which made him hateful in the eyes of all Europe,
and which fettered his movements without adding to his renown.
On the 30th of April the necessary documents were accordingly signed,
and by these the Queen-mother was authorized to constitute her household
as she should deem fitting, to reside wherever she thought proper, and
to preserve all her revenues intact; while, in consideration of these
privileges, she consented to exchange her government of Normandy for
that of Anjou. She was, moreover, to receive six hundred thousand livres
for the liquidation of her debts; and M. d'Epernon fifty thousand
crowns to indemnify him for the loss of the town of Boulogne, and with
his adherents to be declared exonerated from all blame, and permitted to
retain possession of their offices under the Crown; and, finally, to the
demand made by the Queen-mother that she should be placed in possession
of the city and castle of Amboise, or, failing that, of those of Nantes,
the Abbé de Bérulle was authorized to inform her on the part of the King
that "in addition to the government of Anjou, the town and fortress of
Angers, and the Ponts de Cé, he was willing to give her, in lieu of what
she asked, the city and castle of Tours, together with four hundred men
for the protection of those places, a company of gendarmes, and a troop
of light-horse, in addition to her bodyguards; the whole to be
maintained at his own expense." [32]
This treaty was no sooner completed than Marie de Medicis wrote to her
son to express the joy which she experienced at their reconciliation;
and she entrusted her letter to the Comte de Brienne, with instructions
to deliver it into the hands of the King, who had removed with his Court
to Tours, ostensibly for the purpose of a more speedy meeting with the
Queen-mother. The result proved, however, that Marie could not have
selected a worse messenger, as De Brienne, who was young and arrogant,
soon gave offence both to Louis and his favourite. Having declared that
he would not, under any circumstances, show the most simple courtesy to
De Luynes, he did not remove his hat when he met him in the royal
ante-room; a want of respect which excited the displeasure of the
monarch, who was easily led to believe that he had been instructed by
his mistress to affect this contempt towards an individual with whom he
himself condescended to live on the most familiar terms; and,
consequently, when De Brienne next presented himself to receive the
reply of his Majesty to his despatches, he was desired not to thrust
himself into the presence of the King, who would select an envoy less
wanting in reverence to his sovereign when he should deem it advisable
to forward his own missive to Angoulême. The ill-advised equerry of
Marie was therefore compelled to retire without his credentials, and the
Queen-mother was subjected to the mortification of offering an ample
apology to Louis, through the medium of the messenger whom he in his
turn despatched to her, for the arrogance and discourtesy of her
follower.[33]
Meanwhile Marie de Medicis once more saw herself at the head of a Court
nearly equal in numbers and magnificence to that of the King himself,
and daily presided over festivities which satisfied even her thirst for
splendour and display. It sufficed that any noble felt himself aggrieved
by the presumption, or disappointed by the want of generosity of the
favourite, to induce him to offer his services to the Queen--mother, who
welcomed every accession of strength with a suavity and condescension
rendered doubly acceptable from the contrast which it exhibited with the
morose indifference of the King, and the insolent haughtiness of De
Luynes. Thus constant arrivals afforded a pretext for perpetual
gaieties; and the Duc d'Epernon received the new allies of his royal
mistress with a profusion and recklessness of expenditure which excited
universal astonishment.
De Luynes had considered it expedient to offer his congratulations to
the Queen-mother and M. d'Epernon upon the reconciliation which had
taken place, and in order to evince his respect for Marie had caused M.
de Brantès his brother to accompany the Cardinal de la Rochefoucauld to
Angoulême for this purpose, where both were received with a splendour,
and feasted with a pomp and elegance, to which they had been long
unaccustomed at the Court of Paris.
All these entertainments were, however, surpassed by those given by the
Duke on the occasion of a visit paid to her Majesty by Victor Amédée de
Piedmont, her new son-in-law, and his brother Prince Thomas of Savoy,
who had obtained the sanction of the King to proceed to Angoulême to
offer their respects to their illustrious relative. The two Princes were
met beyond the gates of the city by M. d'Epernon at the head of a party
of mounted nobles attired in their state dresses, and apartments
furnished in the most costly manner were prepared for them in the
episcopal palace, to which they were conducted amid the firing of
cannon, the sounds of martial music, and the acclamations of the
citizens; rushes and green boughs were strewn along their path, the
balconies of the houses were draped with tapestry and coloured cloths,
and a banquet had been prepared which was presided over by the
Queen-mother. The town of Angoulême was meanwhile alive with excitement
and delight until nightfall, when the streets were brilliantly
illuminated, and the joyous multitude were entertained by the
munificence of the Duc d'Epernon with a brilliant display of fireworks
which continued until midnight. Nothing, in short, evinced to the august
visitors any symptom of a reverse of fortune, such as they had been led
to expect, in the position and circumstances of Marie de Medicis. They
had merely exchanged one scene of royal display for another; and when,
upon the morrow, they were invited to attend a hunt which had been
organized in their honour, their surprise and gratification were too
evident for concealment.[34]
That the Queen-mother deeply felt the extent of the sacrifice made by M.
d'Epernon in her cause can admit of no doubt, for she was aware that he
was rapidly exhausting his resources in order to uphold her dignity; and
it is equally certain that she, on her side, was unwearied in her
efforts to ensure to him the gratitude and respect of her royal guests;
an attempt in which she so fully succeeded that on the return of the two
young Princes to the capital, the admiration which they expressed both
of the Queen and her deliverer excited the displeasure of De Luynes, who
could ill brook the rivalry of a man whom he at once feared and hated.
It was rumoured that this visit of the royal brothers to Angoulême had
been authorized by Louis at the suggestion of the favourite, who had
laboured to convince them of his anxiety for the return of Marie to the
Court, and had solicited their assistance in impressing upon her the
sincerity of his professions. Be this as it may, however, it is at least
certain that if the Princes lent themselves to his views, they failed in
producing the desired effect upon her mind; as, despite the invitation
of the King that she should approach nearer to Tours in order to
facilitate their projected interview, she constantly excused herself
upon the most frivolous pretexts, and continued to reside at Angoulême
without making the slightest preparation to obey his summons.[35]
This reluctance on her part to conclude a reconciliation, of which she
had hitherto expressed herself so desirous, excited the surprise and
apprehension of the Court, who sought a solution of the mystery from the
Bishop of Luçon; but the wily Richelieu was careful not to betray that
they were his own counsels which regulated the conduct of the
Queen-mother. He had well weighed his position, and he felt that it was
not yet sufficiently assured to enable him to oppose his influence to
that of De Luynes. He aspired to a seat in the Council, and in order to
attain it he must render himself more necessary to the favourite than he
had hitherto been enabled to do; a fact to which he was keenly alive.
Should the mother and the son meet at that moment, he was aware that the
excitable temperament of Marie could not fail to betray her into the
power of De Luynes, and with her would fall his own fortunes; whereas
time must necessarily calm her first exultation and render her more
tenacious of her power. Thus, then, Richelieu jealously watched every
change in her mood, excited her distrust, aggravated her animosities,
and, finally, convinced her that her strength existed only in opposition
to the King's will. Marie, naturally suspicious, lent herself readily to
this specious reasoning; she had sufficient knowledge of the character
of her son to feel that his eager desire to obliterate the past was
produced by no feeling of affection towards herself, but might simply be
attributed to his anxiety to weaken a faction which had become
formidable, and by depriving her adherents of a pretext for opposing his
authority, to rid himself of a danger which augmented from day to day.
Too readily the prey of her passions, Marie de Medicis exulted in this
conviction; and had Louis and his ministers been wise enough to accept
her reluctance as a refusal to return to Court, and abandoned all
attempts to change her determination, it is probable that this simulated
indifference, and the powerlessness to which it must ere long have
reduced both herself and her followers, would have caused her immediate
compliance; but, bent upon compelling her obedience, they, by successive
endeavours to overcome her disinclination to resign the comparative
independence to which she had attained, only played into the hands of
the astute Bishop, by strengthening her resolution to resist.
Shortly after the departure of the Princes of Savoy, the Capuchin Father
Joseph du Tremblay,[36] the confidential friend of Richelieu, was
ordered to proceed in his turn to Angoulême, and to endeavour to induce
Marie de Medicis, with whom the courtly monk was known to be a
favourite, to resume the position to which she was entitled as the widow
of one sovereign and the mother of another; and as a preliminary step,
to meet the King according to his expressed wish, before his return to
the capital. This was, however, only another false step on the part of
De Luynes, as the reverend father felt by no means disposed to thwart
the measures of the man to whom he looked for his own future
advancement; and his mission, in consequence, so signally failed that
the suspicions of the Court party were once more aroused against
Richelieu, although they were unable wholly to fathom the depth of his
subtle policy. These suspicions were, moreover, strengthened by the fact
that a new letter, addressed by the King to his mother, full of the most
pressing entreaties that she would divest herself of her distrust, and
confide in his affection (which letter was delivered to her by the Duc
de Montbazon, the father-in-law of De Luynes), produced no better
result. In vain did the Duke represent the earnest desire of Louis to
terminate a state of things so subversive of order, and so opposed to
all natural feeling, and assure her of the sincerity with which his
Majesty invited her to share his power; Marie, prompted by the astute
prelate, refused to yield.
"I am not invited to return to Court," she said bitterly; "I am to be
constrained to do so; but I will consent only upon one condition. Let
the Duc de Mayenne be my surety that I shall be treated as becomes my
dignity, both by the King and his favourite, and I will again enter the
capital. Without this safeguard I will not place myself in the power of
an adventurer."
Mayenne refused, however, to offer any such pledge, declaring that it
would not become him to interfere in any misunderstanding between the
sovereign and his mother; and Marie de Medicis thus saw herself under
the necessity of seeking some other method of evading compliance. A
pretext was soon found, however; and when next urged upon the subject,
she declared that her disinclination to involve the Court in new
difficulties must prevent her reappearance in the royal circle until the
question of precedence was clearly established between herself and the
Queen-consort.
Anne of Austria had not failed, from her first arrival in France, girl
as she was, to express great contempt for the House of Medicis, and to
assert the superiority of her own descent over that of her
mother-in-law; an assumption which had aroused all the indignation of
Marie, who had revenged herself by constantly speaking of Anne as "the
little Queen"; an insult which was immediately retorted by her
daughter-in-law in a manner that was keenly felt by the haughty Italian,
puerile and insignificant as it was. On every occasion Louis terminated
the letters that he addressed to her by subscribing himself "your very
humble and obedient son," and Marie insisted that his wife should follow
his example; but Anne refused to make such a concession, declaring that
as the Queen-mother merely signed herself "your very affectionate
mother," she would, on her side, do no more than subscribe herself
"your very affectionate daughter." Nor was this the only subject of
dispute, for Anne of Austria also insisted that as reigning Queen she
had a right to precedence over a Princess, who, although she had
formerly occupied the throne, had, by the death of her husband,
degenerated into a subject; nor could she be convinced to the contrary
even by past examples. In vain did Louis insist that his young wife
should yield, and rebuke her when she was wanting in respect to the
widowed Queen; the Spanish pride of Anne was proof against his
displeasure, and it was found impossible to reconcile their conflicting
claims.[37]
In the month of August the King conferred the promised _bâton_ of
Maréchal de France upon Charles de Choiseul, Marquis de Praslin, and
Jean François de la Guiche, Sieur de Saint-Géran.
The contention between Anne of Austria and her royal mother-in-law
remained undecided; and the position which the latter was to occupy at
the Court was consequently not clearly defined. She had obtained no
single advantage for which she had striven; no guarantee upon which she
had insisted; and, nevertheless, on the 19th of August, she left
Angoulême for the capital with a suite of ten coaches, each drawn by six
horses, and an escort of five hundred horsemen. The Duc d'Epernon bore
her company to the extreme frontier of his government, where they parted
with mutual manifestations of affection and goodwill. As the Duke, who
had alighted from the carriage where he had hitherto occupied a place
beside her Majesty, stood near the door expressing his last wishes for
her prosperity, and was about to raise her hand to his lips, Marie, who
was drowned in tears, drew a costly diamond from her finger, which she
entreated him to wear as a mark of her gratitude for the signal services
that he had rendered to her in her need; and then throwing herself back
upon her cushions she wept bitterly.
Well might she weep! She left behind her those who had rallied about her
in her misfortunes; and she was going forth into an uncertain future, of
which no human eye could penetrate the mysteries. The die was, however,
cast; and as a last demonstration of his respect and regard for her
person M. d'Epernon had instructed his son the Archbishop of Toulouse to
follow his royal mistress to Court; while he himself saw the brilliant
train depart, impoverished it is true by his uncalculating devotion to
her cause, but proud and happy in the conviction that without his aid
she would still have been a captive.
The retinue of the Queen-mother comprised the ladies of honour, the Duc
de Montbazon, the Bishop of Luçon, and several other individuals of
note; and thus attended she reached Poitiers, where the carriages of the
King were awaiting her arrival, and relays of horses were provided to
expedite her journey to Tours. From Poitiers she despatched Richelieu
in advance to announce her approach to Louis; and on his return to
report the completion of his mission, he was eloquent on the subject of
the graciousness of his reception both by the King and the favourite.
As she drew near the city Marie was met by the Cardinal de Retz[38] and
the Père Arnoux, accompanied by a numerous train of gentlemen, by whom
she was conducted to the Château de Montbazon, where she was to pass the
night; and on the following morning the newly-made Duc de Luynes arrived
to pay his respects to the mother of his sovereign. The Queen devoured
her mortification, and received her unwelcome guest with great
affability; but he had not been long in her presence ere he renewed all
her suspicions of his duplicity.
The Prince de Condé, who feared that a reconciliation between Louis and
the Queen-mother would militate against his release, had exerted himself
to the utmost to procure his liberty before they should have time to
meet; and aware that it was only through the influence of De Luynes that
he could accomplish his object, he did not hesitate to bribe the
favourite by an offer of the hand of his sister Eléonore de Bourbon, the
widow of Philip, Prince of Orange, for his brother Cadenet. De Luynes
was dazzled: an alliance with the first Prince of the Blood exceeded all
his hopes; while the liberation of M. de Condé, was, moreover,
essential to his own interests; as should he secure the friendship of so
powerful a noble, he would be better able to oppose not only the Duc
d'Epernon, but also all the leaders of the Queen-mother's faction. It
was, however, no part of his policy to betray his consciousness of this
necessity to the illustrious captive; whose imprisonment he nevertheless
rendered less irksome by according to him sundry relaxations from which
he had hitherto been debarred. A serious indisposition by which M. de
Condé was at this period attacked, moreover, greatly assisted his
projects; and the medical attendants of the Prince having declared that
they entertained but slight hopes of his recovery, De Luynes hastened to
entreat of the King that he would hold out to the invalid a prospect of
deliverance, which could not fail to produce a beneficial effect upon
his health. Nor did he experience any difficulty in inducing Louis to
comply with his request, as personally the King bore no animosity to the
Prince, whose arrest had not been caused by himself. The royal
physicians were forthwith despatched to Vincennes, with orders to exert
all their skill in alleviating his sufferings; and a few days
subsequently the Marquis de Cadenet followed with the sword of the
Prince, which he was commissioned to restore to its owner, accompanied
by the assurance that so soon as his Majesty should have restored order
in the kingdom, he would hasten to set him at liberty; but that,
meanwhile, he begged him to take courage, and to be careful of his
health.[39]
Cadenet was welcomed as his brother had anticipated; and was profuse in
his expressions of his own respect and regard for the illustrious
prisoner, and in his protestations of the untiring perseverance with
which the favourite was labouring to effect his release; while Condé was
equally energetic in his acknowledgments, declaring that should he owe
his liberty to De Luynes, he would prove not only to the latter, but to
every member of his family, his deep sense of so important a service.
Relying on this assurance, the favourite, whose greatest anxiety was to
prevent a good understanding between the King and his mother, had no
sooner concluded the compliments and promises to which Marie had
compelled herself to listen with apparent gratification, than he
hastened to inform her of the pledge given by Louis to terminate the
captivity of M. de Condé; craftily adding that his Majesty had hitherto
failed to fulfil it, as he desired to accord this signal grace to the
Prince conjointly with herself. Marie de Medicis, however, instantly
comprehended the motive of her visitor; and was at no loss to understand
that the liberation of a man whom she had herself committed to the
Bastille, and whom she had thus converted into an enemy, was intended as
a counterpoise to her own power. This conviction immediately destroyed
all her trust in the sincerity of her son and his ministers; and, unable
to control her emotion, she shortly afterwards dismissed De Luynes, and
retired to her closet, where she summoned her confidential friends, and
declared to them that she was resolved to return with all speed to
Angoulême without seeing the King.
From this dangerous determination she was, however, with some difficulty
dissuaded. They, one and all, represented that she had now gone too far
to recede; and reminded her that she was surrounded on every side by the
royal troops, while she was herself accompanied only by the members of
her household, who would be unable to offer any resistance should an
attempt be made to impede her retreat; and that, consequently, her only
safe plan of action was passively to incur the danger which she dreaded,
to dissimulate her apprehensions, and to watch carefully the progress
of events.
Marie could not, in fact, adopt a wiser course. The Duc de Mayenne, who
had espoused the royal cause against Epernon, was indignant at the
ingratitude and coldness with which his services had been requited, and
did not seek to disguise his discontent; while the nobles of Guienne, by
whom he had been followed, were in an equal state of irritation. This
circumstance was favourable to the Queen-mother, who lost no time in
persuading the Duke to make common cause with her against the favourite;
a proposition to which, excited by his annoyance, he at once acceded;
convinced that the projected reconciliation could not, under existing
circumstances, be of long duration.[40] On the 5th of September Marie
de Medicis accordingly left Montbazon for Consières, where she was to
have her first interview with the King; and having ascertained upon her
arrival that he was walking in the park of the château, she hastily
alighted and went to seek him there, followed by the Ducs de Guise, de
Montbazon, and de Luynes, the Cardinal de Retz, and the Archbishop of
Toulouse, by whom she had been received, as well as by a dense crowd of
spectators who had assembled to witness the meeting. The crowd was so
great that it became necessary to clear a passage before the King could
approach his mother, to whom he extended his arms, and for a few moments
both parties wept without uttering a syllable. This silence was,
however, ultimately broken by Louis, who exclaimed in a voice of deep
emotion: "You are welcome, Madame. I thank God with all my heart that He
has fulfilled my most ardent wish."
"And I have henceforth nothing more to desire," replied Marie; "I shall
now die happy since I have had the consolation of once more seeing you,
Sire, and of embracing my other children. I have always loved you
tenderly; and I entreat of you to do me the justice to believe that I
have the most sincere attachment to your person, and every anxiety to
promote the welfare of your kingdom." [41]
It is painful to reflect that these expressions, so natural from the
lips of two individuals thus closely allied, who had been long at
variance, and had at length met in amity, should have been the mere
outpourings of policy; and yet, it is equally impossible not to be
struck by their hollowness and falsehood; Louis being, at that very
moment, endeavouring to undermine the influence of his mother by
estranging from her cause all those who still clung to her waning
fortunes; while Marie was labouring with equal zeal to strengthen her
position, by attracting to her faction all the discontented nobles whose
individual vengeance could be gratified by opposing in her name, and
apparently in her interests, the projects of those who had blighted
their own prospects, or wounded their own pride.
When both parties had become more calm, Louis gave his hand to his
mother and conducted her to the château, where they remained together
for the space of three hours awaiting the arrival of the young Queen,
the Princess of Piedmont, and Madame Henriette, who ultimately reached
Consières, accompanied by all the Princesses, and great ladies of the
Court, occupying a train of upwards of fifty coaches; and the ceremonial
of reception had no sooner terminated than the king proceeded on
horseback to Tours, followed by the whole of this splendid retinue. The
two Queens occupied the same carriage, and were lavish in their
expressions of mutual regard and goodwill; but the comedy was
imperfectly acted on both sides, although neither affected to doubt the
sincerity of the other. It was necessary that the piece should be played
out, and the performers were skilful enough to bring it to a close
without openly betraying the distastefulness of their task.
At the supper which followed the arrival of the Court at Tours every
mark of respect was shown to the Queen-mother. She was seated at the
right hand of Louis, while Anne of Austria occupied a place upon his
left. The Prince of Piedmont presented the _serviette_, and persisted in
remaining standing, and bareheaded, although Marie desired a stool to be
placed near her, and entreated him to seat himself. It is consequently
needless to add that she was overwhelmed with adulation; and that the
courtiers vied with each other in demonstrations of delight.
The twelve succeeding days were passed in a series of _fêtes_, of which
Marie de Medicis was the heroine; but it nevertheless became evident ere
the close of that period that all parties were fatigued by the efforts
which they were making to conceal their real sentiments; and a return to
the capital was no sooner mooted than the Queen-mother openly declared
that she would not be carried to Paris in triumph, but would defer her
entrance into that city until after her visit to Angers. This resolution
deeply offended the King, who, on taking leave of her, at once proceeded
to Compiègne, while the Prince and Princess of Piedmont departed for
Turin, and Marie removed to Chinon, where she remained for a few days in
order to give the magistrates of Angers time to complete the
preparations for her reception. At the Ponts de Cé she was met by the
Maréchal de Bois-Dauphin at the head of fifteen hundred horsemen; and
thus escorted she reached the gates of the city, where she was
magnificently received, and welcomed with acclamations.[42]
De Luynes, alarmed by the protracted sojourn of the Queen-mother at
Angers, and her resolute refusal to return to the capital, became more
than ever anxious to effect the liberation of M. de Condé; an anxiety
that was moreover heightened by intelligence which reached the Court
that a deputation from the Protestants, who were then holding their
Assembly at Loudun, had waited upon her Majesty, for the purpose of
expressing their joy at her arrival and sojourn in Anjou, and of
communicating to her the demands which they were about to make to
the King.
It is true that Marie, although she did not disguise her gratification
at this mark of respect, was prudent enough not to advance any opinion
upon the claims which they set forth, and restricted herself to offering
her acknowledgments for their courtesy, coupled with the assurance that
they should find her a good neighbour; but even this reply, guarded as
it was, did not satisfy the Court, who pretended to discover a hidden
meaning in her words, and decided that she should have referred the
deputation to the King, in order to place herself beyond suspicion. Nor
were they less disconcerted on learning that all the nobility of the
province were constant visitors at her Court; and that she had
established herself in her government so thoroughly that she evidently
entertained no intention of abandoning her post.
As each succeeding day rendered the position of the Queen-mother more
threatening towards himself, the favourite resolved towards the middle
of October to effect the instant release of the Prince de Condé; and he
accordingly obtained the authority of the King to proceed to Vincennes,
with full power to open the gates of the fortress, and to liberate the
prisoner; while Louis himself proceeded to Chantilly, the château of the
Duc de Montmorency, who had married the sister of the Prince, to which
residence De Luynes was instructed to conduct the emancipated noble.
It is sickening to be compelled to recapitulate the constant result of
such events in that age of servility and moral degradation. The
favourite, who by a word could have liberated the first Prince of the
Blood from the Bastille before he was transferred to the fortress of
Vincennes, bowed his haughty head to the dust before him, and entreated
his protection; while Condé, in his turn, on being introduced into the
presence of the King, demanded pardon upon his knees for an offence of
which he did not even know the nature; and which he could only estimate
by the extent of the chastisement that had been inflicted on him. This
idle ceremony accomplished, M. de Condé immediately found himself a
member of the Privy Council; all the honours of his rank as first Prince
of the Blood were accorded to him; and the King issued a declaration by
which it was asserted that his recent captivity had been the act of
"certain ill-advised persons who abused the name and authority of the
sovereign." [43]
This declaration excited the indignation of the Queen-mother and
Richelieu, by whose advice the arrest of Condé had been determined; but
while Marie loudly expressed her displeasure, the more cautious prelate
endeavoured to disguise his annoyance. He looked farther into the future
than his impetuous mistress, and he saw that his hour of revenge had not
yet come. De Luynes, anxious to appease the Queen, declared that the
obnoxious declaration had not been submitted to him before its
publication, and threw the whole blame upon Du Vair, by whom it was
drawn up; conjuring her at the same time to return to the capital, where
alone she could convince herself of his earnest desire to serve her.
The close alliance formed between Condé and the favourite sufficed,
however, to deter Marie from making this concession; while many of those
about her did not hesitate to insinuate that the respect with which the
Prince affected to regard her person, and the desire that he expressed
to see her once more at Court, was a mere subterfuge; and that his real
anxiety, as well as that of De Luynes, was to separate her from the
nobles of Anjou, and the friends whom she possessed in her own
government, in order that she might be placed more thoroughly in their
power. The Queen-mother was the more inclined to adopt this belief from
the circumstance that, even while urging her return, Louis had given her
to understand the inexpediency of maintaining so numerous a bodyguard,
when she should be established in the capital, as that by which she had
surrounded herself since her arrival at Angers; and this evident desire
on the part of the King to diminish at once her dignity and her
security, coupled with her suspicions of Condé and De Luynes, rendered
her more than ever averse to abandon the safe position which she then
occupied, and to enter into a new struggle of which she might once more
become the victim.[44]
On his return to Paris, after his interview with the Queen-mother, Louis
bestowed the government of Picardy upon De Luynes, who resigned that of
the Isle of France, which he had previously held, to the Duc de
Montbazon his father-in-law. The two brothers of the favourite were
created Marshals of France; Brantès by the title of Duc de
Piney-Luxembourg--the heiress of that princely house having, by command
of the King, bestowed her hand upon him, to the disgust of all the great
nobles, who considered this ill-assorted alliance an insult to
themselves and to their order--while Cadenet, in order that he might in
his turn be enabled to aspire to the promised union with the widowed
Princess of Orange, was created Duc de Chaulnes. The latter marriage was
not, however, destined to be accomplished, Eléonore de Bourbon
rejecting with disdain a proposition by which she felt herself
dishonoured; nor can any doubt exist that her resistance was tacitly
encouraged by Condé: who, once more free, could have little inclination
to ally himself so closely with a family of adventurers, whose
antecedents were at once obscure and equivocal. This mortification was,
however, lessened to the discomfited favourite by the servility of the
Archduke Albert, the sovereign of the Low Countries; who, being anxious
to secure the support of the French king, offered to De Luynes the
heiress of the ancient family of Piquigny in Picardy, who had been
brought up at the Court of Brussels, as a bride for his younger brother.
Despairing, despite all his arrogance, of effecting the alliance of
Cadenet with a Princess of the Blood, the favourite gladly accepted the
proffered alliance; and M. de Chaulnes was appointed Lieutenant-General
in Picardy, of which province De Luynes was the governor, and where he
possessed numerous fine estates.
FOOTNOTES:
[24] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 449, 450. Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 172.
Matthieu, _Hist, des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 626.
[25] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 71, 72. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 172, 173.
[26] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 451, 452. Mézeray, vol. xi. p. 174.
Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 129. Matthieu, _Hist. des Derniers Troubles_,
book iii. p. 621.
[27] Pierre de Bérulle, the descendant of an ancient and noble family of
Champagne, was born on the 14th of February 1575, and soon became
remarkable for his virtue and science. He was the friend of St. François
de Sales, the founder of the Congregation of the Oratory in France, and
was promoted to the conclave by Urban VIII in 1627. He did not, however,
long enjoy his new dignity, having died at the altar while saying mass
on the 2nd of October 1629, before he had attained his fifty-sixth year.
He was the author of several theological works. An ably-written life of
the Cardinal de Bérulle is due to the pen of M. Hubert de Cérisy.
[28] Rohan, _Mém_. book i. pp. 116, 117. Richelieu, _Hist, de la Mère et
du Fils_, vol. ii. pp. 353, 354. Le Vassor, vol. ii. p. 77. _Mercure
Français_, 1619.
[29] _Vie de Du Plessis-Mornay_, book iv.
[30] Matthieu, _Hist, des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 636.
[31] Le Vassor, vol. ii. p. 102. Déageant, _Mém_. pp. 203, 204. _Vie du
Duc d'Epernon_, book viii.
[32] Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 179-181. Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 452, 453.
Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 129. Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_,
vol. ii. p. 356. Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 626, 627.
[33] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 631, 632.
[34] _Vie du Duc d'Epernon_, book viii.
[35] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. iv. pp. 632, 633. Le Vassor, vol. ii. p.
115. Sismondi, vol. xxii. p. 454. Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 129.
Fontenay-Mareuil, _Mém_. pp. 436-450. Richelieu, _Hist, de la Mère et du
Fits_, vol. ii. p. 372.
[36] François Le Clerc du Tremblay, known as the Capuchin Father Joseph,
was the elder son of Jean Le Clerc, President of the Court of Requests
at Paris, and of Marie de la Fayette. His sponsors were the Duc
d'Alençon (brother of Francis II) and the Duchesse d'Angoulême, the
natural sister of that Prince. He was a man of great learning and
talent, but cunning, ambitious, and unscrupulous, who had attached
himself to the fortunes of Richelieu, of whom he was the _âme damnée_,
and who endeavoured to cause him, in his turn, to be admitted to the
honours of the conclave. He died suddenly at Ruel on the 18th of
December 1638; and some years subsequently the Duchesse de Guise having,
at her own expense, repaved the choir of the Capuchin church, the tomb
of _la petite Eminence Grise_, as he was familiarly called by the
Parisians, was placed beneath that of Père Ange (the Cardinal-Duc de
Joyeuse), in front of the steps of the high altar. Richelieu had caused
an eulogistic and lengthy inscription on marble to be affixed to his
sepulchre; but the Parisians, who more truly estimated his merits, added
others considerably more pungent, among which the most successful was
the following:--
"Passant, n'est-ce pas chose étrange
Qu'un démon soit auprès d'un ange?"
[37] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 118, 119. Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp.
49-51. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 184, 185.
[38] Henri de Gondy, Master of the King's Oratory, and subsequently
Archbishop of Paris, on the resignation of his uncle Pierre, Cardinal de
Gondy, who died in 1616.
[39] Matthieu, _Hist. des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 639.
[40] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 121, 122.
[41] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp. 53-56.
[42] Sismondi, vol. xxii. pp. 453, 454. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 187, 188.
Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 129. Brienne, _Mém_. vol. i. p. 339. Richelieu,
_Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_, vol. ii. pp. 306-309.
[43] _Mercure Français_, 1619. Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 150, 151. Siri,
_Mém. Rec_. vol. v. pp. 59-63. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 188-191.
[44] Le Vassor, vol. ii. pp. 153, 154.