l'Indie che hanno sostenuto l'imprese dell'Imperatore tanti anni nelle
guerre di Francia, d'Italia et d'Alemagna, et hanno conservato et
diffeso li stati, la dignità et la riputatione sua." Ibid.
[397] "Et però in ogni luogo corrono tanto i denari et tanto il
spacciamento d'ogni cosa che non vi è huomo per basso et inerte, che
sia, che per il suo grado non sia ricco." Relatione di Cavallo, MS.
[398] See an extract from the original letter of Charles, dated
Brussels, January 27 1555, ap. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I.
p. cxxii.
[399] It is the fine expression of Schiller, applied to Philip on
another occasion. Abfall der Niederlande, p. 61.
[400] "Il se cachait ordinairement dans le fond de son carosse, pour se
dérober à la curiosité d'un peuple qui courait audevant de lui et
s'empressait à le voir; le peuple se crut dédaigné et méprisé."
Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 17.
Coaches were a novelty then in Flanders, and indeed did not make their
appearance till some years later in London. Sir Thomas Gresham writes
from Antwerp in 1560, "The Regent ys here still; and every other day
rydes abowght this town in her cowche, _brave come le sol_, trymmed
after the Itallione fasshone." Burgon, Life of Gresham, vol. I. p. 305.
[401] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 108,
126.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 10.--Brandt,
Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 107.
[402] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 94.
[403] Ibid., ubi supra.--Historia de los Alborotos de Flandes, por el
Caballero Renom de Francia, Señor de Noyelles, y Presidente de Malinas,
MS.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 31.
[404] See, in particular, the king's letter, in which he proposes to
turn to his own account the sinking fund provided by the states for the
discharge of the debt they had already contracted for him, Papiers
d'Etat, de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 594.
[405] "Il Duca di Sessa et il Conte d'Egmont hano acquistato il nome di
Capitano nuovamente perche una giornata vinta o per vertu o per fortuna,
una sola fattione ben riuscita, porta all'huomini riputatione et
grandezza." Relatione di Soriano, MS.
[406] Strada, De Bello Belgico, lib. I. p. 42.--Francia, Alborotos de
Flandes, MS.--Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 25.
[407] Strada, De Bello Belgico, lib. I. p. 52.
[408] "Sed etiam habitus quidam corporis incessusque, quo non tam femina
sortita viri spiritus, quàm vir ementitus veste feminam videretur."
Ibid., ubi supra.
[409] "Nec deerat aliqua mento superiorique labello barbula: ex qua
virilis ei non magis species, quàm auctoritas conciliabatur. Immò, quod
rarò in mulieres, nec nisi in prævalidas cadit, podagrâ idemtidem
laborabat." Ibid., p. 53.
[410] "Ob eam causam singulis annis, tum in sanctiori hebdomada,
duodenis pauperibus puellis pedes (quos a sordibus purgatos antè
vetuerat) abluebat." Ibid., ubi supra.
[411] Ibid., pp. 46-53, 543.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap.
2.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 13.
[412] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 21.
[413] Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 27 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe
Segundo, lib. V. cap. 2.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, lib. I. p.
57.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bays, tom. II. p. 22.--Meteren,
Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 24.--Schiller, Abfall der Niederlande, p. 84.
[414] "Je confesse que je fus tellement esmeu de pitié et de compassion
que dès lors j'entrepris à bon escient d'ayder à faire chasser cette
vermine d'Espaignols hors de ce Pays." Apology of the Prince of Orange,
ap. Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. V. p. 392.
[415] "Que le Roi et son Conseil avoyent arresté que tous ceux qui
avoient consenti et signé la Requeste, par laquelle on demandoit que la
Gendarmerie Espaignolle s'en allast, qu'on auroit souvenance de les
chastier avec le temps, et quand la commodité s'en presenteroit, et
qu'il les en advertissoit comme amy." Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol.
25.
[416] "Che egli voleva piuttosto restar senza regni, che possedergli con
l'eresia." Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 31.
[417] Ranke, Spanish Empire, p. 81.--Schiller, Abfall der Niederlande,
p. 85.--Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 27.--- Strada, De Bello
Belgico, p. 57.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 25.
[418] The existence of such a confidential body proved a fruitful source
of disaster. The names of the parties who composed it are not given in
the instructions to the regent, which leave all to her discretion.
According to Strada, however, the royal will in the matter was plainly
intimated by Philip. (De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 57.) Copies of the
regent's commission, as well as of two documents, the one indorsed as
"private," the other as "secret" instructions, and all three bearing the
date of August 8, 1559, are to be found entire in the Correspondance de
Philippe II., tom. II., Appendix, Nos. 2-4.
[419] "Ma non dal tanto alcuno dell'altri nè tutt'insieme quanto
Mons^{r.} d'Aras solo, il quale per il gran giudicio che ha et per la
longa prattica del governo del mondo et nel tentar l'imprese grandi più
accorto et più animoso di tutti più destro et più sicuro nel maneggiarle
et nel finirle più constante et più risoluto." Relatione di Soriano, MS.
[420] "Mio figliuolo et io e voi habbiamo perso un buon letto di
riposo,"--literally a good bed to repose on. Leti, Vita di Filippo II.,
tom. I. p. 195.
[421] principal motive of Philip the Second in founding this university,
according to Hopper, was to give Flemings the means of getting a
knowledge of the French language without going abroad into foreign
countries for it. Recueil et Mémorial des Troubles des Pays-Bas, cap. 2,
ap. Hoynck, Analecta Belgica, tom. II.
[422] "On remarque de lui ce qu'on avoit remarqué de César, et même
d'une façon plus singulière, c'est qu'il occupoit cinq secrétaires à la
fois, en leur dictant des lettres en différentes langues." Levesque,
Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire du Cardinal de Granvelle, (Paris,
1753,) tom. I. p. 215.
[423] "Di modo che ogni sera sopra un foglio di carta che lor chiamono
beliero esso Granvela, manda all'Imperatore il suo parere del quale
sopra li negotii del seguente giorno sua maestà ha da fare." Relatione
di Soriano, MS.
[424] "Havendo prima luí senza risolvere cosa alcuna mandata
ogn'informatione et ogni particolare negotiatíone con gli Ambasciatori
et altri ad esso Monsignore, di modo che et io et tutti gl'altri
Ambasciatori si sono avveduti essendo rimesse a Monsignor Granvela che
sua Eccellenza ha inteso ogni particolare et quasi ogni parola passata
fra l'Imperatore et loro." Ibid.
[425] A striking example of the manner in which Granvelle conveyed his
own views to the king is shown by a letter to Philip dated Brussels,
July 17, 1559, in which the minister suggests the arguments that might
be used to the authorities of Brabant for enforcing the edicts. The
letter shows, too, that Granvelle, if possessed naturally of a more
tolerant spirit than Philip, could accommodate himself so far to the
opposite temper of his master as to furnish him with some very plausible
grounds for persecution. Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 614.
[426] Levesque, Mémoires de Granvelle, tom. I. p. 207 et
seq.--Courchetet, Histoire du Cardinal de Granvelle, (Bruxelles, 1784,)
tom. I. passim.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 85.--Burgon, Life of
Gresham, vol. I. p. 267.
The author of the Mémoires de Granvelle was a member of a Benedictine
convent in Besançon, which, by a singular chance, became possessed of
the manuscripts of Cardinal Granvelle, more than a century after his
death. The good Father Levesque made but a very indifferent use of the
rich store of materials placed at his disposal, by digesting them into
two duodecimo volumes, in which the little that is of value seems to
have been pilfered from the unpublished MS. of a previous biographer of
the Cardinal. The work of the Benedictine, however, has the merit of
authenticity. I shall take occasion, hereafter, to give a more
particular account of the Granvelle collection.
[427] "En considération des bons, léaux, notables et agréables services
faits par lui, pendant plusieurs années, à feu l'Empereur, et depuis au
Roi." Correspondance de Philippe II, tom. I. p. 184.
[428] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 69 et
seq.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 40.--Hopper, Recueil et Mémorial,
cap. 2.--Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS.
[429] The royal larder seems to have been well supplied in the article
of poultry, to judge from one item, mentioned by Meteren, of fifteen
thousand capons. Hist. des Pays-Bas, tom. I. fol. 25.
[430] "Le Roi le prenant par le poignet, et le lui secoüant, repliqua en
Espagnol, _No los Estados, mas vos, vos, vos_, repetant ce _vos_ par
trois fois, terme de mépris chez les Espagnols, qui veut dire toy, toy
en François." Aubéri, Mémoires pour servir à l'Histoire d'Hollande et
des autres Provinces-Unies, (Paris, 1711,) p. 7.
[431] One might wish the authority for this anecdote better than it is,
considering that it is contradicted by the whole tenor of Philip's life,
in which self-command was a predominant trait. The story was originally
derived from Aubéri (loc. cit.). The chronicler had it, as he tells us,
from his father, to whom it was told by an intimate friend of the prince
of Orange, who was present at the scene. Aubéri, though a dull writer,
was, according to Voltaire's admission, well informed,--"écrivain
médiocre, mais fort instruit."
[432] "Carlo V. haueua saccheggiato la Terra, per arrichirne il Mare."
Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 335.
[433] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 3.--Sepulveda, De Rebus
Gestis Philippi II., Opera, tom. III. p. 53.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II.,
tom. I. p. 335.
[434] The editors of the "Documentos Inéditos para la Historia de
España," in a very elaborate notice of the prosecution of Archbishop
Carranza, represent the literary intercourse between the German and
Spanish Protestants as even more extensive than it is stated to be in
the text. According to them, a regular _dépôt_ was established at Medina
del Campo and Seville, for the sale of the forbidden books at very low
rates. "De las imprentas de Alemania se despachaban á Flandes, y desde
alli á España, al principio por los puertos de mar, y después cuando ya
hubo mas vigilancia de parte del gobierno, los enviaban á Leon de
Francia desde donde se introducían en la península por Navarra y Aragon.
Un tal Vilman librero de Amberes tenia tienda en Medina del Campo y en
Sevilla donde vendia las obras de los protestantes en español y latin.
Estos libros de Francfort se daban á buen mercado para que circulasen
con mayor facilidad." Documentos Inéditos, tom. V. p. 399.
[435] For the preceding pages see Llorente, Histoire de l'Inquisition
d'Espagne, tom. II p. 282; tom. III. pp. 191, 258.--Montanus, Discovery
and playne Declaration of sundry subtill Practises of the Holy
Inquisition of Spayne, (London, 1569,) p. 73.--Sepulveda, Opera, tom.
III. p. 54.
[436] Llorente, Hist, de l'Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. I. pp. 470, 471;
tom. II. pp. 183, 184, 215-217.
[437] McCrie, History of the Reformation in Spain, (Edinburgh, 1829,) p.
243.--Relacion del Auto que se hiço en Valladolid el dia de la
Sanctissima Trinidad, Año de 1559, MS.
[438] The reader curious in the matter will find a more particular
account of the origin and organization of the modern Inquisition in the
"History of Ferdinand and Isabella," part I. cap. 9.
[439] See the Register of such as were burned at Seville and Valladolid,
in 1559, ap. Montanus, Discovery of sundry subtill Practises of the
Inquisition.--Relacion del Auto que se hiço en Valladolid el dia de la
Sanctissima Trinidad, 1559, MS.--Sepulveda, Opera, tom. III. p. 58.
[440] McCrie, Reformation in Spain, p. 274.
[441] De Castro, Historia de los Protestantes Españoles, (Cadiz, 1851,)
p. 177.
[442] "Nous recommandons de le traiter avec bonté et miséricorde."
Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p. 253.
[443] Colmenares, Historia de Segovia, cap. XLII. sec. 3.--Cabrera,
Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap 3.
[444] Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p. 236.
[445] The anecdote is well attested. (Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V.
cap. 3.) Father Agustin Davila notices what he styles this _sentencia
famosa_ in his funeral discourse on Philip, delivered at Valladolid soon
after that monarch's death. (Sermones Funerales, en las Honras del Rey
Don Felipe II., fol. 77.) Colmenares still more emphatically eulogizes
the words thus uttered in the cause of the true faith, as worthy of such
a prince. "El primer sentenciado al fuego en este Auto fué Don Carlos de
Seso de sangre noble, que osó dezir al Rey, como consentia que le
quemasen, y severo respondio, Yo trahere la leña para quemar á mi hijo,
si fuere tan malo como vos. Accion y palabras dignas de tal Rey en causa
de la suprema religion." Historia de Segovia, cap. XLII. sec. 3.
[446] Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p. 237.
[447] Montanus, Discovery of sundry subtill Practises of the
Inquisition, p. 52.--Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p.
239.--Sepulveda, Opera, tom. III. p. 58.
[448] Puigblanch, The Inquisition Unmasked, (London, 1816,) vol. I. p.
336.
[449] "Hallóse por esto presente a ver llevar i entregar al fuego muchos
delinquentes aconpañados de sus guardas de a pie i de a cavallo, que
ayudaron a la execucion." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 3.
It may be doubted whether the historian means anything more than that
Philip saw the unfortunate man led to execution, at which his own guards
assisted. Dávila, the friar who, as I have noticed, pronounced a funeral
oration on the king, speaks of him simply as having assisted at this act
of faith,--"Assistir a los actos de Fe, como se vio en esta Ciudad."
(Sermones Funerales, fol. 77.) Could the worthy father have ventured to
give Philip credit for being present at the death, he would not have
failed to do so. Leti, less scrupulous, tells us that Philip saw the
execution from the windows of his palace, heard the cries of the dying
martyrs, and enjoyed the spectacle! The picture he gives of the scene
loses nothing for want of coloring. Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 342.
[450] How little sympathy, may be inferred from the savage satisfaction
with which a wise and temperate historian at the time dismisses to
everlasting punishment one of the martyrs at the first _auto_ at
Valladolid. "Jureque vivus flammis corpore cruciatus miserrimam animam
efflavit ad supplicia sempiterna." Sepulveda, Opera, tom. III. p. 58.
[451] Balmes, one of the most successful champions of the Romish faith
in our time, finds in the terrible apathy thus shown to the sufferings
of the martyrs a proof of a more vital religious sentiment than exists
at the present day! "We feel our hair grow stiff on our heads at the
mere idea of burning a man alive. Placed in society where the religious
sentiment is considerably diminished; accustomed to live among men who
have a different religion, and sometimes none at all; we cannot bring
ourselves to believe that it could be, at that time, quite an ordinary
thing to see heretics or the impious led to punishment." Protestantism
and Catholicity compared in their Effects on the Civilization of Europe,
Eng. trans., (Baltimore, 1851,) p. 217.
According to this view of the matter, the more religion there is among
men, the harder will be their hearts.
[452] The zeal of the king and the Inquisition together in the work of
persecution had wellnigh got the nation into more than one difficulty
with foreign countries. Mann, the English minister, was obliged to
remonstrate against the manner in which the independence of his own
household was violated by the agents of the Holy Office. The complaints
of St. Sulpice, the French ambassador, notwithstanding the gravity of
the subject, are told in a vein of caustic humor that may provoke a
smile in the reader: "I have complained to the king of the manner in
which the Marseillese, and other Frenchmen, are maltreated by the
Inquisition. He excused himself by saying that he had little power or
authority in matters which depended on that body; he could do nothing
further than recommend the grand-inquisitor to cause good and speedy
justice to be done to the parties. The grand-inquisitor promised that
they should be treated no worse than born Castilians, and the 'good and
speedy justice'came to this, that they were burnt alive in the king's
presence." Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 111.
[453] The archbishop of Toledo, according to Lucio Marineo Siculo, who
wrote a few years before this period, had jurisdiction over more than
fifteen large towns, besides smaller places, which of course made the
number of his vassals enormous. His revenues also, amounting to eighty
thousand ducats, exceeded those of any grandee in the kingdom. The
yearly revenues of the subordinate beneficiaries of his church were
together not less than a hundred and eighty thousand ducats. Cosas
Memorables de España, (Alcalá de Henares, 1539,) fol. 13.
[454] Salazar, Vida de Carranza, (Madrid, 1788,) cap. 1-11.--Documentos
Inéditos, tom. V. p. 389 et seq.--Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom.
II. p. 163; tom. III. p. 183 et seq.
[455] "En que se quemaron mas de 400 casas principales, y ricas, y
algunas en aquel barrio donde él estaba; no solo no lo entendió el
Arzobispo, pero ni lo supo hasta muchos años despues de estár en Roma."
Salazar, Vida de Carranza cap. 15.
[456] Salazar, Vida de Carranza, cap. 12-35.--Documentos Inéditos, tom.
V. pp. 453-463.--Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. III. p. 218 et
seq.
[457] The persecution of Carranza has occupied the pens of several
Castilian writers. The most ample biographical notice of him is by the
Doctor Salazar de Miranda, who derived his careful and trustworthy
narrative from the best original sources. Llorente had the advantage of
access to the voluminous records of the Holy Office, of which he was the
secretary; and in his third volume he has devoted a large space to the
process of Carranza which, with the whole mass of legal documents
growing out of the protracted prosecution, amounted, as he assures us,
to no less than twenty-six thousand leaves of manuscript. This enormous
mass of testimony leads one to suspect that the object of the
Inquisition was not so much to detect the truth as to cover it up. The
learned editors of the "Documentos Inéditos" have profited by both these
works, as well as by some unpublished manuscripts of that day, relating
to the affair, to exhibit it fully and fairly to the Castilian reader,
who in this brief history may learn the value of the institutions under
which his fathers lived.
[458] So says McCrie, whose volume on the Reformation in Spain presents
in a reasonable compass a very accurate view of that interesting
movement. The historian does not appear to have had access to any rare
or recondite materials; but he has profited well by those at his
command, comprehending the best published works, and has digested them
into a narrative distinguished for its temperance and truth.
[459] A full account of this duke of Infantado is to be found in the
extremely rare work of Nuñez de Castro, Historia Ecclesiastica y Seglar
de Guadalajara, (Madrid, 1653,) p. 180 et seq. Oviedo, in his curious
volumes on the Castilian aristocracy, which he brings down to 1556,
speaks of the dukes of Infantado as having a body-guard of two hundred
men, and of being able to muster a force of thirty thousand!
Quincuagenas, MS.
[460] "Avia gualdrapas de dos mil ducados de costa sin conputar valor de
piedras." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 7.
[461] "Elle répondit d'un air riant, et avec des termes pleins tout
ensemble de douceur et de majesté." De Thou, tom. III. p. 426.
[462] We have a minute account of this interview from the pens of two of
Isabella's train, who accompanied her to Castile, and whose letters to
the cardinal of Lorraine are to be found in the valuable collection of
historical documents, the publication of which was begun under the
auspices of Louis Philippe. Documents Inédits sur l'Histoire de France,
Négociations etc. relatives au Règne de François II., p. 171 et seq.
[463] Lucio Marineo, in his curious farrago of notable matters, speaks
of the sumptuous residence of the dukes of Infantado in Guadalajara.
"Los muy magníficos y sumpticosos palacios que alli estan de los muy
illustres duques de la casa muy antigua de los Mendoças." Cosas
Memorables, fol. 13.
[464] "J'ay ouy conter à une de ses dames que la premiere fois qu'elle
vist son mary, elle se mit à le contempler si fixement, que le Roy, ne
le trouvant pas bon, luy demanda: _Que mirais, si tengo canas?_
c'est-à-dire, 'Que regardez-vous, si j'ai les cheveux blancs?'Ces mots
luy toucherent si fort au coeur que depuis on augura mal pour elle."
Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 131.
[465] In this statement I conform to Sismondi's account. In the present
instance, however, there is even more uncertainty than is usual in
regard to a lady's age. According to Cabrera, Isabella was eighteen at
the time of her marriage; while De Thou makes her only eleven when the
terms of the alliance were arranged by the commissioners at
Cateau-Cambresis. These are the extremes, but within them there is no
agreement amongst the authorities I have consulted.
[466] "Elizabeth de France, et vraye fille de France, en tout belle,
sage, vertueuse, spirituelle et bonne, s'il en fust oncques." Brantôme,
OEuvres, tom. V. p. 126.
[467] "Son visage estoit beau, et ses cheveux et yeux noirs, qui
adombroient son teint...... Sa taille estoit tres belle, et plus grande
que toutes ses soeurs, qui la rendoit fort admirable en Espagne, d'autant
que les tailles hautes y sont rares, et pour ce fort estimables." Ibid.,
p. 128.
[468] "Les seigneurs ne l'osoient regarder de peur d'en estre espris, et
en causer jalousie au roy son mary, et par consequent eux courir fortune
de la vie." Ibid., p. 128.
[469] "La regina istessa parue non so come sorpressa da vn sentimento di
malinconica passione, nel vedersi abbracciare da vn rè di 33 anni, di
garbo ordinario alla presenza d'vn giouine prencipe molto ben fatto, e
che prima dell'altro l'era stato promesso in sposo." Leti, Vita di
Filippo II., tom. I. p. 345.
[470] Brantôme, who was certainly one of those who believed in the
jealousy of Philip, if not in the passion of Isabella, states the
circumstance of the king's supplanting his son in a manner sufficiently
_naïve_. "Mais le roy d'Espagne son pere, venant à estre veuf par le
trespas de la reyne d'Angleterre sa femme et sa cousine germaine, ayant
veu le pourtraict de madame Elizabeth, et la trouvant fort belle et fort
à son gré, en coupa l'herbe soubs le pied à son fils, et la prit pour
luy, commençant cette charité à soy mesme." OEuvres, tom. V. p. 127.
[471] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 6.--Florez, Reynas
Catolicas, p. 897.
"A la despedida presentó el Duque del Ynfantado al Rey, Reyna, Damas,
Dueñas de honor, y á las de la Cámara ricas joyas de oro y plata, telas,
guantes, y otras preseas tan ricas, por la prolixidad del arte, como por
lo precioso de la materia." De Castro, Hist. de Guadalajara, p. 116.
[472] "Danças de hermosisimas donzellas de la Sagra, i las de espadas
antigua invencion de Españoles." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap.
6.
[473] "Por la mucha hermosura que avia en las damas de la ciudad i
Corte, el adorno de los miradores i calles, las libreas costosas i
varias i muchas, que todo hazia un florido campo o lienço de Flandres."
Ibid., ubi supra.
[474] The royal nuptials were commemorated in a Latin poem, in two
books, "De Pace et Nuptiis Philippi et Isabellæ." It was the work of
Fernando Ruiz de Villegas, an eminent scholar of that day, whose
writings did not make their appearance in print till nearly two
centuries later,--and then not in his own land, but in Italy. In this
_epithalamium_, if it may be so called, the poet represents Juno as
invoking Jupiter to interfere in behalf of the French monarchy, that it
may not be crushed by the arms of Spain. Venus, under the form of the
duke of Alva,--as effectual a disguise as could be imagined,--takes her
seat in the royal council, and implores Philip to admit France to terms,
and to accept the hand of Isabella as the pledge of peace between the
nations. Philip graciously relents; peace is proclaimed; the marriage
between the parties is solemnized, with the proper Christian rites; and
Venus appears, in her own proper shape, to bless the nuptials! One might
have feared that this jumble of Christian rites and heathen mythology
would have scandalized the Holy Office, and exposed its ingenious author
to the honors of a _san benito_. But the poet wore his laurels
unscathed, and, for aught I know to the contrary, died quietly in his
bed. See Opera Ferdinandi Ruizii Villegatis, (Venetiis, 1736,) pp.
30-70.
[475] The sovereign remedy, according to the curious Brantôme, was
new-laid eggs. It is a pity the prescription should be lost. "On luy
secourust son visage si bien par des sueurs d'oeufs frais, chose fort
propre pour cela, qu'il n'y parut rien; dont j'en vis la Reyne sa mere
fort curieuse à luy envoyer par force couriers beaucoup de remedes, mais
celui de la sueur d'oeuf en estoit le souverain." OEuvres, tom. V. p. 129.
[476] "Aussi l'appelloit-on _la Reyna de la paz y de la bondad_,
c'est-à-dire la Reyne de la paix et de la bonté; et nos François
l'appelloient l'olive de paix." Ibid., ubi supra.
[477] "Et bien heureux et heureuse estoit celuy ou celle qui pouvoit le
soir dire 'J'ay veu la Reyne.'" Ibid., ubi supra.
[478] The difficulty began so soon as Isabella had crossed the borders.
The countess of Ureña, sister of the duke of Albuquerque, one of the
train of the duke of Infantado, claimed precedence of the countess of
Rieux and Mademoiselle de Montpensier, kinswomen of the queen. The
latter would have averted the discussion by giving the Castilian dame a
seat in her carriage; but the haughty countess chose to take the affair
into her own hands; and her servants came into collision with those of
the French ladies, as they endeavored to secure a place for their
mistress's litter near the queen. Isabella, with all her desire to
accommodate matters, had the spirit to decide in favor of her own
followers, and the aspiring lady was compelled--with an ill grace--to
give way to the blood royal of France. It was easier, as Isabella, or
rather as her husband, afterwards found, to settle disputes between
rival states than between the rival beauties of a court. The affair is
told by Lansac, Négociations relatives au Règne de François II., p. 171.
[479] "Elle ne porta jamais une robe deux fois, et puis la donnoit à ses
femmes et ses filles: et Dieu sçait quelles robbes, si riches et si
superbes, que la moindre estoit de trois ou quatre cens escus; car le
Roy son mary l'entretenoit fort superbement de ces choses là." Brantôme,
OEuvres, tom. V. p. 140.
[480] The MS., which is in Italian, is in the Royal Library at Paris.
See the extracts from it in Raumer's Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries, vol. I. p. 104 et seq.
[481] "Don Felipe Segundo nuestro señor, el cual con muy suntuosas, y
exquisitas fábricas dignas de tan grande Principe, de nuevo le ilustra,
de manera que es, consideradas todas sus calidades, la mas rara casa que
ningun Principe tiene en el mundo, á dicho de los estrangeros." Juan
Lopez, ap. Quintana, Antiguëdad, Nobleza y Grandeza de la Villa y Corte
de Madrid, p. 331.
[482] Ibid., ubi supra.--Sylva, Poblacion de España, (Madrid, 1675,)
cap. 4.--Estrada, Poblacion de España, (Madrid, 1748,) tom. I. p. 123.
[483] I quote the words of a work now become very scarce. "De dos mil y
quinientas y veinte casas que tenia Madrid quando su Magestad traxo
desde Toledo á ella la Corte, en las quales quando mucho avria de doce
mil a catorce mil personas,.... avia el año de mil y quinientos y
noventa y ocho, repartidas en trece Parroquias doce mil casas, y en
ellas trescientas mil personas y mas." Quintana, Antiguëdad de Madrid,
p. 331.
[484] "No hay sino un Madrid."
[485] "Donde Madrid está, calle el mundo."
[486] "No se conoce cielo mas benevolo, mas apacible clima, influso mas
favorable, con que sobresalen hermosos rostros, disposiciones gallardas,
lucidos ingenios, coraçones valientes, y generosos animos." Sylva,
Poblacion de España, cap 4.
[487]
"El aire de Madrid es tan sotil Que mata a un hombre, y no apaga a un
candil."
[488] Lucio Marineo gives a very different view of the environs of
Madrid in Ferdinand and Isabella's time. The picture, by the hand of a
contemporary, affords so striking a contrast to the present time that it
is worth quoting. "Corren por ella los ayres muy delgados: por los
quales si[=e]pre bive la g[=e]te muy sana. Tiene mas este lugar gr[=a]des
términos y campos muy fertiles: los quales llam[=a] lomos de Madrid. Por
que cojen en ellos mucho pan y vino, y otras cosas necessarias y
m[=a]tenimientos muy sanos." Cosas Memorables de España, fol. 13.
[489] Such at least is Ford's opinion. (See the Handbook of Spain, p.
720 et seq.) His clever and caustic remarks on the climate of Madrid
will disenchant the traveller whose notions of the capital have been
derived only from the reports of the natives.
[490] "Solo Madrid es corte."
Ford, who has certainly not ministered to the vanity of the Madrileño,
has strung together these various proverbs with good effect.
[491] Balmes, Protestantism and Catholicity compared, p. 215.
[492] "Il y avoit bien 30. ans que ceux de Brusselles avoyent commencé,
et avoyent percé des collines, des champs et chemins, desquels ils
avoient achapté les fonds des proprietaires, on y avoit faict 40.
grandes escluses..... et cousta dix huits cent mille florins." Meteren,
Hist. des Pays-Bas, tom. I. fol. 26.
[493] "Je vois une grande jeunesse en ces pays, avec les moeurs desquelz
ne me sçaurois ny ne voudrois accommoder; la fidélité du monde et
respect envers Dieu et son prince si corrompuz,..... que ne désirerois
pas seullement de les pas gouverner,.... mais aussy me fasche de le
veoir, congnoistre et de vivre.... entre telles gens." Papiers d'Etat de
Granvelle, tom. IV. p. 476.
[494] Gerlache, Histoire du Royaume des Pays-Bas, (Bruxelles, 1842,)
tom. I. p. 71.
[495] "Es menester ver como la nobleza se ha desde mucho tiempo
desmandada y empeñada por usura y gastos superfluos, gastando casi mas
que doble de lo que tenían en edificios, muebles, festines, danzas,
mascaradas, fuegos de dados, naipes, vestidos, libreas, seguimiento de
criados y generalmente en todas suertes de deleytes, luxuria, y
superfluidad, lo que se avia comenzado antes de la yda de su magestad á
España. Y desde entonces uvo un descontento casi general en el país y
esperanza de esta gente asi alborotada de veer en poco tiempo una
mudanza." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS.
[496] Apologie de Guillaume IX. Prince d'Orange contre la Proscription
de Philippe II. Roi d'Espagne, presentée aux Etats Généraux des
Pays-Bas, le 13 Decembre, 1580, ap. Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. V.
p. 384.
[497] M. Groen Van Prinsterer has taken some pains to explain the
conduct of William's parents, on the ground, chiefly, that they had
reason to think their son, after all, might he allowed to worship
according to the way in which he had been educated (p. 195). But
whatever concessions to the Protestants may have been wrung from Charles
by considerations of public policy, we suspect few who have studied his
character will believe that he would ever have consented to allow one of
his own household, one to whom he stood in the relation of a guardian,
to be nurtured in the faith of heretics.
[498] See particularly Margaret's letter to the king, of March 13, 1560,
Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 260 et seq.
[499] M. Groen Van Prinsterer has industriously collated the
correspondence of the several parties, which must be allowed to form an
edifying chapter in the annals of matrimonial diplomacy. See Archives de
la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 202.
[500] Mémoires de Granvelle, tom. I. p. 251.
[501] Raumer, Hist. Tasch., p. 109, ap. Archives de la Maison
d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 115.
[502] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 284.
[503] It may give some idea of the scale of William's domestic
establishment to state, that, on reducing it to a more economical
standard, twenty-eight head-cooks were dismissed. (Van der Haer, De
Initiis Tumult., p. 182, ap. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom.
I. p. 200*.) The same contemporary tells us that there were few princes
in Germany who had not one cook, at least, that had served an
apprenticeship in William's kitchen,--the best school in that day for
the noble science of gastronomy.
[504] "Audivi rem domesticam sic splendide habuisse ut ad ordinarium
domus ministerium haberet 24 Nobiles, pueros vero Nobiles (Pagios
nominamus) 18." Ibid., ubi supra.
[505] "Rei domesticæ splendor, famulorumque et asseclarum multitudo
magnis Principibus par. Nec ulla toto Belgio sedes hospitalior, ad quam
frequentiùs peregrini Proceres Legatique diverterent, exciperenturque
magnificentiùs, quàm Orangii domus." Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 99.
[506] "Le prince d'Orange, qui tient un grand état de maison, et mène à
sa suite des comtes, des barons et beaucoup d'autres gentilshommes
d'Allemagne, doit, pour le moins, 900,000 fl." Correspondance de
Philippe II., tom. I. p. 239.
[507] In January, 1564, we find him writing to his brother, "Puis qu'il
ne reste que à XV. cens florins par an, que serons bien tost délivré des
debtes." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 196.
[508] "Il estoit d'une éloquence admirable, avec laquelle il mettoit en
évidence les conceptions sublimes de son esprit, et faisoit plier les
aultres seigneurs de la court, ainsy que bon luy sembloit." Gachard,
(Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II., Préface, p. 3,) who
quotes a manuscript of the sixteenth century, preserved in the library
of Arras, entitled, "Commencement de l'Histoire des Troubles des
Pays-Bas, advenuz soubz le Gouvernement de Madame la Duchesse de Parme."
[509] "Sy estoit singulièrement aimé et bien vollu de la commune, pour
une gracieuse façon de faire qu'il avoit de saluer, caresser, et
arraisonner privément et familièrement tout le monde." Ibid., ubi supra.
[510] "Il ne l'occuperoit point de ces choses mélancoliques, mais il lui
feroit lire, au lieu des Saintes-Ecritures, Amadis de Gaule et d'autres
livres amusants du même genre." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau,
tom. I. p. 203*.
[511] "Il estoit du nombre de ceulx qui pensent que la religion
chrestienne soit une invention politique, pour contenir le peuple en
office par voie de Dieu, non plus ni moins que les cérémonies,
divinations et superstitions que Numa Pompilius introduisit à Rome."
Commencement de l'Hist. des Troubles, MS., ap. Gachard, Cor. de
Guillaume, tom. II., Préface, p. 5.
[512] "Tantôt Catholique, tantôt Calviniste ou Luthérien selon les
différentes occasions, et selon ses divers desseins." Mémoires de
Granvelle, tom. II. p. 54.
[513] "Estimant, ainsy que faisoient lors beaucoup de catholiques, que
c'estoit chose cruelle de faire mourir ung homme, pour seulement avoir
soustenu une opinion, jasoit qu'elle fût erronée." MS. quoted by
Gachard, Cor. de Guillaume, tom. II., Préface, p. 4.
[514] "No se vee que puedan quedar aquí mas tiempo sin grandissimo
peligro de que dende agora las cosas entrassen en alboroto." Papiers
d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 166.
[515] "Harto se declaran y el Principe d'Oranges y Monsr d'Egmont que
aunque tuviessen la mayor voluntad del mundo para servir en esto á V. M.
de tener cargo mas tiempo de los Españoles, no lo osarian emprender si
bolviessen, por no perderse y su crédito y reputacion con estos
estados." Ibid., p. 197.
[516] Some notion of the extent of these embarrassments may be formed
from a schedule prepared by the king's own hand, in September, 1560.
From this it appears that the ordinary sources of revenue were already
mortgaged: and that, taking into view all available means, there was
reason to fear there would be a deficiency at the end of the following
year of no less than nine millions of ducats. "Where the means of
meeting this are to come from," Philip bitterly remarks, "I do not know,
unless it be from the clouds, for all usual resources are exhausted."
This was a sad legacy, entailed on the young monarch by his father's
ambition. The document is to be found in the Papiers d'Etat de
Granvelle, tom. VI. pp. 156-165.
[517] "Dizen todos los de aquella isla que ántes se dexarán ahogar con
ellos, que de poner la mano mas adelante en el reparo tan necessario de
los diques." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 200.
[518] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 192.--Strada, De Bello
Belgico, p. 111.
[519] "Hase con industria persuadido á los pueblos que V. M. quiere
poner aquí á mi instancia la inquisicion de España so color de los
nuevos obispados." Granvelle to Philip, Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle,
tom. VI. p. 554. See also Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I.,
passim.
[520] "Los quales, aunque pueden ser á proposito para administrar sus
abadias, olvidan el beneficio recebido del principe y en las cosas de su
servicio y beneficio comun de la provincia son durissimos, y tan rudes
para que se les pueda persuadir la razon, como seria qualquier menor
hombre del pueblo." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 18.
The intention of the crown appears more clearly from the rather frank
avowal of Granvelle to the duchess of Parma, made indeed some twenty
years later, 1582, that it was a great object with Philip to afford a
counterpoise in the states to the authority of William and his
associates. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. VIII. p. 96.
[521] Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 17.
[522] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 71.
[523] Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 612.--Correspondance de
Philippe II., tom. I. p. 263.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 31.
By another arrangement the obligations of Afflighen and the other abbeys
of Brabant were commuted for the annual payment of eight thousand ducats
for the support of the bishops. This agreement, as well as that with
Antwerp, was afterwards set aside by the unscrupulous Alva, who fully
carried out the original intentions of the crown.
[524] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 77.
[525] "En ce qui concerne les nouveaux évêchés, le Roi déclare que
jamais Granvelle ne lui en conseilla l'érection; qu'il en fit même dans
le principe un mystère au cardinal, et que celui-ci n'en eut
connaissance que lorsque l'affaire était déjà bien avancée."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 207.
[526] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. VIII. p. 54.
[527] "Il serait prêt à y contribuer de sa fortune, de son sang et de sa
propre vie." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 189.
[528] "Veo el odio de los Estados cargar sobre mi, mas pluguiesse á Dios
que con sacrificarme fuesse todo remediado.... Que plugiera á Dios que
jamas se huviera pensado en esta ereccion destas yglesias; _amen_,
_amen_." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 117.
[529] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 63.
[530] Strada, de Bello Belgico, p. 88.
[531] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 52.
[532] Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 15.
[533] The nobles, it appears, had complained to Philip that they had
been made to act this unworthy part in the cabinet of the duke of Savoy,
when regent of the Netherlands. Granvelle, singularly enough, notices
this in a letter to the Regent Mary, in 1555, treating it as a mere
suspicion on their part. (See Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne,
tom. II., Préface, p. ix.) The course of things under the present
regency may be thought to show there was good ground for this suspicion.
[534] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 195.
[535] Ibid., p. 197.
[536] "Que bien claro muestran muchos que no les pesaria de que fuessen
mal, y que, si lo de allé diesse al través, bien brevemente se yria por
acá el mismo camino. Y ha sido muestra dicha, que ninguno destos señores
se haya declarado, que si lo hiziera alguno, otro que Dios no pudiera
estorvar que lo de aqui no siguiera el camino de Francia."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 230.
[537] "Ce méchant animal nommé le peuple;"--the cardinal's own words, in
a letter to the king. Ibid., p. 290.
[538] Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 145.--Correspondance de Philippe II.,
tom. I. p. 202.
[539] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 210, 214.
[540] "A qui ils imputent d'avoir écrit au Roi qu'il fallait couper une
demi-douzaine de têtes et venir en force, pour conquérir le pays."
Ibid., p. 203.
[541] "Lo principal es que venga con dinero y crédito, que con esto no
faltará gente para lo que se huviesse de hazer coa los vezinos, y su
presencia valdra mucho para assossegar todo lo de sus súbditos." Papiers
d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 562.
[542] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 91.--Mémoires de
Granvelle, tom. II. p. 24,--a doubtful authority, it must be admitted.
[543] "It is not true," Philip remarks, in a letter to the duchess dated
July 17, 1562, "that Granvelle ever recommended me to cut off half a
dozen heads. Though," adds the monarch, "it may perhaps be well enough
to have recourse to this measure." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom.
I. p. 207.
[544] Strada, De Bello Belgico, pp. 78, 79, 133, 134.--Renom de Francia.
Alborotos de Flandes, MS.--Meteren. Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 31, 32.
[545] "Qu'il n'étoit ni de son caractère ni de son honneur d'être le
Bourreau des Hérétiques." Mémoires de Granvelle, tom. I. p. 304.
[546] Strada, De Bello Belgico, pp. 136, 137.--Renom de Francia,
Alborotos de Flandes, MS.--Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries,
vol. I. pp. 137, 138.
[547] "En las [cosas] de la religion no se çufre temporizar, sino
castigarlas con todo rigor y severidad, que estos villacos sino es por
miedo no hazen cosa buena, y aun con él, no todas vezes." Papiers d'Etat
de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 421.
[548] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 207.
[549] Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 280.
[550] "Quoiqu'elle ne puisse dire qu'aucun des seigneurs ne soit pas bon
catholique, elle ne voit pourtant pas qu'ils procèdent, dans les
matières religieuses, avec toute la chaleur qui serait nécessaire."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 240.
[551] Ibid., p. 202.
[552] Ibid., ubi supra.
[553] "C'est une grande confusion de la multitude des nostres qui sont
icy fuis pour la religion. On les estime en Londres, Sandvich, et
comarque adjacente, de xviij à xx mille testes." Letter of Assonleville
to Granvelle, Ibid., p. 247.
[554] "Et qu'aussy ne se feroit rien par le Cardinal sans l'accord des
Seigneurs et inquisiteurs d'Espaigne, dont necessairement s'ensuyvroit,
que tout se mettroit en la puissance et arbitrage d'iceulx Seigneurs
inquisiteurs d'Espaigne." Hopper, Recueil et Mémorial, p. 24.
[555] "Que, pour l'amour de Dieu, le Roi se dispose à venir aux
Pays-Bas!.... ce serait une grande charge pour sa conscience, que de ne
le pas faire." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 213.
[556] "Des choses de cette cour nous ne savons pas plus que ceux qui
sont aux Indes..... Le délai que le Roi met à répondre aux lettres qu'on
lui adresse cause un grand préjudice aux affaires; il pourra coûter cher
un jour." Ibid., p. 199.
[557] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 236, 242.
[558] Philip's answer to the letter of the duchess in which she stated
Granvelle's proposal was eminently characteristic. If Margaret could not
do better, she might enter into negotiations with the malecontents on
the subject; but she should take care to delay sending advice of it to
Spain; and the king, on his part, would delay as long as possible
returning his answers. For the measure, Philip concludes, is equally
repugnant to justice and to the interests of the crown. (Correspondance
de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 237.) This was the royal policy of
procrastination!
[559] "Conclusero una lega contra 'l Cardenal p'detto à diffesa commune
contra chi volesse offendere alcun di loro, laqual confortorono con
solennisso giuramento, ne si curarono che se non li particolari fossero
secreti per all'hora; ma publicorono questa loro unione, et questa lega
fatta contra il Cardle." Relatione di Tiepolo, MS.
[560] Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. pp. 36-38.
[561] "Que en otros tiempos por menor causa se havia mondado a Fiscales
proceder." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 151.
[562] "Que solos los de España sean legitimos, que son las palabras de
que aqui y en Italia se usa." Ibid., p. 153.
[563] "Car ce n'est ma coustume de grever aucuns de mes ministres sans
cause." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 42.
[564] "S'estant le comte d'Egmont advanché aujourd'huy huict jours _post
pocula_ dire à Hoppérus, avec lequel il fut bien deux heures en devises,
que ce n'estoit point à Granvelle que l'on en vouloit, mais au Roy, qui
administre tres-mal le public et mesmes ce de la Religion, comme l'on
luy at assez adverty." Morillon, Archdeacon of Mechlin, to Granvelle,
Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 247.
[565] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 256, 258, 259.
[566] "Il n'est pas icy question de grever ledict cardinal, ains
plustost de le descharger, voire d'une charge laquelle non-seulement lui
est peu convenable et comme extraordinaire, mais aussi ne peult plus
estre en ses mains, sans grand dangier d'inconvéniens et troubles."
Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 45.
[567] "Quant il n'y auroit que le désordre, mescontentement et confusion
qui se trouve aujourd'huy en vos pays de par deçà, ce seroit assez
tesmoinage de combien peu sert icy sa présence, crédit et auctorité."
Ibid., p. 46.
[568] "Que ne sommes point de nature grans orateurs ou harangueurs, et
plus accoustumez à bien faire qu'à bien dire, comme aussy il est mieulx
séant à gens de nostre qualité." Ibid., p. 47.
[569] "Faisans cesser l'umbre dont avons servy en iceluy quatre ans."
Ibid., p. 50.
[570] Mémoires de Granvelle, tom. II. p. 39 et seq.--Correspondance de
Philippe II., tom. I. p. 256.
[571] "Elle connait tout le mérite du cardinal, sa haute capacité, son
expérience des affaires d'Etat, le zèle et le dévouement qu'il montre
pour le service de Dieu et du Roi." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom.
I. p. 266.
[572] "D'un autre côté, elle reconnaît que vouloir le maintenir aux
Pays-Bas, contre le gré des seigneurs, pourrait entraîner de grands
inconvénients, et même le soulèvement du pays." Ibid., ubi supra.
[573] Reiffenberg, Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 26, note.
[574] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 58.
[575] "Vous ne me reconnaîtriez plus, tant mes cheveux ont blanchi."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 268.
[576] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 274.
[577] "Moi, qui ne suis qu'un ver de terre, je suis menacé de tant de
côtés, que beaucoup doivent me tenir déjà pour mort; mais je tâcherai,
avec l'aide de Dieu, de vivre autant que possible, et si l'on me tue,
j'espère qu'on n'aura pas gagné tout par là." Ibid., p. 284.
[578] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 190.
[579] "Hablándole yo en ello," writes the secretary Perez to Granvelle,
"como era razon, me respondió que por su fee ántes aventuraría á perder
essos estados que hazer esse agravio á V. S. en lo qual conoscerá la
gran voluntad que le tiene." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VII. p.
102.
[580] "Cada vez que veo los despachos de aquellos tres señores de
Flandes me mueven la colera de manera que, sino procurasse mucho
templarla, creo parecia á V. Magd mi opinion de hombre frenetico." Carta
del Duque de Alba al Rey, á 21 de Octobre de 1563, MS.
[581] "A los que destos meriten, quiten les las caveças, hasta poder lo
hacer, dissimular con ellos." Ibid.
[582] "Comme je l'ai toujours trouvé plein d'empressement et de zèle
pour tout ce qui touche le service da V. M. et l'avantage du pays, je
supplie V. M. de faire au comte d'Egmont une réponse affectueuse, afin
qu'il ne désespère pas de sa bonté." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom
I. p. 281.
[583] The letter--found among the MSS. at Besançon--is given by Dom
Prosper Levesque in his life of the cardinal. (Mémoires de Granvelle,
tom. II. p. 52.) The worthy Benedictine assures us, in his preface, that
he has always given the text of Granvelle's correspondence exactly as he
found it; an assurance to which few will give implicit credit who have
read this letter, which bears the marks of the reviser's hand in every
sentence.
[584] Mémoires de Granvelle, tom. II. p. 55.
[585] "Le prince d'Orange est un homme dangereux, fin, rusé, affectant
de soutenir le peuple..... Je pense qu'un pareil génie qui a des vûes
profondes est fort difficile à ménager, et qu'il n'est guères possible
de le faire changer." Ibid., pp. 53, 54.
[586] "Causant l'autre jour avec elle, le comte d'Egmont lui montra un
grand mécontentement de ce que le Roi n'avait daigné faire un seul mot
de réponse ni à lui, ni aux autres. Il dit que, voyant cela, ils étaient
décidés à ordonner à leur courrier qu'il revint, sans attendre
davantage." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 283.
[587] "Il a pensé, d'après ce que le cardinal lui a écrit, qu'il serait
très à propos qu'il allât voir sa mère, avec la permission de la
duchesse de Parme. De cette manière, l'autorité du Roi et la réputation
du cardinal seront sauvées." Ibid., p. 285.
[588] That indefatigable laborer in the mine of MSS., M. Gachard,
obtained some clew to the existence of such a letter in the Archives of
Simancas. For two months it eluded his researches, when in a happy hour
he stumbled on this pearl of price. The reader may share the enthusiasm
of the Belgian scholar. "Je redoublai d'attention; et enfin, après deux
mois de travail, je découvris, sur un petit chiffon de papier, la minute
de la fameuse lettre dont faisait mention la duchesse de Parme: elle
avait été classée, par une méprise de je ne sais quel officiai, avec les
papiers de l'année 1562. On lisait en tête: _De mano del Rey; secreta._
Vous comprendrez, monsieur le Ministre, la joie que me fit éprouver
cette découverte: ce sont là des jouissances qui dédommagent de bien des
fatigues, de bien des ennuis!" Rapport à M. le Ministre de l'Intérieur,
Ibid., p. clxxxv.
[589] "M'esbayz bien que, pour chose quelconque, vous ayez délaissé
d'entrer au conseil où je vous avois laissé." Correspondance de
Guillaume le Taciturne tom. II. p. 67.
[590] "Ne faillez d'y rentrer, et monstrer de combien vous estimez plus
mon service et le bien de mes pays de delà, que autre particularité
quelconque." Ibid., p. 68.
[591] Abundant evidence of Philip's intentions is afforded by his
despatches to Margaret, together with two letters which they inclosed to
Egmont. These letters were of directly opposite tenor; one dispensing
with Egmont's presence at Madrid,--which had been talked of,--the other
inviting him there. Margaret was to give the one which, under the
circumstances, she thought expedient. The duchess was greatly distressed
by her brother's manoeuvring. She saw that the course she must pursue was
not the course which he would prefer. Philip did not understand her
countrymen so well as she did.
[592] "En effet, le prince d'Orange et le comte d'Egmont, les seuls qui
se trouvassent à Bruxelles, montrèrent tant de tristesse et de
mécontentement de la courte et sèche réponse du Roi, qu'il était à
craindre qu'après qu'elle aurait été communiquée aux autres seigneurs,
il ne fût pris quelque résolution contraire au service du Roi."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 294.
[593] "Con la venida de Mons. de Chantonnay, mi hermano, á Bruxelles, y
su determinacion de encaminarse á estas partes, me paresció tomar color
de venir hazia acá, donde no havia estado en 19 años, y ver á madama de
Granvella, mi madre, que ha 14 que no la havia visto." Ibid., p. 298.
Granvelle seems to have fondly trusted that no one but Margaret was
privy to the existence of the royal letter,--"secret, and written with
the king's own hand." So he speaks of his departure in his various
letters as a spontaneous movement to see his venerable parent. The
secretary Perez must have smiled, as he read one of these letters to
himself, since an abstract of the royal despatch appears in his own
handwriting. The Flemish nobles also--probably through the regent's
secretary, Armenteros--appear to have been possessed of the true state
of the case. It was too good a thing to be kept secret.
[594] Schiller, Abfall der Niederlande, p. 147.
Among other freaks was that of a masquerade, at which a devil was seen
pursuing a cardinal with a scourge of foxes'tails. "Deinde sequebatur
diabolus, equum dicti cardinalis caudis vulpinis fustigans, magna cum
totius populi admiratione et scandalo." (Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle,
tom. VIII. p. 77.) The fox's tail was a punning allusion to Renard, who
took a most active and venomous part in the paper war that opened the
revolution. Renard, it may be remembered, was the imperial minister to
England in Queen Mary's time. He was the implacable enemy of Granvelle,
who had once been his benefactor.
[595] Strada, De Bello Belgico, pp. 161-164.--Vander Haer, De Initiis
Tumultuum Belgicorum, p. 166.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom.
II. p. 53.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 294, 295.
[596] The date is given by the prince of Orange in a letter to the
landgrave of Hesse, written a fortnight after the cardinal's departure.
(Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 226.) This fact,
public and notorious as it was, is nevertheless told with the greatest
discrepancy of dates. Hopper, one of Granvelle's own friends, fixes the
date of his departure at the latter end of May. (Recueil et Mémorial, p.
36.) Such discrepancies will not seem strange to the student of history.
[597] "Ejus inimici, qui in senatu erant, non aliter exultavêre quam
pueri abeunte ludimagistro." Vita Viglii, p. 38.
Hoogstraten and Brederode indulged their wild humor, as they saw the
cardinal leaving Brussels, by mounting a horse,--one in the saddle, the
other _en croupe_,--and in this way, muffled in their cloaks,
accompanying the traveller along the heights for half a league or more.
Granvelle tells the story himself, in a letter to Margaret, but
dismisses it as the madcap frolic of young men. Papiers d'Etat de
Granvelle, tom. VII. p. 410, 426.
[598] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 226.
[599] "Le comte d'Egmont lui a dit, entre autres, que, si le cardinal
revenait, indubitablement il perdrait la vie, et mettrait le Roi en
risque de perdre les Pays-Bas." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I.
p. 295.
[600] "Je n'ay entendu de personne chose dont je peusse concevoir
quelque doubte que vous ne fussiez, à l'endroit de mon service, tel que
je vous ay cogneu, ny suis si légier de prester l'oreille à ceulx qui me
tascheront de mettre en umbre d'ung personage de vostre qualité, et que
je cognois si bien." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II.
p. 76.
[601] "Quiero de aquí adelante hazerme ciego y sordo, y tractar con mis
libros y negocios particulares, y dexar el público á los que tanto saben
y pueden, y componerme quanto al reposo y sossiego." Papiers d'Etat de
Granvelle, tom. VIII, p. 91.--A pleasing illusion, as old as the time of
Horace's "_Beatus ille_," &c.
[602] Gerlache, Royaume des Pays-Bas, tom. I. p. 79.
[603] "Vélà ma philosophie, et procurer avec tout cela de vivre le plus
joyeusement que l'on peut, et se rire du monde, des appassionnez, et de
ce qu'ilz dient sans fondement." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau,
tom. I. p. 240.
[604] "Ilz auront avant mon retour, que ne sera, à mon compte, plus tost
que d'icy à deux mois, partant au commencement de juing." Ibid., p. 236.
[605] This remarkable letter, dated Madrid, May 6, is to be found in the
Supplément à Strada, tom. II. p. 346.
[606] Hopper does not hesitate to regard this circumstance as a leading
cause of the discontents in Flanders. "Se voyans desestimez ou pour
mieux dire opprimez par les Seigneurs Espaignols, qui chassant les
autres hors du Conseil du Roy, participent seulz avecq iceluy, et
présument de commander aux Seigneurs et Chevaliers des Pays d'embas: ny
plus ni moins qu'ilz font à aultres de Milan, Naples, et Sicille; ce que
eulx ne veuillans souffrir en manière que ce soit, à esté et est la
vraye ou du moins la principale cause de ces maulx et altérations."
Recueil et Mémorial, p. 79.
[607] Viglius makes many pathetic complaints on this head, in his
letters to Granvelle. See Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I.
p. 319 et alibi.
[608] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 312, 332, et alibi.
[609] "Il faudrait envoyer le cardinal à Rome." Ibid., p. 329.
[610] Ibid., p. 295.
[611] Morillon, in a letter to Granvelle, dated July 9, 1564, tells him
of the hearty hatred in which he is held by the duchess; who, whether
she has been told that the minister only made her his dupe, or from
whatever cause, never hears his name without changing color. Papiers
d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VIII. p. 131.
[612] "Viglius lui fait souffrir les peines de l'enfer, en traversant
les mesures qu'exige le service du Roi." Ibid., p. 314.
[613] "Ils espèrent alors pêcher, comme on dit, en eau trouble, et
atteindre le but qu'ils poursuivent depuis longtemps: celui de s'emparer
de toutes les affaires. C'est pourquoi ils out été et sont encore
contraires à l'assemblée des états généraux.... Le cardinal, le
président et leur séquelle craignent, si la tranquillité se rétablit
dans le pays, qu'on ne lise dans leurs livres, et qu'on ne découvre
leurs injustices, simonies, et rapines." Ibid., p. 311.
[614] Ibid., p. 320 et alibi.
[615] "Ce qu'elle se résent le plus contre v. i. S. et contre moy, est
ce que l'avons si longuement gardé d'en faire son prouffit, qu'elle fait
maintenant des offices et bénéfices et aultres grâces." Archives de la
Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 406.
[616] "Ipsam etiam Ducissam in suam pertraxêre sententiam, honore etiam
majore quam antea ipsam afficientes, quo muliebris sexus facilè
capitur."--This remark, however, is taken, not from his correspondence
with Granvelle, but from his autobiography. See Vita Viglii, p. 40.
[617] The extortions of Margaret's secretary, who was said to have
amassed a fortune of seventy thousand ducats in her service, led the
people, instead of Armenteros, punningly to call him _Argenterios_. This
piece of scandal is communicated for the royal ear in a letter addressed
to one of the king's secretaries by Fray Lorenzo de Villacancio, of whom
I shall give a full account elsewhere. Gachard, Correspondance de
Philippe II., tom. II., Rapport, p. xliii.
[618] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I., p. 273 et alibi.
[619] Granvelle regarded such a step as the only effectual remedy for
the disorders in the Low Countries. In a remarkable letter to Philip,
dated July 20, 1565, he presents such a view of the manner in which the
government is conducted as might well alarm his master. Justice and
religion are at the lowest ebb. Public offices are disposed of at
private sale. The members of the council indulge in the greatest freedom
in their discussions on matters of religion. It is plain that the
Confession of Augsburg would be acceptable to some of them. The truth is
never allowed to reach the king's ears; as the letters sent to Madrid
are written to suit the majority of the council, and so as not to give
an unfavorable view of the country. Viglius is afraid to write. There
are spies at the court, he says, who would betray his correspondence,
and it might cost him his life. Granvelle concludes by urging the king
to come in person, and with money enough to subsidize a force to support
him. Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VIII. p. 620 et seq.
[620] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 317.
[621] Hopper, Recueil et Mémorial, p. 39.--Archives de la Maison
d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 222.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom.
I. p. 347 et alibi.
[622] The Spanish ambassador to England, Guzman de Silva, in a letter
dated from the Low Countries, refers this tendency among the younger
nobles to their lax education at home, and to their travels abroad. "La
noblesse du pays est généralement catholique: il n'y a que les jeunes
gens dont, à cause de l'éducation relachée qu'ils out reçue, et de leur
frequentation dans les pays voisins, les principes soient un peu
équivoques." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 383.
[623] "Se dice publico que ay medios para descargar todas las deudas del
Rey sin cargo del pueblo tomando los bienes de la gente de yglesia ó
parte conforme al ejemplo que se ha hecho en ynglaterra y francia y
tambien que ellos eran muy ricos y volberian mas templados y hombres de
bien." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS.
[624] "Leur office est devenu odieux au peuple; ils rencontrent tant de
résistances et de calomnies, qu'ils ne peuvent l'exercer sans danger
pour leurs personnes." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 353.
[625] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 147.
[626] Ibid., ubi supra.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, p.
174.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 321-327.
[627] Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 172.--Correspondance de Philippe II.,
tom. I. p. 327 et alibi.
[628] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. pp. 146-149.
[629] "La dépense excède annuellement les revenus, de 600,000 florins."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 328.
[630] "Quant à la moyenne noblesse des Pays-Bas, les Seigneurs l'auront
tantost à leur cordelle." Chantonnay to Granvelle, October 6, 1565,
Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 426.
[631] That Granvelle understood well these consequences of convening the
states-general is evident from the manner in which he repeatedly speaks
of this event in his correspondence with the king. See, in particular, a
letter to Philip, dated as early as August 20, 1563, where he sums up
his remarks on the matter by saying: "In fine, they would entirely
change the form of government, so that there would be little remaining
for the regent to do, as the representative of your majesty, or for your
majesty yourself to do, since they would have completely put you under
guardianship." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VII. p. 186.
[632] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 329.
[633] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 14, 16.--Strada, De Bello
Belgico, tom. I. p. 176.
[634] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 179.
[635] "Si, après avoir accepté le concile sans limitations dans tous ses
autres royaumes et seigneuries, il allait y opposer des réserves aux
Pays-Bas, cela produirait un fâcheux effet." Correspondance de Philippe
II., tom. I. p. 328.
[636] Yet whatever slight Philip may have put upon the lords in this
respect, he showed William, in particular, a singular proof of
confidence. The prince's _cuisine_, as I have elsewhere stated, was
renowned over the Continent; and Philip requested of him his _chef_, to
take the place of his own, lately deceased. But the king seems to lay
less stress on the skill of this functionary than on his
trustworthiness,--a point of greater moment with a monarch. This was a
compliment--in that suspicious age--to William, which, we imagine, he
would have been slow to return by placing his life in the hands of a
cook from the royal kitchens of Madrid. See Philip's letter in the
Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II p. 89.
[637] Margaret would fain have settled the dispute by giving the
countess of Egmont precedence at table over her fair rival. (Archives de
la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 445.) But both Anne of Saxony and
her household stoutly demurred to this decision,--perhaps to the right
of the regent to make it. "Les femmes ne se cédent en rien et se
tiegnent par le bras, _ingredientes pari passu_, et si l'on rencontre
une porte trop estroicte, l'on se serre l'ung sur l'aultre pour passer
également par ensamble, affin que il n'y ayt du devant ou derrière."
Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplément, p. 22.
[638] There is a curious epistle, in Groen's collection, from William to
his wife's uncle, the elector of Saxony, containing sundry charges
against his niece. The termagant lady was in the habit, it seems, of
rating her husband roundly before company. William, with some _naïveté_,
declares he could have borne her ill-humor to a reasonable extent in
private, but in public it was intolerable. Unhappily, Anne gave more
serious cause of disturbance to her lord than that which arose from her
temper, and which afterwards led to their separation. On the present
occasion, it may be added, the letter was not sent,--as the lady, who
had learned the nature of it, promised amendment. Ibid., tom. II. p. 31.
[639] "Au cas que le Roi s'en excuse, il doit demander que S. M. donne à
la duchesse des instructions précises sur la conduite qu'elle a à
tenir." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 337.
The original instructions prepared by Viglius were subsequently modified
by his friend Hopper, at the suggestion of the prince of Orange. See
Vita Viglii, p. 41.
[640] Ibid., ubi supra.
[641] "Non posse ei placere, velle Principes animis hominum imperare,
libertatemque Fidei et Religionis ipsis adimere." Ibid., p. 42.
[642] Burgundius puts into the mouth of William on this occasion a fine
piece of declamation, in which he reviews the history of heresy from the
time of Constantine the Great downwards. This display of schoolboy
erudition, so unlike the masculine simplicity of the prince of Orange,
may be set down among those fine things, the credit of which may be
fairly given to the historian rather than to the hero.--Burgundius,
Hist. Belgica, (Ingolst., 1633,) pp. 126-131.
[643] "Itaque mane de lecto surgens, inter vestiendum apoplexiâ attactus
est, ut occurrentes domestici amicique in summo cum discrimine versari
judicarent." Vita Viglii, p. 42.
[644] "Elle conseille au Roi d'ordonner à Viglius de rendre ses comptes,
et de restituer les meubles des neuf maisons de sa prévôté de
Saint-Bavon, qu'il a dépouillées." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom.
I. p. 350.
[645] "Lui promettons, en foy de gentilhomme et chevalier d'honeur, si
durant son aller et retour lui adviene quelque inconvénient, que nous en
prendrons la vengeance sur le Cardinal de Granvelle ou ceux qui en
seront participans ou penseront de l'estre, et non sur autre." Archives
de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 345.
[646] This curions document, published by Arnoldi, (Hist. Denkw., p.
282,) has been transferred by Groen to the pages of his collection. See
Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, ubi supra.
[647] "Ibi tum offensus conviva, arreptam argenteam pelvim (quæ manibus
abluendis mensam fuerat imposita) injicere Archiepiscopo in caput
conatur: retinet pelvim Egmondanus: quod dum facit, en alter conviva
pugno in frontem Archiepiscopo eliso, pileum de capite deturbat." Vander
Haer, De Initiis Tumult, p. 190.
[648] If we are to trust Morillon's report to Granvelle, Egmont denied,
to some one who charged him with it, having recommended to Philip to
soften the edicts. (Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplément,
p. 374.) But Morillon was too much of a gossip to be the best authority;
and, as this was understood to be one of the objects of the count's
mission, it will be but justice to him to take the common opinion that
he executed it.
[649] "Negavit accitos à se illos fuisse, ut docerent an permittere id
posset, sed an sibi necessariò permittendum præscriberent." Strada, De
Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 185.
[650] "Tum Rex in eorum conspectu, humi positus ante Christi Domini
simulacrum, 'Ego verò, inquit, Divinam Majestatem tuam oro, quæsoque,
Rex omnium Deus, hanc ut mihi mentem perpetuam velis, ne illorum, qui te
Dominum respuerint, uspiam esse me aut dici Dominum acquiescam.'" Ibid.,
ubi supra.
[651] "Il retourne en Flandre, l'homme le plus satisfait du monde."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 349.
[652] "En ce qui touche la religion, il déclare qu'il ne peut consentir
à ce qu'il y soit fait quelque changement; qu'il aimerait mieux perdre
cent mille vies, s'il les avait." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom.
I. p. 347.
[653] Ibid., ubi supra.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 187.
[654] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 347.
[655] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 92.
[656] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 364.
[657] "And everywhere great endeavors were used to deliver the
imprisoned, as soon as it was known how they were privately made away in
the prisons: for the inquisitors not daring any longer to carry them to
a public execution, this new method of despatching them, which the king
himself had ordered, was now put in practice, and it was commonly
performed thus: They bound the condemned person neck and heels, then
threw him into a tub of water, where he lay till he was quite
suffocated." Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 155.
[658] Ibid., tom. I. p. 154.
[659] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 361 et alibi.
[660] "Tout vat de demain à demain, et la principale résolution en
telles choses est de demeurer perpétuellement irrésolu." Archives de la
Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 426.
[661] "Il y en a qui sont plus Roys que le Roy." Ibid., ubi supra.
[662] "Le Roi aura bien de la peine à se montrer homme." Ibid., ubi
supra.
[663] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 358.
[664] "Le Roi peut être certain que, s'il accorde que les édits ne
s'exécutent pas, jamais plus le peuple ne souffrira qu'on châtie les
hérétiques; et les choses iront ainsi aux Pays-Bas beaucoup plus mal
qu'en France." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 323.
[665] Ibid., tom. I. p. 371.
[666] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 246.
[667] "Entendant seullement à mez affaires, ne bougeant de ma chambre
synon pour proumener, à faire exercice à l'église, et vers Madame, et
faisant mes dépesches où je doibtz correspondre, sans bruyct." Papiers
d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. IX. p. 639.
[668] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 326.
[669] "Il lui suffit, pour se contenter d'être ou il est, de savoir que
c'est la volonté du Roi, et cela lui suffira pour aller aux Indes, on en
quelque autre lieu que ce soit, et même pour se jeter dans le feu."
Ibid., p. 301.
[670] Ibid., p. 380.
[671] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 396.
[672] Ibid., p. 372.--Hopper, Recueil et Mémorial, p. 57.
[673] "Car, quant à l'inquisition, mon intention est qu'elle se face par
les inquisiteurs, comm'elle s'est faicte jusques à maintenant, et
comm'il leur appertient par droitz divins et humains." Correspondance de
Philippe II., tom. I., "Rapport," p. cxxix, note.
[674] Ibid., ubi supra.
[675] This letter was dated the twentieth of October. All hesitation
seems to have vanished in a letter addressed to Granvelle only two days
after, in which Philip says, "As to the proposed changes in the
government, there is not a question about them." "Quant aux changements
qu'on lui a écrit devoir se faire dans le gouvernement, il n'en est pas
question." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 375.
[676] Documentos Inéditos, tom. IV. p. 333.
[677] "Dieu sçait qué visaiges ils ont monstrez, et qué mescontentement
ils ont, voyans l'absolute volunté du Roy." Archives de la Maison
d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 442.
[678] Hopper, Recueil et Mémorial, p. 59.
[679] "Quâ conclusione acceptâ, Princeps Auriacencis cuidam in aurem
dixit (qui pòst id retulit) quasi lætus gloriabundusque: visuros nos
brevi egregiæ tragediæ initium." Vita Viglii, p. 45.
[680] "Une déclaration de guerre n'aurait pas fait plus d'impression sur
les esprits, que ces dépêches, quand la connaissance en parvint au
public." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 94.
[681] "Se comienza á dar esperanza al pueblo de la libertad de
conciencia, de las mudanzas del gobierno." Renom de Francia, Alborotos
de Flandes, MS.
"Some demand a mitigation of the edicts; others," as Viglius peevishly
complains to Granvelle, "say that they want at least as much toleration
as is vouchsafed to Christians by the Turks, who do not persecute the
enemies of their faith as we persecute brethren of our own faith, for a
mere difference in the interpretation of Scripture!" (Archives de la
Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I, p. 287.) Viglius was doubtless of the
opinion of M. Gerlache, that for Philip to have granted toleration would
have proved the signal for a general massacre. Vide Hist. du Royaume des
Pays-Bas, tom. I. p. 83.
[682] "On défiait les Espagnols de trouver aux Pays-Bas ces stupides
Américains et ces misérables habitans du Pérou, qu'on avait égorgés par
millions, quand on avait vu qu'ils ne savaient pas se défendre."
Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. I. p. 97
[683] See a letter of Morillon to Granvelle, January 27, 1566, Archives
de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplément, p. 22.
[684] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 390.
[685] "Il a appris avec peine que le contenu de sa lettre, datée du bois
de Ségovie, a été mal accueilli aux Pays-Bas, ses intentions ne tendant
qu'au service de Dieu et au bien de ces Etats, comme l'amour qu'il leur
porte l'y oblige." Ibid., p. 400.
[686] Historians have usually referred the origin of the "Union" to a
meeting of nine nobles at Breda, as reported by Strada. (De Bello
Belgico, tom. I. p. 208.) But we have the testimony of Junius himself to
the fact, as stated in the text; and this testimony is accepted by
Groen, who treads with a caution that secures him a good footing even in
the slippery places of history. (See Archives de la Maison
d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 2.) Brandt also adopts the report of
Junius. (Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 162.)
[687] "Inique et contraire à toutes loix divines et humaines, surpassant
la plus grande barbarie que oncques fut practiquée entre les tirans."
Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 3.
One might imagine that the confederates intended in the first part of
this sentence to throw the words of Philip back upon himself,--"Comme il
leur appertient par droitz divins et humains." Dépêche du Bois de
Ségovie, Octobre 17, 1565.
[688] "Affin de n'estre exposéz en proye à ceulx qui, soubs ombre de
religion, voudroient s'enrichir aux despens de nostre sang et de nos
biens." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 4.
[689] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 134.
[690] "De sorte que si un Prestre, un Espagnol, ou quelque mauvais
garnement veut mal, ou nuyre à autruy, par le moyen de l'Inquisition, il
pourra l'accuser, faire apprehender, voire faire mourir, soit à droit,
soit à tort." Supplément à Strada, tom. II. p. 300.
[691] "L'un des beaux caractères de ce temps." Borguet, Philippe II. et
la Belgique, p. 43.
[692] Ibid., ubi supra.
[693] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 209.
[694] "Mettant le tout en hazard de venir ès mains de nos voisins."
Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 109.
[695] "J'aimerois mieulx, en cas que Sadicte Majesté ne le veuille
dilaier jusques à là, et dès à présent persiste sur cette inquisition et
exécution, qu'elle commisse quelque autre en ma place, mieulx entendant
les humeurs du peuple, et plus habile que moi à les maintenir en paix et
repos, plustost que d'encourir la note dont moi et les miens porrions
estre souillés, si quelque inconvénient advînt au pays de mon
gouvernement, et durant ma charge." Ibid., ubi supra.
[696] "Addidere aliqui, nolle se in id operam conferre, ut quinquaginta
aut sexaginta hominum millia, se Provincias administrantibus, igni
concrementur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 203.
[697] Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 112.
[698] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 378.
[699] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 33.
[700] "A ce propos le duc d'Albe répondit que dix mille grenouilles ne
valoient pas la tête d'un saumon." Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom.
XVIII. p. 447.
Davila, in telling the same story, reports the saying of the duke in
somewhat different words:--"Diceva che ... besognava pescare i pesci
grossi, e non si curare di prendere le ranocchie." Guerre Civili di
Francia, (Milano, 1807,) tom. I. p. 341.
[701] Henry the Fourth, when a boy of eleven years of age, was in the
train of Catherine, and was present at one of her interviews with Alva.
It is said that he overheard the words of the duke quoted in the text,
and that they sank deep into the mind of the future champion of
Protestantism. Henry reported them to his mother, Jeanne d'Albret, by
whom they were soon made public. Sismondi, Hist. des Français, tom.
XVIII. p. 447.--For the preceding paragraph see also De Thou, Hist.
Universelle, tom. V. p. 34 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI.
cap. 23.--Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 58 et seq.
[702] It is a common opinion that, at the meeting at Bayonne, it was
arranged between the queen-mother and Alva to revive the tragedy of the
Sicilian Vespers in the horrid massacre of St. Bartholomew. I find,
however, no warrant for such an opinion in the letters of either the
duke or Don Juan Manrique de Lara, major-domo to Queen Isabella, the
originals of which are still preserved in the Royal Library at Paris. In
my copy of these MSS. the letters of Alva to Philip the Second cover
much the larger space. They are very minute in their account of his
conversation with the queen-mother. His great object seems to have been,
to persuade her to abandon her temporizing policy, and, instead of
endeavoring to hold the balance between the contending parties, to
assert, in the most uncompromising manner, the supremacy of the Roman
Catholics. He endeavored to fortify her in this course by the example of
his own master, the king of Spain, repeating Philip's declaration, so
often quoted, under various forms, that "he would surrender his kingdom,
nay life itself, rather than reign over heretics."
While the duke earnestly endeavored to overcome the arguments of
Catherine de Medicis in favor of a milder, more rational, and, it may be
added, more politic course in reference to the Huguenots, he cannot
justly be charged with having directly recommended those atrocious
measures which have branded her name with infamy. Yet, on the other
hand, it cannot be denied that this bloody catastrophe was a legitimate
result of the policy which he advised.
[703] "On voit journellement gens de ce pays aller en Angleterre, avec
leurs familles et leurs instruments; et jà Londres, Zandvich et le pays
allenviron est si plain, que l'on dit que le nombre surpasse 30,000
testes." Assonleville to Granvelle, January 15, 1565, Correspondance de
Philippe II., tom. I. p. 392.
[704] "Il y a longtemps que ces Païs-Bas sont les Indes d'Angleterre,
et, tant qu'ilz les auront, ilz n'en ont besoing d'aultres." Ibid., p.
382.
[705] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, tom. I. fol. 39, 40.--Correspondance
de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 17.
[706] Supplèment à Strada, tom. II. p. 293.
[707] Ibid., ubi supra.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 212.
[708] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 402.--Strada, De Bello
Belgico, tom. I. p. 212.--Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne. tom.
II. p. 132.
[709] Supplément à Strada, tom. II. p. 294.
[710] "Ostant l'Inquisition, qui en ce temps est tant odieuse ... et ne
sert quasi de riens, pour estre les Sectaires assez cognuz; modérant
quant et quant la rigeur des Placcarts ... publiant aussy quant et quant
pardon general pour ceulx qui se sont meslez de laditte Ligue." Ibid.,
p. 295.
[711] "Le Prince d'Oranges et le Comte de Hornes disoyent en plain
conseil qu'ils estoyent d'intention de se voulloir retirer en leurs
maisons, ... se deuillans mesmes le dit Prince, que l'on le tenoit pour
suspect et pour chief de ceste Confédération." Extract from the Procès
d'Egmont, in the Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 42.
[712] "De laquelle estant advertis quelques quinze jours après, devant
que les confédérés se trouvassent en court, nous déclarames ouvertement
et rondemen qu'elle ne nous plaisoit pas, et que ce ne nous sambloit
estre le vray moyen pour maintenir le repos et tranquillité publique."
Extract from the "Justification" of William, (1567,) in the Archives de
la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 11.
[713] This fact rests on the authority of a MS. ascribed to Junius.
(Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 162.) Groen,
however, distrusts the authenticity of this MS. (Archives de la Maison
d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 12.) Yet, whatever may be thought of the
expedition against Antwerp, it appears from William's own statement that
the confederates did meditate some dangerous enterprise, from which he
dissuaded them. See his "Apology," in Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom.
V. p. 392.
[714] "Les estatz-généraulx ayans pleine puissance, est le seul remède à
nos maulx; nous avons le moyen en nostre povoir sans aucune doubte de
les faire assembler, mais on ne veult estre guéri." Archives de la
Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 37.
[715] "Ils veullent que à l'obstination et endurcissement de ces loups
affamez nous opposions remonstrances, requestes et en fin parolles, là
où de leur costé ils ne cessent de brusler, coupper testes, bannir et
exercer leur rage en toutes façons. Nous avons le moyen de les refrener
sans trouble, sans difficulté, sans effusion de sang, sans guerre, et on
ne le veult. Soit donques, prenons la plume et eux l'espée, nous les
parolles, eux le faict." Ibid., p. 36.
[716] "Ire Ma^{t.} gar ernstlich bevelt das man nitt allain die sich in
andere leren so begeben, sol verbrennen, sonder auch die sich widderumb
bekeren, sol koppen lasen; welges ich wahrlich im hertzen hab gefült,
dan bei mir nit finden kan das cristlich noch thunlich ist." Ibid., tom.
I. p. 440.
[717] Ibid., tom. II. p. 30.
[718] Ibid., tom. I. p. 432.
[719] Hopper, Recueil et Mémorial, p. 67.
[720] "Tant y a que craignant qu'il n'en suivit une très dangereuse
issue et estimant que cette voye estoit la plus douce et vrayment
juridique, je confesse n'avoir trouvé mauvais que la Requeste fut
presentée." Apology, in Dumont, tom. V. p. 392.
[721] "He escripto diversas vezes que era bien ganar á M. d'Aigmont; él
es de quien S. M. puede hechar mano y confiar mas que de todos los
otros, y es amigo de humo, y haziéndole algun favor extraordinario
señalado que no se haga á otros, demas que será ganarle mucho, pondrá
zelos á los otros." Granvelle to Gonzalo Perez, June 27, 1563, Papiers
d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VII. p. 115.
[722] "Il est tant lyé avec les Seigneurs, qu'il n'y a moien de le
retirer et pour dire vray, _nutat in religione_, et ce qu'il dira en ce
aujourd'huy, il dira tout le contraire lendemain." Archives de la Maison
d'Orange-Nassau, Supplément, p. 25.
[723] "Ce seigneur est à présent celui qui parle le plus, et que les
autres mettent en avant, pour dire les choses qu'ils n'oseraient dire
eux-mêmes." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 391.
[724] "Le prince d'Orange procède avec plus de finesse que M. d'Egmont:
il a plus de crédit en général et en particulier, et, si l'on pouvait le
gagner, on s'assurerait de tout le reste." Ibid., ubi supra.
[725] Correspondance de Philippe II, tom. I. pp. 399, 401.
[726] "Libello ab Orangio cæterisque in lenius verborum genus
commutato." Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 207.
Alonzo del Canto, the royal _contador_, takes a different, and by no
means so probable a view of William's amendments. "Quand les seigneurs
tenaient leurs assemblées secrètes à Bruxelles, c'était en la maison du
prince d'Orange, où ils entraient de nuit par la porte de derrière: ce
fut là que la requête des confédérés fut modifiée et rendue pire."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 411.
[727] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 59 et seq.
[728] Strade, De Bello Belico, tom. I. p. 213.
[729] "Hommes genti Nassaviæ infensissimos de nece ipsius, deque
fortunarum omnium publicatione agitavisse cum Rege." Ibid., p. 215. See
also Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 403.
[730] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 404.
[731] "Ils répondirent qu'ils ne voulaient pas se battre pour le
maintien de l'inquisition et des placards, mais qu'ils le feraient pour
la conservation du pays." Ibid., ubi supra.
[732] "Eo ipso die sub vesperam conjurati Bruxellas advenere. Erant illi
in equis omnino ducenti, forensi veste ornati, gestabantque singuli bina
ante ephippium sclopeta, præibat ductor Brederodius, juxtàque Ludovicus
Nassavius." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 221.
[733] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. pp. 74, 75.
[734] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 221.
[735] Ibid., ubi supra.
[736] Ibid., pp. 222, 226.--Vandervynckt, Troubles de Pays-Bas, tom. II.
p. 138.--Meteren, Hist. de Pays-Bas, fol. 40.
[737] "Nobiles enixi eam rogare, ut proferat nomina eorum qui hoc
detulere: cogatque illos accusationem legitimè ac palàm adornare."
Strada, De Bello Belgico tom. I. p. 222.
[738] "Quando nonnisi Regis dignitatem, patriæque salutem spectabant,
haud dubiè postulatis satisfacturam." Ibid., ubi supra.
[739] The copy of this document given by Groen is from the papers of
Count Louis of Nassau. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II.
pp. 80-84.
[740] "Lesquels ne doibvent espérer, sinon toute chose digne et conforme
à _sa bénignité naifve et accoustumée_." Ibid., p. 84.
The phrase must have sounded oddly enough in the ears of the
confederates.
[741] "Pendant que s'attend sa responce, Son Alteze donnera ordre, que
tant par les inquisiteurs, où il y en a eu jusques ores, que par les
officiers respectivement, soit procédé discrètement et modestement."
Ibid. p. 85.
[742] "Ne desirons sinon d'ensuyvre tout ce que par Sa Ma^{té}. avecq
l'advis et consentement des éstats-généraulx assambléz serat ordonné
pour le maintenement de l'anchienne religion." Ibid., p. 86.
[743] "Vous prians de ne passer plus avant par petites practicques
secrètes et de attirer plus personne." Ibid., p. 88.
[744] "De bonne part et pour le service du Roy." Ibid., p. 89.
[745] "Et comme ma dite dame respondit qu'elle le croyt ainsy,
n'affermant nullement en quelle part elle recevoit nostre assemblée, luy
fut replicqué par le dit S^r de Kerdes: Madame, il plairast à V. A. en
dire ce qu'elle en sent, à quoy elle respondit qu'elle ne pouvoit
juger." Ibid., ubi supra.--See also Strada, (De Bello Belgico, tom. I.
p. 225,) who, however, despatches this interview with the Seigneur de
Kerdes in a couple of sentences.
[746] Count Louis drew up a petition to the duchess, or rather a
remonstrance, requesting her to state the motives of this act, that
people might not interpret it into a condemnation of their proceedings.
To this Margaret replied, with some spirit, that it was her own private
affair, and she claimed the right that belonged to every other
individual, of managing her own household in her own way.--One will
readily believe that Louis did not act by the advice of his brother in
this matter. See the correspondence as collected by the diligent Groen,
Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. pp. 100-105.
[747] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bays fol. 41.
[748] "Illum quidem, ut Gubernatricis animum firmaret, ita locutum,
quasi nihil ei à mendicis ac nebulonibus pertimescendum esset." Strada,
De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 226.
[749] "Se verò libenter appellationem illam, quæ ea cumque esset,
accipere, ac Regis patriæque causâ Gheusios se mendicosque re ipsâ
futuros." Ibid., ubi supra.
[750] Ibid., ubi supra.--Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p.
211.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 149.--Vandervynckt,
Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 142 et seq.--This last author tells
the story with uncommon animation.
[751] So says Strada. (De Bello Belgico, tom. II. p. 227.) But the
duchess, in a letter written in cipher to the king, tells him that the
three lords pledged the company in the same toast of "_Vivent les
Gueux_," that had been going the rounds of the table. "Le prince
d'Oranges et les comtes d'Egmont et de Hornes vinrent à la maison de
Culembourg après de dîner; ils burent avec les confédérés, et crièrent
aussi _vivent les gueux_!" Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p.
409.
[752] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 227.--Vandervynckt Troubles
des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 143.
The word _gueux_ is derived by Vander Haer from _Goth_, in the old
German form, _Geute_. "Eandem esse eam vocem gallicam quæ esset Teutonum
vox, Geuten, quam maiore vel Gothis genti Barbaræ tribuissent, vel odio
Gothici nominis convicium fecissent." De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 212.
[753] Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, loc. cit.--Strada, De Bello
Belgico, tom. I. p. 228.
Arend, in his Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, has given
engravings of these medals, on which the devices and inscriptions were
not always precisely the same. Some of these mendicant paraphernalia are
still to be found in ancient cabinets in the Low Countries, or were in
the time of Vandervynckt. See his Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p.
143.
[754] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 228.--Vander Haer, De Initiis
Tumultuum, p. 212.
[755] "En sortant de la porte de la ville, ils ont fait une grande
décharge de leurs pistolets." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p.
408.
[756] "Vos si mecum in hoc preclaro opere consentitis, agite, et qui
vestrum salvam libertatem, me duce volent, propinatum hoc sibi poculum,
benevolentiæ meæ significationem genialiter accipiant, idque manûs
indicio contestentur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 231.
[757] "Estans mesmes personnages si prudes, discrets et tant imbus de
tout ce que convient remonstrer a V. M., outre l'affection que j'ay
toujours trouvé en eux, tant adonnez au service d'icelle."
Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 24.
[758] "Crederes id ab illius accidisse genio, qui non contentus
admonendo aurem ei vellicasse, nunc quasi compedibus injectis, ne
infaustum iter ingrederetur, attineret pedes." Strada, de Bello Belgico,
tom. I. p. 235.
[759] "Les seules réponses qu'il ait obtenues de S. M., sont qu'elle y
pensera, que ces affaires sont de grande importance, etc."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 426.
[760] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 41.--Hopper, Recueil et
Mémorial, p. 78.--Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 216.
[761] "Ceste moderation, que le comun peuple apelloit meurderation."
Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 41.
[762] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 233, 234, 239.--Brandt,
Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 170.--See the forged
document mentioned in the text in the Supplément à Strada, tom. II. p.
330.
[763] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 150 et
seq.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 239, 240.--Correspondance de
Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 127.
[764] Languet, Epist. secr., quoted by Groen, Archives de la Maison
d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 180.--See also Strada, De Bello Belgico,
tom. I. p. 241.--Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p.
172.
[765] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, ubi supra.
[766] Ibid., p. 173.
[767] Ibid., p. 171.
[768] "Se y sont le dimanche dernier encoires faict deux presches, l'une
en françois l'autre en flamand, en plein jour, et estoient ces deux
assemblées de 13 à 14 mille personnes." Correspondance de Marguerite
d'Autriche, p. 65.
[769] Ibid., pp. 80-88.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p.
243.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 42.--Correspondance de Philippe
II., tom. I. p. 433.
A Confession of Faith, which appeared in 1563, was revised by a
Calvinistic synod, and reprinted in Antwerp, in May of the present year,
1566. The prefatory letter addressed to King Philip, in which the
Reformers appealed to their creed and to their general conduct as
affording the best refutation of the calumnies of their enemies, boldly
asserted that their number in the Netherlands at that time was at least
a hundred thousand. Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p.
158.
[770] "La Duquesa, ya demasiado informada de las platicas inclinaciones
y disimulaciones de este Principe, defirió á resolverse en ello." Renom
de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, cap. 15, MS.
[771] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 244.
[772] A mob of no less than thirty thousand men, according to William's
own statement. "A mon semblant, trouvis, tant hors que dedans la ville,
plus de trente mil hommes." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne,
tom. II. p. 136.
[773] "Viderent, per Deum, quid agerent: ne, si pergerent, eos aliquando
poeniteret." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 244.
[774] For the account of the proceedings at Antwerp, see Correspondance
de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. pp. 136, 138, 140 et seq.--Strada,
De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 244-248.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas,
fol. 42.--Hopper, Recueil et Mémorial, pp. 90, 91.--Brandt, Reformation
in the Low Countries, vol. I. pp. 173-176.--Renom de Francia, Alborotos
de Flandes, MS.
[775] "Insignia etiam à mercatoribus usurpari coepta." Strada, De Bello
Belgico, tom. I. p. 238.
[776] "Ils auraient prêché hors de Bruxelles, si Madame n'y avait
pourvu, allant jusqu'à dire qu'avec sa personne, sa maison et sa garde,
elle s'y opposerait, et ferait pendre en sa présence les ministres."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 447.
[777] "So pena de proceder contra los Predicadores ministros y
semejantes con el ultimo suplicio y confiscacion de hacienda por
aplicarlo al provecho de los que havian la apprehension de ellos y por
falta de hacienda, su magestad madará librar del suyo seiscientos
florines." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS.
[778] "Je suis forcée avecq douleur et angoisse d'esprit lui dire de
rechief que nonobstant tous les debvoirs que je fais journellement, ...
je ne puis remédier ny empescher les assemblées des presches
publicques." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 72.
[779] "Sains aide et sans ordres, de manière que, dans tout ce qu'elle
fait, elle doit aller en tâtonnant et au hasard." Correspondance de
Philippe II., tom. II. p. 428.
[780] "Le prince se prépare de longue main à la défense qu'il sera forcé
de faire contre le Roi." Ibid., p. 431.
It was natural that the relations of William with the party of reform
should have led to the persuasion that he had returned to the opinions
in which ha had been early educated. These were Lutheran. There is no
reason to suppose that at the present time he had espoused the doctrines
of Calvin. The intimation of Armenteros respecting the prince's change
of religion seems to have made a strong impression on Philip. On the
margin of the letter he wrote against the passage, "No one has said this
so unequivocally before;"--"No lo ha escrito nadie así claro."
[781] "Vos os engañariades mucho en pensar que yo no tubiese toda
confianza de vos, y quando hubiese alguno querido hazer oficio con migo
en contrario á esto, no soy tan liviano que hubiese dado credito á ello,
teniendo yo tanta esperiencia de vuestra lealtad y de vuestros
servicios." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 171.
[782] "Que le roi, résolu de les tromper tous, commençait par tromper sa
soeur." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bays, tom. II. p. 148.
[783] This responsibility is bluntly charged on them by Renom de
Francia. "El dia de las predicaciones oraciones y cantos estando
concertado, se acordó con las principales villas que fuese el San Juan
siguiente y de continuar en adelante, primero en los Bosques y montañas,
despues en los arrabales y Aldeas y pues en las villas, por medida que
el numero, la andacia y sufrimiento creciese." Alborotos de Flandes, MS.
[784] "Qui vulgari joco duodecim Apostoli dicebantur." Strada, De Bello
Belgico, tom. I. p. 248.
[785] "S'est mise en une telle colère contre nous, qu'elle a pensé
crever." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 178.
[786] "Alioqui externa remedia quamvis invitos postremò quæsituros."
Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 248.
[787] The memorials are given at length by Groen, Archives de la Maison
d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. pp. 159-167.
[788] See the letter of Louis to his brother dated July 26, 1566, Ibid.,
p. 178.
[789] The person who seems to have principally served her in this
respectable office was a "doctor of law," one of the chief counsellors
of the confederates. Count Megen, her agent on the occasion, bribed the
doctor by the promise of a seat in the council of Brabant.
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 435.
[790] "Le tout est en telle désordre," she says in one of her letters,
"que, en la pluspart du païs, l'on est sans loy, foy, ni roy."
Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 91.
Anarchy could not be better described in so few words.
[791] "Il ne reste plus sinon qu'ils s'assemblent et que, joincts
ensemble, ils se livrent à faire quelque sac d'églises villes, bourgs,
ou païs, de quoy je suis en merveilleusement grande crainte;"
Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 121.
[792] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 432.
[793] The fullest account of the doings of the council is given by
Hopper, one of its members. Recueil et Mémorial, pp. 81-87.
[794] "Ceux du conseil d'Etat sont étonnés du délai que le Roi met à
répondre." Montigny to Margaret, July 21. Correspondance de Philippe
II., tom. I. p. 434.
[795] "Pour l'inclination naturelle que j'ay toujours eu de traieter mes
vassaulx et subjects plus par voye d'amour et clémence, que de crainte
et de rigeur, je me suis accommodé à tout ce que m'a esté possible."
Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 100.
[796] "Ay treuvé convenir et nécessaire que l'on conçoive certaine
aultre forme de modération de placcart par delà, ayant égard que la
saincte foy catholique et mon authorité soyent gardées ... et y feray
tout ce que possible sera." Ibid., p. 103.
[797] "N'abhorrissant riens tant que la voye de rigeur." Ibid., ubi
supra.
[798] "Y assí vos no lo consentais, ni yo lo consentiré tan poco."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 439.
[799] "Pero no conviene que esto se entienda allá, ni que vos teneis
esta órden mia, sino es para lo de agora, pero que la esperais para
adelante, no desesperando ellos para entonces dello." Ibid., ubi supra.
[800] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, pp. 106, 114.
[801] "Comme il ne l'a pas fait librement, ni spontanément, il n'entend
être lié par cette autorisation, mais au contraire il se réserve de
punir les coupables, et principalement ceux qui ont été les auteurs et
fauteurs des séditions." Correspondance de Philippe II, tom. I. p. 443.
One would have been glad to see the original text of this protest, which
is in Latin, instead of M. Gachard's abstract.
[802] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 236.
Among those who urged the king to violent measures, no one was so
importunate as Fray Lorenzo de Villacancio, an Augustin monk, who
distinguished himself by the zeal and intrepidity with which he ventured
into the strongholds of the Reformers, and openly denounced their
doctrines. Philip, acquainted with the uncompromising temper of the man,
and his devotion to the Catholic Church, employed him both as an agent
and an adviser in regard to the affairs of the Low Countries. where Fray
Lorenzo was staying in the earlier period of the troubles. Many of the
friar's letters to the king are still preserved in Simancas, and
astonish one by the boldness of their criticisms on the conduct of the
ministers, and even of the monarch himself, whom Lorenzo openly accuses
of a timid policy towards the Reformers.