66,) who gets the story, to which he attaches no credit himself, from a
contemporary, Hooft.
[1197] Supplément à Strada, tom. I. p. 252.
[1198] "Laquelle, ainsi qu'elle estoit en sa chambre et sur ces propos,
on luy vint annoncer qu'on alloit trancher la teste à son mary."
Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 368.
Under all the circumstances, one cannot insist strongly on the
probability of the anecdote.
[1199] One of her daughters, in a fit of derangement brought on by
excessive grief for her father's fate, attempted to make away with
herself by throwing herself from a window. Relacion de la Justicia, MS.
[1200] This was the duplicate, no doubt, of the letter given to the
bishop of Ypres, to whom Egmont may have intrusted a copy, with the idea
that it would be more certain to reach the hands of the king than the
one sent to his wife.
[1201] "La misère où elle se trouve, étant devenue veuve avec onze
enfans, abandonnée de tous, hors de son pays et loin de ses parents, l'a
empêchée d'envoyer plus tôt au Roi la dernière et très-humble requête de
son défunt mari." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 31.
[1202] "De la bénignité et pitié du Roi." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1203] "Ce que m'obligerat, le reste de mes tristes jours, et toute ma
postérité, à prier Dieu pour la longue et heureuse vie de V. M." Ibid.,
ubi supra.
[1204] "S'il ne leur avait pas donné quelque argent, ils mourraient de
faim." Ibid., p. 38.
[1205] It seems strange that Göthe, in his tragedy of "Egmont," should
have endeavored to excite what may be truly called a meretricious
interest in the breasts of his audience, by bringing an imaginary
mistress, named Clara, on the stage, instead of the noble-hearted wife,
so much better qualified to share the fortunes of her husband and give
dignity to his sufferings. Independently of other considerations, this
departure from historic truth cannot be defended on any true principle
of dramatic effect.
[1206] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 183.
[1207] After an annual grant, which rose from eight to twelve thousand
livres, the duke settled on her a pension of two thousand gulden, which
continued to the year of his death, in 1578. (Arend, Algemeene
Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. II. St. v. bl. 66.) The gulden, or
guilder, at the present day, is equivalent to about one shilling and
ninepence sterling, or thirty-nine cents.
[1208] Philip, Count Egmont, lived to enjoy his ancestral honors till
1590, when he was slain at Ivry, fighting against Henry the Fourth and
the Protestants of France. He died without issue, and was succeeded by
his brother Lamoral, a careless prodigal, who with the name seems to
have inherited few of the virtues of his illustrious father. Arend,
Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. II. St. v. bl. 66.
[1209] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 259.
[1210] "La mort des comtes d'Egmont et de Hornes, et ce qui s'est passé
avec l'électeur de Trèves, servent merveilleusement ses desseins."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 37.
[1211] "Les exécutions faites ont imprimé dans les esprits une terreur
si grande, qu'on croit qu'il s'agit de gouverner par le sang à
perpétuité'." Ibid., p. 29.
[1212] "Il n'y a plus de confiance du frère au frère, et du père au
fils." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1213] Ibid., ubi supra.
[1214] "Funestum Egmontii finem doluere Belgæ odio majore, quàm luctu."
Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 394.
[1215] The Flemish councillor, Hessels, who, it may be remembered, had
particular charge of the provincial prosecutions, incurred still greater
odium by the report of his being employed to draft the sentences of the
two lords. He subsequently withdrew from the bloody tribunal, and
returned to his native province, where he became vice-president of the
council of Flanders. This new accession of dignity only made him a more
conspicuous mark for the public hatred. In 1577, in a popular
insurrection which overturned the government of Ghent, Hessels was
dragged from his house, and thrown into prison. After lying there a
year, a party of ruffians broke into the place, forced him into a
carriage, and, taking him a short distance from town, executed the
summary justice of _Lynch law_ on their victim by hanging him to a tree.
Some of the party, after the murder, were audacious enough to return to
Ghent, with locks of the gray hair of the wretched man displayed in
triumph on their bonnets.
Some years later, when the former authorities were reëstablished, the
bones of Hessels were removed from their unhallowed burial-place, and
laid with great solemnity and funeral pomp in the church of St. Michael.
Prose and verse were exhausted in his praise. His memory was revered as
that of a martyr. Miracles were performed at his tomb; and the popular
credulity went so far, that it was currently reported in Ghent that
Philip had solicited the pope for his canonization! See the curious
particulars in Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. pp.
451-456.
[1216] "Este es un pueblo tan fácil, que espero que con ver la clemencia
de V. M., haciendose el pardon general, se ganarán los ánimos á que de
buena gana lleven la obediencia que digo, que ahora sufren de malo."
Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 29.
[1217] "Le bruit public qui subsiste encore, divulgue qu'il est mort
empoisonné." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 285.--The
author himself does not indorse the vulgar rumor.
[1218] Meteren tells us that Montigny was killed by poison, which his
page, who afterwards confessed the crime, put in his broth. (Hist. des
Pays-Bas, fol. 60.) Vandervynckt, after noticing various rumors,
dismisses them with the remark, "On n'a pu savoir au juste ce qu'il
était devenu." Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 237.
[1219] His revenues seem to have been larger than those of any other
Flemish lord, except Egmont and Orange, amounting to something more than
fifty thousand florins annually. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom.
II. p. 115.
[1220] Ibid., Rapport, p. xxxvii.
It was reported to Philip's secretary, Erasso, by that mischievous
bigot, Fray Lorenzo Villavicencio; not, as may be supposed, to do honor
to the author of it, but to ruin him.
[1221] Correspondance de Philippe II. tom. I. p. 439.
[1222] See the letters of the royal _contador_, Alonzo del Canto, from
Brussels. (Ibid., tom. I. pp. 411, 425.) Granvelle, in a letter from
Rome, chimes in with the same tune,--though, as usual with the prelate,
in a more covert manner. "Le choix de Berghes et Montigny n'est pas
mauvais, si le but de leur mission est d'informer le Roi de l'état des
choses: car ils sont ceux qui en ont le mieux connaissance, et qui
peut-être y ont pris le plus de part." Ibid., p. 417.
[1223] "Autrement, certes, Madame, aurions juste occasion de nous doloir
et de V. A. et des seigneurs de par delà, pour nous avoir commandé de
venir ici, pour recevoir honte et desplaisir, estantz forcés
journellement de véoir et oyr choses qui nous desplaisent jusques à
l'âme, et de veoir aussy le peu que S. M. se sert de nous." Ibid. p.
498.
[1224] This letter is dated November 18, 1566. (Ibid., p. 486.) The
letter of the two lords was written on the last day of the December
following.
[1225] Her letter is dated March 5, 1567. Ibid., p. 516.
[1226] Ibid., p. 535.
[1227] "De lui dire (mais seulement après qu'il se sera assuré qu'une
guérison est à peu près impossible) que le Roi lui permet de retourner
aux Pays-Bas: si, au contraire, il lui paraissait que le marquis pût se
rétablir, il se contenterait de lui faire espérer cette permission."
Ibid., ubi supra.
[1228] "Il sera bien, en cette occasion, de montrer le regret que le Roi
et ses ministres ont de sa mort, et le cas qu'ils font des seigneurs des
Pays-Bas!" Ibid., p. 536.
[1229] Ibid., ubi supra.
[1230] "Elle espère le voir sous peu, puisque le Roi lui a fait dire que
son intention était de lui donner bientôt son congé." Ibid., p.
558.--The letter is dated July 13.
[1231] The order for the arrest, addressed to the conde de Chinchon,
alcayde of the castle of Segovia, is to be found in the Documentos
Inéditos, tom. IV. p. 526.
[1232] This fact is mentioned in a letter of the alcayde of the
fortress, giving an account of the affair to the king. Correspondance de
Philippe II., tom. II. p. 3.
[1233] The contents of the paper secreted in the loaf are given in the
Documentos Inéditos, tom. IV. pp. 527-533.--The latter portion of the
fourth volume of this valuable collection is occupied with documents
relating to the imprisonment and death of Montigny, drawn from the
Archives of Simancas, and never before communicated to the public.
[1234] "Il ne les fera point exécuter, mais il les retiendra en prison,
car ils peuvent servir à la vérification de quelque point du procès de
Montigny lui-même." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 37.
[1235] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 60.
[1236] "Et _consommée en larmes et pleurs_ afin que, en considération
des services passés de sondit mari, de son jeune âge à elle, qui n'a été
en la compagnie de son mari qu'environ quatre mois, et de la passion de
Jésus Christ, S. M. veuille lui pardonner les fautes qu'il pourrait
avoir commises." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 94.
[1237] Ibid., p. 123, note.
[1238] Ibid., p. 90.
[1239] "Visto el proceso por algunos de Consejo de S. M. destos sus
Estados por mí nombrados para el dicho efecto." Documentos Inéditos,
tom. IV. p. 535.
[1240] The sentence may be found, Ibid., pp. 535-537.
[1241] "Porque no viniese á noticia de ninguno de los otros hasta saber
la voluntad de V. M." Ibid., p. 533.
[1242] "Así que constando tan claro de sus culpas y delictos, en cuanto
al hecho da la justicia no habia que parar mas de mandarla ejecutar."
Ibid., p. 539
[1243] "Por estar acá el delincuento que dijeran que se habia hecho
entre compadres, y como opreso, sin se poder defender jurídicamente."
Ibid., p. 561.
[1244] "Parescia á los mas que era bien darle un bocado ó echar algun
género de veneno en la comida ó bebida con que se fuese muriendo poco á
poco, y pudiese componer las cosas de su ánima como enfermo." Ibid., ubi
supra.
[1245] "Mas á S. M. paresció que desta manera no se cumplía con la
justicia." Ibid. ubi supra.--These particulars are gathered from a full
report of the proceedings sent, by Philip's orders, to the duke of Alva,
November 2, 1570.
[1246] The _garrote_ is still used in capital punishments in Spain. It
may be well to mention, for the information of some of my readers, that
it is performed by drawing a rope tight round the neck of the criminal,
so as to produce suffocation. This is done by turning a stick to which
the rope is attached behind his head. Instead of this apparatus, an iron
collar is more frequently employed in modern executions.
[1247] This is established by a letter of the cardinal himself, in which
he requests the king to command all officials to deliver into his hands
their registers, instruments, and public documents of every
description,--to be placed in these archives, that they may hereafter be
preserved from injury. His biographer adds, that few of these
documents--such only as could be gleaned by the cardinal's
industry--reach as far back as the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella.
Quintinilla, Vida de Ximenes, p. 264.
[1248] M. Gachard, who gives us some interesting particulars of the
ancient fortress of Simancas, informs us that this tower was the scene
of some of his own labors there. It was an interesting circumstance,
that he was thus exploring the records of Montigny's sufferings in the
very spot which witnessed them.
[1249] "Así lo cumplió poniéndole grillos para mayor seguridad, aunque
esto fué sin órden, porque ni esto era menester ni quisiera S. M. que se
hubiera hecho." Documentos Inéditos, tom. IV. p. 561.
[1250] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 60.
[1251] This lying letter, dated at Simancas, October 10, with the scrap
of mongrel Latin which it enclosed, may be found in the Documentos
Inéditos, tom. IV. pp. 550-552.
[1252] The instructions delivered to the licentiate Don Alonzo de
Arellano are given in full, Ibid., pp. 542-549.
[1253] "Aunque S. M. tenia por cierto que era muy jurídica, habida
consideracion á la calidad de su persona y usando con él de su Real
clemencia y benignidad habia tenido por bien de moderarla en cuanto á la
forma mandando que no se ejecutase en público, sino allí en secreto por
su honor, y que se daria á entender haber muerto de aquella enfermedad."
Ibid., p. 563.
[1254] The confession of faith may be found in the Documentos Inéditos,
tom. IV. p. 553.
[1255] "Si el dicho Flores de Memorancí quisiese ordenar testamento no
habrá para que darse á esto lugar, pues siendo confiscados todos sus
bienes y por tales crímines, ni puede testar ni tiene de qué." Ibid., p.
548.
[1256] "Empero si todavía quisiere hacer alguna memoria de deudas ó
descargos se le podrá permitir como en esto no se haga mencion alguna de
la justicia y ejecucion que se hace, sino que sea hecho como memorial de
hombre enfermo y que se temia morir." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1257] "Quant aux mercèdes qu'il a accordées, il n'y a pas lieu d'y
donner suite." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 169.
[1258] "En lo uno y en lo otro tuvo las demostraciones de católico y
buen cristiano que yo deseo para mí." See the letter of Fray Hernando
del Castillo, Documentos Inéditos, tom. IV. pp. 554-559.
[1259] "Fuéle creciendo por horas el desengaño de la vida, la paciencia,
el sufrimiento, y la conformidad con la voluntad de Dios y de su Rey,
cuya sentencia siempre alabó por justa, mas siempre protestando de su
inocencia." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1260] "Y acabada su plática y de encomendarse á Dios todo el tiempo que
quiso, e verdugo hizo su oficio dándole garrote." See the account of
Montigny's death despatched to the duke of Alva. It was written in
cipher, and dated November 2, 1570. Ibid., p. 560 et seq.
[1261] "Poniendo pena de muerte á los dichos escribano y verdugo si lo
descubriesen." Ibid., p. 564.
[1262] "Y no será inconveniente que se dé luto á sus criados pues son
pocos." La órden que ha de tener el Licenciado D. Alonzo de Arellano,
Ibid., p. 542 et seq.
[1263] Ibid., p. 549. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II p. 159.
[1264] Carta de D. Eugenio de Peralta á S. M., Simancas, 17 de Octubre,
1570, Documentos Inéditos, tom. IV. p. 559.
[1265] "No las mostrando de propósito sino descuidadamente á las
personas que paresciere, para que por ellas se divulgue haber fallescido
de su muerte natural." Ibid., p. 564.
[1266] "El cual si en lo interior acabó tan cristianamente como lo
mostró en lo exterior y lo ha referido el fraile que le confesó, es de
creer que se habrá apiadado Dios de su ánima." Carta de S. M. al Duque
de Alba, del Escurial, á 3 de Noviembre, 1570, Ibid., p. 565.
[1267] "Esto mismo borrad de la cifra, que de los muertos no hay que
hacer sino buen juico." Ibid., ubi supra, note.
[1268] The confiscated estates of the marquis of Bergen were restored by
Philip to that nobleman's heirs, in 1577. See Vandervynckt, Troubles des
Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 235.
[1269] "Attendu que est venu à sa notice que ledict de Montigny seroit
allé de vie à trespas, par mort naturelle, en la forteresse de
Symancques, où il estoit dernièrement détenu prisonier." Correspondance
de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 171.
[1270] For the preceding pages I have been indebted, among other
sources, to Sagredo, "Memorias Historicas de los Monarcas Othomanos,"
(trad. Cast., Madrid, 1684,) and to Ranke, "Ottoman and Spanish
Empires;" to the latter in particular. The work of this eminent scholar,
resting as it mainly does on the contemporary reports of the Venetian
ministers, is of the most authentic character; while he has the rare
talent of selecting facts so significant for historical illustration,
that they serve the double purpose of both facts and reflections.
[1271] Cervantes, in his story of the Captive's adventures in Don
Quixote, tells us that it was common with a renegado to obtain a
certificate from some of the Christian captives of his desire to return
to Spain; so that if he were taken in arms against his countrymen, his
conduct would be set down to compulsion, and he would thus escape the
fangs of the Inquisition.
[1272] See the History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. III.
part ii. chap. 21.
[1273] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 415 et seq.--Herrera,
Historia General, lib. V. cap. 18.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V.
cap. 8.--Segrado, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 234 et seq.
[1274] "Halló Don Alvaro un remedio para la falta del agua que en parte
ayudó á la necessidad, y fué, que uno de su campo le mostró, que el agua
salada se podía destilar por alambique, y aunque salió buena, y se
bevia, no se hazia tanta que bastasse, y se gastava mucha leña, de que
tenían falta." Herrera, Historia General, tom. I. p. 434.
[1275] For the account of the heroic defence of Gelves, see--and
reconcile, if the reader can--Herrera, ubi supra; Ferreras, Hist.
d'Espagne, tom. IX. pp. 416-421; Leti, Filippo II., tom. I. pp. 349-352;
Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 11, 12; Campana, Vita di Filippo
II., par. II. lib. 12; Segrado, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 237 et
seq.--Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., pp. 63-87.
[1276] "Questa sola utilità ne cava il Re di quei luoghi per
conservatione de quali spende ogni anno gran somma di denari delle sue
entrate." Relatione de Soriano, 1560, MS.
[1277] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 426.--Sepulveda, De Rebus
Gestis Philippi II. p. 90.
[1278] The details of the battle were given in a letter, dated September
5, 1558, by Don Alonzo to the king. His father fell, it seems, in an
attempt to rescue his younger son from the hands of the enemy. Though
the father died, the son was saved. It was the same Don Martin de
Cordova who so stoutly defended Mazarquivir against Hassem afterwards,
as mentioned in the text. Carta De Don Alonso de Córdova al Rey, de
Toledo, MS.
[1279] The tidings of this sad disaster, according to Cabrera, hastened
the death of Charles the Fifth (Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 13). But a
letter from the imperial secretary, Gaztelu, informs us that care was
taken that the tidings should not reach the ear of his dying master. "La
muerte del conde de Alcaudete y su desbarato se entendió aquí por carta
de Don Alonso su hijo que despachó un correo desde Toledo con la nueva y
por ser tan ruyn y estar S. Magd. en tal disposicion no se le dixo, y se
tendra cuydado de que tampoco la sepa hasta que plazca á Dios esté
libre; porque no sé yo si hay ninguno en cuyo tiempo haya sucedido tan
gran desgracia como esta." Carta de Martin de Gaztelu al Secretario
Molina, de Yuste, Set. 12, 1558, MS.--The original of this letter, like
that of the preceding, is in the Archives of Simancas.
[1280] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI cap. 10.
[1281] For this siege, the particulars of which are given in a manner
sufficiently confused by most of the writers, see Ferreras, Hist.
d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 431 et seq.; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI.
cap. 10; Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., p. 94; Salazar de
Mendoza, Monarquia de España, (Madrid, 1770,) tom. II. p. 127; Miniana,
Historia de España, pp. 341, 342; Caro de Torres, Historia de las
Ordenes Militares, fol. 154.
[1282] According to Cabrera, (Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 12,) two
thousand infidels fell on this occasion, and only ten Christians; a fair
proportion for a Christian historian to allow. _Ex uno,_ etc.
[1283] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 455.
[1284] Campana, Vita di Filippo II., tom. II. p. 138.
[1285] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 461.
[1286] Ibid., p. 442 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap.
13.--Campana, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. pp. 137-139.--Herrera, Hist.
General, lib. X cap. 4.
The last historian closes his account of the siege of Mazarquivir with
the following not inelegant and certainly not parsimonious tribute to
the heroic conduct of Don Martin and his followers: "Despues de noventa
y dos dias que sostuvo este terrible cerco, y se embarcó para España,
quedando para siempre glorioso con los soldados que con el se hallaron,
ellos por aver sido tan obedientes, y por las hazañas que hizieron, y el
por el valor y prudencia con que los governó: por lo qual comparado á
qualquiera de los mayores Capitanes del mundo." Historia General, lib.
X. cap. 4.
[1287] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 18.--Herrera, Hist.
General, tom. I. p. 559 et seq.
[1288] The affair of the Rio de Tetuan is given at length in the
despatches of Don Alvaro Bazan, dated at Ceuta, March 10, 1565. The
correspondence of this commander is still preserved in the family
archives of the marquis of Santa Cruz, from which the copies in my
possession were taken.
[1289] Helyot, Hist. des Ordres Réligieux et Militaires, (Paris, 1792,
4to.,) tom. III. pp. 74-78.--Vertot, History of the Knights of Malta,
(Eng. trans., London, 1728, fol.,) vol. II. pp. 18-24.
[1290] Boisgelin, on the authority of Matthew Paris, says that, in 1224,
the Knights of St. John had 19,000 manors in different parts of Europe,
while the Templars had but 9,000. Ancient and Modern Malta, (London,
1805, 4to.,) vol. II. p, 19.
[1291] For an account of the institutions of the order of St. John, see
Helyot, Ordres Réligieux, tom. II. p. 58 et seq.; also the Old and New
Statutes, appended to vol. II. of Vertot's History of the Knights of
Malta.
[1292] The original deed of cession, in Latin, is published by Vertot,
Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 157 et seq.
[1293] "Rhodes," from the Greek {Greek: rhodon}. The origin of the
name is referred by etymologists to the great quantity of roses which
grew wild on the island. The name of _Malta_ (_Melita_) is traced to the
wild honey, {Greek: meli}, of most excellent flavor, found among
its rocks.
[1294] A recent traveller, after visiting both Rhodes and Malta, thus
alludes to the change in the relative condition of the two islands. "We
are told that, when L'Isle Adam and his brave companions first landed on
this shore, their spirits sank within them at the contrast its dry and
barren surface presented to their delicious lost Rhodes; I have
qualified myself for adjudging that in most respects the tables are now
turned between the two islands, and they certainly afford a very
decisive criterion of the results of Turkish and Christian dominion."
The Earl of Carlisle's Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters, (Boston,
1855,) p. 204;--an unpretending volume, which bears on every page
evidence of the wise and tolerant spirit, the various scholarship, and
the sensibility to the beautiful, so characteristic of its noble author.
[1295] For the account of Malta I am much indebted to Boisgelin,
"Ancient and Modern Malta." This work gives the most complete view of
Malta, both in regard to the natural history of the island and the
military and political history of the order, that is to be found in any
book with which I am acquainted. It is a large repository of facts
crudely put together, with little to boast of on the score of its
literary execution. It is interesting as the production of a Knight of
St. John, one of the unhappy few who survived to witness the treachery
of his brethren and the extinction of his order. The last of the line,
he may well be pardoned, if, in his survey of the glorious past, he
should now and then sound the trumpet of glorification somewhat too
loudly.
[1296] "The galleys of the order alone resisted the fury of the waves;
and when Charles the Fifth was told that some vessels appeared still to
live at sea, he exclaimed, 'They must, indeed, be Maltese galleys which
can outride such a tempest!' The high opinion he had formed of this
fleet was fully justified; for the standard of the order was soon in
sight." Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. II. p. 34.
[1297] Ibid., p. 61 et alibi.
[1298] The value of the freight was estimated at more than 80,000
ducats.--"Se estimo la presa mas de ochenta mil ducados, de sedas de
levante, y alombras y otras cosas, cada uno piense lo que se diria en la
corte del Turco, sobre la perdida desta nave tan poderosa, y tan rica."
La Verdadera Relacion de todo lo que el Año de M.D.LXV. ha succedido en
la Isla de Malta, por Francisco Balbi de Correggio, en todo el Sitio
Soldado, (Barcelona 1568,) fol. 19.
[1299] Ibid., fol. 17.
[1300] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 192-195.--Sagredo,
Monarcas Othomanos, p. 244.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 26 et
seq.--Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. II. pp. 71-73.--De Thou,
Hist. Universelle, tom. V. pp. 51-53--J. M. Calderon de la Barca,
Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, (Madrid, 1796,) p. 28.
[1301] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 197.--Balbi, Verdadera
Relacion, fol. 28.--The latter chronicler, who gives a catalogue of the
forces, makes the total amount of fighting men not exceed six thousand
one hundred. He speaks, however, of an indefinite number besides these,
including a thousand slaves, who in various ways contributed to the
defence of the island.
[1302] "De modo que qu[=a]do los turcos llegaron sobre sant Ermo, hauia
ochocientos hombres dentro para pelear." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol.
37.
[1303] Ibid., fol. 31.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 198.
[1304] "En este tiempo ya todos los esclauos assi de sant Juan como de
particulares estauan en la carcel, que seri[=a] bien mil esclauos. Y quando
los sacauan a trabajar a las postas adonde se trabajaua, los sacauan de
dos en dos, asidos de vna cadena." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37.
[1305] Ibid., fol. 23.
[1306] Ibid., fol. 21.--Vertot says, of a hundred and sixty
pounds'weight. (Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 202.) Yet even this was
far surpassed by the mammoth cannon employed by Mahomet at the siege of
Constantinople, in the preceding century, which, according to Gibbon,
threw stone bullets of six hundred pounds.
Since the above lines were written, even this achievement has been
distanced by British enterprise. The "Times" informs us of some "monster
guns," intended to be used in the Baltic, the minimum weight of whose
shot is to be three cwt., and the maximum ten.
[1307] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 26.--The old soldier goes into
the composition of the Turkish force, in the general estimate of which
he does not differ widely from Vertot.
[1308] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 84.
[1309] Ibid., ubi supra.
[1310] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37 et seq.--Vertot, Knights of
Malta, vol. II. pp. 200-202.--- Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p.
42.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 24.
[1311] In Vertot's account of this affair, much is said of a nondescript
outwork, termed a _cavalier_,--conveying a different idea from what is
understood by that word in modern fortifications. It stood without the
walls, and was connected with the ravelin by a bridge, the possession of
which was hotly contested by the combatants. Balbi, the Spanish soldier,
so often quoted,--one of the actors in the siege, though stationed at
the fort of St. Michael,--speaks of the fight as being carried on in the
ditch. His account has the merit of being at once the briefest and the
most intelligible.
[1312] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 40, 41.--Vertot, Knights of
Malta, vol. II. pp. 203-205.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 48
et seq.--Segrado, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 245.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo,
lib. VI. cap. 24.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 4.
[1313] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 39
[1314] Ibid., fol. 39-42.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p.
46.--De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 58.--Vertot, Knights of
Malta, vol. II. p. 204.--Miniana, Hist. de España, p. 350.
[1315] For the preceding pages, setting forth the embassies to La
Valette, and exhibiting in such bold relief the character of the
grand-master, I have been chiefly indebted to Vertot (Knights of Malta,
vol. I. pp. 309-312). The same story is told, more concisely, by
Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 60-67; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo,
lib. VI. cap. 25; De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 61; Campana,
Filippo Secondo, par. II. p. 159; Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 44,
45.
[1316] The remains of Medran were brought over to Il Borgo, where La
Valette, from respect to his memory, caused them to be laid among those
of the Grand Crosses.--"El gran Maestre lo mando enterrar era una
sepultura, adonde se entierran los cavalleros de la gran Cruz, porque
esta era la mayor honra, que en tal tiempo le podia hazer, y el muy bien
la merecia." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 51.
[1317] The invention of this missile Vertot claims for La Valette.
(Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 215.) Balbi refers it to a brother of the
Order, named Ramon Fortunii. (Verdadera Relacion, p. 48.)
[1318] The first shot was not so successful, killing eight of their own
side!--"Mas el artillero, o fuesse la prissa, o fuesse la turbacion que
en semejantes casos suele sobre venir en los hombres el se tuvo mas a
mano drecha, que no deviera, pues de aquel tiro mato ocho de los
nuestros que defendian aquella posta." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol.
50.
[1319] Ibid., fol. 49-51.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 72 et
seq.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 214-216.--Cabrera, Filipe
Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25.--Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p.
245.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 6
[1320] "En este assalto y en todos me han dicho cavalleros, que pelear[=o]
no solamente ellos, y los soldados, mas que los forçados, bonas vollas,
y Malteses murieron con tanto animo, como qualquiera otra persona de
mayor estima." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 51.
[1321] "Que si su señoria Illustrissima tenia otra persona, para tal
cargo mejor, [~q] la embiasse, quel lo obedeceria como a tal, mas quel
queria quedar en sant Ermo, como privado cavallero, y por sa religion
sacrificar su cuerpo." Ibid., fol 44.
[1322] "La escuridad de la noche, fue luego muy clara, por la gr[=a]de
c[=a]tidad de los fuegos artificiales, que de ambas partes se arojavan, y
de tal manera que los que estavamos en san Miguel, veyamos muy
claramente sant Ermo, y los artilleros de sant Angel y de otras partes
apuntavan, a la lumbre de los fuegos enemigos." Ibid., fol 48.
[1323] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 53.
[1324] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 214.
[1325] Ibid., pp. 216, 217.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol.
54.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 80 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe
Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25.
[1326] "Ellos como aquellos [~q] la mañana navia de ser su postrer dia
en este m[=u]do, unos con otros se confessavan, y rogavan a nuestro señor
que por su infinita misericordia, la tuviesse de sus animas, pues le
costaron su preciossissima sangre para redemirlas." Balbi, Verdadera
Relacion, fol. 54.
See also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 217, 218;--Cabrera,
Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25.
[1327] Vertot, whose appetite for the marvellous sometimes carries him
into the miraculous, gives us to understand that not one of the garrison
survived the storming of St. Elmo. (Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 219.)
If that were so, one would like to know how the historian got his
knowledge of what was doing in the fortress the day and night previous
to the assault. The details quoted above from Balbi account for this
knowledge, and carry with them an air of probability. (Verdadera
Relacion, fol. 55.)
[1328] "Luego que entraron los Turcos en sant Ermo, abatieron el
est[=a]darte de san Juan, y en su lugar plantaron una vandera del gran
Turco, y en todo aquel dia no hizieron otra cosa, que plantar v[=a]deras, y
vanderillas por la muralla, segun su costumbre." Ibid., fol. 55.
See also, for the storming of St. Elmo, Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de
Malta, pp. 81-84; Miniana, Hist. de España, p. 351; Cabrera, Filipe
Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25; Campana, Filippo Secondo, par. II. p. 159;
Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 245; Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II.
p. 219 et seq.
[1329] "A todos nos pesava en el anima porque aquellas eran fiestas que
solian hazer los cavalleros en tal dia, para honor deste su santo
avogado." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 55.
[1330] Ibid., fol. 58.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 220.
[1331] Balbi has given a catalogue of the knights who fell in the siege,
with the names of the countries to which they respectively belonged.
Verdadera Relacion, fol. 56.
[1332] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 219.
No name of the sixteenth century appears more frequently in the ballad
poetry of Spain than that of Dragut. The "_Romancero General_" contains
many _romances_, some of them of great beauty, reciting the lament of
the poor captive chained to the galley of the dread rover, or
celebrating his naval encounters with the chivalry of Malta,--"_las
velas de la religion,_" as the squadrons of the order were called.
[1333] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 33.
[1334] The two principal authorities on whom I have relied for the siege
of Malta are Balbi and Vertot. The former was a soldier, who served
through the siege, his account of which, now not easily met with, was
printed shortly afterwards, and in less than three years went into a
second edition,--being that used in the present work. As Balbi was both
an eye-witness and an actor, on a theatre so limited that nothing could
be well hidden from view, and as he wrote while events were fresh in his
memory, his testimony is of the highest value. It loses nothing by the
temperate, home-bred style in which the book is written, like that of a
man anxious only to tell the truth, and not to magnify the cause or the
party to which he is attached. In this the honest soldier forms a
contrast to his more accomplished rival, the Abbé de Vertot.
This eminent writer was invited to compose the history of the order, and
its archives were placed by the knights at his disposal for this
purpose. He accepted the task; and in performing it he has sounded the
note of panegyric with as hearty a good will as if he had been a knight
hospitaller himself. This somewhat detracts from the value of a work
which must be admitted to rest, in respect to materials, on the soundest
historical basis. The abbé's turn for the romantic has probably aided,
instead of hurting him, with the generality of readers. His clear and
sometimes eloquent style, the interest of his story, and the dramatic
skill with which he brings before the eye the peculiar traits of his
actors, redeem, to some extent, the prolixity of his narrative, and have
combined, not merely to commend the book to popular favor, but to make
it the standard work on the subject.
[1335] By another ordinance, La Valette caused all the dogs in La Sangle
and Il Borgo to be killed, because they disturbed the garrisons by
night, and ate their provisions by day. Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol.
29.
[1336] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 2.
[1337] Ibid., p. 4.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 64.--Calderon,
Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 94.--Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 296.
[1338] Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 91.--Vertot, Knights of
Malta, vol. III. p. 3.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p.
67.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 26.--Sagredo, Monarcas
Othomanos, p. 246
[1339] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 61, 62, 68.--Calderon, Gloriosa
Defensa de Malta, pp. 95-100.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp.
4-7.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 26.--Herrera, Historia
General, lib. XII. cap. 7.
[1340] "No avia hombre que no truxesse aljuba, el que menos de grana,
muchos de tela de oro, y de plata, y damasco carmesi, y muy buenas
escopetas de fez, cimitaras de Alexandria, y de Damasco, arcos muy
finos, y muy ricos turbantes." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 70.
[1341] "Cargadas de gente muy luzida, vista por cierto muy linda, sino
fuera tan peligrosa." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1342] "Nuestro predicador fray Ruberto, el qual en todo el assalto yva
por todas las postas con un crucifixo en la una mano, y la espada en la
otra: animandonos a bien morir, y pelear por la fe de Iesu Christo: y
fue herido este dia su paternidad." Ibid., fol. 73.
[1343] "Echo nueve barcas delas mayores a fondo que no se salvo ninguno,
y auria en estas barcas ochocientos Turcos." Ibid., fol. 72.
[1344] This seems to have been Balbi's opinion.--"En conclusion, la casa
mata del comendador Guiral fue este dia a juyzio de todos la salvacion
de la Isla, porque si las barcas ya dichas echavan su g[=e]te en tierra, no
les pudieramos resistir en ninguna manera." Ibid., fol. 73.
[1345] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 13.
[1346] Compare Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 13, and Balbi,
Verdadera Relacion, fol. 73.--The latter chronicler, for a wonder,
raises the sum total of the killed to a somewhat higher figure than the
abbé,--calling it full four thousand.
[1347] The particulars of the assaults on St. Michael and the Spur are
given by Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 61-74; and with more or less
inaccuracy by Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 8-13; Calderon,
Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 110-116; De Thou, Histoire Universelle,
tom. V. pp. 72-74; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 26; Herrera,
Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 7; Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 246;
Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 160.
[1348] Cruel indeed, according to the report of Balbi, who tells us that
the Christians cut off the ears of the more refractory, and even put
some of them to death,--_pour encourager les autres_.--"Han muerto en
esta jornada al trabajo mas de quinientos esclavos; mas los pobres
llegaron atal de puros cansados y acabados del trabajo continuo, que no
podían estar en pie, y se dexavan cortar las orejas y matar por no poder
trabajar mas." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 66.
[1349] Ibid., fol. 67, 77.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p.
18.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 160.
[1350] "En fin era in todo diligente, vigilante y animoso, y jamas se
conoscio en su valeroso semblante ninguna señal de temor, antes con su
presencia dava esfuerço y animo à sus cavalleros y soldados." Balbi,
Verdadera Relacion, fol. 77.
[1351] "Luego que todas estas baterias començaron de batir, y todas en
un tiempo, era tanto el ruydo y temblor que parecia quererse acabar el
m[=u]do, y puedese bien creer que el ruydo fuesse tal, pues se sentia muy
claramente dende Caragoça, y dende Catania, que ay ciento y veynte
millas de Malta a estas dos ciudades." Ibid., fol. 78.
[1352] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 21, 22.
[1353] "Dixo publicamente, que el no aguardava socorro ya sino era del
omnipotente Dios el qual era el socorro verdadero, y el que hasta
entonces nos havia librado, y que ni mas ni menos nos libraria por el
avenir, delas manos delos enemigos da su santa fee." Balbi, Verdadera
Relación, fol. 81.
[1354] "Esta habla del gran Maestre luego fue divulgada, y asi toda la
gente se determino de primero morir que venir a manos de turcos vivos,
pero tambien se determino de vender muy bien sus vidas, y asi ya no se
tratava de socorro." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1355] "No quedo hombre ni muger de edad para ello que no lo ganasse con
devocion grandissima, y con muy firme esperança y fe de yr ala gloria,
muriendo en la jornada." Ibid., fol. 71.
[1356] "Tenia mandado, que en todos los dias de assalto se llevassen por
todas las postas adonde se peleasse, muchos buyvelos de vino aguado, y
pan para refrescar su gente, pues de gente no podia." Ibid., fol. 91.
[1357] "Si todas estas buenas ordenes no uviera, no baeraran fuerças
humanas para resistir a tanta furia pertinacia, principalm[=e]te, siendo
nosotros tan pocos, y ellos tantos." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1358] "El gran Maestre sin mudarse, ni alterarse de su semblante
valeroso, dixo, Vamos a morir alla todos cavalleros, [~q] oy es el dia."
Ibid., fol. 90.
[1359] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 24.
[1360] Vertot speaks of this last attack as having been made on the
eighteenth of August. His chronology may be corrected by that of Balbi,
whose narrative, taking the form of a diary, in which the transactions
of each day are separately noted, bears the stamp of much greater
accuracy. Balbi gives the seventh of August as the date. For the
preceding pages see Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 89-93; Vertot,
Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 18-24; Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de
Malta, pp. 146-150; De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 83 et
seq.; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 27; Campana, Vita di
Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 16; Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p.
450.
[1361] "Y sino solenne como en esta religion se suele hazer, alomenos
c[=o]trita a lo que las lagrimas de muchos hombres y mugeres davan señal."
Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 94
[1362] "Y como el comendador era hombre de linda disposicion, y armado
de unas armas doradas y ricas, los turcos tiraron todos a el." Ibid.,
fol. 76.
[1363] Ibid., ubi supa.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 14.
[1364] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 66, 82.
[1365] Ibid. fol. 78.
[1366] "Muchas vezes solo se yva a san Lorenço, y alli en su
apartamiento hazia sus oraciones. Y eneste exercicio se occupava quando
se tenia algun sosiego." Ibid., fol. 84.
[1367] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 29.
[1368] "Lo qual sabido por el gran Maestre como aquel que jamas penso
sino morir el primo por su religion, y por quitar toda sospecha despues
de aver hecho llevar en sant Angel todas las reliquias y cosas de mas
valor, mando quitar la puente, dando a entender a todo el mundo que enel
no avia retirar, sino morir en el Burgo, o defenderlo." Balbi, Verdadera
Relacion, fol. 94.
See also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 29.; Calderon, Gloriosa
Defensa de Malta, p. 167 et seq.
[1369] "Ya seles canocia, que les faltavan muchas pieças que avian
embarcado, y cada noche se sentia como las retiravan, ala sorda sin los
alaridos que davan al principio quando las plantaron." Balbi, Verdadera
Relacion, fol. 101.
[1370] Ibid., fol. 106 et seq.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p.
33.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 172-176.--De Thou,
Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 88.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI.
cap. 28.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 166.
[1371] "Como nuestra armada estuvo en parte [~q] la descubriamos
claramente, cada galera tiro tres vezes." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion,
fol. 104.
[1372] "En el retirar su artilleria, tan calladamente que no se sentia
sino el chillido de las ruedas, y Dios sabe lo que al gran Maestre
pesava, porque siempre tuvo especrança de ganarle parte della, si el
socorro se descubriera." Ibid., fol. 105.
[1373] The armory, in the government palace of Valetta, still contains a
quantity of weapons, sabres, arquebuses, steel bows, and the like, taken
at different times from the Turks. Among others is a cannon of singular
workmanship, but very inferior in size to the two pieces of ordnance
mentioned in the text. (See Bigelow's Travels in Malta and Sicily, p.
226.) Those glorious trophies of the great siege should have found a
place among the national relics.
[1374] "Yo no creo que musica jamas consolasse humanos sentidos, como á
nosotros consolo el son de nuestras campanas, alos ocho, dia dela
Natividad de nuestra señora. Porque el gran Maestre las hizo tocar todas
ala hora que se solia tocar al arma, y avía tres meses que no las
aviamos oydo sino para arma." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 105.
[1375] "Esta mañana pues tocaron la missa, la cual se canto muy de
mañana, y en pontifical, muy solemnemente, dando gracias á nuestro señor
Dios, y á su bendita madre por las gracias que nos avian hecho." Ibid.,
ubi supra.
[1376] "No dexando de pelear aquel dia, y en sangrentar muy bien sus
espadas." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 119.
[1377] "Lo qual se vio claramente dende a dos o tres dias porque los
cuerpos que se avian ahogado subieron encima del agua, los quales eran
tantos que parecian mas de tres mil, y avia tanto hedor en todo aquello
que no se podia hombre llegar ala cala." Ibid., fol. 120.
As an offset against the three thousand of the enemy who thus perished
by fire and water, the chronicler gives us four Christians slain in the
fight, and four smothered from excessive heat in their armor!
[1378] For the preceding pages see Balbi, (Verdadera Relacion, fol.
117-121,) who contrived to be present in the action; also Vertot,
Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 35-37; De Thou, Histoire Universelle,
tom. V. p. 89; Miniana, Hist. de España, p. 353; Campana, Vita di
Filippo Secondo, tom. II, p. 160; Herrera, Historia General, tom. I. p.
591; Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 180 et seq.
[1379] "Se vinieron al Burgo, tanto por ver la persona del gran Maestre
tan dichosa y valerosa, como por ver la grandissima disformidad y
llaneza de nuestras baterias." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 121.
[1380] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 39.
[1381] "Al entrar del qual despues que la Real capitana uvo puesto sus
estandartes los pusieron todas las demas, y muy ricos, la Real traya
enla flama un crucifixo muy devoto." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol.
122.
[1382] "Fueronse para Palacio, adonde dio el gran Maestre a todos muy
realmente de cenar, porque ya el governador del Gozo le avia embiado
muchos refrescos, y don Garcia y todos los capitanes del armada le
presentaron de la misma manera." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1383] Balbi expresses his satisfaction at the good cheer, declaring
that the dainties brought by the viceroy, however costly, seemed cheap
to men who had been paying two ducats for a fowl, and a real and a half
for an egg. Ibid., ubi supra.
[1384] Herrera, Historia General, vol. I. p. 592.
[1385] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 38.
[1386] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 121.--De Thou reduces the
mortality to twenty thousand. (Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 592.)
Herrera, on the other hand, raises it to forty thousand. (Historia
General, tom. I. p. 90.) The whole Moslem force, according to Balbi, was
forty-eight thousand, exclusive of seamen. Of these about thirty
thousand were Turks. The remainder belonged to the contingents furnished
by Dragut and Hassem. Conf., fol. 25 and 121.
[1387] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 128.--Balbi gives a list of all
the knights who perished in the siege. Cabrera makes a similar estimate
of the Christian loss. (Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 28.) De Thou rates
it somewhat lower (Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 90); and Vertot lower
still. (Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 38.) Yet Balbi may be thought to
show too little disposition, on other occasions, to exaggerate the loss
of his own side for us to suspect him of exaggeration here.
[1388] "En todo este sitio no se a justiciado sino un solo Italiano
Senes el qual mando justiciar Melchior de Robles: porque dixo
publicamente estando en el mayor aprieto, que mas valiera que tomaramos
las quatro pagas que los turcos nos ofrecian, y el passage." Balbi,
Verdadera Relacion, fol. 128.
[1389] For this act of retributive justice, so agreeable to the feelings
of the reader, I have no other authority to give than Vertot, Knights of
Malta, vol. III. p. 18.
[1390] Ibid., pp. 39, 40.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 189,
190.--De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 91.
[1391] "Havia en la Isla de Malta quinze mil hombres de pelea, los
quales bastaran para resistir a qualquiera poder del gran Turco en
campaña rasa." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 129.
Besides the Spanish forces, a body of French adventurers took service
under La Valette, and remained for some time in Malta.
[1392] Vertot tells us that the projected expedition of Solyman against
Malta was prevented by the destruction of the grand arsenal of
Constantinople, which was set on fire by a secret emissary of La
Valette. (Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 41.) We should be better
pleased if the abbé had given his authority for this strange story, the
probability of which is not at all strengthened by what we know of the
grand-master's character.
[1393] It was common for the Maltese cities, after the Spanish and
Italian fashion, to have characteristic epithets attached to their
names. La Valette gave the new capital the title of "_Umillima_,"--"most
humble,"--intimating that humility was a virtue of highest price with
the fraternity of St. John. See Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta,
vol. I. p. 29.
[1394] "Plus de huit mille ouvriers y furent employés; et afin d'avancer
plus aisément les travaux, le Pape Pie V. commanda qu'on y travaillât
sans discontinuer, même les jours de Fêtes." Helyot, Hist. des Ordres
Religieux.
[1395] The style of the architecture of the new capital seems to have
been, to some extent, formed on that of Rhodes, though, according to
Lord Carlisle, of a more ornate and luxuriant character than its model.
"I traced much of the military architecture of Rhodes, which, grave and
severe there, has here both swelled into great amplitude and blossomed
into copious efflorescence; it is much the same relation as Henry VII.'s
Chapel bears to a bit of Durham Cathedral." Diary in Turkish and Greek
Waters, p. 200.
The account of Malta is not the least attractive portion of this
charming work, to which Felton's notes have given additional value.
[1396] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 42.
[1397] Ibid., pp. 42-48.--Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. I.
pp. 127-142.
[1398] An interesting description of this cathedral, well styled the
Westminster Abbey of Malta, may be found in Bigelow's Travels in Sicily
and Malta (p. 190),--a work full of instruction, in which the writer,
allowing himself a wider range than that of the fashionable tourist,
takes a comprehensive survey of the resources of the countries he has
visited, while he criticizes their present condition by an enlightened
comparison with the past.
[1399] "Lorsqu'on commence l'Evangile, le Grand-Maître la prend des
mains du Page et la tient tonte droite pendant le tems de l'Evangile.
C'est la seule occasion où l'on tient l'épée nue à l'Eglise." Helyot,
Hist. des Ordres Religieux, tom. III. p. 93.
[1400] Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. I. p. 35.
The good knight dwells with complacency on the particulars of a ceremony
in which he had often borne a part himself. It recalled to his mind the
glorious days of an order, which he fondly hoped might one day be
restored to its primitive lustre.
[1401] Alfieri, Schiller, and, in our day, Lord John Russell, have, each
according to his own conceptions, exhibited the poetic aspect of the
story to the eyes of their countrymen. The Castilian dramatist,
Montalvan, in his "Príncipe Don Carlos," written before the middle of
the seventeenth century, shows more deference to historic accuracy, as
well as to the reputation of Isabella, by not mixing her up in any way
with the fortunes of the prince of Asturias.
[1402] This correspondence is printed in a curious volume, of the
greatest rarity, entitled, Elogios de Don Honorato Juan, (Valencia,
1659,) p. 60 et seq.
[1403] "Egli in collera reiterò con maraviglia et riso di S. M. et
de'circumstanti, che mai egli non saria fuggito." Relatione di Badoaro,
MS.
[1404] "Reprehendio al Principe su nieto su poca mesura i mucha
desenboltura con que vivia i trataba con su tia, i encomendòla su
correcion, diziendo era en lo [~q] mas podia obligar a todos." Cabrera,
Filipe Segundo, lib. II. cap. 11.
[1405] "Ne attende ad altro che a leggirli gli officii di M. Tullio per
acquetare quei troppo ardenti desiderii." Relatione di Badoaro, MS.
[1406] "En lo del estudio esta poco aprovechado, porque lo haze de mala
gana y ausy mesmo los otros exercicios de jugar y esgremyr, que para
todo es menester premya." Carta de García de Toledo al Emperador, 27 de
Agosto, 1557, MS.
[1407] "Hasta agora no se que los medicos ayan tratado de dar ninguna
cosa al principe para la colera, ny yo lo consintiera hazer, sin dar
primero quenta dello a vuestra magestad." Ibid.
[1408] "Deseo mucho que V. M. fuese servido que el principe diese una
buelta por allá para velle por que entendidos los impedimentos que en su
edad tiene mandasse V. M. lo que fuera de la horden con que yo le sirvo
se deba mudar." Del mismo al mismo, 13 de Abril, 1558, MS.
[1409] So cruel, according to the court gossip picked up by Badoaro,
that, when hares and other game were brought to him, he would
occasionally amuse himself by roasting them alive!---"Dimostra havere un
animo fiero, et tra gli effetti che si raccontana uno è, che alle volte,
che dalla caccia gli viene portato o lepre o simile animale, si diletta
di vedirli arrostire vivi." Relatione de Badoaro, MS.
[1410] "Da segno di dovere essere superbissimo, perchè non poteva
sofferire di stare lungamente nè innanzi al padre nè avo con la berretta
in mano, et chiama il padre fratello, et l'avo padre." Ibid.
[1411] "Dice a tutti i propositi tante cose argute che 'l suo ministro
ne raccolse un libretto." Ibid.
Another contemporary also notices the precocious talents of the boy, as
shown in his smart sayings.--"Dexo de contar las gracias que tiene en
dichos maravillosos que andan por boca de todos desparzidos, dexo de
contar lo que haze para provar lo que dize." Cordero, Promptuario de
Medallas, ap. Castro, Historia de los Protestantes Españoles, p. 328.
[1412] "Le pauvre prince est si bas et exténué, il va d'heure a heure
tant affoiblissant, que les plus sages de ceste court en ont bien petite
espérance." L'Evêque de Limoges au Roi, 1^er Mars, 1559, ap.
Négociations relatives an Règne de François II., p. 291.
[1413] "Delante de la Princesa venia don Carlos a su juramento con mal
calor de quartanaria en un cavallo blanco con rico guarnimiento i
gualdrapa de oro i plata bordado sobre tela de oro parda, como el
vestido galan con muchos botones de perlas i diamantes." Cabrera, Filipe
Segundo, lib. V. cap. 7.
[1414] Ibid., ubi supra.
[1415] Strada, in a parallel which he has drawn of the royal youths,
gives the palm to Don John of Austria. His portrait of Carlos is as
little flattering in regard to his person as to his
character.--"Carolus, præter colorem et capillum, ceterùm corpore
mendosus; quippe humero clatior, et tibia alterâ longior erat; nee minus
dehonestamentum ab indole feroci et contumaci." De Bello Belgico, tom.
I. p. 609.
[1416] "Este dia despues de haber comido queriendo Su Alteza bajar por
una escalera escura y de ruines pasos echó el pie derecho en vacio, y
dió una vuelta sobre todo el cuerpo, y así cayó de cuatro ó cinco
escalones. Dió con la cabeza un gran golpe en una puerta cerrada, y
quedó la cabeza abajo y los pies arriba." Relacion de la enfermedad del
Príncipe por el Doctor Olivares, Documentos Inéditos, tom. XV. p. 554.
[1417] According to Guibert, the French ambassador, Carlos was engaged
in a love adventure when he met with his fall,--having descended this
dark stairway in search of the young daughter of the porter of the
garden. See Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 119.
[1418] Ferreras, Hist. de l'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 429.
[1419] Dr. Olivares bears emphatic testimony to this virtue, little to
have been expected in his patient.--"Lo que á su salud cumplia hizo de
la misma suerte, siendo tan obediente á los remedios que á todos
espantaba que por fuertes y recios que fuesen nunca los reusó, antes
todo el tiempo que estuvo en su acuerdo él mismo los pedia, lo cual fué
grande ayuda para la salud que Dios le dió." Documentos Inéditos, tom.
XV. p. 571.
[1420] Another rival appeared, to contest the credit of the cure with
the bones of Fray Diego. This was Our Lady of Atocha, the patroness of
Madrid, whose image, held in the greatest veneration by Philip the
Second, was brought to the chamber of Carlos, soon after the skeleton of
the holy friar. As it was after the patient had decidedly begun to mend,
there seems to be the less reason for the chroniclers of Our Lady of
Atocha maintaining, as they sturdily do, her share in the cure. (Perada,
La Madona de Madrid, (Valladolid, 1604,) p. 151.) The veneration for the
patroness of Madrid has continued to the present day. A late journal of
that capital states that the queen, accompanied by her august consort
and the princess of Asturias, went, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1854,
in solemn procession to the church, to decorate the image with the
collar of the Golden Fleece.
[1421] "Con todo eso tomando propriamente el nombre de milagro, á mi
juicio no lo fué, porque el Príncipe se curó con los remedios naturales
y ordinarios, con los cuales se suelen curar otros de la misma
enfermedad estando tanto y mas peligrosos." Documentos Inéditos, tom.
XV. p. 570.
[1422] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 132.
[1423] "Il aymoit fort à ribler le pavé, et faire à coups d'espée, fust
de jour, fust de nuit, car il avoit avec luy dix ou douze enfans
d'honneur des plus grandes maisons d'Espagne.... Quand il alloit par les
ruës quelque belle dame, et fust elle des plus grandes du pays, il la
prenoit et la baisoit par force devant tout le monde; il l'appelloit
putain, bagasse, chienne, et force autres injures leur disoit-il."
Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 323.
[1424] "Dió un bofeton a Don Pedro Manuel, i guisadas i picadas en
menudas pieças hizo comer las votas al menestral." Cabrera, Filipe
Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.
De Foix, a French architect employed on the Escorial at this time,
informed the historian De Thou of the prince's habit of wearing
extremely large leggings, or boots, for the purpose mentioned in the
text. "Nam et scloppetulos binos summa arte fabricatos caligis, quæ
amplissimæ de more gentis in usu sunt, eum gestare solitum resciverat."
(Historiæ sui Temporis, lib. XLI.) I cite the original Latin, as the
word _caligæ_ has been wrongly rendered by the French translator into
_culottes_.
[1425] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.
[1426] "Curilla vos os atreveis a mi, no dexando venir a servirme
Cisneros? por vida de mi padre que os tengo de matar" Ibid., ubi supra.
[1427] "Il qual Niccolo lo fece subito et co'parole di Complimento rende
gratie à sua Altezza, offerendoli sempre tutto quel che per lui si
poteva." Lettera di Nobili, Ambasciatore del Granduca di Toscagna al Re
Philippo, 24 di Luglio, 1567, MS.
[1428] "Ci si messe di mezzo Ruigomes et molti altri nè si è mai possuto
quietar'fin tanto che Niccolo no'li ha prestato sessantamila scudi
co'sua polizza senza altro assegniamento." Ibid.
[1429] "Mostra di esser molto religioso solicitando come fa le prediche
et divini officii, anzi in questo si può dir che eccede l'honesto, et
suol dire, Chi debbe far Elemosine, se non la danno i Prencipi?"
Relatione di Tiepolo, MS.
[1430] "È splendetissimo in tutte le cose et massime nel beneficiar chi
lo serve. Il che fa così largamente che necessita ad amarlo anco i
servitori del Padre." Ibid.
[1431] "È curioso nel intendere i negozii del stato, ne i quali
s'intrometterebbe volontieri, et procura di saper quello che tratta il
Padre, et che egli asconde gli fa grande offesa." Ibid.
Granvelle, in one of his letters, notices with approbation this trait in
the character of Carlos. "Many are pleased with the prince, others not.
I think him modest, and inclined to employ himself, which, for the heir
of such large dominions, is in the highest degree necessary." Raumer,
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 128.
[1432] "Mi mayor amigo que tengo en esta vida, que harè lo que vos me
pidieredes." Elogios de Honorato Juan, p. 66.
The last words, it is true, may be considered as little more than a
Castilian form of epistolary courtesy.
[1433] "Su Alteza añada, y quite todo lo que le pareciere de mi
testamento, y este mi Codicilo, que aquello que su Alteza mandare lo
doy, y quiero que sea tan valido como si estuviesse expressado en este
mi Codicilo, o en el testamento." Ibid., p. 73.
[1434] "Così come sono allegri i Spagnuoli d'haver per loro Sig^re un Rè
naturale così stanno molto in dubio qual debbe esser il suo governo."
Relatione di Tiepolo, MS.
[1435] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 132.
[1436] Herrera, Historia General, tom. I. p. 680.
[1437] Raumer (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 153), who
cites a manuscript letter of Antonio Perez to the councillor Du Vaire,
extant in the Royal Library of Paris. A passage in a letter to Carlos
from his almoner, Doctor Hernan Suarez de Toledo, has been interpreted
as alluding to his intercourse with the deputies from Flanders: "Tambien
he llorado, no haber parecido bien que V. A. _hablase a los
procuradores_, como dicen que lo hizo, no se lo que fue, pero si que
cumple mucho hacer los hombres sus negocios propios, con consejo ageno,
por que los muy diestros nunca fian del suyo." The letter, which is
without date, is to be found in the archiepiscopal library of Toledo.
[1438] De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 376.
[1439] "È principe," writes the nuncio, "che quello, che ha in cuore, ha
in bocca." Lettera del Nunzio al Cardinale Alessandrini, Giugno, 1566,
MS.
[1440] "Que eran de grandisimo engaño, y error peligrosisimo, inventado
y buscado todo por el demonio, para dar travajo a V. A. y pensar darle á
todos, y para desasogear, y aun inquietar la grandeza de la monarquia."
Carta de Hernan Suarez al Príncipe, MS.
[1441] The intimate relations of Doctor Suarez with Carlos exposed him
to suspicions in regard to his loyalty or his orthodoxy,--we are not
told which,--that might have cost him his life, had not this letter,
found among the prince's papers after his death, proved a sufficient
voucher for the doctor's innocence. Soto, Anotaciones a la Historia de
Talabera, MS.
[1442] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 13.--Strada, De Bello
Belgico, tom. I. p. 376.--Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria, (Madrid,
1627,) fol. 37.
[1443] Letter of Fourquevaulx, January 19, 1568 ap. Raumer, Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 85.
[1444] "Avia muchos dias, que el Príncipe mi Señor andaba inquieto sin
poder sosegar, y decia, que avia de matar á un hombre con quien estaba
mal, y de este dió parte al Señor Don Juan, pero sin declararle quien
fuese." De la Prision y Muerte del Príncipe Don Carlos, MS.
[1445] "Pero el Prior le engaño, con persuadirle dixese cual fuese el
hombre, por que seria possible poder dispensar conforme à la
satisfaccion, que S. A. pudiese tomar, y entonces dixo, que era el Rey
su Padre con quien estaba mál, y le havia de matar." Ibid.
[1446] Ibid.
[1447] "Ya avia llegado de Sevilla Garci Alvarez Osorio con ciento y
cincuenta mil escudos de los seiscientos mil que le avia embiado a
buscar y proveer: y que assi se apercibiesse para partir en la noche
siguiente pues la resta le remitirian en polizas en saliendo de la
Corte." Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria, fol. 40.
[1448] Ibid., ubi supra.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.
[1449] "Sono molti giorni che stando il Ré fuori comandò segretamente
che si facesse fare orationi in alcuni monasterii, acciò nostro Signore
Dio indrizzasse bene et felicemente un grand negotio, che si li
offeriva. Questo è costume di questo Prencipe veramente molto religioso,
quando li occorre qualche cosa da esseguire, che sia importante."
Lettera del Nunzio, 24 di Gennaio, 1568, MS.
[1450] "On the next day, when I was present at the audience, he appeared
with as good a countenance as usual, although he was already determined
in the same night to lay hands on his son, and no longer to put up with
or conceal his follies and more than youthful extravagances." Letter of
Fourquevaulx, February 5, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries, vol. I. p. 138.
[1451] Ibid., ubi supra.--Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS.
[1452] Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS.--Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 21,
1568, MS.
De Thou, taking his account from the architect Louis de Foix, has
provided Carlos with still more formidable means of defence. "Ce Prince
inquiet ne dormoit point, qu'il n'eût sous son chevet deux épées nues et
deux pistolets chargez. Il avoit encore dans sa garderobe deux
arquebuses avec de la poudre et des balles, toujours prêtes à tirer."
Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 439.
[1453] Ibid., ubi supra.
[1454] "Così S. Mta fece levare tutte l'armi, et tutti i ferri sino à
gli alari di quella camera, et conficcare le finestre." Lettera di
Nobili, Gennaio 21, 1568, MS.
[1455] "Aquí alço el principe grandes bozes diziendo, mateme Vra Md y no
me prenda porque es grande escandalo para el reyno y sino yo me mataré,
al qual respondio el rey que no lo hiciere que era cosa de loco, y el
principe respondio no lo hare como loco sino como desesperado pues Vra
Md me trata tan mal." Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS.
[1456] "Erasi di già tornato nel letto il Principe usando molte parole
fuor di proposito: le quali non furno asverttite come dette quasi
singhiozzando." Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 25, 1568, MS.
[1457] "Y á cada uno de por sí con lagrimas (segun me ha certificado
quien lo vió) les daba cuenta de la prission del Príncipe su hijo."
Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS.
[1458] "Martes veinte de Enero de 1568, llamó S. M. á su cámara á los de
el Consejo de Estado, y estubieron en ella desde la una de la tarde asta
las nueve de la noche, no se sabe que se tratase, el Rey hace
informacion, Secretario de ella és Oyos, hallase el Rey pressente al
examen de los testigos, ay escripto casi un feme en alto." Ibid.
I have two copies of this interesting MS., one from Madrid, the other
from the library of Sir Thomas Phillips. Llorente's translation of the
entire document, in his Histoire de l'Inquisition, (tom. III. pp.
151-158,) cannot claim the merit of scrupulous accuracy.
[1459] "Unos le llamaban prudente, otros severo, porque su risa i
cuchillo eran confines." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.
These remarkable words seem to escape from Cabrera, as if he were
noticing only an ordinary trait of character.
[1460] "Mirabanse los mas cuerdos sellando la boca con el dedo i el
silencio." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1461] "In questo mezo è prohibito di mandar corriero nessuno, volendo
essere Sus Maestà il primo á dar alli Prencipi quest'aviso." Lettera del
Nunzio, Gennaio 21, 1568, MS.
[1462] "En fin yo he querido hacer en esta parte sacrificio à Dios de mi
propia carne y sangre y preferir su servicio y el bien y beneficio
público á las otras consideraciones humanas." Traslado de la Carta que
su magestad escrivió à la Reyna de Portugal sobre le prision del
Principe su hijo, 20 de Enero, 1568, MS.
[1463] "Solo me ha parecido ahora advertir que el fundamento de esta mi
determinacion no depende de culpa, ni inovediencia, ni desacato, ni es
enderezada à castigo, que aunque para este havia la muy suficiente
materia, pudiera tener su tiempo y su termino." Ibid.
[1464] "Ni tampoco lo he tomado por medio, teniendo esperanza que por
este camino se reformarán sus excesos y desordenes. Tiene este negocio
otro principio y razon, cuyo remedio no consiste en tiempo, ni medios; y
que es de mayor importancia y consideracion para satisfacer yo á la
dicha obligacion que tengo á Dios nuestro señor y á los dichos mis
Reynos." Ibid.
[1465] "Pues aunque es verdad que en el discurso de su vida y trato haya
habido ocasion de alguna desobediencia ó desacato que pudieran
justificar qualquiera demostracion, esto no me obligaría á llegar á tan
estrecho punto. La necesidad y conveniencia han producido las causas que
me han movido muy urgentes y precisas con mi hijo primogenito y solo."
Carta del Rey á su Embajador en Roma, 22 de Enero, 1568, MS.
[1466] Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries vol. I. p. 136.
[1467] "Querria el Papa saber por carta de V. M. la verdad." Carta de
Zuñiga al Rey, 28 de Abril, 1568, MS.
[1468] Lorea, Vida de Pio Quinto, (Valladolid, 1713,) p. 131.
[1469] In the Archives of Simancas is a department known as the
_Patronato_, or family papers, consisting of very curious documents, of
so private a nature as to render them particularly difficult of access.
In this department is deposited the correspondence of Zuñiga, which,
with other documents in the same collection, has furnished me with some
pertinent extracts.
[1470] "Estan en el archivo de Simancas, donde en el año mil i
quinientos i noventa i dos los metio don Cristoval de Mora de su Camara
en un cofrecillo verde en que se conservan," Cabrera, Filipe Segundo,
lib. VII. cap. 22.
[1471] It is currently reported, as I am informed, among the scholars of
Madrid, that in 1828, Ferdinand the Seventh caused the papers containing
the original process of Carlos, with some other documents, to be taken
from Simancas; but whither they were removed is not known. Nor since
that monarch's death have any tidings been heard of them.
[1472] "Rispose che questo saria el manco, perchè se non fosse stato
altro pericolo che della persona del Rè si saria guardata, et rimediato
altramente, ma che ci era peggio, si peggio può essere, al che sua
Maestà ha cercato per ogni via di rimediare due anni continui, perchè
vedeva pigliarli la mala via, ma non ha mai potuto fermare ne regolare
questo cervello, fin che è bisognato arrivare a questo." Lettera del
Nunzio, Gennaio 24, 1568, MS.
[1473] "Non lascerò però di dirle, ch'io ho ritratto et di luogo
ragionevole, che si sospetta del Prencipe di poco Cattolico: et quello,
che lo fà credere, è che fin'adesso non li han fatto dir messa." Lettera
di Nobili, Gennaio 25, 1698, MS.
[1474] "El Papa alaba mucho la determinacion de V. M. porque entiende
que la conservacion de la Christianidad depende de que Dios de à V. M.
muchos años de vida y qu edespues tenga tal sucesor que sepa seguir sus
pisadas." Carta de Zuñiga, Junio 25, 1568, MS.
[1475] Leti has been more fortunate in discovering a letter from Don
Carlos to Count Egmont, found among the papers of that nobleman at the
time of his arrest. (Vita di Filippo II. tom. I. p. 543.) The historian
is too discreet to vouch for the authenticity of the document, which
indeed would require a better voucher than Leti to obtain our
confidence.
[1476] De Castro labors hard to prove that Don Carlos was a Protestant.
If he fails to establish the fact, he must be allowed to have shown that
the prince's conduct was such as to suggest great doubts of his
orthodoxy, among those who approached the nearest to him. See Historia
de los Protestantes Españoles, p. 319 et seq.
[1477] "Sua Maestà ha dato ordine, che nelle lettere, che si scrivono a
tutti li Prencipi et Regni, si dica, che la voce ch'è uscita ch 'l
Prencipe havesse cercato di offendere la Real persona sua propria è
falsa, et questo medesimo fa dire a bocea da Ruy Gomez
all'Imbasciatori." Lettera del Nunzio Gennaio 27, 1568, MS.
[1478] "Si tien per fermo che privaranno il Prencipe della successione,
et non lo liberaranno mai." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, MS.
[1479] "Para rezarse le diesen las Oras, Breviario i Rosario que
pidiese, i libros solamente de buena dotrina i devocion, si quisiese
leer y oir." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, b. VII. cap. 22.
[1480] The _montero_ was one of the body-guard of the king for the
night. The right of filling this corps was an ancient privilege accorded
to the inhabitants of a certain district named Espinosa de los Monteros.
Llorente, Histoire de l'Inquisition, tom. III. p. 163.
[1481] The regulations are given _in extenso_ by Cabrera, (Filipe
Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22,) and the rigor with which they were enforced
is attested by the concurrent reports of the foreign ministers at the
court. In one respect, however, they seem to have been relaxed, if, as
Nobili states, the prince was allowed to recreate himself with the
perusal of Spanish law-books, which he may have consulted with reference
to his own case. "Hà domandato, che li siano letti li statuti, et le
leggi di Spagna: ne'quali spende molto studio. Scrive assai di sua mano,
et subito scritto lo straccia." Lettera di Nobili, Giugno 8, 1568, MS.
[1482] "Per questa causa dunque il Rè et Regina vechia di quel regno
hanno mandato qui un ambasciatore a far offltio col Rè cattolico per il
Prencipe, dolersi del caso, offerirsi di venire la Regina propria a
governarlo como madre." Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS.
[1483] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. II. p. 141.
[1484] Ibid., pp. 146-148.
[1485] "Reyna y Princesa lloran: Don Juan vá cada noche á Palacio, y una
fué muy llano, como de luto, y el Rey le riñió, y mandó no andubiesse de
aquel modo, sino como solia de antes." Relación del Ayuda de Cámara, MS.
[1486] "Sua Maestà ha fatto intendere a tutte le città del Reyno, che
non mandino huomini o imbasciator nessuno, ne per dolersi, ne per
cerimonia, ne per altro; et pare che habbia a caro, che nessuno glie ne
parli, et così ogn'huomo tace." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568,
MS.
[1487] Letter of Fourquevaulx, April 13, 1568. ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries, vol. II. p. 143.
A letter of condolence from the municipality of Murcia was conceived in
such a loyal and politic vein as was altogether unexceptionable. "We
cannot reflect," it says, "without emotion, on our good fortune in
having a sovereign so just, and so devoted to the weal of his subjects,
as to sacrifice to this every other consideration, even the tender
attachment which he has for his own offspring." This, which might seem
irony to some, was received by the king, as it was doubtless intended,
in perfect good faith. His indorsement, in his own handwriting, on the
cover, shows the style in which he liked to be approached by his loving
subjects. "This letter is written with prudence and discretion."--A
translation of the letter, dated February 16, 1568, is in Llorente,
Histoire de l'Inquisition, tom. III. p. 161.
[1488] Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries.
[1489] Ibid., ubi supra.
[1490] "Quella per il Rè conteneva specificatamente molti agravii, che
in molti anni pretendi, che li siano statti fatti da Sua Maestà, et
diceva ch'egli se n'andava fuori delli suoi Regni per no poter
sopportare tanti agravii, che li faceva." Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2,
1568, MS.
[1491] Ibid.
[1492] "Vi è ancora una lista, dove scriveva di sua mano gli amici, et
li nemici suoi, li quali diceva hi havere a perseguitare sempre fino
alla morte, tra li quali il primo era scritto il Rè suo padre, di poi
Rui Gomez et la moglie, il Presidente, il Duca d'Alba, et certi altri."
Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS.
[1493] "No salio el Rey de Madrid, ni aun a Aranjuez, ni a San Lorenço a
ver su fabrica, tan atento al negocio del Principe estaba, i sospechoso
a las murmuraciones de sus pueblos fieles i reverentes, que ruidos
estraordinarios en su Palacio le hazian mirar, si eran tumultos para
sacar a su Alteza de su camara." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VIII.
cap. 5.
[1494] "Onde fù chiamato il confessore et il medico, ma egli seguitando
nella sua disperatione non volse ascoltare nè l'unno nè l'altro."
Lettera del Nunzio, MS.
My copy of this letter, perhaps through the inadvertence of the
transcriber, is without date.
[1495] "Ne volendo in alcun modo curare nè il corpo nè l'anima, la quai
cosa faceva stare il Rè et gli altri con molto dispiacere, vedendoli
massima di continuo crescere il male, et mancar la virtù." Ibid.
[1496] "Vea V. A. que harán y dirán todos quando se entienda que no se
confiesa, y se vayan descubriendo otras cosas terribles, que le son
tanto, que llegan á que el Santo Oficio tuviera mucha entrada en otro
para saber si era cristiano ó no." Carta de Hernán Suarez de Toledo al
Príncipe, Marzo 18, 1568, MS.
[1497] "Spogliarsi nudo, et solo con una robba di taffetà su le carni
star quasi di continuo ad una finestra, dove tirava vento, caminare con
li piedi discalzi per la camara que tuttavia faceva stare adacquata
tanto che sempre ci era l'acqua per tutto." Lettera del Nunzio, MS.
[1498] "Farsi raffredare ogni notte due o tre volti il letto con uno
scaldaletto pieno di neve, et tenerlo le notte intiere nel letto." Ibid.
[1499] Three days, according to one authority. (Lettera di Nobili di 30
di Luglio, 1568, MS.) Another swells the number to nine days (Carta de
Gomez Manrique, MS.); and a third--one of Philip's cabinet
ministers--has the assurance to prolong the prince's fast to eleven
days, in which he allows him, however, an unlimited quantity of cold
water. "Ansi se determinó de no comer y en esta determinacion passaron
onze dias sin que bastasen persuasiones ni otras diligencias á que
tomase cosa bevida ni que fuese para salud sino aqua fria." Carta de
Francisco de Erasso, MS.
[1500] "Doppo essere stato tre giorni senza mangiare molto fantastico et
bizzaro mangiò un pasticcio fredolo di quatri perdici con tutta la
pasta: et il medesimo giorno bevve trecento once d'aqqua fredda."
Lettera di Nobili, Luglio 30 1568, MS.
Yet Carlos might have found warrant for his proceedings, in regard to
the use of snow and iced water, in the prescriptions of more than one
doctor of his time. De Castro--who displays much ingenuity, and a
careful study of authorities, in his discussion of this portion of
Philip's history--quotes the writings of two of these worthies, one of
whom tells us, that the use of snow had increased to such an extent,
that not only was it recommended to patients in their drink, but also to
cool their sheets; and he forthwith prescribes a warming-pan, to be used
in the same way as it was by Carlos. Historia de los Protestantes
Españoles, p. 370.
[1501] "Visitabale el Doctor Olivares Protomedico i salia a consultar
con sus conpañeros en presencia de Rui Gomez de Silva la curacion, curso
i accidentes de la enfermedad." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap.
22.
[1502] "Mostrando molta contritione, et se bene si lassava curare il
corpo per non causarsi egli stesso la morte, mostrava pero tanto
disprezzo delle cose del mondo, et tanto desiderio delle celesti; che
pareva veramente che Nostro Signore Dio gli havesse riserbato il cumulo
di tutti le gratie à quel ponto." Lettera del Nunzio, MS.
[1503] "Tanto hanno da durare le mie miserie." Ibid.
[1504] "And so," says Cabrera, somewhat bluntly, "the king withdrew to
his apartment with more sorrow in his heart, and less care."--"Algunas
oras antes de su fallecimiento, por entre los onbros del Prior don
Antonio i de Rui Gomez le echò su benedicion, i se recogiò en su camara
c[=o] mas dolor i menos cuidado." Filipe Segundo, lib. VIII. cap. 5.
[1505] "Il Rè non l'ha visitato, ne lassato che la Regina ne la
Principessa lo veggiano, forse considerando che poi che già si conosceva
disperato il caso suo, queste visite simili poterono più presto
conturbare l'una at l'altra delle parti, che aiutarli in cosa nessuna."
Lettera del Nunzio, MS.
[1506] "Il Prencipe di Spagna avante la morte diceva, che perdoneva a
tutti, et nominatamenta al Padre, che l'haveva carcerato, et a Ruy
Gomez, cardinal Presidente Dottor Velasco, et altri, per lo consiglio
de'quali credeva essere stato preso." Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 28,
1568, MS.
[1507] "Et battendosi il petto come poteva, essendoli mancata la virtù a
poco a poco, ritirandosi la vita quasi da membro in membro espirò con
molta tranquilità et constanza." Lettera del Nunzio, MS.
[1508] "Et testificono quelli, che vi si trovorno che Christiano nessuno
può morir più cattolicamente, ne in maggior sentimento di lui." Lettera
di Nobili, Luglio 30, 1568, MS.
[1509] See, among others, Quintana, Historia de la Antigüedad Nobleza y
Grandeza de la Villa y Corte de Madrid, (1629,) fol. 368; Colmenares,
Historia de la Insigne Ciudad de Segovia, (Madrid, 1640,) cap. 43;
Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS.; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VIII. cap.
5; Herrera, Historia General, lib. XV. cap. 3; Carta de Francisco de
Erasso, MS.; Carta de Gomez Manrique, MS.
[1510] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 147.
Von Raumer has devoted some fifty pages of his fragmentary compilation
to the story of Don Carlos, and more especially to the closing scenes of
his life. The sources are of the most unexceptionable kind, being
chiefly the correspondence of the French ministers with their court,
existing among the MSS. in the Royal Library at Paris. The selections
made are pertinent in their character, and will be found of the greatest
importance to illustrate this dark passage in the history of the time.
If I have not arrived at the same conclusions in all respects as those
of the illustrious German scholar, it may be that my judgment has been
modified by the wider range of materials at my command.
[1511] Llorente, Histoire de l'Inquisition, tom. III. p. 171 et seq.
[1512] "Quoique ces documens ne soient pas authentiques, ils méritent
qu'on y ajoute foi, en ce qu'ils sont de certaines personnes employées
dans le palais du roi." Ibid., p. 171.
[1513] Thus, for example, he makes the contradictory statements, at the
distance of four pages from each other, that the prince did, and that he
did not, confide to Don John his desire to kill his father (pp. 148,
152). The fact is, that Llorente in a manner pledged himself to solve
the mystery of the prince's death, by announcing to his readers, at the
outset, that "he believed he had discovered the truth." One fact he must
be allowed to have established,--one which, as secretary to the
Inquisition, he had the means of verifying,--namely, that no process was
ever instituted against Carlos by the Holy Office. This was to overturn
a vulgar error, on which more than one writer of fiction has built his
story.
[1514] "Le cicalerie, et novellacce, che si dicono, sono molto indigne
d'essere ascoltate, non che scritte, perchè in vero il satisfar al
popolaccio in queste simil cose è molto difficile; et meglio è farle,
siccome porta il giusto et l'honesto senza curarsi del giudicio
d'huomini insani, et che parlono senza ragione di cose impertinenti et
impossibili di autori incerti, dappochi, et maligni." Lettera di Nobili,
Luglio 30 1568, MS.
[1515] Letter of Antonio Perez to the counsellor Du Vair, ap. Rauner,
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 153.
[1516] "Mais afin de sauver l'honneur du sang royal, l'arrêt fut exécuté
en secret et on lui fit avaler un bouillon empoisoné, dont il mourut
quelques heures après, au commencement de sa vingt-troisième année." De
Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 436.
[1517] "Mas es peligroso manejar vidrios, i dar ocasion da tragedias
famosas, acaecimientos notables, violentas muertes por los secretos
executores Reales no sabidas, i por inesperadas terribles, i por la
estrañeza i rigor de justicia, despues de largas advertencias a los que
no cuidando dellas incurrieron en crimen de lesa Magestad." Cabrera,
Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22.
The admirable obscurity of the passage, in which the historian has
perfectly succeeded in mystifying his critics, has naturally led them to
suppose that more was meant by him than meets the eye.
[1518] "Ex morbo ob alimenta partim obstinate recusata, partira
intemperanter adgesta, nimiamque nivium refrigerationem, super animi
aigritudinem (_si modò vis abfuit_), in Divi Jacobi pervigilio extinctus
est." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 378.
[1519] Apologie, ap. Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. V. par. i. p. 389.
[1520] "Parquoy le roi conclud sur ses raisons que le meilleur estoit de
le faire mourir; dont un matin on le trouva en prison estouffé d'un
linge." Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 320.
A taste for jesting on this subject seems to have been still in fashion
at the French court as late as Louis the Fourteenth's time. At least, we
find that monarch telling some one that "he had sent Bussy Rabutin to
the Bastile for his own benefit, as Philip the Second said when he
ordered his son to be strangled." Lettres de Madame de Sevigné, (Paris,
1822.) tom. VIII. p. 368.
[1521] A French contemporary chronicler dismisses his account of the
death of Carlos with the remark, that, of all the passages in the
history of this reign, the fate of the young prince is the one involved
in the most impenetrable mystery. Matthieu, Breve Compendio de la Vida
Privada de Felipe Segundo, (Span, trans.,) MS.
[1522] The Abbé San Real finds himself unable to decide whether Carlos
took poison, or, like Seneca, had his veins opened in a warm bath, or,
finally, whether he was strangled with a silk cord by four slaves sent
by his father to do the deed, in Oriental fashion. (Verdadera Historia
de la Vida y Muerte del Príncipe Don. Carlos, Span, trans., MS.) The
doubts of San Real are echoed with formal solemnity by Leti, Vita di
Flippo II., tom. I. p. 559.
[1523] Von Raumer, who has given an analysis of this letter of Antonio
Perez, treats it lightly, as coming from "a double-dealing, bitter enemy
of Philip," whose word on such a subject was of little value. (Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 155.) It was certainly a singular
proof of confidence in one who was so habitually close in his concerns
as the prince of Eboli, that he should have made such a communication to
Perez. Yet it must be admitted that the narrative derives some
confirmation from the fact, that the preceding portions of the letter
containing it, in which the writer describes the arrest of Carlos,
conform with the authentic account of that event as given in the text.
It is worthy of notice, that both De Thou and Llorente concur with Perez
in alleging poison as the cause of the prince's death. Though even here
there is an important discrepancy; Perez asserting it was a slow poison,
taking four months to work its effect, while the other authorities say
that its operation was immediate. Their general agreement, moreover, in
regard to the employment of poison, is of the less weight, as such an
agency would be the one naturally surmised under circumstances where it
would be desirable to leave no trace of violence on the body of the
victim.
[1524] If we may take Brantôme's word, there was some ground for such
apprehension at all times. "En fin il estoit un terrible masle; et s'il
eust vescu, assurez-vous qu'il s'en fust faict aeroire, et qu'il eust
mis le pere en curatelle." OEuvres, tom. I. p. 323.
[1525] "Li più favoriti del Rè erono odiati da lui a morte, et adesso
tanto più, et quando questo venisse a regnare si teneriano rovinati
loro." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, MS.
[1526] Ante. p. 177.
It is in this view that Dr. Salazar de Mendoza does not shrink from
asserting, that, if Philip did make a sacrifice of his son, it rivalled
in sublimity that of Isaac by Abraham, and even that of Jesus Christ by
the Almighty! "Han dicho de él lo que del Padre Eterno, que no perdonó á
su propio Hijo. Lo que del Patriarca Abraham en el sacrificio de Isaac
su unigénito. A todo caso humano excede la gloria que de esto le
resulta, y no hay con quien comparalla." (Dignidades de Castilla y Leon,
p. 417.) He closes this rare piece of courtly blasphemy by assuring us
that in point of fact Carlos died a natural death. The doctor wrote in
the early part of Philip the Third's reign, when the manner of the
prince's death was delicate ground for the historian.
[1527] Philip the Second is not the only Spanish monarch who has been
charged with the murder of his son. Leovogild, a Visigothic king of the
sixth century, having taken prisoner his rebel son, threw him into a
dungeon, where he was secretly put to death. The king was an Arian,
while the young prince was a Catholic, and might have saved his life if
he had been content to abjure his religion. By the Church of Rome,
therefore, he was regarded as a martyr; and it is a curious circumstance
that it was Philip the Second who procured the canonization of the
slaughtered Hermenegild from Pope Sixtus the Fifth.
For the story, taken from that voluminous compilation of Florez, "_La
España Sagrada_," I am indebted to Milman's History of Latin
Christianity (London, 1854, vol. I. p. 446), one of the remarkable works
of the present age, in which the author reviews, with curious erudition,
and in a profoundly philosophical spirit, the various changes that have
taken place in the Roman hierarchy: and while he fully exposes the
manifold errors and corruptions of the system, he shows throughout that
enlightened charity which is the most precious of Christian graces, as
unhappily it is the rarest.
[1528] Lettera di Nobili, Luglio 30, 1568, MS.
[1529] I have before me another will made by Don Carlos in 1564, in
Alcalá de Henares, the original of which is still extant in the Archives
of Simancas. In one item of this document, he bequeathes five thousand
ducats to Don Martin de Cordova, for his gallant defence of Mazarquivir.
[1530] Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 28, 1568, MS.--Quintana, Historia de
Madrid, fol. 369.
[1531] "Partieron con el cuerpo, aviendo el Rey con la entereza de animo
que mantuvo sienpre, conpuesto desde una ventana las diferencias de los
Consejos disposiendo la precedencia, cesando assi la competencia."
Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VIII. cap. 5.
[1532] The particulars of the ceremony are given by the Nunzio, Lettera
di 28 di Luglio, MS.--See also Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. 369.
[1533] Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS.--Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol.
369.--Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 28, 1568, MS.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo,
lib. VIII. cap. 5.
[1534] Carta del Rey á Zuñiga, Agosto 27, 1568, MS.
[1535] "Digo la missa el Cardenal Tarragona, asistiendo á las honras 21
cardenales idemas de los obispos y arzobispos." Aviso de un Italiano
plático y familiar de Ruy Gomez de Silva, MS.
[1536] "Oracion funebre," writes the follower of Ruy Gomez, "no la hubo,
pero ye hizo estos epitaphios y versos por mi consolacion." Ibid.
Whatever "consolation" the Latin doggerel which follows in the original
may have given to its author, it would have too little interest for the
reader to be quoted here.
[1537] "Il Rè como padre ha sentito molto, ma come christiano la
comporta con quells patienza con che dovemo ricevere le tribulationi,
che ci manda Nostro Signore Dio." Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 24, 1568,
MS.
[1538] Raumer has given an extract from this letter, Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 149.
[1539] Besides Brantôme, and De Thou, elsewhere noticed in this
connection, another writer of that age, Pierre Matthieu, the royal
historiographer of France, may be thought to insinuate something of the
kind, when he tells us that "the circumstance of Isabella so soon
following Carlos to the tomb had suggested very different grounds from
those he had already given as the cause of his death." (Breve Compendio
de la Vida Privada del Rey Felipe Segundo, MS.) But the French writer's
account of Philip is nearly as apocryphal as the historical romance of
San Real, who, in all that relates to Carlos in particular, will be
found largely indebted to the lively imagination of his predecessor.
[1540] "Aussi dit on que cela fut cause de sa mort en partie, avec
d'autres subjects que je ne dirai point à ceste heure; car il ne se
pouvoit garder de l'aimer dans son ame, l'honorer et reverer, tant il la
trouvoit aymable et agréable à ses yeux, comme certes elle l'estoit en
tout." Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 128.
[1541] "Luy eschappa de dire que c'avoit esté fait fort meschamment de
l'avoir fait mourir et si innocentement, dont il fut banny jusques au
plus profond des Indes d'Espagne. Cela est tres que vray, à ce que l'on
dit." Ibid., p. 132.
[1542] Apologie, ap. Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. V. par. i. p. 389.
Strada, while he notices the common rumors respecting Carlos and
Isabella, dismisses them as wholly unworthy of credit. "Mihi, super id
quod incomperta sunt, etiam veris dissimilia videntur." De Bello
Belgico, tom. I. p. 379.
[1543] At the head of these writers must undoubtedly be placed the Abbé
San Real, with whose romantic history of Don Carlos I am only acquainted
in the Castilian translation, entitled "Verdadera Historia de la Vida y
Muerte del Principe Don Carlos." Yet, romance as it is, more than one
grave historian has not disdained to transplant its flowers of fiction
into his own barren pages. It is edifying to see the manner in which
Leti, who stands not a little indebted to San Real, after stating the
scandalous rumors in regard to Carlos and Isabella, concludes by
declaring: "Ma come io sorivo historia, e non romanzo, non posso afirmar
nulli di certo, perche nulla di certo hò possuto raccore." Leti, Vita di
Filippo II., tom. I. p. 560.
[1544] "Monsieur le prince d'Hespaigne fort extenué, la vint saluer,
qu'elle recent avec telle caresse et comportement, que si le père et
toute la compaignie en ont receu ung singulier contentement ledit prince
l'a encores plus grand, comme il a demonstré depuis et démonstre
lorsqu'il la visite, qui ne peut estre souvent; car outre que les
conversations de ce pays ne sont pas si fréquentes et faciles qu'en
France, sa fièvre quarte le travaille tellement, que de jour en jour il
va s'exténuant." L'Evêque de Limoges au Roi, 23 février, 1559.
Négociations relatives au Règne de François II., p. 272.
[1545] "Ayant ladite dame mis toute la peine qu'il a esté possible à luy
donner, aux soirs, quelque plaisir du bail et autres honnestes
passetemps, desquels il a bon besoin, car le pauvre prince est si has et
exténué, il va d'heure à heure tant affoiblissant, que les plus sages de
oeste court en out bien petite espérance." L'Evêque de Limoges au Roi,
1^er mars, 1569, Ibid., p. 291.
[1546] "La royne et la princesse la visitent bien souvent, et sopent en
un jardin qui est auprès de la meson, et le prince avec elles, qui aime
la royne singulièrement, de façôn qu'il ne ce peut soler de an dire
bien. _Je croys qu'il voudrait estre davantage son parent._" Claude de
... à la Reine Mère, août, 1560, Ibid., p. 460.
[1547] "On entendit aussi très-souvent ce jeune Prince, lorsqu'il
sortoit de la chambre de la Reine Elizabeth, avec qui il avoit de longs
et fréquens entretiens, se plaindre et marquer sa colère et son
indignation, de ce que son pere la lui avoit enlevée." De Thou, Histoire
Universelle, tom. V. p. 434.
[1548] "Vous dirès-ge, madame, que sy se n'estoit la bonne compaignie où
je suis en se lieu, et l'heur que j'ai de voir tous les jours le roy mon
seigneur, je trouverois se lieu l'un des plus fâcheux du monde. Mais je
vous assure, madame, que j'ay un si bon mari et suis si heureuse que,
quant il le seroit cent fois davantage, je ne m'y fâcherois point." La
Reine Catholique à la Reine Mère, Négociations relatives au Règne de
François II. p. 813.
[1549] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 129.
[1550] Ibid., p. 130.
[1551] Ibid., ubi supra.
[1552] "Ceste taille, elle l'accompagnoit d'un port, d'une majesté, d'un
geste, d'un marcher et d'une grace entremeslée de l'espagnole et de la
françoise en gravité et en douceur." See Brantôme, (OEuvres, tom. V. p.
129,) whose loyal pencil has traced the lineaments of Isabella as given
in the text.
[1553] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 131.
[1554] Letter of Fourquevaulx, February 5, 1568, ap. Ibid., p. 139.
[1555] "Gli amici, in primo loco la Regína, la quale diceva che gli era
amorevolissima, Don Giovanni d'Austria suo carissimo et diletissimozio,"
etc. Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS.
[1556] Letter of Fourquevaulx, October 3, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 158.
[1557] "Pero la Reyna hacia muy poco caudal de lo que los medicos decian
dando á entender con su Real condicion y gracioso semblante tener poca
necesidad de sus medicinas." Relacion de la Enfermedad y Essequias
funebres de la Serenissima Reyna de España Doña Ysabel de Valois, por
Juan Lopez, Catedratico del Estudio de Madrid, (Madrid, 1569,) fol. 4.
[1558] Ibid., ubi supra.
The learned professor has given the various symptoms of the queen's
malady with as curious a minuteness as if he had been concocting a
medical report. As an order was issued, shortly after the publication of
the work, prohibiting its sale, copies of it are exceedingly rare.
[1559] Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. 390.--Letter of Fourquevaulx,
October 3, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol.
I. p. 139.--Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel,
ubi supra.--Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS.
[1560] "Porque en efecto, el modo y manera conque ella las trataba, no
hera de senora á quien pareciesen servir, sino de madre y compañera."
Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel, loc. cit.
[1561] Ibid.--Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS.
[1562] Letter of Fourquevaulx, October 3, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth
and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 159.
[1563] "Habia ordenado se tragese el lignum crucis del Rey nuestro
Señor, que es una muy buena parte que con grandismo hornato de oro y
perlas de supremo valor S. M. tiene." Juan Lopez, Relacion de la
Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel.
[1564] Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth
Centuries. vol. I p. 159.
[1565] Ibid., loc. cit.
The correspondence of the French ambassador, Fourquevaulx, is preserved
in MS., in the Royal Library at Paris. Raumer, with his usual judgment,
has freely extracted from it; and the freedom with which I have drawn
upon him shows the importance of his extracts to the illustration of the
present story. I regret that my knowledge of the existence of this
correspondence came too late to allow me to draw from the original
sources.
[1566] "Bistieron a la Reyna de habito de S. Francisco, y la pusieron en
un ataud poniendo con ella la infanta que en poco espacio habiendo
racebido agua de Espiritu Santo murió." Juan Lopez, Relacion de la
Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel.
[1567] "Fue cosa increible el doblar, y chamorear, por todas las
parroquias, y monasterios, y hospitales. Lo cual causó un nuebo dolor y
grandisimo aumento de aristeza, siendo ya algo tarde los grandes que en
la corte se hallaban, y mayordomos de S. M. sacaron el cuerpo de la
Reyna, y binieron con el a la Capilla Real." Ibid.
[1568] "Jamais on ne vit peuple si desolé ny si affligé, ni tant jeter
de hauts cris, ny tant espandre de larmes qu'il fit.... Que, pour
maniere de parler, vous eussiez dit, qu'il l'idolatroit plustost qu'il
ne l'honoroit et reveroit." Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 131.
[1569] "Puesto el cuerpo por este orden cubierto con un muy rico paño de
brocado rodeado el cadalso de muchas achas en sus muy sumtuosos
blandones de plata." Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna
Ysabel, ubi supra.
[1570] "Las damas en las tribunas de donde oye misa con hartos suspiros
y sollozos llebaban el contrapunto á la suave, tristé y contemplatiba
musica, conque empezaron el oficio la capilla de S. M." Ibid., ubi
supra.
[1571] "Las cuales viendo sparta el cuerpo, dieron muchos gritos y
suspiros y abriendole la duquesa de Alba, trajo muchos polbos de olores
aromaticos de grande olor y fragrancia, y embalsamon a la Reyna: la cual
aunque habia pasado tanto tiempo estaba como si entonces acabara de
morir, y con tan gran hermosura en el rostro que no parecia esta
muerta." Ibid., ubi supra.
[1572] Letter of St. Goar, June 18, 1573, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and
Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 163.--Quintana, Historia de Madrid,
fol. 370.
[1573] Letter of Catherine de Medicis, ap. Raumer, vol. I. p. 162.
[1574] Letter of Cardinal Guise. Feb. 6, 1569, ap. Ibid., 163.
[1575] The openness with which Carlos avowed his sentiments for Isabella
may be thought some proof of their innocence. Catherine de Medicis, in a
letter to Fourquevaulx, dated February 28, 1568, says, alluding to the
prince's arrest: "I am concerned that the event very much distresses my
daughter, as well with regard to her husband as in respect of the
prince, who has always let her know the good-will he bears to her."
Ibid., p. 141.
[1576] The French historian, De Thou, by no means disposed to pass too
favorable a judgment on the actions of Philip, and who in the present
case would certainly not be likely to show him any particular grace,
rejects without hesitation the suspicion of foul play on the part of the
king. "Quelques-uns soupçonnerent Philippe de l'avoir fait empoissoner,
parce qu'il lui avoit fait un crime de la trop grande familiarité
qu'elle avoit avec Dom Carlos. Il est néanmoins facile de se convaincre
du contraire, par la grande et sincère douleur que sa mort causa, tant à
la Cour que dans toute l'Espagne; le Roi la pleura, comme une femme
qu'il aimoit tres-tendrement." Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 437.
[1577] Brantôme, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 137.
Yet Isabella's mother, Catherine de Medicis, found fault with her
daughter, in the interview at Bayonne, for having become altogether a
Spaniard, saying to her tauntingly, "_Muy Española venis_." To which the
queen meekly replied, "It is possible that it may be so; but you will
still find me the same daughter to you as when you sent me to Spain."
The anecdote is told by Alva in a letter to the king. Carta del Duque de
Alva al Rey, MS.
[1578] "Aussi l'appelloit-on _la Reyna de le paz y de la bondad_,
c'est-à-dire la Reyn de la paix et de la bonté; et nos François
l'appellarent l'olive de paix." Ibid p. 129.
[1579] "Elle est morte au plus beau et plaisant avril de son aage....
Car elle estoit de naturel et de tainct pour durer longtemps belle, et
aussi que la vieillesss ne l'eust osé attaquer car sa beauté fut esté
plus forte." Ibid., p. 137.