NEGOTIATIONS FOR THE MARRIAGE OF THE PRINCE OF WALES WITH A SPANISH
INFANTA.
It is a general consequence of the dynastic constitution of the states
of Europe that marriages between the reigning families are at the same
time political transactions, and as a rule not only affect public
interests, but also stir up the rivalry of parties: this effect
however has hardly ever come more prominently into notice than when it
was proposed to marry the heir to the throne of England with an
Infanta of Spain.
We have remarked that the scheme originated in Spain, had already been
once rejected, and then had been mooted a second time by the leading
minister of Philip III, the Duke of Lerma. It formed part of Lerma's
characteristic idea of fortifying the greatness of the Spanish
monarchy by a dynastic alliance with the two royal families which were
able to threaten it with the greatest danger, those of France and
England. This design brought him into contact with a current of policy
and personal feeling in England which was favourable to him: but at
the same time the great difficulty which the difference of religion
presented, came at once into prominence. Not that it would have been
difficult for King James to make the concessions requisite for
obtaining the Papal dispensation; on the contrary he was personally
inclined to do so: but he feared unpleasant embarrassments with his
allies and with his subjects. Count Gondomar, the ambassador, assured
the King that he should never be pressed to do anything which violated
his conscience or his honour, or by which he might run a risk of
losing the love of his people.[417]
[Sidenote: A.D. 1622.]
On this, negotiations which had already been opened for the marriage
of the Prince with a French princess were broken off. Besides, the
intermarriage with the house of Spain appeared to be far more
deserving of preference, as being likely to pacify the feelings of
English Catholics, who were accustomed to side principally with Spain,
and even to promote the calm of the world, as Spain was a more
prominent representative of the Catholic principle than France. It was
thought advisable to leave the conditions of the dispensation to be
arranged in the sense indicated by negotiation between the Papal see
and the Spanish crown.
But a new and serious hindrance now arose in consequence of the
embarrassments caused by the affairs of the Palatinate, in which the
interests of the two dynasties came into immediate collision with one
another. It is clear that King James could not marry his son to an
Infanta of Spain while a Spanish army was taking possession of his
son-in-law's territory. He therefore made the restoration of the
Palatinate a condition of the marriage. All his tortuous efforts were
directed to combine the latter object with the former, and at the same
time to avoid a disadvantageous reaction upon his domestic policy.
While he invoked the Protestant sympathies of Parliament in order to
give weight to his demands, he nevertheless checked them again as soon
as he was in danger of being forced to make war, or even to resume the
measures against the Catholics, which might displease the Spanish
court. Whilst he made the Spaniards aware that if he were refused the
consideration he required, he would throw himself entirely into the
hands of his Parliament and proceed to extremities, he at the same
time employed every means of effecting a peaceful accommodation, by
which he would then at once be saved the necessity of making
concessions to Parliament. The most active negotiations were opened
in Brussels with the Infanta Isabella, upon whom the issue seemed most
to depend. James I had sent thither Richard Weston, the man whom
Gondomar himself declared to be the most appropriate instrument for
this affair; and an agreement was concluded with the personal
co-operation of the Infanta, which held out expectations of the
restoration of the Elector. On the side of the Palatinate and England
everything was done to promote the conclusion of this agreement, and
to ensure its execution. The expelled Elector was induced to recall
Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick from the Upper Rhine, where they
were then moving vigorously forward, lest the treaty should be
obstructed by their operations.[418] He himself removed to Sedan, in
order not to arouse the suspicions of the House of Austria by his
residence in the Netherlands. In the summer of 1622 he had no other
troops in the Palatinate but the English garrisons; and King James
engaged that, if the treaty were concluded, he would take arms himself
against the allies of his son-in-law. But while expectation was
directed to the conclusion of the contract by which the Elector should
be re-established in his country, the League advanced against those
strongholds which the English held in his name. Neither Heidelberg nor
Mannheim could hold out. The English troops were obliged to bend to
necessity and to march out, although with the honours of war. Only in
Frankenthal did they still maintain themselves for a while. When
Weston at Brussels complained of this conduct he was actually told
that the League must have everything in their hands first, in order to
restore everything hereafter. He was astounded at this subterfuge, and
asked for his recall.
In England the friends of Spain fell into a sort of despair at the
course of events. For what could follow from it but open war between
the King of England and the Emperor? But on whose side would Spain
then be found? Would that power pledge itself to fight to the end
against every one, even against the Emperor, in behalf of the treaty
when concluded? To prevent England from coming into closer alliance
with France, the government of Spain had planned the marriage and
opened direct negotiations: would it now, when its cause appeared to
be advancing, withdraw in violation of its word of honour? Even the
Privy Council represented to the King that he was bringing dishonour
and danger on his country. The Duke of Buckingham, who also had
himself been in close agreement with Gondomar, and was considered to
be the man who held the threads of politics in his hand, regarded the
increasing discontent as dangerous to his own position.[419]
While affairs were in this situation and these impressions afloat, a
plan for bringing this uncertainty to an end was embraced by the King,
the Prince, and the Duke, in those private discussions in which the
general course of affairs was decided. It was determined that the
Prince, accompanied by Buckingham, should visit Spain himself, in
order to bring about the marriage and arrange the conditions. None of
the Privy Councillors, not even Williams, who on other occasions was
in their intimate confidence, knew anything about this plan. It
pleased the King's sense of the romantic, that as he himself had
formerly brought home his newly married wife from the icy North, so
now his son should in person win the hand of his bride in the distant
South. But however much in earnest the King was in the matter, we
learn that he still contemplated the possibility of failure. He once
said to the Duke of Soubise, that if the marriage came to pass, he
would take up the cause of the Huguenots in alliance with Spain: but
that if he did not succeed in his design they might still reckon upon
him, for that his son would contract a marriage with a French
princess, which would procure him great influence at the French
court.[420]
[Sidenote: A.D. 1623.]
On March 7, 1623, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Buckingham
arrived in Madrid, with an escort including Cottington and Endymion
Porter, both of whom afterwards enjoyed great influence. Their arrival
was not altogether welcome to the ambassador in residence there,
Digby, now Lord Bristol, who would rather have retained this important
business in his own hands: but the Spanish court and the nation itself
found a certain satisfaction for their pride in the personal suit
urged by the heir-apparent of one of the most powerful kingdoms for
the hand of the younger Infanta.
At first the Prince of Wales could only see the Infanta as she drove
past along a sort of Corso in the Prado. He was then presented to her,
but the words which she was to use to him were written down for her
beforehand; for she was to receive him merely as a foreign prince
without any reference whatsoever to his suit. Some surprise was
created when the principal lady of the court one day condescended to
say to the Prince that the Infanta in conversation gave signs of an
inclination for him. In the country no doubt was felt that the
marriage would come to pass, and the prospect was welcomed with joy.
Often did a 'Viva' resound under the windows of the Prince. Lope de
Vega dedicated some happily expressed stanzas to him; and splendid
shows were given in his honour.[421] All that was now wanting was an
agreement as to the conditions.
This depended however in large part on the resolutions which might be
arrived at in England. Conditions affecting religion were laid before
King James, which he might certainly have hesitated to approve. It was
not only that the Infanta was to be indulged in the free exercise of
her religion--for how else could the consent of the Spanish clergy or
a dispensation from the Pope have been hoped for?--nor even that the
children born from this marriage were to be educated under her eyes
for the first ten years of their life, for this seemed the natural
privilege of a mother: but the presumption that the children might
become Catholics involved wide consequences. It was stipulated that
the laws against Catholics should not apply to such children, nor
prejudice their succession. Still more displeasing however were some
other articles of general import, which were carefully kept back from
the knowledge of the public. They amounted to this:--that the laws
against the Catholics should no longer be carried into execution, and
that the Councillors of the sovereign should be pledged by an oath to
abstain from enforcing them.[422] The King met with some opposition to
these articles in the Privy Council. But he said that the question was
not whether they were advisable, but whether they were not necessary
at a time when part of the domain under dispute, and the Prince
himself, were in the hands of the Spaniards. And moreover they did not
amount to a complete concession to the wishes of the Catholics, for
they spoke only of tolerating their worship in private, not in public:
the articles were in harmony with the old ideas of the King. James
solemnly swore to the first articles, on July 20, in the presence of
the Spanish ambassador; and immediately after him the members of the
Council took the same oath. The King alone then pledged himself to
carry out the second set of articles.
An extensive alteration had already taken place in the treatment of
the Catholics. Priests and recusants had been discharged from prison
and enjoyed full liberty. An injunction was issued to the preachers
and to the Universities to abstain from all invectives against the
Papacy. Men had to see individual preachers who transgressed these
orders thrown into prisons which had been just emptied. The families
which openly expressed their hitherto secret adherence to Catholicism
were already counted by hundreds. Then came these transactions. What
was learnt of the articles was enough to spread universal dismay
among the Protestants, but they expected yet worse things. They
thought they saw a pronounced Catholic tendency becoming ascendant in
the conduct of affairs. An universal danger seemed to be hanging over
the religion which they professed. Every one hastened to church to
pray against it; the churches had never been more crowded. The second
ecclesiastic in the country, the Archbishop of York, put the King in
mind that by his project of toleration he was encouraging doctrines
which he had himself proved in his writings to be superstitious and
idolatrous. At this time moreover religious profession and political
freedom were most closely connected: all these penal laws which the
King was removing had been passed in Parliament, and were the work of
the legislative power as a whole. The Archbishop reminded the King in
conclusion that when he annulled the statutes of parliament by royal
proclamation, he created an impression that he thought himself at
liberty to trample on the laws of the land.[423]
The wishes of the King did not lean so decidedly in that direction as
people assumed. Buckingham and the Prince, who recommended him to take
the oath, remarked to him, among other observations, that his promise
that Parliament should repeal the penal laws against the Catholics
within three years would be fulfilled, if he merely exerted himself to
the extent of his strength for that object, even if it should prove
impossible to attain it.[424] In general everything was merely
preliminary, and depended on further agreement. The Prince entreated
his father to transmit to him the ratification of the articles, that
he might decline them or not according to circumstances. He even
wished that, in order to put an end to the dilatoriness of the
Spaniards, his father should make an express declaration that any
longer delay would compel him again to enforce the penal laws against
the Catholics.[425] All these announcements, which filled the
Catholics with joy and hope, but the Protestants with dejection,
mistrust, and anxiety, were however only political agencies, and were
intended to serve a definite end. The object was in the first instance
to put an end by this means to all delay in sending the Infanta to
England.
Although some religious scruples were still awake in the minds of the
Spaniards yet they presented no further obstacle. The conditions for
granting a dispensation which had been prescribed by the Pope to the
Spanish Court, had been accepted; the Spanish ambassadors had been
satisfied: the only question now was whether the Infanta should be
conveyed to England at once with the Prince on his return, or in the
following spring. As formerly the Tudors so now the Stuarts appeared
to be taking their position as a dynasty in Europe in connexion with
the Spanish monarchy.
Only one difficulty remained, that connected with the Palatinate; but
at the present moment it was more serious than ever.
In his negotiations King James started with the supposition, that the
Spanish court could control the Imperial, and bring it over to its own
point of view. The inclusion of the German line in this dynastic
combination was contemplated. A proposal was made that the eldest son
of the expelled Frederick should contract a marriage with a daughter
of the Emperor, which would make the task of reconciliation and
restitution far easier.
The Emperor however had to take other interests into consideration;
not only those of the Duke of Bavaria, to whom he was so deeply
pledged, but those of the whole Catholic party, which thought of
seizing this occasion to establish for ever its ascendancy in the
Empire. The Emperor, who was also instigated by Rome to this step,
solemnly transferred the electoral dignity previously held by the
Elector Palatine to Maximilian of Bavaria in February 1623, with the
intention of satisfying him, and at the same time of obtaining a
majority of Catholic votes in the electoral body. It has indeed been
assumed, both then and at a later time, that Spain, only bent on
deceiving England, had agreed to all these proceedings. But in fact
the Spanish ambassador had opposed them most strenuously at Ratisbon
in the name of his king, as well as in that of the Infanta
Isabella.[426] He prophesied with accurate foresight new and
inextricable embarrassments as the consequence. The Papal Nuncio
complained that the resistance of the ambassador weakened the
Catholics and emboldened the Protestants. But his remonstrance had no
effect on the Emperor. After his previous experiences Ferdinand II had
no more fear of his adversaries, least of all of King James, who would
certainly not in his old age make his first appearance as a warrior
and try the doubtful fortune of war. He thought besides that he always
consulted his security best when he had nothing before his eyes but
the advantage of the Catholic Church.
The negotiation about these matters took place just at the time when
the Prince of Wales was in Spain. There no one despaired of finding an
arrangement with which the Prince could still be satisfied. It was
thought that, when the Palsgrave Frederick had been reconciled with
the Emperor, and admitted into his family, the electoral dignity might
be enjoyed in turn by Bavaria and the Palatinate, or that a new
electorship might be founded for Bavaria. The Imperial ambassador,
Count Khevenhiller, however rejected these proposals, for no other
reason than that King James was not the proper person to make
arrangements for his grandson. He did not accept the supposition that
the youth, whose education it was proposed to complete in Vienna,
would join the Catholic faith, for he said that his mother would never
allow that. He set aside the expectation that the Imperial court might
send to Spain a full authorisation to negotiate for the marriage. He
moreover affirmed that, if the Imperial court wished to secure its
influence in Germany, it could not allow the opinion to gain ground
that it depended on Spain and was guided by her.
And in Spain also, after the fall of Lerma, which was brought on by
this affair, the old aspirations after the supremacy of the world had
again obtained the upper hand.
It is true that at the moment a feeling prevailed in favour of
maintaining peace on the very advantageous footing which had then been
obtained. Cardinal Zapata, Don Pedro of Toledo, and above all Count
Gondomar, who had at that time been made a member of the Council,
declared before that body that Spain ought to have no higher political
aim than to secure her union with England. These were men of
experience in European affairs, who recollected the evils which had
sprung from the policy of Philip II. But there were others who were
again seized with the old ambition, so interwoven with Catholicism,
and who would not separate themselves from the interests of the
Emperor at any price--men like the Marquis de Aytona, Don Augustin
Mexia. And Count Olivarez, under the influence of the Imperial
ambassador, now espoused the same opinion, a man who, as favourite of
the King and chief minister, filled the same position in Spain that
Buckingham did in England. At the decisive meeting of the Council, he
stated that the King of Spain would not venture to separate from the
Emperor, even if he had been mortally affronted by him: if he could
stand in friendly relations with the Emperor and the King of England
at the same time, well and good; but if not, he must break with the
King of England without any regard to the marriage: this step was
demanded of him for the preservation of Christendom, of the Catholic
religion, and of his family. He added that a marriage between the
young Count Palatine and a daughter of the Emperor was only to be
thought of, if the former became a Catholic: that the complete
restoration of the father was by no means advisable; and that he ought
to be dealt with as the Duke of Saxony had been dealt with by Charles
V.[427] Olivarez carried the Council with him in favour of this
policy. The strictly Catholic point of view, which had been asserted
by the German line of the house of Austria, was again adopted as the
rule of policy in Spain.
This was a resolution that decided the destinies of Spain. That power
again renounced the policy of compromise which it had observed for a
quarter of a century. The young King Philip IV and his ambitious
favourite revived the designs of Philip II, or, as the former once
expressed it, of Charles V: to the restoration of Catholic ascendancy
in Germany they sacrificed the friendship of King James, which was of
inestimable advantage to the monarchy, inasmuch as it kept the coasts
of Spain free from all danger of attack from the English forces.[428]
Olivarez was too violent, too young, and too ill-informed to have any
clear conception of the influence of these relations.
But as in great transactions every step has consequences, it is clear
that the Spanish predilections of King James, and the policy founded
on them, were thus brought to an end. For maintaining these it was
necessary not only that they should be advantageous to the Catholics
in England, but that they should be equally serviceable to the
Protestant interests in Germany, which in the present instance were
his own: otherwise he would never have found rest again in his own
country, or his own family, or perhaps even in his own breast. He had
asked for the reinstatement of his son-in-law in the electorship as
well as in the possession of his hereditary dominions, or at least for
the hearty assistance of Spain in effecting this object.[429] And the
Prince of Wales shared these views. He once said to Count Olivarez
that, without the restoration of the Elector Palatine, the marriage
was impossible, and the friendship of England could not be expected.
The Spaniards did not think fit to impart to him the resolution which
had been taken in the Council of State; but still this implied a new
direction given to the course of affairs which could be followed
although it was not talked of. The Spaniards contented themselves with
dwelling on the necessity of sending the youthful Count Palatine to
Vienna for education: as to his father, who was under the ban, they
held out indeed a prospect of the restoration of his dominions but not
of his electoral dignity. The Prince declared that it was not to be
imagined that his brother-in-law would be content with that and would
agree to it.[430] And how was even as much as this to be obtained from
the court of Vienna? It was now certain that in the affair of the
Palatinate Spain would not interfere with decision. But besides this,
the resolutions which had been taken in the Spanish Council of State
must lead to much wider consequences.
The miscarriage of the negotiations has been ascribed to the
misunderstanding between Olivarez and Buckingham; and it is no wonder
that such a misunderstanding arose, for the latter was conceited and
irritable, the former imperious and assuming. But these causes are
only of a secondary character; the root of the failure lies in the
political, or in the combination of the religious with the political
relations of the two countries. While in England Protestantism was
moving in a direction opposed to the intentions of King James, and
could hardly be held down, it was met by the Catholic interest in
Spain and Germany, which was fully conscious of its position. Now
these were the powerful elements which divided the whole world: the
strife between them could not be adjusted by political considerations.
It is hardly necessary to state further how Buckingham, who regarded
the somewhat unmeaning delays of the Spaniards as affronts, and who
would have had reason to fear for his authority in England in the
event of his prolonged absence, now urged the return of the Prince.
Charles concurred with him: King James, who moreover was impatient, as
he said, to see the two men whom he most loved about him again,
commanded it; and the Spanish court could not object.
Yet no estrangement arose in consequence, nor was the proposal for the
marriage withdrawn. The Infanta was treated as Princess of Wales; and
Philip IV in a letter once styled the Prince of Wales his
brother-in-law. The Papal dispensation, for which they had long been
kept waiting, at last arrived; and the marriage ceremony might have
been performed any day. The other negotiations also still kept
advancing. King James then once more demanded an express declaration
with regard to the affair of the Palatinate. He wished to know what
Spain thought of doing if the Emperor refused to accede to the
agreement that was to be made between the two powers. The answer of
the Spaniards was evasive: how could it have been otherwise? But the
English would not advance further without better security. The Prince
sent to request the ambassador not to use the full powers, which he
already had in his hands, until he received fresh orders.[431] King
James declared that the marriage could not be solemnised till the
Spanish court consented to take upon itself obligations with regard to
the Palatinate.
NOTES:
[417] Letter to Gondomar, as it appears, from Buckingham himself,
Cabala 236. 'You promised that the King should be pressed to nothing
that should not be agreeable to his conscience, to his honour, and the
love of his people.'
[418] So writes Richard Weston to Buckingham: 'The prince elector hath
conformed himself to what was demanded, that the count Mansfelt and
Duke of Brunswik, the pretended obstacles of the treatie, are now with
all their forces removed.' Sept. 3, 1622. Cabala 201. How difficult
this was for him we see from a letter of Nethersole to Carlisle, Oct.
18, 1622. 'The slowness of resolution of this side may move H. Mai.
[the King of Bohemia] to precipitate his before the time, which will
be then to lose the fruits of two long years patience.'
[419] Valaresso: 'Temendo di se stesso e di riuscir l'oggetto di tutta
la colpa e forse della pena.'
[420] Valaresso: Disp. 19 Luglio 1623.
[421] A true relation of the arrival and entertainment given to the
Prince Charles: in Somers' Tracts ii. 625.
[422] Arcana quatuor capitula ad religionem pertinentia: in Dumont v.
ii. 442. Their contents also appear in the Spanish reports.
[423] 'That you now take unto yourself liberty to throw down the laws
of the land at your pleasure.' Cabala 13.
[424] The Duke and the Prince to the King, 6 June. Hardwicke Papers i.
419.
[425] Instructions received from His Highness June 7, 1623: in
Clarendon State Papers I. xviii. App.
[426] Protestation of the Conde Oñate, in Khevenhiller, Ann. Ferd.
viii. 66.
[427] From Khevenhiller's letter, Ann. Ferd. x. 95.
[428] In a Letter of Pope Urban to Olivarez, this passage occurs:
'Diceris in Britannico matrimonio differendo religionis dignitatem
privatis omnibus rationibus praetulisse.'
[429] 'We have expected the total restitution of the palatinate, and
of the electorship.' James to Bristol, in Halliwell ii. 228.
[430] Prince Charles and the Duke to James, Aug. 30, 1623. Hardwicke
Papers i. 449.
[431] Prince Charles to the Earl of Bristol. Halliwell 229.