vigorous next morning. There was a Parliamentary party, a De
Retz party, and a Condé party, and each party plotted and
schemed unceasingly to discredit the others and to evoke
popular feeling against all except itself. ... Neither of the
leaders, each pretending fear of assassination, ever stirred
abroad unless in the company of 400 or 500 gentlemen, thus
holding the city in hourly peril of an 'émeute.' Condé's
arrogance and insolence becoming at last totally unbearable,
the Court proceeded to the bold measure of arresting him. New
combinations: De Retz and Orleans coalesce once more; De Retz
coquets with Mazarin and is promised a cardinal's hat. Wily
Mazarin strongly supports De Retz's nomination in public, and
privately urges every member of the council to vote against it
and to beseech the Queen to refuse the dignity. It was
refused; upon which De Retz turned his energies upon a general
union of parties for the purpose of effecting the release of
Condé and the overthrow of the minister.'
_De Retz and the Fronde
(Temple Bar, volume 38, pages 535-536)._
{1228}
Condé, his brother Conti, and his brother-in-law Longueville,
were arrested and conducted to Vincennes on the 18th of
January, 1650. "This was the second crisis of the sedition.
The old Fronde had expired; its leaders had sold themselves to
the Court; but in its place sprang up the New Fronde, called
also, from the affected airs of its leaders, the Petits
Maîtres. The beautiful Duchess of Longueville was the soul of
it, aided by her admirer, Marsillac, afterwards Duke de la
Rochefoucauld, and by the Duke of Bouillon. On the arrest of
her husband and her brother, the duchess had fled to Holland,
and afterwards to Stenai; where she and Bouillon's brother,
Turenne, who styled himself the 'King's Lieutenant-General for
the liberation of the Princes,' entered into negotiations with
the Archduke Leopold. Bouillon himself had retired into
Guienne, which province was alienated from the Court because
Mazarine maintained as its governor the detested Epernon. In
July Bouillon and his allies publicly received a Spanish envoy
at Bordeaux. Condé's wife and infant son had been received in
that city with enthusiasm. But on the approach of Mazarine
with the royal army, the inhabitants of Guienne, alarmed for
their vintage, now approaching maturity, showed signs of
submission; after a short siege Bordeaux surrendered, on
condition of an amnesty, in which Bouillon and La
Rochefoucauld were included; and the Princess of Condé was
permitted to retire (October 1st 1650). In the north, the
Frondeurs, with their Spanish allies, seemed at first more
successful. In the summer Leopold had entered Champagne,
penetrated to Ferté Milon, and some of his marauding parties
had even reached Dammartin. Turenne tried to persuade the
Archduke to march to Vincennes and liberate the princes; but
while he was hesitating, Gaston transferred the captives to
Marcoussis, whence they were soon after conveyed to Havre.
Leopold and Turenne, after a vain attempt to rouse the
Parisians, retreated to the Meuse and laid siege to Mouzon.
The Cardinal himself, like his master Richelieu, now assumed
the character of a general. Uniting with his troops in the
north the army of Guienne, he took up his quarters at Rethel,
which had been captured by Du Plessis Praslin. Hence he
ordered an attack to be made on the Spaniards. In the battle
which ensued, these were entirely defeated, many of their
principal officers were captured, and even Turenne himself
narrowly escaped the same fate (December 15th 1650). The
Cardinal's elation was unbounded. It was a great thing to have
defeated Turenne, and though the victory was Du Plessis',
Mazarine assumed all the credit of it. His head began to turn.
He forgot that he owed his success to the leaders of the old
Fronde, and especially to the Coadjutor; he neglected his
promises to that intriguing prelate, though Gondi plainly
declared that he must either be a prince of the Church or the
head of a faction. Mazarine was also imprudent enough to
offend the Parliament; and he compared them with that sitting
at London--which indeed was doing them too much honour. The
Coadjutor went over to the party of the princes, dragging with
him the feeble-minded Orleans, who had himself been insulted
by the Queen. Thus was produced a third phase of this singular
sedition--the union of the old Fronde with the new. The
Parliament now clamoured for the liberation of the princes. As
the Queen hesitated, Gaston bluntly declared that the
dismissal of Mazarine was necessary to the restoration of
peace; while the Parliament added to their former demand
another for the Cardinal's banishment. Mazarine saw his
mistake and endeavoured to rectify it. He hastened to Havre in
order to liberate the princes in person, and claim the merit
of a spontaneous act. But it was too late; it was plain that
he was acting only by constraint. The princes were conducted
back in triumph to Paris by a large retinue sent to escort
them. On February 25th 1651, their innocence was established
by a royal declaration, and they were restored to all their
dignities and charges. Mazarine, meanwhile, who saw that for
the present the game was lost, retired into exile; first into
Bouillon, and afterwards to Brühl on the Rhine, where the
Elector of Cologne offered him an asylum. From this place he
corresponded with the Queen, and continued to direct her
counsels. The anarchy and confusion that had ensued in France
were such as promised him a speedy return."
_T. H. Dyer,
History of Modern Europe,
book 5, chapter 1 (volume 3)._
ALSO IN:
_T. Wright,
History of France,
book 4, chapter 4 (volume 2)._
_Miss Pardoe,
Louis XIV. and the Court of France,
volume 1, chapter 13-15._
FRANCE: A. D. 1651-1652.
The loss of Catalonia.
See SPAIN: A. D. 1648-1652.
FRANCE: A. D. 1651-1653.
The arrogance of Condé and his renewal of civil war.
The King's majority proclaimed.
General changing of sides.
Battle of Porte St. Antoine and massacre of
the Hôtel de Ville.
End of the Fronde.
Condé in the service of Spain.
"The liberated captives were received with every demonstration
of joy by all Paris and the Frondeurs, including the Duke of
Orleans. The Queen, melancholy, and perhaps really ill, lay in
bed to receive their visit of cold ceremony; but the Duke of
Orleans gave them a grand supper, and there was universal joy
at being rid of Mazarin. ... There was a promise to assemble
the States General, while Condé thought himself governing the
kingdom, and as usual his arrogance gave offence in various
quarters. One article in the compact which had gained his
liberty was that the Prince of Conti should marry Mademoiselle
de Chevreuse, but this alliance offended the pride of the
elder brother, and he broke the marriage off hastily and
haughtily. Madame de Chevreuse, much offended, repented of the
aid she had given, went over to the Queen's party, and took
with her the coadjutor, who was devoted to the rejected
daughter, and could always sway the mob of Paris. So many
persons had thus come to desert the cause of the Prince that
Anne of Austria thought of again arresting him." Condé,
supposing himself in danger, fled from the city on the 6th of
July, and "went to his château of St. Maur, where his family
and friends joined him; and he held a kind of court. Queen and
Parliament both sent entreaties to him to return, but he
disdained them all, and made the condition of his return the
dismissal of the secretaries whom Mazarin had left. The Queen,
most unwillingly, made them retire, and Condé did return for a
short time; but he was haughtier than ever, and openly
complained of Mazarin's influence, making every preparation
for a civil war. Strangely violent scenes took place," between
the Prince and the Coadjutor and their respective adherents;
and presently the Prince "quitted Paris, went to Chantilly,
and decided on war.
{1229}
Mazarin wrote to the Queen that the most prudent course would
be to ally herself with the Parliament to crush the Princes.
After they should have been put down the Parliament would be
easily dealt with. She acted on this advice. The elections for
the States General were beginning, but in order to quash them,
and cancel all her promises, the Queen decided on proclaiming
the majority of the King, and thus the close of her own
regency. It was of course a farce, since he had only just
entered his fourteenth year, and his mother still conducted
the Government; but it made a new beginning, and was an
occasion for stirring up the loyalty of the people. ... Condé
was unwilling to begin a civil war, and was only driven into
it by his sister's persuasions and those of his friends.
'Remember,' he said, 'if I once draw the sword, I shall be the
last to return it to the scabbard.' On the other side, Anne of
Austria said, 'Monsieur le Prince shall perish, or I will.'
From Montrond, Condé directed his forces to take possession of
the cities in Guyenne, and he afterwards proceeded to
Bordeaux. On the other hand, Mazarin repaired to Sedan, and
contrived to raise an army in the frontier cities, with which
he marched to join the King and Queen at Poitiers. War was
raging again, still as the Fronde, though there had been a
general change of sides, the Parliament being now for the
Court, and the Princes against it, the Duke of Orleans in a
state of selfish agitation between the two. Learning that the
royal army was advancing to his own appanage of Orleans, and
fearing that the city might open its gates to them, he sent
off his daughter, Mademoiselle [de Montpensier], to keep the
citizens to what he called their duty to himself. She went
with only two ladies and her servants ... and found the gates
closed against her." The persevering Mademoiselle succeeded,
however, in gaining admission to the town, despite the orders
of the magistrates, and she kept out of it the soldiers of
both factions in the war. But her own inclinations were
strongly towards Condé and his side. "She went out to a little
inn to hold a council with the Dukes of Beaufort and Nemours,
and had to mediate between them in a violent quarrel. ...
Indeed, Condé's party were ill-agreed; he had even quarreled
with his sister, and she had broken with De la Rochefoucauld!
The Duke de Bouillon and his brother Turenne were now on the
Queen's side, and the command of the royal army was conferred
on the Viscount. Condé, with only eight persons, dashed across
France, to take the command of the army over which Beaufort and
Nemours were disputing. The very morning after he arrived,
Turenne saw by the disposition of the troops who must be
opposed to him. 'M. le Prince is come,' he said. They were the
two greatest captains of the age, and they fought almost in
sight of the King and Queen at Bleneau. But though there were
skirmishes [including, at the outset, the serious defeat of a
division of the royal forces under Hocquincourt], no decisive
engagement took place. It was a struggle of manœuvres, and in
this Condé had the disadvantage. ... Week after week the two
armies ... watched one another, till at last Condé was driven
up to the walls of Paris, and there the gates were closed
against both armies. Condé was at St. Cloud, whence, on the
2nd of July [1652], he endeavoured to lead his army round to
Charenton at the confluence of the Seine and the Loire; but
when he came in front of the Porte St. Antoine, he found that
a battle was inevitable and that he was caught in a trap,
where, unless he could escape through the city, his
destruction was inevitable. He barricaded the three streets
that met there, heaping up his baggage as a protection, and
his friends within, many of them wives of gentlemen in his
army, saw the situation with despair." The only one who had
energy to act was Mademoiselle. She extorted from her
hesitating father an order, by virtue of which she persuaded
the magistrates of the city, not only to open the gates to
Condé, but to send 2,000 men to the Faubourg St. Antoine.
"Mademoiselle now repaired to the top of the great square
tower of the Bastille, whence she could see the terrible
conflict carried on in the three suburban streets which
converged at the Porte St. Antoine." Seeing an opportunity to
turn the cannon of the Bastille on the pursuing troops, she
did so with effect. "Turenne was obliged to draw back, and at
last Condé brought his army into the city, where they encamped
in the open space of the Pré des Clercs. ... Condé unworthily
requited the hospitality wrung from the city. He was resolved
to overcome the neutrality of the Parliament, and, in concert
with Beaufort, instigated the mob to violence. Many soldiers
were disguised as artizans, and mingled with the rabble, when,
on the 4th of July, he went to the Hotel de Ville, ostensibly
to thank, the magistrates, but really to demand their support
against the Crown. These loyal men, however, by a majority of
votes, decided on a petition to the King to return without
Mazarin. On this Condé exclaimed publicly, 'These gentlemen
will do nothing for us. They are Mazarinists. Treat them as
you please.' Then he retired to the Luxembourg with Gaston,
while Beaufort let loose the mob. The Hotel de Ville was
stormed, the rabble poured in at doors and windows, while the
disguised soldiers fired from the opposite houses, and the
magistrates were threatened and pursued on all sides. They had
one advantage, that they knew their way through the intricate
passages and the mob did not. The first who got out rushed to
the Luxembourg to entreat the Duke and Prince to stop the
massacre; but Monsieur only whistled and beat his tattoo, and
Condé said he knew nothing about sedition. Nor would Beaufort
interfere till the disturbance had lasted many hours; but
after all many more of the rabble were killed than of the
magistrates. It was the last remarkable scene in the strange
drama of the Fronde. The Parliament suspended its sittings,
and the King transferred it to Pontoise, whither Molé and all
the other Presidents proceeded, leaving Paris in disguise.
This last ferocious proceeding of Condé's, though he tried to
disavow it, had shocked and alienated everyone, and he soon
after fell sick of a violent fever. Meanwhile, his castle of
Montrond was taken after a year's siege, Nemours was killed in
a duel by the Duke of Beaufort, and the party was falling to
pieces. ... Mazarin saw the opportunity, and again left the
Court for the German frontier. This was all that was wanting
to bring back the malcontents. Condé offered to make terms,
but was haughtily answered that it was no time for
negotiation, but for submission. Upon this, he proceeded to
the Low Countries, and offered his sword to the Spaniards.
{1230}
The King entered Paris in state and held a bed of justice, in
which he proclaimed an amnesty, excepting from it Condé and
Conti, and some others of their party, and forbidding the
Parliament to interfere in State affairs. The Coadjutor, who
had become a Cardinal, was arrested, and imprisoned until he
made his escape, dislocating his shoulder in his fall from the
window, but finally reaching Rome, where he lived till the
Fronde was forgotten, but never becoming Archbishop of Paris.
... When all was quiet, Mazarin returned, in February, 1653,
without the slightest opposition, and thus ended the Fronde,
in the entire triumph of the Crown. ... The misery, distress
and disease caused by these wars of the Fronde were
unspeakable. There was nothing to eat in the provinces where
they had raged but roots, rotten fruit, and bread made of
bran. ... Le misère de la Fronde' was long a proverbial
expression in France."
_C. M. Yonge,
Cameos from English History,
chapter 15._
ALSO IN:
_Lord Mahon,
Life of Condé,
chapters 8-9._
_G. P. R. James,
Life and Times of Louis XIV.,
chapters 11-12._
_Cardinal de Retz,
Memoirs,
books 3-4 (volumes 2-3)._
_M'lle de Montpensier,
Memoirs,
volume 1, chapters 11-17._
FRANCE: A. D. 1652.
Loss of Gravelines and Dunkirk.
Spanish invasion of Picardy.
"In the spring of 1652, the Spanish forces, under the command
of the archduke had undertaken the siege of Gravelines, which
was obliged to capitulate on the 18th of May. The archduke
next undertook the siege of Dunkirk, but, at the earnest
desire of the princes, he merely blockaded the place, and sent
Fuensaldaña with about 14,000 men into Picardy to their
assistance. ... The court, in great alarm, sought first a
retreat in Normandy, but the Duke of Longueville, who still
held the government of that province, refused to receive
Mazarin. The fears of the court were not lessened by this
proceeding, and it was even proposed to carry the king to
Lyons; but the wiser counsels of Turenne finally prevailed,
and it was resolved to establish the army at Compiègne, and
lodge the court at Pontoise. Fuensaldaña forced the passage of
the Oise at Chauni, and then joined the duke of Lorraine at
Fismes, on the 29th of July, when their joint forces amounted
to full 20,000 men, while Turenne had not more than 11,000 to
oppose to them. But the Spaniards were, as usual, only
pursuing a selfish policy, and Fuensaldaña, in pursuance of
the archduke's orders, left a body of 3,000 cavalry to
reinforce the duke of Lorraine, and returned with the rest of
his troops to assist in the siege of Dunkirk," which soon
surrendered to his arms.
_T. Wright,
History of France,
volume 2, page 89._
FRANCE: A. D. 1652-1653.
Last phase of the Fronde at Bordeaux.
Attempted revolution by the Society of the Ormée.
See BORDEAUX: A. D. 1652-1653.
FRANCE: A. D. 1653-1656.
Condé's campaigns against his own country, in the service of
Spain.
"Condé, unfortunately for his fame, made no attempts at
reconciliation, and retired to the Spaniards--an enemy of his
country! He captured several small places on the [Flemish]
frontier, and hoped to return in spring victorious. A few days
after the entry into Paris, Turenne set out to oppose him;
and, retaking some towns, had the satisfaction, of compelling
him to seek winter quarters beyond the limits of France. ...
Condé persuaded the Spanish to bring 30,000 men into the field
for the next campaign: Turenne and La Ferté had but 13,000. To
paralyze the plans of the enemy, the Viscount proposed, and
his proposal was allowed, to be always threatening their rear
and communications; to occupy posts they would not dare to
attack, and so to avoid fighting, at the same time hindering
them from all important undertakings. He began by throwing
himself between two corps of their army, at the point where
they expected to effect a junction; and in the eight or nine
days thus gained, he recovered Rhétel, without which it would
have been, as he declares himself, impossible to defend
Picardy and Champagne. Rhétel, so much an object of anxiety,
was taken in three days. Baffled in their original purposes,
and at a loss, the Spanish expected a large convoy from
Cambray, escorted by 3,000 horse. Turenne got news of this,
and, posting himself near Peronne to intercept it, drove it
back to Cambray [August 11, 1653]. There Condé and Fuensaldaña
turned upon him; but he took up a position, which they watched
for three or four days, and there defied their attack. They
refused the challenge. Thence the enemy drew off," with
designs on Guise, which Turenne frustrated. "Condé then laid
siege to Rocroi, where his own first glory had been gained;
and this place is so hemmed in by woods and defiles, that the
relief of it was impossible. But Turenne compensated for the
loss of it by the equally valuable recapture, of Mouson. Thus
the whole year was spent in marches and countermarches, in
gains and losses, which had no influence on events. By this
time the malcontents were so prostrate that Condé's brother,
the Prince de Conti, and his sister, the Duchesse de
Longueville, made their peace with the court. ... The year
1654 opened with the siege of Stenay by the young king in
person, who was carried thither by Mazarin, to overawe Condé's
governor with the royal name and majesty. That officer was
more true to his trust than to his allegiance, and Stenay cost
a siege. ... Condé could do no better than imitate Turenne's
policy of the previous year, and besiege Arras as an
equivalent for Stenay; to which end he mustered 32,000 men.
Arras was a town of some value. Condé had caught it at
disadvantage; the governor, Mondejeu ... was put on his
defence with 2,500 foot and 100 horse. To reinforce this
slender garrison was the first care of Turenne. ... Mazarin
was anxious for Arras, and offered Turenne to break up the
siege of Stenay, for the sake of reinforcing the army of
relief. This proposal the Viscount declined. He must have been
very confident of his own capacity; for he could collect only
14,000 men to hover around the enemy's camp. ... He proposed
no attempt upon the intrenchments till he had the aid of the
troops from Stenay ... ; but he disposed his parties around so
as to prevent the enemy's convoys from reaching them." Stenay
surrendered on the 6th of August, and Turenne, with
reinforcements from its besiegers, attacked the Spanish lines
at Arras on the night of the 24th, with complete success. The
Spaniards raised the siege and retreated to Cambray, leaving
3,000 prisoners and 63 pieces of cannon in the hands of the
French. "The capture of Quesnoy and Binches filled up the rest
of the year; the places were weak and the garrisons feeble.
{1231}
Nor did the next season, 1655, offer anything of interest.
Turenne reduced Landrecies, Condé, and Guislain, while his
active opponent was sometimes foiled by his precautions, and
sometimes baffled by the absurd behaviour of the Spanish
authorities. ... The great event of 1656 was the siege of
Valenciennes. This place ... was invested by Turenne about the
middle of June: but hardly had his camp been intrenched before
he repented of his undertaking. The Scheldt flows through the
town, and by reservoirs and sluices was flooded at the will of
the enemy. Turenne's camp was largely inundated. ... He had
overestimated his means: so great was the circle of his
circumvallation that he had not men enough to guard it
adequately, when Condé and the Spanish appeared with 20,000
men to the relief of the place." They broke through his lines
and forced him to retreat, with a heavy loss of prisoners
taken. "The Viscount retrieved his credit by the bold stand he
made after the defeat."
_T. O. Cockayne,
Life of Marshal Turenne,
pages 58-69._
ALSO IN:
_Lord Mahon,
Life of Condé,
chapter 10._
_J. B. Perkins,
France under Mazarin,
chapters 16-17 (volume 2)._
FRANCE: A. D. 1653-1660.
First persecution of the Jansenists.
See PORT ROYAL AND THE JANSENISTS.
FRANCE: A. D. 1655-1658.
Alliance with the English Commonwealth against Spain.
The taking of Dunkirk for England and Gravelines for France.
End of the war.
"Mazarin was now bent upon an enterprise which, if successful,
must finish the war. A deadly blow would be struck at the
strength of Spain if Dunkirk, Mardyck, and Gravelines--the
possession of which was of vital importance to her
communication with Flanders, as well as enabling her to ruin
French commerce on that coast--could be wrested from her. For
this the cooperation of some maritime power was necessary, and
Mazarin determined at all costs to secure England. With
Cromwell, the only diplomatist by whose astuteness he
confessed himself baffled, he had been negotiating since 1651.
... At length on November 3, 1655, a treaty was signed at
Westminster, based upon freedom of commerce and an engagement
that neither country should assist the enemies or rebels of
the other; Mazarin consented to expel Charles II., James, and
twenty named royalists from France. Cromwell similarly agreed
to dismiss from England the emissaries of Condé. But Mazarin
was soon anxious for a more effectual bond. ... Cromwell had
equally good reasons for drawing closer to France, for Spain
was preparing actively to assist Charles II. French and
English interests thus coinciding, an alliance was signed at
Paris on March 23, 1657
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1655-1658.