CHRISTIAN II., KING OF DENMARK, THE FATHER OF CHRISTINA
1513-1523
I.
Christian II., King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, as the proud title
ran, was in many respects a remarkable man. His life and character
have been the subject of much controversy. Some historians have held
him up to admiration as a patriot and martyr who suffered for his
love of freedom and justice. Others have condemned him as a cruel and
vindictive tyrant, whose crimes deserved the hard fate which befell
him. Both verdicts are justified in the main. On the one hand, he was
an able and enlightened ruler, who protected the liberties of his
poorer subjects, encouraged trade and learning, and introduced many
salutary reforms. On the other, he was a man of violent passions,
crafty and unscrupulous in his dealings, cruel and bloodthirsty in
avenging wrongs. His career naturally invites comparison with that
of Lodovico Sforza, whose son became the husband of his daughter
Christina. Both Princes were men of great ability and splendid dreams.
In their zeal for the promotion of commerce and agriculture, in their
love of art and letters, both were in advance of the age in which
they lived. Again, their vices and crimes, the cunning ways and
unscrupulous measures by which they sought to attain their ends, were
curiously the same. No doubt Christian II., born and bred as he was
among the rude Norsemen, belonged to a coarser strain than the cultured
Duke of Milan, and is hardly to be judged by the same standard. But
the two Princes resembled each other closely, and the fate which
eventually overtook them was practically the same. Both of these able
and distinguished men lost their States in the prime of life, and were
doomed to end their days in captivity. This cruel doom has atoned in
a great measure for their guilt in the eyes of posterity, and even in
their lifetime their hard fate aroused general compassion.
[Sidenote: JAN., 1516] THE KING'S DOVE]
Certainly no one could have foreseen the dismal fate which lay in store
for Christian II. when he ascended the throne. Seldom has a new reign
opened with fairer promise. His father, good King Hans, died in 1513,
lamented by all his subjects, and leaving his successor a prosperous
and united kingdom. Christian was thirty-two, and had already shown
his courage and ability in quelling a revolt in Norway. A man of noble
and commanding presence, with blue eyes and long fair hair, he seemed
a born leader of men, while his keen intelligence, genial manners,
and human interest in those about him, early won the affection of his
subjects. Unfortunately his own passions proved his worst enemies. In
Norway he had fallen in love with a beautiful girl named Dyveke--the
Dove--whose mother, a designing Dutchwoman named Sigebritt Willems,
kept a tavern at Bergen. On his accession he brought Dyveke and her
mother to Hvidore, and gave them a house in the neighbourhood. This
illicit connection excited great scandal at Court, and the Chancellor,
Archbishop Walkendorf of Drondtheim, exhorted the King earnestly to put
away his mistress on his marriage. Even before Isabella left Brussels,
the Archbishop wrote glowing accounts of her beauty and goodness to
his master, and told the King of the romantic attachment which she
cherished for her unknown lord. After her arrival at Copenhagen he did
his utmost to insure her comfort, and see that she was treated with
proper respect.
For a time Christian seems to have been genuinely in love with his
young wife, whose innocent charm won all hearts in her new home. In
his anxiety to please her, he furnished his ancestral castle anew,
and sent to Germany for musicians, fearing that the rude voices
of Danish singers might sound harsh in her ears. A young Fleming,
Cornelius Scepperus, was appointed to be his private secretary, and
the Fuggers of Antwerp were invited to found a bank at Copenhagen. At
the same time twenty-four Dutch families, from Waterland in Holland,
were brought over in Danish ships, and induced to settle on the
island of Amager, opposite the capital, in order that the royal table
might be supplied with butter and cheese made in the Dutch fashion.
This colony, imported by Christian II., grew and flourished, and to
this day their descendants occupy Amager, where peasant women clad
in the national costume of short woollen skirts, blue caps, and red
ribbons, are still to be seen. Unfortunately, the influence which
Sigebritt and her daughter had acquired over the King was too strong
to be resisted. Before long they returned to Court, and, to the
indignation of Isabella's servants, Sigebritt was appointed Mistress
of her household. Rumours of the slights to which the young Queen was
exposed soon reached the Netherlands, and when Maximilian informed
Margaret that he intended to marry her niece Eleanor to the King
of Poland, she replied with some asperity that she could only hope
the marriage would turn out better than that of her unhappy sister.
The Emperor expressed much surprise at these words, saying that he
considered his granddaughter to be very well married, since the King
of Denmark was a monarch of the proudest lineage, and endowed with
noble manners and rare gifts, if his people were still somewhat rude
and barbarous.[17] But, in spite of Maximilian's protests, the reports
of King Christian's misconduct soon became too persistent to be
ignored. When, in October, 1516, Charles, who had assumed the title
of King of Spain on his grandfather Ferdinand's death, held his first
Chapter of the Golden Fleece, the Knights with one accord refused to
admit the King of Denmark to their Order, because he was accused of
adultery and ill-treated his wife.[18] At length Maximilian was moved
to take action, and wrote to his grandson Charles in sufficiently plain
language, saying:
[Sidenote: 1513-23] ELEANOR'S ROMANCE]
"The shameful life which our brother and son-in-law, the King
of Denmark, is leading with a concubine, to the great sorrow
and vexation of his wife, our daughter and your sister, is
condemned by all his relatives; and in order to constrain him
to abandon this disorderly way of living, and be a better
husband to our said daughter, we are sending Messire Sigismund
Herbesteiner to remonstrate with him, and have begged Duke
Frederic of Saxony, his uncle, who arranged the marriage, to
send one of his servants on the same errand. And we desire
you to send one of your chief councillors to help carry out
our orders, and induce the King to put away his concubine and
behave in a more reasonable and honourable manner."[19]
But none of these remonstrances produced any effect on the misguided
King. When Herbesteiner reproached him with sacrificing the laws of
God and honour and the Emperor's friendship to a low-born woman, he
shook his fist in the imperial Envoy's face, and bade him begone from
his presence.[20] At the same time he showed his resentment in a more
dangerous way by making a treaty with France and closing the Sound to
Dutch ships. He even seized several trading vessels on pretence that
the Queen's dowry had not been paid, and when Archbishop Walkendorf
ventured to expostulate with him on his misconduct, banished the
prelate from Court.[21]
Meanwhile Isabella herself bore neglect and insults with the same
uncomplaining sweetness. But we see how much she suffered from a
private letter which she wrote to her sister Eleanor about this time.
This attractive Princess, who at the age of eighteen still remained
unmarried, had fallen in love with her brother's brilliant friend,
Frederic, Count Palatine, the most accomplished knight at Court, and
the idol of all the ladies. The mutual attachment between the Palatine
and the Archduchess was the talk of the whole Court, and met with
Margaret's private approval, although it was kept a secret from Charles
and his Ministers. Eleanor confided this romantic story to her absent
sister, and expressed a secret hope that the popular Count Palatine
might succeed her aunt as Regent when the young King left Brussels for
Spain. In reply Isabella sent Eleanor the warmest congratulations on
her intended marriage, rejoicing that her sister at least would not be
forced to leave home, and would be united to a husband whom she really
loved. The poor young Queen proceeded to lament her own sad fate in the
following strain:
"It is hard enough to marry a man whose face you have never
seen, whom you do not know or love, and worse still to be
required to leave home and kindred, and follow a stranger to
the ends of the earth, without even being able to speak his
language."[22]
[Sidenote: 1513-23] A LOVE-LETTER]
She goes on to describe the misery of her life, even though she bears
the title of Queen. What is she, in fact, but a prisoner in a foreign
land? She is never allowed to go out or appear in public, while her
lord the King spends his time in royal progresses and hunting-parties,
and amuses himself after his fashion, apart from her. Far better would
it be for Eleanor to follow her own inclination, and choose a husband
who belongs to her own country and speaks her language, even if he were
not of kingly rank. Unfortunately, the pretty romance which excited
Isabella's sympathy was doomed to an untimely end. The death of Mary
of Castille, Queen of Portugal, in May, 1517, left King Emanuel a
widower for the second time. He had married two of Charles's aunts in
turn, and was now over fifty, and a hunchback into the bargain. None
the less, the plan of a marriage between him and his niece Eleanor
was now revived, and in August these proposals reached the young King
at the seaport of Middelburg, where he and his sister were awaiting
a favourable wind to set sail for Spain. Filled with alarm, Frederic
implored Eleanor to take a bold step, confess her love to Charles,
and seek his consent to her marriage with his old friend. In a letter
signed with his name, and still preserved in the Archives of Simancas,
the Palatine begged his love to lose no time if she would escape from
the snare laid for them both by "the Uncle of Portugal."
"Ma mignonne," he wrote, "si vous voulez, vous pouvez être la
cause de mon bien ou de mon mal. C'est pourquoi je vous supplie
d'avoir bon courage pour vous et pour moi. Cela peut se faire
si vous voulez. Car je suis prêt, et ne demande autre chose,
sinon que je sois à vous, et vous à moi."[23]
Accordingly, on the Feast of the Assumption Eleanor approached her
brother after hearing Mass in the abbey chapel. But while she was
gathering all her courage to speak, Charles caught sight of the
Palatine's letter in her bosom, and, snatching it from his sister's
hands, broke into furious reproaches, swearing that he would avenge
this insult with the traitor's blood. As Spinelli, the English Envoy,
remarked, "The letter was but honest, concerning matters of love and
marriage,"[24] but the young King would listen to no excuses, and, in
spite of the Regent's intervention, Frederic was banished from Court
in disgrace. A fortnight later Charles and his sister sailed for
Castille, and in the following summer Madame Leonore became the bride
of "l'Oncle de Portugal," King Emanuel.
II.
The death of Christian II.'s mistress, Dyveke, in the summer of 1517
produced a change in the situation at Copenhagen. This unfortunate
girl, a victim of her ambitious mother's designs, died very suddenly
one afternoon after eating cherries in the royal gardens. The King's
suspicions fell on his steward, Torben Axe, who was brutally put to
death in spite of his protestations of innocence. But the Queen's
position was distinctly improved. Christian now treated his wife with
marked kindness, and appointed her Regent when, early in the following
year, he went to Sweden to put down a rising of the nobles. Sigebritt
Willems's influence, however, still remained paramount, and, in a
letter to the Queen from Sweden, Christian begged her to consult the
Dutchwoman in any difficulty, and ended by wishing her and "Mother
Sigebritt" a thousand good-nights. Stranger still to relate, when, on
the 21st of February, Isabella gave birth to a son, the infant Prince
was entrusted to Sigebritt's care.
[Sidenote: 1513-23] BIRTH OF PRINCES]
This happy event, combined with Isabella's unfailing affection for
her wayward lord, led to improved relations between Christian and his
wife's family. After the death of Maximilian, Charles became anxious
to secure his brother-in-law's support in the imperial election, and
in February, 1519, a treaty was concluded between the two monarchs at
Brussels.[25] The Danish Envoys, Anton de Metz and Hermann Willems,
Sigebritt's brother, received rich presents from Margaret, who was
once more acting as Regent of the Netherlands, and she even sent a
silver-gilt cup to the hated Dutchwoman herself.[26] A month later the
King of Denmark was elected Knight of the Golden Fleece at a Chapter of
the Order held at Barcelona, and in a letter which Charles addressed to
him he expressed his pleasure at hearing good accounts of his sister
and little nephew, and promised to pay the arrears of Isabella's dowry
as soon as possible.[27]
On the 28th of June, 1519, Charles was elected King of the Romans, and
the formal announcement of his election was brought to Barcelona by
Eleanor's rejected suitor, the Palatine Frederic, whom he received with
open arms. A few days after this auspicious event the Queen of Denmark,
on the 4th of July, 1519, gave birth to twin sons, who received the
names of Philip and Maximilian. Both, however, died within a week of
their baptism, upon which Sigebritt is said to have remarked that this
was a good thing, since Denmark was too small a realm to support so
many Princes.
With the help of Dutch ships and gold, Christian succeeded in subduing
the Swedish rebels, and was crowned with great solemnity in the
Cathedral of Upsala on the 4th of November, 1520. But the rejoicings
on this occasion were marred by the execution of ninety Swedish nobles
and two Bishops, who were treacherously put to death by the King's
orders. This act, which earned for Christian the title of the Nero
of the North, is said to have been instigated by Sigebritt and her
nephew Slagbök, a Westphalian barber, who had been raised from this low
estate to be Archbishop of Lunden. The insolent conduct of these evil
counsellors naturally increased the King's unpopularity in all parts of
the kingdom. Yet at the same time Christian II. showed himself to be an
excellent and enlightened ruler. He administered justice strictly, and
introduced many salutary reforms.
[Sidenote: 1513-23] BIRTH OF DOROTHEA]
The common practice of buying and selling serfs was prohibited,
Burgomasters and Town Councils were appointed to carry out the laws,
and a system of tolls and customs was established. Schools and
hospitals were founded, inns were opened in every town and village
for the convenience of travellers, piracy and brigandage were sternly
repressed. An Act was passed ordering that all cargoes recovered from
wrecks were to be placed in the nearest church, and, if not claimed by
the end of the year, divided between the Crown and the Church. When the
Bishops complained of the loss thus inflicted on them, the King told
them to go home and learn the Eighth Commandment. Still greater was
the opposition aroused when he attempted to reform clerical abuses.
Early in life Christian showed strong leanings towards the doctrines of
Luther, and on his return from Sweden he asked his uncle, the Elector
of Saxony, to send him a Lutheran preacher from Wittenberg. Although
these efforts at proselytizing met with little success, the King openly
professed his sympathy with the new Gospel. He had the Bible translated
into Danish, bade the Bishops dismiss their vast households, issued
edicts allowing priests to marry, and ordered the begging friars to
stay at home and earn their bread by honest labour.[28]
All these reforms could not be effected without vigorous opposition,
and the discontent among the nobles and clergy became every day more
active. In the spring of 1521 a young Swedish noble, Gustavus Wasa,
raised the standard of revolt in Dalecarlia, and led his peasant bands
against Stockholm. Upon this Christian decided to pay a visit to the
Low Countries to meet the new Emperor, who was coming to be crowned at
Aix-la-Chapelle, and seek his help against the citizens of Lübeck and
the Swedish rebels. The government was once more placed in the hands
of Isabella. A few months before this, on the 10th of November, 1520,
while Christian was absent in Sweden, the Queen had given birth to a
daughter, named Dorothea after the King's grandmother, the able and
ambitious Princess of Brandenburg, who married two Kings of Denmark
in succession. Now she followed her husband with wistful thoughts as
he started on his journey, attended only by his Chamberlain, Anton de
Metz, and three servants, and rode all the way to her old home in the
Netherlands.
On the 20th of June nine Danish ships sailed into the port of Antwerp,
and a few days afterwards Christian II. rode into the town. His fine
presence and the courage which he had shown in riding through Germany
with this small escort excited general admiration.
"I noted," wrote Albert Dürer in his Journal, "how much the
people of Antwerp marvelled at the sight of this manly and
handsome Prince, who had come hither through his enemies'
country, with these few attendants."[29]
[Sidenote: 1513-23] KING CHRISTIAN AT BRUSSELS]
The Nuremberg master had been spending the winter in the Low
Countries, paying his respects to the Regent at Malines, and conversing
with Erasmus of Rotterdam and Lucas van Leyden. He was starting on his
journey home, when, on the Feast of the Visitation, he was sent for
by the King of Denmark, who received him very graciously, and asked
him to dine at his table and to take his portrait. So great was the
interest which Christian showed in the painter's work, that Dürer gave
him a fine set of his prints, which are still preserved in the museum
at Copenhagen, and accepted an invitation to accompany him to Brussels
the next day. Thus Albert Dürer was a witness of the meeting between
Christian and his brother-in-law Charles V., who had just arrived
from his coronation at Aix-la-Chapelle, and had been received with
great rejoicing by his subjects. At five that summer evening Charles
rode out from Brussels at the head of a brilliant cavalcade, and met
his royal brother-in-law in a meadow, where they embraced each other
and conversed with the help of an interpreter, Christian speaking in
German, and Charles in French. They entered Brussels after sunset, and
found the streets hung with tapestries and lighted with innumerable
torches and bonfires. The Emperor escorted Christian to the Count of
Nassau's palace on the top of the hill, which Dürer describes as the
finest house that he had ever seen. The next morning Charles brought
his guest to the palace gates, where the Regent and Germaine de Foix,
King Ferdinand's widow, were awaiting them, and for the first time
Margaret came face to face with her niece's husband. Christian kissed
the two ladies in French fashion, and after dinner the two Princes
spent the evening dancing with the Court ladies.
"Now," wrote the Venetian Ambassador, Gaspare Contarini,
"at two hours after dark, they are still dancing, for young
monarchs such as these are not easily tired."[30]
The impression which the Danish King made on the learned Italian was
very favourable. He describes him as a fine-looking Prince, with an
earnest, animated expression, long locks, and a beard curled after
the Italian fashion. In his black satin doublet, Spanish cloak, and
jewelled cap, he looked every inch a King. On the Sunday after his
arrival Christian entertained the Emperor, the Lady Margaret, and
the Queen-Dowager of Spain, at dinner. Albert Dürer was present on
this occasion, and was afterwards employed to paint a portrait of the
King in oils, for which Christian gave him thirty florins, an act of
liberality which contrasted favourably with Margaret's parsimony. "The
Lady Margaret in particular," remarks the painter in his Journal, "gave
me nothing for what I made and presented to her." Another personage in
whose society the King took pleasure was Erasmus, who discussed the
reform of the Church with him, and was much struck by the monarch's
enlightened opinions. On the 12th of July Christian accompanied his
brother-in-law to Antwerp, to lay the foundations of the new choir of
Our Lady's Church, and went on to Ghent, where he paid formal homage
for the duchy of Holstein, and was confirmed in his rights over the
Hanse towns, but could not persuade Charles to join him in making war
on the friendly citizens of Lübeck. At Ghent the King sent for the
English Ambassador, Sir Robert Wingfield, with whom he had a long
and friendly conversation, expressing great anxiety to meet King
Henry VIII. In reply, Wingfield told him that he would soon have the
opportunity of seeing the English monarch's powerful Minister, Cardinal
Wolsey, to whom he could speak as frankly as to the King himself.[31]
Accordingly, on the 5th of August Christian accompanied Charles and
Margaret to the Prinzenhof at Bruges, where Wolsey joined them a week
later. The regal state of the English Cardinal formed a striking
contrast to the King's simplicity. He arrived with a train of over
a thousand followers, clad in red satin, and twenty English nobles,
wearing gold chains, walked at his horse's side. On Sunday he rode to
Mass with the Emperor, and dined with Charles and Margaret, "praising
the delicate and sumptuous manner" in which he was entertained. When
the King of Denmark sent to ask him to come to his lodgings, the
Cardinal demurred, saying that, as he represented His Majesty of
England, the King must be the first to visit him, but that if Christian
preferred he would meet him in the palace garden. Christian, however,
waived ceremony, and called on Wolsey the next morning. The interview
was a very friendly one. Christian expressed his anxiety to enter into
a close alliance with England, and begged King Henry to be a good uncle
to his young kinsman, James V. of Scotland. Wolsey on his part was much
impressed by the King's good sense and peaceable intentions.
[Sidenote: 1513-23] REVOLT IN DENMARK]
"Surely, Sir," he wrote to his royal master, "the King of
Denmark, though in appearance he should be judged to be a
rash man, yet he is right wise, sober, and discreet, minding
the establishing of good peace betwixt Christian Princes,
wherein he right substantially declared his mind to me at good
length."[32]
[Illustration: CHRISTIAN II., KING OF DENMARK
_To face p. 30_]
But the next day the King sent the Cardinal word that he had received
such bad news from his own country that he must return without delay.
He actually left Bruges that day, and was escorted to the city gates
by the Papal Nuncio Caracciolo and Contarini, who took leave of the
King, and returned to dine with Erasmus and his English friend, _Messer
Toma Moro_.[33] Unfortunately, Christian's visit to the Low Countries
produced no good result, and there was some justification for the
Imperial Chancellor's cynical remark: "It would have been better to
keep the King here, where he can do no harm, than to let him go home
to make fresh mischief."[34] He left Bruges dissatisfied with the
Emperor, and on reaching Copenhagen his first act was to dismiss the
Queen's confessor, Mansueri. When the Emperor begged him to leave his
sister free in matters of conscience, he broke into a passionate fit of
rage, tore the Golden Fleece from his neck, and trampled it underfoot,
cursing his meddlesome brother-in-law. What was worse, he seized
several Dutch ships in the Sound, and drew upon himself the serious
displeasure of the Regent and her Council.
Meanwhile Gustavus Wasa had laid siege to Stockholm, and there was a
rising in Jutland. A Papal Legate arrived at Copenhagen to inquire into
the judicial murder of the Swedish Bishops and demand the punishment
of Slagbök. The unfortunate Archbishop was made a scapegoat, and put
to death in January, 1522. Stones were thrown at Sigebritt when she
drove out in the royal carriage, and one day she was thrown into a pond
by some peasants, and only rescued with difficulty. Even Christian
began to realize the danger of the situation, and wrote to Isabella
from Jutland, begging her to "bid Mother Sigebritt hold her tongue,
and not set foot outside the castle, if she wished him to return home
alive." In another letter, written on the 4th of February, 1522, from
the Convent of Dalin, the King congratulates his wife on her safe
deliverance, and the birth of "a marvellously handsome child."[35]
This is the only intimation we have of the birth of Isabella's second
daughter, Christina. The exact date is not to be found in the Danish
archives, and has hitherto eluded all research. The child who saw the
light in these troubled times received the name of Christina from her
grandmother, the Queen-Dowager of Denmark, a Princess of Saxon birth,
who still resided at King Hans's favourite palace of Odensee. All we
know of Queen Christina is that, on the 2nd of April, 1515, two years
after her husband's death, she addressed an urgent prayer to King Henry
VIII., begging him to send her a relic of St. Thomas of Canterbury.[36]
We are not told if a phial containing a drop of the saint's blood was
sent to Denmark in response to this entreaty, but the request is of
interest as a proof of the English martyr's widespread renown.
A few weeks after the birth of her little daughter Isabella wrote a
touching appeal to her aunt, imploring the Regent's help against the
Danish rebels:
[Sidenote: 1513-23] CHRISTIAN II. DEPOSED]
"We have sad news from my lord in Jutland. The nobles there
have rebelled against him, and seek to deprive him and our
children of their crown and their lives. So we entreat you to
come to our help, that we may chastise these rebels."[37]
Anton de Metz was sent to Brussels on the same errand, but could obtain
small hopes of assistance. The Regent's Council complained that King
Christian had damaged the trade of the Low Countries and ill-treated
their sailors, and the temper of the Court was reflected in Sir Robert
Wingfield's despatches to England.
"The Easterlings," remarked the Ambassador, "handle the King
of Denmark roughly, and his own people are said to have killed
the Woman of Holland, who was mother to his Dove, as the King's
mistress was called, whereby it appeareth that ill life and
like governance often cometh to a bad end."[38]
King Christian's affairs, as Wingfield truly said, were in an evil
plight. In June Stockholm surrendered to Gustavus Wasa, and the
citizens of Lübeck sent a fleet to burn Helsingfors and threaten
Copenhagen. To add to the unfortunate King's difficulties, his uncle
Frederic, Duke of Holstein, who had always nursed a grievance against
his elder brother, the late King Hans, now took up a hostile attitude,
and made common cause with the rebels. On the 20th of January, 1523,
the nobles of Jutland met at Viborg, deposed Christian II. formally,
and elected his uncle Frederic to be King in his stead. In vain
Christian endeavoured to raise fresh forces, and sent desperate appeals
to his kinsfolk in the Low Countries and Germany, and to his allies in
England and Scotland.
Margaret replied curtly that the Emperor himself needed all the
men and ammunition that could be obtained in those parts. The young
King of Scotland's Chancellor, the Archbishop of Glasgow, sent a
sympathetic message, regretting that the enmity of England prevented
him from helping King Christian against his rebel subjects. When the
Dean of Roskild appeared in London with a letter from the Danish
monarch, begging King Henry to induce Margaret to help him against the
Easterlings, Wolsey sent a splendid barge to conduct the Ambassador
to Greenwich, but gave him little encouragement beyond fair words.
"So I hope," wrote Sir Robert Wingfield, who, in spite of Christian's
civilities at Ghent, had little pity for him, "that this wicked King
will fail."[39]
[Sidenote: 1513-23] FLIGHT OF THE ROYAL FAMILY]
The unhappy monarch was at his wits' end. Yet many of his subjects were
still loyal. The bulk of the middle and lower classes, the burghers,
artisans, and country-folk, looked on him as their best friend; and
when he appeared at the fair of Ringsted, a thousand strong arms
were raised, and a thousand lusty voices swore fealty to Christian,
the peasants' King. Copenhagen was strongly fortified, and as long
as he stayed there he was safe from his foes. But an unaccountable
panic seized him. Whether, as in the case of Lodovico Sforza, whom he
resembled in so many ways, remorse for past crimes enfeebled his will,
or whether his nerves gave way, he could not summon up courage to meet
his foes, and decided to fly. A fleet of twenty ships was equipped,
fully supplied with arms and ammunition, and laden with the crown
jewels, archives, and treasures. The Queen and her young children--the
five-year-old Prince John, the two little Princesses, Dorothea and
Christina (a babe of fifteen months)--went on board the finest vessel
of the fleet, the _Great Mary_, and Mother Sigebritt was hidden in a
chest to save her from the fury of the people, who regarded her as the
chief cause of the King's unpopularity. But the greatest compassion was
felt for Isabella and her innocent babes; and even the usurper Frederic
wrote to beg the Queen to remain in Denmark, assuring her that she and
her children would be perfectly safe. On the 14th of April the fleet
set sail. An immense crowd assembled on the ramparts to see the last
of the royal family. The King made a farewell speech, exhorting the
garrison to remain loyal to his cause, and promising to return in three
months with reinforcements. Then the ships weighed anchor, and neither
Isabella nor her children ever saw the shores of Denmark again.
FOOTNOTES:
[17] Le Glay, ii. 336.
[18] De Reiffenberg, "Histoire de l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or," 307.
[19] Le Glay, ii. 337.
[20] L. Van Bergh, "Correspondance de M. d'Autriche," ii. 135.
[21] Ulmann, ii. 510.
[22] Hubertus Leodius Thomas, "Spiegel des Humors grosser Potentaten,"
79. E. Moeller, "Éléonore d'Autriche," 307.
[23] Moeller, 327. L. Mignet, "Rivalité de Francis I. et Charles V.,"
i. 140.
[24] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., ii. 2, 1151. H. Baumgarten,
"Geschichte Karl V.," i. 58.
[25] Henne. ii. 249.
[26] Archives du Royaume: Bruxelles Régistre des Revenus et Dépenses de
Charles V., ii. 72.
[27] J. Altmeyer, 46.
[28] F. Dahlmann, "Geschichte von Dänemark," iii. 359.
[29] M. Conway, "Literary Remains of Albert Dürer," 124.
[30] Venetian State Papers, iii. 139.
[31] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 555, 561, 582.
[32] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 614.
[33] Venetian State Papers, iii. 162.
[34] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 576.
[35] Altmeyer, 23. Reedtz Manuscripts, xiii. 28.
[36] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., ii. 191.
[37] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 23.
[38] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 1086.
[39] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 1189. Altmeyer,
"Relations Commerciales du Danemark et des Paysbas," 105.