KINGS IN EXILE
1523-1531
I.
[Sidenote: 1523-31] VISIT TO LONDON]
The troubles of the Danish royal family were not over when they left
Copenhagen. A violent storm scattered the fleet in the North Sea, and
drove several of the ships on the Norwegian coast, where many of them
were lost with all their cargo. The remaining eleven or twelve ships
entered the harbour of Veeren, in Walcheren, on the 1st of May. Here
the King and Queen were kindly received by Adolf of Burgundy, the
Admiral of the Dutch fleet, who kept them for a week in his own house,
and then escorted them to the Regent's Court at Malines. Margaret
welcomed her niece with all her old affection, and took her and the
royal children into her own house. But she met the King's prayer for
help coldly, saying that it was beyond her power to give him either men
or money. The moment, it is true, was singularly unpropitious. Not only
were all the Emperor's resources needed to carry on his deadly struggle
with France, but nearer home the Regent was engaged in a fierce
conflict with her old enemy, Charles of Guelders, for the possession
of Friesland. As Adolf of Burgundy wrote to Wolsey: "We need help so
much ourselves that we are hardly in condition to help others."[40]
Christian soon realized this, and determined to apply to Henry VIII.,
relying on his former assurances of brotherly affection, and feeling
confident of Wolsey's support. The scheme met with Margaret's approval,
and, since Isabella had only brought one Dutch maid and the children's
nurses from Copenhagen, the Regent lent her several ladies, in order
that she might appear in due state at the English Court.[41]
On the 5th of June the King and Queen left Malines with a suite of
eighty persons and fifty horses, and, after waiting some time at Calais
to hear the latest news from Denmark, crossed the Channel, and reached
Greenwich on the 19th. Wolsey had already told the Imperial Ambassador,
De Praet, that the King of Denmark would receive little encouragement
from his master, and had expressed a hope that he would not give them
the trouble of coming to England. He met the royal travellers, however,
at the riverside, and conducted them to the palace, where they dined
in the great hall with the King on the following day, Henry leading
Christian by the hand, and Queen Katherine following with Isabella and
her sister-in-law, Mary, Duchess of Suffolk, the widow of Louis XII.,
who was still known as _la Reine blanche_. From Greenwich the King and
Queen of Denmark moved to Bath Place, where they were lodged at Henry's
expense. Katherine welcomed her great-niece with motherly affection,
but both Henry and Wolsey told Christian plainly that he had made a
fatal mistake in deserting his loyal subjects, and advised him to
return at once and encourage them by his presence.
All the English monarch would do was to send Envoys to Denmark to urge
the usurper Frederic and his supporters to return to their allegiance.
"For," as Henry himself wrote to the Emperor, "this perfidy
of the King's subjects is a most fatal example, if for the
most trifling cause a Prince is to be called in question, and
expelled and put from his crown."[42]
The futility of these measures was evident to De Praet, who wrote to
Charles at Toledo, saying that unless he took up the exiled monarch's
cause for his sister's sake he would never recover his kingdom.
Copenhagen was now besieged by land and sea, and if the garrison
were not relieved by Michaelmas they would be forced to surrender,
and Christian's last hope would be gone. The King himself, De Praet
owned, seemed little changed, and he advised the Emperor to insist on
Sigebritt's removal before giving him any help.
"Your Majesty," wrote the Ambassador, "ought first of all to
have the Woman of Holland sought out and punished, an act which
in my small opinion would acquire great merit in the eyes of
both God and man."[43]
At Isabella's request, both Margaret and King Henry had spoken
strongly to Christian on this subject, but he still persisted in his
infatuation, and it was not till after he had left the Netherlands, and
his wife and aunt were dead, that this miserable woman was arrested in
Ghent and burnt as a witch.[44]
[Sidenote: 1523-31] A NOBLE WIFE]
As for the Queen, no words could express De Praet's admiration for her
angelic goodness. "It is indeed grievous," he wrote, "to see this poor
lady in so melancholy a plight, and I cannot marvel too much at her
virtues and heroic patience." Henry was equally moved, and wrote to
Charles in the warmest terms of his sister's noble qualities, but did
not disguise his contempt for her husband.[45]
There was, clearly, nothing more to be gained by remaining in England,
and on the 5th of July the King and Queen returned to the Low
Countries. Isabella joined her children at Malines, and Christian went
to Antwerp to equip ships for the relief of Copenhagen. But he soon
quarrelled with Margaret, and left suddenly for Germany. In September
he appeared at Berlin, having ridden from Brussels attended by only
two servants, and succeeded in raising a force of 25,000 men, with
the help of his brother-in-law, the Marquis of Brandenburg, and Duke
Henry of Brunswick. But when the troops assembled on the banks of the
Elbe, King Christian was unable to fulfil his promises or provide the
money demanded by the leaders, and he was glad to escape with his
life from the angry hordes of soldiers clamouring for pay. By the end
of the year Copenhagen capitulated, and in the following August the
usurper Frederic was elected King by the General Assembly, and solemnly
crowned in the Frauenkirche.[46] The crimes of the unhappy Christian
recoiled on his own head, and in the Act of Deprivation by which he
was formally deposed, it was expressly stated that his neglect of his
noble and virtuous wife, and infatuation for the adventuress Sigebritt
and her daughter, had estranged the hearts of his people. But through
all these troubles Isabella clung to him with unchanging faithfulness.
She followed him first to Berlin, then to Saxony, where he sought his
uncle's help. In March she went to Nuremberg on a visit to her brother,
King Ferdinand, and pleaded her husband and children's cause before the
Diet in so eloquent a manner that the assembled Princes were moved to
tears.
"Everyone here," wrote Hannart, the minister whom Charles V.
had sent to his sister's help, "is full of compassion for the
Queen, but no one places the least trust in the King. If it
were not for her sake, not a single man would saddle a horse on
his behalf."
Hannart, in fact, confessed that he had done his utmost to keep
Christian away from Nuremberg, feeling sure that his presence would do
more harm than good. Even Isabella's entreaties were of no avail. She
begged her brother in vain for the loan of 20,000 florins to satisfy
the Duke of Brunswick, whose angry threats filled her with alarm.
"I am always afraid some harm may happen to you when I am
away," she wrote to her husband. "I long to join you, and would
rather suffer at your side than live in comfort away from
you."[47]
But Christian, as Hannart remarked in a letter to the Regent Margaret,
had few friends. Even his servants did not attempt to deny the charges
that were brought against him, and the Queen alone, like the loyal wife
that she was, sought to explain and excuse his conduct.
[Sidenote: 1523-31] MARTIN LUTHER]
To add to Isabella's troubles, her brother Ferdinand was seriously
annoyed at the leanings to the Lutheran faith which she now displayed.
Christian's Protestant tendencies had been greatly strengthened by
his residence in Saxony during the winter of 1523. He heard Luther
preach at Wittenberg, and spent much time in his company, dining
frequently with him and Spalatin, the Court chaplain, and making
friends with the painter Lucas Cranach. The fine portrait of King
Christian by this artist forms the frontispiece of a Danish version
of the New Testament published by Hans Mikkelsen, the Burgomaster of
Malmoë, who shared his royal master's exile. When the Marquis Joachim
of Brandenburg remonstrated with his brother-in-law for his intimacy
with the heretic Luther, Christian replied that he would rather lose
all three of his kingdoms than forsake this truly Apostolic man.[48]
Isabella's naturally religious nature was deeply impressed by these
new influences, and both she and her sister-in-law, Elizabeth of
Brandenburg, secretly embraced the reformed doctrine. At Nuremberg she
attended the sermons of the Lutheran doctor Osiander, and received
Communion in both kinds from his hands on Maundy Thursday, to the great
indignation of King Ferdinand, who told her he could not own a heretic
as his sister. Isabella replied gently that if he cast her off God
would take care of her. Luther on his part was moved by the apparent
sincerity of his royal convert.
"Strange indeed are the ways of God!" he wrote to Spalatin.
"His grace penetrates into the most unlikely places, and may
even bring this rare wild game, a King and Queen, safely into
the heavenly net."[49]
While Luther addressed a strong remonstrance to the newly-elected
King of Denmark and the citizens of Lübeck, Christian's Chancellor,
Cornelius Scepperus, drew up an eloquent memorial to Pope Clement
VII. on the exiled King's behalf, and travelled to Spain to seek the
Emperor's help. By Hannart's exertions a Congress was held at Hamburg
in April, which was attended by representatives of the Emperor, the
Regent of the Netherlands, the Imperial Electors and Princes, as well
as by deputies from Denmark, England, Poland, and Lübeck. Isabella
accompanied her husband on this occasion, at Hannart's request.
"I hear on all sides," he wrote to Charles, "that the people of
Denmark would gladly welcome the return of the Queen and her
children if the King would not meddle with public affairs, and
a good Governor appointed by Your Majesty should act as Regent
until the young Prince is of age."[50]
But when, by way of compromise, some members of the Congress proposed
that Frederic should retain the throne, and recognize Prince John as
his successor, Christian rejected this offer angrily, and negotiations
were soon broken off. Both Charles and Margaret now gave up all hope
of effecting Christian's restoration, and concluded a treaty in the
following August with King Frederic, by which his title was recognized,
and the Baltic was once more opened to the merchants of the Low
Countries.
II.
[Sidenote: 1523-31] THE CHILDREN OF DENMARK]
The exiled monarch, now compelled to realize the hopelessness of his
cause, returned sorrowfully with his wife to the Low Countries, and
Isabella had at least the joy of embracing her children once more.
During this long absence the faithful servants who had followed their
King and Queen into exile had kept her well supplied with news of their
health and progress.
"Prince John," wrote Nicolas Petri, Canon of Lunden, "learns
quickly, and begins to speak French. He is already a great
favourite with the Lady Margaret. His sisters, the Princesses,
are very well, and are both very pretty children. The youngest,
Madame Christine, has just been weaned. Madame Marguerite says
that she will soon be receiving proposals of marriage for the
elder one. These are good omens, for which God be praised. It
is a real pleasure to be with these children, they are so good
and charming. If only Your Grace could see them, you would soon
forget all your troubles."[51]
But not all Margaret's affection for Isabella and her children could
reconcile her to the King's presence. Christian was, it must be
confessed, a troublesome guest. His restless brain was always busy
with new plots and intrigues. At first he announced his intention of
taking Isabella to visit the Emperor in Spain, but, after spending some
weeks in Zeeland fitting out ships, he suddenly changed his mind, and
took Isabella, whose health had suffered from all the hardships and
anxiety that she had undergone, to drink the waters at Aix-la-Chapelle.
On his return he wished to settle at Ghent, but the Regent and her
Council, fearing that his presence would excite sedition in this city,
suggested that the Castle of Gemappes should be offered him instead.
Charles replied that if the King lived at Gemappes he would certainly
spoil his hunting, and thought that Lille or Bruges would be a better
place. In the end Lierre, a pleasant city halfway between Malines and
Antwerp, was chosen for the exiled Princes' home. Towards the end of
1524 Christian and his family took up their abode in the old castle
which still goes by the name of _Het Hof van Denemarken_, or _Cour de
Danemarck_. A guard of fifty halberdiers and a considerable household
was assigned to them by the Emperor's order. A monthly allowance of 500
crowns was granted to the King, while the Queen received a yearly sum
of 2,000 crowns _pour employer en ses menus plaisirs_. But Christian's
reckless and disorderly conduct soon landed him in fresh difficulties.
Isabella cut up her husband's old robes to make clothes for her
little girls, and was reduced to such penury that she was compelled
to pledge, not only her jewels, but the children's toys. Meanwhile
Margaret's letters to her imperial nephew were filled with complaints
of the Danish King's extravagance. She declared that he was spending
800 crowns a month, and perpetually asking for more. When she sent
her _maître d'hôtel_, Monsieur de Souvastre, to set his affairs in
order, he was confronted with a long list of unpaid bills from doctors,
apothecaries, saddlers, masons, carpenters, tailors, and poulterers.
But accounts of the straits to which the Queen and her children were
reduced had evidently reached Spain, and Charles felt it necessary to
remind his aunt gently that, after all, Isabella was his own sister,
and that many pensioners whom he had never seen received many thousands
of crowns a year from his purse.[52]
[Sidenote: 1523-31] A ZEALOUS LUTHERAN]
Another cause of perpetual irritation was the favour shown by the
King to the Lutherans, whom the Regent was trying to drive out of
Flanders. The Court of Lierre became the refuge of all who professed
the new doctrine. Margaret insisted on the banishment of several of the
King's servants, including the chaplain, Hans Monboë, and Prince John's
tutor, Nicolas Petri, and sent others to prison. But these high-handed
acts only strengthened Christian's zeal in the cause of reform. "The
word of God," he wrote to his friend Spalatin, "waxes powerful in
the Netherlands, and thrives on the blood of the martyrs."[53] The
letters which he addressed to his old subjects were couched in the
same strain. He confessed his past sins, and prayed that he might be
restored to his kingdom, like David of old, declaring that his sole
wish was to live for Christ and do good to his enemies. At the same
time he hired freebooters to ravage the coast of Denmark, and provoked
King Frederic to close the Sound, an act which aroused widespread
discontent in the Low Countries. In August, 1525, he sent a herald
to England, begging King Henry and his good friend the Cardinal to
intercede with the Regent, and induce her to lend him men and money for
a fresh expedition. But Margaret turned a deaf ear to all entreaties,
and when Isabella's physician recommended her to try the waters of
Aix-la-Chapelle again, she declined to sanction this journey on the
score of expense. She sent her own doctor, however, to Lierre, and at
his suggestion the invalid was moved for change of air to Swynaerde,
the Abbot of St. Peter's country-house near Ghent. But Isabella's ills
were beyond the reach of human skill, and she soon became too weak to
leave her room. On the 12th of December Christian sent for his old
chaplain from Wittenberg, begging him to return without delay.
"DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST," he wrote,
"Here we forget Christ, and have no one to preach the word
of God. I implore you to come and give us the comfort of the
Gospel. Greet our brothers and sisters."
Upon receiving this summons, Monboë and Hans Mikkelsen hastened
to Ghent, at the peril of their lives, and administered spiritual
consolation to the dying Queen. On the 19th of January she received
the last Sacraments from the priest of Swynaerde, and saw Monsieur de
Souvastre, by whom she sent her aunt affectionate messages, commending
her poor children to Margaret's care. A few hours afterwards she passed
quietly away. Both Catholics and Lutherans bore witness to her angelic
patience, and a letter which Christian addressed to Luther, ten days
later, gives a touching account of his wife's last moments:
[Sidenote: 1523-31] DEATH OF ISABELLA]
"As her weakness increased, Frau Margaret sent her servant,
Philippe de Souvastre, and other excellent persons, to admonish
her after the fashion of the Popish Anti-Christ's faith and the
religion of his sect. But Almighty God in His mercy deprived
my wife of her powers of speech, so that she made no reply,
and they gave up speaking, and only anointed her with oil. But
before this she had received the Blessed Sacrament in the most
devout manner, with ardent longing, firm faith, and stedfast
courage; and when one of our preachers exhorted her, in the
words of the Gospel, to stand fast in the faith, she confessed
her firm trust in God, and paid no heed to the superstitious
mutterings of the others. After this she became speechless, but
gave many signs of true faith to the end, and took her last
farewell of this world on the 19th of January. May God Almighty
be gracious to her soul, and grant her eternal rest! We are
strong in the sure and certain hope that she has entered into
eternal bliss, unto which God bring us all!"[54]
On the 4th of February the dead Queen, who had not yet completed her
twenty-fifth year, was buried with great pomp in the cloisters of the
Abbey of St. Peter at Ghent, where a stately marble tomb was raised
over her ashes. The painter Mabuse was employed to design the monument,
as we learn from a letter which the King addressed to the Abbot of
St. Peter's in 1528, complaining of his delay in completing the work.
A Latin inscription by Cornelius Scepperus, giving Isabella's titles
in full, and recording her virtues and the sufferings which she had
endured during her short life, was placed on the monument, which is
described by an English traveller of the sixteenth century, Philip
Skippon.[55] Unfortunately, the tomb was rifled by the mob at the time
of the French Revolution, but the ashes of the Queen were carefully
preserved by a pious Curé, and afterwards restored to their former
resting-place.
Isabella's early death was deeply lamented, not only in the Low
Countries, where she was so beloved, but in her husband's kingdoms.
Funeral services were held throughout the land, and all men wept for
the good Princess "who had been the mother of her people." On all sides
testimonies to her worth were paid. Henry of England wrote to King
Christian that the late Queen had been as dear to him as a sister, and
Luther paid an eloquent tribute to her memory in his treatise on Holy
Women:
"Of such Kings' daughters there was indeed one, of the noblest
birth, Isabella, Queen of Denmark, a Princess of the royal
house of Spain. She embraced the Gospel with great ardour, and
confessed the faith openly. And because of this she died in
want and misery. For had she consented to renounce her faith,
she would have received far more help and much greater kindness
in this life."[56]
III.
The news of the Queen of Denmark's death reached her brother, the
Emperor, on the eve of his marriage to Isabella of Portugal. Guillaume
des Barres, the bearer of Margaret's letters, found him at a village in
Andalusia, on his way to Seville, where the wedding was to take place
on the following day, and had a long interview with his imperial master
before he left his bed on the 9th of March. Charles spoke with deep
feeling of his sister, and inquired anxiously if the Regent had been
able to obtain possession of her children--"a thing," wrote Des Barres,
"which His Majesty desires greatly, because of the King's heretical
leanings."[57]
[Sidenote: 1523-31] MARGARET INTERVENES]
Margaret had certainly not been remiss in this matter. But Christian
was more intractable than ever. He took his children to Ghent
immediately after their mother's death, and refused to give them up
until the Regent had paid all his debts, including 7,000 florins for
the funeral expenses, and 2,000 more which he owed to the landlord of
the Falcon at Lierre for Rhine-wine and fodder. His language became
every day more violent. He threatened to cut off the Governor of
Antwerp's head, and appealed to his comrades of the Golden Fleece for
the redress of his supposed grievances. At length Margaret, seeing that
none of her Court officials and Councillors could bring him to reason,
rode to Lierre herself on the 2nd of March, and made a last attempt to
obtain possession of the children _par voye aimable_. The King, she
found, had already packed up his furniture and plate, even the chalice
which was used in the royal chapel, and was about to start for Germany.
After prolonged discussion, the Regent succeeded in persuading
Christian to leave his children with her, on condition that she
paid his debts in Lierre, and provided for the late Queen's funeral
expenses--"a thing which must be done," she wrote to Charles, "out
of sheer decency." But she quite refused the King's demand for an
increased allowance, saying that he could not require more money
than he had received in his wife's lifetime. Christian then left the
Netherlands for Saxony, saying that he intended to raise a fresh army
and invade Denmark. "He is confident of recovering his kingdoms,"
wrote Margaret to the Emperor, "but my own impression is that his
exploits will be confined to plundering and injuring your subjects."
This prophecy was literally fulfilled, and during the next four years
the peaceful folk in Friesland were harassed by turbulent freebooters
in the King of Denmark's pay, while pirates ravaged the coasts of the
North Sea, and led the Hanse cities to make severe reprisals on the
Dutch ships.
[Sidenote: 1523-31] THE PALACE OF MALINES]
Margaret's chief object, however, was attained. On the 5th of March
she returned to Malines with the Prince of Denmark and his little
sisters. "Henceforth, Monseigneur," she wrote to Charles, "you will
have to be both father and mother to these poor children, and must
treat them as your own."[58] The Regent herself nobly fulfilled the
sacred trust committed to her by the dying Queen. From this time
until her own death, four and a half years later, Isabella's children
were the objects of her unceasing care, and lacked nothing that money
could provide or love suggest. They lived under her own roof in the
Palace of Malines, that city of wide streets and canals, with the fine
market-place and imposing cathedral, which many called the finest town
in Flanders. Margaret's first care was to arrange the royal children's
household. Prince John was placed in the charge of a governess,
Mademoiselle Rolande de Serclaes, who superintended his meals and
taught him "Christian religion and good manners," while he had for
his tutor Cornelius Agrippa, the distinguished scholar and defender
of women's rights, who dedicated his book, "On the Pre-excellence of
Women," to the Regent. In Lent the Prince and his sisters received
regular instruction in the palace chapel, and one year Friar Jehan de
Salis received thirty-six livres for preaching a course of Lent sermons
before the Prince and Princesses of Denmark. Margaret herself kept
a watchful eye on the children. A hundred entries in her household
accounts show how carefully she chose their nurses and companions,
their clothes and playthings. One of her first gifts to the Prince
was a handsome pony, richly harnessed with black and gold trappings.
Another was a dwarf page, who became his constant playfellow, and
in his turn received good Ypres cloth and damask for his own wear.
Italian merchants from Antwerp often came to lay their wares before the
Regent. We find her choosing black velvet and white satin for Prince
John's doublet, and pearl buttons and gold fringe to trim his sleeves,
and ordering the goldsmith, Master Leonard of Augsburg, to supply
an antique silver dagger and an image of Hercules for the Prince's
cap. Or else a merchant is desired to send her two pairs of cuffs of
exquisitely fine "toile de Cambray," embroidered with gold thread, for
the young Princesses' wear,[59] and twenty gold balls for the fringe
of their bed. Amid all the anxious cares of State which filled her
time, this great lady seldom allowed a day to pass without seeing her
nephew and nieces. Their innocent prattle and merry laughter cheered
her lonely hours, while the Prince and his sisters found plenty to
amuse them in their great-aunt's rooms. The halls were hung with costly
Arras tapestries of David killing Goliath, stories of Alexander and
Esther, hunting scenes and Greek fables, or adorned with paintings
by the best masters. Van Eyck's "Merchant of Lucca, Arnolfini with
his Wife," and "Virgin of the Fountain," Rogier Van der Weyden's and
Memling's Madonnas, Jerome Bosch's "St. Anthony," Jacopo de' Barbari's
"Crucifixion," were all here, as well as Michel van Coxien's little
Virgin with the sleeping Child in her arms, which Margaret called her
_mignonne_.[60] The library contained a complete collection of family
portraits, chiefly the work of the Court painter, Bernard van Orley or
Jehan Mabuse.
[Sidenote: 1523-31] MABUSE'S PICTURE]
Among these were pictures of Margaret's parents, Maximilian and Mary
of Burgundy; of her second husband, Monsieur de Savoie, a brilliant
cavalier clad in a crimson mantle sown with daisies in allusion to his
wife's name; and of her brother, King Philip, with his children, the
young Archduke Charles and the future Queens of France and Denmark.
Prince John and his sisters would recognize the portraits of their
own father and mother, King Christian and his gentle wife, which hung
over the mantelpiece, together with those of their great-grandparents,
Ferdinand and Isabella, the Kings of France and England, and the
Grand Turk. But better in the children's eyes than all the pictures
and bronzes, the marble busts and ivories, the silver mirrors and
chandeliers, better even than the Chinese dragons and stuffed
birds-of-Paradise from the New World, were the live pets with which
their aunt loved to be surrounded. The famous green parrot which once
belonged to Mary of Burgundy had lately died, to her great sorrow.
Margaret herself had written its epitaph, and the Court poet, Jehan Le
Maire, had sung the bird's descent into the Elysian fields, and its
converse with Charon and Mercury, in his elegy of "L'Amant Vert." But
in its stead she had cages full of parakeets and singing birds, which
were carefully tended by her ladies, and fed with white loaves newly
baked every morning. There was an Italian greyhound in a white fur
tippet, and a number of toy-dogs in baskets lined with swansdown, and
a marmoset that she had bought from a French pedlar, which afforded
the Court ladies as much amusement as the royal children. Nor were
other diversions wanting. Margaret was very fond of music, and not
only kept a troop of viol and tambourine players, but often sent for
the town band of Ghent and Brussels, or the Prince of Orange's fife
and organ players, to beguile her evenings. Sometimes the children
of S. Rombaut and the choir-boys of Notre Dame du Sablon in Brussels
would sing chorales during dinner, or strolling players and German
marionettes, Italian jugglers, or Poles and Hungarians with tame bears,
would be allowed to perform in her presence. On one occasion a famous
lute-player from the Court of Whitehall was sent over by King Henry,
and received seven gold crowns for his pains. Another time three
Savoyards were rewarded with a handful of gold pieces for the tricks
with which they had amused the Court after supper. And every May Day
the archers of the guard marched in procession to plant hawthorn-bushes
covered with blossom under the palace windows.[61]
In these pleasant surroundings the children of Denmark grew up under
the same roof as their mother and aunts before them, leading the same
joyous and natural life. No wonder that through all her troubled life
Christina looked back fondly to these early times, and never forgot the
happy days which she had spent at Malines. There is a charming picture,
now at Hampton Court, of the three children, painted by Mabuse soon
after their mother's death, and sent to King Henry VIII., whose favour
Christian II. was once more trying to obtain.[62]
The three children are standing at a table covered with a green cloth,
on which apples and cherries are laid. Prince John, a manly boy with a
thoughtful, attractive face, wearing a black velvet suit and cap and
a gold chain round his neck, is in the centre between his sisters. On
his right, Dorothea, a pretty child with brown eyes and golden curls
frizzled all over her head, reaches out her hand towards the fruit,
while on his left the little Christina grasps an apple firmly in one
hand, and lays the other confidingly on her brother's arm. Both little
girls are dressed in black velvet with white ermine sleeves, probably
made out of their father's old robes. But while Dorothea's curly head
is uncovered, Christina wears a tight-fitting hood edged with pearls,
drawn closely over her baby face. Her tiny features are full of
character, and the large brown eyes, with their earnest gaze, and small
fingers clasping the apple, already reveal the courage and resolution
for which she was to be distinguished in days to come.
[Sidenote: 1523-31] A PROMISING PRINCE]
At this early period of their lives it was, naturally enough, Prince
John who chiefly occupied his guardian's thoughts. A boy of rare
promise, studious, intelligent, and affectionate, he had inherited much
of his mother's charm, and soon became a great favourite at Court.
Margaret was never tired of describing his talents and progress to
the Emperor, who took keen interest in his young nephew, and was
particularly glad to hear how fond he was of riding.
[Illustration: _Copyright, H. M. the King_
THE CHILDREN OF CHRISTIAN II., KING OF DENMARK
By Jean Mabuse (Hampton Court Palace)
_To face p. 54_]
"MADAME MY GOOD AUNT," he wrote,
"I hear with great pleasure of the kindness shown by M. de
Brégilles, the Master of your Household, to my nephew, the
Prince of Denmark, and am very grateful to him for teaching
the boy to ride and mounting him so well. And you will please
tell Brégilles that I beg him to go on from good to better, and
train the boy in all honest and manly exercises, as well as in
noble and virtuous conduct, for you know that he is likely to
follow whatever example is set before him in his youth. And I
have no doubt that, not only in this case, but in all others,
you will not cease to watch over him.
"Your good nephew,
"CHARLES."[63]
When in July, 1528, Margaret's servant Montfort was sent on an
important mission to Spain, the Emperor's first anxiety was to hear
full accounts of Prince John and his sisters from the Envoy's lips.
He expressed great satisfaction with all Montfort told him, saying
that he entertained the highest hopes of his nephew, and would far
rather support his claim to Denmark than help his father to recover the
throne--"the more so," he added, "since we hear that King Christian, to
our sorrow, still adheres to the false doctrine of Luther."
IV.
King Christian, as the Emperor hinted, was still a thorn in the
Regent's side. Although, since his wife's death, most of his time had
been spent in Germany, he remained a perpetual source of annoyance.
In July, 1528, he induced his sister Elizabeth to leave her husband,
Joachim of Brandenburg, and escape with him to Saxony. All Germany rang
with this new scandal, and while the Marquis appealed to Margaret,
begging her to stop Christian's allowance as the only means of bringing
him to his senses, Elizabeth, who had secretly embraced the reformed
faith, implored the Emperor's protection against her husband, and
refused to return to Berlin. At the same time the King did his utmost
to stir up discontent round Lierre, and raised bands of freebooters in
Holland, whose lawless depredations were a constant source of vexation
to Charles's loyal subjects. When the Regent protested, he replied that
he had nothing to do with these levies, and that his intentions were
absolutely innocent, assurances which, Margaret remarked, would not
deceive a child. Under these circumstances, relations between the two
became daily more strained. "Margaret loves me not, and has never loved
me," wrote Christian to his Lutheran friends, while the Regent turned
to Charles in her despair, saying: "Monseigneur, if the King of Denmark
comes here, I simply do not know what I am to do with him!"[64]
[Sidenote: 1523-31] DEATH OF MARGARET]
Suddenly a new turn in the tide altered the whole aspect of affairs. On
the 3rd of August, 1529, the Peace of Cambray was finally concluded.
The long war, which had drained the Emperor's resources, was at an end,
and his hands were once more free. Christian lost no time in taking
advantage of this opportunity to secure his powerful kinsman's help. He
addressed urgent petitions to the Emperor and King Ferdinand, and sent
an Envoy to plead his cause at Bologna, where on the 24th of February,
1530, Charles V. received the imperial crown from the hands of Pope
Clement VII. But the only condition on which the exiled monarch could
be admitted into the new confederation was his return to the Catholic
Church. For this, too, Christian seems to have been prepared. On the
2nd of February he signed an agreement at Lierre, in which he promised
to obey the Emperor's wishes, and to hold fast the Catholic faith, if
he should be restored to the throne of Denmark. When Charles crossed
the Brenner, Christian hastened to meet him at Innsbruck, and, throwing
himself at the foot of Cardinal Campeggio, craved the Holy Father's
pardon for his past errors, and received absolution. But, in spite of
this public recantation, the King still secretly preferred the reformed
faith, and continued to correspond with his Lutheran friends. On the
25th of June he arrived at Malines with letters of credit for 24,000
florins, which he had received from the Emperor as the price of his
submission. But the Council refused to give him a farthing without the
Regent's consent, and Margaret declined to see him, pleading illness
as her excuse. Although only fifty years of age, she had long been
in failing health, and only awaited the Emperor's coming to lay down
her arduous office and retire to a convent at Bruges. An unforeseen
accident hastened her end. She hurt her foot by treading on the broken
pieces of a crystal goblet, blood-poisoning came on, and she died in
her sleep on the 30th of November, without ever seeing her nephew
again. The touching letter in which she bade him farewell was written a
few hours before her death:
"MONSEIGNEUR,
"The hour has come when I can no longer write with my own hand,
for I am so dangerously ill that I fear my remaining hours will
be few. But my conscience is tranquil, and I am ready to accept
God's will, and have no regrets saving that I am deprived of
your presence, and am unable to see you and speak with you
before I die.... I leave you your provinces, greatly increased
in extent since your departure, and resign the government,
which I trust I have discharged in such a way as to merit a
Divine reward, and earn the good-will of your subjects as well
as your approval. And above all, Monseigneur, I recommend you
to live at peace, more especially with the Kings of France and
England. Finally I beg of you, by the love which you have been
pleased to bear me, remember the salvation of my soul and my
recommendations on behalf of my poor servants. And so I bid you
once more farewell, praying, Monseigneur, that you may enjoy a
long life and great prosperity.
"Your very humble aunt,
"MARGARET."[65]
"From Malines the last day of November, 1530."
This letter reached the Emperor at Cologne together with the news of
Margaret's death, and a solemn requiem was chanted for her soul in the
cathedral. Charles and his subjects fully realized the great loss which
his _pays de par-deça_ had suffered by his aunt's death.
"All the provinces," said Cornelius Agrippa, in the funeral oration
which he pronounced in S. Rombaut of Malines, "all the cities, and all
the villages, are plunged in tears and sorrow. For no greater loss
could have befallen us and our country."
[Sidenote: 1523-31] MARY OF HUNGARY]
The young Prince of Denmark, whom Margaret had loved so well, was chief
mourner on this occasion, and rode at the head of the procession which
bore her remains to Bruges. Here they were laid in the Convent of the
Annunciation until the magnificent shrine that she had begun at Brou in
Savoy was ready to receive her ashes and those of her husband. When, in
the following March, the Emperor came to Malines, Prince John welcomed
him in a Latin speech, in which he made a pathetic allusion to the loss
which he and his sisters had sustained in the death of one who had
been to them the wisest and tenderest of mothers. Then, turning to his
uncle with charming grace, he begged the Emperor to have compassion
upon him and his orphaned sisters, and allow them to remain at his
Court until their father should be restored to his rightful throne.
The young Prince's simple eloquence produced a deep impression. The
Emperor with tears in his eyes embraced him, and the magistrates of
Malines presented him with a barrel of Rhenish wine in token of their
regard.[66]
Fortunately for the children of Denmark, as well as for the provinces
which Margaret had ruled so well, another Habsburg Princess was found
to take her place. This was the Emperor's sister Mary, whose gallant
husband, King Louis of Hungary, had fallen on the field of Mohacz four
years before, fighting against the Turks. The widowed Queen, although
only twenty-one, had shown admirable presence of mind, and it was
largely due to her tact and popularity that her brother Ferdinand
and his wife Anna, the dead King's sister, were recognized as joint
Sovereigns of Bohemia and Hungary. Her own hand was sought in marriage
by many Princes, including the young King James V. of Scotland and her
sister Eleanor's old lover, the Palatine Frederic, whose romantic
imagination was deeply impressed by the young Queen's heroic bearing.
But Mary positively refused to take another husband, saying that,
having found perfect happiness in her first marriage, she had no wish
to try a second. To the end of her life she remained true to her dead
lord, and never put off her widow's weeds. But her courage and spirit
were as high as ever. She was passionately fond of hunting, and amazed
the hardest riders by being all day in the saddle without showing any
trace of fatigue. Her powers of mind were no less remarkable. She was
the ablest of the whole family, and the wisdom of her judgments was
equalled by the frankness with which she expressed them. Like all the
Habsburg ladies, she was highly educated, and spoke Latin as well as
any doctor in Louvain, according to Erasmus, who inscribed her name
on the first page of his "Veuve Chrétienne." Mary shared her sister
Isabella's sympathy with the reformers, and accepted the dedication
of Luther's "Commentary on the Four Psalms of Consolation." When this
excited her brother Ferdinand's displeasure, she told him that authors
must do as they please in these matters, and that he might trust her
not to tarnish the fair name of their house. "God," she added, "would
doubtless give her grace to die a good Christian."[67]
[Sidenote: 1523-31] THE NEW REGENT]
In the spring of 1530 Mary met Charles at Innsbruck, and accompanied
him to Augsburg. When, a few months later, the news of Margaret's death
reached him at Cologne, the Emperor begged her to become Regent of the
Low Countries and share the burden of government with him. But Mary had
no wish to enter public life, and asked her brother's leave to retire
to Spain and devote herself to the care of their unhappy mother, Queen
Juana. For some time she resisted the entreaties of both her brothers,
and it was only a strong sense of duty which finally overcame her
reluctance to assume so arduous and ungrateful a task. When at length
she consented, she made it a condition that she should not be troubled
with offers of marriage, and pointed out that her Lutheran sympathies
might well arouse suspicion in the Netherlands. But Charles brushed
these objections lightly aside, saying that no one should disturb her
peace, and that he should never have trusted her with so important
a post if he had regarded her Lutheran tendencies seriously. All he
asked was that the Queen should not bring her German servants to the
Low Countries, lest they should arouse the jealousy of his Flemish
courtiers.
Mary scrupulously fulfilled these conditions, and on the 23rd
of January, 1531, the new Regent entered Louvain in state, and
was presented to the Council by the Emperor, as Governess of the
Netherlands. Two months later she accompanied Charles to Malines, where
for the first time she embraced her little nieces. For the present,
however, Dorothea and Christina, who were only nine and ten years old,
remained at Malines, while Prince John accompanied his uncle and aunt
on a progress through the provinces.
Mary soon realized all the difficulties of the task that she had
undertaken with so much reluctance.
"The Emperor," she wrote to Ferdinand from Brussels, "has
fastened the rope round my neck, but I find public affairs in a
great tangle, and if His Majesty does not reduce them to some
degree of order before his departure, I shall find myself in a
very tight place."[68]
The Treasury was exhausted, the people groaned under the load of
taxation, and the prodigal generosity of the late Regent had not
succeeded in suppressing strife and jealousy among the nobles. As Mary
wrote many years afterwards to her nephew, Philip II.:
"No doubt our aunt, Madame Marguerite, ruled the Netherlands
long and well; but when she grew old and ailing she was obliged
to leave the task to others, and when the Emperor returned
there after her death, he found the nobles at variance, justice
little respected, and all classes disaffected to the imperial
service."[69]
[Sidenote: 1523-31] A FORLORN HOPE]
But the young Regent brought all her spirit and energy to the task, and
with her brother's help succeeded in reforming the gravest abuses and
restoring some order into the finances. The gravest difficulty with
which she had to contend was the presence of the King of Denmark. Since
Margaret's death this monarch had grown bolder and more insolent in
his demands. With the help of his old ally, Duke Henry of Brunswick,
he collected 6,000 men-at-arms and invaded Holland, spreading fire and
sword wherever he went. In vain Charles remonstrated with him on the
suffering which he inflicted on peaceable citizens. Christian only
replied with an insolent letter, which convinced the Emperor more
than ever of "the man's little sense and honesty." He now feared that
the King would seize one of the forts in Holland and remain there all
the winter, feeding his soldiers at the expense of the unfortunate
peasantry, and infecting them with Lutheran heresy. Under these
circumstances Charles felt that it was impossible to desert his sister,
and decided to put off his departure for Germany until he had got rid
of this troublesome guest.
At length, on the 26th of October, Christian sailed from Medemblik, in
North Holland, with twenty-five ships and 7,000 men.
"He has done infinite damage to my provinces of Holland and
Utrecht," wrote Charles to Ferdinand, "treating them as if they
were enemies, and forcing them to provide him with boats and
provisions, besides seizing the supplies which I had collected
for my own journey."[70]
So great were the straits to which Charles found himself reduced that
he was compelled to raise a fresh loan in order to defray the expenses
of his journey to Spires. But at least the hated adventurer was gone,
and as a fair wind sprang up, and the sails of King Christian's fleet
dropped below the horizon, the Emperor and his subjects felt that they
could breathe freely.
"The King of Dacia," wrote the Italian traveller Mario
Savorgnano, from Brussels, on the 6th of November, "has sailed
with twenty big ships, thus relieving this land from a heavy
burden. He goes to recover his kingdom of Denmark, a land lying
north of the Cymbric Chersonesus.... But I am sure that when
the people come face to face with these mercenaries, especially
those who have been in Italy and have there learnt to rob,
sack, burn, and leave no cruelty undone, in their greed for
gold, they will rise and drive out the invaders."[71]
This time Christian determined not to attempt a landing in Denmark, but
to sail straight to Norway, where he had always been more popular than
in any other part of his dominions, and still numbered many partisans.
His expectations were not disappointed. When he landed, on the 5th
of November, the peasantry and burghers flocked to his standard. The
Archbishop of Drondtheim and the clergy declared in his favour, and the
States-General, which met in January, 1532, at Oslo, the old capital,
renewed their oaths of allegiance to him as their rightful King. But
the strong forts of Bergen and Aggershus, at the gates of the town,
closed their gates against him, and his army soon began to dwindle away
for want of supplies. Early in the spring a strong fleet, fitted out
by King Frederic, with the help of the citizens of Lübeck, appeared
before Oslo, and set fire to Christian's ships in the harbour, while
a Danish army, under Knut Gyldenstern, advanced from the south. Once
more the King's nerve failed him. He met the Danish captain in a meadow
outside Oslo, and, after prolonged negotiations, agreed to lay down
his arms and go to Copenhagen, to confer with his uncle. The next day
he disbanded his forces and took leave of his loyal supporters. Thus,
without striking a blow, he delivered Norway into the usurper's hands,
and surrendered his last claim to the three kingdoms.[72]
[Sidenote: 1523-31] CHRISTIAN II.'S FALL]
In return for his submission, Gyldenstern had promised the King
honourable entertainment and given him a written safe-conduct. Trusting
in these assurances, Christian went on board a Danish ship, and on the
24th of July arrived before Copenhagen. As the ship sailed up the Sound
in the early summer morning, people flocked from all parts to see their
old King, and many of the women and children wept aloud. His fate,
they realized, was already sealed. Before the arrival of the fleet,
a conference had been held between Frederic and the Swedish and Hanse
deputies, who agreed that so dangerous a foe must not be allowed to
remain at liberty, and condemned the unfortunate monarch to perpetual
imprisonment in the island fortress of Sonderburg. In vain Christian
demanded to be set on shore and conducted into his uncle's presence.
He was told that the King would meet him in the Castle of Flensburg in
Schleswig. But when, instead of sailing in this direction, the ship
which bore him entered the narrow Alsener Sound, and the walls of
Sonderburg came in sight, the unhappy King saw the trap into which he
had fallen, and broke into transports of rage. But it was too late, and
he was powerless in the hands of his enemies. No indignity was spared
him by his captors. As he entered the lonely cell in the highest turret
of the castle, Knut Gyldenstern, who is said to have been one of his
mistress Dyveke's lovers, plucked the fallen monarch by the beard,
and tore the jewel of the Golden Fleece from his neck. None of the
old servants who had clung to their exiled Prince so faithfully were
allowed to share his prison, and for many years a pet dwarf was his
sole companion.[73]
In this foul and treacherous manner King Christian II. was betrayed
into the hands of his foes and doomed to lifelong captivity. And, by a
strange fate, in these early days of August, at the very moment when
the iron gates of Sonderburg closed behind him, his only son, the
rightful heir to the three kingdoms, died far away in Southern Germany,
within the walls of the imperial city of Regensburg.
Meanwhile the news of Christian's unexpected success in Norway had
reached Brussels and excited great surprise.
"The King of Denmark," wrote Mary of Hungary to her brother
Ferdinand, "has done so well by his rashness that he has
actually recovered possession of one of his kingdoms, and his
friends hope that he may be able to stay there."[74]
[Sidenote: 1523-31] COURT FÊTES]
This was towards the end of December, when the imperial family had
assembled in the palace to keep Christmas. Prince John had won golden
opinions on the progress which he had made with his uncle and aunt, and
was as much beloved by the Emperor, wrote Mario Savorgnano, as if he
were his own son. Now his little sisters were brought to Brussels by
their uncle's command to share in the festivities. Early in January,
1532, Charles heard that his sister, Queen Katherine of Portugal, had
given birth to a son, and the happy event was celebrated by a grand
tournament on the square in front of the Portuguese Ambassador's
house. The Emperor, accompanied by the Queen of Hungary and the
Prince and Princesses of Denmark, looked on at the jousts and sword
and torch dances from a balcony draped with white and green velvet,
and at nine o'clock sat down to a sumptuous banquet. The Queen was
seated at the head of the table, opposite the fireplace, with the
Emperor on her right and Princess Dorothea at his side. Prince John
was on his aunt's left, and the youthful Christina, who made her first
appearance in public on this occasion, sat between her brother and
the Portuguese Ambassador. Henry of Nassau, the Prince of Bisignano,
and Ferrante Gonzaga, were at the same board, while Nassau's son,
the young Prince René, who had lately inherited the principality of
Orange from his maternal uncle, sat with the Queen's ladies at another
table. Charles was in high spirits. He talked and laughed with all
the lords and ladies who were present during the interminable number
of courses of meat, fish, game, wines, cakes, and fruits, that were
served in succession, with brief interludes of music. When, at eleven,
the Emperor rose from table, an Italian comedy was acted, in which
Ferrante Gonzaga and several Italian and Spanish noblemen took part.
Then King Cupid appeared, riding in a triumphal car, and a troop of
Loves danced hand in hand, until, at a sign from Charles, the actors
removed their masks. A collation of confetti and Madeira and Valencia
wines was then served at a buffet laden with costly gold and silver
cups and precious bowls of Oriental porcelain. When all the guests
had ate and drunk their fill, the finest crystal vases and bottles
of perfume were presented to the Queen and Princesses, and the other
ladies received gifts from the Ambassador. The royal guests joined with
great spirit in the dancing which followed, and did not retire till two
o'clock.[75] Concerts and suppers, jousts and dances, succeeded each
other throughout the week, and the Emperor gave splendid presents to
the Ambassador of Portugal, and sent cordial congratulations to his
royal brother-in-law on the birth of his son and heir.
A fortnight later Charles left Brussels, taking Prince John with him,
and travelled by slow stages to Regensburg, where the Imperial Diet
was opened in May. Here the Court remained during the next three
months, and the young Prince was sent to receive the Count Palatine,
the Archbishop of Mainz, and other Princes of the Empire, who arrived
in turn to take part in the assembly. Unluckily the weather proved
very disagreeable. "Never," exclaimed the Venetian Ambassador, "was
there such a detestable climate!" A long continuance of heavy rains and
unusual heat was followed by some bitterly cold days, which produced
serious illness. Princes and nobles, Ambassadors and servants, all
succumbed in turn to the same epidemic. The Venetian took to his bed,
and four of his servants became seriously ill. The Emperor himself
was invalided, and left the town to take waters and change of air in
a neighbouring village. "There is hardly a house in the Court," wrote
the Mantuan Envoy, "where some person is not ill. Most people recover,
but a good many die, especially those who are young." Among the victims
was Prince John of Denmark. Charles returned to find his nephew in
high fever and delirium. He was deeply distressed, and when the poor
boy became unconscious, and the doctors gave no hope, he left the town
again, saying that he could not bear to see the child die. The Prince
never recovered consciousness, and passed away at two o'clock on the
morning of the 12th of August.
"The poor little Prince of Denmark died last night," wrote the
Mantuan Ambassador, "to the infinite distress of the whole
Court, and above all of Cæsar, who bore him singular affection,
not only on account of the close ties of blood between them,
but because of the young Prince's charming nature and winning
manners, which made him beloved by everyone and gave rise to
the highest hopes."[76]
[Sidenote: 1523-31] THE EMPEROR'S GRIEF]
By the Emperor's orders an imposing funeral service was held at
Regensburg, after which the Prince's body was taken to Ghent and buried
in his mother's grave. Charles himself wrote to break the sad news to
Mary of Hungary and her poor little nieces:
"MADAME MY GOOD SISTER,
"This is only to inform you of the loss we have suffered in the
death of our little nephew of Denmark, whom it pleased God to
take to Himself on Sunday morning, the day before yesterday,
after he had been ill of internal catarrh for a whole week.
This has caused me the greatest grief that I have ever known.
For he was the dearest little fellow, of his age, that it was
possible to see, and I have felt this loss more than I did that
of my son, for he was older, and I knew him better and loved
him as if he had been my own child. But we must bow to the
Divine will. Although I know that God might have allowed this
to happen anywhere, I cannot help feeling that if I had left
the boy at home with you he might not have died. At least his
father will be sure to say so. I expect you know where he is
said to be. Without offence to God, I could wish he were in his
son's place, and his son well received in his own kingdom. All
the same, without pretending to be the judge, perhaps the King
has not deserved to be there, and the little rogue is better
off where he is than where I should have liked to see him, and
smiles at my wish for him, for he was certainly not guilty of
any great sins. He died in so Christian a manner that, if he
had committed as many as I have, there would have been good
hope of his soul's weal, and with his last breath he called on
Jesus. I am writing to my little nieces, as you see, to comfort
them. I am sure that you will try and do the same. The best
remedy will be to find them two husbands."[77]
When Charles wrote these touching words, he had not yet heard of
the disastrous end to King Christian's campaign, and believed the
Prince's father to be in possession of the Norwegian capital. But
he added a postscript to his letter, telling the Queen of a report
which had just arrived, that the King had been taken prisoner by his
foes. Four days later this report was confirmed by letters from Lübeck
merchants, and no further doubt could be entertained of the doom which
had overtaken the unhappy monarch. His melancholy fate excited little
compassion, either in Germany or in the Netherlands. Luther, to his
credit, addressed an earnest appeal to King Frederic congratulating
him on his victory, and begging him to take example by Christ, who
died for His murderers, and have pity on the unfortunate captive. But
in reply Frederic issued an apology, in which he brought the gravest
charges against the deposed King, and accused him of having preferred
a low woman of worthless character to the noblest and most virtuous of
Queens. Before long the old commercial treaties between Denmark and
the Low Countries were renewed, and the Baltic trade was resumed on
the understanding that no attempt was made to revive King Christian's
claims.
The prisoner of Sonderburg was forgotten by the world, and the one
being who loved him best on earth, his sister Elizabeth of Brandenburg,
could only commend his little daughters sadly to the Regent, and beg
her to have compassion on these desolate children. Mary replied in a
letter full of feeling, assuring Elizabeth that she need have no fear
on this score, and that her little nieces should be treated as if they
were her own daughters. She kept her word nobly.[78]
FOOTNOTES:
[40] Calendar of State Papers, iii. 2, 1270.
[41] Altmeyer, "Relations Commerciales," 108.
[42] State Papers, Record Office, vi. 139, 155-158. Calendar of State
Papers, iii. 2, 1293, 1329.
[43] J. Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 108.
[44] D. Schäfer, "Geschichte von Dänemark," iv. 26.
[45] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 141, 156.
[46] Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 112; Schäfer, iv. 44, 48.
[47] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 30.
[48] "Relations," etc., 126; C. Förstemann, "Neues Urkundenbuch z.
Geschichte d. Reformation," i. 269.
[49] J. Köstlin, "Leben Luthers," i. 66; C. Förstemann, i. 169.
[50] K. Lanz, "Correspondenz Karls V.," i. 108.
[51] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 26.
[52] Lanz, i. 145, 150, 195; Archives du Royaume: Revenus et Dépenses
de Charles V., 1520-1530, Rég. 1709; Schäfer, iv. 89.
[53] J. H. Schlegel, "Geschichte der Könige v. Dänemark," 123.
[54] Schlegel, 124-126.
[55] 2 Churchill, "Travels," vi. 348.
[56] Altmeyer, "Isabelle," 35; "Relations," 160.
[57] Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 166.
[58] Lanz, i. 195.
[59] Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles. Régistre des Dépenses, etc., Nos.
1799, 1800, 1803.
[60] L. de Laborde, "Inventaire"; Henne, iv. 387-390.
[61] Henne, iv. 387-391.
[62] This painting is mentioned in one of Henry VIII.'s catalogues
as "A table with the pictures of the three children of the King of
Denmark, with a curtain of white and yellow sarcenet." In Charles I.'s
inventory it is described as "A Whitehall piece, curiously painted by
Mabusius, wherein two men children and one woman child are playing
with some oranges in their hands by a green table, little half-figures
upon a board in a wooden frame." At the sale of the King's effects it
was called a Mabuse, and valued at £10. In 1743 the same picture hung
in Queen Caroline's closet at Kensington Palace, and was described by
Vertue as "Prince Arthur and his sisters, children of Henry VII." Five
years later it was removed to Windsor and engraved under this name. Sir
George Scharf was the first to correct this obvious error and restore
the original title (see "Archæologia," xxxix. 245). Old copies of the
picture, mostly dating from the seventeenth century, are to be seen at
Wilton, Longford, Corsham, and other places.
[63] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 52.
[64] Lanz, i. 283; Henne. iv. 337.
[65] Lanz, i. 408; Gachard, "Analecta Belgica," i. 378.
[66] Schlegel, 126; Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 186.
[67] Altmeyer, "Relations," 190.
[68] T. Juste, "Les Pays-Bas sous Charles V.," 35.
[69] L. Gachard, "Retraite et Mort de Charles V.," i. 348.
[70] Lanz, i. 572.
[71] M. Sanuto, "Diarii," lv. 174.
[72] Schäfer, iv. 178-194.
[73] Schlegel, 127-219.
[74] T. Juste. "Les Pays-Bas sous Charles V.," 49.
[75] M. Sanuto, lv. 417-419.
[76] M. Sanuto, lvi. 813-823.
[77] Lanz, ii. 3.
[78] Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 206.