CHRISTINA AT BRUSSELS
1553-1559
I.
Christina was at Brussels on the memorable day when the Emperor set
foot once more on his native soil. She heard the shouts of joy which
rent the air, and joined with the Queens in the welcome which greeted
him on the threshold of his palace. Early in January she had left
Heidelberg and travelled safely down the Rhine and through the friendly
states of her Cleves cousins to Brussels. Here she occupied the suite
of rooms where she had lived before her second marriage, and to a large
extent resumed her former habits. She spent much of her time with her
aunts and the Duchess of Aerschot, and renewed her old friendship with
Countess d'Aremberg and other ladies of the Court. The deepest sympathy
was felt for her by all classes, and when Charles addressed the
States-General on the 13th of February, and alluded to the treachery of
the French in carrying off the young Duke of Lorraine and driving his
mother out of the realm, his words provoked an outburst of tumultuous
indignation.[481]
[Sidenote: JAN., 1553] CHRISTINA'S SUITORS]
Through her brother-in-law Vaudemont she still maintained close
relations with Lorraine, while the Cardinal kept her informed of all
that concerned her son, and the boy's own letters satisfied her that
he was well and happy at the French Court. But although Charles shared
all the advantages enjoyed by the King's children, and soon became a
general favourite in the royal family, it was bitter for the Duchess
to feel that her only son was growing up, in a foreign land, among the
hereditary foes of her race. The restoration of peace between Charles
and Henry was the only means by which she could hope to recover her
lost child, and this became the goal of all her efforts during the six
years that she spent in exile.
The Widow of Milan had been courted by Kings and Princes, and hardly
was Christina settled at Brussels before she was assailed by fresh
offers of marriage. Henry, King of Navarre, whose accomplished wife
had died soon after her daughter's marriage, asked the Emperor for
his niece's hand, but his proposals met with small favour. Far more
serious was the courtship of Albert of Brandenburg, who felt this to
be a favourable moment for renewing his old suit. "No one," as Thomas
Hoby wrote, "had done the Emperor worthier or more faithful service"
in the siege of Metz, and was better entitled to reward. His claims
were strongly supported by the Palatine, who invited the Marquis to
Heidelberg to confer with the other German Princes on the best means
of recovering Metz. Albert himself not only aspired to the Duchess's
hand, but to the Duke of Alva's post of Commander-in-Chief, and boasted
that once Christina was his bride he would easily recover her father's
kingdoms.
"It is supposed," wrote Morosyne from Brussels on the 20th of
February, "that the Marquis will marry the Duchess of Lorraine
and have Alva's place. The Palsgrave would fain it were so,
in order that, if the Marquis married his wife's sister, he
might help him to recover Denmark; for besides that a slender
title is apt to set such a one to work, he should, by being
married to the Emperor's niece, and afterwards coming, when his
uncle died, to the duchy of Prussia, be able easily to trouble
Denmark. The Marquis doth much desire it, for that the Duke of
Holstein has been and is a great suitor to the Duchess, who
was once so nigh marrying the Marquis Albert's sister that the
contracts were drawn up and put into writing, but broke it off
upon sight of the Duchess of Lorraine. The Palsgrave would
rather any did marry with her than the Duke of Holstein, for
that his brother, King Christian, keeps his wife's father in
prison. And the Emperor, it is held certain, will help it, in
order that he may by this means trouble Denmark, which he has
never had leisure to trouble himself."[482]
[Sidenote: JUNE, 1553] PHILIP HOBY'S AUDIENCE]
Whatever her relatives may have thought of the Marquis's suit,
Christina herself never considered it seriously, and told the
Palatine plainly that such a marriage was out of the question. The
Marquis vented his anger on the Emperor, and left Heidelberg in high
displeasure, without taking leave of the Palatine or anyone else. Hot
words passed between him and Maurice, and these two Princes, who had
once been the closest friends, were henceforth bitter enemies. Albert
returned to his life of raids and plunder, and when, soon afterwards,
he was placed under the ban of the Empire, Maurice led an army against
him. A fiercely-contested battle was fought on the 9th of July at
Sievershausen, in which Albert was completely routed and Maurice
lost his life. The Marquis was deprived of fortune and patrimony,
his ancestral home of Plassenburg was burnt to the ground, and after
leading a roving life for some years, and wandering from one Court to
another, he died in the house of his brother-in-law, the Margrave of
Baden, on the 8th of January, 1557. So in exile and poverty this brave
and brilliant adventurer ended his career, before he had completed his
thirty-fifth year.[483]
While the Palatine was holding vain conferences at Heidelberg, and the
Marquis and Duke Adolf were still quarrelling for the Duchess's hand,
she herself was endeavouring to open negotiations with the French King
through Bassompierre and Vaudemont. But nothing would induce Henry
to give up Metz, and in April war was renewed with fresh vigour. The
young Prince of Piedmont, who succeeded the unpopular Alva in command
of the imperial army, won a series of victories, and razed the forts
of Thérouenne and Hesdin to the ground. But the Emperor was too ill
to take part in the campaign or even to give audiences. Sir Philip
Hoby, who now succeeded Morosyne, actually believed him to be dead,
until De Courrières came to dine with his English friends, and assured
them, on his honour as a gentleman, that he had seen the Emperor
alive that morning.[484] Upon this Sir Philip's brother Thomas, who
had just arrived from Paris, where he had been spending the winter
in translating Castiglione's "Cortegiano," was sent to see his old
Augsburg friend, the Bishop of Arras, and beg for an audience. At
length, on the 8th of June, the Englishmen were admitted into the privy
chamber, and found the Emperor sitting up, with his feet on a stool,
"very pale, weak, and lean, but nothing so ill as they had believed."
His eye was lively, his speech sensible, and his manner very friendly
and agreeable. But, although he expressed an earnest wish for peace, he
declared that the French demands made this quite impossible.[485]
[Sidenote: SEPT., 1553] ACCESSION OF MARY]
A month later an unexpected event produced a change in the Emperor's
fortunes. King Edward VI. died, and, after a vain attempt on
Northumberland's part to set Lady Jane Grey on the throne, Catherine of
Aragon's daughter Mary succeeded peaceably to the throne. Her accession
was hailed with joy at the Imperial Court, and on the Feast of St.
Bartholomew the Regent celebrated the event by giving a banquet, to
which the English Ambassadors were invited. "It was such a dinner,"
writes Hoby, "as we had seldom seen in all our lives, and greater good
cheer or entertainment than Her Grace gave us could not be devised."
Mary was in high spirits that evening. She toasted the Ambassadors,
conversed with them after dinner for more than an hour, and told
Morosyne laughingly that his French could not be worse than her
Italian. Sir Philip sat next to the Duchess of Lorraine, and reminded
her of the memorable morning, fifteen years before, when he brought
the German Court painter to take her portrait.[486] Since then much
had happened. King Henry himself, the great painter Holbein, René of
Orange, and Francis of Lorraine, were all gone, and she had lost home
and state and had seen her only son snatched from her arms. Yet she was
still beautiful and fascinating, and counted almost as many suitors as
of old. Adolf of Holstein wooed her with a constancy which no coldness
could repel, and if the wild Marquis had been forced to renounce all
hope of winning her hand, another hero, the young Prince of Piedmont,
was ready to lay his laurels at her feet. But Christina remained the
same, calm and unmoved, and was an interested and amused spectator of
the matrimonial plans which now formed the all-absorbing topic in the
family conclave.
Charles quickly realized the importance of securing the new Queen's
hand for his son. As soon as he heard of Edward's death, he sent orders
to his Ambassador at Lisbon to delay drawing up the marriage contract
which had been agreed upon between Philip and Eleanor's daughter,
Maria of Portugal, and wrote to his son, setting forth the superior
advantages of the English alliance. Philip replied dutifully that, as
his cousin the Queen was twelve years older than himself, his father
would be a more suitable husband, but added that he was ready to obey
the Emperor's will in all respects.[487]
On the 20th of September Charles wrote from Valenciennes, where he was
directing military operations from his litter, to the English Queen.
After explaining that he was too old and infirm to think of marriage,
and had solemnly vowed after the Empress's death never to take a second
wife, he offered her the dearest thing he had in life--his own son. He
then proceeded to point out the great advantages of the proposed union,
while at the same time he advised Mary to observe the utmost caution,
being "well aware of the hatred with which the English, more than any
other nation, regard foreigners." Mary's own mind was soon made up. In
spite of protests from her subjects and remonstrances from the French
King, she was determined to marry her cousin. On the 30th of October
she sent for the Imperial Envoy, Renard, and, kneeling down before the
Blessed Sacrament in her chapel, she said the _Veni Creator_, and took
a solemn vow to wed the Prince of Spain.[488]
[Sidenote: JAN., 1554] CARDINAL POLE AT BRUSSELS]
The most friendly letters were now exchanged between the two Courts.
The holy chrism for Mary's coronation was sent from Brussels, with
venison and wild-boar for her table. Charles gave his future daughter
magnificent tapestries and jewels, and Mary of Hungary sent the Queen
a yet more precious gift, Titian's portrait of Philip, telling her
that, if she stands at some distance from the canvas, it will give
her a good idea of the Prince, only that he is older and more bearded
than he was when the artist painted it three years ago. The Regent
took care to add that she could only lend the Queen the picture on
condition that it should be returned "when the living man joined her."
In reply, Mary begged her good aunt to pay her a visit; but the Regent
excused herself, owing to the Emperor's ill-health, and promised to
come and see her later on, it might be in the Prince's company. The
same cordial invitation was extended to the Duchess of Lorraine, who
sent her new _maître d'hôtel_, Baron De Silliers, to London in April,
1554, to congratulate the Queen on her marriage. Mary made Christina
a present of a fine diamond, which De Courrières was desired to give
her, and when, on the 20th of July, Philip landed at Southampton, and
the wedding was celebrated in Winchester Cathedral, the happy spouse
sent costly jewels to the Emperor and the two Queens, and a beautiful
emerald to her dear cousin the Duchess.
In January Cardinal Pole, the Papal Legate, came to the monastery of
Diligam, near Brussels, with proposals of peace from the Pope, on his
way to congratulate Queen Mary on her accession, and help to restore
Catholic rites in the kingdom. Pole was known to be averse to the
Spanish marriage, and Charles had put every obstacle in the way of his
journey to England. On his arrival he gave him a very cold reception,
and the Cardinal complained to the Pope that the Emperor and Arras
could not have used greater violence, unless they had taken a stick to
drive him back.[489] The Regent and the Duchess of Lorraine, however,
were much more friendly when he dined with them the next day, after
attending Mass in the royal chapel. Mary told him that no one wished
for peace more earnestly than herself, seeing how terribly her poor
people of the Netherlands had suffered from the war, and Christina
spoke to him of her son with tears in her eyes. When the Cardinal went
on to Fontainebleau, he saw the young Duke, and was able to give him
his mother's messages. But he found Henry II. still less amenable than
Charles, and returned to Brussels convinced that his mission was a
failure as far as the hope of peace was concerned.
Before the end of April the French King invaded Hainault, at the head
of a large army, and took the strong citadel of Marienburg. Namur was
only saved by the promptitude of Charles, who once more took the field,
although he could no longer mount a horse, and showed all his old
courage in this his last campaign.
After an indecisive battle at Renty, the French retired with heavy
loss, spreading famine and desolation in their track. One act of
vandalism for which Henry was condemned, even by his own captains, was
the destruction of Mary of Hungary's beautiful palace of Binche, with
its famous gardens and treasures of art. The Queen received the news
with equanimity, saying that she was proud of being the object of the
French King's vindictiveness, and glad the world should know that she
was the Emperor's devoted servant.
"As for the damage which has been done," she wrote to Arras, "I
do not care a straw. I am not the woman to grieve over the loss
of things transitory, which we are meant to enjoy as long as
we have them, and do without when they are gone. That, upon my
word, is all the regret I feel."[490]
In the autumn Christina made another fruitless attempt to open
negotiations through Vaudemont, who after the death of his first
wife, Margaret of Egmont, was induced by the Cardinal of Lorraine to
marry the Duke of Nemours's daughter. This Prince came to Brussels
in November to inform the Emperor and the Duchess of his marriage,
and, as might be expected, met with a very cold reception at Court.
But, in spite of his French alliance, he remained scrupulously loyal
to Christina and her son, and complained to his sister Anne that at
Brussels he was reproached for his French sympathies, while in Paris he
was looked on with suspicion as an Imperialist. So hard was it to be an
honest man in those troublous times.[491]
[Sidenote: SEPT., 1554] A GAY COURT]
II.
While the war dragged on its weary course, and Mary and Christina
vainly tried to bring it to an end, on the other side of the Channel
the new King of England and his spouse were holding high festival.
They came to London in September, and remained there through the
winter, trying to win the love of their subjects by a series of
popular displays and festivities. Tournaments were held at Whitehall,
hunting-parties were given at Windsor and Hampton Court, and a
succession of distinguished guests travelled from Flanders to pay
homage to the royal pair. Philip's favourite, Ruy Gomez, and the Duke
and Duchess of Alva, arrived from Spain, Ferrante Gonzaga, the Prince
of Orange, and the Grand Equerry Boussu, came over from Antwerp during
the autumn.[492] On the 20th of November Cardinal Pole at length
crossed the Channel; four days later he was received at Whitehall by
the King and Queen in person, and crossed the river in the royal barge,
to take possession of his own house at Lambeth. He was soon followed
by Emanuel Philibert, who had lately succeeded to the barren title of
Duke of Savoy on his father's death, and had been made a Knight of the
Garter. Earlier in the summer he had paid a brief visit to London,
where his white, red, and green banners of Savoy made a fine show in
the Abbey on St. Peter's Day; but as his military duties rendered his
presence in Flanders imperative, his Ambassador, Stroppiana, came to
Windsor in October, to be invested with the Garter[493] as proxy for
his master.
It was not till Christmas Eve that the Duke himself landed at Dover,
after a very rough passage, and made his way to Whitehall, where
Philip and Mary received him with great honour, and showed him all the
sights of London. On the 7th of January the Lord High Admiral took him
by water to see the great guns at the Tower, and on St. Paul's Day
he accompanied the King and the Cardinal in state to the Cathedral
for the patronal feast. A procession of 160 priests bearing crosses,
walked round the churchyard, with the children of Paul's School and
the Greyfriars, singing "Salve, Festa Dies!" and passed in through
the great west doors. After Mass a state banquet was held, with great
ringing of bells, and bonfires blazed in all the streets of London
throughout the night.[494]
[Sidenote: JAN., 1555] A ROYAL GODMOTHER]
Emanuel Philibert's visit revived the rumour of a marriage between him
and the Princess Elizabeth, which the Emperor had suggested some months
before. Whether from policy or genuine regard, Philip had espoused his
sister-in-law's cause and refused to allow Mary to send her abroad
or keep her away from Court. The Duke of Savoy was a pleasant and
good-looking Prince, whose martial appearance and genial manners made
him very popular in England. But Elizabeth herself quite declined to
listen to this proposal, saying that she would never marry a foreigner,
and, since there now seemed good hope of the birth of an heir to the
crown, the question of the succession was no longer of the first
importance. Something, however, must be done to pacify the Duke, who
complained bitterly of the Emperor's neglect, and, seeing little chance
of recovering Savoy, asked the King for the viceroyalty of Milan, which
Ferrante Gonzaga, on his part, refused to surrender. Philip could think
of no better plan to gratify his cousin and retain his services than to
give him the hand of the Duchess of Lorraine, a Princess whom he was
known to regard with great affection.[495]
Accordingly the King and Queen sent pressing invitations to Christina,
begging her to come to England as soon as possible. Before she could
comply with their request, she had to keep an old engagement to be
present at the christening of Count Egmont's infant daughter, which
took place on the evening of the 19th of January. The Queen of England
had graciously consented to be one of the godmothers, while the Duchess
of Lorraine was the other, and the Palatine Frederic stood godfather to
his kinswoman's little daughter. Mary wrote to the Duchess of Aerschot,
begging Anne to represent her on this occasion, and sent a costly gold
cup containing forty angels to her godchild by the new Ambassador, Sir
John Masone. The Palsgrave, not to be outdone, sent the child a diamond
cross, and another one, set with rubies, diamonds, and emeralds, to the
mother. Anne and Christina were both present at the christening, which
was attended by all the Court, "everything," wrote Masone, "being very
richly ordered, the supper and banquet right stately, and Her Majesty's
cup so walked up and down, from man to woman, and woman to man, as I
dare answer few were there that did not go full freighted to bed."
Sir John further told the Countess in what good part her request
to make her daughter a Christian woman had been taken by his royal
mistress, who would willingly have done the same in person, had the
distance not been so great, and Sabina sent her most humble thanks to
the Queen, saying that, as she already had one daughter called Mary,
she had decided to name the infant Mary Christina, after her two
godmothers.[496]
[Sidenote: APRIL, 1555] CHRISTINA'S GOOD WISHES]
When this function was over, Christina began to prepare for her journey
to England, but the weather was so tempestuous that she did not cross
the Channel until the first days of March. She rode from Dover, by way
of Canterbury, to London, where the King and Queen received her in
the most cordial manner, Philip made no secret of his affection for
his cousin, the only woman in his family with whom he had ever been
intimate, and Mary, in the first flush of her wedded happiness and
in the proud expectation of soon being a mother, welcomed Christina
warmly. Unluckily, we have no particulars of the Duchess's visit to
this country, over which she might have reigned herself as Queen. We
know that she was present with the rest of the Court at the great joust
held on Lady Day in the tilting-yard at Whitehall, when Philip and a
band of knights, armed with falchions and targets, and clad in blue
and yellow, rode out against two other troops in red and green, and
some 200 lances were broken.[497] But the only record that we have of
this her first visit to England is a letter which she wrote to Mary on
returning to Flanders. She thanked the Queen for the great honour and
kindness which she had shown her, and commended the captain of the ship
in which she sailed, who, as Her Majesty would doubtless learn, had
rendered her notable service on this troublesome passage:
"I will say no more," she adds, "except to regret that I am
no longer in Your Majesty's presence to be able to render you
some small service in return for all the goodness which I have
received at your hands. I beg God, Madame, to send you good
health and long life, and give you a fine boy, such as you
desire.
"Your very humble and obedient cousin
and servant,
"CHRESTIENNE.
"A la Royne."[498]
This letter bears no date, but the Duchess certainly left London before
the King and Queen went to Hampton Court on the 4th of April, to spend
Easter and prepare for the happy event which all England was anxiously
expecting. She was at Antwerp with her aunt a month later, when, on
the 3rd of May, "great news came over the seas." A messenger from the
English ships in the port brought the Regent word that the Queen of
England had been "brought to bed of a young Prince," upon which all
the guns in the harbour were fired, and Mary ordered the big bells in
the Tower to be rung, and sent the English sailors a hundred crowns to
drink the royal infant's health. "I trust in God," wrote Sir Thomas
Gresham, "that the news is true." The Emperor was more incredulous,
and summoned Masone to his bedside at 5 a.m. the next morning, to know
what he thought of the matter, but soon satisfied himself that the
news was false.[499]
The Savoy marriage, which Philip was so anxious to bring about, also
ended in smoke. During Christina's visit, the matter was brought
forward and eagerly urged both by the King and Queen. Charles was no
less anxious for the marriage, and Mary of Hungary proposed to appoint
the Duke, Governor of the Low Countries when she resigned the office.
The plan would have been very popular in Flanders, where the Duchess
was beloved by all classes, and was warmly supported by Egmont and
Orange. On the 1st of May, Badoer, the Venetian Ambassador at Brussels,
announced that the marriage contract had already been drawn up by De
Praet, and that the Duke had started for Italy, disguised as a German,
and only attended by one servant, to arrange his affairs in Piedmont
before the wedding.[500]
[Sidenote: MAY, 1555] DUKE OF SAVOY'S MARRIAGE]
The Venetian's news was apparently premature, but a fortnight later a
Piedmontese noble, Count Avignano, came to London to consult Philip as
to the marriage and arrange further details on his master's behalf.
He talked freely at table to the French and Venetian Ambassadors,
Noailles and Michieli, saying that the Emperor had offered his master
the government of the Netherlands with the hand of Madame de Lorraine,
an arrangement which he for his part regretted, thinking that the Duke
would be more likely to recover his dominions if he married in France.
But, since the friendship between his lord and the Duchess was so
great, he saw no hope of any other alliance, and the marriage was, in
fact, considered by the Emperor and all his family to be practically
settled.[501]
Emanuel Philibert, like many others, evidently felt the power of
Christina's fascination, and enjoyed a large share of her intimacy. But
he does not seem to have shown any great eagerness for the marriage,
whether it was that, as Avignano said, it would be a bar to the
recovery of his States, or whether he recognized the Duchess's own
insuperable objection to matrimony.
When, towards the end of May, a party of English Commissioners met
the French and Imperial deputies at Marck, a village near Calais, to
treat of peace, an offer was made by the French to give Henry II.'s
sister Margaret to the Duke of Savoy. The Imperial deputies expressed
a doubt if this were possible, as the Duke's word was already pledged;
but Cardinal Pole replied that the Prince was quite free, and ready
to agree to any proposal by which he could recover his realm. These
negotiations, however, were soon broken off, and on Philip's return
to Brussels in September the old scheme of the Lorraine marriage was
revived with fresh ardour. When the Duke of Savoy returned from Italy
in August, the Regent made him attend the meetings of the Council, and
treated him in all ways as her future successor, hoping by this means
to obtain his consent to her wishes. But both Emanuel Philibert and
Christina remained of the same mind, and neither Philip's entreaties
nor Mary of Hungary's angry reproaches could alter their resolution.
The Duke pleaded poverty as an excuse, lamenting his inability to
offer his wife a home and station worthy of her rank, and was evidently
determined to sacrifice his affections to political expediency,
although, as the French Ambassador reported, "he still made love
through the window to Madame de Lorraine."[502]
III.
Charles V.'s intention to abdicate his throne had long been declared.
For many years he had looked forward to the time when he should lay
down the burden of public affairs and retire from the world, to end his
days in some peaceful cloister. The increasing infirmities under which
he groaned, his inability to attend either camp or council, and finally
the death of his mother, Queen Joanna, in April, 1555, all helped to
hasten the execution of his resolve. Only the continuation of the war
and the absence of his son still made him hesitate.
[Sidenote: SEPT., 1555] PHILIP LEAVES ENGLAND]
The same indecisive warfare as before was carried on through the
year. The Prince of Orange, who now held the chief command, succeeded
in keeping the foe at bay, and built the citadels of Charlemont and
Philippeville for the defence of the frontier. But everyone was
heartily tired of the campaign, and both parties gladly availed
themselves of the opportunity afforded by an exchange of prisoners, to
renew negotiations in the autumn. Christina once more exerted herself
in this direction, and Vaudemont, who came to Brussels in October to
take leave of the Emperor, was employed to make fresh overtures to
the French King. But many months passed before any conclusion was
reached.[503]
Charles had always hoped that his sister would remain at her post when
he left the Netherlands, feeling how invaluable her help would prove to
Philip. But Mary was inflexible on this point. In a noble letter which
she wrote at the end of August, she reminded him that fifteen years
before she had begged to be released from her arduous post in order to
devote herself to the care of her unhappy mother, and that, now this
privilege could no longer be hers, she wished to spend the rest of her
life in Spain with her sister, Queen Eleanor.
"And however great," she adds significantly, "my affection for
the King my nephew may be," in Badoer's graphic phrase, "he
hates and is hated by her"--"Your Majesty will understand that
at my age it would be very hard to begin learning my ABC over
again. A woman of fifty, who has held office twenty-four years,
ought, it seems to me, to be content to serve one God and one
Master for the rest of her life."[504]
There was nothing more to be said, and Charles agreed to Philip's
wish that for the present the Duke of Savoy should be appointed
Lieutenant-Governor of the Low Countries. At length Philip succeeded
in tearing himself from the arms of his sorrowful Queen, promising
to be back in a fortnight or three weeks. From her palace windows at
Greenwich, Mary waved her last farewells to the King, as he sailed
down the Thames. He for his part was nothing loth to leave his fretful
and melancholy wife, and was satisfied that she would never bear him a
child.
On the 8th of September he reached Brussels, and went straight to see
his father in the Casino, near the Louvain gate of the park, where
he was spending the hot weather. Charles embraced his son tenderly,
and after an hour's conversation Philip went on to sup with Queen
Mary and Christina on their return from hunting. On the 17th and 18th
he attended the Requiem Masses held in S. Gudule for the late Queen
Joanna, and afterwards joined in a grand hunting-party given by the
Regent in his honour.
[Sidenote: OCT., 1555] THE EMPEROR'S ABDICATION]
The nobles now flocked to Brussels to be present at the Emperor's
abdication. The Prince of Orange arrived from the camp near Liége,
and his young wife, Anne of Egmont, was hospitably entertained by the
Duchess of Aerschot. Friday, the 25th of October, was the day fixed for
the great ceremony. On this afternoon, at three o'clock, the Emperor
left the Casino with Philip and the Duke of Savoy, and rode to the
palace on his mule. An hour later he entered the great hall, hung with
the tapestries of Gideon's Fleece, wearing his mourning robes and the
collar of the Order, and leaning on the Prince of Orange's arm. He was
followed by Mary of Hungary, Philip, and the Duke of Savoy, who took
their places on the daïs at the Emperor's side, while the Knights of
the Fleece, the great nobles and Ambassadors, occupied seats below. The
deputies, over a thousand in number, who thronged the hall, rose to
their feet to receive the Emperor, and then sat down to hear the chief
Councillor, Philibert of Brussels, deliver a speech, explaining the
reasons for His Majesty's abdication. Then Charles himself addressed
the vast assembly. In moving words he recalled the day, forty years
before, when, a boy of fifteen, he had been declared of age by his
grandfather, the Emperor Maximilian, and glanced briefly at the long
record of wars and journeys, and the other chief events of his reign.
Finally he commended his successor to them, asking them to serve his
son as well as they had served him, and begging his loyal subjects to
pardon him for any injustice which he might unwittingly have done them.
Tears rolled down the great Emperor's cheeks as he spoke these last
words, and Sir Thomas Gresham, who was present, says that there was not
a dry eye in the whole assembly.
Christina was present on this memorable occasion. In contemporary
prints she is represented standing by the side of the Regent's chair,
listening with breathless attention to every word that fell from her
uncle's lips. She saw the pathetic scene between the father and son,
when Charles, raising Philip from his knees and clasping him in his
arms, gave him the investiture of the Provinces, and, turning to the
deputies, in a broken voice asked them to excuse his tears, which
flowed for love of them. And she listened with still greater emotion to
the touching words in which Mary begged the Emperor and the States to
forgive whatever mistakes she had made out of ignorance or incapacity,
and thanked them from the depth of her heart for their unfailing love
and loyalty. Her speech produced a fresh burst of tears, after which
Charles thanked his sister for her long and faithful services, and
Maes, the Pensionary of Antwerp, bore eloquent testimony to the undying
love and gratitude which the States felt for the Queen who had governed
them so well.
There were still many formalities to be gone through, many farewells
to be said, before Charles could lay down the sovereign power. On
the day after his abdication, the Archduke Ferdinand, his favourite
nephew, arrived with affectionate messages from his father, who found
it impossible to leave Vienna as long as the war with the Turks lasted.
The next day he went hunting with the King, Mary, and Christina, and
dined with them and Eleanor. On the 3rd of November he left Brussels
again after all too short a visit, as Charles wrote to his brother.
Another guest who took leave of the Emperor in the same week was Edward
Courtenay, Lord Devonshire. This young nobleman of the blood royal had
been exiled from England lest he should marry Elizabeth, and had been
so often seen in the palace during the last few months that rumour
said he was going to wed Madame of Lorraine. Now he came to thank her
for the "gentle entertainment" which she had shown him, and bid her a
reluctant farewell before he left for Italy. In the following spring
another old friend, Adolf of Holstein, came to Brussels and took leave
of the Emperor. The Danish Prince, hearing that all idea of the Savoy
marriage was abandoned, took this opportunity to make a last attempt to
win Christina's hand. But not even the Duke's constancy could induce
her to change her mind, and he went away disconsolate.[505]
[Sidenote: FEB., 1556] DEATH OF THE PALATINE]
A fresh sorrow awaited her in the death of her brother-in-law, the
Elector Palatine, who breathed his last at Alzei, in the Lower
Palatinate, on the 26th of February, 1556. The fine old man was in
his seventy-third year, and had been tenderly nursed all through a
long illness by his wife. Three weeks before his death Dorothea sent
for his nephew and successor, Otto Heinrich, who remained with him
to the end, and brought his body to Heidelberg. Here he lay in state
for three days in the Court chapel, after which his remains were borne
down the castle slopes by eight noblemen, and laid with his forefathers
in the church of the Holy Ghost. By order of the new Elector, he was
buried with Lutheran rites. Dorothea and Countess Helene followed
on foot with a long train of nobles and students of the University,
bearing lighted tapers, and German hymns were sung by the Canons and
school-children.[506]
Christina's first impulse was to hasten to her widowed sister, but
neither the Emperor nor his sisters would allow her to leave the
Netherlands before their departure, saying that she was as dear and
indispensable to them as a daughter.[507] She was present at the Casino
in the park on the 16th of January, when Charles resigned the kingdoms
of Spain and Sicily and his dominions in the New World to Philip, and
she accompanied Mary to Antwerp when Philip held his first Chapter of
the Fleece. Among the new Knights elected at this meeting were William
of Orange, Philip, Duke of Aerschot, and Christina's old friend Jean De
Montmorency, Sieur de Courrières, whose whole life had been spent in
the Emperor's service, and who had deserved well of Philip by helping
to arrange his marriage with Mary Tudor.[508]
On the 5th of February, 1556, the long-protracted peace negotiations
were brought to a happy conclusion, and a five years' truce was signed
at the Abbey of Vaucelles, near Cambray, by Lalaing on Philip's part
and by Coligny on that of Henry. Both parties were to retain their
conquests, and the chief prisoners on both sides were to be released.
On Lady Day the French Admiral brought the treaty to be confirmed by
the King at Brussels, and was received by Philip in the palace. By an
unlucky chance, the great hall in which the reception took place was
hung with tapestries representing the defeat of Pavia and surrender of
Francis I. This wounded the vanity of the French lords, and the King's
jester, Brusquet, who had accompanied Coligny, determined to have his
revenge on the haughty Spanish Prince. So the next morning at Mass
in the Court church, when Philip was in the act of taking his oath
on the Gospels to keep the truce, Brusquet suddenly raised a cry of
"Largesse!" and, taking a handful of French crowns from a sack which
his valet carried, flung them to the crowds who had collected in the
great hall adjoining the chapel. The King looked round in surprise at
Coligny, who stood dumbfounded, while men, women, and children, rushed
to pick up the coins on the floor, and had to be warned off by the
archers' pikes. The King was about to ask angrily by what right the
French did largesse in his palace, when both Queen Mary and Madame de
Lorraine burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter, in which Philip
joined so heartily that he had to cling to the altar to save himself
from falling.
[Sidenote: MAY, 1556] LAST FESTIVITIES]
This absurd incident was related to Charles when, on the following
Sunday of _Pâques-fleuries_, Coligny went to visit him in the Casino.
"Well, Brusquet," he said to the jester, "how are you? I hear you
have been doing me fine largesse with your crowns." "Sire," replied
Brusquet, dropping on one knee, "you take the words out of my mouth in
condescending to notice a worm like myself." And the poor fool went
home to boast of his interview with the great Emperor to the end of his
life.[509]
A grand tournament was held in the park at Brussels to celebrate the
conclusion of the truce, and Egmont distinguished himself above all
competitors by his prowess. But a quarrel arose between Philip and his
aunt, Mary of Hungary, who complained of the disrespect with which her
nephew and his Spanish courtiers treated her, saying that, although she
had laid down the Regency, she expected to be treated with the honour
due to a Queen. She retired to her own domain at Turnhout, but had her
revenge a few weeks later, for the States proved so unwilling to grant
the aids demanded by the King that Philip was forced to send Arras to
beg for his aunt's help. Mary consented to return as soon as she had
despatched her most urgent private affairs, and so invaluable was her
influence with the Council, that Philip joined his father in entreating
her to remain at Brussels during his absence in England. This, however,
Mary quite refused to do, saying that the Duke of Savoy would no doubt
prove an excellent substitute.[510]
The King and Queen of Bohemia, whom Charles was very anxious to see
before his departure, and whose journey had been repeatedly delayed,
at length reached Brussels on the 18th of July. Their presence was
the signal for a last series of festivities. There were jousts on
the Grande Place, banquets in the hôtel-de-ville, hunting-parties at
Groenendal in the forest of Soignies, and suppers at the Villa Laura,
where Mary entertained her nephews and nieces at an open-air concert.
King Max was in high spirits. He made great friends with the Venetian
Badoer, and frankly avowed his dislike of the Spaniards, saying, with a
ringing laugh, that he was glad to hear the English had taught them a
lesson or two. The visit was not without its political intention, and
Maximilian succeeded in persuading his uncle to consent to Ferdinand's
entreaty, and retain the imperial title for the present, in order to
avoid any dispute on the question of the succession.[511]
When his daughter and her husband left Brussels, on the 8th of August,
Charles felt himself a free man. At half-past four in the afternoon he
set out for Ghent, after receiving the farewells of the chief nobles
and Bishops. Many were in tears, but the Emperor remained calm and
serene until he rode out of the gates, escorted for the last time by
his faithful archers. Then, turning round, he took a last long look
at the city towers and wept bitterly. "Everyone about him was in
tears," says Badoer, "and many wept when he was gone."[512] Christina
accompanied her aunts to Ghent a few days later, and went on at the
end of the month with the Queens and Emperor to Zeeland, to wait for
a fair wind. On the 15th of October Charles embarked at Flushing, and
his sisters followed on another ship. Two days later an easterly breeze
sprang up and the fleet set sail. Christina stood on the shore till
the ship which bore the great Emperor from his native land dropped
below the horizon. Then she retraced her steps sorrowfully to join her
children at Ghent.
[Sidenote: OCT., 1556] FRUSTRATED WISHES]
IV.
When her uncle and aunts were gone, Christina felt that there was
nothing more to keep her at Brussels. She had already thought of
retiring to her dower city of Tortona, but the castle was occupied by a
Spanish garrison, and while the war lasted the Lombard city was hardly
a safe place. This being the case, she asked Philip's leave to take up
her residence at Vigevano, the summer palace of the Sforzas, which the
Duke had bequeathed to her, but was told that this house was required
for the Viceroy's use. After the Palatine's death she was seized with
a longing to join Dorothea, and proposed to go to Heidelberg, and then
on to Lorraine, in the hope that, now peace was signed, the French
King would allow her son to enjoy his own again. But there were more
difficulties in the way than she had anticipated.[513]
Simon Renard and the other delegates to the conference at Vaucelles
were especially charged to include the Duke of Lorraine's restoration
among their demands; but the French, while professing the utmost
friendship for both the Duchess and her son, pointed out that her
guardianship would expire in another year, and that the Regent
Vaudemont and the Guises, who were the Duke's nearest kinsmen, agreed
to his residence at the French Court. In vain Renard and Lalaing
protested at the strange kindness shown to the Duchess in detaining her
son. This only led to a long wrangle, which almost caused the rupture
of peace negotiations, and eventually no mention was made of Lorraine
in the articles of the truce.
In May Christina's alarm was aroused by an intimation from the French
Court that the King was going to Nancy to celebrate his daughter
Claude's wedding with the Duke, and occupy the capital of Lorraine.
Fortunately, Vaudemont opposed this measure, saying that as Regent he
had sworn never to give up his post until his nephew was of age, and
begged the King to allow Charles to return to Nancy and take possession
of his State before his marriage.[514] This unexpected firmness on
Vaudemont's part produced the desired effect. Henry's journey to
Lorraine was put off for a year, and at the Duchess's urgent request
the Cardinal of Lorraine obtained the King's leave to bring the boy
to meet her at the Castle of Coucy, near his own house at Péronne.
But when Philip was asked to give the Duchess permission to cross the
frontier, he made so many irksome conditions, that Henry withdrew his
promise, and the long-desired meeting was again deferred. Christina
was cruelly disappointed, and could only take comfort from Vaudemont's
assurances that before long her son would be free from control and able
to decide for himself.[515]
[Sidenote: OCT., 1556] MARY'S JEALOUSY]
Philip on his part was extremely anxious to keep the Duchess at
Brussels. As Brantôme tells us, the King not only cherished great
affection for his cousin, but relied implicitly on her tact and wisdom,
and, in compliance with his entreaties, she consented to remain at the
palace and do the honours of his Court.[516] Her popularity with the
nobles made her presence the more desirable, while the King himself
found her company far more to his taste than that of the faded and
fretful wife who awaited him in England. Every post brought bitter
reproaches and passionate prayers from the unhappy Queen, whose hopes
of her lord's return were doomed to perpetual disappointment. Already
more than a year had passed since he had left England, and there still
seemed no prospect of his return. First the peace conferences, then
the King of Bohemia's visit and the Emperor's departure, were pleaded
as excuses for these prolonged delays. When the fleet that bore the
Emperor to Spain was seen off Dover, the Admiral who visited His
Majesty on board, brought back messages to say that the King would
shortly cross the Channel. On hearing this, Mary's spirits rose, and it
was only by Philip's express desire that she refrained from going to
meet him at Dover. In October the royal stables and equerries arrived,
but Philip himself wrote that the war which had broken out in Italy
between Alva, the Viceroy of Naples, and Pope Paul IV., compelled him
to return to Brussels. Then Mary broke into a passion of rage mingled
with sobs and tears, and shut herself up in her room, refusing to see
any visitors. The dulness of the Court had become intolerable; there
were no fêtes and few audiences, and the Ambassadors with one accord
begged to be recalled. The Queen's ill-temper vented itself on all who
approached her presence, and even in public she occasionally gave way
to paroxysms of fury.[517] Suspicions of her husband's fidelity to
his marriage vows now came to increase her misery. When she heard of
Philip going on long hunting-parties with the Duchess of Lorraine, and
dancing with her at masques, she was seized with transports of rage,
and, rushing at the portrait of her husband which hung over her bed,
was with difficulty restrained from cutting it to pieces.[518]
[Sidenote: DEC., 1556] THE DUCHESS OF PARMA]
Meanwhile a rival to Christina appeared at Court in the person of
the King's half-sister Margaret, Duchess of Parma. This Princess,
the illegitimate daughter of Charles V. and Margaret Van Gheynst,
a beautiful maiden in the Countess Lalaing's service, was born at
Oudenarde in 1522, and brought up under the eye of the Archduchess
Margaret. At thirteen she was married to Alessandro de' Medici, Duke
of Florence, with whom she led a miserable life until this worthless
Prince was murdered by his cousin in 1537. Her second union, with
Ottavio Farnese, Pope Paul III.'s grandson, proved little happier.
Ottavio was an intractable boy of thirteen when he married her in
November, 1538, and the quarrels of the young couple fill pages of the
Emperor's correspondence in the archives of Simancas. After the Duke's
return from the expedition to Algiers, a reconciliation was effected,
and Margaret bore a son, who became the famous captain Alexander of
Parma. But the Farnese were always a thorn in the Emperor's side, and,
by joining with his foes at a critical moment, involved him in the
gravest disaster of his life. Now harmony was restored in the family
circle, and when the war with Paul IV. broke out, Philip secured
Ottavio's alliance by giving him the citadel of Piacenza. Margaret and
her young son came to the Netherlands to pay their respects to the King
and thank him for this mark of his favour. They arrived at Christmas,
in the depths of the severest winter that had been known for many
years. The Scheldt was frozen over at Antwerp, and the Court was busy
with winter sports, in which Philip and Christina took an active part,
playing games and sleighing in the park, and attending a masked ball
given by Count Lalaing on the ice.[519]
The Duchess of Parma was received with due honour at Court, and was
cordially welcomed by Christina, who had known her as a child. A
handsome woman of thirty-five, she resembled her Flemish mother more
than her imperial father, and bore few traces of her Habsburg origin.
She had none of Christina's distinction and refinement, while her
manners were too haughty to please the Flemish nobles. But she had a
keen eye to her own interests, and the atmosphere of deception and
intrigue in which her married life had been spent had taught her to
adapt herself to circumstances. She contrived to make herself agreeable
both to Philip and Christina, with whom most of her time was spent. The
new Venetian Ambassador, Soranzo, paid his respects to the two ladies
on his arrival, and found both of them very friendly and pleasant. The
Duchess of Lorraine, as Badoer had frequently remarked, was always
particularly cordial to the Venetian Signory, to whom her first
husband, the Duke of Milan, owed so much. At the same time the Queen
of England, anxious to show civility to her husband's family, sent Sir
Richard Shelley to give the Duchess of Parma a sisterly welcome, and
invite her to come to London.[520]
In the midst of the Christmas festivities, news reached Brussels
of a treacherous attempt of the French, under Coligny, to surprise
Douay. Fortunately the plot was discovered in time; but the truce was
broken, and every day fresh incursions were made by the French, which
naturally produced reprisals. The rupture was complete, and, in his
anxiety to secure the help of England in the coming struggle, the King
at length crossed the Channel, and joined Mary at Greenwich on the 21st
of January, 1557. Political exigencies had done more to hasten his
return than all his wife's prayers and tears, but in her joy she recked
little of this, and guns were fired and _Te Deums_ chanted throughout
the realm. Before leaving Brussels, Philip had made arrangements for
the two Duchesses to follow him in a few days. Their society, he felt,
would help to dispel the gloom of Mary's Court, and Margaret's coming
would allay any jealousy which Christina's visit might excite. Another
and more important motive for his cousin's presence in England at
this moment was his anxiety to revive the old scheme of a marriage
between the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Savoy. Mary's state of
health made her sister's marriage a matter of the highest importance,
and the new quarrel with France had put an end to the Duke's hopes in
that quarter. As both the French and Venetian Ambassadors constantly
affirmed, Emanuel Philibert was the only foreign Prince whom the
English would tolerate, and Christina herself told Vaudemont that
she was going to England, by the King's wish, to bring back Madame
Elizabeth as the Duke of Savoy's bride.[521]
[Illustration: PHILIP II. (1554)
By Jacopo da Trezzo (British Museum)]
[Illustration: MARY, QUEEN OF ENGLAND (1554)
By Jacopo da Trezzo (British Museum)]
[Illustration: MARGARET OF AUSTRIA
DUCHESS OF PARMA
By Pastorino]
[Illustration: ANTOINE PERRENOT
CARDINAL GRANVELLE
By Leone Leoni
_To face p. 412_]
[Sidenote: FEB., 1557] CHRISTINA AT WHITEHALL]
The King had a calm passage to Dover, but the ladies were less
fortunate, for an equinoctial gale sprang up when they were halfway
across the Channel.
"The Duchesses," wrote Philip's secretary, Jean de Courteville,
"had to dance without music between Dover and Calais, and the
results were such as are commonly the case with travellers
unaccustomed to the sea. The great festivities we are having
here this Lent will grieve them the less."[522]
But if the passage was disagreeable, nothing was lacking in the
kindness of their reception. The Queen sent her litter to meet them
at Dover, with chariot and hackney horses for their suite, and at
Gravesend, Lady Lennox and Lady Kildare were waiting to conduct them
in the royal barge to Whitehall. Here Philip received them at the
water-gate, and led them up the steps into the great hall, where Mary
welcomed her guests. The King and Queen who had only arrived from
Greenwich the day before rode in state through the city, with the Lord
Mayor carrying the sceptre at the head of the guilds and crafts of
London, while a salute was fired from the Tower and bells rang from all
the churches.
Both the Duchesses were lodged in the Palace of Westminster, Christina
in rooms on the ground-floor, looking on the gardens, and Margaret in
an apartment on the upper floor, commanding a view of the Thames.[523]
Soon after their arrival another visitor was brought by the Bishop
of London to see Their Majesties--an Envoy from the Czar of Muscovy,
who was lodged in Fenchurch Street, as the guest of the Company
of Muscovite Merchants. Englishmen and Spaniards, Lorrainers and
Italians, alike looked with curious eyes at this stranger from the
shores of the Polar Sea, who was clad in robes of Oriental splendour,
and whose turban glittered with gems. He brought the Queen a present
of magnificent sables from the Czar, and saluted her by bowing his
whole body down and touching the ground with his hand. In spite of his
strange clothes and barbarous language, he was a cultivated person, as
keen to see the sights of London as Christina herself. One day he dined
with the Lord Mayor in gorgeous attire, another he attended Mass at
Westminster and saw St. Edward's shrine, with the relics which had been
fortunately preserved when the Abbey was plundered.[524]
[Sidenote: APRIL, 1557] ST. GEORGE'S FEAST]
After spending a fortnight at Whitehall, Philip and Mary took their
guests to spend Easter at Greenwich. On Maundy Thursday the King and
Queen washed the feet of a number of poor beggars, and blessed the
cramp rings, which were as much prized in Spain and Flanders as in
England. Easter Day witnessed fresh balls and banquets, dog and bear
fights, bull-baiting and horse-races, after which a large hunting-party
was given in the park for the Duchess of Lorraine's amusement. On
the 22nd of April the royal party returned to Whitehall for St.
George's Feast. High Mass was celebrated in the Abbey by the Bishop
of Winchester, and all the Knights of the Garter, in their mantles of
royal blue, walked in procession round the inner court of the palace,
while the Queen and her guests looked on from a window on the garden
side. The King and Queen and all the Knights of the Order attended
vespers in the Abbey, after which the Muscovite Envoy came to take
leave of Their Majesties, and delivered a long farewell speech, which
was translated by an interpreter into English and Spanish, expressing
his hope that these mighty Sovereigns might live to see their
children's children. Six English ships were in readiness to escort the
stranger across the Northern seas, and prevent him falling into the
hands of the Norsemen, who were jealous of English interference with
the trade of Muscovy.
On Sunday the Queen gave a grand banquet, and appeared resplendent in
cloth of gold and jewels. Christina sat on her right, and Margaret,
with her little son, on the King's left hand. The next morning the
Duchess of Parma left for Italy, but Christina, at Philip's entreaty,
remained in London another ten days. She was already very popular with
the English, and made friends with Lord Arundel, Lord Pembroke, and
several other nobles and ladies at Court, while her splendid robes and
jewels, her numerous suite and fine horses, excited general admiration.
In the midst of the Court fêtes, she found time to visit several
shrines and places of interest, and, while the King was holding the
Chapter of the Garter on St. George's Day, went by water to the Tower,
and was shown its treasures and antiquities. But in one respect her
visit proved a failure. Mary refused to entertain any idea of the Savoy
marriage, and would not even allow Christina a glimpse of Princess
Elizabeth, who was kept at Hatfield in strict seclusion during her
visit. What was worse, the Duchess's presence revived all the Queen's
jealousy, and, in spite of the King's protests, Christina found it
prudent to hasten her departure. All manner of stories about Mary's
dislike of the Duchess found their way to the French Court, and King
Henry had many jokes with Soranzo on the subject, and told him he heard
that the Queen flew into a frantic passion when the King led out his
cousin to dance at Greenwich.[525]
Philip did his best to atone for his wife's ill-humour, and, when
Christina expressed a wish to visit Ghent on her return, wrote to ask
the Duke of Savoy to see that she and her daughters were well lodged
and entertained in the old Prinzenhof. On the 11th of May the Duchess
wrote a formal letter of thanks to the Queen from Dover, acknowledging
the attentions which she had received from Her Majesty and all her
subjects, and on the 8th of June she sent her a second letter from
Ghent, on behalf of the widow and daughter of Sir Jacques de Granado,
a Brabant gentleman who had been Equerry to Henry VIII. and Edward
VI., and had met his death by accident during the Duchess's visit.
As he rode into the privy garden at Whitehall before the Queen's
chariot, his bridle broke, the horse shied violently, and dashed his
rider's head against the wall. Sir Jacques was killed on the spot, and
buried at St. Dunstan's in the East two days afterwards with a great
display of torches and escutcheons. On Christina's recommendation, the
Queen granted a pension of £50 to the widow, and saw that she and her
children were amply provided for.[526]
[Sidenote: JUNE, 1557] THE VICTORY OF ST. QUENTIN]
From Ghent the Duchess went to meet her sister Dorothea at Jülich, the
Court of the Duke of Cleves and the Archduchess Maria. The reformed
faith was now firmly established in the Palatinate, and Dorothea's
well-known Lutheran leanings were a great source of annoyance to her
own family. "The Electress Dorothea," wrote Badoer from Brussels in
1557, "is known to be a Lutheran and against the Emperor, and is as
much hated here as her sister Christina is beloved." From his retreat
at St. Yuste, Charles begged Philip to invite Dorothea to settle at
Brussels, "lest one of our own blood should openly forsake the faith."
When the Princess declined this proposal, Philip and Arras desired
Christina to use her influence to bring her sister to a better mind.
But Dorothea resisted all these attempts obstinately, and went back to
Neuburg to live among her husband's kindred and worship God in her own
way.[527]
On the 1st of June England declared war against France, and Philip
returned to Brussels, having accomplished the object of his journey.
Here he was joined by the Duchess of Lorraine and the Count of
Vaudemont, who came to Flanders to try and reopen peace negotiations.
But the moment, as Arras told him, was singularly inopportune, since
Philip was armed to the teeth and had England at his back. On the 11th
of August the King left Brussels for the camp before St. Quentin,
where he arrived just too late to claim a share in the brilliant
victory gained by the Duke of Savoy and Egmont over the French on St.
Lawrence's Day. The Constable Montmorency, the Marshal St. André,
Admiral Coligny, and the Rhinegrave, were among the prisoners made on
this memorable day, together with all the guns and fifty-six colours.
The news of this decisive victory was celebrated with great joy both
in Brussels and across the Channel. _Te Deum_ was sung in St. Paul's,
and the loyal citizens of London lighted bonfires and sat up drinking
through the livelong night; while in Paris the King and Queen went to
Notre Dame in sackcloth, and Henry II. carried the Crown of Thorns
in procession from the Sainte Chapelle. In the lonely monastery far
away on the heights of Estremadura, the news sent a thrill to the
great Emperor's heart, and he asked eagerly in what route his son
was marching on Paris. Had Philip followed this course, had he, in
Suriano's words, "taken Fortune at the flood," he might have brought
the campaign to a triumphant close. But, with characteristic timidity,
he confined himself to capturing St. Quentin, and then returned to
Brussels, throwing away such an opportunity as comes but once a
lifetime.[528]
FOOTNOTES:
[481] Henne, x. 13.
[482] Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquis of Salisbury, i. 110;
Lodge, "Illustrations," i. 183.
[483] Voigt, ii. 207.
[484] Calendar of State Papers, Edward VI., Foreign, 282.
[485] "Travail and Life of Sir T. Hoby," 85; Calendar of State Papers,
Edward VI., Foreign, 288.
[486] Calendar of State Papers, Mary, Foreign, 8; T. Hoby, 102.
[487] Granvelle, iv. 113, 119.
[488] Mignet, "Retraite de Charles V.," 69, 70.
[489] M. Haile, "Life of Reginald Pole," 432.
[490] Henne, x. 132; F. Juste, "Marie de Hongrie," 204.
[491] Granvelle, iv. 307; Venetian Transcript, Record Office, 99.
[492] Gachard, iv. 19.
[493] Ashmole, "The Order of the Garter," 383.
[494] Machyn, "Diary," 66, 79, 81.
[495] Granvelle, iv. 341; F. de Noailles, "Ambassades," v. 42.
[496] Calendar of State Papers, Mary, Foreign, 150.
[497] Machyn, 82, 84.
[498] Record Office Manuscripts; State Papers, Foreign, vi. 351 (see
Appendix).
[499] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1, 69; Calendar of State Papers, Mary,
Foreign 165; J. W. Burgon, "Life of Sir Thomas Gresham," i. 168.
[500] Record Office Manuscripts, Venetian Transcripts, 1555, No. 99.
[501] Noailles, v. 74, 80.; Venetian Calendar, vi. 1, 151.
[502] Noailles, v. 191; Venetian Calendar, vi. 1, 211; P. Friedmann,
"Les Dépêches de Michieli," 42.
[503] Calendar of State Papers, Mary, Foreign, 189.
[504] Granvelle, iv. 469.
[505] Venetian Calendar, vi. 603.
[506] L. Haüsser, i. 630.
[507] Venetian Calendar, vi. 197.
[508] De Reiffenberg, "Histoire de la Toison d'Or," 451.
[509] G. Ribier, "Lettres et Mémoires d'État," ii. 634; T. Juste, 94;
Venetian Calendar, vi. 369.
[510] Venetian Calendar, vi. 421, 443, 457; T. Juste, 101; Gachard,
"Retraite," etc., i. 41.
[511] Lanz, iii. 709; Venetian Calendar, vi. 537.
[512] Venetian Despatches, 90 (Record Office).
[513] Venetian Calendar, vi. 197, 362.
[514] Granvelle, iv. 574, 577.
[515] _Ibid._, iv. 701.
[516] Brantôme, xii. 114.
[517] P. Friedmann, 254-267; Noailles, v. 355, 362.
[518] Friedmann, 56; Noailles, "Affaires Étrangères: Angleterre," xix.
(Bibliothèque Nationale).
[519] Venetian Calendar, vi. 863.
[520] _Ibid._, vi. 914, 932.
[521] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1015, 1080.
[522] Kervyn de Lettenhove, "Relations des Pays-Bas avec l'Angleterre,"
i. 67.
[523] Gachard, iv. 25.
[524] Machyn, 130-134.
[525] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1154; Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 68.
[526] Machyn, 135, 136; Calendar of State Papers, Mary, Foreign, 305,
314.
[527] Granvelle, v. 86-113.
[528] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1287; Machyn, 147; Gachard, "Retraite,"
etc., 176.