With regard to Parma and Mayenne, in point of generalship there is not

much to choose between them, but it must be admitted that the latter is

a most unlucky commander, while the former is a favourite of fortune,

as is proved by his long list of successes in the Netherlands, and in

this respect he may fairly be considered a match for the King. Their

united infantry, as report goes, amounts to 17,000, while their cavalry

is a little under 5,000 strong. Among their foot the Spaniards and

Walloons are considered the best, and these, with the addition of some

Italian companies, are not much over 4,000 strong. Next to these come

the Germans; the French and Lorrainers are the worst.

The King and Parma are now wholly engaged in concocting devices against

each other, the object being to inflict the maximum of damage with the

minimum of loss to their own troops. To enable his men to resist the

charge of the French cavalry, Parma encloses his infantry with a fence

formed of ropes of the strongest and thickest description, which are

supported by stout stakes at regular intervals. Immediately behind the

ropes he posts his musketeers, who can thus fire on the French horse

in perfect security. All the musketeers have a store of double bullets

fastened together with copper wire, which will be very effective

against horses. The cannon also are loaded with chain-shot, and masked

batteries are planted in good positions, with troops drawn up in front

so as to conceal them from the enemy; at the critical moment they

will open fire, and pour a withering volley among the horses of their

assailants.

Meanwhile the King is not idle. Every day he takes counsel with his

craftiest and wisest captains, to see if they cannot devise a new mode

of attack. Some weapon is to be invented or some wonderful manœuvre to

be executed, which is to discomfit the enemy.

On each side, therefore, is a distinguished general and a powerful

army. The King’s forces are supposed to be somewhat larger than

Parma’s, and he has also a decided superiority in the composition of

his troops, for, with a few exceptions, they are all men of the same

nation and his own subjects, whereas Parma’s forces have been recruited

from various nations, and are to a large extent made up of raw levies,

on whom not much reliance can be placed. Again, the King has the great

advantage of fighting on his own ground, that is to say, on ground

which he has previously chosen and fortified, while Parma, by the

circumstances of his position, is compelled to attack at a disadvantage.

Such are the premises; whether they are sufficient for forming an

opinion as to what the result of a battle would be, is more than I can

say. They are valuable only in the same sense as the warnings of a

sunset are valuable in enabling us to guess what weather we shall have

to-morrow. Besides, it is mere guessing, and no more; victory does not

depend on scythed chariots, or horses, or on the number of soldiers, or

the abundance of munitions, but solely on the will of God.

If I have lingered longer over this subject than has been agreeable, I

trust I may be pardoned. That God may long preserve your Majesty is the

prayer of your most humble servant.

Mantes, August 27, 1590.[269]

APPENDIX.

CONTENTS OF APPENDIX.

PAGE

I. SKETCH OF HUNGARIAN HISTORY 267

II. ITINERARIES 284

III. EDITIONS 288

IV. ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS:—

i. Patent of Legitimation of Ogier Ghiselin 292

ii. Patent of Knighthood of Ogier de Busbecq 295

iii. Purchase Deed of the Seigneurie de Bousbecque 300

iv. Copy of the Sauve-garde 303

v. Pardon of Daniel de Croix for the homicide of

Charlot Desrumaulx 305

vi. Pardon of Jehan Dael for the homicide of Guillibert

du Mortier 309

I.

_SKETCH OF HUNGARIAN HISTORY DURING THE REIGN OF SOLYMAN._

IN order that the reader may be able to appreciate the circumstances

under which Busbecq’s Turkish letters were written, and to understand

many of the allusions they contain, it is necessary that he should have

the power of referring easily to the leading events of Hungarian and

Transylvanian history during the reign of Solyman. For Busbecq’s French

letters, Motley’s ‘Dutch Republic’ and ‘United Netherlands’ may be

consulted, but no such works in English upon Hungarian history exist.

The narratives of Robertson and Creasy are meagre in this respect, and

contain only scattered and incidental notices of Hungarian events;

while Von Hammer, and the Austrian and Turkish histories in Heeren’s

Series, valuable as they are, have not been translated into English,

and besides are not easily accessible. None of these works give a

connected narrative of Hungarian affairs, the notices of which are

mixed up with the general Turkish and Austrian history, and have to be

picked out from it with much time and trouble. It is hoped that this

sketch will to some extent supply the deficiency, and furnish a clue to

the intricate maze of Hungarian politics. Some curious facts have been

gleaned from Katona’s ‘Critical History of Hungary,’ a rare book, which

is mostly composed of original documents, including numerous letters

written by Busbecq’s colleague, Verantius, after he had returned from

his embassy, and long extracts from Busbecq’s own letters.

During the sixteenth century Hungary formed the Debatable Land between

Christendom and Islam. The picture which the ‘Lay of the Last Minstrel’

and the ‘Monastery’ give of the condition of the English and Scottish

border, will suggest a faint notion of the state of things all along

the frontier between the Turkish and the Christian dominions. Upon both

sides continual forays were made, villages were plundered and burnt,

castles surprised, cattle driven off, and, worst of all, prisoners

were carried away into hopeless slavery.[270] Every few years these

desultory hostilities broke out into open war, and, notwithstanding

occasional successes of Ferdinand’s party, the tide of Turkish invasion

rose steadily higher and higher. In addition, the unfortunate country

was distracted by civil war, waged with varying success between

Ferdinand and the House of Zapolya, the rivals for the throne, while

the magnates of the kingdom went over from one side to the other,

according as they thought they could thereby gain any advantage for

themselves.

Solyman, the greatest Sovereign of the House of Othman, was born in

1494, and succeeded his father, Selim I., in September 1520. The first

year of his reign was marked by a campaign against Hungary, and the

fall of Belgrade,[271] the bulwark of that kingdom. Louis, the King

of Hungary and Bohemia, was then a minor, and, in the party strife of

the different factions of the nobility, the defence of the country was

neglected. For several years Solyman’s attention was diverted to other

enterprises, of which the most famous was the siege and capture of

Rhodes in 1522, but in 1526 he again invaded Hungary. On August 29,

the anniversary of the capture of Belgrade, he defeated King Louis

with great slaughter at Mohacz,[272] the King himself perishing in the

flight, and then advanced on Buda, which surrendered on September 10.

Thence he crossed to Pesth, where he received the Hungarian nobles,

and, after promising them to make John Zapolya, Count of Zips and

Voivode or Viceroy of Transylvania, King of Hungary, returned laden

with booty to Constantinople.

Ferdinand, the brother of Charles V. and his successor as Emperor, and

Zapolya were rivals for the crown of St. Stephen. The first relied

upon family compacts, and upon his connection by marriage with King

Louis.[273] Zapolya, on the other hand, was supported by a strong party

among the nobles, who disliked Ferdinand as a foreigner. Zapolya’s

partisans took the initiative, and convened a diet at Tokay, at which

he was elected King, and he was duly crowned at Stuhlweissenburg by

the Archbishop of Gran. Mary, however, the widowed Queen, with the

Palatine Bathory, assembled another diet at Presburg, which declared

Zapolya’s election void on the ground that the diet of Tokay had not

been summoned by the Palatine, and elected Ferdinand King, who, after

defeating his rival at Tokay in 1527, and near Kaschau in the following

year, drove him out of the country. Zapolya then threw himself on

Solyman’s protection, offering to hold Hungary and Transylvania as his

tributary, and a treaty of alliance was signed between them in

February 1528. In the following year Solyman invaded Hungary for the

third time, and took Buda on September 9. A few days afterwards Zapolya

was again installed on the throne by the first lieutenant of the Aga

of the Janissaries, and did homage for his kingdom. Leaving a Turkish

governor in Buda, the Sultan then marched on Vienna, and besieged it

on the 27th, but was obliged to abandon the siege on October 16, in

consequence of the lateness of the season and the gallant resistance of

the garrison and inhabitants.[274]

In the winter of 1530 Ferdinand’s troops besieged Buda unsuccessfully.

In the campaign of 1532 Charles V. came with the forces of the Empire

to the assistance of his brother, and Styria and Austria were the seat

of war. The Sultan was detained for three weeks before the little town

of Güns by the gallantry of the commander Jurischitz, who at last

surrendered on honourable terms.[275] The delay, however, prevented

the Sultan from accomplishing anything considerable, though his army

ravaged Styria and Austria, and penetrated as far as Gratz and Linz.

In June 1533 peace was concluded between Ferdinand and Solyman on the

basis of Ferdinand’s retaining what he actually held in Hungary, the

Sultan reserving to himself the ratification of any arrangements that

Ferdinand and Zapolya might make between themselves.

For some years afterwards Solyman’s attention was devoted to his wars

with Persia, and no invasion of Hungary on a large scale occurred;

but, notwithstanding the peace, the Pashas of Bosnia and the adjoining

districts continued their inroads. To check these incursions Ferdinand,

in 1537, assembled at Kaproncza, on the Drave, an army of 16,000 foot

and 8,000 horse, under the supreme command of Katzianer. He advanced on

Essek, intending to besiege it, but was surrounded by clouds of light

cavalry, who cut off his supplies and forced him to retreat. After

losing his siege-guns at the passage of the Vouka, he encountered the

enemy on December 1, and, after an unsuccessful engagement, fled in the

night with some of the other generals. The troops that were left were

cut to pieces the next day with their gallant commander, Lodron.[276]

Katzianer was accused of causing the disaster by his cowardice, and

was thrown into prison at Vienna. He escaped by bribing his gaolers,

and fled to one of his castles in Croatia, where he entered into

negotiations with the Turks, promising to betray the strong fortress

of Kosthanitza. However, his treasonable designs were cut short; Count

Nicholas Zriny, during an interview with him at one of his castles,

treacherously stabbed him, and despatched him with the assistance of

his servants. His body was flung from a window into the castle ditch,

and his head was sent to Vienna.

In 1538, under the mediation of Charles V., the treaty of Gross Wardein

was concluded between Zapolya and Ferdinand. Zapolya was to retain

the title of King during his life with Transylvania and the part of

Hungary which was then in his actual possession, on his death his male

issue was to succeed to Transylvania only, and by the same treaty both

parties united in a league for mutual defence against the Turks.

Zapolya had then neither wife nor child; but he immediately afterwards

married Isabella, the King of Poland’s daughter, and, dying in July

1540, left by her a son—John Sigismund—who was born a fortnight before

his father’s death.

Ferdinand then claimed that, according to the terms of the treaty, he

should be placed in possession of the whole of Hungary; but Isabella,

as guardian of her infant son, and the party opposed to Ferdinand,

under the leadership of Martinuzzi, Bishop of Gross Wardein, refused

to adhere to the treaty, caused the infant to be crowned, and appealed

to the Sultan for protection. Ferdinand then entered the country, and

besieged Buda, which was relieved by the Pasha of Belgrade.

Solyman again invaded Hungary in 1541. On August 29 his troops

occupied the gates of Buda, and he annexed that city to his dominions,

making it the seat of a Pashalic, and placing a strong garrison in

it. He declared, however, that he held it merely in trust for John

Sigismund during his minority, and in the meantime appointed the

latter Sanjak-bey of Transylvania, under the regency of Martinuzzi and

Petrovich. The House of Zapolya held, in addition to Transylvania, most

of the country to the north as far as the river Theiss.

In 1543 Solyman again invaded Hungary, and took the cities of Gran and

Stuhlweissenburg, or Alba Regia, the former being the primatial see

of Hungary, and the latter the burial-place of her Kings. At the end

of 1544, Jerome Adorno, provost of Erlau, was sent by Ferdinand as

internuncio to Solyman, with John Maria Malvezzi, a member of a noble

family of Bologna, as secretary; but he died shortly after his arrival

at Adrianople, in March 1545. Malvezzi, aided by Nicholas Sicco, who

was sent by Ferdinand as a new ambassador, and Veltwick, the ambassador

of Charles V., then undertook the management of the negotiations,

and concluded in November an armistice for eighteen months between

Solyman on the one side, and Ferdinand and Charles on the other.[277]

This was followed, in June 1547, by a peace for five years, in which

the Emperor, the Pope, France, and Venice were included, on the

basis of _uti possidetis_, Ferdinand paying the Sultan 30,000 ducats

a year, part of which sum was an equivalent for the territories of

some of the nobles, who had formerly adhered to the Turkish side, and

had afterwards gone over to Ferdinand, and part was termed by him a

present, but was more justly considered by the Turks as tribute for the

portion of Hungary which still remained in his possession.

The Sultan’s motive for concluding this treaty was his desire to turn

his arms against Persia. Elkass Mirza, a brother of Shah Tahmasp, the

reigning monarch, had taken refuge at his court in 1547,[278] and in

1548 Solyman led his troops into Persia, and obtained considerable

successes. In the following year Elkass was captured by his brother in

an expedition he had undertaken, and was confined in a fortress for the

rest of his life.

In July 1551, at Martinuzzi’s instigation, Isabella ceded Transylvania

and the part of Hungary that remained in her hands to Ferdinand, in

exchange for the towns of Ratibor and Oppeln in Silesia, and the

Austrian troops, under the command of the Spaniard Castaldo, took

possession of these territories.[279] When Solyman heard this news,

he summoned Malvezzi before him, who pledged his life that there was

no ground for this report; but, as he could not give satisfactory

explanations, and fell back on the insufficiency of his instructions,

he was thrown into prison in the Black Tower of the Castle of Anatolia

on the Bosphorus,[280] the Sultan excusing this violation of

international law by the argument that an ambassador was a hostage for

the good faith of his master, and should suffer for any breach of it.

From this incident it appears that the post of ambassador at the Porte

was by no means unattended with danger.

Ferdinand rewarded Martinuzzi by procuring for him a Cardinal’s

hat, and appointing him Archbishop of Gran. Not content with these

dignities, that wily politician made overtures to the Turks, with the

object of gaining the sovereignty of Transylvania and Hungary for

himself; but he was assassinated by Castaldo’s officers acting under

Ferdinand’s orders, or, at any rate, with his connivance, at Alvincz,

December 18, 1551.

In 1552 the Turks recommenced their attacks on Hungary, which were

attended with almost uniform success. In February they gained a victory

at Szegedin; in April, Wessprim was taken by Ali, the Pasha of Buda;

and in July Temeswar fell. Its capture was followed by the loss of

the rest of the Banat. On August 11, Ali Pasha defeated an army of

Ferdinand’s at Fülek, to the north of Buda, Sforzia Pallavicini was

taken prisoner, and Sbardellatus Dudich, the Bishop of Waitzen, whom

Busbecq calls by mistake the Bishop of Fünfkirchen, was killed.[281]

Erlau, however, was besieged by Ali unsuccessfully.

In April 1552, Ferdinand wrote to Roostem, the Grand Vizier, asking

for Malvezzi’s release, and for a safe conduct for two more envoys.

In consequence, Malvezzi was removed to the Seven Towers, and his

allowance was increased; but he was still kept in close confinement.

Fortunately for Ferdinand at this critical juncture, a Persian

invasion and the Sultan’s domestic troubles created a diversion in his

favour. In 1553 the Sultan, on account of the mutinous disposition of

the army, which had been sent to defend Armenia against the Persians,

was obliged to take command of it in person. The most notable event

of the campaign was the tragical end of Mustapha, Solyman’s eldest

and most promising son. The story of his cruel murder is narrated

in pathetic words by our author in his first letter,[282] though he

is mistaken in placing the scene of it near Amasia, as Eregli, in

Karamania, where it really happened, is about 250 miles from that

city. To appease the indignation of the soldiery at the death of

their favourite, the Grand Vizier Roostem was deposed, and his office

conferred on Achmet Pasha. Busbecq, during his visit to Amasia, in

1555, witnessed the conclusion of peace between the Sultan and the Shah.

The Persian war relieved for a time the pressure on Hungary. Solyman

granted a six months’ armistice, and Francis Zay and Antony Wranczy

or Verantius, then Bishop of Fünfkirchen, and afterwards Bishop of

Erlau, were sent as envoys to Constantinople.[283] They arrived in

August. They were instructed to offer a tribute of 150,000 ducats for

Hungary Proper, and 40,000 for Upper Hungary and Transylvania. The

Viziers, however, told them that the abandonment of all claims to

Transylvania was an indispensable preliminary to opening negotiations.

Malvezzi was accordingly released, and sent to Vienna to receive

further instructions from Ferdinand; and it was arranged that the peace

should be prolonged for five years, and that on account of the loss

of territory Ferdinand had sustained in Hungary the annual present or

tribute should be reduced to 15,000 ducats. The peace was not to be

ratified till Malvezzi’s return, but the truce was prolonged in the

meanwhile.

In May, 1554, Malvezzi was ordered to return, but he was prevented

by illness, and Busbecq was sent in his stead.[284] He arrived at

Constantinople on January 20, 1555, and proceeded in March, with

Verantius and Zay, to the Sultan’s headquarters at Amasia. They

brought him a present of gilded cups, and 10,000 ducats as tribute for

Transylvania. They complained of the numerous breaches of the armistice

on the part of the Turks, but, although they promised 80,000 ducats to

the Sultan and large sums to the chief viziers, they could only obtain

an extension of the armistice for six months, and a letter from Solyman

to Ferdinand, with which Busbecq was sent to Vienna.

On September 28, 1555, Achmet was executed, and Roostem reappointed

Grand Vizier.[285]

Notwithstanding the truce of Amasia, guerilla raids on both sides

continued all along the Hungarian frontiers. To check the incursions

of the Heydons, Touighoun, the Pasha of Buda,[286] attacked and took

Babocsa; and Ali, his successor, the victor of Fülek, with the same

object, commenced the siege of Szigeth, on May 24, 1556, and assaulted

the place a month later, but was repulsed with heavy loss. In the

meantime the Palatine Nadasty had besieged Babocsa, and Ali hastened

with a detachment to relieve it, but was defeated with great loss on

the river Rinya (July 25). Babocsa was then abandoned by the Turks, and

fell into the hands of the Hungarians, who burnt it, and blew up the

citadel. Ali resumed the siege of Szigeth, but was so weakened by his

defeat, that he was obliged to raise it, retreating to Buda, where he

died soon afterwards.[287] The fall of Szigeth was thus postponed for

ten years, when it was destined to be associated with the termination

of a more glorious career, and the extinction of a more famous

name.[288]

Meanwhile Transylvania had again passed into the possession of

Isabella and her son. She had at first gone to the Silesian duchies,

which Ferdinand had given in exchange for Transylvania; but she

was dissatisfied with them, and returned to her brother’s court in

Poland, where she entered into correspondence with her partisans in

Transylvania. The current of feeling there ran strongly in her favour.

The Spaniard, Castaldo, Ferdinand’s governor, was ignorant of the

national laws and usages. His troops were left unpaid, and supported

themselves by plundering the country. At last one corps after another

mutinied for their pay, and marched out of Transylvania; and Castaldo

himself, unable to check the dissolution of his army, withdrew to

Vienna. For a time anarchy prevailed in Transylvania; but in June,

1556, the inhabitants resolved to recall Isabella and her son. The

envoys found her at Lemberg, and invited her to return. The Voivodes of

Moldavia and Wallachia entered Hungary to protect her passage, and on

October 22 she and her son entered Klausenburg in triumph.[289]

Meanwhile Bebek, the representative of Queen Isabella, was using every

means in his power to thwart the efforts of Busbecq and his colleagues.

The latter returned home in August, 1557. Verantius was rewarded with

the bishopric of Erlau. As far back as June, 1555, allusions to the

prospect of his appointment may be found, and the see had been kept

vacant for him for more than a year before his actual translation in

November, 1557. His office was no sinecure. He was perpetually occupied

in providing for the defence of his diocese, in writing to the Pasha of

Buda to remonstrate against the continual invasions of the neighbouring

Sanjak-beys, and in counterworking the intrigues of Zapolya’s party.

His remaining time and energies were devoted to attempts to check the

spread of Lutheranism in his diocese. It may be remarked here that John

Sigismund was much assisted by his patronage of Lutheranism. His court

was the refuge of many Lutheran, and even of Socinian, teachers. An

anecdote Verantius gives in one of his letters will show what a hold

Lutheranism had obtained in parts of Hungary. When a fire, supposed to

be the work of an incendiary, broke out in the monastery of Jaszbereny,

most of the inhabitants of the town refused to help to extinguish

it, declaring that they would rather the Turks had the monastery

than the monks. Zay, the other ambassador, was appointed Governor of

Kaschau.[290]

In 1558 the fortress of Tata, near Komorn, eight miles from the

right bank of the Danube, was surprised by Hamza, Sanjak-bey of

Stuhlweissenburg.

Throughout the negotiations the Sultan insisted on the cession of

Szigeth, but was induced in the winter of 1557 to grant a fresh

armistice for seven months. In 1559 Ferdinand sent by Albert de

Wyss[291] four projects for a treaty, the first of which demanded the

restoration of Tata and Fülek, but the last omitted these conditions.

The last was presented by Busbecq in the camp at Scutari to Solyman,

but was not accepted by him; and the Sultan, on his return to

Constantinople, placed Busbecq in a sort of confinement in his house.

In the beginning of 1559 the health of Queen Isabella began to fail,

and Melchior Balassa, a great Transylvanian noble, wrote to Ferdinand

proposing, on her death, to place Transylvania in his hands. This

letter was intercepted, and sent to Isabella, who, having such a

proof of the treachery of one of her most trusted adherents, thought

it advisable to open negotiations with Ferdinand herself, and, with

the Sultan’s approval, did so through her brother the King of Poland.

It was proposed that one of Ferdinand’s daughters should marry John

Sigismund, and that the latter should have Transylvania and Lower

Hungary (the north-eastern part of Hungary, between Poland and

Transylvania), but should abandon the title of King. These negotiations

were broken off by her death, which took place at Karlsburg in

September, and an attempt in the following year to renew them also came

to nothing, as John Sigismund refused to renounce the title of King.

In the winter of 1561 Andrew Bathory persuaded his brother Nicholas

and Melchior Balassa to go over to Ferdinand’s side.[292] As soon as

Ferdinand had recovered the town of Munkats, Balassa was to receive

it for his life, with the right of maintaining a certain number

of soldiers at Ferdinand’s expense, and, in return, to give up to

Ferdinand various towns immediately to the north of Transylvania

Proper, which were his possession.

Roostem died in July 1561, and was succeeded by Ali, who proved much

more pliant in his negotiations with Busbecq, and the latter at

last succeeded in obtaining a peace for eight years. The principal

stipulations of the treaty were as follows:[293]

1. Ferdinand to pay an annual tribute of 30,000 ducats, and also the

arrears due in respect of the last two years.

2. The Sultan engaged not to attack Ferdinand either directly, or by

furnishing assistance to John Sigismund. He also undertook that John

Sigismund should respect the territories of Ferdinand.

3. Melchior Balassa and Nicholas Bathory, and others in a similar

position, who had returned to their allegiance to Ferdinand, to be

included in the peace with their property and lordships, and to be the

vassals of Ferdinand and John Sigismund conjointly.

4. If any of Ferdinand’s subjects had been expelled from his property

by the adherents of John Sigismund, or _vice versâ_, no suits or

proceedings to recover such property to be taken during the peace.

5. If new and otherwise irreconcilable differences should arise

between the contracting parties with regard to the limits of their

jurisdiction, as a provisional arrangement the _de facto_ subjects of

each party at the commencement of the peace to remain so during its

continuance, and, in particular, certain villages near the Danube and

the fortress of Tata, some of which were in Ferdinand’s and some in the

Sultan’s possession, to remain respectively as they were, and those in

Ferdinand’s possession not to be molested by the garrison of Tata.

6. Any Turkish nobles who were in the power of any of Ferdinand’s

officers, either as fugitives or otherwise, to be released without

ransom.

7. Runaway slaves with any property they might have stolen to be

mutually restored.

8. Ferdinand’s officers to be allowed to fortify and provision castles,

towns, and villages on the borders of Hungary within their own

territories.

9. Disputes about boundaries or the like between the subjects of the

two parties to be settled by arbitration, and the persons at fault

punished as truce-breakers.

10. The treaty to be in force for eight years, and to be binding

upon all the officers and subjects on both sides, particularly the

Voivodes of Moldavia and Wallachia, and on John Sigismund, and none of

Ferdinand’s subjects or their property to be molested or injured in any

way. Any property taken contrary to this stipulation to be restored to

its owners, and any person taken prisoner to be released uninjured.

11. Ambassadors and envoys to be granted full permission to travel in

the Sultan’s dominions, with liberty of ingress and egress to and from

his court, and to be supplied with interpreters.

On the arrival of Busbecq at Frankfort with Ibrahim, the first dragoman

of the Porte, important differences were found to exist between the

Turkish and Latin texts of the treaty. The former only included the

barons who had already returned to their allegiance to Ferdinand, and

not those who might afterwards do so; it stipulated for the extradition

of refugees, as well as that of brigands and rebels, and included

the Voivodes of Moldavia and Wallachia. The Emperor demanded that

these points should be corrected; but his demands seem to have been

ineffectual, and the Turkish incursions on the Hungarian frontier

continued.

Ferdinand died on July 25, 1564, and was succeeded as Emperor by his

son Maximilian, who had been elected King of Hungary and Bohemia in

his father’s lifetime. Fighting still went on between him and John

Sigismund on the frontiers of Transylvania. Szathmar was taken by the

latter, and Tokay[294] and Serencs by the former. The Grand Vizier

Ali, who was inclined to peace, died in July 1565, and was succeeded

by the more warlike Mehemet Sokolli. During 1565, the Sultan was

fully occupied with the siege of Malta, but in the beginning of the

following year war was declared against Hungary, Albert de Wyss, who

had succeeded Busbecq as ambassador, was thrown into prison, and on May

1 Solyman started from Constantinople on his last campaign. His age and

infirmities obliged him to quit the saddle for a carriage.

On June 29 he received John Sigismund at Semlin, and intended to

march on Erlau, but, hearing that Count Nicholas Zriny, the commander

at Szigeth, had surprised and killed the Sanjak-bey of Tirhala,

he resolved to make Szigeth the first object of attack. The siege

commenced on August 5. Two furious assaults on the 26th and 29th were

repulsed with great slaughter. On September 8, Zriny, finding he could

hold out no longer, set the fortress on fire, sallied forth, sword in

hand, at the head of the garrison, and met a soldier’s death. The Turks

poured into the citadel, intent on murder and plunder; but the fire

reached the powder-magazine, which blew up, burying in the ruins more

than three thousand men. Solyman did not live to witness his triumph.

His health had long been failing, and he died on the night of the 5th

or 6th of September. His death was concealed by the Grand Vizier for

three weeks, to give his successor, Selim, time to reach Constantinople

from Kutaiah.

The death of Solyman seems to form a fitting termination to this

sketch. With the exception of his successor, Selim, he is the last

survivor of the personages who figure prominently in Busbecq’s pages.

The Emperor Ferdinand, the Grand Viziers Achmet, Roostem, and Ali, and

the unfortunate Bajazet, have passed away. The greater part of Hungary

and Transylvania continued subject to the successors of Solyman, either

immediately or as a vassal State, till near the close of the following

century. In 1683 Vienna was once more besieged by the Turks, under the

Grand Vizier Kara Mustapha, but was relieved by John Sobieski. The

reaction from this supreme effort was fatal to the Turkish dominion in

Hungary. In 1686 Buda was recaptured by Charles of Lorraine, and by

the Peace of Carlowitz, concluded in 1698, the whole of Hungary and

Transylvania was ceded to the Emperor Leopold.

II.

_ITINERARIES._

IN describing his first Turkish letter as an ‘iter,’ or itinerary,

Busbecq places it under a class of composition of which there are

several examples still extant. In Busbecq’s days it was a common

practice for scholars to write an account in Latin verse of any journey

they might happen to make. These itineraries are generally extremely

amusing, the writers being men of keen observation, with a great sense

of humour, and condescending to notice those trifles which are passed

over by the historian.

As an example, Nathan Chytræus gives an account of his trip to England

during the Long Vacation of the University of Paris. He lands at Rye,

and, going to an inn, eats his first English dinner, which he hugely

enjoys, noticing at the same time the handsome faces and dignified

bearing of the waitresses. On his way to London he is struck with the

comfortable appearance of the country seats, and specially with the

belts of laurel with which they were surrounded. As he passes over

London Bridge he is delighted with the handsome shops full of every

kind of merchandise which lined its sides. He visits Westminster Abbey,

and wonders at not finding the tomb of Dr. Linacre, the celebrated

physician, who, though a canon of St. Peter’s, Westminster, was buried

at St. Paul’s. He goes eastward, and visits the Tower of London,

noticing the menagerie, and specially two lions at the entrance of the

Tower. Of the collection of arms he says that a visitor would imagine

it to be the greatest in the world if he had not seen the Arsenal at

Venice. He has a word for Southwark across the river, telling us that

it was covered with small houses, and the home of numerous dogs and

bears, which were kept for baiting. He visits Hampton Court, Nonsuch

Park,[295] and Windsor; at the last place Elizabeth was staying, with

all her court. The Queen is duly complimented on her learning, but he

can spare a couple of lines also for the rabbits which then, as now,

were scampering fearlessly about the Park:

Quin et in effossis habitare cuniculus antris

Assuetus prodire solet camposque vagari.

It will be seen that the itinerary of Nathan Chytræus is written very

much in Busbecq’s style, while there are other itineraries which

require notice as taking us over nearly the same ground as our author.

Among the companions of Veltwick (vol. i. page 79), when he went as

Ambassador to Constantinople, was Hugo Favolius, who has left us an

account of the expedition in Latin hexameters. Having ingeniously

introduced the date 1545 into his verses, he tells us that was the year—

Cum decus imperii Romani, Carolus ingens,

Pertæsus belli tandem, metuensque tumultus

Hellespontiacis qui forte fremebat in oris,

Principiis prudens sic obvius ire parabat.

Ergo a consiliis regi fidissimus unus

Deligitur sermone potens Veldvicius heros,

Quicum partitus curarum ingentia dudum

Pondera tractandas rerum committit habenas;

Atque illum ad celebrem Byzanti destinat urbem,

Præstanti eloquio et placido sermone Tyranni

In melius si forte queat convertere mentem.

After this humiliating confession of the power of the Turk, Favolius

tells us how they sailed across the Gulf of Venice and landed at

Ragusa. After a short rest the party travelled over the mountains to

Sophia, and thence to Constantinople. In returning Veltwick made the

journey to Vienna by land, taking, no doubt, the same route as was

afterwards traversed by Busbecq, while Hugo Favolius and some of the

younger members of the party obtained leave to go back to Venice by sea.

It seems strange that in a piece of this kind the writer should so

frankly admit the superiority of the Turkish power; it would appear to

be but an ill compliment to the sovereigns from whom Favolius must have

looked for advancement. In order, however, to gauge the real amount of

terror which the Turks inspired it is necessary to take the account of

P. Rubigal, the Hungarian, who was attached to an embassy sent shortly

after the death of John Zapolya[296] by the leading nobles of his

party to convey their tribute to Solyman. Rubigal’s itinerary may be

considered to furnish us with an idea of the position of a Hungarian in

the middle of the sixteenth century. His description is ludicrous, no

doubt, but it is no less horrible.

He begins thus:—

Tempore concedens quo rex in fata Joannes

Liquerat Hungaricæ regia sceptra domus,

Inque patris titulos natus successerat infans

Et dubia imperii forma recentis erat,

Turca ferox, Medo qui cinctus acinace gaudet,

Ad proceres regni plurima scripta dedit,

Pannoniæque petens perfricta fronte tributum,

Terruit innumeris tristia corda minis.

Quid facerent? ratio sic temporis ipsa ferebat,

Quamlibet inviti ut pacta tributa darent.

Nec mora, magnatum venerando ex ordine lectos

Verbetium mittunt Essetiumque pium;

Hosque jubent regni Turcis offerre tributa,

Flectere et immitis pectora dura Getæ.

The party started from Szegedin, on the river Theiss, going by boat to

Belgrade, and thence by land to Constantinople.

They were entertained at a banquet by Solyman, and were much disgusted

at two things: first, he gave them sherbet instead of wine; and

secondly, at the conclusion of the banquet he caused the ghastly heads

of men who had been recently executed to be set before them. The grim

pleasantry could not be misunderstood. The heads, no doubt, were those

of Hungarians, whom Solyman was pleased to regard in the light of

rebels. Whilst at Constantinople Rubigal had an opportunity of seeing

the Turkish fleet, which was then commanded by the famous Barbarossa.

The Hungarian was evidently horribly frightened at the formidable

preparations of the Turks, for immediately afterwards he gives his

readers plainly to understand that his tastes are of a domestic turn,

and that he has no hankering after—

the perils which environ

The man who meddles with cold iron.

Oddly enough, however, he gives us an account of two Germans he met

with fetters on their legs, who beg him to tell their friends at home

that it will be the easiest thing in the world to drive the Turks into

the Bosphorus. He gives their message, but cautiously refrains from

either endorsing or contradicting their opinion.

III.

_EDITIONS._

THE following is a list of the various editions and translations of

Busbecq’s works, with which we are acquainted.

DATE. _In Latin._

1581. Printed by Plantin, at Antwerp. _Editio Princeps._

It contains only the first Turkish Letter, under the

title of _Itinera Constantinopolitanum et Amasianum_, and

the _De Acie contra Turcam Instruenda Consilium_.

1582. Also printed by Plantin. At the end of the contents

of the first edition the second Turkish Letter is added,

under the title of _Ejusdem Busbequii Secunda in Thraciam

Profectio_.

1589. _Paris._ Contains all four Turkish Letters and the

_De Acie._

1595. _Frankfort._ The same as the previous one.

1605. _Hanau._ The same as the last, with the addition of

the Speech of Ibrahim to Ferdinand at Frankfort, and the

text of the treaty of peace.

1620. _Munich._ Edited by Sadoler. The same as the last.

It contains portraits of Busbecq and Solyman.

1629. _Hanau._ The same as the edition of 1605.

None of these editions contain any but the Turkish

Letters.

1630. _Louvain._ Edited by Howaert. It contains the

letters to Rodolph from France, 1-53 inclusive.

1632. _Brussels._ Also edited by Howaert. This edition

contains the letters to Maximilian from France. Then

follow the letters to Rodolph as in the last edition, and

at the end come five more letters to Rodolph.

1632 (?). Evidently struck off from the same type as the

last. There are, however, a few alterations, and there is

no date on the title page.

1633. _Leyden._ The Elzevir edition. Two editions with

slight variations appeared in the same year. They contain

the four Turkish Letters, the _De Acie_, the Speech of

Ibrahim, the Treaty, and the Letters to Rodolph, 1-53. At

the end of the third Turkish Letter there are variations

from all the preceding editions. See vol. i. page 305,

note.

1660. _Amsterdam._ Elzevir. A reprint of the last.

1660. _Oxford._ The same contents as the Elzevir.

1660. _London._ The same contents as the Elzevir. There

is also an _Epitome de Moribus Turcarum_, not written by

Busbecq, which follows the Treaty.

1689. _Leipsic._ The same contents as the Elzevir.

1740. _Bâle._ The same contents and characteristic

readings as the Elzevir, except in one passage.

_In German._

1596. _Frankfort._ It contains the four Turkish Letters

and the _De Acie_. The translator was Michael Schweicker,

Master of the School at Frankfort.

_In English._

1694. _London._ ‘The Four Epistles of Augerius Gislenius

Busbequius, concerning his Embassy into Turkey, with

his Advice how to Manage War against the Turks. Done

into English.’ It contains a dedication to the Earl of

Bolingbroke by Nahum Tate, from which it appears that

the translator died before the book was published. The

English is racy, but the book is full of mistakes and

misprints.

1761. _Glasgow._ It contains only the Turkish Letters,

and is said to be the third edition. It is a reprint of

the last with some of the mistakes corrected.

_In Bohemian._

1594. _Prague._ Translated by Leunclavius. It contains

the First and Second Letters and the _De Acie_.

_In French._

1649. _Paris._ A translation by Gaudon.

1718. _Amsterdam._

1748. _Paris._ A translation in three volumes of the

Turkish Letters and the Letters to Rodolph, by the Abbé

Louis Étienne de Foy, Canon of Meaux.

1836. _Paris._ A translation of the Letters to Rodolph,

1-53, is contained in ‘Archives Curieuses de l’Histoire

de France, Première Série,’ tome 10, by MM. Cimber and

Danjou.

_In Flemish._

1632. _Dordrecht._

_In Spanish._

Before 1650. _Pampeluna._ A translation by Stephanus

Lopez de Reta, published by Charles de Lobaien. _Viaje de

Constantinopla_, and also the _De Acie_.

IV.

_ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS._

A.

_Patent of Legitimation of Ogier Ghiselin._

Charles, etc., sçavoir faisons à tous présens et advenir nous avoir

recue lhumble supplication de Ogier, filz illégitisme de George

Ghiselin, escuier, seigneur de Bousbecque, et de Catherine Hespiel

jeune fille, lors non mariez, contenant que ledit Ogier de son jeune

eaige a esté entretenu aux estudes à Louvain et ailleurs, où il sest

conduict et gouverné bien et honnestement comme celluy qui a désir

de parvenir à estatz honnourables avec volunté et bonne affection de

bien faire vivre et de mourir soubz nous et en nostre obéissance,

se nostre plaisir estoit le légittimer et sur le deffaulte de sa

nativité luy impartir nostre grace si commil dit, dont il nous a très

humblement supplié. Pour ce est-il que ce considéré nous icelluy Ogier

suppliant inclinans favorablement à sadite supplication et requeste,

avons, de nostre certaine science auctorité et plaine puissance,

légittimé et légittimons, et ledit deffault de sa nativité aboly et

effacé abolissons et effacons de grâce speciale par ces présentes, luy

octroiant et accordant par icelles et de nostre dite grâce quil puist

et poira comme personne légittime et habile succéder en tous les biens

meubles et immeubles et aultres quelzconques esquelz de droit et selon

la coustume et usaige de noz pays et seignouries, il debveroit et

pourroit succéder sil estoit né et procrée en léal mariaige et venir

aux successions de sesdits père et mère et aultres que luy compétent et

compéteront cy aprez, pourveu toutesvoyes que à ce se consentent ses

plus prochains parens de lignaige et que aucun droict ne soit desja

acquis à aultres et en ce cas qu’il puist avoir et tenir pour luy, ses

hoirs et successeurs à tousiours tous les biens que lui adviendront

et escherront desdites successions et aultrement et qu’il a acquis

et acquerra et diceulx biens ordonner et disposer et les laissier

ou légater par testament ou aultrement ainsi que bon luy semblera;

et qu’il soit doresnavant receu selon sa vocation à tous honneurs,

estatz, offices, dignitez et aultres faiz légittimes quelzconques et

tenu et réputé doresnavant pour personne légittime, tout ainsi que

s’il estoit né en léal mariaige et aussi que après son trespas, ceux

de son lignaige procréez ou à procréer en léal mariaige luy puissent

succéder par droit d’hoirie en tous sesdits biens, meubles, héritaiges,

possessions et aultres choses quelzconques acquises et à acquérir ou

à luy venuz et escheuz, ou que luy viendront et escherront cy aprez,

tout ainsi et par la forme et manière qu’il eusse fait et peut faire

et pourroit se il estoit né et procrée en léal mariaige si aultre

chose ne luy répugne que ladite deffaulte de procréation légittime,

saulf que à cause de bastardise et illégittimation, nous ou noz

successeurs y puissons ou doyons quereller ou demander aulcun droit

ou temps advenir, nonobstant quelzconques constitutions, ordonnances,

statuz, droiz, coustumes et usaiges à ce contraires, parmy et moyennant

toutesvoys que à cause de ceste nostre présente légittimation, ledit

suppliant sera tenu payer certaine finance et somme de deniers pour

une fois à nostre prouffit, selon la faculté et qualité de ses biens

à larbitrage et tauxation de nos amez et féaulx les président et gens

de noz comptes à Lille, que commectons à ce. Si donnons en mandement

auxdits de nos comptes que ladite finance et somme de deniers par eulx

tauxée, arbitrée et par ledit suppliant payée à celluy de noz receveurs

qu’il appartiend, lequel sera tenu en faire recepte et rendre compte et

reliqua à nostre prouffit avec les aultres deniers de sa recepte. Ils,

nostre gouverneur de Lille, les président et gens de nostre conseil

en Flandres et tous noz aultres justiciers et officiers quelzconques,

présens et advenir, cui ce peult et pourra touchier et regarder leurs

lieutenans et chacun deulx en droit soy et si comme à luy appartiend,

facent seuffrent et laissent ledit suppliant, ensamble sesdits hoirs,

successeurs et ayans cause à tousiours procréer en léal mariaige de

nostre présente grace et légittimation, et de tout le contenu en ces

dites présentes selon et par la manière que dit est, plainement,

paisiblement et perpétuellement joyr et user, sans luy faire mectre

ou donner, ne souffrir estre faict, mis ou donné ores ne ou tempes

advenir, aucun destourbier ou empeschement au contraire en maniere

quelconque. Car ainsi nous plaist-il. Et affin que ce soit chose ferme

et estable à tousiours, nous avons faict mectre nostre scel à ces

présentes, saulf en aultres choses nostre droit et laultruy en toutes.

Donné en nostre ville de Gand, ou mois d’Avril apres Pasques, de nostre

empire le xxi^e, et de noz règnes de Castille et aultres le xxv^e.

Sur le ploy estoit escript par l’empereur et signé du secrétaire,

Bourgois, et sur le ploy estoit encoires escript ce que sensuit. Cette

chartre est enregistrée en la chambre des comptes de l’empereur, nostre

sire a Lille, ou registre des chartres y tenu commenchant en avril

xv^e quarante-neuf, folio ii^e xvi, et apres que Messrs. les president

dicelle chambre ont esté bien et deuement informez des faculté et

puissance des biens de l’impetrant, la finance dicelle a par eulx

esté tauxée a la somme de neuf vings dix livres de xi gros monnoye

de Flandres la livre: ordonnée estre payée es mains de Jehan Hovine,

conseiller de l’empereur nostre dit Sire, m^e en la dite chambre et

commis a la recepte de lespargne des pays ortissans en icelle chambre

lequel sera tenu en baillier sa lettre et en faire recepte avec les

aultres deniers de son entremise. Et au surplus ladite chartre a este

expediée en ladite chambre selon sa forme et teneur, le xxiii^e jour de

novembre xv^e quarante. Ainsi signe moy present.

A. GILLEMAN.

B.

_Patent of Knighthood of Ogier de Busbecq._

Ferdinandus etc., etc., nobili fideli a nobis delecto Augerio a

Busbeck, equiti aurato, Consiliario nostro gratiam nostram Cæsaream et

omne bonum.

Cum nihil sit inter mortales sublimius Imperiali Majestate et

celsitudine, quam Deus Optimus Maximus cæteris humanis dignitatibus

eminere voluit, ut micantissimis radiis suis terrarum orbem et

commissum Imperium illustret, par equidem est, ut, quem Deus ad

fastigium hoc evexit, is etiam dignitatem et munus sibi demandatum

ita administret, ut, quantum fieri potest, in hac vita quam proxime

accedat ad exemplum divinæ ejus Majestatis a cujus nutu tota hujus

mundi machina dependet, nullisque finibus clementiam et liberalitatem

suam teneat circumscriptam, sed in omnes eam exerceat, præcipue, quos

summa virtus, prudentia, doctrina, integritas ac rerum usus aliæque

ingenii et animi dotes, nec non præclara in Rempublicam Christianam

merita præ cæteris claros reddidere, omnem in eo operam et diligentiam

adhibendo, necubi virtutem debitis premiis destituisse videatur. Etsi

enim virtus se ipsa facile sit contenta neque magnopere indigeat

alienæ laudis adminiculo, quam alioquin etiam honos, amplitudo et

gloria ut certissima premia sponte plerumque sequuntur, fit tamen, ut

si quando illa summorum Imperatorum ac Regum judicio atque decreto

comprobetur, multo illustrior et clarior evadat et alios quoque non tam

ad admirationem quam ad imitationem et studium accendat.

Qua in re sicuti olim divi prædecessores nostri Romanorum Imperatores

ac Reges omnem adhibuere curam, sic nos quoque hunc eorum laudatissimum

morem secuti in eandem semper curam et cogitationem incubuimus ut

optimorum virorum de nobis atque Republica bene meritorum virtus a

nobis condignis honoribus cohonestaretur. In quorum sane numero,

cum te prefatum _Augerium a Busbeck_ haud postremum locum obtinere

compertum habeamus, æquum est profecto, ut in te ipso nostram erga

tales homines clementissimam animi propensionem omnibus declaremus,

et contestatam reddemus, idque ejuscemodi ornamenti genere, quod

virtutibus ac meritis tuis quam maxime respondeat. Tu namque nobili et

honesto loco in Belgio natus, ingenii acumen et vim, quod Deus tibi

dedit præstantissimum vitæ morumque honestate, probitate ac bonarum

literarum studiis, diversitate linguarum multarumque rerum cognitione

et aliis plurimis excellentibusque animi dotibus ita excoluisti, ut

ad gravissima et maxima quæque Reipublicæ negotia exequenda visus sis

aptus esse. Quapropter quum existimaremus te aliquando nobis magno

usui futurum haud gravatim te in aulam nostram recepimus, ubi quidem

nostræ de te expectationi non modo cumulate satisfecisti, sed eam longe

quoque superavisti. Cum enim superioribus annis nobis occurrissent

ardua quædam negocia, de quibus a nobis mittendus erat ad Solymannum

Turcharum Principem Orator, qui fide, prudentia, rerum usu atque

industria præstaret, te ex Anglia revocatum, quo tunc temporis jussu

nostro profectus fueras, ad id muneris suscepimus, quo magna tua cum

laude et ingenti nostro ac Regnorum Dominiorumque nostrorum imo totius

Reipublicæ Christianæ commodo octo annos functus es, confecta ad

postremum inter nos et ipsum Turcharum principem octennali pace. In

qua legatione quas sustinueris curas, incommoditates, molestias, quos

tuleris labores, quæ vitæ pericula subieris, quam etiam ostenderis

in rebus agendis ingenii vim, quam fidem, quam solicitudinem, quam

solertiam, prudentiam et industriam, quam intrepidi animi constantiam,

et qua denique usus sis pietate in redimendis, juvandis et fovendis

miseris Christianis, qui Constantinopolim tuo tempore in fœdam

captivitatem adducti fuerunt, magno etiam fortunarum tuarum dispendio,

nimis longum foret sigillatim recensere. Illud profecto consecutus

es, quod non omnibus qui talem provinciam suscipiunt, ne dicamus

perpaucis, contingere solet, ut non modo a nobis ac Serenissimis

filiis nostris et aliis sacri Romani Imperii Principibus, statibus

et ordinibus summam gratiam iniveris, verum etiam ipsismet Turcis

propter virtutes tuas, quas naturæ instinctu in te prospexere et

admirati sunt, valde gratus exstiteris. Quare merito probandum est

præclarum de te judicium Serenissimi Principis Domini Maximiliani

secundi, Romanorum ac Hungariæ et Bohemiæ, etc., Regis, Archiducis

Austriæ, etc., filii nostri charissimi, in eo, quod te dignum et

idoneum reputaverit, quem Dapiferis Serenissimorum filiorum suorum

Rudolfi et Ernesti, Archiducum Austriæ, charissimorum nepotum nostrorum

cum profisciscerentur in Hispaniam præficeret. Quod si ergo olim apud

veteres, qui luctu et saltu in Olympiaco stadio celebres athletæ

virium suarum specimen aliquod egregium edidissent, divinis propemodum

honoribus affici, qui vero in bello vel murum primi ascendissent vel

civem morti seduxissent corona vel murali vel civica donari soliti

fuerunt, et nostra quoque ætate, qui vel cum hoste singulari certamine

congressus victor evasit vel in prelio strenuam præ ceteris operam

navavit vel alias rem bellicam caute et recte administravit, auratæ

militiæ titulis insignitur, quanto magis tu, Augeri, tali dignitate

condecorandus fuisti, cui non cum uno homine nec uno prelio per

unum aut alterum mensem res gerenda, sed totos octo annos cum gente

Christiano nomini infensissima adeoque cum ejusdem gentis Principe

potentissimo ac pluribus victoriis et successibus elato, cumque ipsius

præcipuis consiliariis et ministris, callidissimis et versipellibus

diesque noctesque acerrime dimicandum fuit, quorum potentiam et

nefarios impetus tu, divino adjutus auxilio, tua prudentia, industria

ac rerum agendarum dexteritate postpositis quibuslibet periculis

infracto animo sustinuisti et a cervicibus Regnorum et Dominiorum

nostrorum avertisti. Quæ cum ita se habeant optimo certe consilio

factum est quod præfatus Serenissimus Romanorum Rex superiore mense

Septembri, quando paterna voluntate nostra Rex Hungariæ renunciatus

publicatus ac Regali corona insignitus fuit, te publice in spectantibus

et grato applausu probantibus ac suffragantibus prælatis, proceribus,

Ordinibus et Statibus ejus Regni nostri, quorum saluti et incolumitati

potissimum studueras, ictu ter vibrati ensis benedicti Militem seu

Equitem auratum fecerit atque creaverit, quia te et eo et alias longe

clarioribus ornamentis dignum censemus. Et licet ad perpetuam gloriam

tibi sufficere queat publicus ille Serenissimi filii nostri Romanorum

Regis actus neque is ulla approbatione Cæsareæ et paternæ auctoritatis

nostræ opus habeat, pro nostra tamen in te mirifica benignitate volumus

te eam dignitatem ab Imperiali quoque culmine obtinere, quo luculentius

sit in omnem posteritatem virtutis tuæ testimonium.

Itaque nos ipsi etiam te antedictum Augerium a Busbeck, Militem sive

Equitem auratum fecimus, creavimus, ereximus, ac præsenti nostro

Cæsareo edicto ex certa scientia et authoritati nostra Imperiali

Militem et Equitem auratum facimus, creamus et erigimus et ad statum

militarem assumimus militarisque cinguli et balthei decore, fascibus

et titulis atque stemmate militiæ insignimus, accingentes te gladio

fortitudinis et omnia ad hunc ordinem pertinentia ornamenta tibi

conferentes hoc nostro Imperiali edicto statuentes, ut deinceps

ubique locorum et terrarum pro vero Milite et Equite aurato habearis,

honoreris et admittaris, possisque et debeas pro suscepto dignitatis

equestris ornamento, torquibus, gladiis, calcaribus, vestibus,

phaleris, seu equorum ornamentis aureis seu deauratis ac omnibus

et singulis privilegiis, honoribus, dignitatibus, præeminentiis,

franchisiis, juribus, insignibus, libertatibus, immunitatibus et

exemptionibus, prærogativis et gratiis tam realibus quam personalibus

sive mixtis et aliis quibuscunque militaribus actibus et officiis uti,

frui et gaudere, quibus cæteri Milites et Equites a nobis stricto ense

manu et verbo nostro creati ac ejusmodi ornamentis insigniti gaudent

et fruuntur et ad ea admitti, ad quæ illi admittuntur, quomodolibet

consuetudine vel de jure, absque alicujus contradictione vel

impedimento.

Mandantes universis et singulis Principibus tam ecclesiasticis

quam secularibus, Archiepiscopis, Episcopis, Prælatis, Ducibus,

Marchionibus, Comitibus, Baronibus, Nobilibus, Militibus, Clientibus,

Capitaneis, Vicedominis, advocatis, præfectis, procuratoribus,

quæstoribus, civium Magistris, Judicibus, Consulibus, armorum Regibus,

Heroaldis, Civibus, Communitatibus, et cæteris quibuscunque nostris

et Imperii sacri subditis et fidelibus cujuscunque præeminentiæ,

dignitatis, status, gradus, ordinis et conditionis fuerint, ut te

præfatum _Augerium a Busbeck_ pro vero milite et equite aurato habeant,

teneant et reputent et in hoc militari et Equestri ordine et dignitate

et notis ad eum spectantibus prærogativis et libertatibus conservent,

quatenus gratiam nostram charam habuerint, ac pœnam _quinquaginta

Marcharum auri puri_ pro dimidia fisco seu ærario nostro Imperiali,

reliqua vero parte _tibi antedicto Augerio a Busbeck_ vel hæredibus

tuis toties quoties contrafactum fuerit, irremissibiliter applicandam

maluerint evitare.

Harum testimonio literarum manu nostra subscriptarum et sigilli nostri

Cæsarei appensione munitarum.

Datum Viennæ die tertia mensis Aprilis anno Domini millesimo

quingentesimo sexagesimo quarto.[297]

C.

_Purchase Deed of the Seigneurie de Bousbecque._

Comparut en sa persone messire Jehan de Thiennes, chevalier, seigneur

de Willergy, etc., procureur espécial de Charles de Eydeghem, escuier,

seigneur de Weze, &c., souffisament fondé par lettres procuratoires

données des advoé, eschevins et conseil de la ville d’Ypre le xvi^e

jour de décembre xv^eiiii^{xx} sept, desquelles la teneur s’ensuyt.

A tous ceulx, etc., lequel comparant oudit nom et en vertu du pooyr a

luy donné par lesdictes lettres recognut avoir vendu bien et léallement

à messire Ogier Ghiselin, chevalier, conseillier de l’Empereur, et

grand maistre d’hostel de la Royne Elisabet, douagière de Franche

quy le cognut avoir acheté, toute la terre et seigneurie de Rume dit

de Bousebecque, comprendant la seigneurie temporelle et paroissialle

dudit Bousebecque, contenant quinze bonniers demy d’héritaige ou

environ séans en la paroisse dudit Bousebecque, chastellenie de Lille,

si comme six bonniers ix^e ou environ tant pret que labeur, par une

partye et par aultre huict bonniers xv^e de bois en ce comprins et que

sont réunis audit fief ung bonnier de pret que feu Collart Lejosne

tenoit en fief de ladicte seignourie; item, huict cens quy estoyent

tenus de l’allengrie de Le Becque, avecq deux aultres bonniers x^e

et ii^e estants présentement à uzance de bois quy estoient tenus en

commun contre le seigneur de Péruwez; item, sept quartrons de pret de

l’allengrie de la Westlaye et iiii^e de terre en la mesme allengrie,

auquel fief et seignourie appartient des rentes seignouriales chacun

an en l’allengrie de la Plache, en argent iiii l. iii s. et au Noël

six chapons et le quart d’un; item en l’allengrie du commun, contre le

seigneur de Péruwez, cent sept razières ung havot et ung quart de Karel

d’avaine molle quy se prendent sur quarante cincq bonniers xvii verges

ou environ chergiez du x^e denier à la vente, don ou transport, moictié

au prouffit dudict Seigneur de Bousebecque allencontre dudit Seigneur

de Péruwez; item, en l’allengrie du commun de le Becque, quarante

razières ung quareau et demye d’avaine brune, trois havots, trois

kareaux de soille, trois chapons et le vi^e d’ung, et en argent i s. ix

d., lesquelles rentes se lieuvent sur xi bonniers ix^exi verges; item,

en l’allengrie de Péruwez xii razières ii havots trois karelz et demy

et xii^e d’ung havot et le vii^e d’un francquart, tierch d’un quareau

de bled fourment, trente neuf razières vi^e et vii^e d’un havot, les

deux tiers et le quart d’un quarel d’avaine blanche, six chapons et en

argent sept solz iii deniers, quy se prendent sur xix bonniers xiiii^e

demy d’héritaige ou environ. Item, en l’allengrie de la Westlaye cinq

razierès trois havots ung quart et le quart d’un karel de bled, vingt

razières deux havots trois quareaux d’avaine brune, ii kareaux et

environ viii^e d’un quarel de soille; item, deux chapons, xviii^e et

lxxii^e d’un chapon et en argent cinq gros iii deniers i party quy

se ceullent sur quattre bonniers xiiii^e cinq verges d’héritaige ou

environ, le tout déduction faicte desdictes partyes réunites et rentes

qu’elles doibvent, lequel fief et seignourie est tenu du Roy nostre

sire de sa salle de Lille en justice viscontière à dix livres de relief

à la mort de l’héritier et le x^e denier à la vente, don ou transport

et sy appartient a icelle ung bailly, lieutenant et sept eschevins

avecq plaids généraulx trois fois l’an, plusieurs arrentemens de

maisons et héritaiges gisans allentour de la place dudit Bousebecque

portant environ cent florins par an pardessus les rentes cy dessus

déclarées, les fondz desquelles l’on croyt estre prins du gros dudit

fief et seignourie cy-dessus déclaré avecq la place et chimentière. Sy

appendent cincq fiefz et hommaiges en tenus, lesquelz sont chergiez de

certains reliefz à la mort de l’héritier et du x^e denier à la vente,

don ou transport, et les aultres héritaiges tenu de ladicte seignourie

chergiez de double rente de relief à la mort de l’héritier et du x^e

denier à la vente, don ou transport, lesquelles rentes dessus déclarées

se payent à la priserie du Roy nostre sire de son Espier de Lille quy

se faict au terme de sainct Remy, la razière de soille estimée aux deux

tiers de celle de bled, fourment, l’avaine molle aux deux tiers de

la blanche, et la brune au pris moyen d’entre la blanche et la molle.

Ladicte vente faicte moïennant six florins de denier à Dieu, et pour

le gros et principal dudit marchié la somme de six mil florins carolus

de vingt patars pièche, francq argent, à payer cejourd’huy comptant

que ledit vendeur a confessé avoir receu en deschargant la loy pour

dudit fief, terre et seignourie de Bousebecque, ses appartenances

et appendences telles que dessus sans aultrement riens livrer par

mesure ainsy que de tout temps l’on en a joy et possessé, joyr et

possesser par ledit messire Ogier Ghiselin depuis cedit jourd’huy en

tous droix, prouffictz et émolumens le cours de sa vie durant et après

son trespas retourner et appartenir audit seigneur de Wize, ses hoirs

ou ayans cause et leur demourer héritablement et à tousjours à la

charge d’entretenir par ledit seigneur second comparant tels baulz,

lesquelz les occuppeurs feront apparoir. Et pareillement debvra ledit

Seigneur de Wize, ses hoirs ou ayans cause entretenir les baulz que

lors se trouveront faictz par ledit s^r Ghiselin, comme à viagier et

usufructuaire appartient de faire selon la coustume de la salle de

Lille, promectant ledit s^r de Willergy en ladicte qualité ladicte

vente, entretenir, conduire et garandir envers et contre tous soubz

l’obligation des biens du dit Seigneur de Wize et de sesdis hoirs vers

tous seigneurs et justices.

Ce fut aussy fait et passé à loy les xviii^e et pénultiesme de decembre

xv^e iiii^{xx} sept, pardevant Mons^r le bailly de Lille, ès présences

de maistres Jehan Denys, Philippes Carle, Noël Waignon, Pierre Hovine,

Josse et Simon Vrediére.

Archives départementales du Nord,

Chambre des comptes de Lille.

D.

_Copy of the Sauve-garde._

Messire Ogier de Bousbeque, chevalier, seigneur dudit lieu, et jadis

ambassadeur en Constantinople de très-hauts, très-puissants et

très-excellents princes Ferdinand et Maximilien, empereurs des Romains

de louable mémoire; aussi conseiller de l’empereur Rodolphe, second de

son nom présentement régnant, conseiller et grand maître d’hostel de la

royne Isabelle (Elisabeth), douairière de France, et surintendant les

affaires de ladite royne chez le roi très chrestien.

Alexandre, duc de Parme, chevalier de l’ordre, lieutenant, gouverneur

et capitaine général,

A tous lieutenants, gouverneurs, chiefs, colonnels, capitaines,

conducteurs, fourriers et aultres officiers des gens de guerre du Roy

monseigneur, tant du cheval que du pied, de quelque nation qu’ils

soient, salut:

Sçavoir vous faisons que, en contemplation des bons et aggréables

services que Messire Ogier de Bousbeque, chevalier, seigneur dudit

lieu, conseiller de l’empereur et grand maistre d’hostel de la royne

Isabelle (Elisabeth) douairière de France a faict à feus de louable

mémoire les empereurs Ferdinand et Maximilien (que Dieu fasse paix)

tant en qualité d’ambassadeur en Turquie que de gouverneur des

archiducs d’Austrice, au temps dudit feu empereur Maximilien, et depuis

aussi à l’empereur moderne en diverses charges et qualités, ainsi qu’il

faict encore à présent aujourd’hui dame Royne.

Nous avons au nom de Sa Majesté pris et mis, nous par ces présentes

prenons et mettons en notre protection et sauvegarde spéciale les

maisons, terres et seigneurie dudit Bousbeque, vous mandant partant,

et commandant au nom et de la part que dessus, à chacun des bons

endroits, soy et comme eux appartiendra, bien expressément de ne loger

ni permettre que soient logés au village de Bousbeque aucuns gens de

guerre sans expresse ordonnance notre ou du mareschal et chef de camp

de Sa Majesté.

Et au surplus affranchissons et dégrevons les manants et habitants

dudit village avecq leurs familles, leurs meubles, fourrages,

advestures et bestial, de toutes foulles, torts, invasions, mengeries

et exactions, les laissant de ceste notre présente sauvegarde

pleinement et paisiblement jouir et user, sans y aller au contraire ny

autrement les molester ni endommager en corps ny en biens en quelque

manière que ce fut, sous peine d’encourir l’indignation de Sa Majesté

et la notre et être punis comme infracteurs de sauvegarde.

Et afin que personne n’en puisse prétendre cause d’ignorance, nous

avons consenti et consentons audit seigneur de Bousbeque que puisse et

pourra faire mettre et afficher aux advenues dudit village nos bastons,

blasons et pannonceaulx armoyés de nos armes.

Donné au camp devant Berghes sur la Zoom, sous notre nom et cachet

secret de Sa Majeste, le 15^e jour d’octobre, 1588.

Soubs etait le cachet du Roy, etc.

Colleaction faicte à l’originale, etc.

Archives de Bousbecque E. E. I.

E.

_Pardon of Daniel de Croix for the homicide of Charlot Desrumaulx._

Charles par la grâce de Dieu etc. Savoir faisons à tous présens et

advenir, Nous avons receu l’umble supplication de Daniel de Croix

Escuyer filz de Geraerd Seigneur de Wambrechies, jeusne homme à marier,

contenant que ledit suppliant s’est, à certain jour passé, trouvé avecq

George Giselin Seigneur de Bouzebecque Jacques de Sauch et autres en la

ville de Comines vers le Seigneur de Halewyn. Lesquelz ilz ont servi

en leur jonesse. Or est que à certain jour de feste du soir que lors

on s’estoit esbatu au chasteau du dit lieu, entre huyt et neuf heures

du soir, le dit Seigneur de Hallewyn avec le Seigneur de Croisille se

retirèrent au dit chastel pour eulx coucher. Et quant au dit suppliant,

George Giselin et Jacques de le Sauch, ilz se retirèrent vers le

marchié avec Jehan Homme, Bailli du dit lieu, et les sievoit feu alors

vivant Charlot Desrumaulx, joueur du luut, qui démonstroit avoir assez

fort beu, et en allant leur chemin, l’un d’entre eulx mist en bouche

aux autres d’aller bancquetter à la maison d’ung nommé maistre Franche

Barbier demourant auprès dudit marchié, à quoy ilz saccordèrent et

allèrent tous ensemble celle part, où ilz furent syevis par le dit

Charlot sans y estre appellé. Que lors les dits suppliant et de le

Sauch, qui alloient devant vers la dite maison, le dit Suppliant ayant

son esprivier sur son poing, prièrent au dit Charlot, obstant qu’il

estoit noyseulx après boire, qu’il se retirast et allast couchier,

et qu’ilz ne le voloient point avoir, ce qu’il ne voloit faire, mais

entra en la dicte maison, parquoy le dit Suppliant le print par le col

et le poussa hors de la dite maison à l’ayde du dit Jacques, dont il

se courroucha et se mist en tous debvoirs de tyrer son baston pour

les villonner, mais il fut empesché par le dit Jacques, et soubit

survint le dit bailli qui le print au corps, mais finablement soubz

promesse qu’il fist de soy partir et aller couchier, le dit bailli

à la requeste des assistans le laissa aller, et lui estant hors des

mains du dit bailli se tyra d’un lez oudit marchié contre une maison

ou sur ung bancq, il mist son luut et desvesty sa robbe tira sa dagge

et proféra plusieurs haultaines langaiges sentans menaces disant,

ou parolles en substance, qu’il estoit homme pour respondre au plus

hardy de eulx tous. Et craindant par le dit Daniel, suppliant le

débat appant contre lui bailla son oiseau à son homme, et ainsi qu’il

estoit sur le marchié, il veyt ledit deffunct qui continuoit du dit

langaiges haultains au deshonneur de lui et des autres. Disant qu’il

estoit homme pour le plus hardy, ayant sa dage nue marcha vers lui

comme aussi fist le dit deffunct. Que lors le dit Suppliant ayant son

sang meslé, et mémoratif que lui qui estoit josne noble homme sievant

les armes, se il se retiroit pour ung menestrel de basse condition ce

lui seroit à toujours reproché en villonnie entre tous nobles hommes.

En ceste chaleur, non puissant de la refrener ayant aussi son baston

nud, frappèrent l’un après l’autre aucuns cops et fut attaint par le

dit deffunct sur l’espaule, et du cop que icellui suppliant rua, il

attaindit ledit deffunct en la mesmelle, dont brief après il termina

vie par mort. Pour lequel cas le dit suppliant a esté appellé à noz

droiz au siège de notre gouvernance de Lille, en lui donnant tiltre

tel qu’il s’enssuit. Daniel de Croix, escuyer, vous estez appellé aux

droiz du Roy Catholicque, nostre Seigneur, Archiduc d’Austrice, Duc

de Bourgogne, Conte de Flandres, pour et sur ce que en la ville de

Comines, avez allé en la maison de maistre France Barbier avec Jaquet

de le Sauch à l’intention de bancquetter, là ou vous auroit sievy,

sans y estre appellé, feu lors vivant, Charlot Desrumaulx, lequel

auroit par vous et le dit de le Sauch esté bouté dehors, pourquoy

il s’estoit courrouchié, et de faict auroit en partie desgainié son

espée, et ce voyant par Jehan Homme, bailli de la dite ville le auroit

prins au corps, et finablement eslargi soubz promesse par lui faicte

de aller couchier, et lui venu au bout du marchié, et laissant vous,

Daniel, le dit de le Sauch avec George Ghiselin, escuyer, Seigneur

de Bousebecq et autres, auroit desgaignié sa dite dagge et proféré

aucunes parolles deshonnestes, incitant le plus hardy à venir vers luy.

Lesquelles parolles vous Daniel seriez marchié vers le dit feu ayant

desgaigné vostre rapière, et à l’aborder entre vous et le feu y ont

aucuns cops ruez, et entre autres de votre rapière donnast au dit feu

ung cop d’estocq au dessus de la mammelle dextre, du quel cop brief

aprez le dit feu termina vie par mort sans confession. Qui est cas de

souveraineté et privéligié au Roy notre Seigneur, et querra la darraine

tierchaine le iii^e d’aoust xv^exix. Sie est ainsi signé. A Cuvillon.

Obstant lequel cas le dit Suppliant, doubtant rigueur de justice, s’est

absenté de notre chastellenie de Lille, et n’y oseroit retourner,

hanter ne converser combien qu’il ayt fait pays et satisfaction à

partie, se de notre grâce ne lui est, sur ce, impertie. Dont actendu

ce que dit est, mesmement les services qu’il nous a faiz en estat

d’homme d’armes, soubz la charge et compaignie de notre amé et féal

cousin, le Seigneur de Fiennes, aussi que en autres choses, il est

bien famé et renommé, il nous a très humblement supplié et requis.

Pour ce est-il, que nous les choses dessus dites considérées audit

Suppliant inclinans à sa dite requeste, et lui voulans en ceste partie

préférer grâce à rigueur de justice, Avons au cas dessus quicté, remis

et pardonné, quictons, remectons et pardonnons de grâce espécial par

ces présentes, le cas de homicide dessus déclairé, ensemble toute

paine et amende corporelle et criminelle en quoy pour raison et à

l’occasion dudit cas et les circunstances et deppendances il peult

avoir mesprins, offencé et est encouru envers nous et justice. En

rappelant et mectant au néant tous appeaulx, deffaulx, contumaces

et procédures pour ce contre lui faiz et ensuyz, et l’avons quant à

ce remis et restitué, remectons et restituons à ses bonne fame et

renommée à nostre dite chastellenie de Lille, et tous noz autres pays

et seigneuries, ensemble à ses biens non confisquiez, saucuns en a,

tout ainsi qu’il estoit avant l’advenue du cas dessus dit. En imposant

sur ce scillence perpétuelle à nostre procureur général et tous noz

autres officiers quelzconcques, satisfaction toutesvoyes faicte à

partie interressée se faicte n’est et elle y chiet civilement, tant

seullement et moyennant qu’il l’amendra aussi civillement envers nous

selon l’exigence du cas et la faculté de ses biens. Et avec ce, aussi

qu’il sera tenu payer et respondre les mises et despens de justice,

Pour ce faiz et ensuyz à l’arbitraige et tauxation de nostre Gouverneur

de Lille ou son lieutenant que commectons à ce. Si donnons en mandement

à notre dit Gouverneur de Lille ou son dit lieutenant que appellez

ceulx qui pour ce seront à appeller, il procède bien et deuement à

la vérification de ces dites présentes et à l’arbitraige et taxation

desdites amende civille et mises de justice, ainsi qu’il appartiendra.

Et ce fait et les dites amende civille et mises de justice tauxées

et payées ainsi qu’il appartiendra, de laquelle amende cellui de noz

recepveurs ou autre notre officier cuy ce regarde sera tenu faire

recepte et rendre compte et reliqua à notre prouffit avecq les autres

deniers de sa recepte. Il et tous aultres noz officiers quelzconques

présens et advenir facent seuffrent et laissent le dit suppliant de

noz preséntes grâce, remission et pardon, selon et par la manière

que dit est, plainement paisiblement et perpétuellement joyr et user

sans lui mectre, faire ou donner ne souffrir estre faict mis ou donné

aucun arrest, destourbier ou empeschement au contraire en corps ne en

biens en manière quelconque. Ains se son corps ou aucuns de ses biens

non confisquiez sont ou estoient pour ce prins saisiz, arrestez ou

empeschiez, les mectent ou facent mectre incontinent et sans delay à

playne et entière délivrance. Car ainsi nous plaist-il. Et affin que ce

soit chose ferme et estable a tousjours nous avons fait mectre nostre

scel à ces présentes, saulf en autres choses, notre droit et l’autruy

en toutes.

Donné en nostre ville de Malines, ou mois de novembre l’an de grâce mil

chincq cens et dix neuf, et de nostre règne le iiii^e.

Ainsi signé par le Roy en son conseil.

DESBARRES.

Chambre des comptes de Lille. Registre des chartes de

l’audience B. 1730, fo. 104.

F.

_Pardon of Jehan Dael for the homicide of Guillibert du Mortier._

Phelippe, Roy de Castille, d’Arragon, &c., Comte de Flandre, &c.,

sçavoir faisons à tous présens et à venir. Nous avons receu l’humble

supplication et requeste de Jehan Dael, contenant, que le 23^e

Septembre dernier, ayant esté convocqué au bancquet de nopces de

l’enfant de Michel Dael, son frère, en la paroisse de Halluin, y

seroit aussy esté appellé Guillibert du Mortier, lequel voiant la

table couverte et la pluspart des convives y assisse, seroit ingéré

de vouloir faire ung présent à la compaignie avec quelque peu de vau

mis sur deux plats dans lesquels il avait enclos deux grenouilles,

vulgairement appellées ronnes, lesquelles à l’ouverture d’iceulx

plats, ont sauté sur la table et viandes, ce que auroit causé ung

tumulte, et qui le tout auroit esté culbuté, ce qui auroit despleu

fort audict remonstrant, tant à cause que les viandes estoient partie

gastées et contaminées, comme aussy à raison de ce que la perte en

resultant estoit assez de consideracion pour son dit frère qui est

honneste homme, et bien qui le dit Guillebert debvoit endurer la

reprinse de son faict, neanmoings au contre, il auroit injurié du mot

——[298] deux de la compagnie, et notamment le dit remontrant, ce quy

l’occasionna de luy dire: Quy at il tant à (dire comme cela). A quoy

il auroit respondu: Je te —— aussy, advienne. A quoi luy fut reparty

par ledit remontrant en ces termes, ou en substance, Je pauleroy bien

à toy, ce qu’entendu par le dit Guillebert auroit tiré son coustel et

s’approché le remontrant, quy l’obleige de tirer pareillement le sien,

et se mectre en deffence, du quel il en auroit donné un coup au dict

Guillebert vers le dos, dont environ xii jours aprez il seroit allé

de vie à trespas, au grand regret dudit remonstrant. C’est à quoy il a

prins son recours vers nous, suppliant humblement qu’il nous pleust luy

pardonner le dit cas et homicide luy en accordant et faisant depescher

nos lettres patentes de remission en forme.

Pour ce est-il que nous, les choses susdites considérées, et sur

icelles eu l’advis de noz chers et féaux les lieutenant et autres

officiers de nostre gouvernance de Lille, voulans en ceste partie

préférer au dit Jehan Dael, suppliant, grâce et miséricorde, ut in

forma.

Interrinement de la dite gouvernance de Lille, &c.

Donné en nostre ville de Bruxelles, le 27^e de janvier l’an 1643, signé

Robiano, de nos regnes xxii^{eme}.

Au bas estoit, pour le Roy en son conseil et ceste visue.

Chambre des comptes de Lille, Registre des chartes de

l’audience. B. 1817, fo. 11.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Albert III., Duke of Bavaria, married in 1546 Anne, daughter of

Ferdinand, and had by her two sons, William, the hereditary Prince, his

successor, and Ferdinand.

[2] For details of these negotiations, see Motley, _Rise of the Dutch

Republic_ Part IV., ch. iii.

[3] See Motley, _Dutch Republic_, Part IV., ch. ii. The siege was

eventually raised on October 3rd.

[4] In the original the place is given as ‘Augustæ’ = Augsburg;

but from the first line of the letter it appears it was written at

Speyer. ‘Augustæ’ is probably a mistake caused by ‘Augusti’ following

immediately.

[5] Nearly twelve years have elapsed since we parted company with

Busbecq on his return from Turkey. A sketch of his life during this

interval will be found in vol. i. pp. 59-64. We there expressed some

doubt as to whether there was any trustworthy authority for his visit

to Spain in attendance on the younger Archdukes; we have, however,

since obtained evidence of it in the Archduke Albert’s decree, creating

the Barony of Bousbecque. In it are recited Busbecq’s services, and

amongst them this visit is mentioned. The date of the decree is

September 30, 1600, and it states that the visit took place twenty-five

years before. This is obviously an error, as we can account for

his time from August 1574 to February 1576; in all probability the

true date of the visit lies between the years 1570, when Albert and

Wenceslaus went to Spain with their sister Anne on her marriage to

Philip II., and 1572, when we find Busbecq residing at Vienna. See vol.

i. p. 62.

[6] That is, about thirty-five English miles. See note, vol. i. p. 80.

[7] For an account of this interesting lady, who was at this time

barely twenty years of age, see note to Letter XXXVI.

[8] After Henry III.’s flight from Poland, he stayed some time at

Vienna, where Maximilian, through Pibrac, made overtures to him,

offering the hand of his daughter, the widowed Queen. Henry was under

such great obligations to Maximilian, that he was disinclined to give a

downright refusal. _Thuanus_, iii. p. 8. The following quotation from

an account of Busbecq’s Queen will show what these obligations were.

‘Or, estant veufve, plusieurs personnes d’hommes et dames de la Court,

des plus clair voyans que je sçay, eurent opinion que le Roy, à son

retour de Pologne, l’espouseroit, encore qu’elle fust sa belle sœur;

car il le pouvoit par la dispense du Pape, qui peut beaucoup en telles

matieres, et sur tout à l’endroit des grands, à cause du bien public

qui en sort. Et y avoit beaucoup de raisons que ce mariage se fist,

lesquelles je laisse à deduire aux plus hauts discoureurs, sans que je

les allegue. Mais, entre autres, l’une estoit pour recognoistre par ce

mariage les obligations grandes que le Roy avoit reçeues de l’Empereur

à son retour et depart de Pologne; car il ne faut point douter que,

si l’Empereur eust voulu luy donner le moindre obstacle du monde, il

n’eust jamais peu partir ny passer ny se conduire seurement en France.

Les Polonnois le vouloient retenir s’il ne fust party sans leur dire

adieu; car les Allemans le guettoient de toutes parts pour l’attrapper

(comme fut ce brave roy Richard d’Angleterre, retournant de la Terre

Saincte, ainsi que nous lisons en nos chroniques), et l’eussent tout de

mesme arresté prisonnier et faict payer rançon, ou possible pis; car

ils luy en vouloient fort, à cause de la feste de la Sainct Barthelemy,

au moins les princes protestans.’—_Brantôme_, v. 298-299.

[9] Henry of Navarre is generally spoken of in these letters as the

Duke of Vendôme, or at most, the titular King of Navarre. The greater

part of the kingdom had been seized by Ferdinand the Catholic in 1515,

and has ever since been held by the Kings of Spain. Henry’s power was

derived from his position as a great French noble, the first Prince of

the blood after the King’s brother, and from his vast possessions in

France, and not from the fragment of Navarre from which he derived his

title. Subjoined is a short sketch of his family:—

Charles de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme,

descended from the sixth son of Louis IX.

│ (Saint Louis)

│

┌───────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────┐

Anthony, = Jeanne d’Albret, Louis de Bourbon, Charles, Cardinal

Duc de Vendôme │ Queen of Navarre Prince de Condé, de Bourbon,

│ killed at Jarnac, set up as King by

│ 1569 the League after

┌─────────────────┐ │ Henry III.’s death

│ under the title of

Henry, Catherine = Henri, Duc de Bar, │ Charles X.of

Duc de Vendôme, eldest son │

afterwards Henry of the Duke │

IV. of Lorraine. │

│

┌───────────────┬─────────────────────────┬────────────────┐

Henri, born 1552, François, Prince de Charles, Cardinal Several other

Prince de Condé. Conti, born 1558. de Bourbon, children.

born 1562.

[10] Montmorency, the eldest son of the famous Constable Anne de

Montmorency, and himself Duc de Montmorency and Marshal of France.

He was born in 1530, and fought at St. Quentin, and at the taking of

Calais. He and Cossé were suspected of being implicated in the rising

of Shrove-Tuesday, 1574, concerted between Alençon and the Huguenots,

and were imprisoned in the Bastille. His wife was a natural daughter

of Henry II. by Diane de Poitiers, who had been legitimated. He died

without issue in 1579. His four brothers were, Damville, Monsieur de

Montbéron, killed at the battle of Dreux in 1562, Monsieur de Méru, and

Monsieur de Thoré. See note page 11, and also note page 16.

Cossé took part in Guise’s famous defence of Metz in 1552, was

appointed _surintendant des finances_ in 1563, and Marshal in 1567.

He fought at St. Denis and Moncontour, but was defeated by Coligny at

Arny-le-Duc in 1570. He died in 1582, aged 70. According to Brantôme

(ii. 434), he remarked on his imprisonment: ‘Je ne sçay pas ce que M.

de Montmorency peut avoir faict, mais quant à moy, je sçay bien que je

n’ay rien faict pour estre prisonnier avec luy, sinon pour luy tenir

compagnie quand on le fera mourir, et moy avec luy; que l’on me fera de

mesmes que l’on faict bien souvent à de pauvres diables, que l’on pend

pour tenir compagnie seulement à leurs compagnons, encor qu’ilz n’ayent

rien meffaict.’

[11] ‘Le peuple de la ville, n’agueres partisan de cette famille, les

reçeut avec injures et contribua 800 harquebusiers de garde tant que

leur prison dura.’—_Aubigné_, _Histoire_, vol. ii. bk. ii. ch. vi.

[12] By _Nove_ Busbecq probably means the town which d’Aubigné

(_Histoire_, vol. ii. bk. ii. ch. ix.) calls Nonnai, now Annonay, 24

French miles from Lyons. D’Aubigné says the distance is nine leagues,

which roughly corresponds with Busbecq’s twelve miles. See note, vol.

i. page 80. Annonay was a town in the Vivarais, one of the districts

which were the strongholds of the Protestant cause, and was itself a

Protestant town. For an account of the sieges it underwent, and of the

civil war in the Vivarais, see Poncer, _Mémoires sur Annonay_. On this

occasion the town was summoned on October 22nd, and blockaded till

December 8th, so the news in the text was premature. Dr. Dale, the

English representative at the French Court, mentions the raising of the

siege of ‘Noue,’ in a letter dated December 23rd.—_Calendar of State

Papers, Foreign Series_, 1572-74, p. 583.

[13] Louis de Bourbon, Duc de Montpensier, born in 1513, was descended

from a branch of the Bourbon-Vendôme family, and on his mother’s side

was nephew to the Constable de Bourbon. He served as a volunteer at

St. Quentin, where he was made prisoner. He was a bitter enemy to

the Huguenots. ‘Quand il prenait les heretiques par composition,’

says Brantôme (iii. 364), ‘il ne la leur tenait nullement, disant

qu’à un heretique, on n’estoit nullement obligé de garder sa foy.’ He

distinguished himself at Jarnac and Moncontour. He took a prominent

part in the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. From 1574 to 1576 he

commanded in Poitou and Saintonge, and died in 1582. By his first wife,

Jacqueline de Longwy, who was a Protestant, he had a son and four

daughters, one of whom, Charlotte, married the Prince of Orange. See

Letter XIX. and note. His son—who, till he succeeded to the title of

Montpensier, on his father’s death, was known as the Prince Dauphin

d’Auvergne—is frequently mentioned in Busbecq’s letters to Rodolph.

Fontenay is a town, nearly due west of Poitiers, and about fifty-five

English miles from it.

[14] Guy du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac, was born at Toulouse, in

1529. He became member of the Parliament there, and was one of the

French ambassadors at the Council of Trent in 1562. In 1565, at

the recommendation of the Chancellor l’Hôpital, he was appointed

Avocat-Général to the Parliament of Paris. He accompanied Henry to

Poland as Chancellor, and was in great danger during the precipitate

flight of the King. After his return to Paris he sold his office of

Advocate. He was again despatched to Poland, to persuade the Diet to

allow Henry to retain the crown, but his mission proved unsuccessful.

He was afterwards Chancellor of the Queen of Navarre, with whom he

was supposed to be in love. He went with Alençon to Flanders, as his

Chancellor, and died in 1584. He was celebrated for his eloquence.

[15] The Comte de Damville was second son of the Constable, and brother

to the Duc de Montmorency (see page 8). He was born in 1534, and was

made Governor of Languedoc in 1563, which he held for nearly fifty

years, almost as an independent sovereign. He was the leader of the

moderate Roman Catholic party, known as the Politiques, and after the

death of Henry III. adhered to the cause of Henry IV., who on December

8th, 1593, created him Constable. He succeeded to the Dukedom of

Montmorency on his brother’s death in 1579. He died in 1614.

[16] The Castle of Lusignan was the original seat of the famous family

of Lusignan, which gave kings to Jerusalem and Cyprus. In the keep of

the château was a fountain, said to be haunted by the fairy Melusine,

the ancestress and tutelary genius of the family. According to the

legend, the founder of the family first met her by a forest spring.

Before she became his wife she exacted a promise from him that he would

not attempt to see her on the Saturday in every week, or to find out

where she had gone. For a time all went on well, but unfortunately the

husband was at last persuaded to peep into the room to which Melusine

had retired. To his horror he discovered that on every Saturday half

her body was transformed into a serpent. Finding the secret was no

longer hers, she thrice flew round the château, and then vanished.

She was believed to appear at times on the keep of the château, and

whenever she was seen it was said to presage a death, either in the

Lusignan family or in the Royal family of France.

Lusignan is situated about fourteen English miles south-west of

Poitiers. De l’Estoile, i. 49, gives some details of the siege and

capitulation. “Le mardy, 25^e janvier, la ville et chasteau de Lusignan

furent rendus par les Huguenos à M. de Montpensier, chef de l’armée du

Roy en Poictou, soubs condition de vies et bagues sauves, et d’estre

conduits seurement à la Rochelle: de quoi furent baillés ostages pour

seureté de ladite capitulation, encores que la foy de M. de Montpensier

ne peust ni ne deust estre suspecte aux Huguenos, lesquels furent

assiégés trois mois et vingt et un jours, durant lesquels furent

tirés de sept à huict mil coups de canon.” If Brantôme does not belie

Montpensier (see note 2, page 9), the besieged had good reason for the

precautions they took.

[17] Published September 10th at Lyons.

[18] The Seigneur de Rambouillet was sent by the Queen Mother, and the

Seigneur d’Estrées by Alençon, to Henry on June 4th, to congratulate

him on his accession.—_De l’Estoile_, i. 5. ‘Rambouillet, that was

aforetime captain in one of the guards, and his three brothers, has

left the Court, because the King has given away an office, that one

of the Rambouillets looked for.’—_Calendar of State Papers, Foreign

Series_, 1572-74, p. 560.

[19] These towns had been retained by the French when the rest of the

possessions of the Duke of Savoy were restored to him, partly after the

treaty of Cateau Cambrésis, in 1559, and partly by Charles IX. in 1562.

With the exception of the Marquisate of Saluzzo, they were the last

remains of the French conquests beyond the Alps. The Duchess of Savoy

was Margaret, daughter of Francis I., and therefore aunt to Henry III.

She was born in 1523, married in 1559, at the conclusion of peace, to

Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and died September 14th, 1574. The

indignant protest of the Duc de Nevers against the surrender of these

towns may be found in the compilation known as his _Mémoires_, vol. i.

page i.

[20] Frederic III. was Elector Palatine from 1559 to 1576. He was the

first important German prince who embraced Calvinism, and was the head

of that sect in Germany. His Court was the asylum of the French and

Flemish exiles. When Henry III. passed through Germany on his way to

Poland, he visited Heidelberg at the Palatine’s invitation. He found

the gates of the town guarded, the streets lined with soldiers, match

in hand, and no one to receive him at the Castle except armed men.

Halfway up the stairs he was met by the Rhinegrave, attended by two

of the survivors of the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. The Rhinegrave

asked him on the Elector’s behalf to excuse his coming down, on

account of indisposition. Henry found him at the entrance of the room

supported by a gentleman, in the attitude of a man who finds it a

great effort to stand upright. ‘On n’y pouvoit entrer sans jetter la

veüe sur un grand Tableau de la mort de l’Admiral, et des principaux

Seigneurs tués à Paris. Voyant que le Roi portoit sa veüe de ce costé,

il poussa un grand souspir, et dit tout haut, “Ceux qui les ont fait

mourir sont bien malheureux, croyez qu’ils estoient gens de bien et

grands Capitaines.” Le Roy respondit doucement, “Qu’ils estoient

capables de bien faire s’ils eussent voulu.” Ce Prince sentoit un

grand contentement en son ame de pouvoir faire esclatter l’excez de sa

passion en la presence du Roy, il en fit voir les effets en diverses

façons, lui donna à souper, et le servit de poisson, mais il n’eut pour

Gentilhomme que ceux qu’on luy dit avoir eschappé le jour de Saint

Barthelemy, qu’il appelloit “La boucherie et le massacre de Paris.”’

The next day the Count took more than thirty turns with the King up

and down the great hall of the Castle, with a firm step and in perfect

health, so as to show that his indisposition of the previous evening

had been entirely feigned.—Matthieu, _Histoire de France_, i. p. 363.

The Palatine’s second son, John Casimir, born in 1543, is a prominent

figure in the religious wars of the time. He was one of the military

adventurers who hoped in the general confusion to win themselves a

throne by their sword. He conducted several expeditions to the aid of

the French Protestants, and was one of the many princes suggested as

a husband for Queen Elizabeth. At her instigation he was given the

command of the German army which entered the Netherlands in 1578. For

an estimate of his character see Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_.