Part V. ch. v. He died in 1592.

[21] The two sons of the Constable were his two youngest sons, de Méru

and de Thoré. While the Marshal and Damville, their elder brothers,

remained Catholics, they became Protestants. The reason of their flight

to Germany was that they had been implicated in the rising of Shrove

Tuesday, 1574, and the conspiracy to seize Charles IX. at St. Germain.

‘Les cousins [du Prince de Condé] de Thoré et de Méru se rendent à

Geneve, où le Seingneur de Thoré se déclare et fait profession de

la Religion et là est arresté et retenu, et son frère de Méru mis

hors ladite ville, pour ne vouloir faire semblable profession.’—_De

l’Estoile_, i. 22.

[22] François de Foix de Candale, Bishop of Aire, in Gascony, third son

of Gaston de Foix, Comte de Candale, Captal de Buch, &c. His father’s

sister Anne married Ladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia, by whom

she had two children—Louis, King of Hungary, killed at Mohacz in 1526,

and Anne, who married the Emperor Ferdinand, and was the mother of

the Emperor Maximilian. The Bishop was one of the most learned men of

his time, especially in mathematics and natural philosophy. Besides

the works mentioned in the text, he translated Euclid into Latin. He

invented various mathematical instruments, and founded a chair of

mathematics in the College of Aquitaine at Bordeaux. He died in 1594,

aged eighty-four according to Thuanus, but eighty-one according to his

monument. D’Aubigné, in his _Mémoires_ under the year 1580, relates the

following anecdote of him and Henry IV. ‘Le roi de Navarre, passant un

jour à Cadillac, pria le grand François de Candale, de lui faire voir

son excellent cabinet, ce qu’il vouloit bien faire, à condition qu’il

n’y entreroit pas d’ignares. “Non, mon oncle,” dit mon maître, “je n’y

mènerai personne qui ne soit plus capable de le voir et d’en connoître

le prix que moi.” La compagnie s’amusa d’abord à faire lever le poids

d’un canon par une petite machine qu’un enfant de six ans tenoit entre

ses mains. Comme elle étoit fort attentive à cette operation, je me mis

à considérer un marbre noir de sept pieds en quarré, qui servoit de

table au bon Seigneur de Candale; et ayant apperçu un crayon, j’écrivis

dessus pendant qu’on raisonnait sur la petite machine, ce distique

latin:—

Non isthæc, princeps, regem tractare doceto,

Sed docta regni pondera ferre manu.

Cela fait, je recouvris le marbre et rejoignis la compagnie, qui étant

arrivée à ce marbre, M. de Candale dit à mon maître, “Voici ma table;”

et ayant ôté la couverture et vu ce distique, il s’écria, “Ah! il y a

ici un homme.” “Comment,” reprit le roi de Navarre, “croyez-vous que

les autres soient des bêtes? Je vous prie, mon oncle, de deviner à

la mine qui vous jugez capable d’avoir fait ce coup.” Ce qui fournit

matière à d’assez plaisans propos.’

[23] He was killed February, 1573, in an attack on the château of

Soumiere, in Languedoc.—Mezeray, _Histoire de France_, iii. 282.

[24] The Egyptian deity Thoth, was identified with the Greek Hermes,

and was considered the real author of everything produced or discovered

by the human mind. Being thus the source of all human knowledge and

thought, he was termed τρὶς μέγιστος, or Thrice Greatest. A

variety of works are preserved, of which he is the reputed author.

The most probable opinion as to their real origin is that they were

forgeries of Neo-Platonists in the third or fourth century of our

era. The most important of them is the Ποιμάνδρης, the book

translated by the Bishop. It is written in the form of a dialogue, and

treats of nature, the creation of the world, the nature and attributes

of the deity, the human soul, &c.

[25] In the Vivarais. It cut off Lyons from communicating with

Marseilles by water. See _Mezeray_, iii. 360.

[26] It is impossible within the compass of a note to give more than

the briefest outline of the principal events in the life of this famous

Breton chief. He was born in 1531, and became a Protestant in 1558.

In 1561 he was one of the French nobles who escorted Marie Stuart to

Scotland. Brantôme was another of the suite. In 1570 he was wounded by

a musket-shot at the siege of Fontenay; gangrene set in, and it was

found necessary to amputate his left arm; Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of

Navarre, held the shattered limb during the operation. This arm was

replaced by one of iron, whence he obtained the famous sobriquet, by

which he is best known, _Bras de fer_. In 1573 Charles IX. sent him

to La Rochelle in the hope he would be able to effect some compromise

with the citizens, and he was for some time regarded with suspicion

by both sides; but he appears to have always acted an honest and

straightforward part in a very delicate position. When he found a

reconciliation was impossible, he placed his sword once more at the

service of the French Protestants. He fought for the Protestant cause

not only in France but also in the Netherlands, was Count Louis of

Nassau’s right-hand man at the surprise and subsequent siege of Mons

in 1572, and at one time, in 1579, occupied Bousbecque and the places

in the neighbourhood, Menin, Comines, Wervicq, &c. He was mortally

wounded at the siege of Lamballe, in Brittany, and died on August

4, 1591. Thuanus (v. p. 180) calls him ‘a truly great man, who for

bravery, prudence, and military knowledge deserved to be compared with

the greatest generals of the time, and for the purity of his life, his

moderation, and his justice to be preferred to most of them.’ For a

further account of him see Letters to Rodolph, IX. and LIV., note.

[27] This report was correct. See _Mezeray_, iii. 360, where an

interesting account is given of the siege.

[28] The second Edict, of October 23. The purport of it was, that no

person should be troubled on religious grounds.

[29] The Comte de Fiesco was _chevalier d’honneur_ to the Queen. The

Fieschi were Counts of Lavagna, and one of the four principal families

of Genoa. The conspiracy of the Fieschi in 1547 is one of the most

famous incidents of Genoese history. The object of the conspirators was

to overthrow the power of Andrew Doria, and to detach Genoa from the

Imperialists, and bring the republic into close connection with France.

The conspiracy miscarried, owing to its leader, Count John Louis

Fiesco, falling from the planks by which he was boarding a galley, and

being drowned. Owing to the darkness of the night the accident was

not discovered till it was too late to assist him. His brothers were

executed except Scipio, the youngest, who escaped to France, and is the

person mentioned in the text. In 1568 he was Ambassador to the Court

of Maximilian. He was afterwards _chevalier d’honneur_ to Louise de

Vaudemont, the Queen of Henry III., and one of the original knights of

the Order of the Holy Ghost.—Lippomano, _Ambassadeurs Vénitiens_, ii.

413. He married Alphonsina Strozzi, who is the Countess mentioned by

Busbecq. She was originally _dame d’honneur_ to Catherine de Medicis.

[30] The Sorbonne was ‘a society or corporation of Doctors of Divinity

settled in the University of Paris, and famous all over Europe. It

was founded by the French King St. Lewis, and Ralph de Sorbonne,

his confessor, a Canon of the Church of Paris, who gave it its name

from the village of Sorbonne, near Lyons, which was the place of his

nativity.’—_World of Words._

Their determination, dated July 2, 1530, is given by Holinshed,

_Chronicles_, iii. 924. It is to the effect that ‘the foresaid marriage

with the brother’s wife, departing without children, be so forbidden

both by the law of God and of nature, that the Pope hath no power

to dispense with such mariages, whether they be contract or to be

contract.’ It was read to the House of Commons with the decisions of

the other Universities, March 30, 1531.

[31] Leonhard or Lamoral von Thurn and Taxis succeeded his father

in 1554 as Postmaster-General in the Netherlands, and in 1595 was

appointed Postmaster-General of the Holy Roman Empire. He died in

1612, aged upwards of 90. He was brother of J. B. Taxis or Tassis, the

well-known Spanish Ambassador. See Letters to Rodolph, XLIII., and note.

[32] Sebastian, grandson of Charles V., became King of Portugal in

1557, when he was only three years old. At the time Busbecq wrote he

was a gallant young man of twenty, dreaming of great exploits as a

Crusader. Four years later he attempted to put his ideas into practice,

and invaded Africa with a large force. His army was annihilated in

the battle of Alcazar (August 4th, 1578), and the brave young King

perished on the field. His romantic end produced a deep impression

on his subjects. ‘It may be mentioned,’ says the _Times_ (December

1825), ‘as a singular species of infatuation, that many Portuguese

residing in Brazil, as well as in Portugal, still believe in the coming

of Sebastian, the romantic king, who was killed about the year 1578,

in a pitched battle with the Emperor Muley Moluc. Some of these old

visionaries will go out wrapped in their large cloaks, on a windy

night, to watch the movements of the heavens, and frequently, if an

exhalation is seen flitting in the air, resembling a falling star, they

will cry out, “There he comes!”’ For a curious story of a hoax played

on one of these fanatics, see Hone’s _Everyday Book_, vol. ii. page 88.

[33] In this and some other letters, passages referring to arrangements

connected with the dower have been curtailed or altogether omitted. It

is sufficient to state that Elizabeth’s dower had been fixed at 60,000

francs per annum, and that Busbecq’s object was to see that it was

properly secured.

[34] Pierre de Gondi, see note, page 39.

[35] John Evelyn made the same expedition by water from Lyons to

Avignon, some seventy years later. A full account of his voyage is

given in his _Diary_ (p. 69, Chandos edition). Like Busbecq he stopped

at Valence. ‘We then came to Valence, a capital Citty carrying the

title of a Dutchey, but the Bishop is now sole lord temporal of it and

the country about it. The towne having an University famous for the

study of the civil law, is much frequented; but the Churches are none

of the fairest, having been greatly defaced in the time of the warrs.’

[36] Jean de Montluc, Bishop of Valence, was one of the most successful

diplomatists of his day; he had been ambassador at Constantinople

in 1537, on which occasion he received the pot of balsam, which he

afterwards lost in Ireland (see vol. i. p. 387). Henry III. owed his

Polish Crown to his exertions and diplomatic skill. He was father of

that bold and unscrupulous adventurer, Balagny.

His career is thus sketched by a contemporary:—

‘Il avoit esté de sa premiere profession jacobin, et la feue royne

de Navarre Margueritte, qui aymoit les gens sçavans et spirituels,

le cognoissant tel, le deffrocqua et le mena avec elle à la Court,

le fit cognoistre, le poussa, luy ayda, le fit employer en plusieurs

ambassades; car je pense qu’il n’y a guieres pays en l’Europe où il

n’ayt esté ambassadeur et en negotiation, ou grande ou petite, jusques

en Constantinople, qui fut son premier advancement, et à Venize, en

Polongne, Angleterre, Escosse et autres lieux. On le tenoit Lutherien

au commencement, et puis Calviniste, contre sa profession episcopalle;

mais il s’y comporta modestement par bonne mine et beau semblant; la

reyne de Navarre le deffrocqua pour l’amour de cela.’—_Brantôme_, iii.

52.

[37] Monsieur de Vulcob, French Ambassador at the Court of Maximilian.

See Charrière, _Négotiations de la France dans le Levant_, iii. 596,

note.

[38] Jean de Morvilliers was born at Blois in 1506. He was ambassador

at Venice from 1546 to 1550, and was rewarded for his services by

receiving the Bishopric of Orleans in 1552. After he became bishop,

the Chapter of his cathedral, by a statute passed in November 1552,

ordered him to shave off his beard. He refused to comply, and the

quarrel raged fiercely for four years, till finally in 1556 it was

appeased by a letter from the King to the Chapter, in which he declared

that he required to send Morvilliers to various countries in which a

beard was necessary, and therefore ordered the Chapter to receive him

beard and all. He did not, however, take possession of his cathedral

till 1559. Francis II. appointed him a Privy Councillor, and in 1561

he took part in the Conference of Poissy, and in the following year

attended the Council of Trent, as one of the French representatives. He

was afterwards ambassador to the Duke of Savoy, and in 1564 was one of

the negotiators of the Treaty of Troyes, between Charles IX. and Queen

Elizabeth. In the same year he gave up his Bishopric in favour of his

nephew. On the disgrace of the Chancellor l’Hôpital, in 1568, he became

Keeper of the Seals, but in 1571 had to resign them to Birague. In de

Thou’s opinion (iii. 209), he was honest and prudent, but cautious

to the verge of timidity, and therefore always pursued a policy of

expediency. He was the head of the party who were in favour of peace

but thought no religious reform was required, and who therefore, in

order to remain on good terms with the extreme Catholic party headed

by the Guises, did not hesitate to evade or violate the pledges given

to the Protestants. See _Thuanus_, iii. 35. De Thou’s estimate of

his character is borne out by a State-paper preserved by d’Aubigné

(_Histoire_, vol. ii. bk. i. ch. ii.), written by Morvilliers at the

request of Charles IX. in 1572, in opposition to Coligny’s project of

war with Spain.

[39] Elizabeth’s marriage portion had never been paid, and Busbecq

was afraid that this fact might be adduced as a reason for not paying

her dower now she was a widow; and also, in case of the failure of

Maximilian’s issue male, a claim might be set up on behalf of her

daughter, that Elizabeth’s renunciation of her rights of succession

was invalid for the same reason. That Busbecq’s fears were not

ill-founded is shown by the fact that Louis XIV. argued that his wife’s

renunciation of her rights to the Crown of Spain was invalid, as her

marriage portion had never been paid.

[40] The Comte de Retz was the son of a Florentine banker at Lyons,

named Gondi, Seigneur du Péron. His wife entered the service of

Catherine de Medici, and took charge of her children in their infancy.

She endeared herself to the Queen, who being Regent during the minority

of Charles IX. advanced her children to the highest posts: the Comte

de Retz became first Gentleman of the Chamber to the King, and a

Marshal of France; he acquired enormous wealth. His brother, Pierre de

Gondi, was made Bishop of Paris, and afterwards Cardinal; he had other

preferments worth 30,000 or 40,000 livres per annum, and property worth

200,000 crowns; while a third brother was Master of the Wardrobe to the

King.

[41] The following is an extract from a diary kept by a French official

during this same year 1575:—‘Le mardi 6^e juillet, fust pendu à Paris,

et puis mis en quatre quartiers, un capitaine nommé la Vergerie,

condamné à mort par Birague, chancelier, et quelques maistres des

requestes nommés par la Roine-mère, qui lui firent son procès bien

court dedans l’Hostel de ladite Ville de Paris. Toute sa charge estoit

que, s’estant trouvé en quelque compagnie, où on parloit de la querelle

des escoliers et des Italiens, il avoit dit qu’il faloit se ranger

du costé des escoliers et saccager et couper la gorge à tous ces....

Italiens, et à tous ceux qui les portoient et soustenoient, comme

estans cause de la ruine de la France: sans avoir autre chose fait ni

attenté contre iceux.’—_De l’Estoile_, i. 69.

[42] Maximilian put on record his protest against the Massacre of

Saint Bartholomew in a letter to Lazarus Schwendi:—‘Quod attinet

ad præclarum illud facinus quod Galli in Amiralio ejusque sociis

tyrannicè perpetrarunt, equidem id minimè probare possum, magnoque

cum dolore intellexi Generum meum sibi persuaderi passum tam fœdam

lanienam. Quanquam scio magis alios imperare quàm ipsum. Attamen hoc

ad excusationem facti non sufficit, neque hoc satis est palliando

sceleri.’—Maximilian to Laz. Schwendi. Leyden, 1603. 2nd edition.

[43] Jean St. Chaumont, being at Nismes with a picked body of soldiers,

determined to make an attempt on Aigues-Mortes. Guided by some

Protestants who had been driven out of the town, he contrived one night

to blow open the gates; his troops rushed in and took possession of

the place. The garrison fled to the tower of Constance, which two days

later was compelled to surrender. See _Thuanus_, iii. 83.

[44] Stephen Bathory, Voivode of Transylvania. He and Maximilian

were eventually both elected in 1576, and civil war was imminent in

consequence; but the death of Maximilian a few months later left

Bathory in undisputed possession of the Crown.

[45] See page 13, and note, page 14.

[46] In order to show her contempt for the besieging army, one of the

women of Livron brought her distaff to the breach, and sat herself down

to spin. See _Thuanus_, iii. 83.

[47] Charles, son of Claude Duke of Guise and Antoinette de Bourbon,

born 1524. Archbishop of Rheims 1538. Cardinal 1547. There is little

doubt as to the cause of his death being that which is given by

Busbecq, though some declared that he was murdered by means of a

poisoned torch, and others that he was presented with a poisoned purse.

For some time before he had been complaining of severe pain in the

head. See _Thuanus_, iii. 47, 48.

‘Le dimanche 26^e décembre à cinq heures du matin, Charles, cardinal

de Lorraine, aagé de cinquante ans, mourust en Avignon d’une fiebvre,

symptomée d’un extrême mal de teste provenu du serein d’Avignon, qui

est fort dangereux, qui lui avoit offensé le cerveau à la procession

des Battus, où il s’estoit trouvé, en grande dévotion, avec le crucefix

à la main, les pieds à moictié nuds et la teste peu couverte, qui

est le poison qu’on a depuis voulu faire accroire qu’on lui avoit

donné.’—_De l’Estoile_, i. 40. The character the zealous Protestant

d’Aubigné gives of the Cardinal (_Histoire_, vol. ii. bk. ii. ch. xi.)

is as follows: ‘esprit sans borne, tres chiche et craintif de sa vie,

prodigue de celle d’autrui, pour le seul but qu’il a eu en vivant,

assavoir d’eslever sa race à une desmesurée grandeur.’

[48] Catherine de Medici was supposed to be endowed with second-sight.

Her daughter gives several instances in her memoirs.

‘Mesme la nuict devant la miserable course en lice, elle songea comme

elle voyoit le feu Roy mon pere blessé à l’œil, comme il fust....

Elle n’a aussy jamais perdu aucun de ses enfans qu’elle n’aye veu une

fort grande flamme, à laquelle soudain elle s’escrioit: “Dieu garde

mes enfans!” et incontinent apres, elle entendoit la triste nouvelle

qui, par ce feu, lui avoit esté augurée.... Elle s’escrie, continuant

ses resveries, comme si elle eust veu donner la bataille de Jarnac:

“Voyez-vous comme ils fuient! Mon fils a la victoire. Hé, mon Dieu!

relevez mon fils! il est par terre! Voyez, voyez, dans cette haye, le

Prince de Condé mort!”’—_Mémoires de Marguerite_, p. 42-43. The story

of the Cardinal’s ghost is given more fully in De l’Estoile’s diary:

‘Puis aiant demandé à boire, comme on lui eust baillé son verre, elle

commença tellement à trembler, qu’il lui cuida tumber des mains, et

s’escria: “Jésus! voila M. le cardinal de Lorraine que je voy!”’—_De

l’Estoile_, i. 41.

[49] Pomponne de Bellièvre, jurist and diplomatist. Born at Lyons

in 1529, he was twice Charles IX.’s ambassador to Switzerland, and

accompanied Henry III. to Poland. In 1586 he was sent to England to

ask for the release of Mary Queen of Scots. In 1599 Henry made him

Chancellor, a post which he held till 1604. He died in 1607.

[50] The following extract from a letter, dated November 3, 1574, and

written by the King to his representative at Constantinople, proves the

truth of this statement:—‘Toutesfois je veux vous advertir et luy aussy

(the bishop of Acqs, the late Ambassador), s’il est encores par delà,

que tout fraîchement j’ay receu et de bon lieu que l’empereur se plaint

fort de luy et des offices qu’il a faicts par delà contre ses affaires.

Je sçay bien qu’il n’a eu considération qu’à mon service; toutesfois je

seray bien aise que durant votre légation vous vous comportiez envers

ses ministres le plus amiablement que vous pourrez et leur presterez

toute faveur en ce que touchera le particulier d’iceluy S^r empereur où

vous verrez que mon service ne sera point engagé, afin qu’il cognoisse

que je me ressens du bon recueil et faveur qu’il me fist dernièrement

passant par ses terres, et ay en recommandation la légation qui est en

nostre royaume.’—Charrière, _Négotiations de la France dans le Levant_,

iii. 578.

[51] Maximilian gave this advice to Henry III. when he stopped at

Vienna on his way back to France. ‘Cæsarem prudentissimum juxta et

optimum principem hoc Regi consilium dedisse memorant, ut pacem primis

regni auspiciis et in Galliæ ingressu suis daret.’—_Thuanus_, iii. 8.

[52] Her name was Catherine. She eventually married in 1599 Henry, Duke

of Bar, son of Charles, Duke of Lorraine, and died in 1604.

[53] This was no kindness to Louise de Vaudemont. Brantôme praises

her for her loyalty to her husband: ‘Aussi que dès le beau premier

commencement de leur mariage, voire dix jours après, il ne luy donna

pas grande occasion de contentement, car il luy osta ses filles de

chambre et damoiselles qui avoient tousjours esté avec elle et nourries

d’elle estant fille, qu’elle regretta fort.’—_Brantôme_, v. 334.

[54] Charles, Cardinal de Lorraine. See page 45, and note.

[55] Queen Leonora, sister of Charles V. and widow of Francis I., one

of the Princesses to whom Busbecq’s grandfather, Gilles Ghiselin II.,

had been _premier écuyer trenchant_. See vol. i. page 26, note 1.

[56] See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part IV. chap. iii.

[57] Louis d’Este, Cardinal of Ferrara and Archbishop of Auch, was son

of Hercules II., Duke of Ferrara, and Renée, daughter of Louis XII. of

France. He was born in 1538, made Cardinal in 1561, and died at Rome in

1586. He deserved, says de Thou, to be called the treasure of the poor,

the glory of the Sacred College, and the ornament of the Court of Rome.

[58] Miss Freer, in her history of Henry III., has charged Busbecq’s

Queen with heartlessness. ‘Under these circumstances Elizabeth gladly

accepted her father’s invitation to return to Vienna. With all

her virtue and simplicity Elizabeth appears not to have possessed

much tenderness of character; else, herself feeling so keenly the

disadvantages of a residence at Paris, she could not have abandoned her

infant daughter to the care of Catherine de Medici; nor even, as far

as it can be discovered, made any attempt to convey her to be educated

far from the levity of the Court.’—Vol. ii. p. 39. Miss Freer evidently

did not know of Busbecq’s letters to Maximilian; she frequently quotes

the letters to Rodolph, but does not appear to be aware that they were

written by the man whom she describes as ‘Auger de Ghislin, Seigneur de

Boësbecq, a German noble resident in France.’

[59] ‘Le 22^e mars les députés de M. le prince de Condé, mareschal

Damville et autres associés, tant de l’une que de l’autre religion,

selon la permission qu’ils avoient eue du Roy d’envoier vers lui tels

personnages qu’ils aviseroient pour l’avancement et conclusion d’une

paix générale et asseurée à tout son roiaume, aians, par un commun

advis, articulé leurs conditions et icelles dressées en forme de

requeste, partirent de Basle le dit 22^e mars pour venir trouver Sa

Majesté à Paris, où ils arrivèrent le mardi 5^e avril.’—_De l’Estoile_,

i. 54. For a full account of these negotiations see _Mémoires de

Nevers_, i. 308.

[60] The Queen had so much difficulty in procuring funds that she was

obliged to postpone her visit to August. Her child, Princess Marie

Elizabeth (god-daughter of Queen Elizabeth of England), was at this

time three years old. Amboise, near Blois, was considered particularly

healthy, and on that account appointed as the nursery for the royal

children. Evelyn speaks of it as a very agreeable village, built of

stone and roofed with blue slate; he gives a full description of the

castle which was the residence of the young Princess. _Diary_, p. 63.

[61] Don Rodolph Khuen von Belasii, Baron of Neu-Lembach, descended

from an ancient Tyrolese family. He was also Privy Councillor to the

Emperor.

[62] See note, p. 63.

[63] Roger de Saint-Lary de Bellegarde attached himself to the Comte

de Retz, was introduced by him to Catherine de Medici, and rose as

rapidly as his patron. Henry III. on his return from Poland created

him a Marshal, and gave him the command of his forces in Dauphiny. His

position was, however, undermined by du Guast, and he was despatched to

Poland. Regarding this mission as merely a pretext for his banishment,

he went no further than Piedmont, entered the Duke of Savoy’s service,

and with his assistance took possession of the Marquisate of Saluzzo,

the last of the French conquests beyond the Alps, driving out Birague,

the Governor. Afterwards the Duke of Savoy, accompanied by the Marshal,

had an interview, near Lyons, with the Queen Mother. The sequel may be

told in Brantôme’s words. ‘Elle luy fit tout plein de remonstrances.

Luy, ores planant, ores connivant, et ores conillant et amusant la

Royne de belles paroles, se trouva atteint de maladie par belle poison,

de laquelle il mourut.’—_Brantôme_, iv. 103.

[64] About a mile from Montbéliard Pibrac was captured by Brysach and

a band of brigands, who assumed the character of Huguenot refugees.

The Ambassador was compelled to leave his carriage, and follow his

captors into the forest. Meanwhile a hue and cry was raised, and the

people turned out to hunt the banditti. Pibrac was now in great danger,

as the brigands threatened to kill him if one of their party should

be hurt. From noon to midnight he was compelled to accompany Brysach

and his band through the recesses of the forest. Fortunately he was

able to turn his talents as a diplomatist to good account, and at last

persuaded his companions to set him free. See _Thuanus_, iii. 98.

Compare the account of Busbecq’s capture, vol. i. p. 71.

The country of Montbéliard, or Mümpelgard, lay between Franche Comté

and Alsace, and belonged to a branch of the House of Würtemberg. It

remained in their hands till near the end of the last century. In 1792

the French took possession of it, but it did not become French _de

jure_ till 1801, when, with the other German _enclaves_ in Alsace, it

was ceded by the treaty of Luneville.

[65] So in March 1538 Holbein was despatched to Brussels to take a

portrait of Christina, the widowed Duchess of Milan, and daughter of

Elizabeth of Denmark, sister of Charles V. (see vol. i. page 26, note

2), for whose hand Henry VIII. had been negotiating. She is reported to

have declined his offer, saying, ‘if she had had two heads one should

have been at the service of the King of England, but as she had only

one, she preferred to keep it on her own shoulders.’ Holbein’s portrait

now belongs to the Duke of Norfolk, and was exhibited at the Winter

Exhibition of the Royal Academy in 1880. The lady afterwards married

Francis Duke of Lorraine, and became the mother of Charles Duke of

Lorraine and Dorothea, the wife of Duke Eric of Brunswick. Hence came

the connection between the Houses of Austria and Lorraine, alluded to

on page 59, Maximilian II. being Christina’s first cousin.

Similarly Holbein, in the following year, was again sent abroad to take

a portrait of Anne of Cleves.—_Froude,_ ch. xvii.

[66] ‘Le dimanche 19^e juing arrivèrent à Paris M. le duc de Lorraine

et M. de Vaudemont, père de la Roine, pour achever le mariage du

Marquis de Nomenie, fils aisné dudit seingneur de Vaudemont aveq

la damoiselle de Martigues. En congratulation et resjouissance des

venues de ces princes, se firent à la Cour plusieurs jeux, tournois et

festins magnifiques, en l’un desquels la Roine-Mère mangea tant qu’elle

cuida crever, et fust malade au double de son desvoiement. On disoit

que c’estoit d’avoir trop mangé de culs d’artichaux et de crestes et

rongnons de coq, dont elle estoit fort friande.’—_De l’Estoile_, i. 64.

[67] The Ilsings or Ilsungs were an ancient Swabian family, several of

whom had been burgomasters of Augsburg. The person mentioned in the

text was probably George Ilsing von Lichtenberg, Privy Councillor to

Charles V., Ferdinand, Maximilian, and Rodolph, and Statthalter in the

Duchy of Würtemberg.

[68] The Princess Charlotte de Bourbon was compelled to take the vows

before she had arrived at the legal age. She became Abbess of Joüarrs;

but ran away in 1572, and took refuge with the Elector Palatine. The

Prince of Orange saw her at Heidelburg and fell in love with her. St.

Aldegonde conducted her to Brill, where the Prince met her. They were

married June 12.

[69] ‘Mareschal d’Amville vint à estre empoisonné de telle façon, que,

s’il ne fut esté secouru prestement et par bons remedes, il estoit

mort; et de faict les nouvelles en vindrent au Roy qu’il estoit mort

de ceste poison. J’estois lors en sa chambre quand ces nouvelles luy

furent apportées ... il ne s’en esmeut autrement, et ne monstra le

visage plus joyeux ny fasché, sinon qu’il envoya le courrier à la

Reyne; et ne laissasmes à causer avec luy. Ce gouvernement de Languedoc

fut aussi tost donné à M. de Nevers.... Vindrent apres nouvelles

que ledit sieur mareschal n’estoit point mort et tendoit peu à peu

à guerison, laquelle tarda beaucoup à luy venir. Plusieurs disoient

que s’il fust mort de ceste poison, que M. de Montmorancy fust esté

sententié ... mais on craignoit que ledict mareschal, voyant son frere

mort, qu’il eust joué à la desesperade, craignant qu’il ne luy en

arrivast autant s’il estoit pris, et avoit un tres grand moyen de faire

mal avec l’alliance des Huguenots, voire du roy d’Espagne, qu’il eust

pris.’—_Brantôme_, ii. 436-7.

Montmorency’s relations had good reasons for their apprehensions. It

was intended to strangle him, and, to cover the murder, Miron, chief

physician to the King, was sent to see him, and told to give out

that he had apoplectic symptoms. Gilles de Souvré, chief chamberlain

to Henry, was selected as his executioner, and to his reluctance to

undertake the office the prisoner owed his life. See _Thuanus_, iii.

105.

Montmorency was conscious of his danger. ‘Tell the Queen,’ said he,

‘that I am well aware of her intentions towards me; there is no need to

make so much fuss. She has only to send the Chancellor’s apothecary: I

will take whatever he gives me.’ See _De l’Estoile_, i. 63.

[70] The date shows that this letter ought to follow Letter XXI., but

we have retained the order of the Latin Edition.

[71] The following quotation from Marguerite de Valois’ autobiography

shows that Busbecq was right:—‘Nous nous en retournasmes à Paris

trouver le Roy, qui nous receust avec beaucoup de contentement d’avoir

la paix; mais toutesfois aggreant peu les advantageuses conditions

des huguenots, se deliberant bien, soudain qu’il auroit mon frere à

la cour, de trouver une invention pour rentrer en la guerre contre

lesdits huguenots, pour ne les laisser jouir de ce qu’à regret et

par force on leur avoit accordé seulement pour en retirer mon frere

(Alençon).’—_Mémoires de Marguerite_, p. 79.

[72] ‘J’ay ouy dire à de grands capitaines que si le Piedmont au moins

nous fust demeuré ... il eust servy d’escolle tousjours et d’amusement

aux gens de guerre françois, et s’y fussent tous arrestez, et ainsy

ne se fussent adonnez ny affriandez aux guerres civiles; estant le

naturel du François de vacquer tousjours aux œuvres de Mars et d’hayr

l’oysiveté, le repos et la paix.’—_Brantôme_, v. 234.

[73] John Listhius, a Hungarian noble, married the sister of Nicolas

Olahus, Archbishop of Gran and Primate of Hungary, by whom he had two

sons; after her death he took orders, and became Bishop of Wessprim

in 1568, and Bishop of Raab in 1572. He died in 1578. He was Privy

Councillor to Ferdinand and Maximilian.

[74] Lazarus von Schwendi, Seigneur of Hohen-Landsperg in Upper

Alsace, was a very remarkable man. He was a friend of Count Egmont,

by whose side he fought at the battles of St. Quentin and Gravelines.

At Maximilian’s request Philip II. allowed him to take command of his

forces in Hungary. He retook Tokay from the Turks in 1565. (Katona,

_Historia Regum Hungariæ_, xxiv. 45; see also _Sketch of Hungarian

History_.) He was also distinguished as a scholar; he wrote a book, _De

Bello contra Turcas gerendo_, and two other treatises. But what marks

his position more than anything else is the fact that two of the most

important manifestos of that age were addressed to him. (1) Orange’s

protest against the administration of Granville. See Motley, _Rise of

the Dutch Republic_, Part II. chap. iv.:—‘This letter, together with

one in a similar strain from Egmont, was transmitted by the valiant

and highly intellectual soldier to whom they were addressed, to the

King of Spain with an entreaty that he would take warning from the

bitter truths which they contained.’ (2) Maximilian’s protest against

the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew (see note 1, page 42). Schwendi

eventually retired to his estates in Alsace, and died at Kirchofen in

1583, aged sixty-two.

[75] De Blot obtained the appointment (see Foppens, _Bibliotheca

Belgica_, i. 491).

[76] The Emperor Frederic III., the great-grandfather of Charles V. and

Ferdinand, married Eleonora, daughter of Edward, King of Portugal, in

1452.

[77] See page 68.

[78] Montbrun cut to pieces the Swiss troops of de Gordes, who

commanded for the King in Dauphiny. After a less decisive engagement

the day before, he overtook them on June 13 at the passage of the Drome

near Die. Eight hundred Swiss were killed together with their Colonel,

and eighteen standards were taken, while the victors only lost six men.

See _Thuanus_, iii. 93.

[79] These Palatines were great Polish magnates.

[80] Charles du Puy Montbrun, a member of one of the oldest families in

Dauphiny, was born about 1530. One of his sisters became a Protestant,

and took refuge in Geneva. He pursued her thither, declaring that he

would either bring her back a Catholic or kill her; but instead of

reclaiming her, he fell under the influence of Beza and became himself

a convert. In 1560 he raised a small partisan force, with which he

carried on a guerilla war in Dauphiny and the Vivarais. His young wife

accompanied him on these expeditions, as the camp was her safest abode.

He took an active part in the civil wars, and fought bravely at Jarnac

and Moncontour.

The affair mentioned in the text was a mere skirmish. Montbrun was

engaged in hot pursuit of the King’s troops, whom he had defeated a

few days before (see page 78), when a daring attempt was made by a

party of the royal cavalry to seize the bridge of Gervane, and cut

off his retreat. Though he had only a small force in hand, he charged

the enemy, but finding himself outnumbered was compelled to retreat.

His horse fell in trying to leap a ditch, and he was taken prisoner.

Busbecq’s account shows that the affair was represented in Paris as

a decisive victory. Compare Thuanus, iii. 94, who also states that

Montbrun was the first to raise the Huguenot standard after Saint

Bartholomew. D’Aubigné (_Histoire_, vol. ii. bk. ii. ch. ix.) says he

will give him no eulogy except the title La Noue conferred upon him—to

wit, the Valiant Montbrun.

[81] The King, however, was at the entertainment. ‘A ces nopces se

trouvèrent le duc de Lorraine et MM. de Guise, avec la pluspart des

princes et seingneurs, qui lors estoient à la Cour, et y dansa le Roy

tout du long du jour, en grande allégresse.’—_De l’Estoile_, i. 82.

[82] Louis Gonzaga, Duc de Nevers, third son of Frederick II., Duke

of Mantua, was born in 1539, and was brought up in France with Henry

II.’s children. He had a horse killed under him at St. Quentin, was

taken prisoner, and was ransomed for 60,000 crowns. In 1565 he married

Henriette de Clèves, the sister of the two last Ducs de Nevers, and of

Catherine de Clèves, wife of the Duke of Guise, and was created Duc

de Nevers. In 1567 he became Governor of the French possessions in

Piedmont, and protested strongly against their cession by Henry III.

(_Mémoires_, i. 1). He was deeply implicated in the Massacre of Saint

Bartholomew. A partisan of the Guises at the beginning of the League,

he afterwards went over to Henry III. At the death of the latter, he at

first assumed an attitude of neutrality between the League and Henry

IV., but soon espoused the royal cause. He died in 1595.

[83] See note 2, page 53.

[84] See note, p. 36.

[85] The Fregosi were one of the four great plebeian families of Genoa,

and gave many Doges to the Republic. Mario de Birague was sent as

ambassador to Genoa in the summer of 1574, and John Galeazzo Fregoso

commanded the two galleys of the said ambassador. Both were received

with great joy at Genoa, though Fregoso was a banished citizen.

Charrière, _Négotiations de la France dans le Levant_, iii. 609. For a

full account of the disturbances at Genoa see _Thuanus_, iii. 113-128.

[86] Beauvoir, or Beauvois, de la Nocle was one of the Huguenot chiefs

(among whom were Montgomery and the Vidame de Chartres), who were in

the Faubourg St. Germain during the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew, and

succeeded in making their escape. He and d’Arènes were the principal

spokesmen of the Deputies at Paris. He was one of the French gentlemen

who accompanied the army of Casimir which invaded France in 1587 under

Dohna. In 1591 Henry IV. sent him as his ambassador to England.

[87] Buren, in Gelderland, was taken by the Spanish General Hierges, at

the end of June 1575. For details of the siege see _Thuanus_, iii. 73;

_Strada_, i. 393. The date of the final rupture of the negotiations was

July 13, 1575.—Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part IV. ch. iii.

[88] For a sketch of Mondragon’s life and character see Motley, _United

Netherlands_, iii. 342-3. The expedition which Busbecq mentions as

contemplated was carried out on September 27. See Motley, _Rise of the

Dutch Republic_, Part IV. ch. iii.

[89] ‘At the same time in the assembly of the Confederate States,

the question of asking the protection of some powerful neighbouring

Sovereign was long and hotly debated, as some were inclined to the

Empire, and the Princes and States of the Empire, others to the King of

France, and others again to the Queen of England. The side, however,

prevailed which was in favour of an English alliance.’—_Thuanus_, iii.

79. For a full account see _Meteren_, 153-155.

[90] See page 128, and note.

[91] Duke Eric of Brunswick succeeded his father the Duke of

Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, in the principalities of Gottingen and

Calenberg. Brought up as a Lutheran, he afterwards became a Roman

Catholic. He fought on the Spanish side at St. Quentin, and was

subsequently employed in the Netherlands and Portugal. He does not seem

to have taken his rejection much to heart, as in the following December

he married Dorothea, daughter of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine (see

note, page 63), and sister of Charles, the reigning Duke. Busbecq’s

Queen honoured the marriage of her rejected suitor with her presence

(see page 129). He died at Pavia in 1584. In the opinion of Thuanus

(iii. 703), he was ‘terribilis suis, neque tamen re ulla memorabili

gesta admodum clarus.’ His widow afterwards married the Marquis de

Varembon, the lover of Mademoiselle de Tournon, whose pathetic story is

told by her royal mistress. See _Mémoires de Marguerite_, 110-114.

[92] Bourg-la-Reine, near Sceaux.—_De l’Estoile_, i. 85.

[93] Marie Elizabeth (or Isabel) was born October 27, 1572, a few weeks

after the massacre of Saint Bartholomew; Queen Elizabeth of England

was her godmother. An interesting account of her is given by Brantôme,

whose aunt, Madame de Crissé, was her governess. According to him she

had a great idea of her own importance: ‘Une fois, elle estant malade,

le Roy son oncle (Henry III.) demeura trois jours sans l’aller voir;

au troisiesme il y alla. Lors qu’elle le sentit à la porte elle fit

semblant de dormir, et se tourna de l’autre costé; et, encore que le

Roy l’appellast par trois fois, elle fit de la sourde, jusques à ce que

madame de Crissé, ma tante et sa gouvernante, la fit tourner vers le

Roy, envers lequel elle fit de la froide, et ne luy dict pas deux mots:

et s’en estant departi d’avec elle, sa gouvernante se corrouçant contre

elle, luy demanda pourquoy elle avoit faict ce trait et cette mine.

Elle respondit: “Hé quoi! ma mere, comment me fust-il esté possible de

faire cas de luy, et luy faire bonne chere, que, despuis trois jours

que je suis malade, il ne m’a pas veue une fois, non pas seulement

envoyé visiter, moy qui suis sa niepce, et fille de son aisné, et qui

ne luy fais point de déshonneur.”’—_Brantôme_, v. 245.

She died before she completed her sixth year. The following touching

notice was written at the time of her death:—‘Ce jour (April 2, 1578),

mourust en l’Hostel d’Anjou, à Paris, Madame Marie Ysabel de France,

fille unique et légitime du feu Roy Charles IX^e, aagée de cinq à six

ans, qui fust pleurée et regrettée à cause de son gentil esprit et de

sa bonté et douceur, qu’elle retenoit de madame Ysabel d’Austriche,

fille de l’Empereur Maximilian d’Austriche, sa mère’.—_De l’Estoile_,

i. 239.

[94] According to Mezeray, _Histoire de France_, iii. 380, and Amyraut,

_Life of La Noue_, 166, his real name was Dianovitz, and he was a

Bohemian by birth (Bohesme, Boësme, Besme). He is, however, generally

called simply Besme. Brantôme, who knew him well, tells us he was a

page of the Cardinal de Guise, and married an illegitimate daughter

of the Cardinal de Lorraine, a former maid of honour to Elizabeth of

France, Queen of Philip II., who gave her a marriage portion. Two years

afterwards he was sent to Spain, by Guise, under the pretext of buying

horses, but in reality, it was said, to renew the secret alliance which

had existed between Philip and the late Cardinal de Lorraine. According

to Brantôme, he went ‘tant pour querir son mariage que pour braver

et se monstrer en piaffe devant le Roy et les Espagnols, et dire que

c’estoit luy qui avoit faict le coup de M. l’Admiral.’ On his return he

was taken prisoner between Barbezieux and Chasteauneuf, and brought to

the Castle of Bouteville. Being recognised, he offered a large sum for

his ransom, and to get Montbrun exchanged against himself. The Guises,

too, made great efforts to obtain his release. However, when news came

of Montbrun’s execution, the inhabitants of Rochelle, ‘qui le vouloient

acheter pour en faire faire justice exemplaire’ (_De l’Estoile_, i.

83), offered 1,000 crowns for him to Bertoville, the Governor of

Bouteville. The latter, for fear of reprisals against the Huguenot

prisoners, did not wish to put him to death openly, and, on the other

hand, had no intention of letting him go unpunished for the murder

of Coligny. He therefore had recourse to the following stratagem. He

caused one of his soldiers to enter into communication with Besme,

and to agree for a bribe to let him escape. The soldier then reported

Besme’s plans to the Governor, who posted an ambush where the fugitive

was to pass. He fell into their hands and was killed on the spot. For

an account of his murder of Coligny, see _Brantôme_, iii. 280.

[95] The English Ambassador—or more properly Minister—at that time was

Dr. Valentine Dale.

[96] Compare his sister Marguerite’s account. ‘Le soir venu, peu avant

le soupper du Roy, mon frere changeant de manteau, et le mettant

autour du nez, sort seulement suivy d’un des siens, qui n’estoit pas

recongneu, et s’en va à pied jusques à la porte de Saint-Honnoré, où

il trouve Simié (Jean de Seymer, master of Alençon’s Wardrobe) avec

le carrosse d’une dame, qu’il avoit emprunté pour cet effect, dans

lequel il se mit, et va jusques à quelques maisons à un quart de lieue

de Paris, où il trouva des chevaux qui l’attendoient, sur lesquels

montant, à quelques lieues de là il trouva deux ou trois cens chevaulx

de ses serviteurs qui l’attendoient au rendez-vous qu’il leur avoit

donné. L’on ne s’apperçoit point de son partement que sur les neuf

heures du soir. Le Roy et la Royne ma mere me demanderent pourquoy il

n’avoit point souppé avec eux, et s’il estoit malade. Je leur dis que

je ne l’avois point veu depuis l’apres-disnée. Ils envoyerent en sa

chambre voir ce qu’il faisoit; ou leur vinst dire qu’il n’y estoit pas.

Ils disent qu’on le cherche par toutes les chambres des dames, où il

avoit accoustumé d’aller. On cherche par le chasteau, on cherche par

la ville; on ne le trouve point. A cette heure l’allarme s’eschauffe;

le Roy se met en colere, se courrouce, menace, envoye querir tous les

princes et seigneurs de la cour, leur commande de monter à cheval,

et le luy ramener vif ou mort. . . . . Plusieurs de ces princes et

seigneurs refusent cette commission, remonstrans au Roy de quelle

importance elle estoit. . . . Quelques aultres accepterent, et se

preparerent pour monter à cheval. Ils ne peurent faire telle diligence

qu’ils peussent partir plustost que sur le poinct du jour, qui fut

cause qu’ils ne trouverent point mon frere, et furent contraincts

de revenir pour n’estre pas en esquipage de guerre.’—_Mémoires de

Marguerite_, p. 64.

[97] See note, p. 117.

[98] Claude Antoine de Vienne, Baron de Clervant, born at Metz, 1505.

He was the chief leader of the Huguenots in the north-east of France.

[99] See note 3, p. 124.

[100] Marguerite de la Marck, sovereign Countess of Aremberg, in

her own right, was widow of Jean de Ligne, the Comte d’Aremberg who

died so gallantly at Heiliger-Lee (see Motley, _Rise of the Dutch

Republic_, Part III. ch. ii.) She had already had the honour of

escorting Elizabeth, when she came to France as a bride. She visited

Marguerite de Valois when she went to Spa in 1577. ‘Plusieurs seigneurs

et dames d’Allemaigne y estoient venus pour me voir, et entre aultres

madame la comtesse d’Aremberg (qui est celle qui avoit eu l’honneur de

conduire la royne Elizabeth à ses nopces à Mezieres, lors qu’elle vint

espouser le roy Charles mon frere, et ma sœur aisnée au roy d’Espaigne

son mary), femme qui estoit tenue en grande estime de l’imperatrice,

de l’empereur, et de tous les princes chrestiens.’—_Mémoires de

Marguerite_, p. 109.

[101] Du Guast was one of Henry III.’s favourites, and possessed

unbounded influence over his master. On his return from Poland, whither

du Guast had accompanied him, Henry gave him the bishoprics of Amiens

and Grenoble. The former ‘il vendit à une garse de la Cour la somme

de 30,000 francs: aiant vendu auparavant l’évesché de Grenoble 40,000

francs au fils du feu seingneur d’Avanson.’—_De l’Estoile_, i. 39.

The King also gave him 50,000 livres he had raised by a forced loan

from the Councillors and Advocates of the Parliament and Châtelet at

Paris (_De l’Estoile_, i. 54). De l’Estoile, i. 92, gives an account

of his murder. ‘Il fust tué dans sa maison à Paris, rue Saint-Honoré,

et avec lui son valet de chambre et un sien laquais, par certains

hommes armés et masqués, qui l’assassinèrent à coups d’espées et de

dagues, sans estre congneus ne retenus. Il dit, mourant, que c’estoit

le baron de Viteaux, qui estoit à Monsieur, qui l’avoit tué: toutefois

cela ne fust point avéré, encores que la présumption en fust grande,

et que ce coup avoit esté fait soubs bon adveu et par commandement;

d’autant que ce mignon superbe et audacieux, enflé de la faveur de son

maistre, avoit bravé Monsieur jusques à estre passé un jour devant

lui en la rue Sainct-Antoine, sans le saluer ni faire semblant de le

congnoistre, et avoit dit par plusieurs fois qu’il ne recongnoissoit

que le Roy, et que quand il lui auroit commandé de tuer son propre

frère, qu’il le feroit.’ De l’Estoile makes the reflection that, as

he had shed much innocent blood at the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew,

so according to the word of God his own was shed, and that he himself

was surprised and killed in his bed in the same manner as he used

to boast he then surprised and killed others. Six months before the

murder, Brantôme, who was an intimate friend of both parties, had

made an attempt to induce du Guast to withdraw his opposition to

the pardon which de Viteaux was anxious to obtain for the murder of

Millaud. (See page 189 and notes.) He thus concludes his account of

the murder: ‘Pour fin, le baron de Viteaux après avoir fait son coup,

sort si heureusement du logis, et se retira si bien et sans aucun

bruit, qu’on n’en soupçonna celuy qui avoit fait le coup que par

conjectures, tant il fut fait secrettement, et ne se put jamais guieres

bien prouver; mesmes à moy, qui luy estois amy intime, ne me l’a voulu

confesser.’—_Brantôme_, vi. 93. The Baron de Viteaux was a notorious

duellist; his death is described by Busbecq (pages 189, 190). Du Guast

was hated by Alençon, and his sister Marguerite. The former’s income

depended on the favourite’s pleasure, ‘mon frere n’ayant eu jusques

alors son appennage, et s’entretenant seulement de certaines pensions

mal assignées, qui venoient seulement quand il plaisoit au Guast’

(_Mémoires de Marguerite_, p. 63). He had also got Marguerite into

scrapes, and was the deadly enemy of her lover, Bussy d’Amboise. All

the evidence points strongly to the fact that he was murdered at her

instigation. Not only do Thuanus (iii. 108-9) and Mezeray (_Histoire de

France_, iii. 391) give graphic accounts of her visit to de Viteaux at

the monastery of the Augustins at Paris, where he had taken sanctuary,

and tell how she persuaded him by her caresses to commit the murder,

but her friend Brantôme, while he praises her for not oftener availing

herself of this means of punishing her enemies, and asserts that she

never retaliated on du Guast, makes the following admission (v. 187):

‘Il est vray que lors qu’on l’eut tué, et qu’on luy vint annoncer,

elle estant malade’ (she had a bad cold, _Mémoires_, p. 66), ‘elle

dict seulement “Je suis bien marrie que je ne suis bien guerie pour

de joye solemniser sa mort.”’ In her _Mémoires_ (p. 79), she alludes

to du Guast’s death only incidentally, but at the same time leaves on

record unmistakeable evidence of her feelings towards him. ‘Le Guast

lors estoit mort, ayant esté tué par un jugement de Dieu, pendant

qu’il suoit une diette, comme aussy c’estoit un corps gasté de toutes

sortes de villanies, qui fust donné à la pourriture qui des longtemps

le possedoit, et son ame aux dæmons, à qui il avoit faict hommage par

magie et toutes sortes de meschancetez.’

[102] See note 2, p. 64.

[103] The word in the text is Casteldunum (Châteaudun), but this must

be a misprint or mistake, as Châteaudun is on the other side of the

Loire, and a long way from Poitiers. From a journal kept by an Avocat

of Saint-Maixent in Poitou, we are able to fix Alençon at La Guerche,

which is close to Châtelherault, on October 1. Châtelherault is

therefore probably the place intended. See _Le Riche_, p. 238.

[104] The Duke of Guise seems hardly to have deserved the credit he

acquired at the battle of Château Thierry. With 10,000 infantry and

1,000 heavy cavalry, he attacked Thoré, whose troops did not number

more than 2,500; even of these some had been tampered with and went

over to the Duke. Neither was the way in which he received the wound

which gave him the soubriquet of ‘le Balafré’ much to his credit as a

soldier. The struggle had been decided, and he was engaged in hunting

down one of the fugitives in a thicket of brambles, when the man turned

and shot him in the face. See _Thuanus_, iii. 105-6.

‘Le mardi 11^e octobre, le seingneur de Fervacques arriva á Paris, et

apporta nouvelles au Roy de deux mille, que Reistres, que François,

conduits par M. de Thoré, desfaits par le duc de Guise, près Fismes,

en passant la rivière de Marne au-dessus de Dormans. Dont le Roy

fait chanter le _Te Deum_ solennel. Ceste desfaite estoit avenue le

jour de devant 10^e octobre, entre Dameri et Dormans, dont le bruit

fust plus grand que l’effait; car il n’y mourust point cinquante

hommes de part et d’autre, et après que deux ou trois cornettes de

Reistres, prattiquées par argent, eurent fait semblant de se rendre à

la merci du duc de Guise, le seingneur de Thoré passa sain et sauf à

Nogent-sur-Seine avec mil ou douze cens chevaux, et s’alla rendre à

M. le Duc (d’Alençon) à Vatan. Le duc de Guise, en ceste rencontre,

par un simple soldat à pied qu’il attaqua, fut grièvement blessé d’une

harquebuzade, qui lui emporta une grande partie de la joue et de

l’aureille gauche.’—_De l’Estoile_, i. 91.

[105] Giovanni Michel, the Venetian Ambassador, paid his respects to

Busbecq’s Queen, and has left an interesting notice of her appearance

in her white widow’s dress. ‘I was most cordially received by the

Queen, the wife of the late King, and daughter of the Emperor. She knew

me at once, and appeared delighted to see me. She looked very well in

her widow’s dress.’—_Ambassadeurs Vénitiens_, ii. 220.

[106] John von Manderschiet Blankenheim, Bishop of Strasburg, 1572-92.

The town of Saverne was an appanage of the Bishopric, and here in later

times the Bishops of Strasburg had a magnificent château.

[107] ‘Limer, or Lime-hound, the same as Bloud-hound, a great dog to

hunt the wild boar.’—_World of Words._

[108] Gaspard de Schomberg, Comte de Nanteuil, was descended from a

German family of Meissen, but educated at Angers, in France. In 1562

he fought in defence of the last-named town on the Protestant side.

He afterwards entered the royal service and fought for the king at

Moncontour. He was next employed on a mission to the German Princes

to induce them to form a league against Spain. He accompanied Henry

III. to Poland, as his Seneschal. He was one of those who persuaded

Henry IV. to go to Mass, and took a prominent part in the negotiations

for peace between him and his rebellious subjects. He was on several

occasions employed as the agent of the French Government for raising

German troops. When Busbecq saw him he had just come to Paris with

Bassompierre and Count Mansfeldt to conclude a bargain with the King

for a levy of 8,000 mercenaries.

The Kinskys were an ancient Bohemian family. Perhaps, in the course of

his negotiations for hiring German troops, Schomberg had some dealings

with Maximilian’s _protégé_.

[109] This was no exaggeration, as the following extract from the Diary

of a contemporary will show: ‘Le lundi 5^e décembre, la Roine veufve,

madame Ysabel d’Austriche, partist de Paris, pour s’en retourner à

Vienne, chés son père et sa mère: et lui bailla le Roy messieurs de

Luxembourg, comte de Rais, et l’évesque de Paris, pour l’accompagner:

qui la rendirent entre les mains des députés par l’Empereur son père,

pour la recevoir à Nanci en Lorraine. Elle fut fort aimée et honorée

par les François tant qu’elle demeura en France, nommément par le

peuple de Paris, lequel, plorant et gémissant à son départ, disoit

qu’elle emportoit avec elle le bonheur de la France.’—_De l’Estoile_,

i. 95.

Miss Freer (_Henry III._, vol. ii. p. 40), says ‘the Queen quitted

Paris during the first week of August, 1575.’ She was led into this

error by the description given by Godefroy (_Le Cérémonial François_,

i. 927) of Elizabeth’s entrance into Orleans on August 21, and has

confounded her journey to Amboise (see p. 96), with her return to

Germany.

[110] I.e., Hither Austria. The possessions of the House of Hapsburg in

Swabia and Alsace.

[111] This is the lady who refused to marry Henry VIII. because she had

only one head! See note p. 63.

[112] The incidental touches, in which Busbecq makes us acquainted

with the character of his mistress, require some little additions in

order to place before the reader an adequate idea of this good and

interesting lady. She was born June 5, 1554, and was consequently a

baby of a few months old when Busbecq started for the East. She was

married to Charles IX. of France, Nov. 26, 1570, when she was but

sixteen. In her new sphere she quickly won the respect and love of all

who knew her. Two years after her marriage, and just before the birth

of her daughter, came the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. During that

awful night she was quietly sleeping, unaware of the horrors that were

passing around her. Next morning she heard the news, ‘Hélas, dit-elle

soudain, le Roy mon mary, le sçait-il?—Ouy, madame, repondit-on: c’est

luy mesme qui le fait faire.—O mon Dieu! s’escria-t-elle, qu’est cecy?

et quels conseillers sont ceux-là qui luy ont donné tel advis? Mon

Dieu, je te supplie et te requiers de luy vouloir pardonner; car, si

tu n’en as pitié, j’ay grande peur que cette offense ne luy soit pas

pardonnée.’—_Brantôme_, v. 297.

During her husband’s last illness it was noticed that when she came to

see him she did not take a seat by his pillow, but chose the position

from which she could best gaze at the loved features; she did not

speak, no sound passed her lips, but ever and anon she raised her

handkerchief to her face, and wiped away the silent tears; even the

hardened courtiers were touched by this picture of agony suppressed.

After her husband’s death it was observed by one of the women of her

bedchamber that she constantly took the little silver candlestick,

which served as a night-light, inside the curtains of her bed, and as

soon as she thought her attendants were asleep, she knelt up to read

and pray. It is interesting to find that during her widowhood she

became a diligent reader of the Bible. After her return to Vienna she

founded the Nunnery of Santa Clara, where she resided till the time of

her death, which took place January 22, 1592, in the 38th year of her

age. See vol. i. p. 70.

One story yet remains to be told. She had known Marguerite de Valois

in the pride of her beauty; towards the end of her days she heard

of her as an outcast from her family, poor and desolate. If her own

relations deserted her, her sister-in-law was not forgetful of the

poor fallen woman. She not only sent her kind messages, but most

generously bestowed on her one half of her French revenues. It seems

strange that so warm and loving a nature should ever have been accused

of heartlessness (see note, p. 56). In spite of the silence and

reserve which marked her character she was, beyond all doubt, a most

affectionate daughter, a thoughtful mother, and a devoted wife.

[113] Cosmo Gienger, a distinguished soldier, who fought against the

Turks. He was at this time _vice-dominus_ of Austria. He died in 1592,

aged 77.

[114] See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part V. ch. v.

[115] For the outrages committed by Alençon’s troops in French

territory see _De l’Estoile_, ii. 13-14.

[116] Just six years have elapsed since Busbecq conducted his Royal

mistress to Vienna. The reason suggested (vol. i. p. 67) may perhaps

partly account for this gap in the correspondence. Meanwhile he had

been engaged in watching the Queen’s interests in France, and no doubt

also in enforcing the admirable rule of which he was probably the

suggester. The Queen had the right of appointing certain officers and

judges in the towns and districts from which her revenues were derived.

Such posts were commonly bought and sold, but Elizabeth gave strict

directions that no such traffic should be allowed with regard to the

appointments of which she had the patronage. See _Thuanus_, iii. 87.

[117] Charlotte de Bourbon, Princess of Orange, died May 5, 1582. For

this letter see Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part VI. ch. v.

See also p. 66.

[118] A great many Albanians (Epirotes) were serving in the Spanish

cavalry, see _Strada_, and also Motley, _United Netherlands_, ii.

47-51, and iii. 108, where a gigantic Albanian is mentioned.

[119] In 1578 Sebastian, the boy King of Portugal (see p. 30, note),

was killed in battle against the Moors on the field of Alcazar.

By his death the crown devolved on his uncle Henry, the Cardinal,

who, though nearly seventy years old, at first thought of marrying;

this project was stopped by Philip of Spain; he then appointed a

council of regency to arrange the succession. The two most prominent

candidates were Philip of Spain, who had the best right by blood, but

who was most unpopular in Portugal, and Don Antonio, Prior of Crato,

the illegitimate son of Luis, Duke of Beja, brother of the reigning

King. Don Antonio received the support of the representatives of the

people, but, on the death of Henry in 1580, he was quickly driven

out of Portugal by Alva, and took refuge alternately in France and

England, where he received countenance and support from Henry III. and

Elizabeth. The French expedition to the Azores is frequently mentioned

in Busbecq’s letters. The importance of these islands consisted in

their affording a station for ships coming home either from America or

India. We learn from a contemporary historian (_Histoire de Portugal_,

1610), that Catherine de Medici had agreed with Antonio to accept

Brazil in settlement of her claims on the Portuguese throne (see note,

page 161), hence the interest which she took in this expedition, at

the head of which she placed her gallant cousin Philip Strozzi, with

de Brissac, son of the Maréchal de Brissac, as his lieutenant. They

were attacked off St. Michael’s by a greatly superior force of Spanish

ships under Santa Cruz; de Brissac cut his way through and escaped,

Don Antonio contrived to be absent, and Strozzi and Don Antonio’s

Constable, the Count of Vimioso, were wounded and captured. The latter,

being a relation of Santa Cruz, was kindly treated, but died two days

later of his wounds. Strozzi, according to some accounts, was treated

with great barbarity; at any rate he was thrown overboard by the

orders of the Spanish Admiral. His gallant end, and the cruelty of his

captors, excited a strong feeling in France, which found expression in

epigrams, of which the following is a specimen.

‘Qui a l’or et l’argent du ciel pour couverture

Et du grand Océan le saphir pour tombeau,

Embaumé d’un renom et los illustre et beau,

Marrannes, n’a besoin de vostre sepulture.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 79.

An old historian speaks of these epigrams as ‘tumbeaux cizelez de la

plume,’ and of this specimen as one to which none but a Spaniard could

object.

[120] The Andalusian fleet under Martinez de Recalde, one of the chiefs

of the Spanish Armada.

[121] It is interesting to find Raleigh criticising Strozzi’s tactics

in fighting at close quarters with the huge galleons of Spain. It would

appear that the engagement supplied a warning to the captains who five

years later baffled the Armada. See _Historie of the World_, p. 791.

[122] Prince Dauphin of Auvergne, son of Louis de Bourbon, Duc de

Montpensier and Dauphin d’Auvergne. He distinguished himself at Jarnac,

Moncontour, and Ivry. Died in 1592.

[123] The brother of Admiral Coligny. His son succeeded to the County

of Laval in right of his mother, Claude de Rieux.

[124] See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part VI. chap. vi.

According to Motley, Parma received a severe check. Froude tells us

that Norris and the English repulsed the Spanish forces after the

States’ troops had fled. _History of England_, chap. lxvi.

[125] The Earl of Morton, late Regent of Scotland, was executed on a

charge of being an accomplice in the murder of Darnley. His ruin was

brought about by Comte d’Aubigny, then Earl and afterwards Duke of

Lennox. See Froude, _History of England_, chap. lxiii.

[126] See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part VI. chap. vi.

[127] See note 2, page 9.

[128] The case of Salceda was one which greatly exercised the mind

of de Thou, the historian, who ascribes the death of his father

Christopher de Thou to vexation at finding his advice neglected

when the ruffian was brought to trial. Salceda had been condemned

to death by the Parliament of Rouen, for forging money. The Guises,

who had need of his services, obtained his pardon, or to speak more

correctly perhaps, a suspension of his sentence, for his pardon was not

registered by the Parliament of Rouen, though granted by the King. His

mission, according to Motley, was to poison Alençon and Orange, but

according to Salceda’s own confession he was to join Alençon with some

troops, gain his confidence, and get himself appointed to the command

of Dunkirk or some other strong place, which he was to betray to the

Guises. These last were then to rise and compel the King to place them

at the head of his army which they intended to lead against Alençon and

Orange. On being arrested Salceda made various confessions implicating

the Guises and other leading men in France. Christopher de Thou,

President of the Parliament of Paris, one of those before whom he was

tried, was convinced that there was a great deal of truth in Salceda’s

statements, and was most anxious that his life should be spared with

a view to bringing others to justice, but too many great people were

interested in stopping the mouth of their unfortunate tool, and he was

therefore executed. It is probable that the story of an attempt to

poison Alençon and Orange was a mere veil to cover the grounds on which

he was executed. The fact that a distinguished Netherlander, Lamoral

Egmont, cousin of the French Queen, and son of the famous general,

was concerned in Salceda’s plot, seems to point to the accuracy of de

Thou’s version. It is evident that Busbecq thought there was something

more in the matter than appeared on the surface. Compare _Thuanus_,

iii. 565-566, and especially the account in his life. _De vita suâ_,

27-31. Miss Freer gives a very full and interesting account of

Salceda’s conspiracy; see _Henry III._ vol. ii. pp. 304-319.

[129] The following note was made by one who was in all probability

an eye-witness: ‘Quand Tanchou, lieutenant de robbe courte, présent

à l’exécution avec ses archers, vinst dire au Roy que sur le bas

eschaffaut, sur lequel estoit son corps quand il fust tiré, il s’estoit

fait deslier les deux mains pour signer sa dernière confession, qui

estoit qu’il n’estoit rien de toutes les charges qu’il avoit mises sus

aux plus grands de ce roiaume, le Roy s’escria: “O le meschant homme!

voire le plus meschant dont j’aye onques ouï parler!” Ce disoit le

Roy, pource qu’à la dernière question qui luy avoit esté baillée (où

le Roy avoit assisté caché derrière une tapisserie), il lui avoit ouï

jurer et affermer, au milieu des tortures, que tout ce qu’il avoit dit

contre eux estoit vrai (comme beaucoup l’ont creu et le croient encores

aujourdhui, veu les tragœdies qui se sont jouées en France par les

accusés.)’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 75.

[130] See note 2, p. 152.

[131] See note 3, p. 124.

[132] La Noue. The famous _Bras de fer_. See note 2, p. 21. For an

interesting account of his captivity, see Motley, _Rise of the Dutch

Republic_, Part VI. chap. iv. Parma was offered Count Egmont and de

Selles (see Letter XLV.), in exchange for La Noue; his answer was

that he would not give a lion for two sheep. Philip expressed his

willingness to restore his illustrious captive to liberty if he would

consent to have his eyes put out. Busbecq must have felt some little

grudge against this gallant soldier, for three years before, 1579,

he had stormed Comines and established himself in the castle of the

Halluins. Bousbecque was also occupied by his troops. See Dalle,

_Histoire de Bousbecque_, p. 247.

[133] The following is an account of one of the royal pilgrimages:

‘L’onziesme jour d’avril, qui estoit le lendemain de Pasques, le Roy

avec la Roine son espouse partirent de Paris à pied et allèrent à

Chartres, et de Chartres à Cleri, faire leurs prières et offrandes à la

Belle Dame révérée solemneilement ès églises desdits lieux, à ce que,

par son intercession, il pleust à Dieu leur donner la masle lignée que

tant ils désiroient. D’où ils furent de retour à Paris, le 24^e dudit

mois, tous deux bien las et aians les plantes des pieds bien ampoullés

d’avoir fait tant de chemin à pied.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 121.

[134] See Letter XXVII. and note.

[135] I.e., a son and heir.

[136] St. Luc had been one of the ‘mignons’ of Henry III. An amusing

story is told of his fall from favour. The King had procured him a

bride in the daughter of Maréchal de Brissac; when they were married

she objected to her husband’s taking part in the dissipations of the

Court. St. Luc, anxious to remain in the Court circle, and at the same

time desirous of gratifying his wife, determined to frighten Henry into

reforming his ways. Accordingly he had a secret passage cut through

the panels of the King’s bedchamber, and one night presented himself

dressed up in the character of an angel. With a piece of brass piping

he imitated the scene of Belshazzar’s feast, and threatened the King

with a most horrible fate if he did not reform his ways. The King was

completely taken in and thoroughly frightened. For sometime afterwards,

whenever it thundered, the King imagined it to be the sign of his

approaching doom, and took refuge under the beds, and in the cellars

of the palace. Unfortunately for St. Luc he could not keep the joke to

himself; at last the King heard of it, his fears were relieved, and his

favourite was dismissed.

[137] ‘Il arriva de mesme à M. de Sainct-Luc à Anvers, dans la chambre

de M. d’Alençon, luy estant en son cabinet; mais le prince d’Orange en

vit le jeu en sortant, qui fut contre le sieur de Gauville, où il y eut

quelques coups, dont le prince d’Orange s’en estonna, et dit que telles

choses ne furent jamais veues ny faites en la chambre, ny salle, ny

logis de l’Empereur son maistre; autrement il eust mal basté pour les

délinquants.’—_Brantôme_, vi. 136.

‘Il arriva de mesmes à M. de Sainct-Luc, brave et vaillant seigneur

certes. Ayant esté deffié et appellé par M. de Gauville, dont j’ay

parlé cy-devant, estans tous deux à Anvers au service de Monsieur,

ainsi qu’il alloit resolu au combat, et qu’il vouloit sortir hors la

ville, fut arresté par La Vergne, capitaine de la garde françoise de

Monsieur.’—_Brantôme_, vi. 182.

[138] Busbecq too received a gold chain from the King, which he

afterwards lost. See p. 132.

[139] See p. 158. The phrase ‘coining money’ is a joke.

[140] Catherine de Medici’s claim was through her mother, a lady of

the House of Auvergne and Boulogne; in order to establish it she had

to go back more than 300 years to the first marriage of Alphonso III.

to the widow of a Count of Boulogne. Catherine alleged there were

children of this marriage from one of whom she was descended. Some

have thought that her only object was to show that she came of royal

and ancient descent; this may have been the motive in part, but there

can be no doubt that she hoped to exchange her visionary claim for

some substantial advantage; thus, as has been already stated, she was

willing to sell her pretensions to Don Antonio for Brazil. (See note p.

146). She was eager also to get an offer from Philip in satisfaction

of her claims. ‘Je ne diray jamais ce que je demande, au contraire,

attendrai ses offres qu’il fault qui soient raisonnables, puis qu’il

est saisy et occupateur de ce que je pretendz m’appartenir.’—_Lettre de

la Reine Mère à Longlée_, January 16, 1585, quoted by Motley, _United

Netherlands_, i. 104. Henry threatened to retaliate by accepting the

sovereignty of the Netherlands, if Philip did not compromise the

matter. Catherine de Medici’s pretensions to the Crown of Portugal

were an important factor in the politics of the time. See _Histoire de

Portugal_, 1610, and Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 101-105.

[141] ‘The largest unbroken plain in Belgium is called _Campine_,

and comprises the north-east portion of Antwerp, and north-west of

Limburg.’ Mac Culloch, _Geographical Dictionary_.

[142] One of the steps in Alençon’s scheme for the seizure of Antwerp

not noticed by Motley.

[143] These troubles were occasioned by Gebhard Truchsess von Waldburg,

Archbishop of Cologne, having fallen in love with Agnes Mansfeld. He

married her and became a Protestant, but tried notwithstanding to keep

his see and electorate. See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part

VI. ch. vi., and _United Netherlands_, i. 31, 32, and elsewhere. For a

full account, see _Thuanus_, iii. 582-8.

[144] See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part VI. ch. vi.

[145] Busbecq hesitates to accept what is now known to have been

Alençon’s version of the affair.

[146] It seems probable that Busbecq’s diplomacy was directed towards

securing the governorship of the Netherlands to a member of the

Austrian house. Hence his dislike of French interference. (Letters I.

and X.) Ernest did ultimately become Governor of the Netherlands in

1594.

[147] Jean Bodin was Alençon’s chancellor, and acted as his adviser

during the Prince’s stay in England and the Netherlands. After

Alençon’s death he settled down at Laon where he used his influence in

favour of the League; after a time he changed his views, and induced

the citizens to declare in favour of Henry IV. He was the author of a

treatise _On the Republic_ in six books, and other works.

[148] Catherine de Medici and Mary Queen of Scots; the latter, before

her execution, disposed of money due to her from the King of France.

See Froude, _History of England_, chap. lxix.

[149] See Letter XLIX, note.

[150] See note, p. 82.

[151] See _De l’Estoile_, ii. 29.

[152] We see from this notice of Busbecq’s that Alençon intended making

Dunkirk the seat of his Government. It is not referred to by Motley,

but Ranke regards it as a most important piece of information. See

_Civil Wars and Monarchy in France_, chap. xx.

[153] Daughter of William by his first marriage. Her brother Philip

William had been carried off into Spain by Philip II.’s orders. She

eventually married Count Hohenlo.

[154] This order was called the Penitents of the Annunciation,

because it was first instituted at that festival. The members of the

fraternity used on certain occasions to go in procession from church to

church, walking two and two, and wearing sacks of different colours,

the knights of the King blue, the knights of St. Michael black, and

the rest white. They were distinguished from similar associations,

which were numerous at that time, by having their faces covered with

a mask, and a large whip hanging from their girdles. The cross was

generally carried by the Cardinal de Guise, who had as his acolytes the

Chancellor and the Keeper of the Seals (i.e. Birague and Cheverny.)

[155] Maurice Poncet. The King and his courtiers had gone in procession

on a wet day. Poncet, in allusion to their dress, quoted a French

proverb as to the folly of trying to keep off rain with wet sackcloth.

He was rewarded for his temerity by imprisonment in the monastery of

St. Peter at Melun. See _Thuanus_, iii. 627.

[156] ‘Le 29^e mars, le Roy fist fouetter, au Louvre, jusques à six

vingts, que pages, que laquais, qui en la Salle Basse du Louvre avoient

contrefait la procession des Penitents, aians mis leurs mouschoirs

devant leurs visages, avec des trous à l’endroit des yeux.’—_De

l’Estoile_., ii. 112.

[157] See Letter XXIX.

[158] Edmund Auger, the King’s confessor. He was not favourably

disposed towards the League, and on this account was recalled by his

superiors. See _Thuanus_, iii. 626. De l’Estoile, who detested him,

declares that he was originally a juggler, ‘basteleur.’

[159] See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 342.

[160] See _Strada_, ii. 261-2.

[161] For his real object, see _Thuanus_, iii. 630-631. He tried to

obtain the Pope’s approval of a scheme for attacking Montmorency,

Governor of Languedoc, and met with a refusal and rebuke. See Letter

XXXII.

[162] See _Strada_, ii. 264.

[163] Busbecq was evidently on the watch for some turn in the affairs

of the Netherlands which might tend to the advantage of the House of

Austria. He did not care for decisive Spanish successes. See Letter XLI.

[164] See Letter XXI., note.

[165] De Viteaux was the murderer of du Guast, see page 116. The duel

is described by Brantôme at great length; he had an account of it from

Seigneur Jacques Ferron, who had acted as fencing-master to young

Millaud, de Viteaux’s antagonist. Ferron climbed up a tall walnut

tree in order to get a good view of the contest. Brantôme was a great

admirer of de Viteaux. ‘Ainsi mourut ce brave baron, le parangon de

France, qu’on nommoit tel, à bien venger ses querelles par grandes et

determinées resolutions. Il n’estoit pas seulement estimé en France,

mais en Italie, Espaigne, Allemaigne, en Pouloigne et Angleterre; et

desiroient fort les estrangers venant en France le voir; car je l’ay

veu, tant sa renommée volloit. Il estoit fort petit de corps, mais fort

grand de courage. Ses ennemis disoient qu’il ne tuoit pas bien ses

gens que par advantages et supercheries. Certes, je tiens de grands

capitaines, et mesmes d’italiens, qui sont estez d’autresfois les

premiers vengeurs du monde, _in ogni modo_, disoient-ils, qui ont tenu

ceste maxime, qu’une supercherie ne se devoit payer que par semblable

monnoye, et n’y alloit point là de deshonneur.’—_Brantôme_, vi. 89.

[166] ‘Le mercredi 15^e febvrier, le baron de Viteaux, revenant sur

le soir du Louvre, fut chargé, en la rue Saint-Germain, près le fort

l’Evesque, par dix ou douze hommes de cheval, bien montés et armés à

l’avantage. Et mist ledit Viteaux brusquement la main à l’espée, et,

vaillamment se défendant, se retira enfin sain et sauf.... On eust

cette opinion que ceste charge avoit esté faicte par le jeune Millaud,

désirant venger la mort de son père.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 105.

[167] Brantôme gives a long list of de Viteaux’s achievements. He

adds—‘S’il eust vescu, il en vouloit tuer encores deux que je sçay

bien, qui, je croy, ne regrettérent guieres sa mort ... et possible

s’il eust eschappé de ce combat, il fust tumbé en une embuscade qu’on

luy avoit préparée, comme j’ay sceu despuis: car il commençoit à estre

plus craint qu’aymé de quelques très-grands et très-grandes: si que

ce trait du meurtre de M. du Guast fut estimé de grande résolution et

asseurance.’—_Brantôme_, vi. 86-95.

[168] In the early part of 1575 Montal, the governor of Lower Auvergne,

was killed in a defile by the cavaliers of Magdelene de Senetaire, the

widow of Guy de Saint-Exupery, Seigneur de Miraumont. ‘Cette Amazone,

l’une des merveilles de son siécle pour la beauté, mais encore plus

pour le courage et pour la vertu, avoit toûjours auprés d’elle soixante

jeunes Gentils-hommes en bon équipage, qui s’efforçant tous à l’envy de

meriter l’honneur de son estime, faisoient voir dans leur petite troupe

l’échantillon de cette verité autrefois énoncée par un Ancien, Qu’une

armée composée d’Amans seroit invincible.’—_Mezeray_, iii. 375.

The Latin is _Montenellus_, and we have identified him with _Montal_

on the authority of de Foy; his case, however, hardly furnishes a

parallel to the death of de Viteaux, and possibly Louvier de Montrevel

(or Maurevert) is intended, who was killed about this time by the

son of a man he had assassinated. This atrocious scoundrel had been

like Besme (see p. 99) a page in the household of Guise, had murdered

the governor of the pages and deserted. In spite of his crime he was

readmitted to his old position, and undertook to murder Coligny. With

this object he deserted to the Huguenots, and was most kindly received

by Moüy, governor of Niort, who shared with him his bed, his board, and

his purse. Unable to find an opportunity of assassinating the Admiral,

Montrevel murdered his benefactor in the most dastardly manner. Mezeray

draws a parallel between him and de Viteaux, who had at least the

redeeming quality of courage. See _Mezeray_, iii. 224 and 555.

[169] Bussy d’Amboise was a notorious duellist. On one occasion, for

instance, a gentleman named Saint-Phal was looking at a piece of

embroidery, and made the innocent remark that a certain letter worked

on it was X; Bussy, in order to provoke a quarrel, insisted that it

was Y. The upshot of the dispute was a duel with six champions on

either side; at the first meeting Bussy was slightly wounded, on which

Saint-Phal withdrew from the combat. Bussy endeavoured to arrange

another meeting, but was prevented by the King.

His end was as follows. The King obtained some letters of Bussy’s

boasting of an intrigue with a married lady, and showed them to her

husband, the Count of Monsoreau. The latter carried off his wife to a

lonely castle and compelled her to write a letter to Bussy, inviting

him to visit her. He fell into the trap, and was murdered by a band

of assassins as soon as he entered the castle. No one regretted him,

not even Alençon, to whom he had attached himself.—_Ambassadeurs

Vénetiens_, ii. 453.

Bussy’s sister Renée afterwards married Balagny (see Letter XXIX.)

on condition that he would avenge her brother, a promise he never

fulfilled. She is the heroine of Cambrai described by Motley, _United

Netherlands_, iii. 350, 351.

[170] For the real reason of this outburst, see Letters XXII. XXIX. The

King suspected her of causing his despatches to be intercepted and his

messenger murdered. Whether Margaret was guilty of this murder or not,

she was capable of such acts. See note, p. 116.

[171] ‘La dame de Duras et la damoiselle de Bethune.’—_De l’Estoile_,

ii. 130.

[172] Jacques de Harlay, Seigneur de Chanvallon, was the reputed father

of Marguerite’s son.

[173] One of the chief objects of the first expedition of Santa Cruz

to the Azores (see Letter VI.) was to provide for the safety of the

fleet which was expected from India. Telles Silva, having secured Goa

and the other Portuguese possessions in India for Spain, despatched

a messenger, Jerome Lima, to Philip by an overland route, viâ Ormuz,

Bagdad, Aleppo, Jerusalem, and Tripoli, to inform him of his plans.

Matters appear to have been well timed by the Spaniards, for shortly

after the defeat of Strozzi the Indian fleet hove in sight, and Santa

Cruz, after throwing a garrison into St. Michael, escorted the convoy

to Lisbon. Don Antonio was thus left master of the other islands, but,

as has already been seen, he quickly decamped, leaving Emmanuel Silva

in command. The following year the French sent their second expedition,

consisting of 600 men under de Chattes, Knight of Malta; on reaching

Terceira this gallant officer strongly urged the Portuguese commander

to concentrate his troops in some strong place, as he saw no hope of

preventing the Spaniards, who were shortly expected, from disembarking.

Silva refused to take his advice; Santa Cruz succeeded in landing,

and after a sharp engagement the French, who were deserted by their

Portuguese allies, were driven into the interior.

De Chattes asked Silva to join him, suggesting that with their united

forces they would be able to offer a better resistance or secure better

terms. Silva returned a most insolent answer, telling him to join the

Spaniards, and boasting that he and his Portuguese were a match for

them both, meanwhile he sent to Santa Cruz, offering to surrender

and betray his French allies. This proposition the Spanish admiral

forwarded to de Chattes by a man who had served with the latter at

Malta. De Chattes no longer hesitated to accept the liberal terms

offered by Santa Cruz, and surrendered with 400 men, on condition of

their keeping their side arms, and being sent back to France. Silva was

quickly hunted down, tortured, and executed. The French who had been

taken prisoners before the surrender of the main body were sent to the

galleys. See _Thuanus_, iii. 637-642.

[174] The father of Casimir. See note, page 15.

[175] ‘Le 10^e septembre, vindrent à Paris, en forme de procession,

huict ou neuf cens, qu’hommes, que femmes, que garsons, que filles,

vestus de toile blanche, aveq mantelets aussi de toile sur leurs

espaules, portans chapeaux ou de feutre gris chamarrés de bandes de

toile, ou tous couvers de toile sur leurs testes, et en leurs mains

les uns des cierges et chandelles de cire ardens, les autres des croix

de bois, et marchoient deux à deux, chantans en la forme des pénitens

ou pélerins allans en pélerinage. Ils estoient habitans des villages

de S. Jean des deux Gemeaux et d’Ussy, en Brie, près la Ferté Gaucher.

Et estoient conduis par les deux gentilshommes des deux villages

susdits, vestus de mesme parure, qui les suivoient à cheval, et leurs

damoiselles aussi vestues de mesmes, dedans ung coche. Le peuple

de Paris accourut à grande foule pour les voir venans faire leurs

prières et offrandes en la grande église de Paris, esmeu de pitié et

commisération, leur voiant faire tels pénitenciaux et dévocieux voyages

pieds nuds, et en longueur et rigueurs des chemins. Ils disoient avoir

esté meus à faire ces pénitences et pélerinages pour quelque feux

apparans en l’air et autres signes, comme prodiges veus au ciel et en

la terre, mesmes vers les quartiers des Ardennes, d’où estoient venus

les premiers tels pélerins et pénitens, jusques au nombre de 10 ou 12

mille, à Nostre-Dame de Reims et de Liesse, pour mesme occasion.’—_De

l’Estoile_, ii. 134.

[176] Busbecq regarded his books as personal friends; see the end

of the 2nd Turkish letter (vol. i. p. 191). He will not have them

slighted! De Foy omits this letter from his translation on the ground

that it has no historic interest. His real reason is evidently his

inability to reconcile its statements with his own notes on Letter

XII., in which he explains Busbecq’s appeal for a settlement as to

the Greek manuscripts, by supposing that they had been stopped at the

Venetian custom-house. For an account of these books see vol. i. p. 417.

[177] Their names are given, _Thuanus_, iii. 633. The King selected

three Archbishops, each of whom was accompanied by a distinguished

layman.

[178] Twenty-six of Busbecq’s miles (see vol. i. p. 82 note) are

equivalent to about sixty English miles, which is the distance of

Château Thierry from Paris.

[179] See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, P. VI. ch. vi.

[180] To those who know the history of the times, it will not be

surprising that Alençon did not care to come to court. Henry III.

allowed and encouraged his favourites to treat his brother in the

most insolent manner, mimicking him to his face, and pointing at

him. The following is the description of their behaviour at St.

Luc’s wedding:—‘Le duc d’Anjou (Alençon) ne voulut point assister à

la cérémonie; cependant, par complaisance pour la reine-mère, il se

présenta le soir au bal, et eut tout lieu de s’en repentir.... Chacun

le montroit au doigt; on le regardoit en ricanant: on se parloit de lui

à l’oreille, assez haut cependant pour qu’il entendît que sa taille,

son air, sa démarche étoient la matière des plaisanteries.’—_Anquetil_,

viii. 77.

[181] The King had on a former occasion acted with great precipitation

with regard to Alençon, entering his room at night, searching his

bed for papers, and insisting on seeing a note which his brother

with clasped hands implored him not to open. It turned out to be a

billet-doux!—See _Mémoires de Marguerite_, 136-7.

[182] See Letter XXII.

[183] Busbecq’s opinion was amply confirmed by Balagny’s subsequent

career. He established himself at Cambrai as an independent Prince.—See

_United Netherlands_, i. 8, 100; and iii. 347-350. See also p. 227.

Balagny was the son of Busbecq’s friend Jean de Montluc, Bishop of

Valence (see p. 35, note 2), who considered himself married to his

mother. ‘Je croy qu’il ne prit point l’ordre de Prestrise, mais il se

donna la licence d’avoir une femme, dont vint Jean de Montluc-Balagny;

car ayant fort pratiqué les Docteurs des nouvelles opinions, il estoit

dans ce mauvais sentiment que le Celibat n’estoit pas une qualité

necessaire aux Ecclesiastiques.’—_Mezeray_, iii. 450.

[184] As for instance du Guast, Fervaques, and Brantôme.

[185] ‘Le dimanche 13^e de novembre, le Prévost de l’Hostel et

ses archers prirent prisonnières 50 ou 60, que damoiselles, que

bourgeoises, contrevenant en habits et bagues à l’édit de la

réformation des habits, sept ou huit mois auparavant publié, et les

constituèrent prisonnières au fort l’Evesque et autres prisons fermées,

où elles couchèrent, quelque remonstrance et offre de les cautionner et

paier les amandes encourues que peussent faire les parens et amis: qui

fut une rigœur extraordinaire et excessive, veu que par l’édit il n’y

gissoit qu’une amande pécuniaire. Mais il y avoit en ce fait un tacit

commandement et consentement du Roy, qui ferma la bouche aux plaintes

qu’on en vouloit faire.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 139.

[186] Cardinal de Birague’s unpopularity with the Court may be partly

accounted for by a very amusing story told by Thuanus. As Chancellor

of France he was commanded by the King to make a speech before the

Parliament asking for the confirmation of some financial measures which

his Majesty had sent to them. Henry was present with all his courtiers.

Whether Birague intended the sarcasm or not it is impossible to say;

but to the great amusement of the ready-witted Frenchmen he said,

looking round on the royal favourites, ‘Really the causes of the King’s

poverty and want of money are so obvious that everyone can see them.’

He repeated the phrase again and again, amid roars of laughter. See

_Thuanus_, iii. 626. Compare also pp. 177, 178.

The following is the opinion of his fellow officials:—‘Ce chancelier

estoit Italien de nation et de religion, bien entendu aux affaires

d’Estat, fort peu en la justice; de sçavoir, n’en avoit point à

revendre, mais seulement pour sa provision, encores bien petitement.

Au reste, libéral, voluptueux, homme du temps, serviteur absolu des

volontés du Roy, aiant dit souvent qu’il n’estoit pas Chancelier de

France, mais Chancelier du Roy de France, ce que son successeur a

sceu encores mieux prattiquer que lui. Car il mourust pauvre pour

un homme qui avoit longtemps servi les Roys de France, n’estant

aucunement ambitieux, et meilleur pour ses amis et serviteurs que pour

soi-mesmes. Il disoit, peu auparavant son décès, qu’il mouroit cardinal

sans tiltre, prebstre sans bénéfice, et chancelier sans seaux.’—_De

l’Estoile_, ii. 140.

[187] Philippe Hurault, Comte de Cheverny.

[188] See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part VI., chap.

vi. It is interesting to compare the dates as given by Motley with

Busbecq’s letter. The latter throws a fresh light on the character

of the ‘roaring demagogue’ Imbize. It appears from _Thuanus_ (iii.

646) that Imbize, to gain the favour of the people, immediately on

becoming Senator, threw into prison certain citizens, whom he accused

of intriguing with the Spaniards, and having betrayed the Pays de Waes

to them. The trick succeeded; Imbize won the confidence of the people,

and, having attained his object, yielded to Champagny’s entreaties and

released the prisoners.

[189] The following is a description of Henry III. at the Carnival of

1577:—‘Il faisoit jouxtes, tournois, ballets et force masquarades, où

il se trouvoit ordinairement habillé en femme, ouvroit son pourpoint et

descouvroit sa gorge, y portant un collier de perles et trois collets

de toile, deux à fraize et un renversé, ainsi que lors les portoient

les dames de sa Cour.’—_De l’Estoile_, i. 180.

[190] When Throgmorton was known to have confessed, ‘there was a flight

of Catholics over the Channel thick as autumn swallows.’—_Froude_,

chap. lxv.

[191] The Earl of Northumberland—a mistake of Busbecq’s.

[192] See _Froude_, chap. lxv.

[193] _Thuanus_, iii. 679.

[194] See p. 11, and note, p. 185.

[195] Michel de Seure, Grand Prior of Champagne, a great favourite with

Catherine de Medici. The following scene is described as occurring

after Alençon’s sudden arrest and liberation in 1578: ‘Laquelle estant

finie de cette façon, le chevalier de Seure, que la Royne ma mere avoit

baillé à mon frere pour coucher en sa chambre, et qu’elle prenoit

plaisir d’ouyr quelquesfois causer, pour estre d’humeur libre, et qui

disoit de bonne grace ce qu’il vouloit, tenant un peu de l’humeur d’un

philosophe cynique, se trouvant devant elle, elle luy demande: “Et

bien, monsieur de Seure, que dictes vous de tout cecy?” “C’est trop

peu,” dict-il, “pour faire à bon escient, et trop pour se jouer.” Et

se tournant vers moy, sans qu’elle le peust entendre, me dit: “Je

ne croy pas que ce soit icy le dernier acte de ce jeu; nostre homme

(voulant parler de mon frere) me tromperoit bien, s’il en demeuroit

là!”’—_Mémoires de Marguerite_, p. 148.

[196] ‘Le 6^e jour de mars, le Roy estant au Conseil, en son chasteau

du Louvre, entra en grande colère contre le chevalier de Seure,

grand-prieur de Champaigne, jusques à lui donner des coups de poing

et de pied, pource que (comme il est haut à la main et furieux en

sa colère) il avoit dit à Milon, seingneur de Videville, premier

intendant des finances, qu’il estoit un larron et assassin du peuple de

France, d’ailleurs par trop affligé, l’aiant chargé de huit millions

d’escus, sous couleur de paier les debtes du Roy, qu’il disoit monter

à ladite somme, combien qu’elles ne montassent qu’à cinq millions,

et par ce moien surchargeoit furtivement le pauvre peuple de trois

millions. Et au Roy, survenant sur ces propos, osa encores dire:

“Sire, vous savez bien ce qui en est;” et lui aiant respondu le Roy

qu’il ne s’en souvenoit point, fust d’abondant si temeraire que de

répliquer hautement et superbement: “Si vous voulez mettre la main

sur la conscience, Sire, vous savez ce qui en est.” Ce que le Roy (ne

prenant pas d’ailleurs plaisir a ouïr de tels propos) print pour une

forme de démenti, et par une promte colère mist la main sur ledit

chevalier, l’excédant, ainsi que dit est.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 149.

Michel de Seure was one of the commissioners mentioned pp. 198, 201.

See _Thuanus_, iii. 633.

[197] Pierre de Gondi. See note, p. 40.

[198] See _Froude_, chap. lxvi.

[199] _Strada_, ii. 281.

[200] See Letter XXXII.

[201] ‘Sur la fin de ce mois (May), la Roine-mère s’en alla à Monsseaux

et de là à Chasteau-Thierri, voir M. le Duc son fils, grièvement

malade. Elle en revinst le premier juing, et fist apporter par eau les

plus précieux meubles de son dit fils, abandonné des médecins et de

tout humain secours.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 154.

[202] The secret is told us by a contemporary:—‘Le 16^e jour de may,

le duc Desparnon partist de Paris par mandement et commission du Roy,

pour aller en Gascongne trouver le Roy de Navarre, lui porter lettres

et créance de la part de Sa Majesté, par lesquelles elle l’ammonestoit,

enhortoit et prioit, pource que la vie du duc Dalençon, son frère,

estoit déplorée et n’en attendoit-on de jour à autre que nouvelles de

sa mort, de venir à la Cour près d’elle et d’aller à la Messe, parce

qu’il le vouloit faire recongnoistre son vrai héritier et successeur de

sa couronne, lui donner grade et dignité près de sa personne, tels que

méritoient les qualités de beau-frère et légitime successeur de ladite

couronne de France, et recevoir de lui tous les honneurs, avantages

et bons traitemens que telles qualités et la bonne amitié qu’il lui

portoit pouvoient requerir.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 153.

[203] This is evidently Busbecq’s verdict, which he cautiously assigns

to others. Compare Motley’s sketch of Alençon, _Rise of the Dutch

Republic_, Part V. chap. v. Henry IV. expressed his opinion of Alençon

as follows:—‘Un cœur double, un esprit malin, et tourné comme son corps

mal bâti.’

[204] Navarre’s title to the succession was recognised in his marriage

contract with Marguerite.—See _Thuanus_, iv. 3.

[205] _I.e._ Monsieur. ‘A nul appartient d’estre appellé en France

simplement _Monsieur_, que le premier prince du sang ampres le

Roy.’—_Brantôme_, iii. 83.

[206] Compare _Thuanus_, iii. 680.

[207] See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part VI. chap. vii.

[208] See _Strada_, ii. 306, 307. Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 156.

[209] ‘Le 25^e juillet, le Roy, après avoir fait quelque séjour à

Vincennes, pour y establir ses Hiéronimites, retourna à Fontainebleau,

et de là prist le chemin de Lyon; où estant arrivé, osta le

gouvernement de la ville au seingneur de Mandelot, et le bailla au

seingneur du Bouchage, frère du duc de Joieuse.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii.

164.

[210] Des Pruneaux. See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 58 seq.

[211] See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 31, where this passage is

quoted as Busbecq’s own opinion. Such, no doubt, it is, but, with his

usual caution, he puts it in the mouth of others.

[212] A full account of Parma’s operations at Dendermonde is to be

found _Strada_, ii. 308-11. Busbecq’s brother-in-law, Jacques de

Yedeghem, had been captain, governor and high bailiff of Dendermonde

(Tenremonde) during 1566 and 1567. He kept the town quiet during those

troublous times, and gained the approval of the Governor-general of the

Netherlands.—Dalle, _Histoire de Bousbecque_, p. 50.

[213] See Letter XXIX.

[214] See Letter XVIII., and note 3, p. 224.

[215] See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 113, and note p. 7.

[216] See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 21-23. _Strada_, ii. 317.

[217] ‘Le 19^e octobre, le Roy, de Blois, et les Roines, de Chenonceau,

partirent en grand haste, pource que deux ou trois damoiselles de la

Roine se trouvèrent frappées de peste; dont l’une, nommée Monmorin,

en mourut. Et se trouvant Ruscellaï à Fontainebleau, au disner du

Roy, et s’estant meu propos de ceste peste, et de la peur que le Roy

et les Roines en avoient eue et avoient encores, il osa dire au Roy

“que Sa Majesté ne devoit point craindre ceste maladie, pource que

la Cour estoit une plus forte peste, sur laquelle l’autre ne pouvoit

mordre.”’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 172.

[218] Jean Baptiste Tassis (or Taxis) was one of Philip’s most able

diplomatists. He was the son of Jean Baptiste de Tassis, who in 1545

was appointed Postmaster General throughout Germany and the Netherlands

by Charles V., and whose uncle Francis had in 1516 established a riding

post between Brussels and Vienna by order of the Emperor Maximilian. To

his family, as Strada points out, the world is indebted for the first

regular system of posting in modern times—even down to 1866 the Princes

of Thurn and Taxis managed the posts of Würtemberg, Nassau, Hesse, the

Hanse towns, and some other German principalities. This is the point

of James I.’s complaint that ‘Spain sent him a postilion-ambassador.’

Motley seems to explain the remark by stating that Tassis was chief

courier to Philip. It is hardly probable that a great ambassador would

be employed in such an office. See also note, p. 28.

[219] The Kings of England claimed the same power. ‘The days on which

this miracle was to be wrought were fixed at sittings of the Privy

Council, and were solemnly notified by the clergy in all the parish

churches of the realm. When the appointed time came, several divines

in full canonicals stood round the canopy of state. The surgeon of

the royal household introduced the sick. A passage from the sixteenth

chapter of the Gospel of Saint Mark was read. When the words, “They

shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover,” had been

pronounced, there was a pause, and one of the sick was brought up

to the King. His Majesty stroked the ulcers and swellings, and hung

round the patient’s neck a white riband to which was fastened a gold

coin.’—Macaulay, _History of England_, chap. xiv.

[220] Senlis.—_Thuanus_, iii. 714.

[221] The practical advantages of this plan are illustrated by the

cases of Montmorency and Damville. See pp. 68, 69, 77.

[222] See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part VI. chap, iv.,

and Letter IX, note. He was a member of the house of St. Aldegonde,

Seneschal to the King of Spain, and Lieutenant of the Royal bodyguard

of Archers. He had been sent by Philip in 1578 to Don John of Austria

and the States-General to negotiate peace.—Tassis, _Mémoires_.

[223] See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 95, note.

[224] Busbecq calls this nobleman de Herbei. This was the regular

French spelling of the name. Noailles, the French ambassador to Queen

Mary, always uses it. See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 98, and

_Froude_, chap. lxvii.

[225] See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 67.

[226] His name was Ferrand. He was secretary to the King of Navarre,

and asserted that he had made the attempt at the instigation of his

Queen (Marguerite).—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 181.

[227] See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 139.

[228] See Ranke, _History of Civil Wars and Monarchy in France_, chap

xxi.

[229] See Ranke, _History of Civil Wars and Monarchy in France_, chap.

xxi.

[230] ‘Ligue sainte, dy-je, pourpensée et inventée par défunct Charles,

Cardinal de Lorraine, voiant la lignée de Valois proche de son période,

et l’occasion se présenter, sous ce beau masque et saint prétexte de

religion, d’exterminer les premiers de la Maison de Bourbon et les

plus proches de la Couronne, pour faire ouverte profession de ladite

Religion Prétendue Réformée, et par ce moien empiéter la couronne

de France, qu’ils disoient avoir esté ravie à Lotaire, dernier

Roy de France de la race de Charlemagne, et à ses enfants, leurs

prédécesseurs, par Hugues Capet, qui n’y pouvoit prétendre aucun droit

que par la violente et injuste usurpation, par le moien de laquelle il

s’en estoit emparé.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 184.

[231] This surmise was perfectly correct. See Motley, _United

Netherlands_, i. 111.

[232] William Robert de la Marck, Duke of Bouillon and Prince of Sedan

from 1574 to 1588. A Huguenot like his father. ‘Le Roy, adverti de

tous ces remuemens de divers seingneurs et endroits de son roiaume, et

mesmes par le duc de Bouillon, qui lui donna advis de la grande levée

de gens de guerre que sous main faisoit le duc de Guise, pendant qu’il

s’amusoit à baller et masquer, fist responce qu’il ne le croioit ni ne

craingnoit.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 185.

[233] See Ranke, _Civil Wars and Monarchy in France_, chap. xxi.

[234] See Motley, _United Netherlands_, i. 117.

[235] They asked that the Estates should meet once every three

years.—Ranke, _Civil Wars and Monarchy in France_, chap. xxi.

[236] Sixtus V. was elected Pope the day before this letter was

written. Gregory XIII., who died on April 10, though he was reported

to have approved of the Catholic Princes taking up arms in defence of

their religion (see Sismondi, xx. 150), yet refused to issue any Bull

in their favour. ‘Ce Pape n’avoit jamais adhéré à la levée des armes de

la Ligue, et peu de jours avant sa mort, avoit dit au cardinal d’Est,

que la Ligue n’auroit ni Bulle, ni Bref, ni Lettres de lui, jusques à

ce qu’il vid plus clair en leurs brouilleries.’—_De l’Estoile_, ii.

190. The statement in the text must therefore be a _canard_ started by

the Leaguers.

[237] Compare vol. i. 219, 220. For the war between Turkey and Persia,

see Creasy, _History of the Ottoman Turks_, chap, xii, and Von Hammer,

bks. xxxviii. and xl. Peace was concluded in 1590, Persia ceding

Tabriz, Shirwan, and Georgia.

[238] Philippe Emmanuel, Marquis de Nomeny, son of Nicolas Comte de

Vaudemont and Duc de Mercœur, married Marie, daughter and heiress of

Sebastian de Luxembourg, Vicomte de Martigues and Duc de Penthièvre.

(See page 80.) He succeeded his father as Duc de Mercœur in 1577, and

was appointed Governor of Brittany in 1582. During the civil wars after

Henry III.’s death, he aspired to make himself independent. With this

view he negotiated with Philip II., and introduced Spanish troops into

Brittany. He maintained his position till 1598, when he was obliged

to surrender to Henry IV. He then entered the service of the Emperor

Rodolph, and fought in Hungary against the Turks. He died at Nuremberg

on his way home in 1602. His only daughter and heiress was married to

Cæsar, Duc de Vendôme, Henry IV.’s son by Gabrielle d’Estrées. In a

caricature described by de l’Estoile (ii. 230) representing the chiefs

of the League, the motto given to the Duc de Mercœur is ‘Symbolum

ingratitudinis.’

[239] See Letter XXXVII.

[240] For Lansac’s piracies, see _De l’Estoile_, ii. 361.

[241] Charles de Cossé-Brissac, nephew of Maréchal Cossé (p. 8). He

acted as Strozzi’s lieutenant (see note p 146). Froude in his account

of the French expedition to the Azores calls him ‘the Huguenot de

Brissac,’ whereas he was one of the chiefs of the League. For his

attempted seizure of Angers, see _Mezeray_, iii. 769, 770. He was

appointed Governor of Paris by Mayenne at the request of the Spanish

Ambassadors in 1594. _Mezeray_, iii. 1101-2.

[242] See note 1, p. 260.

[243] See Ranke, _Civil Wars and Monarchy in France_, chap. xxii.

[244] The Marquis of Richebourg and the Seigneur de Billy, a

distinguished Portuguese officer, were both killed. See Motley, _United

Netherlands_, i. 191-196.

[245] See _Thuanus_, iv. 10.

[246] See _Froude_, chap. lxvii.

[247] The grant was made by the deputies of the Clergy assembled at

the Abbey of Saint-Germain des Prés, on October 2, and on the 16th,

a second Edict against the Huguenots was published ordering them to

conform or leave the kingdom within fifteen days.—_De l’Estoile_, ii.

213.

[248] See _Thuanus_, iv. 50 seq.

[249] The Seigneur de Tavannes, appointed Governor by the League. See

_De l’Estoile_, ii. 216.

[250] Dated August 28, 1585. Published in Paris towards the end of

September.—_De l’Estoile_, ii. 210. See Motley, _United Netherlands_,

i. 132.

[251] Brother of the Prince de Condé. After his uncle’s death he

assumed the title of Cardinal de Bourbon, see note, page 7.

[252] M. Savary de Lancosme, nephew of M. de Villequier, one of the

King’s favourites.

[253] ‘Paris est divisé comme en trois villes par la riviere de Seine

qui passe au milieu.... L’autre partie, qui est à gauche de ladicte

riviere, est nommée l’Université.’—Palma Cayet, _Histoire de la Ligue_,

i. 251. The four faubourgs were those of St. Germain, St. Jacques, St.

Marceau, and St. Victor.

The famous La Noue on this occasion attempted to enter Paris by wading

along the side of the Seine immediately under the Tour de Nesle, so as

to land on the Quai des Augustins. Unfortunately, he rashly led the

way himself, and keeping too close to the foot of the tower, where the

water happened to be deepest, suddenly got out of his depth, and was

nearly drowned. The enterprise consequently proved a failure.

[254] The Cardinal de Bourbon, Henry IV.’s uncle, the Prince de

Joinville, son and successor to Henry, Duke of Guise, and the Duc

d’Elbœuf had been arrested by Henry III.’s orders, on December 23,

1588, the day of Guise’s assassination. Others, who had been arrested

at the same time, had been executed, had escaped, or had been released,

but these three still remained in close custody. The Cardinal was

confined at Fontenay, and the two Dukes at Tours.

[255] Between this letter and the last intervenes a period of nearly

four years. See vol. i. p. 69. From the purchase-deed of the Seigneury

of Bousbecque and Parma’s _Sauve-garde_ (see Appendix), we know that

Busbecq continued to reside in France as the agent of Elizabeth. This

letter was written three months after the assassination of Henry III.

After that event Navarre had been obliged to retreat to Normandy

pursued by the Duke of Mayenne. The latter, however, after his attack

on Henry at Arques had failed, retired to Amiens and left the way open

for his enemy to make a dash on Paris.

[256] The governor was de Maillé-Brezé, Seigneur de Benehart; and the

monk was a cordelier named Robert Chessé or Jessé. Thuanus (v. 32)

gives an account of their execution. The monk died like a brave man,

the governor like a coward.

[257] Philippe de Lenoncourt, Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne, and

afterwards of Auxerre, Cardinal of San Onofrio. It is a disputed point

whether he ever actually became Archbishop of Rheims. See _Gallia

Christiana_, ix. 156.

[258] Henry, eldest son and successor of Charles, Duke of Lorraine. He

sometimes bears the title of Duke of Bar. He married in 1599 Catherine,

Henry IV.’s sister (see note, page 51). After her death he married

Margaret de Gonzaga, daughter of the Duke of Mantua. He died in 1624.

He had taken part in Mayenne’s autumn campaign against Henry, and was

now on his way home from Amiens, where he had been detained some time

by illness.

[259] ‘Mayenne exposa la nécessité d’établir un conseil général de

l’union, dont l’autorité seroit reconnue par toute la France. Des

désignations pour ce conseil suprême étoient déjà faites par le

conseil particulier de la ville. Il en donna le rôle; on y trouvoit

trois évêques, de Meaux, de Senlis et d’Agen, six curés de Paris, sept

gentilshommes, vingt deux bourgeois de Paris; ce qui, avec lui-même

pour président et un secrétaire, formoit quarante membres.’—_Sismondi_,

xx. 472.

[260] He was Cardinal Caietano, brother of the Duke of Sermoneta. He

arrived in Paris on January 5.

[261] The people of Dijon eleven years before had been desirous of

having a separate bishopric, but were prevented by the opposition

of the Bishop and Chapter of Langres, in which diocese Dijon was

situated.—_Gallia Christiana_, iv. 637.

[262] These reports were not unfounded. Sultan Amurath had in fact

written to Navarre promising protection against Spain, and offering to

send a fleet of 200 sail to Aigues-Mortes.—_Collection des Documents

Inédits sur l’Histoire de France, Lettres Missives de Henri IV._, iii.

364. Part of the letter is quoted by Motley, _United Netherlands_, iii.

48.

[263] The citadel of Rouen was actually betrayed to the Royalists on

February 19, but was recovered by Aumale four days afterwards.

[264] The siege began on January 9, and was raised in the middle of

February. _Aubigné, Histoire_, vol. iii. bk. iii. ch. iv; _Thuanus_, v.

41-3.

[265] This letter is not dated, but from the mention of the Legate’s

arrival and the siege of Meulan, it appears to have been written

towards the end of the first half of January 1590. Busbecq was

probably then at Mantes, the place from which the next letter was

written. Mantes is about twenty-five English miles from Evreux, which

corresponds roughly with ten of Busbecq’s miles. See vol. i. page 82,

note.

[266] Pierre d’Espinac was born in 1540, and became Archbishop of Lyons

in 1574. He was Speaker, or Prolocutor, of the States-General held at

Blois in 1576. Catherine de Medici, when the Leaguers first took up

arms, sent him to negotiate with them (see p. 246.) However, he went

over to that party, and was thenceforth one of the strongest partisans

of the League. According to his own account, he was forced to take this

step by the insults he received from Epernon, the King’s favourite; his

enemies, on the other hand, asserted that his motive was the hope of

gaining a Cardinal’s hat. After the assassination of Guise, at Blois,

in December 1588, the Archbishop was one of those arrested, and he

shared the prison of the Cardinal, the brother of the murdered duke.

Each expected to meet the same fate, and each confessed to the other,

and received absolution at his hands. The Cardinal was put to death

the following day without trial, but the Archbishop’s life was spared.

On his trial he refused to answer when interrogated by the judges, on

the ground that, as Archbishop and Primate, he was subject only to the

jurisdiction of the Pope, or of delegates appointed by him. He was then

imprisoned at Amboise. On his release he again joined the League, and

was Mayenne’s strongest partisan. He died in 1599, refusing to the last

to acknowledge Henry IV.—_Thuanus_, v. 855.

[267] Nanteuil-le-Haudoin, 49 kilometres, or about 31 English miles,

from Paris. Busbecq’s ‘French miles’ must therefore be leagues. The

château had been purchased by Schomberg from the Guises in 1578, and he

derived from it his title of Comte de Nanteuil.

[268] The appointment of these commissioners, and the seizure of

Mayenne’s letters, are mentioned by Busbecq, and, as far as we have

been able to discover, by Busbecq alone. These facts are not noticed by

Sismondi. As has been already remarked (vol. i. page 64, note), these

letters have apparently entirely escaped the notice of historians.

[269] Little more than two years intervened between the date of this

letter and the writer’s death. See vol. i. pp. 70, 71.

[270] See for example vol. i. p. 162, pp. 239-241, and p. 351.

[271] See vol. i. p. 94.

[272] See vol. i. pp. 94, 167, 407.

[273] Ferdinand and Louis had married each other’s sisters. Mary, the

wife of the latter, was afterwards Regent of the Netherlands for her

brother Charles V. See Motley, _Rise of the Dutch Republic_, Part I.

chap. i.

[274] See vol. i. p. 410.

[275] See vol. i. p. 409.

[276] See vol. i. p. 166.

[277] See vol. i. pp. 78, 79.

[278] See vol. i. p. 301.

[279] See vol. i. pp. 79, 176.

[280] See vol. i. p. 80.

[281] See vol. i. p. 236.

[282] See vol. i. pp. 111-118.

[283] See vol. i. p. 80.

[284] See vol. i. p. 81.

[285] See vol. i. p. 190.

[286] See vol. i. p. 85.

[287] See vol. i. pp. 237-239.

[288] See p. 282.

[289] See vol. i. p. 236.

[290] See vol. i. p. 348, note.

[291] See vol. i. p. 297.

[292] See vol. i. p. 386.

[293] This summary of the treaty is taken from a Latin version of the

Turkish original made by John Spiegel, Ferdinand’s first interpreter,

which is usually printed with Busbecq’s letters.

[294] See note 2, p. 73.

[295] Nonsuch Park, at Cheam, was a favourite residence of Queen

Elizabeth.

[296] See pp. 271-2.

[297] The original of this patent of Knighthood is preserved in the

Imperial Archives at Vienna.

[298] The blank supplies the place of a foul epithet.

_INDEX TO THE LETTERS._

_Aa_, John Van der, member of Ferdinand’s privy council, presents

Busbecq to Ferdinand, i. 78

_Abbot_ of Turkish Monastery—his alleged miracles, i. 363-365

_Achmet_ Pasha, appointed Grand Vizier, i. 118;

his character, 119;

Busbecq and his colleagues visit, 152;

strangled, 176;

details of his execution, 189-190;

many of his retainers join Bajazet, 275

_Aconite_ or Napellus, used by Turkish pilgrim, i. 362

_Acorus calamus_, plant sent by Busbecq to Mattioli, i. 415

_Adrianople_, town of, i. 107;

Solyman’s winter residence, 198;

Busbecq summoned thither, 199;

earthquake there, 200

_Affenstein_, commander of German reiters, killed, ii. 104

_Aga_ of the Janissaries, mentioned, i. 232, 285

_Agiamoglans_, name of a class among the Christian tribute children,

i. 306, and _note_

_Aigues-Mortes_, seaport in Languedoc, surprised by the Huguenots,

ii. 42, and _note_;

Italian nobles captured by the Huguenots taken thither, 155

_Akschehr_, town in Asia Minor taken by Bajazet, i. 273

_Albacar_, Spanish physician sent by Busbecq to Lemnos, i. 416

_Albanians_, a Georgian tribe, i. 246

_Albanians or Epirotes_, ii. 143, and _note_

_Aldegonde_, St., a prisoner in the hands of the Royalists, ii. 4;

said to be sent by the States as envoy to Alençon, 198;

made burgomaster of Antwerp, 210

_Alençon_, Francis, Duke of, afterwards Duke of Anjou, waiting at Lyons

for his brother, ii. 7;

his constitution delicate, 43;

at the Cardinal de Lorraine’s funeral, 46;

at the ball given on the Marquis de Nomeny’s marriage, 81;

his restless spirit, 95;

supposed to have dealings with the Huguenots, 96;

accompanies the Queen to the gates of Paris, _ib._;

his flight and his motives, 100-104, and _note_;

expected to return to Blois, 105;

demands that the negotiations be held at Blois instead of Poitiers,

114;

supposed to have instigated du Guast’s murder, 116;

interferes in his quarrel with Thoré, 118;

takes possession of Châtelherault, 120;

demands Bourges and other towns, _ib._;

will probably come to terms, 131;

his expedition to the Netherlands, 141;

intends ravaging Hainault, 143;

sends to Italy to hire horse, _ib._;

a champion of the Catholics, 144;

reinforcements for him, 147;

witnesses the battle at Ghent, 148;

disposition of his troops, 149;

expects to visit England 156;

prevails on citizens of Antwerp to admit 300 French noblemen, 162;

his attempt to seize Antwerp, 166;

retreats to the monastery of St. Bernard, 167;

and thence to Dendermonde, 168;

his probable course of action, _ib._;

blackness of his conduct, 170;

excuses made for it, _ib._;

complete breach with citizens of Antwerp, 173;

his ill-regulated mind, 174;

proposed compromise with him, 174-175;

chooses Dunkirk as his residence, 179;

reported to be concerned in fresh disturbances, 180;

ill at Dunkirk, 181;

presents Fervaques with an abbacy, _ib._;

sends Pibrac to Antwerp, _ib._;

writes to stop his mother from coming, 182;

meets her at La Fère, 185;

has lost everything in Netherlands but Cambrai, 186;

returns to France, _ib._;

said to be going to marry the daughter of the Duke of Lorraine,

194;

said to have handed over Cambrai to his brother, 195;

his probable plans, _ib._;

appointed by the king his Lieutenant with limited powers, 196;

at Cambrai in great want of money, 198;

envoys to him from the States, _ib._;

likely to come to Paris, 199;

goes to Château Thierry, 201;

intends to winter at Angers, 202;

goes to Laon, _ib._;

will not come to court, 203;

his rumoured negotiations with Spain for sale of Cambrai, 204;

changes his plans, will winter at Château Thierry, 206;

his humiliating position, _ib._;

suspected attempt to murder, 209;

about to receive an embassy from the Netherlands, 210;

urges his claim to be made Lieutenant-General of the kingdom, 212;

visits his mother, 213;

by her advice approaches the king submissively, _ib._;

advised to secure the favour of Joyeuse and Epernon, _ib._;

returns to Château Thierry, 214;

his serious illness, 216;

reported to be in a decline, 217;

given over, 218;

confined to his bed, 219;

importance of his death for France, _ib._;

his death, 221;

his character, _ib._;

preparations for his funeral, _ib._;

said to have bequeathed Cambrai to his mother, 222;

his funeral, 223

_Ali_ Pasha, second vizier, and afterwards Grand Vizier, his origin

and character, i. 157, 342;

banquet given by him to Persian ambassador, 157;

his foolish speech, 234;

becomes Grand Vizier, 334;

grants Busbecq’s request to leave his house, _ib._;

sends a cavasse to him, 342;

contrasted with Roostem, 343-345;

his interviews with Busbecq, 345;

his policy, 346;

his accident, _ib._;

conversation with Busbecq about the invasion of Moldavia, 349-351;

helps to procure the release of Busbecq’s servants, 368;

sends him sweetmeats, 375;

informs him of Bajazet’s death, 385;

his presents to him on his departure, 388;

what he wished in return, 391

_Ali_ Pasha, the eunuch, appointed to the command in Hungary, i. 236;

visited by Busbecq and his colleagues, 237;

description of him, _ib._;

his operations in Hungary, _ib._;

his rashness checked by a Sanjak-bey, 238;

his discomfiture and death, 239;

his speech on the loss of Gran, 240

_Alost_, taken by Alençon, ii. 143

_Alva_, the Duke of, his death, ii. 162

_Amasia_, capital of Cappadocia, description of, i. 150-151;

Bajazet ordered thither, 267

_Amber_, great quantities of it exported to Turkey and Persia, i. 257

_Amiens_, attempt to surprise, ii. 88

_Amurath I._, Sultan, his death, i. 153, and _note_

_Ancyranum Monumentum_, account of the, i. 142-143, and _note_

_Angers_, town of, demanded by Alençon, ii. 120;

Alençon going to winter there, 202

_Angers_, citadel of, held by de Brissac, ii. 245;

surprised by Huguenots, 248;

its destruction ordered, 249

_Angoulême_, town of, demanded by Alençon, ii. 120

_Angora_, town of, description of the, i. 142;

Bajazet occupies and raises forced loan from merchants of, 275

_Angora_ goats, i. 137, and _note_;

manufacture of mohair from their hair, 143

_Annonay_, town in the Vivarais, siege of, ii. 9, and _note_

_Ant_, Indian, as large as a dog, sent as a present by the Shah to

Solyman, i. 375, and _note_

_Antonio_, Don, pretender to the crown of Portugal, his Constable

killed, ii. 146;

returns to France, 161;

goes to Dieppe, _ib._;

engaged in equipping a fleet, 178;

expenses of his household at Ruel, 183;

his new fleet reaches the Azores, 188;

said to be intended as the commander of the French forces in the

Netherlands, 235

_Antwerp_, the French Fury at, ii. 164-168;

tumult against Orange there, 176;

strictly blockaded, 231;

hard pressed, 236;

equipment of fleet to relieve, 240;

cutting the dykes near, _ib._;

the bridge destroyed, 247;

gunpowder sent to Paris from, 254

_Antwerp_, inhabitants of, their kind treatment of the prisoners,

ii. 169;

their statement, 171;

demand ransom, 173;

complete breach between them and Alençon, _ib._;

demand the execution of Fervaques, 175;

their confidence in Orange diminished, 185, 186;

ready to suffer the worst rather than submit, 217;

resolved to hold out, 229

_Archery_, Turkish skill in, i. 253

_Aremberg_, the Countess of, ii. 113, _note_;

writes to announce her arrival at Nancy, 114;

notice sent to her of date of the Queen’s departure, 126;

delayed in reaching Nancy by a mistake, 130

_Arslan Bey_, Sanjak-bey of Stuhlweissenburg, his feud with Veli Bey,

i. 244

_Arundel_, Earl of, arrested for conspiracy against Queen Elizabeth,

ii. 212;

will probably be pardoned, _ib._;

again arrested, 247

_Athenæus_, his statement as to the _pinna_ and _pinna guard_ referred

to, i. 339

_Aubigny_, Comte d’, and Duke of Lennox, reported to be besieged in

Scotland, ii. 148, and _note_

_Auger_, Edmund, the king’s confessor, rebuked by Catherine de Medici,

ii. 182

_Aumale_, the Duke of, accompanies the Queen to Bourg-la-Reine, ii. 96;

a leader of the League, 241;

seizes places in Normandy, 245

_Aumont_, Maréchal d’, with Navarre, ii. 262

_Auxonne_, town in Burgundy, its inhabitants charge their governor with

treason and pull down the fortifications, ii. 248-249

_Axylos_, woodless tract in Asia Minor, i. 215

_Babocsa_, a Hungarian fortress, i. 237

_Baden_, the Margrave of, meets the Queen, ii. 134

_Bailen_, the Comte de, Spanish ambassador, starts for Lyons, ii. 11;

arrives at Paris, 22;

leaves Paris, 28

_Baily_, title of the Venetian ambassador, i. 226, _note_;

his interposition, 226;

unable to help the imprisoned pilgrims, 352;

his surprise at the release of Busbecq’s servants without a bribe,

368

_Bairam_, the feast of, parents allowed to see their married daughters

at, i. 229, and _note_;

description of its celebration by the Turkish army, 302-304

_Bajazet I._, Sultan, indignities he and his wife received from

Tamerlane, i. 112

_Bajazet II._, Sultan, defeats his son Selim, i. 108

_Bajazet_, son of Solyman, his mother’s favourite, i. 179;

implicated in the rising of Mustapha, the Pretender, 180, 185;

his interview with his father, 187-189;

his story continued, 264-281;

conspires against his brother, 265;

removed from Kutaiah to Amasia, 267;

complains of his new government, _ib._;

accuses his brother, 268-269;

prepares for war, 270;

sends back Pertau Pasha, 271;

his message to Solyman, 272;

takes town of Akschehr, 273;

occupies Angora, and raises a forced loan from the merchants, 275;

his appearance and character, 275-276;

marches on Koniah, 277;

his speech to his army, 277-278;

his gallant conduct, 278;

defeated at Koniah, retreats to Amasia, 279;

reputation acquired by him, 280;

sounds his father’s disposition, 298;

warned by his friends to beware of him, 301;

one of his spies executed, _ib._;

starts on his flight to Persia, 302;

his rapidity, 304;

his stratagems to deceive the Pashas of Siwas and Erzeroum,

304-305;

offers double pay to soldiers joining him, 306;

crosses the Araxes and enters Persia, 306-307;

his speech to the Shah’s envoys, 307;

his reception by the Shah, 308;

his message to his father, 309;

atrocious speech of one of his officers, _ib._;

is seized and thrown into prison, 311;

conjectures as to his probable fate, 311-312;

the end of his story, 375, 378-381;

his execution, 381;

his four sons share his fate, _ib._;

execution of his infant son at Broussa, 382

_Balagny_, Governor of Cambrai, ii. 205, and _note_;

his tyrannical conduct there, 227

_Baldi_, Philip, an Italian sent to Busbecq by the Emperor, i. 259;

mentioned again, 263

_Baldwin_, Count of Flanders and Latin Emperor of Romania—taken and

killed by the Bulgarians, i. 105, and _note_;

mentioned, 130, _note_

_Balsam_, given by Ali Pasha to Busbecq, i. 388;

its value, 389, and _note_;

doubts thrown on its genuineness, 416

_Balsam-tree_, not now to be found in Asia Minor, i. 142

_Basilicus_, John, Greek adventurer—his story, i. 347, _note_;

invades Moldavia, 347

_Baths_, intrigues carried on in them by Turkish women, i. 231

_Bavaria_, the Duke of, attends the coronation at Frankfort, i. 399,

and _note_;

his health, ii. 134;

his handsome reception of the Queen, _ib._;

thinks the Danube her best route, _ib._;

presses her to remain, _ib._

_Bavaria_, the Duchess of, sends messages and letters to the Queen,

ii. 3

_Bavaria_, Ferdinand, Duke of, meets the Queen, ii. 134

_Bavaria_, William, Duke of, with his wife meets the Queen at Nancy,

ii. 129;

consulted as to her route, 133, 137;

his kindness to her, 135;

goes to Vienna, 137

_Belgrade_, town of, described, i. 93;

sieges and capture of, by the Turks, 94;

fertility of the neighbourhood, 165

_Bellegarde_, Roger de Saint-Lary de, Marshal, sent as ambassador to

Poland, ii. 61, and _note_;

said to have fallen sick, 66

_Bellièvre_, Pomponne de, Ambassador of Charles IX. in Poland, ii. 49,

and _note_;

likely to be sent to the Netherlands, 169;

sent to Alençon, 172;

stays behind to arrange matters, 174;

returns from Antwerp, 181;

sent to King of Navarre, 203

_Belon_ (_Bellonus_), Pierre, French traveller and physician, his

mistake about the hyena, i. 140;

referred to for figure of the _pinna_, 339

_Bergen_, town in Brabant, taken by the Hollanders under their

protection, ii. 217

_Bernard_, Monastery of St., outpost established there by garrison

of Lier, ii. 148;

Alençon passes the night there after the French Fury, 167

_Berry_, Duchy of, the Queen’s dower partly charged on it, ii. 109

_Besançon_, attempt to surprise, ii. 88

_Besme_, murderer of Coligny, taken prisoner by the Huguenots,

ii. 99, and _note_

_Beyler-bey of Greece_, the, sent to Selim’s assistance, i. 271;

sent in pursuit of Bajazet, 305;

in command of the troops on the Persian frontier, 378

_Billy_, Seigneur de, killed at the Antwerp bridge, ii. 247

_Birague_, Cardinal de, Chancellor of France, ii. 39;

Busbecq’s interview with him, 87;

contributes to forced loan, 98;

his death and character, 208, and _note_

_Biron_, Marshal, the probable commander in the Netherlands, ii. 147;

takes the command there, 149-150;

asks for more cavalry, _ib._;

halts on the Somme, 154;

joins Alençon, 156;

his army, 157;

going to the Campine, 162;

said to be the author of the attempt on Antwerp, 165;

clears himself of all blame, 175;

his letter pressing Alençon to abandon the scheme discovered, 181;

retakes some small forts, 182;

defeated at Steenbergen, and wounded, 184;

at Antwerp pressing for money, 186;

returns to France, 195;

his attack on Cateau Cambrésis repulsed, 202;

with Navarre, 262

_Black Sea_, Busbecq’s visit to it, i. 129, 131;

Polybius wrong in supposing it was silting up, 132

_Blaye_, town near Bordeaux, garrisoned by the younger de Lansac,

ii. 245

_Blois_, Busbecq obliged to go thither, ii. 141;

king there, 229;

Busbecq goes thither to condole with him in the Queen’s name

on Alençon’s death, 230

_Blot_, Hugo de, recommended by Busbecq to Maximilian as librarian,

ii. 73-74, and _note_

_Bodin_, Jean, paper relating to French Fury attributed to him,

ii. 171, and _note_

_Bokhara_, city of, visited by Turkish pilgrim, i. 360

_Bonnivet_, de, defends Endhoven, ii. 182

_Bosphorus_, description of the Thracian, i. 129, 131;

for distinction between it and the Cimmerian Bosphorus,

see 111, _note_

_Bouchain_, taken by Alençon, ii. 144

_Bouillon_, Godfrey de, first King of Jerusalem, mentioned, i. 250

_Bouillon_, the Duc de, warns the King of the Guises’ preparations,

ii. 241, and _note_