1612
The Princes of the Blood retire from the Court--Increased influence of
the Ducs de Guise and d'Epernon--Jealousy of Concini--The ministers
desire the recall of the Princes--The Lent ballets--The government of
Quilleboeuf is offered to the Comte de Soissons--The Princes are invited
to return to the capital--Arrival of the Princes--M. de Soissons
abandons Concini--An attempt is made to create dissension between M. de
Soissons and the Prince de Condé--They again withdraw from Paris--The
Regent resolves to announce publicly the approaching marriage of the
King--Disaffection of the Princes--Frankness of the Duc de Guise--The
Duc d'Epernon is recalled--The Duc de Bouillon is despatched to
England--The Council discuss the alliance with Spain--The Princes return
to the capital--Undignified deportment of the Prince de Condé--
Insolence of M. de Soissons--Indignation of the Regent--The young Duc de
Mayenne is appointed ambassador extraordinary to Spain--An unpleasant
truth--Arrogance of the Spanish King--Concession of the Regent--Death of
the Duke of Mantua--The Chancellor announces the King's marriage--An
ambassador and a quasi-Queen--Disappointment of the Princes--They again
withdraw--Caution of the Duc de Montmorency to the Regent--She
disregards the warning--Love of Marie de Medicis for magnificence and
display--Courtly entertainments--The circle of Madame--The Marquise
d'Ancre--A carousal--Splendid festivities--Arrival of the Spanish
envoys--The Chevalier de Guise--Alarm of Concini--The Queen and her
foster-sister--Concini resolves to espouse the party of the Princes--The
Duc de Bouillon endeavours to injure the Duc de Rohan in the estimation
of James I--Reply of the English monarch--Bouillon returns to Paris--The
Maréchal de Lesdiguières retires from the Court--The Duc de Vendôme
solicits the royal permission to preside over the States of Brittany--Is
refused by the Regent--Challenges his substitute--And is exiled to
Anet--Concini augments the disaffection of the Princes--The Duke of
Savoy joins the cabal--Lesdiguières prepares to march a body of troops
against the capital--Concini deters the Regent from giving the
government of Quilleboeuf to the Comte de Soissons--Indignation of the
Duc de Guise--He reveals the treachery of Concini to the Princes--All
the great nobles join the faction of M. de Condé with the exception of
the Duc d'Epernon--The Duc de Bellegarde is accused of sorcery--Quarrel
between the Comte de Soissons and the Maréchal de Fervaques--Marie de
Medicis resolves to persecute the Protestants--Bouillon endeavours to
effect the disgrace of the Duc de Rohan--The Regent refuses to listen to
his justification--He takes possession of St. Jean d'Angély--Anger of
the Queen--Conflicting manifestoes--M. de Rohan prepares to resist the
royal troops--The ministers advise a negotiation, which proves
successful--Departure of the Duc de Mayenne for Madrid--Arrival of the
Duque de Pastrano--His brilliant reception in France--His magnificent
retinue--His first audience of Louis XIII--The Cardinals--Puerility of
the Princes--Reception of the Spanish Ambassador by Madame--_The year of
magnificence_--Splendour of the Court of Spain--Signature of the
marriage articles--Honours shown to M. de Mayenne at Madrid--The Spanish
Princess and her Duenna--The Duke of Savoy demands the hand of Madame
Christine for his son--Marie desires to unite her to the Prince of
Wales--Death of Prince Henry of England--Death of the Comte de
Soissons--The Prince de Conti claims the government of Dauphiny--The
Comte d'Auvergne is released from the Bastille, and resigns his
government of Auvergne to M. de Conti--The Prince de Condé organizes a
new faction--The Regent espouses his views--Alarm of the Guises--Recall
of the Duc de Bellegarde--He refuses to appear at Court--The Baron de
Luz is restored to favour--The Guises prepare to revenge his defection
from their cause.
The Prince de Condé and the Comte de Soissons having withdrawn from the
capital, MM. de Guise and d'Epernon found themselves once more the
principal personages of the Court, but their triumph was nevertheless
greatly moderated by the jealousy of Concini, who began to apprehend
that their ceaseless efforts to gratify the wishes of the Queen, and to
flatter her love of splendour and dissipation, might ultimately tend to
weaken his own influence; while the ministers, on their side, aware that
the negotiations then pending with Spain for the marriage of the King
could not be readily concluded without their aid and concurrence,
however they might deprecate their return from other causes, also felt
the necessity of securing their co-operation, for which purpose it was
essential that such measures should be adopted as might render this
concession acceptable to the royal malcontents.[131]
While this subject was under consideration, and Lent rapidly
approaching, the Queen, who, being still in slight mourning, could not,
according to the established etiquette, hold any assemblies in her own
apartments, but who was unwilling to forego the customary amusements of
the Carnival, desired the Duc de Guise, the Prince de Joinville, and M.
de Bassompierre to perform a ballet every Sunday, which they accordingly
did, "dividing," says the latter, "the expense between us."
The first of these allegorical dances was executed in the apartments of
the Princesse de Conti, where a supper was prepared for her Majesty with
an exclusiveness uncommon at the time, and which created considerable
disappointment in the Court circle. None but the Princes then resident
in the capital, namely MM. de Guise, de Nevers, and de Reims, with a few
chosen courtiers, were permitted to attend, while the number of ladies
was equally limited.
The second took place in the apartments of the Duchesse de Vendôme, upon
which occasion the banquet was offered to the Queen by Madame de
Mercoeur; the third at the Hôtel de Guise, where the Regent was
entertained in the private _salon_ of the Duchess; and the fourth and
last in the suite of rooms appropriated to Madame de Guercheville in the
Louvre.[132]
"I took the liberty," says Rambure, with his usual quaintness, "of
representing to the Regent that the people would murmur on witnessing
balls at Court while she was still in mourning, but she only laughed at
me, and bade me dismiss such an idea from my thoughts; at which I was
not at all pleased, from the respect that I entertained for the memory
of his late Majesty." [133]
These gaieties did not, however, serve to divert the thoughts of the
ministers from their desire to recall the absent Princes of the Blood;
and it was finally arranged that as M. de Soissons had been the original
cause of their absence, owing to his indignation at the ill-success of
his attempt to purchase the duchy of Alençon, it would be expedient to
hold out to him a prospect of obtaining the government of Quilleboeuf.
It was accordingly decided that the Marquis d'Ancre, on the part of
their Majesties, and M. de Villeroy on that of the ministers, should
proceed to Nogent, where the Princes were then residing, and invite them
to return to Court, with a full assurance from all parties that they
would there occupy the station befitting their exalted rank, and be
received with the dignities and honours which were due to them as
Princes of the Blood.
The mission of the two envoys proved successful; and on their arrival at
Fontainebleau the uncle and nephew were welcomed with a warmth and
magnificence which alike flattered their self-love and tended to inspire
them with confidence. Nevertheless, M. de Soissons had no sooner
discovered that the Marquis d'Ancre, who, when he had himself retired
from the Court, had lost the favour of the Queen, was now the firm ally
of the ministers, through whose good offices he had regained his former
position, than he exhibited towards the Italian a haughtiness and
avoidance which ere long terminated in an open rupture.
Fearful of incurring through the means of the Count the additional
enmity of M. de Condé, Concini endeavoured to win over the Marquis de
Coeuvres, and to effect through his interposition a reconciliation with
the indignant Prince. To this solicitation M. de Coeuvres replied that
in order to establish a good understanding between two persons whom he
had already so strenuously sought to serve, he was willing and ready to
forget his private wrongs; but when it was suggested to him that he
should exert his influence to renew the proposed marriage without
reference to the Queen-Regent, he declined to make any effort to induce
M. de Soissons to adopt so onerous a course, alleging that he had
already suffered sufficiently by his interference in a matter which had
been productive of great annoyance and injury to the Prince, and that he
would not again lend his assistance to the project until the Marquis
d'Ancre and his wife pledged themselves to reconcile M. de Soissons with
the ministers, to restore him to the favour of the Regent, and to obtain
her sanction to the proposed alliance.
The firmness of this refusal staggered Concini, who, only recently
reinstated in the good graces of the Queen, was for once apprehensive
of the failure of his influence. He consequently confined his reply to a
simple acknowledgment of the courtesy with which his proposal had been
met by the Marquis, and then endeavoured personally to regain the
confidence of the Prince by assurances of the sincere inclination of the
Queen to meet his wishes upon every point within her power. As a natural
consequence M. de Soissons listened willingly to these flattering
declarations, uttered as they were by an individual well known to be in
the entire confidence of his royal mistress; but they soon became
blended with the regrets of the Marquis that his listener should have
formed so close an alliance with his nephew as to have drawn down upon
him the suspicion of the Court; and plausibly as these regrets were
expressed, M. de Soissons was soon enabled to discover that the wily
Italian had been instructed to detach him from Condé.
A similar endeavour was made with the Prince de Condé, but both were
ineffectual. The two royal kinsmen had become fully aware that mutual
support was their only safeguard against the party opposed to them; and
they had no sooner detected the symptoms of coldness which supervened
upon the ill-success of their advisers, than they resolved once more to
leave the Court; and accordingly having taken leave of their Majesties,
and resisted the pressing solicitations poured forth on all sides, they
again retired; the Prince to St. Valery, and the Count to Dreux. This
renewed opposition to her wishes roused the spirit of the Regent. She
saw, as she asserted, that there no longer remained a hope of
restraining the haughtiness, or of satisfying the pretensions, of the
great vassals of the Crown; and she accordingly declared that in order
to maintain her authority, and to secure the throne of her son, she
would not allow the absence of the two Princes of the Blood to delay the
publication of the King's marriage. Immediate measures were consequently
taken for concluding the necessary arrangements; and this was done with
the less hesitation that the Maréchal de Lesdiguières (who for some time
after his arrival at Court had continued to anticipate that the pledge
given to him by the ministers would shortly be redeemed) had induced
both the one and the other to state that they would offer no opposition
to the alliance which had been determined.[134]
But this concession, which they were destined subsequently to deplore,
was all that could be extorted from the Princes, who considered
themselves aggrieved by the fact that so important a negotiation should
have been carried on without their participation, when special couriers
had been despatched to acquaint both the Cardinal de Joyeuse and the Due
d'Epernon with the pending treaty. The Comte de Soissons, moreover,
complained loudly and bitterly of the undue power of the ministers, and
especially inveighed against the Chancellor Sillery, whom he
unhesitatingly accused of extortion and avarice, of publicly making a
trade of justice to the dishonour of the nation, and of ruining those
who were compelled to solicit his protection. On this point alone he was
in accord with Concini; and it was to this mutual hatred of the
ministers that their partial good understanding must be attributed. The
reasons which induced the Maréchal de Lesdiguières to approve the
alliance we have already stated: the ducal crown which he was so anxious
to secure must have been irretrievably lost by any opposition on his
part to the proposed alliance, and this vision was for ever before his
eyes. The approbation of the Connétable de Montmorency, who had
originally declared his objection to so close a union between the two
countries, was purchased by a promise that the hand of one of the
Princesses of Mantua, niece to the Regent, should be conferred upon his
son; and the brilliant promise of the one marriage caused him to
overlook the probable perils of the other; while the Duc de Bouillon,
although he occasionally declared in the Council that he seriously
apprehended the result of so intimate a connection with Spain, never
remonstrated with any energy against the measure, and was believed by
those who knew him best to have already made his conditions with Philip.
On the departure of the two Princes, Marie urged the Duc de Guise to
afford her his support, together with that of his house, which he did
with a frankness worthy of record, concluding, however, with these
emphatic words: "I have but one favour to request of you, Madame; and
that is, that after this important service your Majesty will not
abandon us, as you have already once done, to the resentment of the
Princes of the Blood." [135]
The Duc d'Epernon, who had left the Court, as elsewhere stated, if not
in actual disgrace, at least mortified and disappointed, was now
recalled; and as his failing was well known, he was received on his
arrival at Fontainebleau with such extraordinary distinction that all
his past grievances were at once forgotten. Sillery, Villeroy, and
Concini overwhelmed him with respect and adulation, and his adherence to
the party of the Regent was consequently purchased before the question
had been mooted in his presence.
Meanwhile the English Ambassador declaimed loudly against the
contemplated alliance, which he declared to be unequivocally
antagonistic to the interests of his sovereign; and his undisguised
indignation so alarmed the Council that it was immediately resolved to
despatch the Duc de Bouillon on an extraordinary embassy to the Court of
London in order to appease the displeasure of James. The minister of the
United Provinces was equally violent in his opposition, and exerted all
his energies to prevent the conclusion of a treaty which he regarded as
fatal to the interests of the republic that he represented, but his
expostulations were disregarded. An envoy was sent to the Hague with
assurances of amity to Prince Maurice and the States-General; and
finally, the Maréchal de Schomberg was instructed to visit the several
Protestant Princes of Germany in order to dispel any distrust which they
might feel at the probable results of an alliance so threatening to
their interests.[136]
These important measures concluded, the double marriage was proposed to
the Council, where the Prince de Condé and the Comte de Soissons, who
had recently returned to the capital, occupied their appointed seats;
and at the commencement of the proceedings, when the question of the
projected alliance had been submitted to the Assembly, M. de Condé
demanded that each should deliver his opinion according to his rank. The
Chancellor then opened the subject by a warm panegyric on the prudent
administration of the Queen-Regent, dwelling at great length upon the
extraordinary benefit which must accrue to the French nation from the
contemplated alliance with Spain; and he was followed by the Duc de
Guise, who, with more brevity but equal force, maintained the same
argument. "No deliberation," concluded the Duke, "can be required upon
so advantageous a proposal. We have only to thank God that her Majesty
has so happily accomplished the noble purpose with which heaven had
inspired her." As he resumed his seat the Connétable de Montmorency and
the Ducs de Nevers and d'Epernon warmly applauded his words; after which
the Maréchaux de Bouillon and de Lesdiguières declared their approval of
the alliance, simply expressing a hope that proper precautions would be
taken to prevent the treaty with Spain from proving prejudicial to the
interests of France in her more ancient alliances with other foreign
powers; and finally it became the turn of M. de Condé to declare his
sentiments. The young Prince had, however, been so astonished by the
fearless address of the Duc de Guise that he had entirely lost his
self-possession, and merely said with great coldness: "Since the affair
is decided, it was unnecessary to ask our advice."
The surprise was universal, as the general impression throughout the
Council had been that the two Princes had determined to attend the
meeting in order to oppose the projected marriages; a supposition which
the words immediately afterwards addressed to M. de Condé by his uncle
served to confirm. "You see, sir," said the Count, turning towards him
with an impatient gesture, "that we are treated here like valets."
The Regent, irritated by this remark, which was uttered so audibly as to
be generally overheard, was about to make some bitter rejoinder, when
Sillery, perceiving her intention, again possessed himself of the ear of
the Assembly; and it was ultimately concluded that the double marriage
should be proclaimed on the 25th of March, and that the young Duc de
Mayenne[137] should proceed to Spain as Ambassador-Extraordinary to
demand the hand of the Infanta.
At the close of the Council the general topic of discourse was the
extraordinary part played by the two Princes. It is well known that they
were both strongly opposed to the measure which had just been carried,
and their conduct was severally judged according to the particular
feeling of those by whom it was discussed; some asserting that it was
from a fear of the consequences of resistance, and others declaring that
they indulged a hope of profiting largely by so unexpected a neutrality.
The Duc de Montmorency was meanwhile furious at the contempt incurred by
the unmanly bearing of his son-in-law, M. de Condé. "Sir," he said, as
the Prince shortly afterwards approached him, "you neither know how to
resist with courage, or to yield with prudence." [138]
An unforeseen difficulty, however, now presented itself. The Spanish
Cabinet no longer entertained the same apprehensions of the power of
France that it had felt during the preceding year. The supremacy which
it had so reluctantly recognized had ceased to exist, and the arrogance
of Philip grew with this conviction; thus, where he had only a few
months previously condescended to solicit, he now prepared to impose
conditions, and the renewed negotiations were haughtily met by fresh
proposals. Upon the pretext that the Princesses of France brought with
them no right of succession to the crown, he declared his disinclination
to give the hand of the elder Infanta to the young King, upon which
Marie de Medicis replied that she was willing to accept his younger
daughter as the bride of Louis XIII, provided that he, in his turn,
were prepared to receive the Princesse Christine instead of Madame, as
by this arrangement she should be enabled to fulfil the pledge given by
the late King to the Duke of Savoy, that the eldest Daughter of France
should be united to the Prince of Piedmont.
This explicit declaration at once silenced Philip, who was by no means
desirous that Charles Emmanuel, whom he was anxious to crush, should by
so close a connexion with France secure an ally through whose support he
could not fail to protect himself against all aggression; and he
accordingly signified with somewhat less arrogance than before that he
was ready to ratify the original treaty, provided that Anne of Austria
were permitted to renounce, both for herself and her children, all claim
to the sovereignty of Spain.
This point having been conceded, immediate preparations were made for
the proclamation of the royal marriages; but the ceremony was
unavoidably delayed by the death of the Duke of Mantua, the
brother-in-law of the Regent, and did not take place until the 5th of
the following month,[139] on which day it was solemnly announced by the
Chancellor, in the presence of the Prince de Conti, the peers and
officers of the Crown, and the Spanish Ambassador, who gave his assent
to the duplicate alliance in the name of the King his master, and from
that period treated the little Princess with all the honours due to a
Queen of Spain; never addressing her save on his bended knee, and
observing many still more exaggerated ceremonies which excited at once
surprise and amusement at the French Court.
It will have been remarked that neither M. de Condé nor the Comte de
Soissons were present at the formal announcement, both having once more
withdrawn from the capital with the determination of continuing absent
until the majority of the King, in order to avoid signing the
marriage contract.
"The Queen," said M. de Soissons, when one of his friends would have
dissuaded him from so extreme a course, "is quite able to conclude
without our assistance the negotiation into which she has entered. God
grant that we at least may be spared all participation in the slight
offered to the memory of the late King, by refusing to falsify the
pledge which he gave to the Duke of Savoy, whose house has so long been
the firm ally of France."
Pity it is that this generous burst of high-mindedness and loyalty will
not bear analysis. Both the Princes had discovered that the professions
to which they had so complacently listened, and which had induced their
recent return to Court, had merely been intended to lure them thither at
a period when their presence was more than ever essential to the
interests of the Regency; and while M. de Condé found his position in
the Government as undefined and unsatisfactory as ever, and that his
vanity had been flattered at the expense of his interests, the Count on
his side saw the possession of Quilleboeuf more remote than ever, and
openly declared that they had both been duped.
This undisguised admission at once revealed the selfishness of the views
with which the malcontent Princes had lent themselves to the wishes of
Marie and her ministers; and assuredly no worse policy could have been
adopted than that by which they were again induced to exile themselves
from their proper sphere of action. Too many interests were, however,
served by their absence for either counsellor or courtier to point out
to the Queen the extreme danger of driving them to extremities, save in
the instance of the Connétable, who, more and more chagrined by the
pitiful and even precarious position occupied by his son-in-law,
remonstrated earnestly with the Regent upon the peril of the course
which she had been induced to pursue.
"Remember, Madame," he said, "that the civil wars and wretchedness of
which this nation has been the prey during the last few reigns all owed
their origin to the fatal advice given to Catherine de Medicis to
disregard the legitimate claims of the Princes of the Blood; and those
who would induce your Majesty to follow her example are more bent upon
the furtherance of their own fortunes, and the increase of their own
power, than anxious for the welfare of the state. Should your Majesty,
therefore, suffer yourself to be influenced by their counsels, I foresee
nothing in the future but anarchy and confusion."
Unfortunately, however, the close alliance of the veteran Duke with one
of those very Princes whose cause he thus warmly advocated, and his
enmity towards the Guises, deprived his remonstrances of the force which
they might otherwise have possessed, and Marie de Medicis consequently
disregarded the warning until after-events caused her to feel and
acknowledge its value. Supported by the House of Guise and the Duc
d'Epernon, assured of the good faith of the Connétable and the Maréchaux
de Bouillon and de Lesdiguières, as well as deeply incensed by the
bearing of the two Princes in the Council; and, moreover, urged by her
more immediate favourites to assert her dignity, and to display towards
the malcontents a coldness and indifference as marked as that which they
exhibited towards herself, she dismissed the subject from her thoughts
as one of slight importance, and turned all her attention to the
brilliant festivities by which the declaration of the royal marriages
was to be celebrated.[140]
The besetting sin of Marie de Medicis was a love of magnificence and
display, and one of her greatest errors a wilful disregard of the
financial exigencies which her profuse liberality had induced. Thus the
splendour of the preparations which were exciting the wonder and
curiosity of all Paris engrossed her so wholly that she had little time
for dwelling on contingent evils. The departure of the Princes had,
moreover, relieved her from the annoyance of encountering discontented
countenances and repellent frowns; and as she saw herself surrounded
only by beaming looks and complacent smiles, her spirits rose, and she
began to believe that her long-indulged vision of undisputed supremacy
was about to be realized.
It was a pleasant dream, and one in which the self-deceived Regent was
eagerly encouraged by those around her. The halls and galleries of the
Louvre were crowded with animated and obsequious courtiers, and the
apartments of Marie herself thronged by the greatest and proudest in the
land; all of whom appeared, upon so joyous an occasion, to have laid
aside their personal animosities and to live only to obey her behests.
Madame had also formed her separate Court, in the midst of which she
received, with the grace of a girl and the premature dignity of a Queen,
the elaborate homage of her future subjects; and meanwhile the young
Louis, delighted by a partial emancipation from ceremony and etiquette
for which he was indebted to the unusual movement about him, pursued his
favourite sport of bird-hunting in the gardens of the Tuileries, and
attached more importance to the feats of a well-trained sparrow-hawk
than to the probable qualities of the bride provided for him by the
policy of his royal mother.
And amid all this splendid excitement, gliding from one glittering group
to another with a quiet self-possession and a calm composure strangely
at variance with the scene around her, moved a lady whose remarkable
appearance must have challenged attention, even had her singular career
not already tended to make her an object of universal curiosity and
speculation. Short of stature and slender of form, with a step as light
and noiseless as that of an aerial being; her exquisitely-moulded
although diminutive figure draped in a robe of black velvet, made after
a fashion of which the severe propriety contrasted forcibly with the
somewhat too liberal exposure of the period; with a countenance pale
almost to sallowness; delicately chiselled features; and large eyes,
encircled by a dark ring, only a few shades less black than the long
lashes by which they were occasionally concealed; a mass of rich and
glossy hair, tightly banded upon her forehead, and gathered together in
a heavy knot, supported by long bodkins tipped with jewels, low in her
neck behind; and above all, with that peculiar expression spread over
her whole person which is occasionally to be remarked in individuals of
that exceptional organization which appears to be the lot of such as are
predestined to misery.
Not a Princess of the Blood, not a Duchess of the realm, but had a smile
and a courteous and eager word to bestow upon this apparently
insignificant personage, at whose signal even the door of the Queen's
private closet, closed against other intruders, opened upon the instant,
as though she alone of all that brilliant galaxy of rank and wealth were
to know no impediment, and to be subjected to no delay.
We have been somewhat prolix in our description of this extraordinary
woman, but we shall be pardoned when we explain that we here give the
portrait of Leonora Galigaï, Marquise d'Ancre, the friend, confidante,
and foster-sister of Marie de Medicis.
It is, however, time to return to the festivities to which allusion has
already been made. Among these the most remarkable was a splendid
carousal which took place in the Place Royale, and which is elaborately
described by Bassompierre. The French Kings had originally held their
tourneys, tilts, and passages-at-arms in the Rue St. Antoine, opposite
the palace of the Tournelles; but the unfortunate death of Henri II, who
was killed there by the lance of the Duc de Montgomery, caused the spot
to be abandoned, and they were subsequently transferred to the Place
Royale, which had been built in the ancient park of the same palace.
The lists on the present occasion were two hundred and forty feet in
length, and were surrounded by barriers and platforms arranged in tiers,
and reaching to the first stories of the houses. Facing the lists was
erected the magnificent pavilion destined for their Majesties, which was
richly draped with blue and gold, and surmounted by the great national
standard, upon which the eagles of Austria and the arms of the Medici
were proudly quartered with the _fleurs-de-lis_ of France.
By command of the Queen the lists were held by the Ducs de Guise and de
Nevers and the Marquis de Bassompierre, an honour which cost each of the
individuals thus favoured the enormous sum of fifty thousand crowns; a
fact which is easily understood when it is considered that their retinue
consisted of five hundred persons and two hundred horses, the whole of
whom, men and animals, were clad and caparisoned in scarlet velvet and
cloth of silver. The number of spectators, exclusive of the Court and
the armed guards, was estimated at ten thousand; and from nine in the
morning until six in the evening the lists were constantly occupied.
Salvos of artillery, fireworks, and allegorical processions succeeded;
and the populace, delighted by "the glorious three days" of revel and
relaxation thus provided for them, forgot for the time to murmur at an
outlay which threatened them with increased exactions.
At the termination of this carousal, which was followed by balls,
banquets, and tiltings at the ring, the Court removed to Fontainebleau;
where their Majesties shortly afterwards received the Marquis de
Spinola, the Comte de Buquoy,[141] and Don Rodrigo Calderon,[142] who
were entertained with great magnificence, and lodged in the house of
Bassompierre.[143] At this period, indeed, everything sufficed as a
pretext for splendour and display; as Marie de Medicis especially
delighted to exhibit the brilliancy of her Court to the subjects of the
nation with which she was about to become so intimately allied. In this
endeavour she was ably seconded by the Guises and the Duc d'Epernon,
who, since the departure of the two Princes, had shared her intimacy
with the Marquis d'Ancre and his wife; while a new candidate for her
favour had moreover presented himself in the person of the young and
handsome Chevalier de Guise, the brother of the Duke,[144] who at this
time first appeared at Court, where he had the honour of waiting upon
her Majesty at table whenever she was the guest of the Duchess his
mother, or the Princesse de Conti his sister. His youth, high spirit,
inexhaustible gaiety, and extraordinary personal beauty rendered him
peculiarly agreeable to Marie, who displayed towards him a condescending
kindness which was soon construed by the Court gossips into a
warmer feeling.
Concini immediately took the alarm, and hastened to confide his
apprehensions to the ministers, whom he knew to be as anxious as himself
to undermine the influence of the Duc d'Epernon and the formidable
family to which he had allied his interests. In ridding themselves, by
neglect and disrespect, of the Princes of the Blood, the discomfited
confederates had anticipated undivided sway over the mind and measures
of the Regent; and their mortification was consequently intense when
they discovered that she had unreservedly flung herself into the party
of their enemies.
The annoyance of the ministers was, however, based rather on public
grounds than on personal feeling; but the case was far different with
the Marquis, who had been reluctantly compelled to acknowledge to
himself that he was indebted for his extraordinary fortune entirely to
the influence of his wife, and that he was individually of small
importance in the eyes of her royal mistress. This conviction had soured
his temper; and instead of responding to the ardent affection of
Leonora, he had recently revenged his outraged vanity upon the woman to
whom he owed all the distinction he had acquired. The high spirit of the
Marquise revolted at this ingratitude, and scenes of violence had
consequently occurred between them which tended to increase the schism,
and to render his position still more precarious. The tears of Leonora
were universally all-powerful with the Queen, who did not hesitate to
express her indignation at the unbecoming deportment of the aggrandized
parvenu; upon which, unaccustomed to rebuke, he threatened to withdraw
entirely from the Court and to reside at Amiens, a design which he,
however, abandoned when he discovered that it met with no opposition.
The Duc de Guise and the other members of his family, rejoicing in these
domestic discords, which they trusted would ultimately tend to the
disgrace of the arrogant Italian whose undue elevation had inspired them
with jealousy and disgust, warmly espoused the cause of Leonora, and
exerted all their power to irritate the mind of the Queen against the
offending Marquis. Nor was it long ere the ministers adopted the same
line of policy; and finally, Concini found himself so harassed and
contemned that he resolved to attach himself to the party of the
Princes, and to aid them in their attempt to overturn the
Government.[145]
The Maréchal de Bouillon had, as already stated, been despatched to
England, in order to render James I. favourable to the alliance with
Spain; and at the same time with strict instructions to induce him,
should it be possible, to declare his displeasure at the recent conduct
of the Protestants at Saumur, and especially at that of the Duc de
Rohan. This was a mission which Bouillon joyfully undertook, his
personal hatred and jealousy of the young Duke warmly seconding the
instructions of the ministers. Rohan had, however, been warned in time
of the intention of his enemies; and being in constant correspondence
with Prince Henry, he hastened to entreat his interest with his royal
father to avert the impending danger.
Unaware of this fact, the Maréchal commenced his harangue by assuring
the English monarch of the respect and attachment felt for his person by
his own sovereign and his august mother, and their decided resolution
that the alliance with Spain should in no way interfere with the good
understanding which they were anxious to maintain with the Protestant
Princes. To this assurance James listened complacently; and encouraged
by his evident satisfaction, the envoy proceeded to inform him that he
was moreover authorized to state that the Pope had no intention of
exercising any severity against the reformed party in France, but would
confine himself to attempting their conversion by means of the pulpit
eloquence and good example of the Roman priesthood. The satisfaction of
James increased as he listened, and when he had warmly expressed his
gratification at the intelligence, Bouillon ventured to insinuate that
the Regent had been deeply wounded by the fact of his having entered
into the Protestant League of Germany; and besought him, in her name, to
be favourable to his Catholic subjects.
At this point of the discourse James cautiously replied that the League
involved no question of religion, but was purely a measure adopted for
the reciprocal security of the confederated states; and that, as
regarded the English Catholics, he would willingly permit the peaceable
exercise of their faith in his dominions, so soon as they should have
given pledges of their fidelity and obedience. Still undismayed,
Bouillon then exposed what was to himself personally the most important
feature of his mission, and urged his Britannic Majesty to express his
disapproval of the proceedings of the Assembly at Saumur, and especially
of the attitude assumed by the Duc de Rohan. Here, however, he was fated
to discover that James had not for a moment been the dupe of his
sophistical eloquence, ably as it had been exerted. A cloud gathered
upon the brow of the English monarch, and as the Maréchal paused for a
reply, he was startled by the coldness and decision with which it was
delivered.
"If the Queen your mistress," said James with marked emphasis, "sees fit
to infringe the edicts accorded to the Protestants of her kingdom, I
shall not consider that the alliance into which I have entered with
France ought to prevent me from assisting and protecting them. When my
neighbours are endangered from a cause in which I am personally
involved, I am naturally called upon to avert an evil that may extend to
myself. Believe me, moreover, Marshal, when I say that you will be wise
to effect a reconciliation with the Due de Rohan; and I shall cause him
to understand that such is my wish."
The ill-success of his mission was a bitter mortification to M. de
Bouillon, who, dispirited and crestfallen, returned to Paris to report
his failure. He, however, met with no sympathy, the ministers declaring
that he had failed through his neglect of their instructions, and of the
express orders of the Regent; while the Maréchal complained on his side
that he had been selected for this delicate embassy from the express
intention, on the part of those who inveighed against him, of
accomplishing his disgrace.
M. de Lesdiguières also, at this period, discovered that he had been the
dupe of his own ambition, and the tool of that of others. The ducal
brevet of which he had considered himself secure was refused to him upon
the plea that MM. de Brissac and de Fervaques were both senior marshals
to himself, and that such a favour could not be conferred upon him
without exciting their indignation. Vainly did he urge the promise made
to him by Henri IV; neither the Regent nor her ministers would yield;
when, irritated by the part which he had been made to play while his
co-operation was necessary to the accomplishment of their measures, and
the after-affront to which he was thus subjected, he retired from the
Court in disgust, and transferred his services to the Princes of
the Blood.
As we have already stated, Concini had, although less openly, followed
the same course; but, in the first instance, he had skilfully effected a
reconciliation with his wife, and induced her to assist him in his
endeavour to weaken the extraordinary influence which the Duc d'Epernon
and the Guises were rapidly acquiring over the Regent, who willingly
forgot, amid the constant amusement and adulation with which they
surrounded her, the cares and anxieties of government. The Duc de
Vendôme had also attached himself to the Court party, and this domestic
league had consequently become more formidable than ever in the eyes of
those who saw their interests compromised by its continuance.
Marie could not, however, conceal from herself the absolute necessity of
conciliating the disaffected Princes before the arrival of the
ambassador of Philip, who was shortly expected to claim the hand of
Madame for the Prince of Spain; and she accordingly determined to pave
the way towards a reconciliation by thwarting the ambition of the great
nobles who were obnoxious to the Princes. The first opportunity that
presented itself of adopting this somewhat ungenerous policy was
afforded by the Duc de Vendôme, who demanded the royal sanction to
preside over the States of Brittany, of which province he was governor;
but his intention having been discovered by the Comte de Soissons and M.
de Condé, they lost no time in warning their friends at Court against
such a concession, and in reminding them that he had allied himself with
the enemies of his royal father and the House of Bourbon; and that his
influence might prove fatal to the tranquillity of the nation should he
be permitted to exert it in a distant province, where his personal
consideration and the enormous wealth of his wife must conduce to render
him all-powerful. These arguments were impressed upon the Regent alike
by the ministers and by the Marquis d'Ancre, who no sooner saw himself
once more in favour than he exerted all his influence to undermine the
power of the rival faction; and as her private views warmly seconded
their representations, Marie instantly resolved to refuse the
coveted favour.
When, therefore, the Duc de Vendôme proffered his request, the Queen met
it with a cold denial, and instructed M. de Brissac to proceed at once
to Brittany as his substitute; an affront which so stung the Duke that
he immediately challenged De Brissac; but before the meeting could take
place it was betrayed to the Queen, who, irritated by this disregard of
her authority, would not be induced to wait until a reconciliation could
be effected between them, but issued a peremptory order that M. de
Vendôme should leave the Court on the instant, and retire to his estate
of Anet, and that the Maréchal de Brissac should forthwith proceed to
Brittany. In vain did the fiery young Prince explain and expostulate;
Marie was inexorable; and although the Ducs de Guise and d'Epernon
interceded in his behalf, they were equally unsuccessful; nor did they
discontinue their entreaties until the Queen bade them rather look to
the stability of their own favour than hasten its termination by
upholding the cause of those who rebelled against her pleasure.
This incident afforded unmitigated satisfaction to the absent Princes;
but to the Comte de Soissons it was nevertheless only the herald of more
important concessions on the part of the Regent. In his temporary
retirement he had dwelt at leisure on his imaginary wrongs; his hatred
of the ministers had increased; and, above all, he had vowed the ruin of
the Chancellor. In his nephew the Prince de Condé he found a willing
listener and an earnest coadjutor; but from a very different impulse. M.
de Soissons panted for power, and loathed every impediment to the
gratification of his ambition; while the young Prince, less firm of
purpose, and more greedy of pleasure and ostentation, was wearied by the
obscurity of his existence, and the tedium of his self-imposed exile.
Concini, with admirable tact, played upon the weaknesses of both
Princes, and augmented their discontent; while he was at the same time
careful to exonerate the Regent from all blame. Conscious that without
her support he could not sustain for an hour the factitious power to
which he had attained, he laboured incessantly to throw the whole odium
of the disunion upon the ministers, who were fully as obnoxious to
himself as to the Princes.
"They it is," he continually repeated, "who are the true cause of your
estrangement. The Queen is, as I know, well disposed towards all the
Princes of the Blood; but Sillery, Villeroy, and Jeannin are constantly
representing to her the danger of allowing you to become too powerful.
Your real enemies are the ministers who are fearful of affording you the
opportunity of overbalancing their influence."
This assurance was too flattering to the self-love of the Princes to be
repulsed; they forgot that Concini himself had been as eager as those
whom he now inculpated to destroy their importance, and to limit their
power; they saw the great nobles, whose ambition was disappointed, or
whose vanity was wounded, successively espouse their cause, and they
were easily induced to believe that the time was not far distant when
they should triumph over their opponents, and be repaid for all their
mortifications. This was precisely the frame of mind into which Concini
had endeavoured to bring them; and so ably did he avail himself of his
advantage that at length, when on one occasion he found himself in
company with the Prince de Condé, the Comte de Soissons, and the
Maréchaux de Bouillon and de Lesdiguières, he induced them to unite with
him in attempting the ruin of the ministers.
He was, moreover, powerfully abetted in his intrigue by the Duke of
Savoy; who, outraged at the insult which had been offered to him by the
Regent in bestowing the hand of Madame Elisabeth, which had been
solemnly promised to the Prince of Piedmont, upon the Infant of Spain;
and who, moreover, hoped to profit by the internal dissensions of
France, and to recover through the medium of the disaffected Princes the
provinces which Henri IV had compelled him to relinquish in exchange for
the marquisate of Saluzzo, omitted no opportunity of endeavouring to
foment a civil war; from which, while he had nothing to apprehend, he
had the prospect of reaping great personal advantage.
Thus supported, Concini, who was aware of the intimate relations
subsisting between Charles Emmanuel and the Comte de Soissons, did not
hesitate to urge the Princes to a resolute resistance; nor was this seed
of rebellion scattered upon sterile soil. M. de Soissons pledged
himself that on his return from Normandy, where he was about to sojourn
for a short time, he would publicly insult the Chancellor; while M. de
Lesdiguières, who was still furious at the disappointment to which he
had been subjected, and who was about to return to Dauphiny,
volunteered, should the Princes decide upon enforcing their claims, to
march ten thousand infantry and fifteen hundred horse to the gates
of Paris.
Nor did the vindictive Italian confine his efforts to thus tampering
with the disaffected Princes; he was equally indefatigable with the
Regent, who, even had she been disinclined to regard his own
representations, never neglected those of her beloved Leonora; and who
was, moreover, the better disposed to yield to his arguments because she
saw her foster-sister once more happy, and believed that the affection
of the Marquis had been restored to his wife through her own influence.
Success rendered Concini bold. He was aware that he had secured a strong
hold upon the confidence and regard of the malcontents; but when he
found the Queen inclined to make concessions in their favour which
threatened to invest them with a power as dangerous to his own interests
as that now wielded by the ministers, he did not hesitate to dissuade
her from her purpose. Anxious to conciliate the Comte de Soissons, Marie
declared her determination to effect this desirable result by bestowing
upon him the government of Ouilleboeuf, the refusal of which had been
the original cause of his estrangement; a resolve from which she was,
however, diverted by the representations of the Italian that such a
concession, thus tardily and reluctantly made, must be fatal to her
dignity, and would only lead to fresh demands on the part of the Prince,
whose insatiable ambition was no secret; while, fearful lest his own
representations should fail to change her purpose, he employed his
confidential friend and ally the Baron de Luz to entreat of the Due de
Guise to second his endeavour. In this attempt, however, the Marquis
failed through an excess of subtlety, as the Duke, outraged by this
double treason, not only refused to lend himself to so dishonourable an
act of treachery, but immediately informed M. de Soissons of the deceit
which was practised towards him; and feeling deeply aggrieved moreover
by the affront that had been offered to César de Vendôme, he declared
himself prepared to espouse the cause of the Princes against the
machinations of the Marquis d'Ancre. His example was followed by the
whole of his family, as well as by the Cardinal de Joyeuse and the Due
de Bellegarde; and thus the unfortunate Regent was suddenly deprived of
all her friends with the sole exception of the Duc d'Epernon, who,
either from an excess of pride which would not permit him to humble
himself so far as to induce him to pay his court to the Princes from
whom he had received so many and such bitter mortifications, or from the
state of indisposition under which he was at that period labouring,
refused to take any share in the intrigues of the Court.
Concini became alarmed; he had so long been the spoilt child of fortune
that every reverse overthrew his self-possession; and in the first
paroxysm of his terror he considered himself lost. Chance and his own
ready cunning still, however, stood his friends. The Grand Equerry
(Bellegarde) was, with the insane superstition of the time, accused of
having suborned witnesses to prove that the Marquis had endeavoured by
means of a magic mirror to inspire some of the highest ladies of the
Court with a passion for his person; and as Concini demanded reparation
for this injury, an investigation was instituted, to effect which it was
necessary that summonses should be issued to the witnesses. Sillery, to
whom the Italian was peculiarly obnoxious, and who was the friend of the
Duc de Bellegarde, made some difficulty when called upon to affix the
official seal to these documents; upon which Concini hastened to
complain to the Regent that the Chancellor was endeavouring to sacrifice
him to his enemies; and Marie, indignant no less at the apparent
injustice shown to her favourite than at the delay evinced in obeying
her commands, made no attempt to disguise her displeasure.
On the other hand, the Comte de Soissons, who still hoped to obtain from
the courtesy, or to wring from the fears, of the Regent the promised
government of Quilleboeuf, made a voyage into Normandy, which so alarmed
the Maréchal de Fervaques, who held the city, and who apprehended that
the Prince was about to possess himself of it by force, that he
privately reinforced the garrison; a fact which M. de Soissons no sooner
ascertained than he bitterly upbraided the Maréchal, and a quarrel
ensued between them that produced new difficulties.
Unfortunately Marie de Medicis was at this moment surrounded by evil and
interested advisers, by whom she was induced to embroil herself, not
only with the Princes of the Blood and great nobles, but also with the
Parliament, and eventually with the Protestants. The misunderstanding
which had arisen between the Duc de Rohan and the Maréchal de Bouillon
unhappily produced a disunion among the Huguenot party which laid them
open to the machinations of their enemies; and Marie, whose zeal for the
Romish communion always made her eager to harass and oppress the
Protestants, was readily persuaded to undertake the annullation of the
edicts by which their allegiance had hitherto been secured. Bouillon had
never forgiven the Duc de Rohan for the energetic part which he had
played at the Assembly of Saumur; and secure of his influence over the
mind of the Regent, who felt grateful for the offer of his services upon
that occasion, and the efforts which he had made to carry out her
wishes, he resolved to undermine the interests of the young Duke, and to
attempt to deprive him of his government of St. Jean-d'Angély which had
been bestowed upon him by Henri IV.
Apprised of his intention, M. de Rohan hastened to Court in order to
justify himself, but the mind of Marie had been poisoned against him,
and she treated his remonstrances with chilling indifference. Aware that
the mayor of the town had been bought by his enemies, and that should
that official be continued in his authority he must himself inevitably
lose his government, and thereby forfeit all his influence, the Duke no
sooner saw the period of the municipal election approach than,
pretexting the dangerous illness of his brother, he took his leave of
the Court and hastened back to St. Jean-d'Angély in order to compel the
retirement of the obnoxious functionary. As he had anticipated, on the
day of the canvass a letter was received from the ministers, ordaining
the re-election of the mayor without modification or explanation of any
kind; an affront which so exasperated M. de Rohan that he at once
resisted its enforcement; declaring that the Regent had been misinformed
with regard to the state of the town, which, according to the terms of
the letter, was inferred to be divided into parties; and that, as he
would undertake to convince her Majesty of the error under which she
laboured, they had only to proceed at once to a new election.
Bouillon had been prepared for this opposition; and found it easy to
induce Marie, whose jealousy of power always rendered her on such
occasions as the present a mere tool in the hands of her _soi-disant_
friends, to forward a second and more stringent order for the
continuance in office of the existing mayor. The Duke, however,
persisted in disregarding the mandate; and after having despatched his
secretary to the Louvre to explain the reasons of his resistance, he
proceeded to authorize the nomination of three persons, all eligible for
the office, in order that the Regent might make her own selection; and,
while awaiting her reply, the keys of the city were confided to the
senior sheriff; and he found himself complete master of the place.[146]
Nothing could exceed the indignation of Marie de Medicis on learning
this contempt of her authority. The messengers of M. de Rohan were
forthwith committed to the Bastille; orders were issued to the Duchess
his mother, to his wife, and to his sisters, not to leave the capital;
and preparations were even made to besiege the Duke in St. Jean-d'Angély
as a rebel. Manifestoes to the Protestants were next put forth by both
parties; that of the Queen-mother protesting that the aggressive
measures which she was about to adopt involved no question of faith, but
were destined to be directed simply against M. de Rohan as an
individual; and that consequently they would in no degree affect the
edicts of pacification, which would be rigidly observed; and calling
upon all faithful subjects of the King, whatever might be their
religious persuasion, to aid and abet the effort by which she trusted to
subdue the nascent rebellion threatened by so gross a disregard of the
constituted authorities of the realm. The Duke, on his side, threw
himself upon the justice and generosity of his co-religionists,
reminding them that it was through zeal for their common faith that he
had incurred the resentment of the Court; and having so done, he
hastened to place the city in such a state of defence as should enable
him to resist the attack of the royal troops.
The resolute position thus assumed by M. de Rohan alarmed the ministers;
who apprehensive that the neighbouring provinces, already disaffected by
the negative result of the Assembly of Saumur, would support the cause
of so bold a recusant, and thus renew the civil war by which the nation
had formerly been convulsed, became anxious to temporize. Negotiations
were accordingly commenced between the adverse factions; and it was
ultimately agreed that the keys of the city should be restored to the
mayor from whom they had been taken, and some subaltern officers
displaced by the Duke reinstated in their functions, and that so soon as
this arrangement had been completed a new election should take place, by
which M. de Rohan was to be at liberty to substitute others more
agreeable to himself. This absurd ceremony was accordingly performed;
the royal authority was supposed to have enforced its recognition; and
the Duke, by a merely visionary concession, preserved his
government.[147]
Meanwhile the young Duc de Mayenne had taken leave of the Court, and
departed with a brilliant suite for Madrid, to demand the hand of the
Infanta for the King of France; and on the same day the Duque de
Pastrano left the Spanish capital on his way to Paris to solicit that of
Madame Elisabeth for the Prince of Spain.
The ducal envoy reached the French capital early in the month of July,
accompanied by his brothers Don Francisco and Don Diego de Silva and a
number of Spanish grandees, having been received with extraordinary
honours in every town which he had traversed after passing the frontier.
The Ducs de Luxembourg[148] and de Nevers met him beyond the gate of the
city, accompanied by five hundred nobles on horseback, sumptuously
attired in velvet and cloth of gold and silver, with their horses
splendidly caparisoned. The retinue of the Iberian grandee was not,
however, as the French courtiers had fondly flattered themselves that it
would have been, eclipsed by the lavish magnificence of their own
appearance, his personal costume being of the most splendid description,
his horses and equipages costly and gorgeous, and his numerous train of
attendants habited in a livery of extreme richness.
On the 16th of the month the Spanish Duke had his first audience of the
young King, at which were assembled the Princes of the Blood, all the
high nobility of France, and the Cardinals de Sourdis and de Gondy.[149]
The two latter dignitaries endeavoured to excuse themselves, on the
pretext that their rank as Princes of the Church would not permit them
to seat themselves below the Princes of the Blood; but this pretension
on their part was considered so monstrous, even by the Regent herself,
that, anxious as she was to secure their attendance in order to render
the ceremony more imposing to the Spanish envoy, she did not venture to
support them in their arrogant assumption of equality with the first
subjects of the Crown; and she accordingly informed them in reply that
upon the present occasion there would be no regard paid to precedence,
but that each individual who was entitled to attend the audience would
be at liberty to seat himself as he saw fit.
Thus assured, the two prelates, attired in their rich robes of
violet-coloured velvet, entered the hall; and were about to take their
places near the royal daïs, when the Princes of the Blood, led by M. de
Condé, hastily passed them, and ranged themselves in a line on the right
hand of the King. The Cardinals then proceeded to adopt a similar
position beside the Queen-Regent, but they were immediately displaced by
the Dowager Princess of Condé, her daughter-in-law, and Madame de
Conti; and upon finding themselves thus excluded from the immediate
neighbourhood of the sovereign, they withdrew in great displeasure, no
effort being made to detain them.
Nor was this the only altercation which took place before the
commencement of the ceremony; and the one which we are about to relate
is so characteristic of the manners of that age among the great, that it
must not be omitted. The Duc de Nevers had taken his place upon the
bench appropriated to the Princes of the Blood, immediately below M. de
Soissons, who, being engaged in conversation with his brother, the
Prince de Conti, did not remark the intrusion. M. de Condé, however, who
was seated above his two uncles, at once discovered the enormity of
which the Duke had been guilty, and he forthwith commenced pushing the
Prince de Conti so violently that he excited his attention; and his
purpose was no sooner understood than his example was imitated with an
energy which was instantly communicated to the Comte de Soissons, who in
his turn so pressed upon M. de Nevers that he became extremely
irritated, and demanded why he was subjected to such ungracious
treatment.
"Because this is not a place for you," haughtily retorted the Prince de
Condé.
The Duc de Nevers made a bitter rejoinder, and high words ensued, which
were at length terminated by the Prince, who said significantly: "We can
explain ourselves better elsewhere, M. le Duc; follow me."
The conversation had, however, been overheard by the Maréchal de
Bouillon, who hastened to inform the King that the two Princes had
retired for a hostile purpose; upon which Louis ordered them to be
instantly recalled, and after having rebuked M. de Nevers for assuming a
place to which he was not entitled, insisted upon their immediate
reconciliation.[150]
The Duque de Pastrano was then introduced by M. de Guise and his two
brothers; and after the usual ceremony of welcome on the one side and
obeisance on the other, he presented to the King and his royal mother
the letters with which he had been entrusted by his sovereign. Thence he
proceeded to the apartments of Madame Elisabeth, where he delivered the
missives of the Prince of Spain; after which he was conducted to the
presence of the other Children of France; and finally, having paid his
respects to every member of the royal family, he was attended by a
brilliant retinue of nobles to the residence which had been appropriated
to his use during his sojourn in the capital.
So unparalleled was the splendour displayed upon this occasion, that the
year 1612 was long known in Europe as "the year of magnificence," the
festivities having been alike gorgeous throughout France, Spain, and
Naples; and considerable mortification was experienced in the former
kingdom when it was ascertained, on the return of the Duc de Mayenne,
that the display made in Paris, extraordinary as it was, could not
equal that exhibited at Lerma and Madrid. In the former city the
favourite of Philip had received the French envoy in his own palace, and
had lodged him in an apartment hung with tapestry of silk and gold,
intermingled with emeralds and rubies. In Madrid it is true that the
mourning still worn for the late Queen somewhat modified the brilliancy
of the spectacle; but as every effort had been made to counteract the
effect of this drawback, it became rather a singular feature than an
actual blot upon the gorgeousness of the spectacle presented by the
Spanish capital.[151]
On the 25th of August the marriage articles were signed between Madame
Elisabeth and the Prince of Spain, the dowry of the girl-bride being
five hundred thousand golden crowns; after which the Duque de Pastrano,
laden with magnificent presents, and satiated with pleasure and
festivity, took his leave of the French Court, and left Paris on his
return to Madrid.
The contract between Louis XIII and the Infanta was meanwhile completed
on the 22d of the month in the Spanish capital; and at the close of the
ceremony the Duc de Mayenne was conducted to an audience-chamber in
which Philip was seated with the betrothed Prince and Princess on his
right and left, awaiting his arrival. After having profoundly saluted
the King in perfect silence, the Duke approached the Infanta, to whom he
addressed himself as to the Queen of France. His compliment was
courteously received; and before the termination of this private
audience, when on taking leave he would have bent his knee and kissed
the hand of the sovereign and his son, each in succession saluted him
upon the cheek; an honour as great as it was unexpected, particularly in
a Court where the observances of strict etiquette were more rigidly
enforced than elsewhere in Europe.
The festivities consequent upon the double betrothal occupied several
days, and they no sooner came to a close than the French envoy demanded
a parting audience of his future sovereign, at which he entreated of her
to entrust him with some letter or message for the King his master.
"Tell him," said the Princess eagerly, "that I am very impatient to see
him."
"Oh, Madame!" exclaimed the Condesa d'Altamira, her _gouvernante_, "what
will his Majesty of France think of your Royal Highness when my Lord
Duke informs him that you are in such haste to become a wife?"
"You have always taught me to tell the truth," was the ready retort; and
charged with this sincere and singular communication, M. de Mayenne
returned to Fontainebleau.
The Duke of Savoy had no sooner ascertained that the hand of Madame
Elisabeth was definitely pledged to the Spanish Prince than he declared
to the Queen-Regent his readiness to receive that of the Princesse
Christine for his own son; and for awhile Marie had affected to favour
the alliance; but her great ambition was to see each of her daughters
upon a throne, and she had accordingly entered into a negotiation with
the English monarch for effecting a marriage between the younger
Princess and Henry, Prince of Wales, who was about to be betrothed to
the Princess of Savoy. She was the more encouraged to hope for the
success of this proposal as James had already been a candidate for the
hand of her elder daughter; nor was she deterred by the knowledge that
the Grand Duke of Tuscany[152] had offered one of his sisters, with an
enormous dowry, to the British Prince.[153]
So eager, indeed, was Marie de Medicis to effect this alliance for the
Princesse Christine, that the English Ambassador did not hesitate to
declare to his Government that from the manner in which the affair had
been urged upon him by M. de Villeroy, he felt a conviction that his
royal master might conclude the treaty of marriage whenever he
considered it expedient to do so, and might moreover make whatever
conditions he thought proper.
While the negotiations were still pending, however, the lamentable death
of the high-spirited and promising young Prince terminated at once the
struggle for his hand; and Marie de Medicis, to her undisguised regret,
found herself unable to realize one of her most cherished hopes.
On the 1st of November the Comte de Soissons, who was suddenly attacked
by scarlet fever while still engaged in projects of ambition and
revenge, also breathed his last; an event which was destined to effect a
complete change in the aspect of the Court. By his decease the
governments of Dauphiny and Normandy, as well as the appointment of
Grand Master of the King's Household, became vacant; and four-and-twenty
hours had not elapsed before as many claimants presented themselves,
eager to secure these coveted honours. The Prince had, however, left an
infant son, to whom the Queen-Regent immediately transferred both the
government of Dauphiny and the place at Court recently held by his
father. As regarded Normandy, she resolved to retain it in her own
hands, and to appoint a lieutenant-governor to whom she could confide
the command of the province; but she had no sooner declared her
intention than she was met by the expostulations of M. de Conti, who
reminded her that having formerly ceded the government of Dauphiny to
the Comte de Soissons at her request, he considered himself entitled to
succeed to that which had now become available by his death.
Determined to retain her possession of the province, and yet fearful of
exciting once more the resentment of the Princes of the Blood, the
Regent was compelled to propose a compromise, which, after some
hesitation, was accepted by M. de Conti. It will be remembered that the
Comte d'Auvergne, Charles de Valois, recently become Duc d'Angoulême,
had been committed to the Bastille by Henri IV for conspiring with his
father and sister against the person of the King and the tranquillity of
the realm; nor is it probable that Marie de Medicis would have felt the
slightest inclination to show any indulgence to the step-brother of
Madame de Verneuil, had it not on the present occasion been a matter of
policy to do so. The Marquis de Coeuvres was accordingly instructed to
visit him in his prison, and to offer him his liberty provided he would
resign to the Prince de Conti his government of Auvergne; and although
the Duke at first evinced extreme reluctance to comply with this
condition, he was ultimately induced to yield to the solicitations of
the royal envoy, who convinced him that the freedom for which he yearned
so eagerly could be purchased at no other price.[154]
The body of the Comte de Soissons was conveyed to the Chartreuse at
Gaillon, and there deposited in the tomb of his ancestors;[155] and
before the close of the month the Queen-Regent assisted, at the Hôtel de
Soissons in Paris, at the baptism of his son, which was celebrated in
the presence of all the most distinguished personages of the Court.[156]
At this period a new cabal was organized which effectually neutralized
all attempt at opposition. The chief of this formidable faction was the
Prince de Condé; and it was moreover composed of the Ducs de Nevers, de
Mayenne, and de Longueville, the Maréchal de Bouillon, and the Marquis
d'Ancre. By this combination of rank, influence, and favour, the Guises,
the Duc d'Epernon, and their adherents saw themselves thrown into the
background, and threatened with utter annihilation as a political party.
The Connétable de Montmorency, who believed the power of the Guises to
be firmly established, and who had consequently allied himself to their
interests, was absent in Languedoc, of which province he was governor;
while the Grand Equerry, M. de Bellegarde, who was also their friend,
was sojourning in Burgundy; and thus they found themselves exposed,
almost without support, to the evil offices of the rival faction. The
Queen openly espoused the cause of M. de Condé and his party, while the
ministers soon saw themselves utterly deprived of both influence and
credit; and at length, seriously alarmed by the posture of affairs, the
Duc de Guise wrote to entreat M. de Bellegarde to return with all speed
to Paris, in order to assist him in his endeavour to overthrow the
rapidly-growing power of their mutual adversaries. M. le Grand was
preparing to comply with this request, when an order to the same effect
reached him from the Regent, which tended to hasten his departure; but
on arriving at Sens he was met by one of his friends, who warned him not
to trust himself in the capital, as he had only been recalled in order
that he might either be bribed or frightened into the resignation of
his government, of which the Marquis d'Ancre had undertaken to effect
the transfer to the Duc de Mayenne.
In consequence of this intimation M. le Grand, instead of appearing at
Court in compliance with the royal mandate, returned in all haste to
Languedoc, and the Duc de Guise found himself deprived of his
anticipated assistance.[157] Bellegarde himself, who attributed this
attempt to deprive him of his government to the Baron de Luz--who
through the influence of Bassompierre had been reinstated in the favour
of the Queen, and had consequently abandoned the faction of the Guises,
of whose projects and designs he was cognizant, in order to espouse the
interests and to serve the ambition of the Marquis d'Ancre--vowed
vengeance against the recreant baron, and complained bitterly to his
friends of the insult to which he had been subjected through this
unworthy agency.
The Guises, already apprehensive of the consequences which might accrue
to themselves from the defection of M. de Luz, were only too ready to
sympathize with the indignant Duke, and unfortunately for all parties
they did not confine their sympathy to mere words. Ever prompt and
reckless, they at once resolved to revenge themselves upon their common
enemy; nor was it long ere they carried their fatal determination
into effect.
FOOTNOTES:
[131] D'Estrées, _Mém_. p. 394.
[132] Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 78.
[133] Rambure, MS. _Mém_. vol. vi. p. 81.
[134] Richelieu, _Hist. de la Mère et du Fils_, vol. i. pp. 175-177.
[135] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. ii. pp. 607-612.
[136] Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 127.
[137] Henri de Lorraine, Due d'Aiguillon, who had succeeded to the title
of his late father.
[138] Siri, _Mém. Rec._ vol. ii. pp. 618-620.
[139] Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 30, 31.
[140] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. ii. pp. 640-642.
[141] Charles de Longueval, Comte de Buquoy, was so eminently
distinguished for his military talents that Philip III of Spain and the
Emperor Ferdinand II confided to him the command of their joint armies
in 1619. He completely defeated the forces of the malcontents in
Bohemia; and then marched upon Hungary, which had just elected
Bethlem-Gabor as its sovereign. In 1621 he overcame the troops of the
Magyar monarch, which were entirely routed; but was killed the same year
in a skirmish with a small party of the enemy.
[142] Don Rodrigo Calderon was a statesman rendered famous by his
extraordinary elevation and his equally remarkable reverses. Born at
Antwerp, the son of a Spanish trooper and a Flemish woman of low
extraction, his talents ultimately raised him to the rank of confidant
and favourite of the Duque de Lerma, prime minister of Philip III,
through whose influence he subsequently became Condé d'Oliva, Marques de
Siete-Iglesias, and secretary of state. In 1618 the disgrace of his
patron involved his own ruin. Accused of having poisoned the Queen
Marguerite, he was (in 1619) committed to a dungeon, and two years
afterwards was sacrificed by the Conde-Duque d'Olivarès to the public
hatred against the Duque de Lerma. He perished upon the scaffold
in 1621.
[143] Bassompierre, _Mém_. pp. 78, 79.
[144] François Paris de Lorraine, Chevalier de Guise.
[145] Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 139.
[146] _Mém. du Duc de Rohan_, book i. _Vie de Du Plessis-Mornay_, book
iii.
[147] Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 142-152. Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 36-38.
D'Estrées, _Mém_. pp. 294-298. Matthieu, _Hist. des Derniers Troubles_,
book iii. pp. 473, 474.
[148] Henri, Duc de Luxembourg-Piney, was a descendant of the celebrated
Comte de Saint-Pol, and the last male representative of his family. He
died in 1616, leaving one daughter, Marguerite Catherine de Luxembourg,
who married the Comte Charles Henri de Clermont-Tonnerre, and became the
mother of Madeleine, wife of François de Montmorency, commonly known in
history as the Maréchal de Luxembourg.
[149] Pierre de Gondy, Bishop of Langres, and subsequently first
Archbishop of Paris, who was created a Cardinal by Sixtus V in 1587. He
died in the French capital in 1616, in his eighty-fourth year.
[150] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. ii. pp. 697-700.
[151] Le Vassor, vol. i. pp. 153, 154. _Mercure Français_, 1612.
[152] Cosmo II, Grand Duke of Tuscany, succeeded his father Ferdinand in
1609. He was a Prince of liberal and peaceful sentiments, and greatly
endeared himself to his subjects. He married Marie Madeleine,
Archduchess of Austria, sister of the Queen of Spain and the Duchess of
Savoy; and died in 1621, leaving his duchy to his elder son,
Ferdinand II.
[153] Siri, _Mém. Rec_. vol. ii. pp. 647-654.
[154] Mézeray, vol. xi. pp. 39, 40. Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 160.
D'Estrées, _Mém_. p. 398.
[155] Matthieu, _Hist. des Derniers Troubles_, book iii. p. 474.
[156] Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 80.
[157] Le Vassor, vol. i. p. 161. Bassompierre, _Mém_. p. 80.