CONFERENCE AND ALLIANCE BETWEEN FRANCIS I. AND PHILIP
OF HESSE AT BAR-LE-DUC.
(WINTER 1533-34.)
[Sidenote: PROPOSED GERMAN ALLIANCE.]
Almost about the same time, Francis bent his steps towards the Rhine.
The establishment of the Reform throughout Europe depended, as many
thought, on the union of France with protestant Germany. This union
would emancipate France from the papal supremacy, and all christendom
would then be seen turning to the Gospel. The king was preparing to hold
a conference with the most decided of the protestant princes of Germany.
Rarely has an interview between two sovereigns been of so much
importance.
Francis I. had hardly quitted Marseilles and arrived at Avignon, when he
assembled his council (25th of November, 1533), and communicated to it
the desire for an alliance which the German protestants had expressed to
him. A certain shame had prevented him from moving in the matter, amid
the caresses which papacy and royalty were lavishing upon each other at
Marseilles. But now that Clement was on board his galleys, nothing
prevented the King of France, who had given his right hand to the
pontiff, from giving his left to the heretics.[522] There were many
reasons why he should do so. The clergy were not allies for whose
support he was eager: the best orthodoxy, in his eyes, was the iron arm
of the lansquenets. Besides, the opportunity was unprecedented: in fact,
he could at one stroke gain the protestants to his cause, and inflict an
immense injury on Austria—that is to say, on Charles V.
It will no doubt be remembered that the young Prince of Wurtemberg, whom
the emperor was leading in his train across the Alps, having escaped
with his governor, had loudly demanded back the states of which Austria
had robbed his father. Francis was chiefly occupied about him at
Avignon. 'At this place,' says the historian Martin du Bellay, 'the king
assembled his council, and deliberated on a request made to him not only
by young Duke Christopher of Wurtemberg and his father, but by his
uncles, Duke William and Duke Louis of Bavaria. Christopher himself had
written to Francis I.: "Sire," he said, "during the great and long
calamity of my father and myself, what first made hope spring up in our
hearts was the thought that you would interpose your influence to put an
end to our misery.... Your compassion for the afflicted is well known. I
doubt not that, by your assistance, we shall soon be restored to our
rights."'[523]
Francis, always on the watch to injure his rival, was delighted at this
proceeding, and did not conceal his joy from the privy council. 'I
desire much,' he said, 'to see the dukes of Wurtemberg restored to their
states, and should like to help them, as much to weaken the emperor's
power as to acquire new friendships in Germany. But,' he added, 'I would
do it under so _colourable a pretext_, that I may affirm that I have
infringed no treaty.'[524] To humble the emperor and to exalt the
protestants, without appearing to have anything to do with it, was what
Francis desired.
[Sidenote: DU BELLAY SENT TO GERMANY.]
William du Bellay urged the king to return the duke a favourable answer.
A friend of independence and sound liberty, he was at that time the
representative of the old French spirit, as Catherine de Medici was to
become the representative of the new—that is to say, of the Romish
influence under which France has unhappily suffered for nearly three
centuries. It has been sometimes said that the cause of France is the
cause of Rome; but the noblest aspirations of the French people and its
most generous representatives condemn this error. Popery is the cause of
the pope alone; it is not even the cause of Italy; and if the contrary
opinion still exists in France, it is a remnant of the influence of the
Medici.
The transition from Marseilles to Avignon was, however, a little abrupt.
To ally the eldest son of the Church with the protestants at the very
moment he left the pope's arms, in a city which belonged to the holy
see, and in the ancient palace of the pontiffs, seemed strange to the
French, whose eyes were still fascinated by the pomp of Rome. This was
noticed by Du Bellay, who, wishing to facilitate the transition,
explained to the council 'that a diet was about to be held at Augsburg,
where the reparation of a great injustice would be discussed; that an
innocent person implored the king's assistance; that it was the practice
of France to succour the oppressed everywhere; that precious advantages
might result from it ... besides, there could be no doubt of success,
and as the cause of Duke Christopher would be conducted in the diet
according to the rights, usages, immunities, and privileges of the
German nation, the emperor could not prevent justice being done.... Let
us send an ambassador,' added Du Bellay, 'to support the claims of the
dukes of Wurtemberg, and Austria must either restore these princes to
their states, or arouse the hostility of all Germany against it.'[525]
Francis was already gained. He hoped not only to take Wurtemberg from
Austria, but also to get up a general war in Germany between the
protestants and the empire, of which he could take advantage to seize
upon the states which he claimed in Italy. When his detested rival had
fallen beneath their combined blows, the religious question should be
settled. The king, who had meditated all this in the intervals of his
conferences with Clement VII., ordered Du Bellay to proceed to Augsburg
forthwith, and charged him 'to do everything in his power, _with a
sufficiently colourable pretext_, towards the re-establishment of the
dukes of Wurtemberg.'[526] Du Bellay was satisfied. He wished for more
than the king did; he desired to emancipate France from the papal
supremacy, and with that object to draw Francis and protestantism closer
together. That was difficult; but this Wurtemberg affair, which
presented itself simply as a political question, would supply him with
the means of overcoming every difficulty. This was where he would have
to set the wedge in order to split the tree. He thought that he could
make use of it to counteract the effects of the conference which the
king had just held with the pope by contriving another between the two
most anti-papistical princes in Europe. Du Bellay departed, taking the
road through Switzerland.
[Sidenote: DU BELLAY IN SWITZERLAND.]
He had his reasons for adopting this route. The emperor and his brother
consented, indeed, that their rights should be discussed in the diet,
but it was only that they might not appear to refuse to do justice:
everybody knew that Ferdinand had no intention of restoring Wurtemberg.
The balance was at that time pretty even in Germany between Rome and the
Gospel, and the restitution of Wurtemberg would make it incline to the
side of the Reformation. If Austria would not give way, she would have
to be constrained by force of arms. Du Bellay desired, therefore, to
induce the protestant cantons of Switzerland, bordering on Wurtemberg,
to unite their efforts with those of protestant Germany in wresting that
duchy from the Austrian rule. Francis, who knew how to manage such
matters, had conceived the design of placing in the hands of the
Helvetians, probably through Du Bellay, a certain sum of money to cover
the expenses of the campaign. But it seems that the protestant cantons
did not agree to the arrangement.[527]
When Du Bellay arrived at Augsburg, he met the young Duke Christopher.
He entered into conversation with him, and they were henceforth
inseparable: this prince, so amiable, but at the same time so firm, was
his man. He is to be the lever which the counsellor of Francis I. will
use to stir men's minds, and to unite Germany and France.... The first
thing to be done was to restore him to his throne. The French ambassador
paid a visit to the delegates from Austria. 'The king my master,' he
said, 'is delighted that this innocent young man has at last found a
harbour in the midst of the tempest. His father and he have suffered
enough by being driven from their home.... It is time to restore the son
to the father, the father to the son, and to both of them the states of
their ancestors. If entreaties are not sufficient,' added Du Bellay
firmly, 'the king my master will employ all his power.'[528] Thus did
France take up her position as the protector of the distressed; but
there was something else underneath: the chief object of the king was to
strike a blow at the emperor; that of Du Bellay, to strike the pope.
Christopher, who received encouragement from every quarter, appeared
before the diet on the 10th of December, 1533. He was no longer the
captive prince whom Charles had led in his train. The poor young man,
who not long ago had been compelled to flee, leaving his companion
behind him, hidden among the reeds of a marsh in the Norican Alps, stood
now before the German diet, surrounded by a brilliant throng of nobles,
the representatives of the princes who supported his claims, and having
as _assistants_ (that is, as espousing his quarrel) the delegates of
Saxony, Prussia, Brunswick, Mecklenburg, Luneburg, Hesse, Cleves,
Munster, and Juliers. The King of Hungary pleaded his cause in person:
'Most noble seigniors,' he began, 'when we see the young Duke
Christopher of Wurtemberg deprived of his duchy without having done
anything to deserve such punishment, disappointed by the Austrians in
all the hopes they had given him, unworthily treated at the imperial
court,[529] compelled to make his escape by flight, imploring at this
moment by earnest supplications your compassion and your help—we are
profoundly agitated. What! because his father has done wrong, shall this
young man be reduced to a hard and humiliating life? Has not the voice
of God himself declared that the son shall not bear the iniquities of
the father?'
[Sidenote: UNION TO ASSIST WURTEMBERG.]
The Austrian commissioners, finding their position rather embarrassing,
began to temporise, and proposed that Christopher should accept as
compensation some town of small importance. He refused, saying: 'I will
never cease to claim simply and firmly the country of my fathers.'[530]
But Austria, fearing the preponderance of protestantism in Germany,
closed her ears to his just request. At this point France intervened
strongly in favour of the two protestant princes. Du Bellay, after
reminding the diet that Ulrich had confessed his faults, and that he was
much altered by age, long exile, and great trials, continued thus: 'Must
the duke see his only son, a young and innocent prince, who ought to be
the support of his declining years, for ever bearing the weight of his
misfortunes? Will you take into consideration neither the calamitous old
age of the one, nor the unhappy youth of the other? Will you avenge the
sins of the father upon the child who was then in the cradle? The dukes
of Wurtemberg are of high descent. Their punishment has been permitted,
but not their destruction. Help this innocent youth (Christopher),
receive this penitent (Ulrich), and reestablish them both in their
former dignity.'[531]
The Austrians, who were annoyed at seeing the ambassador of the King of
France intermeddling in their affairs, held firm. The deputies of
Saxony, Hesse, Prussia, Mecklenburg, and the other states, now made up
their minds to oppose Austria; they told the young duke that they were
ready to cast their swords in the balance, and Christopher himself
requested Du Bellay 'to change his congratulatory oration into a
comminatory one.'[532]
[Sidenote: DU BELLAY PLEADS AND MENACES.]
When the French envoy was admitted again before the diet, he assumed a
higher tone: 'My lords,' he said, 'will you lend your hands to the ruin
of an innocent person?... If you do so ... I tell you that you will
bring a stain upon your reputation that all the water in the sea will
not be able to wash out. This prince, in heart so proud, in origin so
illustrious, will not endure to live miserably in the country whose
sovereign he is by birth; he will go into a foreign land. And in what
part soever of the world he may be, what will he carry with him?... The
shame of the emperor, the shame of King Ferdinand, the shame of all of
you. Every man, pointing to him, will say: That is he who formerly....
That is he who now.... That is he who through no fault of his own....
That is he who, being compelled to leave Germany.... You understand, my
lords, what is omitted in these sentences; I willingly excuse myself
from completing them ... you will do it yourselves. No! you will not be
insensible to such great misery.... I see your hearts are touched
already.... I see by your gestures and your looks that you feel the
truth of my words.'
Then, making a direct attack upon the emperor and his brother, he said:
'There are people who, very erroneously in my opinion, consult only
their wicked ambition and unbridled covetousness, and who think that, by
oppressing now one and now another, they will subdue all Germany.'
Turning next to the young Prince of Wurtemberg, the representative of
Francis I. continued: 'Duke Christopher, rely upon it the Most Christian
King will do all that he can in your behalf, without injury to his
faith, his honour, and the duties of blood. The court of France has
always been the most liberal of all—ever open to receive exiled and
suffering princes. With greater reason, then, it will not be closed
against you who are its ally ... you who, by the justice of your cause
and by your innocence, appear even to your enemies worthy of pity and
compassion.'[533]
The members of the diet had listened attentively to this speech, and
their countenances showed that they were convinced.[534] The cause was
won: the Swabian league, the creature of Austria and the enemy of the
Reformation, was not to be renewed. Du Bellay left Augsburg, continued
his journey through Germany, and endeavoured to form a new confederation
there[535] against Austria, which Francis I. and Henry VIII. could join.
'If any one should think of invading England,' the latter was told, 'we
would send you soldiers _by the Baltic sea_.'[536] It is to be feared
that this succour by way of the Baltic would have arrived rather late in
the waters of the Thames. But the main thing in Du Bellay's eyes was
action, not diplomatic negotiations. His idea was to unite Francis I.
and the protestants of Germany in a common movement which would lead
France to throw off the ultramontane yoke; but there were only two men
of sufficient energy to undertake it. The first was the king his master,
to whom we now return.
Francis, after leaving Avignon, had gone into Dauphiny, thence to Lyons
and other cities in the east of France. In January 1534, he reached
Bar-le-Duc, thus gradually drawing nearer to the German frontier. The
winter this year was exceedingly severe, but for that the king did not
care: he thought only of uniting France and the protestants by means of
Wurtemberg, as the marriage of Catherine had just united France and the
pope.
[Sidenote: THE LANDGRAVE'S PROJECT.]
The second of the princes from whom an energetic course might be
expected was the Landgrave of Hesse. Of all the protestant leaders of
Germany he was the one whose heart had been least changed by the Gospel.
Without equalling Francis I. in sensuality, he was yet far from being a
pattern of chastity. But, on the other hand, none of the princes
attached to the Reformation equalled him in talent, strength, and
activity. By his character he was the most important man of the
evangelical league, and more than once he exercised a decisive influence
on the progress of the protestant work. Philip, cousin of the Duke of
Wurtemberg, often had him at his court; Ulrich had even taken part in
the famous conference of Marburg. Moved by the misfortunes of this
prince, delighted at the trick Christopher had played the emperor,
touched by the loyalty of the Wurtembergers, who claimed their dukes and
their nationality, impatient to win this part of Germany to the
evangelical faith, he desired to take it away from Austria. To find the
men to do it was easy, if only he had the money ... but money he had
none.
Du Bellay saw that there lay the knot of the affair, and he made haste
to cut it. The clergy of France had just given the king a considerable
sum: could a better use be made of it than this? The French envoy let
Philip know that he might obtain from his master the subsidies he
needed. But more must be done: he must take advantage of the opportunity
to bring together the two most enterprising princes of the epoch. If
they saw and heard one another, they would like each other and bind
themselves in such a manner that the union of France and protestant
Germany would be effected at last. Philip of Hesse received all these
overtures with delight.
[Sidenote: LUTHER OPPOSES THE WAR.]
But fresh obstacles now intervened. The theologians of the Reformation
detested these foreign alliances and wars, which, in their opinion,
defiled the holiest of causes. Luther and Melanchthon waited upon the
elector, conjuring him to oppose the landgrave's rash enterprise; and Du
Bellay found the two reformers employing as much zeal to prevent the
union of Francis and Philip as he to accomplish it. 'Go,' said the
elector to Luther and Melanchthon, 'and prevail upon the landgrave to
change his mind.'
The two doctors, on their way from Wittemberg to Weimar, where they
would meet Philip, conversed about their mission and the landgrave: 'He
is an intelligent prince,' said Luther, 'all animation and impulse, and
of a joyous heart. He has been able to maintain order in his country, so
that Hesse, which is full of forests and mountains where robbers might
find shelter, sees its inhabitants travelling and roaming about, buying
and selling without fear.... If one of them is attacked and robbed,
forthwith the landgrave falls upon the bandits and punishes them. He is
a true man of war—an Arminius. His star never deceives him, and he is
much dreaded by all his adversaries.'[537] 'And I too,' said
Melanchthon, 'love the _Macedonian_' (for so he called Philip of Hesse,
because, in his opinion, that prince had all the shrewdness and courage
of his namesake of Macedon); 'for that reason,' he added, 'I am
unwilling that, being so high, he should risk so great a fall.'[538] The
two theologians had no doubt that a war undertaken against the powerful
house of Austria would end in a frightful catastrophe to the protestants.
When they reached Weimar the two reformers saw the landgrave, and
employed 'their best rhetoric,' says Luther, to dissuade him.[539] The
doctor held very decided opinions on this subject. An alliance with the
King of France, what a disgrace! A war against the emperor, what
madness! 'The devil,' he said, 'desires to govern the nation by making
everybody draw the sword. With what eloquence he strives to convince us
that it is lawful and even necessary! Somebody is injuring these people,
he says; let us make haste to strike and save them! Madman! God sleeps
not, and is no fool; he knows very well how to govern the world.[540] We
have to contend with an enemy against whom no human strength or wisdom
can prevail. If we arm ourselves with iron and steel, with swords and
guns, he has only to breathe upon them, and nothing remains but dust and
ashes.... But if we take upon us the armour of God, the helmet, the
shield, and the sword of the Spirit, then God, if necessary, will hurl
the emperor from his throne,[541] and will keep for us all he has given
us—his Gospel, his kingdom.' Luther and Melanchthon persevered in their
representations to the landgrave, in order to thwart Du Bellay's plans.
'This war,' they said, 'will ruin the cause of the Gospel, and fix on it
an indelible stain. Pray do not disturb the peace.' At these words the
prince's face grew red; he did not like opposition, and gave the two
divines an angry answer.[524] 'They are people who do not understand the
affairs of this world,' he said; and, returning to Hesse, he pursued his
plans with vigour.
He had not long to wait for success. The King of France invited the
landgrave to cross into Lorraine to come to an understanding with him:
he added, 'without forgetting to bring Melanchthon.'[543] Then Philip
held back no longer: a conference with the mighty King of France seemed
to him of the utmost importance. He started on his journey, reached
Deux-Ponts on the 18th of January, 1534; and shortly afterwards that
daring prince, who, by quitting Augsburg in 1530, had thrown the diet
into confusion, and alarmed the cabinet of the emperor,—the most warlike
chief of the evangelical party, the most brilliant enemy of popery,
Philip of Hesse, arrived at Bar-le-Duc, where Francis received him with
the smile which had not left his lips since his meeting with
Clement.[544]
[Sidenote: CONFERENCE OF PHILIP AND FRANCIS.]
The two princes first began to scrutinise each other. The landgrave was
thirty years old, and Francis forty. Philip was short, his eyes large
and bold, and his whole countenance indicated resolution of character.
Politics and religion immediately occupied their attention. The king
expressed himself strongly in favour of the ancient liberties of the
Germanic empire, which Austria threatened, and pronounced distinctly for
the restoration of the dukes of Wurtemberg. Coming then to the grand
question, he said, 'Pray explain to me the state of religious affairs in
Germany; I do not quite understand them.'[545] The landgrave explained
to the king, as well as he could, the causes and true nature of the
Reformation, and the struggles to which it gave rise. Francis I.
consented to hear from the mouth of a prince a statement of those
evangelical principles to which he closed his ears when explained to him
by Zwingle or by Calvin. It is true that Philip presented them rather in
a political light. Francis showed himself favourable to the protestant
princes. 'I refused my consent to a council in Italy,' he said; 'I
desire a neutral city, and instead of an assembly in which the pope can
do what he pleases, I demand a free council.' 'These are the king's very
words,' wrote the landgrave to the elector.[546] Philip of Hesse was
delighted. Assuredly, if Germany, France, England, and other states
should combine against the emperor and the pope, all Europe would be
transformed. 'That is not all,' added the landgrave; 'the king told me
certain things ... which I am sure will please your highness.'[547]
The secret conference being ended: 'Now,' said Francis to the landgrave,
'pray present Melanchthon to me.' He had begged the German prince, as we
have seen, to bring this celebrated doctor with him; the King of France
wished for something more than a diplomatic conference, he desired a
religious one. But the landgrave had not forgotten the interview at
Weimar; and far from inviting Melanchthon, he had carefully concealed
from the Elector of Saxony the resolution he had formed, notwithstanding
his representations, to unite with the King of France in hostilities
against Austria. Philip having answered that Melanchthon was not with
him: 'Impossible!' exclaimed the king, and all the French nobles echoed
the word. 'Impossible! you will not make us believe that Melanchthon is
not with you!'—'Everybody wished to convince us that we had Philip with
us,' said the landgrave.—'Show him to us,' they exclaimed, 'almost using
violence towards us.'[548]
It was indeed a great disappointment. Melanchthon was the most esteemed
representative of the Reformation. Some of those who accompanied the
king had reckoned upon him for a detailed explanation of the evangelical
principles; there were some even who desired to consult him on the best
means of insuring their success in France. In their eyes Melanchthon was
as necessary as Philip. 'As he is not here,' said they, 'you must send
for him.'—'Really,' said the landgrave, smiling, 'these Frenchmen desire
so much to see Melanchthon, that, if we could show him to them, they
would give us as much money as Tetzel and all the indulgence vendors
ever gained with their sanctimonious paper rubbish.'[549]
[Sidenote: THE TREATY SIGNED.]
They consoled themselves for this disappointment by holding a new
conference on the mode of delivering Wurtemberg. The king said that he
could not furnish troops, as that would be contrary to the treaty of
Cambray. 'I do not require soldiers,' answered the landgrave, 'but I
want a subsidy.' But to supply funds for a war against Charles V. was
equally opposed to the treaty. An expedient was sought and soon found.
Duke Ulrich shall sell Montbéliard to France for 125,000 crowns; but it
shall be stipulated, in a secret article, that if the duke repays this
sum within three years (as he did) Francis will give back Montbéliard.
It would appear that England also had something to do with the
subsidy.[550] The treaty was signed on the 27th of January, 1534. It is
worthy of notice that the French historians, even those free from
ultramontane prejudices, do not speak of this conference.
Several other interviews took place. The landgrave was not the best type
of the true Reformation, but he had with him some good evangelicals,
who, in their pious zeal, could show the King of France, as Luther would
have done, the way of salvation. Solemn opportunities are thus given men
of leaving the low grounds in which they live, and rising to the heights
where they will see God. Francis I. closed his eyes. That prince
possessed certain excellent gifts, but his religion 'was nothing but
vanity and empty show.' At Bar-le-Duc he took the mailed hand of the
landgrave, but had no desire for the hand of Jesus Christ.
The landgrave went back into Germany, and the King of France to the
interior of his states. Returning from the two interviews, he
congratulated himself on having embraced the pope at Marseilles and the
protestants at Bar-le-Duc. In proportion as the conference with Clement
had been public, that with Philip had been secret; but, on the other
hand, it had been more confidential and more real. These two meetings,
these two facts in appearance so different, had been produced by the
action of the same law. That law, which Francis wore in his heart, was
hatred and ruin to Charles V. Were not the pope and the landgrave two of
the princes of Europe who detested the emperor most? It was therefore
quite logical and in harmony with the science of Machiavelli for the
king to give one hand to Clement and the other to Philip. Internal
contradictions could not fail to show themselves erelong. In fact, the
Landgrave of Hesse, supported by France, was about to attack Austria,
and establish protestantism in Wurtemberg in the place of popery....
What would Clement say? But before we follow the landgrave upon this
perilous enterprise, let us return into France with the king.
[Footnote 522: Du Bellay, _Mémoires_, p. 206.]
[Footnote 523: Martin du Bellay gives Duke Christopher's letter.
_Mémoires_, pp. 207, 208.]
[Footnote 524: Du Bellay, _Mémoires_, p. 208.]
[Footnote 525: Du Bellay, _Mémoires_, p. 209.]
[Footnote 526: Ibid. p. 210.]
[Footnote 527: 'Regem Franciæ deposuisse certam pecuniæ summam in bellum
pro restitutione junioris ducis Wurtembergensis apud Helvetios.'—_State
Papers_, vii. p. 539.]
[Footnote 528: Du Bellay, _Mémoires_, p. 211.]
[Footnote 529: 'Coactus qui fuerit ex ea curia in qua tam indigne
tractabatur, sese subducere.'—Johannes rex Hungariæ, manu propria,
_State Papers_, vii. p. 538.]
[Footnote 530: Ranke, after Gabelkofer and Pfister, iii. p. 453.]
[Footnote 531: Du Bellay, _Mémoires_, pp. 213-219. He gives his
brother's speech at full length.]
[Footnote 532: 'Changer son oraison gratulatoire en oraison
comminatoire.']
[Footnote 533: Du Bellay, _Mémoires_, pp. 220-232.]
[Footnote 534: Du Bellay, _Mémoires_, p. 232.]
[Footnote 535: 'Eum (Du Bellay) laborare inter certos Germaniæ
principes, ut fœdus novum inter se creent.'—Mont to Henry VIII., _State
Papers_, vii. p. 539.]
[Footnote 536: 'Ipsi vero militem per mare Balticum nobis mitterent, si
quis Majestatem Vestram invadere vellet.'—Ibid.]
[Footnote 537: 'Der Landgraf ist ein Kriegsmann, ein Arminius.'—Lutheri
_Opp._ xxii. p. 1842.]
[Footnote 538: 'Ego certe τὸν Μακεδόνα non possum non amare et nolim
cadere.'—_Corp. Ref._ ii. p. 727.]
[Footnote 539: 'Und brauchten dazu unsere beste Rhetorica.'—Lutheri
_Opp._ xxii. p. 1843.]
[Footnote 540: 'Gott schläfet nicht, ist auch kein Narr: Er weiss sehr
wohl wie man regieren soll.'—Ibid. x. p. 254.]
[Footnote 541: 'Den Kayser von seinem Stuhl stürzen.'—Ibid. xi. p. 434.]
[Footnote 542: 'Da ward S. F. G. gar roth und erzumte sich drüber.']
[Footnote 543: 'Der König von Frankreich an uns beghert hat, das wir zu
Ihm kommen wolten.'—The Landgrave to the Elector, Rommel's
_Urkundenbuch_, p. 53.]
[Footnote 544: Sleidan, i. liv. ix. p. 358.]
[Footnote 545: 'Wie doch die Saclien und Zwiespalten der Religion
standen.'—The Landgrave to the Elector, Rommel's _Urkundenbuch_, p. 53.]
[Footnote 546: 'Und sind das eben die Worte des Konigs.'—Ibid.]
[Footnote 547: 'Es haben sich zwischen dem Könige und uns Reden
zugetragen ... daran E. L. gut gefallen haben werden.'—Ibid.]
[Footnote 548: 'Der König und die grossen Herrn und jedermann wolten uns
_mit Gewald uberreden_, wir hätten Philippum bey uns.'—The Landgrave to
the Elector, Rommel's _Urkundenbuch_, p. 53.]
[Footnote 549: Rommel's _Urkundenbuch_, p. 53.]
[Footnote 550: _State Papers_, vii. p. 568.]