THE DUCHESS REPUDIATES HER SUITOR AND THE PRINCESS BREAKS HER
CONTRACT
Henry had arranged with Margaret that the marriage of Mary and the
Prince should take place at Calais in six months' time, on May 15, and
for that purpose he began making arrangements on his usual splendid
scale on his return from Flanders. What Mary had been doing during the
months of her brother's absence can only be conjectured. Probably she
had been busy like Queen Katharine, sewing banners and ensigns for the
army to be sent against the Scots. She did not accompany her
sister-in-law when she moved further North, just before Flodden. There
is hardly a mention of her in any of the few letters of the year. Once
she wrote to Margaret of Savoy thanking the duchess for some patterns of
Flemish gowns, and once she received a formal letter from the Prince. On
Twelfth Night (1514) at Richmond there was the usual disguising and
play, and a lady called Beauty, and one called Venus, clad in surcoat
and mantle of yellow sarcenet, with hearts and wings of silver,
delighted the Court. The piece was, as usual, allegorical, and possibly
the ladies represented the Duchess of Savoy and the Lady Mary. There is
no mention of the Princess by name, but, following her custom and that
of her brother, they were both probably among the mummers.
[Illustration: MARGARET, COUNTESS OF RICHMOND PAINTER UNKNOWN.
NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY]
Mary had now reached her full height, and was short for a Tudor, though
the English head-dress added about three inches to her stature, and
plump like her mother. Gerard de Pleine, writing to his mistress at
Malines, describes her as one of the prettiest girls he had ever seen or
hoped to see. "She has the most gracious and elegant carriage in
conversation, dancing, or anything else that it is possible to have, and
is not a bit melancholy, but lively. I am convinced that if you had once
seen her you would not cease till you had her near you. I assure you she
has been well brought up, and she must always have heard Monsieur well
spoken of, for by her words and manner, and also from those who surround
her, it seems to me she loves him wonderfully. She has a picture of him,
very badly done, but there is no day in the world but they tell me she
wishes to see him ten times a day, and if you want to please her, you
must talk of the prince. I should have thought she had been tall and
well developed, but she will be only of medium height, and seems to me
much better suited both in age and person for Monsieur than I had heard
tell before I saw her, and better than any princess that I know of in
Christendom. She is quite young, and in two years she will hardly be as
ripe as Likerke or Fontaine. I can only say again that in good-nature,
beauty and age, the like does not exist in Christendom."[194] For five
years she had been Princess of Castile in England, and now was
approaching the hour when she was to become a reigning princess, with
the probability of far greater honours. This year was to be the critical
one in her life, and in January occurred the event which first altered
its course. Anne of Brittany, wife of Louis XII., died, "underly
lamented," sneered a spy, and was laid beside her former husband at St
Denis. The English Court swarmed with French prisoners, and their
friends and retainers. French manners had always prevailed in the Court
of Henry VII., and the French tongue had been the usual one of the King;
he preferred foreign household servants, and his son, fierce as he was
against the French, kept a French cook. Henry VIII.'s Court had always
been gay, and in the reaction from the frigid etiquette prescribed by
the Countess of Richmond, manners had become as free as in the time of
his grandfather, Edward IV. Bessie Blount, afterwards mother of Henry's
son, the little Duke of Richmond, young Mistress Carew, wife of Sir
Nicholas Carew, Mistress Jane Popincourt, added to the gay flutterings,
and Louis de Longueville was amongst the most careless, as he played
with the King for his ransom, and won the greater part. His intrigue
with Jane Popincourt was fairly notorious, and she was, as has been
related, one of the circle of the Princess of Castile, having been
brought up with her. Mary said, many years afterwards, that she regarded
her as one of her own relatives, but her reputation was such that Louis
XII. refused on hearsay to have her at his Court, and said he would
rather she were burnt for her wickedness. There seem to have been
changes in Mary's entourage about this time, but her ladies and the
Queen's, including the five Elizabeths,[195] up to now had been of the
old school, and some had served her mother, while Mother Guildford, as
Lady Joan Guildford was familiarly called, her Governess, was the very
epitome of the Richmond school of propriety and etiquette. She had but
lately retired on pension from the service of the Princess, whom no
doubt she had done her best to guide through the dangerous ways of the
Court of a young and lusty King. With such surroundings one can hardly
expect the little Princess to have been that paragon of womanly virtues
described by Mrs Green. She had laughed and danced and sung her life
through, sometimes ill and under her physician's care, and, as has
already been said, save in the French language, and music and dancing,
she does not seem to have received any education, but her manners were
perfect, thanks to her grandmother and Mother Guildford. The grandmother
of Lady Jane Grey, that marvel of youthful scholarship and virtue, was
just now a charming little butterfly, "sy mennuet et sy douset"[196]
that she took all men's hearts by storm in public or private. The
learning of the Renaissance had not touched her, indeed, never did, and
she was ignorant of the intellectual refinements of continental courts.
If she had not all the sterner virtues, nor a reasoned imagination, she
had the kindest heart in the world and the most faithful, with a high
courage to fight a losing game. Like Margaret of Savoy, she would have
melted her most precious pearls to make a potion for her dying husband,
and probably, as no doubt did Margaret, killed him by the heroic
self-sacrifice. She was pious in the colourless sense of the word, and
had been brought up to observe strictly all fasts and feasts of the
Church, and, like most women, was influenced by her confessor. She
believed in astrology and witchcraft, and had the normal mental outlook
of her century. No doubt, latterly, she had been influenced by her
sister-in-law, Katharine, who, however much she may have adapted
herself to English customs and relaxed her prejudices in her love for
her husband, never quite forgot the tradition of the dignified etiquette
of her Spanish girlhood.
[194] Lettres de Louis XII., iv. 335.
[195] Book of the King's Payments, Exc. T.R., 215, R.O.
[196] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4953; Add. MSS. 21,382.53.
After her brother's return Mary was ill for some time, and in the
doctor's hands[197] for ten weeks. Whatever the cause, she probably had
enough resemblance to her sister Margaret of Scotland to find great
consolation, if not an impetus towards health, in the new gowns of her
trousseau, and all its attendant magnificence. It was a marvellous
affair. Seven hundred and ninety three pounds and nine pence (Tudor
value) were paid at one fell swoop for pieces of cloth of gold for her
gowns and furniture, and later comes another thousand pounds worth and
more of silks, velvets of divers colours, green and white, silver,
damask, and more cloth of gold.[198] It dazzles the eyes to read.
Florentine looms were busy, and the Italian merchants in England were
doing a thriving trade. All these were to be made up in the Flemish
fashion, and the Lady Margaret was asked to give her advice about the
cutting of them and the style of the garments.[199]
[197] Book of the King's Payments, Exc. T.R., 215.
[198] L. and P. H. VIII., ii. pp. 1463.
[199] _Ibid._, i. 5139; Galba B., v. 10.
Marriages were in the air, and gossip early said three would take place
at Calais--Mary to the Prince, Margaret of Scotland to Maximilian, and
Margaret of Austria to Lisle, whom, on February 1, Henry created Duke of
Suffolk.[200]
[200] C. S. P. Venice, ii. 371.
Before things got that length, however, much had happened, and the
Duchess of Savoy had been passing through the most wretched period of
her existence, for her pride had been sorely torn by the gossip which
her council took care should reach her ears and those of the Emperor,
and which gave Chièvres and the French party a pretext for attempting to
break off the English match. Her Flemish entourage had been considerably
annoyed at the intimacy between Lisle and the Governess of the
Netherlands, though Margaret assured them again and again that "that
which she had said and done was for not to annoy the King";[201] but
what they felt while they watched the exchange of vows at Lille, "at the
cupboard-head," was nothing to their sensations later on when the thing
became the gossip of Europe. That Margaret could for one moment have
imagined that such determined wooing would pass unnoticed is incredible,
but her distress at finding herself gossiped about in every country is a
proof of her belief in its secrecy. Protest her innocent intentions as
she would, the thing reached the Emperor;[202] the King of Aragon wrote
to ask if it were true;[203] the Venetian ambassador sent the news
home;[204] it was the common bruit of the staples, and the merchants
were betting on the marriage.[205] Chièvres must have exulted that his
adversary had been delivered into his hand, for as early as November
Margaret was pleading with her father for her honour, following "the
custom of her house," as she once said, and not mentioning the real
matter, but indicating it obliquely. At Henry's request changes had
been made in her Privy Council to outweigh the French element, and this
had been misliked. Floris d'Egmont, Lord Isselstein,[206] one of its
members, drew a pension from England, so probably did Berghes and
Hormistorffe and possibly Nassau, but Chièvres and St Py and their
following intrigued ceaselessly with France. They regarded Margaret as
an English agent, for letters which she had written to Brandon had been
ill kept, and her secret informations to Henry had filtered through to
the Spanish ambassador, and were none the clearer for the
filtering.[207] She felt abashed and disgraced before her own Court and
Council, and she finds "the publishing of the thing the most strange in
the world."[208] Her distress was increased when on inquiry she found
that the gossip had an English origin, and it is the strongest proof
that she really loved Brandon, this sorrow, not anger, of hers at
finding him careless of her honour in these matters. "I have been
constrained," she writes, "as well by the counsel of my servants as of
the Lord Berghes and others, to make enquiry whereof it came, and as
well by information as writing, always I have found that it proceeded
from England. Whereof I have had a marvellous sorrow. And I have letters
of the self hand of an English merchant, the which hath been the first
that hath made the wagers, as Brégilles knoweth well."[209]
[201] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4851; Titus B., i. 142.
[202] Lettres de Louis XII., iv. 274.
[203] C. S. P. Spain, ii. 177.
[204] C. S. P. Venice, ii. 371.
[205] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4851; Titus B., i. 142.
[206] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 5263; Galba B., iii. 210.
[207] _Ibid._, i. 5117; Galba B., iii. 193.
[208] _Ibid._, 1. 4851; Titus B., i. 142.
[209] _Ibid._
The ink was scarcely dry on the treaties signed at Lille before the
intrigues with the French began to bear fruit. The frontier was
ill-guarded, and Margaret herself is said to have commanded the
garrisons to abstain from attacking the French; at the same time the
charges of the army were not diminished,[210] and many of the gens
d'armes drew their pay for active service while comfortably seated at
home.[211] Ferdinand, in spite of the treaty signed before Therouenne,
to which Henry had been persuaded by Margaret to admit him, was renewing
his peace with France, who was to give his second daughter to Don
Ferdinand of Austria, the Prince's brother, with Milan for dowry; to the
Emperor money and forces to recover the duchy, and to the Queen of
Aragon the Conté de Foix; further, he was to abandon Navarre to
Ferdinand and leave the Scots a prey to England. "Habes totam hanc
perfidiam." Pedro Quintana, Bishop of Catania, Ferdinand's secretary,
had been sent across France to the Emperor, and after conferring with
him in open secrecy, the English ambassador, Sir Robert Wingfield, being
kept entirely in the dark, had returned by the same way, so that when on
February 8 a truce was signed between France and Aragon, it was
conjectured to be a mere matter of time till the Emperor also joined it.
Margaret, who was Henry's firm friend, and devoted to the English cause
and marriage, implored her father to remember that Aragon was the only
one who had already pulled his chestnuts from the fire, and that no
profit would come to the Emperor. She reminded him that the only bulwark
of Burgundy against "la grande et invétérée inimitié que les Francais
portent à cette maison" is amity with her enemies, for between France
and Aragon are the mountains and England has the sea, and Henry now was
so powerful that he could make a separate and better peace if he liked.
His preparations for the new campaign, like those for the wedding, were
such as had never been made within the memory of man, and this was the
hour or never to overtop the enemy of Burgundy at the expense of
England. "I know, sir, that he has not the faintest thought of making a
truce, and that up to now he has not had, I am sure. But I am sure that
if he sees or suspects that you want to change the treaty concluded with
him, that will make him think what before he never thought, and the
thing is very dangerous, for he could always have a good treaty and
ample, and if he wanted to do it alone, it is clear he could do it
better than anyone else." "As for me, sir, I wish for peace as much as
any living person, provided it be good and sure; but otherwise it will
be to the loss and destruction of this house in the future, which God
forbid." Then she comes to the main point of her relations with Lisle:
"Sir, I know there are many people who desire nothing so much as to
break this friendship with England, and to do this, not knowing any
other means, have contrived certain tales 'de maulvaises paroles et
langaiges' which touch my honour, to put trouble between you, the said
King and myself; but, sir, be assured they are all lies, and that I
would rather have died a thousand times if it were possible than to have
thought of it, and only speak of it to take away this trouble between
us."[212] But in spite of all that Margaret could do or write, the
French party was in the ascendant, and she was discredited, for the
Emperor was backing Chièvres, who now practically ruled Charles, though
the "people about the Prince do not care much for the Emperor."[213] The
Council were already, in February, expecting information of the treaty
with France, "putting no doubt in the deliverance at this time of the
French King's daughter into their hands for the prince," and they hoped,
as the price of the marriage, that France would surrender Burgundy. The
"English" party were told there was no other way to live in peace, "and
that before the perfect age of the said daughter, the Prince shall be of
better experience and able to command and rule himself."[214] The
Emperor and the King of Aragon misliked this independent policy, but it
seemed likely to take effect, and Nassau, now openly French, thought
that they should have "the good deeds of the French and the others the
good words."[215] Margaret had still to fight for her prestige with her
father as well as with the Council, for Chièvres began to think he could
do anything with the Emperor, who in December had accepted his
daughter's "excuse" for her behaviour towards Lisle and Henry.[216] But
her further letters to Henry and Lisle, and her "secret advertisements,"
had been spied upon and told to her father, so that again she was "in
fear" and could not get into touch with him. Henry did not doubt her,
and she was probably one of the three channels by which he knew all the
Spanish secret practices.[217] But the atmosphere of her Court was
unbearable. She was regarded with suspicion by all her Council and spied
upon, and she could not speak openly to Sir William Sidney, whereof she
was more displeased than at anything else. "He himself perceiveth well
that everyone beholdeth him of the other side. As to the descent of the
King, it shall behove me to speak as soberly as I may me constrain, for
it is the thing that I desire as much as his coming. And the same for my
Lady Mary, as God knoweth. The heart me breaketh when it behoveth me to
dissemble not in this, but in many others. And it seemeth to me that I
may not so well serve the King, being in this fear, as before, so when
the King shall descend that I shall always be in this pain, and I fear
me I shall not dare speak or show good semblance to the said personage
(Lisle)."[218] Her frank nature, which loved outside diplomatic dealing,
to see and to say things as they were suffered acutely. So she sent
Brégilles to England.[219] In February, Henry had been ill with the
measles, and had been entertained during his convalescence by
Maximilian's offer of the Imperial Crown, presumably to dazzle him into
blindness to the Spanish intrigues, but, like the sacring at Rheims, it
was all nutshells. Brégilles went ostensibly to inquire for Henry's
health, but really to explain that something must be done "to avoid the
bruit," which was having such a disastrous effect on the policy of
Flanders.[220] Margaret said the only possible way, in her opinion, was
for Suffolk to marry the Lady Lisle, a child of nine years old,
Suffolk's ward, and the daughter and heiress of John Grey, late Lord
Lisle. This penance both Henry and Suffolk said was too much, for it was
not fair to bind the man to a contract which the child could repudiate
on coming of age; anything else but not that. So Henry wrote to the
Emperor expressing his astonishment that rumour had arisen of a possible
marriage between the Duchess of Savoy and the Duke of Suffolk, his "tres
leal cousin et conseiller."[221] He could not think how it came about
save as a device of certain "mauvais esprits de mettre quelque scrupule
entre vous et nous." He would search out the gossips on his side and
punish them. He did, and of course found them. They were examined in
presence of Brégilles by Wolsey and Suffolk, and it was proved beyond
doubt that the original letter was written by the nameless English
merchant while Henry was still at Tournay! So much for Margaret's
ostrich-like secrecy. Henry and Suffolk wanted to punish the unfortunate
gossips with death there and then, but Brégilles interposed. "Je leur ai
bien dit que votre volonté n'estoit point si vindicative et qu'ils ne
fissent nulle punition aux dits marchands quant au corps, sans avoir
nouvelles de vous: vous en manderez s'il vous plaît votre bon plaisir."
Suffolk offered to bring home his daughter, whose presence at Malines
might help to keep gossip alive, but Brégilles said his mistress did not
desire it, and would not think of such a thing. Henry and Mary and
Katharine all made so much of Brégilles that he was almost ashamed to
take the gifts showered upon him.[222]
[210] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4725; Galba B., iii. 148.
[211] Lettres de Louis XII., iv. 257.
[212] Le Glay, _op. cit._, ii. 225.
[213] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4789; Galba B., iii. 152.
[214] _Ibid._
[215] _Ibid._
[216] Le Glay, _op. cit._, ii. 237.
[217] Lettres de Louis XII., iv. 253.
[218] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4851; Titus B., i. 142.
[219] _Ibid._, i. 4726.
[220] Lettres de Louis XII., iv. 308.
[221] Lettres de Louis XII., iv. 274.
[222] _Ibid._, iv. 308.
The Emperor still sulked, and his daughter could make no headway with
the English marriage, and the Flemings sold guns and harness to the
Scots, and so openly favoured them as friends of France that Thomas
Spinelly, English agent at Brussels, suggested that a ship should be
secretly freighted in Zeeland with onions and apples to Scotland, with
some shrewd fellows on board to spy in the Scottish ports.[223] On March
31 the Council of Flanders had their way, and a treaty between France
and the Prince of Castile was signed[224] while the Emperor was still
deep in "confusse dealing."[225] This was practically the deathblow to
the Anglo-Castilian marriage. The French had won in spite of Margaret
and the Spanish ambassador, between whom and the Council had grown many
words. The same month the English embassy to Brussels for the arranging
of the details of the marriage had been sent off, and Margaret had made
it very clear that whoever should go on that embassy it was not to be
Suffolk. "I know that I may not show towards the personage the weal and
honour which I desire to do as before. For as yet I dare not write unto
him when I have anything to do towards the King, nor I dare not only
speak of him. And I am constrained to entreat him in all things like a
stranger, at the least before folks, the which doth me so much
displeasure that I cannot write it seeing that I take him so much for my
good friend and servant." Further on she says: "I shall not dare to
behold him with a good eye which displeasure shall be the same to him as
to me."[226] Only on his marriage with the child Lady Lisle was he to be
allowed to come into her presence. Suffolk had prepared a vast and
gorgeous equipage for the journey, and Henry said it would really cause
more gossip in England if he did not go, for it would need to be
explained publicly in Parliament,[227] but Margaret had her way, and
Suffolk's cousin, Sir Richard Wingfield, Deputy of Calais, was sent with
long instructions. He was to learn for the information of Richard
Gibson, then in Calais arranging the camp and houses, what personages
would attend on the Lady Margaret and the Prince of Castile at Calais.
He was to obtain numbers and names in writing, and also what etiquette
was to be observed. The King would provide all things for the Emperor,
the Prince, and my Lady, except beds, "which it is thought they will for
their better ease bring with them." Henry consulted Margaret in the
smallest detail, everything was to be as she desired, and sent a book
containing the provision of the Princess's apparel, her chamber, office
and stables. Cloth of every sort had been provided, "and my lady is to
devise for the making thereof after such manner as shall best please
her," and in queenly and honourable fashion. Above all, a definite
answer about the place of the wedding was to be demanded.[228]
[223] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4844; Galba B., iii. 156.
[224] _Ibid._, i. 4924; Calig. E., i. 136.
[225] _Ibid._ 4929, R. O.
[226] _Ibid._, i. 4851; Titus B., i. 142.
[227] Lettres de Louis XII, iv. 308.
[228] L. and P. H. VIII., 5139; Galba B., v. 10.
Sir Richard and his companions found only Margaret on their side, for
the Council would gladly hinder the Prince's marriage "with the Lady
Mary, saying that he is a child and she a woman full grown."[229] In
fact, as the Venetian ambassador had said, "he wanted a wife and not a
mother."[230] They had it seems no doubt about Mary's real age. At the
same time that gossip was carried to the English Court of the intrigue
of the prince with Mdlle de Likerke, "a damsel of the court," at
Malines, Mary was reported of so amorous a nature that it would be
dangerous for Charles to marry her before he was full grown. Margaret
had sent over to find out the truth of this last rumour, and her agent
wrote: "Je vous ose bien dire que si ce n'était que toutes femmes sont
assez fortes, que Monsieur viendra bien au bout de cette ci, car y n'est
rien si mennuet ni si douset qu'elle est." If Monsieur could only speak
to her privately a little while, it is certain that "Likerke tornera le
rot au sort qu'il sera tout brulé,"[231] which rather obscure statement
may mean that the Flamande would be eclipsed easily by her rival. The
one "Englishman" on the Council denied Charles's interest in Likerke,
and reported that the Prince had said that Mary had been always his only
love,[232] but, on the other hand, Charles had "spoken suspicious
words," and he was young and surrounded by a young Council.[233] The
French ambassador was honourably received at Court, and there were many
ill rumours spread against England, most of them coming from France,
especially one which said the English could not hold Tournay for three
months. The feast of St George's day was not observed in any point, any
more than if the Prince did not belong to the Order. "The Archduchess is
sorry, but cannot oppose it, as the authority of France increases.
Unless the King looks to it, all these countries will be ruled by the
French."[234] Throughout the mission the English had no more courteous
sympathizer than the Aragonese ambassador: "I promise your Grace he
spareth not to answer your faithful servant. What they mean thereby God
knoweth." Wingfield became more insistent, and refused to be put off
longer with vague answers about the marriage, for it was now the end of
April, and the ceremony was timed for May 15. Chièvres still had the
Emperor's ear, he had bought it for 100,000 crowns,[235] and Margaret
wrote in vain that a definite answer could not be put off much longer,
but Maximilian preferred as usual to drive the time and let someone else
face the consequences. The English would accept no postponement, and
said the wedding must be at Calais, and Margaret, at her wits' end to
explain decently her father's variableness, "forged an excuse at
Malines," and, turning in the track of gossip, said she feared that if
the Prince married so young he might be disappointed of issue.[236]
[229] _Ibid._, i. 4932; Galba B., iii. 143.
[230] C. S. P. Venice, ii. 295.
[231] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4953; Add. MSS. 21, 382. 53.
[232] _Ibid._, i. 5104; Galba B., iii. 191.
[233] _Ibid._, i. 5029; Galba B., iii. 13.
[234] _Ibid._, i. 5006; Galba B., iii. 160.
[235] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 5006; Galba B., iii. 160.
[236] _Ibid._, i. 5029; Galba B., iii. 13.
The French were now forward on the borders of the Pale, and said "they
would look upon us at Guisnes,"[237] while Préjan, the admiral, was at
Dieppe with his galleys, and at St Omer there were as many Mamelukes as
good Frenchmen. Count de Ligny and all other captains in Henry's pay
were ordered to draw to Calais and lodge about Gravelines, to co-operate
with the force which was ready to cross the sea.[238] At this moment
grew a rumour of Margaret's marriage to Louis XII., but Henry denied it
before his Council, and said, no matter who in the world said so he
would not believe it, for he never doubted her for a moment, though he
acknowledged her explanation of her use of English moneys and soldiers
was rather "colorable." At last, in May, Margaret had comfortable
letters from her father, and she definitely broke with Suffolk in the
pathetic letters[239] already quoted, which, "so that certain conclusion
might be made," she wrote to Sir Richard Wingfield, but she could not
undo the well-knit French policy. Suffolk's _riposte_ was somewhat weak.
At the jousts in May the King and the new duke defended the tilt against
all comers, and on their black staves was written in white letters, "Who
can hold what will away." Hall says, "This poesie was judged to be made
for the Duke of Suffolk and the Duchess of Savoy," and as Henry's bore
the same legend, it probably referred also to the Prince of Castile and
the Princess Mary.[240]
[237] _Ibid._, i. 5021, R.O.
[238] _Ibid._, i. 5035; Calig. D., vi. 118.
[239] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4851; Titus B., i. 142.
[240] Hall's Chronicle, ed. 1809, 568.
This was not, however, the open end. Negotiations dragged on. Sir Robert
Wingfield, who had once before detached the Emperor from France, was
trying to repeat the move, but with no success, for Aragon's ambassador,
with his dealings "full of ficte and colored matter," was always there
to balk him. He implored Henry to do nothing in haste, for "his majesty
showeth himself at many times not easy to be led, and much worse to be
driven, and therefore, Sir, for the love of God, have good consideration
how ye handle this old practised Prince, which hath been but easily
(_i.e._ superficially) known in time past, because many have sought to
defame him and few to declare and show what manner of man he is."[241]
The Aragonese ambassador at Malines also gave himself such airs of
importance that Margaret was exceedingly annoyed, and it was openly
said that "if the said lord Prince will not be obeissant unto the King
of Aragon (_i.e._ in the matter of marriage), or go into Spain against
his will, he might be poisoned, as his father King Philip was."[242]
Gerard de Pleine, representing Flanders, and John Coller, the Emperor,
were sent to England, and got very little comfort from either Henry or
the Council, the former declaring roundly that if he wanted peace he
need not send out of his kingdom for it,[243] which the ambassadors took
as an allusion to Louis de Longueville, who was a favourite in the
court. Wolsey said the King would not make peace, but if he did it would
ruin Flanders.[244] The English themselves were in favour of war with
France, and, like Lord Darcy,[245] offered themselves and their sons
with eagerness to serve the King there. The marriage of Mary with the
Prince was taken for granted, so that the breaking of this traditional
policy was a difficult matter, and had to be conducted to a full
conclusion secretly. Hence, though in June the truce with France was
assured, and on July 30 Mary, persuaded by her brother and Wolsey,
formally renounced her compact of marriage with Charles,[246] yet on
August 2 Margaret was reading letters from Henry "with a glad
countenance."[247] A fortnight later the fashion thereof had changed,
when she heard that her trust had been misplaced and played with, and
she had to listen to Chièvres' sneers at English fidelity.[248] The
Council cried traitor to the English, and the whole country was
exasperated. Englishmen were assaulted in Brussels,[249] and the
Captain of Tournay found victualling a difficult matter, for it depended
on the goodwill of the surrounding people, and the Anglo-French alliance
put the fear of God upon them. Margaret was the only one who refused to
believe the report, and "took great thought and displeasure therewith in
so much that some fear she shall take hurt thereby"; and indeed she did
fall ill[250] in the autumn from vexation at the failure of her plans
and from grief, "for the penance was too great for their offence."[251]
The Duchess made one more attempt to reknit the bonds between England
and Flanders, and threatened to publish Henry's promise, signed at
Tournay, not to enter into any truce without the knowledge of his ally,
the Prince, but Henry retorted that if she did this, which, after all,
would do him no harm, he would publish secret letters of hers which he
held,[252] and so again Margaret ran up against the Suffolk affair. Do
what she might it was not forgotten, for "the bruit is so imprinted in
the fantasies of the people," and as late as September 1515[253] she was
asking Wolsey for the return of her letters.
[241] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 5126; Vitell. B., xviii. 85.
[242] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 5076; Galba B., iii. 190.
[243] Lettres de Louis XII., iv. 328.
[244] _Ibid._
[245] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 4902; Calig. B., ii. 323.
[246] _Ibid._, i. 5282; Rymer's "Fœdera," xiii. 409.
[247] _Ibid._, i. 5292; Galba B., iii. 211.
[248] _Ibid._, i. 5327; Galba B., iii. 199.
[249] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 5341; Galba B., iii. 213.
[250] _Ibid._, i. 5675; Galba B., iii. 168.
[251] _Ibid._, i. 5362; Galba B., iii. 212*.
[252] Lettres de Louis XII., iv. 355.
[253] L. and P. H. VIII., ii. 876; Galba B., vi. 205.
[Illustration: CHARLES, PRINCE OF CASTILE
FROM THE PAINTING IN THE LOUVRE (FLEMISH SCHOOL)]
Charles is said to have used strong language on hearing that he had been
jilted. "It was said that when the Prince of Castile heard that his
promised bride had been given to France, he went immediately into his
council chamber and said to his Councillors, "Well, am I to have my wife
as you promised me," with other words to that effect; whereupon his
Councillors answered him: "You are young, but the King of France is
the first King in Christendom, and, having no wife, it rests with him to
take for his queen any woman he pleases." Thus did they seek to excuse
themselves. During this conversation Duke Charles, looking out of the
window, saw a man with a hawk on his fist, and calling one of his
Councillors, who was his chief friend, said to him, "I prithee go buy me
that hawk." The Councillor replied, "I know that hawk: he is a young
bird and does not yet know how to quarry: he is not a bird for your
lordship." The Prince again said, "I prithee go and buy it." The
Councillor, still seeking to excuse himself, the Duke at length
exclaimed, "Come with me." So he bought it himself and put it on his
fist. Then, having returned to the council chamber, he seated himself
and began plucking the hawk, the Councillor meanwhile inquiring, "Sir!
what are you doing?" The Duke still continued plucking the bird, and
when he had done so to his heart's content, made answer: "Thou askest me
why I plucked this hawk! he is young you see, and has not yet been
trained, and because he is young he is held in small account, and
because he is young he squeaked not when I plucked him. Thus have you
done by me: I am young, you have plucked me at your good pleasure, and
because I was young I knew not how to complain, but bear in mind that
for the future I shall pluck you."[254] This tale is regarded as
apocryphal, or at least impossible, but the date is September 24, about
six weeks after the publication in London of the treaty with France, and
indifference to suffering in animals is not unheard-of in the sixteenth
century. Maximilian sorrowed too at the thought that the original of the
picture he had admired at Therouenne, "the fair and virtuous princess,
should come to an impotent, indisposed and so malicious a prince as is
the French King,"[255] and, like St George, his favourite saint, would
have liked to rescue the maiden from the dragon.
[254] C. S. P. Venice, ii. 505.
[255] L. and P. H. VIII., i. 5404; Galba B., iii. 216.