Refusal of the Protestants of Béarn to restore the property of the
Catholic Church--Louis XIII and Luynes resolve on rigorous measures
and set out for the South--Visit of Bassompierre to La Rochelle--He
joins the King at Bordeaux--Arrest and execution of
d’Arsilemont--The Parlement of Pau declines to register the Royal
edict and Louis XIII determines to march into Béarn--Bassompierre
charged with the transport of the army across the Garonne, which is
accomplished in twenty-four hours--Béarn and Lower Navarre are
united to the Crown of France--Coldness of the King towards
Bassompierre--Bassompierre learns that this is due to the ill
offices of Luynes, who regards him as a rival in the royal
favour--He is informed that Luynes is “unable to suffer him to
remain at Court”--Bassompierre decides to come to terms with the
favourite, and it is arranged that he shall quit the Court so soon
as some honourable office can be found for him--The Valtellina
question--Bassompierre appointed Ambassador Extraordinary to the
Court of Spain--Birth of a son to Luynes.
No sooner had peace been signed than Louis XIII, urged on by Luynes, who
was above all things anxious to conciliate the High Catholic party,
determined to deal with the recalcitrant Protestants of Béarn.
The re-establishment of the Catholic religion in Béarn had been one of
the conditions on which Clement VIII had consented to grant absolution
to Henri IV; but that monarch had only half kept his word, and had
limited himself to nominating bishops to the sees of Lescar and Oleron,
and paying them their salaries; re-establishing the Mass in a good many
places, and admitting Catholics to charges and dignities. The two new
bishops demanded the restoration of the ecclesiastical property formerly
attached to their offices;[135] but the Government turned a deaf ear to
their appeals, and it was not until Luynes rose to power that they had a
chance of being listened to.
Besides his desire to gain the support of the _dévots_, Luynes saw in
the affair of Béarn an opportunity of ridding himself of the possible
rivalry of the young Marquis de Montpouillan with the King, as
Montpouillan’s father, the Marquis de la Force,[136] was governor of
Béarn and chief of the Protestants of that country. He thereupon pressed
Louis XIII to carry out the engagements which Henri IV had sought to
evade, and, by a decree of the Council of June 25, 1617, the King
ordered the restitution of Church property in Béarn. The Estates of
Béarn, supported by La Force, remonstrated vigorously; but in September
the King confirmed his decision of June.
The Protestants of Languedoc and Guienne embraced the cause of the
Béarnais, and the Parlement of Pau, in which the Reformers were in a
great majority, refused to register the edict. The troubles with the
Queen-Mother prevented Louis XIII and Luynes from taking any rigorous
measures, but now that their hands were free, they were resolved to lose
no more time.
Before Louis XIII began his march to the South, Bassompierre obtained
permission to pay a visit to his brother-in-law Saint-Luc at Brouage, of
which town the latter was governor, and to travel by way of La Rochelle.
He set out on September 13, accompanied by Créquy, La Rochefoucauld and
a great number of other gentlemen, who, in view of the possibility of a
renewal of the Wars of Religion in the near future, had gladly embraced
the opportunity of visiting the great Huguenot stronghold.
The party stopped to dine at Surgères, a château belonging to La
Rochefoucauld, from which the count sent a letter to the mayor of La
Rochelle, “to warn him of the good company who were coming to see him,
in order that he might not be alarmed at the sudden arrival of so many
people.” He received a most cordial response, for the authorities of La
Rochelle were probably far from displeased to learn that the Colonel of
the French Guards and the Colonel-General of the Swiss were on their way
to visit their famous town, before whose stubborn walls, forty-six years
earlier, nearly 20,000 Catholics had laid down their lives, and all to
no purpose. Certainly, M. de Créquy, M. de Bassompierre and their
friends should be afforded every facility for seeing all that was worth
seeing, and particularly the defences; and when the King questioned them
about their visit, as, of course, he would do, they would probably tell
his Majesty that if, as seemed only too probable, he were determined to
drive his Protestant subjects to take up arms once more in defence of
their faith, he would do well to let La Rochelle severely alone.
And so M. le Maire came to meet them at the gates of the town, and bade
them right welcome to La Rochelle, and took them to see the harbour, in
which, if the Rochellois were obliged to summon foreign aid, an English
fleet might one day be seen riding at anchor.
And then, as the hour was late, he escorted them to the best inn in the
town, which for some hours past had been in a state of ferment, since it
was not often that preparations for the reception of so many
distinguished guests had to be made at such short notice, where, having
invited them, in the name of the Président, Jean Pascaut, to dine at the
Présidial next day, he took leave of them.
Early on the morrow, the mayor returned and conducted the party round
the fortifications; after which he took them to visit the Tour de la
Chaîne, one of the two towers which defended the entrance to the
harbour. Then they all repaired to the Présidial, where, with appetites
sharpened by the sea air, they did full justice to “a magnificent
banquet, at which sixty covers were laid.”
In the afternoon, Bassompierre and his friends left La Rochelle, little
imagining in what tragic circumstances they were to tread its streets
again, and proceeded to Brouage, where they were very hospitably
entertained by Saint-Luc. During their stay at Brouage they paid a visit
to the neighbouring château of Marennes, ostensibly to pay their
respects to the count of that name, but really to see his three
daughters, “who were very beautiful.” But, unfortunately, Bassompierre
does not give us any further information about these ladies.
On leaving Brouage, they spent a night at the château of the Baron de
Pons, whose family claimed to be descended from the House of Albret, a
claim which was to cause an infinity of trouble at the Court during the
regency of Anne of Austria, and to lead to the affair known as “_la
guerre des tabourets_.” Next day, they dined with d’Épernon at Plassac,
a country-seat of his near Jonzac, and then set out for Bordeaux.
On September 19, Louis XIII arrived at Bordeaux, where he met with a
great reception, and on the following day was entertained by Mayenne to
a great banquet at the Château-Trompette. An unpleasant incident,
however, cast a shadow over the rejoicings.
A gentleman named d’Arsilemont, who commanded the Châteaux of Fronsac
and Caumont on behalf of the Comte de Saint-Paul, brother of
Longueville, and had taken advantage of his position to levy
unauthorised taxes on the people living along the Dordogne, and
committed other illegal acts in defiance of the decrees of the Parlement
of Bordeaux, had the imprudence to come and salute the King. The
Parlement, learning of d’Arsilemont’s arrival, sent to complain of him
to his Majesty, who caused him to be arrested forthwith; and within
forty-eight hours he was condemned to death and executed,
“notwithstanding the entreaties of MM. de Mayenne and de Saint-Paul.”
On October 4, La Force, Governor of Béarn, and Cazaux, First President
of the Parlement of Pau, came to Bordeaux, bringing with them, not the
ratification of the edict re-establishing the Catholic clergy in
possession of their property, but a fresh remonstrance against it. The
King was extremely angry, but on La Force and Cazaux assuring him that
this remonstrance was intended to be the last one, and that, on their
return to Béarn, they would use every endeavour to persuade the
Parlement to ratify the edict without further delay, he decided to
postpone military action for the present, and sent them away,
accompanied by La Chesnaye, one of his gentlemen-in-ordinary and a
Huguenot himself, who was instructed to keep his Majesty informed of the
progress of the affair. At the same time, in order to show the Parlement
that he was determined that they should submit to his will, he left
Bordeaux with his army, and advanced to Preignac, on the left bank of
the Garonne.
Some days later La Chesnaye returned, and informed the King that,
notwithstanding the efforts of La Force and Cazaux, the Parlement still
persisted in their refusal to ratify the edict, an action which
Bassompierre ascribes to their belief that Louis XIII would not care to
venture into so barren and difficult a country at that advanced season
of the year, and to a rumour which had reached them that a great part of
the baggage of the Court was already on its way back to Paris.
The King, however, was determined to be obeyed, and, on this occasion at
any rate, showed none of the weakness and irresolution so conspicuous in
later years. “Since my Parlement,” said he, “wishes to give me the
trouble of going in person to ratify the decree, I will do it, and more
fully than they expect.” And he summoned the Ministers who were with him
and his chief officers to a council of war, for, says Bassompierre,
“though he was resolved to go, he, nevertheless, wished to ascertain
everyone’s opinion on the matter.”
Mayenne sought to dissuade the King from advancing into Béarn,
representing that while his Majesty was engaged in imposing his will on
the Huguenots at one extremity of his realm, their co-religionists in
other parts of the country might seize the opportunity to rise in arms;
that twelve days would probably be required to transport the army across
the Garonne; that the difficulty of provisioning the troops in the
inhospitable Landes at that season of the year would be very great, and
so forth. The other members of the council, however, aware that the King
had made up his mind on the matter--or that Luynes, who was anxious to
secure the support of the High Catholic party, had made it up for
him--and that nothing was to be gained by opposing his resolution, urged
him to undertake the expedition, upon which he tinned to Mayenne and
said:--
“I do not trouble myself about the weather or the roads; I am not afraid
of those of the Religion, and, as for the passage of the river, which,
you say, will take my army twelve days, I have a means of having it
accomplished in eight. For I shall send Bassompierre here to conduct it,
who has already raised me an army, with which I have just defeated a
powerful party, in half the time that I had expected.”
“I confess,” observes Bassompierre, “that I felt my heart elated by
such praise and by the good opinion that the King entertained of
me; and I replied that he might rest assured that the hope that he
had conceived of my diligence would not be vain, and that he would
shortly have news that would gratify him.”
In those days, when the engineers were not yet organised as a distinct
branch of the army, and the difficulties of transport were very great,
pontoons were seldom carried, unless before the campaign opened it was
certain that they would be required; and the army which Bassompierre had
undertaken to pass across the Garonne was unprovided with any.
Consequently, he had either to wait until a sufficient number could be
constructed, which would, of course, entail a considerable delay, or to
obtain the best substitutes he could in the towns and villages along the
Garonne, and trust that his fortunate star would be in the ascendant
during the passage of the river to avert any disaster. He chose the
latter alternative, and having established himself at Langon, on the
left bank of the Garonne, sent parties of soldiers along both banks to
collect every boat of suitable size which they could find.
“I caused two boats to be joined into one,” he says, “and laid
platforms over them, on which, on October 10, I placed two pieces
of artillery, and had two others joined together without platforms,
on which I placed the gun-carriages; and in four journeys I passed
all the artillery across. And, by the expenditure of a great deal
of money, I so contrived matters that in the course of the
following day the munitions and provisions were passed across, and
the whole army likewise; and we advanced to a town a league beyond
the river, where we halted for the night.”
A two days’ march brought the army to Saint-Justin d’Armagnac, on the
borders of the Grandes Landes and Armagnac. Here Bassompierre received a
despatch from Louis XIII, who had left Preignac on the 10th and was now
at Roquefort, in which the King expressed himself “extremely pleased
with his diligence, by which he had reduced the twelve days allowed by
M. de Mayenne for the passage of the Garonne to twenty-four hours.” His
Majesty ordered him to send him the Regiment of Champagne and some other
troops, which he intended to place in garrison in Béarn, but not to
enter the country with the rest of the army, since he feared it would be
impossible to provision it.
With the force which Bassompierre had sent him, Louis XIII marched
rapidly on Pau. At the news of his approach, the Parlement hastened to
ratify the edict; but it was too late. The King continued his march and
entered the town on the 15th. He re-established the Catholic bishops
and clergy in possession of their churches and property, disbanded the
national militia, and replaced the governor of Navarreins, the strongest
fortress in the country, by a Catholic. Finally, by letters-patent of
October 18, he united Béarn and Lower Navarre to the Crown of France,
and fused the sovereign courts of these two countries into one single
Parlement, sitting at Pau. Then, having sent the Maréchal de Praslin to
Bassompierre, with orders to distribute the troops under his command
amongst various garrisons and to rejoin him at Bordeaux, he took his
departure, to the profound relief of the Béarnais.
Bassompierre reached Bordeaux on the 24th. The King arrived the
following day, and Bassompierre went at once to pay his respects and
compliment him on his victory over the Parlement of Pau.
“I expected a good reception,” he says, “but, on the contrary, he
did not even look at me, at which I was a little astonished.
However, I approached him and said: ‘Sire, are you displeased with
me in good earnest, or are you making game of me?’ ‘I am not
looking at you,’ he answered coldly, and with that turned away.
“I was unable to imagine what could be the reason for this
coldness, after the complimentary letters I had received from him.
I went to salute M. de Luynes, and was received so coldly by him,
that I saw plainly that my situation had undergone some great
change. I returned to the gallery of the archbishop’s palace, where
I found the Cardinal de Retz and MM. de Schomberg and de Roucelaï,
who drew me aside and told me that M. de Luynes complained
infinitely of me, saying that I had neglected his friendship and
believed that without it I could maintain myself in the good graces
of the King; and that he had declared that people should see which
of us two had the power to overthrow the other; that the favour of
the King could not be shared, and that, since I had offended him,
he could no longer suffer me at the Court.”
Bassompierre, more and more astonished, begged his friends to tell him
“what wind could have developed into this tempest,” since he had never
had any quarrel with M. de Luynes, but, on the contrary, had been of
service to him on many occasions and had contributed not a little to his
advancement at Court, insomuch that the latter had “promised and sworn
to him the closest friendship.” He was therefore at a loss to comprehend
how M. de Luynes desired, not only to break with, but to persecute, nay,
even ruin, him, if it were in his power to do so. To this they replied
that M. de Luynes had given them to understand that he had no less than
five grievances against him:--
In the first place, when, at the Ponts-des-Cé, the King had shown M. de
Bassompierre the draft of the articles of peace which had been drawn up
by M. de Luynes, who was himself present, M. de Bassompierre had
expressed the opinion that they were far too lenient as regards the
rebels, and that it would be as well to make an example of one of these
gentlemen, in order to strike terror into the others and make them a
little less ready to take up arms against their sovereign in the future.
This was to cast a serious reflection upon M. de Luynes, and to suggest
that he had been negligent of his Majesty’s interests in drafting the
treaty.
Secondly, when the King was at Poitiers, awaiting a visit from the
Queen-Mother, whose coming was unavoidably delayed, M. de Bassompierre
had suggested that this delay was “an artifice of her partisans to
prevent his Majesty’s journey to Guienne”; and this most uncalled for
observation had made so great an impression upon the King’s mind, that
M. de Luynes had experienced a thousand difficulties in persuading him
to remain at Poitiers until the Queen-Mother’s arrival.
Thirdly, although, while the Court was at Bordeaux, M. de Luynes had on
several occasions invited M. de Bassompierre to dine with him, that
gentleman had always declined, thereby showing that he held his
friendship of but little account.
Fourthly, when the King was at Preignac, awaiting the ratification of
his edict by the Parlement of Pau, M. de Bassompierre had remarked to
his Majesty that, if these gentlemen gave him the trouble of going to
Béarn, he counselled him to make them pay dearly for his journey. This
was to incite the King to cruelty, and was most reprehensible.
And, finally, M. de Bassompierre had so preoccupied the mind of the
King, that his Majesty did not believe that anything could be done well
unless it were done by him, as was proved by the fact that, without even
troubling to consult his Council, he had “dethroned” the other
brigadier-generals and placed M. de Bassompierre in command of his army.
This M. de Luynes was unable to suffer, being aware that he had still
sufficient influence to put a stop to the progress which the other was
making daily, to his prejudice, in the good graces of the King.
When Bassompierre heard this, he “judged well that M. de Luynes was
seeking pretexts to ruin him, and, since he could not find any
legitimate ones in his actions, he had maliciously perverted the sense
of his words.” His friends, on their side, “did not disguise from him
that it was nothing but pure jealousy of his favour which possessed that
gentleman, and that, being in the position he was, he kept always a
watchful eye on those who might divert from him the affection of the
King, and that, observing the great inclination of the King for him
(Bassompierre), he looked upon him as the dog who intended to bite him.”
They then begged Bassompierre to furnish them with his reply to the
charges brought against him by the jealous favourite, which they
promised to report faithfully to the latter, and endeavour by every
means in their power to bring about an amicable settlement.
Bassompierre thereupon proceeded to deal in detail with the different
causes of complaint which Luynes had against him, and concluded by
requesting his friends to inform him that, if he would be pleased to
prescribe some rules of conduct for him, he would undertake to follow
them so exactly, that in future M. de Luynes should have no cause to
believe that he aspired in any fashion whatsoever to usurp the good
graces of the King, except by his services to the Crown; and to add that
“he esteemed so little, and feared so much, favours that were not the
reward of merit that, if they were lying on the ground at his feet, he
would not condescend to stoop and pick them up.”
Next day, the Cardinal de Retz and his fellow-mediators came to
Bassompierre and told him that they had duly carried his answer to
Luynes, who had informed them that M. de Bassompierre had so deeply
offended him, that he could only repeat what he had said to them before,
namely, that he was unable to suffer him at the Court. If, however, M.
de Bassompierre were willing to withdraw with as little delay as
possible, he would see that the salaries of his various appointments
were promptly paid him during his absence, and that within a certain
period--which, however, he had refused to define--he would cause him to
be recalled with honour, when he would do all in his power to advance
his interests.
On receiving this proposal, Bassompierre could not contain his
indignation, and requested his friends to return at once to Luynes and
inform him that “he (Bassompierre) was not the kind of man who could be
treated as a scoundrel and driven ignominiously away in this fashion”;
that, if his honesty or his loyalty were suspected, he could be
imprisoned and punished, if found guilty; but that to drive him from the
Court merely to gratify a caprice was outrageous, and he defied him to
do it.
His friends, however, deprecated such strong language and begged him to
seek to compose, rather than to embitter, this most unfortunate affair.
They then suggested, if he were willing, that they should inform the
favourite that M. de Bassompierre desired them to say that he was
indeed astonished that M. de Luynes had treated his enemies with such
magnanimity after the action at the Ponts-des-Cé, when it was in his
power to punish them as they deserved and avenge himself upon them;
while for M. de Bassompierre, who had hazarded his life in his
service--since there could be no question that the object of the recent
rebellion was not to dispossess the King of his crown, but to separate
him from M. de Luynes--and, by his own admission, had acted so worthily
in these disturbances--he had nothing but ingratitude. He felt assured,
however, that if M. de Luynes would but reflect upon the obligations
under which he had placed him, he would decide that he was deserving of
reward, and not at all of such a punishment as to be driven with infamy
from the Court, to which M. de Bassompierre could never bring himself to
submit.
Bassompierre, aware that he could trust his friends to do their best for
him in the very awkward predicament in which he was placed, told them
that he left the matter entirely to their discretion, and they went
away.
From Bordeaux the Court proceeded to Blaye, where the King remained
three days, and was magnificently entertained by the new Duke of
Luxembourg-Piney, who was governor of that place. At table, Louis XIII,
who, before this trouble arose, had been in the habit of talking and
jesting incessantly with Bassompierre, did not speak a single word to
him, “which gave him pain.” However, on the evening before the King’s
departure for Saintes, where he was to pass the following night, he
ordered Bassompierre to precede him with the Swiss, who were to furnish
the guard at Saintes; and when the latter approached him to receive the
password, which was, of course, always given in a very low voice, his
Majesty said: “Bassompierre, my friend, do not worry, and do not appear
to notice anything.” “I made no reply,” writes Bassompierre, “from fear
lest someone might perceive something, but I was not sorry that the
source of the King’s kindness had not dried up, so far as I was
concerned.”
After supper that night, he received a visit from Roucelaï, who said
that the Cardinal de Retz and Schomberg, who were then with Luynes, had
sent him to say that the favourite had pronounced his final decision,
which was that Bassompierre must leave the Court so soon as possible
after the King returned to Paris. At the same time, he desired to deal
honourably with him and that his departure should be free from any
appearance of disgrace, and if Bassompierre would suggest some way by
which this could be contrived, he would be prepared to give it his
favourable consideration.
Bassompierre, recognising that the all-powerful favourite was determined
to drive him from the Court, and that the only course open to him was to
make the best terms he could, replied that if Luynes were willing to
procure for him a government, an important military post, or an embassy
extraordinary, which would enable him to quit the Court with honour, and
to render the King more useful service than he could by remaining there,
he would take his departure so soon as he pleased. Roucelaï then
returned to his friends with Bassompierre’s answer, which was duly
communicated to Luynes. The latter expressed his approval of it, and
told them that in the course of the next day’s journey he would come to
an arrangement with him on these conditions.
“This he did with a good grace,” says Bassompierre, “and told me
frankly that the esteem which he perceived that the King
entertained for me gave him umbrage, and that he was like a man who
feared to be deceived by his wife, and who did not like to see even
a very honest man paying attention to her; that, apart from that,
he had a strong inclination for me, as he intended to show me,
provided that I did not cast loving glances at his mistress. And
that same evening he took me to speak to the King, who received me
very cordially and told me to make ready to travel post on the
morrow.”
The King journeyed in this fashion from Saintes to Paris, accompanied
only by thirty or forty attendants. As they were nearing Châtellerault,
Bassompierre, learning that it was proposed to spend the night there,
warned Luynes that the town contained a large proportion of Huguenots,
and that if these, incensed by the King’s forcible re-establishment of
the Catholic faith in Béarn, were to summon their co-religionists from
La Rochelle to their aid, which they could easily do, and make an
attempt upon his Majesty’s person, he would be in great danger. On
hearing this, Luynes was much alarmed and begged the King not to stop at
Châtellerault; but Louis XIII, whose physical courage presented a
striking contrast to his moral flabbiness, refused to alter his
arrangements, and told him that he would answer for his own safety and
that of his attendants.
On November 6, the King reached Paris, and his first act was to visit
the Queen-Mother, who had now been permitted to return to the capital.
On the following day he went to Saint-Germain, and subsequently visited
Luynes at Lesigny, returning to Paris towards the end of the month.
Bassompierre does not appear to have been in attendance on the King
during these visits, nor was he commanded to accompany him when, early
in December, he set out with Luynes to inspect the fortresses of
Picardy. It was evidently the favourite’s policy to keep his rival as
much as possible at a distance from the King, until some post away from
the Court could be found for him.
An act of aggression on the part of Spain furnished Luynes with what he
was seeking.
The Spaniards, masters of the Milanese, had long coveted the Valtellina,
or Upper Valley of the Adda, which had been ceded to the Grisons by the
last of the Sforza. The possession of this valley would be of immense
strategic importance to them, since it would link the Milanese with the
Tyrol and Austria, and, at the same time, intercept the communications
of the Venetians with the Grisons, the Swiss and France. Since France
had an exclusive treaty with the Grisons, the Valtellina was an open
door for her into Italy, and Spain desired to close this door at any
cost. Successive governors of Milan had industriously fomented the
religious quarrel between the Protestant Grisons and the Catholics of
the Valtellina, and these intrigues at length bore fruit. One Sunday in
July, 1620, the Valtellina Catholics rose, massacred all the Protestants
of their country, to the number of several hundred, and then appealed to
the Spaniards to defend them from the vengeance of the Grisons. The
response, as may be supposed, was prompt and effective; the Spaniards
immediately entered the valley and took possession of all the strong
places, and, though the cantons of Berne and Zurich came to the
assistance of the Grisons, their united efforts proved powerless to
dislodge them.
This bold stroke of the Spaniards was a direct menace to Venice and
Savoy, and an indirect act of aggression against France; and the French
Government resolved to send an Ambassador Extraordinary to Madrid to
demand the evacuation of the Valtellina by Spain. Luynes had no
difficulty in deciding who that Ambassador Extraordinary ought to be,
and one day, towards the end of December, a courier from Picardy drew
rein before Bassompierre’s door and handed him a letter from the King,
informing him of his appointment, and directing him to be in readiness
to start for Madrid immediately after his Majesty returned to Paris.
* * * * *
A few days after Luynes had succeeded in finding so admirable a pretext
for ridding himself, for some months at least, of the only man whom he
considered capable of disputing with him the favour of the King, another
piece of good fortune befell him. On the night of Christmas Day, 1620,
the Duchesse de Luynes gave birth to a son.[137]
No sooner was the news of this great event noised abroad than the bells
of every church in Paris rang out a joyous peal, and several couriers
started to carry the glad tidings to Calais, where the King and Luynes
had arrived a day or two before to inspect the fortifications of the
harbour, which had been greatly damaged by a recent gale. Louis XIII was
the first to receive the news, and so delighted was he that he gave the
bearer a present of 4,000 crowns and undertook to announce it himself to
his favourite. Before doing so, however, he ordered all the guns of the
citadel to be discharged, and when Luynes inquired the meaning of this,
embraced him and exclaimed: “My cousin, I am come to rejoice with you,
because you have a son!”
Truly, as Contarini, the Venetian Ambassador, observed, in announcing
the event to his Government, “the Duc de Luynes seemed to have enchained
Fortune.”