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                          CHRISTINA OF DENMARK

                     DUCHESS OF MILAN AND LORRAINE

                               1522-1590

[Illustration: _Christina, Duchess of Milan_]




                          CHRISTINA OF DENMARK
                         DUCHESS OF MILAN AND
                               LORRAINE

                               1522-1590


                          BY JULIA CARTWRIGHT
                              (MRS. ADY)

        AUTHOR OF "ISABELLA D'ESTE," "BALDASSARRE CASTIGLIONE,"
                   "THE PAINTERS OF FLORENCE," ETC.

      "Dieu, qu'il la fait bon regarder,
    La gracieuse, bonne et belle!
    Pour les grans biens qui sont en elle,
    Chacun est prest de la louer.
      Qui se pourrait d'elle lasser?
    Toujours sa beauté renouvelle.
    Dieu, qu'il la fait bon regarder,
    La gracieuse, bonne et belle!
      Par deça, ne delà la mer,
    Ne sçay Dame ne Damoiselle
    Qui soit en tous biens parfais telle;
    C'est un songe que d'y penser,
      Dieu, qu'il la fait bon regarder!"

                          CHARLES D'ORLÉANS

                                NEW YORK
                       E. P. DUTTON AND COMPANY
                                  1913




PREFACE


Christina of Denmark is known to the world by Holbein's famous portrait
in the National Gallery. The great Court painter, who was sent to
Brussels by Henry VIII. to take the likeness of the Emperor's niece,
did his work well. With unerring skill he has rendered the "singular
good countenance," the clear brown eyes with their frank, honest gaze,
the smile hovering about "the faire red lips," the slender fingers of
the nervously clasped hands, which Brantôme and his royal mistress,
Catherine de' Medici, thought "the most beautiful hands in the world."
And in a wonderful way he has caught the subtle charm of the young
Duchess's personality, and made it live on his canvas. What wonder
that Henry fell in love with the picture, and vowed that he would
have the Duchess, if she came to him without a farthing! But for all
these brave words the masterful King's wooing failed. The ghost of his
wronged wife, Katherine of Aragon, the smoke of plundered abbeys, and
the blood of martyred friars, came between him and his destined bride,
and Christina was never numbered in the roll of Henry VIII.'s wives.
This splendid, if perilous, adventure was denied her. But many strange
experiences marked the course of her chequered life, and neither beauty
nor virtue could save her from the shafts of envious Fortune. Her
troubles began from the cradle. When she was little more than a year
old, her father, King Christian II., was deposed by his subjects, and
her mother, the gentle Isabella of Austria, died in exile of a broken
heart. She lost her first husband, Francesco Sforza, at the end of
eighteen months. Her second husband, Francis Duke of Lorraine, died in
1545, leaving her once more a widow at the age of twenty-three. Her
only son was torn from her arms while still a boy by a foreign invader,
Henry II., and she herself was driven into exile. Seven years later she
was deprived of the regency of the Netherlands, just when the coveted
prize seemed within her grasp, and the last days of her existence were
embittered by the greed and injustice of her cousin, Philip II.

Yet, in spite of hard blows and cruel losses, Christina's life was
not all unhappy. The blue bird--the symbol of perpetual happiness in
the faery lore of her own Lorraine--may have eluded her grasp, but
she filled a great position nobly, and tasted some of the deepest and
truest of human joys. Men and women of all descriptions adored her, and
she had a genius for friendship which survived the charms of youth and
endured to her dying day. A woman of strong affections and resolute
will, she inherited a considerable share of the aptitude for government
that distinguished the women of the Habsburg race. Her relationship
with Charles V. and residence at the Court of Brussels brought her
into close connection with political events during the long struggle
with France, and it was in a great measure due to her exertions that
the peace which ended this Sixty Years' War was finally concluded at
Câteau-Cambrésis in 1559.

Holbein's Duchess, it is evident, was a striking figure, and her
life deserves more attention than it has hitherto received. Brantôme
honoured her with a place in his gallery of fair ladies, and the sketch
which he has drawn, although inaccurate in many details, remains true
in its main outlines. But with this exception Christina's history has
never yet been written. The chief sources from which her biography
is drawn are the State Archives of Milan and Brussels, supplemented
by documents in the Record Office, the Bibliothèque Nationale, the
Biblioteca Zelada near Pavia, and the extremely interesting collection
of Guise letters in the Balcarres Manuscripts, which has been preserved
in the Advocates' Library at Edinburgh. A considerable amount of
information, as will be seen from the Bibliography at the end of
this volume, has been collected from contemporary memoirs, from the
histories of Bucholtz and Henne, and the voluminous correspondence of
Cardinal Granvelle and Philip II., as well as from Tudor, Spanish, and
Venetian State Papers.

In conclusion, I have to acknowledge the kind help which I have
received in my researches from Monsignor Rodolfo Maiocchi, Rector
of the Borromeo College at Pavia, from Signor O. F. Tencajoli, and
from the keepers of English and foreign archives, among whom I must
especially name Signor Achille Giussani, of the Archivio di Stato
at Milan, Monsieur Gaillard, Director of the Brussels Archives, and
Mr. Hubert Hall. My sincere thanks are due to Count Antonio Cavagna
Sangiuliani for giving me permission to make use of manuscripts in his
library at Zelada; to Monsieur Leon Cardon for leave to reproduce four
of the Habsburg portraits in his fine collection at Brussels; and to
Mr. Henry Oppenheimer for allowing me to publish his beautiful and
unique medal of the Duchess of Milan. I must also thank Sir Kenneth
Mackenzie and the Trustees of the Advocates' Library for permission
to print a selection from the Balcarres Manuscripts, and Mr. Campbell
Dodgson and Mr. G. F. Hill for the kindness with which they have placed
the treasures of the British Museum at my disposal. Lastly, a debt
of gratitude, which I can never sufficiently express, is due to Dr.
Hagberg-Wright and the staff of the London Library for the invaluable
help which they have given me in this, as in all my other works.

                                                        JULIA CARTWRIGHT.

        OCKHAM,
  _Midsummer Day, 1913_.




CONTENTS


  BOOK I
                                                                    PAGE
  ISABELLA OF AUSTRIA, QUEEN OF DENMARK, THE MOTHER
  OF CHRISTINA: 1507-1514                                              1

  BOOK II

  CHRISTIAN II., KING OF DENMARK, THE FATHER OF
  CHRISTINA: 1513-1523                                                17

  BOOK III

  KINGS IN EXILE: 1523-1531                                           36

  BOOK IV

  CHRISTINA, DUCHESS OF MILAN: 1533-1535                              71

  BOOK V

  THE WIDOW OF MILAN: 1535-1538                                      111

  BOOK VI

  THE COURTSHIP OF HENRY VIII.: 1537-1539                            144

  BOOK VII

  CLEVES, ORANGE, AND LORRAINE: 1539-1541                            207

  BOOK VIII

  CHRISTINA, DUCHESS OF LORRAINE: 1541-1545                          256

  BOOK IX

  CHRISTINA, REGENT OF LORRAINE: 1545-1552                           298

  BOOK X

  THE FRENCH INVASION: 1551-1553                                     354

  BOOK XI

  CHRISTINA AT BRUSSELS: 1553-1559                                   382

  BOOK XII

  THE PEACE OF CÂTEAU-CAMBRÉSIS: 1557-1559                           419

  BOOK XIII

  THE RETURN TO LORRAINE: 1559-1578                                  450

  BOOK XIV

  THE LADY OF TORTONA: 1578-1590                                     496

  APPENDIX: A SELECTION OF UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS                     516

  BIBLIOGRAPHY                                                       528

  GENEALOGICAL TABLES                                                533

  INDEX                                                              541




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


                                                            TO FACE PAGE

  CHRISTINA OF DENMARK, DUCHESS OF MILAN                  _Frontispiece_

     By HOLBEIN (National Gallery).

  CHARLES V.                                                           4

     By B. VAN ORLEY (Cardon Collection, Brussels).

  ELEANOR OF AUSTRIA                                                   6

     By B. VAN ORLEY (Cardon Collection, Brussels).

  ISABELLA OF AUSTRIA, QUEEN OF DENMARK                               12

     By B. VAN ORLEY.

  CHRISTIAN II., KING OF DENMARK                                      30

     London Library.

  THE CHILDREN OF CHRISTIAN II., KING OF DENMARK                      54

     By JEAN MABUSE (Hampton Court Palace).

  FRANCESCO SFORZA, DUKE OF MILAN                                     92

     British Museum.

  CHRISTINA, DUCHESS OF MILAN                                         92

     Oppenheimer Collection, London.

  FREDERIC, COUNT PALATINE                                           106

     Ascribed to A. DÜRER (Darmstadt).

  MARY, QUEEN OF HUNGARY                                             188

     By B. VAN ORLEY (Cardon Collection, Brussels).

  GRANDE PORTERIE, PALAIS DUCAL, NANCY                               260

  CHARLES V.                                                         322

     By TITIAN (Munich).

  HÔTEL-DE-VILLE, BRUSSELS                                           332

  S. GUDULE, BRUSSELS                                                332

  PALAIS DUCAL, NANCY                                                364

  PHILIP II. AND MARY                                                412

     By JACOPO DA TREZZO (British Museum).

  ANTOINE PERRENOT, CARDINAL GRANVELLE                               412

     By LEONE LEONI (British Museum).

  MARGARET, DUCHESS OF PARMA                                         412

     By PASTORINO (British Museum).

  WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE                                          456

     By ADRIAAN KEY (Darmstadt).

  MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS                                               466

     By FRANÇOIS CLOUET (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris).

  CHARLES III., DUKE OF LORRAINE                                     472

     British Museum.

  THE THREE DUCHESSES                                                508

     Prado, Madrid.

                          CHRISTINA OF DENMARK




BOOK I

ISABELLA OF AUSTRIA, QUEEN OF DENMARK, THE MOTHER OF CHRISTINA

1507-1514


I.

The 19th of July, 1507, was a memorable day in the history of Malines.
A solemn requiem Mass was sung that morning in the ancient church of
S. Rombaut for the soul of Philip, King of Castille and Archduke of
Austria, and, by right of his mother, Duke of Burgundy and Count of
Flanders and Brabant. The news of this young monarch's sudden death
at Burgos had spread consternation throughout the Netherlands, where
the handsome, free-handed Prince was very popular with the subjects
who enjoyed peace and prosperity under his rule. "Never," wrote a
contemporary chronicler, "was there such lamentation made for any
King, Duke, or Count, as for our good King Philip. There was no church
or monastery in the whole land where solemn Masses were not said for
the repose of his soul, and the mourning was greatest in the city of
Antwerp, where all the people assembled for the yearly Fair wept over
this noble young Prince who had died at the age of twenty-eight."[1]
The King's corpse was laid in the dark vaults of Miraflores, where his
widow, the unhappy Queen Juana, kept watch by her husband's grave night
and day; while, in obedience to his last wishes, his heart was brought
to the Netherlands and buried in his mother's tomb at Bruges. Now the
States-General and nobles were summoned by Margaret of Austria, the
newly-proclaimed Governess of the Netherlands, to attend her brother's
funeral at Malines.

[Sidenote: JULY, 1507] MARGARET OF AUSTRIA]

From the gates of the Keyserhof, through the narrow streets of the old
Flemish city, the long procession wound its way: Knights of the Golden
Fleece, nobles, deputies, Bishops and clergy, merchants, artisans, and
beggars, all clad in deep mourning. Twelve heralds, followed by a crowd
of gentlemen with lighted torches, bore the armour and banners of the
dead King to the portals of S. Rombaut. There an immense catafalque,
draped with cloth of gold and blazing with wax lights, had been erected
in the centre of the nave. Three golden crowns, symbols of the three
realms over which Philip held sway, hung from the vault, and the
glittering array of gold and silver images on the high-altar stood
out against the sable draperies on the walls. A funeral oration was
pronounced by the late King's confessor, the Bishop of Arras chanted
the requiem Mass, and when the last blessing had been given, Golden
Fleece threw his staff on the floor, crying: "The King is dead!"[2]
At the sound of these thrice-repeated words the heralds lowered their
banners to the ground, and there was a moment of profound silence,
only broken by the sound of weeping. Then Golden Fleece cried in
a ringing voice: "Charles, Archduke of Austria!" and all eyes were
turned to the fair, slender boy, who, robed in a long black mantle,
knelt alone before the altar. "My lord lives! long may he live!" cried
the King-at-Arms; and a great shout went up on all sides: "Long live
Charles, Archduke of Austria and Prince of Castille!" A sword blessed
by the Bishop of Arras was placed in the boy's hands, and the heralds
of Burgundy, Flanders, Holland, and Friesland, raising their fallen
pennons, each in turn proclaimed the titles of the youthful Prince, who
was to be known to the world as Charles V.

No one wept more bitterly for King Philip than his only sister,
Margaret, the widowed Duchess of Savoy, as she knelt in her oratory
close to the great church. Although only twenty-seven, she had known
many sorrows. After being wedded to the Dauphin at two years old, and
educated at the French Court till she reached the age of thirteen, she
was rejected by Charles VIII. in favour of Anne of Brittany, and sent
back to her father, the Emperor Maximilian. Three years afterwards
she went to Spain as the bride of Don Juan, the heir to the crowns of
Castille and Aragon, only to lose her husband and infant son within a
few months of each other. In 1501 she became the wife of Duke Philibert
of Savoy, with whom she spent the three happiest years of her life. But
in September, 1504, the young Duke died of pleurisy, the result of a
chill which he caught out hunting, and his heart-broken widow returned
once more to her father's Court.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1509] MAXIMILIAN'S GRANDCHILDREN]

On the death of Philip in the following year, Maximilian prevailed
upon his daughter to undertake the government of the Netherlands,
and in April, 1507, Margaret was proclaimed Regent, and took up her
abode at Malines. She was a singularly able and gifted woman, and her
personal charms and rich dowry soon attracted new suitors. Before
she became Regent she had received proposals of marriage from Henry
VII. of England, which Maximilian urged her to accept, saying that
she might divide the year between England and the Netherlands. Louis
XII., who in his boyhood had played with the Archduchess at Amboise,
would also gladly have made her his second wife, but, as he remarked:
"Madame Marguerite's father has arranged marriages for her three times
over, and each time she has fared badly." Margaret herself was quite
decided on the subject, and declared that she would never marry again.
Henceforth she devoted herself exclusively to the administration of
the Netherlands and the guardianship of her brother's young family. Of
the six children which Juana of Castille had borne him, two remained
in Spain, the younger boy Ferdinand and the infant Katherine, who did
not see the light until months after her father's death. But the elder
boy, Charles, and his three sisters, grew up under their aunt's eye
in the picturesque old palace at Malines, which is still known as the
Keyserhof, or Cour de l'Empereur. The eldest girl, Eleanor, afterwards
Queen of Portugal and France, was two years older than her brother;
the second, Isabella, the future Queen of Denmark, born on the 15th
of August, 1501, was nearly six; and Mary, the Queen of Hungary, who
was to play so great a part in the history of the Netherlands, had
only just completed her first year. Margaret, whose own child hardly
survived its birth, lavished all a mother's affection on her youthful
nephew and nieces. If the boy was naturally the chief object of her
care, the little girls held a place very near to her heart. This was
especially the case with "Madame Isabeau," her godchild, who was born
when Margaret was living at Malines before her second marriage. A
gentle and charming child, Isabella won the hearts of all, and became
fondly attached to the brother who was so nearly her own age.

[Illustration: CHARLES V. (1515)

By Bernard van Orley (Cardon Collection)

_To face p. 4_]

Margaret's letters to the Emperor abound in allusions to these
children, whose welfare was a matter of deep interest to their
grandfather. In the midst of the most anxious affairs of State, when
he was presiding over turbulent Diets or warring beyond the Alps,
Maximilian was always eager for news of "our very dear and well-beloved
children." The arrangements of their household, the choice of their
tutors and companions, their childish maladies and amusements, were all
fully reported to him. One unlucky day, when the royal children had
just recovered from measles, Madame Isabeau caught the smallpox, and
gave it to Madame Marie. Then Madame Leonore complained of her head,
and since Margaret had been told that the malady was very contagious,
and especially dangerous in winter, she felt it advisable to keep her
nephew at Brussels out of reach of infection. But this precaution
proved fruitless, for presently the boy sickened and became dangerously
ill. Great was the alarm which his condition excited, and it was only
at the end of three weeks that Margaret was able to inform the Emperor,
who was in Italy fighting against the Venetians, that his grandson was
out of danger.[3]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1509] A SFORZA DUKE]

The education of Charles and his sisters was the subject of their
guardian's most anxious consideration. A lady of Navarre, Dame Anne
de Beaumont, took charge of the little girls from their infancy,
and watched over them with a tenderness which earned their lifelong
gratitude. The old King of Aragon rewarded this lady with the Order
of S. Iago, while Margaret begged that she might be allowed to spend
her old age in one of the Archduke's houses at Ghent, seeing that
she had served "Mesdames mes nièces" so long and so well, and had
been but poorly paid for her trouble. Among their teachers was Louis
Vives, the learned friend of Erasmus, who afterwards became tutor to
their cousin, the Princess Mary of England, and took Sir Thomas More's
daughters as his models. Vives taught his pupils Greek and Latin, and
made them study the Gospels, and St. Paul's Epistles, as well as some
parts of the Old Testament. French romances, then so much in vogue,
were banished from their schoolroom, and the only tales which they were
allowed to read were those of Joseph and his brethren, of the Roman
matron Lucretia, and the well-known story of Griselda. Madame Leonore
was fond of reading at a very early age, but Madame Isabeau was more
occupied with her dolls, and is represented holding one in her arms in
the triptych of Charles and his sisters at Vienna. All the children
were very fond of music, in which they were daily instructed by the
Archduchess's organist, and there is a charming portrait of Eleanor
playing on the clavichord in Monsieur Cardon's collection at Brussels.
When, in 1508, the Spanish Legate, Cardinal Carvajal, visited Malines,
Charles and his sisters were confirmed by him in the palace chapel,
and the Archduke addressed a letter of thanks to Pope Julius II. in his
childish round hand.

[Illustration: ELEANOR OF AUSTRIA, QUEEN OF PORTUGAL AND FRANCE

By Bernard van Orley (Cardon Collection)

_To face p. 6_]

Margaret was careful to provide her young charges with suitable
companions. A niece of Madame de Beaumont and a Spanish girl of noble
birth were brought up with the Archduchesses, while the sons of the
Marquis of Brandenburg and Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg were among Charles's
playmates. Another youth whom the Emperor sent to be educated at
Malines in 1509 was his godson, Maximilian Sforza, the eldest son of
the unfortunate Duke Lodovico and Beatrice d'Este. While his younger
brother, Francesco, afterwards the husband of Christina of Denmark,
remained at Innsbruck with his cousin, the Empress Bianca, Maximilian
grew up with Charles, and throughout his life never ceased to regard
Margaret as a second mother. The young Duke of Milan's name often
figures in the Archduchess's correspondence with her father. One day
Maximilian tells her to borrow 3,000 livres from the Fuggers, and give
them to the Duke, who has not enough to buy his own clothes, let alone
those of his servants.[4] At another time we find Margaret appealing
to her father to settle the disputes of precedence which have arisen
between the Dukes of Milan and Saxe-Lauenburg, upon which Maximilian
replied that they were too young to think of such matters, and that for
the present they had better take the place of honour on alternate days.

It was a free and joyous life which these young Princes and Princesses
led at the Court of Malines. If they were kept strictly to their
lessons, they also had plenty of amusements. They played games, shot
with bows and arrows, and looked on at stag-hunts from the balcony of
the Swan, an old hostelry in the market-place. Charles had a little
chariot, drawn by two ponies, in which he often drove his sisters
through the town and out into the open country. Above all they enjoyed
the visits which they paid to the Castle of Vueren, near Brussels,
where Charles often went by his grandfather's orders to enjoy fresh air
and take hunting expeditions. The old Emperor was delighted to hear of
his grandson's taste for sport, and wrote from Augsburg that, if the
Archduke had not been fond of hunting, people would have suspected him
of being a bastard.[5]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1512] "FELIX AUSTRIA NUBE"]

When, in 1512, Maximilian came to Brussels, and Charles was sent to
meet him, he begged Margaret to bring the three Princesses, without
delay, to "amuse themselves in the park at Vueren," and sent the haunch
of a stag which he had killed that day as a present to his "dear little
daughters." At the children's urgent entreaty, the Emperor himself rode
out to join them at supper, and invited them to a banquet in the palace
at Brussels on Midsummer Day. When the English Ambassador, Sir Edward
Poynings, came to pay the Emperor his respects, he found His Majesty
in riding-boots, standing at the palace gates, with the Lady Regent,
the Lord Prince and his sisters, looking on at a great bonfire in the
square. The Ambassador and his colleague, Spinelli, were both invited
to return to the palace for supper, and had a long conversation with
the Lady Margaret, in whom they found the same perfect friend as ever,
"while the Prince and his sisters danced gaily with the other young
folk till between nine and ten o'clock."[6]

But this merry party was soon to break up. Before the end of the year
Maximilian Sforza crossed the Brenner, and entered Milan amidst the
acclamations of his father's old subjects, and eighteen months later
two of the young Archduchesses were wedded to foreign Kings.


II.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1514] MARRIAGE-MAKING]

While her nieces were still children Margaret was busy with plans
for their marriage. Her views for them were ambitious and frankly
expressed. "All your granddaughters," she wrote to her father, "should
marry Kings." The old Emperor himself was an inveterate matchmaker,
and the House of Austria had been proverbially fortunate in its
alliances. _Tu felix Austria nube_ had passed into a common saying.
By his marriage with Mary of Burgundy, Maximilian entered on the vast
inheritance of Charles the Bold, and his grandson was heir to the
throne of Spain by right of his mother Juana. In 1509 proposals for
two of the Archduchesses came from Portugal, and Margaret urged her
father to accept these offers, remarking shrewdly that King Emanuel
was a wealthy monarch, and that there were few marriageable Princes
in Europe. If both Madame Leonore and Madame Marie were betrothed to
the two Portuguese Princes, there would still be two of her nieces
to contract other alliances. But Maximilian's thoughts were too much
occupied with his war against Venice to consider these proposals
seriously, and the matter was allowed to drop.[7] Meanwhile Madame
Isabeau's hand was in great request. In March, 1510, Maximilian
received offers of marriage for his second granddaughter from the
King of Navarre's son, Henri d'Albret, but this project was nipped in
the bud by the jealousy of Isabella's other grandfather, Ferdinand of
Aragon, and Francis I.'s sister, Margaret, Duchess of Alençon, became
Queen of Navarre in her stead. A new and strange husband for the
nine-year-old Princess was now proposed by the Regent herself. This
was none other than Charles of Egmont, Duke of Guelders, the turbulent
neighbour who had been a thorn in Margaret's side ever since she became
Governess of the Netherlands. It is difficult to believe that Margaret
ever really intended to give her beloved niece to the man whom she
openly denounced as "a brigand and a felon," but it was necessary to
cajole Guelders for the moment, and conferences were held in which
every detail of the marriage treaty was discussed, and the dowry and
fortune of the bride and the portions of her sons and daughters were
all minutely arranged. But when the deputies of Guelders asked that
Madame Isabeau should be given up to the Duke at once to be educated
at his Court, the Regent met their demands with a flat refusal.
The negotiations were broken off, and war began again.[8] Another
matrimonial project, which had been discussed ever since King Philip's
lifetime, was the union of the Archduchess Eleanor with the young Duke
Antoine of Lorraine. Maximilian seems to have been really eager for
this marriage, which he regarded as a means of detaching a neighbouring
Prince from the French alliance, but was so dilatory in the matter that
Margaret wrote him a sharp letter, asking him if he ever meant to
marry his granddaughters. Upon this the affronted Emperor rebuked her
for these undutiful remarks, and asked peevishly "if she held him for
a Frenchman who changed his mind every day."[9] But in spite of these
protestations he took no further steps in the matter, and in 1515 Duke
Antoine married Renée de Bourbon, a Princess of the blood royal of
France.

The marriage of Louis XII. to Henry VIII.'s handsome sister Mary was
a more serious blow. Six years before the English Princess had been
wedded by proxy to the Archduke Charles, and Margaret, whose heart was
set on this alliance, vainly pressed her father to conclude the treaty.
Meanwhile, in January, 1514, Anne of Brittany died, and the widowed
King sent offers of marriage, first to Margaret herself, and then to
her niece Eleanor.[10] A few months later news reached Brussels that
Louis had made a treaty with Henry, and was about to wed the Princess
Mary. So the Archduke lost his promised bride, and his sister was
once more cheated of a husband. The Lady Regent was deeply hurt, but
found some consolation for her wounded feelings in the double marriage
that was arranged in the course of the same year between the Archduke
Ferdinand and Anna, daughter of Ladislaus, King of Hungary, and between
this monarch's son Louis and the Archduchess Mary. In May, 1514, the
little Princess was sent to be educated with her future sister-in-law
at Vienna, where the wedding was celebrated a year afterwards.[11]

At the same time marriage proposals for another of his granddaughters
reached Maximilian from a new and unexpected quarter. The young King
of Denmark, Christian II., on succeeding to the throne, declined the
French marriage which had been arranged for him by his father, and
conceived the ambitious design of allying himself with the Imperial
Family. In March, 1514, two Danish Ambassadors, the Bishop of Schleswig
and the Court-Marshal Magnus Giœ, were introduced into Maximilian's
presence by Christian's uncle, the Elector of Saxony, and asked for
the Archduchess Eleanor's hand on behalf of their royal master. The
prospect of an alliance with Denmark met with the Emperor's approval,
and could not fail to be popular in the Low Countries as a means
of opening the Baltic to the merchants of Bruges and Amsterdam.
Accordingly the envoys met with a friendly reception, and were told
that, although the elder Archduchess was already promised to the Duke
of Lorraine, the Emperor would gladly give King Christian the hand
of her sister Isabella. The contract was signed at Linz on the 29th
of April, 1514, and the dowry of the Princess was fixed at 250,000
florins, an enormous sum for those times. Only three-fifths of his
sister's fortune, however, was to be paid by Charles, and the remainder
by her grandfather, the King of Aragon.[12]

[Illustration: ISABELLA OF AUSTRIA, QUEEN OF DENMARK

By Bernard van Orley (Cardon Collection)

_To face p. 12_]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1514] A ROYAL WEDDING]

From Linz the Ambassadors travelled by slow stages to Brussels, where
they were received with great honour. But Margaret was scarcely
prepared for the proposal which they made, that the wedding might take
place on the following day, when King Christian was to be crowned at
Copenhagen. It was, however, impossible to refuse such a request, and
on Trinity Sunday, the 11th of June, the marriage was solemnized with
due splendour. At ten o'clock a brilliant assembly met in the great
hall of the palace, which had been hung for the occasion with the
famous tapestries of the Golden Fleece, and Magnus Giœ, who represented
the King, appeared, supported by the Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg and the
Marquis of Brandenburg. Presently a flourish of trumpets announced the
bride's coming, and Charles led in his sister, a tall, slender maiden
of thirteen, robed in white, with a crown of pearls and rubies on her
fair locks. "Madame Isabeau," as Margaret wrote with motherly pride to
her father, "was certainly good to see."[13] They took their places
under a baldacchino near the altar, followed by the Regent, who led
her niece Eleanor by the hand. The Archbishop of Cambray, clad in rich
vestments of purple and gold, performed the nuptial rites, and the
Danish Ambassador placed a costly ring, bearing three gold crowns set
round with large sapphires and the motto _Ave Maria gratia plena_, on
the finger of the bride, who plighted her faith in the following words:

"Je, Isabelle d'Autriche et de Bourgogne, donne ma foi à très hautt et
très puissant Prince et Seigneur, Christierne roy de Danemarck, et à
toy Magnus Giœ, son vrai et léal procureur, et je le prens par toy en
époux et mari légitime."[14]

Then the Mass of the Holy Ghost was chanted, the Spanish Ambassador
being seated at the Archduke's side, and the others according to their
rank, all but the English Envoy, who refused to be present owing to
a dispute as to precedence. Afterwards the guests were entertained by
the Regent at a banquet, followed by a tournament and a state ball,
which was kept up far into the night. Finally all the chief personages
present escorted the bride with lighted torches to her chamber, and
Magnus Giœ, in full armour, lay down on the nuptial bed at her side
in the presence of this august company. Then, rising to his feet, he
made a deep obeisance to the young Queen and retired. During the next
three days a succession of jousts and banquets took place, and on the
Feast of Corpus Christi a public reception was held in the palace, at
which the bride appeared wearing the ring of the three kingdoms and
a jewelled necklace sent her by King Christian. Unfortunately, the
Archduke danced so vigorously on the night of the wedding that this
unwonted exertion brought on a sharp attack of fever.

"Monseigneur," wrote his aunt to the Emperor, "fulfilled all his
duties to perfection, and showed himself so good a brother that he
overtaxed his strength, and fell ill the day after the wedding. Not,"
she hastened to add, "that his sickness is in any way serious, but that
the slightest ailment in a Prince of his condition is apt to make one
anxious."[15]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1515] EVIL OMENS]

On the 4th of July the Danish Ambassadors took their leave, but
Isabella remained in her home for another year. She and Eleanor shared
in the fêtes which celebrated the Archduke's coming of age, and were
present at his _Joyeuse Entrêe_ into Brussels. But in the midst of
these festivities the Danish fleet, with the Archbishop of Drondtheim
on board, arrived at Veeren in Zeeland, and on the 16th of July, 1515,
the poor young Queen took leave of her family with bitter tears, and
sailed for Copenhagen. On the day of Isabella's christening, fourteen
years before, the ceremony had been marred by a terrific thunderstorm,
and now the same ill-luck attended her wedding journey. A violent
tempest scattered the Danish fleet off the shores of Jutland, and the
vessel which bore the Queen narrowly escaped shipwreck. When at length
she had landed safely at Helsingfors, she wrote a touching little
letter to the Regent:

  "MADAME, MY AUNT AND GOOD MOTHER,

    "I must tell you that we landed here last Saturday, after
    having been in great peril and distress at sea for the last ten
    days. But God kept me from harm, for which I am very thankful.
    Next Thursday we start for Copenhagen, which is a day's journey
    from here. I have been rather ill, and feel weak still, but
    hope soon to be well. Madame, if I could choose for myself I
    should be with you now; for to be parted from you is the most
    grievous thing in the world to me, and the more so as I do not
    know when there is any hope of seeing you again. So I can only
    beg you, my dearest aunt and mother, to keep me in your heart,
    and tell me if there is anything that you wish me to do, and
    you shall always be obeyed, God helping me. That He may give
    you a long and happy life is the prayer of your humble and
    dutiful niece

                                                    "ISABEAU.[16]
  "August 7, 1515."


Two days later Isabella continued her journey to Hvidore, the royal
country-house near Copenhagen. There she was received by King
Christian, who rode at her side, a splendid figure in gold brocade and
shining armour, when on the following day she made her state entry into
the capital in torrents of rain. On the 12th of August the wedding was
celebrated in the great hall of the ancient castle, which had been
rebuilt by King Christian's father, and was followed by the coronation
of the young Queen. But Isabella was so much exhausted by the fatigue
which she had undergone, that before the conclusion of the ceremony she
fell fainting into the arms of her ladies. Her illness threw a gloom
over the wedding festivities, and seemed a forecast of the misfortunes
that were to darken the course of her married life and turn her story
into a grim tragedy.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] L. Gachard, "Voyages des Souverains des Pays-Bas." i. 455.

[2] "Bulletins de la Commission Royale d'Histoire," 2^{ième} série, v.
113-119. Jehan Le Maire, "Les Funéraux de Feu Don Philippe."

[3] E. Le Glay, "Correspondance de l'Empereur Maximilien I. et de
Marguerite d'Autriche," i. 203.

[4] Le Glay, i. 393.

[5] Le Glay, i. 241.

[6] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., i. 369.

[7] Le Glay, i. 165.

[8] Le Glay, i. 281, 399-441.

[9] Le Glay, ii. 205.

[10] H. Ulmann, "Kaiser Maximilian," ii. 484, 498.

[11] Le Glay, ii. 252; A. Henne, "Histoire du Règne de Charles V.," i.
96.

[12] Le Glay, ii. 383.

[13] Le Glay, ii. 256.

[14] J. Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 53.

[15] Le Glay, ii. 257.

[16] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 43.




BOOK II

CHRISTIAN II., KING OF DENMARK, THE FATHER OF CHRISTINA

1513-1523


I.

Christian II., King of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, as the proud title
ran, was in many respects a remarkable man. His life and character
have been the subject of much controversy. Some historians have held
him up to admiration as a patriot and martyr who suffered for his
love of freedom and justice. Others have condemned him as a cruel and
vindictive tyrant, whose crimes deserved the hard fate which befell
him. Both verdicts are justified in the main. On the one hand, he was
an able and enlightened ruler, who protected the liberties of his
poorer subjects, encouraged trade and learning, and introduced many
salutary reforms. On the other, he was a man of violent passions,
crafty and unscrupulous in his dealings, cruel and bloodthirsty in
avenging wrongs. His career naturally invites comparison with that
of Lodovico Sforza, whose son became the husband of his daughter
Christina. Both Princes were men of great ability and splendid dreams.
In their zeal for the promotion of commerce and agriculture, in their
love of art and letters, both were in advance of the age in which
they lived. Again, their vices and crimes, the cunning ways and
unscrupulous measures by which they sought to attain their ends, were
curiously the same. No doubt Christian II., born and bred as he was
among the rude Norsemen, belonged to a coarser strain than the cultured
Duke of Milan, and is hardly to be judged by the same standard. But
the two Princes resembled each other closely, and the fate which
eventually overtook them was practically the same. Both of these able
and distinguished men lost their States in the prime of life, and were
doomed to end their days in captivity. This cruel doom has atoned in
a great measure for their guilt in the eyes of posterity, and even in
their lifetime their hard fate aroused general compassion.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1516] THE KING'S DOVE]

Certainly no one could have foreseen the dismal fate which lay in store
for Christian II. when he ascended the throne. Seldom has a new reign
opened with fairer promise. His father, good King Hans, died in 1513,
lamented by all his subjects, and leaving his successor a prosperous
and united kingdom. Christian was thirty-two, and had already shown
his courage and ability in quelling a revolt in Norway. A man of noble
and commanding presence, with blue eyes and long fair hair, he seemed
a born leader of men, while his keen intelligence, genial manners,
and human interest in those about him, early won the affection of his
subjects. Unfortunately his own passions proved his worst enemies. In
Norway he had fallen in love with a beautiful girl named Dyveke--the
Dove--whose mother, a designing Dutchwoman named Sigebritt Willems,
kept a tavern at Bergen. On his accession he brought Dyveke and her
mother to Hvidore, and gave them a house in the neighbourhood. This
illicit connection excited great scandal at Court, and the Chancellor,
Archbishop Walkendorf of Drondtheim, exhorted the King earnestly to put
away his mistress on his marriage. Even before Isabella left Brussels,
the Archbishop wrote glowing accounts of her beauty and goodness to
his master, and told the King of the romantic attachment which she
cherished for her unknown lord. After her arrival at Copenhagen he did
his utmost to insure her comfort, and see that she was treated with
proper respect.

For a time Christian seems to have been genuinely in love with his
young wife, whose innocent charm won all hearts in her new home. In
his anxiety to please her, he furnished his ancestral castle anew,
and sent to Germany for musicians, fearing that the rude voices
of Danish singers might sound harsh in her ears. A young Fleming,
Cornelius Scepperus, was appointed to be his private secretary, and
the Fuggers of Antwerp were invited to found a bank at Copenhagen. At
the same time twenty-four Dutch families, from Waterland in Holland,
were brought over in Danish ships, and induced to settle on the
island of Amager, opposite the capital, in order that the royal table
might be supplied with butter and cheese made in the Dutch fashion.
This colony, imported by Christian II., grew and flourished, and to
this day their descendants occupy Amager, where peasant women clad
in the national costume of short woollen skirts, blue caps, and red
ribbons, are still to be seen. Unfortunately, the influence which
Sigebritt and her daughter had acquired over the King was too strong
to be resisted. Before long they returned to Court, and, to the
indignation of Isabella's servants, Sigebritt was appointed Mistress
of her household. Rumours of the slights to which the young Queen was
exposed soon reached the Netherlands, and when Maximilian informed
Margaret that he intended to marry her niece Eleanor to the King
of Poland, she replied with some asperity that she could only hope
the marriage would turn out better than that of her unhappy sister.
The Emperor expressed much surprise at these words, saying that he
considered his granddaughter to be very well married, since the King
of Denmark was a monarch of the proudest lineage, and endowed with
noble manners and rare gifts, if his people were still somewhat rude
and barbarous.[17] But, in spite of Maximilian's protests, the reports
of King Christian's misconduct soon became too persistent to be
ignored. When, in October, 1516, Charles, who had assumed the title
of King of Spain on his grandfather Ferdinand's death, held his first
Chapter of the Golden Fleece, the Knights with one accord refused to
admit the King of Denmark to their Order, because he was accused of
adultery and ill-treated his wife.[18] At length Maximilian was moved
to take action, and wrote to his grandson Charles in sufficiently plain
language, saying:

[Sidenote: 1513-23] ELEANOR'S ROMANCE]

    "The shameful life which our brother and son-in-law, the King
    of Denmark, is leading with a concubine, to the great sorrow
    and vexation of his wife, our daughter and your sister, is
    condemned by all his relatives; and in order to constrain him
    to abandon this disorderly way of living, and be a better
    husband to our said daughter, we are sending Messire Sigismund
    Herbesteiner to remonstrate with him, and have begged Duke
    Frederic of Saxony, his uncle, who arranged the marriage, to
    send one of his servants on the same errand. And we desire
    you to send one of your chief councillors to help carry out
    our orders, and induce the King to put away his concubine and
    behave in a more reasonable and honourable manner."[19]

But none of these remonstrances produced any effect on the misguided
King. When Herbesteiner reproached him with sacrificing the laws of
God and honour and the Emperor's friendship to a low-born woman, he
shook his fist in the imperial Envoy's face, and bade him begone from
his presence.[20] At the same time he showed his resentment in a more
dangerous way by making a treaty with France and closing the Sound to
Dutch ships. He even seized several trading vessels on pretence that
the Queen's dowry had not been paid, and when Archbishop Walkendorf
ventured to expostulate with him on his misconduct, banished the
prelate from Court.[21]

Meanwhile Isabella herself bore neglect and insults with the same
uncomplaining sweetness. But we see how much she suffered from a
private letter which she wrote to her sister Eleanor about this time.
This attractive Princess, who at the age of eighteen still remained
unmarried, had fallen in love with her brother's brilliant friend,
Frederic, Count Palatine, the most accomplished knight at Court, and
the idol of all the ladies. The mutual attachment between the Palatine
and the Archduchess was the talk of the whole Court, and met with
Margaret's private approval, although it was kept a secret from Charles
and his Ministers. Eleanor confided this romantic story to her absent
sister, and expressed a secret hope that the popular Count Palatine
might succeed her aunt as Regent when the young King left Brussels for
Spain. In reply Isabella sent Eleanor the warmest congratulations on
her intended marriage, rejoicing that her sister at least would not be
forced to leave home, and would be united to a husband whom she really
loved. The poor young Queen proceeded to lament her own sad fate in the
following strain:

    "It is hard enough to marry a man whose face you have never
    seen, whom you do not know or love, and worse still to be
    required to leave home and kindred, and follow a stranger to
    the ends of the earth, without even being able to speak his
    language."[22]

[Sidenote: 1513-23] A LOVE-LETTER]

She goes on to describe the misery of her life, even though she bears
the title of Queen. What is she, in fact, but a prisoner in a foreign
land? She is never allowed to go out or appear in public, while her
lord the King spends his time in royal progresses and hunting-parties,
and amuses himself after his fashion, apart from her. Far better would
it be for Eleanor to follow her own inclination, and choose a husband
who belongs to her own country and speaks her language, even if he were
not of kingly rank. Unfortunately, the pretty romance which excited
Isabella's sympathy was doomed to an untimely end. The death of Mary
of Castille, Queen of Portugal, in May, 1517, left King Emanuel a
widower for the second time. He had married two of Charles's aunts in
turn, and was now over fifty, and a hunchback into the bargain. None
the less, the plan of a marriage between him and his niece Eleanor
was now revived, and in August these proposals reached the young King
at the seaport of Middelburg, where he and his sister were awaiting
a favourable wind to set sail for Spain. Filled with alarm, Frederic
implored Eleanor to take a bold step, confess her love to Charles,
and seek his consent to her marriage with his old friend. In a letter
signed with his name, and still preserved in the Archives of Simancas,
the Palatine begged his love to lose no time if she would escape from
the snare laid for them both by "the Uncle of Portugal."

    "Ma mignonne," he wrote, "si vous voulez, vous pouvez être la
    cause de mon bien ou de mon mal. C'est pourquoi je vous supplie
    d'avoir bon courage pour vous et pour moi. Cela peut se faire
    si vous voulez. Car je suis prêt, et ne demande autre chose,
    sinon que je sois à vous, et vous à moi."[23]

Accordingly, on the Feast of the Assumption Eleanor approached her
brother after hearing Mass in the abbey chapel. But while she was
gathering all her courage to speak, Charles caught sight of the
Palatine's letter in her bosom, and, snatching it from his sister's
hands, broke into furious reproaches, swearing that he would avenge
this insult with the traitor's blood. As Spinelli, the English Envoy,
remarked, "The letter was but honest, concerning matters of love and
marriage,"[24] but the young King would listen to no excuses, and, in
spite of the Regent's intervention, Frederic was banished from Court
in disgrace. A fortnight later Charles and his sister sailed for
Castille, and in the following summer Madame Leonore became the bride
of "l'Oncle de Portugal," King Emanuel.


II.

The death of Christian II.'s mistress, Dyveke, in the summer of 1517
produced a change in the situation at Copenhagen. This unfortunate
girl, a victim of her ambitious mother's designs, died very suddenly
one afternoon after eating cherries in the royal gardens. The King's
suspicions fell on his steward, Torben Axe, who was brutally put to
death in spite of his protestations of innocence. But the Queen's
position was distinctly improved. Christian now treated his wife with
marked kindness, and appointed her Regent when, early in the following
year, he went to Sweden to put down a rising of the nobles. Sigebritt
Willems's influence, however, still remained paramount, and, in a
letter to the Queen from Sweden, Christian begged her to consult the
Dutchwoman in any difficulty, and ended by wishing her and "Mother
Sigebritt" a thousand good-nights. Stranger still to relate, when, on
the 21st of February, Isabella gave birth to a son, the infant Prince
was entrusted to Sigebritt's care.

[Sidenote: 1513-23] BIRTH OF PRINCES]

This happy event, combined with Isabella's unfailing affection for
her wayward lord, led to improved relations between Christian and his
wife's family. After the death of Maximilian, Charles became anxious
to secure his brother-in-law's support in the imperial election, and
in February, 1519, a treaty was concluded between the two monarchs at
Brussels.[25] The Danish Envoys, Anton de Metz and Hermann Willems,
Sigebritt's brother, received rich presents from Margaret, who was
once more acting as Regent of the Netherlands, and she even sent a
silver-gilt cup to the hated Dutchwoman herself.[26] A month later the
King of Denmark was elected Knight of the Golden Fleece at a Chapter of
the Order held at Barcelona, and in a letter which Charles addressed to
him he expressed his pleasure at hearing good accounts of his sister
and little nephew, and promised to pay the arrears of Isabella's dowry
as soon as possible.[27]

On the 28th of June, 1519, Charles was elected King of the Romans, and
the formal announcement of his election was brought to Barcelona by
Eleanor's rejected suitor, the Palatine Frederic, whom he received with
open arms. A few days after this auspicious event the Queen of Denmark,
on the 4th of July, 1519, gave birth to twin sons, who received the
names of Philip and Maximilian. Both, however, died within a week of
their baptism, upon which Sigebritt is said to have remarked that this
was a good thing, since Denmark was too small a realm to support so
many Princes.

With the help of Dutch ships and gold, Christian succeeded in subduing
the Swedish rebels, and was crowned with great solemnity in the
Cathedral of Upsala on the 4th of November, 1520. But the rejoicings
on this occasion were marred by the execution of ninety Swedish nobles
and two Bishops, who were treacherously put to death by the King's
orders. This act, which earned for Christian the title of the Nero
of the North, is said to have been instigated by Sigebritt and her
nephew Slagbök, a Westphalian barber, who had been raised from this low
estate to be Archbishop of Lunden. The insolent conduct of these evil
counsellors naturally increased the King's unpopularity in all parts of
the kingdom. Yet at the same time Christian II. showed himself to be an
excellent and enlightened ruler. He administered justice strictly, and
introduced many salutary reforms.

[Sidenote: 1513-23] BIRTH OF DOROTHEA]

The common practice of buying and selling serfs was prohibited,
Burgomasters and Town Councils were appointed to carry out the laws,
and a system of tolls and customs was established. Schools and
hospitals were founded, inns were opened in every town and village
for the convenience of travellers, piracy and brigandage were sternly
repressed. An Act was passed ordering that all cargoes recovered from
wrecks were to be placed in the nearest church, and, if not claimed by
the end of the year, divided between the Crown and the Church. When the
Bishops complained of the loss thus inflicted on them, the King told
them to go home and learn the Eighth Commandment. Still greater was
the opposition aroused when he attempted to reform clerical abuses.
Early in life Christian showed strong leanings towards the doctrines of
Luther, and on his return from Sweden he asked his uncle, the Elector
of Saxony, to send him a Lutheran preacher from Wittenberg. Although
these efforts at proselytizing met with little success, the King openly
professed his sympathy with the new Gospel. He had the Bible translated
into Danish, bade the Bishops dismiss their vast households, issued
edicts allowing priests to marry, and ordered the begging friars to
stay at home and earn their bread by honest labour.[28]

All these reforms could not be effected without vigorous opposition,
and the discontent among the nobles and clergy became every day more
active. In the spring of 1521 a young Swedish noble, Gustavus Wasa,
raised the standard of revolt in Dalecarlia, and led his peasant bands
against Stockholm. Upon this Christian decided to pay a visit to the
Low Countries to meet the new Emperor, who was coming to be crowned at
Aix-la-Chapelle, and seek his help against the citizens of Lübeck and
the Swedish rebels. The government was once more placed in the hands
of Isabella. A few months before this, on the 10th of November, 1520,
while Christian was absent in Sweden, the Queen had given birth to a
daughter, named Dorothea after the King's grandmother, the able and
ambitious Princess of Brandenburg, who married two Kings of Denmark
in succession. Now she followed her husband with wistful thoughts as
he started on his journey, attended only by his Chamberlain, Anton de
Metz, and three servants, and rode all the way to her old home in the
Netherlands.

On the 20th of June nine Danish ships sailed into the port of Antwerp,
and a few days afterwards Christian II. rode into the town. His fine
presence and the courage which he had shown in riding through Germany
with this small escort excited general admiration.

    "I noted," wrote Albert Dürer in his Journal, "how much the
    people of Antwerp marvelled at the sight of this manly and
    handsome Prince, who had come hither through his enemies'
    country, with these few attendants."[29]

[Sidenote: 1513-23] KING CHRISTIAN AT BRUSSELS]

The Nuremberg master had been spending the winter in the Low
Countries, paying his respects to the Regent at Malines, and conversing
with Erasmus of Rotterdam and Lucas van Leyden. He was starting on his
journey home, when, on the Feast of the Visitation, he was sent for
by the King of Denmark, who received him very graciously, and asked
him to dine at his table and to take his portrait. So great was the
interest which Christian showed in the painter's work, that Dürer gave
him a fine set of his prints, which are still preserved in the museum
at Copenhagen, and accepted an invitation to accompany him to Brussels
the next day. Thus Albert Dürer was a witness of the meeting between
Christian and his brother-in-law Charles V., who had just arrived
from his coronation at Aix-la-Chapelle, and had been received with
great rejoicing by his subjects. At five that summer evening Charles
rode out from Brussels at the head of a brilliant cavalcade, and met
his royal brother-in-law in a meadow, where they embraced each other
and conversed with the help of an interpreter, Christian speaking in
German, and Charles in French. They entered Brussels after sunset, and
found the streets hung with tapestries and lighted with innumerable
torches and bonfires. The Emperor escorted Christian to the Count of
Nassau's palace on the top of the hill, which Dürer describes as the
finest house that he had ever seen. The next morning Charles brought
his guest to the palace gates, where the Regent and Germaine de Foix,
King Ferdinand's widow, were awaiting them, and for the first time
Margaret came face to face with her niece's husband. Christian kissed
the two ladies in French fashion, and after dinner the two Princes
spent the evening dancing with the Court ladies.

    "Now," wrote the Venetian Ambassador, Gaspare Contarini,
    "at two hours after dark, they are still dancing, for young
    monarchs such as these are not easily tired."[30]

The impression which the Danish King made on the learned Italian was
very favourable. He describes him as a fine-looking Prince, with an
earnest, animated expression, long locks, and a beard curled after
the Italian fashion. In his black satin doublet, Spanish cloak, and
jewelled cap, he looked every inch a King. On the Sunday after his
arrival Christian entertained the Emperor, the Lady Margaret, and
the Queen-Dowager of Spain, at dinner. Albert Dürer was present on
this occasion, and was afterwards employed to paint a portrait of the
King in oils, for which Christian gave him thirty florins, an act of
liberality which contrasted favourably with Margaret's parsimony. "The
Lady Margaret in particular," remarks the painter in his Journal, "gave
me nothing for what I made and presented to her." Another personage in
whose society the King took pleasure was Erasmus, who discussed the
reform of the Church with him, and was much struck by the monarch's
enlightened opinions. On the 12th of July Christian accompanied his
brother-in-law to Antwerp, to lay the foundations of the new choir of
Our Lady's Church, and went on to Ghent, where he paid formal homage
for the duchy of Holstein, and was confirmed in his rights over the
Hanse towns, but could not persuade Charles to join him in making war
on the friendly citizens of Lübeck. At Ghent the King sent for the
English Ambassador, Sir Robert Wingfield, with whom he had a long
and friendly conversation, expressing great anxiety to meet King
Henry VIII. In reply, Wingfield told him that he would soon have the
opportunity of seeing the English monarch's powerful Minister, Cardinal
Wolsey, to whom he could speak as frankly as to the King himself.[31]
Accordingly, on the 5th of August Christian accompanied Charles and
Margaret to the Prinzenhof at Bruges, where Wolsey joined them a week
later. The regal state of the English Cardinal formed a striking
contrast to the King's simplicity. He arrived with a train of over
a thousand followers, clad in red satin, and twenty English nobles,
wearing gold chains, walked at his horse's side. On Sunday he rode to
Mass with the Emperor, and dined with Charles and Margaret, "praising
the delicate and sumptuous manner" in which he was entertained. When
the King of Denmark sent to ask him to come to his lodgings, the
Cardinal demurred, saying that, as he represented His Majesty of
England, the King must be the first to visit him, but that if Christian
preferred he would meet him in the palace garden. Christian, however,
waived ceremony, and called on Wolsey the next morning. The interview
was a very friendly one. Christian expressed his anxiety to enter into
a close alliance with England, and begged King Henry to be a good uncle
to his young kinsman, James V. of Scotland. Wolsey on his part was much
impressed by the King's good sense and peaceable intentions.

[Sidenote: 1513-23] REVOLT IN DENMARK]

    "Surely, Sir," he wrote to his royal master, "the King of
    Denmark, though in appearance he should be judged to be a
    rash man, yet he is right wise, sober, and discreet, minding
    the establishing of good peace betwixt Christian Princes,
    wherein he right substantially declared his mind to me at good
    length."[32]

[Illustration: CHRISTIAN II., KING OF DENMARK

_To face p. 30_]

But the next day the King sent the Cardinal word that he had received
such bad news from his own country that he must return without delay.
He actually left Bruges that day, and was escorted to the city gates
by the Papal Nuncio Caracciolo and Contarini, who took leave of the
King, and returned to dine with Erasmus and his English friend, _Messer
Toma Moro_.[33] Unfortunately, Christian's visit to the Low Countries
produced no good result, and there was some justification for the
Imperial Chancellor's cynical remark: "It would have been better to
keep the King here, where he can do no harm, than to let him go home
to make fresh mischief."[34] He left Bruges dissatisfied with the
Emperor, and on reaching Copenhagen his first act was to dismiss the
Queen's confessor, Mansueri. When the Emperor begged him to leave his
sister free in matters of conscience, he broke into a passionate fit of
rage, tore the Golden Fleece from his neck, and trampled it underfoot,
cursing his meddlesome brother-in-law. What was worse, he seized
several Dutch ships in the Sound, and drew upon himself the serious
displeasure of the Regent and her Council.

Meanwhile Gustavus Wasa had laid siege to Stockholm, and there was a
rising in Jutland. A Papal Legate arrived at Copenhagen to inquire into
the judicial murder of the Swedish Bishops and demand the punishment
of Slagbök. The unfortunate Archbishop was made a scapegoat, and put
to death in January, 1522. Stones were thrown at Sigebritt when she
drove out in the royal carriage, and one day she was thrown into a pond
by some peasants, and only rescued with difficulty. Even Christian
began to realize the danger of the situation, and wrote to Isabella
from Jutland, begging her to "bid Mother Sigebritt hold her tongue,
and not set foot outside the castle, if she wished him to return home
alive." In another letter, written on the 4th of February, 1522, from
the Convent of Dalin, the King congratulates his wife on her safe
deliverance, and the birth of "a marvellously handsome child."[35]
This is the only intimation we have of the birth of Isabella's second
daughter, Christina. The exact date is not to be found in the Danish
archives, and has hitherto eluded all research. The child who saw the
light in these troubled times received the name of Christina from her
grandmother, the Queen-Dowager of Denmark, a Princess of Saxon birth,
who still resided at King Hans's favourite palace of Odensee. All we
know of Queen Christina is that, on the 2nd of April, 1515, two years
after her husband's death, she addressed an urgent prayer to King Henry
VIII., begging him to send her a relic of St. Thomas of Canterbury.[36]
We are not told if a phial containing a drop of the saint's blood was
sent to Denmark in response to this entreaty, but the request is of
interest as a proof of the English martyr's widespread renown.

A few weeks after the birth of her little daughter Isabella wrote a
touching appeal to her aunt, imploring the Regent's help against the
Danish rebels:

[Sidenote: 1513-23] CHRISTIAN II. DEPOSED]

    "We have sad news from my lord in Jutland. The nobles there
    have rebelled against him, and seek to deprive him and our
    children of their crown and their lives. So we entreat you to
    come to our help, that we may chastise these rebels."[37]

Anton de Metz was sent to Brussels on the same errand, but could obtain
small hopes of assistance. The Regent's Council complained that King
Christian had damaged the trade of the Low Countries and ill-treated
their sailors, and the temper of the Court was reflected in Sir Robert
Wingfield's despatches to England.

    "The Easterlings," remarked the Ambassador, "handle the King
    of Denmark roughly, and his own people are said to have killed
    the Woman of Holland, who was mother to his Dove, as the King's
    mistress was called, whereby it appeareth that ill life and
    like governance often cometh to a bad end."[38]

King Christian's affairs, as Wingfield truly said, were in an evil
plight. In June Stockholm surrendered to Gustavus Wasa, and the
citizens of Lübeck sent a fleet to burn Helsingfors and threaten
Copenhagen. To add to the unfortunate King's difficulties, his uncle
Frederic, Duke of Holstein, who had always nursed a grievance against
his elder brother, the late King Hans, now took up a hostile attitude,
and made common cause with the rebels. On the 20th of January, 1523,
the nobles of Jutland met at Viborg, deposed Christian II. formally,
and elected his uncle Frederic to be King in his stead. In vain
Christian endeavoured to raise fresh forces, and sent desperate appeals
to his kinsfolk in the Low Countries and Germany, and to his allies in
England and Scotland.

Margaret replied curtly that the Emperor himself needed all the
men and ammunition that could be obtained in those parts. The young
King of Scotland's Chancellor, the Archbishop of Glasgow, sent a
sympathetic message, regretting that the enmity of England prevented
him from helping King Christian against his rebel subjects. When the
Dean of Roskild appeared in London with a letter from the Danish
monarch, begging King Henry to induce Margaret to help him against the
Easterlings, Wolsey sent a splendid barge to conduct the Ambassador
to Greenwich, but gave him little encouragement beyond fair words.
"So I hope," wrote Sir Robert Wingfield, who, in spite of Christian's
civilities at Ghent, had little pity for him, "that this wicked King
will fail."[39]

[Sidenote: 1513-23] FLIGHT OF THE ROYAL FAMILY]

The unhappy monarch was at his wits' end. Yet many of his subjects were
still loyal. The bulk of the middle and lower classes, the burghers,
artisans, and country-folk, looked on him as their best friend; and
when he appeared at the fair of Ringsted, a thousand strong arms
were raised, and a thousand lusty voices swore fealty to Christian,
the peasants' King. Copenhagen was strongly fortified, and as long
as he stayed there he was safe from his foes. But an unaccountable
panic seized him. Whether, as in the case of Lodovico Sforza, whom he
resembled in so many ways, remorse for past crimes enfeebled his will,
or whether his nerves gave way, he could not summon up courage to meet
his foes, and decided to fly. A fleet of twenty ships was equipped,
fully supplied with arms and ammunition, and laden with the crown
jewels, archives, and treasures. The Queen and her young children--the
five-year-old Prince John, the two little Princesses, Dorothea and
Christina (a babe of fifteen months)--went on board the finest vessel
of the fleet, the _Great Mary_, and Mother Sigebritt was hidden in a
chest to save her from the fury of the people, who regarded her as the
chief cause of the King's unpopularity. But the greatest compassion was
felt for Isabella and her innocent babes; and even the usurper Frederic
wrote to beg the Queen to remain in Denmark, assuring her that she and
her children would be perfectly safe. On the 14th of April the fleet
set sail. An immense crowd assembled on the ramparts to see the last
of the royal family. The King made a farewell speech, exhorting the
garrison to remain loyal to his cause, and promising to return in three
months with reinforcements. Then the ships weighed anchor, and neither
Isabella nor her children ever saw the shores of Denmark again.

FOOTNOTES:

[17] Le Glay, ii. 336.

[18] De Reiffenberg, "Histoire de l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or," 307.

[19] Le Glay, ii. 337.

[20] L. Van Bergh, "Correspondance de M. d'Autriche," ii. 135.

[21] Ulmann, ii. 510.

[22] Hubertus Leodius Thomas, "Spiegel des Humors grosser Potentaten,"
79. E. Moeller, "Éléonore d'Autriche," 307.

[23] Moeller, 327. L. Mignet, "Rivalité de Francis I. et Charles V.,"
i. 140.

[24] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., ii. 2, 1151. H. Baumgarten,
"Geschichte Karl V.," i. 58.

[25] Henne. ii. 249.

[26] Archives du Royaume: Bruxelles Régistre des Revenus et Dépenses de
Charles V., ii. 72.

[27] J. Altmeyer, 46.

[28] F. Dahlmann, "Geschichte von Dänemark," iii. 359.

[29] M. Conway, "Literary Remains of Albert Dürer," 124.

[30] Venetian State Papers, iii. 139.

[31] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 555, 561, 582.

[32] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 614.

[33] Venetian State Papers, iii. 162.

[34] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 576.

[35] Altmeyer, 23. Reedtz Manuscripts, xiii. 28.

[36] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., ii. 191.

[37] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 23.

[38] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 1086.

[39] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., iii. 2, 1189. Altmeyer,
"Relations Commerciales du Danemark et des Paysbas," 105.




BOOK III

KINGS IN EXILE

1523-1531


I.

[Sidenote: 1523-31] VISIT TO LONDON]

The troubles of the Danish royal family were not over when they left
Copenhagen. A violent storm scattered the fleet in the North Sea, and
drove several of the ships on the Norwegian coast, where many of them
were lost with all their cargo. The remaining eleven or twelve ships
entered the harbour of Veeren, in Walcheren, on the 1st of May. Here
the King and Queen were kindly received by Adolf of Burgundy, the
Admiral of the Dutch fleet, who kept them for a week in his own house,
and then escorted them to the Regent's Court at Malines. Margaret
welcomed her niece with all her old affection, and took her and the
royal children into her own house. But she met the King's prayer for
help coldly, saying that it was beyond her power to give him either men
or money. The moment, it is true, was singularly unpropitious. Not only
were all the Emperor's resources needed to carry on his deadly struggle
with France, but nearer home the Regent was engaged in a fierce
conflict with her old enemy, Charles of Guelders, for the possession
of Friesland. As Adolf of Burgundy wrote to Wolsey: "We need help so
much ourselves that we are hardly in condition to help others."[40]
Christian soon realized this, and determined to apply to Henry VIII.,
relying on his former assurances of brotherly affection, and feeling
confident of Wolsey's support. The scheme met with Margaret's approval,
and, since Isabella had only brought one Dutch maid and the children's
nurses from Copenhagen, the Regent lent her several ladies, in order
that she might appear in due state at the English Court.[41]

On the 5th of June the King and Queen left Malines with a suite of
eighty persons and fifty horses, and, after waiting some time at Calais
to hear the latest news from Denmark, crossed the Channel, and reached
Greenwich on the 19th. Wolsey had already told the Imperial Ambassador,
De Praet, that the King of Denmark would receive little encouragement
from his master, and had expressed a hope that he would not give them
the trouble of coming to England. He met the royal travellers, however,
at the riverside, and conducted them to the palace, where they dined
in the great hall with the King on the following day, Henry leading
Christian by the hand, and Queen Katherine following with Isabella and
her sister-in-law, Mary, Duchess of Suffolk, the widow of Louis XII.,
who was still known as _la Reine blanche_. From Greenwich the King and
Queen of Denmark moved to Bath Place, where they were lodged at Henry's
expense. Katherine welcomed her great-niece with motherly affection,
but both Henry and Wolsey told Christian plainly that he had made a
fatal mistake in deserting his loyal subjects, and advised him to
return at once and encourage them by his presence.

All the English monarch would do was to send Envoys to Denmark to urge
the usurper Frederic and his supporters to return to their allegiance.

    "For," as Henry himself wrote to the Emperor, "this perfidy
    of the King's subjects is a most fatal example, if for the
    most trifling cause a Prince is to be called in question, and
    expelled and put from his crown."[42]

The futility of these measures was evident to De Praet, who wrote to
Charles at Toledo, saying that unless he took up the exiled monarch's
cause for his sister's sake he would never recover his kingdom.
Copenhagen was now besieged by land and sea, and if the garrison
were not relieved by Michaelmas they would be forced to surrender,
and Christian's last hope would be gone. The King himself, De Praet
owned, seemed little changed, and he advised the Emperor to insist on
Sigebritt's removal before giving him any help.

    "Your Majesty," wrote the Ambassador, "ought first of all to
    have the Woman of Holland sought out and punished, an act which
    in my small opinion would acquire great merit in the eyes of
    both God and man."[43]

At Isabella's request, both Margaret and King Henry had spoken
strongly to Christian on this subject, but he still persisted in his
infatuation, and it was not till after he had left the Netherlands, and
his wife and aunt were dead, that this miserable woman was arrested in
Ghent and burnt as a witch.[44]

[Sidenote: 1523-31] A NOBLE WIFE]

As for the Queen, no words could express De Praet's admiration for her
angelic goodness. "It is indeed grievous," he wrote, "to see this poor
lady in so melancholy a plight, and I cannot marvel too much at her
virtues and heroic patience." Henry was equally moved, and wrote to
Charles in the warmest terms of his sister's noble qualities, but did
not disguise his contempt for her husband.[45]

There was, clearly, nothing more to be gained by remaining in England,
and on the 5th of July the King and Queen returned to the Low
Countries. Isabella joined her children at Malines, and Christian went
to Antwerp to equip ships for the relief of Copenhagen. But he soon
quarrelled with Margaret, and left suddenly for Germany. In September
he appeared at Berlin, having ridden from Brussels attended by only
two servants, and succeeded in raising a force of 25,000 men, with
the help of his brother-in-law, the Marquis of Brandenburg, and Duke
Henry of Brunswick. But when the troops assembled on the banks of the
Elbe, King Christian was unable to fulfil his promises or provide the
money demanded by the leaders, and he was glad to escape with his
life from the angry hordes of soldiers clamouring for pay. By the end
of the year Copenhagen capitulated, and in the following August the
usurper Frederic was elected King by the General Assembly, and solemnly
crowned in the Frauenkirche.[46] The crimes of the unhappy Christian
recoiled on his own head, and in the Act of Deprivation by which he
was formally deposed, it was expressly stated that his neglect of his
noble and virtuous wife, and infatuation for the adventuress Sigebritt
and her daughter, had estranged the hearts of his people. But through
all these troubles Isabella clung to him with unchanging faithfulness.
She followed him first to Berlin, then to Saxony, where he sought his
uncle's help. In March she went to Nuremberg on a visit to her brother,
King Ferdinand, and pleaded her husband and children's cause before the
Diet in so eloquent a manner that the assembled Princes were moved to
tears.

    "Everyone here," wrote Hannart, the minister whom Charles V.
    had sent to his sister's help, "is full of compassion for the
    Queen, but no one places the least trust in the King. If it
    were not for her sake, not a single man would saddle a horse on
    his behalf."

Hannart, in fact, confessed that he had done his utmost to keep
Christian away from Nuremberg, feeling sure that his presence would do
more harm than good. Even Isabella's entreaties were of no avail. She
begged her brother in vain for the loan of 20,000 florins to satisfy
the Duke of Brunswick, whose angry threats filled her with alarm.

    "I am always afraid some harm may happen to you when I am
    away," she wrote to her husband. "I long to join you, and would
    rather suffer at your side than live in comfort away from
    you."[47]

But Christian, as Hannart remarked in a letter to the Regent Margaret,
had few friends. Even his servants did not attempt to deny the charges
that were brought against him, and the Queen alone, like the loyal wife
that she was, sought to explain and excuse his conduct.

[Sidenote: 1523-31] MARTIN LUTHER]

To add to Isabella's troubles, her brother Ferdinand was seriously
annoyed at the leanings to the Lutheran faith which she now displayed.
Christian's Protestant tendencies had been greatly strengthened by
his residence in Saxony during the winter of 1523. He heard Luther
preach at Wittenberg, and spent much time in his company, dining
frequently with him and Spalatin, the Court chaplain, and making
friends with the painter Lucas Cranach. The fine portrait of King
Christian by this artist forms the frontispiece of a Danish version
of the New Testament published by Hans Mikkelsen, the Burgomaster of
Malmoë, who shared his royal master's exile. When the Marquis Joachim
of Brandenburg remonstrated with his brother-in-law for his intimacy
with the heretic Luther, Christian replied that he would rather lose
all three of his kingdoms than forsake this truly Apostolic man.[48]
Isabella's naturally religious nature was deeply impressed by these
new influences, and both she and her sister-in-law, Elizabeth of
Brandenburg, secretly embraced the reformed doctrine. At Nuremberg she
attended the sermons of the Lutheran doctor Osiander, and received
Communion in both kinds from his hands on Maundy Thursday, to the great
indignation of King Ferdinand, who told her he could not own a heretic
as his sister. Isabella replied gently that if he cast her off God
would take care of her. Luther on his part was moved by the apparent
sincerity of his royal convert.

    "Strange indeed are the ways of God!" he wrote to Spalatin.
    "His grace penetrates into the most unlikely places, and may
    even bring this rare wild game, a King and Queen, safely into
    the heavenly net."[49]

While Luther addressed a strong remonstrance to the newly-elected
King of Denmark and the citizens of Lübeck, Christian's Chancellor,
Cornelius Scepperus, drew up an eloquent memorial to Pope Clement
VII. on the exiled King's behalf, and travelled to Spain to seek the
Emperor's help. By Hannart's exertions a Congress was held at Hamburg
in April, which was attended by representatives of the Emperor, the
Regent of the Netherlands, the Imperial Electors and Princes, as well
as by deputies from Denmark, England, Poland, and Lübeck. Isabella
accompanied her husband on this occasion, at Hannart's request.

    "I hear on all sides," he wrote to Charles, "that the people of
    Denmark would gladly welcome the return of the Queen and her
    children if the King would not meddle with public affairs, and
    a good Governor appointed by Your Majesty should act as Regent
    until the young Prince is of age."[50]

But when, by way of compromise, some members of the Congress proposed
that Frederic should retain the throne, and recognize Prince John as
his successor, Christian rejected this offer angrily, and negotiations
were soon broken off. Both Charles and Margaret now gave up all hope
of effecting Christian's restoration, and concluded a treaty in the
following August with King Frederic, by which his title was recognized,
and the Baltic was once more opened to the merchants of the Low
Countries.


II.

[Sidenote: 1523-31] THE CHILDREN OF DENMARK]

The exiled monarch, now compelled to realize the hopelessness of his
cause, returned sorrowfully with his wife to the Low Countries, and
Isabella had at least the joy of embracing her children once more.
During this long absence the faithful servants who had followed their
King and Queen into exile had kept her well supplied with news of their
health and progress.

    "Prince John," wrote Nicolas Petri, Canon of Lunden, "learns
    quickly, and begins to speak French. He is already a great
    favourite with the Lady Margaret. His sisters, the Princesses,
    are very well, and are both very pretty children. The youngest,
    Madame Christine, has just been weaned. Madame Marguerite says
    that she will soon be receiving proposals of marriage for the
    elder one. These are good omens, for which God be praised. It
    is a real pleasure to be with these children, they are so good
    and charming. If only Your Grace could see them, you would soon
    forget all your troubles."[51]

But not all Margaret's affection for Isabella and her children could
reconcile her to the King's presence. Christian was, it must be
confessed, a troublesome guest. His restless brain was always busy
with new plots and intrigues. At first he announced his intention of
taking Isabella to visit the Emperor in Spain, but, after spending some
weeks in Zeeland fitting out ships, he suddenly changed his mind, and
took Isabella, whose health had suffered from all the hardships and
anxiety that she had undergone, to drink the waters at Aix-la-Chapelle.
On his return he wished to settle at Ghent, but the Regent and her
Council, fearing that his presence would excite sedition in this city,
suggested that the Castle of Gemappes should be offered him instead.
Charles replied that if the King lived at Gemappes he would certainly
spoil his hunting, and thought that Lille or Bruges would be a better
place. In the end Lierre, a pleasant city halfway between Malines and
Antwerp, was chosen for the exiled Princes' home. Towards the end of
1524 Christian and his family took up their abode in the old castle
which still goes by the name of _Het Hof van Denemarken_, or _Cour de
Danemarck_. A guard of fifty halberdiers and a considerable household
was assigned to them by the Emperor's order. A monthly allowance of 500
crowns was granted to the King, while the Queen received a yearly sum
of 2,000 crowns _pour employer en ses menus plaisirs_. But Christian's
reckless and disorderly conduct soon landed him in fresh difficulties.
Isabella cut up her husband's old robes to make clothes for her
little girls, and was reduced to such penury that she was compelled
to pledge, not only her jewels, but the children's toys. Meanwhile
Margaret's letters to her imperial nephew were filled with complaints
of the Danish King's extravagance. She declared that he was spending
800 crowns a month, and perpetually asking for more. When she sent
her _maître d'hôtel_, Monsieur de Souvastre, to set his affairs in
order, he was confronted with a long list of unpaid bills from doctors,
apothecaries, saddlers, masons, carpenters, tailors, and poulterers.
But accounts of the straits to which the Queen and her children were
reduced had evidently reached Spain, and Charles felt it necessary to
remind his aunt gently that, after all, Isabella was his own sister,
and that many pensioners whom he had never seen received many thousands
of crowns a year from his purse.[52]

[Sidenote: 1523-31] A ZEALOUS LUTHERAN]

Another cause of perpetual irritation was the favour shown by the
King to the Lutherans, whom the Regent was trying to drive out of
Flanders. The Court of Lierre became the refuge of all who professed
the new doctrine. Margaret insisted on the banishment of several of the
King's servants, including the chaplain, Hans Monboë, and Prince John's
tutor, Nicolas Petri, and sent others to prison. But these high-handed
acts only strengthened Christian's zeal in the cause of reform. "The
word of God," he wrote to his friend Spalatin, "waxes powerful in
the Netherlands, and thrives on the blood of the martyrs."[53] The
letters which he addressed to his old subjects were couched in the
same strain. He confessed his past sins, and prayed that he might be
restored to his kingdom, like David of old, declaring that his sole
wish was to live for Christ and do good to his enemies. At the same
time he hired freebooters to ravage the coast of Denmark, and provoked
King Frederic to close the Sound, an act which aroused widespread
discontent in the Low Countries. In August, 1525, he sent a herald
to England, begging King Henry and his good friend the Cardinal to
intercede with the Regent, and induce her to lend him men and money for
a fresh expedition. But Margaret turned a deaf ear to all entreaties,
and when Isabella's physician recommended her to try the waters of
Aix-la-Chapelle again, she declined to sanction this journey on the
score of expense. She sent her own doctor, however, to Lierre, and at
his suggestion the invalid was moved for change of air to Swynaerde,
the Abbot of St. Peter's country-house near Ghent. But Isabella's ills
were beyond the reach of human skill, and she soon became too weak to
leave her room. On the 12th of December Christian sent for his old
chaplain from Wittenberg, begging him to return without delay.

  "DEAR BROTHER IN CHRIST," he wrote,

    "Here we forget Christ, and have no one to preach the word
    of God. I implore you to come and give us the comfort of the
    Gospel. Greet our brothers and sisters."

Upon receiving this summons, Monboë and Hans Mikkelsen hastened
to Ghent, at the peril of their lives, and administered spiritual
consolation to the dying Queen. On the 19th of January she received
the last Sacraments from the priest of Swynaerde, and saw Monsieur de
Souvastre, by whom she sent her aunt affectionate messages, commending
her poor children to Margaret's care. A few hours afterwards she passed
quietly away. Both Catholics and Lutherans bore witness to her angelic
patience, and a letter which Christian addressed to Luther, ten days
later, gives a touching account of his wife's last moments:

[Sidenote: 1523-31] DEATH OF ISABELLA]

    "As her weakness increased, Frau Margaret sent her servant,
    Philippe de Souvastre, and other excellent persons, to admonish
    her after the fashion of the Popish Anti-Christ's faith and the
    religion of his sect. But Almighty God in His mercy deprived
    my wife of her powers of speech, so that she made no reply,
    and they gave up speaking, and only anointed her with oil. But
    before this she had received the Blessed Sacrament in the most
    devout manner, with ardent longing, firm faith, and stedfast
    courage; and when one of our preachers exhorted her, in the
    words of the Gospel, to stand fast in the faith, she confessed
    her firm trust in God, and paid no heed to the superstitious
    mutterings of the others. After this she became speechless, but
    gave many signs of true faith to the end, and took her last
    farewell of this world on the 19th of January. May God Almighty
    be gracious to her soul, and grant her eternal rest! We are
    strong in the sure and certain hope that she has entered into
    eternal bliss, unto which God bring us all!"[54]

On the 4th of February the dead Queen, who had not yet completed her
twenty-fifth year, was buried with great pomp in the cloisters of the
Abbey of St. Peter at Ghent, where a stately marble tomb was raised
over her ashes. The painter Mabuse was employed to design the monument,
as we learn from a letter which the King addressed to the Abbot of
St. Peter's in 1528, complaining of his delay in completing the work.
A Latin inscription by Cornelius Scepperus, giving Isabella's titles
in full, and recording her virtues and the sufferings which she had
endured during her short life, was placed on the monument, which is
described by an English traveller of the sixteenth century, Philip
Skippon.[55] Unfortunately, the tomb was rifled by the mob at the time
of the French Revolution, but the ashes of the Queen were carefully
preserved by a pious Curé, and afterwards restored to their former
resting-place.

Isabella's early death was deeply lamented, not only in the Low
Countries, where she was so beloved, but in her husband's kingdoms.
Funeral services were held throughout the land, and all men wept for
the good Princess "who had been the mother of her people." On all sides
testimonies to her worth were paid. Henry of England wrote to King
Christian that the late Queen had been as dear to him as a sister, and
Luther paid an eloquent tribute to her memory in his treatise on Holy
Women:

    "Of such Kings' daughters there was indeed one, of the noblest
    birth, Isabella, Queen of Denmark, a Princess of the royal
    house of Spain. She embraced the Gospel with great ardour, and
    confessed the faith openly. And because of this she died in
    want and misery. For had she consented to renounce her faith,
    she would have received far more help and much greater kindness
    in this life."[56]


III.

The news of the Queen of Denmark's death reached her brother, the
Emperor, on the eve of his marriage to Isabella of Portugal. Guillaume
des Barres, the bearer of Margaret's letters, found him at a village in
Andalusia, on his way to Seville, where the wedding was to take place
on the following day, and had a long interview with his imperial master
before he left his bed on the 9th of March. Charles spoke with deep
feeling of his sister, and inquired anxiously if the Regent had been
able to obtain possession of her children--"a thing," wrote Des Barres,
"which His Majesty desires greatly, because of the King's heretical
leanings."[57]

[Sidenote: 1523-31] MARGARET INTERVENES]

Margaret had certainly not been remiss in this matter. But Christian
was more intractable than ever. He took his children to Ghent
immediately after their mother's death, and refused to give them up
until the Regent had paid all his debts, including 7,000 florins for
the funeral expenses, and 2,000 more which he owed to the landlord of
the Falcon at Lierre for Rhine-wine and fodder. His language became
every day more violent. He threatened to cut off the Governor of
Antwerp's head, and appealed to his comrades of the Golden Fleece for
the redress of his supposed grievances. At length Margaret, seeing that
none of her Court officials and Councillors could bring him to reason,
rode to Lierre herself on the 2nd of March, and made a last attempt to
obtain possession of the children _par voye aimable_. The King, she
found, had already packed up his furniture and plate, even the chalice
which was used in the royal chapel, and was about to start for Germany.

After prolonged discussion, the Regent succeeded in persuading
Christian to leave his children with her, on condition that she
paid his debts in Lierre, and provided for the late Queen's funeral
expenses--"a thing which must be done," she wrote to Charles, "out
of sheer decency." But she quite refused the King's demand for an
increased allowance, saying that he could not require more money
than he had received in his wife's lifetime. Christian then left the
Netherlands for Saxony, saying that he intended to raise a fresh army
and invade Denmark. "He is confident of recovering his kingdoms,"
wrote Margaret to the Emperor, "but my own impression is that his
exploits will be confined to plundering and injuring your subjects."
This prophecy was literally fulfilled, and during the next four years
the peaceful folk in Friesland were harassed by turbulent freebooters
in the King of Denmark's pay, while pirates ravaged the coasts of the
North Sea, and led the Hanse cities to make severe reprisals on the
Dutch ships.

[Sidenote: 1523-31] THE PALACE OF MALINES]

Margaret's chief object, however, was attained. On the 5th of March
she returned to Malines with the Prince of Denmark and his little
sisters. "Henceforth, Monseigneur," she wrote to Charles, "you will
have to be both father and mother to these poor children, and must
treat them as your own."[58] The Regent herself nobly fulfilled the
sacred trust committed to her by the dying Queen. From this time
until her own death, four and a half years later, Isabella's children
were the objects of her unceasing care, and lacked nothing that money
could provide or love suggest. They lived under her own roof in the
Palace of Malines, that city of wide streets and canals, with the fine
market-place and imposing cathedral, which many called the finest town
in Flanders. Margaret's first care was to arrange the royal children's
household. Prince John was placed in the charge of a governess,
Mademoiselle Rolande de Serclaes, who superintended his meals and
taught him "Christian religion and good manners," while he had for
his tutor Cornelius Agrippa, the distinguished scholar and defender
of women's rights, who dedicated his book, "On the Pre-excellence of
Women," to the Regent. In Lent the Prince and his sisters received
regular instruction in the palace chapel, and one year Friar Jehan de
Salis received thirty-six livres for preaching a course of Lent sermons
before the Prince and Princesses of Denmark. Margaret herself kept
a watchful eye on the children. A hundred entries in her household
accounts show how carefully she chose their nurses and companions,
their clothes and playthings. One of her first gifts to the Prince
was a handsome pony, richly harnessed with black and gold trappings.
Another was a dwarf page, who became his constant playfellow, and
in his turn received good Ypres cloth and damask for his own wear.
Italian merchants from Antwerp often came to lay their wares before the
Regent. We find her choosing black velvet and white satin for Prince
John's doublet, and pearl buttons and gold fringe to trim his sleeves,
and ordering the goldsmith, Master Leonard of Augsburg, to supply
an antique silver dagger and an image of Hercules for the Prince's
cap. Or else a merchant is desired to send her two pairs of cuffs of
exquisitely fine "toile de Cambray," embroidered with gold thread, for
the young Princesses' wear,[59] and twenty gold balls for the fringe
of their bed. Amid all the anxious cares of State which filled her
time, this great lady seldom allowed a day to pass without seeing her
nephew and nieces. Their innocent prattle and merry laughter cheered
her lonely hours, while the Prince and his sisters found plenty to
amuse them in their great-aunt's rooms. The halls were hung with costly
Arras tapestries of David killing Goliath, stories of Alexander and
Esther, hunting scenes and Greek fables, or adorned with paintings
by the best masters. Van Eyck's "Merchant of Lucca, Arnolfini with
his Wife," and "Virgin of the Fountain," Rogier Van der Weyden's and
Memling's Madonnas, Jerome Bosch's "St. Anthony," Jacopo de' Barbari's
"Crucifixion," were all here, as well as Michel van Coxien's little
Virgin with the sleeping Child in her arms, which Margaret called her
_mignonne_.[60] The library contained a complete collection of family
portraits, chiefly the work of the Court painter, Bernard van Orley or
Jehan Mabuse.

[Sidenote: 1523-31] MABUSE'S PICTURE]

Among these were pictures of Margaret's parents, Maximilian and Mary
of Burgundy; of her second husband, Monsieur de Savoie, a brilliant
cavalier clad in a crimson mantle sown with daisies in allusion to his
wife's name; and of her brother, King Philip, with his children, the
young Archduke Charles and the future Queens of France and Denmark.
Prince John and his sisters would recognize the portraits of their
own father and mother, King Christian and his gentle wife, which hung
over the mantelpiece, together with those of their great-grandparents,
Ferdinand and Isabella, the Kings of France and England, and the
Grand Turk. But better in the children's eyes than all the pictures
and bronzes, the marble busts and ivories, the silver mirrors and
chandeliers, better even than the Chinese dragons and stuffed
birds-of-Paradise from the New World, were the live pets with which
their aunt loved to be surrounded. The famous green parrot which once
belonged to Mary of Burgundy had lately died, to her great sorrow.
Margaret herself had written its epitaph, and the Court poet, Jehan Le
Maire, had sung the bird's descent into the Elysian fields, and its
converse with Charon and Mercury, in his elegy of "L'Amant Vert." But
in its stead she had cages full of parakeets and singing birds, which
were carefully tended by her ladies, and fed with white loaves newly
baked every morning. There was an Italian greyhound in a white fur
tippet, and a number of toy-dogs in baskets lined with swansdown, and
a marmoset that she had bought from a French pedlar, which afforded
the Court ladies as much amusement as the royal children. Nor were
other diversions wanting. Margaret was very fond of music, and not
only kept a troop of viol and tambourine players, but often sent for
the town band of Ghent and Brussels, or the Prince of Orange's fife
and organ players, to beguile her evenings. Sometimes the children
of S. Rombaut and the choir-boys of Notre Dame du Sablon in Brussels
would sing chorales during dinner, or strolling players and German
marionettes, Italian jugglers, or Poles and Hungarians with tame bears,
would be allowed to perform in her presence. On one occasion a famous
lute-player from the Court of Whitehall was sent over by King Henry,
and received seven gold crowns for his pains. Another time three
Savoyards were rewarded with a handful of gold pieces for the tricks
with which they had amused the Court after supper. And every May Day
the archers of the guard marched in procession to plant hawthorn-bushes
covered with blossom under the palace windows.[61]

In these pleasant surroundings the children of Denmark grew up under
the same roof as their mother and aunts before them, leading the same
joyous and natural life. No wonder that through all her troubled life
Christina looked back fondly to these early times, and never forgot the
happy days which she had spent at Malines. There is a charming picture,
now at Hampton Court, of the three children, painted by Mabuse soon
after their mother's death, and sent to King Henry VIII., whose favour
Christian II. was once more trying to obtain.[62]

The three children are standing at a table covered with a green cloth,
on which apples and cherries are laid. Prince John, a manly boy with a
thoughtful, attractive face, wearing a black velvet suit and cap and
a gold chain round his neck, is in the centre between his sisters. On
his right, Dorothea, a pretty child with brown eyes and golden curls
frizzled all over her head, reaches out her hand towards the fruit,
while on his left the little Christina grasps an apple firmly in one
hand, and lays the other confidingly on her brother's arm. Both little
girls are dressed in black velvet with white ermine sleeves, probably
made out of their father's old robes. But while Dorothea's curly head
is uncovered, Christina wears a tight-fitting hood edged with pearls,
drawn closely over her baby face. Her tiny features are full of
character, and the large brown eyes, with their earnest gaze, and small
fingers clasping the apple, already reveal the courage and resolution
for which she was to be distinguished in days to come.

[Sidenote: 1523-31] A PROMISING PRINCE]

At this early period of their lives it was, naturally enough, Prince
John who chiefly occupied his guardian's thoughts. A boy of rare
promise, studious, intelligent, and affectionate, he had inherited much
of his mother's charm, and soon became a great favourite at Court.
Margaret was never tired of describing his talents and progress to
the Emperor, who took keen interest in his young nephew, and was
particularly glad to hear how fond he was of riding.

[Illustration: _Copyright, H. M. the King_

THE CHILDREN OF CHRISTIAN II., KING OF DENMARK

By Jean Mabuse (Hampton Court Palace)

_To face p. 54_]

  "MADAME MY GOOD AUNT," he wrote,

    "I hear with great pleasure of the kindness shown by M. de
    Brégilles, the Master of your Household, to my nephew, the
    Prince of Denmark, and am very grateful to him for teaching
    the boy to ride and mounting him so well. And you will please
    tell Brégilles that I beg him to go on from good to better, and
    train the boy in all honest and manly exercises, as well as in
    noble and virtuous conduct, for you know that he is likely to
    follow whatever example is set before him in his youth. And I
    have no doubt that, not only in this case, but in all others,
    you will not cease to watch over him.

                                             "Your good nephew,
                                                         "CHARLES."[63]


When in July, 1528, Margaret's servant Montfort was sent on an
important mission to Spain, the Emperor's first anxiety was to hear
full accounts of Prince John and his sisters from the Envoy's lips.
He expressed great satisfaction with all Montfort told him, saying
that he entertained the highest hopes of his nephew, and would far
rather support his claim to Denmark than help his father to recover the
throne--"the more so," he added, "since we hear that King Christian, to
our sorrow, still adheres to the false doctrine of Luther."


IV.

King Christian, as the Emperor hinted, was still a thorn in the
Regent's side. Although, since his wife's death, most of his time had
been spent in Germany, he remained a perpetual source of annoyance.
In July, 1528, he induced his sister Elizabeth to leave her husband,
Joachim of Brandenburg, and escape with him to Saxony. All Germany rang
with this new scandal, and while the Marquis appealed to Margaret,
begging her to stop Christian's allowance as the only means of bringing
him to his senses, Elizabeth, who had secretly embraced the reformed
faith, implored the Emperor's protection against her husband, and
refused to return to Berlin. At the same time the King did his utmost
to stir up discontent round Lierre, and raised bands of freebooters in
Holland, whose lawless depredations were a constant source of vexation
to Charles's loyal subjects. When the Regent protested, he replied that
he had nothing to do with these levies, and that his intentions were
absolutely innocent, assurances which, Margaret remarked, would not
deceive a child. Under these circumstances, relations between the two
became daily more strained. "Margaret loves me not, and has never loved
me," wrote Christian to his Lutheran friends, while the Regent turned
to Charles in her despair, saying: "Monseigneur, if the King of Denmark
comes here, I simply do not know what I am to do with him!"[64]

[Sidenote: 1523-31] DEATH OF MARGARET]

Suddenly a new turn in the tide altered the whole aspect of affairs. On
the 3rd of August, 1529, the Peace of Cambray was finally concluded.
The long war, which had drained the Emperor's resources, was at an end,
and his hands were once more free. Christian lost no time in taking
advantage of this opportunity to secure his powerful kinsman's help. He
addressed urgent petitions to the Emperor and King Ferdinand, and sent
an Envoy to plead his cause at Bologna, where on the 24th of February,
1530, Charles V. received the imperial crown from the hands of Pope
Clement VII. But the only condition on which the exiled monarch could
be admitted into the new confederation was his return to the Catholic
Church. For this, too, Christian seems to have been prepared. On the
2nd of February he signed an agreement at Lierre, in which he promised
to obey the Emperor's wishes, and to hold fast the Catholic faith, if
he should be restored to the throne of Denmark. When Charles crossed
the Brenner, Christian hastened to meet him at Innsbruck, and, throwing
himself at the foot of Cardinal Campeggio, craved the Holy Father's
pardon for his past errors, and received absolution. But, in spite of
this public recantation, the King still secretly preferred the reformed
faith, and continued to correspond with his Lutheran friends. On the
25th of June he arrived at Malines with letters of credit for 24,000
florins, which he had received from the Emperor as the price of his
submission. But the Council refused to give him a farthing without the
Regent's consent, and Margaret declined to see him, pleading illness
as her excuse. Although only fifty years of age, she had long been
in failing health, and only awaited the Emperor's coming to lay down
her arduous office and retire to a convent at Bruges. An unforeseen
accident hastened her end. She hurt her foot by treading on the broken
pieces of a crystal goblet, blood-poisoning came on, and she died in
her sleep on the 30th of November, without ever seeing her nephew
again. The touching letter in which she bade him farewell was written a
few hours before her death:

  "MONSEIGNEUR,

    "The hour has come when I can no longer write with my own hand,
    for I am so dangerously ill that I fear my remaining hours will
    be few. But my conscience is tranquil, and I am ready to accept
    God's will, and have no regrets saving that I am deprived of
    your presence, and am unable to see you and speak with you
    before I die.... I leave you your provinces, greatly increased
    in extent since your departure, and resign the government,
    which I trust I have discharged in such a way as to merit a
    Divine reward, and earn the good-will of your subjects as well
    as your approval. And above all, Monseigneur, I recommend you
    to live at peace, more especially with the Kings of France and
    England. Finally I beg of you, by the love which you have been
    pleased to bear me, remember the salvation of my soul and my
    recommendations on behalf of my poor servants. And so I bid you
    once more farewell, praying, Monseigneur, that you may enjoy a
    long life and great prosperity.

                                  "Your very humble aunt,
                                                  "MARGARET."[65]

  "From Malines the last day of November, 1530."


This letter reached the Emperor at Cologne together with the news of
Margaret's death, and a solemn requiem was chanted for her soul in the
cathedral. Charles and his subjects fully realized the great loss which
his _pays de par-deça_ had suffered by his aunt's death.

"All the provinces," said Cornelius Agrippa, in the funeral oration
which he pronounced in S. Rombaut of Malines, "all the cities, and all
the villages, are plunged in tears and sorrow. For no greater loss
could have befallen us and our country."

[Sidenote: 1523-31] MARY OF HUNGARY]

The young Prince of Denmark, whom Margaret had loved so well, was chief
mourner on this occasion, and rode at the head of the procession which
bore her remains to Bruges. Here they were laid in the Convent of the
Annunciation until the magnificent shrine that she had begun at Brou in
Savoy was ready to receive her ashes and those of her husband. When, in
the following March, the Emperor came to Malines, Prince John welcomed
him in a Latin speech, in which he made a pathetic allusion to the loss
which he and his sisters had sustained in the death of one who had
been to them the wisest and tenderest of mothers. Then, turning to his
uncle with charming grace, he begged the Emperor to have compassion
upon him and his orphaned sisters, and allow them to remain at his
Court until their father should be restored to his rightful throne.
The young Prince's simple eloquence produced a deep impression. The
Emperor with tears in his eyes embraced him, and the magistrates of
Malines presented him with a barrel of Rhenish wine in token of their
regard.[66]

Fortunately for the children of Denmark, as well as for the provinces
which Margaret had ruled so well, another Habsburg Princess was found
to take her place. This was the Emperor's sister Mary, whose gallant
husband, King Louis of Hungary, had fallen on the field of Mohacz four
years before, fighting against the Turks. The widowed Queen, although
only twenty-one, had shown admirable presence of mind, and it was
largely due to her tact and popularity that her brother Ferdinand
and his wife Anna, the dead King's sister, were recognized as joint
Sovereigns of Bohemia and Hungary. Her own hand was sought in marriage
by many Princes, including the young King James V. of Scotland and her
sister Eleanor's old lover, the Palatine Frederic, whose romantic
imagination was deeply impressed by the young Queen's heroic bearing.
But Mary positively refused to take another husband, saying that,
having found perfect happiness in her first marriage, she had no wish
to try a second. To the end of her life she remained true to her dead
lord, and never put off her widow's weeds. But her courage and spirit
were as high as ever. She was passionately fond of hunting, and amazed
the hardest riders by being all day in the saddle without showing any
trace of fatigue. Her powers of mind were no less remarkable. She was
the ablest of the whole family, and the wisdom of her judgments was
equalled by the frankness with which she expressed them. Like all the
Habsburg ladies, she was highly educated, and spoke Latin as well as
any doctor in Louvain, according to Erasmus, who inscribed her name
on the first page of his "Veuve Chrétienne." Mary shared her sister
Isabella's sympathy with the reformers, and accepted the dedication
of Luther's "Commentary on the Four Psalms of Consolation." When this
excited her brother Ferdinand's displeasure, she told him that authors
must do as they please in these matters, and that he might trust her
not to tarnish the fair name of their house. "God," she added, "would
doubtless give her grace to die a good Christian."[67]

[Sidenote: 1523-31] THE NEW REGENT]

In the spring of 1530 Mary met Charles at Innsbruck, and accompanied
him to Augsburg. When, a few months later, the news of Margaret's death
reached him at Cologne, the Emperor begged her to become Regent of the
Low Countries and share the burden of government with him. But Mary had
no wish to enter public life, and asked her brother's leave to retire
to Spain and devote herself to the care of their unhappy mother, Queen
Juana. For some time she resisted the entreaties of both her brothers,
and it was only a strong sense of duty which finally overcame her
reluctance to assume so arduous and ungrateful a task. When at length
she consented, she made it a condition that she should not be troubled
with offers of marriage, and pointed out that her Lutheran sympathies
might well arouse suspicion in the Netherlands. But Charles brushed
these objections lightly aside, saying that no one should disturb her
peace, and that he should never have trusted her with so important
a post if he had regarded her Lutheran tendencies seriously. All he
asked was that the Queen should not bring her German servants to the
Low Countries, lest they should arouse the jealousy of his Flemish
courtiers.

Mary scrupulously fulfilled these conditions, and on the 23rd
of January, 1531, the new Regent entered Louvain in state, and
was presented to the Council by the Emperor, as Governess of the
Netherlands. Two months later she accompanied Charles to Malines, where
for the first time she embraced her little nieces. For the present,
however, Dorothea and Christina, who were only nine and ten years old,
remained at Malines, while Prince John accompanied his uncle and aunt
on a progress through the provinces.

Mary soon realized all the difficulties of the task that she had
undertaken with so much reluctance.

    "The Emperor," she wrote to Ferdinand from Brussels, "has
    fastened the rope round my neck, but I find public affairs in a
    great tangle, and if His Majesty does not reduce them to some
    degree of order before his departure, I shall find myself in a
    very tight place."[68]

The Treasury was exhausted, the people groaned under the load of
taxation, and the prodigal generosity of the late Regent had not
succeeded in suppressing strife and jealousy among the nobles. As Mary
wrote many years afterwards to her nephew, Philip II.:

    "No doubt our aunt, Madame Marguerite, ruled the Netherlands
    long and well; but when she grew old and ailing she was obliged
    to leave the task to others, and when the Emperor returned
    there after her death, he found the nobles at variance, justice
    little respected, and all classes disaffected to the imperial
    service."[69]

[Sidenote: 1523-31] A FORLORN HOPE]

But the young Regent brought all her spirit and energy to the task, and
with her brother's help succeeded in reforming the gravest abuses and
restoring some order into the finances. The gravest difficulty with
which she had to contend was the presence of the King of Denmark. Since
Margaret's death this monarch had grown bolder and more insolent in
his demands. With the help of his old ally, Duke Henry of Brunswick,
he collected 6,000 men-at-arms and invaded Holland, spreading fire and
sword wherever he went. In vain Charles remonstrated with him on the
suffering which he inflicted on peaceable citizens. Christian only
replied with an insolent letter, which convinced the Emperor more
than ever of "the man's little sense and honesty." He now feared that
the King would seize one of the forts in Holland and remain there all
the winter, feeding his soldiers at the expense of the unfortunate
peasantry, and infecting them with Lutheran heresy. Under these
circumstances Charles felt that it was impossible to desert his sister,
and decided to put off his departure for Germany until he had got rid
of this troublesome guest.

At length, on the 26th of October, Christian sailed from Medemblik, in
North Holland, with twenty-five ships and 7,000 men.

    "He has done infinite damage to my provinces of Holland and
    Utrecht," wrote Charles to Ferdinand, "treating them as if they
    were enemies, and forcing them to provide him with boats and
    provisions, besides seizing the supplies which I had collected
    for my own journey."[70]

So great were the straits to which Charles found himself reduced that
he was compelled to raise a fresh loan in order to defray the expenses
of his journey to Spires. But at least the hated adventurer was gone,
and as a fair wind sprang up, and the sails of King Christian's fleet
dropped below the horizon, the Emperor and his subjects felt that they
could breathe freely.

    "The King of Dacia," wrote the Italian traveller Mario
    Savorgnano, from Brussels, on the 6th of November, "has sailed
    with twenty big ships, thus relieving this land from a heavy
    burden. He goes to recover his kingdom of Denmark, a land lying
    north of the Cymbric Chersonesus.... But I am sure that when
    the people come face to face with these mercenaries, especially
    those who have been in Italy and have there learnt to rob,
    sack, burn, and leave no cruelty undone, in their greed for
    gold, they will rise and drive out the invaders."[71]

This time Christian determined not to attempt a landing in Denmark, but
to sail straight to Norway, where he had always been more popular than
in any other part of his dominions, and still numbered many partisans.
His expectations were not disappointed. When he landed, on the 5th
of November, the peasantry and burghers flocked to his standard. The
Archbishop of Drondtheim and the clergy declared in his favour, and the
States-General, which met in January, 1532, at Oslo, the old capital,
renewed their oaths of allegiance to him as their rightful King. But
the strong forts of Bergen and Aggershus, at the gates of the town,
closed their gates against him, and his army soon began to dwindle away
for want of supplies. Early in the spring a strong fleet, fitted out
by King Frederic, with the help of the citizens of Lübeck, appeared
before Oslo, and set fire to Christian's ships in the harbour, while
a Danish army, under Knut Gyldenstern, advanced from the south. Once
more the King's nerve failed him. He met the Danish captain in a meadow
outside Oslo, and, after prolonged negotiations, agreed to lay down
his arms and go to Copenhagen, to confer with his uncle. The next day
he disbanded his forces and took leave of his loyal supporters. Thus,
without striking a blow, he delivered Norway into the usurper's hands,
and surrendered his last claim to the three kingdoms.[72]

[Sidenote: 1523-31] CHRISTIAN II.'S FALL]

In return for his submission, Gyldenstern had promised the King
honourable entertainment and given him a written safe-conduct. Trusting
in these assurances, Christian went on board a Danish ship, and on the
24th of July arrived before Copenhagen. As the ship sailed up the Sound
in the early summer morning, people flocked from all parts to see their
old King, and many of the women and children wept aloud. His fate,
they realized, was already sealed. Before the arrival of the fleet,
a conference had been held between Frederic and the Swedish and Hanse
deputies, who agreed that so dangerous a foe must not be allowed to
remain at liberty, and condemned the unfortunate monarch to perpetual
imprisonment in the island fortress of Sonderburg. In vain Christian
demanded to be set on shore and conducted into his uncle's presence.
He was told that the King would meet him in the Castle of Flensburg in
Schleswig. But when, instead of sailing in this direction, the ship
which bore him entered the narrow Alsener Sound, and the walls of
Sonderburg came in sight, the unhappy King saw the trap into which he
had fallen, and broke into transports of rage. But it was too late, and
he was powerless in the hands of his enemies. No indignity was spared
him by his captors. As he entered the lonely cell in the highest turret
of the castle, Knut Gyldenstern, who is said to have been one of his
mistress Dyveke's lovers, plucked the fallen monarch by the beard,
and tore the jewel of the Golden Fleece from his neck. None of the
old servants who had clung to their exiled Prince so faithfully were
allowed to share his prison, and for many years a pet dwarf was his
sole companion.[73]

In this foul and treacherous manner King Christian II. was betrayed
into the hands of his foes and doomed to lifelong captivity. And, by a
strange fate, in these early days of August, at the very moment when
the iron gates of Sonderburg closed behind him, his only son, the
rightful heir to the three kingdoms, died far away in Southern Germany,
within the walls of the imperial city of Regensburg.

Meanwhile the news of Christian's unexpected success in Norway had
reached Brussels and excited great surprise.

    "The King of Denmark," wrote Mary of Hungary to her brother
    Ferdinand, "has done so well by his rashness that he has
    actually recovered possession of one of his kingdoms, and his
    friends hope that he may be able to stay there."[74]

[Sidenote: 1523-31] COURT FÊTES]

This was towards the end of December, when the imperial family had
assembled in the palace to keep Christmas. Prince John had won golden
opinions on the progress which he had made with his uncle and aunt, and
was as much beloved by the Emperor, wrote Mario Savorgnano, as if he
were his own son. Now his little sisters were brought to Brussels by
their uncle's command to share in the festivities. Early in January,
1532, Charles heard that his sister, Queen Katherine of Portugal, had
given birth to a son, and the happy event was celebrated by a grand
tournament on the square in front of the Portuguese Ambassador's
house. The Emperor, accompanied by the Queen of Hungary and the
Prince and Princesses of Denmark, looked on at the jousts and sword
and torch dances from a balcony draped with white and green velvet,
and at nine o'clock sat down to a sumptuous banquet. The Queen was
seated at the head of the table, opposite the fireplace, with the
Emperor on her right and Princess Dorothea at his side. Prince John
was on his aunt's left, and the youthful Christina, who made her first
appearance in public on this occasion, sat between her brother and
the Portuguese Ambassador. Henry of Nassau, the Prince of Bisignano,
and Ferrante Gonzaga, were at the same board, while Nassau's son,
the young Prince René, who had lately inherited the principality of
Orange from his maternal uncle, sat with the Queen's ladies at another
table. Charles was in high spirits. He talked and laughed with all
the lords and ladies who were present during the interminable number
of courses of meat, fish, game, wines, cakes, and fruits, that were
served in succession, with brief interludes of music. When, at eleven,
the Emperor rose from table, an Italian comedy was acted, in which
Ferrante Gonzaga and several Italian and Spanish noblemen took part.
Then King Cupid appeared, riding in a triumphal car, and a troop of
Loves danced hand in hand, until, at a sign from Charles, the actors
removed their masks. A collation of confetti and Madeira and Valencia
wines was then served at a buffet laden with costly gold and silver
cups and precious bowls of Oriental porcelain. When all the guests
had ate and drunk their fill, the finest crystal vases and bottles
of perfume were presented to the Queen and Princesses, and the other
ladies received gifts from the Ambassador. The royal guests joined with
great spirit in the dancing which followed, and did not retire till two
o'clock.[75] Concerts and suppers, jousts and dances, succeeded each
other throughout the week, and the Emperor gave splendid presents to
the Ambassador of Portugal, and sent cordial congratulations to his
royal brother-in-law on the birth of his son and heir.

A fortnight later Charles left Brussels, taking Prince John with him,
and travelled by slow stages to Regensburg, where the Imperial Diet
was opened in May. Here the Court remained during the next three
months, and the young Prince was sent to receive the Count Palatine,
the Archbishop of Mainz, and other Princes of the Empire, who arrived
in turn to take part in the assembly. Unluckily the weather proved
very disagreeable. "Never," exclaimed the Venetian Ambassador, "was
there such a detestable climate!" A long continuance of heavy rains and
unusual heat was followed by some bitterly cold days, which produced
serious illness. Princes and nobles, Ambassadors and servants, all
succumbed in turn to the same epidemic. The Venetian took to his bed,
and four of his servants became seriously ill. The Emperor himself
was invalided, and left the town to take waters and change of air in
a neighbouring village. "There is hardly a house in the Court," wrote
the Mantuan Envoy, "where some person is not ill. Most people recover,
but a good many die, especially those who are young." Among the victims
was Prince John of Denmark. Charles returned to find his nephew in
high fever and delirium. He was deeply distressed, and when the poor
boy became unconscious, and the doctors gave no hope, he left the town
again, saying that he could not bear to see the child die. The Prince
never recovered consciousness, and passed away at two o'clock on the
morning of the 12th of August.

    "The poor little Prince of Denmark died last night," wrote the
    Mantuan Ambassador, "to the infinite distress of the whole
    Court, and above all of Cæsar, who bore him singular affection,
    not only on account of the close ties of blood between them,
    but because of the young Prince's charming nature and winning
    manners, which made him beloved by everyone and gave rise to
    the highest hopes."[76]

[Sidenote: 1523-31] THE EMPEROR'S GRIEF]

By the Emperor's orders an imposing funeral service was held at
Regensburg, after which the Prince's body was taken to Ghent and buried
in his mother's grave. Charles himself wrote to break the sad news to
Mary of Hungary and her poor little nieces:

  "MADAME MY GOOD SISTER,

    "This is only to inform you of the loss we have suffered in the
    death of our little nephew of Denmark, whom it pleased God to
    take to Himself on Sunday morning, the day before yesterday,
    after he had been ill of internal catarrh for a whole week.
    This has caused me the greatest grief that I have ever known.
    For he was the dearest little fellow, of his age, that it was
    possible to see, and I have felt this loss more than I did that
    of my son, for he was older, and I knew him better and loved
    him as if he had been my own child. But we must bow to the
    Divine will. Although I know that God might have allowed this
    to happen anywhere, I cannot help feeling that if I had left
    the boy at home with you he might not have died. At least his
    father will be sure to say so. I expect you know where he is
    said to be. Without offence to God, I could wish he were in his
    son's place, and his son well received in his own kingdom. All
    the same, without pretending to be the judge, perhaps the King
    has not deserved to be there, and the little rogue is better
    off where he is than where I should have liked to see him, and
    smiles at my wish for him, for he was certainly not guilty of
    any great sins. He died in so Christian a manner that, if he
    had committed as many as I have, there would have been good
    hope of his soul's weal, and with his last breath he called on
    Jesus. I am writing to my little nieces, as you see, to comfort
    them. I am sure that you will try and do the same. The best
    remedy will be to find them two husbands."[77]

When Charles wrote these touching words, he had not yet heard of
the disastrous end to King Christian's campaign, and believed the
Prince's father to be in possession of the Norwegian capital. But
he added a postscript to his letter, telling the Queen of a report
which had just arrived, that the King had been taken prisoner by his
foes. Four days later this report was confirmed by letters from Lübeck
merchants, and no further doubt could be entertained of the doom which
had overtaken the unhappy monarch. His melancholy fate excited little
compassion, either in Germany or in the Netherlands. Luther, to his
credit, addressed an earnest appeal to King Frederic congratulating
him on his victory, and begging him to take example by Christ, who
died for His murderers, and have pity on the unfortunate captive. But
in reply Frederic issued an apology, in which he brought the gravest
charges against the deposed King, and accused him of having preferred
a low woman of worthless character to the noblest and most virtuous of
Queens. Before long the old commercial treaties between Denmark and
the Low Countries were renewed, and the Baltic trade was resumed on
the understanding that no attempt was made to revive King Christian's
claims.

The prisoner of Sonderburg was forgotten by the world, and the one
being who loved him best on earth, his sister Elizabeth of Brandenburg,
could only commend his little daughters sadly to the Regent, and beg
her to have compassion on these desolate children. Mary replied in a
letter full of feeling, assuring Elizabeth that she need have no fear
on this score, and that her little nieces should be treated as if they
were her own daughters. She kept her word nobly.[78]

FOOTNOTES:

[40] Calendar of State Papers, iii. 2, 1270.

[41] Altmeyer, "Relations Commerciales," 108.

[42] State Papers, Record Office, vi. 139, 155-158. Calendar of State
Papers, iii. 2, 1293, 1329.

[43] J. Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 108.

[44] D. Schäfer, "Geschichte von Dänemark," iv. 26.

[45] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 141, 156.

[46] Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 112; Schäfer, iv. 44, 48.

[47] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 30.

[48] "Relations," etc., 126; C. Förstemann, "Neues Urkundenbuch z.
Geschichte d. Reformation," i. 269.

[49] J. Köstlin, "Leben Luthers," i. 66; C. Förstemann, i. 169.

[50] K. Lanz, "Correspondenz Karls V.," i. 108.

[51] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 26.

[52] Lanz, i. 145, 150, 195; Archives du Royaume: Revenus et Dépenses
de Charles V., 1520-1530, Rég. 1709; Schäfer, iv. 89.

[53] J. H. Schlegel, "Geschichte der Könige v. Dänemark," 123.

[54] Schlegel, 124-126.

[55] 2 Churchill, "Travels," vi. 348.

[56] Altmeyer, "Isabelle," 35; "Relations," 160.

[57] Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 166.

[58] Lanz, i. 195.

[59] Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles. Régistre des Dépenses, etc., Nos.
1799, 1800, 1803.

[60] L. de Laborde, "Inventaire"; Henne, iv. 387-390.

[61] Henne, iv. 387-391.

[62] This painting is mentioned in one of Henry VIII.'s catalogues
as "A table with the pictures of the three children of the King of
Denmark, with a curtain of white and yellow sarcenet." In Charles I.'s
inventory it is described as "A Whitehall piece, curiously painted by
Mabusius, wherein two men children and one woman child are playing
with some oranges in their hands by a green table, little half-figures
upon a board in a wooden frame." At the sale of the King's effects it
was called a Mabuse, and valued at £10. In 1743 the same picture hung
in Queen Caroline's closet at Kensington Palace, and was described by
Vertue as "Prince Arthur and his sisters, children of Henry VII." Five
years later it was removed to Windsor and engraved under this name. Sir
George Scharf was the first to correct this obvious error and restore
the original title (see "Archæologia," xxxix. 245). Old copies of the
picture, mostly dating from the seventeenth century, are to be seen at
Wilton, Longford, Corsham, and other places.

[63] Altmeyer, "Isabelle d'Autriche," 52.

[64] Lanz, i. 283; Henne. iv. 337.

[65] Lanz, i. 408; Gachard, "Analecta Belgica," i. 378.

[66] Schlegel, 126; Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 186.

[67] Altmeyer, "Relations," 190.

[68] T. Juste, "Les Pays-Bas sous Charles V.," 35.

[69] L. Gachard, "Retraite et Mort de Charles V.," i. 348.

[70] Lanz, i. 572.

[71] M. Sanuto, "Diarii," lv. 174.

[72] Schäfer, iv. 178-194.

[73] Schlegel, 127-219.

[74] T. Juste. "Les Pays-Bas sous Charles V.," 49.

[75] M. Sanuto, lv. 417-419.

[76] M. Sanuto, lvi. 813-823.

[77] Lanz, ii. 3.

[78] Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 206.




BOOK IV

CHRISTINA, DUCHESS OF MILAN

1533-1535


I.

In the letter which the Emperor wrote to Mary of Hungary on his
nephew's death, he remarked that the best way of consoling his little
nieces for their brother's loss would be to find them husbands.
The marriages of these youthful Princesses had already engaged his
attention for some time past. While Christina was still a babe in her
nurse's arms, the Regent Margaret had been planning marriages for her
great-nieces. In 1527 Wolsey proposed King Henry's illegitimate son,
the Duke of Richmond, as an eligible suitor for one of them, but the
idea of such a union was scouted by the imperial family.[79] A marriage
between Dorothea and her second cousin, King James V. of Scotland, was
discussed during many years, and only abandoned eventually owing to
the fickle character of the young monarch. After Prince John's death,
this Princess inherited her brother's claims to the Danish throne, and
King Frederic went so far as to propose that she should wed his younger
son John, offering to recognize him as heir to Denmark, and leave the
duchies of Schleswig-Holstein to his elder son Christian. But the
Emperor and Mary of Hungary were both reluctant to treat with the
usurper who had deposed their brother-in-law, and the death of Frederic
in April, 1533, put an end to the scheme.[80]

[Sidenote: 1533-35] FRANCESCO SFORZA]

Another suitor now came forward in the person of Francesco Sforza,
Duke of Milan. This Prince was the younger brother of Massimiliano
Sforza, who as a boy had spent several years at the Court of Malines,
and had been deposed by Francis I. after a brief reign of three years.
Born at Milan on the 4th of February, 1495, when his father, Lodovico,
was at the height of his glory, and named after his grandfather, the
great Condottiere, Francesco II. had been the sport of Fortune from
his childhood. Before he was two years old, his mother, the brilliant
Duchess Beatrice, died, and when he was five his father lost both
throne and freedom. While the unfortunate Moro ended his days in the
dungeons of Loches, his young children were brought up in Germany
by their cousin Bianca, the second wife of the Emperor Maximilian.
Francesco spent most of his time at Innsbruck, and, after the brief
interlude of his brother's reign at Milan, retired once more to Trent.
His opportunity came in 1521, when Leo X., in his dread of France,
joined with Charles V. to place the younger Sforza on his father's
throne. A gallant soldier and cultivated man, Francesco II. won the
hearts of all his subjects, who rejoiced to see a Sforza Duke again
among them. But misfortune dogged his footsteps. In 1523 Milan was
once more taken by the French, and after their defeat at Pavia the
Duke incurred the Emperor's displeasure, and was deprived of his
State, chiefly owing to the intrigues of his Chancellor, Morone,
with Pope Clement VII. It was only in December, 1529, when Charles
came to Bologna for his coronation, that, at the intercession of the
Pope and the Venetians, he consented to pardon Francesco, and give
him the investiture of Milan for the enormous sum of 900,000 ducats.
But it was a barren realm to which the Duke returned. His subjects
were ruined by years of warfare, his own health had suffered severely
from the hardships which he had undergone, and he had been dangerously
wounded by the poisoned dagger of an assassin. At thirty-eight he was
a broken man, prematurely old and grey. The Venetian chronicler Marino
Sanuto, who saw the Duke at Venice in October, 1530, describes him
as looking very melancholy, and being only able to walk and move his
hands with difficulty.[81] He applied himself, however, manfully to
the almost hopeless task of relieving the distress of his subjects and
restoring order and prosperity. With great difficulty he succeeded in
raising 400,000 ducats, the first installment of the payment for the
investiture of Milan, upon which the Castello was restored to him. His
loyalty and modesty had gone far to recover the Emperor's confidence,
and Charles treated him with marked favour and kindness.

[Sidenote: 1533-35] THE DUKE'S COURTSHIP]

This encouraged Francesco to aspire to the hand of a Princess of the
imperial house. His subjects were exceedingly anxious to see their Duke
married, and already more than one suitable bride had been proposed.
But Margherita Paleologa, the heiress of Montferrat, whom her mother
would gladly have given Francesco in marriage, was wedded to his
cousin Federico, Duke of Mantua, in October, 1531, and the Pope's
niece, the Duchessina Caterina de' Medici, another prize who had been
dangled before the Duke of Milan's eyes, was betrothed to the Duke
of Orleans in the following year. Before this event was announced,
in January, 1532, the Milanese Ambassador, Camillo Ghilino, who had
accompanied Charles to Brussels, ventured to ask the Emperor, on
his master's behalf, for the hand of one of his nieces. Charles was
evidently not averse to the proposal. It was part of his policy to
consolidate the different Italian dynasties, and he was alive to the
advantage of drawing the Duke of Milan into his family circle. But he
returned an evasive answer, saying that Princess Dorothea was already
destined for the King of Scotland, while her sister Christina was too
young, and that he could arrange nothing without the consent of her
father, the King of Denmark, who had gone to Norway to try and recover
his kingdom.[82] When Francesco met Charles at Bologna in the following
December, and was admitted to the newly-formed League of Italian
States, he renewed his suit, and once more asked for Christina's hand.
On the 10th of March Charles came to Milan, and spent four days in
the Castello, after which he accompanied the Duke on a hunting-party
at Vigevano, and enjoyed excellent sport, killing two wild-boars and
three stags with his own hand.[83] During this visit the marriage was
arranged, and on the 10th of June, 1533, the contract was signed at
Barcelona by the Emperor on the one hand, and the Chancellor of Milan,
Count Taverna, and the ducal Chamberlain, Count Tommaso Gallerati, on
the other. Christina was to receive 100,000 ducats out of the sum due
to the Emperor, as her dowry, and in the event of Dorothea succeeding
to the throne of Denmark another 100,000 was to be settled on her.
Hawkins, the English Ambassador, who wrote home from Barcelona to
announce the conclusion of the marriage, remarked that the Milanese had
left well pleased, but that the Duke was somewhat to be pitied, since
he was only to have the younger sister, and no fortune with her. "Dower
getteth he none."[84]

In spite of this drawback, the Milanese received the news with
great rejoicing, and any regret which they might have felt at the
substitution of the younger for the elder sister was dispelled by the
Spaniards in the Emperor's suite, who informed the Duke's Ambassadors
that Christina was taller and far more beautiful than Dorothea.
Francesco himself wrote to an old friend in Cremona, Giorgio Guazzo,
saying that he would lose no time in telling him of his great good
fortune in winning so high-born and attractive a young lady for his
bride.[85] At the same time he agreed with the Emperor to send Count
Massimiliano Stampa, his intimate friend, to the Netherlands, to wed
the Princess in his name, and bring her to Milan that autumn. Meanwhile
the news of the marriage was received with much less satisfaction
in the Low Countries. Mary had taken the motherless children to her
heart, and was especially attached to Christina, who resembled her in
character and tastes. She inherited the family passion for riding and
hunting, and combined her aunt's intelligence and ability with her
mother's sweetness of disposition. The idea of marrying this charming
child of eleven to a half-paralyzed invalid old enough to be her
father was repulsive, and Mary did not hesitate to protest against the
Emperor's decision with characteristic frankness.

[Sidenote: 1533-35] MARY'S PROTEST]

    "MONSEIGNEUR," she wrote to Charles on the 25th of August,
    "I have received Your Majesty's letters with the copy of the
    treaty which you have been pleased to make between our niece,
    Madame Chrétienne, and the Duke of Milan, on which point I must
    once for all relieve my conscience. I will at least show you
    the difficulties which to my mind lie in the way, so that Your
    Majesty may consider if any remedy can be devised before the
    matter is finally arranged. As for our said niece, I have no
    doubt that she will agree to whatever you please to wish, since
    she regards you as her lord and father, in whom she places
    absolute trust, and is ready to obey you as your very humble
    daughter and slave. The child is so good and willing there will
    be no need for any persuasion on my part, either as regards
    the Count's coming or anything else that you may please to
    command; but on the other hand, Monseigneur, since the words of
    the treaty clearly show that the marriage is to be consummated
    immediately, and she will have to take her departure without
    delay, I must point out that she is not yet old enough for
    this, being only eleven years and a half, and I hold that it
    would be contrary to the laws of God and reason to marry her at
    so tender an age. She is still quite a child, and, whatever may
    be the custom in yonder country, you are exposing her to the
    risk of bearing a child at this tender age, and of losing both
    her own life and that of her issue. Monseigneur, I am saying
    more than I ought to say, and speaking with a freedom which I
    can only beg you to forgive, because both my conscience and the
    love which I bear the child constrain me to write thus. On the
    other hand, seeing that this treaty requires the two sisters to
    make certain promises, I do not think that she is old enough to
    enter into these engagements, while her sister, although turned
    twelve, is very young of her age, and should hardly make
    these promises without the consent of her father, who is still
    living. I know that I am meddling with other people's business
    by writing to you of those matters which are not, strictly
    speaking, my affair. But I feel that I must send you these
    warnings, not from any wish to prevent the marriage, if Your
    Majesty thinks it well, but in order to give you a reason for
    breaking it off, if any difficulties should arise. For it seems
    to me, that as people often try to discover the fifth wheel in
    the coach, where there is no reason to make any difficulty, it
    would be easy to find some excuse for embroiling matters, when
    so good a cause exists. I quite understand that it may not be
    easy to alter the treaty at this hour, but, since I had not the
    opportunity of speaking to you on the subject before, I feel it
    to be my duty to warn you of these things, and to remind you of
    the child's tender age, of which Your Majesty may not have been
    aware. However this may be, Monseigneur, I have written this to
    fulfil my duty to God, as well as to Your Majesty, my niece,
    and the whole world, and can only beg you not to take what
    I have said in bad part, or to believe that any other cause
    could have led me to speak so plainly; and I take my Creator to
    witness that this is true, begging Him to give you health and
    long life, and grant your good and virtuous desires:

                            "Your very humble and obedient sister,
                                                         "MARIE.

  "From Ghent, August 25, 1533."[86]


Charles answered the Queen's protest in the following brief letter,
which showed that his mind was made up, and that he would allow no
change in his plans:

  "MADAME MY GOOD SISTER,

    "I have received your letter, and will only reply briefly, as I
    am writing to you at length on other matters by my secretary,
    and also because my niece's affair is rather a matter for
    priests and lawyers than for me, and I have desired Granvelle
    to satisfy your objections. So I will only tell you that, as
    the children's father is more dead to them than if he had
    ceased to live, I signed the marriage treaty before I left
    Barcelona. As for the question of issue, I fear that the Duke's
    advanced years will prove a greater barrier than my niece's
    tender youth. I am sure that you will act in accordance with my
    wishes, and I beg you to do this once more.

    "From Monzone, September 11, 1533."[87]

There was clearly nothing more to be said; but Mary had secretly
determined, whatever happened, not to allow the actual marriage to take
place until the following year, and in the end she had her way.


II.

[Sidenote: 1533-35] STAMPA'S MISSION]

When the Emperor wrote this letter to his sister, Count Massimiliano
had already started on his journey. He left Milan on the eve of St.
Bartholomew, taking Count Francesco Sfondrati of Cremona and Pier
Francesco Bottigella of Pavia with him, and travelled by Trent and
Spires to Louvain, where he arrived on the 12th of September. The
next day he was conducted to Ghent by Monsieur de Courrières, the
Captain of the Archers' Guard, and met at the palace gates by Monsieur
de Molembais, the Queen's Grand Falconer, who informed him that Her
Majesty was laid up, owing to a slight accident out hunting, and
could not receive him at present. After many delays, Stampa at length
succeeded in obtaining an audience, and begged the Queen earnestly
to satisfy his master's impatience, and allow the marriage to be
concluded without delay. Mary replied very civilly that, since this
was Cæsar's will, she would certainly put no obstacle in the way, but
explained that affairs of State compelled her to visit certain frontier
towns, and begged the Count to await her return to Brussels. She then
sent for the Princesses, and Stampa was presented and allowed to kiss
their hands. But, as he only saw them for five minutes, all he could
tell his master was that Christina seemed very bright and lively, and
was much better-looking than her sister.[88]

In spite of the courtesy with which he was entertained by De Courrières
and the Duke of Aerschot, Stampa clearly saw that it was Mary's
intention to delay the marriage as long as possible, and began to
despair of ever attaining his object. Fortunately, by the end of the
week the Emperor's confidential Chamberlain, Louis de Praet, arrived
at Ghent. De Praet had been Ambassador in England and France, and was
now sent from Spain to represent His Majesty at the wedding and escort
the bride to Milan. When he had seen Stampa's copy of the Treaty of
Barcelona, he advised him to join the Queen at Lille and deliver his
credentials. Here the Count accordingly presented himself on the 18th
of September, and was graciously received by Mary, who assured him
that the affair which lay so near his heart would shortly be arranged.
He was conducted into a room where he found the Princesses and their
governess, Madame de Fiennes, and conversed with them for half an hour.
When the Queen rose to attend vespers, she touched the Count's sleeve
and made him walk at her side as far as the chapel, and thanked him
for the fine horse which the Duke had sent her, telling him how fond
she was of hunting. The next day Stampa was invited to supper, and
afterwards ventured to ask if he might see the Princesses dance. To
this request the Queen gave her consent. The flutes and tambourines
struck up a merry tune, and the Princesses danced first a _ballo al
francese_, then a _branle_, and a variety of French and German dances,
in which the gentlemen and ladies-in-waiting took part. The Count was
about to take his leave, since the hour was already late, when De Praet
told him he must first see the Princesses dance a _ballo all'italiano_,
upon which the two sisters rose and, joining hands, danced an Italian
ballet with charming grace. The Ambassador was delighted, and wrote to
tell his master what a favourable impression Christina had made upon
him and his companions:

    "She is hardly shorter than her sister, and much handsomer and
    more graceful, and is indeed as well built and attractive a
    maiden as you could wish to see. God grant this may lead to a
    happy marriage!"[89]

The next morning business began in good earnest. Prolonged negotiations
were held between Stampa and the Queen's Councillors--Aerschot, De
Praet, and other nobles--and the rights of the Princess Dorothea and
the condition of Denmark were fully discussed. While the Count was at
dinner, De Praet came in, and, to his surprise, informed him that Her
Majesty wished the wedding to be celebrated on the following Sunday,
the 28th of September. The Count asked nothing better, and hastened to
send the good news to Milan.

[Sidenote: 1533-35] CHRISTINA'S WEDDING]

On Saturday evening Christina signed the marriage contract before an
illustrious assembly in a hall of the palace at Lille, which was hung
with black and gold damask for the occasion, and between four and five
on Sunday afternoon the wedding was solemnized by the Bishop of Tournay
in the chapel. Count Massimiliano, gallantly arrayed in cloth of gold,
was conducted to the altar by De Praet and the great officers of State;
the violins and drums sounded, and the bridal procession entered, the
Queen leading her niece by the hand. "As the Bishop placed the nuptial
ring on the bride's finger," wrote Stampa to his lord, "she received it
with evident pleasure, and all the Court displayed great satisfaction."

When the ceremony was over, the bride retired, and Stampa spent some
time in conversation with the Queen, vainly endeavouring to persuade
her to fix a date for the Duchess's journey. But on this point Mary was
inflexible. De Praet, who visited him the next day, explained that the
Queen could not allow this youthful lady to be exposed to the perils
and fatigue of so long a journey in winter, and that her departure must
therefore be put off till the following spring. This was a grievous
disappointment to the Count, who knew how anxious the Duke was to see
his wife. But he had to accept the situation, and could only try and
console his master by repeating the Queen's assurances of good-will and
affection.

She even begged the Count to join her in a hunting expedition at
Brussels in the following week. But this Stampa firmly declined, saying
that he must return to Milan without delay. On the same evening he had
the honour of a parting interview with the Duchess, and presented her
with a fine diamond and ruby ring and a length of costly brocade in
her lord's name. Christina's eyes sparkled with delight at the sight
of these gifts, and she thanked Count Massimiliano with a warmth which
captivated him. Then he took leave of the Queen, who started at break
of day in torrents of rain, to hunt on her way to Brussels, leaving the
Princesses to return by Tournay. The Count himself went to Antwerp to
raise money for his journey, and despatched a messenger to Milan with
full accounts of the wedding.

    "All this Court and the Queen herself," he wrote, "are
    delighted with this happy event. And Your Excellency may
    rejoice with good reason, and may rest assured that you have
    the fairest, most charming and gallant bride that any man could
    desire."[90]

These despatches reached Milan on the 13th of October, and were
received with acclamation. Guns were fired from the Castello, the bells
of all the churches were rung, and the Senate went in solemn procession
to give thanks to God in the Duomo. "It was indeed good tidings of
great joy," wrote the chronicler Burigozzo, "and such rejoicing had not
been known in Milan for many years."[91] Francesco's own satisfaction
was considerably diminished by hearing that his bride was not to
set out on her journey until the following February. But he took
the Queen's decision in good part, and wrote to express his eternal
gratitude to her and Cæsar for giving him their niece.

    "However anxious I naturally am to have my wife with me," he
    added, "I recognize the gravity of the reasons which have made
    you put off her journey to a more convenient season, and think,
    as you say, this should take place next February."[92]

[Sidenote: 1533-35] THE DUKE'S APPEAL]

The Duke sent this letter by a special messenger, and received in reply
the following brief note in Italian from Christina:

  "MOST ILLUSTRIOUS CONSORT,

    "It gave me great pleasure to hear of Your Excellency's good
    health from Messer Sasso, and I can assure you that my wish
    to join you is no less ardent than your own. But it is only
    reasonable that we should bow to the decision of the Most
    Serene Queen, who orders everything wisely and well. I will
    only add how sincerely I hope that you will keep well, and love
    me as much as I love you.

  "Your Excellency's most loving consort,
         "CHRISTIERNA, DUCHESS OF MILAN.

    "From Brussels, November 4, 1533."[93]

On the last day of January, 1534, the Duke held a Council of State to
consider the best means of raising the £100,000 due to Cæsar, which was
assigned to his niece for dower, and the citizens agreed cheerfully to
new taxes on grain and wine in order to provide the necessary amount.
But it was not until the 31st of March that Francesco was able to issue
a proclamation informing the Milanese that his wife had started on her
journey. The Duchess, he told them, would be among them by the end of
April, and he could count on his loyal subjects to receive her with
due honour; but, knowing as he did their poverty, he begged that the
customary wedding gift should be omitted. The Milanese responded with
enthusiasm to their Duke's appeal, and prepared to give his bride a
worthy reception. Their example was followed by the citizens of Novara,
Vigevano, and the other towns along the route between Savoy and Milan.
The roads, which were said to be the worst in the duchy, were mended,
triumphal arches were erected, and lodgings were prepared for her
reception. The following quaintly-worded memorandum was drawn up by
Councillor Pier Francesco Bottigella, to whom these arrangements were
entrusted:

    "(1) Mend the roads and clean the streets through which the
    Lady Duchess will pass, and hang the walls with tapestries
    and carpets, the largest and widest that you can find. (2)
    Paint her arms on all the gates through which she passes. (3)
    Provide a baldacchino to be carried over her head. (4) See that
    lodgings are prepared for her at Novara, either in the Bishop's
    palace or in the ducal hunting-lodge, and let these be cleansed
    and decorated. (5) Prepare rooms in the town for the Duchess's
    household. (6) Let this also be done in the Castello Vecchio at
    Vigevano. (7) Desire that no gifts of any kind should be made
    to the Duchess at Novara, Vigevano, or any other place."[94]

When these instructions had been duly carried out, Bottigella, who had
accompanied Stampa on his mission to the Low Countries, and was already
acquainted with the chief members of the Duchess's suite, set out for
Chambéry by the Duke's orders, to meet the bride on the frontiers of
Savoy and escort her across the Alps.


III.

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1534] A WEDDING JOURNEY]

Christina had now completed her twelfth year, and Mary of Hungary could
no longer invent any excuse to delay her journey to Milan. The bridal
party finally set out on the 11th of March, conducted by Monseigneur
de Praet, the Emperor's representative, and Camillo Ghilino, the
Duke's Ambassador, with an escort of 130 horse. Madame de Souvastre,
one of Maximilian's illegitimate daughters, whose husband had been one
of the late Regent's confidential servants, was appointed mistress
of the Duchess's household, which consisted of six maids of honour,
six waiting-women, four pages, and ten gentlemen. Christina herself
rode in a black velvet litter, drawn by four horses and attended by
six footmen, and her ladies travelled in similar fashion, followed by
twenty mules and three waggons with the baggage. Mary had taken care
that the bride's trousseau was worthy of a daughter of the imperial
house, and the chests were filled with sumptuous robes of cloth of
gold and silver, of silk, satin, and velvet, costly furs, jewels and
pearls, together with furniture and plate for her table and chapel, and
liveries and trappings for her servants and horses. The Duchess's own
lackeys and all the gentlemen in attendance wore coats and doublets
of black velvet, and the other servants, we learn from John Hackett,
the English Ambassador at Brussels, were clad in suits of "medley
grey," trimmed with velvet, all "very well accounted."[95] The imposing
cortège travelled by slow stages through the friendly duchy of Lorraine
and across the plains of the imperial county of Burgundy, taking
journeys of twelve or fifteen miles a day, until, on the 12th of April,
it halted at Chambéry, the frontier town of Savoy. The reigning Duke,
Charles III., was the Emperor's brother-in-law and stanch ally, and the
travellers were hospitably entertained in his ancestral castle on the
heights. Here Bottigella was introduced into Christina's presence by
his old friend Camillo Ghilino, and found her on the way to attend Mass
in the castle chapel.

    "The Duchess," wrote the Councillor to his lord, "received
    me in the most friendly manner, and asked eagerly after you,
    and was especially anxious to know where you were now. I told
    her that you were at Vigevano, but would shortly return to
    Milan, to prepare for her arrival. Mass was just beginning,
    so I had to take my leave, but hope for another opportunity
    of conversing with her before long, and can see how eager she
    is to ask a hundred questions. She is very well and lively,
    and does not seem any the worse for the long journey. She has
    grown a great deal since I saw her last September, and is as
    beautiful as the sun. M. de Praet hopes to reach Turin in seven
    days, and will start again to-morrow."[96]

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1534] BEATRIX OF SAVOY]

The most arduous part of the journey now lay before the travellers.
Leaving Chambéry, they penetrated into the heart of the Alps, through
the narrow gorge of the Isère, between precipitous ravines with
castles crowning the rocks on either side, until they reached the
impregnable fortress of Montmélian, the ancient bulwark of Savoy,
which had resisted all the assaults of the French. After spending the
night here, they rode up the green pastures and pine-clad slopes of S.
Jean de Maurienne, and began the ascent of the Mont Cenis, over "those
troublesome and horrid ways" of which English travellers complained
so bitterly, where loose stones and tumbled rocks made riding almost
impossible. "These ways, indeed," wrote Coryat, "are the worst I
ever travelled in my life, so much so that the roads of Savoy may be
proverbially spoken of as the owls of Athens, the pears of Calabria,
or the quails of Delos."[97] On the summit of the pass De Praet and
his companions saw with interest the Chapel of Our Lady of the Snows,
where a few years before the famous Constable of Bourbon had offered
up his sword on the altar of the Virgin, as he led the imperial armies
across the Alps. Then they came down into a smiling green valley, with
walnut woods and rushing streams, and saw the medieval towers of Susa
at their feet. Here they were met by the Emperor's Ambassador at the
Court of Savoy, who came to pay his respects to the Duchess, bringing
with him two elegant litters of crimson brocade, sent by Charles's
sister-in-law, Beatrix of Portugal, Duchess of Savoy, for Christina's
use. At Rivoli, two stages farther on, fifty Councillors from Turin,
with the Bishop of Vercelli at their head, appeared on horseback to
escort the Duchess to the city gates. Here Christina mounted her horse
and rode up the steep ascent to the citadel, with De Praet walking at
her side. The beautiful Duchess Beatrix herself awaited her guest at
the castle gates, and, embracing Christina affectionately, led her by
the hand up the grand staircase into the best suite of rooms in the
palace. The travellers spent two days in these comfortable quarters,
and enjoyed the brief interval of rest, although the Duchess, as
Bottigella was careful to tell the Duke, seemed the least tired of the
whole party, and was in blooming health and high spirits.

On the following Sunday Christina rode into Novara, on a brilliant
spring morning, and was lodged in the Bishop's palace, and received
with the greatest enthusiasm by her lord's subjects. At Vigevano, the
birthplace and favourite home of Lodovico Sforza, the nobles, with
Massimiliano Stampa at their head, rode out to welcome the Duke's
bride, and carried a rich baldacchino over her head. Nevertheless,
halfway between Novara and Vigevano, De Praet complained to the Count
that neither the reception of the Duchess nor the rooms prepared
for her were sufficiently honourable--"in fact, he found fault with
everything." The Count expressed some surprise, since both the Emperor
Maximilian and Charles V. himself had stayed at Vigevano, and the
latter had greatly admired the buildings and gardens laid out by
Bramante and Leonardo. But, to pacify the exacting priest, Stampa
proposed that the Duchess should only take her _déjeuner_ in the
castle, and push on to his own villa of Cussago, where she was to spend
some days before entering Milan. But De Praet replied that the Duchess,
not being yet accustomed to this climate, felt the heat of the sun,
and must on no account ride any farther till evening. So all the Count
could do was to send Bottigella on to see that the Castello was adorned
with wreaths of flowers and verdure, and that a good bed was prepared
for the Duchess.[98]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1534] CHRISTINA'S HUSBAND]

At least, De Praet could find nothing to grumble at in Stampa's
country-house at Cussago, the ducal palace and hunting-grounds which
had been given him by Francesco II. in reward for his unwavering
loyalty. The beauty of the spot, the delicious gardens with their sunny
lawns and sparkling fountains, their rose and myrtle bowers, their
bosquets and running streams, enchanted the travellers from the north.
The villa had been adorned with frescoes and marble doorways by the
best Lombard masters of the Moro's Court, and was once the favourite
country-house of Beatrice d'Este, the present Duke's mother, who often
rode out from Milan to hunt in the forests of the Brianza or play at
ball on the terraces. Now her son's child-bride saw these green lawns
in all the loveliness of early summer, and the frescoed halls rang once
more to the sound of mirth and laughter. Music and dancing enlivened
the days, and a drama--_La Sposa Sagace_--was acted one evening to
amuse Christina. At nightfall the guns of the Castello, firing salutes
in her honour, were heard in the distance, and the bonfires on the
towers of Milan lit up the evening sky with crimson glow. Count
Massimiliano took care that nothing should be lacking to the enjoyment
of the Duchess, and begged De Praet to attend to her comfort in every
particular, but, as he told the Duke, it was not always easy to satisfy
these gentlemen.

One day Christina and her ladies received a visit from the great
Captain Antonio de Leyva, the Duke's old enemy, who now came, cap in
hand, to pay homage to the Emperor's niece. Another day there was
a still greater stir at the villa, for the Duke himself appeared
unexpectedly, having ridden out almost alone, to pay a surprise visit
to his bride. The first sight of her future lord must have given
Christina a shock, and her ladies whispered to each other that this
wan, grey-haired man, who could not walk without the help of a stick,
was hardly a fit match for their fair young Princess. But Francesco's
chivalrous courtesy and gentleness went far to atone for his physical
defects, and nothing could exceed the kindness which he showed his
youthful bride. After all, she was but a child, and the sight of this
new world that was laid at her feet with all its beauties and treasures
was enough to dazzle her eyes and please her innocent fancy.

On Sunday, the 3rd of May, the Duchess made her state entry into Milan.
Early in the afternoon she rode in her litter to S. Eustorgio, the
Dominican convent outside the Ticino gate, where she was received by
the Duke's half-brother, Giovanni Paolo Sforza, mounted on a superb
charger, and attended by all his kinsmen, clad in white and gold.
After paying her devotions at the marble shrine of S. Pietro Martive,
the Prior and friars conducted her to partake of refreshments in the
guests' hall, and receive the homage of the Bishop and clergy, of the
magistrates and senators. At six o'clock, after vespers, the procession
started from the Porta Ticinese. First came the armourers and their
apprentices, in companies of 200, with coloured flags in their hands
and plumes to match in their caps. One troop was in blue, the other in
green. At the head of the first rode Alessandro Missaglia, a splendid
figure, wearing a silver helmet and shining armour over his turquoise
velvet vest, and mounted on a horse with richly damascened harness. The
green troop was led by Girolamo Negriolo, the other famous Milanese
armourer. Then came 300 archers in pale blue silk, and six bands of
trumpeters and drummers, followed by a great company of the noblest
gentlemen of Milan, all clad in white, with flowing plumes in their
hats and lances in their hands, riding horses draped with silver
brocade. Visconti, Trivulzio, Borromeo, Somaglia--all the proudest
names of Milan were there, and in the rear rode the veteran Antonio de
Leyva, with the Emperor's representative, De Praet, at his side.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1534] THE BRIDE'S ENTRY]

Immediately behind them, under a white and gold velvet baldacchino,
borne by the doctors of the University, rode the bride, mounted on
a white horse with glittering trappings, and wearing a rich white
brocade robe and a long veil over her flowing hair--"a vision more
divine than human," exclaims the chronicler who witnessed the sight;
"only," he adds in an undertone, "she is still very young." At the
sight of the lovely child the multitude broke into shouts of joy,
and the clashing of bells, the blare of trumpets, and sound of guns,
welcomed the coming of the Duchess. Close behind her rode Cardinal
Ercole Gonzaga, the Duke's cousin, and on either side a guard of twelve
noble youths, with white ostrich feathers in their caps, so that Her
Excellency "appeared to be surrounded with a forest of waving plumes."
In the rear came Madame de Souvastre and her ladies in litters,
followed by a crowd of senators, bishops, and magistrates.

Six triumphal arches, adorned with statues and paintings, lined the
route. Peace with her olive-branch, Plenty with the cornucopia,
Prosperity bearing a caduceus, Joy crowned with flowers, welcomed the
bride in turn. Everywhere the imperial eagles were seen together with
the Sforza arms, and countless mottoes with courtly allusions to the
golden age that had at length dawned for distracted Milan. "Thy coming,
O Christina, confirms the peace of Italy!" On the piazza of the Duomo,
a pageant of the Seasons greeted her--Spring with arms full of roses,
Summer laden with ripe ears of corn, Autumn bearing purple grapes, and
Winter wrapt in snowy fur; while Minerva was seen closing the doors of
the Temple of Janus, and Juno and Hymen, with outstretched arms, hailed
Francesco, the son of the great Lodovico, and Christina, the daughter
of Dacia and Austria. At the steps of the Duomo the long procession
halted. Cardinal Gonzaga helped the Duchess to alight, and led her to
the altar, where she knelt in silent prayer, kissed the _pax_ held up
to her by the Archbishop, and received his benediction. The walls of
the long nave were hung with tapestries, and the choir draped with
cloth of gold and adorned with statues of the patron saints of Milan.
"When you entered the doors," wrote the chronicler, "you seemed to be
in Paradise."

Then the Duchess mounted her horse again, and the procession passed
up the Goldsmiths' Street to the Castello. Here the decorations were
still more sumptuous. One imposing arch was adorned with a painting
of St. John leaning on the bosom of Christ, copied from Leonardo's
"Cenacolo" in the refectory of S. Maria delle Grazie. Another bore a
figure of Christ with the orb and sceptre, and the words "Mercy and
Truth have kissed each other." On the piazza in front of the Castello,
a colossal fountain was erected, and winged children spouted wine and
perfumed water. The Castello itself had been elaborately adorned. The
arms of Denmark and Milan were carved in fine marble over the portals,
the walls were hung with blue draperies studded with golden stars and
wreathed with garlands of myrtle and ivy, and on either side of the
central doorway two giant warriors leaning on clubs supported a tablet
crowned with the imperial eagles, and inscribed with the words: "The
wisest of Princes to-day weds the fairest of Virgins, and brings us the
promise of perpetual peace."[99]

[Illustration: CHRISTINA, DUCHESS OF MILAN (1534)

(Oppenheimer Collection)]

[Illustration: FRANCESCO SFORZA, DUKE OF MILAN (1534)

(British Museum)

_To face p. 92_]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1534] IN THE CASTELLO]

As the procession reached the gates of the Castello, a triumphant burst
of martial music was sounded by the trumpeters on the topmost tower,
and Count Massimiliano, the Castellan, presented the golden keys of
the gates to the Duchess, on bended knee. Christina received them with
a gracious smile, and, accepting his hand, alighted from her horse,
amid the cheers of the populace, who, rushing in on all sides, seized
the baldacchino, tore the costly brocade into ribbons, and divided the
spoil. Meanwhile the Duke, leaning on a stick, received his wife with
a deep reverence, and led her by the hand into the beautiful suite of
rooms, hung with mulberry-coloured velvet and cloth of gold, which had
been prepared for her use.[100] Cardinal Gonzaga and De Praet supped
with the bride and bridegroom that evening, to the sweet melodies of
the Duke's flutes and viols. The gates of the Castello were closed,
enormous bonfires blazed on the walls, and rockets went up to heaven
from the top of the great tower. Thousands of torches illumined the
darkness, and the streets were thronged with gay crowds, who gladly
took advantage of the Duke's permission and gave themselves up to mirth
and revelry all night long. Long was that day remembered in Milan.
Old men who could recall the reign of Lodovico, and had witnessed the
coming of Beatrice and the marriage of Bianca, wept, and thanked God
that they had lived to see this day. But their joy was destined to be
of short duration.


IV.

At six o'clock on the evening of the 4th of May the marriage of the
Duke was finally celebrated in the hall of the Rocchetta, which was
hung with cloth of gold beautifully decorated with garlands of flowers.
Among the illustrious guests present were the Cardinal of Mantua, the
Legate Caracciolo, Antonio de Leyva, and the chief nobles and senators.
The Bishops of Modena and Vigevano chanted the nuptial Mass, and
Monseigneur de Praet delivered a lengthy oration, which sorely tried
the patience of his hearers. No sooner had he uttered the last words
than the Duke took the bride's hand, and brought the ceremony to an
abrupt conclusion by leading her into the banquet-hall. There a supper
of delicate viands, fruit, and wines, was prepared, and the guests were
entertained with music and songs during the evening.[101]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1534] ALFONSO D'ESTE]

Letters of congratulation now poured in from all the Courts of Europe.
Christina's own relatives--Ferdinand and Anna, the King and Queen of
Hungary and Bohemia, the King and Queen of Portugal, the Elector of
Saxony and the Marquis of Brandenburg--all congratulated the Duchess
on her safe arrival and happy marriage; while the Pope, the Doge of
Venice, and other Italian Princes, sent the Duke cordial messages.
One of the most interesting letters which the bridegroom received was
an autograph epistle from his cousin, Bona Sforza, Queen of Poland,
who would probably herself have been Duchess of Milan if Massimiliano
Sforza had reigned longer. It had been the earnest wish of her widowed
mother, Isabella of Aragon, to effect this union, and it was only
after the French conquest of Milan in 1515 that her daughter became the
wife of King Sigismund. From her distant home Bona kept up an active
correspondence with her Italian relatives, and now sent Francesco the
following friendly letter:

  "DEAREST AND MOST ILLUSTRIOUS COUSIN,

    "I rejoice sincerely to hear that your most illustrious wife
    has reached Milan safely. I feel the greatest joy at your happy
    marriage, and trust that Heaven will send you a fine son. My
    husband and children join with me in wishing you every possible
    happiness.

                                                   "BONA, QUEEN.
  "From Cracow, July 15, 1534."[102]


Another of Francesco's illustrious kinsfolk, Alfonso d'Este, Duke
of Ferrara, came to Milan in person to offer his congratulations to
his nephew, although he preferred to remain incognito, and his name
does not figure among the guests who were present at the wedding
festivities. But Ferrarese chroniclers record that the Duke went to
Milan on the 30th of April, to attend the wedding of Duke Francesco
Sforza, who took for wife Madame Christierna, daughter of the King
of Dacia, and returned home on the 6th of May.[103] Forty-four years
before, Alfonso, then a boy of fourteen, had accompanied his sister
Beatrice to Milan for her marriage, and escorted his own bride, Anna
Sforza, back to Ferrara. Now his long and troubled life was drawing to
a close, and he died a few months after this last journey to Milan,
on the 31st of October, 1534. By his last will he left two of his
best horses and a pair of falcons to his beloved nephew, the Duke of
Milan.[104] Some writers have conjectured that Alfonso brought his
favourite painter, Titian, to Milan, and that the Venetian master
painted portraits of the Duke and Duchess on this occasion.[105] No
record of Titian's visit, however, has been discovered, and he probably
painted the portraits of Francesco and Christina from drawings sent to
him at Venice.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1534] TITIAN'S PORTRAIT]

Titian's friend, Pietro Aretino, was in constant correspondence with
Count Massimiliano Stampa, who rewarded his literary efforts with gifts
of gold chains, velvet caps, and embroidered doublets. "I shall be
clad in your presents all through the summer months," he wrote in a
letter, signing himself, "Your younger brother and devoted servant."
Aretino was not only profuse in thanks to this noble patron, but sent
him choice works of art, mirrors of Oriental crystal, medals engraved
by Anichino, and, best of all, a little painting of the youthful
Baptist clasping a lamb, "so life-like that a sheep would bleat at
the sight of it."[106] The wily Venetian was exceedingly anxious to
ingratiate himself with the Duke of Milan, and not only dedicated a
"Paraphase" to him on his marriage, but, according to Vasari, painted
portraits of both the Duke and Duchess. These pictures were reproduced
by Campo in the "History of Cremona," which he published in 1585, while
Christina was still living. The portrait of Francesco was at that
time the property of the Milanese noble Mario Amigone, while that of
Christina hung in the house of Don Antonio Lomboni, President of the
Magistrates.[107] This last portrait was afterwards sent to Florence
by order of the Grand-Duke Ferdinand, who married the Duchess's
granddaughter, Christine of Lorraine.

    "I send Your Highness," wrote Guido Mazzenta in January, 1604,
    "the portrait of the Most Serene Lady, Christina, Queen of
    Denmark, and grandmother of the Most Serene Grand-Duchess,
    painted by Titian, by order of Duke Francesco Sforza, when he
    brought her to Milan as his bride."[108]

Unfortunately, this precious portrait was afterwards sent to Madrid,
where it is said to have perished in a fire. In Campo's engraving the
youthful Duchess wears a jewelled cap and pearl necklace, with an
ermine cape on her shoulders. Her serene air and thoughtful expression
recall Holbein's famous picture, and give an impression of quiet
happiness and content which agrees with all that we know of her short
married life.

The change was great from Malines and Brussels, and Christina often
missed her old playmates. But her simple, docile nature became easily
accustomed to these new surroundings, and the affectionate little
letters which she sent to her aunt and sister all breathe the same
strain. "We are as happy and contented as possible," she writes to
Dorothea; and when Camillo Ghilino was starting for Germany, she sends
a few words, at her lord's suggestion, to be forwarded to Flanders,
just to tell her aunt how much she loves and thinks of her.[109]

Certainly, when we compare her lot with that of her mother, and
remember the hardships and sorrows which the young Queen had to
endure, Christina may well have counted herself fortunate. Her husband
treated his child-wife with the greatest kindness. Her smallest wish
was gratified, her tastes were consulted in every particular. The
rooms which she occupied in the Rocchetta, where his mother, Duchess
Beatrice, had lived, were hung with rich crimson velvet; the walls
of her bedroom were draped with pale blue silk; a new loggia was
built, looking out on the gardens and moat waters. The breaches which
French and Spanish guns had made in the walls were repaired, and the
Castello resumed its old aspect. Three state carriages, lined with
costly brocades and drawn by four horses draped with cloth of gold,
were prepared by the Duke for his wife, and were first used by the
Duchess on Ascension Day, when, ten days after her wedding, she made
her first appearance in public. As she drove to the Duomo, followed by
the Legate and Ambassadors, and escorted by a brilliant cavalcade of
nobles, the streets were thronged with eager crowds, who greeted her
with acclamation, and waited for hours to catch a sight of her face.
On Corpus Christi, again, a few weeks later, the Duke and Duchess both
came to see the long procession of Bishops and priests pass through the
streets, bearing the host under a stately canopy from the Duomo to the
ancient shrine of S. Ambrogio.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1534] FRANCESCA PALEOLOGA]

The popularity of the young Duchess soon became unbounded. Her tall
figure, dark eyes, and fair hair, excited the admiration of all her
subjects, while her frank and kindly manners won every heart. Although
prices went up in Milan that year, and the tolls on corn and wine were
doubled, the people paid these dues cheerfully, and, when they sat down
to a scanty meal, remarked that they must pay for Her Excellency's
dinner.[110] Fortunately, by the end of the year there was a
considerable fall in prices, and a general sense of relief and security
prevailed.

To the Duke himself, as well as to his people, the coming of the
Duchess brought new life. For a time his failing health revived in
the sunshine of her presence. He threw himself with energy into the
task of beautifying Milan and completing the façade of the Duomo. At
the same time he employed painters to decorate the Castello and Duomo
of Vigevano, and an illuminated book of the Gospels, adorned with
exquisite miniatures and bearing his arms and those of the Duchess, may
still be seen in the Brera.

Hunting-parties were held for Christina's amusement both at Vigevano
and in Count Massimiliano's woods at Cussago. Madame de Souvastre
and most of the Duchess's Flemish attendants had returned to the
Netherlands with De Praet, and Francesco took great pains to provide
his wife with a congenial lady-in-waiting. His choice fell on Francesca
Paleologa, a lady of the noble house of Montferrat, and cousin of the
newly-married Duchess of Mantua. Her husband, Constantine Comnenus,
titular Prince of Macedonia, had served under the Pope and Emperor; and
her daughter, Deianira, had lately married Count Gaspare Trivulzio, a
former partisan of the French, who was now a loyal subject of the Duke.
From this time the Princess of Macedonia became Christina's inseparable
companion, and remained devotedly attached to the Duchess throughout
her long life. At the same time Francesco appointed one of his
secretaries, Benedetto da Corte of Pavia, to be master of the Duchess's
household, and to teach her Italian, which she was soon able to speak
and write fluently.

The Milanese archives contain several charming little notes written in
Christina's large, round hand to the Duke during a brief visit which he
paid to Vigevano, for change of air, in the summer of 1535:

  "MY LORD AND DEAREST HUSBAND,

    "I have received your dear letters, and rejoice to hear of your
    welfare. This has been a great comfort to me, but it will be a
    far greater pleasure to see you again. I look forward to your
    return with such impatience that a single hour seems as long as
    a whole year. May God keep you safe and bring you home again
    very soon, for I can enjoy nothing without Your Excellency. I
    am very well, thank God, and commend myself humbly to your good
    graces. Signora Francesca is also well, and commends herself to
    Your Highness.

                                    "Your very humble wife,
                                                   "CHRISTIERNA.
  "Milan, June 7, 1535.

    "The bearer of this letter has been very good to me."

Francesco's health had lately given fresh cause for anxiety. He
suffered from catarrh and fever, and was frequently confined to his
bed. A Pavian Envoy who had been promised an audience had to leave the
Castello without seeing His Excellency, and a visit which he and the
Duchess had intended to pay to Pavia in the spring was put off, to
the great disappointment of the loyal citizens. Now his absence was
prolonged owing to a fresh attack of illness, and the young wife wrote
again at the end of the month, lamenting the delay and expressing the
same impatience for his return:

  "MY DEAREST HUSBAND,

    [Sidenote: JUNE, 1535] DOROTHEA OF DENMARK]

    "I was delighted, as I always am, with your dear letter of the
    20th instant, but should have been much better pleased to see
    you and enjoy the pleasure of your presence, as I hoped to
    do by this time, especially as these Signors assured me that
    your absence would be short. But they were, it is plain, quite
    wrong. However, I must be reasonable, and if your prolonged
    absence is necessary I will not complain. I thank you for your
    kind excuses and explanations, but I will not thank you for
    saying that I need not trouble to write to you with my own
    hand, because this at least is labour well spent, and I am only
    happy when I can talk with Your Excellency or write to you, now
    that I cannot enjoy your company. I commend myself infinitely
    to your remembrance, and trust God may long preserve you, and
    grant you a safe and speedy return.

                                      "Your very humble wife,
                                                   "CHRISTIERNA.
  "From Milan, June. 1535."[111]


But the warm-hearted young wife's wish remained unfulfilled, and four
months after these lines were written Christina was a widow.


V.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1535] THE PALATINE]

The chief event of Christina's brief married life was the marriage of
her elder sister, the Princess of Denmark. Dorothea was by this time
an attractive girl of fourteen, shorter and slighter than her sister,
and inferior to her in force of character, but full of brightness and
gaiety. She was very popular in her old home at Malines, and often
shot with a crossbow at the meetings of the Guild of Archers. Several
marriages had been proposed for her, and King James of Scotland had
repeatedly asked for her hand; but the Emperor hesitated to accept his
advances, from fear of offending King Francis, whose daughter Magdalen
had long been pledged to this fickle monarch, while the difficulty
of providing a dower and outfit for another portionless niece, made
Mary reluctant to conclude a second marriage. But, a few months after
Christina's marriage, a new suitor for Dorothea's hand came forward
in the person of the Count Palatine, who had vainly aspired to wed
both Eleanor of Austria and Mary of Hungary. Frederic's loyal support
of Charles's claims to the imperial crown, and his gallant defence of
Vienna against the Turks, had been scurvily rewarded, and hitherto all
his attempts to find another bride had been foiled. When, in 1526,
after the King of Portugal's death, he approached his old love, the
widowed Queen Eleanor, his advances were coldly repelled; and when
he asked King Ferdinand for one of his daughters, he was told that
she was too young for him. After Mary of Hungary's refusal, he left
the Imperial Court in anger, and told Charles V. that he would take
a French wife;[112] but Isabel of Navarre, Margaret of Montferrat,
and the King of Poland's daughter, all eluded his efforts, and when
he asked for Mary Tudor's hand, King Henry told him that he could not
insult his good friend and cousin by offering him a bride born out of
wedlock.[113] Now Ferdinand, unwilling to lose so valuable an ally,
suddenly proposed that the Palatine should marry his niece Dorothea,
saying that both he and Charles would rejoice to see him reigning over
the three northern kingdoms. At first Frederic hesitated, saying that
he was a grey-headed man of fifty, little fitted to be the husband of
so young a lady, and had no wish to reign over the turbulent Norsemen.
Mary, however, welcomed her brother's proposal, regarding it as a
means of strengthening the Emperor's cause in Northern Europe. In
Denmark the succession of Frederic's son Christian III. was disputed,
and a Hanseatic fleet had seized Copenhagen, while Christopher of
Oldenburg, a cousin of the captive King, had invaded Jutland. With
the help of these allies it might be possible for the Palatine to
recover his wife's inheritance. But the execution of this plan was full
of difficulties, as Prince John's old tutor, the wise Archbishop of
Lunden, told Charles V. in a letter which he addressed to him in the
autumn of 1534:

    "MOST SACRED CÆSAR,--I know Denmark well, and am convinced that
    the Danes will never recognize Christian II. as their King.
    Count Christopher's expedition will prove a mere flash in the
    pan, and when he can no longer pay his men, the peasants, who
    flocked to his banner at the sound of their old King's name,
    will return to their hearths. Then the nobles will have their
    revenge, and the proud Lübeck citizens will seize Denmark and
    establish the Lutheran religion in the name of Christopher or
    King Henry of England, or any other Prince, as long as he is
    not Your Majesty; and if they succeed, the trade of the Low
    Countries will be ruined."[114]

The bait held out to the Palatine, however, proved too alluring, and
he easily fell a victim to the snare. The Emperor sent him flattering
messages by Hubert, the faithful servant who has left us so delightful
a chronicle of his master's doings, and promised his niece a dowry of
50,000 crowns. It was late on New Year's Eve when Hubert reached his
master's house at Neumarkt, on his return from Spain, and Frederic was
already in bed; but he sent for him, and bade him tell his news in
three words. The messenger exclaimed joyfully: "I bring my lord a royal
bride, a most gracious Kaiser, and a sufficient dowry." Upon which the
Palatine thanked God, and bade Hubert go to the cellar and help himself
to food and drink.[115]

One of Charles's most trusted Flemish servants, Nicholas de Marnol,
was now sent to Milan, to obtain the consent of the Duke and Duchess
to Dorothea's marriage. After a perilous journey over the Alps in snow
and floods, Marnol reached Milan on the 10th of January, 1535, and
received a cordial welcome. Francesco approved warmly of a union which
would insure the Princess's happiness and serve to confirm the peace of
Germany, but quite declined to accept the Emperor's suggestion that he
should help to provide a pension for Christina's brother-in-law, saying
that this was impossible, and that His Majesty would be the first to
recognize the futility of making promises which cannot be kept.

After a short stay at Milan, Marnol went on to Vienna, and advised the
Palatine to go to Spain himself if he wished to settle the matter.
Frederic, always glad of an excuse for a journey, travelled by way
of Brussels and France to Saragossa, and accompanied the Emperor to
Barcelona, where Charles signed the marriage contract on the eve of
sailing for Africa.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1535] A HAPPY MARRIAGE]

On the 18th of May, 1535, the marriage was solemnized at Brussels, and
Frederic consented to leave his bride with her aunt until her outfit
was completed. Queen Eleanor expressed the liveliest interest in her
old lover's marriage, and insisted on seeing Dorothea before she
went to Germany. At length the wedding-party reached Heidelberg, on
the 8th of September, where the gallant bridegroom, who, in Hubert's
words, "loved to shine," rode out in rich attire to meet his bride, and
escorted her with martial music and pomp worthy of a King's daughter
to the famous castle on the heights. The next day the nuptial Mass
was celebrated by the Bishop of Spires, and a series of splendid
entertainments were given by Frederic's brother, the Elector Louis,
after which the Count took his bride to his own home at Neumarkt, in
the Upper Palatinate.[116]

"Now at length," wrote Hubert, "my lord thought that he had attained a
haven of rest, and found a blessed end to all his troubles; but he was
grievously mistaken, and soon realized that he had embarked on a new
and tempestuous ocean."[117]

The splendid prospects of recovering his wife's kingdom were destined
to prove utterly fallacious, and only involved him in heavy expenses
and perpetual intrigues. The Emperor, as he soon discovered, "had no
great affection for the enterprise of Denmark,"[118] and before long
Copenhagen surrendered, and Charles and Mary were compelled to come
to terms with Christian III. and acknowledge his title. Fortunately,
in all other respects his marriage proved a happy one. Dorothea was
greatly beloved by her husband's family and subjects, and made him a
devoted wife, although, as Hubert soon found out, she was as great a
spendthrift as her lord, and confessed that she was never happy until
she had spent her last penny.[119] The very frivolity of her nature
suited the volatile Count. She shared his love of adventure, and was
always ready to accompany him on perilous journeys, to climb mountains
or ford rivers, with the same unquenchable courage and gaiety of
heart. Even when, in her anxiety to bear a child, she imitated the
example of Frederic's mother, the old Countess Palatine, and went on
pilgrimages and wore holy girdles, "this was done without any spirit
of devotion, but with great mirth and laughter. And how little," adds
the chronicler, "either pilgrimages or girdles profited her, we all
know."[120]


VI.

Before the Palatine and his bride reached Heidelberg, Europe was
thrilled by the news of the capture of Tunis, and the flight of the
hated Barbarossa before his conqueror. It was the proudest moment of
the Emperor's life. Twenty thousand Christian captives were released
that day, and went home to spread the fame of their great deliverer
throughout the civilized world. The news reached Milan on the 2nd of
August, and was hailed with universal joy. _Te Deums_ were chanted
in the Duomo, bells were rung in all the churches, and the guns of
the Castello boomed in honour of the great event. Camillo Ghilino
was immediately sent by the Duke to congratulate the Emperor on
his victory, and thank His Majesty once more for all the happiness
which the generous gift of his niece had brought Francesco and his
people.[121]

[Illustration: FREDERIC, COUNT PALATINE

Ascribed to A. Dürer (Darmstadt)

_To face p. 106_]

[Sidenote: NOV., 1535] FRANCESCO SFORZA'S DEATH]

The late Pope, Clement VII., had already expressed his intention of
rewarding Ghilino's services with a Cardinal's hat, and his successor,
Paul III., would probably have kept his promise, but the Ambassador
fell ill in Sicily, and died at Palermo in September, to the Duke's
great sorrow.[122] Soon after receiving the news, Francesco himself
fell ill of fever, and once more lost the use of his limbs. All through
October he grew steadily worse, and by the end of the month the people
of Milan learnt that their beloved Prince was at the point of death. On
Monday, the Feast of All Saints, the public anxiety was at its height,
and silent crowds waited all day at the gates of the Castello to hear
the latest reports. At length, early in the morning of All Souls' Day,
they learnt that the last Sforza Duke was no more. Christina watched
by his bedside to the end, and wept bitterly, for, in the chronicler's
words, "they had loved each other well."[123] All Milan shared in her
grief, and nothing but sobbing and wailing was heard in the streets.
Everyone lamented the good Duke, and grieved for the troubles and
misery which his death would bring on the land. But the city remained
tranquil, and there was no tumult or rioting. This was chiefly due to
Stampa, who, by the Duke's last orders, took charge of the Duchess, and
administered public affairs in her name, until instructions could be
received from Cæsar.

A messenger was despatched without delay to the Emperor at Palermo,
with letters from the Count and a touching little note from Christina,
informing her uncle how her dear lord's weakness had gradually
increased, until in the early morning he passed to a better life. The
dead Prince lay in state for three days in the ducal chapel, clad in
robes of crimson velvet and ermine, on a bier surrounded by lighted
tapers. But the funeral was put off till the 19th of November, in
order, writes the chronicler, to give the people time to show the love
they bore their lamented master, and also because of the difficulty of
obtaining sufficient black cloth to drape the walls of the Castello
and put the Court in mourning. It was a sad time for the young widow.
During three weeks not a ray of light was allowed to penetrate the
gloom of the funereal hall where she sat with her ladies, while solemn
requiems and Masses were chanted in the chapel.

It had been Francesco's wish to sleep with his parents in the Church
of S. Maria delle Grazie, where the effigies of Lodovico and his lost
Beatrice had been carved in marble. But when this became known there
was a general outcry. The people would not allow their beloved Duke to
be buried anywhere but in the Duomo with the great Francesco and the
other Sforza Princes. So it was decided only to bury the Duke's heart
in the Dominican church. His body was laid in a leaden casket covered
with black velvet, and a wax effigy, wearing the ducal crown and robes,
was exposed to public view.

[Sidenote: NOV., 1535] FUNERAL RITES]

Late on Friday, the 19th of November, an imposing funeral procession
passed from the Castello to the Duomo, through the same streets
which, only eighteen months before, had been decked in festive array
to receive the late Duke's bride. First came the Bishops and clergy
with candles and crosses, then the senators, magistrates, and nobles,
wearing long black mantles and hoods. After them gentlemen bearing
the ducal standard, cap, and baton, and Francesco's sword and helmet,
and what moved the spectators more than all, the white mule which he
had ridden daily, led by four pages, "looking just as it did when
His Excellency was alive, only that the saddle was empty." Then the
bier was carried past, under a gold canopy, and the wax effigy of the
dead man, was seen clad in gold brocade and ermine, with a vest of
crimson velvet and red shoes and stockings. Immediately behind rode the
chief mourner, Giovanni Paolo Sforza, followed by Antonio de Leyva,
the Imperial and Venetian Ambassadors, the Chancellor Taverna, Count
Massimiliano Stampa, and the chief Ministers and officials. After
them came a vast multitude of poor, all in mourning, bearing lighted
tapers, and weeping as they went. A catafalque, surrounded with burning
torches, had been erected in the centre of the Duomo, and here, under a
canopy of black velvet, the Duke's effigy was laid on a couch of gold
brocade, with his sword at his side and the ducal cap and baton at his
feet--"a thing," says the chronicler, "truly marvellous to see."[124]

The next morning the funeral rites were celebrated in the presence of
an immense concourse of people, and a Latin oration was delivered by
Messer Gualtiero di Corbetta. During three days requiems were chanted
at every altar in the Duomo, and the great bell, which had never been
rung before, was tolled for the space of three hours, accompanied by
all the bells of the other churches in Milan. "And there was no one
with heart so hard that he was not moved to tears that day," writes
Burigozzo, the chronicler who was a living witness of the love which
the citizens bore to their dead Duke.[125] At the end of the week the
casket containing Francesco's remains was finally laid in a richly
carved sarcophagus, which had been originally intended to receive
the ashes of Gaston de Foix, the victor of Ravenna, and which was now
placed against the wall of the choir, "for a perpetual memorial in the
sight of all Milan."[126]

No one loved the Duke better and lamented his loss more truly than
Count Massimiliano Stampa, and Pietro Aretino, who realized this,
condoled with his noble friend, and at the same time paid an eloquent
tribute to the dead Prince, in the following letter:

    "The Duke is dead, and I feel that this sad event has not only
    taken away all your happiness, but part of your own soul.
    I know the close intimacy in which you lived, nourished in
    your infancy at the same breast, and bound together in one
    heart and soul. But you must take comfort, remembering that
    His Excellency may well be called fortunate in his end. His
    wanderings began when he was barely six years old, and he was
    driven into exile before he was old enough to remember his
    native land. After so many wars and labours, after experiencing
    famine and sickness himself, and seeing the cruel misery
    and affliction endured by his subjects, he lived to see
    perfect tranquillity restored in his dominions, and to enjoy
    the passionate affection of all Milan. Now, secure in the
    friendship of Cæsar and the love of Italy, he has given back
    his spirit to God who gave it. Rejoice, therefore, and render
    praise and glory to Francesco Sforza's name, because by his
    wisdom and virtue he conquered fortune, and has died a Prince
    on his throne, reigning in peace and happiness over his native
    land. So, my dear lord, I beg you dry your tears, and meet
    those who love you as I do with a serene brow. The fame of your
    learning and greatness is known everywhere. Rise above the
    blows of fate, and console yourself with the thought of your
    Duke's blessed end. There lies His Excellency's corpse. Give it
    honourable burial, and I meanwhile will not cease to celebrate
    him dead and you who are alive."[127]

FOOTNOTES:

[79] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, ii. 146.

[80] Schäfer, iv. 204, 209.

[81] "Diarii," liii. 231.

[82] Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 298; Sanuto, lv. 389, 414.

[83] Sanuto, lvii. 610, 637.

[84] State Papers, Record Office, vii. 465.

[85] M. Sanuto, lvii. 157; A. Campo, "Storia di Cremona," 107.

[86] Lanz, ii. 87, 88.

[87] Lanz, ii. 89.

[88] Archivio di Stato, Milan, Carteggio Diplomatico, 1533.

[89] Archivio di Stato, Milano, Carteggio Diplomatico, 1533.

[90] Carteggio Diplomatico, 1533, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[91] G. M. Burigozzo, "Cronaca Milanese," 1500-1544, p. 516; "Archivio
Storico Italiano," iii. (1842).

[92] Potenze Sovrane, 1533-34, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[93] Autografi di Principi Sforza, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[94] Potenze Sovrane, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[95] State Papers, Record Office, vii. 545.

[96] Potenze Sovrane, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[97] T. Coryat, "Crudities," i. 215; "Hardwick Papers," i. 85.

[98] Potenze Sovrane, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[99] M. Guazzo, "Historie d'Italia," 272-275; P. Avenati, "Entrata
Solemne di Cristina di Spagna"; MS. Continuazione della Storia di
Corio, O. 240 (Biblioteca Ambrosiana).

[100] C. Magenta, "I Visconti e gli Sforza nel Castello di Pavia," i.
750; Nubilonio, "Cronaca di Vigevano," 131.

[101] MS. Continuazione di Corio, O. 240 (Biblioteca Ambrosiana).

[102] Autografi di Principi: Sforza. Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[103] F. Roddi, "Annali di Ferrara" (Harleian MSS. 3310).

[104] E. Gardiner, "A King of Court Poets," 355.

[105] Crowe and Cavalcaselle, "Titian," i. 355.

[106] P. Aretino, "Lettere," i. 214.

[107] A. Campo, 107.

[108] Gaye, "Carteggio," iii. 531.

[109] Autografi di Principi: Sforza, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[110] Burigozzo, 521.

[111] Autografi di Principi: Sforza, Archivio di Stato (see Appendix
I.).

[112] Lanz, i. 419.

[113] H. Thomas, 310.

[114] Altmeyer, "Relations Commerciales," etc., 317; Lanz, ii. 120.

[115] H. Thomas, 328.

[116] Henne, vi. 132.

[117] H. Thomas, 350.

[118] Lanz, ii. 659.

[119] H. Thomas, 350.

[120] "Zimmer'sche Chronik," iv. 145.

[121] Burigozzo, 525.

[122] G. Ghilino, "Annali di Alessandria," 141.

[123] Potenze Sovrane, Archivio di Stato.

[124] Burigozzo, 525.

[125] _Ibid._, 529.

[126] M. Guazzo, 312.

[127] P. Aretino, "Lettere," i. 43.




BOOK V

THE WIDOW OF MILAN

1535-1538


I.

Christina's short married life was over. At the end of eighteen months
she found herself a widow, before she had completed her fourteenth
year. But the brief interval which had elapsed since she left Flanders
had sufficed to turn the child into a woman. From the moment of the
Duke's death, her good sense and discretion won golden opinions from
the grey-headed statesmen around her. The senators and Ambassadors, the
deputies from Pavia and the other Lombard cities, who came to offer
their condolences, were deeply moved at the sight of this Princess,
whose heavy mourning and widow's weeds contrasted strangely with her
extreme youth. The dignity and grace of her bearing charmed them still
more, and all the Milanese asked was to keep their Duchess among
them. By the terms of the late Duke's investiture, if he died without
children, the duchy of Milan was to revert to the Emperor, but the city
of Tortona was settled on the Duchess. By Francesco's will the town and
Castello of Vigevano, which he had done so much to beautify, were also
bequeathed to her. Immediately after the Duke's funeral, in obedience
to his dying lord's order, Stampa hoisted the imperial standard on
the Castello of Milan, but refused to allow Antonio de Leyva to take
possession of the citadel until he received orders from Cæsar himself.
This was faithfully reported to the Emperor by Christina, who gave her
uncle a full account of the steps which she had taken to administer
affairs as her lord's representative, adding:

    "If I have failed in any part of my duty or done anything
    contrary to Your Majesty's wishes, I beg you to excuse my
    ignorance, assuring you that I have acted by the advice of
    my late husband's Councillors, and with no regard to my own
    interests, but with the sole object of promoting Your Majesty's
    honour and service, and remain

                          "Your very humble and obedient servant,
                                                    "CHRÉTIENNE.
  "November 20, 1535."[128]


The messenger whom Stampa sent to Palermo on the day of the Duke's
death missed the Emperor, who had already left for Messina, and the
news did not reach him until he had landed in Calabria, on his way to
Naples. It was not till the 27th of November that a horseman bearing
letters from Cæsar arrived in Milan. Here intense anxiety prevailed
among all classes, and the Spaniards were as much hated as the Duke
and Duchess had been beloved. Accordingly, the relief was great when
it became known that, although Signor Antonio de Leyva was appointed
Governor-General, Stampa was to retain his post as Castellan, and the
Duchess was to remain in the Castello.

    "The Duchess remains Duchess," wrote the chronicler, "and all
    the other officials retain their places. Above all, Count
    Massimiliano keeps his office, and the city is perfectly
    quiet."[129]

[Sidenote: DEC., 1535] THE PRINCE OF PIEDMONT]

Stampa now made a last effort to maintain the independence of Milan.
He proposed that the widowed Duchess should be given in marriage to
the Duke of Savoy's eldest son, Louis, a Prince of her own age, who
was being educated at his imperial uncle's Court. A petition to this
effect, signed by Chancellor Taverna and all the leading senators, was
addressed to the Emperor, and Giovanni Paolo Sforza was sent to Rome to
meet His Majesty and obtain the Pope's support.

    "Gian Paolo Sforza and Taverna," wrote the Venetian Envoy,
    Lorenzo Bragadin, "have begged Cæsar to give the hand of his
    niece, the widow, to the Duke of Savoy's son, and this is the
    wish of all the people of Milan."[130]

Unfortunately, Giovanni Paolo fell ill on the journey, and breathed his
last in a village of the Apennines, and before Charles left Naples he
heard that the promising young Prince of Piedmont had died on Christmas
Day at Madrid. His brother, Emanuel Philibert, was a child of seven,
and although his ambitious mother, Duchess Beatrix, hastened to put
forward his claim, nothing more was heard of the scheme.

By this time another marriage for Christina was being seriously
discussed at the Imperial Court. Even before the Duke's death, the
French King had done his best to provoke a quarrel with him, and
had begun to make active preparations for war. Hardly had Francesco
breathed his last, than he openly renewed his old claim to Milan, and
sent an Ambassador to the Emperor at Naples, demanding the duchy for
his second son, Henry, Duke of Orleans, the husband of Catherine de'
Medici. This plan, which would have made the French supreme in North
Italy, could not be entertained for a moment, but Charles, in his
anxiety to avoid war, was ready to accept almost any other alternative.
When his sister Eleanor implored him to agree to her husband's
proposal, and, by way of cementing the alliance, give "the little widow
of Milan" in marriage to the King's third son, the Duke of Angoulême,
he replied that he would gladly treat of the proposed marriage, but
only on condition that Angoulême, not Orleans, was put in possession of
Milan.

The union of the French Prince with Christina now became the subject of
prolonged negotiations between the two Courts. The Imperial Chancellor,
Granvelle, drew up a long and careful memorandum, dwelling on the
obvious advantages of the scheme, on the virtues and charms of the
young Duchess, on her large dowry and great popularity in Milan, and
Charles told Francis plainly that he would agree to no scheme by which
the widowed Duchess was removed from the State, "where she was so much
beloved and honoured, and where the people placed all their hopes of
tranquillity in her presence." One great object of these negotiations,
he wrote, "is to find a noble and suitable husband for our niece, the
Widow of Milan, who is to us almost a daughter, and who has always
shown herself so discreet and so obedient to our wishes."[131]

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1536] MANY SUITORS]

Both the Pope and the Venetians supported this scheme as the best
means of avoiding war and preserving the independence of Milan. At
the same time Pope Paul did not fail to put in a plea for his own
kinsman, the son of his niece Cecilia Farnese, and Count Bosio Sforza,
a descendant of Francesco I.'s half-brother. Bosio had been a loyal
supporter of the late Duke, but died soon after Christina's marriage,
leaving a son of fifteen, who was brought up at the Court of Milan.
The Pope himself addressed a grateful letter to Christina, thanking
her for the kindness which she had shown the boy, and throwing out a
hint that a marriage with her young Sforza cousin might be possible.
Another husband whom Granvelle proposed for her was Duke Alexander
of Florence, but, fortunately, Charles decided to give him his own
illegitimate daughter Margaret, and Christina thus escaped union with
this reckless and profligate Prince, who was soon afterwards murdered
by his kinsman.[132] Meanwhile the Scottish Ambassadors at the French
Court made proposals to the Emperor on behalf of their King, James
V., who had not yet made up his mind to wed Magdalen of Valois, and
these negotiations were only interrupted by the high-handed action of
King Henry's new favourite, Thomas Cromwell. Thus, a few weeks after
the Duke of Milan's death his widow's hand had become the subject of
animated controversy in all the Courts of Europe.[133]

But while others were negotiating the French were arming. On the 6th of
March, the first day of Carnival, news reached Milan that a French army
had crossed the Alps. The strong citadel of Montmélian was betrayed by
the treachery of a Neapolitan captain, and after a gallant defence the
Duke of Savoy was compelled to evacuate Turin, and take refuge with
his wife and children at Vercelli. All hope of peace was now over, and,
in a consistory held in the Vatican on the 8th of April, the Emperor
appealed to the Pope to bear witness how earnestly he had tried to
prevent war, and how fruitless his efforts had proved. At Granvelle's
suggestion, he determined to carry the war into the enemy's country,
and, following in the steps of Charles VIII., crossed the Apennines,
and marched by the Emilian Way and along the banks of the Po towards
Asti.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1536] MEETING WITH CHARLES V.]

The dread of a French invasion had united all parties in Milan. The
citizens forgot their hatred of the Spaniards in their terror of
another siege, and cheerfully submitted to fresh taxes to pay the
defending army. It was a late spring that year in Lombardy, the weather
was bitterly cold, and by the end of April the vines had only put forth
tiny shoots, and the roses were not yet in flower. Nothing was heard
in the streets but the din of approaching warfare, and the tramp of
armed _Landsknechten_ marching from Tyrol on their way to the frontier.
But in the last days of April Christina's dull life was brightened by
the sudden arrival of the Duchess of Savoy, who fled from the camp at
Vercelli to take refuge in the Castello of Milan. Times were altered
since the two Princesses had met at Turin, and the Duchess Beatrix, who
had welcomed the little bride so warmly, was sadly changed in body and
mind. She had lost her eldest son, and been driven out of her home by
foreign invaders, never to return there again in her lifetime. With her
she brought her two remaining children, the little Princess Catherine
and Emanuel Philibert, who was one day to become famous as the bravest
captain in Europe. And she also brought a treasure which excited the
utmost enthusiasm among the Milanese--the Holy Shroud of St. Joseph of
Arimathea, which had been preserved for centuries at Chambéry. Crowds
flocked to the Duomo when Beatrix's Franciscan confessor preached,
in the hope of seeing the precious Shroud; but the Duchess would not
allow the relic to leave the Castello, and on the 7th it was exposed
on the ramparts to the view of an enormous multitude assembled in the
piazza.[134]

A week later Francesco Sforza's cousin, Ferrante Gonzaga, and the Duke
of Savoy, came to Milan, but soon left for the camp. Beatrix then
obtained permission to pay the Emperor a visit on his journey north,
and by Charles's express request took Christina with her. On the 18th
of May the magistrates of Pavia received orders from the Duchess of
Milan's _maggiordomo_, Benedetto da Corte, to prepare lodgings for
Her Excellency and the Duchess of Savoy, as near to each other as
possible.[135] The Castello of Pavia had suffered terribly in the siege
by Lautrec in 1528, but a few rooms were hastily furnished, and on the
20th Beatrix and Christina arrived, escorted by Count Massimiliano and
several courtiers. Early on the following morning the two Duchesses
rode out to Arena on the Po, where they found the Emperor awaiting
them. Charles was unfeignedly glad to see both his sister-in-law and
the niece whom he had left as a child at Brussels four years before,
and welcomed them affectionately.[136] But the interview was a short
one, and the next day he continued his journey to Asti, where he joined
Antonio de Leyva and Ferrante Gonzaga, and prepared to invade Provence.

[Sidenote: OCT., 1536] CARDINAL CARACCIOLO]

Meanwhile Beatrix and Christina returned to Milan, and spent the summer
together in the Castello. A close friendship sprang up between the two
Duchesses. Beatrix took a motherly interest in her young companion, and
the children's presence helped to cheer these anxious months. At first
the Emperor's arms were entirely successful. The French retired before
him to Avignon, laying the country waste, and he met with no opposition
until he reached Aix, which resisted all his attacks. During the long
siege which followed, his soldiers suffered severely from disease and
famine, and many youths of the noblest Milanese families were among
the victims.[137] Early in September, while Christina's own secretary,
Belcorpo, was robbed and murdered on his way to the camp, Antonio de
Leyva, the redoubtable Commander-in-Chief, died, and was buried in S.
Eustorgio at Milan. The Papal Legate, Cardinal Caracciolo, a Neapolitan
by birth, was appointed to succeed him as Viceroy of Milan. He had
only just assumed the reins of office, and paid his first visit to the
young Duchess, when he received a summons from the Emperor to join him
at Genoa. Finding it impossible to reduce Aix, Charles had determined
to abandon the campaign, and on the 16th of November a three months'
truce was signed between the two monarchs. The Emperor was anxious to
return to Spain, where his presence was sorely needed. But before his
departure he sent for the Cardinal, desiring him to leave some trusty
lieutenant to govern the State in his absence, and take charge of his
niece the Duchess. Accordingly, Caracciolo went to Genoa on the 4th of
October, accompanied by Beatrix of Savoy, who, after a long interview
with the Emperor, joined her husband at Nice, the only city which
still belonged to him. Soon after this her health gave way under the
prolonged strain, and this once brilliant and beautiful woman died in
January, 1538, as she said herself, of a broken heart.

Christina, now left alone at Milan, wrote a long letter to the
Cardinal, whom she addressed in the language of a caressing child,
saying that he was dear to her as a father, and seeking his help for
two objects which lay very near her heart.

    "The true affection," she writes, "which Your Excellency has
    shown me, and the kind remembrance of me which you always keep,
    makes me anxious for your health and welfare. So I beg you to
    tell me how you have prospered on your journey, and if you are
    well in health."

She then begs her friend the Cardinal to use his influence with the
Emperor on behalf of her sister Dorothea, "the person now nearest and
dearest to her on earth," who is in need of her powerful uncle's help.
Probably the Palatine was, as usual, endeavouring to recover arrears
of the pension due to him by the Emperor, and to obtain compensation
for the costs which he had incurred in the disastrous expedition
against Copenhagen. Hubert had lately been sent to Charles with this
object, and had at the same time suggested that, if the Emperor needed
a Viceroy for Milan, no one could be more suitable than his lord. But
whatever the precise object of Dorothea's request may have been,
Christina's intercession, it is to be feared, availed her little.

The Duchess's other petition was more easily granted.

    "As a whole year," she wrote, "will soon have elapsed since the
    death of my dearest husband, of blessed memory, I beg you to
    entreat His Majesty, in my name, to be pleased to give orders
    that this anniversary may be observed in a due and fitting
    manner. And I am quite certain that he will not refuse to hear
    this my prayer."[138]

It would indeed have been impossible for the Emperor to refuse so
reasonable a request, and the anniversary of the late Duke's death was
observed with due ceremonial in all the churches of Milan. But the days
of the young Duchess's abode in this city were fast drawing to a close.
Before Charles left Italy he had determined to place a strong Spanish
garrison in the Castello, to defend Milan against the risk of a French
invasion, and had only delayed to take this step from fear of exciting
discontent in the city. Stampa had hitherto succeeded in warding off
the blow, but now he was forced to bow to the imperial command, and
surrender the Castello to a foreign captain.

Charles, it must be owned, did his best to soften the blow. He made the
Count a present of the rich fief of Soncino in the province of Cremona,
and sent him as a parting gift the costly plate which had belonged to
the late Duke, with a cordial invitation to follow him to Spain. But we
see, from a letter which Stampa's friend Aretino sent him, how sorely
this vexed his noble heart.

[Sidenote: DEC., 1536] ARETINO'S COMFORT]

    "I will not grieve, my illustrious friend," wrote the
    time-serving Venetian, "if you have to give up the Castello,
    which you held for love of His Excellency, of happy memory,
    because to my mind it was a prison for your genius. Dry your
    tears, and console yourself with the reflection that now at
    least you are a free man. His Majesty is relieved from the
    jealousy of his Spanish servants, and you are saved from
    further anxieties on this subject. Now you can, if you choose,
    follow him to Spain, and lay down your office with honour
    unstained, and then return to Milan to live in freedom and
    contentment."[139]

This was poor comfort for Massimiliano, but the Emperor's will was
not to be gainsaid, and the Count could only lay down his office and
take leave of the young Duchess, assuring her of his undying loyalty
and faithfulness. Charles had not forgotten his niece, and before he
sailed for Barcelona on the 15th of November he sent one of his oldest
and most trusted servants, Jean de Montmorency, Sieur de Courrières,
the Captain of the Archers' Guard, to take charge of the Duchess, and
eventually conduct her to Flanders. But while negotiations for her
second marriage were still pending, it was felt desirable that she
should remain in Lombardy; and since the Castello would no longer be a
fit place for her, Montmorency was ordered to escort her to Pavia. On
the 10th of December, 1536, De Courrières arrived with fifty archers of
the Imperial Guard, and, after a brief consultation with the Cardinal
and Stampa, decided to take the Duchess to Pavia without delay.[140]

The leaves of the trees in the gardens were turning yellow, and a pale
wintry sun shone down on the Castello, which Christina had first seen
in the joyous May-time, when a little procession of black-robed ladies,
with their attendants, issued from the Rocchetta, and mounted the
horses and litters in waiting for them. A few bystanders saluted them
reverently, and followed them with wistful eyes as they rode out of the
gates, down the street leading to the Porta Ticinese, until they were
out of sight.

A few days later Count Massimiliano Stampa marched out of the Castello
at the head of his troops, and gave up the keys, which he had received
from the last Sforza Duke, to the Spanish Captain Alvarez de Luna,
who entered the gates amid the curses and groans of the citizens.
Henceforth the life of Milan as an independent State was over, and the
yoke of Spain descended on the ancient capital of Lombardy.


II.

[Sidenote: DEC., 1536] A PALACE IN RUINS]

The city of Pavia had always been loyal to the House of Sforza. In
no part of the duchy was there greater rejoicing on the restoration
of Duke Francesco II.; nowhere was his premature death more deeply
lamented. Several of Christina's most faithful servants were natives of
Pavia; among others, Benedetto da Corte, the master of her household,
and Bottigella, who had been so active in the preparations for her
reception. Now the people of Pavia welcomed her coming warmly, and
exerted themselves to see that nothing was lacking to her comfort. But
the city and Castello had suffered terribly in the protracted struggle
with France. The palace which had been the pride of the Sforza Dukes
was stripped of its fairest treasures. The frescoes and tapestries
were destroyed, the famous library was now in the castle of Blois,
and a great part of the walls had been thrown down by French guns and
allowed to crumble to pieces. So dilapidated was the state of the
building that it was difficult to find habitable rooms for the Duchess
and her suite.

On the 21st of December, ten days after Christina's arrival, she
was forced to address a request to the chief magistrate, Lodovico
Pellizone, begging that her bedroom might be supplied with a wooden
ceiling, as the room was lofty and bitterly cold in this winter season.
Pellizone wrote without delay to the Governor of Milan, but received
no reply, and on New Year's Day Montmorency himself wrote to remind
the Cardinal of the Duchess's request, urging that the work might
be done without delay, and putting in a plea for a better provision
of mattresses to accommodate the members of her household. Still no
redress was obtained, and at length the Captain of the Archers took the
law into his own hands, and sent for carpenters to panel the Duchess's
bedroom.[141] But in spite of these drawbacks, in spite of the wind
that whistled through the long corridors and the comfortless air of the
empty halls, Christina's health and spirits were excellent. Her spirits
quickly recovered their natural buoyancy in these new surroundings, her
eyes shone with the old brightness, and the sound of merry laughter
was once more heard in the spacious halls and desolate gardens. On
the 3rd of January, only two days after Montmorency addressed his
fruitless remonstrance to the Viceroy, Christina herself wrote a
letter to the same illustrious personage in a very different strain.
She had, it appears, seen a very handsome white horse in the hostelry
of the Fountain in Pavia, and was seized with a passionate desire to
have the palfrey for her own use. So she wrote in the most persuasive
language to her good Father the Cardinal, begging his leave to buy the
horse, which she is convinced will suit her exactly. But, since she
fears that her monthly allowance will not suffice to defray the cost,
she begs His Eminence to advance the necessary sum, and charge it to
the extraordinary expenses for which she is not responsible. This
letter, written in her large round hand, was sent to Milan by one of
the Duchess's lackeys, with the words "Cito, cito" on the cover, and
an urgent plea for an immediate answer.[142] The kindly old Cardinal,
who had a soft side for the youthful Princess, could hardly refuse so
pressing a request, and Christina probably bought the white horse, and
had the pleasure of mounting it when she rode out to visit the friars
of the Certosa or hunted in their park.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1537] THE EMPEROR'S SERVANT]

She had another good friend and devoted servant in the Sieur de
Courrières--Monsignor di Corea, as he was called in Italy. This
gallant gentleman had grown up in close intimacy with the Emperor from
his boyhood. He accompanied Charles to Spain as cupbearer, and was
appointed Captain of the Archers' Guard on attaining his majority.
In 1535 he followed his master to Africa at the head of a chosen
band of archers, fifty of whom remained with him as an escort for
the Duchess. By Charles's orders, he sent constant reports to His
Majesty from Pavia. The correspondence fills a whole volume, and is
extremely interesting if only because it shows the familiarity with
which the great Emperor treated his old servant, and the freedom which
Montmorency allowed himself in addressing his master.

On the 15th of February, Charles wrote from Valladolid, thanking
De Courrières cordially for the services which he had rendered the
Duchess, approving highly of her residence at Pavia, and promising
to pay for the maintenance of his archers. He alludes pleasantly to
Montmorency's meeting with another of his confidential servants,
Simonet, whom he had left at Milan.

    "Simonet was right to put off his return to Flanders until the
    worst rigours of winter were over, and was fortunate in meeting
    you, for old folks of the same country are very glad to meet
    in foreign lands, even if they are not natives of Brabant.
    Farewell, _cher et féal_, for the present, and God have you in
    His holy keeping!"

Five weeks later he wrote again, expressing his satisfaction at hearing
of his dear niece's health and happiness, and saying how entirely he
trusted Montmorency to provide for her comfort.

    "At the same time," he continued, "we cannot help feeling, both
    with regard to the Duchess's widowed condition and the troubled
    state of Italy, that she would be better with our sister, the
    Queen of Hungary, in our own country, _par-deça_, where some
    suitable marriage might be found for her. Accordingly we have
    written to our sister on the subject, and desired Cardinal
    Caracciolo to make all needful preparation for her journey.
    You had better see that she has a proper escort and all else
    that is necessary to her comfort, without making these things
    public, until we hear from our sister."[143]

Mary on her part was most anxious for her niece's return, and lost no
time in letting Charles know how impatiently she expected her. But,
with characteristic dilatoriness, the Imperial Council, which met at
Monzone on the 2nd of June, pronounced that it was highly expedient
for the Widow of Milan to go to Flanders, but that the Queen's wishes
must first of all be consulted.[144] Meanwhile Count Massimiliano
Stampa returned from Spain with instructions from the Emperor to
make arrangements for the Duchess's journey with the Cardinal and
Montmorency, and Charles wrote again to beg the Captain to start
without delay. But this, as Montmorency replied, was not so easy. Three
months' pay was due to his men, and in his penniless condition it was
hard to provide them with food or their horses with fodder.

    "I will do my utmost, Sire," he wrote on the 15th of June, "but
    some things are impossible. As I told you when you left me at
    Genoa, six months' wages were due to me, and I can only beg you
    to have pity on your poor Captain; for we are in sore straits,
    and you alone can help us, for, as the Scripture saith, _Tua
    est potentia_."

At the same time, like the brave soldier that he was, the writer cannot
refrain from expressing his joy at the good news of the capture of S.
Pol, which had just arrived from Flanders.

[Sidenote: AUG., 1537] CAPTAIN OF THE ARCHERS]

    "Sire, I hear grand news from S. Pol, and am sure, when you
    return to your Low Countries, you will find that the Queen
    has been very vigilant in charge of your affairs, and will be
    welcomed by very humble and loyal subjects. But you will have
    something to say to the citizens of Ghent, for I fear those
    gentlemen are not as wise as they might be. Sire, I hear that,
    after the surrender of Hesdin, your sister the Queen of France
    came to the camp in rich attire, with a number of ladies all
    in white. Such insolence cannot last long, as S. Pol--both the
    town and the Apostle--bear witness. I hear that Madame the new
    Duchesse d'Étampes was nowhere. _Sic transit gloria mundi._ All
    this Latin is to show Your Majesty that I have not wasted my
    time in Pavia, any more than Don Beltrami did at Louvain. Once
    more I beg you to have pity on _La Chrétiennete_, who needs
    your help more than ever."

But the summer months went by, and still no orders and no money came
from Spain. Pavia became unhealthy, and the Duchess and all the members
of her household fell ill of fever.

    "Hardly one has escaped," wrote Montmorency on the 22nd of
    August, "but now, thank God, my Lady has recovered, and I am
    trying to raise money to carry out your orders, although I fear
    my purse is not long enough to feed my poor archers."[145]

A month later the Captain went to Milan to expedite matters, but as
yet could hear nothing from Spain, and on his return to Pavia early in
October, he addressed long remonstrances both to Charles and Granvelle.

    "Sire," wrote the irate Captain, "I have been ordered to take
    my Lady Duchess to Flanders, but not a word has been said as
    to the route that I am to take. Since it is your pleasure, it
    shall be done; but if any harm comes to her in Germany, seeing
    the poor escort we shall have, who will be to blame? My fear is
    that, as we pass through the duchy of Würtemberg, the Duke's
    son may fall upon us with his _Landsknechten_, and my Lady
    would certainly not be a bad match for him! Your Majesty has
    not given me a single letter or warrant for the journey, and
    has not written me a word. And when I get _par-deça_, I know
    not what I am to do or say. My Lady, too, is much surprised
    not to have received a letter from Your Majesty before her
    departure, but of this, of course, I have no right to speak."

In a postscript he adds that he has raised 500 gold crowns, and given
each of his men 10 crowns to buy new saddles, as they hope to start on
the 15th of October. He ends by humbly reminding His Majesty that he is
growing old, and is almost fifty, and that if he does not soon take a
wife it will be too late.

    "All this coming and going ages a man, and before long I shall
    be as wrinkled as the rest. So when I reach the Queen, I hope
    some little token of honour may be given me, that men may see
    Your Majesty has not wholly forgotten me. And you will, I hope,
    tell me what I am to do when I have taken Her Excellency to
    Flanders, as I have written to Granvelle repeatedly, and had
    no answer, but suppose he is busy with great affairs. And I
    pray that all prosperity may attend Your Majesty, and that this
    year, which has begun so well, may end by seeing you back in
    Piedmont."[146]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1537] CHRISTINA'S DEPARTURE]

On the 14th of October Christina herself wrote to inform the Emperor of
her intended departure, and of the good order of her affairs, thanks to
the Cardinal and Seigneur de Courrières. "We hope to start to-morrow,
and travel by way of Mantua and Trent, and through Germany, taking
whichever seems to be the shortest and safest route." There had, it
appears, been much discussion over the revenues assigned to the Duchess
as her dower, and in the end she was deprived of the town and Castello
of Vigevano, which the Duke had left her by his will. But by the terms
of her marriage contract she remained absolute mistress of the city of
Tortona, and informed the Emperor that, acting on the advice of the
Cardinal, as Lady of Tortona, she had appointed a certain Gabriele
Panigarola to be Governor of the town, and begged his approval. At
the same time she sent her uncle a memorial, drawn up by Montmorency,
explaining that, since she had not received the arrears of her dowry,
she was not able to pay her servants, and had been forced to contract
many debts at Pavia, and to spend money on the repair of the rooms
which she occupied in the Castello.

Many last requests were addressed to the Duchess by the poor and needy
whom she had befriended, and from her own servants, who with one
voice begged to be allowed to follow her to Flanders. One of the most
pressing came from an old Milanese couple, whose son, Niccolò Belloni,
was Christina's secretary, and at their earnest prayer she decided
to allow the young man to remain in her service as one of the four
Italians who accompanied her to Flanders by the Emperor's orders. And
the last letter which the Duchess wrote to the Cardinal, on the eve of
her departure, was to plead for a community of noble ladies in Pavia
who were reduced to dire poverty owing to the late wars, and begged
humbly for a remission of taxes.[147] During the ten months which she
had spent at Pavia the young Duchess had made herself beloved by all
classes of people, and her departure was lamented by the whole city.


III.

[Sidenote: OCT., 1537] "EN VOYAGE"]

On the 15th of October Christina and her suite left Pavia, and started
on their long-deferred journey to Flanders. When she first set foot in
Italy as a bride, three and a half years before, the Lombard plains
were in the first flush of spring, roses and myrtles were breaking
into bloom, and the flowers sprang up under her feet. Now the autumn
rains fell in such torrents that Cardinal Caracciolo was seriously
alarmed, and wrote to Benedetto da Corte and Monsignore di Corea,
asking if it might not be well to delay their departure. The first
idea had been to go from Pavia to Cremona in a single day, but the bad
roads and swollen rivers increased the difficulties of travel, and the
Cardinal wrote to implore Messer Benedetto and Corea not to undertake
such long journeys, lest the Duchess should be overtired. So the party
only rode as far as Codogno, the castle of Count Gaspare Trivulzio,
where he and his beautiful wife, Deianira, received them joyfully,
and entertained them "as magnificently as if they had been invited to
a wedding." Christina's lady-in-waiting, the Princess of Macedonia,
rejoiced to be under her daughter's roof, and Benedetto da Corte wrote
to tell the Cardinal that nothing could exceed the splendour and
hospitality of Count Gaspare's reception. On the 18th the travellers
rode along the plains flooded by the swollen Po till they reached
Cremona, the dower city of Bianca Visconti, where she had been married
to the great Condottiere Francesco Sforza, and which had clung with
unswerving loyalty to the fortunes of his house. Here the Castellan
came out to meet the Duchess, at the head of the chief citizens, and
escorted her to the Castello under the shadow of the famous Torrazza,
where she and all her suite found the best of cheer. The next morning
the travellers resumed their way, and crossed the rushing Oglio, under
the castle of the Gonzagas of Bozzolo, and rode along the green meadows
by Castiglione's country home, where his aged mother was still living.
The great courtier's name was familiar to all Charles V.'s servants,
and Montmorency, who had known him in Spain, may have paused to look at
the fair sepulchral chapel which Giulio Romano had lately reared in the
pilgrimage church of S. Maria delle Grazie. At Mantua another splendid
welcome awaited Christina. The Gonzaga Princes never forgot their close
relationship to the Sforzas, and while the reigning Duchess welcomed
the Princess of Macedonia as a kinswoman, the old Marchesana, Isabella,
rejoiced to embrace her nephew's wife, and looked with affection on
this youthful Duchess who bore the same title as her long-lost Beatrice.

The next morning Benedetto da Corte sent the Cardinal a glowing
account of their journey, which, in spite of the weather, had been one
triumphal progress:

  "REVERENDISSIMO,

    "Her Excellency arrived safely here at Mantua yesterday with
    all her company, horses, and carriages, and was received
    most royally, as has, indeed, been the case in every place
    where we have halted on our way. Her whole household has been
    entertained with the best fare, and with little damage to our
    purses.... The kindness with which we have been received has
    made these perpetual rains tolerable. We are quite accustomed
    to them, and shall not be afraid of the next tempest! We are
    resting here on this sixth day of our journey at the entreaty
    of these illustrious Princes. On Sunday, please God, we shall
    reach Verona, and I have sent to ask the Governor to prepare
    convenient lodgings for Her Excellency. His Reverence the
    Cardinal of Trent has sent a messenger here to-night to inquire
    how many we number, and so we go on gaily from stage to stage.
    Once we have reached Trent, we shall seem to be in sight of
    the Rhine, and can pursue our way at less peril to our lives,
    and, let us hope, to the greater advantage of His Majesty's
    service. I kiss Your Reverence's hand, and so also does
    Monsignore di Corea.

                                            "BENEDETTO DA CORTE.
  "Mantova, October 20."[148]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1537] THE CARDINAL OF TRENT]

The Cardinal's worst anxieties were relieved by the receipt of
Benedetto's letter, and he sent a reply to the Castle of Trent thanking
him and Monsignore di Corea for their trouble, and expressing great
satisfaction to hear of their prosperous journey. The travellers now
turned their steps northwards, and, after spending a night in the city
of the Scaligeri, followed the Adige through the rocky defile known
as La Chiusa di Verona. As they passed through the fortified gates at
the farther end of the ravine, a salute from the guns made them aware
that they had entered Austrian territory. A few miles farther they
were met by the Cardinal-Bishop, Bernhard von Clès, who had ridden out
with a great train to welcome the Duchess. A strong Imperialist no
less than an active reformer, Bernhard von Clès had been raised to the
cardinalate at Charles's coronation, and was now Vice-Chancellor of the
Empire.[149] He had lately received a visit from Christina's uncle,
King Ferdinand, and his wife, Anna, who honoured his niece's wedding
with their presence, and the sumptuous rooms which they had occupied
were now placed at Christina's disposal. "Nothing was lacking," wrote
Benedetto da Corte, "which could please the eye or delight the mind."
The splendour of the episcopal palace and the open-handed liberality of
the Cardinal made a great impression on Montmorency, who wrote himself
to tell the Cardinal how well Madama had borne the journey.

    "I cannot tell you," he adds, "how splendidly Monsignor
    Reverendissimo has received the Duchess, and how sumptuously he
    has feasted us. Here we mean to rest all to-day, and to-morrow
    we will pursue our journey with the utmost diligence."

But so pressing was the Cardinal, and so luxurious were the quarters
provided for them, that the travellers remained at Trent several days,
and only resumed their journey on the 27th of October.

The most arduous part of the way now lay before them, and Benedetto
describes how they harnessed the mules to the chariot in order that
the Duchess and her ladies might drive across the Brenner Pass, at
least as far as Innsbruck. Montmorency was in some doubt as to the
route which the Duchess had better take through Germany, but, much to
his satisfaction, he found the long-expected letter from the Emperor
awaiting him at Innsbruck. It was written from Monzone on the last day
of October, a fortnight after Christina had left Pavia. Charles put the
blame of his delay on the Queen of Hungary's shoulders, and, since it
was too late to wait for her directions, bade him consult the Cardinal
of Trent as to their future journey.

    "If you have already left Trent, you had better go on either
    by road or else by the Rhine. If you are at Innsbruck, you can
    take advice from the King our brother or from Dr. Matthias
    Held"--one of Ferdinand's most trusted German Councillors--"and
    choose whichever route they consider the safest. If you have
    received no letters from the Queen, you had better send a
    messenger to Flanders, and we will inform you as soon as we
    know her pleasure regarding our niece's future plans."

In conclusion the Emperor tells Montmorency that he is sending the
letters patent for which he asked, although they are hardly necessary,
and has already told the Queen to refund all the expenses which he has
incurred, and to be mindful of his great and long services.[150]

The travellers spent some time at Innsbruck in the ancient castle which
is still adorned with the Sforza arms, and Christina saw the superb
monument erected by her great-grandfather Maximilian in the church
hard by. Ferdinand and his wife and daughters were in Vienna, but the
route which Montmorency chose was that followed by most travellers,
along the Lake of Constance and down the Rhine to Spires. From the
first Christina had been very anxious to visit her sister Dorothea on
her journey north, and she succeeded in obtaining her uncle's consent
to this arrangement. The two Princesses had not met since Christina
left Brussels in the spring of 1534, and Dorothea was no less impatient
to see her sister. Even before the travellers reached Trent, they met
two Genoese merchants, who told Montmorency that on their way through
Germany they had seen the Count Palatine Frederic and Madama la
Principessa, his wife, with a great company, on their way to Heidelberg
to await the Duchess's coming. When, in November, the travellers at
length reached Heidelberg, they found themselves impatiently expected,
and Christina received the warmest welcome from the Elector Palatine
and his family.

[Sidenote: DEC., 1537] AT HOME AGAIN]

Festivities such as Frederic and Dorothea took delight in--jousting,
banquets, and dances--followed each other in rapid succession, and the
castle blazed with innumerable torches through the winter nights.
It was a great change from the funereal blackness of the Castello of
Milan and the desolate halls of Pavia, and the young Duchess enjoyed it
to the full. The days sped by all too quickly, and so happy were the
sisters in each other's company that the Elector invited Christina to
stay over Christmas. The young Duchess accepted the proposal gleefully,
and all were preparing to spend a joyous festival, when Montmorency
received peremptory orders from the Queen-Regent to bring her niece
forthwith to Flanders. After this no delays were possible. The sisters
parted sadly from each other, and the travellers once more took boat
and sailed down the Rhine to Cologne.

From here it was an easy journey to Aix-la-Chapelle, and through the
friendly State of Cleves to Maestricht, and thence to Louvain and
Brussels. On the 8th of December Christina set foot once more in the
ancient palace of the Dukes of Brabant, and was clasped in her aunt's
arms. Ten days afterwards she wrote a letter to inform the Emperor
of her safe arrival, and of "the good and loving welcome" which she
had received from "Madame my aunt." She begged His Majesty to keep
her still in his remembrance, and signed herself, "Your humble niece,
Chrétienne."[151]

She was at home once more among her own people, and all the strange
sights and scenes, all the wonderful experiences which she had known,
in these four eventful years, seemed to fade away like a dream. But she
had left Flanders a child, and she came back a woman.


IV.

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1537] THE CLEVES MARRIAGE]

Christina's return was impatiently awaited at Brussels. The courtiers
who remembered her mother, and had known her as a child, were eager
to see the young Duchess, whose courage and wisdom had been shown in
such trying circumstances. All through the summer her coming had been
expected, and the Regent was seriously annoyed at the prolonged delays
which had hindered her niece's departure from Milan. Her heart yearned
over the child from whom she had parted with so much reluctance. More
than this, she had in her mind's eye a second husband ready for the
young Duchess. This was William, the only son and heir of the reigning
Duke of Cleves. A handsome and well-educated young man of twenty-two,
the young Duke had not yet developed that fatal weakness of purpose
which proved his bane, and was to all appearances an excellent match
for the Emperor's niece. The political advantages of the union were
obvious. Duke John had married the heiress of Jülich and Bergh, and
reigned over three rich and peaceful provinces on the Lower Rhine. He
had always been on friendly terms with the Emperor, and when, a few
months after the Duke of Milan's death, he asked for the young widow's
hand on behalf of his son, Mary welcomed these advances gladly, and
hastened to communicate them to the Emperor.[152] At first Charles
replied coolly that, if the marriage with Angoulême could not be
arranged, the proposals made by the King of Scotland or Cleves might be
entertained. In October, 1536, Mary sent a confidential messenger, La
Tiloye, to Genoa to learn the Emperor's pleasure in the matter, but
nothing further was done. After the fresh outbreak of war in 1537, and
the invasion of Artois by the French, Charles became more alive to the
importance of the question, and wrote to his sister from Spain, saying
that he had ordered the Widow of Milan to go to the Low Countries, and
hoped she would proceed at once to the conclusion of the marriage with
Cleves.[153]

At that moment all Mary's energies were absorbed in the struggle with
France. She herself went to Lille to superintend military operations,
and appeared on horseback in the trenches before Thérouenne, where her
courage excited the admiration of John Hutton, the English Ambassador.
"Let the King but tarry fifteen days," she exclaimed, "and I will show
him what God may strengthen a woman to do!" But, in spite of these
brave words, Mary, as Hutton soon discovered, was sincerely desirous
to end the war. "The Queen's anxiety for peace," he wrote home, "is as
great as her ardour in war."[154] She knew the straits to which the
Emperor was reduced and the exhaustion of the Treasury. "The poverty
of this country is so great," she wrote to Charles on the 9th of June,
"that it is impossible to provide necessary funds for the war. We must
have peace, or we are lost."[155] Under these circumstances she lent a
willing ear to her sister Queen Eleanor's advances, and the two sisters
had the satisfaction of arranging a truce at Bomy, a village near
Thérouenne. The siege of this city was raised, the French evacuated the
towns which they held, and on the 10th of September peace was ratified
by the Emperor at Monzone.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1538] THE SUCCESSION OF GUELDERS]

Mary felt that she could once more breathe freely. She lost no time
in renewing negotiations with the Duke of Cleves, and the proposed
marriage became the talk of the Court. "The Queen," wrote Hutton,
on the 2nd of September, from Bruges, where Mary was hunting after
her wont and spending all day in the saddle, "looketh daily for the
Duchess of Milan, who shall be married to the Duke of Cleves's son and
heir."[156] A month later the Cleves Envoys arrived at Brussels, and,
after repeated interviews with the Queen and her Council, returned,
well satisfied, to obtain their master's consent to the terms of the
contract. The news spread rapidly, and was reported by Ambassadors
from Spain and Germany, from Rome and Paris, with the same unanimity.
Suddenly an unexpected event altered the face of affairs. Charles of
Egmont, the fiery old Duke of Guelders, who had for many years been
the Emperor's bitter enemy, fell ill, and, feeling his end to be near,
summoned the Estates of his realm to choose a successor. Since he had
no issue, his own wish was to leave his States to the French King; but
his subjects positively refused to be handed over to a foreign Power,
and chose the young Duke William of Cleves, who hastened to visit
Nimeguen, where he was acclaimed by his future subjects. This was a
clear breach of faith, since, by the treaty concluded a year before
with the Emperor, Guelders was to pass into his hands at Charles of
Egmont's death, and the ancient rights to the duchy which the House
of Cleves formerly claimed had been already sold to the Dukes of
Burgundy.[157] Mary's indignation was great. She wrote angrily to tell
William of Cleves that Guelders was the property of the Emperor, and
that if he persevered in his pretensions all idea of his marriage
to her niece must be abandoned. The young Duke returned a courteous
answer, saying that nothing could be farther from his thoughts than a
breach of loyalty to the Emperor, and professing the utmost anxiety
for the marriage. At the same time the old Duke's action excited great
annoyance in Lorraine, where his nephew, the reigning Duke Anthony,
claimed to be heir to Guelders, through his mother, Philippa of Egmont.
An attempt to pacify him by reviving a former marriage contract between
his son Francis and the Duke of Cleves's daughter Anne met with no
encouragement, and Ambassadors were sent to Guelders to enter a protest
on the Duke of Lorraine's behalf.[158] But Charles of Egmont turned
a deaf ear to all remonstrances, and on the 27th of January, 1538,
William of Cleves received the homage of the States of Guelders, and
was publicly recognized as the old Duke's successor.

Such was the state of affairs when Christina reached Brussels on the
8th of December, 1537. Her faithful guardian, Montmorency, alludes to
the Cleves marriage in the following letter, which he addressed to
Cardinal Caracciolo on the 5th of January, 1538:

    "I wrote last from Trent on the 26th of October, and since
    then have received several letters from you, and have duly
    informed the Duchess of their contents. She is very grateful
    for your kindness regarding her affairs, and begs you not to
    relax your efforts.... As to Madama's marriage with Cleves, as
    far as I can learn, it will not take place, because the Duke
    has quarrelled with Lorraine, and Guelders is interfering.
    Negotiations, however, are not yet broken off."

Three months later he referred to the matter again in another letter,
and this time expressed his conviction that the marriage would never
take place.[159]

Montmorency's own claims had not been forgotten. Soon after his return
he married a lady of the Lannoy family, and was appointed Bailiff
of Alost. Both Charles and Mary treated him with marked favour, and
employed him on important diplomatic missions. But he still held an
honorary post in the Duchess's household, and never ceased to be her
devoted servant.

During the winter Hutton alluded repeatedly to the affair of Cleves in
his letters to Cromwell, saying that the Duke had been recognized by
the Communes of Guelders as their liege lord, and that the Queen quite
refused to let him wed the Duchess, although he was still eager for the
alliance. All sorts of wild rumours were flying about, and an Italian
merchant at Antwerp wrote to London that young Cleves was about to
marry the daughter of Lorraine, with Guelders as her dowry. But on the
25th of January Hutton reported that the Queen had sent Nassau and De
Praet to Duke William, to break off marriage negotiations and clear her
of all former promises.[160]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1538] THE PALACE OF BRABANT]

Christina herself was the person least concerned in these rumours.
Princes and Ministers might wrangle as they chose; they could not
destroy the happiness of being in her old home, surrounded by familiar
faces. The sound of the French tongue and the carillon in the towers
were music in her ears. Three things above all impressed Italian
travellers, like Guicciardini and Beatis, who came to the Low Countries
for the first time--the cleanliness of the streets and houses, the
green pastures with their herds of black and white cows, and the
beautiful church bells. These were all delightful to the young Duchess,
who had been so long absent from her old home. The city of Brussels,
with its fine houses and noble churches, its famous hôtel-de-ville,
and 350 fountains, was a pleasant town to live in. And the Palace of
Brabant itself was a wonderful place. There was the great hall, with
its lofty pointed arches, and priceless Burgundian tapestries, and the
golden suns and silver moons recently brought back from the New World
by Cortes, the conqueror of Mexico.

The Queen gave Christina a suite of rooms close to her own, looking out
on the glossy leaves and interwoven boughs of the labyrinth, and the
gardens beyond, which Albert Dürer had called an earthly paradise, and
which the Cardinal of Aragon's secretary pronounced to be as beautiful
as any in Italy.[161] Here the young Duchess lived with her ladies and
household, presided over by Benedetto da Corte and Niccolò Belloni.
Every morning she attended Mass in the Court chapel, and dined and
spent the evenings with the Queen. On fine days, when Mary could spare
time from public affairs, they rode out together and hunted the deer
in the park, or took longer expeditions in the Forest of Soignies. As
fearless and almost as untiring a rider as her aunt, Christina was
quite at home in the saddle, and followed the Queen's example of riding
with her foot in the stirrup, an accomplishment which was new in those
days, and excited Brantôme's admiration.[162]

The following Christmas was celebrated with great festivity at
Brussels. The war was over, and the presence of a youthful Princess
gave new charm to Court functions. Wherever Christina went she made
herself beloved. Her quick wit and frank enjoyment of simple pleasures
charmed everyone. Although in public she still wore heavy mourning
robes after the Italian fashion, and hid away her bright chestnut locks
under a black hood, in the evening, by her aunt's desire, she laid
aside her weeds, and appeared clad in rich brocades and glittering
jewels. Then she conversed freely with her aunt's ladies and with the
foreign Ambassadors, or played cards with the few great nobles who were
admitted to the Queen's private circle--Henry, Count of Nassau, the
proudest and richest lord in Flanders; the Duke of Aerschot and his
wife, Anne de Croy, the heiress of the Princes of Chimay; his sister,
Madame de Berghen; Count Büren; and a few others.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1538] A PERFECT KNIGHT]

Among them was one whom the young Duchess regarded with especial
interest. This was the hero of S. Pol, René, Prince of Orange. The
only son and heir of the great House of Nassau, René had inherited
the principality of Orange, in the South of France, from his uncle
Philibert of Châlons, the Imperialist leader who fell at the siege of
Florence, and whose sister Claude was Henry of Nassau's first wife.
As a child René had been Prince John of Denmark's favourite playmate,
and Christina had not forgotten her brother's old friend. Now he had
grown up a handsome and chivalrous Prince, skilled in all knightly
exercises. He had won his first laurels in the recent campaign, and
was the foremost of the valiant band which surprised the citadel of
S. Pol. The Queen honoured him with her especial favour, and, as the
Nassau house stood close to the palace, the young Prince was often in
her company. When, on Shrove Sunday, a grand tournament was held at
Court, one troop, clad in blue, was led by Count Büren's eldest son,
Floris d'Egmont; and the other by René, wearing the orange colours of
his house, with the proud motto, _Je maintiendrai_. Christina looked
down from her place at the Queen's side on the lists where the gallant
Prince challenged all comers, and it was from her hand that the victor
received the prize. Neither of them ever forgot that carnival.[163]

FOOTNOTES:

[128] Potenze Sovrane, 1535. Archivio di Stato.

[129] Burigozzo, 528.

[130] G. de Leva, "Storia Documentata di Carlo V.," etc., iii. 152.

[131] Granvelle, "Papiers d'État," ii. 407, 446, 435.

[132] Granvelle, ii. 407.

[133] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, v. 1, 586; Granvelle, ii. 417.

[134] Burigozzo, 532.

[135] Museo Civico di Storia Patria, Pavia, 546.

[136] L. Gachard, "Voyages des Souverains des Pays-Bas," ii. 133.

[137] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, v. 2, 230.

[138] Autografi di Principi, Archivio di Stato (see Appendix II.).

[139] Aretino, "Lettere," i. 45.

[140] "Correspondance de Charles V. avec J. de Montmorency, Seigneur de
Courrières," Papiers d'État de l'Audience, No. 82, p. 1, Archives du
Royaume, Bruxelles.

[141] Carteggio con Montmorency, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[142] Autografi di Principi, Archivio di Stato, Milan (see Appendix
III.).

[143] Papiers d'État, 82. 2, 12, Archives du Royaume.

[144] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, v. 2, 353.

[145] Papiers d'État, 82, 8-10.

[146] Papiers d'État. 82, 12.

[147] Autografi di Principi, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[148] "Carteggio con Montmorency, Conte di Corea," 1537-38, Archivio di
Stato, Milan.

[149] L. Pastor, "Geschichte d. Papste," iv. 375; M. Guazzo, 371.

[150] Papiers d'État, 82, 13, Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles.

[151] Papiers d'État, 82, 19; State Papers, Record Office, viii. 6;
Calendar of State Papers, xii. 2, 415, 419.

[152] Lanz, ii. 657.

[153] Lanz, iii. 667, 677.

[154] State Papers, Record Office, vii. 695.

[155] Lanz, ii. 675.

[156] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., xii. 2, 231.

[157] Henne, vii. 263, 267.

[158] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., xiii. 1, 35.

[159] Carteggio Diplomatico, 1537-38, Archivio di Stato, Milan.

[160] State Papers, xiii. 1, 8; Record Office, viii. 27, 29.

[161] L. Pastor, "Reise des Kardinal Luigi d'Aragona," 116. L.
Guicciardini, "Paesi-Bassi," 74.

[162] "Œuvres," xii. 107.

[163] State Papers, Henry VIII., Record Office, viii. 16.




BOOK VI

THE COURTSHIP OF HENRY VIII.

1537-1539


I.

The Widow of Milan's fate still hung in the balance. While Mary of
Hungary had not yet lost all hope of marrying her to the Duke of
Cleves, and Queen Eleanor was no less anxious to see her the wife of
a French Prince, fresh proposals reached Brussels from an unexpected
quarter. This new suitor was none other than the Emperor's _bel oncle_,
King Henry of England. This monarch, who had openly defied the laws
of the Church, and after divorcing Charles's aunt, had pronounced
Queen Katherine's daughter to be illegitimate, could hardly expect to
find favour in the eyes of the Regent. Mary's own opinion of Henry's
character is frankly given in a very interesting letter which she wrote
to her brother Ferdinand in May, 1536, when the King of England had
sent Anne Boleyn to the block and made Jane Seymour his third wife.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1536] HENRY VIII. AND HIS WIVES]

    "I hope," she wrote, "that the English will not do us much
    harm now we are rid of the King's mistress, who was a good
    Frenchwoman, and whom, as you have no doubt heard, he has
    beheaded; and since no one skilful enough to do the deed could
    be found among his own subjects, he sent for the executioner of
    S. Omer, in order that a Frenchman should be the minister of
    his vengeance. I hear that he has married another lady, who is
    said to be a good Imperialist, although I do not know if she
    will remain so much longer. He is said to have taken a fancy to
    her before the last one's death, which, coupled with the fact
    that neither the poor woman nor any of those who were beheaded
    with her, saving one miserable musician, could be brought to
    acknowledge her guilt, naturally makes people suspect that he
    invented this pretext in order to get rid of her.... It is
    to be hoped--if one can hope anything from such a man--that
    when he is tired of this wife he will find some better way of
    getting rid of her. Women, I think, would hardly be pleased if
    such customs became general, and with good reason; and although
    I have no wish to expose myself to similar risks, yet, as I
    belong to the feminine sex, I, too, will pray that God may
    preserve us from such perils."[164]

But whatever Mary's private opinions were, political reasons compelled
her to preserve a friendly demeanour towards King Henry. The English
alliance was of the utmost importance to the trade of the Netherlands,
and the enmity of France made it essential to secure Henry's
neutrality, if not his active help. The death of Queen Katherine,
as Cromwell wrote, had removed "the onelie matter of unkindness"
between the two monarchs, and was soon followed by more friendly
communications. When the news of Prince Edward's birth reached Spain,
the Emperor held a long conversation with Sir Thomas Wyatt, the poet
and scholar, who had been sent to the Imperial Court early in 1537. He
expressed great pleasure at the news, laughing and talking pleasantly,
inquiring after the size and goodliness of the child, and ended by
saying frankly that he approved of the King's recent marriage as much
as he had always disliked his union with Anne Boleyn.[165] These last
remarks must have fallen strangely on the ears of Wyatt, whose old
intimacy with the hapless Queen had nearly cost him his life, and whose
death he lamented in some of his sweetest verse. But he was too good a
courtier not to repeat them in his letters to Cromwell and the King.
The news of the Prince's birth was shortly followed by that of the
Queen's death, which took place at Hampton Court on the 24th of October.

    "Divine Providence," said the royal widower, "has mingled my
    joy for the son which it has pleased God to give me with the
    bitterness of the death of her who brought me this happiness."

[Sidenote: DEC., 1537] MARIE DE GUISE]

Cromwell wrote to inform Lord William Howard, the special Envoy who had
taken the news of the Prince's birth to France, of Her Grace's death,
and in the same letter desired him to bring back particulars of two
French ladies who had been recommended as suitable successors to the
late Queen, since His Majesty, "moved by tender zeal for his subjects,"
had already resolved to marry again. One of these was King Francis's
plain but accomplished daughter Margaret, who eventually married
the Duke of Savoy, although Cromwell, knowing his master's tastes,
remarked that, from what he heard, he "did not think she would be the
meetest."[166] The other was Mary, Duchess of Longueville, the eldest
daughter of Claude de Guise, brother of the Duke of Lorraine. The
charms of this young widow were renowned at the French Court, and the
English Ambassador's reports of her modesty and beauty inspired Henry
with an ardent wish to make her his wife. Even before Jane Seymour was
in her grave, he attacked the French Ambassador, Castillon, on the
subject, and suggested that both these Princesses, and any other ladies
whom the King of France could recommend, might be sent to meet him at
Calais.[167]

Francis, who was more gallant in his relations with women than his
brother of England, laughed long and loudly when this message reached
him, and sent Castillon word that royal Princesses could not be trotted
out like hackney horses for hire! He quite declined to allow his
daughter to enter the lists; and as for Madame de Longueville, whom
the King was pleased to honour with his suit, she was already promised
to his son-in-law, the King of Scots. This fickle monarch, who had
courted Dorothea and Christina by turn, and finally married Madeleine
de Valois, had lost his young wife at the end of six months, and was
already in search of another. At the same time Francis sent his royal
brother word that he should count it a great honour if he could find
a bride in his realm, and that any other lady in France was at his
command.[168] But Henry was not accustomed to have his wishes thwarted,
and in December, 1537, he sent a gentleman of his chamber, Sir Peter
Mewtas, on a secret mission to Joinville, the Duke of Guise's castle
on the borders of Lorraine, to wait on Madame de Longueville, and find
out if her word was already pledged. Both Madame de Longueville and
her clever mother, Antoinette de Bourbon, returned evasive answers,
saying that the Duke of Guise had agreed to the marriage with King
James, but that his daughter's consent had never been given. This reply
encouraged Henry to persevere with his suit, while Mewtas's description
of the Duchess's beauty, in Castillon's words, "set the tow on fire."
He complained that his brother had behaved shamefully in preferring the
beggarly King of Scots to him, and was forcing the lady to marry James
against her will. In vain Castillon told him that Madame de Longueville
had been promised to the King of Scots before Queen Jane's death, and
that Francis could not break his word without mortally offending his
old ally and son-in-law. Nothing daunted, Henry sent Mewtas again
to Joinville in February, 1538, to obtain Madame de Longueville's
portrait, and ask if she were still free. This time his errand proved
fruitless. The marriage with the King of Scots was already concluded,
and the contract signed. Nevertheless, Henry still harped on the same
string. "Il revient toujours à ses moutons," wrote Castillon, "et ne
peut pas oublier sa bergère." "Truly he is a marvellous man!"[169]

Meanwhile Cromwell, who had no personal inclination for the French
alliance, was making inquiries in other directions. Early in December,
while Mewtas was on his way to Joinville, the Lord Privy Seal wrote
privately to Hutton, desiring him to send him a list of ladies in
Flanders who would be suitable consorts for the King. In a letter
written on the 4th of December, the Ambassador replied that he had
little knowledge of ladies, and feared he knew no one at the Regent's
Court "meet to be Queen of England."

[Sidenote: DEC., 1537] A GOODLY PERSON]

    "The widow of Count Egmont," he wrote, "was a fair woman
    of good report, and the Duke of Cleves had a marriageable
    daughter, but he heard no great praise of her person or beauty.
    There is," he added, "the Duchess of Milan, whom I have not
    seen, but who is reported to be a goodly personage of excellent
    beauty."[170]

Five days later Hutton wrote again, to announce the arrival of the
Duchess, who entered Brussels on the 8th, and was received by a great
company of honourable gentlemen.

    "She is, I am informed, of the age of sixteen years, very high
    in stature for that age--higher, in fact, than the Regent--and
    a goodly personage of competent beauty, of favour excellent,
    soft of speech, and very gentle in countenance. She weareth
    mourning apparel, after the manner of Italy. The common saying
    here is that she is both widow and maid. She resembleth much
    one Mistress Skelton,[171] that sometime waited in Court upon
    Queen Anne. She useth most to speak French, albeit it is
    reported that she can speak both Italian and High German."

The same evening Hutton added these further details in a postscript
addressed to Cromwell's secretary, Thomas Wriothesley:

    "If it were God's pleasure and the King's, I would there were
    some good alliance made betwixt His Highness and the Emperor,
    and there is none in these parts of personage, beauty, and
    birth, like unto the Duchess of Milan. She is not so pure white
    as was the late Queen, whose soul God pardon, but she hath a
    singular good countenance, and when she chanceth to smile,
    there appeareth two pits in her cheeks and one in her chin, the
    which becometh her right excellently well."[172]

The honest Englishman's first impressions of Christina were evidently
very favourable. During the next week he watched her carefully, and
was much struck by "the great majesty of her bearing and charm of her
manners." At the same time he expressed his earnest conviction that,
now peace was concluded between the Emperor and the French King, a
close alliance between his own master and the Emperor was the more
necessary, and suggested that a marriage between Henry and the Duchess,
and another between the Princess Mary and the Duke of Cleves, would be
very advantageous to both monarchs, who would then have all Germany at
their command.

Cromwell lost no time in placing these letters in his master's hands.
Hutton's account of the Duchess's beauty and virtues made a profound
impression on the King, and, since Madame de Longueville was beyond his
reach, he determined to pay his addresses to the Emperor's niece. With
characteristic impetuosity, he wrote to Wyatt on the 22nd of January,
saying that, as the Duchess of Milan's match with the Duke of Cleves
was broken off, he thought of honouring her with an offer of marriage.
This he desired Wyatt to suggest as of himself, in conversation with
the Emperor and his Ministers, Granvelle and Covos, giving them a
friendly hint to make overtures on behalf of the said Duchess.[173]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1538] KING HENRY'S SUIT]

Strangely enough, two years before Charles had himself proposed this
alliance between his niece and the King of England. In May, 1536, when
he was hurrying northwards to defend Savoy against the French, the
news of Anne Boleyn's fall reached him at Vercelli. Without a moment's
delay he wrote to Chapuys, his Ambassador in London, saying that,
since Henry, being of so amorous a complexion, was sure to take another
wife, and it was most important that he should not marry in France,
Chapuys might propose his union with one of the Emperor's nieces,
either Queen Eleanor's daughter, the Infanta Maria of Portugal, or the
widowed Duchess of Milan, "a beautiful young lady, very well brought
up, and with a rich dower." And then, as if a qualm had seized him at
the thought of sacrificing Christina to a man of Henry's character, he
added a postscript desiring the Ambassador not to mention the Duchess
unless His Majesty should appear averse to the other.[174]

By the time, however, that these letters reached London, it was plain
that the fickle monarch's affections were already fixed on Jane
Seymour, and nothing more came of the Emperor's proposal until, in
January, 1538, Henry himself wrote to Wyatt. Sir Thomas, who knew his
royal master intimately, hastened to approach the Emperor, and on the
2nd of February Charles wrote from Barcelona to Chapuys, saying that,
although royal ladies ought by right to be _sought_, not _offered_,
in marriage, the King's language was so frank and sincere that he was
willing to waive ceremony, and lend a favourable ear to his brother's
proposal. Before these letters reached the Imperial Ambassador, he
received a message from Henry, saying that he wished to treat of his
own marriage with the Duchess of Milan, being convinced that a Princess
born and bred in Northern climes would suit him far better than the
Portuguese Infanta. The next day Cromwell paid a visit to Chapuys, and
confirmed every word of the royal message.[175]

On the eve of Valentine's Day Henry saw Castillon, and told him in
bitter tones that, if his master did not choose to give him Madame
de Longueville, he could find plenty of better matches, and meant to
marry the Duchess of Milan and conclude a close alliance with the
Emperor.[176]

On the same day the German reformer Melanchthon, writing from Jena to a
Lutheran friend, summed up the situation neatly in the following words:

    "The Widow of Milan, daughter of Christian, the captive King
    of Denmark, was brought to Germany to wed the young Duke of
    Juliers. This is now changed, for Juliers becomes heir to
    Guelders, against the Emperor's will, and the girl is offered
    to the Englishman, whom the Spaniards, aiming at universal
    empire, would join to themselves against the Frenchmen and us.
    There is grave matter for your consideration."[177]


II.

The ball was now set rolling, but, as Chapuys foretold, there were
many difficulties in the way. For the moment, however, all went well.
Henry sent Hutton orders to watch the Duchess closely, and report on
all her words, deeds, and looks. In obedience to these commands, the
Ambassador hung about the palace from early morning till late at night,
was present at supper and card parties, attended the Queen out riding
and hunting, and lost no opportunity of entering into conversation with
Christina herself.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1538] HUTTON'S ADVANCES]

One evening towards the end of February a page brought him some
letters from the Duchess's servant, Gian Battista Ferrari, who had
friends among the Italian merchants in London, with a request that
the Ambassador would forward them by his courier. The next morning,
after Mass, when the Queen passed into the Council-chamber, Hutton
took advantage of this opportunity to thank the Duchess most humbly
for allowing him to do her this small service. Christina replied, with
a gracious smile, that she would not have ventured to give him this
trouble, had she not been as ready herself to do him any pleasure that
lay in her power.

It was stormy weather. For three days and nights it had rained without
ceasing, and courtiers and ladies alike found the time hang heavy on
their hands. "This weather liketh not the Queen," remarked Christina,
who was standing by an open window looking out on the park. "She is
thereby penned up, and cannot ride abroad to hunt." As she spoke, the
wind drove the rain with such violence into her face that she was
obliged to draw back farther into the room, and Hutton, growing bolder,
asked if it were true that the Duchess herself loved hunting. "Nothing
better," replied Christina, laughing; and she seemed as if she would
gladly have prolonged the conversation. But then two ancient gentlemen
drew near--"Master Bernadotte Court, her Grand Master, who, next to
Monsieur de Courrières, is chief about her and another"--and, with a
parting bow, the Duchess retired to her own rooms.

    "She speaketh French," adds Hutton in reporting this interview
    to Cromwell, "and seemeth to be of few words. And in her
    speaking she lispeth, which doth nothing misbecome her.
    I cannot in anything perceive but she should be of much
    soberness, very wise, and no less gentle."[178]

Among the ladies who came to Court for the Carnival fêtes, Hutton found
a friend in the Duke of Aerschot's sister, Madame de Berghen, a lively
lady whom he had known in the town of Berghen-op-Zoom, where he had
spent much time as Governor of the Merchant Adventurers. The Dutch
merchants in this city had presented him with a house, an honour which
the Ambassador appreciated highly, although he complained that it led
him into great extravagance, and that the furniture, tapestries, and
pictures, necessary for its adornment, "plucked the lining out of his
purse, and left him as rich as a newly-shorn sheep."[179]

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1538] "MR. HAUNCE"]

One day Madame de Berghen saw Hutton in the act of delivering a packet
of letters which Wyatt had forwarded from Barcelona to the Queen, and
her curiosity was excited by the warmth of Mary's thanks. That evening
she invited the English Ambassador to dinner to meet her kinsman the
Bishop of Liége, "a goodly personage," remarks Hutton, "but a man of
little learning and less discretion, and, like most Bishops in these
parts, very unfit for his office." When this secular ecclesiastic
retired, the Lady Marchioness, "whose tongue always wagged freely,"
asked Hutton if the letters which he had delivered to the Queen came
from England, and confessed that she hoped they contained good news
regarding the Duchess of Milan, whose beauty, wisdom, and great
gentleness, she could not praise too highly. She told him that he
would have been amazed had he seen Christina gorgeously apparelled
as she was the day before, and confided to him that the Duchess was
having her portrait taken by the Court painter, Bernard van Orley, and
had promised to give it to her. Hutton begged to be allowed to borrow
the picture in order to show it to his wife, and told Cromwell that
as soon as he could secure the portrait he would send it to England.
Accordingly, on the 9th of March the Ambassador received the picture,
which Madame de Berghen begged him to accept as her gift, and sent a
servant to bear it without delay to the Lord Privy Seal's house in
St. James's. Late on the following evening, much to the Ambassador's
surprise, a young Shropshire gentleman, named Mr. Philip Hoby, who
had lately entered Cromwell's service, appeared at his lodgings,
accompanied by the King's painter, Master Hans Holbein. At this time
the German master was at the height of his reputation. Since 1536,
when he entered Henry's service as Court painter, he had executed some
of his finest portraits, including the famous picture of the King
in Whitehall Palace, the superb portrait of Queen Jane, and that of
Cromwell himself, which is so marvellous a revelation of character. Now
the Lord Privy Seal sent him across the Channel to take a sketch of the
Duchess of Milan, and bring it back with all possible despatch.

Hutton's first idea was to send a messenger to stop the bearer of the
Flemish portrait, fearing it might give a wrong impression of the lady,
"since it was not so perfect as the cause required, and as the said
Mr. Haunce could make it." But his servant had already sailed, and the
Ambassador could only beg Cromwell to await Master Hans's return before
he formed any opinion of the Duchess. The next morning he waited on
the Queen, and informed her how the Lord Privy Seal, having received
secret overtures from the Imperial Ambassador for a marriage between
the King's Majesty and Her Grace of Milan, thought the best way to
approach the King was to show him a portrait of the Duchess.

    "And forasmuch as his lordship heard great commendation of
    the form, beauty, wisdom, and other virtuous qualities, with
    which God had endowed the Duchess, he could perceive no means
    more meet for the advancement of the same than to procure her
    perfect picture, for which he had sent a man very excellent in
    the making of physiognomies."

After long and elaborate explanation, Hutton asked humbly if his
lordship's servant might salute the Duchess, and beg her to appoint a
time and place for the painter to accomplish his task.

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1538] HOLBEIN'S PORTRAIT]

Mary was evidently greatly surprised to hear of the Ambassador's
errand. She started from her chair in amazement, but, quickly
recovering composure, she sat down again, and listened attentively
till Hutton had done speaking. Then she thanked him and Lord Cromwell
for their good-will to the Emperor, and said that she had no objection
to grant his request, and that he should see the Duchess herself.
With these few words she rose and passed into the Council-chamber.
Presently Christina entered the room, attended by two ladies. She
listened graciously to Hutton's message, expressed her gratitude to
Lord Cromwell for his kind intentions, and sent Benedetto da Corte back
with him to meet the English gentleman. Fortunately, Philip Hoby was a
pleasant and cultivated young man who could speak Italian fluently. He
conversed for some time with Messer Benedetto, much to Hutton's envy
and admiration, and at two o'clock that afternoon was conducted by him
into the presence of the Duchess.

Cromwell had given Hoby minute instructions as to his behaviour on this
occasion, and had composed a long and elaborate speech which he was to
deliver to Christina herself.

    "The said Philip shall, as of himself, express a wish that it
    might please the King, now a widower, to advance Her Grace
    to the honour of Queen of England, considering her virtuous
    qualities were a great deal more than ever was notified, and
    for a great confirmation of amity and love to continue between
    the Emperor's Majesty and the King's Highness."

Hoby was charged to take careful note of the Duchess's answers,
gestures, and expression, and was especially to note if she seemed
favourably inclined to these proposals, in order that he might be able
to satisfy Henry's anxiety on the subject.[180]

Philip Hoby was too accomplished a courtier not to discharge his errand
with tact and courtesy. The Duchess was graciously pleased to accede
to his request, and at one o'clock the next day Holbein was ushered by
Messer Benedetto into his mistress's presence. The time allowed for the
sitting was short, but Master Hans was an adept at his art, and had
already taken drawings in this swift and masterly fashion of all the
chief personages at the English Court.

    "Having but three hours' space," wrote Hutton, "he showed
    himself to be master of that science. For his picture is very
    perfect; the other is but slobbered in comparison to it, as by
    the sight of both your lordship shall well perceive."[181]

An hour afterwards Hoby and the painter both took leave of the Duchess
and started for England. In order to avoid suspicion and observe the
strict secrecy enjoined by Cromwell, Hoby did not even seek a farewell
audience from the Regent, who contented herself with sending friendly
greetings to the Lord Privy Seal, saying that he should hear from her
more at large through the Imperial Ambassadors.

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1538 AT HAMPTON COURT]

The precious sketch, from which Holbein afterwards made "the great
table"[182] which hung in the Palace of Westminster until Henry's
death, was safely delivered into Cromwell's hands, and shown by him to
the King on the 18th of March. Henry was singularly pleased with the
portrait, and, as his courtiers noticed, seemed to be in better humour
than for months past. For the first time since Queen Jane's death he
sent for his musicians, and made them play to him all the afternoon
and evening. Two days afterwards he went to Hampton Court, and "gave
orders for new and sumptuous buildings" at this riverside palace. After
that he returned to Whitehall by water, accompanied by his whole troop
of musicians, paid a visit to his brother-in-law's wife, Katherine,
Duchess of Suffolk, and resumed his old habit of going about with a few
of his favourites in masks--"a sure sign," remarked Chapuys, "that he
is going to marry again."

The Imperial Ambassadors, Chapuys and his colleague Don Diego Mendoza,
were now treated with extraordinary civility. They were invited to
Hampton Court, where Henry entertained them at a splendid banquet, and
showed them his "fine new lodgings" and the priceless tapestries and
works of art with which Cardinal Wolsey had adorned this magnificent
house. The next day they were taken to the royal manor of Nonsuch to
see the little Prince, "one of the prettiest children you ever saw,
and his sister, Madam Elizabeth, who is also a sweet little girl."
Then they went on to Richmond to visit Princess Mary, who played to
them with rare skill on both spinet and lute, and spoke of her cousin
the Emperor in terms of the deepest gratitude. The French Ambassadors,
Castillon and the Bishop of Tarbes, who arrived at Hampton Court
just as the Imperial Envoys were leaving, were received with marked
coolness, a treatment, as Chapuys shrewdly remarks, "no doubt artfully
designed to excite their jealousy."[183]

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1538] CHRISTINA'S CHARM]

The sight of Holbein's portrait revived Henry's wish to see Christina,
and he pressed Chapuys earnestly to induce his good sister the Queen
of Hungary to bring her niece to meet him at Calais. But on this
point Mary was obdurate. She told the Ambassador that this was out of
the question, and although she wrote civilly to the Lord Privy Seal,
thanking him for his good offices, she complained bitterly to Chapuys
of Cromwell's extraordinary proceeding in sending the painter to
Brussels, and laid great stress on her condescension in allowing him
to take her niece's portrait. So far Charles himself had never written
fully to his sister on the subject, and Mary asked Chapuys repeatedly
if these proposals really came from the Emperor, and if the King and
Cromwell were sincere. As for her part, she believed these flattering
words were merely intended to deceive her. Chapuys could only assure
her that both Henry and his Minister were very much in earnest. When
the courier arrived from Spain, the King was bitterly disappointed
because there was no letter from Charles, and sent Cromwell twice
to implore the Ambassadors, for God's sake, to tell him if they had
any good news to impart. On Lady Day the Minister came to Chapuys's
lodgings, and, after two hours' earnest conversation, went away
"somewhat consoled." The next day Henry sent for the Ambassadors, and
discussed the subject in the frankest, most familiar manner, ending by
saying with a merry laugh: "You think it a good joke, I trow, to see me
in love at my age!"

In his impatience, Henry complained that Hutton was remiss in his
duties, and did not say enough about the Duchess in his despatches.
Yet the excellent Ambassador was unremitting in his attendance on Her
Grace, and spent many hours daily at Court, watching her closely when
she danced or played at cards, and telling the King that he "felt
satisfied that her great modesty and gentleness proceeded from no
want of wit, but that she was rather to be esteemed wisest among the
wise."[184]

From the day of Hoby's visit Christina treated Hutton with marked
friendliness, and threw aside much of her reserve in talking with him.
On the bright spring days, when the Queen and her niece hunted daily in
the forest, the Englishman seldom failed to accompany them. He admired
the Duchess's bold horsemanship, and was much struck by the evident
delight which she and her aunt took in this favourite sport. By way
of ingratiating himself with Mary, he presented her with four couple
of English hounds, "the fairest that he had ever seen," and a fine
gelding, which made Christina remark that he had done the Queen a great
pleasure, and that she had never seen her aunt so well mounted. Hutton
hastened to reply that, since Her Grace was good enough to admire the
horse, he would do his utmost to secure another as good for her own
use, which offer she accepted graciously.[185] All these incidents
naturally provoked attention, and, in spite of the secrecy with which
the negotiations were carried on, the King's marriage with the Duchess
of Milan was freely discussed both in Flanders and in England.

    "Few Englishmen," wrote the Duke of Norfolk to Cromwell on
    the 6th of April, "will regret the King of Scots' marriage to
    Madame de Longueville, hoping that one of Burgundian blood may
    have the place she might have had."[186]

And the report that after Easter the King was going to meet his future
bride at Calais became so persistent that even Castillon believed it,
and complained to his royal master of the strange alteration in Henry's
behaviour, and of the marvellous haughtiness and coldness with which he
was now treated.[187]


III.

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1538] MARRIAGE NEGOTIATIONS]

On the 27th of March the Imperial Ambassadors dined at the Lord
Privy Seal's house, to meet Archbishop Cranmer, Chancellor Audley,
Thomas Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, the Lord High Admiral Southampton,
and two other Bishops, who were the Commissioners appointed to treat
of two royal marriages. One of these was the long-planned union of
Princess Mary with the Infant Don Louis of Portugal, brother of the
reigning King, which was the ostensible object of Don Diego's mission
to England. The other was the King's own marriage with the Duchess,
which Henry sent word must be arranged at once, since until this was
concluded he absolutely refused to treat of his daughter's alliance
with the Infant. As they sat down at table, by way of _Benedicite_,
remarks Chapuys, the King's deputies began by rejoicing to think they
had not to deal with Frenchmen, and pouring scorn on their mendacious
habits. But before the end of the meeting many difficulties had arisen.
First of all the English Commissioners demanded that the Count Palatine
should renounce all his wife's rights to the crown of Denmark without
compensation. Then the question of the Papal dispensation, which was
necessary owing to Christina's relationship to Katherine of Aragon,
was mooted, and, as Chapuys soon realized, was likely to prove an
insuperable difficulty, since nothing would induce Henry to recognize
the Pope's authority.[188]

During the next few weeks several meetings between the Commissioners
took place, and the Ambassadors were repeatedly admitted to confer
with the King and his Privy Council; but little progress was made, and
Chapuys informed the Regent that there was even less hope of agreement
than there had been at first. Henry on his part complained loudly
of the coldness of the Imperial Envoys, and of their evident desire
to push forward the Portuguese marriage and drop his own, which was
the one thing for which he really cared.[189] An attempt to effect
some mode of reconciliation between him and the Pope only incensed
Henry, who sent two Doctors of Law, Bonner and Haynes, to Madrid,
to protest against the meeting of a General Council, and to point
out how the Bishops of Rome wrested Scripture to the maintenance of
their lusts and worldly advantage. And he told Don Diego angrily that
the meeting of a Council would do him the worst injury in the world,
since if he refused to attend it he would be cut off from the rest of
Christendom.[190] To add to the King's ill-temper, he was suffering
from a return of the ulcers in the leg from which he had formerly
suffered, and for some days his condition excited serious alarm.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1538] LOUISE DE GUISE]

On his recovery, Castillon, who had been looking on with some amusement
while the Emperor's folk were "busy brewing marriages," approached
His Majesty with flattering words, and tried to instil suspicions
of Cromwell into his mind. Henry swallowed the bait greedily, and
the French Ambassador's remarks on his favourite's "great Spanish
passion" rankled in his mind to so great an extent that he sent for
Cromwell and rated him soundly, telling him that he was quite unfit
to meddle in the affairs of Kings. The wily Frenchman, satisfied that
the only way of managing this wayward monarch was to make him fall
in love, took advantage of his present mood to speak to him of the
Queen of Scotland's sister, Louise de Guise, whom he described as
being quite as beautiful as herself, with the additional advantage of
being a maid, and not a widow. Henry, who was on his way to Mass when
Castillon made this suggestion, slapped him familiarly on the back,
and laughed, saying he must hear more of this young lady. The next day
the Comptroller of the King's Household was sent to ask the Ambassador
for particulars about Mademoiselle de Guise, and was told that she was
so like Madame de Longueville that you would hardly know the sisters
apart, and that a Scotchman who had seen both, wondered how King
James could prefer Mary to so lovely a creature as Louise. The French
Ambassador now found himself overwhelmed with attentions. The King sent
him presents of venison and artichokes from his gardens, invited him to
spend Sunday at Greenwich, and, when the plague broke out in London,
lent him the beautiful old house in Chelsea which had belonged to Sir
Thomas More, as a country residence.[191]

The wedding of King James was finally celebrated at Châteaudun on the
9th of May, and, hearing that the Duke of Guise and his fair daughter
Louise had accompanied the new Queen to Havre, Henry sent Philip Hoby
across the Channel to see Mademoiselle de Guise and have her picture
painted. These orders were duly executed, and Louise's portrait,
probably painted by Holbein, was placed in the King's hands. But,
although Henry "did not find the portrait ugly," he was now anxious
to see Louise's younger sister, Renée, who was said to be still more
beautiful, and would not be put off when Castillon told him that she
was about to take the veil in a convent at Reims.

    "No doubt," remarked Montmorency, the Constable of France, "as
    King Henry has made himself Pope in his own country, he would
    prefer a nun to any other Princess."[192]

Nothing would now satisfy Henry but that the French King or Queen
should meet him at Calais with the Duke of Guise's daughters,
Mademoiselle de Lorraine, and Mademoiselle de Vendôme, who had all
been recommended to his notice. When the English Envoy, Brian,
proposed this to Queen Eleanor, she replied indignantly that she was
not a keeper of harlots, and the Constable told Castillon once more
that French Princesses were not to be trotted out like hackneys at a
fair. At last the Ambassador, tired of repeating that this plan was
impossible, asked Henry if the Knights of King Arthur's Round Table had
ever treated ladies in such a fashion. This brought the King to his
senses. He reddened and hesitated, and, after rubbing his nose for some
moments, said that his proposal might have sounded a little uncivil,
but he had been so often deceived in these matters that he could trust
no one but himself.[193]

Still Henry would not give up all hope of winning the fair Louise,
and towards the end of August he sent Philip Hoby on a fresh errand
to Joinville. As before, he was to take Holbein with him, and, after
viewing well the younger sister, ask the Duchess of Guise for leave to
take the portraits of both her daughters, Louise and Renée, "in one
faire table." Hoby was to explain that he had business in these parts,
and that, since he had already made acquaintance with Mademoiselle
de Guise at Havre, he could not pass Joinville without saluting her.
On leaving Joinville he was to proceed to the Duke of Lorraine's
Court, and inform him that the Lord Privy Seal, having heard that His
Excellency had a daughter of excellent quality, begged that the King's
painter might be allowed to take her portrait. On the 30th of August
the travellers reached Joinville, as we learn from the following letter
addressed by the Duchess of Guise to her eldest daughter in Scotland:

[Sidenote: AUG., 1538] HOLBEIN AT JOINVILLE]

    "It is but two days since the King of England's gentleman
    who was at Havre, and the painter, were here. The gentleman
    came to see me, pretending that he was on his way to find the
    Emperor, and, having heard that Louise was ill, would not pass
    by without inquiring after her, that he might take back news
    of her health to the King his master. He begged to be allowed
    to see her, which he did, although it was a day when the fever
    was on her, and repeated the same words which he had already
    said to me. He then told me that, as he was so near Lorraine,
    he meant to go on to Nancy to see the country. I have no doubt
    that he was going there to draw Mademoiselle's portrait, in the
    same way that he has drawn the others, and so I sent down to
    the gentleman's lodgings, and found that the said painter was
    there. Since then they have been at Nancy, where they spent a
    day and were well feasted and entertained, and at every meal
    the _maître d'hôtel_ ate with them, and many presents were made
    them. That is all I know yet, but you see that, at the worst,
    if you do not have your sister for a neighbour, you may yet
    have your cousin."[194]

This time Hoby's journey was evidently unsuccessful. Louise was ill
of intermittent fever, and Renée had already been sent to the convent
at Reims, where she was afterwards professed; and it is clear from
Antoinette's letters that she had no wish to marry either of her
daughters to Henry. A month before, on the 3rd of August, she wrote
to the Queen of Scotland: "I have heard nothing more of the proposals
which you know of"; and again on the 18th: "I have begged your father
to speak of these affairs to the King, that we may be rid of them if
possible, for no one could ever be happy with such a man."[195]

As for Anne de Lorraine, in spite of many excellent qualities,
she lacked the beauty and charm of her cousins, and, as her aunt
Antoinette said, "elle est bien honnête, mais pas si belle que je
voudrais."[196]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1538] HENRY'S SCRUPLES]

The result of these disappointments was to revive Henry's wish to marry
Christina. Several times in the course of the summer Castillon remarked
that this monarch was still hankering after the Duchess of Milan,
and had repeatedly tried to induce the Regent to bring her niece to
meet him at Brussels. "The King my master," said Cromwell to Chapuys,
"will never marry one, who is to be his companion for life, without
he has first seen and known her."[197] In a long and careful paper of
instructions which Henry drew up for the Ambassador Wyatt, he lays
great stress on this point.

    "His Grace, prudently considering how that marriage is a
    bargain of such nature as may endure for the whole life of
    man, and a thing whereof the pleasure and quiet, or the
    displeasure and torment, doth much depend, thinketh it to be
    most necessary, both for himself and the party with whom it
    shall please God to join him in marriage, that the one might
    see the other before the time that they should be so affianced,
    which point His Highness hath largely set forth heretofore to
    the Emperor's Ambassador."[198]

But on her side Mary was equally inflexible. Nothing would induce her
to take a step forward in this direction, and even Hutton began to
realize how coldly the marriage overtures were received at Brussels.
The Queen never failed to ask after the King's health or to express her
anxiety for the strengthening of the ancient friendship between the
realm of England and the House of Burgundy; but when the Ambassador
ventured to allude to the subject of her niece's preferment, she
invariably gave an evasive reply. Since both the Queen and the Duchess
spent much of the summer hunting in the Forest of Soignies, or in more
distant parts, Hutton seldom had an opportunity of seeing Christina.
Her servants were still very friendly, especially the Lord Benedick
Court, as Hutton calls the Italian master of her household. One evening
in June, when Hutton had been at Court, Benedetto came back to supper
with him, whether of his own accord or at his mistress's command the
Englishman could not tell. As they walked along the street, Benedetto
asked the Ambassador if he had brought the Queen any good news about
the Duchess. Hutton replied that the first good news must come from the
Emperor, and, to his mind, was a long time upon the road. The old man
looked up to heaven, and said devoutly: "I pray God that I may live
to see her given to your master, even if I die the next day. But," he
added significantly, "there is one doubt in the matter." Hutton asked
eagerly what this might be, upon which Benedetto explained that, as the
King's first wife, the Lady Katherine, was near of kin to the Duchess,
the marriage could not be solemnized without the Pope's dispensation,
and this he feared His Majesty would never accept. The Ambassador
replied warmly that he did not know what might be against the Bishop
of Rome's laws, but that he was quite sure his master would do nothing
against God's laws. Then they sat down to supper with other guests, and
nothing further was said on the subject. But the old Italian knew what
he was talking about, and the Papal dispensation proved to be the one
insuperable obstacle which stood in the way of a settlement.[199]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1538] DEATH OF HUTTON]

Another of Christina's servants, Gian Battista Ferrari, paid a visit to
England this summer, and brought back glowing accounts of the beauties
of London and the splendours of King Henry's Court. He had an Italian
friend named Panizone, who was one of the royal equerries, and had been
sent over to England with some Barbary horses from the Gonzaga stables.
Panizone introduced him to Cromwell, who entertained him hospitably,
and sent him back to tell his mistress all that he had seen and done
at the Court of Whitehall. Christina was exceedingly curious to hear
Battista's account of his visit, and was surprised when he told her
that England was as beautiful as Italy. When she proceeded to inquire
if he had seen the King, Battista replied that he had been fortunate
enough to be received by His Majesty, and broke into ecstatic praises
of Henry's comeliness, gracious manners, and liberality. The Duchess
said that she had often heard praises of His Grace, and was glad to
know from Battista's lips that they were true. After supper she sent
for him again, and he informed her that Chapuys had told him the
marriage would shortly be concluded. "At this it seemeth she did much
rejoice." So at least Battista assured Hutton.[200] Ferrari himself
was evidently very anxious to see his mistress Queen of England, and
in a letter which he addressed on the 7th of September to his friend,
"Guglielmo Panizone scudier del Invictissimo Rè d' Inghilterrà a
Londra, alla Corte di sua Maestà," he wrote, "Madama the Duchess, my
mistress, loves the King truly," and proceeded to send commendations
to the Lord Privy Seal, Signor Filippo (Hoby), Portinari, and others.
This letter contained one sad piece of news. "The Ambassador here is
said to be dying; I am grieved because of the friendship between us
and his excellent qualities. The next one we have will, I hope, be
yourself."[201] Battista's news was true. Honest John Hutton, the
popular Governor of the Merchant Adventurers, fell ill at Antwerp, and
died there on the 5th of September. His genial nature had made him a
general favourite, and he was lamented by everyone at Court. "It is
a great loss," wrote Don Diego to Cromwell, "because he was so good
a servant and so merry and honest a soul." To his own master, the
Emperor, he remarked that the English Ambassador who had just died was
a jovial, good-natured man, but more fit for courtly functions and
social intercourse than grave political business, for which he had
neither taste nor capacity.[202]


IV.

The meeting of the Emperor and King of France at Aigues-Mortes in
July, 1538, produced a marked change in the political situation. This
interview, which the Pope had failed to bring about at Nice, was
finally effected by Queen Eleanor, and the two monarchs, who had not
met since Francis was a prisoner at Madrid, embraced each other, dined
together, and ended by swearing an inviolable friendship. The truce was
converted into a lasting peace, and several marriages between the two
families were discussed in a friendly and informal manner.

    "Never," wrote the Constable to Castillon, "were there two
    faster friends than the King and Emperor, and I do not for a
    moment imagine that His Imperial Majesty will ever allow the
    Widow of Milan to marry King Henry! So do not believe a single
    word that you hear in England!"[203]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1538] CROMWELL AND CHAPUYS]

This unexpected reconciliation was a bitter pill to Henry and Cromwell.
The French and Imperial Ambassadors at Whitehall exchanged the warmest
congratulations, and did not fail to indulge in a hearty laugh at
King Henry's expense. On the 21st of August Chapuys and Don Diego
followed the Court to Ampthill, where the King was hunting, and
were entertained by Cromwell at one of his own manors. As they sat
down to dinner, the Lord Privy Seal asked brusquely if it were true
that the King and Emperor had made peace, to which the Ambassadors
replied in the affirmative. He then proceeded to start a variety of
disagreeable topics. First he remarked that he heard the Turk was
already in Belgrade; next he said that the young Duke of Cleves had
taken possession of Guelderland, upon which Chapuys retaliated by
expatiating on the perfect friendship and understanding between Charles
and Francis. After dinner they were admitted into the King's presence,
and informed him that the Queen of Hungary had received the powers
necessary for the conclusion of the Duchess's marriage, and wished to
recall Don Diego in order that he might draw up the contract. Henry
expressed great sorrow at parting from the Spaniard, and, drawing him
apart, begged him to induce the Queen to treat directly with him,
repeating two or three times that he was growing old, and could not put
off taking a wife any longer. Meanwhile Cromwell was telling Chapuys,
in another corner of the hall, how much annoyed the King had been
to hear that the Emperor was treating of his niece's marriage with
the Duke of Cleves, which would make people say either that she had
refused the King or else had only accepted Henry after refusing Cleves.
Chapuys stoutly denied the truth of this report, and Cromwell confessed
that the King was very eager for the marriage, and, if there were any
difficulty about the Duchess's dowry, he would gladly give her 20,000
crowns out of his own purse.[204]

As the Ambassadors were putting on their riding-boots, Cromwell ran
after Don Diego with a present from his master of £400, after which
they returned to London and dined in Chelsea with Castillon, to meet
Madame de Montreuil, the lady-in-waiting of the late Queen Madeleine of
Scotland, who was returning to France. They all spent a merry evening,
laughing over King Henry's matrimonial plans, and Castillon declared
that the King and Lord Privy Seal were so much perturbed at his
master's alliance with the Emperor that they hardly knew if they were
in heaven or on earth.[205]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1538] STEPHEN VAUGHAN]

Don Diego arrived in Flanders to find general rejoicings--"gun-shots
and melody and jousting were the order of the day"--and an English
merchant declared that the proud Spaniards were ready to challenge all
the world. Queen Mary marked the occasion by honouring her favourite,
Count Henry of Nassau, with a visit at his Castle of Breda in Holland.
The beautiful gardens and vast orchards planted in squares, after the
fashion of Italy, which excited the Cardinal of Aragon's admiration,
were in their summer beauty, and a series of magnificent fêtes were
given in honour of the Queen and her companion, the Duchess of Milan.
The Count was assisted in doing the honours by his third wife, the
Marchioness of Zeneta, a rich Spanish heiress, whom the Emperor had
given him in marriage, and his son René, Prince of Orange. The presence
of Christina at Breda on this occasion, and the attentions that were
paid her by her hosts, naturally gave rise to a report that she was
about to wed the Prince, and Cromwell told Don Diego before he left
Dover that this rumour had caused the King great annoyance.[206] But
the festivities at Breda met with a tragic close. On the day after the
royal ladies left the castle, Henry of Nassau died very suddenly, and
Don Diego heard the sad news when he reached the castle gates, on his
way to salute his kinswoman, the Marchioness.

The Ambassador now hastened to Court, and craved an audience of the
Queen to deliver King Henry's letters; but he found her little inclined
to attend to business, and engaged in preparations to pay a visit to
King Francis, who had gallantly invited her to a hunting-party at
Compiègne. At first there had been some doubt if the Duchess should
be of the party, but Queen Eleanor was eager to see her niece, and
Christina was nothing loth to take part in these brilliant festivities.
Meanwhile Henry's renewed impatience to conclude his marriage was shown
by the promptitude with which another Ambassador was sent to take
Hutton's place.

On the 27th of September the new Envoy, Stephen Vaughan, was admitted
into the Queen's presence, and begged for an answer to the letters
delivered by Don Diego. Mary told him that he might inform His Majesty
that there was no truth in the reports of her niece's marriage, and
that, if any coolness had arisen between them, it was the King's own
fault for seeking a wife in other places. Hoby's mission to Joinville
and Nancy was, it is plain, well known at Brussels. But the Queen kept
her counsel, and told Vaughan that, if his master was still in the
same mind, she would urge the Emperor to hasten the conclusion of the
treaty. Only she must beg the Ambassador to have a little patience,
as her time was fully occupied at this moment. But the next day he
was again put off, and told the Queen would see him when she reached
Mons. Accordingly, Vaughan and his colleague, Thomas Wriothesley,
Cromwell's confidential secretary, arrived at this town on the 8th,
only to be told by Don Diego that they must await the Queen's pleasure
at Valenciennes. The Spanish Ambassador did his best to atone for their
disappointment by giving them an excellent dinner, and lending them
two of his own horses with velvet saddles and rich trappings for the
journey.[207]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1538] AT COMPIÈGNE]

At length, at eight on Sunday morning, the 6th of October, they were
conducted into the Queen's presence by the Grand Falconer, Molembais,
and Vaughan, who spoke French fluently, explained Henry's reasons for
arranging the marriage treaty without delay. Mary replied briefly that
she had already written to accede to the King's request, and that no
further steps could be taken until after her meeting with the French
King. Dinner was being served while she spoke these words, and, as
the meat was actually coming in, the Ambassadors were compelled to
retire. Before they left the room, however, they saluted the Duchess,
who was standing near her aunt, and ventured to tell her how much my
Lord Privy Seal remained her humble servant, although, as she no doubt
knew, his overtures had been so coldly received. Christina smiled and
thanked them for their good-will with a gentle grace, which went far
to mollify their ruffled feelings, and made Wriothesley write home
that all Hutton had said of the Duchess's charms was true. "She is as
goodly personage, of stature higher than either of us, and hath a very
good woman's face, competently fair and well favoured, but a little
brown."[208]

As if to make amends for these delays, the great lords in attendance
overwhelmed the Ambassadors with civilities. Aerschot invited them to
dinner; Count Büren embraced them warmly and asked affectionately after
the King; De Praet, Molembais, and Iselstein, escorted them to the
door, and Don Diego made them a present of wine. When Wriothesley fell
ill of fever at Cambray, the Queen sent her own physician to attend
him, and begged him either to remain there or return to Brussels. This
he refused to do, and travelled on by slow stages to Compiègne, hoping
to obtain another audience there. But the roads were bad, and two
leagues from Cambray one of the carts broke down, leaving the English
without household stuff or plate when Don Diego came to supper.[209]

On Tuesday news reached Cambray that King Francis was on his way to
salute the Queen, and Mary rode out to meet him, leaving the Duchess of
Milan at home with others, who like herself, remarks Wriothesley, had
no great liking for Frenchmen.[210] But the King's greeting was most
cordial, and when, on the following day, Queen Eleanor arrived with a
great train of lords and ladies, there was much feasting and merriment,
until on the 10th the whole party started for Compiègne.

It was a brilliant company that met in the ancient castle of the
French Kings, in the forest on the banks of the Oise, near the bridge
where, a hundred years before, Jeanne d'Arc had made her last heroic
stand. King Francis had summoned all the Princes and Princesses of
the blood to do honour to the Queen of Hungary, and the neighbouring
villages were filled to overflowing with Court officials and servants.
There was the King himself, a fine figure in cloth of gold and nodding
plumes, gallant as ever in spite of ill-health and advancing years,
with a glance and smile to spare for every fair lady; and there was his
consort, Queen Eleanor, too often neglected by her fickle lord, but
now radiant with happiness, and in her beautiful robes and priceless
pearls, as winning and almost as fair as when she fascinated the young
Palatine twenty years ago. The sense of family affection was as strong
in Eleanor as in all the Habsburgs, and she was overjoyed to meet her
sister and embrace the daughter of the beloved and lamented Isabella.
With her came the King's daughter Margaret, the homely-featured but
pleasing and accomplished Princess for whom a royal husband was still
to be found, and who, the courtiers whispered, might now wed the Prince
of Spain.

[Sidenote: OCT., 1538] A BRILLIANT COMPANY]

Her brothers were there too--the dull and morose Henry, who had
succeeded his elder brother as Dauphin two years before, but had never
recovered from the effects of his long captivity in Spain; and the
more lively but weak and vicious Charles of Angoulême, now Duke of
Orleans, whom Eleanor was so anxious to see married to the Duchess of
Milan. With them was the Dauphin's Italian wife, Catherine de' Medici,
whose wit and grace atoned in her father-in-law's eyes for her lack of
beauty, although her husband's heart was given to Diane de Poitiers,
and a childless marriage made her unpopular in the eyes of the nation.
But a galaxy of fair ladies surrounded the King and Queen. Chief among
them was Madame d'Étampes, whose dazzling charms had captivated the
fickle King, and who now reigned supreme both in Court and Council. Of
the youthful ladies whose charms had aroused King Henry's interest,
only Mademoiselle de Vendôme was here. The fair Louise had not yet
recovered from her illness, and the Duchess of Guise was nursing her
at Joinville. But both her father, Claude of Guise, the Governor of
Burgundy, and his brother, the Cardinal of Lorraine, were present, and
held a high place in the King's favour. Claude's elder brother, the
Duke of Lorraine, had lately been to meet the Emperor at Aigues-Mortes
and plead his claims to Guelders, but on his return he fell ill with a
severe attack of gout, and was unable to obey the King's summons. In
his stead he sent Duchess Renée his wife, another Bourbon Princess, a
daughter of Gilbert de Montpensier and sister of the famous Constable.
Her daughter Anne remained at home to nurse the Duke, but her eldest
son, Francis, came with his mother to Compiègne. This cultured and
polished Prince, who bore the King's name, had been brought up at the
French Court, and could ride and joust as well as any of his peers;
but he was quite thrown into the shade by his cousin, Antoine de
Bourbon, Duke of Vendôme, the darling of the people and the idol of
all the ladies. A head and shoulders taller than the Dauphin and his
brother, Antoine was the cynosure of all eyes at Court festivals. The
elegance of his attire, the inimitable grace with which he raised his
hat, his wit and gaiety, fascinated every woman, while the gilded
youth of the day copied the fashion of his clothes and the precise
angle at which he wore the feather in his cap. Frivolous, volatile,
and recklessly extravagant, Vendôme wore his heart on his sleeve, and
was ready to enter the lists for the sake of any fair lady. He fell
desperately in love with the Duchess of Milan at first sight, and
devoted himself to her service. As premier Prince of the blood, he
rode at Christina's side, and led her out to dance in the eyes of the
Court. Together they joined in the hunting-parties that were organized
on a vast scale in the Forest of Compiègne, and while all the French
were lost in admiration at the fine horsemanship of the royal ladies,
Antoine de Bourbon threw himself at the Duchess's feet, and declared
himself her slave for life. But whether this gay cavalier was too
wild and thoughtless for her taste, or whether her heart was already
given to another, Christina paid little heed to this new suitor, and
remained cold to his impassioned appeals. "The Duke of Vendôme," wrote
Wriothesley to Cromwell, "is a great wooer to the Duchess, but we
cannot hear that he receiveth much comfort."[211]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1538] A VISIT TO CHANTILLY]

On the 17th of October the Constable de Montmorency prevailed on the
royal party to accompany him to his sumptuous home at Chantilly, nine
leagues farther on the road to Paris. This brave soldier and able
Minister had grown up in the closest intimacy with the Royal Family,
and was habitually addressed as "bon père" by the King's children,
but had, unfortunately, excited the hatred of the reigning favourite,
the Duchess of Étampes, who called him openly "un grand coquin," and
declared that he tried to make himself a second monarch. On the other
hand, his constant loyalty to Queen Eleanor gratified Mary of Hungary,
who now gladly accepted his invitation to Chantilly.

Anne de Montmorency was as great a patron of art as his royal master,
and during the last fifteen years he had transformed his ancestral
home into a superb Renaissance palace. The halls were decorated with
frescoes by Primaticcio; the gardens were adorned with precious marbles
and bronzes, with busts of the Cæsars and statues of Mars and Hercules,
with fountains of the finest Urbino and Palissy ware. Portraits by
Clouet, priceless manuscripts illuminated by French and Burgundian
masters, and enamels by Léonard Limousin, were to be seen in the
galleries. But what interested Mary and Christina most of all were the
tapestries woven at Brussels from Raphael of Urbino's cartoons, which
the Constable had rescued after the sack of Rome, and which he restored
some years later to Pope Julius III.[212]

After entertaining his guests magnificently during two days, the
Constable accompanied them on a hunting-party in the forest, and
finally brought them back to Compiègne on the 19th of October. Here
the Queen of Hungary's return was impatiently awaited by the English
Ambassadors, who found themselves in a miserable plight. The town was
so crowded that they had to be content with the meanest lodgings; the
hire of post-horses cost forty pounds, and provisions were so scarce
that a partridge or woodcock sold for tenpence, and an orange for more
than a groat. The King's Ambassadors at the French Court--Sir Anthony
Browne, and Bonner, the Bishop-elect of Hereford--who joined them at
Compiègne on the 14th, were in still worse case; for they could get
no horses for love or money, and spent six days without receiving a
visit from the Court officials. These outraged personages stood at the
window, and saw the French Councillors, and even the Constable, go
by, without giving them the smallest sign of recognition. At least,
Vaughan and Wriothesley were treated with the utmost civility by the
Flemish nobles, and their audience was only deferred on account of the
Queen's visit to Chantilly. Don Diego was courtesy itself, and, before
he started for Spain, wrote a letter to Cromwell, assuring him that
Queen Mary was the truest friend and sister his master could have, but
that it had been impossible for her to attend to business when her
days were spent in festivities and family meetings.[213] At length,
on Sunday, the 20th, the Ambassadors were received by the Queen, and
introduced Browne and Bonner, as well as Dr. Edward Carne, a learned
lawyer whom Henry had sent to assist in drawing up the marriage treaty.
Mary informed them that Francis was bent on taking her to the Duke of
Vendôme's house at La Fère on the way home, but begged Wriothesley,
who was still unwell, to go straight to Brussels. The next day Browne
started for England, saying that it was impossible to follow a King
who "goes out of all highways," and on the 22nd Wriothesley and his
companions set out on their return to Brussels.[214]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1538] MARRIAGE-MAKING]


V.

By the end of October the English Envoys were back at Brussels,
rejoicing to be once more in comfortable quarters. Here they found
great fear and distrust of France prevailing, and much alarm was
expressed lest the Queen should have been induced to give the Duchess
of Milan in marriage to a French Prince. This, however, was not
the case, and the English Ambassadors were satisfied that beyond
feasting and merrymaking nothing had been done. A friendly gentleman,
Monsieur de Brederode, told them that there had been some attempt
at marriage-making among the women. Queen Eleanor still pressed her
sister earnestly to further the marriage of Christina with the Duke of
Orleans, as the best way of insuring a lasting peace, and had revived
her old dream of marrying her daughter, Maria of Portugal, to the
Prince of Spain. But Mary turned a deaf ear to all these proposals,
saying that she could not consider them without Charles's approval.
At La Fère, in the valley of the Oise, Francis entertained his guests
at a splendid banquet, after which he presented Mary with a very fine
diamond, and Christina with a beautiful jewel, besides lavishing rings,
bracelets, brooches, caps, and pretty trinkets from Paris and Milan,
Lisbon and Nuremberg, on the ladies of their suite. Here he took leave
of his guests, but the Duke of Vendôme insisted on escorting the Queen
and her niece as far as Valenciennes.[215]

[Sidenote: NOV., 1538] KING HENRY'S ANGER]

On Monday, the 4th of November, Mary and Christina reached Brussels,
and were received with warm demonstrations of affection. Now, "after
all these gay and glorious words," the English Ambassadors confidently
hoped to see some end to their toil. But they soon realized that
their hopes were doomed to disappointment. First the Queen was too
tired to receive them; then nothing could be done until the return
of the Duke of Aerschot, who was her chief adviser. At length, on
the 16th, the first conference took place at the Duke's house. The
Captain of the Archers, Christina's old friend De Courrières, conducted
the Ambassadors to the room where the Commissioners were awaiting
them--Aerschot, Hoogstraaten, Lalaing, and the Chancellor of Brabant,
Dr. Schoren, "a very wise father." After a lengthy preamble, setting
forth the powers committed to the Regent, the terms of the contract
were discussed. The chief points on which Wriothesley insisted were
that Henry should be allowed to see his bride, that the payment
of her dowry should be assigned to Flanders instead of Milan, and
that Christina's title to Denmark should be recognized, although,
remarked the Ambassador, "for my little wit I care not if this last
condition were scraped out of the book."[216] The Duchess's claim to
the throne of Denmark, as Wriothesley realized, was so remote that
it seemed hardly worth discussing. The dowry and the question of the
Papal dispensation were the two real stumbling-blocks, and he advised
Cromwell, if the King was really anxious to secure this desirable wife,
not to press the former point, money being so scarce in Spain and the
Netherlands that the Emperor would rather leave his niece unwed, than
part with so large a sum. At the close of the sitting the Duke of
Aerschot begged Wriothesley to stay to dinner, and gave him the chief
place at table and pre-eminence in all things. The fare was abundant;
four courses of ten dishes were served in silver, with "covers of a
marvellous clean and honourable sort," and carvers and waiters stood
around, and attended as diligently to the Ambassador's wants as if
he were a Prince. Later in the evening the Duke's brother-in-law,
the Marquis of Berghen, who was always well disposed to the English,
came to supper, and chatted pleasantly for some time, but shocked
Wriothesley by asking him if it were true that all religion was extinct
in England, that Mass was abolished, and that the bones of saints were
publicly burned. Cromwell's Commissioner, who had himself plundered the
shrines of St. Swithun at Winchester and of St. Thomas at Canterbury,
could hardly deny this latter charge, although he declared stoutly that
only such money-making devices and tricks of the friars as the Rood of
Boxley and the tomb of Becket had been unmasked. But, in spite of the
outward civility with which the Ambassador was treated, he realized
that all good Catholics in Flanders looked on him with horror and
disgust.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1539] MARY'S APPEAL]

All through the summer abbeys and shrines had been going down fast.
"Dagon is everywhere falling," wrote a Kentish fanatic, and, as
Castillon said, by the end of the year hardly a single abbey was left
standing. The recent trend of political events had served to excite
the King's worst passions, and when the French Ambassador went to see
him early in November, he found him in a towering rage. The French
had treated his Ambassadors abominably; the Emperor and King were
plotting together to take the Duchess of Milan away from him and give
her to Monsieur de Vendôme, which, "if it be done, would finish the
picture."[217] Late on this same evening, Lord Exeter, a grandson of
Edward IV. and head of the noble house of Courtenay, and his cousin,
Lord Montague, the son of Lady Salisbury and brother of Cardinal Pole,
were thrown into the Tower on the charge of high-treason. All that
the most prolonged cross-examination of their servants and friends
could bring out to prove their guilt, was that in my Lord of Exeter's
garden at Horsley Place, in Surrey, Sir Edward Nevill had been heard
singing merry songs against the knaves that ruled about the King,
and, clenching his fist, had cried: "I trust to give them a buffet
and see honest men reign in England one day." But the King had long
ago told the French Ambassador that he was determined to exterminate
the White Rose, and, as Castillon remarked, no pretext was too flimsy
to bring men to the block. On the 9th of December, Exeter, Montague,
and Nevill, all died on the scaffold, and Castillon wrote to King
Francis: "No one knows who will be the next to go." Terror reigned
throughout the land, and no one of noble birth was safe.[218] Mary of
Hungary might well shudder at the thought of giving her niece to such
a man. But every day her position became more difficult. Soon after
her return from Compiègne she wrote to Charles, urgently begging for
instructions as to how she was to proceed with the English Ambassadors.
If the King persists in treating of the Duchess's marriage, is she to
consent or to refuse altogether? And if so, on what pretext? Is she
to discuss the question of the Papal dispensation, which Henry will
never consent to receive from the Pope, but without which the Emperor
cannot possibly allow the union.[219] In reply to this letter, Charles
wrote from Toledo, on the 5th of December, telling her to temporize
with the English, and to consult her Council on the best method of
procedure.[220]

A carefully-worded paper, in Mary's own handwriting, setting forth
the results of the deliberation with the Council in clear and concise
language, was forwarded to the Emperor early in January:

    "If the King of England would seriously mend his ways and
    proceed to conclude the marriage in earnest, not merely to sow
    dissension between His Majesty and the King of France, this
    would no doubt be the most honourable alliance for the Duchess
    and the most advantageous for the Low Countries; but there is
    no evidence of this--rather the reverse, as your Ambassador
    in France tells us, from what he hears of the conversations
    held by King Henry with the French Envoy in London. The Queen
    considers this point to be entirely settled, and it remains
    only to know Your Majesty's wishes. Are we to dissemble with
    the English as we have done till now, which, however, is very
    difficult, or are we to break off negotiations altogether? This
    can best be done by putting forward quite reasonable terms, but
    which are not agreeable to the King. The Queen begs His Majesty
    to tell her exactly what she is to do, remembering that the
    King of England, when he cannot ally himself with the Emperor
    or in France, may seek an alliance with Cleves, and will be
    further alienated from religion, and may do much harm by
    putting himself at the head of the German Princes--all of which
    she prays Your Majesty to consider."[221]

But no reply to this appeal came for many weeks. In vain Mary
implored Charles to put an end to this interminable procrastination,
and relieve her from the necessity of dissembling with the English
Ambassadors, who never left her in peace.

    "Once more, Monseigneur," she wrote at the end of January, "I
    implore you tell me if I am to allow these conferences to drag
    on, for it is impossible to do this any longer without the most
    shameless dissimulation."[222]

Still no answer came from Spain, and the solemn farce was prolonged.
During the next two months frequent meetings between the Commissioners
were held at Brussels, and the Queen herself was often present.
"Indeed," wrote Wriothesley, "she is one and principal in it, and how
unmeet we be to match with her ourselves do well acknowledge."[223]
But little progress was made, although Henry, in his anxiety for the
marriage, offered to give the Duchess as large a dowry as any Queen of
England had ever enjoyed. On St. Thomas's Day he informed the French
Ambassador in the gallery at Whitehall that his marriage was almost
concluded.

    "All the same," wrote Castillon to the Constable, "I know that
    he would gladly marry Madame de Guise had he the chance. If you
    think the King and Emperor would enjoy the sport of seeing him
    thus _virolin-virolant_, I can easily get it up, provided you
    show his Ambassador a little civility, and make the Cardinal
    and Monsieur de Guise caress him a little."[224]

[Illustration: MARY, QUEEN OF HUNGARY

By Bernard van Orley (Cardon Collection)

_To face p. 188_]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1539] FAIR WORDS]

But two days after this interview Henry addressed a pathetic appeal
to the Regent on his behalf, saying that "old age was fast creeping
on, and time was slipping and flying marvellously away." Already the
whole year had been wasted in vain parleyings, and, since neither
money nor prayers could redeem this precious time, he could wait the
Emperor's pleasure no longer, but must seek another bride. If this
appeal produced no effect, he told Wriothesley to take leave of the
Duchess, and declare to her the great affection which the King bore
her, and how earnestly he had desired to make her his wife, but, since
this was plainly impossible, he must "beg her not to marvel if he
joined with another."[225] When this letter reached Brussels, Mary and
Christina were absent on a hunting expedition, but on New Year's Eve
they returned. The Queen received Wriothesley the next morning, and,
after listening patiently to the long discourse in which he delivered
his master's message, said that she was still awaiting the Emperor's
final instructions, remarking that perhaps the King hardly realized the
distance between Spain and Flanders. There was nothing for it but to
await the coming of the courier from Spain. But even Wriothesley began
to realize that, "for all this gentle entertainment and fair words and
feastings," the deputies meant to effect nothing.

Like Hutton, the Ambassador felt the spell of Christina's charms,
and certain expressions which her servants Benedetto and Ferrari had
dropped, led him to suppose that the Duchess was favourably inclined
towards his master. But he was convinced that attempts had been made to
poison her mind against the King, and to prefer the suit of William of
Cleves or of Francis of Lorraine, who was also said to be seeking her
hand.

    "I know," he wrote to Cromwell, "that some of these folks
    labour to avert the Duchess's mind from the King's Majesty,
    and to rest herself either upon Lorraine or Cleves; but as
    far as I can learn she is wiser than they, and will in no
    wise hearken to them, offering rather to live a widow than to
    fall from the likelihood of being Queen, and to light so low
    as from a mistress to become an underling, as she must if she
    marry either of them, their fathers and mothers being yet both
    alive. What for the virtue that I think I see in her, the good
    nature that every man must note her to be of, as well as her
    good inclination to the King's Majesty, I have privily wished
    myself sometimes that the King might take her with nothing, as
    she hath somewhat, rather than His Highness should, by these
    cankered tongues, be tromped and deceived of his good purpose,
    and so want such a wife as I think she would be to His Grace.
    For I shall ever pray God to send His Majesty such a mate,
    humble, loving, and of such sort as may be for His Grace's
    quiet and content, with the increase of the offspring of his
    most noble person."[226]


VI.

At length the eagerly-expected courier reached Brussels, but, as usual,
the Queen and Duchess were away hunting, and it was only on the 1st of
February that the Ambassadors obtained their desired audience. Mary
received them in her bedroom between seven and eight in the morning,
and told them that the Emperor had decided to await the arrival of the
Count Palatine, who with his wife, the Duchess's elder sister, was
shortly expected at Toledo, in order that he might discuss the subject
fully with them; but, since she knew Henry to be impatient for an
answer, she had despatched a trusty messenger, Cornelius Scepperus, to
Spain to beg her brother for an immediate decision.[227]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1539] AN AWKWARD QUESTION]

Wriothesley now ventured on a bold step. As the Queen rose to leave
the room, he begged, in order to satisfy his own peace of mind, to
be allowed to ask her one question, hoping that she would give him a
frank answer. At these words Mary blushed deeply, conscious of the
double part that she was playing, and bade him speak, assuring him
that she would take whatever he said in good part. "Madame," returned
Wriothesley, "I beseech Your Grace to tell me plainly how you find
the Duchess herself affected towards this marriage with the King my
master." If, as was commonly reported, the Duchess had really said
that she minded not to fix her heart that way, all his efforts were
but lost labour. And he made bold to ask this question because he knew
that of late "divers malicious tongues, servants of the Bishop of Rome,
had dared to speak lewdly in hugger-mugger of the King's Majesty." The
question was an awkward one, but Mary proved equal to the occasion.
She thanked the Ambassador for his frankness, and replied with some
warmth that she was quite sure her niece had never spoken such words,
and that, if evil men spoke lewdly of the King, she would know how to
deal with them. "Touching my niece's affection," she added, "I dare say
unto you, that if the Emperor and your master the King agree upon this
marriage, she will be at the Emperor's command."

Wriothesley could only express his gratitude for this gracious answer,
even if it were not so plain as he could have wished. Seeing that
nothing else would satisfy him, the Queen referred him to the Duchess
herself, and at two o'clock the same afternoon the Ambassador was
conducted to Christina's lodgings. He found her standing under a canopy
in a hall hung with black velvet and damask, with five or six ladies
near her, and a dozen gentlemen and pages at the other end of the
room. Christina received him with a graceful salute, bade him heartily
welcome, and asked the purpose of his errand. Wriothesley proceeded to
explain the object of his visit at great length, saying that he was
quite sure that a lady of her gravity and discretion would never allow
such unseemly words to pass her lips; yet, since untrue and wicked
reports might have reached her ears and cooled her inclination towards
the King, he felt it would be his bounden duty, were this true, to
inform His Majesty, in order that he might withdraw his suit without
further waste of time and dishonour.

Christina listened to this long harangue without moving a muscle. When
the Ambassador had ended, she desired him to put on his cap, saying it
was a cold day, and that she regretted not to have noticed that he was
uncovered before. Wriothesley replied that this was his duty, and that
he hoped often to have the honour of talking with her bareheaded in the
future. Without paying any heed to this last remark, Christina replied
in the following words:

"Monsieur l'Ambassadeur, I do heartily thank you for your good opinion
of me, wherein I can assure you, you have not been deceived. I thank
God He hath given me a better stay of myself, than to be of so light a
sort as, by all likelihood, some men would note me. And I assure you
that neither these words that you have spoken, nor any like to them,
have passed at any time from my mouth, and so I pray you report for me."

[Sidenote: FEB., 1539] CHRISTINA'S ANSWER]

But grateful as Wriothesley expressed himself for this frank answer,
he was not yet satisfied. "It is an evil wind, as we say in England,
that bloweth no man good," and at least the Duchess would see by this,
how little faith was to be placed in idle tales. "There are those," he
said mysteriously, "who play on both hands; they tell Your Excellency
many things, and us somewhat." But would she go farther, and tell him
if he might assure the King his master of her own good inclination
towards the marriage? At these words Christina blushed exceedingly, and
said with some hesitation: "As for my inclination, what should I say?
You know I am at the Emperor's commandment." And when the Ambassador
pressed her to be a little plainer, she smiled and repeated: "You know
I am the Emperor's poor servant, and must follow his pleasure!"

"Marry!" exclaimed Wriothesley; "why, then I may hope to be one of the
first Englishmen to be acquainted with my new mistress. Oh, madame, how
happy shall you be if you are matched with my master--the most gentle
gentleman that liveth, his nature so benign and pleasant that I think
no man hath heard many angry words pass his mouth. As God shall help
me, if he were no King, instead of one of the most puissant Princes
of Christendom, I think, if you saw him, you would say that for his
virtues, gentleness, wisdom, experience, goodliness of person, and all
other gifts and qualities, he were worthy to be made a King. I know
Your Grace to be of goodly parentage, and to have many great Princesses
in your family, but if God send this to a good conclusion, you shall be
of all the rest the most happy!"

This fulsome panegyric was too much for Christina's gravity. She
listened for some time, like one that was tickled, then smiled, and
almost burst out laughing, but restrained her merriment with much
difficulty, and, quickly recovering herself, said gravely that she
knew His Majesty was a good and noble Prince. "Yes, madame," replied
the Ambassador, with enthusiasm, "and you shall know this better
hereafter. And for my part, I would be content, if only I may live to
see the day of your coronation, to say with Simeon, "Nunc dimittis
servum tuum, Domine." And he dwelt with fervour on the wish of the
English to have her for their Queen, and on the admiration and love
which the fame of her beauty and goodness had excited in the King.
Christina bowed her thanks, saying that she was much bounden to His
Majesty for his good opinion, and then, calling her Grand Master, bade
him escort the Ambassador home.

    "Your Majesty," wrote Wriothesley to the King that evening,
    "shall easily judge from this of what inclination the women
    be, and especially the Duchess, whose honest countenance, with
    the few words that she wisely spoke, make me to think there
    can be no doubt in her. A blind man should judge no colours,
    but surely, Sir, after my poor understanding and the little
    experience that I have, she is marvellous wise, very gentle,
    and as shamefaced as ever I saw so witty a woman. I think her
    wisdom is no less than the Queen's, which, in my poor opinion,
    is notable for a woman, and I am deceived if she prove not a
    good wife. And somewhat the better I like her for that I have
    been informed that, of all the whole stock of them, her mother
    was of the best opinion in religion, and showed it so far that
    both the Emperor and all the pack of them were sore grieved
    with her, and seemed in the end to hold her in contempt. I
    would hope no less of the daughter, if she might be so happy as
    to nestle in England. Very pure, fair of colour she is not, but
    a marvellous good brownish face she hath, with fair red lips
    and ruddy cheeks. And unless I be deceived in my judgment, she
    was never so well painted but her living visage doth much excel
    her picture."[228]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1539] WORTHY TO BE A QUEEN]

Two things, Wriothesley told Cromwell, in a letter which he wrote to
him the next day, were plain: the Queen would be very loth to let them
go with nothing settled, and the Duchess was well inclined, considering
that nothing had as yet been said to her on the King's behalf. And he
suggested that he might be allowed to show her a portrait of Henry, the
sight of which, he felt sure, would make her die a maid rather than
marry anyone else. "The woman is certainly worthy to be a Queen," he
adds, "and in my judgment is worth more than all the friendship and
alliances in the world."[229]

Unfortunately, these letters, which the writer hoped would give the
King so much pleasure, found Henry in a furious temper. In January,
1539, Pope Paul III. issued the long-delayed Bull of excommunication,
and called on the Emperor and the French King to declare war on the
heretic monarch, and forbid all intercourse between their subjects and
the misguided English. Cardinal Pole, whose kinsmen Henry had beheaded,
and whose own life had been attempted by his emissaries, was sent to
Spain to induce Charles to take up arms against "this abominable tyrant
and cruel persecutor of the Church of God."[230] At the same moment a
treaty was signed between Charles and Francis at Toledo, by which the
two monarchs pledged themselves to conclude no agreements with Henry
excepting by mutual consent.[231]

Henry now became seriously alarmed. He complained bitterly to Castillon
of the way in which he was reviled in France, not only by the vulgar,
but by the Cardinal of Paris and members of the Council. And he sent
Cromwell to Chapuys with an imperative summons to come to Court without
delay. The Imperial Ambassador obeyed, and came to Whitehall on the
Feast of the Three Kings. Henry was on his way to Mass, but he stopped
to greet Chapuys, and complained once more of the Queen of Hungary's
interminable delays and of the scandalous treatment of his Ambassadors.
Chapuys made the best excuses which came into his mind, and assured the
King that Mary was only awaiting the Emperor's instructions as to the
Papal dispensation, and that he would hear from Spain as soon as the
Palatine had reached Toledo. To this Henry vouchsafed no answer, but
walked straight on, to the door of the chapel.

During Mass Cromwell entered into conversation with Chapuys, and told
him that the Pope had thrown off the hypocrite's mask, and was doing
his best to kindle a flame in Italy. Before the Ambassador could reply
he changed the subject, and said he saw clearly that the Emperor
intended to marry his niece to Cleves or Lorraine. Chapuys laughed, and
remarked that the Duchess could hardly be given to both Princes, but
added in all seriousness that his master knew the difference between
the King of England and these suitors. After dinner Henry seemed in
a better temper, but told Chapuys in confidential tones that he was
growing old, and that his subjects pressed him to hasten his marriage,
and that these vexatious delays were all due to the French, who boasted
that the Emperor could do nothing without their consent.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1539] A COLD FROST]

    "He seemed in great trouble," reported Chapuys, "and it is
    plain, as everyone about him tells me, that he is very much
    in love with the Duchess of Milan. He told one of his most
    intimate friends the other day that he would gladly take her
    without a penny.... And just now the French Ambassador asked
    me if it were true that he had sent her a diamond worth 16,000
    ducats."[232]

At the same time Chapuys heard that Henry was negotiating with the
German Princes, and offering his daughter Mary to the young Duke of
Cleves, in order to prevent him from marrying the Duchess. "He is so
much in love," wrote Castillon, "that for one gracious word from her I
believe he would go to war to recover Denmark."[233]

The same week Henry wrote to Wyatt, complaining bitterly of the
treatment which he had received from his imperial brother, as being
wholly unworthy of a Prince who professed to be his zealous friend.
"After so hot a summer we saw never so cold a winter; after all these
professions of love and friendship, in the end nothing but a cold
frost." He ended by declaring he would no longer be kept "hanging in
the balance," and must have an immediate answer, even if it were a flat
denial.[234] At length even Charles could procrastinate no longer, and
on the 15th of February he told Wyatt that it was impossible for the
marriage to take place without the Pope's dispensation, as the King's
dispensation would never satisfy the Duchess herself, or any of her
relations, and might cause endless inconvenience if children were born
of the union. "All the stay," wrote Cromwell to Wriothesley, "is upon
the dispensation, to which they object now, but whereof they never
spake before."[235]

Even before the courier from Spain arrived, Henry's face was so black
that Castillon wrote home begging to be recalled, and declaring that
this King was the most cruel and dangerous man in the world. He was
in such a rage that he had neither reason nor understanding left, and
once he found out that Francis could do nothing for him, Castillon was
convinced that his own life would not be worth a straw. A few days
later the Ambassador left London, and rejoiced to find himself safely
back in France.[236]


VII.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1539] A GAY CARNIVAL]

While London was full of alarms, Wriothesley and his colleagues were
spending a gay Shrovetide at Brussels, all unconscious of the clouds
that were darkening the horizon. During the last few weeks nobles
and courtiers had vied with each other in paying them attentions.
Visitors of the highest rank honoured their humble lodgings. Madame de
Berghen, Aerschot's lively sister--"a dame of stomach that hath a jolly
tongue"--dined with them. The Queen herself was expected to pay them a
visit, and great preparations in the way of plate and furniture were
made for her reception. Count Büren, a very great man in Holland, was
particularly friendly, and impressed Wriothesley so much by his honesty
and loyalty that he gave him the best horse in his stables. Another
day he entertained the Captain of Gravelines, who railed against the
abominations of Rome to his heart's content, and told him it would be
the Pope's fault if the King's marriage were not concluded. Carnival
week brought a round of festivities. On Monday, the 17th of February,
the Ambassadors were invited to meet the Queen at supper at the Duke of
Aerschot's house, and were received at half-past five by the Duchess
and her sister-in-law, Madame de Berghen. The Duchess sent for her
young daughter and her two sons--boys of ten and twelve--and presently
they were joined by Monsieur de Vély, the new French Ambassador.
Wriothesley expressed great pleasure at meeting him, saying that, since
their masters were good friends, they ought not to be strangers, and
received a cordial reply. The rest of the company looked on with some
surprise at these friendly fashions, a rumour being abroad that the
French King was about to attack England and force Henry to submit to
the Pope. Then a flourish of trumpets, sackbuts, and fifes, was heard
at the gates, and the guests rose as the Queen and Duchess entered the
hall. At supper the French Ambassador sat on the Queen's right, and
Wriothesley on her left, while Christina was between him and Vaughan.
Madame d'Egmont sat next to Dr. Carne, and the Prince of Orange was on
the Duchess of Aerschot's right hand. Mary made herself very agreeable
to both her neighbours, and when, after supper, her chapel choir sang
roundelays and merry drinking-songs, she asked Wriothesley if he were
fond of music, and invited him to sup with her on the morrow and hear
her minstrels. The Ambassador confessed that he was very fond of music,
and often had some at his poor home to cheer his dull spirits. "Well,
it is an honest pastime," said the Queen, "and maketh good digestion,
for it driveth thoughts away." Here Wriothesley ventured to remark
that he would feel merrier if he had not wasted so much time here,
and asked if there was still no news from Spain. "None," replied the
Queen; and Wriothesley observed that reports reached him from Germany
that the Emperor was merely trying to gain time, and meant to do the
Bishop of Rome's bidding. "Jesus!" exclaimed the Queen, "I dare say
the Emperor never meant such a thing;" upon which Wriothesley hastened
to say that he felt sure the Emperor was too wise and honourable a
Prince to deceive the King, but now that he had made friends with his
old enemy, he hoped he would not make a new enemy of his old friend.
After supper the Duke and several ladies came in, wearing masks and
rich costumes, and threw dice with the Queen and her niece for some
fine diamonds, which the Princesses won. Then the Prince of Orange led
out Christina to dance, and the other youthful guests followed suit,
while Wriothesley sat at the Queen's side on the daïs and watched the
princely pair.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1539] AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE]

The next evening (Shrove Tuesday) Wriothesley and his colleagues dined
at the palace, and this time the English Ambassador sat in the post of
honour, on the Queen's right, with the Duchess on his left. Mary was in
high spirits, toasted her guests and drank with each of them in turn.
After supper Wriothesley approached Christina, and ventured to tell
her that she would be happy if her best friends did not put hindrances
in her way, and begged her not to lend ear to malicious reports of
his master. The Duchess shook her head, saying she would listen to
no calumnies, and always hold the King to be a noble Prince. But he
felt sure that she was afraid of the Queen, and told her he hoped to
converse more freely with her another time. Never had he seen her look
so beautiful as she did that night; never did he wish more ardently to
see her his master's bride. "For indeed it were pity," he wrote home,
"if she were bestowed on a husband she did not like, only to serve
others."

There was one Prince at table for whom, it was easy to see, Christina
had no dislike. This was René of Orange, who had an opportunity of
distinguishing himself in his lady's eyes that evening. The Queen led
the way into the great hall, where first Aerschot and three other
nobles challenged all comers to fight, and then the Prince of Orange
and Floris d'Egmont took their places at the barriers, and broke lances
and received prizes for their valour, while the Queen's band of lutes,
viols, and rebecks, played the finest music that Wriothesley had ever
heard. When the jousting was ended, Mary led her guests to the royal
gallery, where another banquet was served, and there was much lively
discourse, and more talking than eating. So that gay Carnival came
to a close, and with it the last hope of winning the fair Duchess's
hand.[237]

An unpleasant surprise was in store for Wriothesley the next morning.
Certain disquieting rumours having reached Brussels, Vaughan went to
Antwerp on Ash Wednesday, and found great consternation among the
English merchants. A proclamation had been issued forbidding any ships
to leave the port, and several English vessels laden with merchandise
had been detained. The wildest rumours were current on the Exchange.
It was commonly said that the Emperor, with the Kings of France and
Scotland, had declared war on King Henry, and that a large Dutch and
Spanish fleet was about to sail for England. Already in Brussels
gallants and pikemen were taking bets on the issue of the war, and
Wriothesley wrote to Cromwell that he and his colleagues "might
peradventure broil on a faggot." He was unable to obtain an audience
until Friday, when the Queen told him that, by the Emperor's orders,
she was recalling Chapuys to conduct the marriage negotiations. This
unexpected intimation, coming as it did after the startling news from
Antwerp, disconcerted him considerably. He sent an express to London,
and received orders to take his departure at once. Castillon was
already on his way to France, but Henry quite refused to let Chapuys go
until Wriothesley and Vaughan had left Brussels. A long wrangle between
the two Courts followed. The Ambassadors were detained on both sides.
The Spanish and Dutch ships in English harbours were stopped, all ports
were closed, and active preparations were made for war along the shores
of the Channel.

    "After fair weather," wrote Cromwell to Wriothesley, "there is
    succeeded a weather very cloudy. Good words, good countenance,
    be turned, we perceive, to a wonderful strangeness. But
    let that pass. They can do us no harm but to their own
    detriment."[238]

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1539] STRANGE ENTERTAINMENT]

The situation of the Ambassadors was by no means pleasant. A marked
change was visible in the behaviour of the Court. They were "treated
as very strangers" by those nobles who had been their best friends.
No one called at their house or came to dine with them. The Duchess's
servants, who used to go to and fro constantly, now dared not come
except at dusk--"in the owl-flight"--and would not allow Wriothesley
to send them home by torchlight. Wherever they went, the English heard
their King slandered, and met with cold looks and scornful words. Worse
than all, they were forced to pay excise duties--"eighteen pence on
every barrel of beer above the price asked by the brewer"--an indignity
to which no Ambassador before had ever been exposed. "I write in haste
and live in misery," wrote Wriothesley to Cromwell on the 7th of
March.[239]

The Emperor, however, was still friendly. His heart was set on a
Crusade against the Turk, and he had no wish to embark on war with
England. Pole met with a cold reception at Toledo, and, finding
Charles averse to executing the Pope's sentence, retired to his friend
Sadoleto's house at Carpentras. This was a relief to Henry, and he bade
Wyatt thank his imperial brother, but could not forbear pointing out
that these friendly words agreed ill with the doings of his officers
in the Low Countries. A despatch addressed to Wyatt on the 10th of
March contains a long recital of the extraordinary treatment which his
Ambassadors at Brussels had met with:

    "Since Lent began, as for a penance, their entertainment
    hath been marvellous strange--yea, and stranger than we will
    rehearse: strangeness in having audience with long delay,
    strangeness in answer and fashion. Also they have been
    constrained to pay Excise, which no Ambassador of England paid
    in any man's remembrance. They have complained to the Queen,
    but nevertheless must pay or lack drink.... These rumours
    and hints of war, the arrest of our ships, this strangeness
    shown to our Ministers, this navy and army in readiness, the
    recall of Chapuys, ran abroad this realm and everywhere. We
    do not write to you the rumours half so spiteful, and the
    entertainment half so strange, as it hath been. I think never
    such a thing was heard, and especially after a treaty of
    marriage such a banquet!"[240]

Henry concluded this letter by saying that, since the Emperor insisted
on the need of Papal dispensation, there could be no further question
of any marriage between him and the Duchess, and he would be now at
liberty to seek another wife. On the same day he wrote to Carne, who
had been secretly corresponding with the Duke of Cleves, telling him to
open negotiations for a marriage with that Prince's sister, the Lady
Anne.[241]

Twelve days after this despatch was sent to Spain Wriothesley left
Brussels. At Calais he met Chapuys, who had just crossed the Channel,
and Mary's almoner, the Dean of Cambray, who was being sent to take the
Ambassador's place, and was awaiting a fair wind to embark for Dover.
All three Ambassadors dined in a friendly manner with Lord Lisle, the
Deputy Governor of Calais, and continued their respective journeys
without hindrance. But the much-discussed marriage treaty was at an
end. The long-drawn comedy had reached its last act. "All hope of the
Duchess," wrote Wriothesley to Cromwell, "is utterly past."

[Sidenote: AUG., 1539] A WELSHMAN'S OPINION]

The rupture was loudly lamented by the English merchants in Antwerp,
and keen disappointment was felt throughout England, where the marriage
had always been popular. Among many scattered notices of the feeling
which prevailed on the subject, the following incident is of especial
interest, because of the sidelight which it throws on Christina's
personal reluctance to the marriage.

On a summer evening in August, 1539, five months after Wriothesley
left Brussels, a married priest named George Constantyne, of Llan
Hawaden in South Wales, rode from Chepstow to Abergavenny with John
Barlow, Dean of Westbury. The priest had got into trouble in Wolsey's
time, for buying copies of Tyndale's New Testament, and was forced to
fly the country and practise as a physician for several years in the
Netherlands. Now he had returned to England, and was on his way to his
old home in Wales. He walked from Bristol to Westbury, where he supped
with Dean Barlow, a brother of his friend the Bishop of St. Davids,
who made him heartily welcome, and invited him to be his travelling
companion the next day to Pembrokeshire. As the two ecclesiastics rode
through the green valleys on the way to Abergavenny, the Dean asked
Constantyne if he could tell him why the King's marriage had been so
long delayed. The priest replied that he, for his part, was very sorry
the King should still be without a wife, when he might by this time
have been the father of fair children. As the Dean knew, both the
Duchess of Milan and she of Cleves were spoken of, and now the little
doctor, Nicholas Wotton, had been sent to Cleves with Mr. Beard, of
the Privy Chamber, and the King's painter; so there was good hope
of a marriage being concluded with the Duke of Cleves, who favoured
God's word, and was a mighty Prince now, holding Guelderland against
the Emperor's will. But why, asked the Dean, was the marriage with
the Duchess of Milan broken off? Constantyne, who was familiar with
all the gossip of the Regent's Court, replied that the Duchess quite
refused to marry the King, unless he would accept the Bishop of Rome's
dispensation, and give pledges that her life would be safe and her
honour respected. "Why pledges?" asked the Dean innocently. "Marry!"
returned Constantyne, "she sayeth that, since the King's Majesty was in
so little space rid of three Queens, she dare not trust his Council,
even if she dare trust His Majesty. For in Flanders the nobles suspect
that her great-aunt, Queen Catherine, was poisoned, that Anne Boleyn
was innocent of the crimes for which she was put to death, and that the
third wife, Queen Jane, was lost for lack of attention in childbed."
Such, at least, were the mutterings which he heard at Court before
Whitsuntide. The Dean remarked that he was afraid the affair of Milan
must be dashed, as Dr. Petre, who was to have gone to fetch the royal
bride from Calais, was at the Court of St. James's last Sunday; upon
which Constantyne gave it as his opinion that there could be no amity
between the King and the Emperor, whose god was the Pope.

So the two men talked as they rode over the Welsh hills on the pleasant
summer evening. But the poor priest had good reason to regret that he
had ever taken this ride; for his false friend the Dean reported him as
a Sacramentary to the Lord Privy Seal, and a few days after he reached
Llan Hawaden he was arrested and thrown into the Tower, where he spent
several months in prison as a penalty for his freedom of speech.[242]

FOOTNOTES:

[164] Papiers d'État, 1178, Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles.

[165] Calendar of State Papers, xii. 2, 367.

[166] State Papers, Henry VIII., Record Office, viii. 2.

[167] J. Kaulek, "Correspondance Politique de M. de Castillon," 4, 5;
Calendar of State Papers, xii. 2, 394.

[168] Calendar of State Papers, xii. 2, 392; G. Pimodan, "La Mère des
Guises," 72.

[169] Kaulek, 12, 15; Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 1, 54.

[170] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 5.

[171] Anne Boleyn's cousin Mary Skelton, who had been a great favourite
with the King (see Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 1, 24).

[172] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 7.

[173] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 1, 42.

[174] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, v. 2, 572.

[175] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, v. 2, 429.

[176] Kaulek, 24; Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 1, 82.

[177] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 1, 93.

[178] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 16.

[179] _Ibid._, viii. 30.

[180] British Museum, Additional Manuscripts, 5,498, f. 2; Calendar of
State Papers, xiii. 1, 130.

[181] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 17-19.

[182] Holbein's portrait is described in the Catalogues of the King's
pictures at Westminster in 1542 and 1547 as "No. 12. A greate Table
with the picture of the Duchess of Myllane, being her whole stature."
After Henry's death it passed into the hands of Fitzalan, Earl of
Arundel, the King's Lord Chamberlain and godson, who married Lady
Katherine Grey, and acquired the Palace of Nonsuch, with most of its
contents. When he died, in 1580, it became the property, first of his
elder daughter Jane, wife of Lord Lumley, and then of her great-nephew,
Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel. This great collector took the Duchess
of Milan's portrait with him abroad during the Civil Wars, and after
his death, in 1645, it hung, with many other Holbeins, in the house
of his widow at Amsterdam. Lady Arundel left the whole collection
to her son, Henry Howard, who became the sixth Duke of Norfolk, and
Holbein's portrait remained in the family until, in 1909, it was
acquired by the National Gallery for the sum of £72,000. A second
portrait of the Duchess of Milan, a half-length, is mentioned in Henry
VIII.'s Catalogues ("No. 138. A Table with a picture of the Duchess of
Myllane"), and was discovered by Sir George Scharf in a waiting-room
near the private chapel at Windsor. This is probably the portrait by
Van Orley which Hutton sent to England before Holbein's arrival at
Brussels. The attitude of the sitter, her dress and features, are the
same as in Holbein's picture, but the face is less finely modelled
and lacks charm and expression. The hands are in a slightly different
position, and instead of one big ruby ring she wears three rings--a
cameo and a gold ring on the right hand, and a black ring, the badge
of widowhood, on the third finger of the left hand. This curious and
interesting portrait is plainly the work of an inferior artist, and,
as the Ambassador justly remarked, bears no comparison with Holbein's
Duchess--"surely," in the words of his biographer, "one of the most
precious pictures in the world" (Wornum's "Life of Holbein," p. 322;
L. Cust in the _Burlington Magazine_, August, 1911, p. 278; and Sir G.
Scharf in "Archæologia," xl. 205).

[183] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, v. 2, 523.

[184] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 21.

[185] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 30.

[186] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 1, 263.

[187] Kaulek, 29, 33, 35.

[188] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, v. 2, 524.

[189] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 1, 258.

[190] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, v. 2, 526, 558.

[191] Kaulek, 48, 50, 53, 58, 70.

[192] _Ibid._, 58, 73; Pimodan, 73.

[193] Kaulek, 70, 79, 81; Spanish State Papers, vi. 1, 9.

[194] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 20.

[195] _Ibid._, ii. 10.

[196] There has been some confusion as to the date of Holbein's visit
to Joinville, owing to a mistake in the Calendar of State Papers (xiii.
1, 130), where Cromwell's instructions to Hoby for his journeys to
Brussels and France are entered under the date of February, 1538. But
the Duchess of Guise's letter (see Appendix), as well as the payment of
£10 made by Sir Brian Tuke, Treasurer of the Household, to Hans Holbein
on the 30th of December, 1538, "for going to the parts of High Burgony
about certain of the King's business," make it clear that this journey
took place at the end of August (G. Scharf, "Archæologia," xxxix. 7).
From Lorraine the painter went on to Bâle, where he spent some months,
and returned to England at Christmas. The original documents in the
British Museum (Additional Manuscripts, 5,498, f. 1) bear no date, and
are on separate sheets, and the heading of the instructions regarding
the journey to Brussels was added by a later hand, and is thus worded:
"Instructions given by the L. Cromwell to Philip Hoby, sent over by him
to the Duchess of Lorraine, then Duchess of Milan"--_i.e._, Christina,
Duchess of Lorraine, at that time Duchess of Milan. But the editor of
the Calendars inserted the words "to the" between "then" and "Duchess
of Milan," thus making it appear that Hoby went first to Lorraine, and
then to the Duchess of Milan, whereas the journey to Brussels took
place in March, and that to Lorraine in August. Since this chapter was
written, the subject has been fully dealt with by Mr. A. B. Chamberlain
in the _Burlington Magazine_, April, 1912.

[197] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, v. 2, 531.

[198] Nott's "Life of Wyatt," ii. 488.

[199] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 33.

[200] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 40.

[201] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 2, 119.

[202] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 1, 42.

[203] Kaulek, 77.

[204] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 15-31.

[205] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 41.

[206] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 46.

[207] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 53, 56; Calendar of State
Papers, xiii. 2, 214.

[208] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 56-60.

[209] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 2, 245, 247.

[210] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 67.

[211] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 78; Calendar of State Papers,
xiii. 2, 255.

[212] F. Decrue, "Anne de Montmorency," 415, 418, 491.

[213] State Papers, xiii. 2, 238.

[214] _Ibid._, xiii. 2, 247, 248.

[215] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 2, 261.

[216] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 2, 255.

[217] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 2, 289.

[218] _Ibid._, xiii. 2, 291, 296.

[219] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 1, 96.

[220] Lanz, ii. 686.

[221] Papiers d'État, 82, 20, Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles.

[222] Lanz, ii. 296.

[223] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 72.

[224] Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 2, 467, 468.

[225] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 110, 118, 123.

[226] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 1, 37.

[227] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 139.

[228] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 140-148.

[229] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 1, 93, 121.

[230] _Ibid._, xiv. 1, 14; Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 1, 97.

[231] _Ibid._, xiv. 1, 26.

[232] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 1, 16-19.

[233] _Ibid._, xiv. 1, 52; Lanz, ii. 297-306.

[234] Nott, ii. 306.

[235] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 1, 145.

[236] Kaulek, 84.

[237] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 1, 125, 126

[238] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 155.

[239] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 166, 175.

[240] Nott, "Life of Wyatt," II. 511.

[241] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 1, 189, 191.

[242] "Archæologia Cambrensis," xxiii. 139-141.




BOOK VII

CLEVES, ORANGE, AND LORRAINE

1539-1541


I.

The negotiations for the King of England's marriage with the Duchess of
Milan were broken off. But there was no lack of suitors for Christina's
hand. During the winter and spring of 1539 the Emperor's niece received
offers of marriage from three princely bridegrooms. The first of these
was Antoine, Duke of Vendôme, whose courtship of the Duchess on the
journey to Compiègne had aroused King Henry's jealousy. The second was
William of Cleves, who since the old Duke Charles's death had taken
possession of Guelders, and was now seeking to obtain the investiture
of the duchy, together with Christina's hand. The third was Francis,
the Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson, and heir of Lorraine. From the day that
this Prince first met the Duchess at Compiègne, he sought her for his
bride with a constancy and steadfastness that were eventually to be
crowned with success. But for the moment the Duke of Cleves seemed
to have the best chance of winning the coveted prize. From the first
Mary of Hungary had regarded this alliance with favour, and when,
in January, 1539, she consulted her Councillors on the Duchess's
marriage, it was this union which met with their highest approval.

    "Duke William," wrote the Queen in her reply to the Emperor,
    "has greatly offended Your Majesty, both as a private
    individual and sovereign lord, by taking possession of
    Guelders. Still, as he renews his suit and professes to be your
    loyal friend and servant, it would be well to treat with him
    and offer him the Duchess's hand, on condition that he will
    give up Guelderland."[243]

The alternative proposal, she proceeded to say, deserved consideration,
seeing the great anxiety which the Duke of Lorraine's son showed for
the marriage. No doubt the Emperor's niece, with her large dowry, would
be a very honourable match for him, and well worth the surrender of his
rights on Guelders; but, since it was most desirable to recover this
duchy without delay, it might be well to secure the help of Lorraine by
this means.

The situation was a difficult one, and from the moment of the old
Duke's death in June, 1538, Mary had never ceased to entreat Charles to
come to Flanders and take active measures for the recovery of Guelders
before it was too late. Throughout the winter Duke William went from
town to town, endearing himself to his new subjects; and when the
deputies of Lorraine asserted their master's superior claims, he told
them that he would never give up Guelders to any mortal man. By the
death of his father on the 6th of February, 1539, he succeeded to the
rich provinces of Cleves and Jülich, and became the wealthiest and most
powerful Prince in North Germany.[244]

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1539] ANNE OF CLEVES]

Still Charles put off his coming, and told his sister that he was
bent on undertaking a second Crusade against the Turks, and could not
spare the time for a journey to Flanders. This was too much for Mary's
equanimity, and she protested in the strongest language against the
Emperor's folly in exposing his person to such risks, declaring that
this Crusade would not only prove the utter ruin of the Netherlands,
but of all Christendom.[245] Fortunately, Mary's remonstrances were
supported by the Emperor's wisest Councillors, and, in deference to
their representations, he decided to abandon his Crusade for the
present and come to Flanders. This decision was confirmed by the
discontent which the Duke of Cleves's intrigues helped to foment in
Ghent--always a turbulent city--as well as by the news that the King of
England had entered into a close alliance with Cleves, and was about to
marry his sister.

Cromwell, with his habitual duplicity, had been in correspondence with
the German Princes while he professed to be zealous for the Emperor's
alliance; and in March Christopher Mont, his Envoy to Frankfort,
was desired to make diligent inquiries as to the shape, stature,
and complexion, of the Duke of Cleves's sister Anne. If these were
satisfactory, he was to suggest that proposals of marriage should be
made by that Prince and his brother-in-law, the Elector John Frederick
of Saxony. Mont sent glowing descriptions of the lady's beauty, and was
bold enough to declare that she excelled the Duchess of Milan as much
as the golden sun excels the silver moon.[246]

Henry was now all on fire to see the Lady Anne, although he had not
yet lost all interest in Christina, whose name still figures constantly
in letters from Brussels. On the 6th of April we hear that the Duchess
of Milan is sick of fever, and ten days later Cromwell writes to the
King that Her Grace is no longer sick, and that "at Antwerp the people
still cherish a hope that Your Highness will yet marry her."[247] If he
could not make her his wife, the King was determined to prevent another
suitor from succeeding where he had failed, and renewed his offer of
his daughter Mary with a large dowry to the Duke of Cleves. William,
however, showed no alacrity to avail himself of this offer, and sent
Envoys both to Brussels and Toledo to press his suit for Christina's
hand.

The sudden death of the Empress at Toledo on the 1st of May altered all
Charles's plans. A few weeks before this Isabella had given birth to a
son, who only lived a few hours, and Charles had written to inform his
sister of the infant's death. On the 2nd of May he wrote a few touching
lines with his own hand to tell Mary the grievous news. The doctors had
pronounced her to be out of danger, but catarrh attacked the lungs, and
proved fatal in a few hours.

    "I am overwhelmed with sorrow and distress, and nothing can
    comfort me but the thought of her good and holy life and the
    devout end which she made. I leave you to tell my subjects
    over yonder, of this pitiful event, and ask them to pray for
    her soul. I will do my best to bow to the will of God, whom I
    implore to receive her in His blessed paradise, where I feel
    certain that she is. And may God keep you, my dear sister, and
    grant you all your desires."[248]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1539] THE PALATINE'S TRAVELS]

When this sad event took place, Christina's sister Dorothea and her
husband, Count Frederic, were staying at the Imperial Court. These
adventurous travellers had come to Spain in the vain hope of inducing
the Emperor to support their claims on Denmark, and, after crossing the
Pyrenees in rain and snow, had at length reached Toledo, where they
were hospitably entertained. The Empress treated Dorothea with great
affection, but Frederic's German servants, who consumed five meals
a day and ate meat on Ash Wednesday, shocked the Spanish courtiers,
and drew down the censures of the Inquisition upon them. Even the
Emperor asked his cousin why he brought so numerous a suite on his
travels; but, although he would make no promises of further help, he
good-naturedly paid Frederic's expenses at Toledo, and gave him a
present of 7,000 crowns. The death of the Empress, Dorothea's best
friend, put an end to all hope of further assistance. The Emperor
shut himself up in a Carthusian convent, and the Palatine and his
wife started for the Low Countries.[249] On their way through France
they were royally entertained by the King and Queen in the splendid
Palais des Tournelles, and Francis took so great a fancy to his wife's
niece that Eleanor felt it wise to keep Dorothea continually at her
side. Here they were detained some time by Frederic's illness, and
after his recovery spent several days at Chantilly with the Constable,
and at the King's fine new villa of Cotterets, on their way to the
Netherlands.[250]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1539] A MOCK FIGHT]

Here the travellers were eagerly awaited by Christina and her aunt.
After the funeral services for the repose of the Empress's soul had
been duly celebrated, and the last requiem sung in S. Gudule, the Queen
set out on a progress through Holland and Friesland, and spent some
time at Bois-le-Duc, on the frontiers of Guelders, trying to arrange
matters with the Duke of Cleves. But, although friendly letters and
messages were exchanged, nothing could be settled until the Emperor's
arrival, which was now delayed till the autumn, and the Court moved
to the Hague for August. Here the Queen received news that the Count
Palatine and his wife had reached Dordrecht and were coming by sea to
Holland. Christina at once travelled to Rotterdam, intending to go by
boat to meet the travellers. But the weather was rough and stormy, and
the sailors were reluctant to set out. The Duchess, however, would
hear of no delay, and, embarking in a small boat, bade the sailors
put out to sea. Hardly had they left the shore before a terrific gale
sprang up, and from the deck of their ship the Palatine and his wife
saw a barque tossed on the raging seas, sending up signals of distress.
Altering their course, they hastened to the rescue, and found, to their
great surprise, that the Duchess of Milan was on board. Count Frederic
scolded his sister-in-law soundly for her rashness, but Dorothea was
enchanted to see Christina, and laughed and cried by turn as she
embraced her.[251] The Queen awaited the travellers no less eagerly,
in her anxiety to hear the latest news from Spain, and agreed readily
to Frederic's proposal that his wife should remain at the Hague while
he returned to Germany. Early in September the Palatine took leave of
his relatives and went to Antwerp, saying that he must raise money for
his journey to Heidelberg. But he kept his true destination a secret.
During his illness in Paris, Bishop Bonner had brought Frederic a
letter from Cromwell, begging him to come to England, since he was only
divided from this country by a narrow arm of the sea, and His Majesty
was very anxious to see him again. All immediate alarm of war had died
away, and the irascible monarch's anger was allayed by the arrival of a
new French Ambassador in the person of Marillac, and by the permission
which Mary gave him to buy ammunition in the Low Countries. In return,
he ordered an imposing requiem to be held in St. Paul's for the late
Empress, and desired Cromwell and the Dukes of Norfolk and Suffolk,
with twenty Bishops, to attend the service.[252] He resumed his old
habit of spending the summer evenings on the river, enjoying the
music of flutes and harps, and sent to France and Italy for excellent
painters and musicians--a sure sign, Marillac was told, that he was
about to marry again. Another fête, at which the Ambassador declined
to be present, was a mock-fight on the Thames between two galleys,
one of which bore the King's arms, while the other was decorated with
an effigy of the Pope with the triple tiara and keys, attended by
the Cardinals. The show ended in the triumph of the English sailors,
who threw the Pope and Cardinals into the river--"the whole thing,"
according to Marillac, "being as badly represented as it was poorly
conceived."[253]

Now the King was anxious to hear the Emperor's intention from the
Palatine's own lips, while Frederic on his part was flattered by this
powerful monarch's invitation, and felt that his assistance might
prove of use in his visionary schemes for the recovery of Denmark. But,
knowing that of late relations between Henry and the Queen had been
strained, he kept his counsel, and told no one but his wife that he was
bound for Calais.

Here he was courteously entertained by Lord Lisle, an illegitimate son
of Edward IV., and escorted by him to Canterbury and London. Frederic
was lost in admiration at the rows of stately palaces along the Thames,
and the fine Castle of Richmond, but was disappointed, when he visited
Westminster Abbey, not to see the famous antlers of the stag which King
Dagobert caught, and which wore a golden collar inscribed with the
words, "Julius Cæsar let me go free." Afterwards he learnt that these
legendary trophies had lately been removed by the King's orders, for
fear the monks, whom he was about to expel, might conceal them.

In the absence of the King at Ampthill, Cromwell, who had been told
to "grope out the reason of Frederic's coming," entertained the Count
splendidly at his own house, and showed him the Tower of London and
the Temple Church. But the Deputy's wife, Lady Lisle, who looked on
Cromwell with deep distrust, begged her husband to beware of the Lord
Privy Seal's fair words, and was none too well pleased to hear that he
had partaken of the partridge pasty and baked cranes which she had sent
from Calais, together with her own toothpick for the Palsgrave's use,
having noticed that her noble guest "used a quill to pick his teeth
with."[254]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1539] THE PALATINE AT WINDSOR]

Meanwhile the Palatine's visit to England was exciting much curiosity,
and not a little alarm, in some quarters. The Pope and the French King
feared it might lead to a secret covenant between Henry and Charles,
while in London it was commonly reported that Frederic came to renew
negotiations for his union with the Duchess of Milan, and the Duke of
Cleves hastily sent Ambassadors to conclude his sister's marriage.
These Envoys reached Windsor on the same day as the Count Palatine,
whom Henry invited to a banquet there on the 24th of September.
When he bade the Lord High Admiral escort the Palsgrave to Windsor,
Southampton, eager to curry favour with the King, expressed his
opinion that the Cleves alliance was preferable to a marriage with a
French Princess or one of the Emperor's family, "albeit the Duchess of
Milan was a fair woman and well spoken of," and told the King of the
resentment which his union with the Lady Anne had aroused at the Court
of Brussels. Henry remained plunged in thought for some moments; then
a smile broke over his face, and he exclaimed: "Have they remembered
themselves now? They that would not when they might, when they would
they shall have nay!"[255]

Nothing was lacking, however, to the splendour of the Palatine's
reception at Windsor. The Duke of Suffolk rode out to meet him beyond
Eton Bridge with 100 horsemen clad in velvet, and the banquet was
served on golden dishes in a hall carpeted with cloth of gold, to the
strains of delicious music from the King's famous band. The Cleves
Envoys were at table, but after dinner the King took the Count apart,
and conversed with him for over two hours on his travels. Frederic
took this opportunity of begging the King to help him in driving out
the usurper of Denmark, and releasing his unhappy father-in-law,
Christian II.[256] Henry listened kindly, and promised to consider the
matter, but no mention was made of Christina. The next day a great
hunting-party was given in the Palsgrave's honour. A pavilion of
green laurel boughs was set up in a meadow on the banks of the river,
and while the King and his guests were at dinner the merry note of
hunting-horns rang through the air, and a stag bounded across the turf,
followed by the hounds at full cry. Immediately the whole party sprang
to horse and joined in the chase, which lasted for three hours, and
ended in the slaughter of thirty-four stags. From Windsor Frederic went
to Hampton Court, and on the 3rd of October finally took leave of the
King, who gave him 2,000 crowns as a parting gift. Hubert also received
a silver cup from the Lord Privy Seal, who begged him and his lord to
return at Christmas, and surprised him by asking if the Palsgrave had
any castle to let or sell, as it might be convenient for him to secure
a retreat abroad. The Minister evidently realized the precarious nature
of his position, and Hubert remembered his request when he heard of the
doom which soon afterwards overtook the King's favourite.[257]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1539] THE LADY ANNE]

In his last interview Henry told the Count that he feared it would be
impossible for him to join in any enterprise against Denmark, as his
new allies the German Princes were in league with the present King.
At the same time he informed his good cousin of his intended marriage
to the Lady Anne of Cleves, a Princess of suitable age and elegant
stature, and begged him to obtain a safe-conduct from the Regent for
his bride's passage through the Low Countries.[258] The next day
Frederic crossed the Channel and joined his wife at Brussels. Here, as
Dorothea had already told him, he found the Queen much displeased at
the trick which he had played her, and Hubert came in for his share of
blame. They soon left Brabant for Heidelberg, and the Palatine sent
Lady Lisle--or, as he called her, "Madame ma bonne mère"--a barrel of
fine red and white Rhine wine in remembrance "of her loving son."[259]


II.

King Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleves, as Southampton told his
master, was exceedingly unpopular in the Netherlands. The alliance
of so powerful a monarch with Duke William was fraught with danger,
and the people bitterly resented the insult which, in their eyes, had
been offered to the Duchess of Milan. The merchants of Antwerp said
openly that, if King Henry chose to break faith with their Princess, he
should not enjoy the company of another wife, and declared they would
not allow the Lady Anne to pass through their city. The Cleves Envoys
in England were so much alarmed by these reports that they travelled
back to Düren in disguise, and advised the bride to take the sea-route
from Germany. But Mary of Hungary was too wise to show her annoyance,
and sent a gracious message to Henry, saying that she would send Count
Büren to wait on the Lady Anne, on her journey through the Emperor's
dominions. The King wrote back in high glee to thank "his dearest
sister," and on the 27th of December his new bride landed safely at
Dover.[260] The loyal citizens of Flanders consoled themselves with
the thought that, if their Duchess was not to be Queen of England,
they would keep her among them, and the old rumour was persistently
repeated: "She shall marry the Prince of Orange." All through the past
year René had devoted himself to Christina's service, had worn her
favours and broken lances in her honour. Her Italian servants called
him openly the Duchess's _cavaliere sirvente_.[261] But it was plain
to Italians and Flemings alike that the affection was not at all on
one side, and that this gallant Prince had won Christina's heart. Old
courtiers smiled kindly on the young couple, and ladies drew aside
discreetly to leave them together. They were eminently fitted for each
other by age, race and character. If the succession to the principality
of Orange, which had been lately restored by the French King, hardly
entitled René to a place among the reigning Princes of Europe, at least
he could offer her splendid homes at Brussels and Breda, and a position
which many ladies of royal birth might envy. The Countess Palatine
Dorothea privately encouraged the Prince, and her husband warmly
approved of the match, and said openly that, since his sister-in-law
could not be King Henry's wife, she had better marry the man of her
choice, and not waste the best years of her life, as he himself had
done.[262]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1539] THE REVOLT OF GHENT]

Queen Mary was, clearly, not averse to the Prince's suit, and had
a strong liking for René; but reasons of State prevented her from
giving the union her public sanction, and all parties were agreed that
nothing could be arranged until the Emperor's arrival. The date of his
journey was now definitely fixed, and in November Mary told the English
Ambassador Vaughan that her brother would be at Brussels by the New
Year. Charles at length realized the critical situation of affairs,
and saw that if he wished to keep his provinces _de par-deça_ he must
no longer delay his coming.[263] In September, 1539, the citizens of
Ghent, who had long been discontented, broke into open revolt. After
refusing to pay their share of the subsidy voted by the States, the
leading citizens put to death their chief magistrate, Lieven Pyl,
because he declined to bear their insolent message to the Regent, and
proceeded to tear up the famous "Calf-vel," a parchment deed containing
an agreement which they had made with Charles V. twenty-four years
before. Worse than all, they sent deputies to King Francis, asking him
to defend their liberties against the Emperor. At the first tidings of
these disorders Mary hastened to Malines and took energetic measures
to suppress the insurrection, which had already spread to several of
the neighbouring towns.[264] For some weeks the alarm was great, and
watchers were posted on the tower of S. Rombaut night and day; but the
Queen's presence of mind, and the support of her able lieutenants,
Aerschot and De Courrières, who was now Bailiff of Alost, succeeded in
confining the mutiny to the walls of Ghent. A simultaneous rising at
Maestricht was put down by the Prince of Orange, who raised 300 horse
and hastened to restore order in that city. But the citizens of Ghent
still openly defied the Regent, although Francis, to do him credit,
refused to help the rebels. More than this, he addressed a letter
with his own royal hand to Charles, saying that, if the Emperor was
coming to chastise his revolted subjects, he hoped that he would do
him the honour of passing through France, assuring him, on the faith
of a Prince, that every possible honour and hospitality would be shown
him.[265]

So critical was the situation, both with regard to Ghent and Guelders,
that Charles decided to accept the offer and take the shortest route to
Flanders.

    "My good brother the Emperor," wrote Francis to his Ambassador
    in England, "is coming to visit me on his way to the Low
    Countries, a thing which not only does me the greatest honour,
    content, and pleasure, but is a proof of the good and perfect
    friendship between us."

He expressed the same feelings in still stronger terms to Wyatt, whom
Cromwell sent to Blois in December to be present at the meeting of the
two monarchs.

    "The Emperor," he added, "is doing me the greatest honour that
    can be, by coming to visit me, and showing thereby that he
    taketh me for an honest man."[266]

[Sidenote: NOV., 1539] A SPLENDID RECEPTION]

On the 23rd of November Charles left Burgos, and four days later
he entered Bayonne, attended by the Dauphin and the Constable
Montmorency, whom the King had sent to meet him on the frontier. He
had begged Francis to dispense with ceremonies, as his great object
was to reach Flanders as quickly as possible, and to excuse him from
entering on political matters, since he could not decide anything of
importance until he had seen the Queen-Regent.[267] But, in spite of
this request, he was everywhere received with the utmost pomp and
festivity. Triumphal arches were erected at the city gates, and the
prison doors were thrown open at his entrance. Bordeaux presented him
with 300 barrels of wine, Poitiers gave him a golden eagle, Orleans a
dinner-service of richly chased plate. The meeting of the two monarchs
took place at Loches on the 10th of December. Charles, clad in deep
mourning, walked under a canopy of cloth of gold, adorned with the
imperial eagles, across the picturesque court to the gates of the
castle, where King Francis met him, surrounded by a brilliant company.
Three times over he embraced his guest, and led him to the hall, where
Eleanor, in robes of purple satin glittering with pearls, welcomed
her brother with transports of joy. Banquets and hunting-parties now
followed each other, as the Court journeyed by slow stages along the
banks of the Loire, from one fair château to another. At Amboise a heap
of tow caught fire as Charles rode up the famous spiral staircase in
the dusk, and he narrowly escaped being suffocated. But, mercifully,
no one was injured, and Francis escorted his imperial brother by way
of Blois and Orleans to Fontainebleau, where Christmas was spent and
the Emperor was allowed to enjoy a week's rest. On New Year's Day the
Emperor entered Paris, where the Parliament and University received
him "as if he were a god from heaven," and the following motto was
inscribed on the gates in golden letters:

    "Ouvre, Paris, ouvre tes hautes portes,
    Entrer y veut le plus grand des Chrétiens."[268]

Queen Eleanor, who scarcely left her brother's side, took him to see
the _Sainte Chapelle_ which St. Louis had built to receive the Crown of
Thorns, and escorted him to the Louvre, where sumptuous rooms had been
prepared for his reception. On Sunday a grand tournament was held on
the Place des Tournelles, in front of the palace which then occupied
the Place des Vosges, and the Duke of Vendôme and the Count of Aumale
opened the joust, while it was closed by Francis of Lorraine, the
Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson. Charles left Paris on the 7th of January,
and was presented by the city with a silver model of the Column of
Hercules, seven feet high, bearing his motto, _Plus oultre_.[269] The
King took his guest to dine at his new pleasure-house, the Château de
Madrid, accompanied him to St. Denis, where he visited the Tomb of the
Kings, and went on to the Constable's house at Chantilly. Finally,
on the 20th, the Emperor took his leave of the King and Queen at St.
Quentin, and with tears in his eyes thanked his host for this truly
brotherly reception.[270]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1540] THE CALENDAR OF FOOLS]

In spite of the sinister warnings which Charles had received before
he set out on his journey, in spite of Mary of Hungary's fears and of
Madame d'Étampes' thinly-veiled hostility, the experiment had proved a
brilliant success. Spanish and French poets celebrated the triumph of
Peace over War, and the return of the golden age. And Charles himself
laughed heartily when the King's jester, Triboulet, told him that he
had inscribed His Imperial Majesty's name on his Calendar of Fools,
because he had been so rash as to venture into his enemy's country,
but now that he had reached the end of his journey without mishap,
he should rub out Charles's name, and write that of Francis in its
place.[271]

The French King went home in high delight, and wrote to Marillac saying
that now all his differences with the Emperor would be easily arranged.
During those five weeks the King had respected his guest's wishes
and avoided politics, but the Constable, who enjoyed the Emperor's
confidence in a high degree, had made good use of this opportunity,
and flattered himself that he had been entirely successful. He was
above all anxious to effect a marriage between the widowed Emperor and
the King's daughter, and told Granvelle that Madame Marguerite was a
rose among thorns, an angel among devils, and that, if His Imperial
Majesty thought of making a second marriage, he could not do better.
But Charles was firmly resolved never to take another wife, and, when
the Constable pressed the point after he had left France, wrote that he
must beg the King to give up all idea of such a union, as he did not
intend to marry again, and was too old for Madame Marguerite.[272]

[Sidenote: 1539-41] A COURTLY FAREWELL]

In spite of the splendour and cordiality of his reception, Charles was
sad and tired, and longed more than all else to find himself among
his kindred and people. It was with heartfelt relief that he reached
Cambray, and found the Prince of Orange, the Duke of Aerschot, and his
faithful De Courrières, with the Archers' Guard, awaiting him. The
next day he went on to Valenciennes, where his loyal subjects welcomed
his return with passionate joy. Triumphal arches adorned the streets,
and the houses were hung with tapestries. Now it was his turn to act
as host, and do honour to the Dauphin and Duke of Orleans, who, with
Vendôme, the Constable, and Aumale, the Duke of Guise's eldest son,
had insisted on escorting him across the frontier.[273] The keys of
the city were presented to the Dauphin at the Cambray gate, torches
blazed all along the streets, and the bells rang merry peals as Charles
led the way to the ancient hôtel-de-ville, known as La Salle, where
the Queen of Hungary and the Duchess of Milan received him with open
arms. The next two days were given up to mirth and festivity. Charles
showed the French Princes the sights of the town, while the Constable
was invited to dine alone with the Queen and her niece, and sat down to
table between the two royal ladies. A splendid banquet was followed by
a ball, which lasted far on into the morning. All the ladies appeared
in magnificent costumes--French, Italian, Flemish, or Spanish, as they
chose--and wore the richest jewels. The Emperor moved through the vast
hall, blithe and debonair beyond his wont, jesting with his old friends
and rejoicing to be once more in his native land. Mary and Christina,
both of whom, remarks the chronicler, although widows, were still young
and beautiful, danced with the French Princes all the evening, and
were in high spirits.[274] There was much gay talk, and the Pope's
Legate, the young Cardinal Farnese, amused the guests with stories of
the latest gossip from the Court of England, which Queen Eleanor had
heard from Marillac. According to him, the new Queen, Anne of Cleves,
was too old and ugly for King Henry's taste, while her dresses and
those of her German "Fraus" were so monstrous that the King would
not allow them to appear at Court, and told his wife to adopt French
fashions.[275]

The next morning the French Princes appeared early to bid the Queen
farewell, and were very gracious in their manner of leave-taking. The
Dauphin received a superb diamond jewel in the shape of a griffin,
and a very fine emerald was bestowed on the Constable. There was some
talk of a marriage between the Duke of Orleans and a daughter of
King Ferdinand, while the King of Navarre and his wife, Margaret of
Angoulême, were eager for a match between their only daughter, Jeanne,
and the Prince of Spain. Vendôme probably realized that he had little
chance of winning the Duchess of Milan, but he shrugged his shoulders
and went his way gaily, saying he would wed the Pope's granddaughter,
Vittoria Farnese, the sister of the boy Cardinal. And they all rode off
in high spirits to join the King at La Fère and show him the Emperor's
costly gifts. They met him on his way back from hunting, riding at the
side of the Queen's litter, clad in a scarlet cloak, which made the
English Ambassador remark how much better Eleanor was treated since
her brother's visit. And the whole Court, in Bishop Bonner's words,
"made much demonstration of gladness, thinking they have God by the
foot."[276]


III.

Among all his political anxieties and preoccupations, the Emperor had
not forgotten his niece. Before he left Spain on this perilous journey
through his old enemy's country, he drew up a paper of instructions to
be given to his son Philip in case of his own death. A large part of
this advice was devoted to the choice of a wife for the Prince himself,
the heiress of Navarre being on the whole, in Charles's opinion, the
most eligible bride for his son. After suggesting various alliances
for his little daughters, Maria and Juana, the Emperor proceeded to
urge on his successor the importance of finding a husband for his
niece, the Widow of Milan, saying that he counted her as one of his
own children. Three Princes, he said, were all eager to marry her--the
Duke of Cleves, the heir of Lorraine, and the Duke of Vendôme--but
it would be necessary to defer his decision until he had ascertained
the best measures for recovering Denmark and settling the question of
Guelders. "And if God," he added, "should call to Himself the Palatine
Frederic, who is old and broken, one of these Princes might marry his
widow."[277] Christina's marriage, it is easy to see, was closely bound
up with the settlement of Guelders, an object which lay very near to
her uncle's heart.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1540] GUELDERS]

The English Ambassador Wyatt, who had been posting after the Emperor
across France, "through deep and foul roads," was convinced that
Charles in his heart of hearts cared more for Guelders than he did for
all Italy. This earnest desire to recover Guelders was, he felt sure,
the true reason why the Emperor had undertaken this long journey in the
depth of winter, and exposed his person to such great risks in passing
through France. When, contrary to the Constable's express orders, Wyatt
obtained an audience from the Emperor at Châtelhérault, as he came
in from hunting with the Dauphin, and informed him of His Majesty's
marriage and alliance with Cleves, Charles turned angrily on him,
saying:

"What hath Monsieur de Cleves to do with Guelders? I mean to show him
that he has played the young man. I hope the King will give him good
advice, for, I can tell you, Monsieur de Cleves shall give me reason. I
say he shall--he shall! If he does," he continued, laying his hand on
his heart, "he shall find in me a Sovereign, a cousin, and a neighbour.
Otherwise he will lose all three."[278]

When, two months later in Brussels, Wyatt craved another interview
of the Emperor, and begged him in Henry's name to look favourably on
his brother-in-law's petition, Charles said he must desire the King
not to meddle between him and his subjects, repeating the same words,
"Je ne ferai rien," two or three times over. An Envoy from the Duke
of Cleves came to meet him at Brussels, but was told that the Emperor
could not attend to his master's business until the affairs of Ghent
were settled. These, as Wyatt remarked, had already quieted down in
a singular manner from the moment that the Emperor started on his
journey, and deputies from the revolted city had been sent to meet him
at Valenciennes. But he refused sternly to see them, saying that they
would learn his pleasure when he came to Ghent.[279]

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1540] A SEVERE PUNISHMENT]

It was Charles's intention to overawe the turbulent city by an
imposing display of armed force. On the 14th of February, 1540, he
entered Ghent--"that great, rich, and beautiful city," writes the city
chronicler, "with its broad streets, fair rivers, noble churches,
houses, and hospitals, the finest in the Netherlands"--at the head of
a stately procession. The Queen rode on his right hand, the Duchess
of Milan on his left, followed by the Princess of Macedonia and other
ladies in litters, the officers of the household, and a long train
of foreign Ambassadors, Princes, and Knights of the Golden Fleece.
Cardinal Farnese, Don Ferrante Gonzaga, Viceroy of Sicily, the Prince
of Orange, the Dukes of Alva and Aerschot, Count Egmont, Büren, De
Praet, Lalaing, and Granvelle, were all present. In their rear came
the troops--4,000 horse, 1,000 crossbowmen, 5,000 _Landsknechten_,
and a strong body of artillery, numbering in all 60,000 persons and
15,000 horses. Their entry lasted six hours, and it was dusk before
the last guns and baggage defiled through the streets. Charles, with
his sister and niece, alighted at the Prinzenhof, the house where he
had been born just forty years before, and the Archers' Guard took
up their station at the gates.[280] A strong body of infantry was
encamped in the neighbouring market-place, pickets of cavalry occupied
the chief squares, and the rest of the troops were quartered in other
parts of the city. But there was not the least show of resistance on
the part of the citizens. Absolute tranquillity reigned everywhere
while the stricken city awaited the Emperor's sentence. It was, as
might be expected, a severe one. Twenty-three of the ringleaders were
arrested, and after a prolonged trial were found guilty. On the 17th
of March, nine of these were put to death in the market-place, while
the others were banished and heavily fined. On the 29th of April the
Emperor convened the chief officers of State and magistrates in the
great hall of the Prinzenhof, and, in the presence of the Queen and
her Court, delivered his sentence on the guilty city. The charters and
privileges of Ghent were annulled, the property of the Corporation
was confiscated, and heavy additional fines were imposed, beside the
payment of the 400,000 florins which had been the cause of the quarrel.
In their consternation, the burghers turned to Mary and implored her
to intercede on their behalf; but she could only advise them to throw
themselves on the Emperor's mercy. On the 3rd of May a memorable and
historic scene took place in the court of the Prinzenhof. Here the
Emperor, seated on a tribunal, with his crown on his head and sceptre
in his hand, and surrounded by the Archers' Guard, received the
senators and chief burghers, as, robed in black, with bare heads and
feet, and halters round their necks, they knelt in the dust at his
feet. The sentence of condemnation was read aloud in the presence of
a brilliant assembly of nobles and courtiers, and of a vast crowd who
looked on from the windows and roofs of the neighbouring houses. Then
Mary, who occupied a chair at her brother's side, rose, and, turning to
the Emperor, in eloquent words implored him to have pity on his poor
city of Ghent, and to remember that he had been born there. The Emperor
gave a gracious answer, saying that out of brotherly love for her and
pity for his poor subjects he would pardon the citizens and restore
their property. But he decided to build a citadel to keep the city in
subjection, and, after taking his brother Ferdinand to the top of the
belfry tower to choose a site, he eventually fixed on the high ground
above the River Scheldt, where St. Bavon's Abbey stood. The demolition
of the ancient monastery was at once begun, and before the Emperor left
Ghent the first stone of the new fortress was laid.[281]

While these tragic events were taking place, a succession of
illustrious guests arrived at Court. First of all, at the end of
February, came Ferdinand, King of the Romans, a simple and honest
Prince, the best of husbands and fathers, and as fondly attached to his
sister Mary as she was to him. At the same time the Palatine Frederic
sent his wife to join the family party and plead her unfortunate
father's cause with the all-powerful Emperor. Although his journey
to England had failed to secure Henry's support, he still cherished
designs against Denmark, and was anxious to prevent a renewal of
the truce between the Low Countries and King Christian III. After
consulting Archbishop Carondelet, the President of the Council, and
Granvelle, the two sisters, Dorothea and Christina, drew up a petition
to the Emperor, imploring him to have pity on the poor prisoner,
who had already languished seven years in solitary confinement, and
reminding him gently of the pledges given to the Palatine at his
marriage.

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1540] WILLIAM OF CLEVES]

    "My sister and I,"--so ran the words of Dorothea's
    prayer--"your humble and loving children, entreat you, as
    the fountain of all justice, to have compassion on us. Open
    the prison doors, which you alone are able to do, release my
    father, and give me advice as to how I may best obtain the
    kingdom which belongs to me by the laws of God and man."[282]

But although the sisters' touching appeal on behalf of their captive
father moved many hearts, and both Henry VIII. and James V. of Scotland
wrote to assure the Palatine of their sympathy, no one was inclined to
embark on so desperate an enterprise, and Dorothea went back to her
lord at Heidelberg without having obtained any satisfaction. On the
14th of April a truce was concluded with the Danish Envoys, who had
followed the Emperor to Ghent, and the illusory hopes of the three
crowns which had been so long dangled before the Palatine's eyes melted
into thin air.[283]

There was still one important question awaiting settlement. William of
Cleves had sent three successive Ambassadors to congratulate Charles on
his return and to seek the investiture of Guelders at his hand. Now, at
King Ferdinand's instance, he arrived at Ghent one day in person, to
the surprise of the whole Court.

    "The Duke of Cleves," wrote an eyewitness of his entry, "has
    come to Ghent with a fine suite, to claim Guelders and marry
    the Duchess of Milan. This is not to be wondered at, for she
    is a young and very beautiful widow as well as a Princess of
    the noblest birth. He who wins her for his bride will be a
    fortunate man."[284]

The English Ambassador at Düren, Nicholas Wotton, had done his utmost
to prevent the Duke from accepting Ferdinand's invitation; and Wyatt
was charged by Cromwell to neglect no means of preventing an alliance
which would defeat all his schemes. The wily Ambassador laid his snares
cleverly. When the Cleves Ambassador, Olisleger, told him that the Duke
was about to wed the Duchess, he whispered that his master had better
be careful and take counsel of King Henry before he took any further
pledges.

    "I told him," wrote Wyatt to King Henry, "to advise his master,
    in case of marriage, to use his friend's counsel, and herein,
    if I shall be plain with Your Majesty, I cannot but rejoice
    in a manner of the escape that you made there; for although I
    suppose nothing but honour in the Lady, yet methinketh Your
    Highness's mate should be without mote or suspicion; and yet
    there is thought affection between the Prince of Orange and
    her, and hath been of long; which, for her bringing-up in
    Italy, may be noted but service which she cannot let, but I
    have heard it to proceed partly from her own occasion. Of this
    Your Majesty will judge, and do with your friend as ye shall
    think meet."[285]

René's courtship of the Duchess was no secret, and Christina's
preference for the popular Prince was plain to everyone at the Imperial
Court; but the unworthy insinuations by which the Ambassador strove to
blacken her character were altogether his invention.

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1540] THE DUKE'S SUIT]

Since this was the surest way to win both Henry's and Cromwell's
favour, Wyatt made unscrupulous use of these slanders to poison William
of Cleves's mind against the Duchess whose hand he sought. On the
13th of April the Duke arrived at Ghent, and was met by the Prince
of Orange, who brought him to King Ferdinand's rooms. Late the same
evening the English Ambassador had a secret interview with him, and
did his utmost to dissuade him from entering into any treaty with the
Emperor. The Duke's irresolution was now greater than ever. The next
day Ferdinand himself conducted him into the Emperor's presence, where
he received the most friendly greeting, and was invited to join the
imperial family at dinner. The gracious welcome which he received from
Mary, and the sight of Christina, went far to remove his doubts, and
during the next few days the harmony that prevailed among the Princes
excited Wyatt's worst misgivings. The Venetian Ambassador, Francesco
Contarini, met the Countess Palatine returning from Ghent, and heard
from her servants that a marriage was arranged between her sister and
the Duke of Cleves. Monsieur de Vély, the French Envoy, sent this
report to Paris, and it was confidently asserted at the French and
English Courts that Cleves had settled his quarrel with the Emperor,
and was to wed the Duchess.[286]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1540] AN ABRUPT DEPARTURE]

But these reports were premature. The Duke told Wotton and Wyatt that
nothing would induce him to give up Guelders, and at their suggestion
he placed a statement of his claims in the hands of Ferdinand, who
promised to submit the document to the Emperor. During the next
fortnight the question was discussed in all its bearings by Charles and
his Councillors. The Duke pressed his suit for the Duchess's hand, and
the Emperor went so far as to offer him the reversion of Denmark if he
would renounce Guelders. But William was as obstinate as the Emperor,
and, when Ferdinand induced Charles to offer Cleves his niece and the
duchy of Guelders for his lifetime, he quite refused to accept this
proposal. All Ferdinand could persuade him to do, was to consent that
the question of Guelders should be referred to the Imperial Chamber,
a compromise which satisfied neither party. Still friendly relations
were maintained outwardly. On Sunday, the 27th of April, the imperial
family attended Mass in state, the Emperor riding to the Church of St.
John with the King of the Romans and the boy Legate, Cardinal Farnese,
on his left, followed by the Dukes of Brunswick, Cleves, Savoy, and the
Marquis of Brandenburg. In the afternoon Ferdinand sent for the Duke
again, and made one more attempt to arrange matters, without success.
Some insolent words spoken by Cleves's servants aroused the Emperor's
anger, upon which the Duke became alarmed, and sent Wotton word that,
seeing no hope of agreement, he intended to return home. Early the
next morning, without taking leave of anyone, he rode out of the town
secretly, and never halted until he was safe in his own dominions.
His royal brother-in-law, King Henry, sent him a long letter,
congratulating him on his safe return, and advising him solemnly not to
marry the Duchess of Milan without finding out the true state of her
affections towards the Prince of Orange, lest he should be deceived.
Wotton told the King, in reply, that the Duke's affection for Christina
was now cooled, partly because she had refused him, and partly because
of the information which Henry had given him. All idea of the marriage
was certainly abandoned, and on the 22nd of June Cleves himself wrote
to tell Henry that he had received friendly overtures from the French
King, and was sending Ambassadors to make proposals for his niece, the
Princess of Navarre.[287]

Meanwhile the Duke's strange conduct had excited much surprise at
Ghent. The Emperor, who had spent the anniversary of his wife's death
in retirement at a Carthusian convent in the neighbourhood, returned
to find Cleves gone. Henry of Brunswick rode with his friend to the
outskirts of the town, and hurried back to be present at the imperial
table, where he tried to explain the Duke's abrupt departure by saying
that he was afraid of treachery. But Ferdinand and Mary were both
seriously annoyed, and the only member of the family to rejoice was
Christina, who felt that she could once more breathe freely.

The pacification of Ghent was now complete, and the bulk of the forces
were disbanded. On Ascension Day--the 6th of May--the imperial family
attended Mass at St. John's, the Queen "walking lovingly up the church,
hand in hand with the King of the Romans." The Ambassadors were all
present, as well as Cardinal Farnese--in Wotton's opinion "a very calf,
and a greater boy in manners and condition than in years."

On the 12th the King of the Romans took leave of his family, but the
Council at which he assisted lasted so late in the evening that he did
not actually set out on his journey till two o'clock on the following
day. About six in the cool hours of the May morning, the Emperor,
with his sister and niece, rode out to see the foundations of the new
citadel laid, and then continued their journey towards Antwerp, where
"great gun-shot" and bonfires welcomed their arrival.[288]


IV.

[Sidenote: JULY, 1540] CROMWELL'S FALL]

The Court spent the next three weeks at Bruges, the beautiful old city
which was always a favourite with Charles and his sisters, in the
ancient Prinzenhof where their mother had died. During these summer
days many important events took place, and startling news came from
England. On the 10th of June Cromwell was suddenly arrested and sent to
the Tower on a charge of high-treason. A fortnight later the new Queen,
Anne of Cleves, left Whitehall for Richmond, and on the 9th of July
her marriage was pronounced null and void by a decree of Convocation.
The ostensible reason for the divorce was a precontract between Anne
and Francis of Lorraine. It was true that as children they had been
affianced by their respective parents, but, as was common in such
cases, all idea of the marriage had been afterwards abandoned, and
Henry had professed himself entirely satisfied with the explanations
given by Anne's relatives on the subject. But from the first moment
that he met his bride at Rochester, on New Year's Day, 1540, he was
profoundly disappointed. When Cromwell asked him how he liked her, he
replied, "Nothing so well as she was spoken of," adding that, had he
known as much of her before as he did now, she should never have set
foot in his realm. However, he felt constrained to marry her, for fear
of "making a ruffle in the world," and driving her brother into the
Emperor's arms. At Whitsuntide he told Cromwell that from the day of
his marriage he had become weary of life, and took a solemn oath that
before God Anne had never been his lawful wife.

From that moment Cromwell knew that his own fate was sealed. "The King
loves not the Queen," he said to Wriothesley. "What a triumph for the
Emperor and the Pope!" A week afterwards he was committed to the Tower,
and on the 28th of July he was beheaded.[289]

The news of his fall was received with general satisfaction abroad.
King Francis gave vent to boisterous joy, and sent his brother word
how sincerely he rejoiced to hear that this false and wicked traitor,
who had brought the noblest heads in England to the block, was at
length unmasked. The Emperor, on the contrary, showed no surprise or
emotion when he heard the news from Archdeacon Pate, the new Envoy
who had succeeded Wyatt, but merely said: "What! is he in the Tower
of London, and by the King's counsel?" And when, on the 6th of July,
Pate informed him that the King had repudiated his wife, he cast his
eye steadfastly on the speaker, and asked what scruples His Majesty
entertained regarding his marriage with the daughter of Cleves. The
Ambassador explained, as best he could, what he took to be the motives
of the King's action, upon which the Emperor said that he was convinced
Cromwell was the true cause of all the terrible crimes which had of
late years been committed against religion and order in England. So
friendly was the Emperor that Pate wrote to the Duke of Norfolk: "If
His Majesty hath thereby lost the hearts of the Electors, he hath in
their places gained those of the Emperor and the French King."[290]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1540] RENÉ OF ORANGE]

Both at Bruges and Antwerp the news aroused much excitement among
the merchants, who were unanimous in the opinion that the King now
intended to take the Duchess of Milan "for the true heart which she
bore him." But nothing was further from Christina's mind. She had
rejoiced at the failure of the King's suit, and saw the Duke of Cleves
leave Ghent without regret. Now all seemed ripe for the fulfilment of
her long-cherished hopes. The Prince of Orange had been unremitting in
his attendance on the Emperor since his arrival, and, as all men knew,
was honoured by His Majesty's confidence and affection. His popularity
with the army was unbounded, and it was a common saying that wherever
the Prince's little pony went, every Dutchman would follow. The Queen
looked kindly on his suit, and Christina's heart was already his own.
But when, in these bright June days at Bruges, he modestly laid his
suit before the Emperor, an unexpected difficulty arose. Three years
before a marriage with the Duke of Lorraine's only daughter had been
proposed for the young Prince of Orange by his uncle, William of
Nassau-Dillenburg, the head of the German branch of the house. The idea
met with Henry of Nassau's cordial approval, and at his request the
Emperor sent his servant Montbardon to obtain Duke Antoine's consent.
This was granted without any difficulty, and the contract was drawn
up before the Count of Nassau's death.[291] Now the Duke urged the
Prince to keep this long-standing engagement and marry his daughter
Anne--the plain but excellent lady whose portrait Holbein had taken
for King Henry. The Prince had never seen his destined bride, and was
very reluctant to carry out the contract, but the Emperor was resolute.
Antoine already had a serious grievance in the matter of Guelders, and
it was of the highest importance to secure his alliance. Accordingly,
Charles told René that he must prove himself a loyal knight, and with
his own hand drew up the articles of the marriage treaty, and sent
them to Nancy by the Archdeacon of Arras. Christina's name is never
mentioned in the whole transaction. It was the old story of the Count
Palatine and the Archduchess Eleanor. She was a daughter of the House
of Habsburg, and knew that the Emperor's will must be obeyed. So she
could only bow her head in silence and submit to his decrees. If she
wept bitter tears, it was in secret, in her quiet chamber in the
ancient Cour des Princes at Bruges, looking down on the green waters of
the canal.[292]

There was great rejoicing throughout Lorraine when the Emperor's
messenger reached Nancy and the marriage was proclaimed. Anne was very
popular throughout the duchy, and since her mother's death, a year
before, had taken a prominent place at the ducal Court, where her tact
and kindness made her universally beloved. The wedding took place in
the last week of August at Bar.[293] All the members of the ducal house
were present, including the Duke and Duchess of Guise, with their sons
and daughters, and the Cardinal of Lorraine, who came from the French
Court to pronounce the nuptial blessing.

The Prince of Orange's martial appearance and his splendid suite made
a favourable impression on his new relatives, as Antoinette de Bourbon
wrote to her daughter in Scotland:

    "I have delayed longer than I intended before writing to you,
    but we have been so well amused by the wedding of Mademoiselle
    de Lorraine that until this moment I have not had leisure to
    begin this letter. Yesterday we left the assembled company.
    There was a very large gathering, and the wedding took place
    last Tuesday. Monsieur le Prince arrived honourably attended,
    and is, I can assure you, a very charming and handsome Prince.
    He is much pleased with his bride, and she is devoted to him.
    They are to go home in a fortnight. The fête was at Bar, but
    there were very few strangers present--only a few nobles and
    ladies of the neighbourhood."[294]

On the 27th of September the Prince of Orange brought his bride to
Brussels, where the States were assembled. The whole Court rode out
to welcome the happy pair, and escorted them to the Nassau palace,
where the Prince changed his travelling dress for a Court mantle, and
hastened to pay his respects to the Emperor. A succession of fêtes
was given in their honour, and dances, masques, and banquets, were
the order of the day. The Princess charmed everyone by her gracious
manners, and her fine figure and splendid clothes and jewels became the
object of general admiration.

[Sidenote: OCT., 1540] ANNE OF LORRAINE]

On the 2nd of October a grand tournament was given in the Prince's
house, which the Emperor, Queen Mary, and Christina, honoured with
their presence. René himself challenged all comers at the barriers,
and his wife was the most charming hostess. Before Charles left, he
presented Anne with a costly ring, and appointed the Prince to succeed
Antoine de Lalaing as Stadtholder of Holland and Friesland. Three
days afterwards the newly-married pair left Court for their own home
at Breda, and the Emperor set out on a progress through Artois and
Hainault, leaving his sister and niece at Brussels.

René's wife soon became a great favourite with the Queen, and Christina
danced as gaily as the rest at the wedding fêtes. But it is significant
that the only mention made of her in contemporary records is in the
despatches of the English Ambassador, Richard Pate, who tells us that
the Duchess of Milan spent much of her time in the company of her
brother-in-law, the Palatine.[295] Frederic had come to Brussels to
confer with the Emperor on German affairs, and, if possible, to raise a
loan of 600,000 ducats for his intended campaign against Denmark. But
although Charles professed himself ready and anxious to oblige his good
cousin, the Regent would give him no answer, and ended by telling him
to get the money from the Imperial Treasury. Richard Pate held long and
confidential conversations with the Palatine, who recalled his visit
to Windsor with delight, and spoke with warm admiration of the beauty
of the singing in St. George's Chapel. He was curious to know if his
old friend the King had grown as fat as he was represented in recent
portraits, and rejoiced to hear that His Majesty was lusty and merry.
As for the Duchess of Milan, he could only feel sorry that so charming
a lady should still lack a husband, and frankly regretted that she had
not married King Henry, or, failing him, the Prince of Orange.[296]
After his return to Germany, Frederic made another attempt to bring
about his sister-in-law's marriage to the Duke of Cleves, who still
hesitated between his old love for Christina and his reluctance to give
up Guelders. But negotiations were already in progress with another
suitor, who had bided his time patiently, and who was now at length to
obtain his reward.

[Sidenote: 1539-41] LOUISE DE GUISE]

The Prince of Orange's union with Anne of Lorraine had strengthened
the ties that bound her father to the Emperor, and a second marriage,
which took place this autumn, united the two houses still more closely.
Among the young nobles who accompanied René to Bar for his wedding was
Charles, Prince of Chimay, the eldest son of the Duke of Aerschot, the
wealthy and powerful Governor of Brabant, who was foremost among the
Regent's confidential advisers, and whom she affectionately called by
the pet name of "Moriceau." On the death of his mother in 1539, the
young Prince had succeeded to her vast estates, and lived at the fine
castle of Beaumont, near the French frontier. At Bar he saw and fell
in love with Louise de Guise, the lovely girl whom Henry VIII. would
gladly have made his wife. But there were difficulties in the young
suitor's way. His own family began by opposing the marriage, and it
was some time before Charles's consent could be obtained. The Duke of
Guise had long been the Emperor's most bitter enemy, and was known to
have strongly opposed his journey through France. Fortunately, Duchess
Antoinette was from the first on the lovers' side, and succeeded in
gaining her husband's consent. For some time past King Francis had been
trying to arrange a marriage between her eldest son, the Count of
Aumale, and the Pope's granddaughter, "_Vyquetorya_ Farnese," as Louise
calls her in one of her letters. But the Pope haggled over the dowry,
and insisted on asking the Emperor's consent; so that Antoinette had a
troublesome task in her lord's absence, and complained sorely to the
Queen of Scotland of these vexatious delays.

    "By way of consolation, however," she writes on the 30th of
    November, "we have an offer for your sister. Monsieur le Duc
    d'Aerschot has sent to ask for her, on behalf of his eldest
    son, the Prince of Chimay, a youth about twenty, handsome and
    well brought up, we hear. He will give him a portion of 50,000
    crowns a year, and he will have some fine estates, such as the
    duchy of Aerschot, the principality of Chimay, the counties of
    Beaumont and Porcien, most of them near Guise. I have told your
    father, who is at Court, and he approves, and has spoken to
    the King and to our brothers, who all advise us to accept the
    proposal. So do my brother-in-law [the Duke of Lorraine] and my
    mother [Madame de Vendôme]. It has been arranged that we should
    all meet at Bar on the Conception of Our Lady, as my lord the
    Duke wishes the matter to be settled at his house. I hope your
    father will be there, but if not he will give me the necessary
    powers. If things can be arranged, she will be well married,
    for the Prince has great possessions and beautiful houses, and
    plate and furniture in abundance. But it is a great anxiety to
    be treating of two marriages at once."[297]

Happily for the good Duchess, the young Prince had his way, and the
contract between him and Louise was duly signed at Bar on the 22nd of
December. On the same day the Emperor, accompanied by the Regent and
Duchess of Milan, paid a visit to the Duke of Aerschot at Beaumont, and
offered him their warmest congratulations on his son's marriage.[298]
The wedding took place at Joinville in the following March, by which
time Christina's own marriage to Louise's cousin was arranged, and all
Lorraine rang with the sound of wedding-bells.


V.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1541] CHRISTINA'S BETROTHAL]

The vaunted alliance between Charles and Francis did not last long,
and less than a year after the Emperor and King had parted at St.
Quentin, vowing eternal friendship, a renewal of war seemed already
imminent. Francis was bitterly disappointed to find that none of the
great results which he expected from Charles's visit had come to pass.
The Emperor firmly declined to marry his daughter, and gave no signs
of surrendering Milan to the Duke of Orleans. All he would offer was
the reversion of the Low Countries as his daughter's portion if she
married Orleans. This failed to satisfy Francis, who declared that
he would have Milan and nothing else. In order to prevent his niece,
Jeanne of Navarre, marrying the Prince of Spain, the King offered her
to the Duke of Cleves, who signed a treaty with France this summer, but
was not actually affianced to the little Princess until the Duchess of
Milan was finally betrothed to Francis of Lorraine. Upon hearing of
the alliance between France and Cleves, Charles retaliated by solemnly
investing his son Philip with the duchy of Milan. This ceremony took
place at Brussels on the 11th of October, and was regarded by Francis
as an open act of defiance. He vented his anger on the Constable, who
asked leave to retire; while Madame d'Étampes did her best to obtain
her rival's disgrace and induce the King to declare war against the
Emperor. But Francis was loth to let his old servant go, and said to
Montmorency, with tears in his eyes: "How can you ask me to let you
leave me? I have only one fault to find with you, that you do not love
what I love."[299] The Constable consented to remain, and for the
moment the crisis was delayed.

After visiting the forts along the frontier and leaving garrisons in
every town, the Emperor came to Namur for Christmas, and prepared
for his final departure. Forty chariots were needed for his own use,
and all the horses and carts in the neighbouring provinces were
requisitioned to provide for the conveyance of his immense suite. On
Innocents' Day the Court moved to Luxembourg, and all the gentlemen
of the countryside rode out to meet the Emperor. With him came the
Queen and the Duchess of Milan, and on the same evening they were
joined by the Duke of Lorraine and his son Francis, the Marquis of
Pont-à-Mousson. On the Feast of the Three Kings the imperial party
attended Mass in the cathedral, and the Emperor, after his usual
custom, presented golden cups to three abbeys in the town. And on
the same day the marriage of the Marquis to the Duchess of Milan
was finally concluded, to the great delight of the old Duke, who
was as much pleased as the bridegroom. Two days afterwards Charles
took an affectionate farewell of his sister and niece, and went on
to Regensburg, leaving them to return to Brussels, while the Duke of
Lorraine hastened to Nancy to summon the States and inform his loyal
subjects of his son's marriage.[300]

On the 1st of March the contract drawn up by the Imperial Ministers,
Granvelle and De Praet, was signed by the Duke of Lorraine at Bar, and
on the 20th by the Emperor. The ducal manors of Blamont and Denœuvre
were settled upon the Duchess, and, in order that she might not lose
any rank by her marriage, the Marquis received the title of Duke of
Bar.[301] On the 12th of March the Queen and Duchess both went to the
Castle of Beaumont in Hainault, to be present at the splendid reception
which the Duke of Aerschot gave his daughter-in-law. The Duchess of
Guise herself accompanied the beloved Louise to her future home,
and wrote the following account of the festivities to Queen Mary of
Scotland from her husband's château at Guise:

  "MADAME,

    [Sidenote: MARCH, 1541] WEDDING-BELLS]

    "I have been so confidently assured that the safest way for
    letters is to send them by Antwerp merchants that I am sending
    mine by this means, and your sister will be my postmistress in
    future. I wrote to tell you of the conclusion of her marriage,
    and sent the articles of the treaty and the account of her
    wedding by your messenger. I have just taken her to her new
    home, a fine and noble house, as well furnished as possible,
    called Beaumont. Her father-in-law, the Duke, received her very
    honourably, attended by as large and illustrious a company as
    you could wish to see. Among others, the Queen of Hungary was
    present, and the Duchess of Milan, and both the Prince and
    Princess of Orange, who, by the way, is said to be with child,
    although this is not quite certain as yet, and I confess I have
    my doubts on the subject. I think your sister is very well
    married. She has received beautiful presents, and her husband
    has made her a very rich wedding-gift. He is young, but full of
    good-will and excellent intentions. It did not seem at all like
    Lent, for the sound of trumpets and the clash of arms never
    ceased, and there was some fine jousting. At the end we had
    to part--not without tears. I am now back at Guise, but only
    for one night, and go on to-morrow to La Fère. My brother the
    Cardinal, and my brother and sister of St. Pol, will be there
    on Wednesday. For love of them I will stay at La Fère over
    Thursday, and set out again on Friday, to reach Joinville as
    soon as may be, in the hope of finding your father still there,
    as well as our children--that is to say, the little ones and
    the priests."[302]

Ten days later Louise herself wrote a long and happy letter to her
sister from Beaumont, full of the delights of her new home and of the
kindness with which she had been received by her husband's family.

  "MADAME,

    "Since God gave me this great blessing of a good husband, I
    have never found time to write to you. But I can assure you
    that I count myself indeed fortunate to be in this house,
    for, besides all the grandeur of the place, I have a lord
    and father-in-law whom I may well call good. It would take
    three sheets of paper if I were to tell you all the kindness
    with which he treats me. You may therefore be quite satisfied
    of your sister's happiness, and she is further commanded to
    offer you the very humble service of the masters and lords of
    this house, who beg that you will employ them on any occasion
    that may arise, since they will always be very glad to obey
    your wishes. We also have a very wise and virtuous Queen, who
    has done me the greatest honour by coming here to our house,
    expressly, as she condescended to say, to receive me. She
    told me herself that she meant to take me for her very humble
    daughter and servant, and that in future she hoped I should
    be often in her company, which, considering how little she has
    seen of me, was exceedingly kind. The Duchess of Milan said
    the same, and was the best and kindest of all. We may soon
    hope to see her in Lorraine, for her marriage to the Marquis
    is in very good train. Since my mother went home, she has sent
    a letter asking me to find out if this route to Scotland will
    be shorter than the other. If this is the case, and you like
    to send me your letters for her, I shall be delighted. Only,
    Madame, you must be sure to address your packets to the Duke
    of Aerschot, which will be easy for you, as then the merchants
    who come from Scotland will leave them at Antwerp or Bruges,
    or any other town, and they will not fail to reach me, since
    my father-in-law is greatly loved and honoured throughout the
    Netherlands. And I pray that God will give you a long and happy
    life.

                                  "Your very humble and obedient sister,
                                                     "Louise of Lorraine.

  "From Beaumont, the 25th day of March."[303]

The keenest interest in these marriages was shown at the Court of
Scotland. King James wrote cordial letters from Edinburgh to his
sister-in-law and to the Duke of Aerschot, and congratulated the
Princess of Orange on her happy expectations, begging her to write
to him and his wife more frequently.[304] Anne had always been on
affectionate terms with her aunt and cousins at Joinville, and the
presence of Louise at Brussels this summer was another bond between
them.

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1541] AN UNWILLING BRIDE]

Meanwhile King Francis was greatly annoyed to hear of the Duchess of
Milan's marriage. He complained bitterly to the Duke of Guise and the
Cardinal of their brother's desertion, and vowed that Antoine and his
son should feel the full weight of his displeasure. He was as good
as his word, and, when the Prince assumed the title of Duke of Bar,
disputed his rights to this duchy on the ground that it was a fief of
the Crown. In order to satisfy these new claims, the Duke was compelled
to sign an agreement on the 22nd of April, by which he and his son
consented to do homage to the King for the duchy of Bar, and to grant
free passage of French troops through this province.[305]

At the same time Francis invited the Duke of Cleves to come to Blois,
as he wished his marriage to the Princess of Navarre to be celebrated
without delay. On the 11th of April the States assembled at Düsseldorf
were amazed to hear from Chancellor Olisleger that their Duke, being
unable to obtain the Duchess of Milan's hand without the surrender of
Guelders, was about to contract another marriage with the Princess of
Navarre, and had actually started on his wedding journey.[306] The
King and Queen of Navarre had always been averse to their daughter's
union with the Duke of Cleves, but Margaret's resistance was overcome
by the royal brother whom she adored, and her husband gave a reluctant
consent to the marriage; but the little Princess Jeanne, a delicate
child of twelve, refused in the most determined manner to marry this
foreign Prince. In vain she was scolded and whipped, and threatened by
her uncle the King with worse punishments. For many weeks the child
persisted in her refusal, and, when compelled to yield, signed a
protest on the eve of her marriage, which with the secret connivance
of her parents was duly witnessed and preserved. On the 14th of June,
1540, the strange wedding was finally solemnized at Châtelhérault, on
the Garonne. A series of Arcadian fêtes in beautiful summer weather
were given by King Francis, who never lost an opportunity for indulging
his love of romance. Arbours and colonnades of verdure were reared on
the river-banks. King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were
seen riding forth in quest of adventure; high-born ladies, clad as
nymphs and dryads, danced on the greensward by torchlight.[307] The
bridegroom gave his bride magnificent jewels, although Jeanne was never
seen in public, and did not even appear at the ball on the night before
the wedding. Finally, when all were assembled in the royal chapel, and
the King came to lead his niece to the altar, the little Princess,
weighed down by her costly jewels and gold and silver brocades, was
unable to walk. "Take her by the neck!" cried the impatient monarch to
Montmorency, and the Constable of France, not venturing to disobey the
royal command, lifted up the frightened child in his arms and bore her
to the altar before the eyes of the whole Court. As he did so he was
heard to mutter, "C'en est fini, de ma faveur, adieu lui dis!" and,
surely enough, the day after the wedding he received his dismissal, and
left Court, never to return during the lifetime of Francis.[308]

[Sidenote: JULY, 1541] CHRISTINA'S WEDDING]

The Duke had agreed, in order to satisfy the King and Queen of Navarre,
that the marriage should be merely formal, and consented to leave his
unwilling bride with her parents for another year. Accordingly, three
days later he bade them farewell, and rode, attended by a strong French
escort, through the Ardennes, and travelled down the Moselle and Rhine
to Cologne. As he passed through Luxembourg he saw the trained bands
gathering in force on the frontier, and heard that they were assembling
under Count Büren to meet his successful rival, Francis of Lorraine,
and bring him to Brussels for his wedding.[309]

Here great preparations had been made to do honour to the Emperor's
niece, and the guests came from far and wide. Christina's trousseau
was worthy of her exalted rank, and the Queen presented her with a
wonderful carcanet of rubies, diamonds, and emeralds, with pendants
of large pear-shaped pearls. The marriage was solemnized on Sunday,
the 10th of July, in the great hall where, twenty-six years before,
Isabella of Austria, had been married to the King of Denmark. Only two
of the foreign Ambassadors were absent from the wedding banquet--the
Englishmen Vaughan and Carne--a fact which naturally excited much
comment. King Henry changed colour when Chapuys told him of Christina's
marriage, and was at no pains to conceal his surprise and vexation.
He said repeatedly that he wondered how the Emperor could allow so
noble and renowned a Princess to marry the Marquis, when there could
be no doubt that Anne of Cleves was his lawful wife, and insisted
that this had been the chief reason of his own separation from this
lady. After the wedding he again referred to the incident, and told
Chapuys in confidence that the Duke of Lorraine had secretly made
over his rights on Guelders to the French King, and would never help
the Emperor against France, since Monseiur de Guise and the Cardinal
of Lorraine were entirely on the French side. Chapuys listened with
polite attention, and reported most of the King's conversation for the
amusement of the Court at Brussels.[310]

Here a series of fêtes took place after the wedding. A grand tournament
was held in front of the hôtel-de-ville, followed by the mock siege
of a fortress in the park, and a hunting-party in the Forest of
Soignies.[311]

On the 14th, the Duke and Duchess of Bar left Brussels to pay a round
of visits in the neighbourhood and "see the country," and on the 27th
the Queen went to meet them at the Duke of Aerschot's hunting-palace at
Heverlé, near Louvain, and spent several days there with the two other
newly-married couples, the Prince and Princess of Orange and the Prince
and Princess of Chimay.[312]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1541] A NOBLE LADY]

Finally, on the 1st of August, the bride and bridegroom set out on
their journey, attended by a brilliant company, which included the
Prince and Princess of Orange, the Duke of Aerschot, the Prince and
Princess of Chimay, the Counts of Berghen, Büren, and Brederode. They
travelled by slow stages, resting at Namur, Luxembourg, Thionville,
and Metz. Triumphal arches were erected over the gates of each city,
and the burghers came out in procession to greet the bride. At Metz
Christina was presented with an illuminated book on "Marriage," by the
Regent of the University, Édmond du Boullay, and the Chapter of Toul
offered her a gold cup, filled with 300 crowns, while the city gave her
200 crowns and ten barrels of choice wine.[313]

On the 8th the wedding-party reached Pont-à-Mousson, and found a
large family gathering waiting to receive them. A few days before
the Cardinal of Lorraine had joined the Duke and Duchess of Guise at
Joinville, and had accompanied them to Pont-à-Mousson, as Antoinette
wrote,

    "in order to give our new Lady her first greeting and conduct
    her to Nancy. Great preparations have been made to welcome
    her, and there is to be some fine jousting. I will tell you if
    there is anything worth writing, and must confess I am very
    curious to see if the Marquis makes a good husband. At least
    the country rejoices greatly at the coming of so noble and
    excellent a lady."[314]

The Duchess of Guise had collected most of her family for the occasion,
and brought four of her sons--Aumale, Mayenne, Charles, Archbishop of
Reims, and Louis, Bishop of Troyes--to Pont-à-Mousson, as well as her
little grandson, the Duke of Longueville, the Queen of Scotland's son
by her first marriage. Duke Antoine and his younger son, Nicholas de
Vaudemont, Bishop of Metz, were also present, together with all the
chief nobles of Lorraine.

It was a strange meeting. Guise and his sons had often crossed swords
with the Prince of Orange and Aerschot, and the Duke had refused to
meet the Emperor on his memorable visit to Chantilly. Now he was
engaged in repairing the forts along the frontier in view of another
war, an occupation which had at least one merit in his wife's eyes,
and kept him longer at home than he had been for many years. All
alike, however, friends and foes, joined in giving the new Duchess a
hearty welcome, and drank joyously to the health and prosperity of the
illustrious pair.

At Pont-à-Mousson Francis took his bride to the convent of Poor Clares,
to see his grandmother, Philippa of Guelders, who had taken the veil
twenty years before, but still retained all her faculties, and was
the object of her sons' devoted affection. The Duke of Guise and his
wife constantly visited the good old lady, whose name appears so often
in Antoinette's letters, and who now embraced her new granddaughter
tenderly and gave the bridal pair her blessing. The next day Christina
entered Nancy, where immense crowds assembled to receive her, and
choirs of white-robed maidens welcomed her coming at the ancient
gateway of La Craffe. One quaint medieval practice which had lasted
until this century was dispensed with. It was the custom for a band
of peasants from the neighbouring village of Laxou, to beat the pools
in the marshes under the palace walls all through the night when the
Princes of Lorraine brought their brides home, to drive away the
frogs, whose croaking might disturb the ducal slumbers. But instead
of this, the peasant women of Laxou stood at the palace gates as the
Duchess alighted, and presented her with baskets of flowers and ripe
strawberries and cherries.[315]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1541] REJOICINGS AT NANCY]

A grand tournament was held the following morning, on the Place des
Dames in front of the ducal palace, in which many of the Flemish
nobles took part, and was followed by a state banquet and ball--"all
very sumptuously done," wrote Lord William Howard, the English
Ambassador.[316] Then the wedding festivities came to an end, the gay
party broke up, and the old city which was henceforth to be Christina's
home resumed its wonted air of sleepy tranquillity.

FOOTNOTES:

[243] Papiers d'État. 82. 20, Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles.

[244] Lanz, ii. 297; Calendar of State Papers, xiii. 2, 16.

[245] Lanz, ii. 289, 683.

[246] State Papers, Record Office, Henry VIII., i. 605; Calendar of
State Papers, xiv. 1, 192.

[247] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 1, 348, 374.

[248] See Appendix; Papiers d'État, 82, 26, Archives du Royaume,
Bruxelles.

[249] Hubert Thomas, 376-390; Cust, "Gentlemen Errant," 377-379.

[250] "Zimmerische Chronik," ii. 547.

[251] H. Thomas, 396.

[252] Kaulek, 104.

[253] _Ibid._, 105.

[254] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 2, 61; H. Thomas, 393-398.

[255] State Papers, Record Office, Henry VIII., i. 616; Calendar of
State Papers, xiv. 2, 54.

[256] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 2, 66, 69, 94, 368.

[257] H. Thomas, 399-401; Kaulek, 136.

[258] Kaulek, 135.

[259] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 2, 215; H. Thomas, 401.

[260] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 2, 127, 232; Calendar of Spanish
State Papers, vi. 1, 200; Kaulek, 138, 139.

[261] Calendar of State Papers, xiv. 2, 127; Nott, ii. 399.

[262] Calendar of State Papers, xvi. 61; Henne, vi. 301-396.

[263] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 205.

[264] Bulletin de la Commission d'Histoire, série ii., 3, 490.

[265] Granvelle, "Papiers d'État," ii. 540; Calendar of State Papers,
xiv. 1, 437, 2, 193; Gachard, "Relation des Troubles de Gand," 258.

[266] Kaulek, 142; Nott, ii. 353.

[267] Gachard, 252.

[268] Gachard, 49.

[269] Henne, vii. 4; A. de Ruble, "Le Mariage de Jeanne d'Albret," 46;
R. de Bouillé, "Histoire des Ducs de Guise," i. 123.

[270] Gachard, 305.

[271] M. du Bellay, iv. 413.

[272] Granvelle, "Papiers d'État," ii. 562; Kaulek, 153.

[273] Gachard, 531.

[274] Gachard, 664-666.

[275] Calendar of State Papers, xv. 65.

[276] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 236, 237.

[277] Granvelle, "Papiers d'État," ii. 542.

[278] Nott, ii. 358.

[279] Nott, ii. 380, 391.

[280] Gachard, "Relation des Troubles de Gand," 65.

[281] Henne, vii. 40-90; Gachard, 67-70, 389.

[282] Lanz, ii. 308.

[283] Henne, vii. 282; Nott, ii. 418.

[284] Gachard, 65, 71.

[285] Nott, ii. 398.

[286] Nott, ii. 417; State Papers, Record Office, viii. 329.

[287] Calendar of State Papers, xv. 349, 367.

[288] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 336, 340, 354; Calendar of
State Papers, xv. 318.

[289] Calendar of State Papers, xv. 363, 390, 391.

[290] Kaulek, 191; State Papers, Record Office, viii. 386, 397, 412.

[291] L. Hugo, "Traité sur l'Origine de la Maison de Lorraine," 212.

[292] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 398.

[293] Pfister, "Histoire de Nancy," ii. 188.

[294] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 15, Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.

[295] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 444.

[296] Calendar of State Papers, Henry VIII., xvi. 1, 60.

[297] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 22.

[298] W. Bradford, "Itinerary of Charles V.," 517; State Papers, Record
Office, viii. 508.

[299] F. Decrue, "Montmorency à la Cour de François I.," i. 392.

[300] Gachard, "Voyages de Charles V.," ii. 167.

[301] A. Calmet, "Histoire de Lorraine," iii. 387.

[302] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 5 (see Appendix). The priests were
Antoinette's two sons, Charles, Archbishop of Reims, and Louis, both of
whom afterwards became Cardinals.

[303] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 153 (see Appendix).

[304] _Ibid._, ii. 157.

[305] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 609.

[306] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 550; Calendar of State Papers,
xv. 344, 362; A. de Ruble, "Mariage de Jeanne d'Albret," 83.

[307] M. du Bellay, "Mémoires," iv. 415.

[308] A. de Ruble, 118; F. Decrue, "Anne de Montmorency à la Cour de
François I.," 403.

[309] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 585.

[310] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 1, 332, 349.

[311] Henne, vii. 282; Calendar of State Papers, xvi. 1, 470.

[312] Calendar of State Papers, xvi. 1, 508.

[313] J. B. Ravold, "Histoire de Lorraine," iii. 743; Hugo, 217; C.
Pfister, "Histoire de Nancy," ii. 192.

[314] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 4 (see Appendix).

[315] Pfister, ii. 63, 188; Ravold, iii. 703.

[316] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 609.




BOOK VIII

CHRISTINA, DUCHESS OF LORRAINE

1541-1545


I.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1477] KING RENÉ]

The ducal house of Lorraine, into which Christina had now married, was
one of the oldest and proudest in Europe. The duchy took its name of
Lotharingia from Lothair, a great-grandson of Charlemagne, who reigned
over a vast kingdom stretching from the banks of the Scheldt and Rhine
to the Mediterranean. After this monarch's death, his territories
became the object of perpetual contention between the German Empire
and France, and were eventually divided among a number of Counts and
Barons who owned the Emperor or the French King as their suzerain.
Godfrey of Bouillon, the leader of the first Crusade, was one of many
illustrious Princes who reigned over Lorraine; but Gerard d'Alsace, who
died in 1046, was the ancestor of the ducal house to which Christina's
husband belonged.[317] From him descended a long line of hereditary
Princes, who were loyal vassals of France and took an active part in
the wars against England. Raoul, the founder of the collegiate church
and Chapter of St. Georges at Nancy, was killed fighting valiantly
at Crécy, and his son John was taken prisoner with the French King by
the Black Prince at Poitiers. Duke John's second son, Ferry, Count
of Vaudemont and Joinville, fell at Agincourt. In 1444 this Prince's
grandson, Ferry II., the representative of the younger branch of the
House of Lorraine, married Yolande, daughter of René of Anjou, King of
Provence, Jerusalem, and Sicily, and Duke of Lorraine in right of his
wife, Isabella, the heiress of Duke Charles II. Yolande, whose sister,
Margaret of Anjou, married Henry VI., became Duchess of Lorraine after
the death of her nephew in 1473, and united the two branches of the
family in her person. But she renounced the sovereignty in favour of
her son, René II., who still bore the proud title of King of Sicily and
Jerusalem, although, as the English Ambassador, Wotton, remarked, he
had never seen either the one or the other. René had a fierce struggle
for the possession of Lorraine with Charles of Burgundy, who defeated
him completely in 1475, and entered Nancy in triumph. But in January,
1477, King René recovered his duchy with the help of the Swiss, and
Charles was defeated and slain in a desperate battle under the walls of
Nancy.[318]

Ten years later René married Philippa of Egmont, sister of Charles,
Duke of Guelders, and, together with his admirable wife, devoted the
rest of his life to the welfare of his subjects and the improvement
of the capital. During his reign the ducal palace, founded by his
ancestors in the fourteenth century, was enlarged and beautified, and
the neighbouring church and convent of the Cordeliers were built. Here
René was buried after his early death in 1508, and his sorrowing wife
reared a noble monument in which he is represented kneeling under a
pinnacled canopy crowned by a statue of the Virgin and Child.[319]

[Sidenote: DEC., 1519] QUEEN PHILIPPA]

Six stalwart sons grew up under Philippa's watchful eye, to bear
their father's name and maintain the honour of his house. The eldest,
Antoine, succeeded René as Duke of Lorraine and Bar, and the second,
Claude, became a naturalized French subject, and inherited the family
estates in France, including Joinville, Guise, and Aumale. Both Princes
were educated at the French Court, where Claude became the friend and
companion of the future King Francis, and in 1513 married Antoinette
de Bourbon, the Count of Vendôme's daughter. This lovely maiden was
brought up with her cousins, Louis XII.'s daughters, the elder of whom
married Francis of Angoulême, the heir to the Crown. When, in 1515,
this Prince succeeded his father-in-law on the throne, he promised the
young Duke of Lorraine the hand of Louis XII.'s widow, Mary of England;
but the fair Dowager had already plighted her troth to Brandon, Duke
of Suffolk, and Antoine consoled himself with another Princess of the
blood royal, Renée de Bourbon, daughter of Gilbert de Montpensier and
Chiara Gonzaga. The wedding was celebrated at Amboise on the 26th of
June, 1515, and Antoine and Claude both left their brides in Lorraine
with Queen Philippa while they followed Francis to Italy. There they
fought gallantly by the King's side at Marignano. Antoine was knighted
on the field of battle, while Claude received a dangerous wound, and a
third brother was slain in the mêlée. Two of Philippa's younger sons
lost their lives in the French King's later campaigns. One was killed
at Pavia, and Louis, the handsomest of all his handsome race, died of
the plague in Lautrec's army before Naples. A sixth son, Jean, Bishop
of Metz, was made a Cardinal at twenty, and, like his brother, Claude
of Guise, became a prominent figure at the French Court.

During Antoine's absence his duchy was governed wisely and well by
his mother, Philippa; but when he no longer needed her help, the good
Queen retired from the world, and on the 8th of December, 1519, entered
the Order of the Poor Clares at Pont-à-Mousson. Here she spent the
remaining twenty-seven years of her life in works of devotion, and
edified her family and subjects by the zeal with which she performed
the humblest duties, going barefoot and wearing rough serge. But she
still retained great influence over her sons, who were all deeply
attached to her and often came to visit her in the convent. By a will
which she made when she forsook the world, she left her furniture,
jewels, and most of her property, to her second son, Claude, "pour
aider ce jeune ménage,"[320] and the Duke and Duchess of Guise went
to live at her dower-house of Joinville, the _beau châtel_ on the
heights above the River Marne, which had once belonged to St. Louis's
follower, le Sieur de Joinville. Here that remarkable woman, Duchess
Antoinette, the mother of the Guises, reared her large family, the six
sons who became famous as soldiers or prelates, and the four beautiful
daughters who were courted by Kings and Princes. Antoine's wife, Renée,
had not the ability and force of character which made her cousin a
power at the French Court, as well as in her own family, but she was
greatly beloved in Lorraine, and inherited the cultivated tastes of
her Gonzaga mother--the sister of Elizabeth, Duchess of Urbino, and
sister-in-law of the famous Isabella d'Este. Renée brought the graces
and refinement of the Mantuan Court to her husband's home, and the
blossoming of art which took place at Nancy during Antoine's reign was
largely due to her influence.

[Illustration: GRANDE PORTERIE. PALAIS DUCAL, NANCY]

_To face p. 260_

[Sidenote: AUG., 1541] THE DUCAL PALACE]

A whole school of local architects and painters were employed to adorn
the ducal palace, which under his rule and that of his immediate
successors became, in the words of a contemporary, "as fine a
dwelling-place for a great Prince as could possibly be desired."[321]
King René had rebuilt the older portions of the house; his son now
added the noble gateway known as "La Grande Porterie," with his own
equestrian statue carved by Mansuy Gauvain, and the magnificent upper
gallery called "La Galerie des Cerfs," from the antlers and other
trophies of the chase which hung upon its walls.[322] A wealth of
delicate sculpture was lavished on the façade. Flowers and foliage,
heraldic beasts and armorial bearings, adorned the portal; "le bœuf qui
prêche"--an ox's head in a pulpit--appeared in one corner, and on the
topmost pinnacle, above the busts of René and Antoine, a monkey was
seen clad in a friar's habit. Within, the vaulted halls were decorated
with stately mantelpieces and richly carved friezes. Without, the roofs
glittered with gilded copper fretwork and a tall bronze _flèche_,
bearing the cross of Lorraine and the thistle of Nancy, crowned the
"Tour du Paradis," which enclosed the fine spiral staircase leading
to the Galerie des Cerfs. Another round tower, containing an inclined
way broad enough for a horse and chariot, stood in the older part of
the palace, and led up to the Treasury, where the Crown jewels were
kept. Here, too, were the apartments occupied by the ducal family. On
one side they opened on to the "Cour d'Honneur," where tournaments
and pageants were held. On the other the windows looked down on
the gardens, with their cut yews and box hedges, their arbours and
bosquets, and in the centre a superb fountain adorned with _putti_ by
Mansuy Gauvain; while beyond the eye ranged across the sleepy waters of
the moat to green meadows and distant woods.[323] The grand portal and
state-rooms at the new end of the palace looked down on the Grande Rue,
and were only divided by a narrow street from the shops and stalls of
the market-place. The fact that the Duke's house stood in the heart of
the city naturally fostered the affection with which he was regarded by
the people of Nancy. The citizens were familiar with every detail of
the ducal family's private life, and took the deepest interest in their
comings and goings, their weddings and funerals, in the guests who
arrived at the palace gates, and in the children who grew up within its
walls.

Duke Antoine was especially beloved by his subjects. Early in life
he had learnt by experience the horrors of war, and all through his
reign he tried manfully to preserve a strict neutrality between the
rival powers on either side, with the result that Lorraine enjoyed
an unbroken period of peace and prosperity. The burden of taxation
was lightened, trade and agriculture flourished, and the arts were
encouraged by this good Prince, who was justly called the "father of
his people." When his beloved wife Renée died, in June, 1539, his
sorrow was shared by the whole nation.

    "Since I sent my last letter," wrote the Duchess of Guise to
    her daughter in Scotland, "you will have heard of the death of
    your aunt--whom God pardon--a fortnight ago. The attack--_a
    flux de ventre_--which carried her off only lasted nine days,
    but she was enfeebled by long illness. Nature could no longer
    offer any resistance, and God in His good pleasure took her to
    Himself. She died as a good Christian, doing her duty by all
    and asking forgiveness of everyone, and remained conscious to
    the end. After Friday morning she would not see her children,
    or even her husband, but, as this distressed him greatly, she
    sent for him again after she had received God. On Sunday she
    was anointed with holy oil, and died at ten o'clock the next
    evening. It was the tenth of June. It is a heavy loss for all
    our family, but your uncle bears up bravely. He sent for us,
    and I set out for Nancy at once, but only arrived there after
    her death. Your father, with whom I have been in Picardy,
    followed on Saturday. I have just returned to Pont-à-Mousson,
    where I came to see my mother-in-law, the good old Queen. The
    funeral will be on St. John's Day, and your aunt will be buried
    in the Cordeliers, opposite the tomb of the late King" (René
    II.).[324]

Four days after his wife's death, Antoine himself sent these touching
lines to his niece, the Queen of Scotland:

[Sidenote: AUG., 1541] FRANCIS OF LORRAINE]

    "I was glad to hear from you the other day, Madame, and must
    tell you the great sorrow which it has pleased God to send
    me, in calling my wife to Himself. She died on the morrow of
    Pentecost. God be praised, Madame, for the beautiful end which
    she made, like the good Christian that she was. Commend me to
    the King your lord; and if there is any service which I can
    render you or him, let me know, and I will do it gladly.

                                    "Your humble and loving uncle,
                                                        "ANTOINE."[325]

Renée bore the Duke a large family, but only three of her children
lived to grow up: Francis, Marquis of Pont-à-Mousson, born in 1517;
Anne, the Princess of Orange, who was five years younger; and Nicolas,
Count of Vaudemont, born in 1524, who took Deacon's Orders, and became
Bishop of Metz when the Cardinal of Lorraine resigned this see. Francis
had the French King for his godfather, and was sent, as a matter of
course, to be educated at the Court of France with the Dauphin. This
Prince inherited the tall stature and regular features of his father's
family, together with his mother's love of art and letters. His
studious tastes and quick intelligence made him the delight of all his
teachers, and King Francis was heard to say that the Marquis du Pont
was the wisest Prince of his age. But although he could ride and tilt
as well as any of his peers, he was never robust, and the strain of
melancholy in his nature increased as years went by. In 1538 the young
Marquis accompanied his father to meet the Emperor at Aigues-Mortes,
and made a very favourable impression on Charles, who proposed that
he should marry one of King Ferdinand's daughters. Several other
alliances had been already suggested for this promising Prince.[326]
In 1527, while he was still a boy, the fateful marriage between him
and Anne of Cleves had been arranged; and when this was abandoned,
King Francis first offered him one of his own daughters, and then his
cousin, Mary of Vendôme, whom the King of Scotland had deserted for
the fair Duchess of Longueville. At the same time Henry VIII. asked
Castillon to arrange a marriage between his daughter Mary and the heir
of Lorraine.[327] But from the moment that Francis of Lorraine saw
the Duchess of Milan at Compiègne his choice never wavered, and his
constancy triumphed in the end over all difficulties.

The lamented death of Duchess Renée, and the marriage of her only
daughter, Anne, in the following year, had left the palace at Nancy
without a mistress, and rendered Christina's presence there the more
welcome. The old Duke was as proud of his daughter-in-law as his
subjects were of their young Duchess, and Christina's frank manners
and open-handed generosity soon made her very popular in Lorraine. She
received a cordial welcome from Antoinette and the Guise Princes at
Joinville, and was on the best of terms with her young brother-in-law,
Monsieur de Metz. Above all, she was adored by her spouse, whose
devotion to Christina quickly dispelled the Duchess of Guise's fears
lest this grave and thoughtful Prince should not prove a good husband.
His love satisfied every longing of her heart, and filled her soul with
deep content. After all the storms of her early youth, after the lonely
months at Milan and Pavia, after the disappointment of her cherished
hopes, the young Duchess had found a happiness beyond her highest
dreams. As she wrote to her old friend Granvelle a few months later:
"My husband treats me so kindly, and has such great affection for me,
that I am the happiest woman in the whole world."[328]

[Sidenote: NOV., 1541] A VISIT TO FONTAINEBLEAU]


II.

The King of France's ill-temper was the one drawback to the general
satisfaction with which Christina's marriage had been received. The
coldness with which he treated the Duke of Lorraine and his son, the
sacrifice of their rights on Bar, rankled in the old man's heart. His
surprise was the greater when he received a courteous invitation to
bring his son and daughter-in-law on a visit to the French Court. His
brother the Cardinal wrote saying that Queen Eleanor was anxious to see
her niece, and that the King wished to confer the Order of St. Michel
on her lord, and begged Duke Antoine to accompany the young couple to
Fontainebleau.

Christina and her husband, who since his marriage had become a strong
Imperialist, were reluctant to accept the invitation, lest an attempt
should be made to draw Lorraine into an alliance against the Emperor.
But the Cardinal's bland promises and Antoine's anxiety to keep on
good terms with the King prevailed over their hesitation, and early
in November the two Dukes and the young Duchess spent three days at
Fontainebleau. Hunting-parties and banquets occupied the first two
days. Eleanor took the greatest delight in her niece's company, and the
King, who could never resist a woman's charms, was assiduous in his
attention to Christina. The Queen of Navarre's presence afforded the
Duchess additional pleasure, and this accomplished Princess showed her
Leonardo and Raphael's paintings, and did the honours of the superb
palace which had excited the Emperor's admiration two years before.
On the third evening the King expressed his wish to confer the Order
of St. Michel on the young Duke in so pressing a manner that it was
impossible to refuse this offer. But an unpleasant surprise was in
store for him and his father. The next morning the Cardinal informed
them that the King demanded the cession of the town and fortress of
Stenay, in return for the privilege of holding the duchy of Bar.
This unexpected demand aroused an indignant protest from Antoine and
Francis. Stenay was one of the bulwarks of Lorraine, and its position
on the frontiers of Luxembourg made it of great importance to the
defence of the empire. But nothing that the Duke and his son could
say was of the slightest avail. They were told that if Stenay was not
surrendered peaceably the King would declare war and reduce their
country to subjection. These threats alarmed the old Duke to such a
pitch that before leaving Fontainebleau he was induced to sign a treaty
by which Stenay was given up in perpetuity to the French Crown. It
was a grievous blow to the prestige of Lorraine, and filled Christina
and her husband with grave fears for the future. The following letter
which the Duchess wrote to Granvelle a few weeks afterwards shows how
bitterly she resented the wrong:

[Sidenote: NOV., 1541] THE CESSION OF STENAY]

    "You have no doubt heard of the voyage which the Lord Duke my
    father-in-law, my husband, and I, took to the French Court,
    where we made a very short stay, but one which turned out very
    badly for our house. For the King used violent threats to my
    father and husband, and sent my uncle the Cardinal to tell them
    that, if they did not satisfy his demands, he would prove their
    worst enemy, and make them the smallest people in the world.
    So they were compelled to give him the town of Stenay, which
    is a great loss to this house, and has vexed my husband and
    me sorely, showing us how much we are despised on that side,
    and to what risk of destruction we should be exposed if it were
    not for the good help of the Emperor, in whom I place my whole
    trust."[329]

Unfortunately for the Duchess and her husband, Charles was at this
moment engaged in his disastrous expedition to Algiers. The news of the
tempest which wrecked his fleet on the coast of Africa had reached the
French Court, and it was confidently asserted that the Emperor himself
had perished, or was a prisoner in Barbarossa's camp. These disquieting
rumours were set at rest early in December by his safe return to
Cartagena with the remnants of his army. But his enemies had been
active in his absence. On the 15th of November the Duke of Lorraine set
his seal to the deed of cession, and a week later a French garrison
took possession of Stenay. General indignation was excited throughout
Europe by this arbitrary act. Mary of Hungary entered a vigorous
protest in her brother's name against this surrender of an imperial
fief, and no sooner did the news reach Charles than he told his
Ambassador to require the French King to do homage for the town. The
new English Ambassador, Paget, who arrived at Fontainebleau a few days
after the Lorraine Princes left Court, noticed that the King "looked
very black, as if the Imperial Envoy had spoken of matters not all the
pleasantest"; while he informed his royal master that the entertainment
of the Duke of Lorraine had been but cold, and that he had lost all
credit with the French.[330] When Chapuys told King Henry at Christmas
how King Francis had snatched Stenay from the Duke of Lorraine, the
English monarch only shrugged his shoulders, saying he had always known
no good would come out of that marriage.[331]

Meanwhile Christina and her husband found some consolation for their
wounded feelings in the friendly reception which they met with at
Joinville, on their return from France. The Duke and Duchess of Guise
came to meet them at Annonville, and were eager to do honour to their
nephew's bride and show her the beauties of their stately home. They
had lately decorated the halls and chapel with paintings and statues,
and Antoinette had laid out terraced gardens along the wooded slopes on
the River Marne, adorned with pavilions and fountains. Nothing escaped
the eye of this excellent lady, who watched over the education of her
children and the welfare of her servants, and managed her kitchen,
stables, and kennels, with the same indefatigable care. Her household
was a model of economy and prudence, and her works of mercy extended
far beyond the limits of Joinville. The active correspondence which she
kept up with her eldest daughter, the Queen of Scotland, abounds in
details regarding every member of her family, and above all her little
grandson, the Duke of Longueville. The Duchess's letters are naturally
full of this precious boy, who was the pet and plaything of the whole
household, and on whose perfections she is never tired of dwelling.
For his mother's benefit, she sends minute records of his height and
appearance, of the progress which he is making at lessons, the walks
which he takes with his nurse.

[Sidenote: NOV., 1541] AT JOINVILLE]

    "We have here now," she wrote to Mary of Guise, on the 18th of
    November, "not only your uncle, but the Duke and Duchess of
    Bar, on their way back from Court. They are all making good
    cheer with us, and your father is so busy entertaining them
    that you will hardly have a letter from him this time. Your
    eldest brother [Aumale] is here too, but goes to join the
    King at Fontainebleau next week. I shall go to my mother [the
    old Countess of Vendôme], who is quite well, and so also is
    the good old Queen, your grandmother. I have kept as a _bonne
    bouche_ for you a word about our grandson, who will soon be a
    man, and is the finest child that you ever saw. I am trying
    to find a painter who can show you how tall, healthy, and
    handsome, he is."

Sad news had lately come from Scotland, where the Queen's two children,
a boy of a year old and a new-born babe, had died in the same week.
Antoinette's motherly heart yearned over her absent daughter in this
sudden bereavement.

    "Your father and I are sorely grieved at the loss you have
    suffered," she wrote to Mary; "but you are both young, and I
    can only hope that God, who took away those dear little ones,
    will send you others.... If I were good enough for my prayers
    to be of any avail with God, I would pray for this, but I can
    at least have prayers offered up by others who are better than
    I am, especially by the good Queen in her convent and her
    holy nuns. We are glad to hear the King bears his loss with
    resignation, and trust God will give you patience to live for
    Him in this world and in the next, to which tribulation is the
    surest way."

And in a postscript she adds a word of practical advice, saying that
she did not like to hear of the poor babes having so many different
nurses, and fears this may have been one cause of the mischief.[332]

In return for this affectionate sympathy, King James sent his
mother-in-law a fine diamond and a portrait of himself, which arrived
during Christina's visit, and excited much interest at Joinville. All
the Duchess of Guise's daughters were absent from home, the youngest,
Antoinette, having joined her sister, Abbess Renée, in the convent at
Reims, where she afterwards took the veil. But her eldest son, as we
have seen, was at Joinville on this occasion. A tall, dark-haired,
olive-skinned youth, recklessly brave and adventurous, Aumale was a
great favourite both in Court and camp, and his mother had been sadly
disappointed at the failure of the marriage negotiations, which had
cost her so much time and trouble. The Pope's daughter, Vittoria
Farnese, who was to have been his wife, had since then been offered
in turn to the Prince of Piedmont and the Duke of Vendôme, and was
eventually married to the Duke of Urbino. Aumale himself cared little
for the loss of the Italian bride, whom he had never seen, and had
hitherto shown no eagerness for matrimony, but the sight of Christina
made a deep impression upon him, and he never forgot his fair cousin's
visit to Joinville. The most friendly relations prevailed between the
two families, and frequent visits were interchanged during the winter.
Christmas was celebrated with prolonged festivities at Nancy, and on
the 6th of February the old Duke wrote from Joinville to his niece, the
Queen of Scotland:

    "Your father and I have spent the last week together, and have
    made great cheer with all our family. Your son, De Longueville,
    is very well, and has grown a fine boy.

                         "Your very humble and affectionate uncle,
                                                        "ANTOINE."[333]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1542] CHRISTINA'S ANXIETIES]

In spite of these distractions, Christina found it difficult to make
her husband forget the loss of Stenay. The injustice which had been
done to the House of Lorraine still rankled in his mind, and he feared
that the Emperor would hold him responsible for the surrender of the
town, and regard it as an act of disloyalty. Christina accordingly
addressed a long letter to Granvelle, explaining that her husband had
been very reluctant to accept the French Order of St. Michel, and
had only done this at his father's express command, before there had
been any mention of surrendering Stenay. Now she feared that the King
might make some fresh demand, which would complete the destruction of
the ducal house, and could only beg the Emperor to help them with his
advice and support.

    "For you may rest assured," she goes on, "that, whatever His
    Majesty is pleased to command, my husband and I will obey,
    although, as you know, my father-in-law is somewhat difficult
    to please, and we must do his will for the present. So I beg
    you earnestly to point this out to His Majesty, and ask him to
    give us his advice; for since our return to Nancy my husband
    has been so sad and melancholy, and so full of regret for the
    great wrong which his house has suffered, that I am quite
    afraid it will injure his health. Once more I beg you, Monsieur
    de Granvelle, to be a good friend to us in the present, as
    you have been in the past ... for we have received so much
    kindness from you that I hope you will not hesitate to give us
    whatever advice seems best in your eyes. As for me, I am so
    much indebted to you for having helped to place me where I am,
    that you and yours will always find me ready to do you service.
    For I can never forget that it is to you I owe my present great
    happiness."[334]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1542] KING HENRY'S WIVES]

Charles, however, wrote kindly to his niece, and refused to listen to
the unkind tongues who tried to poison his mind against her husband.
By degrees the young Duke recovered his equanimity, and devoted his
attention to beautifying the ducal palace of Nancy. In the last years
of Renée's life a Lorraine artist, Hugues de la Faye, had been employed
to paint subjects from the life of Christ at one end of the "Galerie
des Cerfs," and hunting-scenes at the other. Christina's presence gave
new impulse to the work, and the large quantity of gold-leaf and azure
supplied to the painters in the Duke's service, show how actively the
internal decoration of the palace was carried on. In one particular
instance Christina's influence is clearly to be traced. By Duke
Antoine's orders, a fresco of the Last Supper was begun by Hugues de la
Faye in the refectory of the Cordeliers, but was only completed after
this painter's death in 1542, by Crock and Chappin. These two Lorraine
artists were sent to Italy by Duke Francis soon after his accession,
and visited Milan amongst other places. Here they saw Leonardo's famous
"Cenacolo" in the refectory of S. Maria le Grazie, which was closely
connected with the Sforza Princes, and must have been very familiar
to Christina when she lived in Milan. The fresco which they executed
at Nancy is said to have been a replica of Leonardo's great work, and
kneeling figures of Antoine and Renée were introduced on the same
wall, in imitation of the portraits of Lodovico Sforza and Beatrice
d'Este which are still to be seen in the Dominican refectory at Milan.
Unfortunately, the Lorraine masters' painting suffered a still worse
fate than Leonardo's immortal work, and, after being partly spoilt by
damp, was finally destroyed thirty years ago and replaced by a modern
copy.[335]

During this winter, when Christina was happily settled in her new home
and surrounded by loyal friends and subjects, news came from England of
the trial and execution of Henry VIII.'s fifth Queen, Catherine Howard.
When the Duke and Duchess were at Fontainebleau, rumours reached the
Court that this unhappy lady, of whom Henry was deeply enamoured but
a short time before, had been suddenly banished from his presence,
and taken into custody. "Par ma foi de gentil homme!" exclaimed King
Francis when he heard the account of the Queen's misdeeds. "She has
done wondrous naughtily!"[336] But in England, as Chapuys reported,
much compassion was felt for the King's latest victim, who had dragged
down the noble house of Howard in her fall. Lord William Howard, the
late Ambassador, was hastily recalled from France, and sent to the
Tower with his mother, the old Duchess of Norfolk. The King himself,
wrote Chapuys, felt the case more than that of any of his other wives,
just as the woman who had lost ten husbands grieved more for the tenth
when he died than for any of the other nine! But when the luckless
Queen was beheaded, Henry recovered his spirits, and spent Carnival in
feasting and entertaining ladies with a gaiety which made people think
that he meant to marry again. "But few, if any, ladies of the Court,"
remarked Chapuys, "now aspire to the honour of becoming one of the
King's wives."[337]

It was an honour to which Christina herself had never aspired. One
day at the Court of Nancy, conversation turned on the King of England,
and some indiscreet lady asked the Duchess why she had rejected this
monarch's suit. A smile broke over Christina's face, and the old
dimples rose to her cheeks as she replied that, unfortunately, she only
had one head, but that if she had possessed two, one might have been at
His Majesty's disposal. It was a characteristic speech, and has passed
into history.[338]


III.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1542] THE KING'S CHASE]

All through the winter of 1541-42 preparations for war were actively
carried on in France, and intrigue was rife among the Courts of Europe.
Francis was determined to profit by his rival's misfortunes, in spite
of the remonstrances of the Pope and of the deputies who were sent by
the Imperial Diet to adjure him not to trouble the peace of Christendom
while the Emperor was fighting against the Turks. By the end of the
year he succeeded in forming a strong coalition, which included
Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, and Cleves. The Palatine Frederic had once
more pressed his wife's claims to the three kingdoms, with the result
that Christian III. lent a willing ear to the French King's advances,
and sent Envoys to Fontainebleau, where a secret treaty between
France and Denmark was signed a few days after the Duke and Duchess
of Lorraine had left Court. Francis was now exceedingly anxious to
draw Lorraine into the league and induce Duke Antoine to take up arms
against the Emperor. In May he set out on a progress through Burgundy
and Champagne, taking the Queen and all the Court with him, to inspect
the fortifications of the eastern frontier and enjoy some hunting on
the way. "Tell the Pope," he said merrily to the Legate Ardinghelli,
"that I do nothing but make good cheer and amuse myself, whether I
entertain fair ladies or go a-hunting the deer." Paget and the other
Ambassadors complained bitterly of the bad quarters "in peevish
villages" which they had to put up with as they followed the King
from place to place, wherever "great harts were to be heard of."[339]
Fortunately, he found excellent sport at the Duke of Guise's château of
Esclaron, where he spent three weeks, and declared that he had never
been so happy in his life.

    "The King," wrote Duchess Antoinette to Mary of Scotland, "has
    found so many big stags here that he says he was never in a
    place which pleased him better, and that in spite of torrents
    of rain and God knows what mud! And you cannot think how fond
    he is of your father."[340]

She herself went to Esclaron to receive her royal guest, taking the
eight-year-old Duke of Longueville with her, to make his bow to the
King and be petted by Queen Eleanor and her ladies. But the life of
a Court lady, as she told her daughter, was little to her taste,
and she returned to Joinville early in June, to keep the Fête-Dieu
and prepare her husband's and sons' equipment for the war which was
expected to begin immediately. Two days later, on the 10th of June,
the Duke and Duchess of Bar paid the French King a visit at Esclaron,
and were present at the reception of the Swedish Ambassadors, whom
Gustavus Wasa had sent to sign the new treaty. The ceremony took place
in a large barn hung with tapestries and wreathed with green boughs.
The King and his guests sat on a raised daïs, draped with cloth of
gold, under a canopy, while the Princes of the blood and the other
courtiers, among whom were no less than six Cardinals, stood below.
Here Francis listened patiently to a long Latin harangue from the
Swedish Ambassador, and then, coming down from his seat, he mingled
freely in the crowd of Cardinals and Princes, gentlemen and yeomen, who
stood "all in a heap" at the doors of the barn, and showed himself very
affable, although, in Paget's opinion, "his manner lacked the majesty
which he had noticed in his own master on similar occasions."[341]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1542] THE FRENCH INVASION]

Christina looked with curiosity at these Envoys from the Northern
kingdom over which her father had once ruled, many of whom had known
the captive monarch in old days. This time she and her husband had no
cause to complain of the King's treatment. He was all courtesy and
smiles, and assured them in the most cordial terms of the singular
affection which he bore to all their house. But he soon saw that there
was no prospect of inducing Antoine and his son to join him against
Christina's uncle, and on the 12th of June he consented to sign an
agreement by which he promised to respect the neutrality of Lorraine
and the properties of the Duke's subjects.[342] After spending another
week at Joinville, enjoying the splendid hospitality of the Guises, he
left Eleanor with the Duchess, and went on to Ligny, a strong fortress
on the borders of Luxembourg, where he gave orders for the opening of
the campaign.

By the middle of July four separate armies had invaded the Emperor's
dominions. Guise and Orléans fell upon Luxembourg, Vendôme entered
Flanders, the Dauphin attacked Roussillon, and the forces of Cleves,
under the redoubtable Guelders captain, Martin van Rossem, laid Brabant
waste with fire and sword. But they met with determined opposition in
every quarter, and the heroism of the Regent and her captains saved the
Netherlands from ruin.

    "The attack," wrote De Praet to Charles on September 21, 1542,
    "was so secretly planned and so well carried out that it is a
    miracle Your Majesty did not lose your Pays-Bas. We must thank
    God first of all, and next to Him the Queen, to whose extreme
    care, toil, and diligence, this is owing."[343]

Fortunately for the Imperialists, Francis's extravagance had emptied
his treasury. All his money, as Paget reported, was spent in building
new palaces and buying jewels for himself and his favourites. Stenay
and other places had been fortified at vast expense, and by the end of
the year most of the French forces were disbanded for lack of funds.

It was a sad autumn at Joinville, where the good Duchess wept and
prayed for her absent lord and sons, and sighed to think they were
fighting against her daughter Louise's husband and father-in-law. In
September Guise was invalided home, and he was hardly fit to mount his
horse again when the parents received the news of Louise's death, which
took place at Brussels on the 18th of October. The charming Princess
had always been a delicate girl, and now she died without leaving a
child to comfort the husband and father who had loved her so well. This
sad event was followed by tidings of the disaster which had befallen
the King of Scotland's army in Solway Moss, and of his death on the
18th of December. Antoinette's heart bled for her widowed daughter,
who had just given birth to an infant Princess at Linlithgow. "It came
with a lass, and it will go with a lass," were the words of the King
when he was told of the child's birth, a few days before he died at
Falkland Palace. Both Guise and Aumale would gladly have hastened to
Mary's help, but it was impossible for them to leave the camp at this
critical moment, and Antoinette could only beg her daughter to keep up
her courage and trust in God, "the Almighty, who would defend her and
the poor little Queen, who although so young is already exposed to the
insults of her enemies."[344]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1543] BIRTH OF A SON]

It was a no less anxious time for Christina in her home at Nancy.
From the palace roof the smoke of burning villages was to be seen in
all directions, and the people of Lorraine were exposed to frequent
raids from the hordes of irregular soldiers in both armies, and were
compelled to raise trained bands for the defence of the frontiers. It
was only by the strictest observance of the laws of neutrality that
an outbreak of actual hostilities could be avoided. When Aumale was
badly wounded by a shot from a crossbow in the siege of Luxembourg,
his uncle the Duke sternly refused to have him carried into his
neighbouring castle of Longwy; and when Mary of Hungary proposed to
garrison this fortress to protect his subjects from French aggression,
he declined her offer firmly at the risk of incurring the imperial
displeasure.[345] Christina herself spent Christmas at Fontainebleau
with her aunt, Queen Eleanor. This poor lady was distracted with grief
at the war between her husband and brother, and spent much time in
making futile attempts to induce her sister, the Regent, to listen
to peace negotiations. Early in December, while the King was hunting
at Cognac, she sent a gorgeous litter to Bar to bring the Duchess to
Court, and kept her there till the middle of January.[346] A month
afterwards--on the 13th of February--Christina gave birth to her first
child, a son, who received the name of Charles, after her imperial
uncle. There was great rejoicing in Nancy, where the happy event took
place, and the old Duke himself went to Pont-à-Mousson to bear the
good news to the venerable Queen Philippa, who thanked God that she
had lived to see her great-grandson. The little Prince's christening
was celebrated with as much festivity as the troubled state of the
country would allow, and Christina's faithful friend, the Princess of
Macedonia, who had followed her to Lorraine, held the child at the font
and was appointed his governess.[347]

[Sidenote: NOV., 1543] DUKE ANTOINE MEDIATES]

Two days before the Prince's birth a secret treaty between the Emperor
and King Henry was concluded at Whitehall. Chapuys had at length
attained the object of his untiring efforts, and De Courrières was sent
from Spain on a confidential mission to induce Henry to declare war
against France. The defeat of the Duke of Aerschot at Sittard excited
general alarm in Flanders, and Mary was at her wits' end for money
and men. But the Emperor himself was hastening across the Alps to the
help of his loyal provinces. The marriage of his son Philip with the
Infanta of Portugal had been finally settled, and with the help of
this Princess's large dowry and another half-million of Mexican gold,
Charles was able to raise a large army of German and Italian troops.
On the 22nd of August he appeared in person before Düren, the capital
of Cleves, which surrendered within a week. The Duke threw himself
on the victor's mercy, and was pardoned and invested anew with his
hereditary duchies, while Guelders was annexed to the Netherlands and
the Prince of Orange became its first Governor. William of Cleves on
his part renounced the French alliance, and agreed to marry one of
King Ferdinand's daughters. His previous marriage with Jeanne d'Albret
was annulled by the Pope, and this resolute young Princess had the
satisfaction of carrying her protest into effect. Encouraged by these
successes, Charles now laid siege to Landrécy, the capital of Hainault,
which had been captured and fortified by the French, and was joined by
a gallant company of English under Lord Surrey and Sir John Wallop.
"Par ma foi!" exclaimed the Emperor, as he rode down their ranks, "this
is a fine body of gentlemen! If the French King comes, I will live
and die with the English."[348] But Francis refused to be drawn into
a battle, and the approach of winter made both armies retire from the
field.

The Duke of Lorraine took advantage of this temporary lull to mediate
between the two monarchs. Old as he was, and suffering severely with
gout, Antoine came to the Prince of Chimay's house with his son
Francis, and begged for an audience with the Emperor and Regent, who
were spending a few days at Valenciennes, on their way to Brussels.
Charles sent him word not to come into his presence if he brought
offers from the French King; but in spite of these peremptory orders
the two Dukes arrived in the town on Sunday, the 17th of November,
and were received by the Emperor after dinner. Antoine delivered a
long oration begging His Imperial Majesty to make peace for the sake
of Christendom, and, laying his hand on his breast, swore that he had
taken this step of his own free will, without communicating with any
other person. The old man's earnestness touched Charles, who answered
kindly, saying that he was always welcome as a cousin and a neighbour,
and that this was doubly the case now that his son had married the
Emperor's dearly loved niece. But he told him frankly that he had been
too often deluded by false promises to listen to French proposals for
peace, and that in any case he could do nothing without the consent
of his ally, the King of England. Nothing daunted, the old Duke went
on to visit the Regent, and was found by Lord Surrey and the English
Ambassador Brian sitting at a table before a fire in the Queen's room,
playing at cards. Antoine greeted Brian as an old friend, and asked him
to drink with him. But Mary sternly refused to listen to the Duke's
errand, being convinced that he came from the King, and declaring that
all the gentlemen in his suite were good Frenchmen. When he and his son
were gone, she called Brian to her, and said: "Monsieur l'Ambassadeur,
heard you ever so lean a message?" "Madame," replied the Englishman,
"if the broth be no fatter, it is not worth the supping," a sentiment
which provoked a hearty laugh from the Queen.[349]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1544] EGMONT'S WEDDING]

Neither Queen Eleanor, who sent an entreating letter with a present
of falcons to her sister, nor Cardinal Farnese, who brought fresh
proposals of peace from the Pope, fared any better. The young Duchess
Christina now determined to make an attempt herself, and came to
meet her uncle at Spires when he attended the Diet. The ostensible
reason of this journey was to visit her sister Dorothea, but Charles,
divining her intention, sent the Countess Palatine word that if the
Duchess of Bar brought proposals of peace she might as well stay at
home. Christina, however, arrived at Spires on the 8th of February,
with a train of fourteen ladies and fifteen horse, and spent a week
with the Count and Countess Palatine. The sisters saw the Emperor
and King Ferdinand every day, and were to all appearance on the most
affectionate terms with them. But nothing transpired as to what passed
between Christina and her uncle in private. On the day that she left
Spires to return to Nancy, Frederic heard of the death of his brother,
the Elector Palatine, and hastened to Heidelberg with Dorothea to
attend his funeral and take possession of the rich Rhineland, to which
he now succeeded. Six weeks later he returned to do homage for the
Palatinate, and assist at the wedding of his cousin Sabina with Lamoral
d'Egmont, the hero of so many hard-fought fields. The Emperor gave a
sumptuous banquet in honour of his gallant brother-at-arms, Dorothea
led the bride to church, and Frederic, in a fit of generosity, settled
14,000 florins on his young kinswoman.[350]

In this same month Ambassadors arrived at Spires from Christian III.
of Denmark, who had quarrelled with the French King and was anxious to
make peace with the Emperor. In spite of a protest from the Palatine,
a treaty was concluded on the 23rd of May, by which Charles recognized
the reigning monarch's title to the crown. So the long war, which had
lasted twenty-one years, was at length ended, and the Emperor finally
abandoned the cause of Christian II. But a clause was added by which
his daughters' rights were reserved, and a promise given that the
severity of his captivity should be relaxed and that he should be
allowed to hunt and fish in the park at Sonderburg. Christian III.
gladly agreed to these more humane conditions, and even offered to give
Dorothea and Christina a substantial dowry, but the Palatine refused to
accept any terms, and persisted in asserting his wife's claims.[351]


IV.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1544] CHARLES V. IN LORRAINE]

Soon after her return from Spires, on the 20th of April, 1544,
Christina gave birth, at Nancy, to a daughter, who was named Renée,
after the late Duchess. But her happiness was clouded by the illness
of her husband, whose health had become a cause of grave anxiety.
Fighting was renewed with fresh vigour in the spring, and unexpected
success attended the imperial arms. Luxembourg was recovered by
Ferrante Gonzaga, and the French invaders were expelled from most
of the strongholds which they held in this province. The war raged
fiercely on the borders of Lorraine, and the annoyance to which his
subjects were exposed, induced Duke Antoine to make another effort
at mediation. Since the Emperor turned a deaf ear to all appeals, he
decided to apply to King Francis in person, and on the 8th of May he
set out in a litter for the French Court; but when he reached Bar he
was too ill to go any farther, and took to his bed in this ancient
castle of his ancestors. His sons hastened to join him, and Christina
followed them as soon as she was able to travel, and arrived in time
to be present at her father-in-law's death-bed. The fine old man made
his will, appointed his brothers, the Duke of Guise and the Cardinal,
to be his executors, and with his last breath begged his son to rule
Lorraine wisely and raise as few extraordinary taxes as possible.
Above all, he adjured him to preserve his people from the scourge of
war, and use every endeavour to obtain the restoration of peace. With
these words on his lips, he passed away on the 19th of June, 1544.[352]
The new Duke was as anxious for peace as his father, but the moment
was unpropitious for any efforts in this direction. King Henry had at
length taken the field and invaded Picardy with a large army, and the
Emperor was bent on carrying the war into the heart of France, and
urged his ally to meet him under the walls of Paris. On the 17th of
June Charles himself came to Metz with Maurice of Saxony and the young
Marquis Albert of Brandenburg, the boldest warrior in Germany, and
prepared plans for the extension of the campaign which Ferrante Gonzaga
and the Prince of Orange were carrying on in Champagne. Here Francis
of Lorraine joined him as soon as he was able to mount a horse, and,
after spending some days at Metz, induced the Emperor to accompany him
to Nassau-le-Grand, where Christina was awaiting him.[353] On his way
Charles stopped at Pont-à-Mousson, and paid a visit to Queen Philippa,
the sister of his old enemy Charles of Guelders, for whom he had always
entertained a genuine regard, and who was proud to welcome the great
Emperor under her convent roof. Since the death of the Empress, five
years before, Charles had formed a fixed resolution to end his days in
some cloistered retreat, and he looked with admiration, not unmixed
with envy, on the aged Queen's peaceful home, and the garden where she
hoed and raked the borders and planted flowers with her own hands. It
was a memorable day in the convent annals, and one which left pleasant
recollections in the Emperor's breast.[354]

But although Charles was full of affection for Christina and her
husband, he declined to receive the Cardinal of Lorraine, who begged
for an interview, and during his brief visit not a word was spoken
with regard to overtures of peace.[355] On the 12th of July he took
leave of the Duke and Duchess, and joined the Prince of Orange's camp
before St. Dizier. This town was strongly fortified, but René had taken
up his position near a bridge across the Marne, and opened fire from
a battery of guns placed in the dry bed of the castle moat. Charles
himself visited the trenches on the day of his arrival, and early the
next morning the Prince of Orange walked round to inspect the artillery
with Ferrante Gonzaga. The Marquis of Marignano was sitting in a chair,
which had been brought there for the Emperor's use the day before,
and, seeing the Prince, sprang to his feet and offered him his seat.
Compliments were exchanged on both sides, and the Prince finally sat
down in the empty chair. He had hardly taken his seat before he was
struck by a shell which, passing between the Viceroy and the Marquis,
broke one of his ribs, and shattered his shoulder to pieces. They bore
his unconscious form to the Emperor's tent, where he lay between life
and death for the next forty-eight hours. The whole camp was filled
with consternation.

    "I doubt yet what will become of him," wrote Wotton, who had
    followed Charles to the camp. "If he should die of it, it were
    an inestimable loss to the Emperor, so toward a gentleman he
    is, so well beloved, and of such authority among men of war."

Before the writer had finished his letter, a servant came in to tell
him that the Prince was gone.[356]

[Sidenote: JULY, 1544] DEATH OF RENÉ]

A Spanish officer on the spot wrote a touching account of the Prince's
last moments. From the first the doctors gave little hope, and when
the Emperor heard of René's critical state he hastened to the wounded
hero's bedside, and knelt down, holding his hand in his own. The
Prince knew him, and begged him as a last favour to confirm the will
which he had made a month before, and take his young cousin and heir,
William of Nassau, under his protection. Charles promised to do all in
his power for the boy, and, with tears streaming down his face, kissed
the Prince's cheek before he passed away.

    "His Majesty the Emperor," continued the same writer, "saw him
    die, and after that retired to his chamber, where he remained
    some time alone without seeing anyone, and showed how much he
    loved him. The grief of the whole army and of the Court are so
    great that no words of mine can describe it."[357]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1544] LA SQUELETTE DE BAR]

From all sides the same bitter wail was heard. There was sorrow in the
ancient home at Bar, where René's marriage had been celebrated with
great rejoicing four years before. The Duke and Duchess wept for their
gallant brother-in-law, and Christina thought, with tender regret, of
the hero who in youthful days had seemed to her a very perfect knight.
The sad news was sent to De Courrières at the English camp before
Boulogne, by his Lieutenant of Archers, and the veteran shed tears
over the gallant Prince whom he had often followed to victory. Great
was the lamentation at Brussels when the truth became known. Nothing
but weeping was heard in the streets, and Queen Mary retired to the
Abbey of Groenendal to mourn for the loss which the Netherlands had
sustained by René's untimely death.[358] In his own city of Breda the
sorrow was deeper still. There his faithful wife, Anne of Lorraine, was
waiting anxiously for news from the battle-field. Her father had died
a few weeks before, and now her lord was torn from her in the flower
of his age, and she was left a childless widow. Early in the year
she had given birth to a daughter, who was christened on the 25th of
February, and called Mary, after her godmother, the Queen of Hungary,
but who died before she was a month old. Now report said that she was
about to become a mother for the second time, but her hopes were once
more doomed to disappointment. By René's last will, his titles and
the greater part of his vast estates passed to his cousin William of
Nassau, a boy of eleven, while a large jointure and the rich lands of
Diest were left to Anne for her life.[359] The Prince's corpse, clad
in the robes of a knight of the Golden Fleece, was borne to Breda,
and buried with his forefathers; but his heart was enshrined in the
Collegiate Church of Bar, among the tombs which held the ashes of his
wife's ancestors. On his death-bed René had expressed a wish that a
representation of his face and form, not as he was in life, but as
they would appear two years after death, should be carved on his tomb.
This strange wish was faithfully carried out by Anne of Lorraine, who
employed Ligier-Richier, the gifted Lorraine sculptor, to carve a
skeleton with upraised hand clasping the golden casket which contained
the dead hero's heart. The figure, carved in fine stone of ivory
whiteness, was, as it were, a literal rendering of the words, "Though
after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see
God." At the Revolution, the Collegiate Church of Bar, with the chapel
of the Lorraine Princes, which Montaigne called the most sumptuous
in France, was entirely destroyed; but René's monument was saved and
placed in the Church of St. Étienne, where it is commonly known as "La
Squelette de Bar."[360]

The memory of this popular Prince lingered long in the land of his
birth, and his fame lived in the songs of Flanders and Holland for many
generations. One of the best known begins with the lines:

    "C'est le Prince d'Orange,
    Trop matin s'est levé,
    Il appela son page,
    Mon Maure, est-il bridé?
    Que maudit soit la guerre--
    Mon Maure, est-il bridé?"[361]

And so the story goes on through many stanzas, which tell how, in spite
of his wife's dark forebodings, the hero rode out to the wars to fight
against the French, how he met with his fatal wound, and never came
home again.


V.

[Sidenote: AUG., 1544] THE DUKE'S ILLNESS]

The Prince's death threw a gloom over the imperial camp, but did not
diminish the warlike ardour of his battalions, who swore with one
voice that they would avenge their leader. On the 17th of August St.
Dizier at length surrendered. "A right dear-bought town," wrote Wotton,
"considering the number of men lost in the assault, and chiefly the
inestimable loss of that noble Prince." Ferrante immediately sent a
troop of light horse, with Francesco d'Este at their head, against
Joinville, the splendid home of the Guises, although, as Wotton
remarked, this was rather a house of pleasure than a stronghold. The
castle was spared by order of the Emperor for the sake of his niece
Christina, who begged him not to add to the Princess of Orange's
grief by destroying her uncle's house; but the town and churches were
sacked and set on fire, and the beautiful gardens, with their fine
water-shows and temples, were destroyed.[362] The news was received
with consternation in Paris, where Antoinette and her grandson had
taken refuge, and the Duchess's brother, Cardinal Bourbon, wrote to the
Scottish Queen telling her of the report that the enemy had burnt down
Joinville, which had fortunately proved to be false. "The destruction
of such a beautiful house," he adds, "would indeed have been sad."[363]
This calamity had been averted by Christina, but, in their anger at
the damage done by the imperial troops, the Guise Princes hardly
remembered the debt that they owed her. The King was furious, and in
the first burst of his indignation sent the Duke of Lorraine a message,
threatening to destroy him and all his house. The Duke now determined
to go to the French Court to defend himself from these charges and see
if it were possible to make proposals of peace in this quarter. The
Emperor's rapid advance had excited great alarm in Paris. Even the King
awoke to a sense of danger, and said to Margaret of Navarre, the sister
to whom he turned in all his worst troubles, "_Ma mignonne_, pray God
to spare me the disgrace of seeing the Emperor encamped before my city
of Paris." Queen Eleanor, in her distress, sent a Dominican friar in
whom she had great confidence--Don Gabriel de Guzman--to implore
her brother to hear her prayers. But Charles was still obdurate. He
received Francis of Lorraine in the camp after the Prince of Orange's
death, but when he heard that his nephew was going to the French Court,
he sent Montbardon to beg the Duchess, "as she loved him," not to let
her husband go to France so soon after he had seen him, lest people
should think that he was sent by the Emperor to treat of peace.

Christina replied in a letter written, as Wotton remarked, in her
own hand, telling her uncle that she had sent a servant post-haste
to overtake her husband, but that he was already at Châlons, and had
gone too far to retrace his steps. In spite of this manful attempt,
the Duke never reached Paris; he fell from his horse in a fainting fit
at Épernay, and was brought back in a litter to Bar, where Christina
nursed him for several weeks.[364] His efforts, however, proved
more effectual than he had expected. The Emperor's precautions were
necessary owing to the jealousy with which the English King regarded
every proposal of peace on the part of his ally, but in reality Charles
was almost as eager as Francis to put an end to the war. His resources
were exhausted, the plague was raging in Luxembourg and Flanders, and
he realized the danger of advancing into the enemy's country with the
Dauphin's army in his rear, while his hopes of the English march on
Paris had been disappointed by Henry's delays before Montreuil and
Boulogne. Under these circumstances he felt that he could no longer
refuse to treat with his foes. On the 29th of August, a week after the
Duke had started on his unfortunate journey, Admiral l'Annebaut and
the French Chancellor were admitted into the Emperor's presence, in
the camp near Châlons, and conferences were opened between them and
Granvelle, with the happy result that on the 19th of September peace
was signed at Crépy-en-Laonnois.

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1544] DUKE ANTOINE'S FUNERAL]

By this treaty the Duke of Orleans was to be given either the Emperor's
daughter in marriage, with the reversion of the Netherlands as her
dower, or else one of his Austrian nieces with the immediate possession
of Milan. In return Francis was to renounce his claims on Naples and
Artois, restore the Duke of Savoy's dominions, and endow his son with
large estates and revenues. All the towns and fortresses which had been
captured during the recent war were to be restored, including Stenay,
which, as Charles pointed out, the King of France "had seized in the
strangest manner, and held by force without paying homage, although
it is notoriously a fief of the empire."[365] As soon as peace was
signed, Granvelle's son, the young Bishop of Arras, was sent to ask the
English King to become a party to the treaty; but Henry, who had just
taken Boulogne after a long siege, quite refused, and professed great
surprise to hear that the Emperor had agreed to terms which seemed to
him more befitting the vanquished than the victor. On the other hand,
a strong party at the French Court complained that the rights of the
Crown were sacrificed to the personal aggrandisement of Orleans, and
on the 12th of December the Dauphin signed a secret protest against
the treaty, which was witnessed by Vendôme and Aumale.[366] But in
the provinces where war had been waging, peace was welcomed with
thankfulness, and the ruler and people of Lorraine could once more
breathe freely.

The Duke of Lorraine was now able to convey his father's body from the
Castle of Bar, where he had died, to Nancy. On the 15th of September he
and his brother set out at the head of the funeral procession, along
roads lined with crowds of people weeping for the good Duke who had
ruled the land so well. But since it was impossible for the Duke of
Guise and his family to come to Nancy at present, the last rites were
put off till the following year, and the old Duke's remains were left
to repose for the time in the Church of St. Georges.[367] Little dreamt
these loyal subjects that before the year was over the young Duke, on
whom their hopes were fixed, would himself be numbered with the dead,
and lie buried in his father's grave. But for the moment all was well.
The return of peace was hailed with rejoicing, and the restitution
of Stenay removed a blot from the scutcheon of Lorraine, while the
independence of the duchy was confirmed by a decree of the Diet of
Nuremberg, to which the Emperor gave his sanction.[368]

The Duke and Duchess received a pressing invitation to join in the
festivities that were held at Brussels to celebrate the peace. Charles
and Mary arrived there on the 1st of October, and were shortly
followed by Queen Eleanor, bringing in her train the Duke of Orleans
and the Duchess of Étampes, who had used all her influence with the
King to bring about peace, chiefly from jealousy of the Dauphin and
his mistress, Diane de Poitiers. The burghers of Brussels gave the
imperial family a magnificent entertainment at the hôtel-de-ville,
and presented Eleanor with a golden fountain of exquisite shape and
workmanship; while the Emperor lavished costly presents on his guests,
and gave the Queen of Hungary the fine domains of Binche and Turnhout
in gratitude for her services. Unfortunately, Christina was detained at
Nancy by a return of her husband's illness, and did not reach Brussels
till the 4th of November. By this time Eleanor had set out on her
return, and Christina, eager to see her aunt, followed her to Mons,
and spent two days in her company. On the 7th the Duchess came back to
Brussels with her brother-in-law, Nicolas de Vaudemont, and remained
with her uncle and aunt during a fortnight. It was her first visit
to Brussels since her wedding, more than three years before, and old
friends and faces welcomed her on all sides. But one familiar figure
was missing, and she found a melancholy pleasure in the company of her
sister-in-law, the widowed Princess of Orange, whom she saw for the
first time since her gallant husband's death. Charles treated his niece
with marked kindness, and gave her a superb necklace of pearls and
diamonds as a parting present.[369]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1545] PEACE AND PROSPERITY]

The winter was spent happily at Nancy, where the new Duke and Duchess
made themselves popular with all classes. Francis gave free rein to
his love of art and letters, and encouraged scholars and artists
by his enlightened patronage. He took passionate delight in music,
and was never happier than when he could surround himself with the
best singers and players on the lute and viol. Christina shared his
artistic tastes, and was greatly interested in the improvements of the
ducal palace. Together they made plans for the decoration of its halls
and gardens, and for the construction of new buildings and churches
in different parts of Lorraine, while the Court painters, Crock and
Chappin, were sent to Italy to collect antiques and study the best
examples of art and architecture.[370] At the same time Christina took
deep interest in the condition of her humbler subjects, and tried to
relieve distress by founding charitable institutions on the pattern of
those in Flanders. A new period of peace and prosperity seemed to have
dawned on Lorraine, and everything promised a long and happy reign.

By the end of the year the Duke and Duchess of Guise returned to
Joinville, and were actively engaged throughout the winter in
rebuilding the ruined town and repairing the damage done by the
imperial soldiery. Old quarrels between the two houses were forgotten,
and friendly intercourse was renewed. In February the Duke and
Duchess of Lorraine were present in the chapel of Joinville, at the
consecration of Guise's son Charles, as Archbishop of Reims, and in
March the Cardinal of Lorraine came to Nancy to discharge the duties
of executor to the late Duke. Antoine had provided liberally for all
his children. Nicolas de Vaudemont, his younger son, received a sum of
15,000 crowns, and Christina gave her brother-in-law a handsome present
of furniture, to help him in setting up house. Some lordships near
Joinville were left to the Duke of Guise, and everything was amicably
arranged.[371]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1545] FRANCIS'S DEATH]

Suddenly the Duke fell ill for the third time, and during several
days his life was in danger. Wotton was convinced that he had been
poisoned by his French enemies, and so alarming were the reports
which reached Brussels, that the Emperor wrote privately to his new
Ambassador in Paris, Granvelle's brother-in-law, St. Mauris, begging
him to keep a watchful eye on the affairs of Lorraine, lest Guise and
the Cardinal should take advantage of their nephew's condition to
seize his domains. But this time Francis recovered once more, and was
able to make his solemn entry into Nancy on the 16th of April. At the
Porte St. Nicolas he was met by the three orders--the nobles, clergy,
and people--and walked on foot, with Nicolas de Vaudemont at his side,
followed by his Ministers, to the Church of St. Georges. Here, kneeling
at the high-altar, he kissed the relic of the True Cross, and took a
solemn oath to respect the privileges of the people of Lorraine and
the liberties of the city of Nancy. After this a _Te Deum_ was chanted
and a banquet held in the ducal palace.[372] The next week, by the
advice of his doctors, Antoine Champier and Nicolas le Pois, he went
to Blamont, in the hope that the invigorating air of the hills might
complete his cure; but he grew weaker every day, and was subject to
frequent fainting fits of an alarming nature. In her anxiety, Christina
sent to Strasburg and Fribourg for well-known physicians, and Mary
of Hungary despatched her own doctor to Nancy, and consulted eminent
doctors in London and Paris on the patient's symptoms.[373] But all
was of no avail, and as a last resource the Duke was carried in a
litter to Remiremont, his favourite shooting-lodge in the heart of
the Vosges. It was the end of May, and the beautiful woods along the
mountain slopes were in the first glory of their spring foliage. For a
moment it seemed as if his delight in the beauty of the place and the
life-giving influence of sunshine and mountain air would restore him to
health. But already the hand of Death was upon him. On the Fête-Dieu he
became much worse, and his end was evidently near; but he was perfectly
conscious, and, sending for a notary, he made his last will, appointing
his wife Regent of the State and guardian of her little son and
daughter, and commending her and his children to the Emperor's care.
After this he received the last Sacraments, and passed quietly away on
Friday, the 12th of June. He was not yet twenty-eight, and had reigned
exactly one year.[374] Death had once more severed the marriage tie,
and Christina, who but lately called herself the happiest woman in the
world, was left stricken and desolate, a widow for the second time, at
the age of twenty-three.

FOOTNOTES:

[317] Abbé Calmet, "Histoire Ecclésiastique et Civile de Lorraine," i.
190.

[318] Hugo, 196, 200.

[319] Calmet, iii. 325; A. Hallays, "Nancy" ("Villes Célèbres"), 31.

[320] Calmet, i. 176; Hugo, 244; "Inventaire de Joinville," i. 378.

[321] H. Lepage, "Le Palais Ducal de Nancy," 10; C. Pfister, ii. 29;
"La Ville de Nancy," 65.

[322] Pfister, ii. 26; A. Hallays, "Nancy," 37-39.

[323] Lepage, "Palais Ducal," 3; Pfister, ii. 188.

[324] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 17.

[325] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 84.

[326] _Ibid._, ii. 20.

[327] Kaulek, 54.

[328] F. v. Bucholtz, "Geschichte d. Kaiser Ferdinand I.," ix. 141.

[329] Granvelle, "Papiers d'État," ii. 618; Bucholtz, ix. 141.

[330] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 639, 644, 655

[331] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 1, 436; Calendar of State
Papers, xvi. 1, 690.

[332] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 3, 6.

[333] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 85.

[334] Bucholtz, ix. 142.

[335] H. Lepage, "Le Palais Ducal de Nancy," 9; Pfister, ii. 256.

[336] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 636.

[337] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 1, 473; Calendar of State
Papers, xvi. 2, 51.

[338] The authenticity of this well-known saying has been often
disputed, and was certainly never addressed by the Duchess to either
of Henry VIII.'s Ambassadors. But Christina's words were recorded by
Joachim Sandrart, who wrote in the seventeenth century, as having been
spoken by a Princess of Lorraine, whom the English King had wooed in
vain, and were afterwards quoted by Horace Walpole "as the witty answer
of that Duchess of Milan whose portrait Holbein painted for Henry
VIII." (see Wornum's "Life of Holbein," 311; J. Sandrart, "Deutsche
Akademie"; and Walpole's "Anecdotes of Painting").

[339] State Papers, Record Office, viii. 641; Calendar of State Papers,
xvii. 711.

[340] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 12.

[341] Calendar of State Papers, xvii. 232.

[342] Granvelle, "Papiers d'État," ii. 628; Calendar of State Papers,
xvii. 273.

[343] Lanz, ii. 364.

[344] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 13.

[345] Pimodan, 81; Bouillé, i. 142.

[346] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vi. 2, 262.

[347] Calmet, i. 265; Pfister, ii. 200.

[348] Calendar of State Papers, Record Office, ix. 522.

[349] Calendar of State Papers, xviii. 2, 216; State Papers, Record
Office, ix. 557; Bucholtz, ix. 263.

[350] Altmeyer, "Relations," etc., 476; Gachard, "Voyages de Charles
V.," ii. 285.

[351] Schäfer, iv. 462; Calendar of State Papers, xix. 1, 349.

[352] Calmet, ii. 1196; Pfister, ii. 192.

[353] Gachard, "Voyages," ii. 289; Calendar of State Papers, Record
Office, ix. 724.

[354] Calendar of State Papers, xix. 1, 564.

[355] Calendar of State Papers, Record Office, x. 43.

[356] State Papers, Record Office, ix. 733.

[357] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vii. 267.

[358] Calendar of State Papers, xix. 1, 608; Calendar of Spanish State
Papers, vii. 280.

[359] Calendar of State Papers, xix. 1, 71; Groen v. Prinsterer,
"Archives de la Maison d'Orange," i. 1.

[360] C. Cournault, "Ligier-Richier," 28.

[361] R. Putnam, "William the Silent, Prince of Orange," ii. 435.

[362] Bouillé, ii. 148; Pimodan, 183; Oudin, "Histoire des Guises,"
Bib. Nat., f. 118; Calendar of State Papers, Record Office, x. 6, 43.

[363] Calendar of State Papers, xix. 2, 63.

[364] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vii. 296-298.

[365] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, vii. 305.

[366] _Ibid._, vii. 1, 350, 355.

[367] Calmet, ii. 1196; Pfister, ii. 192.

[368] Calmet, ii. 1281; Ravold, 744; Pfister, ii. 188; Calendar of
Spanish State Papers, vi. 2, 262.

[369] Henne, viii. 212-215; T. Juste, "Marie de Hongrie," 120; Calendar
of State Papers, xix. 2, 340.

[370] Pfister, ii. 256; H. Lepage, "La Ville de Nancy," 65.

[371] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, viii. 102; Bouillé, i. 244.

[372] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, viii. 195; Pfister, ii. 192;
Granvelle, "Papiers d'État," iii. 110.

[373] Ravold, iii. 764; Calmet, ii. 1276.

[374] Pfister, ii. 192.




BOOK IX

CHRISTINA, REGENT OF LORRAINE

1545-1552


I.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1545] VAUDEMONT'S CLAIMS]

The premature death of her husband left Christina in a position of
exceptional difficulty. Everything combined to add to her distress. She
herself was in delicate health, expecting the birth of another child in
a few weeks, her only son was an infant of two years and a half, and
she had not a single near relative or tried Minister to give her the
help of his counsel and experience. The Duke had appointed her Regent
of Lorraine during his son's minority, but even before he breathed
his last, her claims to this office were disputed. Although Christina
herself was popular with all classes of her son's subjects, there was
a strong party in Lorraine which dreaded the influence of her powerful
uncle. At the head of this party was the Rhinegrave, Jean de Salm, an
able nobleman who had always been French in his sympathies, and who
now seized the opportunity of the Duke's last illness to advance the
claims of Monsieur de Metz, seeing that this young Prince would be an
easy tool in his hands. At ten o'clock on the Fête-Dieu, when the Duke
had received the last Sacraments, the Count de Salm entered his room
with Nicolas de Vaudemont, and thus addressed him: "Monseigneur, if it
please God to call you to himself, do you wish that Monsieur de Metz,
your brother, should have a share in the administration of your State
and the care of your children, without prejudice to the arrangements
which you have already made, by word and in writing, with your august
wife the Duchess?" The dying Prince, who was hardly conscious, murmured
a faint "Yes," upon which the Count summoned a notary to write down
the Duke's last wishes, and proceeded to read the document to the
Duchess in the presence of her servants.[375] Christina, in her bitter
distress, paid little heed to this interruption, and was only anxious
to return to her dying husband's bedside; but immediately after his
death she found herself compelled to face the question. Owing to her
delicate state of health, she decided to put off the Duke's funeral,
as well as that of his father, until the following year. A week after
his death she joined her young children at her dower-house of Denœuvre,
and at the same time the Duke's body was removed by Count de Salm, as
Marshal of Lorraine, to the collegiate church of this place, and buried
in a temporary grave, after lying in state during three days.

The Emperor was at Worms with the Elector Palatine and his wife
when the news of the Duke of Lorraine's death reached him, and sent
Montbardon at once to his niece with letters of condolence. Christina
availed herself of this opportunity to ask her uncle's advice regarding
the deed drawn up by Jean de Salm. Charles, realizing the critical
nature of the situation, immediately sent one of his most trusted
servants, François Bonvalot, Abbot of Luxeuil, to Nancy, with orders
to assure the Duchess of his protection, and if possible secure her
the Regency and sole charge of her children. Bonvalot was the brother
of Granvelle's wife, the excellent Madame Nicole, and had only lately
resigned the office of Ambassador at Paris, and retired to Besançon to
administer the affairs of this diocese as coadjutor of the Bishop. No
one was better fitted to help the widowed Duchess than this statesman,
who was intimately acquainted with the intrigues of the Guise Princes
and the French Court. He hastened to Denœuvre without delay, and,
as soon as he had seen Christina, wrote the following letter to his
brother-in-law, St. Mauris, giving a clear and graphic account of the
situation:

  "MY BROTHER,

    [Sidenote: JUNE, 1545] CHRISTINA'S DIFFICULTIES]

    "The Emperor, having been informed of Monsieur de Lorraine's
    death, has sent me here to help his niece the Duchess, and to
    secure her the administration of the State and the guardianship
    of her children, which belongs to her by right and reason,
    but which Monsieur de Metz is trying to claim, by virtue
    of the custom of this country, as well as of certain acts
    somewhat suspiciously passed by the Count de Salm and other
    of the nobles when the late Lord Duke was _in extremis_....
    His Majesty, being anxious to comfort the said lady in her
    great affliction, and act the part not only of a good uncle,
    but of a true father, has sent me here to give her advice and
    help, and begs you to tell the Most Christian King the wrong
    which has been done her in this strange fashion, and which
    His Imperial Majesty will never allow, because of the close
    relation in which this lady stands to him. He hopes that the
    King will join with him in this, for the sake of the friendship
    which he has ever borne to this house and to this widowed lady
    and her orphan children, whose fathers and protectors their
    two Majesties ought to be. His Imperial Majesty begs the King
    most earnestly not to allow the said lady to be deprived of
    this Regency to which Monsieur de Metz pretends, in spite
    of common right and the ancient custom of Lorraine, as the
    Count of Salm's deed abundantly shows, since this would have
    been superfluous if the custom were such as he pretends it to
    be. You will lay these same reasons before the Cardinal and
    Monsieur de Guise. If you are told that Queen Yolande resigned
    the government of Lorraine in favour of her son, you will
    reply that this was done of her own free choice; and if any
    person objects that the mother of the late Duke Antoine and the
    Cardinal and Sieur de Guise did not retain the administration
    after her husband's death, you will point out that the said
    Duke was of full age, and that the said lady was content to lay
    down the government on this account.... And, further, you will
    inquire what the King intends to do in the matter, and if he
    means to support Monsieur de Metz or take any steps prejudicial
    to the said lady and the tranquillity of these lands, and will
    inform His Imperial Majesty and myself of these things without
    delay."[376]

When Bonvalot wrote this letter from Denœuvre, on the 27th of June,
the young Archbishop of Reims had already arrived there, with an
agreement drawn up by his uncle the Cardinal, which he submitted to
the Duchess for approval. He informed the Abbot that King Francis
trusted the said lady would avoid all occasion of strife, which, as
Bonvalot remarked, was exactly what the Emperor wished, and Monsieur
de Metz, by his singular action, had done his best to prevent. In this
difficult situation Christina showed remarkable good sense and tact.
She told Bonvalot frankly that she would gladly avail herself of her
brother-in-law's help in the administration of public affairs, and
wished to treat him with perfect friendliness as long as she retained
the sole charge of her children and the chief authority in the State.
Accordingly, the agreement proposed by the Cardinal was adopted, with
some modifications, and signed at Denœuvre, on the 6th of August, by
Christina, Nicolas, the Count de Salm, and other chief officials of
Lorraine. The Duchess and her brother-in-law were appointed joint
Regents, and were to affix their seal to all public deeds. Vaudemont
was given a key of the Treasury, and was allowed the patronage of one
out of every three vacant offices; but the real authority, as well as
the care of her children, was vested in the Duchess. Bonvalot told the
Emperor that, under the circumstances, this was the best arrangement
that could be made, and Charles of Lorraine and his family had nothing
but praise for the Duchess's good-will and moderation.[377]

[Sidenote: NOV., 1545] HER TACT AND WISDOM]

A fortnight later, Christina gave birth to her second daughter, who
was named Dorothea, after the Countess Palatine. But the severe mental
strain which the mother had undergone affected the child, who was a
cripple from her birth. On the 5th of November the Treaty of Denœuvre
was ratified by the States assembled at Neufchâteau, not, however,
without considerable discussion. Some of the nobles tried to limit
the Regents' powers, and managed to insert a provision that none but
Lorraine's should hold offices of State, a measure clearly aimed at
the Flemings and Burgundians in the Duchess's service. Nicolas de
Vaudemont, being young and inexperienced, agreed readily to these
demands, which drew forth a strong protest from the Emperor and Mary
of Hungary. To add to Bonvalot's dissatisfaction, Monsieur de Metz
accompanied the Archbishop on his return to France, without even
informing Christina of his intention. In spite of these provocations,
she maintained the same conciliatory attitude, and her prudence and
modesty excited the Abbot's sincere admiration. The Emperor addressed
an affectionate letter to his niece, assuring her of his fatherly love
and protection, and saying that he would never cease to regard her
interests as his own. "And it will be a great pleasure to me," he adds,
"if you will often write to me, and I on my part will let you hear from
me in the same manner."[378]

Christina now returned to spend Christmas at Nancy, and settled in
the ducal palace with her children. Monsieur de Metz gave up his
bishopric, and renouncing the ecclesiastical profession adopted the
style of Count of Vaudemont. But he showed no further disposition
to make himself disagreeable to his sister-in-law, and their mutual
relations were rendered easier by the presence of the Princess of
Orange, who spent most of the year at Nancy. The two widowed Princesses
were drawn together by that tenderest of ties, the memory of those
whom they had loved and lost. Henceforth they became the dearest and
closest of friends. During all the troubles and sorrows of the next
twenty years Anne's loyalty to her sister-in-law remained unshaken.
Her strong common-sense and practical qualities, her coolness and
courage in emergencies, were a great support to Christina, while the
confidence that Mary of Hungary reposed in her proved no less valuable.
The harmony of the family circle continued unbroken, and the internal
administration of Lorraine was carried on as peaceably as before. The
conduct of foreign affairs presented far greater difficulties, and all
Christina's prudence was needed to steer the way safely through the
rocks that lay in her course.

In spite of his friendly professions, the French King, it soon became
evident, was likely to prove a troublesome neighbour. As Wotton wrote
when Francis of Lorraine died, "If the sweet, vain hope of the delivery
of Milan did not let him, I think the Duke's death might easily
provoke the French King to attempt somewhat on Bar and Lorraine."[379]
Even before her husband's death, Christina had been involved in a
long correspondence regarding Stenay, which the French refused to
give up until Duke Antoine's letters surrendering the town could be
produced. The missing papers were at length discovered in possession
of the French Governor, De Longueval, who had maliciously concealed
them, and the town was evacuated at the end of August, 1545. Ten days
afterwards the Duke of Orleans died of the plague at Abbeville, in his
twenty-fifth year. The loss of this favourite son was a heavy blow to
Francis. "God grant," he wrote to the Emperor, in an outburst of deep
emotion, "that you may never know what it is to lose a son!" The event,
as it happened, proved most opportune for Charles, who was released
from the unpleasant necessity of giving his daughter or niece to a
worthless Prince, with Milan or the Netherlands as her dower. But it
naturally provoked Francis to demand fresh concessions and revive his
old claim to Milan.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1546] THE CITADEL OF STENAY]

The effect of this new quarrel was to increase Christina's
difficulties. When the French at length abandoned Stenay, it was
found that not only the recent fortifications had been destroyed,
as agreed upon in the Treaty of Crépy, but that the old walls of the
town had been pulled down. Mary of Hungary justly complained that the
defenceless state of Stenay was a grave cause of danger to Luxembourg,
and urged her brother to garrison the town, declaring, if war broke
out, the Duchess would be unable to maintain the neutrality of
Lorraine. Charles, who had already left the Netherlands to attend the
Diet of Regensburg, now invited his niece to meet him at Waldrevange,
on the frontiers of Luxembourg, and discuss the matter. Christina
obeyed her uncle's summons gladly, and assured him that she was quite
alive to the importance of Stenay, and had already asked her subjects'
help in rebuilding the town walls. But since the presence of an
imperial force might excite suspicion, she proposed to place a young
Luxembourg Captain named Schauwenbourg in command of the garrison. The
plan met with Charles's approval; but Mary was by no means satisfied,
and begged the Emperor to insist on an oath of allegiance to himself
being taken by the garrison and burghers. Charles replied that no doubt
the best plan would be to keep Stenay altogether, but that this would
be a direct violation of the Treaty of Crépy, as well as a wrong to the
little Duke, and might stir up the French "to make a great broil."[380]

The invaluable Bonvalot was now called in, and accepted Christina's
invitation to attend the funeral of the two Dukes on the 14th of June.
But when the Abbot reached Nancy, he found that only Duke Antoine's
obsequies were about to be solemnized, and that the Duchess had
deferred those of her husband in compliance with a request from the
Guise Princes. On the day after the old Duke's funeral, Bonvalot had
a long interview with Christina, who expressed her anxiety to meet
her aunt's wishes, and explained that Vaudemont was only afraid of
arousing the suspicions of the French. While she was speaking, Nicolas
himself came in and told the Abbé how grateful he felt to the Emperor
for the affection which he showed to his little nephew, and how fully
he realized the importance of defending Stenay, but that he dared not
risk exciting the displeasure of Francis, who was already advancing a
thousand new claims on Bar. The members of the Ducal Council, to whom
the matter was referred, expressed the same opinion, telling Bonvalot
that they looked to the Emperor as their father and protector, and
would guard Stenay as the apple of their eye. The Abbot was satisfied
with these assurances, and advised the Emperor to leave the matter
in his niece's hands. Charles had empowered him to offer Nicolas the
restitution of the Abbey of Gorzes, which he had formerly held, and
which the Imperialists had recovered from the French and rebuilt at
considerable expense. But Christina would not hear of this, saying that
her brother-in-law cared more for the good of the State than for his
private advantage, and Nicolas himself told Bonvalot that he would not
endanger his nephew's realm for ten wealthy abbeys.

[Sidenote: JULY, 1546] THE GUISE FAMILY]

    "As for madame your niece, Sire," wrote the Abbot, "I have
    always found her most anxious to please Your Majesty, at
    whatever cost. But as a mother she naturally fears to run any
    risks which might injure her children, and would, if possible,
    avoid these perils. She begged me, with tears in her eyes,
    to make Your Majesty understand this, and have pity upon
    her, trusting that you will be content with the promises of
    the Council, or else find another and less dangerous way of
    defending Stenay. Sire, I could not refuse to give you this
    message, in obedience to Her Highness's express commands, and
    beg you very humbly to take them in good part."[381]

So the incident closed, and for the time being nothing more was heard
of Stenay.


II.

The Duke of Guise and his family now stood higher than ever in the
King's favour. His eldest son, Aumale, was dangerously wounded in the
siege of Boulogne by an English spear, which penetrated so deeply into
his forehead that the surgeon could only extract the steel by planting
his foot on the patient's head. After this ordeal the Count lay between
life and death for several weeks, and owed his recovery to the tender
nursing of his mother, who preserved as a trophy at Joinville the
English spearhead which so nearly ended her son's career.[382] As soon
as he was able to move, the King sent for Antoinette, and insisted
on taking her to hunt at St. Germain, and consulting her as to his
latest improvements in this palace. Her grandson, the young Duke of
Longueville, was also a great favourite at Court, and when peace was
at length concluded, the King gave him a copy of the new treaty with
England to send to the Queen of Scotland. The boy enclosed it in a
merry letter, sending his love to the little Queen his sister, and
telling his mother that if she would not come to France he meant to
come and see her, and was old and strong enough to face the roughest
sea-voyage.[383]

The Cardinal now announced his intention of taking the whole family
back to Joinville, to attend the ducal funeral; but once more the King
interfered, and kept them at Court for the christening of the Dauphin's
daughter, which was celebrated with great pomp at Fontainebleau. Henry
VIII. stood godfather, and the little Princess was named Elizabeth,
after the King's mother, "as good and virtuous a woman as ever lived,"
said the English Ambassador, Sir Thomas Cheyney; while the Imperialists
declared that the name was chosen because of its popularity in Spain
and of the hopes of the French that the child might one day wed Don
Carlos.[384]

Meanwhile the arrival of the Guises was anxiously awaited at Nancy. On
the 17th of July Christina wrote to inform Abbot Bonvalot that she had
at length been able to fix the date of her husband's funeral:

  "MONSIEUR DE LUXEUIL,

    [Sidenote: AUG., 1546] FUNERAL OF DUKE FRANCIS]

    "I must inform you that I have heard from the Cardinal and the
    Duke of Guise, who hope to be here by the end of the month, so
    the service will be held on the 6th of August, all being well.
    I beg you will not fail to be present. As for my news, all I
    have to tell you is that the King is giving me great trouble in
    Bar, and is trying to raise a tax in the town, which has never
    been done or thought of before. I fear that in the end I, too,
    shall have to go to Court, but shall wait until I hear from the
    Emperor. Can you give me any information as to his movements?
    All I can hear is that His Majesty is collecting a large army
    to make war on the Princes of the Empire, who have rebelled
    against him. I pray God to help him, and send him success and
    prosperity, and have good hope that my prayers will be heard,
    as this will be for the good of Christendom. Here I will end,
    Monsieur de Luxeuil, praying God to have you in His holy
    keeping.

                                               "La bien votre,
                                                    "CHRESTIENNE."[385]

The coming of the Guises, however, was again delayed, and the funeral
did not take place until the 17th of August. On the previous day the
Duke's corpse was brought from Denœuvre to Nancy by the great officers
of State, and laid on a bier in the Church of St. George's, surrounded
by lighted torches and a guard of armed men, who kept watch all night.
The funerals of the Dukes of Lorraine had always been famous for their
magnificence, and there was an old proverb which said: "Fortunate
is the man who has seen the coronation of an Emperor, the sacring
of a King of France, and the funeral of a Duke of Lorraine."[386]
On this occasion nothing that could heighten the imposing nature of
the ceremony was neglected. All the Princes of the blood, Nicolas of
Vaudemont, the Duke of Guise with his five sons and grandson, rode
out from the ducal palace to the Church of St. Georges, and took
their places, as chief mourners, at the head of the long procession
that wound through the streets to the Cordeliers' shrine. In their
train came a multitude of clergy, nobles, and Ambassadors from all
the crowned heads in Europe, followed by a motley crowd of burghers
and humble folk, all in deep mourning, with torches in their hands.
The chariot bearing the coffin was drawn by twelve horses, draped
with black velvet adorned with the cross of Lorraine in white satin.
The Duke's war-horse, in full armour, was led by two pages, while the
servants of his household walked bareheaded on either side, with folded
arms, in token that their master needed their services no more. On the
hearse lay an image of the dead Prince, with the ducal baton in his
hand, clad in crimson robes and a mantle of gold brocade fastened with
a diamond clasp. This effigy was placed on a huge catafalque erected in
the centre of the church, lighted with a hundred torches, and hung with
banners emblazoned with the arms of Lorraine, Bar, Provence, Jerusalem,
and the Sicilies.

In the tribune above the choir knelt the Princess of Orange, the
Duchess of Guise, and her newly-wedded daughter-in-law, Diane of
Poitiers's daughter Louise, Marchioness of Mayenne, all clad in the
same long black mantles lined with ermine. The Countess Palatine,
Dorothea, had arrived at Nancy on the 17th of June, to attend her
brother-in-law's funeral, but as the Guises failed to appear, she
returned to Heidelberg at the end of a fortnight.

[Sidenote: OCT., 1546] ANNE DE LORRAINE]

Christina herself was unable to be present, "owing to her excessive
sorrow," writes the chronicler, and remained on her knees in prayer,
with the Princess of Macedonia and her young children, in her own room,
hung with black, while the requiem was chanted and the last rites were
performed.[387] When all was over, and the "two Princes of peace," as
De Boullay called Francis and his father, were laid side by side in
the vault of the Friars' Church, the vast assembly dispersed and the
mourners went their ways. Only Anne of Lorraine remained at Nancy with
her sister-in-law, who could not bear to part from her. A letter which
this Princess wrote to her cousin, the Queen of Scotland, this summer
is of interest for the glimpse which it gives of the widowed Duchess
and the boy round whom all her hopes centred:

    "Your Majesty's last letters reached me on the day when I
    arrived here from home, and I regret extremely that I have been
    unable to answer them before. I am very glad to hear you are
    in good health and kind enough to remember me. On my part, I
    can assure you that there is no one in your family who thinks
    of you with greater affection or is more anxious to do you
    service than myself. I did not fail to give your kind message,
    to Madame de Lorraine, my sister, and Her Highness returns her
    most humble thanks. You will be glad to hear that her son is
    well and thriving. I pray God that he may live to fulfil the
    promise of his early years. Everyone who sees him speaks well
    of him, and his nature is so good that I hope he will grow up
    to satisfy our highest expectations. May God grant you long
    life!

                                        "Your humble cousin,
                                               "ANNE DE LORRAINE."[388]

The Princess of Orange was still in Lorraine when King Francis came
to visit the Duchess. This monarch was as active as ever, in spite of
frequent attacks of illness, and spent the autumn in making a progress
through Burgundy and Champagne, hunting and travelling seven or eight
leagues a day in the most inclement weather.

In October he came to Joinville, and Christina, glad to be relieved
of the necessity of going to Court herself, invited him to pay her a
visit at Bar. In this once stately Romanesque castle, of which little
now remains, the Duchess and the Princess of Orange, "dowagers both,"
as Wotton remarks, entertained Francis magnificently, and provided a
series of hunting-parties and banquets for his amusement.

The true object of the King's visit was to arrange a marriage between
the Duchess and the Count of Aumale. The young soldier made no secret
of his love for his cousin's beautiful widow, Antoinette was anxious to
see her son settled, and both the King and the Guises were fully alive
to the political advantages of the alliance. On the 26th of October
Wotton wrote from Bar, "The fame continues of a marriage between the
Dowager of Lorraine and the Count of Aumale," although, as he had
already remarked in a previous letter, it was hard to believe the
Duchess's uncles would consent to the union. Aumale's own hopes were
high, and he sent a messenger to Scotland to tell his sister of the
good cheer which they were enjoying in Madame de Lorraine's house at
Bar.[389]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1546] MARRIAGE PROPOSALS]

But these hopes were doomed to disappointment. Christina was determined
never to marry again. Like her aunt, Mary of Hungary, having once
tasted perfect happiness, she was unwilling to repeat the experiment.
Her beauty was in its prime, her charms attracted lovers of every
age and rank. During the next ten or twelve years she was courted by
several of the most illustrious personages and bravest captains of the
age. She smiled on all her suitors in turn, and gave them freely of her
friendship, but remained true to her resolve to live for her children
alone, and took for her device a solitary tower with doves fluttering
round its barred windows, and the motto _Accipio nullas sordida turris
aves_ (A ruined tower, I give shelter to no birds), as a symbol of
perpetual widowhood.[390]

Aumale consoled himself by winning fresh laurels in the next war, and
before long married another bride of high degree; but Brantôme, who
was intimate with the Guises, tells us that he never forgave Madame de
Lorraine for rejecting his suit, and remained her bitter enemy to the
end of his life.[391] The King took Christina's refusal more lightly.
He never treated women's fancies seriously, and when he found that
Aumale's suit was not acceptable, he sought the Duchess's help in a
scheme that lay nearer his heart. This was the marriage of his own
daughter Margaret with Philip of Spain, whose young wife had died, in
June, 1545, a few days after giving birth to the Infant Don Carlos. The
old scheme of marrying this Princess to the Emperor's only son was now
revived at the French Court, and Christina, who had always appreciated
Madame Marguerite's excellent qualities, entered readily into the
King's wishes. But, as she soon discovered, her aunt, Queen Eleanor,
was greatly opposed to the idea, and still ardently wished to see
Philip married to her own daughter, the Infanta Maria of Portugal.[392]

From Bar Francis returned to spend All Hallows at Joinville, where he
enjoyed fresh revels, and delighted the Duke of Longueville by telling
him to make haste and grow tall, that he might enter his service.

    "Now he goes," wrote the boy's tutor, Jean de la Brousse,
    "to keep Christmas at Compiègne, and will spend the winter
    in Paris, watching how matters go with the Emperor and the
    Protestants, whose armies have been three months face to face,
    and yet do not know how to kill each other."[393]

In the same letter the writer describes how, on his journey to
Plessis, to bring the Princess of Navarre to Court, he met the Queen
of Scotland's sister, Madame Renée, with a number of old monks and
nuns, on her way from Fontévrault to Joinville. On the 16th of December
Madame Renée took possession of the Convent of St. Pierre at Reims, of
which she was Abbess, and the Duchess of Lorraine and the Princess of
Orange were among the guests present at this ceremony, at the entry of
her brother the Archbishop into his episcopal city on the following day.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1547] DEATH OF HENRY VIII.]

Meanwhile the news of Christina's supposed marriage travelled far
and wide. It reached Venice, where the fate of the Duchess who had
once reigned over Milan always excited interest, and was reported to
King Henry of England by one of his Italian agents. His curiosity
was aroused, and when the French Ambassador, Odet de Selve, came to
Windsor, he asked him if his master had concluded the marriage which
he had in hand. "What marriage?" asked De Selve innocently. "That of
Madame de Lorraine," replied Henry testily. "With whom?" asked the
Ambassador. But Henry would say no more, and relapsed into sullen
silence.[394] He had come back from Boulogne seriously ill, and grew
heavier and more unwieldy every day. A week afterwards he had a severe
attack of fever, and on his return to London sent Norfolk and Surrey to
the Tower.

Mary of Hungary was so much alarmed at this fresh outbreak of violence
that she sent to Chapuys, who was living in retirement at Louvain, for
advice. The veteran diplomatist, who for sixteen years had toiled to
avoid a rupture between the two monarchs, wrote back, on the 29th of
January, 1547, advising the Queen to take no action. "Physicians say,"
he added, "that the best and quickest cure for certain maladies is to
leave the evil untouched and avoid further irritation." When the old
statesman wrote these words, the King, whose varying moods he knew so
well, had already ceased from troubling. He died at Whitehall on the
28th of January, 1547.

The news of his royal brother's death moved the King of France deeply.
"We were both of the same age," he said, "and now he is gone it is time
for me to go hence, too."[395] In spite of the painful ailments from
which he suffered, Francis still moved restlessly from place to place.
Towards the end of Lent he left Loches to spend Easter at St. Germain,
but fell ill on the way, and died at Rambouillet on the 31st of March.

The death of these two monarchs, who filled so large a place in the
history of the times, produced a profound sensation throughout Europe.
No one felt the shock more than the Duchess, who had been courted by
one Prince, and had lately received the other under her roof. But a
third death this spring touched her still more closely. On the 28th
of February the good old Queen Philippa passed away in her humble
cell at Pont-à-Mousson. As she lay dying she asked what was the day
of the week, and, being told it was Saturday, remarked: "All the best
things of my life came to me on this day. I was born and married to my
dear husband on a Saturday, I entered Nancy amid the rejoicings of my
people, and I forsook the world to take the veil, on this day, and now
on Saturday I am going to God." Her children and grandchildren knelt at
the bedside, but Guise, her best-loved son, only arrived from Paris at
the last moment. She opened her eyes at the sound of his voice. "Adieu,
mon ami," she said, "and do not forget to keep God before your eyes."
These were her last words, and as the pure spirit passed out of this
life the sound of weeping was broken by the joyous songs of her pet
lark.[396]

She was buried, as she desired, in the convent cloister, and the
people, who venerated her as a saint, flocked to the funeral. Christina
employed Ligier-Richier, the sculptor of the Prince of Orange's
monument, to carve a recumbent effigy of the dead Queen in coloured
marbles on her tomb. The black cloak and grey habit were faithfully
reproduced, the finely-modelled features were rendered in all their
ivory whiteness, and a tiny figure of a kneeling nun was represented in
the act of laying the crown at her feet. When the convent church was
pillaged by rioters in 1793, this monument was buried by the nuns in
the garden. Here it was discovered in 1822, and brought to Nancy, where
it now stands in the Church of the Cordeliers, near the stately tomb
which Philippa herself had reared to her husband, King René.[397]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1546] THE LEAGUE OF SCHMALKALDE]


III.

Of the three great monarchs whose fame had filled the world during
the last forty years, only one remained alive, and he was engaged in
a desperate struggle. Throughout the autumn and winter of 1546-47,
Charles V. carried on a vigorous campaign against the coalition of
Princes known as the League of Schmalkalde. Christina watched the
progress of the war with keen anxiety, and saw with distress that her
brother-in-law, the Palatine, had joined the rebel ranks. Frederic had
never forgiven the Emperor for sacrificing his wife's rights by the
Treaty of Spires, and showed his displeasure by refusing to attend the
Chapter of the Golden Fleece at Utrecht in January, 1546. He further
annoyed Charles by introducing Lutheran rites at Heidelberg, and on
Christmas Day he and Dorothea received Communion in both kinds at the
hands of a Protestant pastor in the Church of the Holy Ghost. But he
still hesitated to take up arms against the friend of his youth. At
length, in August, he declared himself on the Protestant side, and for
the first time the red flag of the Palatinate was seen in the camp of
the Emperor's foes. Before long, however, his courage failed him, and
when Charles recovered the imperial city of Halle, in Suabia, Frederic
hastened thither to make his peace. Tears rose to the veteran's eyes
when the Emperor said how much it had grieved him to see so old a
friend in the ranks of his foes, but hastened to add that he forgave
him freely and would only remember his past services. From this time
the Palatine's loyalty never again wavered, but he was obliged to
restore Catholic rites in Heidelberg and to give up his fortress of
Hoh-Königsberg in Franconia to Albert of Brandenburg.[398]

The Duke of Würtemberg and the cities of Ulm and Augsburg soon followed
the Palatine's example, and Charles's triumph was complete by the
decisive victory of Mühlberg. "God be thanked, who never forsakes
his own," wrote Granvelle to Mary of Hungary from the battle-field,
at midnight on the 24th of April.[399] The Elector John Frederick of
Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse were made prisoners, the League of
Schmalkalde was dissolved, and Titian commemorated the Emperor's heroic
deeds in a famous equestrian portrait.

[Sidenote: NOV., 1547] THE DIET OF AUGSBURG]

The peace of Lorraine was insured by the victory of Mühlberg, and
Christina shared in the general sense of relief with which the close
of the war was hailed. When, in the following autumn, the Regent
and the Princess of Orange rode to meet the Emperor at the Diet of
Augsburg, the Duchess joined them on the frontiers of Lorraine. These
three august ladies reached Augsburg on the 21st of November, and were
received by King Ferdinand, his son Archduke Maximilian, and the Prince
of Piedmont, who met them outside the gates, and escorted them to the
Emperor's lodgings in the fine house of the Fuggers. Here the Countess
Palatine and Ferdinand's daughter, the Duchess of Bavaria, were
awaiting them at the doors of the courtyard, and conducted them into
Charles's presence. During the next three months Christina lived in the
great banker's house, with the other members of the imperial family,
as her uncle's guest. Augsburg itself was a noble city. The wealth of
her merchants, the splendour of their houses and gardens, amazed every
stranger who entered her gates. "The Fuggers' house," wrote Ascham,
"would over-brag all Cheapside." The copper roofs glittered in the sun,
the carved and painted decorations of the interior were of the most
costly and elaborate description.[400] And this winter the streets of
Augsburg were thronged with Princes and ladies. It was the gayest and
most splendid Diet ever seen. Never before had so many Archduchesses
and Duchesses been present, never was there so much dancing and
jousting and feasting. On St. Andrew's Day the whole imperial family
attended a solemn Mass in honour of the Knights of the Fleece, and
were entertained by the Emperor at a banquet, after which the Queen
of Hungary received the Companions of the Order in her apartments. On
Christmas Day all the Princes and Princesses were present at High Mass
in the Cathedral, and on the Feast of the Three Kings they attended
service in the Court chapel, when Granvelle's son, the young Bishop of
Arras, officiated, and the Palatine, the Marquis of Brandenburg, and
the Archduke, presented the customary offerings of gold, frankincense,
and myrrh, in the Emperor's name. Except on these state occasions,
Charles dined alone and never spoke at meals, but generally sat by the
window for an hour or two afterwards, talking to his brother and sister
or nephews and nieces.

King Ferdinand's rooms, on the contrary, were never empty. He had
lost his faithful wife, Anna of Bohemia, in January, but his son and
daughter were lavish in dispensing their father's hospitality. Like his
sister Mary, Ferdinand was very fond of music, and enjoyed listening to
his fine Kapelle, while one of his favourite jesters was always present
to amuse the Electors and Princesses at his table.[401] His son, the
Archduke Max, as Ascham calls him, was a gay and pleasant gentleman,
"of goodly person and stature," speaking eight languages, and very
popular with all classes, especially the Lutherans, whose opinions he
was supposed to affect. Charles's other nephew, Emanuel Philibert, the
Prince of Piedmont, was another gallant squire of dames, as ready to
take part in masque and dance as he was foremost in active warfare.
Every evening there was music and dancing in the King's rooms, and the
old halls of the merchants rang to the sound of laughter and melody. In
that joyous throng the Countess Palatine was the gayest of the gay, and
Christina forgot her sorrows to become young once more.

[Sidenote: 1548] THE MARQUIS ALBERT]

There was one man among the Princes assembled at Augsburg who gazed
with frank admiration at the handsome Duchess; this was the Marquis
Albert of Brandenburg, Lord of Culmbach and Burgrave of Nuremberg.
While still a boy he succeeded to his father's principality in
Franconia, and was educated by his uncle, the Duke of Prussia and
Grand-Master of the Teutonic Order. Although brought up a Lutheran,
he entered the Emperor's service before he was twenty, and fought
gallantly in the wars of Cleves and Champagne. A wild and reckless
spirit, who rode hard, drank deep, and knew no fear, Albert was adored
by his soldiers, whose toils and hardships he shared with cheerful
courage, while his name was the terror of all peaceful citizens.
"Thunder and lightning, devouring fire," wrote a contemporary, "are
not more terrible than the Marquis Albert on the battle-field."[402]
But there was a fascination about this ruthless dare-devil which no
woman could resist. His sisters were passionately devoted to him, and
Bona, the Queen of Poland, tried in vain to marry him to one of her
daughters. Roger Ascham describes him as

    "another Achilles, his face fair and beautiful, but stern and
    manly, with flowing locks and great rolling eyes, yet with a
    sad, restless look, as if he was ever seeking what he could not
    find. A man of few words withal, but with a deep, strong voice,
    ever more ready to hear than to speak."[403]

There seemed no heights to which this soldier of fortune could not
aspire. The Emperor treated him with fatherly affection, and the Queen
and the Duchess of Lorraine honoured the sumptuous banquets, in which
he displayed his usual prodigality, careless of the debts with which he
was already loaded.

Once more rumour was busy with Christina's name. The Marquis Albert
proclaimed himself her devoted servant, and her marriage with the
young King Sigismund of Poland was seriously discussed at Augsburg.
This monarch's wife, the Archduchess Elizabeth, had died before his
accession, and his sister, the Electress Hedwig of Brandenburg,
was eager to bring about a union between him and the Duchess of
Lorraine;[404] but, as usual, these rumours ended in smoke, and the
only marriage announced at Augsburg was that of the Archduke Max and
his cousin the Infanta Maria of Spain, an alliance which had long been
privately arranged.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1548] THE INTERIM]

Early in the New Year another distinguished person arrived at Augsburg,
in the person of the great Venetian master, Titian. He came in
obedience to an urgent summons from the Emperor, and during the next
few months painted a magnificent series of portraits, including those
of Charles and Ferdinand, the captive Elector of Saxony, Chancellor
Granvelle, his wife, and his son, the Bishop of Arras, who was a great
admirer of Titian's art. Fourteen years before, this same master had
taken Christina's portrait, when she came to Milan as the youthful
bride of Francesco Sforza; now he saw her again in the flower of her
womanhood, and, had opportunity offered, would doubtless have painted
her again. But disquieting rumours of unrest on the frontiers of
Lorraine reached Augsburg, and on the 16th of February the Duchess set
out on her return to Nancy. The Emperor gave his niece a costly ring
as a parting present, and Archduke Max, the Marquis Albert, the Prince
of Piedmont, together with the Countess Palatine and the Princess of
Orange, escorted her some leagues on her way. When, a month later, the
Queen of Hungary left Augsburg, she paid Christina a visit at Nancy,
bringing with her Anne of Lorraine and William, the young Prince of
Orange, a promising boy of fifteen, who was being educated at Court,
and met with a kindly welcome from the Duchess and her subjects for the
sake of the lamented Prince whose name he bore.[405] By Mary's advice,
the Regents took active measures for the defence of the frontier and
the fortification of Nancy. An arsenal was founded, and two bastions,
which became known as those of Denmark and Vaudemont, were built near
the palace. Other improvements were carried out at the same time: the
marshy ground under the walls was thoroughly drained, and converted
into a spacious square called La Place de la Carrière; many of the
streets were paved and widened; and the Count of Salm, Bassompierre,
and several of the nobles, built fine new houses along the Grande Rue,
opposite the Galerie des Cerfs.[406]

[Illustration: _Photo Hanfstaengl_

CHARLES V. (1548)

By Titian (Munich)

_To face p. 322_]

The Emperor remained at Augsburg throughout the summer, endeavouring
to effect a lasting settlement of the religious question. On the 30th
of June the so-called "Interim" was proclaimed, a compromise which
satisfied no one, and was described by Thomas Hoby, a young Englishman
who came to Augsburg this summer on his way to Italy, as an attempt to
set up the old Babylon again in Germany.[407] A fortnight later the
Diet was prorogued, and Charles started for the Netherlands, where he
arrived on the 8th of September, after more than two years' absence.

A few weeks before his arrival a marriage had taken place, greatly to
Mary's satisfaction, between the widowed Princess of Orange and the
Duke of Aerschot.[408] This nobleman, the premier peer of the realm
and doyen of the Golden Fleece, had lost his second wife in 1544, but
was still in the prime of life, and, as his daughter-in-law, Louise
de Guise, told her sister, was honoured and beloved throughout the
Netherlands. Christina could not herself be present at the wedding,
but her brother-in-law Nicolas went to Brussels to give his sister
away. Here he fell in love with Count Egmont's sister Margaret, and
asked her hand in marriage. This alliance met with the warm approval
of the Emperor and the Regent, but caused Christina many searchings of
heart. Already more than one attempt had been made by the Guises to
marry Vaudemont to a French bride, and she feared that this union would
excite great displeasure in some quarters. In her alarm she wrote to
the Emperor, begging him to forbid the marriage as dangerous to the
welfare of her State. Charles, however, declined to interfere, and sent
Granvelle's brother, Chantonnay, to advise his niece politely to mind
her own business.

    "Since the Count of Vaudemont is bent on marrying," he wrote
    to his Envoy, "it is far better that he should come here for a
    wife than go to France; and the Duchess need not feel in any
    way responsible for the alliance, which is entirely his own
    doing.... And, indeed, I do not see how he could honourably
    break his word, since we ourselves urged our cousins of
    Egmont to agree to his proposals. But tell him to come here
    as soon as he can, to prevent the French from making any more
    mischief!"[409]

[Sidenote: DEC., 1548] ADOLF OF HOLSTEIN]

There was nothing more to be said, and the wedding was celebrated in
the Court chapel at Brussels, after vespers, on the 23rd of January,
1549. The bride, richly clad in cloth of gold and decked with priceless
gems, was led to the altar by the Queen, while Charles brought in the
bridegroom. A banquet and masque were afterwards held in the palace,
at the close of which Mary once more took the bride by the hand and
conducted her into the nuptial chamber, hung with crimson brocade and
costly tapestries. The next morning the newly-wedded Countess appeared
at Mass, in another costume of green velvet embroidered in silver, and
jousts and dances succeeded each other during the following three days,
ending with a magnificent banquet given by the Duchess of Aerschot.[410]

Among the company present on this occasion was the Dowager Queen
Eleanor, who came to Brussels on the 5th of December, to make her
home with her beloved brother and sister. On his death-bed Francis
I. was seized with remorse for the way in which he had neglected his
wife, and begged his daughter Margaret to atone for his shortcomings.
But although Margaret carried out her father's last instructions
faithfully, and asked his widow to remain at Court, the new King showed
his stepmother scanty kindness, and Eleanor left France with few
regrets. Another guest at Margaret of Egmont's wedding was Christina's
cousin, Duke Adolf of Holstein, the King of Denmark's youngest brother.
Most of his life had been spent in Germany, and he had taken part in
the campaign of Mühlberg with his friend Albert of Brandenburg. Now,
following the wild Marquis's example, he came to Brussels in October,
1548, and entered the Emperor's service. This new recruit was cordially
welcomed, and gave a signal proof of his valour by carrying off the
first prize in the tournament held at the palace.

Christina herself maintained the prudent attitude which she had adopted
with regard to Vaudemont's marriage, and refused to countenance by her
presence a union which excited much unfriendly criticism in France. Two
other weddings in which she was also keenly interested took place about
the same time. On the 20th of October her old suitor, the brilliant
and volatile Duke of Vendôme, was married at Moulins to Jeanne
d'Albret, the heiress of Navarre. This strong-minded Princess, who
refused to wed the Duke of Cleves, and took objection to Aumale because
his brother was the husband of Diane de Poitiers's daughter, fell
suddenly in love with Vendôme, and insisted on marrying him in spite of
her mother's opposition. So radiant was Jeanne on her wedding-day that
King Henry declared her to be the most joyous bride whom he had ever
seen. Six weeks later Aumale himself was married at St. Germain to Anna
d'Este, daughter of Duke Ercole II. of Ferrara and Renée of France.
Ronsard sang the praises of this Italian Venus who had taken the Mars
of France for her lord, and Vendôme, gay and inconsequent as ever,
sent his old rival in war and love a merry letter, bidding him follow
his good example, and stay at home to play the good husband.[411] This
union with the King's first cousin satisfied the highest ambitions of
the Guises, while Anna's charm and goodness were a source of lasting
content to Duchess Antoinette. Christina was one of the first to greet
the bride on her arrival at Joinville. At first the two Princesses,
Brantôme tells us, looked at each other shyly, but with evident
curiosity. The tale of Aumale's courtship was well known, and Christina
naturally felt keen interest in the Este Princess who came from
Beatrice's home and was the cousin of Francesco Sforza. "Anna," writes
the chronicler, "was tall and beautiful, but very gentle and amiable.
The two ladies met and conversed together, and were soon the best of
friends."[412]

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1549] CHRISTINA AT BRUSSELS]


IV.

Christina's absence from her brother-in-law's wedding had been a great
disappointment to her aunts, and she received a pressing invitation
to come to Brussels for the fêtes in honour of the Prince of Spain,
whose arrival was expected early in the spring of 1549. Accordingly,
on the 28th of March the Duchess reached Brussels, attended by the
Princess of Macedonia, and was received by the Grand-Écuyer Boussu and
a brilliant escort of gentlemen. One of these was the Marquis Albert,
whose name of late had been frequently coupled with her own, the
other his friend Duke Adolf of Holstein. Christina naturally hailed
this meeting with her cousin, especially now that his brother, King
Christian, had alleviated the rigour of her father's captivity. Since
the Palatine had abandoned all attempts to maintain his wife's claims,
the reigning monarch had agreed to release his unfortunate kinsman
from the dungeons of Sonderburg. On the 17th of February the two Kings
met and dined together in a friendly manner, after which the deposed
monarch was removed to Kallundborg, a pleasantly-situated castle on
a promontory of Zeeland, where he spent the remaining ten years of
his life in comparative freedom.[413] This, indeed, was all that the
Emperor desired. In a secret paper of instructions which he drew up
for Philip in case of his own death, he enjoined his son to cultivate
peaceable relations with the King of Denmark, and do his utmost to keep
the Princesses Dorothea and Christina in his good graces, and insure
their father's good treatment, "without allowing him such a measure
of liberty as might enable him to assert his old claims and injure our
State of Flanders as he did before."[414]

Unfortunately, the interest with which Christina regarded the Danish
Prince proved fatal to Adolf's friendship with the Marquis. Before the
outbreak of the Schmalkalde War, Adolf had become affianced to Albert's
sister, Fräulein Kunigunde. The wedding-day was fixed, and the citizens
of Nuremberg had prepared gold rings and jewels for the bride, but the
disturbed state of Denmark compelled the Duke to postpone his marriage
for a time. Then, as ill-luck would have it, he met the Duchess of
Lorraine at the New Year festivities at Augsburg, and fell desperately
in love with her. From this moment he forgot Fräulein Kunigunde, and
took the first excuse he could find to break off his engagement. Albert
never forgave the wrong, and, although the two Princes met at Brussels
and walked side by side in the Court chapel on Candlemas Day, the old
friendship between them was turned to bitter enmity.[415]

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1549] PHILIP OF SPAIN]

But now private grievances had to be put aside, and friends and foes
alike joined in the public rejoicings which welcomed the Prince of
Spain's arrival. Charles was anxious to present his son to his future
subjects in the most favourable light, and no pains were spared to
produce a good impression both on Philip himself and on the loyal
people of Brabant. On the 1st of April, Mary of Hungary, Christina, and
Anne of Aerschot, accompanied by the whole Court, received the Prince
at Ter Vueren, where they entertained him at dinner and witnessed
a military parade and sham-fight on the plains outside the town.
In the evening Philip made his state entry into Brussels, clad in
crimson velvet and riding on a superb war-horse, attended by Albert of
Brandenburg, Adolf of Holstein, the Princes of Piedmont, Orange, and
Chimay, Alva, Egmont, Pescara, and many other illustrious personages.
The chief burghers and city guilds met the Prince at Ter Vueren, and
escorted him to the palace gates, where the two Queens and Christina
conducted him into the Emperor's presence. Philip fell on his knees,
and his father embraced him with tears in his eyes, and conversed with
him for over an hour. At nightfall the whole city was illuminated,
and bonfires blazed from all the neighbouring heights. The next day
a tournament was held on the Grande Place, and a splendid gold cup
was presented to the Prince by the city, while the States of Brabant
voted him a gift of 100,000 florins and hailed him with acclamation
as the Emperor's successor. But in the evening these rejoicings were
interrupted by the news of the Duke of Aerschot's sudden death. He
had gone to Spires to meet the Prince, but had over-exerted himself,
and died very suddenly at his castle of Quievrain. It was a grievous
blow to Anne of Lorraine, who was once more left a widow, before she
had been married quite nine months. The deepest sympathy was felt for
her at Court, and Mary lamented the loss of her wisest Councillor.
All festivities were put off till Easter. Philip spent Holy Week in
devotional exercises, and rode to S. Gudule on Palm Sunday, at the head
of a solemn procession of knights bearing palms.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1549] HIS DEVOTION TO CHRISTINA]

Charles took advantage of this quiet season to initiate his son into
the administration of public affairs and make him acquainted with the
leading nobles of the Netherlands. But the impression produced by
Philip was far from being a favourable one. Short in stature and blond
in complexion, with his father's wide forehead and projecting jaw, he
was Flemish in appearance, but Spanish by nature. His taciturn air
and haughty and reserved manners formed a striking contrast to the
frank and genial ways which endeared Charles V. to all classes of his
subjects. Thomas Hoby, who saw Philip at Mantua, noticed what "small
countenance" he made to the crowd who greeted his entry, and heard that
he had already "acquired a name for insolency." Wherever he went it
was the same. "His severe and morose appearance," wrote the Venetian
Suriano, "has made him disagreeable to the Italians, hated by the
Flemings, and odious to the Germans." His marked preference for all
that was Spanish gave deadly offence to the Emperor's old servants, and
people in Brussels said openly that when Philip came to the throne no
one but Spaniards would be employed at Court. In vain his father and
aunt warned him that this exclusive temper was ill-suited to a Prince
who was called to rule over subjects of many nations. He spoke little
in public and rarely smiled. During the year which he spent at Brussels
people said that he was never seen to laugh except on one occasion,
when all the Court witnessed the famous national fête of the Ommegang
from the hôtel-de-ville, on the Fête-Dieu. Among the varied groups in
the procession was a bear playing on an organ, while children dressed
up as monkeys danced to the music, and unhappy cats tied by the tail
in cages filled the air with discordant cries. At the sight of these
grotesque figures even Philip's gravity gave way, and he laughed till
the tears ran down his cheeks.[416]

This cold and haughty Prince, who took no pains to commend himself to
his future subjects, showed a marked preference from the first for his
cousin Christina. He sought her company on every possible occasion,
gave her rich presents, and devoted himself to her service with an
ardour which became a cause of serious annoyance to his aunts.

    "Queen Eleanor," wrote the French Ambassador Marillac, "is
    always trying to treat of her daughter's marriage with the
    Prince, but with very little success, and the great attentions
    which he pays the Duchess of Lorraine, the evident delight
    which he takes in her society, and the gifts which he bestows
    upon her, have excited great jealousy."[417]

Before long Christina herself found Philip's attentions embarrassing,
and felt that it would be the path of wisdom to leave Court. She was
present, however, at a second tournament given on the Grande Place, on
the 6th of May. That day Count d'Aremberg (the husband of Christina's
intimate friend Margaret la Marck), Mansfeldt, Horn, and Floris de
Montmorency, held the lists against all assailants, while Alva and
Francesco d'Este were the judges. Philip, who inherited little of his
father's taste for knightly exercises, but had been practising riding
and jousting diligently during the last few weeks, entered the lists,
and was awarded a fine ruby as a prize, Egmont and the Prince of
Piedmont being the other victors. Albert of Brandenburg was present,
but declined to take part in the tournament. He had seldom been seen
at Court since Philip's arrival and spent most of his time in his own
quarters, compiling an account of his grievances against the Emperor.
One day Charles, fearing to lose his services, sent Granvelle to offer
him an honourable and lucrative office in the Imperial Mint. Albert
replied loftily that, since he was born a Brandenburg, no office which
the Emperor had to bestow, could exalt his station, and that as he
never managed to keep a sixpence in his own pocket, he would rather
not attempt to meddle with other people's money. A few days after this
he asked leave to retire to his own domains. The last time that he
appeared in public was at the banquet which followed the tournament,
in the hôtel-de-ville; here he sat at the Emperor's table, opposite
the Duchess of Lorraine, who was placed between Philip and Emanuel
Philibert of Piedmont, while Adolf of Holstein sat next to the Princess
of Macedonia. All these illustrious guests joined in the ball which
closed the day's festivities, and dancing was kept up with great spirit
until after midnight.[418]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1549] THE GUISE PRINCES]

Early the next morning Christina left Brussels, accompanied by
Vaudemont's wife, Margaret of Egmont, and escorted for several miles
on her journey by the Prince of Spain. Three weeks later the Marquis
Albert also left Court, without taking leave of the Emperor or the
Queens. His abrupt departure excited general surprise, and no one
knew whether it was due to his quarrel with the Duke of Holstein, or
to some imaginary affront from the Prince or the Duchess of Lorraine;
but when he was at some distance from the town he sent back a warrant
for a pension of 4,000 crowns a year, which he had received from the
Emperor, as a sign that he was no longer in his service.

[Illustration: HÔTEL-DE-VILLE, BRUSSELS]

[Illustration: S. GUDULE, BRUSSELS

_To face p. 332_]

During the course of the summer Philip made his "joyeuse entrée"
into the different cities of the Low Countries, and a memorable
series of fêtes was given in his honour by Mary of Hungary at her
beautiful summer palace of Binche. At the end of August the Duchess
of Aerschot gave birth to a posthumous son, who was christened by the
Bishop of Arras in the Court chapel, and named Charles Philip, after
his godfathers, the Emperor and the Prince. But while Anne's second
marriage and her brother's union with Egmont's sister strengthened
the ties between Lorraine and Flanders, the close connection of the
younger branch of the ducal house with France increased daily. After
the marriage of Guise's third son, Mayenne, with Diane de Poitiers's
daughter, his brothers were loaded with favours of every description.
Aumale was created a Duke and appointed Governor of Savoy, and Charles
was made a Cardinal at the King's request, and loaded with rich
benefices. Their mother stood sponsor to Henry II.'s daughter Claude,
who was one day to be the wife of Christina's only son, and had the
deputies of the thirteen Swiss cantons for her godfathers. A new link
was forged by the coming of the little Queen of Scots to France in the
autumn of 1548, as the future bride of the Dauphin. Antoinette met
her granddaughter at Brest, and brought her to St. Germain, where the
charms of the little Queen soon won all hearts. "I can assure you,"
wrote the proud grandmother to her eldest son, "she is the best and
prettiest child of her age that was ever seen!" And her uncle the
Cardinal added: "She already governs both the King and Queen." At the
Court ball in honour of Aumale's wedding, all the guests stood still to
watch the lovely little Queen and the Dauphin dancing hand in hand, and
the King smiled maliciously when the English Ambassador remarked that
it was the most charming thing in the world to see the two children
together.[419]

When Christina returned to Lorraine in May, 1549, all the Guises were
at Paris for the King and Queen's state entry, and the young Duke of
Longueville led his grandmother's white horse in the procession. After
this Antoinette brought her daughter-in-law to spend the autumn quietly
at Joinville, and great was the rejoicing when, on the last day of the
year, Anna gave birth to her first son, the Prince who was to become
famous as "Henri le Balafré." Christina was careful to remain on good
terms with the family at Joinville, and the presence of the Duchess
of Aerschot, who spent the winter in Lorraine, increased the friendly
intercourse between the two houses. Anne's letters to her aunt and
cousins abound in playful allusions to early recollections, and she
always addressed Aumale as "Monsieur mon serviteur" and signed herself
"Votre bonne maîtresse." When, in January, 1550, the Duke of Guise fell
ill, Christina sent her steward Grammont repeatedly to make inquiries
at Joinville.

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1550] DEATH OF GUISE]

    "We cannot rest satisfied," wrote the Duchess of Aerschot
    from Nancy, "without hearing the latest accounts of my uncle,
    and trust the bearer will bring us good news, please God! My
    sister, Madame de Lorraine, is so anxious about him that she
    feels she must send over again. I cannot tell you, my dear
    aunt, how much she thinks of you, and how anxious she is to
    do you any service in her power. As for myself, if there is
    anything that I can do, you have only to speak, and you will be
    obeyed."[420]

After a long illness, Claude of Guise breathed his last on the 12th of
April, and was followed to the grave within a month by his brother,
Cardinal Jean, who died at Nogent-sur-Seine, on his return from Rome.
The Duke's funeral was solemnized in the Church of St. Laurent at
Joinville, with all the elaborate ceremonial common on these occasions.
Antoinette made a great point of Christina's attendance, and Anne
promised to do her best to gratify her aunt's wish in the matter.

    "I shall be very glad," she wrote, "if it is possible for
    Madame my sister to be present at the obsequies of my uncle--to
    whom God grant peace!--and will do my utmost to effect this,
    not only because of my own anxiety to see you and my cousins,
    but because I would gladly give you pleasure."[421]

Accordingly, the two Duchesses, accompanied by the Count and Countess
of Vaudemont and several nobles, arrived at Joinville on Saturday, the
29th of June, to condole with the widow and attend the funeral rites
that were protracted during the next three days. Never was there a more
attached family than this of the Guises.

    "I cannot tell you the grief I feel," wrote the Queen of
    Scotland to her bereaved mother. "You know as well as I do that
    I have lost the best father that ever child had, and am left
    both orphaned and widowed."

An imposing monument, adorned with rich marbles and bas-reliefs of the
dead Prince's battles, was raised by Antoinette to her husband's memory
in the church at Joinville. In the centre the Duke and Duchess were
both represented clad in robes of state, kneeling with hands clasped
together, and a long Latin epitaph relating the hero's great deeds was
inscribed below, ending with the words:

    "Antoinette de Bourbon, his wife, and her six sons, have
    erected this tomb, in token of undying sorrow and love for an
    incomparable husband and the best of fathers."[422]


V.

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1550] CHARLES THE BOLD'S REMAINS]

Charles V. had long cherished a wish to remove the bones of his
ancestor Charles the Bold from the church of St. Georges at Nancy,
where they had been buried after his defeat, and bring them to rest in
his daughter Mary's tomb at Bruges. At first Christina hesitated to
give her consent, fearing to arouse the resentment of her subjects, who
were proud of possessing this trophy of King René's victory, but the
urgent entreaties of her aunts at length induced her to yield, and,
after ascertaining that neither Vaudemont nor the States of Lorraine
had any objection to offer, she consented to her uncle's request, on
condition that the removal of the remains should be effected as quietly
as possible. Late in the evening of the 22nd of September, 1550,
three imperial deputies, the Bishop of Cambray, the Chief Justice of
Luxembourg, and the herald Toison d'Or, met the Provost and Canons of
St. Georges in the crypt of the collegiate church. A solemn requiem
was chanted, after which the tomb was opened and the bones, wrapt in
a white linen shroud, were reverently laid in a wooden casket and
committed to the charge of two friars. A gift of 100 gold crowns was
made to the church in the Emperor's name, and the precious casket was
placed on a chariot drawn by four black horses, escorted by a troop of
twenty men-at-arms. The little procession travelled the same night to
Metz, and thence across the frontier to Luxembourg. Bells were tolled
in all the towns and villages on their way, and the _De Profundis_ was
chanted wherever a halt was made, until on the 24th the casket was
safely deposited in the choir of the Cordeliers' church at Luxembourg.
Here Charles of Burgundy's bones were placed in the grave of John of
Luxembourg, the blind King of Bohemia, who fell at Crécy, until, nine
years later, they were finally laid to rest by his daughter's side in
the shrine of Our Lady at Bruges.[423]

When this pious act was safely accomplished, Christina set out with
Anne of Lorraine and the Count and Countess of Vaudemont to join the
imperial party at Augsburg. Charles, Philip, and Ferdinand, had been
attending the Diet in this city since July, and were joined there by
Mary of Hungary, who, however, was obliged to return to the Netherlands
on the 26th of September, owing to troubles on the French frontier.
Christina's presence was the more welcome. On the 30th of the same
month Philip and his uncle Ferdinand were riding in the fields near
Augsburg, when they noticed a cloud of dust on the highroad, and,
galloping off in this direction, met the Duchess of Lorraine and
her companions, with a large train of followers. Philip gallantly
escorted his cousin to the Emperor's lodgings, where she spent the next
three weeks. Her coming was the signal for a round of festivities.
While Charles and Ferdinand rode together in earnest converse, or
sat with closed doors debating public matters, Philip and a few
chosen friends--the Prince of Piedmont, Duke Adolf, Pescara, and Ruy
Gomez--spent the days with the Duchess and her ladies. Sometimes they
went hunting on the Bavarian plains, sometimes they danced or played
cards, and every evening they met at supper in Christina's rooms.[424]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1550] ROGER ASCHAM]

On the 16th of October a joust was held in the court of the Fuggers'
house, and the Emperor, with his niece and Duchess Anne, looked on from
the windows. Egmont and Vaudemont were judges, and Count Lalaing and
Floris de Montmorency won the prizes. The Cardinal of Trent entertained
the company at supper, and left the next day for Genoa to receive
Maximilian, the King of Bohemia, who had been sent for from Spain to
take part in the family conference. Three days later Philip gave a
tournament on a grander scale, in honour of the Duchess, and entered
the lists clad in ruby velvet and white satin, as he figures in the
portrait which Titian painted. This time Christina's presence seems to
have inspired him with unwonted prowess. He broke many lances, and won
a fine gold chain, which he presented to his cousin. She on her part
entertained the King of the Romans and all the knights who rode in the
jousts at a sumptuous banquet and ball, which ended in the Prince
presenting rings to all the ladies and receiving a kiss from each in
turn.

This festive evening marked the close of Christina's visit to Augsburg.
The next morning she set out for Nancy, "leaving the Court sad and
widowed," writes an Italian chronicler, "bereft of her presence,
and without a lady to amuse the Princes or entertain the Emperor's
guests." Philip escorted her for some miles on her journey, and took an
affectionate farewell of his favourite cousin, whom he never saw again
until he was the husband of Mary Tudor.[425]

Christina's route lay through the duchy of Würtemberg and along the
valley of the Neckar. At Esslingen, the free imperial city on the banks
of this river she met the new English Ambassador, Sir Richard Morosyne,
on his way to Augsburg. In his train was a young secretary called Roger
Ascham. He had been Lady Jane Grey's tutor, and had left his Greek
studies and pleasant college life at Cambridge with some reluctance,
but was keenly enjoying his first sight of foreign parts. The journey
up the Rhine in a fair barge with goodly glass windows afforded him
great pleasure. He gazed in admiration at the castles and abbeys
perched on the crags, and the vines laden with purple grapes that
grew in terraces along the banks, while the river at Spires--"broader
a great deal than the Thames at Greenwich"--made him realize for the
first time why the Greeks worshipped river-gods. In the Court chapel at
Brussels he caught a glimpse of Queen Eleanor,

    "looking as fair and white as a dove in her embroidered linen
    robe, with her ladies clad in black velvet with gold chains,
    and white plumes in their caps, like boys rather than maidens."

Then, as he rode through Tongres, he met the Queen of Hungary posting
back from Augsburg, with only thirty courtiers in her train, "having
outridden and wearied all the rest, and taken thirteen days to do a
journey that men can scarce do in seventeen!" "She is a virago," the
young Englishman remarked, "never so well as when she is flinging on
horseback or hunting all day."[426] Now, at Esslingen, Ascham fell in
with another noble lady, "the Duchess of Milan and Lorraine, daughter
to the King of Denmark." Unlike Mary of Hungary, who posted so fast
that no ladies could keep pace with her, Christina was always attended
with a large retinue. Brantôme tells us that at Court she assumed a
state which rivalled that of the Queen of France herself. On this
journey she rode a white palfrey, and was followed by sixteen maids
of honour on horseback and four chariots filled with ladies, escorted
by a troop of 300 horse. Thirty-six mules and a dozen waggons, laden
with chamber-stuff, brought up the rear, and a great crowd of "rascals
belonging to her kitchen and stables came drabbling in the dirt on
foot." Roger looked with admiration at the fine horses with their rich
trappings, and was profoundly impressed by the tall stature and stately
bearing of the Duchess. "I have never seen a lady of her port in all my
life!" he exclaimed. His interest was heightened when he heard "that
she should once have married King Henry VIII., before my Lady Anne
of Cleves," and was told that she had now been with the Emperor at
Augsburg, "where she was thought by some to have been a-wooing to the
Prince of Spain."[427]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1550] DISCORD IN IMPERIAL FAMILY]

From Esslingen, Christina had intended to go to Heidelberg, on a
visit to her sister, but the unsettled state of affairs made her
presence necessary at home, and she hurried on to Nancy. The French
were once more busy with preparations for war, and grew every day more
insolent in their language. Even the Emperor's old ally, the Constable
Montmorency, who had been recalled to Court by Henry II., joined the
war party, and seemed to be as violent as the Guises. At the same time
fresh trouble was brewing in Germany. The Interim had proved very
unpopular. Magdeburg refused to accept the new edict, and Maurice of
Saxony, who was sent against the city, carried on the siege in so
half-hearted a manner that doubts of his loyalty were felt, while the
Marquis Albert kept away from Court and sulked, like Achilles of old,
in his tent. But the worst of all the Emperor's troubles were those
which had arisen in his own family.

Granvelle confessed to Paget at Brussels that it had not been easy
for Charles to obtain the recognition of his son as his successor in
Flanders, and that he foresaw this would be a far harder matter in
Germany. From the first, Philip's haughty manners and Spanish reserve
were bitterly resented by the Princes of the Empire, and Charles
realized with dismay how difficult it would be to obtain their consent
to the adoption of his son as coadjutor of the King of the Romans,
and his ultimate successor on the imperial throne. He had first of
all to reckon with Ferdinand. This monarch had always been on the
most affectionate terms with his brother, but was naturally indignant
when rumours reached him, through the Marquis Albert's servants, that
the Emperor intended to make Philip King of the Romans in his place.
In vain his sister Mary assured him that this idea had never been
entertained. His resentment was kindled, and he and King Maximilian
were prepared to resist stoutly any infringement of their rights.[428]

Everyone noticed how grave and pensive Charles appeared when he
entered Augsburg, and, although the prolonged family conferences which
took place were conducted in strict secrecy, rumour was busy with
conjecture, and the latest gossip from Augsburg was greedily devoured
at the French Court. At this critical moment Chancellor Granvelle,
who for twenty-five years had been Charles's most trusted Councillor,
died after a few days' illness at Augsburg. Friends and foes alike
expressed their grief in the warmest terms. The Constable wrote letters
of condolence to his widow, and Charles and Ferdinand came in person to
visit Madame Nicole, but found this excellent woman too much overcome
with grief to be able to speak. It was an irreparable loss to the
Emperor, and no one was better aware of this than himself. "My son,"
he wrote to Philip, "you and I have lost a good bed of down."[429]
Granvelle's son, Antoine Perrenot, the Bishop of Arras, succeeded
him as imperial Chancellor, but had neither his father's wisdom nor
experience, and was little fitted to cope with the gravity of the
situation.

Charles now sent for the Queen of Hungary, who hastened to Augsburg in
September; but even she could effect little.

    "Queen Mary," wrote Stroppiana, the Duke of Savoy's Ambassador,
    "is here to persuade the King of the Romans to accept the
    Prince of Spain as coadjutor, but finds the ground very hard,
    and by what I hear can obtain nothing."[430]

[Sidenote: DEC., 1550] THE EMPEROR'S ANXIETY]

After Mary's departure, Charles's difficulties increased every day, and
Christina tried in vain to pour oil on the troubled waters. She amused
Philip, and did her best to console the Emperor in his fits of profound
dejection. When she was gone he turned once more to Mary, and begged
her earnestly to come to his help.

    "I had some hope," he wrote on the 6th of December, "that the
    King our nephew might be persuaded to consent to the only
    plan by which the greatness and stability of our house can
    be maintained. But, as you will see by this letter, which my
    brother gave me the day before yesterday, I begin to feel that
    my hope was vain. And I think that in this he does me great
    wrong, when I have done so much for him. My patience is almost
    at an end, and I wish with all my heart that you were here, as
    you can help me more than anyone else. So I beg you to hasten
    your coming as soon as possible, and shall await your arrival
    with the utmost anxiety."

To this letter, which had been dictated to his secretary, Charles added
the following postscript, written with his own gouty hand:

    "I can assure you, my dear sister, that I can bear no more
    unless I am to burst. Certainly I never felt all that the dead
    King of France did against me, nor all that the present one is
    trying to do, nor yet the affronts which the Constable puts
    upon us now, half as keenly as I have felt and am feeling the
    treatment which I have received from the King my brother. I
    can only pray God to grant him good-will and understanding,
    and give me strength and patience, in order that we may arrive
    at some agreement, and that, if your coming does not serve to
    convert him, it may at least give me some consolation.

                                            "Your loving brother,
                                                        "CHARLES."[431]

On receiving this letter, Mary started for Augsburg without a moment's
delay. Attended only by the Bishop of Cambray and three ladies, the
brave Queen rode all the way from Binche to Augsburg in twelve days,
and arrived at five o'clock on the evening of New Year's Day, 1551.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1551] FAMILY CONFERENCES]

All through November and December the Emperor hardly left his room.
When he dined with the Knights of the Fleece on St. Andrew's Day, the
hall was heated like a furnace, and Marillac, the French Ambassador,
remarked that he looked so old and feeble he could not be long for this
world.[432] But on the Feast of the Three Kings he dined in public,
with his brother and sister, and his two nephews, Maximilian, who had
arrived from Spain on the 10th of December, and the young Archduke
Ferdinand. They were, to all appearances, a happy and united family,
and Stroppiana noted an evident improvement in the Emperor's spirits.
Roger Ascham watched these illustrious personages with keen interest.
He describes how Charles and Ferdinand sat under the cloth of state and
ate together very handsomely, "his Chapel singing wonderful cunningly
all dinner-time." "The Emperor," he remarked, "hath a good face,
constant air, and looked somewhat like the parson of Epurstone. He wore
a black taffety gown, and furred nightcap on his head, and fed well
of a capon--I have had a better from mine hostess Barnes many times."
Ferdinand he describes as "a very homely man, gentle to be spoken to of
any man," the Prince of Spain as "not in all so wise as his father."
But King Max was Roger's favourite--"a Prince peerless" in his eyes.
He is never tired of extolling this "worthy gentleman, learned, wise,
liberal, gentle, loved and praised of all."[433]

During the next few weeks prolonged conferences were held in the
Emperor's rooms. King Max from the first flatly refused to consent to
Philip's appointment as coadjutor with the King of the Romans, and
the quarrel waxed hot between them. Night and day Arras went secretly
to and fro with letters between Charles and Ferdinand. If the Queen
of Hungary was seen leaving the King of the Romans with flushed face
and flashing eyes, it was a sure sign that things were going badly
for the Emperor. If Ferdinand and his sons wore a joyous air, and
there were tokens of affection between them and Mary, Stroppiana and
Marillac were satisfied that all was going well.[434] As for Philip
and Max, it was easy to see that there was no love lost between them.
They met occasionally at night in Charles's rooms and exchanged formal
greetings, but never paid each other visits or attended Mass and took
meals together. The rivalry between the two Princes became every day
more marked.

    "The King of Bohemia," writes Marillac, "is frank, gay, and
    fearless, and is as much beloved by the Germans as Don Philip
    is disliked. His Spanish education, haughty bearing, and
    suspicious nature, all help to make him unpopular, although to
    please his father he wears German clothes and tries to adopt
    German customs, even with regard to drink, so that two or
    three times he is said to have taken more than he could well
    carry."[435]

Nor was Philip more fortunate in his attempts to distinguish himself in
the tilting. In the jousts held at Candlemas, Marillac reports that
all jousted badly, but Philip worst of all, for he never broke a single
lance; and Ascham remarks that the Prince of Spain "jousted genteelly,
for he neither hurt himself, nor his horse and spear, nor him that he
ran with." He redeemed his character to some extent, however, in a
tournament given a week later in the Queen's honour, and succeeded in
winning one prize; while the Prince of Orange and Archduke Ferdinand
were the heroes of the day. "And as for noble Max, he ran not at
all."[436]

A few days afterwards the Diet was prorogued, and Stroppiana told
Marillac that owing to Mary's influence a secret agreement had been
framed, by which Philip was to have a share in the administration of
imperial affairs, and that, when he succeeded his uncle as Emperor,
Maximilian should become King of the Romans. On the 10th of March an
agreement to this effect was drawn up by the Bishop of Arras, and
signed by all four Princes. On the same day Mary gave a farewell
banquet, after which Ferdinand took an affectionate farewell of his
brother, and went to Vienna with his sons.

    "Noble Max," wrote Ascham, "goes to meet the Turk. I pray God
    he may give him an overthrow. He taketh with him the hearts,
    good-will, and prayers, of rich and poor."[437]

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1551] THE EMPEROR DISAPPOINTED]

On the 7th of April Mary left for Brussels, after giving an audience
to Morosyne, who saw that "she was in the dumps," although she
smiled two or three times and tried to hide her feelings.[438] By
this time she had probably realized how fruitless all attempts to
conciliate the German Princes would prove. The Electors unanimously
declined to sanction the agreement which had been the cause of so many
heart-burnings, and it remained a dead letter. The Archbishop of Treves
declared that there could only be one Emperor in Germany and one sun in
heaven. The Palatine, says Morosyne, like the wise old fox that he was,
replied that so important a question needed time for consideration, and
Joachim of Brandenburg vowed that he would never consent to a scheme
which would be odious to all Germany.[439] Philip returned to Spain at
the end of May, and the Emperor was reluctantly compelled to accept the
inevitable, and surrender the long-cherished hope that his son would
succeed to his vast empire.


VI.

While the eyes of all Europe were fixed on the imperial family at
Augsburg, Christina waited anxiously for news in her palace at Nancy.
She had sent two of her Italian secretaries, Innocenzo Gadio and
Massimo del Pero, to wait on the Queen of Hungary, with strict orders
to keep her informed of all that was happening. Gadio's cipher letters
have unluckily disappeared, but some of those addressed to him by
Niccolò Belloni have recently been discovered in a private library
near Pavia.[440] Belloni belonged to a good Milanese family, and had,
at his parents' entreaty, been retained by the Duchess in her service
when she left Italy. He had succeeded Benedetto da Corte as master of
her household, and followed Christina to Lorraine. Niccolò enjoyed his
mistress's complete confidence, and his letters to Messer Innocenzo
reveal all that was passing in her mind at this critical moment. On the
2nd of January, 1551, he writes:

  "HONOURED FRIEND,

    "Madame's page arrived a few days ago with your letters,
    which were most anxiously expected and gratefully read by Her
    Excellency. The next morning she received those which came by
    Heidelberg, and yesterday those which you sent by the Flemish
    servant, which gave Her Excellency still greater pleasure. She
    deciphered them herself, and read them over several times. You
    will continue to write as before, and I will tell you all I
    hear from other quarters. Do not fail to report every detail
    of the difficulties which are delaying the negotiations, using
    Madame's ordinary cipher for this purpose.... I send this
    messenger by the post to seek for news, so do not keep him at
    Augsburg more than a day, even if Monsignore d'Arras' letter
    is not ready, as another courier will be sent in four or five
    days. I have received Don Ferrante's letters, and should be
    glad to know if my letters for Fanzoni and Trissino are gone
    to Milan. Tell Signor Badoer [the Venetian Ambassador] that I
    will not fail to satisfy his curiosity, but it will take some
    time to obtain the desired information and will require great
    caution.... Send me some fine writing-paper, please--very fine,
    I repeat, because it is for Madame."

[Sidenote: FEB., 1551] BELLONI'S LETTERS]

Christina's Milanese servants evidently carried on a correspondence
with their friends at home through the imperial messengers who were
sent from Augsburg to the Viceroy, and the Princess of Macedonia
constantly despatched packets to Milan and Mantua by the same channel,
while the Duchess herself often wrote to Don Ferrante regarding the
payment of her dowry and questions affecting the city of Tortona.
A week later Christina sent a Lorraine gentleman, Monsieur de
Saint-Hilaire, to convey her salutations to the King of Bohemia, on his
arrival at Augsburg, and Belloni took this opportunity to beg Gadio to
be diligent in reporting everything he heard, for Madame's benefit,
assuring him that Her Excellency read his letters again and again,
and believed implicitly in their contents. On the 12th of February he
repeated the same orders:

    "It would be well if you would write fuller particulars of the
    great matter in hand, above all whatever you hear of the angry
    disputes and quarrels which have arisen between the Prince and
    the King of Bohemia, including all the bad language which they
    use--in fact, everything that is said on the subject. It will
    all be treated as strictly confidential, and I for my part know
    that the King will not be governed by the Prince, and will use
    rude and contemptuous words, as you may imagine! These are the
    things that Her Highness wishes to learn from your letters....
    I may possibly take a flight to the Court of France, so, if
    you wish to write to me privately, address your letters to
    the Princess of Macedonia, who will keep them safely for me,
    especially if they come from Italy. Your letters of the 29th of
    January and 3rd of this month have arrived, and are, as usual,
    most welcome, and Her Excellency agrees with you that nothing
    has really been arranged. Once the business for which you were
    sent to Augsburg is settled, Her Excellency thinks you may as
    well return, and be sure that you bring plenty of letters for
    Her Excellency from all the world, and a whole waggon-load of
    news! I am sorry to hear that your horse has hurt his foot and
    you have had to sell him cheap. You must procure another, and
    Madame will pay for it all. Only let us have the truth about
    these negotiations!"

But the Duchess changed her mind again, and Innocenzo was desired to
stay at Augsburg as long as the Queen was there, even if the King and
his sons had left, in order that she might hear all that her aunt had
to tell of these important matters. Niccolò's last letter to Augsburg
is dated the 13th of March, and contains a reminder to Gadio to bring
the writing-paper for Madame, and to make inquiries about a new method
of coining money at the Imperial Court, which had excited the Princess
of Macedonia's curiosity.[441] The flight to the French Court which
Niccolò meditated in March, 1551, was taken in the company of the Count
of Vaudemont, who went to Blois to pay his respects to the King and
Queen, and discover if there were any truth in the sinister report
that Henry II. was planning the conquest of Lorraine. But he only met
with civil speeches, and found the Court on the eve of a journey to
Brittany, to meet the Dowager Queen of Scotland, who was coming over to
see her child and visit her aged mother at Joinville. So the Count was
able to allay his sister-in-law's alarms, and, instead of the dreaded
threats of invasion, brought back a proposal from the King that her son
should be affianced to one of his little daughters. The offer excited
some surprise, considering the strained relations that existed between
Henry II. and Charles V., but Christina returned a courteous reply,
and promised to lay the matter before the States of Lorraine.[442] For
the present she felt that she could breathe freely and give herself up
unreservedly to the enjoyment of a visit which she was expecting from
her sister Dorothea.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1551] THE PALATINE'S VISIT]

Since the restoration of peace in Germany, the Elector Palatine had
devoted his time and money to the improvement of his ancestral castle
at Heidelberg. His natural love of building found expression in the
noble Renaissance court, with the lovely oriel and grand Hall of
Mirrors, where we may still read "Frau Dorothea's" name, and the arms
of the Three Kingdoms by the side of the Palatine's lion and the badge
of the Golden Fleece. But the passion for travel and adventure was
still strong in the old Palsgrave's breast, and when the last stone
had been placed on the lofty bell-tower he and his wife set out, with
a great company of courtiers and ladies, for Lorraine. They sailed
down the Rhine to Coblenz, and, taking horse, rode through Treves
and Metz, where Christina met them, and the whole party proceeded to
Pont-à-Mousson and the Count of Vaudemont's castle at Nomény. Here they
attended the christening of the Countess's daughter, and Frederic stood
sponsor, while his wife was proxy for the French Queen, after whom the
child was named. After a week of festivities, the party went on to a
hunt at Condé, the Duke's fair château in the forest on the banks of
the Moselle, and killed five stags. Hubert, who accompanied his master
and gives every detail of the journey, relates how the Palatine, tired
with the day's sport, accepted a seat in the Duchess's chariot, and how
his companion, Count Jacob von Busch, being a big man, weighed down the
carriage on one side, much to the amusement of Dorothea, who laughed
till the tears ran down her cheeks. But heavy rains had made the roads
almost impassable, and presently the wheels caught in a rut and the
chariot was upset. The ladies were covered with mud, and Dorothea's
face was badly scratched; but she made light of the accident, and only
laughed the more as, leaving the lumbering coach in the ditch, they
mounted horses to ride to Nancy. At the gates of the city they were met
by the young Duke Charles, a handsome boy of eight, who lifted his cap
with charming grace, and, springing to the ground, embraced his uncle
and aunt, and rode at their side, conversing in a way that amazed the
Germans.

    "We all wondered," writes Hubert, "at the beauty and wisdom of
    the boy, who is indeed remarkably intelligent, and has been
    trained by his lady mother in all knowledge and courtesy."[443]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1551] TOO LITTLE BEER]

His sisters, Renée and Dorothea, received the guests at the palace
gates, "both lovely little maidens," says Hubert, "only that the
youngest is lame and cannot walk, for which cause her uncle and aunt
embraced her the more tenderly." All the fatigues of the journey were
forgotten in the delights of the week which the travellers spent at
Nancy. The Duchess prepared a new pastime for each day, and masques,
jousts, and dances, followed each other in gay succession. On the last
day Christina took her guests to the beautiful grassy vale known as
the Ochsenthal. It was a lovely May morning, and a banquet was served
in a green bower on the banks of the stream. Suddenly a merry blast
of bugles rang out, and, while huntsmen and dogs chased the deer,
two parties of horse galloped up, and, charging each other, crossed
swords and fired guns. "It might have been an invasion of the Moors!"
exclaims Hubert, who enjoyed the surprise as much as anyone. At sunset
the warriors returned to the palace, where the fairest maidens of the
Duchess's Court crowned the victors with roses, and danced with them
till morning. The next day Frederic and Dorothea made the Duchess and
her children and servants handsome presents of gold chains and rings
and brooches, and Christina, not to be outdone, gave Hubert a massive
silver tankard, begging him to keep it in remembrance of her, and
continue to serve the Palatine and her sister as well in the future as
he had done in the past. After this we need not wonder at the glowing
pages in which the honest secretary praises the delicacy of the viands,
the choice flavour of the wines set before the guests, and the polished
manners of the Court of Nancy.

    "Indeed," he adds, "some of our Germans complained that
    there was too little beer, because people here do not sit
    up drinking all night, and go to bed like pigs, as we do at
    Heidelberg."[444]

The young Duke and his sisters accompanied the guests to Lunéville,
where they spent Whitsuntide together and took their leave, the
little ladies shedding many tears at parting from their aunt. Even
then Christina could not tear herself from her sister, and the next
day, as the Palatine and his wife were dining at one of the Duke's
country-houses on their route, the Duchess suddenly appeared, riding up
the hill. Hubert and his comrades ran out to welcome her, waving green
boughs in their hands, and greeted her with ringing cheers, and they
all sat down to a merry meal. Dorothea begged her sister to accompany
her to Alsace; but the Duchess could not leave home, and the travellers
pushed on that night to Strasburg, and on the 1st of June reached
Heidelberg, where they were greeted by a gay peal of bells from the
new-built tower. It was the last visit that either Frederic or his wife
ever paid to Lorraine. When the sisters met again, Christina was an
exile and a fugitive, and had lost son and home, together with all that
she loved best on earth.

FOOTNOTES:

[375] Calmet, ii. 1276, iii. 47; Granvelle, "Papiers d'État," iii. 152.

[376] Granvelle, iii. 159-163.

[377] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, viii. 195; Granvelle, iii. 226.

[378] Lanz, ii. 478-484.

[379] State Papers, Record Office, Henry VIII., x. 490.

[380] Granvelle, iii. 206-225.

[381] Granvelle, iii. 235, 236.

[382] Bouillé, i. 155; Pimodan, 88.

[383] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 53, 60, iii. 102.

[384] Calendar of State Papers, xxi. 592, 642; Calendar of Spanish
State Papers, viii. 431.

[385] Granvelle, iii. 237.

[386] A. Hallays, 40.

[387] Calmet, ii. 1276, 1281; Pfister, ii. 203.

[388] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 156.

[389] Calendar of State Papers, xxi. 2, 121; Balcarres Manuscripts, ii.
87.

[390] N. Ratti, "La Famiglia Sforza," ii. 86.

[391] Brantôme, "Œuvres," xii. 114.

[392] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, viii. 501.

[393] Balcarres Manuscripts, ii. 65; iii. 105, 114.

[394] Calendar of State Papers, xxi. 2, 172, 187.

[395] Brantôme, iii. 164.

[396] Pimodan, 95; Bouillé, i. 160.

[397] Hallays, "La Ville de Nancy," 22; C. Cournault, "Ligier-Richier,"
34.

[398] Gachard, ii. 338; L. Haüsser, i. 603; G. Voigt, "Albert von
Brandenburg." i. 164.

[399] Granvelle, iii. 265.

[400] Gachard, "Voyages de Charles V.," ii. 350-355; R. Ascham,
"Works," ii. 267; "Travail and Life of Sir T. Hoby," 7.

[401] Bucholtz, vi. 298, 300.

[402] Voigt, ii. 7.

[403] Ascham, iii. 32; Voigt, i. 197.

[404] Bulletins de la Commission d'Histoire, xii. 156; Calendar of
State Papers, Edward VI., 17.

[405] Gachard, ii. 357.

[406] H. Lepage, "La Ville de Nancy," 44; Calendar of State Papers,
Foreign, Edward VI., i. 16.

[407] T. Hoby, "Memoirs," 6.

[408] Calendar of State Papers, Edward VI., i. 25.

[409] Granvelle, iii. 335.

[410] Gachard, ii. 377.

[411] A. de Ruble, "Le Mariage de Jeanne d'Albret," 243-246; Bouillé,
204.

[412] Brantôme, "Œuvres," xii. 115.

[413] Schäfer, iv. 472; Bucholtz, vii. 572.

[414] Granvelle, iii. 207.

[415] Lodge, "Illustrations," i. 183; Calendar of the Manuscripts of
the Marquis of Salisbury, i. 110; Voigt, i. 197.

[416] Henne, viii. 373.

[417] Gachard, "Retraite de Charles V.," i. 72; Manuscript 8,625, f.
235, Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.

[418] Gachard, ii. 389.

[419] Maitland, "Miscellany," i. 219; A. de Ruble, "La Jeunesse de
Marie Stuart," 104.

[420] Pimodan, 367; Bouillé, 349; Bibliothèque Nationale, F.F. 20,467,
f. 39; Gaignières Manuscripts, 349, f. 7.

[421] Pimodan, 375; Bibliothèque Nationale, F.F. 20, 468, f. 9.

[422] Bouillé, i. 227.

[423] Calmet, ii. 1296, iii. 423; Granvelle, iii. 430.

[424] Gachard, ii. 424; Bulletins de la Commission d'Histoire, série 2,
xii. 189.

[425] Guazzo, 730; Gachard, ii. 424.

[426] Ascham, ii. 245-257.

[427] _Ibid._, ii. 260.

[428] Bucholtz, vi. 458.

[429] Granvelle, i. 2-6, iii. 448, 451.

[430] Bulletins, etc., série 2, xii. 188.

[431] Lanz, iii. 11.

[432] P. de Vaissière, "Vie de Charles de Marillac," 174, 178.

[433] Ascham, ii. 268.

[434] Bulletins, série 2, xii. 188.

[435] Vaissière, 186-188.

[436] Ascham, ii. 280; Gachard, ii. 853.

[437] Ascham, ii. 278.

[438] Calendar of State Papers, Foreign, Edward VI., i. 85.

[439] Bucholtz, vi. 467.

[440] These extracts from manuscripts preserved in the Biblioteca of
Zelada, near Pavia, are published by the kind permission of their
owner, Count Antonio Cavagna-Sangiuliani.

[441] Manuscript vii., Biblioteca di Zelada.

[442] Calendar of State Papers, Foreign, Edward VI., i. 79; Granvelle,
iii. 522.

[443] Hubertus Thomas, 464.

[444] Hubertus Thomas, 467; L. Haüsser, i. 625.




BOOK X

THE FRENCH INVASION

1551-1553


I.

Michaelmas Day, 1551, was memorable, both in France and Germany, for a
snowstorm of extraordinary severity, followed by an alarming earthquake
and violent tempest, omens, as it proved, of impending disasters.

In this same month of September, Henry II. recalled his Ambassador from
Augsburg. Ten days later he declared war. For some time past he had
been supporting Ottavio Farnese, who was in open revolt against his
father-in-law, and carrying on secret intrigues with Maurice of Saxony
and the Protestant Electors. The Marquis Albert had never forgiven the
Emperor for the affronts of which he imagined himself to be the victim,
and, after vainly offering his sword to the English King and his hand
to Princess Mary, he went to France as Maurice's emissary. Here he
concluded a secret treaty, which was signed at Friedewald on the 5th
of October by the German Princes, and ratified at Chambord by Henry
II.[445]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1551] INTRIGUES WITH FRANCE]

Charles's affairs were in a critical state. The war of Parma was a
heavy drain on his resources, and had swallowed up the gold of Mexico
and the best Spanish soldiers, while Maurice's treachery had converted
the strongest body of imperial _Landsknechten_ into foes.

    "The Emperor doth little yet," wrote Roger Ascham from
    Augsburg, "but the French be a great deal aforehand. He is wise
    enough, but hath many irons in the fire, and everyone alone
    to give him work enough, the Turk by land and sea, the French
    sitting on his skirts, beside Magdeburg and the rest."[446]

The discontent in Augsburg rose to the highest pitch when, one day
in September, ten preachers were summarily banished. The imperial
residence was besieged by crowds of furious women, clamouring to have
their babes christened, and guards were doubled at every gate, while
Charles sat within, enfeebled by gout and reluctant to face the coming
peril.

In vain Mary of Hungary warned him of Maurice and Albert's intrigues
with France, and told him that his incredulity was like to cost him
very dear, and that if he did not take care he would lose, not only
Germany, but also the Netherlands, which were not the meanest feather
in his cap. Both he and Arras refused to listen. Instead of following
his sister's advice and remaining at Worms or Spires to control Germany
and protect Lorraine, Charles lingered on at Augsburg after war was
declared, and persisted in taking refuge at Innsbruck. After protracted
delays, he at length left Augsburg on the 21st of October, dragging
the reluctant Ambassadors in his train, and crossed "the cold Alps,
already," sighed Ascham, "full of snow," to descend on Tyrol.[447]

Meanwhile his niece was watching the course of events with increasing
anxiety. All the French King's fine promises could not allay
Christina's fears, as the autumn months went by, and the din of warlike
preparations sounded louder in her ears. In her terror she clung to
the Guises, hoping that their influence might save her son and his
realm from ruin. On the 20th of July she went to Joinville to meet
the Dowager Queen of Scotland and stand proxy for Queen Catherine
at the christening of Francis of Guise's daughter, afterwards the
notorious Duchess of Montpensier. When, in October, the young Duke
of Longueville died suddenly, on the eve of his mother's departure,
Christina once more went to condole with Antoinette on the loss of her
"Benjamin."[448] Both she and Anne, who came to Nancy at her earnest
request, were full of sympathy for the venerable Duchess in the trials
that clouded her declining years. A fresh proof of Christina's anxiety
to gratify her powerful relatives appears in a letter which she wrote
to her uncle from Pont-à-Mousson on the 28th of October, begging him to
grant a request of the Cardinal regarding the Abbey of Gorzes, which he
had lately annexed to his vast possessions.

    "I could not refuse this petition," she adds, "as my Lord
    Cardinal is so near of kin to my children, and has always
    treated me and my son with so much kindness and affection. And
    I humbly beg Your Majesty to show him favour, in order that he
    may see that I do all that is possible to please him and his
    house."[449]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1552] FRENCH INTRIGUES]

As the year drew to its close, the insolence of the French increased,
and their incursions and depredations were a perpetual source of
annoyance to the people of Lorraine. At the same time their intrigues
fomented discontent among the nobles, some of whom were annoyed at the
appointment of Monsieur de Montbardon to be the young Duke's tutor.
This French Baron had originally followed the Constable of Bourbon into
exile, and, after being for many years in the Emperor's service, had by
his wish accompanied Christina to Lorraine. And both the Regents had
good reason to doubt the loyalty of one of the Lorraine magnates, Jean
de Salm, a son of the late Marshal, commonly known as the Rhinegrave,
who had lately received the Order of St. Michel from Henry II. All
Christina could do in this critical state of affairs was to keep Mary
of Hungary and the Emperor fully informed of current events.

On the 7th of January the Sieur de Tassigny, an agent whom the Queen
had sent to Nancy, received a command from a Court page to come to the
Duchess's rooms that night, in order that she might tell him certain
things which she dared not write. Tassigny obeyed the summons, and had
a long talk with Christina in the privacy of her own chamber. She told
him that the French were assembling in great force on the frontier,
and that Lorraine would be the first country to be attacked. And she
further informed him that certain great personages in Germany, the
Marquis Albert, Duke Maurice, and others, were in secret communication
with the King, and were about to take up arms against the Emperor,
and join the French when they crossed the Rhine. The Rhinegrave had
been often seen going to and fro in disguise between the King and
Duke Maurice. Moreover, a German had lately told the Duchess that he
had been at table with the Elector the day before, and had heard him
vow that he would release his father-in-law, the captive Landgrave
of Hesse, were he at the Emperor's own side! When another guest
warned Duke Maurice to be more careful, lest his rash words should be
repeated, he replied defiantly: "What I say here is meant for all the
world to hear."

This confidential conversation was faithfully reported to Mary of
Hungary by Tassigny, who concluded his letter with the following words:

    "_En somme_, Madame complains that she is in a terrible
    position, seeing that Lorraine will be entirely at the mercy of
    the French, and that there is not a single person in whom she
    can trust and who is loyal to His Imperial Majesty, excepting
    Monsieur de Bassompierre, her chief Councillor, and Monsieur
    de Vaudemont, who is quite alienated from France, and entirely
    devoted to the Emperor, saying that it is impossible to serve
    two masters."[450]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1552] LE VOYAGE D'AUSTRASIE]

By Christina's wish, Tassigny went on to Nomény the next day, and had a
long interview with Vaudemont, who assured him that every word spoken
by Her Excellency was true, that at Candlemas there would be a great
revolt in Germany, and that the French King meant to seize the three
bishoprics--Toul, Verdun, and Metz. The only way to prevent this would
be for the Emperor to place strong garrisons in these cities, and thus
defeat his enemies' plans. The Count's information, as time showed, was
perfectly accurate, and, in spite of all that has been alleged to the
contrary, he was probably loyal to the Duchess, who never doubted his
honesty, and to whom he seems to have been sincerely attached. But he
was timid and vacillating, and lacked courage and firmness to face the
crisis when it came.

Mary, to whom Christina turned in this extremity, was powerless to
help. Every available man was needed to defend the Low Countries, and
she could only advise her niece to claim the protection of the Empire
for her son's State, and, if Lorraine were actually invaded, retire
with her children to the Palatinate. Even Charles began to wake up from
his lethargy, and to realize too late that Mary had been right all the
time. At Christmas Stroppiana wrote from Innsbruck:

    "We begin to suspect the existence of a plot against the
    Emperor, hidden under the cloak of a military revolt. Maurice
    is not a stranger to this conspiracy, and Albert has let his
    soldiers loose and is ravaging Germany."[451]

A few weeks later Christina's secretary, who kept Arras informed of all
that was happening in Lorraine, sent the Emperor a message to say that
the King was collecting his forces at Châlons, and that Maurice was
marching on Augsburg at the head of his _Landsknechten_, although no
one knew whether he meant to fight for the King or the Emperor.[452]

On the 5th of February Henry issued a manifesto, stamped with the cap
of liberty, proclaiming himself the protector of the Germans and their
deliverer from the Emperor's yoke, and, after solemnly invoking St.
Denis's help, set out for Reims with the Queen and Dauphin. The gilded
youth of France all flocked to the camp at Châlons, eager to start on
the _voyage d'Austrasie_, as the expedition was termed by these gay
spirits, and drive Charles of Austria out of Germany. The Constable was
appointed to the chief command, Aumale was made Captain of the horse,
and the Rhinegrave Colonel of the German infantry.

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1552] HENRY II. AT JOINVILLE]

As soon as the news reached Nancy, the Duchess sent Bassompierre to
Brussels, and told the Queen that terror reigned everywhere, although
it was doubtful if Henry would march on Germany or turn aside to invade
Lorraine. The alarm which filled the hearts of these two defenceless
women is reflected in the letters which Anne and Christina wrote during
these anxious days. The wildest rumours were abroad, and death and
ruin seemed to be staring them in the face. Bassompierre soon returned
with a letter from Mary, thanking Anne for her valuable information,
and begging her not to desert the sorely-tried Duchess at this crisis.
Since Madame was good enough to honour her with her commands, Anne
asked nothing better than to obey. She wrote daily to Brussels,
giving minute details of the King's advance. On the 15th of March
he left Reims, and reached Joinville on the 22nd. From here he sent
Commissioners to Nancy to inform the Duchess that her towns would not
be attacked, and that there was no need to fortify them. The Regents
only raised a sufficient body of men under the Governor of Nancy, Baron
d'Haussonville, to protect the Duke's person. Following her aunt's
advice, Christina sent one of her secretaries to Innsbruck to ask the
Emperor for assistance; but Charles could only lament his inability to
come to her help, and advise her to ask the French King to respect the
neutrality of Lorraine. This was her only hope, and, encouraged by the
Cardinal of Guise, she and Anne went to Joinville on the 1st of April,
and sought an audience from the King.[453]

Here they were received in the kindest manner by the old Duchess, and
conducted into Henry's presence by the Constable. The King received
them courteously, and conversed some time with them in a friendly
manner. Christina begged him to take her son under his protection, and
reminded him that his grandmother, Renée de Bourbon, was a Princess
of the blood royal; then, gathering courage, she told him that she
had been accused of designs against him by slanderous tongues, and
asked nothing better than to show that she was absolutely innocent of
these charges. "So great a lady," remarked the Sieur de Rabutin, who
witnessed the interview, "must have been very reluctant to plead so
humbly, and I doubt if she would ever have taken a step so contrary
to her natural inclination if her uncle had been able to give her
help."[454] The King listened civilly, and replied that he bore her
no ill-will whatsoever, but was obliged to secure the frontier and
protect himself from danger on the side of Lorraine. As for her son,
he cherished the most friendly feelings for him, and was anxious to
see him affianced to his own daughter, if the Duchess were agreeable.
This kind language and the affection shown her by the Cardinal and his
mother relieved Christina's worst fears. She begged the King to do her
the honour of staying under her roof if he came in that direction, and
returned to Nancy with the Constable, who escorted the two Duchesses
home, in the most amiable fashion, and then went on to take possession
of Toul.

On her return, Christina wrote the following letter to the Emperor:

  "MONSEIGNEUR,

    "I have been to Joinville in accordance with Your Majesty's
    advice, and have sent full particulars of my interview with the
    King to Monsieur d'Arras. I beg you, Monseigneur, to give me
    your commands as to my future conduct, as my only wish is to
    obey Your Majesty to the end of my life.

  "Your very humble and very obedient niece,
                                                   "CHRESTIENNE.
  "From Nancy. April 5, 1552."[455]

A few days of anxious suspense followed. The French Queen fell ill of
quinsy, and was in danger of her life. Solemn prayers and litanies were
chanted for her recovery in all the churches, and Diane of Poitiers
hastened to Joinville, where she found the King "playing the good
husband at his wife's bedside."[456] But by Palm Sunday Catherine
recovered sufficiently for Henry to leave her in the charge of Duchess
Antoinette and continue his march. On Monday, the 11th of April, he
joined the Constable before Toul, which opened its gates the next day.
On the 13th the King left the bulk of the army to go on to Metz with
the Constable, and, taking the household cavalry and a few companies of
men-at-arms under the Duke of Guise, turned his steps towards Nancy.


II.

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1552] THE FRENCH AT NANCY]

Eastertide, 1552, was a sad and memorable epoch in the annals of
Lorraine. At two o'clock on Maundy Thursday, Henry II. entered Nancy
at the head of his troops, with trumpets blowing and banners flying.
For the first time in the last hundred years, foreign soldiers were
seen within the walls of Nancy. The Cardinal and the Duke of Guise
rode on before, to inform the Duchess of the King's coming and see
that due arrangements were made for his reception. Christina nerved
herself for a final effort, and with splendid courage prepared to
welcome the enemy of her race within her palace gates. Salutes were
fired from the bastions as the King entered the town, and the young
Duke rode out to meet him at the head of the nobles and magistrates,
and escorted him to the church of St. Georges. Here Henry alighted, and
the citizens held a canopy of state over him as he entered the ancient
shrine of the Lorraine Princes, and, after kissing the relics of the
saints on the altar steps, prayed by the tomb of King René. Then the
young Duke led him through the stately portal, under his grandfather's
equestrian statue, to the hall where his mother was waiting to receive
her royal guest, with the Duchess of Aerschot and the young Princesses.
Henry, the Duke of Guise, the Cardinal, the Marshal St. André, and
200 gentlemen of the royal household, were sumptuously lodged in the
ducal palace, while the troops were quartered in the town, and French
guards were stationed at the gates, not without a protest from Baron
d'Haussonville.[457]

That evening the Duchess entertained her guests at a magnificent
banquet in the Galerie des Cerfs, and the brilliantly-lighted hall,
with its vaulted fretwork of blue and gold, frescoed walls, and rich
tapestries, excited the admiration of all the French.

François de Rabutin, the young Captain in Monsieur de Nevers's corps
of archers, walked through the streets of the "fine, strong little
town," lost in wonder at the splendour of the palace, the prosperity
of the citizens, and their affection for the ducal family. More than
all he was struck by the young Duke himself, who appeared to him "the
handsomest and cleverest boy in the world," and who evidently made the
same impression on the King. Henry paid the Duchess many compliments on
her son's good looks and intelligence, and expressed so much pleasure
at his reception that her worst alarms were allayed. Late in the
same evening she wrote a letter to her aunt, telling her of the kind
expressions used by His Majesty, and of her hopes that all might yet be
well. But a rude awakening was in store for her. Early on Good Friday
morning Vaudemont appeared at the door of her room with consternation
written on his face. The King had sent him to inform the Duchess that
her son was to leave Nancy the next day for Bar, in charge of one
of the King's captains, while she was deprived of all share in the
government, which was henceforth to be administered by Vaudemont as
sole Regent. On receiving this unexpected message, Christina hastily
summoned as many members of the Council as could be brought together,
and with their help and her brother-in-law's support, drew up a protest
couched in respectful and dignified language, reminding the King of the
terms of the late Duke's will, and of her own rights both as mother and
Regent. Henry's only reply to this appeal was to send the Duchess a
copy of the agreement to which she was expected to conform. It was as
follows:

[Illustration: PALAIS DUCAL, NANCY (1627)

_To face p. 364_]

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1552] CHRISTINA'S DISTRESS]

    "The Duke is to start to-morrow for Bar before the King leaves
    Nancy. His mother may accompany him, or go elsewhere, if
    she prefers. She may retain the administration of her son's
    property, but will no longer have any authority over the
    fortresses in Lorraine. All subjects of the Emperor who hold
    any office in the government or in the Duke's household are
    commanded to leave Lorraine without delay. A French garrison
    of 600 men will be left in Nancy under Monsieur de Thou, but
    Monsieur de Vaudemont will remain Governor of the city, and
    take an oath to observe the conditions laid down by the King. A
    French garrison of 300 men will also be placed in Stenay under
    the Sieur de Parroy."[458]

These hard conditions filled Christina with dismay. She begged the
Cardinal to defend her rights, but he could only advise her to submit
to the inevitable. Both he and Francis of Guise have often been blamed
for not opposing Henry II.'s arbitrary proceedings, but there seems
little doubt that the King originally intended to reduce Lorraine from
the rank of an independent State to that of a fief of the Crown, and
that it was only the opposition of the Guises which saved the duchy
from this fate. In her despair Christina made a last attempt to soften
the King's heart. Clad in her black robes and flowing white veil, she
entered the Galerie des Cerfs, where Henry and his courtiers were
assembled, and, throwing herself on her knees at the King's feet,
implored him, for the love of Christ who died on the cross that day, to
have pity upon an unhappy mother. The sight of her distress, and the
touching words in which she begged the King to take everything else,
but allow her to keep her son, moved all hearts, and there was not a
dry eye in the whole assembly. Even Henry was filled with compassion,
and, raising the Duchess from her knees, he assured her that he only
wished to confirm the friendship between the two houses. Far from
intending any harm to the young Duke, he proposed to bring him up with
his children, and to treat him as if he were his own son, but Lorraine
was too near the frontiers of Germany, and too much exposed to attacks
from his enemies, for him to be able to leave the boy there. With these
consoling words, he took the weeping Duchess by the hand and led her
to the doors of the gallery, but, as Anne afterwards told the Queen of
Hungary, the King vouchsafed no reply to her sister's entreaty that
she might not be deprived of her boy, and Christina's prayer remained
unanswered.[459]

Early the next morning Vaudemont and the Councillors renewed their
oaths of allegiance to Duke Charles III., after which the young Prince
left Nancy in charge of the French captain Bourdillon and an escort
of fifty men-at-arms. The parting between the Duchess and her son was
heartrending. The poor mother gave way to passionate tears, in which
she was joined not only by Vaudemont and Anne, but by all the nobles
and people who had assembled at the palace gates to see the last of
their beloved Duke. Nothing but the sound of weeping and lamentation
was to be heard, and Rabutin, with all his hatred of the House of
Austria, was filled with compassion at the sight of the Duchess's grief.

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1552] CAPTURE OF THE YOUNG DUKE]

On Easter Day Christina wrote the following letter to her aunt,
enclosing a copy of the articles drawn up by the French King:

  "MADAME,

    "The extreme grief and distress which the King's violence has
    caused me prevents me from writing to you as fully as the
    occasion requires; but I must tell you what has happened since
    my last letter, in which I told you of the King's arrival.
    Now, in reward for the good cheer which I made him, he has
    carried off my son by force, with a violence which could not
    have been greater if I had been a slave. Not content with
    this, he has deprived me of the chief part of my authority,
    so that I can hardly remain here with honour and reputation,
    and, what is worse, I shall no longer have the power of doing
    Your Majesty service, which is one of my greatest regrets.
    Have pity, Madame, on a poor mother, whose son has been torn
    from her arms, as you will see more fully by this copy of the
    King's final resolutions, which he has sent me in writing.
    These have been carried out in every particular. Before he
    left, my brother, Monsieur de Vaudemont, and all the members of
    the Council, except myself, were made to take an oath, pledging
    themselves to defend the strong places in this land against
    all his enemies, and to open their gates to him whenever
    required. The same oath was taken by the garrison who are to
    guard this town, and I was asked to give up the keys of the
    postern gate. So that I, who was first here, and could once
    serve Your Majesty, am now deprived of all power, and am little
    better than a slave. I foresee that I shall soon be stripped of
    everything, in spite of the treaties and agreements formerly
    made between Your Majesties and this State. This ill-treatment
    and the evident wish shown by the French that I should leave
    this house have made me decide to retire to Blamont, where I
    will await Your Majesty's advice as to my future action.... I
    must warn Your Majesty, with regard to Stenay, that the new
    Captain, Sieur du Parroy, although of Lorraine birth, belongs
    to the King's household, and is devoted to French interests, as
    is also the second in command. Madame, I have written all this
    to the Emperor, but he is so far away and in so remote a place
    that I felt I must also tell Your Majesty what had happened
    here, begging her humbly to let me know her good pleasure.

  "Your humble and obedient niece,
                         "CHRESTIENNE.

    "Nancy, April 17, 1552."[460]

The letter which Anne addressed to the Queen the next day is still more
graphic in the details it supplies:

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1552] THE DUKE AT JOINVILLE]

    "I cannot help writing to inform you, Madame, of the utter
    desolation and misery to which my poor sister is reduced owing
    to the great rudeness and cruelty with which she was treated
    by the King of France on Good Friday. He came here under
    pretence of good faith and true friendship, as he had lately
    given us to understand. On his arrival he was received with all
    possible honour and entertained in the most hospitable manner.
    On Good Friday he told Madame that, in order to satisfy the
    conditions of his league with the Germans, he must secure all
    the fortified posts in Lorraine, as well as the Duke's person,
    and with this end must take him to Bar. In order to prevent
    this, Madame, Monsieur de Vaudemont and I, with all the members
    of the Council, drew up a remonstrance couched in the most
    humble terms, to which he only replied by sending us a written
    copy of his resolutions. Upon this my sister went to find him
    in the Grande Galerie, and begged him humbly, even going as far
    as to fall on her knees to implore him, for the love of God,
    not to take her son away from her. He made no reply, and, to
    make an end of the story, Madame, on Easter Eve they took the
    boy, escorted by a band of armed men, in charge of the Sieur de
    Bourdillon and the Maréchal de St. André, who did not leave his
    side until he had seen him well out of the town. It was indeed
    a piteous thing to see his poor mother, Monsieur de Vaudemont,
    and all the nobles and this poor people, in tears and
    lamentation at his departure. Madame, Your Majesty can imagine
    the terrible grief of my poor sister at this outrage, and will
    understand that her sorrow at losing her son is still so great
    that I have been obliged to abandon my intention of returning
    home, and feel that I cannot leave her. The King allows her
    to keep the charge of her daughters and the administration of
    her children's estates, excepting in the case of the fortified
    towns, which remain in the hands of Monsieur de Vaudemont....
    And since, Madame, I am still as ever very anxious to do Your
    Majesty service, I beg you to lay your commands upon me, and
    they will be obeyed by one who is the most affectionate servant
    that Your Majesty will ever have.

                                              "ANNE DE LORRAINE.

  "From Nancy, the day after Easter,
            April 18."[461]


In a postscript Anne further informed Mary that her sister had just
received a letter from the King, telling her that, hearing an attempt
would be made to carry off the young Duke, he had ordered Bourdillon
to take him to join the Queen at Joinville. Henry's letter was written
from Pont-à-Mousson, where he spent Easter Day, after sleeping at the
Duke's country-house at Condé on Saturday:

  "MY SISTER,

    "After leaving you I received warnings from several quarters
    that the Burgundians were going to make an attempt to surprise
    Bar and carry off my cousin, the Duke of Lorraine; and as I am
    anxious to prevent this, I ordered Monsieur de Bourdillon to
    take him straight to Joinville, which is sufficiently remote to
    escape this danger, and where both you and he would be quite at
    home in his own family. And you will find good company there
    and be given the best of cheer, just as if I were there myself.
    I hope, my sister, that this may be agreeable to you, and that
    you will believe that my anxiety for his person is the reason
    why I wish to avoid any risk of injury, which would be a cause
    of grave displeasure to those who love him, as you and I do.
    Farewell, my sister, and may God have you in His holy keeping.

                                            "Your good brother,
                                                         "HENRY.

  "Written at Pont-à-Mousson,
        April 17, 1552."[462]


The tone of the letter was kind. Henry had evidently been touched by
Christina's distress, and tried to soften the blow. Fortunately, the
little Duke himself was too young to realize the meaning of these
startling events. The ride to Joinville and the welcome which he
received from the kind old Duchess amused him, but at bedtime he missed
the familiar faces, and asked for his mother and tutor, Monsieur de
Montbardon. When he was told that they had stayed at Nancy, the poor
child burst into incontrollable sobs, and refused to be comforted.[463]


III.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1552] CHRISTINA AT DENŒUVRE]

The invasion of Lorraine and the harsh treatment which the Duchess
suffered at the French King's hands were keenly resented by her
imperial relatives. Mary wrote indignantly to Charles at Innsbruck,
complaining justly of Henry's violation of the neutrality of Lorraine
and of the young Duke's[464] capture. To Christina herself she
expressed her anger at the King's wicked act, at the same time advising
her to bow to the storm and retire to Blamont for the present. This
the Duchess did three days after her son's departure, taking the two
Princesses as well as her faithful sister-in-law. Anne's pen was never
idle, and on the following Sunday--that of _Pâques-fleuries_--she sent
the Queen a list of all the Princes who were members of the League. But
they had not been many days at Blamont, when their peace was disturbed
by the arrival of the French King and the Constable, who, after
taking possession of Metz, marched through the Vosges on their way to
Strasburg, and took up their quarters in the castle. The Duchesses
left hurriedly to avoid another meeting with the King, and moved to
Denœuvre, where they remained during the next three months. But the
strain of recent events had been too much for Christina's strength; she
became seriously ill, and her condition was a grave cause of anxiety to
Anne and her ladies.

Count Stroppiana, who heard the details of the French invasion from
Belloni's own lips at Innsbruck, wrote the following account of the
Duchess's wrongs to his master, the Duke of Savoy:

    "The King of France, we hear, has occupied Lorraine, and sent
    the young Duke to Châlons, guarded by 100 men-at-arms, contrary
    to the promises which he made to the Duchess his mother. She
    threw herself at his feet, imploring him not to rob her of her
    son, her only joy and consolation, without whom she could not
    bear to live, with many other words which would have moved the
    hardest heart to pity. The King would not listen, and repulsed
    her with many rough words, forbidding any of the Emperor's
    subjects to remain in her service on pain of death. He has
    deprived her of the Regency, and relegated her to a remote
    country place, where she does nothing but weep and lament,
    and will certainly die before long, if her great sorrow is
    not comforted, as she has been ill for some time past. The
    poor little Duke is said to be ill, too. When he reached the
    first stage of his journey, he asked for his mother and tutor,
    and, when he did not see them, wept so bitterly that it was
    impossible to comfort him."[465]

The boy's tears were soon dried, and he recovered his spirits in the
charge of the Duke of Longueville's old tutor, Jean de la Brousse,
and the companionship of the royal children. His mother remained long
inconsolable for his loss, but the affection of her son's subjects
was her best solace. So earnest were their entreaties that she should
remain among them that she declined her aunt's urgent invitation to
take refuge in Flanders, and decided to stay at Denœuvre. On the 31st
of May she wrote as follows to inform the Emperor of her intention:

  "MONSEIGNEUR,

    "At the prayer of my brother Monsieur de Vaudemont, and my
    sister the Duchess of Aerschot, and the earnest desire of my
    good people, I have been bold enough to remain here, although
    Your Majesty had sent me orders to join the Queens. I trust you
    will not take this in bad part, but will understand that I have
    only done this at the urgent prayer of my brother and sister,
    and not out of disrespect to your command, since my sole desire
    is to obey you all my life, and I beg you to believe this and
    remember my son and his poor country.

                              "Your humble niece and servant,
                                                   "CHRESTIENNE.

  "From Denœuvre, May 31, 1552."[466]

[Sidenote: JULY, 1552] CHRISTINA BANISHED]

This letter found the Emperor at the lowest depth of his fortunes. On
the 19th of May he was carried in his litter by torchlight over the
Brenner in torrents of driving rain, and hardly paused till he arrived
at Villach in Carinthia. A few hours after he left Innsbruck, Maurice
and his troopers entered the town, plundered the Emperor's quarters,
and robbed the baggage which had been forgotten in his hasty departure.
The victor might easily have captured the fugitive Emperor, but, as
Maurice said himself, he had no cage for so fine a bird.

The tide, however, was already turning. Strasburg closed her gates
against the French invaders, and early in May an Imperial army attacked
Champagne and sent Queen Catherine flying in terror from Reims. Alarmed
by these reports, Henry beat a hasty retreat, and contented himself
with the empty boast that he had watered his horses in the Rhine. The
seat of the war was now transferred to Luxembourg, and Lorraine was
once more harassed by the outposts of the two contending armies. From
their safe retreat at Denœuvre, Christina and Anne watched the course
of the campaign anxiously, and kept up a constant correspondence with
Mary of Hungary. The bold measure of placing an Imperialist garrison
in Nancy was now proposed by the Duchess, and gladly accepted by her
uncle, who realized the advantages of the scheme, and wrote that
Lorraine might well be occupied, on the ground of the Duke's detention,
and would be restored to him as soon as he was released.[467] Early in
July, Christina's trusted servant, Bassompierre, the Bailiff of the
Vosges, arrived at Denœuvre with a message from Vaudemont, promising to
admit the Imperialist force within the gates of Nancy on condition that
the occupation was only temporary. The Duchess promptly sent a lackey
to Flanders with a cipher letter to inform the Queen of his consent.
But, as ill-luck would have it, the servant fell into the hands of
the French, who were besieging Luxembourg, and he was brought before
the King and forced to confess the object of his errand. Henry was
furious at discovering the plot, and sent a gentleman of his household,
Monsieur de Rostain, to Denœuvre, with a letter to the Duchess,
saying that he feared her attachment to the Emperor was greater than
her maternal love, and desired her to leave Lorraine without delay.
Christina sent one of her gentlemen, Monsieur de Doulans, back with
Rostain to protest against this order, saying that, after robbing her
of her son and depriving her of the Regency, the King would surely not
be so cruel as to drive her out of her own dower-house, especially as
Denœuvre was a fief of the Empire. But these passionate appeals availed
her little. A week later Henry sent another gentleman, Monsieur de
Fontaine, to order the Duchess to leave Denœuvre immediately, if she
did not wish to feel the full weight of his displeasure. This time
the messenger had orders not to return to the King's presence until
he had seen the Duchess across the frontier. So with a heavy heart
the two Princesses left the land of Lorraine, where they were both so
fondly beloved, and took refuge in Alsace. Belloni, who sent the Queen
an account of his mistress's latest troubles in his clear Italian
handwriting, was desired to tell her aunt that the Duchess had many
more things of importance to say, but must wait for a more convenient
season. Only one thing she must add, and this was that through all
Monsieur de Vaudemont had remained perfectly true and loyal to her,
although he was compelled by his office to conform outwardly to the
French King's tyranny.[468]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1552] BELLONI'S END]

On receiving this bad news, Mary sent to beg her niece to come to
Flanders without delay, promising the Duchess a home for herself and
her little daughters. Unfortunately, as Christina found, this was no
easy task. Not only was the whole countryside in peril of daily attacks
from the French, but the Marquis Albert had descended like a whirlwind
from the Suabian hills, and was spreading terror and destruction along
the banks of the Rhine. The next letter which she addressed to her aunt
from the imperial city of Schlettstadt, where she had sought refuge,
gives vent to these alarms:

  "MADAME,

    "I received the kind and loving letter which Your Majesty was
    so good as to send me on the 6th of August. It came at the
    right moment, for I can assure you that I was sorely troubled,
    but Your Majesty's kindness in saying that I shall be welcome
    has done me so much good that I feel I do not know how to
    thank you enough, and am only sorry I cannot set out at once.
    For the roads are very dangerous, above all for children....
    Your Majesty will understand how distressed I shall be until
    I can find some way of coming to you, and certainly one year
    will seem to me a hundred, until I am with Your Majesty once
    more."[469]

This grateful letter was written from Schlettstadt on the 22nd of
August, and sent to Brussels by Niccolò Belloni, the only messenger
whom Christina felt that she could trust. But fresh trouble awaited
her in this direction. Belloni reached Flanders safely, and came back
to Lorraine with letters to the Count and Countess of Vaudemont, but
disappeared in some mysterious manner two days after he reached
Nancy. It seems doubtful whether he died of the plague, as Massimo
del Pero wrote to his friend Innocenzo Gadio, or whether he fell into
some ambush and was slain by the enemy's hand. The loss was a great
one to the Duchess, whom he had served so faithfully and well for the
past sixteen years, and the honest Milanese was lamented by all his
colleagues. Innocenzo Gadio, sent the sad news to the Princess of
Macedonia's daughter, Dejanira, the wife of Count Gaspare Trivulzio,
who had formerly received Christina in his castle at Codogno. The
Countess expressed her sympathy with her dearest Messer Innocenzo in
the warmest terms.

    "I am sure," she wrote, "that the death of so beloved a friend
    will cause my mother the greatest sorrow. When you return to
    Lorraine," she adds, "please kiss Her Excellency's hands for
    me, and tell her that the sufferings which she has undergone
    in those parts grieve me to the bottom of my soul; and tell
    her too that we, her servants in this country, shall always be
    ready to risk our lives and all that we have in her service."

                                  "DEJANIRA, CONTESSA TRIVULZIO.

  "From Codogno, September 29, 1552."[470]


There were still faithful hearts in this far-off land who never forgot
the Duchess whom they had known in early youth, and who followed her
fortunes with tender sympathy and affection.

[Sidenote: AUG., 1552] AT HOH-KÖNIGSBERG]

But now help came to the sorely-tried Princess from an unexpected
quarter. The Marquis Albert had haughtily declined to take any part in
the conference that was being held at Passau between King Ferdinand
and Maurice of Saxony, or to be included in the treaty which was
signed between the Emperor and the Elector on the 15th of August.
Instead of laying down his arms, he chose to continue his reckless
course, and marched through the Rhineland plundering towns and burning
villages, "making war," wrote an eyewitness, "as if he were the devil
himself."[471] But when he reached Treves he heard of the Duchess's
expulsion from Lorraine and her distressed condition, and, with a touch
of the old chivalry that made him dear to women, he promptly sent to
offer her shelter in his castle of Hoh-Königsberg, the strongest and
finest citadel in the Vosges. Christina accepted the offer gratefully,
and during the next few weeks the red sandstone fortress which still
crowns the heights above Schlettstadt became her abode. She was there
still when the Emperor made his way from Augsburg to the banks of the
Rhine, at the head of a formidable army.

On the 7th of September he entered Strasburg; on the 15th he crossed
the river and encamped at Landau. A week before he sent one of his
bravest Burgundian captains, Ferry de Carondelet, to visit her at
Hoh-Königsberg and invite her to visit him in the camp.[472] Christina
obeyed the summons joyfully, and a few days after the Emperor reached
Landau she and Anne of Aerschot made their way by the Rhine to the
imperial camp. The Prince of Piedmont rode out to meet them, and
Anne's kinsfolk, Egmont and d'Aremberg joined with Emanuel Philibert
and Ferrante Gonzaga in welcoming the distressed ladies and condoling
with them on the terrors and hardships which they had undergone. Only
one thing grieved Christina. The Emperor firmly refused to admit her
trusted Councillor, Bassompierre, into his presence, being convinced
that he had betrayed his mistress and played into the French King's
hands. Nothing that she could say altered his opinion in this respect,
and she thought it wiser to send the Bailiff to Nancy, where he was
able to watch over her interests and send reports to the Queen of
Hungary.[473]

Charles was suffering from gout and fever, and Christina was shocked
to see his altered appearance. The fatigues and anxieties of the last
few months had left their mark upon him. His face was pale and worn,
his hands thin and bloodless, and he spoke with difficulty owing to
the soreness of his mouth and the leaf which he kept between his lips
to relieve their dryness. Only his eyes kept the old fire, and no one
could divine the thoughts which lay hidden under the mask-like face.
As Morosyne wrote after an interview which he had with the Emperor
about this time: "He maketh me think of Solomon's saying: 'Heaven is
high, the earth is deep, and a king's heart is unsearchable.'"[474]
But he was full of kindness for Christina, telling her that she and
her children would always find a home at Brussels. Since, however, her
cousin of Guise had entrenched himself in Metz and the country round
was swarming with soldiery, he advised her to remain at Heidelberg for
the present.

[Sidenote: NOV., 1552] CHARLES. V. AND ALBERT]

The Duchess obeyed this advice and retired to her brother-in-law's
Court. The Palatine was growing old, his beard had turned white and
his strength began to fail, but his influence was as great as ever in
Germany. Morosyne, who met him at Spires, pronounced him to be the
wisest and best of all the Electors, and was touched by the affection
with which he spoke of the late King Henry VIII., declaring that his
shirt never lay so near his skin as King Edward's noble father lay near
his heart. The Ambassador's secretary, Roger Ascham, made friends with
Hubert, who sent him long dissertations on the pronunciation of Greek,
and invited him to Heidelberg. Now Frederic and his wife welcomed the
Duchess and her children with their wonted hospitality, and insisted on
keeping them until the end of the year; but Christina's heart was with
her poor subjects, who suffered severely from the ravages of the war.
From Nancy, Bassompierre sent word that the Marquis Albert had suddenly
deserted his French allies, and had captured Aumale and carried him in
triumph to the imperial camp before Metz.[475]

Here, on the 20th of November, Charles came face to face with the man
who had wronged him so deeply. "God knows what I feel," he wrote to
Mary, "at having to make friends with the Marquis Albert, but necessity
knows no law."[476] At least, he accepted the situation with a good
grace. Morosyne was present when the Emperor came riding into the camp
on a great white horse of Naples breed, and, seeing Albert, took his
hand with a gracious smile, and shook it warmly twice or thrice.

    "The Marquis fixed his eyes fast on the Emperor's countenance,
    as one that meant to see what thoughts his looks betrayed. When
    he saw that all was well, or at least could not see but all
    seemed well, he spake a few words, which His Majesty seemed to
    take in very good part."

Calling a page to his side, he took a red scarf, the Imperialist
badge, from his hands, and gave it to the Marquis. Albert received it
with deep reverence, saying that he had not fared badly when he wore
these colours before, and trusted the Emperor's gift would bring him
the same good fortune as of old.[477]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1553] THE EMPEROR TO RETURN]

The return of the wanderer saved Charles from utter ruin. His affairs
were still going badly. Vieilleville, the French Governor of Verdun,
seized the boats laden with provisions for the imperial camp, which
Christina had sent down the Rhine, and laid violent hands on six
waggons of choice fruits, wines, and cakes, which were despatched from
Nancy for her uncle's table. Worse than this, he contrived to enter
Pont-à-Mousson, which Fabrizio Colonna held, disguised as a messenger
from the Duchess, and obtained possession of this important place by
stratagem.[478] The valour of Guise and the strong fortifications of
Metz were proof against the reckless courage of Albert and the might
of the imperial army. The heavy rains and biting cold of an early
winter increased the sufferings of the troops, and, after losing half
his army by famine and dysentery, Charles was compelled to raise the
siege at the New Year. "Fortune is a woman," he remarked to one of
his captains; "she abandons the old, and keeps her smiles for young
men."[479] In this forced retreat the Marquis performed prodigies of
valour, and succeeded in bringing his guns safely over roads rendered
impassable by a sudden thaw. The bulk of the army was dismissed, only
the veteran Spanish and German forces being quartered in Artois and
Luxembourg, and Charles himself set out for Brussels. His failing
strength compelled him to halt on the way, and Morosyne gave it as
his opinion that the Emperor would never reach the end of his journey
alive. But his spirit was indomitable as ever, and on Sunday, the 6th
of February, he entered Brussels in an open litter, amid scenes of the
wildest enthusiasm.

    "To-day," wrote the Ambassador of Savoy, "I have witnessed the
    safe arrival of the Emperor. He was received with the greatest
    transports of joy and delight by the whole people, who feared
    that he was dead and that they would never see him again."

And Charles himself wrote to Ferdinand that, now he was once more in
his native land and in the company of his beloved sisters, he would
soon recover his health.[480]

FOOTNOTES:

[445] Granvelle, iii. 630; Henne, ix. 162; T. Juste, 185.

[446] Ascham, ii. 313; Papiers d'État, viii., Archives du Royaume,
Bruxelles.

[447] Lanz, iii. 75; Granvelle, iii. 527.

[448] Pimodan, 375, 381.

[449] Lettres des Seigneurs, iii. 104, Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles.

[450] Lettres des Seigneurs, iii. 90.

[451] Bulletins, etc., série 2, xii. 189.

[452] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 108; Granvelle, iii. 613.

[453] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 42, 108.

[454] Calmet, ii. 1290; F. de Rabutin, "Collection de Mémoires,"
xxxvii. 185.

[455] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 19.

[456] A. de Ruble, "La Jeunesse de Marie Stuart," 73.

[457] Calmet, ii. 1199.

[458] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 101, f. 320.

[459] Calmet, ii. 1300; Pfister, ii. 188; Brantôme, xii. 110; Lettres
des Seigneurs, iv. 101; Ravold, iii. 780.

[460] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 101, f. 320.

[461] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 101, f. 330 (see Appendix).

[462] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 101, f. 319.

[463] Bulletins de la Commission d'Histoire, série 2, xii. 213.

[464] Bucholtz, ix. 539.

[465] Bulletins, etc., série 2, xii. 213.

[466] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 102, f. 127 (see Appendix); Lanz, iii.
208.

[467] Bucholtz, ix. 543; Bulletins, 2, xii. 191.

[468] Lettres des Seigneurs, vii. 603.

[469] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 103, f. 348.

[470] Manuscript 18, Biblioteca Cavagna Sangiuliani, Zelada (see
Appendix).

[471] Lettres des Seigneurs, iv. 518 (see Appendix).

[472] _Ibid._, iv. 103.

[473] Bulletins de la Commission d'Histoire, série 2, xii. 232; Lettres
des Seigneurs, iv. 518.

[474] "Hardwicke Papers," i. 55.

[475] Calendar of State Papers, Foreign, Edward VI., 230.

[476] Lanz, iii. 513.

[477] Voigt, ii. 9, 10; P. F. Tytler, "England under Edward VI.," 144.

[478] Vieilleville, 161, 176.

[479] Calmet, ii. 338.

[480] Bulletins, etc., série 2, xii. 238; State Papers, Edward VI.,
Foreign, 236, 243; Lanz, iii. 542.




BOOK XI

CHRISTINA AT BRUSSELS

1553-1559


I.

Christina was at Brussels on the memorable day when the Emperor set
foot once more on his native soil. She heard the shouts of joy which
rent the air, and joined with the Queens in the welcome which greeted
him on the threshold of his palace. Early in January she had left
Heidelberg and travelled safely down the Rhine and through the friendly
states of her Cleves cousins to Brussels. Here she occupied the suite
of rooms where she had lived before her second marriage, and to a large
extent resumed her former habits. She spent much of her time with her
aunts and the Duchess of Aerschot, and renewed her old friendship with
Countess d'Aremberg and other ladies of the Court. The deepest sympathy
was felt for her by all classes, and when Charles addressed the
States-General on the 13th of February, and alluded to the treachery of
the French in carrying off the young Duke of Lorraine and driving his
mother out of the realm, his words provoked an outburst of tumultuous
indignation.[481]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1553] CHRISTINA'S SUITORS]

Through her brother-in-law Vaudemont she still maintained close
relations with Lorraine, while the Cardinal kept her informed of all
that concerned her son, and the boy's own letters satisfied her that
he was well and happy at the French Court. But although Charles shared
all the advantages enjoyed by the King's children, and soon became a
general favourite in the royal family, it was bitter for the Duchess
to feel that her only son was growing up, in a foreign land, among the
hereditary foes of her race. The restoration of peace between Charles
and Henry was the only means by which she could hope to recover her
lost child, and this became the goal of all her efforts during the six
years that she spent in exile.

The Widow of Milan had been courted by Kings and Princes, and hardly
was Christina settled at Brussels before she was assailed by fresh
offers of marriage. Henry, King of Navarre, whose accomplished wife
had died soon after her daughter's marriage, asked the Emperor for
his niece's hand, but his proposals met with small favour. Far more
serious was the courtship of Albert of Brandenburg, who felt this to
be a favourable moment for renewing his old suit. "No one," as Thomas
Hoby wrote, "had done the Emperor worthier or more faithful service"
in the siege of Metz, and was better entitled to reward. His claims
were strongly supported by the Palatine, who invited the Marquis to
Heidelberg to confer with the other German Princes on the best means
of recovering Metz. Albert himself not only aspired to the Duchess's
hand, but to the Duke of Alva's post of Commander-in-Chief, and boasted
that once Christina was his bride he would easily recover her father's
kingdoms.

    "It is supposed," wrote Morosyne from Brussels on the 20th of
    February, "that the Marquis will marry the Duchess of Lorraine
    and have Alva's place. The Palsgrave would fain it were so,
    in order that, if the Marquis married his wife's sister, he
    might help him to recover Denmark; for besides that a slender
    title is apt to set such a one to work, he should, by being
    married to the Emperor's niece, and afterwards coming, when his
    uncle died, to the duchy of Prussia, be able easily to trouble
    Denmark. The Marquis doth much desire it, for that the Duke of
    Holstein has been and is a great suitor to the Duchess, who
    was once so nigh marrying the Marquis Albert's sister that the
    contracts were drawn up and put into writing, but broke it off
    upon sight of the Duchess of Lorraine. The Palsgrave would
    rather any did marry with her than the Duke of Holstein, for
    that his brother, King Christian, keeps his wife's father in
    prison. And the Emperor, it is held certain, will help it, in
    order that he may by this means trouble Denmark, which he has
    never had leisure to trouble himself."[482]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1553] PHILIP HOBY'S AUDIENCE]

Whatever her relatives may have thought of the Marquis's suit,
Christina herself never considered it seriously, and told the
Palatine plainly that such a marriage was out of the question. The
Marquis vented his anger on the Emperor, and left Heidelberg in high
displeasure, without taking leave of the Palatine or anyone else. Hot
words passed between him and Maurice, and these two Princes, who had
once been the closest friends, were henceforth bitter enemies. Albert
returned to his life of raids and plunder, and when, soon afterwards,
he was placed under the ban of the Empire, Maurice led an army against
him. A fiercely-contested battle was fought on the 9th of July at
Sievershausen, in which Albert was completely routed and Maurice
lost his life. The Marquis was deprived of fortune and patrimony,
his ancestral home of Plassenburg was burnt to the ground, and after
leading a roving life for some years, and wandering from one Court to
another, he died in the house of his brother-in-law, the Margrave of
Baden, on the 8th of January, 1557. So in exile and poverty this brave
and brilliant adventurer ended his career, before he had completed his
thirty-fifth year.[483]

While the Palatine was holding vain conferences at Heidelberg, and the
Marquis and Duke Adolf were still quarrelling for the Duchess's hand,
she herself was endeavouring to open negotiations with the French King
through Bassompierre and Vaudemont. But nothing would induce Henry
to give up Metz, and in April war was renewed with fresh vigour. The
young Prince of Piedmont, who succeeded the unpopular Alva in command
of the imperial army, won a series of victories, and razed the forts
of Thérouenne and Hesdin to the ground. But the Emperor was too ill
to take part in the campaign or even to give audiences. Sir Philip
Hoby, who now succeeded Morosyne, actually believed him to be dead,
until De Courrières came to dine with his English friends, and assured
them, on his honour as a gentleman, that he had seen the Emperor
alive that morning.[484] Upon this Sir Philip's brother Thomas, who
had just arrived from Paris, where he had been spending the winter
in translating Castiglione's "Cortegiano," was sent to see his old
Augsburg friend, the Bishop of Arras, and beg for an audience. At
length, on the 8th of June, the Englishmen were admitted into the privy
chamber, and found the Emperor sitting up, with his feet on a stool,
"very pale, weak, and lean, but nothing so ill as they had believed."
His eye was lively, his speech sensible, and his manner very friendly
and agreeable. But, although he expressed an earnest wish for peace, he
declared that the French demands made this quite impossible.[485]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1553] ACCESSION OF MARY]

A month later an unexpected event produced a change in the Emperor's
fortunes. King Edward VI. died, and, after a vain attempt on
Northumberland's part to set Lady Jane Grey on the throne, Catherine of
Aragon's daughter Mary succeeded peaceably to the throne. Her accession
was hailed with joy at the Imperial Court, and on the Feast of St.
Bartholomew the Regent celebrated the event by giving a banquet, to
which the English Ambassadors were invited. "It was such a dinner,"
writes Hoby, "as we had seldom seen in all our lives, and greater good
cheer or entertainment than Her Grace gave us could not be devised."
Mary was in high spirits that evening. She toasted the Ambassadors,
conversed with them after dinner for more than an hour, and told
Morosyne laughingly that his French could not be worse than her
Italian. Sir Philip sat next to the Duchess of Lorraine, and reminded
her of the memorable morning, fifteen years before, when he brought
the German Court painter to take her portrait.[486] Since then much
had happened. King Henry himself, the great painter Holbein, René of
Orange, and Francis of Lorraine, were all gone, and she had lost home
and state and had seen her only son snatched from her arms. Yet she was
still beautiful and fascinating, and counted almost as many suitors as
of old. Adolf of Holstein wooed her with a constancy which no coldness
could repel, and if the wild Marquis had been forced to renounce all
hope of winning her hand, another hero, the young Prince of Piedmont,
was ready to lay his laurels at her feet. But Christina remained the
same, calm and unmoved, and was an interested and amused spectator of
the matrimonial plans which now formed the all-absorbing topic in the
family conclave.

Charles quickly realized the importance of securing the new Queen's
hand for his son. As soon as he heard of Edward's death, he sent orders
to his Ambassador at Lisbon to delay drawing up the marriage contract
which had been agreed upon between Philip and Eleanor's daughter,
Maria of Portugal, and wrote to his son, setting forth the superior
advantages of the English alliance. Philip replied dutifully that, as
his cousin the Queen was twelve years older than himself, his father
would be a more suitable husband, but added that he was ready to obey
the Emperor's will in all respects.[487]

On the 20th of September Charles wrote from Valenciennes, where he was
directing military operations from his litter, to the English Queen.
After explaining that he was too old and infirm to think of marriage,
and had solemnly vowed after the Empress's death never to take a second
wife, he offered her the dearest thing he had in life--his own son. He
then proceeded to point out the great advantages of the proposed union,
while at the same time he advised Mary to observe the utmost caution,
being "well aware of the hatred with which the English, more than any
other nation, regard foreigners." Mary's own mind was soon made up. In
spite of protests from her subjects and remonstrances from the French
King, she was determined to marry her cousin. On the 30th of October
she sent for the Imperial Envoy, Renard, and, kneeling down before the
Blessed Sacrament in her chapel, she said the _Veni Creator_, and took
a solemn vow to wed the Prince of Spain.[488]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1554] CARDINAL POLE AT BRUSSELS]

The most friendly letters were now exchanged between the two Courts.
The holy chrism for Mary's coronation was sent from Brussels, with
venison and wild-boar for her table. Charles gave his future daughter
magnificent tapestries and jewels, and Mary of Hungary sent the Queen
a yet more precious gift, Titian's portrait of Philip, telling her
that, if she stands at some distance from the canvas, it will give
her a good idea of the Prince, only that he is older and more bearded
than he was when the artist painted it three years ago. The Regent
took care to add that she could only lend the Queen the picture on
condition that it should be returned "when the living man joined her."
In reply, Mary begged her good aunt to pay her a visit; but the Regent
excused herself, owing to the Emperor's ill-health, and promised to
come and see her later on, it might be in the Prince's company. The
same cordial invitation was extended to the Duchess of Lorraine, who
sent her new _maître d'hôtel_, Baron De Silliers, to London in April,
1554, to congratulate the Queen on her marriage. Mary made Christina
a present of a fine diamond, which De Courrières was desired to give
her, and when, on the 20th of July, Philip landed at Southampton, and
the wedding was celebrated in Winchester Cathedral, the happy spouse
sent costly jewels to the Emperor and the two Queens, and a beautiful
emerald to her dear cousin the Duchess.

In January Cardinal Pole, the Papal Legate, came to the monastery of
Diligam, near Brussels, with proposals of peace from the Pope, on his
way to congratulate Queen Mary on her accession, and help to restore
Catholic rites in the kingdom. Pole was known to be averse to the
Spanish marriage, and Charles had put every obstacle in the way of his
journey to England. On his arrival he gave him a very cold reception,
and the Cardinal complained to the Pope that the Emperor and Arras
could not have used greater violence, unless they had taken a stick to
drive him back.[489] The Regent and the Duchess of Lorraine, however,
were much more friendly when he dined with them the next day, after
attending Mass in the royal chapel. Mary told him that no one wished
for peace more earnestly than herself, seeing how terribly her poor
people of the Netherlands had suffered from the war, and Christina
spoke to him of her son with tears in her eyes. When the Cardinal went
on to Fontainebleau, he saw the young Duke, and was able to give him
his mother's messages. But he found Henry II. still less amenable than
Charles, and returned to Brussels convinced that his mission was a
failure as far as the hope of peace was concerned.

Before the end of April the French King invaded Hainault, at the head
of a large army, and took the strong citadel of Marienburg. Namur was
only saved by the promptitude of Charles, who once more took the field,
although he could no longer mount a horse, and showed all his old
courage in this his last campaign.

After an indecisive battle at Renty, the French retired with heavy
loss, spreading famine and desolation in their track. One act of
vandalism for which Henry was condemned, even by his own captains, was
the destruction of Mary of Hungary's beautiful palace of Binche, with
its famous gardens and treasures of art. The Queen received the news
with equanimity, saying that she was proud of being the object of the
French King's vindictiveness, and glad the world should know that she
was the Emperor's devoted servant.

    "As for the damage which has been done," she wrote to Arras, "I
    do not care a straw. I am not the woman to grieve over the loss
    of things transitory, which we are meant to enjoy as long as
    we have them, and do without when they are gone. That, upon my
    word, is all the regret I feel."[490]

In the autumn Christina made another fruitless attempt to open
negotiations through Vaudemont, who after the death of his first
wife, Margaret of Egmont, was induced by the Cardinal of Lorraine to
marry the Duke of Nemours's daughter. This Prince came to Brussels
in November to inform the Emperor and the Duchess of his marriage,
and, as might be expected, met with a very cold reception at Court.
But, in spite of his French alliance, he remained scrupulously loyal
to Christina and her son, and complained to his sister Anne that at
Brussels he was reproached for his French sympathies, while in Paris he
was looked on with suspicion as an Imperialist. So hard was it to be an
honest man in those troublous times.[491]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1554] A GAY COURT]


II.

While the war dragged on its weary course, and Mary and Christina
vainly tried to bring it to an end, on the other side of the Channel
the new King of England and his spouse were holding high festival.
They came to London in September, and remained there through the
winter, trying to win the love of their subjects by a series of
popular displays and festivities. Tournaments were held at Whitehall,
hunting-parties were given at Windsor and Hampton Court, and a
succession of distinguished guests travelled from Flanders to pay
homage to the royal pair. Philip's favourite, Ruy Gomez, and the Duke
and Duchess of Alva, arrived from Spain, Ferrante Gonzaga, the Prince
of Orange, and the Grand Equerry Boussu, came over from Antwerp during
the autumn.[492] On the 20th of November Cardinal Pole at length
crossed the Channel; four days later he was received at Whitehall by
the King and Queen in person, and crossed the river in the royal barge,
to take possession of his own house at Lambeth. He was soon followed
by Emanuel Philibert, who had lately succeeded to the barren title of
Duke of Savoy on his father's death, and had been made a Knight of the
Garter. Earlier in the summer he had paid a brief visit to London,
where his white, red, and green banners of Savoy made a fine show in
the Abbey on St. Peter's Day; but as his military duties rendered his
presence in Flanders imperative, his Ambassador, Stroppiana, came to
Windsor in October, to be invested with the Garter[493] as proxy for
his master.

It was not till Christmas Eve that the Duke himself landed at Dover,
after a very rough passage, and made his way to Whitehall, where
Philip and Mary received him with great honour, and showed him all the
sights of London. On the 7th of January the Lord High Admiral took him
by water to see the great guns at the Tower, and on St. Paul's Day
he accompanied the King and the Cardinal in state to the Cathedral
for the patronal feast. A procession of 160 priests bearing crosses,
walked round the churchyard, with the children of Paul's School and
the Greyfriars, singing "Salve, Festa Dies!" and passed in through
the great west doors. After Mass a state banquet was held, with great
ringing of bells, and bonfires blazed in all the streets of London
throughout the night.[494]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1555] A ROYAL GODMOTHER]

Emanuel Philibert's visit revived the rumour of a marriage between him
and the Princess Elizabeth, which the Emperor had suggested some months
before. Whether from policy or genuine regard, Philip had espoused his
sister-in-law's cause and refused to allow Mary to send her abroad
or keep her away from Court. The Duke of Savoy was a pleasant and
good-looking Prince, whose martial appearance and genial manners made
him very popular in England. But Elizabeth herself quite declined to
listen to this proposal, saying that she would never marry a foreigner,
and, since there now seemed good hope of the birth of an heir to the
crown, the question of the succession was no longer of the first
importance. Something, however, must be done to pacify the Duke, who
complained bitterly of the Emperor's neglect, and, seeing little chance
of recovering Savoy, asked the King for the viceroyalty of Milan, which
Ferrante Gonzaga, on his part, refused to surrender. Philip could think
of no better plan to gratify his cousin and retain his services than to
give him the hand of the Duchess of Lorraine, a Princess whom he was
known to regard with great affection.[495]

Accordingly the King and Queen sent pressing invitations to Christina,
begging her to come to England as soon as possible. Before she could
comply with their request, she had to keep an old engagement to be
present at the christening of Count Egmont's infant daughter, which
took place on the evening of the 19th of January. The Queen of England
had graciously consented to be one of the godmothers, while the Duchess
of Lorraine was the other, and the Palatine Frederic stood godfather to
his kinswoman's little daughter. Mary wrote to the Duchess of Aerschot,
begging Anne to represent her on this occasion, and sent a costly gold
cup containing forty angels to her godchild by the new Ambassador, Sir
John Masone. The Palsgrave, not to be outdone, sent the child a diamond
cross, and another one, set with rubies, diamonds, and emeralds, to the
mother. Anne and Christina were both present at the christening, which
was attended by all the Court, "everything," wrote Masone, "being very
richly ordered, the supper and banquet right stately, and Her Majesty's
cup so walked up and down, from man to woman, and woman to man, as I
dare answer few were there that did not go full freighted to bed."

Sir John further told the Countess in what good part her request
to make her daughter a Christian woman had been taken by his royal
mistress, who would willingly have done the same in person, had the
distance not been so great, and Sabina sent her most humble thanks to
the Queen, saying that, as she already had one daughter called Mary,
she had decided to name the infant Mary Christina, after her two
godmothers.[496]

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1555] CHRISTINA'S GOOD WISHES]

When this function was over, Christina began to prepare for her journey
to England, but the weather was so tempestuous that she did not cross
the Channel until the first days of March. She rode from Dover, by way
of Canterbury, to London, where the King and Queen received her in
the most cordial manner, Philip made no secret of his affection for
his cousin, the only woman in his family with whom he had ever been
intimate, and Mary, in the first flush of her wedded happiness and
in the proud expectation of soon being a mother, welcomed Christina
warmly. Unluckily, we have no particulars of the Duchess's visit to
this country, over which she might have reigned herself as Queen. We
know that she was present with the rest of the Court at the great joust
held on Lady Day in the tilting-yard at Whitehall, when Philip and a
band of knights, armed with falchions and targets, and clad in blue
and yellow, rode out against two other troops in red and green, and
some 200 lances were broken.[497] But the only record that we have of
this her first visit to England is a letter which she wrote to Mary on
returning to Flanders. She thanked the Queen for the great honour and
kindness which she had shown her, and commended the captain of the ship
in which she sailed, who, as Her Majesty would doubtless learn, had
rendered her notable service on this troublesome passage:

    "I will say no more," she adds, "except to regret that I am
    no longer in Your Majesty's presence to be able to render you
    some small service in return for all the goodness which I have
    received at your hands. I beg God, Madame, to send you good
    health and long life, and give you a fine boy, such as you
    desire.

                    "Your very humble and obedient cousin
                              and servant,
                                    "CHRESTIENNE.

  "A la Royne."[498]


This letter bears no date, but the Duchess certainly left London before
the King and Queen went to Hampton Court on the 4th of April, to spend
Easter and prepare for the happy event which all England was anxiously
expecting. She was at Antwerp with her aunt a month later, when, on
the 3rd of May, "great news came over the seas." A messenger from the
English ships in the port brought the Regent word that the Queen of
England had been "brought to bed of a young Prince," upon which all
the guns in the harbour were fired, and Mary ordered the big bells in
the Tower to be rung, and sent the English sailors a hundred crowns to
drink the royal infant's health. "I trust in God," wrote Sir Thomas
Gresham, "that the news is true." The Emperor was more incredulous,
and summoned Masone to his bedside at 5 a.m. the next morning, to know
what he thought of the matter, but soon satisfied himself that the
news was false.[499]

The Savoy marriage, which Philip was so anxious to bring about, also
ended in smoke. During Christina's visit, the matter was brought
forward and eagerly urged both by the King and Queen. Charles was no
less anxious for the marriage, and Mary of Hungary proposed to appoint
the Duke, Governor of the Low Countries when she resigned the office.
The plan would have been very popular in Flanders, where the Duchess
was beloved by all classes, and was warmly supported by Egmont and
Orange. On the 1st of May, Badoer, the Venetian Ambassador at Brussels,
announced that the marriage contract had already been drawn up by De
Praet, and that the Duke had started for Italy, disguised as a German,
and only attended by one servant, to arrange his affairs in Piedmont
before the wedding.[500]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1555] DUKE OF SAVOY'S MARRIAGE]

The Venetian's news was apparently premature, but a fortnight later a
Piedmontese noble, Count Avignano, came to London to consult Philip as
to the marriage and arrange further details on his master's behalf.
He talked freely at table to the French and Venetian Ambassadors,
Noailles and Michieli, saying that the Emperor had offered his master
the government of the Netherlands with the hand of Madame de Lorraine,
an arrangement which he for his part regretted, thinking that the Duke
would be more likely to recover his dominions if he married in France.
But, since the friendship between his lord and the Duchess was so
great, he saw no hope of any other alliance, and the marriage was, in
fact, considered by the Emperor and all his family to be practically
settled.[501]

Emanuel Philibert, like many others, evidently felt the power of
Christina's fascination, and enjoyed a large share of her intimacy. But
he does not seem to have shown any great eagerness for the marriage,
whether it was that, as Avignano said, it would be a bar to the
recovery of his States, or whether he recognized the Duchess's own
insuperable objection to matrimony.

When, towards the end of May, a party of English Commissioners met
the French and Imperial deputies at Marck, a village near Calais, to
treat of peace, an offer was made by the French to give Henry II.'s
sister Margaret to the Duke of Savoy. The Imperial deputies expressed
a doubt if this were possible, as the Duke's word was already pledged;
but Cardinal Pole replied that the Prince was quite free, and ready
to agree to any proposal by which he could recover his realm. These
negotiations, however, were soon broken off, and on Philip's return
to Brussels in September the old scheme of the Lorraine marriage was
revived with fresh ardour. When the Duke of Savoy returned from Italy
in August, the Regent made him attend the meetings of the Council, and
treated him in all ways as her future successor, hoping by this means
to obtain his consent to her wishes. But both Emanuel Philibert and
Christina remained of the same mind, and neither Philip's entreaties
nor Mary of Hungary's angry reproaches could alter their resolution.
The Duke pleaded poverty as an excuse, lamenting his inability to
offer his wife a home and station worthy of her rank, and was evidently
determined to sacrifice his affections to political expediency,
although, as the French Ambassador reported, "he still made love
through the window to Madame de Lorraine."[502]


III.

Charles V.'s intention to abdicate his throne had long been declared.
For many years he had looked forward to the time when he should lay
down the burden of public affairs and retire from the world, to end his
days in some peaceful cloister. The increasing infirmities under which
he groaned, his inability to attend either camp or council, and finally
the death of his mother, Queen Joanna, in April, 1555, all helped to
hasten the execution of his resolve. Only the continuation of the war
and the absence of his son still made him hesitate.

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1555] PHILIP LEAVES ENGLAND]

The same indecisive warfare as before was carried on through the
year. The Prince of Orange, who now held the chief command, succeeded
in keeping the foe at bay, and built the citadels of Charlemont and
Philippeville for the defence of the frontier. But everyone was
heartily tired of the campaign, and both parties gladly availed
themselves of the opportunity afforded by an exchange of prisoners, to
renew negotiations in the autumn. Christina once more exerted herself
in this direction, and Vaudemont, who came to Brussels in October to
take leave of the Emperor, was employed to make fresh overtures to
the French King. But many months passed before any conclusion was
reached.[503]

Charles had always hoped that his sister would remain at her post when
he left the Netherlands, feeling how invaluable her help would prove to
Philip. But Mary was inflexible on this point. In a noble letter which
she wrote at the end of August, she reminded him that fifteen years
before she had begged to be released from her arduous post in order to
devote herself to the care of her unhappy mother, and that, now this
privilege could no longer be hers, she wished to spend the rest of her
life in Spain with her sister, Queen Eleanor.

    "And however great," she adds significantly, "my affection for
    the King my nephew may be," in Badoer's graphic phrase, "he
    hates and is hated by her"--"Your Majesty will understand that
    at my age it would be very hard to begin learning my ABC over
    again. A woman of fifty, who has held office twenty-four years,
    ought, it seems to me, to be content to serve one God and one
    Master for the rest of her life."[504]

There was nothing more to be said, and Charles agreed to Philip's
wish that for the present the Duke of Savoy should be appointed
Lieutenant-Governor of the Low Countries. At length Philip succeeded
in tearing himself from the arms of his sorrowful Queen, promising
to be back in a fortnight or three weeks. From her palace windows at
Greenwich, Mary waved her last farewells to the King, as he sailed
down the Thames. He for his part was nothing loth to leave his fretful
and melancholy wife, and was satisfied that she would never bear him a
child.

On the 8th of September he reached Brussels, and went straight to see
his father in the Casino, near the Louvain gate of the park, where
he was spending the hot weather. Charles embraced his son tenderly,
and after an hour's conversation Philip went on to sup with Queen
Mary and Christina on their return from hunting. On the 17th and 18th
he attended the Requiem Masses held in S. Gudule for the late Queen
Joanna, and afterwards joined in a grand hunting-party given by the
Regent in his honour.

[Sidenote: OCT., 1555] THE EMPEROR'S ABDICATION]

The nobles now flocked to Brussels to be present at the Emperor's
abdication. The Prince of Orange arrived from the camp near Liége,
and his young wife, Anne of Egmont, was hospitably entertained by the
Duchess of Aerschot. Friday, the 25th of October, was the day fixed for
the great ceremony. On this afternoon, at three o'clock, the Emperor
left the Casino with Philip and the Duke of Savoy, and rode to the
palace on his mule. An hour later he entered the great hall, hung with
the tapestries of Gideon's Fleece, wearing his mourning robes and the
collar of the Order, and leaning on the Prince of Orange's arm. He was
followed by Mary of Hungary, Philip, and the Duke of Savoy, who took
their places on the daïs at the Emperor's side, while the Knights of
the Fleece, the great nobles and Ambassadors, occupied seats below. The
deputies, over a thousand in number, who thronged the hall, rose to
their feet to receive the Emperor, and then sat down to hear the chief
Councillor, Philibert of Brussels, deliver a speech, explaining the
reasons for His Majesty's abdication. Then Charles himself addressed
the vast assembly. In moving words he recalled the day, forty years
before, when, a boy of fifteen, he had been declared of age by his
grandfather, the Emperor Maximilian, and glanced briefly at the long
record of wars and journeys, and the other chief events of his reign.
Finally he commended his successor to them, asking them to serve his
son as well as they had served him, and begging his loyal subjects to
pardon him for any injustice which he might unwittingly have done them.
Tears rolled down the great Emperor's cheeks as he spoke these last
words, and Sir Thomas Gresham, who was present, says that there was not
a dry eye in the whole assembly.

Christina was present on this memorable occasion. In contemporary
prints she is represented standing by the side of the Regent's chair,
listening with breathless attention to every word that fell from her
uncle's lips. She saw the pathetic scene between the father and son,
when Charles, raising Philip from his knees and clasping him in his
arms, gave him the investiture of the Provinces, and, turning to the
deputies, in a broken voice asked them to excuse his tears, which
flowed for love of them. And she listened with still greater emotion to
the touching words in which Mary begged the Emperor and the States to
forgive whatever mistakes she had made out of ignorance or incapacity,
and thanked them from the depth of her heart for their unfailing love
and loyalty. Her speech produced a fresh burst of tears, after which
Charles thanked his sister for her long and faithful services, and
Maes, the Pensionary of Antwerp, bore eloquent testimony to the undying
love and gratitude which the States felt for the Queen who had governed
them so well.

There were still many formalities to be gone through, many farewells
to be said, before Charles could lay down the sovereign power. On
the day after his abdication, the Archduke Ferdinand, his favourite
nephew, arrived with affectionate messages from his father, who found
it impossible to leave Vienna as long as the war with the Turks lasted.
The next day he went hunting with the King, Mary, and Christina, and
dined with them and Eleanor. On the 3rd of November he left Brussels
again after all too short a visit, as Charles wrote to his brother.

Another guest who took leave of the Emperor in the same week was Edward
Courtenay, Lord Devonshire. This young nobleman of the blood royal had
been exiled from England lest he should marry Elizabeth, and had been
so often seen in the palace during the last few months that rumour
said he was going to wed Madame of Lorraine. Now he came to thank her
for the "gentle entertainment" which she had shown him, and bid her a
reluctant farewell before he left for Italy. In the following spring
another old friend, Adolf of Holstein, came to Brussels and took leave
of the Emperor. The Danish Prince, hearing that all idea of the Savoy
marriage was abandoned, took this opportunity to make a last attempt to
win Christina's hand. But not even the Duke's constancy could induce
her to change her mind, and he went away disconsolate.[505]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1556] DEATH OF THE PALATINE]

A fresh sorrow awaited her in the death of her brother-in-law, the
Elector Palatine, who breathed his last at Alzei, in the Lower
Palatinate, on the 26th of February, 1556. The fine old man was in
his seventy-third year, and had been tenderly nursed all through a
long illness by his wife. Three weeks before his death Dorothea sent
for his nephew and successor, Otto Heinrich, who remained with him
to the end, and brought his body to Heidelberg. Here he lay in state
for three days in the Court chapel, after which his remains were borne
down the castle slopes by eight noblemen, and laid with his forefathers
in the church of the Holy Ghost. By order of the new Elector, he was
buried with Lutheran rites. Dorothea and Countess Helene followed
on foot with a long train of nobles and students of the University,
bearing lighted tapers, and German hymns were sung by the Canons and
school-children.[506]

Christina's first impulse was to hasten to her widowed sister, but
neither the Emperor nor his sisters would allow her to leave the
Netherlands before their departure, saying that she was as dear and
indispensable to them as a daughter.[507] She was present at the Casino
in the park on the 16th of January, when Charles resigned the kingdoms
of Spain and Sicily and his dominions in the New World to Philip, and
she accompanied Mary to Antwerp when Philip held his first Chapter of
the Fleece. Among the new Knights elected at this meeting were William
of Orange, Philip, Duke of Aerschot, and Christina's old friend Jean De
Montmorency, Sieur de Courrières, whose whole life had been spent in
the Emperor's service, and who had deserved well of Philip by helping
to arrange his marriage with Mary Tudor.[508]

On the 5th of February, 1556, the long-protracted peace negotiations
were brought to a happy conclusion, and a five years' truce was signed
at the Abbey of Vaucelles, near Cambray, by Lalaing on Philip's part
and by Coligny on that of Henry. Both parties were to retain their
conquests, and the chief prisoners on both sides were to be released.
On Lady Day the French Admiral brought the treaty to be confirmed by
the King at Brussels, and was received by Philip in the palace. By an
unlucky chance, the great hall in which the reception took place was
hung with tapestries representing the defeat of Pavia and surrender of
Francis I. This wounded the vanity of the French lords, and the King's
jester, Brusquet, who had accompanied Coligny, determined to have his
revenge on the haughty Spanish Prince. So the next morning at Mass
in the Court church, when Philip was in the act of taking his oath
on the Gospels to keep the truce, Brusquet suddenly raised a cry of
"Largesse!" and, taking a handful of French crowns from a sack which
his valet carried, flung them to the crowds who had collected in the
great hall adjoining the chapel. The King looked round in surprise at
Coligny, who stood dumbfounded, while men, women, and children, rushed
to pick up the coins on the floor, and had to be warned off by the
archers' pikes. The King was about to ask angrily by what right the
French did largesse in his palace, when both Queen Mary and Madame de
Lorraine burst into uncontrollable fits of laughter, in which Philip
joined so heartily that he had to cling to the altar to save himself
from falling.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1556] LAST FESTIVITIES]

This absurd incident was related to Charles when, on the following
Sunday of _Pâques-fleuries_, Coligny went to visit him in the Casino.
"Well, Brusquet," he said to the jester, "how are you? I hear you
have been doing me fine largesse with your crowns." "Sire," replied
Brusquet, dropping on one knee, "you take the words out of my mouth in
condescending to notice a worm like myself." And the poor fool went
home to boast of his interview with the great Emperor to the end of his
life.[509]

A grand tournament was held in the park at Brussels to celebrate the
conclusion of the truce, and Egmont distinguished himself above all
competitors by his prowess. But a quarrel arose between Philip and his
aunt, Mary of Hungary, who complained of the disrespect with which her
nephew and his Spanish courtiers treated her, saying that, although she
had laid down the Regency, she expected to be treated with the honour
due to a Queen. She retired to her own domain at Turnhout, but had her
revenge a few weeks later, for the States proved so unwilling to grant
the aids demanded by the King that Philip was forced to send Arras to
beg for his aunt's help. Mary consented to return as soon as she had
despatched her most urgent private affairs, and so invaluable was her
influence with the Council, that Philip joined his father in entreating
her to remain at Brussels during his absence in England. This, however,
Mary quite refused to do, saying that the Duke of Savoy would no doubt
prove an excellent substitute.[510]

The King and Queen of Bohemia, whom Charles was very anxious to see
before his departure, and whose journey had been repeatedly delayed,
at length reached Brussels on the 18th of July. Their presence was
the signal for a last series of festivities. There were jousts on
the Grande Place, banquets in the hôtel-de-ville, hunting-parties at
Groenendal in the forest of Soignies, and suppers at the Villa Laura,
where Mary entertained her nephews and nieces at an open-air concert.
King Max was in high spirits. He made great friends with the Venetian
Badoer, and frankly avowed his dislike of the Spaniards, saying, with a
ringing laugh, that he was glad to hear the English had taught them a
lesson or two. The visit was not without its political intention, and
Maximilian succeeded in persuading his uncle to consent to Ferdinand's
entreaty, and retain the imperial title for the present, in order to
avoid any dispute on the question of the succession.[511]

When his daughter and her husband left Brussels, on the 8th of August,
Charles felt himself a free man. At half-past four in the afternoon he
set out for Ghent, after receiving the farewells of the chief nobles
and Bishops. Many were in tears, but the Emperor remained calm and
serene until he rode out of the gates, escorted for the last time by
his faithful archers. Then, turning round, he took a last long look
at the city towers and wept bitterly. "Everyone about him was in
tears," says Badoer, "and many wept when he was gone."[512] Christina
accompanied her aunts to Ghent a few days later, and went on at the
end of the month with the Queens and Emperor to Zeeland, to wait for
a fair wind. On the 15th of October Charles embarked at Flushing, and
his sisters followed on another ship. Two days later an easterly breeze
sprang up and the fleet set sail. Christina stood on the shore till
the ship which bore the great Emperor from his native land dropped
below the horizon. Then she retraced her steps sorrowfully to join her
children at Ghent.

[Sidenote: OCT., 1556] FRUSTRATED WISHES]


IV.

When her uncle and aunts were gone, Christina felt that there was
nothing more to keep her at Brussels. She had already thought of
retiring to her dower city of Tortona, but the castle was occupied by a
Spanish garrison, and while the war lasted the Lombard city was hardly
a safe place. This being the case, she asked Philip's leave to take up
her residence at Vigevano, the summer palace of the Sforzas, which the
Duke had bequeathed to her, but was told that this house was required
for the Viceroy's use. After the Palatine's death she was seized with
a longing to join Dorothea, and proposed to go to Heidelberg, and then
on to Lorraine, in the hope that, now peace was signed, the French
King would allow her son to enjoy his own again. But there were more
difficulties in the way than she had anticipated.[513]

Simon Renard and the other delegates to the conference at Vaucelles
were especially charged to include the Duke of Lorraine's restoration
among their demands; but the French, while professing the utmost
friendship for both the Duchess and her son, pointed out that her
guardianship would expire in another year, and that the Regent
Vaudemont and the Guises, who were the Duke's nearest kinsmen, agreed
to his residence at the French Court. In vain Renard and Lalaing
protested at the strange kindness shown to the Duchess in detaining her
son. This only led to a long wrangle, which almost caused the rupture
of peace negotiations, and eventually no mention was made of Lorraine
in the articles of the truce.

In May Christina's alarm was aroused by an intimation from the French
Court that the King was going to Nancy to celebrate his daughter
Claude's wedding with the Duke, and occupy the capital of Lorraine.
Fortunately, Vaudemont opposed this measure, saying that as Regent he
had sworn never to give up his post until his nephew was of age, and
begged the King to allow Charles to return to Nancy and take possession
of his State before his marriage.[514] This unexpected firmness on
Vaudemont's part produced the desired effect. Henry's journey to
Lorraine was put off for a year, and at the Duchess's urgent request
the Cardinal of Lorraine obtained the King's leave to bring the boy
to meet her at the Castle of Coucy, near his own house at Péronne.
But when Philip was asked to give the Duchess permission to cross the
frontier, he made so many irksome conditions, that Henry withdrew his
promise, and the long-desired meeting was again deferred. Christina
was cruelly disappointed, and could only take comfort from Vaudemont's
assurances that before long her son would be free from control and able
to decide for himself.[515]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1556] MARY'S JEALOUSY]

Philip on his part was extremely anxious to keep the Duchess at
Brussels. As Brantôme tells us, the King not only cherished great
affection for his cousin, but relied implicitly on her tact and wisdom,
and, in compliance with his entreaties, she consented to remain at the
palace and do the honours of his Court.[516] Her popularity with the
nobles made her presence the more desirable, while the King himself
found her company far more to his taste than that of the faded and
fretful wife who awaited him in England. Every post brought bitter
reproaches and passionate prayers from the unhappy Queen, whose hopes
of her lord's return were doomed to perpetual disappointment. Already
more than a year had passed since he had left England, and there still
seemed no prospect of his return. First the peace conferences, then
the King of Bohemia's visit and the Emperor's departure, were pleaded
as excuses for these prolonged delays. When the fleet that bore the
Emperor to Spain was seen off Dover, the Admiral who visited His
Majesty on board, brought back messages to say that the King would
shortly cross the Channel. On hearing this, Mary's spirits rose, and it
was only by Philip's express desire that she refrained from going to
meet him at Dover. In October the royal stables and equerries arrived,
but Philip himself wrote that the war which had broken out in Italy
between Alva, the Viceroy of Naples, and Pope Paul IV., compelled him
to return to Brussels. Then Mary broke into a passion of rage mingled
with sobs and tears, and shut herself up in her room, refusing to see
any visitors. The dulness of the Court had become intolerable; there
were no fêtes and few audiences, and the Ambassadors with one accord
begged to be recalled. The Queen's ill-temper vented itself on all who
approached her presence, and even in public she occasionally gave way
to paroxysms of fury.[517] Suspicions of her husband's fidelity to
his marriage vows now came to increase her misery. When she heard of
Philip going on long hunting-parties with the Duchess of Lorraine, and
dancing with her at masques, she was seized with transports of rage,
and, rushing at the portrait of her husband which hung over her bed,
was with difficulty restrained from cutting it to pieces.[518]

[Sidenote: DEC., 1556] THE DUCHESS OF PARMA]

Meanwhile a rival to Christina appeared at Court in the person of
the King's half-sister Margaret, Duchess of Parma. This Princess,
the illegitimate daughter of Charles V. and Margaret Van Gheynst,
a beautiful maiden in the Countess Lalaing's service, was born at
Oudenarde in 1522, and brought up under the eye of the Archduchess
Margaret. At thirteen she was married to Alessandro de' Medici, Duke
of Florence, with whom she led a miserable life until this worthless
Prince was murdered by his cousin in 1537. Her second union, with
Ottavio Farnese, Pope Paul III.'s grandson, proved little happier.
Ottavio was an intractable boy of thirteen when he married her in
November, 1538, and the quarrels of the young couple fill pages of the
Emperor's correspondence in the archives of Simancas. After the Duke's
return from the expedition to Algiers, a reconciliation was effected,
and Margaret bore a son, who became the famous captain Alexander of
Parma. But the Farnese were always a thorn in the Emperor's side, and,
by joining with his foes at a critical moment, involved him in the
gravest disaster of his life. Now harmony was restored in the family
circle, and when the war with Paul IV. broke out, Philip secured
Ottavio's alliance by giving him the citadel of Piacenza. Margaret and
her young son came to the Netherlands to pay their respects to the King
and thank him for this mark of his favour. They arrived at Christmas,
in the depths of the severest winter that had been known for many
years. The Scheldt was frozen over at Antwerp, and the Court was busy
with winter sports, in which Philip and Christina took an active part,
playing games and sleighing in the park, and attending a masked ball
given by Count Lalaing on the ice.[519]

The Duchess of Parma was received with due honour at Court, and was
cordially welcomed by Christina, who had known her as a child. A
handsome woman of thirty-five, she resembled her Flemish mother more
than her imperial father, and bore few traces of her Habsburg origin.
She had none of Christina's distinction and refinement, while her
manners were too haughty to please the Flemish nobles. But she had a
keen eye to her own interests, and the atmosphere of deception and
intrigue in which her married life had been spent had taught her to
adapt herself to circumstances. She contrived to make herself agreeable
both to Philip and Christina, with whom most of her time was spent. The
new Venetian Ambassador, Soranzo, paid his respects to the two ladies
on his arrival, and found both of them very friendly and pleasant. The
Duchess of Lorraine, as Badoer had frequently remarked, was always
particularly cordial to the Venetian Signory, to whom her first
husband, the Duke of Milan, owed so much. At the same time the Queen
of England, anxious to show civility to her husband's family, sent Sir
Richard Shelley to give the Duchess of Parma a sisterly welcome, and
invite her to come to London.[520]

In the midst of the Christmas festivities, news reached Brussels
of a treacherous attempt of the French, under Coligny, to surprise
Douay. Fortunately the plot was discovered in time; but the truce was
broken, and every day fresh incursions were made by the French, which
naturally produced reprisals. The rupture was complete, and, in his
anxiety to secure the help of England in the coming struggle, the King
at length crossed the Channel, and joined Mary at Greenwich on the 21st
of January, 1557. Political exigencies had done more to hasten his
return than all his wife's prayers and tears, but in her joy she recked
little of this, and guns were fired and _Te Deums_ chanted throughout
the realm. Before leaving Brussels, Philip had made arrangements for
the two Duchesses to follow him in a few days. Their society, he felt,
would help to dispel the gloom of Mary's Court, and Margaret's coming
would allay any jealousy which Christina's visit might excite. Another
and more important motive for his cousin's presence in England at
this moment was his anxiety to revive the old scheme of a marriage
between the Princess Elizabeth and the Duke of Savoy. Mary's state of
health made her sister's marriage a matter of the highest importance,
and the new quarrel with France had put an end to the Duke's hopes in
that quarter. As both the French and Venetian Ambassadors constantly
affirmed, Emanuel Philibert was the only foreign Prince whom the
English would tolerate, and Christina herself told Vaudemont that
she was going to England, by the King's wish, to bring back Madame
Elizabeth as the Duke of Savoy's bride.[521]

[Illustration: PHILIP II. (1554)

By Jacopo da Trezzo (British Museum)]

[Illustration: MARY, QUEEN OF ENGLAND (1554)

By Jacopo da Trezzo (British Museum)]

[Illustration: MARGARET OF AUSTRIA

DUCHESS OF PARMA

By Pastorino]

[Illustration: ANTOINE PERRENOT

CARDINAL GRANVELLE

By Leone Leoni

_To face p. 412_]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1557] CHRISTINA AT WHITEHALL]

The King had a calm passage to Dover, but the ladies were less
fortunate, for an equinoctial gale sprang up when they were halfway
across the Channel.

    "The Duchesses," wrote Philip's secretary, Jean de Courteville,
    "had to dance without music between Dover and Calais, and the
    results were such as are commonly the case with travellers
    unaccustomed to the sea. The great festivities we are having
    here this Lent will grieve them the less."[522]

But if the passage was disagreeable, nothing was lacking in the
kindness of their reception. The Queen sent her litter to meet them
at Dover, with chariot and hackney horses for their suite, and at
Gravesend, Lady Lennox and Lady Kildare were waiting to conduct them
in the royal barge to Whitehall. Here Philip received them at the
water-gate, and led them up the steps into the great hall, where Mary
welcomed her guests. The King and Queen who had only arrived from
Greenwich the day before rode in state through the city, with the Lord
Mayor carrying the sceptre at the head of the guilds and crafts of
London, while a salute was fired from the Tower and bells rang from all
the churches.

Both the Duchesses were lodged in the Palace of Westminster, Christina
in rooms on the ground-floor, looking on the gardens, and Margaret in
an apartment on the upper floor, commanding a view of the Thames.[523]
Soon after their arrival another visitor was brought by the Bishop
of London to see Their Majesties--an Envoy from the Czar of Muscovy,
who was lodged in Fenchurch Street, as the guest of the Company
of Muscovite Merchants. Englishmen and Spaniards, Lorrainers and
Italians, alike looked with curious eyes at this stranger from the
shores of the Polar Sea, who was clad in robes of Oriental splendour,
and whose turban glittered with gems. He brought the Queen a present
of magnificent sables from the Czar, and saluted her by bowing his
whole body down and touching the ground with his hand. In spite of his
strange clothes and barbarous language, he was a cultivated person, as
keen to see the sights of London as Christina herself. One day he dined
with the Lord Mayor in gorgeous attire, another he attended Mass at
Westminster and saw St. Edward's shrine, with the relics which had been
fortunately preserved when the Abbey was plundered.[524]

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1557] ST. GEORGE'S FEAST]

After spending a fortnight at Whitehall, Philip and Mary took their
guests to spend Easter at Greenwich. On Maundy Thursday the King and
Queen washed the feet of a number of poor beggars, and blessed the
cramp rings, which were as much prized in Spain and Flanders as in
England. Easter Day witnessed fresh balls and banquets, dog and bear
fights, bull-baiting and horse-races, after which a large hunting-party
was given in the park for the Duchess of Lorraine's amusement. On
the 22nd of April the royal party returned to Whitehall for St.
George's Feast. High Mass was celebrated in the Abbey by the Bishop
of Winchester, and all the Knights of the Garter, in their mantles of
royal blue, walked in procession round the inner court of the palace,
while the Queen and her guests looked on from a window on the garden
side. The King and Queen and all the Knights of the Order attended
vespers in the Abbey, after which the Muscovite Envoy came to take
leave of Their Majesties, and delivered a long farewell speech, which
was translated by an interpreter into English and Spanish, expressing
his hope that these mighty Sovereigns might live to see their
children's children. Six English ships were in readiness to escort the
stranger across the Northern seas, and prevent him falling into the
hands of the Norsemen, who were jealous of English interference with
the trade of Muscovy.

On Sunday the Queen gave a grand banquet, and appeared resplendent in
cloth of gold and jewels. Christina sat on her right, and Margaret,
with her little son, on the King's left hand. The next morning the
Duchess of Parma left for Italy, but Christina, at Philip's entreaty,
remained in London another ten days. She was already very popular with
the English, and made friends with Lord Arundel, Lord Pembroke, and
several other nobles and ladies at Court, while her splendid robes and
jewels, her numerous suite and fine horses, excited general admiration.
In the midst of the Court fêtes, she found time to visit several
shrines and places of interest, and, while the King was holding the
Chapter of the Garter on St. George's Day, went by water to the Tower,
and was shown its treasures and antiquities. But in one respect her
visit proved a failure. Mary refused to entertain any idea of the Savoy
marriage, and would not even allow Christina a glimpse of Princess
Elizabeth, who was kept at Hatfield in strict seclusion during her
visit. What was worse, the Duchess's presence revived all the Queen's
jealousy, and, in spite of the King's protests, Christina found it
prudent to hasten her departure. All manner of stories about Mary's
dislike of the Duchess found their way to the French Court, and King
Henry had many jokes with Soranzo on the subject, and told him he heard
that the Queen flew into a frantic passion when the King led out his
cousin to dance at Greenwich.[525]

Philip did his best to atone for his wife's ill-humour, and, when
Christina expressed a wish to visit Ghent on her return, wrote to ask
the Duke of Savoy to see that she and her daughters were well lodged
and entertained in the old Prinzenhof. On the 11th of May the Duchess
wrote a formal letter of thanks to the Queen from Dover, acknowledging
the attentions which she had received from Her Majesty and all her
subjects, and on the 8th of June she sent her a second letter from
Ghent, on behalf of the widow and daughter of Sir Jacques de Granado,
a Brabant gentleman who had been Equerry to Henry VIII. and Edward
VI., and had met his death by accident during the Duchess's visit.
As he rode into the privy garden at Whitehall before the Queen's
chariot, his bridle broke, the horse shied violently, and dashed his
rider's head against the wall. Sir Jacques was killed on the spot, and
buried at St. Dunstan's in the East two days afterwards with a great
display of torches and escutcheons. On Christina's recommendation, the
Queen granted a pension of £50 to the widow, and saw that she and her
children were amply provided for.[526]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1557] THE VICTORY OF ST. QUENTIN]

From Ghent the Duchess went to meet her sister Dorothea at Jülich, the
Court of the Duke of Cleves and the Archduchess Maria. The reformed
faith was now firmly established in the Palatinate, and Dorothea's
well-known Lutheran leanings were a great source of annoyance to her
own family. "The Electress Dorothea," wrote Badoer from Brussels in
1557, "is known to be a Lutheran and against the Emperor, and is as
much hated here as her sister Christina is beloved." From his retreat
at St. Yuste, Charles begged Philip to invite Dorothea to settle at
Brussels, "lest one of our own blood should openly forsake the faith."
When the Princess declined this proposal, Philip and Arras desired
Christina to use her influence to bring her sister to a better mind.
But Dorothea resisted all these attempts obstinately, and went back to
Neuburg to live among her husband's kindred and worship God in her own
way.[527]

On the 1st of June England declared war against France, and Philip
returned to Brussels, having accomplished the object of his journey.
Here he was joined by the Duchess of Lorraine and the Count of
Vaudemont, who came to Flanders to try and reopen peace negotiations.
But the moment, as Arras told him, was singularly inopportune, since
Philip was armed to the teeth and had England at his back. On the 11th
of August the King left Brussels for the camp before St. Quentin,
where he arrived just too late to claim a share in the brilliant
victory gained by the Duke of Savoy and Egmont over the French on St.
Lawrence's Day. The Constable Montmorency, the Marshal St. André,
Admiral Coligny, and the Rhinegrave, were among the prisoners made on
this memorable day, together with all the guns and fifty-six colours.
The news of this decisive victory was celebrated with great joy both
in Brussels and across the Channel. _Te Deum_ was sung in St. Paul's,
and the loyal citizens of London lighted bonfires and sat up drinking
through the livelong night; while in Paris the King and Queen went to
Notre Dame in sackcloth, and Henry II. carried the Crown of Thorns
in procession from the Sainte Chapelle. In the lonely monastery far
away on the heights of Estremadura, the news sent a thrill to the
great Emperor's heart, and he asked eagerly in what route his son
was marching on Paris. Had Philip followed this course, had he, in
Suriano's words, "taken Fortune at the flood," he might have brought
the campaign to a triumphant close. But, with characteristic timidity,
he confined himself to capturing St. Quentin, and then returned to
Brussels, throwing away such an opportunity as comes but once a
lifetime.[528]

FOOTNOTES:

[481] Henne, x. 13.

[482] Calendar of the Manuscripts of the Marquis of Salisbury, i. 110;
Lodge, "Illustrations," i. 183.

[483] Voigt, ii. 207.

[484] Calendar of State Papers, Edward VI., Foreign, 282.

[485] "Travail and Life of Sir T. Hoby," 85; Calendar of State Papers,
Edward VI., Foreign, 288.

[486] Calendar of State Papers, Mary, Foreign, 8; T. Hoby, 102.

[487] Granvelle, iv. 113, 119.

[488] Mignet, "Retraite de Charles V.," 69, 70.

[489] M. Haile, "Life of Reginald Pole," 432.

[490] Henne, x. 132; F. Juste, "Marie de Hongrie," 204.

[491] Granvelle, iv. 307; Venetian Transcript, Record Office, 99.

[492] Gachard, iv. 19.

[493] Ashmole, "The Order of the Garter," 383.

[494] Machyn, "Diary," 66, 79, 81.

[495] Granvelle, iv. 341; F. de Noailles, "Ambassades," v. 42.

[496] Calendar of State Papers, Mary, Foreign, 150.

[497] Machyn, 82, 84.

[498] Record Office Manuscripts; State Papers, Foreign, vi. 351 (see
Appendix).

[499] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1, 69; Calendar of State Papers, Mary,
Foreign 165; J. W. Burgon, "Life of Sir Thomas Gresham," i. 168.

[500] Record Office Manuscripts, Venetian Transcripts, 1555, No. 99.

[501] Noailles, v. 74, 80.; Venetian Calendar, vi. 1, 151.

[502] Noailles, v. 191; Venetian Calendar, vi. 1, 211; P. Friedmann,
"Les Dépêches de Michieli," 42.

[503] Calendar of State Papers, Mary, Foreign, 189.

[504] Granvelle, iv. 469.

[505] Venetian Calendar, vi. 603.

[506] L. Haüsser, i. 630.

[507] Venetian Calendar, vi. 197.

[508] De Reiffenberg, "Histoire de la Toison d'Or," 451.

[509] G. Ribier, "Lettres et Mémoires d'État," ii. 634; T. Juste, 94;
Venetian Calendar, vi. 369.

[510] Venetian Calendar, vi. 421, 443, 457; T. Juste, 101; Gachard,
"Retraite," etc., i. 41.

[511] Lanz, iii. 709; Venetian Calendar, vi. 537.

[512] Venetian Despatches, 90 (Record Office).

[513] Venetian Calendar, vi. 197, 362.

[514] Granvelle, iv. 574, 577.

[515] _Ibid._, iv. 701.

[516] Brantôme, xii. 114.

[517] P. Friedmann, 254-267; Noailles, v. 355, 362.

[518] Friedmann, 56; Noailles, "Affaires Étrangères: Angleterre," xix.
(Bibliothèque Nationale).

[519] Venetian Calendar, vi. 863.

[520] _Ibid._, vi. 914, 932.

[521] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1015, 1080.

[522] Kervyn de Lettenhove, "Relations des Pays-Bas avec l'Angleterre,"
i. 67.

[523] Gachard, iv. 25.

[524] Machyn, 130-134.

[525] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1154; Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 68.

[526] Machyn, 135, 136; Calendar of State Papers, Mary, Foreign, 305,
314.

[527] Granvelle, v. 86-113.

[528] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1287; Machyn, 147; Gachard, "Retraite,"
etc., 176.




BOOK XII

THE PEACE OF CÂTEAU-CAMBRÉSIS

1557-1559


I.

The lull that followed the decisive battle of St. Quentin afforded the
Duchess of Lorraine a favourable opportunity for resuming her efforts
to open negotiations between the contending monarchs. The Constable,
after fighting like a lion and receiving a severe wound, had been made
prisoner, and was taken to the Castle of Ghent, where Christina and her
daughters were staying. The Duchess paid him daily visits, and brought
him letters of condolence from her aunt Eleanor, who wrote that she
wished she were still in Flanders to nurse her old friend. More than
this: Christina obtained leave for his wife to visit him, and even
proposed that the prisoner should be allowed to go to France on parole.
These good offices gratified the French King, who was very anxious for
his favourite's release, and whose behaviour towards the Duchess now
underwent a marked change.[529]

The young Duke Charles was almost fifteen, and his marriage to
the Princess Claude was fixed for the following spring. With the
King's leave, he sent his steward to Ghent to invite his mother to
the wedding, and at the same time make proposals of peace through
Montmorency. These letters were laid before Philip by Christina, and a
brisk correspondence was carried on between her and the Constable. In
December Vaudemont came to Brussels, bringing portraits of Charles and
his bride as a gift from Henry II. to the Duchess, and negotiations
were actively pursued.[530] But just when the wished-for goal at
length seemed to be in sight, and Christina was rejoicing to think of
once more seeing her son, all her hopes were shattered by the Duke
of Guise's capture of Calais. The surprise had been cleverly planned
and brilliantly executed. The new fortifications of the town were
unfinished, and after a gallant resistance the little garrison was
overpowered and forced to capitulate, on the 8th of January, 1558. This
unexpected success revived the courage of the French, and strengthened
the Guise brothers in the determined opposition which they offered to
peace. The star of their house was at its zenith, and on the 24th of
April the marriage of their niece, the young Queen of Scots, to the
Dauphin, was celebrated with great splendour at Paris. In deference
to his mother's wishes, the Duke of Lorraine's wedding was put off
till the following year, when he should have attained his majority;
but he figured conspicuously in the day's pageant, and led his lovely
cousin in her lily-white robes and jewelled crown up the nave of Notre
Dame.[531]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1558] CHRISTINA MEETS HER SON]

The French King now gave his consent to Vaudemont's request, that
a meeting should be arranged between the Duke and his mother in
the neighbourhood of Péronne. Philip, after his wont, raised many
difficulties, and insisted that the Bishop of Arras must be present at
the interview.[532] At length all preliminaries were arranged, and on
the 1st of May Charles left Paris with his uncle Vaudemont and Guise's
eldest son, Henri, Prince of Joinville, attended by an escort of 200
horse. The Duchess had already arrived at Cambray with her daughters
and Anne of Aerschot, accompanied by Egmont, Arras, and a great train
of courtiers, and had prepared a splendid reception for her son. But at
the last moment fresh difficulties arose. The Cardinal of Lorraine sent
Robertet, the King's secretary, to tell the Duchess that, although her
son was most anxious to see her, it would be derogatory to his master's
dignity for him to enter King Philip's territories as a suppliant for
peace. Would Her Highness therefore consent to come as far as his
castle at Péronne? This Philip quite refused to allow, and eventually
the village of Marcoing, halfway between Cambray and Péronne, was fixed
upon as the meeting-place. An old manor-house which had been partly
destroyed in the late military operations was hastily repaired for the
occasion, and here, on the 15th of May, the much-desired meeting at
length took place.[533] The Frenchmen, who came in riding-clothes, were
amazed to find the splendid company awaiting them. The Duchess with
the young Princesses, Anne of Aerschot, and the Princess of Macedonia,
stood under a bower of leafy boughs, and Egmont and the other courtiers
were all richly clad and mounted on fine horses. The coming of the
guests was greeted by a gay fanfare of trumpets and roll of drums,
together with salutes of artillery. Then the young Duke, springing from
his horse, rushed into his mother's arms. At the sight of her boy,
Christina burst into tears and almost fainted away. For some minutes
she remained unable to speak, and the spectators were deeply moved by
her emotion. After repeatedly embracing his mother, Charles kissed
his sisters and aunt, and proceeded to salute Egmont and the rest of
the company with charming grace; while the happy mother followed his
movements with delight, and could not take her eyes off the tall and
handsome youth whom she had last seen as a child, and who had grown up
the image of his father.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1558] DUKE CHARLES OF LORRAINE]

During the conversation which followed, Charles spoke to his mother
with great good sense and wisdom, telling her how kindly he was treated
at the French Court, and how it would be hard for him to feel at home
anywhere else. But directly after his marriage he and his wife intended
to return to Nancy, where he hoped that his mother would join them
and live among their own people. The Duchess and her children now sat
down to an exquisite _déjeuner_ with the Duchess of Aerschot and the
Cardinal, while Egmont and Arras entertained Vaudemont and the Prince
of Joinville, and the other French gentlemen dined with the members of
Christina's suite. After dinner three Spanish jennets which King Philip
had sent the young Duke were led out, and Charles mounted a spirited
charger given him by the French monarch, and performed a variety
of feats of horsemanship before the company, to his mother's great
delight. Then the Duchess and her sister and children retired to enjoy
each other's company in private, leaving the Cardinal to confer with
Arras and Egmont.

The Cardinal produced the royal mandate, and Robertet read out Henry's
proposals, offering to restore Savoy to the Duke, but only on condition
of receiving Milan in exchange. All Arras would say in reply to these
demands was that they must be referred to his master, upon which the
Cardinal exclaimed with some heat that these were the only terms
which the King of France would accept. "Thus," remarks the Venetian
Ambassador, "this meeting, which began with such a beautiful outburst
of motherly love and tenderness, ended in mutual recrimination."[534]
The Cardinal then took leave of the company, after presenting the
young Princesses and their mother with gifts of gold bracelets,
rings, and brooches, and receiving a box of choice gloves, perfumed,
and embroidered in Italian fashion from the Duchess. As he rode back
to Péronne, he saw the flames of a burning village which had been
destroyed by the Imperialists, and, in spite of his safe-conduct, was
seized with so great a panic that he hurried back to Paris, fearing his
château might be surprised by the foes. The young Duke and Vaudemont
spent another day with the Duchess, and only returned to Compiègne on
the 18th of May. Here Charles received the warmest of welcomes from the
royal family, who had feared that he might be induced to remain with
his mother. The King threw his arms round the boy's neck, the Queen and
Dauphin, the Princesses Elizabeth and Claude and the young Queen of
Scots, all embraced him affectionately, telling him how much they had
missed him. In fact, as Soranzo remarks, this short absence served to
show how much beloved the young Prince was by the whole Court.[535]

Meanwhile Arras and Egmont returned to Brussels, satisfied that the
French had no real wish for peace, and Philip declared his conviction
that they had made a plot to capture the Duchess, which had only
been defeated by the strong escort with which she was attended.
But Christina herself was radiant with happiness, and received
congratulations from all her friends. The French had done her many
cruel wrongs, but they had not been able to rob her of her son's heart,
and the future still held the promise of some golden hours.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1558] THE PRINCE OF ORANGE]

For a while the war still raged fiercely. The capture of Thionville
by Guise in June was followed a month later by Egmont's fresh victory
at Gravelines, when the Governor of Calais, De Thermes, and his whole
force, were cut to pieces. The Count had always been a splendid and
popular figure; now he was the idol of the whole nation. His brilliant
feat of arms had saved Flanders from utter ruin, and made peace once
more possible. Both sides were thoroughly weary of the long struggle,
the resources of both countries were exhausted, and the unhappy
inhabitants of Picardy and Artois were crying out for a respite from
their sufferings. Christina made use of the opportunity to renew her
correspondence with the Constable and the Marshal St. André, his
companion in captivity.[536] A new recruit now came to her help in
the person of William of Orange. This young Prince had enjoyed the
favour of Charles V. and his sister Mary from his boyhood, and had
been treated with especial kindness by the Duchess of Aerschot and
her sister-in-law. The death of his young wife, Anna, Countess Büren,
in the spring of 1558, had thrown him much into the company of these
ladies, and it was already whispered at Court that he would certainly
marry Madame de Lorraine's elder daughter, Renée, who was growing up
a tall and attractive maiden. The Prince himself was a handsome youth
with fine brown eyes and curly auburn locks, and a charm of manner
which few could resist. If the cares and anxieties of his later life
made him taciturn, in youth he was the most genial and pleasant of
companions, and Arras, who never loved him, said that he "made a friend
every time that he lifted his hat." His attire was always as faultless
as it was splendid, he was renowned for his skill as a rider and
jouster, and had greatly distinguished himself in the recent campaigns.
Both in his home at Breda and in the stately Nassau house at Brussels
the Prince kept open house, and the worst faults of which his enemies
could accuse him were his reckless hospitality and extravagant tastes.

Christina had always taken especial interest in William of Orange,
for the sake of the kinsman whose name and wealth he inherited, and
he on his part became deeply attached to her. So intimate was their
friendship, that the Duchess one day told Count Feria's English wife,
Jane Dormer, in speaking of the Prince's intended marriage with her
daughter, that she would gladly have married him herself.[537]

The Prince now joined his personal exertions to those of the Duchess,
and was the frequent bearer of letters between Brussels and the camp
near Amiens, where the two Kings and their rival armies were drawn up
face to face. At length, on the 9th of September, a ten days' armistice
was proclaimed, and a few days later the Prince of Orange, Ruy Gomez,
and Arras, met the Constable and St. André at Lille, to discuss
preliminaries of peace.[538] The two French prisoners were eager for
peace, and had the secret support of Henry II. and Diane de Poitiers;
but the Guises, who had everything to lose and nothing to gain by the
cessation of war, were still strongly opposed to a truce, and Renard
told Philip that the only way of gaining their good-will would be to
give Mademoiselle de Lorraine's hand to the Prince of Joinville. In
the end, however, their opposition was overruled, and on the 30th of
September William of Orange was able to bring the Duchess news that
a Conference had been arranged, and would take place at the Abbey of
Cercamp, near Cambray, in October. He found Christina at Douai, where
she and her daughters were attending a marriage in the d'Aremberg
family. She had just heard of her son's return to Nancy, where he had
been received with acclamation by his subjects, and where her own
presence was eagerly expected. But at Philip's earnest entreaty she
consented to remain in Flanders for the present, and preside at the
coming Conference. This proposal was strongly supported by the Cardinal
of Lorraine, who hastened to send the Duchess a safe-conduct, saying
that her presence would do more than anything to bring the desired
peace to perfection.[539]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1558] THE CONFERENCE OF CERCAMP]

Christina herself was very reluctant to accept the post, as we learn
from the following letter which she wrote to Philip from Douai on the
12th of October. Her delicate child, Dorothea, was ailing, and her
faithful companion, the aged Princess of Macedonia, was hardly fit to
be left alone.

    "I have received the letter which Your Majesty has been
    pleased to send me, and thank you humbly for your affectionate
    expressions. As to the inconvenience of the place selected for
    this Conference, I should never allow my comfort or pleasure
    to interfere with your commands, and will accordingly go to
    Arras to-morrow and await your further orders. I have been
    very unwell lately, and must beg Your Majesty to provide for
    my safety, not only because I am a woman, but because, as you
    know, I am not in the good graces of the French. My daughters
    must remain here a few days longer, as Dorothea is indisposed,
    and the Princess of Macedonia is in a very feeble state. I will
    follow Your Majesty's advice as to Bassompierre's mission and
    my son's affairs, and cannot thank you enough for your kind
    thought of me and my children. I kiss Your Majesty's hands.

                            "Your very humble and obedient cousin,
                                                     "CHRÉTIENNE."[540]

Some further difficulties--chiefly the work of Silliers, poor Belloni's
hated rival and successor--delayed the Duchess's journey for another
week. On the 16th Arras wrote to tell her that the Commissioners had
already arrived at Cercamp, and beg her to come as soon as possible.
The Cardinal was very anxious to see her, and hoped that she would not
fail to bring his young cousins, "Mesdames your daughters," with her.
Christina could delay no longer, and hastened to Cercamp the following
day.


II.

On the 17th of October, 1558, a fortnight's truce was proclaimed.
Both armies remained encamped on their own territories, while the two
Kings withdrew respectively to Arras and Beauvais. The next day the
Commissioners met at one o'clock in the Duchess's lodgings. The Prince
of Orange, Alva, Ruy Gomez, Arras, and Viglius, the President of the
Council, represented Philip; while the Constable, the Cardinal of
Lorraine, St. André, the Bishop of Orleans, and Secretary l'Aubespine,
were the five French deputies. Stroppiana represented the Duke of
Savoy, and the English deputies, Lord Arundel, Dr. Wotton, and Thirlby,
Bishop of Ely, arrived a few days later. The Duchess welcomed the
Commissioners in a brief speech, explaining that, as for several years
past she had endeavoured to make peace between these two illustrious
monarchs, it was their pleasure that she should continue her good
offices, adding that she would count herself too happy if her services
could help to attain this blessed end, and relieve the people of both
countries from the awful miseries of war.[541]

[Sidenote: OCT., 1558] PEACE NEGOTIATIONS]

During the next fortnight conferences were held daily in the presence
of Christina, who herself read aloud each different proposal that was
made, and showed infinite tact in smoothing over difficulties and
suggesting points of agreement. Each morning the deputies met at Mass
in the parish church, and often discussed separate questions after
service. In the evenings, private interviews took place in Christina's
rooms, and the Prince of Orange held long conversations with
Montmorency and the Cardinal, which contributed not a little to their
mutual understanding. "Loving entertainments," in Suriano's phrase,
"were exchanged," and one night the Duchess gave a banquet in honour of
the Constable's wife and daughter, who paid a visit to Cercamp. As the
Cardinal complained jestingly, Montmorency was too good a Christian and
all too ready to make peace with his country's enemies. But King Henry
supported him secretly, and sent private notes and messages, telling
him to take no notice of the Guises, and do all he could to make
peace.[542]

The great difficulty which had hitherto stood in the way of all
attempts at negotiation was the restitution of Savoy. The Constable
now proposed that the Duke should marry the King's sister, Madame
Marguerite, with a dower of 300,000 crowns, and be placed in possession
of the chief portion of his dominions. At first the Duke demurred
to this offer, and begged that the King's daughter Claude should
be substituted for her aunt, who was five years his senior. But
the Cardinal replied that this Princess was already pledged to his
nephew, Charles of Lorraine, and laid stress on Margaret's charms and
learning. The Duke yielded, and a long wrangle ensued as to the towns
and citadels to be retained by the French. But there was a still more
thorny question to be decided. This was the restoration of Calais,
which the English demanded with the utmost pertinacity, while the
French were no less determined to keep their conquest. The English
pleaded that they had held the town during two centuries; the French
replied that it had been unjustly snatched from them in the first
place. Old treaties, going back to the days of the Black Prince, were
produced, and Arras and his colleagues supported the English claim
loyally, knowing that, if Philip consented to abandon Calais, he would
lose all hold on his wife's subjects. In vain Christina proposed that,
as the marriage of the French King's elder daughter with the Infant Don
Carlos had been agreed upon, Calais should form part of Elizabeth's
dower. The Cardinal told the Duchess that the possession of the town,
which his brother had conquered, touched his honour too closely for
him to agree to the surrender, and King Henry sent word that he would
rather lose his crown than give up Calais. So stern and intractable
were the French that the only thing to be done was to adjourn the
Conference and refer the matter to the two monarchs.[543]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1558] DEATH OF MARY OF HUNGARY]

The Constable was allowed to go to Beauvais with the Cardinal to
consult King Henry, Alva and Orange went to Brussels to see Philip,
and Christina took three days' holiday with her children at Douai.
Before she went to Cercamp, a report of Charles V.'s death had reached
Brussels. Now this was confirmed by letters from St. Yuste, announcing
that the great Emperor had passed away on the 21st of September.
The sudden death of his sister Eleanor, seven months before, had
been a great shock to him, and when the Queen of Hungary entered
his room without the accustomed figure at her side he burst into
tears. The recent events of the war, and Philip's difficulties in the
administration of the provinces, troubled him sorely, and he was very
anxious for Mary to resume the office of Regent. When, in August, the
Archbishop of Toledo brought a letter from the King, imploring the
Queen to come to his help, Charles used all his influence to induce
her to consent. In vain Mary pleaded her advancing years and failing
health; the Emperor replied that her refusal would bring ruin and
disgrace on their house, and adjured her by the love of God and her
sisterly affection to do him this last service. This appeal decided the
noble woman. On the 9th of September she wrote to tell Philip that, in
obedience to his father's orders, she would start for the Netherlands
as soon as possible. The knowledge of the Queen's decision was a great
consolation to Charles in his last moments, and as soon as she had
recovered from the first shock of his death she prepared to obey his
last wish. But before she embarked at Laredo, a fresh attack of the
heart trouble from which she suffered ended her life, and on St. Luke's
Day she passed to her well-earned rest.[544]

Her death was deeply lamented throughout the Low Countries, where her
return had been daily looked for, and no one mourned her loss more
truly than the niece to whom she had been the best of mothers. It was
with a sad heart that Christina came back to Cercamp to preside at the
second session of the Conference, which opened on the 7th of November.
Alarming accounts of their mistress's health now reached the English
Commissioners, and Count Feria, whom Philip sent to London, wrote that
the Queen's life was despaired of, and that Parliament was in great
alarm lest, if she died, the King would cease to care for the recovery
of Calais. But, although Arras and Alva still declared that they would
never consent to any treaty which did not satisfy the English, the
French remained obdurate, and the Commissioners were at their wits'
end. The Bishop of Ely was in tears, and on the 18th of November Lord
Arundel wrote home that

    "it seemed very hard that all others should have restitution of
    their owne, and poore England, that began not the fray, should
    bear the burthen and loss for the rest, and specially of such a
    jewel as Calais."[545]

The next day came the news of the Queen's death. The French, who,
Wotton remarked, "have ears as long as those of Midas," were the first
to inform Her Majesty's Envoys that their mistress had breathed her
last, on the morning of the 17th of November, after sending a message
to Elizabeth, recognizing this Princess as her successor, and begging
her to maintain the Catholic religion. The new Queen at once sent Lord
Cobham to announce her accession to Philip, and assure him of her
resolve to hold fast the ancient friendship between England and the
House of Burgundy.

[Sidenote: DEC., 1558] THE EMPEROR'S FUNERAL]

The news of Mary's death decided the Commissioners to adjourn the
Conference. The truce was prolonged for two months, and on the 2nd
of December they all left Cercamp. Arundel had already started for
England, and Wotton was longing to get away, saying "that he was never
wearier of any place than he was of Cercamp, saving only of Rome after
the sack." The Constable was set at liberty, and received a promise
that his 200,000 crowns ransom should be reduced by half, if peace
were finally made. Arras, Alva, and Orange, went to the Abbey of
Groenendal to see Philip, who had retired to pray for his father's
soul, and there received the tidings of his wife's death. Christina
returned to Brussels to assist at a succession of funerals. On the
22nd of December a requeim for the Queen of England was chanted in
S. Gudule, the Duke of Savoy acting as chief mourner in the King's
absence, and on the following day solemn funeral rites for the late
Queen of Hungary were performed in the Court chapel, which she and the
Emperor had built and adorned. The Duchess of Lorraine was present at
this service, together with the Duke of Savoy, the Prince of Orange,
and all the chief nobles and Crown officials, while the palace gates
were thronged with a crowd of sorrowing people.[546] But the grandest
funeral ceremonies ever known in Brussels were those that were
celebrated on the 29th of December, in memory of the late Emperor.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1559] CHARLES'S WEDDING]

Great preparations had been made for this solemnity during the last
few weeks. A _chapelle ardente_ was erected in S. Gudule, rising in
tiers to the lofty roof, adorned with golden diadems and shields
emblazoned with the dead monarch's arms and titles, and lighted with
3,000 candles. Here, on a couch draped with cloth of gold, an effigy
of the Emperor was laid, clad in robes of state and wearing the collar
of the Order. On the morning of the 29th a long procession wound its
way through the narrow streets leading from the palace on the heights
of the Caudenberg to the cathedral church, and a stately pageant
unfolded the glorious story of Charles of Austria's deeds. A richly
carved and gilded ship, drawn by marine monsters, bore the names of his
journeys and battles and armorial bearings of the kingdoms over which
he reigned, while banners of the Turks and of the other foes whom he
had vanquished were plunged in the waves below, and white-robed maidens
sat in the stern, bearing the cross and chalice, the symbols of the
faith by which he had conquered the world. This imposing group was
followed by a representation of the Pillars of Hercules with Charles's
motto, _Plus oultre_, and twenty-four horses decked in coloured
plumes and trappings to match the banners of his different States.
Each of these pennons was borne by a noble youth, while four Princes
supported the great standard of the Empire. Then came the officers of
the imperial household, leading Charles's war-horse, and bearing his
armour and insignia; the Prince of Orange with his master's sword, Alva
with the orb of the world, and the Grand Commander of Castille with
the imperial crown. Last of all King Philip himself appeared on foot,
clad in a mourning mantle five yards long, and followed by the Duke of
Savoy and a long train of Knights of the Golden Fleece, Councillors
and Ministers, with the Archers of the Guard bringing up the rear. The
procession left the palace at nine, and the funeral service, which
included a lengthy oration by the Bishop of Arras's coadjutor, Abbé
Richardot, was not over till five o'clock. The next day Philip and all
his nobles attended High Mass, and at the end of the celebration the
Prince of Orange, standing before the funeral pile, smote his breast
three times, repeating the words: "He is dead, and will remain dead;
and there is another risen up in his place, greater than ever he has
been." So the solemn function ended.

"It was a sight worth going 100 miles to see," wrote Richard Clough,
an English apprentice who had been sent by Sir Thomas Gresham from
Antwerp, and counted himself fortunate to witness this imposing
ceremony. "The like of it, I think, hath never been seen. The Lord give
his soul rest!"[547]

The Duchess of Lorraine had been anxious that her son should attend
his great-uncle's funeral, but the tardy invitation which Philip
sent to Nancy arrived too late, and the young Duke could not reach
Brussels in time to take part in the ceremony. To console herself for
this disappointment, Christina went to meet Charles at Treves on the
6th of January, and spent two days in his company, before he returned
to France for the wedding. His loyal subjects presented him with a
marriage gift of 200,000 crowns, double the amount which any Duke of
Lorraine had received before. Charles who inherited his mother's lavish
generosity, spent most of the money in costly jewels for his bride, and
presented the King and Dauphin, Vaudemont and the Guises, with superb
robes embroidered with the arms of Lorraine and lined with lynx fur.
The wedding was solemnized at Notre Dame on the 22nd of January, with
as much splendour as that of the Dauphin in the previous spring. The
Guises held open house for ten days in their palatial abode, the "Hôtel
de Lorraine et de Sicile," near the royal palace of Les Tournelles, and
gave a grand tournament in which the young Duke appeared at the head
of a troop splendidly arrayed in corslets of gold and silver, with
the _alérions_, or eagles, of Lorraine on the crest of their helmets.
Ronsard celebrated the union of the eagles of Lorraine and the golden
lilies of France, and sang the praises of the "Fair Maid of Valois and
her bridegroom, the beautiful Shepherd who feeds his flock in the green
pastures along the banks of Meuse and Moselle."[548]

The French King and Queen had invited the Duchess in courteous and
affectionate terms to be present at the wedding, but she declined on
the plea of her deep mourning, as well as of the promise which she had
made to preside at the Peace Conference, which was shortly to meet
again.[549]


III.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1559] AT CÂTEAU-CAMBRÉSIS]

The Commissioners who had attended the Conferences at Cercamp were
unanimous in refusing to return to this unhealthy and inconvenient
spot, and at the Duchess of Lorraine's suggestion the small town of
Câteau-Cambrésis, belonging to the Bishop of Cambray, was chosen for
their next meeting-place. The Bishop's manor-house at Mon Soulas, which
had been damaged in the war, was hastily repaired by the Duchess's
_fourriers_, the rooms were furnished anew, and paper windows were
inserted in place of the broken glass. The Bishop of Arras, who arrived
with the Prince of Orange's servants, secured a decent lodging and
good cook for himself and his colleagues in the neighbouring villas
of Beau Regard and Mon Plaisir, while Wotton and the Bishop of Ely
found very indifferent quarters in a ruinous house belonging to the
Bishop of Cambray. The French complained that the accommodation was no
better than at Cercamp, if the air was healthier, and, after a good
deal of grumbling, fixed on two houses, known as Mon Secours and Belle
Image, outside the gates.[550] The dilapidated country-house, with its
patched-up walls and paper windows, could hardly have been a pleasant
residence in the cold days of February, but Christina made light of
these discomforts, and threw herself heart and soul into the difficult
task before her. The Commissioners all recognized the tact and patience
which she showed in conducting the negotiations, and the courtesy which
the Ambassadors of other nationalities received at her hands, during
the next two months.

The French delegates were delayed by the fêtes for the Duke of
Lorraine's wedding, and did not reach Câteau-Cambrésis until late on
the evening of the 5th of February. On the following afternoon they
held their first meeting with the King of Spain's Commissioners in the
Duchess's rooms at Mon Soulas. They seemed very cheerful, and, the
next day being Shrove Tuesday, were all entertained at dinner by the
Constable. On Ash Wednesday, Mass of the Holy Ghost was sung in church,
after which business began in earnest, and various points regarding the
Duke of Savoy's marriage were decided. The next evening Lord William
Howard, who had been made Lord Chamberlain by the new Queen, and
advanced to the peerage with the title of Lord Howard of Effingham,
arrived from England. He was received with great civility by Alva and
his colleagues, and conducted by the Prince of Orange to salute the
Duchess. Christina welcomed him graciously, asked after Queen Elizabeth
with great interest, and kept him talking of England "for a pretty
while" in the most friendly manner.

    "This assembly," wrote Howard to his mistress, "hath been
    entirely procured by the Duchess's labour and travail; and she
    being a Princess not subject to the King of Spain or France,
    the Commissioners are content to use her as one that is
    indifferent betwixt all parties, and she is continually present
    at all meetings and communications."[551]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1559] ANGRY DISCUSSIONS]

But the Frenchmen, Lord Howard complained, behaved in a very strange
fashion, and quite refused to meet him and his colleagues if they
persisted in their demand for Calais, pretending that this question had
been finally settled at Cercamp. At Christina's entreaty, however, the
Cardinal consented to an interview, and at one o'clock on Saturday,
the 11th of February, the whole body of Commissioners met at Mon
Soulas. The Duchess sat at the head of the table, the English on her
right, the French deputies opposite, and Alva and his companions at
the other end. A long wrangle followed; all the old arguments were
revived, and the Cardinal, as Howard noticed, did his best to stir up a
quarrel between the English and the King of Spain's servants. After the
meeting broke up, the members stood about in little knots, conversing
amicably with each other and the Duchess. On Sunday the Constable had
a long private interview with Howard, and, as the latter afterwards
discovered, caught Alva and Stroppiana as they left church, and tried
to induce them to abandon the English. But Philip's servants stood
loyally by their allies, and the Prince of Orange and Alva discussed
the matter with Howard until a late hour. During the next two days the
debate was continued with ever-increasing acrimony, until on Tuesday
afternoon Howard broke into so violent a passion that the Cardinal
and his friends rose and walked out of the house, saying that it was
impossible to argue with such people. As Arras remarked shrewdly: "The
French are better advocates of a bad cause than the English are of a
good one."[552]

Presently a page brought the Duchess word that the French Commissioners
had ordered their horses, and were preparing to pack up and leave.
Upon this Christina followed them into the garden, and by dint of much
persuasion prevailed upon the Cardinal to listen to her suggestion
that Calais should remain for eight years in the hands of the French,
and that a yearly sum should be paid to Queen Elizabeth as a security
for its ultimate surrender. Meanwhile the outer world was becoming
very impatient. Philip wrote to the Prince of Orange, saying that he
could get no more supplies from Spain, and that the greatest service
he could do him would be to obtain peace at any cost; and Henry sent
an autograph letter to the Constable, complaining of the Guises'
opposition, ending with the words: "Never mind what these men say;
let them talk as they please, but make peace if possible!" It was
accordingly decided to refer the Duchess's proposal to Queen Elizabeth
and her Council, while the Constable went to consult the French King at
Villers-Cotterets.[553]

Late this same evening the Duke of Lorraine arrived from Court, with
two of the Guise Princes, the Grand Prior of Malta, and the Marquis of
Elbœuf, and was met by the Prince of Orange, and taken to Mon Soulas.
The Duchess was overjoyed to see her son, and the next three days were
devoted to hunting-parties. Howard was invited to join in one of these,
and he and the Prince of Orange accompanied Christina and Margaret of
Aremberg out hunting. As they rode home together, the ladies began to
talk of Queen Elizabeth, and Christina expressed her wish that she
would marry the King of Spain.

    "Why?" returned Howard. "What should my mistress doe with a
    husband that should be ever from her and never with her? Is
    that the way to get what we desire most--that is, children? I
    think not."

[Sidenote: FEB., 1559] ROYAL INTERVIEWS]

At this both the Duchess and Madame d'Aremberg laughed, and Christina,
remembering her unlucky experiences at the English Court, observed
that the late Queen was too old to bear children, and had not the
art of winning her husband's affections. Howard was entirely of the
same opinion, but assured her that whoever the present Queen chose to
marry, "would be honoured and served to the death by every one of her
subjects, and all the more so if he make much of his wife."[554] This
conversation was duly reported to Elizabeth by Howard, who begged his
royal mistress to forgive his boldness, and not impute it to him as
folly. All the world knew that Philip was paying assiduous court to his
sister-in-law, and Christina's remarks were no doubt prompted by the
wish to do him a good turn. But three weeks after this conversation
the Queen told Count Feria that she was determined to restore the
Church of the land to what it was in her father's time, and that, being
a heretic, she could not become his master's wife.[555]

Christina had long sought an opportunity of presenting her son to the
King, and at her request Philip agreed to come to Binche for hunting,
and meet the Duke at Mons. On the 22nd of February, the Duchess and her
son, accompanied by Madame d'Aremberg, the Prince of Orange, and the
Guise Princes, rode to Mons, where they were hospitably entertained by
the Duke of Aerschot, and received a visit from the King, who came over
on St. Matthias's Feast from Binche to spend the day with his cousins.
He showed himself unusually amiable to the young Duke, and delighted
the boy with the gift of a richly carved and jewelled sword, in memory
of the great Emperor, whose birthday fell on this day. On the 25th,
Marguerite d'Aremberg wrote to inform Arras that the Duchess hoped to
be back in a few days, and thanked

    "him for having her hall put in order, promising the Bishop
    that, if he were seized with a wish to dance when the ladies
    from the French Court arrived, he should have the best
    place."[556]

Three days afterwards Christina returned to Mon Soulas, bringing
both her daughters to meet their brother's wife, who was expected in
a few days. The conferences were resumed on the 2nd of March, but
there seemed little prospect of a settlement. The Cardinal made more
difficulties than ever, and even ventured to question Queen Elizabeth's
right to the crown, saying that she was a bastard, and Mary, Queen
of Scots was the true Queen of England. Here Christina intervened
once more, and succeeded in soothing down her irascible kinsman. But
the leading part taken by the Duchess in these debates annoyed Arras
seriously. He blamed her for playing into the hands of the French,
and complained to the Duke of Savoy that there were too many ladies
at Mon Soulas, and that their absence would be of more advantage than
their presence. This last remark was aimed at the young Duchess of
Lorraine, who, on the 5th of March arrived from Court with the Duchess
of Guise, Anna d' Este, and a numerous suite of ladies. An innocent,
simple girl, devoted to her young husband, Claude responded warmly to
the affectionate welcome which she received from her mother-in-law
and sisters; and Christina thus surrounded by her children, declared
herself to be the happiest of mothers. Everyone, as Arras complained,
was given up to amusement. Lord Howard went out hunting with his old
friend the Constable, and the Prince of Orange and the Cardinal spent
their evenings with the Duchess and her joyous family circle.[557]

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1559] THE CALAIS QUESTION]

On Saturday, the 12th of March, there was another stormy meeting in
the Duchess's rooms. This time the French and Spanish Commissioners
quarrelled violently, and Alva and Arras left the room in anger,
declaring they had been fooled, and retired to their own lodgings. In a
private letter to the Duke of Savoy, the Bishop complained bitterly of
the Frenchmen's insolence, saying that nothing could be "done with such
people by fair means, and the only way was to show your teeth."[558]
The next afternoon, however, at the Duchess's earnest entreaty, he
and Alva returned to the Conference. This time the Cardinal was in
a more amiable mood, and the terms originally proposed by Christina
were accepted by all parties. Calais was to remain in the hands of
France for eight years, and hostages were to be given for the payment
of a yearly ransom of 500,000 crowns. There was great rejoicing at
this agreement, and the young Duchess and her ladies returned to
Court on the 19th of March, full of the goodness and generosity of
the Duke's mother, who loaded them with costly presents, and gave her
daughter-in-law the magnificent jewelled necklace which had been the
Emperor's wedding gift on her marriage to the Duke of Milan. Christina
herself was now so convinced of the certainty of peace that she begged
her son to delay his departure a few more days, in order that he
might take the good news to the Most Christian King. The end of the
Conference seemed really in sight, and Lord Howard wrote to inform
Queen Elizabeth of the treaty regarding Calais, only to receive a sound
rating from his mistress for having dared to allow the French and
Spaniards to call her title in question.[559]


IV.

The question of Calais having been settled, the French and Spanish
Commissioners met again on the 13th of March, and conferred for six
hours on their own affairs. The Duke of Savoy's marriage treaty was
the chief point under discussion. Madame Marguerite's own eagerness
for the union was well known. She had repeatedly asked her friend the
Constable to press the matter, and on the 25th of March she sent her
_maître d'hôtel_, Monsieur de l'Hôpital, to Câteau-Cambrésis to sign
the contract on her behalf. The Duke's original reluctance had been
overcome, and he sent Margaret word through a friend that she must
not think him ill-disposed towards her, but that, on the contrary, he
counted himself fortunate to win so noble and accomplished a bride,
adding, with a touch of irony:

    "I believe that the fate with which you have often threatened
    me is really in store for me, and that I shall submit to be
    governed by a woman whom I shall try to please."[560]

But there still remained some troublesome details to arrange. All
through Holy Week, Christina stayed at her post, while the French and
Spanish delegates wrangled over the citadels to be given up by Henry
and Philip respectively. On Maundy Thursday a sharp contest arose
between Ruy Gomez and the Cardinal on this point. Both parties left the
room angrily, and a complete rupture seemed imminent.

    "They fell suddenly to such a disagreement," wrote Howard,
    "that they all rose up, determined to break off and depart home
    the next morning, being Good Friday."[561]

The Cardinal ordered his rooms to be dismantled and his beds and
hangings packed, and on Good Friday morning he and his colleagues had
already put on their riding-boots, when Christina appeared at the door
and made a last appeal.

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1559] CHRISTINA'S EFFORTS]

    "The Duchess," wrote the Venetian Tiepolo, "regardless of
    personal fatigue, went to and fro between the Commissioners,
    with the greatest zeal, ardour, and charity, imploring them to
    come together again."[562]

Seven years before, on another Good Friday, in her own palace,
Christina had knelt in an agony of grief at the King of France's feet,
asking to be allowed to keep her only son. To-day she pleaded with
tears and prayers, in the name of the same Christ who died on the
cross, for the suffering thousands who were sighing for peace. This
time her prayer was heard. The Cardinal was induced to meet the Spanish
delegates once more, and, after a conference which lasted over seven
hours, it was decided that King Philip should keep Asti and Vercelli,
and surrender all the other citadels which he held in Savoy. Ruy Gomez
hastened to the Abbey of Groenendal to obtain his master's consent
to this plan, and, to the amazement of the whole Court, the Cardinal
appeared suddenly at La Ferté Milon, at dinner-time on Easter Day.
Happily, there was little difficulty in arranging matters. Madame
Marguerite told her brother plainly that he ought not to let her marry
the Duke, if he treated him with suspicion, and Henry bade her be of
good cheer, for all would be well.[563]

On Easter Tuesday the Commissioners held another meeting at Mon Soulas,
and by the following evening the terms of the treaty were finally
arranged. The Cardinal embraced the young Princesses of Lorraine,
and the Duke bade his mother farewell, and rode off as fast as his
horse could take him to bear the good news to the French King. All
the Commissioners attended a solemn _Te Deum_ in the church, and
bonfires were lighted in the town. "Thanks be to God!" wrote the
Constable to his nephew, Coligny: "Peace is made, and Madame Marguerite
is married."[564] One point still awaited settlement. The Princess
Elizabeth's hand had been originally offered to Don Carlos, but the
Constable brought back word that Henry would greatly prefer his
daughter to wed King Philip himself. The plan had already been mooted
at an earlier stage of the Conference, but it was not until Philip
saw that there was no hope of marrying the Queen of England that he
consented to wed the French Princess. On the 2nd of April, when the
articles of the treaty were being drafted, the Constable made a formal
proposal from his master to the Duchess, who, after a few words with
Arras and Ruy Gomez, graciously informed him that King Philip was
pleased to accept his royal brother's offer.[565]

    "It seems a bold step," wrote Tiepolo, "for the Catholic King
    to take to wife the daughter of the Most Christian King, who
    had been already promised to his son, especially as marriage
    negotiations with the Queen of England are still pending. But,
    seeing how this Queen has already alienated herself from the
    Church, he has easily allowed himself to be brought over to
    this plan, which will establish peace more effectually, and
    will no doubt please the French, who are above all anxious to
    keep him from marrying the Queen of England."[566]

[Sidenote: APRIL, 1559] CONCLUSION OF PEACE]

On the next morning the Commissioners met for the last time, and signed
the treaty, after which they heard Mass and all dined with the Duchess,
who received the thanks and congratulations of the whole body. Then
they went their several ways, rejoicing, in Arras's words, "to escape
from purgatory." Howard and his colleagues hastened home to make their
peace with the offended Queen. In spite of her affected indifference,
Elizabeth was by no means gratified to hear of Philip's marriage. "So
your master is going to be married," she said with a smile to Count
Feria. "What a fortunate man he is!" Presently she heaved a little
sigh, and said: "But he could hardly have been as much in love with me
as you supposed, since he could not await my answer a few months."[567]

Before leaving Câteau-Cambrésis, Christina sent letters of
congratulation to the French King and Queen and to Madame Marguerite,
expressing her joy at the conclusion of the treaty, and the pleasure
which she had received from her son's presence. To Henry II. she wrote:

    "It has pleased God to set the seal on all the joy and content
    which I have experienced here--chiefly owing to Your Majesty's
    kindness in allowing me to see my son, and, after that, Madame
    your daughter and her company--by bringing those long-drawn
    negotiations to a good end, and concluding, not only a lasting
    peace, but also the marriage of the Catholic King with Madame
    Elizabeth. For all of which I thank God, and assure Your
    Majesty that I feel the utmost satisfaction in having been
    able to bring about so excellent an arrangement, and one which
    cannot fail to prove a great boon to Christendom."

In her letter to Catherine, Christina dwells chiefly on her gratitude
to the Queen and her daughter for allowing her to keep her son so long.


    "I thank you, Madame," she writes, "very humbly for your kind
    interest in our son, who is very well, thank God, and I hope
    that the pleasure of seeing you will prevent him from feeling
    the fatigues of the journey. And I am greatly obliged to Your
    Majesty and our daughter for having lent him to me so long. I
    praise God that our negotiations have ended so happily, and
    that these two great monarchs will henceforth not only be
    friends, but closely allied by the marriage of the Catholic
    King and Madame Elizabeth, which, as you will hear, was frankly
    and joyfully arranged after all the other articles of the
    treaty had been drawn up. I rejoice personally to think that
    by this happy arrangement I shall often have the pleasure of
    seeing your Majesties, our daughter, and my son, and take this
    opportunity of wishing you joy on this auspicious event, hoping
    that in future you will not fail to make use of me as of one
    who is ever ready to do you service."[568]

The Duchess now returned to Brussels with her daughters and the Prince
of Orange. All the towns and villages through which she passed were
hung with flags and garlands of flowers, and her coming was hailed
with shouts of joy. The prison doors were thrown open, and the poor
French soldiers, who had languished in captivity for years, called down
blessings on her head.[569] When she reached Brussels, the King himself
rode out to meet her, at the head of his nobles, while courtiers and
ladies flocked from all parts to welcome her return and offer their
congratulations on the triumphant success of her labours. For Christina
it was a great and memorable day. The bitterness of past memories was
blotted out, and peace and good-will seemed to have come back to earth.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1559] REJOICINGS AT BRUSSELS]

At Whitsuntide the Treaty was ratified. The Duke of Lorraine came to
Brussels with the Cardinals of Lorraine and Guise and the Constable,
and spent a fortnight with his mother. They were present in the Court
chapel, with Cardinals and Princes, when the King, laying his hand on
a relic of the True Cross, took a solemn oath to keep the articles of
the Treaty. And Christina occupied the place of honour at Philip's
right hand at the state banquet in the great hall, while her son and
daughters and the Duchess of Aerschot were all at table.[570] The King
gave the Cardinal of Lorraine a service of gold plate and a wonderful
ship of rock-crystal studded with gems, and bestowed similar presents
on the Constable; while the Marshal St. André, being a poor man was
excused his ransom. They all left Flanders on the following Sunday,
except the Duke of Lorraine, who remained another week with his mother.
Before he left Brussels, letters from Denmark were received, confirming
a report which had already reached the Court of his grandfather
King Christian II.'s death. The old King had died in the Castle of
Kallundborg, after forty-five years of captivity, on the 25th of
January, 1559, at the ripe age of seventy-seven. He was buried with his
parents in the Franciscan church at Odensee, and Duke Adolf of Holstein
followed his kinsman's remains to their last resting-place. When her
son left Brussels, Christina put her household into mourning, and
retired to the Convent of La Cambre to spend a month in retreat. After
the strain and stress of the last six months, she felt the need of rest
sorely, and the shelter of convent walls was grateful to her tired
soul.[571]

FOOTNOTES:

[529] F. Decrue, "Montmorency à la Cour de Henri II.," 207.

[530] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1346, 1363.

[531] Ruble, "La Jeunesse de Marie Stuart," 153; Bouillé, i. 455;
Pimodan, 173-180.

[532] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1471, 1488.

[533] Granvelle, v. 168.

[534] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1496-1498.

[535] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1500.

[536] _Ibid._, vi. 1528.

[537] Groen van Prinsterer, "Archives de la Maison d'Orange et de
Nassau," i. 1; Kervyn de Lettenhove, ii. 257.

[538] Granvelle, v. 171.

[539] _Ibid._, v. 227.

[540] Granvelle, v. 231.

[541] Granvelle, v. 266.

[542] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1537; Ruble, "Traité de Câteau-Cambrésis,"
12.

[543] Calendar of State Papers, Mary, Foreign, 402-404.

[544] Gachard, "Retraite," etc., i. 44-48; Venetian Calendar, vi. 1544.

[545] Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 257.

[546] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1568.

[547] Kervyn e Lettenhove, i. 384; Gachard, "Voyages," iv. 35-62.

[548] Calmet, ii. 1, 351; Pfister, ii. 244; Venetian Calendar, vii. 19,
20.

[549] Venetian Calendar, vii. 8, 10.

[550] Granvelle, v. 420-426; Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 420.

[551] Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 422, 444.

[552] Granvelle, v. 454.

[553] Ruble, "Traité de Câteau-Cambrésis," 23; Venetian Calendar, vii.
39; Granvelle, v. 495.

[554] Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 457.

[555] Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 475.

[556] Granvelle, v. 487, 495, 502.

[557] Venetian Calendar, vii. 54; Granvelle, v. 520, 525.

[558] Granvelle, v. 529.

[559] Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 460.

[560] V. de St. Génis, "Histoire de Savoie," iii. 181.

[561] Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 485.

[562] Venetian Calendar, vii. 56; J. F. Le Petit, "Grande Chronique de
Hollande," ii. 20.

[563] Venetian Calendar, vii. 57.

[564] Ruble, 26; Venetian Calendar, vii. 67, 77.

[565] Granvelle, v. 577.

[566] Venetian Calendar, vii. 62.

[567] Calendar of Spanish State Papers, i. 49, Archives of Simancas;
Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 494.

[568] Granvelle, v. 582, 583.

[569] Venetian Calendar, vii. 64.

[570] Gachard, iv. 67; Venetian Calendar, vii. 87-90.

[571] Schäfer, iv. 445.




BOOK XIII

THE RETURN TO LORRAINE

1559-1578


I.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1559] THE NETHERLANDS REGENCY]

During the last year the Duke of Savoy had repeatedly begged to be
relieved of his post as the King's Lieutenant in the Low Countries.
By the Treaty of Câteau-Cambrésis he recovered his dominions, and set
out on the 15th of June for Paris with a great train of gentlemen and
servants, to celebrate his marriage with King Henry's sister. At the
same time, the death of the Emperor made Philip's return to Spain
necessary. The appointment of a new Regent of the Netherlands became
imperative, and everyone expected the Duchess of Lorraine would be
chosen to fill the vacant office. A Habsburg by birth, she inherited
the capacity for governing which distinguished the women of her house,
and had proved her fitness for the post by the wisdom with which she
administered her son's State during seven years. Her popularity with
all classes of people in the Netherlands was an additional advantage,
and when, in the summer of 1558, it had been doubtful if Mary of
Hungary would consent to return, the Duchess was the first person
whose name was suggested. The Venetian Suriano remarked that the only
doubt as to her fitness for the office was that she hardly possessed
her aunt's extraordinary vigour and energy.[572] But these doubts had
been dispelled by the admirable manner in which she had conducted the
negotiations at the recent Conference and the immense credit which she
had acquired on all sides. Unfortunately, she had made an enemy of the
Bishop of Arras, and excited his jealousy by her private consultations
with the Cardinal and Constable, and still more by her friendship
with the Prince of Orange. Both Orange and Egmont disliked the Bishop
almost as much as they hated the King's Spanish favourites, and lost
no opportunity of showing their contempt for the "meddling priest,"
as they called Philip's confidential counsellor. And both of these
proud nobles, seeing no hope of themselves obtaining the Regency,
supported the Duchess's claims strongly.[573] But the very popularity
which Christina enjoyed, the acclamations which greeted her return
from Câteau-Cambrésis, had the effect of arousing Philip's jealousy.
He lent a willing ear to Arras and Alva when they spoke scornfully of
the Duchess's French connection and of the influence which the Prince
of Orange would gain by his marriage with her daughter. Then, in an
evil hour both for himself and the Netherlands, the Bishop suggested
the name of the Duchess of Parma. Margaret was closely related to the
King, and would be far more pliable and ready to follow his counsels
than Christina. Philip liked his sister, and shared the Spaniards'
jealousy of the great Flemish nobles, more especially of the Prince
of Orange, whose intimacy with Christina he regarded with growing
suspicion. His mind was soon made up, and when the French Commissioners
came to Brussels in May, the appointment of the Duchess of Parma to be
Governess of the Low Countries was publicly proclaimed.[574]

The announcement was the signal for an outburst of popular discontent.
Orange and Egmont protested loudly at this affront to the Duchess
of Lorraine, and complained of the indignity offered to the nation
by giving them a ruler of illegitimate birth, whose interests and
connections were all foreign, and whose husband had actually borne arms
against the late Emperor.

    "There is great discontent here," wrote Tiepolo, "at the
    Duchess of Parma's appointment. The common folk use very
    insolent language, and say that if a woman is to reign over
    them they would far rather have the Duchess of Lorraine, whom
    they know and love and hold to be one of themselves. Every
    one, indeed, would have greatly preferred this Princess, who
    is of royal lineage on both sides, and has long dwelt in these
    provinces, besides being far more gracious and affable to the
    nobles."[575]

To Christina herself the blow was heavy. She had suffered many trials
and disappointments at her enemies' hands, but had never expected to be
treated with such ingratitude by the King, who had always professed so
much affection for his cousin, and was so deeply indebted to her.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1559] CHRISTINA'S DISAPPOINTMENT]

    "The Duchess of Lorraine," wrote Tiepolo, "feels the injustice
    of the King's decision more deeply than any of her past
    adversities, and naturally thinks that, after her long and
    indefatigable exertions in negotiating this peace, taking part
    in every Conference and adjusting every dispute, she deserved
    to be treated with greater regard. Everyone here admits that
    peace was concluded chiefly owing to her wisdom and efforts,
    and this is all the reward which she has received."[576]

It is scarcely to be wondered at if Christina never wholly forgave
Philip for the cruel wrong which he had done her, and if in all her
future correspondence with him we trace a strain of reproachful
bitterness. Her resolve to leave the Netherlands was now fixed. She
could not bear to see another Regent at Brussels, and was not even sure
if she cared to live as a subject at her son's Court. Her thoughts
turned once more to Italy, and, since the Castles of Tortona and
Vigevano were not available, she addressed a petition to Philip through
her Italian secretary, asking him to give her the duchy of Bari in
Calabria. This principality, once the property of Lodovico Sforza, had
been lately bequeathed to Philip by the late Queen Bona of Poland, on
condition that he would discharge a considerable debt owing to her son,
King Sigismund. The beauty and salubrity of the spot, as well as its
association with the Sforzas, probably prompted Christina's request,
which ran as follows:

    "The Duchess of Lorraine in all humility begs Your Majesty,
    in consideration of her close relationship and of the great
    affection which she bore the late Emperor, and of the services
    which she has rendered both to His Majesty of blessed memory
    and to yourself, to do her the favour of granting her and
    her children the duchy of Bari, with the same revenues and
    independent liberties as were enjoyed by the Queen of Poland.
    She will undertake to pay the King of Poland the sum of 100,000
    crowns due to him, and humbly begs Your Majesty to grant her
    half of this amount in ready money, the other half in bills
    on merchants' houses, in order that she may be able to pay the
    creditors who annoy her daily. Her revenues for the next year
    are already mortgaged, owing to the necessity laid upon her
    of supporting her daughters, during the last seven years, and
    the repeated journeys which she has undertaken to England, and
    across the French frontier to treat of peace, all of which have
    involved her in great and heavy expenses...."

Here the petition breaks off abruptly, the rest of the page being torn
off; but we see by Philip's reply that it contained a bitter complaint
of the injustice which he had done Christina by refusing to make her
Regent. He wrote to Arras, desiring him to see that the Duchess ceased
to repeat these perpetual recriminations on the subject of the Regency,
which were as derogatory to her dignity as they were injurious to his
interests. He regretted that his own pressing needs made it impossible
for him to do as much as he should wish to help her. At the same time
he said that, besides the revenue of 4,000 crowns which he had already
offered her, and which she had neither refused nor accepted, he was
ready to give her another yearly allowance of 10,000 crowns, to be
charged on Naples and Milan, pointing out that she could raise money on
this income to satisfy her creditors.

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1559] WILLIAM OF ORANGE]

    "The sincere affection which the King has always felt for the
    Duchess, and the closeness of their relationship," added the
    writer, "impels him to advise her to retire to her dower lands
    of Lorraine and live near her son, in order that she may foster
    the loyalty and devotion which this young Prince owes her, and
    give him advice and help that may conduce to his welfare and
    that of the House of Lorraine. Any other action on her part,
    the King is convinced, will only excite public suspicion and
    slander. If, however, the Duchess prefers to live in the
    kingdom of Naples, the King is ready to offer her the town of
    Lecce, the most important next to the capital, where she can
    enjoy all the comforts and amenities of Italian life, together
    with the respect due to her exalted birth and rank."[577]

This offer, however, did not commend itself to Christina. In spite
of its ancient castle and beautiful situation, Lecce was not an
independent principality, and had no connection with her family. She
replied curtly that she would follow His Majesty's advice and return
to Lorraine, as soon as her creditors were satisfied and her affairs
sufficiently arranged for her to leave the Netherlands with honour.
Upon this, Philip sent the Duchess a sum of 21,000 crowns to defray
the expenses of her journeys, and a further substantial advance on the
additional revenues which he had assigned her.[578]

But while he was outwardly endeavouring to atone for one act of
injustice, he was secretly doing the Duchess another and a more
serious injury. The marriage of the Prince of Orange with her daughter
Renée had been practically arranged at Câteau-Cambrésis, but some
difficulties had arisen regarding the settlements already made by the
Prince on his two children by his first marriage, and the heavy debts
which he had incurred by his extravagance, amounting, it was said,
to 900,000 crowns. Up to this time Philip had openly encouraged the
Prince's suit, but both he and Arras looked with alarm on a marriage
that would make Orange more powerful and more dangerous than he was
already, and were secretly plotting against its conclusion. One day,
when Philip was walking in the park at Brussels with the Prince, he
told him how much he regretted to find that Madame de Lorraine was
strongly opposed to his marriage with her daughter, and had begged him
to inform the Prince that she must decline to proceed further with
the matter. The King added, in a friendly way, that he had told him
this in order that he might look about for another wife while he was
still young. The Prince was naturally much annoyed at this unexpected
communication, and replied proudly that, if this were the case, he
would promptly seek another alliance in Germany, where he had already
received several offers of marriage. He was deeply wounded, not without
reason, and went off to Paris a few days later, with Egmont and Alva,
to remain there as hostages until the conditions of the treaty had been
fulfilled. It was not until many months afterwards that he discovered
how he had been duped. Christina meanwhile remained in her convent
retreat, unconscious of what was happening in her absence, and heard
with some surprise that the Prince of Orange had left Court without
informing her of his departure.

[Sidenote: JULY, 1559] MARGARET OF PARMA REGENT]

All eyes were now turned to the Palais des Tournelles in Paris,
where the Catholic King's marriage to Elizabeth of France, and that
of the Duke of Savoy to Margaret, were about to be celebrated. Alva
represented his master at the wedding, which was solemnized at Notre
Dame on the 22nd of June, and his old enemy Guise proclaimed the new
Queen's titles at the church doors, and flung handfuls of gold to the
applauding crowds. But their joy was soon changed into mourning. King
Henry was mortally wounded by a splintered lance in the tournament that
followed, and, after lingering for ten days, breathed his last on the
10th of July, two days after the marriage of his sister and the Duke
of Savoy had been quietly solemnized in the neighbouring church of St.
Paul.

[Illustration: WILLIAM, PRINCE OF ORANGE, ÆTAT 26

By Adriaan Key (Darmstadt)

_To face p. 456_.]

The news of his father-in-law's death reached Philip at Ghent, where
he was preparing for his departure. Here Christina joined him on the
19th, and was greeted with the liveliest demonstrations of affection
from both Court and people. Before leaving Brussels, she saw an English
gentleman, who was on his way to Italy, and brought her a pressing
invitation from Queen Elizabeth to pay a visit to England.[579]
Elizabeth had evidently not forgotten the Duchess's friendly intentions
on her behalf when she came to London in Mary's reign, nor her more
recent conversation with Lord Howard. After her arrival at Ghent, she
received frequent visits from Chaloner, the newly appointed Ambassador,
and from the French Envoy, Sébastien de l'Aubespine, who had been one
of the delegates to the Conference, and could not speak too highly
of Madame de Lorraine's goodness and ability. Through him she sent
affectionate messages to the young King Francis II. and his Scottish
wife, thanking them in the warmest terms for their kindness to her
son. Nor was Philip lacking in his attentions. He met the Duchess on
her arrival, paid her daily visits, and seemed to fall once more under
the old spell. On the 24th he and Christina were both present at a
Requiem for the King of France, and dined together afterwards. The same
afternoon Philip rode out to receive the Duchess of Parma.[580] The
next day the Duke of Savoy returned from Paris, bringing with him the
Prince of Orange and Egmont, who were released on parole, and attended
the Chapter of the Fleece held by the King in the Church of St. John.
On the 7th of August the States met, and the new Regent was formally
presented to them. But many voices were raised to protest against the
powers conferred upon her, and the States refused to grant the aids
demanded unless the Spanish troops were withdrawn. This act of audacity
roused Philip's anger, and in his farewell interview with William of
Orange he accused him of being the instigator of the measure.

Before leaving Ghent, the King arranged a meeting between the two
Duchesses in the garden of the Prinzenhof, and afterwards invited
Christina to visit him at Flushing, where he spent some days before he
embarked. They dined together for the last time on the 12th of August,
and seem to have parted friends.[581] Then Christina returned to
Brussels to prepare for her own departure, and Chaloner wrote home:

    "I heare say the Duchess of Lorraine repaireth shortly hence
    into Lorraine, smally satisfied with the preferment of the
    other, for old emulations' sake."[582]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1559] RIVALRY OF THE DUCHESSES]

During the next two months Christina had much to endure. She found a
marked change in the Prince of Orange. He treated her with profound
respect and courtesy in public, but kept aloof from her in private,
and appeared to have transferred his attentions to Margaret of Parma.
All idea of his marriage with Renée--"the Duchess of Lorraine's
soundlimbed daughter," as she was called by Chaloner--seemed to be
abandoned, and in September he left Court to attend the French King's
coronation at Reims. There was a general feeling of discontent abroad.

    "The new Regent is greatly disliked," wrote John Leigh, an
    English merchant of Antwerp, "by all estates, who wished to
    have the Duchess of Lorraine for their ruler, and some of her
    own ladies have told her that she is a bastard, and not meet
    for the place."

The States refused to grant the subsidies asked for, and the people
clamoured for the removal of the Spaniards. The nobles showed their
displeasure by retiring to their country-houses, and the ladies
absented themselves from Margaret's receptions to meet in the Duchess
of Lorraine's rooms.[583] This naturally provoked quarrels and
jealousies, which, as Arras remarked in his letters to Philip, might
easily prove serious.

    "Then there is rivalry between the Duchess of Lorraine and her
    of Parma," wrote the Bishop on the 4th of October, at the end
    of a long tale of troubles. "The best way would be to keep them
    apart, for all these comings and goings can produce no good
    result. Fortunately, the former is about to go to Lorraine. We
    shall see if she leaves her daughters here, or takes them with
    her. What is certain is that, wherever she and her daughters
    may be, it will be better for Your Majesty's service they
    should be anywhere but here, as long as Madame de Parma remains
    in these parts, and discord prevails between her and the
    Duchess."[584]

When Arras wrote these words, Christina was already on her way to
Lorraine. Philip received a letter from her at Toledo, informing him
of her final departure, and wrote to tell Arras that all strife
between the Duchesses was now at an end.[585] In the same month a
marriage was arranged between William of Orange and Anna of Saxony, the
Elector Maurice's daughter. Arras was greatly alarmed when he heard of
this alliance with a Protestant Princess, and used all his powers of
persuasion to induce the Prince to return to his old suit and marry
Mademoiselle de Lorraine. But it was too late. The Prince knew that
the Duchess would never forgive the studied neglect with which he had
treated her, and, as he told the Bishop, his word was already pledged.
A year later he married the Saxon Princess, but lived to repent of this
ill-assorted union, and to realize that he had been the dupe of Philip
and his astute Minister.[586]


II.

[Sidenote: OCT., 1559] MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS]

Christina's return to Lorraine took place at an eventful moment. The
death of Henry II. and the accession of Francis II. placed the supreme
power in the hands of the Guise brothers. As the saying ran, "So many
Guise Princes, so many Kings of France." The elder branch of the House
of Lorraine shared in the triumphs of the younger. The reigning Duke,
Charles, had grown up with the young King and Queen, and was tenderly
beloved by them. Francis could not bear his brother-in-law to be absent
from his side, and after his coronation at Reims, on the 18th of
September, he and Mary accompanied the Duke and Duchess on a progress
through Lorraine. The festival of the Order of St. Michel was held
at Bar, where Charles kept open house for a week, and his aunt, Anne
of Aerschot, came to join the family party and meet the daughter of
her old companion, Mary of Guise. The charms of the young Queen won
all hearts in her mother's native Lorraine, and Francis indulged his
passion for sport in the forests of Nomény and Esclaron.[587]

Here, at this favourite hunting-lodge of the Guises, the royal party
were joined by the Duke's mother. Christina reached Esclaron on the
11th of October, and was received with every mark of respect and
affection. At first, if Brantôme is to be believed, the Duchess-mother
was inclined to stand on her dignity, and refused to yield precedence
to the youthful Queen; but Mary's grace and sweetness soon dispelled
all rivalry, and Christina became the best of friends with both the
King and Queen. General regret was expressed at the absence of the
young Princesses, whom their mother had left at Brussels; but Christina
was aware of the Cardinal's anxiety to arrange a marriage between Renée
and the Prince of Joinville, and had no intention of consenting to this
arrangement.

    "She left her daughters behind her," wrote Throckmorton, the
    English Ambassador, "because she is unwilling to satisfy the
    hopes of the House of Guise, and makes not so great an account
    of their advances as to leave the old friendship of King Philip
    and his countries. The French, in fact," he adds, "are doing
    all they can to make the Duchess Dowager a good Frenchwoman,
    but they will not find it as easy as they think."[588]

At the end of the week Christina went on to Nancy with her son and
daughter-in-law, leaving the King and Queen to proceed to Joinville,
where Mary was anxious to see her beloved grandmother. She had
already appointed Antoinette and her three daughters-in-law to be her
ladies-in-waiting, and, as a further proof of affection, had given her
grandmother the present which she received from the city of Paris on
her state entry. From Blois, where the royal pair spent the autumn and
winter, Francis II. sent his brother-in-law the following letter, which
throws a pleasant light on the happy relations existing between the two
families:

  "MY DEAR BROTHER,

    "I am longing for news of you and my sister, and have not heard
    from either of you since you reached Nancy. Next week I take
    my sister, the Catholic Queen, to Châtelhérault on her way to
    Spain, after which I shall return to Blois, and not move again
    before Easter. As you may imagine, I cannot be in this house
    without missing you very much. I shall await your return with
    the utmost impatience, and wish you were here to enjoy the fine
    rides which I have made in my forest. I must thank you for the
    good cheer that you are giving my sister, which is the best
    proof of your perfect love for me. And I am quite sure that in
    this you are helped by my aunt your mother, Madame de Lorraine,
    for whom I feel the deepest gratitude, and whom I should like
    to assure of my readiness and anxiety to do her every possible
    service. And I pray God, my dearest brother, to have you in His
    holy keeping."[589]

[Sidenote: DEC., 1559] CHRISTINA RETURNS TO NANCY]

The young Duke and Duchess were both of them longing to accept this
pressing invitation and return to the gay French Court. Charles as
yet took little interest in public affairs which required serious
attention. Confusion reigned in every department. In many instances
the ducal lands had been seized and their revenues appropriated to
other uses, while the whole country had suffered from the frequent
incursions of foreign troops, and famine and distress prevailed in many
districts. Under these circumstances the help of the Duchess-mother was
sorely needed. Vaudemont, having neither health nor capacity to cope
with these difficulties, had retired into private life, and by degrees
Christina resumed most of her old functions. She applied herself to
reforming abuses and restoring order in the finances, and at the same
time helped her son and daughter-in-law in entertaining the nobles who
flocked to Nancy to pay them homage. Her daughters came to join her at
Christmas, and she settled once more in her old quarters in the ducal
palace. In March the Duke returned to the French Court, and his mother
was left to act as Regent during his absence.[590]

After visiting Remiremont and Bar, Charles and his wife went on to
spend the summer with the King and Queen at Amboise, where they
gave themselves up to hunting and dancing, and enjoyed suppers at
Chenonceaux and water-parties on the Loire. But this joyous life was
rudely disturbed by the discovery of a Huguenot conspiracy, which
was put down with ruthless severity, and was followed by continual
alarms. The King and Duke had to be escorted by 500 men-at-arms on
their hunting-parties, and the Cardinal of Lorraine never left his room
without a guard of ten men bearing loaded pistols. On the 10th of June
Mary of Guise died in Edinburgh Castle, and her remains were brought
back to her native land and buried in her sister's convent church, St.
Pierre of Reims. The whole Court went into mourning, and Throckmorton
was so moved by the young Queen's tears that he declared "there never
was a daughter who loved her mother better."[591] Meanwhile the
aspect of affairs grew daily more threatening. There were riots in
the provinces, and rumours of plots at Court. The Duke of Lorraine
was present at the Council held at St. Germain for the defence of the
realm, but left for Nancy when the Court moved to Orleans in October.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1561] LA REINE BLANCHE]

Two months later the young King died there very suddenly. He fainted
at vespers one evening, and passed away at midnight on the 5th of
December, 1560. His brother Charles, a boy of ten, was proclaimed
King in his stead, and his mother, Catherine de' Medici, assumed
the Regency. Three days afterwards Throckmorton wrote that the late
King was already forgotten by everyone but his widow, who, "being as
noble-minded as she is beautiful, weeps passionately for the husband
who loved her so dearly, and with whom she has lost everything." The
young Queen behaved with admirable discretion. On the day after the
King's death she sent the Crown jewels to her mother-in-law, and, as
soon as the funeral had been solemnized, begged leave to go and visit
her mother's grave at Reims. After spending three weeks with her aunt,
Abbess Renée, Mary went to stay with her grandmother at Joinville,
where she was joined by Anne of Aerschot, the one of all her mother's
family to whom she clung the most closely, calling her "ma tante," and
consulting her in all her difficulties.[592]

Christina herself was full of sympathy for this young Queen, whose
early widowhood recalled her own fate, and she joined cordially in
the invitation which the Duke sent Mary to pay a visit to Nancy. "The
Queen of Scotland," wrote Throckmorton to Elizabeth on the 1st of May,
1561, "is at Nancy with the Dowager, whom here they call Son Altesse."
Christina rode out with her son to meet their guest on the frontiers of
Lorraine, and her uncles, the two Cardinals, Aumale, Vaudemont, and the
Duchess of Aerschot, all accompanied her to Nancy.

The touching beauty of the young widow created a profound sensation at
the Court of Lorraine. Brantôme describes her as "a celestial vision";
Ronsard sang of the charms which transfigured _son grand deuil et
tristesse_, and made her more dangerous in this simple white veil that
rivalled the exquisite delicacy of her complexion than in the most
sumptuous robes and dazzling jewels; and Clouet drew his immortal
portrait.[593] The Duke arranged a series of fêtes to distract the
young Queen's mind and help to dry her tears. There were masques and
dances at Nancy, hunting-parties and banquets at Nomény, where Mary
stood godmother to the Count Vaudemont's youngest child; and the Court
was gayer than it had been for many years. But intrigue was once more
rife at the French Court, and all manner of proposals were made for the
young widow's hand. The King of Denmark, Frederic III., the Prince of
Orange, the Archduke Charles, the Dukes of Bavaria and Ferrara, were
all suggested as possible husbands. The fascination which Mary had for
the boy-King Charles IX. was well known, and Catherine de' Medici, who
had never forgiven Mary for calling her a shopkeeper's daughter, was
secretly plotting to keep her away from the Court, and yet prevent her
marriage to Don Carlos, whom she wished to secure for her youngest
daughter, Margot. The Cardinal of Lorraine was known to be eager for
the Spanish marriage, and both Christina and Anne did their best to
forward his scheme, which was the subject of many letters that passed
between Granvelle, the Duchess of Aerschot, and Mary herself. But
Philip, without actually declining the offer, always returned evasive
answers, whether he shrank from placing his sickly and wayward son in
an independent position, or whether he feared the power of the Guise
faction.[594]

[Illustration: _Mary Stuart as Queen of France_

_in widow's dress_

_From the drawing in the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris._]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1561] CORONATION OF CHARLES IX.]

In the midst of the festivities at Nancy, Mary fell ill of fever, and
as soon as she was fit to travel returned to Joinville, to be nursed by
her grandmother; while Christina accompanied her son and his wife to
Reims for the new King's sacring on the 15th of May. The magnificence
of the Duchess-mother's appearance on this occasion excited general
admiration. Grief and anxiety had left their traces on her face, but,
in spite of advancing years and sorrow, Christina was still a very
handsome woman. Among all the royal ladies who met in the ancient
city, none was more stately and distinguished-looking than Madame de
Lorraine. As her chariot, draped with black velvet fringed with gold,
and drawn by four superb white horses of Arab breed, drew up in front
of the Cardinal's palace, a murmur of admiration ran through the crowd.
The Duchess sat at one window, clad in a long black velvet robe, and
wearing a jewelled diadem on her head, with a flowing white veil
and cap of the shape that became known at the French Court as _à la
Lorraine_, and was adopted by Mary, Queen of Scots, for her habitual
use. At the other sat her lovely young daughter Renée, the coveted
bride of many of the Princes who were present that day, while on the
opposite seat was the Princess of Macedonia, an august white-haired
lady, with the chiselled features of the proud Greek race to which she
belonged. The Queen-mother, Catherine de' Medici, stood at a window of
the Archbishop's palace to watch the entry of the Lorraine Princes, and
as she saw the Duchess alight, she exclaimed: "That is the finest woman
I know!" Then, descending the grand staircase, she advanced to meet
Christina with a stately courtesy, and thanked her for the honour she
was doing her son.

    "Herself a very proud woman," writes Brantôme, "she knew that
    she had her match in the Duchess, and always treated her with
    the highest honour and distinction, without ever yielding one
    jot of her own claims."[595]

The Duke of Lorraine bore the sword of state at the great ceremony on
the morrow, while Francis of Guise held the crown on the boy-King's
head, and his brother, the Cardinal, anointed his brow with the holy
chrism. "Everything," as Charles IX. wrote to the Bishop of Limoges,
"passed off to the great satisfaction of everyone present;"[596] and
when all was over, Madame de Lorraine and her children accompanied
the King and his mother to a country-house belonging to the Cardinal
in the neighbourhood, and enjoyed a week's repose in delicious spring
weather. Then the Court went on to St. Germain, where the Queen of
Scots came to take leave of her husband's family, and with many tears
bade farewell to the pleasant land of France, which she had loved all
too well for her own happiness.


III.

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1561] DEATH OF DOROTHEA]

On the death of Christian II. of Denmark, his elder daughter, Dorothea,
the widowed Electress Palatine, assumed the royal style and title. But
as she was childless herself, and lived in retirement at Neuburg, in
the Upper Palatinate, the faithful subjects who still clung to their
rightful monarch's cause turned to Christina, the Duchess-Dowager of
Lorraine, and begged her to assert her son's claims to the throne,
saying that they regarded him as their future King. Chief among these
was Peder Oxe, an able public servant who had been exiled by Christian
III., and came to visit the Duchess in the convent of La Cambre at
Brussels in 1559, soon after the captive monarch's death. Peder tried
to enlist her sympathies on behalf of her father's old subjects, and
assured her that the recovery of Denmark would be an easy matter,
owing to the unpopularity of the new King, Frederic III. At first
Christina lent a willing ear to these proposals, but her friend Count
d'Aremberg succeeded in convincing her of the futility of such an
enterprise, while both Philip and Granvelle firmly refused to support
the scheme.[597] Peder Oxe, however, followed Christina to Nancy, where
he became a member of the Ducal Council, and did good service in
restoring order in the finances.

Other Danish exiles sought refuge at the Court of Lorraine, where
their presence naturally revived Christina's dreams of recovering her
father's throne. All manner of rumours were abroad. In March, 1561,
Chaloner heard that the French King and the Duke of Lorraine were about
to invade Denmark. Three months later Mary, Queen of Scots' faithful
servant, Melville, wrote from Heidelberg that the Duchess-Dowager
of Lorraine had come there to persuade her sister, the old Countess
Palatine, to surrender her rights on Denmark to her nephew, the Duke of
Lorraine. Christina spent some time with her sister, and was joined in
September by the Duke, who came to escort her home.[598] The Palatine
Frederic's successor, Otto Heinrich, had died in 1559, and his cousin,
the reigning Elector, Frederic of Zimmern, the brother of the Countess
Egmont and her sister Helene, was deeply attached to Dorothea, and,
like his predecessor, professed the Lutheran faith. A year after
Christina's visit Dorothea died suddenly at Neuburg, and was buried
by her husband's side in the Church of the Holy Ghost at Heidelberg.
The Palatine Frederic erected a fine monument over her grave, with the
following inscription:

    "To the most noble Lady, Dorothea, Countess Palatine, and Queen
    of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, the beloved consort of the
    Elector Frederic II., this tomb was raised by Frederic III.,
    by the grace of God Elector Palatine, in the year 1562, as a
    token of love and gratitude to this his most dear and excellent
    kinswoman."

Dorothea's tomb was destroyed with that of her husband and many others
when Louis XIV.'s armies sacked and burnt Heidelberg in 1693, but an
English traveller who visited the castle and Church of the Holy Ghost
thirty years before, preserved this inscription in his diary.[599]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1563] DUKE OF GUISE'S MURDER]

Christina came to Heidelberg with her son and both her daughters in the
autumn of the year 1562, and was present at Frankfurt on the 24th of
November, when her cousin Maximilian was crowned King of the Romans. On
this occasion the Emperor Ferdinand collected as many of the imperial
family as possible around him. The Dukes and Duchesses of Bavaria and
Cleves were present, as well as most of the Electors and Princes of
the Empire; while Ibrahim Bey, the Sultan's Ambassador, brought camels
and rugs and Persian jars as gifts from his master. Among the old
friends whom the Duchess met at Frankfurt were the Prince of Orange,
Counts Egmont and Jacques d'Aremberg. They greeted her with renewed
friendliness, and from their lips she heard how badly things were going
in the Low Countries, and how unpopular the Regent and her Minister,
the newly-created Cardinal de Granvelle, had become with all classes
of people.[600] The Emperor and all his family returned to Heidelberg
after the coronation, and were splendidly entertained by the Palatine,
who was anxious to arrange a marriage between one of his sons and
Mademoiselle de Lorraine. But Frederic's strong Lutheran tenets were a
serious obstacle to this plan. At the recent coronation he had refused
to attend Mass, and had remained in the vestry of the cathedral until
the service was over.

Meanwhile religious strife was raging in France, and Christina returned
to Nancy to find that civil war had broken out. Earlier in the year
the massacre of a peaceable congregation at Wassy, near Joinville,
had excited the fury of the Huguenots, and a fierce struggle was
being waged on the frontiers of Lorraine. The Duke's own kindred were
divided. Condé was the leader of the revolted party, while his brother
Antoine, King of Navarre--l'Échangeur, as he was called, because he
was said to change his religion as often as he did his coat--was
mortally wounded, fighting on the King's side, in the siege of Rouen.
A month later the Constable de Montmorency was made prisoner in the
Battle of Dreux, by his own nephew Coligny. On the 21st of February,
1563, Christina and her son were attending the baptism of the Duke
of Aumale's son Claude, when a messenger arrived with the news that
the Duke of Guise had been stabbed by a Huguenot fanatic in the camp
before Orleans. After a public funeral in Notre Dame, the remains of
Antoinette's most illustrious son were buried at Joinville, amid the
lamentations of the whole nation.[601]

Fortunately, the duchy of Lorraine escaped the horrors of civil
war. On the 18th of May, 1562, Charles made his long-deferred state
entry into Nancy, and took a solemn vow to observe the rights of his
subjects before he received the ducal crown. But he still consulted
his mother in all important matters, and treated her with the utmost
respect and affection.[602] His own time and thoughts were chiefly
occupied in enlarging and beautifying the ducal palace. He extended the
Galerie des Cerfs, and built a fine hall, adorned with frescoes of the
Metamorphoses of Ovid, a translation of which had been dedicated to his
grandfather, Duke Antoine, by the poet Clement Marot. At the same time
he rebuilt the old Salle du Jeu de Paume on the model of one at the
Louvre, and made a picture-gallery above this new hall, which he hung
with portraits of the ducal family.[603]

Christina also devoted much attention to the improvement of her
estates. She rebuilt the salt-works at Les Rosières, which had been
abandoned in the last century, and placed an inscription on the gates,
recording that in February, 1563, these salt-works were erected by

    "Christina, by the grace of God Queen of Denmark, Sweden,
    and Norway, Sovereign of the Goths, Vandals, and Slavonians,
    Duchess of Schleswig, Dittmarsch, Lorraine, Bar, and Milan,
    Countess of Oldenburg and Blamont, and Lady of Tortona."[604]

[Sidenote: NOV., 1563] BIRTH OF A GRANDSON]

Several indications of the active part that she took in affairs
of State appear in contemporary records. In 1564, with the Pope's
sanction, she concluded an agreement with the Bishop of Toul, by which
he made over his temporalities to the Duke of Lorraine. Christina, as
she explained to Granvelle, had taken this step to avoid the see from
becoming the property of France; but her action roused the indignation
of her uncle, the Emperor Ferdinand, who rebuked his good niece sharply
for venturing to meddle with the affairs of the Imperial Chamber.[605]

[Illustration:

    _Grand Duc le Prince Aisné, des Princes de ta Race,
    Le Lorrein étonné de tés exploits guerriers,
    Ne peut assez trouuer en son cloz de Lauriers,
    Pour ombrager ton front, tes Temples, et ta face._

_Thomas de leu Fe: et excud_:

CHARLES III., DUKE OF LORRAINE

_To face p. 472_]

On the 8th of November, 1563, the Duchess Claude gave birth to her
first child, a boy which was named Henry, after her father, the late
King of France. Both Charles IX. and Philip II. consented to stand
godfathers, and the French King announced his intention of attending
the child's christening in person. His visit, however, was put off, as
the young Duchess fell seriously ill of smallpox, and was eventually
fixed to take place at Bar after Easter. There was even a rumour that
King Philip, whose presence in the Low Countries was earnestly desired,
would visit Lorraine on his journey, and meet the French monarch on
the 1st of May. The prospect of seeing Catherine and her son with an
armed force in Lorraine filled Christina with alarm. The Queen-mother,
as she knew, was very jealous of the Duchess-Dowager's influence with
her son, and neglected no means of placing French subjects in positions
of authority at the Ducal Court;[606] while her recent intrigues with
the Huguenot leaders might lead to the introduction of Protestant rites
at the ceremony. Before the date fixed for the christening, however,
Christina received an unexpected visitor in the person of Cardinal
Granvelle, who had been compelled to bow to the storm and leave the
Netherlands. In a private note which he sent to Granvelle on the 1st of
March, 1564, Philip had desired the Cardinal to retire to Besançon on
plea of paying a visit to his mother, whom he had not seen for nineteen
years. The desired permission was readily granted by the Regent, and,
to the great satisfaction of the nobles, the hated Minister left
Brussels on the 13th of March. "Our man is really going," wrote William
of Orange to his brother Louis. "God grant he may go so far that he can
never return!"[607]

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1564] GRANVELLE AT NANCY]

The Cardinal had by this time recognized his fatal mistake in
persuading the King to appoint the Duchess of Parma Regent instead
of Madame de Lorraine, "by which action," as he himself wrote, "I
made the Prince of Orange my enemy."[608] He was the more anxious
to recover Christina's good graces, while she on her part does not
appear to have borne him any grudge for his share in the transaction.
His way led him through Lorraine, and when he reached Pont-à-Mousson
he found a messenger from the Duchess begging him to come and see
her at Nancy. On his arrival he was received by the Duke's _maître
d'hôtel_, and conducted to lodgings in the palace. This "very fine
house," and the hospitality with which he and his companions were
entertained, gratified the Cardinal, and after supper he was received
by the Duchess-Dowager, with whom he had a long interview in the Grande
Galerie.[609] They conversed freely of the troubles in the Netherlands.
Christina was anxious to justify herself from the charge of fomenting
these dissensions, and declared that she had nothing to say against
the Duchess of Parma, and only complained of her refusal to allow a
Mass for her father, King Christian II., to be said in the Court chapel
on the anniversary of his death. But she had many complaints to make
of the King, who had only written to her five times in the last five
years, and who insisted on keeping her Castle of Tortona in his own
hands, and employed the revenues of the town to pay the garrison,
without giving her any compensation. Granvelle could only allege the
unsettled state of Lombardy and the disorder of Milanese finances as
excuses for Philip's behaviour. The Duchess further confided to him
her fears regarding the French King's visit, and the intrigues of
Catherine, who was always endeavouring to destroy the harmony that
prevailed between herself and her daughter-in-law. Granvelle did his
best to allay these alarms, and assured her that the rumours as to the
large force that was to accompany him to Lorraine were absolutely false.

Another subject on which Christina consulted the Cardinal was her
designs against Denmark. The young King Frederic III. at first
professed great friendship for her, and opened negotiations for his
marriage with her daughter Renée--a proposal which she was reluctant to
accept.[610] This idea, however, was soon abandoned, and the outbreak
of war between Denmark and Sweden seemed to afford an opportunity
for advancing her own claims. Peder Oxe and his companion in exile,
Willem von Grümbach, urged her to raise an army and invade Jutland,
assuring her that the discontented Danish nobles were only longing for
an excuse to rise in a body and dethrone the usurper. But Christina
realized that it would be useless to make any attempt without Philip's
support, which she begged Granvelle to obtain. The Cardinal, however,
quite declined to approach the King on the subject, and told the
Duchess that a rupture with Denmark would make him more unpopular
in Flanders than he was already, saying that he had no wish to be
stoned by the Dutch. Before leaving Nancy he discussed the situation
at length with the Duchess's latest friend, Baron de Polweiler, the
Bailiff of Hagenau, a brave and loyal servant of Charles V., who had
warmly espoused Christina's cause and was in correspondence with the
Danish malcontents. The Baron was a wise and practical man, and agreed
with Granvelle that the best course of action would be to keep up the
agitation in Denmark, without taking further measures until the coming
of King Philip, which was now confidently expected.[611]

[Sidenote: MAY, 1564] ILLNESS OF CHRISTINA]

After the Cardinal's departure, Christina fell ill at Denœuvre, and
was unable to accompany the Duke, who came to fetch her, and insisted
on putting off the child's christening until his mother was fit to
travel. At length, on the 2nd of May, the Duchess and her daughters
started for Bar, where the christening was celebrated on the following
day, and Christina held her grandson at the font. There was no display
of armed force, nor was any attempt made to introduce Lutheran rites.
On the contrary, the Queen-mother and all her suite were most amiable,
the greatest good-will prevailed on all sides, and the whole party
spent the next week in feasting, jousting, and dancing, while Ronsard
composed songs in honour of the occasion. On the 9th of May the young
King resumed his progress to Lyons, and the aged Duchess Antoinette,
who had come to Bar at the Cardinal of Lorraine's prayer, returned to
Joinville with her son. Christina's worst alarms had been dispelled,
but her suspicions were to some extent justified by the revival of
the French King's old claims to Bar, and the advance of certain new
pretensions, which were eventually referred to a court of justice in
Paris. What annoyed her scarcely less was the inferior quality of the
ring sent by the King of Spain to Duchess Claude, which excited more
than one unpleasant comment, although Count Mansfeldt, who stood proxy
for Philip, informed her privately that Margaret of Parma had spent
double the sum named by His Majesty on his christening present.[612]


IV.

In July, 1564, Christina fell dangerously ill, and Silliers told
Polweiler that his mistress was suffering from a grave internal
malady. In November she had a severe relapse, and her death was hourly
expected. Her children and servants nursed her with untiring devotion,
and her friends at Brussels were deeply concerned. Anne d'Aerschot,
Margaret d'Aremberg, Egmont, and the Prince of Orange, made frequent
inquiries; and even Queen Mary wrote from Scotland to ask after the
Duchess's health. Philip alone took no notice of her illness, and his
indifference was keenly resented by Christina and her whole family.
"For the love of God," wrote Silliers to Polweiler, "do your best to
see that Madame is consoled, or she will certainly die of grief and
despair." And he poured out a passionate complaint, setting forth his
mistress's wrongs, and saying how, after cheating her out of Vigevano,
the King kept both the castle and revenues of her dower city in his
hands, and allowed her subjects to be exposed to the depredations
of the Spanish garrison. "To my mind," he adds, "this is a strange
proof of the singular affection which he professes to have for my
Lady!"[613] Granvelle himself was much concerned, and, when Polweiler
wrote to report an improvement in the Duchess's condition, expressed
his thankfulness, saying that the loss of such a Princess would be a
heavy blow to the cause of religion, as well as the greatest calamity
that could befall Lorraine. He owned that Madame had been harshly
treated, and could only counsel patience and assure her of Philip's
good-will; but he confessed that the task was a disagreeable one.
When Philip wrote at last, it was merely to exhort the Duchess to be
patient, as the whole world was in travail, and to promise that her
claims should be settled by the Cardinal.[614] Meanwhile fresh appeals
reached Christina every day from her Danish partisans, while King Eric
of Sweden, who had declared war on Denmark, opened negotiations with
her through his French Minister, Charles de Mornay. A marriage between
this young King and Renée was proposed, and Eric offered to support
the Duchess's rights to Denmark if she could obtain the help of the
Emperor and of the Netherlands. Ferdinand, however, quite declined to
countenance any attack on his ally, and begged his dear niece not to
stir up strife in Germany, although he assured her of his paternal love
and readiness to help her in the recovery of her rights by peaceable
methods. A few weeks after writing this letter the good Emperor died,
and, as Christina knew, she could expect little from his successor
Maximilian, who had never forgiven her friendship with Philip in bygone
days, and did not even send her the customary announcement of his
father's death.

[Sidenote: JAN., 1565] DUKE ADOLF'S MARRIAGE]

Another ally whose help the Duchess tried to enlist was the old
Landgrave, Philip of Hesse, whose daughter Christina, after being wooed
for some years by the King of Sweden, was finally married to Duke
Adolf of Holstein on the 20th of January, 1565. As Granvelle remarks,
it was a strange ending to this Prince's long courtship of Madame de
Lorraine, but he probably still hoped to support her cause in Denmark.
And as the Prince of Orange was asked to represent King Philip at the
marriage, Christina would have an opportunity of consulting him about
her Danish expedition.[615] But the Prince refused to leave Flanders,
and a serious relapse prevented the Duchess from attending the wedding.
As soon as she had recovered sufficiently, Christina dictated a letter
to her beloved sister Anne, who was still her most faithful friend:

    "Your letter was most welcome, as I had not heard from you
    lately, and I thank you warmly for all that you say. I am
    getting better, but am not very strong yet. As to the Swedish
    business, I am anxious to know the name of the person whom you
    mention as having the greatest affection for me and mine, and
    who might help me with the King. And as I know that you only
    desire my good, I beg you to keep your eyes open, and tell me
    who are my best friends at Court. I quite agree with you that
    it is useless to fish in troubled waters. Monsieur d'Egmont's
    journey to Spain is a surprising event! The cause is unknown
    to me, but it must be some matter of importance. Thank you
    again with all my heart for the love that is expressed in your
    letters."[616]

The friends to whose influence at Court Anne had referred were the
Count and Countess of Aremberg, who stood high in favour with the King
and the Regent, and were in constant correspondence with Christina.

    "Would to God," wrote Margaret of Aremberg, "that Madame de
    Lorraine could obtain the King's favour! She would then be
    easily able to regain her own, as the Danes hate their King,
    and he has no power over them. But I confess I have lost all
    hopes of this ever coming to pass."[617]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1565] JOURNEY TO BRUSSELS]

By the advice of these friends, the Duchess now decided to send Baron
de Polweiler to Spain to beg the King for the 300,000 crowns due to
her, in order that she might avail herself of the opportunity presented
by the war between Sweden and Denmark, and open the campaign in the
summer. Upon this Granvelle felt it his duty to inform his master of
the Duchess's plans, which might, he thought, be successful if the
King could help her with subsidies, since she had several allies in
Germany.[618] Duke Eric of Brunswick offered to raise an army and take
the command of the expedition, and the Landgrave of Hesse promised
to help on condition that she gave her daughter Renée in marriage
to one of his sons; while, by way of removing Philip's objections,
the Cardinal dwelt on the advantages of restoring the true faith in
these Northern kingdoms. But this plan was frustrated by the Archduke
Ferdinand's refusal to give Polweiler leave of absence, and as
Silliers, who offered to go in his stead, would only have made matters
worse, Christina resolved to ask Count Egmont to plead her cause at
Madrid. Even Granvelle, who had no love for the Count, approved of this
plan. Egmont was known to be devoted to the Duchess, and his great
popularity in the Low Countries would go far to remove the objections
to a breach with Denmark in those provinces. Unfortunately, in spite
of his good-will, Egmont effected no more for Christina than he did
for the liberties of the Netherlands. He was royally entertained by
Philip and his courtiers, and loaded with presents and flatteries, but,
when he came to business, received nothing but vague words and empty
promises.

On his return to Flanders in April, his house was crowded with
visitors, and the Duchess, finding that she could obtain no answer to
her letters, determined to go to Brussels herself. In June she set out
on her journey, saying that she was going to kiss the Holy Coat at
Treves and pay her devotions to the Blessed Sacrament of the Miracle at
Brussels, in fulfilment of a vow made when she had been at the point of
death.[619] Her pilgrimage excited great curiosity, and even Polweiler
was in the dark as to its object, but felt convinced that she meant to
see Egmont and Eric of Brunswick, and that they would soon hear of a
sudden call to arms.

    "I hear from a trustworthy source," wrote the Landgrave to
    Louis of Nassau, "that the old Duchess of Lorraine is going to
    Brussels with both her daughters. She has raised 400,000 crowns
    at Antwerp to make war on Denmark, and is to be helped by the
    Netherlands with ships, money, and men. Her daughter Renée is
    to marry King Eric, and a close alliance against the Danish
    King is to be formed between Sweden, Lorraine, the States,
    and the Holy Empire. Although I do not hold popular rumours
    to be as infallible as Holy Gospel, I count them more worthy
    of belief than Æsop's fables or the tales of Amadis de Gaul.
    Of one thing I am quite sure: The Duchess does not travel to
    Flanders or send an Ambassador to Sweden to roast pears or
    dance a galliard. The latest report is that the Duchess is
    going to sell her claims on Denmark to the King of Spain, but
    I can hardly think His Majesty will be anxious to buy these
    barren rights which bring a war in their train. Do not take
    my gossip unkindly, but let me know what you hear of this
    business."[620]

A cloud of mystery surrounds this visit which Christina paid to
Brussels in the summer of 1565. She declined the Regent's invitation
to occupy her old quarters in the palace, but stayed in the religious
house known as the Cloister of Jericho, and afterwards with the Duchess
of Aerschot at Diest. She received visits from Duke Eric, who professed
himself ready to raise troops to serve her at the shortest notice, and
also from Count Egmont. But all that she could learn from this noble
was that, when he urged her claims on the King, and begged him to see
that the arrears due to her were paid, Philip replied that Her Highness
was the wisest and most virtuous of women, and would always take the
best course possible.[621] By August Christina was back in Lorraine,
and attended the christening of Nicholas de Vaudemont's new-born
daughter, who received the name of Christina.[622]

[Sidenote: FEB., 1566] INTRIGUES WITH SWEDEN]

Whatever others may have felt about the Duchess's designs on Denmark,
the King of Sweden was evidently in earnest. Four Ambassadors arrived
at Nancy on All Saints' Day, 1565, and went on to Denœuvre. They
brought offers from Eric to conquer Norway and Denmark in the Duchess's
name and leave her in possession of the latter kingdom, and asked for
Madame Renée's hand, in order to confirm the alliance between Lorraine
and Sweden. During a whole year the Swedish Envoys remained at Nancy,
and prolonged conferences were held between them and the Duke and his
mother. A new ally also came to her help in the person of the Czar
of Muscovy, who was profuse in his offers of assistance. Christina's
hopes rose high, and a medal was struck in 1566, bearing her effigy as
Queen of Denmark, with the motto: _Me sine cuncta ruunt_ (Without me
all things perish).[623] But one ally after the other failed her. Both
the Emperor Maximilian and the Elector of Saxony, who had married a
Princess of Denmark, were strongly opposed to her schemes; while the
ancient feud between the Danes and Swedes, who, in Silliers's words,
"hated each other as much as cats and dogs or English and French,"
helped to complicate matters.[624] At the same time, she felt reluctant
to give her daughter to a man of Eric's unstable character, who had
been courting Queen Elizabeth and Christina of Hesse at the same time,
and was known to have a low-born mistress. She had good reason to be
afraid that the story of King Christian and Dyveke might be repeated,
and her fears were justified when, a year later, the King of Sweden
raised this favourite to the throne, and was soon afterwards deposed by
his subjects. The defection of Peder Oxe, who made his peace with the
King of Denmark and returned to Copenhagen at the close of 1566, was
another blow, and the ultimate defeat of the Swedes in the following
year extinguished her last hopes.[625] Cardinal Granvelle, who had been
sent to Italy by Philip to keep him away from the Netherlands, wrote
that the Viceroy, with the best will in the world, found it impossible
to pay the arrears due to the Duchess, and could not withdraw the
garrison at Tortona without the King's leave. As for the Danish
expedition, Granvelle told Polweiler that it was more hopeless than
ever, and he could only advise Her Highness to abandon the idea.[626]

    "Madame de Lorraine," replied the Baron, "is in great
    perplexity, abandoned by all her relatives, and, like Tantalus,
    is left to die of thirst, looking down on a clear and beautiful
    stream."

[Sidenote: MARCH, 1567] LES GUEUX]

But a few faithful friends were still left. In May, 1566, the Duchess
of Aerschot came to Lorraine with her young son, and spent the summer
in her old home. The troubles in the Netherlands filled her with the
utmost anxiety, and her family, like many others, was divided. All her
own sympathies were with William of Orange and Egmont in the struggle
for freedom, but her stepson, Philip of Aerschot, and her cousin, Count
d'Aremberg, were among the few nobles who refused to join the League,
and stood fast by the Regent. Margaret of Parma looked coldly on her,
owing to Anne's connection with Christina and the Prince of Orange, and
did not even send her an invitation to her son Alexander's wedding.
With her wonted good sense, Anne refused to notice this affront, and
told her friends that she was too unwell to attend the festivities,
which excited much discontent by their profuse extravagance.[627] But
the situation was painful, and she was glad to retire to Lorraine
and enjoy the company of Christina and her venerable aunt, Duchess
Antoinette. Together they read the affectionate letters which Mary
Stuart wrote from her Northern home, and sighed over the perils
surrounding the young Queen. In spite of her relatives' advice, she had
married Darnley, the handsome Scottish boy whom her uncle the Cardinal
of Lorraine termed "that great nincompoop of a girl," and was already
learning to her cost the mistake that she had made.

Terrible news now came from Flanders. Riots broke out in Antwerp and
Ghent, and spread rapidly through the provinces. The great church
of St. John was plundered, Hubert van Eyck's famous Adoration was
only saved by the presence of mind of the Canons, and the tomb of
Christina's mother, Queen Isabella, was hacked to pieces.[628] In
Brussels S. Gudule was stripped of its pictures and statues, and the
cry of "Vivent les Gueux!" rang through the courts of Charles V.'s
palace. The Regent tried in vain to escape, and was forced to turn for
help to the Prince of Orange and her most bitter enemies. Anne returned
home to find public affairs in dire confusion, and retired to her
dower-house at Diest. After her departure Christina became seriously
ill, and in the spring of 1567 her daughters entreated the Countess
of Aremberg to come to Lorraine, saying that her presence would be
the best medicine for their mother. Margaret obeyed the summons and
spent three months at Nancy and Denœuvre.[629] On her return she told
Granvelle's friend, Provost Morillon, that the King made a great
mistake in being so unfriendly to the House of Lorraine, and that if
Madame died the Duke would become altogether French, and his duchy
might at any moment fall into the hands of France. Charles was Catholic
to his finger-tips, and entirely devoted to his mother, but after her
death no one could tell what might happen.[630] These representations
were not without effect. Philip wrote in a more kindly strain to the
Duchess, and sent one of his Chamberlains--Don Luis de Mendoza--to wait
upon her at Nancy, and remain in Lorraine until the arrival of the Duke
of Alva, who was now despatched from Spain to replace Margaret of Parma
as Captain-General of the Netherlands. In July he crossed the Mont
Cenis, and marched through Lorraine at the head of a force of picked
Spanish and Italian soldiers. Brantôme rushed to Nancy to see this
"gentle and gallant army," with their fine new muskets and pikes, but
the sight filled many of the spectators with profound misgivings.[631]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1568] DEATH OF EGMONT]

The Prince of Orange had already resigned all his offices and retired
to Germany, but Egmont and his friend Count Horn were caught in the
fatal snare, and were both arrested at a banquet in Alva's house on
the evening of the 9th of September. The news filled Europe with
consternation. In her distress Christina wrote several letters to the
King of Spain, pleading passionately for the Count's release, and
recalling his great deeds and the devotion which he had always shown
to the King's service.[632] Her appeals were seconded by the Duke and
his wife, by Vaudemont,--Egmont's own brother-in-law--by the Duke and
Duchess of Bavaria, the Elector Palatine, and all the Princes of the
Empire. Maximilian himself addressed two autograph letters to Philip,
praying for the Count's release, and the Knights of the Golden Fleece
protested against this violation of the rules of their Order. But
all was in vain. Philip vouchsafed no answer to any of these appeals,
saying he would not change his mind if the sky were to fall on his
head,[633] and on the 6th of June, 1568, the Grande Place witnessed
the execution of the hero of Gravelines. A fortnight before this
shocking event, Anne, Duchess of Aerschot, breathed her last at Diest,
thankful to escape from a world so full of misery, and only grieving
to think that her vast dower and fine estates would not pass to their
rightful owner, William of Orange.[634] In the same month of May the
first battle was fought between the revolted nobles and the Spanish
forces, and Margaret of Aremberg's husband fell fighting valiantly
in the mêlée. Meanwhile civil war had broken out again in France,
and in November, 1567, the Constable Montmorency, the old Nestor of
France, was killed in a battle at St. Denis, fighting against the
Huguenots, with Condé and his own nephew Coligny at their head. Old
friends were falling on every side, and before Christina's tears for
her sister-in-law were dried, she and the aged Duchess of Guise were
mourning the sad fate of Antoinette's luckless granddaughter, the Queen
of Scots, who had been compelled to abdicate her throne, and was now a
captive in the hands of her rival, Queen Elizabeth.


V.

While civil war was raging all round, and Christina's best friends
were dying on the scaffold or the battle-field, the marriage of her
daughter Renée brought a ray of light into her life. The tale of
Renée's courtships almost rivals that of her mother's. The Kings of
Sweden and Denmark, William of Orange and Henri de Joinville, were only
a few among the candidates who sought her hand. Granvelle once proposed
the Duke of Urbino as a suitable match, and Philip was anxious to marry
her to his handsome and popular half-brother, Don John of Austria. But
the Duchess declined this offer repeatedly, saying that no child of
hers should ever wed a bastard. When in the summer of 1567, Don Luis
de Mendoza again urged this suit on the King's behalf, the Duchess
informed him that her daughter's hand was already promised to Duke
William of Bavaria, the eldest son of the reigning Duke Albert and his
wife, the Archduchess Anna. The contract was signed in September, and
the marriage took place early in the following year,[635] and turned
out very happily. Throughout his life the Bavarian Duke maintained
worthily the strong Catholic traditions of his house, and proved a
dutiful and affectionate son-in-law. Christina spent the following
winter at the Castle of Friedberg in Bavaria, where she was once more
dangerously ill, and Silliers as usual complained bitterly of Philip's
neglect and unkindness in never making inquiries after her health.
But, in spite of all rebuffs, neither the Baron nor his mistress had
abandoned their dreams of conquering Denmark, and in April, 1569,
Cardinal Granvelle wrote to the King from Rome:

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1572] DEATH OF SILLIERS]

    "Madame de Lorraine is still trying to recover her father's
    kingdom, and both she and her Councillor, Silliers, are
    continually begging me for help in this matter. In vain I have
    replied for the hundredth time that I am too far from Madrid
    and the Low Countries to know if the affair is practicable,
    and have pointed out that, in the first place, the Dutch will
    never break with Denmark; secondly, that the Emperor would
    object to any attempt of this kind; and, thirdly, that Your
    Majesty's hands are full. In fact, I have told her that I
    cannot see any solid foundations for her hopes. But she returns
    to the charge again and again."[636]

It was the last flicker of an expiring flame. After this, even
Christina seems to have recognized the futility of her schemes, and the
death of Silliers finally decided her to abandon them altogether. This
"vain, insupportable, and foolish man," as the Cardinal called him,
and whom her son, the Duke, also detested cordially, lost his life in
Bavaria, in September, 1572, being killed by a shot from a crossbow,
which was said to be accidental, but which Granvelle and his other
enemies ascribed to a paid assassin.[637] During the last twenty years,
it must be owned, Silliers had been the Duchess's evil genius; but, in
spite of all his faults, he was sincerely attached to his mistress, and
his devotion to her interests cannot be questioned.

Christina spent the next six years chiefly at Nancy or Denœuvre, in the
company of her children and grandchildren. The Duke had a large family
of three sons and six daughters, the eldest of whom, Christina, bore
a strong likeness to her grandmother both in face and character. This
Princess and her cousin Louise de Vaudemont, the daughter of Nicholas
by his first wife, Margaret of Egmont, were great favourites with the
Duchess-mother, and spent much time in her society. Louise was a fair
and gentle maiden, whose charms captivated Henry, Duke of Anjou, when
he came to Lorraine in 1573, on his way to take possession of the
throne of Poland. He was accompanied by his mother, Queen Catherine,
who spent a week at Nancy, and after her son's departure remained some
days at Blamont with Christina. When, two years later, Henry succeeded
his brother, Charles IX., the new King's first thought was to make
the Princess of Lorraine his wife. Christina was too ill to leave her
bed, but Duchess Antoinette, still young in spite of her eighty years,
brought the bride to Reims, where the wedding was celebrated two days
after Henry III.'s coronation. The Duke and his sister Dorothea were
present at the ceremony, as well as all the Guise Princes.[638] Five
days afterwards, on the 20th of February, 1575, the Duchess Claude,
whose health had long been failing, and who had lately given birth to
twin daughters, died in the ducal palace, at the age of twenty-eight,
leaving the Duke an inconsolable widower. He was only thirty-two,
and although he lived till 1608, never married again. Soon after
Claude's death, her eldest daughter, Christina, went to live with her
grandmother, Catherine de' Medici, at the French Court. This masterful
lady, who quarrelled with her own daughter Margaret, was very fond of
Christina, and kept this young Princess constantly at her side during
the next fourteen years.

[Sidenote: DEC., 1575] MARRIAGE OF DOROTHEA]

In the following December, Elizabeth of Austria, the widow of Charles
IX., and daughter of the Emperor Maximilian II., visited Nancy on
her way back to Vienna, and was escorted on her journey by Renée and
her husband, the Duke of Bavaria. They were all three present at the
wedding of the Princess Dorothea, who was married in the Church of
St. Georges, on the 26th of December, to Duke Eric of Brunswick.[639]
This wild and restless Prince had always been on friendly terms with
Christina and her family, and was one of King Philip's favourite
captains and a Knight of the Golden Fleece. He had lately lost
his first wife, and succeeded his father in the principalities of
Göttingen and Calenberg, although his roving tastes made him prefer
foreign service to residence on his own estates. Now, at the age of
forty-seven, he became the husband of Christina's younger daughter.
In spite of her lameness, this Princess inherited much of her aunt
Dorothea's charm and gaiety, and was fondly beloved by her brother
and all his children. She took especial interest in the improvements
which the Duke was never tired of making at Nancy, and helped him in
laying out the beautiful terraced gardens, adorned with fountains and
orangeries, in the precincts of the ducal palace. And the bell in the
new clock-tower, which the Duke built in 1577, was named Dorothea,
after the Duchess of Brunswick.[640] Charles himself, like his father,
was a Prince of cultured tastes, who studied the Latin and Italian
poets and took delight in Ronsard's verses. The foundation of the
University at Pont-à-Mousson bore witness to his love of learning,
while he employed scholars to collect precious books and manuscripts,
and sent his gardeners to inspect the royal palaces at Fontainebleau
and St. Germain, and to bring back rare plants and exotics.[641]

In these last years of Christina's life at Nancy, new hopes and
interests were suddenly brought into her life by Don John of Austria's
arrival in the Low Countries. When terrorism and massacre had failed
to crush the revolted provinces, the hero of Lepanto was appointed
Governor, in the hope that he might succeed in restoring order, by
appealing to his illustrious father's memory and ruling the Netherlands
according to his example. In October, 1576, Don John travelled through
France in the disguise of a Moorish servant, and, after spending one
night in Paris, came to Joinville to consult the Duke of Guise on a
romantic scheme which he had formed to release and marry the captive
Queen of Scots. Then he hurried on to Luxembourg and proclaimed his
intention of withdrawing the Spanish troops and granting a general
amnesty. The coming of this chivalrous Prince, with his message of
peace, filled the people of the Netherlands with new hope. Don John was
received with open arms by the Duke of Aerschot and his half-brother,
Anne of Lorraine's son, Charles de Croy, Marquis of Havré. His first
act was to restore the lands and fortune of the late Count Egmont to
his widow, the Countess Palatine Sabina, and her innocent children.
This rejoiced the heart of Madame d'Aremberg, who had been spending the
winter at Nancy with the Duchess, and Christina's nephew, Charles de
Croy, told Don John frankly that the Low Countries would gladly have
him, not only for their Governor, but for their King. Christina herself
was deeply stirred, and sent a member of her household to Luxembourg
with a letter welcoming the Prince in the warmest terms, and thanking
him for the cheering news which he had sent her.

[Sidenote: NOV., 1576] DON JOHN OF AUSTRIA]

    "I can only praise God," she wrote, "for your appointment to
    the government of the Low Countries, and trust that the same
    success that, thanks to your great valour and prudence, has
    everywhere attended you will continue to crown your efforts.

                                    "Your very loving and more than
                                      very affectionate cousin,
                                                    "CHRÉTIENNE.

  "Blamont, November 12, 1576."[642]


In her anxiety to see Don John, the Duchess set out for Pont-à-Mousson;
but when she reached Nancy, on the 12th of December, she heard that the
Prince had already left Luxembourg for the Netherlands, and sent him
the following letter by a confidential servant, who was to tell him
many things which she could not commit to paper:

  "MY COUSIN,

    "The singular wish that I have to see Your Highness, and confer
    with you on many points of the highest importance, induced
    me to leave Blamont and come to Pont-à-Mousson, in order to
    be near you and to have an opportunity of seeing you and
    conversing together, as you will learn more fully from this
    gentleman whom I am sending to wish you all prosperity and
    success in your noble designs and enterprises, as well as to
    tell you many things which I beg you to hear and believe."[643]

Don John replied in the same friendly spirit, telling her his plans and
thanking her most warmly for her advice.

    "As for me," he wrote, "I am exceedingly obliged to Your
    Highness for your offers, and shall always be most grateful for
    your advice and help, knowing, Madame, your great experience
    and wisdom in affairs. God knows how anxious I was to come and
    see Your Highness on my journey here, and kiss your hands, but
    it was impossible owing to the urgency of affairs requiring my
    presence here. I am very glad indeed," he adds in a postscript,
    "to hear that you are in good health."[644]

The Prince was evidently impressed by the soundness of the Duchess's
judgment and by her great popularity in the Netherlands, for when, a
few weeks later, he began to realize the hopeless nature of his task,
and begged for his recall, he repeatedly told Philip that, in his
opinion, the Duchess of Lorraine would be the best person to take his
place.

    "The Duchess of Lorraine," he wrote on February 16, 1577,
    "has all the qualities necessary for the government of these
    provinces, which she would administer far better than I can,
    because they are beginning to hate me, and I know that I hate
    them."

Again, a little later:

    "I find in Madame de Lorraine a real desire to serve Your
    Majesty. She has come to Pont-à-Mousson to see if she can be of
    help to me, and I am sure would gladly execute any orders that
    she may receive."

[Sidenote: OCT., 1578] DEATH OF DON JOHN]

Christina heard with delight of Don John's joyous entry into Brussels
on May Day, and received with deep thankfulness his letter informing
her of the departure of the hated Spanish troops. But these high hopes
were doomed to disappointment. The war soon broke out again, and after
Don John's victory of Gembloux in January, 1578, Madame de Lorraine was
one of the first persons to whom he announced the news by letter.[645]
Both of the Duchess's sons-in-law joined in supporting Don John, and in
May, 1578, the Duke of Brunswick brought a force of 3,000 Germans to
join him at Namur. Dorothea accompanied her husband, and was about to
pay the Prince a visit, when she received a message from her brother
Charles, informing her of their mother's serious illness, and left
hastily for Nancy.[646]

Five months afterwards a premature death closed the brilliant
adventurer's career, and Christina was left to grieve over the tragic
end of this Prince, of whom so much had been expected.

FOOTNOTES:

[572] Venetian Calendar, vi. 1533.

[573] T. Juste, "Philippe II.," 209; Gachard, "Correspondance de
Guillaume d'Orange," i. 431; Granvelle, v. 628.

[574] T. Juste, 206; Venetian Calendar, vii. 83.

[575] Venetian Calendar, vii. 83.

[576] Venetian Calendar, vii. 83.

[577] Granvelle, v. 625-627.

[578] Venetian Calendar, vii. 112.

[579] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, i. 82.

[580] Sébastien de l'Aubespine, "Négociations au Règne de François
II.," 43, 66.

[581] Venetian Calendar, vii. 119, 121; Gachard, iv. 72.

[582] Kervyn de Lettenhove, i. 583.

[583] Groen, i. 49; Kervyn de Lettenhove, ii. 8; Venetian Calendar,
vii. 112.

[584] Groen, i. 35; Granvelle, v. 652.

[585] Granvelle, v. 672, vi. 29.

[586] Groen, i. 49, 52; "Correspondence de Granvelle," iii. 529.

[587] Calmet, ii. 1552; Pfister, ii. 246; Calendar of State Papers,
Elizabeth, i. 562.

[588] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, Foreign, ii. 55.

[589] A. de Ruble, 308; Bibliothèque Nationale, 123, 4, f. 40.

[590] Calmet, ii. 1353; Pfister, ii. 246.

[591] Venetian Calendar, vii. 163; Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth,
Foreign, iii. 224.

[592] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, Foreign, iv. 91; Venetian
Calendar, vii. 290.

[593] A. de Ruble, 210; Brantôme, xii. 116; Aubespine, 752.

[594] Aubespine, 80-84; Bouillé, ii. 74; Venetian Calendar, vii. 290.

[595] Brantôme, xii. 117.

[596] Aubespine, 867.

[597] Schlegel, 253; Granvelle, vi. 1.

[598] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, Foreign, ii. 458, iii. 328.

[599] A. Churchill, "Collection of Voyages and Travels," vi. 458.

[600] Calendar of State Papers, Elizabeth, Foreign, v. 554; Granvelle,
vi. 683.

[601] Pimodan, 215.

[602] Granvelle, vii. 488.

[603] Pfister, ii. 184; H. Lepage, "Le Palais Ducal de Nancy," 3.

[604] Calmet, iii. 30.

[605] Granvelle, vii. 344; Calmet, iii. 434, 438.

[606] Granvelle, vii. 488.

[607] Gachard, "Correspondance de Guillaume, Prince d'Orange," ii. 67;
Groen, i. 214.

[608] "Mémoires de Granvelle," xxxv. 19.

[609] Granvelle, vii. 437-440.

[610] Schäfer, v. 111, 112.

[611] Granvelle, vii. 533, 671, viii. 522.

[612] Calmet, iii. 1359; Granvelle, viii. 46.

[613] Granvelle, viii. 345.

[614] _Ibid_., viii. 472.

[615] Granvelle, viii. 609.

[616] _Ibid._, viii. 637.

[617] Granvelle, viii. 637.

[618] Granvelle, ix. 22, 28; Schäfer, v. 114.

[619] Granvelle, ix. 373.

[620] Groen, i. 408.

[621] Granvelle, ix. 498.

[622] _Ibid_., ix. 496.

[623] Schäfer, v. 116-118; Calmet, ii. 26.

[624] Granvelle, ix. 661-664; Groen, i. 303.

[625] Schäfer, v. 167.

[626] Granvelle, "Correspondance," i. 126, 178.

[627] _Ibid._, i. 43, 524.

[628] Granvelle, "Correspondance," i. 444.

[629] _Ibid._, i. 494.

[630] Granvelle, "Correspondance," ii. 494.

[631] Brantôme, i. 104.

[632] Gachard, "Correspondance de Philippe II.," i. 18.

[633] Gachard, "Correspondance de Philippe II.," i. 588, 738, 762.

[634] Granvelle, "Correspondance," iii. 235.

[635] Calmet, i. 265.

[636] Granvelle, "Correspondance," iii. 463.

[637] _Ibid._, v. 418.

[638] Pimodan, 254.

[639] Calmet, i. 265; Pfister, ii. 256.

[640] Pfister, ii. 246; H. Lepage, "La Ville de Nancy," 63, "Palais
Ducal," 3.

[641] Pfister, ii. 496.

[642] Gachard, "Correspondance de Philippe II.," v. 29.

[643] _Ibid._, v. 92.

[644] Granvelle, "Correspondance," vi. 521.

[645] _Ibid._, vii. 572.

[646] Granvelle, vii. 638.




BOOK XIV

THE LADY OF TORTONA

1578-1590


I.

The marriage of her last remaining daughter, and the removal of her
granddaughter to the French Court, loosened the ties that bound the
Duchess-mother to Lorraine. The failure of the high hopes which Don
John's coming had aroused were a grievous disappointment, and, after
her dangerous attack of illness in the spring of 1578, Christina
decided to follow her doctor's advice and seek a warmer climate.
Her thoughts naturally turned to her dower city of Tortona, whose
inhabitants still paid her allegiance, in spite of Philip's invasion
of her privileges. Since the Spanish garrison still occupied the
castle, the magistrates begged her to inhabit the Communal palace,
and Christina, touched by their expressions of loyalty and affection,
resolved to accept the offer.

[Sidenote: AUG., 1578] CHRISTINA RETURNS TO ITALY]

Before settling at Tortona, however, she decided to make a pilgrimage
to Loreto, the shrine for which the Lorraine Princes had always
cherished especial veneration. Early in August, 1578, she left Nancy
and travelled across the Alps, and through Savoy, by the route which
she had taken as a bride, nearly half a century before. Her old friend,
the Duchess Margaret, whose marriage had been one of the happiest
results of the Treaty of Câteau-Cambrésis, had already been dead four
years, and her lord of the Iron-head was a confirmed invalid; but he
sent his son, Charles Emanuel, to meet the Duchess and escort her to
the citadel of Turin.

From Savoy, Christina proceeded to Milan, where she arrived on the
20th of August, and was hospitably entertained in the Castello by the
Spanish Viceroy, the Marquis d'Ayamonte.[647] Once more she drove in
her chariot through the streets where her coming had been hailed by
rejoicing multitudes, once more she prayed by her husband's tomb in the
Duomo and saw Leonardo's Cenacolo in Le Grazie. Her old friends, Count
Massimiliano, the Trivulzi, and Dejanira, were dead and gone, and at
every step the ghosts of bygone days rose up to haunt her memory. Then
she travelled on by slow stages to Loreto, on the Adriatic shore, where
she paid her vows at Our Lady's shrine, and offered a massive gold
heart set with pearls and precious gems, to the admiration of future
pilgrims.[648] But the long journey had overtaxed her strength, and
when, on her return to Lombardy, she reached Ripalta, she was too ill
to go any farther. Here she remained throughout the winter to recover
from her fatigues and give the citizens of Tortona time to prepare for
her reception.

At length, on the 17th of June, 1579, the Duchess made her state entry
into the city. The magistrates met her at the gates with a stately
baldacchino fringed with gold and silver, and escorted their Sovereign
Lady to the house of Bartolommeo Busseto, where she alighted to partake
of the banquet which had been prepared. Afterwards the loyal citizens
accompanied her to the Palazzo Pubblico, halfway up the hill above
the town, which had been splendidly fitted up for her occupation. The
beauty of the view delighted the Duchess as much as the enthusiastic
warmth of her reception, and the health-giving breezes of the Lombard
city proved even more beneficial than her physicians had expected. "She
came to our city of Tortona a dying woman, and lived there in health
and comfort for more than ten years."[649] So wrote Niccolò Montemerlo,
the historian whose chronicles of Tortona were published in 1618,
when Christina had not yet been dead thirty years. His contemporaries
joined with him in praising the Duchess's wise and beneficial rule,
the strictness with which she administered justice, her liberality and
benevolence.

    "The Duchess Christina of Milan," wrote Campo of Cremona in
    1585, "celebrated for her beauty and gracious manners, for
    her affability and generosity, has lately come to spend her
    widowhood in the city of Tortona, and lives there in great
    splendour, beloved by all."[650]

[Sidenote: JUNE, 1579] THE LADY OF TORTONA]

Christina's administrative powers found ample scope in the government
of the city, and under her rule Tortona enjoyed a brief spell of
peace and prosperity. She reformed abuses, obtained the restitution
of lost privileges, and healed a long-standing feud with the city of
Ravenna. At her prayer, Pope Gregory XIII. repealed a decree exacting
a heavy fine from every citizen of Tortona who entered Ravennese
territory, and friendly communications were restored between the two
cities. Before her coming, the Spanish Viceroy had incurred great
unpopularity by building a new citadel on the heights occupied by
the ancient Duomo and episcopal palace, and converting these into
barracks and powder-magazines. In 1560 the foundations of a new
Cathedral were laid by Philip's orders in the lower city, but this
could not atone in the eyes of the citizens for the desecration of the
venerated shrine founded by St. Innocent in the fourth century, and
adorned with priceless mosaics and marbles. When, in 1609, the lofty
campanile was struck by lightning, and 400 barrels of gunpowder stored
in the nave exploded with terrific force, the accident was regarded
as a Divine judgment, and the panic-stricken Spaniards joined in the
solemn procession that bore the relics of the martyrs from their old
resting-place to the new sanctuary.[651]

But if Christina could not atone for this indignity, or deliver
Tortona from the presence of the hated Spaniards, she protected her
subjects from their outrages, and rigidly enforced the observance of
the law. Many were the petitions and remonstrances on behalf of her
own rights and those of the citizens which she addressed to her dear
and illustrious cousin, Don Carlos of Aragon, Duke of Terranuova, who
reigned over the Milanese as Viceroy from 1583 to 1592. The Duchess was
in frequent correspondence with her children beyond the Alps, and many
requests for passes for horses which she is sending to Lorraine and
Bavaria, as well as for privileges for her Equerries, Signor Alfonso
and Gaspare Visconti, are to be found in the archives of Milan.[652]

[Sidenote: JAN., 1585] THE LAST PHASE]

Many were the illustrious guests, remarks Montemerlo, who came to visit
the Duchess at Tortona. In October, 1581, the Empress-Dowager Maria,
widow of Maximilian II., passed through Lombardy on her return to
Spain, and was received at Alessandria by Madame de Lorraine. Together
they drove through streets hung with tapestries and adorned with
triumphal arches, until, after three days' festivities, they went on to
Tortona, and thence to Genoa. The families of the old Milanese nobles
who had remained loyal to the House of Sforza welcomed Christina's
return to Lombardy with joy. The nephew and heir of Count Massimiliano
Stampa placed his superb pleasure-house at Montecastello, in the fief
of Soncino, at her disposal, and named his eldest son Christian in her
honour. The Guaschi of Alessandria, the Counts of Oria, the Trivulzi,
the Somaglia and Visconti, vied with each other in entertaining her
sumptuously.[653] The saintly Archbishop of Milan, Carlo Borromeo,
visited her more than once, and the excellent Bishop of Tortona, Cesare
Gambara, sought her help and advice in all that concerned the welfare
of his people. From the day when, hardly more than a child herself,
she begged Cardinal Caracciolo's protection for the destitute ladies
at Pavia, Christina always cared for the poor and needy, and in her
old age she was busy with active works of mercy. One of her last good
actions was to send to Paris for Madame Castellani, a daughter of
her old friend the Princess of Macedonia, who was living in reduced
circumstances at the French Court, and bring her to Tortona to spend
the rest of her life in peace and comfort. So she earned the love and
gratitude of all around her, and thousands blessed the good Duchess's
name long after she was dead.


II.

This last phase of Christina's life was on the whole peaceful and
happy. Brantôme pitied this great lady, a daughter of Kings and niece
of Emperors, and the rightful Queen of three kingdoms, who, after
reigning over Milan and Lorraine, was reduced to hold her Court in an
insignificant Lombard town, and was known in her last years as "Madame
de Tortone."[654] But after her troubled life Christina was grateful
for the peace and repose which she found at Tortona, and would have
been perfectly content if it had not been for the continual annoyances
to which she was exposed by Philip and his Ministers. From the moment
that she settled in her dower city, the King began to dispute her
right to its sovereignty, and insisted that, since Tortona had been
settled upon her as an equivalent for the dower given her "out of
pure liberality" by the late Emperor, she was bound to surrender
her claims on payment of the sum in full. Christina, on her part,
maintained with good reason that her claim to the city had never before
been questioned, and that it was settled on her at her marriage, and
belonged to her and her heirs of the House of Lorraine in perpetuity.
The assertion of this claim roused Cardinal Granvelle to the highest
indignation. "So dangerous a thing," he wrote to Philip, "cannot
possibly be allowed." But, as he confessed, what made the situation
awkward was that Madame de Lorraine's claims were strongly supported,
not only by her son, Duke Charles, but by the Emperor Rudolf, the Duke
of Bavaria, the Archdukes Ferdinand and Charles, and all the Princes of
the Empire.[655] A long wrangle ensued, which ended in a declaration
on the King's part that he would consent to Tortona being retained by
the Duchess for her life, and afterwards held by her son-in-law and
daughter, the Duke and Duchess of Brunswick.

[Sidenote: DEC., 1584] DUKE ERIC'S DEATH]

Dorothea and her husband were, in fact, the only members of Christina's
family for whom Philip showed any regard. In 1578 Duke Eric was
summoned to Spain to join in the contemplated invasion of Portugal,
and served in the campaign led by Alva two years later. Dorothea
accompanied her husband, and spent most of her time at Court. The
King evidently liked her, and when, after the successful termination
of the war, the Duke and Duchess came to take leave of him at Madrid,
Granvelle was desired to draw up a secret convention by which Tortona
and the revenues were assigned to Eric in lieu of the yearly pension
allowed him. But Dorothea was not to be outwitted by the Cardinal. She
insisted, on the arrears due to her husband being paid in full, and
Philip himself told Granvelle to see that two or three thousand crowns
of the Duke's salary were given to the Duchess, since she was short of
money, and this seemed to him only reasonable. He also gave Dorothea
two fine horses, which she wished to send to her brother-in-law,
the Duke of Bavaria, and granted her a patent for working certain
gold-mines, which the Cardinal promised to forward either to her
mother at Tortona, or else to the care of the Prince of Orange in
Germany.[656] This last direction sounds strange, considering that the
famous ban against the Prince, setting a price of 30,000 crowns on his
head, had already been issued at Granvelle's suggestion.[657]

The Duke and Duchess now returned to Göttingen, after visiting
Christina at Tortona, and remained in their own dominions for the
next few years, among their long-neglected subjects. But Eric soon
became restless, and in April, 1582, Dorothea wrote to beg Granvelle's
help in obtaining the Viceroyalty of Milan or Naples for her husband.
The Cardinal promised to do his best, and two years later actually
recommended the Duke for the Viceroyalty of Sicily. But a few weeks
afterwards, on the 15th of December, 1584, Eric of Brunswick died at
Pavia, and was buried in the crypt of Bramante's church of S. Maria
Canepanova, where his tomb is still to be seen.[658] The Duke's death
released Philip from his promise regarding the succession of Tortona.
But he had already taken the law into his own hands.

In June, 1584, when Christina and her ladies were enjoying the delights
of the Marchese Stampa's beautiful villa at Montecastello, the Viceroy
suddenly appeared on the scene, and presented her with two letters
from His Catholic Majesty. These were to inform her that, after long
and mature deliberation, the King and his Council had come to the
conclusion that her rights to the sovereignty of Tortona were extinct,
and reverted to him as Duke of Milan. But since Madame de Lorraine was
closely bound to him by ties of blood, and still more by the singular
affection which he had always borne her, His Majesty was pleased to
allow her to retain the enjoyment of Tortona and its revenues for the
remainder of her life, which he hoped would be long and prosperous. In
vain Christina protested that her dowry had never been paid, and that
this city was granted to her in its stead by the terms of her marriage
contract. The Viceroy replied in the most courteous language that
Madame was no doubt right, but that this was not his affair, and he
could only recommend that on this point her claims should be referred
to the Treasury.[659] He then proceeded to take possession of Tortona
in the King's name, and hoisted the Spanish standard on the citadel
and the Duchess's palace. Christina could only bow to superior force,
but she forwarded a protest to the Catholic King and his Council, both
of whom refused to receive it, on the flimsy pretext that the writer
assumed the title of Queen of Denmark, which they could not recognize.
Certainly, as Brantôme remarked, and as Polweiler and Silliers often
complained, Philip showed his great affection for his cousin in a
strange manner.[660]

[Sidenote: SEPT., 1586] DEATH OF GRANVELLE]

Before the Duchess left Montecastello, she received the news of the
Prince of Orange's assassination at Delft on the 10th of July, 1584.
The hero and patriot had fallen a victim to the plots of Philip and
Granvelle, and had paid the price with his life. Three years afterwards
Christina shared in the thrill of horror that ran through Europe when
Mary, Queen of Scots, died on the scaffold. In that hour she could
only be thankful that the good old Duchess Antoinette was spared this
terrible blow, and had died four years before, at the advanced age of
eighty-nine. To the last Antoinette kept up friendly relations with her
niece, and in a letter written with her own hand in November, 1575, the
venerable lady expressed her sincere regret that owing to her great age
she was unable to welcome Christina in person on her return to Nancy,
but that in the spring she quite hoped to come and see her once more
before she died.[661]

In 1586 Christina's old rival, Margaret of Parma, and this Princess's
stanch supporter, Cardinal Granvelle, both died. Friends and foes
were falling all around, and young and old alike were passing out of
sight. But the Duchess still enjoyed fair health and was so happy
at Tortona that she often said she never wished to leave home. As a
rule, however, she spent the summer months at the Rocca di Sparaviera,
in the mountains of Monferrato, "more," writes the chronicler, "to
please others than herself."[662] Each year she obtained permission
from the Viceroy to send 250 sacks of wheat, free of duty, for the use
of her household to the Rocca, and her _maggiordomo_ went beforehand
to prepare the rooms for her arrival.[663] The presence of the
Duchess Dorothea, who joined her mother at Tortona after the Duke of
Brunswick's death, was a great solace in these last years, and consoled
Christina for many losses and sorrows.

Meanwhile the war of the League had broken out in France, and the
three Henries were contending for the mastery. Since Henry III. was
childless, Catherine now tried to put forward the claims of a fourth
Henry, the eldest son of her daughter Claude and the Duke of Lorraine,
and a party in France maintained his claims to be at least as valid
as those which Philip II. advanced in virtue of his wife Elizabeth.
Christina's heart was moved at the thought of her grandson succeeding
to the throne of France, and in 1587 she sent a Lorraine gentleman, De
Villers, to Rome to beg the Pope for his support in this holy cause.
The Pope, however, merely replied that he advised the Duke to live
at peace with his neighbours. The Duchess, nothing daunted, sent De
Villers to Nancy with letters bidding her son be of good cheer and
persevere in his great enterprise. Unfortunately, the messenger fell
into the hands of Huguenot soldiers, who took him into the King of
Navarre's camp. All that could be found on him was an almost illegible
letter from Her Highness the Duke's mother, containing these words:

    "I am very glad to hear of the present state of your affairs,
    and hope that you will go on and prosper, for never was there
    so fine a chance of placing the crown upon your head and the
    sceptre in your hand."[664]

The Béarnais smiled as he read this characteristic effusion, and bade
his soldiers let the man go free. Charles, on his part, expressed
considerable annoyance at his mother's intervention, which only
aroused the suspicions of King Henry III., and made him look coldly
on his brother-in-law. The Duchess's last illusion, however, was soon
dispelled, and after the murder of the Guise brothers at Blois, and the
assassination of the last Valois, Henry of Navarre was recognized as
King by the greater part of France.

[Sidenote: FEB., 1589] AN INTERESTING MARRIAGE]

Christina did not live to see the end of the civil war, and the union
of Henri Quatre's sister with her own grandson. But the last year of
her life was cheered by the marriage of her granddaughter Christina
with the Grand-Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany. Several alliances had been
proposed for this Princess since she had gone to live at the French
Court with her grandmother. Catherine was very anxious to marry her to
Charles Emanuel, who in 1580 succeeded his father as Duke of Savoy;
but Spanish influences prevailed, and the young Prince took the
Infanta Catherine for his wife.[665] In 1583 the Queen-mother planned
another marriage for her granddaughter, with her youngest son, the
Duke of Alençon, who had left the Netherlands and lost all hope of
winning Queen Elizabeth's hand; but, fortunately for Christina, the
death of this worthless Prince in the following June put an end to the
scheme.[666] When, in October, 1586, the King of Navarre divorced his
wife Margot, Catherine proposed that her son-in-law should marry her
granddaughter; but this plan fell through, as Henry refused to abjure
the Huguenot religion. On the death of the Grand-Duke Francis in 1587,
his brother Ferdinand exchanged a Cardinal's hat for the ducal crown,
and made proposals of marriage to the Princess of Lorraine. Catherine
was overjoyed at the thought of her beloved Christina reigning in
Florence, the home of her ancestors, and promised her granddaughter
a dowry of 600,000 crowns, with all her rights on the Medici estates
in Florence, including the palace of the Via Larga. Orazio Rucellai
was sent to France to draw up the contract, which Bassompierre signed
on the Duke of Lorraine's part, on the 20th of October, 1588.[667]
But the state of the country was so unsettled that the Queen would
not allow her granddaughter to travel, and the fleet which sailed to
fetch the bride was detained for months in the port of Marseilles. The
murder of the Duke of Guise at Blois in December threw the whole Court
into confusion, and a fortnight later Catherine herself died, on the
5th of January, 1589. It was not till the 25th of February that the
marriage was finally celebrated at Blois. In March the bride set out on
her journey, attended by a brilliant company of French and Florentine
courtiers. Dorothea of Brunswick came to meet her niece at Lyons, and
accompanied her to Marseilles, where Don Pietro de' Medici awaited her
with his Tuscan galleys, and on the 23rd of April Christina at length
landed at Leghorn. Ferdinand met his bride at the villa of Poggio
a Caiano, and conducted her in triumph to Florence.[668] When the
prolonged festivities were over, Monsieur de Lenoncourt, whom Charles
of Lorraine had sent to escort his daughter to Florence, went on, by
his master's orders, to Tortona, "to kiss the hands of the Duke's
mother, the Queen of Denmark, and receive her commands."[669]

[Illustration:

  CHRISTINA OF DENMARK  CLAUDE OF FRANCE     CHRISTINE OF LORRAINE
  DUCHESS OF LORRAINE   DUCHESS OF LORRAINE  GRAND DUCHESS OF TUSCANY

(Madrid)

To face p. 508]

[Sidenote: AUG., 1590] DEATH OF CHRISTINA]

Unlike her mother and grandmother, the Grand-Duchess Christina enjoyed
a long and prosperous married life, and after her husband's death was
Regent during the minority of both her son and grandson. There is an
interesting triptych in the Prado at Madrid, with portraits of the
bride, her mother and grandmother, painted by some Burgundian artist
at the time of the wedding. The young Grand-Duchess, a tall, handsome
girl of four-and-twenty, wears a high lace ruff, with ropes of pearls
round her neck and a jewelled girdle at her waist. She carries a fan in
her hand, and the Medici _palle_ are emblazoned on her shield with the
lilies of France and the eagles of Lorraine. Her mother, the shortlived
Duchess Claude, bears a marked resemblance to Catherine de' Medici,
but is smaller and slighter in build, and altogether of a gentler and
feebler type. She too holds a fan, and wears a gown of rich brocade
with bodice and sleeves thickly sown with pearls. Christina, on the
contrary, is clad in mourning robes, and her white frilled cap and
veil and plain cambric ruff are without a single jewel. But the fine
features and noble presence reveal her high lineage. Instead of a fan,
she holds a parchment deed in her hand, and on her shield the arms of
Austria and Denmark are quartered with those of Milan and Lorraine,
while above we read the proud list of her titles--Queen of Denmark,
Sweden, and Norway, Duchess of Milan, Lorraine, Bar, and Calabria, and
Lady of Tortona.

This was the last portrait of Christina that was ever painted. In the
following summer she went as usual to the Rocca of Sparaviera with
her daughter Dorothea, to spend the hot days of August in the hills.
But she had not been there long before she fell dangerously ill. In
her anxiety to return home, she took boat and travelled by water as
far as Alessandria. There she became too ill to go any farther, and
died on the 10th of August, 1590, in the house of her friend Maddalena
Guasco.[670]

The Duchess's corpse was borne by night to Tortona, where a funeral
service was held in the new Duomo, after which the body was embalmed
and taken by her daughter Dorothea to Nancy. The news was sent to King
Philip in Spain, and he and his greedy Ministers lost no time in laying
hands on her city and revenues. "We are informed," wrote the Viceroy to
the President of the Senate, two days after Christina's death, "that
Her Most Serene Highness Madame de Lorraine has passed to a better
life, and accordingly we claim the pension of 4,000 crowns assigned
to Her late Highness, on the quarter of the Castello, and enclose a
list of the revenues of Tortona, which now revert to the Duchy of
Milan."[671]


III.

[Sidenote: MAY, 1608] DEATH OF CHARLES III.]

The good citizens of Tortona were sorely distressed when they learnt
that the remains of their beloved liege Lady were not to rest among
them. But Christina's heart was in Lorraine, and her children laid
her body in the crypt of the Cordeliers' church, in the grave of the
husband whom she had loved so faithfully and so long. Twenty-one
years later her ashes were removed with those of Duke Francis and
his parents, Antoine and Renée, to the sumptuous chapel begun by her
son Charles in 1607, and completed by his successors. The Rotonde,
as it was called in Lorraine, was built on the model of the Cappella
dei Principi, which the Duke's son-in-law, Ferdinand de' Medici, had
lately reared in Florence, and was dedicated to Our Lady of Loreto. It
was the work of a Tuscan architect, Gianbattista Stabili, and of Jean
Ligier Richier, the son of the famous Lorraine sculptor, and was lined
throughout with rich marbles and adorned with a mass of carving.[672]
The cupola was added in 1632 by Simon Drouin, and the internal
decorations were only completed in 1743, by order of the husband of
Maria Theresa, afterwards the Emperor Francis I. By this Prince's pious
care Latin inscriptions were placed over each sarcophagus, and the
following words were carved on the tomb of Christina and her husband:

    Francisco I. Lotharingiæ. Duci. Bari. Calabriæ. virtuti
    bellicæ. natus. quas. ei. mors. immatura. præripuit. laurus
    reddidit. nativa. benignitas. senilis. prudentia. semper. sibi
    similis. sapientia. mortuus. anno. MDXLV.

    Christianæ. a. Dania. Ducis. memorati. thoro. sociatæ pupilli.
    Caroli. Ducis. rebus. regendis. strenua. existimatione supra.
    famam. maxima. fata. subiit. anno. MDXC.[673]

Christina's son, Charles III., died, after a long and prosperous reign,
on the 14th of May, 1608, and was tenderly nursed during his last
illness by his youngest daughter, Catherine, and his sister Dorothea.
After her mother's death, the Duchess of Brunswick never left Lorraine
again, and became the wife of a Burgundian noble, Marc de Rye, Marquis
of Varembon.[674] She only survived her brother four years, and was
buried in the Jesuit church of St. Stanilas at Nancy. Her remains
and the heart of Duke Charles, which had been interred in the same
chapel, were removed to the ducal mausoleum in 1772, when some fresh
improvements were made in the Rotonde, by order of Marie Antoinette,
the daughter of the last Duke of Lorraine and of the Empress Maria
Theresa.[675] At the Revolution, in 1793, these tombs were destroyed
and their contents rifled by the mob, and the ashes of the dead
Princes were flung into a common grave. In 1818 they were replaced
in their original tombs, the sarcophagi were restored, and the old
inscriptions once more carved in the marble.

Charles III.'s second daughter, Elizabeth, married her first cousin,
Maximilian, who succeeded his father in 1598, as Duke of Bavaria, and
played a memorable part in the Thirty Years' War. Her next sister,
Antoinette, became Duchess of Cleves, while Catherine, the youngest and
most interesting of the whole family, took the veil after her father's
death. This beautiful and accomplished Princess refused all the suitors
who sought her hand, among them the scholar-Emperor, Rudolf II., who
found in her a kindred spirit. A mystic by nature, Catherine assumed
the grey Capucin habit while she lived at her father's Court, and,
after he died, founded a Capucin convent in Nancy. The Pope appointed
her Abbess of Remiremont, a Benedictine community of high-born ladies,
which she endeavoured to reform. She was much attached to her aunt
Dorothea, and after her death spent most of her time at the Court of
France with her niece Margaret, the wife of Gaston, Duke of Orleans.
Catherine took an active part in French politics in the stormy days of
Louis XIII., and died in Paris in 1648, at the age of seventy-five.[676]

[Sidenote: 1736] THE LAST DUKE OF LORRAINE]

The seventeenth century witnessed the gradual dismemberment of the
duchy of Lorraine, and in Richelieu's days Nancy was again occupied
by French invaders. At length, in 1736, the last Duke, Francis III.,
was compelled to surrender Lorraine in exchange for the grand-duchy
of Tuscany, on his marriage with Maria Theresa, the only child of the
Emperor Charles VI. From that time Lorraine ceased to exist as an
independent State, and became a province of France, while the ex-King
Stanislas of Poland fixed his residence at Nancy and transformed the
ancient capital into a modern city. By this marriage the House of
Lorraine became merged in the imperial line of Habsburg, and the blood
of King René still flows in the veins of the Austrian Emperor and of
the royal families of Savoy and Spain.

Christina would have rejoiced to know that this union--a love-match
like her own--was followed shortly by the elevation of Maria Theresa's
husband to the imperial throne, and that by this means the House of
Habsburg was raised to a height of power and splendour which it had
never attained since the days of Charles V. For although she married
twice into princely houses, and was much attached both to Milan and
Lorraine, Christina was before all else a Habsburg, and the glory and
welfare of the imperial race remained throughout her life the first
object of her thoughts. Like Mary of Hungary and Eleanor of France,
she grew up in absolute obedience to the Emperor's will, and wherever
she went in after-years his word was still her law. In the darkest
hours of her life, when she lost son and State at one blow, it was her
greatest sorrow to feel that she could no longer be of service to the
Emperor and his house. After the abdication of Charles V., this love
and loyalty were transferred to Philip II., and her one fear was lest
her son should be drawn into the opposite camp, and become French in
his sympathies. And to the end she was always quick to obey the call of
blood and respond to any appeal from a member of the House of Austria.

This strong family affection gave an added bitterness to the neglect
and injustice which she suffered at Philip's hands during the last
thirty years of her existence. One reason for his persistently harsh
usage was, there can be no doubt, that Christina represented the
national feeling and aspirations after freedom, which Philip and his
ministers, Alva and Granvelle, did all in their power to crush. Both
in the Netherlands, where the popularity of the great Emperor's niece
made her dangerous in their eyes, and in Lombardy, where she filled an
important position as Lady of Tortona, she came into collision with
the same all-reaching arm. To the last she strove valiantly to resist
the tyranny of Spanish officials and to protect her subjects from
the rapacity of foreign soldiers, and a century after her death the
citizens of Tortona still cherished the memory of the noble lady who,
as long as she lived, had preserved them from the yoke of Spain.

Christina's lot was cast in troubled times, when crime and bloodshed
were rife, and religious convictions only served to heighten the
violence of men's passions; but her name shines pure and unsullied on
these dark pages of history. She was naturally hasty and impulsive,
she made some mistakes and met with many failures, but she was always
generous and high-minded, faithful and affectionate to her friends, and
full of ardent charity for the poor and downtrodden. Above all, her
unceasing labours in the cause of peace justly earned the gratitude of
her contemporaries, and deserve to be remembered by posterity.

[Sidenote: 1590] CHRISTINA'S RARE CHARM]

At the close of this long and eventful life we turn back once more to
Holbein's portrait of the youthful Duchess. As we look at the grave
eyes and innocent face, we ask ourselves what was the secret of this
woman's power, of the strange fascination which she possessed for
men and leaders of men. What made heroes like René of Orange, and
daredevils like Albert of Brandenburg, count the world well lost for
love of her? Why were brave captains and brilliant courtiers--Stampa,
Vendôme, De Courrières, Polweiler, Adolf of Holstein--all of them her
willing slaves from the moment that they saw her face and heard the
sound of her voice? What drew thoughtful men like William of Orange and
Emanuel Philibert into the circle of her intimate friends, and brought
even the cold-hearted Philip under her spell? It was hardly her beauty,
for she had many rivals, or her superior intellect and exalted birth.
Rather was it the rare and indefinable quality that we call charm, the
sweet womanliness of nature, the gentle sympathy and quick response of
heart and eye, ready at any moment to listen and to help, to comfort
and to cheer. This, if we mistake not, was the secret of Christina's
wonderful influence, of the attraction which she possessed for men and
women alike, an attraction which outlived the days of youth and endured
to the last hour of her life. Ever loving, she was therefore ever
beloved.

FOOTNOTES:

[647] Granvelle, "Correspondance," vii. 149.

[648] A. Villamont, "Voyages," 70 (1589).

[649] Niccolò Montemerlo, "Nuove Historie di Tortona" (1618), 247-253.

[650] A. Campo, "Storia di Cremona," 107; C. Ghilino, "Annali di
Alessandria," 166; Hilarion de Coste, "Les Éloges," etc., i. 406.

[651] Montemerlo, 260; N. Viola, "Il Santuario di Tortona," 5.

[652] Feudi Camerali, Tortona, Archivio di Stato, Milano.

[653] Autografi di Principi: Sforza, Archivio di Stato, Milano; G.
Porta, "Alessandria Descritta," 161; Merli e Belgrano, "Pal. d'Oria,"
55.

[654] Brantôme, xii. 120.

[655] Granvelle, "Correspondance," x. 65.

[656] Granvelle, vii. 225, xii. 581.

[657] Groen, vii. 165.

[658] Granvelle, ix. 141, xi. 338.

[659] Feudi Camerali, Tortona, Archivio di Stato, Milano.

[660] Granvelle, x. 551; Brantôme, xii. 114.

[661] Pimodan, 322.

[662] Montemerlo, 250.

[663] Feudi Camerali, Tortona, Archivio di Stato, Milano.

[664] S. Goulart, "Mémoires de la Ligue," ii. 213

[665] Ed. Armstrong, "Cambridge Modern History," iii. 413.

[666] Granvelle, "Correspondance," x. 411.

[667] A. J. Butler, "Cambridge Modern History," iii. 42.

[668] A. v. Reumont, "Geschichte Toscana's," i. 327-329.

[669] H. Lepage, "Lettres de Charles III.," 93.

[670] Montemerlo, 250.

[671] Feudi Camerali, Tortona, Archivio di Stato, Milano.

[672] Calmet, iii. 153.

[673] Pfister, i. 640-647; Calmet, ii. 87.

[674] Granvelle, "Papiers d'État," vii. 619.

[675] Pfister, i. 652.

[676] Calmet, ii. 153; Pfister, ii. 734.




APPENDIX

A SELECTION OF UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS


I.

_Christina, Duchess of Milan, to Francesco II., Duke of Milan._

    Monsignore mio cordialissimo marito: Ho bene veduto voluntieri,
    come sempre sono accostumata, le sue care littere del 20, ma di
    molto megliora voglia haveria voluto veder la presentia sua,
    come speranza mi fu data di breve esser, et per dire la vera
    verita ormai quelli Signori com̄inciano haver puì che torto.
    Pur mi voglio contentar di quello che la ragione consiglia che
    si faci, et quella dimora che V. S. judicara esser bene per
    tutti, lo havero anche io per accepto, ringratiandola de le
    sue cortese excusationi per la tardezza del ritorno, ma non
    savendogli gratia di quello che la mi scrive, ch'io nō prende
    pena di scriverli di mia mano, perchè questo e solo ben speso
    tempo, et a me agredable quanto cū V. S. parla, almeno per
    scriptura di propria mano, non potendo la per hora partialmente
    goder. In bona gratia sua senza fine riccoman^{mi} cum ricordo
    del presto e sano ritorno, cosi N. S. Dio degni di conservarlo
    longamente. Mlo. li 7. Zugno. 1535.

                                Vostra très humble consorte,
                                                     CRISTIERNA.

  A Monsignore cordiall^{mo} mio consorte
    le Duca de Millano.

    [Autografi di Principi, Sforza, Archivio di Stato, Milano.]


II.

_Christina, Duchess-Dowager of Milan, to Cardinal Caracciolo, Governor
of Milan._

Quello affettione chio conosco V. R^{ma} S^{ria} portarmi, et il buon
conto che la tene di me fa ch'io non possi cessar de desiderar' ogn'
hora la salute et comodo lei: Ver ho la prego esser contento darmi
nova come la si è p̄ortata in questa sua andata et di prēste si trova.
Che di resto maggior consolatione no' potreî havere che saper di sua
bona valetudine. Appresso: benchè sappia non essere bisogno, nondimeno
no' cessero di' ricordar à V. R^{ma} Sig^{ria} el caso mio. Per il
quale pregola a far presso la Cæs^{rea} M^{tà} mio supremo S^{ro}
quello che de la singulari bontà sua sum̄amento mi prometto; Et perchè
tra tutte l'altre cose molto desidero il ben et honor della S^{ra}
Dorothea. Perho la sara contenta per il particolar sua operar con Sia
M^{tà} tanto efficamente quanto glie sia poss^{le}, acciò che col bon
meggio lei me venghi essere esauditi; assicurando V. R^{ma} S^{ra} chio
stimavo il comodo dessa S^{ra} Dorothea mio proprio. Parmi anchora non
solamente ragionevole ma ex debito, che essendo compito il corso del
integro anno che'l Ill^{mo} et Ex^{mo} di felicissima memoria, S^{re}
Duca, già mio Consorte passeva di questa vita, si ne debbi anch'io
tener memoria et fargli far il debito anniversario. Perho prego V.
R^{ma} Sig^{ra} esser contenta supplicar Sua M^{tà} in mio nome, che
commetti et ordino acciò che detto anniversario sia fatto nel modo che
debitamente si conviene e son certiss^{na} che Sua M^{tà} nomo negar
di fare cosi exequire. Non me occorrendo per hora altro, a V. R^{ma}
S^{ra} molte me ricom^{o} et offero. Pregando N. S. Dio che gli doni
presto et bon ritorno. Di Mlo. el xiiii. de' Ottobre, MDXXXVI.

                                        Vostra buona figliola,
                                                    CHRESTIENNE.

  Al R^{mo} et Ill^{m} S^{ro} Car^{le} Caracciolo,
    Locoten^{te} generale di Sua M^{tà} nel
    Stato de Mlo. come Patre osser^{sso}.
    In Corte di Sua M^{ta} a Genoa.

      [Autografi di Principi, Sforza, Archivio di Stato, Milano.]


III.

_Christina, Duchess-Dowager of Milan, to Cardinal Caracciolo, Governor
of Milan._

R^{mo} et mio quanto Patre honorando: Ho presentito per certo che in
la hosteria de la Fontana se gli ritrova una bellissima chinea learda,
manco bona che di apparenza bella, et perchè me ritrova haverne bisogno
de una per la Persona mia, ho voluto cū ogni confidenza indrizzar'
questa et el presente mio lachayo a V. S. R^{ma} pregandola che se
consensi di contentarme che l' habia; et cometti el pagamento fuori
di la spesa ordinario del rollo stabilito, perchè se potea mettere nel
numero de li debiti ch' andarano pagati per altro conto, et questo
recevero per singular piacer da V. S. R^{ma}, in bona gratia de la
quelli me reco^{do}. Dal Castello de Pavia, al 3^{o} di Genaro, nel
1537. De V. S. R{ma} comme bonne fille,

                                                     CRESTIENNE.

  Al R^{mo} Car^{le} Caracciolo, Governator
    de Mlo. quanto p^{re} honor^{do}. _Cito,
    cito_.

      [Autografi di Principi, Sforza, Archivio di Stato, Milano.]


IV.

_Antoinette de Bourbon, Duchesse de Guise, to Mary, Queen of Scotland._

. . .La santé de votre petit fils est aussi bonne que lui fut onques.
Il mange fort bien, et l'on le mène souvent a les ébats que me semble
lui fait grant bien. Il me semble vous trouverez cru et devenu gras.
Quant au reste de n're ménage, v're sœur est toujours malade de sa
fièvre et a été cette semaine passée bien mal d'un flux de ventre qui
l'a fort affoiblie. Il y a bien huit jours qu'elle ne bouge point du
lit. Depuis hier le flux com̄àse a passer, de la fièvre je ne vois pas
grant amendement. . . . V^{re} frère Claude a été aussy malade jusqu'à
la mort. . . . V^{re} sœur Anthoinette est aussy malade d'une fièvre et
d'un rhume. . . . Je vous avise quo Madame v^{re} tante est mandée pour
aller à la cour à la venue de la Reyne de Hongrie, qui doit bientost
estre à Compiègne, ou le Roy et toute la Court doit estre en peu de
jours. Je m'en suis excusée pour l'amour de mes malades. Il n'y a que
deux jours que le gentilhomme du Roy d'Angleterre qui fût au Havre et
le paintre, a été ici. Le gentilhomme vint vers moi, faisant semblant
venir de trouver l'Empereur, et que ayant su Louise malade, il n'avait
voullu passer sans la voir, afin d'en savoir dire de nouvelles au Roy
son maistre, me priant qu'il la peut voir, ce qu'il fit, et c'estait
le jour de sa fièvre. Il lui tint pareil propos qu'a moi, puis me dit
qu'estant si près de Lorrayne, il avait envye d'aller jusques à Nancy,
voir le pays. Je ne me donte incontyment il y allait voir la demoyselle
peur la tirer comme les aultres et pour cela j'ai envoyé à leur logis,
voir qui y était, et j'ai trouvé le dit paintre y était, et de la ils
ont esté à Nancy et y ont resté un jour, et ont été fort festés, et le
Maistre d'hôtel venait à tous les repas manger avec eux, avec force
présents, et ils etaient très bien traités. Voilà ce que j'ay entendu,
donc au pis aller, si vous n'avez pour voisine v^{re} sœur, ce pourrait
estre v^{re} cousine. Il se tient quelque propos que l'Empereur offre
récompense pour le duché de Gueldres, et que ce faisant, se pourrait
faire quelque mariage de la fille de Hongrie et de Mons^{r} le Marquys.
Mons^{r} v^{re} père entend bien, ce faisant, avoir sa part en la dite
récompense. Je voudrais qu'il en fust bien récompensé. Voilà tout ce
que j'ay de nouveau . . . je me doute que vous ne ferez de si bonne
diligence que moi, car je sais bien que vous tenez de Mons^{r} v'tre
père, et qu'estes paresseuse à ecrire, si l'air d'Ecosse ne vous a
changé. Je n'ai encore eu que vos premyères. Il me tarde bien savoir
comme depuis vous vous serez porté, cela me sera grant joye quand je
pourrait ouir de vos nouvelles. Ce sera toujours quant N^{tre} Seigneur
le veuille, et je prie, Madame, qu'il vous donne longue et bonne vie.
Ce premier de Septembre, de v'tre humble et bonne mère,

                                         ANTHOINETTE DE BOURBON.

  À la Reyne d'Écosse.

        [Balcarres MSS., ii. 20. Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.]


V.

_Antoinette de Bourbon, Duchesse de Guise, to Mary, Queen of Scotland._

Madame: J'ay tardé plus longuement que je ne pensais à vous escrire,
mais les noces de Mademoiselle de Lorraine nous ont tant ameusées
que jusque à cette heure on a peut avoir le loisir. Nous departismes
hier de la compaignye qui a esté bien grosse. Les noces furent Mardy
passé. Mons^{r} le Prince y est venu bien accompaigné et je vous assure
c'est un bien honeste Prince et de bonne grâce. Il se contente fort
de sa mye, et aussi elle de lui. Ils s'entendent aller chez eux dans
xv. jours. La feste a esté à Bar, il n'y a eu guères d'estrangers,
fors la Marquise de Baulde et Madame de Baçin, et des Comtesses et
dames voisines. Vous en saurez quelque jour plus au long. Nous sommes
en chemin pour aller à Guise, pensant en estre de retour pour la
Toussaint. Nous laissons n'tre petit fils à Roche. Il court tant de
maladie que nous n'avons osé le mettre en chemin, mais je vous assure
il se porte bien. . . . Je vous avais escrit par Saint-Genould, du
mariage de v're frère, mais j'entens qu'il ne part pas si tost comme il
m'avait dit, pourquoi je veulx vous dire ce qui en est et co^{me} le
Roy veult faire le mariage de luy et de la nyèce du Pape, fille du Duc
de ---- je ne puis retrouver son nom, mais elle est belle et honeste
et a bonne grâce, et est d'ancienne maison, de l'age de xv. ans. L'on
luy donne trois cent mille francs en mariage, elle n'a que ung frère,
s'il meurt elle serait heritière de quarante mille livres et d'un Duché
et aultre terres. Je pense entre ceci et la Toussaint il en sera fait
ou failli. Je prends grand plaisir entendre par vos lettres le bon
portement du Roy, de vous et du petit prince. . . . Nous sommes prêts à
monter à cheval, pourquoi ferais fin. . . . Ce penultième d'Aoust.

                                  V^{re} humble et bo^{ne} mère,
                                          ANTHOINETTE DE BOURBON.

  À la Reyne d'Écosse.

        [Balcarres MSS., ii. 15. Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.]


VI.

_Antoinette de Bourbon, Duchesse de Guise, to Mary, Queen of Scotland._

Madame: L'on m'a tant assuré qu'on envoye les lettres sûrement par le
moyen des Marchands d'Anvers, que je les ai mis à l'entrée pour en
apprendre le chemin. Vostre sœur en doit estre la messagère. Je vous ai
escrit la conclusion de son mariage et envoyé les articles et depuis
ses noces par vostre brodeur. Je viens de la mener en ménage, en une
belle et honneste maison et aultant bien meublée qu'il est possible,
nommé Beaumoult. Son beau-père la receuillit tant honorablement et
avec tant de gens de bien et grosse compaignye que l'on ne sait plus
souhaiter; la Reyne de Hongrerie entre les aultres s'y trouvait et la
Duchesse de Myllan, aussi Mons^{r} et Madame la Princesse d'Orange, qui
l'on tient grosse, toute fois la chose n'est pas fort sure, et pour
ma part j'en doute. Il me semble v're dite sœur est bien logée. L'on
luy a fait de beau présens, et elle a de belles basques. Son Mary est
jeune, mais il a bon vouloir d'estre du nombre des gens de bien. Il ne
paraissait point qu'il fût Caresme, car les armes et les tambours ne
cessaient point; il s'y est fait de beaux joustes là bas. A la fin il
a fallu departir, qui n'a pas esté sans larmes. Je regagne ce lieu de
Guyse, où je ne reste qu'une nuit, et demain à la Fère, où Mons^{r} le
Cardinal mon frère et mon père et ma sœur de S^{t} Pol seront mercredy,
et vendredy recommencerai me mettre en chemin pour gagner Joinvylle
le plus tost que je pourrais. Je pense trouver encore Mons^{r} v^{re}
père, et nos enfans, savoir les petits et les prètres. . . . Ce xiiii
Mars, à Guise. . . .

                                         ANTHOINETTE DE BOURBON.

  À la Reyne d'Écosse,

        [Balcarres MSS., ii. 5. Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.]


VII.

_Louise de Lorraine, Princesse de Chimay, to Mary, Queen of Scotland._

Madame: Depuys que Dieu a tant faict pour moi que de me donner un bon
Mary, je n'ai point eu loisir de vous en faire la part. Vous pouvez
estre assurée que je me tiens en ce monde heureuse d'estre en la
maison ou je suis, car avec la grandeur qu'il y a en tout, j'ai un
seigneur et beau-père que je vous puis nommer bon, car il me faict un
bien bon traitement, accompagné de tant de beaux présents, qu'il me
faudroy employer trois feuilles de papier avant que je vous pourrais
en rendre bon conte et qui sera, s'il vous plait, occasion de prendre
contentement du bien de votre sœur, qui a commandement de vous offrir
les très humble services des maistres et seigneurs de cette maison,
vous suppliant a tout endroit les employer. Nous avons une très sage et
vertueuse Reyne, et je ne puis vous dire l'honneur qu'elle me faict,
car estant venue exprés à cette maison--la sienne et nôtre--elle m'a
voulu prendre pour sa très humble fille et servante, et veulst que pour
l'avenyr je dois estre toujours en sa compagnye, où pour le peu que
j'y ai este m'a fayct fort grant chĕre. Madame la Duchesse de Mylan
m'a dit le semblable, qui est la meilleure, et nous ésperons bientôt
la voir en Lorayne, car le maryage de Mons^{r} le Marquys et d'elle,
est en très bon train. Depuis que Madame ma mère est retournèe, elle
m'a envoyée une lettre pour essayer si le chemin de ça luy sera plus
aise que l'autre, et si'il vous plait de m'apprendre de vos nouvelles,
je serai merveilleusement aise. Mais il faudra, Madame que a la lettre
que vous m'enverrez, vous mettiez sur le paquet, "_Au Duc d'Aerschot_,"
et par les marchands qui viennent d'Ecosse, il vous sera aisé, car
en les laissant à Anvers ou à Bruges, ou autre endroit du Pays, ne
failleront point, en s'adressant a Mons^{r} mon beau-père, de tomber
entre mes mains, car il est grandement craint et aimé par deça, qui
sera l'endroit où je supplye Dieu qu'il vous donne très bonne vie et
longue. De Beaumont, ce xxv. jour de Mars.

  V're très humble et très obeissante sœur,
                           LOUISE DE LORRAYNE.

       [Balcarres MSS., ii. 153. Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.]


VIII.

_Antoinette de Bourbon, Duchesse de Guise, to Mary, Queen of Scotland._

Madame: Je suis très aise que ce porteur soit venu par ici, pour
s'en retourner vers vous, car je vous voullais escrire et envoyer un
paquet. . . . Je desire bien fort savoir comme vous vous serez porté
en v're couche et aussi comme le Roy et v're petit prince se portent.
Je prie a N. S. à tous donner bonne santé et longue vie. Quant à
notre costé, tout se porte bien, Dieu mercy! Mon^{r} v're père est
revenu depuis huit jours pour quelques bastyments et fortifications
que le Roy lui a ordonné faire en cette frontière. J'ay esté très
aise il ait cette charge, afin de l'avoir plus tost de retour. Quant
à v're petit fils, il se porte bien et devient grand; il commence
très bien apprendre, et sait quasi son Pater noster, il est joli et
bon enfant. J'ai esté cause qu'il n'est venu en ce lien, dans la pour
des Rougeolles, qui régnent si fort, et je crains il les prends par
les champs, ou il ne peut estre si bien traisté qu'à Joinvylle, et
aussi que ne devons demeurer dans ce lieu que huit jours. . . . Nous
attendons M. le Cardinal de Lorraine le iii. d'Août. Il vient pour nous
tous ensemble trouver au Pont-à-Mousson le huitième du dit mois, on se
doit faire le premyer recueil de n'tre nouvelle Dame, pour la mener
à Nancy. V're frère aussi vient avec M. le Cardinal, l'on doit faire
grande chere a cette bien venue, et force tournois. Les noces furent il
y a Dimanche huit jours. S'il s'y fait rien digne de vous faire part
vous en serez avertie. J'ai bonne envye de voir si Mons^{r} le Marquis
sera bon Mary! L'on se jouit fort au pays recevoir une si honneste
Princesse . . . ce xx. Juillet de . . . ec.

                                         ANTHOINETTE DE BOURBON.

  À la Reyne d'Écosse.

        [Balcarres MSS., ii. 4. Advocates' Library, Edinburgh.]


IX.

_Christina, Duchess-Dowager of Lorraine, to Mary, Queen of Hungary._

                                                         18 Avril, 1552.

Madame: J'ay escrit une letter à votre Majesté pour avoir moyen
d'avertir celle-ci et la Reine vostre sœur de la méchancetè que le Roy
de France m'a faict, que sur ombre de bonne foy me emmène mon filz
avecque grande rudesse, comme Vostre Majesté entendra par ce présent
porteur plus au long. Suppliant Vostre Majesté ne prendra de mauvaise
part sy je ne faict ceste lettre plus longue, car la grande fâcherie
que j'ay, m'en garde. Sy esté, Madame, que je supplie à Vostre Majesté
avoir pitié de moy, et m'assister de quelque conseil, et je n'oublyerai
à jamais luy faire très humble service et vous obèir toute ma vie,
comme celle quy desire demeurer à jamais,

  Vostre très humble et très obeissante
    nièce et servante,
                          CHRESTIENNE.

 [Lettres des Seigneurs, 101, f. 332. Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles.]


X.

_Anne, Duchess-Dowager of Aerschot, to Mary, Queen of Hungary._

                                                         18 Avril, 1552.

Madame: Je ne saurais vous escrire la grande désolation en laquelle
est presentément Madame ma sœur, constitué par la grande rudesse et
cruauté que le jour du grand Vendredy luy a esté faicte par le Roy de
France, qui est qu'il esté venu icy sous ombre de bonne foy et vrai
amitié, comme dernièrement il nous avoit fait entendre. À son arrivée,
il a esté reçu avecque tous les honneurs possible, et le meilleur
traistement, et le dit jour du grand Vendredy il fit entendre à Madame
comme pour satisfaire au capitulations de la Ligue, il falloit qu'il
s'assurait de Monseigneur le duc de Lorraine, et de ses places, et
que pour ce faire il falloit qu'il fust transporté à Bar, pour à
quoy obvier, Ma dicte dame, Monseigneur de Vaudemont et moy, et tous
ceux de son conseil, luy fust faicte une rémonstrance la plus humble
qu'il estoit possible. A quoy il e répondit aultre chose sinon qu'il
hâteroit sa resolution par escrit, ce qu'il a faict, comme votre
Majesté pourra voire par les articles que je vous envoye. Ce voyant,
elle et moy l'allâmes trouver en la Grande Galerie où ma dite dame
parla encore a luy, jusqu'à se mettre à genoux, luy requérant pour
l'amour de Dieu ne transporter son filz, et ne le luy ôter. A quoi ne
fit response, et pour conclusion, Madame, le lendemain Samedy, veille
de Pâques, il l'ont emmené, accompagné de force gens de guerre, sous
la charge du S^{r} de Bourdillon, mais le Maréchal de Saint André n'a
bougé qu'il ne l'ait mis hors de la ville, et c'étoit pitié voire
Madame sa mère, Monseigneur de Vaudement et toute la noblesse et le
pauvre peuple faire leur lamentation. Et voyant Madame ma sœur en
telle pitié, etant en telle douleur, Madame, que votre Majesté peult
estimer pour ly avoir faict une telle outrage que de luy oter son filz,
et la voyant porter tel desplaisir, moy que m'estait deliberé m'en
partir, ne la puis delaisser. Le Roy luy laisse Mesdames ses filles et
l'administration des biens, comme elle avait auparavant, reservé les
places fortes, qui demeurent à la charge de Monseigneur de Vaudemont,
à condition que Votre Majesté pourra voire, toutefois n'y demeurra que
Lorrains. Et par ce que Madame j'ai toujours envie de faire service
à Votre Majesté tel que j'ai toute ma vie desiré, il luy plaira me
commander ce que je fasse, et vous serez obéy comme la plus affectionée
servante que Votre Majesté aura jamais. Suppliant Notre Seigneur
donner à celle très bonne et longue vie, me recommandant toujours très
humblement, en sa bonne grâce. De Nancy, ce lendemain de Pâques.

                                              ANNE DE LORRAINE.

Madame: Depuis avoir escrit à Votre Majesté, le Roy de France a
escrit une lettre à Madame ma sœur comme il a eu avertissement que
les Bourgnignons faisaient une entreprise pour aller à Bar, afin d'y
surprendre Monsieur de Lorraine, et que pour obvier à cela, il a
ordonné au S^{r} de Bourdillon le mener à Joinville, où la Royne de
France est encor là.

 [Lettres des Seigneurs, 101, f. 330. Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles.]


XI.

_Christina, Duchess-Dowager of Lorraine, to the Emperor Charles V._

_A l'Empereur._ Monseigneur: A la prière de Monseigneur de Vaudemont
mon frère et de la Duchesse d'Aerschot ma sœur, j'ay pris la hardiesse
de demeurer, encore que Vostre Majesté m'avait escript et commandé que
je me retirasse vers les Roynes, ce que j'éspère que Vostre Majesté
n'aures pas pris de mauvaise part. Car la grande instance et prière
que mon dit frère et sœur m'ont faict, ont esté la cause, non pas pour
aller contre son commandement, le voulant obéir toute ma vie, et je
vous supplie, de toujours le croire, et avoir mon filz et son païs pour
recommandé, et je supplieray le Créateur, Monseigneur, de donner à
Vostre Majesté bonne santé et très longue vie. De Denœuvre, ce 26^{e}
May, 1552.

  Vostre très humble et très obéissante
    nièce et servante,
                        CHRESTIENNE.

 [Lettres des Seigneurs, 102, f. 127. Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles.]


XII.

_Christina, Duchess-Dowager of Lorraine, to the Emperor Charles V._

_A l'Empereur._ Monseigneur: J'ay reçu la lettre qu'il a plu à Vostre
Majesté m'èscrire par le Seigneur de Carondelet, et par luy ay entendu
la bonne souvenance qu'il a plu à Vostre Majesté avoir de moy et mes
filles, de la bonne visitation, dont très humblement la remercie, et
aussi de la charge que Vostre Majesté luy a donné pour me dire ce qu'il
me faudra ensuivre. Votre Majesté m'oblige tant de l'honneur qu'elle me
faict, que toute ma vie je seray preste à obéir à ses commandements,
comme celle entendra s'il luy plait plus au long par le dit Seigneur de
Carondelet, et aussi d'autres choses que luy ay donné charge de dire à
Vostre Majesté, pour ne pas la fâcher de longue lettre. Et toute ma vie
je suppliray le Créateur de donner à Vostre Majesté très bonne santé,
et longue vie et de demeurer toujours à la bonne grâce d'icelle. De
Hoh-Königsberg, ce 4^{e} Septembre, 1552.

  Vostre très humble nièce et servante,
                                CHRESTIENNE.

 [Lettres des Seigneurs, 103, f. 518. Archives du Royaume, Bruxelles.]


XIII.

_Dejanira Commena Contessa Trivulzio to Messer Innocenzio Gadio._

Magnifico Signore, Innocenzio: Ho ricevuto un altra vostra, inteso
la morte del Magnifico Signor Belloni, che certo mi ha dato molto
fastidio. Io sono certa che la Signora mia madre me haverà havuto
grandissimo dispiacere, come risentirà la morte e privatione di tale
amico. Però non si può resistere al Divino volere. Mi maraviglia molto
non habbiati avuto la littera mia qual mandai alli di passati, in mane
di Barile, però di novo vi dico che ho ricevuto la corona ed altre cose
per Andronica, et le littere della Signore Madre, et così vi rimandò la
risposta. Sareti contenti basare le mane in mio nome a Sua Excellentia,
dicendoli che mi duole fino all' anima, dalle travaglie che patisse
Sua Excellentia in quelle bande, et che siamo sempre apparentiati come
servitori che li giurano esponere la vita et quanto tenemo in suo
serviggio. Non mi occorrente altro a Vostra Signoria mi raccomando.
De Codogno all. 29. Sett, 1552. Di Vostra Sig. Dejanira, Contessa
Trivultia.

  A Messer Inn. Gadio, amico carissimo.

               [MS. No. 18, Biblioteca di Zelada, Pavia.]


XIV.

_Christina, Duchess-Dowager of Lorraine, to Mary, Queen of England._

                                                            April, 1555.

Madame: Je supplie V^{tre} Maj^{tè} me pardonner si je prends tant
d'audace que d'escrire à icelle, mais tant d'honneur et de faveur que
je recois de V^{tre} Maj^{tè} en est cause. Car je ne puis laisser
d'avertir que le Capitaine de mon vaisseau qui me mène a si bien
faict son devoyr, sans nul hasart, comme V^{tre} Maj^{tè} lui a faict
commande, que je ne puis laisser d'en avertir V^{tre} Maj^{tè} et la
supplier de l'avoyr en souvenance. Et puis j'assure V^{tre} Maj^{tè},
que je n'en ai reçu que d'entier bon service, et connaissant cela,
n'ay su laisser de le recommander à V^{tre} Maj^{tè} et pensant que le
Capitaine Bont vous fera entendre ce qui s'est passé à mon passage, je
n'en ferai plus propos, si non de vous assurer combien je regrette de
ne plus estre dans la prèsence de V^{re} Maj^{tè} et que je ne puis
estre auprès d'icelle, pour luy pouvoir faire quelque service, pour
la satisfaction que je me ferais a tant de mercis que j'ay reçu, dont
je demeure sans espoir d'y satisfaire. Et cependant je supplie très
humblement à V^{re} Maj^{tè} me tenir en sa bonne grâce, a la quelle
humblement me recommande, et baisant ses mains, priant Dieu, Madame,
vous donner bonne santé, très longue vie et un beau filz, comme le
désire.

                              V^{re} très humble et très obeissante
                                  cousine et servante,
                                                    CHRESTIENNE.

  À la Reyne.

[MS. State Papers, Foreign, Mary, vol. vi., 351. Public Record Office.]




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GENEALOGICAL TABLES


    I.  HABSBURG.

   II.  DENMARK.

  III.  SFORZA.

   IV.  LORRAINE.

    V.  GUISE.


I. HABSBURG.

 Maximilian I, d. 1519.
  =(1)Mary of Burgundy.
  =(2)Bianca Sforza.
  +-- Philip, d. 1506.
  |   =Juana of Spain, d. 1555.
  |   +-- Eleanor, d. 1558.
  |   |   =(1)Emanuel of Portugal.
  |   |   =(2)Francis I. of France.
  |   +-- Charles V, 1500-1558.
  |   |   =Isabella of Portugal, d. 1539.
  |   |   +-- Margaret, d. 1586.
  |   |   |   =(1)Alessandro de' Medici.
  |   |   |   =(2)Ottavio Farnese.
  |   |   |   +-- Alessandro, Duke of Parma, d. 1592
  |   |   |       =Mary of Portugal.
  |   |   +-- Don John, d. 1578.
  |   |   +-- Philip II. of Spain, 1527-1598.
  |   |   |   =(1)Mary of Portugal, d. 1539.
  |   |   |   =(2)Mary of England.
  |   |   |   =(3)Elizabeth of France.
  |   |   |   =(4)Anne of Austria.
  |   |   |   +-- Don Carlos, d. 1568.
  |   |   |   +-- Philip III, d. 1621.
  |   |   |   |   =Margaret of Austria.
  |   |   |   +-- Katherine.
  |   |   |   |   =Charles Emanuel, Duke of Savoy.
  |   |   |   +-- Isabella, d. 1633.
  |   |   |       =Albert of Austria, d. 1621.
  |   |   +-- Juana of Spain.
  |   |   |   =John of Portugal, d. 1554.
  |   |   |   +-- Sebastian of Portugal, d. 1578.
  |   |   +-- Mary. (_a_)
  |   |       =Maximilian II, d. 1576. (_a_)
  |   |       +-- Rudolf II, d. 1612.
  |   |       +-- Anne of Austria.
  |   |       |   =Philip II. of Spain, 1527-1598.
  |   |       +-- Albert of Austria, d. 1621. (_b_)
  |   |       |   =Isabella, d. 1633.
  |   |       +-- Elizabeth.
  |   |       |   =Charles IX., King of France.
  |   |       +-- Matthias, d. 1619.
  |   |           =Anne.
  |   +-- Isabella of Austria, 1501-1526. (See II)
  |   |   =Christian II. of Denmark, dep. 1523, 1481-1559.
  |   +-- Mary, d. 1558.
  |   |   =Louis of Hungary, d. 1526.
  |   +-- Ferdinand I, d. 1564.
  |   |   =Anne of Bohemia, d. 1547.
  |   |   +-- Maximilian II, d. 1576. (_a_)
  |   |   |   =Mary. (_a_)
  |   |   |   +-- Rudolf II. (see above)
  |   |   |   +-- Anne of Austria. (see above)
  |   |   |   +-- Albert of Austria. (see above) (_b_)
  |   |   |   +-- Elizabeth. (see above)
  |   |   |   +-- Matthias. (see above)
  |   |   +-- Mary.
  |   |   |   =William of Cleves.
  |   |   +-- Ferdinand, d. 1595.
  |   |   |   =Philippina Welser.
  |   |   |   +-- Anne.
  |   |   |       =Matthias, d. 1619.
  |   |   +-- Charles.
  |   |       =Anne.
  |   |       +-- Ferdinand II, d. 1637.
  |   |           =Maria Anna.
  |   |           +-- Ferdinand III, d. 1657.
  |   |               =Mary of Spain.
  |   |               +-- Philip IV. of Spain.
  |   |               |   =Mary.
  |   |               +-- Leopold I, d. 1705.
  |   |               |   =(1)Margaret of Spain.
  |   |               |   =(2)Claude of Tyrol.
  |   |               |   =(3)Eleanor, d. of Elector Palatine.
  |   |               |   +-- Joseph I, d. 1711.
  |   |               |   |   =Wilhelmina of Hanover.
  |   |               |   +-- Charles VI, d. 1740.
  |   |               |       =Eliz. Christina of Brunswick.
  |   |               |       +-- Maria Theresa of Austria, Queen of
  |   |               |               Hungary, and daughter of the
  |   |               |               Emperor Charles VI, d. 1780.
  |   |               |           =Francis III., Duke of Lorraine;
  |   |               |               exchanged Lorraine for Tuscany;
  |   |               |               el. Emperor 1745, m. 1736, d. 1765.
  |   |               +-- Eleanor.
  |   |                   =Charles Leopold of Lorraine.
  |   +-- Katherine.
  |       =John III. of Portugal, d. 1557.
  |       +-- John of Portugal, d. 1554.
  |       |   =Juana of Spain.
  |       |   +-- Sebastian of Portugal. (see above)
  |       +-- Mary of Portugal, d. 1539.
  |           =Philip II. of Spain, 1527-1598.
  +-- Margaret, d. 1530.
      =(1)John, son of Ferdinand and Isabella.
      =(2)Philibert II. of Savoy.


II. DENMARK, 1481-1588.

 Christian I., King of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, d. 1481.
 =Dorothea of Brandenburg, widow of Christopher, King of Denmark, d. 1448.
 +-- John, d. 1513.
 |   =Christina of Saxony.
 |   +-- Christian II. of Denmark, dep. 1523, 1481-1559.
 |   |   =Isabella of Austria, 1501-1526.
 |   |   +-- John, 1516-1531.
 |   |   +-- Dorothea, 1520-1562.
 |   |   |   =Frederic II., Elector Palatine, 1483-1556.
 |   |   +-- Christina of Denmark, 1522-1590.
 |   |       =(1)Francesco II., last Duke of Milan, 1495-1535.
 |   |       =(2)Francis I., Duke of Lorraine, 1517-1545.
 |   +-- Elizabeth.
 |       =Joachim of Brandenburg, d. 1535.
 +-- Margaret.
 |   =James III. of Scotland, d. 1488.
 +-- Frederick I.
     =(1)Anne of Brandenburg.
     =(2)Sophia of Pomerania.
     +-- Dorothea.
     |   =Albert, Duke of Prussia, d. 1568.
     +-- Christian III, d. 1558.
     |   +-- Frederic II, d. 1588.
     |   +-- Anna.
     |   |   =Augustus, Elector of Saxony.
     |   +-- John, (branch of Glücksburg Augustenburg).
     +-- Adolf, Duke of Holstein.
         =Christina of Hesse.
         +-- John Adolf, (branch of Holstein-Gottorp).
         |   =Amelia of Denmark.
         +-- Christina.
             =Charles IX. of Sweden.
             +-- Gustavus Adolphus, d. 1632.
                 +-- Christina, d. 1689.


III. SFORZA.

 Francesco, Duke of Milan, 1450, 1401-1466.
 =Bianca Maria Visconti, d. 1468.
 +-- Galeazzo Maria, 1444-1476.
 |   =Bona of Savoy.
 |   +-- Gian Galeazzo, 1469-1494.
 |   |   =Isabella of Aragon, d. 1524.
 |   |   +-- Francesco, Abbot of Noirmoutiers, 1490-1512.
 |   |   +-- Ippolita, d. 1501.
 |   |   +-- Bona, d. 1557.
 |   |       =Sigismund I., King of Poland, d. 1548.
 |   +-- Ermes, 1470-1504.
 |   +-- Caterina, d. 1509.
 |   |   =(1)Girolamo Riario.
 |   |   =(2)Giacomo Feo.
 |   |   =(3)Giovanni de' Medici.
 |   +-- Ottaviano, Bishop of Lodi.
 |   +-- Carlo.
 |   |   =Bianca Simonetta.
 |   |   +-- Ippolita.
 |   |       =Alessandro Bentivoglio.
 |   +-- Anna, 1473-1497.
 |       =Alfonso d'Este.
 +-- Ippolita, 1446-1484.
 |   =Alfonso of Calabria, afterwards King of Naples.
 +-- Filippo, 1448-1492.
 |   =Costanza Sforza.
 +-- Sforza, Duke of Bari, 1449-1479.
 +-- Lodovico Maria, 1451-1480.
 |   =Beatrice d'Este, 1475-1497.
 |   +-- Massimiliano abd. 1515, 1493-1530.
 |   +-- Francesco II., last Duke of Milan, 1495-1535.
 |   |   =Christina of Denmark, 1522-1590.
 |   +-- Cesare.
 |   +-- Leone, Protonotary.
 |   +-- Bianca, d. 1497.
 |   |   =Galeazzo di Sanseverino, d. 1525.
 |   +-- Gian Paolo, 1497-1535.
 |       +-- Line of Caravaggio extinct 1697.
 +-- Ascanio, Cardinal, 1455-1505.
 +-- Tristano, d. 1477.
     =Beatrice d'Este da Correggio.


IV. LORRAINE, 1300-1736.

 Frederic IV, d. 1328.
 =Elizabeth, daughter of the Emperor Albert I.
 +-- Raoul, killed at Crécy, d. 1346.
     +-- John, d. 1391.
         +-- Charles II, d. 1431.
         |   =Margaret, daughter of the Emperor Rupert III.
         |   +-- Isabella, d. 1453.
         |       =René I. of Anjou, d. 1480.
         |       +-- John, d. 1470.
         |       +-- Margaret.
         |       |   =Henry, VI. of England.
         |       +-- Yolande, 1428-1483.
         |           =Frederic, Count of Vaudemont, d. 1472.
         |           +-- René II., Duke of Lorraine and Bar, King of
         |                   Sicily, etc, d. 1508.
         |               =Philippa of Guelders, d. 1547.
         |               +-- Anthony, 1489-1544.
         |               |   =René de Bourbon, d. 1539.
         |               |   +-- Francis I., Duke of Lorraine, 1517-1545.
         |               |   |   =Christina of Denmark, 1522-1590.
         |               |   |   +-- Charles III, 1543-1608.
         |               |   |       =Claude, de France, 1548-1575.
         |               |   |       +-- Henry, 1563-1624.
         |               |   |       |   =(1)Catherine, de Bourbon, d. 1604.
         |               |   |       |   =(2)Margaret Gonzaga.
         |               |   |       |   +-- Claude of Lorraine, d. 1648.
         |               |   |       |   |   =Nicolas-Francis, Duke of
         |               |   |       |   |   |   Lorraine, d. 1670.
         |               |   |       |   |   +-- Charles-Leopold, 1643-1690.
         |               |   |       |   |       =Eleanor of Austria.
         |               |   |       |   |       +-- Leopold-Joseph, 1679-1729.
         |               |   |       |   |           =Charlotte-Elizabeth
         |               |   |       |   |           |   of Orleans.
         |               |   |       |   |           +-- Francis III., Duke of
         |               |   |       |   |                 Lorraine; exchanged
         |               |   |       |   |                 Lorraine for
         |               |   |       |   |                 Tuscany; el. Emperor
         |               |   |       |   |                 1745, d. 1765.
         |               |   |       |   |               =Maria Theresa of
         |               |   |       |   |                 Austria, Queen of
         |               |   |       |   |                 Hungary, and
         |               |   |       |   |                 daughter of the
         |               |   |       |   |                 Emperor Charles VI.,
         |               |   |       |   |                 m. 1736, d. 1780.
         |               |   |       |   +-- Nicole, d. 1657.
         |               |   |       |       =Charles IV., abd. 1634, d. 1675.
         |               |   |       +-- Francis II, 1571-1632.
         |               |   |       |   =Christina of Salm.
         |               |   |       |   +-- Nicolas-Francis, Duke of Lorraine,
         |               |   |       |   |       d. 1670.
         |               |   |       |   |   =Claude of Lorraine, d. 1648.
         |               |   |       |   |   +-- Charles-Leopold. (see above)
         |               |   |       |   +-- Henrietta, 1606-1660.
         |               |   |       |   |   =(1)Count of Phalsburg.
         |               |   |       |   |   =(2)Count Carlo Guasco.
         |               |   |       |   +-- Margaret.
         |               |   |       |       =Gaston, Duke of Orleans.
         |               |   |       +-- Christina, 1565-1636.
         |               |   |       |   =Ferdinand, Grand Duke of Tuscany.
         |               |   |       +-- Antoinette, 1568-1610.
         |               |   |       |   =William, Duke of Cleves.
         |               |   |       +-- Elizabeth, 1573-1633.
         |               |   |       |   =Maximilian II., Duke of Bavaria.
         |               |   |       +-- Catherine, Abbess of
         |               |   |               Remiremont, 1570-1648.
         |               |   +-- Anne, 1522-1568.
         |               |   |   =(1)René Prince of Orange.
         |               |   |   =(2)Philip, Duke of Aerschot.
         |               |   |   +-- Charles, de Croy, Marquis of
         |               |   |           Havre, b. 1549.
         |               |   +-- Nicolas, Count of Vaudemont, 1524-1577.
         |               |       =(1)Margaret of Egmont.
         |               |       =(2)Joanna of Savoy.
         |               |       =(3)Catherine of Aumale, m. 1569.
         |               |       +-- Louise.
         |               |       |   +Henri III. of France.
         |               |       +-- Philip, d. 1612.
         |               |       +-- Charles, Cardinal, d. 1587.
         |               +-- Claude, Duke of Guise. (See Table V.)
         |               +-- John, Cardinal, 1498-1550.
         |               +-- Francis, Count of Lambesque, 1503-1525.
         |               +-- Louis, Count of Vaudemon, 1506-1527.
         +-- Frederic, killed at Agincourt, d. 1415.
             =Margaret, heiress of Joinville and Vaudemont.
             +-- Anthony.
                 =heiress of Aumale and Mayenne.
                 +-- Frederic, Count of Vaudemont, d. 1472.
                     =Yolande, 1428-1483.
                     +-- René II., Duke of Lorraine, etc. (see above)


V. GUISE, 1500-1600.

 René II., Duke of Lorraine and Bar, King of Sicily, etc, d. 1508.
 =Philippa of Guelders, d. 1547.
 +-- Claude, Duke of Guise, 1496-1550.
     =Antoinette of Bourbon, 1494-1583.
     +-- Mary, 1515-1560.
     |   =(1)Louis, Duke of Longueville, d. 1537.
     |   =(2)James, V., King of Scotland, d. 1542.
     |   +-- Louis, Duke of Longueville, 1536-1551.
     |   +-- Mary, Queen of Scots, 1542-1587.
     |       =(1)Francis II., King of France, d. 1560.
     |       =(2)Henry, Lord Darnley, d. 1567.
     |       +-- James, VI. of Scotland and I. of England (1603),
     |               1567-1623.
     |           =Anne of Denmark, d. 1619.
     +-- Francis, Duke of Guise, 1520-1563.
     |   =Anna d'Este, 1531-1607.
     |   +-- Henri le Balafré Prince of Joinville, etc., Duke of Guise,
     |           1549-1588.
     |       =Catherine of Cleves.
     |       +-- Charles, Duke of Guise, 1571-1640.
     |       |   =Henriette de Joyeuse, Duchess of Montpensier, d. 1656.
     |       +-- Louis, Cardinal and Archbishop of Reims, b. 1575.
     |       +-- Claude, Duke of Chevreuse, b. 1578.
     |       |   =Marie de Rohan.
     |       +-- Louise.
     |           =Francis, Prince of Conti, m. July 24, 1605.
     +-- Louise, 1521-1542.
     |   =Charles, Prince of Chimay.
     +-- René Abbess of S. Pierre, Reims, 1522-1586.
     +-- Charles, Cardinal, 1523-1574.
     +-- Claude, Duke of Aumale, 1526-1573.
     |   =Louise, de Bréze, m. 1545.
     |   +-- Catherine of Aumale.
     |   |   =Nicolas, Count of Vaudemont, b. 1524, m. 1569, d. 1577.
     |   +-- Charles, Duke of Aumale, b. 1556.
     |   |   =Marie d'Elbœuf m. 1576.
     |   +-- Claude, Abbot of Bec, b. 1563.
     |   +-- Diana, m. 1576.
     |       =Francis, Duke of Piney.
     +-- Louis, Cardinal, 1527-1578.
     +-- Antoinette, Abbess of Farmoustiers, 1531-1561.
     +-- Francis, Prior of Malta, 1534-1563.
     +-- René Marquis of Elbœuf, 1535-1576.
         =Louise, de Rieux.
         +-- Charles, Marquis of Elbœuf; created Duke 1581.
         +-- Marie d'Elbœuf, m. 1576.
             =Charles, Duke of Aumale, b. 1556.




INDEX


  Adige, the, 132

  Aerschot, Anne, Duchess of, death of her husband, 329;
    birth of a son, 333;
    her letters to Mary, Queen of Hungary, 368, 523;
    at Joinville, 464;
    at Lorraine, 484;
    retires to Diest, 485;
    her death, 487

  Aerschot, Duke of, 79, 142;
    receives the Ambassadors, 184;
    his defeat at Sittard, 280;
    third marriage, 323;
    death, 329

  Aerschot, Philip of, 484

  Agincourt, Battle of, 257

  Agrippa, Cornelius, 50, 58

  Aigues-Mortes, 172

  Aix-la-Chapelle, 27, 43, 135

  Aix, siege of, 118

  Alberi, E., "Le Relazioni degli Ambasciatori," 528

  Albret, Jeanne d', 235.
    See Navarre, Princess of

  Alençon, Duke of, 507

  Alençon, Margaret, Duchess of, Queen of Navarre, 10

  Alessandria, 509

  Algiers, expedition to, 267

  Alsace, 353, 374

  Alsace, Gerard d', 256

  Alsener Sound, 65

  Altmeyer, J., "Isabelle d'Autriche," 13 _note_, 15 _note_, 33 _note_,
        40 _note_, 43 _note_, _et seq._, 528;
    "Relations Commerciales du Danemark et les Pays-Bas," 34 _note_, 37
        _note_, 38 _note_, _et seq._, 528

  Alva, Duchess of, in London, 391

  Alva, Duke of, Commander-in-Chief, 383;
    in London, 391;
    war with Pope Paul IV., 409;
    appointed Captain-General of the Netherlands, 486

  Alzei, 402

  Amager, island of, 19

  Amboise, 463

  Amigone, Mario, 96

  André, St., Marshal, taken prisoner at St. Quentin, 417;
    at the Conference of Cercamp, 428

  Angoulême, Duke of, 114

  Anjou, Henry, Duke of, 489;
    succeeds to the throne, 490

  Anjou, Margaret of, 257

  Annebaut, Admiral l', 291

  Anne of Cleves, her appearance, 225;
    her marriage pronounced null and void, 236

  Annonville, 268

  Antwerp, 27, 39, 201;
    riots at, 485

  Apennines, the, 116

  Aragon, Don Carlos of, Duke of Terranuova, Viceroy of Milan, 499

  Aragon, Ferdinand of, 10

  Aremberg, Count d', 331, 479;
    killed in battle, 487

  Aremberg, Jacques d', at Frankfurt, 470

  Aremberg, Margaret, Countess of, 382, 479, 480;
    at Nancy, 485

  Arena, 117

  Aretino, Pietro, 96;
    his portraits of the Duke and Duchess of Milan, 96;
    his tribute to the Duke, 110;
    "Lettere," 529

  Armstrong, Ed., "Cambridge Modern History," 507 _note_, 529

  Arras, Antoine Perrenot, Bishop of, at Augsburg, 319;
    his portrait, 322;
    Imperial Chancellor, 342;
    at the Conference of Cercamp, 428;
    of Câteau-Cambrésis, 436;
    on the rivalry between Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, and the
        Duchess of Parma, 459

  Arras, Bishop of, proclaims Charles V. Archduke of Austria and Prince
        of Castille, 3

  Arundel, Fitzalan, Earl of, 158 _note_

  Arundel, Thomas Howard, Earl of, 158 _note_

  Arundel, Lord, 415;
    at the Conference of Cercamp, 428, 432

  Ascham, Roger, 321;
    "Works," 319 _note_, 529;
    his journey up the Rhine, 339;
    description of royal personages, 344, 346

  Ashmole, E., "The Order of the Garter," 392 _note_, 529

  Asti, 116

  Aubespine, Sebastien de l', at the Conference of Cercamp, 428;
    at Ghent, 457;
    "Négociations au Règne de François II.," 457 _note_, 531

  Audley, Chancellor, 162

  Augsburg, 60;
    Diet of, 318, 337;
    prorogued, 323, 346;
    festivities at, 338

  Aumale, Count, 253;
    at Joinville, 270;
    failure of his negotiations of marriage, 270;
    wounded, 307;
    his wish to marry Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 312;
    marriage with Anna d'Este, 326;
    created a Duke Governor of Savoy, 333;
    his capture, 379

  Austria, Don John of, 488;
    appointed Governor of the Netherlands, 492;
    at Luxembourg, 492;
    his letter to Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 493;
    victory of Gembloux, 494;
    death, 495

  Austria, Elizabeth of, at Nancy, 490

  Austria, Philip, Archduke of, his death, 1;
    funeral, 2

  Avenati, P., "Entrata Solemne di Cristina di Spagna," 92 _note_, 529

  Avignano, Count, 396

  Avignon, 118

  Axe, Torben, 24

  Ayamonte, Marquis of, 497


  Badoer, Venetian Ambassador, 396, 406

  Bar, 239, 284, 476

  Bar, Duke and Duchess of, 252.
    See Lorraine

  Barack, K., "Zimmerische Chronik," 529

  Barbarossa, his flight, 106

  Barcelona, contract signed at, 74, 104

  Bari, duchy of, 453

  Barlow, John, Dean of Westbury, 205

  Barres, Guillaume des, 48

  Bassompierre, 360, 377;
    at Denœuvre, 373

  Baumgarten, H., "Geschichte Karl V.," 23 _note_, 529

  Bavaria, Maximilian, Duke of, his marriage, 512

  Bavaria, William, Duke of, his marriage with Renée of Lorraine, 488

  Bavon's Abbey, St., demolition of, 230

  Bayonne, 220

  Beard, Mr., 205

  Beaumont, Castle of, 242, 246

  Beaumont, Dame Anne de, 6

  Bellay, M. du, "Mémoires," 250 _note_, 530

  Belloni, Niccolò, 129, 141, 347;
    his letters to Gadio, 348-350;
    sent to Brussels, 375;
    his disappearance, 375

  Beltrami, L., "Il Castello di Milano," 529

  Bergh, L. van, "Correspondance de M. d'Autriche," 21 _note_, 529

  Berghen, Madame de, 142, 154, 198

  Berghen, Marquis of, 185, 252

  Berlin, 39, 40

  Bianca, Empress, 7, 72

  Binche, destruction of the Palace of, 390

  Bisignano, Prince of, 66

  Blamont, 370

  Blois, 462

  Bohemia, Anna of, her death, 320

  Bohemia, King and Queen of, at Brussels, 405

  Bois-le-Duc, 212

  Boleyn, Anne, 144, 150

  Bologna, 73, 74

  Bonner, Bishop, 182, 213

  Bonvalot, François, Abbot of Luxeuil, 299;
    his letter on the Regency of Lorraine, 300;
    present at the funeral of Antoine, Duke of Lorraine, 305

  Bomy, truce at, 137

  Borromeo, Carlo, Archbishop of Milan, 500

  Bottigella, Councillor Pier Francesco, 78;
    his instructions on the reception of Christina, Duchess of Milan, 84

  Bouillé, R. de, "Histoire des Ducs de Guise," 222 _note_, 529

  Bouillon, Godfrey of, 256

  Boullay, Édmond du, 253

  Boulogne, siege of, 292

  Bourbon, Antoinette de, 147, 258.
    See Guise

  Bourbon, Renée de, her marriage, 11, 258

  Boussu, Grand Equerry, in London, 391

  Bradford, W., "Itinerary of Charles V.," 244 _note_, 529

  Bragadin, Lorenzo, Venetian Envoy, 113

  Brandenburg, Albert, Marquis of, 285, 318;
    his career, 320;
    appearance, 321;
    admiration for Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 321;
    declines to take part in the tournament at Brussels, 332;
    his departure, 332;
    secret intrigues with France, 354, 357;
    his plundering, 377;
    offers a refuge to Christina, 377;
    captures Aumale, 379;
    meeting with Charles V., 379;
    his courtship of Christina, 383;
    routed at the Battle of Sievershausen, 384;
    death, 385

  Brandenburg, Elizabeth of, embraces the Lutheran faith, 41;
    her flight with her brother, 56

  Brandenburg, Joachim, Marquis of, 39, 41;
    at the marriage of King Christian II., 13

  Brantôme, P. de, his sketch of Christina of Denmark, vii;
    "Œuvres Complètes," 529

  Breda, Castle of, 174

  Brederode, Count, 183, 252

  Brégilles, M. de, 55

  Brenner Pass, 133, 372

  Brian, Ambassador, 281

  Brittany, Anne of, 3; her death, 11

  Brousse, Jean de la, 314, 372

  Browne, Sir Anthony, 182

  Bruges, 30, 236

  Brunswick, Dorothea, Duchess of, at the Court of Spain, 502;
    return to Göttingen, 503;
    death of her husband, 503;
    joins her mother at Tortona, 505;
    her second marriage, 511;
    death, 511

  Brunswick, Eric, Duke of, 480;
    his marriage with Dorothea of Lorraine, 490;
    summoned to Spain, 502;
    return to Göttingen, 503;
    his death, 503

  Brunswick, Henry, Duke of, 39, 40

  Brusquet, the jester, 404

  Brussels, 8, 104, 135, 141, 183, 381, 400;
    festivities at, 293, 329, 405;
    tournament at, 405

  Bucholtz, F. von, "Geschichte d. Kaiser Ferdinand I.," 264 _note_, 529

  "Bulletins de la Commission Royale d'Histoire," 2 _note_

  Büren, Anna, Countess, her death, 425

  Büren, Count, 142, 252;
    entertained by Wriothesley, 198

  Burgon, J. W., "Life of Sir Thomas Gresham," 396 _note_, 529

  Burgos, 1, 220

  Burgundy, Adolf of, Admiral of the Dutch fleet, 36

  Burgundy, Mary of, 9

  Burigozzo, G. M., "Cronaca Milanese," 82 _note_, 529

  Busch, Count Jacob von, 351

  Busseto, Bartolommeo, 498

  Butler, A. J., "Cambridge Modern History," 508 _note_


  Calabria, 112

  Calais, 37, 204, 214;
    capture of, by the French, 420;
    question of the restoration to England, 429, 432, 438, 443

  Calmet, A., "Histoire de Lorraine," 246 _note_, 256 _note_, 529

  Cambray, 177, 224;
    Peace of, 56, 403

  Cambray, Archbishop of, performs the nuptial rites of King Christian
        II., 13

  Cambre, La, Convent of, 449, 468

  Campeggio, Cardinal, 57

  Campo, A., "Storia di Cremona," 75 _note_, 96, 529

  Caracciolo, Cardinal, Papal Nuncio, 31;
    appointed Viceroy of Milan, 118;
    letters from Christina, Duchess of Milan, 516, 517

  Cardon, M. Leon, vii

  Carvajal, Cardinal, at Malines, 6

  Carne, Dr. Edward, 182, 199

  Carondelet, Archbishop, 230

  Carondelet, Ferry de, 377

  Cartagena, 267

  Castellani, Madame, 500

  Castillon, Ambassador, 147, 160, 164;
    recalled to France, 198

  Câteau-Cambrésis, Conference for peace at, 436-447;
    Commissioners, 436;
    treaty ratified, vi, 448

  Catherine, Queen of France, her state entry into Paris, 334;
    illness, 362;
    flight from Reims, 373

  Cenis, Mont, ascent of, 86

  Cercamp, Conference for peace at, 426-430;
    Commissioners, 428;
    second session, 431;
    adjourned, 432

  Chaloner, Ambassador, 457, 458

  Châlons, 291;
    camp at, 359

  Châlons, Philibert of, 142

  Chamberlain, A. B., 168 _note_

  Chambéry, 84, 85

  Champagne, attack on, 373

  Champier, Antoine, 296

  Chantilly, 181

  Chapuys, Ambassador, 151, 152, 159;
    entertained by Thomas Cromwell, 173;
    on Henry VIII.'s negotiations of marriage, 196;
    at Calais, 204;
    on the illness of Henry VIII., 315

  Charlemont, citadel of, 398

  Charles V., Emperor, vi;
    proclaimed Archduke of Austria and Prince of Castille, 3;
    at Malines, 4;
    attack of smallpox, 5;
    his education, 6;
    confirmation, 6;
    taste for sport, 8;
    at the wedding of his sister Isabella, 13;
    attack of fever, 14;
    festivities on his coming of age, 14;
    assumes the title of King of Spain, 20;
    his first Chapter of the Golden Fleece, 20;
    elected King of the Romans, 25;
    coronation, 27;
    meeting with King Christian II. of Denmark, 28, 57;
    his marriage, 48;
    death of his sister Isabella, 48;
    receives the imperial crown, 57;
    death of his aunt, 58;
    meeting with Prince John, 59;
    appoints his sister Mary Regent of the Netherlands, 61;
    his progress to Brussels, 66;
    festivities, 67;
    at Regensburg, 67, 245;
    his illness, 68, 385;
    letter on the death of his nephew, 69;
    at Milan, 74;
    arranges the marriage of his niece Christina, 74-78;
    sails for Africa, 104;
    his victory at Tunis, 106;
    march to Asti, 116, 118;
    meeting with Christina, 117, 377;
    invasion of Provence, 118;
    siege of Aix, 118;
    signs a truce, 118;
    places a Spanish garrison to defend Milan, 120;
    his reconciliation with the King of France, 172;
    treaty with him, 195;
    views on Henry VIII.'s proposed marriage, 197;
    Crusade against the Turks, 209;
    death of his wife, 210;
    reception in France, 221-223;
    meeting with King Francis, 221;
    at Paris, 222;
    return to Valenciennes, 224;
    paper of instructions, 226;
    enters Ghent, 228;
    his sentence of condemnation, 229;
    on the death of Cromwell, 237;
    arranges the second marriage of Christina, 245;
    his expedition to Algiers, 267;
    campaign against King Francis, 277;
    secret treaty with King Henry VIII., 280;
    success at Düren, 280;
    lays siege to Landrécy, 280;
    declines proposals of peace, 281, 282, 285;
    his treaty with Christian III., 283;
    visit to the convent, 285;
    at St. Dizier, 286;
    his wish for peace, 291;
    signs a treaty, 292;
    at Brussels, 293, 324, 381;
    campaign against the League of Schmalkalde, 317;
    victory of Mühlberg, 318;
    his portrait, 322;
    at Augsburg, 337;
    difficulties in obtaining the recognition of his son Philip as his
        successor, 341-347;
    appearance, 344, 378;
    intrigues against, 354, 357;
    takes refuge at Innsbruck, 355;
    at Villach, 372;
    enters Strasburg, 377;
    meeting with Albert, Marquis of Brandenburg, 379;
    raises the siege of Metz, 380;
    on the union of Queen Mary with his son, 387;
    his intention to abdicate, 398;
    abdication, 400-402;
    resigns the kingdoms of Spain and Sicily, 403;
    departure for Ghent, 406;
    embarks at Flushing, 406;
    his retreat at St. Yuste, 417;
    death, 430;
    funeral, 433-435;
    letters from Christina, 525

  Charles VI., Emperor, 513

  Charles VIII. of France, 3

  Charles IX. of France, proclaimed King, 464;
    his coronation, 467

  Charles the Bold of Burgundy, 9;
    defeated at Nancy, 257;
    removal of his bones to Bruges, 336

  Châtelhérault, 250

  Cheyney, Sir Thomas, Ambassador, 308

  Chimay, Charles, Prince of, 242;
    his affection for Louise de Guise, 242;
    marriage, 244

  Chimay, Louise, Princess of, her letter on her happy marriage, 247;
    death, 278

  Christian II., King of Denmark, his proposals of marriage, 12;
    coronation, 12;
    marriage by proxy, 13;
    reception of Queen Isabella, 15;
    wedding, 15;
    characteristics, 17, 18;
    appearance, 18, 29;
    relations with Dyveke, 18;
    treatment of his wife, 19, 20, 24, 39;
    misconduct, 20;
    elected Knight of the Golden Fleece, 25;
    crowned in the Cathedral of Upsala, 25;
    sympathy with the Lutheran faith, 26, 40, 45;
    his title of Nero of the North, 26;
    reforms, 26;
    journey through Germany, 27;
    portraits, 28, 29, 41;
    meeting with Charles V., 28;
    at Ghent, 29;
    interview with Cardinal Wolsey, 30;
    appeals for help, 33, 45;
    deposed, vi, 33, 39;
    his flight, 34;
    at Malines, 36;
    arrival in England, 37;
    meeting with Henry VIII., 37;
    infatuation for Sigebritt, 38, 39;
    raises a force in Germany, 39;
    intimacy with Luther, 41;
    at Lierre, 44;
    extravagance, 44;
    death of his wife, 46;
    intention to invade Denmark, 49;
    plunderings and ravages, 49, 56;
    picture of his children, 53;
    his public recantation, 57;
    return to Malines, 57;
    invasion of Holland, 62;
    sails to Norway, 63;
    his reception, 64;
    disbands his forces, 64;
    imprisonment, 65;
    removed to Kallundborg Castle, 327;
    his death, 449

  Christian III., King of Denmark, his succession disputed, 103;
    secret treaty with France, 275;
    his treaty with Charles V., 283

  Christina of Denmark, her birth, 32;
    life at Malines, 50-53;
    portraits, v, 54, 96, 155, 157, 158 _note_, 509, 514;
    present at the festivities at Brussels, 66;
    proposal of marriage from the Duke of Milan, 74;
    love of riding, 75, 141;
    character, vi, 75, 97;
    appearance, v, 80, 86, 98, 149, 466;
    wedding, 81, 94;
    letters to her husband, 83, 100, 516;
    dowry, 83;
    her journey to Milan, 83-90;
    at Cussago, 88;
    first sight of her husband, 89;
    state entry into Milan, 90-93;
    popularity, 98, 141, 264, 408, 415, 450;
    lessons in Italian, 99;
    death of her husband, 101, 107;
    offers of marriage, 113-115, 207, 383;
    meeting with her uncle Charles V., 117, 377;
    petitions to Cardinal Caracciolo, 119, 120;
    reception at Pavia, 122;
    attack of fever, 127, 210;
    departure from Pavia, 129;
    journey to Brussels, 129-135;
    meeting with her sister Dorothea, 134;
    at Heidelberg, 134, 378;
    her life at Brussels, 141, 294, 327, 382;
    at the Castle of Breda, 174;
    return to Brussels, 183, 448;
    her interview with Wriothesley, 191-194;
    negotiations of marriage with Henry VIII. broken off, 204;
    her suitors, 207, 312, 321, 383, 387;
    reception of her sister Dorothea, 212;
    affection for Prince René of Orange, 218, 232, 238;
    at Valenciennes, 224;
    her betrothal to Francis, Duke of Lorraine, 244;
    marriage, 245, 251;
    journey to Pont-à-Mousson, 253;
    reception at Nancy, 254;
    on the love of her husband, 264;
    at Fontainebleau, 265;
    her letters to Granvelle on the cession of Stenay, 266, 271;
    reception at Joinville, 268;
    her reason for rejecting Henry VIII., 274;
    at Esclaron, 276, 461;
    birth of a son, 279;
    at Spires, 282;
    her efforts for peace, 282;
    birth of a daughter, 283;
    return to Nancy, 294, 322, 482;
    death of her husband, 297;
    appointed Regent of Lorraine, 298, 302;
    birth of a second daughter, 302;
    her friendship with the Princess of Orange, 303;
    letter to Abbot Bonvalot, 308;
    reception of Francis I., 312;
    refusal to marry, 312;
    at Augsburg, 318, 337-339;
    measures for the defence of Nancy, 323;
    departure from Brussels, 332;
    at the funeral of the Duke of Guise, 335;
    her retinue, 340;
    entertainment of Frederic and Dorothea, 352;
    fear of the invasion of Lorraine by the French, 356, 359;
    at Joinville, 356;
    her interview with Henry II., 361;
    reception of him at Nancy, 363;
    deprived of the Regency, 364;
    appeal to Henry II., 365, 371;
    distress at parting with her son, 366, 370;
    appeal to Queen Mary, 367;
    retires to Blamont, 370;
    her illness, 371, 476, 477, 485, 488, 497, 509;
    at Denœuvre, 372;
    ordered to leave, 374;
    takes refuge in Alsace, 374;
    at Hoh-Königsberg, 377;
    visits to England, 394, 413-416;
    present at the abdication of Charles V., 401;
    at Ghent, 406, 416, 457;
    meeting with her son, 421-423, 435, 440;
    affection for William, Prince of Orange, 425;
    presides at the Conference of Cercamp, 426-432;
    refusal to attend the wedding of her son, 436;
    presides at the Conference of Câteau-Cambrésis, 437-447;
    death of her father, 449;
    her sorrow at not being appointed Regent of the Netherlands, 452;
    request for the duchy of Bari, 453;
    refuses the Castle of Lecce, 455;
    relations with the Duchess of Parma, 459;
    return to Lorraine, 460;
    meeting with King Francis II. and Queen Mary of Scots, 461;
    acts as Regent of Lorraine, 463;
    reception of Mary, Queen of Scots, 465;
    at Reims, 466;
    at Frankfurt, 470;
    agreement with the Bishop of Toul, 472;
    rebuilds the salt-works of Les Rosières, 472;
    birth of a grandson, 473;
    interview with Cardinal Granvelle, 474;
    her wish to recover Denmark, 469, 475, 488;
    at the christening of her grandson, 476;
    pilgrimage to Brussels, 481;
    her medal and motto, 483;
    marriage of her daughter, Renée, 488;
    her grandchildren, 489;
    marriage of her daughter Dorothea, 490;
    letter of welcome to Don John of Austria, 492;
    pilgrimage to Loreto, 497;
    state entry into Tortona, 497;
    character of her rule, 498;
    her illustrious guests, 500;
    works of mercy, 500;
    quarrels with Philip of Spain, 501, 503, 514;
    joined by her daughter Dorothea, 505;
    death, 509;
    funeral at Nancy, 510;
    inscription on her tomb, 511;
    character, 514;
    charm, 515;
    letters to Cardinal Caracciolo, 516, 517;
    to Mary, Queen of Hungary, 523;
    to Charles V., 525;
    to Mary, Queen of England, 526

  Churchill, A., "Travels," 47 _note_, 470 _note_

  Claude, Princess, of France, her christening, 333;
    proposed marriage with Charles, Duke of Lorraine, 419;
    wedding, 435.
    See Lorraine

  Clement VII., Pope, 42, 57, 73, 106

  Clès, Cardinal-Bishop Bernhard von, at Verona, 132

  Cleves, State of, 135

  Cleves, Anne of, her appearance, 209;
    marriage with Henry VIII., 217

  Cleves, William, Duke of, 136;
    chosen to succeed to the dukedom of Guelders, 138;
    his courtship of the Duchess of Milan, 207, 232;
    takes possession of Guelders, 207;
    at Ghent, 231, 233;
    his claim on the succession of Guelders, 231, 233;
    return, 234;
    his treaty with France, 244;
    his marriage with Princess Jeanne of Navarre, 249-251;
    surrender to Charles V., 280;
    his marriage annulled, 280

  Clouet, his portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots, 465

  Clough, Richard, present at the funeral of Charles V., 435

  Coblenz, 351

  Codogno, 130

  Cognac, 279

  Coligny, Admiral, at Brussels, 404;
    taken prisoner at St. Quentin, 417

  Cologne, 135

  Colonna, Fabrizio, 380

  Compiègne, 177

  Condé, leader of the Huguenots, 471

  Constantyne, George, 205;
    imprisonment, 206

  Contarini, Francesco, Venetian Ambassador, 233

  Contarini, Gaspare, his impressions of King Christian II., 29

  Conway, Sir Martin, "Literary Remains of Albert Dürer," 27 _note_, 530

  Copenhagen, 15, 483;
    siege of, 38;
    capitulation, 39, 105

  Corbetta, Gualtiero di, his oration at the funeral of the Duke of
        Milan, 109

  Corte, Benedetto da, 99, 117, 122, 141;
    his account of the journey to Mantua, 131;
    his views on the proposed marriage of Henry VIII. with Christina,
        Duchess of Milan, 170

  Cortile, L., "Ragionamenti," 530

  Coryat, T., "Crudities," 86 _note_, 530

  Coste, Hilarion de, "Les Éloges," 498 _note_

  Cournault, C., "Ligier-Richier," 289 _note_, 316 _note_, 530

  Courrières, Jean de Montmorency, Sieur de, 78, 184;
    in charge of Christina, Duchess of Milan, 121;
    his career, 124;
    letter on the proposed Cleves marriage, 139;
    appointed Bailiff of Alost, 140, 219;
    his letters to Charles V., 126-128

  Courteville, Jean de, 413

  Cranach, Lucas, his portrait of King Christian II. of Denmark, 41

  Cranmer, Archbishop, 162

  Cremona, 130

  Crépy-en-Laonnois, peace signed at, 292

  Cromwell, Thomas, 115;
    his portrait, 155;
    entertains Gian Battista Ferrari, 170;
    entertains the Ambassadors, 173;
    on Henry VIII.'s negotiations of marriage, 196;
    entertains Frederic, Count Palatine, 214;
    arrested and sent to the Tower, 236;
    beheaded, 237

  Croy, Anne de, 142

  Croy, Charles de, Marquis of Havré, 492

  Cussago, villa of, 88

  Cust, L., 159 _note_, 530


  Dahlmann, F., "Geschichte von Dänemark," 27 _note_, 530

  Dalecarlia, 27

  Darnley, Henry, Lord, his marriage with Mary, Queen of Scots, 485

  Decrue, F., "Anne de Montmorency," 181 _note_, 245 _note_, 250
        _note_, 419 _note_, 530

  Denis, St., Battle of, 487

  Denmark, outbreak of war with Sweden, 475

  Denmark, Queen Christina of, v. See Christina

  Denœuvre, 299, 372; Treaty of, 302

  Devonshire, Edward Courtenay, Lord, 402

  Diego, Don, his return to Flanders, 174

  Diest, 482, 485, 487

  Dizier, St., camp at, 286;
    surrender of, 289

  Dodgson, Campbell, viii

  Dordrecht, 212

  Dormer, Jane, 425

  Dorothea, Princess, of Denmark, 27, 35;
    her portrait, 54;
    offers of marriage, 71, 101, 102;
    her appearance, 101;
    character, 101, 105;
    marriage with Frederic, Count Palatine, 105;
    her love of adventure, 106;
    meeting with her sister Christina at Heidelberg, 134;
    at Toledo, 211;
    visit to her aunt Eleanor, 211;
    at the Hague, 212;
    her appeal on behalf of her father, 231;
    at the funeral of the Duke of Lorraine, 310;
    her visit to Nancy, 351-353;
    death of her husband, 402;
    at Jülich, 416;
    Neuburg, 417, 468;
    death, 469;
    inscription on her monument, 469

  Doulans, M. de, 374

  Dover, 413

  Dreux, Battle of, 471

  Drondtheim, Archbishop of, 14, 19, 64

  Drouin, Simon, 511

  Düren, surrender of, 280

  Dürer, Albert, extract from his Journal, 27;
    his portraits of King Christian II. of Denmark, 28, 29


  Edward VI., King, his birth, 145;
    his death, 386

  Effingham, Lord Howard of, at the Conference of Câteau-Cambrésis, 437;
    on the marriage of Queen Elizabeth, 440

  Egmont, Anne of, 400

  Egmont, Count Lamoral d', his wedding, 283;
    christening of his daughter, 393;
    his victory at Gravelines, 424;
    at Frankfurt, 470;
    result of his mission to Philip of Spain, 481;
    arrested, 486;
    execution, 487

  Egmont, Floris d', at Brussels, 201

  Egmont, Margaret of, her marriage, 324;
    death, 390.
    See Vaudemont

  Egmont, Mary Christina, her christening, 393

  Egmont, Philippa of, 257

  Elbe, the, 39

  Elbœuf, Marquis of, at Mon Soulas, 440

  Eleanor, Archduchess, of Austria, 4;
    attack of smallpox, 5;
    education, 6;
    offers of marriage, 12;
    her affection for Frederic, Count Palatine, 21;
    Queen of Portugal, 24;
    of France, 137;
    at Compiègne, 177;
    meeting with her sister Mary, 178;
    her appearance, 178, 339;
    reception of her brother Charles V., 221;
    at Brussels, 293, 325;
    her death, 430

  Elizabeth, Princess, of France, her christening, 308;
    proposals of marriage, 392, 412, 446;
    marriage with Philip of Spain, 456

  Elizabeth, Queen of England, her accession, 432;
    invitation to Christina, 457

  Ely, Bishop of, at the Conference of Cercamp, 428, 432;
    of Câteau-Cambrésis, 436

  Emanuel, King of Portugal, 9;
    death of his second wife, 22;
    third marriage, 24;
    death, 102

  England, war declared with France, 417

  Épernay, 291

  Erasmus of Rotterdam, 28

  Eric, King of Sweden, his negotiations with Christina, Duchess of
        Lorraine, 478;
    proposal of marriage with Renée of Lorraine, 482;
    his unstable character, 483;
    deposed, 483

  Esclaron, 275, 476

  Esslingen, 339

  Este, Anna d', her marriage with Count Aumale, 326;
    appearance, 326

  Este, Duchess Beatrice d', 7;
    her death, 72;
    country-house of Cussago, 89

  Este, Francesco d', 289

  Étampes, Madame d', 179, 245, 293

  Exeter, Lord, imprisoned in the Tower, 136;
    his execution, 186


  Farnese, Cardinal, 225, 228, 235

  Farnese, Cecilia, 115

  Farnese, Ottavio, 354, 410

  Farnese, Vittoria, 225;
    her marriage, 270

  Faye, Hugues de la, his decoration of the Palace of Nancy, 272

  Ferdinand, King, his marriage, 11;
    at Nuremberg, 40;
    his treatment of his sister Isabella, 40;
    King of the Romans, at Ghent, 230;
    departure from, 235;
    at Augsburg, 318, 337;
    death of his wife, 319;
    love of music, 320;
    his portrait, 322;
    refusal to accept Philip of Spain as coadjutor, 341-345;
    his character, 344;
    death, 478

  Fère, La, 183

  Feria, Count, 425, 431

  Ferrara, Alfonso d' Este, Duke of, 95;
    at the wedding of the Duke of Milan, 95;
    his death, 95;
    will, 95

  Ferrari, Gian Battista, 153;
    his impressions of England, 170;
    of Henry VIII., 171

  Fiennes, Madame de, 79

  Florence, 508

  Florence, Alexander, Duke of, 115

  Flushing, 406

  Foix, Germaine de, 28

  Fontaine, M. de, 374

  Fontainebleau, 221, 265, 279

  Förstemann, C., "Neues Urkundenbuch," 41 _note_, 530

  France, war declared with England, 417;
    outbreak of civil war, 471, 487

  Francis I., King of France, on Henry VIII.'s proposed marriage, 147;
   his reconciliation with Charles V., 172;
   meeting with Queen Mary of Hungary, 177;
   treaty with Charles V., 195;
   reception of Frederic, Count Palatine, and Dorothea, 211;
    reception of Charles V., 221-223;
    on the death of Cromwell, 237;
    treatment of the Duke of Lorraine, 265;
    demands the cession of Stenay, 266;
    his secret treaty with Christian III., 275;
    at Esclaron, 275;
    campaign against Charles V., 277;
    disbands his forces, 277;
    terms of peace, 292;
    death of his son, 304;
    at Joinville, 311, 313;
    at Bar, 311;
    his death, 315

  Francis II., King of France, his protest against the treaty, 292;
    marriage with Mary, Queen of Scots, 420;
    accession, 457;
    coronation, 460;
    at Lorraine, 461;
    at Blois, 462;
    death, 464

  Frankfurt, 470

  Frederic II., Elector Palatine, his affection for Eleanor of Austria,
        21;
    banished from Court, 23;
    his negotiations of marriage, 102-104;
    marriage, 105;
    at Toledo, 211;
    his visit to the King of France, 211;
    illness, 211;
    at the Hague, 212;
    visit to England, 213-217;
    reception at Windsor, 215;
    return to Brussels, 217;
    his designs against Denmark, 230;
    efforts to raise a loan, 241;
    his claim to Denmark, 274;
    succeeds to the Palatinate, 282;
    joins the League of Schmalkalde, 317;
    his loyalty to Charles V., 317;
    love of travel, 351;
    journey to Nancy, 351-353;
    his influence in Germany, 378;
    welcome to Christina, 379;
    his death, 402;
    burial, 403

  Frederic, King of Denmark, recognition of his title, 42;
    death, 72

  Frederic III., King of Denmark, his unpopularity, 468;
    negotiations of marriage with Renée of Lorraine, 475

  Frederic of Zimmern, Elector Palatine, 469

  French, the, threaten to invade Milan, 116

  Friedberg, Castle of, 488

  Friedewald, treaty at, 354

  Friedmann, P., "Les Dépêches de Michieli," 398 _note_, 530

  Frizzi, A., "Mémorie per la Storia di Ferrara," 530


  Gachard, L., "Relation des Troubles de Gand," 220 _note_, 228 _note_,
        530;
    "Retraite et Mort de Charles V.," 62 _note_, 331 _note_, 530;
    "Voyages de Charles V.," 283 _note_, 319 _note_, 530;
    "Voyages des Souverains des Pays-Bas," 1, 117 _note_, 246 _note_,
        530

  Gadio, Innocenzo, 347;
    letter from Contessa Trivulzio, 526

  Gaillard, M., Director of the Brussels Archives, vii

  Gallerati, Count Tommaso, 75

  Gambara, Cesare, Bishop of Tortona, 500

  Gardner, E., "A King of Court Poets," 95 _note_, 530

  Garonne, the, 250

  Gaye, G., "Carteggio Inedito di Artisti dei Secoli XV.," 530

  Gemappes, Castle of, 43

  Gembloux, victory of, 494

  Genoa, 119

  Ghent, 29, 78, 406, 416, 457;
    revolt at, 219;
    royal procession into, 228;
    sentence of condemnation, 229;
    riots at, 485

  Gheynst, Margaret van, 410

  Ghilino, Camillo, Ambassador to Milan, 74, 85, 106;
    "Annali di Alessandria," 107 _note_, 498 _note_, 530;
    his illness and death, 107

  Giœ, Court-Marshal Magnus, Danish Ambassador, 12;
    representative of King Christian II. at his marriage, 13

  Giussani, Signor Achille, vii

  Glay, E. Le, "Correspondance l'Empereur Maximilian I. et de
        Marguerite d'Autriche," 5 _note_, 531

  Gomez, Ruy, 338;
    in London, 391;
    at the Conference of Cercamp, 428

  Gonzaga, Chiara, 258

  Gonzaga, Cardinal Ercole, 91

  Gonzaga, Ferrante, 66;
    recovers Luxembourg, 284;
    at St. Dizier, 286;
    in London, 391

  Gorzes, Abbey of, 356

  Göttingen, 503

  Goulart. S., "Mémoires de la Ligue," 506 _note_, 530

  Granado, Sir Jacques de, 416

  Granvelle, Imperial Chancellor, 114;
    letters from Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, on the cession of
        Stenay, 266, 271;
    his portrait, 322;
    death, 342

  Granvelle, Antoine Perrenot,
    created Cardinal, 470;
    compelled to retire, 473;
    his reception at Nancy, 474;
    on the efforts of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, to recover
        Denmark, 488;
    his death, 505;
    "Papiers d'État," 114 _note_, 128 _note_, 220 _note_, 277 _note_,
        530

  Gravelines, victory at, 424

  Gravelines, Captain of, 198

  Gravesend, 413

  _Great Mary_, 35

  Greenwich, 37, 412

  Gregory XIII., Pope, 499

  Gresham, Sir Thomas, 395;
    present at the abdication of Charles V., 401

  Grey, Lady Katherine, 158 _note_

  Groenendal, Abbey of, 287

  Grümbach, Willem von, 475

  Guasco, Maddalena, 509

  Guazzo, Giorgio, 75;
    "Historie d'Italia," 92 _note_, 530

  Guelders, Charles of Egmont, Duke of;
    his proposal of marriage, 10;
    conflict with the Regent of the Netherlands, 36;
    his illness, 138;
    choice of a successor, 138

  Guelders, Philippa of. See Philippa, Duchess of Lorraine

  Guicciardini, L., "Paesi-Bassi," 141 _note_, 530

  Guise, Anna d' Este, Duchess of, birth of a son, 334

  Guise, Antoinette de Bourbon, Duchess of, 147, 258;
    her letters to her daughter, 167, 168 _note_, 518, 519, 520, 522;
    on the marriage of the Prince of Orange, 240;
    her daughter Louise's marriage, 243;
    account of the festivities at Guise, 240;
    at Pont-à-Mousson, 253;
    her sons and daughters, 259;
    reception of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 268;
    return to Joinville, 295;
    death of her husband, 335;
    of her grandson, 356;
    at the wedding of Henry III. of France, 490;
    her death, 505

  Guise, Antoinette de, goes to the convent at Reims, 270

  Guise, Claude, Duke of, 146, 179, 258;
    at Pont-à-Mousson, 253;
    return to Joinville, 295;
    at the funeral of the Duke of Lorraine, 309;
    his illness, 334;
    death, 335;
    funeral, 335;
    monument, 336

  Guise, Francis, Duke of,
    christening of his daughter, 356;
    his capture of Calais, 420;
    at the coronation of Charles IX., 467;
    murdered, 471, 508

  Guise, Louise de,
    her appearance, 164;
    portrait, 165;
    attack of fever, 167;
    proposal of marriage, 242;
    wedding, 244.
    See Chimay

  Guise, Mary, Queen of Scotland. See Mary

  Guise, Renée de, her appearance, 165;
    at the Convent of Reims, 167;
    Abbess of the Convent of St. Pierre, 314

  Guzman, Don Gabriel de, 291

  Gyldenstern, Knut, 64


  Hackett, John, Ambassador at Brussels, 85

  Hagberg-Wright, Dr., viii

  Haile, M., "Life of Reginald Pole," 389 _note_, 530

  Hainault, invasion of the French, 389

  Hall, Hubert, vii

  Hallays, A., "Nancy," 258 _note_, 260 _note_, 316 _note_

  Halle, 317

  Hamburg, Congress at, 42

  Hampton Court, 159, 216, 391

  Hannart, his opinion of the King and Queen of Denmark, 40

  Hans, King of Denmark, 18

  Haüsser, L., "Geschichte der Rheinischen Pfalz," 531

  Haussonville, Baron d', Governor of Nancy, 360, 363

  Hawkins, on the marriage of the Duke of Milan, 75

  Heidelberg, 105, 134, 378;
    castle at, 351, 353

  Heinrich, Otto, Elector Palatine, 403;
    his death, 469

  Held, Dr. Matthias, 133

  Helsingfors, 15

  Henne, A., "Histoire du Règne de Charles V.," 11 _note_, 531

  Henri le Balafré, his birth, 334

  Henry II., King of France, 178, 333, 490;
    his state entry into Paris, 334;
    declares war, 354;
    his advance on Reims, 359;
    at Joinville, 360;
    reception of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 361;
    enters Nancy, 362;
    arbitrary conditions, 364;
    deprives Christina of her son, 364-370;
    at Strasburg, 371;
    retreat, 373;
    orders Christina to leave Lorraine, 374;
    invasion of Hainault, 389;
    destruction of the Palace of Binche, 390;
    his threat to occupy Nancy, 408;
    wish for peace, 426, 429;
    wounded, 456;
    death, 457

  Henry III., King of France, his marriage with Louise of Vaudemont, 490

  Henry VII., King of England, 4

  Henry VIII., King of England, his reception of King Christian II. of
        Denmark, 37;
    his wives, 144, 206;
    proposals of marriage, 146;
    negotiations of marriage with Christina, Duchess of Milan, 150-164,
        168, 173;
    portrait, 155;
    illness, 164, 315;
    wish to see the French Princesses, 165;
    excommunicated by Pope Paul III., 195;
    negotiations of marriage broken off, v, 204;
    his reception of Frederic, Count Palatine, 215;
    marriage with Anne of Cleves, 217;
    his opinion of her, 236;
    annuls his marriage, 236;
    vexation at the marriage of Christina, 251;
    trial and execution of his fifth wife, 273;
    his secret treaty with Charles V., 280;
    invasion of Picardy, 284;
    takes possession of Boulogne, 292;
    attack of fever, 315;
    death, 315

  Herbesteiner, Sigismund, 20

  Hesdin, fort of, razed, 385

  Hesse, Christina of, her marriage, 479

  Hesse, Landgrave Philip of, 479;
    taken prisoner, 318;
    on the journey of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, to Brussels, 481

  Heverlé, 252

  Hill, G. F., viii

  Hoby, Sir Philip, 155, 156;
    his interview with Christina, Duchess of Milan, 157, 168 _note_;
    his mission to Joinville, 166, 168 _note_;
    Ambassador, 385

  Hoby, Thomas, at Augsburg, 323;
    "Memoirs," 323 _note_, 531;
    his translation of "Cortegiano," 385

  Hoh-Königsberg, fortress of, 318, 377

  Holbein, Hans, his portrait of Christina, Duchess of Milan, v, 157,
        158 _note_, 514;
    other portraits, 155

  Holland, invasion of, 62

  Holstein, Adolf, Duke of, at Brussels, 325, 327;
    breaks off his engagement with Fräulein Kunigunde, 328;
    courtship of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 328, 387, 402;
    takes leave of Charles V., 402;
    his marriage with Christina of Hesse, 479

  Holstein, Frederic, Duke of, his hostile attitude to King Christian
        II. of Denmark, 33;
    elected King of Denmark, 33, 39

  Hoogstraaten, Commissioner, 184

  Horn, Count, arrested, 486

  Howard, Lord William, 146, 255;
    recalled and sent to the Tower, 273;
    created a peer, 437.
    See Effingham

  Howard, Queen Catherine, her trial and execution, 273

  Hubert, his Chronicle of Charles V., 103

  Hugo, L., "Traité sur l'Origine de la Maison de Lorraine," 238
        _note_, 531

  Huguenot conspiracy, discovery of a, 463

  Hungary, Ladislaus, King of, 11

  Hungary, Mary, Queen of, 11.
    See Mary

  Hutton, John, Ambassador, 137;
    his opinion of Christina, Duchess of Milan, 149, 153, 161;
    his method of ingratiating himself with Mary, Queen of Hungary, 161;
    illness and death, 171

  Hvidore, 15


  Innsbruck, 7, 57, 60, 134, 355

  Isabella, Empress, birth of a son, 210;
    death, 210

  Isabella of Aragon, 94

  Isabella of Austria, 4;
    her birth, 4;
    attack of smallpox, 5;
    education, 6;
    offers of marriage, 10;
    dowry, 12;
    marriage ceremony, 13;
    journey to Copenhagen, 15;
    letter to her aunt, 15;
    state entry, 15;
    her wedding with King Christian II. of Denmark, 15;
    coronation, 16;
    illness, 16, 45;
    her miserable life, 22;
    birth of a son, 24;
    birth and death of twin sons, 25;
    birth of her daughters, 27, 32;
    flight from Denmark, 35;
    return to Malines, 36, 39;
    arrival in England, 37;
    noble qualities, 38;
    loyalty to her husband, 40;
    embraces the Lutheran faith, 40;
    at Lierre, 44;
    her straits for money, 44;
    death, vi, 46;
    burial, 47;
    monument, 47;
    destruction of her tomb, 485

  Isabella of Portugal, her marriage, 48

  Isère, gorge of the, 86


  James V., King of Scotland, 30, 59;
    his fickle character, 71, 101;
    marriages, 147, 148, 165;
    death, 278

  Jean de Maurienne, S., 86

  John, Prince, of Denmark, 24, 35;
    under the care of the Regent, 50;
    his education, 50;
    life at Malines, 50-53;
    portrait, 54;
    character, 54;
    meeting with his uncle, 59;
    journey to Brussels, 66;
    at Regensburg, 67;
    illness and death, 68

  Joinville, 166, 244, 268, 311, 360;
    destruction of, averted, 290

  Joinville, Henri, Prince of, 421

  Juana, Queen, 61;
    death of her husband, 2;
    her children, 4;
    death, 398

  Jülich, 416

  Julius II., Pope, 7

  Juste, T., "Les Pays-Bas sous Charles V.," 62 _note_, 66 _note_, 531;
    "Marie de Hongrie," 294 _note_, 390 _note_, 531

  Jutland, 15;
    rising in, 31;
    invasion of, 103


  Kallundborg Castle, 327, 449

  Katherine, Queen of England, 37;
    her death, 145

  Katherine, Queen of Portugal, birth of a son, 66

  Kaulek. J., "Correspondance Politique de M. de Castillon," 147
        _note_, 531

  Kildare, Lady, 413

  Köstlin, J., "Leben Luthers," 41 _note_, 531

  Kunigunde, von Brandenburg, Fräulein, 328


  Ladislaus, King of Hungary, 11

  Lalaing, Count, 184, 241, 411;
    at Augsburg, 338

  Landau, 377

  Landrécy, siege of, 280

  Lanz, K., "Correspondenz Karls V.," 42 _note_, 531

  Lavisse, E., "Histoire de France," 531

  Laxou, 254

  Lecce, Castle of, 455

  Leghorn, 508

  Leigh, John, 459

  Lennox, Lady, 413

  Lenoncourt, M. de, 508

  Leo X., Pope, 72

  Leonardo, his picture the "Cenacolo," 272

  Lepage, H., "Le Palais Ducal de Nancy," 260 _note_, 261 _note_, 273
        _note_, 295 _note_, 323 _note_, 472 _note_, 491 _note_, 531;
    "Lettres de Charles III.," 508 _note_, 531

  Leva, G. de, "Storia Documentata di Carlo V.," 113 _note_, 531

  Leyden, Lucas van, 28

  Leyva, Antonio de, 89, 90, 94, 109;
    appointed Governor-General of Milan, 112;
    his death, 118

  Liége, Bishop of, 154

  Lierre, 44

  Ligier-Richier, fils, Jean, 510

  Ligier-Richier, Jean, his effigy of René, Prince of Orange, 288;
    of Queen Philippa, 316

  Ligny, 277

  Lille, 79; military operations at, 137

  Linz, 12

  Lisle, Lady, 214, 217

  Lisle, Lord, Deputy Governor of Calais, 204, 214

  Litta, P., "Famiglie Celebri," 531

  Llan Hawaden, 205, 206

  Loches, 221

  Lodge, E., "Illustrations," 328 _note_, 384 _note_, 531

  Lomboni, Don Antonio, 96

  Longueval, De, 304

  Longueville, Duke of, 253, 268, 307;
    at Esclaron, 275;
    his death, 356

  Longueville, Mary, Duchess of, 146;
    offers of marriage, 147;
    marriage with James V., King of Scotland, 148, 165

  Longwy, Castle of, 279

  Loreto, pilgrimage to the shrine of, 497

  Lorraine, surrender of, 512;
    a province of France, 513

  Lorraine, Anne de, her appearance, 167;
    marriage with Prince René of Orange, 239.
    See Orange and Aerschot

  Lorraine, Antoine, Duke of, 179;
    his marriage, 11, 258;
    character of his administration, 261;
    death of his wife, 262;
    at Fontainebleau, 265;
    yields the fortress of Stenay, 266;
    his mediation for peace between Charles V. and King Francis, 281,
        284;
    illness and death, 284;
    funeral, 305

  Lorraine, Antoinette de, Duchess of Cleves, 512

  Lorraine, Cardinal of, 239, 423;
    at the Conference for peace at Cercamp, 426

  Lorraine, Catherine of, takes the veil, 512;
    founds a Capucin convent, 512;
    appointed Abbess of Remiremont, 512

  Lorraine, Charles III., Duke of, his birth, 279;
    appearance, 352, 364;
    reception of Henry II., 363;
    parting with his mother, 366, 370;
    at Joinville, 370;
    his proposed marriage with Princess Claude, 410;
    portrait, 420;
    meeting with his mother, 421-423, 435, 440;
    his feats of horsemanship, 422;
    return to Compiègne, 423;
    lavish generosity, 435;
    his wedding, 435;
    meeting with Philip of Spain, 441;
    at Brussels, 449;
    at Amboise, 463;
    at the coronation of Charles IX., 467;
    state entry into Nancy, 471;
    enlarges the ducal palace, 472;
    his sons and daughters, 489;
    death of his wife, 490;
    love of learning, 491;
    marriage of his daughter Christina, 508;
    death, 511

  Lorraine, Christina, Duchess of. See Christina

  Lorraine, Christine de, 489;
    at the French Court, 490, 507;
    her marriage with the Grand-Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany, 507, 508;
    festivities at Florence, 508;
    her portrait, 509

  Lorraine, Claude, Duchess of, at Mon Soulas, 442;
    birth of a son, 473;
    attack of smallpox, 473;
    her sons and daughters, 489;
    death, 490;
    portrait, 509

  Lorraine, Dorothea of, her birth, 302;
    appearance, 352;
    marriage with Duke Eric of Brunswick, 490;
    death of her husband, 503;
    her second marriage, 511;
    death, 511.
    See Brunswick

  Lorraine, Elizabeth of, her marriage, 512

  Lorraine, Francis I., Duke of, vi, 179;
    his betrothal to Christina, Duchess of Milan, 244;
    marriage, 245, 251;
    assumes the title of Duke of Bar, 249;
    receives the Order of St. Michel, 265, 271;
    his grief at the cession of Stenay, 266, 271;
    illness, 284, 291, 294, 296;
    succeeds to the dukedom, 284;
    his efforts for peace, 291;
    love of music, 294;
    his entry into Nancy, 296;
    death, 297;
    funeral, 309

  Lorraine, Francis III., Duke of, his marriage with Maria Theresa, 512;
    surrenders Lorraine, 512

  Lorraine, Henry, Duke of, his birth, 473;
    christening, 476

  Lorraine, John of, 257

  Lorraine, Louise de, Princesse de Chimay, her letter to Mary,
        Queen of Scots, 521.
    See Chimay

  Lorraine, Philippa, Duchess of, 254, 257, 259;
    her sons, 258

  Lorraine, Raoul of, 256

  Lorraine, René II., Duke of, 257;
    his sons, 258

  Lorraine, Renée de Bourbon, Duchess of, 179;
    her character, 259;
    influence on art, 260;
    death, 262;
    her children, 263

  Lorraine, Renée de, her birth, 283;
    appearance, 352;
    offer of marriage from Eric, King of Sweden, 482;
    her suitors, 487;
    marriage with Duke William of Bavaria, 488

  Lorraine, Yolande, Duchess of, 257

  Louis, King of Hungary, his death at the Battle of Mohacz, 59

  Louis XII. of France, 4;
    his marriage, 11

  Louis XIII. of France, 512

  Louvain, 61, 78, 135

  Luna, Captain Alvarez de, 122

  Lunden, Archbishop of, 103

  Lunéville, 353

  Luther, Martin, his friendship with King Christian II. of Denmark, 41;
    tribute to the memory of Queen Isabella, 47;
    his appeal to King Frederic of Denmark, 70

  Luxembourg, 245, 252, 284, 337;
    siege of, 374


  Mabuse, Jehan, designs the monument of Queen Isabella of Denmark, 47;
    his picture of the King of Denmark's children, 53

  Macedonia, Constantine Comnenus, Prince of, 99

  Macedonia, Francesca Paleologa, Princess of, 279;
    her attachment to the Duchess of Milan, 99;
    at Codogno, 130;
    at Reims, 467

  Machyn, H., "Diary of a Citizen of London," 531

  Mackenzie, Sir Kenneth, viii

  Maestricht, 135;
    rising at, 220

  Magdeburg, siege of, 341

  Magenta, C., "I Visconti e gli Sforza nel Castello di Pavia," 93
        _note_, 531

  Maiocchi, Monsignor Rodolfo, Rector of the Borromeo College at Pavia,
        vii

  Maire, Jehan Le, "Les Funéraux de Feu Don Philippe," 2 _note_;
    his elegy of "L'Amant Vert," 52

  Malines, 2, 4, 36, 39, 57, 61

  Mansfeldt, Count, 477

  Mantua, 131

  Mantua, Federico, Duke of, 74

  Marck, 397

  Marck, Margaret la, 331

  Marcoing, 421

  Margaret of Austria, Regent of the Netherlands, 2, 4;
    death of her two husbands, 3;
    undertakes the care of her nephew and nieces, 4;
    meeting with King Christian II. of Denmark, 28;
    reception of the King and Queen of Denmark, 36;
    conflict with Charles of Guelders, 36;
    concludes a treaty with King Frederic of Denmark, 42;
    obtains possession of Isabella's children, 49;
    her tapestries and family portraits, 51;
    pets, 52;
    amusements, 53;
    illness, 57;
    letter to her nephew, 58;
    death, 58

  Margaret, Princess, of France, her appearance, 178;
    negotiations for her marriage, 313;
    proposed union with the Duke of Savoy, 429, 443;
    marriage, 456

  Maria, Empress-Dowager, her visit to Tortona, 500

  Maria, Infanta, of Portugal, 151

  Maria Theresa, Empress, 511

  Marienburg, 389

  Marignano, Battle of, 258

  Marignano, Marquis of, at St. Dizier, 286

  Marillac, French Ambassador, 213, 346

  Marne River, 259, 268, 286

  Marnol, Nicholas de, 104; at Milan, 104

  Mary, Archduchess of Austria, her birth, 4;
    attack of smallpox, 5;
    Queen of Hungary, 9, 11;
    death of her husband, 59;
    offers of marriage, 59;
    her fondness for riding, 60;
    her powers of mind, 60;
    sympathy with the reformers, 60;
    accepts the Regency of the Low Countries, 61;
    enters Louvain, 61;
    at Malines, 61;
    her reforms, 62;
    care of her nieces, 70;
    protest against the proposed marriage of her niece Christina, 76;
    efforts to delay the marriage, 79;
    her welcome to her niece Christina, 135;
    superintends the military operations at Lille, 137;
    anxiety for peace, 137;
    her opinion of Henry VIII., 144;
    at the Castle of Breda, 174;
    her meeting with King Francis at Compiègne, 177;
    with her sister Eleanor, 178;
    return to Brussels, 183, 346;
    difficulties of her position with the English Ambassadors, 186-191;
    interviews with Wriothesley, 189, 190;
    entertained by him, 199;
    her measures to suppress the insurrection, 219;
    reception of Charles V., 224;
    protest against the cession of Stenay, 267;
    grief at the death of the Prince of Orange, 287;
    at Augsburg, 318, 340, 342, 344;
    protest against Henry II.'s treatment of Christina, 370;
    her banquet on the accession of Queen Mary, 386;
    on the destruction of her palace of Binche, 390;
    resigns the Regency, 399, 401;
    present at the abdication of Charles V., 400;
    retires to Turnhout, 405;
    her death, 431;
    funeral, 433;
    letter from Christina, 523;
    from Anne, Duchess of Aerschot, 523

  Mary of Castille, Queen of Portugal, her death, 22

  Mary, Princess, of England, 6;
    her marriage, 11

  Mary, Queen of England, her proposed marriage with the Infant Don
        Louis of Portugal, 162;
    her accession, 386;
    proposed union with Philip of Spain, 387;
    her wedding, 388;
    supposed birth of a son, 395;
    ill-temper at the absence of her husband, 409;
    illness, 431;
    death, 432;
    letter from Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 526

  Mary, Dowager-Queen of Scotland, letters from her mother, 167, 168
        _note_, 518, 519, 520, 522;
    death of her children, 269;
    birth of a daughter, 278;
    death of her husband, 278;
    of her father, 335;
    of her son, 356;
    letter from the Princess de Chimay, 521

  Mary, Queen of Scots, her arrival in France, 333;
    marriage with Francis II. of France, 420;
    at Lorraine, 461;
    at Blois, 462;
    death of her husband, 464;
    at Joinville, 464;
    at Nancy, 465;
    her appearance, 465;
    portrait, 465;
    offers of marriage, 465;
    attack of fever, 466;
    her marriage with Darnley, 485;
    compelled to abdicate, 487;
    death on the scaffold, 504

  Masone, Sir John, Ambassador, 393

  Mauris, St., Ambassador, 296, 300

  Maximilian I., Emperor, 3;
    his grandchildren, 5;
    at Brussels, 8;
    war against Venice, 9;
    his letter on the misconduct of King Christian II., 20;
    his death, 24

  Maximilian, King of Bohemia, at Augsburg, 318, 320, 338;
    his character, 344;
    rivalry with Philip of Spain, 345;
    at Brussels, 405;
    crowned King of the Romans, 470

  Mayenne, Louise, Marchioness of, 310

  Mazzenta, Guido, 97

  Medemblik, 63

  Medici, Alessandro de', Duke of Florence, murdered, 410

  Medici, Catherine de', 74, 178, 464;
    her reception of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 467;
    jealousy of her influence, 473;
    death, 508

  Medici, Don Pietro de', 508

  Melanchthon, 152

  Mendoza, Don Diego, 159

  Mendoza, Don Luis de, 486, 488

  Merriman, R. B., "Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell," 531

  Messina, 112

  Metz, 252, 285, 371;
    siege of, 380

  Metz, Anton de, 25, 27, 33

  Metz, M. de, 298.
    See Vaudemont

  Mewtas, Sir Peter, 147

  Michieli, Ambassador, 396

  Middelburg, 23

  Mignet, L., "Retraite de Charles V.," 388 _note_, 531;
    "Rivalité de Francis I. et Charles V.," 23 _note_, 531

  Mikkelsen, Hans, Burgomaster of Malmoë, 41, 46

  Milan, 497;
    taken by the French, 72;
    threatened French invasion, 116;
    defence of, by a Spanish garrison, 120

  Milan, Christina, Duchess of. See Christina

  Milan, Francesco Sforza, Duke of, his career, 72;
    deprived of his State, 72;
    return, 73;
    sufferings caused by a wound, 73;
    proposal of marriage with Christina of Denmark, 74;
    wedding by proxy, 81;
    surprise visit to his bride, 89;
    reception of her, 93;
    marriage, 94;
    portraits, 96;
    treatment of his wife, 97;
    illness, 100, 107;
    death, vi, 101, 107;
    funeral rites, 108-110;
    will, 111;
    inscription on his tomb, 511;
    letter from his wife, 516

  Milan, Lodovico Sforza, Duke of, 7;
    his character, 17;
    imprisonment, 72

  Milan, Maximilian Sforza, Duke of, at Malines, 7, 72;
    enters Milan, 9

  Missaglia, Alessandro, 90

  Moeller, E., "Eléonore d'Autriche," 22 _note_, 531

  Mohacz, Battle of, 59

  Molembais, M. de, 78

  Mon Soulas, 440

  Monboë, Hans, 45

  Mons, 176, 294, 441

  Mont, Christopher, Envoy to Frankfort, 209

  Montague, Lord, imprisoned in the Tower, 186;
    his execution, 186

  Montbardon, M. de, 357, 370

  Montecastello, villa at, 503

  Montemerlo, Niccolò, 498;
    "Nuove Historie di Tortona," 498 _note_, 531

  Montmélian, fortress of, 86, 115

  Montmorency, Anne de, Constable of France, 180;
    his home at Chantilly, 181;
    taken prisoner at St. Quentin, 417, 419;
    at the Conference of Cercamp, 428;
    taken prisoner at the Battle of Dreux, 471;
    killed at the Battle of St. Denis, 487

  Montmorency, Floris de, 331;
    at Augsburg, 338

  Montmorency, Jean de. See Courrières

  Montpensier, Duchess of, her christening, 356

  Montpensier, Gilbert de, 179, 258

  Montreuil, Madame de, 174

  Monzone, Imperial Council at, 126

  Morillon, Provost, 485

  Mornay, Charles de, 478

  Morosyne, Sir Richard, Ambassador, 339, 346;
    on Charles V.'s reserve, 378;
    on the Marquis of Brandenburg's courtship of Christina, Duchess of
        Lorraine, 384

  Moselle, the, 351

  Mühlberg, victory of, 318

  Muscovy, Czar of, Envoy from, in England, 413-415


  Namur, 245, 252

  Nancy, 254, 294, 296;
    Battle of, 257;
    measures for the defence of, 323;
    entered by the French, 362, 512;
    festivities at, 465

  Nassau, Henry, Count of, 66, 142;
    his third wife, 174;
    sudden death, 175

  Nassau, René of, Prince of Orange, 67

  Nassau, William of, 287

  Nassau-Dillenburg, William of, 238

  Nassau-le-Grand, 285

  Navarre, Antoine, King of, mortally wounded, 471

  Navarre, Henri d'Albret of, 10;
    his marriage, 10

  Navarre, Henry, King of, his proposal of marriage with Christina,
        Duchess of Lorraine, 383

  Navarre, Isabel of, 102

  Navarre, Jeanne d'Albret, Princess of, proposal of marriage with the
        Duke of Cleves, 235, 244;
    her resistance to the marriage, 249;
    wedding, 250;
    annulment of her marriage, 280;
    marriage with the Duke of Vendôme, 326

  Navarre, Margaret, Queen of, 10

  Neckar, the, 339

  Negriolo, Girolamo, 90

  Netherlands, choice of a Regent, 451;
    discontent of the people at the appointment of the Duchess of
        Parma, 458, 459

  Netherlands, Margaret, Regent of 4.
    See Margaret

  Neuburg, 417, 468

  Neumarkt, 103, 105

  Nevill, Sir Edward, his execution, 186

  Nice, 119

  Nicole, Madame, 300, 342

  Nimeguen, 138

  Noailles, Ambassador, 396

  Nomény, 358; castle at, 351

  Norfolk, Duchess of, 273

  Norfolk, Henry Howard, sixth Duke of, 158 _note_

  Norway, reception of King Christian II. in, 64

  Nott, G., "Life of Wyatt," 169 _note_, 204 _note_, 531

  Novara, 83, 87

  Nubilonio, "Cronaca di Vigevano," 93 _note_, 531

  Nuremberg, 40

  Ochsenthal, vale of the, 352

  Odensee, Palace of, 32

  Oglio, 130

  Oise, the, 178, 183

  Oldenburg, Christopher of, his invasion of Jutland, 103

  Olisleger, Chancellor, 249

  Oppenheimer, Henry, viii

  Orange, Anne, Princess of, 263;
    death of her husband, 287;
    at Nancy, 303;
    her friendship with Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 303;
    her character, 303;
    at the funeral of the Duke of Lorraine, 310;
    her letter to the Queen of Scotland, 311;
    marriage with the Duke of Aerschot, 323.
    See Aerschot

  Orange, René, Prince of, at Brussels, 142, 201;
    at the Castle of Breda, 174;
    his affection for Christina, Duchess of Milan, 218, 232, 238;
    popularity, 238;
    marriage with Anne of Lorraine, 239;
    at St. Dizier, 286;
    his death, 286;
    will, 288;
    tomb, 288;
    lines on, 289

  Orange, William, Prince of, 322;
    in London, 391;
    present at the abdication of Charles V., 400;
    death of his wife, 425;
    his appearance, 425;
    affection for Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 425;
    at the Conference of Cercamp, 428;
    at the funeral of Charles V., 434;
    at the Conference of Câteau-Cambrésis, 437;
    his proposed marriage with Renée of Lorraine, 455;
    debts, 455;
    his treatment of Christina, 458;
    marriage with Anna of Saxony, 460;
    at Frankfurt, 470;
    retires to Germany, 486;
    ban against, 503;
    assassination, 504

  Orleans, Charles, Duke of, his character, 178;
    at Brussels, 293;
    death, 304

  Orleans, Gaston, Duke of, 512

  Orleans, Henry, Duke of, 74, 113

  Orleans, Margaret of, 512

  Orley, Bernhard van, his portrait of Christina, Duchess of
        Milan, 155, 158 _note_

  Osiander, the Lutheran doctor, 41

  Oslo, 64

  Oxe, Peder, exiled from Denmark, 457, 468;
    his return to Copenhagen, 483


  Paget, Ambassador, at Fontainebleau, 267

  Paleologa, Francisca, Princess of Macedonia, her attachment to the
        Duchess of Milan, 99.
    See Macedonia

  Paleologa, Margherita, 73;
    Duchess of Mantua, 74

  Palermo, 107

  Panigarola, Gabriele, appointed Governor of Tortona, 129

  Panizone, Guglielmo, 170

  Paris, 222

  Parma, War of, 355

  Parma, Alexander of, 410

  Parma, Margaret, Duchess of, her marriages, 410;
    son, 410;
    at Brussels, 411;
    her character, 411;
    visit to England, 413-415;
    appointed Regent of the Netherlands, 452, 458;
    her relations with Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 459;
    unpopularity, 470;
    her treatment of Anne, Duchess of Aerschot, 484;
    her death, 505

  Parroy, Sieur de, in charge of Stenay, 365, 367

  Passau, Conference at, 376

  Pastor, L., "Geschichte d. Papste," 132 _note_;
    "Reise des Kardinal Luigi d'Aragona," 141 _note_

  Pate, Archdeacon Richard, Ambassador, 237, 241

  Paul III., Pope, 106, 114;
    his excommunication of Henry VIII., 195

  Paul IV., Pope, his war with Alva, Viceroy of Naples, 409

  Pavia, 122;
    Castello of, 117

  Pellizone, Lodovico, 123

  Pembroke, Lord, 415

  Pero, Massimo del, 347

  Péronne, 423

  Petit, J. F. Le, "Grande Chronique de Hollande," 445 _note_, 531

  Petre, Dr., 206

  Petri, Nicolas, Canon of Lunden, 43, 45

  Pfister, C., "Histoire de Nancy," 253 _note_, 260 _note_

  Philip I., King of Castille and Archduke of Austria, his death, 1;
    funeral, 2;
    children, 4

  Philip II. of Spain, invested with the Duchy of Milan, 244;
    his marriage settled with the Infanta of Portugal, 280;
    death of his wife, 313;
    state entry into Brussels, 329;
    appearance, 330;
    character, 330, 341, 345;
    attentions to Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 331;
    fêtes in his honour, 333;
    at Augsburg, 337;
    his tournament, 338;
    rivalry with Maximilian, King of Bohemia, 345;
    return to Spain, 347;
    proposed union with Mary, Queen of England, 387;
    portrait, 388;
    wedding, 388;
    leaves London, 399;
    at Brussels, 400, 417;
    present at the abdication of Charles V., 400;
    investiture, 401;
    his first Chapter of the Fleece, 403;
    signs the treaty of peace, 404;
    his affection for Christina, 408;
    delay in returning to England, 409;
    at Greenwich, 412;
    capture of St. Quentin, 417;
    death of his wife, 433;
    at the funeral of Charles V., 434;
    his meeting with Charles, Duke of Lorraine, 441;
    proposal of marriage with Princess Elizabeth of France, 446;
    appoints his sister Margaret Regent of the Netherlands, 452;
    his marriage, 456;
    at Ghent, 457;
    his indifference to the illness of Christina, 477;
    his treatment of her, vi, 501, 503, 514

  Philippa, Queen, her home in the convent, 254, 259, 285;
    death, 315;
    funeral, 316;
    monument, 316.
    See Lorraine

  Philippeville, citadel of, 398

  Piacenza, citadel of, 410

  Picardy, invasion of, 284

  Piedmont, Emanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, 113;
    at Milan, 116;
    at Augsburg, 320;
    in command of the Imperial Army, 385;
    his courtship of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 387;
    succeeds to the title of Duke of Savoy, 391;
    at Whitehall, 392

  Piedmont, Prince Louis of, his death, 113

  Pimodan, G., "La Mère des Guises," 147 _note_, 531

  Po, the, 116, 117, 130

  Pois, Nicolas le, 296

  Poitiers, Diane de, 179

  Pol, S., capture of, 126

  Poland, Bona Sforza, Queen of, her letter to the Duke of Milan on his
        marriage, 95

  Poland, Sigismund, King of, 95

  Pole, Cardinal, 195;
    at Toledo, 203;
    his aversion to Queen Mary's marriage with Philip of Spain, 389;
    received at Whitehall, 391

  Polweiler, Baron de, Bailiff of Hagenau, 476, 480

  Pont-à-Mousson, 253, 285, 351, 380, 474;
    University at, 491

  Pont-à-Mousson, Francis, Marquis of, his courtship of the Duchess of
        Milan, 207;
    marriage, 245;
    receives the title of Duke of Bar, 246, 249;
    his birth, 263;
    studious tastes, 263;
    proposed marriages, 263;
    his choice of Christina, 264.
    See Lorraine

  Poor Clares, Order of the, 254, 259

  Porta, G., "Alessandria Descritta," 500 _note_, 531

  Portugal, Eleanor, Queen of. See Eleanor

  Portugal, Emanuel, King of. See Emanuel

  Portugal, Infant Don Louis of, his proposed union with Princess Mary
        of England, 162

  Portugal, Infanta of, her marriage with Philip of Spain, 280

  Portugal, invasion of, 502

  Poynings, Sir Edward, Ambassador at Brussels, 8

  Praet, Louis de, Imperial Ambassador, 37;
    his admiration for Isabella, Queen of Denmark, 38;
    at Ghent, 79;
    his oration at the marriage of the Duke and Duchess of Milan, 94

  Prinsterer, Groen van, "Archives de la Maison d'Orange et de Nassau,"
        425 _note_, 530

  Putnam, R., "William the Silent, Prince of Orange," 289 _note_, 532

  Pyl, Lieven, chief magistrate at Ghent, 219


  Quentin, St., victory of, 417

  Quievrain, Castle of, 329


  Rabutin, François de, 361;
    at Nancy, 364;
    "Collections de Mémoires," 361 _note_, 532

  Rambouillet, 315

  Ratti, N., "La Famiglia Sforza," 313 _note_, 532

  Ravold, J. B., "Histoire de Lorraine," 253 _note_, 532

  Regensburg, 65, 67, 245;
    Diet of, 305

  Reiffenberg, F. de, "Histoire de l'Ordre de la Toison d'Or," 20
        _note_, 403, 532

  Reims, 360, 460, 466

  Reims, Charles, Archbishop of, 247 _note_, 253;
    his consecration, 295

  Remiremont, 297

  Renard, Simon, 407

  Renty, Battle of, 390

  Reumont, A. von, "Geschichte Toscana," 508 _note_, 532

  Rhine, the, 351

  Ribier, G., "Lettres et Mémoires d'État," 405 _note_, 532

  Richardot, Abbé, his oration at the funeral of Charles V., 434

  Richmond, 159

  Richmond, Duke of, 71

  Ripalta, 497

  Rivoli, 87

  Rocca di Sparaviera, 505, 509

  Roddi, F., "Annali di Ferrara," 95 _note_

  Rombaut, S., Church of, 1, 2

  Rosières, Les, salt-works at, 472

  Roskild, Dean of, 34

  Rossem, Martin van, 277

  Rostain, M. de, 374

  Rotterdam, 212

  Rouen, Siege of, 471

  Ruble, A. de, "Le Mariage de Jeanne d'Albret," 222 _note_, 249
        _note_, 326 _note_, 334 _note_, 362 _note_, 420 _note_, 532;
    "Traité de Câteau-Cambrésis," 429 _note_, 439 _note_

  Rucellai, Orazio, 507

  Rudolf II., Emperor, 512


  Saint-Hilaire, M. de, 349

  Salis, Friar Jehan de, 50

  Salm, Count Jean de, 298, 357

  Sandrart, J., "Deutsche Akademie," 274 _note_

  Sangiuliani, Count Antonio Cavagna, vii, 347 _note_

  Sanuto, Marino, 73;
    "Diarii," 63 _note_, 67 _note_, 532

  Saragossa, 104

  Savorgnano, Mario, 63, 66

  Savoy, Beatrix of Portugal, Duchess of, 87;
    takes refuge at Vercelli, 116;
    flight to Milan, 116;
    meeting with Charles V., 117;
    at Nice, 119;
    death, 119

  Savoy, Charles III., Duke of, 85;
    forced to evacuate Turin, 116

  Savoy, Charles Emanuel, Duke of, 507

  Savoy, Emanuel Philibert, Duke of, 391;
    at Whitehall, 392;
    his negotiations of marriage with Christina, Duchess of Lorraine,
        396-398;
    appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Low Countries, 399;
    present at the abdication of Charles V., 400;
    negotiations of marriage with Princess Elizabeth, 412;
    his victory of St. Quentin, 417;
    proposed marriage with Marguerite of France, 429, 443;
    marriage, 456

  Savoy, Margaret, Duchess of, 3

  Savoy, Duke Philibert of, his marriage and death, 3

  Saxe-Lauenburg, Duke of, at the marriage ceremony of King Christian
        II., 13

  Saxony, 40

  Saxony, Anna of, her marriage with William, Prince of Orange, 460

  Saxony, Elector John Frederick of, taken prisoner, 318;
    his portrait, 322

  Saxony, Elector Maurice of, 285;
    his siege of Magdeburg, 341;
    secret intrigues with France, 354, 357;
    killed at the battle of Sievershausen, 384

  Scepperus, Cornelius, 42;
    Private Secretary to the King of Denmark, 19;
    his inscription on the tomb of Queen Isabella of Denmark, 47

  Schäfer, D., "Geschichte von Dänemark," 38 _note_, 532

  Scharf, Sir George, 54 note, 158 _note_

  Schauwenbourg, Captain, 305

  Scheldt, River, 230; frozen over, 411

  Schlegel, J. H., "Geschichte der Könige v. Dänemark," 45 _note_, 532

  Schleswig, Bishop of, Danish Ambassador, 12

  Schlettstadt, 375

  Schmalkalde, League of, campaign against, 317;
    dissolved, 318

  Schoren, Dr., Chancellor of Brabant, 184

  Scotland, Mary, Queen of. See Mary

  Selve, Odet de, Ambassador, 314

  Serclaes, Mademoiselle Rolande de, 50

  Seymour, Jane, Queen of England, 144, 151;
    her portrait, 155

  Sfondrati, Count Francesco, 78

  Sforza, Count Bosio, 115

  Sforza, Francesco, Duke of Milan, at Innsbruck, 7.
    See Milan

  Sforza, Giovanni Paolo, 90, 109;
    his illness and death, 113

  Sforza, Lodovico, Duke of Milan. See Milan

  Sforza, Maximilian, Duke of Milan, at Malines, 7, 72.
    See Milan

  Shelley, Sir Richard, 411

  Sievershausen, Battle of, 384

  Sigismund, King of Poland, 321

  Silliers, Baron de, 388;
    on the illness of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 477;
    his death, 489

  Simonet, 125

  Sittard, defeat at, 280

  Skelton, Mary, 149

  Skippon, Philip, 47

  Slagbök, Archbishop of Lunden, 26;
    put to death, 32

  Soignies, Forest of, 141, 169, 252

  Sonderburg, island fortress of, 65

  Soranzo, Ambassador, 411

  Southampton, Lord High Admiral, 162, 215

  Souvastre, Madame de, 85, 91

  Souvastre, M. de, 44, 46

  Spain, Charles V. of. See Charles V.

  Spain, Infant Don Carlos of, his birth, 313

  Spain, Philip II. of. See Philip

  Spinelli, 8, 23

  Spires, 78, 282

  Stabili, Gianbattista, 510

  Stampa, Count Massimiliano, 75;
    at Ghent, 78;
    at Lille, 79;
    received by Queen Mary of Hungary, 79;
    representative of the Duke of Milan at his marriage, 81;
    his house at Cussago, 88;
    entertains the Duchess of Milan, 88;
    at the funeral of the Duke of Milan, 109;
    retains his post of Castellan of Milan, 112;
    his gifts from Charles V., 120;
    gives up the keys, 122

  Stanislas, ex-King of Poland, at Nancy, 513

  Stenay, fortress of, ceded to the French, 266;
    restitution, 293;
    evacuated by the French, 304

  Stockholm, siege of, 31;
    surrender of, 33

  Strasburg, 371, 373, 377

  Stroppiana, Count, Ambassador, 342, 344, 359;
    on Henry II.'s treatment of Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 371;
    at Windsor, 391;
    at the Conference of Cercamp, 428

  Suffolk, Mary, Duchess of, 37

  Suffolk, Duke of, 162, 215

  Surrey, Lord, 280, 281

  Susa, towers of, 87

  Sweden, outbreak of war with Denmark, 475, 478

  Sweden, Eric, King of. See Eric

  Swynaerde, 45


  Tarbes, Bishop of, 168

  Tassigny, Sieur de, 357

  Taverna, Count, 74, 109

  Tencajoli, Signor O. F., vii

  Thérouenne, 137; fort of, razed, 385

  Thionville, 252;
    capture of, 424

  Thomas, H. L., "Spiegel des Humors grosser Potentaten," 22 _note_, 532

  Throckmorton, Ambassador, 461

  Tiepolo, the Venetian, 445;
    on the marriage of Philip of Spain with Princess Elizabeth, 446;
    on the appointment of the Duchess of Parma to the Regency of the
        Netherlands, 452

  Tiloye, La, 136

  Titian, his portraits, 96, 322;
    at Augsburg, 322

  Toledo, treaty at, 195

  Tongres, 340

  Tortona, 111, 128, 497

  Toul, 362

  Toul, Bishop of, his agreement with Christina, Duchess of Lorraine,
        472

  Tournay, Bishop of, 81

  Trent, 72, 78, 133

  Treves, 435

  Triboulet the jester, 223

  Trivulzio, Contessa Dejanira, 99, 130;
    on the loss of Belloni, 376;
    her letter to Messer Innocenzio Gadio, 526

  Trivulzio, Count Gaspare, 99;
    his reception of Christina, Duchess of Milan, 130

  Troyes, Louis, Bishop of, 247 _note_, 253

  Tuke, Sir Brian, 168 _note_

  Tunis, capture of, 106

  Turin, evacuation of, 116

  Tuscany, Grand-Duke Ferdinand of, his marriage with Christina of
        Lorraine, 507, 508

  Tytler, P. F., "England under Edward VI.," 380 _note_, 532


  Ulmann, H., "Kaiser Maximilian," 11 _note_, 532

  Upsala, Cathedral of, 25

  Urbino, Duke of, 270


  Vaissière, P. de, "Vie de Charles de Marillac," 344 _note_, 532

  Valenciennes, 176, 224

  Valladolid, 125

  Valois, Madeleine de, her proposed marriage with James V. of
        Scotland, 115;
    her marriage, 147;
    death, 147

  Varembon, Marc de Rye, Marquis of, his marriage with the Duchess of
        Brunswick, 511

  Vaucelles, Abbey of, truce signed at, 403

  Vaudemont, Louise, Countess of, 489;
    christening of her daughter, 351

  Vaudemont, Nicholas, Count de, Bishop of Metz, 253, 294, 295;
    his birth, 263;
    appointed joint Regent of Lorraine, 302;
    at the funeral of the Duke of Lorraine, 309;
    his marriage, 324;
    at Blois, 350;
    loyalty to Christina, Duchess of Lorraine, 358, 374, 390;
    appointed sole Regent, 364;
    his second marriage, 390;
    retires from public life, 463;
    christening of his daughter, 482

  Vaudemont and Joinville, Ferry, Count of, 257

  Vaughan, Stephen, Ambassador, 175;
    his interview with Queen Mary of Hungary, 176;
    at Antwerp, 201

  Veeren, 14, 36

  Vély, M. de, 199, 233

  Vendôme, Antoine de Bourbon, Duke of, 179;
    his courtship of the Duchess of Milan, 207;
    marriage with Jeanne d'Albret, 326

  Vendôme, Mademoiselle de, 179

  Vercelli, 116

  Vercelli, Bishop of, 87

  Verona, 132

  Verri, P., "Storia di Milano," 532

  Vertot, R. de, "Ambassades de MM. de Noailles en Angleterre," 532

  Viborg, 33

  Vieilleville, Governor of Verdun, 380;
    Mémoires, 532

  Vigevano, 83, 87, 407, 477

  Villach, 372

  Villamont, A., "Voyages," 497 _note_, 532

  Viola, N., "Il Santuario di Tortona," 499 _note_, 532

  Vives, Louis, 6

  Voigt, G., "Albert von Brandenburg," 318 _note_, 532

  Vueren, Castle of, 8


  Waldrevange, 305

  Wallop, Sir John, 280

  Walpole, Horace, "Anecdotes of Painting," 274 _note_, 532

  Wasa, Gustavus, 276;
    his revolt at Dalecarlia, 27;
    lays siege to Stockholm, 31, 33

  Wassy, massacre at, 471

  Willems, Dyveke, her relations with King Christian II. of Denmark, 18;
    her sudden death, 24

  Willems, Hermann, 25

  Willems, Sigebritt, 18;
    appointed mistress of the Queen of Denmark's household, 19;
    her influence over King Christian II., 24;
    arrested and burnt, 38

  Windsor, 215, 391

  Wingfield, Sir Robert, Ambassador at Ghent, 30;
    on the conduct of King Christian II., 33, 34

  Wolsey, Cardinal, at Bruges, 30;
    his retinue, 30;
    interview with King Christian II., 30

  Wornum, R., "Life of Holbein," 159 _note_, 274 _note_, 532

  Wotton, Nicholas, 205;
    on the surrender of St. Dizier, 289;
    at the Conference of Cercamp, 428;
    of Câteau Cambrésis, 436

  Wriothesley, Thomas, 149, 176;
    at Cambray, 177;
    on the terms of Henry VIII.'s negotiation of marriage, 184;
    his interviews with Queen Mary of Hungary, 189, 190;
    with Christina, Duchess of Milan, 191-194;
    his entertainments at Brussels, 198-201;
    detained at Brussels, 202;
    treatment, 203;
    return to England, 204

  Würtemberg, Duchy of, 339

  Wyatt, Sir Thomas, Ambassador, 145;
    his interviews with Charles V., 227;
    his efforts to prevent an alliance between Christina, Duchess of
        Milan, and the Duke of Cleves, 232


  Young, Colonel G., "The Medici," 532


  Zeeland, 14, 43, 327, 406

  Zeneta, Marchioness of, 174

              BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD





    Transcriber's Notes:


    Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were
    silently corrected.

    Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed.

    Italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_.

    Superscripts are enclosed in ^{curly brackets with a leading
    circumflex accent}.

    P. 530 changed two instances of "GRANVELLE, Cardinal de," to
    "GRANVELLE, CARDINAL DE:" to be consistent with other entries
    in this section.

    P. 532 changed "REIFFENBERG, F. DE: Histoire de la Toison d'Or.
    2 vols. Brussels, 183 ." to "REIFFENBERG, F. DE: Histoire de
    la Toison d'Or. 2 vols. Brussels, 1835." Complete date is from
    Wikipedia.

    P. 533 changed layout of GENEALOGICAL TABLES from horizontal to
    vertical due to column width considerations.

    P. 538 added connector in family tree diagram between "René
    II., d. 1508 = Philippa of Guelders," and their children.