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diff --git a/32600.txt b/32600.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9538eec --- /dev/null +++ b/32600.txt @@ -0,0 +1,34471 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Reign of Philip the Second, +King of Spain., by William H. Prescott + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: History of the Reign of Philip the Second, King of Spain. + +Author: William H. Prescott + +Release Date: May 30, 2010 [EBook #32600] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PHILIP THE SECOND *** + + + + +Produced by Paul Murray, Chuck Greif and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +[Illustration: PHILIP THE SECOND. + +_From the Original by Titian in the Royal Museum at Madrid._ + +London, George Routledge & Sons, Broadway, Ludgate Hill.] + + + + +HISTORY +OF +THE REIGN +OF +PHILIP THE SECOND, +KING OF SPAIN. + +BY +WILLIAM H. PRESCOTT, +CORRESPONDING MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTE OF FRANCE, OF THE ROYAL +ACADEMY OF HISTORY AT MADRID, ETC. + +VOLUMES FIRST AND SECOND. + +COMPLETE IN ONE VOLUME. + +LONDON +GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS +THE BROADWAY, LUDGATE +NEW YORK. 416, BROOME STREET. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +The reign of Philip the Second has occupied the pen of the historian +more frequently--if we except that of Charles the Fifth--than any other +portion of the Spanish annals. It has become familiar to the English +reader through the pages of Watson, who has deservedly found favor with +the public for the perspicuity of his style,--a virtue, however, not +uncommon in his day,--for the sobriety of his judgments, and for the +skill he has shown in arranging his complicated story, so as to maintain +the reader's interest unbroken to the end. But the public, in Watson's +day, were not very fastidious in regard to the sources of the +information on which a narrative was founded. Nor was it easy to obtain +access to those unpublished documents which constitute the best sources +of information. Neither can it be denied that Watson himself was not so +solicitous as he should have been to profit by opportunities which a +little pains might have put within his reach,--presenting, in this +respect, a contrast to his more celebrated predecessor, Robertson; that +he contented himself too easily with such cheap and commonplace +materials as lay directly in his path; and that, consequently, the +foundations of his history are much too slight for the superstructure. +For these reasons, the reign of Philip the Second must still be regarded +as open ground for English and American writers. + +And at no time could the history of this reign have been undertaken with +the same advantages as at present, when the more enlightened policy of +the European governments has opened their national archives to the +inspection of the scholar; when he is allowed access, in particular, to +the Archives of Simancas, which have held the secrets of the Spanish +monarchy hermetically sealed for ages. + +The history of Philip the Second is the history of Europe during the +latter half of the sixteenth century. It covers the period when the +doctrines of the Reformation were agitating the minds of men in so +fearful a manner as to shake the very foundations of the Romish +hierarchy in the fierce contest which divided Christendom. Philip, both +from his personal character, and from his position as sovereign of the +most potent monarchy in Europe, was placed at the head of the party +which strove to uphold the fortunes of the ancient Church; and thus his +policy led him perpetually to interfere in the internal affairs of the +other European states,--making it necessary to look for the materials +for his history quite as much without the Peninsula as within it. In +this respect the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella presents a strong +contrast to that of Philip the Second; and it was the consideration of +this, when I had completed my history of the former, and proposed at +some future day to enter upon that of the latter, that led me to set +about a collection of authentic materials from the public archives in +the great European capitals. It was a work of difficulty; and, although +I had made some progress in it, I did not feel assured of success until +I had the good fortune to obtain the cooeperation of my friend, Don +Pascual de Gayangos, Professor of Arabic in the University of Madrid. +This eminent scholar was admirably qualified for the task which he so +kindly undertook; since, with a remarkable facility--such as long +practice only can give--in deciphering the mysterious handwriting of the +sixteenth century, he combined such a thorough acquaintance with the +history of his country as enabled him to detect, amidst the ocean of +manuscripts which he inspected, such portions as were essential to my +purpose. + +With unwearied assiduity he devoted himself to the examination of many +of the principal collections, both in England and on the Continent. +Among these may be mentioned the British Museum and the State-Paper +Office, in London; the Library of the Dukes of Burgundy, in Brussels; +that of the University of Leyden; the Royal Library, at the Hague; the +Royal Library of Paris, and the Archives of the Kingdom, in the Hotel +Soubise; the Library of the Academy of History, the National Library at +Madrid, and, more important than either, the ancient Archives of +Simancas, within whose hallowed precincts Senor Gayangos was one of the +first scholars permitted to enter. + +Besides these public repositories, there are several private collections +to the owners of which I am largely indebted for the liberal manner in +which they have opened them for my benefit. I may mention, in +particular, the late Lady Holland, who kindly permitted copies to be +made by Senor Gayangos from the manuscripts preserved in Holland House; +Sir Thomas Phillips, Bart., who freely extended the same courtesy in +respect to the present work which he had shown to me on a former +occasion; and Patrick Fraser Tytler, Esq., the late excellent historian +of Scotland, who generously placed at my disposal sundry documents +copied by him in the public offices with his own hand, for the +illustration of the reign of Mary Tudor. + +In Spain the collection made by Senor Gayangos was enriched by materials +drawn from the family archives of the marquis of Santa Cruz, whose +illustrious ancestor first had charge of the Spanish armada; from the +archives of Medina Sidonia, containing papers of the duke who succeeded +to the command of that ill-starred expedition; and from the archives of +the house of Alva,--a name associated with the most memorable acts of +the government of Philip. + +The manuscripts, thus drawn from various quarters, were fortified by +such printed works as, having made their appearance in the time of +Philip the Second, could throw any light on his government. Where such +works were not to be purchased, Senor Gayangos caused copies to be made +of them, or of those portions which were important to my purpose. The +result of his kind, untiring labors has been to put me in possession of +such a collection of authentic materials for the illustration of the +reign of Philip as no one before had probably attempted to make. Nor +until now had the time come for making the attempt with success. + +There still remained, however, some places to be examined where I might +expect to find documents that would be of use to me. Indeed, it is in +the nature of such a collection, covering so wide an extent of ground, +that it can never be complete. The historian may be satisfied, if he has +such authentic materials at his command, as, while they solve much that +has hitherto been enigmatical in the accounts of the time, will enable +him to present, in their true light, the character of Philip and the +policy of his government. I must acknowledge my obligations to more than +one person, who has given me important aid in prosecuting my further +researches. + +One of the first of them is my friend, Mr. Edward Everett, who, in his +long and brilliant career as a statesman, has lost nothing of that love +of letters which formed his first claim to distinction. The year before +his appointment to the English mission he passed on the Continent, +where, with the kindness that belongs to his nature, he spent much time +in examining for me the great libraries, first in Paris, and afterwards +more effectually in Florence. From the _Archivio Mediceo_, in which he +was permitted by the grand duke to conduct his researches, he obtained +copies of sundry valuable documents, and among them the letters of the +Tuscan ministers, which have helped to guide me in some of the most +intricate parts of my narrative. A still larger amount of materials he +derived from the private library of Count Guicciardini, the descendant +of the illustrious historian of that name. I am happy to express my +lively sense of the courtesy shown by this nobleman; also my gratitude +for kind offices rendered me by Prince Corsini; and no less by the +Marquis Gino Capponi, whose name will be always held in honor for the +enlightened patronage which he has extended to learning, while +suffering, himself, under the severest privation that can befall the +scholar. + +There was still an important deficiency in my collection,--that of the +_Relazioni Venete_, as the reports are called which were made by +ambassadors of Venice on their return from their foreign missions. The +value of these reports, for the information they give of the countries +visited by the envoys, is well known to historians. The deficiency was +amply supplied by the unwearied kindness of my friend, Mr. Fay, who now +so ably fills the post of minister from the United States to +Switzerland. When connected with the American legation at Berlin, he, in +the most obliging manner, assisted me in making arrangements for +obtaining the documents I desired, which, with other papers of +importance, were copied for me from the manuscripts in the Royal Library +of Berlin, and the Ducal Library of Gotha. I have also, in connection +with this, to express my obligations to the distinguished librarian of +the former institution, Mr. Pertz, for the good-will which he showed in +promoting my views. + +Through Mr. Fay, I also obtained the authority of Prince Metternich to +inspect the Archives of the Empire in Vienna, which I inferred, from the +intimate relations subsisting between the courts of Madrid and Vienna in +that day, must contain much valuable matter relevant to my subject. The +result did not correspond to my expectations. I am happy, however, to +have the opportunity of publicly offering my acknowledgments to that +eminent scholar, Dr. Ferdinand Wolf, for the obliging manner in which he +conducted the investigation for me, as well in the archives above +mentioned, as, with better results, in the Imperial Library, with which +he is officially connected. + +In concluding the list of those to whose good offices I have been +indebted, I must not omit the names of M. de Salvandy, minister of +public instruction in France at the time I was engaged in making my +collection; Mr. Rush, then the minister of the United States at the +French court; Mr. Rives, of Virginia, his successor in that office; and +last, not least, my friend, Count de Circourt, a scholar whose noble +contributions to the periodical literature of his country, on the +greatest variety of topics, have given him a prominent place among the +writers of our time. + +I am happy, also, to tender my acknowledgments for the favors I have +received from Mr. Van de Weyer, minister from Belgium to the court of +St. James; from Mr. B. Homer Dixon, consul for the Netherlands at +Boston; and from my friend and kinsman, Mr. Thomas Hickling, consul for +the United States at St. Michael's, who kindly furnished me with sundry +manuscripts exhibiting the condition of the Azores at the period when +those islands passed, with Portugal, under the sceptre of Philip the +Second. + +Having thus acquainted the reader with the sources whence I have derived +my materials, I must now say a few words in regard to the conduct of my +narrative. An obvious difficulty in the path of the historian of this +period arises from the nature of the subject, embracing, as it does, +such a variety of independent, not to say incongruous topics, that it is +no easy matter to preserve anything like unity of interest in the story. +Thus the Revolution of the Netherlands, although, strictly speaking, +only an episode to the main body of the narrative, from its importance, +well deserves to be treated in a separate and independent narrative by +itself.[1] Running along through the whole extent of Philip's reign, it +is continually distracting the attention of the historian, creating an +embarrassment something like that which arises from what is termed a +double plot in the drama. The best way of obviating this is to keep in +view the dominant principle which controlled all the movements of the +complicated machinery, so to speak, and impressed on them a unity of +action. This principle is to be found in the policy of Philip, the great +aim of which was to uphold the supremacy of the Church, and, as a +consequence, that of the crown. "Peace and public order," he writes on +one occasion, "are to be maintained in my dominions only by maintaining +the authority of the Holy See." It was this policy, almost as sure and +steady in its operation as the laws of Nature herself, that may be said +to have directed the march of events through the whole of his long +reign; and it is only by keeping this constantly in view that the +student will be enabled to obtain a clew to guide him through the +intricate passages in the history of Philip, and the best means of +solving what would otherwise remain enigmatical in his conduct. + +In the composition of the work, I have, for the most part, conformed to +the plan which I had before adopted. Far from confining myself to a +record of political events, I have endeavored to present a picture of +the intellectual culture and the manners of the people. I have not even +refused such aid as could be obtained from the display of pageants, and +court ceremonies, which, although exhibiting little more than the +costume of the time, may serve to bring the outward form of a +picturesque age more vividly before the eye of the reader. In the +arrangement of the narrative, I have not confined myself altogether to +the chronological order of events, but have thrown them into masses, +according to the subjects to which they relate, so as to produce, as far +as possible, a distinct impression on the reader. And in this way I have +postponed more than one matter of importance to a later portion of the +work, which a strict regard to time would assign more properly to an +earlier division of the subject. Finally, I have been careful to fortify +the text with citations from the original authorities on which it +depends, especially where these are rare and difficult of access. + +In the part relating to the Netherlands I have pursued a course somewhat +different from what I have done in other parts of the work. The scholars +of that country, in a truly patriotic spirit, have devoted themselves of +late years to exploring their own archives, as well as those of +Simancas, for the purpose of illustrating their national annals. The +results they have given to the world in a series of publications, which +are still in progress. The historian has reason to be deeply grateful to +those pioneers, whose labors have put him in possession of materials +which afford the most substantial basis for his narrative. For what +basis can compare with that afforded by the written correspondence of +the parties themselves? It is on this sure ground that I have mainly +relied in this part of my story; and I have adopted the practice of +incorporating extracts from the letters in the body of the text, which, +if it may sometimes give an air of prolixity to the narrative, will have +the advantage of bringing the reader into a sort of personal +acquaintance with the actors, as he listens to the words spoken by +themselves. + +In the earlier part of this Preface, I have made the acknowledgments due +for assistance I have received in the collection of my materials; and I +must not now conclude without recording my obligations, of another kind, +to two of my personal friends,--Mr. Charles Folsom, the learned +librarian of the Boston Athenaeum, who has repeated the good offices he +had before rendered me in revising my manuscript for the press; and Mr. +John Foster Kirk, whose familiarity with the history and languages of +Modern Europe has greatly aided me in the prosecution of my researches, +while his sagacious criticism has done me no less service in the +preparation of these volumes. + +Notwithstanding the advantages I have enjoyed for the composition of +this work, and especially those derived from the possession of new and +original materials, I am fully sensible that I am far from having done +justice to a subject so vast in its extent and so complicated in its +relations. It is not necessary to urge in my defence any physical +embarrassments under which I labor; since that will hardly be an excuse +for not doing well what it was not necessary to do at all. But I may be +permitted to say, that what I have done has been the result of careful +preparation; that I have endeavored to write in a spirit of candor and +good faith; and that, whatever may be the deficiencies of my work, it +can hardly fail--considering the advantages I have enjoyed over my +predecessors--to present the reader with such new and authentic +statements of facts as may afford him a better point of view than that +which he has hitherto possessed for surveying the history of Philip the +Second. + +BOSTON, _July, 1855_ + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +Book I. + +CHAPTER I. + +ABDICATION OF CHARLES THE FIFTH. + +PAGE + +Introductory Remarks--Spain under Charles the Fifth--He prepares to +resign the Crown--His Abdication--His Return to Spain--His Journey to +Yuste 1 + +CHAPTER II. + +EARLY DAYS OF PHILIP. + +Birth of Philip the Second--His Education--Intrusted with the +Regency--Marries Mary of Portugal--Visit to Flanders--Public +Festivities--Ambitious Schemes--Returns to Spain 11 + +CHAPTER III. + +ENGLISH ALLIANCE. + +Condition of England--Character of Mary--Philip's Proposals of +Marriage--Marriage Articles--Insurrection in England 30 + +CHAPTER IV. + +ENGLISH ALLIANCE. + +Mary's Betrothal--Joanna Regent of Castile--Philip embarks for +England--His splendid Reception--Marriage of Philip and Mary--Royal +Entertainments--Philip's Influence--The Catholic Church +restored--Philip's Departure 43 + +CHAPTER V. + +WAR WITH THE POPE. + +Empire of Philip--Paul the Fourth--Court of France--League against +Spain--The Duke of Alva--Preparations for War--Victorious Campaign 59 + +CHAPTER VI. + +WAR WITH THE POPE. + +Guise enters Italy--Operations in the Abruzz--Siege of Civitella--Alva +drives out the French--Rome menaced by the Spaniards--Paul consents to +Peace--Paul's Subsequent Career 73 + +CHAPTER VII. + +WAR WITH FRANCE. + +England joins in the War--Philip's Preparations--Siege of St. +Quentin--French Army routed--Storming of St. Quentin--Successes of the +Spaniards 85 + +CHAPTER VIII. + +WAR WITH FRANCE. + +Extraordinary Efforts of France--Calais surprised by Guise--The French +invade Flanders--Bloody Battle of Gravelines--Negotiations for +Peace--Mary's Death--Accession of Elizabeth--Treaty of +Cateau-Cambresis 102 + +CHAPTER IX. + +LATTER DAYS OF CHARLES THE FIFTH. + +Charles at Yuste--His Mode of Life--Interest in Public +Affairs--Celebrates his Obsequies--Last Illness--Death and +Character 120 + + +Book II. + +CHAPTER I. + +VIEW OF THE NETHERLANDS. + +Civil Institutions--Commercial Prosperity--Character of the +People--Protestant Doctrines--Persecution by Charles the Fifth 146 + +CHAPTER II. + +SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY PHILIP. + +Unpopular Manners of Philip--He enforces the Edicts--Increase of the +Bishoprics--Margaret of Parma Regent--Meeting of the +States-General--Their spirited Conduct--Organization of the +Councils--Rise and Character of Granvelle--Philip's Departure 157 + +CHAPTER III. + +PROTESTANTISM IN SPAIN. + +Philip's Arrival in Spain--The Reformed Doctrines--Their +Suppression--Autos da Fe--Prosecution of Carranza--Extinction of +Heresy--Fanaticism of the Spaniards 170 + +CHAPTER IV. + +PHILIP'S THIRD MARRIAGE. + +Reception of Isabella--Marriage Festivities--The Queen's Mode of +Life--The Court removed to Madrid 183 + +CHAPTER V. + +DISCONTENT IN THE NETHERLANDS. + +The Reformation--Its Progress in the Netherlands--General +Discontent--William of Orange 192 + +CHAPTER VI. + +OPPOSITION TO THE GOVERNMENT. + +Grounds of Complaint--The Spanish Troops--The New Bishoprics--Influence +of Granvelle--Opposed by the Nobles--His Unpopularity 201 + +CHAPTER VII. + +GRANVELLE COMPELLED TO WITHDRAW. + +League against Granvelle--Margaret desires his Removal--Philip +deliberates--Granvelle dismissed--Leaves the Netherlands 213 + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CHANGES DEMANDED BY THE LORDS. + +Policy of Philip--Ascendancy of the Nobles--The Regent's +Embarrassments--Egmont sent to Spain 226 + +CHAPTER IX. + +PHILIP'S INFLEXIBILITY. + +Philip's Duplicity--His Procrastination--Despatches from Segovia--Effect +on the Country--The Compromise--Orange and Egmont 238 + +CHAPTER X. + +THE CONFEDERATES. + +Design of the Confederates--They enter Brussels--The +Petition--The Gueux 253 + +CHAPTER XI. + +FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. + +The Edicts suspended--The Sectaries--The Public Preachings--Attempt to +suppress them--Meeting at St. Trond--Philip's Concessions 260 + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE ICONOCLASTS. + +Cathedral of Antwerp sacked--Sacrilegious Outrages--Alarm at +Brussels--Churches granted to Reformers--Margaret repents her +Concessions--Feeling at Madrid--Sagacity of Orange--His Religious +Opinions 273 + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE REGENT'S AUTHORITY REESTABLISHED. + +Reaction--Appeal to Arms--Tumult in Antwerp--Siege of Valenciennes--The +Government triumphant 290 + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. + +Oath imposed by Margaret--Refused by Orange--He leaves the +Netherlands--Submission of the Country--New Edict--Order restored 299 + + +Book III. + +CHAPTER I. + +ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. + +Alva's Appointment--His remarkable March--He arrives at +Brussels--Margaret disgusted--Policy of the Duke--Arrest of Egmont and +Hoorne 310 + +CHAPTER II. + +CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. + +The Council of Blood--Its Organization--General Prosecutions--Civil War +in France--Departure of Margaret--Her administration reviewed 327 + +CHAPTER III. + +REIGN OF TERROR. + +Numerous Arrests--Trials and Executions--Confiscations--Orange assembles +an Army--Battle of Heyligerlee--Alva's Proceedings 340 + +CHAPTER IV. + +TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE + +The Examination--Efforts in their Behalf--Specification of +Charges--Sentence of Death--The Processes reviewed 355 + +CHAPTER V. + +EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. + +The Counts removed to Brussels--Informed of the Sentence--Procession to +the Scaffold--The Execution--Character of Egmont--Fate of his +Family--Sentiment of the People 364 + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. + +Bergen and Montigny--Their Situation in Spain--Death of Bergen--Arrest +of Montigny--Plot for his Escape--His Process--Removal to +Simancas--Closer Confinement--Midnight Execution 378 + + +Book IV. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. + +Condition of Turkey--African Corsairs--Expedition against Tripoli--War +on the Barbary Coast 393 + +CHAPTER II. + +THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS OF ST. JOHN. + +Masters of Rhodes--Driven from Rhodes--Established at Malta--Menaced by +Solyman--La Valette--His Preparations for Defence 409 + +CHAPTER III. + +SIEGE OF MALTA. + +Condition of Malta--Arrival of the Turks--They reconnoitre the +Island--Siege of St. Elmo--Its Heroic Defence--Its Fall 414 + +CHAPTER IV. + +SIEGE OF MALTA. + +Il Borgo invested--Storming of St. Michael--Slaughter of the +Turks--Incessant Cannonade--General Assault--The Turks +Repulsed--Perilous Condition of Il Borgo--Constancy of La Valette 432 + +CHAPTER V. + +SIEGE OF MALTA. + +The Turks dispirited--Reinforcement from Sicily--Siege raised--Mustapha +defeated--Rejoicings of the Christians--Mortification of Solyman--Review +of the Siege--Subsequent History of La Valette 445 + +CHAPTER VI. + +DON CARLOS. + +His Education and Character--Dangerous Illness--Extravagant +Behavior--Opinions respecting him--His Connection with the +Flemings--Project of Flight--Insane Conduct--Arrest 456 + +CHAPTER VII. + +DEATH OF DON CARLOS. + +Causes of his Imprisonment--His Rigorous Confinement--His Excesses--His +Death--Llorente's Account--Various Accounts--Suspicious +Circumstances--Quarrel in the Palace--Obsequies of Carlos 471 + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DEATH OF ISABELLA. + +Queen Isabella--Her Relations with Carlos--Her Illness and Death--Her +Character 490 + +FOOTNOTES + + + + +HISTORY OF PHILIP THE SECOND. + + + + +BOOK I. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ABDICATION OF CHARLES THE FIFTH. + +Introductory Remarks.--Spain under Charles the Fifth.--He prepares to +resign the Crown.--His Abdication.--His Return to Spain.--His Journey to +Yuste. + +1555. + + +In a former work, I have endeavored to portray the period when the +different provinces of Spain were consolidated into one empire under the +rule of Ferdinand and Isabella; when, by their wise and beneficent +policy, the nation emerged from the obscurity in which it had so long +remained behind the Pyrenees, and took its place as one of the great +members of the European commonwealth. I now propose to examine a later +period in the history of the same nation,--the reign of Philip the +Second; when, with resources greatly enlarged, and territory extended by +a brilliant career of discovery and conquest, it had risen to the zenith +of its power; but when, under the mischievous policy of the +administration, it had excited the jealousy of its neighbors, and +already disclosed those germs of domestic corruption which gradually led +to its dismemberment and decay. + +By the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella, most of the states of the +Peninsula became united under one common rule; and in 1516, the sceptre +of Spain, with its dependencies both in the Old and the New World, +passed into the hands of their grandson, Charles the Fifth, who, though +he shared the throne nominally with his mother, Joanna, became, in +consequence of her incapacity, the real sovereign of this vast empire. +He had before inherited, through his father, Philip the Handsome, that +fair portion of the ducal realm of Burgundy which comprehended Franche +Comte and the Netherlands. In 1519, he was elected to the imperial crown +of Germany. Not many years elapsed before his domain was still further +enlarged by the barbaric empires of Mexico and Peru; and Spain then +first realized the magnificent vaunt, since so often repeated, that the +sun never set within the borders of her dominions. + +Yet the importance of Spain did not rise with the importance of her +acquisitions. She was, in a manner, lost in the magnitude of these +acquisitions. Some of the rival nations which owned the sway of Charles, +in Europe, were of much greater importance than Spain, and attracted +much more attention from their contemporaries. In the earlier period of +that monarch's reign, there was a moment when a contest was going +forward in Castile, of the deepest interest to mankind. Unfortunately, +the "War of the _Comunidades_," as it was termed, was soon closed by +the ruin of the patriots; and, on the memorable field of Villalar, the +liberties of Spain received a blow from which they were destined not to +recover for centuries. From that fatal hour,--the bitter fruit of the +jealousy of castes and the passions of the populace,--an unbroken +tranquillity reigned throughout the country; such a tranquillity as +naturally flows not from a free and well-conducted government, but from +a despotic one. In this political tranquillity, however, the intellect +of Spain did not slumber. Sheltered from invasion by the barrier of the +Pyrenees, her people were allowed to cultivate the arts of peace, so +long as they did not meddle with politics or religion,--in other words, +with the great interests of humanity; while the more adventurous found a +scope for their prowess in European wars, or in exploring the boundless +regions of the Western world. + +While there was so little passing in Spain to attract the eye of the +historian, Germany became the theatre of one of those momentous +struggles which have had a permanent influence on the destinies of +mankind. It was in this reign that the great battle of religious liberty +was begun; and the attention and personal presence of Charles were +necessarily demanded most in the country where that battle was to be +fought. But a small part of his life was passed in Spain, in comparison +with what he spent in other parts of his dominions. His early +attachments, his lasting sympathies, were with the people of the +Netherlands; for Flanders was the place of his birth. He spoke the +language of that country more fluently than the Castilian; although he +knew the various languages of his dominions so well, that he could +address his subjects from every quarter in their native dialect. In the +same manner, he could accommodate himself to their peculiar national +manners and tastes. But this flexibility was foreign to the genius of +the Spaniard. Charles brought nothing from Spain but a religious zeal, +amounting to bigotry, which took deep root in a melancholy temperament +inherited from his mother. His tastes were all Flemish. He introduced +the gorgeous ceremonial of the Burgundian court into his own palace, and +into the household of his son. He drew his most trusted and familiar +counsellors from Flanders; and this was one great cause of the troubles +which, at the beginning of his reign, distracted Castile. There was +little to gratify the pride of the Spaniard in the position which he +occupied at the imperial court. Charles regarded Spain chiefly for the +resources she afforded for carrying on his ambitious enterprises. When +he visited her, it was usually to draw supplies from the cortes. The +Spaniards understood this, and bore less affection to his person than to +many of their monarchs far inferior to him in the qualities for exciting +it. They hardly regarded him as one of the nation. There was, indeed, +nothing national in the reign of Charles. His most intimate relations +were with Germany; and as the Emperor Charles the Fifth of Germany, not +as King Charles the First of Spain, he was known in his own time, and +stands recorded on the pages of history. + +[Sidenote: SPAIN UNDER CHARLES THE FIFTH.] + +When Charles ascended the throne, at the beginning of the sixteenth +century, Europe may be said to have been much in the same condition, in +one respect, as she was at the beginning of the eighth. The Turk menaced +her on the east, in the same manner as the Arab had before menaced her +on the west. The hour seemed to be fast approaching which was to decide +whether Christianity or Mahometanism should hold the ascendant. The +Ottoman tide of conquest rolled up to the very walls of Vienna; and +Charles, who, as head of the empire, was placed on the frontier of +Christendom, was called on to repel it. When thirty-two years of age, he +marched against the formidable Solyman, drove him to an ignominious +retreat, and, at less cost of life than is often expended in a skirmish, +saved Europe from invasion. He afterwards crossed the sea to Tunis, +then occupied by a horde of pirates, the scourge of the Mediterranean. +He beat them in a bloody battle, slew their chief, and liberated ten +thousand captives from their dungeons. All Europe rang with the praises +of the young hero, who thus consecrated his arms to the service of the +Cross, and stood forward as the true champion of Christendom. + +But from this high position Charles was repeatedly summoned to other +contests, of a more personal and far less honorable character. Such was +his long and bloody quarrel with Francis the First. It was hardly +possible that two princes, so well matched in years, power, pretensions, +and, above all, love of military glory, with dominions touching on one +another through their whole extent, could long remain without cause of +rivalry and collision. Such rivalry did exist from the moment that the +great prize of the empire was adjudged to Charles; and through the whole +of their long struggle, with the exception of a few reverses, the +superior genius of the emperor triumphed over his bold, but less politic +adversary. + +There was still a third contest, on which the strength of the Spanish +monarch was freely expended through the greater part of his reign,--his +contest with the Lutheran princes of Germany. Here, too, for a long +time, fortune favored him. But it is easier to contend against man than +against a great moral principle. The principle of reform had struck too +deep into the mind of Germany to be eradicated by force or by fraud. +Charles, for a long time, by a course of crafty policy, succeeded in +baffling the Protestant league; and, by the decisive victory at +Muhlberg, seemed, at last, to have broken it altogether. But his success +only ministered to his ruin. The very man on whom he bestowed the spoils +of victory turned them against his benefactor. Charles, ill in body and +mind, and glad to escape from his enemies under cover of the night and a +driving tempest, was at length compelled to sign the treaty of Passau, +which secured to the Protestants those religious immunities against +which he had contended through his whole reign. + +Not long after, he experienced another humiliating reverse from France, +then ruled by a younger rival, Henry the Second, the son of Francis. The +good star of Charles--the star of Austria--seemed to have set; and as he +reluctantly raised the siege of Metz, he was heard bitterly to exclaim, +"Fortune is a strumpet, who reserves her favors for the young!" + +With spirits greatly depressed by his reverses, and still more by the +state of his health, which precluded him from taking part in the manly +and martial exercises to which he had been accustomed, he felt that he +had no longer the same strength as formerly to bear up under the toils +of empire. When but little more than thirty years of age, he had been +attacked by the gout, and of late had been so sorely afflicted with that +disorder, that he had nearly lost the use of his limbs. The man who, +cased in steel, had passed whole days and nights in the saddle, +indifferent to the weather and the season, could now hardly drag himself +along with the aid of his staff. For days he was confined to his bed; +and he did not leave his room for weeks together. His mind became +oppressed with melancholy, which was, to some extent, a constitutional +infirmity. His chief pleasure was in listening to books, especially of a +religious character. He denied himself to all except his most intimate +and trusted counsellors. He lost his interest in affairs; and for whole +months, according to one of his biographers, who had access to his +person, he refused to receive any public communication, or to subscribe +any document, or even letter.[2] One cannot understand how the business +of the nation could have been conducted in such a state of things. +After the death of his mother, Joanna, his mind became more deeply +tinctured with those gloomy fancies which in her amounted to downright +insanity. He imagined he heard her voice calling on him to follow her. +His thoughts were now turned from secular concerns to those of his own +soul; and he resolved to put in execution a plan for resigning his crown +and withdrawing to some religious retreat, where he might prepare for +his latter end. This plan he had conceived many years before, in the +full tide of successful ambition. So opposite were the elements at work +in the character of this extraordinary man! + +Although he had chosen the place of his retreat, he had been deterred +from immediately executing his purpose by the forlorn condition of his +mother, and the tender age of his son. The first obstacle was now +removed by the death of Joanna, after a reign--a nominal reign--of half +a century, in which the cloud that had settled on her intellect at her +husband's death was never dispelled. + +The age of Philip, his son and heir, was also no longer an objection. +From early boyhood he had been trained to the duties of his station, +and, when very young, had been intrusted with the government of Castile. +His father had surrounded him with able and experienced counsellors, and +their pupil, who showed a discretion far beyond his years, had largely +profited by their lessons. He had now entered his twenty-ninth year, an +age when the character is formed, and when, if ever, he might be +supposed qualified to assume the duties of government. His father had +already ceded to him the sovereignty of Naples and Milan, on occasion of +the prince's marriage with Mary of England. He was on a visit to that +country, when Charles, having decided on the act of abdication, sent to +require his son's attendance at Brussels, where the ceremony was to be +performed. The different provinces of the Netherlands were also summoned +to send their deputies, with authority to receive the emperor's +resignation, and to transfer their allegiance to his successor. As a +preliminary step, on the twenty-second of October, 1555, he conferred on +Philip the grand-mastership--which, as Lord of Flanders, was vested in +himself--of the _toison d'or_, the order of the Golden Fleece, of +Burgundy; the proudest and most coveted, at that day, of all the +military orders of knighthood. + +Preparations were then made for conducting the ceremony of abdication +with all the pomp and solemnity suited to so august an occasion. The +great hall of the royal palace of Brussels was selected for the scene of +it. The walls of the spacious apartment were hung with tapestry, and the +floor was covered with rich carpeting. A scaffold was erected, at one +end of the room, to the height of six or seven steps. On it was placed a +throne, or chair of state, for the emperor, with other seats for Philip, +and for the great Flemish lords who were to attend the person of their +sovereign. Above the throne was suspended a gorgeous canopy, on which +were emblazoned the arms of the ducal house of Burgundy. In front of the +scaffolding, accommodations were provided for the deputies of the +provinces, who were to be seated on benches arranged according to their +respective rights of precedence.[3] + +[Sidenote: CEREMONY OF ABDICATION.] + +On the twenty-fifth of October, the day fixed for the ceremony, Charles +the Fifth executed an instrument by which he ceded to his son the +sovereignty of Flanders.[4] Mass was then performed; and the emperor, +accompanied by Philip and a numerous retinue, proceeded in state to the +great hall, where the deputies were already assembled.[5] + +Charles was, at this time, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. His form +was slightly bent,--but it was by disease more than by time,--and on his +countenance might be traced the marks of anxiety and rough exposure. Yet +it still wore that majesty of expression so conspicuous in his portraits +by the inimitable pencil of Titian. His hair, once of a light color, +approaching to yellow, had begun to turn before he was forty, and, as +well as his beard, was now gray. His forehead was broad and expansive; +his nose aquiline. His blue eyes and fair complexion intimated his +Teutonic descent. The only feature in his countenance decidedly bad was +his lower jaw, protruding with its thick, heavy lip, so characteristic +of the physiognomies of the Austrian dynasty.[6] + +In stature he was about the middle height. His limbs were strongly knit, +and once well formed, though now the extremities were sadly distorted by +disease. The emperor leaned for support on a staff with one hand, while +with the other he rested on the arm of William of Orange, who, then +young, was destined at a later day to become the most formidable enemy +of his house. The grave demeanor of Charles was rendered still more +impressive by his dress; for he was in mourning for his mother; and the +sable hue of his attire was relieved only by a single ornament, the +superb collar of the Golden Fleece, which hung from his neck. + +Behind the emperor came Philip, the heir of his vast dominions. He was +of a middle height, of much the same proportions as his father, whom he +resembled also in his lineaments,--except that those of the son wore a +more sombre, and perhaps a sinister expression; while there was a +reserve in his manner, in spite of his efforts to the contrary, as if he +would shroud his thoughts from observation. The magnificence of his +dress corresponded with his royal station, and formed a contrast to that +of his father, who was quitting the pomp and grandeur of the world, on +which the son was about to enter. + +Next to Philip came Mary, the emperor's sister, formerly queen of +Hungary. She had filled the post of regent of the Low Countries for +nearly twenty years, and now welcomed the hour when she was to resign +the burden of sovereignty to her nephew, and withdraw, like her imperial +brother, into private life. Another sister of Charles, Eleanor, widow of +the French king, Francis the First, also took part in these ceremonies, +previous to her departure for Spain, whither she was to accompany the +emperor. + +After these members of the imperial family came the nobility of the +Netherlands, the knights of the Golden Fleece, the royal counsellors, +and the great officers of the household, all splendidly attired in their +robes of state, and proudly displaying the insignia of their orders. +When the emperor had mounted his throne, with Philip on his right hand, +the Regent Mary on his left, and the rest of his retinue disposed along +the seats prepared for them on the platform, the president of the +council of Flanders addressed the assembly. He briefly explained the +object for which they had been summoned, and the motives which had +induced their master to abdicate the throne; and he concluded by +requiring them, in their sovereign's name, to transfer their allegiance +from himself to Philip, his son and rightful heir. + +After a pause, Charles rose to address a few parting words to his +subjects. He stood with apparent difficulty, and rested his right hand +on the shoulder of the Prince of Orange, intimating, by this preference +on so distinguished an occasion, the high favour in which he held the +young nobleman. In the other hand he held a paper, containing some hints +for his discourse, and occasionally cast his eyes on it, to refresh his +memory. He spoke in the French language. + +He was unwilling, he said, to part from his people without a few words +from his own lips. It was now forty years since he had been intrusted +with the sceptre of the Netherlands. He was soon after called to take +charge of a still more extensive empire, both in Spain and in Germany, +involving a heavy responsibility for one so young. He had, however, +endeavored earnestly to do his duty to the best of his abilities. He had +been ever mindful of the interests of the dear land of his birth, but, +above all, of the great interests of Christianity. His first object had +been to maintain these inviolate against the infidel. In this he had +been thwarted, partly by the jealousy of neighboring powers, and partly +by the factions of the heretical princes of Germany. + +In the performance of his great work, he had never consulted his ease. +His expeditions, in war and in peace, to France, England, Germany, +Italy, Spain, and Flanders, had amounted to no less than forty. Four +times he had crossed the Spanish seas, and eight times the +Mediterranean. He had shrunk from no toil, while he had the strength to +endure it. But a cruel malady had deprived him of that strength. +Conscious of his inability to discharge the duties of his station, he +had long since come to the resolution to relinquish it. From this he had +been diverted only by the situation of his unfortunate parent, and by +the inexperience of his son. These objections no longer existed; and he +should not stand excused, in the eye of Heaven or of the world, if he +should insist on still holding the reins of government when he was +incapable of managing them,--when every year his incapacity must become +more obvious. + +[Sidenote: CEREMONY OF ABDICATION] + +He begged them to believe that this, and no other motive, induced him to +resign the sceptre which he had so long swayed. They had been to him +dutiful and loving subjects; and such, he doubted not, they would prove +to his successor. Above all things, he besought them to maintain the +purity of the faith. If any one, in these licentious times, had admitted +doubts into his bosom, let such doubts be extirpated at once. "I know +well," he concluded, "that, in my long administration, I have fallen +into many errors, and committed some wrongs, but it was from ignorance; +and, if there be any here whom I have wronged, they will believe that it +was not intended, and grant me their forgiveness."[7] + +While the emperor was speaking, a breathless silence pervaded the whole +audience. Charles had ever been dear to the people of the +Netherlands,--the land of his birth. They took a national pride in his +achievements, and felt that his glory reflected a peculiar lustre on +themselves. As they now gazed for the last time on that revered form, +and listened to the parting admonitions from his lips, they were deeply +affected, and not a dry eye was to be seen in the assembly. + +After a short interval, Charles, turning to Philip, who, in an attitude +of deep respect, stood awaiting his commands, he thus addressed +him:--"If the vast possessions which are now bestowed on you had come by +inheritance, there would be abundant cause for gratitude. How much more, +when they come as a free gift in the lifetime of your father! But, +however large the debt, I shall consider it all repaid, if you only +discharge your duty to your subjects. So rule over them, that men shall +commend, and not censure me for the part I am now acting. Go on as you +have begun. Fear God; live justly; respect the laws; above all, cherish +the interests of religion; and may the Almighty bless you with a son, to +whom, when old and stricken with disease, you may be able to resign your +kingdom with the same good-will with which I now resign mine to you." + +As he ceased, Philip, much affected, would have thrown himself at his +father's feet, assuring him of his intention to do all in his power to +merit such goodness; but Charles, raising his son, tenderly embraced +him, while the tears flowed fast down his cheeks. Every one, even the +most stoical, was touched by this affecting scene; "and nothing," says +one who was present, "was to be heard, throughout the hall, but sobs and +ill-suppressed moans." Charles, exhausted by his efforts, and deadly +pale, sank back upon his seat; while, with feeble accents, he exclaimed, +as he gazed on his people, "God bless you! God bless you!"[8] + +After these emotions had somewhat subsided, Philip arose, and, +delivering himself in French, briefly told the deputies of the regret +which he felt at not being able to address them in their native +language, and to assure them of the favor and high regard in which he +held them. This would be done for him by the bishop of Arras. + +This was Antony Perennot, better known as Cardinal Granvelle, son of the +famous minister of Charles the Fifth, and destined himself to a still +higher celebrity as the minister of Philip the Second. In clear and +fluent language, he gave the deputies the promise of their new sovereign +to respect the laws and liberties of the nation; invoking them, on his +behalf, to aid him with their counsels, and, like royal vassals, to +maintain the authority of the law in his dominions. After a suitable +response from the deputies, filled with sentiments of regret for the +loss of their late monarch, and with those of loyalty to their new one, +the Regent Mary formally abdicated her authority, and the session +closed. So ended a ceremony, which, considering the importance of its +consequences, the character of the actors, and the solemnity of the +proceedings, is one of the most remarkable in history. That the crown of +the monarch is lined with thorns, is a trite maxim; and it requires no +philosophy to teach us that happiness does not depend on station. Yet, +numerous as are the instances of those who have waded to a throne +through seas of blood, there are but few who, when they have once tasted +the sweets of sovereignty, have been content to resign them; still fewer +who, when they have done so, have had the philosophy to conform to their +change of condition, and not to repent it. Charles, as the event proved, +was one of these few. + +On the sixteenth day of January, 1556, in the presence of such of the +Spanish nobility as were at the court, he executed the deeds by which he +ceded the sovereignty of Castile and Aragon, with their dependencies, to +Philip.[9] + +The last act that remained for him to perform was to resign the crown of +Germany in favor of his brother Ferdinand. But this he consented to +defer some time longer, at the request of Ferdinand himself, who wished +to prepare the minds of the electoral college for this unexpected +transfer of the imperial sceptre. But, while Charles consented to retain +for the present the title of Emperor, the real power and the burden of +sovereignty would remain with Ferdinand.[10] + +At the time of abdicating the throne of the Netherlands, Charles was +still at war with France. He had endeavored to negotiate a permanent +peace with that country; and, although he failed in this, he had the +satisfaction, on the fifth of February, 1556, to arrange a truce for +five years, which left both powers in the possession of their respective +conquests. In the existing state of these conquests, the truce was by no +means favorable to Spain. But Charles would have made even larger +concessions, rather than leave the legacy of a war to his less +experienced successor. + +[Sidenote: HIS RETURN TO SPAIN] + +Having thus completed all his arrangements, by which the most powerful +prince of Europe descended to the rank of a private gentleman, Charles +had no longer reason to defer his departure, and he proceeded to the +place of embarkation. He was accompanied by a train of Flemish +courtiers, and by the foreign ambassadors, to the latter of whom he +warmly commended the interests of his son. A fleet of fifty-six sail was +riding at anchor in the port of Flushing, ready to transport him and his +retinue to Spain. From the imperial household, consisting of seven +hundred and sixty-two persons, he selected a hundred and fifty as his +escort; and accompanied by his sisters, after taking an affectionate +farewell of Philip, whose affairs detained him in Flanders, on the +thirteenth of September he sailed from the harbor of Flushing. + +The passage was a boisterous one; and Charles, who suffered greatly from +his old enemy, the gout, landed, in a feeble state, at Laredo, in +Biscay, on the twenty-eighth of the month. Scarcely had he left the +vessel, when a storm fell with fury on the fleet, and did some mischief +to the shipping in the harbor. The pious Spaniard saw in this the finger +of Providence, which had allowed no harm to the squadron till its royal +freight had been brought safely to the shore.[11] + +On landing, Charles complained, and with some reason, of the scanty +preparations that had been made for him. Philip had written several +times to his sister, the regent, ordering her to have everything ready +for the emperor on his arrival.[12] Joanna had accordingly issued her +orders to that effect. But promptness and punctuality are not virtues of +the Spaniard. Some apology may be found for their deficiency in the +present instance; as Charles himself had so often postponed his +departure from the Low Countries, that, when he did come, the people +were, in a manner, taken by surprise. That the neglect was not +intentional is evident from their subsequent conduct.[13] + +Charles, whose infirmities compelled him to be borne in a litter, was +greeted, everywhere on the road, like a sovereign returning to his +dominions. It was evening when he reached the ancient city of Burgos; +and, as he passed through its illuminated streets the bells rang +merrily, to give him welcome. He remained there three days, experiencing +the hospitalities of the great constable, and receiving the homage of +the northern lords, as well as of the people, who thronged the route by +which he was to pass. At Torquemada, among those who came to pay their +respects to their former master was Gasca, the good president of Peru. +He had been sent to America to suppress the insurrection of Gonzalo +Pizarro, and restore tranquillity to the country. In the execution of +this delicate mission, he succeeded so well, that the emperor, on his +return, had raised him to the see of Plasencia; and the excellent man +now lived in his diocese, where, in the peaceful discharge of his +episcopal functions, he probably enjoyed far greater contentment than +he could have derived from the dazzling, but difficult post of an +American viceroy. + +From Torquemada, Charles slowly proceeded to Valladolid, where his +daughter, the Regent Joanna, was then holding her court. Preparations +were made for receiving him in a manner suited to his former rank. But +Charles positively declined these honours, reserving them for his two +sisters, the dowager queens of France and Hungary, who accordingly made +their entrance into the capital in great state, on the day following +that on which their royal brother had entered it with the simplicity of +a private citizen. + +He remained here some time, in order to recover from the fatigue of his +journey; and, although he took little part in the festivities of the +court, he gave audience to his ancient ministers, and to such of the +Castilian grandees as were eager to render him their obeisance. At the +court he had also the opportunity of seeing his grandson Carlos, the +heir of the monarchy; and his quick eye, it is said, in this short time, +saw enough in the prince's deportment to fill him with ominous +forebodings. + +Charles prolonged his stay fourteen days in Valladolid, during which +time his health was much benefited by the purity and the dryness of the +atmosphere. On his departure, his royal sisters would have borne him +company, and even have fixed their permanent residence near his own. But +to this he would not consent; and, taking a tender farewell of every +member of his family,--as one who was never to behold them again,--he +resumed his journey. + +The place he had chosen for his retreat was the monastery of Yuste, in +the province of Estremadura, not many miles from Plasencia. On his way +thither he halted near three months at Jarandilla, the residence of the +count of Oropesa, waiting there for the completion of some repairs that +were going on in the monastery, as well as for the remittance of a +considerable sum of money, which he was daily expecting. This he +required chiefly to discharge the arrears due to some of his old +retainers; and the failure of the remittance has brought some obloquy on +Philip, who could so soon show himself unmindful of his obligations to +his father. But the blame should rather be charged on Philip's ministers +than on Philip, absent as he was at that time from the country, and +incapable of taking personal cognizance of the matter. Punctuality in +his pecuniary engagements was a virtue to which neither Charles nor +Philip--the masters of the Indies--could at any time lay claim. But the +imputation of parsimony, or even indifference, on the part of the +latter, in his relations with his father, is fully disproved by the +subsequent history of that monarch at the convent of Yuste.[14] + +[Sidenote: BIRTH OF PHILIP.] + +This place, it is said, had attracted his eye many years before, when on +a visit to that part of the country, and he marked it for his future +residence. The convent was tenanted by monks of the strictest order of +Saint Jerome. But, however strict in their monastic rule, the good +fathers showed much taste in the selection of their ground, as well as +in the embellishment of it. It lay in a wild, romantic country, +embosomed among hills that stretch along the northern confines of +Estremadura. The building, which was of great antiquity, had been +surrounded by its inmates with cultivated gardens, and with groves of +orange, lemon, and myrtle, whose fragrance was tempered by the +refreshing coolness of the waters that gushed forth in abundance from +the rocky sides of the hills. It was a delicious retreat, and, by its +calm seclusion and the character of its scenery, was well suited to +withdraw the mind from the turmoil of the world, and dispose it to +serious meditation. Here the monarch, after a life of restless ambition, +proposed to spend the brief remainder of his days, and dedicate it to +the salvation of his soul. He could not, however, as the event proved, +close his heart against all sympathy with mankind, nor refuse to take +some part in the great questions which then agitated the world. Charles +was not master of that ignoble philosophy which enabled Diocletian to +turn with contentment from the cares of an empire to those of a +cabbage-garden.--In this retirement we must now leave the royal recluse, +while we follow the opening career of the prince whose reign is the +subject of the present history. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +EARLY DAYS OF PHILIP. + +Birth of Philip the Second.--His Education.--Intrusted with the +Regency.--Marries Mary of Portugal.--Visit to Flanders.--Public +Festivities.--Ambitious Schemes.--Returns to Spain. + +1527-1551. + + +Philip the Second was born at Valladolid, on the twenty-first of May, +1527. His mother was the Empress Isabella, daughter of Emanuel the Great +of Portugal. By his father he was descended from the ducal houses of +Burgundy and Austria. By both father and mother he claimed a descent +from Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic of Spain. As by blood he was +half a Spaniard, so by temperament and character he proved to be wholly +so. + +The ceremony of his baptism was performed with all due solemnity, by +Tavera, archbishop of Toledo, on the twenty-fifth of June, when the +royal infant received the name of Philip, after his paternal +grandfather, Philip the Handsome, whose brief reign--for which he was +indebted to his union with Joanna, queen-proprietor of Castile--has +hardly secured him a place in the line of Castilian sovereigns. + +The birth of a son--the heir of so magnificent an empire--was hailed +with delight both by Charles and by the whole nation, who prepared to +celebrate it in a style worthy of the event, when tidings reached them +of the capture of Pope Clement the Seventh and the sack of Rome by the +Spanish troops under the constable de Bourbon. The news of this event, +and the cruelties inflicted by the conquerors, filled all Europe with +consternation. Even the Protestants, who had no superfluous sympathy to +spare for the sufferings of the pope, were shocked by the perpetration +of atrocities compared with which the conduct of Attila and Alaric might +almost be deemed merciful. Whatever responsibility may attach to Charles +on the score of the expedition, it would be injustice to him to suppose +that he did not share in the general indignation at the manner in which +it was conducted. At all events, he could hardly venture to outrage the +feelings of Christendom so far as to take the present moment for one of +public rejoicing. Orders were instantly issued to abandon the intended +festivities, greatly to the discontent of the people, whose sympathy for +the pope did not by any means incline them to put this restraint on the +expression of their loyalty; and they drew from the disappointment an +uncomfortable augury that the reign of the young prince boded no good to +the Catholic religion.[15] + +It was not long, however, before the people of Castile had an +opportunity for the full display of their enthusiasm, on the occasion of +Philip's recognition as rightful heir to the crown. The ceremony was +conducted with great pomp and splendor in the cortes at Madrid, on the +nineteenth of April, 1528, when he was but eleven months old. The prince +was borne in the arms of his mother, who, with the emperor, was present +on the occasion; while the nobles, the clergy, and the commons took the +oath of allegiance to the royal infant, as successor to the crown of +Castile. The act of homage was no sooner published, than the nation, as +if by way of compensation for the past, abandoned itself to a general +jubilee. Illuminations and bonfires were lighted up in all the towns and +villages; while everywhere were to be seen dancing, bull-fights, tilts +of reeds, and the other national games of that chivalrous and romantic +land. + +Soon after this, Charles was called by his affairs to other parts of his +far-extended empire, and he left his infant son to the care of a +Portuguese lady, Dona Leonor Mascarenas, or rather to that of the +Empress Isabella, in whose prudence and maternal watchfulness he could +safely confide. On the emperor's return to Spain, when his son was +hardly seven years old, he formed for him a separate establishment, and +selected two persons for the responsible office of superintending his +education.[16] + +One of these personages was Juan Martinez Siliceo, at that time +professor in the College of Salamanca. He was a man of piety and +learning, of an accommodating temper,--too accommodating, it appears +from some of Charles's letters, for the good of his pupil, though not, +as it would seem, for his own good, since he found such favor with the +prince, that, from an humble ecclesiastic, he was subsequently preferred +to the highest dignities of the Church. + +[Sidenote: HIS EDUCATION.] + +Under him Philip was instructed in the ancient classics, and made such +progress in Latin, that he could write it, and did write it frequently +in after life, with ease and correctness. He studied, also, Italian and +French. He seems to have had little knowledge of the former, but French +he could speak indifferently well, though he was rarely inclined to +venture beyond his own tongue. He showed a more decided taste for +science, especially the mathematics. He made a careful study of the +principles of architecture; and the fruits of this study are to be seen +in some of the noblest monuments erected in that flourishing period of +the arts. In sculpture and painting he also made some proficiency, and +became, in later life, no contemptible critic,--at least for a +sovereign. + +The other functionary charged with Philip's education was Don Juan de +Zuniga, commendador mayor of Castile. He taught his pupil to fence, to +ride, to take his part at the tilts and tourneys, and, in short, to +excel in the chivalrous exercises familiar to cavaliers of his time. He +encouraged Philip to invigorate his constitution by the hardy pleasures +of the chase, to which, however, he was but little addicted as he +advanced in years. + +But, besides these personal accomplishments, no one was better qualified +than Zuniga to instruct his people in the duties belonging to his royal +station. He was a man of ancient family, and had passed much of his life +in courts. But he had none of the duplicity or of the suppleness which +often marks the character of the courtier. He possessed too high a +sentiment of honor to allow him to trifle with truth. He spoke his mind +plainly, too plainly sometimes for the taste of his pupil. Charles, who +understood the character of Zuniga, wrote to his son to honor and to +cherish him. "If he deals plainly with you," he said, "it is for the +love he bears you. If he were to flatter you, and be only solicitous of +ministering to your wishes, he would be like all the rest of the world, +and you would have no one near to tell you the truth;--and a worse thing +cannot happen to any man, old or young; but most of all to the young, +from their want of experience to discern truth from error." The wise +emperor, who knew how rarely it is that truth is permitted to find its +way to royal ears, set a just value on the man who had the courage to +speak it.[17] + +Under the influence of these teachers, and, still more, of the +circumstances in which he was placed,--the most potent teachers of +all,--Philip grew in years, and slowly unfolded the peculiar qualities +of his disposition. He seemed cautious and reserved in his demeanor, and +slow of speech; yet what he said had a character of thought beyond his +age. At no time did he discover that buoyancy of spirit, or was he +betrayed into those sallies of temper, which belong to a bold and +adventurous, and often to a generous nature. His deportment was marked +by a seriousness that to some might seem to savor of melancholy. He was +self-possessed, so that even as a boy he was rarely off his guard.[18] + +The emperor, whose affairs called him away from Spain much the greater +part of his time, had not the power of personally superintending the +education of his son. Unfortunately for the latter, his excellent mother +died when he was but twelve years old. Charles, who loved his wife as +much as a man is capable of loving whose soul is filled with schemes of +boundless ambition, was at Madrid when he received tidings of her +illness. He posted in all haste to Toledo, where the queen then was, but +arrived there only in time to embrace her cold remains before they were +consigned to the sepulchre. The desolate monarch abandoned himself to an +agony of grief, and was with difficulty withdrawn from the apartment by +his attendants, to indulge his solitary regrets in the neighboring +monastery of La Sisla. + +Isabella well deserved to be mourned by her husband. She was a woman +from all accounts, possessed of many high and generous qualities. Such +was her fortitude, that, at the time of her confinement, she was never +heard to utter a groan. She seemed to think any demonstration of +suffering a weakness, and had the chamber darkened that her attendants +might not see the distress painted on her countenance.[19] With this +constancy of spirit, she united many feminine virtues. The palace, under +her rule, became a school of industry. Instead of wasting her leisure +hours in frivolous pleasures, she might be seen busily occupied, with +her maidens, in the elegant labors of the loom; and, like her ancestor, +the good Queen Isabella the Catholic, she sent more than one piece of +tapestry, worked by her own hands, to adorn the altars of Jerusalem. +These excellent qualities were enhanced by manners so attractive, that +her effigy was struck on a medal, with a device of the three Graces on +the reverse side, bearing the motto, _Has Habet et superat_.[20] + +Isabella was but thirty-six years old at the time of her death. Charles +was not forty. He never married again. Yet the bereavement seems to have +had little power to soften his nature, or incline him to charity for the +misconduct, or compassion for the misfortunes of others. It was but a +few months after the death of his wife, that, on occasion of the +insurrection of Ghent, he sought a passage through the territory of his +ancient enemy of France, descended on the offending city, and took such +vengeance on its wretched inhabitants as made all Europe ring with his +cruelty.[21] + +Philip was too young at this time to take part in the administration of +the kingdom during his father's absence. But he was surrounded by able +statesmen, who familiarized him with ideas of government, by admitting +him to see the workings of the machinery which he was one day to direct. +Charles was desirous that the attention of his son, even in boyhood, +should be turned to those affairs which were to form the great business +of his future life. It seems even thus early--at this period of mental +depression--the emperor cherished the plan of anticipating the natural +consequence of his decease, by resigning his dominions into the hands of +Philip so soon as he should be qualified to rule them. + +No event occurred to disturb the tranquillity of Spain during the +emperor's absence from that country, to which he returned in the winter +of 1541. It was after his disastrous expedition against Algiers,--the +most disastrous of any that he had yet undertaken. He there saw his navy +sunk or scattered by the tempest, and was fortunate in finding a +shelter, with its shattered remnants, in the port of Carthagena. Soon +after landing, he received a letter from Philip, condoling with him on +his losses, and striving to cheer him with the reflection, that they had +been caused by the elements, not by his enemies. With this tone of +philosophy were mingled expressions of sympathy; and Charles may have +been gratified with the epistle,--if he could believe it the +composition of his son.[22] Philip soon after this made a journey to +the south; and, in the society of one who was now the chief object of +his affections, the emperor may have found the best consolation in his +misfortunes. + +[Sidenote: INTRUSTED WITH THE REGENCY.] + +The French had availed themselves of the troubled state of Charles's +affairs to make a descent upon Roussillon; and the Dauphin now lay in +some strength before the gates of Perpignan. The emperor considered this +a favorable moment for Philip to take his first lesson in war. The +prince accordingly posted to Valladolid. A considerable force was +quickly mustered; and Philip, taking the command, and supported by some +of the most experienced of his father's generals, descended rapidly +towards the coast. But the Dauphin did not care to wait for his +approach; and, breaking up his camp, he retreated, without striking a +blow, in all haste, across the mountains. Philip entered the town in +triumph, and soon after returned, with the unstained laurels of victory, +to receive his father's congratulations. The promptness of his movements +on this occasion gained him credit with the Spaniards; and the fortunate +result seemed to furnish a favorable augury for the future. + +On his return, the prince was called to preside over the cortes at +Monzon,--a central town, where the deputies of Aragon, Catalonia, and +Valencia continued to assemble separately, long after those provinces +had been united to Castile. Philip, with all the forms prescribed by the +constitution, received the homage of the representatives assembled, as +successor to the crown of Aragon. + +The war with France, which, after a temporary suspension, had broken out +with greater violence than ever, did not permit the emperor long to +protract his stay in the Peninsula. Indeed, it seemed to his Spanish +subjects that he rarely visited them, except when his exchequer required +to be replenished for carrying on his restless enterprises, and that he +stayed no longer than was necessary to effect this object. On leaving +the country, he intrusted the regency to Philip, under the general +direction of a council consisting of the duke of Alva, Cardinal Tavera, +and the Commendador Cobos. Some time after this, while still lingering +in Catalonia, previous to his embarkation, Charles addressed a letter to +his son, advising him as to his political course, and freely criticising +the characters of the great lords associated with him in the government. +The letter, which is altogether a remarkable document, contains, also, +some wholesome admonitions on Philip's private conduct. "The duke of +Alva," the emperor emphatically wrote, "is the ablest statesman and the +best soldier I have in my dominions. Consult him, above all, in military +affairs; but do not depend upon him entirely in these or in any other +matters. Depend on no one but yourself. The grandees will be too happy +to secure your favor, and through you to govern the land. But, if you +are thus governed, it will be your ruin. The mere suspicion of it will +do you infinite prejudice. Make use of all; but lean exclusively on +none. In your perplexities, ever trust in your Maker. Have no care but +for him." The emperor then passes some strictures on the Commendador +Cobos, as too much inclined to pleasure, at the same time admonishing +Philip of the consequences of a libertine career, fatal alike, he tells +him, to both soul and body. There seems to have been some ground for +this admonition, as the young prince had shown a disposition to +gallantry, which did not desert him in later life. "Yet, on the whole," +says the monarch, "I will admit I have much reason to be satisfied with +your behavior. But I would have you perfect; and, to speak frankly, +whatever other persons may tell you, you have some things to mend yet. +Your confessor," he continues, "is now your old preceptor, the bishop +of Carthagena,"--to which see the worthy professor had been recently +raised. "He is a good man, as all the world knows; but I hope he will +take better care of your conscience than he did of your studies, and +that he will not show quite so accommodating a temper in regard to the +former as he did with the latter."[23] + +On the cover of this curious epistle the emperor indorsed a direction to +his son, to show it to no living person; but if he found himself ill at +any time, to destroy the letter, or seal it up under cover to him. It +would, indeed, have edified those courtiers, who fancied they stood +highest in the royal favor, to see how, to their very depths, their +characters were sounded, and how clearly their schemes of ambition were +revealed to the eye of their master. It was this admirable perception of +character which enabled Charles, so generally, to select the right agent +for the execution of his plans, and thus to insure their success. + +The letter from Palamos is one among many similar proofs of the care +with which, even from a distance, Charles watched over his son's course, +and endeavored to form his character. The experienced navigator would +furnish a chart to the youthful pilot, by which, without other aid, he +might securely steer through seas strange and unknown to him. Yet there +was little danger in the navigation, at this period; for Spain lay in a +profound tranquillity, unruffled by a breath from the rude tempest, +that, in other parts of Europe, was unsettling princes on their thrones. + +A change was now to take place in Philip's domestic relations. His +magnificent expectations made him, in the opinion of the world, the best +match in Europe. His father had long contemplated the event of his son's +marrying. He had first meditated an alliance for him with Margaret, +daughter of Francis the First, by which means the feud with his ancient +rival might be permanently healed. But Philip's inclination was turned +to an alliance with Portugal. This latter was finally adopted by +Charles; and, in December, 1542, Philip was betrothed to the Infanta +Mary, daughter of John the Third and of Catharine, the emperor's sister. +She was, consequently, cousin-german to Philip. At the same time, +Joanna, Charles's youngest daughter, was affianced to the eldest son of +John the Third, and heir to his crown. The intermarriages of the royal +houses of Castile and Portugal were so frequent, that the several +members stood in multiplied and most perplexing degrees of affinity with +one another. + +Joanna was eight years younger than her brother. Charles had one other +child, Mary, born the year after Philip. She was destined to a more +splendid fortune than her sister, as bride of the future emperor of +Germany. Since Philip and the Portuguese princess were now both more +than sixteen years old, being nearly of the same age, it was resolved +that their marriage should no longer be deferred. The place appointed +for the ceremony was the ancient city of Salamanca. + +[Sidenote: MARRIES MARY OF PORTUGAL.] + +In October, 1543, the Portuguese infanta quitted her father's palace in +Lisbon, and set out for Castile. She was attended by a numerous train of +nobles, with the archbishop of Lisbon at their head. A splendid embassy +was sent to meet her on the borders, and conduct her to Salamanca. At +its head was the duke of Medina Sidonia, chief of the Guzmans, the +wealthiest and most powerful lord in Andalusia. He had fitted up his +palace at Badajoz in the most costly and sumptuous style, for the +accommodation of the princess. The hangings were of cloth of gold; the +couches, the sideboards, and some of the other furniture, of burnished +silver. The duke himself rode in a superb litter, and the mules which +carried it were shod with gold. The members of his household and his +retainers swelled to the number of three thousand, well mounted, wearing +the liveries and cognizance of their master. Among them was the duke's +private band, including several natives of the Indies,--then not a +familiar sight in Spain,--displaying on their breasts broad silver +escutcheons, on which were emblazoned the arms of the Guzmans. The +chronicler is diffuse in his account of the infanta's reception, from +which a few particulars may be selected for such as take an interest in +the Spanish costume and manners of the sixteenth century. + +The infanta was five months younger than Philip. She was of the middle +size, with a good figure, though somewhat inclined to _embonpoint_, and +was distinguished by a graceful carriage and a pleasing expression of +countenance. Her dress was of cloth of silver, embroidered with flowers +of gold. She wore a _capa_, or Castilian mantle, of violet-colored +velvet, figured with gold, and a hat of the same materials, surmounted +by a white and azure plume. The housings of the mule were of rich +brocade, and Mary rode on a silver saddle. + +As she approached Salamanca, she was met by the rector and professors of +the university, in their academic gowns. Next followed the judges and +_regidores_ of the city, in their robes of office, of crimson velvet, +with hose and shoes of spotless white. After these came the +military,--horse and foot,--in their several companies, making a +brilliant show with their gay uniforms; and, after going through their +various evolutions, they formed into an escort for the princess. In this +way, amidst the sound of music and the shouts of the multitude, the +glittering pageant entered the gates of the capital. + +The infanta was there received under a superb canopy, supported by the +magistrates of the city. The late ambassador to Portugal, Don Luis +Sarmiento, who had negotiated the marriage treaty, held the bridle of +her mule; and in this state she arrived at the palace of the duke of +Alva, destined for her reception in Salamanca. Here she was received +with all honour by the duchess, in the presence of a brilliant company +of cavaliers and noble ladies. Each of the ladies was graciously +permitted by the infanta to kiss her hand; but the duchess, the +chronicler is careful to inform us, she distinguished by the honor of an +embrace. + +All the while, Philip had been in the presence of the infanta, unknown +to herself. Impatient to see his destined bride, the young prince had +sallied out, with a few attendants, to the distance of five or six miles +from the city, all in the disguise of huntsmen. He wore a slouched +velvet hat on his head, and his face was effectually concealed under a +gauze mask, so that he could mingle in the crowd by the side of the +infanta, and make his own scrutiny, unmarked by any one. In this way he +accompanied the procession during the five hours which it lasted, until +the darkness had set in; "if darkness could be spoken of," says the +chronicler, "where the blaze of ten thousand torches shed a light +stronger than day." + +The following evening, November the twelfth, was appointed for the +marriage. The duke and duchess of Alva stood as sponsors, and the +nuptial ceremony was performed by Tavera, archbishop of Toledo. The +festivities were prolonged through another week. The saloons were filled +with the beauty of Castile. The proudest aristocracy in Europe vied with +each other in the display of magnificence at the banquet and the +tourney: and sounds of merriment succeeded to the tranquillity which had +so long reigned in the cloistered shades of Salamanca. + +On the nineteenth of the month the new-married pair transferred their +residence to Valladolid,--a city at once fortunate and fatal to the +princess. Well might the chronicler call it "fatal;" for, in less than +two years, July 8th, 1545, she there gave birth to a son, the +celebrated Don Carlos, whose mysterious fate has furnished so fruitful a +theme for speculation. Mary survived the birth of her child but a few +days. Had her life been spared, a mother's care might perhaps have given +a different direction to his character, and, through this, to his +fortunes. The remains of the infanta, first deposited in the cathedral +of Granada, were afterwards removed to the Escorial, that magnificent +mausoleum prepared by her husband for the royalty of Spain.[24] + +In the following year died Tavera, archbishop of Toledo. He was an +excellent man, and greatly valued by the emperor; who may be thought to +have passed a sufficient encomium on his worth when he declared, that +"by his death Philip had suffered a greater loss than by that of Mary; +for he could get another wife, but not another Tavera." His place was +filled by Siliceo, Philip's early preceptor, who, after having been +raised to the archiepiscopal see of Toledo, received a cardinal's hat +from Rome. The accommodating spirit of the good ecclesiastic had +doubtless some influence in his rapid advancement from the condition of +a poor teacher in Salamanca to the highest post,--as the see of Toledo, +with its immense revenues and authority, might be considered,--next to +the papacy, in the Christian Church. + +For some years, no event of importance occurred to disturb the repose of +the Peninsula. But the emperor was engaged in a stormy career abroad, in +which his arms were at length crowned with success by the decisive +battle of Muhlberg. + +This victory, which secured him the person of his greatest enemy, placed +him in a position for dictating terms to the Protestant princes of +Germany. He had subsequently withdrawn to Brussels, where he received an +embassy from Philip, congratulating him on the success of his arms. +Charles was desirous to see his son, from whom he had now been separated +nearly six years. He wished, moreover, to introduce him to the +Netherlands, and make him personally acquainted with the people over +whom he was one day to rule. He sent instructions, accordingly, to +Philip, to repair to Flanders, so soon as the person appointed to +relieve him in the government should arrive in Castile. + +The individual selected by the emperor for this office was Maximilian, +the son of his brother Ferdinand. He was a young man of good parts, +correct judgment, and popular manners,--well qualified, notwithstanding +his youth, for the post assigned to him. He was betrothed, as already +mentioned, to the emperor's eldest daughter, his cousin Mary; and the +regency was to be delivered into his hands on the marriage of the +parties. + +Philip received his father's commands while presiding at the cortes of +Monzon. He found the Aragonese legislature by no means so tractable as +the Castilian. The deputies from the mountains of Aragon and from the +sea-coast of Catalonia were alike sturdy in their refusal to furnish +further supplies for those ambitious enterprises, which, whatever glory +they might bring to their sovereign, were of little benefit to them. The +independent people of these provinces urged their own claims with a +pertinacity, and criticized the conduct of their rulers with a +bluntness, that was little grateful to the ear of majesty. The +convocation of the Aragonese cortes was, in the view of the king of +Spain, what the convocation of a general council was in that of the +pope,--a measure not to be resorted to but from absolute necessity. + +On the arrival of Maximilian in Castile, his marriage with the Infanta +Mary was immediately celebrated. The ceremony took place, with all the +customary pomp, in the courtly city of Valladolid. Among the festivities +that followed may be noticed the performance of a comedy of Ariosto,--a +proof that the beautiful Italian literature, which had exercised a +visible influence on the compositions of the great Castilian poets of +the time, had now commended itself, in some degree, to the popular +taste. + +Before leaving the country, Philip, by his father's orders, made a +change in his domestic establishment, which he formed on the Burgundian +model. This was more ceremonious, and far more costly, than the +primitive usage of Castile. A multitude of new offices was created, and +the most important were filled by grandees of the highest class. The +duke of Alva was made _mayor-domo mayor_; Antonio de Toledo, his +kinsman, master of the horse; Figueroa, count of Feria, captain of the +body-guard. Among the chamberlains was Ruy Gomez de Silva, prince of +Eboli, one of the most important members of the cabinet under Philip. +Even the menial offices connected with the person and table of the +prince were held by men of rank. A guard was lodged in the palace. +Philip dined in public in great state, attended by his kings-at-arms, +and by a host of minstrels and musicians. One is reminded of the pompous +etiquette of the court of Louis the Fourteenth. All this, however, was +distasteful to the Spaniards, who did not comprehend why the prince +should relinquish the simple usages of his own land for the fashions of +Burgundy. Neither was it to the taste of Philip himself; but it suited +that of his father, who was desirous that his son should flatter the +Flemings by the assumption of a state to which they had been accustomed +in their Burgundian princes.[25] + +Philip, having now completed his arrangements, and surrendered the +regency into the hands of his brother-in-law, had no reason longer to +postpone his journey. He was accompanied by the duke of Alva, Enriquez, +high-admiral of Castile, Ruy Gomez, prince of Eboli, and a long train of +persons of the highest rank. There was, besides, a multitude of younger +cavaliers of family. The proudest nobles of the land contended for the +honor of having their sons take part in the expedition. The number was +still further augmented by a body of artists and men of science. The +emperor was desirous that Philip should make an appearance that would +dazzle the imaginations of the people among whom he passed. + +With this brilliant company, Philip began his journey in the autumn of +1548. He took the road to Saragossa, made an excursion to inspect the +fortifications of Perpignan, offered up his prayers at the shrine of Our +Lady of Montserrat, passed a day or two at Barcelona, enjoying the fete +prepared for him in the pleasant citron-gardens of the cardinal of +Trent, and thence proceeded to the port of Rosas, where a Genoese fleet, +over which proudly waved the imperial banner, was riding at anchor, and +awaiting his arrival. It consisted of fifty-eight vessels, furnished by +Genoa, Sicily, and Naples, and commanded by the veteran of a hundred +battles, the famous Andrew Doria. + +Philip encountered some rough weather on his passage to Genoa. The doge +and the principal senators came out of port in a magnificent galley to +receive him. The prince landed, amidst the roar of cannon from the walls +and the adjacent fortifications, and was forthwith conducted to the +mansion of the Dorias, preeminent, even in this city of palaces, for +its architectural splendor. + +During his stay in Genoa, Philip received all the attentions which an +elegant hospitality could devise. But his hours were not wholly resigned +to pleasure. He received, every day, embassies from the different +Italian states, one of which came from the pope, Paul the Third, with +his nephew, Ottavio Farnese, at its head. Its especial object was to +solicit the prince's interest with his father, for the restitution of +Parma and Placentia to the Holy See. Philip answered in terms +complimentary, indeed, says the historian, "but sufficiently ambiguous +as to the essential."[26] He had already learned his first lesson in +kingcraft. Not long after, the pope sent him a consecrated sword, and +the hat worn by his holiness on Christmas eve, accompanied by an +autograph letter, in which, after expatiating on the mystic import of +his gift, he expressed his confidence that in Philip he was one day to +find the true champion of the Church. + +At the end of a fortnight, the royal traveller resumed his journey. He +crossed the famous battle-field of Pavia, and was shown the place where +Francis the First surrendered himself a prisoner, and where the Spanish +ambuscade sallied out and decided the fortune of the day. His bosom +swelled with exultation, as he rode over the ground made memorable by +the most brilliant victory achieved by his father,--a victory which +opened the way to the implacable hatred of his vanquished rival, and to +oceans of blood. + +From Pavia he passed on to Milan, the flourishing capital of +Lombardy,--the fairest portion of the Spanish dominions in Italy. Milan +was, at that time, second only to Naples in population. It was second to +no city in the elegance of its buildings, the splendor of its +aristocracy, the opulence and mechanical ingenuity of its burghers. It +was renowned, at the same time, for its delicate fabrics of silk, and +its armor, curiously wrought and inlaid with gold and silver. In all the +arts of luxury and material civilization, it was unsurpassed by any of +the capitals of Christendom. + +As the prince approached the suburbs, a countless throng of people came +forth to greet him. For fifteen miles before he entered the city, the +road was spanned by triumphal arches, garlanded with flowers and fruits, +and bearing inscriptions, both in Latin and Italian, filled with praises +of the father and prognostics of the future glory of the son. Amidst the +concourse were to be seen the noble ladies of Milan, in gay, fantastic +cars, shining in silk brocade, and with sumptuous caparisons for their +horses. As he drew near the town, two hundred mounted gentlemen came out +to escort him into the place. They were clothed in complete mail of the +fine Milanese workmanship, and were succeeded by fifty pages in gaudy +livery, devoted to especial attendance on the prince's person, during +his residence in Milan. + +Philip entered the gates under a canopy of state, with the cardinal of +Trent on his right hand, and Philibert, prince of Piedmont, on his left. +He was received, at the entrance, by the governor of the place, attended +by the members of the senate, in their robes of office. The houses which +lined the long street through which the procession passed were hung with +tapestries, and with paintings of the great Italian masters. The +balconies and verandahs were crowded with spectators, eager to behold +their future sovereign, and rending the air with their acclamations. The +ceremony of reception was closed, in the evening, by a brilliant display +of fireworks,--in which the Milanese excelled,--and by a general +illumination of the city. + +[Sidenote: VISIT TO FLANDERS] + +Philip's time glided away, during his residence at Milan, in a +succession of banquets, _fetes_, and spectacles of every description +which the taste and ingenuity of the people could devise for the +amusement of their illustrious guest. With none was he more pleased than +with the theatrical entertainments, conducted with greater elegance and +refinement in Italy than in any of the countries beyond the Alps. Nor +was he always a passive spectator at these festivities. He was +especially fond of dancing, in which his light and agile figure fitted +him to excel. In the society of ladies he lost much of his habitual +reserve; and the dignified courtesy of his manners seems to have made a +favorable impression on the fair dames of Italy, who were probably not +less pleased by the display of his munificence. To the governor's wife, +who had entertained him at a splendid ball, he presented a diamond ring +worth five thousand ducats; and to her daughter he gave a necklace of +rubies worth three thousand. Similar presents, of less value, he +bestowed on others of the court, extending his liberality even to the +musicians and inferior persons who had contributed to his entertainment. +To the churches he gave still more substantial proofs of his generosity. +In short, he showed, on all occasions, a munificent spirit worthy of his +royal station. + +He took some pains, moreover, to reciprocate the civilities he had +received, by entertaining his hosts in return. He was particularly +fortunate in exhibiting to them a curious spectacle, which, even with +this pleasure-loving people, had the rare merit of novelty. This was the +graceful tourney introduced into Castile from the Spanish Arabs. The +highest nobles in his suite took the lead in it. The cavaliers were +arranged in six quadrilles, or factions, each wearing its distinctive +livery and badges, with their heads protected by shawls, or turbans, +wreathed around them in the Moorish fashion. They were mounted _a la +gineta_, that is, on the light jennet of Andalusia,--a cross of the +Arabian. In their hands they brandished their slender lances, with long +streamers attached to them, of some gay color, that denoted the +particular faction of the cavalier. Thus lightly equipped and mounted, +the Spanish knights went through the delicate manoeuvres of the Moorish +tilt of reeds, showing an easy horsemanship, and performing feats of +agility and grace, which delighted the Italians, keenly alive to the +beautiful, but hitherto accustomed only to the more ponderous and clumsy +exercises of the European tourney.[27] + +After some weeks, Prince Philip quitted the hospitable walls of Milan, +and set out for the north. Before leaving the place, he was joined by a +body of two hundred mounted arquebusiers, wearing his own yellow +uniform, and commanded by the duke of Arschot. They had been sent to him +as an escort by his father. He crossed the Tyrol, then took the road by +the way of Munich, Trent, and Heidelberg, and so on towards Flanders. On +all the route, the royal party was beset by multitudes of both sexes, +pressing to catch a glimpse of the young prince who was one day to sway +the mightiest sceptre in Europe. The magistrates of the cities through +which he passed welcomed him with complimentary addresses, and with +presents, frequently in the form of silver urns, or goblets, filled with +golden ducats. Philip received the donatives with a gracious +condescension; and, in truth, they did not come amiss in this season of +lavish expenditure. To the addresses, the duke of Alva, who rode by the +prince's side, usually responded. The whole of the long journey was +performed on horseback,--the only sure mode of conveyance in a country +where the roads were seldom practicable for carriages. + +At length, after a journey of four months, the royal cavalcade drew +near the city of Brussels. Their approach to a great town was intimated +by the crowds who came to welcome them; and Philip was greeted with a +tumultuous enthusiasm, which made him feel that he was now indeed in the +midst of his own people. The throng was soon swelled by bodies of the +military; and with this loyal escort, amidst the roar of artillery and +the ringing of bells, which sent forth a merry peal from every tower and +steeple, Philip made his first entrance into the capital of Belgium. + +The Regent Mary held her court there, and her brother, the emperor, was +occupying the palace with her. It was not long before the father had +again the satisfaction of embracing his son, from whom he had been +separated so many years. He must have been pleased with the alteration +which time had wrought in Philip's appearance. He was now twenty-one +years of age, and was distinguished by a comeliness of person, remarked +upon by more than one who had access to his presence. Their report is +confirmed by the portraits of him from the pencil of Titian,--taken +before the freshness of youth had faded into the sallow hue of disease, +and when care and anxiety had not yet given a sombre, perhaps sullen, +expression, to his features. + +He had a fair, and even delicate complexion. His hair and beard were of +a light yellow. His eyes were blue, with the eyebrows somewhat too +closely knit together. His nose was thin and aquiline. The principal +blemish in his countenance was his thick Austrian lip. His lower jaw +protruded even more than that of his father. To his father, indeed, he +bore a great resemblance in his lineaments, though those of Philip were +of a less intellectual cast. In stature he was somewhat below the middle +height, with a slight, symmetrical figure and well-made limbs. He was +attentive to his dress, which was rich and elegant, but without any +affectation of ornament. His demeanor was grave with that ceremonious +observance which marked the old Castilian, and which may be thought the +natural expression of Philip's slow and phlegmatic temperament.[28] + +During his long residence in Brussels, Charles had the opportunity of +superintending his son's education in one department in which it was +deficient,--the science of government. And, surely, no instructor could +have been found with larger experience than the man who had been at the +head of all the great political movements in Europe for the last quarter +of a century. Philip passed some time, every day, in his father's +cabinet, conversing with him on public affairs, or attending the +sessions of the council of state. It can hardly be doubted that Charles, +in his private instruction, inculcated on his son two principles so +prominent throughout Philip's administration,--to maintain the royal +authority in its full extent, and to enforce a strict conformity to the +Roman Catholic Communion. It is probable that he found his son an apt +and docile scholar. Philip acquired, at least, such habits of patient +application, and of watching over the execution of his own plans, as +have been possessed by few princes.[29] + +[Sidenote: PUBLIC FESTIVITIES.] + +The great object of Philip's visit to the Low Countries had been, to +present himself to the people of the different provinces, to study their +peculiar characters on their own soil, and obtain their recognition as +their future sovereign. After a long residence at Brussels, he set out +on a tour through the provinces. He was accompanied by the queen-regent, +and by the same splendid retinue as on his entrance into the country, +with the addition of a large number of the nobles. + +The Netherlands had ever been treated by Charles with particular favor, +and, under his royal patronage, although the country did not develop its +resources as under its own free institutions of a later period, it had +greatly prospered. It was more thickly studded with trading towns than +any country of similar extent in Europe; and its flourishing communities +held the first rank in wealth, industry, and commercial enterprise, as +well as in the splendid way of living maintained by the aristocracy. On +the present occasion, these communities vied with one another in their +loyal demonstrations towards the prince, and in the splendor of the +reception which they gave him. A work was compiled by one of the royal +suite, setting forth the manifold honors paid to Philip through the +whole of the tour, which, even more than his former journey, had the +aspect of a triumphal progress. The book grew, under the hands of its +patriotic author, to the size of a bulky folio, which, however +interesting to his contemporaries, would have but slender attraction for +the present generation.[30] The mere inscriptions emblazoned on the +triumphal arches, and on the public buildings, spread over a multitude +of pages. They were both in Latin and in the language of the country, +and they augured the happy days in store for the nation, when, under the +benignant sceptre of Philip, it should enjoy the sweets of tranquillity +and freedom. Happy auguries! which showed that the prophet was not +gifted with the spirit of prophecy.[31] + +In these solemnities, Antwerp alone expended fifty thousand pistoles. +But no place compared with Brussels in the costliness and splendor of +its festivities, the most remarkable of which was a tournament. Under +their Burgundian princes the Flemings had been familiar with these +chivalrous pageants. The age of chivalry was, indeed, fast fading away +before the use of gunpowder and other improvements in military science. +But it was admitted that no tourney had been maintained with so much +magnificence and knightly prowess since the days of Charles the Bold. +The old chronicler's narrative of the event, like the pages of +Froissart, seems instinct with the spirit of a feudal age. I will give a +few details, at the hazard of appearing trivial to those who may think +we have dwelt long enough on the pageants of the courts of Castile and +Burgundy. But such pageants form part of the natural accompaniment of a +picturesque age, and the illustrations they afford of the manners of the +time may have an interest for the student of history. + +The tourney was held in a spacious square, inclosed for the purpose, in +front of the great palace of Brussels. Four knights were prepared to +maintain the field against all comers, and jewels of price were to be +awarded as the prize of the victors. The four challengers were Count +Mansfeldt, Count Hoorne, Count Aremberg, and the Sieur de Hubermont; +among the judges was the duke of Alva; and in the list of the successful +antagonists we find the names of Prince Philip of Spain, Emanuel +Philibert, duke of Savoy, and Count Egmont. These are names famous in +history. It is curious to observe how the men who were soon to be at a +deadly feud with one another were thus sportively met to celebrate the +pastimes of chivalry. + +The day was an auspicious one, and the lists were crowded with the +burghers of Brussels, and the people of the surrounding country. The +galleries which encompassed the area were graced with the rank and +beauty of the capital. A canopy, embroidered with the imperial arms in +crimson and gold, indicated the place occupied by Charles the Fifth and +his sisters, the regent of the Netherlands, and the dowager queen of +France. + +For several hours the field was gallantly maintained by the four +challengers against every knight who was ambitious to prove his prowess +in the presence of so illustrious an assembly. At length the trumpets +sounded, and announced the entrance of four cavaliers, whose brilliant +train of followers intimated them to be persons of high degree. The four +knights were Prince Philip, the duke of Savoy, Count Egmont, and Juan +Manriquez de Lara, major-domo of the emperor. They were clothed in +complete mail, over which they wore surcoats of violet-colored velvet, +while the caparisons of their horses were of cloth of gold. + +Philip ran the first course. His antagonist was the Count Mansfeldt, a +Flemish captain of great renown. At the appointed signal, the two +knights spurred against each other, and met in the centre of the lists +with a shock that shivered their lances to the very grasp. Both knights +reeled in their saddles, but neither lost his seat. The arena resounded +with the plaudits of the spectators, not the less hearty that one of the +combatants was the heir apparent. + +The other cavaliers then tilted, with various success. A general +tournament followed, in which every knight eager to break a lance on +this fair occasion took part; and many a feat of arms was performed, +doubtless long remembered by the citizens of Brussels. At the end of the +seventh hour a flourish of trumpets announced the conclusion of the +contest, and the assembly broke up in admirable order, the knights +retiring to change their heavy panoplies for the lighter vestments of +the ball-room. A banquet was prepared by the municipality, in a style of +magnificence worthy of their royal guests. The emperor and his sisters +honored it with their presence, and witnessed the distribution of the +prizes. Among these, a brilliant ruby, the prize awarded for the _lanca +de las damas_,--the "ladies' lance," in the language of chivalry,--was +assigned by the loyal judges to Prince Philip of Spain. + +Dancing succeeded to the banquet; and the high-bred courtesy of the +prince was as much commended in the ball-room as his prowess had been in +the lists. Maskers mingled with the dancers in Oriental costume, some in +the Turkish, others in the Albanian fashion. The merry revels were not +prolonged beyond the hour of midnight, when the company broke up, loudly +commending, as they withdrew, the good cheer afforded them by the +hospitable burghers of Brussels.[32] + +[Sidenote: PUBLIC FESTIVITIES.] + +Philip won the prize on another occasion, when he tilted against a +valiant knight, named Quinones. He was not so fortunate in an encounter +with the son of his old preceptor, Zuniga, in which he was struck with +such force on the head, that, after being carried some distance by his +horse, he fell senseless from the saddle. The alarm was great, but the +accident passed away without serious consequences.[33] + +There were those who denied him skill in the management of his lance. +Marillac, the French ambassador at the imperial court, speaking of a +tourney given by Philip in honor of the princess of Lorraine, at +Augsburg, says he never saw worse lance-playing in his life. At another +time he remarks, that the Spanish prince could not even hit his +antagonist.[34] It must have been a very palpable hit to be noticed by a +Frenchman. The French regarded the Spaniards of that day in much the +same manner as they regarded the English at an earlier period, or as +they have continued to regard them at a later. The long rivalry of the +French and Spanish monarchs had infused into the breasts of their +subjects such feelings of mutual aversion, that the opinions of either +nation in reference to the other, in the sixteenth century, must be +received with the greatest distrust. + +But, whatever may have been Philip's success in these chivalrous +displays, it is quite certain they were not to his taste. He took part +in them only to conform to his father's wishes, and to the humor of the +age. Though in his youth he sometimes hunted, he was neither fond of +field-sports nor of the athletic exercises of chivalry. His constitution +was far from robust. He sought to invigorate it less by exercise than by +diet. He confined himself almost wholly to meat, as the most nutritious +food, abstaining even from fish; as well as from fruit.[35] Besides his +indisposition to active exercises, he had no relish for the gaudy +spectacles so fashionable in that romantic age. The part he had played +in the pageants, during his long tour, had not been of his own seeking. +Though ceremonious, and exacting deference from all who approached him, +he was not fond of the pomp and parade of a court life. He preferred to +pass his hours in the privacy of his own apartment, where he took +pleasure in the conversation of a few whom he honored with his regard. +It was with difficulty that the emperor could induce him to leave his +retirement and present himself in the audience-chamber, or accompany him +on visits of ceremony.[36] + +These reserved and quiet tastes of Philip by no means recommended him to +the Flemings, accustomed as they were to the pomp and profuse +magnificence of the Burgundian court. Their free and social tempers were +chilled by his austere demeanor. They contrasted it with the affable +deportment of his father, who could so well conform to the customs of +the different nations under his sceptre, and who seemed perfectly to +comprehend their characters,--the astute policy of the Italian, the +home-bred simplicity of the German, and the Castilian propriety and +point of honor.[37] With the latter only of these had Philip anything in +common. He was in everything a Spaniard. He talked of nothing, seemed to +think of nothing, but Spain.[38] The Netherlands were to him a foreign +land, with which he had little sympathy. His counsellors and companions +were wholly Spanish. The people of Flanders felt, that, under his sway, +little favor was to be shown to them; and they looked forward to the +time when all the offices of trust in their own country would be given +to Castilians, in the same manner as those of Castile, in the early days +of Charles the Fifth, had been given to Flemings.[39] + +Yet the emperor seemed so little aware of his son's unpopularity, that +he was at this very time making arrangements for securing to him the +imperial crown. He had summoned a meeting of the electors and great +lords of the empire, to be held at Augsburg, in August, 1550. There he +proposed to secure Philip's election as king of the Romans, so soon as +he had obtained his brother Ferdinand's surrender of that dignity. But +Charles did not show, in all this, his usual knowledge of human nature. +The lust of power on his son's account--ineffectual for happiness as he +had found the possession of it in his own case--seems to have entirely +blinded him. + +He repaired with Philip to Augsburg, where they were met by Ferdinand +and the members of the German diet. But it was in vain that Charles +solicited his brother to waive his claim to the imperial succession in +favor of his nephew. Neither solicitations nor arguments, backed by the +entreaties, even the tears, it is said, of their common sister, the +Regent Mary, could move Ferdinand to forego the splendid inheritance. +Charles was not more successful when he changed his ground, and urged +his brother to acquiesce in Philip's election as his successor in the +dignity of king of the Romans; or, at least, in his being associated in +that dignity--a thing unprecedented--with his cousin Maximilian, +Ferdinand's son, who, it was understood, was destined by the electors to +succeed his father. + +This young prince, who meanwhile had been summoned to Augsburg, was as +little disposed as Ferdinand had been to accede to the proposals of his +too grasping father-in-law; though he courteously alleged, as the ground +of his refusal, that he had no right to interfere with the decision of +the electors. He might safely rest his cause on their decision. They had +no desire to perpetuate the imperial sceptre in the line of Castilian +monarchs. They had suffered enough from the despotic temper of Charles +the Fifth; and this temper they had no reason to think would be +mitigated in the person of Philip. + +[Sidenote: AMBITIOUS SCHEMES.] + +They desired a German to rule over them,--one who would understand the +German character, and enter heartily into the feelings of the people. +Maximilian's directness of purpose and kindly nature had won largely on +the affections of his countrymen, and proved him, in their judgment, +worthy of the throne.[40] + +Philip, on the other hand, was even more distasteful to the Germans than +he was to the Flemings. It was in vain that, at their banquets, he drank +twice or thrice as much as he was accustomed to do, until the cardinal +of Trent assured him that he was fast gaining in the good graces of the +people.[41] The natural haughtiness of his temper showed itself on too +many occasions to be mistaken. When Charles returned to his palace, +escorted, as he usually was, by a train of nobles and princes of the +empire, he would courteously take them by the hand, and raise his hat, +as he parted from them. But Philip, it was observed, on like occasions, +walked directly into the palace, without so much as turning round, or +condescending in any way to notice the courtiers who had accompanied +him. This was taking higher ground even than his father had done. In +fact, it was said of him, that he considered himself greater than his +father, inasmuch as the son of an emperor was greater than the son of a +king![42]--a foolish vaunt, not the less indicative of his character, +that it was made for him, probably, by the Germans. In short, Philip's +manners, which, in the language of a contemporary, had been little +pleasing to the Italians, and positively displeasing to the Flemings, +were altogether odious to the Germans.[43] + +Nor was the idea of Philip's election at all more acceptable to the +Spaniards themselves. That nation had been long enough regarded as an +appendage to the empire. Their pride had been wounded by the light in +which they were held by Charles, who seemed to look on Spain as a royal +domain, valuable chiefly for the means it afforded him for playing his +part on the great theatre of Europe. The haughty Castilian of the +sixteenth century, conscious of his superior pretensions, could ill +brook this abasement. He sighed for a prince born and bred in Spain, who +would be content to pass his life in Spain, and would have no ambition +unconnected with her prosperity and glory. The Spaniards were even more +tenacious on this head than the Germans. Their remote situation made +them more exclusive, mere strictly national, and less tolerant of +foreign influence. They required a Spaniard to rule over them. Such was +Philip; and they anticipated the hour when Spain should be divorced from +the empire, and, under the sway of a patriotic prince, rise to her just +preeminence among the nations. + +Yet Charles, far from yielding, continued to press the point with such +pertinacity, that it seemed likely to lead to an open rupture between +the different branches of his family. For a time Ferdinand kept his +apartment, and had no intercourse with Charles or his sister.[44] Yet in +the end the genius or the obstinacy of Charles so far prevailed over +his brother, that he acquiesced in a private compact, by which, while he +was to retain possession of the imperial crown, it was agreed that +Philip should succeed him as king of the Romans, and that Maximilian +should succeed Philip.[45] Ferdinand hazarded little by concessions +which could never be sanctioned by the electoral college. The reverses +which befell the emperor's arms in the course of the following year +destroyed whatever influence he might have possessed in that body; and +he seems never to have revived his schemes for aggrandizing his son by +securing to him the succession to the empire. + +Philip had now accomplished the great object of his visit. He had +presented himself to the people of the Netherlands, and had received +their homage as heir to the realm. His tour had been, in some respects, +a profitable one. It was scarcely possible that a young man, whose days +had hitherto been passed within the narrow limits of his own country, +for ever under the same local influences, should not have his ideas +greatly enlarged by going abroad and mingling with different nations. It +was especially important to Philip to make himself familiar, as none but +a resident can be, with the character and institutions of those nations +over whom he was one day to preside. Yet his visit to the Netherlands +had not been attended with the happiest results. He evidently did not +make a favorable impression on the people. The more they saw of him, the +less they appeared to like him. Such impressions are usually reciprocal; +and Philip seems to have parted from the country with little regret. +Thus, in the first interview between the future sovereign and his +subjects, the symptoms might already be discerned of that alienation +which was afterwards to widen into a permanent and irreparable breach. + +Philip, anxious to reach Castile, pushed forward his journey, without +halting to receive the civilities that were everywhere tendered to him +on his route. He made one exception at Trent, where the ecclesiastical +council was holding the memorable session that occupies so large a share +in Church annals. On his approach to the city, the cardinal legate, +attended by the mitred prelates and other dignitaries of the council, +came out in a body to receive him. During his stay there, he was +entertained with masks, dancing, theatrical exhibitions, and jousts, +contrived to represent scenes in Ariosto.[46] These diversions of the +reverend fathers formed a whimsical contrast, perhaps a welcome relief, +to their solemn occupation of digesting a creed for the Christian world. + +[Sidenote: CONDITION OF SPAIN.] + +From Trent Philip pursued his way, with all expedition, to Genoa, where +he embarked, under the flag of the veteran Doria, who had brought him +from Spain. He landed at Barcelona, on the twelfth day of July, 1551, +and proceeded at once to Valladolid, where he resumed the government of +the kingdom. He was fortified by a letter from his father, dated at +Augsburg, which contained ample instructions as to the policy he was to +pursue, and freely discussed both the foreign and domestic relations of +the country. The letter, which is very long, shows that the capacious +mind of Charles, however little time he could personally give to the +affairs of the monarchy, fully comprehended its internal condition and +the extent of its resources.[47] + +The following years were years of humiliation to Charles; years marked +by the flight from Innsbruck, and the disastrous siege of Metz,--when, +beaten by the Protestants, foiled by the French, the reverses of the +emperor pressed heavily on his proud heart, and did more, probably, than +all the homilies of his ghostly teachers, to disgust him with the world +and its vanities. + +Yet these reverses made little impression on Spain. The sounds of war +died away before they reached the foot of the Pyrenees. Spain, it is +true, sent forth her sons, from time to time, to serve under the banners +of Charles; and it was in that school that was perfected the admirable +system of discipline and tactics which, begun by the Great Captain, made +the Spanish infantry the most redoubtable in Europe. But the great body +of the people felt little interest in the success of these distant +enterprises, where success brought them no good. Not that the mind of +Spain was inactive, or oppressed with the lethargy which stole over it +in a later age. There was, on the contrary, great intellectual activity. +She was excluded, by an arbitrary government, from pushing her +speculations in the regions of theological or political science. But +this, to a considerable extent, was the case with most of the +neighboring nations; and she indemnified herself for this exclusion by a +more diligent cultivation of elegant literature. The constellation of +genius had already begun to show itself above the horizon, which was to +shed a glory over the meridian and the close of Philip's reign. The +courtly poets in the reign of his father had confessed the influence of +Italian models, derived through the recent territorial acquisitions in +Italy. But the national taste was again asserting its supremacy; and the +fashionable tone of composition was becoming more and more accommodated +to the old Castilian standard. + +It would be impossible that any departure from a national standard +should be long tolerated in Spain, where the language, the manners, the +dress, the usages of the country, were much the same as they had been +for generations,--as they continued to be for generations, long after +Cervantes held up the mirror of fiction, to reflect the traits of the +national existence more vividly than is permitted to the page of the +chronicler. In the rude _romances_ of the fourteenth and the fifteenth +century, the Castilian of the sixteenth might see his way of life +depicted with tolerable accuracy. The amorous cavalier still thrummed +his guitar, by moonlight, under the balcony of his mistress, or wore her +favors at the Moorish tilt of reeds. The common people still sung their +lively _seguidillas_, or crowded to the _fiestas de toros_,--the cruel +bull-fights,--or to the more cruel _autos da fe_. This last spectacle, +of comparatively recent origin,--in the time of Ferdinand and +Isabella,--was the legitimate consequence of the long wars with the +Moslems, which made the Spaniard intolerant of religious infidelity. +Atrocious as it seems in a more humane and enlightened age, it was +regarded by the ancient Spaniard as a sacrifice grateful to Heaven, at +which he was to rekindle the dormant embers of his own religious +sensibilities. + +The cessation of the long Moorish wars by the fall of Granada, made the +most important change in the condition of the Spaniards. They, however, +found a vent for their chivalrous fanaticism, in a crusade against the +heathen of the New World. Those who returned from their wanderings +brought back to Spain little of foreign usages and manners; for the +Spaniard was the only civilized man whom they found in the wilds of +America. + +Thus passed the domestic life of the Spaniard, in the same unvaried +circle of habits, opinions, and prejudices, to the exclusion, and +probably contempt of everything foreign. Not that these habits did not +differ in the different provinces, where their distinctive peculiarities +were handed down, with traditional precision, from father to son. But, +beneath these, there was one common basis of the national character. +Never was there a people, probably, with the exception of the Jews, +distinguished by so intense a nationality. It was among such a people, +and under such influences, that Philip was born and educated. His +temperament and his constitution of mind peculiarly fitted him for the +reception of these influences; and the Spaniards, as he grew in years, +beheld, with pride and satisfaction, in their future sovereign, the most +perfect type of the national character. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ENGLISH ALLIANCE. + +Condition of England.--Character of Mary.--Philip's Proposals of +Marriage.--Marriage Articles.--Insurrection in England. + +1553, 1554. + + +In the summer of 1553, three years after Philip's return to Spain, +occurred an event which was to exercise a considerable influence on his +fortunes. This was the death of Edward the Sixth of England,--after a +brief but important reign. He was succeeded by his sister Mary, that +unfortunate princess, whose _sobriquet_ of "Bloody" gives her a +melancholy distinction among the sovereigns of the house of Tudor. + +The reign of her father, Henry the Eighth, had opened the way to the +great revolution in religion, the effects of which were destined to be +permanent. Yet Henry himself showed his strength rather in unsettling +ancient institutions than in establishing new ones. By the abolition of +the monasteries, he broke up that spiritual militia which was a most +efficacious instrument for maintaining the authority of Rome; and he +completed the work of independence by seating himself boldly in the +chair of St. Peter, and assuming the authority of head of the Church. +Thus, while the supremacy of the pope was rejected, the Roman Catholic +religion was maintained in its essential principles unimpaired. In other +words, the nation remained Catholics, but not Papists. + +[Sidenote: CONDITION OF ENGLAND.] + +The impulse thus given under Henry was followed up to more important +consequences under his son, Edward the Sixth. The opinions of the German +Reformers, considerably modified, especially in regard to the exterior +forms and discipline of worship, met with a cordial welcome from the +ministers of the young monarch. Protestantism became the religion of the +land; and the Church of England received, to a great extent, the +peculiar organization which it has preserved to the present day. But +Edward's reign was too brief to allow the new opinions to take deep root +in the hearts of the people. The greater part of the aristocracy soon +showed that, whatever religious zeal they had affected, they were not +prepared to make any sacrifice of their temporal interests. On the +accession of a Catholic queen to the throne, a reaction soon became +visible. Some embarrassment to a return to the former faith was found in +the restitution which it might naturally involve of the confiscated +property of the monastic orders. But the politic concessions of Rome +dispensed with this severe trial of the sincerity of its new proselytes; +and England, after repudiating her heresies, was received into the fold +of the Roman Catholic Church, and placed once more under the +jurisdiction of its pontiff. + +After the specimens given of the ready ductility with which the English +of that day accommodated their religious creeds to the creed of their +sovereign, we shall hardly wonder at the caustic criticism of the +Venetian ambassador, resident at the court of London, in Queen Mary's +time. "The example and authority of the sovereign," he says, "are +everything with the people of this country in matters of faith. As he +believes, they believe; Judaism or Mahometanism,--it is all one to them. +They conform themselves easily to his will, at least so far as the +outward show is concerned; and most easily of all where it concurs with +their own pleasure and profit."[48] + +The ambassador, Giovanni Micheli, was one of that order of +merchant-princes employed by Venice in her foreign missions; men whose +acquaintance with affairs enabled them to comprehend the resources of +the country to which they were sent, as well as the intrigues of its +court. Their observations were digested into elaborate reports, which, +on their return to Venice, were publicly read before the doge and the +senate. The documents thus prepared form some of the most valuable and +authentic materials for the history of Europe in the sixteenth century. +Micheli's report is diffuse on the condition of England under the reign +of Queen Mary; and some of his remarks will have interest for the reader +of the present day, as affording a standard of comparison with the +past.[49] + +London he eulogizes, as one of the noblest capitals in Europe, +containing, with its suburbs, about a hundred and eighty thousand +souls.[50] The great lords, as in France and Germany, passed most of +their time on their estates in the country. + +The kingdom was strong enough, if united, to defy any invasion from +abroad. Yet its navy was small, having dwindled, from neglect and an +ill-judged economy, to not more than forty vessels of war. But the +mercantile marine could furnish two thousand more, which, at a short +notice, could be well equipped and got ready for sea. The army was +particularly strong in artillery, and provided with all the munitions of +war. The weapon chiefly in repute was the bow, to which the English +people were trained from early youth. In their cavalry they were most +defective. Horses were abundant, but wanted bottom. They were, for the +most part, light, weak, and grass-fed.[51] The nation was, above all, to +be envied for the lightness of the public burdens. There were no taxes +on wine, beer, salt, cloth, nor, indeed, on any of the articles that in +other countries furnished the greatest sources of revenue.[52] The whole +revenue did not usually exceed two hundred thousand pounds. Parliaments +were rarely summoned, except to save the king trouble or to afford a +cloak to his designs. No one ventured to resist the royal will; servile +the members came there, and servile they remained.[53]--An Englishman of +the nineteenth century may smile at the contrast presented by some of +these remarks to the condition of the nation at the present day; though +in the item of taxation the contrast may be rather fitted to provoke a +sigh. + +The portrait of Queen Mary is given by the Venetian minister, with a +coloring somewhat different from that in which she is commonly depicted +by English historians. She was about thirty-six years of age at the time +of her accession. In stature, she was of rather less than the middle +size,--not large, as was the case with both her father and mother,--and +exceedingly well made. "The portraits of her," says Micheli, "show that +in her youth she must have been not only good-looking, but even +handsome;--though her countenance, when he saw her, exhibited traces of +early trouble and disease."[54] But whatever she had lost in personal +attractions was fully made up by those of the mind. She was quick of +apprehension, and, like her younger sister, Elizabeth, was mistress of +several languages, three of which, the French, Spanish, and Latin, she +could speak; the last with fluency.[55] But in these accomplishments she +was surpassed by her sister, who knew the Greek well, and could speak +Italian with ease and elegance. Mary, however, both spoke and wrote her +own language in a plain, straightforward manner, that forms a contrast +to the ambiguous phrase and cold conceits in which Elizabeth usually +conveyed, or rather concealed, her sentiments. + +[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF MARY.] + +Mary had the misfortune to labour under a chronic infirmity, which +confined her for weeks, and indeed months, of every year to her chamber, +and which, with her domestic troubles, gave her an air of melancholy, +that in later years settled into a repulsive austerity. The tones of her +voice were masculine, says the Venetian, and her eyes inspired a +feeling, not merely of reverence, but of fear, wherever she turned them. +Her spirit he adds, was lofty and magnanimous, never discomposed by +danger, showing in all things a blood truly royal.[56] + +Her piety, he continues, and her patience under affliction, cannot be +too greatly admired. Sustained, as she was, by a lively faith and +conscious innocence, he compares her to a light which the fierce winds +have no power to extinguish, but which still shines on with increasing +lustre.[57] She waited her time, and was plainly reserved by Providence +for a great destiny.--We are reading the language of the loyal Catholic, +grateful for the services which Mary had rendered to the faith. + +Yet it would be uncharitable not to believe that Mary was devout, and +most earnest in her devotion. The daughter of Katharine of Aragon, the +granddaughter of Isabella of Castile, could hardly have been otherwise. +The women of that royal line were uniformly conspicuous for their piety, +though this was too often tinctured with bigotry. In Mary, bigotry +degenerated into fanaticism, and fanaticism into the spirit of +persecution. The worst evils are probably those that have flowed from +fanaticism. Yet the amount of the mischief does not necessarily furnish +us with the measure of guilt in the author of it. The introduction of +the Inquisition into Spain must be mainly charged on Isabella. Yet the +student of her reign will not refuse to this great queen the praise of +tenderness of conscience and a sincere desire to do the right. +Unhappily, the faith in which she, as well as her royal granddaughter, +was nurtured, taught her to place her conscience in the keeping of +ministers less scrupulous than herself; and on those ministers may +fairly rest much of the responsibility of measures on which they only +were deemed competent to determine. + +Mary's sincerity in her religious professions was placed beyond a doubt +by the readiness with which she submitted to the sacrifice of her +personal interests whenever the interests of religion seemed to demand +it. She burned her translation of a portion of Erasmus, prepared with +great labor, at the suggestion of her confessor. An author will readily +estimate the value of such a sacrifice. One more important, and +intelligible to all, was the resolute manner in which she persisted in +restoring the Church property which had been confiscated to the use of +the crown. "The crown is too much impoverished to admit of it," +remonstrated her ministers. "I would rather lose ten crowns," replied +the high-minded queen, "than place my soul in peril."[58] + +Yet it cannot be denied, that Mary had inherited, in full measure, some +of the sterner qualities of her father, and that she was wanting in that +sympathy for human suffering which is so graceful in a woman. After a +rebellion, the reprisals were terrible. London was converted into a +charnel-house; and the squares and principal streets were garnished with +the unsightly trophies of the heads and limbs of numerous victims who +had fallen by the hand of the executioner.[59] This was in accordance +with the spirit of the age. But the execution of the unfortunate Lady +Jane Grey--the young, the beautiful, and the good--leaves a blot on the +fame of Mary, which finds no parallel but in the treatment of the +ill-fated queen of Scots by Elizabeth. + +Mary's treatment of Elizabeth has formed another subject of reproach, +though the grounds of it are not sufficiently made out; and, at all +events, many circumstances may be alleged in extenuation of her conduct. +She had seen her mother, the noble-minded Katharine, exposed to the most +cruel indignities, and compelled to surrender her bed and her throne to +an artful rival, the mother of Elizabeth. She had heard herself declared +illegitimate, and her right to the succession set aside in favor of her +younger sister. Even after her intrepid conduct had secured to her the +crown, she was still haunted by the same gloomy apparition. Elizabeth's +pretensions were constantly brought before the public; and Mary might +well be alarmed by the disclosure of conspiracy after conspiracy, the +object of which, it was rumored, was to seat her sister on the throne. +As she advanced in years, Mary had the further mortification of seeing +her rival gain on those affections of the people which had grown cool to +her. Was it wonderful that she should regard her sister, under these +circumstances, with feelings of distrust and aversion? That she did so +regard her is asserted by the Venetian minister; and it is plain that, +during the first years of Mary's reign, Elizabeth's life hung upon a +thread. Yet Mary had strength of principle sufficient to resist the +importunities of Charles the Fifth and his ambassador, to take the life +of Elizabeth, as a thing indispensable to her own safety and that of +Philip. Although her sister was shown to be privy, though not openly +accessory, to the grand rebellion under Wyatt, Mary would not constrain +the law from its course to do her violence. This was something, under +the existing circumstances, in an age so unscrupulous. After this storm +had passed over, Mary, whatever restraint she imposed on her real +feelings, treated Elizabeth, for the most part, with a show of kindness, +though her name still continued to be mingled, whether with or without +cause, with more than one treasonable plot.[60] Mary's last act--perhaps +the only one in which she openly resisted the will of her husband--was +to refuse to compel her sister to accept the hand of Philibert of Savoy. +Yet this act would have relieved her of the presence of her rival; and +by it Elizabeth would have forfeited her independent possession of the +crown,--perhaps the possession of it altogether. It may be doubted +whether Elizabeth, under similar circumstances, would have shown the +like tenderness to the interests of her successor. + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S PROPOSALS OF MARRIAGE.] + +But, however we may be disposed to extenuate the conduct of Mary, and in +spiritual matters, more especially, to transfer the responsibility of +her acts from herself to her advisers, it is not possible to dwell on +this reign of religious persecution without feelings of profound +sadness. Not that the number of victims compares with what is recorded +of many similar periods of persecution. The whole amount, falling +probably short of three hundred who perished at the stake, was less than +the number who fell by the hand of the executioner, or by violence, +during the same length of time under Henry the Eighth. It was not much +greater than might sometimes be found at a single Spanish _auto da fe_. +But Spain was the land in which this might be regarded as the national +spectacle,--as much so as the _fiesta de toros_, or any other of the +popular exhibitions of the country. In England, a few examples had not +sufficed to steel the hearts of men against these horrors. The heroic +company of martyrs, condemned to the most agonizing of deaths for +asserting the rights of conscience, was a sight strange and shocking to +Englishmen. The feelings of that day have been perpetuated to the +present. The reign of religious persecution stands out by itself, as +something distinct from the natural course of events; and the fires of +Smithfield shed a melancholy radiance over this page of the national +history, from which the eye of humanity turns away in pity and +disgust.--But it is time to take up the narrative of events which +connected for a brief space the political interests of Spain with those +of England. + +Charles the Fifth had always taken a lively interest in the fortunes of +his royal kinswoman. When a young man he had paid a visit to England, +and while there had been induced by his aunt, Queen Katharine, to +contract a marriage with the Princess Mary,--then only six years +old,--to be solemnized on her arriving at the suitable age. But the term +was too remote for the constancy of Charles, or, as it is said, for the +patience of his subjects, who earnestly wished to see their sovereign +wedded to a princess who might present him with an heir to the monarchy. +The English match was, accordingly, broken off, and the young emperor +gave his hand to Isabella of Portugal.[61] + +Mary, who, since her betrothal, had been taught to consider herself as +the future bride of the emperor, was at the time but eleven years old. +She was old enough, however, to feel something like jealousy, it is +said, and to show some pique at this desertion by her imperial lover. +Yet this circumstance did not prevent the most friendly relations from +subsisting between the parties in after years; and Charles continued to +watch over the interests of his kinswoman, and interposed, with good +effect, in her behalf, on more than one occasion, both during the reign +of Henry the Eighth and of his son, Edward the Sixth. On the death of +the latter monarch, he declared himself ready to assist Mary in +maintaining her right to the succession;[62] and, when this was finally +established, the wary emperor took the necessary measures for turning it +to his own account.[63] + +He formed a scheme for uniting Philip with Mary, and thus securing to +his son the possession of the English crown, in the same manner as that +of Scotland had been secured by marriage to the son of his rival, Henry +the Second of France. It was, doubtless, a great error to attempt to +bring under one rule nations so dissimilar in every particular, and +having interests so incompatible as the Spaniards and the English. +Historians have regarded it as passing strange, that a prince, who had +had such large experience of the difficulties attending the government +of kingdoms remote from each other, should seek so to multiply these +difficulties on the head of his inexperienced son. But the love of +acquisition is a universal principle; nor is it often found that the +appetite for more is abated by the consideration that the party is +already possessed of more then he can manage. + +It was a common opinion, that Mary intended to bestow her hand on her +young and handsome kinsman, Courtenay, earl of Devonshire, whom she had +withdrawn from the prison in which he had languished for many years, and +afterwards treated with distinguished favor. Charles, aware of this, +instructed Renard, his minister at the court of London, a crafty, +intriguing politician,[64] to sound the queen's inclinations on the +subject, but so as not to alarm her. He was to dwell, particularly, on +the advantages Mary would derive from a connection with some powerful +foreign prince, and to offer his master's counsel, in this or any other +matter in which she might desire it. The minister was to approach the +subject of the earl of Devonshire with the greatest caution; remembering +that, if the queen had a fancy for her cousin, and was like other women, +she would not be turned from it by anything that he might say, nor would +she readily forgive any reflection upon it.[65] Charles seems to have +been as well read in the characters of women as of men; and, as a +natural consequence, it may be added, had formed a high estimate of the +capacity of the sex. In proof of which, he not only repeatedly +committed the government of his states to women, but intrusted them +with some of his most delicate political negotiations. + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S PROPOSALS OF MARRIAGE.] + +Mary, if she had ever entertained the views imputed to her in respect to +Courtenay, must have soon been convinced that his frivolous disposition +would ill suit the seriousness of hers. However this may be, she was +greatly pleased when Renard hinted at her marriage,--"laughing," says +the envoy, "not once, but several times, and giving me a significant +look, which showed that the idea was very agreeable to her, plainly +intimating at the same time that she had no desire to marry an +Englishman."[66] In a subsequent conversation, when Renard ventured to +suggest that the prince of Spain was a suitable match, Mary broke in +upon him, saying that "she had never felt the smart of what people +called love, nor had ever so much as thought of being married, until +Providence had raised her to the throne; and that, if she now consented +to it, it would be in opposition to her own feelings, from a regard to +the public good;" but she begged the envoy to assure the emperor of her +wish to obey and to please him in everything, as she would her own +father; intimating, however, that she could not broach the subject of +her marriage to her council; the question could only be opened by a +communication from him.[67] + +Charles, who readily saw through Mary's coquetry, no longer hesitated to +prefer the suit of Philip. After commending the queen's course in regard +to Courtenay, he presented to her the advantages that must arise from +such a foreign alliance as would strengthen her on the throne. He +declared, in a tone of gallantry rather amusing, that, if it were not +for his age and increasing infirmities, he should not hesitate to +propose himself as her suitor.[68] The next best thing was to offer her +the person dearest to his heart,--his son, the prince of Asturias. He +concluded by deprecating the idea that any recommendation of his should +interfere, in the least degree, with the exercise of her better +judgment.[69] + +Renard was further to intimate to the queen the importance of secrecy in +regard to this negotiation. If she were disinclined to the proposed +match, it would be obviously of no advantage to give it publicity. If, +on the other hand, as the emperor had little doubt, she looked on it +favorably, but desired to advise with her council before deciding, +Renard was to dissuade her from the latter step, and advise her to +confide in him.[70] The wary emperor had a twofold motive for these +instructions. There was a negotiation on foot at this very time for a +marriage of Philip to the infanta of Portugal, and Charles wished to be +entirely assured of Mary's acquiescence, before giving such publicity to +the affair as might defeat the Portuguese match, which would still +remain for Philip, should he not succeed with the English queen.[71] In +case Mary proved favorable to his son's suit, Charles, who knew the +abhorrence in which foreigners were held by the English beyond all other +nations,[72] wished to gain time before communicating with Mary's +council. With some delay, he had no doubt that he had the means of +winning over a sufficient number of that body to support Philip's +pretensions.[73] + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S PROPOSALS OF MARRIAGE.] + +These communications could not be carried on so secretly but that some +rumor of them reached the ears of Mary's ministers, and of Noailles, the +French ambassador at the court of London.[74] This person was a busy +and unscrupulous politician, who saw with alarm the prospect of Spain +strengthening herself by this alliance with England, and determined, +accordingly, in obedience to instructions from home, to use every effort +to defeat it. The queen's ministers, with the chancellor, Gardiner, +bishop of Winchester, at their head, felt a similar repugnance to the +Spanish match. The name of the Spaniards had become terrible from the +remorseless manner in which their wars had been conducted during the +present reign, especially in the New World. The ambition and the +widely-extended dominions of Charles the Fifth made him the most +formidable sovereign in Europe. The English looked with apprehension on +so close an alliance with a prince who had shown too little regard for +the liberties of his own land to make it probable that he or his son +would respect those of another. Above all, they dreaded the fanaticism +of the Spaniards; and the gloomy spectre of the Inquisition moving in +their train made even the good Catholic shudder at the thought of the +miseries that might ensue from this ill-omened union. + +It was not difficult for Noailles and the chancellor to communicate +their own distrust to the members of the parliament, then in session. A +petition to the queen was voted in the lower house, in which the commons +preferred an humble request that she would marry for the good of the +realm, but besought her, at the same time, not to go abroad for her +husband, but to select him among her own subjects.[75] + +Mary's ministers did not understand her character so well as Charles the +Fifth did, when he cautioned his agent not openly to thwart her. +Opposition only fixed her more strongly in her original purpose. In a +private interview with Renard, she told him that she was apprised of +Gardiner's intrigues, and that Noailles, too, was _doing the impossible_ +to prevent her union with Philip. "But I will be a match for them," she +added. Soon after, taking the ambassador, at midnight, into her oratory, +she knelt before the host, and, having repeated the hymn _Veni Creator_, +solemnly pledged herself to take no other man for her husband than the +prince of Spain.[76] + +This proceeding took place on the thirtieth of October. On the +seventeenth of the month following, the commons waited on the queen at +her palace of Whitehall, to which she was confined by indisposition, and +presented their address. Mary, instead of replying by her chancellor, as +was usual, answered them in person. She told them, that from God she +held her crown, and that to him alone should she turn for counsel in a +matter so important;[77] she had not yet made up her mind to marry; but +since they considered it so necessary for the weal of the kingdom, she +would take it into consideration. It was a matter in which no one was so +much interested as herself. But they might be assured that, in her +choice, she would have regard to the happiness of her people, full as +much as to her own. The commons, who had rarely the courage to withstand +the frown of their Tudor princes, professed themselves contented with +this assurance; and, from this moment, opposition ceased from that +quarter. + +Mary's arguments were reinforced by more conciliatory, but not less +efficacious persuasives, in the form of gold crowns, gold chains, and +other compliments of the like nature, which were distributed pretty +liberally by the Spanish ambassador among the members of her +council.[78] + +In the following December, a solemn embassy left Brussels, to wait on +Mary and tender her the hand of Philip. It was headed by Lamoral, Count +Egmont, the Flemish noble so distinguished in later years by his +military achievements, and still more by his misfortunes. He was +attended by a number of Flemish lords and a splendid body of retainers. +He landed in Kent, where the rumor went abroad that it was Philip +himself; and so general was the detestation of the Spanish match among +the people, that it might have gone hard with the envoy, had the mistake +not been discovered. Egmont sailed up the Thames, and went ashore at +Tower Wharf, on the second of January, 1554. He was received with all +honor by Lord William Howard and several of the great English nobles, +and escorted in much state to Westminster, where his table was supplied +at the charge of the city. Gardiner entertained the embassy at a +sumptuous banquet; and the next day Egmont and his retinue proceeded to +Hampton Court, "where they had great cheer," says an old chronicler, +"and hunted the deer, and were so greedy of their destruction, that they +gave them not fair play for their lives; for," as he peevishly +complains, "they killed rag and tag, with hands and swords."[79] + +On the twelfth, the Flemish count was presented to the queen, and +tendered her proposals of marriage in behalf of Prince Philip. Mary, who +probably thought she had made advances enough, now assumed a more +reserved air. "It was not for a maiden queen," she said, "thus publicly +to enter on so delicate a subject as her own marriage. This would be +better done by her ministers, to whom she would refer him. But this she +would have him understand," she added, as she cast her eyes on the ring +on her finger, "her realm was her first husband, and none other should +induce her to violate the oath which she had pledged at her coronation." + +[Sidenote: MARRIAGE ARTICLES.] + +Notwithstanding this prudery of Mary, she had already manifested such a +prepossession for her intended lord as to attract the notice of her +courtiers, one of whom refers it to the influence of a portrait of +Philip, of which she had become "greatly enamored."[80] That such a +picture was sent to her appears from a letter of Philip's aunt, the +regent of the Netherlands, in which she tells the English queen that she +has sent her a portrait of the prince, from the pencil of Titian, which +she was to return so soon as she was in possession of the living +original. It had been taken some three years before, she said, and was +esteemed a good likeness, though it would be necessary, as in the case +of other portraits by this master, to look at it from a distance in +order to see the resemblance.[81] + +The marriage treaty was drawn up with great circumspection, under the +chancellor's direction. It will be necessary to notice only the most +important provisions. It was stipulated that Philip should respect the +laws of England, and leave every man in the full enjoyment of his rights +and immunities. The power of conferring titles, honors, emoluments, and +offices of every description, was to be reserved to the queen. +Foreigners were to be excluded from office. The issue of the marriage, +if a son, was to succeed to the English crown and to the Spanish +possessions in Burgundy and the Low Countries. But in case of the death +of Don Carlos, Philip's son, the issue of the present marriage was to +receive, in addition to the former inheritance, Spain and her +dependencies. The queen was never to leave her own kingdom without her +express desire. Her children were not to be taken out of it without the +consent of the nobles. In case of Mary's death, Philip was not to claim +the right of taking part in the government of the country. Further it +was provided that Philip should not entangle the nation in his wars with +France, but should strive to maintain the same amicable relations that +now subsisted between the two countries.[82] + +Such were the cautious stipulations of this treaty, which had more the +aspect of a treaty for defence against an enemy than a marriage +contract. The instrument was worded with a care that reflected credit on +the sagacity of its framers. All was done that parchment could do to +secure the independence of the crown, as well as the liberties of the +people. "But if the bond be violated," asked one of the parliamentary +speakers on the occasion, "who is there to sue the bond?" Every +reflecting Englishman must have felt the inefficacy of any guaranty that +could be extorted from Philip, who, once united to Mary, would find +little difficulty in persuading a fond and obedient wife to sanction his +own policy, prejudicial though it might be to the true interests of the +kingdom. + +No sooner was the marriage treaty made public, than the popular +discontent, before partially disclosed, showed itself openly throughout +the country. Placards were put up, lampoons were written, reviling the +queen's ministers and ridiculing the Spaniards; ominous voices were +heard from old, dilapidated buildings, boding the ruin of the monarchy. +Even the children became infected with the passions of their fathers. +Games were played in which the English were represented contending with +the Spaniards; and in one of these an unlucky urchin, who played the +part of Philip, narrowly escaped with his life from the hands of his +exasperated comrades.[83] + +But something more serious than child's play showed itself, in three +several insurrections which broke out in different quarters of the +kingdom. The most formidable of them was the one led by Sir Thomas +Wyatt, son of the celebrated poet of that name. It soon gathered head, +and the number of the insurgents was greatly augmented by the accession +of a considerable body of the royal forces, who deserted their colours, +and joined the very men against whom they had been sent. Thus +strengthened, Wyatt marched on London. All there were filled with +consternation,--all but their intrepid queen, who showed as much +self-possession and indifference to danger as if it were only an +ordinary riot. + +Proceeding at once into the city, she met the people at Guildhall, and +made them a spirited address, which has been preserved in the pages of +Holinshed. It concludes in the following bold strain, containing an +allusion to the cause of the difficulties:--"And certainly, if I did +either know or think that this marriage should either turn to the danger +or loss of any of you, my loving subjects, or to the detriment or +impairing of any part or parcel of the royal estate of this realm of +England, I would never consent thereunto, neither would I ever marry +while I lived. And on the word of a queen, I promise and assure you, +that, if it shall not probably appear before the nobility and commons, +in the high court of parliament, that this marriage shall be for the +singular benefit and commodity of all the whole realm, that then I will +abstain, not only from this marriage, but also from any other whereof +peril may ensue to this most noble realm. Wherefore now as good and +faithful subjects pluck up your hearts, and like true men stand fast +with your lawful prince against these rebels, both our enemies and +yours, and fear them not; for I assure you that I fear them nothing at +all!"[84] The courageous spirit of their queen communicated itself to +her audience, and in a few hours twenty thousand citizens enrolled +themselves under the royal banner. + +Meanwhile, the rebel force continued its march, and reports soon came +that Wyatt was on the opposite bank of the Thames; then, that he had +crossed the river. Soon his presence was announced by the flight of a +good number of the royalists, among whom was Courtenay, who rode off +before the enemy at a speed that did little credit to his valor. All was +now confusion again. The lords and ladies in attendance gathered round +the queen in Whitehall, as if to seek support from her more masculine +nature. Her ministers went down on their knees, to implore her to seek +refuge in the Tower, as the only place of safety. Mary smiled with +contempt at the pusillanimous proposal, and resolved to remain where she +was, and abide the issue. + +It was not long in coming. Wyatt penetrated as far as Ludgate, with +desperate courage, but was not well seconded by his followers. The few +who proved faithful were surrounded and overwhelmed by numbers. Wyatt +was made prisoner, and the whole rebel rout discomfited and dispersed. +By this triumph over her enemies, Mary was seated more strongly than +ever on the throne. Henceforward the Spanish match did not meet with +opposition from the people, any more than from the parliament. + +Still the emperor, after this serious demonstration of hostility to his +son, felt a natural disquietude in regard to his personal safety, which +made him desirous of obtaining some positive guaranty before trusting +him among the turbulent islanders. He wrote to his ambassador to require +such security from the government. But no better could be given than the +royal promise that everything should be done to insure the prince's +safety. Renard was much perplexed. He felt the responsibility of his own +position. He declined to pledge himself for the quiet deportment of the +English; but he thought matters had already gone too far to leave it in +the power of Spain to recede. + +[Sidenote: MARY'S BETROTHAL.] + +He wrote, moreover, both to Charles and to Philip, recommending that the +prince should not bring over with him a larger retinue of Spaniards than +was necessary, and that the wives of his nobles--for he seems to have +regarded the sex as the source of evil--should not accompany them.[85] +Above all, he urged Philip and his followers to lay aside the Castilian +_hauteur_, and to substitute the conciliatory manners which might disarm +the jealousy of the English.[86] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +ENGLISH ALLIANCE. + +Mary's Betrothal.--Joanna Regent of Castile.--Philip embarks for +England.--His splendid Reception.--Marriage of Philip and Mary.--Royal +Entertainments.--Philip's Influence.--The Catholic Church +restored.--Philip's Departure. + +1554, 1555. + + +In the month of March, 1554, Count Egmont arrived in England, on a +second embassy, for the purpose of exchanging the ratifications of the +marriage treaty. He came in the same state as before, and was received +by the queen in the presence of her council. The ceremony was conducted +with great solemnity. Mary, kneeling down, called God to witness, that, +in contracting this marriage, she had been influenced by no motive of a +carnal or worldly nature, but by the desire of securing the welfare and +tranquillity of the kingdom. To her kingdom her faith had first been +plighted; and she hoped that Heaven would give her strength to maintain +inviolate the oath she had taken at her coronation. + +This she said with so much grace, that the bystanders, says Renard,--who +was one of them,--were all moved to tears. The ratifications were then +exchanged, and the oaths taken, in presence of the host, by the +representatives of Spain and England; when Mary, again kneeling, called +on those present to unite with her in prayer to the Almighty, that he +would enable her faithfully to keep the articles of the treaty, and +would make her marriage a happy one. + +Count Egmont then presented to the queen a diamond ring which the +emperor had sent her. Mary, putting it on her finger, showed it to the +company; "and assuredly," exclaims the Spanish minister, "the jewel was +a precious one, and well worthy of admiration." Egmont, before departing +for Spain, inquired of Mary whether she would intrust him with any +message to Prince Philip. The queen replied, that "he might tender to +the prince her most affectionate regards, and assure him that she should +be always ready to vie with him in such offices of kindness as became a +loving and obedient wife." When asked if she would write to him, she +answered, "Not till he had begun the correspondence."[87] + +This lets us into the knowledge of a little fact, very significant. Up +to this time Philip had neither written, nor so much as sent a single +token of regard to his mistress. All this had been left to his father. +Charles had arranged the marriage, had wooed the bride, had won over her +principal advisers,--in short, had done all the courtship. Indeed, the +inclinations of Philip, it is said, had taken another direction, and he +would have preferred the hand of his royal kinswoman, Mary of +Portugal.[88] However this may be, it is not probable that he felt any +great satisfaction in the prospect of being united to a woman who was +eleven years older than himself, and whose personal charms, whatever +they might once have been, had long since faded, under the effects of +disease and a constitutional melancholy. But he loved power; and +whatever scruples he might have entertained on his own account were +silenced before the wishes of his father.[89] "Like another Isaac," +exclaims Sandoval, in admiration of his conduct, "he sacrificed himself +on the altar of filial duty."[90] The same implicit deference which +Philip showed his father in this delicate matter, he afterwards, under +similar circumstances, received from his own son. + +[Sidenote: MARY'S BETROTHAL.] + +After the marriage articles had been ratified, Philip sent a present of +a magnificent jewel to the English queen, by a Spanish noble of high +rank, the Marquis de las Nayas.[91] The marquis, who crossed from Biscay +with a squadron of four ships, landed at Plymouth, and, as he journeyed +towards London, was met by the young Lord Herbert, son of the earl of +Pembroke, who conducted him, with an escort of four hundred mounted +gentlemen, to his family seat in Wiltshire. "And as they rode together +to Wilton," says Lord Edmund Dudley, one of the party, "there were +certain courses at the hare, which was so pleasant that the marquis much +delighted in finding the course so readily appointed. As for the +marquis's great cheer, as well that night at supper as otherwise at his +breakfast the next day, surely it was so abundant, that it was not a +little marvel to consider that so great a preparation could be made in +so small a warning.... Surely it was not a little comfort to my heart +to see all things so honorably used for the honor and service of the +queen's majesty."[92] + +Meanwhile, Philip was making his arrangements for leaving Spain, and +providing a government for the country during his absence. It was +decided by the emperor to intrust the regency to his daughter, the +Princess Joanna. She was eight years younger than Philip. About eighteen +months before, she had gone to Portugal as the bride of the heir of that +kingdom. But the fair promise afforded by this union was blasted by the +untimely death of her consort, which took place on the second of +January, 1554. Three weeks afterwards, the unhappy widow gave birth to a +son, the famous Don Sebastian, whose Quixotic adventures have given him +a wider celebrity than is enjoyed by many a wiser sovereign. After the +cruel calamity which had befallen her, it was not without an effort that +Joanna resigned herself to her father's wishes, and consented to enter +on the duties of public life. In July, she quitted Lisbon,--the scene of +early joys, and of hopes for ever blighted,--and, amidst the regrets of +the whole court, returned, under a princely escort, to Castile. She was +received on the borders by the king, her brother, who conducted her to +Valladolid. Here she was installed, with due solemnity, in her office of +regent. A council of state was associated with her in the government. It +consisted of persons of the highest consideration, with the archbishop +of Seville at their head. By this body Joanna was to be advised, and +indeed to be guided in all matters of moment. Philip, on his departure, +left his sister an ample letter of instructions as to the policy to be +pursued by the administration, especially in affairs of religion.[93] + +Joanna seems to have been a woman of discretion and virtue,--qualities +which belonged to the females of her line. She was liberal in her +benefactions to convents and colleges; and their cloistered inmates +showed their gratitude by the most lavish testimony to her deserts. She +had one rather singular practice. She was in the habit of dropping her +veil, when giving audience to foreign ambassadors. To prevent all doubts +as to her personal identity, she began the audience by raising her veil, +saying, "Am I not the princess?" She then again covered her face, and +the conference was continued without her further exposing her features. +"It was not necessary," says her biographer, in an accommodating spirit, +"to have the face uncovered in order to hear."[94] Perhaps Joanna +considered this reserve as suited to the season of her mourning, +intending it as a mark of respect to the memory of her deceased lord. In +any other view, we might suspect that there entered into her +constitution a vein of the same madness which darkened so large a part +of the life of her grandmother and namesake, Joanna of Castile. + +Before leaving Valladolid, Philip formed a separate establishment for +his son, Don Carlos, and placed his education under the care of a +preceptor, Luis de Vives, a scholar not to be confounded with his +namesake, the learned tutor of Mary of England. Having completed his +arrangements, Philip set out for the place of his embarkation in the +north. At Compostella he passed some days, offering up his devotions to +the tutelar saint of Spain, whose shrine, throughout the Middle Ages, +had been the most popular resort of pilgrims from the western parts of +Christendom. + +While at Compostella, Philip subscribed the marriage treaty, which had +been brought over from England by the earl of Bedford. He then proceeded +to Corunna, where a fleet of more than a hundred sail was riding at +anchor, in readiness to receive him. It was commanded by the admiral of +Castile, and had on board, besides its complement of seamen, four +thousand of the best troops of Spain. On the eleventh of July, Philip +embarked, with his numerous retinue, in which, together with the Flemish +Counts Egmont and Hoorne, were to be seen the dukes of Alva and Medina +Coeli, the prince of Eboli,--in short, the flower of the Castilian +nobility. They came attended by their wives and vassals, minstrels and +mummers, and a host of idle followers, to add to the splendor of the +pageant and do honor to their royal master. Yet the Spanish ambassador +at London had expressly recommended to Philip that his courtiers should +leave their ladies at home, and should come in as simple guise as +possible, so as not to arouse the jealousy of the English.[95] + +After a pleasant run of a few days, the Spanish squadron came in sight +of the combined fleets of England and Flanders, under the command of the +Lord Admiral Howard, who was cruising in the channel in order to meet +the prince and convoy him to the English shore. The admiral seems to +have been a blunt sort of man, who spoke his mind with more candor than +courtesy. He greatly offended the Flemings by comparing their ships to +muscle-shells.[96] He is even said to have fired a gun as he approached +Philip's squadron, in order to compel it to lower its topsails in +acknowledgment of the supremacy of the English in the "narrow seas." But +this is probably the patriotic vaunt of an English writer, since it is +scarcely possible that the haughty Spaniard of that day would have made +such a concession, and still less so that the British commander would +have been so discourteous as to exact it on this occasion. + +On the nineteenth of July, the fleets came to anchor in the port of +Southampton. A number of barges were soon seen pushing off from the +shore; one of which, protected by a rich awning and superbly lined with +cloth of gold, was manned by sailors, whose dress of white and green +intimated the royal livery. It was the queen's barge, intended for +Philip; while the other boats, all gaily ornamented, received his nobles +and their retinues. + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S SPLENDID RECEPTION.] + +The Spanish prince was welcomed, on landing, by a goodly company of +English lords, assembled to pay him their obeisance. The earl of Arundel +presented him, in the queen's name, with the splendid insignia of the +order of the Garter.[97] Philip's dress, as usual, was of plain black +velvet, with a berret cap, ornamented, after the fashion of the time, +with gold chains. By Mary's orders, a spirited Andalusian jennet had +been provided for him, which the prince instantly mounted. He was a good +rider, and pleased the people by his courteous bearing, and the graceful +manner in which he managed his horse. + +The royal procession then moved forward to the ancient church of the +Holy Rood, where mass was said, and thanks were offered up for their +prosperous voyage. Philip, after this, repaired to the quarters assigned +to him during his stay in the town. They were sumptuously fitted up, and +the walls of the principal apartment hung with arras, commemorating the +doings of that royal polemic, Henry the Eighth. Among other inscriptions +in honor of him might be seen one proclaiming him "Head of the Church," +and "Defender of the Faith;"--words which, as they were probably in +Latin, could not have been lost on the Spaniards.[98] + +The news of Philip's landing was received in London with every +demonstration of joy. Guns were fired, bells were rung, processions were +made to the churches, bonfires were lighted in all the principal +streets, tables were spread in the squares laden with good cheer, and +wine and ale flowed freely as water for all comers.[99] In short, the +city gave itself up to a general jubilee, as if it were celebrating some +victorious monarch returned to his dominions, and not the man whose name +had lately been the object of such general execration. Mary gave instant +orders that the nobles of her court should hold themselves in readiness +to accompany her to Winchester, where she was to receive the prince; and +on the twenty-first of July she made her entry, in great state, into +that capital, and established her residence in the episcopal palace. + +During the few days that Philip stayed at Southampton, he rode +constantly abroad, and showed himself frequently to the people. The +information he had received, before his voyage, of the state of public +feeling, had suggested to him some natural apprehensions for his safety. +He seems to have resolved, from the first, therefore, to adopt such a +condescending, and indeed affable demeanor, as would disarm the jealousy +of the English, and if possible conciliate their good-will. In this he +appears to have been very successful, although some of the more haughty +of the aristocracy did take exception at his neglecting to raise his cap +to them. That he should have imposed the degree of restraint which he +seems to have done on the indulgence of his natural disposition, is good +proof of the strength of his apprehensions.[100] + +The favor which Philip showed the English gave umbrage to his own +nobles. They were still more disgusted by the rigid interpretation of +one of the marriage articles, by which some hundreds of their attendants +were prohibited, as foreigners, from landing, or, after landing, were +compelled to reembark, and return to Spain.[101] Whenever Philip went +abroad he was accompanied by Englishmen. He was served by Englishmen at +his meals. He breakfasted and dined in public, a thing but little to his +taste. He drank healths, after the manner of the English, and encouraged +his Spanish followers to imitate his example, as he quaffed the strong +ale of the country.[102] + +On the twenty-third of the month, the earl of Pembroke arrived, with a +brilliant company of two hundred mounted gentlemen, to escort the prince +to Winchester. He was attended, moreover, by a body of English archers, +whose tunics of yellow cloth, striped with bars of red velvet, displayed +the gaudy-colored livery of the house of Aragon. The day was +unpropitious. The rain fell heavily, in such torrents as might have +cooled the enthusiasm of a more ardent lover than Philip. But he was too +gallant a cavalier to be daunted by the elements. The distance, not +great in itself, was to be travelled on horseback,--the usual mode of +conveyance at a time when roads were scarcely practicable for carriages. + +Philip and his retinue had not proceeded far, when they were encountered +by a cavalier, riding at full speed, and bringing with him a ring which +Mary had sent her lover, with the request that he would not expose +himself to the weather, but postpone his departure to the following day. +The prince, not understanding the messenger, who spoke in English, and +suspecting that it was intended by Mary to warn him of some danger in +his path, instantly drew up by the road-side, and took counsel with Alva +and Egmont as to what was to be done. One of the courtiers, who +perceived his embarrassment, rode up and acquainted the prince with the +real purport of the message. Relieved of his alarm, Philip no longer +hesitated, but, with his red felt cloak wrapped closely about him and a +broad beaver slouched over his eyes, manfully pushed forward, in spite +of the tempest. + +As he advanced, his retinue received continual accessions from the +neighboring gentry and yeomanry, until it amounted to some thousands +before he reached Winchester. It was late in the afternoon when the +cavalcade, soiled with travel and thoroughly drenched with rain, arrived +before the gates of the city. The mayor and aldermen, dressed in their +robes of scarlet, came to welcome the prince, and, presenting the keys +of the city, conducted him to his quarters. + +That evening Philip had his first interview with Mary. It was private, +and he was taken to her residence by the chancellor, Gardiner, bishop of +Winchester. The royal pair passed an hour or more together; and, as Mary +spoke the Castilian fluently, the interview must have been spared much +of the embarrassment that would otherwise have attended it.[103] + +[Sidenote: MARRIAGE OF PHILIP AND MARY.] + +On the following day the parties met in public. Philip was attended by +the principal persons of his suite, of both sexes; and as the +procession, making a goodly show, passed through the streets on foot, +the minstrelsy played before them till they reached the royal residence. +The reception-room was the great hall of the palace. Mary, stepping +forward to receive her betrothed, saluted him with a loving kiss before +all the company. She then conducted him to a sort of throne, where she +took her seat by his side, under a stately canopy. They remained there +for an hour or more, conversing together, while their courtiers had +leisure to become acquainted with one another, and to find ample food, +doubtless, for future criticism, in the peculiarities of national +costume and manners. Notwithstanding the Spanish blood in Mary's veins, +the higher circles of Spain and England had personally almost as little +intercourse with one another at that period, as England and Japan have +at the present. + +The ensuing day, the festival of St. James, the patron saint of Spain, +was the one appointed for the marriage. Philip exchanged his usual +simple dress for the bridal vestments provided for him by his mistress. +They were of spotless white, as the reporter is careful to inform us, +satin and cloth of gold, thickly powdered with pearls and precious +stones. Round his neck he wore the superb collar of the Golden Fleece, +the famous Burgundian order; while the brilliant riband below his knee +served as the badge of the no less illustrious order of the Garter. He +went on foot to the cathedral, attended by all his nobles, vying with +one another in the ostentatious splendor of their retinues. + +Half an hour elapsed before Philip was joined by the queen at the +entrance of the cathedral. Mary was surrounded by the lords and ladies +of her court. Her dress, of white satin and cloth of gold, like his own, +was studded and fringed with diamonds of inestimable price, some of +them, doubtless, the gift of Philip, which he had sent to her by the +hands of the prince of Eboli, soon after his landing. Her bright-red +slippers, and her mantle of black velvet, formed a contrast to the rest +of her apparel, and, for a bridal costume, would hardly suit the taste +of the present day. The royal party then moved up the nave of the +cathedral, and were received in the choir by the bishop of Winchester, +supported by the great prelates of the English Church. The greatest of +all, Cranmer, the primate of all England, who should have performed the +ceremony, was absent,--in disgrace and a prisoner. + +Philip and Mary took their seats under a royal canopy, with an altar +between them. The queen was surrounded by the ladies of her court; whose +beauty, says an Italian writer, acquired additional lustre by contrast +with the shadowy complexions of the south.[104] The aisles and spacious +galleries were crowded with spectators of every degree, drawn together +from the most distant quarters to witness the ceremony. + +The silence was broken by Figueroa, one of the imperial council, who +read aloud an instrument of the emperor, Charles the Fifth. It stated +that this marriage had been of his own seeking; and he was desirous that +his beloved son should enter into it in a manner suitable to his own +expectations and the dignity of his illustrious consort. He therefore +resigned to him his entire right and sovereignty over the kingdom of +Naples and the duchy of Milan. The rank of the parties would thus be +equal, and Mary, instead of giving her hand to a subject, would wed a +sovereign like herself. + +Some embarrassment occurred as to the person who should give the queen +away,--a part of the ceremony not provided for. After a brief +conference, it was removed by the marquis of Winchester and the earls of +Pembroke and Derby, who took it on themselves to give her away in the +name of the whole realm; at which the multitude raised a shout that made +the old walls of the cathedral ring again. The marriage service was then +concluded by the bishop of Winchester. Philip and Mary resumed their +seats, and mass was performed, when the bridegroom, rising, gave his +consort the "kiss of peace," according to the custom of the time. The +whole ceremony occupied nearly four hours. At the close of it Philip, +taking Mary by the hand, led her from the church. The royal couple were +followed by the long train of prelates and nobles, and were preceded by +the earls of Pembroke and Derby, each bearing aloft a naked sword, the +symbol of sovereignty. The effect of the spectacle was heightened by the +various costumes of the two nations,--the richly-tinted and picturesque +dresses of the Spaniards, and the solid magnificence of the English and +Flemings, mingling together in gay confusion. The glittering procession +moved slowly on, to the blithe sounds of festal music, while the air was +rent with the loyal acclamations of the populace, delighted, as usual, +with the splendor of the pageant. + +In the great hall of the episcopal palace, a sumptuous banquet was +prepared for the whole company. At one end of the apartment was a dais, +on which, under a superb canopy, a table was set for the king and queen; +and a third seat was added for Bishop Gardiner, the only one of the +great lords who was admitted to the distinction of dining with royalty. + +Below the dais, the tables were set on either side through the whole +length of the hall, for the English and Spanish nobles, all arranged--a +perilous point of etiquette--with due regard to their relative rank. The +royal table was covered with dishes of gold. A spacious beaufet, rising +to the height of eight stages, or shelves, and filled with a profusion +of gold and silver vessels, somewhat ostentatiously displayed the +magnificence of the prelate, or of his sovereign. Yet this ostentation +was rather Spanish than English; and was one of the forms in which the +Castilian grandee loved to display his opulence.[105] + +At the bottom of the hall was an orchestra, occupied by a band of +excellent performers, who enlivened the repast by their music. But the +most interesting part of the show was that of the Winchester boys, some +of whom were permitted to enter the presence, and recite in Latin their +epithalamiums in honor of the royal nuptials, for which they received a +handsome guerdon from the queen. + +[Sidenote: ROYAL ENTERTAINMENTS.] + +After the banquet came the ball, at which, if we are to take an old +English authority, "the Spaniards were greatly out of countenance when +they saw the English so far excel them."[106] This seems somewhat +strange, considering that dancing is, and always has been, the national +pastime of Spain. Dancing is to the Spaniard what music is to the +Italian,--the very condition of his social existence.[107] It did not +continue late on the present occasion, and, at the temperate hour of +nine, the bridal festivities closed for the evening.[108] + +Philip and Mary passed a few days in this merry way of life, at +Winchester, whence they removed, with their court, to Windsor. Here a +chapter of the order of the Garter was held, for the purpose of +installing King Philip. The herald, on this occasion, ventured to take +down the arms of England, and substitute those of Spain, in honor of the +new sovereign,--an act of deference which roused the indignation of the +English lords, who straightway compelled the functionary to restore the +national escutcheon to its proper place.[109] + +On the twenty-eighth of August, Philip and Mary made their public entry +into London. They rode in on horseback, passing through the borough of +Southwark, across London Bridge. Every preparation was made by the loyal +citizens to give them a suitable reception. The columns of the buildings +were festooned with flowers, triumphal arches spanned the streets, the +walls were hung with pictures or emblazoned with legends in +commemoration of the illustrious pair, and a genealogy was traced for +Philip, setting forth his descent from John of Gaunt,--making him out, +in short, as much of an Englishman as possible. + +Among the paintings was one in which Henry the Eighth was seen holding +in his hand a Bible. This device gave great scandal to the chancellor, +Gardiner, who called the painter sundry hard names, rating him roundly +for putting into King Harry's hand the sacred volume, which should +rather have been given to his daughter, Queen Mary, for her zeal to +restore the primitive worship of the Church. The unlucky artist lost no +time in repairing his error by brushing out the offending volume, and +did it so effectually, that he brushed out the royal fingers with it, +leaving the old monarch's mutilated stump held up, like some poor +mendicant's, to excite the compassion of the spectators.[110] + +But the sight which, more than all these pageants, gave joy to the +hearts of the Londoners, was an immense quantity of bullion, which +Philip caused to be paraded through the city on its way to the Tower, +where it was deposited in the royal treasury. The quantity was said to +be so great, that, on one occasion, the chests containing it filled +twenty carts. On another, two wagons were so heavily laden with the +precious metal as to require to be drawn by nearly a hundred +horses.[111] The good people, who had looked to the coming of the +Spaniards as that of a swarm of locusts which was to consume their +substance, were greatly pleased to see their exhausted coffers so well +replenished from the American mines. + +From London the royal pair proceeded to the shady solitudes of Hampton +Court, and Philip, weary of the mummeries in which he had been compelled +to take part, availed himself of the indisposition of his wife to +indulge in that retirement and repose which were more congenial to his +taste. This way of life in his pleasant retreat, however, does not +appear to have been so well suited to the taste of his English subjects. +At least, an old chronicler peevishly complains that "the hall-door +within the court was continually shut, so that no man might enter unless +his errand were first known; which seemed strange to Englishmen that had +not been used thereto."[112] + +Yet Philip, although his apprehensions for his safety had doubtless +subsided, was wise enough to affect the same conciliatory manners as on +his first landing,--and not altogether in vain. "He discovered," says +the Venetian ambassador, in his report to the senate, "none of that +_sosiego_--the haughty indifference of the Spaniards--which +distinguished him when he first left home for Italy and Flanders.[113] +He was, indeed, as accessible as any one could desire, and gave patient +audience to all who asked it. He was solicitous," continues Micheli, "to +instruct himself in affairs, and showed a taste for application to +business,"--which, it may be added, grew stronger with years. "He spoke +little. But his remarks, though brief, were pertinent. In short," he +concludes, "he is a prince of an excellent genius, a lively +apprehension, and a judgment ripe beyond his age." + +Philip's love of business, however, was not such as to lead him to take +part prematurely in the management of affairs. He discreetly left this +to the queen and her ministers, to whose judgment he affected to pay the +greatest deference. He particularly avoided all appearance of an attempt +to interfere with the administration of justice, unless it were to +obtain some act of grace. Such interference only served to gain him the +more credit with the people.[114] + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S INFLUENCE.] + +That he gained largely on their good-will may be inferred from the +casual remarks of more than one contemporary writer. They bear emphatic +testimony to the affability of his manners, so little to have been +expected from the popular reports of his character. "Among other +things," writes Wotton, the English minister at the French court, "one I +have been right glad to hear of is, that the king's highness useth +himself so gently and lovingly to all men. For, to tell you the truth, I +have heard some say, that, when he came out of Spain into Italy, it was +by some men wished that he had showed a somewhat more benign countenance +to the people than it was said he then did."[115] Another contemporary, +in a private letter, written soon after the king's entrance into London, +after describing his person as "so well proportioned that Nature cannot +work a more perfect pattern," concludes with commending him for his +"pregnant wit and most gentle nature."[116] + +Philip, from the hour of his landing, had been constant in all his +religious observances. "He was as punctual," says Micheli, "in his +attendance at mass, and his observance of all the forms of devotion, as +any monk;--more so, as some people thought, than became his age and +station. The ecclesiastics," he adds, "with whom Philip had constant +intercourse, talked loudly of his piety."[117] + +Yet there was no hypocrisy in this. However willing Philip may have been +that his concern for the interests of religion might be seen of men, it +is no less true that, as far as he understood these interests, his +concern was perfectly sincere. The actual state of England may have even +operated as an inducement with him to overcome his scruples as to the +connection with Mary. "Better not reign at all," he often remarked, +"than reign over heretics." But what triumph more glorious than that of +converting these heretics, and bringing them back again into the bosom +of the Church? He was most anxious to prepare the minds of his new +subjects for an honorable reception of the papal legate, Cardinal Pole, +who was armed with full authority to receive the submission of England +to the Holy See. He employed his personal influence with the great +nobles, and enforced it occasionally by liberal drafts on those Peruvian +ingots which he had sent to the Tower. At least, it is asserted that he +gave away yearly pensions, to the large amount of between fifty and +sixty thousand gold crowns, to sundry of the queen's ministers. It was +done on the general plea of recompensing their loyalty to their +mistress.[118] + +Early in November, tidings arrived of the landing of Pole. He had been +detained some weeks in Germany, by the emperor, who felt some +distrust--not ill-founded, as it seems--of the cardinal's disposition in +regard to the Spanish match. Now that this difficulty was obviated, he +was allowed to resume his journey. He came up the Thames in a +magnificent barge, with a large silver cross, the emblem of his legatine +authority, displayed on the prow. The legate, on landing, was received +by the king, the queen, and the whole court, with a reverential +deference which argued well for the success of his mission. + +He was the man, of all others, best qualified to execute it. To a +natural kindness of temper he united an urbanity and a refinement of +manners, derived from familiar intercourse with the most polished +society of Europe, his royal descent entitled him to mix on terms of +equality with persons of the highest rank, and made him feel as much at +ease in the court as in the cloister. His long exile had opened to him +an acquaintance with man as he is found in various climes, while, as a +native-born Englishman, he perfectly understood the prejudices and +peculiar temper of his own countrymen. "Cardinal Pole," says the +Venetian minister, "is a man of unblemished nobility, and so strict in +his integrity, that he grants nothing to the importunity of friends. He +is so much beloved, both by prince and people, that he may well be +styled the king where all is done by his authority."[119] An English +cardinal was not of too frequent occurrence in the sacred college. That +one should have been found at the present juncture, with personal +qualities, moreover, so well suited to the delicate mission to England, +was a coincidence so remarkable, that Philip and Mary might well be +excused for discerning in it the finger of Providence. + +On the seventeenth of the month, parliament, owing to the queen's +indisposition, met at Whitehall; and Pole made that celebrated speech in +which he recapitulated some of the leading events of his own life, and +the persecutions he had endured for conscience' sake. He reviewed the +changes in religion which had taken place in England, and implored his +audience to abjure their spiritual errors, and to seek a reconciliation +with the Catholic Church. He assured them of his plenary power to grant +absolution for the past; and--what was no less important--to authorize +the present proprietors to retain possession of the abbey lands which +had been confiscated under King Henry. This last concession, which had +been extorted with difficulty from the pope, reconciling, as it did, +temporal with spiritual interests, seems to have dispelled whatever +scruples yet lingered in the breasts of the legislature. There were few, +probably, in that goodly company, whose zeal would have aspired to the +crown of martyrdom. + +The ensuing day, parliament, in obedience to the royal summons, again +assembled at Whitehall. Philip took his seat on the left of Mary, under +the same canopy, while Cardinal Pole sat at a greater distance on her +right.[120] + +[Sidenote: THE CATHOLIC CHURCH RESTORED.] + +The chancellor, Gardiner, then presented a petition in the name of the +lords and commons, praying for reconciliation with the papal see. +Absolution was solemnly pronounced by the legate, and the whole assembly +received his benediction on their bended knees. England, purified from +her heresy, was once more restored to the communion of the Roman +Catholic Church. + +Philip instantly despatched couriers, with the glad tidings, to Rome, +Brussels, and other capitals of Christendom. Everywhere the event was +celebrated with public rejoicings, as if it had been some great victory +over the Saracens. As Philip's zeal for the faith was well known, and as +the great change had taken place soon after his arrival in England, much +of the credit of it was ascribed to him.[121] Thus, before ascending the +throne of Spain, he had vindicated his claim to the title of Catholic, +so much prized by the Spanish monarchs. He had won a triumph greater +than that which his father had been able to win after years of war, over +the Protestants of Germany; greater than any which had been won by the +arms of Cortes or Pizarro in the New World. Their contest had been with +the barbarian; the field of Philip's labors was one of the most potent +and civilized countries of Europe. + +The work of conversion was speedily followed by that of persecution. To +what extent Philip's influence was exerted in this is not manifest. +Indeed, from anything that appears, it would not be easy to decide +whether his influence was employed to promote or to prevent it. One fact +is certain, that, immediately after the first martyrs suffered at +Smithfield, Alfonso de Castro, a Spanish friar, preached a sermon in +which he bitterly inveighed against these proceedings. He denounced them +as repugnant to the true spirit of Christianity, which was that of +charity and forgiveness, and which enjoined its ministers not to take +vengeance on the sinner, but to enlighten him as to his errors, and +bring him to repentance.[122] This bold appeal had its effect, even in +that season of excitement. For a few weeks the arm of persecution seemed +to be palsied. But it was only for a few weeks. Toleration was not the +virtue of the sixteenth century. The charitable doctrines of the good +friar fell on hearts withered by fanaticism; and the spirit of +intolerance soon rekindled the fires of Smithfield into a fiercer glow +than before. + +Yet men wondered at the source whence these strange doctrines had +proceeded. The friar was Philip's confessor. It was argued that he would +not have dared to speak thus boldly, had it not been by the command of +Philip, or, at least, by his consent. That De Castro should have thus +acted at the suggestion of his master is contradicted by the whole tenor +of Philip's life. Hardly four years elapsed before he countenanced by +his presence an _auto da fe_ in Valladolid, where fourteen persons +perished at the stake; and the burning of heretics in England could have +done no greater violence to his feelings than the burning of heretics in +Spain. If the friar did indeed act in obedience to Philip, we may well +suspect that the latter was influenced less by motives of humanity than +of policy; and that the disgust manifested by the people at the +spectacle of these executions may have led him to employ this expedient +to relieve himself of any share in the odium which attached to +them.[123] + +What was the real amount of Philip's influence, in this or other +matters, it is not possible to determine. It is clear that he was +careful not to arouse the jealousy of the English by any parade of +it.[124] One obvious channel of it lay in the queen, who seems to have +doated on him with a fondness that one would hardly have thought a +temper cold and repulsive, like that of Philip, capable of exciting. But +he was young and good-looking. His manners had always been found to +please the sex, even where he had not been so solicitous to please as he +was in England. He was Mary's first and only love; for the emperor was +too old to have touched aught but her vanity, and Courtenay was too +frivolous to have excited any other than a temporary feeling. This +devotion to Philip, according to some accounts, was ill requited by his +gallantries. The Venetian ambassador says of him, that "he well deserved +the tenderness of his wife, for he was the most loving and the best of +husbands." But it seems probable that the Italian, in his estimate of +the best of husbands, adopted the liberal standard of his own +country.[125] + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S INFLUENCE.] + +About the middle of November, parliament was advised that the queen was +in a state of pregnancy. The intelligence was received with the joy +usually manifested by loyal subjects on like occasions. The emperor +seems to have been particularly pleased with this prospect of an heir, +who, by the terms of the marriage treaty, would make a division of that +great empire which it had been the object of its master's life to build +up and consolidate under one sceptre. The commons, soon after, passed an +act empowering Philip, in case it should go otherwise than well with the +queen at the time of her confinement, to assume the regency, and take +charge of the education of her child during its minority. The regency +was to be limited by the provisions of the marriage treaty. But the act +may be deemed evidence that Philip had gained on the confidence of his +new subjects. + +The symptoms continued to be favorable; and, as the time approached for +Mary's confinement, messengers were held in readiness to bear the +tidings to the different courts. The loyal wishes of the people ran so +far ahead of reality, that the rumor went abroad of the actual birth of +a prince. Bells were rung, bonfires lighted; _Te Deum_ was sung in some +of the churches; and one of the preachers "took upon him to describe the +proportions of the child, how fair, how beautiful and great a prince it +was, as the like had not been seen!" "But for all this great labor," +says the caustic chronicler, "for their yoong maister long looked for +coming so surely into the world, in the end appeared neither yoong +maister nor yoong maistress, that any man to this day can hear of."[126] + +The queen's disorder proved to be a dropsy. But, notwithstanding the +mortifying results of so many prognostics and preparations, and the +ridicule which attached to it, Mary still cherished the illusion of one +day giving an heir to the crown. Her husband did not share in this +illusion; and, as he became convinced that she had no longer prospect of +issue, he found less inducement to protract his residence in a country +which, on many accounts, was most distasteful to him. Whatever show of +deference might be paid to him, his haughty spirit could not be pleased +by the subordinate part which he was compelled to play, in public, to +the queen. The parliament had never so far acceded to Mary's wishes as +to consent to his coronation as king of England. Whatever weight he may +have had in the cabinet, it had not been such as to enable him to make +the politics of England subservient to his own interests, or, what was +the same thing, to those of his father. Parliament would not consent to +swerve so far from the express provisions of the marriage treaty as to +become a party in the emperor's contest with France.[127] + +Nor could the restraint constantly imposed on Philip, by his desire to +accommodate himself to the tastes and habits of the English, be +otherwise than irksome to him. If he had been more successful in this +than might have been expected, yet it was not possible to overcome the +prejudices, the settled antipathy, with which the Spaniards were +regarded by the great mass of the people, as was evident from the +satirical shafts, which, from time to time, were launched by +pamphleteers and ballad-makers, both against the king and his followers. + +These latter were even more impatient than their master of their stay in +a country where they met with so many subjects of annoyance. If a +Spaniard bought anything, complains one of the nation, he was sure to be +charged an exorbitant price for it.[128] If he had a quarrel with an +Englishman, says another writer, he was to be tried by English law, and +was very certain to come off the worst.[129] Whether right or wrong, the +Spaniards could hardly fail to find abundant cause of irritation and +disgust. The two nations were too dissimilar for either of them to +comprehend the other. It was with no little satisfaction, therefore, +that Philip's followers learned that their master had received a summons +from his father to leave England, and join him in Flanders. + +The cause of this sudden movement was one that filled the Castilians, as +it did all Europe, with astonishment,--the proposed abdication of +Charles the Fifth. It was one that might seem to admit of neither doubt +nor delay on Philip's part. But Mary, distressed by the prospect of +separation, prevailed on her husband to postpone his departure for +several weeks. She yielded, at length, to the necessity of the case. +Preparations were made for Philip's journey, and Mary, with a heavy +heart, accompanied her royal consort down the Thames to Greenwich. Here +they parted; and Philip, taking an affectionate farewell, and commending +the queen and her concerns to the care of Cardinal Pole, took the road +to Dover. + +After a short detention there by contrary winds, he crossed over to +Calais, and on the fourth of September made his entry into that strong +place, the last remnant of all their continental acquisitions that still +belonged to the English. + +Philip was received by the authorities of the city with the honors due +to his rank. He passed some days there receiving the respectful +courtesies of the inhabitants, and, on his departure, rejoiced the +hearts of the garrison by distributing among them a thousand crowns of +gold. He resumed his journey, with his splendid train of Castilian and +English nobles, among whom were the earls of Arundel, Pembroke, +Huntington, and others of the highest station in the realm. On the road, +he was met by a military escort sent by his father; and towards the +latter part of September, 1555, Philip, with his gallant retinue, made +his entry into the Flemish capital, where the emperor and his court were +eagerly awaiting his arrival.[130] + +[Sidenote: EMPIRE OF PHILIP] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +WAR WITH THE POPE. + +Empire of Philip.--Paul the Fourth.--Court of France.--League against +Spain.--The Duke of Alva.--Preparations for War.--Victorious Campaign. + +1555, 1556. + + +Soon after Philip's arrival in Brussels took place that memorable scene +of the abdication of Charles the Fifth, which occupies the introductory +pages of our narrative. By this event, Philip saw himself master of the +most widely extended and powerful monarchy in Europe. He was king of +Spain, comprehending under that name Castile, Aragon, and Granada, +which, after surviving as independent states for centuries, had been +first brought under one sceptre in the reign of his father, Charles the +Fifth. He was king of Naples and Sicily, and duke of Milan, which +important possessions enabled him to control, to a great extent, the +nicely balanced scales of Italian politics. He was lord of Franche +Comte, and of the Low Countries, comprehending the most flourishing and +populous provinces in Christendom, whose people had made the greatest +progress in commerce, husbandry, and the various mechanic arts. As +titular king of England, he eventually obtained an influence, which, as +we shall see, enabled him to direct the counsels of that country to his +own purposes. In Africa he possessed the Cape de Verd Islands and the +Canaries, as well as Tunis, Oran, and some other important places on the +Barbary coast. He owned the Philippines and the Spice Islands in Asia. +In America, besides his possessions in the West Indies, he was master of +the rich empires of Mexico and Peru, and claimed a right to a boundless +extent of country, that offered an inexhaustible field to the cupidity +and enterprise of the Spanish adventurer. Thus the dominions of Philip +stretched over every quarter of the globe. The flag of Castile was seen +in the remotest latitudes,--on the Atlantic, the Pacific, and the +far-off Indian seas,--passing from port to port, and uniting by +commercial intercourse the widely scattered members of her vast colonial +empire. + +The Spanish army consisted of the most formidable infantry in Europe; +veterans who had been formed under the eye of Charles the Fifth and of +his generals, who had fought on the fields of Pavia and of Muhlberg, or +who, in the New World, had climbed the Andes with Almagro and Pizarro, +and helped these bold chiefs to overthrow the dynasty of the Incas. The +navy of Spain and Flanders combined far exceeded that of any other power +in the number and size of its vessels; and if its supremacy might be +contested by England on the "narrow seas," it rode the undisputed +mistress of the ocean. To supply the means for maintaining this costly +establishment, as well as the general machinery of government, Philip +had at his command the treasures of the New World; and if the incessant +enterprises of his father had drained the exchequer, it was soon +replenished by the silver streams that flowed in from the inexhaustible +mines of Zacatecas and Potosi. + +All this vast empire, with its magnificent resources, was placed at the +disposal of a single man. Philip ruled over it with an authority more +absolute than that possessed by any European prince since the days of +the Caesars. The Netherlands, indeed, maintained a show of independence +under the shadow of their ancient institutions. But they consented to +supply the necessities of the crown by a tax larger than the revenues of +America. Naples and Milan were ruled by Spanish viceroys. Viceroys, with +delegated powers scarcely less than those of their sovereign, presided +over the American colonies, which received their laws from the parent +country. In Spain itself, the authority of the nobles was gone. First +assailed under Ferdinand and Isabella, it was completely broken down +under Charles the Fifth. The liberties of the commons were crushed at +the fatal battle of Villalar, in the beginning of that monarch's reign. +Without nobles, without commons, the ancient cortes had faded into a +mere legislative pageant, with hardly any other right than that of +presenting petitions, and of occasionally raising an ineffectual note of +remonstrance against abuses. It had lost the power to redress them. Thus +all authority vested in the sovereign. His will was the law of the land. +From his palace at Madrid he sent forth the edicts which became the law +of Spain and of her remotest colonies. It may well be believed that +foreign nations watched with interest the first movements of a prince +who seemed to hold in his hands the destinies of Europe; and that they +regarded with no little apprehension the growth of that colossal power +which had already risen to a height that cast a shadow over every other +monarchy. + +From his position, Philip stood at the head of the Roman Catholic +princes. He was in temporal matters what the pope was in spiritual. In +the existing state of Christendom, he had the same interest as the pope +in putting down that spirit of religious reform which had begun to show +itself, in public or in private, in every corner of Europe. He was the +natural ally of the pope. He understood this well, and would have acted +on it. Yet, strange to say, his very first war, after his accession, was +with the pope himself. It was a war not of Philip's seeking. + +[Sidenote: PAUL THE FOURTH.] + +The papal throne was at that time filled by Paul the Fourth, one of +those remarkable men, who, amidst the shadowy personages that have +reigned in the Vatican, and been forgotten, have vindicated to +themselves a permanent place in history. He was a Neapolitan by birth, +of the noble family of the Caraffas. He was bred to the religious +profession, and early attracted notice by his diligent application and +the fruits he gathered from it. His memory was prodigious. He was not +only deeply read in theological science, but skilled in various +languages, ancient and modern, several of which he spoke with fluency. +His rank, sustained by his scholarship, raised him speedily to high +preferment in the Church. In 1513, when thirty-six years of age, he went +as nuncio to England. In 1525, he resigned his benefices, and, with a +small number of his noble friends, he instituted a new religious order, +called the Theatins.[131] The object of the society was, to combine, to +some extent, the contemplative habits of the monk with the more active +duties of the secular clergy. The members visited the sick, buried the +dead, and preached frequently in public, thus performing the most +important functions of the priesthood. For this last vocation, of +public speaking, Caraffa was peculiarly qualified by a flow of natural +eloquence, which, if it did not always convince, was sure to carry away +the audience by its irresistible fervor.[132] The new order showed +itself particularly zealous in enforcing reform in the Catholic clergy, +and in stemming the tide of heresy which now threatened to inundate the +Church. Caraffa and his associates were earnest to introduce the +Inquisition. A life of asceticism and penance too often extinguishes +sympathy with human suffering, and leads its votaries to regard the +sharpest remedies as the most effectual for the cure of spiritual error. + +From this austere way of life Caraffa was called, in 1536, to a +situation which engaged him more directly in worldly concerns. He was +made cardinal by Paul the Third. He had, as far back as the time of +Ferdinand the Catholic, been one of the royal council of Naples. The +family of Caraffa, however, was of the Angevine party, and regarded the +house of Aragon in the light of usurpers. The cardinal had been educated +in this political creed, and, even after his elevation to his new +dignity, he strongly urged Paul the Third to assert the claims of the +holy see to the sovereignty of Naples. This conduct, which came to the +ears of Charles the Fifth, so displeased that monarch that he dismissed +Caraffa from the council. Afterwards, when the cardinal was named by the +pope, his unfailing patron, to the archbishopric of Naples, Charles +resisted the nomination, and opposed all the obstacles in his power to +the collection of the episcopal revenues. These indignities sank deep +into the cardinal's mind, naturally tenacious of affronts; and what, at +first, had been only a political animosity, was now sharpened into +personal hatred of the most implacable character.[133] + +Such was the state of feeling when, on the death of Marcellus the +Second, in 1555, Cardinal Caraffa was raised to the papal throne. His +election, as was natural, greatly disgusted the emperor, and caused +astonishment throughout Europe; for he had not the conciliatory manners +which win the favor and the suffrages of mankind. But the Catholic +Church stood itself in need of a reformer, to enable it to resist the +encroaching spirit of Protestantism. This was well understood not only +by the highest, but by the humblest ecclesiastics; and in Caraffa they +saw the man whose qualities precisely fitted him to effect such a +reform. He was, moreover, at the time of his election, in his eightieth +year; and age and infirmity have always proved powerful arguments with +the sacred college, as affording the numerous competitors the best +guaranties for a speedy vacancy. Yet it has more than once happened that +the fortunate candidate, who has owed his election mainly to his +infirmities, has been miraculously restored by the touch of the tiara. + +Paul the Fourth--for such was the name assumed by the new pope, in +gratitude to the memory of his patron--adopted a way of life, on his +accession, for which his brethren of the college were not at all +prepared. The austerity and self-denial of earlier days formed a strong +contrast to the pomp of his present establishment and the profuse luxury +of his table. When asked how he would be served, "How but as a great +prince?" he answered. He usually passed three hours at his dinner, which +consisted of numerous courses of the most refined and epicurean dishes. +No one dined with him, though one or more of the cardinals were usually +present, with whom he freely conversed; and as he accompanied his meals +with large draughts of the thick, black wine of Naples, it no doubt gave +additional animation to his discourse.[134] At such times, his favorite +theme was the Spaniards, whom he denounced as the scum of the earth, a +race accursed of God, heretics and schismatics, the spawn of Jews and of +Moors. He bewailed the humiliation of Italy, galled by the yoke of a +nation so abject. But the day had come, he would thunder out, when +Charles and Philip were to be called to a reckoning for their ill-gotten +possessions, and be driven from the land![135] + +Yet Paul did not waste all his hours in this idle vaporing, nor in the +pleasures of the table. He showed the same activity as ever in the +labors of the closet, and in attention to business. He was irregular in +his hours, sometimes prolonging his studies through the greater part of +the night, and at others rising long before the dawn. When thus engaged, +it would not have been well for any one of his household to venture into +his presence, without a summons. + +Paul seemed to be always in a state of nervous tension. "He is all +nerve," the Venetian minister, Navagero, writes of him; "and when he +walks, it is with a free, elastic step, as if he hardly touched the +ground."[136] His natural arrogance, was greatly increased by his +elevation to the first dignity in Christendom. He had always entertained +the highest ideas of the authority of the sacerdotal office; and now +that he was in the chair of St. Peter, he seemed to have entire +confidence in his own infallibility. He looked on the princes of Europe, +not so much as his sons--the language of the Church--as his servants, +bound to do his bidding. Paul's way of thinking would have better suited +the twelfth century than the sixteenth. He came into the world at least +three centuries too late. In all his acts he relied solely on himself. +He was impatient of counsel from any one, and woe to the man who +ventured to oppose any remonstrance, still more any impediment to the +execution of his plans. He had no misgivings as to the wisdom of these +plans. An idea that had once taken possession of his mind lay there, to +borrow a cant phrase of the day, like "a fixed fact,"--not to be +disturbed by argument or persuasion. We occasionally meet with such +characters, in which strength of will and unconquerable energy in action +pass for genius with the world. They, in fact, serve as the best +substitute for genius, by the ascendancy which such qualities secure +their possessors over ordinary minds. Yet there were ways of approaching +the pontiff, for those who understood his character, and who, by +condescending to flatter his humors, could turn them to their own +account. Such was the policy pursued by some of Paul's kindred, who, +cheered by his patronage, now came forth from their obscurity to glitter +in the rays of the meridian sun. + +[Sidenote: COURT OF FRANCE.] + +Paul had all his life declaimed against nepotism as an opprobrious sin +in the head of the Church. Yet no sooner did he put on the tiara than he +gave a glaring example of the sin he had denounced, in the favors which +he lavished on three of his own nephews. This was the more remarkable, +as they were men whose way of life had given scandal even to the +Italians, not used to be too scrupulous in their judgments. + +The eldest, who represented the family, he raised to the rank of duke, +providing him with an ample fortune from the confiscated property of the +Colonnas,--which illustrious house was bitterly persecuted by Paul, for +its attachment to the Spanish interests. + +Another of his nephews he made a cardinal,--a dignity for which he was +indifferently qualified by his former profession, which was that of a +soldier, and still less fitted by his life, which was that of a +libertine. He was a person of a busy, intriguing disposition, and +stimulated his uncle's vindictive feelings against the Spaniards, whom +he himself hated, for some affront which he conceived had been put upon +him while in the emperor's service.[137] + +But Paul needed no prompter in this matter. He very soon showed that, +instead of ecclesiastical reform, he was bent on a project much nearer +to his heart,--the subversion of the Spanish power in Naples. Like +Julius the Second, of warlike memory, he swore to drive out the +_barbarians_ from Italy. He seemed to think that the thunders of the +Vatican were more than a match for all the strength of the empire and of +Spain. But he was not weak enough to rely wholly on his spiritual +artillery in such a contest. Through the French ambassador at his court, +he opened negotiations with France, and entered into a secret treaty +with that power, by which each of the parties agreed to furnish a +certain contingent of men and money to carry on the war for the recovery +of Naples. The treaty was executed on the sixteenth of December, +1555.[138] + +In less than two months after this event, on the fifth of February, +1556, the fickle monarch of France, seduced by the advantageous offers +of Charles, backed, moreover, by the ruinous state of his own finances, +deserted his new ally, and signed the treaty of Vaucelles, which secured +a truce for five years between his dominions and those of Philip. + +Paul received the news of this treaty while surrounded by his courtiers. +He treated the whole with scepticism, but expressed the pious hope, that +such a peace might be in store for the nations of Christendom. In +private he was not so temperate. But without expending his wrath in +empty menaces, he took effectual means to bring things back to their +former state,--to induce the French king to renew the treaty with +himself, and at once to begin hostilities. He knew the vacillating +temper of the monarch he had to deal with. Cardinal Caraffa was +accordingly despatched on a mission to Paris, fortified with ample +powers for the arrangement of a new treaty, and with such tempting +promises on the part of his holiness as might insure its acceptance by +the monarch and his ministers. + +The French monarchy was, at that time, under the sceptre of Henry the +Second, the son of Francis the First, to whose character his own bore no +resemblance; or rather the resemblance consisted in those showy +qualities which lie too near the surface to enter into what may be +called character. He affected a chivalrous vein, excelled in the +exercises of the tourney, and indulged in vague aspirations after +military renown. In short, he fancied himself a hero, and seems to have +imposed on some of his own courtiers so far as to persuade them that he +was designed for one. But he had few of the qualities which enter into +the character of a hero. He was as far from being a hero as he was from +being a good Christian, though he thought to prove his orthodoxy by +persecuting the Protestants, who were now rising into a formidable sect +in the southern parts of his kingdom. He had little reliance on his own +resources, leading a life of easy indulgence, and trusting the direction +of his affairs to his favorites and his mistresses. + +The most celebrated of these was Diana of Poictiers, created by Henry +duchess of Valentinois, who preserved her personal charms and her +influence over her royal lover to a much later period than usually +happens. The persons of his court in whom the king most confided were +the Constable Montmorency and the duke of Guise. + +Anne de Montmorency, constable of France, was one of the proudest of the +French nobility,--proud alike of his great name, his rank, and his +authority with his sovereign. He had grown gray in the service of the +court, and Henry, accustomed to his society from boyhood, had learned to +lean on him for the execution of his measures. Yet his judgments, though +confidently given, were not always sound. His views were far from being +enlarged; and though full of courage, he showed little capacity for +military affairs. A consciousness of this, perhaps, may have led him to +recommend a pacific policy, suited to his own genius. He was a stanch +Catholic, extremely punctilious in all the ceremonies of devotion, and, +if we may credit Brantome, would strangely mingle together the military +and the religious. He repeated his Pater-Noster at certain fixed hours, +whatever might be his occupation at the time. He would occasionally +break off to give his orders, calling out, "Cut me down such a man!" +"Hang up another!" "Run those fellows through with your lances!" "Set +fire to that village!"--and so on; when, having thus relieved the +military part of his conscience, he would go on with his Pater-Nosters +as before.[139] + +A very different character was that of his younger rival, Francis, duke +of Guise, uncle to Mary, queen of Scots, and brother to the regent. Of a +bold, aspiring temper, filled with the love of glory, brilliant and +popular in his address, he charmed the people by his manners and the +splendor of his equipage and dress. He came to court, attended usually +by three or four hundred cavaliers, who formed themselves on Guise as +their model. His fine person was set off by the showy costume of the +time,--a crimson doublet and cloak of spotless ermine, and a cap +ornamented with a scarlet plume. In this dress he might often be seen, +mounted on his splendid charger and followed by a gay retinue of +gentlemen, riding at full gallop through the streets of Paris, and +attracting the admiration of the people. + +[Sidenote: LEAGUE AGAINST SPAIN.] + +But his character was not altogether made up of such vanities. He was +sagacious in counsel, and had proved himself the best captain of France. +It was he who commanded at the memorable siege of Metz, and foiled the +efforts of the imperial forces under Charles and the duke of Alva. +Caraffa found little difficulty in winning him over to his cause, as he +opened to the ambitious chief the brilliant perspective of the conquest +of Naples. The arguments of the wily Italian were supported by the +duchess of Valentinois. It was in vain that the veteran Montmorency +reminded the king of the ruinous state of the finances, which had driven +him to the shameful expedient of putting up public offices to sale. The +other party represented that the condition of Spain, after her long +struggle, was little better; that the reins of government had now been +transferred from the wise Charles to the hands of his inexperienced son; +and that the cooeperation of Rome afforded a favorable conjunction of +circumstances, not to be neglected. Henry was further allured by +Caraffa's assurance that his uncle would grant to the French monarch the +investiture of Naples for one of his younger sons, and bestow Milan on +another. The offer was too tempting to be resisted. + +One objection occurred, in certain conscientious scruples as to the +violation of the recent treaty of Vaucelles. But for this the pope, who +had anticipated the objection, readily promised absolution. As the king +also intimated some distrust lest the successor of Paul, whose advanced +age made his life precarious, might not be inclined to carry out the +treaty, Caraffa was authorized to assure him that this danger should be +obviated by the creation of a batch of French cardinals, or of cardinals +in the French interest. + +All the difficulties being thus happily disposed of, the treaty was +executed in the month of July, 1556. The parties agreed each to furnish +about twelve thousand infantry, five hundred men-at-arms, and the same +number of light horse. France was to contribute three hundred and fifty +thousand ducats to the expenses of the war, and Rome one hundred and +fifty thousand. The French troops were to be supplied with provisions by +the pope, for which they were to reimburse his holiness. It was moreover +agreed, that the crown of Naples should be settled on a younger son of +Henry, that a considerable tract on the northern frontier should be +transferred to the papal territory, and that ample estates should be +provided from the new conquests for the three nephews of his holiness. +In short, the system of partition was as nicely adjusted as if the +quarry were actually in their possession, ready to be cut up and divided +among the parties.[140] + +Finally, it was arranged that Henry should invite the Sultan Solyman to +renew his former alliance with France, and make a descent with his +galleys on the coast of Calabria. Thus did his most Christian majesty, +with the pope for one of his allies and the Grand Turk for the other, +prepare to make war on the most Catholic prince in Christendom![141] + +Meanwhile, Paul the Fourth, elated by the prospect of a successful +negotiation, threw off the little decency he had hitherto preserved in +his deportment. He launched out into invectives more bitter than ever +against Philip, and in a tone of defiance told such of the Spanish +cardinals as were present that they might repeat his sayings to their +master. He talked of instituting a legal process against the king for +the recovery of Naples, which he had forfeited by omitting to pay the +yearly tribute to the holy see. The pretext was ill-founded, as the pope +well knew. But the process went on with suitable gravity, and a sentence +of forfeiture was ultimately pronounced against the Spanish monarch. + +With these impotent insults, Paul employed more effectual means of +annoyance. He persecuted all who showed any leaning to the Spanish +interest. He set about repairing the walls of Rome, and strengthening +the garrisons on the frontier. His movements raised great alarm among +the Romans, who had too vivid a recollection of their last war with +Spain, under Clement the Seventh, to wish for another. Garcilasso de la +Vega, who had represented Philip, during his father's reign, at the +papal court, wrote a full account of these doings to the viceroy of +Naples. Garcilasso was instantly thrown into prison. Taxis, the Spanish +director of the posts, was both thrown into prison and put to the +torture. Saria, the imperial ambassador, after in vain remonstrating +against these outrages, waited on the pope to demand his passport, and +was kept standing a full hour at the gate of the Vatican, before he was +admitted.[142] + +Philip had full intelligence of all these proceedings. He had long since +descried the dark storm that was mustering beyond the Alps. He had +provided for it at the close of the preceding year, by committing the +government of Naples to the man most competent to such a crisis. This +was the duke of Alva, at that time governor of Milan, and +commander-in-chief of the army in Italy. As this remarkable person is to +occupy a large space in the subsequent pages of this narrative, it may +be well to give some account of his earlier life. + +Fernando Alvarez de Toledo was descended from an illustrious house in +Castile, whose name is associated with some of the most memorable events +in the national history. He was born in 1508, and while a child had the +misfortune to lose his father, who perished in Africa, at the siege of +Gelves. The care of the orphan devolved on his grandfather, the +celebrated conqueror of Navarre. Under this veteran teacher the young +Fernando received his first lessons in war, being present at more than +one skirmish when quite a boy. This seems to have sharpened his appetite +for a soldier's life, for we find him at the age of sixteen, secretly +leaving his home and taking service under the banner of the Constable +Velasco, at the siege of Fontarabia. He was subsequently made governor +of that place. In 1527, when not twenty years of age, he came, by his +grandfather's death, into possession of the titles and large patrimonial +estates of the house of Toledo. + +The capacity which he displayed, as well as his high rank, soon made him +an object of attention; and as Philip grew in years, the duke of Alva +was placed near his person, formed one of his council, and took part in +the regency of Castile. He accompanied Philip on his journeys from +Spain, and, as we have seen, made one of his retinue both in Flanders +and in England. The duke was of too haughty and imperious a temper to +condescend to those arts which are thought to open the most ready +avenues to the favor of the sovereign. He met with rivals of a finer +policy and more accommodating disposition. Yet Philip perfectly +comprehended his character. He knew the strength of his understanding, +and did full justice to his loyalty; and he showed his confidence in his +integrity by placing him in offices of the highest responsibility. + +[Sidenote: PREPARATIONS FOR WAR.] + +The emperor, with his usual insight into character, had early discerned +the military talents of the young nobleman. He took Alva along with him +on his campaigns in Germany, where from a subordinate station he rapidly +rose to the first command in the army. Such was his position at the +unfortunate siege of Metz, where the Spanish infantry had nearly been +sacrificed to the obstinacy of Charles. + +In his military career the duke displayed some of the qualities most +characteristic of his countrymen. But they were those qualities which +belong to a riper period of life. He showed little of that romantic and +adventurous spirit of the Spanish cavalier, which seemed to court peril +for its own sake, and would hazard all on a single cast. Caution was his +prominent trait, in which he was a match for any graybeard in the +army;--a caution carried to such a length as sometimes to put a curb on +the enterprising spirit of the emperor. Men were amazed to see so old a +head on so young shoulders. + +Yet this caution was attended by a courage which dangers could not +daunt, and by a constancy which toil, however severe, could not tire. He +preferred the surest, even though the slowest, means to attain his +object. He was not ambitious of effect; he never sought to startle by a +brilliant _coup-de-main_. He would not have compromised a single chance +in his own favor by appealing to the issue of a battle. He looked +steadily to the end, and he moved surely towards it by a system of +operations planned with the nicest forecast. The result of these +operations was almost always success. Few great commanders have been +more uniformly successful in their campaigns. Yet it was rare that these +campaigns were marked by what is so dazzling to the imagination of the +young aspirant for glory,--a great and decisive victory.--Such were some +of the more obvious traits in the military character of the chief to +whom Philip, at this crisis, confided the post of viceroy of +Naples.[143] + +Before commencing hostilities against the Church, the Spanish monarch +determined to ease his conscience, by obtaining, if possible, a warrant +for his proceedings from the Church itself. He assembled a body composed +of theologians from Salamanca, Alcala, Valladolid, and some other +places, and of jurists from his several councils, to resolve certain +queries which he propounded. Among the rest, he inquired whether, in +case of a defensive war with the pope, it would not be lawful to +sequestrate the revenues of those persons, natives or foreigners, who +had benefices in Spain, but who refused obedience to the orders of its +sovereign;--whether he might not lay an embargo on all revenues of the +Church, and prohibit any remittance of moneys to Rome;--whether a +council might not be convoked to determine the validity of Paul's +election, which, in some particulars, was supposed to have been +irregular;--whether inquiry might not be made into the gross abuses of +ecclesiastical patronage by the Roman see, and effectual measures taken +to redress them. The suggestion of an ecclesiastical council was a +menace that grated unpleasantly on the pontifical ear, and was used by +European princes as a sort of counterblast to the threat of +excommunication. The particular objects for which this council was to be +summoned were not of a kind to soothe the irritable nerves of his +holiness. The conclave of theologians and jurists made as favorable +responses as the king had anticipated to his several interrogatories; +and Philip, under so respectable a sanction, sent orders to his viceroy +to take effectual measures for the protection of Naples.[144] + +Alva had not waited for these orders, but had busily employed himself in +mustering his resources, and in collecting troops from the Abruzzi and +other parts of his territory. As hostilities were inevitable, he +determined to strike the first blow, and carry the war into the enemy's +country, before he had time to cross the Neapolitan frontier. Like his +master, however, the duke was willing to release himself, as far as +possible, from personal responsibility before taking up arms against the +head of the Church. He accordingly addressed a manifesto to the pope and +the cardinals, setting forth in glowing terms the manifold grievances of +his sovereign; the opprobrious and insulting language of Paul; the +indignities offered to Philip's agents, and to the imperial ambassador; +the process instituted for depriving his master of Naples; and, lastly, +the warlike demonstrations of the pope along the frontier, which left no +doubt as to his designs. He conjured his holiness to pause before he +plunged his country into war. As the head of the Church, it was his duty +to preserve peace, not to bring war into Christendom. He painted the +inevitable evils of war, and the ruin and devastation which it must +bring on the fair fields of Italy. If this were done, it would be the +pope's doing, and his would be the responsibility. On the part of +Naples, the war would be a war of defence. For himself, he had no +alternative. He was placed there to maintain the possessions of his +sovereign; and, by the blessing of God, he would maintain them to the +last drop of his blood.[145] + +Alva, while making this appeal to the pope, invoked the good offices of +the Venetian government in bringing about a reconciliation between +Philip and the Vatican. His spirited manifesto to the pope was intrusted +to a special messenger, a person of some consideration in Naples. The +only reply which the hot-headed pontiff made to it was to throw the +envoy into prison, and, as some state, to put him to the torture. + +Meanwhile, Alva, who had not placed much reliance on the success of his +appeal, had mustered a force, amounting in all to twelve thousand +infantry, fifteen hundred horse, and a train of twelve pieces of +artillery. His infantry was chiefly made up of Neapolitans, some of whom +had seen but little service. The strength of his army lay in his Spanish +veterans, forming one third of his force. The place of rendezvous was +San Germano, a town on the northern frontier of the kingdom. On the +first of September, 1556, Alva, attended by a gallant band of cavaliers, +left the capital, and on the fourth arrived at the place appointed. The +following day he crossed the borders at the head of his troops, and +marched on Pontecorvo. He met with no resistance from the inhabitants, +who at once threw open their gates to him. Several other places followed +the example of Pontecorvo; and Alva, taking possession of them, caused a +scutcheon displaying the arms of the sacred college to be hung up in the +principal church of each town, with a placard announcing that he held it +only for the college, until the election of a new pontiff. By this act +he proclaimed to the Christian world that the object of the war, as far +as Spain was concerned, was not conquest, but defence. Some historians +find in it a deeper policy,--that of exciting feelings of distrust +between the pope and the cardinals.[146] + +Anagni, a place of some strength, refused the duke's summons to +surrender. He was detained three days before his guns had opened a +practicable breach in the walls. He then ordered an assault. The town +was stormed and delivered up to sack,--by which phrase is to be +understood the perpetration of all those outrages which the ruthless +code of war allowed, in that age, on the persons and property of the +defenceless inhabitants, without regard to sex or age.[147] + +One or two other places which made resistance shared the fate of Anagni; +and the duke of Alva, having garrisoned his new conquests with such +forces as he could spare, led his victorious legions against Tivoli,--a +town strongly situated on elevated ground, commanding the eastern +approaches to the capital. The place surrendered without attempting a +defence; and Alva, willing to give his men some repose, made Tivoli his +head-quarters; while his army spread over the suburbs and adjacent +country, which afforded good forage for his cavalry. + +The rapid succession of these events, the fall of town after town, and, +above all, the dismal fate of Anagni, filled the people of Rome with +terror. The women began to hurry out of the city; many of the men would +have followed but for the interference of Cardinal Caraffa. The panic +was as great as if the enemy had been already at the gates of the +capital. Amidst this general consternation, Paul seemed to be almost the +only person who retained his self-possession. Navagero, the Venetian +minister, was present when he received tidings of the storming of +Anagni, and bears witness to the composure with which he went through +the official business of the morning, as if nothing had happened.[148] +This was in public; but the shock was sufficiently strong to strike out +some sparkles of his fiery temper, as those found who met him that day +in private. To the Venetian agent who had come to Rome to mediate a +peace, and who had pressed him to enter into some terms of accommodation +with the Spaniards, he haughtily replied, that Alva must first recross +the frontier, and then, if he had aught to solicit, prefer his petition +like a dutiful son of the Church. This course was not one very likely to +be adopted by the victorious general[149] + +In an interview with two French gentlemen, who, as he had reason to +suppose, were interesting themselves in the affair of a peace, he +exclaimed: "Whoever would bring me into a peace with heretics is a +servant of the Devil. Heaven will take vengeance on him. I will pray +that God's curse may fall on him. If I find that you intermeddle in any +such matter, I will cut your heads off your shoulders. Do not think this +an empty threat. I have an eye in my back on you,"--quoting an Italian +proverb,--"and if I find you playing me false, or attempting to entangle +me a second time in an accursed truce, I swear to you by the eternal +God, I will make your heads fly from your shoulders, come what may come +of it!" "In this way," concludes the narrator, one of the parties, "his +holiness continued for nearly an hour, walking up and down the +apartment, and talking all the while of his own grievances and of +cutting off our heads, until he had talked himself quite out of +breath."[150] + +But the valor of the pope did not expend itself in words. He instantly +set about putting the capital in the best state of defence. He taxed the +people to raise funds for his troops, drew in the garrisons from the +neighboring places, formed a body-guard of six or seven hundred horse, +and soon had the satisfaction of seeing his Roman levies, amounting to +six thousand infantry, well equipped for the war. They made a brave +show, with their handsome uniforms and their banners richly emblazoned +with the pontifical arms. As they passed in review before his holiness, +who stood at one of the windows of his palace, he gave them his +benediction. But the edge of the Roman sword, according to an old +proverb, was apt to be blunt; and these holiday troops were soon found +to be no match for the hardy veterans of Spain. + +Among the soldiers at the pope's disposal was a body of German +mercenaries, who followed war as a trade, and let themselves out to the +highest bidder. They were Lutherans, with little knowledge of the Roman +Catholic religion, and less respect for it. They stared at its rites as +mummeries, and made a jest of its most solemn ceremonies, directly under +the eyes of the pope. But Paul, who at other times would have punished +offences like these with the gibbet and the stake, could not quarrel +with his defenders, and was obliged to digest his mortification as he +best might. It was remarked that the times were sadly out of joint, when +the head of the Church had heretics for his allies and Catholics for his +enemies.[151] + +Meanwhile the duke of Alva was lying at Tivoli. If he had taken +advantage of the panic caused by his successes, he might, it was +thought, without much difficulty, have made himself master of the +capital. But this did not suit his policy, which was rather to bring the +pope to terms than to ruin him. He was desirous to reduce the city by +cutting off its supplies. The possession of Tivoli, as already noticed, +enabled him to command the eastern approaches to Rome, and he now +proposed to make himself master of Ostia and thus destroy the +communications with the coast. + +[Sidenote: VICTORIOUS CAMPAIGN.] + +Accordingly, drawing together his forces, he quitted Tivoli, and +directed his march across the Campagna, south of the Roman capital. On +his way he made himself master of some places belonging to the holy see, +and in the early part of November arrived before Ostia, and took up a +position on the banks of the Tiber, where it spread into two branches, +the northern one of which was called the Fiumicino, or little river. The +town, or rather village, consisted of only a few straggling houses, very +different from the proud Ostia, whose capacious harbor was once filled +with the commerce of the world. It was protected by a citadel of some +strength, garrisoned by a small but picked body of troops, so +indifferently provided with military stores, that it was clear the +government had not anticipated an attack in this quarter. + +The duke ordered a number of boats to be sent round from Nettuno, a +place on the coast, of which he had got possession. By means of these he +formed a bridge, over which he passed a small detachment of his army, +together with his battering train of artillery. The hamlet was easily +taken, but, as the citadel refused to surrender, Alva laid regular siege +to it. He constructed two batteries, on which he planted his heavy guns, +commanding opposite quarters of the fortress. He then opened a lively +cannonade on the outworks, which was returned with great spirit by the +garrison. + +Meanwhile he detached a considerable body of horse, under Colonna, who +swept the country to the very walls of Rome. A squadron of cavalry, +whose gallant bearing had filled the heart of the old pope with +exultation, sallied out against the marauders. An encounter took place +not far from the city. The Romans bore themselves up bravely to the +shock; but, after splintering their lances, they wheeled about, and, +without striking another blow, abandoned the field to the enemy, who +followed them up to the gates of the capital. They were so roughly +handled in their flight, that the valiant troopers could not be induced +again to leave their walls, although Cardinal Caraffa--who had a narrow +escape from the enemy--sallied out with a handful of his followers, to +give them confidence.[152] + +During this time Alva was vigorously pressing the siege of Ostia; but +though more than a week had elapsed, the besieged showed no disposition +to surrender. At length, the Spanish commander, on the seventeenth of +November, finding his ammunition nearly expended and his army short of +provisions, determined on a general assault. Early on the following +morning, after hearing mass as usual, the duke mounted his horse, and, +riding among the ranks to animate the spirits of his soldiers, gave +orders for the attack. A corps of Italians was first detached, to scale +the works; but they were repulsed with considerable loss. It was found +impossible for their officers to rally them, and bring them back to the +assault. A picked body of Spanish infantry was then despatched on this +dangerous service. With incredible difficulty they succeeded in scaling +the ramparts, under a storm of combustibles and other missiles hurled +down by the garrison, and effected an entrance into the place. But here +they were met with a courage as dauntless as their own. The struggle was +long and desperate. There had been no such fighting in the course of the +campaign. At length, the duke, made aware of the severe loss sustained +by his men, and of the impracticability of the attempt, as darkness was +setting in, gave the signal for retreat. The assailants had doubtless +the worst of it in the conflict; but the besieged, worn out with +fatigue, with their ammunition nearly exhausted, and almost without +food, did not feel themselves in condition to sustain another assault on +the following day. On the nineteenth of November, therefore, the morning +after the conflict, the brave garrison capitulated, and were treated +with honor as prisoners of war.[153] + +The fate of the campaign seemed now to be decided. The pope, with, his +principal towns in the hands of the enemy, his communications cut off +both with the country and the coast, may well have felt his inability to +contend thus single-handed against the power of Spain. At all events, +his subjects felt it, and they were not deterred by his arrogant bearing +from clamoring loudly against the continuance of this ruinous war. But +Paul would not hear of a peace. However crippled by his late reverses, +he felt confident of repairing them all on the arrival of the French, +who, as he now learned with joy, were in full march across the territory +of Milan. He was not so disinclined to a truce, which might give time +for their coming. + +Cardinal Caraffa, accordingly, had a conference with the duke of Alva, +and entered into negotiations with him for a suspension of arms. The +proposal was not unwelcome to the duke, who, weakened by losses of every +kind, was by no means in condition at the end of an active campaign to +contend with a fresh army under the command of so practised a leader as +the duke of Guise. He did not care to expose himself a second time to an +encounter with the French general, under disadvantages nearly as great +as those which had foiled him at Metz. + +With these amiable dispositions, a truce was soon arranged between the +parties, to continue forty days. The terms were honorable to Alva, since +they left him in possession of all his conquests. Having completed these +arrangements, the Spanish commander broke up his camp on the southern +bank of the Tiber, recrossed the frontier, and in a few days made his +triumphant entry, at the head of his battalions, into the city of +Naples.[154] + +So ended the first campaign of the war with Rome. It had given a severe +lesson, that might have shaken the confidence and humbled the pride of a +pontiff less arrogant than Paul the Fourth. But it served only to deepen +his hatred of the Spaniards, and to stimulate his desire for vengeance. + +[Sidenote: GUISE ENTERS ITALY] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +WAR WITH THE POPE. + +Guise enters Italy.--Operations in the Abruzzi.--Siege of +Civitella.--Alva drives out the French.--Rome menaced by the +Spaniards.--Paul consents to Peace.--Paul's subsequent Career. + +1557. + + +While the events recorded in the preceding pages were passing in Italy, +the French army, under the duke of Guise, had arrived on the borders of +Piedmont. That commander, on leaving Paris, found himself at the head of +a force consisting of twelve thousand infantry, of which five thousand +were Swiss, and the rest French, including a considerable number of +Gascons. His cavalry amounted to two thousand, and he was provided with +twelve pieces of artillery. In addition to this, Guise was attended by a +gallant body of French gentlemen, young for the most part, and eager to +win laurels under the renowned defender of Metz. + +The French army met with no opposition in its passage through Piedmont. +The king of Spain had ordered the government of Milan to strengthen the +garrisons of the fortresses, but to oppose no resistance to the French, +unless the latter began hostilities.[155] Some of the duke's counsellors +would have persuaded him to do so. His father-in-law, the duke of +Ferrara, in particular, who had brought him a reinforcement of six +thousand troops, strongly pressed the French general to make sure of the +Milanese before penetrating to the south; otherwise he would leave a +dangerous enemy in his rear. The Italian urged, moreover, the importance +of such a step in giving confidence to the Angevine faction in Naples, +and in drawing over to France those states which hesitated as to their +policy, or which had but lately consented to an alliance with Spain. + +France, at this time, exercised but little influence in the counsels of +the Italian powers. Genoa, after an ineffectual attempt at revolution, +was devoted to Spain. The cooeperation of Cosmo de'Medici, then lord of +Tuscany, had been secured by the cession of Sienna. The duke of Parma, +who had coquetted for some time with the French monarch, was won over to +Spain by the restoration of Placentia, of which he had been despoiled by +Charles the Fifth. His young son, Alexander Farnese, was sent as a +hostage, to be educated under Philip's eye, at the court of Madrid,--the +fruits of which training were to be gathered in the war of the +Netherlands, where he proved himself the most consummate captain of his +time. Venice, from her lonely watch-tower on the Adriatic, regarded at a +distance the political changes of Italy, prepared to profit by any +chances in her own favor. Her conservative policy, however, prompted her +to maintain things as far as possible in their present position. She was +most desirous that the existing equilibrium should not be disturbed by +the introduction of any new power on the theatre of Italy; and she had +readily acquiesced in the invitation of the duke of Alva, to mediate an +accommodation between the contending parties. This pacific temper found +little encouragement from the belligerent pontiff who had brought the +war upon Italy. + +The advice of the duke of Ferrara, however judicious in itself, was not +relished by his son-in-law, the duke of Guise, who was anxious to press +forward to Naples as the proper scene of his conquests. The pope, too, +called on him, in the most peremptory terms, to hasten his march, as +Naples was the object of the expedition. The French commander had the +address to obtain instructions to the same effect from his own court, by +which he affected to be decided. His Italian father-in-law was so much +disgusted by this determination, that he instantly quitted the camp, and +drew off his six thousand soldiers, declaring that he needed all he +could muster to protect his own states against the troops of Milan.[156] + +Thus shorn of his Italian reinforcement, the duke of Guise resumed his +march, and, entering the States of the Church, followed down the shores +of the Adriatic, passing through Ravenna and Rimini; then, striking into +the interior, he halted at Gesi, where he found good accommodations for +his men and abundant forage for the horses. + +Leaving his army in their pleasant quarters, he soon after repaired to +Rome, in order to arrange with the pope the plan of the campaign. He was +graciously received by Paul, who treated him with distinguished honor as +the loyal champion of the Church. Emboldened by the presence of the +French army in his dominions, the pope no longer hesitated to proclaim +the renewal of the war against Spain. The Roman levies, scattered over +the Campagna, assaulted the places but feebly garrisoned by the +Spaniards. Most of them, including Tivoli and Ostia, were retaken; and +the haughty bosom of the pontiff swelled with exultation as he +anticipated the speedy extinction of the Spanish rule in Italy. + +After some days consumed in the Vatican, Guise rejoined his army at +Gesi. He was fortified by abundant assurances of aid from his holiness, +and he was soon joined by one of Paul's nephews, the duke of Montebello, +with a slender reinforcement. It was determined to cross the Neapolitan +frontier at once, and to begin operations by the siege of Campli. + +This was a considerable place, situated in the midst of a fruitful +territory. The native population had been greatly increased by the +influx of people from the surrounding country, who had taken refuge in +Campli as a place of security. But they did little for its defence. It +did not long resist the impetuosity of the French, who carried the town +by storm. The men--all who made resistance--were put to the sword. The +women were abandoned to the licentious soldiery. The houses, first +pillaged, were then fired; and the once flourishing place was soon +converted into a heap of smouldering ruins. The booty was great, for the +people of the neighborhood had brought their effects thither for safety, +and a large amount of gold and silver was found in the dwellings. The +cellars, too, were filled with delicate wines; and the victors abandoned +themselves to feasting and wassail, while the wretched citizens wandered +like spectres amidst the ruins of their ancient habitations.[157] + +[Sidenote: SIEGE OF CIVITELLA.] + +The fate of Italy, in the sixteenth century, was hard indeed. She had +advanced far beyond the age in most of the arts which belong to a +civilized community. Her cities, even her smaller towns, throughout the +country, displayed the evidences of architectural taste. They were +filled with stately temples and elegant mansions; the squares were +ornamented with fountains of elaborate workmanship; the rivers were +spanned by arches of solid masonry. The private as well as public +edifices were furnished with costly works of art, of which the value was +less in the material than in the execution. A generation had scarcely +passed since Michael Angelo and Raphael had produced their miracles of +sculpture and of painting; and now Correggio, Paul Veronese, and Titian +were filling their country with those immortal productions which have +been the delight and the despair of succeeding ages. Letters kept pace +with art. The magical strains of Ariosto had scarcely died away when a +greater bard had arisen in Tasso, to take up the tale of Christian +chivalry. This extraordinary combination of elegant art and literary +culture was the more remarkable, from the contrast presented by the +condition of the rest of Europe, then first rising into the light of a +higher civilization. But, with all this intellectual progress, Italy was +sadly deficient in some qualities found among the hardier sons of the +north, and which seem indispensable to a national existence. She could +boast of her artists, her poets, her politicians; but of few real +patriots, few who rested their own hopes on the independence of their +country. The freedom of the old Italian republics had passed away. There +was scarcely one that had not surrendered its liberties to a master. The +principle of union for defence against foreign aggression was as little +understood as the principle of political liberty at home. The states +were jealous of one another. The cities were jealous of one another, and +were often torn by factions within themselves. Thus their individual +strength was alike ineffectual, whether for self-government or +self-defence. The gift of beauty which Italy possessed in so +extraordinary a degree only made her a more tempting prize to the +spoiler, whom she had not the strength or the courage to resist. The +Turkish corsair fell upon her coasts, plundered her maritime towns, and +swept off their inhabitants into slavery. The Europeans, scarcely less +barbarous, crossed the Alps, and, striking into the interior, fell upon +the towns and hamlets that lay sheltered among the hills and in the +quiet valleys, and converted them into heaps of ruins. Ill fares it with +the land which, in an age of violence, has given itself up to the study +of the graceful and the beautiful, to the neglect of those hardy virtues +which can alone secure a nation's independence. + +From the smoking ruins of Campli, Guise led his troops against +Civitella, a town but a few miles distant. It was built round a conical +hill, the top of which was crowned by a fortress well lined with +artillery. It was an important place for the command of the frontier, +and the duke of Alva had thrown into it a garrison of twelve hundred men +under the direction of an experienced officer, the marquis of Santa +Fiore. The French general considered that the capture of this post, so +soon following the sack of Campli, would spread terror among the +Neapolitans, and encourage those of the Angevine faction to declare +openly in his favor. + +As the place refused to surrender, he prepared to besiege it in form, +throwing up intrenchments, and only waiting for his heavy guns to begin +active hostilities. He impatiently expected their arrival for some days, +when he caused four batteries to be erected, to operate simultaneously +against four quarters of the town. After a brisk cannonade, which was +returned by the besieged with equal spirit, and with still greater loss +to the enemy, from his exposed position, the duke, who had opened a +breach in the works, prepared for a general assault. It was conducted +with the usual impetuosity of the French, but was repulsed with courage +by the Italians. More than once the assailants were brought up to the +breach, and as often driven back with slaughter. The duke, convinced +that he had been too precipitate, was obliged to sound a retreat, and +again renewed the cannonade from his batteries, keeping it up night and +day, though, from the vertical direction of the fire, with comparatively +little effect. The French camp offered a surer mark to the guns of +Civitella. + +The women of the place displayed an intrepidity equal to that of the +men. Armed with buckler and cuirass, they might be seen by the side of +their husbands and brothers, in the most exposed situations on the +ramparts; and, as one was shot down, another stepped forward to take +the place of her fallen comrade.[158] The fate of Campli had taught them +to expect no mercy from the victor, and they preferred death to +dishonor. + +As day after day passed on in the same monotonous manner, Guise's troops +became weary of their inactive life. The mercurial spirits of the French +soldier, which overleaped every obstacle in his path, were often found +to evaporate in the tedium of protracted operations, where there was +neither incident nor excitement. Such a state of things was better +suited to the patient and persevering Spaniard. The men began openly to +murmur against the pope, whom they regarded as the cause of their +troubles. They were led by priests, they said, "who knew much more of +praying than of fighting."[159] + +Guise himself had causes of disgust with the pontiff which he did not +care to conceal. For all the splendid promises of his holiness, he had +received few supplies either of men, ammunition, or money; and of the +Angevine lords not one had ventured to declare in his favor or to take +service under his banner. He urged all this with much warmth on the +pope's nephew, the duke of Montebello. The Italian, recriminated as +warmly, till the dialogue was abruptly ended, it is said, by the duke of +Guise throwing a napkin, or, according to some accounts, a dish, at the +head of his ally.[160] However this may be, Montebello left the camp in +disgust and returned to Rome. But the defender of the Church was too +important a person to quarrel with, and Paul deemed it prudent, for the +present, at least, to stifle his resentment. + +Meanwhile heavy rains set in, causing great annoyance to the French +troops in their quarters, spoiling their provisions, and doing great +damage to their powder. The same rain did good service to the besieged, +by filling their cisterns. "God," exclaimed the profane Guise, "must +have turned Spaniard."[161] + +While these events were taking place in the north of Naples, the duke of +Alva, in the south, was making active preparations for the defence of +the kingdom. He had seen with satisfaction the time consumed by his +antagonist, first at Gesi, and afterwards at the siege of Civitella; and +he had fully profited by the delay. On reaching the city of Naples, he +had summoned a parliament of the great barons, had clearly exposed the +necessities of the state, and demanded an extraordinary loan of two +millions of ducats. The loyal nobles readily responded to the call; but +as not more than one third of the whole amount could be instantly +raised, an order was obtained from the council, requiring the governors +of the several provinces to invite the great ecclesiastics in their +districts to advance the remaining two thirds of the loan. In case they +did not consent with a good grace, they were to be forced to comply by +the seizure of their revenues.[162] + +By another decree of the council, the gold and silver plate belonging to +the monasteries and churches, throughout the kingdom, after being +valued, was to be taken for the use of the government. A quantity of it, +belonging to a city in the Abruzzi, was in fact put up to be sent to +Naples; but it caused such a tumult among the people, that it was found +expedient to suspend proceedings in the matter for the present. + +[Sidenote: SIEGE OF CIVITELLA.] + +The viceroy still further enlarged his resources by the sequestration of +the revenues belonging to such ecclesiastics as resided in Rome. By +these various expedients the duke of Alva found himself in possession of +sufficient funds, for carrying on the war as he desired. He mustered a +force of twenty-two, or, as some accounts state, twenty-five thousand +men. Of these three thousand only were Spanish veterans, five thousand +were Germans, and the remainder Italians, chiefly from the Abruzzi,--for +the most part raw recruits, on whom little reliance was to be placed. He +had besides seven hundred men-at-arms and fifteen hundred light horse. +His army, therefore, though, as far as the Italians were concerned, +inferior in discipline to that of his antagonist, was greatly superior +in numbers.[163] + +In a council of war that was called, some were of opinion that the +viceroy should act on the defensive, and await the approach of the enemy +in the neighborhood of the capital. But Alva looked on this as a timid +course, arguing distrust in himself, and likely to infuse distrust into +his followers. He determined to march at once against the enemy, and +prevent his gaining a permanent foothold in the kingdom. + +Pescara, on the Adriatic, was appointed as the place of rendezvous for +the army, and Alva quitted the city of Naples for that place on the +eleventh of April, 1557. Here he concentrated his whole strength, and +received his artillery and military stores, which were brought to him by +water. Having reviewed his troops, he began his march to the north. On +reaching Rio Umano, he detached a strong body of troops to get +possession of Giulia Nuova, a town of some importance lately seized by +the enemy. Alva supposed, and it seems correctly, that the French +commander had secured this as a good place of retreat in case of his +failure before Civitella, since its position was such as would enable +him readily to keep up his communications with the sea. The French +garrison sallied out against the Spaniards, but were driven back with +loss; and, as Alva's troops followed in their rear, the enemy fled in +confusion through the streets of the city, and left it in the hands of +the victors. In this commodious position, the viceroy for the present +took up his quarters. + +On the approach of the Spanish army, the duke of Guise saw the necessity +of bringing his operations against Civitella to a decisive issue. He +accordingly, as a last effort, prepared for a general assault. But, +although it was conducted with great spirit, it was repulsed with still +greater by the garrison; and the French commander, deeply mortified at +his repeated failures, saw the necessity of abandoning the siege. He +could not effect even this without sustaining some loss from the brave +defenders of Civitella, who sallied out on his rear, as he drew off his +discomfited troops to the neighboring valley of Nireto. Thus ended the +siege of Civitella, which, by the confidence it gave to the loyal +Neapolitans throughout the country as well as by the leisure it afforded +to Alva for mustering his resources, may be said to have decided the +fate of the war. The siege lasted twenty-two days, during fourteen of +which the guns from the four batteries of the French had played +incessantly on the beleaguered city. The viceroy was filled with +admiration at the heroic conduct of the inhabitants; and, in token of +respect for it, granted some important immunities, to be enjoyed for +ever by the citizens of Civitella. The women, too, came in for their +share of the honors, as whoever married a maiden of Civitella was to be +allowed the same immunities, from whatever part of the country he might +come.[164] + +The two armies were now quartered within a few miles of each other. Yet +no demonstration was made, on either side, of bringing matters to the +issue of a battle. This was foreign to Alva's policy, and was not to be +expected from Guise, so inferior in strength to his antagonist. On the +viceroy's quitting Giulia Nuova, however, to occupy a position somewhat +nearer the French quarters, Guise did not deem it prudent to remain +there any longer, but, breaking up his camp, retreated, with his whole +army, across the Tronto, and, without further delay, evacuated the +kingdom of Naples. + +The Spanish general made no attempt to pursue, or even to molest his +adversary in his retreat. For this he has been severely criticized, more +particularly as the passage of a river offers many points of advantage +to an assailant. But, in truth, Alva never resorted to fighting when he +could gain his end without it. In an appeal to arms, however favorable +may be the odds, there must always be some doubt as to the result. But +the odds here were not so decisively on the side of the Spaniards as +they appeared. The duke of Guise carried off his battalions in admirable +order, protecting his rear with the flower of his infantry and with his +cavalry, in which last he was much superior to his enemy. Thus the parts +of the hostile armies likely to have been brought into immediate +conflict would have afforded no certain assurance of success to the +Spaniards. Alva's object had been, not so much to defeat the French as +to defend Naples. This he had now achieved, with but little loss; and +rather than incur the risk of greater, he was willing, in the words of +an old proverb, to make a bridge of silver for the flying foe.[165] In +the words of Alva himself, "he had no idea of staking the kingdom of +Naples against the embroidered coat of the duke of Guise."[166] + +On the retreat of the French, Alva laid siege at once to two or three +places, of no great note, in the capture of which he and his lieutenants +were guilty of the most deliberate cruelty; though, in the judgment of +the chronicler, it was not cruelty, but a wholesome severity, designed +as a warning to such petty places not to defy the royal authority.[167] +Soon after this, Alva himself crossed the Tronto, and took up a position +not far removed from the French, who lay in the neighborhood of Ascoli. +Although the two armies were but a few miles asunder, there was no +attempt at hostilities, with the exception of a skirmish in which but a +small number on either side were engaged, and which terminated in favor +of the Spaniards. This state of things was at length ended by a summons +from the pope to the French commander to draw nearer to Rome, as he +needed his presence for the protection of the capital. The duke, glad, +no doubt, of so honorable an apology for his retreat, and satisfied with +having so long held his ground against a force superior to his own, fell +back, in good order, upon Tivoli, which, as it commanded the great +avenues to Rome on the east, and afforded good accommodations for his +troops, he made his head quarters for the present. The manner in which +the duke of Alva adhered to the plan of defensive operations settled at +the beginning of the campaign, and that, too, under circumstances which +would have tempted most men to depart from such a plan, is a remarkable +proof of his perseverance and inflexible spirit. It proves, moreover, +the empire which he held over the minds of his followers, that, under +such circumstances, he could maintain implicit obedience to his orders. + +[Sidenote: ROME MENACED BY THE SPANIARDS.] + +The cause of the pope's alarm was the rapid successes of Alva's +confederate, Mark Antony Colonna, who had defeated the papal levies, +and taken one place after another in the Campagna, till the Romans began +to tremble for their capital. Colonna was now occupied with the siege of +Segni, a place of considerable importance; and the duke of Alva, +relieved of the presence of the French, resolved to march to his +support. He accordingly recrossed the Tronto, and, passing through the +Neapolitan territory, halted for some days at Sora. He then traversed +the frontier, but had not penetrated far into the Campagna when he +received tidings of the fall of Segni. That strong place, after a +gallant defence, had been taken by storm. All the usual atrocities were +perpetrated by the brutal soldiery. Even the sanctity of the convents +did not save them from pollution. It was in vain that Colonna interfered +to prevent these excesses. The voice of authority was little heeded in +the tempest of passion.--It mattered little, in that age, into whose +hands a captured city fell; Germans, French, Italians, it was all the +same. The wretched town, so lately flourishing, it might be, in all the +pride of luxury and wealth, was claimed as the fair spoil of the +victors. It was their prize-money, which served in default of payment of +their long arrears,--usually long in those days; and it was a mode of +payment as convenient for the general as for his soldiers.[168] + +The fall of Segni caused the greatest consternation in the capital. The +next thing, it was said, would be to assault the capital itself. Paul +the Fourth, incapable of fear, was filled with impotent fury. "They have +taken Segni," he said in a conclave of the cardinals; "they have +murdered the people, destroyed their property, fired their dwellings. +Worse than this, they will next pillage Palliano. Even this will not +fill up the measure of their cruelty. They will sack the city of Rome +itself; nor will they respect even my person. But, for myself, I long to +be with Christ, and await without fear the crown of martyrdom."[169] +Paul the Fourth, after having brought this tempest upon Italy, began to +consider himself a martyr! + +Yet even in this extremity, though urged on all sides to make +concessions, he would abate nothing of his haughty tone. He insisted, as +a _sine qua non_, that Alva should forthwith leave the Roman territory +and restore his conquests. When these conditions were reported to the +duke, he coolly remarked, that "his holiness seemed to be under the +mistake of supposing that his own army was before Naples, instead of the +Spanish army being at the gates of Rome."[170] + +After the surrender of Segni, Alva effected a junction with the Italian +forces, and marched to the town of Colona, in the Campagna, where for +the present he quartered his army. Here he formed the plan of an +enterprise, the adventurous character of which it seems difficult to +reconcile with his habitual caution. This was a night assault on Rome. +He did not communicate his whole purpose to his officers, but simply +ordered them to prepare to march on the following night, the +twenty-sixth of August, against a neighboring city, the name of which he +did not disclose. It was a wealthy place, he said, but he was most +anxious that no violence should be offered to the inhabitants, in either +their persons or property. The soldiers should be forbidden even to +enter the dwellings; but he promised that the loss of booty should be +compensated by increase of pay. The men were to go lightly armed, +without baggage, and with their shirts over their mail, affording the +best means of recognizing one another in the dark. + +The night was obscure, but unfortunately a driving storm of rain set in, +which did such damage to the roads as greatly to impede the march, and +the dawn was nigh at hand when the troops reached the place of +destination. To their great surprise, they then understood that the +object of attack was Rome itself. + +Alva halted at a short distance from the city, in a meadow, and sent +forward a small party to reconnoitre the capital, which seemed to +slumber in quiet. But, on a nearer approach, the Spaniards saw a great +light, as if occasioned by a multitude of torches, that seemed glancing +to and fro within the walls, inferring some great stir among the +inhabitants of that quarter. Soon after this, a few horsemen were seen +to issue from one of the gates, and ride off in the direction of the +French camp at Tivoli. The duke, on receiving the report, was satisfied +that the Romans had, in some way or other, got notice of his design; +that the horsemen had gone to give the alarm to the French in Tivoli; +and that he should soon find himself between two enemies. Not relishing +this critical position, he at once abandoned his design, and made a +rapid countermarch on the place he had left the preceding evening. + +In his conjectures the duke was partly in the right and partly in the +wrong. The lights which were seen glancing within the town were owing to +the watchfulness of Caraffa, who, from some apprehensions of an attack, +in consequence of information he had received of preparations in the +Spanish camp, was patrolling this quarter before daybreak to see that +all was safe; but the horsemen who left the gates at that early hour in +the direction of the French camp were far from thinking that hostile +battalions lay within gunshot of their walls.[171] + +Such is the account we have of this strange affair. Some historians +assert that it was not the duke's design to attack Rome, but only to +make a feint, and, by the panic which he would create, to afford the +pope a good pretext for terminating the war. In support of this, it is +said that he told his son Ferdinand, just before his departure, that he +feared it would be impossible to prevent the troops from sacking the +city, if they once set foot in it.[172] Other accounts state that it was +no feint, but a surprise meditated in good earnest, and defeated only by +the apparition of the lights and the seeming state of preparation in +which the place was found. Indeed, one writer asserts that he saw the +scaling-ladders, brought by a corps of two hundred arquebusiers, who +were appointed to the service of mounting the walls.[173] + +The Venetian minister, Navagero, assures us that Alva's avowed purpose +was to secure the person of his holiness, which, he thought, must bring +the war at once to a close. The duke's uncle, the cardinal of +Sangiacomo, had warned his nephew, according to the same authority, not +to incur the fate of their countrymen who had served under the Constable +de Bourbon, at the sack of Rome, all of whom, sooner or later, had come +to a miserable end.[174] + +[Sidenote: ROME MENACED BY THE SPANIARDS.] + +This warning may have made some impression on the mind of Alva, who, +however inflexible by nature, had conscientious scruples of his own, and +was, no doubt, accessible, as others of his time, to arguments founded +on superstition. + +We cannot but admit that the whole affair,--the preparations for the +assault, the counsel to the officers, and the sudden retreat on +suspicion of a discovery,--all look very much like earnest. It is quite +possible that the duke, as the Venetian asserts, may have intended +nothing beyond the seizure of the pope. But that the matter would have +stopped there, no one will believe. Once fairly within the walls, even +the authority of Alva would have been impotent to restrain the licence +of the soldiery; and the same scenes might have been acted over again as +at the taking of Rome under the Constable de Bourbon, or on the capture +of the ancient capital by the Goths. + +When the Romans, on the following morning, learned the peril they had +been in during the night, and that the enemy had been prowling round, +like wolves about a sheepfold, ready to rush in upon their sleeping +victims, the whole city was seized with a panic. All the horrors of the +sack by the Constable de Bourbon rose up to their imaginations,--or +rather memories, for many there were who were old enough to remember +that terrible day. They loudly clamored for peace before it was too +late; and they pressed the demand in a manner which showed that the mood +of the people was a dangerous one. Strozzi, the most distinguished of +the Italian captains, plainly told the pope that he had no choice but to +come to terms with the enemy at once.[175] + +Paul was made more sensible of this by finding now, in his greatest +need, the very arm withdrawn from him on which he most leaned for +support. Tidings had reached the French camp of the decisive victory +gained by the Spaniards at St. Quentin, and they were followed by a +summons from the king to the duke of Guise, to return with his army, as +speedily as possible, for the protection of Paris. The duke, who was +probably not unwilling to close a campaign which had been so barren of +laurels to the French, declared that "no chains were strong enough to +keep him in Italy." He at once repaired to the Vatican, and there laid +before his holiness the commands of his master. The case was so +pressing, that Paul could not in reason oppose the duke's departure. But +he seldom took counsel of reason, and in a burst of passion exclaimed to +Guise, "Go, then; and take with you the consciousness of having done +little for your king, still less for the Church, and nothing for your +own honor."[176] + +Negotiations were now opened for an accommodation between the +belligerents, at the town of Cavi. Cardinal Caraffa appeared in behalf +of his uncle, the pope, and the duke of Alva for the Spaniards. Through +the mediation of Venice, the terms of the treaty were finally settled, +on the fourteenth of September, although the inflexible pontiff still +insisted on concessions nearly as extravagant as those he had demanded +before. It was stipulated in a preliminary article, that the duke of +Alva should publicly ask pardon, and receive absolution, for having +borne arms against the holy see. "Sooner than surrender this point," +said Paul, "I would see the whole world perish; and this, not so much +for my own sake as for the honor of Jesus Christ."[177] + +It was provided by the treaty, that the Spanish troops should be +immediately withdrawn from the territory of the Church, that all the +places taken from the Church should be at once restored, and that the +French army should be allowed a free passage to their own country. +Philip did not take so good care of his allies as Paul did of his. +Colonna, who had done the cause such good service, was not even +reinstated in the possessions of which the pope had deprived him. But a +secret article provided that his claims should be determined hereafter +by the joint arbitration of the pontiff and the king of Spain.[178] + +The treaty was, in truth, one which, as Alva bitterly remarked, "seemed +to have been dictated by the vanquished rather than by the victor." It +came hard to the duke to execute it, especially the clause relating to +himself. "Were I the king," said he haughtily, "his holiness should send +one of his nephews to Brussels, to sue for my pardon, instead of my +general's suing for his."[179] But Alva had no power to consult his own +will in the matter. The orders from Philip were peremptory, to come to +some terms, if possible, with the pope. Philip had long since made up +his own mind, that neither profit nor honor was to be derived from a war +with the Church,--a war not only repugnant to his own feelings, but +which placed him in a false position, and one most prejudicial to his +political interests. + +The news of peace filled the Romans with a joy great in proportion to +their former consternation. Nor was this joy much diminished by a +calamity which at any other time would have thrown the city into +mourning. The Tiber, swollen by the autumnal rains, rose above its +banks, sweeping away houses and trees in its fury, drowning men and +cattle, and breaking down a large piece of the wall that surrounded the +city. It was well that this accident had not occurred a few days +earlier, when the enemy was at the gates.[180] + +On the twenty-seventh of September, 1557, the duke of Alva made his +public entrance into Rome. He was escorted by the papal guard, dressed +in its gay uniform. It was joined by the other troops in the city, who, +on this holiday service, did as well as better soldiers. On entering the +gates, the concourse was swelled by thousands of citizens, who made the +air ring with their acclamations, as they saluted the Spanish general +with the titles of Defender and Liberator of the capital. The epithets +might be thought an indifferent compliment to their own government. In +this state the procession moved along, like the triumph of a conqueror +returned from his victorious campaigns to receive the wreath of laurel +in the capitol. + +On reaching the Vatican, the Spanish commander fell on his knees before +the pope, and asked his pardon for the offence of bearing arms against +the Church. Paul, soothed by this show of concession, readily granted +absolution. He paid the duke the distinguished honor of giving him a +seat at his own table; while he complimented the duchess by sending her +the consecrated golden rose, reserved only for royal persons and +illustrious champions of the Church.[181] + +[Sidenote: PAUL CONSENTS TO PEACE.] + +Yet the haughty spirit of Alva saw in all this more of humiliation than +of triumph. His conscience, like that of his master, was greatly +relieved by being discharged from the responsibilities of such a war. +But he had also a military conscience, which seemed to be quite as much +scandalized by the conditions of the peace. He longed to be once more at +Naples, where the state of things imperatively required his presence. +When he returned there, he found abundant occupation in reforming the +abuses which had grown out of the late confusion, and especially in +restoring, as far as possible, the shattered condition of the +finances,--a task hardly less difficult than that of driving out the +French from Naples.[182] + +Thus ended the war with Paul the Fourth,--a war into which that pontiff +had plunged without preparation, which he had conducted without +judgment, and terminated without honor. Indeed, it brought little honor +to any of the parties concerned in it, but, on the other hand, a full +measure of those calamities which always follow in the train of war. + +The French met with the same fate which uniformly befell them, when, +lured by the phantom of military glory, they crossed the Alps to lay +waste the garden of Italy,--in the words of their own proverb, "the +grave of the French." The duke of Guise, after a vexatious campaign, in +which it was his greatest glory that he had sustained no actual defeat, +thought himself fortunate in being allowed a free passage, with the +shattered remnant of his troops, back to his own country. Naples, +besides the injuries she had sustained on her borders, was burdened with +a debt which continued to press heavily for generations to come. Nor +were her troubles ended by the peace. In the spring of the following +year, 1558, a Turkish squadron appeared off Calabria; and, running down +the coast, the Moslems made a landing on several points, sacked some of +the principal towns, butchered the inhabitants, or swept them off into +hopeless slavery.[183] Such were some of the blessed fruits of the +alliance between the grand seignior and the head of the Catholic Church. +Solyman had come into the league at the invitation of the Christian +princes. But it was not found so easy to lay the spirit of mischief as +it had been to raise it. + +The weight of the war, however, fell, as was just, most heavily on the +author of it. Paul, from his palace of the Vatican, could trace the +march of the enemy by the smoking ruins of the Campagna. He saw his +towns sacked, his troops scattered, his very capital menaced, his +subjects driven by ruinous taxes to the verge of rebellion. Even peace, +when it did come, secured to him none of the objects for which he had +contended, while he had the humiliating consciousness that he owed this +peace, not to his own arms, but to the forbearance--or the superstition +of his enemies. One lesson he might have learned,--that the thunders of +the Vatican could no longer strike terror into the hearts of princes, as +in the days of the Crusades. + +In this war Paul had called in the French to aid him in driving out the +Spaniards. The French, he said, might easily be dislodged hereafter; +"but the Spaniards were like dog-grass, which is sure to strike root +wherever it is cast."--This was the last great effort that was made to +overturn the Spanish power in Naples; and the sceptre of that kingdom +continued to be transmitted in the dynasty of Castile, with as little +opposition as that of any other portion of its broad empire. + +Being thus relieved of his military labors, Paul set about those great +reforms, the expectation of which had been the chief inducement to his +election. But first he gave a singular proof of self-command, in the +reforms which he introduced into his own family. Previously to his +election, no one, as we have seen, had declaimed more loudly than Paul +against nepotism,--the besetting sin of his predecessors, who, most of +them old men and without children, naturally sought a substitute for +these in their nephews and those nearest of kin. Paul's partiality for +his nephews was made the more conspicuous by the profligacy of their +characters. Yet the real bond which held the parties together was hatred +of the Spaniards. When peace came, and this bond of union was dissolved, +Paul readily opened his ears to the accusations against his kinsmen. +Convinced at length of their unworthiness, and of the flagrant manner in +which they had abused his confidence, he deprived the Caraffas of all +their offices, and banished them to the farthest part of his dominions. +By the sterner sentence of his successor, two of the brothers, the duke +and the cardinal, perished by the hand of the public executioner.[184] + +After giving this proof of mastery over his own feelings, Paul addressed +himself to those reforms which had engaged his attention in early life. +He tried to enforce a stricter discipline and greater regard for morals, +both in the religious orders and the secular clergy. Above all, he +directed his efforts against the Protestant heresy, which had begun to +show itself in the head of Christendom, as it had long since done in the +extremities. The course he adopted was perfectly characteristic. +Scorning the milder methods of argument and persuasion, he resorted +wholly to persecution. The Inquisition, he declared, was the true +battery with which to assail the defences of the heretic. He suited the +action so well to the word, that in a short time the prisons of the Holy +Office were filled with the accused. In the general distrust no one felt +himself safe; and a panic was created, scarcely less than that felt by +the inhabitants when the Spaniards were at their gates. + +Happily, their fears were dispelled by the death of Paul, which took +place suddenly, from a fever, on the eighteenth of August, 1559, in the +eighty-third year of his age, and fifth of his pontificate. Before the +breath was out of his body, the populace rose _en masse_, broke open the +prisons of the Inquisition, and liberated all who were confined there. +They next attacked the house of the grand-inquisitor, which they burned +to the ground; and that functionary narrowly escaped with his life. They +tore down the scutcheons, bearing the arms of the family of Caraffa, +which were affixed to the public edifices. They wasted their rage on the +senseless statue of the pope, which they overturned, and, breaking off +the head, rolled it, amidst the groans and execrations of the +by-standers, into the Tiber. Such was the fate of the reformer, who, in +his reforms, showed no touch of humanity, no sympathy with the +sufferings of his species.[185] + +Yet, with all its defects, there is something in the character of Paul +the Fourth that may challenge our admiration. His project--renewing that +of Julius the Second--of driving out the _barbarians_ from Italy, was +nobly conceived, though impracticable. "Whatever others may feel, I at +least will have some care for my country," he once said to the Venetian +ambassador. + +[Sidenote: ENGLAND JOINS THE WAR WITH FRANCE.] + +"If my voice is unheeded, it will at least be a consolation to me to +reflect, that it has been raised in such a cause; and that it will one +day be said that an old Italian, on the verge of the grave, who might be +thought to have nothing better to do than to give himself up to repose, +and weep over his sins, had his soul filled with this lofty +design."[186] + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +WAR WITH FRANCE. + +England joins in the War.--Philip's Preparations.--Siege of St. +Quentin.--French Army routed.--Storming of St. Quentin.--Successes of +the Spaniards. + +1557. + + +While the events related in the preceding chapter were passing in Italy, +the war was waged on a larger scale, and with more important results, in +the northern provinces of France. As soon as Henry had broken the +treaty, and sent his army across the Alps, Philip lost no time in +assembling his troops, although in so quiet a manner as to attract as +little attention as possible. His preparations were such as enabled him, +not merely to defend the frontier of the Netherlands, but to carry the +war into the enemy's country. + +He despatched his confidential minister, Ruy Gomez, to Spain, for +supplies both of men and money; instructing him to visit his father, +Charles the Fifth, and, after acquainting him with the state of affairs, +to solicit his aid in raising the necessary funds.[187] + +Philip had it much at heart to bring England into the war. During his +stay in the Low Countries, he was in constant communication with the +English cabinet, and took a lively interest in the government of the +kingdom. The minutes of the privy council were regularly sent to him, +and as regularly returned with his remarks, in his own handwriting, on +the margin. In this way he discussed and freely criticized every measure +of importance; and, on one occasion, we find him requiring that nothing +of moment should be brought before parliament until it had first been +submitted to him.[188] + +In March, 1557, Philip paid a second visit to England, where he was +received by his fond queen in the most tender and affectionate manner. +In her letters she had constantly importuned him to return to her. On +that barren eminence which placed her above the reach of friendship, +Mary was dependent on her husband for sympathy and support. But if the +channel of her affections was narrow, it was deep. + +Philip found no difficulty in obtaining the queen's consent to his +wishes with respect to the war with France. She was induced to this, not +merely by her habitual deference to her husband, but by natural feelings +of resentment at the policy of Henry the Second. She had put up with +affronts, more than once, from the French ambassador, in her own court; +and her throne had been menaced by repeated conspiracies, which, if not +organized, had been secretly encouraged by France. Still, it was not +easy to bring the English nation to this way of thinking. It had been a +particular proviso of the marriage treaty, that England should not be +made a party to the war against France; and subsequent events had tended +to sharpen the feeling of jealousy rather towards the Spaniards than +towards the French. + +The attempted insurrection of Stafford, who crossed over from the shores +of France at this time, did for Philip what possibly neither his own +arguments nor the authority of Mary could have done. It was the last of +the long series of indignities which had been heaped on the country from +the same quarter; and parliament now admitted that it was no longer +consistent with its honor to keep terms with a power which persisted in +fomenting conspiracies to overturn the government and plunge the nation +into civil war. On the seventh of June, a herald was despatched, with +the formality of ancient and somewhat obsolete usages, to proclaim war +against the French king in the presence of his court and in his capital. +This was done in such a bold tone of defiance, that the hot old +constable, Montmorency, whose mode of proceeding, as we have seen, was +apt to be summary, strongly urged his master to hang up the envoy on the +spot.[189] + +The state of affairs imperatively demanded Philip's presence in the +Netherlands, and, after a residence of less than four months in London, +he bade a final adieu to his disconsolate queen, whose excessive +fondness may have been as little to his taste as the coldness of her +subjects. + +Nothing could be more forlorn than the condition of Mary. Her health +wasting under a disease that cheated her with illusory hopes, which made +her ridiculous in the eyes of the world; her throne, her very life, +continually menaced by conspiracies, to some of which even her own +sister was supposed to be privy; her spirits affected by the +consciousness of the decline of her popularity under the gloomy system +of persecution into which she had been led by her ghostly advisers; +without friends, without children, almost it might be said without a +husband,--she was alone in the world, more to be commiserated than the +meanest subject in her dominions. She has had little commiseration, +however, from Protestant writers, who paint her in the odious colors of +a fanatic. This has been compensated, it may be thought, by the Roman +Catholic historians, who have invested the English queen with all the +glories of the saint and the martyr. Experience may convince us that +public acts do not always furnish a safe criterion of private +character,--especially when these acts are connected with religion. In +the Catholic Church the individual might seem to be relieved, in some +measure, of his moral responsibility, by the system of discipline which +intrusts his conscience to the keeping of his spiritual advisers. If the +lights of the present day allow no man to plead so humiliating an +apology, this was not the case in the first half of the sixteenth +century,--the age of Mary,--when the Reformation had not yet diffused +that spirit of independence in religious speculation, which, in some +degree at least, has now found its way to the darkest corner of +Christendom. + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S PREPARATIONS.] + +A larger examination of contemporary documents, especially of the +queen's own correspondence, justifies the inference, that, with all the +infirmities of a temper soured by disease, and by the difficulties of +her position, she possessed many of the good qualities of her +illustrious progenitors, Katharine of Aragon and Isabella of Castile; +the same conjugal tenderness and devotion, the same courage in times of +danger, the same earnest desire, misguided as she was, to do her +duty,--and, unfortunately, the same bigotry. It was, indeed, most +unfortunate, in Mary's case, as in that of the Catholic queen, that this +bigotry, from their position as independent sovereigns, should have been +attended with such fatal consequences as have left an indelible blot on +the history of their reigns.[190] + +On his return to Brussels, Philip busied himself with preparations for +the campaign. He employed the remittances from Spain to subsidize a +large body of German mercenaries. Germany was the country which +furnished, at this time, more soldiers of fortune than any other; men +who served indifferently under the banner that would pay them best. They +were not exclusively made up of infantry, like the Swiss, but, besides +pikemen,--_lanzknechts_,--they maintained a stout array of cavalry, +_reiters_, as they were called,--"riders,"--who, together with the +cuirass and other defensive armor, carried pistols, probably of rude +workmanship, but which made them formidable from the weapon being little +known in that day. They were, indeed, the most dreaded troops of their +time. The men-at-arms, encumbered with their unwieldy lances, were drawn +up in line, and required an open plain to manoeuvre to advantage, being +easily discomposed by obstacles; and once broken, they could hardly +rally. But the _reiters_, each with five or six pistols in his belt, +were formed into columns of considerable depth, the size of their +weapons allowing them to go through all the evolutions of light cavalry, +in which they were perfectly drilled. Philip's cavalry was further +strengthened by a fine corps of Burgundian lances, and by a great number +of nobles and cavaliers from Spain, who had come to gather laurels in +the fields of France, under the eye of their young sovereign. The flower +of his infantry, too, was drawn from Spain; men who, independently of +the indifference to danger, and wonderful endurance, which made the +Spanish soldier inferior to none of the time, were animated by that +loyalty to the cause which foreign mercenaries could not feel. In +addition to these, the king expected, and soon after received, a +reinforcement of eight thousand English under the earl of Pembroke. They +might well fight bravely on the soil where the arms of England had won +two of the most memorable victories in her history. + +The whole force, exclusive of the English, amounted to thirty-five +thousand foot and twelve thousand horse, besides a good train of +battering artillery.[191] The command of this army was given to Emanuel +Philibert, prince of Piedmont, better known by his title of duke of +Savoy. No man had a larger stake in the contest, for he had been +stripped of his dominions by the French, and his recovery of them +depended on the issue of the war. He was at this time but twenty-nine +years of age; but he had had large experience in military affairs, and +had been intrusted by Charles the Fifth, who had early discerned his +capacity, with important commands. His whole life may be said to have +trained him for the profession of arms. He had no taste for effeminate +pleasures, but amused himself, in seasons of leisure, with the hardy +exercise of the chase. He strengthened his constitution, naturally not +very robust, by living as much as possible in the open air. Even when +conversing, or dictating to his secretaries, he preferred to do so +walking in his garden. He was indifferent to fatigue. After hunting all +day he would seem to require no rest, and in a campaign had been known, +like the knights-errant of old, to eat, drink, and sleep in his armor +for thirty days together. + +He was temperate in his habits, eating little, and drinking water. He +was punctual in attention to business, was sparing of his words, and, as +one may gather from the piquant style of his letters, had a keen insight +into character, looking below the surface of men's actions into their +motives.[192] + +His education had not been neglected. He spoke several languages +fluently, and, though not a great reader, was fond of histories. He was +much devoted to mathematical science, which served him in his +profession, and he was reputed an excellent engineer.[193] In person the +duke was of the middle size; well-made, except that he was somewhat +bow-legged. His complexion was fair, his hair light, and his deportment +very agreeable. + +Such is the portrait of Emanuel Philibert, to whom Philip now intrusted +the command of his forces, and whose pretensions he warmly supported as +the suitor of Elizabeth of England. There was none more worthy of the +royal maiden. But the duke was a Catholic; and Elizabeth, moreover, had +seen the odium which her sister had incurred by her marriage with a +foreign sovereign. Philip, who would have used some constraint in the +matter, pressed it with such earnestness on the queen as proved how much +importance he attached to the connection. Mary's conduct on the occasion +was greatly to her credit; and, while she deprecated the displeasure of +her lord, she honestly told him that she could not in conscience do +violence to the inclinations of her sister.[194] + +The plan of the campaign, as determined by Philip's cabinet,[195] was +that the duke should immediately besiege some one of the great towns on +the northern borders of Picardy, which in a manner commanded the +entrance into the Netherlands. Rocroy was the first selected. But the +garrison, who were well provided with ammunition, kept within their +defences, and maintained so lively a cannonade on the Spaniards, that +the duke, finding the siege was likely to consume more time than it was +worth, broke up his camp, and resolved to march against St. Quentin. +This was an old frontier town of Picardy, important in time of peace as +an _entrepot_ for the trade that was carried on between France and the +Low Countries. It formed a convenient place of deposit, at the present +period, for such booty as marauding parties from time to time brought +back from Flanders. It was well protected by its natural situation, and +the fortifications had been originally strong; but, as in many of the +frontier towns, they had been of late years much neglected. + +[Sidenote: SIEGE OF ST. QUENTIN.] + +Before beginning operations against St. Quentin, the duke of Savoy, in +order to throw the enemy off his guard, and prevent his introducing +supplies into the town, presented himself before Guise, and made a show +of laying siege to that place. After this demonstration he resumed his +march, and suddenly sat down before St. Quentin, investing it with his +whole army. + +Meanwhile the French had been anxiously watching the movements of their +adversary. Their forces were assembled on several points in Picardy and +Champagne. The principal corps was under the command of the duke of +Nevers, governor of the latter province, a nobleman of distinguished +gallantry, and who had seen some active service. He now joined his +forces to those under Montmorency, the constable of France, who occupied +a central position in Picardy, and who now took the command, for which +his rash and impetuous temper but indifferently qualified him. As soon +as the object of the Spaniards was known, it was resolved to reinforce +the garrison of St. Quentin, which otherwise, it was understood, could +not hold out a week. This perilous duty was assumed by Gaspard de +Coligni, admiral of France.[196] This personage, the head of an ancient +and honored house, was one of the most remarkable men of his time. His +name had gained a mournful celebrity in the page of history, as that of +the chief martyr in the massacre of St. Bartholomew. He embraced the +doctrines of Calvin, and by his austere manners and the purity of his +life well illustrated the doctrines he embraced. The decent order of his +household, and their scrupulous attention to the services of religion, +formed a striking contrast to the licentious conduct of too many of the +Catholics, who, however, were as prompt as Coligni to do battle in +defence of their faith. In early life he was the gay companion of the +duke of Guise.[197] But as the Calvinists, or Huguenots, were driven by +persecution to an independent and even hostile position, the two +friends, widely separated by opinion and by interest, were changed into +mortal foes. That hour had not yet come. But the heresy that was soon to +shake France to its centre was silently working under ground. + +As the admiral was well instructed in military affairs, and was +possessed of an intrepid spirit and great fertility of resource, he was +precisely the person to undertake the difficult office of defending St. +Quentin. As governor of Picardy he felt this to be his duty. Without +loss of time, he put himself at the head of some ten or twelve hundred +men, horse and foot, and used such despatch that he succeeded in +entering the place before it had been entirely invested. He had the +mortification, however, to be followed only by seven hundred of his men, +the remainder having failed through fatigue, or mistaken the path. + +The admiral found the place in even worse condition than he had +expected. The fortifications were much dilapidated; and in many parts of +the wall the masonry was of so flimsy a character, that it must have +fallen before the first discharge of the enemy's cannon. The town was +victualled for three weeks, and the magazines were tolerably well +supplied with ammunition. But there were not fifty arquebuses fit for +use. + +St. Quentin stands on a gentle eminence, protected on one side by +marshes, or rather a morass of great extent, through which flows the +river Somme, or a branch of it. On the same side of the river with St. +Quentin lay the army of the besiegers, with their glittering lines +extending to the very verge of the morass. A broad ditch defended the +outer wall. But this ditch was commanded by the houses of the suburbs, +which had already been taken possession of by the besiegers. There was, +moreover, a thick plantation of trees close to the town, which would +afford an effectual screen for the approach of an enemy. + +One of the admiral's first acts was to cause a sortie to be made. The +ditch was crossed, and some of the houses were burned to the ground. The +trees on the banks were then levelled, and the approach to the town was +laid open. Every preparation was made for a protracted defence. The +exact quantity of provision was ascertained, and the rations were +assigned for each man's daily consumption. As the supplies were +inadequate to support the increased population for any length of time, +Coligni ordered that all except those actively engaged in the defence of +the place should leave it without delay. Many, under one pretext or +another, contrived to remain, and share the fortunes of the garrison. +But by this regulation he got rid of seven hundred useless persons, who, +if they had staid, must have been the victims of famine; and "their dead +bodies," the admiral coolly remarked, "would have bred a pestilence +among the soldiers."[198] + +He assigned to his men their several posts, talked boldly of maintaining +himself against all the troops of Spain, and by his cheerful tone +endeavored to inspire a confidence in others which he was far from +feeling himself. From one of the highest towers he surveyed the +surrounding country, tried to ascertain the most practicable fords in +the morass, and sent intelligence to Montmorency, that, without relief, +the garrison could not hold out more than a few days.[199] + +That commander, soon after the admiral's departure, had marched his army +to the neighborhood of St. Quentin, and established it in the towns of +La Fere and Ham, together with the adjoining villages, so as to watch +the movements of the Spaniards, and cooeperate, as occasion served, with +the besieged. He at once determined to strengthen the garrison, if +possible, by a reinforcement of two thousand men under Dandelot, a +younger brother of the admiral, and not inferior to him in audacity and +enterprise. But the expedition miserably failed. Through the treachery +or the ignorance of the guide, the party mistook the path, came on one +of the enemy's outposts, and, disconcerted by the accident, were thrown +into confusion, and many of them cut to pieces or drowned in the morass. +Their leader, with the remainder, succeeded, under cover of the night, +in making his way back to La Fere. + +[Sidenote: BATTLE OF ST. QUENTIN.] + +The constable now resolved to make another attempt, and in the open day. +He proposed to send a body, under the same commander, in boats across +the Somme, and to cover the embarkation in person with his whole army. +His force was considerably less than that of the Spaniards, amounting +in all to about eighteen thousand foot and six thousand horse, besides a +train of artillery consisting of sixteen guns.[200] His levies, like +those of his antagonist, were largely made up of German mercenaries. The +French peasantry, with the exception of the Gascons, who formed a fine +body of infantry, had long since ceased to serve in war. But the +chivalry of France was represented by as gallant an array of nobles and +cavaliers as ever fought under the banner of the lilies. + +On the ninth of August, 1557, Montmorency put his whole army in motion; +and on the following morning, the memorable day of St. Lawrence, by nine +o'clock, he took up a position on the bank of the Somme. On the opposite +side, nearest the town, lay the Spanish force, covering the ground, as +far as the eye could reach, with their white pavilions; while the +banners of Spain, of Flanders, and of England, unfurled in the morning +breeze, showed the various nations from which the motley host had been +gathered.[201] + +On the constable's right was a windmill, commanding a ford of the river +which led to the Spanish quarters. The building was held by a small +detachment of the enemy. Montmorency's first care was to get possession +of the mill, which he did without difficulty; and, by placing a garrison +there, under the prince of Conde, he secured himself from surprise in +that quarter. He then profited by a rising ground to get his guns in +position, so as to sweep the opposite bank, and at once opened a brisk +cannonade on the enemy. The march of the French had been concealed by +some intervening hills, so that, when they suddenly appeared on the +farther side of the Somme, it was as if they had dropped from the +clouds; and the shot which fell among the Spaniards threw them into +great disorder. There was hurrying to and fro, and some of the balls +striking the duke of Savoy's tent, he had barely time to escape with his +armor in his hand. It was necessary to abandon his position, and he +marched some three miles down the river, to the quarters occupied by the +commander of the cavalry, Count Egmont.[202] + +Montmorency, as much elated with this cheap success as if it had been a +victory, now set himself about passing his troops across the water. It +was attended with more difficulty than he had expected. There were no +boats in readiness, and two hours were wasted in procuring them. After +all, only four or five could be obtained, and these so small that it +would be necessary to cross and recross the stream many times to effect +the object. The boats, crowded with as many as they could carry, stuck +fast in the marshy banks, or rather quagmire, on the opposite side; and +when some of the soldiers jumped out to lighten the load, they were +swallowed up and suffocated in the mud.[203] To add to these +distresses, they were galled by the incessant fire of a body of troops +which the Spanish general had stationed on an eminence that commanded +the landing. + +While, owing to these causes, the transportation of the troops was going +slowly on, the duke of Savoy had called a council of war, and determined +that the enemy, since he had ventured so near, should not be allowed to +escape without a battle. There was a practicable ford in the river, +close to Count Egmont's quarters; and that officer received orders to +cross it at the head of his cavalry, and amuse the enemy until the main +body of the Spanish army, under the duke, should have time to come up. + +Lamoral, Count Egmont, and prince of Gavre, a person who is to occupy a +large space in our subsequent pages, was a Flemish noble of an ancient +and illustrious lineage. He had early attracted the notice of the +emperor, who had raised him to various important offices, both civil and +military, in which he had acquitted himself with honor. At this time, +when thirty-five years old, he held the post of lieutenant-general of +the horse, and that of governor of Flanders. + +Egmont was of a lofty and aspiring nature, filled with dreams of glory, +and so much elated by success, that the duke of Savoy was once obliged +to rebuke him, by reminding him that he was not the commander-in-chief +of the army.[204] With these defects he united some excellent qualities, +which not unfrequently go along with them. In his disposition he was +frank and manly, and, though hasty in temper, had a warm and generous +heart. He was distinguished by a chivalrous bearing, and a showy, +imposing address, which took with the people, by whom his name was held +dear in later times for his devotion to the cause of freedom. He was a +dashing officer, prompt and intrepid, well fitted for a brilliant +_coup-de-main_, or for an affair like the present, which required energy +and despatch; and he eagerly undertook the duty assigned him. + +The light horse first passed over the ford, the existence of which was +known to Montmorency; and he had detached a corps of German pistoleers, +of whom there was a body in the French service, to defend the passage. +But the number was too small, and the Burgundian horse, followed by the +infantry, advanced, in face of the fire, as coolly and in as good order +as if they had been on parade.[205] The constable soon received tidings +that the enemy had begun to cross; and, aware of his mistake, he +reinforced his pistoleers with a squadron of horse under the duc de +Nevers. It was too late; when the French commander reached the ground, +the enemy had already crossed in such strength that it would have been +madness to attack him. After a brief consultation with his officers, +Nevers determined, by as speedy a countermarch as possible, to join the +main body of the army. + +[Sidenote: BATTLE OF ST. QUENTIN.] + +The prince of Conde, as has been mentioned, occupied the mill which +commanded the other ford, on the right of Montmorency. From its summit +he could descry the movements of the Spaniards, and their battalions +debouching on the plain, with scarcely any opposition from the French. +He advised the constable of this at once, and suggested the necessity of +an immediate retreat. The veteran did not relish advice from one so much +younger than himself, and testily replied, "I was a soldier before the +prince of Conde was born; and, by the blessing of Heaven, I trust to +teach him some good lessons in war for many a year to come." Nor would +he quit the ground while a man of the reinforcement under Dandelot +remained to cross.[206] + +The cause of this fatal confidence was information he had received that +the ford was too narrow to allow more than four or five persons to pass +abreast, which would give him time enough to send over the troops, and +then secure his own retreat to La Fere. As it turned out, unfortunately, +the ford was wide enough to allow fifteen or twenty men to go abreast. + +The French, meanwhile, who had crossed the river, after landing on the +opposite bank, were many of them killed or disabled by the Spanish +arquebusiers; others were lost in the morass; and of the whole number +not more than four hundred and fifty, wet, wounded, and weary, with +Dandelot at their head, succeeded in throwing themselves into St. +Quentin. The constable, having seen the last boat put off, gave instant +orders for retreat. The artillery was sent forward in the front, then +followed the infantry, and, last of all, he brought up the rear with the +horse, of which he took command in person. He endeavored to make up for +the precious time he had lost by quickening his march, which, however, +was retarded by the heavy guns in the van. + +The duc de Nevers, as we have seen, declining to give battle to the +Spaniards who had crossed the stream, had prepared to retreat on the +main body of the army. On reaching the ground lately occupied by his +countrymen, he found it abandoned; and joining Conde, who still held the +mill, the two officers made all haste to overtake the constable. + +Meanwhile, Count Egmont, as soon as he was satisfied that he was in +sufficient strength to attack the enemy, gave orders to advance, without +waiting for more troops to share with him the honors of victory. +Crossing the field lately occupied by the constable, he took the great +road to La Fere. But the rising ground which lay between him and the +French prevented him from seeing the enemy until he had accomplished +half a league or more. The day was now well advanced, and the Flemish +captain had some fears that, notwithstanding his speed, the quarry had +escaped him. But, as he turned the hill, he had the satisfaction to +descry the French columns in full retreat. On their rear hung a body of +sutlers and other followers of the camp, who, by the sudden apparition +of the Spaniards, were thrown into a panic, which they had wellnigh +communicated to the rest of the army.[207] To retreat before an enemy is +in itself a confession of weakness sufficiently dispiriting to the +soldier. Montmorency, roused by the tumult, saw the dark cloud gathering +along the heights, and knew that it must soon burst on him. In this +emergency, he asked counsel of an old officer near him as to what he +should do. "Had you asked me," replied the other, "two hours since, I +could have told you; it is now too late."[208] It was indeed too late, +and there was nothing to be done but to face about and fight the +Spaniards. The constable, accordingly, gave the word to halt, and made +dispositions to receive his assailants. + +Egmont, seeing him thus prepared, formed his own squadron into three +divisions. One, which was to turn the left flank of the French, he gave +to the prince of Brunswick and to Count Hoorne,--a name afterwards +associated with his own on a sadder occasion than the present. Another, +composed chiefly of Germans, he placed under Count Mansfeldt, with +orders to assail the centre. He himself, at the head of his Burgundian +lances, rode on the left against Montmorency's right flank. Orders were +then given to charge, and, spurring forward their horses, the whole +column came thundering on against the enemy. The French met the shock +like well-trained soldiers, as they were; but the cavalry fell on them +with the fury of a torrent sweeping everything before it, and for a few +moments it seemed as if all were lost. But the French chivalry was true +to its honor, and, at the call of Montmorency, who gallantly threw +himself into the thick of the fight, it rallied, and, returning the +charge, compelled the assailants to give way in their turn. The +struggle, now continued on more equal terms, grew desperate; man against +man, horse against horse,--it seemed to be a contest of personal +prowess, rather than of tactics or military science. So well were the +two parties matched, that for a long time the issue was doubtful; and +the Spaniards might not have prevailed in the end, but for the arrival +of reinforcements, both foot and heavy cavalry, who came up to their +support. Unable to withstand this accumulated force, the French +cavaliers, overpowered by numbers, not by superior valor, began to give +ground. Hard pressed by Egmont, who cheered on his men to renewed +efforts, their ranks were at length broken. The retreat became a flight; +and, scattered over the field in all directions, they were hotly pursued +by their adversaries, especially the German _schwarzreiters_,--those +riders "black as devils,"[209]--who did such execution with their +fire-arms as completed the discomfiture of the French. + +Amidst this confusion, the Gascons, the flower of the French infantry, +behaved with admirable coolness.[210] Throwing themselves into squares, +with the pikemen armed with their long pikes in front, and the +arquebusiers in the centre, they presented an impenetrable array, +against which the tide of battle raged and chafed in impotent fury. It +was in vain that the Spanish horse rode round the solid masses bristling +with steel, if possible, to force an entrance, while an occasional shot, +striking a trooper from his saddle, warned them not to approach too +near. + +It was in this state of things that the duke of Savoy, with the +remainder of the troops, including the artillery, came on the field of +action. His arrival could not have been more seasonable. The heavy guns +were speedily turned on the French squares, whose dense array presented +an obvious mark to the Spanish bullets. Their firm ranks were rent +asunder; and, as the brave men tried in vain to close over the bodies of +their dying comrades, the horse took advantage of the openings to plunge +into the midst of the phalanx. Here the long spears of the pikemen were +of no avail, and, striking right and left, the cavaliers dealt death on +every side. All now was confusion and irretrievable ruin. No one thought +of fighting, or even of self-defence. The only thought was of flight. +Men overturned one another in their eagerness to escape. They were soon +mingled with the routed cavalry, who rode down their own countrymen. +Horses ran about the field without riders. Many of the soldiers threw +away their arms, to fly the more quickly. All strove to escape from the +terrible pursuit which hung on their rear. The artillery and +ammunition-wagons choked up the road, and obstructed the flight of the +fugitives. The slaughter was dreadful. The best blood of France flowed +like water. + +[Sidenote: ARMY ROUTED.] + +Yet mercy was shown to those who asked it. Hundreds and thousands threw +down their arms, and obtained quarter. Nevers, according to some +accounts, covered the right flank of the French army. Others state that +he was separated from it by a ravine or valley. At all events, he fared +no better than his leader. He was speedily enveloped by the cavalry of +Hoorne and Brunswick, and his fine corps of light horse cut to pieces. +He himself, with the prince of Conde, was so fortunate as to make his +escape, with the remnant of his forces, to La Fere. + +Had the Spaniards followed up the pursuit, few Frenchmen might have been +left that day to tell the story of the rout of St. Quentin. But the +fight had already lasted four hours; evening was setting in; and the +victors, spent with toil and sated with carnage, were content to take up +their quarters on the field of battle. + +The French, in the mean time, made their way, one after another, to La +Fere, and, huddling together in the public squares, or in the quarters +they had before occupied, remained like a herd of panic-struck deer, in +whose ears the sounds of the chase are still ringing. But the loyal +cavaliers threw off their panic, and recovered heart, when a rumor +reached them that their commander, Montmorency, was still making head, +with a body of stout followers, against the enemy. At the tidings, faint +and bleeding as they were, they sprang to the saddles which they had +just quitted, and were ready again to take the field.[211] + +But the rumor was without foundation. Montmorency was a prisoner in the +hands of the Spaniards. The veteran had exposed his own life throughout +the action, as if willing to show that he would not shrink in any degree +from the peril into which he had brought his followers. When he saw that +the day was lost, he threw himself into the hottest of the battle, +holding life cheap in comparison with honor. A shot from the pistol of a +_schwarzreiter_, fracturing his thigh, disabled him from further +resistance; and he fell into the hands of the Spaniards, who treated him +with the respect due to his rank. The number of prisoners was very +large,--according to some accounts, six thousand, of whom six hundred +were said to be gentlemen and persons of condition. The number of the +slain is stated, as usual, with great discrepancy, varying from three to +six thousand. A much larger proportion of them than usual were men of +family. Many a noble house in France went into mourning for that day. +Among those who fell was Jean de Bourbon, count d'Enghien, a prince of +the blood. Mortally wounded, he was carried to the tent of the duke of +Savoy, where he soon after expired, and his body was sent to his +countrymen at La Fere for honorable burial. To balance this bloody roll, +no account states the loss of the Spaniards at over a thousand men.[212] + +More than eighty standards, including those of the cavalry, fell into +the hands of the victors, together with all the artillery, +ammunition-wagons, and baggage of the enemy. France had not experienced +such a defeat since the battle of Agincourt.[213] + +King Philip had left Brussels, and removed his quarters to Cambray, that +he might be near the duke of Savoy, with whom he kept up daily +communication throughout the siege. Immediately after the battle, on the +eleventh of August, he visited the camp in person. At the same time, he +wrote to his father, expressing his regret that he had not been there to +share the glory of the day.[214] The emperor seems to have heartily +shared this regret.[215] It is quite certain, if Charles had had the +direction of affairs, he would not have been absent. But Philip had not +the bold, adventurous spirit of his father. His talent lay rather in +meditation than in action; and his calm, deliberate forecast better +fitted him for the council than the camp. In enforcing levies, in +raising supplies, in superintending the organization of the army, he was +indefatigable. The plan of the campaign was determined under his own +eye; and he was most sagacious in the selection of his agents. But to +those agents he prudently left the conduct of the war, for which he had +no taste, perhaps no capacity, himself. He did not, like his rival, +Henry the Second, fancy himself a great captain because he could carry +away the prizes of a tourney. + +Philip was escorted to the camp by his household troops. He appeared on +this occasion armed _cap-a-pie_,--a thing by no means common with him. +It seems to have pleased his fancy to be painted in military costume. At +least, there are several portraits of him in complete mail,--one from +the pencil of Titian. A picture taken at the present time was sent by +him to Queen Mary, who, in this age of chivalry, may have felt some +pride in seeing her lord in the panoply of war. + +On the king's arrival at the camp, he was received with all the honors +of a victor; with flourishes of trumpets, salvos of artillery, and the +loud shouts of the soldiery. The duke of Savoy laid at his feet the +banners and other trophies of the fight, and, kneeling down, would have +kissed Philip's hand; but the king, raising him from the ground, and +embracing him as he did so, said that the acknowledgments were due from +himself to the general who had won him such a victory. At the same time, +he paid a well-deserved compliment to the brilliant part which Egmont +and his brave companions had borne in the battle.[216] + +[Sidenote: FRENCH ARMY ROUTED.] + +The first thing to be done was to dispose of the prisoners, whose number +embarrassed the conquerors. Philip dismissed all those of the common +file, on the condition that they should not bear arms for six months +against the Spaniards. The condition did no great detriment to the +French service, as the men, on their return, were sent to garrison some +distant towns, and their places in the army filled by the troops whom +they had relieved. The cavaliers and persons of condition were lodged in +fortresses, where they could be securely detained till the amount of +their respective ransoms was determined. These ransoms formed an +important part of the booty of the conqueror. How important, may be +inferred from the sum offered by the constable on his own account and +that of his son,--no less, it is said, than a hundred and sixty-five +thousand gold crowns.[217] The soldier of that day, when the penalty was +loss of fortune as well as of freedom, must be confessed to have fought +on harder conditions than at present. + +A council of war was next called, to decide on further operations. When +Charles the Fifth received tidings of the victory of St. Quentin, the +first thing he asked, as we are told, was "whether Philip were at +Paris."[218] Had Charles been in command, he would doubtless have +followed up the blow by presenting himself at once before the French +capital. But Philip was not of that sanguine temper which overlooks, or +at least overleaps, the obstacles in its way. Charles calculated the +chances of success; Philip, those of failure. Charles's character opened +the way to more brilliant achievements, but exposed him also to severer +reverses. His enterprising spirit was more favorable to building up a +great empire; the cautious temper of Philip was better fitted to +preserve it. Philip came in the right time; and his circumspect policy +was probably better suited to his position, as well as to his character, +than the bolder policy of the emperor. + +When the duke of Savoy urged, as it is said, the expediency of profiting +by the present panic to march at once on the French capital, Philip +looked at the dangers of such a step. Several strong fortresses of the +enemy would be left in his rear. Rivers must be crossed, presenting +lines of defence which could easily be maintained against a force even +superior to his own. Paris was covered by formidable works, and forty +thousand citizens could be enrolled, at the shortest notice, for its +protection. It was not wise to urge the foe to extremity, to force a +brave and loyal people, like the French, to rise _en masse_, as they +would do for the defence of their capital. The emperor, his father, had +once invaded France with a powerful army, and laid siege to Marseilles. +The issue of that invasion was known to everybody. "The Spaniards," it +was tauntingly said, "had come into the country feasting on turkeys; +they were glad to escape from it feeding on roots!"[219] Philip +determined, therefore, to abide by his original plan of operations, and +profit by the late success of his arms to press the siege of St. Quentin +with his whole force.--It would not be easy for any one, at this +distance of time, to pronounce on the wisdom of his decision. But +subsequent events tend considerably to strengthen our confidence in it. + +Preparations were now made to push the siege with vigor. Besides the +cannon already in the camp, and those taken in the battle, a good number +of pieces were brought from Cambray to strengthen the battering-train +of the besiegers. The river was crossed; and the Faubourg d'Ile was +carried by the duke, after a stout resistance on the part of the French, +who burned the houses in their retreat. The Spanish commander availed +himself of his advantage to establish batteries close to the town, which +kept up an incessant cannonade, that shook the old walls and towers to +their foundation. The miners also carried on their operations, and +galleries were excavated almost to the centre of the place. + +The condition of the besieged, in the mean time, was forlorn in the +extreme; not so much from want of food, though their supplies were +scanty, as from excessive toil and exposure. Then it was that Coligni +displayed all the strength of his character. He felt the importance of +holding out as long as possible, that the nation might have time to +breathe, as it were, and recover from the late disaster. He endeavored +to infuse his own spirit into the hearts of his soldiers, toiling with +the meanest of them, and sharing all their privations. He cheered the +desponding, by assuring them of speedy relief from their countrymen. +Some he complimented for their bravery; others he flattered by asking +their advice. He talked loudly of the resources at his command. If any +should hear him so much as hint at a surrender, he gave them leave to +tie him hand and foot, and throw him into the moat. If he should hear +one of them talk of it, the admiral promised to do as much by him.[220] + +The duc de Nevers, who had established himself, with the wreck of the +French army and such additional levies as he could muster, in the +neighborhood of St. Quentin, contrived to communicate with the admiral. +On one occasion he succeeded in throwing a reinforcement of a hundred +and twenty arquebusiers into the town, though it cost him thrice that +number, cut to pieces by the Spaniards in the attempt. Still the number +of the garrison was altogether inadequate to the duties imposed on it. +With scanty refreshment, almost without repose, watching and fighting by +turns, the day passed in defending the breaches which the night was not +long enough to repair. No frame could be strong enough to endure it. + +Coligni had, fortunately, the services of a skilful engineer, named St. +Remy, who aided him in repairing the injuries inflicted on the works by +the artillery, and by the scarcely less destructive mines of the +Spaniards. In the want of solid masonry, every material was resorted to +for covering up the breaches. Timbers were thrown across; and boats +filled with earth, laid on the broken rampart, afforded a good bulwark +for the French musketeers. But the time was come when neither the skill +of the engineer nor the courage of the garrison could further avail. +Eleven practicable breaches had been opened, and St. Remy assured the +admiral that he could not engage to hold out four-and-twenty hours +longer.[221] + +[Sidenote: STORMING OF ST. QUENTIN.] + +The duke of Savoy also saw that the time had come to bring the siege to +a close by a general assault. The twenty-seventh of August was the day +assigned for it. On that preceding he fired three mines, which shook +down some fragments of the wall, but did less execution than was +expected. On the morning of the twenty-seventh, his whole force was +under arms. The duke divided it into as many corps as there were +breaches, placing these corps under his best and bravest officers. He +proposed to direct the assault in person. + +Coligni made his preparations also with consummate coolness. He posted a +body of troops at each of the breaches, while he and his brother +Dandelot took charge of the two which, still more exposed than the +others, might be considered as the post of danger. He had the +satisfaction to find, in this hour of trial, that the men, as well as +their officers, seemed to be animated with his own heroic spirit. + +Before proceeding to storm the place, the duke of Savoy opened a brisk +cannonade, in order to clear away the barricades of timber, and other +temporary defences, which had been thrown across the breaches. The fire +continued for several hours, and it was not till afternoon that the +signal was given for the assault. The troops rushed forward,--Spaniards, +Flemings, English, and Germans,--spurred on by feelings of national +rivalry. A body of eight thousand brave Englishmen had joined the +standard of Philip in the early part of the campaign;[222] and they now +eagerly coveted the opportunity for distinction which had been denied +them at the battle of St. Quentin, where the fortune of the day was +chiefly decided by cavalry. But no troops felt so keen a spur to their +achievements as the Spaniards, fighting as they were under the eye of +their sovereign, who from a neighboring eminence was spectator of the +combat. + +The obstacles were not formidable in the path of the assailants, who +soon clambered over the fragments of masonry and other rubbish which lay +scattered below the ramparts, and, in the face of a steady fire of +musketry, presented themselves before the breaches. The brave men +stationed to defend them were in sufficient strength to occupy the open +spaces; their elevated position gave them some advantage over the +assailants, and they stood to their posts with the resolution of men +prepared to die rather than surrender. A fierce conflict now ensued +along the whole extent of the ramparts; and the French, sustained by a +dauntless spirit, bore themselves as stoutly in the fight as if they had +been in training for it of late, instead of being enfeebled by scanty +subsistence and excessive toil. After a severe struggle, which lasted +nearly an hour, the Spaniards were driven back at all points. Not a +breach was won; and, broken and dispirited, the assailants were +compelled to retire on their former position. + +After this mortifying repulse, the duke did not give them a long time to +breathe, before he again renewed the assault. This time he directed the +main attack against a tower where the resistance had been weakest. In +fact, Coligni had there placed the troops on whom he had least reliance, +trusting to the greater strength of the works. But a strong heart is +worth all the defences in the world. After a sharp but short struggle, +the assailants succeeded in carrying the tower. The faint-hearted troops +gave way; and the Spaniards, throwing themselves on the rampart, +remained masters of one of the breaches. A footing once gained, the +assailants poured impetuously into the opening, Spaniards, Germans, and +English streaming like a torrent along the ramparts, and attacking the +defenders on their flank. Coligni, meanwhile, and his brother Dandelot, +had rushed, with a few followers, to the spot, in the hope, if possible, +to arrest the impending ruin. But they were badly supported. Overwhelmed +by numbers, they were trodden down, disarmed, and made prisoners. Still +the garrison, at the remaining breaches, continued to make a desperate +stand. But, with one corps pressing them on flank, and another in front, +they were speedily cut to pieces, or disabled and taken. In half an +hour resistance had ceased along the ramparts. The town was in +possession of the Spaniards.[223] + +A scene of riot and wild uproar followed, such as made the late conflict +seem tame in comparison. The victorious troops spread over the town in +quest of plunder, perpetrating those deeds of ruthless violence, usual, +even in this enlightened age, in a city taken by storm. The wretched +inhabitants fled before them; the old and the helpless, the women and +children, taking refuge in garrets, cellars, and any other corner where +they could hide themselves from their pursuers. Nothing was to be heard +but the groans of the wounded and the dying, the cries of women and +children,--"so pitiful," says one present, "that they would grieve any +Christian heart,"[224]--mingled, with the shouts of the victors, who, +intoxicated with liquor, and loaded with booty, now madly set fire to +several of the buildings, which soon added the dangers of conflagration +to the other horrors of the scene. In a short time, the town would have +been reduced to ashes, and the place which Philip had won at so much +cost would have been lost to him by the excesses of his own soldiers. + +The king had now entered the city in person. He had never been present +at the storming of a place, and the dreadful spectacle which he +witnessed touched his heart. Measures were instantly taken to extinguish +the flames, and orders were issued that no one, under pain of death, +should offer any violence to the old and infirm, to the women and +children, to the ministers of religion, to religious edifices, or, above +all, to the relics of the blessed St. Quentin. Several hundred of the +poor people, it is said, presented themselves before Philip, and claimed +his protection. By his command they were conducted, under a strong +escort, to a place of safety.[225] + +It was not possible, however, to prevent the pillage of the town. It +would have been as easy to snatch the carcass from the tiger that was +rending it. The pillage of a place taken by storm was regarded as the +perquisite of the soldier, on which he counted as regularly as on his +pay. Those who distinguished themselves most, in this ruthless work, +were the German mercenaries. Their brutal rapacity filled even their +confederates with indignation. The latter seem to have been particularly +disgusted with the unscrupulous manner in which the _schwarzreiters_ +appropriated not only their own share of the plunder, but that of both +English and Spaniards.[226] + +[Sidenote: SUCCESSES OF THE SPANIARDS.] + +Thus fell the ancient town of St. Quentin, after a defence which +reflects equal honor on the courage of the garrison, and on the conduct +of their commander. With its fortifications wretchedly out of repair, +its supplies of arms altogether inadequate, the number of its garrison +at no time exceeding a thousand, it still held out for near a month +against a powerful army, fighting under the eyes of its sovereign, and +led by one of the best captains of Europe.[227] + +Philip, having taken measures to restore the fortifications of St. +Quentin, placed it under the protection of a Spanish garrison, and +marched against the neighboring town of Catelet. It was a strong place, +but its defenders, unlike their valiant countrymen at St. Quentin, after +a brief show of resistance, capitulated on the sixth of September. This +was followed by the surrender of Ham, once renowned through Picardy for +the strength of its defences. Philip then led his victorious battalions +against Noyon and Chaulny, which last town was sacked by the soldiers. +The French were filled with consternation, as one strong place after +another, on the frontier, fell into the hands of an enemy who seemed as +if he were planting his foot permanently on their soil. That Philip did +not profit by his success to push his conquests still further, is to be +attributed not to remissness on his part, but to the conduct, or rather +the composition, of his army, made up, as it was, of troops, who, +selling their swords to the highest bidder, cared little for the banner +under which they fought. Drawn from different countries, the soldiers, +gathered into one camp, soon showed all their national rivalries and +animosities. The English quarrelled with the Germans, and neither could +brook the insolent bearing of the Spaniards. The Germans complained that +their arrears were not paid,--a complaint probably well founded, as, +notwithstanding his large resources, Philip, on an emergency, found the +difficulty in raising funds, which every prince in that day felt, when +there was no such thing known as a well-arranged system of taxation. +Tempted by the superior offers of Henry the Second, the _schwarzreiters_ +left the standard of Philip in great numbers, to join that of his rival. + +The English were equally discontented. They had brought from home the +aversion for the Spaniards which had been festering there since the +queen's marriage. The sturdy islanders were not at all pleased with +serving under Philip. They were fighting, not the battles of England, +they said, but of Spain. Every new conquest was adding to the power of a +monarch far too powerful already. They had done enough, and insisted on +being allowed to return to their own country. The king, who dreaded +nothing so much as a rupture between his English and his Spanish +subjects, to which he saw the state of things rapidly tending, was fain +to consent. + +By this departure of the English force, and the secession of the +Germans, Philip's strength was so much impaired, that he was in no +condition to make conquests, hardly to keep the field. The season was +now far advanced, for it was the end of October. Having, therefore, +garrisoned the conquered places, and put them in the best posture of +defence, he removed his camp to Brussels, and soon after put his army +into winter-quarters.[228] + +Thus ended the first campaign of Philip the Second; the first, and, with +the exception of the following, the only campaign in which he was +personally present. It had been eminently successful. Besides the +important places which he had gained on the frontier of Picardy, he had +won a signal victory in the field. + +But the campaign was not so memorable for military results as in a moral +view. It showed the nations of Europe that the Spanish sceptre had +passed into the hands of a prince who was as watchful as his predecessor +had been over the interests of the state; and who, if he were not so +actively ambitious as Charles the Fifth, would be as little likely to +brook any insult from his neighbors. The victory of St. Quentin, +occurring at the commencement of his reign, reminded men of the victory +won at Pavia by his father, at a similar period of his career, and, like +that, furnished a brilliant augury for the future. Philip, little given +to any visible expression of his feelings, testified his joy at the +success of his arms, by afterwards raising the magnificent pile of the +Escorial, in honor of the blessed martyr St. Lawrence, on whose day the +battle was fought, and to whose interposition with Heaven he attributed +the victory. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +WAR WITH FRANCE. + +Extraordinary Efforts of France.--Calais surprised by Guise.--The French +invade Flanders.--Bloody Battle of Gravelines.--Negotiations for +Peace.--Mary's Death.--Accession of Elizabeth.--Treaty of +Cateau-Cambresis. + +1557-1559. + + +The state of affairs in France justified Philip's conclusions in respect +to the loyalty of the people. No sooner did Henry the Second receive +tidings of the fatal battle of St. Quentin, than he despatched couriers +in all directions, summoning his chivalry to gather round his banner, +and calling on the towns for aid in his extremity. The nobles and +cavaliers promptly responded to the call, flocking in with their +retainers; and not only the large towns, but those of inferior size, +cheerfully submitted to be heavily taxed for the public service. Paris +nobly set the example. She did not exhaust her zeal in processions of +the clergy, headed by the queen and the royal family, carrying with them +relics from the different churches. All the citizens capable of bearing +arms enrolled themselves for the defence of the capital; and large +appropriations were made for strengthening Montmartre, and for defraying +the expenses of the war.[229] + +[Sidenote: CALAIS SURPRISED BY GUISE.] + +With these and other resources at his command, Henry was speedily +enabled to subsidize a large body of Swiss and German mercenaries. The +native troops serving abroad were ordered home. The veteran Marshal +Termes came, with a large corps, from Tuscany, and the duke of Guise +returned, with the remnant of his battalions, from Rome. This popular +commander was welcomed with enthusiasm. The nation seemed to look to him +as to the deliverer of the country. His late campaign in the kingdom of +Naples was celebrated as if it had been a brilliant career of victory. +He was made lieutenant-general of the army, and the oldest captains were +proud to take service under so renowned a chief. + +The government was not slow to profit by the extraordinary resources +thus placed at its disposal. Though in the depth of winter, it was +resolved to undertake some enterprise that should retrieve the disasters +of the late campaign, and raise the drooping spirits of the nation. The +object proposed was the recovery of Calais, that strong place, which for +more than two centuries had remained in possession of the English. + +The French had ever been keenly sensible to the indignity of an enemy +thus planting his foot immovably, as it were, on their soil. They had +looked to the recovery of Calais with the same feelings with which the +Spanish Moslems, when driven into Africa, looked to the recovery of +their ancient possessions in Granada. They showed how constantly this +was in their thoughts, by a common saying respecting any commander whom +they held lightly, that he was "not a man to drive the English out of +France."[230] The feelings they entertained, however, were rather those +of desire than of expectation. The place was so strong, so well +garrisoned, and so accessible to the English, that it seemed +impregnable. These same circumstances, and the long possession of the +place, had inspired the English, on the other hand, with no less +confidence, as was pretty well intimated by an inscription on the bronze +gates of the town,--"When the French besiege Calais, lead and iron will +swim like cork."[231] This confidence, as it often happens, proved their +ruin. + +The bishop of Acqs, the French envoy to England, on returning home, a +short time before this, had passed through Calais, and gave a strange +report of the decay of the works, and the small number of the garrison, +in short, of the defenceless condition of the place. Guise, however, as +cautious as he was brave, was unwilling to undertake so hazardous an +enterprise without more precise information. When satisfied of the fact, +he entered on the project with his characteristic ardor. The plan +adopted was said to have been originally suggested by Coligni. In order +to deceive the enemy, the duke sent the largest division of the army, +under Nevers, in the direction of Luxemburg. He then marched with the +remainder into Picardy, as if to menace one of the places conquered by +the Spaniards. Soon afterwards the two corps united, and Guise, at the +head of his whole force, by a rapid march, presented himself before the +walls of Calais. + +The town was defended by a strong citadel, and by two forts. One of +these, commanding the approach by water, the duke stormed and captured +on the second of January, 1558. The other, which overlooked the land, he +carried on the following day. Possessed of these two forts, he felt +secure from any annoyance by the enemy, either by land or by water. He +then turned his powerful battering-train against the citadel, keeping up +a furious cannonade by day and by night. On the fifth, as soon as a +breach was opened, the victorious troops poured in, and, overpowering +the garrison, planted the French colors on the walls. The earl of +Wentworth, who commanded in Calais, unable, with his scanty garrison, to +maintain the place now that the defences were in the hands of the enemy, +capitulated on the eighth. The fall of Calais was succeeded by that of +Guisnes and of Hames. Thus, in a few days the English were stripped of +every rood of the territory which they had held in France since the time +of Edward the Third. + +The fall of Calais caused the deepest sensation on both sides of the +Channel. The English, astounded by the event, loudly inveighed against +the treachery of the commander. They should rather have blamed the +treachery of their own government, who had so grossly neglected to +provide for the defence of the place. Philip, suspecting the designs of +the French, had intimated his suspicions to the English government, and +had offered to strengthen the garrison by a reinforcement of his own +troops. But his allies, perhaps distrusting his motives, despised his +counsel, or at least failed to profit by it.[232] After the place was +taken, he made another offer to send a strong force to recover it, +provided the English would support him with a sufficient fleet. This +also, perhaps from the same feeling of distrust, though on the plea of +inability to meet the expense, was declined, and the opportunity for the +recovery of Calais was lost for ever.[233] + +Yet, in truth, it was no great loss to the nation. Like more than one, +probably, of the colonial possessions of England at the present day, +Calais cost every year more than it was worth. Its chief value was the +facility it afforded for the invasion of France. Yet such a facility for +war with their neighbors, always too popular with the English before the +time of Philip the Second, was of questionable value. The real injury +from the loss of Calais was the wound which it inflicted on the national +honor. + +The exultation of the French was boundless. It could not well have been +greater, if the duke of Guise had crossed the Channel and taken London +itself. The brilliant and rapid manner in which the exploit had been +performed, the gallantry with which the young general had exposed his +own person in the assault, the generosity with which he had divided his +share of the booty among the soldiers, all struck the lively imagination +of the French; and he became more than ever the idol of the people. + +Yet, during the remainder of the campaign, his arms were not crowned +with such distinguished success. In May he marched against the strong +town of Thionville, in Luxemburg. After a siege of twenty days, the +place surrendered. Having taken one or two other towns of less +importance, the French army wasted nearly three weeks in a state of +inaction, unless, indeed, we take into account the activity caused by +intestine troubles of the army itself. It is difficult to criticize +fairly the conduct of a commander of that age, when his levies were made +up so largely of foreign mercenaries, who felt so little attachment to +the service in which they were engaged, that they were ready to quarrel +with it on the slightest occasion. Among these the German +_schwarzreiters_ were the most conspicuous, manifesting too often a +degree of insolence and insubordination that made them hardly less +dangerous as friends than as enemies. The importance they attached to +their own services made them exorbitant in their demands of pay. When +this, as was too frequently the case, was in arrears, they took the +matter into their own hands, by pillaging the friendly country in which +they were quartered, or by breaking out into open mutiny. A German +baron, on one occasion, went so far as to level his pistol at the head +of the duke of Guise. So widely did this mutinous spirit extend, that +it was only by singular coolness and address that this popular chieftain +could bring these adventurers into anything like subjection to his +authority. As it was, the loss of time caused by these troubles was +attended with most disastrous consequences. + +[Sidenote: THE FRENCH INVADE FLANDERS.] + +The duke had left Calais garrisoned by a strong force, under Marshal +Termes. He had since ordered that veteran to take command of a body of +fifteen hundred horse and five thousand foot, drawn partly from the +garrison itself, and to march into West Flanders. Guise proposed to join +him there with his own troops, when they would furnish such occupation +to the Spaniards as would effectually prevent them from a second +invasion of Picardy. + +The plan was well designed, and the marshal faithfully executed his part +of it. Taking the road by St. Omer, he entered Flanders in the +neighborhood of Dunkirk, laid siege to that flourishing town, stormed +and gave it up to pillage. He then penetrated as far as Nieuport, when +the fatigue and the great heat of the weather brought on an attack of +gout, which entirely disabled him. The officer on whom the command +devolved allowed the men to spread themselves over the country, where +they perpetrated such acts of rapacity and violence as were not +sanctioned even by the code of that unscrupulous age. The wretched +inhabitants, driven from their homes, called loudly on Count Egmont, +their governor, to protect them. The duke of Savoy lay with his army, at +this time, at Maubeuge, in the province of Namur; but he sent orders to +Egmont to muster such forces as he could raise in the neighboring +country, and to intercept the retreat of the French, until the duke +could come to his support and chastise the enemy. + +Egmont, indignant at the wrongs of his countrymen, and burning with the +desire of revenge, showed the greatest alacrity in obeying these orders. +Volunteers came in from all sides, and he soon found himself at the head +of an army consisting of ten or twelve thousand foot and two thousand +horse. With these he crossed the borders at once, and sent forward a +detachment to occupy the great road by which De Termes had penetrated +into Flanders. + +The French commander, advised too late of these movements, saw that it +was necessary to abandon at once his present quarters, and secure, if +possible, his retreat. Guise was at a distance, occupied with the +troubles of his own camp. The Flemings had possession of the route by +which the marshal had entered the country. One other lay open to him +along the sea-shore, in the neighborhood of Gravelines, where the Aa +pours its waters into the ocean. By taking advantage of the ebb, the +river might be forded, and a direct road to Calais would be presented. + +Termes saw that no time was to be lost. He caused himself to be removed +from his sick-bed to a litter, and began his retreat at once. On leaving +Dunkirk, he fired the town, where the houses were all that remained to +the wretched inhabitants of their property. His march was impeded by his +artillery, by his baggage, and especially by the booty which he was +conveying back from the plundered provinces. He however succeeded in +crossing the Aa at low water, and gained the sands on the opposite side. +But the enemy was there before him.[234] + +Egmont, on getting tidings of the marshal's movements, had crossed the +river higher up, where the stream was narrower. Disencumbering himself +of artillery, and even of baggage, in order to move the lighter, he made +a rapid march to the sea-side, and reached it in time to intercept the +enemy. There was no choice left for Termes but to fight his way through +the Spaniards or surrender. + +Ill as he was, the marshal mounted his horse, and addressed a few words +to his troops. Pointing in the direction of the blazing ruins of +Dunkirk, he told them that they could not return there. Then turning +towards Calais, "There is your home," he said, "and you must beat the +enemy before you can gain it." He determined, however, not to begin the +action, but to secure his position as strongly as he could, and wait the +assault of the Spaniards. + +He placed his infantry in the centre, and flanked it on either side by +his cavalry. In the front he established his artillery, consisting of +six or seven falconets,--field-pieces of smaller size. He threw a +considerable body of Gascon pikemen in the rear, to act as a reserve +wherever their presence should be required. The river Aa, which flowed +behind his troops, formed also a good protection in that quarter. His +left wing he covered by a barricade made of the baggage and artillery +wagons. His right, which rested on the ocean, seemed secure from any +annoyance on that side. + +Count Egmont, seeing the French thus preparing to give battle, quickly +made his own dispositions. He formed his cavalry into three divisions. +The centre he proposed to lead in person. It was made up chiefly of the +heavy men-at-arms and some Flemish horse. On the right he placed his +light cavalry, and on the left wing rode the Spanish. His infantry he +drew up in such a manner as to support the several divisions of horse. +Having completed his arrangements, he gave orders to the centre and the +right wing to charge, and rode at full gallop against the enemy. + +Though somewhat annoyed by the heavy guns in their advance, the +battalions came on in good order, and fell with such fury on the French +left and centre, that horse and foot were borne down by the violence of +the shock. But the French gentlemen who formed the cavalry were of the +same high mettle as those who fought at St. Quentin. Though borne down +for a moment, they were not overpowered; and, after a desperate +struggle, they succeeded in rallying and in driving back the assailants. +Egmont returned to the charge, but was forced back with greater loss +than before. The French, following up their advantage, compelled the +assailants to retreat on their own lines. The guns, at the same time, +opening on the exposed flank of the retreating troopers, did them +considerable mischief. Egmont's horse was killed under him, and he had +nearly been run over by his own followers. In the mean while, the Gascon +reserve, armed with their long spears, pushed on to the support of the +cavalry, and filled the air with their shouts of "Victory!"[235] + +The field seemed to be already lost; when the left wing of Spanish +horse, which had not yet come into action, seeing the disorderly state +of the French, as they were pressing on, charged them briskly on the +flank. This had the effect to check the tide of pursuit, and give the +fugitives time to rally. Egmont, meanwhile, was mounted on a fresh +horse, and, throwing himself into the midst of his followers, endeavored +to reanimate their courage and reform their disordered ranks. Then, +cheering them on by his voice and example, he cried out, "We are +conquerors! Those who love glory and their fatherland, follow me!"[236] +and spurred furiously against the enemy. + +[Sidenote: BATTLE OF GRAVELINES.] + +The French, hard pressed both on front and on flank, fell back in their +turn, and continued to retreat till they had gained their former +position. At the same time, the _lanzknechts_ in Egmont's service, +marched up, in defiance of the fire of the artillery, and got possession +of the guns, running the men who had charge of them through with their +lances.[237] The fight now became general; and, as the combatants were +brought into close quarters, they fought as men fight where numbers are +nearly balanced, and each one seems to feel that his own arm may turn +the scale of victory. The result was brought about by an event which +neither party could control, and neither have foreseen. + +An English squadron of ten or twelve vessels lay at some distance, but +out of sight of the combatants. Attracted by the noise of the firing, +its commander drew near the scene of action, and, ranging along shore, +opened his fire on the right wing of the French, nearest the sea.[238] +The shot, probably, from the distance of the ships, did no great +execution, and is even said to have killed some of the Spaniards. But it +spread a panic among the French, as they found themselves assailed by a +new enemy, who seemed to have risen from the depths of the ocean. In +their eagerness to extricate themselves from the fire, the cavalry on +the right threw themselves on the centre, trampling down their own +comrades, until all discipline was lost, and horse and foot became +mingled together in wild disorder. Egmont profited by the opportunity to +renew his charge; and at length, completely broken and dispirited, the +enemy gave way in all directions. The stout body of Gascons who formed +the reserve alone held their ground for a time, until, vigorously +charged by the phalanx of Spanish spearmen, they broke, and were +scattered like the rest. + +The rout was now general, and the victorious cavalry rode over the +field, trampling and cutting down the fugitives on all sides. Many who +did not fall under their swords perished in the waters of the Aa, now +swollen by the rising tide. Others were drowned in the ocean. No less +than fifteen hundred of those who escaped from the field are said to +have been killed by the peasantry, who occupied the passes, and thus +took bloody revenge for the injuries inflicted on their country.[239] +Two thousand French are stated to have fallen on the field, and not more +than five hundred Spaniards, or rather Flemings, who composed the bulk +of the army. The loss fell most severely on the French cavalry; severely +indeed, if, according to some accounts, not very credible, they were cut +to pieces almost to a man.[240] The number of prisoners was three +thousand. Among them was Marshal Termes himself, who had been disabled +by a wound in the head. All the baggage, the ammunition, and the rich +spoil gleaned by the foray into Flanders, became the prize of the +victors.--Although not so important for the amount of forces engaged, +the victory of Gravelines was as complete as that of St. Quentin.[241] + +Yet the French, who had a powerful army on foot, were in better +condition to meet their reverses than on that day. The duke of Guise, on +receiving the tidings, instantly marched with his whole force, and +posted himself strongly behind the Somme, in order to cover Picardy from +invasion. The duke of Savoy, uniting his forces with those of Count +Egmont, took up a position along the line of the Authie, and made +demonstrations of laying siege to Dourlens. The French and Spanish +monarchs both took the field. So well appointed and large a force as +that led by Henry had not been seen in France for many a year; yet that +monarch might justly be mortified by the reflection that the greater +part of this force was made up of foreign mercenaries, amounting, it is +said, to forty thousand. Philip was in equal strength, and the length of +the war had enabled him to assemble his best captains around him. Among +them was Alva, whose cautious councils might serve to temper the bolder +enterprise of the duke of Savoy. + +A level ground, four leagues in breadth, lay between the armies. +Skirmishes took place occasionally between the light troops on either +side, and a general engagement might be brought on at any moment. All +eyes were turned to the battle-field, where the two greatest princes of +Europe might so soon contend for mastery with each other. Had the +fathers of these princes, Charles the Fifth and Francis the First, been +in the field, such very probably would have been the issue. But Philip +was not disposed to risk the certain advantages he had already gained by +a final appeal to arms. And Henry was still less inclined to peril +all--his capital, perhaps his crown--on the hazard of a single cast. + +[Sidenote: NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE.] + +There were many circumstances which tended to make both monarchs prefer +a more peaceful arbitrament of their quarrel, and to disgust them with +the war. Among these was the ruinous state of their finances.[242] When +Ruy Gomez de Silva, as has been already stated, was sent to Spain by +Philip, he was commanded to avail himself of every expedient that could +be devised to raise money. Offices were put up for sale to the highest +bidder. The public revenues were mortgaged. Large sums were obtained +from merchants at exorbitant rates of interest. Forced loans were +exacted from individuals, especially from such as were known to have +received large returns by the late arrivals from the New World. Three +hundred thousand ducats were raised on the security of the coming fair +at Villalon. The Regent Joanna was persuaded to sell her yearly pension, +assigned her on the _alcavala_, for a downright sum to meet the +exigencies of the state. Goods were obtained from the king of Portugal, +in order to be sent to Flanders for the profit to be raised on the +sale.[243] Such were the wretched devices by which Philip, who inherited +this policy of temporizing expedients from his father, endeavored to +replenish his exhausted treasury. Besides the sums drawn from Castile, +the king obtained also no less than a million and a half of ducats, as +an extraordinary grant from the states of the Netherlands.[244] Yet +these sums, large as they were, were soon absorbed by the expense of +keeping armies on foot in France and in Italy. Philip's correspondence +with his ministers teems with representations of the low state of his +finances, of the arrears due to his troops, and the necessity of +immediate supplies to save him from bankruptcy. The prospects the +ministers hold out to him in return are anything but encouraging.[245] + +Another circumstance which made both princes desire the termination of +the war was the disturbed state of their own kingdoms. The Protestant +heresy had already begun to rear its formidable crest in the +Netherlands; and the Huguenots were beginning to claim the notice of the +French government. Henry the Second, who was penetrated, as much as +Philip himself, with the spirit of the Inquisition, longed for leisure +to crush the heretical doctrines in the bud. In this pious purpose he +was encouraged by Paul the Fourth, who, now that he was himself +restrained from levying war against his neighbors, seemed resolved that +no one else should claim that indulgence. He sent legates to both Henry +and Philip, conjuring them, instead of warring with each other, to turn +their arms against the heretics in their dominions, who were sapping the +foundations of the Church.[246] + +The pacific disposition of the two monarchs was, moreover, fostered by +the French prisoners, and especially by Montmorency, whose authority had +been such at court, that Charles the Fifth declared "his capture was +more important than would have been that of the king himself."[247] The +old constable was most anxious to return to his own country, where he +saw with uneasiness the ascendancy which his absence and the +prolongation of the war were giving to his rival, Guise, in the royal +counsels. Through him negotiations were opened with the French court, +until, Henry the Second thinking, with good reason, that these +negotiations would be better conducted by a regular congress than by +prisoners in the custody of his enemies, commissioners were appointed on +both sides, to arrange the terms of accommodation.[248] Montmorency and +his fellow-captive, Marshal St. Andre, were included in the commission. +But the person of most importance in it, on the part of France, was the +cardinal of Lorraine, brother of the duke of Guise, a man of a subtle, +intriguing temper, and one who, like the rest of his family, +notwithstanding his pacific demonstrations, may be said to have +represented the war party in France[249] + +On the part of Spain the agents selected were the men most conspicuous +for talent and authority in the kingdom; the names of some of whom, +whether for good or for evil report, remain immortal on the page of +history. Among these were the duke of Alva and his great antagonist,--as +he became afterwards in the Netherlands,--William of Orange. But the +principal person in the commission, the man who in fact directed it, was +Anthony Perrenot, bishop of Arras, better known by his later title of +Cardinal Granvelle. He was son of the celebrated chancellor of that name +under Charles the Fifth, by whom he was early trained, not so much to +the duties of the ecclesiastical profession as of public life. He +profited so well by the instruction, that, in the emperor's time, he +succeeded his father in the royal confidence, and surpassed him in his +talent for affairs. His accommodating temper combined with his zeal for +the interests of Philip to recommend Granvelle to the favor of that +monarch; and his insinuating address and knowledge of character well +qualified him for conducting a negotiation where there were so many +jarring feelings to be brought into concord, so many hostile and +perplexing interests to be reconciled. + +As a suspension of hostilities was agreed on during the continuance of +the negotiations, it was decided to remove the armies from the +neighborhood of each other, where a single spark might at any time lead +to a general explosion. A still stronger earnest was given of their +pacific intentions, by both the monarchs disbanding part of their +foreign mercenaries, whose services were purchased at a ruinous cost, +that made one of the great evils of the war. + +The congress met on the fifteenth of October, 1558, at the abbey of +Cercamps, near Cambray. Between parties so well disposed, it might be +thought that some general terms of accommodation would soon be settled. +But the war, which ran back pretty far into Charles the Fifth's time, +had continued so long, that many territories had changed masters during +the contest, and it was not easy to adjust the respective claims to +them. The duke of Savoy's dominions, for example, had passed into the +hands of Henry the Second, who, moreover, asserted an hereditary right +to them through his grandmother. Yet it was not possible for Philip to +abandon his ally, the man whom he had placed at the head of his armies. +But the greatest obstacle was Calais. "If we return without the recovery +of Calais," said the English envoys, who also took part in this +congress, "we shall be stoned to death by the people."[250] + +[Sidenote: MARY'S DEATH.] + +Philip supported the claim of England; and yet it was evident that +France would never relinquish a post so important to herself, which, +after so many years of hope deferred, had at last come again into her +possession. While engaged in the almost hopeless task of adjusting these +differences, an event occurred which suspended the negotiations for a +time, and exercised an important influence on the affairs of Europe. +This was the death of one of the parties to the war, Queen Mary of +England. + +Mary's health had been fast declining of late, under the pressure of +both mental and bodily disease. The loss of Calais bore heavily on her +spirits, as she thought of the reproach it would bring on her reign, and +the increased unpopularity it would draw upon herself. "When I die," she +said, in the strong language since made familiar to Englishmen by the +similar expression of their great admiral, "Calais will be found written +on my heart."[251] + +Philip, who was not fully apprised of the queen's low condition, early +in November sent the count, afterwards duke, of Feria as his envoy to +London, with letters for Mary. This nobleman, who had married one of the +queen's maids of honor, stood high in the favor of his master. With +courtly manners, and a magnificent way of living, he combined a +shrewdness and solidity of judgment, that eminently fitted him for his +present mission. The queen received with great joy the letters which he +brought her, though too ill to read them. Feria, seeing the low state of +Mary's health, was earnest with the council to secure the succession for +Elizabeth. + +He had the honor of supping with the princess at her residence in +Hatfield, about eighteen miles from London. The Spaniard enlarged, in +the course of conversation, on the good-will of his master to Elizabeth, +as shown in the friendly offices he had rendered her during her +imprisonment, and his desire to have her succeed to the crown. The envoy +did not add that this desire was prompted not so much by the king's +concern for the interests of Elizabeth as by his jealousy of the French, +who seemed willing to countenance the pretensions of Mary Stuart, the +wife of the dauphin, to the English throne.[252] The princess +acknowledged the protection she had received from Philip in her +troubles. "But for her present prospects," she said, "she was indebted +neither to the king nor to the English lords, however much these latter +might vaunt their fidelity. It was to the people that she owed them, and +on the people she relied."[253] This answer of Elizabeth furnishes the +key to her success. + +The penetrating eye of the envoy soon perceived that the English +princess was under evil influences. The persons most in her confidence, +he wrote, were understood to have a decided leaning to the Lutheran +heresy, and he augured most unfavorably for the future prospects of the +kingdom. + +On the seventeenth of November, 1558, after a brief, but most disastrous +reign, Queen Mary died. Her fate had been a hard one. Unimpeachable in +her private life, and, however misguided, with deeply-seated religious +principles, she has yet left a name held in more general execration than +any other on the roll of English sovereigns. One obvious way of +accounting for this, doubtless, is by the spirit of persecution which +hung like a dark cloud over her reign. And this not merely on account of +the persecution; for that was common with the line of Tudor; but because +it was directed against the professors of a religion which came to be +the established religion of the country. Thus the blood of the martyr +became the seed of a great and powerful church, ready through all after +time to bear testimony to the ruthless violence of its oppressor. + +There was still another cause of Mary's unpopularity. The daughter of +Katharine of Aragon could not fail to be nurtured in a reverence for the +illustrious line from which she was descended. The education begun in +the cradle was continued in later years. When the young princess was +betrothed to her cousin, Charles the Fifth, it was stipulated that she +should be made acquainted with the language and the institutions of +Castile, and should even wear the costume of the country. "And who," +exclaimed Henry the Eighth, "is so well fitted to instruct her in all +this as the queen, her mother?" Even after the match with her imperial +suitor was broken off by his marriage with the Portuguese infanta, +Charles still continued to take a lively interest in the fortunes of his +young kinswoman; while she, in her turn, naturally looked to the +emperor, as her nearest relative, for counsel and support. Thus drawn +towards Spain by the ties of kindred, by sympathy, and by interest, Mary +became in truth more of a Spanish than an English woman; and when all +this was completed by the odious Spanish match, and she gave her hand to +Philip the Second, the last tie seemed to be severed which had bound her +to her native land. Thenceforth she remained an alien in the midst of +her own subjects.--Very different was the fate of her sister and +successor, Elizabeth, who ruled over her people like a true-hearted +English queen, under no influence, and with no interests distinct from +theirs. She was requited for it by the most loyal devotion on their +part; while round her throne have gathered those patriotic recollections +which, in spite of her many errors, still render her name dear to +Englishmen. + +On the death of her sister, Elizabeth, without opposition, ascended the +throne of her ancestors. It may not be displeasing to the reader to see +the portrait of her sketched by the Venetian minister at this period, or +rather two years earlier, when she was twenty-three years of age. "The +princess," he says, "is as beautiful in mind as she is in body; though +her countenance is rather pleasing from its expression, than +beautiful.[254] She is large and well-made; her complexion clear, and of +an olive tint; her eyes are fine, and her hands, on which she prides +herself, small and delicate. She has an excellent genius, with much +address and self-command, as was abundantly shown in the severe trials +to which she was exposed in the earlier part of her life. In her temper +she is haughty and imperious, qualities inherited from her father, King +Henry the Eighth, who, from her resemblance to himself, is said to have +regarded her with peculiar fondness."[255]--He had, it must be owned, an +uncommon way of showing it. + +[Sidenote: ACCESSION OF ELIZABETH.] + +One of the first acts of Elizabeth was to write an elegant Latin epistle +to Philip, in which she acquainted him with her accession to the crown, +and expressed the hope that they should continue to maintain "the same +friendly relations as their ancestors had done, and, if possible, more +friendly." + +Philip received the tidings of his wife's death at Brussels, where her +obsequies were celebrated, with great solemnity, on the same day with +her funeral in London. All outward show of respect was paid to her +memory. But it is doing no injustice to Philip to suppose that his heart +was not very deeply touched by the loss of a wife so many years older +than himself, whose temper had been soured, and whose personal +attractions, such as they were, had long since faded under the pressure +of disease. Still, it was not without feelings of deep regret that the +ambitious monarch saw the sceptre of England--barren though it had +proved to him--thus suddenly snatched from his grasp. + +We have already seen that Philip, during his residence in the country, +had occasion more than once to interpose his good offices in behalf of +Elizabeth. It was perhaps the friendly relation in which he thus stood +to her, quite as much as her personal qualities, that excited in the +king a degree of interest which seems to have provoked something like +jealousy in the bosom of his queen.[256] However this may be, motives of +a very different character from those founded on sentiment now +determined him to retain, if possible, his hold on England, by +transferring to Elizabeth the connection which had subsisted with Mary. + +A month had not elapsed since Mary's remains were laid in Westminster +Abbey, when the royal widower made direct offers, through his +ambassador, Feria, for the hand of her successor. Yet his ardor did not +precipitate him into any unqualified declaration of his passion; on the +contrary, his proposals were limited by some very prudent conditions. + +It was to be understood that Elizabeth must be a Roman Catholic, and, if +not one already, must repudiate her errors and become one. She was to +obtain a dispensation from the pope for the marriage. Philip was to be +allowed to visit Spain, whenever he deemed it necessary for the +interests of that kingdom;--a provision which seems to show that Mary's +over-fondness, or her jealousy, must have occasioned him some +inconvenience on that score. It was further to be stipulated, that the +issue of the marriage should not, as was agreed in the contract with +Mary, inherit the Netherlands, which were to pass to his son Don Carlos, +the prince of Asturias. + +Feria was directed to make these proposals by word of mouth, not in +writing, "although," adds his considerate master, "it is no disgrace for +a man to have his proposals rejected, when they are founded, not on +worldly considerations, but on zeal for his Maker and the interests of +religion." + +Elizabeth received the offer of Philip's hand, qualified as it was, in +the most gracious manner. She told the ambassador, indeed, that, "in a +matter of this kind, she could take no step without consulting her +parliament. But his master might rest assured, that, should she be +induced to marry, there was no man she should prefer to him."[257] +Philip seems to have been contented with the encouragement thus given, +and shortly after he addressed Elizabeth a letter, written with his own +hand, in which he endeavored to impress on her how much he had at heart +the successes of his ambassador's mission. + +The course of events in England, however, soon showed that such success +was not to be relied on, and that Feria's prognostics in regard to the +policy of Elizabeth were well founded. Parliament soon entered on the +measures which ended in the subversion of the Roman Catholic, and the +restoration of the Reformed religion. And it was very evident that these +measures, if not originally dictated by the queen, must at least have +received her sanction. + +Philip, in consequence, took counsel with two of his ministers, on whom +he most relied, as to the expediency of addressing Elizabeth on the +subject, and telling her plainly, that, unless she openly disavowed the +proceedings of parliament, the marriage could not take place.[258] Her +vanity should be soothed by the expressions of his regret at being +obliged to relinquish the hopes of her hand. But, as her lover modestly +remarked, after this candid statement of all the consequences before +her, whatever the result might be, she would have no one to blame but +herself.[259] His sage advisers, probably not often called to deliberate +on questions of this delicate nature, entirely concurred in opinion with +their master. In any event, they regarded it as impossible that he +should wed a Protestant. + +What effect this frank remonstrance had on the queen we are not told. +Certain it is, Philip's suit no longer sped so favorably as before. +Elizabeth, throwing off all disguise, plainly told Feria, when pressed +on the matter, that she felt great scruples as to seeking a dispensation +from the pope;[260] and soon after she openly declared in parliament, +what she was in the habit of repeating so often, that she had no other +purpose but to live and die a maid.[261]--It can hardly be supposed that +Elizabeth entertained serious thoughts, at any time, of marrying Philip. +If she encouraged his addresses, it was only until she felt herself so +securely seated on the throne, that she was independent of the ill-will +she would incur by their rejection. It was a game in which the heart, +probably, formed no part of the stake on either side. In this game, it +must be confessed, the English queen showed herself the better player of +the two. + +[Sidenote: TREATY OF CATEAU-CAMBRESIS.] + +Philip bore his disappointment with great equanimity. He expressed his +regret to Elizabeth that she should have decided in a way so contrary to +what the public interests seemed to demand. But since it appeared to her +otherwise, he should acquiesce, and only hoped that the same end might +be attained by the continuance of their friendship.[262] With all this +philosophy, we may well believe that, with a character like that of +Philip, some bitterness must have remained in the heart; and that, very +probably, feelings of a personal nature mingled with those of a +political in the long hostilities which he afterwards carried on with +the English queen. + +In the month of February, the conferences for the treaty of peace had +been resumed, and the place of meeting changed from the abbey of +Cercamps to Cateau-Cambresis. The negotiations were urged forward with +greater earnestness than before, as both the monarchs were more sorely +pressed by their necessities. Philip, in particular, was so largely in +arrears to his army, that he frankly told his ministers "he was on the +brink of ruin, from which nothing but a peace could save him."[263] It +might be supposed that, in this state of things, he would be placed in a +disadvantageous attitude for arranging terms with his adversary. But +Philip and his ministers put the best face possible on their affairs, +affecting a confidence in their resources, before their allies as well +as their enemies, which they were far from feeling; like some +half-famished garrison, which makes a brave show of its scanty stock of +supplies, in order to win better terms from the besiegers.[264] + +All the difficulties were at length cleared away, except the vexed +question of Calais. The English queen, it was currently said in the +camp, would cut off the head of any minister who abandoned it. Mary, the +young queen of Scots, had just been married to the French dauphin, +afterwards Francis the Second. It was proposed that the eldest daughter +born of this union should be united to the eldest son of Elizabeth, and +bring with her Calais as a dowry. In this way, the place would be +restored to England without dishonor to France.[265] Such were the wild +expedients to which the parties resorted in the hope of extricating +themselves from their embarrassment! + +At length, seeing the absolute necessity of bringing the matter to an +issue, Philip ordered the Spanish plenipotentiaries to write his final +instructions to Feria, his minister in London. The envoy was authorized +to say, that, although England had lost Calais through her own +negligence, yet Philip would stand faithfully by her for the recovery of +it. But, on the other hand, she must be prepared to support him with her +whole strength by land and by sea, and that not for a single campaign, +but for the war so long as it lasted. The government should ponder well +whether the prize would be worth the cost. Feria must bring the matter +home to the queen, and lead her, if possible, to the desired conclusion; +but so that she might appear to come to it by her own suggestion rather +than by his. The responsibility must be left with her.[266] The letter +of the plenipotentiaries, which is a very long one, is a model in its +way, and shows that, in some particulars, the science of diplomacy has +gained little since the sixteenth century. + +Elizabeth needed no argument to make her weary of a war which hung like +a dark cloud on the morning of her reign. Her disquietude had been +increased by the fact of Scotland having become a party to the war; and +hostilities, with little credit to that country, had broken out along +the borders. Her own kingdom was in no condition to allow her to make +the extraordinary efforts demanded by Philip. Yet it was plain if she +did not make them, or consent to come into the treaty, she must be left +to carry on the war by herself. Under these circumstances, the English +government at last consented to an arrangement, which, if it did not +save Calais, so far saved appearances that it might satisfy the nation. +It was agreed that Calais should be restored at the end of eight years. +If France failed to do this, she was to pay five hundred thousand crowns +to England, whose claims to Calais would not, however, be affected by +such a payment. Should either of the parties, or their subjects, during +that period, do anything in contravention of this treaty, or in +violation of the peace between the two countries, the offending party +should forfeit all claim to the disputed territory.[267] It was not very +probable that eight years would elapse without affording some plausible +pretext to France, under such a provision, for keeping her hold on +Calais. + +The treaty with England was signed on the second of April, 1559. On the +day following was signed that between France and Spain. By the +provisions of this treaty, the allies of Philip, Savoy, Mantua, Genoa, +were reinstated in the possession of the territories of which they had +been stripped in the first years of the war. Four or five places of +importance in Savoy were alone reserved, to be held as guaranties by the +French king, until his claim to the inheritance of that kingdom was +determined. + +The conquests made by Philip in Picardy were to be exchanged for those +gained by the French in Italy and the Netherlands. The exchange was +greatly for the benefit of Philip. In the time of Charles the Fifth, the +Spanish arms had experienced some severe reverses, and the king now +received more than two hundred towns in return for the five places he +held in Picardy.[268] + +[Sidenote: TREATY OF CATEAU-CAMBRESIS.] + +Terms so disadvantageous to France roused the indignation of the duke of +Guise, who told Henry plainly, that a stroke of his pen would cost the +country more than thirty years of war. "Give me the poorest of the +places you are to surrender," said he, "and I will undertake to hold it +against all the armies of Spain!"[269] But Henry sighed for peace, and +for the return of his friend, the constable. He affected much deference +to the opinions of the duke. But he wrote to Montmorency that the Guises +were at their old tricks,[270]--and he ratified the treaty. + +The day on which the plenipotentiaries of the three great powers had +completed their work, they went in solemn procession to the church, and +returned thanks to the Almighty for the happy consummation of their +labors. The treaty was then made public; and, notwithstanding the +unfavorable import of the terms to France, the peace, if we except some +ambitious spirits, who would have found their account in the continuance +of hostilities, was welcomed with joy by the whole nation. In this +sentiment all the parties to the war participated. The more remote, like +Spain, rejoiced to be delivered from a contest which made such large +drains on their finances; while France had an additional reason for +desiring peace, now that her own territory had become the theatre of +war. + +The reputation which Philip had acquired by his campaigns was greatly +heightened by the result of his negotiations. The whole course of these +negotiations--long and intricate as it was--is laid open to us in the +correspondence fortunately preserved among the papers of Granvelle; and +the student who explores these pages may probably rise from them with +the conviction that the Spanish plenipotentiaries showed an address, a +knowledge of the men they had to deal with, and a consummate policy, in +which neither their French nor English rivals were a match for them. The +negotiation all passed under the eyes of Philip. Every move in the game, +if not by his suggestion, had been made at least with his sanction. The +result placed him in honorable contrast to Henry the Second, who, while +Philip had stood firmly by his allies, had, in his eagerness for peace, +abandoned those of France to their fate. + +The early campaigns of Philip had wiped away the disgrace caused by the +closing campaigns of Charles the Fifth; and by the treaty he had +negotiated, the number of towns which he lost was less than that of +provinces which he gained.[271] Thus he had shown himself as skilful in +counsel as he had been successful in the field. Victorious in Picardy +and in Naples, he had obtained the terms of a victor from the king of +France, and humbled the arrogance of Rome, in a war to which he had been +driven in self-defence.[272] Faithful to his allies and formidable to +his foes, there was probably no period of Philip's life in which he +possessed so much real consideration in the eyes of Europe, as at the +time of signing the treaty of Cateau-Cambresis. + +In order to cement the union between the different powers, and to +conciliate the good-will of the French nation to the treaty by giving it +somewhat of the air of a marriage contract, it was proposed that an +alliance should take place between the royal houses of France and Spain. +It was first arranged that the hand of Henry's daughter, the Princess +Elizabeth, should be given to Carlos, the son and heir of Philip. The +parties were of nearly the same age, being each about fourteen years +old. Now that all prospect of the English match had vanished, it was +thought to be a greater compliment to the French to substitute the +father for the son, the monarch himself for the heir apparent, in the +marriage treaty. The disparity of years between Philip and Elizabeth was +not such as to present any serious objection. The proposition was said +to have come from the French negotiators. The Spanish envoys replied, +that, notwithstanding their master's repugnance to entering again into +wedlock, yet, from his regard to the French monarch, and his desire for +the public weal, he would consent to waive his scruples, and accept the +hand of the French princess, with the same dowry which had been promised +to his son Don Carlos.[273] + +Queen Elizabeth seems to have been not a little piqued by the +intelligence that Philip had so soon consoled himself for the failure of +his suit to her. "Your master," said she, in a petulant tone, to Feria, +"must have been much in love with me not to be able to wait four +months!" The ambassador answered somewhat bluntly, by throwing the blame +of the affair on the queen herself. "Not so," she retorted, "I never +gave your king a decided answer." "True," said Feria, "the refusal was +only implied, for I would not urge your highness to a downright 'No,' +lest it might prove a cause of offence between so great princes."[274] + +In June, 1559, the duke of Alva entered France for the purpose of +claiming the royal bride, and espousing her in the name of his master. +He was accompanied by Ruy Gomez, count of Melito,--better known by his +title of prince of Eboli,--by the prince of Orange, the Count Egmont, +and other noblemen, whose high rank and character might give lustre to +the embassy. He was received in great state by Henry, who, with his +whole court, seemed anxious to show to the envoy every mark of respect +that could testify their satisfaction with the object of his mission. +The duke displayed all the stately demeanor of a true Spanish hidalgo. +Although he conformed to the French usage by saluting the ladies of the +court, he declined taking this liberty with his future queen, or +covering himself, as repeatedly urged, in her presence,--a piece of +punctilio greatly admired by the French, as altogether worthy of the +noble Castilian breeding.[275] + +[Sidenote: DEATH OF HENRY THE SECOND.] + +On the twenty-fourth of June, the marriage of the young princess was +celebrated in the church of St. Mary. King Henry gave his daughter away. +The duke of Alva acted as his sovereign's proxy. At the conclusion of +the ceremony, the prince of Eboli placed on the finger of the princess, +as a memento from her lord, a diamond ring of inestimable value; and the +beautiful Elizabeth, the destined bride of Don Carlos, became the bride +of the king his father. It was an ominous union, destined, in its +mysterious consequences, to supply a richer theme for the pages of +romance than for those of history. + +The wedding was followed by a succession of brilliant entertainments, +the chief of which was the tournament,--the most splendid pageant of +that spectacle-loving age. Henry was, at that time, busily occupied with +the work of exterminating the Protestant heresy, which, as already +noticed, had begun to gather formidable head in the capital of his +dominions.[276] On the evening of the fifteenth of June, he attended a +session of the parliament, and arrested some of its principal members +for the boldness of their speech in his presence. He ordered them into +confinement, deferring their sentence till the termination of the +engrossing business of the tourney. + +The king delighted in these martial exercises, in which he could display +his showy person and matchless horsemanship in the presence of the +assembled beauty and fashion of his court.[277] He fully maintained his +reputation on this occasion, carrying off one prize after another, and +bearing down all who encountered his lance. Towards evening, when the +games had drawn to a close, he observed the young count of Montgomery, a +Scotch noble, the captain of his guard, leaning on his lance, as yet +unbroken. The king challenged the cavalier to run a course with him for +his lady's sake. In vain the queen, with a melancholy boding of some +disaster, besought her lord to remain content with the laurels he had +already won. Henry obstinately urged his fate, and compelled the count, +though extremely loth, to take the saddle. The champions met with a +furious shock in the middle of the lists. Montgomery was a rude jouster. +He directed his lance with such force against the helmet of his +antagonist, that the bars of the visor gave way. The lance splintered; a +fragment struck the king with such violence on the temple as to lay bare +the eye. The unhappy monarch reeled in his saddle, and would have fallen +but for the assistance of the constable, the duke of Guise, and other +nobles, who bore him in their arms senseless from the lists. Henry's +wound was mortal. He lingered ten days in great agony, and expired on +the ninth of July, in the forty-second year of his age, and the +thirteenth of his reign. It was an ill augury for the nuptials of +Elizabeth.[278] + +The tidings of the king's death were received with demonstrations of +sorrow throughout the kingdom. He had none of those solid qualities +which make either a great or a good prince. But he had the showy +qualities which are perhaps more effectual to secure the affections of a +people as fond of show as the nation whom Henry governed.[279] There +were others in the kingdom, however,--that growing sect of the +Huguenots,--who looked on the monarch's death with very different +eyes,--who rejoiced in it as a deliverance from persecution. They had +little cause to rejoice. The sceptre passed into the hands of a line of +imbecile princes, or rather of their mother, the famous Catherine de +Medicis, who reigned in their stead, and who ultimately proved herself +the most merciless foe the Huguenots ever encountered. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +LATTER DAYS OF CHARLES THE FIFTH. + +Charles at Yuste.--His Mode of Life.--Interest in Public +Affairs.--Celebrates his Obsequies.--Last Illness.--Death and Character. + +1556-1558. + + +While the occurrences related in the preceding chapter were passing, an +event took place which, had it happened earlier, would have had an +important influence on the politics of Europe, and the news of which, +when it did happen, was everywhere received with the greatest interest. +This event was the death of the Emperor Charles the Fifth, in his +monastic retreat at Yuste. In the earlier pages of our narrative, we +have seen how that monarch, after his abdication of the throne, withdrew +to the Jeronymite convent among the hills of Estremadura. The reader may +now feel some interest in following him thither, and in observing in +what manner he accommodated himself to the change, and passed the +closing days of his eventful life. The picture I am enabled to give of +it will differ in some respects from those of former historians, who +wrote when the Archives of Simancas, which afford the most authentic +records for the narrative, were inaccessible to the scholar, native as +well as foreign.[280] + +[Sidenote: CHARLES AT YUSTE.] + +Charles, as we have seen, had early formed the determination to +relinquish at some future time the cares of royalty, and devote +himself, in some lonely retreat to the good work of his salvation. His +consort, the Empress Isabella, as appears from his own statement at +Yuste, had avowed the same pious purpose.[281] She died, however, too +early to execute her plan; and Charles was too much occupied with his +ambitious enterprises to accomplish his object until the autumn of 1555, +when, broken in health and spirits, and disgusted with the world, he +resigned the sceptre he had held for forty years, and withdrew to a life +of obscurity and repose. + +The spot he had selected for his residence was situated about seven +leagues from the city of Plasencia, on the slopes of the mountain chain +that traverses the province of Estremadura. There, nestling among the +rugged hills, clothed with thick woods of chestnut and oak, the +Jeronymite convent was sheltered from the rude breezes of the north. +Towards the south, the land sloped by a gradual declivity, till it +terminated in a broad expanse, the _Vera_ of Plasencia, as it was +called, which, fertilized by the streams of the sierra, contrasted +strongly in its glowing vegetation with the wild character of the +mountain scenery. It was a spot well fitted for such as would withdraw +themselves from commerce with the world, and consecrate their days to +prayer and holy meditation. The Jeronymite fraternity had prospered in +this peaceful abode. Many of the monks had acquired reputation for +sanctity, and some of them for learning, the fruits of which might be +seen in a large collection of manuscripts preserved in the library of +the monastery. Benefactions were heaped on the brotherhood. They became +proprietors of considerable tracts of land in the neighborhood, and they +liberally employed their means in dispensing alms to the poor who sought +it at the gate of the convent. Not long before Charles took up his +residence among them, they had enlarged their building by an extensive +quadrangle, which displayed some architectural elegance in the +construction of its cloisters. + +Three years before the emperor repaired thither, he sent a skilful +architect to provide such accommodations as he had designed for himself. +These were very simple. A small building, containing eight rooms, four +on each floor, was raised against the southern wall of the monastery. +The rooms were low, and of a moderate size. They were protected by +porticos, which sheltered them on two sides from the rays of the sun, +while an open gallery, which passed through the centre of the house, +afforded means for its perfect ventilation. But Charles, with his gouty +constitution, was more afraid of the cold damps than of heat; and he +took care to have the apartments provided with fire-places, a luxury +little known in this temperate region. + +A window opened from his chamber directly into the chapel of the +monastery; and through this, when confined to his bed, and too ill to +attend mass, he could see the elevation of the host. The furniture of +the dwelling--according to an authority usually followed--was of the +simplest kind; and Charles, we are told, took no better care of his +gouty limbs than to provide himself with an arm-chair, or rather half a +chair, which would not have brought four reals at auction.[282] The +inventory of the furniture of Yuste tells a very different story. +Instead of "half an arm-chair," we find, besides other chairs lined with +velvet, two arm-chairs especially destined to the emperor's service. One +of these was of a peculiar construction, and was accommodated with no +less than six cushions and a footstool, for the repose of his gouty +limbs. His wardrobe showed a similar attention to his personal comfort. +For one item we find no less than sixteen robes of silk and velvet, +lined with ermine or eider-down, or the soft hair of the Barbary goat. +The decorations of his apartment were on not merely a comfortable, but a +luxurious scale;--canopies of velvet; carpets from Turkey and Alcaraz; +suits of tapestry, of which twenty-five pieces are specified, richly +wrought with figures of flowers and animals. Twelve hangings, of the +finest black cloth, were for the emperor's bed-chamber, which, since his +mother's death, had been always dressed in mourning. Among the ornaments +of his rooms were four large clocks of elaborate workmanship. He had +besides a number of pocket-watches, then a greater rarity than at +present. He was curious in regard to his timepieces, and took care to +provide for their regularity by bringing the manufacturer of them in his +train to Yuste. Charles was served on silver. Even the meanest utensils +for his kitchen and his sleeping apartment were of the same costly +material, amounting to nearly fourteen thousand ounces in weight.[283] + +The inventory contains rather a meagre show of books, which were for the +most part of a devotional character. But Charles's love of art was +visible in a small but choice collection of paintings, which he brought +with him to adorn the walls of his retreat. Nine of these were from the +pencil of Titian. Charles held the works of the great Venetian in the +highest honor, and was desirous that by his hand his likeness should be +transmitted to posterity. The emperor had brought with him to Yuste four +portraits of himself and the empress by Titian; and among the other +pieces by the same master were some of his best pictures. One of these +was the famous "Gloria," in which Charles and the empress appear, in the +midst of the celestial throng, supported by angels, and in an attitude +of humble adoration.[284] He had the painting hung at the foot of his +bed, or according to another account, over the great altar in the +chapel. It is said, he would gaze long and fondly on this picture, which +filled him with the most tender recollections; and as he dwelt on the +image of one who had been so dear to him on earth, he may have looked +forward to his reunion with her in the heavenly mansions, as the artist +had here depicted him.[285] + +[Sidenote: CHARLES AT YUSTE.] + +A stairway, or rather an inclined plane, suited to the weakness of +Charles's limbs, led from the gallery of his house to the gardens below. +These were surrounded by a high wall, which completely secluded him from +observation from without. The garden was filled with orange, citron, and +fig trees, and various aromatic plants that grew luxuriantly in the +genial soil. The emperor had a taste for horticulture, and took much +pleasure in tending the young plants and pruning his trees. His garden +afforded him also the best means for taking exercise; and in fine +weather he would walk along an avenue of lofty chestnut-trees, that led +to a pretty chapel in the neighboring woods, the ruins of which may be +seen at this day. Among the trees, one is pointed out,--an overgrown +walnut, still throwing its shade far and wide over the ground,--under +whose branches the pensive monarch would sit and meditate on the dim +future, or perhaps on the faded glories of the past. + +Charles had once been the most accomplished horseman of his time. He had +brought with him to Yuste a pony and a mule, in the hope of being able +to get some exercise in the saddle. But the limbs that had bestrode day +after day, without fatigue, the heavy war-horse of Flanders and the +wildest genet of Andalusia, were unable now to endure the motion of a +poor palfrey; and, after a solitary experiment in the saddle on his +arrival at Yuste, when he nearly fainted, he abandoned it for ever.[286] + +There are few spots that might now be visited with more interest, than +that which the great emperor had selected as his retreat from the thorny +cares of government. And until within a few years the traveller would +have received from the inmates of the convent the same hospitable +welcome which they had always been ready to give to the stranger. But in +1809 the place was sacked by the French; and the fierce soldiery of +Soult converted the pile, with its venerable cloisters, into a heap of +blackened ruins. Even the collection of manuscripts, piled up with so +much industry by the brethren, did not escape the general doom. The +_palace_ of the emperor, as the simple monks loved to call his dwelling, +had hardly a better fate, though it came from the hands of Charles's own +countrymen, the liberals of Cuacos. By these patriots the lower floor of +the mansion was turned into stables for their horses. The rooms above +were used as magazines for grain. The mulberry-leaves were gathered from +the garden to furnish material for the silkworm, who was permitted to +wind his cocoon in the deserted chambers of royalty. Still the great +features of nature remain the same as in Charles's day. The bald peaks +of the sierra still rise above the ruins of the monastery. The shaggy +sides of the hills still wear their wild forest drapery. Far below, the +eye of the traveller ranges over the beautiful _Vera_ of Plasencia, +which glows in the same exuberant vegetation as of yore; and the +traveller, as he wanders among the ruined porticos and desolate arcades +of the palace, drinks in the odors of a thousand aromatic plants and +wild-flowers that have shot up into a tangled wilderness, where once was +the garden of the imperial recluse.[287] + +Charles, though borne across the mountains in a litter, had suffered +greatly in his long and laborious journey from Valladolid. He passed +some time in the neighboring village of Xarandilla, and thence, after +taking leave of the greater part of his weeping retinue, he proceeded +with the remainder to the monastery of Yuste. It was on the third of +February, 1557, that he entered the abode which was to prove his final +resting-place.[288] The monks of Yuste had been much flattered by the +circumstance of Charles having shown such a preference for their +convent. As he entered the chapel, Te Deum was chanted by the whole +brotherhood; and when the emperor had prostrated himself before the +altar, the monks gathered round him, anxious to pay him their respectful +obeisance. Charles received them graciously, and, after examining his +quarters, professed himself well pleased with the accommodations +prepared for him. His was not a fickle temper. Slow in forming his +plans, he was slower in changing them. To the last day of his residence +at Yuste,--whatever may have been said to the contrary,--he seems to +have been well satisfied with the step he had taken and with the spot he +had selected. + +[Sidenote: HIS MODE OF LIFE.] + +From the first, he prepared to conform, as far as his health would +permit, to the religious observances of the monastery. Not that he +proposed to limit himself to the narrow circumstances of an ordinary +friar. The number of his retinue that still remained with him was at +least fifty, mostly Flemings;[289] a number not greater, certainly, than +that maintained by many a private gentleman of the country. But among +these we recognize those officers of state who belong more properly to a +princely establishment than to the cell of the recluse. There was the +major-domo, the almoner, the keeper of the wardrobe, the keeper of the +jewels, the chamberlains, two watchmakers, several secretaries, the +physician, the confessor, besides cooks, confectioners, bakers, brewers, +game-keepers, and numerous valets. Some of these followers seem not to +have been quite so content as their master with their secluded way of +life, and to have cast many a longing look to the pomps and vanities of +the world they had left behind them. At least such were the feelings of +Quixada, the emperor's major-domo, in whom he placed the greatest +confidence, and who had the charge of his household. "His majesty's +bedroom," writes the querulous functionary, "is good enough; but the +view from it is poor,--barren mountains, covered with rocks and stunted +oaks; a garden of moderate size, with a few straggling orange-trees; the +roads scarcely passable, so steep and stony; the only water, a torrent +rushing from the mountains; a dreary solitude!" The low, cheerless +rooms, he predicts, must necessarily be damp, boding no good to the +emperor's infirmity.[290] "As to the friars," observes the secretary, +Gaztelu, in the same amiable mood, "please God that his majesty may be +able to tolerate them,--which will be no easy matter; for they are an +importunate race."[291] It is evident that Charles's followers would +have been very willing to exchange the mortifications of the monastic +life for the good cheer and gaiety of Brussels. + +The worthy prior of the convent, in addressing Charles, greeted him with +the title of _paternidad_, till one of the fraternity suggested to him +the propriety of substituting that of _magestad_.[292] Indeed, to this +title Charles had good right, for he was still emperor. His resignation +of the imperial crown, which, as we have seen, so soon followed that of +the Spanish, had not taken effect, in consequence of the diet not being +in session at the time when his envoy, the prince of Orange, was to have +presented himself at Ratisbon, in the spring of 1557. The war with +France made Philip desirous that his father should remain lord of +Germany for some time longer. It was not, therefore, until more than a +year after Charles's arrival at Yuste, that the resignation was accepted +by the diet, at Frankfort, on the twenty-eighth of February, 1558. +Charles was still emperor, and continued to receive the imperial title +in all his correspondence.[293] + +We have pretty full accounts of the manner in which the monarch employed +his time. He attended mass every morning in the chapel, when his health +permitted. Mass was followed by dinner, which he took early and alone, +preferring this to occupying a seat in the refectory of the convent. He +was fond of carving for himself, though his gouty fingers were not +always in the best condition for this exercise.[294] His physician was +usually in attendance during the repast, and might, at least, observe +how little his patient, who had not the virtue of abstinence, regarded +his prescriptions. The Fleming, Van Male, the emperor's favorite +gentleman of the chamber, was also not unfrequently present. He was a +good scholar; and his discussions with the doctor served to beguile the +tediousness of their master's solitary meal. The conversation frequently +turned on some subject of natural history, of which the emperor was +fond; and when the parties could not agree, the confessor, a man of +learning, was called in to settle the dispute. + +After dinner,--an important meal, which occupied much time with +Charles,--he listened to some passages from a favorite theologian. In +his worldly days, the book he most affected is said to have been +Comines's Life of Louis the Eleventh,[295]--a prince whose maxim, "_Qui +nescit dissimulare, nescit regnare_," was too well suited to the genius +of the emperor. He now, however, sought a safer guide for his spiritual +direction, and would listen to a homily from the pages of St. Bernard, +or more frequently St. Augustine, in whom he most delighted.[296] +Towards evening, he heard a sermon from one of his preachers. Three or +four of the most eloquent of the Jeronymite order had been brought to +Yuste for his especial benefit. When he was not in condition to be +present at the discourse, he expected to hear a full report of it from +the lips of his confessor, Father Juan de Regla. Charles was punctual in +his attention to all the great fasts and festivals of the Church. His +infirmities, indeed, excused him from fasting, but he made up for it by +the severity of his flagellation. In Lent, in particular, he dealt with +himself so sternly, that the scourge was found stained with his blood; +and this precious memorial of his piety was ever cherished, we are told, +by Philip, and by him bequeathed as an heirloom to his son.[297] + +Increasing vigilance in his own spiritual concerns made him more +vigilant as to those of others,--as the weaker brethren sometimes found +to their cost. Observing that some of the younger friars spent more time +than was seemly in conversing with the women who came on business to the +door of the convent, Charles procured an order to be passed, that any +woman who ventured to approach within two bowshots of the gate should +receive a hundred stripes.[298] On another occasion, his officious +endeavor to quicken the diligence of one of the younger members of the +fraternity _is said_ to have provoked the latter testily to exclaim, +"Cannot you be contented with having so long turned the world upside +down, without coming here to disturb the quiet of a poor convent?" + +[Sidenote: HIS MODE OF LIFE.] + +He derived an additional pleasure, in his spiritual exercises, from his +fondness for music, which enters so largely into those of the Romish +Church. He sung well himself, and his clear, sonorous voice might often +be heard through the open casement of his bedroom, accompanying the +chant of the monks in the chapel. The choir was made up altogether of +brethren of the order, and Charles would allow no intrusion from any +other quarter. His ear was quick to distinguish any strange voice, as +well as any false note in the performance,--on which last occasion he +would sometimes pause in his devotions, and, in half-suppressed tones, +give vent to his anger by one of those scurrilous epithets, which, +however they may have fallen in with the habits of the old campaigner, +were but indifferently suited to his present way of life.[299] + +Such time as was not given to his religious exercises was divided among +various occupations, for which he had always had a relish, though +hitherto but little leisure to pursue them. Besides his employments in +his garden, he had a decided turn for mechanical pursuits. Some years +before, while in Germany, he had invented an ingenious kind of carriage +for his own accommodation.[300] He brought with him to Yuste an engineer +named Torriano, famous for the great hydraulic works he constructed in +Toledo. With the assistance of this man, a most skilful mechanician, +Charles amused himself by making a variety of puppets representing +soldiers, who went through military exercises. The historian draws +largely on our faith, by telling us also of little wooden birds which +the ingenious pair contrived, so as to fly in and out of the window +before the admiring monks![301] But nothing excited their astonishment +so much as a little hand-mill, used for grinding wheat, which turned out +meal enough in a single day to support a man for a week or more. The +good fathers thought this savored of downright necromancy; and it may +have furnished an argument against the unfortunate engineer in the +persecution which he afterwards underwent from the Inquisition. + +Charles took, moreover, great interest in the mechanism of timepieces. +He had a good number of clocks and watches ticking together in his +apartments; and a story has obtained credit, that the difficulty he +found in making any two of them keep the same time drew from him an +exclamation on the folly of attempting to bring a number of men to think +alike in matters of religion, when he could not regulate any two of his +timepieces so as to make them agree with each other; a philosophical +reflection for which one will hardly give credit to the man who, with +his dying words, could press on his son the maintenance of the +Inquisition as the great bulwark of the Catholic faith. In the gardens +of Yuste there is still, or was lately, to be seen, a sun-dial +constructed by Torriano to enable his master to measure more accurately +the lapse of time as it glided away in the monotonous routine of the +monastery.[302] + +Though averse to visits of curiosity or idle ceremony,[303] Charles +consented to admit some of the nobles whose estates lay in the +surrounding country, and who, with feelings of loyal attachment to their +ancient master, were anxious to pay their respects to him in his +retirement. But none who found their way into his retreat appear to have +given him so much satisfaction as Francisco Borja, duke of Gandia, in +later times placed on the roll of her saints by the Roman Catholic +Church. Like Charles, he had occupied a brilliant eminence in the world, +and like him had found the glory of this world but vanity. In the prime +of life, he withdrew from the busy scenes in which he had acted, and +entered a college of Jesuits. By the emperor's invitation, Borja made +more than one visit to Yuste; and Charles found much consolation in his +society, and in conversing with his early friend on topics of engrossing +interest to both. The result of their conferences was to confirm them +both in the conviction, that they had done wisely in abjuring the world, +and in dedicating themselves to the service of Heaven. + +The emperor was also visited by his two sisters, the dowager queens of +France and Hungary, who had accompanied their brother, as we have seen, +on his return to Spain. But the travelling was too rough, and the +accommodations at Yuste too indifferent, to encourage the royal matrons +to prolong their stay, or, with one exception on the part of the queen +of Hungary, to repeat their visit. + +But an object of livelier interest to the emperor than either of his +sisters was a boy, scarcely twelve years of age, who resided in the +family of his major-domo, Quixada, in the neighboring village of Cuacos. +This was Don John of Austria, as he was afterwards called, the future +hero of Lepanto. He was the natural son of Charles, a fact known to no +one during the father's lifetime, except Quixada, who introduced the boy +into the convent as his own page. The lad, at this early age, showed +many gleams of that generous spirit by which he was afterwards +distinguished,--thus solacing the declining years of his parent, and +affording a hold for those affections which might have withered in the +cold atmosphere of the cloister. + +Strangers were sure to be well received who, coming from the theatre of +war, could furnish the information he so much desired respecting the +condition of things abroad. Thus we find him in conference with an +officer arrived from the Low Countries, named Spinosa, and putting a +multitude of questions respecting the state of the army, the +organization and equipment of the different corps, and other +particulars, showing the lively interest taken by Charles in the conduct +of the campaign.[304] + +[Sidenote: HIS INTEREST IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS.] + +It has been a common opinion, that the emperor, after his retirement to +Yuste, remained as one buried alive, totally cut off from intercourse +with the world;--"as completely withdrawn from the business of the +kingdom and the concerns of government," says one of his biographers, +"as if he had never taken part in them;"[305]--"so entirely abstracted +in his solitude," says another contemporary, "that neither revolutions +nor wars, nor gold arriving in heaps from the Indies, had any power to +affect his tranquillity."[306] + +So far from this being the case, that not only did the emperor continue +to show an interest in public affairs, but he took a prominent part, +even from the depths of his retreat, in the management of them.[307] +Philip, who had the good sense to defer to the long experience and the +wisdom of his father, consulted him, constantly, on great questions of +public policy. And so far was he from the feeling of jealousy often +imputed to him, that we find him on one occasion, when the horizon +looked particularly, dark, imploring the emperor to leave his retreat, +and to aid him not only by his counsels, but by his presence and +authority.[308] The emperor's daughter Joanna, regent of Castile, from +her residence at Valladolid, only fifty leagues from Yuste, maintained a +constant correspondence with her father, soliciting his advice in the +conduct of the government. However much Charles may have felt himself +relieved from responsibility for measures, he seems to have been as +anxious for the success of Philip's administration as if it had been his +own. "Write more fully," says one of his secretaries in a letter to the +secretary of the regent's council; "the emperor is always eager to hear +more particulars of events."[309] He showed the deepest concern in the +conduct of the Italian war. He betrayed none of the scruples manifested +by Philip, but boldly declared that the war with the pope was a just +war, in the sight of both God and man.[310] When letters came from +abroad, he was even heard to express his regret that they brought no +tidings of Paul's death, or Caraffa's![311] He was sorely displeased +with the truce which Alva granted to the pontiff, intimating a regret +that he had not the reins still in his own hand. He was yet more +discontented with the peace, and the terms of it, both public and +private; and when Alva talked of leaving Naples, his anger, as his +secretary quaintly remarks, was "more than was good for his +health."[312] + +The same interest he showed in the French war. The loss of Calais filled +him with the deepest anxiety. But in his letters on the occasion, +instead of wasting his time in idle lament, he seems intent only on +devising in what way he can best serve Philip in his distress.[313] In +the same proportion he was elated by the tidings of the victory of St. +Quentin. His thoughts turned upon Paris, and he was eager to learn what +road his son had taken after the battle.[314] According to Brantome, on +hearing the news, he abruptly asked, "Is Philip at Paris?"--He judged of +Philip's temper by his own.[315] + +At another time, we find him conducting negotiations with Navarre;[316] +and then, again, carrying on a correspondence with his sister, the +regent of Portugal, for the purpose of having his grandson, Carlos, +recognized as heir to the crown, in case of the death of the young king, +his cousin. The scheme failed, for it would be as much as her life was +worth, the regent said, to engage in it. But it was a bold one, that of +bringing under the same sceptre these two nations, which, by community +of race, language, and institutions, would seem by nature to have been +designed for one. It was Charles's comprehensive idea; and it proves +that, even in the cloister, the spirit of ambition had not become +extinct in his bosom. How much would it have rejoiced that ambitious +spirit, could he have foreseen that the consummation so much desired by +him would be attained under Philip![317] + +[Sidenote: HIS INTEREST IN PUBLIC AFFAIRS.] + +But the department which especially engaged Charles's attention in his +retirement, singularly enough, was the financial. "It has been my +constant care," he writes to Philip, "in all my letters to your sister, +to urge the necessity of providing you with funds,--since I can be of +little service to you in any other way."[318] His interposition, indeed, +seems to have been constantly invoked to raise supplies for carrying on +the war. This fact may be thought to show that those writers are +mistaken who accuse Philip of withholding from his father the means of +maintaining a suitable establishment at Yuste. Charles, in truth, +settled the amount of his own income; and in one of his letters we find +him fixing this at twenty thousand ducats, instead of sixteen thousand, +as before, to be paid quarterly and in advance.[319] That the payments +were not always punctually made may well be believed, in a country where +punctuality would have been a miracle. + +Charles had more cause for irritation in the conduct of some of those +functionaries with whom he had to deal in his financial capacity. +Nothing appears to have stirred his bile so much at Yuste as the +proceedings of some members of the board of trade at Seville. "I have +deferred sending to you," he writes to his daughter, the regent, "in +order to see if, with time, my wrath would not subside. But, far from +it, it increases, and will go on increasing till I learn that those who +have done wrong have atoned for it. Were it not for my infirmities," he +adds, "I would go to Seville myself, and find out the authors of this +villany, and bring them to a summary reckoning."[320] "The emperor +orders me," writes his secretary, Gaztelu, "to command that the +offenders be put in irons, and in order to mortify them the more, that +they be carried, in broad daylight, to Simancas, and there lodged, not +in towers or chambers, but in a dungeon. Indeed, such is his +indignation, and such are the _violent and bloodthirsty expressions_ he +commands me to use, that you will pardon me if my language is not so +temperate as it might be."[321] It had been customary for the board of +trade to receive the gold imported from the Indies, whether on public or +private account, and hold it for the use of the government, paying to +the merchants interested an equivalent in government bonds. The +merchants, naturally enough, not relishing this kind of security so well +as the gold, by a collusion with some of the members of the board of +trade, had been secretly allowed to remove their own property. In this +way the government was defrauded--as the emperor regarded it--of a large +sum on which it had calculated. This, it would seem, was the offence +which had roused the royal indignation to such a pitch. Charles's +phlegmatic temperament had ever been liable to be ruffled by these +sudden gusts of passion; and his conventual life does not seem to have +had any very sedative influence on him in this particular. + +For the first ten months after his arrival at Yuste, the emperor's +health, under the influence of a temperate climate, the quiet of +monastic life, and more than all, probably, his exemption from the cares +of state, had generally improved.[322] His attacks of gout had been less +frequent and less severe than before. But in the spring of 1558, the old +malady returned with renewed violence. "I was not in a condition," he +writes to Philip, "to listen to a single sermon during Lent."[323] For +months he was scarcely able to write a line with his own hand. His +spirits felt the pressure of bodily suffering, and were still further +depressed by the death of his sister Eleanor, the queen-dowager of +France and Portugal, which took place in February, 1558. + +A strong attachment seems to have subsisted between the emperor and his +two sisters. Queen Eleanor's sweetness of disposition had particularly +endeared her to her brother, who now felt her loss almost as keenly as +that of one of his own children. "She was a good Christian," he said to +his secretary, Gaztelu; and, as the tears rolled down his cheeks, he +added, "We have always loved each other. She was my elder by fifteen +months; and before that period has passed I shall probably be with +her."[324] Before half that period, the sad augury was fulfilled. + +At this period--as we shall see hereafter--the attention of the +government was called to the Lutheran heresy, which had already begun to +disclose itself in various quarters of the country. Charles was +possessed of a full share of the spirit of bigotry which belonged to the +royal line of Castile, from which he was descended. While on the throne, +this feeling was held somewhat in check by a regard for his political +interests. But in the seclusion of the monastery he had no interests to +consult but those of religion; and he gave free scope to the spirit of +intolerance which belonged to his nature. In a letter addressed, the +third of May, 1558, to his daughter Joanna, he says: "Tell the +grand-inquisitor from me to be at his post, and lay the axe at the root +of the evil before it spreads further. I rely on your zeal for bringing +the guilty to punishment, and for having them punished, without favor to +any one, with all the severity which their crimes demand."[325] In +another letter to his daughter, three weeks later, he writes: "If I had +not entire confidence that you would do your duty, and arrest the evil +at once by chastising the guilty in good earnest, I know not how I +could help leaving the monastery, and taking the remedy into my own +hands."[326] Thus did Charles make his voice heard from his retreat +among the mountains, and by his efforts and influence render himself +largely responsible for the fiery persecution which brought woe upon the +land after he himself had gone to his account. + +[Sidenote: HE CELEBRATES HIS OBSEQUIES.] + +About the middle of August, the emperor's old enemy, the gout, returned +on him with uncommon force. It was attended with symptoms of an alarming +kind, intimating, indeed, that his strong constitution was giving way. +These were attributed to a cold which he had taken, though it seems +there was good reason for imputing them to his intemperate living; for +he still continued to indulge his appetite for the most dangerous +dishes, as freely as in the days when a more active way of life had +better enabled him to digest them. It is true, the physician stood by +his side, as prompt as Sancho Panza's doctor, in his island domain, to +remonstrate against his master's proceedings. But, unhappily, he was not +armed with the authority of that functionary; and an eel-pie, a +well-spiced capon, or any other savory abomination, offered too great a +fascination for Charles to heed the warnings of his physician. + +The declining state of the emperor's health may have inspired him with a +presentiment of his approaching end, to which, we have seen, he gave +utterrance some time before this, in his conversation with Gaztelu. It +may have been the sober reflections which such a feeling would naturally +suggest that led him, at the close of the month of August, to conceive +the extraordinary idea of preparing for the final scene by rehearsing +his own funeral. He consulted his professor on the subject, and was +encouraged by the accommodating father to consider it as a meritorious +act. The chapel was accordingly hung in black, and the blaze of hundreds +of wax-lights was not sufficient to dispel the darkness. The monks in +their conventual dresses, and all the emperor's household, clad in deep +mourning, gathered round a huge _catafalque_, shrouded also in black, +which had been raised in the centre of the chapel. The service for the +burial of the dead was then performed; and amidst the dismal wail of the +monks, the prayers ascended for the departed spirit, that it might be +received into the mansions of the blessed. The sorrowful attendants were +melted to tears, as the image of their master's death was presented to +their minds, or they were touched, it may be, with compassion for this +pitiable display of his weakness. Charles, muffled in a dark mantle, and +bearing a lighted candle in his hand, mingled with his household, the +spectator of his own obsequies; and the doleful ceremony was concluded +by his placing the taper in the hands of the priest, in sign of his +surrendering up his soul to the Almighty. + +Such is the account of this melancholy farce given us by the Jeronymite +chroniclers of the cloister life of Charles the Fifth, and which has +since been repeated--losing nothing in the repetition--by every +succeeding historian, to the present time.[327] Nor does there seem to +have been any distrust of its correctness till the historical scepticism +of our own day had subjected the narrative to a more critical scrutiny. +It was then discovered that no mention of the affair was to be discerned +in the letters of any one of the emperor's household residing at Yuste, +although there are letters extant written by Charles's physician, his +major-domo, and his secretary, both on the thirty-first of August, the +day of the funeral, and on the first of September. With so extraordinary +an event fresh in their minds, their silence is inexplicable. + +One fact is certain, that, if the funeral did take place, it could not +have been on the date assigned to it; for on the thirty-first the +emperor was laboring under an attack of fever, of which his physician +has given full particulars, and from which he was destined never to +recover. That the writers, therefore, should have been silent in respect +to a ceremony which must have had so bad an effect on the nerves of the +patient, is altogether incredible. + +Yet the story of the obsequies comes from one of the Jeronymite brethren +then living at Yuste, who speaks of the emotions which he felt, in +common with the rest of the convent, at seeing a man thus bury himself +alive, as it were, and perform his funeral rites before his death.[328] +It is repeated by another of the fraternity, the prior of Escorial, who +had ample means of conversing with eye-witnesses.[329] And finally, it +is confirmed by more than one writer near enough to the period to be +able to assure himself of the truth.[330] Indeed, the parties from whom +the account is originally derived were so situated that, if the story be +without foundation, it is impossible to explain its existence by +misapprehension on their part. It must be wholly charged on a wilful +misstatement of facts. It is true, the monkish chronicler is not always +quite so scrupulous in this particular as would be +desirable,--especially where the honor of his order is implicated. But +what interest could the Jeronymite fathers have had in so foolish a +fabrication as this? The supposition is at variance with the respectable +character of the parties, and with the air of simplicity and good faith +that belongs to their narratives.[331] + +We may well be staggered, it is true, by the fact that no allusion to +the obsequies appears in any of the letters from Yuste; while the date +assigned for them, moreover, is positively disproved. Yet we may +consider that the misstatement of a date is a very different thing from +the invention of a story; and that chronological accuracy, as I have +more than once had occasion to remark, was not the virtue of the +monkish, or indeed of any other historian of the sixteenth century. It +would not be a miracle if the obsequies should have taken place some +days before the period assigned to them. It so happens that we have no +letters from Yuste between the eighteenth and twenty-eighth of August. +At least, I have none myself, and have seen none cited by others. If any +should hereafter come to light, written during that interval, they may +be found possibly to contain some allusion to the funeral. Should no +letters have been written during the period, the silence of the parties +who wrote at the end of August and the beginning of September may be +explained by the fact, that too long a time had elapsed since the +performance of the emperor's obsequies, for them to suppose it could +have any connection with his illness, which formed the subject of their +correspondence. Difficulties will present themselves, whichever view we +take of the matter. But the reader may think it quite as reasonable to +explain those difficulties by the supposition of involuntary error, as +by that of sheer invention. + +Nor is the former supposition rendered less probable by the character of +Charles the Fifth. There was a taint of insanity in the royal blood of +Castile, which was most fully displayed in the emperor's mother, Joanna. +Some traces of it, however faint, may be discerned in his own conduct, +before he took refuge in the cloisters of Yuste. And though we may not +agree with Paul the Fourth in regarding this step as sufficient evidence +of his madness,[332] we may yet find something in his conduct, on more +than one occasion, while there, which is near akin to it. Such, for +example, was the morbid relish which he discovered for performing the +obsequies, not merely of his kindred, but of any one whose position +seemed to him to furnish an apology for it. Not a member of the _toison_ +died, but he was prepared to commemorate the event with solemn funeral +rites. These, in short, seemed to be the festivities of Charles's +cloister life. These lugubrious ceremonies had a fascination for him, +that may remind one of the tenacity with which his mother, Joanna, clung +to the dead body of her husband, taking it with her wherever she went. +It was after celebrating the obsequies of his parents and his wife, +which occupied several successive days, that he conceived, as we are +told, the idea of rehearsing his own funeral,--a piece of extravagance +which becomes the more credible when we reflect on the state of morbid +excitement to which his mind may have been brought by dwelling so long +on the dreary apparatus of death. + +But whatever be thought of the account of the mock funeral of Charles, +it appears that on the thirtieth of August he was affected by an +indisposition which on the following day was attended with most alarming +symptoms. Here also we have some particulars from his Jeronymite +biographers which we do not find in the letters. On the evening of the +thirty-first, according to their account, Charles ordered a portrait of +the empress, his wife, of whom, as we have seen, he had more than one in +his collection, to be brought to him. He dwelt a long while on its +beautiful features, "as if," says the chronicler, "he were imploring her +to prepare a place for him in the celestial mansions to which she had +gone."[333] He then passed to the contemplation of another +picture,--Titian's "Agony in the Garden," and from this to that immortal +production of his pencil, the "Gloria," as it is called, which is said +to have hung over the high altar at Yuste, and which, after the +emperor's death, followed his remains to the Escorial.[334] He gazed so +long and with such rapt attention on the picture, as to cause +apprehension in his physician, who, in the emperor's debilitated state, +feared the effects of such excitement on his nerves. There was good +reason for apprehension; for Charles, at length, rousing from his +reverie, turned to the doctor, and complained that he was ill. His pulse +showed him to be in a high fever. As the symptoms became more +unfavorable, his physician bled him, but without any good effect.[335] +The Regent Joanna, on learning her father's danger, instantly despatched +her own physician from Valladolid to his assistance. But no earthly +remedies could avail. It soon became evident that the end was +approaching.[336] + +Charles received the intelligence, not merely with composure, but with +cheerfulness. It was what he had long desired, he said. His first care +was to complete some few arrangements respecting his affairs. On the +ninth of September, he executed a codicil to his will. The will, made a +few years previous, was of great length, and the codicil had not the +merit of brevity. Its principal object was to make provision for those +who had followed him to Yuste. No mention is made in the codicil of his +son Don John of Austria. He seems to have communicated his views in +regard to him to his major-domo, Quixada, who had a private interview of +some length with his master a few days before his death. Charles's +directions on the subject appear to have been scrupulously regarded by +Philip.[337] + +[Sidenote: HIS LAST ILLNESS.] + +One clause in the codicil deserves to be noticed. The emperor conjures +his son most earnestly, by the obedience he owes him, to follow up and +bring to justice every heretic in his dominions; and this without +exception, and without favor or mercy to any one. He conjures Philip to +cherish the Holy Inquisition, as the best instrument for accomplishing +this good work. "So," he concludes, "shall you have my blessing, and the +Lord shall prosper all your undertakings."[338] Such were the last words +of the dying monarch to his son. They did not fall on a deaf ear; and +the parting admonition of his father served to give a keener edge to the +sword of persecution which Philip had already begun to wield. + +On the nineteenth of September, Charles's strength had declined so much +that it was thought proper to administer extreme unction to him. He +preferred to have it in the form adopted by the friars, which, +comprehending a litany, the seven penitential psalms, and sundry other +passages of Scripture, was much longer and more exhausting than the rite +used by the laity. His strength did not fail under it, however; and the +following day he desired to take the communion, as he had frequently +done during his illness. On his confessor's representing that, after the +sacrament of extreme unction, this was unnecessary, he answered, +"Perhaps so, but it is good provision for the long journey I am to set +out upon."[339] Exhausted as he was, he knelt a full quarter of an hour +in his bed during the ceremony, offering thanks to God for his mercies, +and expressing the deepest contrition for his sins, with an earnestness +of manner that touched the hearts of all present.[340] + +Throughout his illness he had found consolation in having passages of +Scripture, especially the Psalms, read to him. Quixada, careful that his +master should not be disquieted in his last moments, would allow very +few persons to be present in his chamber. Among the number was Bartolome +de Carranza, who had lately been raised to the archiepiscopal see of +Toledo. He had taken a prominent part in the persecution in England +under Mary. For the remainder of his life he was to be the victim of +persecution himself, from a stronger arm than his, that of the +Inquisition. Even the words of consolation which he uttered in this +chamber of death were carefully treasured up by Charles's confessor, and +made one of the charges against him in his impeachment for heresy. + +On the twenty-first of September, St. Matthew's day, about two hours +after midnight, the emperor, who had remained long without speaking, +feeling that his hour had come, exclaimed, "Now it is time!" The holy +taper was placed lighted in his right hand, as he sat up leaning on the +shoulder of the faithful Quixada. With his left he endeavored to clasp a +silver crucifix. It had comforted the empress, his wife, in her dying +hour; and Charles had ordered Quixada to hold it in readiness for him on +the like occasion.[341] It had lain for some time on his breast; and as +it was now held up before his glazing eye by the archbishop of Toledo, +Charles fixed his gaze long and earnestly on the sacred symbol,--to him +the memento of earthly love as well as heavenly. The archbishop was +repeating the psalm _De Profundis_,--"Out of the depths have I cried +unto thee, O Lord!"--when the dying man, making a feeble effort to +embrace the crucifix, exclaimed, in tones so audible as to be heard in +the adjoining room, "_Ay Jesus!_" and sinking back on the pillow, +expired without a struggle.[342] He had always prayed--perhaps fearing +the hereditary taint of insanity--that he might die in possession of +his faculties.[343] His prayer was granted. + +The emperor's body, after being embalmed, and placed in its leaden +coffin, lay in state in the chapel for three days, during which three +discourses were pronounced over it by the best preachers in the convent. +It was then consigned to the earth, with due solemnity, amidst the +prayers and tears of the brethren and of Charles's domestics, in +presence of a numerous concourse of persons from the surrounding +country. + +The burial did not take place, however, without some difficulty. Charles +had requested by his will that he might be laid partially under the +great altar, in such a manner that his head and the upper part of his +body might come under the spot where the priest stood when he performed +the service. This was dictated in all humility by the emperor; but it +raised a question among the scrupulous ecclesiastics as to the propriety +of permitting any bones save those of a saint to occupy so holy a place +as that beneath the altar. The dispute waxed somewhat warmer than was +suited to the occasion; till the momentous affair was finally adjusted +by having an excavation made in the wall, within which the head was +introduced, so as to allow the feet to touch the verge of the hallowed +ground.[344] The emperor's body did not long abide in its resting-place +at Yuste. Before many years had elapsed, it was transported, by command +of Philip the Second, to the Escorial, and in that magnificent mausoleum +it has continued to repose, beside that of the Empress Isabella. + +The funeral obsequies of Charles were celebrated with much pomp by the +court of Rome, by the Regent Joanna at Valladolid, and, with yet greater +magnificence, by Philip the Second at Brussels. Philip was at Arras when +he learned the news of his father's death. He instantly repaired to a +monastery in the neighborhood of Brussels, where he remained secluded +for several weeks. Meanwhile he ordered the bells in all the churches +and convents throughout the Netherlands to be tolled thrice a day for +four mouths, and during that time that no festivals or public rejoicings +of any kind should take place. On the twenty-eighth of December the king +entered Brussels by night, and on the following day, before the hour of +vespers, a procession was formed to the church of St. Gudule, which +still challenges the admiration of the traveller as one of the noblest +monuments of mediaeval architecture in the Netherlands. + +[Sidenote: HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER.] + +The procession consisted of the principal clergy, the members of the +different religious houses, bearing lighted tapers in their hands, the +nobles and cavaliers about the court, the great officers of state and +the royal household, all clad in deep mourning. After these came the +knights of the Golden Fleece, wearing the insignia and the superb dress +of the order. The marquis of Aguilar bore the imperial sceptre, the +duke of Villahermosa the sword, and the prince of Orange carried the +globe and the crown of the empire. Philip came on foot, wrapped in a +sable mantle, with his head buried in a deep cowl. His train was borne +by Ruy Gomez de Silva, the favorite minister. Then followed the duke of +Savoy, walking also alone, with his head covered, as a prince of the +blood. Files of the Spanish and German guard, in their national +uniforms, formed an escort to the procession, as it took its way through +the principal streets, which were illumined with a blaze of torchlight, +that dispelled the gathering shadows of evening. + +A conspicuous part of the procession was a long train of horses led each +by two gentlemen, and displaying on their splendid housings, and the +banners which they carried, the devices and arms of the several states +over which the emperor presided. + +But no part of the pageant attracted so much notice from the populace as +a stately galley, having its sides skilfully painted with battle-pieces +suggested by different actions in which Charles had been engaged; while +its sails of black silk were covered with inscriptions in letters of +gold, that commemorated the triumphs of the hero. + +Although the palace was at no great distance from St. Gudule's, the +procession occupied two hours in passing to the church. In the nave of +the edifice stood a sort of chapel, constructed for the occasion. Its +roof, or rather canopy, displaying four crowns embroidered in gold, +rested on four Ionic pillars curiously wrought. Within lay a sarcophagus +covered with a dark pall of velvet, surmounted by a large crimson cross. +The imperial crown, together with the globe and sceptre, was deposited +in this chapel, which was lighted up with three thousand wax tapers. + +In front of it was a scaffolding covered with black, on which a throne +was raised for Philip. The nobles and great officers of the crown +occupied the seats, or rather steps, below. Drapery of dark velvet and +cloth of gold, emblazoned with the imperial arms, was suspended across +the arches of the nave; above which ran galleries, appropriated to the +duchess of Lorraine and the ladies of the court.[345] + +The traveller who at this time visits this venerable pile, where Charles +the Fifth was wont to hold the chapters of the Golden Fleece, while he +gazes on the characteristic effigy of that monarch, as it is displayed +on the superb windows of painted glass, may call to mind the memorable +day when the people of Flanders, and the rank and beauty of its capital, +were gathered together to celebrate the obsequies of the great emperor; +when, amidst clouds of incense and the blaze of myriads of lights, the +deep tones of the organ, vibrating through the long aisles, mingled with +the voices of the priests, as they chanted their sad requiem to the soul +of their departed sovereign.[346] + +I have gone somewhat into detail in regard to the latter days of Charles +the Fifth, who exercised, in his retirement, too important an influence +on public affairs for such an account of him to be deemed an impertinent +episode to the history of Philip the Second. Before parting from him for +ever, I will take a brief view of some peculiarities in his personal, +rather than his political character, which has long since been indelibly +traced by a hand abler than mine. + +Charles, at the time of his death, was in the fifty-eighth year of his +age. He was older in constitution than in years. So much shaken had he +been, indeed, in mind as well as body, that he may be said to have died +of premature old age. Yet his physical development had been very slow. +He was nearly twenty-one years old before any beard was to be seen on +his chin.[347] Yet by the time he was thirty-six, gray hairs began to +make their appearance on his temples. At forty the gout had made severe +inroads on a constitution originally strong; and before he was fifty, +the man who could keep the saddle day and night in his campaigns, who +seemed to be insensible to fatigue as he followed the chase among the +wild passes of the Alpuxarras, was obliged to be carried in a litter, +like a poor cripple, at the head of his armies.[348] + +His mental development was equally tardy with his bodily. So long as +Chievres lived,--the Flemish noble who had the care of his early +life,--Charles seemed to have no will of his own. During his first visit +to Spain, where he came when seventeen years old, he gave so little +promise, that those who approached him nearest could discern no signs of +his future greatness. Yet the young prince seems to have been conscious +that he had the elements of greatness within him, and he patiently bided +his time. "_Nondum_"--"Not yet"--was the motto which he adopted for his +maiden shield, when but eighteen years old, at a tournament at +Valladolid. + +[Sidenote: HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER.] + +But when the death of the Flemish minister had released the young +monarch from this state of dependence, he took the reins into his own +hands, as Louis the Fourteenth did on the death of Mazarin. He now +showed himself in an entirely new aspect. He even displayed greater +independence than his predecessors had done. He no longer trusted +everything, like them, to a council of state. He trusted only to +himself; and if he freely communicated with some one favorite minister, +like the elder Granvelle, and the cardinal, his son, it was in order to +be counselled, not to be controlled by their judgments. He patiently +informed himself of public affairs; and when foreign envoys had their +audiences of him, they were surprised to find him possessed of +everything relating to their own courts and the objects of their +mission. + +Yet he did not seem to be quick of apprehension, or, to speak more +correctly, he was slow in arriving at his results. He would keep the +courier waiting for days before he could come to a decision. When he did +come to it, no person on earth could shake it. Talking one day with the +Venetian Contarini about this habit of his mind, the courtly minister +remarked, that "it was not obstinacy to adhere to sound opinions." +"True," said Charles, "but I sometimes adhere to those that are +unsound."[349] + +His indefatigable activity both of mind and body formed a strong +contrast to the lethargy of early years. His widely scattered empire, +spreading over the Low Countries, Spain, Germany, and the New World, +presented embarrassments which most princes would have found it +impossible to overcome. At least they would have been compelled to +govern, in a great measure, by deputy,--to transact their business by +agents. But Charles chose to do everything himself,--to devise his own +plans, and to execute them in person. The number of his journeys by land +and by water, as noticed in his farewell address, is truly wonderful; +for that was not the day of steamboats and railways. He seemed to lead +the life of a courier. But it was for no trivial object that he made +these expeditions. He knew where his presence was needed; and his +promptness and punctuality brought him, at the right time, on the right +spot. No spot in his broad empire was far removed from him. He seemed to +possess the power of ubiquity. + +The consciousness of his own strength roused to a flame the spark of +ambition which had hitherto slept in his bosom. His schemes were so +vast, that it was a common opinion he aspired to universal monarchy. +Like his grandfather, Ferdinand, and his own son, Philip, he threw over +his schemes the cloak of religion. Or, to deal with him more fairly, +religious principle probably combined with personal policy to determine +his career. He seemed always ready to do battle for the Cross. He +affected to identify the cause of Spain with the cause of Christendom. +He marched against the Turks, and stayed the tide of Ottoman inroad in +Hungary. He marched against the Protestants, and discomfited their +armies in the heart of Germany. He crossed the Mediterranean, and +humbled the Crescent at Algiers. He threw himself on the honor of +Francis, and travelled through France to take vengeance on the rebels of +Flanders. He twice entered France as an enemy, and marched up to the +gates of Paris. Instead of the modest legend on his maiden shield; he +now assumed the proud motto, "_Plus ultra_;" and he vindicated his right +to it, by sending his fleets across the ocean, and by planting the +banner of Castile on the distant shores of the Pacific. In these +enterprises he was generally successful. His success led him to rely +still more on himself. "Myself and the lucky moment," was his favorite +saying. The "star of Austria," was still a proverb. It was not till the +evening of life that he complained of the fickleness of fortune; that +his star, as it descended to the horizon, was obscured by clouds and +darkness. + +Thus Charles's nerves were kept in a state of perpetual excitement. No +wonder that his health should have sunk under it; like a plant forced by +extraordinary stimulants to an unnatural production at the expense of +its own vitality. + +His habits were not all of them the most conducive to health. He slept +usually only four hours; too short a time to repair the waste caused by +incessant toil.[350] His phlegmatic temperament did not incline him to +excess. Yet there was one excess of which he was guilty,--the indulgence +of his appetite to a degree most pernicious to his health. A Venetian +contemporary tells us, that, before rising in the morning, potted capon +was usually served to him, dressed with sugar, milk, and spices. At noon +he dined on a variety of dishes. Soon after vespers he took another +meal; and later in the evening supped heartily on anchovies, or some +other gross and savory food of which he was particularly fond.[351] On +one occasion, complaining to his _maitre d'hotel_ that the cook sent him +nothing but dishes too insipid and tasteless to be eaten, the perplexed +functionary, knowing Charles's passion for timepieces, replied, that "he +did not know what he could do, unless it were to serve his majesty a +ragout of watches!" The witticism had one good effect, that of provoking +a hearty laugh from the emperor,--a thing rarely witnessed in his latter +days.[352] + +It was in vain that Cardinal Loaysa, his confessor, remonstrated, with +an independence that does him credit, against his master's indulgence of +his appetite, assuring him that resistance here would do more for his +soul than any penance with the scourge.[353] It seems a pity that +Charles, considering his propensities, should have so easily obtained +absolution from fasts, and that he should not, on the contrary, have +transferred some of the penance which he inflicted on his back to the +offending part. Even in the monastery of Yuste he still persevered in +the same pernicious taste. Anchovies, frogs' legs, and eel-pasties were +the dainty morsels with which he chose to be regaled, even before the +eyes of his physician. It would not have been amiss for him to have +exchanged his solitary repast more frequently for the simpler fare of +the refectory. + +With these coarser tastes Charles combined many others of a refined and +intellectual character. We have seen his fondness for music, and the +delight he took in the sister art of design,--especially in the works of +Titian. He was painted several times by this great master, and it was by +his hand, as we have seen, that he desired to go down to posterity. The +emperor had, moreover, another taste, perhaps talent, which, with a +different training and in a different sphere of life, might have led him +to the craft of authorship. + +A curious conversation is reported as having been held by him with +Borja, the future saint, during one of the visits paid by the Jesuit to +Yuste. Charles inquired of his friend whether it were wrong for a man to +write his autobiography, provided he did so honestly, and with no motive +of vanity. He said that he had written his own memoirs, not from the +desire of self-glorification, but to correct manifold mistakes which had +been circulated of his doings, and to set his conduct in a true +light.[354] One might be curious to know the answer, which is not given, +of the good father to this question. It is to be hoped that it was not +of a kind to induce the emperor to destroy the manuscript, which has +never come to light. + +However this may be, there is no reason to doubt that at one period of +his life he had compiled a portion of his autobiography. In the imperial +household, as I have already noticed, was a Flemish scholar, William Van +Male, or Malinaeus, as he is called in Latin, who, under the title of +gentleman of the chamber, wrote many a long letter for Charles, while +standing by his bedside, and read many a weary hour to him after the +monarch had gone to rest,--not, as it would seem, to sleep.[355] This +personage tells us that Charles, when sailing on the Rhine, wrote an +account of his expeditions to as late a date as 1550.[356] This is not +very definite. Any account written under such circumstances, and in so +short a time, could be nothing but a sketch of the most general kind. +Yet Van Male assures us that he had read the manuscript, which he +commends for its terse and elegant diction; and he proposes to make a +Latin version of it, the style of which should combine the separate +merits of Tacitus, Livy, Suetonius, and Caesar![357] The admiring +chamberlain laments that, instead of giving it to the world, Charles +should keep it jealously secured under lock and key.[358] + +The emperor's taste for authorship showed itself also in another form. +This was by the translation of the "_Chevalier Delibere_," a French poem +then popular, celebrating the court of his ancestor, Charles the Bold of +Burgundy. Van Male, who seems to have done for Charles the Fifth what +Voltaire did for Frederick, when he spoke of himself as washing the +king's dirty linen, was employed also to overlook this translation, +which he pronounces to have possessed great merit in regard to idiom and +selection of language. The emperor then gave it to Acuna, a good poet of +the court, to be done into Castilian verse. Thus metamorphosed, he +proposed to give the copy to Van Male. A mischievous wag, Avila the +historian, assured the emperor that it could not be worth less than five +hundred gold crowns to that functionary. "And William is well entitled +to them," said the monarch, "for he has sweat much over the work."[359] +Two thousand copies were forthwith ordered to be printed of the poem, +which was to come out anonymously. Poor Van Male, who took a very +different view of the profits, and thought that nothing was certain but +the cost of the edition, would have excused himself from this proof of +his master's liberality. It was all in vain; Charles was not to be +balked in his generous purpose; and, without a line to propitiate the +public favor, by stating in the preface the share of the royal hand in +the composition, it was ushered into the world.[360] + +Whatever Charles may have done in the way of an autobiography, he was +certainly not indifferent to posthumous fame. He knew that the greatest +name must soon pass into oblivion, unless embalmed in the song of the +bard or the page of the chronicler. He looked for a chronicler to do for +him with his pen what Titian had done for him with his pencil,--exhibit +him in his true proportions, and in a permanent form, to the eye of +posterity! In this he does not seem to have been so much under the +influence of vanity as of a natural desire to have his character and +conduct placed in a fair point of view,--what seemed to him to be +such,--for the contemplation or criticism of mankind. + +[Sidenote: HIS DEATH AND CHARACTER.] + +The person whom the emperor selected for this delicate office was the +learned Sepulveda. Sleidan he condemned as a slanderer; and Giovio, who +had taken the other extreme, and written of him with what he called the +"golden pen" of history, he no less condemned as a flatterer.[361] +Charles encouraged Sepulveda to apply to him for information on matters +relating to his government. But when requested by the historian to +listen to what he had written, the emperor refused. "I will neither +hear nor read," he replied, "what you have said of me. Others may do +this when I am gone. But if you wish for information on any point, I +shall be always ready to give it to you."[362] A history thus compiled +was of the nature of an autobiography, and must be considered, +therefore, as entitled to much the same confidence, and open to the same +objections, as that kind of writing. Sepulveda was one of the few who +had repeated access to Charles in his retirement at Yuste;[363] and the +monarch testified his regard for him, by directing that particular care +be taken that no harm should come to the historian's manuscript before +it was committed to the press.[364] + +Such are some of the most interesting traits and personal anecdotes I +have been able to collect of the man who, for nearly forty years, ruled +over an empire more vast, with an authority more absolute, than any +monarch since the days of Charlemagne. It may be thought strange that I +should have omitted to notice one feature in his character, the most +prominent in the line from which he was descended, at least on the +mother's side,--his bigotry. But in Charles this was less conspicuous +than in many others of his house; and while he sat upon the throne, the +extent to which his religious principles were held in subordination by +his political, suggests a much closer parallel to the policy of his +grandfather, Ferdinand the Catholic, than to that of his son, Philip the +Second, or of his imbecile grandson, Philip the Third. + +But the religious gloom which hung over Charles's mind took the deeper +tinge of fanaticism after he had withdrawn to the monastery of Yuste. +With his dying words, as we have seen, he bequeathed the Inquisition as +a precious legacy to his son. In like manner, he endeavored to cherish +in the Regent Joanna's bosom the spirit of persecution.[365] And if it +were true, as his biographer assures us, that Charles expressed a regret +that he had respected the safe-conduct of Luther,[366] the world had +little reason to mourn that he exchanged the sword and the sceptre for +the breviary of the friar,--the throne of the Caesars for his monastic +retreat among the wilds of Estremadura. + + * * * * * + +The preceding chapter was written in the summer of 1851, a year before +the appearance of Stirling's "Cloister Life of Charles the Fifth," which +led the way in that brilliant series of works from the pens of Amedee +Pichot, Mignet, and Gachard, which has made the darkest recesses of +Yuste as light as day. The publication of these works has deprived my +account of whatever novelty it might have possessed, since it rests on a +similar basis with theirs, namely, original documents in the Archives of +Simancas. Yet the important influence which Charles exerted over the +management of affairs, even in his monastic retreat, has made it +impossible to dispense with the chapter. On the contrary, I have +profited by these recent publications to make sundry additions, which +may readily be discovered by the reader, from the references I have been +careful to make to the sources whence they are derived. + +The public has been hitherto indebted for its knowledge of the reign of +Charles the Fifth to Robertson,--a writer who, combining a truly +philosophical spirit with an acute perception of character, is +recommended, moreover, by a classic elegance of style which has justly +given him a preeminence among the historians of the great emperor. But +in his account of the latter days of Charles, Robertson mainly relies on +commonplace authorities, whose information, gathered at second hand, is +far from being trustworthy,--as is proved by the contradictory tenor of +such authentic documents as the letters of Charles himself, with those +of his own followers, and the narratives of the brotherhood of Yuste. +These documents are, for the most part, to be found in the Archives of +Simancas, where, in Robertson's time, they were guarded, with the +vigilance of a Turkish harem, against all intrusion of native as well as +foreigner. It was not until very recently, in 1844, that the more +liberal disposition of the government allowed the gates to be unbarred +which had been closed for centuries; and then, for the first time, the +student might be seen toiling in the dusty alcoves of Simancas, and +busily exploring the long-buried memorials of the past. It was at this +period that my friend, Don Pascual de Gayangos, having obtained +authority from the government, passed some weeks at Simancas in +collecting materials, some of which have formed the groundwork of the +preceding chapter. + +While the manuscripts of Simancas were thus hidden from the world, a +learned keeper of the archives, Don Tomas Gonzalez, discontented with +the unworthy view which had been given of the latter days of Charles the +Fifth, had profited by the materials which lay around him, to exhibit +his life at Yuste in a new and more authentic light. To the volume which +he compiled for this purpose he gave the title of "_Retiro, Estancia, y +Muerte del Emperador Carlos Quinto en el Monasterio de Yuste_." The +work, the principal value of which consists in the copious extracts with +which it is furnished from the correspondence of Charles and his +household, was suffered by the author to remain in manuscript; and, at +his death, it passed into the hands of his brother, who prepared a +summary of its contents, and endeavored to dispose of the volume at a +price so exorbitant that it remained for many years without a purchaser. +It was finally bought by the French government at a greatly reduced +price,--for four thousand francs. It may seem strange that it should +have even brought this sum, since the time of the sale was that in which +the new arrangements were made for giving admission to the archives that +contained the original documents on which the Gonzalez MS. was founded. +The work thus bought by the French government was transferred to the +Archives des Affaires Etrangeres, then under the direction of M. Mignet. +The manuscript could not be in better hands than those of a scholar who +has so successfully carried the torch of criticism into some of the +darkest passages of Spanish history. His occupations, however, took him +in another direction; and for eight years the Gonzalez MS. remained as +completely hidden from the world in the Parisian archives as it had been +in those of Simancas. When, at length, it was applied to the historical +uses for which it had been intended, it was through the agency, not of a +French, but of a British writer. This was Mr. Stirling, the author of +the "Annals of the Artists of Spain,"--a work honorable to its author +for the familiarity it shows, not only with the state of the arts in +that country, but also with its literature. + +[Sidenote: MEMOIRS OF CHARLES.] + +Mr. Stirling, during a visit to the Peninsula, in 1849, made a +pilgrimage to Yuste; and the traditions and hoary reminiscences gathered +round the spot left such an impression on the traveller's mind, that, on +his return to England, he made them the subject of two elaborate papers +in Fraser's Magazine, in the numbers for April and May, 1851. Although +these spirited essays rested wholly on printed works, which had long +been accessible to the scholar, they were found to contain many new and +highly interesting details; showing how superficially Mr. + +Stirling's predecessors had examined the records of the emperor's +residence at Yuste. Still, in his account the author had omitted the +most important feature of Charles's monastic life,--the influence which +he exercised on the administration of the kingdom. This was to be +gathered from the manuscripts of Simancas. + +Mr. Stirling, who through that inexhaustible repository, the Handbook of +Spain, had become acquainted with the existence of the Gonzalez MS., +was, at the time of writing his essays, ignorant of its fate. On +learning, afterwards, where it was to be found, he visited Paris, and, +having obtained access to the volume, so far profited by its contents as +to make them the basis of a separate work, which he entitled "The +Cloister Life of Charles the Fifth." It soon attracted the attention of +scholars, both at home and abroad, went through several editions, and +was received, in short, with an avidity which showed both the importance +attached to the developments the author had made, and the highly +attractive form in which he had presented them to the reader. + +The Parisian scholars were now stimulated to turn to account the +treasure which had remained so long neglected on their shelves. In 1854, +less than two years after the appearance of Mr. Stirling's book, M. +Amedee Pichot published his "_Chronique de Charles-Quint_," a work +which, far from being confined to the latter days of the emperor, covers +the whole range of his biography, presenting a large amount of +information in regard to his personal habits, as well as to the interior +organization of his government, and the policy which directed it. The +whole is enriched, moreover, by a multitude of historical incidents, +which may be regarded rather as subsidiary than essential to the conduct +of the narrative, which is enlivened by much ingenious criticism on the +state of manners, arts, and moral culture of the period. + +It was not long after the appearance of this work that M. Gachard, whom +I have elsewhere noticed as having been commissioned by the Belgian +government to make extensive researches in the Archives of Simancas, +gave to the public some of the fruits of his labors, in the first volume +of his "_Retraite et Mort de Charles-Quint_." It is devoted to the +letters of the emperor and his household, which form the staple of the +Gonzalez MS.; thus placing at the disposition of the future biographer +of Charles the original materials with which to reconstruct the history +of his latter days. + +Lastly came the work, long expected, of M. Mignet, "_Charles-Quint; son +Abdication, son Sejour, et sa Mort au Monastere de Yuste_." It was the +reproduction, in a more extended and elaborate form, of a series of +papers, the first of which appeared shortly after the publication of Mr. +Stirling's book. In this work the French author takes the clear and +comprehensive view of his subject so characteristic of his genius. The +difficult and debatable points he discusses with acuteness and +precision; and the whole story of Charles's monastic life he presents in +so luminous an aspect to the reader as leaves nothing further to be +desired. + +The critic may take some interest in comparing the different manners in +which the several writers have dealt with the subject, each according to +his own taste, or the bent of his genius. Thus through Stirling's more +free and familiar narrative there runs a pleasant vein of humor, with +piquancy enough to give it relish, showing the author's sensibility to +the ludicrous, for which Charles's stingy habits, and excessive love of +good cheer, even in the convent, furnish frequent occasion. + +Quite a different conception is formed by Mignet of the emperor's +character, which he has cast in the true heroic mould, not deigning to +recognize a single defect, however slight, which may at all impair the +majesty of the proportions. Finally, Amedee Pichot, instead of the +classical, may be said to have conformed to the romantic school in the +arrangement of his subject, indulging in various picturesque episodes, +which he has, however, combined so successfully with the main body of +the narrative as not to impair the unity of interest. + +Whatever may be thought of the comparative merits of these eminent +writers in the execution of their task, the effect of their labors has +undoubtedly been to make that the plainest which was before the most +obscure portion of the history of Charles the Fifth. + + + + +BOOK II. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +VIEW OF THE NETHERLANDS. + +Civil Institutions.--Commercial Prosperity.--Character of the +People.--Protestant Doctrines.--Persecution by Charles the Fifth. + + +We have now come to that portion of the narrative which seems to be +rather in the nature of an episode, than part and parcel of our history; +though from its magnitude and importance it is better entitled to be +treated as an independent history by itself. This is the War of the +Netherlands; opening the way to that great series of revolutions, the +most splendid example of which is furnished by our own happy land. +Before entering on this vast theme, it will be well to give a brief view +of the country which forms the subject of it. + +At the accession of Philip the Second, about the middle of the sixteenth +century, the Netherlands, or Flanders, as the country was then usually +called,[367] comprehended seventeen provinces, occupying much the same +territory, but somewhat abridged, with that included in the present +kingdoms of Holland and Belgium.[368] These provinces, under the various +denominations of duchies, counties, and lordships, formed anciently so +many separate states, each under the rule of its respective prince. Even +when two or three of them, as sometimes happened, were brought together +under one sceptre, each still maintained its own independent existence. +In their institutions these states bore great resemblance to one +another, and especially in the extent of the immunities conceded to the +citizens as compared with those enjoyed in most of the countries of +Christendom. No tax could be imposed, without the consent of an assembly +consisting of the clergy, the nobles, and the representatives of the +towns. No foreigner was eligible to office, and the native of one +province was regarded as a foreigner by every other. These were insisted +on as inalienable rights, although in later times none were more +frequently disregarded by the rulers.[369] + +[Sidenote: THEIR CIVIL INSTITUTIONS.] + +The condition of the commons in the Netherlands, during the Middle Ages, +was far in advance of what it was in most other European countries at +the same period. For this they were indebted to the character of the +people, or rather to the peculiar circumstances which formed that +character. Occupying a soil which had been redeemed with infinite toil +and perseverance from the waters, their life was passed in perpetual +struggle with the elements. They were early familiarized to the dangers +of the ocean. The Flemish mariner was distinguished for the intrepid +spirit with which he pushed his voyages into distant and unknown seas. +An extended commerce opened to him a wide range of observation and +experience; and to the bold and hardy character of the ancient +Netherlander was added a spirit of enterprise, with such enlarged and +liberal views as fitted him for taking part in the great concerns of the +community. Villages and towns grew up rapidly. Wealth flowed in from +this commercial activity, and the assistance which these little +communities were thus enabled to afford their princes drew from the +latter the concession of important political privileges, which +established the independence of the citizen. + +The tendency of things, however, was still to maintain the distinct +individuality of the provinces, rather than to unite them into a common +political body. They were peopled by different races, speaking different +languages. In some of the provinces French was spoken, in others a +dialect of the German. Their position, moreover, had often brought these +petty states into rivalry, and sometimes into open war, with one +another. The effects of these feuds continued after the causes of them +had passed away; and mutual animosities still lingered in the breasts of +the inhabitants, operating as a permanent source of disunion. + +From these causes, after the greater part of the provinces had been +brought together under the sceptre of the ducal house of Burgundy, in +the fifteenth century, it was found impossible to fuse them into one +nation. Even Charles the Fifth, with all his power and personal +influence, found himself unequal to the task.[370] He was obliged to +relinquish the idea of consolidating the different states into one +monarchy, and to content himself with the position--not too grateful to +a Spanish despot--of head of a republic, or, to speak more properly, of +a confederacy of republics. + +There was, however, some approach made to a national unity in the +institution which grew up after the states were brought together under +one sceptre. Thus, while each of the provinces maintained its own courts +of justice, there was a supreme tribunal established at Mechlin, with +appellate jurisdiction over all the provincial tribunals. In like +manner, while each state had its own legislative assembly, there were +the states-general, consisting of the clergy, the nobles, and the +representatives of the towns, from each of the provinces. In this +assembly--but rarely convened--were discussed the great questions having +reference to the interests of the whole country. But the assembly was +vested with no legislative authority. It could go no further than to +present petitions to the sovereign for the redress of grievances. It +possessed no right beyond the right of remonstrance. Even in questions +of taxation, no subsidy could be settled in that body, without the +express sanction of each of the provincial legislatures. Such a form of +government, it must be admitted, was altogether too cumbrous in its +operations for efficient executive movement. It was by means favorable +to the promptness and energy demanded for military enterprise. But it +was a government which, however ill-suited in this respect to the temper +of Charles the Fifth, was well suited to the genius of the inhabitants, +and to their circumstances, which demanded peace. They had no ambition +for foreign conquest. By the arts of peace they had risen to this +unprecedented pitch of prosperity, and by peace alone, not by war, could +they hope to maintain it. + +But under the long rule of the Burgundian princes, and still more under +that of Charles the Fifth, the people of the Netherlands felt the +influence of those circumstances which in other parts of Europe were +gradually compelling the popular, or rather the feudal element, to give +way to the spirit of centralization. Thus in time the sovereign claimed +the right of nominating all the higher clergy. In some instances he +appointed the judges of the provincial courts; and the supreme tribunal +of Mechlin was so far dependent on his authority, that all the judges +were named and their salaries paid by the crown. The sovereign's +authority was even stretched so far as to interfere not unfrequently +with the rights exercised by the citizens in the election of their own +magistrates,--rights that should have been cherished by them as of the +last importance. As for the nobles, we cannot over-estimate the +ascendancy which the master of an empire like that of Charles the Fifth +must have obtained over men to whom he could open such boundless +prospects in the career of ambition.[371] + +But the personal character and the peculiar position of Charles tended +still further to enlarge the royal authority. He was a Fleming by birth. +He had all the tastes and habits of a Fleming. His early days had been +passed in Flanders, and he loved to return to his native land as often +as his busy life would permit him, and to seek in the free and joyous +society of the Flemish capitals some relief from the solemn ceremonial +of the Castilian court. This preference of their lord was repaid by the +people of the Netherlands with feelings of loyal devotion. + +[Sidenote: THEIR COMMERCIAL PROSPERITY.] + +But they had reason for feelings of deeper gratitude in the substantial +benefits which the favor of Charles secured to them. It was for Flemings +that the highest posts even in Spain were reserved, and the marked +preference thus shown by the emperor to his countrymen was one great +source of the troubles in Castile. The soldiers of the Netherlands +accompanied Charles on his military expeditions, and their cavalry had +the reputation of being the best appointed and best disciplined in the +imperial army. The vast extent of his possessions, spreading over every +quarter of the globe, offered a boundless range for the commerce of the +Netherlands, which was everywhere admitted on the most favorable +footing. Notwithstanding his occasional acts of violence and extortion, +Charles was too sagacious not to foster the material interests of a +country which contributed so essentially to his own resources. Under his +protecting policy, the industry and ingenuity of the Flemings found +ample scope in the various departments of husbandry, manufactures, and +trade. The country was as thickly studded with large towns as other +countries were with villages. In the middle of the sixteenth century it +was computed to contain above three hundred and fifty cities, and more +than six thousand three hundred towns of a smaller size.[372] These +towns were not the resort of monks and mendicants, as in other parts of +the Continent, but they swarmed with a busy, laborious population. No +man ate the bread of idleness in the Netherlands. At the period with +which we are occupied Ghent counted 70,000 inhabitants, Brussels 75,000, +and Antwerp 100,000. This was at a period when London itself contained +but 150,000.[373] + +The country, fertilized by its countless canals and sluices, exhibited +everywhere that minute and patient cultivation which distinguishes it at +the present day, but which in the middle of the sixteenth century had no +parallel but in the lands tilled by the Moorish inhabitants of the south +of Spain. The ingenious spirit of the people was shown in their +dexterity in the mechanical arts, and in the talent for invention which +seems to be characteristic of a people accustomed from infancy to the +unfettered exercise of their faculties. The processes for simplifying +labor were carried so far, that children, as we are assured, began, at +four or five years of age, to earn a livelihood.[374] Each of the +principal cities became noted for its excellence in some branch or other +of manufacture. Lille was known for its woollen cloths, Brussels for its +tapestry and carpets, Valenciennes for its camlets, while the towns of +Holland and Zealand furnished a simpler staple in the form of cheese, +butter, and salted fish.[375] These various commodities were exhibited +at the great fairs held twice a year, for the space of twenty days each, +at Antwerp, which were thronged by foreigners as well as natives. + +In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries the Flemings imported great +quantities of wool from England, to be manufactured into cloth at home. +But Flemish emigrants had carried that manufacture to England; and in +the time of Philip the Second the cloths themselves were imported from +the latter country to the amount of above five millions of crowns +annually, and exchanged for the domestic products of the +Netherlands.[376] This single item of trade with one of their neighbors +may suggest some notion of the extent of the commerce of the Low +Countries at this period. + +But in truth the commerce of the country stretched to the remotest +corners of the globe. The inhabitants of the Netherlands, trained from +early youth to battle with the waves, found their true element on the +ocean. "As much as Nature," says an enthusiastic writer, "restricted +their domain on the land, so much the more did they extend their empire +on the deep."[377] Their fleets were to be found on every sea. In the +Euxine and in the Mediterranean they were rivals of the Venetian and the +Genoese, and they contended with the English, and even with the +Spaniards, for superiority on the "narrow seas" and the great ocean. + +The wealth which flowed into the country from this extended trade was +soon shown in the crowded population of its provinces and the splendor +of their capitals. At the head of these stood the city of Antwerp, which +occupied the place in the sixteenth century that Bruges had occupied in +the fifteenth, as the commercial metropolis of the Netherlands. Two +hundred and fifty vessels might often be seen at the same time taking in +their cargoes at her quays.[378] Two thousand loaded wagons from the +neighboring countries of France, Germany, and Lorraine daily passed +through her gates;[379] and a greater number of vessels, freighted with +merchandise from different quarters of the world, were to be seen +floating at the same time on the waters of the Scheldt.[380] + +The city, in common with the rest of Brabant, was distinguished by +certain political privileges, which commended it as a place of residence +even to foreigners. Women of the other provinces, it is said, when the +time of their confinement drew near, would come to Brabant, that their +offspring might claim the franchises of this favored portion of the +Netherlands.[381] So jealous were the people of this province of their +liberties, that in their oath of allegiance to their sovereign, on his +accession, it was provided that this allegiance might lawfully be +withheld whenever he ceased to respect their privileges.[382] + +Under the shelter of its municipal rights, foreigners settled in great +numbers in Antwerp. The English established a factory there. There was +also a Portuguese company, an Italian company, a company of merchants +from the Hanse Towns, and, lastly, a Turkish company, which took up its +residence there for the purpose of pursuing a trade with the Levant. A +great traffic was carried on in bills of exchange. Antwerp, in short, +became the banking-house of Europe; and capitalists, the Rothschilds of +their day, whose dealings were with sovereign princes, fixed their abode +in Antwerp, which was to the rest of Europe in the sixteenth century +what London is in the nineteenth,--the great heart of commercial +circulation.[383] + +[Sidenote: PROTESTANT DOCTRINES] + +In 1531, the public Exchange was erected, the finest building of its +kind at that time anywhere to be seen. The city, indeed, was filled with +stately edifices, the largest of which, the great cathedral, having been +nearly destroyed by fire, soon after the opening of the Exchange, was +rebuilt, and still remains a noble specimen of the architectural +science of the time. Another age was to see the walls of the same +cathedral adorned with those exquisite productions of Rubens and his +disciples, which raised the Flemish school to a level with the great +Italian masters. + +The rapidly increasing opulence of the city was visible in the luxurious +accommodations and sumptuous way of living of the inhabitants. The +merchants of Antwerp rivalled the nobles of other lands in the splendor +of their dress and domestic establishments. Something of the same sort +showed itself in the middle classes; and even in those of humbler +condition, there was a comfort approaching to luxury in their +households, which attracted the notice of an Italian writer of the +sixteenth century. He commends the scrupulous regard to order and +cleanliness observed in the arrangement of the dwellings, and expresses +his admiration, not only of the careful attention given by the women to +their domestic duties, but also of their singular capacity for +conducting those business affairs usually reserved for the other sex. +This was particularly the case in Holland.[384] But this freedom of +intercourse was no disparagement to their feminine qualities. The +liberty they assumed did not degenerate into licence; and he concludes +his animated portraiture of these Flemish matrons by pronouncing them as +discreet as they were beautiful. + +The humbler classes, in so abject a condition in other parts of Europe +at that day, felt the good effects of this general progress in comfort +and civilization. It was rare to find one, we are told, so illiterate as +not to be acquainted with the rudiments of grammar; and there was +scarcely a peasant who could not both read and write;[385]--this at a +time when to read and write were accomplishments not always possessed, +in other countries, by those even in the higher walks of life. + +It was not possible that a people so well advanced in the elements of +civilization should long remain insensible to the great religious reform +which, having risen on their borders, was now rapidly spreading over +Christendom. Besides the contiguity of the Netherlands to Germany, their +commerce with other countries had introduced them to Protestantism as it +existed there. The foreign residents, and the Swiss and German +mercenaries quartered in the provinces, had imported along with them +these same principles of the Reformation; and lastly the Flemish nobles, +who, at that time, were much in the fashion of going abroad to study in +Geneva, returned from that stronghold of Calvin well fortified with the +doctrines of the great Reformer.[386] Thus the seeds of the Reformation, +whether in the Lutheran or the Calvinistic form, were scattered wide +over the land, and took root in a congenial soil. The phlegmatic +temperament of the northern provinces, especially, disposed them to +receive a religion which addressed itself so exclusively to the reason, +while they were less open to the influences of Catholicism, which, with +its gorgeous accessories, appealing to the passions, is better suited to +the lively sensibilities and kindling imaginations of the south. + +It is not to be supposed that Charles the Fifth could long remain +insensible to this alarming defection of his subjects in the +Netherlands; nor that the man whose life was passed in battling with the +Lutherans of Germany could patiently submit to see their detested heresy +taking root in his own dominions. He dreaded this innovation no less in +a temporal than in a spiritual view. Experience had shown that freedom +of speculation in affairs of religion naturally led to free inquiry into +political abuses; that the work of the reformer was never accomplished +so long as anything remained to reform, in state as well as in church. +Charles, with the instinct of Spanish despotism, sought a remedy in one +of those acts of arbitrary power in which he indulged without scruple +when the occasion called for them. + +In March, 1520, he published the first of his barbarous edicts for the +suppression of the new faith. It was followed by several others of the +same tenor, repeated at intervals throughout his reign. The last +appeared in September, 1550.[387] As this in a manner suspended those +that had preceded it, to which, however, it substantially conformed, and +as it became the basis of Philip's subsequent legislation, it will be +well to recite its chief provisions. + +By this edict, or "placard," as it was called, it was ordained that all +who were convicted of heresy should suffer death "by fire, by the pit, +or by the sword;"[388] in other words, should be burned alive, be buried +alive, or be beheaded. These terrible penalties were incurred by all who +dealt in heretical books, or copied or bought them, by all who held or +attended conventicles, by all who disputed on the Scriptures in public +or private, by all who preached or defended the doctrines of reform. +Informers were encouraged by the promise of one half of the confiscated +estate of the heretic. No suspected person was allowed to make any +donation, or sell any of his effects, or dispose of them by will. +Finally, the courts were instructed to grant no remission or mitigation +of punishment under the fallacious idea of mercy to the convicted party, +and it was made penal for the friends of the accused to solicit such +indulgence on his behalf.[389] + +The more thoroughly to enforce these edicts, Charles took a hint from +the terrible tribunal with which he was familiar in Spain,--the +Inquisition. He obtained a bull from his old preceptor, Adrian the +Sixth, appointing an inquisitor-general, who had authority to examine +persons suspected of heresy, to imprison and torture them, to confiscate +their property, and finally sentence them to banishment or death. These +formidable powers were intrusted to a layman,--a lawyer of eminence, and +one of the council of Brabant. But this zealous functionary employed his +authority with so good effect, that it speedily roused the general +indignation of his countrymen, who compelled him to fly for his life. + +By another bull from Rome, four inquisitors were appointed in the place +of the fugitive. These inquisitors were ecclesiastics, not of the fierce +Dominican order, as in Spain, but members of the secular clergy. All +public officers were enjoined to aid them in detecting and securing +suspected persons, and the common prisons were allotted for the +confinement of their victims. + +[Sidenote: PERSECUTION BY CHARLES THE FIFTH.] + +The people would seem to have gained little by the substitution of four +inquisitors for one. But in fact they gained a great deal. The sturdy +resistance made to the exercise of the unconstitutional powers of the +inquisitor-general compelled Charles to bring those of the new +functionaries more within the limits of the law. For twenty years or +more their powers seem not to have been well defined. But in 1546 it was +decreed that no sentence whatever could be pronounced by an inquisitor +without the sanction of some member of the provincial council. Thus, +however barbarous the law against heresy, the people of the Netherlands +had this security, that it was only by their own regular courts of +justice that this law was to be interpreted and enforced.[390] + +Such were the expedients adopted by Charles the Fifth for the +suppression of heresy in the Netherlands. Notwithstanding the name of +"inquisitors," the new establishment bore faint resemblance to the dread +tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition, with which it has been often +confounded.[391] The Holy Office presented a vast and complicated +machinery, skilfully adapted to the existing institutions of Castile. It +may be said to have formed part of the government itself, and, however +restricted in its original design, it became in time a formidable +political engine, no less than a religious one. The grand-inquisitor was +clothed with an authority before which the monarch himself might +tremble. On some occasions, he even took precedence of the monarch. The +courts of the Inquisition were distributed throughout the country, and +were conducted with a solemn pomp that belonged to no civil tribunal. +Spacious buildings were erected for their accommodation, and the +gigantic prisons of the Inquisition rose up, like impregnable +fortresses, in the principal cities of the kingdom. A swarm of menials +and officials waited to do its bidding. The proudest nobles of the land +held it an honor to serve as familiars of the Holy Office. In the midst +of this external pomp, the impenetrable veil thrown over its proceedings +took strong hold of the imagination, investing the tribunal with a sort +of supernatural terror. An individual disappeared from the busy scenes +of life. No one knew whither he had gone, till he reappeared, clothed in +the fatal garb of the _san benito_, to take part in the tragic spectacle +of an _auto da fe_. This was the great triumph of the Inquisition, +rivalling the ancient Roman triumph in the splendor of the show, and +surpassing it in the solemn and mysterious import of the ceremonial. It +was hailed with enthusiasm by the fanatical Spaniard of that day, who, +in the martyrdom of the infidel, saw only a sacrifice most acceptable to +the Deity. The Inquisition succeeded in Spain, for it was suited to the +character of the Spaniard. + +But it was not suited to the free and independent character of the +people of the Netherlands. Freedom of thought they claimed as their +birthright; and the attempt to crush it by introducing the pernicious +usages of Spain was everywhere received with execration. Such an +institution was an accident, and could not become an integral part of +the constitution. It was a vicious graft on a healthy stock. It could +bear no fruit, and sooner or later it must perish. + +Yet the Inquisition, such as it was, did its work while it lasted in the +Netherlands. This is true, at least, if we are to receive the popular +statement, that fifty thousand persons, in the reign of Charles the +Fifth, suffered for their religious opinions by the hand of the +executioner![392] This monstrous statement has been repeated by one +historian after another, with apparently as little distrust as +examination. It affords one among many examples of the facility with +which men adopt the most startling results, especially when conveyed in +the form of numerical estimates. There is something that strikes the +imagination, in a numerical estimate, which settles a question so +summarily, in a form so precise and so portable. Yet whoever has had +occasion to make any researches into the past,--that land of +uncertainty,--will agree that there is nothing less entitled to +confidence. + +In the present instance, such a statement might seem to carry its own +refutation on the face of it. Llorente, the celebrated secretary of the +Holy Office, whose estimates will never be accused of falling short of +the amount, computes the whole number of victims sacrificed during the +first eighteen years of the Inquisition in Castile, when it was in most +active operation, at about ten thousand.[393] The storm of persecution +there, it will be remembered, fell chiefly on the Jews,--that ill-omened +race, from whom every pious Catholic would have rejoiced to see his land +purified by fire and fagot. It will hardly be believed that five times +the number of these victims perished in a country like the Netherlands, +in a term of time not quite double that occupied for their extermination +in Spain;--the Netherlands, where every instance of such persecution, +instead of being hailed as a triumph of the Cross, was regarded as a +fresh outrage on the liberties of the nation. It is not too much to say, +that such a number of martyrs as that pretended would have produced an +explosion that would have unsettled the authority of Charles himself, +and left for his successor less territory in the Netherlands at the +beginning of his reign, than he was destined to have at the end of it. + +Indeed, the frequent renewal of the edicts, which was repeated no less +than nine times during Charles's administration, intimates plainly +enough the very sluggish and unsatisfactory manner in which they had +been executed. In some provinces, as Luxembourg and Groningen, the +Inquisition was not introduced at all. Gueldres stood on its privileges, +guaranteed to it by the emperor on his accession. And Brabant so +effectually remonstrated on the mischief which the mere name of the +Inquisition would do to the trade of the country, and especially of +Antwerp, its capital, that the emperor deemed it prudent to qualify some +of the provisions, and to drop the name of Inquisitor altogether.[394] +There is no way more sure of rousing the sensibilities of a commercial +people, than by touching their pockets. Charles did not care to press +matters to such extremity. He was too politic a prince, too large a +gainer by the prosperity of his people, willingly to put it in peril, +even for conscience' sake. In this lay the difference between him and +Philip. + +[Sidenote: UNPOPULAR MANNERS OF PHILIP.] + +Notwithstanding, therefore, his occasional abuse of power, and the +little respect he may have had at heart for the civil rights of his +subjects, the government of Charles, as already intimated, was on the +whole favorable to their commercial interests. He was well repaid by the +enlarged resources of the country, and the aid they afforded him for the +prosecution of his ambitious enterprises. In the course of a few years, +as we are informed by a contemporary, he drew from the Netherlands no +less than twenty-four millions of ducats.[395] And this +supply--furnished not ungrudgingly, it is true--was lavished, for the +most part, on objects in which the nation had no interest. In like +manner, it was the revenues of the Netherlands which defrayed great part +of Philip's expenses in the war that followed his accession. "Here," +exclaims the Venetian envoy, Soriano, "were the true treasures of the +king of Spain; here were his mines, his Indies, which furnished Charles +with the means of carrying on his wars for so many years with the +French, the Germans, the Italians, which provided for the defence of his +own states, and maintained his dignity and reputation."[396] + +Such then was the condition of the country at the time when the sceptre +passed from the hands of Charles the Fifth into those of Philip the +Second;--its broad plains teeming with the products of an elaborate +culture; its cities swarming with artisans, skilled in all kinds of +ingenious handicraft; its commerce abroad on every sea, and bringing +back rich returns from distant climes. The great body of its people, +well advanced in the arts of civilization, rejoiced in "such abundance +of all things," says a foreigner who witnessed their prosperity, "that +there was no man, however humble, who did not seem rich for his +station."[397] In this active development of their powers, the +inquisitive mind of the inhabitants naturally turned to those great +problems in religion which were agitating the neighboring countries of +France and Germany. All the efforts of Charles were unavailing to check +the spirit of inquiry; and in the last year of his reign he bitterly +confessed the total failure of his endeavor to stay the progress of +heresy in the Netherlands.[398] Well had it been for his successor, had +he taken counsel by the failure of his father, and substituted a more +lenient policy for the ineffectual system of persecution. But such was +not the policy of Philip. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +SYSTEM ESTABLISHED BY PHILIP. + +Unpopular Manners of Philip.--He enforces the Edicts.--Increase of +Bishoprics.--Margaret of Parma Regent.--Meeting of the +States-General.--Their spirited Conduct.--Organization of the +Councils.--Rise and Character of Granvelle.--Philip's Departure. + + +1559. + +Philip the Second was no stranger to the Netherlands. He had come there, +as it will be remembered, when very young, to be presented by his father +to his future subjects. On that occasion he had greatly disgusted the +people by that impenetrable reserve which they construed into +haughtiness, and which strongly contrasted with the gracious manners of +the emperor. Charles saw with pain the impression which his son had left +on his subjects; and the effects of his paternal admonitions were +visible in a marked change in Philip's deportment on his subsequent +visit to England. But nature lies deeper than manner; and when Philip +returned, on his father's abdication, to assume the sovereignty of the +Netherlands, he wore the same frigid exterior as in earlier days. + +His first step was to visit the different provinces, and receive from +them their oaths of allegiance. No better occasion could be offered for +conciliating the good-will of the inhabitants. Everywhere his approach +was greeted with festivities and public rejoicing. The gates of the +capitals were thrown open to receive him, and the population thronged +out, eager to do homage to their new sovereign. It was a season of +jubilee for the whole nation. + +In this general rejoicing, Philip's eye alone remained dark.[399] Shut +up in his carriage, he seemed desirous to seclude himself from the gaze +of his new subjects, who crowded around, anxious to catch a glimpse of +their young monarch.[400] His conduct seemed like a rebuke of their +enthusiasm. Thus chilled as they were in the first flow of their +loyalty, his progress through the land, which should have won him all +hearts, closed all hearts against him. + +The emperor, when he visited the Netherlands, was like one coming back +to his native country. He spoke the language of the people, dressed in +their dress, conformed to their usages and way of life. But Philip was +in everything a Spaniard. He spoke only the Castilian. He adopted the +Spanish etiquette and burdensome ceremonial. He was surrounded by +Spaniards, and, with few exceptions, it was to Spaniards only that he +gave his confidence. Charles had disgusted his Spanish subjects by the +marked preference he had given to his Flemish. The reverse now took +place, and Philip displeased the Flemings by his partiality for the +Spaniards. The people of the Netherlands felt with bitterness that the +sceptre of their country had passed into the hands of a foreigner. + +During his progress Philip caused reports to be prepared for him of the +condition of the several provinces, their population and +trade,--presenting a mass of statistical details, in which, with his +usual industry, he was careful to instruct himself. On his return, his +first concern was to provide for the interests of religion. He renewed +his father's edicts relating to the Inquisition, and in the following +year confirmed the "placard" respecting heresy. In doing this, he was +careful, by the politic advice of Granvelle, to conform as nearly as +possible to the language of the original edicts, that no charge of +innovation might be laid to him, and thus the odium of these unpopular +measures might remain with their original author.[401] + +[Sidenote: UNPOPULAR MANNERS OF PHILIP.] + +But the object which Philip had most at heart was a reform much needed +in the ecclesiastical establishment of the country. It may seem strange +that in all the Netherlands there were but three bishoprics,--Arras, +Tournay, and Utrecht. A large part of the country was incorporated with +some one or other of the contiguous German dioceses. The Flemish +bishoprics were of enormous extent. That of Utrecht alone embraced no +less than three hundred walled towns, and eleven hundred churches.[402] +It was impossible that any pastor, however diligent, could provide for +the wants of a flock so widely scattered, or that he could exercise +supervision over the clergy themselves, who had fallen into a lamentable +decay both of discipline and morals. + +Still greater evils followed from the circumstance of the episcopal +authority's being intrusted to foreigners. From their ignorance of the +institutions of the Netherlands, they were perpetually trespassing on +the rights of the nation. Another evil consequence was the necessity of +carrying up ecclesiastical causes, by way of appeal, to foreign +tribunals; a thing, moreover, scarcely practicable in time of war. + +Charles the Fifth, whose sagacious mind has left its impress on the +permanent legislation of the Netherlands, saw the necessity of some +reform in this matter. He accordingly applied to Rome for leave to erect +six bishoprics, in addition to those previously existing in the country. +But his attention was too much distracted by other objects to allow time +for completing his design. With his son Philip, on the other hand, no +object was allowed to come in competition with the interests of the +Church. He proposed to make the reform on a larger scale than his father +had done, and applied to Paul the Fourth for leave to create fourteen +bishoprics and three archbishoprics. The chief difficulty lay in +providing for the support of the new dignitaries. On consultation with +Granvelle, who had not been advised of the scheme till after Philip's +application to Rome, it was arranged that the income should be furnished +by the abbey lands of the respective dioceses, and that the abbeys +themselves should hereafter be placed under the control of priors or +provosts depending altogether on the bishops. Meanwhile, until the bulls +should be received from Rome, it was determined to keep the matter +profoundly secret. It was easy to foresee that a storm of opposition +would arise, not only among those immediately interested in preserving +the present order of things, but among the great body of the nobles, who +would look with an evil eye on the admission into their ranks of so +large a number of persons servilely devoted to the interests of the +crown.[403] + +Having concluded his arrangements for the internal settlement of the +country, Philip naturally turned his thoughts towards Spain. He was the +more desirous of returning thither from the reports he received, that +even that orthodox land was becoming every day more tainted with the +heretical doctrines so rife in the neighboring countries. There were no +hostilities to detain him longer in the Netherlands, now that the war +with France had been brought to a close. The provinces, as we have +already stated, had furnished the king with important aid for carrying +on that war, by the grant of a stipulated annual tax for nine years. +This had not proved equal to his necessities. It was in vain, however, +to expect any further concessions from the states. They had borne, not +without murmurs, the heavy burdens laid on them by Charles,--a monarch +whom they loved. They bore still more impatiently the impositions of a +prince whom they loved so little as Philip. Yet the latter seemed ready +to make any sacrifice of his permanent interests for such temporary +relief as would extricate him from his present embarrassments. His +correspondence with Granvelle on the subject, unfolding the suicidal +schemes which he submitted to that minister, might form an edifying +chapter in the financial history of that day.[404] The difficulty of +carrying on the government of the Netherlands in this crippled state of +the finances doubtless strengthened the desire of the monarch to return +to his native land, where the manners and habits of the people were so +much more congenial with his own. + +Before leaving the country, it was necessary to provide a suitable +person to whom the reins of government might be intrusted. The duke of +Savoy, who, since the emperor's abdication, had held the post of regent, +was now to return to his own dominions, restored to him by the treaty of +Cateau-Cambresis. There were several persons who presented themselves +for this responsible office in the Netherlands. One of the most +prominent was Lamoral, prince of Gavre, count of Egmont, the hero of St. +Quentin and of Gravelines. The illustrious house from which he was +descended, his chivalrous spirit, his frank and generous bearing, no +less than his brilliant military achievements, had made him the idol of +the people. There were some who insisted that these achievements +inferred rather the successful soldier than the great captain;[405] and +that, whatever merit he could boast in the field, it was no proof of his +capacity for so important a civil station as that of governor of the +Netherlands. Yet it could not be doubted that his nomination would be +most acceptable to the people. This did not recommend him to Philip. + +Another candidate was Christine, duchess of Lorraine, the king's cousin. +The large estates of her house lay in the neighborhood of the +Netherlands. She had shown her talent for political affairs by the part +she had taken in effecting the arrangements of Cateau-Cambresis. The +prince of Orange, lately become a widower, was desirous, it was said, of +marrying her daughter. Neither did this prove a recommendation with +Philip, who was by no means anxious to raise the house of Orange higher +in the scale, still less to intrust it with the destinies of the +Netherlands. In a word, the monarch had no mind to confide the regency +of the country to any one of its powerful nobles.[406] + +The individual on whom the king at length decided to bestow this mark of +his confidence was his half-sister, Margaret, duchess of Parma. She was +the natural daughter of Charles the Fifth, born about four years before +his marriage with Isabella of Portugal. Margaret's mother, Margaret +Vander Gheenst, belonged to a noble Flemish house. Her parents both died +during her infancy. The little orphan was received into the family of +Count Hoogstraten, who, with his wife, reared her with the same +tenderness as they did their own offspring. At the age of seventeen she +was unfortunate enough to attract the eye of Charles the Fifth, who, +then in his twenty-third year, was captivated by the charms of the +Flemish maiden. Margaret's virtue was not proof against the seductions +of her royal suitor; and the victim of love--or of vanity--became the +mother of a child, who received her own name of Margaret. + +[Sidenote: MARGARET OF PARMA REGENT.] + +The emperor's aunt, then regent of the Netherlands, took charge of the +infant; and on the death of that princess, she was taken into the family +of the emperor's sister, Mary, queen of Hungary, who succeeded in the +regency. Margaret's birth did not long remain a secret; and she received +an education suited to the high station she was to occupy in life. When +only twelve years of age, the emperor gave her in marriage to Alexander +de'Medici, grand duke of Tuscany, some fifteen years older than herself. +The ill-fated connection did not subsist long, as, before twelve months +had elapsed, it was terminated by the violent death of her husband. + +When she had reached the age of womanhood, the hand of the young widow +was bestowed, together with the duchies of Parma and Placentia as her +dowry, on Ottavio Farnese, grandson of Paul the Third. The bridegroom +was but twelve years old. Thus again it was Margaret's misfortune that +there should be such disparity between her own age and that of her +husband as to exclude anything like sympathy or similarity in their +tastes. In the present instance, the boyish years of Ottavio inspired +her with a sentiment not very different from contempt, that in later +life settled into an indifference in which both parties appear to have +shared, and which, as a contemporary remarks with _naivete_, was only +softened into a kindlier feeling when the husband and wife had been long +separated from each other.[407] In truth, Margaret was too ambitious of +power to look on her husband in any other light than that of a rival. + +In her general demeanor, her air, her gait, she bore great resemblance +to her aunt, the regent. Like her, Margaret was excessively fond of +hunting, and she followed the chase with an intrepidity that might have +daunted the courage of the keenest sportsman. She had but little of the +natural softness that belongs to the sex, but in her whole deportment +was singularly masculine; so that, to render the words of the historian +by a homely phrase, in her woman's dress she seemed like a man in +petticoats.[408] As if to add to the illusion, Nature had given her +somewhat of a beard; and, to crown the whole, the malady to which she +was constitutionally subject was a disease to which women are but rarely +liable,--the gout.[409] It was good evidence of her descent from Charles +the Fifth. + +Though masculine in her appearance, Margaret was not destitute of the +kindlier qualities which are the glory of her sex. Her disposition was +good; but she relied much on the advice of others, and her more +objectionable acts may probably be referred rather to their influence +than to any inclination of her own. + +Her understanding was excellent, her apprehension quick. She showed much +versatility in accommodating herself to the exigencies of her position, +as well as adroitness in the management of affairs, which she may have +acquired in the schools of Italian politics. In religion she was as +orthodox as Philip the Second could desire. The famous Ignatius Loyola +had been her confessor in early days. The lessons of humility which he +inculcated were not lost on her, as may be inferred from the care she +took to perform the ceremony, in Holy Week, of washing the dirty +feet--she preferred them in this condition--of twelve poor maidens;[410] +outstripping, in this particular, the humility of the pope +himself.--Such was the character of Margaret, duchess of Parma, who now, +in the thirty-eighth year of her age, was called, at a most critical +period, to take the helm of the Netherlands. + +The appointment seems to have given equal satisfaction to herself and to +her husband, and no objection was made to Philip's purpose of taking +back with him to Castile their little son, Alexander Farnese,--a name +destined to become in later times so renowned in the Netherlands. The +avowed purpose was to give the boy a training suited to his rank, under +the eye of Philip; combined with which, according to the historian, was +the desire of holding a hostage for the fidelity of Margaret and of her +husband, whose dominions in Italy lay contiguous to those of Philip in +that country.[411] + +Early in June, 1559, Margaret of Parma, having reached the Low +Countries, made her entrance in great state into Brussels, where Philip +awaited her, surrounded by his whole court of Spanish and Flemish +nobles. The duke of Savoy was also present, as well as Margaret's +husband, the duke of Parma, then in attendance on Philip. The +appointment of Margaret was not distasteful to the people of the +Netherlands, for she was their countrywoman, and her early days had been +passed amongst them. Her presence was not less welcome to Philip, who +looked forward with eagerness to the hour of his departure. His first +purpose was to present the new regent to the nation, and for this he +summoned a meeting of the States-General at Ghent, in the coming August. + +On the twenty-fifth of July, he repaired with his court to this ancient +capital, which still smarted under the effects of that chastisement of +his father, which, terrible as it was, had not the power to break the +spirits of the men of Ghent. The presence of the court was celebrated +with public rejoicings, which continued for three days, during which +Philip held a chapter of the Golden Fleece for the election of fourteen +knights. The ceremony was conducted with the magnificence with which the +meetings of this illustrious order were usually celebrated. It was +memorable as the last chapter of it ever held.[412] Founded by the dukes +of Burgundy, the order of the Golden Fleece drew its members immediately +from the nobility of the Netherlands. When the Spanish sovereign, who +remained at its head, no more resided in the country, the chapters were +discontinued; and the knights derived their appointment from the simple +nomination of the monarch. + +On the eighth of August, the States-General assembled at Ghent. The +sturdy burghers who took their seats in this body came thither in no +very friendly temper to the government. Various subjects of complaint +had long been rankling in their bosoms, and now found vent in the form +of animated and angry debate. The people had been greatly alarmed by the +avowed policy of their rulers to persevere in the system of religious +persecution, as shown especially by the revival of the ancient edicts +against heresy and in support of the Inquisition. Rumors had gone +abroad, probably with exaggeration, of the proposed episcopal reforms. +However necessary, they were now regarded only as part of the great +scheme of persecution. Different nations, it was urged, required to be +guided by different laws. What suited the Spaniards would not for that +reason suit the people of the Netherlands. The Inquisition was ill +adapted to men accustomed from their cradles to freedom of thought and +action. Persecution was not to be justified in matters of conscience, +and men were not to be reclaimed from spiritual error by violence, but +by gentleness and persuasion. + +[Sidenote: MEETING OF THE STATES-GENERAL.] + +But what most called forth the invective of the Flemish orators was the +presence of a large body of foreign troops in the country. When Philip +disbanded his forces after the French war had terminated, there still +remained a corps of the old Spanish infantry, amounting to some three or +four thousands, which he thought proper to retain in the western +provinces. His avowed object was to protect the country from any +violence on the part of the French. Another reason assigned by him was +the difficulty of raising funds to pay their arrears. The true motive, +in the opinion of the states, was to enforce the execution of the new +measures, and overcome any resistance that might be made in the country. +These troops, like most of the soldiers of that day, who served for +plunder quite as much as for pay, had as little respect for the rights +or the property of their allies, as for those of their enemies. They +quartered themselves on the peaceful inhabitants of the country, and +obtained full compensation for loss of pay by a system of rapine and +extortion that beggared the people, and drove them to desperation. +Conflicts with the soldiery occasionally occurred, and in some parts the +peasantry even refused to repair the dikes, in order to lay the country +under water rather than submit to such outrages! "How is it," exclaimed +the bold syndic of Ghent, "that we find foreign soldiers thus quartered +on us, in open violation of our liberties? Are not our own troops able +to protect us from the dangers of invasion? Must we be ground to the +dust by the exactions of these mercenaries in peace, after being +burdened with the maintenance of them in war?" These remonstrances were +followed by a petition to the throne, signed by members of the other +orders as well as the commons, requesting that the king would be +graciously pleased to respect the privileges of the nation, and send +back the foreign troops to their own homes. + +Philip, who sat in the assembly with his sister, the future regent, by +his side, was not prepared for this independent spirit in the burghers +of the Netherlands. The royal ear had been little accustomed to this +strain of invective from the subject. For it was rare that the tone of +remonstrance was heard in the halls of Castilian legislation, since the +power of the commons had been broken on the field of Villalar. Unable or +unwilling to conceal his displeasure, the king descended from his +throne, and abruptly quitted the assembly.[413] + +Yet he did not, like Charles the First of England, rashly vent his +indignation by imprisoning or persecuting the members who had roused it. +Even the stout syndic of Ghent was allowed to go unharmed. Philip looked +above him to a mark more worthy of his anger,--to those of the higher +orders who had encouraged the spirit of resistance in the commons. The +most active of these malecontents was William of Orange. That noble, as +it may be remembered, was one of the hostages who remained at the Court +of Henry the Second for the fulfilment of the treaty of +Cateau-Cambresis. While there, a strange disclosure was made to the +prince by the French monarch, who told him that, through the duke of +Alva, a secret treaty had been entered into with his master, the king of +Spain, for the extirpation of heresy throughout their dominions. This +inconsiderate avowal of the French king was made to William on the +supposition that he was stanch in the Roman Catholic faith, and entirely +in his master's confidence. Whatever may have been the prince's claims +to orthodoxy at this period, it is certain he was not in Philip's +confidence. It is equally certain that he possessed one Christian virtue +which belonged neither to Philip nor to Henry,--the virtue of +toleration. Greatly shocked by the intelligence he had received, William +at once communicated it to several of his friends in the Netherlands. +One of the letters unfortunately fell into Philip's hands. The prince +soon after obtained permission to return to his own country, bent, as he +tells us in his Apology, on ridding it of the Spanish vermin.[414] +Philip, who understood the temper of his mind, had his eye on his +movements, and knew well to what source, in part at least, he was to +attribute the present opposition. It was not long after, that a +Castilian courtier intimated to the prince of Orange and to Egmont, that +it would be well for them to take heed to themselves; that the names of +those who had signed the petition for the removal of the troops had been +noted down, and that Philip and his council were resolved, when a +fitting occasion offered, to call them to a heavy reckoning for their +temerity.[415] + +Yet the king so far yielded to the wishes of the people as to promise +the speedy departure of the troops. But no power on earth could have +been strong enough to shake his purpose where the interests of religion +were involved. Nor would he abate one jot of the stern provisions of the +edicts. When one of his ministers, more hardy than the rest, ventured to +suggest to him that perseverance in this policy might cost him the +sovereignty of the provinces, "Better not reign at all," he answered, +"than reign over heretics!"[416]--an answer extolled by some as the +height of the sublime, by others derided as the extravagance of a +fanatic. In whatever light we view it, it must be admitted to furnish +the key to the permanent policy of Philip in his government of the +Netherlands. + +Before dissolving the States-General, Philip, unacquainted with the +language of the country, addressed the deputies through the mouth of the +bishop of Arras. He expatiated on the warmth of his attachment to his +good people of the Netherlands, and paid them a merited tribute for +their loyalty both to his father and to himself. He enjoined on them to +show similar respect to the regent, their own countrywoman, into whose +hands he had committed the government. They would reverence the laws and +maintain public tranquillity. Nothing would conduce to this so much as +the faithful execution of the edicts. It was their sacred duty to aid in +the extermination of heretics,--the deadliest foes both of God and their +sovereign. Philip concluded by assuring the states that he should soon +return in person to the Netherlands, or send his son Don Carlos as his +representative. + +The answer of the legislature was temperate and respectful. They made no +allusion to Philip's proposed ecclesiastical reforms, as he had not +authorized this by any allusion to them himself. They still pressed, +however, the removal of the foreign troops, and the further removal of +all foreigners from office, as contrary to the constitution of the land. +This last shaft was aimed at Granvelle, who held a high post in the +government, and was understood to be absolute in the confidence of the +king. Philip renewed his assurances of the dismissal of the forces, and +that within the space, as he promised, of four months. The other request +of the deputies he did not condescend to notice. His feelings on the +subject were intimated in an exclamation he made to one of his +ministers: "I too am a foreigner; will they refuse to obey me as their +sovereign?"[417] + +[Sidenote: ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNCILS.] + +The regent was to be assisted in the government by three councils which +of old time had existed in the land;--the council of finance, for the +administration, as the name implies, of the revenues; the privy council, +for affairs of justice and the internal concerns of the country; and the +council of state, for matters relating to peace and war, and the foreign +policy of the nation. Into this last, the supreme council, entered +several of the Flemish nobles, and among them the prince of Orange and +Count Egmont. There were, besides, Count Barlaimont, president of the +council of finance, Viglius, president of the privy council, and lastly +Granvelle, bishop of Arras. + +The regent was to act with the cooeperation of these several bodies in +their respective departments. In the conduct of the government, she was +to be guided by the council of state. But by private instructions of +Philip, questions of a more delicate nature, involving the tranquillity +of the country, might be first submitted to a select portion of this +council; and in such cases, or when a spirit of faction had crept into +the council, the regent, if she deemed it for the interest of the state, +might adopt the opinion of the minority. The select body with whom +Margaret was to advise in the more important matters was termed the +_Consulta_; and the members who composed it were Barlaimont, Viglius, +and the bishop of Arras.[418] + +The first of these men, Count Barlaimont, belonged to an ancient Flemish +family. With respectable talents and constancy of purpose, he was +entirely devoted to the interests of the crown. The second, Viglius, was +a jurist of extensive erudition, at this time well advanced in years, +and with infirmities that might have pressed heavily on a man less +patient of toil. He was personally attached to Granvelle; and as his +views of government coincided very nearly with that minister's, Viglius +was much under his influence. The last of the three, Granvelle, from his +large acquaintance with affairs, and his adroitness in managing them, +was far superior to his colleagues;[419] and he soon acquired such an +ascendancy over them, that the government may be said to have rested on +his shoulders. As there is no man who for some years is to take so +prominent a part in the story of the Netherlands, it will be proper to +introduce the reader to some acquaintance with his earlier history. + +Anthony Perrenot--whose name of Granvelle was derived from an estate +purchased by his father--was born in the year 1517, at Besancon, a town +in Franche Comte. His father, Nicholas Perrenot, founded the fortunes of +the family, and from the humble condition of a poor country attorney +rose to the rank of chancellor of the empire. This extraordinary +advancement was not owing to caprice, but to his unwearied industry, +extensive learning, and a clear and comprehensive intellect, combined +with steady devotion to the interests of his master, Charles the Fifth. +His talent for affairs led him to be employed not merely in official +business, but in diplomatic missions of great importance. In short, he +possessed the confidence of the emperor to a degree enjoyed by no other +subject; and when the chancellor died, in 1550, Charles pronounced his +eulogy to Philip in a single sentence, saying that in Granvelle they had +lost the man on whose wisdom they could securely repose.[420] + +Anthony Perrenot, distinguished from his father in later times as +Cardinal Granvelle, was the eldest of eleven children. In his childhood +he discovered such promise, that the chancellor bestowed much pains +personally on his instruction. At fourteen he was sent to Padua, and +after some years was removed to Louvain, then the university of greatest +repute in the Netherlands. It was not till later that the seminary of +Douay was founded, under the auspices of Philip the Second.[421] At the +university, the young Perrenot soon distinguished himself by the +vivacity of his mind, the acuteness of his perceptions, an industry +fully equal to his father's, and remarkable powers of acquisition. +Besides a large range of academic study, he made himself master of seven +languages, so as to read and converse in them with fluency. He seemed to +have little relish for the amusements of the youth of his own age. His +greatest amusement was a book. Under this incessant application his +health gave way, and for a time his studies were suspended. + +Whether from his father's preference or his own, young Granvelle +embraced the ecclesiastical profession. At the age of twenty-one he was +admitted to orders. The son of the chancellor was not slow in his +advancement, and he was soon possessed of several good benefices. But +the ambitious and worldly temper of Granvelle was not to be satisfied +with the humble duties of the ecclesiastic. It was not long before he +was called to court by his father, and there a brilliant career was +opened to his aspiring genius. + +The young man soon showed such talent for business, and such shrewd +insight into character, as, combined with the stores of learning he had +at his command, made his services of great value to his father. He +accompanied the chancellor on some of his public missions, among others +to the Council of Trent, where the younger Granvelle, who had already +been promoted to the see of Arras, first had the opportunity of +displaying that subtle, insinuating eloquence, which captivated as much +as it convinced. + +[Sidenote: RISE AND CHARACTER OF GRANVELLE.] + +The emperor saw with satisfaction the promise afforded by the young +statesman, and looked forward to the time when he would prove the same +pillar of support to his administration that his father had been before +him. Nor was that time far distant. As the chancellor's health declined, +the son became more intimately associated with his father in the +counsels of the emperor. He justified this confidence by the unwearied +toil with which he devoted himself to the business of the cabinet; a +toil to which even night seemed to afford no respite. He sometimes +employed five secretaries at once, dictating to them in as many +different languages.[422] The same thing, or something as miraculous, +has been told of other remarkable men, both before and since. As a mere +_tour de force_ Granvelle may possibly have amused himself with it. But +it was not in this way that the correspondence was written which +furnishes the best key to the events of the time. If it had been so +written, it would never have been worth the publication. + +Every evening Granvelle presented himself before the emperor, and read +to him the programme he had prepared of the business of the following +day, with his own suggestions.[423] The foreign ambassadors who resided +at the court were surprised to find the new minister so entirely in the +secrets of his master; and that he was as well instructed in all their +doings as the emperor himself.[424] In short, the confidence of Charles, +given slowly and with much hesitation, was at length bestowed as freely +on the son as it had been on the father. The two Granvelles may be truly +said to have been the two persons who most possessed the confidence of +the emperor, from the time that he took the reins of government into his +own hands. + +When raised to the see of Arras, Granvelle was but twenty-five years +old. It is rare that the mitre has descended on a man of a more +ambitious spirit. Yet Granvelle was not averse to the good things of the +world, nor altogether insensible to its pomps and vanities. He affected +great state in his manner of living, and thus necessity, no less than +taste, led him to covet the possession of wealth as well as of power. He +obtained both; and his fortunes were rapidly advancing when, by the +abdication of his royal master, the sceptre passed into the hands of +Philip the Second. + +Charles recommended Granvelle to his son as every way deserving of his +confidence. Granvelle knew that the best recommendation--the only +effectual one--must come from himself. He studied carefully the +character of his new sovereign, and showed a wonderful flexibility in +conforming to his humors. The ambitious minister proved himself no +stranger to those arts by which great minds, as well as little ones, +sometimes condescend to push their fortunes in a court. + +Yet, in truth, Granvelle did not always do violence to his own +inclinations in conforming to those of Philip. Like the king, he did not +come rapidly to results, but pondered long, and viewed a question in all +its bearings, before arriving at a decision. He had, as we have seen, +the same patient spirit of application as Philip, so that both may be +said to have found their best recreation in labor. Neither was he less +zealous than the king for the maintenance of the true faith, though his +accommodating nature, if left to itself, might have sanctioned a +different policy from that dictated by the stern, uncompromising spirit +of his master. + +Granvelle's influence was further aided by the charms of his personal +intercourse. His polished and insinuating manners seem to have melted +even the icy reserve of Philip. He maintained his influence by his +singular tact in suggesting hints for carrying out his master's policy, +in such a way that the suggestion might seem to have come from the king +himself. Thus careful not to alarm the jealousy of his sovereign, he was +content to forego the semblance of power for the real possession of +it.[425] + +It was soon seen that he was as well settled in the confidence of Philip +as he had previously been in that of Charles. Notwithstanding the +apparent distribution of power between the regent and the several +councils, the arrangements made by the king were such as to throw the +real authority into the hands of Granvelle. Thus the rare example was +afforded of the same man continuing the favorite of two successive +sovereigns. Granvelle did not escape the usual fate of favorites; and +whether from the necessity of the case, or that, as some pretend, he did +not on his elevation bear his faculties too meekly, no man was so +generally and so heartily detested throughout the country.[426] + +Before leaving the Netherlands, Philip named the governors of the +several provinces,--the nominations, for the most part, only confirming +those already in office. Egmont had the governments of Flanders and +Artois; the prince of Orange, those of Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, and +West Friesland. The commission to William, running in the usual form, +noticed "the good, loyal, and notable services he had rendered both to +the emperor and his present sovereign."[427] The command of two +battalions of the Spanish army was also given to the two nobles,--a poor +contrivance for reconciling the nation to the continuance of these +detested troops in the country. + +Philip had anxiously waited for the arrival of the papal bull which was +to authorize the erection of the bishoprics. Granvelle looked still more +anxiously for it. He had read the signs of the coming storm, and would +gladly have encountered it when the royal presence might have afforded +some shelter from its fury. But the court of Rome moved at its usual +dilatory pace, and the apostolic nuncio did not arrive with the missive +till the eve of Philip's departure,--too late for him to witness its +publication.[428] + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S DEPARTURE.] + +Having completed all his arrangements, about the middle of August the +king proceeded to Zealand, where, in the port of Flushing, lay a gallant +fleet, waiting to take him and the royal suite to Spain. It consisted of +fifty Spanish and forty other vessels,--all well manned, and victualled +for a much longer voyage.[429] Philip was escorted to the place of +embarkation by a large body of Flemish nobles, together with the foreign +ambassadors and the duke and duchess of Savoy. A curious scene is +reported to have taken place as he was about to go on board. Turning +abruptly round to the prince of Orange, who had attended him on the +journey, he bluntly accused him of being the true source of the +opposition which his measures had encountered in the States-General. +William, astonished at the suddenness of the attack, replied that the +opposition was to be regarded, not as the act of an individual, but of +the states. "No," rejoined the incensed monarch, shaking him at the same +time violently by the wrist, "not the states, but you, you, you!"[430] +an exclamation deriving additional bitterness from the fact that the +word _you_, thus employed, in the Castilian was itself indicative of +contempt. William did not think it prudent to reply, nor did he care to +trust himself with the other Flemish lords on board the royal +squadron.[431] + +The royal company being at length all on board, on the twentieth of +August, 1559, the fleet weighed anchor; and Philip, taking leave of the +duke and duchess of Savoy, and the rest of the noble train who attended +his embarkation, was soon wafted from the shores,--to which he was never +to return. + + * * * * * + + Luc-Jean-Joseph Vandervynckt, to whom I have repeatedly had + occasion to refer in the course of the preceding chapter, was a + Fleming,--born at Ghent in 1691. He was educated to the law, became + eminent in his profession, and at the age of thirty-eight was made + a member of the council of Flanders. He employed his leisure in + studying the historical antiquities of his own country. At the + suggestion of Coblentz, prime minister of Maria Theresa, he + compiled his work on the Troubles of the Netherlands. It was + designed for the instruction of the younger branches of the + imperial family, and six copies only of it were at first printed, + in 1765. Since the author's death, which took place in 1779, when + he had reached the great age of eighty-eight, the work has been + repeatedly published. + + As Vandervynckt had the national archives thrown open to his + inspection, he had access to the most authentic sources of + information. He was a man of science and discernment, fair-minded, + and temperate in his opinions, which gives value to a book that + contains, moreover, much interesting anecdote, not elsewhere to be + found. The work, though making only four volumes, covers a large + space of historical ground,--from the marriage of Philip the Fair, + in 1495, to the peace of Westphalia, in 1648. Its literary + execution is by no means equal to its other merits. The work is + written in French; but Vandervynckt, unfortunately, while he both + wrote and spoke Flemish, and even Latin, with facility, was but + indifferently acquainted with French. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +PROTESTANTISM IN SPAIN. + +Philip's Arrival in Spain.--The Reformed Doctrines.--Their +Suppression.--Autos da Fe.--Prosecution of Carranza.--Extinction of +Heresy.--Fanaticism of the Spaniards. + +1559. + + +The voyage of King Philip was a short and prosperous one. On the +twenty-ninth of August, 1559, he arrived off the port of Laredo. But +while he was in sight of land, the weather, which had been so +propitious, suddenly changed. A furious tempest arose, which scattered +his little navy. Nine of the vessels foundered, and though the monarch +had the good fortune, under the care of an experienced pilot, to make +his escape in a boat, and reach the shore in safety, he had the +mortification to see the ship which had borne him go down with the rest, +and with her the inestimable cargo he had brought from the Low +Countries. It consisted of curious furniture, tapestries, gems, pieces +of sculpture, and paintings,--the rich productions of Flemish and +Italian art, which his father, the emperor, had been employed many years +of his life in collecting. Truly was it said of Charles, that "he had +sacked the land only to feed the ocean."[432] To add to the calamity, +more than a thousand persons perished in this shipwreck.[433] + +The king, without delay, took the road to Valladolid; but on arriving at +that capital, whether depressed by his late disaster, or from his +habitual dislike of such empty parade, he declined the honors, with +which the loyal inhabitants would have greeted the return of their +sovereign to his dominions. Here he was cordially welcomed by his +sister, the Regent Joanna, who, long since weary of the cares of +sovereignty, resigned the sceptre into his hands, with a better will +than that with which most persons would have received it. Here, too, he +had the satisfaction of embracing his son Carlos, the heir to his +empire. The length of Philip's absence may have allowed him to see some +favorable change in the person of the young prince, though, if report be +true, there was little change for the better in his disposition, which, +headstrong and imperious, had already begun to make men tremble for the +future destinies of their country. + +Philip had not been many days in Valladolid when his presence was +celebrated by one of those exhibitions, which, unhappily for Spain, +maybe called national. This was an _auto da fe_, not, however, as +formerly, of Jews and Moors, but of Spanish Protestants. The Reformation +had been silently, but not slowly, advancing in the Peninsula; and +intelligence of this, as we have already seen, was one cause of Philip's +abrupt departure from the Netherlands. The brief but disastrous attempt +at a religious revolution in Spain is an event of too much importance to +be passed over in silence by the historian. + +[Sidenote: THE REFORMED DOCTRINES.] + +Notwithstanding the remote position of Spain, under the imperial sceptre +of Charles she was brought too closely into contact with the other +states of Europe not to feel the shock of the great religious reform +which was shaking those states to their foundations. Her most intimate +relations, indeed, were with those very countries in which the seeds of +the Reformation were first planted. It was no uncommon thing for +Spaniards, in the sixteenth century, to be indebted for some portion of +their instruction to German universities. Men of learning, who +accompanied the emperor, became familiar with the religious doctrines so +widely circulated in Germany and Flanders. The troops gathered the same +doctrines from the Lutheran soldiers, who occasionally served with them +under the imperial banners. These opinions, crude for the most part as +they were, they brought back to their own country; and a curiosity was +roused which prepared the mind for the reception of the great truths +which were quickening the other nations of Europe. Men of higher +education, on their return to Spain, found the means of disseminating +these truths. Secret societies were established; meetings were held; +and, with the same secrecy as in the days of the early Christians, the +Gospel was preached and explained to the growing congregation of the +faithful. The greatest difficulty was the want of books. The enterprise +of a few self-devoted proselytes at length overcame this difficulty. + +A Castilian version of the Bible had been printed in Germany. Various +Protestant publications, whether originating in the Castilian or +translated into that language, appeared in the same country. A copy, now +and then, in the possession of some private individual, had found its +way, without detection, across the Pyrenees. These instances were rare, +when a Spaniard named Juan Hernandez, resident in Geneva, where he +followed the business of a corrector of the press, undertook, from no +other motive but zeal for the truth, to introduce a larger supply of the +forbidden fruit into his native land. + +With great adroitness, he evaded the vigilance of the custom-house +officers, and the more vigilant spies of the Inquisition, and in the end +succeeded in landing two large casks filled with prohibited works, which +were quickly distributed among the members of the infant church. Other +intrepid converts followed the example of Hernandez, and with similar +success; so that, with the aid of books and spiritual teachers, the +number of the faithful multiplied daily throughout the country.[434] +Among this number was a much larger proportion, it was observed, of +persons of rank and education than is usually found in like cases; owing +doubtless to the circumstance that it was this class of persons who had +most frequented the countries where the Lutheran doctrines were taught. +Thus the Reformed Church grew and prospered, not indeed as it had +prospered in the freer atmospheres of Germany and Britain, but as well +as it could possibly do under the blighting influence of the +Inquisition; like some tender plant, which, nurtured in the shade, waits +only for a more genial season for its full expansion. That season was +not in reserve for it in Spain. + +It may seem strange that the spread of the Reformed religion should so +long have escaped the detection of the agents of the Holy Office. Yet it +is certain that the first notice which the Spanish inquisitors received +of the fact was from their brethren abroad. Some ecclesiastics in the +train of Philip, suspecting the heresy of several of their own +countrymen in the Netherlands, had them seized and sent to Spain, to be +examined by the Inquisition. On a closer investigation, it was found +that a correspondence had long been maintained between these persons and +their countrymen, of a similar persuasion with themselves, at home. Thus +the existence, though not the extent, of the Spanish Reformation was +made known.[435] + +No sooner was the alarm sounded, than Paul the Fourth, quick to follow +up the scent of heresy in any quarter of his pontifical dominions, +issued a brief, in February, 1558, addressed to the Spanish +inquisitor-general. In this brief, his holiness enjoins it on the head +of the tribunal to spare no efforts to detect and exterminate the +growing evil; and he empowers that functionary to arraign and bring to +condign punishment all suspected of heresy, of whatever rank or +profession,--whether bishops or archbishops, nobles, kings, or emperors. +Paul the Fourth was fond of contemplating himself as seated in the chair +of the Innocents and the Gregories, and like them setting his pontifical +foot on the necks of princes. His natural arrogance was probably not +diminished by the concessions which Philip the Second had thought proper +to make to him at the close of the Roman war. + +Philip, far from taking umbrage at the swelling tone of this apostolical +mandate, followed it up, in the same year, by a monstrous edict, +borrowed from one in the Netherlands, which condemned all who bought, +sold, or read prohibited works to be burned alive. + +In the following January, Paul, to give greater efficacy to this edict, +published another bull, in which he commanded all confessors, under pain +of excommunication, to enjoin on their penitents to inform against all +persons, however nearly allied to them, who might be guilty of such +practices. To quicken the zeal of the informer, Philip, on his part, +revived a law fallen somewhat into disuse, by which the accuser was to +receive one fourth of the confiscated property of the convicted party. +And finally, a third bull from Paul allowed the inquisitors to withhold +a pardon from the recanting heretic, if any doubt existed of his +sincerity; thus placing the life as well as fortune of the unhappy +prisoner entirely at the mercy of judges who had an obvious interest in +finding him guilty. In this way the pope and the king continued to play +into each other's hands, and while his holiness artfully spread the +toils, the king devised the means for driving the quarry into them.[436] + +Fortunately for these plans, the Inquisition was at this time under the +direction of a man peculiarly fitted to execute them. This was Fernando +Valdes, cardinal-archbishop of Seville, a person of a hard, inexorable +nature, and possessed of as large a measure of fanaticism as ever fell +to a grand-inquisitor since the days of Torquemada. Valdes readily +availed himself of the terrible machinery placed under his control. +Careful not to alarm the suspected parties, his approaches were slow and +stealthy. He was the chief of a tribunal which sat in darkness, and +which dealt by invisible agents. He worked long and silently under +ground before firing the mine which was to bury his enemies in a general +ruin. + +[Sidenote: SUPPRESSION OF THE REFORM.] + +His spies were everywhere abroad, mingling with the suspected, and +insinuating themselves into their confidence. At length, by the +treachery of some, and by working on the nervous apprehensions or the +religions scruples of others, he succeeded in detecting the +lurking-places of the new heresy, and the extent of ground which it +covered. This was much larger than had been imagined, although the +Reformation in Spain seemed less formidable from the number of its +proselytes than from their character and position. Many of them were +ecclesiastics, especially intrusted with maintaining the purity of the +faith. The quarters in which the heretical doctrines most prevailed were +Aragon, which held an easy communication with the Huguenots of France, +and the ancient cities of Seville and Valladolid, indebted less to any +local advantages than to the influence of a few eminent men, who had +early embraced the faith of the Reformers. + +At length, the preliminary information having been obtained, the +proscribed having been marked out, the plan of attack settled, an order +was given for the simultaneous arrest of all persons suspected of +heresy, throughout the kingdom. It fell like a thunderbolt on the +unhappy victims, who had gone on with their secret associations, little +suspecting the ruin that hung over them. No resistance was attempted. +Men and women, churchmen and laymen, persons of all ranks and +professions, were hurried from their homes, and lodged in the secret +chambers of the Inquisition. Yet these could not furnish accommodations +for the number, and many were removed to the ordinary prisons, and even +to convents and private dwellings. In Seville alone eight hundred were +arrested on the first day. Fears were entertained of an attempt at +rescue, and an additional guard was stationed over the places of +confinement. The inquisitors were in the condition of a fisherman whose +cast has been so successful that the draught of fishes seems likely to +prove too heavy for his net.[437] + +The arrest of one party gradually led to the detection of others. +Dragged from his solitary dungeon before the secret tribunal of the +Inquisition, alone, without counsel to aid or one friendly face to cheer +him, without knowing the name of his accuser, without being allowed to +confront the witnesses who were there to swear away his life, without +even a sight of his own process, except such garbled extracts as the +wily judges thought fit to communicate, is it strange that the unhappy +victim, in his perplexity and distress, should have been drawn into +disclosures fatal to his associates and himself? If these disclosures +were not to the mind of his judges, they had only to try the efficacy of +the torture,--the rack, the cord, and the pulley,--until, when every +joint had been wrenched from its socket, the barbarous tribunal was +compelled to suspend, not terminate, the application, from the inability +of the sufferer to endure it. Such were the dismal scenes enacted in the +name of religion, and by the ministers of religion, as well as of the +Inquisition,--scenes to which few of those who had once witnessed them, +and escaped with life, dared ever to allude. For to reveal the secrets +of the Inquisition was death.[438] + +At the expiration of eighteen months from the period of the first +arrests, many of the trials had been concluded, the doom of the +prisoners was sealed, and it was thought time that the prisons should +disgorge their superfluous inmates. Valladolid was selected as the +theatre of the first _auto da fe_, both from the importance of the +capital and the presence of the court, which would thus sanction and +give greater dignity to the celebration. This event took place in May, +1559. The Regent Joanna, the young prince of the Asturias, Don Carlos, +and the principal grandees of the court, were there to witness the +spectacle. By rendering the heir of the crown thus early familiar with +the tender mercies of the Holy Office, it may have been intended to +conciliate his favor to that institution. If such was the object, +according to the report it signally failed, since the woeful spectacle +left no other impressions on the mind of the prince than those of +indignation and disgust. + +The example of Valladolid was soon followed by _autos da fe_ in Granada, +Toledo, Seville, Barcelona,--in short, in the twelve capitals in which +tribunals of the Holy Office were established. A second celebration at +Valladolid was reserved for the eighth of October in the same year, when +it would be graced by the presence of the sovereign himself. Indeed, as +several of the processes had been concluded some months before this +period, there is reason to believe that the sacrifice of more than one +of the victims had been postponed, in order to give greater effect to +the spectacle.[439] + +The _auto da fe_--"act of faith"--was the most imposing, as it was the +most awful, of the solemnities authorized by the Roman Catholic Church. +It was intended, somewhat profanely, as has been intimated, to combine +the pomp of the Roman triumph with the terrors of the day of +judgment.[440] It may remind one quite as much of those bloody festivals +prepared for the entertainment of the Caesars in the Colisaeum. The +religions import of the _auto da fe_ was intimated by the circumstance +of its being celebrated on a Sunday, or some other holiday of the +Church. An indulgence for forty days was granted by his holiness to all +who should be present at the spectacle; as if the appetite for +witnessing the scenes of human suffering required to be stimulated by a +bounty; that too in Spain, where the amusements were, and still are, of +the most sanguinary character. + +The scene for this second _auto da fe_ at Valladolid was the great +square in front of the church of St. Francis. At one end a platform was +raised, covered with rich carpeting, on which were ranged the seats of +the inquisitors, emblazoned with the arms of the Holy Office. Near to +this was the royal gallery, a private entrance to which secured the +inmates from molestation by the crowd. Opposite to this gallery a large +scaffold was erected, so as to be visible from all parts of the arena, +and was appropriated to the unhappy martyrs who were to suffer in the +_auto_. + +At six in the morning all the bells in the capital began to toll, and a +solemn procession was seen to move from the dismal fortress of the +Inquisition. In the van marched a body of troops, to secure a free +passage for the procession. Then came the condemned, each attended by +two familiars of the Holy Office, and those who were to suffer at the +stake by two friars, in addition, exhorting the heretic to abjure his +errors. Those admitted to penitence wore a sable dress; while the +unfortunate martyr was enveloped in a loose sack of yellow cloth,--the +_san benito_,--with his head surmounted by a cap of pasteboard of a +conical form, which, together with the cloak, was embroidered with +figures of flames and of devils fanning and feeding them; all +emblematical of the destiny of the heretic's soul in the world to come, +as well as of his body in the present. Then came the magistrates of the +city, the judges of the courts, the ecclesiastical orders, and the +nobles of the land on horseback. These were followed by the members of +the dread tribunal, and the fiscal, bearing a standard of crimson +damask, on one side of which were displayed the arms of the Inquisition, +and on the other the insignia of its founders, Sixtus the Fifth and +Ferdinand the Catholic. Next came a numerous train of familiars, well +mounted, among whom were many gentry of the province, proud to act as +the body-guard of the Holy Office. The rear was brought up by an immense +concourse of the common people, stimulated on the present occasion, no +doubt, by the loyal desire to see their new sovereign, as well as by the +ambition to share in the triumphs of the _auto da fe_. The number thus +drawn together from the capital and the country, far exceeding what was +usual on such occasions, is estimated by one present at full two hundred +thousand.[441] + +[Sidenote: AUTOS DA FE.] + +As the multitude defiled into the square, the inquisitors took their +place on the seats prepared for their reception. The condemned were +conducted to the scaffold, and the royal station was occupied by Philip, +with the different members of his household. At his side sat his sister, +the late regent, his son, Don Carlos, his nephew, Alexander Farnese, +several foreign ambassadors, and the principal grandees and higher +ecclesiastics in attendance on the court. It was an august assembly of +the greatest and the proudest in the land. But the most indifferent +spectator, who had a spark of humanity in his bosom, might have turned +with feelings of admiration from this array of worldly power, to the +poor martyr, who, with no support but what he drew from within, was +prepared to defy this power, and to lay down his life in vindication of +the rights of conscience. Some there may have been, in that large +concourse, who shared in these sentiments. But their number was small +indeed in comparison with those who looked on the wretched victim as the +enemy of God, and his approaching sacrifice as the most glorious triumph +of the Cross. + +The ceremonies began with a sermon, "the sermon of the faith," by the +bishop of Zamora. The subject of it may well be guessed, from the +occasion. It was no doubt plentifully larded with texts of Scripture, +and, unless the preacher departed from the fashion of the time, with +passages from the heathen writers, however much out of place they may +seem in an orthodox discourse. + +When the bishop had concluded, the grand-inquisitor administered an oath +to the assembled multitude, who on their knees solemnly swore to defend +the Inquisition, to maintain the purity of the faith, and to inform +against any one who should swerve from it. As Philip repeated an oath of +similar import, he suited the action to the word, and, rising from his +seat, drew his sword from its scabbard, as if to announce himself the +determined champion of the Holy Office. In the earlier _autos_ of the +Moorish and Jewish infidels, so humiliating an oath had never been +exacted from the sovereign. + +After this, the secretary of the tribunal read aloud an instrument +reciting the grounds for the conviction of the prisoners, and the +respective sentences pronounced against them. Those who were to be +admitted to penitence, each, as his sentence was proclaimed, knelt down, +and, with his hands on the missal, solemnly abjured his errors, and was +absolved by the grand-inquisitor. The absolution, however, was not so +entire as to relieve the offender from the penalty of his transgressions +in this world. Some were doomed to perpetual imprisonment in the cells +of the Inquisition, others to lighter penances. All were doomed to the +confiscation of their property,--a point of too great moment to the +welfare of the tribunal ever to be omitted. Besides this, in many cases +the offender, and, by a glaring perversion of justice, his immediate +descendants, were rendered for ever ineligible to public office of any +kind, and their names branded with perpetual infamy. Thus blighted in +fortune and in character, they were said, in the soft language of the +Inquisition, to be _reconciled_. + +As these unfortunate persons were remanded, under a strong guard, to +their prisons, all eyes were turned on the little company of martyrs, +who, clothed in the ignominious garb of the _san benito_, stood waiting +the sentence of the judges,--with cords round their necks, and in their +hands a cross, or sometimes an inverted torch, typical of their own +speedy dissolution. The interest of the spectators was still further +excited, in the present instance, by the fact that several of these +victims were not only illustrious for their rank, but yet more so for +their talents and virtues. In their haggard looks, their emaciated +forms, and too often, alas! their distorted limbs, it was easy to read +the story of their sufferings in their long imprisonment, for some of +them had been confined in the dark cells of the Inquisition much more +than a year. Yet their countenances, though haggard, far from showing +any sign of weakness or fear, were lighted up with a glow of holy +enthusiasm, as of men prepared to seal their testimony with their blood. + +When that part of the process showing the grounds of their conviction +had been read, the grand-inquisitor consigned them to the hands of the +corregidor of the city, beseeching him to deal with the prisoners _in +all kindness and mercy_;[442] a honeyed, but most hypocritical phrase, +since no choice was left to the civil magistrate, but to execute the +terrible sentence of the law against heretics, the preparations for +which had been made by him a week before.[443] + +The whole number of convicts amounted to thirty, of whom sixteen were +_reconciled_, and the remainder _relaxed_ to the secular arm,--in other +words, turned over to the civil magistrate for execution. There were few +of those thus condemned who, when brought to the stake, did not so far +shrink from the dreadful doom that awaited them as to consent to +purchase a commutation of it by confession before they died; in which +case they were strangled by the _garrote_, before their bodies were +thrown into the flames. + +Of the present number there were only two whose constancy triumphed to +the last over the dread of suffering, and who refused to purchase any +mitigation of it by a compromise with conscience. The names of these +martyrs should be engraven on the record of history. + +One of them was Don Carlos de Seso, a noble Florentine, who had stood +high in the favor of Charles the Fifth. Being united with a lady of rank +in Castile, he removed to that country, and took up his residence in +Valladolid. He had become a convert to the Lutheran doctrines, which he +first communicated to his own family, and afterwards showed equal zeal +in propagating among the people of Valladolid and its neighborhood. In +short, there was no man to whose untiring and intrepid labors the cause +of the Reformed religion in Spain was more indebted. He was, of course, +a conspicuous mark for the Inquisition. + +[Sidenote: AUTOS DA FE.] + +During the fifteen months in which he lay in its gloomy cells, cut off +from human sympathy and support, his constancy remained unshaken. The +night preceding his execution, when his sentence had been announced to +him, De Seso called for writing materials. It was thought he designed to +propitiate his judges by a full confession of his errors. But the +confession he made was of another kind. He insisted on the errors of the +Romish Church, and avowed his unshaken trust in the great truths of the +Reformation. The document, covering two sheets of paper, is pronounced +by the secretary of the Inquisition to be a composition equally +remarkable for its energy and precision.[444] When led before the royal +gallery, on his way to the place of execution, De Seso pathetically +exclaimed to Philip, "Is it thus that you allow your innocent subjects +to be persecuted?" To which the king made the memorable reply, "If it +were my own son, I would fetch the wood to burn him, were he such a +wretch as thou art!" It was certainly a characteristic answer.[445] + +At the stake De Seso showed the same unshaken constancy, bearing his +testimony to the truth of the great cause for which he gave up his life. +As the flames crept slowly around him, he called on the soldiers to heap +up the fagots, that his agonies might be sooner ended; and his +executioners, indignant at the obstinacy--the heroism--of the martyr, +were not slow in obeying his commands.[446] + +The companion and fellow-sufferer of De Seso was Domingo de Roxas, son +of the marquis de Poza, an unhappy noble, who had seen five of his +family, including his eldest son, condemned to various humiliating +penances by the Inquisition for their heretical opinions. This one was +now to suffer death. De Roxas was a Dominican monk. It is singular that +this order, from which the ministers of the Holy Office were +particularly taken, furnished many proselytes to the Reformed religion. +De Roxas, as was the usage with ecclesiastics, was allowed to retain his +sacerdotal habit until his sentence had been read, when he was degraded +from his ecclesiastical rank, his vestments were stripped off one after +another, and the hideous dress of the _san benito_ thrown over him, amid +the shouts and derision of the populace. Thus apparelled, he made an +attempt to address the spectators around the scaffold; but no sooner did +he begin to raise his voice against the errors and cruelties of Rome, +than Philip indignantly commanded him to be gagged. The gag was a piece +of cleft wood, which, forcibly compressing the tongue, had the +additional advantage of causing great pain, while it silenced the +offender. Even when he was bound to the stake, the gag, though contrary +to custom, was suffered to remain in the mouth of De Roxas, as if his +enemies dreaded the effects of an eloquence that triumphed over the +anguish of death.[447] + +The place of execution--the _quemadero_, the burning-place, as it was +called--was a spot selected for the purpose without the walls of the +city.[448] Those who attended an _auto da fe_ were not, therefore, +necessarily, as is commonly imagined, spectators of the tragic scene +that concluded it. The great body of the people, and many of higher +rank, no doubt, followed to the place of execution. On this occasion, +there is reason to think, from the language--somewhat equivocal, it is +true--of Philip's biographer, that the monarch chose to testify his +devotion to the Inquisition by witnessing in person the appalling close +of the drama; while his guards mingled with the menials of the Holy +Office, and heaped up the fagots round their victims.[449] + +Such was the cruel exhibition which, under the garb of a religious +festival, was thought the most fitting ceremonial for welcoming the +Catholic monarch to his dominions! During the whole time of its duration +in the public square, from six in the morning till two in the afternoon, +no symptom of impatience was exhibited by the spectators, and, as may +well be believed, no sign of sympathy for the sufferers.[450] It would +be difficult to devise a better school for perverting the moral sense, +and deadening the sensibilities of a nation.[451] + +[Sidenote: PROSECUTION OF CARRANZA.] + +Under the royal sanction, the work of persecution now went forward more +briskly than ever.[452] No calling was too sacred, no rank too high, to +escape the shafts of the informer. In the course of a few years, no +less than nine bishops were compelled to do humiliating penance in some +form or other for heterodox opinions. But the most illustrious victim of +the Inquisition was Bartolome Carranzo, archbishop of Toledo. The +primacy of Spain might be considered as the post of the highest +consideration in the Roman Catholic Church after the papacy.[453] The +proceedings against this prelate, on the whole, excited more interest +throughout Christendom than any other case that came before the tribunal +of the Inquisition. + +Carranza, who was of an ancient Castilian family, had early entered a +Dominican convent in the suburbs of Guadalajara. His exemplary life, and +his great parts and learning, recommended him to the favor of Charles +the Fifth, who appointed him confessor to his son Philip. The emperor +also sent him to the Council of Trent, where he made a great impression +by his eloquence, as well as by a tract which he published against +plurality of benefices, which, however, excited no little disgust in +many of his order. On Philip's visit to England to marry Queen Mary, +Carranza accompanied his master, and while in that country he +distinguished himself by the zeal and ability with which he controverted +the doctrines of the Protestants. The alacrity, moreover, which he +manifested in the work of persecution made him generally odious under +the name of the "black friar,"--a name peculiarly appropriate, as it +applied not less to his swarthy complexion than to the garb of his +order. On Philip's return to Flanders, Carranza, who had twice refused a +mitre, was raised--not without strong disinclination on his own part--to +the archiepiscopal see of Toledo. The "_nolo episcopari_," in this +instance, seems to have been sincere. It would have been well for him if +it had been effectual. Carranza's elevation to the primacy was the +source of all his troubles. + +The hatred of theologians has passed into a proverb; and there would +certainly seem to be no rancor surpassing that of a Spanish +ecclesiastic. Among the enemies raised by Carranza's success, the most +implacable was the grand-inquisitor, Valdes. The archbishop of Seville +could ill brook that a humble Dominican should be thus raised from the +cloister over the heads of the proud prelacy of Spain. With unwearied +pains, such as hate only could induce, he sought out whatever could make +against the orthodoxy of the new prelate, whether in his writings or his +conversation. Some plausible ground was afforded for this from the fact, +that, although Carranza, as his whole life had shown, was devoted to the +Roman Catholic Church, yet his long residence in Protestant countries, +and his familiarity with Protestant works, had given a coloring to his +language, if not to his opinions, which resembled that of the Reformers. +Indeed, Carranza seems to have been much of the same way of thinking +with Pole, Contarini, Morone, and other illustrious Romanists, whose +liberal natures and wide range of study, had led them to sanction more +than one of the Lutheran dogmas which were subsequently proscribed by +the Council of Trent. One charge strongly urged against the primate was +his assent to the heretical doctrine of justification by faith. In +support of this, Father Regla, the confessor, as the reader may +remember, of Charles the Fifth, and a worthy coadjutor of Valdes, +quoted words of consolation employed by Carranza, in his presence, at +the death-bed of the emperor.[454] + +The exalted rank of the accused made it necessary for his enemies to +proceed with the greatest caution. Never had the bloodhounds of the +Inquisition been set on so noble a quarry. Confident in his own +authority, the prelate had little reason for distrust. He could not ward +off the blow, for it was an invisible arm stronger than his own that was +raised to smite him. On the twenty-second of August, 1559, the +emissaries of the Holy Office entered the primate's town of Torrelaguna. +The doors of the episcopal palace were thrown open to the ministers of +the terrible tribunal. The prelate was dragged from his bed at midnight, +was hurried into a coach, and while the inhabitants were ordered not so +much as to present themselves at the windows, he was conducted, under a +strong guard, to the prisons of the Inquisition at Valladolid. The +arrest of such a person caused a great sensation throughout the country, +but no attempt was made at a rescue. + +The primate would have appealed from the Holy Office to the pope, as the +only power competent to judge him. But he was unwilling to give umbrage +to Philip, who had told him in any extremity to rely on him. The king, +however, was still in the Netherlands, where his mind had been +preoccupied, through the archbishop's enemies, with rumors of his +defection. And the mere imputation of heresy, in this dangerous crisis, +and especially in one whom he had so recently raised to the highest post +in the Spanish church, was enough, not only to efface the recollection +of past services from the mind of Philip, but to turn his favor into +aversion. For two years Carranza was suffered to languish in +confinement, exposed to all the annoyances which the malice of his +enemies could devise. So completely was he dead to the world, that he +knew nothing of a conflagration which consumed more than four hundred of +the principal houses in Valladolid, till some years after the +occurrence.[455] + +At length the Council of Trent, sharing the indignation of the rest of +Christendom at the archbishop's protracted imprisonment, called on +Philip to interpose in his behalf, and to remove the cause to another +tribunal. But the king gave little heed to the remonstrance, which the +inquisitors treated as a presumptuous interference with their authority. + +In 1566, Pius the Fifth ascended the pontifical throne. He was a man of +austere morals and a most inflexible will. A Dominican, like Carranza, +he was greatly scandalized by the treatment which the primate had +received, and by the shameful length to which his process had been +protracted. He at once sent his orders to Spain for the removal of the +grand-inquisitor, Valdes, from office, summoning, at the same time, the +cause and the prisoner before his own tribunal. The bold inquisitor, +loth to lose his prey, would have defied the power of Rome, as he had +done that of the Council of Trent. Philip remonstrated; but Pius was +firm, and menaced both king and inquisitor with excommunication. Philip +had no mind for a second collision with the papal court. In imagination +he already heard the thunders of the Vatican rolling in the distance, +and threatening soon to break upon his head. After a confinement of now +more than seven years' duration, the archbishop was sent under a guard +to Rome. He was kindly received by the pontiff, and honorably lodged in +the castle of St. Angelo, in apartments formerly occupied by the popes +themselves. But he was still a prisoner. + +[Sidenote: PROSECUTION OF CARRANZA.] + +Pius now set seriously about the examination of Carranza's process. It +was a tedious business, requiring his holiness to wade through an ocean +of papers, while the progress of the suit was perpetually impeded by +embarrassments thrown in his way by the industrious malice of the +inquisitors. At the end of six years more, Pius was preparing to give +his judgment, which it was understood would be favorable to Carranza, +when, unhappily for the primate, the pontiff died. + +The Holy Office, stung by the prospect of its failure, now strained +every nerve to influence the mind of the new pope, Gregory the +Thirteenth, to a contrary decision. New testimony was collected, new +glosses were put on the primate's text, and the sanction of the most +learned Spanish theologians was brought in support of them. At length, +at the end of three years further, the holy father announced his purpose +of giving his final decision. It was done with great circumstance. The +pope was seated on his pontifical throne, surrounded by all his +cardinals, prelates, and functionaries of the apostolic chamber. Before +this august assembly, the archbishop presented himself unsupported and +alone, while no one ventured to salute him. His head was bare. His once +robust form was bent by infirmity more than by years; and his care-worn +features told of that sickness which arises from hope deferred. He knelt +down at some distance from the pope, and in this humble attitude +received his sentence. + +He was declared to have imbibed the pernicious doctrines of Luther. The +decree of the Inquisition prohibiting the use of his catechism was +confirmed. He was to abjure sixteen propositions found in his writings; +was suspended from the exercise of his episcopal functions for five +years, during which time he was to be confined in a convent of his order +at Orvieto; and, finally, he was required to visit seven of the +principal churches in Rome, and perform mass there by way of penance. + +This was the end of eighteen years of doubt, anxiety, and imprisonment. +The tears streamed down the face of the unhappy man, as he listened to +the sentence; but he bowed in silent submission to the will of his +superior. The very next day he began his work of penance. But nature +could go no further; and on the second of May, only sixteen days after +his sentence had been pronounced, Carranza died of a broken heart. The +triumph of the Inquisition was complete. + +The pope raised a monument to the memory of the primate, with a pompous +inscription, paying a just tribute to his talents and his scholarship, +endowing him with a full measure of Christian worth, and particularly +commending the exemplary manner in which he had discharged the high +trusts reposed in him by his sovereign.[456] + +Such is the story of Carranza's persecution,--considering the rank of +the party, the unprecedented length of the process, and the sensation it +excited throughout Europe, altogether the most remarkable on the records +of the Inquisition.[457] Our sympathy for the archbishop's sufferings +may be reasonably mitigated by the reflection, that he did but receive +the measure which he had meted out to others. + +While the persecution of Carranza was going on, the fires lighted for +the Protestants continued to burn with fury in all parts of the country, +until at length they gradually slackened and died away, from mere want +of fuel to feed them. The year 1570 may be regarded as the period of the +last _auto da fe_ in which the Lutherans played a conspicuous part. The +subsequent celebrations were devoted chiefly to relapsed Jews and +Mahometans; and if a Protestant heretic was sometimes added to this +list, it was "but as the gleaning of grapes after the vintage is +done."[458] + +Never was there a persecution which did its work more thoroughly. The +blood of the martyr is commonly said to be the seed of the church. But +the storm of persecution fell as heavily on the Spanish Protestants as +it did on the Albigenses in the thirteenth century; blighting every +living thing, so that no germ remained for future harvests. Spain might +now boast that the stain of heresy no longer defiled the hem of her +garment. But at what a price was this purchased! Not merely by the +sacrifice of the lives and fortunes of a few thousands of the existing +generation but by the disastrous consequences entailed for ever on the +country. Folded under the dark wing of the Inquisition, Spain was shut +out from the light which in the sixteenth century broke over the rest of +Europe, stimulating the nations to greater enterprise in every +department of knowledge. The genius of the people was rebuked, and their +spirit quenched, under the malignant influence of an eye that never +slumbered, of an unseen arm ever raised to strike. How could there be +freedom of thought, where there was no freedom of utterance? Or freedom +of utterance, where it was as dangerous to say too little as too much? +Freedom cannot go along with fear. Every way the mind of the Spaniard +was in fetters. + +His moral sense was miserably perverted. Men were judged, not by their +practice, but by their professions. Creed became a substitute for +conduct. Difference of faith made a wider gulf of separation than +difference of race, language, or even interest. Spain no longer formed +one of the great brotherhood of Christian nations. An immeasurable +barrier was raised between that kingdom and the Protestants of Europe. +The early condition of perpetual warfare with the Arabs who overran the +country had led the Spaniards to mingle religion strangely with their +politics. The effect continued when the cause had ceased. Their wars +with the European nations became religious wars. In fighting England or +the Netherlands, they were fighting the enemies of God. It was the same +everywhere. In their contest with the unoffending natives of the New +World, they were still battling with the enemies of God. Their wars +took the character of a perpetual crusade, and were conducted with all +the ferocity which fanaticism could inspire. + +[Sidenote: RECEPTION OF ISABELLA.] + +The same dark spirit of fanaticism seems to brood over the national +literature; even that lighter literature which in other nations is made +up of the festive sallies of wit, or the tender expression of sentiment. +The greatest geniuses of the nation, the masters of the drama and of the +ode, while they astonish us by their miracles of invention, show that +they have too often kindled their inspiration at the altars of the +Inquisition. + +Debarred as he was from freedom of speculation, the domain of science +was closed against the Spaniard. Science looks to perpetual change. It +turns to the past to gather warning, as well as instruction, for the +future. Its province is to remove old abuses, to explode old errors, to +unfold new truths. Its condition, in short, is that of progress. But in +Spain, everything not only looked to the past, but rested on the past. +Old abuses gathered respect from their antiquity. Reform was innovation, +and innovation was a crime. Far from progress, all was stationary. The +hand of the Inquisition drew the line which said, "No further!" This was +the limit of human intelligence in Spain. + +The effect was visible in every department of science,--not in the +speculative alone, but in the physical and the practical; in the +declamatory rant of its theology and ethics, in the childish and +chimerical schemes of its political economists. In every walk were to be +seen the symptoms of premature decrepitude, as the nation clung to the +antiquated systems which the march of civilization in other countries +had long since effaced. Hence those frantic experiments, so often +repeated, in the financial administration of the kingdom, which made +Spain the byword of the nations, and which ended in the ruin of trade, +the prostration of credit, and finally the bankruptcy of the state.--But +we willingly turn from this sad picture of the destinies of the country +to a more cheerful scene in the history of Philip. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +PHILIP'S THIRD MARRIAGE. + +Reception of Isabella.--Marriage Festivities.--The Queen's Mode of +Life.--The Court removed to Madrid. + +1560. + + +So soon as Philip should be settled in Spain, it had been arranged that +his young bride, Elizabeth of France, should cross the Pyrenees. Early +in January, 1560, Elizabeth,--or Isabella, to use the corresponding name +by which she was known to the Spaniards,--under the protection of the +Cardinal de Bourbon and some of the French nobility, reached the borders +of Navarre, where she was met by the duke of Infantado, who was to take +charge of the princess, and escort her to Castile. + +Inigo Lopez de Mendoza, fourth duke of Infantado, was the head of the +most illustrious house in Castile. He was at this time near seventy +years of age, having passed most of his life in attendance at court, +where he had always occupied the position suited to his high birth and +his extensive property, which, as his title intimated, lay chiefly in +the north. He was a fine specimen of the old Castilian hidalgo, and +displayed a magnificence in his way of living that became his station. +He was well educated, for the time; and his fondness for books did not +prevent his excelling in all knightly exercises. He was said to have the +best library and the best stud of any gentleman in Castile.[459] + +He appeared on this occasion in great state, accompanied by his +household and his kinsmen, the heads of the noblest families in Spain. +The duke was attended by some fifty pages, who, in their rich dresses of +satin and brocade, displayed the gay colors of the house of Mendoza. The +nobles in his train, all suitably mounted, were followed by twenty-five +hundred gentlemen, well equipped, like themselves. So lavish were the +Castilians of that day in the caparisons of their horses, that some of +these are estimated, without taking into account the jewels with which +they were garnished, to have cost no less than two thousand ducats![460] +The same taste is visible at this day in their descendants, especially +in South America and Mexico, where the love of barbaric ornament in the +housings and caparisons of their steeds is conspicuous among all classes +of the people. + +Several days were spent in settling the etiquette to be observed before +the presentation of the duke and his followers to the princess,--a +perilous matter with the Spanish hidalgo. When at length the interview +took place, the cardinal of Burgos, the duke's brother, opened it by a +formal and rather long address to Isabella, who replied in a tone of +easy gaiety, which, though not undignified, savored much more of the +manners of her own country than those of Spain.[461] The place of +meeting was at Roncesvalles,--a name which to the reader of romance may +call up scenes very different from those presented by the two nations +now met together in kindly courtesy.[462] + +From Roncesvalles the princess proceeded, under the strong escort of the +duke, to his town of Guadalajara in New Castile, where her marriage with +King Philip was to be solemnized. Great preparations were made by the +loyal citizens for celebrating the event in a manner honorable to their +own master and their future queen. A huge mound, or what might be called +a hill, was raised at the entrance of the town, where a grove of natural +oaks had been transplanted, amongst which was to be seen abundance of +game. Isabella was received by the magistrates of the place, and +escorted through the principal streets by a brilliant cavalcade, +composed of the great nobility of the court. She was dressed in ermine, +and rode a milk-white palfrey, which she managed with an easy grace that +delighted the multitude. On one side of her rode the duke of Infantado, +and on the other the cardinal of Burgos. After performing her devotions +at the church, where _Te Deum_ was chanted, she proceeded to the ducal +palace, in which the marriage ceremony was to be performed. On her +entering the court, the princess Joanna came down to receive her +sister-in-law, and, after an affectionate salutation, conducted her to +the saloon, where Philip, attended by his son, was awaiting his +bride.[463] + +[Sidenote: RECEPTION OF ISABELLA.] + +It was the first time that Isabella had seen her destined lord. She now +gazed on him so intently, that he good-humoredly asked her "if she were +looking to see if he had any gray hairs in his head?" The bluntness of +the question somewhat disconcerted her.[464] Philip's age was not much +less than that at which the first gray hairs made their appearance on +his father's temples. Yet the discrepancy between the ages of the +parties in the present instance was not greater than often happens in a +royal union. Isabella was in her fifteenth year,[465] and Philip in his +thirty-fourth. + +From all accounts, the lady's youth was her least recommendation. +"Elizabeth de Valois," says Brantome, who know her well, "was a true +daughter of France,--discreet, witty, beautiful, and good, if ever woman +was so."[466] She was well made, and tall of stature, and on this +account the more admired in Spain, where the women are rarely above the +middle height. Her eyes were dark, and her luxuriant tresses, of the +same dark color, shaded features that were delicately fair.[467] There +was sweetness mingled with dignity in her deportment, in which Castilian +stateliness seemed to be happily tempered by the vivacity of her own +nation. "So attractive was she," continues the gallant old courtier, +"that no cavalier durst look on her long, for fear of losing his heart, +which in that jealous court might have proved the loss of his +life."[468] + +Some of the chroniclers notice a shade of melancholy as visible on +Isabella's features, which they refer to the comparison the young bride +was naturally led to make between her own lord and his son, the prince +of Asturias, for whom her hand had been originally intended.[469] But +the daughter of Catherine de Medicis, they are careful to add, had been +too well trained, from her cradle, not to know how to disguise her +feelings. Don Carlos had one advantage over his father, in his youth; +though, in this respect, since he was but a boy of fourteen, he might be +thought to fall as much too short of the suitable age as the king +exceeded it. It is also intimated by the same gossiping writers, that +from this hour of their meeting, touched by the charms of his +step-mother, the prince nourished a secret feeling of resentment against +his father, who had thus come between him and his beautiful +betrothed.[470] It is this light gossip of the chroniclers that has +furnished the romancers of later ages with the flimsy materials for that +web of fiction, which displays in such glowing colors the loves of +Carlos and Isabella. I shall have occasion to return to this subject +when treating of the fate of this unhappy prince. + +When the nuptials were concluded, the good people of Guadalajara +testified their loyalty by all kinds of festivities in honor of the +event,--by fireworks, music, and dancing. The fountains flowed with +generous liquor. Tables were spread in the public squares, laden with +good cheer, and freely open to all. In the evening, the _regidores_ of +the town, to the number of fifty or more, presented themselves before +the king and queen. They were dressed in their gaudy liveries of crimson +and yellow velvet, and each one of these functionaries bore a napkin on +his arm, while he carried a plate of sweetmeats, which he presented to +the royal pair and the ladies of the court. The following morning Philip +and his consort left the hospitable walls of Guadalajara, and set out +with their whole suite for Toledo. At parting, the duke of Infantado +made the queen and her ladies presents of jewels, lace, and other rich +articles of dress; and the sovereigns took leave of their noble host, +well pleased with the princely entertainment he had given them.[471] + +At Toledo preparations were made for the reception of Philip and +Isabella in a style worthy of the renown of that ancient capital of the +Visigoths. In the broad _vega_ before the city, three thousand of the +old Spanish infantry engaged in a mock encounter with a body of Moorish +cavalry, having their uniforms and caparisons fancifully trimmed and +ornamented in the Arabesque fashion. Then followed various national +dances by beautiful maidens of Toledo, dances of the Gypsies, and the +old Spanish "war-dance of the swords."[472] + +[Sidenote: MARRIAGE FESTIVITIES.] + +On entering the gates, the royal pair were welcomed by the municipality +of the city, who supported a canopy of cloth of gold over the heads of +the king and queen, emblazoned with their ciphers. A procession was +formed, consisting of the principal magistrates, the members of the +military orders, the officers of the Inquisition,--for Toledo was one of +the principal stations of the secret tribunal,--and, lastly, the chief +nobles of the court. In the cavalcade might be discerned the iron form +of the duke of Alva, and his more courtly rival, Ruy Gomez de Silva, +count of Melito,--the two nobles highest in the royal confidence. +Triumphal arches, ornamented with quaint devices and emblematical +figures from ancient mythology, were thrown across the streets, which +were filled with shouting multitudes. Gay wreaths of flowers and +flaunting streamers adorned the verandas and balconies, which were +crowded with spectators of both sexes in their holiday attire, making a +display of gaudy colors that reminds an old chronicler of the richly +tinted tapestries and carpetings of Flanders.[473] In this royal state, +the new-married pair moved along the streets towards the great +cathedral; and after paying their devotions at its venerable shrine, +they repaired to the _alcazar_,--the palace-fortress of Toledo. + +For some weeks, during which the sovereigns remained in the capital, +there was a general jubilee.[474] All the national games of Spain were +exhibited to the young queen; the bull-fight, the Moorish sport of the +_canas_, or tilt of reeds, and tournaments on horseback and on foot, in +both of which Philip often showed himself armed _cap-a-pie_ in the +lists, and did his _devoir_ in the presence of his fair bride, as became +a loyal knight. Another show, which might have been better reserved for +a less joyous occasion, was exhibited to Isabella. As the court and the +cortes were drawn together in Toledo, the Holy Office took the occasion +to celebrate an _auto da fe_, which, from the number of the victims and +quality of the spectators, was the most imposing spectacle of the kind +ever witnessed in that capital. + +No country in Europe has so distinct an individuality as Spain; shown +not merely in the character of the inhabitants, but in the smallest +details of life,--in their national games, their dress, their social +usages. The tenacity with which the people have clung to these amidst +all the changes of dynasties and laws is truly admirable. Separated by +their mountain barrier from the central and eastern parts of Europe, and +during the greater part of their existence brought into contact with +Oriental forms of civilization, the Spaniards have been but little +exposed to those influences which have given a homogeneous complexion to +the other nations of Christendom. The system under which they have been +trained is too peculiar to be much affected by these influences, and the +ideas transmitted from their ancestors are too deeply settled in their +minds to be easily disturbed. The present in Spain is but the mirror of +the past, in other countries fashions become antiquated, old errors +exploded, early tastes reformed. Not so in the Peninsula. The traveller +has only to cross the Pyrenees to find himself a contemporary of the +sixteenth century. + +The festivities of the court were suddenly terminated by the illness of +Isabella, who was attacked by the small-pox. Her life was in no danger; +but great fears were entertained lest the envious disease should prove +fatal to her beauty. Her mother, Catherine de Medicis, had great +apprehensions on this point; and couriers crossed the Pyrenees +frequently, during the queen's illness, bringing prescriptions--some of +them rather extraordinary--from the French doctors for preventing the +ravages of the disorder.[475] Whether it was by reason of these +nostrums, or her own excellent constitution, the queen was fortunate +enough to escape from the sick-room without a scar. + +Philip seems to have had much reason to be contented not only with the +person, but the disposition, of his wife. As her marriage had formed one +of the articles in the treaty with France, she was called by the +Spaniards _Isabel de la Paz_,--"Isabella of the Peace." Her own +countrymen no less fondly styled her "the Olive-Branch of +Peace,"--intimating the sweetness of her disposition.[476] In this +respect she may be thought to have formed a contrast to Philip's former +wife, Mary of England; at least after sickness and misfortune had done +their work upon that queen's temper, in the latter part of her life. + +If Isabella was not a scholar, like Mary, she at least was well +instructed for the time, and was fond of reading, especially poetry. She +had a ready apprehension, and learned in a short time to speak the +Castilian with tolerable fluency, while there was something pleasing in +her foreign accent, that made her pronunciation the more interesting. +She accommodated herself so well to the usages of her adopted nation, +that she soon won the hearts of the Spaniards. "No queen of Castile," +says the loyal Brantome, "with due deference to Isabella the Catholic, +was ever so popular in the country." When she went abroad, it was +usually with her face uncovered, after the manner of her countrywomen. +The press was always great around her whenever she appeared in public, +and happy was the man who could approach so near as to get a glimpse of +her beautiful countenance.[477] + +Yet Isabella never forgot the land of her birth; and such of her +countrymen as visited the Castilian court were received by her with +distinguished courtesy. She brought along with her in her train to +Castile several French ladies of rank, as her maids of honor. But a +rivalry soon grew up between them and the Spanish ladies in the palace, +which compelled the queen, after she had in vain attempted to reconcile +the parties, to send back most of her own countrywomen. In doing so, she +was careful to provide them with generous marriage portions.[478] + +[Sidenote: THE QUEEN'S MODE OF LIFE.] + +The queen maintained great state in her household, as was Philip's wish, +who seems to have lavished on his lovely consort those attentions for +which the unfortunate Mary Tudor had pined in vain. Besides a rare +display of jewels, Isabella's wardrobe was exceedingly rich. Few of her +robes cost less than three or four hundred crowns each,--a great sum for +the time. Like her namesake and contemporary, Elizabeth of England, she +rarely wore the same dress twice. But she gave away the discarded suit +to her attendants,[479] unlike in this to the English queen, who hoarded +up her wardrobe so carefully, that at her death it must have displayed +every fashion of her reign. Brantome, who, both as a Frenchman and as +one who had seen the queen often in the court of Castile, may be +considered a judge in the matter, dwells with rapture on the elegance of +her costume, the matchless taste in its arrangement, and the perfection +of her _coiffure_. + +A manuscript of the time, by an eye-witness, gives a few particulars +respecting her manner of living, in which some readers may take an +interest. Among the persons connected with the queen's establishment, +the writer mentions her confessor, her almoner, and four physicians. The +medical art seems to have been always held in high repute in Spain, +though in no country, considering the empirical character of its +professors, with so little reason. At dinner the queen was usually +attended by some thirty of her ladies. Two of them, singularly enough as +it may seem to us, performed the office of carvers. Another served as +cupbearer, and stood by her majesty's chair. The rest of her attendants +stood round the apartment, conversing with their gallants, who, in a +style to which she had not been used in the French courts, kept their +heads covered during the repast. "They were there," they said, "not to +wait on the queen, but her ladies." After her solitary meal was over, +Isabella retired with her attendants to her chamber, where, with the aid +of music, and such mirth as the buffoons and jesters of the palace could +afford, she made shift to pass the evening.[480] + +Such is the portrait which her contemporaries have left us of Elizabeth +of France; and such the accounts of her popularity with the nation, and +the state maintained in her establishment. Well might Brantome sadly +exclaim, "Alas! what did it all avail?" A few brief years only were to +pass away before this spoiled child of fortune, the delight of the +monarch, the ornament and pride of the court, was to exchange the pomps +and glories of her royal state for the dark chambers of the Escorial. + +From Toledo the court proceeded to Valladolid, long the favourite +residence of the Castilian princes, though not the acknowledged capital +of the country. Indeed there was no city, since the time of the +Visigoths, that could positively claim that preeminence. This honor was +reserved for Madrid, which became the established residence of the court +under Philip, who in this but carried out the ideas of his father, +Charles the Fifth. + +The emperor had passed much time in this place, where, strange to say, +the chief recommendation to him seems to have been the climate. Situated +on a broad expanse of table-land, at an elevation of twenty-four hundred +feet above the level of the sea, the brisk and rarefied atmosphere of +Madrid proved favorable to Charles's health. It preserved him, in +particular, from attacks of the fever and ague, which racked his +constitution almost as much as the gout. In the ancient _alcazar_ of the +Moors he found a stately residence, which he made commodious by various +alterations. Philip extended these improvements. He added new +apartments, and spent much money in enlarging and embellishing the old +ones. The ceilings were gilded and richly carved. The walls were hung +with tapestries, and the saloons and galleries decorated with sculpture +and with paintings,--many of them the productions of native artists, the +first disciples of a school which was one day to rival the great masters +of Italy. Extensive grounds were also laid out around the palace, and a +park was formed, which in time came to be covered with a growth of noble +trees, and well stocked with game. The _alcazar_, thus improved, became +a fitting residence for the sovereign of Spain. Indeed, if we may trust +the magnificent vaunt of a contemporary, it was "allowed by foreigners +to be the rarest thing of the kind possessed by any monarch in +Christendom."[481] It continued to be the abode of the Spanish princes +until, in 1734, in the reign of Philip the Fifth, the building was +destroyed by a fire, which lasted nearly a week. But it rose like a +phoenix from its ashes; and a new palace was raised on the site of the +old one, of still larger dimensions, presenting in the beauty of its +materials as well as of its execution one of the noblest monuments of +the architecture of the eighteenth century.[482] + +Having completed his arrangements, Philip established his residence at +Madrid in 1563. The town then contained about twelve thousand +inhabitants. Under the forcing atmosphere of a court, the population +rose by the end of his long reign to three hundred thousand,[483]--a +number which it has probably not since exceeded. The accommodations in +the capital kept pace with the increase of population. Everything was +built for duration. Instead of flimsy houses that might serve for a +temporary residence, the streets were lined with strong and substantial +edifices. Under the royal patronage public works on a liberal scale were +executed. Madrid was ornamented with bridges, aqueducts, hospitals, the +Museum, the Armory,--stately structures which even now challenge our +admiration, not less by the excellence of their designs than by the +richness of their collections and the enlightened taste which they infer +at this early period. + +[Sidenote: THE COURT REMOVED TO MADRID.] + +In the opinion of its inhabitants, indeed we may say of the nation, +Madrid surpassed, not only every other city in the country, but in +Christendom. "There is but one Madrid," says the Spanish proverb.[484] +"When Madrid is the theme, the world listens in silence!"[485] In a +similar key, the old Castilian writers celebrate the glories of their +capital,--the nursery of wit, genius, and gallantry,--and expatiate on +the temperature of a climate propitious alike to the beauty of the women +and the bravery of the men.[486] + +Yet, with all this lofty panegyric, the foreigner is apt to see things +through a very different medium from that through which they are seen by +the patriotic eye of the native. The traveller to Madrid finds little to +praise in a situation where the keen winds from the mountains come laden +with disease, and where the subtle atmosphere, to use one of the +national proverbs, that can hardly put out a candle, will extinguish the +life of a man;[487] where the capital, insulated in the midst of a +dreary expanse of desert, seems to be cut off from sympathy, if not from +intercourse, with the provinces;[488] and where, instead of a great +river that might open to it a commerce with distant quarters of the +globe, it is washed only by a stream,--"the far-famed Manzanares,"--the +bed of which in summer is a barren watercourse. The traveller may well +doubt whether the fanciful advantage, so much vaunted, of being the +centre of Spain, is sufficient to compensate the manifold evils of such +a position, and even whether those are far from truth who find in this +position one of the many causes of the decline of the national +prosperity.[489] + +A full experience of the inconveniences of the site of the capital led +Charles the Third to contemplate its removal to Seville. But it was too +late. Madrid had been too long, in the Castilian boast, "the only court +in the world,"[490]--the focus to which converged talent, fashion, and +wealth from all quarters of the country. Too many patriotic associations +had gathered round it to warrant its desertion; and, in spite of its +local disadvantages, the capital planted by Philip the Second continued +to remain, as it will probably ever remain, the capital of the Spanish +monarchy. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +DISCONTENT IN THE NETHERLANDS. + +The Reformation.--Its Progress in the Netherlands.--General +Discontent.--William of Orange. + + +The middle of the sixteenth century presented one of those crises which +have occurred at long intervals in the history of Europe, when the +course of events has had a permanent influence on the destiny of +nations. Scarcely forty years had elapsed since Luther had thrown down +the gauntlet to the Vatican, by publicly burning the papal bull at +Wittenberg. Since that time, his doctrines had been received in Denmark +and Sweden. In England, after a state of vacillation for three reigns, +Protestantism, in the peculiar form which it still wears, was become the +established religion of the state. The fiery cross had gone round over +the hills and valleys of Scotland, and thousands and tens of thousands +had gathered to hear the word of life from the lips of Knox. The +doctrines of Luther were spread over the northern parts of Germany, and +freedom of worship was finally guarantied there, by the treaty of +Passau. The Low Countries were the "debatable land," on which the +various sects of Reformers, the Lutheran, the Calvinist, the English +Protestant, contended for mastery with the established church. Calvinism +was embraced by some of the cantons of Switzerland, and at Geneva its +great apostle had fixed his head-quarters. His doctrines were widely +circulated through France, till the divided nation was preparing to +plunge into that worst of all wars, in which the hand of brother is +raised against brother. The cry of reform had even passed the Alps, and +was heard under the walls of the Vatican. It had crossed the Pyrenees. +The king of Navarre declared himself a Protestant; and the spirit of the +Reformation had secretly insinuated itself into Spain, and taken hold, +as we have seen, of the middle and southern provinces of the kingdom. + +A contemporary of the period, who reflected on the onward march of the +new religion over every obstacle in its path, who had seen it gather +under its banners states and nations once the most loyal and potent +vassals of Rome, would have had little reason to doubt that, before the +end of the century, the Reform would have extended its sway over the +whole of Christendom. Fortunately for Catholicism, the most powerful +empire in Europe was in the hands of a prince who was devoted with his +whole soul to the interests of the Church. Philip the Second understood +the importance of his position. His whole life proves that he felt it to +be his especial mission to employ his great resources to restore the +tottering fortunes of Catholicism, and stay the progress of the torrent +which was sweeping away every landmark of the primitive faith. + +We have seen the manner in which he crushed the efforts of the +Protestants in Spain. This was the first severe blow struck at the +Reformation. Its consequences cannot well be exaggerated; not the +immediate results, which would have been little without the subsequent +reforms and increased activity of the Church of Rome itself. But the +moral influence of such a blow, when the minds of men had been depressed +by a long series of reverses, is not to be estimated. In view of this, +one of the most eminent Roman Catholic writers does not hesitate to +remark, that "the power and abilities of Philip the Second afforded a +counterpoise to the Protestant cause, which prevented it from making +itself master of Europe."[491] The blow was struck; and from this +period little beyond its present conquests was to be gained for the +cause of the Reformation. + +[Sidenote: REFORMATION IN THE NETHERLANDS.] + +It was not to be expected that Philip, after having exterminated heresy +in one part of his dominions, should tolerate its existence in any +other, least of all, in a country so important as the Netherlands. Yet a +little reflection might have satisfied him that the same system of +measures could hardly be applied with a prospect of success to two +countries so differently situated as Spain and the Netherlands. The +Romish faith may be said to have entered into the being of the Spaniard. +It was not merely cherished as a form of religion, but as a principle of +honor. It was part of the national history. For eight centuries the +Spaniard had been fighting at home the battles of the Church. Nearly +every inch of soil in his own country was won by arms from the infidel. +His wars, as I have more than once had occasion to remark, were all wars +of religion. He carried the same spirit across the waters. There he was +still fighting the infidel. His life was one long crusade. How could +this champion of the Church desert her in her utmost need? + +With this predisposition, it was easy for Philip to enforce obedience in +a people naturally the most loyal to their princes, to whom, moreover, +since the fatal war of the _Comunidades_, they had been accustomed to +pay an almost Oriental submission. Intrenched behind the wall of the +Pyrenees, Spain, we must bear in mind, felt little of the great shock +which was convulsing France and the other states of Europe; and with the +aid of so formidable an engine as the Inquisition, it was easy to +exterminate, before they could take root, such seeds of heresy as had +been borne by the storm across the mountains. + +The Netherlands, on the other hand, lay like a valley among the hills, +which drinks in all the waters of the surrounding country. They were a +common reservoir for the various opinions which agitated the nations on +their borders. On the south were the Lutherans of Germany. The French +Huguenots pressed them on the west; and by the ocean they held +communication with England and the nations of the Baltic. The soldier +quartered on their territory, the seaman who visited their shores, the +trader who trafficked in their towns, brought with them different forms +of the new religion. Books from France and from Germany circulated +widely among a people, nearly all of whom, as we have seen, were able to +read. + +The new doctrines were discussed by men accustomed to think and act for +themselves. Freedom of speculation on religious topics soon extended to +political. It was the natural tendency of reform. The same spirit of +free inquiry which attacked the foundations of unity of faith, stood +ready next to assail those of unity of government; and men began boldly +to criticize the rights of kings and the duties of subjects. + +The spirit of independence was fostered by the institutions of the +country. The provinces of the Netherlands, if not republican in form, +were filled with the spirit of republics. In many of their features they +call to mind the free states of Italy in the Middle Ages. Under the +petty princes who ruled over them in early days, they had obtained +charters, as we have seen, which secured a certain degree of +constitutional freedom. The province of Brabant, above all, gloried in +its "_Joyeuse Entree_," which guarantied privileges and immunities of a +more liberal character than those possessed by the other states of the +Netherlands. When the provinces passed at length under the sceptre of a +single sovereign, he lived at a distance, and the government was +committed to a viceroy. Since their connection with Spain, the +administration had been for the most part in the hands of a woman; and +the delegated authority of a woman pressed but lightly on the +independent temper of the Flemings. + +Yet Charles the Fifth, as we have seen, partial as he was to his +countrymen in the Netherlands, could ill brook their audacious spirit, +and made vigorous efforts to repress it. But his zeal for the spiritual +welfare of his people never led him to overlook their material +interests. He had no design by his punishments to cripple their +strength, much less to urge them to extremity. When the regent, Mary of +Hungary, his sister, warned him that his laws bore too heavily on the +people to be endured, he was careful to mitigate their severity. His +edicts in the name of religion were, indeed, written in blood. But the +frequency of their repetition shows, as already remarked, the imperfect +manner in which they were executed. This was still further proved by the +prosperous condition of the people, the flourishing aspect of the +various branches of industry, and the great enterprises to facilitate +commercial intercourse and foster the activity of the country. At the +close of Charles's reign, or rather at the commencement of his +successor's, in 1560, was completed the grand canal extending from +Antwerp to Brussels, the construction of which had consumed thirty +years, and one million eight hundred thousand florins.[492] Such a work, +at such a period,--the fruit, not of royal patronage, but of the public +spirit of the citizens,--is evidence both of large resources and of +wisdom in the direction of them. In this state of things, it is not +surprising that the Flemings, feeling their own strength, should have +assumed a free and independent tone little grateful to the ear of a +sovereign. So far had this spirit of liberty or licence, as it was +termed, increased, in the latter part of the emperor's reign, that the +Regent Mary, when her brother abdicated, chose also to resign, +declaring, in a letter to him, that "she would not continue to live +with, much less to reign over, a people whose manners had undergone such +a change,--in whom respect for God and man seemed no longer to +exist."[493] + +A philosopher who should have contemplated at that day the condition of +the country, and the civilization at which it had arrived, might feel +satisfied that a system of toleration in religious matters would be the +one best suited to the genius of the people and the character of their +institutions. But Philip was no philosopher; and toleration was a virtue +not understood, at that time, by Calvinist any more than by Catholic. +The question, therefore, is not whether the end he proposed was the best +one;--on this, few at the present day will differ;--but whether Philip +took the best means for effecting that end. This is the point of view +from which his conduct in the Netherlands should be criticized. + +Here, in the outset, he seems to have fallen into a capital error, by +committing so large a share in the government to the hands of a +foreigner,--Granvelle. The country was filled with nobles, some of them +men of the highest birth, whose ancestors were associated with the most +stirring national recollections, and who were endeared, moreover, to +their countrymen by their own services. To several of these Philip +himself was under no slight obligations for the aid they had afforded +him in the late war,--on the fields of Gravelines and St. Quentin, and +in the negotiation of the treaty which closed his hostilities with +France. It was hardly to be expected that these proud nobles, conscious +of their superior claims, and accustomed to so much authority and +deference in their own land, would tamely submit to the control of a +stranger, a man of obscure family, like his father indebted for his +elevation to the royal favor. + +[Sidenote: DISCONTENT IN THE NETHERLANDS.] + +Besides these great lords, there was a numerous aristocracy, inferior +nobles and cavaliers, many of whom had served under the standard of +Charles in his long wars. They there formed those formidable companies +of _ordonnance_, whose fame perhaps stood higher than that of any other +corps of the imperial cavalry. The situation of these men, now +disbanded, and, with their roving military habits, hanging loosely on +the country, has been compared by a modern author to that which, on the +accession of the Bourbons, was occupied by the soldiers whom Napoleon +had so often led to victory.[494] To add to their restlessness, many of +these, as well as of the higher nobility, were embarrassed by debts +contracted in their campaigns, or by too ambitious expenditure at home, +especially in rivalry with the ostentatious Spaniard. "The Flemish +nobles," says a writer of the time, "were too many of them oppressed by +heavy debts and the payment of exorbitant interest. They spent twice as +much as they were worth on their palaces, furniture, troops of +retainers, costly liveries, their banquets and sumptuous entertainments +of every description,--in fine, in every form of luxury and superfluity +that could be devised. Thus discontent became prevalent through the +country, and men anxiously looked forward to some change."[495] + +Still another element of discontent, and one that extended to all +classes, was antipathy to the Spaniards. It had not been easy to repress +this even under the rule of Charles the Fifth, who had shown such +manifest preference for his Flemish subjects. But now it was more +decidedly called out, under a monarch, whose sympathies lay altogether +on the side of their rivals. No doubt this popular sentiment is to be +explained partly by the contrast afforded by the characters of the two +nations, so great as hardly to afford a point of contact between them. +But it may be fairly charged, to a great extent, on the Spaniards +themselves, who, while they displayed many noble and magnanimous traits +at home, seemed desirous to exhibit only the repulsive side of their +character to the eye of the stranger. Cold and impenetrable, assuming an +arrogant tone of superiority over every other nation, in whatever land +it was their destiny to be cast, England, Italy, or the Netherlands, as +allies or as enemies, we find the Spaniards of that day equally +detested. Brought with them, as the people of the Netherlands were, +under a common sceptre, a spirit of comparison and rivalry grew up, +which induced a thousand causes of irritation. + +The difficulty was still further increased by the condition of the +neighboring countries, where the minds of the inhabitants were now in +the highest state of fermentation in matters of religion. In short, the +atmosphere seemed everywhere to be in that highly electrified condition +which bodes the coming tempest. In this critical state of things, it was +clear that it was only by a most careful and considerate policy that +harmony could be maintained in the Netherlands; a policy manifesting +alike tenderness for the feelings of the nation and respect for its +institutions. + +Having thus shown the general aspect of things when the duchess of Parma +entered on her regency, towards the close of 1559, it is time to go +forward with the narrative of the prominent events which led to the War +of the Revolution. + +We have already seen that Philip, on leaving the country, lodged the +administration nominally in three councils, although in truth it was on +the council of state that the weight of government actually rested. Even +here the nobles who composed it were of little account in matters of +real importance, which were reserved for a _consulta_, consisting, +besides the regent, of Granvelle, Count Barlaimont, and the learned +jurist Viglius. As the last two were altogether devoted to Granvelle, +and the regent was instructed to defer greatly to his judgment, the +government of the Netherlands may be said to have been virtually +deposited in the hands of the bishop of Arras. + +At the head of the Flemish nobles in the council of state, and indeed in +the country, taking into view their rank, fortune, and public services, +stood Count Egmont and the prince of Orange. I have already given some +account of the former, and the reader has seen the important part which +he took in the great victories of Gravelines and St. Quentin. To the +prince of Orange Philip had also been indebted for his counsel in +conducting the war, and still more for the aid which he had afforded in +the negotiations for peace. It will be proper, before going further, to +give the reader some particulars of this celebrated man, the great +leader in the war of the Netherlands. + +William, prince of Orange, was born at Dillenburg, in the German duchy +of Nassau, on the twenty-fifth of April, 1533. He was descended from a +house, one of whose branches had given an emperor to Germany; and +William's own ancestors were distinguished by the employments they had +held, and the services they had rendered, both in Germany and the Low +Countries. It was a proud vaunt of his, that Philip was under larger +obligations to him than he to Philip; and that, but for the house of +Nassau, the king of Spain would not be able to write as many titles as +he now did after his name.[496] + +When eleven years old, by the death of his cousin Rene he came into +possession of a large domain in Holland, and a still larger property in +Brabant, where he held the title of Lord of Breda. To these was added, +the splendid inheritance of Chalons, and of the principality of Orange; +which, however, situated at a distance, in the heart of France, might +seem to be held by a somewhat precarious tenure. + +William's parents were both Lutherans, and in their faith he was +educated. But Charles saw with displeasure the false direction thus +given to one who at a future day was to occupy so distinguished a +position among his Flemish vassals. With the consent of his parents, the +child, in his twelfth year, was removed to Brussels, to be brought up in +the family of the emperor's sister, the Regent Mary of Hungary. However +their consent to this step may be explained, it certainly seems that +their zeal for the spiritual welfare of their son was not such as to +stand in the way of his temporal. In the family of the regent the youth +was bred a Catholic, while in all respects he received an education +suited to his rank.[497] It is an interesting fact, that his preceptor +was a younger brother of Granvelle,--the man with whom William was +afterwards to be placed in an attitude of such bitter hostility. + +[Sidenote: WILLIAM OF ORANGE.] + +When fifteen years of age, the prince was taken into the imperial +household, and became the page of Charles the Fifth. The emperor was not +slow in discerning the extraordinary qualities of the youth; and he +showed it by intrusting him, as he grew older, with various important +commissions. He was accompanied by the prince on his military +expeditions, and Charles gave a remarkable proof of his confidence in +his capacity, by raising him, at the age of twenty-two, over the heads +of veteran officers, and giving him the command of the imperial forces +engaged in the siege of Marienburg. During the six months that William +was in command, they were still occupied with this siege, and with the +construction of a fortress for the protection of Flanders. There was +little room for military display. But the troops were in want of food +and of money, and their young commander's conduct under these +embarrassments was such as to vindicate the wisdom of his appointment. +Charles afterwards employed him on several diplomatic missions,--a more +congenial field for the exercise of his talents, which appear to have +been better suited to civil than to military affairs. + +The emperor's regard for the prince seems to have increased with his +years, and he gave public proof of it, in the last hour of his reign, by +leaning on William's shoulder at the time of his abdication, when he +made his parting address to the states of the Netherlands. He showed +this still further by selecting him for the honorable mission of bearing +the imperial crown to Ferdinand. + +On his abdication, Charles earnestly commended William to his successor. +Philip profited by his services in the beginning of his reign, when the +prince of Orange, who had followed him in the French war, was made one +of the four plenipotentiaries for negotiating the treaty of +Cateau-Cambresis, for the execution of which he remained as one of the +hostages in France. + +While at the court of Henry the Second, it will be remembered, the +prince became acquainted with the secret designs of the French and +Spanish monarchs against the Protestants in their dominions; and he +resolved, from that hour, to devote all his strength to expel the +"Spanish vermin" from the Netherlands. One must not infer from this, +however, that William, at this early period, meditated the design of +shaking off the rule of Spain altogether. The object he had in view went +no further than to relieve the country from the odious presence of the +Spanish troops, and to place the administration in those hands to which +it rightfully belonged. They, however, who set a revolution in motion +have not always the power to stop it. If they can succeed in giving it a +direction, they will probably be carried forward by it beyond their +intended limits, until, gathering confidence with success, they aim at +an end far higher than that which they had originally proposed. Such, +doubtless, was the case with William of Orange. + +Notwithstanding the emperor's recommendation, the prince of Orange was +not the man whom Philip selected for his confidence. Nor was it possible +for William to regard the king with the same feelings which he had +entertained for the emperor. To Charles the prince was under obvious +obligations for his nurture in early life. His national pride, too, was +not wounded by having a Spaniard for his sovereign, since Charles was +not by birth, much less in heart, a Spaniard. All this was reversed in +Philip, in whom William saw only the representative of a detested race. +The prudent reserve which marked the character of each, no doubt, +prevented the outward demonstration of their sentiments; but from their +actions we may readily infer the instinctive aversion which the two +parties entertained for each other. + +At the early age of eighteen, William married Anne of Egmont, daughter +of the count of Bueren. The connection was a happy one, if we may trust +the loving tone of their correspondence. Unhappily, in a few years their +union was dissolved by the lady's death. The prince did not long remain +a widower, before he made proposals to the daughter of the duchess of +Lorraine. The prospect of such a match gave great dissatisfaction to +Philip, who had no mind to see his Flemish vassal allied with the family +of a great feudatory of France. Disappointed in this quarter, William +next paid his addresses to Anne of Saxony, an heiress, whose large +possessions made her one of the most brilliant matches in Germany. +William's passion and his interest, it was remarked, kept time well +together. + +The course of love, however, was not destined to run smoothly on the +present occasion. Anne was the daughter of Maurice, the great Lutheran +champion, the implacable enemy of Charles the Fifth. Left early an +orphan, she had been reared in the family of her uncle, the elector of +Saxony, in the strictest tenets of the Lutheran faith. Such a connection +was, of course, every way distasteful to Philip, to whom William was +willing so far to defer as to solicit his approbation, though he did not +mean to be controlled by it.[498] The correspondence on the subject, in +which both the regent and Granvelle took an active part, occupies as +much space in collections of the period as more important negotiations. +The prince endeavored to silence the king's scruples, by declaring that +he was too much a Catholic at heart to marry any woman who was not of +the same persuasion as himself; and that he had received assurances from +the elector that his wife in this respect should entirely conform to his +wishes. The elector had scruples as to the match, no less than Philip, +though on precisely the opposite grounds; and, after the prince's +assurance to the king, one is surprised to find that an understanding +must have existed with the elector that Anne should be allowed the +undisturbed enjoyment of her own religion.[499] This double dealing +leaves a disagreeable impression in regard to William's character. Yet +it does not seem, to judge from his later life, to be altogether +inconsistent with it. Machiavelli is the author whom he is said to have +had most frequently in his hand;[500] and in the policy with which he +shaped his course, we may sometimes fancy that we can discern the +influence of the Italian statesman. + +The marriage was celebrated with great pomp at Leipsic, on the +twenty-fifth of August, 1561. The king of Denmark, several of the +electors, and many princes and nobles of both Germany and the Low +Countries, were invited guests; and the whole assembly present on the +occasion was estimated at nearly six thousand persons.[501] The king of +Spain complimented the bride by sending her a jewel worth three thousand +ducats.[502] It proved, however, as Granvelle had predicted, an +ill-assorted union. After living together for nearly thirteen years, the +prince, weary of the irregularities of his wife, separated from her, and +sent her back to her friends in Germany. + +[Sidenote: WILLIAM OF ORANGE.] + +During his residence in Brussels, William easily fell into the way of +life followed by the Flemish nobles. He was very fond of the healthy +exercise of the chase, and especially of hawking. He was social, indeed +convivial, in his habits, after the fashion of his countrymen;[503] and +was addicted to gallantries, which continued long enough, it is said, to +suggest an apology for the disorderly conduct of his wife. He occupied +the ancient palace of his family at Brussels, where he was surrounded by +lords and cavaliers, and a numerous retinue of menials.[504] He lived in +great state, displaying a profuse magnificence in his entertainments; +and few there were, natives or foreigners, who had any claim on his +hospitality, that did not receive it.[505] By this expensive way of +life, he encumbered his estate with a heavy debt; amounting, if we may +take Granvelle's word, to nine hundred thousand florins.[506] Yet, if +William's own account, but one year later, be true, the debt was then +brought within a very moderate compass.[507] + +With his genial habits and love of pleasure, and with manners the most +attractive, he had not the free and open temper which often goes along +with them. He was called by his contemporaries "William the Silent." +Perhaps the epithet was intended to indicate not so much his +taciturnity, as that impenetrable reserve which locked up his secrets +closely within his bosom. No man knew better how to keep his counsel, +even from those who acted with him. But while masking his own designs, +no man was more sagacious in penetrating those of others. He carried on +an extensive correspondence in foreign countries, and employed every +means for getting information. Thus, while he had it in his power to +outwit others, it was very rare that he became their dupe. Though on +ordinary occasions frugal of words, when he did speak it was with +effect. His eloquence was of the most persuasive kind;[508] and as +towards his inferiors he was affable, and exceedingly considerate of +their feelings, he acquired an unbounded ascendancy over his +countrymen.[509] It must be admitted that the prince of Orange possessed +many rare qualities for the leader of a great revolution. + +The course William took in respect to his wife's religion might lead one +to doubt whether he were at heart Catholic or Protestant; or indeed +whether he were not equally indifferent to both persuasions. The latter +opinion might be strengthened by a remark imputed to him, that "he would +not have his wife trouble herself with such melancholy books as the +Scriptures, but instead of them amuse herself with Amadis de Gaul, and +other pleasant works of the kind."[510] "The prince of Orange," says a +writer of the time, "passed for a Catholic among Catholics, a Lutheran +among Lutherans. If he could, he would have had a religion compounded of +both. In truth, he looked on the Christian religion like the ceremonies +which Numa introduced, as a sort of politic invention."[511] Granvelle, +in a letter to Philip, speaks much to the same purpose.[512] These +portraits were by unfriendly hands. Those who take a different view of +his character, while they admit that in his early days his opinions in +matters of faith were unsettled, contend that in time he became +sincerely attached to the doctrines which he defended with his sword. +This seems to be no more than natural. But the reader will have an +opportunity of judging for himself, when he has followed the great chief +through the changes of his stormy career. + +It would be strange, indeed, if the leader in a religious revolution +should have been himself without any religious convictions. One thing is +certain, he possessed a spirit of toleration, the more honorable that in +that day it was so rare. He condemned the Calvinists as restless and +seditious; the Catholics, for their bigoted attachment to a dogma. +Persecution in matters of faith he totally condemned, for freedom of +judgment in such matters he regarded as the inalienable right of +man.[513] These conclusions, at which the world, after an incalculable +amount of human suffering, has been three centuries in arriving, (has it +altogether arrived at them yet?) must be allowed to reflect great credit +on the character of William. + +[Sidenote: GROUNDS OF COMPLAINT.] + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +OPPOSITION TO THE GOVERNMENT. + +Grounds of Complaint.--The Spanish Troops.--The New +Bishoprics.--Influence on Granvelle.--Opposed by the Nobles.--His +Unpopularity. + +1559-1562. + + +The first cause of trouble, after Philip's departure from the +Netherlands, arose from the detention of the Spanish troops there. The +king had pledged his word, it will be remembered, that they should leave +the country by the end of four months, at farthest. Yet that period had +long since passed, and no preparations were made for their departure. +The indignation of the people rose higher and higher at the insult thus +offered by the presence of these detested foreigners. It was a season of +peace. No invasion was threatened from abroad; no insurrection existed +at home. There was nothing to require the maintenance of an +extraordinary force, much less of one composed of foreign troops. It +could only be that the king, distrusting his Flemish subjects, designed +to overawe them by his mercenaries, in sufficient strength to enforce +his arbitrary acts. The free spirit of the Netherlanders was roused by +these suggestions, and they boldly demanded the removal of the +Spaniards. + +Granvelle himself, who would willingly have pleased his master by +retaining a force in the country on which he could rely, admitted that +the project was impracticable. "The troops must be withdrawn," he wrote, +"and that speedily, or the consequence will be an insurrection."[514] +The states would not consent, he said, to furnish the necessary +subsidies while they remained. The prince of Orange and Count Egmont +threw up the commands intrusted to them by the king. They dared no +longer hold them, as the minister added, it was so unpopular.[515] + +The troops had much increased the difficulty by their own misconduct. +They were drawn from the great mass, often the dregs, of the people; and +their morals, such as they were, had not been improved in the life of +the camp. However strict their discipline in time of active service, it +was greatly relaxed in their present state of inaction; and they had +full license, as well as leisure, to indulge their mischievous +appetites, at the expense of the unfortunate districts in which they +were quartered. + +Yet Philip was slow in returning an answer to the importunate letters of +the regent and the minister; and when he did reply, it was to evade +their request, lamenting his want of funds, and declaring his purpose to +remove the forces so soon as he could pay their arrears. The public +exchequer was undoubtedly at a low ebb; lower in Spain than in the +Netherlands.[516] But no one could believe the royal credit so far +reduced as not to be able to provide for the arrears of three or four +thousand soldiers. The regent, however, saw that, with or without +instructions, it was necessary to act. Several of the members of the +council became sureties for the payment of the arrears, and the troops +were ordered to Zealand, in order to embark for Spain. But the winds +proved unfavorable. Two months longer they were detained, on shore or on +board the transports. They soon got into brawls with the workmen +employed on the dikes; and the inhabitants, still apprehensive of orders +from the king countermanding the departure of the Spaniards, resolved, +in such an event, to abandon the dikes, and lay the country under +water![517] Fortunately, they were not driven to this extremity. In +January, 1561, more than a year after the date assigned by Philip, the +nation was relieved of the presence of the intruders.[518] + +Philip's conduct in this affair is not very easy to explain. However +much he might have desired originally to maintain the troops in the +Netherlands, as an armed police on which he could rely to enforce the +execution of his orders, it had become clear that the good they might do +in quelling an insurrection was more than counterbalanced by the +probability of their exciting one. It was characteristic of the king, +however, to be slow in retreating from any position he had taken; and, +as we shall often have occasion to see, there was a certain apathy or +sluggishness in his nature, which led him sometimes to leave events to +take their own course, rather than to shape a course for them himself. + +This difficulty was no sooner settled, than it was followed by another +scarcely less serious. We have seen, in a former chapter, the +arrangements made for adding thirteen new bishoprics to the four already +existing in the Netherlands. The measure, in itself a good one, and +demanded by the situation of the country, was, from the posture of +affairs at that time, likely to meet with opposition, if not to occasion +great excitement. For this reason, the whole affair had been kept +profoundly secret by the government. It was not till 1561 that Philip +disclosed his views, in a letter to some of the principal nobles in the +council of state. But, long before that time, the project had taken +wind, and created a general sensation through the country. + +The people looked on it as an attempt to subject them to the same +ecclesiastical system which existed in Spain. The bishops, by virtue of +their office, were possessed of certain inquisitorial powers, and these +were still further enlarged by the provisions of the royal edicts. +Philip's attachment to the Inquisition was well understood, and there +was probably not a child in the country who had not heard of the _auto +da fe_ which he had sanctioned by his presence on his return to his +dominions. The present changes were regarded as part of a great scheme +for introducing the Spanish Inquisition into the Netherlands.[519] +However erroneous these conclusions, there is little reason to doubt +they were encouraged by those who knew their fallacy. + +[Sidenote: THE NEW BISHOPRICS.] + +The nobles had other reasons for opposing the measure. The bishops would +occupy in the legislature the place formerly held by the abbots, who +were indebted for their election to the religious houses over which they +presided. The new prelates, on the contrary, would receive their +nomination from the crown; and the nobles saw with alarm their own +independence menaced by the accession of an order of men who would +naturally be subservient to the interests of the monarch. That the crown +was not insensible to these advantages is evident from a letter of the +minister, in which he sneers at the abbots, as "men fit only to rule +over monasteries, ever willing to thwart the king, and as perverse as +the lowest of the people."[520] + +But the greatest opposition arose from the manner in which the new +dignitaries were to be maintained. This was to be done by suppressing +the offices of the abbots, and by appropriating the revenues of their +houses to the maintenance of the bishops. For this economical +arrangement Granvelle seems to have been chiefly responsible. Thus the +income--amounting to fifty thousand ducats--of the Abbey of Afflighen, +one of the wealthiest in Brabant, was to be bestowed on the +archiepiscopal see of Mechlin, to be held by the minister himself.[521] +In virtue of that dignity, Granvelle would become primate of the +Netherlands. + +Loud was the clamor excited by this arrangement among the members of the +religious fraternities, and all those who directly or indirectly had any +interest in them. It was a manifest perversion of the funds from the +objects for which they had been given to the institutions. It was +interfering with the economy of these institutions, protected by the +national charters; and the people of Brabant appealed to the "_Joyeuse +Entree_." Jurists of the greatest eminence, in different parts of +Europe, were consulted as to the legality of these proceedings. Thirty +thousand florins were expended by Brabant alone in this matter, as well +as in employing an agent at the court of Rome to exhibit the true state +of the affair to his holiness, and to counteract the efforts of the +Spanish government.[522] + +The reader may remember, that, just before Philip's departure from the +Netherlands, a bull arrived from Rome authorizing the erection of the +new bishoprics. This was but the initiatory step. Many other proceedings +were necessary before the consummation of the affair. Owing to +impediments thrown in the way by the provinces, and the habitual +tardiness of the court of Rome, nearly three years elapsed before the +final briefs were expedited by Pius the Fourth. New obstacles were +raised by the jealous temper of the Flemings, who regarded the whole +matter as a conspiracy of the pope and the king against the liberties of +the nation. Utrecht, Gueldres, and three other places, refused to +receive their bishops; and they never obtained a footing there. +Antwerp, which was to have been made an episcopal see, sent a commission +to the king to represent the ruin this would bring on its trade, from +the connection supposed to exist between the episcopal establishment and +the Spanish Inquisition. For a year the king would not condescend to +give any heed to the remonstrance. He finally consented to defer the +decision of the question till his arrival in the country; and Antwerp +was saved from its bishop.[523] + +In another place we find the bishop obtaining an admission through the +management of Granvelle, who profited by the temporary absence of the +nobles. Nowhere were the new prelates received with enthusiasm, but, on +the contrary, wherever they were admitted, it was with a coldness and +silence that intimated too plainly the aversion of the inhabitants. Such +was the case with the archbishop of Mechlin himself, who made his entry +into the capital of his diocese with not a voice to cheer or to welcome +him.[524] In fact, everywhere the newly elected prelate seemed more like +the thief stealthily climbing into the fold, than the good shepherd who +had come to guard it. + +Meanwhile the odium of these measures fell on the head of the minister. +No other man had been so active in enforcing them, and he had the credit +universally with the people of having originated the whole scheme, and +proposed it to the sovereign. But from this Philip expressly exonerates +him in a letter to the regent, in which he says, that the whole plan had +been settled long before it was communicated to Granvelle.[525] Indeed, +the latter, with some show of reason, demanded whether, being already +one of four bishops in the country, he should be likely to recommend a +plan which would make him only one of seventeen.[526] This appeal to +self-interest did not wholly satisfy those who thought that it was +better to be the first of seventeen, than to be merely one of four where +all were equal. + +Whatever may have been Granvelle's original way of thinking in the +matter, it is certain that, whether it arose from his accommodating +temper, or from his perceptions of the advantages of the scheme being +quickened by his prospect of the primacy, he soon devoted himself, heart +as well as hand, to carry out the royal views. "I am convinced," he +writes, in the spring of 1560, to Philip's secretary, Perez, "that no +measure could be more advantageous to the country, or more necessary for +the support of religion; and if necessary to the success of the scheme, +I would willingly devote to it my fortune and my life."[527] + +[Sidenote: INFLUENCE OF GRANVELLE.] + +Accordingly we find him using all his strength to carry the project +through, devising expedients for raising the episcopal revenues, and +thus occupying a position which exposed him to general obloquy. He felt +this bitterly, and at times, even with all his constancy, was hardly +able to endure it. "Though I say nothing," he writes in the month of +September, 1561, to the Spanish ambassador in Rome, "I feel the danger +of the situation in which the king has placed me. All the odium of these +measures falls on my head; and I only pray that a remedy for the evil +may be found, though it should be by the sacrifice of myself. Would to +God the erection of these bishoprics had never been thought of!"[528] + +In February, 1561, Granvelle received a cardinal's hat from Pope Pius +the Fourth. He did not show the alacrity usually manifested in accepting +this distinguished honor. He had obtained it by the private intercession +of the duchess of Parma; and he feared lest the jealousy of Philip might +be alarmed, were it to any other than himself that his minister owed +this distinction. But the king gave the proceeding his cordial sanction, +declaring to Granvelle that the reward was no higher than his desert. + +Thus clothed with the Roman purple, primate of the Netherlands, and +first minister of state, Granvelle might now look down on the proudest +noble in the land. He stood at the head of both the civil and the +ecclesiastical administration of the country. All authority centred in +his person. Indeed, such had been the organization of the council of +state, that the minister might be said to be not so much the head of the +government as the government itself. + +The affairs of the council were conducted in the manner prescribed by +Philip. Ordinary business passed through the hands of the whole body; +but affairs of moment were reserved for the cardinal and his two +coadjutors to settle with the regent. On such occasions the other +ministers were not even summoned, or, if summoned, such only of the +despatches from Spain as the minister chose to communicate were read, +and the remainder reserved for the _consulta_. When, as did sometimes +happen, the nobles carried a measure in opposition to Granvelle, he +would refer the whole question to the court at Madrid.[529] By this +expedient he gained time for the present, and probably obtained a +decision in his favor at last. The regent conformed entirely to the +cardinal's views. The best possible understanding seems to have +subsisted between them, to judge from the tone of their correspondence +with Philip, in which each of the parties bestows the most unqualified +panegyric on the other. Yet there was a strange reserve in their +official intercourse. Even when occupying the same palace, they are said +to have communicated with each other by writing.[530] The reason +suggested for this singular proceeding is, that it might not appear, +from their being much together, that the regent was acting so entirely +under the direction of the minister. It is certain that both Margaret +and Granvelle had an uncommon passion for letter-writing, as is shown by +the length and number of their epistles, particularly to the king. The +cardinal especially went into a gossiping minuteness of detail, to which +few men in his station would have condescended. But his master, to whom +his letters at this period were chiefly addressed, had the virtue of +patience in an extraordinary degree, as is evinced by the faithful +manner in which he perused these despatches, and made notes upon them +with his own hand. + +The minister occupied a palace in Brussels, and had another residence at +a short distance from the capital.[531] He maintained great pomp in his +establishment, was attended by a large body of retainers, and his +equipage and liveries were distinguished by their magnificence. He gave +numerous banquets, held large _levees_, and, in short, assumed a state +in his manner of living which corresponded with his station, and did no +violence to his natural taste. We may well believe that the great lords +of the country, whose ancestors had for centuries filled its highest +places, must have chafed as they saw themselves thrown into the shade by +one whose fortunes had been thus suddenly forced to this unnatural +height by the sunshine of royal favor. Their indignation was heightened +by the tricky arrangement, which, while it left them ciphers in the +administration, made them responsible to the people for its measures. +And if the imputation to Granvelle of arrogance, in the pride of his +full-blown fortunes, was warranted, feelings of a personal nature may +have mingled with those of general discontent. + +But, however they may have felt, the Flemish lords must be allowed not +to have been precipitate in the demonstration of their feelings. It is +not till 1562 that we observe the cardinal, in his correspondence with +Spain, noticing any discourtesy in the nobles, or intimating the +existence of any misunderstanding with them. In the spring of the +preceding year we find the prince of Orange "commending himself +cordially and affectionately to the cardinal's good will;" and +subscribing himself, "your very good friend to command."[532] In four +months after this, on the twenty-third of July, we have a letter from +this "very good friend" and count Egmont, addressed to Philip. In this +epistle the writers complain bitterly of their exclusion from all +business of importance in the council of state. They were only invited +to take part in deliberations of no moment. This was contrary to the +assurance of his majesty when they reluctantly accepted office; and it +was in obedience to his commands to advise him if this should occur that +they now wrote to him.[533] Nevertheless, they should have still +continued to bear the indignity in silence, had they not found that they +were held responsible by the people for measures in which they had no +share.[534]--Considering the arrangement Philip had made for the +_consulta_, one has little reason to commend his candor in this +transaction, and not much to praise his policy. As he did not redress +the evil, his implied disavowal of being privy to it would hardly go for +anything with the injured party. In his answer, Philip thanked the +nobles for their zeal in his service, and promised to reply to them more +at large on the return of Count Hoorne to Flanders.[535] + +There is no reason to suppose that Granvelle was ever acquainted with +the fact of the letter having been written by the two lords. The +privilege claimed by the novelist, who looks over the shoulders of his +heroes and heroines when they are inditing their epistles, is also +enjoyed by the historian. With the materials rescued from the mouldering +archives of the past, he can present the reader with a more perfect view +of the motives and opinions of the great actors in the drama three +centuries ago, than they possessed in respect to one another. This is +particularly true of the period before us, when the correspondence of +the parties interested was ample in itself, and, through the care taken +of it, in public and private collections, has been well preserved. Such +care was seldom bestowed on historical documents of this class before +the sixteenth century. + +[Sidenote: OPPOSED BY THE NOBLES.] + +It is not till long--nearly a year--after the date of the preceding +letter, that anything appears to intimate the existence of a coldness, +much less of an open rupture, between Granvelle and the discontented +nobles. Meanwhile, the religious troubles in France had been fast +gathering to a head; and the opposite factions ranged themselves under +the banners of their respective chiefs, prepared to decide the question +by arms. Philip the Second, who stood forth as the champion of +Catholicism, not merely in his own dominions, but throughout +Christendom, watched with anxiety the struggle going forward in the +neighboring kingdom. It had the deeper interest for him, from its +influence on the Low Countries. His Italian possessions were separated +from France by the Alps; his Spanish, by the Pyrenees. But no such +mountain barrier lay between France and Flanders. They were not even +separated, in the border provinces, by difference of language. Every +shock given to France must necessarily be felt in the remotest corner of +the Netherlands. Granvelle was so well aware of this, that he besought +the king to keep an eye on his French neighbors, and support them in the +maintenance of the Roman Catholic religion. "That they should be +maintained in this is quite as important to us as it is to them. Many +here," he adds, "would be right glad to see affairs go badly for the +Catholics in that kingdom. No noble as yet among us has openly declared +himself. Should any one do so, God only could save the country from the +fate of France."[536] + +Acting on these hints, and conformably to his own views, Philip sent +orders to the regent to raise two thousand men, and send them across the +borders to support the French Catholics. The orders met with decided +resistance in the council of state. The great Flemish lords, at this +time, must have affected, if they did not feel, devotion to the +established religion. But they well knew there was too large a leaven of +heresy in the country to make these orders palatable. They felt no +desire, moreover, thus unnecessarily to mix themselves up with the feuds +of France. They represented that the troops could not safely be +dispensed with in the present state of feeling at home; and that, if +they marched against the Protestants of France, the German Protestants +might be expected to march against them. + +Granvelle, on the other hand, would have enforced the orders of Philip, +as essential to the security of the Netherlands themselves. Margaret, +thus pressed by the opposite parties, felt the embarrassment of either +course. The alternative presented was, that of disobeying the king, or +of incurring the resentment, perhaps the resistance, of the nation. +Orange and Egmont besought her to convoke the states-general, as the +only safe counsellors in such an emergency. The states had often been +convened on matters of less moment by the former regent, Mary of +Hungary. But the cardinal had no mind to invoke the interference of that +"mischievous animal, the people."[537] He had witnessed a convocation of +the states previous to the embarkation of Philip; and he had not +forgotten the independent tone then assumed by that body. It had been, +indeed, the last injunction of the king to his sister, on no account to +call a meeting of the national legislature till his return to the +country. + +But while on this ground Margaret refused to summon the states-general, +she called a meeting of the order of the Golden Fleece, to whom she was +to apply for counsel on extraordinary occasions. The knights of the +order consisted of persons of the highest consideration in the country, +including the governors of the provinces. In May, 1562, they assembled +at Brussels. Before meeting in public, the prince of Orange invited them +to a conference in his own palace. He there laid before them the state +of the country, and endeavored to concert with the members some regular +system of resistance to the exclusive and arbitrary course of the +minister. Although no definite action took place at that time, most of +those present would seem to have fallen in with the views of the prince. +There were some, however, who took opposite ground, and who declared +themselves content with Granvelle, and not disposed to prescribe to +their sovereign the choice of his ministers. The foremost of these were +the duke of Arschot, a zealous Catholic, and Count Barlaimont, president +of the council of finance, and, as we have already seen, altogether +devoted to the minister. This nobleman communicated to Margaret the +particulars of the meeting in the prince's palace; and the regent was +careful to give the knights of the order such incessant occupation +during the remainder of their stay in the capital, as to afford the +prince of Orange no opportunity of pursuing his scheme of +agitation.[538] + +Before the assembly of the Golden Fleece had been dissolved, it was +decided to send an envoy to the king to lay before him the state of the +country, both in regard to the religious excitement, much stimulated in +certain quarters by the condition of France, and to the financial +embarrassments, which now pressed heavily on the government. The person +selected for the office was Florence de Montmorency, lord of Montigny, a +cavalier who had the boldness to avow his aversion to any interference +with the rights of conscience, and whose sympathies, it will be +believed, were not on the side of the minister. + +Soon after his departure, the vexed question of aid to France was +settled in the council by commuting personal service for money. It was +decided to raise a subsidy of fifty thousand crowns, to be remitted at +once to the French government.[539] + +Montigny reached Spain in June, 1562. He was graciously received by +Philip, who, in a protracted audience, gathered from him a +circumstantial account of the condition of the Netherlands. In answer to +the royal queries, the envoy also exposed the misunderstanding which +existed between the minister and the nobles. + +But the duchess of Parma did not trust this delicate affair to the +representations of Montigny. She wrote herself to her brother, in +Italian, which, when she would give her own views on matters of +importance, she used instead of French, ordinarily employed by the +secretaries. In Italian she expressed herself with the greatest fluency, +and her letters in that language, for the purpose of secrecy, were +written with her own hand. + +[Sidenote: OPPOSED BY THE NOBLES.] + +The duchess informed the king of the troubles that had arisen with the +nobles; charging Orange and Egmont, especially, as the source of them. +She accused them of maliciously circulating rumors that the cardinal had +advised Philip to invade the country with an armed force, and to cut off +the heads of some five or six of the principal malecontents.[540] She +paid a high tribute to the minister's loyalty, and his talent for +business; and she besought the king to disabuse Montigny in respect to +the common idea of a design to introduce the Spanish Inquisition into +the country, and to do violence to its institutions. + +The war was now openly proclaimed between the cardinal and the nobles. +Whatever decorum might be preserved in their intercourse, there was no +longer any doubt as to the hostile attitude in which they were hereafter +to stand in respect to each other. In a letter written a short time +previous to that of the regent, the cardinal gives a brief view of his +situation to the king. The letter is written in the courageous spirit of +one who does not shrink from the dangers that menace him. After an +observation intimating no great confidence in the orthodoxy of the +prince of Orange, he remarks: "Though the prince shows me a friendly +face, when absent he is full of discontent. They have formed a league +against me," he continues, "and threaten my life. But I have little fear +on that score, as I think they are much too wise to attempt any such +thing. They complain of my excluding them from office, and endeavoring +to secure an absolute authority for your majesty. All which they repeat +openly at their banquets, with no good effect on the people. Yet never +were there governors of the provinces who possessed so much power as +they have, or who had all appointments more completely in their own +hands. In truth, their great object is to reduce your majesty and the +regent to the condition of mere ciphers in the government." + +"They refuse to come to my table," he adds, "at which I smile. I find +guests enough in the gentry of the country, the magistrates, and even +the worthy burghers of the city, whose good-will it is well to +conciliate against a day of trouble. These evils I bear with patience, +as I can. For adversity is sent by the Almighty, who will recompense +those who suffer for religion and justice." The cardinal was fond of +regarding himself in the light of a martyr. + +He concludes this curious epistle with beseeching the king to come soon +to the Netherlands; "to come well attended, and with plenty of money; +since, thus provided, he will have no lack of troops, if required to act +abroad, while his presence will serve to calm the troubled spirits at +home."[541] The politic minister says nothing of the use that might be +made of these troops at home. Such an intimation would justify the +charges already brought against him. He might safely leave his master to +make that application for himself. + +In December, 1562, Montigny returned from his mission, and straightway +made his report to the council of state. He enlarged on the solicitude +which Philip had shown for the interests of the country. Nothing had +been further from his mind than to introduce into it the Spanish +Inquisition. He was only anxious to exterminate the growing heresy from +the land, and called on those in authority to aid in the good work with +all their strength. Finally, though pressed by want of funds, he +promised, so soon as he could settle his affairs in Spain, to return to +Flanders.--It was not unusual for Philip to hold out the idea of his +speedy return to the country. The king's gracious reception seems to +have had some effect on Montigny. At all events, he placed a degree of +confidence in the royal professions, in which the sceptical temper of +William was far from acquiescing. He intimated as much to his friend, +and the latter, not relishing the part of a dupe, which the prince's +language seemed to assign to him, retorted in an angry manner; and +something like altercation took place between the two lords, in the +presence of the duchess. At least, such is the report of the +historians.[542] But historians in a season of faction are not the best +authorities. In the troubles before us we have usually a safer guide in +the correspondence of the actors. + +By Montigny despatches were also brought from Philip for the duchess of +Parma. They contained suggestions as to her policy in reference to the +factious nobles, whom the king recommended to her, if possible, to +divide by sowing the seeds of jealousy among them.[543] Egmont was a +stanch Catholic, loyal in his disposition, ambitious, and vain. It would +not be difficult to detach him from his associates by a show of +preference, which, while it flattered his vanity, would excite in them +jealousy and distrust. + +In former times there had been something of these feelings betwixt +Egmont and the prince of Orange. At least there had been estrangement. +This might, in some degree, be referred to the contrast in their +characters. Certainly no two characters could be more strongly +contrasted with each other. Egmont, frank, fiery, impulsive in his +temper, had little in common with the cool, cautious, and calculating +William. The showy qualities of the former, lying on the surface, more +readily caught the popular eye. There was a depth in William's character +not easy to be fathomed,--an habitual reserve, which made it difficult +even for those who knew him best always to read him right. Yet the +coolness between these two nobles may have arisen less from difference +of character than from similarity of position. Both, by their rank and +services, took the foremost ground in public estimation, so that it was +scarcely possible they should not jostle each other in the career of +ambition. But however divided formerly, they were now too closely united +by the pressure of external circumstances to be separated by the subtle +policy of Philip. Under the influence of a common disgust with the +administration and its arbitrary measures, they continued to act in +concert together, and, in their union, derived benefit from the very +opposition of their characters. For what better augury of success than +that afforded by the union of wisdom in council with boldness in +execution? + +The consequences of the troubles in France, as had been foreseen, were +soon visible in the Low Countries. The Protestants of that time +constituted a sort of federative republic, or rather a great secret +association, extending through the different parts of Europe, but so +closely linked together that a blow struck in one quarter instantly +vibrated to every other. The Calvinists in the border provinces of the +Low Countries felt, in particular, great sympathy with the movements of +their French brethren. Many Huguenots took shelter among them. Others +came to propagate their doctrines. Tracts in the French tongue were +distributed and read with avidity. Preachers harangued in the +conventicles; and the people, by hundreds and thousands, openly +assembled, and, marching in procession, chanted the Psalms of David in +the translation of Marot.[544] + +[Sidenote: RESISTANCE TO THE EDICTS.] + +This open defiance of the edicts called for the immediate interposition +of the government. At Tournay two Calvinist preachers were arrested, +and, after a regular trial, condemned and burned at the stake. In +Valenciennes two others were seized, in like manner, tried, and +sentenced to the same terrible punishment. But as the marquis of Bergen, +the governor of the province, had left the place on a visit to a +distant quarter, the execution was postponed till his return. Seven +months thus passed, when the regent wrote to the marquis, remonstrating +on his unseasonable absence from his post. He had the spirit to answer, +that "it neither suited his station nor his character to play the part +of an executioner."[545] The marquis of Bergen had early ranged himself +on the side of the prince of Orange, and he is repeatedly noticed by +Granvelle, in his letters, as the most active of the malecontents. It +may well be believed he was no friend to the system of persecution +pursued by the government. Urged by Granvelle, the magistrates of the +city at length assumed the office of conducting the execution +themselves. On the day appointed, the two martyrs were escorted to the +stake. The funeral pile was prepared, and the torch was about to be +applied, when, at a signal from one of the prisoners, the multitude +around broke in upon the place of execution, trampled down the guards +and officers of justice, scattered the fagots collected for the +sacrifice, and liberated the victims. Then, throwing themselves into a +procession, they paraded the streets of the city, singing their psalms +and Calvinistic hymns. + +Meanwhile the officers of justice succeeded in again arresting the +unfortunate men, and carrying them back to prison. But it was not long +before their friends, assembling in greater numbers than before, stormed +the fortress, forced the gates, and, rescuing the prisoners, carried +them off in triumph. + +These high-handed measures caused, as may be supposed, great indignation +at the court of the regent. She instantly ordered a levy of three +thousand troops, and, placing them under the marquis of Bergen, sent +them against the insurgents. The force was such as to overcome all +resistance. Arrests were made in great numbers, and the majesty of the +law was vindicated by the trial and punishment of the ringleaders.[546] + +"Rigorous and severe measures," wrote Philip, "are the only ones to be +employed in matters of religion. It is by fear only that the +rabble"--meaning by this the Reformers--"can be made to do their duty, +and not always then."[547] This liberal sentiment found less favor in +the Low Countries than in Spain. "One must ponder well," writes the +cardinal to Perez, the royal secretary, "before issuing those absolute +decrees, which are by no means as implicitly received here as they are +in Italy."[548] The Fleming appealed to his laws, and, with all the +minister's zeal, it was found impossible to move forward at the fiery +pace of the Spanish Inquisition. + +"It would raise a tumult at once," he writes, "should we venture to +arrest a man without the clearest evidence. No man can be proceeded +against without legal proof."[549] But an insurmountable obstacle in the +way of enforcing the cruel edicts lay in the feelings of the nation. No +law repugnant to such feelings can long be executed. "I accuse none of +the nobles of being heretics," writes the regent to her brother; "but +they show little zeal in the cause of religion, while the magistrates +shrink from their duty from fear of the people."[550] "How absurd is +it," exclaims Granvelle, "for depositions to be taken before the +Inquisition in Spain, in order to search out heretics in Antwerp, where +thousands are every day walking about whom no one meddles with!"[551] +"It is more than a year," he says, "since a single arrest on a charge of +heresy has taken place in that city."[552] Yet whatever may have been +the state of persecution at the present time, the vague dread of the +future must have taken strong hold of people's minds, if, as a +contemporary writes, there were no less than eighteen or twenty thousand +refugees then in England, who had fled from Flanders for the sake of +their religion.[553] + +The odium of this persecution all fell on the head of Granvelle. He was +the tool of Spain. Spain was under the yoke of the Inquisition. +Therefore it was clearly the minister's design to establish the Spanish +Inquisition over the Netherlands. Such was the concise logic by which +people connected the name of Granvelle with that of the most dreaded of +tribunals.[554] He was held responsible for the contrivance of the most +unpopular measures of government, as well as for their execution. A +thousand extravagant stories were circulated both of his private and his +political life, which it is probably doing no injustice to the nobles to +suppose they did not take much pains to correct. The favorite of the +prince is rarely the favorite of the people. But no minister had ever +been so unpopular as Granvelle in the Netherlands. He was hated by the +nobles for his sudden elevation to power, and for the servile means, as +they thought, by which he had risen to it. The people hated him, because +he used that power for the ruin of their liberties. No +administration--none certainly, if we except that of the iron Alva--was +more odious to the nation. + +[Sidenote: LEAGUE AGAINST GRANVELLE.] + +Notwithstanding Granvelle's constancy, and the countenance he received +from the regent and a few of the leading councillors, it was hard to +bear up under this load of obloquy. He would gladly have had the king +return to the country, and sustain him by his presence. It is the burden +of his correspondence at this period. "It is a common notion here," he +writes to the secretary, Perez, "that they are all ready in Spain to +sacrifice the Low Countries. The lords talk so freely, that every moment +I fear an insurrection.... For God's sake, persuade the king to come, or +it will lie heavy on his conscience."[555] The minister complains to the +secretary that he seems to be entirely abandoned by the government at +home. "It is three months," he writes, "since I have received a letter +from the court. We know as little of Spain here as of the Indies. Such +delays are dangerous, and may cost the king dear."[556]--It is clear his +majesty exercised his royal prerogative of having the correspondence all +on one side. At least his own share in it, at this period, was small, +and his letters were concise indeed in comparison with the voluminous +epistles of his minister. Perhaps there was some policy in this silence +of the monarch. His opinions, nay, his wishes, would have, to some +extent, the weight of laws. He would not, therefore, willingly commit +himself. He preferred to conform to his natural tendency to trust to the +course of events, instead of disturbing them by too precipitate action. +The cognomen by which Philip is recognized on the roll of Castilian +princes is "the Prudent." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +GRANVELLE COMPELLED TO WITHDRAW. + +League against Granvelle.--Margaret desires his Removal.--Philip +deliberates.--Granvelle dismissed.--Leaves the Netherlands. + +1562-1564. + + +While the state of feeling towards Granvelle, in the nation generally, +was such as is described in the preceding chapter, the lords who were in +the council of state chafed more and more under their exclusion from +business. As the mask was now thrown away, they no longer maintained the +show of deference which they had hitherto paid to the minister. From +opposition to his measures, they passed to irony, ridicule, sarcasm; +till, finding that their assaults had little effect to disturb +Granvelle's temper, and still less to change his policy, they grew at +length less and less frequent in their attendance at the council, where +they played so insignificant a part. This was a sore embarrassment to +the regent, who needed the countenance of the great nobles to protect +her with the nation, in the unpopular measures in which she was +involved. + +Even Granvelle, with all his equanimity, considered the crisis so grave +as to demand some concession, or at least a show of it, on his own part, +to conciliate the good-will of his enemies. He authorized the duchess to +say that he was perfectly willing that they should be summoned to the +_consulta_, and to absent himself from its meetings; indeed, to resign +the administration altogether, provided the king approved of it.[557] +Whether Margaret communicated this to the nobles does not appear; at all +events, as nothing came of these magnanimous concessions of the +minister, they had no power to soothe the irritation of his +enemies.[558] + +On the contrary, the disaffected lords were bending their efforts to +consolidate their league, of which Granvelle, it may be recollected, +noticed the existence in a letter of the preceding year. We now find the +members binding themselves to each other by an oath of secrecy.[559] The +persons who formed this confederacy were the governors of the +provinces, the knights of the Golden Fleece, and, in short, most of the +aristocracy of any consideration in the country. It seemed impossible +that any minister could stand against such a coalition, resting, +moreover, on the sympathies of the people. This formidable association, +seeing that all attempts to work on the cardinal were ineffectual, +resolved at length to apply directly to the king for his removal. They +stated that, knowing the heavy cares which pressed on his majesty, they +had long dissembled and kept silence, rather than aggravate these cares +by their complaints. If they now broke this silence, it was from a sense +of duty to the king, and to save the country from ruin. They enlarged on +the lamentable condition of affairs, which, without specifying any +particular charges, they imputed altogether to the cardinal, or rather +to the position in which he stood in reference to the nation. It was +impossible, they said, that the business of the country could prosper, +where the minister who directed it was held in such general detestation +by the people. They earnestly implored the king to take immediate +measures for removing an evil which menaced the speedy ruin of the land. +And they concluded with begging that they might be allowed to resign +their seats in the council of state, where, in the existing state of +affairs, their presence could be of no service.--This letter, dated the +eleventh of March, 1563, was signed, on behalf of the coalition, by +three lords who had places in the council of state,--the prince of +Orange, Count Egmont, and Count Hoorne.[560] + +The last nobleman was of an ancient and most honorable lineage. He held +the high office of admiral of the Netherlands, and had been governor +both of Zuetphen and of Gueldres. He accompanied Philip to Spain, and +during his absence the province of Gueldres was transferred to another, +Count Megen, for which Hoorne considered that he was indebted to the +good offices of the cardinal. On his return to his own country, he at +once enrolled himself in the ranks of the opposition. He was a man of +indisputable bravery, of a quick and impatient temper; one, on the +whole, who seems to have been less indebted for his celebrity to his +character, than to the peculiar circumstances in which he was placed. + +On the day previous to this despatch of the nobles, we find a letter to +the king from Granvelle, who does not seem to have been ignorant of what +was doing by the lords. He had expostulated with them, he tells Philip, +on the disloyalty of their conduct in thus banding against the +government,--a proceeding which in other times might have subjected them +to a legal prosecution.[561] He mentions no one by name except Egmont, +whom he commends as more tractable and open to reason than his +confederates. He was led away by evil counsellors, and Granvelle +expresses the hope that he will one day open his eyes to his errors, and +return to his allegiance. + +[Sidenote: LEAGUE AGAINST GRANVELLE.] + +It is difficult to conceive the detestation, he goes on to say, in which +the Spaniards are held by the nation. The Spaniards only, it was +everywhere said, were regarded by the court of Madrid as the lawful +children; the Flemings, as illegitimate.[562] It was necessary to do +away this impression to place the Flemings on the same footing with the +Spaniards; to give them lucrative appointments, for they greatly needed +them, in Spain or in Italy; and it might not be amiss to bestow the +viceroyalty of Sicily on the prince of Orange.--Thus, by the same act, +the politic minister would both reward his rivals and remove them from +the country. But he greatly misunderstood the character of William, if +he thought in this way to buy him off from the opposition. + +It was four months before the confederates received an answer; during +which time affairs continued to wear the same gloomy aspect as before. +At length came the long-expected epistle from the monarch, dated on the +sixth of June. It was a brief one. Philip thanked the lords for their +zeal and devotion to his service. After well considering the matter, +however, he had not found any specific ground of complaint alleged, to +account for the advice given him to part with his minister. The king +hoped before long to visit the Low Countries in person. Meanwhile, he +should be glad to see any one of the nobles in Spain, to learn from him +the whole state of the affair; as it was not his wont to condemn his +ministers without knowing the grounds on which they were accused.[563] + +The fact that the lords had not specified any particular subject of +complaint against the cardinal gave the king an obvious advantage in the +correspondence. It seemed to be too much to expect his immediate +dismissal of the minister, on the vague pretext of his unpopularity, +without a single instance of misconduct being alleged against him. Yet +this was the position in which the enemies of Granvelle necessarily +found themselves. The minister acted by the orders of the king. To have +assailed the minister's acts, therefore, would have been to attack the +king himself. Egmont, some time after this, with even more frankness +than usual, is said to have declared at table to a friend of the +cardinal, that "the blow was aimed not so much at the minister as at the +monarch."[564] + +The discontent of the lords at receiving this laconic epistle may be +imagined. They were indignant that so little account should be made of +their representations, and that both they and the country should be +sacrificed to the king's partiality for his minister. The three lords +waited on the regent, and extorted from her a reluctant consent to +assemble the knights of the order, and to confer with them and the other +nobles as to the course to be taken. + +It was there decided that the lords should address a second letter, in +the name of the whole body, to Philip, and henceforth should cease to +attend the council of state.[565] + +In this letter, which bears the date of July the twenty-ninth, they +express their disappointment that his majesty had not come to a more +definite resolution, when prompt and decisive measures could alone save +the country from ruin. They excuse themselves from visiting Spain in the +critical state of affairs at home. At another time, and for any other +purpose, did the king desire it, they would willingly do so. But it was +not their design to appear as accusers, and institute a process against +the minister. They had hoped their own word in such an affair would have +sufficed with his majesty. It was not the question whether the minister +was to be condemned, but whether he was to be removed from an office for +which he was in no respect qualified.[566] They had hoped their +attachment and tried fidelity to the crown would have made it +superfluous for them to go into a specification of charges. These, +indeed, could be easily made, but the discontent and disorder which now +reigned throughout the country were sufficient evidence of the +minister's incapacity.[567] + +They stated that they had acquainted the regent with their intention to +absent themselves in future from the council, where their presence could +be no longer useful; and they trusted this would receive his majesty's +sanction. They expressed their determination loyally and truly to +discharge every trust reposed in them by the government; and they +concluded by apologizing for the homely language of their epistle,--for +they were no haranguers or orators, but men accustomed to act rather +than to talk, as was suited to persons of their quality.[568]--This last +shaft was doubtless aimed at the cardinal.--The letter was signed by the +same triumvirate as the former. The abstract here given does no justice +to the document, which is of considerable length, and carefully written. +The language is that of men who to the habitual exercise of authority +united a feeling of self-respect, which challenged the respect of their +opponents. Such were not the men to be cajoled or easily intimidated. It +was the first time that Philip had been addressed in this lofty tone by +his great vassals. It should have opened his eyes to the condition and +the character of his subjects in the Netherlands. + +The coalition drew up, at the same time, an elaborate "remonstrance," +which they presented to Margaret. In it they set forth the various +disorders of the country, especially those growing out of the state of +religion and the embarrassment of the finances. The only remedy for +these evils is to be found in a meeting of the states-general. The +king's prohibition of this measure must have proceeded, no doubt, from +the evil counsels of persons hostile to the true interests of the +nation. As their services can be of little use while they are thus +debarred from a resort to their true and only remedy in their +embarrassments, they trust the regent will not take it amiss, that, so +long as the present policy is pursued, they decline to take their seats +in the council of state, to be merely shadows there, as they have been +for the last four years.[569] + +[Sidenote: MARGARET DESIRES HIS REMOVAL.] + +From this period the malecontent lords no more appeared in council. The +perplexity of Margaret was great. Thus abandoned by the nobles in whom +the country had the greatest confidence, she was left alone, as it were, +with the man whom the country held in the greatest abhorrence. She had +long seen with alarm the storm gathering round the devoted head of the +minister. To attempt alone to uphold his falling fortunes would be +probably to bury herself in their ruins. In her extremity, she appealed +to the confederates, and, since she could not divide them, endeavored to +divert them from their opposition. They, on the other hand, besought +the regent no longer to connect herself with the desperate cause of a +minister so odious to the country. Possibly they infused into her mind +some suspicions of the subordinate part she was made to play, through +the overweening ambition of the cardinal. At all events, an obvious +change took place in her conduct, and while she deferred less and less +to Granvelle, she entered into more friendly relations with his enemies. +This was especially the case with Egmont, whose frank and courteous +hearing and loyal disposition seem to have won greatly on the esteem of +the duchess. + +Satisfied, at last, that it would be impracticable to maintain the +government much longer on its present basis, Margaret resolved to write +to her brother on the subject, and at the same time to send her +confidential secretary, Armenteros, to Spain, to acquaint the king with +the precise state of affairs in the Netherlands.[570] + +After enlarging on the disorders and difficulties of the country, the +duchess came to the quarrel between the cardinal and the nobles. She had +made every effort to reconcile the parties; but that was impossible. She +was fully sensible of the merits of Granvelle, his high capacity, his +experience in public affairs, his devotion to the interests both of the +king and of religion.[571] But, on the other hand, to maintain him in +the Netherlands, in opposition to the will of the nobles, was to expose +the country, not merely to great embarrassments, but to the danger of +insurrection.[572] The obligations of the high place which she occupied +compelled her to lay the true state of the case before the king, and he +would determine the course to be pursued.--With this letter, bearing the +date of August twelfth, and fortified with ample instructions from the +duchess, Armenteros was forthwith despatched on his mission to Spain. + +It was not long before the state of feeling in the cabinet of Brussels +was known, or at least surmised, throughout the country. It was the +interest of some of the parties that it should not be kept secret. The +cardinal, thus abandoned by his friends, became a more conspicuous mark +for the shafts of his enemies. Libels, satires, pasquinades, were +launched against him from every quarter. Such fugitive pieces, like the +insect which dies when it has left its sting, usually perish with the +occasion that gives them birth. But some have survived to the present +day, or at least were in existence at the close of the last century, and +are much commended by a critic for the merits of their literary +execution.[573] + +It was the custom, at the period of our narrative, for the young people +to meet in the towns and villages, and celebrate what were called +"academic games," consisting of rhetorical discussions on the various +topics of the day, sometimes of a theological or a political character. +Public affairs furnished a fruitful theme at this crisis; and the +cardinal, in particular, was often roughly handled. It was in vain the +government tried to curb this licence. It only served to stimulate the +disputants to new displays of raillery and ridicule.[574] + +Granvelle, it will be readily believed, was not slow to perceive his +loss of credit with the regent, and the more intimate relations into +which she had entered with his enemies. But whatever he may have felt, +he was too proud or too politic to betray his mortification to the +duchess. Thus discredited by all but an insignificant party, who were +branded as the "Cardinalists," losing influence daily with the regent, +at open war with the nobles, and hated by the people, never was there a +minister in so forlorn a situation, or one who was able to maintain his +post a day in such circumstances. Yet Granvelle did not lose heart; as +others failed him, he relied the more on himself; and the courage which +he displayed, when thus left alone, as it were, to face the anger of the +nation, might have well commanded the respect of his enemies. He made no +mean concession to secure the support of the nobles, or to recover the +favor of the regent. He did not shrink from the dangers or the +responsibilities of his station; though the latter, at least, bore +heavily on him. Speaking of the incessant pressure of his cares, he +writes to his correspondent, Perez, "My hairs have turned so white you +would not recognize me."[575] He was then but forty-six. On one +occasion, indeed, we do find him telling the king, that, "if his majesty +does not soon come to the Netherlands, he must withdraw from them."[576] +This seems to have been a sudden burst of feeling, as it was a solitary +one, forced from him by the extremity of his situation. It was much more +in character that he wrote afterwards to the secretary, Perez: "I am so +beset with dangers on every side, that most people give me up for lost. +But I mean to live as long, by the grace of God, as I can; and if they +do take away my life, I trust they will not gain everything for all +that."[577] He nowhere intimates a wish to be recalled. Nor would his +ambition allow him to resign the helm; but the fiercer the tempest +raged, the more closely did he cling to the wreck of his fortunes. + +The arrival of Armenteros with the despatches, and the tidings that he +brought, caused a great sensation in the court of Madrid. "We are on the +eve of a terrible conflagration," writes one of the secretaries of +Philip; "and they greatly err who think it will pass away as formerly." +He expresses the wish that Granvelle would retire from the country, +where, he predicts, they would soon wish his return. "But ambition," he +adds, "and the point of honor are alike opposed to this. Nor does the +king desire it."[578] + +Yet it was not easy to say what the king did desire,--certainly not what +course he would pursue. He felt a natural reluctance to abandon the +minister, whose greatest error seemed to be that of too implicit an +obedience to his master's commands. He declared he would rather risk the +loss of the Netherlands than abandon him.[579] Yet how was that minister +to be maintained in his place, in opposition to the will of the nation? +In this perplexity, Philip applied for counsel to the man in whom he +most confided,--the duke of Alva; the very worst counsellor possible in +the present emergency. + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S LETTER TO GRANVELLE.] + +The duke's answer was eminently characteristic of the man. "When I read +the letters of these lords," he says, "I am so filled with rage, that, +did I not make an effort to suppress it, my language would appear to you +that of a madman."[580] After this temperate exordium, he recommends the +king on no account to remove Granvelle from the administration of the +Netherlands. "It is a thing of course," he says, "that the cardinal +should be the first victim. A rebellion against the prince naturally +begins with an attack on his ministers. It would be better," he +continues, "if all could be brought at once to summary justice. Since +that cannot be, it may be best to divide the nobles; to win over Egmont +and those who follow him by favors; to show displeasure to those who are +the least offenders. For the greater ones, who deserve to lose their +heads, your majesty will do well to dissemble, until you can give them +their deserts."[581] + +Part of this advice the king accepted; for to dissemble did no violence +to his nature. But the more he reflected on the matter, the more he was +satisfied that it would be impossible to retain the obnoxious minister +in his place. Yet when he had come to this decision, he still shrunk +from announcing it. Months passed, and yet Armenteros, who was to carry +back the royal despatches, was still detained at Madrid. It seemed as if +Philip here, as on other occasions of less moment, was prepared to leave +events to take their own course, rather than direct them himself. + +Early in January, 1564, the duchess of Parma admonished her brother that +the lords chafed much under his long silence. It was a common opinion, +she said, that he cared little for Flanders, and that he was under the +influence of evil counsellors, who would persuade him to deal with the +country as a conquered province. She besought him to answer the letter +of the nobles, and especially to write in affectionate terms to Count +Egmont, who well deserved this for the zeal he had always shown for his +sovereign's interests.[582] + +One is struck with the tone in which the regent here speaks of one of +the leaders of the opposition, so little in unison with her former +language. It shows how completely she was now under their influence. In +truth, however, we see constantly, both in her letters and those of the +cardinal, a more friendly tone of feeling towards Egmont than to either +of his associates. On the score of orthodoxy in matters of religion he +was unimpeachable. His cordial manners, his free and genial temper, +secured the sympathy of all with whom he came in contact. It was a +common opinion, that it would not be difficult to detach him from the +party of malecontents with whom his lot was cast. Such were not the +notions entertained of the prince of Orange. + +In a letter from Granvelle to Philip, without a date, but written +perhaps about this period,[583] we have portraits, or rather outlines, +of the two great leaders of the opposition, touched with a masterly +hand. Egmont he describes as firm in his faith, loyally disposed, but +under the evil influence of William. It would not be difficult to win +him over by flattery and favors.[584] The prince, on the other hand, is +a cunning and dangerous enemy, of profound views, boundless ambition, +difficult to change, and impossible to control.[585] In the latter +character we see the true leader of the revolution. + +Disgusted with the indifference of the king, shown in his +long-protracted silence, the nobles, notwithstanding the regent's +remonstrances, sent orders to their courier, who had been waiting in +Madrid for the royal despatches, to wait no longer, but return without +them to the Netherlands.[586] Fortunately Philip now moved, and at the +close of January, 1564, sent back Armenteros with his instructions to +Brussels. The most important of them was a letter of dismissal to the +cardinal himself. It was very short. "On considering what you write," +said the king, "I deem it best that you should leave the Low Countries +for some days, and go to Burgundy to see your mother, with the consent +of the duchess of Parma. In this way, both my authority and your own +reputation will be preserved."[587] + +It has been a matter of dispute how far the resignation of the cardinal +was voluntary. The recent discovery of this letter of Philip determines +that question.[588] It was by command of the sovereign. Yet that command +was extorted by necessity, and so given as best to save the feelings and +the credit of the minister. Neither party anticipated that Granvelle's +absence would continue for a long time, much less that his dismissal was +final. Even when inditing the letter to the cardinal, Philip cherished +the hope that the necessity for his departure might be avoided +altogether. This appears from the despatches sent at the same time to +the regent. + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S LETTER TO GRANVELLE.] + +Shortly after his note to Granvelle, on the nineteenth of February, +Philip wrote an answer to the lords in all the tone of offended +majesty. He expressed his astonishment that they should have been led, +by any motive whatever, to vacate their seats at the council, where he +had placed them.[589] They would not fail to return there at once, and +show that they preferred the public weal to all private +considerations.[590] As for the removal of the minister, since they had +not been pleased to specify any charges against him, the king would +deliberate further before deciding on the matter. Thus, three weeks +after Philip had given the cardinal his dismissal, did he write to his +enemies as if the matter were still in abeyance; hoping, it would seem, +by the haughty tone of authority, to rebuke the spirit of the refractory +nobles, and intimidate them into a compliance with his commands. Should +this policy succeed, the cardinal might still hold the helm of +government.[591] + +But Philip had not yet learned that he was dealing with men who had +little of that spirit of subserviency to which he was accustomed in his +Castilian vassals. The peremptory tone of his letter fired the blood of +the Flemish lords, who at once waited on the regent, and announced their +purpose not to reenter the council. The affair was not likely to end +here; and Margaret saw with alarm the commotion that would be raised +when the letter of the king should be laid before the whole body of the +nobles.[592] Fearing some rash step, difficult to be retrieved, she +resolved either that the cardinal should announce his intended +departure, or that she would do so for him. Philip's experiment had +failed. Nothing, therefore, remained but for the minister publicly to +declare, that, as his brother, the late envoy to France, had returned to +Brussels, he had obtained permission from the regent to accompany him on +a visit to their aged mother, whom Granvelle had not seen for fourteen +years.[593] + +The news of the minister's resignation and speedy departure spread like +wildfire over the country. The joy was universal; and the wits of the +time redoubled their activity, assailing the fallen minister with +libels, lampoons, and caricatures, without end. One of these +caricatures, thrust into his own hand under the pretence of its being a +petition, represented him as hatching a brood of young bishops, who were +crawling out of their shells. Hovering above might be seen the figure of +the Devil; while these words were profanely made to issue from his +month: "This is my son; hear ye him!"[594] + +It was at this time that, at a banquet at which many of the Flemish +nobles were present, the talk fell on the expensive habits of the +aristocracy, especially as shown in the number and dress of their +domestics. It was the custom for them to wear showy and very costly +liveries, intimating by the colors the family to which they belonged. +Granvelle had set an example of this kind of ostentation. It was +proposed to regulate their apparel by a more modest and uniform +standard. The lot fell on Egmont to devise some suitable livery, of the +simple kind used by the Germans. He proposed a dark-gray habit, which, +instead of the _aiguillettes_ commonly suspended from the shoulders, +should have flat pieces of cloth, embroidered with the figure of a head +and a fool's cap. The head was made marvellously like that of the +cardinal, and the cap, being red, was thought to bear much resemblance +to a cardinal's hat. This was enough. The dress was received with +acclamation. The nobles instantly clad their retainers in the new +livery, which had the advantage of greater economy. It became the badge +of party. The tailors of Brussels could not find time to supply their +customers. Instead of being confined to Granvelle, the heads +occasionally bore the features of Arschot, Aremberg, or Viglius, the +cardinal's friends. The duchess at first laughed at the jest, and even +sent some specimens of the embroidery to Philip. But Granvelle looked +more gravely on the matter, declaring it an insult to the government, +and the king interfered to have the device given up. This was not easy, +from the extent to which it had been adopted. But Margaret at length +succeeded in persuading the lords to take another, not personal in its +nature. The substitute was a sheaf of arrows. Even this was found to +have an offensive application, as it intimated the league of the nobles. +It was the origin, it is said, of the device afterwards assumed by the +Seven United Provinces.[595] + +[Sidenote: HE LEAVES THE NETHERLANDS.] + +On the thirteenth of March, 1564, Granvelle quitted Brussels,--never to +return.[596] "The joy of the nobles at his departure," writes one of the +privy council, "was excessive. They seemed like boys let loose from +school."[597] The three lords, members of the council of state, in a +note to the duchess, declared that they were ready to resume their +places at the board; with the understanding, however, that they should +retire whenever the minister returned.[598] Granvelle had given out that +his absence would be of no long duration. The regent wrote to her +brother in warm commendation of the lords. It would not do for Granvelle +ever to return. She was assured by the nobles, if he did return, he +would risk the loss of his life, and the king the loss of the +Netherlands.[599] + +The three lords wrote each to Philip, informing him that they had +reentered the council, and making the most earnest protestations of +loyalty. Philip, on his part, graciously replied to each, and in +particular to the prince of Orange, who had intimated that slanderous +reports respecting himself had found their way to the royal ear. The +king declared "he never could doubt for a moment that William would +continue to show the same zeal in his service that he had always done; +and that no one should be allowed to cast a reproach on a person of his +quality, and one whom Philip knew so thoroughly."[600] It might almost +seem that a double meaning lurked under this smooth language. But +whatever may have been felt, no distrust was exhibited on either side. +To those who looked on the surface only,--and they were a hundred to +one,--it seemed as if the dismissal of the cardinal had removed all +difficulties; and they now confidently relied on a state of permanent +tranquillity. But there were others whose eyes looked deeper than the +calm sunshine that lay upon the surface; who saw, more distinctly than +when the waters were ruffled by the tempest, the rocks beneath, on which +the vessel of state was afterward to be wrecked. + +The cardinal, on leaving the Low Countries, retired to his patrimonial +estate at Besancon,--embellished with all that wealth and a cultivated +taste could supply. In this pleasant retreat the discomfited statesman +found a solace in those pursuits which in earlier, perhaps happier, days +had engaged his attention.[601] He had particularly a turn for the +physical sciences. But he was fond of letters, and in all his tastes +showed the fruits of a liberal culture. He surrounded himself with +scholars and artists, and took a lively interest in their pursuits. +Justus Lipsius, afterwards so celebrated, was his secretary. He gave +encouragement to Plantin, who rivalled in Flanders the fame of the Aldi +in Venice. His generous patronage was readily extended to genius, in +whatever form it was displayed. It is some proof how widely extended, +that, in the course of his life, he is said to have received more than a +hundred dedications. Though greedy of wealth, it was not to hoard it, +and his large revenues were liberally dispensed in the foundation of +museums, colleges, and public libraries. Besancon, the place of his +residence, did not profit least by this munificence.[602] + +Such is the portrait which historians have given to us of the minister +in his retirement. His own letters show that, with these sources of +enjoyment, he did not altogether disdain others of a less spiritual +character. A letter to one of the regent's secretaries, written soon +after the cardinal's arrival at Besancon, concludes in the following +manner: "I know that God will recompense men according to their deserts. +I have confidence that he will aid me; and that I shall yet be able to +draw profit from what my enemies designed for my ruin. This is my +philosophy, with which I endeavor to live as joyously as I can, laughing +at the world, its calumnies and its passions."[603] + +With all this happy mixture of the Epicurean and the Stoic, the +philosophic statesman did not so contentedly submit to his fate as to +forego the hope of seeing himself soon reinstated in authority in the +Netherlands. "In the course of two months," he writes, "you may expect +to see me there."[604] He kept up an active correspondence with the +friends whom he had left in Brussels, and furnished the results of the +information thus obtained, with his own commentaries, to the court at +Madrid. His counsel was courted, and greatly considered, by Philip; so +that from the shades of his retirement the banished minister was still +thought to exercise an important influence on the destiny of Flanders. + + * * * * * + + A singular history is attached to the papers of Granvelle. That + minister resembled his master, Philip the Second, in the fertility + of his epistolary vein. That the king had a passion for writing, + notwithstanding he could throw the burden of the correspondence, + when it suited him, on the other party, is proved by the quantity + of letters he left behind him. The example of the monarch seems to + have had its influence on his courtiers; and no reign of that time + is illustrated by a greater amount of written materials from the + hands of the principal actors in it. Far from a poverty of + materials, therefore, the historian has much more reason to + complain of an _embarras de richesses_. + +[Sidenote: THE GRANVELLE PAPERS.] + + Granvelle filled the highest posts in different parts of the + Spanish empire; and in each of these--in the Netherlands, where he + was minister, in Naples, where he was viceroy, in Spain, where he + took the lead in the cabinet, and in Besancon, whither he retired + from public life--he left ample memorials under his own hand of his + residence there. This was particularly the case with Besancon, his + native town, and the favorite residence to which he turned, as he + tells us, from the turmoil of office to enjoy the sweets of + privacy,--yet not, in truth, so sweet to him as the stormy career + of the statesman, to judge from the tenacity with which he clung to + office. + + The cardinal made his library at Besancon the depository, not + merely of his own letters, but of such as were addressed to him. He + preserved them all, however humble the sources whence they came, + and, like Philip, he was in the habit of jotting down his own + reflections in the margin. As Granvelle's personal and political + relations connected him with the most important men of his time, we + may well believe that the mass of correspondence which he gathered + together was immense. Unfortunately, at his death, instead of + bequeathing his manuscripts to some public body, who might have + been responsible for the care of them, he left them to heirs who + were altogether ignorant of their value. In the course of time the + manuscripts found their way to the garret, where they soon came to + be regarded as little better than waste paper. They were pilfered + by the children and domestics, and a considerable quantity was sent + off to a neighboring grocer, who soon converted the correspondence + of the great statesman into wrapping-paper for his spices. + + From this ignominious fate the residue of the collection was + happily rescued by the generous exertions of the Abbe Boissot. This + excellent and learned man was the head of the Benedictines of St. + Vincent in Besancon, of which town he was himself a native. He was + acquainted with the condition of the Granvelle papers, and + comprehended their importance. In the course of eighty years, which + had elapsed since the cardinal's death, his manuscripts had come to + be distributed among several heirs, some of whom consented to + transfer their property gratuitously to the Abbe Boissot, while he + purchased that of others. In this way he at length succeeded in + gathering together all that survived of the large collection; and + he made it the great business of his subsequent life to study its + contents and arrange the chaotic mass of papers with reference to + their subjects. To complete his labors, he caused the manuscripts + thus arranged to be bound, in eighty-two volumes, folio, thus + placing them in that permanent form which might best secure them + against future accident. + + The abbe did not live to publish to the world an account of his + collection, which at his death passed by his will to his brethren + of the abbey of St. Vincent, on condition that it should be for + ever open for the use of the town of Besancon. It may seem strange + that, notwithstanding the existence of this valuable body of + original documents was known to scholars, they should so rarely + have resorted to it for instruction. Its secluded situation, in the + heart of a remote province, was doubtless regarded as a serious + obstacle by the historical inquirer, in an age when the public took + things too readily on trust to be very solicitous about authentic + sources of information. It is more strange that Boissot's + Benedictine brethren should have shown themselves so insensible to + the treasures under their own roof. One of their body, Dom Prosper + l'Evesque, did indeed profit by the Boissot collection to give to + the world his Memoires de Granvelle, a work in two volumes, + duodecimo, which, notwithstanding the materials at the writer's + command, contain little of any worth, unless it be an occasional + extract from Granvelle's own correspondence. + + At length, in 1834, the subject drew the attention of M. Guizot, + then Minister of Public Instruction in France. By his direction a + commission of five scholars was instituted, with the learned Weiss + at its head, for the purpose of examining the Granvelle papers, + with a view to their immediate publication. The work was performed + in a prompt and accurate manner, that must have satisfied its + enlightened projector. In 1839 the whole series of papers had been + subjected to a careful analysis, and the portion selected that was + deemed proper for publication. The first volume appeared in 1841; + and the president of the commission, M. Weiss, expressed in his + preface the confident hope that in the course of 1843 the remaining + papers would all be given to the press. But these anticipations + have not been realized. In 1854 only nine volumes had appeared. How + far the publication has since advanced I am ignorant. + + The Papiers d'Etat, besides Granvelle's own letters, contain a + large amount of historical materials, such as official documents, + state papers, and diplomatic correspondence of foreign + ministers,--that of Renard, for example, so often quoted in these + pages. There are, besides, numerous letters both of Philip and of + Charles the Fifth, for the earlier volumes embrace the times of the + emperor.--The minister's own correspondence is not the least + valuable part of the collection. Granvelle stood so high in the + confidence of his sovereign, that, when not intrusted himself with + the conduct of affairs, ha was constantly consulted by the king as + to the best mode of conducting them. With a different fate from + that of most ministers, he retained his influence when he had lost + his place. Thus there were few transactions of any moment in which + he was not called on directly or indirectly to take part. And his + letters furnish a clew for conducting the historical student + through more than one intricate negotiation, by revealing the true + motives of the parties who were engaged in it. + + Granvelle was in such intimate relations with the most eminent + persons of the time, that his correspondence becomes in some sort + the mirror of the age, reflecting the state of opinion on the + leading topics of the day. For the same reason it is replete with + matters of personal as well as political interest; while the range + of its application, far from being confined to Spain, embraces most + of the states of Europe with which Spain held intercourse. The + French government has done good service by the publication of a + work which contains so much for the illustration of the history of + the sixteenth century. M. Weiss, the editor, has conducted his + labors on the true principles by which an editor should be guided; + and, far from magnifying his office, and unseasonably obtruding + himself on the reader's attention, he has sought only to explain + what is obscure in the text, and to give such occasional notices of + the writers as may enable the reader to understand their + correspondence. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CHANGES DEMANDED BY THE LORDS. + +Policy of Philip.--Ascendancy of the Nobles.--The Regent's +Embarrassments.--Egmont sent to Spain. + +1564, 1565. + + +We have now arrived at an epoch in the history of the revolution, when, +the spirit of the nation having been fully roused, the king had been +compelled to withdraw his unpopular minister, and to intrust the reins +of government to the hands of the nobles. Before proceeding further, it +will be well to take a brief survey of the ground, that we may the +better comprehend the relations in which the parties stood to each other +at the commencement of the contest. + +[Sidenote: ASCENDANCY OF THE NOBLES.] + +In a letter to his sister, the regent, written some two years after this +period, Philip says: "I have never had any other object in view than the +good of my subjects. In all that I have done, I have but trod in the +footsteps of my father, under whom the people of the Netherlands must +admit they lived contented and happy. As to the Inquisition, whatever +people may say of it, I have never attempted anything new. With regard +to the edicts, I have been always resolved to live and die in the +Catholic faith. I could not be content to have my subjects do otherwise. +Yet I see not how this can be compassed without punishing the +transgressors. God knows how willingly I would avoid shedding a drop of +Christian blood,--above all, that of my people in the Netherlands; and +I should esteem it one of the happiest circumstances of my reign to be +spared this necessity."[605] + +Whatever we may think of the sensibility of Philip, or of his tenderness +for his Flemish subjects in particular, we cannot deny that the policy +he had hitherto pursued was substantially that of his father. Yet his +father lived beloved, and died lamented, by the Flemings; while Philip's +course, from the very first, had encountered only odium and opposition. +A little reflection will show us the reasons of these different results. + +Both Charles and Philip came forward as the great champions of +Catholicism. But the emperor's zeal was so far tempered by reason, that +it could accommodate itself to circumstances. He showed this on more +than one occasion, both in Germany and in Flanders. Philip, on the other +hand, admitted of no compromise. He was the inexorable foe of heresy. +Persecution was his only remedy, and the Inquisition the weapon on which +he relied. His first act on setting foot on his native shore was to +assist at an _auto da fe_. This proclaimed his purpose to the world, and +associated his name indelibly with that of the terrible tribunal. + +The free people of the Netherlands felt the same dread of the +Inquisition that a free and enlightened people of our own day might be +supposed to feel. They looked with gloomy apprehension to the +unspeakable misery it was to bring to their firesides, and the +desolation and ruin to their country. Everything that could in any way +be connected with it took the dismal coloring of their fears. The edicts +of Charles the Fifth, written in blood, became yet more formidable, as +declaring the penalties to be inflicted by this tribunal. Even the +erection of the bishoprics, so necessary a measure, was regarded with +distrust on account of the inquisitorial powers which of old were vested +in the bishops, thus seeming to give additional strength to the arm of +persecution. The popular feeling was nourished by every new convert to +the Protestant faith, as well as by those who, from views of their own, +were willing to fan the flame of rebellion. + +Another reason why Philip's policy met with greater opposition than that +of his predecessor was the change in the condition of the people +themselves. Under the general relaxation of the law, or rather of its +execution, in the latter days of Charles the Fifth, the number of the +Reformers had greatly multiplied. Calvinism predominated in Luxemburg, +Artois, Flanders, and the states lying nearest to France. Holland, +Zealand, and the North, were the chosen abode of the Anabaptists. The +Lutherans swarmed in the districts bordering on Germany; while Antwerp, +the commercial capital of Brabant, and the great mart of all nations, +was filled with sectaries of every description. Even the Jew, the butt +of persecution in the Middle Ages, is said to have lived there +unmolested. For such a state of things, it is clear that very different +legislation was demanded than for that which existed under Charles the +Fifth. It was one thing to eradicate a few noxious weeds, and quite +another to crush the sturdy growth of heresy, which in every direction +now covered the land. + +A further reason for the aversion to Philip, and one that cannot be too +often repeated, was that he was a foreigner. Charles was a native +Fleming; and much may be forgiven in a countryman. But Philip was a +Spaniard,--one of a nation held in greatest aversion by the men of the +Netherlands. It should clearly have been his policy, therefore, to cover +up this defect in the eyes of the inhabitants by consulting their +national prejudices, and by a show, at least, of confidence in their +leaders. Far from this, Philip began with placing a Spanish army on +their borders in time of peace. The administration he committed to the +hands of a foreigner. And while he thus outraged the national feeling at +home, it was remarked that into the royal council at Madrid, where the +affairs of the Low Countries, as of the other provinces, were settled in +the last resort, not a Fleming was admitted.[606] The public murmured. +The nobles remonstrated and resisted. Philip was obliged to retrace his +steps. He made first one concession, then another. He recalled his +troops, removed his minister. The nobles triumphed, and the +administration of the country passed into their hands. People thought +the troubles were at an end. They were but begun. Nothing had been done +towards the solution of the great problem of the rights of conscience. +On this the king and the country were at issue as much as ever. All that +had been done had only cleared the way to the free discussion of this +question, and to the bloody contest that was to follow. + +On the departure of Granvelle, the discontented lords, as we have seen, +again took their seats in the council of state. They gave the most +earnest assurances of loyalty to the king, and seemed as if desirous to +make amends for the past by an extraordinary devotion to public +business. Margaret received these advances in the spirit in which they +were made; and the confidence which she had formerly bestowed on +Granvelle, she now transferred in full measure to his successful +rivals.[607] + +It is amusing to read her letters at this period, and to compare them +with those which she wrote to Philip the year preceding. In the new +coloring given to the portraits it is hard to recognize a single +individual. She cannot speak too highly of the services of the +lords,--of the prince of Orange, and Egmont above all,--of their +devotion to the public weal and the interests of the sovereign. She begs +her brother again and again to testify his own satisfaction by the most +gracious letters to those nobles that he can write.[608] The suggestion +seems to have met with little favor from Philip. No language, however, +is quite strong enough to express Margaret's disgust with the character +and conduct of her former minister, Granvelle. It is he that has so long +stood betwixt the monarch and the love of the people. She cannot feel +easy that he should still remain so near the Netherlands. He should be +sent to Rome.[609] She distrusts his influence, even now, over the +cabinet at Madrid. He is perpetually talking, she understands, of the +probability of his speedy return to Brussels. The rumor of this causes +great uneasiness in the country. Should he be permitted to return, it +would undoubtedly be the signal for an insurrection.[610]--It is clear +the duchess had sorely suffered from the tyranny of Granvelle.[611] + +[Sidenote: ASCENDANCY OF THE NOBLES.] + +But notwithstanding the perfect harmony which subsisted between Margaret +and the principal lords, it was soon seen that the wheels of government +were not destined to run on too smoothly. Although the cardinal was +gone, there still remained a faction of _Cardinalists_, who represented +his opinions, and who, if few in number, made themselves formidable by +the strength of their opposition. At the head of these were the viscount +de Barlaimont and the President Viglius. + +The former, head of the council of finance, was a Flemish noble of the +first class,--yet more remarkable for his character than for his rank. +He was a man of unimpeachable integrity, stanch in his loyalty both to +the Church and to the crown, with a resolute spirit not to be shaken, +for it rested on principle. + +His coadjutor, Viglius, was an eminent jurist, an able writer, a +sagacious statesman. He had been much employed by the emperor in public +affairs, which he managed with a degree of caution that amounted almost +to timidity. He was the personal friend of Granvelle, had adopted his +views, and carried on with him a constant correspondence, which is among +our best sources of information. He was frugal and moderate in his +habits, not provoking criticism, like that minister, by his ostentation +and irregularities of life. But he was nearly as formidable, from the +official powers with which he was clothed, and the dogged tenacity with +which he clung to his purposes. He filled the high office of president +both of the privy council and of the council of state, and was also +keeper of the great seal. It was thus obviously in his power to oppose a +great check to the proceedings of the opposite party. That he did thus +often thwart them is attested by the reiterated complaints of the +duchess. "The president," she tells her brother, "makes me endure the +pains of hell by the manner in which he traverses my measures."[612] His +real object, like that of Granvelle and of their followers, she says on +another occasion, is to throw the country into disorder. They would find +their account in fishing in the troubled waters. They dread a state of +tranquillity, which would afford opportunity for exposing their corrupt +practices in the government.[613] + +To these general charges of delinquency the duchess added others, of a +more vulgar peculation. Viglius, who had taken priest's orders for the +purpose, was provost of the church of St. Bavon. Margaret openly accused +him of purloining the costly tapestries, the plate, the linen, the +jewels, and even considerable sums of money belonging to the +church.[614] She insisted on the impropriety of allowing such a man to +hold office under the government. + +Nor was the president silent on his part, and in his correspondence with +Granvelle he retorts similar accusations in full measure on his enemies. +He roundly taxes the great nobles with simony and extortion. Offices, +both ecclesiastical and secular, were put up for sale in a shameless +manner, and disposed of to the highest bidder. It was in this way that +the bankrupt nobles paid their debts, by bestowing vacant places on +their creditors. Nor are the regent's hands, he intimates, altogether +clean from the stain of these transactions.[615] He accuses the lords, +moreover, of using their authority to interfere perpetually with the +course of justice. They had acquired an unbounded ascendancy over +Margaret, and treated her with a deference which, he adds, "is ever sure +to captivate the sex."[616] She was more especially under the influence +of her secretary, Armenteros, a creature of the nobles, who profited by +his position to fill his own coffers at the expense of the +exchequer.[617] For himself, he is in such disgrace for his resistance +to these disloyal proceedings, that the duchess excludes him as far as +possible from the management of affairs, and treats him with undisguised +coldness. Nothing but the desire to do his duty would induce him to +remain a day longer in a post like this, from which his only wish is +that his sovereign would release him.[618] + +The president seems never to have written directly to Philip. It would +only expose him, he said, to the suspicions and the cavils of his +enemies. The wary statesman took warning by the fate of Granvelle. But +as his letters to the banished minister were all forwarded to Philip, +the monarch, with the despatches of his sister before him, had the means +of contemplating both sides of the picture, and of seeing that, to +whichever party he intrusted the government, the interests of the +country were little likely to be served. Had it been his father, the +emperor, who was on the throne, such knowledge would not have been in +his possession four and twenty hours, before he would have been on his +way to the Netherlands. But Philip was of a more sluggish temper. He was +capable, indeed, of much passive exertion,--of incredible toil in the +cabinet,--and from his palace, as was said, would have given law to +Christendom. But rather than encounter the difficulties of a voyage, he +was willing, it appears, to risk the loss of the finest of his +provinces.[619] + +[Sidenote: ASCENDANCY OF THE NOBLES.] + +Yet he wrote to his sister to encourage her with the prospect of his +visiting the country as soon as he could be released from a war in which +he was engaged with the Turks. He invited her, at the same time, to +send him further particulars of the misconduct of Viglius, and expressed +the hope that some means might be found of silencing his +opposition.[620] + +It is not easy at this day to strike the balance between the hostile +parties, so as to decide on the justice of these mutual accusations, and +to assign to each the proper share of responsibility for the +mismanagement of the government. That it was mismanaged is certain. That +offices were put up for sale is undeniable; for the duchess frankly +discusses the expediency of it, in a letter to her brother. This, at +least, absolves the act from the imputation of secrecy. The conflict of +the council of state with the two other councils often led to disorders, +since the decrees passed by the privy council, which had cognizance of +matters of justice, were frequently frustrated by the amnesties and +pardons granted by the council of state. To remedy this, the nobles +contended that it was necessary to subject the decrees of the other +councils to the revision of the council of state, and, in a word, to +concentrate in this last body the whole authority of government.[621] +The council of state, composed chiefly of the great aristocracy, looked +down with contempt on those subordinate councils, made up for the most +part of men of humbler condition, pledged by their elevation to office +to maintain the interests of the crown. They would have placed the +administration of the country in the hands of an oligarchy, made up of +the great Flemish nobles. This would be to break up that system of +distribution into separate departments established by Charles the Fifth +for the more perfect despatch of business. It would, in short, be such a +change in the constitution of the country as would of itself amount to a +revolution. + +In the state of things above described, the Reformation gained rapidly +in the country. The nobles generally, as has been already intimated, +were loyal to the Roman Catholic Church. Many of the younger nobility, +however, who had been educated at Geneva, returned tinctured with +heretical doctrines from the school of Calvin.[622] But whether Catholic +or Protestant, the Flemish aristocracy looked with distrust on the +system of persecution, and held the Inquisition in the same abhorrence +as did the great body of the people. It was fortunate for the +Reformation in the Netherlands, that at its outset it received the +support even of the Catholics, who resisted the Inquisition as an +outrage on their political liberties. + +Under the lax administration of the edicts, exiles who had fled abroad +from persecution now returned to Flanders. Calvinist ministers and +refugees from France crossed the borders, and busied themselves with the +work of proselytism. Seditious pamphlets were circulated, calling on the +regent to confiscate the ecclesiastical revenues, and apply them to the +use of the state, as had been done in England.[623] The Inquisition +became an object of contempt, almost as much as of hatred. Two of the +principal functionaries wrote to Philip, that, without further support, +they could be of no use in a situation which exposed them only to +derision and danger.[624] At Bruges and at Brussels the mob entered the +prisons, and released the prisoners. A more flagrant violation of +justice occurred at Antwerp. A converted friar, named Fabricius, who had +been active in preaching and propagating the new doctrines, was tried +and sentenced to the stake. On the way to execution, the people called +out to him, from the balconies and the doorways, to "take courage, and +endure manfully to the last."[625] When the victim was bound to the +stake, and the pile was kindled, the mob discharged such a volley of +stones at the officers as speedily put them to flight. But the unhappy +man, though unscathed by the fire, was stabbed to the heart by the +executioner, who made his escape in the tumult. The next morning, +placards written in blood were found affixed to the public buildings, +threatening vengeance on all who had any part in the execution of +Fabricius; and one of the witnesses against him, a woman, hardly escaped +with life from the hands of the populace.[626] + +The report of these proceedings caused a great sensation at Madrid; and +Philip earnestly called on his sister to hunt out and pursue the +offenders. This was not easy, where most, even of those who did not join +in the act, fully shared in the feeling which led to it. Yet Philip +continued to urge the necessity of enforcing the laws for the +preservation of the Faith, as the thing dearest to his heart. He would +sometimes indicate in his letters the name of a suspicious individual, +his usual dress, his habits, and appearance,--descending into details +which may well surprise us, considering the multitude of affairs of a +weightier character that pressed upon his mind.[627] One cannot doubt +that Philip was at heart an inquisitor. + +Yet the fires of persecution were not permitted wholly to slumber. The +historian of the Reformation enumerates seventeen who suffered capitally +for their religious opinions in the course of the year 1564.[628] This, +though pitiable, was a small number--if indeed it be the whole +number--compared with the thousands who are said to have perished in the +same space of time in the preceding reign. It was too small to produce +any effect as a persecution, while the sight of the martyr, singing +hymns in the midst of the flames, only kindled a livelier zeal in the +spectators, and a deeper hatred for their oppressors. + +[Sidenote: THE REGENT'S EMBARRASSMENTS.] + +The finances naturally felt the effects of the general disorder of the +country. The public debt, already large, as we have seen, was now so +much increased, that the yearly deficiency in the revenue, according to +the regent's own statement, amounted to six hundred thousand +florins;[629] and she knew of no way of extricating the country from its +embarrassments, unless the king should come to its assistance. The +convocation of the states-general was insisted on as the only remedy for +these disorders. That body alone, it was contended, was authorized to +vote the requisite subsidies, and to redress the manifold grievances of +the nation.--Yet, in point of fact, its powers had hitherto been little +more than to propose the subsidies for the approbation of the several +provinces, and to _remonstrate_ on the grievances of the nation. To +invest the states-general with the power of _redressing_ these +grievances would bestow on them legislative functions which they had +rarely, if ever, exercised. This would be to change the constitution of +the country, by the new weight it would give to the popular element; a +change which the great lords, who had already the lesser nobles entirely +at their disposal,[630] would probably know well how to turn to +account.[631] Yet Margaret had now so entirely resigned herself to their +influence, that, notwithstanding the obvious consequences of these +measures, she recommended to Philip both to assemble the states-general +and to remodel the council of state;[632]--and this to a monarch more +jealous of his authority than any other prince in Europe! + +To add to the existing troubles, orders were received from the court of +Madrid to publish the decrees of the Council of Trent throughout the +Netherlands. That celebrated council had terminated its long session in +1563, with the results that might have been expected,--those of widening +the breach between Protestant and Catholic, and of enlarging, or at +least more firmly establishing, the authority of the pope. One good +result may be mentioned, that of providing for a more strict supervision +of the morals and discipline of the clergy;--a circumstance which caused +the decrees to be in extremely bad odor with that body. + +It was hoped that Philip would imitate the example of France, and reject +decrees which thus exalted the power of the pope. Men were led to expect +this the more, from the mortification which the king had lately +experienced from a decision of the pontiff on a question of precedence +between the Castilian and French ambassadors at his court. This delicate +matter, long pending, had been finally determined in favor of France by +Pius the Fifth, who may have thought it more politic to secure a fickle +ally than to reward a firm one. The decision touched Philip to the +quick. He at once withdrew his ambassador from Rome, and refused to +receive an envoy from his holiness.[633] It seemed that a serious +rupture was likely to take place between the parties. But it was not in +the nature of Philip to be long at feud with the court of Rome. In a +letter to the duchess of Parma, dated August 6, 1564, he plainly +intimated that in matters of faith he was willing at all times to +sacrifice his private feelings to the public weal.[634] He subsequently +commanded the decrees of the Council of Trent to be received as law +throughout his dominions, saying that he could make no exception for the +Netherlands, when he made none for Spain.[635] + +The promulgation of the decrees was received, as had been anticipated, +with general discontent. The clergy complained of the interference with +their immunities. The men of Brabant stood stoutly on the chartered +rights secured to them by the "_Joyeuse Entree_". And the people +generally resisted the decrees, from a vague idea of their connection +with the Inquisition; while, as usual when mischief was on foot, they +loudly declaimed against Granvelle as being at the bottom of it. + +In this unhappy condition of affairs, it was determined by the council +of state to send some one to Madrid to lay the grievances of the nation +before the king, and to submit to him what in their opinion would be the +most effectual remedy. They were the more induced to this by the +unsatisfactory nature of the royal correspondence. Philip, to the great +discontent of the lords, had scarcely condescended to notice their +letters.[636] Even to Margaret's ample communications he rarely +responded, and when he did, it was in vague and general terms, conveying +little more than the necessity of executing justice and watching over +the purity of the Faith. + +The person selected for the unenviable mission to Madrid was Egmont, +whose sentiments of loyalty, and of devotion to the Catholic faith, it +was thought, would recommend him to the king; while his brilliant +reputation, his rank, and his popular manners would find favor with the +court and the people. Egmont himself was the less averse to the mission, +that he had some private suits of his own to urge with the monarch. + +This nomination was warmly supported by William, between whom and the +count a perfectly good understanding seems to have subsisted, in spite +of the efforts of the Cardinalists to revive their ancient feelings of +jealousy. Yet these feelings still glowed in the bosoms of the wives of +the two nobles, as was evident from the warmth with which they disputed +the question of precedence with each other. Both were of the highest +rank, and, as there was no umpire to settle the delicate question, it +was finally arranged by the two ladies appearing in public always arm in +arm,--an equality which the haughty dames were careful to maintain, in +spite of the ridiculous embarrassments to which they were occasionally +exposed by narrow passages and doorways.[637] If the question of +precedence had related to character, it would have been easily settled. +The troubles from the misconduct of Anne of Saxony bore as heavily on +the prince, her husband, at this very time, as the troubles of the +state.[638] + +[Sidenote: EGMONT SENT TO SPAIN.] + +Before Egmont's departure, a meeting of the council of state was called, +to furnish him with the proper instructions. The president, Viglius, +gave it as his opinion, that the mission was superfluous; and that the +great nobles had only to reform their own way of living to bring about +the necessary reforms in the country. Egmont was instructed by the +regent to represent to the king the deplorable condition of the land, +the prostration of public credit, the decay of religion, and the +symptoms of discontent and disloyalty in the people. As the most +effectual remedy for these evils, he was to urge the king to come in +person, and that speedily, to Flanders. "If his majesty does not approve +of this," said Margaret, "impress upon him the necessity of making +further remittances, and of giving me precise instructions as to the +course I am to pursue."[639] + +The prince of Orange took part in the discussion with a warmth he had +rarely shown. It was time, he said, that the king should be disabused of +the errors under which he labored with respect to the Netherlands. The +edicts must be mitigated. It was not possible, in the present state of +feeling, either to execute the edicts or to maintain the +Inquisition.[640] The Council of Trent was almost equally odious; nor +could they enforce its decrees in the Netherlands while the countries on +the borders rejected them. The people would no longer endure the +perversion of justice, and the miserable wrangling of the +councils.--This last blow was aimed at the president.--The only remedy +was to enlarge the council of state, and to strengthen its authority. +For his own part, he concluded, he could not understand how any prince +could claim the right of interfering with the consciences of his +subjects in matters of religion.[641]--The impassioned tone of his +eloquence, so contrary to the usually calm manner of William the Silent, +and the boldness with which he avowed his opinions, caused a great +sensation in the assembly.[642] That night was passed by Viglius, who +gives his own account of the matter, in tossing on his bed, painfully +ruminating on his forlorn position in the council, with scarcely one to +support him in the contest which he was compelled to wage, not merely +with the nobles, but with the regent herself. The next morning, while +dressing, he was attacked by a fit of apoplexy, which partially deprived +him of the use of both his speech and his limbs.[643] It was some time +before he could resume his place at the board. This new misfortune +furnished him with a substantial argument for soliciting the king's +permission to retire from office. In this he was warmly seconded by +Margaret, who, while she urged the president's incapacity, nothing +touched by his situation, eagerly pressed her brother to call him to +account for his delinquencies, and especially his embezzlement of the +church property.[644] + +Philip, who seems to have shunned any direct intercourse with his +Flemish subjects, had been averse to have Egmont, or any other envoy, +sent to Madrid. On learning that the mission was at length settled, he +wrote to Margaret that he had made up his mind to receive the count +graciously, and to show no discontent with the conduct of the lords. +That the journey, however, was not without its perils, may be inferred +from a singular document that has been preserved to us. It is signed by +a number of Egmont's personal friends, each of whom traced his signature +in his own blood. In this paper the parties pledge their faith, as true +knights and gentlemen, that if any harm be done to Count Egmont during +his absence, they will take ample vengeance on Cardinal Granvelle, or +whoever might be the author of it.[645] The cardinal seems to have been +the personification of evil with the Flemings of every degree. This +instrument, which was deposited with the Countess Egmont, was subscribed +with the names of seven nobles, most of them afterwards conspicuous in +the troubles of the country. One might imagine that such a document was +more likely to alarm than to reassure the wife to whom it was +addressed.[646] + +In the beginning of January, Egmont set out on his journey. He was +accompanied for some distance by a party of his friends, who at Cambray +gave him a splendid entertainment. Among those present was the +archbishop of Cambray, a prelate who had made himself unpopular by the +zeal he had shown in the persecution of the Reformers. As the wine-cup +passed freely round, some of the younger guests amused themselves with +frequently pledging the prelate, and endeavoring to draw him into a +greater degree of conviviality than was altogether becoming his station. +As he at length declined their pledges, they began openly to taunt him; +and one of the revellers, irritated by the archbishop's reply, would +have thrown a large silver dish at his head, had not his arm been +arrested by Egmont. Another of the company, however, succeeded in +knocking off the prelate's cap;[647] and a scene of tumult ensued, from +which the archbishop was extricated, not without difficulty, by the more +sober and considerate part of the company. The whole affair--mortifying +in the extreme to Egmont--is characteristic of the country at this +period; when business of the greatest importance was settled at the +banquet, as we often find in the earlier history of the revolution. + +[Sidenote: EGMONT SENT TO SPAIN.] + +Egmont's reception at Madrid was of the most flattering kind. Philip's +demeanor towards his great vassal was marked by unusual benignity; and +the courtiers, readily taking their cue from their sovereign, vied with +one another in attentions to the man whose prowess might be said to have +won for Spain the great victories of Gravelines and St. Quentin. In +fine, Egmont, whose brilliant exterior and noble bearing gave additional +lustre to his reputation, was the object of general admiration during +his residence of several weeks at Madrid. It seemed as if the court of +Castile was prepared to change its policy, from the flattering +attentions it thus paid to the representative of the Netherlands. + +During his stay, Egmont was admitted to several audiences, in which he +exposed to the monarch the evils that beset the country, and the +measures proposed for relieving them. As the two most effectual, he +pressed him to mitigate the edicts, and to reorganize the council of +state.[648] Philip listened with much benignity to these suggestions of +the Flemish noble; and if he did not acquiesce, he gave no intimation to +the contrary, except by assuring the count of his determination to +maintain the integrity of the Catholic faith. To Egmont personally he +showed the greatest indulgence, and the count's private suits sped as +favorably as he could have expected. But a remarkable anecdote proves +that Philip, at this very time, with all this gracious demeanor, had not +receded one step from the ground he had always occupied. + +Not long after Egmont's arrival, Philip privately called a meeting of +the most eminent theologians in the capital. To this conclave he +communicated briefly the state of the Low Countries, and their demand to +enjoy freedom of conscience in matters of religion. He concluded by +inquiring the opinion of his auditors on the subject. The reverend body, +doubtless supposing that the king only wanted their sanction to +extricate himself from the difficulties of his position, made answer, +"that, considering the critical situation of Flanders, and the imminent +danger, if thwarted, of its disloyalty to the crown and total defection +from the Church, he might be justified in allowing the people freedom of +worshipping in their own way." To this Philip sternly replied, "He had +not called them to learn whether he _might_ grant this to the Flemings, +but whether he _must_ do so."[649] The flexible conclave, finding they +had mistaken their cue, promptly answered in the negative; on which +Philip, prostrating himself on the ground before a crucifix, exclaimed, +"I implore thy divine majesty, Ruler of all things, that thou keep me in +the mind that I am in, never to allow myself either to become or to be +called the lord of those who reject thee for their Lord."[650]--The +story was told to the historian who records it by a member of the +assembly, filled with admiration at the pious zeal of the monarch! From +that moment the doom of the Netherlands was sealed. + +Yet Egmont had so little knowledge of the true state of things, that he +indulged in the most cheerful prognostications for the future. His frank +and cordial nature readily responded to the friendly demonstrations he +received, and his vanity was gratified by the homage universally paid to +him. On leaving the country, he made a visit to the royal residences of +Segovia and of the Escorial,--the magnificent pile already begun by +Philip, and which continued to occupy more or less of his time during +the remainder of his reign. Egmont, in a letter addressed to the king, +declares himself highly delighted with what he has seen at both these +places, and assures his sovereign that he returns to Flanders the most +contented man in the world.[651] + +When arrived there, early in April, 1565, the count was loud in his +profession of the amiable dispositions of the Castilian court towards +the Netherlands. Egmont's countrymen--William of Orange and a few +persons of cooler judgment alone excepted--readily indulged in the same +dream of sanguine expectation, flattering themselves with the belief +that a new policy was to prevail at Madrid, and that their country was +henceforth to thrive under the blessings of religious toleration.--It +was a pleasing illusion, destined to be of no long duration. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +PHILIP'S INFLEXIBILITY. + +Philip's Duplicity.--His Procrastination.--Despatches from +Segovia.--Effect on the Country.--The Compromise.--Orange and Egmont. + +1565, 1566. + + +Shortly after Egmont's return to Brussels, Margaret called a meeting of +the council of state, at which the sealed instructions brought by the +envoy from Madrid were opened and read. They began by noticing the +count's demeanor in terms so flattering as showed the mission had proved +acceptable to the king. Then followed a declaration, strongly expressed +and sufficiently startling. "I would rather lose a hundred thousand +lives, if I had so many," said the monarch, "than allow a single change +in matters of religion."[652] He, however, recommended that a commission +be appointed, consisting of three bishops with a number of jurists, who +should advise with the members of the council as to the best mode of +instructing the people, especially in their spiritual concerns. It might +be well, moreover, to substitute some secret methods for the public +forms of execution, which now enabled the heretic to assume to himself +the glory of martyrdom, and thereby produce a mischievous impression on +the people.[653] No other allusion was made to the pressing grievances +of the nation, though, in a letter addressed at the same time to the +duchess, Philip said that he had come to no decision as to the council +of state, where the proposed change seemed likely to be attended with +inconvenience.[654] + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S DUPLICITY.] + +This, then, was the result of Egmont's mission to Madrid! This the +change so much vaunted in the policy of Philip! "The count has been the +dupe of Spanish cunning," exclaimed the prince of Orange. It was too +true; and Egmont felt it keenly, as he perceived the ridicule to which +he was exposed by the confident tone in which he had talked of the +amiable dispositions of the Castilian court, and by the credit he had +taken to himself for promoting them.[655] + +A greater sensation was produced among the people; for their +expectations had been far more sanguine than those entertained by +William, and the few who, like him, understood the character of Philip +too well to place great confidence in the promises of Egmont. They +loudly declaimed against the king's insincerity, and accused their envoy +of having shown more concern for his private interests than for those of +the public. This taunt touched the honor of that nobleman, who bitterly +complained that it was an artifice of Philip to destroy his credit with +his countrymen; and the better to prove his good faith, he avowed his +purpose of throwing up at once all the offices he held under +government.[656] + +The spirit of persecution, after a temporary lull, now again awakened. +But everywhere the inquisitors were exposed to insult, and met with the +same resistance as before; while their victims were cheered with +expressions of sympathy from those who saw them led to execution. To +avoid the contagion of example, the executions were now conducted +secretly in the prisons.[657] But the mystery thus thrown around the +fate of the unhappy sufferer only invested it with an additional horror. +Complaints were made every day to the government by the states, the +magistrates, and the people, denouncing the persecutions to which they +were exposed. Spies, they said, were in every house, watching looks, +words, gestures. No man was secure, either in person or property. The +public groaned under an intolerable slavery.[658] Meanwhile, the +Huguenot emissaries were busy as ever in propagating their doctrines; +and with the work of reform was mingled the seed of revolution. + +The regent felt the danger of this state of things, and her impotence to +relieve it. She did all she could in freely exposing it to Philip, +informing him at the same time of Egmont's disgust, and the general +discontent of the nation, at the instructions from Spain. She ended, as +usual, by beseeching her brother to come himself, if he would preserve +his authority in the Netherlands.[659] To these communications the royal +answers came but rarely; and, when they did come, were for the most part +vague and unsatisfactory. + +"Everything goes on with Philip," writes Chantonnay, formerly minister +to France, to his brother Granvelle,--"Everything goes on from +to-morrow to to-morrow; the only resolution is, to remain +irresolute.[660] The king will allow matters to become so entangled in +the Low Countries, that, if he ever should visit them, he will find it +easier to conform to the state of things than to mend it. The lords +there are more of kings than the king himself.[661] They have all the +smaller nobles in leading-strings. It is impossible that Philip should +conduct himself like a man.[662] His only object is to cajole the +Flemish nobles, so that he may be spared the necessity of coming to +Flanders." + +"It is a pity," writes the secretary, Perez, "that the king will manage +affairs as he does, now taking counsel of this man, and now of that; +concealing some matters from those he consults, and trusting them with +others, showing full confidence in no one. With this way of proceeding, +it is no wonder that despatches should be contradictory in their +tenor."[663] + +It is doubtless true, that procrastination and distrust were the +besetting sins of Philip, and were followed by their natural +consequences. He had, moreover, as we have seen, a sluggishness of +nature, which kept him in Madrid when he should have been in +Brussels,--where his father, in similar circumstances, would long since +have been, seeing with his own eyes what Philip saw only with the eyes +of others. But still his policy, in the present instance, may be +referred quite as much to deliberate calculation as to his natural +temper. He had early settled it as a fixed principle never to concede +religious toleration to his subjects. He had intimated this pretty +clearly in his different communications to the government of Flanders. +That he did not announce it in a more absolute and unequivocal form may +well have arisen from the apprehension, that, in the present irritable +state of the people, this might rouse their passions into a flame. At +least, it might be reserved for a last resort. Meanwhile, he hoped to +weary them out by maintaining an attitude of cold reserve; until, +convinced of the hopelessness of resistance, they would cease altogether +to resist. In short, he seemed to deal with the Netherlands like a +patient angler, who allows the trout to exhaust himself by his own +efforts, rather than by a violent movement risk the loss of him +altogether. It is clear Philip did not understand the character of the +Netherlander,--as dogged and determined as his own. + +Considering the natural bent of the king's disposition, there seems no +reason to charge Granvelle, as was commonly done in the Low Countries, +with having given a direction to his policy. It is, however, certain, +that, on all great questions, the minister's judgment seems to have +perfectly coincided with that of his master. "If your majesty mitigates +the edicts," writes the cardinal, "affairs will become worse in Flanders +than they are in France."[664] No change should be allowed in the +council of state.[665] A meeting of the states-general would inflict an +injury which the king would feel for thirty years to come![666] +Granvelle maintained a busy correspondence with his partisans in the Low +Countries, and sent the results of it--frequently the original letters +themselves--to Madrid. Thus Philip, by means of the reports of the +great nobles on the one hand, and of the Cardinalists on the other, was +enabled to observe the movements in Flanders from the most opposite +points of view. + +[Sidenote: HIS PROCRASTINATION.] + +The king's replies to the letters of the minister were somewhat scanty, +to judge from the complaints which Granvelle made of his neglect. With +all this, the cardinal professes to be well pleased that he is rid of so +burdensome an office as that of governing the Netherlands. "Here," he +writes to his friend Viglius, "I make good cheer, busying myself with my +own affairs, and preparing my despatches in quiet, seldom leaving the +house, except to take a walk, to attend church, or to visit my +mother."[667] In this simple way of life, the philosophic statesman +seems to have passed his time to his own satisfaction, though it is +evident, notwithstanding his professions, that he cast many a longing +look back to the Netherlands, the seat of his brief authority. "The +hatred the people of Flanders bear me," he writes to Philip, "afflicts +me sorely; but I console myself that it is for the service of God and my +king."[668] The cardinal, amid his complaints of the king's neglect, +affected the most entire submission to his will. "I would go anywhere," +he writes,--"to the Indies, anywhere in the world,--would even throw +myself into the fire, did you desire it."[669] Philip, not long after, +put these professions to the test. In October, 1565, he yielded to the +regent's importunities, and commanded Granvelle to transfer his +residence to Rome. The cardinal would not move. "Anywhere," he wrote to +his master, "but to Rome. That is a place of ceremonies and empty show, +for which I am nowise qualified. Besides, it would look too much like a +submission on your part. My diocese of Mechlin has need of me; now, if I +should go to Spain, it would look as if I went to procure the aid which +it so much requires."[670] But the cabinet of Madrid were far from +desiring the presence of so cunning a statesman to direct the royal +counsels. The orders were reiterated, to go to Rome. To Rome, +accordingly, the reluctant minister went; and we have a letter from him +to the king, dated from that capital, the first of February, 1566, in +which he counsels his master by no means to think of introducing the +Spanish Inquisition into the Netherlands.[671] It might seem as if, +contrary to the proverb, change of climate had wrought some change in +the disposition of the cardinal.--From this period, Granvelle, so long +the terror of the Low Countries, disappears from the management of their +affairs. He does not, however, disappear from the political theatre. We +shall again meet with the able and ambitious prelate, first as viceroy +of Naples, and afterwards at Madrid occupying the highest station in the +councils of his sovereign. + +Early in July, 1565, the commission of reform appointed by Philip +transmitted its report to Spain. It recommended no change in the present +laws, except so far as to authorize the judges to take into +consideration the age and sex of the accused, and in case of penitence +to commute the capital punishment of the convicted heretic for +banishment. Philip approved of the report in all particulars,--except +the only particular that involved a change, that of mercy to the +penitent heretic.[672] + +At length, the king resolved on such an absolute declaration of his will +as should put all doubts on the matter at rest, and relieve him from +further importunity. On the seventeenth of October, 1565, he addressed +that memorable letter to his sister, from the Wood of Segovia, which may +be said to have determined the fate of the Netherlands. Philip, in this, +intimates his surprise that his letters should appear to Egmont +inconsistent with what he had heard from his lips at Madrid. His desire +was not for novelty in anything. He would have the Inquisition conducted +by the inquisitors, as it had hitherto been, and as by right, divine and +human, belonged to them.[673] For the edicts, it was no time in the +present state of religion to make any change; both his own and those of +his father must be executed. The Anabaptists--a sect for which, as the +especial butt of persecution, much intercession had been made--must be +dealt with according to the rigor of the law. Philip concluded by +conjuring the regent and the lords in the council faithfully to obey his +commands, as in so doing they would render the greatest service to the +cause of religion and of their country,--which last, he adds, without +the execution of these ordinances, would be of little worth.[674] + +In a private letter to the regent of nearly the same date with these +public despatches, Philip speaks of the proposed changes in the council +of state as a subject on which he had not made up his mind.[675] He +notices also the proposed convocation of the states-general as a thing, +in the present disorders of the country, altogether +inexpedient.[676]--Thus the king's despatches covered nearly all the +debatable ground on which the contest had been so long going on between +the crown and the country. There could be no longer any complaint of +ambiguity or reserve in the expression of the royal will. "God knows," +writes Viglius, "what wry faces were made in the council on learning the +absolute will of his majesty!"[677] There was not one of its members, +not even the president or Barlaimont, who did not feel the necessity of +bending to the tempest so far as to suspend, if not to mitigate, the +rigor of the law. They looked to the future with gloomy apprehension. +Viglius strongly urged, that the despatches should not be made public +till some further communication should be had with Philip to warn him of +the consequences. In this he was opposed by the prince of Orange. "It +was too late," he said, "to talk of what was expedient to be done. Since +the will of his majesty was so unequivocally expressed, all that +remained for the government was to execute it."[678] In vain did Viglius +offer to take the whole responsibility of the delay on himself. +William's opinion, supported by Egmont and Hoorne, prevailed with the +regent, too timid, by such an act of disobedience, to hazard the +displeasure of her brother. As, late in the evening, the council broke +up, William was heard to exclaim, "Now we shall see the beginning of a +fine tragedy!"[679] + +[Sidenote: EFFECT ON THE COUNTRY.] + +In the month of December, the regent caused copies of the despatches, +with extracts from the letters to herself, to be sent to the governors +and the councils of the several provinces, with orders that they should +see to their faithful execution. Officers, moreover, were to be +appointed, whose duty it was to ascertain the manner in which these +orders were fulfilled, and to report thereon to the government. + +The result was what had been foreseen. The publication of the +despatches--to borrow the words of a Flemish writer--created a sensation +throughout the country little short of what would have been caused by a +declaration of war.[680] Under every discouragement, men had flattered +themselves, up to this period, with the expectation of some change for +the better. The constantly increasing number of the Reformers, the +persevering resistance to the Inquisition, the reiterated remonstrances +to the government, the general persuasion that the great nobles, even +the regent, were on their side, had all combined to foster the hope that +toleration, to some extent, would eventually be conceded by Philip.[681] +This hope was now crushed. Whatever doubts had been entertained were +dispelled by these last despatches, which came like a hurricane, +sweeping away the mists that had so long blinded the eyes of men, and +laying open the policy of the crown, clear as day, to the dullest +apprehension. The people passed to the extremity of despair. The Spanish +Inquisition, with its train of horrors, seemed to be already in the +midst of them. They called to mind all the tales of woe they had heard +of it. They recounted the atrocities perpetrated by the Spaniards in the +New World, which, however erroneously, they charged on the Holy Office. +"Do they expect," they cried, "that we shall tamely wait here, like the +wretched Indians, to be slaughtered by millions?"[682] Men were seen +gathering into knots, in the streets and public squares, discussing the +conduct of the government, and gloomily talking of secret associations +and foreign alliances. Meetings were stealthily held in the woods, and +in the suburbs of the great towns, where the audience listened to +fanatical preachers, who, while discussing the doctrines of religious +reform, darkly hinted at resistance. Tracts were printed, and widely +circulated, in which the reciprocal obligations of lord and vassal were +treated, and the right of resistance was maintained; and, in some +instances, these difficult questions were handled with decided ability. +A more common form was that of satire and scurrilous lampoon,--a +favorite weapon with the early Reformers. Their satirical sallies were +levelled indifferently at the throne and the Church. The bishops were an +obvious mark. No one was spared. Comedies were written to ridicule the +clergy. Never since the discovery of the art of printing--more than a +century before--had the press been turned into an engine of such +political importance as in the earlier stages of the revolution in the +Netherlands. Thousands of the seditious pamphlets thus thrown off were +rapidly circulated among a people, the humblest of whom possessed what +many a noble in other lands, at that day, was little skilled in,--the +art of reading. Placards were nailed to the doors of the magistrates, in +some of the cities, proclaiming that Rome stood in need of her Brutus. +Others were attached to the gates of Orange and Egmont, calling on them +to come forth and save their country.[683] + +Margaret was filled with alarm at these signs of disaffection throughout +the land. She felt the ground trembling beneath her. She wrote again and +again to Philip, giving full particulars of the state of the public +sentiment, and the seditious spirit which seemed on the verge of +insurrection. She intimated her wish to resign the government.[684] She +besought him to allow the states-general to be summoned, and, at all +events, to come in person and take the reins from her hands, too weak to +hold them.--Philip coolly replied, that "he was sorry the despatches +from Segovia had given such offence. They had been designed only for the +service of God and the good of the country."[685] + +In this general fermentation, a new class of men came on the stage, +important by their numbers, though they had taken no part as yet in +political affairs. These were the lower nobility of the country; men of +honorable descent, and many of them allied by blood or marriage with the +highest nobles of the land. They were too often men of dilapidated +fortunes, fallen into decay through their own prodigality, or that of +their progenitors. Many had received their education abroad, some in +Geneva, the home of Calvin, where they naturally imbibed the doctrines +of the great Reformer. In needy circumstances, with no better possession +than the inheritance of honorable traditions, or the memory of better +days, they were urged by a craving, impatient spirit, which naturally +made them prefer any change to the existing order of things. They were, +for the most part, bred to arms; and, in the days of Charles the Fifth, +had found an ample career opened to their ambition under the imperial +banners. But Philip, with less policy than his father, had neglected to +court this class of his subjects, who, without fixed principles or +settled motives of action, seemed to float on the surface of events, +prepared to throw their weight, at any moment, into the scale of +revolution. + +[Sidenote: THE COMPROMISE.] + +Some twenty of these cavaliers, for the most part young men, met +together in the month of November, in Brussels, at the house of Count +Culemborg, a nobleman attached to the Protestant opinions. Their avowed +purpose was to listen to the teachings of a Flemish divine, named +Junius, a man of parts and learning, who had been educated in the school +of Calvin, and who, having returned to the Netherlands, exercised, under +the very eye of the regent, the dangerous calling of the missionary. At +this meeting of the discontented nobles, the talk naturally turned on +the evils of the land, and the best means of remedying them. The result +of the conferences was the formation of a league, the principal objects +of which are elaborately set forth in a paper known as the +"Compromise."[686] + +This celebrated document declares that the king had been induced by evil +counsellors,--for the most part foreigners,--in violation of his oath, +to establish the Inquisition in the country; a tribunal opposed to all +law, divine and human, surpassing in barbarity anything ever yet +practised by tyrants,[687] tending to bring the land to utter ruin, and +the inhabitants to a state of miserable bondage. The confederates, +therefore, in order not to become the prey of those who, under the name +of religion, seek only to enrich themselves at the expense of life and +property,[688] bind themselves by a solemn oath to resist the +establishment of the Inquisition, under whatever form it may be +introduced, and to protect each other against it with their lives and +fortunes. In doing this, they protest that, so far from intending +anything to the dishonor of the king, their only intent is to maintain +the king in his estate, and to preserve the tranquillity of the realm. +They conclude with solemnly invoking the blessing of the Almighty on +this their lawful and holy confederation. + +Such are some of the principal points urged in this remarkable +instrument, in which little mention is made of the edicts, every other +grievance being swallowed up in that of the detested Inquisition. +Indeed, the translations of the "Compromise," which soon appeared, in +various languages, usually bore the title of "League of the Nobles of +Flanders against the Spanish Inquisition."[689] + +It will hardly be denied that those who signed this instrument had +already made a decided move in the game of rebellion. They openly +arrayed themselves against the execution of the law and the authority of +the crown. They charged the king with having violated his oath, and they +accused him of abetting a persecution which, under the pretext of +religion, had no other object than the spoil of its victims. It was of +little moment that all this was done under professions of loyalty. Such +professions are the decent cover with which the first approaches are +always made in a revolution.--The copies of the instrument differ +somewhat from each other. One of these, before me, as if to give the +edge of personal insult to their remonstrance, classes in the same +category "the vagabond, the priest, and the _Spaniard_."[690] + +Among the small company who first subscribed the document, we find names +that rose to eminence in the stormy scenes of the revolution. There was +Count Louis of Nassau, a younger brother of the prince of Orange, the +"_bon chevalier_," as William used to call him,--a title well earned by +his generous spirit and many noble and humane qualities. Louis was bred +a Lutheran, and was zealously devoted to the cause of reform, when his +brother took but a comparatively languid interest in it. His ardent, +precipitate temper was often kept in check, and more wisely directed, by +the prudent counsels of William; while he amply repaid his brother by +his devoted attachment, and by the zeal and intrepidity with which he +carried out his plans. Louis, indeed, might be called the right hand of +William. + +Another of the party was Philip de Marnix, lord of St. Aldegonde. He was +the intimate friend of William of Orange. In the words of a Belgian +writer, he was one of the beautiful characters of the time;[691] +distinguished alike as a soldier, a statesman, and a scholar. It is to +his pen that the composition of the "Compromise" has generally been +assigned. Some critics have found its tone inconsistent with the sedate +and tranquil character of his mind. Yet St. Aldegonde's device, "_Repos +ailleurs_,"[692] would seem to indicate a fervid imagination and an +impatient spirit of activity. + +But the man who seems to have entered most heartily into these first +movements of the revolution was Henry, viscount of Brederode. He sprung +from an ancient line, boasting his descent from the counts of Holland. +The only possession that remained to him, the lordship of Viana, he +still claimed to hold as independent of the king of Spain, or any other +potentate. His patrimony had been wasted in a course of careless +indulgence, and little else was left than barren titles and +pretensions,--which, it must be owned, he was not diffident in vaunting. +He was fond of convivial pleasures, and had a free, reckless humor, that +took with the people, to whom he was still more endeared by his sturdy +hatred of oppression. Brederode was, in short, one of those busy, +vaporing characters, who make themselves felt at the outset of a +revolution, but are soon lost in the course of it; like those ominous +birds which with their cries and screams herald in the tempest that soon +sweeps them out of sight for ever. + +Copies of the "Compromise," with the names attached to it, were soon +distributed through all parts of the country, and eagerly signed by +great numbers, not merely of the petty nobility and gentry, but of +substantial burghers and wealthy merchants, men who had large interests +at stake in the community. Hames, king-at-arms of the Golden Fleece, who +was a zealous confederate, boasted that the names of two thousand such +persons were on his paper.[693] Among them were many Roman Catholics; +and we are again called to notice, that in the outset this Protestant +revolution received important support from the Catholics themselves, who +forgot all religious differences in a common hatred of arbitrary power. + +[Sidenote: ALARM OF THE COUNTRY.] + +Few, if any, of the great nobles seem to have been among the number of +those who signed the "Compromise,"--certainly none of the council of +state. It would hardly have done to invite one of the royal +councillors--in other words, one of the government--to join the +confederacy, when they would have been bound by the obligations of their +office to disclose it to the regent. + +But if the great lords did not become actual parties to the league, they +showed their sympathy with the object of it, by declining to enforce the +execution of the laws against which it was directed. On the +twenty-fourth of January, 1566, the prince of Orange addressed, from +Breda, a letter to the regent, on the occasion of her sending him the +despatches from Segovia, for the rule of his government in the +provinces. In this remarkable letter, William exposes, with greater +freedom than he was wont, his reasons for refusing to comply with the +royal orders. "I express myself freely and frankly," he says, "on a +topic on which I have not been consulted; but I do so, lest by my +silence I may incur the responsibility of the mischief that must ensue." +He then briefly, and in a decided tone, touches on the evils of the +Inquisition,--introduced, as he says, contrary to the repeated pledges +of the king,--and on the edicts. Great indulgence had been of late shown +in the interpretation of these latter; and to revive them on a sudden, +so as to execute them with their ancient rigor, would be most +disastrous. There could not be a worse time than the present, when the +people were sorely pressed by scarcity of food, and in a critical state +from the religious agitations on their borders. It might cost the king +his empire in the Netherlands, and throw it into the hands of his +neighbors.[694] + +"For my own part," he concludes, "if his majesty insists on the +execution of these measures, rather than incur the stain which must rest +on me and my house by attempting it, I will resign my office into the +hands of some one better acquainted with the humors of the people, and +who will be better able to maintain order in the country."[695] + +In the same tone several of the other provincial governors replied to +Margaret, declaring that they could never coolly stand by and see fifty +or sixty thousand of their countrymen burned to death for errors of +religion.[696] The regent was sorely perplexed by this desertion of the +men on whom she most relied. She wrote to them in a strain of +expostulation, and besought the prince, in particular, not to add to the +troubles of the time, by abandoning his post, where the attachment of +the people gave him such unbounded influence.[697] + +The agitations of the country, in the mean time, continued to increase. +There was a scarcity of bread,--so often the forerunner of +revolution,--and this article had risen to an enormous price. The people +were menaced with famine, which might have led to serious consequences, +but for a temporary relief from Spain.[698] + +Rumors now began to be widely circulated of the speedy coming of Philip, +with a large army, to chastise his vassals; and the rumors gained easy +credit with those who felt they were already within the pale of +rebellion. Duke Eric of Brunswick was making numerous levies on the +German borders, and it was generally believed that their destination was +Flanders. It was in vain that Margaret, who ascertained the falsehood of +the report, endeavored to undeceive the people.[699] + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S INFLEXIBILITY.] + +A short time previously, in the month of June, an interview had taken +place, at Bayonne, between the queen-mother, Catherine de Medicis, and +her daughter, Isabella of Spain. Instead of her husband, Isabella was +accompanied at this interview by the counsellor in whom he most trusted, +the duke of Alva. The two queens were each attended by a splendid +retinue of nobles. The meeting was prolonged for several days, amidst a +succession of balls, tourneys, and magnificent banquets, at which the +costly dress and equipage of the French nobility contrasted strangely +enough with the no less ostentatious simplicity of the Spaniards. This +simplicity, so contrary to the usual pomp of the Castilian, was in +obedience to the orders of Philip, who, foreseeing the national +emulation, forbade the indulgence of it at a foolish cost, which in the +end was severely felt by the shattered finances of France. + +Amid the brilliant pageants which occupied the public eye, secret +conferences were daily carried on between Catherine and the duke of +Alva. The results were never published, but enough found its way into +the light to show that the principal object was the extermination of +heresy in France and the Netherlands. The queen-mother was for milder +measures,--though slower not less sure. But the iron-hearted duke +insisted that to grant liberty of conscience was to grant unbounded +licence. The only way to exterminate the evil was by fire and sword! It +was on this occasion that, when Catherine suggested that it was easier +to deal with the refractory commons than with the nobles, Alva replied, +"True, but ten thousand frogs are not worth the head of a single +salmon."[700]--an ominous simile, which was afterwards remembered +against its author, when he ruled over the Netherlands.[701] + +The report of these dark conferences had reached the Low Countries, +where it was universally believed that the object of them was to secure +the cooeperation of France in crushing the liberties of Flanders.[702] + +[Sidenote: ALARM OF THE COUNTRY.] + +In the panic thus spread throughout the country, the more timid or +prudent, especially of those who dwelt in the seaports, began to take +measures for avoiding these evils by emigration. They sought refuge in +Protestant states, and especially in England, where no less than thirty +thousand, we are told by a contemporary, took shelter under the sceptre +of Elizabeth.[703] They swarmed in the cities of London and Sandwich, +and the politic queen assigned them also the seaport of Norwich as their +residence. Thus Flemish industry was transferred to English soil. The +course of trade between the two nations now underwent a change. The silk +and woollen stuffs, which had formerly been sent from Flanders to +England, became the staple of a large export-trade from England to +Flanders. "The Low Countries," writes the correspondent of Granvelle, +"are the Indies of the English, who make war on our purses, as the +French, some years since, made war on our towns."[704] + +Some of the Flemish provinces, instead of giving way to despondency, +appealed sturdily to their charters, to rescue them from the arbitrary +measures of the crown. The principal towns of Brabant, with Antwerp at +their head, intrenched themselves behind their _Joyeuse Entree_. The +question was brought before the council; a decree was given in favor of +the applicants, and ratified by the regent; and the free soil of Brabant +was no longer polluted by the presence of the Inquisition.[705] + +The gloom now became deeper round the throne of the regent. Of all in +the Netherlands, the person least to be envied was the one who ruled +over them. Weaned from her attachment to Granvelle by the influence of +the lords, Margaret now found herself compelled to resume the arbitrary +policy which she disapproved, and to forfeit the support of the very +party to which of late she had given all her confidence. The lords in +the council withdrew from her, the magistrates in the provinces thwarted +her, and large masses of the population were arrayed in actual +resistance against the government. It may seem strange that it was not +till the spring of 1566 that she received positive tidings of the +existence of the league, when she was informed of it by Egmont, and some +others of the council of state.[706] As usual, the rumor went beyond the +truth. Twenty or thirty thousand men were said to be in arms, and half +that number to be prepared to march on Brussels, and seize the person of +the regent, unless she complied with their demands.[707] + +For a moment Margaret thought of taking refuge in the citadel. But she +soon rallied, and showed the spirit to have been expected in the +daughter of Charles the Fifth. She ordered the garrisons to be +strengthened in the fortresses throughout the country. She summoned the +companies of _ordonnance_ to the capital, and caused them to renew their +oaths of fidelity to the king. She wrote to the Spanish ministers at the +neighboring courts, informed them of the league, and warned them to +allow no aid to be sent to it from the countries where they resided. +Finally, she called a meeting of the knights of the Golden Fleece and +the council of state, for the twenty-seventh of March, to deliberate on +the perilous situation of the country. Having completed these +arrangements, the duchess wrote to her brother, informing him exactly of +the condition of things, and suggesting what seemed to her counsellors +the most effectual remedy. She wrote the more freely, as her love of +power had yielded to a sincere desire to extricate herself from the +trials and troubles which attended it.[708] + +There were but two courses, she said, force or concession.[709] The +former, to say nothing of the ruin it would bring on the land, was +rendered difficult by want of money to pay the troops, and by the want +of trustworthy officers, to command them. Concessions must consist in +abolishing the Inquisition,--a useless tribunal where sectaries swarmed +openly in the cities,--in modifying the edicts, and in granting a free +pardon to all who had signed the Compromise, provided they would return +to their duty.[710] On these terms, the lords of the council were +willing to guaranty the obedience of the people. At all events, they +promised Margaret their support in enforcing it. She would not express +her own preference for either of the alternatives presented to Philip; +but would faithfully execute his commands, whatever they might be, to +the best of her ability.--Without directly expressing her preference, it +was pretty clear on which side it lay. Margaret concluded by earnestly +beseeching her brother to return an immediate answer to her despatches +by the courier who bore them. + +[Sidenote: ORANGE AND EGMONT.] + +The person who seems to have enjoyed the largest share of Margaret's +confidence, at this time, was Egmont. He remained at Brussels, and still +kept his seat in council after William had withdrawn to his estates in +Breda. Yet the prince, although he had left Brussels in disgust, had not +taken part with the confederates; much less--as was falsely rumored, and +to his great annoyance--put himself at their head.[711] His brother, it +is true, and some of his particular friends, had joined the league. But +Louis declares that he did so without the knowledge of William. When the +latter, a fortnight afterwards, learned the existence of the league, he +expressed his entire disapprobation of it.[712] He even used his +authority, we are told, to prevent the confederates from resorting to +some violent measures, among others the seizure of Antwerp, promising +that he would aid them to accomplish their ends in a more orderly +way.[713] What he desired was, to have the states-general called +together by the king. But he would not assume a hostile attitude, like +that of the confederates, to force him into this unpalatable +measure.[714] When convened, he would have had the legislature, without +transcending its constitutional limits, remonstrate, and lay the +grievances of the nation before the throne. + +This temperate mode of proceeding did not suit the hot blood of the +younger confederates. "Your brother," writes Hames to Louis, "is too +slow and lukewarm. He would have us employ only remonstrance against +these hungry wolves; against enemies who do nothing in return but +behead, and banish, and burn us. We are to do the talking, and they the +acting. We must fight with the pen, while they fight with the +sword."[715] + +The truth was, that William was not possessed of the fiery zeal which +animated most of the Reformers. In his early years, as we have seen, he +had been subjected to the influence of the Protestant religion at one +period, and of the Roman Catholic at another. If the result of this had +been to beget in him something like a philosophical indifference to the +great questions in dispute, it had proved eminently favorable to a +spirit of toleration. He shrunk from that system of persecution which +proscribed men for their religious opinions. Soon after the arrival of +the despatches from Segovia, William wrote to a friend: "The king +orders, not only obstinate heretics, but even the penitent, to be put to +death. I know not how I can endure this. It does not seem to me that +such measures are either Christian-like or practicable."[716] In another +letter he says: "I greatly fear these despatches will drive men into +rebellion. I should be glad, if I could, to save my country from ruin, +and so many innocent persons from slaughter. But when I say anything in +the council, I am sure to be misinterpreted. So I am greatly perplexed; +since speech and silence are equally bad."[717] + +Acting with his habitual caution, therefore, he spoke little, and seldom +expressed his sentiments in writing. "The less one puts in writing," he +said to his less prudent brother, "the better."[718] Yet when the +occasion demanded it, he did not shrink from a plain avowal of his +sentiments, both in speaking and writing. Such was the speech he +delivered in council before Egmont's journey to Spain; and in the same +key was the letter which he addressed to the regent on receiving the +despatches from Segovia. But, whatever might be his reserve, his real +opinions were not misunderstood. He showed them too plainly by his +actions. When Philip's final instructions were made known to him by +Margaret, the prince, as he had before done under Granvelle, ceased to +attend the meetings of the council, and withdrew from Brussels.[719] He +met in Breda, and afterwards in Hoogstraten, in the spring of 1566, a +number of the principal nobles, under cover, as usual, of a banquet. +Discussions took place on the state of the country, and some of the +confederates who were present at the former place were for more violent +measures than William approved. As he could not bring them over to his +own temperate policy, he acquiesced in the draft of a petition, which, +as we shall see in the ensuing chapter, was presented to the +regent.[720] On the whole, up to the period at which we are arrived, the +conduct of the prince of Orange must be allowed to have been wise and +consistent. In some respects it forms a contrast to that of his more +brilliant rival, Count Egmont. + +This nobleman was sincerely devoted to the Roman Catholic faith. He was +stanch in his loyalty to the king. At the same time he was ardently +attached to his country, and felt a generous indignation at the wrongs +she suffered from her rulers. Thus Egmont was acted on by opposite +feelings; and, as he was a man of impulse, his conduct, as he yielded +sometimes to the one and sometimes to the other of these influences, +might be charged with inconsistency. None charged him with insincerity. + +There was that in Egmont's character which early led the penetrating +Granvelle to point him out to Philip as a man who by politic treatment +might be secured to the royal cause.[721] Philip and his sister, the +regent, both acted on this hint. They would hardly have attempted as +much with William. Egmont's personal vanity made him more accessible to +their approaches. It was this, perhaps, quite as much as any feeling of +loyalty, which, notwithstanding the affront put on him, as he conceived, +by the king, induced him to remain at Brussels, and supply the place in +the councils of the regent which William had left vacant. Yet we find +one of Granvelle's correspondents speaking of Egmont as too closely +united with the lords to be detached from them. "To say truth," says the +writer, "he even falters in his religion; and whatever he may say to-day +on this point, he will be sure to say the contrary to-morrow."[722] Such +a man, who could not be true to himself, could hardly become the leader +of others. + +[Sidenote: DESIGN OF THE CONFEDERATES.] + +"They put Egmont forward," writes the regent's secretary, "as the +boldest, to say what other men dare not say."[723] This was after the +despatches had been received. "He complains bitterly," continues the +writer, "of the king's insincerity. The prince has more _finesse_. He +has also more credit with the nation. If you could gain him, you will +secure all."[724] Yet Philip did not try to gain him. With all his +wealth, he was not rich enough to do it. He knew this, and he hated +William with the hatred which a despotic monarch naturally bears to a +vassal of such a temper. He perfectly understood the character of +William. The nation understood it too; and, with all their admiration +for the generous qualities of Egmont, it was to his greater rival that +they looked to guide them in the coming struggle of the revolution. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE CONFEDERATES. + +Design of the Confederates.--They enter Brussels.--The Petition.--The +Gueux. + +1566. + + +The party of the malecontents in the Netherlands comprehended persons of +very different opinions, who were by no means uniformly satisfied with +the reasonable objects proposed by the compromise. Some demanded entire +liberty of conscience. Others would not have stopped short of a +revolution that would enable the country to shake off the Spanish yoke. +And another class of men without principle of any kind--such as are too +often thrown up in strong political fermentations--looked to these +intestine troubles as offering the means of repairing their own fortunes +out of the wreck of their country's. Yet, with the exception of the +last, there were few who would not have been content to accept the +compromise as the basis of their demands. + +The winter had passed away, however, and the confederacy had wrought no +change in the conduct of the government. Indeed, the existence of the +confederacy would not appear to have been known to the regent till the +latter part of February, 1566. It was not till the close of the +following month that it was formally disclosed to her by some of the +great lords.[725] If it was known to her before, Margaret must have +thought it prudent to affect ignorance, till some overt action on the +part of the league called for her notice. + +It became, then, a question with the members of the league what was next +to be done. It was finally resolved to present a petition, in the name +of the whole body, to the regent, a measure which, as already intimated, +received the assent, if not the approbation, of the prince of Orange. +The paper was prepared, as it would seem, in William's own house at +Brussels, by his brother Louis; and was submitted, we are told, to the +revision of the prince, who thus had it in his power to mitigate, in +more than one instance the vehemence, or rather violence, of the +expressions.[726] + +To give greater effect to the petition, it was determined that a large +deputation from the league should accompany its presentation to the +regent. Notice was given to four hundred of the confederates to assemble +at the beginning of April. They were to come well-mounted and armed, +prepared at once to proceed to Brussels. Among the number thus enrolled, +we find three gentlemen of Margaret's own household, as well as some +members of the companies of _ordonnance_ commanded by the prince, and by +the Counts Egmont, Hoorne, and other great lords.[727] + +The duchess, informed of these proceedings, called a meeting of the +council of state and the knights of the Golden Fleece, to determine on +the course to be pursued. The discussion was animated, as there was much +difference of opinion. Some agreed with Count Barlaimont in regarding +the measure in the light of a menace. Such a military array could have +no other object than to overawe the government, and was an insult to the +regent. In the present excited state of the people, it would be attended +with the greatest danger to allow their entrance into the capital.[728] + +The prince of Orange, who had yielded to Margaret's earnest entreaties +that he would attend this meeting, took a different view of the matter. +The number of the delegates, he said, only proved the interest taken in +the petition. They were men of rank, some of them kinsmen or personal +friends of those present. Their characters and position in the country +were sufficient sureties that they meditated no violence to the state. +They were the representatives of an ancient order of nobility; and it +would be strange indeed, if they were to be excluded from the right of +petition, enjoyed by the humblest individual.--In the course of the +debate, William made some personal allusions to his own situation, +delivering himself with great warmth. His enemies, he said, had the +royal ear, and would persuade the king to kill him and confiscate his +property.[729] He was even looked upon as the head of the confederacy. +It was of no use for him to give his opinion in the council, where it +was sure to be misinterpreted. All that remained for him was to ask +leave to resign his offices, and withdraw to his estates.[730] Count +Hoorne followed in much the same key, inveighing bitterly against the +ingratitude of Philip. The two nobles yielded, at length, so far to +Margaret's remonstrances, as to give their opinions on the course to be +pursued. But when she endeavored to recall them to their duty by +reminding them of their oaths to the king, they boldly replied, they +would willingly lay down their lives for their country, but would never +draw sword for the edicts or the Inquisition.[731]--William's views in +regard to the admission of the confederates into Brussels were supported +by much the greater part of the assembly, and finally prevailed with the +regent. + +[Sidenote: THE CONFEDERATES ENTER BRUSSELS.] + +On the third of April, 1566, two hundred of the confederates entered the +gates of Brussels. They were on horseback, and each man was furnished +with a brace of pistols in his holsters, wearing in other respects only +the usual arms of a private gentleman. The Viscount Brederode and Louis +of Nassau rode at their head.[732] They prudently conformed to William's +advice, not to bring any foreigners in their train, and to enter the +city quietly, without attempting to stir the populace by any military +display, or the report of fire-arms.[733] Their coming was welcomed with +general joy by the inhabitants, who greeted them as a band of patriots +ready to do battle for the liberties of the country. They easily found +quarters in the houses of the principal citizens; and Louis and +Brederode were lodged in the mansion of the prince of Orange.[734] + +On the following day a meeting of the confederates was held at the hotel +of Count Culemborg, where they listened to a letter which Brederode had +just received from Spain, informing him of the death of Morone, a +Flemish nobleman well known to them all, who had perished in the flames +of the Inquisition.[735] With feelings exasperated by this gloomy +recital, they renewed, in the most solemn manner, their oaths of +fidelity to the league. An application was then made to Margaret for +leave to lay their petition before her. The day following was assigned +for the act; and at noon, on the fifth of April, the whole company +walked in solemn procession through the streets of Brussels to the +palace of the regent. She received them, surrounded by the lords, in the +great hall adjoining the council-chamber. As they defiled before her, +the confederates ranged themselves along the sides of the apartment. +Margaret seems to have been somewhat disconcerted by the presence of so +martial an array within the walls of her palace. But she soon recovered +herself, and received them graciously.[736] + +Brederode was selected to present the petition, and he prefaced it by a +short address. They had come in such numbers, he said, the better to +show their respect to the regent, and the deep interest they took in the +cause. They had been accused of opening a correspondence with foreign +princes, which he affirmed to be a malicious slander, and boldly +demanded to be confronted with the authors of it.[737]--Notwithstanding +this stout denial, it is very possible the audience did not place +implicit confidence in the assertions of the speaker. He then presented +the petition to the regent, expressing the hope that she would approve +of it, as dictated only by their desire to promote the glory of the king +and the good of the country. If this was its object, Margaret replied, +she doubted not she should be content with it.[738] The following day +was named for them again to wait on her, and receive her answer. + +The instrument began with a general statement of the distresses of the +land, much like that in the Compromise, but couched in more respectful +language. The petitioners had hoped that the action of the great lords, +or of the states-general, would have led to some reform. But finding +these had not moved in the matter, while the evil went on increasing +from day to day, until ruin was at the gate, they had come to beseech +her highness to lay the subject herself before the king, and implore his +majesty to save the country from perdition by the instant abolition of +both the Inquisition and the edicts. Far from wishing to dictate laws to +their sovereign, they humbly besought her to urge on him the necessity +of convoking the states-general, and devising with them some effectual +remedy for the existing evils. Meanwhile they begged of her to suspend +the further execution of the laws in regard to religion until his +majesty's pleasure could be known. If their prayer were not granted, +they at least were absolved from all responsibility as to the +consequences, now that they had done their duty as true and loyal +subjects.[739]--The business-like character of this document forms a +contrast to the declamatory style of the Compromise; and in its +temperate tone, particularly, we may fancy we recognize the touches of +the more prudent hand of the prince of Orange. + +On the sixth, the confederates again assembled in the palace of the +regent, to receive her answer. They were in greater force than before, +having been joined by a hundred and fifty of their brethren, who had +entered the city the night previous, under the command of Counts +Culemborg and Berg. They were received by Margaret in the same courteous +manner as on the preceding day, and her answer was made to them in +writing, being endorsed on their own petition. + +She announced in it her purpose of using all her influence with her +royal brother to persuade him to accede to their wishes. They might rely +on his doing all that was conformable to his _natural and accustomed +benignity_.[740] She had herself, with the advice of her council and the +knights of the Golden Fleece, prepared a scheme for moderating the +edicts, to be laid before his majesty, which she trusted would satisfy +the nation. They must however, be aware, that she herself had no power +to suspend the execution of the laws. But she would send instructions to +the inquisitors to proceed with all discretion in the exercise of their +functions, until they should learn the king's pleasure.[741] She trusted +that the confederates would so demean themselves as not to make it +necessary to give different orders. All this she had done with the +greater readiness, from her conviction that they had no design to make +any innovation in the established religion of the country, but desired +rather to uphold it in all its vigor. + +To this reply, as gracious in its expressions, and as favorable in its +import, as the league could possibly have expected, they made a formal +answer in writing, which they presented in a body to the duchess, on the +eighth of the month. They humbly thanked her for the prompt attention +she had given to their petition, but would have been still more +contented if her answer had been more full and explicit. They knew the +embarrassments under which she labored, and they thanked her for the +assurance she had given,--which, it may be remarked, she never did +give,--that all proceedings connected with the Inquisition and the +edicts should be stayed until his majesty's pleasure should be +ascertained. They were most anxious to conform to whatever the king, +_with the advice and consent of the states-general_, duly assembled, +should determine in matters of religion,[742] and they would show their +obedience by taking such order for their own conduct as should give +entire satisfaction to her highness. + +[Sidenote: MARGARET'S REPLY] + +To this the duchess briefly replied, that, if there were any cause for +offence hereafter, it would be chargeable, not on her, but on them. She +prayed the confederates henceforth to desist from their secret +practices, and to invite no new member to join their body.[743] + +This brief and admonitory reply seems not to have been to the taste of +the petitioners, who would willingly have drawn from Margaret some +expression that might be construed into a sanction of their proceedings. +After a short deliberation among themselves, they again addressed her by +the mouth of one of their own number, the lord of Kerdes. The speaker, +after again humbly thanking the regent for her favorable answer, said +that it would have given still greater satisfaction to his associates, +if she would but have declared, in the presence of the great lords +assembled, that she took the union of the confederates in good part and +for the service of the king;[744] and he concluded with promising that +they would henceforth do all in their power to give contentment to her +highness. + +To all this the duchess simply replied, she had no doubt of it. When +again pressed by the persevering deputy to express her opinion of this +assembly, she bluntly answered, she could form no judgment in the +matter.[745]--She gave pretty clear evidence, however, of her real +opinion, soon after, by dismissing the three gentlemen of her household +whom we have mentioned as having joined the league.[746] + +As Margaret found that the confederates were not altogether satisfied +with her response to their petition, she allowed Count Hoogstraten, one +of her councillors, to inform some of them, privately, that she had +already written to the provinces to have all processes in affairs of +religion stayed until Philip's decision should be known. To leave no +room for distrust, the count was allowed to show them copies of the +letters.[747] + +The week spent by the league in Brussels was a season of general +jubilee. At one of the banquets given at Culemborg House, where three +hundred confederates were present, Brederode presided. During the repast +he related to some of the company, who had arrived on the day after the +petition was delivered, the manner in which it had been received by the +duchess. She seemed at first disconcerted, he said, by the number of the +confederates, but was reassured by Barlaimont, who told her "they were +nothing but a crowd of beggars."[748] This greatly incensed some of the +company,--with whom, probably, it was too true for a jest. But +Brederode, taking it more good-humoredly, said that he and his friends +had no objection to the name, since they were ready at any time to +become beggars for the service of their king and country.[749] This +sally was received with great applause by the guests, who, as they drank +to one another, shouted forth, "_Vivent les Gueux!_"--"Long live the +beggars!" + +Brederode, finding the jest took so well,--an event, indeed, for which +he seems to have been prepared,--left the room, and soon returned with a +beggar's wallet, and a wooden bowl, such as was used by the mendicant +fraternity in the Netherlands. Then, pledging the company in a bumper, +he swore to devote his life and fortune to the cause. The wallet and the +bowl went round the table; and, as each of the merry guests drank in +turn to his confederates, the shout arose of "_Vivent les Gueux!"_ until +the hall rang with the mirth of the revellers.[750] + +It happened that at the time the prince of Orange and the Counts Egmont +and Hoorne were passing by on their way to the council. Their attention +was attracted by the noise, and they paused a moment, when William, who +knew well the temper of the jovial company, proposed that they should go +in, and endeavor to break up their revels. "We may have some business of +the council to transact with these men this evening," he said, "and at +this rate they will hardly be in a condition for it." The appearance of +the three nobles gave a fresh impulse to the boisterous merriment of the +company; and as the new-comers pledged their friends in the wine-cup, it +was received with the same thundering acclamations of "_Vivent les +Gueux!_"[751] This incident, of so little importance in itself, was +afterwards made of consequence by the turn that was given to it in the +prosecution of the two unfortunate noblemen who accompanied the prince +of Orange. + +Every one knows the importance of a popular name to a faction,--a _nom +de guerre_, under which its members may rally and make head together as +an independent party. Such the name of "_Gueux_" now became to the +confederates. It soon was understood to signify those who were opposed +to the government, and, in a wiser sense, to the Roman Catholic +religion. In every language in which the history of these acts has been +recorded,--the Latin, German, Spanish, or English,--the French term +_Gueux_ is ever employed to designate this party of malecontents in the +Netherlands.[752] + +[Sidenote: THE GUEUX.] + +It now became common to follow out the original idea by imitations of +the different articles used by mendicants. Staffs were procured, after +the fashion of those in the hands of the pilgrims, but more elaborately +carved. Wooden bowls, spoons, and knives became in great request, though +richly inlaid with silver, according to the fancy or wealth of the +possessor. Medals resembling those stuck by the beggars in their bonnets +were worn as a badge; and the "Gueux penny," as it was called,--a gold +or silver coin,--was hung from the neck, bearing on one side the effigy +of Philip, with the inscription, "_Fideles au roi_;" and on the other, +two hands grasping a beggar's wallet, with the further legend, "_jusques +a porter la besace_;"--"Faithful to the king, even to carrying the +wallet."[753] Even the garments of the mendicant were affected by the +confederates, who used them as a substitute for their family liveries; +and troops of their retainers, clad in the ash-gray habiliments of the +begging friars, might be seen in the streets of Brussels and the other +cities of the Netherlands.[754] + +On the tenth of April, the confederates quitted Brussels, in the orderly +manner in which they had entered it; except that, on issuing from the +gate, they announced their departure by firing a salute in honor of the +city which had given them so hospitable a welcome.[755] Their visit to +Brussels had not only created a great sensation in the capital itself, +but throughout the country. Hitherto the league had worked in darkness, +as it were, like a band of secret conspirators. But they had now come +forward into the light of day, boldly presenting themselves before the +regent, and demanding redress of the wrongs under which the nation was +groaning. The people took heart, as they saw this broad aegis extended +over them to ward off the assaults of arbitrary power. Their hopes grew +stronger, as they became assured of the interposition of the regent and +the great lords in their favor; and they could hardly doubt that the +voice of the country, backed as it was by that of the government, would +make itself heard at Madrid, and that Philip would at length be +compelled to abandon a policy which menaced him with the loss of the +fairest of his provinces.--They had yet to learn the character of their +sovereign. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +FREEDOM OF WORSHIP. + +The Edicts suspended.--The Sectaries.--The Public Preachings.--Attempt +to suppress them.--Meeting at St. Trond.--Philip's Concessions. + +1566. + + +On quitting Brussels, the confederates left there four of their number +as a sort of committee to watch over the interests of the league. The +greater part of the remainder, with Brederode at their head, took the +road to Antwerp. They were hardly established in their quarters in that +city, when the building was surrounded by thousands of the inhabitants, +eager to give their visitors a tumultuous welcome. Brederode came out on +the balcony, and, addressing the crowd, told them that he had come +there, at the hazard of his life, to rescue them from the miseries of +the Inquisition. He called on his audience to take him as their leader +in this glorious work; and as the doughty champion pledged them in a +goblet of wine which he had brought with him from the table, the mob +answered by such a general shout as was heard in the furthest corners of +the city.[756] Thus a relation was openly established between the +confederates and the people, who were to move forward together in the +great march of the revolution. + +Soon after the departure of the confederates from Brussels, the regent +despatched an embassy to Madrid to acquaint the king with the recent +proceedings, and to urge his acquiescence in the reforms solicited by +the league. The envoys chosen were the baron de Montigny--who had taken +charge, it may be remembered, of a similar mission before--and the +marquis of Bergen, a nobleman of liberal principles, but who stood high +in the regard of the regent.[757] Neither of the parties showed any +alacrity to undertake a commission which was to bring them so closely in +contact with the dread monarch in his capital. Bergen found an apology +for some time in a wound from a tennis-ball, which disabled his leg; an +ominous accident, interpreted by the chroniclers of the time into an +intimation from Heaven of the disastrous issue of the mission.[758] +Montigny reached Madrid some time before his companion, on the +seventeenth of June, and met with a gracious reception from Philip, who +listened with a benignant air to the recital of the measures suggested +for the relief of the country, terminating, as usual, with an +application for a summons of the states-general, as the most effectual +remedy for the disorders. But although the envoy was admitted to more +than one audience, he obtained no more comfortable assurance, than that +the subject should receive the most serious consideration of his +majesty.[759] + +[Sidenote: THE EDICTS SUSPENDED.] + +Meanwhile the regent was busy in digesting the plan of compromise to +which she had alluded in her reply to the confederates. When concluded, +it was sent to the governors of the several provinces, to be laid before +their respective legislatures. Their sanction, it was hoped, would +recommend its adoption to the people at large. It was first submitted to +some of the smaller states, as Artois, Namur, and Luxemburg, as most +likely to prove subservient to the wishes of the government. It was then +laid before several of the larger states, as Brabant and Flanders, whose +determination might be influenced by the example of the others. Holland, +Zealand, Utrecht, and one or two other provinces, where the spirit of +independence was highest, were not consulted at all. Yet this politic +management did not entirely succeed; and although some few gave an +unconditional assent, most of the provinces coupled their acquiescence +with limitations that rendered it of little worth.[760] + +This was not extraordinary. The scheme was one which, however large the +concessions it involved on the part of the government, fell far short of +those demanded by the people. It denounced the penalty of death on all +ministers and teachers of the reformed religion, and all who harbored +them; and while it greatly mitigated the punishment of other offenders, +its few sanguinary features led the people sneeringly to call it, +instead of "moderation," the act of "_murderation_."[761] It fared, +indeed, with this compromise of the regent, as with most other half-way +measures. It satisfied neither of the parties concerned in it. The king +thought it as much too lenient as the people thought it too severe. It +never received the royal sanction, and of course never became a law. It +would therefore hardly have deserved the time I have bestowed on it, +except as evidence of the conciliatory spirit of the regent's +administration. + +In the same spirit Margaret was careful to urge the royal officers to +give a liberal interpretation to the existing edicts, and to show the +utmost discretion in their execution. These functionaries were not slow +in obeying commands, which released them from so much of the odium that +attached to their ungrateful office. The amiable temper of the +government received support from a singular fraud which took place at +this time. An instrument was prepared, purporting to have come from the +knights of the Golden Fleece, in which this body guarantied to the +confederates that no one in the Low Countries should be molested on +account of his religion until otherwise determined by the king and the +states-general. This document, which carried its spurious origin on its +face, was nevertheless eagerly caught up and circulated among the +people, ready to believe what they most desired. In vain the regent, as +soon as she heard of it, endeavored to expose the fraud. It was too +late; and the influence of this imposture combined with the tolerant +measures of the government to inspire a confidence in the community +which was soon visible in its results. Some who had gone into exile +returned to their country. Many, who had cherished the new doctrines in +secret, openly avowed them; while others who were wavering, now that +they were relieved from all fear of consequences, became fixed in their +opinions. In short, the Reformation, in some form or other, was making +rapid advances over the country.[762] + +Of the three great sects who embraced it, the Lutherans, the least +numerous, were the most eminent for their rank. The Anabaptists, far +exceeding them in number, were drawn almost wholly from the humbler +classes of the people. It is singular that this sect, the most quiet and +inoffensive of all, should have been uniformly dealt with by the law +with peculiar rigor. It may, perhaps, be attributed to the bad name +which attached to them from the excesses committed by their brethren, +the famous Anabaptists of Muenster. The third denomination, the +Calvinists, far out-numbered both of the other two. They were also the +most active in the spirit of proselytism. They were stimulated by +missionaries trained in the schools of Geneva; and as their doctrines +spread silently over the land, not only men of piety and learning, but +persons of the highest social position, were occasionally drawn within +the folds of the sect. + +The head-quarters of the Calvinists were in Flanders, Hainault, Artois, +and the provinces contiguous to France. The border land became the +residence of French Huguenots, and of banished Flemings, who on this +outpost diligently labored in the cause of the Reformation. The press +teemed with publications,--vindications of the faith, polemical tracts, +treatises, and satires against the Church of Rome and its errors,--those +spiritual missiles, in short, which form the usual magazine for +controversial warfare. These were distributed by means of peddlers and +travelling tinkers, who carried them, in their distant wanderings, to +the humblest firesides throughout the country. There they were left to +do their work; and the ground was thus prepared for the laborers whose +advent forms an epoch in the history of the Reformation.[763] + +These were the ministers or missionaries, whose public preaching soon +caused a great sensation throughout the land. They first made their +appearance in Western Flanders, before small audiences gathered together +stealthily in the gloom of the forest and in the silence of night. They +gradually emerged into the open plains, thence proceeding to the +villages, until, growing bolder with impunity, they showed themselves in +the suburbs of the great towns and cities. On these occasions, thousands +of the inhabitants, men, women, and children, in too great force for the +magistrates to resist them, poured out of the gates to hear the +preacher. In the centre of the ground a rude staging was erected, with +an awning to protect him from the weather. Immediately round the rude +pulpit was gathered the more helpless part of the congregation, the +women and children. Behind them stood the men,--those in the outer +circle usually furnished with arms,--swords, pikes, muskets,--any weapon +they could pick up for the occasion. A patrol of horse occupied the +ground beyond, to protect the assembly and prevent interruption. A +barricade of wagons and other vehicles was thrown across the avenues +that led to the place, to defend it against the assaults of the +magistrates or the military. Persons stationed along the high roads +distributed religious tracts, and invited the passengers to take part in +the services.[764] + +[Sidenote: THE PUBLIC PREACHINGS.] + +The preacher was frequently some converted priest or friar, accustomed +to speak in public, who, having passed the greater part of his life in +battling for the Church, now showed equal zeal in overturning it. It +might be, however, that the orator was a layman; some peasant or +artisan, who, gifted with more wit, or possibly more effrontery, than +his neighbors, felt himself called on to assume the perilous vocation of +a preacher. The discourse was in French or Flemish, whichever might be +the language spoken in the neighborhood. It was generally of the homely +texture suited both to the speaker and his audience. Yet sometimes he +descanted on the woes of the land with a pathos which drew tears from +every eye; and at others gave vent to a torrent of fiery eloquence, that +kindled the spirit of the ancient martyr in the bosoms of his hearers. + +These lofty flights were too often degraded by coarse and scurrilous +invectives against the pope, the clergy, and the Inquisition,--themes, +peculiarly grateful to his audience, who testified their applause by as +noisy demonstrations as if they had been spectators in a theatre. The +service was followed by singing some portion of the Psalms in the French +version of Marot, or in a Dutch translation which had recently appeared +in Holland,[765] and which, although sufficiently rude, passed with the +simple people for a wonderful composition. After this, it was common for +those who attended to present their infants for baptism; and many +couples profited by the occasion to have the marriage ceremony performed +with the Calvinistic rites. The exercises were concluded by a collection +for the poor of their own denomination. In fine, these meetings, +notwithstanding the occasional licence of the preacher, seem to have +been conducted with a seriousness and decorum which hardly merit the +obloquy thrown on them by some of the Catholic writers. + +The congregation, it is true, was made up of rather motley materials. +Some went out merely to learn what manner of doctrine it was that was +taught; others, to hear the singing, where thousands of voices blended +together in rude harmony under the canopy of heaven; others, again, with +no better motive than amusement, to laugh at the oddity--perhaps the +buffoonery--of the preacher. But far the larger portion of the audience +went with the purpose of joining in the religious exercises, and +worshipping God in their own way.[766] We may imagine what an influence +must have been exercised by these meetings, where so many were gathered +together, under a sense of common danger, to listen to the words of the +teacher, who taught them to hold all human law as light in comparison +with the higher law of conscience seated in their own bosoms. Even of +those who came to scoff, few there were, probably, who did not go away +with some food for meditation, or, it may be, the seeds of future +conversion implanted in their breasts. + +The first of these public preachings--which began as early as May--took +place in the neighborhood of Ghent. Between six and seven thousand +persons were assembled. A magistrate of the city, with more valor than +discretion, mounted his horse, and, armed with sword and pistol, rode in +among the multitude, and undertook to arrest the minister. But the +people hastened to his rescue, and dealt so roughly with the unfortunate +officer, that he barely escaped with life from their hands.[767] + +From Ghent the preachings extended to Ypres, Bruges, and other great +towns of Flanders,--always in the suburbs,--to Valenciennes, and to +Tournay, in the province of Hainault, where the Reformers were strong +enough to demand a place of worship within the walls. Holland was ready +for the Word. Ministers of the _new religion_, as it was called, were +sent both to that quarter and to Zealand. Gatherings of great multitudes +were held in the environs of Amsterdam, the Hague, Haarlem, and other +large towns, at which the magistrates were sometimes to be found mingled +with the rest of the burghers. + +But the place where these meetings were conducted on the greatest scale +was Antwerp, a city containing then more than a hundred thousand +inhabitants, and the most important mart for commerce in the +Netherlands. It was the great resort of foreigners. Many of these were +Huguenots, who, under the pretext of trade, were much more busy with the +concerns of their religion. At the meetings without the walls, it was +not uncommon for thirteen or fourteen thousand persons to assemble.[768] +Resistance on the part of the magistrates was ineffectual. The mob got +possession of the keys of the city; and, as most of the Calvinists were +armed, they constituted a formidable force. Conscious of their strength, +they openly escorted their ministers back to town, and loudly demanded +that some place of worship should be appropriated to them within the +walls of Antwerp. The quiet burghers became alarmed. As it was known +that in the camp of the Reformers were many reckless and disorderly +persons, they feared the town might be given over to pillage. All trade +ceased. Many of the merchants secreted their effects, and some prepared +to make their escape as speedily as possible.[769] + +The magistrates, in great confusion, applied to the regent, and besought +her to transfer her residence to Antwerp, where her presence might +overawe the spirit of sedition. But Margaret's council objected to her +placing herself in the hands of so factious a population; and she +answered the magistrates by inquiring what guaranty they could give her +for her personal safety. They then requested that the prince of Orange, +who held the office of _burgrave_ of Antwerp, and whose influence with +the people was unbounded, might be sent to them. Margaret hesitated as +to this; for she had now learned to regard William with distrust, as +assuming more and more an unfriendly attitude towards her brother.[770] +But she had no alternative, and she requested him to transfer his +residence to the disorderly capital, and endeavor to restore it to +tranquillity. The prince, on the other hand, disgusted with the course +of public affairs, had long wished to withdraw from any share in their +management. It was with reluctance he accepted the commission. + +[Sidenote: ATTEMPT TO SUPPRESS PREACHINGS.] + +As he drew near to Antwerp the people flocked out by thousands to +welcome him. It would seem as if they hailed him as their deliverer; and +every window, verandah, and roof was crowded with spectators as he rode +through the gates of the capital.[771] The people ran up and down the +streets, singing psalms, or shouting, "_Vivent les Gueux!_" while they +thronged round the prince's horse in so dense a mass that it was +scarcely possible for him to force a passage.[772] Yet these +demonstrations of his popularity were not altogether satisfactory; and +he felt no pleasure at being thus welcomed as a chief of the league, +which, as we have seen, he was far from regarding with approbation. +Waving his hand repeatedly to those around him, he called on them to +disperse, impatiently exclaiming, "Take heed what you do, or, by Heaven, +you will have reason to rue it."[773] He rode straight to the hall where +the magistrates were sitting, and took counsel with them as to the best +means of allaying the popular excitement, and of preventing the wealthy +burghers from quitting the city. During the few weeks he remained there, +the prince conducted affairs so discreetly, as to bring about a better +understanding between the authorities and the citizens. He even +prevailed on the Calvinists to lay aside their arms. He found more +difficulty in persuading them to relinquish the design of appropriating +to themselves some place of worship within the walls. It was not till +William called in the aid of the military to support him, that he +compelled them to yield.[774] + +Thus the spirit of reform was rapidly advancing in every part of the +country,--even in presence of the court, under the very eye of the +regent. In Brussels the people went through the streets by night, +singing psalms, and shouting the war-cry of _Vivent les Gueux!_ The +merchants and wealthy burghers were to be seen with the insignia of the +confederates on their dress.[775] Preparations were made for a public +preaching without the walls; but the duchess at once declared, that in +that event she would make one of the company at the head of her guard, +seize the preacher, and hang him up at the gates of the city![776] This +menace had the desired effect. + +During these troublous times, Margaret, however little she may have +accomplished, could not be accused of sleeping on her post. She caused +fasts to be observed, and prayers to be offered in all the churches, to +avert the wrath of Heaven from the land. She did not confine herself to +these spiritual weapons, but called on the magistrates of the towns to +do their duty, and on all good citizens to support them. She commanded +foreigners to leave Antwerp, except those only who were there for +traffic. She caused placards to be everywhere posted up, reciting the +terrible penalties of the law against heretical teachers and those who +abetted them; and she offered a reward of six hundred florins to whoever +should bring any such offender to punishment.[777] She strengthened the +garrisoned towns, and would have levied a force to overawe the +refractory; but she had not the funds to pay for it. She endeavored to +provide these by means of loans from the great clergy and the principal +towns; but with indifferent success. Most of them were already creditors +of the government, and they liked the security too little to make +further advances. In her extremity, Margaret had no resource but the one +so often tried,--that of invoking the aid of her brother. "I have no +refuge," she wrote, "but in God and your majesty. It is with anguish +and dismay I must admit that my efforts have wholly failed to prevent +the public preaching, which has spread over every quarter of the +country."[778] She bitterly complains, in another letter, that, after +"so many pressing applications, she should be thus left, without aid and +without instructions, to grope her way at random."[779] She again +beseeches Philip to make the concessions demanded, in which event the +great lords assure her of their support in restoring order. + +It was the policy of the cabinet of Madrid not to commit itself. The +royal answers were brief, vague, never indicating a new measure, +generally intimating satisfaction with the conduct of the regent, and +throwing as far as possible all responsibility on her shoulders. + +But besides his sister's letters, the king was careful to provide +himself with other sources of information respecting the state of the +Netherlands. From some of these the accounts he received of the conduct +of the great lords were even less favorable than hers. A letter from the +secretary, Armenteros, speaks of the difficulty he finds in fathoming +the designs of the prince of Orange,--a circumstance which he attributes +to his probable change of religion. "He relies much," says the writer, +"on the support he receives in Germany, on his numerous friends at home, +and on the general distrust entertained of the king. The prince is +making preparations in good season," he concludes, "for defending +himself against your majesty."[780] + +Yet Philip did not betray any consciousness of this unfriendly temper in +the nobles. To the prince of Orange, in particular, he wrote: "You err +in imagining that I have not entire confidence in you. Should any one +seek to do you an ill office with me, I should not be so light as to +give ear to him, having had so large experience of your loyalty and your +services."[781] "This is not the time," he adds, "for men like you to +withdraw from public affairs." But William was the last man to be duped +by these fair words. When others inveighed against the conduct of the +regent, William excused her by throwing the blame on Philip. "Resolved +to deceive all," he said, "he begins by deceiving his sister."[782] + +[Sidenote: MEETING AT ST. TROND.] + +It was about the middle of July that an event occurred which caused +still greater confusion in the affairs of the Netherlands. This was a +meeting of the confederates at St. Trond, in the neighborhood of Liege. +They assembled, two thousand in number, with Count Louis and Brederode +at their head. Their great object was to devise some means for their +personal security. They were aware that they were held responsible, to +some extent, for the late religious movements among the people.[783] +They were discontented with the prolonged silence of the king, and they +were alarmed by rumors of military preparations, said to be designed +against them. The discussions of the assembly, long and animated, showed +some difference of opinion. All agreed to demand some guaranty from the +government for their security. But the greater part of the body, no +longer halting at the original limits of their petition, were now for +demanding absolute toleration in matters of religion. Some few of the +number, stanch Catholics at heart, who for the first time seem to have +had their eyes opened to the results to which they were inevitably +tending, now, greatly disgusted, withdrew from the league. Among these +was the younger Count Mansfeldt,--a name destined to become famous in +the annals of the revolution. + +Margaret, much alarmed by these new demonstrations, sent Orange and +Egmont to confer with the confederates, and demand why they were thus +met in an unfriendly attitude towards the government which they had so +lately pledged themselves to support in maintaining order. The +confederates replied by sending a deputation of their body to submit +their grievances anew to the regent. + +The deputies, twelve in number, and profanely nicknamed at Brussels "the +twelve apostles,"[784] presented themselves, with Count Louis at their +head, on the twenty-eighth of July, at the capital. Margaret, who with +difficulty consented to receive them in person, gave unequivocal signs +of her displeasure. In the plain language of Louis, "the regent was +ready to burst with anger."[785] The memorial, or rather remonstrance, +presented to her was not calculated to allay it. + +Without going into details, it is only necessary to say, that the +confederates, after stating their grounds for apprehension, requested +that an assurance should be given by the government that no harm was +intended them. As to pardon for the past, they disclaimed all desire for +it. What they had done called for applause, not condemnation. They only +trusted that his majesty would be pleased to grant a convocation of the +states-general, to settle the affairs of the country. In the mean time, +they besought him to allow the concerns of the confederates to be placed +in the hands of the prince of Orange, and the Counts Egmont and Hoorne, +to act as their mediators with the crown, promising in all things to be +guided by their counsel. Thus would tranquillity be restored. But +without some guaranty for their safety, they should be obliged to +protect themselves by foreign aid.[786] + +The haughty tone of this memorial forms a striking contrast with that of +the petition presented by the same body not four months before, and +shows with what rapid strides the revolution had advanced. The religious +agitations had revealed the amount of discontent in the country, and to +what extent, therefore, the confederates might rely on the sympathy of +the people. This was most unequivocally proved during the meeting of St. +Trond, where memorials were presented by the merchants, and by persons +of the Reformed religion, praying the protection of the league to secure +them freedom of worship, till otherwise determined by the +states-general. This extraordinary request was granted.[787] Thus the +two great parties leaned on each other for support, and gave mutual +confidence to their respective movements. The confederates, discarding +the idea of grace, which they had once solicited, now darkly intimated a +possible appeal to arms. The Reformers, on their side, instead of the +mitigation of penalties, now talked of nothing less than absolute +toleration. Thus political Revolution and religious Reform went hand in +hand together. The nobles and the commons, the two most opposite +elements of the body politic, were united closely by a common interest; +and a formidable opposition was organized to the designs of the monarch, +which might have made any monarch tremble on his throne. + +An important fact shows that the confederates coolly looked forward, +even at this time, to a conflict with Spain. Louis of Nassau had a large +correspondence with the leaders of the Huguenots in France, and of the +Lutherans in Germany. By the former he had been offered substantial aid +in the way of troops. But the national jealousy entertained of the +French would have made it impolitic to accept it. He turned therefore to +Germany, where he had numerous connections, and where he subsidized a +force consisting of four thousand horse and forty companies of foot, to +be at the disposal of the league. This negotiation was conducted under +the eye, and, as it seems, partly through the agency, of his brother +William.[788] From this moment, therefore, if not before, the prince of +Orange may be identified with the party who were prepared to maintain +their rights by an appeal to arms. + +[Sidenote: MEETING AT ST. TROND.] + +These movements of the league could not be kept so close but that they +came to the knowledge of Margaret. Indeed, she had her secret agents at +St. Trond, who put her in possession of whatever was done, or even +designed, by the confederates.[789] This was fully exhibited in her +correspondence with Philip, while she again called his attention to the +forlorn condition of the government, without men, or money, or the means +to raise it.[790] "The sectaries go armed," she writes, "and are +organizing their forces. The league is with them. There remains nothing +but that they should band together, and sack the towns, villages, and +churches, of which I am in marvellous great fear."[791]--Her fears had +gifted her with the spirit of prophecy. She implores her brother, if he +will not come himself to Flanders, to convoke the states-general, +quoting the words of Egmont, that, unless summoned by the king they +would assemble of themselves, to devise some remedy for the miseries of +the land, and prevent its otherwise inevitable ruin.[792] At length came +back the royal answer to Margaret's reiterated appeals. It had at least +one merit, that of being perfectly explicit. + +Montigny, on reaching Madrid, as we have seen, had ready access to +Philip. Both he and his companion, the marquis of Bergen, were allowed +to witness, it would seem, the deliberations of the council of state, +when the subject of their mission was discussed. Among the members of +that body, at this time, may be noticed the duke of Alva; Ruy Gomez de +Silva, prince of Eboli, who divided with Alva the royal favor; Figueroa, +count of Feria, a man of an acute and penetrating intellect, formerly +ambassador to England, in Queen Mary's time; and Luis de Quixada, the +major-domo of Charles the fifth. Besides these there were two or three +councillors from the Netherlands, among whose names we meet with that of +Hopper, the near friend and associate of Viglius. There was great +unanimity in the opinions of this loyal body, where none, it will be +readily believed, was disposed to lift his voice in favour of reform. +The course of events in the Netherlands, they agreed, plainly showed a +deliberate and well-concerted scheme of the great nobles to secure to +themselves the whole power of the country. The first step was the +removal of Granvelle, a formidable obstacle in their path. Then came the +attempt to concentrate the management of affairs in the hands of the +council of state. This was followed by assaults on the Inquisition and +the edicts, as the things most obnoxious to the people; by the cry in +favor of the states-general; by the league, the Compromise, the +petitions, the religious assemblies; and, finally, by the present +mission to Spain. All was devised by the great nobles, as part of a +regular system of hostility to the crown, the real object of which was +to overturn existing institutions, and to build up their own authority +on the ruins. While the council regarded these proceedings with the +deepest indignation, they admitted the necessity of bending to the +storm, and under present circumstances judged it prudent for the monarch +to make certain specified concessions to the people of the Netherlands. +Above all, they earnestly besought Philip, if he would still remain +master of this portion of his empire, to defer no longer his visit to +the country.[793] + +The discussions occupied many and long-protracted sittings of the +council; and Philip deeply pondered, in his own closet, on the results, +after the discussions were concluded. Even those most familiar with his +habits were amazed at the long delay of his decision in the present +critical circumstances.[794] The haughty mind of the monarch found it +difficult to bend to the required concessions. At length his answer +came. + +The letter containing it was addressed to his sister, and was dated on +the thirty-first of July, 1566, at the Wood of Segovia,--the same place +from which he had dictated his memorable despatches the year preceding. +Philip began, as usual, with expressing his surprise at the continued +troubles of the country. He was not aware that any rigorous procedure +could be charged on the tribunals, or that any change had been made in +the laws since the days of Charles the Fifth. Still, as it was much more +agreeable to his nature to proceed with clemency and love than with +severity,[795] he would conform as far as possible to the desires of his +vassals. + +He was content that the Inquisition should be abolished in the +Netherlands, and in its place be substituted the inquisitorial powers +vested in the bishops. As to the edicts, he was not pleased with the +plan of Moderation devised by Margaret; nor did he believe that any plan +would satisfy the people short of perfect toleration. Still, he would +have his sister prepare another scheme, having due reference to the +maintenance of the Catholic faith and his own authority. This must be +submitted to him, and he would do all that he possibly could in the +matter.[796] Lastly, in respect to a general pardon, as he abhorred +rigor where any other course would answer the end,[797] he was content +that it should be extended to whomever Margaret thought deserving of +it,--always excepting those already condemned, and under a solemn +pledge, moreover, that the nobles would abandon the league, and +henceforth give their hearty support to the government. + +Four days after the date of these despatches, on the second of August, +Philip again wrote to his sister, touching the summoning of the +states-general, which she had so much pressed. He had given the subject, +he said, a most patient consideration, and was satisfied that she had +done right in refusing to call them together. She must not consent to +it. He never would consent to it.[798] He knew too well to what it must +inevitably lead. Yet he would not have her report his decision in the +absolute and peremptory terms in which he had given it to her, but as +intended merely for the present occasion; so that the people might +believe she was still looking for something of a different tenor, and +cherish the hope of obtaining their object at some future day![799] + +The king also wrote, that he should remit a sufficient sum to Margaret +to enable her to take into her pay a body of ten thousand German foot +and three thousand horse, on which she could rely in case of extremity. +He further wrote letters with his own hand to the governors of the +provinces and the principal cities, calling on them to support the +regent in her efforts to enforce the laws and maintain order throughout +the country.[800] + +Such were the concessions granted by Philip, at the eleventh hour, to +his subjects of the Netherlands!--concessions wrung from him by hard +necessity; doled out, as it were, like the scanty charity of the +miser,--too scanty and too late to serve the object for which it is +intended. But slight as these concessions were, and crippled by +conditions which rendered them nearly nugatory, it will hardly be +believed that he was not even sincere in making them! This is proved by +a revelation lately made of a curious document in the Archives of +Simancas. + +[Sidenote: PHILIP'S CONCESSIONS.] + +While the ink was scarcely dry on the despatches to Margaret, Philip +summoned a notary into his presence, and before the duke of Alva and +two other persons, jurists, solemnly protested that the authority he had +given to the regent in respect to a general pardon was not of his own +free will. "He therefore did not feel bound by it, but reserved to +himself the right to punish the guilty, and especially the authors and +abettors of sedition in the Low Countries."[801] We feel ourselves at +once transported into the depths of the Middle Ages. This feeling will +not be changed when we learn the rest of the story of this admirable +piece of kingcraft. + +The chair of St. Peter, at this time, was occupied by Pius the Fifth, a +pope who had assumed the same name as his predecessor, and who displayed +a spirit of fierce, indeed frantic intolerance, surpassing even that of +Paul the Fourth. At the accession of the new pope there were three +Italian scholars, inhabitants of Milan, Venice, and Tuscany, eminent for +their piety, who had done great service to the cause of letters in +Italy, but who were suspected of too liberal opinions in matters of +faith. Pius the Fifth demanded that these scholars should all be +delivered into his hands. The three states had the meanness to comply. +The unfortunate men were delivered up to the Holy Office, condemned, and +burned at the stake. This was one of the first acts of the new +pontificate. It proclaimed to Christendom that Pius the Fifth was the +uncompromising foe of heresy, the pope of the Inquisition. Every +subsequent act of his reign served to confirm his claim to this +distinction. + +Yet, as far as the interests of Catholicism were concerned, a character +like that of Pius the Fifth must be allowed to have suited the times. +During the latter part of the fifteenth century and the beginning of the +sixteenth, the throne had been filled by a succession of pontiffs +notorious for their religious indifference, and their carelessness, too +often profligacy, of life. This, as is well known, was one of the +prominent causes of the Reformation. A reaction followed. It was +necessary to save the Church. A race of men succeeded, of ascetic +temper, remarkable for their austere virtues, but without a touch of +sympathy for the joys or sorrows of their species, and wholly devoted to +the great work of regenerating the fallen Church. As the influence of +the former popes had opened a career to the Reformation, the influence +of these latter popes tended materially to check it; and long before the +close of the sixteenth century the boundary line was defined, which it +has never since been allowed to pass. + +Pius, as may be imagined, beheld with deep anxiety the spread of the new +religion in the Low Countries. He wrote to the duchess of Parma, +exhorting her to resist to the utmost, and professing his readiness to +supply her, if need were, with both men and money. To Philip he also +wrote, conjuring him not to falter in the good cause, and to allow no +harm to the Catholic faith, but to march against his rebellious vassals +at the head of his army, and wash out the stain of heresy in the blood +of the heretic.[802] + +The king now felt it incumbent on him to explain to the holy father his +late proceedings. This he did through Requesens, his ambassador at the +papal court. The minister was to inform his holiness that Philip would +not have moved in this matter without his advice, had there been time +for it. But perhaps it was better as it was; for the abolition of the +Inquisition in the Low Countries could not take effect, after all, +unless sanctioned by the pope, by whose authority it had been +established. This, however, was _to be said in confidence_.[803] As to +the edicts, Pius might be assured that his majesty would never approve +of any scheme which favored the guilty by diminishing in any degree the +penalties of their crimes. This also _was to be considered as +secret_.[804] Lastly, his holiness need not be scandalized by the grant +of a general pardon, since it referred only to what concerned the king +personally, where he had a right to grant it. In fine, the pope might +rest assured that the king would consent to nothing that could prejudice +the service of God or the interests of religion. He deprecated force, as +that would involve the ruin of the country. Still, he would march in +person, without regard to his own peril, and employ force, though it +should cost the ruin of the provinces, but he would bring his vassals to +submission. For he would sooner lose a hundred lives, and every rood of +empire, than reign a lord over heretics.[805] + +[Sidenote: CATHEDRAL OF ANTWERP SACKED.] + +Thus all the concessions of Philip, not merely his promises of grace, +but those of abolishing the Inquisition and mitigating the edicts, were +to go for nothing,--mere words, to amuse the people until some effectual +means could be decided on. The king must be allowed, for once at least, +to have spoken with candor. There are few persons who would not have +shrunk from acknowledging to their own hearts that they were acting on +so deliberate a system of perfidy as Philip thus confided in his +correspondence with another. Indeed, he seems to have regarded the pope +in the light of his confessor, to whom he was to unburden his bosom as +frankly as if he had been in the confessional. The shrift was not likely +to bring down a heavy penance from one who doubtless held to the +orthodox maxim of "No faith to be kept with heretics." + +The result of these royal concessions was what might have been expected. +Crippled as they were by conditions, they were regarded in the Low +Countries with distrust, not to say contempt. In fact, the point at +which Philip had so slowly and painfully arrived had been long since +passed in the onward march of the revolution. The men of the Netherlands +now talked much more of recompense than of pardon. By a curious +coincidence, the thirty-first of July, the day on which the king wrote +his last despatches from Segovia, was precisely the date of those which +Margaret sent to him from Brussels, giving the particulars of the recent +troubles, of the meeting at St. Trond, the demand for a guaranty, and +for an immediate summons of the legislature. + +But the fountain of royal grace had been completely drained by the late +efforts. Philip's reply at this time was prompt and to the point. As to +the guaranty, he said, that was superfluous when he had granted a +general pardon. For the states-general, there was no need to alter his +decision now, since he was so soon to be present in the country.[806] + +This visit of the king to the Low Countries, respecting which so much +was said and so little was done, seems to have furnished some amusement +to the wits of the court. The prince of Asturias, Don Carlos, scribbled +one day on the cover of a blank book, as its title, "The Great and +Admirable Voyages of King Philip;" and within, for the contents, he +wrote, "From Madrid to the Pardo, from the Pardo to the Escorial, from +the Escorial to Aranjuez," &c., &c.[807] This jest of the graceless son +had an edge to it. We are not told how far it was relished by his royal +father. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE ICONOCLASTS. + +Cathedral of Antwerp sacked.--Sacrilegious Outrages.--Alarm at +Brussels.--Churches granted to Reformers.--Margaret repents her +Concessions.--Feeling at Madrid.--Sagacity of Orange.--His Religious +Opinions. + +1566. + + +While Philip was thus tardily coming to concessions which even then were +not sincere, an important crisis had arrived in the affairs of the +Netherlands. In the earlier stages of the troubles, all orders, the +nobles, the commons, even the regent, had united in the desire to +obtain the removal of certain abuses, especially the Inquisition and the +edicts. But this movement, in which the Catholic joined with the +Protestant, had far less reference to the interests of religion than to +the personal rights of the individual. Under the protection thus +afforded, however, the Reformation struck deep root in the soil. It +nourished still more under the favor shown to it by the confederates, +who, as we have seen, did not scruple to guaranty security of religions +worship to some of the sectaries who demanded it. + +But the element which contributed most to the success of the new +religion was the public preachings. These in the Netherlands were what +the Jacobin clubs were in France, or the secret societies in Germany and +Italy,--an obvious means for bringing together such as were pledged to a +common hostility to existing institutions, and thus affording them an +opportunity for consulting on their grievances, and for concerting the +best means of redress. The direct object of these meetings, it is true, +was to listen to the teachings of the minister. But that functionary, +far from confining himself to spiritual exercises, usually wandered to +more exciting themes, as the corruptions of the Church and the condition +of the land. He rarely failed to descant on the forlorn circumstances of +himself and his flock, condemned thus stealthily to herd together like a +band of outlaws, with ropes, as it were, about their necks, and to seek +out some solitary spot in which to glorify the Lord, while their +enemies, in all the pride of a dominant religion, could offer up their +devotions openly and without fear, in magnificent temples. The preacher +inveighed bitterly against the richly benefited clergy of the rival +Church, whose lives of pampered ease too often furnished an indifferent +commentary on the doctrines they inculcated. His wrath was kindled by +the pompous ceremonial of the Church of Rome, so dazzling and attractive +to its votaries, but which the Reformer sourly contrasted with the naked +simplicity of the Protestant service. Of all abominations, however, the +greatest in his eyes was the worship of images, which he compared to the +idolatry that in ancient times had so often brought down the vengeance +of Jehovah on the nations of Palestine; and he called on his hearers, +not merely to remove idolatry from their hearts, but the idols from +their sight.[808] It was not wonderful that, thus stimulated by their +spiritual leaders, the people should be prepared for scenes similar to +those enacted by the Reformers in France and in Scotland; or that +Margaret, aware of the popular feeling, should have predicted such an +outbreak. At length it came, and on a scale and with a degree of +violence not surpassed either by the Huguenots or the disciples of Knox. + +On the fourteenth of August, the day before the festival of the +Assumption of the Virgin, a mob, some three hundred in number, armed +with clubs, axes, and other implements of destruction, broke into the +churches around St. Omer, in the province of Flanders, overturned the +images, defaced the ornaments, and in a short time demolished whatever +had any value or beauty in the buildings. Growing bolder from the +impunity which attended their movements, they next proceeded to Ypres, +and had the audacity to break into the cathedral, and deal with it in +the same ruthless manner. Strengthened by the accession of other +miscreants from the various towns, they proceeded along the banks of the +Lys, and fell upon the churches of Menin, Comines, and other places on +its borders. The excitement now spread over the country. Everywhere the +populace was in arms. Churches, chapels, and convents were involved in +indiscriminate ruin. The storm, after sweeping over Flanders, and +desolating the flourishing cities of Valenciennes and Tournay, +descended on Brabant. Antwerp, the great commercial capital of the +country, was its first mark.[809] + +[Sidenote: CATHEDRAL OF ANTWERP SACKED.] + +The usual population of the town happened to be swelled at this time by +an influx of strangers from the neighboring country, who had come up to +celebrate the great festival of the Assumption of the Virgin. +Fortunately the prince of Orange was in the place, and by his presence +prevented any molestation to the procession, except what arose from the +occasional groans and hisses of the more zealous spectators among the +Protestants. The priests, however, on their return, had the discretion +to deposit the image in the chapel, instead of the conspicuous station +usually assigned to it in the cathedral, to receive there during the +coming week the adoration of the faithful. + +On the following day, unluckily, the prince was recalled to Brussels. In +the evening some boys, who had found their way into the church, called +out to the Virgin, demanding "why little Mary had gone so early to her +nest, and whether she were afraid to show her face in public."[810] This +was followed by one of the party mounting into the pulpit, and there +mimicking the tones and gestures of the Catholic preacher. An honest +waterman who was present, a zealous son of the Church, scandalized by +this insult to his religion, sprang into the pulpit, and endeavored to +dislodge the usurper. The lad resisted. His comrades came to his rescue; +and a struggle ensued, which ended in both the parties being expelled +from the building by the officers.[811] This scandalous proceeding, it +may be thought, should have put the magistrates of the city on their +guard, and warned them to take some measures of defence for the +cathedral. But the admonition was not heeded. + +On the following day a considerable number of the reformed party entered +the building, and were allowed to continue there after vespers, when the +rest of the congregation had withdrawn. Left in possession, their first +act was to break forth into one of the Psalms of David. The sound of +their own voices seemed to rouse them to fury. Before the chant had died +away, they rushed forward as by a common impulse, broke open the doors +of the chapel, and dragged forth the image of the Virgin. Some called on +her to cry, "_Vivent les Gueux!_" while others tore off her embroidered +robes, and rolled the dumb idol in the dust, amidst the shouts of the +spectators. + +This was the signal for havoc. The rioters dispersed in all directions +on the work of destruction. Nothing escaped their rage. High above the +great altar was an image of the Saviour, curiously carved in wood, and +placed between the effigies of the two thieves crucified with him. The +mob contrived to get a rope round the neck of the statue of Christ, and +dragged it to the ground. They then fell upon it with hatchets and +hammers, and it was soon broken into a hundred fragments. The two +thieves, it was remarked, were spared, as if to preside over the work of +rapine below. + +Their fury now turned against the other statues, which were quickly +overthrown from their pedestals. The paintings that lined the walls of +the cathedral were cut into shreds. Many of these were the choicest +specimens of Flemish art, even then, in its dawn, giving promise of the +glorious day which was to shed a lustre over the land. + +But the pride of the cathedral, and of Antwerp, was the great organ, +renowned throughout the Netherlands, not more for its dimensions than +its perfect workmanship. With their ladders the rioters scaled the lofty +fabric, and with their implements soon converted it, like all else they +laid their hands on, into a heap of rubbish. + +The ruin was now universal. Nothing beautiful, nothing holy, was spared. +The altars--and there were no less than seventy in the vast +edifice--were overthrown one after another; their richly embroidered +coverings rudely rent away; their gold and silver vessels appropriated +by the plunderers. The sacramental bread was trodden under foot; the +wine was quaffed by the miscreants, in golden chalices, to the health of +one another, or of the Gueux; and the holy oil was profanely used to +anoint their shoes and sandals. The sculptured tracery on the walls, the +costly offerings that enriched the shrines, the screens of gilded +bronze, the delicately carved wood-work of the pulpit, the marble and +alabaster ornaments, all went down under the fierce blows of the +iconoclasts. The pavement was strewed with the ruined splendors of a +church, which in size and magnificence was perhaps second only to St. +Peter's among the churches of Christendom. + +As the light of day faded, the assailants supplied its place with such +light as they could obtain from the candles which they snatched from the +altars. It was midnight before the work of destruction was completed. +Thus toiling in darkness, feebly dispelled by tapers the rays of which +could scarcely penetrate the vaulted distances of the cathedral, it is a +curious circumstance--if true--than no one was injured by the heavy +masses of timber, stone, and metal that were everywhere falling around +them.[812] The whole number engaged in this work is said not to have +exceeded a hundred men, women, and boys,--women of the lowest +description, dressed in men's attire. + +When their task was completed, they sallied forth in a body from the +doors of the cathedral, some singing the Psalms of David, others roaring +out the fanatical war-cry of "_Vivent les Gueux!_" Flushed with success, +and joined on the way by stragglers like themselves, they burst open the +doors of one church after another; and by the time morning broke, the +principal temples in the city had been dealt with in the same ruthless +manner as the cathedral.[813] + +No attempt all this time was made to stop these proceedings on the part +of magistrates or citizens. As they beheld from their windows the bodies +of armed men hurrying to and fro by the gleam of their torches, and +listened to the sounds of violence in the distance, they seem to have +been struck with a panic. The Catholics remained within doors, fearing a +general rising of the Protestants. The Protestants feared to move +abroad, lest they should be confounded with the rioters. Some imagined +their own turn might come next, and appeared in arms at the entrances of +their houses, prepared to defend them against the enemy. + +[Sidenote: SACRILEGIOUS OUTRAGES.] + +When gorged with the plunder of the city, the insurgents poured out at +the gates, and fell with the same violence on the churches, convents, +and other religious edifices in the suburbs. For three days these dismal +scenes continued, without resistance on the part of the inhabitants. +Amidst the ruin in the cathedral, the mob had alone spared the royal +arms and the escutcheons of the knights of the Golden Fleece, emblazoned +on the walls. Calling this to mind, they now returned into the city to +complete the work. But some of the knights, who were at Antwerp, +collected a handful of their followers, and, with a few of the citizens, +forced their way into the cathedral, arrested ten or twelve of the +rioters, and easily dispersed the remainder; while a gallows erected on +an eminence admonished the offenders of the fate that awaited them. The +facility with which the disorders were repressed by a few resolute men +naturally suggests the inference, that many of the citizens had too much +sympathy with the authors of the outrages to care to check them, still +less to bring the culprits to punishment. An orthodox chronicler of the +time vents his indignation against a people who were so much more ready +to stand by their hearths than by their altars.[814] + +The fate of Antwerp had its effect on the country. The flames of +fanaticism, burning fiercer than ever, quickly spread over the northern, +as they had done over the western provinces. In Holland, Utrecht, +Friesland,--everywhere, in short, with a few exceptions on the southern +borders,--mobs rose against the churches. In some places, as Rotterdam, +Dort, Haarlem, the magistrates were wary enough to avert the storm by +delivering up the images, or at least by removing them from the +buildings.[815] It was rare that any attempt was made at resistance. Yet +on one or two occasions this so far succeeded that a handful of troops +sufficed to rout the iconoclasts. At Anchyn, four hundred of the rabble +were left dead on the field. But the soldiers had no relish for their +duty, and on other occasions, when called on to perform it, refused to +bear arms against their countrymen.[816] The leaven of heresy was too +widely spread among the people. + +Thus the work of plunder and devastation went on vigorously throughout +the land. Cathedral and chapel, monastery and nunnery, religious houses +of every description, even hospitals, were delivered up to the tender +mercies of the Reformers. The monks fled, leaving behind them treasures +of manuscripts and well-stored cellars, which latter the invaders soon +emptied of their contents, while they consigned the former to the +flames. The terrified nuns, escaping half naked, at dead of night, from +their convents, were too happy to find a retreat among their friends and +kinsmen in the city.[817] Neither monk nor nun ventured to go abroad in +the conventual garb. Priests might be sometimes seen hurrying away with +some relic or sacred treasure under their robes, which they were eager +to save from the spoilers. In the general sack not even the abode of the +dead was respected; and the sepulchres of the counts of Flanders were +violated, and laid open to the public gaze![818] + +The deeds of violence perpetrated by the iconoclasts were accompanied by +such indignities as might express their contempt for the ancient faith. +They snatched the wafer, says an eye-witness, from the altar, and put it +into the mouth of a parrot. Some huddled the images of the saints +together, and set them on fire, or covered them with bits of armor, and, +shouting "_Vivent les Gueux!_" tilted rudely against them. Some put on +the vestments stolen from the churches, and ran about the streets with +them in mockery. Some basted the books with butter, that they might burn +the more briskly.[819] By the scholar, this last enormity will not be +held light among their transgressions. It answered their purpose, to +judge by the number of volumes that were consumed. Among the rest, the +great library of Vicogne, one of the noblest collections in the +Netherlands, perished in the flames kindled by these fanatics.[820] + +The amount of injury inflicted during this dismal period it is not +possible to estimate. Four hundred churches were sacked by the +insurgents in Flanders alone.[821] The damage to the cathedral of +Antwerp, including its precious contents, was said to amount to not less +than four hundred thousand ducats![822] The loss occasioned by the +plunder of gold and silver plate might be computed. The structures so +cruelly defaced might be repaired by the skill of the architect. But who +can estimate the irreparable loss occasioned by the destruction of +manuscripts, statuary, and paintings? It is a melancholy fact, that the +earliest efforts of the Reformers were everywhere directed against those +monuments of genius which had been created and cherished by the generous +patronage of Catholicism. But if the first step of the Reformation was +on the ruins of art, it cannot be denied that a compensation has been +found in the good which it has done by breaking the fetters of the +intellect, and opening a free range in those domains of science to which +all access had been hitherto denied. + +The wide extent of the devastation was not more remarkable than the time +in which it was accomplished. The whole work occupied less than a +fortnight. It seemed as if the destroying angel had passed over the +land, and at a blow had consigned its noblest edifices to ruin! The +method and discipline, if I may so say, in the movements of the +iconoclasts, were as extraordinary as their celerity. They would seem to +have been directed by some other hands than those which met the vulgar +eye. The quantity of gold and silver plate purloined from the churches +and convents was immense. Though doubtless sometimes appropriated by +individuals, it seems not unfrequently to have been gathered in a heap, +and delivered to the minister, who, either of himself, or by direction +of the consistory, caused it to be melted down, and distributed among +the most needy of the sectaries.[823] We may sympathize with the +indignation of a Catholic writer of the time, who exclaims, that in this +way the poor churchmen were made to pay for the scourges with which they +had been beaten.[824] + +[Sidenote: ALARM AT BRUSSELS.] + +The tidings of the outbreak fell heavily on the ears of the court of +Brussels, where the regent, notwithstanding her prediction of the +event, was not any the better prepared for it. She at once called her +counsellors together and demanded their aid in defending the religion of +the country against its enemies. But the prince of Orange and his +friends discouraged a resort to violent measures, as little likely to +prevail in the present temper of the people. "First," said Egmont, "let +us provide for the security of the state. It will be time enough then to +think of religion." "No," said Margaret, warmly; "the service of God +demands our first care; for the ruin of religion would be a greater evil +than the loss of the country."[825] "Those who have anything to lose in +it," replied the count, somewhat coolly, "will probably be of a +different opinion,"[826]--an answer that greatly displeased the duchess. + +Rumors now came thick on one another of the outrages committed by the +image-breakers. Fears were entertained that their next move would be on +the capital itself. Hitherto the presence of the regent had preserved +Brussels, notwithstanding some transient demonstrations among the +people, from the spirit of reform which had convulsed the rest of the +country. No public meetings had been held either in the city or the +suburbs; for Margaret had declared she would hang up, not only the +preacher, but all those who attended him.[827] The menace had its +effect. Thus keeping aloof from the general movement of the time, the +capital was looked on with an evil eye by the surrounding country; and +reports were rife, that the iconoclasts were preparing to march in such +force on the place, as should enable them to deal with it as they had +done with Antwerp and the other cities of Brabant. + +The question now arose as to the course to be pursued in the present +exigency. The prince of Orange and his friends earnestly advised that +Margaret should secure the aid of the confederates by the concessions +they had so strenuously demanded; in the next place, that she should +conciliate the Protestants by consenting to their religious meetings. To +the former she made no objection. But the latter she peremptorily +refused. "It would be the ruin of our holy religion," she said. It was +in vain they urged, that two hundred thousand sectaries were in arms; +that they were already in possession of the churches; that, if she +persisted in her refusal, they would soon be in Brussels, and massacre +every priest and Roman Catholic before her eyes![828] Notwithstanding +this glowing picture of the horrors in store for her, Margaret remained +inflexible. But her agitation was excessive: she felt herself alone in +her extremity. The party of Granvelle she had long since abandoned. The +party of Orange seemed now ready to abandon her. "I am pressed by +enemies within and without," she wrote to Philip; "there is no one on +whom I can rely for counsel or for aid."[829] Distrust and anxiety +brought on a fever, and for several days and nights she lay tossing +about, suffering equally from distress of body and anguish of +spirit.[830] + +Thus sorely perplexed, Margaret felt also the most serious apprehensions +for her personal safety. With the slight means of defence at her +command, Brussels seemed no longer a safe residence, and she finally +came to the resolution to extricate herself from the danger and +difficulties of her situation by a precipitate flight. After a brief +consultation with Barlaimont, Arschot, and others of the party opposed +to the prince of Orange, and hitherto little in her confidence, she +determined to abandon the capital, and seek a refuge in Mons,--a strong +town in Hainault, belonging to the duke of Arschot, which, from its +sturdy attachment to the Romish faith, had little to fear from the +fanatics. + +Having completed her preparations with the greatest secrecy, on the day +fixed for her flight Margaret called her council together to communicate +her design. It met with the most decided opposition, not merely from the +lords with whom she had hitherto acted, but from the president Viglius. +They all united in endeavoring to turn her from a measure which would +plainly intimate such a want of confidence on the part of the duchess as +must dishonor them in the eyes of the world. The preparations for +Margaret's flight had not been conducted so secretly but that some rumor +of them had taken wind; and the magistrates of the city now waited on +her in a body, and besought her not to leave them, defenceless as they +were, to the mercy of their enemies. + +The prince was heard to say, that, if the regent thus abandoned the +government, it would be necessary to call the states-general together at +once, to take measures for the protection of the country.[831] And +Egmont declared that, if she fled to Mons, he would muster forty +thousand men, and besiege Mons in person.[832] The threat was not a vain +one, for no man in the country could have gathered such a force under +his banner more easily than Egmont. The question seems to have been +finally settled by the magistrates causing the gates of the town to be +secured, and a strong guard placed over them, with orders to allow no +passage either to the duchess or her followers.--Thus a prisoner in her +own capital, Margaret conformed to necessity, and, with the best grace +she could, consented to relinquish her scheme of departure.[833] + +[Sidenote: CHURCHES GRANTED TO REFORMERS.] + +The question now recurred as to the course to be pursued; and the more +she pondered on the embarrassments of her position, the more she became +satisfied that no means of extricating herself remained but that +proposed by the nobles. Yet, in thus yielding to necessity, she did so +protesting that she was acting under compulsion.[834] On the +twenty-third of August, Margaret executed an instrument, by which she +engaged that no harm should come to the members of the league for +anything hitherto done by them. She further authorized the lords to +announce to the confederates her consent to the religious meetings of +the Reformed, in places where they had been hitherto held, until his +majesty and the states-general should otherwise determine. It was on the +condition, however, that they should go there unarmed, and nowhere offer +disturbance to the Catholics. + +On the twenty-fifth of the month the confederate nobles signed an +agreement on their part and solemnly swore that they would aid the +regent to the utmost in suppressing the disorders of the country, and in +bringing their authors to justice; agreeing, moreover, that, so long as +the regent should be true to the compact, the league should be +considered as null and void.[835] + +The feelings of Margaret, in making the concessions required of her, may +be gathered from the perusal of her private correspondence with her +brother. No act in her public life ever caused her so deep a +mortification; and she never forgave the authors of it. "It was forced +upon me," she writes to Philip; "but, happily, you will not be bound by +it." And she beseeches him to come at once, in such strength as would +enable him to conquer the country for himself, or to give her the means +of doing so.[836]--Margaret, in early life, had been placed in the hands +of Ignatius Loyola. More than one passage in her history proves that the +lessons of the Jesuit had not been thrown away. + +During these discussions the panic had been such, that it was thought +advisable to strengthen the garrison under command of Count Mansfeldt, +and keep the greater part of the citizens under arms day and night. When +this arrangement was concluded, the great lords dispersed on their +mission to restore order in their several governments. The prince went +first to Antwerp, where, as we have seen, he held the office of +burgrave. He made strict investigation into the causes of the late +tumult, hung three of the ringleaders, and banished three others. He +found it, however, no easy matter to come to terms with the sectaries, +who had possession of all the churches, from which they had driven the +Catholics. After long negotiation, it was arranged that they should be +allowed to hold six, and should resign the rest to the ancient +possessors. The arrangement gave general satisfaction, and the principal +citizens and merchants congratulated William on having rescued them from +the evils of anarchy. + +Not so the regent. She knew well that the example of Antwerp would +become a precedent for the rest of the country. She denounced the +compact, as compromising the interests of Catholicism, and openly +accused the prince of having transcended his powers, and betrayed the +trust reposed in him. Finally, she wrote, commanding him at once to +revoke his concessions. + +William, in answer, explained to her the grounds on which they had been +made, and their absolute necessity, in order to save the city from +anarchy. It is a strong argument in his favor, that the Protestants, who +already claimed the prince as one of their own sect, accused him, in +this instance, of sacrificing their cause to that of their enemies; and +caricatures of him were made, representing him with open hands and a +double face.[837] William, while thus explaining his conduct, did not +conceal his indignation at the charges brought against him by the +regent, and renewed his request for leave to resign his offices, since +he no longer enjoyed her confidence. But whatever disgust she may have +felt at his present conduct, William's services were too important to +Margaret in this crisis to allow her to dispense with them; and she +made haste to write to him in a conciliatory tone, explaining away as +far as possible what had been offensive in her former letters. Yet from +this hour the consciousness of mutual distrust raised a barrier between +the parties never to be overcome.[838] + +William next proceeded to his governments of Utrecht and Holland, which, +by a similar course of measures to that pursued at Antwerp, he soon +restored to order. While in Utrecht, he presented to the states of the +province a memorial, in which he briefly reviewed the condition of the +country. He urged the necessity of religious toleration, as demanded by +the spirit of the age, and as particularly necessary in a country like +that, the resort of so many foreigners, and inhabited by sects of such +various denominations. He concluded by recommending them to lay a +petition to that effect before the throne,--not, probably, from any +belief that such a petition would be heeded by the monarch, but from the +effect it would have in strengthening the principles of religious +freedom in his countrymen. William's memorial is altogether a remarkable +paper for the time, and in the wise and liberal tenor of its arguments +strikingly contrasts with the intolerant spirit of the court of +Madrid.[839] + +The regent proved correct in her prediction that the example of Antwerp +would be made a precedent for the country. William's friends, the Counts +Hoorne and Hoogstraten, employed the same means for conciliating the +sectaries in their own governments. It was otherwise with Egmont. He was +too stanch a Catholic at heart to approve of such concessions. He +carried matters, therefore, with a high hand in his provinces of +Flanders and Artois, where his personal authority was unbounded. He made +a severe scrutiny into the causes of the late tumult, and dealt with its +authors so sternly, as to provoke a general complaint among the reformed +party, some of whom, indeed, became so far alarmed for their own safety, +that they left the provinces and went beyond sea. + +Order now seemed to be reestablished in the land, through the efforts of +the nobles, aided by the confederates, who seem to have faithfully +executed their part of the compact with the regent. The Protestants took +possession of the churches assigned to them, or busied themselves with +raising others on the ground before reserved for their meetings. All +joined in the good work; the men laboring at the building, the women +giving their jewels and ornaments to defray the cost of the materials. A +calm succeeded,--a temporary lull after the hurricane; and Lutheran and +Calvinist again indulged in the pleasing illusion, that, however +distasteful it might be to the government, they were at length secure of +the blessings of religious toleration. + +During the occurrence of these events a great change had taken place in +the relations of parties. The Catholic members of the league, who had +proposed nothing beyond the reform of certain glaring abuses, and, least +of all, anything prejudicial to their own religion, were startled as +they saw the inevitable result of the course they were pursuing. Several +of them, as we have seen, had left the league before the outbreak of the +iconoclasts; and after that event, but very few remained in it. The +confederates, on the other hand, lost ground with the people, who looked +with distrust on their late arrangement with the regent, in which they +had so well provided for their own security. The confidence of the +people was not restored by the ready aid which their old allies seemed +willing to afford the great nobles in bringing to justice the authors +of the recent disorders.[840] Thus deserted by many of its own members, +distrusted by the Reformers, and detested by the regent, the league +ceased from that period to exert any considerable influence on the +affairs of the country. + +[Sidenote: MARGARET REPENTS HER CONCESSIONS.] + +A change equally important had taken place in the politics of the court. +The main object with Margaret, from the first, had been to secure the +public tranquillity. To effect this she had more than once so far +deferred to the judgment of William and his friends, as to pursue a +policy not the most welcome to herself. But it had never been her +thought to extend that policy to the point of religious toleration. So +far from it, she declared that, even though the king should admit two +religions in the state, she would rather be torn in pieces than consent +to it.[841] It was not till the coalition of the nobles, that her eyes +were opened to the path she was treading. The subsequent outrages of the +iconoclasts made her comprehend she was on the verge of a precipice. The +concessions wrung from her, at that time, by Orange and his friends, +filled up the measure of her indignation. A great gulf now opened +between her and the party by whom she had been so long directed. Yet +where could she turn for support? One course only remained; and it was +with a bitter feeling that she felt constrained to throw herself into +the arms of the very party which she had almost estranged from her +counsels. In her extremity she sent for the president Viglius, on whose +head she had poured out so many anathemas in her correspondence with +Philip,--whom she had not hesitated to charge with the grossest +peculation. + +Margaret sent for the old councillor, and, with tears in her eyes, +demanded his advice in the present exigency. The president naturally +expressed his surprise at this mark of confidence from one who had so +carefully excluded him from her counsels for the last two years. +Margaret, after some acknowledgment of her mistake, intimated a hope +that this would be no impediment to his giving her the counsel she now +so much needed. Viglius answered by inquiring whether she were prepared +faithfully to carry out what she knew to be the will of the king. On +Margaret's replying in the affirmative, he recommended that she should +put the same question to each member of her cabinet. "Their answers," +said the old statesman, "will show you whom you are to trust." The +question--the touchstone of loyalty--was accordingly put; and the +minister, who relates the anecdote himself, tells us that three only, +Mansfeldt, Barlaimont, and Arschot, were prepared to stand by the regent +in carrying out the policy of the crown. From that hour the regent's +confidence was transferred from the party with which she had hitherto +acted, to their rivals.[842] + +It is amusing to trace the change of Margaret's sentiments in her +correspondence of this period with her brother. "Orange and Hoorne prove +themselves, by word and by deed, enemies of God and the king."[843] Of +Egmont she speaks no better. "With all his protestations of loyalty," +she fears he is only plotting mischief to the state. "He has openly +joined the Gueux, and his eldest daughter is reported to be a +Huguenot."[844] Her great concern is for the safety of Viglius, "almost +paralyzed by his fears, as the people actually threaten to tear him in +pieces."[845] The factious lords conduct affairs according to their own +pleasure in the council; and it is understood they are negotiating at +the present moment to bring about a collision between the Protestants of +Germany, France, and England, hoping in the end to drive the house of +Austria from the throne, to shake off the yoke of Spain from the +Netherlands, and divide the provinces among themselves and their +friends![846] Margaret's credulity seems to have been in proportion to +her hatred, and her hatred in proportion to her former friendship. So it +was in her quarrel with Granvelle, and she now dealt the same measure to +the men who had succeeded that minister in her confidence. + +The prince of Orange cared little for the regent's estrangement. He had +long felt that his own path lay wide asunder from that of the +government, and, as we have seen, had more than once asked leave to +resign his offices, and withdraw into private life. Hoorne viewed the +matter with equal indifference. He had also asked leave to retire, +complaining that his services had been poorly requited by the +government. He was a man of a bold, impatient temper. In a letter to +Philip he told him that it was not the regent, but his majesty, of whom +he complained, for compelling him to undergo the annoyance of dancing +attendance at the court of Brussels![847] He further added, that he had +not discussed his conduct with the duchess, as it was not his way to +treat of affairs of honor with ladies![848] There was certainly no want +of plain-dealing in this communication with majesty. + +Count Egmont took the coolness of the regent in a very different manner. +It touched his honor, perhaps his vanity, to be thus excluded from her +confidence. He felt it the more keenly as he was so loyal at heart, and +strongly attached to the Romish faith. On the other hand, his generous +nature was deeply sensible to the wrongs of his countrymen. Thus drawn +in opposite directions, he took the middle course,--by no means the +safest in politics. Under these opposite influences he remained in a +state of dangerous irresolution. His sympathy with the cause of the +confederates lost him the confidence of the government. His loyalty to +the government excluded him from the councils of the confederates. And +thus, though perhaps the most popular man in the Netherlands, there was +no one who possessed less real influence in public affairs.[849] + +[Sidenote: THE FEELING AT MADRID.] + +The tidings of the tumults in the Netherlands, which travelled with the +usual expedition of evil news, caused as great consternation at the +court of Castile as it had done at that of Brussels. Philip, on +receiving his despatches, burst forth, it is said, into the most violent +fit of anger, and, tearing his beard, he exclaimed, "It shall cost them +dear; by the soul of my father I swear it, it shall cost them +dear!"[850] The anecdote, often repeated, rests on the authority of +Granvelle's correspondent, Morillon. If it be true, it affords a +solitary exception to the habitual self-command--displayed in +circumstances quite as trying--of the "prudent" monarch. The account +given by Hopper, who was with the court at the time, is the more +probable of the two. According to that minister, the king, when he +received the tidings, lay ill of a tertian fever at Segovia. As letter +after letter came to him with particulars of the tumult, he maintained +his usual serenity, exhibiting no sign of passion or vexation. Though +enfeebled by his malady, he allowed himself no repose, but gave +unremitting attention to business.[851] He read all the despatches; made +careful notes of their contents, sending such information as he deemed +best to his council, for their consideration; and, as his health mended, +occasionally attended in person the discussions of that body. + +One can feel but little doubt as to the light in which the proceedings +in the Netherlands were regarded by the royal council of Castile. Yet it +did not throw the whole, or even the chief blame, on the iconoclasts. +They were regarded as mere tools in the hands of the sectaries. The +sectaries, on their part, were, it was said, moved by the confederates, +on whom they leaned for protection. The confederates, in their turn, +made common cause with the great lords, to whom many of them were bound +by the closest ties of friendship and of blood. By this ingenious chain +of reasoning, all were made responsible for the acts of violence; but +the chief responsibility lay on the heads of the great nobles, on whom +all in the last resort depended. It was against them that the public +indignation should be directed, not against the meaner offenders, over +whom alone the sword of justice had been hitherto suspended. But the +king should dissemble his sentiments until he was in condition to call +these great vassals to account for their misdeeds. All joined in +beseeching Philip to defer no longer his visit to Flanders; and most of +them recommended that he should go in such force as to look down +opposition, and crush the rebellion in its birth. + +Such was the counsel of Alva, in conformity with that which he had +always given on the subject. But although all concurred in urging the +king to expedite his departure, some of the councillors followed the +prince of Eboli in advising Philip that, instead of this warlike +panoply, he should go in peaceable guise, accompanied only by such a +retinue as befitted the royal dignity. Each of the great rivals +recommended the measures most congenial with his own temper, the +direction of which would no doubt be intrusted to the man who +recommended them. It is not strange that the more violent course should +have found favor with the majority.[852] + +Philip's own decision he kept, as usual, locked in his own bosom. He +wrote indeed to his sister, warning her not to allow the meeting of the +legislature, and announcing his speedy coming,--all as usual; and he +added, that, in repressing the disorders of the country, he should use +no other means than those of gentleness and kindness, under the sanction +of the states.[853] These gentle professions weighed little with those +who, like the prince of Orange, had surer means of arriving at the +king's intent than what were afforded by the royal correspondence. +Montigny, the Flemish envoy, was still in Madrid, held there, sorely +against his will, in a sort of honorable captivity by Philip. In a +letter to his brother, Count Hoorne, he wrote: "Nothing can be in worse +odor than our affairs at the court of Castile. The great lords, in +particular, are considered as the source of all the mischief. Violent +counsels are altogether in the ascendant, and the storm may burst on you +sooner than you think. Nothing remains but to fly from it like a prudent +man, or to face it like a brave one!"[854] + +William had other sources of intelligence, the secret agents whom he +kept in pay at Madrid. From them he learned, not only what was passing +at the court, but in the very cabinet of the monarch; and extracts, +sometimes full copies, of the correspondence of Philip and Margaret, +were transmitted to the prince. Thus the secrets which the most jealous +prince in Europe supposed to be locked in his own breast were often in +possession of his enemies; and William, as we are told, declared that +there was no word of Philip's, public or private, but was reported to +his ears![855] + +[Sidenote: THE FEELING AT MADRID.] + +This secret intelligence, on which the prince expended large sums of +money, was not confined to Madrid. He maintained a similar system of +espionage in Paris, where the court of Castile was busy with its +intrigues for the extermination of heresy. Those who look on these +trickish proceedings as unworthy of the character of the prince of +Orange and the position which he held, should consider that it was in +accordance with the spirit of the age. It was but turning Philip's own +arts against himself, and using the only means by which William could +hope to penetrate the dark and unscrupulous policy of a cabinet whose +chief aim, as he thought, was to subvert the liberties of his country. + +It was at this time that his agents in France intercepted a letter from +Alava, the Spanish minister at the French court. It was addressed to the +duchess of Parma. Among other things, the writer says it is well +understood at Madrid, that the great nobles are at the bottom of the +troubles of Flanders. The king is levying a strong force, with which he +will soon visit the country, and call the three lords to a heavy +reckoning. In the mean time the duchess must be on her guard not by any +change in her deportment to betray her consciousness of this +intent.[856] + +Thus admonished from various quarters, the prince felt that it was no +longer safe for him to remain in his present position; and that in the +words of Montigny, he must be prepared to fight or to fly. He resolved +to take counsel with some of those friends who were similarly situated +with himself. In a communication made to Egmont in order to persuade him +to a conference, William speaks of Philip's military preparations as +equally to be dreaded by Catholic and Protestant; for under the pretext +of religion, Philip had no other object in view than to enslave the +nation. "This has been always feared by us," he adds;[857] "and I cannot +stay to witness the ruin of my country." + +The parties met at Dendermonde on the third of October. Besides the two +friends and Count Hoorne, there were William's brother, Louis, and a few +other persons of consideration. Little is actually known of the +proceedings at this conference, notwithstanding the efforts of more than +one officious chronicler to enlighten us. Their contradictory accounts, +like so many cross lights on his path, serve only to perplex the eye of +the student. It seems probable, however, that the nobles generally, +including the prince, considered the time had arrived for active +measures; and that any armed intrusion on the part of Philip into the +Netherlands should be resisted by force. But Egmont, with all his causes +of discontent, was too loyal at heart not to shrink from the attitude of +rebellion. He had a larger stake than most of the company, in a numerous +family of children, who, in case of a disastrous revolution, would be +thrown helpless on the world. The benignity with which he had been +received by Philip on his mission to Spain, and which subsequent slights +had not effaced from his memory, made him confide, most unhappily, in +the favorable dispositions of the monarch. From whatever motives, the +count refused to become a party to any scheme of resistance; and as his +popularity with the troops made his cooeperation of the last importance, +the conference broke up without coming to a determination.[858] + +Egmont at once repaired to Brussels, whither he had been summoned by the +regent to attend the council of state. Orange and Hoorne received, each, +a similar summons, to which neither of them paid any regard. Before +taking his seat at the board, Egmont showed the duchess Alava's letter, +upbraiding her, at the same time, with her perfidious conduct towards +the nobles. Margaret, who seems to have given way to temper or to tears, +as the exigency demanded, broke forth into a rage, declaring it "an +impudent forgery, and the greatest piece of villany in the world!"[859] +The same sentiment she repeats in a letter addressed soon after to her +brother, in which she asserts her belief that no such letter as that +imputed to Alava had ever been written by him. How far the duchess was +honest in her declaration it is impossible at this day to determine. +Egmont, after passing to other matters, concludes with a remark which +shows, plainly enough, his own opinion of her sincerity. "In fine, she +is a woman educated in Rome. There is no faith to be given to her."[860] + +In her communication above noticed Margaret took occasion to complain to +Philip of his carelessness in regard to her letters. The contents of +them, she said, were known in Flanders almost as soon as at Madrid; and +not only copies, but the original autographs, were circulating in +Brussels. She concludes by begging her brother, if he cannot keep her +letters safe, to burn them.[861] + +The king, in answer, expresses his surprise at her complaints, assuring +Margaret that it is impossible any one can have seen her letters, which +are safely locked up, with the key in his own pocket.[862] It is amusing +to see Philip's incredulity in regard to the practice of those arts on +himself which he had so often practised on others. His sister, however, +seems to have relied henceforth more on her own precautions than on his, +as we find her communications from this time frequently shrouded in +cipher. + +Rumors of Philip's warlike preparations were now rife in the +Netherlands; and the Protestants began to take counsel as to the best +means of providing for their own defence. One plan suggested was to send +thirty thousand Calvinistic tracts to Seville for distribution among the +Spaniards.[863] This would raise a good crop of heresy, and give the +king work to do in his own dominions. It would, in short, be carrying +the war into the enemy's country. The plan, it must be owned, had the +merit of novelty. + +[Sidenote: WILLIAM'S RELIGIOUS OPINIONS.] + +In Holland the nobles and merchants mutually bound themselves to stand +by one another in asserting the right of freedom of conscience.[864] +Levies went forward briskly in Germany, under the direction of Count +Louis of Nassau. It was attempted, moreover, to interest the Protestant +princes of that country so far in the fate of their brethren in the +Netherlands as to induce them to use their good offices with Philip to +dissuade him from violent measures. The emperor had already offered +privately his own mediation to the king, to bring about, if possible, a +better understanding with his Flemish subjects.[865] The offer made in +so friendly a spirit, though warmly commended by some of the council, +seems to have found no favor in the eyes of their master.[866] + +The princes of Germany who had embraced the Reformation were Lutherans. +They had almost as little sympathy with the Calvinists as with the +Catholics. Men of liberal minds in the Netherlands, like William and his +brother, would gladly have seen the two great Protestant parties which +divided their country united on some common basis. They would have had +them, in short, in a true Christian spirit, seek out the points on which +they could agree rather than those on which they differed,--points of +difference which, in William's estimation, were after all of minor +importance. He was desirous that the Calvinists should adopt a +confession of faith accommodated in some degree to the "Confession of +Augsburg,"--a step which would greatly promote their interests with the +princes of Germany.[867] + +But the Calvinists were altogether the dominant party in the Low +Countries. They were thoroughly organized, and held their consistories, +composed of a senate and a sort of lower house, in many of the great +towns, all subordinate to the great consistory at Antwerp. They formed, +in short, what the historian well calls an independent Protestant +republic.[868] Strong in their power, sturdy in their principles, they +refused to bend in any degree to circumstances, or to make any +concession, or any compromise with the weaker party. The German princes, +disgusted with this conduct, showed no disposition to take any active +measures in their behalf, and, although they made some efforts in favor +of the Lutherans, left their Calvinistic brethren in the Netherlands to +their fate. + +It was generally understood, at this time, that the prince of Orange had +embraced Lutheran opinions. His wife's uncle, the landgrave of Hesse, +pressed him publicly to avow his belief. To this the prince objected, +that he should thus become the open enemy of the Catholics, and probably +lose his influence with the Calvinists, already too well disposed to +acts of violence.[869] Yet not long after we find William inquiring of +the landgrave if it would not be well to advise the king, in terms as +little offensive as possible, of his change of religion, asking the +royal permission at the same time, to conform his worship to it.[870] + +William's father had been a Lutheran, and in that faith had lived and +died. In that faith he had educated his son. When only eleven years old, +the latter, as we have seen, was received into the imperial household. +The plastic mind of boyhood readily took its impressions from those +around, and without much difficulty, or indeed examination, William +conformed to the creed fashionable at the court of Castile. In this +faith--if so it should be called--the prince remained during the +lifetime of the emperor. Then came the troubles of the Netherlands; and +William's mind yielded to other influences. He saw the workings of +Catholicism under a terrible aspect. He beheld his countrymen dragged +from their firesides, driven into exile, thrown into dungeons, burned at +the stake; and all this for no other cause than dissent from the dogmas +of the Romish Church. His soul sickened at these enormities, and his +indignation kindled at this invasion of the inalienable right of private +judgment. Thus deeply interested for the oppressed Protestants, it was +natural that William should feel a sympathy for their cause. His wife +too was of the Lutheran persuasion. So was his mother, still surviving. +So were his brothers and sisters, and indeed all those nearest akin to +him. Under these influences, public and domestic, it was not strange, +that he should have been led to review the grounds of his own belief; +that he should have gradually turned to the faith of his parents,--the +faith in which he had been nurtured in childhood.[871] At what precise +period the change in his opinions took place we are not informed. But +his letter to the landgrave of Hesse, in November, 1566, affords, so far +as I am aware, the earliest evidence that exists, under his own hand, +that he had embraced the doctrines of the Reformation. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE REGENT'S AUTHORITY REESTABLISHED. + +Reaction.--Appeal to Arms.--Tumult in Antwerp.--Siege of +Valenciennes.--The Government triumphant. + +1566, 1567. + + +The excesses of the iconoclasts, like most excesses, recoiled on the +heads of those who committed them. The Roman Catholic members of the +league withdrew, as we have seen, from an association which connected +them, however remotely, with deeds so atrocious. Other Catholics, who +had looked with no unfriendly eye on the revolution, now that they saw +it was to go forward over the ruins of their religion, were only eager +to show their detestation of it, and their loyalty to the government. +The Lutherans, who, as already noticed, had never moved in much harmony +with the Calvinists, were anxious to throw the whole blame of the +excesses on the rival sect; and thus the breach, growing wider and wider +between the two great divisions of the Protestants, worked infinite +prejudice to the common cause of reform. Lastly, men like Egmont, who +from patriotic motives had been led to dally with the revolution in its +infancy, seeming indeed almost ready to embrace it, now turned coldly +away, and hastened to make their peace with the regent. + +[Sidenote: REACTION.] + +Margaret felt the accession of strength she was daily deriving from +these divisions of her enemies, and she was not slow to profit by it. As +she had no longer confidence in those on whom she had hitherto relied +for support, she was now obliged to rely more exclusively on herself. +She was indefatigable in her application to business. "I know not," +writes her secretary, Armenteros, "how the regent contrives to live, +amidst the disgusts and difficulties which incessantly beset her. For +some months she has risen before dawn. Every morning and evening, +sometimes oftener, she calls her council together. The rest of the day +and night she is occupied with giving audiences, or with receiving +despatches and letters, or in answering them."[872] + +Margaret now bent all her efforts to retrace the humiliating path into +which she had been led, and to reestablish the fallen authority of the +crown. If she did not actually revoke the concessions wrung from her, +she was careful to define them so narrowly that they should be of little +service to any one. She wrote to the governors of the provinces, that +her license for public preaching was to be taken literally, and was by +no means intended to cover the performance of other religious rites, as +those of baptism, marriage, and burial, which she understood were freely +practised by the reformed ministers. She published an edict reciting the +terrible penalties of the law against all offenders in this way, and she +enjoined the authorities to enforce the execution of it to the +letter.[873] + +The Protestants loudly complained of what they termed a most perfidious +policy on the part of the regent. The right of public preaching, they +said, naturally included that of performing the other religious +ceremonies of the Reformed Church. It was a cruel mockery to allow men +to profess a religion, and yet not to practise the rites which belong to +it.--The construction given by Margaret to her edict must be admitted to +savor somewhat of the spirit of that given by Portia to Shylock's +contract. The pound of flesh might indeed be taken; but if so much as a +drop of blood followed, woe to him that took it! + +This measure was succeeded by others on the part of the government of a +still more decisive character. Instead of the civil magistracy, Margaret +now showed her purpose to call in the aid of a strong military force to +execute the laws. She ordered into the country the levies lately raised +for her in Germany. These she augmented by a number of Walloon +regiments; and she placed them under the command of Aremberg, Megen, and +other leaders in whom she confided. She did not even omit the prince of +Orange, for though Margaret had but little confidence in William, she +did not care to break with him. To the provincial governors she wrote to +strengthen themselves as much as possible by additional recruits; and +she ordered them to introduce garrisons into such places as had shown +favor to the new doctrines. + +The province of Hainault was that which gave the greatest uneasiness to +the regent. The spirit of independence was proverbially high amongst the +people; and the neighborhood of France gave easy access to the Huguenot +ministers, who reaped an abundant harvest in the great towns of that +district. The flourishing commercial city of Valenciennes was +particularly tainted with heresy. Margaret ordered Philip de +Noircarmes, governor of Hainault, to secure the obedience of the place +by throwing into it a garrison of three companies of horse and as many +of foot. + +When the regent's will was announced to the people of Valenciennes, it +met at first with no opposition. But among the ministers in the town was +a Frenchman named La Grange, a bold enthusiast, gifted with a stirring +eloquence, which gave him immense ascendancy over the masses. This man +told the people, that to receive a garrison would be the death-blow to +their liberties, and that those of the reformed religion would be the +first victims. Thus warned, the citizens were now even more unanimous in +refusing a garrison than they had before been in their consent to admit +one. Noircarmes, though much surprised by this sudden change, gave the +inhabitants some days to consider the matter before placing themselves +in open resistance to the government. The magistrates and some of the +principal persons in the town were willing to obey his requisition, and +besought La Grange to prevail on the people to consent to it. "I would +rather," replied the high-spirited preacher, "that my tongue should +cleave to the roof of my mouth, and that I should become dumb as a fish, +than open my lips to persuade the people to consent to so cruel and +outrageous an act."[874] Finding the inhabitants still obstinate, the +general, by Margaret's orders, proclaimed the city to be in a state of +rebellion,--proscribed the persons of the citizens as traitors to their +sovereign, and confiscated their property. At the same time, active +preparations were begun for laying siege to the place, and proclamation +was made in the regent's name prohibiting the people of the Netherlands +from affording any aid, by counsel, arms, or money, to the rebellious +city, under the penalties incurred by treason. + +But the inhabitants of Valenciennes, sustained by the promises of their +preacher, were nothing daunted by these measures, nor by the formidable +show of troops which Noircarmes was assembling under their walls. Their +town was strongly situated, tolerably well victualled for a siege, and +filled with a population of hardy burghers devoted to the cause, whose +spirits were raised by the exhortations of the consistories in the +neighboring provinces to be of good courage, as their brethren would +speedily come to their relief. + +The high-handed measures of the government caused great consternation +through the country, especially amongst those of the reformed religion. +A brisk correspondence went on between the members of the league and the +consistories. Large sums were raised by the merchants well affected to +the cause, in order to levy troops in Germany, and were intrusted to +Brederode for the purpose. It was also determined that a last effort +should be made to soften the duchess by means of a petition, which that +chief, at the head of four hundred knights, was to bear to Brussels. But +Margaret had had enough of petitions, and she bluntly informed +Brederode, that, if he came in that guise, he would find the gates of +Brussels shut against him. + +Still the sturdy cavalier was not to be balked in his purpose; and, by +means of an agent, he caused the petition to be laid before the regent. +It was taken up mainly with a remonstrance on the course pursued by +Margaret, so much at variance with her promises. It particularly +enlarged on the limitation of her license for public preaching. In +conclusion, it besought the regent to revoke her edict, to disband her +forces, to raise the siege of Valenciennes, and to respect the agreement +she had made with the league; in which case they were ready to assure +her of their support in maintaining order. + +[Sidenote: APPEAL TO ARMS.] + +Margaret laid the document before her council, and on the sixteenth of +February, 1567, an answer which might be rather said to be addressed to +the country at large than to Brederode, was published. The duchess +intimated her surprise that any mention should be made of the league, as +she had supposed that body had ceased to exist, since so many of its +members had been but too glad, after the late outrages, to make their +peace with the government. As to her concession of public preaching, it +could hardly be contended that that was designed to authorize the +sectaries to lay taxes, levy troops, create magistrates, and to perform, +among other religious rites, that of marriage, involving the transfer of +large amounts of property. She could hardly be thought mad enough to +invest them with powers like these. She admonished the petitioners not +to compel their sovereign to forego his native benignity of disposition. +It would be well for them, she hinted, to give less heed to public +affairs, and more to their own; and she concluded with the assurance, +that she would take good care that the ruin which they so confidently +predicted for the country should not be brought about by them.[875] + +The haughty tone of the reply showed too plainly that the times were +changed; that Margaret was now conscious of her strength, and meant to +use it. The confederates felt that the hour had come for action. To +retrace their steps was impossible. Yet their present position was full +of peril. The rumor went that King Philip was soon to come, at the head +of a powerful force, to take vengeance on his enemies. To remain as they +were, without resistance, would be to offer their necks to the stroke of +the executioner. An appeal to arms was all that was left to them. This +was accordingly resolved on. The standard of revolt was raised. The drum +beat to arms in the towns and villages, and recruits were everywhere +enlisted. Count Louis was busy in enforcing levies in Germany. +Brederode's town of Viana was named as the place of rendezvous. That +chief was now in his element. His restless spirit delighted in scenes of +tumult. He had busied himself in strengthening the works of Viana, and +in furnishing it with artillery and military stores. Thence he had +secretly passed over to Amsterdam, where he was occupied in organizing +resistance among the people, already, by their fondness for the new +doctrines, well disposed to it. + +Hostilities first broke out in Brabant, where Count Megen was foiled in +an attempt on Bois-le-Duc, which had refused to receive a garrison. He +was more fortunate in an expedition against the refractory city of +Utrecht, which surrendered without a struggle to the royalist chief. + +In other quarters the insurgents were not idle. A body of some two +thousand men, under Marnix, lord of Thoulouse, brother of the famous St. +Aldegonde, made a descent on the island of Walcheren, where it was +supposed Philip would land. But they were baffled in their attempts on +this place by the loyalty and valor of the inhabitants. Failing in this +scheme, Thoulouse was compelled to sail up the Scheldt, until he reached +the little village of Austruweel, about a league from Antwerp. There he +disembarked his whole force, and took up his quarters in the dwellings +of the inhabitants. From this place he sallied out, making depredations +on the adjoining country, burning the churches, sacking the convents, +and causing great alarm to the magistrates of Antwerp by the confidence +which his presence gave to the reformed party in that city. + +Margaret saw the necessity of dislodging the enemy without delay from +this dangerous position. She despatched a body of Walloons on the +service, under command of an experienced officer named Launoy. Her +orders show the mood she was in. "They are miscreants," she said, "who +have placed themselves beyond the pale of mercy. Show them no mercy +then, but exterminate with fire and sword!"[876] Launoy, by a rapid +march, arrived at Austruweel. Though taken unawares, Thoulouse and his +men made a gallant resistance; and a fierce action took place almost +under the walls of Antwerp. + +The noise of the musketry soon brought the citizens to the ramparts; and +the dismay of the Calvinists was great, as they beheld the little army +of Thoulouse thus closely beset by their enemies. Furious at the +spectacle, they now called on one another to rush to the rescue of their +friends. Pouring down from the ramparts, they hurried to the gates of +the city. But the gates were locked. This had been done by the order of +the prince of Orange, who had moreover caused a bridge across the +Scheldt to be broken down to cut off all communication between the city +and the camp of Thoulouse. + +The people now loudly called on the authorities to deliver up the keys, +demanding for what purpose the gates were closed. Their passions were +kindled to madness by the sight of the wife--now, alas! the widow--of +Thoulouse, who, with streaming eyes and dishevelled hair, rushing wildly +into the crowd, besought them piteously to save her husband and their +own brethren from massacre. + +It was too late. After a short though stout resistance, the insurgents +had been driven from the field, and taken refuge in their defences. +These were soon set on fire. Thoulouse, with many of his followers, +perished in the flames. Others, to avoid this dreadful fate, cut their +way through the enemy, and plunged into the Scheldt, which washes the +base of the high land occupied by the village. There they miserably +perished in the waters, or were pierced by the lances of the enemy, who +hovered on its borders. Fifteen hundred were slain. Three hundred, who +survived, surrendered themselves prisoners. But Launoy feared an attempt +at rescue from the neighboring city; and, true to the orders of the +regent, he massacred nearly all of them on the spot![877] + +While this dismal tragedy was passing, the mob imprisoned within the +walls of Antwerp was raging and bellowing like the waves of the ocean +chafing wildly against the rocks that confine them. With fierce cries, +they demanded that the gates should be opened, calling on the +magistrates with bitter imprecations to deliver up the keys. The +magistrates had no mind to face the infuriated populace. But the prince +of Orange fortunately, at this crisis, did not hesitate to throw himself +into the midst of the tumult, and take on himself the whole +responsibility of the affair. It was by his command that the gates had +been closed, in order that the regent's troops, if victorious, might not +enter the city, and massacre those of the reformed religion. This +plausible explanation did not satisfy the people. Some called out that +the true motive was, not to save the Calvinists in the city, but to +prevent their assisting their brethren in the camp. One man, more +audacious than the rest, raised a musket to the prince's breast, +saluting him, at the same time, with the epithet of "traitor!" But the +fellow received no support from his companions, who, in general, +entertained too great respect for William to offer any violence to his +person. + +[Sidenote: TUMULT IN ANTWERP.] + +Unable to appease the tumult, the prince was borne along by the tide, +which now rolled back from the gates to the Meer Bridge, where it soon +received such accessions that the number amounted to more than ten +thousand. The wildest schemes were then agitated by the populace, among +whom no one appeared to take the lead. Some were for seizing the _Hotel +de Ville_, and turning out the magistrates. Others were for sacking the +convents, and driving their inmates, as well as all priests, from the +city. Meanwhile, they had got possession of some pieces of artillery +from the arsenal, with which they fortified the bridge. Thus passed the +long night;--the armed multitude gathered together like a dark cloud, +ready at any moment to burst in fury on the city, while the defenceless +burghers, especially those who had any property at stake, were filled +with the most dismal apprehensions. + +Yet the Catholics contrived to convey some casks of powder, it is said, +under the Meer Bridge, resolving to blow it into the air with all upon +it, as soon as their enemies should make a hostile movement. + +All eyes were now turned on the prince of Orange as the only man at all +capable of extricating them from their perilous situation. William had +stationed a guard over the mint, and another at the _Hotel de Ville_, to +protect these buildings from the populace. A great part of this anxious +night he spent in endeavoring to bring about such an understanding +between the two great parties of the Catholics and the Lutherans as +should enable them to act in concert. This was the less difficult, on +account of the jealousy which the latter sect entertained of the +Calvinists. The force thus raised was swelled by the accession of the +principal merchants and men of substance, as well as most of the +foreigners resident in the city, who had less concern for spiritual +matters than for the security of life and fortune. The following morning +beheld the mob of Calvinists formed into something like a military +array, their green and white banners bravely unfurled, and the cannon +which they had taken from the arsenal posted in front. On the opposite +side of the great square before the _Hotel de Ville_ were gathered the +forces of the prince of Orange, which, if wanting artillery, were +considerably superior in numbers to their adversaries. The two hosts now +stood face to face, as if waiting only the signal to join in mortal +conflict. But no man was found bold enough to give the signal--for +brother to lift his hand against brother. + +At this juncture William, with a small guard, and accompanied by the +principal magistrates, crossed over to the enemy's ranks, and demanded +an interview with the leaders. He represented to them the madness of +their present course; which, even if they were victorious, must work +infinite mischief to the cause. It would be easy for them to obtain by +fair means all they could propose by violence; and for his own part, he +concluded, however well disposed to them he now might be, if a single +drop of blood were shed in this quarrel, he would hold them from that +hour as enemies. + +The remonstrance of the prince, aided by the conviction of their own +inferiority in numbers, prevailed over the stubborn temper of the +Calvinists. They agreed to an accommodation, one of the articles of +which was, that no garrison should be admitted within the city. The +prince of Orange subscribed and swore to the treaty, on behalf of his +party: and it is proof of the confidence that even the Calvinists +reposed in him, that they laid down their arms sooner than either the +Lutherans or the Catholics. Both these, however, speedily followed their +example. The martial array, which had assumed so menacing an aspect, +soon melted away. The soldier of an hour, subsiding into the quiet +burgher, went about his usual business; and tranquillity and order once +more reigned within the walls of Antwerp.--Thus, by the coolness and +discretion of a single man, the finest city in the Netherlands was saved +from irretrievable ruin.[878] + +It was about the middle of March, 1567, that the disturbances occurred +at Antwerp. During this time Noircarmes was enforcing the blockade of +Valenciennes, but with little prospect of bringing it to a speedy issue. +The inhabitants, confident in their strength, had made more than one +successful sally, burning the cloisters in which the general had lodged +part of his troops, and carrying back considerable booty into the city. +It was evident that to reduce the place by blockade would be a work of +no little time. + +Margaret wrote to her brother to obtain his permission to resort to more +vigorous measures, and, without further delay, to bombard the place. But +Philip peremptorily refused. It was much to his regret, he said, that +the siege of so fair a city had been undertaken. Since it had been, +nothing remained but to trust to a blockade for its reduction.[879] + +At this time an army of the confederates, some three or four thousand +strong, appeared in the neighborhood of Tournay, designed partly to +protect that town, which had refused a garrison, and partly to create a +diversion in favor of Valenciennes. No sooner had Noircarmes got tidings +of this, than, leaving a sufficient detachment to carry on the blockade, +he made a rapid march with the rest of his forces, came suddenly on the +enemy, engaged him in a pitched battle, completely routed him, and drove +his scattered legions up to the walls of Tournay. That city, now +incapable of resistance, opened its gates at once, and submitted to the +terms of the conqueror, who soon returned, with his victorious army, to +resume the siege of Valenciennes. + +But the confidence of the inhabitants was not shaken. On the contrary, +under the delusive promises of their preacher, it seemed to rise higher +than ever, and they rejected with scorn every invitation to surrender. +Again the regent wrote to her brother, that, unless he allowed more +active operations, there was great danger the place would be relieved by +the Huguenots on the frontier, or by the _Gueux_, whose troops were +scattered through the country. + +Urged by the last consideration, Philip yielded a reluctant assent to +his sister's wishes. But in his letter, dated on the thirteenth of +March, he insisted that, before resorting to violence, persuasion and +menace should be first tried; and that, in case of an assault, great +care should be had that no harm came to the old and infirm, to women or +children, to any, in short, who were not found actually in arms against +the government.[880]--The clemency shown by Philip on this occasion +reflects infinite credit on him; and if it be disposed of by some as +mere policy, it must be allowed to be a policy near akin to humanity. It +forms a striking contrast with the ferocious mood in which Margaret +indulged at this time, when she seems to have felt that a long arrear of +vengeance was due for the humiliations she had been compelled to endure. + +[Sidenote: SIEGE OF VALENCIENNES.] + +The regent lost no time in profiting by the royal license. She first, +however, proposed, in obedience to her instructions, to see what could +be done by milder measures. She sent two envoys, Count Egmont and the +duke of Arschot, to Valenciennes, in order to expostulate with the +citizens, and if possible bring them to reason. The two nobles +represented to the people the folly of attempting to cope, thus +single-handed, as it were, with the government. Their allies had been +discomfited one after another. With the defeat before Tournay must have +faded the last ray of hope. They besought the citizens to accept, while +there was time, the grace proffered them by the duchess, who was +willing, if the town submitted, that such as chose to leave it might +take their effects and go wherever they listed. + +But the people of Valenciennes, fortified by the promises of their +leaders, and with a blind confidence in their own resources, which had +hitherto proved effectual, held lightly both the arguments and offers of +the envoys, who returned to the camp of Noircarmes greatly disgusted +with the ill-success of their mission. There was no room for further +delay, and preparations were made for reducing the place by more active +operations. + +Valenciennes stands on the crest of an eminence that sweeps down by a +gradual slope towards the river Scheldt, which, washing the walls of the +city, forms a good defence on that quarter. The ramparts encompassing +the town, originally strong and of great thickness, were now somewhat +impaired by age. They were protected by a wide ditch, which in some +places was partially choked up with rubbish. The walls were well lined +with artillery, and the magazines provided with ammunition. In short, +the place was one which, in earlier days, from the strength of its works +as well as its natural position, might have embarrassed an army more +formidable than that which now lay before it. + +The first step of Noircarmes was to contract his lines, and closely to +invest the town. He next availed himself of a dark and stormy night to +attack one of the suburbs, which he carried after a sharp engagement, +and left in the charge of some companies of Walloons. + +The following day these troops opened a brisk fire on the soldiers who +defended the ramparts, which was returned by the latter with equal +spirit. But while amusing the enemy in this quarter, Noircarmes ordered +a battery to be constructed, consisting at first of ten, afterwards of +twenty, heavy guns and mortars, besides some lighter pieces. From this +battery he opened a well-directed and most disastrous fire on the city, +demolishing some of the principal edifices, which, from their size, +afforded a prominent mark. The great tower of St. Nicholas, on which +some heavy ordnance was planted, soon crumbled, under this fierce +cannonade, and its defenders were buried in its ruins. At length, at the +end of four hours, the inhabitants, unable longer to endure the storm of +shot and shells which penetrated every quarter of the town, so far +humbled their pride as to request a parley. To this Noircarmes assented, +but without intermitting his fire for a moment. + +The deputies informed the general, that the city was willing to +capitulate on the terms before proposed by the Flemish nobles. But +Noircarmes contemptuously told them that "things were not now as they +then were, and it was not his wont to talk of terms with a fallen +enemy."[881] The deputies, greatly discomfited by the reply, returned to +report the failure of their mission to their townsmen. + +Meanwhile the iron tempest continued with pitiless fury. The wretched +people could find no refuge from it in their dwellings, which filled the +streets with their ruins. It was not, however, till two-and-thirty hours +more had passed away that a practicable breach was made in the walls; +while the rubbish which had tumbled into the fosse from the crumbling +ramparts afforded a tolerable passage for the besiegers, on a level +nearly with the breach itself. By this passage Noircarmes now prepared +to march into the city, through the open breach, at the head of his +battalions. + +The people of Valenciennes too late awoke from their delusion. They were +no longer cheered by the voice of their fanatical leader, for he had +provided for his own safety by flight; and, preferring any fate to that +of being delivered over to the ruthless soldiery of Noircarmes, they +offered at once to surrender the town at discretion, throwing themselves +on the mercy of their victor. Six-and-thirty hours only had elapsed +since the batteries of the besiegers had opened their fire, and during +that time three thousand bombs had been thrown into the city;[882] which +was thought scarcely less than a miracle in that day. + +On the second of April, 1567, just four months after the commencement of +the siege, the victorious army marched into Valenciennes. As it defiled +through the long and narrow streets, which showed signs of the dismal +fray in their shattered edifices, and in the dead and dying still +stretched on the pavement, it was met by troops of women and young +maidens bearing green branches in their hands, and deprecating with +tears and piteous lamentations the wrath of the conquerors. Noircarmes +marched at once to the town-house, where he speedily relieved the +municipal functionaries of all responsibility, by turning them out of +office. His next care was to seize the persons of the zealous ministers +and the other leaders. Many had already contrived to make their escape. +Most of these were soon after taken, the preacher La Grange among the +rest, and to the number of thirty-six were sentenced either to the +scaffold or the gallows.[883] The general then caused the citizens to be +disarmed, and the fortifications, on which were mounted eighty pieces of +artillery, to be dismantled. The town was deprived of its privileges and +immunities, and a heavy fine imposed on the inhabitants to defray the +charges of the war. The Protestant worship was abolished, the churches +were restored to their former occupants, and none but the Roman Catholic +service was allowed henceforth to be performed in the city. The bishop +of Arras was invited to watch over the spiritual concerns of the +inhabitants, and a strong garrison of eight battalions was quartered in +the place, to secure order and maintain the authority of the cr +own.[884] + +[Sidenote: OATH IMPOSED BY MARGARET.] + +The keys of Valenciennes, it was commonly said, opened to the regent the +gates of all the refractory cities of the Netherlands. Maestricht, +Tornhut, Ghent, Ypres, Oudenarde, and other places which had refused to +admit a garrison within their walls, now surrendered, one after +another, to Margaret, and consented to receive her terms. In like manner +Megen established the royal authority in the province of Gueldres, and +Aremberg, after a more prolonged resistance, in Groeningen and Friesland. +In a few weeks, with the exception of Antwerp and some places in +Holland, the victorious arms of the regent had subdued the spirit of +resistance in every part of the country.[885] The movement of the +insurgents had been premature. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TRANQUILLITY RESTORED. + +Oath imposed by Margaret.--Refused by Orange.--He leaves the +Netherlands.--Submission of the Country.--New Edict.--Order restored. + +1567. + + +The perplexities in which the regent had been involved had led her to +conceive a plan, early in January, 1567, the idea of which may have been +suggested by the similar plan of Viglius. This was to require an oath +from the great nobles, the knights of the Golden Fleece, and those in +high stations, civil or military, that they would yield implicit and +unqualified obedience to the commands of the king, of whatever nature +they might be. Her object in this measure was not to secure a test of +loyalty. She knew full well who were the friends and who were the foes +of the government. But she wished a decent apology for ridding herself +of the latter; and it was made a condition, that those who refused to +take the oath were to be dismissed from office. + +The measure seems to have met with no opposition when first started in +the council; where Mansfeldt, Arschot, Megen, Barlaimont, all signified +their readiness to sign the oath. Egmont indeed raised some scruples. +After the oath of allegiance he had once taken, a new one seemed +superfluous. The bare word of a man of honor and a chevalier of the +Toison ought to suffice.[886] But after a short correspondence on the +subject, his scruples vanished before the arguments or persuasions of +the regent. + +Brederode, who held a military command, was not of so accommodating a +temper. He indignantly exclaimed, that it was a base trick of the +government, and he understood the drift of it. He refused to subscribe +the oath, and at once threw up his commission. The Counts Hoorne and +Hoogstraten declined also, but in more temperate terms, and resigning +their employments, withdrew to their estates in the country. + +The person of most importance was the prince of Orange; and it was +necessary to approach him with the greatest caution. Margaret, it is +true, had long since withdrawn from him her confidence. But he had too +much consideration and authority in the country for her to wish to break +with him. Nor would she willingly give him cause of disgust. She +accordingly addressed him a note, couched in the most insinuating terms +she had at her command. + +She could not doubt he would be ready to set a good example, when his +example would be so important in the perplexed condition of the country. +Rumors had been circulated to the prejudice of his loyalty. She did not +give them credit. She could not for a moment believe that he would so +far dishonor his great name and his illustrious descent as to deserve +such a reproach; and she had no doubt he would gladly avail himself of +the present occasion to wipe away all suspicion.[887] + +The despatch inclosed a form of the oath, by which the party was to bind +himself to "serve the king, and act for or against whomever his majesty +might command, without restriction or limitation,"[888] on pain of being +dismissed from office. + +William was not long in replying to a requisition, to obey which would +leave him less freedom than might be claimed by the meanest peasant in +the country. On the twenty-eighth of April, the same day on which he +received the letter, he wrote to the regent, declining in the most +positive terms to take the oath. Such an act, he said, would of itself +imply that he had already violated the oath he had previously taken. Nor +could he honorably take it, since it might bind him to do what would be +contrary to the dictates of his own conscience, as well as to what he +conceived to be the true interests of his majesty and the country.[889] +He was aware that such a demand on the regent's part was equivalent to a +dismissal from office. He begged her, therefore, to send some one fully +empowered to receive his commissions, since he was ready forthwith to +surrender them. As for himself, he should withdraw from the Netherlands, +and wait until his sovereign had time to become satisfied of his +fidelity. But wherever he might be, he should ever be ready to devote +both life and property to the service of the king and the common weal of +the country.[890] + +Whatever hesitation the prince of Orange may have before felt as to the +course he was to take, it was clear the time had now come for decisive +action. Though the steady advocate of political reform, his policy, as +we have seen, had been to attempt this by constitutional methods, not by +violence. But all his more moderate plans had been overthrown by the +explosion of the iconoclasts. The outrages then perpetrated had both +alienated the Catholics and disgusted the more moderate portion of the +Protestants; while the divisions of the Protestants among themselves had +so far paralyzed their action, that the whole strength of the party of +reform had never been fairly exerted in the conflict. That conflict, +unprepared as the nation was for it, had been most disastrous. +Everywhere the arms of the regent had been victorious. It was evident +the hour for resistance had not yet come. + +[Sidenote: OATH REFUSED BY ORANGE.] + +Yet for William to remain in his present position was hazardous in the +extreme. Rumors had gone abroad that the duke of Alva would soon be in +the Netherlands, at the head of a force sufficient to put down all +opposition. "Beware of Alva," said his wife's kinsman, the landgrave of +Hesse, to William; "I know him well."[891] The prince of Orange also +knew him well,--too well to trust him. He knew the hard, inexorable +nature of the man who was now coming with an army at his back, and +clothed with the twofold authority of judge and executioner. The first +blow would, he knew, be aimed at the highest mark. To await Alva's +coming would be to provoke his fate. Yet the prince felt all the +dreariness of his situation. "I am alone," he wrote to the Landgrave +William of Hesse, "with dangers menacing me on all sides, yet without +one trusty friend to whom I can open my heart."[892] + +Margaret seems to have been less prepared than might have been expected +for the decision of Orange. Yet she determined not to let him depart +from the country without an effort to retain him. She accordingly sent +her secretary, Berty, to the prince at Antwerp, to enter into the matter +more freely, and, if possible, prevail on him to review the grounds of +his decision. William freely, and at some length, stated his reasons for +declining the oath. "If I thus blindly surrender myself to the will of +the king, I may be driven to do what is most repugnant to my principles, +especially in the stern mode of dealing with the sectaries. I may be +compelled to denounce some of my own family, even my wife, as Lutherans, +and to deliver them into the hands of the executioner. Finally," said +he, "the king may send some one in his royal name to rule over us, to +whom it would be derogatory for me to submit." The name of "Alva" +escaped, as if involuntarily, from his lips,--and he was silent.[893] + +Berty endeavored to answer the objections of the prince, but the latter, +interrupting him before he had touched on the duke of Alva, bluntly +declared that the king would never be content while one of his great +vassals was wedded to a heretic. It was his purpose, therefore, to leave +the country at once, and retire to Germany; and with this remark he +abruptly closed the conference. + +The secretary, though mortified at his own failure, besought William to +consent to an interview, before his departure, with Count Egmont, who, +Berty trusted, might be more successful. To this William readily +assented. This celebrated meeting took place at Willbroek, a village +between Antwerp and Brussels. Besides the two lords there were only +present Count Mansfeldt and the secretary. + +After some discussion, in which each of the friends endeavored to win +over the other to his own way of thinking, William expressed the hope +that Egmont would save himself in time from the bloody tempest that, he +predicted, was soon to fall on the heads of the Flemish nobles.[894] "I +trust in the clemency of my sovereign," answered the count; "he cannot +deal harshly with men who have restored order to the country." "This +clemency you so extol," replied William, "will be your ruin. Much I fear +that the Spaniards will make use of you as a bridge to effect their +entrance into the country!"[895] With this ominous prediction on his +lips, he tenderly embraced the count, with tears in his eyes, bidding +him a last farewell. And thus the two friends parted, like men who were +never to meet again. + +The different courses pursued by the two nobles were such as might be +expected from the difference of both their characters and their +circumstances. Egmont, ardent, hopeful, and confiding, easily +surrendered himself to the illusions of his own fancy, as if events were +to shape themselves according to his wishes. He had not the far-seeing +eye of William, which seemed to penetrate into events as it did into +characters. Nor had Egmont learned, like William, not to put his trust +in princes. He was, doubtless, as sincerely attached to his country as +the prince of Orange, and abhorred, like him, the system of persecution +avowed by the government. But this persecution fell upon a party with +whom he had little sympathy. William, on the other hand, was a member of +that party. A blow aimed at them was aimed also at him. It is easy to +see how different were the stakes of the two nobles in the coming +contest, both in respect to their sympathies and their interests. Egmont +was by birth a Fleming. His estates were in Flanders, and there, too, +were his hopes of worldly fortune. Exile to him would have been beggary +and ruin. But a large, if not the larger part of William's property, lay +without the confines of the Netherlands. In withdrawing to Germany, he +went to his native land. His kindred were still there. With them he had +maintained a constant correspondence, and there he would be welcomed by +troops of friends. It was a home, and no place of exile, that William +was to find in Germany. + +Shortly after this interview, the prince went to his estates at Breda, +there to remain a few days before quitting the country.[896] From Breda +he wrote to Egmont, expressing the hope that, when he had weighed them +in his mind, he would be contented with the reasons assigned for his +departure. The rest he would leave to God, who would order all for his +own glory. "Be sure," he added, "you have no friend more warmly devoted +to you than myself; for the love of you is too deeply rooted in my heart +to be weakened either by time or distance."[897] It is pleasing to see +that party spirit had not, as in the case of more vulgar souls, the +power to rend asunder the ties which had so long bound these great men +to each other; to see them still turning back, with looks of accustomed +kindness, when they were entering the paths that were to lead in such +opposite directions. + +William wrote also to the king, acquainting him with what he had done, +and explaining the grounds of it; at the same time renewing the +declaration that, wherever he might be, he trusted never to be found +wanting to the obligations of a true and faithful vassal. Before leaving +Breda, the prince received a letter from the politic regent, more +amiable in its import than might have been expected. Perhaps it was not +wholly policy that made her unwilling to part with him in anger. She +expressed her readiness to do him any favor in her power. She had always +felt for him, she said, the same affection as for her own son, and +should ever continue to do so.[898] + +[Sidenote: WILLIAM LEAVES THE NETHERLANDS.] + +On the last of April, William departed for Germany. He took with him all +his household except his eldest son, the count of Buren, then a boy +thirteen years old, who was pursuing his studies at the university of +Louvain.[899] Perhaps William trusted to the immunities of Brabant, or +to the tender age of the youth, for his protection. If so, he grievously +miscalculated. The boy would serve as too important a hostage for his +father, and Philip caused him to be transferred to Madrid; where, under +the monarch's eye, he was educated in religious as well as in political +sentiments very little in harmony with those of the prince of Orange. +Fortunately, the younger brother, Maurice, who inherited the genius of +his father, and was to carry down his great name to another generation, +was allowed to receive his training under the paternal roof.[900] + +Besides his family, William was accompanied by a host of friends and +followers, some of them persons of high consideration, who preferred +banishment with him to encountering the troubles that awaited them at +home. Thus attended, he fixed his residence at Dillemburg, in Nassau, +the seat of his ancestors, and the place of his own birth. He there +occupied himself with studying the Lutheran doctrine under an +experienced teacher of that persuasion;[901] and, while he kept a +watchful eye on the events passing in his unhappy country, he endeavored +to make himself acquainted with the principles of that glorious +Reformation, of which, in connection with political freedom, he was one +day to become the champion. + +The departure of the prince of Orange caused general consternation in +the Netherlands. All who were in anyway compromised by the late +disturbances watched more anxiously than ever the signs of the coming +tempest, as they felt they had lost the pilot who alone could enable +them to weather it. Thousands prepared to imitate his example by +quitting the country before it was too late. Among those who fled were +the Counts Culemborg, Berg, Hoogstraten, Louis of Nassau, and others of +inferior note, who passed into Germany, where they gathered into a +little circle round the prince, waiting, like him, for happier days. + +Some of the great lords, who had held out against the regent, now left +alone, intimated their willingness to comply with her demands. "Count +Hoorne," she writes to Philip, "has offered his services to me, and +declares his readiness to take the oath. If he has spoken too freely, he +says, it was not from any disaffection to the government, but from a +momentary feeling of pique and irritation. I would not drive him to +desperation, and from regard to his kindred I have consented that he +should take his seat in the council again."[902] The haughty tone of +the duchess shows that she felt herself now so strongly seated as to be +nearly indifferent whether the person she dealt with were friend or +foe.[903] + +Egmont, at this time, was endeavoring to make amends for the past by +such extraordinary demonstrations of loyalty as should efface all +remembrance of it. He rode through the land at the head of his troops, +breaking up the consistories, arresting the rioters, and everywhere +reestablishing the Catholic worship. He loudly declared that those who +would remain his friends must give unequivocal proofs of loyalty to the +crown and the Roman Catholic faith. Some of those with whom he had been +most intimate, disgusted with, this course, and distrusting, perhaps, +such a deposit for their correspondence, sent back the letters they had +received from him, and demanded their own in return.[904] + +At Brussels Egmont entered into all the gayeties of the court, +displaying his usual magnificence in costly fetes and banquets, which +the duchess of Parma sometimes honored with her presence. The count's +name appears among those which she mentions to Philip as of persons well +affected to the government. "It is impossible," she says, "not to be +satisfied with his conduct."[905] Thus elated by the favor of the +regent--next in importance to that of royalty itself--the ill-fated +nobleman cherished the fond hope that the past would now be completely +effaced from the memory of his master,--a master who might forget a +benefit, but who was never known to forgive an injury. + +The great towns throughout the land had now generally intimated their +willingness to submit to the requisitions of Margaret, and many of them +had admitted garrisons within their walls. Antwerp only, of the cities +of Brabant, remained intractable. At length it yielded to the general +impulse, and a deputation was sent to the regent to sue for her +forgiveness, and to promise that the leaders in the late disturbances +should be banished from the city. This was a real triumph to the royal +party, considering the motley character of the population, in which +there was so large an infusion of Calvinism. But Margaret, far from +showing her satisfaction, coolly answered that they must first receive a +garrison; then she would intercede for them with the king, and would +herself consent to take up her residence in the city. In this the +inhabitants, now well humbled, affected willingly to acquiesce; and soon +after Count Mansfeldt, at the head of sixteen companies of foot, marched +into Antwerp in battle array, and there quartered his soldiers as in a +conquered capital. + +[Sidenote: NEW EDICT.] + +A day was fixed for the regent's entry, which was to be made with all +becoming pomp. Detachments of troops were stationed in the principal +avenues, and on the thirtieth of April Margaret rode into Antwerp, +escorted by twelve hundred Walloons, and accompanied by the knights of +the Golden Fleece, the great lords, and the provincial magistrates. As +the glittering procession passed through the files of the soldiery, +along the principal streets, it was greeted with the huzzas of the +fickle populace. Thus cheered on her way, the regent proceeded first to +the cathedral, where _Te Deum_ was chanted, and on her knees she +returned thanks to the Almighty, that this great city had been restored +without battle or bloodshed to the king and the true faith.[906] As her +eyes wandered over the desecrated altars and the walls despoiled of +their ornaments, their rich sculpture and paintings, by the rude hand of +violence, Margaret could not restrain her tears. Her first care was to +recover, as far as possible, the stolen property, and repair the +injuries to the building; the next, to punish the authors of these +atrocities; and the execution in the market-place of four of the +ringleaders proclaimed to the people of Antwerp that the reign of +anarchy was over. + +Margaret next caused the churches of the reformed party to be levelled +with the ground. Those of the Romish faith, after being purified, and +the marks of violence, as far as practicable, effaced, were restored to +their ancient occupants. The Protestant schools were everywhere closed. +The children who had been baptized with Protestant rites were now +re-baptized after the Catholic.[907] In fine, the reformed worship was +interdicted throughout the city, and that of the Romish church, with its +splendid ritual, was established in its place. + +On occupying Antwerp, Margaret had allowed all who were not implicated +in the late riots to leave the city with their effects. Great numbers +now availed themselves of this permission, and the streets presented the +melancholy spectacle of husbands parting from their wives, parents from +their children, or, it might be, taking their families along with them +to some kinder land, where they would be allowed to worship God +according to the dictates of their own consciences. + +But even this glimmering of a tolerant spirit,--if so it can be +called,--which Margaret exhibited at the outset, soon faded away before +the dark spirit of the Inquisition. On the twenty-fourth of May, she +published an edict, written in the characters of blood which +distinguished the worst times of Charles and of Philip. By this edict, +all who had publicly preached, or who had performed the religions +exercises after the Protestant manner, all who had furnished the places +of meeting, or had harbored or aided the preachers, all printers of +heretical tracts, or artists who with their pencil had brought ridicule +on the Church of Rome,--all, in short, who were guilty of these or +similar iniquities, were to be punished with death and confiscation of +property. Lighter offences were to be dealt with according to the +measure of their guilt. The edict containing these humane provisions is +of considerable length, and goes into a large specification of offences, +from which few, if any, of the reformed could have been entirely +exempt.[908] When this ordinance of the regent was known at Madrid, it +caused great dissatisfaction. The king pronounced it "indecorous, +illegal, and altogether repugnant to the true spirit of +Christianity;"[909] and he ordered Margaret forthwith to revoke the +edict. It was accordingly repealed on the twenty-third of July +following. The reader who may be disposed to join heartily in the +malediction may not be prepared to learn that the cause of the royal +indignation was not that the edict was too severe, but that it was too +lenient! It nowhere denounced the right of private worship. A man might +still be a heretic at heart and at his own fireside, so long as he did +not obtrude it on the public. This did not suit the Inquisition, whose +jealous eye penetrated into the houses and the hearts of men, dragging +forth their secret thoughts into open day, and punishing these like +overt acts. Margaret had something yet to learn in the school of +persecution.[910] + +While at Antwerp, the regent received an embassy from the elector of +Saxony, the landgrave of Hesse, and other Protestant princes of Germany, +interceding for the oppressed Lutherans, and praying that she would not +consent to their being so grievously vexed by the Catholic government. +Margaret, who was as little pleased with the plain terms in which this +remonstrance was conveyed as with the object of it, coldly replied, that +the late conduct of the Flemish Protestants doubtless entitled them to +all this sympathy from the German princes; but she advised the latter to +busy themselves with their own affairs, and leave the king of Spain to +manage his as he thought best.[911] + +Of all the provinces, Holland was the only one which still made +resistance to the will of the regent. And here, as we have already seen, +was gathered a military array of some strength. The head-quarters were +at Brederode's town of Viana. But that chief had left his followers for +the present, and had been secretly introduced into Amsterdam, where, as +before noticed, he was busy in rousing a spirit of resistance in the +citizens, already well prepared for it by their Protestant preachers. +The magistrates, sorely annoyed, would gladly have rid themselves of +Brederode's presence, but he had too strong a hold on the people. Yet, +as hour after hour brought fresh tidings of the disasters of his party, +the chief himself became aware that all hopes of successful resistance +must be deferred to another day. Quitting the city by night, he +contrived, with the aid of his friends, to make his escape into Germany. +Some months he passed in Westphalia, occupied with raising forces for a +meditated invasion of the Netherlands, when, in the summer of 1568, he +was carried off by a fever, brought on, it is said, by his careless, +intemperate way of life.[912] + +Brederode was a person of a free and fearless temper,--with the defects, +and the merits too, that attach to that sort of character. The +friendship with which he seems to have been regarded by some of the most +estimable persons of his party--Louis of Nassau, especially--speaks well +for his heart. The reckless audacity of the man is shown in his +correspondence; and the free manner in which he deals with persons and +events makes his letters no less interesting than important for the +light they throw on these troubled times. Yet it cannot be denied that, +after all, Brederode is indebted much more to the circumstances of his +situation than to his own character for the space he occupies in the +pages of history.[913] + +[Sidenote: CRUEL REPRISALS.] + +Thus left without a leader, the little army which Brederode had gathered +under his banner soon fell to pieces. Detachments, scattering over the +country, committed various depredations, plundering the religious houses +and engaging in encounters with the royal troops under Megen and +Aremberg, in which the insurgents fared the worst. Thus broken on all +sides, those who did not fall into the enemy's hands, or on the field, +were too glad to make their escape into Germany. One vessel, containing +a great number of fugitives, was wrecked, and all on board were made +prisoners. Among them were two brothers, of the name of Battenberg; they +were of a noble family, and prominent members of the league. They were +at once, with their principal followers, thrown into prison, to await +their doom from the bloody tribunal of Alva. + +Deprived of all support from without, the city of Amsterdam offered no +further resistance, but threw open its gates to the regent, and +consented to accept her terms. These were the same that had been imposed +on all the other refractory towns. The immunities of the city were +declared to be forfeited, a garrison was marched into the place, and +preparations were made for building a fortress, to guard against future +commotions. Those who chose--with the customary exceptions--were allowed +to leave the city. Great numbers availed themselves of the permission. +The neighboring dikes were crowded with fugitives from the territory +around, as well as from the city, anxiously waiting for vessels to +transport them to Embden, the chief asylum of the exiles. There they +stood, men, women, and children, a melancholy throng, without food, +almost without raiment or any of the common necessaries of life, +exciting the commiseration of even their Catholic adversaries.[914] + +The example of Amsterdam was speedily followed by Delft, Haarlem, +Rotterdam, Leyden, and the remaining towns of Holland, which now seemed +to vie with one another in demonstrations of loyalty to the government. +The triumph of the regent was complete. Her arms had been everywhere +successful, and her authority was fully recognized throughout the whole +extent of the Netherlands. Doubtful friends and open foes, Catholics and +Reformers, were alike prostrate at her feet.[915] With the hour of +triumph came also the hour of vengeance. And we can hardly doubt that +the remembrance of past humiliation gave a sharper edge to the sword of +justice. Fortresses, to overawe the inhabitants, were raised in the +principal towns;[916] and the expense of their construction, as well as +of maintaining their garrison, was defrayed by fines laid on the +refractory cities.[917] The regent's troops rode over the country, and +wherever the reformed were gathered to hear the word, they were charged +by the troopers, who trampled them under their horses' hoofs, shooting +them down without mercy, or dragging them off by scores to execution. No +town was so small that fifty at least did not perish in this way, while +the number of the victims sometimes rose to two or even three +hundred.[918] Everywhere along the road-side the traveller beheld the +ghastly spectacle of bodies swinging from gibbets, or met with troops of +miserable exiles flying from their native land.[919] Confiscation +followed, as usual, in the train of persecution. At Tournay, the +property of a hundred of the richest merchants was seized and +appropriated by the government. Even the populace, like those animals +who fall upon and devour one of their own number when wounded, now +joined in the cry against the Reformers. They worked with the same +alacrity as the soldiers in pulling down the Protestant churches; and +from the beams, in some instances, formed the very gallows from which +their unhappy victims were suspended.[920] Such is the picture, well +charged with horrors, left to us by Protestant writers. We may be quite +sure that it lost nothing of its darker coloring under their hands. + +So strong was now the tide of emigration, that it threatened to +depopulate some of the fairest provinces of the country. The regent, who +at first rejoiced in this as the best means of ridding the land of its +enemies, became alarmed, as she saw it was drawing off so large a +portion of the industrious population. They fled to France, to Germany, +and very many to England, where the wise Elizabeth provided them with +homes, knowing well that, though poor, they brought with them a skill in +the mechanic arts which would do more than gold and silver for the +prosperity of her kingdom. + +Margaret would have stayed this tide of emigration by promises of grace, +if not by a general amnesty for the past. But though she had power to +punish, Philip had not given her the power to pardon. And indeed +promises of grace would have availed little with men flying from the +dread presence of Alva.[921] It was the fear of him which gave wings to +their flight, as Margaret herself plainly intimated in a letter to the +duke, in which she deprecated his coming with an army, when nothing more +was needed than a vigilant police.[922] + +[Sidenote: TRANQUILLITY RESTORED.] + +In truth, Margaret was greatly disgusted by the intended mission of the +duke of Alva, of which she had been advised by the king some months +before. She knew well the imperious temper of the man, and that, however +high-sounding might be her own titles, the power would be lodged in his +hands. She felt this to be a poor requital for her past services,--a +personal indignity, no less than an injury to the state. She gave free +vent to her feelings on the subject in more than one letter to her +brother. + +In a letter of the fifth of April she says: "You have shown no regard +for my wishes or my reputation. By your extraordinary restrictions on my +authority, you have prevented my settling the affairs of the country +entirely to my mind. Yet, seeing things in so good a state, you are +willing to give all the credit to another, and leave me only the fatigue +and danger.[923] But I am resolved, instead of wasting the remainder of +my days, as I have already done my health, in this way, to retire and +dedicate myself to a tranquil life in the service of God." In another +letter, dated four weeks later, on the third of May, after complaining +that the king withdraws his confidence more and more from her, she asks +leave to withdraw, as the country is restored to order, and the royal +authority more assured than in the time of Charles the Fifth.[924] + +In this assurance respecting the public tranquillity, Margaret was no +doubt sincere; as are also the historians who have continued to take the +same view of the matter, down to the present time, and who consider the +troubles of the country to have been so far composed by the regent, +that, but for the coming of Alva, there would have been no revolution in +the Netherlands. Indeed, there might have seemed to be good ground for +such a conclusion. The revolt had been crushed. Resistance had +everywhere ceased. The authority of the regent was recognized throughout +the land. The league, which had raised so bold a front against the +government, had crumbled away. Its members had fallen in battle, or lay +waiting their sentence in dungeons, or were wandering as miserable +exiles in distant lands. The name of _Gueux_, and the insignia of the +bowl and the beggar's scrip, which they had assumed in derision, were +now theirs by right. It was too true for a jest. + +The party of reform had disappeared, as if by magic. Its worship was +everywhere proscribed. On its ruins the Catholic religion had risen in +greater splendor than ever. Its temples were restored, its services +celebrated with more than customary pomp. The more austere and +uncompromising of the Reformers had fled the country. Those who remained +purchased impunity by a compulsory attendance on mass; or the wealthier +sort, by the aid of good cheer or more substantial largesses, bribed the +priest to silence.[925] At no time since the beginning of the +Reformation had the clergy been treated with greater deference, or +enjoyed a greater share of authority in the land. The dark hour of +revolution seemed, indeed, to have passed away. + +Yet a Fleming of that day might well doubt whether the prince of Orange +were a man likely to resign his fair heritage and the land so dear to +his heart without striking one blow in their defence. One who knew the +wide spread of the principles of reform, and the sturdy character of the +reformer, might distrust the permanence of a quiet which had been +brought about by so much violence. He might rather think that, beneath +the soil he was treading, the elements were still at work, which, at no +distant time perhaps, would burst forth with redoubled violence, and +spread ruin over the land! + + + + +BOOK III. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ALVA SENT TO THE NETHERLANDS. + +Alva's Appointment.--His remarkable March.--He arrives at +Brussels.--Margaret disgusted.--Policy of the Duke.--Arrest of Egmont +and Hoorne. + +1567. + + +While Margaret was thus successful in bringing the country to a state of +at least temporary tranquillity, measures were taken at the court of +Madrid for shifting the government of the Netherlands into other hands, +and for materially changing its policy. + +We have seen how actively the rumors had been circulated, throughout the +last year, of Philip's intended visit to the country. These rumors had +received abundant warrant from his own letters, addressed to the regent +and to his ministers at the different European courts. Nor did the king +confine himself to professions. He applied to the French government to +allow a free passage for his army through its territories. He caused a +survey to be made of that part of Savoy through which his troops would +probably march, and a map of the proposed route to be prepared. He +ordered fresh levies from Germany to meet him on the Flemish frontier. +And finally, he talked of calling the cortes together, to provide for +the regency during his absence. + +Yet whoever else might be imposed on, there was one potentate in Europe +whose clear vision was not to be blinded by the professions of Philip, +nor by all this bustle of preparation. This was the old pontiff, Pius +the Fifth, who had always distrusted the king's sincerity. Pius had +beheld with keen anguish the spread of heresy in the Low Countries. Like +a true son of the Inquisition as he was, he would gladly have seen its +fires kindled in every city of this apostate land. He had observed with +vexation the apathy manifested by Philip. And he at length resolved to +despatch a special embassy to Spain, to stimulate the monarch, if +possible, to more decided action. + +The person employed was the bishop of Ascoli, and the good father +delivered his rebuke in such blunt terms as caused a sensation at the +court of Madrid. In a letter to his ambassador at Rome, Philip +complained that the pope should have thus held him up to Christendom as +one slack in the performance of his duty. The envoy had delivered +himself in so strange a manner, Philip added, that, but for the respect +and love he bore his holiness, he might have been led to take precisely +the opposite course to the one he intended.[926] + +[Sidenote: HIS APPOINTMENT.] + +Yet notwithstanding this show of indignation, had it not been for the +outbreak of the iconoclasts, it is not improbable that the king might +still have continued to procrastinate, relying on his favorite maxim, +that "Time and himself were a match for any other two."[927] But the +event which caused such a sensation throughout Christendom roused every +feeling of indignation in the royal bosom,--and this from the insult +offered to the crown as well as to the Church. Contrary to his wont, the +king expressed himself with so much warmth on the subject, and so +openly, that the most sceptical began at last to believe that the long +talked of visit was at hand. The only doubt was as to the manner in +which it should be made; whether the king should march at the head of an +army, or attended only by so much of a retinue as was demanded by his +royal state. + +The question was warmly discussed in the council. Ruy Gomez, the courtly +favorite of Philip, was for the latter alternative. A civil war he +deprecated, as bringing ruin even to the victor.[928] Clemency was the +best attribute of a sovereign, and the people of Flanders were a +generous race, more likely to be overcome by kindness than by arms.[929] +In these liberal and humane views the prince of Eboli was supported by +the politic secretary, Antonio Perez, and by the duke of Feria, formerly +ambassador to London, a man who to polished manners united a most +insinuating eloquence. + +But very different opinions, as might be expected, were advanced by the +duke of Alva. The system of indulgence, he said, had been that followed +by the regent, and its fruits were visible. The weeds of heresy were not +to be extirpated by a gentle hand; and his majesty should deal with his +rebellious vassals as Charles the Fifth had dealt with their rebel +fathers at Ghent.[930] These stern views received support from the +Cardinal Espinosa, who held the office of president of the council, as +well as of grand inquisitor, and who doubtless thought the insult +offered to the Inquisition not the least of the offences to be charged +on the Reformers. + +Each of the great leaders recommended the measures most congenial with +his own character, and which, had they been adopted, would probably +have required his own services to carry them into execution. Had the +pacific course been taken, Feria, or more probably Ruy Gomez, would have +been intrusted with the direction of affairs. Indeed, Montigny and +Bergen, still detained in reluctant captivity at Madrid, strongly urged +the king to send the prince of Eboli, as a man, who, by his popular +manners and known discretion, would be most likely to reconcile opposite +factions.[931] Were violent measures, on the other hand, to be adopted, +to whom could they be so well intrusted as to the duke himself, the most +experienced captain of his time? + +The king, it is said, contrary to his custom, was present at the meeting +of the council, and listened to the debate. He did not intimate his +opinion. But it might be conjectured to which side he was most likely to +lean, from his habitual preference for coercive measures.[932] + +Philip came to a decision sooner than usual. In a few days he summoned +the duke, and told him that he had resolved to send him forthwith, at +the head of an army, to the Netherlands. It was only, however, to +prepare the way for his own coming, which would take place as soon as +the country was in a state sufficiently settled to receive him. + +All was now alive with the business of preparation in Castile. Levies +were raised throughout the country. Such was the zeal displayed, that +even the Inquisition and the clergy advanced a considerable sum towards +defraying the expenses of an expedition which they seemed to regard in +the light of a crusade.[933] Magazines of provisions were ordered to be +established at regular stations on the proposed line of march. Orders +were sent, that the old Spanish garrisons in Lombardy, Naples, Sicily, +and Sardinia, should be transported to the place of rendezvous in +Piedmont, to await the coming of the duke, who would supply their places +with the fresh recruits brought with him from Castile. + +Philip meanwhile constantly proclaimed that Alva's departure was only +the herald of his own. He wrote this to Margaret, assuring her of his +purpose to go by water, and directing her to have a squadron of eight +vessels in readiness to convoy him to Zealand, where he proposed to +land. The vessels were accordingly equipped. Processions were made, and +prayers put up in all the churches, for the prosperous passage of the +king. Yet there were some in the Netherlands who remarked that prayers +to avert the dangers of the sea were hardly needed by the monarch in his +palace at Madrid![934] Many of those about the royal person soon +indulged in the same scepticism in regard to the king's sincerity, as +week after week passed away, and no arrangements were made for his +departure. Among the contradictory rumors at court in respect to the +king's intention, the pope's nuncio wrote, it was impossible to get at +the truth.[935] It was easy to comprehend the general policy of Philip, +but impossible to divine the particular plans by which, it was to be +carried out. If such was the veil which hid the monarch's purposes even +from the eyes of those who had nearest access to his person, how can we +hope at this distance of time to penetrate it? Yet the historian of the +nineteenth century is admitted to the perusal of many an authentic +document revealing the royal purpose, which never came under the eye of +the courtier of Madrid. + +[Sidenote: HIS APPOINTMENT.] + +With all the light thus afforded, it is still difficult to say whether +Philip ever was sincere in his professions of visiting the Netherlands. +If he were so at any time, it certainly was not after he had decided on +the mission of Alva. Philip widely differed from his father in a +sluggishness of body which made any undertaking that required physical +effort exceedingly irksome. He shrunk from no amount of sedentary labor, +would toil from morning till midnight in his closet, like the humblest +of his secretaries. But a journey was a great undertaking. After his +visits, during his father's lifetime, to England and the Low Countries, +he rarely travelled farther, as his graceless son satirically hinted, +than from Madrid to Aranjuez, or Madrid to the Escorial. A thing so +formidable as an expedition to Flanders, involving a tedious journey +through an unfriendly land, or a voyage through seas not less +unfriendly, was what, under ordinary circumstances, the king would have +never dreamed of. + +The present aspect of affairs, moreover, had nothing in it particularly +inviting,--especially to a prince of Philip's temper. Never was there a +prince more jealous of his authority; and the indignities to which he +might have been exposed, in the disorderly condition of the country, +might well have come to the aid of his constitutional sluggishness to +deter him from the visit. + +Under these circumstances, it is not strange that Philip, if he had ever +entertained a vague project of a journey to the Netherlands, should have +yielded to his natural habit of procrastination. The difficulties of a +winter's voyage, the necessity of summoning the cortes and settling the +affairs of the kingdom, his own protracted illness, furnished so many +apologies for postponing the irksome visit, until the time had passed +when such a visit could be effectual. + +That he should so strenuously have asserted his purpose of going to the +Netherlands may be explained by a desire in some sort to save his credit +with those who seemed to think that the present exigency demanded he +should go. He may have also thought it politic to keep up the idea of a +visit to the Low Countries, in order to curb--as it no doubt had the +effect in some degree of curbing--the licence of the people, who +believed they were soon to be called to a reckoning for their misdeeds +by their prince in person. After all, the conduct of Philip on this +occasion, and the motives assigned for his delay in his letters to +Margaret, must be allowed to afford a curious coincidence with those +ascribed, in circumstances not dissimilar, by the Roman historian to +Tiberius.[936] + +On the fifteenth of April, 1567, Alva had his last audience of Philip at +Aranjuez. He immediately after departed for Carthagena, where a fleet of +thirty-six vessels, under the Genoese Admiral Doria, lay riding at +anchor to receive him. He was detained some time for the arrival of the +troops, and while there he received despatches from court containing his +commission of captain-general, and particular instructions as to the +course he was to pursue in the Netherlands. They were so particular, +that, notwithstanding the broad extent of his powers, the duke wrote to +his master complaining of his want of confidence, and declaring that he +had never been hampered by instructions so minute, even under the +emperor.[937] One who has studied the character of Philip will find no +difficulty in believing it. + +On the twenty-seventh of April, the fleet weighed anchor; but in +consequence of a detention of some days at several places on the Catalan +coast, it did not reach the Genoese port of Savona till the seventeenth +of the next month. The duke had been ill when he went on board; and his +gouty constitution received no benefit from the voyage. Yet he did not +decline the hospitalities offered by the Genoese nobles, who vied with +the senate in showing the Spanish commander every testimony of respect. +At Asti he was waited on by Albuquerque, the Milanese viceroy, and by +ambassadors from different Italian provinces, eager to pay homage to the +military representative of the Spanish monarch. But the gout under which +Alva labored was now aggravated by an attack of tertian ague, and for a +week or more he was confined to his bed. + +Meanwhile the troops had assembled at the appointed rendezvous; and the +duke, as soon as he had got the better of his disorder, made haste to +review them. They amounted in all to about ten thousand men, of whom +less than thirteen hundred were cavalry. But though small in amount, it +was a picked body of troops, such as was hardly to be matched in Europe. +The infantry, in particular, were mostly Spaniards,--veterans who had +been accustomed to victory under the banner of Charles the Fifth, and +many of them trained to war under the eye of Alva himself. He preferred +such a body, compact and well disciplined as it was, to one which, +unwieldy from its size, would have been less fitted for a rapid march +across the mountains.[938] + +[Sidenote: HIS REMARKABLE MARCH.] + +Besides those of the common file, there were many gentlemen and +cavaliers of note, who, weary of repose, came as volunteers to gather +fresh laurels under so renowned a chief as the duke of Alva. Among these +was Vitelli, marquis of Cetona, a Florentine soldier of high repute in +his profession, but who, though now embarked in what might be called a +war of religion, was held so indifferent to religion of any kind, that a +whimsical epitaph on the sceptic denies him the possession of a +soul.[939] Another of these volunteers was Mondragone, a veteran of +Charles the Fifth, whose character for chivalrous exploit was unstained +by those deeds of cruelty and rapine which were so often the reproach of +the cavalier of the sixteenth century. The duties of the commissariat, +particularly difficult in a campaign like the present, were intrusted to +an experienced Spanish officer named Ibarra. To the duke of Savoy Alva +was indebted for an eminent engineer named Paciotti, whose services +proved of great importance in the construction of fortresses in the +Netherlands. Alva had also brought with him his two sons, Frederic and +Ferdinand de Toledo,--the latter an illegitimate child, for whom the +father showed as much affection as it was in his rugged nature to feel +for any one. To Ferdinand was given the command of the cavalry, composed +chiefly of Italians.[940] + +Having reviewed his forces, the duke formed them into three divisions. +This he did in order to provide the more easily for their subsistence on +his long and toilsome journey. The divisions were to be separated from +one another by a day's march; so that each would take up at night the +same quarters which had been occupied by the preceding division on the +night before. Alva himself led the van.[941] + +He dispensed with artillery, not willing to embarrass his movements in +his passage across the mountains. But he employed what was then a +novelty in war. Each company of foot was flanked by a body of soldiers, +carrying heavy muskets with rests attached to them. This sort of +fire-arms, from their cumbrous nature, had hitherto been used only in +the defence of fortresses. But with these portable rests, they were +found efficient for field service, and as such came into general use +after this period.[942] Their introduction by Alva may be regarded, +therefore, as an event of some importance in the history of military +art. + +The route that Alva proposed to take was that over Mount Cenis, the +same, according to tradition, by which Hannibal crossed the great +barrier some eighteen centuries before.[943] If less formidable than in +the days of the Carthaginian, it was far from being the practicable +route so easily traversed, whether by trooper or tourist, at the present +day. Steep rocky heights, shaggy with forests, where the snows of winter +still lingered in the midst of June; fathomless ravines, choked up with +the _debris_ washed down by the mountain torrent; paths scarcely worn by +the hunter and his game, affording a precarious footing on the edge of +giddy precipices; long and intricate defiles, where a handful of men +might hold an army at bay, and from the surrounding heights roll down +ruin on their heads;--these were the obstacles which Alva and his +followers had to encounter, as they threaded their toilsome way through +a country where the natives bore no friendly disposition to the +Spaniards. + +Their route lay at no great distance from Geneva, that stronghold of the +Reformers; and Pius the Fifth would have persuaded the duke to turn from +his course, and exterminate this "nest of devils and +apostates,"[944]--as the Christian father was pleased to term them. The +people of Geneva, greatly alarmed at the prospect of an invasion, +applied to their Huguenot brethren for aid. The prince of Conde and the +Admiral Coligni--the leaders of that party--offered their services to +the French monarch to raise fifty thousand men, fall upon his old +enemies, the Spaniards, and cut them off in the passes of the mountains. +But Charles the Ninth readily understood the drift of this proposal. +Though he bore little love to the Spaniards, he bore still less to the +Reformers. He therefore declined this offer of the Huguenot chiefs, +adding that he was able to protect France without their assistance.[945] +The Genevans were accordingly obliged to stand to their own defence, +though they gathered confidence from the promised support of their +countrymen of Berne; and the whole array of these brave mountaineers was +in arms, ready to repel any assault of the Spaniards on their own +territory or on that of their allies, in their passage through the +country. But this was unnecessary. Though Alva passed within six leagues +of Geneva, and the request of the pontiff was warmly seconded by the +duke of Savoy, the Spanish general did not deem it prudent to comply +with it, declaring that his commission extended no further than to the +Netherlands. Without turning to the right or to the left he held on, +therefore, straight towards the mark, anxious only to extricate himself +as speedily as possible from the perilous passes where he might be taken +at so obvious disadvantage by an enemy. + +Yet such were the difficulties he had to encounter, that a fortnight +elapsed before he was able to set foot on the friendly plains of +Burgundy,--that part of the ancient duchy which acknowledged the +authority of Spain. Here he received the welcome addition to his ranks +of four hundred horse, the flower of the Burgundian chivalry. On his way +across the country he was accompanied by a French army of observation, +some six thousand strong, which moved in a parallel direction, at the +distance of six or seven leagues only from the line of march pursued by +the Spaniards,--though without offering them any molestation. + +[Sidenote: HE ARRIVES AT BRUSSELS.] + +Soon after entering Lorraine, Alva was met by the duke of that province, +who seemed desirous to show him every respect, and entertained him with +princely hospitality. After a brief detention, the Spanish general +resumed his journey, and on the 8th of August crossed the frontiers of +the Netherlands.[946] + +His long and toilsome march had been accomplished without an untoward +accident, and with scarcely a disorderly act on the part of the +soldiers. No man's property had been plundered. No peasant's hut had +been violated. The cattle had been allowed to graze unmolested in the +fields, and the flocks to wander in safety over their mountain pastures. +One instance only to the contrary is mentioned,--that of three troopers, +who carried off one or two straggling sheep as the army was passing +through Lorraine. But they were soon called to a heavy reckoning for +their transgression. Alva, on being informed of the fact, sentenced them +all to the gallows. At the intercession of the duke of Lorraine, the +sentence was so far mitigated by the Spanish commander, that one only of +the three, selected by lot, was finally executed.[947] + +The admirable discipline maintained among Alva's soldiers was the more +conspicuous in an age when the name of soldier was synonymous with that +of marauder. It mattered little whether it were a friendly country or +that of a foe through which lay the line of march. The defenceless +peasant was everywhere the prey of the warrior; and the general winked +at the outrages of his followers, as the best means of settling their +arrears. + +What made the subordination of the troops, in the present instance, +still more worthy of notice, was the great number of camp followers, +especially courtesans, who hung on the skirts of the army. These latter +mustered in such force, that they were divided into battalions and +companies, marching each under its own banner, and subjected to a sort +of military organization, like the men.[948] The duke seems to have been +as careless of the morals of his soldiers as he was careful of their +discipline; perhaps willing by his laxity in the one to compensate for +his severity in the other. + +It was of the last importance to Alva that his soldiers should commit no +trespass, nor entangle him in a quarrel with the dangerous people +through the midst of whom he was to pass; and who, from their superior +knowledge of the country, as well as their numbers, could so easily +overpower him. Fortunately, he had received such intimations before his +departure as put him on his guard. The result was, that he obtained such +a mastery over his followers, and enforced so perfect a discipline, as +excited the general admiration of his contemporaries, and made his march +to the Low Countries one of the most memorable events of the +period.[949] + +At Thionville the duke was waited on by Barlaimont and Noircarmes, who +came to offer the salutations of the regent, and at the same time to +request to see his powers. At the same place, and on the way to the +capital, the duke was met by several of the Flemish nobility, who came +to pay their respects to him; among the rest, Egmont, attended by forty +of his retainers. On his entering Alva's presence, the duke exclaimed to +one of his officers, "Here comes a great heretic!" The words were +overheard by Egmont, who hesitated a moment, naturally disconcerted by +what would have served as an effectual warning to any other man. But +Alva made haste to efface the impression caused by his heedless +exclamation, receiving Egmont with so much cordiality as reassured the +infatuated nobleman, who, regarding the words as a jest, before his +departure presented the duke with two beautiful horses.--Such is the +rather singular story which comes down to us on what must be admitted to +be respectable authority.[950] + +Soon after he had entered the country, the duke detached the greater +part of his forces to garrison some of the principal cities, and relieve +the Walloon troops on duty there, less to be trusted than his Spanish +veterans. With the Milanese brigade he took the road to Brussels, which +he entered on the twenty-second of August. His cavalry he established at +ten leagues' distance from the capital, and the infantry he lodged in +the suburbs. Far from being greeted by acclamations, no one came out to +welcome him as he entered the city, which seemed like a place deserted. +He went straight to the palace, to offer his homage to the regent. An +altercation took place on the threshold between his halberdiers and +Margaret's body-guard of archers, who disputed the entrance of the +Spanish soldiers. The duke himself was conducted to the bed-chamber of +the duchess, where she was in the habit of giving audience. She was +standing, with a few Flemish nobles by her side; and she remained in +that position, without stirring a single step to receive her visitor. +Both parties continued standing during the interview, which lasted half +an hour; the duke during the greater part of the time with his hat in +his hand, although Margaret requested him to be covered. The curious +spectators of this conference amused themselves by contrasting the +courteous and even deferential manners of the haughty Spaniard with the +chilling reserve and stately demeanor of the duchess.[951] At the close +of the interview Alva withdrew to his own quarters at Culemborg +House,--the place, it will be remembered, where the Gueux held their +memorable banquet on their visit to Brussels. + +[Sidenote: MARGARET DISGUSTED.] + +The following morning, at the request of the council of state, the duke +of Alva furnished that body with a copy of his commission. By this he +was invested with the title of captain-general, and in that capacity was +to exercise supreme control in all military affairs.[952] By another +commission, dated two months later, these powers were greatly enlarged. +The country was declared in a state of rebellion; and, as milder means +had failed to bring it to obedience, it was necessary to resort to arms. +The duke was therefore commanded to levy war on the refractory people, +and reduce them to submission. He was moreover to inquire into the +causes of the recent troubles, and bring the suspected parties to trial, +with full authority to punish or to pardon as he might judge best for +the public weal.[953] Finally, a third commission, of more startling +import than the two preceding, and which, indeed, might seem to +supersede them altogether, was dated on the first of March, 1567. In the +former instruments the duke was so far required to act in subordination +to the regent, that her authority was declared to be unimpaired. But by +virtue of this last commission he was invested with supreme control in +civil as well as military affairs; and persons of every degree, +including the regent herself, were enjoined to render obedience to his +commands, as to those of the king.[954] Such a commission, which placed +the government of the country in the hands of Alva, was equivalent to a +dismissal of Margaret. The title of "regent," which still remained to +her, was an empty mockery; nor could it be thought that she would be +content to retain a barren sceptre in the country over which she had so +long ruled. + +It is curious to observe the successive steps by which Philip had raised +Alva from the rank of captain-general of the army to supreme authority +in the country. It would seem as if the king were too tenacious of power +readily to part with it; and that it was only by successive efforts, as +the conviction of the necessity of such a step pressed more and more on +his mind, that he determined to lodge the government in the hands of +Alva. + +Whether the duke acquainted the council with the full extent of his +powers, or, as seems more probable, communicated to that body only his +first two commissions, it is impossible to say. At all events, the +members do not appear to have been prepared for the exhibition of powers +so extensive, and which, even in the second of the commissions, +transcended those exercised by the regent herself. A consciousness that +they did so had led Philip, in more than one instance, to qualify the +language of the instrument, in such a manner as not to rouse the +jealousy of his sister,--an artifice so obvious, that it probably +produced a contrary effect. At any rate, Margaret did not affect to +conceal her disgust, but talked openly of the affront put on her by the +king, and avowed her determination to throw up the government.[955] + +She gave little attention to business, passing most of her days in +hunting, of which masculine sport she was excessively fond. She even +threatened to amuse herself with journeying about from place to place, +leaving public affairs to take care of themselves, till she should +receive the king's permission to retire.[956] From this indulgence of +her spleen she was dissuaded by her secretary, Armenteros, who, shifting +his sails to suit the breeze, showed, soon after Alva's coming, his +intention to propitiate the new governor. There were others of +Margaret's adherents less accommodating. Some high in office intimated +very plainly their discontent at the presence of the Spaniards, from +which they boded only calamity to the country.[957] Margaret's +confessor, in a sermon preached before the regent, did not scruple to +denounce the Spaniards as so many "knaves, traitors, and +ravishers."[958] And although the remonstrance of the loyal Armenteros +induced the duchess to send back the honest man to his convent, it was +plain, from the warm terms in which she commended the preacher, that she +was far from being displeased with his discourse. + +The duke of Alva cared little for the hatred of the Flemish lords.[959] +But he felt otherwise towards the regent. He would willingly have +soothed her irritation; and he bent his haughty spirit to show, in spite +of her coldness, a deference in his manner that must have done some +violence to his nature. As a mark of respect, he proposed at once to pay +her another visit, and in great state, as suited her rank. But Margaret, +feigning or feeling herself too ill to receive him, declined his visit +for some days, and at last, perhaps to mortify him the more, vouchsafed +him only a private audience in her own apartment. + +Yet at this interview she showed more condescension than before, and +even went so far as to assure the duke that there was no one whose +appointment would have been more acceptable to her.[960] She followed +this, by bluntly demanding why he had been sent at all. Alva replied, +that, as she had often intimated her desire for a more efficient +military force, he had come to aid her in the execution of her measures, +and to restore peace to the country before the arrival of his +majesty.[961]--The answer could hardly have pleased the duchess, who +doubtless considered she had done that without his aid, already. + +[Sidenote: MARGARET DISGUSTED.] + +The discourse fell upon the mode of quartering the troops. Alva proposed +to introduce a Spanish garrison into Brussels. To this Margaret objected +with great energy. But the duke on this point was inflexible. Brussels +was the royal residence, and the quiet of the city could only be secured +by a garrison. "If people murmur," he concluded, "you can tell them I am +a headstrong man, bent on having my own way. I am willing to take all +the odium of the measure on myself."[962] Thus thwarted, and made to +feel her inferiority when any question of real power was involved, +Margaret felt the humiliation of her position even more keenly than +before. The appointment of Alva had been from the first, as we have +seen, a source of mortification to the duchess. In December, 1566, soon +after Philip had decided on sending the duke, with the authority of +captain-general, to the Low Countries, he announced it in a letter to +Margaret. He had been as much perplexed, he said, in the choice of a +commander, as she could have been; and it was only at her suggestion of +the necessity of some one to take the military command, that he had made +such a nomination. Alva was, however, only to prepare the way for him, +to assemble a force on the frontier, establish the garrisons, and +enforce discipline among the troops till he came.[963] Philip was +careful not to alarm his sister by any hint of the extraordinary powers +to be conferred on the duke, who thus seemed to be sent only in +obedience to her suggestion, and in subordination to her +authority.--Margaret knew too well that Alva was not a man to act in +subordination to any one. But whatever misgivings she may have had, she +hardly betrayed them in her reply to Philip, in the following February, +1567, when she told the king she "was sure he would never be so unjust, +and do a thing so prejudicial to the interests of the country, as to +transfer to another the powers he had vested in her."[964] + +The appointment of Alva may have stimulated the regent to the +extraordinary efforts she then made to reduce the country to order. When +she had achieved this, she opened her mind more freely to her brother, +in a letter dated July 12, 1567. "The name of Alva was so odious in the +Netherlands that it was enough to make the whole Spanish nation +detested.[965] She could never have imagined that the king would make +such an appointment without consulting her." She then, alluding to +orders lately received from Madrid, shows extreme repugnance to carry +out the stern policy of Philip;[966]--a repugnance, it must be +confessed, that seems to rest less on the character of the measures than +on the difficulty of their execution. + +When the duchess learned that Alva was in Italy, she wrote also to him, +hoping at this late hour to arrest his progress by the assurance that +the troubles were now at an end, and that his appearance at the head of +an army would only serve to renew them. But the duke was preparing for +his march across the Alps, and it would have been as easy to stop the +avalanche in its descent, as to stay the onward course of this "man of +destiny." + +The state of Margaret's feelings was shown by the chilling reception she +gave the duke on his arrival in Brussels. The extent of his powers, so +much beyond what she had imagined, did not tend to soothe the irritation +of the regent's temper; and the result of the subsequent interview +filled up the measure of her indignation. However forms might be +respected, it was clear the power had passed into other hands. She wrote +at once to Philip, requesting, or rather requiring, his leave to +withdraw without delay from the country. "If he had really felt the +concern he professed for her welfare and reputation, he would have +allowed her to quit the government before being brought into rivalry +with a man like the duke of Alva, who took his own course in everything, +without the least regard to her. It afflicted her to the bottom of her +soul to have been thus treated by the king."[967] + +It may have given some satisfaction to Margaret, that in her feelings +towards the duke she had the entire sympathy of the nation. In earlier +days, in the time of Charles the Fifth, Alva had passed some time both +in Germany and in the Netherlands, and had left there no favorable +impression of his character. In the former country, indeed, his haughty +deportment on a question of etiquette had caused some embarrassment to +his master. Alva insisted on the strange privilege of the Castilian +grandee to wear his hat in the presence of his sovereign. The German +nobles, scandalized by this pretension in a subject, asserted that their +order had as good a right to it as the Spaniards. It was not without +difficulty that the proud duke was content to waive the contested +privilege till his return to Spain.[968] + +Another anecdote of Alva had left a still more unfavorable impression of +his character. He had accompanied Charles on his memorable visit to +Ghent, on occasion of its rebellion. The emperor asked the duke's +counsel as to the manner in which he should deal with his refractory +capital. Alva instantly answered, "Raze it to the ground!" Charles, +without replying, took the duke with him to the battlements of the +castle; and as their eyes wandered over the beautiful city spread out +far and wide below, the emperor asked him, with a pun on the French name +of Ghent (_Gand_), how many Spanish hides it would take to make such a +_glove_ (_gant_). Alva, who saw his master's displeasure, received the +rebuke in silence. The story, whether true or not, was current among the +people of Flanders, on whom it produced its effect.[969] + +Alva was now sixty years old. It was not likely that age had softened +the asperity of his nature. He had, as might be expected, ever shown +himself the uncompromising enemy of the party of reform in the Low +Countries. He had opposed the concession made to the nation by the +recall of Granvelle. The only concessions he recommended to Philip were +in order to lull the suspicions of the great lords, till he could bring +them to a bloody reckoning for their misdeeds.[970] The general drift of +his policy was perfectly understood in the Netherlands, and the duchess +had not exaggerated when she dwelt on the detestation in which he was +held by the people. + +His course on his arrival was not such as to diminish the fears of the +nation. His first act was to substitute in the great towns his own +troops, men who knew no law but the will of their chief, for the Walloon +garrisons, who might naturally have some sympathy with their countrymen. +His next was to construct some fortresses, under the direction of one of +the ablest engineers in Europe. The hour had come when, in the language +of the prince of Orange, his countrymen were to be bridled by the +Spaniard. + +[Sidenote: POLICY OF THE DUKE.] + +The conduct of Alva's soldiers underwent an ominous change. Instead of +the discipline observed on the march, they now indulged in the most +reckless licence. "One hears everywhere," writes a Fleming of the time, +"of the oppressions of the Spaniards. Confiscation is going on to the +right and left. If a man has anything to lose, they set him down at +once as a heretic."[971] If the writer may be thought to have borrowed +something from his fears,[972] it cannot be doubted that the panic was +general in the country. Men emigrated by thousands and tens of +thousands, carrying with them to other lands the arts and manufactures +which had so long been the boast and the source of prosperity of the +Netherlands.[973] Those who remained were filled with a dismal +apprehension,--a boding of coming evil, as they beheld the heavens +darkening around them, and the signs of the tempest at hand. + +A still deeper gloom lay upon Brussels, once the gayest city in the +Netherlands,--now the residence of Alva. All business was suspended. +Places of public resort were unfrequented. The streets were silent and +deserted. Several of the nobles and wealthier citizens had gone to their +estates in the country, to watch there the aspect of events.[974] Most +of the courtiers who remained--the gilded insects that loved the +sunshine--had left the regent's palace, and gone to pay their homage to +her rival at Culemborg House. There everything went merrily as in the +gayest time of Brussels. For the duke strove, by brilliant +entertainments and festivities, to amuse the nobles and dissipate the +gloom of the capital.[975] + +In all this Alva had a deeper motive than met the public eye. He was +carrying out the policy which he had recommended to Philip. By courteous +and conciliatory manners he hoped to draw around him the great nobles, +especially such as had been at all mixed up with the late revolutionary +movements. Of these, Egmont was still at Brussels; but Hoorne had +withdrawn to his estates at Weert.[976] Hoogstraten was in Germany with +the prince of Orange. As to the latter, Alva, as he wrote to the king, +could not flatter himself with the hope of his return.[977] + +The duke and his son Ferdinand both wrote to Count Hoorne in the most +friendly terms, inviting him to come to Brussels.[978] But this +distrustful nobleman still kept aloof. Alva, in a conversation with the +count's secretary, expressed the warmest solicitude for the health of +his master. He had always been his friend, he said, and had seen with +infinite regret that the count's services were no better appreciated by +the king.[979] But Philip was a good prince, and if slow to recompense, +the count would find him not ungrateful. Could the duke but see the +count, he had that to say which would content him. He would find he was +not forgotten by his friends.[980] This last assurance had a terrible +significance. Hoorne yielded at length to an invitation couched in terms +so flattering. With Hoogstraten, Alva was not so fortunate. His good +genius, or the counsel of Orange, saved him from the snare, and kept him +in Germany.[981] + +Having nothing further to gain by delay, Alva determined to proceed at +once to the execution of his scheme. On the ninth of September the +council of state was summoned to meet at Culemborg House. Egmont and +Hoorne were present; and two or three of the officers, among them +Paciotti, the engineer, were invited to discuss a plan of fortification +for some of the Flemish cities. In the mean time, strong guards had been +posted at all the avenues of the house, and cavalry drawn together from +the country and established in the suburbs. + +The duke prolonged the meeting until information was privately +communicated to him of the arrest of Backerzele, Egmont's secretary, and +Van Stralen, the burgomaster of Antwerp. The former was a person of +great political sagacity, and deep in the confidence of Egmont; the +latter, the friend of Orange, with whom he was still in constant +correspondence. The arrest of Backerzele, who resided in Brussels, was +made without difficulty, and possession was taken of his papers. Van +Stralen was surrounded by a body of horse, as he was driving out of +Antwerp in his carriage; and both of the unfortunate gentlemen were +brought prisoners to Culemborg House. + +[Sidenote: ARREST OF EGMONT AND HOORNE.] + +As soon as these tidings were conveyed to Alva, he broke up the meeting +of the council. Then, entering into conversation with Egmont, he +strolled with him through the adjoining rooms, in one of which was a +small body of soldiers. As the two nobles entered the apartment, Sancho +Davila, the captain of the duke's guard, went up to Egmont, and in the +king's name demanded his sword, telling him at the same time he was his +prisoner.[982] The count, astounded by the proceeding, and seeing +himself surrounded by soldiers, made no attempt at resistance, but +calmly, and with much dignity in his manner, gave up his sword, saying +at the same time, "It has done the king service more than once."[983] +And well might he say so; for with that sword he had won the fields of +Gravelines and St. Quentin.[984] + +Hoorne fell into a similar ambuscade, in another part of the palace, +whither he was drawn while conversing with the duke's son Ferdinand de +Toledo, who, according to his father's account, had the whole merit of +arranging this little drama.[985] Neither did the admiral make any +resistance; but, on learning Egmont's fate, yielded himself up, saying +"he had no right to expect to fare better than his friend."[986] + +It now became a question as to the disposal of the prisoners. Culemborg +House was clearly no fitting place for their confinement. Alva caused +several castles in the neighborhood of Brussels to be examined, but they +were judged insecure. He finally decided on Ghent. The strong fortress +of this city was held by one of Egmont's own partisans; but an order was +obtained from the count requiring him to deliver up the keys into the +hands of Ulloa, one of Alva's most trusted captains, who, at the head of +a corps of Spanish veterans, marched to Ghent, and relieved the Walloon +garrison of their charge. Ulloa gave proof of his vigilance, immediately +on his arrival, by seizing a heavy wagon loaded with valuables belonging +to Egmont, as it was leaving the castle gate.[987] + +Having completed these arrangements, the duke lost no time in sending +the two lords, under a strong military escort, to Ghent. Two companies +of mounted arquebusiers rode in the front. A regiment of Spanish +infantry, which formed the centre, guarded the prisoners; one of whom, +Egmont, was borne in a litter carried by mules, while Hoorne was in his +own carriage. The rear was brought up by three companies of light horse. + +Under this strong guard the unfortunate nobles were conducted through +the province where Egmont had lately ruled "with an authority," writes +Alva's secretary, "greater even than that of the king."[988] But no +attempt was made at a rescue; and as the procession entered the gates of +Ghent, where Egmont's popularity was equal to his power, the people +gazed in stupefied silence on the stern array that was conducting their +lord to the place of his confinement.[989] + +The arrest of Egmont and Hoorne was known, in a few hours after it took +place, to every inhabitant of Brussels; and the tidings soon spread to +the furthest parts of the country. "The imprisonment of the lords," +writes Alva to the king, "has caused no disturbance. The tranquillity is +such that your majesty would hardly credit it."[990] True; but the +tranquillity was that of a man stunned by a heavy blow. If murmurs were +not loud, however, they were deep. Men mourned over the credulity of the +two counts, who had so blindly fallen into the snare, and congratulated +one another on the forecast of the prince of Orange, who might one day +have the power to avenge them.[991] The event gave a new spur to +emigration. In the space of a few weeks no loss than twenty thousand +persons are said to have fled the country.[992] And the exiles were not +altogether drawn from the humbler ranks; for no one, however high, could +feel secure when he saw the blow aimed at men like Egmont and Hoorne, +the former of whom, if he had given some cause of distrust, had long +since made his peace with the government. + +Count Mansfeldt made haste to send his son out of the country, lest the +sympathy he had once shown for the confederates, notwithstanding his +recent change of opinion, might draw on him the vengeance of Alva. The +old count, whose own loyalty could not be impeached, boldly complained +of the arrest of the lords as an infringement on the rights of the +_Toison d'Or_, which body alone had cognizance of the causes that +concerned their order, intimating, at the same time, his intention to +summon a meeting of the members. But he was silenced by Alva, who +plainly told him, that, if the chevaliers of the order did meet, and +said so much as the _credo_, he would bring them to a heavy reckoning +for it. As to the rights of the _Toison_, his majesty has pronounced on +them, said the duke, and nothing remains for you but to submit.[993] + +The arrest and imprisonment of the two highest nobles in the land, +members of the council of state, and that without any communication with +her, was an affront to the regent which she could not brook. It was in +vain that Alva excused it by saying it had been done by the order of the +king, who wished to spare his sister the unpopularity which must attach +to such a proceeding. Margaret made no reply. She did not complain. She +was too deeply wounded to complain. But she wrote to Philip, asking him +to consider "whether it could be advantageous to him, or decorous for +her, whom he did not disdain to call his sister, that she should remain +longer in a place of which the authority was so much abridged, or rather +annihilated."[994] She sent her secretary, Machiavelli, with her +despatches, requesting an immediate reply from Philip, and adding that, +if it were delayed, she should take silence for assent, and forthwith +leave the country. + +[Sidenote: THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD.] + +The duke of Alva was entirely resigned to the proposed departure of +Margaret. However slight the restraint her presence might impose on his +conduct, it exacted more deference than was convenient, and compelled +him to consult appearances. Now that he had shown his hand, he was +willing to play it out boldly to the end. His first step, after the +arrest of the lords, was to organize that memorable tribunal for +inquiring into the troubles of the country, which has no parallel in +history save the revolutionary tribunal of the French republic. The duke +did not shrink from assuming the sole responsibility of his measures. He +said, "it was better for the king to postpone his visit to the +Netherlands, so that his ministers might bear alone the odium of these +rigorous acts. When these had been performed, he might come like a +gracious prince, dispensing promises and pardon."[995] + +This admirable coolness must be referred in part to Alva's consciousness +that his policy would receive the unqualified sanction of his master. +Indeed, his correspondence shows that all he had done in the Low +Countries was in accordance with a plan preconcerted with Philip. The +arrest of the Flemish lords, accordingly, gave entire satisfaction at +the court of Madrid, where it was looked on as the first great step in +the measures of redress. It gave equal contentment to the court of Rome, +where it was believed that the root of heresy was to be reached only by +the axe of the executioner. Yet there was one person at that court of +more penetration than those around him, the old statesman, Granvelle, +who, when informed of the arrest of Egmont and Hoorne, inquired if the +duke had "also drawn into his net the _Silent one_,"--as the prince of +Orange was popularly called. On being answered in the negative, "Then," +said the cardinal, "if he has not caught him, he has caught +nothing."[996] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CRUEL POLICY OF ALVA. + +The Council of Blood.--Its Organization.--General Prosecutions.--Civil +War in France.--Departure of Margaret.--Her administration reviewed. + +1567. + + +"Thank God," writes the duke of Alva to his sovereign, on the +twenty-fourth of October, "all is tranquil in the Low Countries."[997] +It was the same sentiment he had uttered a few weeks before. All was +indeed tranquil. Silence reigned throughout the land. Yet it might have +spoken more eloquently to the heart than the murmurs of discontent, or +the loudest tumult of insurrection. "They say many are leaving the +country," he writes in another despatch. "It is hardly worth while to +arrest them. The repose of the nation is not to be brought about by +cutting off the heads of those who are led astray by others."[998] + +Yet in less than a week after this, we find a royal ordinance, declaring +that, "whereas his majesty is averse to use rigor towards those who have +taken part in the late rebellion; and would rather deal with them in all +gentleness and mercy,[999] it is forbidden to any one to leave the land, +or to send off his effects, without obtaining a license from the +authorities, under pain of being regarded as having taken part in the +late troubles, and of being dealt with accordingly. All masters and +owners of vessels, who shall aid such persons in their flight, shall +incur the same penalties."[1000] The penalties denounced in this spirit +of "gentleness and mercy," were death and confiscation of property. + +That the law was not a dead letter was soon shown by the arrest of ten +of the principal merchants of Tournay, as they were preparing to fly to +foreign parts, and by the immediate confiscation of their estates.[1001] +Yet Alva would have persuaded the world that he, as well as his master, +was influenced only by sentiments of humanity. To the Spanish ambassador +at Rome he wrote, soon after the seizure of the Flemish lords: "I might +have arrested more; but the king is averse to shedding the blood of his +people. I have the same disposition myself.[1002] I am pained to the +bottom of my soul by the necessity of the measure." + +But now that the great nobles had come into the snare, it was hardly +necessary to keep up the affectation of lenity; and it was not long +before he threw away the mask altogether. The arm of justice--of +vengeance--was openly raised to strike down all who had offended by +taking part in the late disturbances. + +The existing tribunals were not considered as competent to this work. +The regular forms of procedure were too dilatory, and the judges +themselves would hardly be found subservient enough to the will of Alva. +He created, therefore, a new tribunal, with extraordinary powers, for +the sole purpose of investigating the causes of the late disorders, and +for bringing the authors to punishment. It was called originally the +"Council of his Excellency." The name was soon changed for that of the +"Council of Tumults." But the tribunal is better known in history by the +terrible name it received from the people, of the "_Council of +Blood_."[1003] + +[Sidenote: THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD.] + +It was composed of twelve judges, "the most learned, upright men, and of +the purest lives"--if we may take the duke's word for it--that were to +be found in the country.[1004] Among them were Noircarmes and +Barlaimont, both members of the council of state. The latter was a proud +noble, of one of the most ancient families in the land, inflexible in +his character, and stanch in his devotion to the crown. Besides these +there were the presidents of the councils of Artois and Flanders, the +chancellor of Gueldres, and several jurists of repute in the country. +But the persons of most consideration in the body were two lawyers who +had come in the duke's train from Castile. One of these, the doctor Del +Rio, though born in Bruges, was of Spanish extraction. His most +prominent trait seems to have been unlimited subserviency to the will of +his employer.[1005] The other, Juan de Vargas, was to play the most +conspicuous part in the bloody drama that followed. He was a Spaniard, +and had held a place in the council of the Indies. His character was +infamous; and he was said to have defrauded an orphan ward of her +patrimony.[1006] When he left Spain, two criminal prosecutions are +reported to have been hanging over him. This only made him the more +dependent on Alva's protection. He was a man of great energy of +character, unwearied in application to business, unscrupulous in the +service of his employer, ready at any price to sacrifice to his own +interest, not only every generous impulse, but the common feelings of +humanity. Such, at least, are the dark colors in which he is portrayed +by the writers of a nation which held him in detestation. Yet his very +vices made him so convenient to the duke, that the latter soon bestowed +on him more of his confidence than on any other of his followers;[1007] +and in his correspondence with Philip we perpetually find him commending +Vargas to the monarch's favor, and contrasting his "activity, altogether +juvenile," with the apathy of others of the council.[1008] As Vargas was +unacquainted with Flemish, the proceedings of the court were conducted, +for his benefit, in Latin.[1009] Yet he was such a bungler, even in this +language, that his blunders furnished infinite merriment to the people +of Flanders, who took some revenge for their wrongs in the ridicule of +their oppressor. + +As the new court had cognizance of all cases, civil as well as criminal, +which grew out of the late disorders, the amount of business soon +pressed on them so heavily, that it was found expedient to distribute it +into several departments among the different members. Two of the body +had especial charge of the processes of the prince of Orange, his +brother Louis, Hoogstraten, Culemborg, and the rest of William's noble +companions in exile. To Vargas and Del Rio was intrusted the trial of +the Counts Egmont and Hoorne. And two others, Blasere and Hessels, had +the most burdensome and important charge of all such causes as came from +the provinces.[1010] + +The latter of these two worthies was destined to occupy a place second +only to that of Vargas on the bloody roll of persecution. He was a +native of Ghent, of sufficient eminence in his profession to fill the +office of attorney-general of his province under Charles the Fifth. In +that capacity he enforced the edicts with so much rigor as to make +himself odious to his countrymen. In the new career now opened to him, +he found a still wider field for his mischievous talents, and he entered +on the duties of his office with such hearty zeal as soon roused general +indignation in the people, who at a later day took terrible vengeance on +their oppressor.[1011] + +As soon as the Council of Troubles was organized, commissioners were +despatched into the provinces to hunt out the suspected parties. All who +had officiated as preachers, or had harbored or aided them, who had +joined the consistories, who had assisted in defacing or destroying the +Catholic churches or in building the Protestant, who had subscribed the +Compromise, or who, in short, had taken an active part in the late +disorders, were to be arrested as guilty of treason. In the hunt after +victims informations were invited from every source. Wives were +encouraged to depose against husbands, children against parents. The +prisons were soon full to overflowing, and the provincial and the local +magistrates were busy in filing informations of the different cases, +which were forwarded to the court at Brussels. When deemed of sufficient +importance, the further examination of a case was reserved for the +council itself. But for the most part the local authorities, or a +commission sent expressly for the purpose, were authorized to try the +cause, proceeding even to a definitive sentence, which, with the grounds +of it, they were to lay before the Council of Troubles. The process was +then revised by the committee for the provinces, who submitted the +result of their examination to Vargas and Del Rio. The latter were alone +empowered to vote in the matter; and their sentence, prepared in +writing, was laid before the duke, who reserved to himself the right of +a final decision. This he did, as he wrote to Philip, that he might not +come too much under the direction of the council. "Your majesty well +knows," he concludes, "that gentlemen of the law are unwilling to decide +anything except upon evidence, while measures of state policy are not to +be regulated by the laws."[1012] + +It might be supposed that the different judges to whom the prisoner's +case was thus separately submitted for examination, would have afforded +an additional guaranty for his security. But quite the contrary; it only +multiplied the chances of his conviction. When the provincial committee +presented their report to Vargas and Del Rio,--to whom a Spanish jurist, +auditor of the chancery of Valladolid, named Roda, was afterwards +added,--if it proposed sentence of death, these judges declared it "was +right, and that there was no necessity of reviewing the process." If, on +the contrary, a lower penalty was recommended, the worthy ministers of +the law were in the habit of returning the process, ordering the +committee, with bitter imprecations, to revise it more carefully![1013] + +[Sidenote: THE COUNCIL OF BLOOD.] + +As confiscation was one of the most frequent as well as momentous +penalties adjudged by the Council of Blood, it necessarily involved a +large number of civil actions; for the estate thus forfeited was often +burdened with heavy claims on it by other parties. These were all to be +established before the council. One may readily comprehend how small was +the chance of justice before such a tribunal, where the creditor was one +of the parties, and the crown the other. Even if the suit was decided in +favor of the creditor, it was usually so long protracted, and attended +with such ruinous expense, that it would have been better for him never +to have urged it.[1014] + +The jurisdiction of the court, within the limits assigned to it, wholly +superseded that of the great court of Mechlin, as well as of every other +tribunal, provincial or municipal, in the country. Its decisions were +final. By the law of the land, established by repeated royal charters in +the provinces, no man in the Netherlands could be tried by any but a +native judge. But of the present court, one member was a native of +Burgundy, and two were Spaniards. + +It might be supposed that a tribunal with such enormous powers, which +involved so gross an outrage on the constitutional rights and +long-established usages of the nation, would at least have been +sanctioned by some warrant from the crown. It could pretend to nothing +of the kind,--not even a written commission from the duke of Alva, the +man who created it. By his voice alone he gave it an existence. The +ceremony of induction into office was performed by the new member +placing his hands between those of the duke, and swearing to remain true +to the faith; to decide in all cases according to his sincere +conviction; finally, to keep secret all the doings of the council, and +to denounce any one who disclosed them.[1015] A tribunal clothed with +such unbounded power, and conducted on a plan so repugnant to all +principles of justice, fell nothing short, in its atrocity, of that +inquisition so much dreaded in the Netherlands. + +Alva, in order to be the better able to attend the council, appointed +his own palace for the place of meeting. At first the sittings were held +morning and afternoon, lasting sometimes seven hours in a day.[1016] +There was a general attendance of the members, the duke presiding in +person. After a few months, as he was drawn to a distance by more +pressing affairs, he resigned his place to Vargas. Barlaimont and +Noircarmes, disgusted with the atrocious character of the proceedings, +soon absented themselves from the meetings. The more respectable of the +members imitated their example. One of the body, a Burgundian, a +follower of Granvelle, having criticised the proceedings somewhat too +freely, had leave to withdraw to his own province;[1017] till at length +only three or four councillors remained,--Vargas, Del Rio, Hessels, and +his colleague,--on whom the despatch of the momentous business wholly +devolved. To some of the processes we find not more than three names +subscribed. The duke was as indifferent to forms, as he was to the +rights of the nation.[1018] + +It soon became apparent, that, as in most proscriptions, wealth was the +mark at which persecution was mainly directed. At least, if it did not +actually form a ground of accusation, it greatly enhanced the chances of +a conviction. The commissioners sent to the provinces received written +instructions to ascertain the exact amount of property belonging to the +suspected parties. The expense incident to the maintenance of so many +officials, as well as of a large military force, pressed heavily on the +government; and Alva soon found it necessary to ask for support from +Madrid. It was in vain he attempted to obtain a loan from the merchants. +"They refuse," he writes; "to advance a _real_ on the security of the +confiscations, till they see how _the game_ we have begun is likely to +prosper!"[1019] + +In another letter to Philip, dated on the twenty-fourth of October, +Alva, expressing his regret at the necessity of demanding supplies, says +that the Low Countries ought to maintain themselves, and be no tax upon +Spain. He is constantly thwarted by the duchess, and by the council of +finance, in his appropriation of the confiscated property. Could he only +manage things in his own way, he would answer for it that the Flemish +cities, uncertain and anxious as to their fate, would readily acquiesce +in the fair means of raising a revenue proposed by the king.[1020] The +ambitious general, eager to secure the sole authority to himself, +artfully touched on the topic which would be most likely to operate with +his master. In a note on this passage, in his own handwriting, Philip +remarked that this was but just; but as he feared that supplies would +never be raised with the consent of the states, Alva must devise some +expedient by which their consent in the matter might be dispensed with, +and communicate it _privately_ to him.[1021] This pregnant thought he +soon after develops more fully in a letter to the duke.[1022]--It is +edifying to observe the cool manner in which the king and his general +discuss the best means for filching a revenue from the pockets of the +good people of the Netherlands. + +[Sidenote: GENERAL PROSECUTIONS.] + +Margaret,--whose name now rarely appears,--scandalized by the plan +avowed of wholesale persecution, and satisfied that blood enough had +been shed already, would fain have urged her brother to grant a general +pardon. But to this the duke strongly objected. "He would have every +man," he wrote to Philip, "feel that any day his house might fall about +his ears.[1023] Thus private individuals would be induced to pay larger +sums by way of composition for their offences." + +As the result of the confiscations, owing to the drains upon them above +alluded to, proved less than he expected, the duke, somewhat later, +proposed a tax of one per cent. on all property, personal and real. But +to this some of the council had the courage to object, as a thing not +likely to be relished by the states. "That depends," said Alva, "on the +way in which they are approached." He had as little love for the +states-general as his master, and looked on applications to them for +money as something derogatory to the crown. "I would take care to ask +for it," he said, "as I did when I wanted money to build the citadel of +Antwerp,--in such a way that they should not care to refuse it."[1024] + +The most perfect harmony seems to have subsisted between the king and +Alva in their operations for destroying the liberties of the nation,--so +perfect, indeed, that it could have been the result only of some +previous plan, concerted probably while the duke was in Castile. The +details of the execution were doubtless left, as they arose, to Alva's +discretion. But they so entirely received the royal sanction,--as is +abundantly shown by the correspondence,--that Philip may be said to have +made every act of his general his own. And not unfrequently we find the +monarch improving on the hints of his correspondent by some additional +suggestion.[1025] Whatever evils grew out of the male-administration of +the duke of Alva, the responsibility for the measures rests ultimately +on the head of Philip. + +One of the early acts of the new council was to issue a summons to the +prince of Orange, and to each of the noble exiles in his company, to +present themselves at Brussels, and answer the charges against them. In +the summons addressed to William, he was accused of having early +encouraged a spirit of disaffection in the nation; of bringing the +Inquisition into contempt; of promoting the confederacy of the nobles, +and opening his own palace of Breda for their discussions; of +authorizing the exercise of the reformed religion in Antwerp; in fine, +of being at the bottom of the troubles, civil and religious, which had +so long distracted the land. He was required, therefore, under pain of +confiscation of his property and perpetual exile, to present himself +before the council at Brussels within the space of six weeks, and +answer the charges against him. This summons was proclaimed by the +public crier, both in Brussels and in William's own city of Breda; and a +placard containing it was affixed to the door of the principal church in +each of those places.[1026] + +Alva followed up this act by another, which excited general indignation +through the country. He caused the count of Buren, William's eldest son, +then a lad pursuing his studies at Louvain, to be removed from the +university, and sent to Spain. His tutor and several of his domestics +were allowed to accompany him. But the duke advised the king to get rid +of these attendants as speedily as possible, and fill their places with +Spaniards.[1027] This unwarrantable act appears to have originated with +Granvelle, who recommends it in one of his letters from Rome.[1028] The +object, no doubt, was to secure some guaranty for the father's +obedience, as well as to insure the loyalty of the heir of the house of +Nassau, and to retain him in the Catholic faith. In the last object the +plan succeeded. The youth was kindly treated by Philip; and his long +residence in Spain nourished in him so strong an attachment to both +Church and crown, that he was ever after divorced from the great cause +in which his father and his countrymen were embarked. + +The prince of Orange published to the world his sense of the injury done +to him by this high-handed proceeding of the duke of Alva; and the +university of Louvain boldly sent a committee to the council to +remonstrate on the violation of their privileges. Vargas listened to +them with a smile of contempt, and, as he dismissed the deputation, +exclaimed, "_Non curamus vestros privilegios_,"--an exclamation long +remembered for its bad Latin as well as for its insolence.[1029] + +It may well be believed that neither William nor his friends obeyed the +summons of the Council of Blood. The prince, in a reply which was +printed and circulated abroad, denied the authority of Alva to try him. +As a knight of the Golden Fleece, he had a right to be tried by his +peers; as a citizen of Brabant, by his countrymen. He was not bound to +present himself before an incompetent tribunal,--one, moreover, which +had his avowed personal enemy at its head.[1030] + +The prince, during his residence in Germany, experienced all those +alleviations of his misfortunes which the sympathy and support of +powerful friends could afford. Among these the most deserving of notice +was William the Wise, a worthy son of the famous old landgrave of Hesse +who so stoutly maintained the Protestant cause against Charles the +Fifth. He and the elector of Saxony, both kinsmen of William's wife, +offered to provide an establishment for the prince, while he remained in +Germany, which, if it was not on the magnificent scale to which he had +been used in the Netherlands, was still not unsuited to the dignity of +his rank.[1031] + +[Sidenote: CIVIL WAR IN FRANCE.] + +The little court of William received every day fresh accessions from +those who fled from persecution in the Netherlands. They brought with +them appeals to him from his countrymen to interpose in their behalf. +The hour had not yet come. But still he was not idle. He was earnestly +endeavoring to interest the German princes in the cause, was +strengthening his own resources, and steadily, though silently, making +preparation for the great struggle with the oppressors of his country. + +While these events were passing in the Netherlands, the neighboring +monarchy of France was torn by those religious dissensions, which, at +this period, agitated, in a greater or less degree, most of the states +of Christendom. One half of the French nation was in arms against the +other half. At the time of our history, the Huguenots had gained a +temporary advantage; their combined forces were beleaguering the +capital, in which the king and Catherine de Medicis, his mother, were +then held prisoners. In this extremity, Catherine appealed to Margaret +to send a body of troops to her assistance. The regent hesitated as to +what course to take, and referred the matter to Alva. He did not +hesitate. He knew Philip's disposition in regard to France, and had +himself, probably, come to an understanding on the subject with the +queen-mother in the famous interview at Bayonne. He proposed to send a +body of three thousand horse to her relief. At the same time he wrote to +Catherine, offering to leave the Low Countries, and march himself to her +support with his whole strength, five thousand horse and fifteen +thousand foot, all his Spanish veterans included, provided she would +bring matters to an issue, and finish at once with the enemies of their +religion. The duke felt how powerfully such a result would react on the +Catholic cause in the Netherlands. + +He besought Catherine to come to no terms with the rebels; above all, to +make them no concessions. "Such concessions must, of necessity, be +either spiritual or temporal. If spiritual, they would be opposed to the +rights of God; if temporal, to the rights of the king. Better to reign +over a ruined land, which yet remains true to its God and its king, than +over one left unharmed for the benefit of the Devil and his followers +the heretics."[1032] In this declaration, breathing the full spirit of +religious and political absolutism, may be found the true key to the +policy of Alva and of his master. + +Philip heartily approved of the views taken by his general.[1033] As the +great champion of Catholicism, he looked with the deepest interest on +the religious struggle going forward in the neighboring kingdom, which +exercised so direct an influence on the revolutionary movements in the +Netherlands. He strongly encouraged the queen-mother to yield nothing to +the heretics. "With his own person," he declared, "and with all that he +possessed, he was ready to serve the French crown in its contests with +the rebels."[1034] Philip's zeal in the cause was so well understood in +France, that some of the Catholic leaders did not scruple to look to +him, rather than to their own government, as the true head of their +party.[1035] + +Catherine de Medicis did not discover the same uncompromising spirit, +and had before this disgusted her royal son-in-law by the politic views +which mingled with her religion. On the present occasion she did not +profit by the brilliant offer made to her by Alva to come in person at +the head of his army. She may have thought so formidable a presence +might endanger the independence of the government. Roman Catholic as she +was at heart, she preferred, with true Italian policy, balancing the +rival factions against each other, to exterminating either of them +altogether. The duke saw that Catherine was not disposed to strike at +the root of the evil, and that the advantages to be secured by success +would be only temporary. He contented himself, therefore, with +despatching a smaller force, chiefly of Flemish troops, under Aremberg. +Before the count reached Paris, the battle of St. Denis had been fought. +Montmorenci fell; but the royal party was victorious. Catherine made a +treaty with the discomfited Huguenots, as favorable to them as if they, +not she, had won the fight. Alva, disgusted with the issue, ordered the +speedy return of Aremberg, whose presence, moreover, was needed, on a +more active theatre of operations. + +During all this while Margaret's position afforded a pitiable contrast +to the splendid elevation which she had occupied for so many years as +head of the government. Not only had the actual power passed from her +hands, but she felt that all her influence had gone with it. She hardly +enjoyed even the right of remonstrance. In this position, she had the +advantage of being more favorably situated for criticizing the conduct +of the administration, than when she was herself at the head of it. She +became more sensible of the wrongs of the people,--now that they were +inflicted by other hands than her own. She did not refuse to intercede +in their behalf. She deprecated the introduction of a garrison into the +good city of Brussels. If this were necessary, she still besought the +duke not to allow the loyal inhabitants to be burdened with the +maintenance of the soldiers.[1036] But he turned a deaf ear to her +petition. She urged that, after the chastisement already inflicted on +the nation, the only way to restore quiet was by a general amnesty. The +duke replied, that no amnesty could be so general but there must be some +exceptions, and it would take time to determine who should be excepted. +She recommended that the states be called together to vote the supplies. +He evaded this also by saying it would be necessary first to decide on +the amount of the subsidy to be raised.[1037] The regent felt that in +all matters of real moment she had as little weight as any private +individual in the country. + +[Sidenote: DEPARTURE OF MARGARET] + +From this state of humiliation she was at last relieved by the return of +her secretary, Machiavelli, who brought with him despatches from Ruy +Gomez, Philip's favorite minister. He informed the duchess that the +king, though, reluctantly, had at last acceded to her request, and +allowed her to resign the government of the provinces. In token of his +satisfaction with her conduct, his majesty had raised the pension which +she had hitherto enjoyed, of eight thousand florins, to fourteen +thousand, to be paid her yearly during the remainder of her life. This +letter was dated on the sixth of October.[1038] Margaret soon after +received one, dated four days later, from Philip himself, of much the +same tenor with that of his minister. The king, in a few words, +intimated the regret he felt at his sister's retirement from office, and +the sense he entertained of the services she had rendered him by her +long and faithful administration.[1039] + +The increase of the pension showed no very extravagant estimate of these +services; and the parsimonious tribute which, after his long silence, he +now, in a few brief sentences, paid to her deserts, too plainly +intimated, that all she had done had failed to excite even a feeling of +gratitude in the bosom of her brother.[1040] At the same time with the +letter to Margaret came a commission to the duke of Alva, investing him +with the title of regent and governor-general, together with all the +powers that had been possessed by his predecessor.[1041] + +Margaret made only one request of Philip previous to her departure. This +he denied her. Her father, Charles the Fifth, at the time of his +abdication, had called the states-general together, and taken leave of +them in a farewell address, which was still cherished as a legacy by his +subjects. Margaret would have imitated his example. The grandeur of the +spectacle pleased her imagination; and she was influenced, no doubt, by +the honest desire of manifesting, in the hour of separation, some +feelings of a kindly nature for the people over whom she had ruled for +so many years. + +But Philip, as we have seen, had no relish for these meetings of the +states. He had no idea of consenting to them on an emergency no more +pressing than the present. Margaret was obliged, therefore, to +relinquish the pageant, and to content herself with taking leave of the +people by letters addressed to the principal cities of the provinces. In +these she briefly touched on the difficulties which had lain in her +path, and on the satisfaction which she felt at having, at length, +brought the country to a state of tranquillity and order. She besought +them to remain always constant in the faith in which they had been +nurtured, as well as in their loyalty to a prince so benign and merciful +as the king, her brother. In so doing the blessing of Heaven would rest +upon them; and for her own part, she would ever be found ready to use +her good offices in their behalf.[1042] + +She proved her sincerity by a letter written to Philip, before her +departure, in which she invoked his mercy in behalf of his Flemish +subjects. "Mercy," she said, "was a divine attribute. The greater the +power possessed by a monarch, the nearer he approached the Deity, and +the more should he strive to imitate the divine clemency and +compassion.[1043] His royal predecessors had contented themselves with +punishing the leaders of sedition, while they spared the masses who +repented. Any other course would confound the good with the bad, and +bring such calamities on the country as his majesty could not fail to +appreciate."[1044]--Well had it been for the fair fame of Margaret, if +her counsels had always been guided by such wise and magnanimous +sentiments. + +The tidings of the regent's abdication were received with dismay +throughout the provinces. All the errors of her government, her acts of +duplicity, the excessive rigor with which she had of late visited +offences,--all were forgotten in the regret felt for her departure. Men +thought only of the prosperity which the country had enjoyed under her +rule, the confidence which in earlier years she had bestowed on the +friends of the people, the generous manner in which she had interposed, +on more than one occasion, to mitigate the hard policy of the court of +Madrid. And as they turned from these more brilliant passages of her +history, their hearts were filled with dismay while they looked gloomily +into the future. + +Addresses poured in upon her from all quarters. The different cities +vied with one another in expressions of regret for her departure, while +they invoked the blessings of Heaven on her remaining days. More than +one of the provinces gave substantial evidence of their good-will by +liberal donatives. Brabant voted her the sum of twenty-five thousand +florins, and Flanders, thirty thousand.[1045] The neighboring princes, +and among them Elizabeth of England, joined with the people of the +Netherlands in professions of respect for the regent, as well as of +regret that she was to relinquish the government.[1046] + +Cheered by these assurances of the consideration in which she was held +both at home and abroad, Margaret quitted Brussels at the close of +December, 1567. She was attended to the borders of Brabant by Alva, and +thence conducted to Germany, by Count Mansfeldt and an escort of Flemish +nobles.[1047] There bidding adieu to all that remained of her former +state, she pursued her journey quietly to Italy. For some time she +continued with her husband in his ducal residence at Parma. But, +wherever lay the fault, it was Margaret's misfortune to taste but little +of the sweets of domestic intercourse. Soon afterwards she removed to +Naples, and there permanently established her abode on estates which had +been granted her by the crown. Many years later, when her son, Alexander +Farnese, was called to the government of the Netherlands, she quitted +her retirement to take part with him in the direction of public affairs. +It was but for a moment; and her present departure from the Netherlands +may be regarded as the close of her political existence. + +[Sidenote: HER ADMINISTRATION REVIEWED.] + +The government of Margaret continued from the autumn of 1559 to the end +of 1567, a period of eight years. It was a stormy and most eventful +period; for it was then that the minds of men were agitated to their +utmost depths by the new doctrines which gave birth to the revolution. +Margaret's regency, indeed, may be said to have furnished the opening +scenes of that great drama. The inhabitants of the Low Countries were +accustomed to the sway of a woman. Margaret was the third of her line +that had been intrusted with the regency. In qualifications for the +office she was probably not inferior to her predecessors. Her long +residence in Italy had made her acquainted with the principles of +government in a country where political science was more carefully +studied than in any other quarter of Europe. She was habitually +industrious; and her robust frame was capable of any amount of labor. If +she was too masculine in her nature to allow of the softer qualities of +her sex, she was, on the other hand, exempt from the fondness for +pleasure and from most of the frivolities which belonged to the women of +the voluptuous clime in which she had lived. She was stanch in her +devotion to the Catholic faith; and her loyalty was such, that, from the +moment of assuming the government, she acknowledged no stronger motive +than that of conformity to the will of her sovereign. She was fond of +power; and she well knew that, with Philip, absolute conformity to his +will was the only condition on which it was to be held. + +With her natural good sense, and the general moderation of her views, +she would, doubtless, have ruled over the land as prosperously as her +predecessors, had the times been like theirs. But, unhappily for her, +the times had greatly changed. Still Margaret, living on the theatre of +action, and feeling the pressure of circumstances, would have gone far +to conform to the change. But unfortunately she represented a prince, +dwelling at a distance, who knew no change himself, allowed no +concessions to others,--whose conservative policy rested wholly on the +past. + +It was unfortunate for Margaret, that she never fully possessed the +confidence of Philip. Whether from distrust of her more accommodating +temper, or of her capacity for government, he gave a larger share of it, +at the outset, to Granvelle than to her. If the regent could have been +blind to this, her eyes would soon have been opened to the fact by the +rivals who hated the minister. It was not long before she hated him too. +But the removal of Granvelle did not establish her in her brother's +confidence. It rather increased his distrust, by the necessity it +imposed on her of throwing herself into the arms of the opposite party, +the friends of the people. From this moment Philip's confidence was more +heartily bestowed on the duke of Alva, even on the banished Granvelle, +than on the regent. Her letters remained too often unanswered. The +answers, when they did come, furnished only dark and mysterious hints of +the course to be pursued. She was left to work out the problem of +government by herself, sure for every blunder to be called to a strict +account. Rumors of the speedy coming of the king suggested the idea that +her own dominion was transitory, soon to be superseded by that of a +higher power. + +Under these disadvantages she might well have lost all reliance on +herself. She was not even supplied with the means of carrying out her +own schemes. She was left without money, without arms, without the power +to pardon,--more important, with a brave and generous race, than the +power to punish. Thus, destitute of resources, without the confidence of +her employer, with the people stoutly demanding concessions on the one +side, with the sovereign sternly refusing them on the other, it is +little to say that Margaret was in a false position: her position was +deplorable. She ought not to have remained in it a day after she found +that she could not hold it with honor. But Margaret was too covetous of +power readily to resign it. Her misunderstanding with her husband made +her, moreover, somewhat dependent on her brother. + +At last came the Compromise and the league. Margaret's eyes seemed now +to be first opened to the direction of the course she was taking. This +was followed by the explosion of the iconoclasts. The shock fully awoke +her from her delusion. She was as zealous for the Catholic Church as +Philip himself; and she saw with horror that it was trembling to its +foundations. A complete change seemed to take place in her +convictions,--in her very nature. She repudiated all those with whom she +had hitherto acted. She embraced, as heartily as he could desire, the +stern policy of Philip. She proscribed, she persecuted, she +punished,--and that with an excess of rigor that does little honor to +her memory. It was too late. The distrust of Philip was not to be +removed by this tardy compliance with his wishes. A successor was +already appointed; and at the very moment when she flattered herself +that the tranquillity of the country and her own authority were +established on a permanent basis, the duke of Alva was on his march +across the mountains. + +Yet it was fortunate for Margaret's reputation that she was succeeded in +the government by a man like Alva. The darkest spots on her +administration became light when brought into comparison with his reign +of terror. From this point of view it has been criticized by the writers +of her own time and those of later ages.[1048] And in this way, +probably, as the student who ponders the events of her history may +infer, a more favorable judgment has been passed upon her actions than +would be warranted by a calm and deliberate scrutiny. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +REIGN OF TERROR. + +Numerous Arrests.--Trials and Executions.--Confiscations.--Orange +assembles an Army.--Battle of Heyligerlee.--Alva's Proceedings. + +1568. + + +In the beginning of 1568, Philip, if we may trust the historians, +resorted to a very extraordinary measure for justifying to the world his +rigorous proceedings against the Netherlands. He submitted the case to +the Inquisition at Madrid; and that ghostly tribunal, after duly +considering the evidence derived from the information of the king and of +the inquisitors in the Netherlands, came to the following decision. All +who had been guilty of heresy, apostasy, or sedition, and all, moreover, +who, though professing themselves good Catholics, had offered no +resistance to these, were, with the exception of a few specified +individuals, thereby convicted of treason in the highest degree.[1049] + +[Sidenote: NUMEROUS ARRESTS.] + +This sweeping judgment was followed by a royal edict, dated on the same +day, the sixteenth of February, in which, after reciting the language of +the Inquisition, the whole nation, with the exception above stated, was +sentenced, without distinction of sex or age, to the penalties of +treason,--death and confiscation of property; and this, the decree went +on to say, "without any hope of grace whatever, that it might serve for +an example and a warning to all future time!"[1050] + +It is difficult to give credit to a story so monstrous, repeated though +it has been by successive writers without the least distrust of its +correctness. Not that anything can be too monstrous to be believed of +the Inquisition. But it is not easy to believe that a sagacious prince +like Philip the Second, however willing he might be to shelter himself +under the mantle of the Holy Office, could have lent himself to an act +as impolitic as it was absurd; one that, confounding the innocent with +the guilty, would drive both to desperation,--would incite the former, +from a sense of injury, to take up rebellion, by which there was nothing +more to lose, and the latter to persist in it, since there was nothing +more to hope.[1051] + +The messenger who brought to Margaret the royal permission to resign the +regency delivered to Alva his commission as captain-general of the +Netherlands. This would place the duke, as Philip wrote to him, beyond +the control of the council of finance, in the important matter of the +confiscations.[1052] It raised him, indeed, not only above that council, +but above every other council in the country. It gave him an authority +not less than that of the sovereign himself. And Alva prepared to +stretch this to an extent greater than any sovereign of the Netherlands +had ever ventured on. The time had now come to put his terrible +machinery into operation. The regent was gone, who, if she could not +curb, might at least criticize his actions. The prisons were full; the +processes were completed. Nothing remained but to pass sentence and to +execute. + +On the fourth of January, 1568, we find eighty-four persons sentenced to +death at Valenciennes, on the charge of having taken part in the late +movements,--religious or political.[1053] On the twentieth of February, +ninety-five persons were arraigned before the Council of Blood, and +thirty-seven capitally convicted.[1054] On the twentieth of March +thirty-five more were condemned.[1055] The governor's emissaries were +out in every direction. "I heard that preaching was going on at +Antwerp," he writes to Philip; "and I sent my own provost there, for I +cannot trust the authorities. He arrested a good number of heretics. +They will never attend another such meeting. The magistrates complain +that the interference of the provost was a violation of their +privileges. The magistrates may as well take it patiently."[1056] The +pleasant manner in which the duke talks over the fate of his victims +with his master may remind one of the similar dialogues between Petit +Andre and Louis the Eleventh, in "Quentin Durward." + +The proceedings in Ghent may show the course pursued in the other +cities. Commissioners were sent to that capital, to ferret out the +suspected. No than a hundred and forty-seven were summoned before the +council at Brussels. Their names were cried about the streets, and +posted up in placards on the public buildings. Among them were many +noble and wealthy individuals. The officers were particularly instructed +to ascertain the wealth of the parties. Most of the accused contrived to +make their escape. They preferred flight to the chance of an acquittal +by the bloody tribunal,--though flight involved certain banishment and +confiscation of property. Eighteen only answered the summons by +repairing to Brussels. They were all arrested on the same day, at their +lodgings, and, without exception, were sentenced to death! Five or six +of the principal were beheaded. The rest perished on the gallows.[1057] + +[Sidenote: TRIALS AND EXECUTIONS.] + +Impatient of what seemed to him a too tardy method of following up his +game, the duke determined on a bolder movement, and laid his plans for +driving a goodly number of victims into the toils at once. He fixed on +Ash Wednesday for the time,--the beginning of Lent, when men, after the +Carnival was past, would be gathered soberly in their own +dwellings.[1058] The officers of justice entered their premises at dead +of night; and no less than five hundred citizens were dragged from their +beds and hurried off to prison.[1059] They all received sentence of +death![1060] "I have reiterated the sentence again and again," he writes +to Philip, "for they torment me with inquiries whether in this or that +case it might not be commuted for banishment. They weary me of my life +with their importunities."[1061] He was not too weary, however, to go on +with the bloody work; for in the same letter we find him reckoning that +three hundred heads more must fall before it will be time to talk of a +general pardon.[1062] + +It was common, says an old chronicler, to see thirty or forty persons +arrested at once. The wealthier burghers might be seen, with their arms +pinioned behind them, dragged at the horse's tail to the place of +execution.[1063] The poorer sort were not even summoned to take their +trial in Brussels. Their cases were despatched at once, and they were +hung up, without further delay, in the city or in the suburbs.[1064] + +Brandt, in his History of the Reformation, has collected many +particulars respecting the persecution, especially in his own province +of Holland, during that "reign of terror." Men of lower consideration, +when dragged to prison, were often cruelly tortured on the rack, to +extort confessions, implicating themselves or their friends. The modes +of death adjudged by the bloody tribunal were various. Some were +beheaded with the sword,--a distinction reserved, as it would seem, for +persons of condition. Some were sentenced to the gibbet, and others to +the stake.[1065] This last punishment, the most dreadful of all, was +confined to the greater offenders against religion. But it seems to have +been left much to the caprice of the judges, sometimes even of the +brutal soldiery who superintended the executions. At least we find the +Spanish soldiers, on one occasion, in their righteous indignation, +throwing into the flames an unhappy Protestant preacher whom the court +had sentenced to the gallows.[1066] + +The soldiers of Alva were many of them veterans who had borne arms +against the Protestants under Charles the Fifth,--comrades of the men +who at that very time were hunting down the natives of the New World, +and slaughtering them by thousands in the name of religion. With them +the sum and substance of religion were comprised in a blind faith in the +Romish Church, and in uncompromising hostility to the heretic. The life +of the heretic was the most acceptable sacrifice that could be offered +to Jehovah. With hearts thus seared by fanaticism, and made callous by +long familiarity with human suffering, they were the very ministers to +do the bidding of such a master as the duke of Alva. + +The cruelty of the persecutors was met by an indomitable courage on the +part of their victims. Most of the offences were, in some way or other, +connected with religion. The accused were preachers, or had aided and +comforted the preachers, or had attended their services, or joined the +consistories, or afforded evidence, in some form, that they had espoused +the damnable doctrines of heresy. It is precisely in such a case, where +men are called to suffer for conscience' sake, that they are prepared to +endure all,--to die in defence of their opinions. The storm of +persecution fell on persons of every condition; men and women, the +young, the old, the infirm and helpless. But the weaker the party, the +more did the spirit rise to endure his sufferings. Many affecting +instances are recorded of persons who, with no support but their trust +in heaven, displayed the most heroic fortitude in the presence of their +judges, and, by the boldness with which they asserted their opinions, +seemed even to court the crown of martyrdom. On the scaffold and at the +stake this intrepid spirit did not desert them; and the testimony they +bore to the truth of the cause for which they suffered had such an +effect on the bystanders, that it was found necessary to silence them. A +cruel device for more effectually accomplishing this was employed by the +officials. The tip of the tongue was seared with a red-hot iron, and the +swollen member then compressed between two plates of metal screwed fast +together. Thus gagged, the groans of the wretched sufferer found vent in +strange sounds, that excited the brutal merriment of his +tormentors.[1067] + +But it is needless to dwell longer on the miseries endured by the people +of the Netherlands in this season of trial. Yet, if the cruelties +perpetrated in the name of religion are most degrading to humanity, they +must be allowed to have called forth the most sublime spectacle which +humanity can present,--that of the martyr offering up his life on the +altar of principle. + +It is difficult--in fact, from the data in my possession, not +possible--to calculate the number of those who fell by the hand of the +executioner in this dismal persecution.[1068] The number, doubtless, was +not great as compared with the population of the country,--not so great +as we may find left, almost every year of our lives, on a single +battle-field. When the forms of legal proceedings are maintained, the +movements of justice--if the name can be so profaned--are comparatively +tardy. It is only, as in the French Revolution, when thousands are swept +down by the cannon, or whole cargoes of wretched victims are plunged at +once into the waters, that death moves on with the gigantic stride of +pestilence and war. + +[Sidenote: CONFISCATIONS.] + +But the amount of suffering from such a persecution is not to be +estimated merely by the number of those who have actually suffered +death, when the fear of death hung like a naked sword over every man's +head. Alva had expressed to Philip the wish that every man, as he lay +down at night, or as he rose in the morning, "might feel that his house, +at any hour, might fall and crush him!"[1069] This humane wish was +accomplished. Those who escaped death had to fear a fate scarcely less +dreadful, in banishment and confiscation of property. The persecution +very soon took this direction; and persecution when prompted by avarice +is even more odious than when it springs from fanaticism, which, +however degrading in itself, is but the perversion of the religious +principle. + +Sentence of perpetual exile and confiscation was pronounced at once +against all who fled the country.[1070] Even the dead were not spared; +as is shown by the process instituted against the marquis of Bergen, for +the confiscation of his estates on the charge of treason. That nobleman +had gone with Montigny, as the reader may remember, on his mission to +Madrid, where he had recently died,--more fortunate than his companion, +who survived for a darker destiny. The duke's emissaries were everywhere +active in making inventories of the property of the suspected parties. +"I am going to arrest some of the richest and worst offenders," writes +Alva to his master, "and bring them to a pecuniary composition."[1071] +He shall next proceed, he says, against the delinquent cities. In this +way a round sum will flow into his majesty's coffers.[1072] The victims +of this class were so numerous, that we find a single sentence of the +council sometimes comprehending eighty or a hundred individuals. One +before me, in fewer words than are taken up by the names of the parties, +dooms no less than a hundred and thirty-five inhabitants of Amsterdam to +confiscation and exile.[1073] + +One may imagine the distress brought on this once flourishing country by +this wholesale proscription; for besides the parties directly +interested, there was a host of others incidentally affected,--hospitals +and charitable establishments, widows and helpless orphans, now reduced +to want by the failure of the sources which supplied them with their +ordinary subsistence.[1074] Slow and sparing must have been the justice +doled out to such impotent creditors, when they preferred their claims +to a tribunal like the Council of Blood! The effect was soon visible in +the decay of trade and the rapid depopulation of the towns. +Notwithstanding the dreadful penalties denounced against fugitives, +great numbers, especially from the border states, contrived to make +their escape. The neighboring districts of Germany opened their arms to +the wanderers; and many a wretched exile from the northern provinces, +flying across the frozen waters of the Zuyder Zee, found refuge within +the hospitable walls of Embden.[1075] Even in an inland city like Ghent, +half the houses, if we may credit the historian, were abandoned.[1076] +Not a family was there, he says, but some of its members had tasted the +bitterness of exile or of death.[1077] "The fury of persecution," writes +the prince of Orange, "spreads such horror throughout the nation, that +thousands, and among them some of the principal Papists, have fled a +country where tyranny seems to be directed against all, without +distinction of faith."[1078] + +Yet in a financial point of view the results did not keep pace with +Alva's wishes. Notwithstanding the large amount of the confiscations, +the proceeds, as he complains to Philip, were absorbed in so many ways, +especially by the peculation of his agents, that he doubted whether the +expense would not come to more than the profits![1079] He was equally +dissatisfied with the conduct of other functionaries. The commissioners +sent into the provinces, instead of using their efforts to detect the +guilty, seemed disposed, he said, rather to conceal them. Even the +members of the Council of Troubles manifested so much apathy in their +vocation, as to give him more annoyance than the delinquents +themselves![1080] The only person who showed any zeal in the service was +Vargas. He was worth all the others of the council put together.[1081] +The duke might have excepted from this sweeping condemnation Hessels, +the lawyer of Ghent, if the rumors concerning him were true. This worthy +councillor, it is said, would sometimes fall asleep in his chair, worn +out by the fatigue of trying causes and signing death-warrants. In this +state, when suddenly called on to pronounce the doom of the prisoner, he +would cry out, half awake, and rubbing his eyes, "_Ad patibulum! Ad +patibulum!_"--"To the gallows! To the gallows!"[1082] + +[Sidenote: RESULTS.] + +But Vargas was after the duke's own heart. Alva was never weary of +commending his follower to the king. He besought Philip to interpose in +his behalf, and cause three suits which had been brought against that +functionary to be suspended during his absence from Spain. The king +accordingly addressed the judge on the subject. But the magistrate (his +name should have been preserved) had the independence to reply, that +"justice must take its course, and could not be suspended from favor to +any one." "Nor would I have it so," answered Philip, (it is the king who +tells it;) "I would do only what is possible to save the interests of +Vargas from suffering by his absence." In conclusion he tells the duke, +that Vargas should give no heed to what is said of the suits, since he +must be assured, after the letter he has received under the royal hand, +that his sovereign fully approves his conduct.[1083] But if Vargas, by +his unscrupulous devotion to the cause, won the confidence of his +employers, he incurred, on the other hand, the unmitigated hatred of the +people,--a hatred deeper, it would almost seem, than even that which +attached to Alva; owing perhaps to the circumstance that, as the +instrument for the execution of the duke's measures, Vargas was brought +more immediately in contact with the people than the duke himself. + +As we have already seen, many, especially of those who dwelt in the +border provinces, escaped the storm of persecution by voluntary exile. +The suspected parties would seem to have received, not unfrequently, +kindly intimations from the local magistrates of the fate that menaced +them.[1084] Others, who lived in the interior, were driven to more +desperate courses. They banded together in considerable numbers, under +the name of the "wild _Gueux_,"--"_Gueux sauvages_,"--and took refuge in +the forests, particularly of West Flanders. Thence they sallied forth, +fell upon unsuspecting travellers, especially the monks and +ecclesiastics, whom they robbed, and sometimes murdered. Occasionally +they were so bold as to invade the monasteries and churches, stripping +them of their rich ornaments, their plate and other valuables, when, +loaded with booty, they hurried back to their fastnesses. The evil +proceeded to such a length, that the governor-general was obliged to +order out a strong force to exterminate the banditti, while at the same +time he published an edict, declaring that every district should be held +responsible for the damage done to property within its limits by these +marauders.[1085] + +It might be supposed that, under the general feeling of resentment +provoked by Alva's cruel policy, his life would have been in constant +danger from the hand of the assassin. Once, indeed, he had nearly fallen +a victim to a conspiracy headed by two brothers, men of good family in +Flanders, who formed a plan to kill him while attending mass at an abbey +in the neighborhood of Brussels.[1086] But Alva was not destined to fall +by the hand of violence. + +We may well believe that wise and temperate men, like Viglius, condemned +the duke's proceedings as no less impolitic than cruel. That this +veteran councillor did so is apparent from his confidential letters, +though he was too prudent to expose himself to Alva's enmity by openly +avowing it.[1087] There were others, however,--the princes of Germany, +in particular,--who had no such reasons for dissembling, and who carried +their remonstrances to a higher tribunal than that of the +governor-general. + +On the second of March, 1568, the Emperor Maximilian, in the name of the +electors, addressed a letter to Philip, in behalf of his oppressed +subjects in the Netherlands. He reminded the king that he had already +more than once, and in most affectionate terms, interceded with him for +a milder and more merciful policy towards his Flemish subjects. He +entreated his royal kinsman to reflect whether it were not better to +insure the tranquillity of the state by winning the hearts of his +people, than by excessive rigor to drive them to extremity. And he +concluded by intimating that, as a member of the Germanic body, the +Netherlands had a right to be dealt with in that spirit of clemency +which was conformable to the constitutions of the empire.[1088] + +Although neither the arguments nor the importunity of Maximilian had +power to shake the constancy of Philip, he did not refuse to enter into +some explanation, if not vindication, of his conduct. "What I have +done," he replied, "has been for the repose of the provinces, and for +the defence of the Catholic faith. If I had respected justice less, I +should have despatched the whole business in a single day. No one +acquainted with the state of affairs will find reason to censure my +severity. Nor would I do otherwise than I have done, though I should +risk the sovereignty of the Netherlands,--no, though the world should +fall in ruins around me!"[1089]--Such a reply effectually closed the +correspondence. + +The wretched people of the Netherlands, meanwhile, now looked to the +prince of Orange as the only refuge left them, under Providence. Those +who fled the country, especially persons of higher condition, gathered +round his little court at Dillemburg, where they were eagerly devising +plans for the best means of restoring freedom to their country. They +brought with them repeated invitations from their countrymen to William +that he would take up arms in their defence. The Protestants of Antwerp, +in particular, promised that, if he would raise funds by coining his +plate, they would agree to pay him double the value of it.[1090] + +William had no wish nearer his heart than that of assuming the +enterprise. But he knew the difficulties that lay in the way, and, like +a wise man, he was not disposed to enter on it till he saw the means of +carrying it through successfully. To the citizens of Antwerp he +answered, that not only would he devote his plate, but his person and +all that he possessed, most willingly, for the freedom of religion and +of his country.[1091] But the expenses of raising a force were +great,--at the very least, six hundred thousand florins; nor could he +now undertake to procure that amount, unless some of the principal +merchants, whom he named, would consent to remain with him as +security.[1092] + +In the mean time he was carrying on an extensive correspondence with the +German princes, with the leaders of the Huguenot party in France, and +even with the English government,--endeavoring to propitiate them to the +cause, as one in which every Protestant had an interest. From the +elector of Saxony and the landgrave of Hesse he received assurances of +aid. Considerable sums seem to have been secretly remitted from the +principal towns in the Low Countries; while Culemborg, Hoogstraten, +Louis of Nassau, and the other great lords who shared his exile, +contributed as largely as their dilapidated fortunes would allow.[1093] +The prince himself parted with his most precious effects, pawning his +jewels, and sending his plate to the mint,--"the fit ornaments of a +palace," exclaims an old writer, "but yielding little for the +necessities of war."[1094] + +[Sidenote: ORANGE ASSEMBLES AN ARMY] + +By these sacrifices a considerable force was assembled before the end of +April, consisting of the most irregular and incongruous materials. There +were German mercenaries, who had no interest in the cause beyond their +pay; Huguenots from France, who brought into the field a hatred of the +Roman Catholics which made them little welcome, even as allies, to a +large portion of the Netherlands; and, lastly, exiles from the +Netherlands,--the only men worthy of the struggle,--who held life cheap +in comparison with the great cause to which they devoted it. But these, +however strong in their patriotism, were for the most part simple +burghers untrained to arms, and ill fitted to cope with the hardy +veterans of Castile. + +Before completing his levies, the prince of Orange, at the suggestion of +his friend, the landgrave of Hesse, prepared and published a document, +known as his "Justification," in which he vindicated himself and his +cause from the charges of Alva. He threw the original blame of the +troubles on Granvelle, denied having planned or even promoted the +confederacy of the nobles, and treated with scorn the charge of having, +from motives of criminal ambition, fomented rebellion in a country where +he had larger interests at stake than almost any other inhabitant. He +touched on his own services, as well as those of his ancestors, and the +ingratitude with which they had been requited by the throne. And in +conclusion, he prayed that his majesty might at length open his eyes to +the innocence of his persecuted subjects, and that it might be made +apparent to the world that the wrongs inflicted on them had come from +evil counsellors rather than himself.[1095] + +The plan of the campaign was, to distract the duke's attention, and, if +possible, create a general rising in the country, by assailing it on +three several points at once. A Huguenot corps, under an adventurer +named Cocqueville, was to operate against Artois. Hoogstraten, with the +lord of Villers, and others of the banished nobles, were to penetrate +the country in a central direction through Brabant. While William's +brothers, the Counts Louis and Adolphus, at the head of a force, partly +Flemish, partly German, were to carry the war over the northern borders, +into Groningen; the prince himself, who established his head-quarters in +the neighborhood of Cleves, was busy in assembling a force prepared to +support any one of the divisions, as occasion might require. + +It was the latter part of April, before Hoogstraten and Louis took the +field. The Huguenots ware still later; and William met with difficulties +which greatly retarded the formation of his own corps. The great +difficulty--one which threatened to defeat the enterprise at its +commencement--was the want of money, equally felt in raising troops and +in enforcing discipline among them when they were raised. "If you have +any love for me," he writes to his friend, the "wise" landgrave of +Hesse, "I beseech you to aid me privately with a sum sufficient to meet +the pay of the troops for the first month. Without this I shall be in +danger of failing in my engagements,--to me worse than death; to say +nothing of the ruin which such a failure must bring on our credit and on +the cause."[1096] We are constantly reminded, in the career of the +prince of Orange, of the embarrassments under which our own Washington +labored in the time of the Revolution, and of the patience and +unconquerable spirit which enabled him to surmount them. + +Little need be said of two of the expeditions, which were failures. +Hoogstraten had scarcely crossed the frontier, towards the end of April, +when he was met by Alva's trusty lieutenant, Sancho Davila, and beaten, +with considerable loss. Villers and some others of the rebel lords, made +prisoners, escaped the sword of the enemy in the field, to fall by that +of the executioner in Brussels. Hoogstraten, with the remnant of his +forces, made good his retreat, and effected a junction with the prince +of Orange.[1097] + +Cocqueville met with a worse fate. A detachment of French troops was +sent against him by Charles the Ninth, who thus requited the service of +the same kind he had lately received from the duke of Alva. On the +approach of their countrymen, the Huguenots basely laid down their arms. +Cocqueville and his principal officers were surrounded, made prisoners, +and perished ignominiously on the scaffold.[1098] + +The enterprise of Louis of Nassau was attended with different results. +Yet after he had penetrated into Groningen, he was sorely embarrassed by +the mutinous spirit of the German mercenaries. The province was defended +by Count Aremberg, its governor, a brave old officer, who had studied +the art of war under Charles the Fifth; one of those models of chivalry +on whom the men of a younger generation are ambitious to form +themselves. He had been employed on many distinguished services; and +there were few men at the court of Brussels who enjoyed higher +consideration under both Philip and his father. The strength of his +forces lay in his Spanish infantry. He was deficient in cavalry, but was +soon to be reinforced by a body of horse under Count Megen, who was a +day's march in his rear. + +Aremberg soon came in sight of Louis, who was less troubled by the +presence of his enemy than by the disorderly conduct of his German +soldiers, clamorous for their pay. Doubtful of his men, Louis declined +to give battle to a foe so far superior to him in everything but +numbers. He accordingly established himself in an uncommonly strong +position, which the nature of the ground fortunately afforded. In his +rear, protected by a thick wood, stood the convent of Heyligerlee, which +gave its name to the battle. In front the land sloped towards an +extensive morass. His infantry, on the left, was partly screened by a +hill from the enemy's fire; and on the right he stationed his cavalry, +under the command of his brother Adolphus, who was to fall on the +enemy's flank, should they be hardy enough to give battle. + +[Sidenote: BATTLE OF HEYLIGERLEE.] + +But Aremberg was too well acquainted with the difficulties of the ground +to risk an engagement, at least till he was strengthened by the +reinforcement under Megen. Unfortunately, the Spanish infantry, +accustomed to victory, and feeling a contempt for the disorderly levies +opposed to them, loudly called to be led against the heretics. In vain +their more prudent general persisted in his plan. They chafed at the +delay, refusing to a Flemish commander the obedience which they might +probably have paid to one of their own nation. They openly accused him +of treachery, and of having an understanding with his countrymen in the +enemy's camp. Stung by their reproaches, Aremberg had the imprudence to +do what more than one brave man has been led to do, both before and +since; he surrendered his own judgment to the importunities of his +soldiers. Crying out that "they should soon see if he were a +traitor!"[1099] he put himself at the head of his little army, and +marched against the enemy. His artillery, meanwhile, which he had posted +on his right, opened a brisk fire on Louis's left wing, where, owing to +the nature of the ground, it did little execution. + +Under cover of this fire the main body of the Spanish infantry moved +forward; but, as their commander had foreseen, the men soon became +entangled in the morass; their ranks were thrown into disorder; and when +at length, after long and painful efforts, they emerged on the firm +ground, they were more spent with toil than they would have been after a +hard day's march. Thus jaded, and sadly in disarray, they were at once +assailed in front by an enemy who, conscious of his own advantage, was +all fresh and hot for action. Notwithstanding their distressed +condition, Aremberg's soldiers maintained their ground for some time, +like men unaccustomed to defeat. At length, Louis ordered the cavalry on +his right to charge Aremberg's flank. This unexpected movement, +occurring at a critical moment, decided the day. Assailed in front and +in flank, hemmed in by the fatal morass in the rear, the Spaniards were +thrown into utter confusion. In vain their gallant leader, proof against +danger, though not against the taunts of his followers, endeavored to +rally them. His horse was killed under him; and as he was mounting +another, he received a shot from a foot-soldier, and fell mortally +wounded from his saddle.[1100] The rout now became general. Some took to +the morass, and fell into the hands of the victors. Some succeeded in +cutting their way through the ranks of their assailants, while many more +lost their lives in the attempt. The ground was covered with the wounded +and the dead. The victory was complete. + +Sixteen hundred of the enemy were left on that fatal field. In the +imagination of the exile thirsting for vengeance, it might serve in some +degree to balance the bloody roll of victims whom the pitiless duke had +sent to their account. Nine pieces of artillery, with a large quantity +of ammunition and military stores, a rich service of plate belonging to +Aremberg, and a considerable sum of money lately received by him to pay +the arrears of the soldiers, fell into the hands of the patriots. Yet as +serious a loss as any inflicted on the Spaniards was that of their +brave commander. His corpse, disfigured by wounds, was recognized, amid +a heap of the slain, by the insignia of the Golden Fleece, which he wore +round his neck, and which Louis sent to the prince, his brother, as a +proud trophy of his victory.[1101] The joy of the conquerors was dimmed +by one mournful event, the death of Count Adolphus of Nassau, who fell +bravely fighting at the head of his troops, one of the first victims in +the war of the revolution. He was a younger brother of William, only +twenty-seven years of age. But he had already given promise of those +heroic qualities which proved him worthy of the generous race from which +he sprung.[1102] + +The battle was fought on the twenty-third of May, 1568. On the day +following, Count Megen arrived with a reinforcement; too late to secure +the victory, but not, as it proved, too late to snatch the fruits of it +from the victors. By a rapid movement, he succeeded in throwing himself +into the town of Groningen, and thus saved that important place from +falling into the hands of the patriots.[1103] + +The tidings of the battle of Heyligerlee caused a great sensation +through the country. While it raised the hopes of the malecontents, it +filled the duke of Alva with indignation,--the greater as he perceived +that the loss of the battle was to be referred mainly to the misconduct +of his own soldiers. He saw with alarm the disastrous effect likely to +be produced by so brilliant a success on the part of the rebels, in the +very beginning of the struggle. The hardy men of Friesland would rise to +assert their independence. The prince of Orange, with his German levies, +would unite with his victorious brother, and, aided by the inhabitants, +would be in condition to make formidable head against any force that +Alva could muster. It was an important crisis, and called for prompt and +decisive action. The duke, with his usual energy, determined to employ +no agent here, but to take the affair into his own hands, concentrate +his forces, and march in person against the enemy. + +[Sidenote: ALVA's PROCEEDINGS.] + +Yet there were some things he deemed necessary to be done, if it were +only for their effect on the public mind, before entering on the +campaign. On the twenty-eighth of May, sentence was passed on the prince +of Orange, his brother Louis, and their noble companions. They were +pronounced guilty of contumacy in not obeying the summons of the +council, and of levying war against the king. For this they were +condemned to perpetual banishment, and their estates confiscated to the +use of the crown. The sentence was signed by the duke of Alva.[1104] +William's estates had been already sequestrated, and a body of Spanish +troops was quartered in his town of Breda. + +Another act, of a singular nature, intimated pretty clearly the +dispositions of the government. The duke caused the Hotel de Culemborg, +where he had fixed his own residence before the regent's departure, and +where the Gueux had held their meetings on coming to Brussels, to be +levelled with the ground. On the spot a marble column was raised, +bearing on each side of the base the following inscription: "Here once +stood the mansion of Florence Pallant,"--the name of the count of +Culemborg,--"now razed to the ground for the execrable conspiracy +plotted therein against religion, the Roman Catholic Church, the king's +majesty, and the country."[1105] Alva by this act intended doubtless to +proclaim to the world, not so much his detestation of the +confederacy--that would have been superfluous--as his determination to +show no mercy to those who had taken part in it. Indeed, in his letters, +on more than one occasion, he speaks of the signers of the Compromise as +men who had placed themselves beyond the pale of mercy. + +But all these acts were only the prelude to the dismal tragedy which was +soon to be performed. Nearly nine months had elapsed since the arrest of +the Counts Egmont and Hoorne. During all this time they had remained +prisoners of state, under a strong guard, in the castle of Ghent. Their +prosecution had been conducted in a deliberate, and indeed dilatory +manner, which had nourished in their friends the hope of a favorable +issue. Alva now determined to bring the trial to a close,--to pass +sentence of death on the two lords, and to carry it into execution +before departing on his expedition. + +It was in vain that some of his counsellors remonstrated on the +impolicy, at a crisis like the present, of outraging the feelings of the +nation, by whom Egmont in particular was so much beloved. In vain they +suggested that the two nobles would serve as hostages for the good +behavior of the people during his absence, since any tumult must only +tend to precipitate the fate of the prisoners.[1106] Whether it was that +Alva distrusted the effect on his master of the importunities, from +numerous quarters, in their behalf; or, what is far more likely, that he +feared lest some popular rising, during his absence, might open the +gates to his prisoners, he was determined to proceed at once to their +execution. His appetite for vengeance may have been sharpened by +mortification at the reverse his arms had lately experienced; and he may +have felt that a blow like the present would be the most effectual to +humble the arrogance of the nation. + +There were some other prisoners of less note, but of no little +consideration, who remained to be disposed of. Their execution would +prepare the public mind for the last scene of the drama. There were +nineteen persons who, at this time, lay in confinement in the castle of +Vilvoorde, a fortress of great strength, two leagues distant from +Brussels. They were chiefly men of rank, and for the most part members +of the Union. For these latter, of course, there was no hope. Their +trials were now concluded, and they were only waiting their sentences. +On the ominous twenty-eighth of May, a day on which the Council of Blood +seems to have been uncommonly alert, they were all, without exception, +condemned to be beheaded, and their estates were confiscated to the +public use. + +On the first of June, they were brought to Brussels, having been +escorted there by nine companies of Spanish infantry, were conducted to +the great square in front of the Hotel de Ville, and, while the drums +beat to prevent their last words from reaching the ears of the +by-standers, their heads were struck off by the sword of the +executioner. Eight of the number, who died in the Roman Catholic faith, +were graciously allowed the rites of Christian burial. The heads of the +remaining eleven were set upon poles, and their bodies left to rot upon +the gibbet, like those of the vilest malefactors.[1107] + +On the second of June, ten or twelve more, some of them persons of +distinction, perished on the scaffold, in the same square in Brussels. +Among these was Villers, the companion of Hoogstraten in the ill-starred +expedition to Brabant, in which he was made prisoner. Since his +captivity he had made some disclosures respecting the measures of Orange +and his party, which might have entitled him to the consideration of +Alva. But he had signed the Compromise. + +On the following day, five other victims were led to execution within +the walls of Vilvoorde, where they had been long confined. One of these +has some interest for us, Casembrot, lord of Backerzele, Egmont's +confidential secretary. That unfortunate gentleman had been put to the +rack more than once, to draw from him disclosures to the prejudice of +Egmont. But his constancy proved stronger than the cruelty of his +persecutors. He was now to close his sufferings by an ignominious death; +so far fortunate, however, that it saved him from witnessing the fate of +his beloved master.[1108] Such were the gloomy scenes which ushered in +the great catastrophe of the fifth of June. + +[Sidenote: THE EXAMINATION.] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +TRIALS OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. + +The Examination.--Efforts in their Behalf.--Specification of +Charges.--Sentence of Death.--The Processes reviewed. + +1568. + + +Nine months had now elapsed since the Counts Egmont and Hoorne had been +immured within the strong citadel of Ghent. During their confinement +they had met with even less indulgence than was commonly shown to +prisoners of state. They were not allowed to take the air of the castle, +and were debarred from all intercourse with the members of their +families. The sequestration of their property at the time of their +arrest had moreover reduced them to such extreme indigence, that but for +the care of their friends they would have wanted the common necessaries +of life.[1109] + +During this period their enemies had not been idle. We have seen, at the +time of the arrest of the two nobles, that their secretaries and their +private papers had been also seized. "Backerzele," writes the duke of +Alva to Philip, "makes disclosures every day respecting his master Count +Egmont. When he is put to the torture, wonders may be expected from him +in this way!"[1110] But all that the rack extorted from the unhappy man +was some obscure intimation respecting a place in which Egmont had +secreted a portion of his effects. After turning up the ground in every +direction round the castle of Ghent, the Spaniards succeeded in +disinterring eleven boxes filled with plate, and some caskets of jewels, +and other precious articles,--all that now remained of Egmont's once +splendid fortune.[1111] + +Meanwhile commissioners were sent into the provinces placed under the +rule of the two noblemen to collect information respecting their +government. The burgomasters of the towns were closely questioned, and, +where they showed reluctance, were compelled by menaces to answer. But +what Alva chiefly relied on was the examination of the prisoners +themselves. + +On the twelfth of November, 1567, a commission composed of Vargas, Del +Rio, and the secretary Pratz, proceeded to Ghent, and began a personal +examination of Egmont. The interrogatories covered the whole ground of +the recent troubles. They were particularly directed to ascertain +Egmont's relations with the reformed party, but above all, his +connection with the confederates,--the offence of deepest dye in the +view of the commissioners. The examination continued through five days; +and a record, signed and sworn to by the several parties, furnished the +basis of the future proceedings against the prisoner. A similar course +was then taken in regard to Hoorne.[1112] + +In the mean time the friends of the two nobles were making active +exertions in their behalf. Egmont, as we have already seen, was married +to a German princess, Sabina, sister of the elector of Bavaria,--a lady +who, from her rank, the charm of her manners, and her irreproachable +character, was the most distinguished ornament of the court of Brussels. +She was the mother of eleven children, the eldest of them still of +tender age. Surrounded by this numerous and helpless family, thus +suddenly reduced from affluence to miserable penury, the countess became +the object of general commiseration. Even the stern heart of Alva seems +to have been touched, as he notices her "lamentable situation," in one +of his letters to Philip.[1113] + +The unhappy lady was fortunate in securing the services of Nicolas de +Landas, one of the most eminent jurists of the country, and a personal +friend of her husband. In her name, he addressed letters to several of +the German princes, and to the Emperor Maximilian, requesting their good +offices in behalf of her lord. He also wrote both to Alva and the king, +less to solicit the release of Egmont--a thing little to be +expected--than to obtain the removal of the cause from the Council of +Blood to a court consisting of the knights of the Golden Fleece. To this +both Egmont and Hoorne had a good claim, as belonging to that order, the +statutes of which, solemnly ratified by Philip himself, guarantied to +its members the right of being tried only by their peers. The frank and +independent tone with which the Flemish jurist, himself also one of the +order, and well skilled in the law, urged this claim on the Spanish +monarch, reflects honor on his memory. + +Hoorne's wife, also a German lady of high connection, and his +step-mother, the countess-dowager, were unwearied in their exertions in +his behalf. They wrote to the knights of the Golden Fleece, in whatever +country residing, and obtained their written testimony to the +inalienable right of the accused to be tried by his brethren.[1114] This +was obviously a point of the last importance, since a trial by the +Council of Blood was itself equivalent to a condemnation. + +Several of the electors, as well as other princes of the empire, +addressed Philip directly on the subject, beseeching him to deal with +the two nobles according to the statutes of the order. Maximilian wrote +two letters to the same purpose; and, touching on the brilliant services +of Egmont, he endeavored to excite the king's compassion for the +desolate condition of the countess and her children.[1115] + +[Sidenote: SPECIFICATION OF CHARGES.] + +But it was not foreigners only who interceded in behalf of the lords. +Mansfeldt, than whom Philip had not a more devoted subject in the +Netherlands, implored his sovereign to act conformably to justice and +reason in the matter.[1116] Count Barlaimont, who on all occasions had +proved himself no less stanch in his loyalty, found himself now in an +embarrassing situation,--being both a knight of the order and a member +of the Council of Troubles. He wrote accordingly to Philip, beseeching +his majesty to relieve him from the necessity of either acting like a +disloyal subject or of incurring the reproaches of his brethren.[1117] + +Still more worthy of notice is the interference of Cardinal Granvelle, +who, forgetting his own disgrace, for which he had been indebted to +Egmont perhaps as much as to any other person, now generously interceded +in behalf of his ancient foe. He invoked the clemency of Philip, as more +worthy of a great prince than rigor. He called to mind the former good +deeds of the count, and declared, if he had since been led astray, the +blame was chargeable on others rather than on himself.[1118] But +although the cardinal wrote more than once to the king in this strain, +it was too late to efface the impression made by former communications, +in which he had accused his rival of being a party to the treasonable +designs of the prince of Orange.[1119] This impression had been deepened +by the reports from time to time received from the regent, who at one +period, as we have seen, withdrew her confidence altogether from Egmont. +Thus the conviction of that nobleman's guilt was so firmly settled in +the king's mind, that, when Alva received the government of the +Netherlands, there can be little doubt that Egmont was already marked +out as the first great victim to expiate the sins of the nation. The +arguments and entreaties, therefore, used on the present occasion to +dissuade Philip from his purpose, had no other effect than to quicken +his movements. Anxious to rid himself of importunities so annoying, he +ordered Alva to press forward the trial, adding, at the same time, that +all should be made so clear that the world, whose eyes were now turned +on these proceedings, might be satisfied of their justice.[1120] + +Before the end of December the attorney-general Du Bois had prepared the +articles of accusation against Egmont. They amounted to no less than +ninety, some of them of great length. They chiefly rested on evidence +derived from the personal examination, sustained by information gathered +from other quarters. The first article, which, indeed, may be said to +have been the key to all the rest, charged Egmont with having conspired +with William and the other banished lords to shake off the Spanish rule, +and divide the government among themselves. With this view he had made +war on the faithful Granvelle, had sought to concentrate the powers of +the various councils into one, had resisted the Inquisition, had urged +the meeting of the states-general, in short, had thwarted, as far as +possible, in every particular, the intentions of the king. He was +accused, moreover, of giving encouragement to the sectaries. He had not +only refused his aid when asked to repress their violence, but had +repeatedly licensed their meetings, and allowed them to celebrate their +religious rites. Egmont was too stanch a Catholic to warrant his own +faith being called into question. It was only in connection with the +political movements of the country that he was supposed to have +countenanced the party of religious reform. Lastly he was charged, not +only with abetting the confederacy of the nobles, but with having, in +conjunction with the prince of Orange and his associates, devised the +original plan of it. It was proof of the good-will he bore the league, +that he had retained in his service more than one member of his +household after they had subscribed the Compromise. On these various +grounds, Egmont was declared to be guilty of treason.[1121] + +The charges, which cover a great space, would seem at the first glance +to be crudely put together, confounding things trivial, and even +irrelevant to the question, with others of real moment.[1122] Yet they +must be admitted to have been so cunningly prepared as to leave an +impression most unfavorable to the innocence of the prisoner. The +attorney-general, sometimes audaciously perverting the answers of +Egmont,[1123] at other times giving an exaggerated importance to his +occasional admissions, succeeded in spreading his meshes so artfully, +that it required no slight degree of coolness and circumspection, even +in an innocent party, to escape from them. + +The instrument was delivered to Egmont on the twenty-ninth of December. +Five days only were allowed him to prepare his defence,--and that too +without the aid of a friend to support, or of counsel to advise him. He +at first resolutely declined to make a defence at all, declaring that he +was amenable to no tribunal but that of the members of the order. Being +informed, however, that if he persisted he would be condemned for +contumacy, he consented, though with a formal protest against the +proceeding as illegal, to enter on his defence. + +He indignantly disclaimed the idea of any design to subvert the existing +government. He admitted the charges in regard to his treatment of +Granvelle, and defended his conduct on the ground of expediency,--of its +being demanded by the public interest. On the same ground he explained +his course in reference to some of the other matters charged on him, and +especially in relation to the sectaries,--too strong in numbers, he +maintained, to be openly resisted. He positively denied the connection +imputed to him with the confederates; declaring that, far from +countenancing the league, he had always lamented its existence, and +discouraged all within his reach from joining it. In reply to the charge +of not having dismissed Backerzele after it was known that he had joined +the confederates, he excused himself by alleging the good services which +his secretary had rendered the government, more especially in repressing +the disorders of the iconoclasts. On the whole, his answers seem to have +been given in good faith, and convey the impression--probably not far +from the truth--of one who, while he did not approve of the policy of +the crown, and thought, indeed, some of its measures impracticable, had +no design to overturn the government.[1124] + +[Sidenote: DEFENCE OF THE PRISONERS.] + +The attorney-general next prepared his accusation of Count Hoorne, +consisting of sixty-three separate charges. They were of much the same +import with those brought against Egmont. The bold, impatient temper of +the admiral made him particularly open to the assault of his enemies. +He was still more peremptory than his friend in his refusal to +relinquish his rights as a knight of the Golden Fleece, and appear +before the tribunal of Alva. When prevailed on to waive his scruples, +his defence was couched in language so direct and manly as at once +engages our confidence. "Unskilled as I am in this sort of business," he +remarks, "and without the aid of counsel to guide me, if I have fallen +into errors, they must be imputed, not to intention, but to the want of +experience.... I can only beseech those who shall read my defence to +believe that it has been made sincerely and in all truth, as becomes a +gentleman of honorable descent."[1125] + +By the remonstrances of the prisoners and their friends, the duke was at +length prevailed on to allow them counsel. Each of the two lords +obtained the services of five of the most eminent jurists of the +country; who, to their credit, seem not to have shrunk from a duty +which, if not attended with actual danger, certainly did not lie in the +road to preferment.[1126] + +The counsel of the two lords lost no time in preparing the defence of +their clients, taking up each charge brought against them by the +attorney-general, and minutely replying to it. Their defence was +substantially the same with that which had been set up by the prisoners +themselves, though more elaborate, and sustained by a greater array both +of facts and arguments.[1127] Meanwhile the counsel did not remit their +efforts to have the causes brought before the tribunal of the _Toison +d'Or_. Unless this could be effected, they felt that all endeavors to +establish the innocence of their clients would be unavailing. + +Alva had early foreseen the embarrassment to which he would be exposed +on this ground. He had accordingly requested Philip to stop all further +solicitations by making known his own decision in the matter.[1128] The +king in reply assured the duke that men of authority and learning, to +whom the subject had been committed, after a full examination, entirely +confirmed the decision made before Alva's departure, that the case of +treason did not come within the cognizance of the _Toison d'Or_.[1129] +Letters patent accompanied this note, empowering the duke to try the +cause.[1130] With these credentials Alva now strove to silence, if not +to satisfy, the counsel of the prisoners; and, by a formal decree, all +further applications for transferring the cause from his own +jurisdiction to that of the Golden Fleece were peremptorily forbidden. + +Yet all were not to be thus silenced. Egmont's countess still continued +unwearied in her efforts to excite a sympathy in her lord's behalf in +all those who would be likely to have any influence with the government. +Early in 1568 she again wrote to Philip, complaining that she had not +been allowed so much as to see her husband. She implored the king to +take her and her children as sureties for Egmont, and permit him to be +removed to one of his own houses. If that could not be, she begged that +he might at least be allowed the air of the castle, lest, though +innocent, his confinement might cost him his life. She alludes to her +miserable condition, with her young and helpless family, and trusts in +the king's goodness and justice that she shall not be forced to seek a +subsistence in Germany, from which country she had been brought to +Flanders by his father the emperor.[1131] The letter, says a chronicler +of the time, was not to be read by any one without sincere commiseration +for the writer.[1132] + +The German princes, at the same time, continued their intercessions with +the king for both the nobles; and the duke of Bavaria, and the duke and +duchess of Lorraine, earnestly invoked his clemency in their behalf. +Philip, wearied by this importunity but not wavering in his purpose, +again called on Alva to press the trial to a conclusion.[1133] + +Towards the end of April, 1568, came that irruption across the borders +by Hoogstraten and the other lords, described in the previous chapter. +Alva, feeling probably that his own presence might be required to check +the invaders, found an additional motive for bringing the trials to a +decision. + +On the sixth of May, the attorney-general presented a remonstrance +against the dilatory proceedings of Egmont's counsel, declaring that, +although so many months had elapsed, they had neglected to bring forward +their witnesses in support of their defence. He prayed that a day might +be named for the termination of the process.[1134] + +[Sidenote: SENTENCE OF DEATH.] + +In the latter part of May, news came of the battle won by Louis of +Nassau in the north. That now became certain which had before been only +probable,--that Alva must repair in person to the seat of war, and +assume the command of the army. There could be no further delay. On the +first of June, a decree was published declaring that the time allowed +for the defence of the prisoners had expired, and that no evidence could +henceforth be admitted.[1135] The counsel for the accused loudly +protested against a decision which cut them off from all means of +establishing the innocence of their clients. They had abundant testimony +at hand, they said, and had only waited until the government should have +produced theirs. This was plausible, as it was in the regular course for +the prosecuting party to take precedence. But one can hardly doubt that +the wary lawyers knew that too little was to be expected from a tribunal +like the Council of Blood to wish to have the case brought to a +decision. By delaying matters, some circumstance might occur,--perhaps +some stronger expression of the public sentiment,--to work a favorable +change in the mind of the king. Poor as it was, this was the only chance +for safety; and every day that the decision was postponed was a day +gained to their clients. + +But no time was given for expostulation. On the day on which Alva's +decree was published, the affair was submitted to the decision of the +Council of Blood; and on the following morning, the second of June, that +body--or rather Vargas and Del Rio, the only members who had a voice in +the matter--pronounced both the prisoners guilty of treason, and doomed +them to death. The sentence was approved by Alva. + +On the evening of the fourth, Alva went in person to the meeting of the +council. The sentences of the two lords, each under a sealed envelope, +were produced, and read aloud by the secretary. They were both of +precisely the same import. After the usual preamble, they pronounced the +Counts Egmont and Hoorne to have been proved parties to the abominable +league and conspiracy of the prince of Orange and his associates; to +have given aid and protection to the confederates; and to have committed +sundry malepractices in their respective governments in regard to the +sectaries, to the prejudice of the holy Catholic faith. On these grounds +they were adjudged guilty of treason and rebellion, and were sentenced +accordingly to be beheaded with the sword, their heads to be set upon +poles, and there to continue during the pleasure of the duke; their +possessions, fiefs, and rights, of every description, to be confiscated +to the use of the crown.[1136] These sentences were signed only with the +name of Alva, and countersigned with that of the secretary Pratz.[1137] + +Such was the result of these famous trials, which, from the peculiar +circumstances that attended them, especially their extraordinary +duration and the illustrious characters and rank of the accused, became +an object of general interest throughout Europe. In reviewing them, the +first question that occurs is in regard to the validity of the grounds +on which the causes were removed from the jurisdiction of the _Toison +d'Or_. The decision of the "men of authority and learning," referred to +by the king, is of little moment considering the influences under which +such a decision in the court of Madrid was necessarily given. The only +authority of any weight in favor of this interpretation seems to have +been that of the president Viglius; a man well versed in the law, with +the statutes of the order before him, and, in short, with every facility +at his command for forming an accurate judgment in the matter. + +His opinion seems to have mainly rested on the fact that, in the year +1473, a knight of the order, charged with a capital crime, submitted to +be tried by the ordinary courts of law. But, on the other hand, some +years later, in 1490, four knights accused of treason, the precise crime +alleged against Egmont and Hoorne, were arraigned and tried before the +members of the _Toison_. A more conclusive argument against Viglius was +afforded by the fact, that in 1531 a law was passed, under the Emperor +Charles the Fifth, that no knight of the Golden Fleece could be arrested +or tried, for any offence whatever, by any other body than the members +of his own order. This statute was solemnly confirmed by Philip himself +in 1550; and no law, surely, could be devised covering more effectually +the whole ground in question. Yet Viglius had the effrontery to set this +aside as of no force, being so clearly in contempt of all precedents and +statutes. A subterfuge like this, which might justify the disregard of +any law whatever, found no favor with the members of the order. Arschot +and Barlaimont, in particular, the most devoted adherents of the crown, +and among the few knights of the _Toison_ then in Brussels, openly +expressed their dissent. The authority of a jurist like Viglius was of +great moment, however, to the duke, who did not fail to parade it.[1138] +But sorely was it to the disgrace of that timid and time-serving +councillor, that he could thus lend himself, and in such a cause, to +become the tool of arbitrary power. It may well lead us to give easier +faith than we should otherwise have done to those charges of peculation +and meanness which the regent, in the heat of party dissensions, so +liberally heaped on him.[1139] + +But whatever may be thought of the rights possessed by the _Toison d'Or_ +in this matter, there can be no doubt as to the illegality of the court +before which the cause was brought;--a court which had no warrant for +its existence but the will of Alva; where the judges, contrary to the +law of the land, were foreigners; where the presiding officer was not +even necessarily present at the trial of the causes on which he alone +was to pass sentence. + +[Sidenote: THE PROCESSES REVIEWED.] + +If so little regard was paid to the law in the composition of this +tribunal, scarcely more was shown to it in the forms of proceeding. On +the present occasion it does not appear that any evidence was brought +forward by the prisoners. And as we are in possession of only a small +part of that which sustained the prosecution, it is not easy to form an +opinion how far the parties were or were not guilty of the crime +imputed to them; still less whether that crime, according to the laws of +the land, amounted to treason.[1140] The gravest charge made, with any +apparent foundation, was that of a secret understanding with the +confederates. The avowed object of the confederates was, in certain +contingencies, to resist the execution of a particular ordinance;[1141] +but without any design to overturn the government. This, by our law, +could hardly be construed into treason. But in the Netherlands, in the +time of the Spanish rule, the law may have been more comprehensive in +its import; nor is it likely that the word "treason" was limited in so +explicit a manner as by the English statute-book under the +Plantagenets.[1142] + +We have information of a curious document of the time, that may throw +light on the matter. Peter d'Arset, president of Artois, was one of the +original members of the Council of Troubles, but had retired from office +before the trial of the two lords. It may have been from the high +judicial station he held in one of Egmont's provinces, that he was +consulted in regard to that nobleman's process. After an examination of +the papers, he returned an answer, written in Latin, at great length, +and with a purity of style that shows him to have been a scholar. In +this, he goes over the whole ground of the accusation, article by +article, showing the insufficiency of proof on every charge, and by +argument and legal reference fully establishing the innocence of the +accused. The president's opinion, so independently given, we may readily +believe, found too little favor with the duke of Alva to be cited as +authority.[1143] + +But even though it were true that the two lords, in that season of +public excitement, had been seduced from their allegiance for a time, +some charity might have been shown to men who had subsequently broken +with their former friends, and displayed the utmost zeal in carrying out +the measures of the government; a zeal in the case of Egmont, at least, +which drew from the regent unqualified commendation.[1144] Something +more might have been conceded to the man who had won for his sovereign +the most glorious trophies of his reign. But Philip's nature, unhappily, +as I have had occasion to notice, was of that sort which is more +sensible to injuries than to benefits. + +Under the circumstances attending this trial, it may seem to have been a +waste of time to inquire into the legality of the court which tried the +cause, or the regularity of the forms of procedure. The real trial took +place, not in Flanders, but in Castile. Who can doubt that, long before +the duke of Alva began his march, the doom of the two nobles had been +pronounced in the cabinet of Madrid?[1145] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +EXECUTION OF EGMONT AND HOORNE. + +The Counts removed to Brussels.--Informed of the Sentence.--Procession +to the Scaffold.--The Execution.--Character of Egmont.--Fate of his +Family.--Sentiment of the People. + +1568. + + +On the second of June, 1568, a body of three thousand men was ordered to +Ghent to escort the Counts Egmont and Hoorne to Brussels. No resistance +was offered, although the presence of the Spaniards caused a great +sensation among the inhabitants of the place, who too well foreboded the +fate of their beloved lord. + +[Sidenote: INFORMED OF THE SENTENCE.] + +The nobles, each accompanied by two officers, were put into separate +chariots. They were guarded by twenty companies of pikemen and +arquebusiers; and a detachment of lancers, among whom was a body of the +duke's own horse, rode in the van, while another of equal strength +protected the rear. Under this strong escort they moved slowly towards +Brussels. One night they halted at Dendermonde, and towards evening, on +the fourth of the month, entered the capital.[1146] As the martial array +defiled through its streets, there was no one, however stout-hearted he +might be, says an eye-witness, who could behold the funeral pomp of the +procession, and listen to the strains of melancholy music, without a +feeling of sickness at his heart.[1147] + +The prisoners were at once conducted to the _Brodhuys_, or +"Bread-House," usually known as the _Maison du Roi_,--that venerable +pile in the market-place of Brussels, still visited by every traveller +for its curious architecture, and yet more as the last resting-place of +the Flemish lords. Here they were lodged in separate rooms, small, dark, +and uncomfortable, and scantily provided with furniture. Nearly the +whole of the force which had escorted them to Brussels was established +in the great square, to defeat any attempt at a rescue. But none was +made; and the night passed away without disturbance, except what was +occasioned by the sound of busy workmen employed in constructing a +scaffold for the scene of execution on the following day.[1148] + +On the afternoon of the fourth, the duke of Alva had sent for Martin +Rithovius, bishop of Ypres; and, communicating to him the sentence of +the nobles, he requested the prelate to visit the prisoners, acquaint +them with their fate, and prepare them for their execution on the +following day. The bishop, an excellent man, and the personal friend of +Egmont, was astounded by the tidings. He threw himself at Alva's feet, +imploring mercy for the prisoners, and, if he could not spare their +lives, beseeching him at least to grant them more time for preparation. +But Alva sternly rebuked the prelate, saying that he had been summoned, +not to thwart the execution of the law, but to console the prisoners, +and enable them to die like Christians.[1149] The bishop, finding his +entreaties useless, rose and addressed himself to his melancholy +mission. + +It was near midnight when he entered Egmont's apartment, where he found +the poor nobleman, whose strength had been already reduced by +confinement, and who was wearied by the fatigue of the journey, buried +in slumber. It is said that the two lords, when summoned to Brussels, +had indulged the vain hope that it was to inform them of the conclusion +of their trial and their acquittal![1150] However this may be, Egmont +seems to have been but ill prepared for the dreadful tidings he +received. He turned deadly pale as he listened to the bishop, and +exclaimed, with deep emotion: "It is a terrible sentence. Little did I +imagine that any offence I had committed against God or the king could +merit such a punishment. It is not death that I fear. Death is the +common lot of all. But I shrink from dishonor. Yet I may hope that my +sufferings will so far expiate my offences, that my innocent family will +not be involved in my ruin by the confiscation of my property. Thus +much, at least, I think I may claim in consideration of my past +services." Then, after a pause, he added, "Since my death is the will of +God and his majesty, I will try to meet it with patience."[1151] He +asked the bishop if there were no hope. On being answered, "None +whatever," he resolved to devote himself at once to preparing for the +solemn change. + +He rose from his couch, and hastily dressed himself. He then made his +confession to the prelate, and desired that mass might be said, and the +sacrament administered to him. This was done with great solemnity; and +Egmont received the communion in the most devout manner, manifesting the +greatest contrition for his sins. He next inquired of the bishop to what +prayer he could best have recourse to sustain him in this trying hour. +The prelate recommended to him that prayer which our Saviour had +commended to his disciples. The advice pleased the count, who earnestly +engaged in his devotions. But a host of tender recollections crowded on +his mind; and the images of his wife and children drew his thoughts in +another direction, till the kind expostulations of the prelate again +restored him to himself. + +Egmont asked whether it would be well to say anything on the scaffold +for the edification of the people. But the bishop discouraged him, +saying that he would be imperfectly heard, and that the people, in their +present excitement, would be apt to misinterpret what he said to their +own prejudice. + +Having attended to his spiritual concerns, Egmont called for writing +materials, and wrote a letter to his wife, whom he had not seen during +his long confinement; and to her he now bade a tender farewell. He then +addressed another letter, written in French, in a few brief and touching +sentences, to the king,--which fortunately has been preserved to us. +"This morning," he says, "I have been made acquainted with the sentence +which it has pleased your majesty to pass upon me. And although it has +never been my intent to do aught against the person or the service of +your majesty, or against our true, ancient, and Catholic faith, yet I +receive in patience what it has pleased God to send me.[1152] If during +these troubles I have counselled or permitted aught which might seem +otherwise, I have done so from a sincere regard for the service of God +and your majesty, and from what I believed the necessity of the times. +Wherefore I pray your majesty to pardon it, and for the sake of my past +services to take pity on my poor wife, my children, and my servants. In +this trust, I commend myself to the mercy of God." The letter is dated +Brussels, "on the point of death," June 5, 1568.[1153] + +[Sidenote: PROCESSION TO THE SCAFFOLD.] + +Having time still left, the count made a fair copy of the two letters, +and gave them to the bishop, entreating him to deliver them according to +their destination. He accompanied that to Philip with a ring, to be +given at the same time to the monarch.[1154] It was of great value; and +as it had been the gift of Philip himself during the count's late visit +to Madrid, it might soften the heart of the king by reminding him of +happier days, when he had looked with an eye of favor on his unhappy +vassal. + +Having completed all his arrangements, Egmont became impatient for the +hour of his departure; and he expressed the hope that there would be no +unnecessary delay.[1155] At ten in the morning the soldiers appeared who +were to conduct him to the scaffold. They brought with them cords, as +usual, to bind the prisoner's hands. But Egmont remonstrated, and showed +that he had, himself, cut off the collar of his doublet and shirt, in +order to facilitate the stroke of the executioner. This he did to +convince them that he meditated no resistance; and on his promising that +he would attempt none, they consented to his remaining with his hands +unbound. + +Egmont was dressed in a crimson damask robe, over which was a Spanish, +mantle fringed with gold. His breeches were of black silk; and his hat, +of the same material, was garnished with white and sable plumes.[1156] +In his hand, which, as we have seen, remained free, he held a white +handkerchief. On his way to the place of execution, he was accompanied +by Julian de Romero, _maitre de camp_, by the captain, Salinas, who had +charge of the fortress of Ghent, and by the bishop of Ypres. As the +procession moved slowly forward, the count repeated some portion of the +fifty-first psalm,--"Have mercy on me, O God!"--in which the good +prelate joined with him. In the centre of the square, on the spot where +so much of the best blood of the Netherlands has been shed, stood the +scaffold, covered with black cloth. On it were two velvet cushions with +a small table, shrouded likewise in black, and supporting a silver +crucifix. At the corners of the platform were two poles, pointed at the +end with steel, intimating the purpose for which they were +intended.[1157] + +In front of the scaffold was the provost of the court, mounted on +horseback and bearing the red wand of office in his hand.[1158] The +executioner remained, as usual, below the platform, screened from view, +that he might not, by his presence before it was necessary, outrage the +feelings of the prisoners.[1159] The troops, who had been under arms +all night, were drawn up around in order of battle; and strong bodies of +arquebusiers were posted in the great avenues which led to the square. +The space left open by the soldiery was speedily occupied by a crowd of +eager spectators. Others thronged the roofs and windows of the buildings +that surrounded the market-place, some of which, still standing at the +present day, show, by their quaint and venerable architecture, that they +must have looked down on the tragic scene we are now depicting. + +It was indeed a gloomy day for Brussels,--so long the residence of the +two nobles, where their forms were as familiar, and where they were held +in as much love and honor as in any of their own provinces. All business +was suspended. The shops were closed. The bells tolled in all the +churches. An air of gloom, as of some impending calamity, settled on the +city. "It seemed," says one residing there at the time, "as if the day +of judgment were at hand!"[1160] + +As the procession slowly passed through the ranks of the soldiers, +Egmont saluted the officers--some of them his ancient companions--with +such a sweet and dignified composure in his manner as was long +remembered by those who saw it. And few even of the Spaniards could +refrain from tears, as they took their last look at the gallant noble +who was to perish by so miserable an end.[1161] + +With a steady step he mounted the scaffold, and, as he crossed it, gave +utterance to the vain wish, that, instead of meeting such a fate, he had +been allowed to die in the service of his king and country.[1162] He +quickly, however, turned to other thoughts, and, kneeling on one of the +cushions, with the bishop beside him on the other, he was soon engaged +earnestly in prayer. With his eyes raised towards Heaven with a look of +unutterable sadness,[1163] he prayed so fervently and loud as to be +distinctly heard by the spectators. The prelate, much affected, put into +his hands the silver crucifix, which Egmont repeatedly kissed; after +which, having received absolution for the last time, he rose and made a +sign to the bishop to retire. He then stripped off his mantle and robe; +and again kneeling, he drew a silk cap, which he had brought for the +purpose, over his eyes, and repeating the words, "Into thy hands, O +Lord, I commend my spirit," he calmly awaited the stroke of the +executioner. + +[Sidenote: THEIR LAST MOMENTS.] + +The low sounds of lamentation, which from time to time had been heard +among the populace, were now hushed into silence,[1164] as the minister +of justice appearing on the platform, approached his victim, and with a +single blow of the sword severed the head from the body. A cry of horror +rose from the multitude, and some frantic with grief, broke through the +ranks of the soldiers, and wildly dipped their handkerchiefs in the +blood that streamed from the scaffold, treasuring them up, says the +chronicler, as precious memorials of love and incitements to +vengeance.[1165]--The head was then set on one of the poles at the end +of the platform, while a mantle thrown over the mutilated trunk hid it +from the public gaze.[1166] + +It was near noon, when orders were sent to lead forth the remaining +prisoner to execution. It had been assigned to the curate of La Chapelle +to acquaint Count Hoorne with his fate. That nobleman received the awful +tidings with less patience than was shown by his friend. He gave way to +a burst of indignation at the cruelty and injustice of the sentence. It +was a poor requital, he said, for eight and twenty years of faithful +services to his sovereign. Yet, he added, he was not sorry to be +released from a life of such incessant fatigue.[1167] For some time he +refused to confess, saying he had done enough in the way of +confession.[1168] When urged not to throw away the few precious moments +that were left to him, he at length consented. + +The count was dressed in a plain suit of black, and wore a Milanese cap +upon his head. He was, at this time, about fifty years of age. He was +tall, with handsome features, and altogether of a commanding +presence.[1169] His form was erect, and as he passed with a steady step +through the files of soldiers, on his way to the place of execution, he +frankly saluted those of his acquaintance whom he saw among the +spectators. His look had in it less of sorrow than of indignation, like +that of one conscious of enduring wrong. He was spared one pang, in his +last hour, which had filled Egmont's cup with bitterness; though, like +him, he had a wife, he was to leave no orphan family to mourn him. + +As he trod the scaffold, the apparatus of death seemed to have no power +to move him. He still repeated the declaration, that, "often as he had +offended his Maker, he had never, to his knowledge, committed any +offence against the king." When his eyes fell on the bloody shroud that +enveloped the remains of Egmont, he inquired if it were the body of his +friend. Being answered in the affirmative, he made some remark in +Castilian, not understood. He then prayed for a few moments, but in so +low a tone, that the words were not caught by the by-standers, and, +rising, he asked pardon of those around if he had ever offended any of +them, and earnestly besought their prayers. Then, without further delay, +he knelt down, and, repeating the words "_In manus tuas, Domine_," he +submitted himself to his fate.[1170] + +His bloody head was set up opposite to that of his fellow-sufferer. For +three hours these ghastly trophies remained exposed to the gaze of the +multitude. They were then taken down, and, with the bodies, placed in +leaden coffins, which were straightway removed,--that containing the +remains of Egmont to the convent of Santa Clara, and that of Hoorne to +the ancient church of St. Gudule. To these places, especially to Santa +Clara, the people now flocked, as to the shrine of a martyr. They threw +themselves on the coffin, kissing it and bedewing it with their tears, +as if it had contained the relics of some murdered saint;[1171] while +many of them, taking little heed of the presence of informers, breathed +vows of vengeance; some even swearing not to trim either hair or beard +till these vows were executed.[1172] The government seems to have +thought it prudent to take no notice of this burst of popular feeling. +But a funeral hatchment, blazoned with the arms of Egmont, which, as +usual after the master's death, had been fixed by his domestics on the +gates of his mansion, was ordered to be instantly removed; no doubt, as +tending to keep alive the popular excitement.[1173] The bodies were not +allowed to remain long in their temporary places of deposit, but were +transported to the family residences of the two lords in the country, +and laid in the vaults of their ancestors.[1174] + +Thus by the hand of the common executioner perished these two +unfortunate noblemen, who, by their rank, possessions, and personal +characters, were the most illustrious victims that could have been +selected in the Netherlands. Both had early enjoyed the favor of Charles +the Fifth, and both had been intrusted by Philip with some of the +highest offices in the state. Philip de Montmorency, Count Hoorne, the +elder of the two, came of the ancient house of Montmorency in France. +Besides filling the high post of Admiral of the Low Countries, he was +made governor of the provinces of Gueldres and Zutphen, was a councillor +of state, and was created by the emperor a knight of the Golden Fleece. +His fortune was greatly inferior to that of Count Egmont; yet its +confiscation afforded a supply by no means unwelcome to the needy +exchequer of the duke of Alva. + +[Sidenote: CHARACTER OF EGMONT.] + +However nearly on a footing they might be in many respects, Hoorne was +altogether eclipsed by his friend in military renown. Lamoral, Count +Egmont, inherited through his mother, the most beautiful woman of her +time,[1175] the title of prince of Gavre,--a place on the Scheldt, not +far from Ghent. He preferred, however, the more modest title of count of +Egmont, which came to him by the father's side, from ancestors who had +reigned over the duchy of Gueldres. The uncommon promise which he early +gave served, with his high position, to recommend him to the notice of +the Emperor Charles the Fifth, who, in 1544, honored by his presence +Egmont's nuptials with Sabina, countess-palatine of Bavaria. In 1546, +when scarcely twenty-four years of age, he was admitted to the order of +the Golden Fleece,--and, by a singular coincidence, on the same day on +which that dignity was bestowed on the man destined to become his mortal +foe, the duke of Alva.[1176] Philip, on his accession, raised him to the +dignity of a councillor of state, and made him governor of the important +provinces of Artois and Flanders. + +But every other title to distinction faded away before that derived from +those two victories, which left the deepest stain on the French arms +that they had received since the defeat at Pavia. "I have seen," said +the French ambassador, who witnessed the execution of Egmont, "I have +seen the head of that man fall who twice caused France to +tremble."[1177] + +Yet the fame won by his success was probably unfortunate for Egmont. For +this, the fruit of impetuous valor and of a brilliant _coup-de-main_, +was very different from the success of a long campaign, implying genius +and great military science in the commander. Yet the _eclat_ it gave was +enough to turn the head of a man less presumptuous than Egmont. It +placed him at once on the most conspicuous eminence in the country; +compelling him, in some sort, to take a position above his capacity to +maintain. When the troubles broke out, Egmont was found side by side +with Orange, in the van of the malecontents. He was urged to this rather +by generous sensibility to the wrongs of his countrymen, than by any +settled principle of action. Thus acting from impulse, he did not, like +William, calculate the consequences of his conduct. When those +consequences came, he was not prepared to meet them; he was like some +unskilful necromancer, who has neither the wit to lay the storm which he +has raised, nor the hardihood to brave it. He was acted on by contrary +influences. In opposition to the popular movement came his strong +feeling of loyalty, and his stronger devotion to the Roman Catholic +faith. His personal vanity cooeperated with these; for Egmont was too +much of a courtier willingly to dispense with the smiles of royalty. +Thus the opposite forces by which he was impelled served to neutralize +each other. Instead of moving on a decided one of conduct, like his +friend, William of Orange, he appeared weak and vacillating. He +hesitated where he should have acted. And as the storm thickened, he +even retraced his steps, and threw himself on the mercy of the monarch +whom he had offended. William better understood the character of his +master,--and that of the minister who was to execute his decrees.[1178] + +Still, with all his deficiencies, there was much both in the personal +qualities of Egmont and in his exploits to challenge admiration. "I knew +him," says Brantome, "both in France and in Spain, and never did I meet +with a nobleman of higher breeding, or more gracious in his +manners."[1179] With an address so winning, a heart so generous, and +with so brilliant a reputation, it is not wonderful that Egmont should +have been the pride of his court and the idol of his countrymen. In +their idolatry they could not comprehend that Alva's persecution should +not have been prompted by a keener feeling than a sense of public duty +or obedience to his sovereign. They industriously sought in the earlier +history of the rival chiefs the motives for personal pique. On Alva's +first visit to the Netherlands, Egmont, then a young man, was said to +have won of him a considerable sum at play. The ill-will thus raised in +Alva's mind was heightened by Egmont's superiority over him at a +shooting-match, which the people, regarding as a sort of national +triumph, hailed with an exultation that greatly increased the +mortification of the duke.[1180] But what filled up the measure of his +jealousy was his rival's military renown; for the Fabian policy which +directed Alva's campaigns, however it established his claims to the +reputation of a great commander, was by no means favorable to those +brilliant feats of arms which have such attraction for the multitude. So +intense, indeed, was the feeling of hatred, it was said, in Alva's +bosom, that, on the day of his rival's execution, he posted himself +behind a lattice of the very building in which Egmont had been confined, +that he might feast his eyes with the sight of his mortal agony.[1181] + +The friends of Alva give a very different view of his conduct. According +to them, an illness under which he labored, at the close of Egmont's +trial, was occasioned by his distress of mind at the task imposed on him +by the king. He had written more than once to the court of Castile, to +request some mitigation of Egmont's sentence, but was answered, that +"this would have been easy to grant, if the offence had been against the +king; but against the faith, it was impossible."[1182] It was even said +that the duke was so much moved, that he was seen to shed tears as big +as peas on the day of the execution![1183] + +[Sidenote: CONDUCT OF ALVA.] + +I must confess, I have never seen any account that would warrant a +belief in the report that Alva witnessed in person the execution of his +prisoners. Nor, on the other hand, have I met with any letter of his +deprecating the severity of their sentence, or advising a mitigation of +their punishment. This, indeed, would be directly opposed to his policy, +openly avowed. The reader may, perhaps, recall the homely simile by +which he recommended to the queen-mother, at Bayonne, to strike at the +great nobles in preference to the commoners. "One salmon," he said, "was +worth ten thousand frogs."[1184] Soon after Egmont's arrest, some of the +burghers of Brussels waited on him to ask why it had been made. The duke +bluntly told them, "When he had got together his troops, he would let +them know."[1185] Everything shows that, in his method of proceeding in +regard to the two lords, he had acted on a preconcerted plan, in the +arrangement of which he had taken his full part. In a letter to Philip, +written soon after the execution, he speaks with complacency of having +carried out the royal views in respect to the great offenders.[1186] In +another, he notices the sensation caused by the death of Egmont; and +"the greater the sensation," he adds, "the greater will be the benefit +to be derived from it."[1187]--There is little in all this of +compunction for the act, or of compassion for its victims. + +The truth seems to be, that Alva was a man of an arrogant nature, an +inflexible will, and of the most narrow and limited views. His doctrine +of implicit obedience went as far as that of Philip himself. In +enforcing it, he disdained the milder methods of argument or +conciliation. It was on force, brute force alone, that he relied. He was +bred a soldier, early accustomed to the stern discipline of the camp. +The only law he recognized was martial law; his only argument, the +sword. No agent could have been fitter to execute the designs of a +despotic prince. His hard, impassible nature was not to be influenced by +those affections which sometimes turn the most obdurate from their +purpose. As little did he know of fear; nor could danger deter him from +carrying out his work. The hatred he excited in the Netherlands was +such, that, as he was warned, it was not safe for him to go out after +dark. Placards were posted up in Brussels menacing his life if he +persisted in the prosecution of Egmont.[1188] He held such menaces as +light as he did the entreaties of the countess, or the arguments of her +counsel. Far from being moved by personal considerations, no power could +turn him from that narrow path which he professed to regard as the path +of duty. He went surely, though it might be slowly, towards the mark, +crushing by his iron will every obstacle that lay in his track. We +shudder at the contemplation of such a character, relieved by scarcely a +single touch of humanity. Yet we must admit there is something which +challenges our admiration in the stern, uncompromising manner, without +fear or favor, with which a man of this indomitable temper carries his +plans into execution. + +It would not be fair to omit, in this connection, some passages from +Alva's correspondence, which suggest the idea that he was not wholly +insensible to feelings of compassion,--when they did not interfere with +the performance of his task. In a letter to the king, dated the ninth of +June, four days only after the death of the two nobles, the duke says: +"Your majesty will understand the regret I feel at seeing these poor +lords brought to such an end, and myself obliged to bring them to +it.[1189] But I have not shrunk from doing what is for your majesty's +service. Indeed, they and their accomplices have been the cause of very +great present evil, and one which will endanger the souls of many for +years to come. The Countess Egmont's condition fills me with the +greatest pity, burdened as she is with a family of eleven children, none +old enough to take care of themselves;--and she too a lady of so +distinguished rank, sister of the count-palatine, and of so virtuous, +truly Catholic, and exemplary life.[1190] There is no man in the country +who does not grieve for her! I cannot but commend her," he concludes, +"as I do now, very humbly, to the good grace of your majesty, beseeching +you to call to mind that if the count, her husband, came to trouble at +the close of his days, he formerly rendered great service to the +state."[1191] The reflection, it must be owned, came somewhat late. + +In another letter to Philip, though of the same date, Alva recommends +the king to summon the countess and her children to Spain; where her +daughters might take the veil, and her sons be properly educated. "I do +not believe," he adds, "that there is so unfortunate a family in the +whole world. I am not sure that the countess has the means of procuring +a supper this very evening!"[1192] + +Philip, in answer to these letters, showed that he was not disposed to +shrink from his own share of responsibility for the proceedings of his +general. The duke, he said, had only done what justice and his duty +demanded.[1193] He could have wished that the state of things had +warranted a different result; nor could he help feeling deeply that +measures like those to which he had been forced should have been +necessary in his reign. "But," continued the king, "no man has a right +to shrink from his duty.[1194]--I am well pleased," he concludes, "to +learn that the two lords made so good and Catholic an end. As to what +you recommend in regard to the countess of Egmont and her eleven +children, I shall give all proper heed to it."[1195] + +[Sidenote: FATE OF EGMONT'S FAMILY.] + +The condition of the countess might well have moved the hardest heart +to pity. Denied all access to her husband, she had been unable to +afford him that consolation which he so much needed during his long and +dreary confinement. Yet she had not been idle; and, as we have seen, she +was unwearied in her efforts to excite a sympathy in his behalf. Neither +did she rely only on the aid which this world can give; and few nights +passed during her lord's imprisonment in which she and her daughters +might not be seen making their pious pilgrimages, barefooted, to the +different churches of Brussels, to invoke the blessing of Heaven on +their labors. She had been supported through this trying time by a +reliance on the success of her endeavors, in which she was confirmed by +the encouragement she received from the highest quarters. It is not +necessary to give credit to the report of a brutal jest attributed to +the duke of Alva, who, on the day preceding the execution, was said to +have told the countess "to be of good cheer; for her husband would leave +the prison on the morrow!"[1196] There is more reason to believe that +the Emperor Maximilian, shortly before the close of the trial, sent a +gentleman with a kind letter to the countess, testifying the interest he +took in her affairs, and assuring her she had nothing to fear on account +of her husband.[1197] On the very morning of Egmont's execution, she was +herself, we are told, paying a visit of condolence to the countess of +Aremberg, whose husband had lately fallen in the battle of Heyligerlee; +and at her friend's house the poor lady is said to have received the +first tidings of the fate of her lord.[1198] + +The blow fell the heavier, that she was so ill prepared for it. On the +same day she found herself, not only a widow, but a beggar,--with a +family of orphan children in vain looking up to her for the common +necessaries of life.[1199] In her extremity, she resolved to apply to +the king himself. She found an apology for it in the necessity of +transmitting to Philip her husband's letter to him, which, it seems, had +been intrusted to her care.[1200] She apologizes for not sooner sending +this last and most humble petition of her deceased lord, by the extreme +wretchedness of her situation, abandoned, as she is, by all, far from +kindred and country.[1201] She trusts in his majesty's benignity and +compassion[1202] to aid her sons by receiving them into his service when +they shall be of sufficient age. This will oblige her, during the +remainder of her sad days, and her children after her, to pray God for +the long and happy life of his majesty.[1203]--It must have given +another pang to the heart of the widowed countess, to have been thus +forced to solicit aid from the very hand that had smitten her. But it +was the mother pleading for her children. + +Yet Philip, notwithstanding his assurances to the duke of Alva, showed +no alacrity in relieving the wants of the countess. On the first of +September the duke again wrote, to urge the necessity of her case, +declaring that, if it had not been for a "small sum that he had himself +sent, she and the children would have perished of hunger!"[1204] + +The misfortunes of this noble lady excited commiseration not only at +home, but in other countries of Europe, and especially in Germany, the +land of her birth.[1205] Her brother, the elector of Bavaria, wrote to +Philip, to urge the restitution of her husband's estates to his family. +Other German princes preferred the same request, which was moreover +formally made by the emperor, through his ambassador at Madrid. Philip +coolly replied, that "the time for this had not yet come."[1206] A +moderate pension, meanwhile, was annually paid by Alva to the countess +of Egmont, who survived her husband ten years,--not long enough to see +her children established in possession of their patrimony.[1207] Shortly +before her death, her eldest son, then grown to man's estate, chafing +under the sense of injustice to himself and his family, took part in the +war against the Spaniards. Philip, who may perhaps have felt some +compunction for the ungenerous requital he had made for the father's +services, not only forgave this act of disloyalty in the son, but three +years later allowed the young man to resume his allegiance, and placed +him in full possession of the honors and estates of his ancestors.[1208] + +Alva, as we have seen, in his letters to Philip, had dwelt on the +important effects of Egmont's execution. He did not exaggerate these +effects. But he sorely mistook the nature of them. Abroad, the elector +of Bavaria at once threw his whole weight into the scale of Orange and +the party of reform.[1209] Others of the German princes followed his +example; and Maximilian's ambassador at Madrid informed Philip that the +execution of the two nobles, by the indignation it had caused throughout +Germany, had wonderfully served the designs of the prince of +Orange.[1210] + +[Sidenote: SENTIMENT OF THE PEOPLE.] + +At home the effects were not less striking. The death of these two +illustrious men, following so close upon the preceding executions, +spread a deep gloom over the country. Men became possessed with the idea +that the reign of blood was to be perpetual.[1211] All confidence was +destroyed, even that confidence which naturally exists between parent +and child, between brother and brother.[1212] The foreign merchant +caught somewhat of this general distrust, and refused to send his +commodities to a country where they were exposed to confiscation.[1213] +Yet among the inhabitants indignation was greater than even fear or +sorrow;[1214] and the Flemings who had taken part in the prosecution of +Egmont trembled before the wrath of an avenging people.[1215] Such were +the effects produced by the execution of men whom the nation reverenced +as martyrs in the cause of freedom. Alva notices these consequences in +his letters to the king. But though he could discern the signs of the +times, he little dreamed of the extent of the troubles they portended. +"The people of this country," he writes, "are of so easy a temper, that, +when your majesty shall think fit to grant them a general pardon, your +clemency, I trust, will make them as prompt to render you their +obedience as they are now reluctant to do it."[1216]--The haughty +soldier, in his contempt for the peaceful habits of a burgher +population, comprehended as little as his master the true character of +the men of the Netherlands. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +SECRET EXECUTION OF MONTIGNY. + +Bergen and Montigny.--Their Situation in Spain.--Death of +Bergen.--Arrest of Montigny.--Plot for his Escape.--His +Process.--Removal to Simancas.--Closer Confinement.--Midnight Execution. + +1567-1570. + + +Before bidding a long adieu to the Netherlands, it will be well to lay +before the reader an account of a transaction which has proved a +fruitful theme of speculation to the historian, but which, until the +present time, has been shrouded in impenetrable mystery. + +It may be remembered that, in the year 1566, two noble Flemings, the +marquis of Bergen and the baron of Montigny, were sent on a mission to +the court of Madrid, to lay before the king the critical state of +affairs, imperatively demanding some change in the policy of the +government. The two lords went on the mission; but they never returned. +Many conjectures were made respecting their fate; and historians have +concluded that Bergen possibly,[1217] and certainly Montigny, came to +their end by violence.[1218] But, in the want of evidence, it was only +conjecture, while the greatest discrepancy has prevailed in regard to +details. It is not till very recently that the veil has been withdrawn +through the access that has been given to the Archives of Simancas, that +dread repository, in which the secrets of the Castilian kings have been +buried for ages. Independently of the interest attaching to the +circumstances of the present narrative, it is of great importance for +the light it throws on the dark, unscrupulous policy of Philip the +Second. It has, moreover, the merit of resting on the most authentic +grounds of the correspondence of the king and his ministers. + +[Sidenote: BERGEN AND MONTIGNY.] + +Both envoys were men of the highest consideration. The marquis of +Bergen, by his rank and fortune, was in the first class of the Flemish +aristocracy.[1219] Montigny was of the ancient house of the +Montmorencys, being a younger brother of the unfortunate Count Hoorne. +At the time of Charles the Fifth's abdication he had the honor of being +selected by the emperor as one of those Flemish nobles who were to +escort him to his monastic residence in Spain. He occupied several +important posts,--among others, that of governor of Tournay,--and, like +Bergen, was a knight of the Golden Fleece. In the political disturbances +of the time, although not placed in the front of disaffection, the two +lords had taken part with the discontented faction, had joined in the +war upon Granvelle, and had very generally disapproved of the policy of +the crown. They had, especially, raised their voices against the system +of religious persecution, with a manly independence which had secured +for them--it seems undeservedly--the reputation of being the advocates +of religious reform. This was particularly the case with Bergen, who, to +one that asked how heretics should be dealt with, replied, "If they were +willing to be converted, I would not trouble them. If they refused, +still I would not take their lives, as they might hereafter be +converted." This saying, duly reported to the ears of Philip, was +doubtless treasured up against the man who had the courage to utter +it.[1220] + +The purpose of their embassy was to urge on the king the necessity of a +more liberal and lenient policy, to which Margaret, who had not yet +broken with the nobles, was herself inclined. It was not strange that +the two lords should have felt the utmost reluctance to undertake a +mission which was to bring them so directly within the power of the +monarch whom they knew they had offended, and who, as they also knew, +was not apt to forgive an offence. True, Egmont had gone on a similar +mission to Madrid, and returned uninjured to Brussels. But it was at an +earlier period, when the aspect of things was not so dangerous. His time +had not yet come. + +It was not till after much delay that the other nobles, with the regent, +prevailed on Bergen and Montigny to accept the trust, by urging on them +its absolute importance for assuring the tranquillity of the country. +Even then, an injury which confined the marquis some weeks to his house +furnished him with a plausible excuse for not performing his engagement, +of which he would gladly have availed himself. But his scruples again +vanished before the arguments and entreaties of his friends; and he +consented to follow, as he could not accompany, Montigny. + +The latter reached Madrid towards the middle of June, 1566, was +graciously received by the king, and was admitted to repeated audiences, +at which he did not fail to urge the remedial measures countenanced by +Margaret. Philip appeared to listen with complacency; but declined +giving an answer till the arrival of the other ambassador, who, having +already set out on his journey, was attacked, on his way through France, +by a fever. There Bergen halted, and again thought of abandoning the +expedition. His good genius seemed ever willing to interpose to save +him. But his evil genius, in the shape of Philip, who wrote to him, in +the most condescending terms, to hasten his journey, beckoned him to +Madrid.[1221] + +Besides the two envoys there was another person of consequence from the +Low Countries at that time in the capital,--Simon Renard, once Charles's +minister at the English court, the inexorable foe of Granvelle. He had +been persuaded by Philip to come to Spain, although to do so, he knew, +was to put himself on trial for his manifold offences against the +government. He was arrested; proceedings were commenced against him; and +he was released only by an illness which terminated in his death. There +seems to have been a mysterious fascination possessed by Philip, that he +could thus draw within his reach the very men whom every motive of +self-preservation should have kept at an immeasurable distance. + +The arrival of the marquis did not expedite the business of the mission. +Unfortunately, about that period news came to Madrid of the outbreak of +the iconoclasts, exciting not merely in Spain, but throughout +Christendom, feelings of horror and indignation. There was no longer a +question as to a more temperate policy. The only thought now was of +vengeance. It was in vain that the Flemish envoys interposed to mitigate +the king's anger, and turn him from those violent measures which must +bring ruin on the country. Their remonstrances were unheeded. They found +access to his person by no means so easy a thing as before. They felt +that somewhat of the odium of the late transactions attached to them. +Even the courtiers, with the ready instinct that detects a sovereign's +frown, grew cold in their deportment. The situation of the envoys became +every day more uncomfortable. Their mission was obviously at an end, and +all they now asked was leave to return to the Netherlands. + +But the king had no mind to grant it. He had been long since advised by +Granvelle, and others in whom he trusted, that both the nobles had taken +a decided part in fostering the troubles of the country.[1222] To that +country they were never to return. Philip told them he had need of their +presence for some time longer, to advise with him on the critical state +of affairs in Flanders. So thin a veil could not impose on them, and +they were idled with the most serious apprehensions. They wrote to +Margaret, begging her to request the king to dismiss them; otherwise +they should have good cause to complain both of her and of the nobles, +who had sent them on a mission from which they would gladly have been +excused.[1223] But Margaret had already written to her brother to keep +them in Spain until the troubles in Flanders should be ended.[1224] On +the reception of the letter of her envoys, however, she replied that she +had already written to the king to request leave for them to +return.[1225] I have found no record of such a letter. + +In the spring of 1567, the duke of Alva was sent to take command of the +Netherlands. Such an appointment, at such a crisis, plainly intimated +the course to be pursued, and the host of evils it would soon bring on +the devoted country. The conviction of this was too much for Bergen, +heightened as his distress was by his separation, at such a moment, from +all that was most dear to him on earth. He fell ill of a fever, and grew +rapidly worse, till at length, it was reported to Philip that there was +no chance for his recovery unless he were allowed to return to his +native land.[1226] + +[Sidenote: DEATH OF BERGEN.] + +This placed the king in a perplexing dilemma. He was not disposed to let +the marquis escape from his hands even by the way of a natural death. He +was still less inclined to assent to his return to Flanders. In this +emergency he directed Ruy Gomez, the prince of Eboli, to visit the sick +nobleman, who was his personal friend. In case Gomez found the marquis +so ill that his recovery was next to impossible, he was to give him the +king's permission to return home. If, however, there seemed a prospect +of his recovery, he was only to hold out the hope of such a +permission.[1227] In case of the sick man's death, Gomez was to take +care to have his obsequies performed in such a manner as to show the +sorrow of the king and his ministers at his loss, and their respect for +the lords of the Low Countries![1228] He was, moreover, in that event, +to take means to have the marquis's property in the Netherlands +sequestered, as, should rebellion be proved against him, it would be +forfeited to the crown.--This curious, and, as it must be allowed, +highly confidential epistle, was written with the king's own hand. The +address ran, "Ruy Gomez--to his hands. Not to be opened nor read in the +presence of the bearer." + +Which part of the royal instruction the minister thought best to follow +for the cure of the patient,--whether he gave him an unconditional +permission to return, or only held out the hope that he would do so,--we +are not informed. It matters little, however. The marquis, it is +probable, had already learned not to put his trust in princes. At all +events, the promises of the king did as little for the patient as the +prescriptions of the doctor. On the twenty-first of May he +died,--justifying the melancholy presentiment with which he had entered +on his mission. + +Montigny was the only victim that now remained to Philip; and he caused +him to be guarded with redoubled vigilance. He directed Ruy Gomez to +keep an eye on all his movements, and to write to the governors of +Navarre, Catalonia, and other frontier places, to take precautions to +intercept the Flemish lord, in case of his attempting to fly the +country.[1229] Montigny was in fact a prisoner, with Madrid for the +limits of his prison. Yet, after this, the regent could write to him +from Brussels, that she was pleased to learn from her brother that he +was soon to give him his _conge_.[1230]--If the king said this, he had a +bitter meaning in his words, beyond what the duchess apprehended. + +It was not long, however, that Montigny was allowed to retain even this +degree of liberty. In September, 1567, arrived the tidings of the arrest +of the Counts Egmont and Hoorne. Orders were instantly issued for the +arrest of Montigny. He was seized by a detachment of the royal guard, +and borne off to the alcazar of Segovia.[1231] He was not to be allowed +to leave the fortress day or night; but as much indulgence was shown to +him as was compatible with this strict confinement; and he was permitted +to take with him the various retainers who composed his household, and +to maintain his establishment in prison. But what indulgence could +soften the bitterness of a captivity far from kindred and country, with +the consciousness, moreover, that the only avenue from his prison +conducted to the scaffold! + +In his extremity, Montigny looked around for the means of effecting his +own escape; and he nearly succeeded. One, if not more, of the Spaniards +on guard, together with his own servants, were in the plot. It was +arranged that the prisoner should file through the bars of a window in +his apartment, and lower himself to the ground by means of a rope +ladder. Relays of horses were provided to take him rapidly on to the +seaport of Santander, in the north, whence he was to be transported in a +shallop to St. Jean de Luz. The materials for executing his part of the +work were conveyed to Montigny in the loaves of bread daily sent to him +by his baker. Everything seemed to promise success. The bars of the +window were removed.[1232] They waited only for a day when the alcayde +of the castle would not be likely to visit it. At this juncture the plot +was discovered through the carelessness of the _maitre d'hotel_. + +This person neglected to send one of the loaves to his master, which +contained a paper giving sundry directions respecting the mode of +escape, and mentioning the names of several of the parties. The loaf +fell into the hands of a soldier.[1233] On breaking it, the paper was +discovered, and taken by him to the captain of the guard. The plot was +laid open; the parties were arrested, and sentenced to death or the +galleys. The king allowed the sentence to take effect in regard to the +Spaniards. He granted a reprieve to the Flemings, saying that what they +had done was in some sort excusable, as being for the service of their +master. Besides, they might be of use hereafter, in furnishing testimony +in the prosecution of Montigny.[1234] On this compound principle their +lives were spared. After languishing some time in prison, they were +allowed to return to the Low Countries, bearing with them letters from +Montigny, requesting his friends to provide for them in consideration of +their sacrifices for him. But they were provided for in a much more +summary manner by Alva, who, on their landing, caused them to be +immediately arrested, and banished them all from the country, under pain +of death if they returned to it![1235] + +The greatest sympathy was felt for Montigny in the Netherlands, where +the nobles were filled with indignation at the unworthy treatment their +envoy had received from Philip. His step-mother, the dowager-countess of +Hoorne, was as untiring in her efforts for him as she had been for his +unfortunate brother. These were warmly seconded by his wife, a daughter +of the prince of Epinoy, to whom Montigny had been married but a short +time before his mission to Spain. This lady wrote a letter in the most +humble tone of supplication to Philip. She touched on the blight brought +on her domestic happiness, spoke with a strong conviction of the +innocence of Montigny, and with tears and lamentations implored the +king, by the consideration of his past services, by the passion of the +blessed Saviour, to show mercy to her husband.[1236] + +[Sidenote: HIS PROCESS.] + +Several months elapsed, after the execution of the Counts Egmont and +Hoorne, before the duke commenced proceedings against Montigny; and it +was not till February, 1569, that the licentiate Salazar, one of the +royal council, was sent to Segovia in order to interrogate the prisoner. +The charges were of the same nature with those brought against Egmont +and Hoorne. Montigny at first, like them, refused to make any +reply,--standing on his rights as a member of the Golden Fleece. He was, +however, after a formal protest, prevailed on to waive this privilege. +The examination continued several days. The various documents connected +with it are still preserved in the Archives of Simancas. M. Gachard has +given no abstract of their contents. But that sagacious inquirer, after +a careful perusal of the papers, pronounces Montigny's answers to be "a +victorious refutation of the charges of the attorney-general."[1237] + +It was not a refutation that Philip or his viceroy wanted. Montigny was +instantly required to appoint some one to act as counsel in his behalf. +But no one was willing to undertake the business, till a person of +little note at length consented, or was rather compelled to undertake it +by the menaces of Alva.[1238] Any man might well have felt a +disinclination for an office which must expose him to the ill-will of +the government, with little chance of benefit to his client. + +Even after this, Montigny was allowed to languish another year in prison +before sentence was passed on him by his judges. The proceedings of the +Council of Blood on this occasion were marked by a more flagitious +contempt of justice, if possible, than its proceedings usually were. The +duke, in a letter of the eighteenth of March, 1570, informed the king of +the particulars of the trial. He had submitted the case, not to the +whole court, but to a certain number of the councillors, _selected by +him for the purpose_.[1239] He does not tell on what principle the +selection was made. Philip could readily divine it. In the judgment of +the majority, Montigny was found guilty of high treason. The duke +accordingly passed sentence of death on him. The sentence was dated +March 4, 1570. It was precisely of the same import with the sentences of +Egmont and Hoorne. It commanded that Montigny be taken from prison, and +publicly beheaded with a sword. His head was to be stuck on a pole, +there to remain during the pleasure of his majesty. His goods and +estates were to be confiscated to the crown.[1240] + +The sentence was not communicated even to the Council of Blood. The only +persons aware of its existence were the duke's secretary and his two +trusty councillors, Vargas and Del Rio. Alva had kept it thus secret +until he should learn the will of his master.[1241] At the same time he +intimated to Philip that he might think it better to have the execution +take place in Castile, as under existing circumstances more eligible +than the Netherlands. + +Philip was in Andalusia, making a tour in the southern provinces, when +the despatches of his viceroy reached him. He was not altogether pleased +with their tenor. Not that he had any misgivings in regard to the +sentence; for he was entirely satisfied, as he wrote to Alva, of +Montigny's guilt.[1242] But he did not approve of a public execution. +Enough blood, it might be thought in the Netherlands, had been already +spilt; and men there might complain that, shut up in a foreign prison +during his trial, Montigny had not met with justice.[1243] There were +certainly some grounds for such a complaint. + +Philip resolved to defer taking any decisive step in the matter till his +return to the north. Meanwhile he commended Alva's discretion in keeping +the sentence secret, and charged him on no account to divulge it, even +to members of the council. + +Some months elapsed after the king's return to Madrid before he came to +a decision,--exhibiting the procrastination, so conspicuous a trait in +him, even among a people with whom procrastination was no miracle. It +may have been that he was too much occupied with an interesting affair +which pressed on him at that moment. About two years before, Philip had +had the misfortune to lose his young and beautiful queen, Isabella of +the Peace. Her place was now to be supplied by a German princess, Anne +of Austria, his fourth wife, still younger than the one he had lost. She +was already on her way to Castile; and the king may have been too much +engrossed by his preparations for the nuptial festivities, to have much +thought to bestow on the concerns of his wretched prisoner. + +The problem to be solved was how to carry the sentence into effect, and +yet leave the impression on the public that Montigny died a natural +death. Most of the few ministers whom the king took into his confidence +on the occasion were of opinion that it would be best to bring the +prisoner's death about by means of a slow poison administered in his +drink, or some article of his daily food. This would give him time, +moreover, to provide for the concerns of his soul.[1244] But Philip +objected to this, as not fulfilling what he was pleased to call the ends +of justice.[1245] He at last decided on the _garrote_,--the form of +execution used for the meaner sort of criminals in Spain, but which, +producing death by suffocation, would be less likely to leave its traces +on the body.[1246] + +[Sidenote: CLOSER CONFINEMENT.] + +To accomplish this, it would be necessary to remove Montigny from the +town of Segovia, the gay residence of the court, and soon to be the +scene of the wedding ceremonies, to some more remote and less frequented +spot. Simancas was accordingly selected, whose stern, secluded fortress +seemed to be a fitting place for the perpetration of such a deed. The +fortress was of great strength, and was encompassed by massive walls, +and a wide moat, across which two bridges gave access to the interior. +It was anciently used as a prison for state criminals. Cardinal Ximenes +first conceived the idea of turning it to the nobler purpose of +preserving the public archives.[1247] Charles the Fifth carried this +enlightened project into execution; but it was not fully consummated +till the time of Philip, who prescribed the regulations, and made all +the necessary arrangements for placing the institution on a permanent +basis,--thus securing to future historians the best means for guiding +their steps through the dark and tortuous passages of his reign. But +even after this change in its destination, the fortress of Simancas +continued to be used occasionally as a place of confinement for +prisoners of state. The famous bishop of Zamora, who took so active a +part in the war of the _comunidades_, was there strangled by command of +Charles the Fifth. The quarter of the building in which he suffered is +still known by the name of "_el cubo del obispo_,"--"The Bishop's +Tower."[1248] + +To this strong place Montigny was removed from Segovia, on the +nineteenth of August, 1570, under a numerous guard of alguazils and +arquebusiers. For greater security he was put in irons,--a superfluous +piece of cruelty, from which Philip, in a letter to Alva, thought it +necessary to vindicate himself, as having been done without his +orders.[1249] We might well imagine that the last ray of hope must have +faded away in Montigny's bosom, as he entered the gloomy portals of his +new abode. Yet hope, as we are assured, did not altogether desert him. +He had learned that Anne of Austria had expressed much sympathy for his +sufferings. It was but natural that the daughter of the emperor +Maximilian should take an interest in the persecuted people of the +Netherlands. It was even said that she promised the wife and step-mother +of Montigny to make his liberation the first boon she would ask of her +husband on coming to Castile.[1250] And Montigny cherished the fond hope +that the influence of the young bride would turn the king from his +purpose, and that her coming to Castile would be the signal for his +liberation. That Anne should have yielded to such an illusion is not so +strange, for she had never seen Philip; but that Montigny should have +been beguiled by it is more difficult to understand. + +In his new quarters he was treated with a show of respect, if not +indulgence. He was even allowed some privileges. Though the guards were +doubled over him, he was permitted to have his own servants, and, when +it suited him, to take the fresh air and sunshine in the corridor. + +Early in October the young Austrian princess landed on the northern +shores of the kingdom, at Santander. The tidings of this may have +induced the king to quicken his movements in regard to his prisoner, +willing perhaps to relieve himself of all chance of importunity from his +bride, as well as from the awkwardness of refusing the first favor she +should request. As a preliminary step, it would be necessary to abridge +the liberty which Montigny at present enjoyed, to confine him to his +apartment, and cutting off his communications even with those in the +castle, to spread the rumor of his illness, which should prepare the +minds of the public for a fatal issue. + +To furnish an apology for his close confinement, a story was got up of +an attempt to escape, similar to what had actually occurred at Segovia. +Peralta, alcayde of the fortress, a trustworthy vassal, to whom was +committed the direction of the affair, addressed a letter to the king, +inclosing a note in Latin, which he pretended had been found under +Montigny's window, containing sundry directions for his flight. The fact +of such a design, the writer said, was corroborated by the appearance of +certain persons in the disguise of friars about the castle. The +governor, in consequence, had been obliged to remove his prisoner to +other quarters, of greater security. He was accordingly lodged in the +Bishop's Tower,--ominous quarters!--where he was no longer allowed the +attendance of his own domestics, but placed in strict confinement. +Montigny had taken this proceeding so ill, and with such vehement +complaints of its injustice, that it had brought on a fever, under which +he was now laboring. Peralta concluded by expressing his regret at being +forced by Montigny's conduct into a course so painful to himself, as he +would gladly have allowed him all the indulgence compatible with his own +honor.[1251]--This letter, which had all been concocted in the cabinet +at Madrid, was shown openly at court. It gained easier credit from the +fact of Montigny's former attempt to escape; and the rumor went abroad +that he was now lying dangerously ill. + +Early in October, the licentiate Alonzo de Arellano had been summoned +from Seville, and installed in the office of alcalde of the chancery of +Valladolid, distant only two leagues from Simancas. Arellano was a +person in whose discretion and devotion to himself Philip knew he could +confide; and to him he now intrusted the execution of Montigny. +Directions for the course he was to take, as well as the precautions he +was to use to prevent suspicion, were set down in the royal instructions +with great minuteness. They must be allowed to form a remarkable +document, such as has rarely proceeded from a royal pen. The alcalde was +to pass to Simancas, and take with him a notary, an executioner, and a +priest. The last should be a man of undoubted piety and learning, +capable of dispelling any doubts or errors that might unhappily have +arisen in Montigny's mind in respect to the faith. Such a man appeared +to be Fray Hernando del Castillo, of the order of St. Dominic, in +Valladolid; and no better person could have been chosen, nor one more +open to those feelings of humanity which are not always found under the +robe of the friar.[1252] + +[Sidenote: HIS LAST MOMENTS.] + +Attended by these three persons, the alcalde left Valladolid soon after +nightfall on the evening of the fourteenth of October. Peralta had been +advised of his coming; and the little company were admitted into the +castle so cautiously as to attract no observation. The governor and the +judge at once proceeded to Montigny's apartment, where they found the +unhappy man lying on his pallet, ill not so much of the fever that was +talked of, as of that sickness of the heart which springs from hope +deferred. When informed of his sentence by Arellano, in words as kind as +so cruel a communication would permit, he was wholly overcome by it, and +for some time continued in a state of pitiable agitation. Yet one might +have thought that the warnings he had already received were such as +might have prepared his mind in some degree for the blow. For he seems +to have been in the condition of the tenant of one of those +inquisitorial cells in Venice, the walls of which, we are told, were so +constructed as to approach each other gradually every day, until the +wretched inmate was crushed between them. After Montigny had +sufficiently recovered from his agitation to give heed to it, the +sentence was read to him by the notary. He was still to be allowed a +day before the execution, in order to gain time, as Philip had said, to +settle his affairs with Heaven. And although, as the alcalde added, the +sentence passed on him was held by the king as a just sentence, yet, in +consideration of his quality, his majesty, purely out of his benignity +and clemency, was willing so far to mitigate it, in regard to the form, +as to allow him to be executed, not in public, but in secret, thus +saving his honor, and suggesting the idea of his having come to his end +by a natural death.[1253] For this act of grace Montigny seems to have +been duly grateful. How true were the motives assigned for it, the +reader can determine. + +Having thus discharged their painful office, Arellano and the governor +withdrew, and, summoning the friar, left the prisoner to the spiritual +consolations he so much needed. What followed, we have from Castillo +himself. As Montigny's agitation subsided, he listened patiently to the +exhortations of the good father; and when at length restored to +something like his natural composure, he joined with him earnestly in +prayer. He then confessed and received the sacrament, seeming desirous +of employing the brief space that yet remained to him in preparation for +the solemn change. At intervals, when not actually occupied with his +devotions, he read the compositions of Father Luis de Granada, whose +spiritualized conceptions had often solaced the hours of his captivity. + +Montigny was greatly disturbed by the rumor of his having been shaken in +his religious principles, and having embraced the errors of the +Reformers. To correct this impression, he briefly drew up, with his own +hand, a confession of faith, in which he avows as implicit a belief in +all the articles sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church, and its head, +the Vicar of Christ, as Pius the Fifth himself could have desired.[1254] +Having thus relieved his mind, Montigny turned to settle some temporal +affairs which he was desirous to settle. They did not occupy much time. +For, as Philip had truly remarked, there was no occasion for him to make +a will, since he had nothing to bequeath,--all his property having been +confiscated to the crown.[1255] If, however, any debt pressed heavily on +his conscience, he was to be allowed to indicate it, as well as any +provision which he particularly desired to make for a special purpose. +This was on the condition, however, that he should allude to himself as +about to die a natural death.[1256] + +Montigny profited by this to express the wish that masses, to the number +of seven hundred, might be said for his soul, that sundry sums might be +appropriated to private uses, and that some gratuities might be given to +certain of his faithful followers. It may interest the reader to know +that the masses were punctually performed. In regard to the pious +legacies, the king wrote to Alva, he must first see if Montigny's estate +would justify the appropriation; as for the gratuities to servants, +they were wholly out of the question.[1257] + +One token of remembrance, which he placed in the hands of Castillo, +doubtless reached its destination. This was a gold chain of delicate +workmanship, with a seal or signet ring attached to it, bearing his +arms. This little token he requested might be given to his wife. It had +been his constant companion ever since they were married; and he wished +her to wear it in memory of him,--expressing at the same time his regret +that a longer life had not been granted him, to serve and honor her. As +a dying injunction he besought her not to be entangled by the new +doctrines, or to swerve from the faith of her ancestors.--If ever +Montigny had a leaning to the doctrines of the Reformation, it could +hardly have deepened into conviction; for early habit and education +reasserted their power so entirely, at this solemn moment, that the +Dominican by his side declared that he gave evidence of being as good +and Catholic a Christian as he could wish to be himself.[1258] The few +hours in which Montigny had thus tasted of the bitterness of death +seemed to have done more to wean him from the vanities of life than the +whole years of dreary imprisonment he had passed within the walls of +Segovia and Simancas. Yet we shall hardly credit the friar's assertion, +that he carried his resignation so far, that, though insisting on his +own innocence, he admitted the sentence of his judges to be just![1259] + +At about two o'clock on the morning of the sixteenth of October, when +the interval allowed for this solemn preparation had expired, Father +Castillo waited on the governor and the alcalde, to inform them that the +hour had come, and that their prisoner was ready to receive them. They +went, without further delay, to the chamber of death, attended by the +notary and the executioner. Then, in their presence, while the notary +made a record of the proceedings, the grim minister of the law did his +work on his unresisting victim.[1260] + +No sooner was the breath out of the body of Montigny, than the alcalde, +the priest, and their two companions were on their way back to +Valladolid, reaching it before dawn, so as to escape the notice of the +inhabitants. All were solemnly bound to secrecy in regard to the dark +act in which they had been engaged. The notary and the hangman were +still further secured by the menace of death, in case they betrayed any +knowledge of the matter; and they knew full well that Philip was not a +man to shrink from the execution of his menaces.[1261] + +[Sidenote: HIS LAST MOMENTS.] + +The corpse was arrayed in a Franciscan habit, which, coming up to the +throat, left the face only exposed to observation. It was thus seen by +Montigny's servants, who recognised the features of their master, hardly +more distorted than sometimes happens from disease, when the agonies of +death have left their traces. The story went abroad that their lord had +died of the fever with which he had been so violently attacked. + +The funeral obsequies were performed, according to the royal orders, +with all due solemnity. The vicar and beneficiaries of the church of St. +Saviour officiated on the occasion. The servants of the deceased were +clad in mourning,--a token of respect recommended by Philip, who +remarked, the servants were so few, that mourning might as well be given +to them;[1262] and he was willing to take charge of this and the other +expenses of the funeral, provided Montigny had not left money sufficient +for the purpose. The place selected for his burial was a vault under one +of the chapels of the building; and a decent monument indicated the spot +where reposed the ashes of the last of the envoys who came from Flanders +on the ill-starred mission to Madrid.[1263] + +Such is a true account of this tragical affair, as derived from the +king's own letters and those of his agents. Far different was the story +put in circulation at the time. On the seventeenth of October, the day +after Montigny's death, despatches were received at court from Peralta, +the alcayde of the fortress. They stated that, after writing his former +letter, his prisoner's fever had so much increased, that he had called +in the aid of a physician; and as the symptoms became more alarming, the +latter had entered into a consultation with the medical adviser of the +late regent, Joanna, so that nothing that human skill could afford +should be wanting to the patient. He grew rapidly worse, however, and +as, happily, Father Hernando del Castillo, of Valladolid, chanced to be +then in Simancas, he came and administered the last consolations of +religion to the dying man. Having done all that a good Christian at such +a time should do, Montigny expired early on the morning of the +sixteenth, manifesting at the last so Catholic a spirit, that good hopes +might be entertained of his salvation.[1264] + +This hypocritical epistle, it is hardly necessary to say, like the one +that preceded it, had been manufactured at Madrid. Nor was it altogether +devoid of truth. The physician of the place, named Viana, had been +called in; and it was found necessary to intrust him with the secret. +Every day he paid his visit to the castle, and every day returned with +more alarming accounts of the condition of the patient; and thus the +minds of the community were prepared for the fatal termination of his +disorder. Not that, after all, this was unattended with suspicions of +foul play in the matter, as people reflected how opportune was the +occurrence of such an event. But suspicions were not proof. The secret +was too well guarded for any one to penetrate the veil of mystery; and +the few who were behind that veil loved their lives too well to raise +it. + +Despatches written in cipher, and containing a full and true account of +the affair, were sent to the duke of Alva. The two letters of Peralta, +which indeed were intended for the meridian of Brussels rather than of +Madrid, were forwarded with them. The duke was told to show them +incidentally, as it were, without obtruding them on any one's +notice,[1265] that Montigny's friends in the Netherlands might be +satisfied of their truth. + +In his own private communication to Alva, Philip, in mentioning the +orthodox spirit manifested by his victim in his last moments, shows that +with the satisfaction which he usually expressed on such occasions was +mingled some degree of scepticism. "If his inner man," he writes of +Montigny, "was penetrated with as Christian a spirit as he exhibited in +the outer, and as the friar who confessed him has reported, God, we may +presume, will have mercy on his soul."[1266] In the original draft of +the letter, as prepared by the king's secretary, it is further added: +"Yet, after all, who can tell but this was a delusion of Satan, who, as +we know, never deserts the heretic in his dying hour." This sentence--as +appears from the manuscript still preserved in Simancas--was struck out +by Philip, with the remark in his own hand, "Omit this, as we should +think no evil of the dead!"[1267] + +Notwithstanding this magnanimous sentiment, Philip lost no time in +publishing Montigny to the world as a traitor, and demanding the +confiscation of his estates. The Council of Blood learned a good lesson +from the Holy Inquisition, which took care that even Death should not +defraud it of its victims. Proceedings were instituted against the +_memory_ of Montigny, as had before been done against the memory of the +marquis of Bergen.[1268] On the twenty-second of March, 1571, the duke +of Alva pronounced sentence, condemning the memory of Florence de +Montmorency, lord of Montigny, as guilty of high treason, and +confiscating his goods and estates to the use of the crown; "it having +come to his knowledge," the instrument went on to say, "that the said +Montigny had deceased by natural death in the fortress of Simancas, +where he had of late been held a prisoner!"[1269] + +The proceedings of the Council of Blood against Montigny were +characterized, as I have already said, by greater effrontery and a more +flagrant contempt of the common forms of justice than were usually to be +met with even in that tribunal. A bare statement of the facts is +sufficient. The party accused was put on his trial--if trial it can be +called--in one country, while he was held in close custody in another. +The court before which he was tried--or rather the jury, for the council +seems to have exercised more of the powers of a jury than of a +judge--was on this occasion a packed body, selected to suit the purposes +of the prosecution. Its sentence, instead of being publicly pronounced, +was confided only to the party interested to obtain it,--the king. Even +the sentence itself was not the one carried into effect; but another was +substituted in its place, and a public execution was supplanted by a +midnight assassination. It would be an abuse of language to dignify such +a proceeding with the title of a judicial murder. + +[Sidenote: NOTICE OF GACHARD.] + +Yet Philip showed no misgivings as to his own course in the matter. He +had made up his mind as to the guilt of Montigny. He had been false to +his king and false to his religion; offences which death only could +expiate. Still we find Philip resorting to a secret execution, although +Alva, as we have seen, had supposed that sentence was to be executed on +Montigny in the same open manner as it had been on the other victims of +the bloody tribunal. But the king shrunk from exposing a deed to the +public eye, which, independently of its atrocity in other respects, +involved so flagrant a violation of good faith towards the party who had +come, at his sovereign's own desire, on a public mission to Madrid. With +this regard to the opinions of his own age, it may seem strange that +Philip should not have endeavored to efface every vestige of his +connection with the act, by destroying the records which established it. +On the contrary, he not only took care that such records should be made, +but caused them, and all other evidence of the affair, to be permanently +preserved in the national archives. There they lay for the inspection of +posterity, which was one day to sit in judgment on his conduct. + + * * * * * + +In the part of this History which relates to the Netherlands, I have +been greatly indebted to two eminent scholars of that country. The first +of these, M. Gachard, who had the care of the royal archives of Belgium, +was commissioned by his government, in 1844, to visit the Peninsula for +the purpose of collecting materials for the illustration of the national +history. The most important theatre of his labors was Simancas, which, +till the time of his visit, had been carefully closed to natives as well +as foreigners. M. Gachard profited by the more liberal arrangements +which, under certain restrictions, opened its historical treasures to +the student. The result of his labors he is now giving to the world by +the publication of his "Correspondance de Philippe II.," of which two +volumes have already been printed. The work is published in a beautiful +form, worthy of the auspices under which it has appeared. It consists +chiefly of the correspondence carried on by the Spanish government and +the authorities of the Netherlands in the reign of Philip the +Second,--the revolutionary age, and of course the most eventful period +of their history. The official despatches, written in French, are, it is +true, no longer to be found in Simancas, whence they were removed to +Brussels on the accession of Albert and Isabella to the sovereignty of +the Low Countries. But a large mass of correspondence which passed +between the court of Castile and the Netherlands, is still preserved in +the Spanish archives. As it is, for the most part, of a confidential +nature, containing strictures on men and things intended only for the +eyes of the parties to it, it is of infinite value to the historian. Not +only has it never before been published, but, with the exception of a +portion which passed under the review of the Italian Strada, it has +never been submitted to the inspection of the scholar. With the aid of +this rich collection, the historian is enabled to enter into many +details, hitherto unknown, of a personal nature, relating to the actors +in the great drama of the revolution, as well as to disclose some of the +secret springs of their policy. + +M. Gachard has performed his editorial duties with conscientiousness and +ability. In a subsequent volume he proposes to give the entire text of +the more important letters; but in the two already published he has +confined himself to an analysis of their contents, more or less +extended, according to circumstances. He has added explanatory notes, +and prefixed to the whole a copious dissertation, presenting a view of +the politics of the Castilian court, and of the characters of the king +and the great officers of state. As the writer's information is derived +from sources the most authentic as well as the least accessible to +scholars, his preliminary essay deserves to be carefully studied by the +historian of the Netherlands. + +M. Gachard has further claims to the gratitude of every lover of letters +by various contributions in other forms which he has made to the +illustration of the national history. Among these his "Correspondance de +Guillaume le Taciturne," of which three volumes in octavo have already +appeared, has been freely used by me. It consists of a collection of +William's correspondence, industriously gathered from various quarters. +The letters differ from one another as widely in value as might +naturally be expected in so large and miscellaneous a collection. + +The other scholar by whose editorial labors I have profited in this part +of my work is M. Groen van Prinsterer. His voluminous publication, +"Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau," the first series of which +embraces the times of William the Silent, is derived from the private +collection of the king of Holland. The contents are various, but consist +chiefly of letters from persons who took a prominent part in the conduct +of affairs. Their correspondence embraces a miscellaneous range of +topics, and with those of public interest combines others strictly +personal in their details, thus bringing into strong relief the +characters of the most eminent actors on the great political theatre. A +living interest attaches to this correspondence, which we shall look for +in vain in the colder pages of the historian. History gives us the acts, +but letters like these, in which the actors speak for themselves, give +us the thoughts, of the individual. + +M. Groen has done his part of the work well, adhering to the original +text with scrupulous fidelity, and presenting us the letters in the +various languages in which they were written. The interstices, so to +speak, between the different parts of the correspondence, are skilfully +filled up by the editor, so as to connect the incongruous materials into +a well compacted fabric. In conducting what, as far as he is concerned, +may be termed the original part of his work, the editor has shown much +discretion, gathering information from collateral contemporary sources; +and, by the side-lights he has thus thrown over the path, has greatly +facilitated the progress of the student, and enabled him to take a +survey of the whole historical ground. The editor is at no pains to +conceal his own opinions; and we have no difficulty in determining the +religious sect to which he belongs. But it is not the less true, that he +is ready to render justice to the opinions of others, and that he is +entitled to the praise of having executed his task with impartiality. + +One may notice a peculiarity in the criticisms of both Groen and +Gachard, the more remarkable considering the nations to which they +belong; that is, the solicitude they manifest to place the most +favorable construction on the conduct of Philip, and to vindicate his +memory from the wholesale charges so often brought against him, of a +systematic attempt to overturn the liberties of the Netherlands. The +reader, even should he not always feel the cogency of their arguments, +will not refuse his admiration to the candor of the critics. + +There is a third publication, recently issued from the press in +Brussels, which contains, in the compass of a single volume, materials +of much importance for the history of the Netherlands. This is the +"Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche," by the late Baron +Reiffenberg. It is a part of the French correspondence which, as I have +mentioned above, was transferred, in the latter part of Philip the +Second's reign, from Simancas to Brussels; but which, instead of +remaining there, was removed, after the country had passed under the +Austrian sceptre, to the imperial library of Vienna, where it exists, in +all probability, at the present day. Some fragments of this +correspondence escaped the fate which attended the bulk of it; and it is +gleanings from these which Reiffenberg has given to the world. + +That country is fortunate which can command the services of such men as +these for the illustration of its national annals,--men who with +singular enthusiasm for their task combine the higher qualifications of +scholarship, and a talent for critical analysis. By their persevering +labors the rich ore has been drawn from the mines where it had lain in +darkness for ages. It now waits only for the hand of the artist to +convert it into coin, and give it a popular currency. + +[Sidenote: CONDITION OF TURKEY.] + + + + +BOOK IV. + +CHAPTER I. + +THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE. + +Condition of Turkey.--African Corsairs.--Expedition against +Tripoli.--War on the Barbary Coast. + +1559-1563. + + +There are two methods of writing history;--one by following down the +stream of time, and exhibiting events in their chronological order; the +other by disposing of these events according to their subjects. The +former is the most obvious; and where the action is simple and +continuous, as in biography, for the most part, or in the narrative of +some grand historical event, which concentrates the interest, it is +probably the best. But when the story is more complicated, covering a +wide field, and embracing great variety of incident, the chronological +system, however easy for the writer, becomes tedious and unprofitable to +the reader. He is hurried along from one scene to another without fully +apprehending any; and as the thread of the narrative is perpetually +broken by sudden transition, he carries off only such scraps in his +memory as it is hardly possible to weave into a connected and consistent +whole. Yet this method, as the most simple and natural, is one most +affected by the early writers,--by the old Castilian chroniclers more +particularly, who form the principal authorities in the present work. +Their wearisome pages, mindful of no order but that of time, are spread +over as miscellaneous a range of incidents, and having as little +relation to one another, as the columns of a newspaper. + +To avoid this inconvenience, historians of a later period have preferred +to conduct their story on more philosophical principles, having regard +rather to the nature of the events described, than to the precise time +of their occurrence. And thus the reader, possessed of one action, its +causes and its consequences, before passing on to another, is enabled to +treasure up in his memory distinct impressions of the whole. + +In conformity to this plan, I have detained the reader in the +Netherlands until he had seen the close of Margaret's administration, +and the policy which marked the commencement of her successor's. During +this period, Spain was at peace with her European neighbors, most of +whom were too much occupied with their domestic dissensions to have +leisure for foreign war. France, in particular, was convulsed by +religious feuds, in which Philip, as the champion of the Faith, took not +only the deepest interest, but an active part. To this I shall return +hereafter. + +But while at peace with her Christian brethren, Spain was engaged in +perpetual hostilities with the Moslems, both of Africa and Asia. The +relations of Europe with the East were altogether different in the +sixteenth century from what they are in our day. The Turkish power lay +like a dark cloud on the Eastern horizon, to which every eye was turned +with apprehension; and the same people for whose protection European +nations are now willing to make common cause, were viewed by them, in +the sixteenth century, in the light of a common enemy. + +It was fortunate for Islamism that, as the standard of the Prophet was +falling from the feeble grasp of the Arabs, it was caught up by a nation +like the Turks, whose fiery zeal urged them to bear it still onward in +the march of victory. The Turks were to the Arabs what the Romans were +to the Greeks. Bold, warlike, and ambitious, they had little of that +love of art which had been the dominant passion of their predecessors, +and still less of that refinement which, with the Arabs, had degenerated +into effeminacy and sloth. Their form of government was admirably suited +to their character. It was an unmixed despotism. The sovereign, if not +precisely invested with the theocratic character of the caliphs, was +hedged round with so much sanctity, that resistance to his authority was +an offence against religion as well as law. He was placed at an +immeasurable distance above his subjects. No hereditary aristocracy was +allowed to soften the descent, and interpose a protecting barrier for +the people. All power was derived from the sovereign, and, on the death +of its proprietor, returned to him. In the eye of the sultan, his +vassals were all equal, and all equally his slaves. + +The theory of an absolute government would seem to imply perfection in +the head of it. But, as perfection is not the lot of humanity, it was +prudently provided by the Turkish constitution that the sultan should +have the benefit of a council to advise him. It consisted of three or +four great officers, appointed by himself, with the grand-vizier at +their head. This functionary was possessed of an authority far exceeding +that of the prime-minister of any European prince. All the business of +state may be said to have passed through his hands. The persons chosen +for this high office were usually men of capacity and experience; and in +a weak reign they served by their large authority to screen the +incapacity of the sovereign from the eyes of his subjects, while they +preserved the state from detriment. It might be thought that powers so +vast as those bestowed on the vizier might have rendered him formidable, +if not dangerous, to his master. But his master was placed as far above +him as above the meanest of his subjects. He had unlimited power of life +and death; and how little he was troubled with scruples in the exercise +of this power is abundantly shown in history. The bowstring was too +often the only warrant for the deposition of a minister. + +But the most remarkable of the Turkish institutions, the one which may +be said to have formed the keystone of the system, was that relating to +the Christian population of the empire. Once in five years a general +conscription was made, by means of which all the children of Christian +parents who had reached the age of seven, and gave promise of excellence +in mind or body, were taken from their homes and brought to the capital. +They were then removed to different quarters, and placed in seminaries +where they might receive such instruction as would fit them for the +duties of life. Those giving greatest promise of strength and endurance +were sent to places prepared for them in Asia Minor. Here they were +subjected to a severe training, to abstinence, to privations of every +kind, and to the strict discipline which should fit them for the +profession of a soldier. From this body was formed the famous corps of +the janizaries. + +Another portion were placed in schools in the capital, or the +neighboring cities, where, under the eye of the sultan, as it were, they +were taught various manly accomplishments, with such a smattering of +science as Turkish, or rather Arabian, scholarship could supply. When +their education was finished, some went into the sultan's body-guard, +where a splendid provision was made for their maintenance. Others, +intended for civil life, entered on a career which might lead to the +highest offices in the state. + +[Sidenote: CONDITION OF TURKEY.] + +As all these classes of Christian youths were taken from their parents +at that tender age when the doctrines of their own faith could hardly +have taken root in their minds, they were, without difficulty, won over +to the faith of the Koran; which was further commended to their choice +as the religion of the state, the only one which opened to them the path +of preferment. Thus set apart from the rest of the community, and +cherished by royal favor, the new converts, as they rallied round the +throne of their sovereign, became more stanch in their devotion to his +interests, as well as to the interests of the religion they had adopted, +than even the Turks themselves. + +This singular institution bore hard on the Christian population, who +paid this heavy tax of their own offspring. But it worked well for the +monarchy, which, acquiring fresh vigor from the constant infusion of new +blood into its veins, was slow in exhibiting any signs of decrepitude or +decay. + +The most important of these various classes was that of the janizaries, +whose discipline was far from terminating with the school. Indeed, their +whole life may be said to have been passed in war, or in preparation for +it. Forbidden to marry, they had no families to engage their affections, +which, as with the monks and friars in Christian countries, were +concentrated on their own order, whose prosperity was inseparably +connected with that of the state. Proud of the privileges which +distinguished them from the rest of the army, they seemed desirous to +prove their title to them by their thorough discipline, and by their +promptness to execute the most dangerous and difficult services. Their +post was always the post of danger. It was their proud vaunt, that they +had never fled before an enemy. Clad in their flowing robes, so little +suited to the warrior, armed with the arquebuse and the scymitar,--in +their hands more than a match for the pike or sword of the +European,--with the heron's plume waving above their heads, their dense +array might ever be seen bearing down in the thickest of the fight; and +more than once, when the fate of the empire trembled in the balance, it +was this invincible corps that turned the scale, and by their intrepid +conduct decided the fortune of the day. Gathering fresh reputation with +age, so long as their discipline remained unimpaired, they were a match +for the best soldiers of Europe. But in time this admirable organization +experienced a change. One sultan allowed them to marry; another, to +bring their sons into the corps; a third opened the ranks to Turks as +well as Christians; until, forfeiting their peculiar character, the +janizaries became confounded with the militia of the empire. These +changes occurred in the time of Philip the Second; but their +consequences were not fully unfolded till the following century.[1270] + +It was fortunate for the Turks, considering the unlimited power lodged +in the hands of their rulers, that these should have so often been +possessed of the courage and capacity for using it for the advancement +of the nation. From Othman the First, the founder of the dynasty, to +Solyman the Magnificent, the contemporary of Philip, the Turkish throne +was filled by a succession of able princes, who, bred to war, were every +year enlarging the boundaries of the empire, and adding to its +resources. By the middle of the sixteenth century, besides their vast +possessions in Asia, they held the eastern portions of Africa. In +Europe, together with the countries at this day acknowledging their +sceptre, they were masters of Greece; and Solyman, overrunning +Transylvania and Hungary, had twice carried his victorious banners up +to the walls of Vienna. The battle-ground of the Cross and the Crescent +was transferred from the west to the east of Europe; and Germany in the +sixteenth century became what Spain and the Pyrenees had been in the +eighth, the bulwark of Christendom. + +Nor was the power of Turkey on the sea less formidable than on the land. +Her fleet rode undisputed mistress of the Levant; for Venice, warned by +the memorable defeat at Prevesa, in 1538, and by the loss of Cyprus and +other territories, hardly ventured to renew the contest. That wily +republic found that it was safer to trust to diplomacy than to arms, in +her dealings with the Ottomans. + +The Turkish navy, sweeping over the Mediterranean, combined with the +corsairs of the Barbary coast,--who, to some extent, owed allegiance to +the Porte,--and made frequent descents on the coasts of Italy and Spain, +committing worse ravages than those of the hurricane. From these ravages +France only was exempt; for her princes, with an unscrupulous policy +which caused general scandal in Christendom, by an alliance with the +Turks, protected her territories somewhat at the expense of her honor. + +The northern coast of Africa, at this time, was occupied by various +races, who, however they may have differed in other respects, all united +in obedience to the Koran. Among them was a large infusion of Moors +descended from the Arab tribes who had once occupied the south of Spain, +and who, on its reconquest by the Christians, had fled that country +rather than renounce the religion of their fathers. Many even of the +Moors then living were among the victims of this religious persecution; +and they looked with longing eyes on the beautiful land of their +inheritance, and with feelings of unquenchable hatred on the Spaniards +who had deprived them of it. + +The African shore was studded with towns,--some of them, like Algiers, +Tunis, Tripoli, having a large extent of territory adjacent,--which +owned the sway of some Moslem chief, who ruled them in sovereign state, +or, it might be, acknowledging, for the sake of protection, a qualified +allegiance to the sultan. These rude chiefs, profiting by their maritime +position, followed the dreadful trade of the corsair. Issuing from their +strongholds, they fell on the unprotected merchantmen, or, descending on +the opposite coasts of Andalusia and Valencia, sacked the villages, and +swept off the wretched inhabitants into slavery. + +The Castilian government did what it could for the protection of its +subjects. Fortified posts were established along the shores. +Watch-towers were raised on the heights, to give notice of the approach +of an enemy. A fleet of galleys, kept constantly on duty, rode off the +coasts to intercept the corsairs. The war was occasionally carried into +the enemy's country. Expeditions were fitted out, to sweep the Barbary +shores, or to batter down the strongholds of the pirates. Other states, +whose territories bordered on the Mediterranean, joined in these +expeditions; among them Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Sicily,--the two last the +dependencies of Spain,--and above all Genoa, whose hardy seamen did good +service in these maritime wars. To these should be added the Knights of +St. John, whose little island of Malta, with its iron defences, boldly +bidding defiance to the enemy, was thrown into the very jaws, as it +were, of the African coast. Pledged by their vows to perpetual war with +the infidel, these brave knights, thus stationed on the outposts of +Christendom, were the first to sound the alarm of invasion, as they were +the foremost to repel it. + +[Sidenote: AFRICAN CORSAIRS.] + +The Mediterranean, in that day, presented a very different spectacle +from what it shows at present,--swarming, as it does, with the commerce +of many a distant land, and its shores glittering with towns and +villages, that echo to the sounds of peaceful and protected industry. +Long tracts of deserted territory might then be seen on its borders, +with the blackened ruins of many a hamlet, proclaiming too plainly the +recent presence of the corsair. The condition of the peasantry of the +south of Spain, in that day, was not unlike that of our New England +ancestors, whose rural labors might, at any time, be broken by the +warwhoop of the savage, as he burst on the peaceful settlement, sweeping +off its wretched inmates--those whom he did not massacre--to captivity +in the wilderness. The trader, instead of pushing out to sea, crept +timidly along the shore, under the protecting wings of its fortresses, +fearful lest the fierce enemy might dart on him unawares, and bear him +off to the dungeons of Africa. Or, if he ventured out into the open +deep, it was under a convoy of well-armed galleys, or, armed to the +teeth himself, prepared for war. + +Scarcely a day passed without some conflict between Christian and Moslem +on the Mediterranean waters. Not unfrequently, instead of a Moor, the +command was intrusted to some Christian renegade, who, having renounced +his country and his religion for the roving life of a corsair, felt, +like most apostates, a keener hatred than even its natural enemies for +the land he had abjured.[1271] In these encounters, there were often +displayed, on both sides, such deeds of heroism as, had they been +performed on a wider theatre of action, would have covered the actors +with immortal glory. By this perpetual warfare a race of hardy and +experienced seamen was formed, in the countries bordering on the +Mediterranean; and more than one name rose to eminence for nautical +science as well as valor, with which it would not be easy to find a +parallel in other quarters of Christendom. Such were the Dorias of +Genoa,--a family to whom the ocean seemed their native element; and +whose brilliant achievements on its waters, through successive +generations, shed an undying lustre on the arms of the republic. + +The corsair's life was full of maritime adventure. Many a tale of tragic +interest was told of his exploits, and many a sad recital of the +sufferings of the Christian captive, tugging at the oar, or pining in +the dungeons of Tripoli and Algiers. Such tales formed the burden of the +popular minstrelsy of the period, as well as of more elegant +literature,--the drama, and romantic fiction. But fact was stranger than +fiction. It would have been difficult to exaggerate the number of the +Christian captives, or the amount of their sufferings. On the conquest +of Tunis by Charles the Fifth, in 1535, ten thousand of these unhappy +persons, as we are assured, walked forth from its dungeons, and knelt, +with tears of gratitude and joy, at the feet of their liberator. +Charitable associations were formed in Spain, for the sole purpose of +raising funds to ransom the Barbary prisoners. But the ransom demanded +was frequently exorbitant, and the efforts of these benevolent +fraternities made but a feeble impression on the whole number of +captives. + +Thus the war between the Cross and the Crescent was still carried on +along the shores of the Mediterranean, when the day of the Crusades was +past in most of the other quarters of Christendom. The existence of the +Spaniard--as I have often had occasion to remark--was one long crusade; +and in the sixteenth century he was still doing battle with the infidel, +as stoutly as in the heroic days of the Cid. The furious contests with +the petty pirates of Barbary engendered in his bosom feelings of even +keener hostility than that which grew up in his contests with the Arabs, +where there was no skulking, predatory foe, but army was openly arrayed +against army, and they fought for the sovereignty of the Peninsula. The +feeling of religious hatred rekindled by the Moors of Africa extended +in some degree to the Morisco population, who still occupied those +territories on the southern borders of the monarchy which had belonged +to their ancestors, the Spanish Arabs. This feeling was increased by the +suspicion, not altogether without foundation, of a secret correspondence +between the Moriscos and their brethren on the Barbary coast. These +mingled sentiments of hatred and suspicion sharpened the sword of +persecution, and led to most disastrous consequences, which before long +will be unfolded to the reader. + +Among the African corsairs was one by the name of Dragut, distinguished +for his daring spirit, and the pestilent activity with which he pursued +the commerce of the Spaniards. In early life he had been made prisoner +by Andrew Doria; and the four years during which he was chained to the +oar in the galleys of Genoa did not serve to mitigate the feelings of +hatred which he had always borne to the Christians. On the recovery of +his freedom, he resumed his desperate trade of a corsair with renewed +activity. Having made himself master of Tripoli, he issued out, with his +galleys, from that stronghold, fell on the defenceless merchantman, +ravaged the coasts, engaged boldly in fight with the Christian +squadrons, and made his name as terrible, throughout the Mediterranean, +as that of Barbarossa had been in the time of Charles the Fifth. + +The people of the southern provinces, smarting under their sufferings, +had more than once besought Philip to send an expedition against +Tripoli, and, if possible, break up this den of thieves, and rid the +Mediterranean of the formidable corsair. But Philip, who was in the +midst of his victorious campaigns against the French, had neither the +leisure nor the resources, at that time, for such an enterprise. In the +spring of 1559, however, he gave orders to the duke of Medina Celi, +viceroy of Sicily, to fit out an armament for the purpose, to obtain the +cooeperation of the Italian states, and to take command of the +expedition. + +A worse choice for the command could not have been made; and this not so +much from the duke's inexperience; for an apprenticeship to the sea was +not deemed necessary to form a naval commander, in an age when men +passed indifferently from the land-service to the sea-service. But, with +the exception of personal courage, the duke of Medina Celi seems to have +possessed none of the qualities requisite in a commander, whether by +land or sea. + +The different Italian powers--Tuscany, Rome, Naples, Sicily, Genoa--all +furnished their respective quotas. John Andrew Doria, nephew of the +great Andrew, and worthy of the name he bore, had command of the galleys +of the republic. To these was added the reinforcement of the +grand-master of Malta. The whole fleet amounted to more than a hundred +sail, fifty-four of which were galleys; by much the larger part being +furnished by Spain and her Italian provinces. Fourteen thousand troops +embarked on board the squadron. So much time was consumed in +preparation, that the armament was not got ready for sea till late in +October, 1559,--too late for acting with advantage on the stormy African +coast. + +[Sidenote: EXPEDITION AGAINST TRIPOLI.] + +This did not deter the viceroy, who, at the head of the combined fleet, +sailed out of the port of Syracuse in November. But the elements +conspired against this ill-starred expedition. Scarcely had the squadron +left the port, when it was assailed by a tempest, which scattered the +vessels, disabled some, and did serious damage to others. To add to the +calamity, an epidemic broke out among the men, caused by the bad quality +of the provisions furnished by the Genoese contractors. In his distress, +the duke of Medina Celi put in at the island of Malta. He met with a +hospitable reception from the grand-master; for hospitality was one of +the obligations of the order. Fall two mouths elapsed before the duke +was in a condition to reembark, with his force reduced nearly one third +by disease and death. + +Meanwhile Dragut, having ascertained the object of the expedition, had +made every effort to put Tripoli in a posture of defence. At the same +time he sent to Constantinople, to solicit the aid of Solyman. The +Spanish admiral, in the crippled condition of his armament, determined +to postpone the attack on Tripoli to another time, and to direct his +operations for the present against the island of Jerbah, or, as it was +called by the Spaniards, Gelves. This place, situated scarcely a league +from the African shore, in the neighborhood of Tripoli, had long been +known as a nest of pirates, who did great mischief in the Mediterranean. +It was a place of ill-omen to the Spaniards, whose arms had met there +with a memorable reverse in the reign of Ferdinand the Catholic.[1272] +The duke, however, landing with his whole force, experienced little +resistance from the Moors, and soon made himself master of the place. It +was defended by a fortress fallen much out of repair; and, as the +Spanish commander proposed to leave a garrison there, he set about +restoring the fortifications, or rather constructing new ones. In this +work the whole army actively engaged; but nearly two months were +consumed before it was finished. The fortress was then mounted with +artillery, and provided with ammunition, and whatever was necessary for +its defence. Finally, a garrison was introduced into it, and the command +intrusted to a gallant officer, Don Alonzo de Sande. + +Scarcely had these arrangements been completed, and the troops prepared +to reembark, when advices reached the duke that a large Turkish fleet +was on its way from Constantinople to the assistance of Dragut. The +Spanish admiral called a council of war on board of his ship. Opinions +were divided. Some, among whom was Doria, considering the crippled +condition of their squadron, were for making the best of their way back +to Sicily. Others, regarding this as a course unworthy of Spaniards, +were for standing out to sea, and giving battle to the enemy. The duke, +perplexed by the opposite opinions, did not come to a decision. He was +soon spared the necessity of it by the sight of the Ottoman fleet, under +full sail, bearing rapidly down on him. It consisted of eighty-six +galleys, each carrying a hundred janizaries; and it was commanded by the +Turkish admiral, Piali, a name long dreaded in the Mediterranean. + +At the sight of this formidable armament, the Christians were seized +with a panic. They scarcely offered any resistance to the enemy; who, +dashing into the midst of them, sent his broadsides to the right and +left, sinking some of the ships, disabling others, while those out of +reach of his guns shamefully sought safety in flight. Seventeen of the +combined squadron were sunk; four-and-twenty, more or less injured, +struck their colors; a few succeeded in regaining the island, and took +shelter under the guns of the fortress. Medina Celi and Doria were among +those who thus made their way to the shore; and under cover of the +darkness, on the following night, they effected their escape in a +frigate, passing, as by a miracle, without notice, through the enemy's +fleet, and thus securing their retreat to Sicily. Never was there a +victory more humiliating to the vanquished, or one which reflected less +glory on the victors.[1273] + +Before embarking, the duke ordered Sande to defend the place to the last +extremity, promising him speedy assistance. The garrison, thus left to +carry on the contest with the whole Turkish army, amounted to about +five thousand men; its original strength being considerably augmented by +the fugitives from the fleet. + +On the following morning, Piali landed with his whole force, and +instantly proceeded to open trenches before the citadel. When he had +established his batteries of cannon, he sent a summons to the garrison +to surrender. Sande returned for answer, that, "if the place were won, +it would not be, like Piali's late victory, without bloodshed." The +Turkish commander waited no longer, but opened a lively cannonade on the +ramparts, which he continued for some days, till a practicable breach +was made. He then ordered a general assault. The janizaries rushed +forward with their usual impetuosity, under a murderous discharge of +artillery and small arms from the fortress as well as from the shipping, +which was so situated as to support the fire of the besieged. Nothing +daunted, the brave Moslems pushed forward over the bodies of their +fallen comrades; and, scrambling across the ditch, the leading files +succeeded in throwing themselves into the breach. But here they met with +a spirit as determined as their own, from the iron array of warriors, +armed with pike and arquebuse, who, with Sande at their head, formed a +wall as impenetrable as the ramparts of the fortress. The contest was +now carried on man against man, and in a space too narrow to allow the +enemy to profit by his superior numbers. The besieged, meanwhile, from +the battlements, hurled down missiles of every description on the heads +of the assailants. The struggle lasted for some hours. But Spanish valor +triumphed in the end, and the enemy was driven back in disorder across +the moat, while his rear files were sorely galled, in his retreat, by +the incessant fire of the fortress. + +Incensed by the failure of his attack and the slaughter of his brave +followers, Piali thought it prudent to wait till he should be reinforced +by the arrival of Dragut with a fresh supply of men and of battering +ordnance. The besieged profited by the interval to repair their works, +and when Dragut appeared they were nearly as well prepared for the +contest as before. + +On the corsair's arrival, Piali, provided with a heavier battering +train, opened a more effective fire on the citadel. The works soon gave +way, and the Turkish commander promptly returned to the assault. It was +conducted with the same spirit, was met with the same desperate courage, +and ended, like the former, in the total discomfiture of the assailants, +who withdrew, leaving the fosse choked up with the bodies of their +slaughtered comrades. Again and again the attack was renewed, by an +enemy whose numbers allowed the storming parties to relieve one another, +while the breaches made by an unintermitting cannonade gave incessant +occupation to the besieged in repairing them. Fortunately, the number of +the latter enabled them to perform this difficult service; and though +many were disabled, and there were few who were not wounded, they still +continued to stand to their posts, with the same spirit as on the first +day of the siege. + +[Sidenote: DESPERATE DEFENCE OF GELVES.] + +But the amount of the garrison, so serviceable in this point of view, +was fatal in another. The fortress had been provisioned with reference +to a much smaller force. The increased number of mouths was thus doing +the work of the enemy. Notwithstanding the strictest economy, there was +already a scarcity of provisions; and, at the end of six weeks, the +garrison was left entirely without food. The water too had failed. A +soldier had communicated to the Spanish commander an ingenious process +for distilling fresh water from salt.[1274] This afforded a most +important supply, though in a very limited quantity. But the wood which +furnished the fuel necessary for the process was at length exhausted, +and to hunger was added the intolerable misery of thirst. + +Thus reduced to extremity, the brave Sande was not reduced to despair. +Calling his men together, he told them that liberty was of more value +than life. Anything was better than to surrender to such an enemy. And +he proposed to them to sally from the fortress that very night, and cut +their way, if possible, through the Turkish army, or fall in the +attempt. The Spaniards heartily responded to the call of their heroic +leader. They felt, like him, that the doom of slavery was more terrible +than death. + +That night, or rather two hours before dawn on the twenty-ninth of June, +Don Alvaro sallied out of the fortress, at the head of all those who +were capable of bearing arms. But they amounted to scarcely more than a +thousand men, so greatly had the garrison been diminished by death, or +disabled by famine and disease. Under cover of the darkness, they +succeeded in passing through the triple row of intrenchments, without +alarming the slumbering enemy. At length, roused by the cries of their +sentinels, the Turks sprang to their arms, and, gathering in dark masses +round the Christians, presented an impenetrable barrier to their +advance. The contest now became furious; but it was short. The heroic +little band were too much enfeebled by their long fatigues, and by the +total want of food for the last two days, to make head against the +overwhelming number of their assailants. Many fell under the Turkish +scymitars, and the rest, after a fierce struggle, were forced back on +the path by which they had come, and took refuge in the fort. Their +dauntless leader, refusing to yield, succeeded in cutting his way +through the enemy, and threw himself into one of the vessels in the +port. Here he was speedily followed by such a throng as threatened to +sink the bark, and made resistance hopeless. Yielding up his sword, +therefore, he was taken prisoner, and led off in triumph to the tent of +the Turkish commander. + +On the same day the remainder of the garrison, unable to endure another +assault, surrendered at discretion. Piali had now accomplished the +object of the expedition; and, having reestablished the Moorish +authorities in possession of the place, he embarked, with his whole +army, for Constantinople. The tidings of his victory had preceded him; +and, as he proudly sailed up the Bosphorus, he was greeted with thunders +of artillery from the seraglio and the heights surrounding the capital. +First came the Turkish galleys, in beautiful order, with the banners +taken from the Christians ignominiously trailing behind them through the +water. Then followed their prizes,--the seventeen vessels taken in the +action,--the battered condition of which formed a striking contrast to +that of their conquerors. But the prize greater than all was the +prisoners, amounting to nearly four thousand, who, manacled like so many +malefactors, were speedily landed, and driven through the streets, +amidst the shouts and hootings of the populace, to the slave-market of +Constantinople. A few only, of the higher order, were reserved for +ransom. Among them were Don Alvaro de Sande and a son of Medina Celi. +The young nobleman did not long survive his captivity. Don Alvaro +recovered his freedom, and lived to take ample vengeance for all he had +suffered on his conquerors.[1275] + +Such was the end of the disastrous expedition against Tripoli, which +left a stain on the Spanish arms that even the brave conduct of the +garrison at Gelves could not wholly wipe away. The Moors were greatly +elated by the discomfiture of their enemies; and the Spaniards were +filled with a proportionate degree of despondency, as they reflected to +what extent their coasts and their commerce would be exposed to the +predatory incursions of the corsairs. Philip was especially anxious in +regard to the safety of his possessions on the African coast. The two +principal of these were Oran and Mazarquivir, situated not far to the +west of Algiers. They were the conquests of Cardinal Ximenes. The former +place was won by an expedition fitted out at his own expense. The +enterprises of this remarkable man were conducted on a gigantic scale, +which might seem better suited to the revenues of princes. Of the two +places Oran was the more considerable; yet hardly more important than +Mazarquivir, which possessed an excellent harbor,--a thing of rare +occurrence on the Barbary shore. Both had been cherished with care by +the Castilian government, and by no monarch more than by Philip the +Second, who perfectly understood the importance of these possessions, +both for the advantages of a commodious harbor, and for the means they +gave him of bridling the audacity of the African cruisers.[1276] + +In 1562, the king ordered a squadron of four and twenty galleys, under +the command of Don Juan de Mendoza, to be got ready in the port of +Malaga, to carry supplies to the African colonies. But in crossing the +Mediterranean, the ships were assailed by a furious tempest, which +compelled them to take refuge in the little port of Herradura. The fury +of the storm, however, continued to increase; and the vessels, while +riding at anchor, dashed against one another with such violence, that +many of them foundered, and others, parting their cables, drifted on +shore, which was covered far and wide with the dismal wrecks. Two or +three only, standing out to sea, and braving the hurricane on the deep, +were so fortunate as to escape. By this frightful shipwreck, four +thousand men, including their commander, were swallowed up by the waves. +The southern provinces were filled with consternation at this new +calamity, coming so soon after the defeat at Gelves. It seemed as if the +hand of Providence was lifted against them in their wars with the +Mussulmans.[1277] + +[Sidenote: WAR ON THE BARBARY COAST.] + +The Barbary Moors, encouraged by the losses of the Spanish navy, thought +this a favorable time for recovering their ancient possessions on the +coast. Hassem, the dey of Algiers, in particular, a warlike prince, who +had been engaged in more than one successful encounter with the +Christians, set on foot an expedition against the territories of Oran +and Mazarquivir. The government of these places was intrusted, at that +time, to Don Alonzo de Cordova, count of Alcaudete. In this post he had +succeeded his father, a gallant soldier, who, five years before, had +been slain in battle by this very Hassem, the lord of Algiers. Eight +thousand Spaniards had fallen with him on the field, or had been made +prisoners of war.[1278] Such were the sad auspices under which the +reign of Philip the Second began, in his wars with the Moslems.[1279] + +Oran, at this time, was garrisoned by seventeen hundred men; and +twenty-seven pieces of artillery were mounted on its walls. Its +fortifications were in good repair; but it was in no condition to stand +a siege by so formidable a force as that which Hassem was mustering in +Algiers. The count of Alcaudete, the governor, a soldier worthy of the +illustrious stock from which he sprang, lost no time in placing both +Oran and Mazarquivir in the best state of defence which his means +allowed, and in acquainting Philip with the peril in which he stood. + +Meanwhile, the Algerine chief was going briskly forward with his +preparations. Besides his own vassals, he summoned to his aid the petty +princes of the neighboring country; and in a short time he had assembled +a host in which Moors, Arabs, and Turks were promiscuously mingled, and +which, in the various estimates of the Spaniards, rose from fifty to a +hundred thousand men. + +Little reliance can be placed on the numerical estimates of the +Spaniards in their wars with the infidel. The gross exaggeration of the +numbers brought by the enemy into the field, and the numbers he was sure +to leave there, with the corresponding diminution of their own in both +particulars, would seem to infer that, in these religious wars, they +thought some miracle was necessary to show that Heaven was on their +side, and the greater the miracle the greater the glory. This +hyperbolical tone, characteristic of the old Spaniards, and said to have +been imported from the East, is particularly visible in the accounts of +their struggles with the Spanish Arabs, where large masses were brought +into the field on both sides, and where the reports of a battle took +indeed the coloring of an Arabian tale. The same taint of exaggeration, +though somewhat mitigated, continued to a much later period, and may be +observed in the reports of the contests with the Moslems, whether Turks +or Moors, in the sixteenth century. + +On the fifteenth of March, 1563, Hassem left Algiers, at the head of his +somewhat miscellaneous array, sending his battering train of artillery +round by water, to meet him at the port of Mazarquivir. He proposed to +begin by the siege of this place, which, while it would afford a +convenient harbor for his navy, would, by its commanding position, +facilitate the conquest of Oran. Leaving a strong body of men, +therefore, for the investment of the latter, he continued his march on +Mazarquivir, situated at only two leagues' distance. The defence of this +place was intrusted by Alcaudete to his brother, Don Martin de Cordova. +Its fortifications were in good condition, and garnished with near +thirty pieces of artillery. It was garrisoned by five hundred men, was +well provided with ammunition, and was victualled for a two months' +siege. It was also protected by a detached fort, called St. Michael, +built by the count of Alcaudete, and, from its commanding position, now +destined to be the first object of attack. The fort was occupied by a +few hundred Spaniards, who, as it was of great moment to gain time for +the arrival of succors from Spain, were ordered to maintain it to the +last extremity. + +Hassem was not long in opening trenches. Impatient, however, of the +delay of his fleet, which was detained by the weather, he determined not +to wait for the artillery, but to attempt to carry the fort by escalade. +In this attempt, though conducted with spirit, he met with so decided a +repulse, that he abandoned the project of further operations till the +arrival of his ships. No sooner did this take place, than, landing his +heavy guns, he got them into position as speedily as possible, and +opened a lively cannonade on the walls of the fortress. The walls were +of no great strength. A breach was speedily made; and Hassem gave orders +for the assault. + +No sooner was the signal given, than Moor, Turk, Arab,--the various +races in whose veins glowed the hot blood of the south,--sprang +impetuously forward. In vain the leading files, as they came on, were +swept away by the artillery of the fortress, while the guns of +Mazarquivir did equal execution on their flank. The tide rushed on, with +an enthusiasm that overleaped every obstacle. Each man seemed emulous of +his comrade, as if desirous to show the superiority of his own tribe or +race. The ditch, choked up with the _debris_ of the rampart and the +fascines that had been thrown into it, was speedily crossed; and while +some sprang fearlessly into the breach, others endeavored to scale the +walls. But everywhere they were met by men as fresh for action as +themselves, and possessed of a spirit as intrepid. The battle raged +along the parapet, and in the breach, where the struggle was deadliest. +It was the old battle, so often fought, of the Crescent and the Cross, +the fiery African and the cool, indomitable European. Arquebuse and +pike, sabre and scymitar, clashed fearfully against each other; while +high above the din rose the war-cries of "Allah!" and "St. Jago!" +showing the creeds and countries of the combatants. + +At one time it seemed as if the enthusiasm of the Moslems would prevail; +and twice the standard of the Crescent was planted on the walls. But it +was speedily torn down by the garrison, and the bold adventurers who had +planted it thrown headlong into the moat. + +Meanwhile an incessant fire of musketry was kept up from the ramparts; +and hand-grenades, mingled with barrels of burning pitch, were hurled +down on the heads of the assailants, whose confusion was increased, as +their sight was blinded by the clouds of smoke which rose from the +fascines that had taken fire in the ditch. But although their efforts +began to slacken, they were soon encouraged by fresh detachments sent to +their support by Hassem, and the fight was renewed with redoubled fury. +These efforts, however, proved equally ineffectual. The Moors were +driven back on all points; and, giving way before the invincible courage +of the Spaniards, they withdrew in such disorder across the fosse, now +bridged over with the bodies of the slain, that, if the garrison had +been strong enough in numbers, they might have followed the foe to his +trenches, and inflicted such a blow as would at once have terminated the +siege. As it was, the loss of the enemy was fearful; while that of the +Spaniards, screened by their defences, was comparatively light. Yet a +hundred lives of the former, so overwhelming were their numbers, were of +less account than a single life among the latter. The heads of fifty +Turks, who had fallen in the breach or in the ditch, were cut off, as we +are told, by the garrison, and sent, as the grisly trophies of their +victory, to Oran;[1280] showing the feelings of bitter hatred--perhaps +of fear--with which this people was regarded by the Christians. + +[Sidenote: WAR ON THE BARBARY COAST.] + +The Moorish chief, chafing under this loss, reopened his fire on the +fortress with greater fury than ever. He then renewed the assault, but +with no better success. A third and a fourth time he returned to the +attack, but in vain. In vain too Hassem madly tore off his turban, and, +brandishing his scymitar, with imprecations on his men, drove them +forward to the fight. There was no lack of spirit in his followers, who +poured out their blood like water. But it could not shake the constancy +of the Spaniards, which seemed even to grow stronger as their situation +became more desperate; and as their defences were swept away, they threw +themselves on their knees, and from behind the ruins still poured down +their volleys of musketry on the assailants. + +Yet they could not have maintained their ground so long, but for a +seasonable reinforcement received from Mazarquivir. But, however high +the spirit, there is a limit to the powers of endurance; and the +strength of the garrison was rapidly giving way under incessant vigils +and want of food. Their fortifications, moreover, pierced through and +through by the enemy's shot, were no longer tenable; and a mine, which +Hassem was now prepared to run under the ramparts, would complete the +work of destruction. They had obeyed their orders, and stood to their +defence gallantly to the last; and they now obtained leave to abandon +the fort. On the seventh of May, after having sustained eight assaults +and a siege of three weeks, from a host so superior to them in numbers, +the garrison marched out of the fortress of St. Michael. Under cover of +the guns of Mazarquivir, they succeeded in rejoining their comrades +there with but little loss, and were gladly welcomed by their commander, +Don Martin de Cordova, who rendered them the honor due to their heroic +conduct. That same day Hassem took possession of the fortress. He found +only a heap of ruins.[1281] + +The Moorish prince, stung with mortification at the price he had paid +for his victory, and anxious, moreover, to anticipate the arrival of +succors from Spain, now eagerly pressed forward the siege of +Mazarquivir. With the assistance of his squadron, the place was closely +invested by sea and land. Batteries of heavy guns were raised on +opposite sides of the castle; and for ten days they thundered, without +interruption, on its devoted walls. When these had been so far shaken as +to afford an opening to the besiegers, Hassem, willing to spare the +further sacrifice of his men, sent a summons to Don Martin to surrender, +intimating, at the same time, that the works were in too ruinous a +condition to be defended. To this the Spaniard coolly replied, that, "if +they were in such a condition, Hassem might come and take them." + +On the signal from their chief, the Moors moved rapidly forward to the +attack, and were soon brought face to face with their enemy. A bloody +conflict followed, in the breach and on the ramparts. It continued more +than five hours. The assailants found they had men of the same mettle to +deal with as before, and with defences yet stronger than those they had +encountered in the fortress of St. Michael. Here again the ardor of the +African proved no match for the cool and steady courage of the European; +and Hassem's forces, repulsed on every quarter, withdrew in so mangled a +condition to their trenches, that he was in no state for several days to +renew the assault.[1282] + +It would be tedious to rehearse the operations of a siege so closely +resembling in its details that of the fortress of St. Michael. The most +conspicuous figure in the bloody drama was the commander of the +garrison, Don Martin de Cordova. Freely exposing himself to hardship and +danger with the meanest of his followers, he succeeded in infusing his +own unconquerable spirit into their bosoms. On the eve of an assault he +might be seen passing through the ranks with a crucifix in his hand, +exhorting his men, by the blessed sign of their redemption, to do their +duty, and assuring them of the protection of Heaven.[1283] Every +soldier, kindling with the enthusiasm of his leader, looked on himself +as a soldier of the Cross, and felt assured that the shield of the +Almighty must be stretched over those who were thus fighting the battles +of the Faith. The women caught somewhat of the same generous ardor, and, +instead of confining themselves to the feminine occupations of nursing +the sick and the wounded, took an active part in the duties of the +soldiers, and helped to lighten their labors. + +Still the condition of the garrison became daily more precarious, as +their strength diminished, and their defences crumbled around them under +the incessant fire of the besiegers. The count of Alcaudete in vain +endeavored to come to their relief, or at least to effect a diversion in +their favor. Sallying out of Oran, he had more than one sharp encounter +with the enemy. But the odds against him were too great; and though he +spread carnage among the Moslem ranks, he could ill afford the sacrifice +of life that it cost him. In the mean time, the two garrisons were +assailed by an enemy from within, more inexorable than the enemy at +their gates. Famine had begun to show itself in some of its hideous +forms. They were already reduced to the necessity of devouring the flesh +of their horses and asses;[1284] and even that was doled out so +scantily, as too plainly intimated that this sustenance, wretched as it +was, was soon to fail them. Under these circumstances, their spirits +would have sunk, had they not been sustained by the expectation of +succor from Spain; and they cast many a wistful glance on the +Mediterranean, straining their eyes to the farthest verge of the +horizon, to see if they could not descry some friendly sail upon the +waters. + +But Philip was not unmindful of them. Independently of the importance of +the posts, he felt his honor to be deeply concerned in the protection of +the brave men, who were battling there, for the cause not merely of +Castile, but of Christendom. No sooner had he been advised by Alcaudete +of the peril in which he stood, than he gave orders that a fleet should +be equipped to go to his relief. But such orders, in the disabled +condition of the navy, were more easily given than executed. Still, +efforts were made to assemble an armament, and get it ready in the +shortest possible time. Even the vessels employed to convoy the India +galleons were pressed into the service. The young cavaliers of the +southern provinces eagerly embarked as volunteers in an expedition which +afforded them an opportunity for avenging the insults offered to the +Spanish arms. The other states bordering on the Mediterranean, which +had, in fact, almost as deep an interest in the cause as Spain herself, +promptly furnished their contingents. To these were to be added, as +usual, the galleys of the Knights of Malta, always foremost to unfurl +the banner in a war with the infidel. In less than two months an +armament consisting of forty-two large galleys, besides smaller vessels, +well manned and abundantly supplied with provisions and military stores, +was assembled in the port of Malaga. It was placed under the command of +Don Antonio de Mendoza; who, on the sixth of June, weighed anchor, and +steered directly for the Barbary coast. + +[Sidenote: WAR ON THE BARBARY COAST.] + +On the morning of the eighth, at early dawn, the sentinels on the +ramparts of Mazarquivir descried the fleet like a dark speck on the +distant waters. As it drew nearer, and the rising sun, glancing on the +flag of Castile, showed that the long-promised succor was at hand, the +exhausted garrison, almost on the brink of despair, gave themselves up +to a delirium of joy. They embraced one another, like men rescued from a +terrible fate, and, with swelling hearts, offered up thanksgivings to +the Almighty for their deliverance. Soon the cannon of Mazarquivir +proclaimed the glad tidings to the garrison of Oran, who replied, from +their battlements, in thunders which carried dismay into the hearts of +the besiegers. If Hassem had any doubt of the cause of these rejoicings, +it was soon dispelled by several Moorish vessels, which, scudding before +the enemy, like the smaller birds before the eagle, brought report that +a Spanish fleet under full sail was standing for Mazarquivir. + +No time was to be lost. He commanded his ships lying in the harbor to +slip their cables and make the best of their way to Algiers. Orders were +given at once to raise the siege. Everything was abandoned. Whatever +could be of service to the enemy was destroyed. Hassem caused his guns +to be overcharged, and blew them to pieces.[1285] He disencumbered +himself of whatever might retard his movements, and, without further +delay, began his retreat. + +No sooner did Alcaudete descry the army of the besiegers on its march +across the hills, than he sallied out, at the head of his cavalry, to +annoy them on their retreat. He was soon joined by his brother from +Mazarquivir, with such of the garrison as were in condition for service. +But the enemy had greatly the start of them. When the Spaniards came up +with his rear-guard, they found it entirely composed of janizaries; and +this valiant corps, maintaining its usual discipline, faced about and +opposed so determined a front to the assailants, that Alcaudete, not +caring to risk the advantages he had already gained, drew off his men, +and left a free passage to the enemy. The soldiers of the two garrisons +now mingled together, and congratulated one another on their happy +deliverance, recounting their exploits, and the perils and privations +they had endured; while Alcaudete, embracing his heroic brother, could +hardly restrain his tears, as he gazed on his wan, emaciated +countenance, and read there the story of his sufferings. + +The tidings of the repulse of the Moslems were received with unbounded +joy throughout Spain. The deepest sympathy had been felt for the brave +men who, planted on the outposts of the empire, seemed to have been +abandoned to their fate. The king shared in the public sentiment, and +showed his sense of the gallant conduct of Alcaudete and his soldiers, +by the honors and emoluments he bestowed on them. That nobleman, besides +the grant of a large annual revenue, was made viceroy of Navarre. His +brother, Don Martin de Cordova, received the _encomienda_ of Hornachos, +with the sum of six thousand ducats. Officers of inferior rank obtained +the recompense due to their merits. Even the common soldiers were not +forgotten; and the government, with politic liberality, settled pensions +on the wives and children of those who had perished in the siege.[1286] + +Philip now determined to follow up his success; and, instead of +confining himself to the defensive, he prepared to carry the war into +the enemy's country. His first care, however, was to restore the +fortifications of Mazarquivir, which soon rose from their ruins in +greater strength and solidity than before. He then projected an +expedition against Penon de Velez de la Gomera, a place situated to the +west of his own possessions on the Barbary coast. It was a rocky island +fortress, which, from the great strength of its defences, as well as +from its natural position, was deemed impregnable. It was held by a +fierce corsair, whose name had long been terrible in these seas. In the +summer of 1564, the king, with the aid of his allies, got together a +powerful armament, and sent it at once against Penon de Velez. This +fortress did not make the resistance to have been expected; and, after a +siege of scarcely a week's duration, the garrison submitted to the +superior valor--or numbers--of the Christians.[1287] + +This conquest was followed up, the ensuing year, by an expedition under +Don Alvaro Bazan, the first marquis of Santa Cruz,--a name memorable in +the naval annals of Castile. The object of the expedition was to block +up the entrance to the river Tetuan, in the neighborhood of the late +conquest. The banks of this river had long been the refuge of a horde of +pestilent marauders, who, swarming out of its mouth, spread over the +Mediterranean, and fell heavily on the commerce of the Christians. Don +Alvaro accomplished his object in the face of a desperate enemy, and, +after some hard fighting, succeeded in sinking nine brigantines laden +with stones in the mouth of the river, and thus effectually obstructed +its navigation.[1288] + +These brilliant successes caused universal rejoicing through Spain and +the neighboring countries. They were especially important for the +influence they exerted on the spirits of the Christians, depressed as +these had been by a long series of maritime reverses. The Spaniards +resumed their ancient confidence, as they saw that victory had once more +returned to their banner; and their ships, which had glided like +spectres under the shadow of the coast, now, losing their apprehensions +of the corsair, pushed boldly out upon the deep. The Moslems, on the +other hand, as they beheld their navies discomfited, and one strong +place after another wrested from their grasp, lost heart, and for a +time, at least, were in no condition for active enterprise. + +But while the arms of Spain were thus successful in chastising the +Barbary corsairs, rumors reached the country of hostile preparations +going forward in the East, of a more formidable character than any on +the shores of Africa. The object of these preparations was not Spain +itself, but Malta. Yet this little island, the bulwark of Christendom, +was so intimately connected with the fortunes of Spain, that an account +of its memorable siege can hardly be deemed an episode in the history of +Philip the Second. + +[Sidenote: MASTERS OF RHODES.] + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE KNIGHTS HOSPITALLERS OF ST. JOHN. + +Masters of Rhodes.--Driven from Rhodes.--Established at Malta.--Menaced +by Solyman.--La Valette.--His Preparations for Defence. + +1565. + + +The order of the Knights of Malta traces its origin to a remote +period--to the time of the first crusade, in the eleventh century. A +religious association was then formed in Palestine, under the title of +Hospitallers of St. John the Baptist, the object of which, as the name +imports, was to minister to the wants of the sick. There was a good +harvest of these among the poor pilgrims who wandered from all parts of +Europe to the Holy Land. It was not long before the society assumed +other duties, of a military nature, designed for the defence of the +pilgrim no less than his relief; and the new society, under the name of +the Knights Hospitallers of St. John, besides the usual monastic vows, +pledged themselves to defend the Holy Sepulchre, and to maintain +perpetual war against the infidel.[1289] + +In its new form, so consonant with the spirit of the age, the +institution found favor with the bold crusaders, and the accession of +members from different parts of Christendom greatly enlarged its power +and political consequence. It soon rivalled the fraternity of the +Templars, and, like that body, became one of the principal pillars of +the throne of Jerusalem. After the fall of that kingdom, and the +expulsion of the Christians from Palestine, the Knights of St. John +remained a short while in Cyprus, when they succeeded in conquering +Rhodes from the Turks, and thus secured to themselves a permanent +residence. + +Placed in the undisputed sovereignty of this little island, the Knights +of Rhodes, as they were now usually called, found themselves on a new +and independent theatre of action, where they could display all the +resources of their institutions, and accomplish their glorious +destinies. Thrown into the midst of the Mussulmans, on the borders of +the Ottoman Empire, their sword was never in the scabbard. Their galleys +spread over the Levant, and, whether alone or with the Venetians,--the +rivals of the Turks in those seas,--they faithfully fulfilled their vow +of incessant war with the infidel. Every week saw their victorious +galleys returning to port with the rich prizes taken from the enemy; and +every year the fraternity received fresh accessions of princes and +nobles from every part of Christendom, eager to obtain admission into so +illustrious an order. Many of these were possessed of large estates, +which, on their admission, were absorbed in those of the community. +Their manors, scattered over Europe, far exceeded in number those of +their rivals, the Templars, in their most palmy state.[1290] And on the +suppression of that order, such of its vast possessions as were not +seized by the rapacious princes in whose territories they were lodged, +were suffered to pass into the hands of the Knights of St. John. The +commanderies of the latter--those conventual establishments which +faithfully reflected the parent institution in their discipline--were so +prudently administered, that a large surplus from their revenues was +annually remitted to enrich the treasury of the order. + +The government of this chivalrous fraternity, as provided by the +statutes which formed its written constitution, was in its nature +aristocratical. At the head was the grand-master, elected by the knights +from their own body, and, like the doge of Venice, holding his office +for life, with an authority scarcely larger than that of this dignitary. +The legislative and judicial functions were vested in councils, in which +the grand-master enjoyed no higher privilege than that of a double vote. +But his patronage was extensive, for he had the nomination to the most +important offices, both at home and abroad. The variety and +high-sounding titles of these offices may provoke a smile in the reader, +who might fancy himself occupied with the concerns of a great empire, +rather than those of a little brotherhood of monks. The grand-master, +indeed, in his manner of living, affected the state of a sovereign +prince. He sent his ambassadors to the principal European courts; and a +rank was conceded to him next to that of crowned heads,--above that of +any ducal potentate.[1291] + +He was enabled to maintain this position by the wealth which, from the +sources already enumerated, flowed into the exchequer. Great sums were +spent in placing the island in the best state of defence, in +constructing public works, palaces for the grand-master, aad ample +accommodations for the various _languages_,--a technical term, denoting +the classification of the members according to their respective nations; +finally, in the embellishment of the capital, which vied in the splendor +of its architecture with the finest cities of Christendom. + +Yet, with this show of pomp and magnificence, the Knights of Rhodes did +not sink into the enervating luxury which was charged on the Templars, +nor did they engage in those worldly, ambitious schemes which provoked +the jealousy of princes, and brought ruin on that proud order. In +prosperity as in poverty, they were still true to the principles of +their institution. Their galleys still spread over the Levant, and came +back victorious from their _caravans_, as their cruises against the +Moslems were termed. In every enterprise set on foot by the Christian +powers against the enemies of the Faith, the red banner of St. John, +with his eight-pointed cross of white, was still to be seen glittering +in the front of battle. There is no example of a military institution +having religion for its object which, under every change of condition, +and for so many centuries, maintained so inflexibly the purity of its +principles, and so conscientiously devoted itself to the great object +for which it was created. + +[Sidenote: MASTERS OF RHODES.] + +It was not to be expected that a mighty power, like that of the Turks, +would patiently endure the existence of a petty enemy on its borders, +which, if not formidable from extent of population and empire, like +Venice, was even more annoying by its incessant hostilities, and its +depredations on the Turkish commerce. More than one sultan, accordingly, +hoping to rid themselves of the annoyance, fitted out expeditions +against the island, with the design of crushing the hornets in their +nest. But in every attempt they were foiled by the valor of this little +band of Christian chivalry. At length, in 1522, Solyman the Second led +an expedition in person against Rhodes. For six months the brave +knights, with their own good swords, unaided by a single European power, +withstood the whole array of the Ottoman empire; and when at length, +compelled to surrender, they obtained such honorable terms from Solyman +as showed he knew how to respect valor, though in a Christian foe. + +Once more without a home, the Knights of St. John were abroad on the +world. The European princes, affecting to consider the order as now +extinct, prepared to confiscate whatever possessions it had in their +several dominions. From this ruin it was saved by the exertions of +L'Isle Adam, the grand-master, who showed, at this crisis, as much skill +in diplomacy as he had before shown prowess in the field. He visited the +principal courts in person, and by his insinuating address, as well as +arguments, not only turned the sovereigns from their purpose, but +secured effectual aid for his unfortunate brethren. The pope offered +them a temporary asylum in the papal territory; and Charles the Fifth +was induced to cede to the order the island of Malta, and its +dependencies, with entire jurisdiction over them, for their permanent +residence. + +Malta, which had been annexed by Charles's predecessors to Sicily, had +descended to that monarch as part of the dominions of the crown of +Aragon. In thus ceding it to the Knights of St. John, the politic prince +consulted his own interests quite as much as those of the order. He drew +no revenue from the rocky isle, but, on the contrary, was charged with +its defence against the Moorish corsairs, who made frequent descents on +the spot, wasting the country, and dragging off the miserable people +into slavery. By this transfer of the island to the military order of +St. John, he not only relieved himself of all further expense on its +account, but secured a permanent bulwark for the protection of his own +dominions. + +It was wise in the emperor to consent that the gift should be burdened +with no other condition than the annual payment of a falcon in token of +his feudal supremacy. It was also stipulated, that the order should at +no time bear arms against Sicily; a stipulation hardly necessary with +men who, by their vows, were pledged to fight in defence of Christendom, +and not against it.[1292] + +In October, 1530, L'Isle Adam and his brave associates took possession +of their new domain. Their hearts sunk within them, as their eyes +wandered over the rocky expanse, forming a sad contrast to the beautiful +"land of roses" which had so long been their abode.[1293] But it was not +very long before the wilderness before them was to blossom like the rose +under their diligent culture.[1294] Earth was brought in large +quantities, and at great cost, from Sicily. Terraces to receive it were +hewn in the steep sides of the rock; and the soil, quickened by the +ardent sun of Malta, was soon clothed with the glowing vegetation of the +south. Still, it did not raise the grain necessary for the consumption +of the island. This was regularly imported from Sicily, and stored in +large pits or caverns, excavated in the rock, which, hermetically +closed, preserved their contents unimpaired for years. In a short time, +too, the island bristled with fortifications, which, combined with its +natural defences, enabled its garrison to defy the attacks of the +corsair. To these works was added the construction of suitable dwellings +for the accommodation of the order. But it was long after, and not until +the land had been desolated by the siege on which we are now to enter, +that it was crowned with the stately edifices which eclipsed those of +Rhodes itself, and made Malta the pride of the Mediterranean.[1295] + +In their new position the knights were not very differently situated +from what they had been in the Levant. They were still encamped amongst +the infidel, with the watch-fires of the enemy blazing around them. +Again their galleys sailed forth to battle with the corsairs, and +returned laden with the spoils of victory. Still the white cross of St. +John was to be seen in the post of danger. In all the expeditions of +Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second against the Barbary Moors, from +the siege of Tunis to the capture of Penon de Velez, they bore a +prominent part. With the bravery of the soldier, they combined the skill +of the mariner; and on that disastrous day when the Christian navy was +scattered before Algiers, the Maltese galleys were among the few that +rode out the tempest.[1296] It was not long before the name of the +Knights of Malta became as formidable on the southern shores of the +Mediterranean, as that of the Knights of Rhodes had been in the East. + +[Sidenote: LA VALETTE.] + +Occasionally their galleys, sweeping by the mouth of the Adriatic, +passed into the Levant, and boldly encountered their old enemy on his +own seas, even with odds greatly against them.[1297] The Moors of the +Barbary coast, smarting under the losses inflicted on them by their +indefatigable foe, more than once besought the sultan to come to their +aid, and avenge the insults offered to his religion on the heads of the +offenders. At this juncture occurred the capture of a Turkish galleon in +the Levant. It was a huge vessel, richly laden, and defended by twenty +guns and two hundred janizaries. After a desperate action, she was taken +by the Maltese galleys, and borne off, a welcome prize, to the island. +She belonged to the chief eunuch of the imperial harem, some of the fair +inmates of which were said to have had an interest in the precious +freight.[1298] These persons now joined with the Moors in the demand for +vengeance. Solyman shared in the general indignation at the insult +offered to him under the walls, as it were, of his own capital; and he +resolved to signalize the close of his reign by driving the knights from +Malta, as he had the commencement of it by driving them from Rhodes. + +As it was not improbable that the Christian princes would rally in +support of an order which had fought so many battles for Christendom, +Solyman made his preparations on a formidable scale. Rumors of these +spread far and wide; and, as their object was unknown, the great powers +on the Mediterranean, each fancying that its own dominions might be the +point of attack, lost no time in placing their coasts in a state of +defence. The king of Spain sent orders to his viceroy in Sicily to equip +such a fleet as would secure the safety of that island. + +Meanwhile, the grand-master of Malta, by means of spies whom he secretly +employed in Constantinople, received intelligence of the real purpose of +the expedition. The post of grand-master, at this time, was held by Jean +Parisot de la Valette, a man whose extraordinary character, no less than +the circumstances in which he was placed, has secured him an +imperishable name on the page of history. He was of an ancient family +from the south of France, being of the _language_ of Provence. He was +now in the sixty-eighth year of his age.[1299] In his youth he had +witnessed the memorable siege of Rhodes, and had passed successively +through every post in the order, from the humblest to the highest, which +he now occupied. With large experience he combined a singular +discretion, and an inflexible spirit, founded on entire devotion to the +great cause in which he was engaged. It was the conviction of this +self-devotion which, in part, at least, may have given La Valette that +ascendancy over the minds of his brethren, which was so important at a +crisis like the present. It may have been the anticipation of such a +crisis that led to his election as grand-master in 1557, when the +darkness coming over the waters showed the necessity of an experienced +pilot to weather the storm. + +No sooner had the grand-master learned the true destination of the +Turkish armament, than he sent his emissaries to the different Christian +powers, soliciting aid for the order in its extremity. He summoned the +knights absent in foreign lands to return to Malta, and take part with +their brethren in the coming struggle. He imported large supplies of +provisions and military stores from Sicily and Spain. He drilled the +militia of the island, and formed an effective body of more than three +thousand men; to which was added a still greater number of Spanish and +Italian troops, raised for him by the knights who were abroad. This +force was augmented by the extraordinary addition of five hundred +galley-slaves, whom La Valette withdrew from the oar, promising to give +them their freedom if they served him faithfully. Lastly, the +fortifications were put in repair, strengthened with outworks, and +placed in the best condition for resisting the enemy. All classes of the +inhabitants joined in this work. The knights themselves took their part +in the toilsome drudgery; and the grand-master did not disdain to labor +with the humblest of his followers. He not only directed, but, as hands +were wanted, he set the example of carrying his own orders into +execution. Wherever his presence was needed, he was to be +found,--ministering to the sick, cheering the desponding, stimulating +the indifferent, chiding the dilatory, watching over the interests of +the little community intrusted to his care with parental solicitude. + +While thus employed, La Valette received a visit from the Sicilian +viceroy, Don Garcia de Toledo, the conqueror of Penon de Velez. He came, +by Philip's orders, to concert with the grand-master the best means of +defence. He assured the latter that, so soon as he had assembled a +fleet, he would come to his relief; and he left his natural son with +him, to learn the art of war under so experienced a commander. La +Valette was comforted by the viceroy's promises of succor. But he well +knew that it was not to the promises of others he was to trust, in his +present exigency, but to his own efforts and those of his brave +companions. + +The knights, in obedience to his call, had for the most part now +arrived, each bringing with him a number of servants and other +followers. Some few of the more aged and infirm remained behind; but +this not so much from infirmity and age, as from the importance of +having some of its members to watch over the interests of the community +at foreign courts. La Valette was touched by the alacrity with which his +brethren repaired to their posts, to stand by their order in the dark +hour of its fortunes. He tenderly embraced them; and soon afterwards, +calling them together, he discoursed with them on the perilous position +in which they stood, with the whole strength of the Moorish and Turkish +empires mustering against them. "It was the great battle of the Cross +and the Koran," he said, "that was now to be fought. They were the +chosen soldiers of the Cross; and, if Heaven required the sacrifice of +their lives, there could be no better time than this glorious occasion." +The grand-master then led the way to the chapel of the convent, where he +and his brethren, after devoutly confessing, partook of the sacrament, +and, at the foot of the altar, solemnly renewed their vows to defend the +Church against the infidel. With minds exalted by these spiritual +exercises, all worldly interests seemed, from that moment, says their +historian, to lose their hold on their affections. They stood like a +company of martyrs,--the forlorn hope of Christendom, prepared, as their +chief had said, to offer up their lives a sacrifice to the great cause +in which they were engaged. Such were the feelings with which La Valette +and his companions, having completed their preparations, now calmly +awaited the coming of the enemy.[1300] + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +SIEGE OF MALTA. + +Condition of Malta.--Arrival of the Turks.--They reconnoitre the +Island.--Siege of St. Elmo.--Its Heroic Defence.--Its Fall. + +1565. + + +[Sidenote: CONDITION OF THE ISLAND.] + +Before entering on the particulars of this memorable siege, it will be +necessary to make the reader somewhat acquainted with the country which +was the scene of operations. The island of Malta is about seventeen +miles long and nine broad. At the time of the siege it contained some +twelve thousand inhabitants, exclusive of the members of the order. They +were gathered, for the most part, into wretched towns and villages, the +principal one of which was defended by a wall of some strength, and was +dignified with the title of Civita Notable--"Illustrious City." As it +was situated in the interior, near the centre of the island, the knights +did not take up their residence there, but preferred the north-eastern +part of Malta, looking towards Sicily, and affording a commodious harbor +for their galleys. + +The formation of the land in this quarter is very remarkable. A narrow, +rocky promontory stretches out into the Mediterranean, dividing its +waters into two small gulfs,--that on the west being called _Marza +Musiette_, or Port Musiette, and that towards the east, which now bears +the name of Valetta Harbor, being then known as the Great Port. The +extreme point of the promontory was crowned by the Castle of St. Elmo, +built by the order, soon after its arrival in the island, on the spot +which commanded the entrance into both harbors. It was a fortress of +considerable strength, for which it was chiefly indebted to its +position. Planted on the solid rock, and washed, for the greater part of +its circuit, by the waters of the Mediterranean, it needed no other +defence on that quarter. But towards the land it was more open to an +enemy; and, though protected by a dry ditch and a counterscarp, it was +thought necessary to secure it still further, by means of a ravelin on +the south-west, which La Valette had scarcely completed before the +arrival of the Turks. + +Port Musiette, on the west, is that in which vessels now perform +quarantine. The Great Port was the most important; for round that was +gathered the little community of knights. Its entrance, which is not +more than a quarter of a mile in width, is commanded by two headlands, +one of them crested, as above mentioned, by the fort of St. Elmo. The +length of the harbor may be nearly two miles; and the water is of +sufficient depth for ships of the greatest burden to ride there in +security, sheltered within the encircling arms of the coast from the +storms of the Mediterranean. + +From the eastern side of this basin shoot out two projecting headlands, +forming smaller harbors within the Great Port. The most northerly of +these strips of land was defended by the Castle of St. Angelo, round +which clustered a little town, called by way of eminence _Il Borgo_, +"The Burgh,"--now more proudly styled "The Victorious City." It was here +that the order took up its residence,--the grand-masters establishing +themselves in the castle; and great pains were taken to put the latter +in a good state of defence, while the town was protected by a wall. On +the parallel strip of land, known as the island of La Sangle, from a +grand-master of that name, stood a fort, called the fort of St. Michael, +with a straggling population gathered around it, now busily employed in +strengthening the defences. Between the two headlands lay the Port of +Galleys, serving, as its name imports, as a haven for the little navy of +the order. This port was made more secure by an iron chain drawn across +its entrance, from the extreme point of one headland to the other. + +Such were the works constructed by the knights in the brief period +during which they had occupied the island. They were so far imperfect, +that many a commanding eminence, which the security of the country +required to be strongly fortified, still remained as naked and exposed +as at the time of their arrival. This imperfect state of its defences +presented a strong contrast to the present condition of Malta, bristling +all over with fortifications, which seem to form part of the living rock +out of which they spring, and which, in the hands of a power that holds +possession of the sea, might bid defiance to the world. + +The whole force which La Valette could muster in defence of the island +amounted to about nine thousand men. This included seven hundred +knights, of whom about six hundred had already arrived. The remainder +were on their way, and joined him at a later period of the siege. +Between three and four thousand were Maltese, irregularly trained, but +who had already gained some experience of war in their contests with the +Barbary corsairs. The rest of the army, with the exception of five +hundred galley slaves, already noticed, and the personal followers of +the knights, was made up of levies from Spain and Italy, who had come +over to aid in the defence. The useless part of the population--the +infirm and the aged--had for the most part been shipped off to Sicily. +There still remained, however, numbers of women and children; and the +former, displaying the heroic constancy which, in times of trouble, so +often distinguishes the sex, did good service during the siege, by +tending the sick and by cheering the flagging spirits of the +soldier.[1301] + +This little army La Valette distributed on the several stations, +assigning each to some one of the _languages_, or nations, that the +spirit of emulation might work its effects on the chivalry of the order. +The castle of St. Elmo was the point of first importance. It covered so +contracted a piece of ground, that it scarcely afforded accommodation +for a thousand men; and not more than eight hundred were shut up within +its walls at the commencement of the siege.[1302] Its dimensions did not +admit of its being provided with magazines capable of holding any large +quantity of provisions, or military stores, for which it was +unfortunately obliged to rely on its communication with Il Borgo, the +town across the harbor. The masonry of the fort was not in the best +repute: though the works were lined with at least thirty pieces of +artillery, looking chiefly towards the land. Its garrison, which usually +amounted to sixty soldiers, was under the command of an aged knight, +named De Broglio. The grand-master reinforced this body with sixty +knights under the bailiff of Negropont, a veteran in whose well-tried +valor La Valette placed entire confidence. He was strengthened by two +companies of foreign levies, under the command of a Spanish cavalier +named La Cerda.[1303] + +Various other points were held by small detachments, with some one of +the order at the head of each. But the strength of the force, including +nearly all the remainder of the knights, was posted in the castle of St. +Angelo and in the town at its base. Here La Valette took his own +station, as the spot which, by its central position, would enable him to +watch over the interests of the whole. All was bustle in this quarter, +as the people were busily employed in strengthening the defences of the +town, and in razing buildings in the suburbs, which the grand-master +feared might afford a lodgement to the enemy. In this work their labors +were aided by a thousand slaves, taken from the prison, and chained +together in couples.[1304] + +[Sidenote: ARRIVAL OF THE TURKS.] + +On the morning of the eighteenth of May, 1565, the Turkish fleet was +descried by the sentinels of St. Elmo and St. Angelo, about thirty miles +to the eastward, standing directly for Malta. A gun, the signal agreed +on, was fired from each of the forts, to warn the inhabitants of the +country to withdraw into their villages. The fleet amounted to one +hundred and thirty royal galleys with fifty of lesser size, besides a +number of transports with the cannon, ammunition, and other military +stores.[1305] The breaching artillery consisted of sixty-three guns, the +smallest of which threw a ball of fifty-six pounds, and some few, termed +_basilicas_, carried marble bullets of a hundred and twelve pounds' +weight.[1306] The Turks were celebrated for the enormous calibre of +their guns, from a very early period; and they continued to employ those +pieces long after they had given way, in the rest of Europe, to cannon +of more moderate and manageable dimensions. + +The number of soldiers on board, independently of the mariners, and +including six thousand janizaries, was about thirty thousand,--the +flower of the Ottoman army.[1307] Their appointments were on the most +perfect scale, and everything was provided requisite for the prosecution +of the siege. Never, probably, had there been so magnificent an armament +in the waters of the Mediterranean. It was evident that Solyman was bent +on the extermination of the order which he had once driven into exile, +but which had now renewed its strength, and become the most formidable +enemy of the Crescent. + +The command of the expedition was intrusted to two officers. One of +these, Piali, was the same admiral who defeated the Spaniards at Gelves. +He had the direction of the naval operations. The land forces were given +to Mustapha, a veteran nearly seventy years of age, whose great +experience, combined with military talents of a high order, had raised +him to the head of his profession. Unfortunately, his merits as an +officer were tarnished by his cruelty. Besides the command of the army, +he had a general authority over the whole expedition, which excited the +jealousy of Piali, who thought himself injured by the preference given +to his rival. Thus feelings of mutual distrust arose in the bosoms of +the two chiefs, which to some extent paralyzed the operations of each. + +The Turkish armada steered for the south-eastern quarter of the island, +and cast anchor in the port of St. Thomas. The troops speedily +disembarked, and spread themselves in detached bodies over the land, +devastating the country, and falling on all stragglers whom they met in +the fields. Mustapha, with the main body of the army, marching a short +distance into the interior, occupied a rising ground, only a few miles +from Il Borgo. It was with difficulty that the inhabitants could be +prevented from issuing from the gates, in order to gaze on the show +presented by the invaders, whose magnificent array stretched far beyond +the hills, with their bright arms and banners glittering in the sun, and +their warlike music breathing forth notes of defiance to the Christians. +La Valette, in his turn, caused the standard of St. John to be unfurled +from the ramparts of the castle, and his trumpets to answer in a similar +strain of defiance to that of the enemy.[1308] + +Meanwhile the grand marshal, Coppier, had sallied from the town at the +head of a small troop, and fallen upon some of the detachments which +were scouring the country. The success of his arms was shown by the gory +heads of the slaughtered Turks, which he sent back to Il Borgo as the +trophies of victory.[1309] La Valette's design, in permitting these +encounters, was to familiarize his men with the novel aspect and +peculiar weapons of their enemies, as well as with the fierce war-cries +which the Turks raised in battle. But the advantages gained in these +skirmishes did not compensate the losses, however light, on the part of +the Christians; and after two knights and a number of the common file +had been slain, the grand-master ordered his followers to remain quietly +within the walls of the town. + +It was decided, in the Turkish council of war, to begin operations with +the siege of the castle of St. Elmo; as the possession of this place was +necessary to secure a safe harbor for the Turkish fleet. On the +twenty-fourth of May, the trenches were opened, if that can be said +where, from the rocky, impenetrable nature of the ground, no trenches +could be dug, and the besiegers were obliged to shelter themselves +behind a breastwork formed of planks, having the space between them +filled with earth brought from a distance, and held together by straw +and rushes. At certain intervals Mustapha indicated the points for +batteries. The principal of these was a battery where ten guns were +mounted, some of them of the largest calibre; and although artillery +practice was very different from what it is in our times, with so much +greater experience and more manageable engines, yet masonry stronger +than that of St. Elmo might well have crumbled under the masses of stone +and iron that were now hurled against it. + +As the works began to give way, it seemed evident that the garrison must +rely more on their own strength than on that of their defences. It was +resolved, therefore, to send to the grand-master and request +reinforcements. The Chevalier de la Cerda was intrusted with the +mission. Crossing over to Il Borgo, he presented himself before La +Valette, and insisted on the necessity of further support if the fort +was to be maintained against the infidel. The grand-master listened, +with a displeasure which he could not conceal, to this application for +aid so early in the siege; especially as it was made in the presence of +many of the knights, who might well be disheartened by it. He coldly +asked La Cerda what loss the garrison had suffered. The knight, evading +the question, replied, that St. Elmo was in the condition of a sick man +who requires the aid of the physician. "I will be the physician," said +La Valette, "and will bring such aid that, if I cannot cure your fears, +I may at least hope to save the place from falling into the hands of the +enemy." So impressed was he with the importance of maintaining this post +to the last extremity, if it were only to gain time for the Sicilian +succors, that he was prepared, as he said, to throw himself into the +fortress, and, if need were, to bury himself in its ruins. + +[Sidenote: OPERATIONS AGAINST ST. ELMO.] + +From this desperate resolution he was dissuaded by the unanimous voice +of the knights, who represented to him that it was not the duty of the +commander-in-chief to expose himself like a common soldier, and take his +place in the forlorn hope. The grand-master saw the justice of these +remonstrances; and, as the knights contended with one another for the +honor of assuming the post of danger, he allowed fifty of the order, +together with two companies of soldiers, to return with La Cerda to the +fort. The reinforcement was placed under command of the Chevalier de +Medran, a gallant soldier, on whose constancy and courage La Valette +knew he could rely. Before its departure, the strength of the force was +increased by the arrival of several knights from Sicily, who obtained +the grand-master's leave to share the fortunes of their brethren in St. +Elmo. The troops were sent across the harbor, together with supplies of +food and ammunition, in open boats, under cover of a heavy fire from the +guns of St. Angelo. A shot happened to fall on a stone near the +trenches, in which Piali, the Turkish admiral, was standing; and, a +splinter striking him on the head, he was severely, though not mortally +wounded. La Valette took advantage of the confusion created by this +incident to despatch a galley to Sicily, to quicken the operations of +the viceroy, and obtain from him the promised succors. To this Don +Garcia de Toledo replied by an assurance that he should come to his +relief by the middle of June.[1310] + +It was now the beginning of that month. Scarcely had De Medran entered +St. Elmo, when he headed a sally against the Turks, slew many in the +trenches, and put the remainder to flight. But they soon returned in +such overwhelming force as compelled the Christians to retreat and take +refuge within their works. Unfortunately, the smoke of the musketry, +borne along by a southerly breeze, drifted in the direction of the +castle; and under cover of it, the Turks succeeded in getting possession +of the counterscarp. As the smoke cleared away, the garrison were +greatly dismayed at seeing the Moslem standard planted on their own +defences. It was in vain they made every effort to recover them. The +assailants, speedily intrenching themselves behind a parapet formed of +gabions, fascines, and wool-sacks, established a permanent lodgement on +the counterscarp. + +From this point, they kept up a lively discharge of musketry on the +ravelin, killing such of its defenders as ventured to show themselves. +An untoward event soon put them in possession of the ravelin itself. A +Turkish engineer, reconnoitring that outwork from the counterscarp, is +said to have perceived a sentinel asleep on his post. He gave notice to +his countrymen; and a party of janizaries succeeded, by means of their +ladders, in scaling the walls of the ravelin. The guard, though few in +number and taken by surprise, still endeavored to maintain the place. A +sharp skirmish ensued. But the Turks, speedily reinforced by their +comrades, who flocked to their support, overpowered the Christians, and +forced them to give way. Some few succeeded in effecting their retreat +into the castle. The janizaries followed close on the fugitives. For a +moment it seemed as if Moslem and Christian would both be hurried along +by the tide of battle into the fort itself. But fortunately the bailiff +of Negropont, De Medran, and some other cavaliers, heading their +followers, threw themselves on the enemy, and checked the pursuit. A +desperate struggle ensued, in which science was of no avail, and victory +waited on the strongest. In the end the janizaries were forced to +retreat in their turn. Every inch of ground was contested; until the +Turks, pressed hard by their adversaries, fell back into the ravelin, +where, with the aid of their comrades, they made a resolute stand +against the Christians. Two cannon of the fortress were now brought to +bear on the outwork. But, though their volleys told with murderous +effect, the Turks threw themselves into the midst of the fire, and +fearlessly toiled, until, by means of gabions, sand-bags, and other +materials, they had built up a parapet which secured them from +annoyance. All further contest was rendered useless; and the knights, +abandoning this important outwork to the assailants, sullenly withdrew +into the fortress.[1311] + +While this was going on, a fresh body of Turks, bursting into the ditch, +through a breach in the counterscarp, endeavored to carry the fortress +by escalade. Fortunately, their ladders were too short; and the +garrison, plying them with volleys of musketry, poured down, at the same +time, such a torrent of missiles on their heads as soon strewed the +ditch with mangled limbs and carcasses. At this moment a party, sallying +from the fort, fell on the enemy with great slaughter, and drove +them--such as were in condition to fly--back into their trenches. + +The engagement, brought on, as we have seen, by accident, lasted several +hours. The loss of the Turks greatly exceeded that of the garrison, +which amounted to less than a hundred men, twenty of whom were members +of the order. But the greatest loss of the besieged was that of the +counterscarp and ravelin. Thus shorn of its outworks, the castle of St. +Elmo stood like some bare and solitary trunk exposed to all the fury of +the tempest.[1312] + +The loss of the ravelin gave the deepest concern to La Valette, which +was not mitigated by the consideration that it was to be charged, in +part at least, on the negligence of its defenders. It made him the more +solicitous to provide for the security of the castle; and he sent his +boats over to remove the wounded, and replace them by an equal number of +able-bodied knights and soldiers. It was his intention that the garrison +should not be encumbered with any who were unable to assist in the +defence. Among the new recruits was the Chevalier de Miranda,--one of +the most illustrious members of the order, who had lately arrived from +Sicily,--a soldier whose personal authority, combined with great +military knowledge, proved eminently useful to the garrison. + +The loss which the besiegers had sustained in the late encounter was +more than counterbalanced by the arrival, at this time, of Dragut, the +famous pasha of Tripoli, with thirteen Moorish galleys. He was welcomed +by salvos of artillery and the general rejoicing of the army; and this +not so much on account of the reinforcement which he brought--the want +of which was not then felt--as of his reputation; for he was no less +celebrated as an engineer than as a naval commander. The sultan, who had +the highest opinion of his merits, had ordered his generals to show him +the greatest deference; and they, at once, advised with him as to the +best means of prosecuting the siege. The effect of his counsel was soon +seen in the more judicious and efficient measures that were adopted. A +battery of four culverins was established on the western headland +commanding the entrance of Port Musiette. It was designed to operate on +the western flank of the fortress; and the point of land on which it +stood is still known by the name of the redoubtable corsair. + +Another battery, much more formidable from the number and size of the +pieces, was raised on an eminence to the south of St. Elmo, and played +both upon that fort and upon the castle of St. Angelo. The counterscarp +of the former fortress was shaved away, so as to allow a free range to +the artillery of the besiegers;[1313] and two cannon were planted on the +ravelin, which directed a searching fire on the interior of the +fortress, compelling the garrison to shelter themselves behind +retrenchments constructed under the direction of Miranda.[1314] + +[Sidenote: HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO.] + +The artillery of the Turks now opened with dreadful effect, as they +concentrated their fire on the naked walls of St. Elmo. No masonry could +long withstand the tempest of iron and ponderous marble shot which was +hurled from the gigantic engines of the besiegers. Fragments of the wall +fell off as if it had been made of plaster; and St. Elmo trembled to its +foundations under the thunders of the terrible ordnance. The heart of +the stoutest warrior might well have faltered as he saw the rents each +day growing wider and wider, as if gaping to give entrance to the fierce +multitude that was swarming at the gates. + +In this extremity, with the garrison wasted by the constant firing of +the enemy, worn down by excessive toil, many of the knights wounded, all +of them harassed by long-protracted vigils, it was natural that the +greater part should feel that they had done all that duty required of +them, and that, without loss of honor, they might retire from a post +that was no longer tenable. They accordingly resolved to apply to the +grand-master to send his boats at once to transport them and the rest of +the garrison to Il Borgo. The person whom they chose for the mission was +the Chevalier de Medran, who, as La Valette would know, was not likely +to exaggerate the difficulties of their situation. + +De Medran accordingly crossed the harbor, and, in an interview with the +grand-master, explained the purpose of his visit. He spoke of the +dilapidated state of the fortifications, and dwelt on the forlorn +condition of the garrison, which was only to be sustained by constant +reinforcements from Il Borgo. But this was merely another mode of +consuming the strength of the order. It would be better, therefore, +instead of prolonging a desperate defence, which must end in the ruin of +the defenders, to remove them at once to the town, where they could make +common cause with their brethren against the enemy. + +La Valette listened attentively to De Medran's arguments, which were +well deserving of consideration. But, as the affair was of the last +importance to the interests of his little community, he chose to lay it +before the council of _Grand Crosses_,--men who filled the highest +stations in the order. They were unanimously of the same opinion as De +Medran. Not so was La Valette. He felt that with the maintenance of St. +Elmo was connected the very existence of the order. The viceroy of +Sicily, he told his brethren, had declared that, if this strong post +were in the hands of the enemy, he would not hazard his master's fleet +there to save the island. And, next to their own good swords, it was on +the Sicilian succors that they must rely. The knights must maintain the +post at all hazards. The viceroy could not abandon them in their need. +He himself would not desert, them. He would keep them well supplied with +whatever was required for their defence; and, if necessary, would go +over and take the command in person, and make good the place against the +infidel, or die in the breach. + +The elder knights, on learning the grand-master's decision, declared +their resolution to abide by it. They knew how lightly he held his life +in comparison with the cause to which it was consecrated; and they +avowed their determination to shed the last drop of their blood in +defence of the post intrusted to them. The younger brethren were not so +easily reconciled to the decision of their superiors. To remain there +longer was a wanton sacrifice of life, they said. They were penned up +in the fort, like sheep, tamely waiting to be devoured by the fierce +wolves that were thirsting for their blood. This they could not endure; +and, if the grand-master did not send to take them off at once, they +would sally out against the enemy, and find an honorable death on the +field of battle. A letter signed by fifty of the knights, expressing +their determination, was accordingly despatched by one of their number +to Il Borgo. + +La Valette received the communication with feelings in which sorrow was +mingled with indignation. It was not enough, he said, for them to die +the honorable death which they so much coveted. They must die in the +manner he prescribed. They were bound to obey his commands. He reminded +them of the vows taken at the time of their profession, and the +obligation of every loyal knight to sacrifice his life, if necessary, +for the good of the order. Nor would they gain anything, he added, by +abandoning their post and returning to the town. The Turkish army would +soon be at its gates, and the viceroy of Sicily would leave them to +their fate. + +That he might not appear, however, to pass too lightly by their +remonstrances, La Valette determined to send three commissioners to +inspect St. Elmo, and report on its condition. This would at least have +the advantage of gaining time, when every hour gained was of importance. +He also sent to Sicily to remonstrate on the tardiness of the viceroy's +movements, and to urge the necessity of immediate succors if he would +save the castle. + +The commissioners were received with joy by the refractory knights, whom +they found so intent on their departure that they were already beginning +to throw the shot into the wells, to prevent its falling into the hands +of the Turks. They eagerly showed the commissioners every part of the +works, the ruinous condition of which, indeed, spoke more forcibly than +the murmurs of the garrison. Two of the body adopted the views of the +disaffected party, and pronounced the fort no longer tenable. But the +third, an Italian cavalier, named Castriot, was of a different way of +thinking. The fortifications, he admitted, were in a bad state; but it +was far from a desperate one. With fresh troops and the materials that +could be furnished from the town, they might soon be put in condition to +hold out for some time longer. Such an opinion, so boldly avowed, in +opposition to the complaints of the knights, touched their honor. A hot +dispute arose between the parties; and evil consequences might have +ensued, had not the commander, De Broglio, and the bailiff of Negropont, +to stop the tumult, caused the alarm-bell to be rung, which sent every +knight to his post. + +Castriot, on his return, made a similar report to the grand-master, and +boldly offered to make good his words. If La Valette would allow him to +muster a force, he would pass over to St. Elmo, and put it in condition +still to hold out against the Ottoman arms. + +La Valette readily assented to a proposal which he may perhaps have +originally suggested. No compulsion was to be used in a service of so +much danger. But volunteers speedily came forward, knights, soldiers, +and inhabitants of both town and country. The only difficulty was in +making the selection. All eagerly contended for the glory of being +enrolled in this little band of heroes. + +[Sidenote: HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO.] + +La Valette was cheered by the exhibition of this generous spirit in his +followers. It gave assurance of success stronger than was to be derived +from any foreign aid. He wrote at once to the discontented knights in +St. Elmo, and informed them of what had been done. Their petition was +now granted. They should be relieved that very evening. They had only to +resign their posts to their successors. "Return, my brethren," he +concluded, "to the convent. There you will be safe for the present; and +I shall have less apprehension for the fate of the fortress, on which +the preservation of the island so much depends." + +The knights, who had received some intimation of the course the affair +was taking in Il Borgo, were greatly disconcerted by it. To surrender to +others the post committed to their own keeping, would be a dishonor they +could not endure. When the letter of the grand-master arrived, their +mortification was extreme; and it was not diminished by the cool and +cutting contempt but thinly veiled under a show of solicitude for their +personal safety. They implored the bailiff of Negropont to write in +their name to La Valette, and beseech him not to subject them to such a +disgrace. They avowed their penitence for the course they had taken, and +only asked that they might now be allowed to give such proofs of +devotion to the cause as should atone for their errors. + +The letter was despatched by a swimmer across the harbor. But the +grand-master coldly answered, that veterans without subordination were +in his eyes of less worth than raw recruits who submitted to discipline. +The wretchedness of the knights at this repulse was unspeakable; for in +their eyes dishonor was far worse than death. In their extremity they +addressed themselves again to La Valette, renewing their protestations +of sorrow for the past, and in humble terms requesting his forgiveness. +The chief felt that he had pushed the matter far enough. It was perhaps +the point to which he had intended to bring it. It would not be well to +drive his followers to despair. He felt now they might be trusted. He +accordingly dismissed the levies, retaining only a part of these brave +men to reinforce the garrison; and with them he sent supplies of +ammunition, and materials for repairing the battered works.[1315] + +During this time, the Turkish commander was pressing the siege with +vigor. Day and night, the batteries thundered on the ramparts of the +devoted fortress. The ditch was strewed with fragments torn from the +walls by the iron tempest; and a yawning chasm, which had been gradually +opening on the south-western side of the castle, showed that a +practicable breach was at length effected. The uncommon vivacity with +which the guns played through the whole of the fifteenth of June, and +the false alarms with which the garrison was harassed on the following +night, led to the belief that a general assault was immediately +intended. The supposition was correct. On the sixteenth, at dawn, the +whole force of the besiegers was under arms. The appointed signal was +given by the discharge of a cannon; when a numerous body of janizaries, +formed into column, moved swiftly forward to storm the great breach of +the castle. + +Meanwhile the Ottoman fleet, having left its anchorage on the eastern +side of the island, had moved round, and now lay off the mouth of the +Great Port, where its heavy guns were soon brought to bear on the +seaward side of St. Elmo. The battery on Point Dragut opened on the +western flank of the fortress; and four thousand musketeers in the +trenches swept the breach with showers of bullets, and picked off those +of the garrison who showed their heads above the parapet. + +The guns of the besieged, during this time, were not idle. They boldly +answered the cannonade of the vessels; and on the land side the play of +artillery and musketry was incessant. The besieged now concentrated +their aim on the formidable body of janizaries, who, as already +noticed, were hurrying forward to the assault. Their leading files were +mowed down, and their flank cruelly torn, by the cannon of St. Angelo, +at less than half a mile's distance. But though staggered by this double +fire on front and flank, the janizaries were not stayed in their career, +nor even thrown into disarray. Heedless of those who fell, the dark +column came steadily on, like a thundercloud; while the groans of the +dying were drowned in the loud battle-cries with which their comrades +rushed to the assault. The fosse, choked up with the ruins of the +ramparts, afforded a bridge to the assailants, who had no need of the +fascines with which their pioneers were prepared to fill up the chasm. +The approach of the breach, however, was somewhat steep; and the breach +itself was defended by a body of knights and soldiers, who poured +volleys of musketry thick as hail on the assailants. Still they pushed +forward through the storm, and, after a fierce struggle, the front rank +found itself at the summit, face to face with its enemies. But the +strength of the Turks was nearly exhausted by their efforts. They were +hewn down by the Christians, who came fresh into action. Yet others +succeeded those who fell; till, thus out-numbered, the knights began to +lose ground, and the forces were more equally matched. Then came the +struggle of man against man, where each party was spurred on by the fury +of religious hate, and Christian and Moslem looked to paradise as the +reward of him who fell in battle against the infidel. No mercy was +asked; none was shown; and long and hard was the conflict between the +flower of the Moslem soldiery and the best knights of Christendom. In +the heat of the fight an audacious Turk planted his standard on the +rampart. But it was speedily wenched away by the Chevalier de Medran, +who cut down the Mussulman, and at the same moment received a mortal +wound from an arquebuse.[1316] As the contest lasted far into the day, +the heat became intense, and added sorely to the distress of the +combatants. Still neither party slackened their efforts. Though several +times repulsed, the Turks returned to the assault with the same spirit +as before; and when sabre and scymitar were broken, the combatants +closed with their daggers, and rolled down the declivity of the breach, +struggling in mortal conflict with each other. + +[Sidenote: HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO.] + +While the work of death was going on in this quarter, a vigorous attempt +was made in another to carry the fortress by escalade. A body of Turks, +penetrating into the fosse, raised their ladders against the walls, and, +pushed forward by their comrades in the rear, endeavored to force an +ascent, under a plunging fire of musketry from the garrison. Fragments +of rook, logs of wood, ponderous iron shot, were rolled over the +parapet, mingled with combustibles and hand-grenades, which, exploding +as they descended, shattered the ladders, and hurled the mangled bodies +of the assailants on the rocky bottom of the ditch. In this contest one +invention proved of singular use to the besieged. It was furnished them +by La Valette, and consisted of an iron hoop, wound round with cloth +steeped in nitre and bituminous substances, which, when ignited, burned +with inextinguishable fury. These hoops, thrown on the assailants, +inclosed them in their fiery circles. Sometimes two were thus imprisoned +in the same hoop; and, as the flowing dress of the Turks favored the +conflagration, they were speedily wrapped in a blaze which scorched them +severely, if it did not burn them to death.[1317] This invention, so +simple,--and rude, as in our day it might be thought,--was so disastrous +in its effects, that it was held in more dread by the Turks than any +other of the fireworks employed by the besieged. + +A similar attempt to scale the walls was made on the other side of the +castle, but was defeated by a well-directed fire from the guns of St. +Angelo across the harbor,--which threw their shot with such precision as +to destroy most of the storming party, and compel the rest to abandon +their design.[1318] Indeed, during the whole of the assault, the +artillery of St. Angelo, St. Michael, and Il Borgo kept up so irritating +a fire on the exposed flank and rear of the enemy as greatly embarrassed +his movements, and did good service to the besieged. + +Thus the battle raged along the water and on the land. The whole circuit +of the Great Port was studded with fire. A din of hideous noises rose in +the air; the roar of cannon, the rattle of musketry, the hissing of +fiery missiles, the crash of falling masonry, the shrieks of the dying, +and, high above all, the fierce cries of those who struggled for +mastery! To add to the tumult, in the heat of the fight, a spark falling +into the magazine of combustibles in the fortress, it blew up with a +tremendous explosion, drowning every other noise, and for a moment +stilling the combat. A cloud of smoke and vapor, rising into the air, +settled heavily, like a dark canopy, above St. Elmo. It seemed as if a +volcano had suddenly burst from the peaceful waters of the +Mediterranean, belching out volumes of fire and smoke, and shaking the +island to its centre! + +The fight had lasted for some hours; and still the little band of +Christian warriors made good their stand against the overwhelming odds +of numbers. The sun had now risen high in the heavens, and as its rays +beat fiercely on the heads of the assailants, their impetuosity began to +slacken. At length, faint with heat and excessive toil, and many +staggering under wounds, it was with difficulty that the janizaries +could be brought back to the attack; and Mustapha saw with chagrin that +St. Elmo was not to be won that day. Soon after noon, he gave the signal +to retreat; and the Moslem host, drawing off under a galling fire from +the garrison, fell back in sullen silence into their trenches, as the +tiger, baffled in his expected prey, takes refuge from the spear of the +hunter in his jungle.[1319] + +As the Turks withdrew, the garrison of St. Elmo raised a shout of +victory that reached across the waters, and was cheerily answered from +both St. Angelo and the town, whose inhabitants had watched with intense +interest the current of the fight, on the result of which their own fate +so much depended. + +The number of Moslems who perished in the assault can only be +conjectured. But it must have been very large. That of the garrison is +stated as high as three hundred men. Of these, seventeen were knights of +the order. But the common soldier, it was observed, did his duty as +manfully throughout the day as the best knight by whose side he +fought.[1320] Few, if any, of the survivors escaped without wounds. +Suck as were badly injured were transferred at once to the town, and an +equal number of able-bodied troops sent to replace them, together with +supplies of ammunition, and materials for repairing, as far as possible, +the damage to the works. Among those who suffered most from their wounds +was the bailiff of Negropont. He obstinately refused to be removed to +the town; and when urged by La Valette to allow a substitute to be sent +to relieve him, the veteran answered, that he was ready to yield up his +command to any one who should be appointed in his place; but he trusted +he should be allowed still to remain in St. Elmo, and shed the last drop +of his blood in defence of the Faith.[1321] + +A similar heroic spirit was shown in the competition of the knights, and +even of the Maltese soldiers, to take the place of those who had fallen +in the fortress. It was now not merely the post of danger, but, as might +be truly said, the post of death. Yet these brave men eagerly contended +for it, as for the palm of glory; and La Valette was obliged to refuse +the application of twelve knights of the _language_ of Italy, on the +ground that the complement of the garrison was full. + +The only spark of hope now left was that of receiving the succors from +Sicily. But the viceroy, far from quickening his movements, seemed +willing to play the part of the _matador_ in one of his national +bull-fights,--allowing the contending parties in the arena to exhaust +themselves in the struggle, and reserving his own appearance till a +single thrust from his sword should decide the combat. + +Still, some chance of prolonging its existence remained to St. Elmo +while the communication could be maintained with St. Angelo and the +town, by means of which the sinking strength of the garrison was +continually renewed with the fresh life-blood that was poured into its +veins. The Turkish commander at length became aware that, if he would +end the siege, this communication must be cut off. It would have been +well for him had he come to this conclusion sooner. + +By the advice of Dragut, the investment of the castle was to be +completed by continuing the lines of intrenchment to the Great Port, +where a battery mounted with heavy guns would command the point of +debarkation. While conducting this work, the Moorish captain was wounded +on the head, by the splinter from a rock struck by a cannon-shot, which +laid him senseless in the trenches. Mustapha, commanding a cloak to be +thrown over the fallen chief, had him removed to his tent. The wound +proved mortal; and though Dragut survived to learn the fate of St. Elmo, +he seems to have been in no condition to aid the siege by his counsels. +The loss of this able captain was the severest blow that could have been +inflicted on the besiegers. + +[Sidenote: HEROIC DEFENCE OF ST. ELMO.] + +While the intrenchments were in progress, the enemy kept up an +unintermitting fire on the tottering ramparts of the fortress. This was +accompanied by false alarms, and by night attacks, in which the flaming +missiles, as they shot through the air, cast a momentary glare over the +waters, that showed the dark outlines of St. Elmo towering in ruined +majesty above the scene of desolation. The artillery-men of St. Angelo, +in the obscurity of the night, were guided in their aim by the light of +the enemy's fireworks.[1322] These attacks were made by the Turks, not +so much in the expectation of carrying the fort, though they were often +attended with a considerable loss of life, as for the purpose of wearing +out the strength of the garrison. And dreary indeed was the condition of +the latter: fighting by day, toiling through the livelong night to +repair the ravages in the works, they had no power to take either the +rest or the nourishment necessary to recruit their exhausted strength. +To all this was now to be added a feeling of deeper despondency, as they +saw the iron band closing around them which was to sever them for ever +from their friends. + +On the eighteenth of the month, the work of investment was completed, +and the extremity of the lines was garnished with a redoubt mounting two +large guns, which, with the musketry from the trenches, would sweep the +landing-place, and effectually cut off any further supplies from the +other side of the harbor. Thus left to their own resources, the days of +the garrison were numbered. + +La Valette, who had anxiously witnessed these operations of the enemy, +had done all he could to retard them, by firing incessantly on the +laborers in the hope of driving them from the trenches. When the work +was completed, his soul was filled with anguish; and his noble features, +which usually wore a tinge of melancholy, were clouded with deeper +sadness, as he felt he must now abandon his brave comrades to their +fate. + +On the twentieth of the month was the festival of Corpus Christi, which, +in happier days, had been always celebrated with great pomp by the +Hospitallers. They did not fail to observe it, even at this time. A +procession was formed, with the grand-master at its head; and the +knights walked clad in the dark robes of the order, embroidered with the +white cross of Malta. They were accompanied by the whole population of +the place, men, women, and children. They made the circuit of the town, +taking the direction least exposed to the enemy's fire. On reaching the +church, they prostrated themselves on the ground, and, with feelings +rendered yet more solemn by their own situation, and above all by that +of their brave comrades in St. Elmo, they implored the Lord of Hosts to +take pity on their distress, and not to allow his enemies to triumph +over the true soldiers of the Cross.[1323] + +During the whole of the twenty-first, the fire of the besiegers was kept +up with more than usual severity, until in some places the crumbling +wall was shot away, down to the bare rock on which it stood.[1324] Their +pioneers, who had collected loads of brushwood for the purpose, filled +up the ditch with their fascines; which, as they were covered with wet +earth, defied the efforts of the garrison to set them on fire. +Throughout the following night a succession of false alarms kept the +soldiers constantly under arms. All this prognosticated a general +assault. It came the next day. + +With the earliest streak of light, the Turkish troops were in motion. +Soon they came pouring in over the fosse, which, choked up as it was, +offered no impediment. Some threw themselves on the breach. The knights +and their followers were there to receive them. Others endeavored to +scale the ramparts, but were driven back by showers of missiles. The +musketry was feeble, for ammunition had begun to fail. But everywhere +the assailants were met with the same unconquerable spirit as before. It +seemed as if the defenders of St. Elmo, exhausted as they had been by +their extraordinary sufferings, had renewed their strength as by a +miracle. Thrice the enemy returned to the assault; and thrice he was +repulsed. The carnage was terrible; Christian and Mussulman grappling +fiercely together, until the ruins on which they fought were heaped with +the bodies of the slain. + +The combat had lasted several hours. Amazed at the resistance which he +met with from this handful of warriors, Mustapha felt that, if he would +stop the waste of life in his followers, he must defer the possession of +the place for one day longer. Stunned as his enemies must be by the blow +he had now dealt, it would be beyond the powers of nature for them to +stand another assault. He accordingly again gave the signal for retreat; +and the victors again raised the shout--a feeble shout--of triumph; +while the banner of the order, floating from the ramparts, proclaimed +that St. Elmo was still in the hands of the Christians! It was the last +triumph of the garrison.[1325] + +They were indeed reduced to extremity; with their ammunition nearly +exhausted; their weapons battered and broken; their fortifications +yawning with breaches, like some tempest-tossed vessel with its seams +opening in every direction, and ready to founder; the few survivors +covered with wounds; and many of them so far crippled as to be scarcely +able to drag their enfeebled body along the ramparts. One more attack, +and the scene would be closed. + +In this deplorable state, they determined to make an effort to +communicate with their friends on the other side of the harbor, and +report to them their condition. The distance was not great; and among +the Maltese were many excellent swimmers, who, trained from childhood to +the sea, took to it as to their native element. One of these offered to +bear a message to the grand-master. Diving and swimming long under +water, he was fortunate enough to escape the enemy's bullets, and landed +safe on the opposite shore. + +La Valette was deeply affected by this story, though not surprised by +it. With the rest of the knights he had watched with straining eyes the +course of the fight; and though marvelling that, in spite of odds so +great, victory should have remained with the Christians, he knew how +dearly they must have bought it. Though with little confidence in his +success, he resolved to answer their appeal by making one effort to aid +them. Five large barges were instantly launched, and furnished with a +reinforcement of troops and supplies for the garrison. The knights +thronged to the quay, each eagerly contending for the perilous right to +embark in them. They thought only of their comrades in St. Elmo. + +It turned out as La Valette had foreseen. The landing-place was +commanded by a battery of heavy guns, and by hundreds of musketeers, +menacing instant death to whoever should approach the shore. But the +knights were not allowed to approach it; for the Turkish admiral, lying +off the entrance of the Great Port, and aware of the preparations that +were making, sent a flotilla of his lighter vessels into the harbor, to +intercept the convoy. And so prompt were their movements, that unless +the Christians had put back again with all speed, they would have been +at once surrounded and captured by the enemy. + +The defenders of St. Elmo, who had watched from the ramparts the boats +coming to their assistance, saw the failure of the attempt; and the last +ray of hope faded away in their bosoms. Their doom was sealed. Little +more was left but calmly to await the stroke of the executioner. Yet +they did not abandon themselves to an unmanly despair; but, with heroic +constancy, they prepared to die like martyrs for the good cause to which +they had consecrated their lives. + +[Sidenote: Fall of St. Elmo.] + +That night was passed, not in vain efforts to repair the defences, with +the hope of protracting existence some few hours longer, but in the +solemn preparation of men who felt themselves standing on the brink of +eternity. They prayed, confessed, received the sacrament, and, exhorting +one another to do their duty, again renewed their vows, which bound them +to lay down their lives, if necessary, in defence of the Faith. Some, +among whom Miranda and the bailiff of Negropont were especially noticed, +went about encouraging and consoling their brethren, and, though covered +with wounds themselves, administering such comfort as they could to the +sick and the dying;--and the dying lay thick around, mingled with the +dead, on the ruins which were soon to become their common +sepulchre.[1326] + +Thus passed away the dreary night; when, tenderly embracing one another, +like friends who part for ever, each good knight repaired to his post, +prepared to sell his life as dearly as he could. Some of the more aged +and infirm, and those crippled by their wounds, were borne in the arms +of their comrades to the spot, where, seated on the ruins, and wielding +their ineffectual swords, they prepared, like true and loyal knights, to +die upon the breach. + +They did not wait long. The Turks, so often balked of their prey, called +loudly to be led to the assault. Their advance was not checked by the +feeble volleys thrown at random against them from the fortress; and they +were soon climbing the ascent of the breach, still slippery with the +carnage of the preceding day. But with all their numbers, it was long +before they could break the little line of Maltese chivalry which was +there to receive them. Incredible as it may seem, the struggle lasted +for some hours longer, while the fate of St. Elmo hung suspended in the +balance. At length, after a short respite, the Turkish host rallied for +a last assault; and the tide of battle, pouring through the ample breach +with irresistible fury, bore down cavalier and soldier, leaving no +living thing upon the ramparts. A small party of knights, escaping in +the tumult, threw themselves into the chapel; but, finding that no +quarter was given to those who surrendered, they rushed out, and +perished on the swords of the enemy. A body of nine cavaliers, posted +near the end of the fosse, not far from the ground occupied by Dragut's +men, surrendered themselves as prisoners of war to the corsairs; and the +latter, who, in their piratical trade, had learned to regard men as a +kind of merchandise, happily refused to deliver up the Christians to the +Turks, holding them for ransom. These were the only members of the order +who survived the massacre.[1327] A few Maltese soldiers, however, +experienced swimmers, succeeded, amidst the tumult, in reaching the +opposite side of the harbor, where they spread the sad tidings of the +loss of St. Elmo. This was speedily confirmed by the volleys of the +Turkish ordnance; and the standard of the Crescent, planted on the spot +so lately occupied by the banner of St. John, showed too plainly that +this strong post, the key of the island, had passed from the Christians +into the hands of the infidel.[1328] + +The Ottoman fleet, soon afterward doubling the point, entered Port +Musiette, on the west, with music playing, and gay with pennons and +streamers; while the rocks rang with the shouts of the Turkish soldiery, +and the batteries on shore replied in thunders to the artillery of the +shipping. + +The day on which this occurred, the twenty-third of June, was that of +the festival of St. John the Baptist, the patron of the order. It had +been always celebrated by the knights with greater splendor than any +other anniversary. Now, alas! it was to them a day of humiliation and +mourning, while they had the additional mortification to see it observed +as a day of triumphant jubilee by the enemies of the Faith.[1329] + +To add to their distress, Mustapha sullied his victory by some brutal +acts, which seem to have been in keeping with his character. The heads +of four of the principal knights, among them those of Miranda and the +bailiff of Negropont, were set high on poles looking towards the town. A +spectacle yet more shocking was presented to the eyes of the besieged. +The Turkish general caused the bodies of several cavaliers--some of +them, it is said, while life was yet palpitating within, them--to be +scored on the bosoms with gashes in the form of a cross. Thus defaced, +they were lashed to planks, and thrown into the water. Several of them +drifted to the opposite shore, where they were easily recognized by +their brethren; and La Valette, as he gazed on the dishonored remains of +his dear companions, was melted to tears. But grief soon yielded to +feelings of a sterner nature. He commanded the heads of his Turkish +prisoners to be struck off, and shot from the large guns into the +enemy's lines,--by way of teaching the Moslems, as the chronicler tells +us, a lesson of humanity![1330] + +The number of Christians who fell in this siege amounted to about +fifteen hundred. Of these one hundred and twenty-three were members of +the order, and among them several of its most illustrious +warriors.[1331] The Turkish loss is estimated at eight thousand, at the +head of whom stood Dragut, of more account than a legion of the common +file. He was still living, though speechless, when the fort was stormed. +He was roused from his lethargy by the shouts of victory, and when, upon +turning with inquiring looks to those around, he was told the cause, he +raised his eyes to Heaven, as if in gratitude for the event, and +expired.[1332] + +The Turkish commander, dismantling St. Elmo,--which, indeed, was little +better than a heap of ruins,--sent some thirty cannon that had lined the +works, as the trophies of victory, to Constantinople.[1333] + +Thus ended the memorable siege of St. Elmo, in which a handful of +warriors withstood, for the space of a month, the whole strength of the +Turkish army. Such a result, while it proves the unconquerable valor of +the garrison, intimates that the Turks, however efficient they may have +been in field operations, had little skill as engineers, and no +acquaintance with the true principles of conducting a siege. It must +have been obvious, from the first, that, to bring the siege to a speedy +issue, it was necessary to destroy the communications of St. Elmo with +the town. Yet this was not attempted till the arrival of Dragut, who +early recommended the construction of a battery for this purpose on some +high land on the opposite side of the Great Port. In this he was +overruled by the Turkish commander. It was not till some time later that +the line of investment, at the corsair's suggestion, was continued to +the water's edge,--and the fate of the fortress was decided. + +St. Elmo fell. But precious time had been lost,--an irreparable loss, as +it proved, to the besiegers; while the place had maintained so long and +gallant a resistance as greatly to encourage the Christians, and in some +degree to diminish the confidence of the Moslems. "What will not the +parent cost," exclaimed Mustapha,--alluding to St. Angelo,--"when the +child has cost us so dear!"[1334] + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +SIEGE OF MALTA. + +Il Borgo invested.--Storming of St. Michael.--Slaughter of the +Turks.--Incessant Cannonade.--General Assault.--The Turks +repulsed.--Perilous Condition of Il Borgo.--Constancy of La Valette. + +1565. + + +The strength of the order was now concentrated on the two narrow slips +of land which run out from the eastern side of the Great Port. Although +some account of these places has been given to the reader, it will not +be amiss to refresh his recollection of what is henceforth to be the +scene of operations. + +The northern peninsula, occupied by the town of Il Borgo, and at the +extreme point by the castle of St. Angelo, was defended by works +stronger and in better condition than the fortifications of St. Elmo. +The care of them was divided among the different _languages_, each of +which gave its own name to the bastion it defended. Thus the Spanish +knights were intrusted with the bastion of Castile, on the eastern +corner of the peninsula,--destined to make an important figure in the +ensuing siege. + +The parallel slip of land was crowned by the fort of St. Michael,--a +work of narrower dimensions than the castle of St. Angelo,--at the base +of which might be seen a small gathering of houses, hardly deserving the +name of a town. This peninsula was surrounded by fortifications scarcely +yet completed, on which the grand-master, La Sangle, who gave his name +to the place, had generously expended his private fortune. The works +were terminated, on the extreme point, by a low bastion, or rather +demi-bastion, called the Spur. + +The precious interval gained by the long detention of the Turks before +St. Elmo had been diligently employed by La Valette in putting the +defences of both La Sangle and Il Borgo in the best condition possible +under the circumstances. In this good work all united,--men, women, and +children. All were animated by the same patriotic feeling, and by a +common hatred of the infidel. La Valette ordered the heavy guns to be +taken from the galleys which were lying at anchor, and placed on the +walls of the fortresses. He directed that such provisions as were in the +hands of individuals should be delivered up for a fair compensation, and +transferred to the public magazines.[1335] Five companies of soldiers, +stationed in the Notable City, in the interior of the island, he now +ordered to Il Borgo, where their services would be more needed. Finally, +as there were no accommodations for prisoners, who, indeed, could not be +maintained without encroaching on the supplies necessary for the +garrison, La Valette commanded that no prisoners should be made, but +that all who fell into the hands of the victors should be put to the +sword.[1336] It was to be on both sides a war of extermination. + +[Sidenote: ENVOY FROM THE TURKS.] + +At this juncture, La Valette had the satisfaction of receiving a +reinforcement from Sicily, which, though not large, was of great +importance in the present state of affairs. The viceroy had, at length, +so far yielded to the importunities of the Knights of St. John who were +then at his court, impatiently waiting for the means of joining their +brethren, as to fit out a squadron of four galleys,--two of his own, and +two belonging to the order. They had forty knights on board, and seven +hundred soldiers, excellent troops, drawn chiefly from the Spanish +garrisons in Italy. The vessels were placed under command of Don Juan de +Cardona, who was instructed to return without attempting to land, should +he find St. Elmo in the hands of the enemy. Cardona, who seems to have +had a good share of the timid, vacillating policy of his superior, +fearful of the Ottoman fleet, stood off and on for some days, without +approaching the island. During this time St. Elmo was taken. Cardona, +ignorant of the fact, steered towards the south, and finally anchored +off Pietra Negra, on the opposite side of the island. Here one of the +knights was permitted to go on shore to collect information. He there +learned the fate of St. Elmo; but, as he carefully concealed the +tidings, the rest of the forces were speedily landed, and Cardona, with +his galleys, was soon on the way to Sicily. + +The detachment was under the command of the Chevalier de Robles, a brave +soldier, and one of the most illustrious men of the order. Under cover +of night, he passed within gunshot of the Turkish lines without being +discovered, and was so fortunate as to bring his men in safety to the +side of the English harbor opposite to Il Borgo, which it washes on the +north. There he found boats awaiting his arrival. They had been provided +by the grand-master, who was advised of his movements. A thick fog lay +upon the waters; and under its friendly mantle Robles and his troops +crossed over in safety to the town, where they were welcomed by the +knights, who joyfully greeted the brave companions that had come to +share with them the perils of the siege.[1337] + +While this was going on, Mustapha, the Turkish commander, had been +revolving in his mind, whether it were not possible to gain his ends by +negotiation instead of war, and thus be spared the waste of life which +the capture of St. Elmo had cost him. He flattered himself that La +Valette, taking warning by the fate of that fortress, might be brought +to capitulate on fair and honorable terms. He accordingly sent a +messenger with a summons to the grand-master to deliver up the island, +on the assurance of a free passage for himself and his followers, with +all their effects, to Sicily. + +The envoy chosen was a Greek slave,--an old man, who had lived from +boyhood in captivity. Under protection of a flag of truce, the slave +gained admission into St. Angelo, and was conducted blindfold to the +presence of the grand-master. He there delivered his message. La Valette +calmly listened, but without deigning to reply; and when the speaker had +ended, the stern chief ordered him to be taken from his presence, and +instantly hanged. The wretched man threw himself at the feet of the +grand-master, beseeching him to spare his life, and protesting that he +was but a poor slave, and had come, against his will, in obedience to +the commands of the Turkish general. La Valette, who had probably no +intention from the first to have his order carried into execution, +affected to relent, declaring, however, that, should any other messenger +venture hereafter to insult him with the like proposals, he should not +escape so easily. The terrified old man was then dismissed. As he left +the presence, he was led through long files of the soldiery drawn up in +imposing array, and was shown the strong works of the castle of St. +Angelo. "Look," said one of the officers, pointing to the deep ditch +which surrounded the fortress, "there is all the room we can afford your +master; but it is deep enough to bury him and his followers!" The slave, +though a Christian, could not be persuaded to remain and take his chance +with the besieged. They must be beaten in the end, he said, and, when +retaken by the Turks, his case would be worse than ever.[1338] + +There was now no alternative for Mustapha but to fight; and he had not +lost a moment since the fall of St. Elmo in pushing forward his +preparations. Trenches had been opened on the heights at the foot of +Mount Coradin, at the southern extremity of the Great Port, and +continued on a line that stretched to Mount St. Salvador. Where the soil +was too hard to be readily turned up, the defences were continued by a +wall of stone. Along the heights, on different points of the line, +batteries were established, and mounted with guns of the heaviest +calibre. Batteries were also raised on the high ground which, under the +name of Mount Sceberras, divides Port Musiette from the Great Port, +terminating in the point of land crowned by St. Elmo. A few cannon were +even planted by the Turks on the ruins of this castle. + +Thus the Christian fortresses were menaced on every point; and while the +lines of the besiegers cut off all communication on the land side, a +detachment of the fleet, blocking up the entrance to the Great Port, +effectually cut off intercourse by sea. The investment by land and by +sea was complete. + +Early in July the wide circle of batteries, mounting between sixty and +seventy pieces of artillery, opened their converging fire on the +fortresses, the towns, and the shipping, which lay at anchor in the Port +of Galleys. The cannonade was returned with spirit by the guns of St. +Angelo and St. Michael, well served by men acquainted with their duty. +So soon as the breaches were practicable, Mustapha proposed to begin by +storming St. Michael, the weaker of the two fortresses; and he +determined to make the assault by sea as well as by land. It would not +be possible, however, to bring round his vessels lying in Port Musiette +into the Great Port, without exposing them to the guns of St. Angelo. He +resorted, therefore, to an expedient startling enough, but not new in +the annals of warfare. He caused a large number of boats to be dragged +across the high land which divides the two harbors. This toilsome work +was performed by his Christian slaves; and the garrison beheld with +astonishment the Turkish flotilla descending the rugged slopes of the +opposite eminence, and finally launched on the waters of the inland +basin. No less than eighty boats, some of them of the largest size, were +thus transported across the heights. + +Having completed this great work, Mustapha made his preparations for the +assault. At this time, he was joined by a considerable reinforcement +under Hassem, the Algerine corsair, who commanded at the memorable +sieges of Oran and Mazarquivir. Struck with the small size of the castle +of St. Elmo, Hassem intimated his surprise that it should have held out +so long against the Turkish arms; and he besought Mustapha to intrust +him with the conduct of the assault that was to be made on Fort St. +Michael. The Turkish general, not unwilling that the presumptuous young +chief should himself prove the temper of the Maltese swords, readily +gave him the command, and the day was fixed for the attack. + +[Sidenote: STORMING OF ST. MICHAEL.] + +Fortunately, at this time, a deserter, a man of some consequence in the +Turkish army, crossed over to Il Borgo, and acquainted the grand-master +with the designs of the enemy. La Sangle was defended on the north, as +already noticed, by a strong iron chain, which, stretching across the +Port of Galleys at its mouth, would prevent the approach of boats in +that direction. La Valette now caused a row of palisades to be sunk in +the mud, at the bottom of the harbor, in a line extending from the +extreme point of La Sangle to the foot of Mount Coradin. These were +bound together by heavy chains, so well secured as to oppose an +effectual barrier to the passage of the Turkish flotilla. The length of +this barricade was not great. But it was a work of much difficulty,--not +the less so that it was necessary to perform it in the night, in order +to secure the workmen from the enemy's guns. In little more than a week, +it was accomplished. Mustapha sent a small body of men, excellent +swimmers, armed with axes, to force an opening in the barrier. They had +done some mischief to the work, when a party of Maltese, swimming out, +with their swords between their teeth, fell on the Turks, beat them off, +and succeeded in restoring the palisades.[1339] + +Early in the morning, on the fifteenth of July, two cannon in the +Ottoman lines, from opposite sides of the Great Port, gave the signal +for the assault. Hassem prepared to lead it, in person, on the land +side. The attack by water he intrusted to an Algerine corsair, his +lieutenant. Before the report of the cannon had died away, a great +number of boats were seen by the garrison of St. Michael putting off +from the shore. They were filled with troops, and among these, to judge +from their dress, were many persons of condition. The account is given +by the old soldier so often quoted, who, stationed on the bastion of the +Spur, had a full view of the enemy. It was a gay spectacle, these Moslem +chiefs, in their rich Oriental costumes, with their gaudy-colored +turbans, and their loose, flowing mantles of crimson, or of cloth of +gold and silver; the beams of the rising sun glancing on their polished +weapons,--their bows of delicate workmanship, their scymitars from the +forges of Alexandria and Damascus, their muskets of Fez.[1340] "It was a +beautiful sight to see," adds the chronicler with some _naivete_, "if +one could have looked on it without danger to himself."[1341] + +In advance of the squadron came two or three boats, bearing persons +whose venerable aspect and dark-colored robes proclaimed them to be the +religious men of the Moslems. They seemed to be reciting from a volume +before them, and muttering what might be prayers to Allah,--possibly +invoking his vengeance on the infidel. But these soon dropped astern, +leaving the way open for the rest of the flotilla, which steered for the +palisades, with the intention evidently of forcing a passage. But the +barrier proved too strong for their efforts; and, chafed by the musketry +which now opened on them from the bastion, the Algerine commander threw +himself into the water, which was somewhat above his girdle, and, +followed by his men, advanced boldly towards the shore. + +Two mortars were mounted on the rampart. But, through some +mismanagement, they were not worked; and the assailants were allowed to +reach the foot of the bastion, which they prepared to carry by escalade. +Applying their ladders, they speedily began to mount; when they were +assailed by showers of stones, hand-grenades, and combustibles of +various kinds; while huge fragments of rock were rolled over the +parapet, crushing men and ladders, and scattering them in ruin below. +The ramparts were covered with knights and soldiers, among whom the +stately form of Antonio de Zanoguerra, the commander of the post, was +conspicuous, towering above his comrades, and cheering them on to the +fight. Meantime the assailants, mustering like a swarm of hornets to the +attack, were soon seen replacing the broken ladders, and again +clambering up the walls. The leading files were pushed upward by those +below; yet scarcely had the bold adventurers risen above the parapet, +when they were pierced by the pikes of the soldiers, or struck down by +the swords and battle-axes of the knights. At this crisis, a spark +unfortunately falling into the magazine of combustibles, it took fire, +and blew up with a terrific explosion, killing or maiming numbers of the +garrison, and rolling volumes of blinding smoke along the bastion. The +besiegers profited by the confusion to gain a footing on the ramparts; +and when the clouds of vapor began to dissipate, the garrison were +astonished to find their enemies at their side, and a number of small +banners, such as the Turks usually bore into the fight, planted on the +walls. The contest now raged fiercer than ever, as the parties fought on +more equal terms;--the Mussulmans smarting under their wounds, and the +Christians fired with the recollection of St. Elmo, and the desire of +avenging their slaughtered brethren. The struggle continued long after +the sun, rising high in the heavens, poured down a flood of heat on the +combatants; and the garrison, pressed by superior numbers, weary and +faint with wounds, were hardly able to keep their footing on the +slippery ground, saturated with their own blood and that of their +enemies. Still the cheering battle-cry of St. John rose in the air; and +their brave leader, Zanoguerra, at the head of his knights, was to be +seen in the thickest of the fight. There too was Brother Robert, an +ecclesiastic of the order, with a sword in one hand and a crucifix in +the other, though wounded himself, rushing among the ranks, and +exhorting the men "to fight for the faith of Jesus Christ, and to die in +its defence."[1342] + +At this crisis the commander, Zanoguerra, though clad in armor of proof, +was hit by a random musket-shot, which stretched him lifeless on the +rampart. At his fall the besiegers set up a shout of triumph, and +redoubled their efforts. It would now have gone hard with the garrison, +had it not been for a timely reinforcement which arrived from Il Borgo. +It was sent by La Valette, who had learned the perilous state of the +bastion. He had, not long before this, caused a floating bridge to be +laid across the Port of Galleys,--thus connecting the two peninsulas +with each other, and affording a much readier means of communication +than before existed. + +[Sidenote: SLAUGHTER OF THE TURKS.] + +While this was going on, a powerful reinforcement was on its way to the +support of the assailants. Ten boats of the largest size, having a +thousand janizaries on board, were seen advancing across the Great +Harbor from the opposite shore. Taking warning by the fate of their +countrymen, they avoided the palisades, and, pursuing a more northerly +course, stood for the extreme point of the Spur. By so doing, they +exposed themselves to the fire of a battery in St. Angelo, sunk down +almost to the water's level. It was this depressed condition of the work +that secured it from the notice of the Turks. The battery, mounted with +five guns, was commanded, by the Chevalier de Guiral, who coolly waited +until the enemy had come within range of his shot, when he gave the word +to fire. The pieces were loaded with heavy balls, and with bags filled +with chain and bits of iron. The effect of the discharge was terrible. +Nine of the barges were shattered to pieces, and immediately sunk.[1343] +The water was covered with the splinters of the vessels, with mutilated +trunks, dissevered limbs, fragments of clothes, and quantities of +provisions; for the enemy came prepared to take up their quarters +permanently in the fortress. Amidst the dismal wreck a few wretches were +to be seen, struggling with the waves, and calling on their comrades for +help. But those in the surviving boat, when they had recovered from the +shock of the explosion, had no mind to remain longer in so perilous a +position, but made the best of their way back to the shore, leaving +their companions to their fate. Day after day the waves threw upon the +strand the corpses of the drowned men; and the Maltese divers long +continued to drag up from the bottom rich articles of wearing apparel, +ornaments, and even purses of money, which had been upon the persons of +the janizaries. Eight hundred are said to have perished by this +disaster, which may, not improbably, have decided the fate of the +fortress; for the strength of the reinforcement would have been more +than a match for that sent by La Valette to the support of the +garrison.[1344] + +Meanwhile the succors detached by the grand-master had no sooner entered +the bastion, than, seeing their brethren so hard beset, and the Moslem +flags planted along the parapet, they cried their war-cry, and fell +furiously on the enemy. In this they were well supported by the +garrison, who gathered strength at the sight of the reinforcement. The +Turks, now pressed on all sides, gave way. Some succeeded in making +their escape by the ladders, as they had entered. Others were hurled +down on the rocks below. Most, turning on their assailants, fell +fighting on the rampart which they had so nearly won. Those who escaped +hurried to the shore, hoping to gain the boats, which lay off at some +distance; when a detachment, sallying from the bastion, intercepted +their flight. Thus at bay, they had no alternative but to fight. But +their spirit was gone; and they were easily hewed down by their +pursuers. Some, throwing themselves on their knees, piteously begged for +mercy. "Such mercy," shouted the victors, "as you showed at St. +Elmo!"[1345] and buried their daggers in their bodies. + +While this bloody work was going on below, the knights and soldiers, +gathered on the exposed points of the bastion above, presented an +obvious mark to the Turkish guns across the water, which had not been +worked during the assault, for fear of injuring the assailants. Now that +the Turks had vanished from the ramparts, some heavy shot were thrown +among the Christians, with fatal effect. Among others who were slain was +Frederic de Toledo, a son of the viceroy of Sicily. He was a young +knight of great promise, and was under the especial care of the +grand-master, who kept him constantly near his person. But when the +generous youth learned the extremity to which his brethren in La Sangle +were reduced, he secretly joined the reinforcement which was going to +their relief, and did his duty like a good knight in the combat which +followed. While on the rampart, he was struck down by a cannon-shot; and +a splinter from his cuirass mortally wounded a comrade to whom he was +speaking at the time. + +While the fight was thus going on at the Spur, Hassem was storming the +breach of Fort St. Michael, on the opposite quarter. The storming-party, +consisting of both Moors and Turks, rushed to the assault with their +usual intrepidity. But they found a very different enemy from the +spectral forms which, wasted by toil and suffering, had opposed so +ineffectual a resistance in the last days of St. Elmo. In vain did the +rushing tide of assailants endeavor to force an opening through the +stern array of warriors, which, like a wall of iron, now filled up the +breach. Recoiling in confusion, the leading files fell back upon the +rear, and all was disorder. But Hassem soon re-formed his ranks, and +again led them to the charge. Again they were repulsed with loss; but as +fresh troops came to their aid, the little garrison must have been borne +down by numbers, had not their comrades, flushed with their recent +victory at the bastion, hurried to their support, and, sweeping like a +whirlwind through the breach, driven the enemy with dreadful carnage +along the slope, and compelled him to take refuge in his trenches. + +Thus ended the first assault of the besiegers since the fall of St. +Elmo. The success of the Christians was complete. Between three and four +thousand Mussulmans, including those who were drowned,--according to the +Maltese statements,--fell in the two attacks on the fortress and the +bastion. But the arithmetic of an enemy is not apt to be exact.[1346] +The loss of the Christians did not exceed two hundred. Even this was a +heavy loss to the besieged, and included some of their best knights, to +say nothing of others disabled by their wounds. Still it was a signal +victory; and its influence was felt in raising the spirits of the +besieged, and in inspiring them with confidence. La Valette was careful +to cherish these feelings. The knights, followed by the whole population +of Il Borgo, went in solemn procession to the great church of St. +Lawrence, where _Te Deum_ was chanted, while the colors taken from the +infidel were suspended from the walls as glorious trophies of the +victory.[1347] + +Mustapha now found that the spirit of the besieged, far from being +broken by their late reverses, was higher than ever, as their resources +were greater, and their fortifications stronger, than those of St. Elmo. +He saw the necessity of proceeding with greater caution. He resolved to +level the defences of the Christians with the ground, and then, +combining the whole strength of his forces, make simultaneous assaults +on Il Borgo and St. Michael. His first step was to continue his line of +intrenchments below St. Salvador to the water's edge, and thus cut off +the enemy's communication with the opposite side of the English Port, by +means of which the late reinforcement from Sicily had reached him. He +further strengthened the battery on St. Salvador, arming it with sixteen +guns,--two of them of such enormous calibre, as to throw stone bullets +of three hundred pounds' weight. + +[Sidenote: INCESSANT CANNONADE.] + +From this ponderous battery he now opened a crushing fire on the +neighboring bastion of Castile, and on the quarter of Il Borgo lying +nearest to it. The storm of marble and metal that fell upon the houses, +though these were built of stone, soon laid many of than in ruins; and +the shot, sweeping the streets, killed numbers of the inhabitants, +including women and children. La Valette caused barriers of solid +masonry to be raised across the streets for the protection of the +citizens. As this was a work of great danger, he put his slaves upon it, +trusting, too, that the enemy might be induced to mitigate his fire from +tenderness for the lives of his Moslem brethren. But in such an +expectation he greatly erred. More than five hundred slaves fell under +the incessant volleys of the besiegers; and it was only by the most +severe, indeed cruel treatment, that these unfortunate beings could be +made to resume their labors.[1348] + +La Valette, at this time, in order to protect the town against assault +on the side of the English Port, caused a number of vessels laden with +heavy stones to be sunk not far from shore. They were further secured by +anchors bound to one another with chains, forming altogether an +impenetrable barrier against any approach by water. + +The inhabitants of Il Borgo, as well as the soldiers, were now active in +preparations for defence. Some untwisted large ropes and cables to get +materials for making bags to serve as gabions. Some were busy with +manufacturing different sorts of fireworks, much relied on as a means of +defence by the besieged. Others were employed in breaking up the large +stones from the ruined buildings into smaller ones, which proved +efficient missiles when hurled on the heads of the assailants below. But +the greatest and most incessant labor was that of repairing the +breaches, or of constructing retrenchments to defend them. The sound of +the hammer and the saw was everywhere to be heard. The fires of the +forges were never suffered to go out. The hum of labor was as +unintermitting throughout the city as in the season of peace;--but with +a very different end.[1349] + +Over all these labors the grand-master exercised a careful +superintendence. He was always on the spot where his presence was +needed. His eye seemed never to slumber. He performed many of the duties +of a soldier, as well as of a commander. He made the rounds constantly +in the night, to see that all was well, and that the sentinels were at +their posts. On these occasions he freely exposed himself to danger, +showing a carelessness of his own safety that called forth more than +once the remonstrances of his brethren. He was indeed watchful over all, +says the old chronicler who witnessed it; showing no sign of +apprehension in his valiant countenance, but by his noble presence +giving heart and animation to his followers.[1350] + +Yet the stoutest heart which witnessed the scene might well have +thrilled with apprehension. Far as the eye could reach, the lines of the +Moslem army stretched over hill and valley; while a deafening roar of +artillery from fourteen batteries shook the solid earth, and, borne +across the waters for more than a hundred miles, sounded to the +inhabitants of Syracuse and Catania live the mutterings of distant +thunder.[1351] In the midst of this turmoil, and encompassed by the +glittering lines of the besiegers, the two Christian fortresses might be +dimly discerned amidst volumes of fire and smoke, which, rolling darkly +round their summits, almost hid from view the banner of St. John, +proudly waving in the breeze, as in defiance of the enemy. + +But the situation of the garrison, as the works crumbled under the +stroke of the bullet, became every day more critical. La Valette +contrived to send information of it to the viceroy of Sicily, urging him +to delay his coming no longer, if he would save the island. But, strange +to say, such was the timid policy that had crept into the viceroy's +councils, that it was seriously discussed whether it was expedient to +send aid at all to the Knights of Malta! Some insisted that there was no +obligation on Spain to take any part in the quarrel, and that the +knights should be left to fight out the battle with the Turks in Malta, +as they had before done in Rhodes. Others remonstrated against this, +declaring it would be an eternal blot on the scutcheon of Castile, if +she should desert in their need the brave chivalry who for so many years +had been fighting the battles of Christendom. The king of Spain, in +particular, as the feudatory sovereign of the order, was bound to +protect the island from the Turks, who, moreover, once in possession of +it, would prove the most terrible scourge that ever fell on the commerce +of the Mediterranean. The more generous, happily the more politic, +counsel prevailed; and the viceroy contrived to convey an assurance to +the grand-master, that, if he could hold out till the end of the +following month, he would come with sixteen thousand men to his +relief.[1352] + +But this was a long period for men in extremity to wait. La Valette saw +with grief how much deceived he had been in thus leaning on the viceroy. +He determined to disappoint his brethren no longer by holding out +delusive promises of succor. "The only succor to be relied on," he said, +"was that of Almighty God. He who has hitherto preserved his children +from danger will not now abandon them."[1353] La Valette reminded his +followers, that they were the soldiers of Heaven, fighting for the +Faith, for liberty and life. "Should the enemy prevail," he added, with +a politic suggestion, "the Christians could expect no better fate than +that of their comrades in St. Elmo." The grand-master's admonition was +not lost upon the soldiers. "Every man of us," says Balbi, "resolved to +die rather than surrender, and to sell his life as dearly as possible. +From that hour no man talked of succors."[1354] + +One of those spiritual weapons from the papal armory, which have +sometimes proved of singular efficacy in times of need, came now most +seasonably to the aid of La Valette. A bull of Pius the Fourth granted +plenary indulgence for all sins which had been committed by those +engaged in this holy war against the Moslems. "There were few," says the +chronicler, "either women or men, old enough to appreciate it, who did +not strive to merit this grace by most earnest devotion to the cause, +and who did not have entire faith that all who died in the good work +would be at once received into glory."[1355] + +[Sidenote: GENERAL ASSAULT.] + +More than two weeks had elapsed since the attempt, so disastrous to the +Turks, on the fortress of St. Michael. During this time they had kept up +an unintermitting fire on the Christian fortifications; and the effect +was visible in more than one fearful gap, which invited the assault of +the enemy. The second of August was accordingly fixed on as the day for +a general attack, to be made on both Port St. Michael, and on the +bastion of Castile, which, situated at the head of the English Port, +eastward of Il Borgo, flanked the line of defence on that quarter. +Mustapha was to conduct in person the operations against the fort; the +assault on the bastion he intrusted to Piali;--a division of the command +by which the ambition of the rival chiefs would be roused to the utmost. + +Fortunately, La Valette obtained notice, through some deserters, of the +plans of the Turkish commanders, and made his preparations accordingly. +On the morning of the second, Piali's men, at the appointed signal, +moved briskly forward to the assault. They soon crossed the ditch, but +partially filled with the ruins of the rampart, scaled the ascent in +face of a sharp fire of musketry, and stood at length, with ranks +somewhat shattered, on the summit of the breach. But here they were +opposed by retrenchments within, thrown up by the besieged, from behind +which they now poured such heavy volleys among the assailants as +staggered the front of the column, and compelled it to fall back some +paces in the rear. Here it was encountered by those pushing forward from +below; and some confusion ensued. This was increased by the vigor with +which the garrison now plied their musketry from the ramparts, hurling +down at the same time heavy logs, hand-grenades, and torrents of +scalding pitch on the heads of the assailing column, which, blinded and +staggering under the shock, reeled to and fro like a drunken man. To add +to their distress, the feet of the soldiers were torn and entangled +among the spikes which had been thickly set in the ruins of the breach +by the besieged. Woe to him who fell! His writhing body was soon +trampled under the press. In vain the Moslem chiefs endeavored to +restore order. Their voices were lost in the wild uproar that raged +around. At this crisis the knights, charging at the head of their +followers, cleared the breach, and drove the enemy with loss into his +trenches. + +There the broken column soon re-formed, and, strengthened by fresh +troops, was again brought to the attack. But this gave a respite to the +garrison, which La Valette improved by causing refreshments to be served +to the soldiers. By his provident care, skins containing wine and water, +with rations of bread, were placed near the points of attack, to be +distributed among the men.[1356] The garrison, thus strengthened, were +enabled to meet the additional forces brought against them by the enemy; +and the refreshments on the one side were made, in some sort, to +counterbalance the reinforcements on the other. Vessels filled with salt +and water were also at hand, to bathe the wounds of such as were injured +by the fireworks. "Without these various precautions," says the +chronicler, "it would have been impossible for so few men as we were to +keep our ground against such a host as now assailed us on every +quarter."[1357] + +Again and again the discomfited Turks gathered strength for a new +assault, and as often they were repulsed with the same loss as before; +till Piali drew off his dispirited legions, and abandoned all further +attempts for that day. + +It fared no better on the other quarter, where the besiegers, under the +eye of the commander-in-chief, were storming the fortress of St. +Michael. On every point the stout-hearted chivalry of St. John were +victorious. But victory was bought at a heavy price. + +The Turks returned to the attack on the day following, and on each +succeeding day. It was evidently their purpose to profit by their +superior numbers to harass the besieged, and reduce them to a state of +exhaustion. One of these assaults was near being attended with fatal +consequences. + +A mine which ran under the bastion of Castile was sprung, and brought +down a wide extent of the rampart. The enemy, prepared for the event, +mounting the smoking ruins, poured through the undefended breach,--or +defended only by a handful of the garrison, who were taken unawares. The +next minute, the great standard of the Ottomans was planted on the +walls. The alarm was raised. In a few moments the enemy would have been +in the heart of the town. An ecclesiastic of the order, Brother William +by name, terrified at the sight, made all haste to the grand-master, +then at his usual station in the public square. Rushing into his +presence, the priest called on him to take refuge, while he could, in +the castle of St. Angelo, as the enemy had broken into the town. But the +dauntless chief, snatching up his pike, with no other protection than +his helmet, and calling out to those around him, "Now is the time! let +us die together!"[1358] hurried to the scene of action, where, rallying +his followers, he fell furiously on the enemy. A sharp struggle ensued. +More than one knight was struck down by La Valette's side. He himself +was wounded in the leg by the splinter of a hand-grenade. The alarm-bell +of the city rang violently. The cry was raised that the grand-master was +in danger. Knights, soldiers, and townsmen came rushing to the spot. +Even the sick sprang from their beds, and made such haste as they could +to the rescue. The Moslems, pressed on all sides, and shaken by the +resolute charge, fell back slowly on the breach. + +The cavaliers would now fain have persuaded the grand-master, who was +still standing among a heap of the slain, to retire to some place of +safety, and leave the issue of the battle to his companions. But, fixing +his eye on the Ottoman standard, still floating above the walls, he +mournfully shook his head, in token of his resolution to remain. The +garrison, spurred on by shame and indignation, again charged the +Moslems, with greater fury than before. The colors, wrenched from the +ramparts, were torn to shreds in the struggle. The Christians prevailed; +and the Turks, quailing before their invincible spirit, were compelled, +after a long and bloody contest, to abandon the works they had so nearly +won. + +Still the grand-master, far from retiring, took up his quarters for the +night in the neighborhood of the breach. He had no doubt that the enemy +would return under cover of the darkness, and renew the assault before +the garrison had time to throw up retrenchments. It was in vain his +companions besought him to withdraw, to leave the fight to them, and not +to risk a life so precious to the community. "And how can an old man +like me," he said, "end his life more gloriously, than when surrounded +by his brethren and fighting the battles of the Cross?"[1359] + +[Sidenote: THE TURKS REPULSED.] + +La Valette was right in his conjecture. No sooner had the darkness +fallen, than the Turkish host, again under arms, came surging on across +the ruins of the rampart towards the breach. But it was not under cover +of the darkness; for the whole bay was illumined by the incessant flash +of artillery, by the blaze of combustibles, and the fiery track of the +missiles darting through the air. Thus the combat was carried on as by +the light of day. The garrison, prepared for the attack, renewed the +scenes of the morning, and again beat off the assailants, who, broken +and dispirited, could not be roused, even by the blows of their +officers, to return to the assault.[1360] + +On the following morning, La Valette caused _Te Deum_ to be sung in the +church of St. Lawrence, and thanks to be offered at the throne of grace +for their deliverance. And if the ceremonies were not conducted with the +accustomed pomp of the order of St. John, they were at least +accompanied, says the chronicler, who bore his part in them, by the +sacrifice of contrite hearts,--as was shown by the tears of many a man, +as well as woman, in the procession.[1361] + +There was indeed almost as much cause for sorrow as for joy. However +successful the Christians had been in maintaining their defence, and +however severe the loss they had inflicted on the enemy, they had to +mourn the loss of some of their most illustrious knights, while others +lay disabled in their beds. Among the latter was De Monti, admiral of +the order, now lying seriously ill of wounds received in the defence of +St. Michael, of which he was commander. Among the deaths was one which +came home to the bosom of La Valette. A young cavalier, his nephew, had +engaged in a perilous enterprise with a comrade of his own age. The +handsome person and gilded armor of the younger La Valette made him a +fatal mark for the enemy;[1362] and he fell, together with his friend, +in the ditch before the bastion, under a shower of Turkish bullets. An +obstinate struggle succeeded between Christians and Turks for the bodies +of the slain. The Christians were victorious; and La Valette had the +melancholy satisfaction of rendering the last offices to the remains of +his gallant kinsman. The brethren would have condoled with him on his +loss. But his generous nature shrank from the indulgence of a selfish +sorrow. "All are alike dear to me," he said; "all of you I look on as my +children. I mourn for Polastra" (the friend of the young La Valette) "as +I do for my own nephew. And after all, it matters little. They have gone +before us but for a short time."[1363] + +It was indeed no season for the indulgence of private sorrows, when +those of a public nature pressed so heavily on the heart. Each day the +condition of the besieged was becoming more critical. The tottering +defences both of Il Borgo and La Sangle were wasting away under the +remorseless batteries of the besiegers. Great numbers, not merely of the +knights and the soldiers, but of the inhabitants, had been slain. The +women of the place had shown, throughout the whole siege, the same +heroic spirit as the men. They not only discharged the usual feminine +duties of tending and relieving the sick, but they were often present in +the battle, supplying the garrison with refreshments, or carrying the +ammunition, or removing the wounded to the hospital. Thus sharing in the +danger of their husbands and fathers, they shared too in their fate. +Many perished by the enemy's fire; and the dead bodies of women lay +mingled among those of the men, on the ramparts and in the +streets.[1364] The hospitals were filled with the sick and wounded, +though fortunately no epidemic had as yet broken out to swell the bills +of mortality. Those of the garrison who were still in a condition to do +their duty were worn by long vigils and excessive toil. To fight by day, +to raise intrenchments or to repair the crumbling works by night, was +the hard duty of the soldier. Brief was the respite allowed him for +repose,--a repose to be broken at any moment by the sound of the +alarm-bell, and to be obtained only amidst so wild an uproar, that it +seemed, in the homely language of the veteran so often quoted, "as if +the world were coming to an end."[1365] + +Happily, through the provident care of the grand-master, there was still +a store of provisions in the magazines. But the ammunition was already +getting low. Yet the resolution of the besieged did not fail them. Their +resolution had doubtless been strengthened by the cruel conduct of the +Turks at St. Elmo, which had shown that from such a foe there was no +mercy to be expected. The conviction of this had armed the Christians +with the courage of despair. On foreign succor they no longer relied. +Their only reliance was where their chief had taught them to place +it,--on the protection of Heaven; and La Valette, we are assured, went +every day during the siege to the church of St. Lawrence, and there +solemnly invoked that protection for the brave men who, alone and +unaided, were thus fighting the battles of the Faith.[1366] + +The forlorn condition of the defences led, at length, the Council of +Grand Crosses, after much deliberation, to recommend to La Valette to +abandon Il Borgo, and to withdraw with the troops and the inhabitants +into the castle of St. Angelo. The grand-master saw at once the +disastrous consequences of such a step, and he rejected it without a +moment's hesitation. To withdraw into the castle, he said, would be to +give up all communication with St. Michael, and to abandon its brave +garrison to their fate. The inhabitants of the town would fare no +better. The cistern which supplied St. Angelo with water would be wholly +inadequate to the demands of such a multitude; and they would soon be +reduced to extremity. "No, my brethren," he concluded; "here we must +make our stand; and here we must die, if we cannot maintain ourselves +against the infidel."[1367] + +He would not even consent to have the sacred relics, or the archives of +the order, removed thither, as to a place of greater security. It would +serve to discourage the soldiers, by leading them to suppose that he +distrusted their power of maintaining the town against the enemy. On the +contrary, he caused a bridge communicating with the castle to be broken +down, after calling off the greater part of the garrison to assist in +the defence of Il Borgo. By these measures, he proclaimed his +unalterable determination to maintain the town to the last, and if need +were, to die in its defence.[1368] + +[Sidenote: THE TURKS DISPIRITED.] + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +SIEGE OF MALTA. + +The Turks dispirited.--Reinforcement from Sicily.--Siege +raised.--Mustapha defeated.--Rejoicings of the +Christians.--Mortification of Solyman.--Review of the Siege.--Subsequent +History of La Valette. + +1565. + + +While the affairs of the besieged wore the gloomy aspect depicted in the +last chapter, those of the besiegers were not much better. More than +half their original force had perished. To the bloody roll of those who +had fallen in the numerous assaults were now to be added the daily +victims of pestilence. In consequence of the great heat, exposure, and +bad food, a dysentery had broken out in the Moslem army, and was now +sweeping off its hundreds in a day. Both ammunition and provisions were +running low. Ships bringing supplies were constantly intercepted by the +Sicilian cruisers. Many of the heavy guns were so much damaged by the +fire of the besieged, as to require to be withdrawn and sent on board +the fleet,--an operation performed with a silence that contrasted +strongly with the noisy shouts with which the batteries had been +raised.[1369] But these movements could not be conducted so silently as +to escape the notice of the garrison, whose spirits were much revived by +the reports daily brought in by deserters of the condition of the enemy. + +Mustapha chafed not a little under the long-protracted resistance of the +besieged. He looked with apprehension to the consequences of a failure +in an expedition for which preparations had been made on so magnificent +a scale by his master, and with so confident hopes of success. He did +not fail to employ every expedient for effecting his object that the +military science of that day--at least Turkish science--could devise. He +ordered movable wooden towers to be built, such as were used under the +ancient system of besieging fortified places, from which, when brought +near to the works, his musketeers might send their volleys into the +town. But the besieged, sallying forth, set fire to his towers, and +burnt them to the ground. He caused a huge engine to be made, of the +capacity of a hogshead; filled with combustibles, and then swung, by +means of machinery, on the rampart of the bastion. But the garrison +succeeded in throwing it back on the heads of the inventors, where it +exploded with terrible effect. Mustapha ran his mines under the +Christian defences, until the ground was perforated like a honeycomb, +and the garrison seemed to be treading on the crust of a volcano. La +Valette countermined in his turn. The Christians, breaking into the +galleries of the Turks, engaged them boldly underground; and sometimes +the mine, exploding, buried both Turk and Christian under a heap of +ruins. + +Baffled on every point, with their ranks hourly thinned by disease, the +Moslem troops grew sullen and dispirited; and now that the bastion of +Castile, with its dilapidated works, stood like some warrior stripped of +his armor, his defenceless condition inviting attack, they were in no +heart to make it. As their fire slackened, and their assaults became +fewer and more feeble, the confidence of the Christians was renewed; +until they even cherished the hope of beating off the enemy without the +long-promised succors from Sicily. Fortunately for the honor of Spain, +the chivalry of St. John were not driven to this perilous attempt. + +Yielding, at length, to the solicitations of the knights and the +enthusiasm of the army, the viceroy, Don Garcia de Toledo, assembled his +fleet in the port of Syracuse, and on the 25th of August weighed anchor. +The fleet consisted of twenty-eight galleys, and carried eleven thousand +troops, chiefly Spanish veterans, besides two hundred knights of the +order, who had arrived from other lands, in time to witness the closing +scene of the drama. There was also a good number of adventurers from +Spain, France, and Italy, many of them persons of rank, and some of high +military renown, who had come to offer their services to the knights of +Malta, and share in their glorious defence. + +Unfortunately, in its short passage, the fleet encountered a violent +gale, which did so much damage, that the viceroy was compelled to return +to Sicily, and repair his galleys. He then put to sea again, with better +fortune. He succeeded in avoiding the notice of the enemy, part of whose +armament lay off the mouth of the Great Port, to prevent the arrival of +succors to the besieged,--and on the 6th of September, under cover of +the evening, entered the Bay of Melecca, on the western side of the +island.[1370] + +The next morning, having landed his forces, with their baggage and +military stores, the viceroy sailed again for Sicily, to bring over an +additional reinforcement of four thousand troops, then waiting in +Messina. He passed near enough to the beleaguered fortresses to be +descried by the garrisons, whom he saluted with three salvos of +artillery, that sent joy into their hearts.[1371] It had a very +different effect on the besiegers. They listened with nervous credulity +to the exaggerated reports that soon reached them, of the strength of +the reinforcement landed in the island, by which they expected to be +speedily assaulted in their trenches. Without delay, Mustapha made +preparations for his departure. His heavy guns and camp equipage were +got on board the galleys and smaller vessels, lying off the entrance of +the Great Port,--and all as silently and expeditiously as possible. La +Valette had hoped that some part of the Spanish reinforcement would be +detached during the night to the aid of the garrison, when he proposed +to sally on the enemy, and, if nothing better came of it, to get +possession of their cannon, so much needed for his own fortifications. +But no such aid arrived; and, through the long night, he impatiently +listened to the creaking of the wheels that bore off the artillery to +the ships.[1372] + +[Sidenote: MUSTAPHA DEFEATED.] + +With the first light of morning the whole Ottoman force was embarked on +board the vessels, which, weighing anchor, moved round to Port Musiette, +on the other side of St. Elmo, where the Turkish fleet, the greater part +of which lay there, was now busily preparing for its departure. No +sooner had the enemy withdrawn, than the besieged poured out into the +deserted trenches. One or two of those huge pieces of ordnance, which, +from their unwieldy size, it was found impossible to remove, had been +abandoned by the Turks, and remained a memorable trophy of the +siege.[1373] The Christians were not long in levelling the Moslem +entrenchments; and very soon the flag of St. John was seen cheerily +waving in the breeze, above the ruins of St. Elmo. The grand-master now +called his brethren together to offer up their devotions in the same +church of St. Lawrence where he had so often invoked the protection of +Heaven during the siege. "Never did music sound sweeter to human ears," +exclaims Balbi, "than when those bells summoned us to mass, at the same +hour at which, for three months past, they had sounded the alarm against +the enemy."[1374] A procession was formed of all the members of the +order, the soldiers, and the citizens. The services were performed with +greater solemnity, as well as pomp, than could be observed in the hurry +and tumult of the siege; and, with overflowing hearts, the multitude +joined in the _Te Deum_, and offered up thanks to the Almighty and the +Blessed Virgin for their deliverance from their enemies.[1375] It was +the eighth of September, the day of the Nativity of the Virgin,--a +memorable day in the annals of Malta, and still observed by the +inhabitants as their most glorious anniversary. + +Hardly had the Turkish galleys, with Mustapha on board, joined the great +body of the fleet in Port Musiette, than that commander received such +intelligence as convinced him that the report of the Spanish numbers had +been greatly exaggerated. He felt that he had acted precipitately, thus, +without a blow, to abandon the field to an enemy his inferior in +strength. His head may well have trembled on his shoulders, as he +thought of returning thus dishonored to the presence of his indignant +master. Piali, it is said, was not displeased at the mortification of +his rival. The want of concert between them had, in more than one +instance, interfered with the success of their operations. It was now, +however, agreed that Mustapha should disembark, with such of the troops +as were in fighting order, and give battle to the Spaniards. Piali, +meanwhile, would quit the port, which lay exposed to St. Elmo,--now in +his enemy's hands,--and anchor farther west, in the roads of St. Paul. + +The troops from Sicily, during this time, had advanced into the +interior, in the neighborhood of _Citta Notable_,--or, as it is now +called, _Citta Vecchia_. They were commanded by Ascanio de la Corna, an +officer who had gained a name in the Italian wars. Alvaro de Sande was +second in command, the same captain who made so heroic a defence in the +isle of Gelves against the Turks. The chivalrous daring of the latter +officer was well controlled by the circumspection of the former. + +La Valette, who kept a vigilant eye on the movements of the Turks, was +careful to advise Don Ascanio that they had again disembarked, and were +on their march against him. The Spanish general took up a strong +position on an eminence, the approach, to which was rugged and +difficult in the extreme. Thus secured, the prudent chief proposed to +await the assault of the Moslems. But the Knights of St. John, who had +accompanied the Sicilian succors, eager for vengeance on the hated +enemies of their order, called loudly to be led against the infidel. In +this they were joined by the fiery De Sande and the greater part of the +troops. When the Moslem banners, therefore, came in sight, and the dense +columns of the enemy were seen advancing across the country, the +impatience of the Christians was not to be restrained. The voices of the +officers were unheeded. Don Ascanio saw it was not wise to balk this +temper of the troops. They were hastily formed in order of battle, and +then, like a mountain torrent, descended swiftly against the foe. + +On their left was a hill, crowned by a small tower that commanded the +plain. The Turks had succeeded in getting possession of this work. A +detachment of Spaniards scaled the eminence, attacked the Turks, and, +after a short struggle, carried the fort. Meanwhile the Maltese +chivalry, with Sande and the great body of the army, fell with fury on +the front and flanks of the enemy. The Turkish soldiers, disgusted by +the long and disastrous siege, had embarked with great alacrity; and +they had not repressed their murmurs of discontent, when they were again +made to land and renew the conflict. Sullen and disheartened, they were +in no condition to receive the shock of the Spaniards. Many were borne +down by it at once, their ranks were broken, and their whole body; was +thrown into disarray. Some few endeavored to make head against their +assailants. Most thought only of securing safety by-flight. The knights +followed close on the fugitives. Now was the hour of vengeance. No +quarter was given. Their swords were reddened with the blood of the +infidel.[1376] + +Mustapha, careless of his own life, made the most intrepid efforts to +save his men. He was ever in the hottest of the action. Twice he was +unhorsed, and had nearly fallen into the hands of his enemies. At +length, rallying a body of musketeers, he threw himself into the rear, +to cover the retreat of the army. Facing about, he sent such a +well-directed volley among his pursuers, who were coming on in disorder, +that they were compelled to halt. Don Alvaro's horse was slain under +him. Several knights were wounded or brought to the ground. But as those +in the rear came up, Mustapha was obliged to give way, and was soon +swept along with the tide of battle in the direction of the port of St. +Paul, where the fleet was at anchor. Boats were in readiness to receive +the troops; and a line of shallops, filled with arquebusiers, was drawn +up alongside of them, to cover the embarkation. But the Spaniards, +hurried forward by the heat of the pursuit, waded up to their girdles +into the sea, and maintained an incessant fire on the fugitives, many of +whom fell under it, while others, vainly endeavoring to swim to the +ships, perished in the waves; and their bodies, tossed upon the sands, +continued for many a day to poison the atmosphere.[1377]--This was the +last effort of Mustapha; and the Turkish admiral, gathering together the +wreck of his forces, again weighed anchor, and spreading his sails to +the breeze, steered his course for the Levant.[1378] + +[Sidenote: REJOICINGS OF THE CHRISTIANS.] + +The principal officers of the Spanish array, together with the knights, +then crossed over to Il Borgo.[1379] They met there with a cordial +welcome; but the knights, as they embraced their comrades, were greatly +shocked by their appearance,--their wan and care-worn countenances, +their emaciated figures, their long and matted hair, and their squalid +attire. Many were disfigured by honorable scars; some were miserably +maimed; others wore bandages over wounds not yet healed. It was a +piteous sight, too plainly intimating the extremity of suffering to +which they had been reduced; and as the knights gazed on their brethren, +and called to mind the friends they had lost, their hearts were filled +with unspeakable anguish.[1380] + +On the fourteenth of September, the viceroy reappeared with the fleet, +bearing the remainder of the reinforcement from Sicily. The admiral's +pennant displayed a cross, intimating that it was a holy war in which +they were engaged.[1381] As the squadron came proudly up the Great Port, +with pennons and streamers gayly flying from its masts, it was welcomed +by salvos of artillery from the fortresses and bastions around; and the +rocky shores, which had so long reverberated only with the din of war, +now echoed to the sounds of jubilee. + +The grand-master came down to the landing-place below St. Angelo, to +receive the viceroy, with the nobles and cavaliers who followed in his +train. They had come too late to share the dangers of the besieged, but +not too late to partake of their triumph. They were courteously +conducted by La Valette, across the scene of desolation, to his own +palace, which, though in an exposed quarter of the town, had so far +escaped as to be still habitable. As the strangers gazed on the remains +of the fortifications, nearly levelled to the ground, they marvelled +that the shadowy forms which they saw gliding among the ruins could have +so long held out against the Moslem armies. Well had they earned for +their city the title of _Vittoriosa_, "The Victorious," which, +supplanting that of Il Borgo, still commemorates its defence against the +infidel. + +La Valette had provided an entertainment for his illustrious guests, as +good as his limited resources would allow; but it is said that the +banquet was reinforced by a contribution from the viceroy's own +stores.[1382] On the departure of the Spaniards, he showed his +gratitude, while he indulged his munificent spirit, by bestowing +handsome presents on the captains and a liberal largess of money on the +soldiers.[1383] + +On his way, the viceroy had discovered the Ottoman fleet formed in +compact order, and standing under press of sail towards the east. He was +too far inferior in strength to care to intercept its course;[1384] and +the squadron reached in safety the port of Constantinople. Solyman had +already received despatches preparing him for the return of the fleet, +and the failure of the expedition. It threw him into one of those +paroxysms of ungovernable passion to which the old sultan seems to have +been somewhat addicted in the latter years of his life. With impotent +fury, he stamped on the letters, it is said, and, protesting that there +were none of his officers whom he could trust, he swore to lead an +expedition against Malta the coming year, and put every man in the +island to the sword.[1385] He had the magnanimity, however, not to wreak +his vengeance on the unfortunate commanders. The less to attract public +notice, he caused the fleet bearing the shattered remains of the army to +come into port in the night-time; thus affording a contrast sufficiently +striking to the spectacle presented by the brilliant armament which a +few months before had sailed from the Golden Horn amidst the joyous +acclamations of the multitude. + +The arms of Solyman the Second, during his long and glorious reign, met +with no reverse so humiliating as his failure in the siege of Malta. To +say nothing of the cost of the maritime preparations, the waste of life +was prodigious, amounting to more than thirty thousand men, Moors +included, and comprehending the very best troops in the empire. This was +a loss of nearly three fourths of the original force of the besieging +army,--an almost incredible amount, showing that pestilence had been as +actively at work as the sword of the enemy.[1386] + +Yet the loss in this siege fell most grievously on the Christians. Full +two hundred knights, twenty-five hundred soldiers, and more than seven +thousand inhabitants,--men, women, and children, are said to have +perished.[1387] The defences of the island were razed to the ground. The +towns were in ruins; the villages burnt; the green harvests cut down +before they had time to ripen. The fiery track of war was over every +part of Malta. Well might the simple inhabitants rue the hour when the +Knights of St. John first set foot upon their shores. The military +stores were exhausted, the granaries empty; the treasury was at the +lowest ebb. The members of the order had now to begin the work of +constructing their fortunes over again. But still they enjoyed the glory +of victory. They had the proud consciousness of having baffled, with +their own good swords, the whole strength of the Ottoman empire. The +same invincible spirit still glowed in their bosoms, and they looked +forward with unshaken confidence to the future. + +[Sidenote: REVIEW OF THE SIEGE.] + +Such were the results of this memorable siege,--one of the most +memorable sieges, considering the scale of the preparations, the amount +of the forces, and the spirit of the defence, which are recorded on the +pages of history. It would not be easy, even for a military man, after +the lapse of three centuries, to criticize with any degree of confidence +the course pursued by the combatants, so as to determine to what causes +may be referred the failure of the besiegers. One obvious fault, and of +the greatest moment, was that already noticed, of not immediately +cutting off the communications with St. Elmo, by which supplies were +constantly thrown into that fortress from the opposite side of the +harbor. Another, similar in its nature, was, that, with so powerful a +navy as the Turks had at their command, they should have allowed +communications to be maintained by the besieged with Sicily, and +reinforcements thus introduced into the island. We find Mustapha and +Piali throwing the blame of this mutually on each other, especially in +the case of Cardona, whose most seasonable succors might easily have +been intercepted, either by land or sea, with proper vigilance on the +part of the Turkish commanders. A serious impediment in the way of the +besiegers was the impossibility of forcing a subsistence for the troops +from a barren spot like Malta, and the extreme difficulty of obtaining +supplies from other quarters, when so easily intercepted by the enemy's +cruisers. Yet the Turkish galleys lying idle in the western port might +have furnished a ready convoy, one might suppose, for transports +bringing provisions from the Barbary coast. But we find no such thing +attempted. To all these causes of failure must be added the epidemic, +which, generated under the tropical heats of a Maltese summer, spread +like a murrain through the camp of the besiegers, sweeping them off by +thousands. + +It operated well for the besieged, that the great advance made in the +science of fortification was such, in the latter half of the sixteenth +century, as in a great degree to counterbalance the advantages secured +to the besiegers by the use of artillery,--especially such clumsy +artillery, and so awkwardly served, as that of the Turks. But these +advantages would have proved of little worth, had it not been for the +character of the men who were to profit by them. It was the character of +the defenders that constituted the real strength of the defence. This +was the true bulwark that resisted every effort of the Ottoman arms, +when all outward defences were swept away. Every knight was animated by +a sentiment of devotion to his order, and that hatred to the infidel in +which he had been nursed from his cradle, and which had become a part of +his existence. These sentiments he had happily succeeded in +communicating to his followers, and even to the people of the island. +Thus impelled by an unswerving principle of conduct, the whole body +exhibited that unity and promptness of action which belongs to an +individual. From the first hour of the siege to the last, all idea of +listening to terms from the enemy was rejected. Every man was prepared +to die rather than surrender. One exception only occurred,--that of a +private soldier in La Sangle, who, denying the possibility of holding +out against the Turks, insisted on the necessity of accepting the terms +offered to the garrison. The example of his cowardice might have proved +contagious; and the wretched man expiated his offence on the +gallows.[1388] + +Above all, the strength of the besieged lay in the character of their +chief. La Valette was one of those rare men whom Providence seems to +raise up for special occasions, so wonderfully are their peculiar +qualities suited to the emergency. To that attachment to his order which +he had in common with his brethren, he united a strong religious +sentiment, sincere and self-sacrificing, which shone through every act +of his life. This gave him an absolute ascendancy over his followers, +which he had the capacity to turn to full account. He possessed many of +the requisites for success in action; great experience, a quick eye, a +cool judgment. To these was united a fixedness of purpose not to be +shaken by menace or entreaty; and which was only to be redeemed from the +imputation of obstinacy by the extraordinary character of the +circumstances in which he was placed. The reader will recall a memorable +example, when La Valette insisted on defending St. Elmo to the last, in +defiance not only of the remonstrance, but the resistance, of its +garrison. Another equally pertinent is his refusal, though in opposition +to his council, to abandon the town and retire to St. Angelo. One can +hardly doubt that on his decision, in both these cases, rested the fate +of Malta. + +La Valette was of a serious turn, and, as it would seem, with a tendency +to sadness in his temperament. In the portraits that remain of him, his +noble features are touched with a shade of melancholy, which, taken in +connection with his history, greatly heightens the interest of their +expression. His was not the buoyant temper, the flow of animal spirits, +which carries a man over every obstacle in his way. Yet he could comfort +the sick, and cheer the desponding; not by making light of danger, but +by encouraging them like brave men fearlessly to face it. He did not +delude his followers by the promises--after he had himself found them to +be delusive--of foreign succor. He taught them, instead, to rely on the +succor of the Almighty, who would never desert those who were fighting +in his cause. He infused into them the spirit of martyrs,--that brave +spirit which, arming the soul with contempt of death, makes the weak man +stronger than the strongest. + +There is one mysterious circumstance in the history of this siege which +has never been satisfactorily explained,--the conduct of the viceroy of +Sicily. Most writers account for it by supposing that he only acted in +obedience to the secret instructions of his master, unwilling to hazard +the safety of his fleet by interfering in behalf of the knights, unless +such interference became absolutely necessary. But even on such a +supposition the viceroy does not stand excused; for it was little less +than a miracle that the knights were not exterminated before he came to +their relief; and we can hardly suppose that an astute, far-sighted +prince, like Philip, who had been so eager to make conquests from the +Moslems in Africa, would have consented that the stronghold of the +Mediterranean should pass into the hands of the Turks. It seems more +probable that Don Garcia, aware of the greater strength of the Turkish +armament, and oppressed by the responsibility of his situation as +viceroy of Sicily, should have shrunk from the danger to which that +island would be exposed by the destruction of his fleet. On any view of +the case, it is difficult to explain a course so irreconcilable with the +plan of operations concerted with the grand-master, and the promises of +support given to him by Don Garcia at the beginning of the siege. + +La Valette, we are told, subsequently complained of the viceroy's +conduct to Pius the Fifth; and that pontiff represented the affair to +the king of Spain. Don Garcia had, soon after, the royal permission to +retire from the government of Sicily. He withdrew to the kingdom of +Naples, where he passed the remainder of his days, without public +employment of any kind, and died in obscurity.[1389]--Such a fate may +not be thought, after all, conclusive evidence that he had not acted in +obedience to the private instructions of his sovereign. + +[Sidenote: SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF LA VALETTE.] + +The reader, who has followed La Valette through the siege of Malta, may +perhaps feel some curiosity to learn the fate of this remarkable +man.--The discomfiture of the Turks caused a great sensation throughout +Europe. In Rome the tidings were announced by the discharge of cannon, +illuminations, and bonfires. The places of public business were closed. +The shops were shut. The only places opened were the churches; and +thither persons of every rank--the pope, the cardinals, and the +people--thronged in procession, and joined in public thanksgiving for +the auspicious event. The rejoicing was great all along the shores of +the Mediterranean, where the inhabitants had so severely suffered from +the ravages of the Turks. The name of La Valette was on every tongue, as +that of the true champion of the cross. Crowned heads vied with one +another in the honors and compliments which they paid him. The king of +Spain sent him a present of a sword and poniard, the handles of which +were of gold superbly mounted with diamonds. The envoy, who delivered +these in presence of the assembled knights, accompanied the gift with a +pompous eulogy on La Valette himself, whom he pronounced the greatest +captain of the age, beseeching him to continue to employ his sword in +defence of Christendom. Pius the Fifth sent him--what, considering the +grand-master's position, may be thought a singular compliment--a +cardinal's hat. La Valette, however, declined it, on the ground that his +duties as a cardinal would interfere with those which devolved on him as +head of the order. Some referred his refusal to modesty; others, with +probably quite as much reason, to his unwillingness to compromise his +present dignity by accepting a subordinate station.[1390] + +But La Valette had no time to dally with idle compliments and honors. +His little domain lay in ruins around him; and his chief thought now was +how to restore its fortunes. The first year after the siege, the knights +had good reason to fear a new invasion of the Moslems; and Philip +quartered a garrison of near fifteen thousand troops in the island for +its protection.[1391] But Solyman fortunately turned his arms against a +nearer enemy, and died in the course of the same year, while carrying on +the war against Hungary.[1392] Selim, his successor, found another +direction for his ambition. Thus relieved of his enemies, the +grand-master was enabled to devote all his energies to the great work of +rebuilding his fallen capital, and placing the island in a more perfect +state of defence than it had ever been. He determined on transferring +the residence of the order to the high land of Mount Sceberras, which +divides the two harbors, and which would give him the command of both. +His quick eye readily discerned those advantages of the position, which +time has since fully proved. Here he resolved to build his capital, to +surround it with fortifications, and, at the same time, to enlarge and +strengthen those of St. Elmo. + +But his treasury was low. He prepared a plan of his improvements, which +he sent to the different European princes, requesting their cooeperation, +and urging the importance to them all of maintaining Malta as the best +bulwark against the infidel. His plan met with general approbation. Most +of the sovereigns responded to his appeal by liberal contributions,--and +among them the French king; notwithstanding his friendly relations with +the sultan. To these funds the members of the order freely added +whatever each could raise by his own credit. This amount was still +further swelled by the proceeds of prizes brought into port by the +Maltese cruisers,--an inexhaustible source of revenue. + +Funds being thus provided, the work went forward apace. On the +twenty-eighth of March, 1566, the grand-master, clad in his robes of +ceremony, and in the presence of a vast concourse of knights and +inhabitants, laid the first stone of the new capital. It was carved with +his own arms; and a Latin inscription recorded the name of "Valetta," +which the city was to bear in honor of its founder.[1393] More than +eight thousand men were employed on the work; and a bull of Pius the +Fifth enjoined that their labors should not be suspended on +fete-days.[1394] It seemed to be regarded as a Christian duty to provide +for the restoration of Malta.[1395] La Valette superintended the +operations in person. He was ever to be seen on the spot, among the +workmen. There he took his meals, discussed affairs of state with his +council, and even gave audience to envoys from abroad.[1396] + +In the midst of these quiet occupations, there were some occurrences +which distracted the attention, and greatly disturbed the tranquillity, +of La Valette. One of these was the disorderly conduct of some of the +younger knights. Another was a dispute in which he was involved with the +pope, who, in the usual encroaching spirit of the Vatican, had +appropriated to himself the nomination to certain benefices belonging to +the order. + +[Sidenote: SUBSEQUENT HISTORY OF LA VALETTE.] + +These unpleasant affairs weighed heavily on the grand-master's mind; and +he often sought to relieve his spirits by the diversion of hawking, of +which he was extremely fond. While engaged in this sport, on a hot day +in July, he received a stroke of the sun. He was immediately taken to Il +Borgo. A fever set in; and it soon became apparent that his frame, +enfeebled by his unparalleled fatigues and hardships, was rapidly +sinking under it. Before dying, he called around his bed some of the +brethren to whom the management of affairs was chiefly committed, and +gave them his counsel in respect to the best method of carrying out his +plans. He especially enjoined on them to maintain a spirit of unity +among themselves, if they would restore the order to its ancient +prosperity and grandeur. By his testament, he liberated his slaves, some +fifty in number; and he obtained the consent of his brethren to bequeath +a sum sufficient to endow a chapel he had built in Valetta, to +commemorate his victory over the infidels. It was dedicated to the +Blessed Virgin; and in this chapel he desired that his body might be +laid. Having completed these arrangements, he expired on the +twenty-first of August, 1568. + +La Valette's dying commands were punctually executed by his brethren. +The coffin inclosing his remains was placed on board of the admiral's +galley, which, with four others that escorted it, was shrouded in black. +They bore the household of the deceased, and the members of the order. +The banners taken by him in battle with the Moslems were suspended from +the sterns of the vessels, and trailed through the water. The +procession, on landing, took its way through the streets of the embryo +capital, where the sounds of labor were now hushed, to the chapel of Our +Lady of Victory. The funeral obsequies were there performed with all +solemnity; and the remains of the hero were consigned to the tomb, +amidst the tears of the multitude, who had gathered from all parts of +the island, to pay this sad tribute of respect to his memory.[1397] + +The traveller who visits Malta at the present day finds no object more +interesting than the stately cathedral of Valetta, still rich in +historical memorials and in monuments of art, of which even French +rapacity could not despoil it. As he descends into its crypts, and +wanders through its subterranean recesses, he sees the niche where still +repose the remains of La Valette, surrounded by the brave chivalry who +fought, side by side with him, the battles of the Faith. And surely no +more fitting place could be found for his repose, than the heart of the +noble capital which may be said to have been created by his +genius.[1398] + +The Knights of St. John continued, in the main, faithful to the maxims +of La Valette and to the principles of their institution. For more than +two centuries after his death, their sword was ever raised against the +infidel. Their galleys still returned to port freighted with the spoils +of the barbarian. They steadily continued to advance in power and +opulence; and while empires rose and crumbled around them, this little +brotherhood of warlike monks, after a lapse of more than seven centuries +from its foundation, still maintained a separate and independent +existence. + +In the long perspective of their annals, there was no event which they +continued to hold in so much honor as the defence of Malta by La +Valette. The eighth of September--the day of the nativity of the +Virgin--continued to the last to be celebrated as their proudest +anniversary. On that day the whole body of the knights, and the people +of the capital, walked in solemn procession, with the grand-master at +their head, to the church of St. John. A knight, wearing the helmet and +mailed armor of the ancient time, bore on high the victorious standard +of the order. A page by his side carried the superb sword and poniard +presented by Philip the Second. As the procession passed into the +church, and the standard was laid at the foot of the altar, it was +announced by flourishes of trumpets and by peals of artillery from the +fortresses. The services were performed by the prior of St. John's; and, +while the Gospel was read, the grand-master held the naked sword aloft, +in token that the knights were ever ready to do battle for the +Cross.[1399] When the ceremony was concluded, a fine portrait of La +Valette was exhibited to the people; and the brethren gazed, with +feelings of reverence, on his majestic lineaments, as on those of the +saviour of their order.[1400] + +But all this is changed. The Christians, instead of being banded against +the Turk, now rally in his defence. There are no longer crusades against +the infidel. The age of chivalry has passed. The objects for which the +Knights Hospitallers were instituted have long since ceased to exist; +and it was fitting that the institution, no longer needed, should die +with them. The knights who survived the ruin of their order became +wanderers in foreign lands. Their island has passed into the hands of +the stranger; and the flag of England now waves from the ramparts on +which once floated the banner of St. John. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +DON CARLOS. + +His Education and Character.--Dangerous Illness.--Extravagant +Behavior.--Opinions respecting him.--His Connection with the +Flemings.--Project of Flight.--Insane Conduct.--Arrest. + +1567, 1568. + + +We must now, after a long absence, return to the shores of Spain, where +events were taking place of the highest importance to the future +fortunes of the monarchy. At the time when the tragic incidents +described in the preceding Book were passing in the Netherlands, others, +not less tragic, if we may trust to popular rumor, were occurring in the +very palace of the monarch. I allude to the death of Don Carlos, prince +of Asturias, and that of Isabella of Valois, Philip's young and +beautiful queen. The relations in which the two parties stood to each +other, their untimely fate, and the mystery in which it was enveloped, +have conspired with the sombre, unscrupulous character of Philip to +suggest the most horrible suspicions of the cause of their death. The +mystery which hung over them in their own time has not been dissipated +by the researches of later chroniclers. For that very reason, it has +proved an inexhaustible theme for fiction, until it might be thought to +have passed from the domain of history into that of romance. It has been +found especially suited to the purposes of the drama; and the dramatic +literature of Europe contains more than one masterpiece from the hand of +genius, which displays in sombre coloring the loves and the misfortunes +of Carlos and Isabella.[1401] + +[Sidenote: HIS EDUCATION AND CHARACTER.] + +The time for discussing so dark and intricate a subject had not arrived +while the Spanish archives were jealously locked up even from native +scholars. But now that happily a more liberal system has prevailed, and +access has been given to the dread repositories of the secrets of the +Spanish sovereigns, the time seems to have come for investigating this +mysterious story. And if I cannot boast that I have been able to dispel +the doubts that have so long gathered around the subject, I may at least +flatter myself that, with the materials at my command, I have the means +of placing the reader in a better point of view than has yet been +enjoyed, for surveying the whole ground, and forming his own +conclusions. + +Don Carlos was born on the eighth of July, 1545. His mother, Mary of +Portugal, then only eighteen years of age, died a few days after giving +birth to her ill-fated child. Thus deprived from the cradle of a +mother's watchful care, he experienced almost as little of his father's; +for, until Carlos was fourteen years old, Philip was absent most of the +time, either in the Low Countries or in England. The care of the child +was intrusted, during the greater part of this period, to Philip's +sister, the Regent Joanna,--an excellent woman, but who, induced +probably by the feeble constitution of Carlos, is said to have shown too +much indulgence to the boy, being more solicitous to secure his bodily +health than to form his character. In our easy faith in the miracles +claimed for education, it sometimes happens that we charge on the +parent, or the preceptor, the defects that may be more reasonably +referred to the vicious constitution of the child. + +As Carlos grew older, Philip committed the care of his instruction to +Honorato Juan, a member of the emperor's household. He was a +well-trained scholar, and a man of piety as well as learning; and soon +after assuming the task of the prince's preceptor, he embraced the +religious profession. The correspondence of Honorato Juan with Philip, +then in Flanders, affords a view of the proficiency of Carlos when +eleven or twelve years old. The contentment which the king evinces in +the earlier letters diminishes as we advance; and anxious doubts are +expressed, as he gathers the unwelcome information from his tutor of his +pupil's indifference to his studies.[1402] + +In the year 1556, Charles the Fifth stopped some time at Valladolid, on +his way to his cloistered retreat at Yuste. He there saw his grandson, +and took careful note of the boy, the heir to the vast dominions which +he had himself so recently relinquished. He told over his campaigns to +Carlos, and how he had fled at Innsbruck, where he barely escaped +falling into the hands of the enemy. Carlos, who listened eagerly, +interrupted his grandfather, exclaiming, "I never would have fled!" +Charles endeavored to explain the necessity of the case; but the boy +sturdily maintained, that he never would have fled,--amusing and indeed +delighting the emperor, who saw in this the mettle of his own earlier +days.[1403] Yet Charles was not blind to the defects of his +grandson,--to the wayward, overbearing temper, which inferred too much +indulgence on the part of his daughter the regent. He reprehended Carlos +for his want of deference to his aunt; and he plainly told the latter, +that, if she would administer more wholesome correction to the boy, the +nation would have reason to thank her for it.[1404] + +After the emperor had withdrawn to his retreat, his mind, which kept its +hold, as we have seen, on all matters of public interest beyond the +walls of the monastery, still reverted to his grandson, the heir of his +name and of his sceptre. At Simancas the correspondence is still +preserved which he carried on with Don Garcia de Toledo, a brother of +the duke of Alva, who held the post of _ayo_, or governor of the prince. +In one of that functionary's letters, written in 1557, when Carlos was +twelve years old, we have a brief chronicle of the distribution of the +prince's time, somewhat curious, as showing the outlines of a royal +education in that day. + +Before seven in the morning Carlos rose, and by half-past eight had +breakfasted, and attended mass. He then went to his studies, where he +continued till the hour of dinner. What his studies were we are not +told. One writer of the time says, among other things, he read Cicero's +Offices, in order the better to learn to control his passions.[1405] At +eleven he dined. He then amused himself with his companions, by playing +at quoits, or at _trucos_, a kind of billiards, or in fencing, and +occasionally riding. At half-past three came a light repast, the +_merienda_; after which he listened to reading, or, if the weather was +fine, strolled in the fields. In the evening he supped; and at half-past +nine, having gone through the prayers of his rosary, he went to bed, +where, as his _ayo_ says, he usually made but one nap of it till the +morning.--It was certainly a primitive way of life, in which more regard +seems to have been had to the cravings of the body than of the mind, and +as regular in its routine as the monastic life of his grandfather at +Yuste. Yet Don Garcia does not fail to intimate his discontent with the +want of interest shown by his pupil, not merely in his studies, but in +fencing, cane-playing, and other manly exercises, so essential to the +education of a cavalier of that day.[1406] He notices, at the same time, +the first symptoms of those bilious attacks which already menaced the +prince's constitution, and so effectually undermined it in later +years.[1407] + +In another epistle, Don Garcia suggests that it might be well for the +emperor to allow Carlos to visit him at Yuste, trusting that his +grandfather's authority would accomplish what his own had failed to +do.[1408] But this suggestion found no favor, apparently, with the royal +recluse, who probably was not disposed to do penance himself by +receiving so troublesome an inmate in his family. The emperor's own +death, which occurred shortly after this, spared him the misery of +witnessing the disastrous career of his grandson. + +[Sidenote: HIS EDUCATION AND CHARACTER.] + +The reports of the Venetian ministers--those precious documents that +contain so much instruction in respect to matters both of public and +domestic interest--make occasional allusions to the prince, at this +period. Their notices are by no means flattering. They describe Carlos +as of a reckless, impatient temper, fierce, and even cruel, in his +disposition,[1409] and so arrogant as to be unwilling to stand with his +head uncovered, for any long time, in the presence of the emperor or +his father.[1410] Yet this harsh picture is somewhat redeemed by other +traits; for he was generous, though to a degree of prodigality,--giving +away his trinkets and jewels, even his clothes, in default of money. He +had a fearless heart, with a strong passion for a military life. He was +far from frivolous in his tastes, despising buffoons, and saying himself +so many good things that his tutor carefully made a collection of +them.[1411] This portrait of a youth scarcely fourteen years old seems +as highly overcharged, whether for good or for evil, as portraits of +princes usually are. + +Yet the state of the prince's health may be fairly mentioned in +extenuation of his defects,--at least of his infirmity of temper. For +his bilious temperament already began to show itself in the form of +intermittent fever, with which he continued to be afflicted for the +remainder of his life. Under this depressing disorder, his spirits sank, +his body wasted away, and his strength failed to such a degree, that it +was feared he might not reach the age of manhood.[1412] + +In the beginning of 1560, Isabella of France came to Castile, and on the +second of February was united to Philip. By the preliminaries of the +treaty of Cateau-Cambresis, her hand had been assigned to Don Carlos; +but Mary Tudor having died before the ratification of the treaty, the +name of the father was substituted for that of the son, and the royal +maiden was affianced to Philip. + +The marriage ceremony was performed with great splendor, at Toledo. +Carlos was present; and, as he gazed on the beautiful bride, it is not +improbable that some feelings of resentment may have mingled with +regret, when he thought of the unceremonious manner in which her hand +had been transferred from him to his father. But we should be slow to +believe that Isabella could have felt anything like the tender sentiment +that romantic historians have attributed to her, for a boy of fourteen, +who had so few personal attractions to recommend him. + +On the twenty-second of the same month, Carlos was formally recognized +by the cortes of Castile as heir to the crown. On this occasion, the +different members of the royal family were present, together with the +great nobles and the representatives of the commons. The prince rode in +the procession on a white horse, superbly caparisoned while his dress, +resplendent with jewels, formed a sad contrast to the sallow and sickly +countenance of its wearer.[1413] He performed his part of the ceremony +with dignity and feeling. When Joanna, his aunt, and his uncle, Don John +of Austria, after taking the oath, would have knelt, according to +custom, to kiss his hand, he would not allow it, but affectionately +raised and embraced them. But when the duke of Alva inadvertently +omitted the latter act of obeisance, the prince received him so coldly, +that the haughty nobleman, rebuked by his manner, perceived his error, +and humbly acknowledged it.[1414] + +In the autumn of the following year, with the hope of mending his health +by change of air, Carlos removed to Alcala de Henares, famous for its +university founded by the great Ximenes. He had for his companions two +youths, both destined to a conspicuous part in the history of the times. +One was Philip's illegitimate brother, Don John of Austria, the hero of +Lepanto; the other was the prince's cousin, Alexander Farnese, son of +Margaret of Parma, who was now in the course of training which was one +day to make him the greatest captain of his time. The three boys were +nearly of the same age; but in their accomplishments and personal +appearance the uncle and the cousin afforded as strong a contrast to +their royal kinsman, as in the brilliant fortunes that awaited +them.[1415] + +Carlos had not been at Alcala many months, before he met with an +accident, which was attended with most disastrous consequences. One +evening in April, 1562, as he was descending a flight of stairs, he made +a misstep, and fell headlong down five or six stairs against a door at +the bottom of the passage. He was taken up senseless, and removed to his +chamber, where his physicians were instantly summoned, and the necessary +remedies applied.[1416] At first it seemed only a simple contusion on +the head, and the applications of the doctors had the desired effect. +But soon the symptoms became more alarming. Fever set in. He was +attacked by erysipelas; his head swelled to an enormous size; he became +totally blind; and this was followed by delirium. It now appeared that +the skull was fractured. The royal physicians were called in; and after +a stormy consultation, in which the doctors differed, as usual, as to +the remedies to be applied, it was determined to trepan the patient. The +operation was carefully performed; a part of the bone of the skull was +removed; but relief was not obtained.[1417] + +[Sidenote: DANGEROUS ILLNESS AND RECOVERY.] + +Meanwhile the greatest alarm spread through the country, at the prospect +of losing the heir apparent. Processions were everywhere made to the +churches, prayers were put up, pilgrimages were vowed, and the +discipline was unsparingly administered by the fanatical multitude, who +hoped by selfinflicted penance to avert the wrath of Heaven from the +land. Yet all did not avail. + +We have a report of the case from the pen of Dr. Olivares, the prince's +own physician. Some of the remedies were of a kind that would look +strangely enough if reported by a medical journal of our own day. After +all efforts of professional skill had failed, and the unguent of a +Moorish doctor, famous among the people, had been rubbed on the body +without success, it was resolved to make a direct appeal to Heaven. In +the monastery of Jesus Maria lay the bones of a holy Franciscan, Fray +Diego, who had died a hundred years before, in the reign of Henry the +Fourth, in the odor of sanctity. King Philip and his court went in +solemn procession to the church; and in their presence, the mouldering +remains of the good father, still sweet to the nostrils, as we are told, +were taken from their iron coffin, and transported to the prince's +apartment. They were there laid on his bed; and the cloth that wrapped +the skull of the dead man was placed on the forehead of Carlos.[1418] +Fortunately the delirious state of the patient prevented the shock that +might otherwise have been given to his senses. That very night the friar +appeared to Carlos in his sleep. He was muffled in his Franciscan robe, +with a green girdle about his waist, and a cross of reeds in his hand; +and he mildly bade him "be of good cheer, for that he would certainly +recover." From this time, as the physician who reports the case admits, +the patient began speedily to mend. The fever subsided, his head +returned to its natural dimensions, his eyes were restored to sight. At +the end of something less than two months from the date of the accident, +Carlos, who had shown a marvellous docility throughout his +illness,[1419] was enabled to walk into the adjoining apartment, and +embrace his father, who, during the critical period of his son's +illness, had established his residence at Alcala, showing the solicitude +natural to a parent in such an extremity. + +The merit of the cure was of course referred to Fray Diego.[1420] An +account of the miracle, duly authenticated, was transmitted to Rome; and +the holy man, on the application of Philip, received the honors of +canonization from the pontiff. The claims of the new saint to the credit +of achieving the cure were confidently asserted by the Castilian +chroniclers of that and succeeding ages; nor have I met with any one +hardy enough to contest them, unless it be Dr. Olivares himself, who, +naturally jealous of his professional honor, intimated his +conviction,--this was before the canonization,--that with some +allowance for the good wrought by Fray Diego's intercession and the +prayers of the righteous, the recovery of the prince was mainly to be +referred to the skill of his physicians.[1421] + +But the recovery of Carlos does not seem to have been so complete as was +at first thought. There is good reason to suppose that the blow on his +head did some permanent injury to the brain. At least this may be +inferred from the absurd eccentricities of his subsequent conduct, and +the reckless manner in which he abandoned himself to the gratification +of his passions. In 1565, on his recovery from one of those attacks of +quartan-fever which still beset him, Philip remarked, with a sigh, to +the French minister, St. Sulpice, "that he hoped his repeated warnings +might restrain the prince, for the future, from making such fatal +inroads on his health."[1422] But the unfortunate young man profited as +little by such warnings as by his own experience. Persons about the +court at this period have left us many stories of his mad humors, which +formed the current scandal at Madrid. Brantome, who was there in 1564, +says that Carlos would patrol the streets with a number of young nobles, +of the same lawless habits with himself, assaulting the passengers with +drawn swords, kissing the women, and insulting even ladies of the +highest rank with the most opprobrious epithets.[1423] + +It was the fashion for the young gallants of the court to wear very +large boots. Carlos had his made even larger than usual, to accommodate +a pair of small pistols. Philip, in order to prevent the mischievous +practice, ordered his son's boots to be made of smaller dimensions. But +when the bootmaker brought them to the palace, Carlos, in a rage, gave +him a beating; and then, ordering the leather to be cut in pieces and +stewed, he forced the unlucky mechanic to swallow this unsavory +fricassee--as much as he could get down of it--on the spot.[1424] + +On one occasion, he made a violent assault on his governor, Don Garcia +de Toledo, for some slight cause of offence. On another, he would have +thrown his chamberlain, Don Alonzo de Cordova, out of the window. These +noblemen complained to Philip, and besought him to release them from a +service where they were exposed to affronts which they could not resent. +The king consented, transferring them to his own service, and appointed +Ruy Gomez de Silva, prince of Eboli, his favorite minister, the governor +of Carlos.[1425] + +[Sidenote: HIS DISPOSITION.] + +But the prince was no respecter of persons. Cardinal Espinosa, president +of the Council of Castile, and afterwards grand-inquisitor, banished a +player named Cisneros from the palace, where he was to have performed +that night for the prince's diversion. It was probably by Philip's +orders. But however that may be, Carlos, meeting the cardinal, seized +him roughly by the collar, and, laying his hand on his poniard, +exclaimed, "You scurvy priest, do you dare to prevent Cisneros from +playing before me? By the life of my father, I will kill you!"[1426] The +trembling prelate, throwing himself on his knees, was too happy to +escape with his life from the hands of the infuriated prince. Whether +the latter had his way in the end, in regard to the comedian, is not +stated. But the stuff of which a grand-inquisitor is made is not apt to +be of the yielding sort. + +A more whimsical anecdote is told us by Nobili, the Tuscan ambassador, +then resident at the court. Carlos, having need of money, requested a +merchant, named Grimaldo, to advance him the sum of fifteen hundred +ducats. The money-lender readily consented, thanking the prince for the +favor done him, and adding, in the usual grandiloquent vein of the +Castilian, that "all he had was at his disposal."[1427] Carlos took him +at his word, and forthwith demanded a hundred thousand ducats. In vain +poor Grimaldo, astounded by the request, protested that "it would ruin +his credit; that what he had said was only words of compliment." Carlos +replied, "he had no right to bandy compliments with princes; and if he +did not in four and twenty hours pay the money to the last _real_, he +and his family would have cause to rue it." It was not till after much +negotiation that Ruy Gomez succeeded in prevailing on the prince to be +content with the more modest sum of sixty thousand ducats, which was +accordingly furnished by the unfortunate merchant.[1428] The money thus +gained, according to Nobili, was squandered as suddenly as it was got. + +There are happily some touches of light to relieve the shadows with +which the portrait is charged. Tiepolo, who was ambassador from Venice +at the court of Madrid in 1567, when Carlos was twenty-two years old, +gives us some account of the prince. He admits his arrogant and fiery +temper, but commends his love of truth, and, what we should hardly have +expected, the earnestness with which he engaged in his devotions. He was +exceedingly charitable, asking, "Who would give, if princes did +not?"[1429] He was splendid in his way of living, making the most +liberal recompense, not only to his own servants, but to the king's, who +were greatly attached to him.[1430] He was ambitious of taking part in +the conduct of public affairs, and was sorely discontented when excluded +from them--as seems to have been usually the case--by his father.[1431] + +It was certainly to the prince's credit, that he was able to inspire +those who approached him most nearly with strong feelings of personal +attachment. Among these were his aunt Joanna, the regent, and the queen, +Isabella, who, regarding him with an interest justified by the +connection, was desirous of seeing him married to her own sister. His +aunt Mary and her husband, the Emperor Maximilian, also held Carlos, +whom they had known in early days, in the kindest remembrance, and +wished to secure his hand for their eldest daughter. A still more +honorable testimony is borne by the relations in which he stood to his +preceptor, Honorato Juan, who, at the prince's solicitation, had been +raised to the bishopric of Osma. Carlos would willingly have kept this +good man near his own person. But he was detained in his diocese; and +the letters from time to time addressed to him by his former pupil, +whatever may be thought of them as pieces of composition, do honor to +the prince's heart. "My best friend in this life," he affectionately +writes at the close of them, "I will do all that you desire."[1432] +Unfortunately, this good friend and counsellor died in 1566. By his +will, he requested Carlos to select for himself any article among his +effects that he preferred. He even gave him authority to change the +terms of the instrument, and make any other disposition of his property +that he thought right![1433] It was a singular proof of confidence in +the testator, unless we are to receive it merely as a Spanish +compliment,--somewhat perilous, as the case of Grimaldo proves, with a +person who interpreted compliments as literally as Carlos. + +From all this, there would seem to have been the germs of generous +qualities in the prince's nature, which, under a happier culture, might +have been turned to some account. But he was placed in that lofty +station which exposed him to the influence of parasites, who flattered +his pride, and corrupted his heart, by ministering to his pleasures. +From the eminence which he occupied, even the smallest errors and +eccentricities became visible to the world, and the objects of unsparing +criticism. Somewhat resembling his father in person, he was different +from him both in his good qualities and his defects, so that a complete +barrier was raised between them. Neither party could comprehend the +other; and the father was thus destitute of the means which he might +else have had of exerting an influence over the son. The prince's +dissipated way of life, his perpetual lapses from decorum, or, to speak +more properly, his reckless defiance of decency, outraged his father, so +punctilious in his own observance of the outward decencies of life. He +may well have dwelt on such excesses of Carlos with pain; but it may be +doubted if the prince's more honorable desire to mingle in public +affairs was to the taste of Philip, who was too tenacious of power +willingly to delegate it, beyond what was absolutely necessary, to his +own ministers. The conduct of his son, unhappily, furnished him with a +plausible ground for distrusting his capacity for business. + +[Sidenote: HIS CONNECTION WITH THE FLEMINGS.] + +Thus distrusted, if not held in positive aversion, by his father; +excluded from any share in the business of the state, as well as from a +military life, which would seem to have been well suited to his +disposition; surrounded by Philip's ministers, whom Carlos, with too +much reason, regarded as spies on his actions,--the unhappy young man +gave himself up to a reckless course of life, equally ruinous to his +constitution and to his character; until the people, who had hailed with +delight the prospect of a native-born prince, now felt a reasonable +apprehension as to his capacity for government.[1434] + +But while thus an object of distrust at home, abroad more than one +sovereign coveted an alliance with the heir of the Spanish monarchy. +Catharine de Medicis would gladly have secured his hand for a younger +sister of Isabella, in which project she was entirely favored by the +queen. This was in 1565; but Philip, in his usual procrastinating +spirit, only replied, "They must reflect upon it."[1435] He looked with +a more favorable eye on the proposals warmly pressed by the emperor and +empress of Germany, who, as we have seen, still cherished a kindly +remembrance of Carlos, and wished his union with their daughter Anne. +That princess, who was a year younger than her cousin, claimed Spain as +her native land, having been born there during the regency of +Maximilian. But although the parties were of suitable age, and Philip +acquiesced in the proposals for their marriage, his want of confidence +in his son, if we may credit the historians, still moved him to defer +the celebration of it.[1436] Anne did indeed live to mount the throne of +Castile, but as the wife, not of Carlos, but of Philip, after the death +of Isabella. Thus, by a singular fatality, the two princesses who had +been destined for the son were each of them married to the father. + +The revolutionary movement in the Netherlands was at this time the great +subject that engaged the attention of the Spaniards; and Carlos is +reported to have taken a lively interest in it. According to Antonio +Perez, the Flemings then at the court made positive overtures to the +prince to head the revolt.[1437] Strada speaks of Bergen and Montigny, +then at Madrid, as the channel of communication through which Carlos +engaged to settle the affairs of that distracted country.[1438] That a +person of his ardent temper should have felt sympathy with a people thus +bravely struggling for its liberties, is not improbable; nor would one +with whom "to think and to speak was the same thing,"[1439] be at all +unlikely to express himself on the subject with much more freedom than +discretion. And it may have been in allusion to this that his almoner, +Suarez, in a letter without date, implores the prince "to abandon his +dangerous designs, the illusion of the Evil One, which cannot fail to +bring mischief to himself and disquiet to the monarchy!"[1440] The +letter concludes with a homily, in which the good doctor impresses on +the prince the necessity of filial obedience, by numerous examples, from +sacred and profane story, of the sad end of those who had impiously +rejected the counsels of their parents.[1441] + +But although it is true that this hypothesis would explain much that is +enigmatical in the subsequent history of Carlos, I must confess I have +met with no confirmation of it in the correspondence of those who had +the direction of affairs in the Low Countries, nor in the charges +alleged against Montigny himself,--where an attempt to suborn the +heir-apparent, one might suppose, would have been paraded as the most +heinous offence. Still, that Carlos regarded himself as the proper +person to be intrusted with the mission to the Netherlands is evident +from his treatment of Alva, when that nobleman was appointed to the +command of the army. + +On that occasion, as the duke came to pay his respects to him previous +to his departure, the prince fiercely said, "You are not to go to +Flanders; I will go there myself." Alva endeavored to pacify him, saying +that it was too dangerous a mission for the heir to the throne; that he +was going to quiet the troubles of the country, and prepare it for the +coming of the king, when the prince could accompany his father, if his +presence could be spared in Castile. But this explanation served only to +irritate Carlos the more; and, drawing his dagger, he turned suddenly on +the duke, exclaiming, "You shall not go; if you do, I will kill you." A +struggle ensued,--an awkward one for Alva, as to have injured the +heir-apparent might have been construed into treason. Fortunately, being +much the stronger of the two, he grappled with Carlos, and held him +tight, while the latter exhausted his strength in ineffectual struggles +to escape. But no sooner was the prince released, than he turned again, +with the fury of a madman, on the duke, who again closed with him, when +the noise of the fray brought in one of the chamberlains from an +adjoining room; and Carlos, extricating himself from the iron grasp of +his adversary, withdrew to his own apartment.[1442] + +Such an outrage on the person of his minister was regarded by Philip as +an indignity to himself. It widened the breach, already too wide, +between father and son; and so great was this estrangement, that, when +living in the same palace, they seem to have had no communication with +each other.[1443] Much of Philip's time, however, at this period, was +passed at the Escorial, where he was watching over the progress of the +magnificent pile which was to commemorate the victory of St. Quentin. +But, while in his retreat, the ministers placed about his son furnished +the king with faithful reports of his proceedings. + +[Sidenote: PROJECT OF FLIGHT.] + +Such was the deplorable state of things, when Carlos came to the fatal +determination to escape from the annoyances of his present position by +flying to some foreign land. To what country is not certainly known; +some say to the Netherlands, others to Germany. The latter, on the +whole, seems the most probable; as in the court of Vienna he would meet +with his promised bride, and friends who would be sure to welcome him. + +As he was destitute of funds for such a journey, he proposed to raise +them through a confidential agent, one of his own household, by +obtaining loans from different cities. Such a reckless mode of +proceeding, which seemed at once to proclaim his purpose, intimated too +plainly the heedlessness of his character, and his utter ignorance of +affairs. + +But while these negotiations were in progress, a circumstance occurred, +exhibiting the conduct of Carlos in such a light that it may claim the +shelter of insanity. The story is told by one of the prince's household, +an _ayuda de camara_, or gentleman of the chamber, who was present at +the scene, which he describes with much simplicity. + +For some days his master, he tells us, had no rest, frequently +repeating, that "he desired to kill a man with whom he had a +quarrel!"[1444] The same thing he said--without, however, intimating who +the man was--to his uncle, Don John of Austria, in whom he seems to have +placed unbounded confidence. This was near Christmas, in 1567. It was +customary on the twenty-eighth of December, the day of the Innocents, +for the members of the royal family to appear together, and take the +sacrament in public. Carlos, in order to prepare for this, on the +preceding evening went to the church of St. Jerome, to confess and +receive absolution. But the confessor, when he heard the strange avowal +of his murderous appetite, refused to grant absolution. Carlos applied +to another ecclesiastic, but with as little success. In vain he +endeavored to argue the case. They recommended him to send for more +learned divines, and take their opinion. He did so forthwith; and no +less than fourteen monks from the convent of Our Lady of Atocha, and two +from another quarter, were brought together to settle this strange point +of casuistry. Greatly shocked, they were unanimous in their opinion, +that, under the circumstances, absolution could not be granted. Carlos +next inquired whether he might not be allowed to receive an +unconsecrated wafer, which would obviate the scandal that his omitting +to take the sacrament would infallibly occasion in the court. The +reverend body were thrown into fresh consternation by this proposal. The +prior of Atocha, who was among the number, wishing to draw from Carlos +the name of his enemy, told him that this intelligence might possibly +have some influence on the judgment of the divines. The prince replied, +that "his father was the person, and that he wished to have his +life!"[1445] The prior calmly inquired, if any one was to aid him in the +designs against his father. But Carlos only repeated his former +declaration; and two hours after midnight the conclave broke up in +unspeakable dismay. A messenger was despatched to the Escorial, where +the king then was, to acquaint him with the whole affair.[1446] + +Such is the report of the _ayuda de camara_, who says he was in +attendance on the prince that night. The authority is better for some +parts of the story than for others. There is nothing very improbable in +the supposition that Carlos--whose thoughts, as we have seen, lay very +near the surface--should have talked, in the wild way reported of him, +to his attendants. But that he should have repeated to others what had +been drawn from him so cunningly by the prior, or that this appalling +secret should have been whispered within earshot of the attendants, is +difficult to believe. It matters little, however, since, whichever way +we take the story, it savors so much of downright madness in the prince +as in a manner to relieve him from moral responsibility. + +By the middle of January, 1568, the prince's agent had returned, +bringing with him a hundred and fifty thousand ducats. It was not more +than a fourth of the amount he had demanded. But it answered for the +present, and the remainder he proposed to have sent after him in bills +of exchange.[1447] Having completed his preparations, he communicated +his intentions to his uncle, Don John, and besought him to accompany him +in his flight. But the latter, after fruitlessly expostulating with his +kinsman on the folly of his proceeding, left Madrid for the Escorial, +where he doubtless reported the affair to the king, his brother. + +On the seventeenth, Carlos sent an order to Don Ramon de Tassis, the +director-general of the posts, to have eight horses in readiness for +him, that evening. Tassis, suspecting all was not right, returned an +answer that the horses were out. On the prince repeating his orders in a +more peremptory manner, the postmaster sent all the horses out, and +proceeded himself in all haste to the Escorial.[1448] + +[Sidenote: HIS ARREST.] + +The king was not long in taking his measures. Some days previous, "this +very religious prince," says the papal nuncio, "according to his wont, +had caused prayers to be put up, in the different monasteries, for the +guidance of Heaven in an affair of great moment."[1449] Such prayers +might have served as a warning to Carlos. But it was too late for +warnings. Philip now proceeded, without loss of time, to Madrid, where +those who beheld him in the audience-chamber, on the morning of the +eighteenth, saw no sign of the coming storm in the serenity of his +countenance.[1450] That morning, he attended mass in public, with the +members of the royal family. After the services, Don John visited Carlos +in his apartment, when the prince, shutting the doors, demanded of his +uncle the subject of his conversation with the king at the Escorial. Don +John evaded the questions as well as he could, till Carlos, heated by +his suspicions, drew his sword, and attacked his uncle, who, retreating, +with his back to the door, called loudly on the prince to desist, and +threw himself into a posture of defence. The noise made by the skirmish +fortunately drew the notice of the attendants, who, rushing in, enabled +Don John to retreat, and Carlos withdrew in sullen silence to his +chamber.[1451] + +The prince, it seems, had for some time felt himself insecure in his +father's palace. He slept with as many precautions as a highwayman, with +his sword and dagger by his side, and a loaded musket within reach, +ready at any moment for action.[1452] For further security, he had +caused an ingenious artisan to construct a bolt, in such a way that by +means of pulleys he could fasten or unfasten the door of his chamber +while in bed. With such precautions, it would be a perilous thing to +invade the slumbers of a desperate man like Carlos. But Philip was aware +of the difficulties; and he ordered the mechanic to derange the +machinery so that it should not work: and thus the door was left without +the usual means for securing it.[1453] The rest is told by the _ayuda de +camara_ above mentioned, who was on duty that night, and supped in the +palace. + +It was about eleven o'clock, on the evening of the eighteenth, when he +observed the king coming down stairs, wearing armor over his clothes, +and his head protected by a helmet. He was accompanied by the duke of +Feria, captain of the guard, with four or five other lords, and twelve +privates of the guard. The king ordered the valet to shut the door, and +allow no one to enter. The nobles and the guard then passed into the +prince's chamber; and the duke of Feria, stealing softly to the head of +the bed, secured a sword and dagger which lay there, as well as a musket +loaded with two balls. Carlos, roused by the noise, started up, and +demanded who was there. The duke, having got possession of the weapons, +replied, "It is the council of state." Carlos, on hearing this, leaped +from his bed, and, uttering loud cries and menaces, endeavored to seize +his arms. At this moment, Philip, who had prudently deferred his +entrance till the weapons were mastered, came forward, and bade his son +return to bed and remain quiet. The prince exclaimed, "What does your +majesty want of me?" "You will soon learn," said his father, and at the +same time ordered the windows and doors to be strongly secured, and the +keys of the latter to be delivered to him. All the furniture of the +room, with which Carlos could commit any violence, even the andirons, +were removed.[1454] The king, then turning to Feria, told him that "he +committed the prince to his especial charge, and that he must guard him +well." Addressing next the other nobles, he directed them "to serve the +prince with all proper respect, but to execute none of his orders +without first reporting them to himself; finally, to guard him +faithfully, under penalty of being held as traitors." + +At these words Carlos exclaimed, "Your majesty had better kill me than +keep me a prisoner. It will be a great scandal to the kingdom. If you do +not kill me, I will make away with myself." "You will do no such thing," +said the king; "for that would be the act of a madman." "Your majesty," +replied Carlos, "treats me so ill that you force me to this extremity. I +am not mad, but you drive me to despair!"[1455] Other words passed +between the monarch and his son, whose voice was so broken with sobs as +to be scarcely audible.[1456] + +Having completed his arrangements, Philip, after securing a coffer which +contained the prince's papers, withdrew from the apartment. That night, +the duke of Feria, the count of Lerma, and Don Rodrigo de Mendoza, +eldest son of Ruy Gomez, remained in the prince's chamber. Two lords, +out of six named for the purpose, performed the same duty in rotation +each succeeding night. From respect to the prince, none of them were +allowed to wear their swords in his presence. His meat was cut up before +it was brought into his chamber, as he was allowed no knife at his +meals. The prince's attendants were all dismissed, and most of them +afterwards provided for in the service of the king. A guard of twelve +halberdiers were stationed in the passages leading to the tower in which +the apartment of Carlos was situated. Thus all communication from +without was cut off; and, as he was unable to look from his strongly +barricaded windows, the unhappy prisoner from that time remained as dead +to the world as if he had been buried in the deepest dungeon of +Simancas. + +The following day, the king called the members of his different councils +together, and informed them of the arrest of his son, declaring that +nothing but his duty to God, and the welfare of the monarchy, could have +moved him to such an act. The tears, according to one present, filled +his eyes, as he made this avowal.[1457] + +He then summoned his council of state, and commenced a process against +the prisoner. His affliction did not prevent him from being present all +the while, and listening to the testimony, which, when reduced to +writing, formed a heap of paper half a foot in thickness.--Such is the +account given of this extraordinary proceeding by the _ayuda de +camara_.[1458] + +[Sidenote: CAUSES OF HIS IMPRISONMENT.] + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +DEATH OF DON CARLOS. + +Causes of his Imprisonment.--His Rigorous Confinement.--His +Excesses.--His Death.--Llorente's Account.--Various +Accounts.--Suspicious Circumstances.--Quarrel in the Palace.--Obsequies +of Carlos. + +1568. + + +The arrest of Don Carlos caused a great sensation throughout the +country, much increased by the mysterious circumstances which had +attended it. The wildest rumors were afloat as to the cause. Some said +the prince had meditated a design against his father's life; others, +that he had conspired against that of Ruy Gomez. Some said that he was +plotting rebellion, and had taken part with the Flemings; others +suspected him of heresy. Many took still a different view of the +matter,--censuring the father rather than the son. "_His dagger followed +close upon his smile_," says the historian of Philip; "hence some called +him wise, others severe."[1459] Carlos, they said, never a favorite, +might have been rash in his thoughts and words; but he had done no act +which should have led a father to deal with his son so harshly. But +princes are too apt to be jealous of their successors. They distrusted +the bold and generous spirit of their offspring, whom it would be wiser +to win over by admitting them to some reasonable share in the +government.--"But others there were," concludes the wise chronicler of +the times, "who, more prudent than their neighbors, laid their finger on +their lips, and were silent."[1460] + +For some days, Philip would allow no post to leave Madrid, that he might +be the first to send intelligence of this event to foreign courts.[1461] +On the twenty-fourth, he despatched circular letters to the great +ecclesiastics, the grandees, and the municipalities of the chief cities +of the kingdom. They were vague in their import, stating the fact of the +arrest, and assigning much the same general grounds with those he had +stated to the councils. On the same day he sent despatches to the +principal courts of Europe. These, though singularly vague and +mysterious in their language, were more pregnant with suggestions, at +least, than the letters to his subjects. The most curious, on the whole, +and the one that gives the best insight into his motives, is the letter +he addressed to his aunt, the queen of Portugal. She was sister to the +emperor, his father,--an estimable lady, whom Philip had always held in +great respect. + +"Although," he writes, "it has long been obvious that it was necessary +to take some order in regard to the prince, yet the feelings of a father +have led me to resort to all other means before proceeding to extremity. +But affairs have at length come to such a pass, that, to fulfil the duty +which, as a Christian prince, I owe both to God and to my realm, I have +been compelled to place my son in strict confinement. Thus have I been +willing to sacrifice to God my own flesh and blood, preferring his +service and the welfare of my people to all human considerations.[1462] +I will only add, that this determination has not been brought about by +any misconduct on the part of my son, or by any want of respect to me; +nor is this treatment of him intended by way of chastisement,--for that, +however just the grounds of it, would have its time and its limit.[1463] +Neither have I resorted to it as an expedient for reforming his +disorderly life. The proceeding rests altogether on another foundation; +and the _remedy I propose is not one either of time or expedients_, but +is of the greatest moment, as I have already remarked, to satisfy my +obligations to God and my people."[1464] + +In the same obscure strain, Philip addressed Zuniga, his ambassador at +the papal court,--saying, that, "although the disobedience which Carlos +had shown through life was sufficient to justify any demonstration of +severity, yet it was not this, but the stern pressure of necessity, that +could alone have driven him to deal in this way with his first-born, his +only son."[1465] + +This ambiguous language--implying that the imprisonment of Carlos was +not occasioned by his own misconduct, and yet that both the interests of +religion and the safety of the state demanded his perpetual +imprisonment--may be thought to intimate that the cause referred to +could be no other than insanity. This was plainly stated by the prince +of Eboli, in a communication which, by the king's order, he made to the +French minister, Fourquevaulx. The king, Gomez said, had for three years +past perceived that the prince's head was the weakest part of him, and +that he was, at no time, in complete possession of his understanding. He +had been silent on the matter, trusting that time would bring some +amendment. But it had only made things worse; and he saw, with sorrow, +that to commit the sceptre to his son's hands would be to bring +inevitable misery on his subjects and ruin on the state. With +unspeakable anguish, he had therefore resolved, after long deliberation, +to place his son under constraint.[1466] + +[Sidenote: CAUSES OF HIS IMPRISONMENT.] + +This at least is intelligible, and very different from Philip's own +despatches,--where it strikes us as strange, if insanity were the true +ground of the arrest, that it should be covered up under such vague and +equivocal language, with the declaration, moreover, usually made in his +letters, that, "at some future time, he would explain the matter more +fully to the parties." One might have thought that the simple plea of +insanity would have been directly given, as furnishing the best apology +for the son, and at the same time vindicating the father for imposing a +wholesome restraint upon his person. But, in point of fact, the +excessive rigor of the confinement, as we shall have occasion to see, +savored much more of the punishment dealt out to some high offender, +than of the treatment of an unfortunate lunatic. Neither is it probable +that a criminal process would have been instituted against one who, by +his very infirmity, was absolved from all moral responsibility. + +There are two documents, either of which, should it ever be brought to +light, would probably unfold the true reasons of the arrest of Carlos. +The Spanish ambassador, Zuniga, informed Philip that the pope, +dissatisfied with the account which he had given of the transaction, +desired a further explanation of it from his majesty.[1467] This, from +such a source, was nearly equivalent to a command. For Philip had a +peculiar reverence for Pius the Fifth, the pope of the Inquisition, who +was a pontiff after his own heart. The king is said never to have passed +by the portrait of his holiness, which hung on the walls of the palace, +without taking off his hat.[1468] He at once wrote a letter to the pope +containing a full account of the transaction. It was written in cipher, +with the recommendation that it should be submitted to Granvelle, then +in Rome, if his holiness could not interpret it. This letter is +doubtless in the Vatican.[1469] + +The other document is the process. The king, immediately after the +arrest of his son, appointed a special commission to try him. It +consisted of Cardinal Espinosa, the prince of Eboli, and a royal +councillor, Bribiesca de Munatones, who was appointed to prepare the +indictment. The writings containing the memorable process instituted by +Philip's ancestor, John the Second of Aragon, against his amiable and +unfortunate son, who also bore the name of Carlos, had been obtained +from the Archives of Barcelona. They were translated from the Catalan +into Castilian, and served for the ominous model for the present +proceedings, which took the form of a trial for high treason. In +conducting this singular prosecution, it does not appear that any +counsel or evidence appeared on behalf of the prisoner, although a +formidable amount of testimony, it would seem, was collected on the +other side. But, in truth, we know little of the proceedings. There is +no proof that any but the monarch, and the secret tribunal that presided +over the trial,--if so it can be called,--ever saw the papers. In 1592, +according to the historian Cabrera, they were deposited, by Philip's +orders, in a green box, strongly secured, in the Archives of +Simancas,[1470]--where, as we have no later information, they may still +remain, to reward the labors of some future antiquary.[1471] + +In default of these documents, we must resort to conjecture for the +solution of this difficult problem; and there are several circumstances +which may assist us in arriving at a conclusion. Among the foreign +ministers at that time at the court of Madrid, none took more pains to +come at the truth of this affair,--as his letters abundantly +prove,--than the papal nuncio, Castaneo, archbishop of Rossano. He was a +shrewd, sagacious prelate, whose position and credit at the court gave +him the best opportunities for information. By Philip's command, +Cardinal Espinosa gave the nuncio the usual explanation of the grounds +on which Carlos had been arrested. "It is a strange story," said the +nuncio, "that which we everywhere hear, of the prince's plot against his +father's life." "It would be of little moment," replied the cardinal, +"if the danger to the king were all; as it would be easy to protect his +person. But the present case is worse,--if worse can be; and the king, +who has seen the bad course which his son has taken for these two years +past, has vainly tried to remedy it; till, finding himself unable to +exercise any control over the hair-brained young man, he has been forced +to this expedient."[1472] + +Now, in the judgment of a grand-inquisitor, it would probably be thought +that heresy, or any leaning to heresy, was a crime of even a deeper dye +than parricide. The cardinal's discourse made this impression on the +nuncio, who straightway began to cast about for proofs of apostasy in +Don Carlos. The Tuscan minister also notices, in his letters, the +suspicions that Carlos was not a good Catholic.[1473] A confirmation of +this view of the matter may be gathered from the remarks of Pius the +Fifth on Philip's letter in cipher, above noticed. "His holiness," +writes the Spanish ambassador, "greatly lauds the course taken by your +majesty; for he feels that the preservation of Christianity depends on +your living many years, and on your having a successor who will tread in +your footsteps."[1474] + +[Sidenote: CAUSES OF HIS IMPRISONMENT.] + +But though all this seems to intimate pretty clearly that the religious +defection of Carlos was a predominant motive for his imprisonment, it is +not easy to believe that a person of his wayward and volatile mind could +have formed any settled opinions in matters of faith, or that his +position would have allowed the Reformers such access to his person as +to have greatly exposed him to the influence of their doctrines. Yet it +is quite possible that he may have taken an interest in those political +movements abroad, which, in the end, were directed against the Church. I +allude to the troubles in the Low Countries, which he is said to have +looked upon with no unfriendly eye. It is true, there is no proof of +this, so far as I am aware, in the correspondence of the Flemish +leaders. Nor is there any reason to suppose that Carlos entered +directly into a correspondence with them himself, or indeed committed +himself by any overt act in support of the cause.[1475] But this was not +necessary for his condemnation; it would have been quite enough, that he +had felt a sympathy for the distresses of the people. From the residence +of Egmont, Bergen, and Montigny at the court, he had obvious means of +communication with those nobles, who may naturally have sought to +interest him in behalf of their countrymen. The sympathy readily kindled +in the ardent bosom of the young prince would be as readily expressed. +That he did feel such a sympathy may perhaps be inferred by his strange +conduct to Alva, on the eve of his departure for the Netherlands. But +the people of that country were regarded at Madrid as in actual +rebellion against the crown. The reformed doctrines which they avowed +gave to the movement the character of a religious revolution. For a +Spaniard to countenance it in any way was at once to prove himself false +both to his sovereign and his faith. In such a light, we may be quite +sure, it would be viewed both by Philip and his minister, the +grand-inquisitor. Nor would it be thought any palliation of the crime, +that the offender was heir to the monarchy.[1476] + +As to a design on his father's life, Philip, both in his foreign +despatches and in the communications made by his order to the resident +ministers at Madrid, wholly acquitted Carlos of so horrible a +charge.[1477] If it had any foundation in truth, one might suppose that +Philip, instead of denying, would have paraded it, as furnishing an +obvious apology for subjecting him to so rigorous a confinement. It is +certain, if Carlos had really entertained so monstrous a design, he +might easily have found an opportunity to execute it. That Philip would +have been silent in respect to his son's sympathy with the Netherlands +may well be believed. The great champion of Catholicism would naturally +shrink from publishing to the world that the taint of heresy infected +his own blood. + +But, whatever may have been the motives which determined the conduct of +Philip, one cannot but suspect that a deep-rooted aversion to his son +lay at the bottom of them. The dissimilarity of their natures placed the +two parties, from the first, in false relations to each other. The +heedless excesses of youth were regarded with a pitiless eye by the +parent, who, in his own indulgences, at least did not throw aside the +veil of decorum. The fiery temper of Carlos, irritated by a +long-continued system of distrust, exclusion, and _espionnage_, at +length broke out into such senseless extravagances as belong to the +debatable ground of insanity. And this ground afforded, as already +intimated, a plausible footing to the father for proceeding to +extremities against the son. + +Whatever were the offences of Carlos, those who had the best +opportunities for observation soon became satisfied that it was intended +never to allow him to regain his liberty, or to ascend the throne of +his ancestors.[1478] On the second of March, a code of regulations was +prepared by Philip relative to the treatment of the prince, which may +give some idea of the rigor of his confinement. He was given in especial +charge to Ruy Gomez, who was placed at the head of the establishment; +and it was from him that every person employed about Carlos was to +receive his commission. Six other nobles were appointed both to guard +the prince and render him service. Two of the number were to remain in +his apartment every night,--the one watching, while the other slept; +reminding us of an ingenious punishment among the Chinese, where a +criminal is obliged to be everywhere followed by an attendant, whose +business it is to keep an unceasing watch upon the offender, that, +wherever he turns, he may still find the same eye riveted upon him! + +During the day, it was the duty of these nobles to remain with Carlos +and lighten by their conversation the gloom of his captivity. But they +were not to talk on matters relating to the government, above all to the +prince's imprisonment, on which topic, if he addressed them, they were +to remain obdurately silent. They were to bring no messages to him, and +bear none from him to the world without; and they were to maintain +inviolable secrecy in regard to all that passed within the walls of the +palace, unless when otherwise permitted by the king. Carlos was provided +with a breviary and some other books of devotion; and no works except +those of a devotional character were to be allowed him.[1479]--This last +regulation seems to intimate the existence of certain heretical +tendencies in Carlos, which it was necessary to counteract by books of +an opposite character,--unless it might be considered as an ominous +preparation for his approaching end. Besides the six nobles, no one was +allowed to enter the apartment but the prince's physician, his +_barbero_, or gentleman of the chamber, and his valet. The last was +taken from the _monteros_, or body-guard of the king.[1480] There were +seven others of this faithful corps who were attached to the +establishment, and whose duty it was to bring the dishes for his table +to an outer hall, whence they were taken by the _montero_ in waiting to +the prince's chamber. A guard of twelve halberdiers was also stationed +in the passages leading to the apartment, to intercept all communication +from without. Every person employed in the service, from the highest +noble to the meanest official, made solemn oath, before the prince of +Eboli, to conform to the regulations. On this nobleman rested the whole +responsibility of enforcing obedience to the rules, and of providing for +the security of Carlos. The better to effect this, he was commanded to +remove to the palace, where apartments were assigned to him and the +princess his wife, adjoining those of his prisoner. The arrangement may +have been commended by other considerations to Philip, whose intimacy +with the princess I shall have occasion to notice hereafter.[1481] + +[Sidenote: HIS RIGOROUS CONFINEMENT.] + +The regulations, severe as they were, were executed to the letter. +Philip's aunt, the queen of Portugal, wrote in earnest terms to the +king, kindly offering herself to remain with her grandson in his +confinement, and take charge of him like a mother in his +affliction.[1482] "But they were very willing," writes the French +minister, "to spare her the trouble."[1483] The emperor and empress +wrote to express the hope that the confinement of Carlos would work an +amendment in his conduct, and that he would soon be liberated. Several +letters passed between the courts, until Philip closed the +correspondence by declaring that his son's marriage with the princess +Anne could never take place, and that he would never be liberated.[1484] + +Philip's queen, Isabella, and his sister Joanna, who seem to have been +deeply afflicted by the course taken with the prince, made ineffectual +attempts to be allowed to visit him in his confinement; and when Don +John of Austria came to the palace dressed in a mourning suit, to +testify his grief on the occasion, Philip coldly rebuked his brother, +and ordered him to change his mourning for his ordinary dress.[1485] + +Several of the great towns were prepared to send their delegates to +condole with the monarch under his affliction. But Philip gave them to +understand, that he had only acted for the good of the nation, and that +their condolence on the occasion would be superfluous.[1486] When the +deputies of Aragon, Catalonia, and Valencia were on their way to court, +with instructions to inquire into the cause of the prince's +imprisonment, and to urge his speedy liberation, they received, on the +way, so decided an intimation of the royal displeasure, that they +thought it prudent to turn back, without venturing to enter the +capital.[1487] + +In short, it soon came to be understood, that the affair of Don Carlos +was a subject not to be talked about. By degrees, it seemed to pass out +of men's minds, like a thing of ordinary occurrence. "There is as little +said now on the subject of the prince," writes the French ambassador, +Fourquevaulx, "as if he had been dead these ten years."[1488] His name, +indeed, still kept its place, among those of the royal family, in the +prayers said in the churches. But the king prohibited the clergy from +alluding to Carlos in their discourses. Nor did any one venture, says +the same authority, to criticize the conduct of the king. "So complete +is the ascendancy which Philip's wisdom has given him over his subjects, +that, willing or unwilling, all promptly obey him: and if they do not +love him, they at least appear to do so."[1489] + +Among the articles removed from the prince's chamber was a coffer, as +the reader may remember, containing his private papers. Among these were +a number of letters intended for distribution after his departure from +the country. One was addressed to his father, in which Carlos avowed +that the cause of his flight was the harsh treatment he had received +from the king.[1490] Other letters, addressed to different nobles, and +to some of the great towns, made a similar statement; and, after +reminding them of the oath they had taken to him as successor to the +crown, he promised to grant them various immunities when the sceptre +should come into his hands.[1491] With these papers was also found one +of most singular import. It contained a list of all those persons whom +he deemed friendly, or inimical to himself. At the head of the former +class stood the names of his step-mother, Isabella, and of his uncle Don +John of Austria,--both of them noticed in terms of the warmest +affection. On the catalogue of his enemies, "to be pursued to the +death," were the names of the king, his father, the prince and princess +of Eboli, Cardinal Espinosa, the duke of Alva, and others.[1492]--Such +is the strange account of the contents of the coffer given to his court +by the papal nuncio. These papers, we are told, were submitted to the +judges who conducted the process, and formed, doubtless, an important +part of the testimony against the prince. It may have been from one of +the parties concerned that the nuncio gathered his information. Yet no +member of that tribunal would have ventured to disclose its secrets +without authority from Philip; who may possibly have consented to the +publication of facts that would serve to vindicate his course. If these +facts are faithfully reported, they must be allowed to furnish some +evidence of a disordered mind in Carlos. + +[Sidenote: HIS EXCESSES.] + +The king, meanwhile, was scarcely less a prisoner than his son; for, +from the time of the prince's arrest, he had never left the palace, even +to visit his favorite residences of Aranjuez and the Prado; nor had he +passed a single day in the occupation, in which he took such delight, of +watching the rising glories of the Escorial. He seemed to be constantly +haunted by the apprehension of some outbreak among the people, or at +least among the partisans of Carlos, to effect his escape; and when he +heard any unusual noise in the palace, says his historian, he would go +to the window, to see if the tumult were not occasioned by an attempt +to release the prisoner.[1493] There was little cause for apprehension +in regard to a people so well disciplined to obedience as the Castilians +under Philip the Second. But it is an ominous circumstance for a +prisoner, that he should become the occasion of such apprehension. + +Philip, however, was not induced by his fears to mitigate in any degree +the rigor of his son's confinement, which produced the effect to have +been expected on one of his fiery, ungovernable temper. At first he was +thrown into a state bordering on frenzy, and, it is said, more than once +tried to make away with himself. As he found that thus to beat against +the bars of his prison-house was only to add to his distresses, he +resigned himself in sullen silence to his fate,--the sullenness of +despair. In his indifference to all around him, he ceased to take an +interest in his own spiritual concerns. Far from using the religious +books in his possession, he would attend to no act of devotion, refusing +even to confess, or to admit his confessor into his presence.[1494] +These signs of fatal indifference, if not of positive defection from the +Faith, gave great alarm to Philip, who would not willingly see the soul +thus perish with the body.[1495] In this emergency he employed Suarez, +the prince's almoner, who once had some influence over his master, to +address him a letter of expostulation. The letter has been preserved, +and is too remarkable to be passed by in silence. + +Suarez begins with reminding Carlos that his rash conduct had left him +without partisans or friends. The effect of his present course, instead +of mending his condition, could only serve to make it worse. "What will +the world say," continues the ecclesiastic, "when it shall learn that +you now refuse to confess; when, too, it shall discover other dreadful +things of which you have been guilty, some of which are of such a +nature, that, did they concern any other than your highness, _the Holy +Office would be led to inquire whether the author of them were in truth +a Christian_?[1496] It is in the bitterness and anguish of my heart that +I must declare to your highness, that you are not only in danger of +forfeiting your worldly estate, but, what is worse, your own soul." And +he concludes by imploring Carlos, as the only remedy, to return to his +obedience to God, and to the king, who is his representative on earth. + +But the admonitions of the honest almoner had as little effect on the +unhappy youth as the prayers of his attendants. The mental excitement +under which he labored, combined with the want of air and exercise, +produced its natural effect on his health. Every day he became more and +more emaciated; while the fever which had so long preyed on his +constitution now burned in his veins with greater fury than ever. To +allay the intolerable heat, he resorted to such desperate expedients as +seemed to intimate, says the papal nuncio, that, if debarred from laying +violent hands on himself, he would accomplish the same end in a slower +way, but not less sure. He deluged the floor with water, not a little to +the inconvenience of the companions of his prison, and walked about for +hours, half naked, with bare feet, on the cold pavement.[1497] He caused +a warming-pan filled with ice and snow to be introduced several times in +a night into his bed, and let it remain there for hours together.[1498] +As if this were not enough, he would gulp down such draughts of +snow-water as distance any achievement on record in the annals of +hydropathy. He pursued the same mad course in respect to what he ate. He +would abstain from food an incredible number of days,[1499] and then, +indulging in proportion to his former abstinence, would devour a pastry +of four partridges, with all the paste, at a sitting, washing it down +with three gallons or more of iced water![1500] + +No constitution could long withstand such violent assaults as these. The +constitution of Carlos gradually sank under them. His stomach, +debilitated by long inaction, refused to perform the extraordinary tasks +that were imposed on it. He was attacked by incessant vomiting; +dysentery set in; and his strength rapidly failed. The physician, +Olivares, who alone saw the patient, consulted with his brethren in the +apartments of Ruy Gomez.[1501] Their remedies failed to restore the +exhausted energies of nature; and it was soon evident that the days of +Charles were numbered. + +[Sidenote: HIS LAST MOMENTS.] + +To no one could such an announcement have given less concern than to +Carlos; for he had impatiently looked to death as to his release. From +this hour he seemed to discard all earthly troubles from his mind, as he +fixed his thoughts steadfastly on the future. At his own request his +confessor, Chavres and Suarez, his almoner, were summoned, and assisted +him with their spiritual consolations. The closing scenes are recorded +by the pen of the nuncio. + +"Suddenly a wonderful change seemed to be wrought by divine grace in the +heart of the prince. Instead of vain and empty talk, his language became +that of a sensible man. He sent for his confessor, devoutly confessed, +and, as his illness was such that he could not receive the host, he +humbly adored it; showing throughout great contrition, and, though not +refusing the proffered remedies, manifesting such contempt for the +things of this world, and such a longing for heaven, that one would have +said, God had reserved for this hour the sum of all his grace."[1502] + +He seemed to feel an assurance that he was to survive till the vigil of +St. James, the patron saint of his country. When told that this would be +four days later, he said, "So long will my misery endure."[1503] He +would willingly have seen his father once more before his death. But his +confessor, it is said, dissuaded the monarch, on the ground that Carlos +was now in so happy a frame of mind, that it were better not to disturb +it by drawing off his attention to worldly objects. Philip, however, +took the occasion, when Carlos lay asleep or insensible, to enter the +chamber; and, stealing softly behind the prince of Eboli and the +grand-prior, Antonio de Toledo, he stretched out his hand towards the +bed, and, making the sign of the cross, gave the parting benediction to +his dying son.[1504] + +Nor was Carlos allowed the society of his amiable step-mother, the +queen, nor of his aunt Joanna, to sweeten by their kind attentions the +bitterness of death.[1505] It was his sad fate to die, as he had lived +throughout his confinement, under the cold gaze of his enemies. Yet he +died at peace with all; and some of the last words that he uttered were +to forgive his father for his imprisonment, and the ministers--naming +Ruy Gomez and Espinosa in particular--who advised him to it.[1506] + +Carlos now grew rapidly more feeble, having scarce strength enough left +to listen to the exhortations of his confessor, and with low, indistinct +murmurings to adore the crucifix which he held constantly in his hand. +On the twenty-fourth of July, soon after midnight, he was told it was +the Vigil of St. James. Then suddenly rousing, with a gleam of joy on +his countenance, he intimated his desire for his confessor to place the +holy taper in his hand: and feebly beating his breast, as if to invoke +the mercy of Heaven on his transgressions, he fell back, and expired +without a groan.[1507]--"No Catholic," says Nobili, "ever made a more +Catholic end."[1508] + +Such is the account given us of the last hours of this most unfortunate +prince, by the papal nuncio and the Tuscan minister, and repeated with +slight discrepancies by most of the Castilian writers of that and the +following age.[1509] It is a singular circumstance, that, although we +have such full reports, both of what preceded and what followed the +death of Carlos, from the French ambassador, the portion of his +correspondence, which embraces his death has been withdrawn, whether by +accident or design, from the archives.[1510] But probably no one without +the walls of the palace had access to better sources of information than +the two ministers first mentioned, especially the papal nuncio. Their +intelligence may well have been derived from some who had been about the +person of Carlos. If so, it could not have been communicated without the +approbation of Philip, who may have been willing that the world should +understand that his son had died true to the Faith. + +A very different account of the end of Carlos is given by Llorente. And +as this writer, the secretary of the Inquisition, had access to very +important materials; and as his account, though somewhat prolix, is +altogether remarkable, I cannot pass it by in silence. + +[Sidenote: LLORENTE'S ACCOUNT.] + +According to Llorente, the process already noticed as having been +instituted against Carlos was brought to a close only a short time +before his death. No notice of it, during all this time, had been given +to the prisoner, and no counsel was employed in his behalf. By the ninth +of July the affair was sufficiently advanced for a "summary judgment." +It resulted from the evidence, that the accused was guilty of treason in +both the first and second degree,--as having endeavored to compass the +death of the king, his father, and as having conspired to usurp the +sovereignty of Flanders. The counsellor Munatones, in his report, which +he laid before the king, while he stated that the penalty imposed by the +law on every other subject for these crimes was death, added, that his +majesty, by his sovereign authority, might decide that the heir apparent +was placed by his rank above the reach of ordinary laws. And it was +further in his power to mitigate or dispense with any penalty whatever, +when he considered it for the good of his subjects.--In this judgment +both the ministers, Ruy Gomez and Espinosa, declared their concurrence. + +To this the king replied, that, though his feelings moved him to follow +the suggestions of his ministers, his conscience would not permit it. He +could not think that he should consult the good of his people by placing +over them a monarch so vicious in his disposition, and so fierce and +sanguinary in his temper, as Carlos. However agonizing it might be to +his feelings as a father, he must allow the law to take its course. Yet, +after all, he said, it might not be necessary to proceed to this +extremity. The prince's health was in so critical a state, that it was +only necessary to relax the precautions in regard to his diet, and his +excesses would soon conduct him to the tomb! One point only was +essential, that he should be so well advised of his situation that he +should be willing to confess, and make his peace with Heaven before he +died. This was the greatest proof of love which he could give to his son +and to the Spanish nation. + +Ruy Gomez and Espinosa both of them inferred from this singular +ebullition of parental tenderness, that they could not further the real +intentions of the king better than by expediting as much as possible the +death of Carlos. Ruy Gomez accordingly communicated his views to +Olivares, the prince's physician. This he did in such ambiguous and +mysterious phrase as, while it intimated his meaning, might serve to +veil the enormity of the crime from the eyes of the party who was to +perpetrate it. No man was more competent to this delicate task than the +prince of Eboli, bred from his youth in courts, and trained to a life of +dissimulation. Olivares readily comprehended the drift of his +discourse,--that the thing required of him was to dispose of the +prisoner, in such a way that his death should appear natural, and that +the honor of the king should not be compromised. He raised no scruples, +but readily signified his willingness faithfully to execute the will of +his sovereign. Under these circumstances, on the twentieth of July, a +purgative dose was administered to the unsuspecting patient, who, as may +be imagined, rapidly grew worse. It was a consolation to his father, +that, when advised of his danger, Carlos consented to receive his +confessor. Thus, though the body perished, the soul was saved.[1511] + +Such is the extraordinary account given us by Llorente, which, if true, +would at once settle the question in regard to the death of Carlos. But +Llorente, with a disingenuousness altogether unworthy of an historian in +a matter of so grave import, has given us no knowledge of the sources +whence his information was derived. He simply says, that they are +"certain secret memoirs of the time, full of curious anecdote, which, +though not possessing precisely the character of authenticity, are +nevertheless entitled to credit, as coming from persons employed in the +palace of the king!"[1512] Had the writer condescended to acquaint us +with the names, or some particulars of the characters, of his authors, +we might have been able to form some estimate of the value of their +testimony. His omission to do this may lead us to infer, that he had not +perfect confidence in it himself. At all events it compels us to trust +the matter entirely to his own discretion, a virtue which those familiar +with his inaccuracies in other matters will not be disposed to concede +to him in a very eminent degree.[1513] + +His narrative, moreover, is in direct contradiction to the authorities I +have already noticed, especially to the two foreign ministers so often +quoted, who, with the advantages--not a few--that they possessed for +obtaining correct information, were indefatigable in collecting it. "I +say nothing," writes the Tuscan envoy, alluding, to the idle rumors of +the town, "of gossip unworthy to be listened to. It is a hard thing to +satisfy the populace. It is best to stick to the truth, without caring +for the opinion of those who talk wildly of improbable matters, which +have their origin in ignorance and malice."[1514] + +Still, it cannot be denied, that suspicions of foul play to Carlos were +not only current abroad, but were entertained by persons of higher rank +than the populace at home,--where it could not be safe to utter them. +Among others, the celebrated Antonio Perez, one of the household of the +prince of Eboli, informs us, that, "as the king had found Carlos guilty, +he was condemned to death by casuists and inquisitors. But in order that +the execution of this sentence might not be brought too palpably before +the public, they mixed for four months together a slow poison in his +food."[1515] + +This statement agrees, to a certain extent, with that of a noble +Venetian, Pietro Giustiniani, then in Castile, who assured the historian +De Thou, that "Philip having determined on the death of his son, +obtained a sentence to that effect from a lawful judge. But in order to +save the honor of the sovereign, the sentence was executed in secret, +and Carlos was made to swallow some poisoned broth, of which he died +some hours afterwards."[1516] + +Some of the particulars mentioned by Antonio Perez may be thought to +receive confirmation from an account given by the French minister, +Fourquevaulx, in a letter dated about a month after the prince's arrest. +"The prince," he says, "becomes visibly thinner and more dried up; and +his eyes are sunk in his head. They give him sometimes strong soups and +capon broths, in which amber and other nourishing things are dissolved, +that he may not wholly lose his strength and fall into decrepitude. +These soups are prepared privately in the chamber of Ruy Gomez, through +which one passes into that of the prince." + +[Sidenote: VARIOUS ACCOUNTS.] + +It was not to be expected that a Castilian writer should have the +temerity to assert that the death of Carlos was brought about by +violence. Yet Cabrera, the best informed historian of the period, who, +in his boyhood, had frequent access to the house of Ruy Gomez, and even +to the royal palace, while he describes the excesses of Carlos as the +cause of his untimely end, makes some mysterious intimations, which, +without any forced construction, seem to point to the agency of others +in bringing about that event.[1517] + +Strada, the best informed, on the whole, of the foreign writers of the +period, and who, as a foreigner, had not the same motives for silence as +a Spaniard, qualifies his account of the prince's death as having taken +place in the natural-way, by saying, "if indeed he did not perish by +violence."[1518]--The prince of Orange, in his bold denunciation of +Philip, does not hesitate to proclaim him the murderer of his son.[1519] +And that inquisitive gossip-monger, Brantome, amidst the bitter jests +and epigrams which, he tells us, his countrymen levelled at Philip for +his part in this transaction, quotes the authority of a Spaniard of rank +for the assertion that, after Carlos had been condemned by his +father,--in opposition to the voice of his council,--the prince was +found dead in his chamber, smothered with a towel![1520] Indeed, the +various modes of death assigned to him are sufficient evidence of the +uncertainty as to any one of them.[1521] A writer of more recent date +does not scruple to assert, that the only liberty granted to Carlos was +that of selecting the manner of his death out of several kinds that were +proposed to him;[1522]--an incident which has since found a more +suitable place in one of the many dramas that have sprang from his +mysterious story. + +In all this the historian must admit there is but little evidence of +positive value. The authors--with the exception of Antonio Perez, who +had his account, he tells us, from the prince of Eboli--are by no means +likely to have had access to sure sources of information; while their +statements are contradictory to one another, and stand in direct +opposition to those of the Tuscan minister and of the nuncio, the latter +of whom had, probably, better knowledge of what was passing in the +councils of the monarch, than any other of the diplomatic body. Even the +declaration of Antonio Perez, so important on many accounts, is to a +considerable degree neutralized by the fact, that he was the mortal +enemy of Philip, writing in exile, with a price set upon his head by the +man whose character he was assailing. It is the hard fate of a person so +situated, that even truth from his lips fails to carry with it +conviction.[1523] + +[Sidenote: SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES.] + +If we reject his explanation of the matter, we shall find ourselves +again thrown on the sea of conjecture, and may be led to account for the +rumors of violence on the part of Philip by the mystery in which the +whole of the proceedings was involved, and the popular notion of the +character of the monarch who directed them. The same suspicious +circumstances must have their influence on the historian of the present +day, as with insufficient, though more ample light than was enjoyed by +contemporaries, he painfully endeavors to grope his way through this +obscure passage in the life of Philip. Many reflections of ominous +import naturally press upon his mind. From the first hour of the +prince's confinement it was determined, as we have seen, that he was +never to be released from it. Yet the preparations for keeping him a +prisoner were on so extraordinary a scale, and imposed such a burden on +men of the highest rank in the kingdom, as seemed to argue that his +confinement was not to be long. It is a common saying,--as old as +Machiavelli,--that to a deposed prince the distance is not great from +the throne to the grave. Carlos, indeed, had never worn a crown. But +there seemed to be the same reasons as if he had, for abridging the term +of his imprisonment. All around the prince regarded him with distrust. +The king, his father, appeared to live, as we have seen, in greater +apprehension of him after his confinement, than before.[1524] "The +ministers, whom Carlos hated," says the nuncio, "knew well that it would +be their ruin, should he ever ascend the throne."[1525] Thus, while the +fears and the interests of all seemed to tend to his removal, we find +nothing in the character of Philip to counteract the tendency. For when +was he ever known to relax his grasp on the victim once within his +power, or to betray any feeling of compunction as to sweeping away an +obstacle from his path? One has only to call to mind the long +confinement, ending with the midnight execution, of Montigny, the open +assassination of the prince of Orange, the secret assassination of the +secretary Escovedo, the unrelenting persecution of Perez, his agent in +that murder, and his repeated attempts to despatch him also by the hand +of the bravo. These are passages in the history of Philip which yet +remain to be presented to the reader, and the knowledge of which is +necessary before we can penetrate into the depths of his dark and +unscrupulous character. + +If it be thought that there is a wide difference between these deeds of +violence and the murder of a son, we must remember that, in affairs of +religion, Philip acted avowedly on the principle, that the end justifies +the means; that one of the crimes charged upon Carlos was defection from +the Faith; and that Philip had once replied to the piteous appeal of a +heretic whom they were dragging to the stake, "Were my son such a wretch +as thou art, I would myself carry the fagots to burn him!"[1526] + +But in whatever light we are to regard the death of Carlos,--whether as +caused by violence, or by those insane excesses in which he was allowed +to plunge during his confinement,--in either event the responsibility, +to a great extent, must be allowed to rest on Philip, who, if he did not +directly employ the hand of the assassin to take the life of his son, +yet by his rigorous treatment drove that son to a state of desperation +that brought about the same fatal result.[1527] + +While the prince lay in the agonies of death, scarcely an hour before he +breathed his last, a scene of a very different nature was passing in an +adjoining gallery of the palace. A quarrel arose there between two +courtiers,--one of them a young cavalier, Don Antonio de Leyva, the +other Don Diego de Mendoza, a nobleman who had formerly filled, with +great distinction, the post of ambassador at Rome. The dispute arose +respecting some _coplas_, of which Mendoza claimed to be the author. +Though at this time near sixty years old, the fiery temperament of youth +had not been cooled by age. Enraged at what he conceived an insult on +the part of his companion, he drew his dagger. The other as promptly +unsheathed his sword. Thrusts were exchanged between the parties; and +the noise of the fracas at length reached the ears of Philip himself. +Indignant at the outrage thus perpetrated within the walls of the +palace, and at such an hour, he ordered his guards instantly to arrest +the offenders. But the combatants, brought to their senses, had +succeeded in making their escape, and taken refuge in a neighboring +church. Philip was too much incensed to respect this asylum; and an +alcalde, by his command, entered the church at midnight, and dragged the +offenders from the sanctuary. Leyva was put in irons, and lodged in the +fortress of Madrid; while his rival was sent to the tower of Simancas. +"It is thought they will pay for this outrage with their lives," writes +the Tuscan minister, Nobili. "The king," he adds, "has even a mind to +cashier his guard for allowing them to escape." Philip, however, +confined the punishment of the nobles to banishment from court; and the +old courtier, Mendoza, profited by his exile to give to the world those +remarkable compositions, both in history and romance, that form an epoch +in the national literature.[1528] + +A few days before his death, Carlos is said to have made a will, in +which, after imploring his father's pardon and blessing, he commended +his servants to his care, gave away a few jewels to two or three +friends, and disposed of the rest of his property in behalf of sundry +churches and monasteries.[1529] Agreeably to his wish, his body was +wrapped in a Franciscan robe, and was soon afterward laid in a coffin +covered with black velvet and rich brocade. At seven o'clock, that same +evening, the remains of Carlos were borne from the chamber where he +died, to their place of interment.[1530] + +The coffin was supported on the shoulders of the prince of Eboli, the +dukes of Infantado and Bio Seco, and other principal grandees. In the +court-yard of the palace was a large gathering of the members of the +religious fraternities, dignitaries of the church, foreign ambassadors, +nobles and cavaliers about the court, and officers of the royal +household. There were there also the late attendants of Carlos,--to some +of whom he had borne little love,--who, after watching him through his +captivity, were now come to conduct him to his final resting-place. +Before moving, some wrangling took place among the parties on the +question of precedence. Such a spirit might well have been rebuked by +the solemn character of the business they were engaged in, which might +have reminded them, that in the grave, at least, there are no +distinctions. But the perilous question was happily settled by Philip +himself, who, from an open window of the palace, looked down on the +scene, and, with his usual composure, gave directions for forming the +procession.[1531] + +[Sidenote: HIS OBSEQUIES.] + +The king did not accompany it. Slowly it defiled through the crowded +streets, where the people gave audible utterance to their grief, as they +gazed on the funeral pomp, and their eyes fell on the bier of the +prince, who, they had fondly hoped, would one day sway the sceptre of +Castile; and whose errors, great as they were, were all forgotten in his +unparalleled misfortunes.[1532] + +The procession moved forward to the convent of San Domingo Real, where +Carlos had desired that his ashes might be laid. The burial service was +there performed, with great solemnity, in presence of the vast +multitude. But whether it was that Philip distrusted the prudence of the +preachers, or feared some audacious criticism on his conduct, no +discourse was allowed to be delivered from the pulpit. For nine days +religious services were performed in honor of the deceased; and the +office for the dead continued to be read, morning and evening, before an +audience among whom were the great nobles and the officers of state, +clad in full mourning. The queen and the princess Joanna might be seen, +on these occasions, mingling their tears with the few who cherished the +memory of Carlos. A niche was excavated in the wall of the church, +within the choir, in which the prince's remains were deposited. But they +did not rest there long. In 1573, they were removed, by Philip's orders, +to the Escorial; and in its gloomy chambers they were left to mingle +with the kindred dust of the royal line of Austria.[1533] + +Philip wrote to Zuniga, his ambassador in Rome, to intimate his wish +that no funeral honors should be paid there to the memory of Carlos, +that no mourning should be worn, and that his holiness would not feel +under the necessity of sending him letters of condolence.[1534] Zuniga +did his best. But he could not prevent the obsequies from being +celebrated with the lugubrious pomp suited to the rank of the departed. +A catafalque was raised in the church of Saint James; the services were +performed in presence of the ambassador and his attendants, who were +dressed in the deepest black; and twenty-one cardinals, one of whom was +Granvelle, assisted at the solemn ceremonies.[1535] But no funeral +panegyric was pronounced, and no monumental inscription recorded the +imaginary virtues of the deceased.[1536] + +Soon after the prince's death, Philip retired to the monastery of St. +Jerome, in whose cloistered recesses he remained some time longer +secreted from the eyes of his subjects. "He feels his loss like a +father," writes the papal nuncio, "but he bears it with the patience of +a Christian."[1537] He caused despatches to be sent to foreign courts, +to acquaint them with his late bereavement. In his letter to the duke +of Alva, he indulges in a fuller expression of his personal feelings. +"You may conceive," he says, "in what pain and heaviness I find myself, +now that it has pleased God to take my dear son, the prince, to himself. +He died in a Christian manner, after having, three days before, received +the sacrament, and exhibited repentance and contrition,--all which +serves to console me under this affliction. For I hope that God has +called him to himself, that he may be with him evermore; and that he +will grant me his grace, that I may endure this calamity with a +Christian heart and patience."[1538] + +Thus, in the morning of life, at little more than twenty-three years of +age, perished Carlos, prince of Asturias. No one of his time came into +the world under so brilliant auspices; for he was heir to the noblest +empire in Christendom; and the Spaniards, as they discerned in his +childhood some of the germs of future greatness in his character, looked +confidently forward to the day when he should rival the glory of his +grandfather, Charles the Fifth. But he was born under an evil star, +which counteracted all the gifts of fortune, and turned them into a +curse. His naturally wild and headstrong temper was exasperated by +disease; and, when encountered by the distrust and alienation of him who +had the control of his destiny, was exalted into a state of frenzy, that +furnishes the best apology for his extravagances, and vindicates the +necessity of some measures, on the part of his father, to restrain them. +Yet can those who reject the imputation of murder acquit that father of +inexorable rigor towards his child in the measures which he employed, or +of the dreadful responsibility which attaches to the consequences of +them? + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +DEATH OF ISABELLA. + +Queen Isabella.--Her Relations with Carlos.--Her Illness and Death.--Her +Character. + +1568. + + +Three months had not elapsed after the young and beautiful queen of +Philip the Second had wept over the fate of her unfortunate step-son, +when she was herself called upon to follow him to the tomb. The +occurrence of these sad events so near together, and the relations of +the parties, who had once been designed for each other, suggested the +idea that a criminal passion subsisted between them, and that, after her +lover's death, Isabella was herself sacrificed to the jealousy of a +vindictive husband. + +[Sidenote: HER RELATIONS WITH CARLOS.] + +One will in vain look for this tale of horror in the native historians +of Castile. Nor does any historian of that day, native or foreign, whom +I have consulted, in noticing the rumors of the time, cast a reproach on +the fair fame of Isabella; though more than one must be allowed to +intimate the existence of the prince's passion for his +step-mother.[1539] Brantome tells us that, when Carlos first saw the +queen, "he was so captivated by her charms, that he conceived from that +time, a mortal spite against his father, whom he often reproached for +the great wrong he had done him, in ravishing from him this fair prize." +"And this," adds the writer, "was said in part to have been the cause of +the prince's death; for he could not help loving the queen at the bottom +of his soul, as well as honoring and reverencing one who was so truly +amiable and deserving of love."[1540] He afterwards gives us to +understand that many rumors were afloat in regard to the manner of the +queen's death; and tells a story, not very probable, of a Jesuit, who +was banished to the farthest Indies, for denouncing, in his pulpit, the +wickedness of those who could destroy so innocent a creature.[1541] + +A graver authority, the prince of Orange, in his public vindication of +his own conduct, openly charges Philip with the murder of both his son +and his wife. It is to be noticed, however, that he nowhere intimates +that either of the parties was in love with the other; and he refers the +queen's death to Philip's desire to open the way to a marriage with the +Princess Anne of Austria.[1542] Yet these two authorities are the only +ones of that day, so far as I am aware, who have given countenance to +these startling rumors. Both were foreigners, far removed from the scene +of action; one of them a light, garrulous Frenchman, whose amusing +pages, teeming with the idle gossip of the court, are often little +better than a _Chronique Scandaleuse_; the other, the mortal enemy of +Philip, whose character--as the best means of defending his own--he was +assailing with the darkest imputations. + +No authority, however, beyond that of vulgar rumor, was required by the +unscrupulous writers of a later time, who discerned the capabilities of +a story like that of Carlos and Isabella, in the situations of romantic +interest which it would open to the reader. Improving on this hint, they +have filled in the outlines of the picture with the touches of their own +fancy; until the interest thus given to this tale of love and woe has +made it as widely known as any of the classic myths of early Grecian +history.[1543] + +Fortunately, we have the power, in this case, of establishing the truth +from unsuspicious evidence,--that of Isabella's own countrymen, whose +residence at the court of Madrid furnished them with ample means of +personal observation. Isabella's mother, the famous Catherine de +Medicis, associated with so much that is terrible in our imaginations, +had at least the merit of watching over her daughter's interests with +the most affectionate solicitude. This did not diminish when, at the age +of fifteen, Elizabeth of France left her own land and ascended the +throne of Spain. Catherine kept up a constant correspondence with her +daughter, sometimes sending her instructions as to her conduct, at other +times, medical prescriptions in regard to her health. She was careful +also to obtain information respecting Isabella's mode of life from the +French ambassadors at the court of Castile; and we may be quite sure +that these loyal subjects would have been quick to report any injurious +treatment of the queen by her husband. + +A candid perusal of their despatches dispels all mystery,--or rather, +proves there never was any cause for mystery. The sallow, sickly boy of +fourteen--for Carlos was no older at the time of Isabella's +marriage--was possessed of too few personal attractions to make it +probable that he could have touched the heart of his beautiful +step-mother, had she been lightly disposed. But her intercourse with him +from the first seems to have been such as naturally arose from the +relations of the parties, and from the kindness of her disposition, +which led her to feel a sympathy for the personal infirmities and +misfortunes of Carlos. Far from attempting to disguise her feelings in +this matter, she displayed them openly in her correspondence with her +mother, and before her husband and the world. + +Soon after Isabella's arrival at Madrid, we find a letter from the +bishop of Limoges to Charles the Ninth, her brother, informing him that +"his sister, on entering the palace of Madrid, gave the prince so +gracious and affectionate a reception, that it afforded singular +contentment to the king, and yet more to Carlos, as appeared by his +frequent visits to the queen,--as frequent as the etiquette of a court, +much stiffer than that of Paris, would permit."[1544] Again, writing in +the following month, the bishop speaks of the queen as endeavoring to +amuse Carlos, when he came to see her in the evening, with such innocent +games and pastimes as might cheer the spirits of the young prince, who +seemed to be wasting away under his malady.[1545] + +[Sidenote: HER RELATIONS WITH CARLOS.] + +The next year we have a letter to Catherine de Medicis from one of +Isabella's train, who had accompanied her from France. After speaking of +her mistress as sometimes supping in the garden with the Princess +Joanna, she says they were often joined there by "the prince, who loves +the queen singularly well, and, as I suspect, would have no objection to +be more nearly related to her."[1546]--There is nothing improbable in +the supposition that Carlos, grateful for kindness to which he had not +been too much accustomed, should, as he grew older, have yielded to the +influence of a princess whose sweet disposition and engaging manners +seem to have won the hearts of all who approached her; or that feelings +of resentment should have mingled with his regret, as he thought of the +hard fate which had placed a barrier between them. It is impossible, +too, when we consider the prince's impetuous temper, that the French +historian, De Thou, may have had good authority for asserting that +Carlos, "after long conversation in the queen's apartment, was often +heard, as he came out, to complain loudly of his father's having robbed +him of her."[1547] But it could have been no vulgar passion that he felt +for Isabella, and certainly it received no encouragement from her, if, +as Brantome tells us, "insolent and audacious as he was in his +intercourse with all other women, he never came into the presence of his +step-mother without such a feeling of reverence as seemed to change his +very nature." + +Nor is there the least evidence that the admiration excited by the +queen, whether in Carlos or in the courtiers, gave any uneasiness to +Philip, who seems to have reposed entire confidence in her discretion. +And while we find Isabella speaking of Philip to her mother as "so good +a husband, and rendering her so happy by his attentions, that it made +the dullest spot in the world agreeable to her,"[1548] we meet with a +letter from the French minister, Guibert, saying that "the king goes on +loving the queen more and more, and that her influence has increased +threefold within the last few months."[1549] A few years later, in 1565, +St. Sulpice, then ambassador in Madrid, writes to the queen-mother in +emphatic terms of the affectionate intercourse that subsisted between +Philip and his consort. "I can assure you, madam," he says, "that the +queen, your daughter, lives in the greatest content in the world, by +reason of the perfect friendship which ever draws her more closely to +her husband. He shows her the most unreserved confidence, and is so +cordial in his treatment of her as to leave nothing to be +desired."[1550] The writer quotes a declaration made to him by Philip, +that "the loss of his consort would be a heavier misfortune than had +ever yet befallen him."[1551] + +Nor was this an empty profession in the king, as he evinced by his +indulgence of Isabella's tastes,--even those national tastes which were +not always in accordance with the more rigid rules of Castilian +etiquette. To show the freedom with which she lived, I may perhaps be +excused for touching on a few particulars, already noticed in a previous +chapter. On her coming into the country, she was greeted with balls and +other festivities, to which she had been accustomed in the gay capital +of France. Her domestic establishment was on a scale of magnificence +suited to her station; and the old courtier, Brantome, dwells with +delight on the splendid profusion of her wardrobe, and the costly jewels +with which it was adorned. When she went abroad, she dispensed with her +veil, after the fashion of her own country, though so much at variance +with the habits of the Spanish ladies. Yet it made her a greater +favorite with the people, who crowded around her wherever she appeared, +eager to catch a glimpse of her beautiful features. She brought into the +country a troop of French ladies and waiting-women, some of whom +remained, and married in Castile. Such as returned home, she provided +with liberal dowries. To persons of her own nation she was ever +accessible,--receiving the humblest as well as the highest, says her +biographer, with her wonted benignity. With them she conversed in her +native tongue. But, in the course of three months, her ready wit had so +far mastered the Castilian, that she could make herself understood in +that language, and in a short time spoke it with elegance, though with a +slight foreign accent, not unpleasing. Born and bred among a people so +different from that with whom her lot was now cast, Isabella seemed to +unite in her own person the good qualities of each. The easy vivacity of +the French character was so happily tempered by the gravity of the +Spanish, as to give an inexpressible charm to her manners.[1552] Thus +richly endowed with the best gifts of nature and of fortune, it is no +wonder that Elizabeth of France should have been the delight of the +courtly circle over which she presided, and of which she was the +greatest ornament. + +Her gentle nature must have been much disturbed, by witnessing the wild, +capricious temper of Carlos, and the daily increasing estrangement of +his father. Yet she did not despair of reclaiming him. At least, we may +infer so from the eagerness with which she seconded her mother in +pressing the union of her sister, Catherine de Medicis' younger +daughter, with the prince. "My sister is of so excellent a disposition," +the queen said to Ruy Gomez, "that no princess in Christendom would be +more apt to moderate and accommodate herself to my step-son's humors, or +be better suited to the father, as well as the son, in their relations +with each other."[1553] But although the minister readily adopted the +queen's views in the matter, they met with little encouragement from +Philip, who, at that time, seemed more inclined to a connection with the +house of Austria. + +[Sidenote: HER ILLNESS.] + +In the preceding chapter, we have seen the pain occasioned to Isabella +by the arrest of Carlos. Although so far a gainer by it as it opened to +her own posterity the way to the succession, she wept, as the ambassador +Fourquevaulx tells us, for two days, over the misfortune of her +step-son, until forbidden by Philip to weep any longer.[1554] During his +confinement, as we have seen, she was not permitted to visit him,--not +even to soften the bitterness of his dying hour. And how much her +presence would have soothed him, at such a time, may be inferred from +the simple memorandum found among his papers, in which he assigns her +the first place among his friends, as having been ever the most loving +to him.[1555] The same affection, however we may define it, which he had +borne her from the first, he retained to the last hour of his life. All +that was now granted to Isabella was the sad consolation of joining with +the Princess Joanna, and the few friends who still cherished the memory +of Carlos, in celebrating his funeral obsequies. + +Not long after that event, it was announced that the queen was pregnant; +and the nation fondly hoped that it would find a compensation for the +loss of its rightful prince, in the birth of a new heir to the throne. +But this hope was destined soon to be destroyed. Owing to some +mismanagement on the part of the physicians, who, at an early period, +misunderstood the queen's situation, the medicines they gave her had an +injurious effect on her constitution.[1556] It is certain that Isabella +placed little confidence in the Spanish doctors, or in their +prescriptions.[1557] There may have been good ground for her distrust; +for their vigorous applications savor not a little of the Sangrado +school of practice, directed quite as much against the constitution of +the patient as against his disease. About the middle of September a +fever set in, which, though not violent, was so obstinate as to defy all +the efforts of the physicians to reduce it. More alarming symptoms soon +followed. The queen frequently swooned. Her extremities became torpid. +Medicines were of no avail, for her stomach refused to retain +them.[1558] Processions were everywhere made to the churches, and young +and old joined in prayers for her recovery. But these prayers were not +heard. The strength of Isabella continued rapidly to decline, and by the +last of September her life was despaired of. The physicians declared +that science could go no further, and that the queen's only hope must be +in Heaven.[1559]--In Heaven she had always trusted; nor was she so +wedded to the pomps and glories of the world, that she could not now +willingly resign them. + +As her ladies, many of them her countrywomen, stood weeping around her +bed, she endeavored to console them under their affliction, kindly +expressing the interest she took in their future welfare, and her regret +that she had not made them a bitter mistress;--"as if," says a +contemporary, who has left a minute record of her last moments, "she had +not been always more of a mother than a mistress to them all!"[1560] + +On the evening of the second of October, as Isabella felt herself +drawing near her end, she made her will. She then confessed, partook of +the sacrament, and, at her desire, extreme unction was administered to +her. Cardinal Espinosa and the king's confessor, the bishop of Cuenca, +who were present, while they offered her spiritual counsel and +consolation, were greatly edified by her deportment; and, giving her +their parting benediction, they went away deeply affected by the spirit +of Christian resignation which she displayed.[1561] + +Before daybreak, on the following morning, she had her last interview +with Philip. We have the account of it from Fourquevaulx. "The queen +spoke to her husband very naturally," says the ambassador, "and like a +Christian. She took leave of him for ever, and never did princess show +more goodness and piety. She commended to him her two daughters, and her +principal attendants, beseeching him to live in amity with the king of +France, her brother, and to maintain peace,--with other discourse, which +could not fail to touch the heart of _a good husband, which the king was +to her_. He showed, in his replies, the same composure as she did, and +promised to obey all her requests, but added, he did not think her end +so near. He then withdrew,--as I was told,--in great anguish, to his own +chamber."[1562] Philip sent a fragment of the true cross, to comfort his +wife in her last moments. It was the most precious of his relics, and +was richly studded with pearls and diamonds.[1563] Isabella fervently +kissed the sacred relic, and held it, with the crucifix, in her hand, +while she yet lived. + +Not long after the interview with her husband, the ambassador was +summoned to her bedside. He was the representative of her native land, +and of the dear friends there she was never more to see. "She knew me," +writes Fourquevaulx, "and said, 'You see me in the act of quitting this +vain world, to pass to a more pleasant kingdom; there, as I hope, to be +for ever with my God. Tell my mother, the queen, and the king, my +brother, to bear my death with patience, and to comfort themselves with +the reflection, that no happiness on earth has ever made me so content, +as the prospect now does of approaching my Creator. I shall soon be in a +better situation to do them service, and to implore God to take them and +my brothers under his holy protection. Beseech them, in my name, to +watch over their kingdom, that an end may be put to the heresies which +have spread there. And I will pray Heaven, in its mercy, to grant that +they may take my death with patience, and hold me for happy.'"[1564] + +The ambassador said a few words of comfort, endeavoring to give her, if +possible, some hopes of life. But she answered, "You will soon know how +near I am to my end. God has given me grace to despise the world and its +grandeur, and to fix all my hopes on him and Jesus Christ. Never did a +thought occasion me less anxiety than that of death." + +[Sidenote: HER OBSEQUIES.] + +"She then listened to the exhortations of her confessor, remaining in +full possession of her consciousness, till a few minutes before her +death. A slight restlessness seemed to come over her, which soon +subsided, and she expired so tranquilly that it was impossible to fix +the moment when she gave up the ghost. Yet she opened her eyes once, +bright and glancing, and it seemed as if she would address me some +further commands,--at least, her looks were fixed on me."[1565] + +Not long before Isabella's death, she was delivered of a daughter. Its +birth was premature, and it lived only to be baptized. The infant was +laid in the same coffin with its mother; and, that very evening, their +remains were borne in solemn procession to the royal chapel.[1566] The +tolling of the bells in the churches and monasteries throughout the city +announced the sad tidings to the people, who filled the air with their +cries, making everywhere the most passionate demonstrations of +grief;[1567] for the queen, says Brantome, "was regarded by them not +merely with feelings of reverence, but of idolatry."[1568] + +In the chapel were gathered together whatever was illustrious in the +capital,--the high ecclesiastics, and the different religious bodies, +the grandees and cavaliers of the court, and the queen's ladies of +honor. At the head of these stood the duchess of Alva, the mistress of +the robes, with the duchess of Feria--an English lady, married to the +Spanish ambassador at the court of Mary Tudor--and the princess of +Eboli, a name noted in history. The coffin of the deceased queen, +covered with its gorgeous pall of brocade, was placed on a scaffold +shrouded in black, and surrounded with numerous silver sconces bearing +wax tapers, that shed a gloomy lustre over the scene.[1569] The services +were performed amidst the deepest stillness of the audience, unless when +broken by the wailings of the women, which mingled in sad harmony with +the chant of the priests and the sweet and solemn music that accompanied +the office for the dead.[1570] + +Early on the following morning the coffin was opened in presence of the +duchess of Alva and the weeping ladies of her train, who gazed for the +last time on features still beautiful in death.[1571] The duchess then +filled the coffin with flowers and sweet-scented herbs; and the remains +of mother and child were transported by the same sorrowing company to +the convent of the barefooted Carmelites. Here they reposed till the +year 1573, when they were borne, with the remains of Carlos, to the +stately mausoleum of the Escorial; and the populace, as they gazed on +the funeral train, invoked the name of Isabella as that of a +saint.[1572] + +In the course of the winter, Cardinal Guise arrived from France with +letters of condolence from Charles the Ninth to his royal +brother-in-law. The instructions to the cardinal do not infer any +distrust, on the part of the French monarch, as to the manner of his +sister's death. The more suspicious temper of the queen-mother, +Catherine de Medicis, is seen in her directions to Fourquevaulx to find +out what was said on the subject of her daughter's death, and to report +it to her.[1573]--It does not seem that the ambassador gathered any +information of consequence, to add to his former details. + +Philip himself may have had in his mind the possible existence of such +suspicions, when he told the cardinal that "his best consolation for his +loss was derived from his reflection on the simple and excellent life of +the queen. All her attendants, her ladies and maids, knew how well he +had treated her, as was sufficiently proved by the extraordinary sorrow +which he felt at her death. Hereupon," continues the cardinal, "he broke +forth into a panegyric on her virtues, and said, were he to choose +again, he could wish nothing better than to find just such +another."[1574]--It was not long before Philip made the attempt. In +eighteen months from the date of his conversation with the cardinal, the +thrice-widowed husband led to the altar his fourth and last wife, Anne +of Austria,--like her predecessor, as we have seen, the destined bride +of his son. The facility with which her imperial parents trusted the +young princess to the protection of Philip maybe thought to intimate +pretty clearly that they, at least, had no misgivings as to the king's +treatment of his former wife. + +Isabella, at her decease, was but twenty-three years of age, eight of +which she had been seated on the throne of Spain. She left two children, +both daughters;--Catherine, afterwards married to the duke of Savoy; and +Clara Eugenia, who became with her husband, the Archduke Albert, joint +ruler of the Netherlands, and who seems to have enjoyed a greater share +of both the love and the confidence of Philip, than he ever vouchsafed +to any other being. + +Such is the story of Queen Isabella, stripped of the coloring of +romance, for which, in truth, it has been quite as much indebted to the +pen of the historian as to that of the poet. From the whole account, it +appears, that, if Carlos, at any time, indulged a criminal passion for +his step-mother, such a passion was never requited or encouraged by +Isabella, who seems to have felt for him only the sentiments that were +justified by their connection, and by the appeal which his misfortunes +made to her sympathy. Notwithstanding some feelings of resentment, not +unnatural, when, in the words of Brantome, "he had been defrauded of so +fair a prize," there is yet little evidence that the prince's passion +for her rose higher than the sentiments of love and gratitude which her +kindness might well have awakened in an affectionate nature.[1575] And +that such, with all his errors, was the nature Carlos, is shown, among +other examples, by his steady attachment to Don John of Austria, his +uncle, and by his devotion to his early preceptor, the bishop of Osma. + +[Sidenote: HER CHARACTER.] + +There is no proof that Philip was, at any time, displeased with the +conduct of his queen, or that he regarded his son in the light of a +rival. Least of all is there anything in the history of the time to show +that he sacrificed his wife to his jealousy.[1576] The contrary is well +established by those of her own countrymen who had free access to her +during her lifetime,--some of them in the hour of her death,--whose +correspondence with her family would not have failed to intimate their +suspicions, had there been anything to suspect. + +Well would it be for the memory of Philip the Second, could the +historian find no heavier sin to lay to his charge than his treatment of +Isabella. From first to last, he seems to have regarded her with the +indulgence of an affectionate husband. Whether she ever obtained such an +ascendancy over his close and cautious nature as to be allowed to share +in his confidence and his counsels, may well be doubted. Her temper +would seem to have been too gentle, too devoid of worldly ambition, to +prompt her to meddle with affairs for which she was fitted neither by +nature nor education. Yet Brantome assures us, that she exercised a most +salutary influence over her lord in his relations with France, and that +the value of this influence was appreciated in later times, when the +growing misunderstandings between the two courts were left to rankle, +without any friendly hand to heal them.[1577] "Her death," he continues, +"was as bitter to her own nation as it was to the Spaniards; and if the +latter called her 'the Queen of Peace and Goodness,' the former with no +less reason styled her 'the Olive-branch.'"[1578] "But she has passed +away," he exclaims, "in the sweet and pleasant April of her age,--when +her beauty was such that it seemed as if it might almost defy the +assaults of time."[1579] + +The queen occupies an important place in that rich gallery of portraits +in which Brantome has endeavored to perpetuate the features of his +contemporaries. In no one of them has he traced the lineaments with a +more tender and delicate hand. Even the breath of scandal has had no +power to dim the purity of their expression. Of all that illustrious +company which the artist has brought in review before the eyes of +posterity, there is no one to whom he has so truly rendered the homage +of the heart, as to Elizabeth of France. + +But from these scenes of domestic sorrow, it is time that we should turn +to others of a more stirring and adventurous character. + +END OF VOLS. I. AND II. + +LONDON C. WHITING, BEAUFORT-HOUSE, DUKE-STREET, LINCOLN'S-INN-FIELDS. + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] It is gratifying to learn that before long such a history may be +expected,--if, indeed, it should not appear before the publication of +this work,--from the pen of our accomplished countryman, Mr. J. Lothrop +Motley, who, during the last few years, for the better prosecution of +his labors, has established his residence in the neighborhood of the +scenes of his narrative. No one acquainted with the fine powers of mind +possessed by this scholar, and the earnestness with which he has devoted +himself to his task, can doubt that he will do full justice to his +important, but difficult subject. + +[2] "Post annum aetatis quinquagesimum, prementitras morbis, tantopere +negotiorum odium cepit, ut diutius interdum nec se adiri aut conveniri +praeterquam ab intimis pateretur, nec libellis subscribere animum +induceret, _non sine suspicione mentis imminutae_; itaque constat novem +mensibus nulli nec libello nec diplomati subscripsisse, quod cum magno +incommodo reipublicae populariumque dispendio fiebat, cum a tot +nationibus, et quibusdam longissime jus inde poteretur, et certe summa +negotia ad ipsum fere rejicerentur." (Sepulvedae Opera, (Matriti, 1780,) +vol. II. p. 539.) The author, who was in the court at the time, had +frequent access to the royal presence, and speaks, therefore, from +personal observation. + +[3] A minute account of this imposing ceremony is to be found in a MS. +in the Archives of Simancas, now published in the Coleccion de +Documentos Ineditos para la Historia de Espana, (Madrid, 1845,) tom. +VII. p. 534 et seq. + +An official report of these proceedings, prepared by order of the +government, and preserved at Brussels, in the Archives du Royaume, has +been published by M. Gachard in his valuable collection, Analectes +Belgiques, (Paris, 1830,) pp. 75-81. + +[4] A copy of the original deed of abdication was preserved among the +papers of Cardinal Granvelle, at Besancon, and is incorporated in the +valuable collection of documents published by order of the French +government under the direction of the learned Weiss, Papiers d'Etat du +Cardinal de Granvelle, d'apres les Manuscrits de la Bibliotheque de +Besancon, (Paris, 1843,) tom. IV. p. 486. + +[5] It is strange that the precise date of an event of such notoriety as +the abdication of Charles the Fifth should be a matter of discrepancy +among historians. Most writers of the time assign the date mentioned in +the text, confirmed moreover by the Simancas MS. above cited, the author +of which enters into the details of the ceremony with the minuteness of +an eye-witness. + +[6] "Erat Carolus statura mediocri, sed brachiis et cruribus crassis +compactisque, et roboris singularis, ceteris membris proportione +magnoque commensu respondentibus, colore albus, crine barbaque ad flavum +inclinante; facie liberali, nisi quod mentum prominens et parum +cohaerentia labra nonnihil eam deturpabant." Sepulvedae Opera, vol. II. p. +527. + +[7] The speech is given, with sufficient conformity, by two of the +persons who heard it;--a Flemish writer, whose MS., preserved in the +Archives du Royaume, has lately been published by Gachard, in the +Analectes Belgiques (p. 87); and Sir John Mason, the British minister at +the court of Charles, who describes the whole ceremony in a +communication to his government, (The Order of the Cession of the Low +Countries to the King's Majesty, MS.) The historian Sandoval also gives +a full report of the speech, on the authority of one who heard it. +Historia de la Vida y Hechos del Emperador Carlos V., (Amberes, 1681,) +tom. II. p. 599. + +[8] Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. pp. 597-599.--Leti, Vita del +Catolico Re Filippo II., (Coligni, 1679,) tom. I. pp. 240-242.--Vera y +Figueroa, Epitome de la Vida y Hechos del invicto Emperador Carlos +Quinto, (Madrid, 1649,) pp. 119, 120. + +Sir John Mason thus describes the affecting scene:--"And here he broke +into a weeping, whereunto, besides the dolefulness of the matter, I +think he was much provoked by seeing the whole company to do the like +before, being, in mine opinion, not one man in the whole assembly, +stranger or other, that during the time of a good piece of his oration +poured not out abundantly tears, some more, some less. And yet he prayed +them to bear with his imperfection, proceeding of sickly age, and of the +mentioning of so tender a matter as the departing from such a sort of +dear and most loving subjects."--The Order of the Cession of the Low +Countries to the King's Majesty, MS. + +[9] The date of this renunciation is also a subject of disagreement +among contemporary historians, although it would seem to be settled by +the date of the instrument itself, which is published by Sandoval, in +his Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. pp. 603-606. + +[10] Lanz, Correspondenz des Kaisers Karl V., B. III. s. 708. + +Five years before this period Charles had endeavored to persuade +Ferdinand to relinquish to Philip the pretensions which, as king of the +Romans, he had to the empire. This negotiation failed, as might have +been expected. Ferdinand was not weary of the world; and Charles could +offer no bribe large enough to buy off an empire. See the account given +by Marillac, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, (London, +1835, Eng. trans.,) vol. I. p. 28 et seq. + +[11] "Favor sin duda del Cielo," says Sandoval, who gives quite a +miraculous air to the event, by adding that the emperor's vessel +encountered the brunt of the storm, and foundered in port. (Hist. de +Carlos V., tom. II. p. 607.) But this and some other particulars told by +the historian of Charles's landing, unconfirmed as they are by a single +eye-witness, may be reckoned among the myths of the voyage. + +[12] The last of Philip's letters, dated September 8, is given entire in +the MS. of Don Tomas Gonzales, (Retiro, Estancia, y Muerte del Emperador +Carlos Quinto en el Monasterio de Yuste,) which forms the basis of +Mignet's interesting account of Charles the Fifth. + +[13] Among other disappointments was that of not receiving four thousand +ducats which Joanna had ordered to be placed at the emperor's +disposition on his landing. This appears from a letter of the emperor's +secretary, Gaztelu, to Vazquez de Molina, October 6, 1556. "El emperador +tovo por cierto que llegado aqui, hallaria los cuatro mil ducados que el +rey le dijo habia mandado proveer, y visto que no se ha hecho, me ha +mandado lo escribiese luego a Vuestra Merced, para que se haya, porque +son mucho menester." MS. + +[14] Sandoval makes no allusion to the affair, which rests on the report +of Strada, (De Bello Belgico (Antverpiae, 1640,) tom. I. p. 12,) and of +Cabrera,--the latter, as one of the royal household and the +historiographer of Castile, by far the best authority. In the narration +he does not spare his master. "En Jarendilla ameno lugar del Conde de +Oropesa, espero treinta dias treinta mil escudos con que pagar y +dispedir sus criados que llegaron con tarda provision y mano; terrible +tentacion para no dar todo su aver antes de la muerte." Filipe Segundo +Rey de Espana, (Madrid, 1619,) lib. II. cap. 11. + +The letters from Jarandilla at this time show the embarrassments under +which the emperor labored from want of funds. His exchequer was so low, +indeed, that on one occasion he was obliged to borrow a hundred reals +for his ordinary expenses from his major-domo. "Los ultimos dos mil +ducados que trujo el criado de Hernando Ochoa se han acabo, porque +cuando llegaron, se debian ya la mitad, de manera que no tenemos un real +para el gasto ordinario, que para socorrer hoy he dado yo cien reales, +ni se sabe de donde haberlo." Carta de Luis Quixada a Juan Vazquez, ap. +Gachard, Retraite et Mort de Charles-Quint, (Bruxelles, 1554,) tom. I. +p. 76. + +[15] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 1.--Vanderhammen, Don Felipe +el Prudente, (Madrid, 1625,) p. 1.--Breve Compendio de la Vida Privada +del Rey D. Felipe Segundo atribuido a Pedro Mateo Coronista mayor del +Reyno de Francia, MS.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 69 et seq. + +"Andauano sussurando per le strade, cauando da questa proibitione di +solennita pronostici di cattivi augurii; gli vni diceuano, che questo +Prencipe doueua esser causa di grandi afflittione alla Chiesa; gli +altri; Che cominciando a nascere colle tenebre, non poteua portar che +ombra alla Spagna." Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 73. + +[16] Ibid., tom. I. p. 74.--Noticia de los Ayos y Maestros de Felipe +Segundo y Carlos su Hijo, MS. + +"Et passo i primi anni et la maggior parte dell'eta sua in quel regno, +onde per usanza del paese, et per la volanta della madre che era di +Portogallo fu allevato con quella riputatione et con quel rispetto che +parea convenirsi ad un figliuolo del maggior Imperatore che fosse mai +fra Christiani." Relatione di Spagna del Cavaliere Michele Soriano, +Ambasciatore al Re Filipo, MS. + +[17] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap 1.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., +tom. I. p. 97--Noticia de los Ayos, MS.--Relatione di Michele Soriano, +MS.--Relatione di Federico Badoaro, MS. + +Charles's letter, of which I have a manuscript copy, has been published +in the Seminario Erudito, (Madrid, 1778,) tom. XIV. p. 156 et seq. + +[18] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap 1. + +[19] Florez, Memorias de las Reynas Catholicas, (Madrid, 1770,) tom. II. +p. 869. + +[20] Ibid., tom. II. p. 877. + +[21] "Tomo la posta vestido en luto come viudo," says Sandoval, Hist. de +Carlos Quinto, tom. II. p. 285. + +[22] The letter is given by Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 2. + +[23] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 2.--Leti, Vita di Filippo +II., tom. I. p. 132.--Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos Quinto, tom. II. p. 299 +et seq.--Breve Compendio, MS.--Charles's letter, in the Seminario +Erudito, tom. XIV. p. 156. + +[24] Florez, Reynas Catolicas, tom. II. pp. 883-889.--Cabrera, Filipe +Segundo, lib. I. cap. 2.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. +142.--Breve Compendio, MS.--Relazione Anonimo, MS. + +For the particulars relating to the wedding, I am chiefly indebted to +Florez, who was as minute in his account of court pageants as any master +of ceremonies. + +[25] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 2.--Leti, Vita di Filippo +II., tom. L pp. 166, 185 et seq.--Sepulvedae Opera, vol. II. p. 346. + +[26] "Non rispose che in sensi ambigui circa al punto essenziale, ma +molto ampi ne'complimenti." Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I, p. 189. + +[27] Estrella, El Felicissimo Viaje del Principe Don Phelipe desde +Espana a sus Tierras de la Baxa Alemania, (Anveres, 1552,) pp. 1-21, +32.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 190.--Breve Compendio. MS. + +[28] "Sua altezza si trova hora in XXIII. anni, di complessione +delicatissima e di statura minore che mediocre, nella faccia simiglia +assai al Padre e nel mento." Relatione del Clarissimo Monsig. Marino +Cavallo tornato Ambasciatore del Imperatore Carlo Quinto l'anno 1551, +MS. + +"Et benche sia picciola di persona, e pero cosi ben fatto et con ogni +parte del corpo cosi ben proportionato et corrispondente al tutti, et +veste con tanta politezza et con tanto giudicio che non si puo vedere +cosa piu perfetta." Relatione di Michele Soriano, MS. + +[29] Marino Cavallo, the ambassador at the imperial court, who states +the facts mentioned in the text, expresses a reasonable doubt whether +Philip, with all his training, would ever equal his father: "Nelle cose +d'importanza, facendolo andare l'imperatore ogni giornio per due o tre +hore nella sua camera, parte in Consiglio et parte per ammaestrarlo da +solo a solo, dicesi che fin hora a fatto profitto assai, et da speranza +di proceder piu oltre, ma la grandezza di suo padre et l'esser nato +grande et non haver fin qui provato travaglio alcuno, non lo fara mai +comparirse a gran giunta eguale all'Imperatore." Relatione di Marino +Cavallo, MS. + +[30] This is the work by Estrella already quoted, (El Felicissimo Viage +del Principe Don Phelipe,)--the best authority for this royal progress. +The work, which was never reprinted, has now become extremely rare. + +[31] Take the following samples, the former being one of the +inscriptions at Arras, the latter, one over the gate of Dordrecht:-- + +"Clementia firmabitur thronus ejus." "Te duce libertas tranquilla pace +beabit." + + +[32] "Assi fueron a palacio siendo ya casi la media noche, quando se +vuieron apeado muy contentos de la fiesta y Vanquete que la villa les +hiziera." Estrella, Viage del Principe Phelipe, p. 73. + +[33] "Ictum accepit in capite galeaque tam vehementem, ut vecors ac +dormienti similis parumper invectus ephippio delaberetur, et in caput +armis superiorem corporis partem gravius deprimentibus caderet. Itaque +semianimis pulvere spiritum intercludente jacuit, donec a suis +sublevatus est." Sepulvedae Opera, vol. II. p. 381. + +[34] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 24. + +Von Raumer's abstract of the MSS. in the Royal Library at Paris contains +some very curious particulars of the illustration of the reigns both of +Charles the Fifth and of Philip. + +[35] "E S.M. di complessione molto delicata, et per questo vive sempre +con regola, usando per l'ordinario cibi di gran nodrimento, lasciando i +pesci, frutti et simili cose che generano cattivi humori; dorme molto, +fa pero essercitio, et i suoi trattenimenti domestici sono tutti quieti; +et benche nell'essercitio habbi mostrato un poco di prontezza et di +vivacita, pero si vede che ha sforzato la natura, la quale inclina piu +alla quiete che all'essercitio, piu al reposo che al travaglio." +Relatione di Michele Soriano, MS. + +[36] "Rarissime volte va fuora in Campagna, ha piacere di starsi in +Camera, co suoi favoriti, a ragionare di cose private; et se tall'hora +l'Imperatore lo manda in visita, si scusa per godere la solita quiete." +Relatione di Marino Cavallo, MS. + +[37] "Pare che la natura l'habbia fatto atto con la familiarita e +domestichezza a gratificare a Flammenghi et Borgognoni, con l'ingegno et +prudentia a gl'Italiani, con la riputatione et severita alli Spagnuoli; +vedendo hora in suo figliulo altrimente sentono non picciolo dispiacere +di questo cambio." Ibid. MS. + +[38] "Philippus ipse Hispaniae desiderio magnopere aestuabat, nec aliud +quam Hispaniam loquebatur." Sepulvedae Opera, vol. II. p. 401. + +[39] "Si fa giudicio, che quando egli succedera al governo delli stati +suoi debba servirsi in tutto et per delli ministri Spagnuoli, alla qual +natione e inclinato piu di quello, che si convenga a prencipe, che +voglia dominare a diverse." Relatione di Marino Cavallo, MS. + +[40] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 3.--Leti, Vita di Filippo +II., tom. I. pp. 195-198.--Sepulvedae Opera, vol. II. pp. +399-401.--Marillac, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, +vol. I. p. 28 et seq. + +[41] Marillac, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. +p. 30. + +[42] Ranke, Ottoman and Spanish Empires in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth +Centuries, (Eng. trans., London, 1843,) p. 31. + +[43] "Da cosi fatta educatione ne segui quando S. M. usci la prima volta +da Spagna, et passo per Italia et per Germania in Fiandra, lascio +impressione da per tutto che fosse d'animo severo et intrattabile; et +pero fu poco grato a Italiani, ingratissimo a Fiamenghi et a Tedeschi +odioso." Relatione di Michele Soriano, MS. + +[44] Marillac, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. +p. 32. + +See also the characteristic letter of Charles to his sister, the regent +of the Netherlands, (December 16, 1550,) full of angry expressions +against Ferdinand for his ingratitude and treachery. The scheme, +according to Charles's view of it, was calculated for the benefit of +both parties,--"_ce que convenoit pour establir noz maisons_." Lanz, +Correspondenz des Kaisers Karl V., (Leipzig, 1846,) B. III. p. 18. + +[45] A copy of the instrument containing this agreement, dated March 9, +1551, is preserved in the archives of Belgium. See Mignet, +Charles-Quint, p. 42, note. + +[46] Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 199.--Memorial et Recueil des +Voyages du Roi des Espagnes, escript par le Controleur de Sa Majeste, +MS. + +[47] The letter, of which I have a manuscript copy, taken from one in +the rich collection of Sir Thomas Phillips, is published at length by +Sandoval, in his Hist. de Carlos V., where it occupies twelve pages +folio. Tom. II. p. 475 et seq. + +[48] "Quanto alla religione, sia certa V'ra Senta che ogni cosa puo in +loro l'essempio et l'autorita del Principe, che in tanto gl'Inglesi +stimano la religione, et si muovono per essa, in quanto sodisfanno +all'obligo de'sudditi verso il Principe, vivendo com'ci vive, credendo +cioche ei crede, et finalmente facendo tutto quel che comanda +conservirsene, piu per mostra esteriore, per non incorrere in sua +disgratia, che per zelo interiore; perche il medesimo faciano della +Maumettana o della Giudea, pur che 'l Re mostrasse di credere, et +volesse cosi; et s'accommodariano a tutte, ma a quella piu facilmente +dalla quale sperassero o ver'maggior licentia et liberta, di vivere, o +vero qualche utile." Relatione del Clarissimo M. Giovanni Micheli, +ritornato Ambasciatore alla Regina d'Inghilterra l'anno 1557, MS. + +[49] Soriano notices the courteous bearing and address of his countryman +Micheli as rendering him universally popular at the courts where he +resided. "Il Michiel e gratissimo a tutti fino al minore, per la +dimestichezza che havea con grandi, et per la dolcezza et cortesia che +usava con gl'altri, et per il guidicio che mostrava con tutti." +Relatione di Michele Soriano, MS. Copies of Micheli's interesting +Relation are to be found in different public libraries of Europe; among +others, in the collection of the Cottonian MSS., and of the Lansdowne +MSS., in the British Museum; and in the Barberini Library, at Rome. The +copy in my possession is from the ducal library at Gotha. Sir Henry +Ellis, in the Second Series of his "Original Letters," has given an +abstract of the Cottonian MS. + +[50] This agrees with the Lansdowne MS. The Cottonian, as given by Sir +Henry Ellis, puts the population at 150,000. + +[51] "Essendo cavalli deboli, et di poca lena, nutriti solo d'erba, +vivendo como la pecore, et tutti gli altri animali, per la temperie +dell'aere da tutti i tempi ne i pascoli a la campagna, non possono +far'gran'pruove, ne sono tenuti in stima." Relatione di Gio. Micheli, +MS. + +[52] "Non solo non sono in essere, ma non pur si considerano gravezze di +sorte alcuna, non di sale, non di vino o de bira, non di macina, non di +carne, non di far pane, et cose simili necessarie al vivere, che in +tutti gli altri luoghi d'Italia specialmente, et in Fiandra, sono di +tanto maggior utile, quanto e piu grande il numero dei sudditi che le +consumano." Ibid. MS. + +[53] "Si come servi et sudditi son quelli che v'intervengono, cosi servi +et sudditi son l'attione che si trattano in essi." Ibid. MS. + +[54] "E donna di statura piccola, piu presta che mediocre; e di persona +magra et delicata, dissimile in tutto al padre, che fu grande et grosso; +et alla madre, che se non era grande era pero massiccia; et ben formata +di faccia, per quel che mostrano le fattezze et li lineamenti che si +veggono da i ritratti, quando era piu giovane, non pur'tenuta honesta, +ma piu che mediocremente bella; al presente se li scoprono qualche +crespe, causate piu da gli affanni che dall'eta, che la mostrano +attempata di qualche anni di piu." Ibid. MS. + +[55] "Quanto se li potesse levare delle bellezze del corpo, tanto con +verita, et senza adulatione, se li puo aggiunger'di quelle del animo, +perche oltra la felicita et accortezza del ingegno, atto in capir tutto +quel che possa ciascun altro, dico fuor del sesso suo, quel che in una +donna parera maraviglioso, e instrutta di cinque lingue, le quali non +solo intende, ma quattro ne parla speditamente; questi sono altre la sua +materna et naturale inglese, la franzese, la spagnola, et l'italiana." +Ibid. MS. + +[56] "E in tutto coragiosa, et cosi resoluta, che per nessuna adversita, +ne per nessun pericolo nel qual si sia ritrovata, non ha mai pur +mostrato, non che commesso atto alcuno di vilta ne di pusillanimita; ha +sempre tenuta una grandezza et dignita mirabile, cosi ben conoscendo +quel che si convenga al decoro del Re, come il piu consummato +consigliero che ella habbia; in tanto che dal procedere, et dalle +maniere che da tenuto, et tiene tuttavia, non si puo negare, che non +mostri d'esser nata di sangue veramente real." Ibid. MS. + +[57] "Della qual humilita, pieta, et religion sua, non occorre +ragionare, ne renderne testimonio, perche son da tutti non solo +conosciute, ma sommamente predicate con le prove.... Fosse come un debol +lume combattuto da gran venti per estinguerlo del tutto, ma sempre +tenuto vivo, et difeso della sua innocentia et viva fede, accioche +havesse a risplender nel modo che hora fa." Ibid. MS. + +[58] Burnet, History of the Reformation, (Oxford, 1816,) vol. II. part +ii. p. 557. + +[59] Strype, Memorials, (London, 1721,) vol. III. p. 93. + +[60] "Non si scopri mai congiura alcuna, nella quale, o giusta o +ingiustamente, ella non sia nominata.... Ma la Regina sforza quando seno +insieme di riceverla in publico con ogni sorte d'humanita et d'honore, +ne mai gli parla, se non di cosa piacevole." Relatione di Gio. Micheli. +MS. + +[61] Hall, Chronicle, (London, 1809,) pp. 692, 711.--Sepulvedae Opera, +vol. II. pp. 46-48. + +Sepulveda's account of the reign of Mary becomes of the more authority +from the fact that he submitted this portion of his history to the +revision of Cardinal Pole, as we learn from one of his epistles to that +prelate. Opera, tom. III. p. 309. + +[62] Yet the emperor seems to have written in a somewhat different style +to his ambassador at the English court. "Desfaillant la force pour +donner assistance a nostre-dicte cousine comme aussy vous scavez qu'elle +deffault pour l'empeschement que l'on nous donne du coustel de France, +nous ne veons aulcun apparent moyen pour assheurer la personne de +nostre-dicte cousine." L'Empereur a ses Ambassadeurs en Angleterre, 11 +juillet, 1553, Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. IV, p. 25. + +[63] Charles, in a letter to his ambassador in London, dated July 22, +1553, after much good counsel which he was to give Queen Mary, in the +emperor's name, respecting the government of her kingdom, directs him to +hint to her that the time had come when it would be well for the queen +to provide herself with a husband, and if his advice could be of any use +in the affair, she was entirely welcome to it. "Et aussy lui direz-vous +qu'il sera besoin que pour etre seustenue audit royaulme, emparee et +deffendue, mesmes en choses que ne sont de la profession de dames, il +sera tres-requis que tost elle prenne party de mariaige avec qui il luy +semblera estre plus convenable, tenant regard a ce que dessus; et que +s'il lui plait nous faire part avant que s'y determiner, nous ne +fauldrons de, avec la sincerite de l'affection que lui portons, luy +faire entendre liberalement, sur ce qu'elle voudra mettre en avant, +nostre advis, et de l'ayder et favoriser en ce qu'elle se determinera." +L'Empereur a ses Ambassadeurs en Angleterre, 22 juillet, 1553, Ibid., p. +56. + +[64] Granvelle, who owed no good-will to the minister for the part which +he afterwards took in the troubles of Flanders, frequently puns on +Kenard's name, which he seems to have thought altogether significant of +his character. + +[65] "Quant a Cortenay, vous pourriez bien dire, pour eviter au propoz +mencionne en voz lettres, que l'on en parle, pour veoir ce qu'elle dira; +mais gardez-vous de luy tout desfaire et mesmes qu'elle n'aye descouvert +plus avant son intention; car si elle y avoit fantasie, elle ne layroit +(si elle est du naturel des aultres femmes) de passer oultre, et si se +ressentiroit a jamais de ce que vous luy en pourries avoir dit. Bien luy +pourries-vous toucher des commoditez plus grandes que pourroit recepvoir +de mariaige estrangier, sans trop toucher a la personne ou elle pourroit +avoir affection." L'Eveque d'Arras a Renard. 14 aout, 1553, Ibid., p. +77. + +[66] "Quant je luy fiz l'ouverture de mariaige, elle se print a rire, +non une foys ains plusieurs foys, me regardant d'un oeil signifiant +l'ouverture luy estre fort aggreable, me donnant assez a cognoistre +qu'elle ne taichoit ou desiroit mariaige d'Angleterre." Renard a +l'Eveque d'Arras, 15 aout, 1558, Ibid., p. 78. + +[67] "Et, sans attendre la fin de ces propoz, elle jura que jamais elle +n'avoit senti esguillon de ce que l'on appelle amor, ny entre en +pensement de volupte, et qu'elle n'avoit jamais pense a mariaige sinon +depuys que a pieu a Dieu la promovoir a la couronne, et que celluy +qu'elle fera sera contre sa propre affection, pour le respect de la +chose publicque; qu'elle se tient toute assuree sa majeste aura +consideration a ce qu'elle m'a dict et qu'elle desire l'obeir et +complaire en tout et par tout comme son propre pere; qu'elle n'oseroit +entrer en propoz de mariaige avec ceulx de son conseil, que fault, le +cas advenant, que vienne de la meute de sa majeste." Renard a l'Eveque +d'Arras, 8 septembre, 1553, Ibid., p. 98. + +[68] "Vous la pourrez asseurer que, si nous estions en caige et +disposition telle qu'il conviendroit, et que jugissions que de ce peut +redonder le bien de ses affaires, nous ne vouldrions choysir aultre +party en ce monde plus tost que de nous alier nous-mesmes avec elle, et +seroit bien celle que nous pourrait donner austant de satisfaction." +L'Empereur a Renard, 20 septembre, 1553, Ibid., p. 112. + +[69] Ibid., pp. 108-116. + +Simon Renard, the imperial ambassador at this time at the English court, +was a native of Franche Comte, and held the office of _maitre aux +requetes_ in the household of the emperor. Renard, though a man of a +factious turn, was what Granvelle's correspondent, Morillon, calls "_un +bon politique_," and in many respects well suited to the mission on +which he was employed. His correspondence is of infinite value, as +showing the Spanish moves in this complicated game, which ended in the +marriage of Mary with the heir of the Castilian monarchy. It is +preserved in the archives of Brussels. Copies of these MSS., amounting +to five volumes folio, were to be found in the collection of Cardinal +Granvelle at Besancon. A part of them was lent to Griffet for the +compilation of his "Nouveaux Eclaircissemens sur l'Histoire de Marie +Reine d'Angleterre." Unfortunately, Griffet omitted to restore the MSS.; +and an hiatus is thus occasioned in the series of the Renard +correspondence embraced in the Granvelle Papers now in process of +publication by the French Government. It were to be wished that this +hiatus had been supplied from the originals, in the archives of +Brussels. Mr. Tytler has done good service by giving to the world a +selection from the latter part of Renard's correspondence, which had +been transcribed by order of the Record Commission from the MSS. in +Brussels. + +[70] "Car si, quant a soy, il luy semble estre chose que ne luy convint +ou ne fut faisable, il ne seroit a propoz, comme elle l'entend +tres-bien, d'en faire declaracion a qui que ce soit; mais, en cas aussi +qu'elle jugea le party luy estre convenable et qu'elle y print +inclinacion, si, a son advis, la difficulte tumba sur les moyens, et que +en iceulx elle ne se peut resoldre sans la participation d'aulcuns de +son conseil, vous la pourriez en ce cas requerir qu'elle voulut prendre +de vous confiance pour vous declairer a qui elle en vouldroit tenir +propoz, et ce qu'elle en vouldroit communicquer et par quelz moyens." +L'Empereur a Renard, 20 septembre, 1553, Ibid., p. 114. + +[71] The Spanish match seems to have been as distasteful to the +Portuguese as it was to the English, and probably for much the same +reasons. See the letter of Granvelle, of August 14, 1553, Ibid., p. 77. + +[72] "Les estrangiers, qu'ilz abhorrissent plus que nulle aultre +nacion." L'Empereur a Renard, 20 septembre, 1553, Ibid., p. 113. + +[73] "Et si la difficulte se treuvoit aux conseillers pour leur interetz +particulier, comme plus ilz sont interessez, il pourroit estre que l'on +auroit meilleur moyen de les gaigner, assheurant ceulz par le moyen +desquelz la chose se pourroit conduyre, des principaulz offices et +charges dudict royaulme, voyre et leur offrant appart sommes notables de +deniers ou accroissance de rentes, privileges et prerogatives." +L'Empereur a Renard, 20 septembre, 1553, Ibid., p. 113. + +[74] In order to carry on the negotiation with greater secrecy, Renard's +colleagues at the English court, who were found to intermeddle somewhat +unnecessarily with the business, were recalled; and the whole affair was +intrusted exclusively to that envoy, and to Granvelle, the bishop of +Arras, who communicated to him the views of the emperor from +Brussels.--"Et s'est resolu taut plus l'empereur rappeler voz collegues, +afin que aulcung d'iceulx ne vous y traversa ou bien empescha s'y estans +montrez peu affectionnez, et pour non si bien entendre le cours de ceste +negociation, et pour aussi que vous garderez mieulx le secret qu'est +tant requis et ne se pourroit faire, passant ceste negociation par +plusieurs mains." L'Eveque d'Arras a Renard, 13 septembre, 1553, Ibid., +p. 103. + +[75] "Pour la requerir et supplier d'eslire ung seigneur de son pays +pour estre son mary, et ne vouloir prendre personnaige en mariaige, ny +leur donner prince qui leur puisse commander aultre que de sa nation." +Ambassades de Noailles, (Leyde, 1763,) tom. II. p. 234. + +[76] "Le soir du 30 octobre, la reine fit venir en sa chambre, ou etoit +expose le saint sacrement, l'ambassadeur de l'empereur, et, apres avoir +dit le _Veni creator_, lui dit qu'elle lui donnoit en face dudit +sacrement sa promesse d'epouser le prince d'Espagne, laquelle elle ne +changeroit jamais; qu'elle avoit feint d'etre malade les deux jours +precedents, mais que sa maladie avoit ete causee par le travail qu'elle +avoit eu pour prendre cette resolution." MS. in the Belgian archives, +cited by Mignet, Charles-Quint, p. 78, note. + +[77] "Qu'elle tenoit de dieu la couronne de son royaulme, et que en luy +seul esperoit se conseiller de chose si importante." Ambassades de +Noailles, tom. II. p. 269. + +[78] "Le dit Lieutenant a fait fondre quatre mil escuz pour chaines, et +les autres mil se repartiront en argent, comme l'on trouvera mieulx +convenir." Renard, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 325. + +[79] Strype, Memorials, vol. III. pp. 58, 59.--Holinshed, Chronicles, +(London, 1808,) vol. IV. pp. 10, 34, 41. + +[80] Strype, (Memorials, vol. III. p. 196,) who quotes a passage from a +MS. of Sir Thomas Smith, the application of which, though the queen's +name is omitted, cannot be mistaken. + +[81] "Si est-ce qu'elle verra assez par icelle sa ressemblance, la +voyant a son jour et de loing, comme sont toutes peinctures dudict +Titian que de pres ne se recongnoissent." Marie, Reine de Hongrie, a +l'Ambassadeur Renard, novembre 19, 1553, Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, +tom. IV. p. 150. + +It may be from a copy of this portrait that the engraving was made which +is prefixed to this work. + +[82] See the treaty in Rymer, Foedera, vol. XV. p. 377. + +[83] "Par la," adds Noailles, who tells the story, "vous pouvez veoir +comme le prince d'Espagne sera le bien venu en ce pays, puisque les +enfans le logent au gibet." Ambassades de Noailles, tom. III. p. 130. + +[84] Holinshed, vol. IV. p. 16.--The accounts of this insurrection are +familiar to the English reader, as given at more or less length, in +every history of the period. + +[85] "L'on a escript d'Espaigne que plusieurs sieurs deliberoient amener +leurs femmes avec eulx pardeca. Si ainsi est, vostre Majeste pourra +preveoir ung grand desordre en ceste court." Renard, ap. Tytler, Edward +VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 351. + +[86] "Seullement sera requis que les Espaignolez qui suyvront vostre +Alteze comportent les facons de faire des Angloys, et soient modestes, +confians que vostre Alteze les aicarassera par son humanite costumiere." +Ibid., p. 335. + +[87] The particulars of this interview are taken from one of Renard's +despatches to the emperor, dated March 8, 1554, ap. Tytler, England +under the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary, (vol. II. pp. 326-329,)--a work +in which the author, by the publication of original documents, and his +own sagacious commentary, has done much for the illustration of this +portion of English history. + +[88] Florez, Reynas Catholicas, tom. II. p. 890. + +[89] Philip would have preferred that Charles should carry out his +original design, by taking Mary for his own wife. But he acquiesced, +without a murmur, in the choice his father made for him. Mignet quotes a +passage from a letter of Philip to the emperor on this subject, which +shows him to have been a pattern of filial obedience. The letter is +copied by Gonzales in his unpublished work, Retiro y Estancia de Carlos +Quinto.--"Y que pues piensan proponer su matrimonio con Vuestra +Magestad, hallandose en disposicion para ello, esto seria lo mas +acertado. Pero en caso que Vuestra Magestad esta en lo que me escribe y +le pareciere tratar de lo que a mi toca, ya Vuestra Magestad sabe que, +como tan obediente hijo, no he tener mas voluntad que la suya; cuanto +mas siendo este negocio de importancia y calidad que es. Y asi me ha +parecido remitirlo a Vuestra Magestad para que en toda haya lo que le +pareciera, y fuere servido." Mignet, Charles-Quint, p. 76. + +[90] "Higo en esto lo que un Isaac dexandose sacrificar por hazer la +voluntad de su padre, y por el bien de la Iglesia." Sandoval, Hist. de +Carlos V., tom. II. p. 557. + +[91] A single diamond in the ornament which Philip sent his queen was +valued at eighty thousand crowns.--"Una joya que don Filipe le enbiaba, +en que avia un diamante de valor de ochenta mil escudos." Cabrera, +Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 4. + +[92] Letter of Lord Edmund Dudley to the Lords of the Council, MS. This +document, with other MSS. relating to this period, was kindly furnished +to me by the late lamented Mr. Tytler, who copied them from the +originals in the State Paper Office. + +The young Lord Herbert mentioned in the text became afterwards that earl +of Pembroke who married, for his second wife, the celebrated sister of +Sir Philip Sidney, to whom he dedicated the "Arcadia,"--less celebrated, +perhaps, from this dedication, than from the epitaph on her monument, by +Ben Jonson, in Salisbury Cathedral. + +[93] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 4.--Florez, Reynas +Catholicas, tom. II. p. 873.--Memorial des Voyages du Roi, MS. + +[94] "Y prevenida de que los Embajadores se quejaban, pretextando que no +sabian si hablaban con la Princesa; levantaba el manto al empezar la +Audiencia, preguntando _?Soy la Princesa?_ y en oyendo responder que si; +volvia a echarse el velo, como que ya cessaba el inconveniente de +ignorar con quien hablaban, y que para ver no necessitaba tener la cara +descubierta." Florez, Reynas Catholicas, tom. II. p. 873. + +[95] Letter of Bedford and Fitzwaters to the Council, ap. Tytler, Edward +VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 410.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 4, +5.--Sepulvedae Opera, vol. II. pp. 496, 497. + +[96] "Il appelle les navires de la flotte de vostre Majeste coquilles de +moules, et plusieurs semblables particularitez." Letter of Renard, ap. +Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 414. + +[97] "L'ordre de la Jaretiere, que la Royne et les Chevaliers ont +concludz luy donner et en a fait faire une la Royne, qu'est estimee sept +ou huict mil escuz, et joinctement fait faire plusieurs riches +habillemens pour son Altese." Ibid., p. 416. + +[98] Salazar de Mendoza, Monarquia de Espana, (Madrid, 1770,) tom. II. +p. 118.--Ambassades de Noailles, tom. III. pp. 283-286.--Sepulvedsae +Opera, vol. II. p. 498.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. I. cap. 5.--Leti, +Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 231.--Holinshed, vol. IV. p. +57.--Memorial des Voyages du Roi, MS. + +[99] Strype, Memorials, vol. III. pp. 127, 128. + +[100] The change in Philip's manners seems to have attracted general +attention. We find Wotton, the ambassador at the French court, speaking, +in one of his letters, of the report of it, as having reached his ears +in Paris. Wotton to Sir W. Petre, August 10, 1554, MS. + +[101] According to Noailles, Philip forbade the Spaniards to leave their +ships, on pain of being hanged when they set foot on shore. This was +enforcing the provisions of the marriage treaty _en rigueur_. "Apres que +ledict prince fust descendu, il fict crier et commanda aux Espaignols +que chascun se retirast en son navire et que sur la peyne d'estre pendu, +nul ne descendist a terre." Ambassades de Noailles, tom. III. p. 287. + +[102] Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. pp. 231, 232. + +"Lors il appella les seigneurs Espaignols qui estoient pres de luy et +leur dict qu'il falloit desormais oublier toutes les coustumes +d'Espaigne, et vifvre de tous poincts a l'Angloise, a quoy il voulloit +bien commancer et leur monstrer le chemin, puis se fist apporter de la +biere de laquelle il beut." Ambassades de Noailles, tom. III. p. 287. + +[103] According to Sepulveda, Philip gave a most liberal construction to +the English custom of salutation, kissing not only his betrothed, but +all the ladies in waiting, matrons and maidens, without distinction. +"Intra aedes progressam salutans Britannico more suaviavit habitoque +longiore et jucundissimo colloquio, Philippus matronas etiam et Regias +virgines sigillatim salutat osculaturque." Sepulvedae Opera, vol. II. p. +499. + +[104] "Poco dopo comparve ancora la Regina pomposamente vestita, +rilucendo da tutte le parti pretiosissime gemme, accompagnata da tante e +cosi belle Principesse, che pareva ivi ridotta quasi tutta la bellezza +del mondo, onde gli Spagnoli servivano con il loro Olivastro, tra tanti +soli, come ombre." Leti. Vita di Filippo II. tom. I. p. 232. + +[105] The sideboard of the duke of Albuquerque, who died about the +middle of the seventeenth century, was mounted by forty silver ladders! +And, when he died, six weeks were occupied in making out the inventory +of the gold and silver vessels. See Dunlop's Memoirs of Spain during the +reigns of Philip IV. and Charles II. (Edinburgh, 1834,) vol. I. p. 384. + +[106] Strype, Memorials, vol. III. p. 130. + +[107] Some interesting particulars respecting the ancient national +dances of the Peninsula are given by Ticknor, in his History of Spanish +Literature, (New York, 1849,) vol. II. pp. 445-448; a writer who, under +the title of a History of Literature, has thrown a flood of light on the +social and political institutions of the nation, whose character he has +evidently studied under all its aspects. + +[108] "Relation of what passed at the Celebration of the Marriage of our +Prince with the Most Serene Queen of England,"--from the original at +Louvain, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, vol. II. p. 430.--Salazar de +Mendoza, Monarquia de Espana, tom. II. p. 117.--Sandoval, Historia de +Carlos V., tom. II. pp. 560-563.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. pp. +231-233.--Sepulvedae Opera, vol. II, p. 500.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, +lib. I. cap. 5.--Memorial de Voyages, MS.--Miss Strickland, Lives of the +Queens of England, vol. V. pp 389-396. + +To the last writer I am especially indebted for several particulars in +the account of processions and pageants which occupies the preceding +pages. Her information is chiefly derived from two works, neither of +which is in my possession;--the Book of Precedents of Ralph Brook, York +herald, and the narrative of an Italian, Baoardo, an eye-witness of the +scenes he describes. Miss Strickland's interesting volumes are +particularly valuable to the historian for the copious extracts they +contain from curious unpublished documents, which had escaped the notice +of writers too exclusively occupied with political events to give much +heed to details of a domestic and personal nature. + +[109] Holinshed, vol. IV. p. 62. + +[110] Ibid., p. 63. + +[111] The Spaniards must have been quite as much astonished as the +English at the sight of such an amount of gold and silver in the coffers +of their king,--a sight that rarely rejoiced the eyes of either Charles +or Philip, though lords of the Indies. A hundred horses might well have +drawn as many tons of gold and silver,--an amount, considering the value +of money in that day, that taxes our faith somewhat heavily, and not the +less that only two wagons were employed to carry it. + +[112] Holinshed, ubi supra. + +[113] Relatione di Gio. Micheli, MS. + +Michele Soriano, who represented Venice at Madrid, in 1559, bears +similar testimony, in still stronger language, to Philip's altered +deportment while in England. "Essendo avvertito prima dal Cardinale di +Trento, poi dalla Regina Maria, et con piu efficaccia dal padre, che +quella riputatione et severita non si conveniva a lui, che dovea dominar +nationi varie et popoli di costumi diversi, si muto in modo che passando +l'altra volta di Spagna per andar in Inghilterra, ha mostrato sempre una +dolcezza et humanita cosi grande che non e superato da Prencipe alcuno +in questa parte, et benche servi in tutte l'attioni sue riputatione et +gravita regie alle quali e per natura inclinato et per costume, non e +pero manco grato anzi fano parere la cortesia maggiore che S. M. usa con +tutti." Relatione di Michele Soriano, MS. + +[114] "Lasciando l'essecution delle cose di giustitia alla Regina, et a +i Ministri quand'occorre di condannare alcuno, o nella robba, o nella +vita, per poter poi usarli impetrando, come fa, le gratie, et le mercedi +tutte; le quai cose fanno, che quanto alla persona sua, non solo sia ben +voluto, et amato da ciascuno, ma anco desiderato." Relatione di Gio. +Micheli, MS. + +[115] Letter of Nicholas Wotton to Sir William Petre, MS. + +[116] See the remarks of John Elder, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. and Mary, +vol. II. p. 258. + +[117] "Nella religione,.... per quel che dall'esterior si vede, non si +potria giudicar meglio, et piu assiduo, et attentissimo alle Messe, a i +Vesperi, et alle Prediche, come un religioso, molto piu che a lo stato, +et eta sua, a molte pare che si convenga. Il medisimo conferiscono +dell'intrinseco oltra certi frati Theologi suoi predicatori huomini +certo di stima, et anco altri che ogni di trattano con lui, che nelle +cose della conscientia non desiderano ne piu pia, ne miglior +intentione." Relatione di Gio. Micheli, MS. + +[118] Ibid. + +[119] Ibid. + +Mason, the English minister at the imperial court, who had had much +intercourse with Pole, speaks of him in terms of unqualified admiration. +"Such a one as, for his wisdom, joined with learning, virtue, and +godliness, all the world seeketh and adoreth. In whom it is to be +thought that God hath chosen a special place of habitation. Such is his +conversation adorned with infinite godly qualities, above the ordinary +sort of men. And whosoever within the realm liketh him worst, I would he +might have with him the talk of one half-hour. It were a right stony +heart that in a small time he could not soften." Letter of Sir John +Mason to the Queen, MS. + +[120] If we are to credit Cabrera, Philip not only took his seat in +parliament, but on one occasion, the better to conciliate the good-will +of the legislature to the legate, delivered a speech which the historian +gives _in extenso_. If he ever made the speech, it could have been +understood only by a miracle. For Philip could not speak English, and of +his audience not one in a hundred, probably, could understand Spanish. +But to the Castilian historian the occasion might seem worthy of a +miracle,--_dignus vindice nodus._ + +[121] "Obraron de suerte Don Felipe con prudencia, agrado, honras, y +mercedes, y su familia con la cortesia natural de Espana, que se reduxo +Inglaterra toda a la obediencia de la Iglesia Catolica Romana, y se +abjuraron los errores y heregias que corrian en aquel Reyno," says +Vanderhammen, Felipe el Prudente, p. 4. + +[122] Strype, Memorials, vol. III. p. 209. + +[123] Philip, in a letter to the Regent Joanna, dated Brussels, 1557, +seems to claim for himself the merit of having extirpated heresy in +England by the destruction of the heretics. "Aviendo apartado deste +Reyno las sectas, i reduzidole a la obediencia de la Inglesia, i aviendo +ido sempre en acrecentamiento con el castigo de los Ereges tan sin +contradiciones como se haze en Inglaterra." (Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, +lib. II. cap. 6.) The emperor, in a letter from Yuste, indorses this +claim of his son to the full extent. "Pues en Ynglaterra se han hecho y +hacen tantas y tan crudas justicias hasta obispos, por la orden que alli +ha dado, como si fuera su Rey natural, y se lo permiten." Carta del +Emperador a la Princesa, Mayo 25, 1558, MS. + +[124] Micheli, whose testimony is of the more value, as he was known to +have joined Noailles in his opposition to the Spanish match, tells us +that Philip was scrupulous in his observance of every article of the +marriage treaty. "Che non havendo alterato cosa alcuna dello stile, et +forma del governo, non essendo uscito un pelo della capitolatione del +matrimonio, ha in tutto tolta via quella paura che da principio fu +grandissima, che egli non volesse con imperio, et con la potentia, +disporre, et comandare delle cose a modo suo." Relatione di Gio. +Micheli, MS. + +[125] "D'amor nasce l'esser inamorata come e et giustamente del marito +per quel che s'ha potuto conoscer nel tempo che e stata seco dalla +natura et modi suoi, certo da innamorar ognuno, non che chi havesse +havuto la buona compagnia et il buon trattamento ch'ell'ha havuto. Tale +in verita che nessun'altro potrebbe essergli stato ne migliore ne piu +amorevol marito.... Se appresso al martello s'aggiungesse la gelosia, +della qual fin hora non si sa che patisca, perche se non ha il Re per +casto, almanco dice ella so che e libero dell'amor d'altra donna; se +fosse dico gelosa, sarebbe veramente misera." Relatione di Gio. Micheli, +MS. + +[126] Holinshed, vol. IV. pp. 70, 82. + +[127] Soriano notices the little authority that Philip seemed to possess +in England, and the disgust which it occasioned both to him and his +father. + +"L'imperatore, che dissegnava sempre cose grandi, penso potersi +acquistare il regno con occasione di matrimonio di quella regina nel +figliuolo; ma non gli successe quel che desiderava, perche questo Re +trovo tant'impedimenti et tante difficolta che mi ricordo havere inteso +da un personaggio che S. M^{ta.} si trova ogni giorno piu mal contenta +d'haver atteso a quella prattica perche non haver nel regno ne autorita +ne obedienza, ne pure la corona, ma solo un certo nome che serviva piu +in apparenza che in effetto." Relatione di Michele Soriano, MS. + +[128] "Hispani parum humane parumque hospitaliter a Britannis +tractabantur, ita ut res necessarias longe carius communi pretio emere +cogerentur." Sepulvedae Opera, vol. II. p. 501. + +[129] "Quando occorre disparere tra un Inglese et alcun di questi, la +giustitia non procede in quel modo che dovria..... Son tanti le +cavillationi, le lunghezze, et le spese senza fine di quei lor'giuditii, +che al torto, o al diritto, conviene ch'il forestiero soccumba; ne +bisogna pensar che mai si sottomettessero l'Inglesi come l'altre nationi +ad uno che chiamano l'Alcalde della Corte, spagnuole di natione, che +procede sommariamente contra ogn'uno, per vie pero, et termini +Spagnuoli; havendo gl'Inglesi la lor legge, dalla quale non solo non si +partiriano, ma vogliano obligar a quella tutti gl'altre." Relatione di +Gio. Micheli, MS. + +[130] Holinshed, vol. IV. p. 80.--Strype, Memorials, vol. III. p. +227.--Memorial de Voyages, MS.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. +236. + +[131] Relazione di Roma di Bernardo Navagero, 1558, published in +Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti, Firenze, 1846, vol. VII. p. 378. + +Navagero, in his report to the senate, dwells minutely on the personal +qualities as well as the policy of Paul the Fourth, whose character +seems to have been regarded as a curious study by the sagacious +Venetian. + +"Ritornato a Roma, rinuncio la Chiesa di Chieti, che aveva prima, e +quella di Brindisi, ritirandosi affatto, e menando sempre vita privata, +aliena da ogni sorte di publico affare, anzi, lasciata dopo il saco Roma +stessa, passo a Verona e poi a Venezia, quivi trattenendosi lungo tempo +in compagnia di alcuni buoni Religiosi della medesima inclinazione, che +poi crescendo di numero, ed in santita di costumi, fondarono la +Congregazione, che oggi, dal Titolo che aveva Paolo allora di Vescovo +Teatino, de Teatini tuttavia ritiene il nome." + +See also Relazione della Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, di +Pietro Nores, MS. + +[132] Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +[133] Ibid.--Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, +MS.--Giannone, Istoria Civile del Regno di Napoli, (Milano, 1823,) tom. +X. pp. 11-13. + +[134] "Vuol essere servito molto delicatamente; e nel principio del suo +pontificato non bastavano venticinque piatti; beve molto piu di quello +che mangia; il vino e possente e gagliardo, nero e tanto spesso, che si +potria quasi tagliare, e dimandasi mangiaguerra, il quale si conduce dal +regno di Napoli." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +[135] "Nazione Spagnuola, odiata da lui, e che egli soleva chiamar vile, +ed abieta, seme di Giudei, e feccia del Mondo." Nores, Guerra fra Paolo +Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS. + +"Dicendo in presenza di molti: che era venuto il tempo, che sarebbero +castigati dei loro peccati; che perderebbero li stati, e che l'Italia +saria liberata." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +At another time we find the pope declaiming against the Spaniards, now +the masters of Italy, who had once been known there only as its cooks. +"Dice..... di sentire infinito dispiacere, che quelli che solevano +essere cuochi o mozzi di stalla in Italia, ora comandino." Relazione di +Bernardo Navagero. + +[136] "Cammina che non pare che tocchi terra; e tutto nervo con poca +carne." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +[137] "Servi lungo tempore l'Imperatore, ma con infelicissimo evento, +non avendo potuto avere alcuna ricompensa, come egli stesso diceva, in +premio della sua miglior eta, e di molte fatiche, e pericoli sostenuti, +se non spese, danni, disfavore, esilio ed ultimamente un ingiustissima +prigionia." Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, +MS.--Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +[138] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Summonte, +Historia della Citta e Regno di Napoli, (Napoli, 1675,) tom. IV. p. +278.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 20. + +[139] Brantome, who has introduced the constable into his gallery of +portraits, has not omitted this characteristic anecdote. "On disait +qu'il se falloit garder des patenostres de M. le connestable, car en les +disant et marmottant lors que les ocasions se presentoient, comme force +desbordemens et desordres y arrivent maintenant, il disoit: Allez moy +pendre un tel; attachez celuy la a cet arbre; faictes passer cestuy la +par les picques tout a ceste heure, ou les harquebuses tout devant moy; +taillez moy en pieces tous ces marauts," etc. Brantome OEuvres (Paris, +1822,) tom. II. p. 372. + +[140] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Summonte, +Historia di Napoli, tom. IV. p. 280.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. +X. p. 21.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 23 et seq. + +[141] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli tom. X. p. 19. + +[142] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Carta del +Duque de Alba a la Gobernadora, 28 de Julio, 1556, MS.--Giannone, +Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. pp. 15, 16. + +[143] I have three biographies of the duke of Alva, which give a view of +his whole career. The most important is one in Latin, by a Spanish +Jesuit named Ossorio, and entitled Ferdinandi Toletani Albae Ducis Vita +et Res Gestae (Salmanticiae, 1669). The author wrote nearly a century +after the time of his hero. But as he seems to have had access to the +best sources of information, his narrative may be said to rest on a good +foundation. He writes in a sensible and business-like manner, more often +found among the Jesuits than among the members of the other orders. It +is not surprising that the harsher features of the portrait should be +smoothed down under the friendly hand of the Jesuit commemorating the +deeds of the great champion of Catholicism. + +A French life of the duke, printed some thirty years later, is only a +translation of the preceding, Histoire de Ferdinand-Alvarez de Toledo, +Duc d'Albe (Paris, 1699). A work of more pretension is entitled Resultas +de la Vida de Fernando Alvarez tercero Duque de Alva, escrita por Don +Juan Antonio de Vera y Figueroa, Conde de la Roca (1643). It belongs, +apparently, to a class of works not uncommon in Spain, in which vague +and uncertain statements take the place of simple narrative, and the +writer covers up his stilted panegyric with the solemn garb of moral +philosophy. + +[144] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 27.--Consulta hecha a +varios letrados y teologos relativamente a las desavenencias con el +Papa, MS. This document is preserved in the archives of Simancas. + +[145] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, +Guerra da Campana de Roma, (Madrid, 1589,) p. 14.--Summonte, Historia di +Napoli, tom. IV. p. 270. + +The most circumstantial printed account of this war is to be found in +the work of Alessandro Andrea, a Neapolitan. It was first published in +Italian, at Venice, and subsequently translated by the author into +Castilian, and printed at Madrid. Andrea was a soldier of some +experience, and his account of these transactions is derived partly from +personal observation, and partly, as he tells us, from the most +accredited witnesses. The Spanish version was made at the suggestion of +one of Philip's ministers,--pretty good evidence that the writer, in his +narrative, had demeaned himself like a loyal subject. + +[146] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 25.--Carta del Duque de +Alba a la Gobernadora, 8 de Setiembre, 1556, MS. + +"In tal mode, non solo veniva a mitigar l'asprezze, che portava seco +l'occupar le Terre dello stato ecclesiastico, ma veniva a sparger semi +di discordia, e di sisma, fra li Cardinali, ed il Papa, tentando +d'alienarli da lui, e mostrargli verso di loro riverenza, e rispetto." +Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS. + +[147] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS. + +[148] "Stava intrepido, parlando delle cose appartenenti a quel'uffizio, +come se non vi fusse alcuna sospezione di guerra, non che gl'inimici +fussero vicini alle porte." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +[149] "Pontifex eam conditionem ad se relatam aspernatus in eo +persistebat, ut Albanus copias domum reduceret, deinde quod vellet, a se +supplicibus precibus postularet." Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi +II., lib. I. cap. 17. + +[150] Sismondi, Histoire des Francais, tom. XVIII. p. 17. + +[151] "Quel Pontefice, che per ciascuna di queste cose che fosse cascata +in un processo, avrebbe condannato ognuno alla morte ed al fuoco, le +tollerava in questi, come in suoi defensori." Relazione di Bernardo +Navagero. + +[152] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS. + +[153] The details of the siege of Ostia are given with more or less +minuteness by Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.; +Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 72 et seq.; Campana, Vita del Catholico Don +Filippo Secondo, con le Guerre de suoi Tempi, (Vicenza, 1605,) tom. II. +fol. 146, 147; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. II. cap. 15. + +[154] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, +Guerra de Roma, p. 86 et seq. + +The Emperor Charles the Fifth, when on his way to Yuste, took a very +different view from Alva's of the truce, rating the duke roundly for not +having followed up the capture of Ostia by a decisive blow, instead of +allowing the French time to enter Italy and combine with the pope.--"El +emperador oyo todo lo que v. md. dize del duque y de Italia, y ha +tornado muy mal el haver dado el duque oidos a suspension de armas, y +mucho mas de haver prorrogado el plazo, por parecelle que sera +instrumento para que la gente del Rey que baxava a Piamonte se juntasse +con la del Papa, o questa dilacion sera necessitar al duque, y +estorvalle el effecto que pudiera hazer, si prosiguiera su vitoria +despues de haber ganado a Ostia, y entredientes dixo otras cosas que no +pude comprehender." Carta de Martin de Gaztelu a Juan Vazquez, Enero 10, +1557, MS. + +[155] Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., p. 13. + +[156] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, +Guerra de Roma, p. 165. + +[157] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, +Guerra de Roma, p. 220.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. +86.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. III. cap. 9. + +[158] Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 226. + +[159] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 40. + +[160] Sismondi, Histoire des Francais, tom. XVIII. p. 39. + +[161] "Encendido de colera, vino a dezir, Que Dios se auia buelto +Espanol." Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 228. + +[162] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 35. + +[163] Norres, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Flippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, +Guerra de Roma, p. 237.--Ossorio, Albae Vita, tom. II. p. 64. + +[164] The particulars of the siege of Civitella may be found in Nores, +Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.; Andrea, Guerra de Roma, +p. 222 et seq.; Ossorio, Albae Vita, tom. II. pp. 53-59; Cabrera, Filipe +Segundo, lib. III. cap. 9; De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. +87 et seq., &c. + +[165] "Quiso guardar el precepto de guerra que es: Hazer la puente de +plata al enemigo, que se va." Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 285. + +[166] "No pensava jugar el Reyno de Napoles contra una casaca de brocado +del Duque de Guisa." Vera y Figueroa, Resultas de la Vida del Duque de +Alva, p. 66. + +[167] "Quiso usar alli desta sexeridad, no por crueza, sino para dar +exemplo a los otros, que no se atreuiesse un lugarejo a defenderse de un +exercito real." Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 292. + +[168] Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 302.--Ossorio, Albae Vita, tom. II. p. +96.--Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS. + +[169] "Los enemigos han tomado a Sena con saco, muerte, y fuego...... +Entraran en Roma, y la saqueran, y prenderan a mi persona; y yo, que +desseo ser c[=o] Christo, aguardo sin miedo la corona del martirio." +Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 303. + +"Si mostro prontissimo e disposto di sostenere il martirio." Nores, +Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS. + +[170] Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 306. + +[171] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, +Guerra de Roma, pp. 306-311.--Relazione di Bernardo Navagero.--Ossorio, +Albae Vita, tom. II. p. 117 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. +cap. 11. + +[172] "Dixo a Don Fernando de Toledo su hijo estas palabras: Temo que +hemos de saquear a Roma, y no querria." Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 312. + +[173] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[174] "Il Cardinal Sangiacomo, suo zio, dopo la tregua di quaranta +giorni, fu a vecerlo e gli disse: Figliuol mio, avete fatto bene a non +entrare in Roma, come so che avete potuto; e vi esorto che non lo +facciate mai; perche, tutti quelli della nostra nazione che si trovarono +all'ultimo sacco, sono capitati male." Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +[175] Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +[176] Sismondi, Histoire des Francais, tom. XVIII. p. 41. + +[177] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 43. + +[178] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Andrea, +Guerra de Roma, p. 314.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. +128.--Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 45.--Ossorio, Albae Vita, +tom. II. p. 131. + +[179] "Hoggi il mio Re ha fatto una gran sciocchezza, e se io fossi +stato in suo luogo, et egli nel mio, il Cardinal Carafa sarebbe andato +in Fiandra a far quelle stesse sommissioni a sua Maesta che io vengo +hora di fare a sua Santita." Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 293. + +[180] Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +[181] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 45.--Nores, Guerra fra +Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. +p. 293.--Andrea, Guerra de Roma, p. 316. + +[182] Charles the Fifth, who received tidings of the peace at Yuste, was +as much disgusted with the terms of it as the duke himself. He even +vented his indignation against the duke, as if he had been the author of +the peace. He would not consent to read the despatches which Alva sent +to him, saying that he already knew enough; and for a long time after +"he was heard to mutter between his teeth," in a tone which plainly +showed the nature of his thoughts. Retiro y Estancia, ap. Mignet, +Charles-Quint, p. 307. + +[183] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 46. + +[184] Giannone, Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 50.--Nores, Guerra fra +Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS. + +[185] Nores, Guerra fra Paolo Quarto e Filippo Secondo, MS.--Giannone, +Istoria di Napoli, tom. X. p. 50. + +[186] "Della quale se altri non voleva aver cura, voleva almeno averla +esso; e sebbene i suoi consigli non fossero uditi, avrebbe almeno la +consolazione di avere avuto quest'animo, e che si dicesse un giorno: che +un vecchio italiano che, essendo vicino alla morte, doveva attendere a +riposare e a piangere i suoi peccati, avesse avuto tanto alti disegni." +Relazione di Bernardo Navagero. + +[187] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 2.--Carta del Rey Don +Felipe Segundo a Ruy Gomez de Silva a XI. de Marco, 1557, MS.--Papiers +d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. pp. 61, 63. + +[188] Tytler, in his England under Edward VI. and Mary, (vol. II. p. +483,) has printed extracts from the minutes of the council, with the +commentaries of Philip by the side of them. The commentaries, which are +all in the royal autograph, seem to be as copious as the minutes +themselves. + +[189] Herrera, Historia General del Mundo, de XV. Anos del Tiempo del +Senor Rey Don Felipe II., (Valladolid, 1606,) lib. IV. cap. +13.--Gaillard, Histoire de la Rivalite de la France et de l'Espagne, +(Paris, 1801,) tom. V. p. 243. + +[190] See Tytler's valuable work, Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary. The +compilation of this work led its candid author to conclusions eminently +favorable to the personal character of Queen Mary. + +[191] Conf. De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 148; Cabrera, +Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 4; Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, +parte II. lib. 9; Herrera, Historia General, lib. IV. cap. 14. + +The historian here, as almost everywhere else where numerical estimates +are concerned, must content himself with what seems to be the closest +approximation to the truth. Some writers carry the Spanish foot to fifty +thousand. I have followed the more temperate statement of the +contemporary De Thou, who would not be likely to underrate the strength +of an enemy. + +[192] See the letters of the duke published in the Papiers d'Etat de +Granvelle, (tom. V., passim,)--business-like documents, seasoned with +lively criticisms on the characters of those he had to deal with. + +[193] Relazione della Corte di Savoja di Gio Francesco Morosini, 1570, +ap. Relazioni degli Ambasciatori Veneti, vol. iv. + +[194] See the letter of the queen to Philip, in Strype, Catalogue of +Originals, No. 56. + +[195] Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 115. + +[196] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 147.--Commentaires de +Francois de Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Memoires pour servir a +l'Histoire de France, par MM. Michaud et Poujoulat, (Paris, 1838,) tom. +VII. p. 535.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. IV. cap. 14.--Cabrera, +Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 5. + +[197] "Ils furent tous deux, dans leur jeunes ans,..... sy grands +compagnons, amis et confederez de court, que j'ay ouy dire a plusieurs +qui les ont veus habiller le plus souvant de mesmes parures, mesmes +livrees,..... tous deux fort enjoueez et faisant des follies plus +extravagantes que tous les autres; et sur tout ne faisoient nulles +follies qu'ils ne fissent mal, tant ils etoient rudes joueeurs et +malheureux en leurs jeux." Brantome, OEuvres, tom. III. p. 265. + +[198] "Il falloit les nourrir ou les faire mourir de faim, qui eust peu +apporter une peste dans la ville." Memoires de Gaspard de Coligni, ap. +Collection Universelle des Memoires particuliers relatifs a l'Histoire +de France, (Paris, 1788,) tom. XL. p. 252. + +[199] Ibid.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 151.--Rabutin, +ap. Nouvelle Collection des Memoires, tom. VII. p. 540.--Garnier, +Histoire de France, (Paris, 1787,) tom. XXVII. p. 358. + +[200] There is not so much discrepancy in the estimates of the French as +of the Spanish force. I have accepted the statements of the French +historians, Garnier, (Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 354,) and De +Thou, (tom. III. p. 148,) who, however, puts the cavalry at one thousand +less. For authorities on the Spanish side, see Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, +lib. IV. cap. 7.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. IV. cap. 15.--Campana, +Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9. + +[201] Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Memoires, tom. VII. p. 548. + +[202] Ibid., ubi supra.--Monpleinchamp, Histoire d'Emmanuel Philibert +Duc de Savoie, (Amsterdam, 1699,) p. 146.--De Thou, Histoire +Universelle, tom. III. p. 157. + +The first of these writers, Francois de Rabutin, is one of the best +authorities for these transactions, in which he took part as a follower +of the duc de Nevers. + +[203] "Encore a sortir des bateaux, a cause de la presse, les soldats ne +pouvoient suivre les addresses et sentes qui leur estoient appareillees; +de facon qu'ils s'escartoient et se jettoient a coste dans les creux des +marets, d'ou ils ne pouvoient sortir, et demeuroient la embourbez et +noyez." Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Memoires, tom. VII. p. 549. + +[204] Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 361. + +[205] I quote the words of Monpleinchamp, (Histoire du Duc de Savoie, p. +147,) who, however, speaks of the fire as coming from the +artillery,--hardly probable, as the French batteries were three miles +distant, up the river. But accuracy does not appear to be the chief +virtue of this writer. + +[206] "Manda au prince, pour toute reponse, qu'il etoit bien jeune pour +vouloir lui apprendre son metier, qu'il commandoit les armees avant que +celui-ci fut au monde, et qu'il comptoit bien en vingt ans lui donner +encore des lecons." Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 364. + +[207] Rabutin, who gives this account, says it would be impossible to +tell how the disorder began. It came upon them so like a thunderclap, +that no man had a distinct recollection of what passed. Rabutin, ap. +Nouvelle Collection des Memoires, tom. VII. p. 550. + +[208] "Appellant a lui dans ce trouble le vieux d'Oignon, officier +experimente, il lui demanda: Bon homme, que faut-il faire? Monseigneur, +repondit d'Oignon, il y a deux heures que je vous l'aurois bien dit, +maintenant je n'en sais rien." Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. +p. 368. + +[209] "Noirs comme de beaux diables." Brantome, OEuvres, tom. III. p. +185. + +[210] "Icelles compagnies de fantrie, en ce peu qu'elles se +comportoient, autant belles, bien complettes et bien armees, que l'on en +avoit veu en France il y avoit long-temps." Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle +Collection des Memoires, tom. VII. p. 551. + +[211] "A ces nouvelles s'esleverent tellement leurs esprits et courages, +qu'ils recoururent incontinent aux armes, et n'oyoit-on plus partout que +demander harnois et chevaux, et trompettes sonner a cheval, ayant chacun +recouvert ses forces et sentimens pour venger la honte precedente; +toutefois ce murmure se trouva nul, et demeura assoupi en peu d'heure." +Ibid., p. 552. + +[212] Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9. + +According to some accounts, the loss did not exceed fifty. This, +considering the spirit and length of the contest, will hardly be +credited. It reminds one of the wars with the Moslems in the Peninsula, +where, if we are to take the account of the Spaniards, their loss was +usually as one to a hundred of the enemy. + +[213] For the preceding pages, see Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle Collection des +Memoires, tom. VII. pp. 548-552.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. +7.--Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. +9.--Monpleinchamp, Vie du Duc de Savoie, pp. 146-150.--Herrera, Historia +General, lib. IV. cap. 15.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. +154-160.--Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. pp. 361-372.--Carta +de Felipe 2do a su padre anunciandole la victoria de San Quentin, MS. + +[214] "Pues yo no me halle alli, de que me pesa lo que V. M. no puede +pensar, no puedo dar relacion de lo que paso sino de oydas." Carta de +Felipe 2do a su padre, 11 de Agosto, 1557, MS. + +[215] This appears by a letter of the major-domo of Charles, Luis +Quixada, to the secretary, Juan Vazquez de Molina, MS. + +"Siento que no se puede conortar de que su hijo no se hallase en ello." + +[216] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 7 + +[217] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 246. + +[218] It is Brantome who tells the anecdote, in his usual sarcastic way. +"Encor, tout religieux, demy sainct qu'il estoit, il ne se peut en +garder que quant le roy son fils eut gaigne la bataille de +Sainct-Quentin de demander aussi tost que le courrier luy apporta des +nouvelles, s'il avoit bien poursuivi la victoire, et jusques aux portes +de Paris." OEuvres, tom. I. p. 11. + +Luis Quixada, in a letter written at the time from Yuste, gives a +version of the story, which, if it has less point, is probably more +correct. "S. Magd. esta con mucho cuidado por saber que camino arra +tomado el Rey despues de acabada aquella empresa de San Quintin." Carta +de 27 de Setiembre, 1557, MS. + +[219] "Para no entrar en Francia como su padre comiendo pabos, i salir +comiendo raizes." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 8. + +[220] "Si l'on m'oyoit tenir quelque langage, qui approchast de faire +composition, je les suppliois tous qu'ils me jettassent, comme un +poltron, dedans le fosse par dessus les murailles: que s'il y avoit +quelqu'un qui m'en tint propos, _je ne lui en ferois pas moins_." +Coligni, Memoires, ap. Collection Universelle des Memoires, tom. XL. p. +272. + +[221] Gaillard, Rivalite, tom. V. p. 253. + +[222] Burnet, Reformation, vol. III. p. 636. + +[223] For notices of the taking of St. Quentin, in greater or less +detail, see Coligni, Memoires, ap. Collection Universelle des Memoires, +tom. XL.; Rabutin, Memoires, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Memoires, tom. +VII. p. 556 et seq.; De Thou. Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. +164-170; Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9; +Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 9; Monpleinchamp, Vie du Duc de +Savoie, p. 152. + +Juan de Pinedo, in a letter to the secretary Vazquez, (dated St. +Quentin, August 27,) speaking of the hard fighting which took place in +the assault, particularly praises the gallantry of the English: "Esta +tarde entre tres y quatro horas se ha entrado San Quentin a pura fuerca +peleando muy bien los de dentro y los de fuera, muy escogidamente todos, +y por estremo los Ingleses." MS. + +[224] Letter of the earl of Bedford to Sir William Cecil, (dated "from +our camp beside St. Quentin, the 3rd of Sept. 1557,") ap. Tytler, Edward +VI. and Mary, vol. II p. 493. + +[225] According to Sepulveda, (De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., lib. I. +cap. 30,) no less than four thousand women. It is not very probable that +Coligni would have consented to cater for so many useless mouths. + +[226] "The Swartzrotters, being masters of the king's whole army, used +such force, as well to the Spaniards, Italians, and all other nations, +as unto us, that there was none could enjoy nothing but themselves. They +had now showed such cruelty, as the like hath not been seen for +greediness: the town by them was set a-fire, and a great piece of it +burnt." Letter of the earl of Bedford to Cecil, ap. Tytler, Edward VI. +and Mary, vol. II. p. 493. + +[227] Rabutin, Memoires, ap. Nouvelle Collection des Memoires, tom. VII. +pp. 537-564.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. +149-170.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, parte II. lib. 9. + +The best account of the siege of St. Quentin is to be found in Coligni's +Memoires, (ap. Collection Universelle des Memoires, tom. XL. pp. +217-290,) written by him in his subsequent captivity, when the events +were fresh in his memory. The narrative is given in a simple, +unpretending manner, that engages our confidence, though the author +enters into a minuteness of detail which the general historian may be +excused from following. + +[228] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. 173-177.--Cabrera, +Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 13.--Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi +II., lib. I. cap. 32. + +[229] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III, pp. 163, 176.--Garnier, +Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 377 et seq. + +[230] "C'etoit un proverbe recu en France pour designer un mauvais +general, un guerrier sans merite, de dire: _il ne chassera pas les +Anglois de la France_." Gaillard, Rivalite de France et de l'Espagne, +tom. V. p. 260 + +[231] "Aussi les Anglois furent si glorieux (car ils le sont assez de +leur naturel) de mettre sur les portes de la ville que, lors que les +Francois assiegeront Calais, l'on verra le plomb et le fer nager sur +l'eau comme le liege." Brantome, OEuvres, tom. III. p. 203. + +[232] Burnet, History of the Reformation, vol. III. p. 646. + +[233] Ibid., p. 650. + +[234] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 238.--Garnier, +Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 512.--Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle +Collection des Memoires, tom. VII. p. 598.--Campana, Vita del Re Filippo +Secondo, parte II. lib. 10.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. +21.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. V. cap. 5.--Monpleinchamp, Vie du +Duc de Savoie, p. 154. + +[235] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 21. + +[236] "Nous sommes vainqueurs; que ceux qui aiment la gloire et leur +patrie me suivent." De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 240. + +[237] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 21. + +[238] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. 240.--Garnier, +Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 516. + +[239] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 21.--De Thou, Histoire +Universelle, tom. III. p. 241. + +[240] "Ma della caualleria niuno fu quasi, ch'o non morisse combattendo, +o non restasse prigione, non potendosi saluar fuggendo in quei luoghi +paludosi, malageuoli." Campana, Vita del Re Filippo Secondo, parte II. +lib. 10. + +[241] For the accounts of this battle, see Campana, Vita del Re Filippo +Secondo, parte II. lib. 10.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. +21.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. pp. 239-241.--Garnier, +Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 513 et seq.--Rabutin, ap. Nouvelle +Collection des Memoires, tom. VII. p. 598.--Herrera, Historia General, +lib. V. cap. 5.--Ferreras, Histoire Generale d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. +396.--Monpleinchamp, Vie du Duc de Savoie, p. 155. + +I know of no action of which the accounts are so perfectly +irreconcilable in their details as those of the battle of Gravelines. +Authorities are not even agreed as to whether it was an English fleet +that fired on the French troops. One writer speaks of it as a Spanish +squadron from Guipuscoa. Another says the marines landed, and engaged +the enemy on shore. It is no easy matter to extract a probability from +many improbabilities. There is one fact, however, and that the most +important one, in which all agree,--that Count Egmont won a decisive +victory over the French at Gravelines. + +[242] There is an interesting letter of Philip's sister, the Regent +Joanna, to her father, the emperor, then in the monastery at Yuste. It +was written nearly a year before this period of our history. Joanna +gives many good reasons, especially the disorders of his finances, which +made it expedient for Philip to profit by his successful campaign to +conclude a peace with France,--the same which now presented themselves +with such force to both Philip and his ministers. The capture of Calais, +soon after the date of Joanna's letter, and the great preparations made +by Henry, threw a weight into the enemy's scale which gave new heart to +the French to prolong the contest, until it ended with the defeat at +Gravelines.--Carta de la Princesa Juana al Emperador, 14 de Diciembre, +1557, MS.--Carta del Emperador a la Princesa, 26 de Diciembre, 1557, MS. + +[243] Relatione di Giovanni Micheli, MS.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. +IV. cap. 2, 4.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secundo, parte II. lib. 11. + +[244] Relatione di Giovanni Micheli, MS. + +[245] "Yo os digo que yo estoy de todo punto imposibilitado a sostener +la guerra.... Estos terminos me parecen tan aprestados que so pena de +perderme no puedo dejar de concertarme." Letter of Philip to the Bishop +of Arras, (February 12. 1559,) ap. Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. +p. 454, et alibi. + +Philip told the Venetian minister he was in such straits, that, if the +French king had not made advances towards an accommodation, he should +have been obliged to do so himself. Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, +parte II. lib. 11. + +[246] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 16.--Ferreras, Histoire +Generale d'Espagne, tom. VII. p. 397. + +[247] "Hablo que era de tener en mas la pressa del Condestable, que si +fuera la misma persona del Rey, porque faltando el, falta el govierno +jeneral todo." Carta del Mayordomo Don Luis Mendez Quixada al Secretario +Juan Vazquez de Molina, MS. + +[248] The French government had good reasons for its distrust. It +appears from the correspondence of Granvelle, that that minister +employed a _respectable_ agent to take charge of the letters of St. +Andre, and probably of the other prisoners, and that these letters were +inspected by Granvelle before they passed to the French camp. See +Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 178. + +[249] Some historians, among them Sismondi, seem to have given more +credit to the professions of the politic Frenchman than they deserve, +(Histoire des Francais, tom. XVIII. p. 73.). Granvelle, who understood +the character of his antagonist better, was not so easily duped. A +memorandum among his papers thus notices the French cardinal: "Toute la +demonstration que faisoit ledict cardinal de Lorraine de desirer paix, +estoit chose faincte a la francoise et pour nous abuser." Papiers d'Etat +de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 168. + +[250] "Adjoustant que, si Calaix demeuroit aux Francois, ny luy ny ses +collegues n'oseroyent retourner en Angleterre, et que certainement le +peuple les lapideroit." Ibid., p. 319. + +[251] "Were I to die this moment, want of frigates would be found +written on my heart." The original of this letter of Nelson is in the +curious collection of autograph letters which belonged to the late Sir +Robert Peel. + +[252] Philip's feelings in this matter may be gathered from a passage in +a letter to Granvelle, in which he says that the death of the young +queen of Scots, then very ill, would silence the pretensions which the +French made to England, and relieve Spain from a great embarrassment. +"Si la reyna moca se muriesse, que diz que anda muy mala, nos quitaria +de hartos embaracos y del derecho que pretenden a Inglaterra." Papiers +d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 643. + +[253] "Tras esto veola muy indignada de las cosas que se han hecho +contra ella en vida de la Reina: muy asida al pueblo, y muy confiada que +lo tiene todo de su parte (como es verdad), y dando a entender que el +Pueblo la ha puesto en el estado que esta: y de esto no reconoce nada a +V. M. ni a la nobleza del Reino, aunque dice que la han enviado a +prometer todos que la seran fieles." Memorias de la Real Academia de la +Historia, (Madrid, 1832,) tom. VII. p. 254. + +[254] "Non manco bella d'animo che sia di corpo; ancor'che di faccia si +puo dir' che sia piu tosto gratiosa che bella." Relatione di Giovanni +Micheli, MS. + +[255] "Della persona e grande, et ben formata, di bella carne, ancor che +olivastra, begl'occhi, et sopra tutto bella mano, di che fa professione, +d'un spirito, et ingegno mirabile: il che ha saputo molto ben +dimostrare, con l'essersi saputa ne i sospetti, et pericoli ne i quali +s'e ritrovata cosi ben governare.... Si tien superba, et gloriosa per il +padre; del quale dicono tutti che e anco piu simile, et per cio gli fu +sempre cara." Ibid. + +[256] The Spanish minister, Feria, desired his master to allow him to +mention Mary's jealousy, as an argument to recommend his suit to the +favor of Elizabeth. But Philip had the good feeling--or good taste--to +refuse. Memorias de la Real Academia, tom. VII. p. 260. + +[257] "Dijo que convendria consultarlo con el Parlamento; bien que el +Rey Catolico debia estar seguro que en caso de casarse, seria el +preferido a todos." Ibid., p. 264. + +[258] "Paresceme que seria bien que el conde le hablasse claro en estas +cosas de la religion, y la amonestasse y rogasse de mi parte que no +hiziesse en este parlamento mudanca en ella, y que si la hiciesse que yo +no podria venir en lo del casamiento, como en effecto no vendria." Carta +del Rey Phelipe al Duque de Alba, 7 de Febrero, 1559, MS. + +[259] "Convendria que hablasse claro a la Reyna, y le dixesse rasamente +que aunque yo desseo mucho este negocio, (y por aqui envanescella quanto +pudiesse,) pero que entendiesse que si haria mudanca en la religion, yo +lo hacia en este desseo y voluntad por que despues no pudiesse dezir que +no se le avia dicho antes." Ibid. + +[260] "Dijo que pensaba estar sin casarse, porque tenia mucho escrupulo +en lo de la dispensa del Papa." Memorias de la Real Academia, tom. VII. +p. 265. + +[261] Ibid., p. 266. + +[262] "Aunque habia recibido pena de no haberse concluido cosa que tanto +deseaba, y parecia convenir al bien publico, pues a ella no le habia +parecido tan necessario, y que con buena amistad se conseguiria el mismo +fin, quedaba satisfecho y contento." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[263] The duke of Savoy, in a letter to Granvelle, says that the king is +in arrears more than a million of crowns to the German troops alone; +and, unless the ministers have some mysterious receipt for raising +money, beyond his knowledge, Philip will be in the greatest +embarrassment that any sovereign ever was. "No ay un real y deveseles a +la gente alemana, demas de lo que seles a pagado aora de la vieja deuda, +mas d'un mylion d'escudos..... Por esso mirad como hazeys, que sino se +haze la paz yo veo el rey puesto en el mayor trance que rey s'a visto +jamas, si el no tiene otros dineros, que yo no se, a que el senor Eraso +alle algun secretto que tiene reservado para esto." Papiers d'Etat de +Granvelle, tom. V. p. 458. + +[264] The minister in London was instructed to keep up the same show of +confidence to the English. "Todavia mostramos rostro a los Franceses, +como tambien es menester que alla se haga con los Ingleses, que no se +puede confiar que no vengan Franceses a saber dellos lo que alli podrian +entender." Ibid., p. 479. + +[265] Ibid., p. 468. + +"That the said Dolphin's and Queen of Scott's eldest daughter shall +marry with your highnes eldest sonne, who with her shall have Callice." +Forbes, State Papers of Elizabeth, vol. I. p. 54. + +It seemed to be taken for granted that Elizabeth was not to die a maiden +queen, notwithstanding her assertions so often reiterated to the +contrary. + +[266] "Hablando con la reyna sin persuadirla, ny a la paz, ny a que dexe +Calaix, by tampoco a que venga bien a las otras condiciones propuestas +por los Franceses, paraque en ningun tiempo pueda dezir que de parte de +S. M. la hayan persuadido a cosa que quica despues pensasse que no le +estuviesse bien, V. S. tenga respecto a proponerle las razones en +balanca, de manera que pesen siempre mucho mas las que la han de +inclinar al concierto."--Ibid., p. 479. + +[267] See the treaty, in Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, (Amsterdam, 1728,) +tom. V. p. 31. + +[268] Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 570. + +[269] "Mettez-moi, sire, dans la plus mauvaise des places qu'on vous +propose d'abandonner, et que vos ennemis tachent de m'en deloger." +Gaillard, Rivalite de la France et d'Espagne, tom. V. p. 294. + +[270] Garnier, Histoire de France, tom. XXVII. p. 567. + +[271] "Pour tant de restitutions ou de concessions que revenoit-il a la +France? moins de places qu'elle ne cedoit de provinces." Gaillard, +Rivalite de la France et d'Espagne, tom. V. p. 292. + +[272] Charles the Fifth, who in his monastic seclusion at Yuste, might +naturally have felt more scruples at a collision with Rome than when, in +earlier days, he held the pope a prisoner in his capital, decidedly +approved of his son's course. It was a war of necessity, he said, in a +letter to Juan Vazquez de Molina, and Philip would stand acquitted of +the consequences before God and man. + +"Pues no se puede hazer otra cosa, y el Rey se ha justificado en tantas +maneras cumpliendo con Dios y el mundo, por escusar los danos que dello +se seguiran, forzado sera usar del ultimo remedio." Carta del Emperador +a Juan Vazquez de Molina, 8 de Agosto, 1557, MS. + +[273] "Il nous a semble mieulx de leur dire rondement, que combien +vostre majeste soit tousjours este dure et difficile a recepvoir +persuasions pour se remarier, que toutesfois, aiant represente a icelle +le desir du roi tres-chrestien et le bien que de ce mariage pourra +succeder, et pour plus promptement consolider ceste union et paix, elle +s'estoit resolue, pour monstrer sa bonne et syncere affection, d'y +condescendre franchement." Granvelle, Papiers d'Etat, tom. V. p. 580. + +[274] "El Conde la dijo, que aunque las negativas habian sido en cierto +modo indirectas, el no habia querido apurarla hasta el punto de decir +redondamente que no, por no dar motivo a indignaciones entre dos tan +grandes Principes." Mem. de la Academia, tom. VII. p. 268. + +[275] "Osservando egli l'usanza Francese nel baciar tutte l'altre Dame +di Corte, nell'arriuar alla futura sua Reina, non solo intermise quella +famigliare cerimonia, ma non uolle ne anche giamai coprirsi la testa, +per istanza, che da lei ne gli fusse fatta; il che fu notato per +nobilissimo, e degno atto di creaeza Spagnuola." Campana, Filippo +Secondo, parte II. lib. 11. + +[276] The work of extermination was to cover more ground than Henry's +capital or country, if we may take the word of the English +commissioners, who, in a letter dated January, 1559, advised the queen, +their mistress, that "there was an appoinctment made betwene the late +pope, the French king, and the king of Spaine, for the joigning of their +forces together for the suppression of religion, ... th'end whereof was +to constraine the rest of christiendome, being Protestants, to receive +the pope's authorite and his religione." (Forbes, State Papers, vol. I. +p. 296.) Without direct evidence of such a secret understanding, +intimations of it, derived from other sources, may be found in more than +one passage of this history. + +[277] Brantome, who repays the favors he had received from Henry the +Second by giving him a conspicuous place in his gallery of portraits, +eulogizes his graceful bearing in the tourney and his admirable +horsemanship. + +"Mais sur tout ils l'admiroient fort en sa belle grace qu'il avoit en +ses armes et a cheval; comme de vray, c'estoit le prince du monde qui +avait la meilleure grace et la plus belle tenue, et qui scavoit aussi +bien monstrer la vertu et bonte d'un cheval, et en cacher le vice." +OEuvres tom. II. p. 353. + +[278] Ibid, p. 351.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. III. p. +367.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 20.--Campagna Filippo +Secondo, parte II. lib. 11.--Forbes, State Papers, vol. I. p. 151. + +[279] The English commissioner, Sir Nicholas Throckmorton, bears +testimony to the popularity of Henry.--"Their was marvailous great +lamentation made for him, and weaping of all sorts, both men and women." +Forbes, State Papers, vol. I. p. 151. + +[280] This pleasing anticipation is not destined to be realised. Since +the above was written, in the summer of 1851, the cloister life of +Charles the Fifth, then a virgin topic, has become a thrice-told +tale,--thanks to the labors of Mr. Stirling, M. Amedee Pichot, and M. +Mignet; while the publication of the original documents from Simancas, +by M. Gachard, will put it in the power of every scholar to verify their +statements.--See the postscript at the end of this chapter. + +[281] Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. p. 611. + +[282] "Una sola silla de caderas, que mas era media silla, tan vieja y +ruyn que si se pusiera en venta no dieran por ella quatro reales." +Ibid., tom. II. p. 610.--See also El Perfecto Desengano, por el Marques +de Valparayso, MS. + +The latter writer, in speaking of the furniture, uses precisely the same +language, with the exception of a single word, as Sandoval. Both claim +to have mainly derived their account of the cloister life of Charles the +Fifth from the prior of Yuste, Fray Martin de Angulo. The authority, +doubtless, is of the highest value, as the prior, who witnessed the +closing scenes of Charles's life, drew up his relation for the +information of the Regent Joanna, and at her request. Why the good +father should have presented his hero in such a poverty-stricken aspect, +it is not easy to say. Perhaps he thought it would redound to the credit +of the emperor, that he should have been willing to exchange the +splendors of a throne for a life of monkish mortification. + +[283] The reader will find an extract from the inventory of the royal +jewels, plate, furniture, &c, in Stirling's Cloister Life of Charles the +Fifth, (London, 1852,) Appendix, and in Pichot's Chronique de +Charles-Quint, (Paris, 1854,) p. 537 et seq. + +[284] Mignet has devoted a couple of pages to an account of this +remarkable picture of which an engraving is still extant, executed under +the eyes of Titian himself. Charles-Quint, pp. 214, 215. + +[285] Vera y Figueroa, Vida y Hechos de Carlos V., p. 127. + +A writer in Fraser's Magazine for April and May, 1851, has not omitted +to notice this remarkable picture, in two elaborate articles on the +cloister life of Charles the Fifth. They are evidently the fruit of a +careful study of the best authorities, some of them not easy of access +to the English student. The author has collected some curious +particulars in respect to the persons who accompanied the emperor in his +retirement; and on the whole, though he seems not to have been aware of +the active interest which Charles took in public affairs, he has +presented by far the most complete view of this interesting portion of +the imperial biography that has yet been given to the world. + +[I suffer this note to remain as originally written, before the +publication of Mr. Stirling's "Cloister Life" had revealed him as the +author of these spirited essays.] + +[286] Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. p. 610.--Siguenca, Historia +de la Orden de San Geronimo, (Madrid, 1595-1605,) parte III. p. +190.--Ford, Handbook of Spain, (London, 1845,) p. 551. + +Of the above authorities, Father Siguenca has furnished the best account +of the emperor's little domain as it was in his day, and Ford as it is +in our own. + +[287] See the eloquent conclusion of Stirling's Cloister Life of Charles +the Fifth. + +Ford, in his admirable Handbook, which may serve as a manual for the +student of Spanish in his closet, quite as well as for the traveller in +Spain, has devoted a few columns to a visit which he paid to this +sequestered spot, where, as he says, the spirit of the mighty dead +seemed to rule again in his last home. A few lines from the pages of the +English tourist will bring the scene more vividly before the reader than +the colder description in the text. "As the windows were thrown wide +open to admit the cool thyme-scented breeze, the eye in the clear +evening swept over the boundless valley; and the nightingales sang +sweetly, in the neglected orange-garden, to the bright stars reflected +like diamonds in the black tank below us. How often had Charles looked +out, on a stilly eve, on this selfsame and unchanged scene, where he +alone was now wanting!" Handbook of Spain, p. 553. + +[288] Carta de Martin de Gaztelu al Secretario Vazquez, 5 de Febrero, +1557, MS. + +[289] Their names and vocations are specified in the codicil executed by +Charles a few days before his death. See the document entire, ap. +Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. p. 662. + +A more satisfactory list has been made out by the indefatigable Gachard +from various documents which he collected, and which have furnished him +with the means of correcting the orthography of Sandoval, miserably +deficient in respect to Flemish names. See Retraite et Mort de +Charles-Quint, tom. I. p. 1. + +[290] "Las vistas de las piecas de su magestad no son muy largas, sino +cortas, y las que se veen, o es una montana de piedras grandes, o unos +montes de robles no muy altos. Campo llano no le ay, ni como podesse +pasear, que sea por un camino estrecho y lleno de piedra. Rio yo no vi +ninguno, sino un golpe de agua que baza de la montana: huerta en casa ay +una pequena y de pocos naranjos....... El aposento baxo no es nada +alegre, sino muy triste, y como es tan baxo, creo sera humido....... +Esto es lo que me parece del aposento y sitio de la casa y grandissima +soledad." Carta de Luis Quixada a Juan Vazquez, 30 de Noviembre, 1556, +MS. + +The major-domo concludes by requesting Vazquez not to show it to his +mistress, Joanna, the regent, as he would not be thought to run counter +to the wishes of the emperor in anything. + +[291] "Plegue a Dios que los pueda sufrir, que no sera poco, segun +suelen ser todos muy importunos, y mas los que saben menos." Carta de +Martin de Gaztelu, MS. + +[292] "Llamando al Emperador _paternidad_, de que luego fue advertido de +otro frayle que estava a su lado, y acudio con _magestad_." Ibid. + +[293] "Emperador semper augusto de Alemania." + +[294] His teeth seem to have been in hardly better condition than his +fingers.--"Era amigo de cortarse el mismo lo que comia, aunque ni tenia +buenas ni desembueltas las manos, ni los dientes." Siguenca, Orden de +San Geronimo, parte III. p. 192. + +[295] De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. III. p. 293. + +[296] "Quando comia, leya el confesor una leccion de San Augustin." El +Perfecto Desengano, MS. + +[297] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 15.--Vera y Figueroa, Vida y +Hechos de Carlos V., p. 123.--Siguenca, Orden de San Geronimo, parte +III. p. 195. + +The last writer is minute in his notice of the imperial habits and +occupations at Yuste. Siguenca was prior of the Escorial; and in that +palace-monastery of the Jeronymites he must have had the means of +continually conversing with several of his brethren who had been with +Charles in his retirement. His work, which appeared at the beginning of +the following century, has become rare,--so rare that M. Gachard was +obliged to content himself with a few manuscript extracts, from the +difficulty of procuring the printed original. I was fortunate enough to +obtain a copy, and a very fine one, through my booksellers, Messrs. +Rich, Brothers, London,--worthy sons of a sire who for thirty years or +more stood preeminent for sagacity and diligence among the collectors of +rare and valuable books. + +[298] "Mando pregonar en los lugares comarcanos que so pena de cien +acotes muger alguna no passasse de un humilladero que estasa como dos +tiros de ballesta del Monasterio." Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. +II. p. 612; and Sandoval's _double_, Valparayso, El Perfecto Desengano, +MS. + +[299] "Si alguno se errava dezia consigo mismo: O _hideputa bermejo_, +que aquel erro, o otro nombre semejante." Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., +tom. II. p. 613. + +I will not offend ears polite by rendering it in English into +corresponding Billingsgate. It is but fair to state that the author of +the Perfecto Desengano puts no such irreverent expression into Charles's +mouth. Both, however, profess to follow the MS. of the Prior Angulo. + +[300] "Non aspernatur exercitationes campestres, in quem usum paratam +habet tormentariam rhedam, ad essedi speciem, praecellenti arte, et miro +studio proximis hisce mensibus a se constructam." Lettres sur la Vie +Interieure de l'Empereur Charles-Quint, ecrites par Guillaume van Male, +gentilhomme de sa chambre, et publiees, pour la premiere fois, par le +Baron de Reiffenberg, (Bruxelles, 1843, 4to,) ep. 8. + +[301] "Interdum ligneos passerculos emisit cubiculo volantes +revolantesque." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 15. + +[302] Ford, Handbook of Spain, p. 552. + +[303] "A nemine, ne a proceribus quidem quacumque ex causa se adiri, aut +conveniri, nisi aegre admodum patiebatur." Sepulveda, Opera, tom. II. p. +541. + +[304] "Le hizo mas preguntas que se pudieran hazer a la donzella +Theodor, de que todo dio buena razon y de lo que vio yoy o en Francia, +provisiones de obispados, cargos de Italia, y de la infanteria y +caballeria, artilleria, gastadores, armas de mano y de otras cosas." +Carta de Martin de Gaztelu a Juan Vazquez, 18 de Mayo, 1558, MS. + +[305] "Retirose tanto de los negocios del Reyno y cosas de govierno, +como si jamas uviera tenido parte en ellos." Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos +V., tom. II. p. 614.--See also Valparayso, (El Perfecto Desengano, MS.,) +who uses the same words, probably copying Angulo, unless, indeed, we +suppose him to have stolen from Sandoval. + +[306] "Ut neque aurum, quod ingenti copia per id tempus Hispana classis +illi advexit ab India, neque strepitus bellorum, ... quidquam potuerint +animum ilium flectere, tot retro annis assuetum armorum sono."--Strada, +De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 14. + +[307] It is singular that Sepulveda, who visited Charles in his retreat, +should have been the only historian, as far as I am aware, who +recognized the truth of this fact, so perfectly established by the +letters from Yuste.--"Summis enim rebus, ut de bello et pace se consuli, +deque fratris, liberorum et sororum salute, et statu rerum certiorem +fieri non recusabat." Opera, tom. II. p. 541. + +[308] "Supplicando con toda humildad e instancia a su Magestad tenga por +bien de esforzarse en esta coyuntura, socorreindome y ayudandome, no +solo con su parecer y consejo que es el mayor caudal que puedo tener, +pero con la presencia de su persona y autoridad, saliendo del +monasterio, a la parte y lugar que mas comodo sea a su salud." Retiro, +Estancia, etc., ap. Mignet, Charles-Quint, p. 256, note. + +[309] "Siempre, en estas cosas, pregunta si no hay mas." Carta de Martin +de Gaztelu a Juan Vazquez, 8 de Noviembre, 1556, MS. + +[310] "Pues no se puede hazer otra cosa, y el Rey se ha justificado en +tantas maneras cumpliendo con Dios y el mundo, por escusar los danos que +dello se seguiran, forzado sera usar del ultimo remedio." Carta del +Emperador a Vazquez, 8 de Agosto, 1557, MS. + +[311] "Del Papa y de Caraffa se siente aqui que no haya llegado la nueva +de que se han muerto." Carta de Martin de Gaztelu a Juan Vazquez, 8 de +Noviembre, 1556, MS. + +[312] "Sobre que su magestad dizo algunas cosas con mas colera de la que +para su salud conviene." Carta de Martin de Gaztelu a Juan Vazquez, 10 +de Enero, 1558, MS. + +[313] See, in particular, Carta del Emperador a Su Alteza, 4 de Febrero, +1558. MS. + +[314] "Su Magestad esta con mucho cuidado por saber que camino ara +tomado el Rey despues de acabada aquella empresa." Carta de Luis de +Quixada a Juan Vazquez, 27 de Setiembre, 1557, MS. + +[315] Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 11. + +Whether Charles actually made the remark or not, it is clear from a +letter in the Gonzalez collection that this was uppermost in his +thoughts.--"Su Magestad tenia gran deseo de saber que partido tomaba el +rey su hijo despues de la victoria, y que estaba impacientissimo +formando cuentas de que ya deberia estar sobre Paris." Carta de Quixada, +10 de Setiembre, 1557, ap. Mignet, Charles-Quint, p. 279. + +It is singular that this interesting letter is neither in M. Gachard's +collection nor in that made for me from the same sources. + +[316] Cartas del Emperador a Juan Vazquez, de Setiembre 27 y Octubre 31, +1557, MS. + +[317] The Emperor intimates his wishes in regard to his grandson's +succession in a letter addressed, at a later period, to Philip. (Carta +del Emperador al Rey, 31 de Marzo, 1558, MS.) But a full account of the +Portuguese mission is given by Cienfuegos, Vida de S. Francisco de +Borja, (Barcelona, 1754,) p. 269. The person employed by Charles in this +delicate business was no other than his friend Francisco Borja, the +ex-duke of Gandia, who, like himself, had sought a retreat from the +world in the shades of the cloister. The biographers who record the +miracles and miraculous virtues of the sainted Jesuit, bestow several +chapters on his visits to Yuste. His conversations with the emperor are +reported with a minuteness that Boswell might have envied, and which may +well provoke our scepticism, unless we suppose them to have been +reported by Borja himself. One topic much discussed in them was the +merits of the order which the emperor's friend had entered. It had not +then risen to that eminence which, under its singular discipline, it +subsequently reached; and Charles would fain have persuaded his visitor +to abandon it for the Jeronymite society with which he was established. +But Borja seems to have silenced, if not satisfied, his royal master, by +arguments which prove that his acute mind already discerned the germ of +future greatness in the institutions of the new order.--Ibid., pp. +273-279.--Ribadeneira, Vita Francisci Borgiae, (Lat. trans., Antverpiae, +1598,) p. 110 et seq. + +[318] Carta del Emperador al Rey, 25 de Mayo, 1558, MS. + +On the margin of this letter we find the following memoranda of Philip +himself, showing how much importance he attached to his father's +interposition in this matter. "Volverselo a suplicar con gran instancia, +pues quedamos in tales terminos que, si me ayudan con dinero, los +podriamos atraer a lo que conviniesse." "Besalle las manos por lo que en +esto ha mandado y suplicalle lo lleve adelante y que de aca se hara lo +mismo, y avisarle de lo que se han hecho hasta agora." + +[319] Carta del Emperador a Juan Vazquez, 31 de Marzo, 1557, MS. + +[320] Carta del Emperador a la Princesa, 31 de Marzo, 1557, MS.--The +whole letter is singularly characteristic of Charles. Its authoritative +tone shows that, though he had parted with the crown, he had not parted +with the temper of a sovereign, and of an absolute sovereign too. + +[321] "Es tal su indignacion y tan sangrientas las palabras y vehemencia +con que manda escribir a v.m. que me disculpara sino lo hago con mas +templanca y modo." Carta de Martin de Gaztelu a Juan Vazquez, 12 de +Mayo, 1557, MS. + +[322] "His majesty was so well," writes Gaztelu, early in the summer of +1557, "that he could rise from his seat, and support his arquebuse, +without aid." He could even do some mischief with his fowling-piece to +the wood-pigeons. Carta de Gaztelu, a Vazquez, 5 de Junio, 1557, MS. + +[323] "Porque desde tantos de noviembre hasta pocos dias hame ha dado +[la gota] tres vezes y muy rezio, y me ha tenido muchos dias en la cama, +y hestado hasta de poco aca tan trabajado y flaco que en toda esta +quaresma no he podido oyr un sermon, y esto es la causa porque no os +escribo esta de mi mano." Carta del Emperador al Rey, 7 de Abril, 1558, +MS. + +[324] "Sintiolo cierto mucho, y se le arrasaron los ojos, y me dijo lo +mucho que el y la de Francia se habian siempre querido, y por cuan buena +cristiana la tenia, y que le llevaba quince meses de tiempo, y que, +segun el se iba sintiendo, de poco aca podria ser que dentro de ellos le +hiciese compania." Carta de Gaztelu a Vazquez, 21 de Febrero, 1558, ap. +Gachard, Retraite et Mort, tom. I, p. 270.--See also Mignet, +Charles-Quint, p. 339. + +[325] "Y que para ello les deis y mandeis dar todo el favor y calor que +fuere necenario y para que los que fueren culpados sean punidos y +castigados con la demostracion y rigor que la cualidad de sus culpas +mereceran y esto sin exception de persona alguna." Carta del Emperador a +la Princesa, 3 de Mayo, 1558, MS. + +[326] "No se si toviera sufrimiento para no salir de aqui arremediallo." +Carta del Emperador a la Princesa, 25 de Mayo, 1568, MS. + +[327] The history of this affair furnishes a good example of the +_crescit eundo_. The author of the MS. discovered by M. Bakhuizen, +noticed more fully in the next note, though present at the ceremony, +contents himself with a general outline of it. Siguenca, who follows +next in time and in authority, tells us of the lighted candle which +Charles delivered to the priest. Strada, who wrote a generation later, +concludes the scene by leaving the emperor in a swoon upon the floor. +Lastly, Robertson, after making the emperor perform in his shroud, lays +him in his coffin, where, after joining in the prayers for the rest of +his own soul, not yet departed, he is left by the monks to his +meditations!--Where Robertson got all these particulars it would not be +easy to tell; certainly not from the authorities cited at the bottom of +his page. + +[328] "Et j'assure que le coeur nous fendait de voir qu'un homme voulut +en quelque sorte s'enterrer vivant, et faire ses obseques avant de +mourir." Gachard, Retraite et Mort, tom. I. p lvi. + +M. Gachard has given a translation of the chapter relating to the +funeral, from a curious MS. account of Charles's convent life, +discovered by M. Bakhuizen in the archives at Brussels. As the author +was one of the brotherhood who occupied the convent at the time of the +emperor's residence there, the MS. is stamped with the highest +authority; and M. Gachard will doubtless do a good service to letters by +incorporating it in the second volume of his "Retraite et Mort." + +[329] Siguenca, Hist. de la Orden de San Geronimo, parte III. pp. 200, +201. + +Siguenca's work, which combines much curious learning with a simple +elegance of style, was the fruit of many years of labor. The third +volume, containing the part relating to the emperor, appeared in 1605, +the year before the death of its author, who, as already noticed, must +have had daily communication with several of the monks, when, after +Charles's death, they had been transferred from Yuste to the gloomy +shades of the Escorial. + +[330] Such, for example, were Vera y Figueroa, Conde de la Roca, whose +little volume appeared in 1613; Strada, who wrote some twenty years +later; and the marquis of Valparayso, whose MS. is dated 1638. I say +nothing of Sandoval, often quoted as authority for the funeral, for, as +he tells us that the money which the emperor proposed to devote to a +mock funeral was after all appropriated to his real one, it would seem +to imply that the former never took place. + +It were greatly to be wished that the MS. of Fray Martin de Angulo could +be detected and brought to light. As prior of Yuste while Charles was +there, his testimony would be invaluable. Both Sandoval and the marquis +of Valparayso profess to have relied mainly on Angulo's authority. Yet +in this very affair of the funeral they disagree. + +[331] Siguenca's composition may be characterized as _simplex +munditiis_. The MS. of the monk of Yuste, found in Brussels, is stamped, +says M. Gachard, with the character of simplicity and truth. Retraite et +Mort, tom. I. p. xx. + +[332] Mignet, Charles-Quint, p. 1. + +[333] "Estuvo un poco contemplandole, devia de pedirle, que le +previniesse lugar en el Alcazar glorioso que habitava." Vera y Figueroa, +Carlos Quinto, p. 127. + +[334] This famous picture, painted in the artist's best style, forms now +one of the noblest ornaments of the Museo of Madrid. See Ford, Handbook +of Spain, p. 758. + +[335] For the above account of the beginning of Charles's illness, see +Siguenca, Orden de San Geronimo, parte III. p. 201; Vera y Figueroa, +Carlos Quinto, p. 127; Valparayso, el Perfecto Desengano, MS. + +[336] Vera y Figueroa, Carlos Quinto, p. 127.--Siguenca, Orden de San +Geronimo, parte III. p. 201.--Carta de Luis Quixada al Rey, 17 de +Setiembre, 1558, MS. + +[337] The Regent Joanna, it seems, suspected, for some reason or other, +that the boy in Quixada's care was in fact the emperor's son. A few +weeks after her father's death she caused a letter to be addressed to +the major-domo, asking him directly if this were the case, and +intimating a desire to make a suitable provision for the youth. The wary +functionary, who tells this in his private correspondence with Philip, +endeavored to put the regent off the scent by stating that the lad was +the son of a friend, and that, as no allusion had been made to him in +the emperor's will, there could be no foundation for the rumor. "Ser +ansy que yo tenya un muchacho de hun caballero amygo myo que me abia +encomendado anos a, y que pues S. M. en su testamento ni codecilyo, no +azia memorya del, que hera razon tenello por burla." Carta de Luis +Quixada al Rey, 28 de Noviembre, 1558, MS. + +[338] Codicilo del Emperador, ap. Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. +p. 657. + +[339] "Si bien no sea necessario no os parece, que es buena compania +para jornada tan larga." Ibid., p. 617. + +[340] Carta sobre los ultimos momentos del Emperador Carlos V., escrita +en Yuste, el 27 de Setiembre, 1558, ap. Documentos Ineditos, tom. VI. p. +668. + +[341] Carta de Luis Quixada a Juan Vazquez, 25 de Setiembre, 1558, +MS.--Carta del mismo al Rey, 30 de Setiembre, 1558, MS.--Carta del +Arzobispo de Toledo a la Princesa, 21 de Setiembre, 1558, MS. + +[342] "Tomo la candela en la mano derecha la qual yo tenya y con la +yzquyerda tomo el crucifixo deziendo, ya es tiempo, y con dezir Jesus +acabo." Carta de Luis Quixada a Juan Vazquez, 25 de Setiembre, 1558, MS. + +For the accounts of this death-bed scene, see Carta del mismo al mismo, +21 de Setiembre, MS.--Carta del mismo al Rey, 21 de Setiembre, +MS.--Carta del mismo al mismo, 30 de Setiembre, MS.--Carta del Arzobispo +de Toledo a la Princesa, 21 de Setiembre, MS.--Carta del Medico del +Emperador (Henrico Matisio) a Juan Vazquez, 21 de Setiembre, MS.--Carta +sobre los ultimos momentos del Emperador, 27 de Setiembre, ap. +Documentos Ineditos, vol. VI. p. 667.--Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., +tom. II. p. 618. + +The MSS. referred to may now be all found in the printed collection of +Gachard. + +[343] "Temiendo siempre no lo poder tener en aquel tiempo." Carta de +Luis Quixada al Rey, 30 de Setiembre, MS. + +[344] Documentos Ineditos, tom. VI. p. 669. + +[345] Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. p. 620. + +[346] At least, such were the images suggested to my mind, as I wandered +through the aisles of this fine old cathedral, on a visit which I made +to Brussels a few years since,--in the summer of 1850. Perhaps the +reader will excuse, as germaine to this matter, a short sketch relating +to it, from one of my letters written on the spot to a distant friend:-- + +"Then the noble cathedral of Brussels, dedicated to one Saint +Gudule,--the superb organ filling its long aisles with the most +heart-thrilling tones, as the voices of the priests, dressed in their +rich robes of purple and gold, rose in a chant that died away in the +immense vaulted distance of the cathedral. It was the service of the +dead, and the coffin of some wealthy burgher probably, to judge from its +decorations, was in the choir. A number of persons were kneeling and +saying their prayers in rapt attention, little heeding the Protestant +strangers who were curiously gazing at the pictures and statues with +which the edifice was filled. I was most struck with one poor woman, who +was kneeling before the shrine of the saint, whose marble corpse, +covered by a decent white gauze veil, lay just before her, separated +only by a light railing. The setting sun was streaming in through the +rich colored panes of the magnificent windows, that rose from the floor +to the ceiling of the cathedral, some hundred feet in height. The glass +was of the time of Charles the Fifth, and I soon recognized his familiar +face,--the protruding jaw of the Austrian line. As I heard the glorious +anthem rise up to heaven in this time-honored cathedral, which had +witnessed generation after generation melt away, and which now +displayed, in undying colors, the effigies of those who had once +worshipped within its walls, I was swept back to a distant period, and +felt I was a contemporary of the grand old times when Charles the Fifth +held the chapters of the Golden Fleece in this very building." + +[347] "De Rege vero Caesare ajunt, qui ab eo veniunt, barbatum jam esse." +Petri Martyris Opus Epistolarum, (Amstelodami, 1670, fol.,) ep. 734. + +[348] In this outline of the character of Charles the Fifth, I have not +hesitated to avail myself of the masterly touches which Ranke has given +to the portrait of this monarch, in the introduction to that portion of +his great work on the nations of Southern Europe which he has devoted to +Spain. + +[349] "Qualche fiate io son fermo in le cattive." Contarini, cited by +Ranke, Ottoman and Spanish Empires, p. 29. + +[350] See Bradford, Correspondence of the Emperor Charles the Fifth and +his Ambassadors at the Courts of England and France, with a connecting +Narrative and Biographical Notices of the Emperor, (London, 1850,) p. +367,--a work which contains some interesting particulars, little known, +respecting Charles the Fifth. + +[351] "Nel mangiare ha S. Maesta sempre eccesso...... La mattina +svegliata ella pigliava una scodella di pesto cappone con latte, +zucchero et spezierie, popoi il quale tornava a riposare. A mezzo giorno +desinava molte varieta di vivande, et poco da poi vespro merendava, et +all'hora di notte se n'andava alla cena mangiando cose tutte da generare +humori grossi et viscosi." Badovaro, Notizie delli Stati et Corti di +Carlo Quinto Imperatore et del Re Cattolico, MS. + +[352] "Disse una volta al Maggior-domo Monfalconetto con sdegno, +ch'aveva corrotto il giudicio a dare ordine a'cuochi, perche tutti i +cibi erano insipidi, dal quale le fu risposto: Non so come dovere +trovare pin modi da compiacere alla maesta V. se io non fo prova di +farle una nuova vivanda di pottaggio di rogoli, il che la mosse a quel +maggiore et piu lungo riso che sia mai stato veduto in lei." Ibid. + +[353] Briefe an Kaiser Karl V., geschrieben von seinem Beichtvater, +(Berlin, 1848,) p. 159 et al. + +These letters of Charles's confessor, which afford some curious +particulars for the illustration of the early period of his history, are +preserved in the archives of Simancas. The edition above referred to +contains the original Castilian, accompanied by a German translation. + +[354] "Si hallais," said the royal author with a degree of humility +rarely found in brethren of the craft, "que alguna vanidad secreta puede +mover la pluma (que siempre es prodigioso Panegerista en causa propria), +la arrojare de la mano al punto, para dar al viento lo que es del +viento." Cienfuegos, Vida de Borja, p. 269. + +[355] "Factus est anagnostes insatiabilis, audit legentem me singulis +noctibus facta coenula sua, mox librum repeti jubet, si forte ipsum +torquet insomnia." Lettres sur la Vie Interieure de Charles-Quint, +ecrites par G. Van Male, ep. 7. + +[356] "Scripsi ... liberalissimas ejus occupationes in navigatione +fluminis Rheni, dum ocii occasione invitatus, scriberet in navi +peregrinationes et expeditiones quas ab anno XV. in praesentem usque +diem, suscepisset." Ibid., ep. 5. + +[357] "Statui novum quoddam scribendi temperatum effingere, mixtum ex +Livio, Caesare, Suetonio, et Tacito." Ibid. + +[358] At the emperor's death, these Memoirs were in possession of Van +Male, who afterwards used to complain, with tears in his eyes, that +Quixada had taken them away from him. But he remembered enough of their +contents, he said, to make out another life of his master, which he +intended to do. (Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 29.) Philip, +thinking that Van Male might have carried his intention into execution, +ordered Granvelle to hunt among his papers, after the poor gentleman's +death, and if he found any such MS. to send it to him, that he might +throw it into the fire! (Ibid., p. 273.) Philip, in his tenderness for +his father's memory, may have thought that no man could be a hero to his +own valet-de-chambre. On searching, however, no memoirs were found. + +[359] "Bono jure, ait, fructus ille ad Gulielmum redeat, ut qui plurimum +in opere illo sudarit." Ibid., ep. 6. + +[360] "Ne in proemio quidem passus est ullam solertiae suae laudem +adscribi." Ibid. + +Van Male's Latin correspondence, from which this amusing incident is +taken, was first published by the Baron Reiffenberg for the society of +_Bibliophiles Belgiques_, at Brussels, in 1843. It contains some +interesting notices of Charles the Fifth's personal habits during the +five years preceding his abdication. Van Male accompanied his master +into his retirement; and his name appears in the codicil, among those of +the household who received pensions from the emperor. This doubtless +stood him in more stead than his majesty's translation, which, although +it passed through several editions in the course of the century, +probably put little money into the pocket of the chamberlain, who died +in less than two years after his master. + +A limited edition only of Van Male's correspondence was printed, for the +benefit of the members of the association. For the copy used by me, I am +indebted to Mr. Van de Weyer, the accomplished Belgian minister at the +English court, whose love of letters is shown not more by the library he +has formed--one of the noblest private collections in Europe--than by +the liberality with which he accords the use of it to the student. + +[361] Paulo Giovio got so little in return for his honeyed words, that +his eyes were opened to a new trait in the character of Charles, whom he +afterwards stigmatized as parsimonious. See Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis +Caroli V., lib. XXX. p. 534. + +[362] "Haud mihi gratum est legere vel audire quae de me scribuntur; +legent alii cum ipse a vita discessero; tu siquid ex me scire cupis, +percunctare, nec enim respondere gravabor." Ibid., p. 533. + +[363] Charles, however willing he might be to receive those strangers +who brought him news from foreign parts, was not very tolerant, as the +historian tells us, of visits of idle ceremony. Ibid., p. 541. + +[364] Carta del Emperador al Secretario Vazquez, 9 de Julio, 1558, MS. + +[365] "Si me hallara con fuercas y dispusicion de podello hacer tambien +procurara de enforcarme en este caso a tomar cualquier trabajo para +procurar por mi parte el remedio y castigo de lo sobre dicho sin embargo +de los que por ello he padescido." Carta del Emperador a la Princesa, 3 +de Mayo, 1558, MS. + +[366] "Yo erre en no matar a Luthero, ... porque yo no era obligado a +guardalle la palabra por ser la culpa del hereje contra otro mayor +Senor, que era Dios." Sandoval, Hist. de Carlos V., tom. II. p. 613. + +See also Vera y Figueroa, Carlos Quinto, p. 124. + +[367] "Vocatur quoque synechdochice, per universam ferme Europam, +Flandria, idque ob ejus Provinciae potentiam atque splendorem: quamvis +sint, qui contendant, vocabulum ipsum Flandria, a frequenti exterorum in +ea quondam Provincia mercatorum commercio, derivatum, atque inde in +omnes partes diffusum; alii rursus, quod haec ipsa Flandria, strictius +sumta, Gallis, Anglis, Hispanis, atque Italis sit vicinior, ideoque et +notior simul et celebrior, totam Belgiam eo nomine indigitatam +perhibent." Guicciardini, Belgicae, sive Inferioris Germaniae Descriptio, +(Amstelodami, 1652,) p. 6. + +[368] These provinces were the duchies of Brabant, Limburg, Luxembourg, +and Gueldres; the counties of Artois, Hainault, Flanders, Namur, +Zuetphen, Holland, and Zealand; the margraviate of Antwerp; and the +lordships of Friesland, Mechlin, Utrecht, Overyssel, and Groningen. + +[369] Basnage, Annales des Provinces-Unies, avec la Description +Historique de leur Gouvernement, (La Haye, 1719,) tom. I. p. +3.--Guicciardini, Belgicae Descriptio, p. 81 et seq. + +The Venetian minister Tiepolo warmly commends the loyalty of these +people to their princes, not to be shaken so long as their +constitutional privileges were respected. "Sempre si le sono mostrati +quei Popoli molto affettionati, et amorevoli contentandosi de esser +gravati senza che mai facesse alcun resentimento forte piu de l'honesto. +Ma cosi come in questa parte sempre hanno mostrato la sua prontezza cosi +sono stati duri et difficili, che ponto le fossero sminuiti li loro +privilegii et autorita, ne che ne iloro stati s'introducessero nuove +leggi, et nuova ordini ad instantia massime, et perricordo di gente +straniera." Relatione di M. A. Tiepolo, ritornato Ambasciatore dal Sermo +Re Cattolico, 1567, MS. + +[370] Basnage, Annales des Provinces-Unies, tom. I. p. 8. + +[371] Ibid., loc. cit.--Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, (Milano, 1806,) +p. 9 et seq.--Ranke, Spanish Empire, p. 79. + +The last writer, with his usual discernment, has selected the particular +facts that illustrate most forcibly the domestic policy of the +Netherlands under Charles the Fifth. + +[372] "Urbes in ea sive moenibus clausae, sive clausis magnitudine +propemodum pares, supra trecentas et quinquaginta censeantur; pagi vero +majores ultra sex millia ac trecentos numerentur, ut nihil de minoribus +vicis arcibusque loquar, quibus supra omnem numerum consitus est +Belgicus ager." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 32. + +[373] Guicciardini, Belgicae Descriptio, p. 207 et seq. + +The geographer gives us the population of several of the most +considerable capitals in Europe in the middle of the sixteenth century. +That of Paris, amounting to 300,000, seems to have much exceeded that of +every other great city except Moscow. + +[374] "Atque hinc adeo fit, ut isti opera sua ea dexteritate, +facilitate, ordineque disponant, ut et parvuli, ac quadriennes modo aut +quinquennes eorum filioli, victum illico sibi incipiant quaerere." +Guicciardini, Belgicae Descriptio, p. 55. + +[375] Relatione di M. Cavallo tornato Ambasciatore dal Imperatore, 1551, +MS. + +The ambassador does not hesitate to compare Antwerp, for the extent of +its commerce, to his own proud city of Venice. "Anversa corrisponde di +mercantia benissimo a Venetia, Lavania di studio a Padova, Gante per +grandezza a Verona, Brussellis per il sito a Brescia." + +[376] "Liquido enim constat, eorum, anno annum pensante, et carisaeis +aliisque panniculis ad integros pannos reductis, ducenta et amplius +millia annuatim nobis distribui, quorum singuli minimum aestimentur +vicenis quinis scutatis, ita ut in quinque et amplius milliones ratio +tandem excrescat." Guicciardini, Belgicae Descriptio, p. 244. + +[377] "Quae vero ignota marium litora, quasve desinentis mundi oras +scrutata non est Belgarum nautica? Nimirum quanto illos natura intra +fines terrae contractiores inclusit, tanto ampliores ipsi sibi aperuere +oceani campos." Strada, De Bello Belgico, lib. I. p. 32. + +[378] Schiller, Abfall der Niederlande, (Stuttgart, 1838,) p. 44. + +[379] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[380] Burgon, Life of Sir Thomas Gresham, (London, 1839,) vol. I. p. 72. + +[381] "In quorum (Brabantinorum) Provinciam scimus transferre se solitas +e vicinis locis parituras mulieres, ut Brabantinas immunitates filiis eo +solo genitis acquierent, crederes ab agricolis eligi plantaria, in +quibus enatae arbusculae, primoque illo terrae velut ab ubere lactentes, +alio dein secum auferant dotes hospitalis soli." Strada, De Bello +Belgico, lib. II. p. 61. + +[382] Histoire des Provinces-Unies des Pais-Bas, (La Haye, 1704,) tom. +I. p. 88 + +[383] Guicciardini, Belgicae Descriptio, p. 225 et seq. + +[384] "Ut in multis terrae Provinciis, Hollandia nominatim atque +Zelandia, viri omnium fere rerum suarum curam uxoribus saepe relinquant." +Ibid., p. 58. + +[385] "Majori gentis parti nota Grammaticae rudimenta, et vel ipsi etiam +rustici legendi scribendique periti sunt." Ibid., p. 53. + +Guicciardini, who states this remarkable fact, had ample opportunity for +ascertaining the truth of it, since, though an Italian by birth, he +resided in the Netherlands for forty years or more. + +[386] Schiller, Abfall der Niederlande, p. 53.--Vandervynckt, Histoire +des Troubles des Pays-Bas, (Bruxelles, 1822,) tom. II. p. 6.--Groen Van +Prinsterer, Archives ou Correspondance Inedite de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, (Leide, 1841,) tom. I. p. 164* + +[387] The whole number of "placards" issued by Charles the Fifth +amounted to eleven. See the dates in Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe +II. sur les Affaires des Pays-Bas, (Bruxelles, 1848,) tom. I. pp. 105, +106. + +[388] "Le _fer_, la _fosse_, et le _feu_." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[389] Meteren, Histoire des Pays-Bas, ou Recueil des Guerres et Choses +memorables, depuis l'An 1315, jusques a l'An 1612, traduit de Flamend, +(La Haye, 1618,) fol. 10.--Brandt, History of the Reformation in the Low +Countries, translated from the Dutch, (London, 1720,) vol. I. p. 88. + +[390] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 108.--Grotius, Annales +et Historiae de Rebus Belgicis, (Amstelaedami, 1657,) p. 11.--Brandt, +Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 88. + +[391] Viglius, afterwards president of the privy council, says plainly, +in one of his letters to Granvelle, that the name of _Spanish_ +Inquisition was fastened on the Flemish, in order to make it odious to +the people. "Queruntur autem imprimis, a nobis novam inductam +inquisitionem, quam vocant Hispanicam. Quod falso populo a quibusdam +persuadetur, ut nomine ipso rem odiosam reddant, cum nulla alia ab +Caesare sit instituta inquisitio, quam ea, quae cum jure scripto scilicet +Canonico, convenit, et usitata antea fuit in hac Provincia." Viglii +Epistolae Selectae, ap. Hoynck, Analecta Belgica, (Hagae Comitum, 1743,) +tom. II. pars I. p. 349. + +[392] Grotius swells the number to one hundred thousand! (Annales, p. +12.) It is all one; beyond a certain point of the incredible, one ceases +to estimate probabilities. + +[393] Histoire de l'Inquisition d'Espagne, (Paris, 1818,) tom. I. p. +280. + +[394] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 123. 124. + +[395] "Donde che l'Imperatore ha potuto cavare in 24 millioni d'oro _in +pochi anni_." Relatione di Soriano, MS. + +[396] "Questi sono li tesori del Re di Spagna, queste le minere, queste +l'Indie che hanno sostenuto l'imprese dell'Imperatore tanti anni nelle +guerre di Francia, d'Italia et d'Alemagna, et hanno conservato et +diffeso li stati, la dignita et la riputatione sua." Ibid. + +[397] "Et pero in ogni luogo corrono tanto i denari et tanto il +spacciamento d'ogni cosa che non vi e huomo per basso et inerte, che +sia, che per il suo grado non sia ricco." Relatione di Cavallo, MS. + +[398] See an extract from the original letter of Charles, dated +Brussels, January 27 1555, ap. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. +p. cxxii. + +[399] It is the fine expression of Schiller, applied to Philip on +another occasion. Abfall der Niederlande, p. 61. + +[400] "Il se cachait ordinairement dans le fond de son carosse, pour se +derober a la curiosite d'un peuple qui courait audevant de lui et +s'empressait a le voir; le peuple se crut dedaigne et meprise." +Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 17. + +Coaches were a novelty then in Flanders, and indeed did not make their +appearance till some years later in London. Sir Thomas Gresham writes +from Antwerp in 1560, "The Regent ys here still; and every other day +rydes abowght this town in her cowche, _brave come le sol_, trymmed +after the Itallione fasshone." Burgon, Life of Gresham, vol. I. p. 305. + +[401] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 108, +126.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 10.--Brandt, +Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 107. + +[402] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 94. + +[403] Ibid., ubi supra.--Historia de los Alborotos de Flandes, por el +Caballero Renom de Francia, Senor de Noyelles, y Presidente de Malinas, +MS.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 31. + +[404] See, in particular, the king's letter, in which he proposes to +turn to his own account the sinking fund provided by the states for the +discharge of the debt they had already contracted for him, Papiers +d'Etat, de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 594. + +[405] "Il Duca di Sessa et il Conte d'Egmont hano acquistato il nome di +Capitano nuovamente perche una giornata vinta o per vertu o per fortuna, +una sola fattione ben riuscita, porta all'huomini riputatione et +grandezza." Relatione di Soriano, MS. + +[406] Strada, De Bello Belgico, lib. I. p. 42.--Francia, Alborotos de +Flandes, MS.--Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 25. + +[407] Strada, De Bello Belgico, lib. I. p. 52. + +[408] "Sed etiam habitus quidam corporis incessusque, quo non tam femina +sortita viri spiritus, quam vir ementitus veste feminam videretur." +Ibid., ubi supra. + +[409] "Nec deerat aliqua mento superiorique labello barbula: ex qua +virilis ei non magis species, quam auctoritas conciliabatur. Immo, quod +raro in mulieres, nec nisi in praevalidas cadit, podagra idemtidem +laborabat." Ibid., p. 53. + +[410] "Ob eam causam singulis annis, tum in sanctiori hebdomada, +duodenis pauperibus puellis pedes (quos a sordibus purgatos ante +vetuerat) abluebat." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[411] Ibid., pp. 46-53, 543.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. +2.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 13. + +[412] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 21. + +[413] Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 27 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe +Segundo, lib. V. cap. 2.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, lib. I. p. +57.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bays, tom. II. p. 22.--Meteren, +Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 24.--Schiller, Abfall der Niederlande, p. 84. + +[414] "Je confesse que je fus tellement esmeu de pitie et de compassion +que des lors j'entrepris a bon escient d'ayder a faire chasser cette +vermine d'Espaignols hors de ce Pays." Apology of the Prince of Orange, +ap. Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. V. p. 392. + +[415] "Que le Roi et son Conseil avoyent arreste que tous ceux qui +avoient consenti et signe la Requeste, par laquelle on demandoit que la +Gendarmerie Espaignolle s'en allast, qu'on auroit souvenance de les +chastier avec le temps, et quand la commodite s'en presenteroit, et +qu'il les en advertissoit comme amy." Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. +25. + +[416] "Che egli voleva piuttosto restar senza regni, che possedergli con +l'eresia." Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 31. + +[417] Ranke, Spanish Empire, p. 81.--Schiller, Abfall der Niederlande, +p. 85.--Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 27.--- Strada, De Bello +Belgico, p. 57.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 25. + +[418] The existence of such a confidential body proved a fruitful source +of disaster. The names of the parties who composed it are not given in +the instructions to the regent, which leave all to her discretion. +According to Strada, however, the royal will in the matter was plainly +intimated by Philip. (De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 57.) Copies of the +regent's commission, as well as of two documents, the one indorsed as +"private," the other as "secret" instructions, and all three bearing the +date of August 8, 1559, are to be found entire in the Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. II., Appendix, Nos. 2-4. + +[419] "Ma non dal tanto alcuno dell'altri ne tutt'insieme quanto +Mons^{r.} d'Aras solo, il quale per il gran giudicio che ha et per la +longa prattica del governo del mondo et nel tentar l'imprese grandi piu +accorto et piu animoso di tutti piu destro et piu sicuro nel maneggiarle +et nel finirle piu constante et piu risoluto." Relatione di Soriano, MS. + +[420] "Mio figliuolo et io e voi habbiamo perso un buon letto di +riposo,"--literally a good bed to repose on. Leti, Vita di Filippo II., +tom. I. p. 195. + +[421] principal motive of Philip the Second in founding this university, +according to Hopper, was to give Flemings the means of getting a +knowledge of the French language without going abroad into foreign +countries for it. Recueil et Memorial des Troubles des Pays-Bas, cap. 2, +ap. Hoynck, Analecta Belgica, tom. II. + +[422] "On remarque de lui ce qu'on avoit remarque de Cesar, et meme +d'une facon plus singuliere, c'est qu'il occupoit cinq secretaires a la +fois, en leur dictant des lettres en differentes langues." Levesque, +Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire du Cardinal de Granvelle, (Paris, +1753,) tom. I. p. 215. + +[423] "Di modo che ogni sera sopra un foglio di carta che lor chiamono +beliero esso Granvela, manda all'Imperatore il suo parere del quale +sopra li negotii del seguente giorno sua maesta ha da fare." Relatione +di Soriano, MS. + +[424] "Havendo prima lui senza risolvere cosa alcuna mandata +ogn'informatione et ogni particolare negotiatione con gli Ambasciatori +et altri ad esso Monsignore, di modo che et io et tutti gl'altri +Ambasciatori si sono avveduti essendo rimesse a Monsignor Granvela che +sua Eccellenza ha inteso ogni particolare et quasi ogni parola passata +fra l'Imperatore et loro." Ibid. + +[425] A striking example of the manner in which Granvelle conveyed his +own views to the king is shown by a letter to Philip dated Brussels, +July 17, 1559, in which the minister suggests the arguments that might +be used to the authorities of Brabant for enforcing the edicts. The +letter shows, too, that Granvelle, if possessed naturally of a more +tolerant spirit than Philip, could accommodate himself so far to the +opposite temper of his master as to furnish him with some very plausible +grounds for persecution. Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. V. p. 614. + +[426] Levesque, Memoires de Granvelle, tom. I. p. 207 et +seq.--Courchetet, Histoire du Cardinal de Granvelle, (Bruxelles, 1784,) +tom. I. passim.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 85.--Burgon, Life of +Gresham, vol. I. p. 267. + +The author of the Memoires de Granvelle was a member of a Benedictine +convent in Besancon, which, by a singular chance, became possessed of +the manuscripts of Cardinal Granvelle, more than a century after his +death. The good Father Levesque made but a very indifferent use of the +rich store of materials placed at his disposal, by digesting them into +two duodecimo volumes, in which the little that is of value seems to +have been pilfered from the unpublished MS. of a previous biographer of +the Cardinal. The work of the Benedictine, however, has the merit of +authenticity. I shall take occasion, hereafter, to give a more +particular account of the Granvelle collection. + +[427] "En consideration des bons, leaux, notables et agreables services +faits par lui, pendant plusieurs annees, a feu l'Empereur, et depuis au +Roi." Correspondance de Philippe II, tom. I. p. 184. + +[428] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 69 et +seq.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 40.--Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, +cap. 2.--Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. + +[429] The royal larder seems to have been well supplied in the article +of poultry, to judge from one item, mentioned by Meteren, of fifteen +thousand capons. Hist. des Pays-Bas, tom. I. fol. 25. + +[430] "Le Roi le prenant par le poignet, et le lui secoueant, repliqua en +Espagnol, _No los Estados, mas vos, vos, vos_, repetant ce _vos_ par +trois fois, terme de mepris chez les Espagnols, qui veut dire toy, toy +en Francois." Auberi, Memoires pour servir a l'Histoire d'Hollande et +des autres Provinces-Unies, (Paris, 1711,) p. 7. + +[431] One might wish the authority for this anecdote better than it is, +considering that it is contradicted by the whole tenor of Philip's life, +in which self-command was a predominant trait. The story was originally +derived from Auberi (loc. cit.). The chronicler had it, as he tells us, +from his father, to whom it was told by an intimate friend of the prince +of Orange, who was present at the scene. Auberi, though a dull writer, +was, according to Voltaire's admission, well informed,--"ecrivain +mediocre, mais fort instruit." + +[432] "Carlo V. haueua saccheggiato la Terra, per arrichirne il Mare." +Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 335. + +[433] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 3.--Sepulveda, De Rebus +Gestis Philippi II., Opera, tom. III. p. 53.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., +tom. I. p. 335. + +[434] The editors of the "Documentos Ineditos para la Historia de +Espana," in a very elaborate notice of the prosecution of Archbishop +Carranza, represent the literary intercourse between the German and +Spanish Protestants as even more extensive than it is stated to be in +the text. According to them, a regular _depot_ was established at Medina +del Campo and Seville, for the sale of the forbidden books at very low +rates. "De las imprentas de Alemania se despachaban a Flandes, y desde +alli a Espana, al principio por los puertos de mar, y despues cuando ya +hubo mas vigilancia de parte del gobierno, los enviaban a Leon de +Francia desde donde se introducian en la peninsula por Navarra y Aragon. +Un tal Vilman librero de Amberes tenia tienda en Medina del Campo y en +Sevilla donde vendia las obras de los protestantes en espanol y latin. +Estos libros de Francfort se daban a buen mercado para que circulasen +con mayor facilidad." Documentos Ineditos, tom. V. p. 399. + +[435] For the preceding pages see Llorente, Histoire de l'Inquisition +d'Espagne, tom. II p. 282; tom. III. pp. 191, 258.--Montanus, Discovery +and playne Declaration of sundry subtill Practises of the Holy +Inquisition of Spayne, (London, 1569,) p. 73.--Sepulveda, Opera, tom. +III. p. 54. + +[436] Llorente, Hist, de l'Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. I. pp. 470, 471; +tom. II. pp. 183, 184, 215-217. + +[437] McCrie, History of the Reformation in Spain, (Edinburgh, 1829,) p. +243.--Relacion del Auto que se hico en Valladolid el dia de la +Sanctissima Trinidad, Ano de 1559, MS. + +[438] The reader curious in the matter will find a more particular +account of the origin and organization of the modern Inquisition in the +"History of Ferdinand and Isabella," part I. cap. 9. + +[439] See the Register of such as were burned at Seville and Valladolid, +in 1559, ap. Montanus, Discovery of sundry subtill Practises of the +Inquisition.--Relacion del Auto que se hico en Valladolid el dia de la +Sanctissima Trinidad, 1559, MS.--Sepulveda, Opera, tom. III. p. 58. + +[440] McCrie, Reformation in Spain, p. 274. + +[441] De Castro, Historia de los Protestantes Espanoles, (Cadiz, 1851,) +p. 177. + +[442] "Nous recommandons de le traiter avec bonte et misericorde." +Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p. 253. + +[443] Colmenares, Historia de Segovia, cap. XLII. sec. 3.--Cabrera, +Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap 3. + +[444] Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p. 236. + +[445] The anecdote is well attested. (Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. +cap. 3.) Father Agustin Davila notices what he styles this _sentencia +famosa_ in his funeral discourse on Philip, delivered at Valladolid soon +after that monarch's death. (Sermones Funerales, en las Honras del Rey +Don Felipe II., fol. 77.) Colmenares still more emphatically eulogizes +the words thus uttered in the cause of the true faith, as worthy of such +a prince. "El primer sentenciado al fuego en este Auto fue Don Carlos de +Seso de sangre noble, que oso dezir al Rey, como consentia que le +quemasen, y severo respondio, Yo trahere la lena para quemar a mi hijo, +si fuere tan malo como vos. Accion y palabras dignas de tal Rey en causa +de la suprema religion." Historia de Segovia, cap. XLII. sec. 3. + +[446] Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p. 237. + +[447] Montanus, Discovery of sundry subtill Practises of the +Inquisition, p. 52.--Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. II. p. +239.--Sepulveda, Opera, tom. III. p. 58. + +[448] Puigblanch, The Inquisition Unmasked, (London, 1816,) vol. I. p. +336. + +[449] "Hallose por esto presente a ver llevar i entregar al fuego muchos +delinquentes aconpanados de sus guardas de a pie i de a cavallo, que +ayudaron a la execucion." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 3. + +It may be doubted whether the historian means anything more than that +Philip saw the unfortunate man led to execution, at which his own guards +assisted. Davila, the friar who, as I have noticed, pronounced a funeral +oration on the king, speaks of him simply as having assisted at this act +of faith,--"Assistir a los actos de Fe, como se vio en esta Ciudad." +(Sermones Funerales, fol. 77.) Could the worthy father have ventured to +give Philip credit for being present at the death, he would not have +failed to do so. Leti, less scrupulous, tells us that Philip saw the +execution from the windows of his palace, heard the cries of the dying +martyrs, and enjoyed the spectacle! The picture he gives of the scene +loses nothing for want of coloring. Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 342. + +[450] How little sympathy, may be inferred from the savage satisfaction +with which a wise and temperate historian at the time dismisses to +everlasting punishment one of the martyrs at the first _auto_ at +Valladolid. "Jureque vivus flammis corpore cruciatus miserrimam animam +efflavit ad supplicia sempiterna." Sepulveda, Opera, tom. III. p. 58. + +[451] Balmes, one of the most successful champions of the Romish faith +in our time, finds in the terrible apathy thus shown to the sufferings +of the martyrs a proof of a more vital religious sentiment than exists +at the present day! "We feel our hair grow stiff on our heads at the +mere idea of burning a man alive. Placed in society where the religious +sentiment is considerably diminished; accustomed to live among men who +have a different religion, and sometimes none at all; we cannot bring +ourselves to believe that it could be, at that time, quite an ordinary +thing to see heretics or the impious led to punishment." Protestantism +and Catholicity compared in their Effects on the Civilization of Europe, +Eng. trans., (Baltimore, 1851,) p. 217. + +According to this view of the matter, the more religion there is among +men, the harder will be their hearts. + +[452] The zeal of the king and the Inquisition together in the work of +persecution had wellnigh got the nation into more than one difficulty +with foreign countries. Mann, the English minister, was obliged to +remonstrate against the manner in which the independence of his own +household was violated by the agents of the Holy Office. The complaints +of St. Sulpice, the French ambassador, notwithstanding the gravity of +the subject, are told in a vein of caustic humor that may provoke a +smile in the reader: "I have complained to the king of the manner in +which the Marseillese, and other Frenchmen, are maltreated by the +Inquisition. He excused himself by saying that he had little power or +authority in matters which depended on that body; he could do nothing +further than recommend the grand-inquisitor to cause good and speedy +justice to be done to the parties. The grand-inquisitor promised that +they should be treated no worse than born Castilians, and the 'good and +speedy justice'came to this, that they were burnt alive in the king's +presence." Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 111. + +[453] The archbishop of Toledo, according to Lucio Marineo Siculo, who +wrote a few years before this period, had jurisdiction over more than +fifteen large towns, besides smaller places, which of course made the +number of his vassals enormous. His revenues also, amounting to eighty +thousand ducats, exceeded those of any grandee in the kingdom. The +yearly revenues of the subordinate beneficiaries of his church were +together not less than a hundred and eighty thousand ducats. Cosas +Memorables de Espana, (Alcala de Henares, 1539,) fol. 13. + +[454] Salazar, Vida de Carranza, (Madrid, 1788,) cap. 1-11.--Documentos +Ineditos, tom. V. p. 389 et seq.--Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. +II. p. 163; tom. III. p. 183 et seq. + +[455] "En que se quemaron mas de 400 casas principales, y ricas, y +algunas en aquel barrio donde el estaba; no solo no lo entendio el +Arzobispo, pero ni lo supo hasta muchos anos despues de estar en Roma." +Salazar, Vida de Carranza cap. 15. + +[456] Salazar, Vida de Carranza, cap. 12-35.--Documentos Ineditos, tom. +V. pp. 453-463.--Llorente, Inquisition d'Espagne, tom. III. p. 218 et +seq. + +[457] The persecution of Carranza has occupied the pens of several +Castilian writers. The most ample biographical notice of him is by the +Doctor Salazar de Miranda, who derived his careful and trustworthy +narrative from the best original sources. Llorente had the advantage of +access to the voluminous records of the Holy Office, of which he was the +secretary; and in his third volume he has devoted a large space to the +process of Carranza which, with the whole mass of legal documents +growing out of the protracted prosecution, amounted, as he assures us, +to no less than twenty-six thousand leaves of manuscript. This enormous +mass of testimony leads one to suspect that the object of the +Inquisition was not so much to detect the truth as to cover it up. The +learned editors of the "Documentos Ineditos" have profited by both these +works, as well as by some unpublished manuscripts of that day, relating +to the affair, to exhibit it fully and fairly to the Castilian reader, +who in this brief history may learn the value of the institutions under +which his fathers lived. + +[458] So says McCrie, whose volume on the Reformation in Spain presents +in a reasonable compass a very accurate view of that interesting +movement. The historian does not appear to have had access to any rare +or recondite materials; but he has profited well by those at his +command, comprehending the best published works, and has digested them +into a narrative distinguished for its temperance and truth. + +[459] A full account of this duke of Infantado is to be found in the +extremely rare work of Nunez de Castro, Historia Ecclesiastica y Seglar +de Guadalajara, (Madrid, 1653,) p. 180 et seq. Oviedo, in his curious +volumes on the Castilian aristocracy, which he brings down to 1556, +speaks of the dukes of Infantado as having a body-guard of two hundred +men, and of being able to muster a force of thirty thousand! +Quincuagenas, MS. + +[460] "Avia gualdrapas de dos mil ducados de costa sin conputar valor de +piedras." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 7. + +[461] "Elle repondit d'un air riant, et avec des termes pleins tout +ensemble de douceur et de majeste." De Thou, tom. III. p. 426. + +[462] We have a minute account of this interview from the pens of two of +Isabella's train, who accompanied her to Castile, and whose letters to +the cardinal of Lorraine are to be found in the valuable collection of +historical documents, the publication of which was begun under the +auspices of Louis Philippe. Documents Inedits sur l'Histoire de France, +Negociations etc. relatives au Regne de Francois II., p. 171 et seq. + +[463] Lucio Marineo, in his curious farrago of notable matters, speaks +of the sumptuous residence of the dukes of Infantado in Guadalajara. +"Los muy magnificos y sumpticosos palacios que alli estan de los muy +illustres duques de la casa muy antigua de los Mendocas." Cosas +Memorables, fol. 13. + +[464] "J'ay ouy conter a une de ses dames que la premiere fois qu'elle +vist son mary, elle se mit a le contempler si fixement, que le Roy, ne +le trouvant pas bon, luy demanda: _Que mirais, si tengo canas?_ +c'est-a-dire, 'Que regardez-vous, si j'ai les cheveux blancs?'Ces mots +luy toucherent si fort au coeur que depuis on augura mal pour elle." +Brantome, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 131. + +[465] In this statement I conform to Sismondi's account. In the present +instance, however, there is even more uncertainty than is usual in +regard to a lady's age. According to Cabrera, Isabella was eighteen at +the time of her marriage; while De Thou makes her only eleven when the +terms of the alliance were arranged by the commissioners at +Cateau-Cambresis. These are the extremes, but within them there is no +agreement amongst the authorities I have consulted. + +[466] "Elizabeth de France, et vraye fille de France, en tout belle, +sage, vertueuse, spirituelle et bonne, s'il en fust oncques." Brantome, +OEuvres, tom. V. p. 126. + +[467] "Son visage estoit beau, et ses cheveux et yeux noirs, qui +adombroient son teint...... Sa taille estoit tres belle, et plus grande +que toutes ses soeurs, qui la rendoit fort admirable en Espagne, d'autant +que les tailles hautes y sont rares, et pour ce fort estimables." Ibid., +p. 128. + +[468] "Les seigneurs ne l'osoient regarder de peur d'en estre espris, et +en causer jalousie au roy son mary, et par consequent eux courir fortune +de la vie." Ibid., p. 128. + +[469] "La regina istessa parue non so come sorpressa da vn sentimento di +malinconica passione, nel vedersi abbracciare da vn re di 33 anni, di +garbo ordinario alla presenza d'vn giouine prencipe molto ben fatto, e +che prima dell'altro l'era stato promesso in sposo." Leti, Vita di +Filippo II., tom. I. p. 345. + +[470] Brantome, who was certainly one of those who believed in the +jealousy of Philip, if not in the passion of Isabella, states the +circumstance of the king's supplanting his son in a manner sufficiently +_naive_. "Mais le roy d'Espagne son pere, venant a estre veuf par le +trespas de la reyne d'Angleterre sa femme et sa cousine germaine, ayant +veu le pourtraict de madame Elizabeth, et la trouvant fort belle et fort +a son gre, en coupa l'herbe soubs le pied a son fils, et la prit pour +luy, commencant cette charite a soy mesme." OEuvres, tom. V. p. 127. + +[471] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 6.--Florez, Reynas +Catolicas, p. 897. + +"A la despedida presento el Duque del Ynfantado al Rey, Reyna, Damas, +Duenas de honor, y a las de la Camara ricas joyas de oro y plata, telas, +guantes, y otras preseas tan ricas, por la prolixidad del arte, como por +lo precioso de la materia." De Castro, Hist. de Guadalajara, p. 116. + +[472] "Dancas de hermosisimas donzellas de la Sagra, i las de espadas +antigua invencion de Espanoles." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. +6. + +[473] "Por la mucha hermosura que avia en las damas de la ciudad i +Corte, el adorno de los miradores i calles, las libreas costosas i +varias i muchas, que todo hazia un florido campo o lienco de Flandres." +Ibid., ubi supra. + +[474] The royal nuptials were commemorated in a Latin poem, in two +books, "De Pace et Nuptiis Philippi et Isabellae." It was the work of +Fernando Ruiz de Villegas, an eminent scholar of that day, whose +writings did not make their appearance in print till nearly two +centuries later,--and then not in his own land, but in Italy. In this +_epithalamium_, if it may be so called, the poet represents Juno as +invoking Jupiter to interfere in behalf of the French monarchy, that it +may not be crushed by the arms of Spain. Venus, under the form of the +duke of Alva,--as effectual a disguise as could be imagined,--takes her +seat in the royal council, and implores Philip to admit France to terms, +and to accept the hand of Isabella as the pledge of peace between the +nations. Philip graciously relents; peace is proclaimed; the marriage +between the parties is solemnized, with the proper Christian rites; and +Venus appears, in her own proper shape, to bless the nuptials! One might +have feared that this jumble of Christian rites and heathen mythology +would have scandalized the Holy Office, and exposed its ingenious author +to the honors of a _san benito_. But the poet wore his laurels +unscathed, and, for aught I know to the contrary, died quietly in his +bed. See Opera Ferdinandi Ruizii Villegatis, (Venetiis, 1736,) pp. +30-70. + +[475] The sovereign remedy, according to the curious Brantome, was +new-laid eggs. It is a pity the prescription should be lost. "On luy +secourust son visage si bien par des sueurs d'oeufs frais, chose fort +propre pour cela, qu'il n'y parut rien; dont j'en vis la Reyne sa mere +fort curieuse a luy envoyer par force couriers beaucoup de remedes, mais +celui de la sueur d'oeuf en estoit le souverain." OEuvres, tom. V. p. 129. + +[476] "Aussi l'appelloit-on _la Reyna de la paz y de la bondad_, +c'est-a-dire la Reyne de la paix et de la bonte; et nos Francois +l'appelloient l'olive de paix." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[477] "Et bien heureux et heureuse estoit celuy ou celle qui pouvoit le +soir dire 'J'ay veu la Reyne.'" Ibid., ubi supra. + +[478] The difficulty began so soon as Isabella had crossed the borders. +The countess of Urena, sister of the duke of Albuquerque, one of the +train of the duke of Infantado, claimed precedence of the countess of +Rieux and Mademoiselle de Montpensier, kinswomen of the queen. The +latter would have averted the discussion by giving the Castilian dame a +seat in her carriage; but the haughty countess chose to take the affair +into her own hands; and her servants came into collision with those of +the French ladies, as they endeavored to secure a place for their +mistress's litter near the queen. Isabella, with all her desire to +accommodate matters, had the spirit to decide in favor of her own +followers, and the aspiring lady was compelled--with an ill grace--to +give way to the blood royal of France. It was easier, as Isabella, or +rather as her husband, afterwards found, to settle disputes between +rival states than between the rival beauties of a court. The affair is +told by Lansac, Negociations relatives au Regne de Francois II., p. 171. + +[479] "Elle ne porta jamais une robe deux fois, et puis la donnoit a ses +femmes et ses filles: et Dieu scait quelles robbes, si riches et si +superbes, que la moindre estoit de trois ou quatre cens escus; car le +Roy son mary l'entretenoit fort superbement de ces choses la." Brantome, +OEuvres, tom. V. p. 140. + +[480] The MS., which is in Italian, is in the Royal Library at Paris. +See the extracts from it in Raumer's Sixteenth and Seventeenth +Centuries, vol. I. p. 104 et seq. + +[481] "Don Felipe Segundo nuestro senor, el cual con muy suntuosas, y +exquisitas fabricas dignas de tan grande Principe, de nuevo le ilustra, +de manera que es, consideradas todas sus calidades, la mas rara casa que +ningun Principe tiene en el mundo, a dicho de los estrangeros." Juan +Lopez, ap. Quintana, Antiguedad, Nobleza y Grandeza de la Villa y Corte +de Madrid, p. 331. + +[482] Ibid., ubi supra.--Sylva, Poblacion de Espana, (Madrid, 1675,) +cap. 4.--Estrada, Poblacion de Espana, (Madrid, 1748,) tom. I. p. 123. + +[483] I quote the words of a work now become very scarce. "De dos mil y +quinientas y veinte casas que tenia Madrid quando su Magestad traxo +desde Toledo a ella la Corte, en las quales quando mucho avria de doce +mil a catorce mil personas,.... avia el ano de mil y quinientos y +noventa y ocho, repartidas en trece Parroquias doce mil casas, y en +ellas trescientas mil personas y mas." Quintana, Antiguedad de Madrid, +p. 331. + +[484] "No hay sino un Madrid." + +[485] "Donde Madrid esta, calle el mundo." + +[486] "No se conoce cielo mas benevolo, mas apacible clima, influso mas +favorable, con que sobresalen hermosos rostros, disposiciones gallardas, +lucidos ingenios, coracones valientes, y generosos animos." Sylva, +Poblacion de Espana, cap 4. + +[487] + +"El aire de Madrid es tan sotil Que mata a un hombre, y no apaga a un +candil." + + +[488] Lucio Marineo gives a very different view of the environs of +Madrid in Ferdinand and Isabella's time. The picture, by the hand of a +contemporary, affords so striking a contrast to the present time that it +is worth quoting. "Corren por ella los ayres muy delgados: por los +quales si[=e]pre bive la g[=e]te muy sana. Tiene mas este lugar gr[=a]des +terminos y campos muy fertiles: los quales llam[=a] lomos de Madrid. Por +que cojen en ellos mucho pan y vino, y otras cosas necessarias y +m[=a]tenimientos muy sanos." Cosas Memorables de Espana, fol. 13. + +[489] Such at least is Ford's opinion. (See the Handbook of Spain, p. +720 et seq.) His clever and caustic remarks on the climate of Madrid +will disenchant the traveller whose notions of the capital have been +derived only from the reports of the natives. + +[490] "Solo Madrid es corte." + +Ford, who has certainly not ministered to the vanity of the Madrileno, +has strung together these various proverbs with good effect. + +[491] Balmes, Protestantism and Catholicity compared, p. 215. + +[492] "Il y avoit bien 30. ans que ceux de Brusselles avoyent commence, +et avoyent perce des collines, des champs et chemins, desquels ils +avoient achapte les fonds des proprietaires, on y avoit faict 40. +grandes escluses..... et cousta dix huits cent mille florins." Meteren, +Hist. des Pays-Bas, tom. I. fol. 26. + +[493] "Je vois une grande jeunesse en ces pays, avec les moeurs desquelz +ne me scaurois ny ne voudrois accommoder; la fidelite du monde et +respect envers Dieu et son prince si corrompuz,..... que ne desirerois +pas seullement de les pas gouverner,.... mais aussy me fasche de le +veoir, congnoistre et de vivre.... entre telles gens." Papiers d'Etat de +Granvelle, tom. IV. p. 476. + +[494] Gerlache, Histoire du Royaume des Pays-Bas, (Bruxelles, 1842,) +tom. I. p. 71. + +[495] "Es menester ver como la nobleza se ha desde mucho tiempo +desmandada y empenada por usura y gastos superfluos, gastando casi mas +que doble de lo que tenian en edificios, muebles, festines, danzas, +mascaradas, fuegos de dados, naipes, vestidos, libreas, seguimiento de +criados y generalmente en todas suertes de deleytes, luxuria, y +superfluidad, lo que se avia comenzado antes de la yda de su magestad a +Espana. Y desde entonces uvo un descontento casi general en el pais y +esperanza de esta gente asi alborotada de veer en poco tiempo una +mudanza." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. + +[496] Apologie de Guillaume IX. Prince d'Orange contre la Proscription +de Philippe II. Roi d'Espagne, presentee aux Etats Generaux des +Pays-Bas, le 13 Decembre, 1580, ap. Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. V. +p. 384. + +[497] M. Groen Van Prinsterer has taken some pains to explain the +conduct of William's parents, on the ground, chiefly, that they had +reason to think their son, after all, might he allowed to worship +according to the way in which he had been educated (p. 195). But +whatever concessions to the Protestants may have been wrung from Charles +by considerations of public policy, we suspect few who have studied his +character will believe that he would ever have consented to allow one of +his own household, one to whom he stood in the relation of a guardian, +to be nurtured in the faith of heretics. + +[498] See particularly Margaret's letter to the king, of March 13, 1560, +Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 260 et seq. + +[499] M. Groen Van Prinsterer has industriously collated the +correspondence of the several parties, which must be allowed to form an +edifying chapter in the annals of matrimonial diplomacy. See Archives de +la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 202. + +[500] Memoires de Granvelle, tom. I. p. 251. + +[501] Raumer, Hist. Tasch., p. 109, ap. Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 115. + +[502] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 284. + +[503] It may give some idea of the scale of William's domestic +establishment to state, that, on reducing it to a more economical +standard, twenty-eight head-cooks were dismissed. (Van der Haer, De +Initiis Tumult., p. 182, ap. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. +I. p. 200*.) The same contemporary tells us that there were few princes +in Germany who had not one cook, at least, that had served an +apprenticeship in William's kitchen,--the best school in that day for +the noble science of gastronomy. + +[504] "Audivi rem domesticam sic splendide habuisse ut ad ordinarium +domus ministerium haberet 24 Nobiles, pueros vero Nobiles (Pagios +nominamus) 18." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[505] "Rei domesticae splendor, famulorumque et asseclarum multitudo +magnis Principibus par. Nec ulla toto Belgio sedes hospitalior, ad quam +frequentius peregrini Proceres Legatique diverterent, exciperenturque +magnificentius, quam Orangii domus." Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 99. + +[506] "Le prince d'Orange, qui tient un grand etat de maison, et mene a +sa suite des comtes, des barons et beaucoup d'autres gentilshommes +d'Allemagne, doit, pour le moins, 900,000 fl." Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. I. p. 239. + +[507] In January, 1564, we find him writing to his brother, "Puis qu'il +ne reste que a XV. cens florins par an, que serons bien tost delivre des +debtes." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 196. + +[508] "Il estoit d'une eloquence admirable, avec laquelle il mettoit en +evidence les conceptions sublimes de son esprit, et faisoit plier les +aultres seigneurs de la court, ainsy que bon luy sembloit." Gachard, +(Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II., Preface, p. 3,) who +quotes a manuscript of the sixteenth century, preserved in the library +of Arras, entitled, "Commencement de l'Histoire des Troubles des +Pays-Bas, advenuz soubz le Gouvernement de Madame la Duchesse de Parme." + +[509] "Sy estoit singulierement aime et bien vollu de la commune, pour +une gracieuse facon de faire qu'il avoit de saluer, caresser, et +arraisonner privement et familierement tout le monde." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[510] "Il ne l'occuperoit point de ces choses melancoliques, mais il lui +feroit lire, au lieu des Saintes-Ecritures, Amadis de Gaule et d'autres +livres amusants du meme genre." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, +tom. I. p. 203*. + +[511] "Il estoit du nombre de ceulx qui pensent que la religion +chrestienne soit une invention politique, pour contenir le peuple en +office par voie de Dieu, non plus ni moins que les ceremonies, +divinations et superstitions que Numa Pompilius introduisit a Rome." +Commencement de l'Hist. des Troubles, MS., ap. Gachard, Cor. de +Guillaume, tom. II., Preface, p. 5. + +[512] "Tantot Catholique, tantot Calviniste ou Lutherien selon les +differentes occasions, et selon ses divers desseins." Memoires de +Granvelle, tom. II. p. 54. + +[513] "Estimant, ainsy que faisoient lors beaucoup de catholiques, que +c'estoit chose cruelle de faire mourir ung homme, pour seulement avoir +soustenu une opinion, jasoit qu'elle fut erronee." MS. quoted by +Gachard, Cor. de Guillaume, tom. II., Preface, p. 4. + +[514] "No se vee que puedan quedar aqui mas tiempo sin grandissimo +peligro de que dende agora las cosas entrassen en alboroto." Papiers +d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 166. + +[515] "Harto se declaran y el Principe d'Oranges y Monsr d'Egmont que +aunque tuviessen la mayor voluntad del mundo para servir en esto a V. M. +de tener cargo mas tiempo de los Espanoles, no lo osarian emprender si +bolviessen, por no perderse y su credito y reputacion con estos +estados." Ibid., p. 197. + +[516] Some notion of the extent of these embarrassments may be formed +from a schedule prepared by the king's own hand, in September, 1560. +From this it appears that the ordinary sources of revenue were already +mortgaged: and that, taking into view all available means, there was +reason to fear there would be a deficiency at the end of the following +year of no less than nine millions of ducats. "Where the means of +meeting this are to come from," Philip bitterly remarks, "I do not know, +unless it be from the clouds, for all usual resources are exhausted." +This was a sad legacy, entailed on the young monarch by his father's +ambition. The document is to be found in the Papiers d'Etat de +Granvelle, tom. VI. pp. 156-165. + +[517] "Dizen todos los de aquella isla que antes se dexaran ahogar con +ellos, que de poner la mano mas adelante en el reparo tan necessario de +los diques." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 200. + +[518] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 192.--Strada, De Bello +Belgico, p. 111. + +[519] "Hase con industria persuadido a los pueblos que V. M. quiere +poner aqui a mi instancia la inquisicion de Espana so color de los +nuevos obispados." Granvelle to Philip, Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, +tom. VI. p. 554. See also Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I., +passim. + +[520] "Los quales, aunque pueden ser a proposito para administrar sus +abadias, olvidan el beneficio recebido del principe y en las cosas de su +servicio y beneficio comun de la provincia son durissimos, y tan rudes +para que se les pueda persuadir la razon, como seria qualquier menor +hombre del pueblo." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 18. + +The intention of the crown appears more clearly from the rather frank +avowal of Granvelle to the duchess of Parma, made indeed some twenty +years later, 1582, that it was a great object with Philip to afford a +counterpoise in the states to the authority of William and his +associates. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. VIII. p. 96. + +[521] Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 17. + +[522] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 71. + +[523] Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 612.--Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. I. p. 263.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 31. + +By another arrangement the obligations of Afflighen and the other abbeys +of Brabant were commuted for the annual payment of eight thousand ducats +for the support of the bishops. This agreement, as well as that with +Antwerp, was afterwards set aside by the unscrupulous Alva, who fully +carried out the original intentions of the crown. + +[524] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 77. + +[525] "En ce qui concerne les nouveaux eveches, le Roi declare que +jamais Granvelle ne lui en conseilla l'erection; qu'il en fit meme dans +le principe un mystere au cardinal, et que celui-ci n'en eut +connaissance que lorsque l'affaire etait deja bien avancee." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 207. + +[526] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. VIII. p. 54. + +[527] "Il serait pret a y contribuer de sa fortune, de son sang et de sa +propre vie." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 189. + +[528] "Veo el odio de los Estados cargar sobre mi, mas pluguiesse a Dios +que con sacrificarme fuesse todo remediado.... Que plugiera a Dios que +jamas se huviera pensado en esta ereccion destas yglesias; _amen_, +_amen_." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 117. + +[529] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 63. + +[530] Strada, de Bello Belgico, p. 88. + +[531] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 52. + +[532] Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 15. + +[533] The nobles, it appears, had complained to Philip that they had +been made to act this unworthy part in the cabinet of the duke of Savoy, +when regent of the Netherlands. Granvelle, singularly enough, notices +this in a letter to the Regent Mary, in 1555, treating it as a mere +suspicion on their part. (See Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, +tom. II., Preface, p. ix.) The course of things under the present +regency may be thought to show there was good ground for this suspicion. + +[534] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 195. + +[535] Ibid., p. 197. + +[536] "Que bien claro muestran muchos que no les pesaria de que fuessen +mal, y que, si lo de alle diesse al traves, bien brevemente se yria por +aca el mismo camino. Y ha sido muestra dicha, que ninguno destos senores +se haya declarado, que si lo hiziera alguno, otro que Dios no pudiera +estorvar que lo de aqui no siguiera el camino de Francia." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 230. + +[537] "Ce mechant animal nomme le peuple;"--the cardinal's own words, in +a letter to the king. Ibid., p. 290. + +[538] Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 145.--Correspondance de Philippe II., +tom. I. p. 202. + +[539] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 210, 214. + +[540] "A qui ils imputent d'avoir ecrit au Roi qu'il fallait couper une +demi-douzaine de tetes et venir en force, pour conquerir le pays." +Ibid., p. 203. + +[541] "Lo principal es que venga con dinero y credito, que con esto no +faltara gente para lo que se huviesse de hazer coa los vezinos, y su +presencia valdra mucho para assossegar todo lo de sus subditos." Papiers +d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 562. + +[542] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 91.--Memoires de +Granvelle, tom. II. p. 24,--a doubtful authority, it must be admitted. + +[543] "It is not true," Philip remarks, in a letter to the duchess dated +July 17, 1562, "that Granvelle ever recommended me to cut off half a +dozen heads. Though," adds the monarch, "it may perhaps be well enough +to have recourse to this measure." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. +I. p. 207. + +[544] Strada, De Bello Belgico, pp. 78, 79, 133, 134.--Renom de Francia. +Alborotos de Flandes, MS.--Meteren. Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 31, 32. + +[545] "Qu'il n'etoit ni de son caractere ni de son honneur d'etre le +Bourreau des Heretiques." Memoires de Granvelle, tom. I. p. 304. + +[546] Strada, De Bello Belgico, pp. 136, 137.--Renom de Francia, +Alborotos de Flandes, MS.--Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, +vol. I. pp. 137, 138. + +[547] "En las [cosas] de la religion no se cufre temporizar, sino +castigarlas con todo rigor y severidad, que estos villacos sino es por +miedo no hazen cosa buena, y aun con el, no todas vezes." Papiers d'Etat +de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 421. + +[548] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 207. + +[549] Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VI. p. 280. + +[550] "Quoiqu'elle ne puisse dire qu'aucun des seigneurs ne soit pas bon +catholique, elle ne voit pourtant pas qu'ils procedent, dans les +matieres religieuses, avec toute la chaleur qui serait necessaire." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 240. + +[551] Ibid., p. 202. + +[552] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[553] "C'est une grande confusion de la multitude des nostres qui sont +icy fuis pour la religion. On les estime en Londres, Sandvich, et +comarque adjacente, de xviij a xx mille testes." Letter of Assonleville +to Granvelle, Ibid., p. 247. + +[554] "Et qu'aussy ne se feroit rien par le Cardinal sans l'accord des +Seigneurs et inquisiteurs d'Espaigne, dont necessairement s'ensuyvroit, +que tout se mettroit en la puissance et arbitrage d'iceulx Seigneurs +inquisiteurs d'Espaigne." Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 24. + +[555] "Que, pour l'amour de Dieu, le Roi se dispose a venir aux +Pays-Bas!.... ce serait une grande charge pour sa conscience, que de ne +le pas faire." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 213. + +[556] "Des choses de cette cour nous ne savons pas plus que ceux qui +sont aux Indes..... Le delai que le Roi met a repondre aux lettres qu'on +lui adresse cause un grand prejudice aux affaires; il pourra couter cher +un jour." Ibid., p. 199. + +[557] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 236, 242. + +[558] Philip's answer to the letter of the duchess in which she stated +Granvelle's proposal was eminently characteristic. If Margaret could not +do better, she might enter into negotiations with the malecontents on +the subject; but she should take care to delay sending advice of it to +Spain; and the king, on his part, would delay as long as possible +returning his answers. For the measure, Philip concludes, is equally +repugnant to justice and to the interests of the crown. (Correspondance +de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 237.) This was the royal policy of +procrastination! + +[559] "Conclusero una lega contra 'l Cardenal p'detto a diffesa commune +contra chi volesse offendere alcun di loro, laqual confortorono con +solennisso giuramento, ne si curarono che se non li particolari fossero +secreti per all'hora; ma publicorono questa loro unione, et questa lega +fatta contra il Cardle." Relatione di Tiepolo, MS. + +[560] Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. pp. 36-38. + +[561] "Que en otros tiempos por menor causa se havia mondado a Fiscales +proceder." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 151. + +[562] "Que solos los de Espana sean legitimos, que son las palabras de +que aqui y en Italia se usa." Ibid., p. 153. + +[563] "Car ce n'est ma coustume de grever aucuns de mes ministres sans +cause." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 42. + +[564] "S'estant le comte d'Egmont advanche aujourd'huy huict jours _post +pocula_ dire a Hopperus, avec lequel il fut bien deux heures en devises, +que ce n'estoit point a Granvelle que l'on en vouloit, mais au Roy, qui +administre tres-mal le public et mesmes ce de la Religion, comme l'on +luy at assez adverty." Morillon, Archdeacon of Mechlin, to Granvelle, +Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 247. + +[565] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 256, 258, 259. + +[566] "Il n'est pas icy question de grever ledict cardinal, ains +plustost de le descharger, voire d'une charge laquelle non-seulement lui +est peu convenable et comme extraordinaire, mais aussi ne peult plus +estre en ses mains, sans grand dangier d'inconveniens et troubles." +Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 45. + +[567] "Quant il n'y auroit que le desordre, mescontentement et confusion +qui se trouve aujourd'huy en vos pays de par deca, ce seroit assez +tesmoinage de combien peu sert icy sa presence, credit et auctorite." +Ibid., p. 46. + +[568] "Que ne sommes point de nature grans orateurs ou harangueurs, et +plus accoustumez a bien faire qu'a bien dire, comme aussy il est mieulx +seant a gens de nostre qualite." Ibid., p. 47. + +[569] "Faisans cesser l'umbre dont avons servy en iceluy quatre ans." +Ibid., p. 50. + +[570] Memoires de Granvelle, tom. II. p. 39 et seq.--Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. I. p. 256. + +[571] "Elle connait tout le merite du cardinal, sa haute capacite, son +experience des affaires d'Etat, le zele et le devouement qu'il montre +pour le service de Dieu et du Roi." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. +I. p. 266. + +[572] "D'un autre cote, elle reconnait que vouloir le maintenir aux +Pays-Bas, contre le gre des seigneurs, pourrait entrainer de grands +inconvenients, et meme le soulevement du pays." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[573] Reiffenberg, Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 26, note. + +[574] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 58. + +[575] "Vous ne me reconnaitriez plus, tant mes cheveux ont blanchi." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 268. + +[576] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 274. + +[577] "Moi, qui ne suis qu'un ver de terre, je suis menace de tant de +cotes, que beaucoup doivent me tenir deja pour mort; mais je tacherai, +avec l'aide de Dieu, de vivre autant que possible, et si l'on me tue, +j'espere qu'on n'aura pas gagne tout par la." Ibid., p. 284. + +[578] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 190. + +[579] "Hablandole yo en ello," writes the secretary Perez to Granvelle, +"como era razon, me respondio que por su fee antes aventuraria a perder +essos estados que hazer esse agravio a V. S. en lo qual conoscera la +gran voluntad que le tiene." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VII. p. +102. + +[580] "Cada vez que veo los despachos de aquellos tres senores de +Flandes me mueven la colera de manera que, sino procurasse mucho +templarla, creo parecia a V. Magd mi opinion de hombre frenetico." Carta +del Duque de Alba al Rey, a 21 de Octobre de 1563, MS. + +[581] "A los que destos meriten, quiten les las cavecas, hasta poder lo +hacer, dissimular con ellos." Ibid. + +[582] "Comme je l'ai toujours trouve plein d'empressement et de zele +pour tout ce qui touche le service da V. M. et l'avantage du pays, je +supplie V. M. de faire au comte d'Egmont une reponse affectueuse, afin +qu'il ne desespere pas de sa bonte." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom +I. p. 281. + +[583] The letter--found among the MSS. at Besancon--is given by Dom +Prosper Levesque in his life of the cardinal. (Memoires de Granvelle, +tom. II. p. 52.) The worthy Benedictine assures us, in his preface, that +he has always given the text of Granvelle's correspondence exactly as he +found it; an assurance to which few will give implicit credit who have +read this letter, which bears the marks of the reviser's hand in every +sentence. + +[584] Memoires de Granvelle, tom. II. p. 55. + +[585] "Le prince d'Orange est un homme dangereux, fin, ruse, affectant +de soutenir le peuple..... Je pense qu'un pareil genie qui a des vues +profondes est fort difficile a menager, et qu'il n'est gueres possible +de le faire changer." Ibid., pp. 53, 54. + +[586] "Causant l'autre jour avec elle, le comte d'Egmont lui montra un +grand mecontentement de ce que le Roi n'avait daigne faire un seul mot +de reponse ni a lui, ni aux autres. Il dit que, voyant cela, ils etaient +decides a ordonner a leur courrier qu'il revint, sans attendre +davantage." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 283. + +[587] "Il a pense, d'apres ce que le cardinal lui a ecrit, qu'il serait +tres a propos qu'il allat voir sa mere, avec la permission de la +duchesse de Parme. De cette maniere, l'autorite du Roi et la reputation +du cardinal seront sauvees." Ibid., p. 285. + +[588] That indefatigable laborer in the mine of MSS., M. Gachard, +obtained some clew to the existence of such a letter in the Archives of +Simancas. For two months it eluded his researches, when in a happy hour +he stumbled on this pearl of price. The reader may share the enthusiasm +of the Belgian scholar. "Je redoublai d'attention; et enfin, apres deux +mois de travail, je decouvris, sur un petit chiffon de papier, la minute +de la fameuse lettre dont faisait mention la duchesse de Parme: elle +avait ete classee, par une meprise de je ne sais quel officiai, avec les +papiers de l'annee 1562. On lisait en tete: _De mano del Rey; secreta._ +Vous comprendrez, monsieur le Ministre, la joie que me fit eprouver +cette decouverte: ce sont la des jouissances qui dedommagent de bien des +fatigues, de bien des ennuis!" Rapport a M. le Ministre de l'Interieur, +Ibid., p. clxxxv. + +[589] "M'esbayz bien que, pour chose quelconque, vous ayez delaisse +d'entrer au conseil ou je vous avois laisse." Correspondance de +Guillaume le Taciturne tom. II. p. 67. + +[590] "Ne faillez d'y rentrer, et monstrer de combien vous estimez plus +mon service et le bien de mes pays de dela, que autre particularite +quelconque." Ibid., p. 68. + +[591] Abundant evidence of Philip's intentions is afforded by his +despatches to Margaret, together with two letters which they inclosed to +Egmont. These letters were of directly opposite tenor; one dispensing +with Egmont's presence at Madrid,--which had been talked of,--the other +inviting him there. Margaret was to give the one which, under the +circumstances, she thought expedient. The duchess was greatly distressed +by her brother's manoeuvring. She saw that the course she must pursue was +not the course which he would prefer. Philip did not understand her +countrymen so well as she did. + +[592] "En effet, le prince d'Orange et le comte d'Egmont, les seuls qui +se trouvassent a Bruxelles, montrerent tant de tristesse et de +mecontentement de la courte et seche reponse du Roi, qu'il etait a +craindre qu'apres qu'elle aurait ete communiquee aux autres seigneurs, +il ne fut pris quelque resolution contraire au service du Roi." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 294. + +[593] "Con la venida de Mons. de Chantonnay, mi hermano, a Bruxelles, y +su determinacion de encaminarse a estas partes, me parescio tomar color +de venir hazia aca, donde no havia estado en 19 anos, y ver a madama de +Granvella, mi madre, que ha 14 que no la havia visto." Ibid., p. 298. + +Granvelle seems to have fondly trusted that no one but Margaret was +privy to the existence of the royal letter,--"secret, and written with +the king's own hand." So he speaks of his departure in his various +letters as a spontaneous movement to see his venerable parent. The +secretary Perez must have smiled, as he read one of these letters to +himself, since an abstract of the royal despatch appears in his own +handwriting. The Flemish nobles also--probably through the regent's +secretary, Armenteros--appear to have been possessed of the true state +of the case. It was too good a thing to be kept secret. + +[594] Schiller, Abfall der Niederlande, p. 147. + +Among other freaks was that of a masquerade, at which a devil was seen +pursuing a cardinal with a scourge of foxes'tails. "Deinde sequebatur +diabolus, equum dicti cardinalis caudis vulpinis fustigans, magna cum +totius populi admiratione et scandalo." (Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, +tom. VIII. p. 77.) The fox's tail was a punning allusion to Renard, who +took a most active and venomous part in the paper war that opened the +revolution. Renard, it may be remembered, was the imperial minister to +England in Queen Mary's time. He was the implacable enemy of Granvelle, +who had once been his benefactor. + +[595] Strada, De Bello Belgico, pp. 161-164.--Vander Haer, De Initiis +Tumultuum Belgicorum, p. 166.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. +II. p. 53.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 294, 295. + +[596] The date is given by the prince of Orange in a letter to the +landgrave of Hesse, written a fortnight after the cardinal's departure. +(Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 226.) This fact, +public and notorious as it was, is nevertheless told with the greatest +discrepancy of dates. Hopper, one of Granvelle's own friends, fixes the +date of his departure at the latter end of May. (Recueil et Memorial, p. +36.) Such discrepancies will not seem strange to the student of history. + +[597] "Ejus inimici, qui in senatu erant, non aliter exultavere quam +pueri abeunte ludimagistro." Vita Viglii, p. 38. + +Hoogstraten and Brederode indulged their wild humor, as they saw the +cardinal leaving Brussels, by mounting a horse,--one in the saddle, the +other _en croupe_,--and in this way, muffled in their cloaks, +accompanying the traveller along the heights for half a league or more. +Granvelle tells the story himself, in a letter to Margaret, but +dismisses it as the madcap frolic of young men. Papiers d'Etat de +Granvelle, tom. VII. p. 410, 426. + +[598] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 226. + +[599] "Le comte d'Egmont lui a dit, entre autres, que, si le cardinal +revenait, indubitablement il perdrait la vie, et mettrait le Roi en +risque de perdre les Pays-Bas." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. +p. 295. + +[600] "Je n'ay entendu de personne chose dont je peusse concevoir +quelque doubte que vous ne fussiez, a l'endroit de mon service, tel que +je vous ay cogneu, ny suis si legier de prester l'oreille a ceulx qui me +tascheront de mettre en umbre d'ung personage de vostre qualite, et que +je cognois si bien." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. +p. 76. + +[601] "Quiero de aqui adelante hazerme ciego y sordo, y tractar con mis +libros y negocios particulares, y dexar el publico a los que tanto saben +y pueden, y componerme quanto al reposo y sossiego." Papiers d'Etat de +Granvelle, tom. VIII, p. 91.--A pleasing illusion, as old as the time of +Horace's "_Beatus ille_," &c. + +[602] Gerlache, Royaume des Pays-Bas, tom. I. p. 79. + +[603] "Vela ma philosophie, et procurer avec tout cela de vivre le plus +joyeusement que l'on peut, et se rire du monde, des appassionnez, et de +ce qu'ilz dient sans fondement." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, +tom. I. p. 240. + +[604] "Ilz auront avant mon retour, que ne sera, a mon compte, plus tost +que d'icy a deux mois, partant au commencement de juing." Ibid., p. 236. + +[605] This remarkable letter, dated Madrid, May 6, is to be found in the +Supplement a Strada, tom. II. p. 346. + +[606] Hopper does not hesitate to regard this circumstance as a leading +cause of the discontents in Flanders. "Se voyans desestimez ou pour +mieux dire opprimez par les Seigneurs Espaignols, qui chassant les +autres hors du Conseil du Roy, participent seulz avecq iceluy, et +presument de commander aux Seigneurs et Chevaliers des Pays d'embas: ny +plus ni moins qu'ilz font a aultres de Milan, Naples, et Sicille; ce que +eulx ne veuillans souffrir en maniere que ce soit, a este et est la +vraye ou du moins la principale cause de ces maulx et alterations." +Recueil et Memorial, p. 79. + +[607] Viglius makes many pathetic complaints on this head, in his +letters to Granvelle. See Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. +p. 319 et alibi. + +[608] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 312, 332, et alibi. + +[609] "Il faudrait envoyer le cardinal a Rome." Ibid., p. 329. + +[610] Ibid., p. 295. + +[611] Morillon, in a letter to Granvelle, dated July 9, 1564, tells him +of the hearty hatred in which he is held by the duchess; who, whether +she has been told that the minister only made her his dupe, or from +whatever cause, never hears his name without changing color. Papiers +d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VIII. p. 131. + +[612] "Viglius lui fait souffrir les peines de l'enfer, en traversant +les mesures qu'exige le service du Roi." Ibid., p. 314. + +[613] "Ils esperent alors pecher, comme on dit, en eau trouble, et +atteindre le but qu'ils poursuivent depuis longtemps: celui de s'emparer +de toutes les affaires. C'est pourquoi ils out ete et sont encore +contraires a l'assemblee des etats generaux.... Le cardinal, le +president et leur sequelle craignent, si la tranquillite se retablit +dans le pays, qu'on ne lise dans leurs livres, et qu'on ne decouvre +leurs injustices, simonies, et rapines." Ibid., p. 311. + +[614] Ibid., p. 320 et alibi. + +[615] "Ce qu'elle se resent le plus contre v. i. S. et contre moy, est +ce que l'avons si longuement garde d'en faire son prouffit, qu'elle fait +maintenant des offices et benefices et aultres graces." Archives de la +Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 406. + +[616] "Ipsam etiam Ducissam in suam pertraxere sententiam, honore etiam +majore quam antea ipsam afficientes, quo muliebris sexus facile +capitur."--This remark, however, is taken, not from his correspondence +with Granvelle, but from his autobiography. See Vita Viglii, p. 40. + +[617] The extortions of Margaret's secretary, who was said to have +amassed a fortune of seventy thousand ducats in her service, led the +people, instead of Armenteros, punningly to call him _Argenterios_. This +piece of scandal is communicated for the royal ear in a letter addressed +to one of the king's secretaries by Fray Lorenzo de Villacancio, of whom +I shall give a full account elsewhere. Gachard, Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. II., Rapport, p. xliii. + +[618] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I., p. 273 et alibi. + +[619] Granvelle regarded such a step as the only effectual remedy for +the disorders in the Low Countries. In a remarkable letter to Philip, +dated July 20, 1565, he presents such a view of the manner in which the +government is conducted as might well alarm his master. Justice and +religion are at the lowest ebb. Public offices are disposed of at +private sale. The members of the council indulge in the greatest freedom +in their discussions on matters of religion. It is plain that the +Confession of Augsburg would be acceptable to some of them. The truth is +never allowed to reach the king's ears; as the letters sent to Madrid +are written to suit the majority of the council, and so as not to give +an unfavorable view of the country. Viglius is afraid to write. There +are spies at the court, he says, who would betray his correspondence, +and it might cost him his life. Granvelle concludes by urging the king +to come in person, and with money enough to subsidize a force to support +him. Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VIII. p. 620 et seq. + +[620] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 317. + +[621] Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 39.--Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 222.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. +I. p. 347 et alibi. + +[622] The Spanish ambassador to England, Guzman de Silva, in a letter +dated from the Low Countries, refers this tendency among the younger +nobles to their lax education at home, and to their travels abroad. "La +noblesse du pays est generalement catholique: il n'y a que les jeunes +gens dont, a cause de l'education relachee qu'ils out recue, et de leur +frequentation dans les pays voisins, les principes soient un peu +equivoques." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 383. + +[623] "Se dice publico que ay medios para descargar todas las deudas del +Rey sin cargo del pueblo tomando los bienes de la gente de yglesia o +parte conforme al ejemplo que se ha hecho en ynglaterra y francia y +tambien que ellos eran muy ricos y volberian mas templados y hombres de +bien." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. + +[624] "Leur office est devenu odieux au peuple; ils rencontrent tant de +resistances et de calomnies, qu'ils ne peuvent l'exercer sans danger +pour leurs personnes." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 353. + +[625] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 147. + +[626] Ibid., ubi supra.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. +174.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 321-327. + +[627] Strada, De Bello Belgico, p. 172.--Correspondance de Philippe II., +tom. I. p. 327 et alibi. + +[628] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. pp. 146-149. + +[629] "La depense excede annuellement les revenus, de 600,000 florins." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 328. + +[630] "Quant a la moyenne noblesse des Pays-Bas, les Seigneurs l'auront +tantost a leur cordelle." Chantonnay to Granvelle, October 6, 1565, +Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 426. + +[631] That Granvelle understood well these consequences of convening the +states-general is evident from the manner in which he repeatedly speaks +of this event in his correspondence with the king. See, in particular, a +letter to Philip, dated as early as August 20, 1563, where he sums up +his remarks on the matter by saying: "In fine, they would entirely +change the form of government, so that there would be little remaining +for the regent to do, as the representative of your majesty, or for your +majesty yourself to do, since they would have completely put you under +guardianship." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VII. p. 186. + +[632] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 329. + +[633] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 14, 16.--Strada, De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 176. + +[634] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 179. + +[635] "Si, apres avoir accepte le concile sans limitations dans tous ses +autres royaumes et seigneuries, il allait y opposer des reserves aux +Pays-Bas, cela produirait un facheux effet." Correspondance de Philippe +II., tom. I. p. 328. + +[636] Yet whatever slight Philip may have put upon the lords in this +respect, he showed William, in particular, a singular proof of +confidence. The prince's _cuisine_, as I have elsewhere stated, was +renowned over the Continent; and Philip requested of him his _chef_, to +take the place of his own, lately deceased. But the king seems to lay +less stress on the skill of this functionary than on his +trustworthiness,--a point of greater moment with a monarch. This was a +compliment--in that suspicious age--to William, which, we imagine, he +would have been slow to return by placing his life in the hands of a +cook from the royal kitchens of Madrid. See Philip's letter in the +Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II p. 89. + +[637] Margaret would fain have settled the dispute by giving the +countess of Egmont precedence at table over her fair rival. (Archives de +la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 445.) But both Anne of Saxony and +her household stoutly demurred to this decision,--perhaps to the right +of the regent to make it. "Les femmes ne se cedent en rien et se +tiegnent par le bras, _ingredientes pari passu_, et si l'on rencontre +une porte trop estroicte, l'on se serre l'ung sur l'aultre pour passer +egalement par ensamble, affin que il n'y ayt du devant ou derriere." +Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 22. + +[638] There is a curious epistle, in Groen's collection, from William to +his wife's uncle, the elector of Saxony, containing sundry charges +against his niece. The termagant lady was in the habit, it seems, of +rating her husband roundly before company. William, with some _naivete_, +declares he could have borne her ill-humor to a reasonable extent in +private, but in public it was intolerable. Unhappily, Anne gave more +serious cause of disturbance to her lord than that which arose from her +temper, and which afterwards led to their separation. On the present +occasion, it may be added, the letter was not sent,--as the lady, who +had learned the nature of it, promised amendment. Ibid., tom. II. p. 31. + +[639] "Au cas que le Roi s'en excuse, il doit demander que S. M. donne a +la duchesse des instructions precises sur la conduite qu'elle a a +tenir." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 337. + +The original instructions prepared by Viglius were subsequently modified +by his friend Hopper, at the suggestion of the prince of Orange. See +Vita Viglii, p. 41. + +[640] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[641] "Non posse ei placere, velle Principes animis hominum imperare, +libertatemque Fidei et Religionis ipsis adimere." Ibid., p. 42. + +[642] Burgundius puts into the mouth of William on this occasion a fine +piece of declamation, in which he reviews the history of heresy from the +time of Constantine the Great downwards. This display of schoolboy +erudition, so unlike the masculine simplicity of the prince of Orange, +may be set down among those fine things, the credit of which may be +fairly given to the historian rather than to the hero.--Burgundius, +Hist. Belgica, (Ingolst., 1633,) pp. 126-131. + +[643] "Itaque mane de lecto surgens, inter vestiendum apoplexia attactus +est, ut occurrentes domestici amicique in summo cum discrimine versari +judicarent." Vita Viglii, p. 42. + +[644] "Elle conseille au Roi d'ordonner a Viglius de rendre ses comptes, +et de restituer les meubles des neuf maisons de sa prevote de +Saint-Bavon, qu'il a depouillees." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. +I. p. 350. + +[645] "Lui promettons, en foy de gentilhomme et chevalier d'honeur, si +durant son aller et retour lui adviene quelque inconvenient, que nous en +prendrons la vengeance sur le Cardinal de Granvelle ou ceux qui en +seront participans ou penseront de l'estre, et non sur autre." Archives +de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 345. + +[646] This curions document, published by Arnoldi, (Hist. Denkw., p. +282,) has been transferred by Groen to the pages of his collection. See +Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, ubi supra. + +[647] "Ibi tum offensus conviva, arreptam argenteam pelvim (quae manibus +abluendis mensam fuerat imposita) injicere Archiepiscopo in caput +conatur: retinet pelvim Egmondanus: quod dum facit, en alter conviva +pugno in frontem Archiepiscopo eliso, pileum de capite deturbat." Vander +Haer, De Initiis Tumult, p. 190. + +[648] If we are to trust Morillon's report to Granvelle, Egmont denied, +to some one who charged him with it, having recommended to Philip to +soften the edicts. (Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, +p. 374.) But Morillon was too much of a gossip to be the best authority; +and, as this was understood to be one of the objects of the count's +mission, it will be but justice to him to take the common opinion that +he executed it. + +[649] "Negavit accitos a se illos fuisse, ut docerent an permittere id +posset, sed an sibi necessario permittendum praescriberent." Strada, De +Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 185. + +[650] "Tum Rex in eorum conspectu, humi positus ante Christi Domini +simulacrum, 'Ego vero, inquit, Divinam Majestatem tuam oro, quaesoque, +Rex omnium Deus, hanc ut mihi mentem perpetuam velis, ne illorum, qui te +Dominum respuerint, uspiam esse me aut dici Dominum acquiescam.'" Ibid., +ubi supra. + +[651] "Il retourne en Flandre, l'homme le plus satisfait du monde." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 349. + +[652] "En ce qui touche la religion, il declare qu'il ne peut consentir +a ce qu'il y soit fait quelque changement; qu'il aimerait mieux perdre +cent mille vies, s'il les avait." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. +I. p. 347. + +[653] Ibid., ubi supra.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 187. + +[654] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 347. + +[655] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 92. + +[656] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 364. + +[657] "And everywhere great endeavors were used to deliver the +imprisoned, as soon as it was known how they were privately made away in +the prisons: for the inquisitors not daring any longer to carry them to +a public execution, this new method of despatching them, which the king +himself had ordered, was now put in practice, and it was commonly +performed thus: They bound the condemned person neck and heels, then +threw him into a tub of water, where he lay till he was quite +suffocated." Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 155. + +[658] Ibid., tom. I. p. 154. + +[659] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 361 et alibi. + +[660] "Tout vat de demain a demain, et la principale resolution en +telles choses est de demeurer perpetuellement irresolu." Archives de la +Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 426. + +[661] "Il y en a qui sont plus Roys que le Roy." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[662] "Le Roi aura bien de la peine a se montrer homme." Ibid., ubi +supra. + +[663] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 358. + +[664] "Le Roi peut etre certain que, s'il accorde que les edits ne +s'executent pas, jamais plus le peuple ne souffrira qu'on chatie les +heretiques; et les choses iront ainsi aux Pays-Bas beaucoup plus mal +qu'en France." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 323. + +[665] Ibid., tom. I. p. 371. + +[666] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 246. + +[667] "Entendant seullement a mez affaires, ne bougeant de ma chambre +synon pour proumener, a faire exercice a l'eglise, et vers Madame, et +faisant mes depesches ou je doibtz correspondre, sans bruyct." Papiers +d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. IX. p. 639. + +[668] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 326. + +[669] "Il lui suffit, pour se contenter d'etre ou il est, de savoir que +c'est la volonte du Roi, et cela lui suffira pour aller aux Indes, on en +quelque autre lieu que ce soit, et meme pour se jeter dans le feu." +Ibid., p. 301. + +[670] Ibid., p. 380. + +[671] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 396. + +[672] Ibid., p. 372.--Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 57. + +[673] "Car, quant a l'inquisition, mon intention est qu'elle se face par +les inquisiteurs, comm'elle s'est faicte jusques a maintenant, et +comm'il leur appertient par droitz divins et humains." Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. I., "Rapport," p. cxxix, note. + +[674] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[675] This letter was dated the twentieth of October. All hesitation +seems to have vanished in a letter addressed to Granvelle only two days +after, in which Philip says, "As to the proposed changes in the +government, there is not a question about them." "Quant aux changements +qu'on lui a ecrit devoir se faire dans le gouvernement, il n'en est pas +question." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 375. + +[676] Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 333. + +[677] "Dieu scait que visaiges ils ont monstrez, et que mescontentement +ils ont, voyans l'absolute volunte du Roy." Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I. p. 442. + +[678] Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 59. + +[679] "Qua conclusione accepta, Princeps Auriacencis cuidam in aurem +dixit (qui post id retulit) quasi laetus gloriabundusque: visuros nos +brevi egregiae tragediae initium." Vita Viglii, p. 45. + +[680] "Une declaration de guerre n'aurait pas fait plus d'impression sur +les esprits, que ces depeches, quand la connaissance en parvint au +public." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 94. + +[681] "Se comienza a dar esperanza al pueblo de la libertad de +conciencia, de las mudanzas del gobierno." Renom de Francia, Alborotos +de Flandes, MS. + +"Some demand a mitigation of the edicts; others," as Viglius peevishly +complains to Granvelle, "say that they want at least as much toleration +as is vouchsafed to Christians by the Turks, who do not persecute the +enemies of their faith as we persecute brethren of our own faith, for a +mere difference in the interpretation of Scripture!" (Archives de la +Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. I, p. 287.) Viglius was doubtless of the +opinion of M. Gerlache, that for Philip to have granted toleration would +have proved the signal for a general massacre. Vide Hist. du Royaume des +Pays-Bas, tom. I. p. 83. + +[682] "On defiait les Espagnols de trouver aux Pays-Bas ces stupides +Americains et ces miserables habitans du Perou, qu'on avait egorges par +millions, quand on avait vu qu'ils ne savaient pas se defendre." +Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. I. p. 97 + +[683] See a letter of Morillon to Granvelle, January 27, 1566, Archives +de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 22. + +[684] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 390. + +[685] "Il a appris avec peine que le contenu de sa lettre, datee du bois +de Segovie, a ete mal accueilli aux Pays-Bas, ses intentions ne tendant +qu'au service de Dieu et au bien de ces Etats, comme l'amour qu'il leur +porte l'y oblige." Ibid., p. 400. + +[686] Historians have usually referred the origin of the "Union" to a +meeting of nine nobles at Breda, as reported by Strada. (De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 208.) But we have the testimony of Junius himself to +the fact, as stated in the text; and this testimony is accepted by +Groen, who treads with a caution that secures him a good footing even in +the slippery places of history. (See Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 2.) Brandt also adopts the report of +Junius. (Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 162.) + +[687] "Inique et contraire a toutes loix divines et humaines, surpassant +la plus grande barbarie que oncques fut practiquee entre les tirans." +Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 3. + +One might imagine that the confederates intended in the first part of +this sentence to throw the words of Philip back upon himself,--"Comme il +leur appertient par droitz divins et humains." Depeche du Bois de +Segovie, Octobre 17, 1565. + +[688] "Affin de n'estre exposez en proye a ceulx qui, soubs ombre de +religion, voudroient s'enrichir aux despens de nostre sang et de nos +biens." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 4. + +[689] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 134. + +[690] "De sorte que si un Prestre, un Espagnol, ou quelque mauvais +garnement veut mal, ou nuyre a autruy, par le moyen de l'Inquisition, il +pourra l'accuser, faire apprehender, voire faire mourir, soit a droit, +soit a tort." Supplement a Strada, tom. II. p. 300. + +[691] "L'un des beaux caracteres de ce temps." Borguet, Philippe II. et +la Belgique, p. 43. + +[692] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[693] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 209. + +[694] "Mettant le tout en hazard de venir es mains de nos voisins." +Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 109. + +[695] "J'aimerois mieulx, en cas que Sadicte Majeste ne le veuille +dilaier jusques a la, et des a present persiste sur cette inquisition et +execution, qu'elle commisse quelque autre en ma place, mieulx entendant +les humeurs du peuple, et plus habile que moi a les maintenir en paix et +repos, plustost que d'encourir la note dont moi et les miens porrions +estre souilles, si quelque inconvenient advint au pays de mon +gouvernement, et durant ma charge." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[696] "Addidere aliqui, nolle se in id operam conferre, ut quinquaginta +aut sexaginta hominum millia, se Provincias administrantibus, igni +concrementur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 203. + +[697] Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 112. + +[698] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 378. + +[699] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 33. + +[700] "A ce propos le duc d'Albe repondit que dix mille grenouilles ne +valoient pas la tete d'un saumon." Sismondi, Hist. des Francais, tom. +XVIII. p. 447. + +Davila, in telling the same story, reports the saying of the duke in +somewhat different words:--"Diceva che ... besognava pescare i pesci +grossi, e non si curare di prendere le ranocchie." Guerre Civili di +Francia, (Milano, 1807,) tom. I. p. 341. + +[701] Henry the Fourth, when a boy of eleven years of age, was in the +train of Catherine, and was present at one of her interviews with Alva. +It is said that he overheard the words of the duke quoted in the text, +and that they sank deep into the mind of the future champion of +Protestantism. Henry reported them to his mother, Jeanne d'Albret, by +whom they were soon made public. Sismondi, Hist. des Francais, tom. +XVIII. p. 447.--For the preceding paragraph see also De Thou, Hist. +Universelle, tom. V. p. 34 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. +cap. 23.--Brantome, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 58 et seq. + +[702] It is a common opinion that, at the meeting at Bayonne, it was +arranged between the queen-mother and Alva to revive the tragedy of the +Sicilian Vespers in the horrid massacre of St. Bartholomew. I find, +however, no warrant for such an opinion in the letters of either the +duke or Don Juan Manrique de Lara, major-domo to Queen Isabella, the +originals of which are still preserved in the Royal Library at Paris. In +my copy of these MSS. the letters of Alva to Philip the Second cover +much the larger space. They are very minute in their account of his +conversation with the queen-mother. His great object seems to have been, +to persuade her to abandon her temporizing policy, and, instead of +endeavoring to hold the balance between the contending parties, to +assert, in the most uncompromising manner, the supremacy of the Roman +Catholics. He endeavored to fortify her in this course by the example of +his own master, the king of Spain, repeating Philip's declaration, so +often quoted, under various forms, that "he would surrender his kingdom, +nay life itself, rather than reign over heretics." + +While the duke earnestly endeavored to overcome the arguments of +Catherine de Medicis in favor of a milder, more rational, and, it may be +added, more politic course in reference to the Huguenots, he cannot +justly be charged with having directly recommended those atrocious +measures which have branded her name with infamy. Yet, on the other +hand, it cannot be denied that this bloody catastrophe was a legitimate +result of the policy which he advised. + +[703] "On voit journellement gens de ce pays aller en Angleterre, avec +leurs familles et leurs instruments; et ja Londres, Zandvich et le pays +allenviron est si plain, que l'on dit que le nombre surpasse 30,000 +testes." Assonleville to Granvelle, January 15, 1565, Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. I. p. 392. + +[704] "Il y a longtemps que ces Pais-Bas sont les Indes d'Angleterre, +et, tant qu'ilz les auront, ilz n'en ont besoing d'aultres." Ibid., p. +382. + +[705] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, tom. I. fol. 39, 40.--Correspondance +de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 17. + +[706] Supplement a Strada, tom. II. p. 293. + +[707] Ibid., ubi supra.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 212. + +[708] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 402.--Strada, De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 212.--Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne. tom. +II. p. 132. + +[709] Supplement a Strada, tom. II. p. 294. + +[710] "Ostant l'Inquisition, qui en ce temps est tant odieuse ... et ne +sert quasi de riens, pour estre les Sectaires assez cognuz; moderant +quant et quant la rigeur des Placcarts ... publiant aussy quant et quant +pardon general pour ceulx qui se sont meslez de laditte Ligue." Ibid., +p. 295. + +[711] "Le Prince d'Oranges et le Comte de Hornes disoyent en plain +conseil qu'ils estoyent d'intention de se voulloir retirer en leurs +maisons, ... se deuillans mesmes le dit Prince, que l'on le tenoit pour +suspect et pour chief de ceste Confederation." Extract from the Proces +d'Egmont, in the Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 42. + +[712] "De laquelle estant advertis quelques quinze jours apres, devant +que les confederes se trouvassent en court, nous declarames ouvertement +et rondemen qu'elle ne nous plaisoit pas, et que ce ne nous sambloit +estre le vray moyen pour maintenir le repos et tranquillite publique." +Extract from the "Justification" of William, (1567,) in the Archives de +la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 11. + +[713] This fact rests on the authority of a MS. ascribed to Junius. +(Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 162.) Groen, +however, distrusts the authenticity of this MS. (Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 12.) Yet, whatever may be thought of the +expedition against Antwerp, it appears from William's own statement that +the confederates did meditate some dangerous enterprise, from which he +dissuaded them. See his "Apology," in Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. +V. p. 392. + +[714] "Les estatz-generaulx ayans pleine puissance, est le seul remede a +nos maulx; nous avons le moyen en nostre povoir sans aucune doubte de +les faire assembler, mais on ne veult estre gueri." Archives de la +Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 37. + +[715] "Ils veullent que a l'obstination et endurcissement de ces loups +affamez nous opposions remonstrances, requestes et en fin parolles, la +ou de leur coste ils ne cessent de brusler, coupper testes, bannir et +exercer leur rage en toutes facons. Nous avons le moyen de les refrener +sans trouble, sans difficulte, sans effusion de sang, sans guerre, et on +ne le veult. Soit donques, prenons la plume et eux l'espee, nous les +parolles, eux le faict." Ibid., p. 36. + +[716] "Ire Ma^{t.} gar ernstlich bevelt das man nitt allain die sich in +andere leren so begeben, sol verbrennen, sonder auch die sich widderumb +bekeren, sol koppen lasen; welges ich wahrlich im hertzen hab gefuelt, +dan bei mir nit finden kan das cristlich noch thunlich ist." Ibid., tom. +I. p. 440. + +[717] Ibid., tom. II. p. 30. + +[718] Ibid., tom. I. p. 432. + +[719] Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 67. + +[720] "Tant y a que craignant qu'il n'en suivit une tres dangereuse +issue et estimant que cette voye estoit la plus douce et vrayment +juridique, je confesse n'avoir trouve mauvais que la Requeste fut +presentee." Apology, in Dumont, tom. V. p. 392. + +[721] "He escripto diversas vezes que era bien ganar a M. d'Aigmont; el +es de quien S. M. puede hechar mano y confiar mas que de todos los +otros, y es amigo de humo, y haziendole algun favor extraordinario +senalado que no se haga a otros, demas que sera ganarle mucho, pondra +zelos a los otros." Granvelle to Gonzalo Perez, June 27, 1563, Papiers +d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VII. p. 115. + +[722] "Il est tant lye avec les Seigneurs, qu'il n'y a moien de le +retirer et pour dire vray, _nutat in religione_, et ce qu'il dira en ce +aujourd'huy, il dira tout le contraire lendemain." Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 25. + +[723] "Ce seigneur est a present celui qui parle le plus, et que les +autres mettent en avant, pour dire les choses qu'ils n'oseraient dire +eux-memes." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 391. + +[724] "Le prince d'Orange procede avec plus de finesse que M. d'Egmont: +il a plus de credit en general et en particulier, et, si l'on pouvait le +gagner, on s'assurerait de tout le reste." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[725] Correspondance de Philippe II, tom. I. pp. 399, 401. + +[726] "Libello ab Orangio caeterisque in lenius verborum genus +commutato." Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 207. + +Alonzo del Canto, the royal _contador_, takes a different, and by no +means so probable a view of William's amendments. "Quand les seigneurs +tenaient leurs assemblees secretes a Bruxelles, c'etait en la maison du +prince d'Orange, ou ils entraient de nuit par la porte de derriere: ce +fut la que la requete des confederes fut modifiee et rendue pire." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 411. + +[727] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 59 et seq. + +[728] Strade, De Bello Belico, tom. I. p. 213. + +[729] "Hommes genti Nassaviae infensissimos de nece ipsius, deque +fortunarum omnium publicatione agitavisse cum Rege." Ibid., p. 215. See +also Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 403. + +[730] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 404. + +[731] "Ils repondirent qu'ils ne voulaient pas se battre pour le +maintien de l'inquisition et des placards, mais qu'ils le feraient pour +la conservation du pays." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[732] "Eo ipso die sub vesperam conjurati Bruxellas advenere. Erant illi +in equis omnino ducenti, forensi veste ornati, gestabantque singuli bina +ante ephippium sclopeta, praeibat ductor Brederodius, juxtaque Ludovicus +Nassavius." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 221. + +[733] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. pp. 74, 75. + +[734] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 221. + +[735] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[736] Ibid., pp. 222, 226.--Vandervynckt, Troubles de Pays-Bas, tom. II. +p. 138.--Meteren, Hist. de Pays-Bas, fol. 40. + +[737] "Nobiles enixi eam rogare, ut proferat nomina eorum qui hoc +detulere: cogatque illos accusationem legitime ac palam adornare." +Strada, De Bello Belgico tom. I. p. 222. + +[738] "Quando nonnisi Regis dignitatem, patriaeque salutem spectabant, +haud dubie postulatis satisfacturam." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[739] The copy of this document given by Groen is from the papers of +Count Louis of Nassau. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. +pp. 80-84. + +[740] "Lesquels ne doibvent esperer, sinon toute chose digne et conforme +a _sa benignite naifve et accoustumee_." Ibid., p. 84. + +The phrase must have sounded oddly enough in the ears of the +confederates. + +[741] "Pendant que s'attend sa responce, Son Alteze donnera ordre, que +tant par les inquisiteurs, ou il y en a eu jusques ores, que par les +officiers respectivement, soit procede discretement et modestement." +Ibid. p. 85. + +[742] "Ne desirons sinon d'ensuyvre tout ce que par Sa Ma^{te}. avecq +l'advis et consentement des estats-generaulx assamblez serat ordonne +pour le maintenement de l'anchienne religion." Ibid., p. 86. + +[743] "Vous prians de ne passer plus avant par petites practicques +secretes et de attirer plus personne." Ibid., p. 88. + +[744] "De bonne part et pour le service du Roy." Ibid., p. 89. + +[745] "Et comme ma dite dame respondit qu'elle le croyt ainsy, +n'affermant nullement en quelle part elle recevoit nostre assemblee, luy +fut replicque par le dit S^r de Kerdes: Madame, il plairast a V. A. en +dire ce qu'elle en sent, a quoy elle respondit qu'elle ne pouvoit +juger." Ibid., ubi supra.--See also Strada, (De Bello Belgico, tom. I. +p. 225,) who, however, despatches this interview with the Seigneur de +Kerdes in a couple of sentences. + +[746] Count Louis drew up a petition to the duchess, or rather a +remonstrance, requesting her to state the motives of this act, that +people might not interpret it into a condemnation of their proceedings. +To this Margaret replied, with some spirit, that it was her own private +affair, and she claimed the right that belonged to every other +individual, of managing her own household in her own way.--One will +readily believe that Louis did not act by the advice of his brother in +this matter. See the correspondence as collected by the diligent Groen, +Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. pp. 100-105. + +[747] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bays fol. 41. + +[748] "Illum quidem, ut Gubernatricis animum firmaret, ita locutum, +quasi nihil ei a mendicis ac nebulonibus pertimescendum esset." Strada, +De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 226. + +[749] "Se vero libenter appellationem illam, quae ea cumque esset, +accipere, ac Regis patriaeque causa Gheusios se mendicosque re ipsa +futuros." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[750] Ibid., ubi supra.--Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. +211.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 149.--Vandervynckt, +Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 142 et seq.--This last author tells +the story with uncommon animation. + +[751] So says Strada. (De Bello Belgico, tom. II. p. 227.) But the +duchess, in a letter written in cipher to the king, tells him that the +three lords pledged the company in the same toast of "_Vivent les +Gueux_," that had been going the rounds of the table. "Le prince +d'Oranges et les comtes d'Egmont et de Hornes vinrent a la maison de +Culembourg apres de diner; ils burent avec les confederes, et crierent +aussi _vivent les gueux_!" Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. +409. + +[752] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 227.--Vandervynckt Troubles +des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 143. + +The word _gueux_ is derived by Vander Haer from _Goth_, in the old +German form, _Geute_. "Eandem esse eam vocem gallicam quae esset Teutonum +vox, Geuten, quam maiore vel Gothis genti Barbarae tribuissent, vel odio +Gothici nominis convicium fecissent." De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 212. + +[753] Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, loc. cit.--Strada, De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 228. + +Arend, in his Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, has given +engravings of these medals, on which the devices and inscriptions were +not always precisely the same. Some of these mendicant paraphernalia are +still to be found in ancient cabinets in the Low Countries, or were in +the time of Vandervynckt. See his Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. +143. + +[754] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 228.--Vander Haer, De Initiis +Tumultuum, p. 212. + +[755] "En sortant de la porte de la ville, ils ont fait une grande +decharge de leurs pistolets." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. +408. + +[756] "Vos si mecum in hoc preclaro opere consentitis, agite, et qui +vestrum salvam libertatem, me duce volent, propinatum hoc sibi poculum, +benevolentiae meae significationem genialiter accipiant, idque manus +indicio contestentur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 231. + +[757] "Estans mesmes personnages si prudes, discrets et tant imbus de +tout ce que convient remonstrer a V. M., outre l'affection que j'ay +toujours trouve en eux, tant adonnez au service d'icelle." +Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 24. + +[758] "Crederes id ab illius accidisse genio, qui non contentus +admonendo aurem ei vellicasse, nunc quasi compedibus injectis, ne +infaustum iter ingrederetur, attineret pedes." Strada, de Bello Belgico, +tom. I. p. 235. + +[759] "Les seules reponses qu'il ait obtenues de S. M., sont qu'elle y +pensera, que ces affaires sont de grande importance, etc." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 426. + +[760] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 41.--Hopper, Recueil et +Memorial, p. 78.--Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 216. + +[761] "Ceste moderation, que le comun peuple apelloit meurderation." +Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 41. + +[762] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 233, 234, 239.--Brandt, +Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 170.--See the forged +document mentioned in the text in the Supplement a Strada, tom. II. p. +330. + +[763] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 150 et +seq.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 239, 240.--Correspondance de +Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 127. + +[764] Languet, Epist. secr., quoted by Groen, Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 180.--See also Strada, De Bello Belgico, +tom. I. p. 241.--Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. +172. + +[765] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, ubi supra. + +[766] Ibid., p. 173. + +[767] Ibid., p. 171. + +[768] "Se y sont le dimanche dernier encoires faict deux presches, l'une +en francois l'autre en flamand, en plein jour, et estoient ces deux +assemblees de 13 a 14 mille personnes." Correspondance de Marguerite +d'Autriche, p. 65. + +[769] Ibid., pp. 80-88.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. +243.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 42.--Correspondance de Philippe +II., tom. I. p. 433. + +A Confession of Faith, which appeared in 1563, was revised by a +Calvinistic synod, and reprinted in Antwerp, in May of the present year, +1566. The prefatory letter addressed to King Philip, in which the +Reformers appealed to their creed and to their general conduct as +affording the best refutation of the calumnies of their enemies, boldly +asserted that their number in the Netherlands at that time was at least +a hundred thousand. Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. +158. + +[770] "La Duquesa, ya demasiado informada de las platicas inclinaciones +y disimulaciones de este Principe, defirio a resolverse en ello." Renom +de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, cap. 15, MS. + +[771] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 244. + +[772] A mob of no less than thirty thousand men, according to William's +own statement. "A mon semblant, trouvis, tant hors que dedans la ville, +plus de trente mil hommes." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, +tom. II. p. 136. + +[773] "Viderent, per Deum, quid agerent: ne, si pergerent, eos aliquando +poeniteret." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 244. + +[774] For the account of the proceedings at Antwerp, see Correspondance +de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. pp. 136, 138, 140 et seq.--Strada, +De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 244-248.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, +fol. 42.--Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, pp. 90, 91.--Brandt, Reformation +in the Low Countries, vol. I. pp. 173-176.--Renom de Francia, Alborotos +de Flandes, MS. + +[775] "Insignia etiam a mercatoribus usurpari coepta." Strada, De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 238. + +[776] "Ils auraient preche hors de Bruxelles, si Madame n'y avait +pourvu, allant jusqu'a dire qu'avec sa personne, sa maison et sa garde, +elle s'y opposerait, et ferait pendre en sa presence les ministres." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 447. + +[777] "So pena de proceder contra los Predicadores ministros y +semejantes con el ultimo suplicio y confiscacion de hacienda por +aplicarlo al provecho de los que havian la apprehension de ellos y por +falta de hacienda, su magestad madara librar del suyo seiscientos +florines." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. + +[778] "Je suis forcee avecq douleur et angoisse d'esprit lui dire de +rechief que nonobstant tous les debvoirs que je fais journellement, ... +je ne puis remedier ny empescher les assemblees des presches +publicques." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 72. + +[779] "Sains aide et sans ordres, de maniere que, dans tout ce qu'elle +fait, elle doit aller en tatonnant et au hasard." Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. II. p. 428. + +[780] "Le prince se prepare de longue main a la defense qu'il sera force +de faire contre le Roi." Ibid., p. 431. + +It was natural that the relations of William with the party of reform +should have led to the persuasion that he had returned to the opinions +in which ha had been early educated. These were Lutheran. There is no +reason to suppose that at the present time he had espoused the doctrines +of Calvin. The intimation of Armenteros respecting the prince's change +of religion seems to have made a strong impression on Philip. On the +margin of the letter he wrote against the passage, "No one has said this +so unequivocally before;"--"No lo ha escrito nadie asi claro." + +[781] "Vos os enganariades mucho en pensar que yo no tubiese toda +confianza de vos, y quando hubiese alguno querido hazer oficio con migo +en contrario a esto, no soy tan liviano que hubiese dado credito a ello, +teniendo yo tanta esperiencia de vuestra lealtad y de vuestros +servicios." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. 171. + +[782] "Que le roi, resolu de les tromper tous, commencait par tromper sa +soeur." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bays, tom. II. p. 148. + +[783] This responsibility is bluntly charged on them by Renom de +Francia. "El dia de las predicaciones oraciones y cantos estando +concertado, se acordo con las principales villas que fuese el San Juan +siguiente y de continuar en adelante, primero en los Bosques y montanas, +despues en los arrabales y Aldeas y pues en las villas, por medida que +el numero, la andacia y sufrimiento creciese." Alborotos de Flandes, MS. + +[784] "Qui vulgari joco duodecim Apostoli dicebantur." Strada, De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 248. + +[785] "S'est mise en une telle colere contre nous, qu'elle a pense +crever." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 178. + +[786] "Alioqui externa remedia quamvis invitos postremo quaesituros." +Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 248. + +[787] The memorials are given at length by Groen, Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. pp. 159-167. + +[788] See the letter of Louis to his brother dated July 26, 1566, Ibid., +p. 178. + +[789] The person who seems to have principally served her in this +respectable office was a "doctor of law," one of the chief counsellors +of the confederates. Count Megen, her agent on the occasion, bribed the +doctor by the promise of a seat in the council of Brabant. +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 435. + +[790] "Le tout est en telle desordre," she says in one of her letters, +"que, en la pluspart du pais, l'on est sans loy, foy, ni roy." +Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 91. + +Anarchy could not be better described in so few words. + +[791] "Il ne reste plus sinon qu'ils s'assemblent et que, joincts +ensemble, ils se livrent a faire quelque sac d'eglises villes, bourgs, +ou pais, de quoy je suis en merveilleusement grande crainte;" +Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 121. + +[792] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 432. + +[793] The fullest account of the doings of the council is given by +Hopper, one of its members. Recueil et Memorial, pp. 81-87. + +[794] "Ceux du conseil d'Etat sont etonnes du delai que le Roi met a +repondre." Montigny to Margaret, July 21. Correspondance de Philippe +II., tom. I. p. 434. + +[795] "Pour l'inclination naturelle que j'ay toujours eu de traieter mes +vassaulx et subjects plus par voye d'amour et clemence, que de crainte +et de rigeur, je me suis accommode a tout ce que m'a este possible." +Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 100. + +[796] "Ay treuve convenir et necessaire que l'on concoive certaine +aultre forme de moderation de placcart par dela, ayant egard que la +saincte foy catholique et mon authorite soyent gardees ... et y feray +tout ce que possible sera." Ibid., p. 103. + +[797] "N'abhorrissant riens tant que la voye de rigeur." Ibid., ubi +supra. + +[798] "Y assi vos no lo consentais, ni yo lo consentire tan poco." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 439. + +[799] "Pero no conviene que esto se entienda alla, ni que vos teneis +esta orden mia, sino es para lo de agora, pero que la esperais para +adelante, no desesperando ellos para entonces dello." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[800] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, pp. 106, 114. + +[801] "Comme il ne l'a pas fait librement, ni spontanement, il n'entend +etre lie par cette autorisation, mais au contraire il se reserve de +punir les coupables, et principalement ceux qui ont ete les auteurs et +fauteurs des seditions." Correspondance de Philippe II, tom. I. p. 443. + +One would have been glad to see the original text of this protest, which +is in Latin, instead of M. Gachard's abstract. + +[802] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 236. + +Among those who urged the king to violent measures, no one was so +importunate as Fray Lorenzo de Villacancio, an Augustin monk, who +distinguished himself by the zeal and intrepidity with which he ventured +into the strongholds of the Reformers, and openly denounced their +doctrines. Philip, acquainted with the uncompromising temper of the man, +and his devotion to the Catholic Church, employed him both as an agent +and an adviser in regard to the affairs of the Low Countries. where Fray +Lorenzo was staying in the earlier period of the troubles. Many of the +friar's letters to the king are still preserved in Simancas, and +astonish one by the boldness of their criticisms on the conduct of the +ministers, and even of the monarch himself, whom Lorenzo openly accuses +of a timid policy towards the Reformers. + +In a memorial on the state of the country, prepared, at Philip's +suggestion, in the beginning of 1566, Fray Lorenzo urges the necessity +of the most rigorous measures towards the Protestants in the +Netherlands. "Since your majesty holds the sword which God has given to +you, with the divine power over our lives, let it be drawn from the +scabbard, and plunged in the blood of the heretics, if you do not wish +that the blood of Jesus Christ, shed by these barbarians, and the blood +of the innocent Catholics whom they have oppressed, should cry aloud to +Heaven for vengeance on the sacred head of your majesty!... The holy +king David showed no pity for the enemies of God. He slew them, sparing +neither man nor woman. Moses and his brother, in a single day, destroyed +three thousand of the children of Israel. An angel, in one night, put to +death more than sixty thousand enemies of the Lord. Your majesty is a +king, like David; like Moses, a captain of the people of Jehovah; an +angel of the Lord,--for so the Scriptures style the kings and captains +of his people;--and these heretics are the enemies of the living God!" +And in the same strain of fiery and fanatical eloquence he continues to +invoke the vengeance of Philip on the heads of his unfortunate subjects +in the Netherlands. + +That the ravings of this hard-hearted bigot were not distasteful to +Philip may be inferred from the fact that he ordered a copy of his +memorial to be placed in the hands of Alva, on his departure for the Low +Countries. It appears that he had some thoughts of sending Fray Lorenzo +to join the duke there,--a project which received little encouragement +from the latter, who probably did not care to have so meddlesome a +person as this frantic friar to watch his proceedings. + +An interesting notice of this remarkable man is to be found in Gachard, +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II., Rapport, pp. xvi.-1. + +[803] "Y por la priesa que dieron en esto, no ubo tiempo de consultarlo +a Su Santidad, como fuera justo, y quiza avra sido asi mejor, pues no +vale nada, sino quitandola Su Santidad que es que la pone; pero en esto +conviene que aya el secreto que puede considerar." Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. I. p. 445. + +[804] "Y en esto conviene el mismo secreto que en lo de arriba." Ibid., +ubi supra. + +These injunctions of secrecy are interpolations in the handwriting of +the "prudent" monarch himself. + +[805] "Perdere todos mis estados, y cien vidas que tuviesse, porque yo +no pienso ni quiero ser senor de hereges." Ibid., p. 446. + +[806] "Et, au regard de la convocation des dicts Estats generaulx, comme +je vous ay escript mon intention, je ne treuve qu'il y a matiere pour la +changer ne qu'il conviengne aulcunement qu'elle se face en mon absence, +mesmes comme je suis si prest de mon partement." Correspondance de +Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 165. + +[807] Brantome, OEuvres, tom. III. p. 321. + +[808] "Accendunt animos Ministri, fugienda non animo modo, sed et +corpore idola: eradicari, extirpari tantam summi Dei contumeliam +opportere affirmant." Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 236. + +[809] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 250-252.--Vander Haer, De +Initiis Tumultuum, p. 232 et seq.--Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. +96.--Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, pp. 183, 185. + +[810] "Si Mariette avait peur, qu'elle se retirat sitot en son nid." +Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II., Preface, p. lii. + +[811] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[812] "Nullus ex eo numero aut casu afflictus, aut ruina oppressus +decidentium ac transvolantium fragmentorum, aut occursu collisuque +festinantium cum fabrilibus armis levissime sauciatus sit." Strada, De +Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 257. + +"No light argument," adds the historian, "that with God's permission the +work was done under the immediate direction of the demons of Hell!" + +[813] Ibid., pp. 255-258.--Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 237 et +seq.--Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. +193.--Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II., Preface, pp. +liii, liv. + +[814] "Pro focis pugnatur interdum acrius quam pro aris." Strada, De +Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 260. + +[815] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 201. + +[816] But the Almighty, to quote the words of a contemporary, jealous of +his own honor, took signal vengeance afterwards on all those towns and +villages whose inhabitants had stood tamely by, and seen the profanation +of his temples.--"Dios que es justo y zelador de su honra por caminos y +formas incomprehensibles, lo ha vengado despues cruelmente, por que +todos esos lugares donde esas cosas han acontecido ban sido tomados, +saqueados, despojados y arruinados por guerra, pillage, peste y +incomodidades, en que, asi los males y culpados, como los buenos por su +sufrimiento y connivencia, han conocido y confesado que Dios ha sido +corrido contra ellos." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. + +[817] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 259. + +[818] "En tous ces monasteres et cloistres, ils abattent touttes +sepultures des comtes et comtesses de Flandres et aultres." +Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 183. + +[819] "Hic psittaco sacrosanctum Domini corpus porrigerent: Hic ex +ordine collocatis imaginibus ignem subijeerent, cadentibus insultarent: +Hic statuis arma induerent, in armatos depugnarent, deiectos, Viuant +Geusij clamare imperarent, ut ad scopum sic ad Christi imaginem +iaculaturi collimarent, libros bibliothecarum butiro inunctos in ignem +conijcerent, sacris vestibus summo ludibrio per vicos palam vterentur." +Vander Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, p. 238. + +[820] Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 98. + +[821] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 182. + +[822] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 260. + +[823] "Y de lo que venia del saco de la plateria y cosas sagradas de la +yglesia (que algunos ministros y los del consistorio juntavan en una) +distribuyendo a los fieles reformados algunos frutos de su reformacion, +para contentar a los hambrientos." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de +Flandes, MS. + +[824] "Haciendoles pagar el precio de los azotes con que fueron +azotados." Ibid. + +[825] "Il repondit que la premiere chose a faire etait de conserver +l'Etat; que, ensuite on s'occuperait des choses de la religion. Elle +repliqua, non sans humeur, qu'il lui paraissait plus necessaire de +pourvoir d'abord a ce qu'exigeait le service de Dieu, parce que la ruine +de la religion serait un plus grand mal, que la perte du pays." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 449. + +[826] "Il repartit que tous ceux qui avaient quelque chose a perdre, ne +l'entendaient pas de cette maniere." Ibid., p. 450. + +[827] Vide ante, p. 265. + +[828] "Et me disoient..... que les sectaires voulloient venir tuer, en +ma presence, tous les prestres, gens d'eglise et catholicques." +Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 188. + +[829] "La duchesse se trouve sans conseil ni assistance, pressee par +l'ennemi au dedans et au dehors." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. +I. p. 455. + +[830] "Nonobstant touttes ces raisons et remonstrances, par plusieurs et +divers jours, je n'y ay voullu entendre, donnant par plusieurs fois +soupirs et signe de douleur et angoisse de coeur, jusques a la que, par +aulcuns jours, la fiebvre m'a detenue, et ay passe plusieurs nuiets sans +repos." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 194. + +[831] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 454. + +[832] "Egmont a tenu le meme langage, en ajoutant qu'on leverait 40,000 +hommes, pour aller assieger Mons." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[833] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 196.--Strada, De Bello +Belgico tom. I. p. 266.--Vita Viglii, p. 48.--Hopper, Recueil et +Memorial, p. 99. + +[834] At Margaret's command, a detailed account of the circumstances +under which these concessions were extorted from her was drawn up by the +secretary Berty. This document is given by Gachard, Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. II., Appendix, p. 588. + +[835] The particulars of the agreement are given by Meteren, Hist. des +Pays-Bas, fol. 45. See also Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, +vol. I. p. 204.--Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. pp. +455, 459.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. cxliv. + +[836] "Elle le supplie d'y venir promptement, a main armee, afin de le +conquerir de nouveau." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 453. + +[837] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. II. p. 177. + +[838] Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. pp. 220, 223, +231, 233; Preface, pp. lxii.-lxiv. + +[839] The document is given entire by Groen, Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 429 et seq. + +[840] Tiepolo, the Venetian minister at the court of Castile at this +time, in his report made on his return, expressly acquits the French +nobles of what had been often imputed to them, having a hand in these +troubles. Their desire for reform only extended to certain crying +abuses; but, in the words of his metaphor, the stream which they would +have turned to the irrigation of the ground soon swelled to a terrible +inundation.--"Contra l'opinion de'principali della lega, che volevano +indur timore et non tanto danno.... Dico che questo fu perche essi non +hebbero mai intentione di ribellarsi dal suo sigre ma solamente con +questi mezzi di timore impedir che non si introducesse in quei stati il +tribunal dell'Inquisitione." Relatione di M. A. Tiepolo, 1567, MS. + +[841] "En supposant que le Roi voulut admettre deux religions (ce +qu'elle ne pouvait croire), elle ne voulait pas, elle, etre l'executrice +d'une semblable determination; qu'elle se laisserait plutot mettre en +pieces." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 453. + +[842] The report of this curious dialogue, somewhat more extended than +in these pages, is to be found in the Vita Viglii, p. 47. + +[843] "En paroles et en faits, ils se sont declares contre Dieu et +contre le Roi." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 453. + +[844] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[845] "Le president, qu'on menace de tous cotes d'assommer et de mettre +en pieces, est devenu d'une timidite incroyable." Ibid., p. 460. + +Viglius, in his "Life," confirms this account of the dangers with which +he was threatened by the people, but takes much more credit to himself +for presence of mind than the duchess seems willing to allow. Vita +Viglii, p. 48. + +[846] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 255, 260. + +[847] "Disant n'avoir aulcun d'elle, mais bien de Vostre Majeste, +laquelle n'avoit este content me laisser en ma maison, mais m'avoit +commande me trouver a Bruxelles vers Son Altesse, ou avoie receu tant de +facheries." Supplement a Strada, tom. II. p. 505. + +[848] "Ne me samblant debvoir traicter affaires de honneur avecq Dames." +Ibid., ubi supra. + +[849] "They tell me," writes Morillon to Granvelle, "it is quite +incredible how old and gray Egmont has become. He does not venture to +sleep at night without his sword and pistols by his bedside!" (Archives +de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 36.) But there was no +pretence that at this time Egmont's life was in danger. Morillon, in his +eagerness to cater for the cardinal's appetite for gossip, did not +always stick at the improbable. + +[850] "Il leur en coutera cher (s'ecria-t-il en se tirant la barbe), il +leur en coutera cher; j'en jure par l'ame de mon pere." Gachard, +Analectes Belgiques, p. 254. + +[851] "De tout cela (disje) ne se perdit un seul moment en ce temps, non +obstant la dicte maladie de Sa Majte, la quelle se monstra semblablement +selon son bon naturel, en tous ces negoces et actions tousjours tant +modeste, et temperee et constante en iceulx affaires, quelques extremes +qu'ilz fussent, que jamais l'on n'a veu en icelle signal, ou de passion +contre les personnes d'une part, ou de relasche en ses negoces de +l'aultre." Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 104. + +[852] At this period stops the "Recueil et Memorial des Troubles des +Pays-Bas" of Joachim Hopper, which covers a hundred quarto pages of the +second volume (part second) of Hoynck van Papendrecht's "Analecta +Belgica." Hopper was a jurist, a man of learning and integrity. In 1566 +he was called to Madrid, raised to the post of keeper of the seals for +the affairs of the Netherlands, and made a member of the council of +state. He never seems to have enjoyed the confidence of Philip in +anything like the degree which Granvelle and some other ministers could +boast; for Hopper was a Fleming. Yet his situation in the cabinet made +him acquainted with the tone of sentiment as well as the general policy +of the court; while, as a native of Flanders, he could comprehend, +better than a Spaniard, the bearing this policy would have on his +countrymen. His work, therefore, is of great importance as far as it +goes. It is difficult to say why it should have stopped _in mediis_, for +Hopper remained still in office, and died at Madrid ten years after the +period to which he brings his narrative. He may have been discouraged by +the remarks of Viglius, who intimates, in a letter to his friend, that +the chronicler should wait to allow time to disclose the secret springs +of action. See the Epistolae ad Hopperum, p. 419. + +[853] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 206. + +[854] "Questo e il nuvolo che minaccia ora i nostri paesi; e n'uscira la +tempesta forse prima che non si pensa. Chi la prevede ne da l'avviso; e +chi n'e avvisato, o con intrepidezza l'incontri, o con avvedimento la +sfugga." Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 118. + +[855] "Nullum prodire e Regis ore verbum seu private seu publice, quin +ad ejus aures in Belgium fideliter afferatur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, +tom. I. p. 281. + +[856] An abstract of the letter is given by Gachard, Correspondance de +Philippe II. tom. I. p. 485. + +[857] "Sa Ma^te et ceulx du Conseil seront bien aise que sur le pretext +de la religion ils pourront parvenir a leur pretendu, de mestre le pais, +nous aultres, et nous enfans en la plus miserable servitude qu'on +n'auroit jamais veu, et come on ast tousjours craint cela plus que chose +que soit." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 324. + +[858] Egmont's deposition at his trial confirms the account given in the +text--that propositions for resistance, though made at the meeting, were +rejected. Hoorne in his "Justification," refers the failure to Egmont. +Neither one nor the other throws light on the course of discussion. +Bentivoglio, in his account of the interview, shows no such reserve; and +he gives two long and elaborate speeches from Orange and Egmont, in as +good set phrase as if they had been expressly reported by the parties +themselves for publication. The Italian historian affects a degree of +familiarity with the proceedings of this secret conclave by no means +calculated to secure our confidence. Guerra di Fiandra, pp. 123-128. + +[859] "Siesse qu'elle jure que s'et la plus grande vilagnerie du +monde..... et que s'et ung vray pasquil fameulx et qui doit ettre forge +pardecha, et beaucoup de chozes semblables." Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 400. + +[860] "En fin s'et une femme nourie en Rome, il n'y at que ajouter foy." +Ibid., p. 401. + +Yet Egmont, on his trial, affirmed that he regarded the letter as +spurious! (Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 327.) One who +finds it impossible that the prince of Orange could lend himself to such +a piece of duplicity, may perhaps be staggered when he calls to mind his +curious correspondence with the elector and with King Philip in relation +to Anne of Saxony, before his marriage with that princess. Yet Margaret, +as Egmont hints, was of the Italian school; and Strada, her historian, +dismisses the question with a doubt,--"in medio ego quidem relinquo." A +doubt from Strada is a decision against Margaret. + +[861] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom I. p. 474. + +[862] Ibid., p. 491. + +[863] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 282. + +[864] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[865] Hopper, Recueil et Memorial, p. 109. + +[866] Ibid., p. 113. + +[867] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. p. 391. + +[868] "Praeterea consistoria, id est senatus ac coetus, multis in urbibus, +sicuti jam Antverpiae caeperant, instituerunt: creatis Magistratibus, +Senatoribusque, quorum consiliis (sed antea cum Antverpiana curia, quam +esse principem voluere, communicatis) universa haereticorum Resput. +temperaretur." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I p. 283. + +[869] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. II. pp. 455, 456. + +[870] Ibid., p. 496. + +[871] I quote almost the words of William in his famous Apology, which +suggests the same explanation of his conduct that I have given in the +text.--"Car puis que des le berceau j'y avois este nourry, Monsieur mon +Pere y avoit vescu, y estoit mort, ayant chasse de ses Seigneuries les +abus de l'Eglise, qui est-ce qui trouvera estrange si cette doctrine +estoit tellement engravee en mon coeur, et y avoit jette telles racines, +qu'en son temps elle est venue a apporter ses fruits." Dumont, Corps +Diplomatique, tom. V. part i. p. 392. + +[872] "Il y a plus de trois mois, qu'elle se leve avant le jour, et que +le plus souvent elle tient conseil le matin et le soir; et tout le +reste, de la journee et de la nuit, elle le consacre a donner des +audiences, a lire les lettres et les avis qui arrivent de toutes parts, +et a determiner les responses a y faire." Correspondance de Philippe +II., tom. I. p. 496. + +Sleep seems to have been as superfluous to Margaret as to a hero of +romance. + +[873] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 289, 290. + +[874] "J'aimerais mieux que my langue fut attachee au palais, et devenir +muet, comme un poisson, que d'ouvrir la bouche pour persuader au peuple +chose tant cruelle et deraisonnable." Chronique contemporaine, cited by +Gachard. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 561, note. + +[875] "Suadere itaque illis, ut a publicis certe negotiis abstineant, ac +res quique suas in posterum curent: neve Regem brevi affecturum ingenitae +benignitatis oblivisci cogant. Se quidem omni ope curaturam, ne, quam +ipsi ruinam comminentur, per haec vulgi turbamenta Belgium patiatur." +Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 295. + +[876] "Nec ullis conditionibus flecti te patere ad clementiam; sed +homines scelestos, atque indeprecabile supplicium commeritos, ferro et +igni quamprimum dele." Ibid., p. 300. + +[877] "Periere in ea pugna quae prima cum rebellibus commissa est in +Belgio, Gheusiorum mille ac quingenti: capti circiter trecenti, +jugulatique paene omnes Beavorii jussu, quod erupturi Antverpienses, +opemque reliquiis victae factionis allaturi crederentur." Ibid., p. 301. + +[878] For the account of the troubles in Antwerp, see Correspondance de +Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 226 et seq.--Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Naussau, tom. III. p. 59.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp +300-303.--Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. +247.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 526, 527.--Vander +Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, pp. 314-317.--Renom de Francia, Alborotos de +Flandes, MS. + +[879] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 310. + +[880] Strada gives an extract from the letter: "Deinde si deditio non +sequeretur, invaderent quidem urbem, quodque militum est, agerent; a +caedibus tamen non puerorum modo, senumque ac mulierum abstinerent; sed +civium nullus, nisi dum inter propugnandum se hostem gereret, +enecaretur." Ibid., p. 311. + +[881] "Quasi vero, inquit, vestra conditio eadem hodie sit, ac +nudiustertius. Sero sapitis Valencenates: ego certe conditionibus non +transigo cadente cum hoste." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 314. + +[882] "Feruntque ter millies explosas murales machinas, moenium quam +hominum majori strage." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[883] So states Margaret's historian, who would not be likely to +exaggerate the number of those who suffered. The loyal president of +Mechlin dismisses the matter more summarily, without specifying any +number of victims. "El senor de Noilcarmes se aseguro de muchos +prisioneros principales Borgeses y de otros que avian sido los autores +de la rebelion, a los quales se hizo luego en diligencia su pleyto." +(Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS.) Brandt, the historian of +the Reformation, (vol. I. p. 251,) tells us that two hundred _were said_ +to have perished by the hands of the hangman at Valenciennes, on account +of the religious troubles, in the course of this year. + +[884] For information, more or less minute, in regard to the siege of +Valenciennes, see Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 303-315.--Vander +Haer, De Initiis Tumultuum, pp. 319-322.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, +fol. 49.--Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. p. +501.--Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. + +[885] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 315-323 et seq. + +[886] "Il ne comprenait pas pourquoi la gouvernante insistait, apres +qu'il lui avait ecrit une lettre de sa main, contenant tout ce que S. A. +pouvait desirer d'un gentilhomme d'honneur, chevalier de l'Ordre, +naturel vassal du Roi, et qui toute sa vie avait fait le devoir d'homme +de bien, comme il le faisait encore journellement." Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. I. p. 321. + +[887] "Ferez cesser les calumnies que dictes se semer contre vous, +ensamble tous ces bruits que scavez courrir de vous, encoires que en mon +endroict je les tiens faulx et que a tort ils se dyent; ne pouvant +croire que en ung coeur noble et de telle extraction que vous estes, +successeur des Seigneurs," etc. Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, +tom. III. p. 44. + +[888] "Servir et m'employer envers et contre tous, et comme me sera +ordonne de sa part, sans limitation ou restrinction." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[889] "Je seroys aulcunement oblige et constrainct, le cas advenant, que +on me viendroict a commander chose qui pourroit venir contre ma +conscience ou au deservice de Sa Ma^{te} et du pays." Ibid., p. 46. + +[890] "Vous asseurant que, ou que seray, n'espargneray jamais mon corps +ni mon bien pour le service de Sa Ma^{te} et le bien commun de ces +pays." Ibid., p. 47. + +[891] Ibid., p. 42. + +[892] "In ansehung das wir in dissen laenden allein seindt, und in +hoechsten noeten und gefehrden leibs und lebens stecken, und keinen +vertrauwen freundt umb uns haben, deme wir unser gemuethe und hertz recht +eroeffnen doerffen." Ibid., p. 39. + +[893] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 319. + +[894] "Orasse ilium, subduceret sese, gravidamque cruore tempestatem ab +Hispania impendentem Belgarum Procerum capitibus ne opperiretur." Ibid., +p. 321. + +[895] "Perdet te, inquit Orangius, haec quam jactas dementia Regis, +Egmonti; ac videor mihi providere animo, utinam falso, te pontem +scilicet futurum, quo Hispani calcato, in Belgium transmittant." Ibid., +ubi supra. + +[896] The secretary Pratz, in a letter of the 14th of April, thus kindly +notices William's departure: "The prince has gone, taking along with him +half a dozen heretical doctors and a good number of other seditious +rogues." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 526. + +[897] "Tibi vero hoc persuade amiciorem me te habere neminem cui quidvis +libere imperare potes. Amor enim tui eas egit radices in animo meo ut +minui nullo temporis aut locorum intervallo possit." Archives de la +Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. III. p. 70. + +It is not easy to understand why William should have resorted to Latin +in his correspondence with Egmont. + +[898] "Ayant tousjours porte en vostre endroit l'affection que je +pourrois faire pour ung mien fils, ou parent bien proche. Et vous vous +povez de ce confier, toutes les fois que les occasions se presenteront, +que feray le mesme." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. II. +p. 371. + +[899] William's only daughter was maid of honor to the regent, who made +no objection to her accompanying her father, saying that, on the young +lady's return she would find no diminution of the love that had been +always shown to her. Ibid., ubi supra. + +[900] According to Strada, some thought that William knew well what he +was about when he left his son behind him at Louvain; and that he would +have had no objection that the boy should be removed to +Madrid,--considering that, if things went badly with himself, it would +be well for the heir of the house to have a hold on the monarch's favor. +This is rather a cool way of proceeding for a parent, it must be +admitted. Yet it is not very dissimilar from that pursued by William's +own father, who, a stanch Lutheran himself, allowed his son to form part +of the imperial household, and to be there nurtured in the Roman +Catholic faith. See Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 373. + +[901] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. III. p. 100. + +[902] "Pour ne le jecter d'advantaige en desespoir et perdition, aussy +en contemplation de ses parens et alliez, je n'ai peu excuser luy dire +qu'il seroit doncques ainsy qu'il avoit faict, et qu'il revinst au +conseil." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 238. + +[903] William was generous enough to commend Hoorne for this step, +expressing the hope that it might induce such a spirit of harmony in the +royal council as would promote the interests of both king and country. +See the letter, written in Latin, dated from Breda, April 14, in +Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau tom. III. p. 71. + +[904] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 322. + +[905] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 235. + +[906] "Egit ipsa privatim magnae Virgini grates, quod ejus ope tantam +urbem sine praelio ac sanguine, Religioni Regique reddidisset." Strada, +De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 328. + +[907] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 254. + +[908] Gachard has transferred to his notes the whole of this sanguinary +document. See Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. pp. 550, 551. + +[909] "La peine et le mecontentement qu'il a eprouves, de ce que l'on a +fait une chose si illicite, si indecente, et si contraire a la religion +chretienne." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[910] Viglius was not too enlightened to enter his protest against the +right to freedom of conscience, which, in a letter to his friend Hopper, +he says may lead every one to set up his own gods--"lares aut +lemures"--according to his fancy. Yet the president was wise enough to +see that sufficient had been done at present in breaking up the +preachings. "Time and Philip's presence must do the rest." (Epistolae ad +Hopperum, p. 433.) "Those," he says in another letter, "who have set the +king against the edict have greatly deceived him. They are having their +ovation before they have gained the victory. They think they can dispose +of Flemish affairs as they like at Toledo, when hardly a Spaniard dares +to show his head in Brussels." Ibid., p. 428. + +[911] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. III. pp. +80-93.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 329. + +[912] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 332. + +[913] Groen's inestimable collection contains several of Brederode's +letters, which may remind one in their tone of the dashing cavalier of +the time of Charles the First. They come from the heart, mingling the +spirit of daring enterprise with the careless gayety of the _bon +vivant_, and throw far more light than the stiff, statesmanlike +correspondence of the period on the character, not merely of the writer, +but of the disjointed times in which he lived. + +[914] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. +255.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 50.--Vander Haer, De Initiis +Tumultuum, p. 327.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 533. + +[915] Margaret's success draws forth an animated tribute from the +president of Mechlin. "De manera que los negocios de los payses bajos +por la gracia de Dios y la prudencia de esta virtuosa Dama y Princesa +con la asistencia de los buenos consejeros y servidores del Rey en +buenos terminos y en efecto remediados, las villas reveldes y alteradas +amazadas, los gueuses reducidos o huidos; los ministros y predicantes +echados fuera o presos; y la autoridad de su Magestad establecida otra +vez." Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS. + +[916] This was fulfilling the prophecy of the prince of Orange, who in +his letter to Hoorne tells him, "In a short time we shall refuse neither +bridle nor saddle. For myself," he adds, "I have not the strength to +endure either." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. III. p. 72. + +[917] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 333. + +[918] See Meteren, (Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 49,) who must have drawn +somewhat on his fancy for these wholesale executions, which, if taken +literally, would have gone nigh to depopulate the Netherlands. + +[919] "Thus the gallowses were filled with carcasses, and Germany with +exiles." Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 257. + +[920] "Ex trabibus decidentium templorum, infelicia conformarent +patibula, ex quibus ipsi templorum fabri cultoresque penderent." Strada, +De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 333. + +[921] "Le bruit de l'arrivee prochaine du duc, a la tete d'une armee, +fait fuir de toutes parts des gens, qui se retirent en France, en +Angleterre, au pays de Cleves, en Allemagne et ailleurs." Correspondance +de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 546. + +[922] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[923] "Par les restrictions extraordinaires que V. M. a mises a mon +autorite, elle m'a enleve tout pouvoir et m'a privee des moyens +d'achever l'entier retablissement des affaires de ce pays: a present +qu'elle voit ces affaires en un bon etat, elle en veut donner l'honneur +a d'autres, tandis que, moi seule, j'ai eu les fatigues et les dangers." +Ibid., p. 523. + +[924] "Ou l'autorite du Roi est plus assuree qu'elle ne l'etait au temps +de l'Empereur." Ibid., p. 532. + +[925] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, tom. I. p. 258. + +[926] "Ledit eveque, dans la premiere audience qu'il lui a donnee, a use +d'ailleurs de termes si etranges, qu'il l'a mis en colere, et que, s'il +eut eu moins d'amour et de respect pour S. S., cela eut pu le faire +revenir sur les resolutions qu'il a prises." Correspondance de Philippe +II., tom. I. p. 488. + +The tart remonstrance of Philip had its effect. Granvelle soon after +wrote to the king, that his holiness was greatly disturbed by the manner +in which his majesty had taken his rebuke. The pope, Granvelle added, +was a person of the best intentions, but with very little knowledge of +the world, and easily kept in check by those who show their teeth to +him;--"_reprimese quando se le muestran los dientes._" Ibid., tom. II. +p. lviii. + +[927] "Que lui et le temps en valaient deux autres." Vandervynckt, +Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 199. + +The hesitation of the king drew on him a sharp rebuke from the audacious +Fray Lorenzo Villavicencio, who showed as little ceremony in dealing +with Philip as with his ministers. "If your majesty," he says, +"consulting only your own ease, refuses to make this visit to Flanders, +which so nearly concerns the honor of God, his blessed Mother, and all +the saints, as well as the weal of Christendom, what is it but to +declare that you are ready to accept the regal dignity which God has +given you, and yet leave to him all the care and trouble that belong to +that dignity? God would take this as ill of your majesty, as you would +take it of those of your vassals whom you had raised to offices of trust +and honor, and who took the offices, but left you to do the work for +them! To offend God is a rash act, that must destroy both soul and +body." Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II., Rapport, p. +xlviii. + +[928] "Ne extingui quidem posse sine ruina victoris." Strada, De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 338. + +Better expressed by the old Castilian proverb, "El vencido vencido, y el +vencidor perdido." + +[929] "At illos non armis sed beneficiis expugnari." Strada, De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 339. + +[930] Ibid., p. 340. + +[931] "Ouy, et que plus est, oserions presques asseurer Vostre Majeste +plusieurs des mauvais et des principaulx, voiant ledit prince de Heboli, +se viendront reconcilier a luy, et le supplier avoir, par son moien, +faveur vers Vostre Majeste." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. +519. + +[932] The debate is reported with sufficient minuteness both by Cabrera +(Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 7,) and Strada (De Bello Belgico, tom. +I. p. 338). They agree, however, neither in the names of the parties +present, nor in the speeches they made. Yet their disagreement in these +particulars is by no means so surprising as their agreement in the most +improbable part of their account,--Philip's presence at the debate. + +[933] "Comme si c'eust este une saincte guerre." Meteren, Hist. des +Pays-Bas, fol. 52. + +[934] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 350. + +[935] "Il repete," says Gachard, "dans une depeche du 1er septembre, +qu'au milieu des bruits contradictoires qui circulent a la cour, il est +impossible de demeler la verite." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. +I., Rapport, p. clvi. + +[936] "Ceterum, ut jam jamque iturus, legit comites, conquisivit +impedimenta, adornavit naves: mox hiemem, aut negotia varie causatus, +primo prudentes, dein vulgum, diutissime provincias fefellit." Taciti +Annales, I. xlvii. + +[937] "Es la primera que se me da en mi vida de cosas desta cualidad en +cuantas veces he servido, ni de su Magestad Cesarea que Dios tenga, ni +de V. M." Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 354. + +[938] A magnanimous Castilian historian pronounces a swelling panegyric +on this little army in a couple of lines: "Los Soldados podian ser +Capitanes, los Capitanes Maestros de Campo, y los Maestros de Campo +Generales." Hechos de Sancho Davila, (Valladolid, 1713,) p. 26. + +The chivalrous Brantome dwells with delight on the gallant bearing and +brilliant appointments of these troops, whom he saw in their passage +through Lorraine. "Tous vieux et aguerrys soldatz, tant bien en poinct +d'habillement et d'armes, la pluspart dorees, et l'autre gravees, qu'on +les prenoit plustost pour capitanes que soldats." OEuvres, tom. I. p. 60. + +[939] + +"Corpus in Italia est, tenet intestina Brabantus; Ast animam nemo. Cur? +quia non habuit." + +Borgnet, Philippe II. et la Belgique, p. 60. + +[940] No two writers, of course, agree in the account of Alva's forces. +The exact returns of the amount of the whole army, as well as of each +company, and the name of the officer who commanded it, are to be found +in the Documentos Ineditos (tom. IV. p. 382). From this it appears that +the precise number of horse was 1,250, and that of the foot 8,800, +making a total of 10,050. + +[941] A poem in _ottava rima_, commemorating Alva's expedition, appeared +at Antwerp the year following, from the pen of one Balthazar de Vargas. +It has more value in a historical point of view than in a poetical one. +A single stanza, which the bard devotes to the victualling of the army, +will probably satisfy the appetite of the reader:-- + +"Y por que la Savoya es montanosa, Y an de passar por ella las legiones, +Seria la passada trabajosa Si a la gente faltassen provisiones, El real +comissario no reposa. Haze llevar de Italia municiones Tantas que +proveyo todo el camino Que jamas falto el pan, y carno, y vino." + + +[942] Ossorio, Albae Vita, tom. II. p. 237.--Trillo, Rebelion y Guerras +de Flandes, (Madrid, 1592,) fol. 17.--Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. +p. 490. + +[943] So say Schiller, (Abfall der Niederlande, s. 363,). Cabrera, +(Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 15,) _et auct. al._ But every schoolboy +knows that nothing is more unsettled than the route taken by Hannibal +across the Alps. The two oldest authorities, Livy and Polybius, differ +on the point, and it has remained a vexed question ever since,--the +criticism of later years, indeed, leaning to still another route, that +across the Little St. Bernard. The passage of Hannibal forms the subject +of a curious discussion introduced into Gibbon's journal, when the young +historian was in training for the mighty task of riper years. His +reluctance, even at the close of his argument, to strike the balance, is +singularly characteristic of his sceptical mind. + +[944] "A suidar da quel nido di Demoni, le sceleraggini di tanti +Appostati." Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. 487. + +[945] The Huguenots even went so far as to attempt to engage the +reformed in the Low Countries to join them in assaulting the duke in his +march through Savoy. Their views were expressed in a work which +circulated widely in the provinces, though it failed to rouse the people +to throw off the Spanish yoke. Sec Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, +tom. II. p. 194. + +[946] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. pp. 350-354.--Ossorio, Albae +Vita, tom. II. p. 232 et seq.--Hechos de Sancho Davila, p. 26.--Trillo, +Rebelion y Guerras de Flandes, fol. 16, 17.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, +lib. VII. cap. 15.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 52.--Lanario, +Guerras de Flandes, fol. 15.--Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, +MS. + +Chronological accuracy was a thing altogether beneath the attention of a +chronicler of the sixteenth century. In the confusion of dates in regard +to Alva's movements, I have been guided as far as possible by his own +despatches. See Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 349 et seq. + +[947] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 354.--Ossorio, Albae Vita, +tom. I. p. 241. + +[948] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 52.--Old Brantome warms as he +contemplates these Amazons, as beautiful and making as brave a show as +princesses! "Plus il y avoit quatre cents courtisanes a cheval, belles +et braves comme princesses, et huict cents a pied, bien en point aussi." +OEuvres, tom. I. p. 62. + +[949] "Ninguna Historia nos ensena haya passado un Exercito por Pais tan +dilatado y marchas tan continuas, sin cometer excesso: La del Duque es +la unica que nos la hace ver. Encanto a todo el mundo." Rustant, +Historia del Duque de Alva, tom. II. p. 124.--So also Herrera, Historia +General, tom. I. p. 650.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. +15.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 354. + +[950] "Comme le Duc le vid de long, il dit tout haut; Voicy le grand +hereticque, dequoq le Comte s'espouvanta: neantmoins, pource qu'on le +pouvoit entendre en deux facons, il l'interpreta de bonne part." +Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 53. + +[951] "Vimos los que alli estabamos que el Duque de Alba uso de +grandisimos respetos y buenas crianzas, y que Madama estuvo muy severa y +mas que cuando suelen negociar con ella Egmont y estos otros Senores de +aca, cosa que fue muy notada de los que lo miraban." + +A minute account of this interview, as given in the text, was sent to +Philip by Mendivil, an officer of the artillery, and is inserted in the +Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 397 et seq. + +[952] This document, dated December 1, 1566, is not to be found in the +Archives of Simancas, as we may infer from its having no place in the +Documentos Ineditos, which contains the succeeding commission. A copy of +it is in the Belgian Archives, and has been incorporated in Gachard's +Correspondance de Philippe II. (tom. II., Appendix, No. 88.) It is +possible that a copy of this commission was sent to Margaret, as it +agrees so well with what the king had written to her on the subject. + +[953] To this second commission, dated January 31, 1567, was appended a +document, signed also by Philip, the purport of which seems to have been +to explain more precisely the nature of the powers intrusted to the +duke,--which it does in so liberal a fashion, that it may be said to +double those powers. Both papers, the originals of which are preserved +in Simancas, have been inserted in the Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. pp. +388-396. + +[954] "Par quoy requerrons a ladicte dame duchesse, nostre seur, et +commandons a tous nos vassaulx et subjectz, de obeyr audict duc d'Alve +en ce qu'il leur commandera, et de par nous, come aiant telle charge, et +comme a nostre propre personne."--This instrument, taken from the +Belgian archives, is given entire by Gachard, Correspondance de Philippe +II., tom. II., Appendix, No. 102. + +[955] "Despues que los han visto han quedado todos muy lastimados, y a +todos cuantos Madama habla les dice que se quierre ir a su casa por los +agravios que V. M. le ha hecho." Carta de Mendivil, ap. Documentos +Ineditos, tom. IV p. 399. + +[956] Ibid., p. 403. + +[957] Ibid., p. 400. + +[958] "En todo el sermon no trato cuasi de otra cosa sino de que los +espanoles eran traidores y ladrones, y forzadores de mugeres, y que +totalmente el pais que los sufria era destruido, con tanto escandolo y +maldad que merescia ser quemado." Ibid., p. 401. + +[959] Yet there was danger in it, if, as Armenteros warned the duke, to +leave his house would be at the risk of his life. "Tambien me ha dicho +Tomas de Armenteros que diga al Duque de Alba que en ninguna manera como +fuera de su casa porque si lo hace sera con notable peligro de la vida." +Ibid., ubi supra. + +[960] "Despues de haberse sentado le dijo el contentamiento que tenia de +su venida y que ningun otro pudiera venir con quien ella mas se +holgara." Ibid., p. 404. + +[961] "Que lo que principalmente traia era estar aqui con esta gente +para que la justicia fuese obedecida y respetada, y los mandamientos de +S. E. ejecutadas, y que S. M. a su venida hallase esto en la paz, +tranquilidad y sosiego que era razon." Ibid., p. 406. + +[962] "Podrase escusar con estos diciendoles que yo soy cabezudo y que +he estado muy opinatre en sacar de aqui esta gente, que yo huelgo de que +a mi se me eche la culpa y de llevar el odio sobre mi a trueque de que +V. E. quede descargada." Ibid., p. 408. + +[963] Supplement a Strada, tom. II. p. 524. + +[964] "Tenendo per certo che V. M. non vorra desautorizarmi, per +autorizare altri, poi che questo non e giusto, ne manco saria servitio +suo, se non gran danno et inconveniente per tutti li negotii." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 505. + +[965] "Il y est si odieux qu'il suffirait a y faire hair toute la nation +espagnole." Ibid., p. 556. + +[966] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[967] "Elle est affectee, jusqu'au fond de l'ame, de la conduite du Roi +a son egard." Ibid., p. 567. + +[968] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pay-Bas, tom. II. p. 207. + +[969] "Seu vera seu ficta, facile Gandavensibus credita, ab iisque in +reliquum Belgium cum Albani odio propagata." Strada, De Bello Belgico, +tom. I. p. 368. + +[970] See his remarkable letter to the king, of October 21, 1563: "A los +que destos merecen, quitenles las cavecas, hasta poderlo hacer +dissimular con ellos." Papiers d'Etat de Granvelle, tom. VII. p. 233. + +[971] "Les Espaignols font les plus grandes foulles qu'on ne scauroit +escryre; ils confisquent tout, a tort, a droit, disant que touts sont +heretiques, qui ont du bien, et ont a perdre." + +The indignant writer does not omit to mention the "two thousand" +strumpets who came in the duke's train; "so," he adds, "with what we +have already, there will be no lack of this sort of wares in the +country." Lettre de Jean de Hornes, Aug. 25, 1567, Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. I. p. 565. + +[972] Clough, Sir Thomas Gresham's agent, who was in the Low Countries +at this time, mentions the licence of the Spaniards. It is but just to +add, that he says the government took prompt measures to repress it, by +ordering some of the principal offenders to the gibbet. Burgon, Life of +Gresham, vol. II. pp. 229, 230. + +[973] The duchess, in a letter to Philip, September 8, 1567, says that a +hundred thousand people fled the country on the coming of Alva! (Strada, +De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 357.) If this be thought a round +exaggeration, dictated by policy or by fear, still there are positive +proofs that the emigration at this period was excessive. Thus, by a +return made of the population of London and its suburbs, this very year +of 1567, it appears that the number of Flemings was as large as that of +all other foreigners put together. See Bulletins de l'Academie Royale de +Bruxelles, tom. XIV. p. 127. + +[974] Thus Jean de Hornes, Baron de Boxtel, writes to the prince of +Orange: "J'ay prins une resolution pour mon faict et est que je fay tout +effort de scavoir si l'on poulrast estre seurement en sa maison: si +ainsy est, me retireray en une des miennes le plus abstractement que +possible sera; sinon, regarderay de chercher quelque residence en +desoubs ung aultre Prince." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. +III. p. 125. + +[975] Goethe, in his noble tragedy of "Egmont," seems to have borrowed a +hint from Shakespeare's "blanket of the dark," to depict the gloom of +Brussels,--where he speaks of the heavens as wrapt in a dark pall from +the fatal hour when the duke entered the city. Act IV. Scene I. + +[976] Vera y Figueroa, Vida de Alva, p. 89. + +[977] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 578. + +[978] Ibid., p. 563. + +[979] "Qu'il lui avait peine infiniment que le Roi n'eut tenu compte de +monseigneur et de ses services, comme il le meritait." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[980] "Que s'il voyait M. de Hornes, il lui dirait des choses qui le +satisferaient, et par lesquelles celui-ci connaitrait qu'il n'avait pas +ete oublie de ses amis." Ibid., p. 564. + +[981] According to Strada, Hoogstraten actually set out to return to +Brussels, but, detained by illness or some other cause on the road, he +fortunately received tidings of the fate of his friends in season to +profit by it and make his escape. De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 358. + +[982] Ibid., p. 359.--Ossorio, Albae Vita, tom. II. p. 248. Also the +memoirs of that "Thunderbolt of War," as his biographer styles him, +Sancho Davila himself. Hechos de Sancho Davila, p. 29. + +A report, sufficiently meagre, of the affair, was sent by Alva to the +king. In this no mention is made of his having accompanied Egmont when +he left the room where they had been conferring together. See Documentos +Ineditos, tom. II. p. 418. + +[983] "Et tamen hoc ferro saepe ego Regis causam non infeliciter +defendi." Strada, de Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 359. + +[984] Clough, Sir Thomas Gresham's correspondent, in a letter from +Brussels, of the same date as the arrest of Egmont, gives an account of +his bearing on the occasion, which differs somewhat from that in the +text; not more, however, than the popular rumors of any strange event of +recent occurrence are apt to differ. "And as touching the county of +Egmond, he was (as the saying ys) apprehendyd by the Duke, and comyttyd +to the offysers: whereuppon, when the capytane that had charge [of him] +demandyd hys weapon, he was in a grett rage; and tooke hys sword from +hys syde, and cast it to the grounde." Burgon, Life of Gresham, vol. II. +p. 234. + +[985] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 574. + +[986] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 359.--Meteren, Hist. des +Pays-Bas, fol. 54.--Hechos de Sancho Davila, p. 29.--Ossorio, Albae Vita, +tom. II. p. 248.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. +223.--Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 418. + +[987] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 226. + +[988] "Toutes ces mesures etaient necessaires, vu la grande autorite du +comte d'Egmont en ces pays, qui ne connaissaient d'autre roi que lui." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 582. + +[989] Ibid., ubi supra.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 54. + +[990] "L'emprisonnement des deux comtes ne donne lieu a aucune rumeur; +au contraire, la tranquillite est si grande, que le Roi ne le pourrait +croire." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 575. + +[991] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 359. + +[992] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 260. + +[993] "Que, s'il apprenait que quelques-uns en fissent, encore meme que +ce fut pour dire le _credo_, il les chatierait; que, quant aux +privileges de l'Ordre, le Roi, apres un mur examen de ceux-ci, avait +prononce, et qu'on devait se soumettre." Correspondance de Philippe II., +tom. I. p. 578. + +[994] "Adeo contracto ac pene nullo cum imperio moderari, an utile Regi, +an decorum ei quam Rex sororem appellare non indignatur, iliius +meditationi relinquere." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 360. + +[995] "Il vaut mieux que le Roi attende, pour venir, que tous les actes +de rigueur aient ete faits; il entrera alors dans le pays comme prince +benin et clement, pardonnant, et accordant des faveurs a ceux qui +l'auront merite." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 577. + +[996] "An captus quoque fuisset Taciturnus, (sic Orangium nominabat,) +atque eo negante dixisse fertur, Uno illo retibus non incluso, nihil ab +Duce Albano captum." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 360. + +[997] "Grace a Dieu, tout est parfaitement tranquille aux Pays-Bas." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 589. + +[998] "Le repos aux Pays-Bas ne consiste pas a faire couper la tete a +des hommes qui se sont laisse persuader par d'autres." Ibid., p. 576. + +[999] "Os habemos hecho entender que nuestra intencion era de no usar de +rigor contra nuestros subegetos que durante las revueltas pasadas +pudiesen haber ofendido contra Nos, _sino de toda dulzura y clemencia +segun nuestra inclinacion natural_." Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. +440. + +[1000] The ordinance, dated September 18, 1567, copied from the Archives +of Simancas, is to be found in the Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 489 +et seq. + +[1001] "Statimque mercatores decem primarios Tornacenses e portu +Flissingano fugam in Britanniam adornantes capi, ac bonis exutos +custodiri jubet." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 361. + +[1002] "Mais l'intention de S. M. n'est pas de verser le sang de ses +sujets, et moi, de mon naturel, je ne l'aime pas davantage." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 576. + +[1003] "Novum igitur consessum judicum instituit, exteris in eum +plerisque adscitis; quem Turbarum ille; plebes, Sanguinis appellabat +Senatum." Reidani Annales, (Lugdunum Batavorum, 1633,) p. 5. + +[1004] "Les plus savants et les plus integres du pays, et de la +meilleure vie." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 576. + +[1005] Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 300. + +[1006] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 54. + +[1007] Viglius, who had not yet seen the man, thus mentions him in a +letter to his friend Hopper: "Imperium ac rigorem metuunt cujusdam +Vergasi, qui apud eum multum posse, et nescio quid aliud, dicitur." +Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 451. + +[1008] "Une activite toute juvenile." Correspondance de Philippe II., +tom. I. p. 583. + +[1009] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1010] Bulletins de l'Academie Royale de Belgique, tom. XVI. par. ii. p. +58. + +[1011] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 242. Hessels was +married to a niece of Viglius. According to the old councillor, she was +on bad terms with her husband, because he had not kept his promise of +resigning the office of attorney-general, in which he made himself so +unpopular in Flanders. (Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 495.) In the last chapter +of this Book the reader will find some mention of the tragic fate of +Hessels. + +[1012] "Letrados no sentencian sino en casos probados; y como V. M. +sabe, los negocios de Estado son muy diferentes de las leyes que ellos +tienen." Bulletins de l'Academie Royale de Belgique, tom. XVI. par. ii. +p. 52, note. + +[1013] "En siendo el aviso de condemnar a muerte, se decia que estaba +muy bien y no habia mas que ver; empero, si el aviso era de menor pena, +no se estaba a lo que ellos decian, sino tornabase a ver el proceso, y +decianles sobre ello malas palabras, y hacianles ruin tratamiento." +Gachard cites the words of the official document. Bulletins de +l'Academie Royale de Belgique, tom. XVI. par. ii. p. 67. + +[1014] Ibid., p. 68 et seq. + +[1015] "Qu'ils seraient et demeureraient a jamais bons catholiques, +selon que commandait l'Eglise catholique romaine; que, par haine, amour, +pitie ou crainte de personne, ils ne laisseraient de dire franchement et +sincerement leur avis, selon qu'en bonne justice ils trouvaient convenir +et appartenir; qu'ils tiendraient secret tout ce qui se traiterait au +conseil, et qu'ils accuseraient ceux qui feraient le contraire." +Bulletins de l'Academie Royale de Belgique, tom. XVI. par. ii. p. 56. + +[1016] Ibid., p. 57. + +[1017] Belin, in a letter to his patron, Cardinal Granvelle, gives full +vent to his discontent with "three or four Spaniards in the duke's +train, who would govern all in his name. They make but one head under +the same hat." He mentions Vargas and Del Rio in particular. Granvelle's +reply is very characteristic. Far from sympathizing with his querulous +follower, he predicts the ruin of his fortunes by this mode of +proceeding. "A man who would rise in courts must do as he is bidden, +without question. Far from taking umbrage, he must bear in mind that +injuries, like pills, should he swallowed without chewing, that one may +not taste the bitterness of them;"--a noble maxim, if the motive had +been noble. See Levesque, Memoires de Granvelle, tom. II. pp. 91-94. + +[1018] The historians of the time are all more or less diffuse on the +doings of the Council of Troubles, written as they are in characters of +blood. But we look in vain for any account of the interior organization +of that tribunal, or of its mode of judicial procedure. This may be +owing to the natural reluctance which the actors themselves felt, in +later times, to being mixed up with the proceedings of a court so +universally detested. For the same reason, as Gachard intimates, they +may not improbably have even destroyed some of the records of its +proceedings. Fortunately that zealous and patriotic scholar has +discovered in the Archives of Simancas sundry letters of Alva and his +successor, as well as some of the official records of the tribunal, +which in a great degree supply the defect. The result he has embodied in +a luminous paper prepared for the Royal Academy of Belgium, which has +supplied me with the materials for the preceding pages. See Bulletins de +l'Academie Royale des Sciences, des Lettres et des Beaux Arts de +Belgique, tom. XVI. par. ii. pp. 50-78. + +[1019] "Hasta que vean en que para este juego que se comienca." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 598. + +[1020] "Car l'incertitude ou celles-ci se trouvent du sort qu'on leur +reserve, les fera plus aisement a consentir aux moyens de finances +justes et honnetes qui seront etablis par le Roi." Ibid., p. 590. + +[1021] "Porque creo yo que, con la voluntad de los Estados, no se +hallaran estas, que es menester ponerlos de manera que no sea menester +su voluntad y consentimiento para ello.... Esto ira en cifra, y aun creo +que seria bien que fuese en una cartilla a parte que descifrase el mas +confidente." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 590. + +[1022] Ibid., p. 610. + +[1023] "Para que cada uno piense que a la noche, o a la manana, se le +puede caer la casa encima." Ibid., tom. II. p. 4. + +[1024] "Esto se ha de proponer en la forma que yo propuse a los de +Anvers los cuatrocientos mill florines para la ciudadela, y que ellos +entiendan que aunque se les propone y se les pide, es en tal manera que +lo que se propusiere no se ha de dejar de hacer." Documentos Ineditos, +tom. IV. p. 492. + +[1025] Thus, for example, when Alva states that the council had declared +all those who signed the Compromise guilty of treason, Philip notes, in +his own handwriting, on the margin of the letter, "The same should he +done with all who aided and abetted them, as in fact the more guilty +party." (Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 590.) These private +memoranda of Philip are of real value to the historian, letting him +behind the curtain, where the king's own ministers could not always +penetrate. + +[1026] Cornejo, Disension de Flandes, fol. 63 et seq.--Hist. des +Troubles et Guerres Civiles des Pays-Bas, pp. 133-136.--Documentos +Ineditos, tom. IV. pp. 428-439.--Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, +tom. III. p. 119. + +[1027] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 13. + +[1028] "Non-seulement afin qu'il servit d'otage pour ce que son pere +pourrait fairs en Allemagne, mais pour qu'il fut eleve catholiquement." +Ibid., tom. I. p. 596. + +[1029] Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 372.--Vandervynckt, Troubles +de Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 261. + +[1030] Strada, ubi supra.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. +p. 243.--Auberi, Histoire de Hollande, p. 25. + +[1031] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. III. p. 159. + +[1032] "Or, il vaut beaucoup mieux avoir un royaume ruine, en le +conservant pour Dieu et le roi, au moyen de la guerre, que de l'avoir +tout entier sans celle-ci, au profit du demon et des heretiques, ses +sectateurs." Correspondance de Philippe II. tom. I. p. 609. + +[1033] This appears not merely from the king's letters to the duke, but +from a still more unequivocal testimony, the minutes in his own +handwriting on the duke's letters to him. See, in particular, his +summary approval of the reply which Alva tells him he has made to +Catherine de Medicis. "Yo lo mismo, todo lo demas que dice en este +capitulo, que todo ha sido muy a proposito." Ibid., p. 591. + +[1034] Ranke, Civil Wars and Monarchy in France in the Sixteenth and +Seventeenth Centuries, (Eng. trans.,) vol. I. p. 349. + +[1035] The cardinal of Lorraine went so far as to offer, in a certain +contingency, to put several strong frontier places into Alva's hands. In +case the French king and his brothers should die without heirs the king +of Spain might urge his own claim through his wife, as nearest of blood, +to the crown of France. "The Salic law," adds the duke, "is but a jest. +All difficulties will be easily smoothed away with the help of an army." +Philip, in a marginal note to this letter, intimates his relish for the +proposal. See Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 593. + +[1036] The municipality of Brussels, alarmed at the interpretation which +the duke, after Margaret's departure, might put on certain equivocal +passages in their recent history, obtained a letter from the regent, in +which she warmly commends the good people of the capital as zealous +Catholics, loyal to their king, and, on all occasions, prompt to show +themselves the friends of public order. See the correspondence, ap. +Gachard, Analectes Belgiques, p. 343 et seq. + +[1037] Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 481 et seq. + +[1038] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 583. + +[1039] The king's acknowledgments to his sister are condensed into the +sentence with which he concludes his letter, or, more properly, his +billet. This is dated October 13, 1568, and is published by Gachard, in +the Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II., Appendix No. 119. + +[1040] "Elle recut," says De Thou with some humor, "enfin d'Espagne une +lettre pleine d'amitie et de tendresse, telle qu'on a coutume d'ecrire a +une personne qu'on remercie apres l'avoir depouillee de sa dignite." +Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 439. + +[1041] A copy of the original is to be found in the Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. II., Appendix No. 118. + +[1042] The letter has been inserted by Gachard in the Analectes +Belgiques, pp. 295-300. + +[1043] "Suplicar muy humilmente, y con toda afeccion, que V. M. use de +clemencia y misericordia con ellos, conforme a la esperanza que tantas +vezes les ha dado, y que tenga en memoria que cuanto mas grandes son los +reyes, y se acercan mas a Dios, tanto mas deben ser imitadores de esta +grande divina bondad, poder, y clemencia." Correspondance de Philippe +II., tom. I. p. 603. + +[1044] Ibid., loc. cit. + +[1045] Ibid., tom. II. p. 6. + +[1046] "Superavitque omnes Elizabetha Angliae Regina, tam bonae caraeque +sororis, uci scribebat, vicinitate in posterum caritura;" "sive," adds +the historian, with candid scepticism, "is amor fuit in Margaritam, sive +sollicitudo ex Albano successore." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. +365. + +[1047] Historians vary considerably as to the date of Margaret's +departure. She crossed the frontier of the Netherlands probably by the +middle of January, 1568. At least, we find a letter from her to Philip +when she had nearly reached the borders, dated at Luxembourg, on the +twelfth of that month. + +[1048] See, among others, Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 128; +Guerres Civiles du Pays-Bas, p. 128; De Thou, Hist. Gen., tom. V. p. +439; and Renom de Francia, Alborotos de Flandes, MS., who, in these +words, concludes his notice of Margaret's departure: "Dejando gran +reputacion de su virtud y un sentimiento de su partida en los corazones +de los vasallos de por aca el qual crecio mucho despues ansi continuo +quando se describio el gusto de los humores y andamientos de su +succesor." + +[1049] De Thou, Hist. Gen., tom. V. p. 437.--Meteren, Hist. des +Pays-Bas, fol. 54.--The latter historian cites the words of the original +instrument. + +[1050] "Voulans et ordonnans qu'ainsi en soit faict, afin que ceste +serieuse sentence serve d'exemple, et donne crainte pour l'advenir, sans +aucune esperance de grace." Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 54. + +[1051] Among contemporary writers whom I have consulted, I find no +authorities for this remarkable statement except Meteren and De Thou. +This might seem strange to one who credited the story, but not so +strange as that a proceeding so extraordinary should have escaped the +vigilance of Llorente, the secretary of the Holy Office, who had all its +papers at his command. I have met with no allusion whatever to it in his +pages. + +[1052] "Au moyen de la patente de gouverneur general que le duc aura +recue, il pourra faire cesser les entraves que mettait le conseil des +finances a ce qu'il disposat des deniers des confiscations." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 609. + +[1053] Bulletins de l'Academie Royale de Belgique, tom. XVI. par. ii. p. +62. + +[1054] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1055] Ibid., p. 63. + +[1056] "Le magistrat s'est plaint de l'infraction de ses privileges, a +cause de l'envoi dudit prevot; mais il faudra bien qu'il prenne +patience." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 13. + +[1057] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. pp. 243-247. + +The author tells us he collected these particulars from the memoirs and +diaries of eye-witnesses,--confirmed, moreover, by the acts and public +registers of the time. The authenticity of the statement, he adds, is +incontestable. + +[1058] See the circular of Alva to the officers charged with these +arrests, in the Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II., Appendix, p. +660. + +[1059] "Et, affin que ledict duc d'Alve face apparoir de plus son +affection sanguinaire et tyrannicque, il a, passe peu de temps, faict +apprehender, tout sur une nuict, [le 3 mars, 1568,] en toutes les villes +des pays d'embas, ung grand nombre de ceulx qu'il a tenu suspect en leur +foy, et les faict mectre hors leurs maisons et lictz en prison, pour en +apres, a sa commodite, faire son plaisir et volunte avecque lesdicts +prisonniers." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. III. p. 9. + +The extract is from a memorial addressed by William to the emperor, +vindicating his own course, and exposing, with the indignant eloquence +of a patriot, the wrongs and calamities of his country. This document, +printed by Gachard, is a version from the German original by the hand of +a contemporary. A modern translation--so ambitious in its style that one +may distrust its fidelity--is also to be found in the Archives de la +Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 91 et seq. + +[1060] "Se prendieron cerca de quinientos.... He mandado justiciar +todos," says Alva to the king, in a letter written in cipher, April, 13. +1568. (Documentos ineditos, tom. IV. p. 488.) Not one escaped! It is +told with an air of _nonchalance_ truly appalling. + +[1061] "Que cada dia me quiebran la cabeza con dudas de que si el que +delinquio desta manera meresce la muerte, o si el que delinquio desta +otra meresce destierro, que no me dejan vivir, y no basta con ellos." +Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 488. + +[1062] "En este castigo que agora se hace y en el que vendra despues, de +Pascua tengo que pasara de ochocientas cabezas." Ibid., p. 489. + +[1063] "Les Bourgeois qui estoyet riches de quarante, soixante, et cent +mille florins, il les faysoit attacher a la queue d'un cheval, et ainsi +les faysoit trainer, ayant les mains liees sur les dos, jusques au lieu +ou on les debvoit pendre." Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 55. + +[1064] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1065] "Ille [Vargas] promiscue laqueo, igne, homines enecare." +Reidanus, Annales, p. 6. + +[1066] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 274. + +[1067] "Hark how they sing!" exclaimed a friar in the crowd; "should +they not be made to dance too?" Brandt, Reformation in the Low +Countries, vol. I. p. 275. + +[1068] It will be understood that I am speaking of the period embraced +in this portion of the history, terminating at the beginning of June, +1568, when the Council of Blood had been in active operation about four +months,--the period when the sword of legal persecution fell heaviest. +Alva, in the letter above cited to Philip, admits eight +hundred--including three hundred to be examined after Easter--as the +number of victims. (Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 489.) Viglius, in a +letter of the twenty-ninth of March, says fifteen hundred had been +already cited before the tribunal, the greater part of whom--they had +probably fled the country--were condemned for contumacy. (Epist. ad +Hopperum, p. 415.) Grotius, alluding to this period, speaks even more +vaguely of the multitude of the victims, as _innumerable_. "Stipatae reis +custodiae, innumeri mortales necati: ubique una species ut captae +civitatis." (Annales, p. 29.) So also Hooft, cited by Brandt: "The +gallows, the wheels, stakes, and trees in the highways, were loaden with +carcasses or limbs of such as had been hanged, beheaded, or roasted; so +that the air, which God had made for respiration of the living, was now +become the common grave or habitation of the dead." (Reformation in the +Low Countries, vol. I. p. 261.) Language like this, however expressive, +does little for statistics. + +[1069] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 4. + +[1070] Sentences passed by the Council of Blood against a great number +of individuals--two thousand or more--have been collected in a little +volume, (Sententien en Indagingen van Alba,) published at Amsterdam, in +1735. The parties condemned were for the most part natives of Holland, +Zealand, and Utrecht. They would seem, with very few exceptions, to have +been absentees, and, being pronounced guilty of contumacy, were +sentenced to banishment and the confiscation of their property. The +volume furnishes a more emphatic commentary on the proceedings of Alva +than anything which could come from the pen of the historian. + +[1071] "Acabando este castigo comenzare a prender algunos particulares +de los mas culpados y mas ricos para moverlos a que vengan a +composicion." Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 489. + +[1072] "Destos tales se saque todo el golpe de dinero que sea possible." +Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1073] Sententien van Alva, bl. 122-124. + +[1074] "Combien d'Hospitaux, Vefues, et Orphelins, estoyent par ce moyen +prives de leur rentes, et moyes de vivre!" Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, +fol. 55 + +[1075] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. p. 265. + +[1076] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 247. + +[1077] Ibid., p. 245. + +[1078] "Par laquelle auparavant jamais ouye tyrannie et persecution, +ledict duc d'Albe a cause partout telle peur, que aulcuns milles +personnes, et mesmement ceulx estans principaulx papistes, se sont +retirez en dedens peu de temps hors les Pays-Bas, en consideration que +ceste tyrannie s'exerce contre tous, sans aulcune distinction de la +religion." Correspondance de Guillaume le Taciturne, tom. III. p. 14. + +[1079] "Que temo no venga a ser mayor la espesa de los ministros que el +util que dello se sacara." Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 495. + +[1080] "El tribunal todo que hice para estas cosas no solamente no me +ayuda, pero estorbame tanto que tengo mas que hacer con ellos que con +los delincuentes." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1081] Vargas passed as summary a judgment on the people of the +Netherlands as that imputed to the Inquisition, condensing it into a +memorable sentence, much admired for its Latinity. "_Haeretici fraxerunt +templa, boni nihil faxerunt contra, ergo debent omnes patibulare._" +Reidanus, Annales, p. 5. + +[1082] "Quand on l'eveilloit pour dire son avis. il disoit tout endormi, +en se frottant ces veux, _ad patibulum_, _ad patibulum_, c'est-a-dire, +au gibet, au gibet." Auberi, Mem. pour servir a l'Hist. de Hollande, p. +22. + +[1083] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 12. + +[1084] Brandt, Reformation in the Low Countries, vol. I. pp. 263, 264; +et alibi. + +[1085] Grotius, Annales, p. 29.--Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, +tom. II. p. 450. + +[1086] Campana, Guerra de Fiandra, fol. 38.--Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, +tom. IX. p. 555. + +[1087] "Valde optaremus tandem aliquam funesti hujus temporis, +criminaliumque processuum finem, qui non populum tantum nostrum, sed +vicinos omnes exasperant." Viglii, Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 482. + +[1088] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 15. + +[1089] "Y quando por esta causa se aventurassen los Estados, y me +viniesse a caer el mundo encima." Ibid., p. 27. + +Philip seems to have put himself in the attitude of the "justum et +tenacem" of Horace. His concluding hyperbole is almost a literal version +of the Roman bard:-- + +"Si fractus illabatur orbis, Impavidum ferient ruinae." + + +[1090] Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 87. + +[1091] "Il n'est pas seulement content de s'employer a la necessite +presente par le moyen par eulx propose touchant sa vasselle, ains de sa +propre personne, et de tout ce que reste en son pouvoir." Ibid., p. 88. + +[1092] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1093] The funds were chiefly furnished, as it would seem, by Antwerp, +and the great towns of Holland, Zealand, Friesland, and Groningen, the +quarter of the country where the spirit of independence was always high. +The noble exiles with William contributed half the amount raised. This +information was given to Alva by Villers, one of the banished lords, +after he had fallen into the duke's hands in a disastrous affair, of +which some account will be given in the present chapter. Correspondance +de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 27. + +[1094] "Ipse Arausionensis monilia, vasa algentea, tapetes, caetera +supellectilis divendit, digna regio palatio ornamenta, sed exigui ad +bellum momenti." Reidanus, Annales, p. 6. + +[1095] The "Justification" has been very commonly attributed to the pen +of the learned Languet, who was much in William's confidence, and is +known to have been with him at this time. But William was too practised +a writer, as Groen well suggests, to make it probable that he would +trust the composition of a paper of such moment to any hand but his own. +It is very likely that he submitted his own draft to the revision of +Languet, whose political sagacity he well understood. And this is the +most that can be fairly inferred from Languet's own account of the +matter: "Fui Dillemburgi per duodecim et tredecim dies, ubi Princeps +Orangiae mihi et aliquot aliis curavit prolixe explicari causas et initia +tumultuum in inferiore Germania et suam responsionem ad accusationes +Albani." It fared with the prince's "Justification" as it did with the +famous "Farewell Address" of Washington, so often attributed to another +pen than his, but which, however much it may have been benefited by the +counsels and corrections of others, bears on every page unequivocal +marks of its genuineness. + +The "Justification" called out several answers from the opposite party. +Among them were two by Vargas and Del Rio. But in the judgment of +Viglius--whose bias certainly did not lie on William's side--these +answers were a failure. See his letter to Hopper (Epist. ad Hopperum, p. +458). The reader will find a full discussion of the matter by Groen, in +the Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. III. p. 187. + +[1096] "En quoy ne gist pas seulement le bien de ce faict, mais aussi +mon honeur et reputation, pour avoir promis aus gens de guerre leur +paier le dict mois, et que j'aymerois mieulx morir que les faillir a ma +promesse." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 89. + +[1097] Mendoza, Comentarios, p. 42 et seq.--Cornejo, Disension de +Flandres, p. 63. + +[1098] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 56.--De Thou, Hist. +Universelle, tom. V. p. 443. + +[1099] "Ains, comme gens predestinez a leur malheur et de leur general, +crierent plus que devant contre luy jusques a l'appeller traistre, et +qu'il s'entendoit avec les ennemis. Luy, qui estoit tout noble et +courageux, leur dit: 'Ouy, je vous monstreray si je le suis.'" Brantome, +OEuvres, tom. I. p. 382. + +[1100] Brantome has given us the portrait of this Flemish nobleman, with +whom he became acquainted on his visit to Paris, when sent thither by +Alva to relieve the French monarch. The chivalrous old writer dwells on +the personal appearance of Aremberg, his noble mien and high-bred +courtesy, which made him a favorite with the dames of the royal circle. +"Un tres beau et tres agreable seigneur, surtout de fort grande et haute +taille et de tres belle apparence." (OEuvres, tom. I. p. 383.) Nor does +he omit to mention, among other accomplishments, the fluency with which +he could speak French and several other languages. Ibid., p. 384. + +[1101] See a letter written, as seems probable, by a councillor of +William to the elector of Saxony, the week after the battle. Archives de +la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. III. p. 221. + +[1102] It is a common report of historians, that Adolphus and Aremberg +met in single combat in the thick of the fight, and fell by each other's +hands. See Cornejo, Disension de Flandes, fol. 63; Strada, De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 282, _et al._ An incident so romantic found easy +credit in a romantic age. + +[1103] The accounts of the battle of Heyligerlee, given somewhat +confusedly, may be found in Herrera, Hist. del Mundo, tom. I. p. 688 et +seq.; Campana, Guerra di Fiandra, (Vicenza, 1602,) p. 42 et seq.; +Mendoza, Comentarios, (Madrid, 1592,) p. 43 et seq.; Cornejo, Disension +de Flandes, fol. 66 et seq.; Carnero, Guerras de Flandes, (Brusselas, +1625,) p. 24 et seq.; Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 382 et seq.; +Bentivoglio, Guerra di Fiandra, p. 192 et seq. + +The last writer tells us he had heard the story more than once from the +son and heir of the deceased Count Aremberg, who sorely lamented that +his gallant father should have thrown away his life for a mistaken point +of honor. + +In addition to the above authorities, I regret it is not in my power to +cite a volume published by M. Gachard since the present chapter was +written. It contains the correspondence of Alva relating to the invasion +by Louis. + +[1104] Viglii, Epist. ad Hopperum, p. 481.--The sentence of the prince +of Orange may be found in the Sententien van Alba, p. 70. + +[1105] Ibid.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 373.--Vera y +Figueroa, Vida de Alva, p. 101. + +The Hotel de Culemborg, so memorable for its connection with the early +meetings of the Gueux, had not been long in possession of Count +Culemborg, who purchased it as late as 1556. It stood on the Place du +Petit Sablon. See Reiffenberg, Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, +p. 363. + +[1106] "His tamen Albanus facile contemptis, quippe a diuterna rerum +experientia suspicax, et suopte ingenio ab aliorum consiliis, si ultro +praesertim offerrentur aversus." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. +386. + +[1107] Ibid., ubi supra.--Guerres Civiles du Pays-Bas, p. 171.--Meteren, +Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 57. + +The third volume of the Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau contains a +report of this execution from an eye-witness, a courier of Alva, who +left Brussels the day after the event, and was intercepted on his route +by the patriots. One may imagine the interest with which William and his +friends listened to the recital of the tragedy; and how deep must have +been their anxiety for the fate of their other friends,--Hoorne and +Egmont in particular,--over whom the sword of the executioner hung by a +thread. We may well credit the account of the consternation that reigned +throughout Brussels. "Il affirme que c'estoit une chose de l'autre +monde, le crys, lamentation et juste compassion qu'aviont tous ceux de +la ville du dit Bruxelles, nobles et ignobles, pour ceste barbare +tyrannie, mais que nonobstant, ce cestuy Nero d'Alve se vante en ferat +le semblable de tous ceulx quy potra avoir en mains." P. 241. + +[1108] If we are to believe Bentivoglio, Backerzele was torn asunder by +horses. "Da quattro cavalli fu smembrato vivo in Brusselles il Casembrot +gia segretario dell'Agamonte." (Guerra di Fiandra, p. 200.) But Alva's +character, hard and unscrupulous as he may have been in carrying out his +designs, does not warrant the imputation of an act of such wanton +cruelty as this. Happily it is not justified by historic testimony; no +notice of the fact being found in Strada, or Meteren, or the author of +the Guerres Civiles du Pays-Bas, not to add other writers of the time, +who cannot certainly be charged with undue partiality to the Spaniards. +If so atrocious a deed had been perpetrated, it would be passing strange +that it should not have found a place in the catalogue of crimes imputed +to Alva by the prince of Orange. See, in particular, his letter to +Schwendi, written in an agony of grief and indignation, soon after he +had learned the execution of his friends. Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, tom. III. p. 244. + +[1109] Bor, the old Dutch historian, contemporary with these events, +says that, "if it had not been for the countess-dowager, Hoorne's +step-mother, that noble would actually have starved in prison from want +of money to procure himself food!" Arend, Algemeene Geschiedenis des +Vaderlands, D. II. St. v. bl. 37. + +[1110] "Ce dernier fait chaque jour des aveux, et on peut s'attendre +qu'il dira des merveilles, lorsqu'il sera mis a la torture." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 589. + +[1111] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 247. + +[1112] The _Interrogatoires_, filling nearly fifty octavo pages, were +given to the public by the late Baron Reiffenberg, at the end of his +valuable compilation of the correspondence of Margaret. Both the +questions and answers, strange as it may seem, were originally drawn up +in Castilian. A French version was immediately made by the secretary +Pratz,--probably for the benefit of the Flemish councillors of the +bloody tribunal. Both the Castilian and French MSS. were preserved in +the archives of the house of Egmont until the middle of the last +century, when an unworthy heir of this ancient line suffered them to +pass into other hands. They were afterwards purchased by the crown, and +are now in a fitting place of deposit,--the Archives of the Kingdom of +Holland. The MS. printed by Reiffenberg is in French. + +[1113] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 14. + +[1114] Supplement a Strada, tom. I. p. 244. + +[1115] Ibid., p. 219.--Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 588. + +[1116] "La suppliant de prendre en cette affaire la determination que la +raison et l'equite reclament." Ibid., p. 607. + +[1117] Ibid., p. 614. + +[1118] Ibid., p. 599. + +[1119] "Le Comte d'Egmont," said Granvelle, in a letter so recent as +August 17, 1567, "disait au prince que leurs menees etaient decouvertes; +que le Roi faisait des armements; qu'ils ne sauraient lui resister; +qu'ainsi il leur fallait dissimuler, et s'accommoder le mieux possible, +en attendant d'autres circonstances, pour realiser leurs desseins." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 56 + +[1120] "Tout ce qui s'est passe doit etre tire au clair, pour qu'il soit +bien constant que dans une affaire sur laquelle le monde entier a les +yeux fixes, le Roi et lui ont procede avec justice." Ibid., p. 669. + +[1121] This tedious instrument is given _in extenso_ by Foppens, +Supplement a Strada, tom. I. pp. 44-63. + +[1122] Indeed, this seems to have been the opinion of the friends of the +government. Councillor Belin writes to Granvelle, December 14, 1567: +"They have arrested Hoorne and Egmont, but in their accusations have not +confined themselves to individual charges, but have accumulated a +confused mass of things." Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, +vol. I. p. 182. + +[1123] For example, see the thirty-eighth article, in which the +attorney-general accuses Egmont of admitting, on his examination, that +he had parted with one of his followers, suspected of heretical +opinions, for a short time only, when, on the contrary, he had expressly +stated that the dismissal was final, and that he had never seen the man +since. Supplement a Strada, tom. I. p. 40. + +[1124] Egmont's defence, of which extracts, wretchedly garbled, are +given by Foppens, has been printed _in extenso_ by M. de Bavay, in his +useful compilation, Proces du Comte d'Egmont, (Bruxelles, 1854,) pp. +121-153. + +[1125] "Suppliant a tous ceux qui la verront, croire qu'il a respondu a +tous les articles sincerement et en toute verite, comme un Gentilhomme +bien ne est tenu et oblige de faire." Supplement a Strada, tom. I. p. +209. + +[1126] Foppens has devoted nearly all the first volume of his +"_Supplement_" to pieces illustrative of the proceedings against Egmont +and Hoorne. The articles of accusation are given at length. His +countrymen are under obligations to this compiler, who thus early +brought before them so many documents of great importance to the +national history. The obligations would have been greater, if the editor +had done his work in a scholar-like way,--instead of heaping together a +confused mass of materials, without method, often without dates, and +with so little care, that the titles of the documents are not seldom at +variance with the contents. + +[1127] At least such is the account which Foppens gives of the +"Justification," as it is termed, of Hoorne, of which the Flemish editor +has printed only the preamble and the conclusion, without so much as +favoring us with the date of the instrument. (Supplement a Strada, tom. +I. pp. 241-243.) M. de Bavay, on the other hand, has given the defence +set up by Egmont's counsel _in extenso_. It covers seventy printed +pages, being double the quantity occupied by Egmont's defence of +himself. By comparing the two together, it is easy to see how closely +the former, though with greater amplification, is fashioned on the +latter. Proces du Comte d'Egmont, pp. 153-223. + +[1128] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. I. p. 582. + +[1129] "Quoique, avant le depart du duc, il ait ete reconnu, dans les +deliberations qui ont eu lieu a Madrid en sa presence, que cette +pretention n'etait pas fondee, le Roi, vu la gravite de l'affaire, a +ordonne que quelques personnes d'autorite et de lettres se reunissent de +nouveau, pour examiner la question.--Il communique au duc les +considerations qui ont ete approuvees dans cette junte, et qui +confirment l'opinion precedemment emise." Ibid., p. 612. + +[1130] The letters patent were antedated, as far back as April 15, 1567, +probably that they might not appear to have been got up for the nonce. +Conf. Ibid., p. 528. + +[1131] "J'espere en la bonte, clemence et justice de Votre Majeste +qu'icelle ne voudra souffrir que je sorte vos pays, avec mes onze +enfants, pour aller hors d'iceux chercher moyen de vivre, ayant ete +amenee par feu de bonne memoire l'Empereur, votre pere." Ibid., tom. II. +p. 5. + +[1132] "Haud facile sine commiseratione legi a quoquam potest." Strada, +De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 387. + +According to Alva's biographer, Ossorio, the appeal of the countess +would _probably_ have softened the heart of Philip, and inclined him to +an "ill-timed clemency," had it not been for the remonstrance of +Cardinal Espinosa, then predominant in the cabinet, who reminded the +king that "clemency was a sin when the outrage was against religion." +(Albae Vita, p. 282.) To one acquainted with the character of Philip the +"probability" of the historian may seem somewhat less than probable. + +[1133] Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 18. + +[1134] Supplement a Strada, tom. I. p. 90. + +[1135] Ibid., p. 252.--By a decree passed on the eighteenth of May, +Egmont had been already excluded from any further right to bring +evidence in his defence. The documents connected with this matter are +given by Foppens, Ibid., tom. I. pp. 90-103. + +[1136] Among the documents analyzed by Gachard is one exhibiting the +revenues of the great lords of the Low Countries, whose estates were +confiscated. No one except the prince of Orange had an income nearly so +great as that of Egmont, amounting to 63,000 florins. He had a palace at +Brussels, and other residences at Mechlin, Ghent, Bruges, Arras, and the +Hague. + +The revenues of Count Hoorne amounted to about 8,500 florins. Count +Culemborg, whose hotel was the place of rendezvous for the Gueux, had a +yearly income exceeding 31,000 florins. William's revenues, far greater +than either, rose above 152,000. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. +II. p. 116. + +[1137] Supplement a Strada, tom. I. pp. 252-257. + +[1138] In a letter dated January 6, 1568, Alva tells the king that +Viglius, after examining into the affair, finds the evidence so clear on +the point, that nothing more could be desired. Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. II. p. 4. + +[1139] For the facts connected with the constitution of the _Toison +d'Or_, I am indebted to a Dutch work, now in course of publication in +Amsterdam (Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, van de vroegste tijden +tot op heden, door Dr. J. P. Arend). This work, which is designed to +cover the whole history of the Netherlands, may claim the merits of a +thoroughness rare in this age of rapid bookmaking, and of a candor rare +in any age. In my own ignorance of the Dutch, I must acknowledge my +obligations to a friend for enabling me to read it. I must further add, +that for the loan of the work I am indebted to the courtesy of B. Homer +Dixon, Esq., Consul for the Netherlands in Boston. + +[1140] M. de Bavay has devoted seventy pages or more of his publication +to affidavits of witnesses in behalf of the prosecution. (Proces du +Comte d'Egmont, pp. 267-322.) But their testimony bears almost +exclusively on the subject of Egmont's dealings with the +sectaries,--scarcely warranting the Flemish editor's assertion in his +preface, that he has been able to furnish "all the elements of the +conviction of the accused by the duke of Alva." + +M. de Bavay's work is one of the good fruits of that patriotic zeal +which animates the Belgian scholars of our time for the illustration of +their national history. It was given to the public only the last year, +after the present chapter had been written. In addition to what is +contained in former publications, it furnishes us with complete copies +of the defence of Egmont, as prepared both by himself and his counsel, +and with the affidavits above noticed of witnesses on the part of the +government. It has supplied me, therefore, with valuable materials, +whether for the correction or the corroboration of my previous +conclusions. + +[1141] The resistance, to which those who signed the Compromise were +pledged, was to the Inquisition, in case of its attempt to arrest any +member of their body. Ante, Book II. + +[1142] By the famous statute, in particular, of Edward the Third, the +basis of all subsequent legislation on the subject. Some reflections, +both on this law and the laws which subsequently modified it, made with +the usual acuteness of their author, may be found in the fifteenth +chapter of Hallam's Constitutional History of England. + +[1143] The original document is to be found in the archives of Brussels, +or was in the time of Vandervynckt, who, having examined it carefully, +gives a brief notice of it. (Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. pp. 256, +257.) The name of its author should be cherished by the historian, as +that of a magistrate who, in the face of a tyrannical government, had +the courage to enter his protest against the judicial murders +perpetrated under its sanction. + +[1144] Among other passages, see one in a letter of Margaret to the +king, dated March 23, 1567. "Ceulx de son conseil icy, qui s'employent +tout fidelement et diligemment en son service, et entre aultres le comte +d'Egmont dont je ne puis avoir synon bon contentement." Correspondance +de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 235. + +[1145] M. de Gerlache, in a long note to the second edition of his +history, enters into a scrutiny of Egmont's conduct as severe as that by +the attorney-general himself,--and with much the same result. (Hist. du +Royaume des Pays-Bas, tom. I. pp. 99-101.) "Can any one believe," he +asks, "that if, instead of having the 'Demon of the South'for his +master, it had been Charles the Fifth or Napoleon, Egmont would have +been allowed to play the part he did with impunity so long?" This kind +of Socratic argument, as far as it goes, proves only that Philip did no +worse than Charles or Napoleon would have done. It by no means proves +Egmont to have deserved his sentence. + +[1146] Relacion de la Justicia que se hizo de los Contes Agamont y Orne, +MS. + +[1147] "Marcharent dans la ville en bataille, et avecques une batterie +de tambourins et de phiffres si pitieuse qu'il n'y avoit spectateur de +si bon coeur qui ne palist et ne pleurast d'une si triste pompe funebre." +Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 363. + +[1148] De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom V. p. 450.--Guerres Civiles du +Pays-Bas, p. 172.--Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 57.--Relacion de la +Justicia que se hizo de los Contes Agamont y Orne, MS. + +[1149] "Sur quoy le Duc lui repondit fort vivement et avec une espece de +colere, qu'il ne l'avoit pas fait venir a Brusselle pour mettre quelque +empechement a l'execution de leur sentence, mais bien pour les consoler +et les assister a mourir chretiennement." Supplement a Strada, tom. I. +p. 259. + +[1150] "Venian en alguna manera contentos de pensar que sus causas +andaban al cabo, y que havian de salir presto y bien despachados este +dia." Relacion de la Justicia, MS. + +[1151] "Voicy une sentence bien rigoureuse, je ne pense pas d'avoir tant +offence Sa Majeste, pour meriter un tel traittement; neanmoins je le +prens en patience et prie le Seigneur, que ma mort soit une expiation de +mes peches, et que par la, ma chere Femme et mes Enfans n'encourent +aucun blame, ny confiscation. Car mes services passez meritent bien +qu'on me fasse cette grace. Puis qu'il plait a Dieu et au Roy, j'accepte +la mort avec patience." Supplement a Strada, tom. I. p. 259.--These +remarks of Egmont are also given, with very little discrepancy, by +Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 56; in the Relacion de la Justicia que +se hizo de los Contes Agamont y Orne, MS.; and in the relation of +Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 364. + +[1152] "Et combien que jamais mon intention n'ait este de riens +traicter, ni faire contre la Personne, ni le service de Vostre Majeste, +ne contre nostre vraye, ancienne, et catholicque Religion, si est-ce que +je prens en patience, ce qu'il plaist a mon bon Dieu de m'envoyer." +Supplement a Strada, tom. I. p. 261. + +[1153] "Parquoy, je prie a Vostre Majeste me le pardonner, et avoir +pitie de ma pauvre femme, enfans et serviteurs, vous souvenant de mes +services passez. Et sur cest espoir m'en vois me recommander a la +misericorde de Dieu. De Bruxelles prest a mourir, ce 5 de Juing 1568." +Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1154] "Et luy donna une bague fort riche que le roy d'Espaigne luy +avoit donne lors qu'il fut en Espaigne, en signe d'amitie, pour la luy +envoyer et faire tenir." Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 361. + +[1155] "En apres, le comte d'Aiguemont commenca a soliciter fort +l'advancement de sa mort, disant que puis qu'il devoit mourir qu'on ne +le devoit tenir si longuement en ce travail." Mondoucet, Ibid., p. 366. + +[1156] "Il estoit vestu d'une juppe de damas cramoisy, et d'un manteau +noir avec du passement d'or, les chausses de taffetas noir et le bas de +chamois bronze, son chapeau de taffetas noir couvert de force plumes +blanches et noires." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1157] Ossorio, Albae Vita, p. 287.--Guerres Civiles du Pays-Bas, p. +177.--Relacion de la Justicia, MS. + +[1158] This personage, whose name was Spel, met with no better fate than +that of the victims whose execution he now superintended. Not long after +this he was sentenced to the gallows by the duke, to the great +satisfaction of the people, as Strada tells us, for the manifold crimes +he had committed. De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 387. + +[1159] The executioner was said to have been formerly one of Egmont's +servants. "El verdugo, que hasta aquel tiempo no se havia dejado ver, +por que en la forma de morir se le tuvo este respeto, hizo su oficio con +gran presteza, al qual havia hecho dar aquel maldito oficio el dicho +Conde, y dicen aver sido lacayo suyo." Relacion de la Justicia, +MS.--This _relacion_ forms part of a curious compilation in MS., +entitled "Cartas y Papeles varios," in the British Museum. The compiler +is supposed to have been Pedro de Gante, secretary of the duke of +Naxera, who amused himself with transcribing various curious "relations" +of the time of Charles the Fifth and Philip the Second. + +[1160] "Todas las boticas se cerraron, y doblaron por ellos todo el dia +las campanas de las Yglesias, que no parecia otra cosa si no dia de +juicio." Relacion de la Justicia, MS. + +[1161] "Lesquelz pleuroient et regrettoient de voir un si grand +capitaine mourir ainsi." Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. +367. + +[1162] "II se pourmena quelque peu, souhaytant de pouvoir finir sa vie +au service de son Prince et du pais." Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. +58. + +[1163] "Alzo los ojos al cielo por un poco espacio con un semblante tan +doloroso, como se puede pensar le tenia en aquel transito un hombre tan +discreto." Relacion de la Justicia, MS. + +[1164] "En gran silencio, con notable lastima, sin que por un buen +espacio se sintiese rumor ninguno." Ibid. + +[1165] "Fuere, qui linteola, contemplo periculo, Egmontii cruore +consparserint, servaverintque, seu monumentum amoris, seu vindictae +irritamentum." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 394. + +[1166] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 58.--Guerres Civiles du +Pays-Bas, p. 177--Relacion de la Justicia, MS. + +M. de Bavay has published a letter from one of the bishop of Ypres's +household, giving an account of the last hours of Egmont, and written +immediately after his death. (Proces du Comte d'Egmont, pp. 232-234.) +The statements in the letter entirely corroborate those made in the +text. Indeed, they are so nearly identical with those given by Foppens +in the Supplement a Strada, that we can hardly doubt that the writer of +the one narrative had access to the other. + +[1167] "Que avia servido a su magestad veinte y ocho anos y no pensaba +tener merecido tal payo, pero que se consolaba que con dar su cuerpo a +la tierra, saldria de los continuos trauajos en que havia vivido." +Relacion de la Justicia, MS. + +[1168] "Se despita, maugreant et regrettant fort sa mort, et se trouva +quelque peu opiniastre en la confession, la regrettant fort, disant +qu'il estoit assez confesse." Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, tom. I. p. 365. + +[1169] "Il etoit age environ cinquante ans, et etoit d'une grande et +belle taille, et d'une phisionomie revenante." Supplement a Strada, tom. +I. p. 264. + +[1170] "The death of this man," says Strada, "would have been +immoderately mourned, had not all tears been exhausted by sorrow for +Egmont." De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 396. + +For the account of Hoorne's last moments, see Relacion de la Justicia, +MS.; Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 58; Supplement a Strada, tom. I. +pp. 265, 266; Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 367; De Thou, +Hist. Universelle, tom. I. p. 451; Ossorio, Albae Vita, p. 287. + +[1171] "Plusieurs allarent a l'eglise Saincte Claire ou gisoit son +corps, baisant le cercueil avec grande effusion de larmes, comme si ce +fust este les saincts ossemens et reliques de quelque sainct." +Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 367. + +[1172] Arend, Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. II. St. v. bl. +66.--Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 395. + +[1173] "Les gens du comte d'Aiguemont planterent ses armes et enseignes +de deuil a sa porte du palais; mais le duc d'Albe en estant adverty, les +en fit bien oster bientost et emporter dehors." Mondoucet, ap. Brantome, +OEuvres, tom. I. p. 367. + +[1174] Mondoucet, the French ambassador at the court of Brussels, was +among the spectators who witnessed the execution of the two nobles. He +sent home to his master a full account of the tragic scene, the most +minute, and perhaps the most trustworthy, that we have of it. It luckily +fell into Brantome's hands, who has incorporated it into his notice of +Egmont. + +[1175] "La comtesse d'Aiguemont, qui emporta en cette assemblee le bruit +d'etre la plus belle de toutes les Flamandes." Correspondance de +Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 364. + +[1176] Gerlache, Hist. du Royaume des Pays-Bas, tom. I. p. 96. + +[1177] "Qu'il avoit vu tomber la tete de celui qui avoit fait trembler +deux fois la France." Supplement a Strada, tom. I. p. 266. + +[1178] Morillon, in a letter to Granvelle, dated August 3, 1567, a few +weeks only before Egmont's arrest, gives a graphic sketch of that +nobleman, which, although by no friendly hand, seems to be not wholly +without truth. "Ce seigneur, y est-il dit, est haut et presumant de soy, +jusques a vouloir embrasser le faict de la republique et le redressement +d'icelle et de la religion, que ne sont pas de son gibier, et est plus +propre peur conduire une chasse ou volerie, et, pour dire tout, une +bataille, s'il fut este si bien advise que de se cognoistre et se +mesurer de son pied; mais les flatteries perdent ces gens, et on leur +fait accroire qu'ilz sont plus saiges qu'ilz ne sont, et ilz le croient +et se bouttent sy avant, que aprez ilz ne se peuvent ravoir, et il est +force qu'ilz facent le sault." Archives de la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, +tom. I. p. lxix. + +[1179] "Je diray de lui que c'estoit le seigneur de la plus belle facon +et de la meilleure grace que j'aye veu jamais, fust ce parmy les grandz, +parmy ses pairs, parmy les gens de guerre, et parmy les dames, l'ayant +veu en France et en Espagne, et parle a luy." Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. +p. 369. + +An old lady of the French court, who in her early days had visited +Flanders, assured Brantome that she had often seen Egmont, then a mere +youth, and that at that time he was excessively shy and awkward, so much +so, indeed, that it was a common jest with both the men and women of the +court. Such was the rude stock from which at a later day was to spring +the flower of chivalry! + +[1180] "Postea in publica laetitia dum uterque explodendo ad signum +sclopo ex provocatione contenderent, superatus esset Albanus, ingenti +Belgarum plausu ad nationis suae decus referentium victoriam ex Duce +Hispano." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 391. + +[1181] Schiller, in his account of the execution of the two nobles, +tells us that it was from a window of the Hotel de Ville, the fine old +building on the opposite side of the market-place, that Alva watched the +last struggles of his victims. The _cicerone_, on the other hand, who +shows the credulous traveller the _memorabilia_ of the city, points out +the very chamber in the Maison du Roi in which the duke secreted +himself.--_Valeat quantum._ + +[1182] "Qu'il avoit procure de tout son povoir la mitigation, mais que +l'on avoit repondu que, si il n'y eut este aultre offence que celle qui +touchoit S. M., le pardon fut este facille, mais qu'elle ne pouvoit +remettre l'offense faicte si grande a Dieu." Archives de la Maison +d'Orange-Nassau, Supplement, p. 81. + +[1183] "J'entendz d'aucuns que son Exc. at jecte des larmes aussi +grosses que poix en temps que l'on estoit sur ces executions." Ibid., +ubi supra. + +They must have been as big as crocodiles'tears. + +[1184] Ante, Book II. + +[1185] "Je suis occupe a reunir mes troupes, Espagnoles, Italiennes, et +Allemandes; quand je serai pret, vous recevrez ma reponse." Archives de +la Maison d'Orange-Nassau, tom. III. p. xx. + +[1186] "Il lui rend compte de ce qu'il a fait pour l'execution des +ordres que le Roi lui donna a son depart, et qui consistaient a arreter +et a chatier exemplairement les principaux du pays qui s'etaient rendus +coupables durant les troubles." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. +p. 29. + +[1187] "C'a ete une chose de grand effet en ce pays, que l'execution +d'Egmont; et plus grand a ete l'effet, plus l'exemple qu'on a voulu +faire sera fructueux." Ibid., p. 28. + +[1188] Ossorio, Albae Vita, p. 278. + +[1189] "V. M. peult considerer le regret que ca m'a este de voir ces +pauvres seigneurs venus a tels termes, et qu'il ayt fallut que moy en +fusse l'executeur." Correspondance de Marguerite d'Autriche, p. 252. + +[1190] "Madame d'Egmont me faict grand pitie et compassion, pour la voir +chargee de unze enfans et nuls addressez, et elle, dame sy principale, +comme elle est, soeur du comte palatin, et de si bonne, vertueuse, +catholicque et exemplaire vie, qu'il n'y a homme qui ne la regrette." +Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1191] The duke wrote no less than three letters to the king, of this +same date, June 9. The _precis_ of two is given by Gachard, and the +third is published entire by Reiffenberg. The countess and her +misfortunes form the burden of two of them. + +[1192] "Il ne croit pas qu'il y ait aujourd'hui sur la terre une maison +aussi malheureuse; il ne sait meme si la contesse aura de quoi souper ce +soir." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 28. + +[1193] "Je treuve ce debvoir de justice estre faict comme il convient et +vostre consideration tres-bonne." Correspondance de Marguerite +d'Autriche, p. 255. + +[1194] "Mais personne ne peult delaisser de se acquitter en ce en quoy +il est oblige." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1195] "Quant a la dame d'Egmont et ses unze enfans, et ce que me y +representez, en me les recommandant, je y auray tout bon regard." Ibid., +ubi supra. + +[1196] Arend, (Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. II. St. v. bl. +66,) who gets the story, to which he attaches no credit himself, from a +contemporary, Hooft. + +[1197] Supplement a Strada, tom. I. p. 252. + +[1198] "Laquelle, ainsi qu'elle estoit en sa chambre et sur ces propos, +on luy vint annoncer qu'on alloit trancher la teste a son mary." +Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 368. + +Under all the circumstances, one cannot insist strongly on the +probability of the anecdote. + +[1199] One of her daughters, in a fit of derangement brought on by +excessive grief for her father's fate, attempted to make away with +herself by throwing herself from a window. Relacion de la Justicia, MS. + +[1200] This was the duplicate, no doubt, of the letter given to the +bishop of Ypres, to whom Egmont may have intrusted a copy, with the idea +that it would be more certain to reach the hands of the king than the +one sent to his wife. + +[1201] "La misere ou elle se trouve, etant devenue veuve avec onze +enfans, abandonnee de tous, hors de son pays et loin de ses parents, l'a +empechee d'envoyer plus tot au Roi la derniere et tres-humble requete de +son defunt mari." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 31. + +[1202] "De la benignite et pitie du Roi." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1203] "Ce que m'obligerat, le reste de mes tristes jours, et toute ma +posterite, a prier Dieu pour la longue et heureuse vie de V. M." Ibid., +ubi supra. + +[1204] "S'il ne leur avait pas donne quelque argent, ils mourraient de +faim." Ibid., p. 38. + +[1205] It seems strange that Goethe, in his tragedy of "Egmont," should +have endeavored to excite what may be truly called a meretricious +interest in the breasts of his audience, by bringing an imaginary +mistress, named Clara, on the stage, instead of the noble-hearted wife, +so much better qualified to share the fortunes of her husband and give +dignity to his sufferings. Independently of other considerations, this +departure from historic truth cannot be defended on any true principle +of dramatic effect. + +[1206] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 183. + +[1207] After an annual grant, which rose from eight to twelve thousand +livres, the duke settled on her a pension of two thousand gulden, which +continued to the year of his death, in 1578. (Arend, Algemeene +Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. II. St. v. bl. 66.) The gulden, or +guilder, at the present day, is equivalent to about one shilling and +ninepence sterling, or thirty-nine cents. + +[1208] Philip, Count Egmont, lived to enjoy his ancestral honors till +1590, when he was slain at Ivry, fighting against Henry the Fourth and +the Protestants of France. He died without issue, and was succeeded by +his brother Lamoral, a careless prodigal, who with the name seems to +have inherited few of the virtues of his illustrious father. Arend, +Algemeene Geschiedenis des Vaderlands, D. II. St. v. bl. 66. + +[1209] Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 259. + +[1210] "La mort des comtes d'Egmont et de Hornes, et ce qui s'est passe +avec l'electeur de Treves, servent merveilleusement ses desseins." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 37. + +[1211] "Les executions faites ont imprime dans les esprits une terreur +si grande, qu'on croit qu'il s'agit de gouverner par le sang a +perpetuite'." Ibid., p. 29. + +[1212] "Il n'y a plus de confiance du frere au frere, et du pere au +fils." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1213] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1214] "Funestum Egmontii finem doluere Belgae odio majore, quam luctu." +Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 394. + +[1215] The Flemish councillor, Hessels, who, it may be remembered, had +particular charge of the provincial prosecutions, incurred still greater +odium by the report of his being employed to draft the sentences of the +two lords. He subsequently withdrew from the bloody tribunal, and +returned to his native province, where he became vice-president of the +council of Flanders. This new accession of dignity only made him a more +conspicuous mark for the public hatred. In 1577, in a popular +insurrection which overturned the government of Ghent, Hessels was +dragged from his house, and thrown into prison. After lying there a +year, a party of ruffians broke into the place, forced him into a +carriage, and, taking him a short distance from town, executed the +summary justice of _Lynch law_ on their victim by hanging him to a tree. +Some of the party, after the murder, were audacious enough to return to +Ghent, with locks of the gray hair of the wretched man displayed in +triumph on their bonnets. + +Some years later, when the former authorities were reestablished, the +bones of Hessels were removed from their unhallowed burial-place, and +laid with great solemnity and funeral pomp in the church of St. Michael. +Prose and verse were exhausted in his praise. His memory was revered as +that of a martyr. Miracles were performed at his tomb; and the popular +credulity went so far, that it was currently reported in Ghent that +Philip had solicited the pope for his canonization! See the curious +particulars in Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. pp. +451-456. + +[1216] "Este es un pueblo tan facil, que espero que con ver la clemencia +de V. M., haciendose el pardon general, se ganaran los animos a que de +buena gana lleven la obediencia que digo, que ahora sufren de malo." +Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 29. + +[1217] "Le bruit public qui subsiste encore, divulgue qu'il est mort +empoisonne." Vandervynckt, Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 285.--The +author himself does not indorse the vulgar rumor. + +[1218] Meteren tells us that Montigny was killed by poison, which his +page, who afterwards confessed the crime, put in his broth. (Hist. des +Pays-Bas, fol. 60.) Vandervynckt, after noticing various rumors, +dismisses them with the remark, "On n'a pu savoir au juste ce qu'il +etait devenu." Troubles des Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 237. + +[1219] His revenues seem to have been larger than those of any other +Flemish lord, except Egmont and Orange, amounting to something more than +fifty thousand florins annually. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. +II. p. 115. + +[1220] Ibid., Rapport, p. xxxvii. + +It was reported to Philip's secretary, Erasso, by that mischievous +bigot, Fray Lorenzo Villavicencio; not, as may be supposed, to do honor +to the author of it, but to ruin him. + +[1221] Correspondance de Philippe II. tom. I. p. 439. + +[1222] See the letters of the royal _contador_, Alonzo del Canto, from +Brussels. (Ibid., tom. I. pp. 411, 425.) Granvelle, in a letter from +Rome, chimes in with the same tune,--though, as usual with the prelate, +in a more covert manner. "Le choix de Berghes et Montigny n'est pas +mauvais, si le but de leur mission est d'informer le Roi de l'etat des +choses: car ils sont ceux qui en ont le mieux connaissance, et qui +peut-etre y ont pris le plus de part." Ibid., p. 417. + +[1223] "Autrement, certes, Madame, aurions juste occasion de nous doloir +et de V. A. et des seigneurs de par dela, pour nous avoir commande de +venir ici, pour recevoir honte et desplaisir, estantz forces +journellement de veoir et oyr choses qui nous desplaisent jusques a +l'ame, et de veoir aussy le peu que S. M. se sert de nous." Ibid. p. +498. + +[1224] This letter is dated November 18, 1566. (Ibid., p. 486.) The +letter of the two lords was written on the last day of the December +following. + +[1225] Her letter is dated March 5, 1567. Ibid., p. 516. + +[1226] Ibid., p. 535. + +[1227] "De lui dire (mais seulement apres qu'il se sera assure qu'une +guerison est a peu pres impossible) que le Roi lui permet de retourner +aux Pays-Bas: si, au contraire, il lui paraissait que le marquis put se +retablir, il se contenterait de lui faire esperer cette permission." +Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1228] "Il sera bien, en cette occasion, de montrer le regret que le Roi +et ses ministres ont de sa mort, et le cas qu'ils font des seigneurs des +Pays-Bas!" Ibid., p. 536. + +[1229] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1230] "Elle espere le voir sous peu, puisque le Roi lui a fait dire que +son intention etait de lui donner bientot son conge." Ibid., p. +558.--The letter is dated July 13. + +[1231] The order for the arrest, addressed to the conde de Chinchon, +alcayde of the castle of Segovia, is to be found in the Documentos +Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 526. + +[1232] This fact is mentioned in a letter of the alcayde of the +fortress, giving an account of the affair to the king. Correspondance de +Philippe II., tom. II. p. 3. + +[1233] The contents of the paper secreted in the loaf are given in the +Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. pp. 527-533.--The latter portion of the +fourth volume of this valuable collection is occupied with documents +relating to the imprisonment and death of Montigny, drawn from the +Archives of Simancas, and never before communicated to the public. + +[1234] "Il ne les fera point executer, mais il les retiendra en prison, +car ils peuvent servir a la verification de quelque point du proces de +Montigny lui-meme." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 37. + +[1235] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 60. + +[1236] "Et _consommee en larmes et pleurs_ afin que, en consideration +des services passes de sondit mari, de son jeune age a elle, qui n'a ete +en la compagnie de son mari qu'environ quatre mois, et de la passion de +Jesus Christ, S. M. veuille lui pardonner les fautes qu'il pourrait +avoir commises." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 94. + +[1237] Ibid., p. 123, note. + +[1238] Ibid., p. 90. + +[1239] "Visto el proceso por algunos de Consejo de S. M. destos sus +Estados por mi nombrados para el dicho efecto." Documentos Ineditos, +tom. IV. p. 535. + +[1240] The sentence may be found, Ibid., pp. 535-537. + +[1241] "Porque no viniese a noticia de ninguno de los otros hasta saber +la voluntad de V. M." Ibid., p. 533. + +[1242] "Asi que constando tan claro de sus culpas y delictos, en cuanto +al hecho da la justicia no habia que parar mas de mandarla ejecutar." +Ibid., p. 539 + +[1243] "Por estar aca el delincuento que dijeran que se habia hecho +entre compadres, y como opreso, sin se poder defender juridicamente." +Ibid., p. 561. + +[1244] "Parescia a los mas que era bien darle un bocado o echar algun +genero de veneno en la comida o bebida con que se fuese muriendo poco a +poco, y pudiese componer las cosas de su anima como enfermo." Ibid., ubi +supra. + +[1245] "Mas a S. M. parescio que desta manera no se cumplia con la +justicia." Ibid. ubi supra.--These particulars are gathered from a full +report of the proceedings sent, by Philip's orders, to the duke of Alva, +November 2, 1570. + +[1246] The _garrote_ is still used in capital punishments in Spain. It +may be well to mention, for the information of some of my readers, that +it is performed by drawing a rope tight round the neck of the criminal, +so as to produce suffocation. This is done by turning a stick to which +the rope is attached behind his head. Instead of this apparatus, an iron +collar is more frequently employed in modern executions. + +[1247] This is established by a letter of the cardinal himself, in which +he requests the king to command all officials to deliver into his hands +their registers, instruments, and public documents of every +description,--to be placed in these archives, that they may hereafter be +preserved from injury. His biographer adds, that few of these +documents--such only as could be gleaned by the cardinal's +industry--reach as far back as the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. +Quintinilla, Vida de Ximenes, p. 264. + +[1248] M. Gachard, who gives us some interesting particulars of the +ancient fortress of Simancas, informs us that this tower was the scene +of some of his own labors there. It was an interesting circumstance, +that he was thus exploring the records of Montigny's sufferings in the +very spot which witnessed them. + +[1249] "Asi lo cumplio poniendole grillos para mayor seguridad, aunque +esto fue sin orden, porque ni esto era menester ni quisiera S. M. que se +hubiera hecho." Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 561. + +[1250] Meteren, Hist. des Pays-Bas, fol. 60. + +[1251] This lying letter, dated at Simancas, October 10, with the scrap +of mongrel Latin which it enclosed, may be found in the Documentos +Ineditos, tom. IV. pp. 550-552. + +[1252] The instructions delivered to the licentiate Don Alonzo de +Arellano are given in full, Ibid., pp. 542-549. + +[1253] "Aunque S. M. tenia por cierto que era muy juridica, habida +consideracion a la calidad de su persona y usando con el de su Real +clemencia y benignidad habia tenido por bien de moderarla en cuanto a la +forma mandando que no se ejecutase en publico, sino alli en secreto por +su honor, y que se daria a entender haber muerto de aquella enfermedad." +Ibid., p. 563. + +[1254] The confession of faith may be found in the Documentos Ineditos, +tom. IV. p. 553. + +[1255] "Si el dicho Flores de Memoranci quisiese ordenar testamento no +habra para que darse a esto lugar, pues siendo confiscados todos sus +bienes y por tales crimines, ni puede testar ni tiene de que." Ibid., p. +548. + +[1256] "Empero si todavia quisiere hacer alguna memoria de deudas o +descargos se le podra permitir como en esto no se haga mencion alguna de +la justicia y ejecucion que se hace, sino que sea hecho como memorial de +hombre enfermo y que se temia morir." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1257] "Quant aux mercedes qu'il a accordees, il n'y a pas lieu d'y +donner suite." Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 169. + +[1258] "En lo uno y en lo otro tuvo las demostraciones de catolico y +buen cristiano que yo deseo para mi." See the letter of Fray Hernando +del Castillo, Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. pp. 554-559. + +[1259] "Fuele creciendo por horas el desengano de la vida, la paciencia, +el sufrimiento, y la conformidad con la voluntad de Dios y de su Rey, +cuya sentencia siempre alabo por justa, mas siempre protestando de su +inocencia." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1260] "Y acabada su platica y de encomendarse a Dios todo el tiempo que +quiso, e verdugo hizo su oficio dandole garrote." See the account of +Montigny's death despatched to the duke of Alva. It was written in +cipher, and dated November 2, 1570. Ibid., p. 560 et seq. + +[1261] "Poniendo pena de muerte a los dichos escribano y verdugo si lo +descubriesen." Ibid., p. 564. + +[1262] "Y no sera inconveniente que se de luto a sus criados pues son +pocos." La orden que ha de tener el Licenciado D. Alonzo de Arellano, +Ibid., p. 542 et seq. + +[1263] Ibid., p. 549. Correspondance de Philippe II., tom. II p. 159. + +[1264] Carta de D. Eugenio de Peralta a S. M., Simancas, 17 de Octubre, +1570, Documentos Ineditos, tom. IV. p. 559. + +[1265] "No las mostrando de proposito sino descuidadamente a las +personas que paresciere, para que por ellas se divulgue haber fallescido +de su muerte natural." Ibid., p. 564. + +[1266] "El cual si en lo interior acabo tan cristianamente como lo +mostro en lo exterior y lo ha referido el fraile que le confeso, es de +creer que se habra apiadado Dios de su anima." Carta de S. M. al Duque +de Alba, del Escurial, a 3 de Noviembre, 1570, Ibid., p. 565. + +[1267] "Esto mismo borrad de la cifra, que de los muertos no hay que +hacer sino buen juico." Ibid., ubi supra, note. + +[1268] The confiscated estates of the marquis of Bergen were restored by +Philip to that nobleman's heirs, in 1577. See Vandervynckt, Troubles des +Pays-Bas, tom. II. p. 235. + +[1269] "Attendu que est venu a sa notice que ledict de Montigny seroit +alle de vie a trespas, par mort naturelle, en la forteresse de +Symancques, ou il estoit dernierement detenu prisonier." Correspondance +de Philippe II., tom. II. p. 171. + +[1270] For the preceding pages I have been indebted, among other +sources, to Sagredo, "Memorias Historicas de los Monarcas Othomanos," +(trad. Cast., Madrid, 1684,) and to Ranke, "Ottoman and Spanish +Empires;" to the latter in particular. The work of this eminent scholar, +resting as it mainly does on the contemporary reports of the Venetian +ministers, is of the most authentic character; while he has the rare +talent of selecting facts so significant for historical illustration, +that they serve the double purpose of both facts and reflections. + +[1271] Cervantes, in his story of the Captive's adventures in Don +Quixote, tells us that it was common with a renegado to obtain a +certificate from some of the Christian captives of his desire to return +to Spain; so that if he were taken in arms against his countrymen, his +conduct would be set down to compulsion, and he would thus escape the +fangs of the Inquisition. + +[1272] See the History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, vol. III. +part ii. chap. 21. + +[1273] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 415 et seq.--Herrera, +Historia General, lib. V. cap. 18.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. +cap. 8.--Segrado, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 234 et seq. + +[1274] "Hallo Don Alvaro un remedio para la falta del agua que en parte +ayudo a la necessidad, y fue, que uno de su campo le mostro, que el agua +salada se podia destilar por alambique, y aunque salio buena, y se +bevia, no se hazia tanta que bastasse, y se gastava mucha lena, de que +tenian falta." Herrera, Historia General, tom. I. p. 434. + +[1275] For the account of the heroic defence of Gelves, see--and +reconcile, if the reader can--Herrera, ubi supra; Ferreras, Hist. +d'Espagne, tom. IX. pp. 416-421; Leti, Filippo II., tom. I. pp. 349-352; +Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 11, 12; Campana, Vita di Filippo +II., par. II. lib. 12; Segrado, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 237 et +seq.--Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., pp. 63-87. + +[1276] "Questa sola utilita ne cava il Re di quei luoghi per +conservatione de quali spende ogni anno gran somma di denari delle sue +entrate." Relatione de Soriano, 1560, MS. + +[1277] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 426.--Sepulveda, De Rebus +Gestis Philippi II. p. 90. + +[1278] The details of the battle were given in a letter, dated September +5, 1558, by Don Alonzo to the king. His father fell, it seems, in an +attempt to rescue his younger son from the hands of the enemy. Though +the father died, the son was saved. It was the same Don Martin de +Cordova who so stoutly defended Mazarquivir against Hassem afterwards, +as mentioned in the text. Carta De Don Alonso de Cordova al Rey, de +Toledo, MS. + +[1279] The tidings of this sad disaster, according to Cabrera, hastened +the death of Charles the Fifth (Filipe Segundo, lib. IV. cap. 13). But a +letter from the imperial secretary, Gaztelu, informs us that care was +taken that the tidings should not reach the ear of his dying master. "La +muerte del conde de Alcaudete y su desbarato se entendio aqui por carta +de Don Alonso su hijo que despacho un correo desde Toledo con la nueva y +por ser tan ruyn y estar S. Magd. en tal disposicion no se le dixo, y se +tendra cuydado de que tampoco la sepa hasta que plazca a Dios este +libre; porque no se yo si hay ninguno en cuyo tiempo haya sucedido tan +gran desgracia como esta." Carta de Martin de Gaztelu al Secretario +Molina, de Yuste, Set. 12, 1558, MS.--The original of this letter, like +that of the preceding, is in the Archives of Simancas. + +[1280] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI cap. 10. + +[1281] For this siege, the particulars of which are given in a manner +sufficiently confused by most of the writers, see Ferreras, Hist. +d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 431 et seq.; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. +cap. 10; Sepulveda, De Rebus Gestis Philippi II., p. 94; Salazar de +Mendoza, Monarquia de Espana, (Madrid, 1770,) tom. II. p. 127; Miniana, +Historia de Espana, pp. 341, 342; Caro de Torres, Historia de las +Ordenes Militares, fol. 154. + +[1282] According to Cabrera, (Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 12,) two +thousand infidels fell on this occasion, and only ten Christians; a fair +proportion for a Christian historian to allow. _Ex uno,_ etc. + +[1283] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 455. + +[1284] Campana, Vita di Filippo II., tom. II. p. 138. + +[1285] Ferreras, Hist. d'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 461. + +[1286] Ibid., p. 442 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. +13.--Campana, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. pp. 137-139.--Herrera, Hist. +General, lib. X cap. 4. + +The last historian closes his account of the siege of Mazarquivir with +the following not inelegant and certainly not parsimonious tribute to +the heroic conduct of Don Martin and his followers: "Despues de noventa +y dos dias que sostuvo este terrible cerco, y se embarco para Espana, +quedando para siempre glorioso con los soldados que con el se hallaron, +ellos por aver sido tan obedientes, y por las hazanas que hizieron, y el +por el valor y prudencia con que los governo: por lo qual comparado a +qualquiera de los mayores Capitanes del mundo." Historia General, lib. +X. cap. 4. + +[1287] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 18.--Herrera, Hist. +General, tom. I. p. 559 et seq. + +[1288] The affair of the Rio de Tetuan is given at length in the +despatches of Don Alvaro Bazan, dated at Ceuta, March 10, 1565. The +correspondence of this commander is still preserved in the family +archives of the marquis of Santa Cruz, from which the copies in my +possession were taken. + +[1289] Helyot, Hist. des Ordres Religieux et Militaires, (Paris, 1792, +4to.,) tom. III. pp. 74-78.--Vertot, History of the Knights of Malta, +(Eng. trans., London, 1728, fol.,) vol. II. pp. 18-24. + +[1290] Boisgelin, on the authority of Matthew Paris, says that, in 1224, +the Knights of St. John had 19,000 manors in different parts of Europe, +while the Templars had but 9,000. Ancient and Modern Malta, (London, +1805, 4to.,) vol. II. p, 19. + +[1291] For an account of the institutions of the order of St. John, see +Helyot, Ordres Religieux, tom. II. p. 58 et seq.; also the Old and New +Statutes, appended to vol. II. of Vertot's History of the Knights of +Malta. + +[1292] The original deed of cession, in Latin, is published by Vertot, +Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 157 et seq. + +[1293] "Rhodes," from the Greek {Greek: rhodon}. The origin of the +name is referred by etymologists to the great quantity of roses which +grew wild on the island. The name of _Malta_ (_Melita_) is traced to the +wild honey, {Greek: meli}, of most excellent flavor, found among +its rocks. + +[1294] A recent traveller, after visiting both Rhodes and Malta, thus +alludes to the change in the relative condition of the two islands. "We +are told that, when L'Isle Adam and his brave companions first landed on +this shore, their spirits sank within them at the contrast its dry and +barren surface presented to their delicious lost Rhodes; I have +qualified myself for adjudging that in most respects the tables are now +turned between the two islands, and they certainly afford a very +decisive criterion of the results of Turkish and Christian dominion." +The Earl of Carlisle's Diary in Turkish and Greek Waters, (Boston, +1855,) p. 204;--an unpretending volume, which bears on every page +evidence of the wise and tolerant spirit, the various scholarship, and +the sensibility to the beautiful, so characteristic of its noble author. + +[1295] For the account of Malta I am much indebted to Boisgelin, +"Ancient and Modern Malta." This work gives the most complete view of +Malta, both in regard to the natural history of the island and the +military and political history of the order, that is to be found in any +book with which I am acquainted. It is a large repository of facts +crudely put together, with little to boast of on the score of its +literary execution. It is interesting as the production of a Knight of +St. John, one of the unhappy few who survived to witness the treachery +of his brethren and the extinction of his order. The last of the line, +he may well be pardoned, if, in his survey of the glorious past, he +should now and then sound the trumpet of glorification somewhat too +loudly. + +[1296] "The galleys of the order alone resisted the fury of the waves; +and when Charles the Fifth was told that some vessels appeared still to +live at sea, he exclaimed, 'They must, indeed, be Maltese galleys which +can outride such a tempest!' The high opinion he had formed of this +fleet was fully justified; for the standard of the order was soon in +sight." Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. II. p. 34. + +[1297] Ibid., p. 61 et alibi. + +[1298] The value of the freight was estimated at more than 80,000 +ducats.--"Se estimo la presa mas de ochenta mil ducados, de sedas de +levante, y alombras y otras cosas, cada uno piense lo que se diria en la +corte del Turco, sobre la perdida desta nave tan poderosa, y tan rica." +La Verdadera Relacion de todo lo que el Ano de M.D.LXV. ha succedido en +la Isla de Malta, por Francisco Balbi de Correggio, en todo el Sitio +Soldado, (Barcelona 1568,) fol. 19. + +[1299] Ibid., fol. 17. + +[1300] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 192-195.--Sagredo, +Monarcas Othomanos, p. 244.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 26 et +seq.--Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. II. pp. 71-73.--De Thou, +Hist. Universelle, tom. V. pp. 51-53--J. M. Calderon de la Barca, +Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, (Madrid, 1796,) p. 28. + +[1301] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 197.--Balbi, Verdadera +Relacion, fol. 28.--The latter chronicler, who gives a catalogue of the +forces, makes the total amount of fighting men not exceed six thousand +one hundred. He speaks, however, of an indefinite number besides these, +including a thousand slaves, who in various ways contributed to the +defence of the island. + +[1302] "De modo que qu[=a]do los turcos llegaron sobre sant Ermo, hauia +ochocientos hombres dentro para pelear." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. +37. + +[1303] Ibid., fol. 31.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 198. + +[1304] "En este tiempo ya todos los esclauos assi de sant Juan como de +particulares estauan en la carcel, que seri[=a] bien mil esclauos. Y quando +los sacauan a trabajar a las postas adonde se trabajaua, los sacauan de +dos en dos, asidos de vna cadena." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37. + +[1305] Ibid., fol. 23. + +[1306] Ibid., fol. 21.--Vertot says, of a hundred and sixty +pounds'weight. (Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 202.) Yet even this was +far surpassed by the mammoth cannon employed by Mahomet at the siege of +Constantinople, in the preceding century, which, according to Gibbon, +threw stone bullets of six hundred pounds. + +Since the above lines were written, even this achievement has been +distanced by British enterprise. The "Times" informs us of some "monster +guns," intended to be used in the Baltic, the minimum weight of whose +shot is to be three cwt., and the maximum ten. + +[1307] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 26.--The old soldier goes into +the composition of the Turkish force, in the general estimate of which +he does not differ widely from Vertot. + +[1308] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 84. + +[1309] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1310] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 37 et seq.--Vertot, Knights of +Malta, vol. II. pp. 200-202.--- Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. +42.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 24. + +[1311] In Vertot's account of this affair, much is said of a nondescript +outwork, termed a _cavalier_,--conveying a different idea from what is +understood by that word in modern fortifications. It stood without the +walls, and was connected with the ravelin by a bridge, the possession of +which was hotly contested by the combatants. Balbi, the Spanish soldier, +so often quoted,--one of the actors in the siege, though stationed at +the fort of St. Michael,--speaks of the fight as being carried on in the +ditch. His account has the merit of being at once the briefest and the +most intelligible. + +[1312] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 40, 41.--Vertot, Knights of +Malta, vol. II. pp. 203-205.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 48 +et seq.--Segrado, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 245.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, +lib. VI. cap. 24.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 4. + +[1313] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 39 + +[1314] Ibid., fol. 39-42.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. +46.--De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 58.--Vertot, Knights of +Malta, vol. II. p. 204.--Miniana, Hist. de Espana, p. 350. + +[1315] For the preceding pages, setting forth the embassies to La +Valette, and exhibiting in such bold relief the character of the +grand-master, I have been chiefly indebted to Vertot (Knights of Malta, +vol. I. pp. 309-312). The same story is told, more concisely, by +Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 60-67; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, +lib. VI. cap. 25; De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 61; Campana, +Filippo Secondo, par. II. p. 159; Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 44, +45. + +[1316] The remains of Medran were brought over to Il Borgo, where La +Valette, from respect to his memory, caused them to be laid among those +of the Grand Crosses.--"El gran Maestre lo mando enterrar era una +sepultura, adonde se entierran los cavalleros de la gran Cruz, porque +esta era la mayor honra, que en tal tiempo le podia hazer, y el muy bien +la merecia." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 51. + +[1317] The invention of this missile Vertot claims for La Valette. +(Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 215.) Balbi refers it to a brother of the +Order, named Ramon Fortunii. (Verdadera Relacion, p. 48.) + +[1318] The first shot was not so successful, killing eight of their own +side!--"Mas el artillero, o fuesse la prissa, o fuesse la turbacion que +en semejantes casos suele sobre venir en los hombres el se tuvo mas a +mano drecha, que no deviera, pues de aquel tiro mato ocho de los +nuestros que defendian aquella posta." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. +50. + +[1319] Ibid., fol. 49-51.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 72 et +seq.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 214-216.--Cabrera, Filipe +Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25.--Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. +245.--Herrera, Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 6 + +[1320] "En este assalto y en todos me han dicho cavalleros, que pelear[=o] +no solamente ellos, y los soldados, mas que los forcados, bonas vollas, +y Malteses murieron con tanto animo, como qualquiera otra persona de +mayor estima." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 51. + +[1321] "Que si su senoria Illustrissima tenia otra persona, para tal +cargo mejor, [~q] la embiasse, quel lo obedeceria como a tal, mas quel +queria quedar en sant Ermo, como privado cavallero, y por sa religion +sacrificar su cuerpo." Ibid., fol 44. + +[1322] "La escuridad de la noche, fue luego muy clara, por la gr[=a]de +c[=a]tidad de los fuegos artificiales, que de ambas partes se arojavan, y +de tal manera que los que estavamos en san Miguel, veyamos muy +claramente sant Ermo, y los artilleros de sant Angel y de otras partes +apuntavan, a la lumbre de los fuegos enemigos." Ibid., fol 48. + +[1323] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 53. + +[1324] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 214. + +[1325] Ibid., pp. 216, 217.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. +54.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 80 et seq.--Cabrera, Filipe +Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25. + +[1326] "Ellos como aquellos [~q] la manana navia de ser su postrer dia +en este m[=u]do, unos con otros se confessavan, y rogavan a nuestro senor +que por su infinita misericordia, la tuviesse de sus animas, pues le +costaron su preciossissima sangre para redemirlas." Balbi, Verdadera +Relacion, fol. 54. + +See also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. pp. 217, 218;--Cabrera, +Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25. + +[1327] Vertot, whose appetite for the marvellous sometimes carries him +into the miraculous, gives us to understand that not one of the garrison +survived the storming of St. Elmo. (Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 219.) +If that were so, one would like to know how the historian got his +knowledge of what was doing in the fortress the day and night previous +to the assault. The details quoted above from Balbi account for this +knowledge, and carry with them an air of probability. (Verdadera +Relacion, fol. 55.) + +[1328] "Luego que entraron los Turcos en sant Ermo, abatieron el +est[=a]darte de san Juan, y en su lugar plantaron una vandera del gran +Turco, y en todo aquel dia no hizieron otra cosa, que plantar v[=a]deras, y +vanderillas por la muralla, segun su costumbre." Ibid., fol. 55. + +See also, for the storming of St. Elmo, Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de +Malta, pp. 81-84; Miniana, Hist. de Espana, p. 351; Cabrera, Filipe +Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 25; Campana, Filippo Secondo, par. II. p. 159; +Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 245; Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. +p. 219 et seq. + +[1329] "A todos nos pesava en el anima porque aquellas eran fiestas que +solian hazer los cavalleros en tal dia, para honor deste su santo +avogado." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 55. + +[1330] Ibid., fol. 58.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 220. + +[1331] Balbi has given a catalogue of the knights who fell in the siege, +with the names of the countries to which they respectively belonged. +Verdadera Relacion, fol. 56. + +[1332] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. II. p. 219. + +No name of the sixteenth century appears more frequently in the ballad +poetry of Spain than that of Dragut. The "_Romancero General_" contains +many _romances_, some of them of great beauty, reciting the lament of +the poor captive chained to the galley of the dread rover, or +celebrating his naval encounters with the chivalry of Malta,--"_las +velas de la religion,_" as the squadrons of the order were called. + +[1333] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 33. + +[1334] The two principal authorities on whom I have relied for the siege +of Malta are Balbi and Vertot. The former was a soldier, who served +through the siege, his account of which, now not easily met with, was +printed shortly afterwards, and in less than three years went into a +second edition,--being that used in the present work. As Balbi was both +an eye-witness and an actor, on a theatre so limited that nothing could +be well hidden from view, and as he wrote while events were fresh in his +memory, his testimony is of the highest value. It loses nothing by the +temperate, home-bred style in which the book is written, like that of a +man anxious only to tell the truth, and not to magnify the cause or the +party to which he is attached. In this the honest soldier forms a +contrast to his more accomplished rival, the Abbe de Vertot. + +This eminent writer was invited to compose the history of the order, and +its archives were placed by the knights at his disposal for this +purpose. He accepted the task; and in performing it he has sounded the +note of panegyric with as hearty a good will as if he had been a knight +hospitaller himself. This somewhat detracts from the value of a work +which must be admitted to rest, in respect to materials, on the soundest +historical basis. The abbe's turn for the romantic has probably aided, +instead of hurting him, with the generality of readers. His clear and +sometimes eloquent style, the interest of his story, and the dramatic +skill with which he brings before the eye the peculiar traits of his +actors, redeem, to some extent, the prolixity of his narrative, and have +combined, not merely to commend the book to popular favor, but to make +it the standard work on the subject. + +[1335] By another ordinance, La Valette caused all the dogs in La Sangle +and Il Borgo to be killed, because they disturbed the garrisons by +night, and ate their provisions by day. Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. +29. + +[1336] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 2. + +[1337] Ibid., p. 4.--Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 64.--Calderon, +Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 94.--Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 296. + +[1338] Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 91.--Vertot, Knights of +Malta, vol. III. p. 3.--De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. +67.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 26.--Sagredo, Monarcas +Othomanos, p. 246 + +[1339] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 61, 62, 68.--Calderon, Gloriosa +Defensa de Malta, pp. 95-100.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. +4-7.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 26.--Herrera, Historia +General, lib. XII. cap. 7. + +[1340] "No avia hombre que no truxesse aljuba, el que menos de grana, +muchos de tela de oro, y de plata, y damasco carmesi, y muy buenas +escopetas de fez, cimitaras de Alexandria, y de Damasco, arcos muy +finos, y muy ricos turbantes." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 70. + +[1341] "Cargadas de gente muy luzida, vista por cierto muy linda, sino +fuera tan peligrosa." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1342] "Nuestro predicador fray Ruberto, el qual en todo el assalto yva +por todas las postas con un crucifixo en la una mano, y la espada en la +otra: animandonos a bien morir, y pelear por la fe de Iesu Christo: y +fue herido este dia su paternidad." Ibid., fol. 73. + +[1343] "Echo nueve barcas delas mayores a fondo que no se salvo ninguno, +y auria en estas barcas ochocientos Turcos." Ibid., fol. 72. + +[1344] This seems to have been Balbi's opinion.--"En conclusion, la casa +mata del comendador Guiral fue este dia a juyzio de todos la salvacion +de la Isla, porque si las barcas ya dichas echavan su g[=e]te en tierra, no +les pudieramos resistir en ninguna manera." Ibid., fol. 73. + +[1345] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 13. + +[1346] Compare Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 13, and Balbi, +Verdadera Relacion, fol. 73.--The latter chronicler, for a wonder, +raises the sum total of the killed to a somewhat higher figure than the +abbe,--calling it full four thousand. + +[1347] The particulars of the assaults on St. Michael and the Spur are +given by Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 61-74; and with more or less +inaccuracy by Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 8-13; Calderon, +Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 110-116; De Thou, Histoire Universelle, +tom. V. pp. 72-74; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. V. cap. 26; Herrera, +Historia General, lib. XII. cap. 7; Sagredo, Monarcas Othomanos, p. 246; +Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 160. + +[1348] Cruel indeed, according to the report of Balbi, who tells us that +the Christians cut off the ears of the more refractory, and even put +some of them to death,--_pour encourager les autres_.--"Han muerto en +esta jornada al trabajo mas de quinientos esclavos; mas los pobres +llegaron atal de puros cansados y acabados del trabajo continuo, que no +podian estar en pie, y se dexavan cortar las orejas y matar por no poder +trabajar mas." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 66. + +[1349] Ibid., fol. 67, 77.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. +18.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 160. + +[1350] "En fin era in todo diligente, vigilante y animoso, y jamas se +conoscio en su valeroso semblante ninguna senal de temor, antes con su +presencia dava esfuerco y animo a sus cavalleros y soldados." Balbi, +Verdadera Relacion, fol. 77. + +[1351] "Luego que todas estas baterias comencaron de batir, y todas en +un tiempo, era tanto el ruydo y temblor que parecia quererse acabar el +m[=u]do, y puedese bien creer que el ruydo fuesse tal, pues se sentia muy +claramente dende Caragoca, y dende Catania, que ay ciento y veynte +millas de Malta a estas dos ciudades." Ibid., fol. 78. + +[1352] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 21, 22. + +[1353] "Dixo publicamente, que el no aguardava socorro ya sino era del +omnipotente Dios el qual era el socorro verdadero, y el que hasta +entonces nos havia librado, y que ni mas ni menos nos libraria por el +avenir, delas manos delos enemigos da su santa fee." Balbi, Verdadera +Relacion, fol. 81. + +[1354] "Esta habla del gran Maestre luego fue divulgada, y asi toda la +gente se determino de primero morir que venir a manos de turcos vivos, +pero tambien se determino de vender muy bien sus vidas, y asi ya no se +tratava de socorro." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1355] "No quedo hombre ni muger de edad para ello que no lo ganasse con +devocion grandissima, y con muy firme esperanca y fe de yr ala gloria, +muriendo en la jornada." Ibid., fol. 71. + +[1356] "Tenia mandado, que en todos los dias de assalto se llevassen por +todas las postas adonde se peleasse, muchos buyvelos de vino aguado, y +pan para refrescar su gente, pues de gente no podia." Ibid., fol. 91. + +[1357] "Si todas estas buenas ordenes no uviera, no baeraran fuercas +humanas para resistir a tanta furia pertinacia, principalm[=e]te, siendo +nosotros tan pocos, y ellos tantos." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1358] "El gran Maestre sin mudarse, ni alterarse de su semblante +valeroso, dixo, Vamos a morir alla todos cavalleros, [~q] oy es el dia." +Ibid., fol. 90. + +[1359] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 24. + +[1360] Vertot speaks of this last attack as having been made on the +eighteenth of August. His chronology may be corrected by that of Balbi, +whose narrative, taking the form of a diary, in which the transactions +of each day are separately noted, bears the stamp of much greater +accuracy. Balbi gives the seventh of August as the date. For the +preceding pages see Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 89-93; Vertot, +Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 18-24; Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de +Malta, pp. 146-150; De Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 83 et +seq.; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 27; Campana, Vita di +Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 16; Leti, Vita di Filippo II., tom. I. p. +450. + +[1361] "Y sino solenne como en esta religion se suele hazer, alomenos +c[=o]trita a lo que las lagrimas de muchos hombres y mugeres davan senal." +Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 94 + +[1362] "Y como el comendador era hombre de linda disposicion, y armado +de unas armas doradas y ricas, los turcos tiraron todos a el." Ibid., +fol. 76. + +[1363] Ibid., ubi supa.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 14. + +[1364] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 66, 82. + +[1365] Ibid. fol. 78. + +[1366] "Muchas vezes solo se yva a san Lorenco, y alli en su +apartamiento hazia sus oraciones. Y eneste exercicio se occupava quando +se tenia algun sosiego." Ibid., fol. 84. + +[1367] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 29. + +[1368] "Lo qual sabido por el gran Maestre como aquel que jamas penso +sino morir el primo por su religion, y por quitar toda sospecha despues +de aver hecho llevar en sant Angel todas las reliquias y cosas de mas +valor, mando quitar la puente, dando a entender a todo el mundo que enel +no avia retirar, sino morir en el Burgo, o defenderlo." Balbi, Verdadera +Relacion, fol. 94. + +See also Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 29.; Calderon, Gloriosa +Defensa de Malta, p. 167 et seq. + +[1369] "Ya seles canocia, que les faltavan muchas piecas que avian +embarcado, y cada noche se sentia como las retiravan, ala sorda sin los +alaridos que davan al principio quando las plantaron." Balbi, Verdadera +Relacion, fol. 101. + +[1370] Ibid., fol. 106 et seq.--Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. +33.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 172-176.--De Thou, +Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 88.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. +cap. 28.--Campana, Vita di Filippo Secondo, tom. II. p. 166. + +[1371] "Como nuestra armada estuvo en parte [~q] la descubriamos +claramente, cada galera tiro tres vezes." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, +fol. 104. + +[1372] "En el retirar su artilleria, tan calladamente que no se sentia +sino el chillido de las ruedas, y Dios sabe lo que al gran Maestre +pesava, porque siempre tuvo especranca de ganarle parte della, si el +socorro se descubriera." Ibid., fol. 105. + +[1373] The armory, in the government palace of Valetta, still contains a +quantity of weapons, sabres, arquebuses, steel bows, and the like, taken +at different times from the Turks. Among others is a cannon of singular +workmanship, but very inferior in size to the two pieces of ordnance +mentioned in the text. (See Bigelow's Travels in Malta and Sicily, p. +226.) Those glorious trophies of the great siege should have found a +place among the national relics. + +[1374] "Yo no creo que musica jamas consolasse humanos sentidos, como a +nosotros consolo el son de nuestras campanas, alos ocho, dia dela +Natividad de nuestra senora. Porque el gran Maestre las hizo tocar todas +ala hora que se solia tocar al arma, y avia tres meses que no las +aviamos oydo sino para arma." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 105. + +[1375] "Esta manana pues tocaron la missa, la cual se canto muy de +manana, y en pontifical, muy solemnemente, dando gracias a nuestro senor +Dios, y a su bendita madre por las gracias que nos avian hecho." Ibid., +ubi supra. + +[1376] "No dexando de pelear aquel dia, y en sangrentar muy bien sus +espadas." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 119. + +[1377] "Lo qual se vio claramente dende a dos o tres dias porque los +cuerpos que se avian ahogado subieron encima del agua, los quales eran +tantos que parecian mas de tres mil, y avia tanto hedor en todo aquello +que no se podia hombre llegar ala cala." Ibid., fol. 120. + +As an offset against the three thousand of the enemy who thus perished +by fire and water, the chronicler gives us four Christians slain in the +fight, and four smothered from excessive heat in their armor! + +[1378] For the preceding pages see Balbi, (Verdadera Relacion, fol. +117-121,) who contrived to be present in the action; also Vertot, +Knights of Malta, vol. III. pp. 35-37; De Thou, Histoire Universelle, +tom. V. p. 89; Miniana, Hist. de Espana, p. 353; Campana, Vita di +Filippo Secondo, tom. II, p. 160; Herrera, Historia General, tom. I. p. +591; Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, p. 180 et seq. + +[1379] "Se vinieron al Burgo, tanto por ver la persona del gran Maestre +tan dichosa y valerosa, como por ver la grandissima disformidad y +llaneza de nuestras baterias." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 121. + +[1380] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 39. + +[1381] "Al entrar del qual despues que la Real capitana uvo puesto sus +estandartes los pusieron todas las demas, y muy ricos, la Real traya +enla flama un crucifixo muy devoto." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. +122. + +[1382] "Fueronse para Palacio, adonde dio el gran Maestre a todos muy +realmente de cenar, porque ya el governador del Gozo le avia embiado +muchos refrescos, y don Garcia y todos los capitanes del armada le +presentaron de la misma manera." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1383] Balbi expresses his satisfaction at the good cheer, declaring +that the dainties brought by the viceroy, however costly, seemed cheap +to men who had been paying two ducats for a fowl, and a real and a half +for an egg. Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1384] Herrera, Historia General, vol. I. p. 592. + +[1385] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 38. + +[1386] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 121.--De Thou reduces the +mortality to twenty thousand. (Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 592.) +Herrera, on the other hand, raises it to forty thousand. (Historia +General, tom. I. p. 90.) The whole Moslem force, according to Balbi, was +forty-eight thousand, exclusive of seamen. Of these about thirty +thousand were Turks. The remainder belonged to the contingents furnished +by Dragut and Hassem. Conf., fol. 25 and 121. + +[1387] Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 128.--Balbi gives a list of all +the knights who perished in the siege. Cabrera makes a similar estimate +of the Christian loss. (Filipe Segundo, lib. VI. cap. 28.) De Thou rates +it somewhat lower (Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 90); and Vertot lower +still. (Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 38.) Yet Balbi may be thought to +show too little disposition, on other occasions, to exaggerate the loss +of his own side for us to suspect him of exaggeration here. + +[1388] "En todo este sitio no se a justiciado sino un solo Italiano +Senes el qual mando justiciar Melchior de Robles: porque dixo +publicamente estando en el mayor aprieto, que mas valiera que tomaramos +las quatro pagas que los turcos nos ofrecian, y el passage." Balbi, +Verdadera Relacion, fol. 128. + +[1389] For this act of retributive justice, so agreeable to the feelings +of the reader, I have no other authority to give than Vertot, Knights of +Malta, vol. III. p. 18. + +[1390] Ibid., pp. 39, 40.--Calderon, Gloriosa Defensa de Malta, pp. 189, +190.--De Thou, Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 91. + +[1391] "Havia en la Isla de Malta quinze mil hombres de pelea, los +quales bastaran para resistir a qualquiera poder del gran Turco en +campana rasa." Balbi, Verdadera Relacion, fol. 129. + +Besides the Spanish forces, a body of French adventurers took service +under La Valette, and remained for some time in Malta. + +[1392] Vertot tells us that the projected expedition of Solyman against +Malta was prevented by the destruction of the grand arsenal of +Constantinople, which was set on fire by a secret emissary of La +Valette. (Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 41.) We should be better +pleased if the abbe had given his authority for this strange story, the +probability of which is not at all strengthened by what we know of the +grand-master's character. + +[1393] It was common for the Maltese cities, after the Spanish and +Italian fashion, to have characteristic epithets attached to their +names. La Valette gave the new capital the title of "_Umillima_,"--"most +humble,"--intimating that humility was a virtue of highest price with +the fraternity of St. John. See Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, +vol. I. p. 29. + +[1394] "Plus de huit mille ouvriers y furent employes; et afin d'avancer +plus aisement les travaux, le Pape Pie V. commanda qu'on y travaillat +sans discontinuer, meme les jours de Fetes." Helyot, Hist. des Ordres +Religieux. + +[1395] The style of the architecture of the new capital seems to have +been, to some extent, formed on that of Rhodes, though, according to +Lord Carlisle, of a more ornate and luxuriant character than its model. +"I traced much of the military architecture of Rhodes, which, grave and +severe there, has here both swelled into great amplitude and blossomed +into copious efflorescence; it is much the same relation as Henry VII.'s +Chapel bears to a bit of Durham Cathedral." Diary in Turkish and Greek +Waters, p. 200. + +The account of Malta is not the least attractive portion of this +charming work, to which Felton's notes have given additional value. + +[1396] Vertot, Knights of Malta, vol. III. p. 42. + +[1397] Ibid., pp. 42-48.--Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. I. +pp. 127-142. + +[1398] An interesting description of this cathedral, well styled the +Westminster Abbey of Malta, may be found in Bigelow's Travels in Sicily +and Malta (p. 190),--a work full of instruction, in which the writer, +allowing himself a wider range than that of the fashionable tourist, +takes a comprehensive survey of the resources of the countries he has +visited, while he criticizes their present condition by an enlightened +comparison with the past. + +[1399] "Lorsqu'on commence l'Evangile, le Grand-Maitre la prend des +mains du Page et la tient tonte droite pendant le tems de l'Evangile. +C'est la seule occasion ou l'on tient l'epee nue a l'Eglise." Helyot, +Hist. des Ordres Religieux, tom. III. p. 93. + +[1400] Boisgelin, Ancient and Modern Malta, vol. I. p. 35. + +The good knight dwells with complacency on the particulars of a ceremony +in which he had often borne a part himself. It recalled to his mind the +glorious days of an order, which he fondly hoped might one day be +restored to its primitive lustre. + +[1401] Alfieri, Schiller, and, in our day, Lord John Russell, have, each +according to his own conceptions, exhibited the poetic aspect of the +story to the eyes of their countrymen. The Castilian dramatist, +Montalvan, in his "Principe Don Carlos," written before the middle of +the seventeenth century, shows more deference to historic accuracy, as +well as to the reputation of Isabella, by not mixing her up in any way +with the fortunes of the prince of Asturias. + +[1402] This correspondence is printed in a curious volume, of the +greatest rarity, entitled, Elogios de Don Honorato Juan, (Valencia, +1659,) p. 60 et seq. + +[1403] "Egli in collera reitero con maraviglia et riso di S. M. et +de'circumstanti, che mai egli non saria fuggito." Relatione di Badoaro, +MS. + +[1404] "Reprehendio al Principe su nieto su poca mesura i mucha +desenboltura con que vivia i trataba con su tia, i encomendola su +correcion, diziendo era en lo [~q] mas podia obligar a todos." Cabrera, +Filipe Segundo, lib. II. cap. 11. + +[1405] "Ne attende ad altro che a leggirli gli officii di M. Tullio per +acquetare quei troppo ardenti desiderii." Relatione di Badoaro, MS. + +[1406] "En lo del estudio esta poco aprovechado, porque lo haze de mala +gana y ausy mesmo los otros exercicios de jugar y esgremyr, que para +todo es menester premya." Carta de Garcia de Toledo al Emperador, 27 de +Agosto, 1557, MS. + +[1407] "Hasta agora no se que los medicos ayan tratado de dar ninguna +cosa al principe para la colera, ny yo lo consintiera hazer, sin dar +primero quenta dello a vuestra magestad." Ibid. + +[1408] "Deseo mucho que V. M. fuese servido que el principe diese una +buelta por alla para velle por que entendidos los impedimentos que en su +edad tiene mandasse V. M. lo que fuera de la horden con que yo le sirvo +se deba mudar." Del mismo al mismo, 13 de Abril, 1558, MS. + +[1409] So cruel, according to the court gossip picked up by Badoaro, +that, when hares and other game were brought to him, he would +occasionally amuse himself by roasting them alive!---"Dimostra havere un +animo fiero, et tra gli effetti che si raccontana uno e, che alle volte, +che dalla caccia gli viene portato o lepre o simile animale, si diletta +di vedirli arrostire vivi." Relatione de Badoaro, MS. + +[1410] "Da segno di dovere essere superbissimo, perche non poteva +sofferire di stare lungamente ne innanzi al padre ne avo con la berretta +in mano, et chiama il padre fratello, et l'avo padre." Ibid. + +[1411] "Dice a tutti i propositi tante cose argute che 'l suo ministro +ne raccolse un libretto." Ibid. + +Another contemporary also notices the precocious talents of the boy, as +shown in his smart sayings.--"Dexo de contar las gracias que tiene en +dichos maravillosos que andan por boca de todos desparzidos, dexo de +contar lo que haze para provar lo que dize." Cordero, Promptuario de +Medallas, ap. Castro, Historia de los Protestantes Espanoles, p. 328. + +[1412] "Le pauvre prince est si bas et extenue, il va d'heure a heure +tant affoiblissant, que les plus sages de ceste court en ont bien petite +esperance." L'Eveque de Limoges au Roi, 1^er Mars, 1559, ap. +Negociations relatives an Regne de Francois II., p. 291. + +[1413] "Delante de la Princesa venia don Carlos a su juramento con mal +calor de quartanaria en un cavallo blanco con rico guarnimiento i +gualdrapa de oro i plata bordado sobre tela de oro parda, como el +vestido galan con muchos botones de perlas i diamantes." Cabrera, Filipe +Segundo, lib. V. cap. 7. + +[1414] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1415] Strada, in a parallel which he has drawn of the royal youths, +gives the palm to Don John of Austria. His portrait of Carlos is as +little flattering in regard to his person as to his +character.--"Carolus, praeter colorem et capillum, ceterum corpore +mendosus; quippe humero clatior, et tibia altera longior erat; nee minus +dehonestamentum ab indole feroci et contumaci." De Bello Belgico, tom. +I. p. 609. + +[1416] "Este dia despues de haber comido queriendo Su Alteza bajar por +una escalera escura y de ruines pasos echo el pie derecho en vacio, y +dio una vuelta sobre todo el cuerpo, y asi cayo de cuatro o cinco +escalones. Dio con la cabeza un gran golpe en una puerta cerrada, y +quedo la cabeza abajo y los pies arriba." Relacion de la enfermedad del +Principe por el Doctor Olivares, Documentos Ineditos, tom. XV. p. 554. + +[1417] According to Guibert, the French ambassador, Carlos was engaged +in a love adventure when he met with his fall,--having descended this +dark stairway in search of the young daughter of the porter of the +garden. See Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 119. + +[1418] Ferreras, Hist. de l'Espagne, tom. IX. p. 429. + +[1419] Dr. Olivares bears emphatic testimony to this virtue, little to +have been expected in his patient.--"Lo que a su salud cumplia hizo de +la misma suerte, siendo tan obediente a los remedios que a todos +espantaba que por fuertes y recios que fuesen nunca los reuso, antes +todo el tiempo que estuvo en su acuerdo el mismo los pedia, lo cual fue +grande ayuda para la salud que Dios le dio." Documentos Ineditos, tom. +XV. p. 571. + +[1420] Another rival appeared, to contest the credit of the cure with +the bones of Fray Diego. This was Our Lady of Atocha, the patroness of +Madrid, whose image, held in the greatest veneration by Philip the +Second, was brought to the chamber of Carlos, soon after the skeleton of +the holy friar. As it was after the patient had decidedly begun to mend, +there seems to be the less reason for the chroniclers of Our Lady of +Atocha maintaining, as they sturdily do, her share in the cure. (Perada, +La Madona de Madrid, (Valladolid, 1604,) p. 151.) The veneration for the +patroness of Madrid has continued to the present day. A late journal of +that capital states that the queen, accompanied by her august consort +and the princess of Asturias, went, on the twenty-fourth of March, 1854, +in solemn procession to the church, to decorate the image with the +collar of the Golden Fleece. + +[1421] "Con todo eso tomando propriamente el nombre de milagro, a mi +juicio no lo fue, porque el Principe se curo con los remedios naturales +y ordinarios, con los cuales se suelen curar otros de la misma +enfermedad estando tanto y mas peligrosos." Documentos Ineditos, tom. +XV. p. 570. + +[1422] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 132. + +[1423] "Il aymoit fort a ribler le pave, et faire a coups d'espee, fust +de jour, fust de nuit, car il avoit avec luy dix ou douze enfans +d'honneur des plus grandes maisons d'Espagne.... Quand il alloit par les +rues quelque belle dame, et fust elle des plus grandes du pays, il la +prenoit et la baisoit par force devant tout le monde; il l'appelloit +putain, bagasse, chienne, et force autres injures leur disoit-il." +Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 323. + +[1424] "Dio un bofeton a Don Pedro Manuel, i guisadas i picadas en +menudas piecas hizo comer las votas al menestral." Cabrera, Filipe +Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22. + +De Foix, a French architect employed on the Escorial at this time, +informed the historian De Thou of the prince's habit of wearing +extremely large leggings, or boots, for the purpose mentioned in the +text. "Nam et scloppetulos binos summa arte fabricatos caligis, quae +amplissimae de more gentis in usu sunt, eum gestare solitum resciverat." +(Historiae sui Temporis, lib. XLI.) I cite the original Latin, as the +word _caligae_ has been wrongly rendered by the French translator into +_culottes_. + +[1425] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22. + +[1426] "Curilla vos os atreveis a mi, no dexando venir a servirme +Cisneros? por vida de mi padre que os tengo de matar" Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1427] "Il qual Niccolo lo fece subito et co'parole di Complimento rende +gratie a sua Altezza, offerendoli sempre tutto quel che per lui si +poteva." Lettera di Nobili, Ambasciatore del Granduca di Toscagna al Re +Philippo, 24 di Luglio, 1567, MS. + +[1428] "Ci si messe di mezzo Ruigomes et molti altri ne si e mai possuto +quietar'fin tanto che Niccolo no'li ha prestato sessantamila scudi +co'sua polizza senza altro assegniamento." Ibid. + +[1429] "Mostra di esser molto religioso solicitando come fa le prediche +et divini officii, anzi in questo si puo dir che eccede l'honesto, et +suol dire, Chi debbe far Elemosine, se non la danno i Prencipi?" +Relatione di Tiepolo, MS. + +[1430] "E splendetissimo in tutte le cose et massime nel beneficiar chi +lo serve. Il che fa cosi largamente che necessita ad amarlo anco i +servitori del Padre." Ibid. + +[1431] "E curioso nel intendere i negozii del stato, ne i quali +s'intrometterebbe volontieri, et procura di saper quello che tratta il +Padre, et che egli asconde gli fa grande offesa." Ibid. + +Granvelle, in one of his letters, notices with approbation this trait in +the character of Carlos. "Many are pleased with the prince, others not. +I think him modest, and inclined to employ himself, which, for the heir +of such large dominions, is in the highest degree necessary." Raumer, +Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 128. + +[1432] "Mi mayor amigo que tengo en esta vida, que hare lo que vos me +pidieredes." Elogios de Honorato Juan, p. 66. + +The last words, it is true, may be considered as little more than a +Castilian form of epistolary courtesy. + +[1433] "Su Alteza anada, y quite todo lo que le pareciere de mi +testamento, y este mi Codicilo, que aquello que su Alteza mandare lo +doy, y quiero que sea tan valido como si estuviesse expressado en este +mi Codicilo, o en el testamento." Ibid., p. 73. + +[1434] "Cosi come sono allegri i Spagnuoli d'haver per loro Sig^re un Re +naturale cosi stanno molto in dubio qual debbe esser il suo governo." +Relatione di Tiepolo, MS. + +[1435] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 132. + +[1436] Herrera, Historia General, tom. I. p. 680. + +[1437] Raumer (Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 153), who +cites a manuscript letter of Antonio Perez to the councillor Du Vaire, +extant in the Royal Library of Paris. A passage in a letter to Carlos +from his almoner, Doctor Hernan Suarez de Toledo, has been interpreted +as alluding to his intercourse with the deputies from Flanders: "Tambien +he llorado, no haber parecido bien que V. A. _hablase a los +procuradores_, como dicen que lo hizo, no se lo que fue, pero si que +cumple mucho hacer los hombres sus negocios propios, con consejo ageno, +por que los muy diestros nunca fian del suyo." The letter, which is +without date, is to be found in the archiepiscopal library of Toledo. + +[1438] De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 376. + +[1439] "E principe," writes the nuncio, "che quello, che ha in cuore, ha +in bocca." Lettera del Nunzio al Cardinale Alessandrini, Giugno, 1566, +MS. + +[1440] "Que eran de grandisimo engano, y error peligrosisimo, inventado +y buscado todo por el demonio, para dar travajo a V. A. y pensar darle a +todos, y para desasogear, y aun inquietar la grandeza de la monarquia." +Carta de Hernan Suarez al Principe, MS. + +[1441] The intimate relations of Doctor Suarez with Carlos exposed him +to suspicions in regard to his loyalty or his orthodoxy,--we are not +told which,--that might have cost him his life, had not this letter, +found among the prince's papers after his death, proved a sufficient +voucher for the doctor's innocence. Soto, Anotaciones a la Historia de +Talabera, MS. + +[1442] Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 13.--Strada, De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 376.--Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria, (Madrid, +1627,) fol. 37. + +[1443] Letter of Fourquevaulx, January 19, 1568 ap. Raumer, Sixteenth +and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 85. + +[1444] "Avia muchos dias, que el Principe mi Senor andaba inquieto sin +poder sosegar, y decia, que avia de matar a un hombre con quien estaba +mal, y de este dio parte al Senor Don Juan, pero sin declararle quien +fuese." De la Prision y Muerte del Principe Don Carlos, MS. + +[1445] "Pero el Prior le engano, con persuadirle dixese cual fuese el +hombre, por que seria possible poder dispensar conforme a la +satisfaccion, que S. A. pudiese tomar, y entonces dixo, que era el Rey +su Padre con quien estaba mal, y le havia de matar." Ibid. + +[1446] Ibid. + +[1447] "Ya avia llegado de Sevilla Garci Alvarez Osorio con ciento y +cincuenta mil escudos de los seiscientos mil que le avia embiado a +buscar y proveer: y que assi se apercibiesse para partir en la noche +siguiente pues la resta le remitirian en polizas en saliendo de la +Corte." Vanderhammen, Don Juan de Austria, fol. 40. + +[1448] Ibid., ubi supra.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22. + +[1449] "Sono molti giorni che stando il Re fuori comando segretamente +che si facesse fare orationi in alcuni monasterii, accio nostro Signore +Dio indrizzasse bene et felicemente un grand negotio, che si li +offeriva. Questo e costume di questo Prencipe veramente molto religioso, +quando li occorre qualche cosa da esseguire, che sia importante." +Lettera del Nunzio, 24 di Gennaio, 1568, MS. + +[1450] "On the next day, when I was present at the audience, he appeared +with as good a countenance as usual, although he was already determined +in the same night to lay hands on his son, and no longer to put up with +or conceal his follies and more than youthful extravagances." Letter of +Fourquevaulx, February 5, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth +Centuries, vol. I. p. 138. + +[1451] Ibid., ubi supra.--Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS. + +[1452] Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS.--Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 21, +1568, MS. + +De Thou, taking his account from the architect Louis de Foix, has +provided Carlos with still more formidable means of defence. "Ce Prince +inquiet ne dormoit point, qu'il n'eut sous son chevet deux epees nues et +deux pistolets chargez. Il avoit encore dans sa garderobe deux +arquebuses avec de la poudre et des balles, toujours pretes a tirer." +Hist. Universelle, tom. V. p. 439. + +[1453] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1454] "Cosi S. Mta fece levare tutte l'armi, et tutti i ferri sino a +gli alari di quella camera, et conficcare le finestre." Lettera di +Nobili, Gennaio 21, 1568, MS. + +[1455] "Aqui alco el principe grandes bozes diziendo, mateme Vra Md y no +me prenda porque es grande escandalo para el reyno y sino yo me matare, +al qual respondio el rey que no lo hiciere que era cosa de loco, y el +principe respondio no lo hare como loco sino como desesperado pues Vra +Md me trata tan mal." Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS. + +[1456] "Erasi di gia tornato nel letto il Principe usando molte parole +fuor di proposito: le quali non furno asverttite come dette quasi +singhiozzando." Lettera di Nobili, Gennaio 25, 1568, MS. + +[1457] "Y a cada uno de por si con lagrimas (segun me ha certificado +quien lo vio) les daba cuenta de la prission del Principe su hijo." +Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS. + +[1458] "Martes veinte de Enero de 1568, llamo S. M. a su camara a los de +el Consejo de Estado, y estubieron en ella desde la una de la tarde asta +las nueve de la noche, no se sabe que se tratase, el Rey hace +informacion, Secretario de ella es Oyos, hallase el Rey pressente al +examen de los testigos, ay escripto casi un feme en alto." Ibid. + +I have two copies of this interesting MS., one from Madrid, the other +from the library of Sir Thomas Phillips. Llorente's translation of the +entire document, in his Histoire de l'Inquisition, (tom. III. pp. +151-158,) cannot claim the merit of scrupulous accuracy. + +[1459] "Unos le llamaban prudente, otros severo, porque su risa i +cuchillo eran confines." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22. + +These remarkable words seem to escape from Cabrera, as if he were +noticing only an ordinary trait of character. + +[1460] "Mirabanse los mas cuerdos sellando la boca con el dedo i el +silencio." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1461] "In questo mezo e prohibito di mandar corriero nessuno, volendo +essere Sus Maesta il primo a dar alli Prencipi quest'aviso." Lettera del +Nunzio, Gennaio 21, 1568, MS. + +[1462] "En fin yo he querido hacer en esta parte sacrificio a Dios de mi +propia carne y sangre y preferir su servicio y el bien y beneficio +publico a las otras consideraciones humanas." Traslado de la Carta que +su magestad escrivio a la Reyna de Portugal sobre le prision del +Principe su hijo, 20 de Enero, 1568, MS. + +[1463] "Solo me ha parecido ahora advertir que el fundamento de esta mi +determinacion no depende de culpa, ni inovediencia, ni desacato, ni es +enderezada a castigo, que aunque para este havia la muy suficiente +materia, pudiera tener su tiempo y su termino." Ibid. + +[1464] "Ni tampoco lo he tomado por medio, teniendo esperanza que por +este camino se reformaran sus excesos y desordenes. Tiene este negocio +otro principio y razon, cuyo remedio no consiste en tiempo, ni medios; y +que es de mayor importancia y consideracion para satisfacer yo a la +dicha obligacion que tengo a Dios nuestro senor y a los dichos mis +Reynos." Ibid. + +[1465] "Pues aunque es verdad que en el discurso de su vida y trato haya +habido ocasion de alguna desobediencia o desacato que pudieran +justificar qualquiera demostracion, esto no me obligaria a llegar a tan +estrecho punto. La necesidad y conveniencia han producido las causas que +me han movido muy urgentes y precisas con mi hijo primogenito y solo." +Carta del Rey a su Embajador en Roma, 22 de Enero, 1568, MS. + +[1466] Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth +Centuries vol. I. p. 136. + +[1467] "Querria el Papa saber por carta de V. M. la verdad." Carta de +Zuniga al Rey, 28 de Abril, 1568, MS. + +[1468] Lorea, Vida de Pio Quinto, (Valladolid, 1713,) p. 131. + +[1469] In the Archives of Simancas is a department known as the +_Patronato_, or family papers, consisting of very curious documents, of +so private a nature as to render them particularly difficult of access. +In this department is deposited the correspondence of Zuniga, which, +with other documents in the same collection, has furnished me with some +pertinent extracts. + +[1470] "Estan en el archivo de Simancas, donde en el ano mil i +quinientos i noventa i dos los metio don Cristoval de Mora de su Camara +en un cofrecillo verde en que se conservan," Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, +lib. VII. cap. 22. + +[1471] It is currently reported, as I am informed, among the scholars of +Madrid, that in 1828, Ferdinand the Seventh caused the papers containing +the original process of Carlos, with some other documents, to be taken +from Simancas; but whither they were removed is not known. Nor since +that monarch's death have any tidings been heard of them. + +[1472] "Rispose che questo saria el manco, perche se non fosse stato +altro pericolo che della persona del Re si saria guardata, et rimediato +altramente, ma che ci era peggio, si peggio puo essere, al che sua +Maesta ha cercato per ogni via di rimediare due anni continui, perche +vedeva pigliarli la mala via, ma non ha mai potuto fermare ne regolare +questo cervello, fin che e bisognato arrivare a questo." Lettera del +Nunzio, Gennaio 24, 1568, MS. + +[1473] "Non lascero pero di dirle, ch'io ho ritratto et di luogo +ragionevole, che si sospetta del Prencipe di poco Cattolico: et quello, +che lo fa credere, e che fin'adesso non li han fatto dir messa." Lettera +di Nobili, Gennaio 25, 1698, MS. + +[1474] "El Papa alaba mucho la determinacion de V. M. porque entiende +que la conservacion de la Christianidad depende de que Dios de a V. M. +muchos anos de vida y qu edespues tenga tal sucesor que sepa seguir sus +pisadas." Carta de Zuniga, Junio 25, 1568, MS. + +[1475] Leti has been more fortunate in discovering a letter from Don +Carlos to Count Egmont, found among the papers of that nobleman at the +time of his arrest. (Vita di Filippo II. tom. I. p. 543.) The historian +is too discreet to vouch for the authenticity of the document, which +indeed would require a better voucher than Leti to obtain our +confidence. + +[1476] De Castro labors hard to prove that Don Carlos was a Protestant. +If he fails to establish the fact, he must be allowed to have shown that +the prince's conduct was such as to suggest great doubts of his +orthodoxy, among those who approached the nearest to him. See Historia +de los Protestantes Espanoles, p. 319 et seq. + +[1477] "Sua Maesta ha dato ordine, che nelle lettere, che si scrivono a +tutti li Prencipi et Regni, si dica, che la voce ch'e uscita ch 'l +Prencipe havesse cercato di offendere la Real persona sua propria e +falsa, et questo medesimo fa dire a bocea da Ruy Gomez +all'Imbasciatori." Lettera del Nunzio Gennaio 27, 1568, MS. + +[1478] "Si tien per fermo che privaranno il Prencipe della successione, +et non lo liberaranno mai." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, MS. + +[1479] "Para rezarse le diesen las Oras, Breviario i Rosario que +pidiese, i libros solamente de buena dotrina i devocion, si quisiese +leer y oir." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, b. VII. cap. 22. + +[1480] The _montero_ was one of the body-guard of the king for the +night. The right of filling this corps was an ancient privilege accorded +to the inhabitants of a certain district named Espinosa de los Monteros. +Llorente, Histoire de l'Inquisition, tom. III. p. 163. + +[1481] The regulations are given _in extenso_ by Cabrera, (Filipe +Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22,) and the rigor with which they were enforced +is attested by the concurrent reports of the foreign ministers at the +court. In one respect, however, they seem to have been relaxed, if, as +Nobili states, the prince was allowed to recreate himself with the +perusal of Spanish law-books, which he may have consulted with reference +to his own case. "Ha domandato, che li siano letti li statuti, et le +leggi di Spagna: ne'quali spende molto studio. Scrive assai di sua mano, +et subito scritto lo straccia." Lettera di Nobili, Giugno 8, 1568, MS. + +[1482] "Per questa causa dunque il Re et Regina vechia di quel regno +hanno mandato qui un ambasciatore a far offltio col Re cattolico per il +Prencipe, dolersi del caso, offerirsi di venire la Regina propria a +governarlo como madre." Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS. + +[1483] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. II. p. 141. + +[1484] Ibid., pp. 146-148. + +[1485] "Reyna y Princesa lloran: Don Juan va cada noche a Palacio, y una +fue muy llano, como de luto, y el Rey le rinio, y mando no andubiesse de +aquel modo, sino como solia de antes." Relacion del Ayuda de Camara, MS. + +[1486] "Sua Maesta ha fatto intendere a tutte le citta del Reyno, che +non mandino huomini o imbasciator nessuno, ne per dolersi, ne per +cerimonia, ne per altro; et pare che habbia a caro, che nessuno glie ne +parli, et cosi ogn'huomo tace." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, +MS. + +[1487] Letter of Fourquevaulx, April 13, 1568. ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and +Seventeenth Centuries, vol. II. p. 143. + +A letter of condolence from the municipality of Murcia was conceived in +such a loyal and politic vein as was altogether unexceptionable. "We +cannot reflect," it says, "without emotion, on our good fortune in +having a sovereign so just, and so devoted to the weal of his subjects, +as to sacrifice to this every other consideration, even the tender +attachment which he has for his own offspring." This, which might seem +irony to some, was received by the king, as it was doubtless intended, +in perfect good faith. His indorsement, in his own handwriting, on the +cover, shows the style in which he liked to be approached by his loving +subjects. "This letter is written with prudence and discretion."--A +translation of the letter, dated February 16, 1568, is in Llorente, +Histoire de l'Inquisition, tom. III. p. 161. + +[1488] Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth +Centuries. + +[1489] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1490] "Quella per il Re conteneva specificatamente molti agravii, che +in molti anni pretendi, che li siano statti fatti da Sua Maesta, et +diceva ch'egli se n'andava fuori delli suoi Regni per no poter +sopportare tanti agravii, che li faceva." Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, +1568, MS. + +[1491] Ibid. + +[1492] "Vi e ancora una lista, dove scriveva di sua mano gli amici, et +li nemici suoi, li quali diceva hi havere a perseguitare sempre fino +alla morte, tra li quali il primo era scritto il Re suo padre, di poi +Rui Gomez et la moglie, il Presidente, il Duca d'Alba, et certi altri." +Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS. + +[1493] "No salio el Rey de Madrid, ni aun a Aranjuez, ni a San Lorenco a +ver su fabrica, tan atento al negocio del Principe estaba, i sospechoso +a las murmuraciones de sus pueblos fieles i reverentes, que ruidos +estraordinarios en su Palacio le hazian mirar, si eran tumultos para +sacar a su Alteza de su camara." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VIII. +cap. 5. + +[1494] "Onde fu chiamato il confessore et il medico, ma egli seguitando +nella sua disperatione non volse ascoltare ne l'unno ne l'altro." +Lettera del Nunzio, MS. + +My copy of this letter, perhaps through the inadvertence of the +transcriber, is without date. + +[1495] "Ne volendo in alcun modo curare ne il corpo ne l'anima, la quai +cosa faceva stare il Re et gli altri con molto dispiacere, vedendoli +massima di continuo crescere il male, et mancar la virtu." Ibid. + +[1496] "Vea V. A. que haran y diran todos quando se entienda que no se +confiesa, y se vayan descubriendo otras cosas terribles, que le son +tanto, que llegan a que el Santo Oficio tuviera mucha entrada en otro +para saber si era cristiano o no." Carta de Hernan Suarez de Toledo al +Principe, Marzo 18, 1568, MS. + +[1497] "Spogliarsi nudo, et solo con una robba di taffeta su le carni +star quasi di continuo ad una finestra, dove tirava vento, caminare con +li piedi discalzi per la camara que tuttavia faceva stare adacquata +tanto che sempre ci era l'acqua per tutto." Lettera del Nunzio, MS. + +[1498] "Farsi raffredare ogni notte due o tre volti il letto con uno +scaldaletto pieno di neve, et tenerlo le notte intiere nel letto." Ibid. + +[1499] Three days, according to one authority. (Lettera di Nobili di 30 +di Luglio, 1568, MS.) Another swells the number to nine days (Carta de +Gomez Manrique, MS.); and a third--one of Philip's cabinet +ministers--has the assurance to prolong the prince's fast to eleven +days, in which he allows him, however, an unlimited quantity of cold +water. "Ansi se determino de no comer y en esta determinacion passaron +onze dias sin que bastasen persuasiones ni otras diligencias a que +tomase cosa bevida ni que fuese para salud sino aqua fria." Carta de +Francisco de Erasso, MS. + +[1500] "Doppo essere stato tre giorni senza mangiare molto fantastico et +bizzaro mangio un pasticcio fredolo di quatri perdici con tutta la +pasta: et il medesimo giorno bevve trecento once d'aqqua fredda." +Lettera di Nobili, Luglio 30 1568, MS. + +Yet Carlos might have found warrant for his proceedings, in regard to +the use of snow and iced water, in the prescriptions of more than one +doctor of his time. De Castro--who displays much ingenuity, and a +careful study of authorities, in his discussion of this portion of +Philip's history--quotes the writings of two of these worthies, one of +whom tells us, that the use of snow had increased to such an extent, +that not only was it recommended to patients in their drink, but also to +cool their sheets; and he forthwith prescribes a warming-pan, to be used +in the same way as it was by Carlos. Historia de los Protestantes +Espanoles, p. 370. + +[1501] "Visitabale el Doctor Olivares Protomedico i salia a consultar +con sus conpaneros en presencia de Rui Gomez de Silva la curacion, curso +i accidentes de la enfermedad." Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. +22. + +[1502] "Mostrando molta contritione, et se bene si lassava curare il +corpo per non causarsi egli stesso la morte, mostrava pero tanto +disprezzo delle cose del mondo, et tanto desiderio delle celesti; che +pareva veramente che Nostro Signore Dio gli havesse riserbato il cumulo +di tutti le gratie a quel ponto." Lettera del Nunzio, MS. + +[1503] "Tanto hanno da durare le mie miserie." Ibid. + +[1504] "And so," says Cabrera, somewhat bluntly, "the king withdrew to +his apartment with more sorrow in his heart, and less care."--"Algunas +oras antes de su fallecimiento, por entre los onbros del Prior don +Antonio i de Rui Gomez le echo su benedicion, i se recogio en su camara +c[=o] mas dolor i menos cuidado." Filipe Segundo, lib. VIII. cap. 5. + +[1505] "Il Re non l'ha visitato, ne lassato che la Regina ne la +Principessa lo veggiano, forse considerando che poi che gia si conosceva +disperato il caso suo, queste visite simili poterono piu presto +conturbare l'una at l'altra delle parti, che aiutarli in cosa nessuna." +Lettera del Nunzio, MS. + +[1506] "Il Prencipe di Spagna avante la morte diceva, che perdoneva a +tutti, et nominatamenta al Padre, che l'haveva carcerato, et a Ruy +Gomez, cardinal Presidente Dottor Velasco, et altri, per lo consiglio +de'quali credeva essere stato preso." Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 28, +1568, MS. + +[1507] "Et battendosi il petto come poteva, essendoli mancata la virtu a +poco a poco, ritirandosi la vita quasi da membro in membro espiro con +molta tranquilita et constanza." Lettera del Nunzio, MS. + +[1508] "Et testificono quelli, che vi si trovorno che Christiano nessuno +puo morir piu cattolicamente, ne in maggior sentimento di lui." Lettera +di Nobili, Luglio 30, 1568, MS. + +[1509] See, among others, Quintana, Historia de la Antigueedad Nobleza y +Grandeza de la Villa y Corte de Madrid, (1629,) fol. 368; Colmenares, +Historia de la Insigne Ciudad de Segovia, (Madrid, 1640,) cap. 43; +Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS.; Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VIII. cap. +5; Herrera, Historia General, lib. XV. cap. 3; Carta de Francisco de +Erasso, MS.; Carta de Gomez Manrique, MS. + +[1510] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 147. + +Von Raumer has devoted some fifty pages of his fragmentary compilation +to the story of Don Carlos, and more especially to the closing scenes of +his life. The sources are of the most unexceptionable kind, being +chiefly the correspondence of the French ministers with their court, +existing among the MSS. in the Royal Library at Paris. The selections +made are pertinent in their character, and will be found of the greatest +importance to illustrate this dark passage in the history of the time. +If I have not arrived at the same conclusions in all respects as those +of the illustrious German scholar, it may be that my judgment has been +modified by the wider range of materials at my command. + +[1511] Llorente, Histoire de l'Inquisition, tom. III. p. 171 et seq. + +[1512] "Quoique ces documens ne soient pas authentiques, ils meritent +qu'on y ajoute foi, en ce qu'ils sont de certaines personnes employees +dans le palais du roi." Ibid., p. 171. + +[1513] Thus, for example, he makes the contradictory statements, at the +distance of four pages from each other, that the prince did, and that he +did not, confide to Don John his desire to kill his father (pp. 148, +152). The fact is, that Llorente in a manner pledged himself to solve +the mystery of the prince's death, by announcing to his readers, at the +outset, that "he believed he had discovered the truth." One fact he must +be allowed to have established,--one which, as secretary to the +Inquisition, he had the means of verifying,--namely, that no process was +ever instituted against Carlos by the Holy Office. This was to overturn +a vulgar error, on which more than one writer of fiction has built his +story. + +[1514] "Le cicalerie, et novellacce, che si dicono, sono molto indigne +d'essere ascoltate, non che scritte, perche in vero il satisfar al +popolaccio in queste simil cose e molto difficile; et meglio e farle, +siccome porta il giusto et l'honesto senza curarsi del giudicio +d'huomini insani, et che parlono senza ragione di cose impertinenti et +impossibili di autori incerti, dappochi, et maligni." Lettera di Nobili, +Luglio 30 1568, MS. + +[1515] Letter of Antonio Perez to the counsellor Du Vair, ap. Rauner, +Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 153. + +[1516] "Mais afin de sauver l'honneur du sang royal, l'arret fut execute +en secret et on lui fit avaler un bouillon empoisone, dont il mourut +quelques heures apres, au commencement de sa vingt-troisieme annee." De +Thou, Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 436. + +[1517] "Mas es peligroso manejar vidrios, i dar ocasion da tragedias +famosas, acaecimientos notables, violentas muertes por los secretos +executores Reales no sabidas, i por inesperadas terribles, i por la +estraneza i rigor de justicia, despues de largas advertencias a los que +no cuidando dellas incurrieron en crimen de lesa Magestad." Cabrera, +Filipe Segundo, lib. VII. cap. 22. + +The admirable obscurity of the passage, in which the historian has +perfectly succeeded in mystifying his critics, has naturally led them to +suppose that more was meant by him than meets the eye. + +[1518] "Ex morbo ob alimenta partim obstinate recusata, partira +intemperanter adgesta, nimiamque nivium refrigerationem, super animi +aigritudinem (_si modo vis abfuit_), in Divi Jacobi pervigilio extinctus +est." Strada, De Bello Belgico, tom. I. p. 378. + +[1519] Apologie, ap. Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. V. par. i. p. 389. + +[1520] "Parquoy le roi conclud sur ses raisons que le meilleur estoit de +le faire mourir; dont un matin on le trouva en prison estouffe d'un +linge." Brantome, OEuvres, tom. I. p. 320. + +A taste for jesting on this subject seems to have been still in fashion +at the French court as late as Louis the Fourteenth's time. At least, we +find that monarch telling some one that "he had sent Bussy Rabutin to +the Bastile for his own benefit, as Philip the Second said when he +ordered his son to be strangled." Lettres de Madame de Sevigne, (Paris, +1822.) tom. VIII. p. 368. + +[1521] A French contemporary chronicler dismisses his account of the +death of Carlos with the remark, that, of all the passages in the +history of this reign, the fate of the young prince is the one involved +in the most impenetrable mystery. Matthieu, Breve Compendio de la Vida +Privada de Felipe Segundo, (Span, trans.,) MS. + +[1522] The Abbe San Real finds himself unable to decide whether Carlos +took poison, or, like Seneca, had his veins opened in a warm bath, or, +finally, whether he was strangled with a silk cord by four slaves sent +by his father to do the deed, in Oriental fashion. (Verdadera Historia +de la Vida y Muerte del Principe Don. Carlos, Span, trans., MS.) The +doubts of San Real are echoed with formal solemnity by Leti, Vita di +Flippo II., tom. I. p. 559. + +[1523] Von Raumer, who has given an analysis of this letter of Antonio +Perez, treats it lightly, as coming from "a double-dealing, bitter enemy +of Philip," whose word on such a subject was of little value. (Sixteenth +and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 155.) It was certainly a singular +proof of confidence in one who was so habitually close in his concerns +as the prince of Eboli, that he should have made such a communication to +Perez. Yet it must be admitted that the narrative derives some +confirmation from the fact, that the preceding portions of the letter +containing it, in which the writer describes the arrest of Carlos, +conform with the authentic account of that event as given in the text. + +It is worthy of notice, that both De Thou and Llorente concur with Perez +in alleging poison as the cause of the prince's death. Though even here +there is an important discrepancy; Perez asserting it was a slow poison, +taking four months to work its effect, while the other authorities say +that its operation was immediate. Their general agreement, moreover, in +regard to the employment of poison, is of the less weight, as such an +agency would be the one naturally surmised under circumstances where it +would be desirable to leave no trace of violence on the body of the +victim. + +[1524] If we may take Brantome's word, there was some ground for such +apprehension at all times. "En fin il estoit un terrible masle; et s'il +eust vescu, assurez-vous qu'il s'en fust faict aeroire, et qu'il eust +mis le pere en curatelle." OEuvres, tom. I. p. 323. + +[1525] "Li piu favoriti del Re erono odiati da lui a morte, et adesso +tanto piu, et quando questo venisse a regnare si teneriano rovinati +loro." Lettera del Nunzio, Febraio 14, 1568, MS. + +[1526] Ante. p. 177. + +It is in this view that Dr. Salazar de Mendoza does not shrink from +asserting, that, if Philip did make a sacrifice of his son, it rivalled +in sublimity that of Isaac by Abraham, and even that of Jesus Christ by +the Almighty! "Han dicho de el lo que del Padre Eterno, que no perdono a +su propio Hijo. Lo que del Patriarca Abraham en el sacrificio de Isaac +su unigenito. A todo caso humano excede la gloria que de esto le +resulta, y no hay con quien comparalla." (Dignidades de Castilla y Leon, +p. 417.) He closes this rare piece of courtly blasphemy by assuring us +that in point of fact Carlos died a natural death. The doctor wrote in +the early part of Philip the Third's reign, when the manner of the +prince's death was delicate ground for the historian. + +[1527] Philip the Second is not the only Spanish monarch who has been +charged with the murder of his son. Leovogild, a Visigothic king of the +sixth century, having taken prisoner his rebel son, threw him into a +dungeon, where he was secretly put to death. The king was an Arian, +while the young prince was a Catholic, and might have saved his life if +he had been content to abjure his religion. By the Church of Rome, +therefore, he was regarded as a martyr; and it is a curious circumstance +that it was Philip the Second who procured the canonization of the +slaughtered Hermenegild from Pope Sixtus the Fifth. + +For the story, taken from that voluminous compilation of Florez, "_La +Espana Sagrada_," I am indebted to Milman's History of Latin +Christianity (London, 1854, vol. I. p. 446), one of the remarkable works +of the present age, in which the author reviews, with curious erudition, +and in a profoundly philosophical spirit, the various changes that have +taken place in the Roman hierarchy: and while he fully exposes the +manifold errors and corruptions of the system, he shows throughout that +enlightened charity which is the most precious of Christian graces, as +unhappily it is the rarest. + +[1528] Lettera di Nobili, Luglio 30, 1568, MS. + +[1529] I have before me another will made by Don Carlos in 1564, in +Alcala de Henares, the original of which is still extant in the Archives +of Simancas. In one item of this document, he bequeathes five thousand +ducats to Don Martin de Cordova, for his gallant defence of Mazarquivir. + +[1530] Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 28, 1568, MS.--Quintana, Historia de +Madrid, fol. 369. + +[1531] "Partieron con el cuerpo, aviendo el Rey con la entereza de animo +que mantuvo sienpre, conpuesto desde una ventana las diferencias de los +Consejos disposiendo la precedencia, cesando assi la competencia." +Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, lib. VIII. cap. 5. + +[1532] The particulars of the ceremony are given by the Nunzio, Lettera +di 28 di Luglio, MS.--See also Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. 369. + +[1533] Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS.--Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. +369.--Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 28, 1568, MS.--Cabrera, Filipe Segundo, +lib. VIII. cap. 5. + +[1534] Carta del Rey a Zuniga, Agosto 27, 1568, MS. + +[1535] "Digo la missa el Cardenal Tarragona, asistiendo a las honras 21 +cardenales idemas de los obispos y arzobispos." Aviso de un Italiano +platico y familiar de Ruy Gomez de Silva, MS. + +[1536] "Oracion funebre," writes the follower of Ruy Gomez, "no la hubo, +pero ye hizo estos epitaphios y versos por mi consolacion." Ibid. + +Whatever "consolation" the Latin doggerel which follows in the original +may have given to its author, it would have too little interest for the +reader to be quoted here. + +[1537] "Il Re como padre ha sentito molto, ma come christiano la +comporta con quells patienza con che dovemo ricevere le tribulationi, +che ci manda Nostro Signore Dio." Lettera del Nunzio, Luglio 24, 1568, +MS. + +[1538] Raumer has given an extract from this letter, Sixteenth and +Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 149. + +[1539] Besides Brantome, and De Thou, elsewhere noticed in this +connection, another writer of that age, Pierre Matthieu, the royal +historiographer of France, may be thought to insinuate something of the +kind, when he tells us that "the circumstance of Isabella so soon +following Carlos to the tomb had suggested very different grounds from +those he had already given as the cause of his death." (Breve Compendio +de la Vida Privada del Rey Felipe Segundo, MS.) But the French writer's +account of Philip is nearly as apocryphal as the historical romance of +San Real, who, in all that relates to Carlos in particular, will be +found largely indebted to the lively imagination of his predecessor. + +[1540] "Aussi dit on que cela fut cause de sa mort en partie, avec +d'autres subjects que je ne dirai point a ceste heure; car il ne se +pouvoit garder de l'aimer dans son ame, l'honorer et reverer, tant il la +trouvoit aymable et agreable a ses yeux, comme certes elle l'estoit en +tout." Brantome, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 128. + +[1541] "Luy eschappa de dire que c'avoit este fait fort meschamment de +l'avoir fait mourir et si innocentement, dont il fut banny jusques au +plus profond des Indes d'Espagne. Cela est tres que vray, a ce que l'on +dit." Ibid., p. 132. + +[1542] Apologie, ap. Dumont, Corps Diplomatique, tom. V. par. i. p. 389. + +Strada, while he notices the common rumors respecting Carlos and +Isabella, dismisses them as wholly unworthy of credit. "Mihi, super id +quod incomperta sunt, etiam veris dissimilia videntur." De Bello +Belgico, tom. I. p. 379. + +[1543] At the head of these writers must undoubtedly be placed the Abbe +San Real, with whose romantic history of Don Carlos I am only acquainted +in the Castilian translation, entitled "Verdadera Historia de la Vida y +Muerte del Principe Don Carlos." Yet, romance as it is, more than one +grave historian has not disdained to transplant its flowers of fiction +into his own barren pages. It is edifying to see the manner in which +Leti, who stands not a little indebted to San Real, after stating the +scandalous rumors in regard to Carlos and Isabella, concludes by +declaring: "Ma come io sorivo historia, e non romanzo, non posso afirmar +nulli di certo, perche nulla di certo ho possuto raccore." Leti, Vita di +Filippo II., tom. I. p. 560. + +[1544] "Monsieur le prince d'Hespaigne fort extenue, la vint saluer, +qu'elle recent avec telle caresse et comportement, que si le pere et +toute la compaignie en ont receu ung singulier contentement ledit prince +l'a encores plus grand, comme il a demonstre depuis et demonstre +lorsqu'il la visite, qui ne peut estre souvent; car outre que les +conversations de ce pays ne sont pas si frequentes et faciles qu'en +France, sa fievre quarte le travaille tellement, que de jour en jour il +va s'extenuant." L'Eveque de Limoges au Roi, 23 fevrier, 1559. +Negociations relatives au Regne de Francois II., p. 272. + +[1545] "Ayant ladite dame mis toute la peine qu'il a este possible a luy +donner, aux soirs, quelque plaisir du bail et autres honnestes +passetemps, desquels il a bon besoin, car le pauvre prince est si has et +extenue, il va d'heure a heure tant affoiblissant, que les plus sages de +oeste court en out bien petite esperance." L'Eveque de Limoges au Roi, +1^er mars, 1569, Ibid., p. 291. + +[1546] "La royne et la princesse la visitent bien souvent, et sopent en +un jardin qui est aupres de la meson, et le prince avec elles, qui aime +la royne singulierement, de facon qu'il ne ce peut soler de an dire +bien. _Je croys qu'il voudrait estre davantage son parent._" Claude de +... a la Reine Mere, aout, 1560, Ibid., p. 460. + +[1547] "On entendit aussi tres-souvent ce jeune Prince, lorsqu'il +sortoit de la chambre de la Reine Elizabeth, avec qui il avoit de longs +et frequens entretiens, se plaindre et marquer sa colere et son +indignation, de ce que son pere la lui avoit enlevee." De Thou, Histoire +Universelle, tom. V. p. 434. + +[1548] "Vous dires-ge, madame, que sy se n'estoit la bonne compaignie ou +je suis en se lieu, et l'heur que j'ai de voir tous les jours le roy mon +seigneur, je trouverois se lieu l'un des plus facheux du monde. Mais je +vous assure, madame, que j'ay un si bon mari et suis si heureuse que, +quant il le seroit cent fois davantage, je ne m'y facherois point." La +Reine Catholique a la Reine Mere, Negociations relatives au Regne de +Francois II. p. 813. + +[1549] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 129. + +[1550] Ibid., p. 130. + +[1551] Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1552] "Ceste taille, elle l'accompagnoit d'un port, d'une majeste, d'un +geste, d'un marcher et d'une grace entremeslee de l'espagnole et de la +francoise en gravite et en douceur." See Brantome, (OEuvres, tom. V. p. +129,) whose loyal pencil has traced the lineaments of Isabella as given +in the text. + +[1553] Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 131. + +[1554] Letter of Fourquevaulx, February 5, 1568, ap. Ibid., p. 139. + +[1555] "Gli amici, in primo loco la Regina, la quale diceva che gli era +amorevolissima, Don Giovanni d'Austria suo carissimo et diletissimozio," +etc. Lettera del Nunzio, Marzo 2, 1568, MS. + +[1556] Letter of Fourquevaulx, October 3, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth +and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 158. + +[1557] "Pero la Reyna hacia muy poco caudal de lo que los medicos decian +dando a entender con su Real condicion y gracioso semblante tener poca +necesidad de sus medicinas." Relacion de la Enfermedad y Essequias +funebres de la Serenissima Reyna de Espana Dona Ysabel de Valois, por +Juan Lopez, Catedratico del Estudio de Madrid, (Madrid, 1569,) fol. 4. + +[1558] Ibid., ubi supra. + +The learned professor has given the various symptoms of the queen's +malady with as curious a minuteness as if he had been concocting a +medical report. As an order was issued, shortly after the publication of +the work, prohibiting its sale, copies of it are exceedingly rare. + +[1559] Quintana, Historia de Madrid, fol. 390.--Letter of Fourquevaulx, +October 3, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. +I. p. 139.--Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel, +ubi supra.--Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS. + +[1560] "Porque en efecto, el modo y manera conque ella las trataba, no +hera de senora a quien pareciesen servir, sino de madre y companera." +Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel, loc. cit. + +[1561] Ibid.--Pinelo, Anales de Madrid, MS. + +[1562] Letter of Fourquevaulx, October 3, 1568, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth +and Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 159. + +[1563] "Habia ordenado se tragese el lignum crucis del Rey nuestro +Senor, que es una muy buena parte que con grandismo hornato de oro y +perlas de supremo valor S. M. tiene." Juan Lopez, Relacion de la +Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel. + +[1564] Letter of Fourquevaulx, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and Seventeenth +Centuries. vol. I p. 159. + +[1565] Ibid., loc. cit. + +The correspondence of the French ambassador, Fourquevaulx, is preserved +in MS., in the Royal Library at Paris. Raumer, with his usual judgment, +has freely extracted from it; and the freedom with which I have drawn +upon him shows the importance of his extracts to the illustration of the +present story. I regret that my knowledge of the existence of this +correspondence came too late to allow me to draw from the original +sources. + +[1566] "Bistieron a la Reyna de habito de S. Francisco, y la pusieron en +un ataud poniendo con ella la infanta que en poco espacio habiendo +racebido agua de Espiritu Santo murio." Juan Lopez, Relacion de la +Enfermedad de la Reyna Ysabel. + +[1567] "Fue cosa increible el doblar, y chamorear, por todas las +parroquias, y monasterios, y hospitales. Lo cual causo un nuebo dolor y +grandisimo aumento de aristeza, siendo ya algo tarde los grandes que en +la corte se hallaban, y mayordomos de S. M. sacaron el cuerpo de la +Reyna, y binieron con el a la Capilla Real." Ibid. + +[1568] "Jamais on ne vit peuple si desole ny si afflige, ni tant jeter +de hauts cris, ny tant espandre de larmes qu'il fit.... Que, pour +maniere de parler, vous eussiez dit, qu'il l'idolatroit plustost qu'il +ne l'honoroit et reveroit." Brantome, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 131. + +[1569] "Puesto el cuerpo por este orden cubierto con un muy rico pano de +brocado rodeado el cadalso de muchas achas en sus muy sumtuosos +blandones de plata." Juan Lopez, Relacion de la Enfermedad de la Reyna +Ysabel, ubi supra. + +[1570] "Las damas en las tribunas de donde oye misa con hartos suspiros +y sollozos llebaban el contrapunto a la suave, triste y contemplatiba +musica, conque empezaron el oficio la capilla de S. M." Ibid., ubi +supra. + +[1571] "Las cuales viendo sparta el cuerpo, dieron muchos gritos y +suspiros y abriendole la duquesa de Alba, trajo muchos polbos de olores +aromaticos de grande olor y fragrancia, y embalsamon a la Reyna: la cual +aunque habia pasado tanto tiempo estaba como si entonces acabara de +morir, y con tan gran hermosura en el rostro que no parecia esta +muerta." Ibid., ubi supra. + +[1572] Letter of St. Goar, June 18, 1573, ap. Raumer, Sixteenth and +Seventeenth Centuries, vol. I. p. 163.--Quintana, Historia de Madrid, +fol. 370. + +[1573] Letter of Catherine de Medicis, ap. Raumer, vol. I. p. 162. + +[1574] Letter of Cardinal Guise. Feb. 6, 1569, ap. Ibid., 163. + +[1575] The openness with which Carlos avowed his sentiments for Isabella +may be thought some proof of their innocence. Catherine de Medicis, in a +letter to Fourquevaulx, dated February 28, 1568, says, alluding to the +prince's arrest: "I am concerned that the event very much distresses my +daughter, as well with regard to her husband as in respect of the +prince, who has always let her know the good-will he bears to her." +Ibid., p. 141. + +[1576] The French historian, De Thou, by no means disposed to pass too +favorable a judgment on the actions of Philip, and who in the present +case would certainly not be likely to show him any particular grace, +rejects without hesitation the suspicion of foul play on the part of the +king. "Quelques-uns soupconnerent Philippe de l'avoir fait empoissoner, +parce qu'il lui avoit fait un crime de la trop grande familiarite +qu'elle avoit avec Dom Carlos. Il est neanmoins facile de se convaincre +du contraire, par la grande et sincere douleur que sa mort causa, tant a +la Cour que dans toute l'Espagne; le Roi la pleura, comme une femme +qu'il aimoit tres-tendrement." Histoire Universelle, tom. V. p. 437. + +[1577] Brantome, OEuvres, tom. V. p. 137. + +Yet Isabella's mother, Catherine de Medicis, found fault with her +daughter, in the interview at Bayonne, for having become altogether a +Spaniard, saying to her tauntingly, "_Muy Espanola venis_." To which the +queen meekly replied, "It is possible that it may be so; but you will +still find me the same daughter to you as when you sent me to Spain." +The anecdote is told by Alva in a letter to the king. Carta del Duque de +Alva al Rey, MS. + +[1578] "Aussi l'appelloit-on _la Reyna de le paz y de la bondad_, +c'est-a-dire la Reyn de la paix et de la bonte; et nos Francois +l'appellarent l'olive de paix." Ibid p. 129. + +[1579] "Elle est morte au plus beau et plaisant avril de son aage.... +Car elle estoit de naturel et de tainct pour durer longtemps belle, et +aussi que la vieillesss ne l'eust ose attaquer car sa beaute fut este +plus forte." Ibid., p. 137. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of History of the Reign of Philip the +Second, King of Spain., by William H. 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