Chapter 23

1Albert III., Duke of Bavaria, married in 1546 Anne, daughter of Ferdinand, and had by her two sons, William, the hereditary Prince, his successor, and Ferdinand.

2For details of these negotiations, see Motley,Rise of the Dutch RepublicPart IV., ch. iii.

3See Motley,Dutch Republic, Part IV., ch. ii. The siege was eventually raised on October 3rd.

4In the original the place is given as ‘Augustæ’ = Augsburg; but from the first line of the letter it appears it was written at Speyer. ‘Augustæ’ is probably a mistake caused by ‘Augusti’ following immediately.

5Nearly twelve years have elapsed since we parted company with Busbecq on his return from Turkey. A sketch of his life during this interval will be found in vol. i. pp.59-64. We there expressed some doubt as to whether there was any trustworthy authority for his visit to Spain in attendance on the younger Archdukes; we have, however, since obtained evidence of it in the Archduke Albert’s decree, creating the Barony of Bousbecque. In it are recited Busbecq’s services, and amongst them this visit is mentioned. The date of the decree is September 30, 1600, and it states that the visit took place twenty-five years before. This is obviously an error, as we can account for his time from August 1574 to February 1576; in all probability the true date of the visit lies between the years 1570, when Albert and Wenceslaus went to Spain with their sister Anne on her marriage to Philip II., and 1572, when we find Busbecq residing at Vienna. See vol. i. p.62.

6That is, about thirty-five English miles. See note, vol. i. p.80.

7For an account of this interesting lady, who was at this time barely twenty years of age, see note to LetterXXXVI.

8After Henry III.’s flight from Poland, he stayed some time at Vienna, where Maximilian, through Pibrac, made overtures to him, offering the hand of his daughter, the widowed Queen. Henry was under such great obligations to Maximilian, that he was disinclined to give a downright refusal.Thuanus, iii. p. 8. The following quotation from an account of Busbecq’s Queen will show what these obligations were. ‘Or, estant veufve, plusieurs personnes d’hommes et dames de la Court, des plus clair voyans que je sçay, eurent opinion que le Roy, à son retour de Pologne, l’espouseroit, encore qu’elle fust sa belle sœur; car il le pouvoit par la dispense du Pape, qui peut beaucoup en telles matieres, et sur tout à l’endroit des grands, à cause du bien public qui en sort. Et y avoit beaucoup de raisons que ce mariage se fist, lesquelles je laisse à deduire aux plus hauts discoureurs, sans que je les allegue. Mais, entre autres, l’une estoit pour recognoistre par ce mariage les obligations grandes que le Roy avoit reçeues de l’Empereur à son retour et depart de Pologne; car il ne faut point douter que, si l’Empereur eust voulu luy donner le moindre obstacle du monde, il n’eust jamais peu partir ny passer ny se conduire seurement en France. Les Polonnois le vouloient retenir s’il ne fust party sans leur dire adieu; car les Allemans le guettoient de toutes parts pour l’attrapper (comme fut ce brave roy Richard d’Angleterre, retournant de la Terre Saincte, ainsi que nous lisons en nos chroniques), et l’eussent tout de mesme arresté prisonnier et faict payer rançon, ou possible pis; car ils luy en vouloient fort, à cause de la feste de la Sainct Barthelemy, au moins les princes protestans.’—Brantôme, v. 298-299.

9Henry of Navarre is generally spoken of in these letters as the Duke of Vendôme, or at most, the titular King of Navarre. The greater part of the kingdom had been seized by Ferdinand the Catholic in 1515, and has ever since been held by the Kings of Spain. Henry’s power was derived from his position as a great French noble, the first Prince of the blood after the King’s brother, and from his vast possessions in France, and not from the fragment of Navarre from which he derived his title. Subjoined is a short sketch of his family:—Charles de Bourbon, Duc de Vendôme,descended from the sixth son of Louis IX.│(Saint Louis)┌─────────────────────┬──────────┐Anthony, Duc de Vendôme= Jeanne d’Albret,│ Queen of Navarre│││Louis de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, killed at Jarnac, 1569│││││││Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, set up as King by the League after Henry III.’s death under the title of Charles X.┌────────┐Henry Duc de Vendômeafterwards Henry IV.Catherine =Henri, Duc de Bar, eldest son of the Duke of Lorraine┌──────────┬──────┬────────┐Henri, born 1552,Prince de Condé.François, Prince de Conti, born 1558.Charles, Cardinal de Bourbon, born 1562.Several otherchildren.

10Montmorency, the eldest son of the famous Constable Anne de Montmorency, and himself Duc de Montmorency and Marshal of France. He was born in 1530, and fought at St. Quentin, and at the taking of Calais. He and Cossé were suspected of being implicated in the rising of Shrove-Tuesday, 1574, concerted between Alençon and the Huguenots, and were imprisoned in the Bastille. His wife was a natural daughter of Henry II. by Diane de Poitiers, who had been legitimated. He died without issue in 1579. His four brothers were, Damville, Monsieur de Montbéron, killed at the battle of Dreux in 1562, Monsieur de Méru, and Monsieur de Thoré. See note page11, and also note page16.Cossé took part in Guise’s famous defence of Metz in 1552, was appointedsurintendant des financesin 1563, and Marshal in 1567. He fought at St. Denis and Moncontour, but was defeated by Coligny at Arny-le-Duc in 1570. He died in 1582, aged 70. According to Brantôme (ii. 434), he remarked on his imprisonment: ‘Je ne sçay pas ce que M. de Montmorency peut avoir faict, mais quant à moy, je sçay bien que je n’ay rien faict pour estre prisonnier avec luy, sinon pour luy tenir compagnie quand on le fera mourir, et moy avec luy; que l’on me fera de mesmes que l’on faict bien souvent à de pauvres diables, que l’on pend pour tenir compagnie seulement à leurs compagnons, encor qu’ilz n’ayent rien meffaict.’

Cossé took part in Guise’s famous defence of Metz in 1552, was appointedsurintendant des financesin 1563, and Marshal in 1567. He fought at St. Denis and Moncontour, but was defeated by Coligny at Arny-le-Duc in 1570. He died in 1582, aged 70. According to Brantôme (ii. 434), he remarked on his imprisonment: ‘Je ne sçay pas ce que M. de Montmorency peut avoir faict, mais quant à moy, je sçay bien que je n’ay rien faict pour estre prisonnier avec luy, sinon pour luy tenir compagnie quand on le fera mourir, et moy avec luy; que l’on me fera de mesmes que l’on faict bien souvent à de pauvres diables, que l’on pend pour tenir compagnie seulement à leurs compagnons, encor qu’ilz n’ayent rien meffaict.’

11‘Le peuple de la ville, n’agueres partisan de cette famille, les reçeut avec injures et contribua 800 harquebusiers de garde tant que leur prison dura.’—Aubigné,Histoire, vol. ii. bk. ii. ch. vi.

12ByNoveBusbecq probably means the town which d’Aubigné (Histoire, vol. ii. bk. ii. ch. ix.) calls Nonnai, now Annonay, 24 French miles from Lyons. D’Aubigné says the distance is nine leagues, which roughly corresponds with Busbecq’s twelve miles. See note, vol. i. page80. Annonay was a town in the Vivarais, one of the districts which were the strongholds of the Protestant cause, and was itself a Protestant town. For an account of the sieges it underwent, and of the civil war in the Vivarais, see Poncer,Mémoires sur Annonay. On this occasion the town was summoned on October 22nd, and blockaded till December 8th, so the news in the text was premature. Dr. Dale, the English representative at the French Court, mentions the raising of the siege of ‘Noue,’ in a letter dated December 23rd.—Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1572-74, p. 583.

13Louis de Bourbon, Duc de Montpensier, born in 1513, was descended from a branch of the Bourbon-Vendôme family, and on his mother’s side was nephew to the Constable de Bourbon. He served as a volunteer at St. Quentin, where he was made prisoner. He was a bitter enemy to the Huguenots. ‘Quand il prenait les heretiques par composition,’ says Brantôme (iii. 364), ‘il ne la leur tenait nullement, disant qu’à un heretique, on n’estoit nullement obligé de garder sa foy.’ He distinguished himself at Jarnac and Moncontour. He took a prominent part in the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. From 1574 to 1576 he commanded in Poitou and Saintonge, and died in 1582. By his first wife, Jacqueline de Longwy, who was a Protestant, he had a son and four daughters, one of whom, Charlotte, married the Prince of Orange. See LetterXIX. and note. His son—who, till he succeeded to the title of Montpensier, on his father’s death, was known as thePrince Dauphin d’Auvergne—is frequently mentioned in Busbecq’s letters to Rodolph. Fontenay is a town, nearly due west of Poitiers, and about fifty-five English miles from it.

14Guy du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac, was born at Toulouse, in 1529. He became member of the Parliament there, and was one of the French ambassadors at the Council of Trent in 1562. In 1565, at the recommendation of the Chancellor l’Hôpital, he was appointedAvocat-Généralto the Parliament of Paris. He accompanied Henry to Poland as Chancellor, and was in great danger during the precipitate flight of the King. After his return to Paris he sold his office of Advocate. He was again despatched to Poland, to persuade the Diet to allow Henry to retain the crown, but his mission proved unsuccessful. He was afterwards Chancellor of the Queen of Navarre, with whom he was supposed to be in love. He went with Alençon to Flanders, as his Chancellor, and died in 1584. He was celebrated for his eloquence.

15The Comte de Damville was second son of the Constable, and brother to the Duc de Montmorency (see page8). He was born in 1534, and was made Governor of Languedoc in 1563, which he held for nearly fifty years, almost as an independent sovereign. He was the leader of the moderate Roman Catholic party, known as the Politiques, and after the death of Henry III. adhered to the cause of Henry IV., who on December 8th, 1593, created him Constable. He succeeded to the Dukedom of Montmorency on his brother’s death in 1579. He died in 1614.

16The Castle of Lusignan was the original seat of the famous family of Lusignan, which gave kings to Jerusalem and Cyprus. In the keep of the château was a fountain, said to be haunted by the fairy Melusine, the ancestress and tutelary genius of the family. According to the legend, the founder of the family first met her by a forest spring. Before she became his wife she exacted a promise from him that he would not attempt to see her on the Saturday in every week, or to find out where she had gone. For a time all went on well, but unfortunately the husband was at last persuaded to peep into the room to which Melusine had retired. To his horror he discovered that on every Saturday half her body was transformed into a serpent. Finding the secret was no longer hers, she thrice flew round the château, and then vanished. She was believed to appear at times on the keep of thechâteau, and whenever she was seen it was said to presage a death, either in the Lusignan family or in the Royal family of France.Lusignan is situated about fourteen English miles south-west of Poitiers. De l’Estoile, i. 49, gives some details of the siege and capitulation. “Le mardy, 25ejanvier, la ville et chasteau de Lusignan furent rendus par les Huguenos à M. de Montpensier, chef de l’armée du Roy en Poictou, soubs condition de vies et bagues sauves, et d’estre conduits seurement à la Rochelle: de quoi furent baillés ostages pour seureté de ladite capitulation, encores que la foy de M. de Montpensier ne peust ni ne deust estre suspecte aux Huguenos, lesquels furent assiégés trois mois et vingt et un jours, durant lesquels furent tirés de sept à huict mil coups de canon.” If Brantôme does not belie Montpensier (see note 2, page 9), the besieged had good reason for the precautions they took.

Lusignan is situated about fourteen English miles south-west of Poitiers. De l’Estoile, i. 49, gives some details of the siege and capitulation. “Le mardy, 25ejanvier, la ville et chasteau de Lusignan furent rendus par les Huguenos à M. de Montpensier, chef de l’armée du Roy en Poictou, soubs condition de vies et bagues sauves, et d’estre conduits seurement à la Rochelle: de quoi furent baillés ostages pour seureté de ladite capitulation, encores que la foy de M. de Montpensier ne peust ni ne deust estre suspecte aux Huguenos, lesquels furent assiégés trois mois et vingt et un jours, durant lesquels furent tirés de sept à huict mil coups de canon.” If Brantôme does not belie Montpensier (see note 2, page 9), the besieged had good reason for the precautions they took.

17Published September 10th at Lyons.

18The Seigneur de Rambouillet was sent by the Queen Mother, and the Seigneur d’Estrées by Alençon, to Henry on June 4th, to congratulate him on his accession.—De l’Estoile, i. 5. ‘Rambouillet, that was aforetime captain in one of the guards, and his three brothers, has left the Court, because the King has given away an office, that one of the Rambouillets looked for.’—Calendar of State Papers, Foreign Series, 1572-74, p. 560.

19These towns had been retained by the French when the rest of the possessions of the Duke of Savoy were restored to him, partly after the treaty of Cateau Cambrésis, in 1559, and partly by Charles IX. in 1562. With the exception of the Marquisate of Saluzzo, they were the last remains of the French conquests beyond the Alps. The Duchess of Savoy was Margaret, daughter of Francis I., and therefore aunt to Henry III. She was born in 1523, married in 1559, at the conclusion of peace, to Emmanuel Philibert, Duke of Savoy, and died September 14th, 1574. The indignant protest of the Duc de Nevers against the surrender of these towns may be found in the compilation known as hisMémoires, vol. i. page i.

20Frederic III. was Elector Palatine from 1559 to 1576. He was the first important German prince who embraced Calvinism, and was the head of that sect in Germany. His Court was the asylum of the French and Flemish exiles. When Henry III. passed through Germany on his way to Poland, he visited Heidelberg at the Palatine’s invitation. He found the gates of the town guarded, the streets lined with soldiers, match in hand, and no one to receive him at the Castle except armed men. Halfway up the stairs he was met by the Rhinegrave, attended by two of the survivors of the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew. The Rhinegrave asked him on the Elector’s behalf to excuse his coming down, on account of indisposition. Henry found him at the entrance of the room supported by a gentleman, in the attitude of a man who finds it a great effort to stand upright. ‘On n’y pouvoit entrer sans jetter la veüe sur un grand Tableau de la mort de l’Admiral, et des principaux Seigneurs tués à Paris. Voyant que le Roi portoit sa veüe de ce costé, il poussa un grand souspir, et dit tout haut, “Ceux qui les ont fait mourir sont bien malheureux, croyez qu’ils estoient gens de bien et grands Capitaines.” Le Roy respondit doucement, “Qu’ils estoient capables de bien faire s’ils eussent voulu.” Ce Prince sentoit un grand contentement en son ame de pouvoir faire esclatter l’excez de sa passion en la presence du Roy, il en fit voir les effets en diverses façons, lui donna à souper, et le servit de poisson, mais il n’eut pour Gentilhomme que ceux qu’on luy dit avoir eschappé le jour de Saint Barthelemy, qu’il appelloit “La boucherie et le massacre de Paris.”’ The next day the Count took more than thirty turns with the King up and down the great hall of the Castle, with a firm step and in perfect health, so as to show that his indisposition of the previous evening had been entirely feigned.—Matthieu,Histoire de France, i. p. 363. The Palatine’s second son, John Casimir, born in 1543, is a prominent figure in the religious wars of the time. He was one of the military adventurers who hoped in the general confusion to win themselves a throne by their sword. He conducted several expeditions to the aid of the French Protestants, and was one of the many princes suggested as a husband for Queen Elizabeth. At her instigation he was given the command of the German army which entered the Netherlands in 1578. For an estimate of his character see Motley,Rise of the Dutch Republic. Part V. ch. v. He died in 1592.

21The two sons of the Constable were his two youngest sons, de Méru and de Thoré. While the Marshal and Damville, their elder brothers, remained Catholics, they became Protestants. The reason of their flight to Germany was that they had been implicated in the rising of Shrove Tuesday, 1574, and the conspiracy to seize Charles IX. at St. Germain. ‘Les cousins [du Prince de Condé] de Thoré et de Méru se rendent à Geneve, où le Seingneur de Thoré se déclare et fait profession de la Religion et là est arresté et retenu, et son frère de Méru mis hors ladite ville, pour ne vouloir faire semblable profession.’—De l’Estoile, i. 22.

22François de Foix de Candale, Bishop of Aire, in Gascony, third son of Gaston de Foix, Comte de Candale, Captal de Buch, &c. His father’s sister Anne married Ladislaus, King of Hungary and Bohemia, by whom she had two children—Louis, King of Hungary, killed at Mohacz in 1526, and Anne, who married the Emperor Ferdinand, and was the mother of the Emperor Maximilian. The Bishop was one of the most learned men of his time, especially in mathematics and natural philosophy. Besides the works mentioned in the text, he translated Euclid into Latin. He invented various mathematical instruments, and founded a chair of mathematics in the College of Aquitaine at Bordeaux. He died in 1594, aged eighty-four according to Thuanus, but eighty-one according to his monument. D’Aubigné, in hisMémoiresunder the year 1580, relates the following anecdote of him and Henry IV. ‘Le roi de Navarre, passant un jour à Cadillac, pria le grand François de Candale, de lui faire voir son excellent cabinet, ce qu’il vouloit bien faire, à condition qu’il n’y entreroit pas d’ignares. “Non, mon oncle,” dit mon maître, “je n’y mènerai personne qui ne soit plus capable de le voir et d’en connoître le prix que moi.” La compagnie s’amusa d’abord à faire lever le poids d’un canon par une petite machine qu’un enfant de six ans tenoit entre ses mains. Comme elle étoit fort attentive à cette operation, je me mis à considérer un marbre noir de sept pieds en quarré, qui servoit de table au bon Seigneur de Candale; et ayant apperçu un crayon, j’écrivis dessus pendant qu’on raisonnait sur la petite machine, ce distique latin:—Non isthæc, princeps, regem tractare doceto,Sed docta regni pondera ferre manu.Cela fait, je recouvris le marbre et rejoignis la compagnie, qui étant arrivée à ce marbre, M. de Candale dit à mon maître, “Voici ma table;” et ayant ôté la couverture et vu ce distique, il s’écria, “Ah! il y a ici un homme.” “Comment,” reprit le roi de Navarre, “croyez-vous que les autres soient des bêtes? Je vous prie, mon oncle, de deviner à la mine qui vous jugez capable d’avoir fait ce coup.” Ce qui fournit matière à d’assez plaisans propos.’

Non isthæc, princeps, regem tractare doceto,Sed docta regni pondera ferre manu.

Non isthæc, princeps, regem tractare doceto,

Sed docta regni pondera ferre manu.

Cela fait, je recouvris le marbre et rejoignis la compagnie, qui étant arrivée à ce marbre, M. de Candale dit à mon maître, “Voici ma table;” et ayant ôté la couverture et vu ce distique, il s’écria, “Ah! il y a ici un homme.” “Comment,” reprit le roi de Navarre, “croyez-vous que les autres soient des bêtes? Je vous prie, mon oncle, de deviner à la mine qui vous jugez capable d’avoir fait ce coup.” Ce qui fournit matière à d’assez plaisans propos.’

23He was killed February, 1573, in an attack on the château of Soumiere, in Languedoc.—Mezeray,Histoire de France, iii. 282.

24The Egyptian deity Thoth, was identified with the Greek Hermes, and was considered the real author of everything produced or discovered by the human mind. Being thus the source of all human knowledge and thought, he was termedτρὶς μέγιστος, or Thrice Greatest. A variety of works are preserved, of which he is the reputed author. The most probable opinion as to their real origin is that they were forgeries of Neo-Platonists in the third or fourth century of our era. The most important of them is theΠοιμάνδρης, the book translated by the Bishop. It is written in the form of a dialogue, and treats of nature, the creation of the world, the nature and attributes of the deity, the human soul, &c.

25In the Vivarais. It cut off Lyons from communicating with Marseilles by water. SeeMezeray, iii. 360.

26It is impossible within the compass of a note to give more than the briefest outline of the principal events in the life of this famous Breton chief. He was born in 1531, and became a Protestant in 1558. In 1561 he was one of the French nobles who escorted Marie Stuart to Scotland. Brantôme was another of the suite. In 1570 he was wounded by a musket-shot at the siege of Fontenay; gangrene set in, and it was found necessary to amputate his left arm; Jeanne d’Albret, Queen of Navarre, held the shattered limb during the operation. This arm was replaced by one of iron, whence he obtained the famous sobriquet, by which he is best known,Bras de fer. In 1573 Charles IX. sent him to La Rochelle in the hope he would be able to effect some compromise with the citizens, and he was for some time regarded with suspicion by both sides; but he appears to have always acted an honest and straightforward part in a very delicate position. When he found a reconciliation was impossible, he placed his sword once more at the service of the French Protestants. He fought for the Protestant cause not only in France but also in the Netherlands, was Count Louis of Nassau’s right-hand man at the surprise and subsequent siege of Mons in 1572, and at one time, in 1579, occupied Bousbecque and the places in the neighbourhood, Menin, Comines, Wervicq, &c. He was mortally wounded at the siege of Lamballe, in Brittany, and died on August 4, 1591. Thuanus (v. p. 180) calls him ‘a truly great man, who for bravery, prudence, and military knowledge deserved to be compared with the greatest generals of the time, and for the purity of his life, his moderation, and his justice to be preferred to most of them.’ For a further account of him see Letters to Rodolph,IX.andLIV., note.

27This report was correct. SeeMezeray, iii. 360, where an interesting account is given of the siege.

28The second Edict, of October 23. The purport of it was, that no person should be troubled on religious grounds.

29The Comte de Fiesco waschevalier d’honneurto the Queen. The Fieschi were Counts of Lavagna, and one of the four principal families of Genoa. The conspiracy of the Fieschi in 1547 is one of the most famous incidents of Genoese history. The object of the conspirators was to overthrow the power of Andrew Doria, and to detach Genoa from the Imperialists, and bring the republic into close connection with France. The conspiracy miscarried, owing to its leader, Count John Louis Fiesco, falling from the planks by which he was boarding a galley, and being drowned. Owing to the darkness of the night the accident was not discovered till it was too late to assist him. His brothers were executed except Scipio, the youngest, who escaped to France, and is the person mentioned in the text. In 1568 he was Ambassador to the Court of Maximilian. He was afterwardschevalier d’honneurto Louise de Vaudemont, the Queen of Henry III., and one of the original knights of the Order of the Holy Ghost.—Lippomano,Ambassadeurs Vénitiens, ii. 413. He married Alphonsina Strozzi, who is the Countess mentioned by Busbecq. She was originallydame d’honneurtoCatherine de Medicis.

30The Sorbonne was ‘a society or corporation of Doctors of Divinity settled in the University of Paris, and famous all over Europe. It was founded by the French King St. Lewis, and Ralph de Sorbonne, his confessor, a Canon of the Church of Paris, who gave it its name from the village of Sorbonne, near Lyons, which was the place of his nativity.’—World of Words.Their determination, dated July 2, 1530, is given by Holinshed,Chronicles, iii. 924. It is to the effect that ‘the foresaid marriage with the brother’s wife, departing without children, be so forbidden both by the law of God and of nature, that the Pope hath no power to dispense with such mariages, whether they be contract or to be contract.’ It was read to the House of Commons with the decisions of the other Universities, March 30, 1531.

Their determination, dated July 2, 1530, is given by Holinshed,Chronicles, iii. 924. It is to the effect that ‘the foresaid marriage with the brother’s wife, departing without children, be so forbidden both by the law of God and of nature, that the Pope hath no power to dispense with such mariages, whether they be contract or to be contract.’ It was read to the House of Commons with the decisions of the other Universities, March 30, 1531.

31Leonhard or Lamoral von Thurn and Taxis succeeded his father in 1554 as Postmaster-General in the Netherlands, and in 1595 was appointed Postmaster-General of the Holy Roman Empire. He died in 1612, aged upwards of 90. He was brother of J. B. Taxis or Tassis, the well-known Spanish Ambassador. See Letters to Rodolph,XLIII., and note.

32Sebastian, grandson of Charles V., became King of Portugal in 1557, when he was only three years old. At the time Busbecq wrote he was a gallant young man of twenty, dreaming of great exploits as a Crusader. Four years later he attempted to put his ideas into practice, and invaded Africa with a large force. His army was annihilated in the battle of Alcazar (August 4th, 1578), and the brave young King perished on the field. His romantic end produced a deep impression on his subjects. ‘It may be mentioned,’ says theTimes(December 1825), ‘as a singular species of infatuation, that many Portuguese residing in Brazil, as well as in Portugal, still believe in the coming of Sebastian, the romantic king, who was killed about the year 1578, in a pitched battle with the Emperor Muley Moluc. Some of these old visionaries will go out wrapped in their large cloaks, on a windy night, to watch the movements of the heavens, and frequently, if an exhalation is seen flitting in the air, resembling a falling star, they will cry out, “There he comes!”’ For a curious story of a hoax played on one of these fanatics, see Hone’sEveryday Book, vol. ii. page 88.

33In this and some other letters, passages referring to arrangements connected with the dower have been curtailed or altogether omitted. It is sufficient to state that Elizabeth’s dower had been fixed at 60,000 francs per annum, and that Busbecq’s object was to see that it was properly secured.

34Pierre de Gondi, see note, page 39.

35John Evelyn made the same expedition by water from Lyons to Avignon, some seventy years later. A full account of his voyage is given in hisDiary(p. 69, Chandos edition). Like Busbecq he stopped at Valence. ‘We then came to Valence, a capital Citty carrying the title of a Dutchey, but the Bishop is now sole lord temporal of it and the country about it. The towne having an University famous for the study of the civil law, is much frequented; but the Churches are none of the fairest, having been greatly defaced in the time of the warrs.’

36Jean de Montluc, Bishop of Valence, was one of the most successful diplomatists of his day; he had been ambassador at Constantinople in 1537, on which occasion he received the pot of balsam, which he afterwards lost in Ireland (see vol. i. p.387). Henry III. owed his Polish Crown to his exertions and diplomatic skill. He was father of that bold and unscrupulous adventurer, Balagny.His career is thus sketched by a contemporary:—‘Il avoit esté de sa premiere profession jacobin, et la feue royne de Navarre Margueritte, qui aymoit les gens sçavans et spirituels, le cognoissant tel, le deffrocqua et le mena avec elle à la Court, le fit cognoistre, le poussa, luy ayda, le fit employer en plusieurs ambassades; car je pense qu’il n’y a guieres pays en l’Europe où il n’ayt esté ambassadeur et en negotiation, ou grande ou petite, jusques en Constantinople, qui fut son premier advancement, et à Venize, en Polongne, Angleterre, Escosse et autres lieux. On le tenoit Lutherien au commencement, et puis Calviniste, contre sa profession episcopalle; mais il s’y comporta modestement par bonne mine et beau semblant; la reyne de Navarre le deffrocqua pour l’amour de cela.’—Brantôme, iii. 52.

His career is thus sketched by a contemporary:—

‘Il avoit esté de sa premiere profession jacobin, et la feue royne de Navarre Margueritte, qui aymoit les gens sçavans et spirituels, le cognoissant tel, le deffrocqua et le mena avec elle à la Court, le fit cognoistre, le poussa, luy ayda, le fit employer en plusieurs ambassades; car je pense qu’il n’y a guieres pays en l’Europe où il n’ayt esté ambassadeur et en negotiation, ou grande ou petite, jusques en Constantinople, qui fut son premier advancement, et à Venize, en Polongne, Angleterre, Escosse et autres lieux. On le tenoit Lutherien au commencement, et puis Calviniste, contre sa profession episcopalle; mais il s’y comporta modestement par bonne mine et beau semblant; la reyne de Navarre le deffrocqua pour l’amour de cela.’—Brantôme, iii. 52.

37Monsieur de Vulcob, French Ambassador at the Court of Maximilian. SeeCharrière,Négotiations de la France dans le Levant, iii. 596, note.

38Jean de Morvillierswas born at Blois in 1506. He was ambassador at Venice from 1546 to 1550, and was rewarded for his services by receiving the Bishopric of Orleans in 1552. After he became bishop, the Chapter of his cathedral, by a statute passed in November 1552, ordered him to shave off his beard. He refused to comply, and the quarrel raged fiercely for four years, till finally in 1556 it was appeased by a letter from the King to the Chapter, in which he declared that he required to send Morvilliers to various countries in which a beard was necessary, and therefore ordered the Chapter to receive him beard and all. He did not, however, take possession of his cathedral till 1559. Francis II. appointed him a Privy Councillor, and in 1561 he took part in the Conference of Poissy, and in the following year attended the Council of Trent, as one of the French representatives. He was afterwards ambassador to the Duke of Savoy, and in 1564 was one of the negotiators of the Treaty of Troyes, between Charles IX. and Queen Elizabeth. In the same year he gave up his Bishopric in favour of his nephew. On the disgrace of the Chancellorl’Hôpital, in 1568, he became Keeper of the Seals, but in 1571 had to resign them to Birague. In de Thou’s opinion (iii. 209), he was honest and prudent, but cautious to the verge of timidity, and therefore always pursued a policy of expediency. He was the head of the party who were in favour of peace but thought no religious reform was required, and who therefore, in order to remain on good terms with the extreme Catholic party headed by the Guises, did not hesitate to evade or violate the pledges given to the Protestants. SeeThuanus, iii. 35. De Thou’s estimate of his character is borne out by a State-paper preserved byd’Aubigné(Histoire, vol. ii. bk. i. ch. ii.), written by Morvilliers at the request of Charles IX. in 1572, in opposition to Coligny’s project of war with Spain.

39Elizabeth’s marriage portion had never been paid, and Busbecq was afraid that this fact might be adduced as a reason for not paying her dower now she was a widow; and also, in case of the failure of Maximilian’s issue male, a claim might be set up on behalf of her daughter, that Elizabeth’s renunciation of her rights of succession was invalid for the same reason. That Busbecq’s fears were not ill-founded is shown by the fact that Louis XIV. argued that his wife’s renunciation of her rights to the Crown of Spain was invalid, as her marriage portion had never been paid.

40TheComte de Retzwas the son of a Florentine banker at Lyons, named Gondi,Seigneur du Péron. His wife entered the service of Catherine de Medici, and took charge of her children in their infancy. She endeared herself to the Queen, who being Regent during the minority of Charles IX. advanced her children to the highest posts: the Comte de Retz became first Gentleman of the Chamber to the King, and a Marshal of France; he acquired enormous wealth. His brother, Pierre de Gondi, was made Bishop of Paris, and afterwards Cardinal; he had other preferments worth 30,000 or 40,000 livres per annum, and property worth 200,000 crowns; while a third brother was Master of the Wardrobe to the King.

41The following is an extract from a diary kept by a French official during this same year 1575:—‘Le mardi 6ejuillet, fust pendu à Paris, et puis mis en quatre quartiers, un capitaine nommé la Vergerie, condamné à mort par Birague, chancelier, et quelques maistres des requestes nommés par la Roine-mère, qui lui firent son procès bien court dedans l’Hostel de ladite Ville de Paris. Toute sa charge estoit que, s’estant trouvé en quelque compagnie, où on parloit de la querelle des escoliers et des Italiens, il avoit dit qu’il faloit se ranger du costé des escoliers et saccager et couper la gorge à tous ces.... Italiens, et à tous ceux qui les portoient et soustenoient, comme estans cause de la ruine de la France: sans avoir autre chose fait ni attenté contre iceux.’—De l’Estoile, i. 69.

42Maximilian put on record his protest against the Massacre of Saint Bartholomew in a letter to Lazarus Schwendi:—‘Quod attinet ad præclarum illud facinus quod Galli in Amiralio ejusque sociis tyrannicè perpetrarunt, equidem id minimè probare possum, magnoque cum dolore intellexi Generum meum sibi persuaderi passum tam fœdam lanienam. Quanquam scio magis alios imperare quàm ipsum. Attamen hoc ad excusationem facti non sufficit, neque hoc satis est palliando sceleri.’—Maximilian to Laz. Schwendi. Leyden, 1603. 2nd edition.

43Jean St. Chaumont, being at Nismes with a picked body of soldiers, determined to make an attempt on Aigues-Mortes. Guided by some Protestants who had been driven out of the town, he contrived one night to blow open the gates; his troops rushed in and took possession of the place. The garrison fled to the tower of Constance, which two days later was compelled to surrender. SeeThuanus, iii. 83.

44Stephen Bathory, Voivode of Transylvania. He and Maximilian were eventually both elected in 1576, and civil war was imminent in consequence; but the death of Maximilian a few months later left Bathory in undisputed possession of the Crown.

45See page13, and note, page14.

46In order to show her contempt for the besieging army, one of the women of Livron brought her distaff to the breach, and sat herself down to spin. SeeThuanus, iii. 83.

47Charles, son of Claude Duke of Guise and Antoinette de Bourbon, born 1524. Archbishop of Rheims 1538. Cardinal 1547. There is little doubt as to the cause of his death being that which is given by Busbecq, though some declared that he was murdered by means of a poisoned torch, and others that he was presented with a poisoned purse. For some time before he had been complaining of severe pain in the head. SeeThuanus, iii. 47, 48.‘Le dimanche 26edécembre à cinq heures du matin, Charles, cardinal de Lorraine, aagé de cinquante ans, mourust en Avignon d’une fiebvre, symptomée d’un extrême mal de teste provenu du serein d’Avignon, qui est fort dangereux, qui lui avoit offensé le cerveau à la procession des Battus, où il s’estoit trouvé, en grande dévotion, avec le crucefix à la main, les pieds à moictié nuds et la teste peu couverte, qui est le poison qu’on a depuis voulu faire accroire qu’on lui avoit donné.’—De l’Estoile, i. 40. The character the zealous Protestant d’Aubigné gives of the Cardinal (Histoire, vol. ii. bk. ii. ch. xi.) is as follows: ‘esprit sans borne, tres chiche et craintif de sa vie, prodigue de celle d’autrui, pour le seul but qu’il a eu en vivant, assavoir d’eslever sa race à une desmesurée grandeur.’

‘Le dimanche 26edécembre à cinq heures du matin, Charles, cardinal de Lorraine, aagé de cinquante ans, mourust en Avignon d’une fiebvre, symptomée d’un extrême mal de teste provenu du serein d’Avignon, qui est fort dangereux, qui lui avoit offensé le cerveau à la procession des Battus, où il s’estoit trouvé, en grande dévotion, avec le crucefix à la main, les pieds à moictié nuds et la teste peu couverte, qui est le poison qu’on a depuis voulu faire accroire qu’on lui avoit donné.’—De l’Estoile, i. 40. The character the zealous Protestant d’Aubigné gives of the Cardinal (Histoire, vol. ii. bk. ii. ch. xi.) is as follows: ‘esprit sans borne, tres chiche et craintif de sa vie, prodigue de celle d’autrui, pour le seul but qu’il a eu en vivant, assavoir d’eslever sa race à une desmesurée grandeur.’

48Catherine de Medici was supposed to be endowed with second-sight. Her daughter gives several instances in her memoirs.‘Mesme la nuict devant la miserable course en lice, elle songea comme elle voyoit le feu Roy mon pere blessé à l’œil, comme il fust.... Elle n’a aussy jamais perdu aucun de ses enfans qu’elle n’aye veu une fort grande flamme, à laquelle soudain elle s’escrioit: “Dieu garde mes enfans!” et incontinent apres, elle entendoit la triste nouvelle qui, par ce feu, lui avoit esté augurée.... Elle s’escrie, continuant ses resveries, comme si elle eust veu donner la bataille de Jarnac: “Voyez-vous comme ils fuient! Mon fils a la victoire. Hé, mon Dieu! relevez mon fils! il est par terre! Voyez, voyez, dans cette haye, le Prince de Condé mort!”’—Mémoires de Marguerite, p. 42-43. The story of the Cardinal’s ghost is given more fully in De l’Estoile’s diary: ‘Puis aiant demandé à boire, comme on lui eust baillé son verre, elle commença tellement à trembler, qu’il lui cuida tumber des mains, et s’escria: “Jésus! voila M. le cardinal de Lorraine que je voy!”’—De l’Estoile, i. 41.

48Catherine de Medici was supposed to be endowed with second-sight. Her daughter gives several instances in her memoirs.

‘Mesme la nuict devant la miserable course en lice, elle songea comme elle voyoit le feu Roy mon pere blessé à l’œil, comme il fust.... Elle n’a aussy jamais perdu aucun de ses enfans qu’elle n’aye veu une fort grande flamme, à laquelle soudain elle s’escrioit: “Dieu garde mes enfans!” et incontinent apres, elle entendoit la triste nouvelle qui, par ce feu, lui avoit esté augurée.... Elle s’escrie, continuant ses resveries, comme si elle eust veu donner la bataille de Jarnac: “Voyez-vous comme ils fuient! Mon fils a la victoire. Hé, mon Dieu! relevez mon fils! il est par terre! Voyez, voyez, dans cette haye, le Prince de Condé mort!”’—Mémoires de Marguerite, p. 42-43. The story of the Cardinal’s ghost is given more fully in De l’Estoile’s diary: ‘Puis aiant demandé à boire, comme on lui eust baillé son verre, elle commença tellement à trembler, qu’il lui cuida tumber des mains, et s’escria: “Jésus! voila M. le cardinal de Lorraine que je voy!”’—De l’Estoile, i. 41.

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