HENRY III.
KING OF FRANCE AND POLAND
HIS COURT AND TIMES.
FROM NUMEROUS UNPUBLISHED SOURCES,
INCLUDING 118. DOCUMENTS IN THE BIBLIOTHEQUE IMPERIALS, AND
THE ARCHIVES OF PRANCE AND ITALY, ETC.
BY
MARTHA WALKER FREER,
AUTHOR OF
" THE LIFE OF MARGUERITE D'ANGOULEME,"
•'ELIZABETH DE VALOIS AND THE COURT OF PHILIP II."
&c., &c.
Lilia non laborant neque nent.
IN THREE VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
NEW YORK :
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY.
1888.
CONTENTS OF VOLUME H.
BOOK III.— (continued.)
CHAPTER II.
1575.
Progress of the war in Languedoc — Repulse of Henry before
Livron — Rupture of the king's matrimonial negotiation with
Sweden — The causes — Position of the House of Guise — Henry
demands the hand of the princesse Louise de Lorraine — Ambas-
sage of the marquis du Guast to Nancy — Louise de Lorraine —
She accepts the hand of the king — Her interview with the com-
tesse de Vaudemont — Conspiracy of the due d'Alenson to seize
the person of the king — Monsieur avows his design — Coronation
of the king — Disputes for precedence between the dues de
Guise and de Montpensier — Marriage of king Henry — He com-
pels queen Louise to receive mademoiselle de Ch&teauneuf — He
dismisses the train of the queen's ladies — Grief of Louise — Per-
sonal description of the queen by the Venetian ambassador
Michel — Disrespectful deportment of mademoiselle de Ch&teau-
neuf — Henry offers her hand to the comte de Brienne — Her tem-
porary retirement from court — Entry of Henry III. into Paris —
Loyal addresses of the Parisians — Henry's deportment and pas-
times— New code of etiquette — Bussy-Rabutin— Feuds of the
minions — Negotiation for the marriage of Monsieur with Eliza-
beth queen of England — Deputation from the Huguenot and
Malcontent factions — Its dismissal by the king — Envoys from the
Polish diet arrive in Paris— Affairs in Poland — Mission of the
marechal de Bellegarde — The diet of Stezicza — Deposition of
Henry III. proclaimed by the diet — The Poles proceed to afresh
. election — Marriage of Etienne Bathory,vaivode of Transylvania,
with Anne Jagellon — His proclamation as king of Poland— In-
disposition of king Henry — His violence and suspicions — His
counsel to the king of Navarre — Death of the marechal de Mont-
morency resolved upon — Departure of the widow of Charles IX.
from France — The princess Marie Isabel — Reputed liaison be-
iv CONTENTS.
tween M. de Bussy-Rabutin and queen Marguerite — Attempted
assassination of Bussy — Wrath of Monsieur — His discontent and
disaffection — Dismissal of mademoiselle- de Torigny — Progress
of Conde in Germany — Review of the court and the realm of
France pp. 1—51
CHAPTER III.
1575—1576.
Attempted reconciliation between the king and the due d' Ale^on
— Henry's rural pursuits — Insolent deportment of M. du Guast
towards Monsieur — Exasperation of the duke — His arrest and
flight from Paris — Demeanour of the queen of Navarre — Meas-
ures adopted — Progress of the duke — His manifestoes — Mission
of Villeroy — Queen Catherine repairs to Chatelleraud to negoti-
ate with the confederates — Interview of Chambord — Illness of
the queen — Victory of Chateau-Thierry — Retreat of Monsieur
from Blois — Diversions of the king — Hemy founds an academy
of belles-lettres — The marquis du Guast— His assassination —
Release of the marechal of Montmorency — Progress of the
queen's negotiation for peace — Conferences of Charnpigny —
Truce accepted for six months — The king levies troops — His
financial expedients — Interview with the authorities of Paris —
Return of queen Catherine — Partial performance of the truce —
Entry into France of Conde with an army of German troops —
Dismay of the due d'Alencon — Evasion of the king of Navarre
from court — Its details — Declaration published by the king of
Navarre — Arrest of queen Marguerite — Royal vengeance on
mademoiselle de Torigny — The due d'Alencon adheres to the
cause of the allies — The due and duchesse de Montpensier — Re-
lease of the queen of Navarre— Its motives — Departure of queen
Catherine for the camp of the confederates . . pp. 53— 97
CHAPTER IV.
1576—1577.
Council of the confederates at Moulins — Articles there agreed upon
— Conferences at Beaulieu — Articles of peace — Schemes of king
Henry to levy money — His success — Indignation excited
throughout the country by the clauses of the treaty of Beaulieu
—Rise of the league— Its objects and various articles— Retreat of
prince Casimir— The king visits Rouen and Dieppe— Libels and
satirical verses circulated respecting king Henry — Edict for the
CONTENTS. V
convocation of the States-general to meet at Blois — Departure
of the king and queen for Olinville— Don Juan of Austria visits
France — His conferences with the due de Guise at Joinville —
Interview between the king and his brother M. d' An jou— Their
mutual dissatisfaction — The States of Blois — Extravagant cos-
tume of king Henry — Relations of Marguerite queen of Navarre
and the due de Guise— Closing of the States — Condition of the
realm — Exploits of the due d'Anjou — Banquets given by the
court — The king departs for Poitiers — Edict of Poitiers — Assas-
sination of madame de Villequier — Comet of 1577. pp. 98 — 143
BOOK IV.
CHAPTER I.
1578—1579.
Diversions of the court during the winter of 1578— The chamber-
lains — Their luxury and amusements — Paris in 1578 — Journey
of queen Marguerite to the Netherlands— Her intrigues— Polit-
ical condition of the Low Countries— The sovereignty of the
Netherlands is offered to the due d'Anjou— Unpopularity of
Henry III.— Quarrels of the minions— MM. de Bussy-d'Amboise
and de Quelus— Marriage of M. de St. Luc— Disaffection of the
due d'Anjou and of his sister queen Marguerite — Meditated
flight of the duke — Details — Arrest of Monsieur and of the
queen of Navarre — Catherine insists on the release of the pris-
oners—Flight of the duke— His proceedings— Anger of king
Henry — Demeanour of Marguerite — Correspondence of the duke
with the king— His letter to Villeroy— the duke is joined by
many adherents — Journey of Catherine to Angers — Its results —
Political consequences of the duke's evasion — Procession of
Penitents — The chancellor Cheverny — Correspondence of Mon-
sieur with the Flemish malcontents — His departure for Mons —
Opinion of king Henry upon the conduct of his brother M.
d'Anjou pp. 145—194
CHAPTER II.
1578—1579.
The king and queen visit Gaillon and Dieppe — Duel of MM. de
Quelus and d'Entragues — Its fatal results — Despair of the king
at the demise of his favourite — M. de St. Megrin — Scandalous
yi CONTENTS.
reports affecting the fame of the duchesse de Guise— Demeanour
of the due de Guise — Assassination of St. Megriii — Condition
of the southern provinces — Progress of queen Catherine in the
. south — Her interviews and negotiations with the king of
Navarre and with the marechal Dainville — Conferences of
Nerac — Reconciliation between the king and queen of Navarre
— Designs and deportment of the due de Guise — Financial diffi-
culties of the king — Institution of the Order of St. Esprit —
Splendid festivities — Progress of M. d'Aujou in the Low Coun-
tries— Monsieur retires from Moiis — He repairs to Alencon — Dis-
favour of M. de Bussy — Return of the due to Paris — Reconcil-
iation between the royal brothers — Gifts made to Monsieur by
the king — Departure of M. d'Aujou for England — Synod of
Melun — Assassination of Bussy -d'Amboise — Death of the mare-
chal de Montmorency — Negotiations of the queen-mother —
Assembly of Mazere — Return of queen Catherine to Paris — Her
magnificent reception pp. 195—244
CHAPTER III.
1579—1580.
Journey of the queen to Augers — Details of the journey made by
the due d'Aujou to the English court — His return to Paris-
Banquets given by the chancellor de Birague and other nobles —
Affair of the Sarbacaue — Its results — Disaffection of the great
nobles of the realm — Catherine claims the crown of Portugal —
She nominates M. de Strozzi as admiral of the fleet sent to sup-
port her claims — Madame de Teude — Passion of Strozzi for that
lady — Treachery of the king to defeat the designs of Strozzi,
and to avenge himself upon queen Marguerite — La Guerre des
Amoureux — The due d'Anjou accepts the title of due de Brabant
— Conferences of Fleix — Visit of Monsieur to the court of
Nerac — He marches for the relief of Cambray — Elevation of
MM. de Joyeuse and la Valette — Their extraordinary favour-
Marriage of the due de Joyeuse with Marguerite de Lorraine —
Festivals of the court— Extravagant luxury of Henry III.—
Belief of Cambray by the due d'Aujou . pp. 245—293
CHAPTER IY.
1582—1583.
Second visit of the due d'Anjou to England— Queen Elizabeth
affiances herself to the duke— Retracts her promise— Departure
of the duke for Antwerp — His splendid suite of English and
CONTENTS. Vli
French cavaliers — He is invested with the ducal diadem of the
Low Countries — Pilgrimages made by Henry III. — Return of the
queen of Navarre to court — Secret negotiations of the League —
Correspondence of the due de Guise with Spain — His colloquies
with the Spanish ambassador — Conspiracy of Salzedo — The
king institutes a new religious order — His public appearance in
the streets of Paris in the garb of a penitent— Disgust of the
Parisians — License of the clergy — Their inflammatory addresses
— Position of the due d'Anjou in the Low Countries — His
repulse from Antwerp — Retires to Chateau-Thierry — His failing
health — The queen of Navarre and the marquis de Chanvallon
— Her scandalous treatment by king Henry — Arrest of the
queen of Navarre and her ladies — Her departure for Chsltelle-
raud — Ambassage of MM. d'Aubigny and Duplessis Mornay —
Details — Marguerite corresponds with Philip II. — She retires to
Nerac pp. 293— 348
BOOK V.
CHAPTER I.
1583—1585.
Changes in the royal household — Displeasure of queen Catherine
— The assembly of St. Germain — The cardinal de Bourbon —
His character and liaison with the princes of Lorraine — Sump-
tuary laws — Colloquy between queen Louise and madame de
Neuilly — Illness of M. d'Anjou — He is visited by queen Cath-
erine— Arrives in Paris — Interview with king Henry — His
sojourn at St. Germain — Disputes of the courtiers — Decease of
the due d'Anjou — Details— Letters of condolence addressed to
the king — Letter of Henry III. to M. de Villeroy — Ambassage
of the due d'Epernon to the king of Navarre — He refuses to
change his religion — Code of etiquette introduced by the king —
Henry visits Gaillon — The due de Guise signs a convention
with Spain — Condition of the country — Arrival of deputies
from the States of Flanders — They offer the sovereignty of the
Netherlands to king Henry — English ambassage — Henry is
invested with the Order of the Garter — Proceedings of the due
de Guise — He takes up arms — Commencement of the campaign
— Intervention of queen Catherine — Demands of the confeder-
ates—The treaty of Nemours ... pp. 349 — 407
BOOK HI.
( Continued.)
HENET III, KING OF EEANCE:
HIS COURT AND TIMES.
CHAPTER II.
1575.
Progress of the war in Languedoc — Repulse of Henry before Liv-
ron — Rupture of the king's matrimonial negotiation with Swe-
den— The causes — Position of the House of Guise — Henry de-
mands the hand of the princesse Louise de Lorraine — Ambas-
sage of the marquis du Guast to Nancy — Louise de Lorraine —
She accepts the hand of the king — Her interview with the
comtesse de Vaudemont — Conspiracy of the due d'Alen9on to
seize the person of the king — Monsieur avows his design — Coro-
nation of the king — Disputes for precedence between the dues
de Guise and de Montpensier — Marriage of King Henry — He
compels queen Louise to receive mademoiselle de Chateau neuf —
He dismisses the train of the queen's ladies — Grief of Louise —
Personal description of the queen by the Venetian ambassador
Michel— Desrespectful deportment of mademoiselle de Chateau-
neuf — Henry offers her hand to the comte de Brienne — Her tem-
porary retirement from court — Entry of Henry III. into Paris
— Loyal addresses of the Parisians — Henry's deportment and
pastimes — New code of etiquette — Bussy-Rabutin — Feuds of the
minions — Negotiation for the marriage of Monsieur with Eliza-
beth queen of England — Deputation from the Huguenot
and Malcontent factions — Its dismissal by the king — Envoys
from the Polish diet arrive in Paris — Affairs in Poland— Mission
of the marechal de Bellegarde — The diet of Stezicza — Deposition
of Henry III. proclaimed by the diet — The Poles proceed to a
fresh election — Marriage of Etienne Bathory, vaivode of Tran-
sylvania, with Anne Jagellon — His proclamation as king of Po-
land—Indisposition of King Henry — His violence and suspicions
— His counsel to the king of Navarre — Death of the marechal
de Montmorency resolved upon — Departure of the widow of
4 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
Charles IX. from France- -The princess Marie Isabel — Reputed
liaison between M. de Bussy-Rabutin and queen Marguerite —
Attempted assassination of Bussy — Wrath of Monsieur — His
discontent and disaffection — Dismissal of mademoiselle de To-
rigny — Progress of Conde in Germany — Review of the court and
the realm of France.
THE rapid progress of the civil war in Languedoc,
meanwhile, daily increased the peril of the royal sojourn
at Avignon. The marechal de Bellegarde was still before
Livron, he having been compelled to detach a strong
division of the besieging troops to check the progress
of Montbrun in Dauphiny. The marshal Damville had
captured St. Gilles, and menaced Aigues-Mortes. The
king, therefore, feeling the disgrace of so open and
manifest a disregard of his person and authority, reluc-
tantly resolved upon retracing his steps to Lyons.
On his road Henry visited Bellegarde's camp, and
caused an assault to be given in his presence. The
besieged, however, repulsed the attack, and afterwards
discharged their artillery in defiance, knowing that the
king and queen-mother were in camp. The garrison of
Livron, moreover, assembled on the ramparts, and with
hootings and derisive cries saluted their majesties, utter-
ing imprecations on their policy. Henry accordingly
proceeded to Lyons, where he arrived on the 10th day
•of January, 1575. Soon afterwards he committed the
•egregious mistake of commanding Bellegarde to raise
the siege of Livron, under pretext that he required the
troops under the marshal's command to assist at the
solemnity of his approaching coronation. Livron,
which had thus repulsed the assaults of Montpensier,
Bellegarde, and of Henry himself, long adhered to the
Huguenot cause ; while its successful resistance encou-
raged beyond measure the revolt of more important
towns in the south.
The negotiation for the king's marriage with the
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 5
daughter of the heroic Gustavus Wasa continued, and
apparently tended to a satisfactory conclusion. Belon
had painted the portrait of the princess, and trans-
mitted it to France ; while the king of Sweden, feeling
greatly honoured that so potent a monarch as Henry
III. should have asked the hand of his sister, assented
to all the proposals made by Pinart, and promised a
magnificent dowry with the princess. No sooner, how-
ever, was the cardinal de Lorraine dead, than Henry,
rid of his fears of that great and despotic statesman,
again proposed to the queen his alliance with Louise
de Lorraine. He represented to his mother that the
position of the family of Guise was different to what it
had been during the previous reigns. The chief of
Guise had now no temptation nor road leading to the
almost absolute power possessed by his father, who
during the reign of Henry II. was the favourite of the
king and the protege of madame de Valentinois ; and
in the reign of Francis II. the uncle of the reigning
queen, and first minister of state. At his magnificent
seats of Joinville or Nanteuil, the due de Guise, Henry
argued, sought a life of comparative repose and luxury
in the enjoyment of his favourite pastimes of the chase
and the indulgence of his taste for art. Moreover, the
princess Louise was very distantly related to his subjects
of Guise, she being the daughter of their father's consin-
german ; so little at this period did Henry or his
mother appreciate the gifts, the popular qualifications,
or the soaring ambition which animated the mind of
Guise. They believed that, shallow and obsequious
like the rest of the courtiers, he could be provoked
with impunity and appeased by a royal smile. The
queen acknowledged that the demise of M. le cardinal
altered the position of his kindred ; nevertheless, she
conjured his majesty not to break his implied faith to
the princess of Sweden. She represented the inr.de-
6 IIEXKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1575.
quate rank of the princess Louise, the offspring of a
junior prince of Lorraine ; and the probable jealousies
which her elevation to the throne would kindle amongst
the nobles of the realm, many of whose daughters pos-
sessed the prior claim of lineage. The beauty and
seductive graces of the princess dwelt in Henry's mind,
especially as he had long before begun to associate
Louise in fancy with Maria de Cleves. To dissipate his
mother's scruples, and to induce her to consent to the
alliance in preference to another she still more depre-
cated, the king, while vowing resolutely never to accept
the hand of Elizabeth Wasa, re-commenced his atten-
tions to the daughter of the marquis d'Elbceuf.* The
queen, therefore, yielded a reluctant assent ; while Henry,
whom no sense of honour or justice ever arrested in the
pursuit of his selfish impulses, despatched one Guillaume
Bourrique to Stockholm to recall his ambassador, and
to put an end to the negotiation, on the ground that
his majesty's conscience forbad him to espouse a princess
brought up in the Lutheran persuasion. Nothing
could be more mortifying and even perilous than the
position of Pinart. The king of Sweden feeling justly
outraged, declined to accept the tardy excuse alleged
for the rupture of the proposed alliance, and requested
Pinart to quit Stockholm without delay ; a command
which the ambassador found it difficult to obey, so in-
censed were the people at the insult offered to the
daughter of Gustavus Wasa.f
Cheverny states that from the first he detected the
* Marie de Lorraine subsequently espoused her cousin, Claude due
d'Aumale.
f The princess Elizabeth of Sweden, a few months after the rupture
of the negotiations with France, accepted the hand of Christopher, duke
of Mecklenburg. The ambassador Pinart partly owed his immunity
from violence to the protection accorded to him by the queen of Sweden
Katherine Jagellon, sister of the Polish princess Anne, whose hand the
magnates of Poland offered to Henry.
1575.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 7
king's intention and reservations in sanctioning matri-
monial overtures to the princess Elizabeth — to which
Henry had assented only to gain time to reconcile the
queen to the Lorraine alliance ; " for," says Cheverny,
" his majesty's fancy was impressed, and his affection
strayed towards mademoiselle de Vaudemont. His
majesty did me the honour first to confide his senti-
ments to myself, commanding me to reveal his desires
at a suitable opportunity to the queen his mother."
At first Cheverny appears to have attempted to dis-
suade the king from the alliance as not suitable in
point of dignity : " neither did we believe that made-
moiselle de Vaudemont possessed the health and con-
stitution likely soon to render his majesty the father
of a son, an event so necessary for the consolidation of
the royal authority." Henry, however, soon put a stop
to these discussions by vehemently asserting his resolve
to espouse Louise de Lorraine, " a princess of his own
nation, beautiful, agreeable, and one whom he could
love and be faithful to, so as not to follow the per-
nicious example set by the late kings his predecessors."
The marquis du Guast, who was then the favourite in
the ascendant, was nominated as chief of the ambassage
empowered to proceed to Nancy to ask the hand of
the princess from the duke of Lorraine, and her father
the comte de Vaudemont.
Never was princess more astonished than Louise
de Lorraine when informed of the grandeur of the
destiny offered to her. From the period of Henry's
visit to Nancy, during the winter of the year 1573, her
life had been diversified by few events. With Gillette
de Changy, her favourite companion, Louise pursued
her habitual routine of benevolence, prayer, pilgrimages
to the shrine of St. Nicholas, embroidery, and study.
Her stepmother still neglected her, but with incom-
parable forbearance Louise bore her trials. It would
8 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
seem that the homage paid her by Henry on his pas-
sage through Lorraine had vanished like a brilliant
dream from her mind ; or perhaps its flattering recol-
lections had been absorbed by the anxieties which
attended her attachment to prince Paul of Salms — an
alliance resolutely opposed by her kindred of Lorraine,
who wished to bestow the hand of Louise on Franyois
de Luxembourg, comte de Brienne. The princess,
notwithstanding her seclusion and adverse position,
seems to have attracted many suitors ; and the marvel
is that she did not espouse one of these cavaliers, and
so emancipate herself from the tyranny of the comtesse
de Vaudemont. The prince of Salms, the comte de
Brienne, and the comte de Thore, brother of the mare-
chal de Montmorency, all at various intervals sought
the favour of Louise. The proposals of king Henry
were communicated to the due de Lorraine by a private
missive, six hours before the arrival of the marquis du
Guast. The amazement of the duke, of his consort,
Claude de France, and of the comte and comtesse de
Yaudemont, was unparalleled. They could not believe
that the young girl, so little beloved, and disregarded
by her kindred, was about to ascend the most brilliant
throne of Europe — to become a queen, their sove-
reign. The same night de Guast arrived ; but it does
not seem that Louise had been then informed of the
momentous change in her destiny about to occur. The
duke of Lorraine as yet refused belief to the alliance,
and decided that, until the ambassador developed his
mission and clearly explained the intentions of his ma-
jesty, the affair had better not be discussed. Du Guast
remained in conference with the duke and the comte
de Yaudemont during the greater part of the night.
His mission was simply to exchange rings of betrothal
with the princess Louise on behalf of bis royal master :
he was, besides, the bearer of letters from the king and
1075.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 9
queen Catherine to Louise, and to the comte and comtesse
de Vaudemont.
The morning following the arrival of the marquis
du Guast, the princess Louise on awakening beheld the
comtesse de Yaudemont standing by her bedside. At
the sight of her dreaded stepmother the young princess
sprang from her bed, and murmured an apology for the
lateness of her repose. The countess made no reply ;
and Louise on raising her eyes was surprised at the
pallor of her stepmother's countenance and the con-
straint of her manner.
Suddenly the countess approached. Bending the
knee before the astonished Louise, she exclaimed
" Madame, you are queen of France ! " The princess,
who believed this salutation to be ironically given,
made no reply. Madame de Vaudemont, therefore,
hurriedly related the events of the preceding day, an-
nounced the arrival of du Guast, and presented the
letters written to the due de Lorraine and the comte
de Vaudemont by king Henry. When no longer able
to refuse belief to the statements of the countess, the
emotion of the princess was great, and for some
minutes she wept passionately. Madame de Vaude-
mont then besought the pardon of the princess for the
injuries she had inflicted : " It is not for myself that I
plead, madame ; but it is for your brothers. You are
generous and merciful. Forget, then, the causes
I have given you to hate me, and deny not your pro-
tection to my children ! "* The princess assured her
stepmother that she had already forgotten and par-
doned the past. She then embraced madame de Vaude-
mont ; but Louise appeared so embarrassed and over-
powered by the intelligence imparted to her, that the
former, after summoning the women of the princess,
thought it best to leave her.
* Dreux de Radier : Vie de Louise de Lorraine. Brant6me.
10 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
Two hours later the princess Louise, standing be-
tween the due de Lorraine and her father, granted
audience to the marquis du Gua&t. Kneeling, du Guast
presented his master's missive ; and after receiving the
formal assent of the princess to the king's suit, he
hailed her as his queen and mistress. The princess
then accepted the congratulations of the court. The
heart of Louise must have throbbed as she beheld
Catherine's haughty daughter, the duchess of Lorraine,
make profound obeisance and kiss her hand ; while the
countess her stepmother knelt to perform the same
homage at the footstool of the queen of France. The
alliance with king Henry was accepted by Louise and
her kindred without reference to her private feelings ;
nor does the circumstance of her known attachment to
prince Paul of Salms appear to have suggested impedi-
ment to the union. Three days after the arrival of du
Guast, the princess Louise, the comte and comtesse de
Vaudemont, the due de Lorraine, and the dowager-
duchesse de Guise, attended by a numerous suite, set out
for Rheims, where after the coronation of the king his
marriage was to be celebrated.
Henry and his mother, meantime, quitted Lyons on
the 18th of January, and proceeded to Rheims, travers-
ing the province of Burgundy. The departure of the
king from the south was well timed ; for not only did the
rebels of Languedoc boast of their victories won in the
very presence of the king, but a dangerous conspiracy
was formed to seize the royal person. The due d'Alen-
yon was privy to the plot ; which, however, had not been
confided to the king of Navarre. The miserable vanity
of Monsieur was gratified beyond measure at the adula-
tion offered to him by the party opposed to Henry's
policy ; the leaders of which, appreciating the character
of the prince whom it was necessary to propitiate,
applied to him the most extravagant epithets. Thus,
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 11
in allusion to the duke's baptismal name of Hercules,
a manifesto appeared, in which Monsieur was alluded
to as " that puissant Hercules commissioned by Heaven
to exterminate the monsters who devour and oppress
France." The projected enterprise was a plot to way-
lay and seize the king, when on the road to Chaumont
— a place he must necessarily visit on his progress to
Rheims. Two hundred gentlemen, partly Huguenot
and partly partisans of the faction of Les Politiques,
bound themselves to accomplish this daring enterprise.
Their leaders were the due d'Alenyon, Beauvais le
Node, Lafin, la Vergue Beaujeu, and Guillaume de
Hautemer, sieur de Fervaques, the confidential cham-
berlain of the duke, and afterwards a marshal of France.
The details of the conspiracy were settled and its objects
specified ; amongst the principal of which were, the
liberation of Montmorency and the enforced acceptance
by the king of certain articles drawn by Conde and the
chieftains his allies, which were to be presented to his
majesty on his arrival in Paris after his coronation ; a
petition, however, which under the regime of Catherine
was certain to meet with contemptuous rejection. The
cowardice and vacillations of the duke, however, equalled
his perfidy. Before the king set out from Lyons, Mon-
sieur was harassed by agonies of indecision; at one time
declaring his resolve to confess all to his mother ; at
another daringly discussing the probability of dethroning
his brother, with the help of the king of Navarre and
Conde ; an event to be followed by his own assumption
of the crown. When the king commenced his journey,
Monsieur with the greatest difficulty was prevented by
his favourites from flying to join Damville before Aigues-
Mortes, so great was his terror — leaving the conduct of
the enterprise to Fervaques. When this project proved
to be impossible, Monsieur fell into such visible des-
pondency that Fervaques, feeling assured that the duke
12 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
would betray the secret and abandon his agents to the
mercy of the king, went, following the example of la
Mole, and revealed the intended ambuscade to queen
Catherine, previously stipulating for the pardon of all
concerned.* This grace Catherine promised, and kept
her word ; for Monsieur being implicated, so frequent
an exhibition of disloyalty in the heir-presumptive she
deemed to be fraught with danger. The duke, how-
ever, was summoned into the presence of the king and
Catherine, when the former accused him of his intended
treason. The severity of Henry's tone, and the grave
aspect and ominous silence of the queen-mother so
terrified Monsieur, that he threw himself at the feet of
his brother, made complete confession of his guilty
intent with sobs and tears, and implored forgiveness.
" I hold from the lips of the king Henry the Great,"
says the historian Mathieu, "that during the journey
(to Rheims) Henry III. committed to him the guard
of his person along the roads whereon the conspiracy
was to have been executed, and that the said king (of
Navarre) performed temporarily the office of captain of
the guards, the royal coach being surrounded by his
(Bearnnois) men-at-arms, while the said king rode by the
window of the coach next to where king Henry sat."
Testimony more complete of the chivalrous honor of
the king of Navarre could not have been placed on re-
cord ; the loyalty of Henri's character commanded the
reverence even of his bitterest foe, and afforded him
triumphs more brilliant than any he achieved on the
battle-field. Monsieur throughout the journey was not
permitted to approach the king ; he rode on horseback
at the rear of the royal cortege, surrounded by his own
people, and wearing an aspect sullen and ill at ease.
The king arrived without alarm whatever at Rheims
* Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III., liv. vii. p. 412. Mathieu wae histo-
riographer to Henry IV.
1575.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 13
on Friday, the llth day of February, 1575. The
solemnity of Henry's entrance into Rheims was magni-
ficent. He was received at the principal gate of the
town by the authorities and by Charles de Roussy,
bishop of Soissons. The portal was adorned with
heraldic devices and coats of arms, quartering the
armorial bearings of the kingdom of Poland. The
keys of the town were presented to Henry by a youth-
ful damsel, who, after kissing his majesty's hand, re-
cited the following lines :
Roi tr£s Chretien ! qui portez la couronne
Des tr6s hauls rois de France et de Pologne,
Je Rheims, qui suis, comme ai toujours ete,
Tres humble ancelle a votre majeste,
En vous gardant sans varier ma foy.
Or recevez, mon tr6s honore roi,
Les clefs de moi, de chacune porte
Qui pour present, humblement vous apporte.*
Henry then proceeded to the cathedral, riding under
a canopy of velvet carried by four principal inhabitants
of Rheims. He was there received by the cardinal de
Guise and the suffragan bishops of the archiepiscopal
see. The harangue was pronounced by Pierre Remy,
senior canon and archdeacon. The king was afterwards
conducted to the high altar to perform his devotions,
where he made offering to the Holy Virgin, patroness
of the cathedral, of a vessel of silver gilt, containing
minute effigies of Ste. Ursula and the eleven thousand
virgins, the martyrs of Cologne. His majesty then
retired to the archiepiscopal palace, where he took up
his abode with queen Catherine and the court.
The princesse Louise f and her kindred arrived the
* Godef roy : Grand Ce're'in. de France. Sacre de Henri III. Eoi de
Prance et de Pologne.
f Louise showed no elation at her new dignity. "A peine," says a
contemporary historian quoted by Fontanieu, " paroissait-elle sensible
& 1'eclat de son bonheur. Henri fut cheque* de cette prodigieuse in-
diffe"rence."
14 HP:NRY in. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
following day, when the ceremony of the betrothment of
the royal pair was immediately performed by the cardinal
de Guise. Henry's confidential minister Cheverny had
been sent to meet the princess, and to submit the articles
of the marriage-contract. The dower given to the princess
was ample, and in all respects similar to that assigned
to her predecessor Elizabeth of Austria. * Cheverny
met the princess in the town of Sommieres, and pre-
sented her with a letter from her affianced lord, a por-
trait of the king, and a casket of precious jewels, f No-
thing could exceed the elation exhibited by the princess
of Guise at the elevation of another daughter of their
house to share the throne. The due de Guise alone,
calm and impenetrable, scrupulously fulfilled the duties
of his office, while treating the queen-elect with a
respect and a distant formality which surprised though
it gratified queen Catherine.
Henry's content at his approaching nuptials was,
however, greatly disturbed by a dispute relative to the
old subject of precedence between the dues de Guise
and de Montpensier, which at the coronation of
Charles IX. had been decided by Catherine in favour
of the former, on the ostensible ground that the peerage
of Guise was of more ancient creation. The due de
Montpensier, who had just achieved the important cap-
ture of Lusignan, J quitted the army without having
previously requested the royal permission, and posted
to Rheims to assert his pretensions. The king, how-
* Assignat et Evaluation du Douaire de la Beyne Louise : MS. Bibl.
Imp. Dupuy, 379-86.
f Me*m. de Cheverny, Chancelier de France, ann^e 1575.
J Montpensier had just destroyed the castle of Lusignan, and com-
manded the demolition of the famous tower of the F£e Mellusine. The
Tour de Melluaine was given by the duke to M. de Chemeraut, who re-
moved it carefully to Marigny, a castle he was building about six miles
from Lusignan. The duke was greatly blamed for the destruction of this
celebrated tower.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 15
ever, sent an express to meet the duke when within six
miles of Rheims, commanding him to waive his pre-
tensions or to retire ; but at the same time granting
him permission afterwards to appeal to the court of
parliament and the privy council for the final settle-
ment of the dispute. The due de Montpensier, there-
fore, decided to take no part in the ceremonial of the
coronation, though his name appears in the ceremonial
of the king's nuptial festivities.*
The coronation of Henry III. was performed February
20th, 1575, the anniversary of the ceremony of his conse-
cration as king of Poland. The cardinal de Guise was the
officiating prelate, assisted by the bishop of Metz. The
coronation of Henry III. was shorn of much of the splen-
dour which distinguished that of his ancestors. Many
of the great nobles were in exile, others in arms against
the sovereign ; while others, again, were too impoverished
by the long civil wars and the constant subsidies de-
manded from them, either for the royal cause or in
aid of the confederates. The chief of Montmorency lay
a prisoner in the Bastille ; and his brothers, Damviller
Thore, and Meru, had joined the standard of revolt.
Conde was a fugitive in Germany ; the due de Mont-
pensier interdicted from appearing by the unjust denial
of those privileges as a prince of the blood, afterwards
so amply conceded by the parliament of Paris. f
Turenne was absent ; while the due de Bouillon had
expired a few weeks previously under every symptom of
having prematurely met his fate by poison. The nobles
allied to these potent chieftains, although they had not
followed them in their flight or revolt, yet abstained
from presenting themselves at court. Moreover, the
nobles of Guyenne and Beam, the majority of whom
professed the reformed ritual, peremptorily refused to
* Godefroy : Grand C£r£m. de France, tome i.
f See Kegistres du Parlement de Paris, anne*e 1557.
16 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
trust their lives and fortunes a second time to the
mercy of Henry and his mother Catherine.
On the coronation morning Henry rose at five, and
repaired privately to the cathedral" to perform his devo-
tions ; this was an innovation on the pious customs of
his ancestors, all of whom were accustomed to perform
a midnight vigil before the shrine of St. Remy. His
majesty returned to the palace about seven o'clock, and
commenced to array himself for the ceremony. This
process, however, the king prolonged to such an unusual
period as to occasion serious inconvenience. His
majesty himself superintended the arrangement of the
jewels affixed to the royal robes, and wasted several
hours with Du Guast, Villequier, and Quelus, in this
occupation. He then inspected the jewels to be worn
by his bride elect, the which he caused to be entirely
re-arranged. The greater portion of the day was thus
consumed by the king ; and when at length his majesty
was prevailed upon to repair to the cathedral, it was
evident that the Te Deum must be omitted, and high
mass postponed until late during the afternoon, against
all canonical law and royal usage. *
Henry was escorted to the cathedral by the arch-
bishop of Bourges, and the bishops of Laon, Beauvais,
and Marseilles. He wore a rich suit of white velvet,
and a mantle of cloth of silver. The sword of state
was borne by the marechal de Retz. In the royal pro-
cession were the comte de Yaudemont and his son the
marquis de Nommeni ; f and the ambassadors of Portu-
gal, Scotland, and Venice, who were the only represen-
tatives of foreign powers present. When the crown was
placed upon his majesty's head he complained that it hurt
him, and in so loud a tone that his words were heard by
* Menin : Coronations of France. Godefroy. De Thou. Etoile: Jour-
nal de Henri III.
f Afterwards due de Mercosur.
1575.] ins COURT AND TIMES. 17
the peers around. He next made so impatient a move-
ment, that the diadem, falling forwards, was caught with
both hands by the officiating prelate.* This incident,
and the omission of the Te Deum was deemed ominous.
" To all," says an eye-witness, " it seemed of most evil
augury ; as if Heaven willed then to indicate that the
joy to be derived from his majesty's coronation was to
be brief." f Other personages present commented un-
favourably on the petulant and undisciplined temper
of the king, who even at so solemn a moment could not
repress his irritability.
The banquet in the evening was magnificent ; but
the king presided in his coronation robes, there not
being time to change them for attire more suitable,J his
majesty passing without interval from the cathedral to
the banqueting-hall.
On the day following Henry proceeded to hear mass
at the church of St. Remy, and to offer votive gifts at
the shrine of that great apostle. In the afternoon he
held a chapter of knights of St. Michael in the cathe-
dral. A second banquet followed, at which the queen
and the princess Louise and the ladies of the court
were present.
The next morning, Tuesday, February 22nd, his
majesty commenced betimes to prepare for the ceremo-
nial of his espousals. The same delay as on the coro-
nation morning, however, occurred ; for the king spent
the early part of the day in adorning his bride-elect, at
whose toilette he was present. With his own royal
hands Henry arranged the jewels on his consort's robe,
* Mezeray. Brantome. Marlot : The'&tre d'Honneur.
fDeThou, liv. Ix. p. 249.
t This, again, was against all established usage. The king, when he
quitted the cathedral, was always divested by the archbishop of his
gloves and shirt ; the which, having been touched by the holy oil, were
burned, so that they might not be profaned by other use. — Marlot :
Theatre d'Honneur.
18 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
and set the diadem on her head.* No bridegroom-elect
could seem more enamoured of the charms of his
betrothed than did Henry. The -king having satisfied
himself as to the appearance of his bride, next con-
descendingly inspected and offered his advice on the
rich suits to be worn by his favourites Yillequier and
du Guast. He then held a short conference with queen
Catherine, and admitted the comte de Vaudemont to the
honour of an interview.
A platform of state, surmounted by a canopy of
cloth of gold, had been erected at the portal of Notre
Dame de Rheims. The king was conducted thither
walking between the due de Lorraine and the cardinal de
Guise, preceded by bands of musicians and by the
grand-master of the household, the due de Guise, who
carried his baton of office. The attire of king Henry
was deemed a marvellous display of elaborate taste ;
and the fashion of his vestments was so novel, that all
the young lords of the court, excepting the privileged
band of favourites, or mignons, beheld themselves
eclipsed. The due de Montpensier and the comte de
Vaudemont followed. Next marched the due de
Mayenne, grand-chamberlain. Then followed the bride,
supported between the due d'Alen9on and the king of
Navarre. The robe of Louise was of white satin sump-
tuously adorned and beset with gems ; her mantle was
of violet velvet embroidered with the fleurs-de-lis, the
train, which was twelve yards long, being carried by
the princess Catherine of Navarre, assisted by the
widowed princesses of Conde and la Roche-sur-Yon —
the latter being the mother of the due de Montpensier.
Catherine followed, wearing robes of black velvet, her
train borne by the duchesse de Retz. The queen of
Navarre came next, walking between the duchesse de
* Mathieu : Hist, du Regne de Henri III. Dreux de Eadier : Vie de
Louise de Lorraine. Brant6me.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 19
Montpensier and the widowed duchesse de Guise.* The
ceremony of the espousals was performed by the cardinal
de Bourbon ; and the high mass which followed was
said by the same prelate, assisted by the cardinal de
Guise.
A banquet ensued, followed by a ballet and a ball.
The royal pair danced a minuet, and afterwards per-
formed a quick dance called the Gaillarde, to the
great admiration of the spectators. The coronation
and marriage of Henry III. were celebrated with a di-
minution even of the state and pageantry which his
predecessors would separately have lavished on each of
these ceremonies. The chief event worthy to be noted,
in respect to this ceremonial, is the gradual appropria-
tion which the house of Lorraine had made of all the
high offices of state. The daughter of Catherine was
the wife of the chief of their race ; a princess of Lor-
raine had again been selected to share the throne of
France. The grand-master of the household, the high
chamberlain, the two chief chamberlains-in-ordinary,
and the prelate who placed the crown of St. Louis on
Henry's head, were members of the house of Guise ;
the mother of this "race of heroes," Antoinette de
Bourbon, also present, being the aunt of the king of
Navarre and of Conde. So consummate had been the
tact displayed by the deceased cardinal de Lorraine
during the minority of the due de Guise his nephew,
that the apparently disinterested policy of the Lorraine
princes disarmed suspicion ; and so lulled the jealousy
of the queen, that for several years after the accession
of Henry III. Catherine spoke approvingly of their
moderation and devotion to the government of her son.
Henry, though he was greatly influenced by the
charms of queen Louise, yet insisted that she should
* Godefroy : Grand C£r£m. de France. Sacre et Benediction Nup-
tiale de Henri III. Marlot : Theatre d'Honneur.
20 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
receive mademoiselle de Chateauneuf and confirm her
appointment in the royal household. Louise testified
much anger and discontent at this mandate, and boldly
declared that such a demand outraged her feelings and
offended her notions of decorum. The confessor of the
young queen, the Jesuit Bellangreville, exhorted his
royal mistress firmly to withold her sanction to such
a project, which he termed " a shameful concession to
the scandalous vice of the age ! " — " Madame, even if
your heart were not interested in this demand, it is
your duty, for the sake of our holy faith, to oppose a
resistance strenuous as possible ! " * The king, on his
side, showed great displeasure at his consort's proceed-
ings, and remarked in the presence of her father " that
he deemed it strange and unexpected as possible that
her majesty, who alone owed her elevation to the throne
to his affection, should presume to oppose his will."
Henry, therefore, commanded his consort forthwith to
ratify the appointment of mademoiselle de Chateauneuf,
and to accept of her services. After shedding many
tears, Louise obeyed, on the earnest counsel of the due
de Guise, whom Henry sent to intimate his will to his
consort. The king further determined that all the
ladies and waiting-women hitherto in the service of the
young queen should be dismissed with suitable presents.
No exception was permitted even in favour of madame
de Changy, the faithful friend of Louise during the
period of her adversity. The queen in vain supplicated
that at least madame de Changy might be permitted to
retain her appointment ; but the king ungenerously re-
plied by intimating his opinion " that the birth and
position of her former attendants were unsuitable for
the household of the queen of France ; while her
familiarity with madame de Changy gave umbrage to
* Dreux de Radier : Vie de Louise de Lorraine. Vie de Rene"e de
Rieux.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 21
the illustrious ladies nominated to the chief posts about
her majesty's person, and especially to madame de
Dampierre * and to the duchesse de Nevers, mistress of
the robes." Three weeks, therefore, after witnessing the
espousals of their beloved mistress, madame de Changy
and her colleague mademoiselle du Bellay took leave
and returned to Nancy, each having received a gift
from the queen of the large sum of 1200 livres Tournois.
Two of the young queen's favourite tiring-women,
named Mousette and Pierrotte, were likewise dismissed.!
It was, moreover, decreed by Henry that Louise should
say farewell at Rheims to her immediate kindred of
Lorraine. The comte and comtesse de Vaudemont,
therefore, returned to Nancy at the conclusion of the
coronation fetes ; they showing, however, every mark of
content, as the king had promised to bestow the hand
of mademoiselle de Martigues, daughter and heiress
of the due de Penthievre, upon the count's eldest
son, M. de Mercoeur. The annoyance which the young
queen experienced from these proceedings was such,
that about two months after his marriage Henry lost a
chance of offspring — a hope never more granted to
him. |
The impression which queen Louise made on the
Venetian ambassador Jean Michel has been left on
record by him in a relation addressed to his senate.
Justness of comprehension and acute insight into cha-
racter and accuracy of detail distinguish the despatches
of the envoys of the Seigniory. "The queen," says
* Mother of ths duchesse de Retz, Jeanne de Vivonne, widow of
Claude de Clermont, baron de Dampierre ; a lady possessing a revenue
of 300,000 livres Tournois.
f Comptes des De'penses de la Maison de la Heine Louise, Epouse
de Henri III., signs' de ea main : Bibl. Imp. Suppl. Fr. vol. 1476.
MS.
I M<5m. de Cheverny, Chance'lier de France. Brantome : Vie do
Louise de Lorraine.
22 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
Michel,* " is a young princess of nineteen or twenty
years. She is very handsome ; her figure is elegant
and of middle size rather than small, for her majesty
has no need to wear high-heeled shoes to increase her
height. Her figure is slight, her profile beautiful, and
her features majestic, agreeable, and lively. Her eyes,
though very pale, are full of vivacity ; her complexion
is fair, and the colour of her hair pale yellow, which
gives great content to the king, because that hue is
rare in this country, where most of the ladies have
black hair. The queen uses no cosmetics, nor any
other artifice of the toilette. As for her moral vir-
tues, she is gentle and affable. It is said that she is
liberal and benevolent to the extent of her means. She
has some wit and understanding, and her comprehen-
sion is ready. Her piety is fervent as that of her
husband, and this is saying everything. She appears
devoted to the king, and shows him great reverence ; in
short, it is impossible to witness a more complete union
than that which now exists between their majesties.
The name of the queen is Louise. She is the daughter
of M. de Vaudemont, brother of the father of the
reigning due de Lorraine. This Yaudemont was cousin-
german to the late due de Guise, the cardinal de Lor-
raine, and their brothers. He first embraced the eccle-
siastical profession, and was nominated to the bishopric
of Metz, though he was never consecrated. His first
wife was the sister of the count of Egmont, who lost
his head in Flanders ; by her he had one daughter, the
present queen of France. By his second wife, who was
sister to the due de Nemours, and by his third consort,
daughter of the due d'Aumale, Vaudemont has three or
four children. His eldest son the king marries in
France : he is now residing at court, and has the title
* Kelazione del Clarissimo Giovanni Michel, anno 1575. Tommasio,
tcrno ii. p. 239 et seq.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 23
of duke. The second son of Vaudemont is being
brought up at the court of Savoy ; and since the mar-
riage of his sister with the king of France he is there
treated with great respect. King Heniy greatly de-
sired the marriage with madame Louise, for his majesty
said that it was necessary for him to marry a beautiful
woman ; nevertheless, this union would never have
happened had the cardinal de Lorraine lived."
The marriage of the king, meanwhile, greatly in-
censed mademoiselle de Chateauneuf. The fierce temper
of this lady occasioned Henry serious disquietude. Un-
propitiated by her appointment in the household of the
queen, her insolent defiance at times shocked her royal
mistress. At one of the balls given in honour of the
royal nuptials, mademoiselle de Chateauneuf audaciously
appeared in robes similar to those of the young queen,
imitating even the parure of jewels worn by Louise.
The indignation of the queen was now fairly roused.
Aware that it would be useless to appeal to her consort,
she quitted the saloon, and sought the presence of
Catherine, to whom she related the unexampled in-
solence of the favourite. Catherine forthwith sum-
moned her son, and insisted that an order should be
despatched commanding mademoiselle de Chateauneuf
to retire to her apartments. The following morning
Catherine exiled the presumptuous Renee from court
for the space of three months.* Henry, therefore, in-
tensely chagrined, and yet finding that he could not
easily resist the determination shown by his wife, his
mother, and the duchesse de Guise to procure the dis-
missal of Ren£e from court, resolved to make a second
effort to obtain a husband for mademoiselle de Cha-
teauneuf, whose rank would be a guarantee for her per-
manent residence in Paris.
With his habitual disregard for the feelings and wel-
* Vie de Rende de Rieux : Dreux de Radier.
24 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
fare of others, provided that he could extricate himself
from a difficulty, Henry fixed upon Fran9ois de
Luxembourg, his consort's former suitor. His majesty
therefore accosted Luxembourg one day in his private
cabinet thus : " Mon cousin, I have married, as you are
aware, your former sweetheart ; now, as this is so, I am
resolved to bestow upon you mine, mademoiselle de
Chateauneuf." Luxembourg responded " that he was
joyous and proud that the former lady of his heart
should have been exalted to so high a pitch of splen-
dour and happiness, and therefore to have so greatly
gained ; nevertheless, he begged to decline the king's
proposal relative to la Chateauneuf." — " It is my will,'*
angrily rejoined the king, " that you espouse her im-
mediately. I will myself be present at the ceremony
of your marriage." The count indignantly expostu-
lated with Henry, showing that his birth and great
wealth entitled him to aspire to the hand of a lady of
princely lineage and unblemished repute. The king,
however, continued doggedly to reiterate his command.
Luxembourg then demanded a delay of eight days.
This respite Henry unwillingly granted, stating that he
did so in order to give the count leisure to prepare a
suitable wedding equipment for himself and his bride.
No sooner, however, had the count left the presence of
the king than he hastened to his lodgings, mounted his
horse, and quitted Rheims, retiring into the Nether-
lands.* The cause of the sudden flight of Luxembourg
soon became bruited at court ; and this adventure,
coupled with the previous ridicule there incurred by
mademoiselle de Chateauneuf relative to the affair of
Nantouillet, induced her gladly to conform to her man-
date of exile for three months. At the expiration of
this period Renee returned, affianced by the contrivance
* Journal de Henri III. — Etoile. Dreux de Radier : Anecdotes des
Reines et Begentes de France.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 25
of queen Catherine to one Antinotti, a Florentine ; an
alliance more suitable to her position than those to
which she had previously aspired.*
On the 24th day of February the court quitted
Rheims, and arrived in Paris six days afterwards.
Henry having no inclination to perform the usual
neuvaine at the shrine of St. Marcoul, deputed thither
his grand-almoner. The king also dispensed with the
ceremony of a state-entry into Paris, as the season of
Lent had commenced ; but drove through the streets of
his capital in a coach with queen Louise and Catherine
de Medici. His majesty first proceeded to the Louvre
to pay a visit of condolence to the widow of Charles IX. ;
he then took up his abode in the hotel de Soissons,
where Henry remained until after the departure of the
queen-dowager Elizabeth from the Louvre ; while Ca-
therine retired to her new hotel des Tuileries.
The first fortnight of Henry's sojourn in his capital
was employed in receiving the addresses of the public
bodies, who presented him with loyal congratulations
and welcome. The majesty and affability of the king's
manner usually exercised great influence over those but
casually admitted to his presence ; the municipality
and the various guilds of the capital therefore retired
from the royal presence satisfied and propitiated by the
moderation and orthodoxy of Henry's language. Each
day Henry, with his queen, attended by Villequier and
du Guast, visited in succession the churches of Paris,
offering bountiful alms. The court preachers, moreover,
delivered a sermon daily in the presence of the court,
at which the king and the two queens were generally
* This Antinotti was stabbed by his wife, for his infidelity, with her
own hand, in 1577. Rene'e subsequently found another cavalier bold
enough to espouse her in Phillipo Altoviti, seigneur de Castellane. Alto-
viti fell in a duel with the grand-prior of France, Henri d'AngoulSme,
natural son of Henry II., in 1586.
26 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
present. The Parisians, meanwhile, surveyed the piety
of their monarch with edified approbation ; and believed
for a season that the halcyon times of St. Louis were
about to revive, when the day was divided into three
equal portions by that orthodox king, severally devoted
to prayer, politics, and study.
Towards the end of the month of February, Henry
issued a fresh code of etiquette for the regulation of
the palace. The French during former reigns had been
always freely permitted to see their monarch dine in
public ; the entrance of the people into the banqueting-
hall being impeded by few restrictions, and those of
the simplest and most obvious kind. Under the new
ordonnance the table at which the king dined was to
be guarded by a barrier, within which no personages
but the lords of the household were permitted to enter.
A variety of regulations was also prescribed, defining
those persons who might now avail themselves of the
ancient privilege. In public the person of the king
might not be approached within a certain stated dis-
tance ; no petitions were to be presented, excepting on
a certain day weekly appointed by his majesty. The
king rode about Paris in a closed chariot .with his wife,
and appeared annoyed if compelled by the vivas of the
populace to show himself. The Parisians were greatly
disappointed that their king did not ride forth on horse-
back magnificently accoutred, as his brothers had done,
in the fashion of Francis I., who for centuries after
his decease was the beau ideal of a finished courtier,
and a popular monarch in the opinion of his country-
men. The studies of the king were at this period con-
fined to three books — his missal, from which a few
pages indifferently selected were read to him nightly
by de Villequier ; Machiavelli — which his majesty him-
self daily perused during half an hour after his lever;
and the poems of Desportes, whose impure verse fur-
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 27
nished the king and his favourites with matter for
hilarity, and for the fabrication of the coarse bons-mots
in vogue at court. Occasionally Henry was enlivened
by the recital of some encounter between a cavalier of
the court and one of his mignons, whose bragging and
duelling propensities caused them to be regarded with
terror by all peaceful individuals. As for the due
d'Alenyon, he moved amid this motley assemblage
smiling, lying, and plotting ; cringing when in the pre-
sence of the king and the queen-mother ; exasperating
his sister Marguerite more and more against her brother
Henry ; and acting the part of a treacherous friend to-
wards the king of Navarre, whom he constantly incited
to revolt with the full intent of betraying. Monsieur
had also his mignons, the chief of whom was the brave
Bussy d'Amboise,* noted for his wit and profanity of
speech. Amenable to no law, an accomplished swords-
man, profligate and insolent, Bussy d'Amboise fought
for and won a special immunity at court ; and succeeded
even in casting a shield over his royal master which
warded from the duke many a thrust. His colleagues
in the favour of the duke were MM. de Simiers,
Fervaques, Beauvais, and others, whose counsels were
of course given in opposition to that of Henry's clique
of favourites.
The negotiation for the marriage of Monsieur with
the queen of England continued. Catherine, aware
of the distrust subsisting between her sons, did all in
her power to promote the alliance and to propitiate
Elizabeth. The despatches of the queen to Fenelon on
this subject are unique of their kind ; she therein dis-
cusses the personal appearance of Monsieur,f and is
* Louis de Clermont, son of Louis de Clennont Bussy d'Amboise and
of Catherine de Beauvau dame de Moigneville, of the powerful house of
Clermont d'Anjou.
fThe ambassador Giovanni Michel writes : "Monsieur est petit de
28 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
lavish in her regrets that he is not so handsome in
person nor so spirituel and gracieux as king Henry :
nevertheless, her majesty desires the ambassador to
contradict the report of the duke's excessive ugliness ;
"for," says Catherine, "although Monsieur's personal
gifts are not now great, yet his features denote his
illustrious descent." * Elizabeth, who must have cor-
dially despised the character of her royal suitor, dexter-
ously encouraged the suit, pending the development of
her policy in Scotland ; as she subsequently supported
his designs on Flanders to ward from her realm its in-
vasion by her arch-enemy Philip II.
At the suggestion of queen Catherine the court
assumed a more united and decorous aspect to receive
the great deputation from the Huguenot faction, allied
with that of Les Politiques, which during the month
of April, 1575, entered Paris to memorialize the king.
The answer given to this important petition decided
the character and policy of Henry's reign. The clauses
of the document were ninety-two in number. The
signatures of Conde, Damville, Turenne, la Koue,
Thore, and all the chieftains in revolt were attached,
who pledged themselves, on the acceptance of the
articles, to disband their armies and to make submis-
sion to the king. They demanded specially, on the
part of the Huguenots, complete freedom of worship,
with the privilege of convoking synods and consistories ;
and that the reformed church should be only amenable
to and ruled by her own ministers. The demands
made in common by both factions were, the convoca-
taille ; mais d'une forte complexion, carr£ et aptet k porter toutes sortes
de fatigues corporelles ; il est en cela le contraire du roi. II n'a jamais
e"te* en amiti6 avec ses freres, notamment avec le roi actuel, et avec sa
mere. La faute est en celle-ci ; car elle distinguoit tropl'un, et 1'aimoit
comme son cail droit, tandis qu'elle abaissait Tautre de son mieux."
*Lettre de la Keyne-mere & M. de la Mothe-Fe'ne'lon : MS. de St.
Germain.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 29
tion of the States, the reduction of the imposts to their
average rate during the reign of Louis XII., the re-
formation of the licentiousness of the court, and the
overthrow of the pernicious system of favoritism.* Such
demands, however desirable for the prosperity of the
commonwealth, were odious to the king and his
courtiers. The petition was presented to Henry in the
presence of his mother, the due d'Alen9on, the king
of Navarre, Bellievre, de 1'Aubespine, Yillequier, and
others. The deputies were then conducted into the
ante-chamber of the royal apartment, while the secre-
taiy of state, M. de Sauve, read aloud the petition.
They were then re-admitted to the audience-chamber,
when Henry addressed them in a fluent manner, and
reproached the deputies for the treason and manifest
insincerity of their chieftains ; he then dismissed them
with the promise that their prayer should be considered.
The envoys, however, had still to present a supplemen-
tary article concerning the massacre of Paris — compre-
hended in the demand that its authors and abettors
should be punished by removal from participation in
state affairs. This article, being specially aimed at the
queen-mother and the dues de Nevers, de Guise, and
others, created the greatest indignation. Catherine
therein beheld the realization of the opinion she had
long cherished, that her own exile and disgrace would
follow the admission of the Huguenot chieftains to the
councils of her son. This conviction, therefore, decided
the fate of the petition — power being Catherine's sole
object, she steadily severed every bond with which it
was sought to fetter her. The king, therefore, at his
mother's dictation, intimated, after the lapse of a few
days, that all the concession he was prepared to make
was to nominate sixteen towns in his realm wherein
the Protestants might assemble for public worship ; and
* De Thou, liv. lx. p. 250, et seq.
30 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575,
in which they should hold the principal offices, pro-
vided that all the places seized during the present war
were restored in the same condition as when captured.
Other minor concessions were added ; and the deputies-
received permission to retire and consult the chieftains,
leaving two of their number in Paris — a courteous mode
of dismissing the ambassage. The war, nevertheless,
continued without intermission, the royal generals re-
ceiving commands to pursue the campaign vigorously ;
nor to arrest their progress during any reported armis-
tice, unless it was notified by the court.
The departure of the deputies was followed by the
arrival of envoys from the Polish diet, who presented
the king with letters from that august assembly.
Their tenor was respectful and humble, excepting when
treating of Henry's ignominious flight, which the
deputies alluded to as a disgrace to the people of
Poland, and to the majesty of so puissant a monarch.
The diet prayed the king to return to Warsaw without
delay ; stating that the realm was in imminent peril
from the enmity of princes, who resented the rejection
of their pretensions to the diadem of the Jagellons ;
that the czar of Muscovy was about to make a descent
upon Lithuania, aided by the Wallachians and the
Tartar hordes of the Taurida. The senators finally no-
tified to his majesty that a diet had been convoked to
meet at Stezicza, at which they prayed his presence to
devise means to defend the realm and to provide for
its various internal needs. If his majesty thought not
well to comply with the request of his devoted peti-
tioners, the members of the senate would hold that
he abdicated the throne^ and would immediately pro-
ceed to the election of another king. To this address-
Henry replied : " That the civil war in France pre-
vented him from returning immediately into Poland ;.
but that it was his royal intention to depute some of the
most distinguished personages of his realm to repre-
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 31
sent him before the diet, and to order things requisite
for the defence and prosperity of Poland." The
marechal de Bellegarde, therefore, was dispatched to
represent the king at the diet, and to overtake Pibrac,
who had already set out on his journey to reclaim the
valuables left by Henry in Cracow. Pibrac, always
persecuted by luckless destiny, had been surrounded
on the borders of Burgundy by a troop of banditti and
carried off to the mountains ; where after a detention of
some days, he was despoiled of his money and papers,
and abandoned in the intricacies of a forest. There,
famished and shoeless, Pibrac wandered for several
days, until found by a detachment of archers sent to
the rescue of the envoy bj the authorities of the
adjacent town of Montbelliard.* Pibrac and Bellegarde
were directed to act in concert with Jacques de Faye,
seigneur d'Espesses, one of the gentlemen of Henry's
chamber, who, not having been intrusted with the
secret of the king's evasion, had subsequently shown
courage and fidelity in defending his majesty's interests.
The Poles deeply resented the manner in which they
had been abandoned by the king ; and they, moreover,
felt that the affairs of France must always detain
Henry within his Gallic realm. Poland, consequently,
was convulsed by factions. The archbishop of Gnesen,
and the chamberlain Tenczin, who had so singularly
sealed his vow of fealty to the king, still remained
faithful to Henry's cause, and carried with them a
large and influential portion of the senate. The sup-
porters of the imperial faction rallied, and demanded
the deposition of Henry and the election of the em-
peror Maximilian ; while a third and powerful party
proposed the election of a king of their own nation.
Another party, supported by the influence of Anne
Jagellon, espoused the part of the vaivode of Transyl-
* Vie de Guy du Faur, Seigneur de Pibrac, par Charles Pascal.
32 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
vania, Etienne Bathory, a gallant young prince, who
had offered to espouse the princess. The diet of
Stezicza assembled before the arrival of Henry's
envoys.* After several tumultuous sessions, the depo-
sition of Henry was resolved by a large majority of
senators, as his majesty had not been pleased to appear
in answer to the summons of his subjects. Pibrac was
then only three days' journey from Stezicza ; which fact
being duly notified by M. d'Espesses, the diet sus-
pended its decision to receive and hear the ambassa-
dors of the king. Pibrac, as the most eloquent of the
two envoys, undertook to lay the remonstrances and
promises of king Henry before the senate. In his
majesty's name he declared that France was ready to
assist Poland with her blood, her treasures, and diplo-
matic resources ; that Henry would send an army to
defend his Polish realm against the Muscovite ; and as
for the Tartar hordes, the king proposed to take them
into his own pay. He, moreover, commented on the
good service already done to Poland by the power and
prestige of France, which through her ambassadors at
the Porte and at the court of Stockholm had warded
off an invasion by both these powers.f The distance
between the realms of France and Poland, however,
and the situation of the latter — divided from Henry's
hereditary states by the territory of the empire and
that of the German Confederation or by the Italian
states — rendered the difficulties almost insuperable for
the personal access of the sovereign, or for the march of
his armies to the aid of the Poles. The only feasible
* Henry's lieutenants during this reign partook of their royal master's
indolent indifference. In this case Bellegarde had permitted himself a
long delay in Savoy, fascinated by the charms of his uncle's widow Marie
de Saluzzo, widow of the mare'chal de Termes, whom he subsequently
espoused by dispensation.
t De Thou. Cromar : Hist, de Pologne. Vie de Pibrac : Dupleix.
Mathieu.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 33
mode, therefore, by which France might have retained
the realm of Poland, was by the immediate abdication
of king Henry in favour of his brother or the king of
Navarre. It is astonishing that a policy so obviously
desirable was not eagerly adopted by Henry, who, by
ridding his realm of either of these princes would
have neutralized the power of the other. The king,
however, immersed in dreamy sensuality, and governed
by his favourites — whose object it was to provide for
the pleasures and security of the moment, and who
cared little for an abstract point of policy which would
bring present unpopularity and the probable enmity of
Catherine de Medici — suffered the opportunity to pass.
Catherine, on the other hand, had now convinced herself
that the renunciation by Monsieur of his influence as a
French prince, by accepting the distant crown of
Poland, would curtail her power, which was strengthened
by the dissensions between her sons and the rivalries
of their partisans. As the husband of the queen of
England, on the other hand, if such alliance could be
contrived, the power of Monsieur to foster leagues and
to arm the Huguenots of France would be greatly
augmented ; and Henry, therefore, still remaining in
dread of his brother, would continue submissive, and
appeal to the maternal shield of Catherine's counsels
and intervention. The due d'Alenyon, moreover, was
the heir-presumptive of the crown ; and in case of the
demise of Henry III., Catherine too vividly remem-
bered the perils of her late regency, voluntarily to
incur the same risks, increased as they would now be
by the maturer age and the augmenting popularity of
the king of Navarre. Moreover, the events in the Low
Countries already occupied Catherine's astute specula-
tions for Monsieur ; for her majesty constantly main-
tained a secret correspondence in cypher with the
prince of Orange and the Flemish malcontents.
34 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
In Poland, meantime, the panic prevailing relative
to the menaced invasion by the Muscovites, accelerated
the measures of the diet, and gradually extinguished
the loyal fervour of Henry's most stanch supporters.
If the king had promptly sent the due d'Alen£on, as
his representative and generalissimo, provided with
money, and empowered to subscribe to the religious
guarantees demanded by the Poles, the crown would
have remained on his head, and might with little risk
have been eventually transferred to Monsieur. But, as
circumstances were, the Poles indignantly resented the
selfish insouciance of a monarch whose accession they
had so enthusiastically hailed. Pibrac's message, there-
fore, was listened to with outward deference, the
embargo laid on Henry's effects being at once re-
moved. The diet was also convoked ostensibly to dis-
cuss Henry's propositions ; but as Pibrac and Belle-
garde received trusty intelligence that the decree passed
during its former session, proclaiming the deposition of
the king, was not likely to be annulled, they deemed
their royal master's dignity better insured by their retire-
ment from the realm. The connection of Henry III.
with Poland virtually terminates at this point. After
several riotous sessions of the diet, the ceremonies of
the election of a monarch were again re-enacted, the
candidates being the emperor Maximilian and Stephen
Battory vaivode of Transylvania. The votes of the
palatinates proved nearly equally divided for each of the
pretenders, and civil war broke forth, the archbishop of
Gnesen espousing the imperial pretensions. Gourka
palatine of Sandomier, the comte de Tenczin, Sboroski
palatine of Cracow, formerly Henry's adherent, having
at first vainly striven to procure the elevation of a
Polish noble to the throne, suddenly proclaimed the
election of the princess Anne Jagellon, provided that
she gave her hand to Battory. This proposition Anne
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 35
accepted ; the vaivode, therefore, privately entered
Cracow, and espoused the princess. Battory, thus
proclaimed as king by a powerful party in the realm,
in possession of the capital and the royal treasure,
valiantly maintained his rights against his imperial com-
petitor until the decease of the emperor Maximilian in
the course of the following year put an end to the con-
test, by the submission of Poland to Stephen and his
consort Anne Jagellon.*
During the month of June king Henry fell ill of
ear-ache ; resulting, it was supposed, from exposure to
the draughts of a church within which his majesty had
knelt some time before a shrine. The sufferings of the
king were excruciating, and during two days inflammation
of the brain was apprehended. Incapable of the least
self-control, the king's transports of rage and despair
during his sufferings were indescribable. The most som-
bre suspicion took possession of his mind ; and he believed
himself poisoned by the machinations of the due d'Alen-
§on, who, his majesty declared, had bribed one of his
valets to scratch him slightly with a poisoned pin on the
nape of the neck, while fixing his ruff.f It was with
the greatest difficulty that Catherine prevented the im-
mediate arrest of Monsieur ; and it is believed that the
queen took upon herself to cancel the order issued by
Henry to that effect. Shaken by the most terrible
misgivings, Henry sent for the king of Navarre, and
implored him to watch over his safety ; and in case his
death ensued, to seize the crown. " As," said the king,
" I would rather that you reigned than that malotru of
a traitor, my brother ! " He then advised the king of
Navarre to make his accession sure by compassing,
while there was yet opportunity, the assassination of
* De Thou : Hist, de son Temps, liv. Ixii.
f Mathieu, liv. vii. p. 418. Mezeray. The king was excessively sub-
ject to ear and tooth-aches.
36 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
Monsieur. " What ! " exclaimed the king, " shall I
leave my crown to this vile profligate ? Mon frere,
take my advice ; find means to rid yourself of him
and gather together your friends, so as to be ready at
the first moment to seize my crown ! " * When Henry
uttered this injunction it must charitably be supposed
that, maddened by pain, he knew not what he counselled :
nevertheless, when the week following his majesty's
partial recovery we find him coolly discussing a plot
for the assassination of his prisoner the marechal de
Montmorency, the perfidy of the mind which sanctioned
the murder of Coligny and counselled that of Monsieur
seems but to be developing its deformity. The king of
Navarre treated Henry's proposition respecting Mon-
sieur as emanating from the frenzy of delirium ; but
he thought it prudent, considering the reckless daring
of some of the king's intimate associates, to advertise
the queen of the peril which threatened her son. Cathe-
rine, therefore, sent for Monsieur, and ordered him to
take up his abode in the hotel des Tuileries, and care-
fully to avoid for the present his usual rambles through
the streets of Paris.
During Henry's illness intelligence was brought by
the baron d'Alais of the death of the marshal Dam-
Tille, the duke having, it was said, been poisoned at
Narbonne. The king, who believed that Damville's
•decease would terminate the troubles in Languedoc,
received the news with satisfaction ; and declared that
it was the first and best alleviation he had experienced
throughout his malady. The position of Montmorency
had long been precarious ; and, doubtless, Catherine
during the preceding reign would have sacrificed him
to her fears, had not Damville been free and at the
head of an army of malcontents. The vengeance of so
* Mathieu, liv. vii. pp. 417-18. This statement is made by the histo-
rian on the authority of Henry IV.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 37
potent a subject as Montmorency was greatly to be
dreaded, when the wealth, the vassals, and the allies of
the Montmorenci, if given to the rebels, probably would
enable them to dictate terms to their sovereign. The
king accordingly, on receiving the intelligence of the
demise of Daniville, summoned the queen his mother,
the chancellor Birague, Cheverny, Matignon the captor
of Montgomery, and Villequier to a private conference.
There the matter was discussed at length, the queen
proposing the death of the marshal. She, moreover,
suggested that, as the traitor M. de Thore would suc-
ceed his brothers as next in succession to the honours
of Montmorency, the barony, dukedom, and wealth of
the Montmorenci should be declared forfeited.* The
king reluctantly consented to this proposal ; his ma-
jesty, however, subsequently greatly approved of Cathe-
rine's design, and entered with alacrity into the details
for its successful execution.
It was, however, far from the intention of the king
and queen to bring the marechal de Montmorency to
trial for his alleged treasonable misdemeanours. The
king had declared that the marshal should die ; and
midnight strangulation in the prison-cell was the sen-
tence his majesty decreed. The health of Montmorency
having been greatly impaired by his imprisonment, the
king's physician Miron was sent to visit him ; he being
afterwards instructed to spread the report that he found
the marshal suffering from determination of blood to
the head, which on the slightest excitement might be
expected to terminate fatally. The queen next com-
manded that the marshal should be subjected to a more
rigorous form of imprisonment ; his apartment was
changed for a gloomy cell, and the officers of his
* Le Laboureur : Additions aux Me*m. de Castelnau, Eloge du Mar£-
chal de Damville : Mathieu, liv. vii. Journal de Henri III. Etoile.
Brantdme : Vie du Marechal du Montmorency.
38 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
household were interdicted from serving him as usual,
or from even visiting their master. " Tell the queen,"
observed Montmorency, " that I foresee what her design
is. She need not trouble herself, nevertheless ; let her
majesty send me an apothecary patronized by the chan-
cellor (Birague), and I will swallow any dose he may
present ! " * The king, after much cogitation, fixed upon
the marquis de Souvre to execute the design, promising
him a notable spoil from amid the honours of the chief-
tain of Montmorency. The noble and upright heart
of Souvre abhorred the task appointed him ; chivalrous
as well as brave, the marquis undauntedly pointed out
to his master the enormity of the crime he contem-
plated. " Sire, consider what you ordain. Think you
that this deed may be done so secretly that none may
know ? God will see and avenge ! I would rather
lose everything than see your majesty's reputation so
sullied. Issue your royal commands, and bring the
marshal to public trial ! I cannot commit so great a
perfidy."! The words and the resistance of Souvre
made a great impression on the mind of the king ; and
for the subsequent few days he took no measures to
enlist the services of a less scrupulous agent. At the
expiration of this period authentic intelligence reached
Paris that Damville had perfectly recovered his health,
which at the worst had only been temporarily affected.
Great, therefore, was the gratulation of Catherine that
her project had not been executed. The imprisonment
of Montmorency was instantly rendered more tolerable ;
his guards were changed and his servants restored. The
queen communicated with madame de Montmorency at
Chantilly, and excused the rigour of the recent measures
* Journal de Henri III. De Thou: Hist, de son Temps, liv. Ixi.
f Mathieu: Hist, de Henri III., liv. vii. p. 418, et seq. Le La-
boureur: Additions aux Me*m. de Castelnau. Hist, de la Maison de
Montmorency.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 39
used toward her husband on the plea that information
of some secret conspiracy had been submitted to the
privy council, in which the marshal was accused of
collusion — a charge which had been proved false.
Montmorency, nevertheless, was not deceived by
Catherine's plausible statements ; he appreciated, and
with good reason, the hardihood with which she conceived
and executed the most unscrupulous measures ; yet he
bore her majesty no animosity which might alone be
assuaged by the ruin of his country and the overthrow
of the son of Henry II. In perusing the history of
these troublous times the character of Montmorency
stands forth in bright relief amid colleagues so corrupt
and venal. Patriotic and of integrity most unim-
peachable, the marshal yearned to heal the schisms
which convulsed the state ; and forgetful of his own
wrongs and injuries, he sacrificed himself to accomplish
that good work. When the queen subsequently deemed
it politic to release Montmorency, and to throw herself
in a manner on his magnanimous forgiveness of the
wrongs she had inflicted, Catherine received a noble
and practical lesson, showing her how a true subject
and patriot avenged personal injury when the welfare
of the state demanded its oblivion.
The king, as soon as he recovered his health, removed
to the Louvre, the widowed queen having quitted France
for the court of her father the emperor. Elizabeth, after
the death of her husband, found herself without power
or consideration. The cabals of the court were odious
to her ; while she had imbibed much of king Charles's
aversion for his brother Henry. Under these circum-
stances Elizabeth gladly accepted her father's invitation
to return to Vienna. With all her virtue and sim-
plicity Elizabeth appears not to have possessed much
tenderness of character ; else herself feeling so keenly
the disadvantages of a residence in Paris, she could not
40 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
have abandoned her infant daughter to the care of
Catherine de Medici ; nor even, as it can be discovered,
made any attempt to convey her to be educated far
from the levity of the court. Elizabeth appointed
Pierre de Gondy bishop of Paris, and Auger de Ghislin
seigneur de Boesbecq, a German noble resident in
France, to administer her pecuniary affairs and to
watch over the welfare of the little princess Marie
Isabel. She left them an emphatic charge to ad-
minister justice impartially throughout her dower lands;
and to sell no public office or benefice, but to nominate
thereto men good and learned, without respect to their
birth or to the favour of the court.* Elizabeth's instruc-
tions were faithfully followed; her finances consequently
flourished under the frugal administration of Boesbecq,.
who eventually was regarded as the sole representative
of his royal mistress, for Gondy during the troubles of
the League became too absorbed in political intrigues
to occupy himself respecting Elizabeth's dower lands.
The queen quitted Paris during the first week in August,
1575. She was received with the utmost pomp and
respect in all towns through which she passed,f until
she reached the German frontier, where Elizabeth
was greeted by the embassadors of the emperor her
father.J The little princess her daughter seems to have
been a precocious child ; and is stated to have keenly
felt and testified her resentment at the neglect which
* Hilarion de Coste: Eloges des Dames Illustres — Vie d'Elisabeth
d'Autriche. Brant6me: Ibid. Francois Lerdonati: Eloge d'Elisabeth
d'Autriche.
t Godefroy: Grand Ce"re"m. de France, tome ii. Entre"e de la Keyne
Elisabeth d'Autriche dans la ViUe d'Orteans.
J Elizabeth founded the nunnery of Santa Clara of Vienna, where
she took up her residence. Elizabeth died in 1590. The following epi-
taph of her own composition was placed on her tomb in the chapel of
the nunnery: "Peccantem me quotidie et non poenitentem timor mortis
conturbat, qui in inferno nulla est redemptio. Miserere mei, Deus, et
salva me."
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 41
which she was treated. The child was suffered to
remain in the Louvre ; but her apartments were small
and isolated. Catherine was too busy to visit her
granddaughter, whose sickly health rendered her un-
attractive in person. The princess adored the memory
of her father, and for hours would weep for his loss.
She always testified the greatest fondness for those who
had been his faithful servants, commanding that they
should be admitted to her presence whenever they
wished. Marie then held forth her little hand, and
gravely promised "that, when she grew up and had
means, she would remember them." * The king seemed
to take the most interest in the welfare of " la petite
Madame," as Charles's daughter was termed at court.
One day Marie had been ill for three days, without
receiving a visit from any of her royal relatives. On
the third day Henry came alone to her apartment, and
calling the little princess, offered to embrace her.
Marie, however, stood still, and steadily fixed her eyes,
which were filled with tears, upon her uncle. The
king went to her, and taking the princess in his arms,
he nursed and fondled her for some time ; but Marie
would not be propitiated, and refused to smile or return
these caresses. When the king had taken his depar-
ture, the governess of the princess, madame de Brezy,
asked reproachfully why she had so received her uncle.
The princess replied, " How, madame, could I be ex-
pected to embrace and to show pleasure at the visit of
my uncle, when I have, as you know, been ill three
days, and his majesty never once visited me, nor did
he send me any message or make inquiry? — I, who
am his niece, the daughter of his elder brother, and
such by nature that I hope I may do no dishonour to
my lineage ! " f This haughty little damsel, fortunately
* Brant6me : Dames Illustres— Vie de Madame Isabelle de France.
f Ibid.
42 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
for herself, died of gradual decline before she had com-
pleted her sixth year ; or the misfortune which im-
pended over her kindred might have taught her some
hard yet salutary lessons of humility.
The disaffection of the due d'Alenyon during these
transactions continued. He was jealous of the king of
Navarre, who, despite his opposition and remonstrances,
insisted upon visiting madame de Sauvre. This lady in
reality cared for neither of the princes ; but being the
friend of the queen-mother, she implicitly obeyed Ca-
therine's directions, and intrigued to destroy the alliance
between the king of Navarre and the duke.* Madame
de Sauvre, moreover, in order to separate the king and
queen of Navarre, daily entertained Henri with accounts
of Marguerite's liaison with Bussy d'Amboise, her bro-
ther's valiant gentleman. It is certain that the queen
of Navarre lavished repeated marks of favour upon
Bussy, who always accompanied Monsieur to his sister's
apartment, with whom the duke, now in the height of
his dissatisfaction, usually spent the greater part of
the day. The marquis du Guast, whose old enmity
towards Marguerite had received a keener edge from
some recent attempts she had made to overthrow him
in the king's favour, spread the most defamatory reports
respecting her proceedings ; and assigned the worst
motives to the mysterious expeditions which Marguerite
made in the company of the duchesse de Nevers to a
house in an obscure street in Paris, whither the two
often repaired to sup. The queen of Navarre treated
these reports with proud disregard ; while she avenged
herself by ridiculing du Guast, and by arraying against
* " We had no other amusement than to let loose quails in our apart-
ment ; we therefore made love to the ladies, and we both became enamoured
of the same beauty. Madame de Sauvre always showed me favour,
whilst she took pleasure in tormenting Monsieur in my presence, which
enraged him greatly." — Sully, tome i. ch. 15.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 43
him the cavaliers of Monsieur's band. Marguerite's
blandishments, however, did not avert her husband's
wrath. Henri indignantly heard the scandal and the
comments made on the freedom of the life led by his
consort. The ironical allusions of madame de Sauvre
completed his exasperation ; and after one or two inef-
fectual remonstrances, met by Marguerite with taunts
respecting his own liaison with the former, the aliena-
tion between the royal pair became as complete as Cathe-
rine could desire. The king sent for his sister, and
reprimanded her on the folly of her enthusiastic pa-
tronage of Bussy ; and commented severely on her want
of discretion in becoming the confidente of Monsieur,
and on her levity for receiving private visits from the
due de Guise.* Marguerite was never at a loss for a
rejoinder ; and the witty point of her retorts, added to
her absolute refusal to alter her conduct in any respect
at the bidding, as she said, of the marquis du Guast,
or to counsel Monsieur to submission, so incensed the
king, that he forthwith proceeded to prefer a complaint
to Catherine. The queen, however, refused to believe
that her daughter was to blame ; and whether she
really thought such to be the fact, or was wearied with
the eternal bickerings between her children, she de-
clined to interfere. " Bussy sees my daughter before
your majesty, and in the presence of the king her hus-
band, before all the world, and before myself," angrily
remarked Catherine. " Nothing to my knowledge has
been done in secret or with closed doors. Bussy is a
cavalier of high birth ; why should we suspect evil?
* Dupleix makes a serious charge against Catherine at this period. He
states that Marguerite confided to him, during the sojourn of seven years
which he made in her household. " that queen Catherine tormented her
to forget the king of Navarre her husband, and to love the due de
Guise as before ; but that she flatly refused, adding, ' qu'elle n'avoit
pas le coaur de cire.' "
44 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
Does your majesty know any facts other than this
calumnious gossip ? When . at Lyons your majesty
compelled me to offer a great affront to your sister
upon a false representation. Be sure that the queen
your sister still remembers that insult ! " * Henry
uttered some vague assurances that the general conduct
of the queen of Navarre was sufficient to cause her
husband's jealousy; "but on this matter of Bussy
d'Amboise, madame, I confess I only speak from
common report."
For the next few days Bussy audaciously continued
his assiduities to the queen of Navarre, when several
cavaliers of her husband?s suite concerted together to
waylay and poniard him as he quitted her apartment
after attending Monsieur to his chamber. These cava-
liers confided their project to du Guast, who readily
promised to furnish them with soldiers from his regi-
ment of guards, the better to accomplish Bussy's assassi-
nation. The soldiers were posted at midnight at the
corners of the street, while twenty or thirty gentlemen
awaited their victim with drawn swords. Bussy during
the previous day had been engaged in a duel with the
sieur de St. Phal, and having been wounded on the
sword arm, could not defend himself. At the expected
time he sallied from the palace ; accompanied, however,
by fifteen gentlemen of the household of Monsieur.
His wounded arm was bound with an embroidered
dove-coloured scarf — reported to be the gift of queen
Marguerite — the sign by which his assailants were to-
distinguish him from his companions. Amid Bussy'&
escort was one of his own retainers, who, fortunately for
his master, had likewise injured his arm, and which, in
imitation, he had encircled with a scarf of similar colour.
When Bussy reached the place of ambuscade, the
B6arnnois cavaliers rushed upon him, and a bloody
* M&n. de la Reyne Marguerite.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 45
conflict ensued. Aided by his brave colleagues, Bussy
managed to fight his way to his lodgings, which were
at hand, the more readily as his retainer with the scarf
being killed at the commencement of the fray, the as-
sailants believing that their vengeance had been com-
pleted, gradually dispersed.* The report of the assault
meanwhile was carried to Monsieur by an Italian valet
who entered the Louvre shouting that " Bussy was
being assassinated ! " The duke rose, and seizing his
sword, prepared to rush to the scene of conflict, vowing
to avenge his favourite's death. The noise, however,
had alarmed queen Marguerite, whose apartments
opened on the same gallery. Hastily throwing on a
robe-de-chambre, Marguerite ran to her brother's
apartment, and meeting him at the door as he was
going out, she fell at his feet, and prayed him not to
leave the palace. Monsieur, who was weeping and
menacing, refused to listen to his sister. Marguerite,
therefore, who apprehended disastrous consequences
from Monsieur's descent into the streets at that hour
without attendants, sent one of her waiting-women to
fetch the queen-mother. Catherine, whose quick ears
had already detected the sounds of unusual tumult,
was, however, on her way to her son's apartment. She
sharply roused the duke from his transport of grief by
commanding him to lay aside his sword. Her majesty
next despatched an order forbidding the sentinels on
guard to allow the due d'Alen9on to pass out. She
then sat down and commenced to discuss quietly the
bearings of the event.
The following morning Henry prohibited the re-
newal of the fray, under penalty of arrest. The anger
of the due d'Alenyon, however, was roused beyond con-
* Marguerite in her Memoirs expresses herself with the greatest
fervour respecting Bussy d'Amboise, " II 6tait," writes she, "laterreur
des ses ennemis, la gloire de son maitre, et 1'esp^rance de ses amis."
Bussy at this period was also greatly favoured by rnadaine de Sauvre.
46 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
trol. " My brother," says queen Marguerite, " was
filled with mortification and anger and vengeance, and
very plainly indicated his resentment at the offence
committed against him by this project of depriving
him of the most brave and the most worthy of servants
that prince could have." At the urgent desire of Ca-
therine, Monsieur very reluctantly consented that Bussy
should retire for a few weeks from court ; as serious
broils were apprehended when the latter should have
recovered the use of his arm. Monsieur, therefore,,
being more and more resolved to leave the court,
despatched his favourite to await him in Dreux, con-
fiding to him his intention to withdraw. A few days
subsequently, the marquis du Guast, whose favour was
now at its height, secretly recommended king Henry to
deprive his sister of the services of mademoiselle de
Torigny,* who was much beloved by the queen of Na-
varre, on the plea that many of Marguerite's most im-
prudent enterprises were planned by that lady, whose
levity of conduct he alleged was notorious, and that
she enabled her royal mistress to make assignations
with the cavaliers of the court. Henry immediately
acted upon this advice, the more readily as Monsieur
seemed also to confide in mademoiselle de Torigny ;,
and he deemed it greatly to his interests to disperse the
hostile coterie whose daily rendezvous was holden in Mar-
guerite's apartments. The king, therefore, sent for his
brother-in-law, and advised him to insist on the dismissal
of Torigny, stating, with apparent candour, his reasons for
the counsel he offered.f The king of Navarre willingly
assented to any measure likely to lessen the scandal of
these daily intrigues and misunderstandings. Made*
* Gillette Goyon, daughter of the mare'chal de Matignon and of
Frangoise de Daillon.
f The king said, "qu'il ne f alloit pas laisser & de grandes et jeunes
princesses des filles en qui elles eussenttant de confiance ;" his majesty
quoting his own example in respect to madame de Changy.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 47
moiselle de Torigny accordingly received an order to
retire from court, a few hours being alone given her for
preparation. This decision, alike resented by Marguerite
and her brother, rendered them still more vindictively
inclined against the king ; who in reality possessed an
unenviable faculty for persecuting those whom he dis-
liked in a small way. As for the marquis du Guast,
Marguerite and her brother had no present means of
avenging themselves on the powerful favourite ; though
before many weeks elapsed he experienced the cost of
outraging a woman of Marguerite's temperament. The
loathing with which the queen mentions this favourite
evinces the intensity of her resentment. " Le Guast,'*
as Marguerite terms him, " governed everybody ; every
one was obliged to beg and pray him to obtain that
which he wished from the king. If any person pre-
sumed to ask for himself, he was denied with contempt.
If any one served the princes, he was forthwith a ruined
man, and exposed to a thousand quarrels and annoy-
ances." The marquis du Guast, despite of Marguerite's-
censure, was not altogether the tyrant she would re-
present ; and, of the throng of worthless parasites who
surrounded the throne of Henry III., he appears to have
been one the least reprehensible. Du Guast perpetu-
ally counselled his royal master to discard his slothful
habits ; he abhorred and protested against the profli-
gacy exhibited at the royal revels. Neither did he
impoverish his royal master by shameful exactions. His
faults were an excess of arrogance — and an implacable
pursuit of those persons, including the queen of Na-
varre, whom he hated.
The intelligence which reached the due d'Alen9on of
the successful negotiation of Conde in Germany and in
the Swiss cantons for the levy of troops, was received
by Monsieur with transport, as facilitating his flight
from Paris. Conde had made a levy of eight thousand
German reiters and six thousand Swiss troops ; for the
48 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
enrolment of which Thore had contributed 50,000
crowns. The German bands were led by Casimir, son
of the elector-palatine, with whom it had been cove-
nanted by the chieftains, Huguenot as well as Malcon-
tent, that no peace should be signed until king Henry
had nominated the prince governor of the three imperial
cities of Toul, Metz, and Verdun. In Languedoc, Dam-
ville was making progress ; the people of La R-ochelle
clamoured for war ; while Provence was torn by divi-
sions between the king's own officers. The parliaments
of the realm seemed paralyzed by the utter ruin which
everywhere seemed to impend. Instead of effectually
aiding the government, the members wasted moments
so precious in aimless discussions ; in cavillings to curtail
the privileges granted to the Calvinists by the edicts ;
and in framing laws the better to shield themselves
from the increased taxation necessitated by the war
which they clamorously demanded. The clergy, in
sullen distrust, imitating the example of Guise their
champion, held aloof, doubtful of the intentions of the
court. Aware that reforms of magnitude were at hand,
and that the disorganization of the court and adminis-
tration was complete, they waited the result. From
their own ranks many had apostatized ; and one emi-
nent prelate,* throwing aside the archiepiscopal ensigns,
wielded the sword in Damville's camp. The finances
also were necessarily in the greatest disorder ; and Henry
was compelled to adopt various illegal methods for raising
money to compensate for the serious deficiency which
the revolt of such a province as Languedoc occasioned in
the exchequer. To complete the perils and miseries of
France, a devastating warfare raged on the frontier ;
conducted on one side with the vigour and resources of
the most powerful European monarchy ; on the other,
with the unflinching constancy and courage of men
* St. Remain, archbishop of Aix, who, after embracing the tenets of
Calvinism, resorted to the sword as his future profession.
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 49
fighting for their country, their lives, their children,
and their faith, to whom defeat would bring misfortune
worse than death. The queen of England and the
various Protestant states of Europe had contributed to
support these " rebels of Flanders " in their heroic de-
fiance of Philip II., and their rejection of the chambers
of inquisition. Gradually, however, the fact had tran-
spired that Catherine de Medici held secret relations
with the Flemish malcontents. Despite her professions
of orthodoxy ; her recent demonstrations against the
Huguenots of France ; her assurances to the Romish
See ; and her policy — which appeared to aim at the
overthrow of every creed antagonistic to that which she
herself had openly espoused, the queen maintained a
close correspondence with the princes of Nassau ; and it
was this knowledge that agitated the clergy of France.
Moreover, this fact infused vigour into the Protestant
counsels, and occasioned a still closer union, political
and religious, between the adherents of Rome ; while it
so alarmed and incensed Philip II., as to cause his
adoption of a policy disastrous in its results as regarded
France.
The time was recent when Catherine's faith had
yielded to her policy ; and the prelates of the realm yet
remembered with indignation the period when the
queen-mother had bestowed an apparent sanction on
the heretical effusions of de Beze and the bishop of
Valence.
In France, after the accession of Henry III., 20,000
men, led by renowned chieftains, and supported by
foreign alliances, would have flocked to the standard of
the queen, had she chosen again to make overtures to
the Protestant party. From one end of France to the
other, therefore, jealousies were rife ; seditions, distrust,
frauds, famine, and poverty reigned everywhere. The
court, meanwhile, set the example of discord ; and
50 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575.
showed that the highest personages of the realm were
not exempt from participation in the general corruption.
The character of the king proved .the reverse of a spec-
tacle encouraging or edifying to his distracted people.
Next to his majesty stood Monsieur, weak, perfidious,
and crafty ; then Marguerite, with her imperial beauty
and unbridled passions, uniting the frivolity of the most
wanton coquette with the fierce and vengeful spirit of
her race. On the right hand of the throne towered
Catherine, terrible in her uncertainty — the incarnation
of that policy which had exalted her ancestors of Medici
from the marts of commerce to be lords of Florence ;
displaying a singular oblivion of past pledges ; having
no fixed principles of government, yet unerringly im-
parting the aspect and effects which she desired to
events as they passed — the character of the queen pre-
senting the grand enigma of the age. In strong con-
trast with the queen-mother appeared her daughter-in-
law Louise : gentle, pious, and dazzled by the splendours
of her state, yet inspired with that pride of race inherent
in the blood of Lorraine, Louise neither possessed nor
desired political influence. The king of Navarre — of
genial and buoyant spirit, and of honour so unstained,
that by two kings successively he had been chosen as
the guardian of their life against the machinations of
their nearest kindred — as yet challenged the confidence
of no especial faction. In the court of Henry the king
of Navarre played a secondary part as the satellite of
Monsieur, his just pretensions being crushed by the
assumptions of the king's favourites. Later, the nation
recognised in Henri de Navarre the worthy son of
Jeanne d'Albret, and the hero whose first essay in arms
had been made beneath the inspiration of Coligny's
genius. Conde, of reserved temper, unshaken integrity,
taciturn, and rigid in morals, was little fitted for the
leader of a faction. Oppressed by a continual sense of
1575.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 51
the injury he had personally sustained from the hands
of Henry III., first on the plains of Jarnac, in the murder
of his father ; secondly, by the king's intended appro-
priation of his deceased wife Marie de Cleves, the prince
abhorred the court for its profligacy ; whilst he bore it
unrelenting animosity for the perfidious slaughter of St.
Bartholomew's Eve.
Such were the chief personages to whom France
looked for extrication from the calamities, religious,
political, and financial, about to overwhelm the realm ;
when her nobles, once so loyal and chivalrous, deserted
the standard of their king ; and her prelates, deluded by
the phantom of future arbitrary dominion, sold them-
selves to obey the mandates of the Spanish and Papal
courts.
52 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
CHAPTER m.
1575—1576.
Attempted reconciliation between the king and the due d'Alencon
— Henry's rural pursuits — Insolent deportment of M. du Guast
towards Monsieur — Exasperation of the duke — His arrest and
flight from Paris — Demeanour of the queen of Navarre — Mea-
sures adopted — Progress of the duke — His manifestoes — Mission
of Villeroy — Queen Catherine repairs to Ch^telleraud to nego-
tiate with the confederates — Interview of Chambord — Illness of
the queen — Victory of Chateau-Thierry — Retreat of Monsieur
from JBlois — Diversion of the king — Henry founds an academy
of belles-lettres — The marquis du Guast — His assassination — Re-
lease of the marechal de Montmorency — Progress of the queen's
negotiation for peace — Conferences of Champigny — Truce ac-
cepted for six months — The king levies troops — His financial
expedients — Interview with the authorities of Paris — Return of
queen Catherine — Partial performance of the truce — Entry into
France of Conde with an army of German troops — Dismay of the
due d'Alencon — Evasion of the king of Navarre from court —
Its details — Declaration published by the king of Navarre — Ar-
rest of queen Marguerite— Royal vengeance on mademoiselle de
Torigny — The due d'Alencon adheres to the cause of the allies —
The due and duchesse de Montpensier — Release of the queen of
Navarre — Its motives — Departure of queen Catherine for the
camp of the confederates.
THE sombre and resentful expression of Monsieur's
countenance revealed his secret discontent, and pre-
pared the Parisians for the events which followed.
Henry's private counsellors Cheverny and Villequier,
advised him to make conciliatory overtures to the duke,
and also to the queen of Navarre, whose coldness of
demeanour was steadily manifested. Among other
recreations which the king had adopted was the extra-
ordinary one of setting out in his coach with queen
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 53
Louise attended only by a single valet, and driving into
the country to such distances that often his majesty
returned to the Louvre at midnight, or even later, to
find the place in commotion, and a train of guards
and torch-bearers about to depart in search of the royal
pair. On several occasions ludicrous accidents hap-
pened to their majesties. Once the wheel of the
coach came off ; and as there were neither attendants
to go in search of assistance or to help to raise the
vehicle, which capsized in the mud, the king and queen
were compelled to alight and walk the distance of a
league ; and arrived about midnight at the Louvre,
wearied and in the most rueful condition possible.
Another day their majesties were nearly drowned by
the breaking of a small bridge across the Seine, over
which their carriage was passing. As a mark, therefore,
of the greatest possible favour, king Henry on several
occasions requested his brother to accompany his con-
sort and himself on these expeditions : a privilege which
Monsieur would have been only too glad to decline.
The witty merriment of Marguerite, and her friend the
duchesse de Nevers, was more than once inspired by
these the rural recreations of the royal pair, which invaria-
bly were attended by some disastrous adventure deroga-
tory to their dignity.
The due d'Alen9on, nevertheless, continued assiduously
to make preparation for his flight, and found an able
confederate in Marguerite. Soon after the attack
upon Bussy, the duke chanced to meet the marquis du
Guast in the rue St. Antoine, who insolently passed him
without recognition or mark of respect whatever.
Monsieur returned to the palace in a state of great
excitement ; and, repairing to Marguerite's apartments,
recounted the insult he had received. It chanced that
madame de Sauve was present, and noting some of the
expressions used by the duke in the heat of his passion,
54 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
she immediately reported them to Catherine. The queen
mentioned Monsieur's anger to her son the king ; where-
upon du Guast and Villequier, vowing that the duke had
prepared that very night for flight, advised Henry to
arrest him. The king was easily persuaded ; and guards
were accordingly posted at the door of the duke's
apartment. As soon as this rash decision was made
known to Catherine by Cheverny, she went to the
king, and upbraiding him for his precipitation, insisted
that Monsieur's arrest should be annulled. This arrest,
though it lasted only a few hours, kindled still deeper
resentment in the mind of the duke. Two days after-
wards, the duke, after taking a tender farewell of Mar-
guerite, proceeded on foot about half -past seven o'clock
in the evening attended by one gentleman to the Porte
St. Honore. Monsieur wore a cloak and a kind of
mask for the face, commonly used in those days, and
called a tour-de-nez, so that his figure and features were
completely concealed. At the barrier the duke found
his chamberlain Sirnier awaiting him, and the coach of
the duchesse de Nevers ; who, espousing Monsieur's
interests, readily lent it to facilitate his evasion. The
duke stepped into the coach, and proceeded to the dis-
tance of a quarter of a league from Paris, when he
^lighted, and entered a house by the wayside. Simier
•desired that the coach might wait Monsieur's return,
and hinted that the duke was bound on a love assigna-
tion. He then leisurely followed his royal master and
closed the door. In the fields at the back of this house,
however, four cavaliers waited for Monsieur, mounted
and equipped. The duke hastily threw himself upon a
horse, and followed by Simier, Clermont d'Amboise,
Lafin, and one other gentleman, he took the road to-
wards Dreux. About halfway between Dreux and Paris
the duke was met by Bussy d'Amboise at the head of a
gallant cavalcade of three hundred nobles and gentle-
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 55
men of the Malcontent party, who hailed Monsieur's
presence with transport, and escorted him to the abode
prepared.* The project of the duke's evasion was
managed with such adroitness, that not a single panic
or contretemps happened. There were no distracting
preparations for flight ; and the duke left all his effects
behind, taking with him only the blood-stained doublet
worn by la Mole on the day of his execution, f which
Monsieur had vowed to wear the first time he encoun-
tered the army of the king in the battle-field. It
appears that Monsieur had not confided his project to
the king of Navarre, being jealous of the favour shown
towards the latter by the king, and resenting his treat-
ment of Marguerite, and Henri's assiduities to madame
de Sauve. He, however, met the king of Navarre one
day a short time previous to his departure from Paris,
when the two princes exchanged general assurances
of friendly alliance ; and bound themselves mutually to
support any step either might independently adopt to
promote the object of their party.J
The queen of Navarre, on the evening of the flight
of the due d'Alenyon, presented herself as usual at the
king's supper, of which Catherine partook. Marguerite,
whose powers of dissimulation were unsurpassed, ap-
peared totally unconcerned, and laughed and jested as
usual with the cavaliers of the court, "who flocked like
bees around this most lovely and fragrant flower of
Valois." Varied were the comments made on the
absence of Monsieur. Presently the great clock of the
Louvre tolled forth nine — the hour when the king
usually rose from table, and passed either to the ball-
* M&n. de la Beyne Marguerite. Davila, tome ii. liv. vi. p. 26 et seq.
La Popelini£re, liv. xl. De Thou, liv. Ixi. Notice sur le Due d'Alen<jon :
Fontanieu, 337, 338 (1575) Bibl. Imp. MS.
t Mezeray : Vie de Henri III.
t Mathieu, liv. vii. Histoire de la Ville de Dreux.
56 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
room or to the saloon of queen Catherine, where the
latter and her daughter-in-law the queen-consort re-
ceived three times in the week. - After some brief con-
ference between the queen-mother and her son, Cather-
ine called Marguerite and pointedly demanded " where
Monsieur was, and why he had not supped as usual
with his majesty ? " Marguerite demurely replied,
" Madame, I have not seen M. le due since he dined." *
Catherine then despatched a chamberlain to the apart-
ments of the duke with orders to require his presence
before the king; and empowering her messenger, if
necessary, to search throughout the Louvre and in the
saloons of those ladies whose society he frequented.
During this time the king and his mother lingered at
the banqueting table waiting the result ; for a suspicion
of the truth had dawned upon the minds of all present.
Those personages favourable to the designs of Monsieur
gathered round the queen of Navarre, hoping to glean
somewhat from the animated discourse which Mar-
guerite was holding with the due de Guise. At length
the chamberlain, sent with the royal summons to Mon-
sieur, returned with the intelligence that his royal high-
ness was not in the Louvre, nor even, it was believed,
in Paris, he having been observed some hours previously
quitting the capital by the rue St. Honore. The fury
of king Henry then broke forth. He upbraided his
mother and Cheverny for having contravened the coun-
sels of du Guast, who had advised Monsieur's arrest :
he sternly questioned the king of Navarre ; but fortu-
nately the latter was able unequivocally to deny any
knowledge of the duke's design. Henry then com-
manded the cavaliers present to take horse, and to bring
back the fugitive, exclaiming " that Monsieur was
gone to make war upon the realm, but that he would
soon bring him to a sense of his folly in presuming to
* Me"m. de la Keyne Marguerite.
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 57
take up arms against a monarch so puissant ! " No one,
however, stirred; but all eyes were rivetted attentively on
the countenance of Catherine. The queen, who never
lost her self-possession, took his majesty's arm, and led
the way towards the royal cabinet, having first coldly
dismissed the queen of Navarre. Messages were then
sent by the king desiring the presence of Cheverny,,
of Villequier, of du Guast, of the due de Nevers, and
of the due de Montpensier, generalissimo of the forces,
who chanced to be in the capital. Orders were also
sent in the queen's name to certain cavaliers friendly
to the duke to ride in pursuit of Monsieur, and, if
possible, to bring him back, under the promise that
every satisfaction should be given him. It was sub-
sequently determined that the due de Nevers should
without delay take the command of the household
troops and the soldiers in garrison at Paris, and march
to intercept the probable flight of the duke beyond the
Loire. The due de Montpensier was commanded by
their majesties to return to his camp, and, at the head
of the army of Poitou, to join this division under
Nevers, and pursue and arrest the due d'Alen9on. The
duke, however, to the indignation and astonishment
of the king, declined to accept the command of any
army sent especially to act against the heir-presump-
tive of France. An order was also given to the due de
Guise to retire to his government of Champagne, and
oppose the advance of the German levies under duke
Casimir and Conde, which were on the road. To the
marechal de Biron was committed the safety of St.
Denis ; the due d'Aumale and other princes of the
house of Lorraine having outposts intrusted to them
for the defence of the capital.*
Monsieur, meantime, after making a sojourn of eight
* De Thou, liv. Ixi.
58 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1575—
days in Dreux,* pushed onwards, and passing the Loire,
entered Poitou. The duke de Nevers, strictly following
the instructions given to him by his royal master, pur-
sued the duke with such impetuosity, that he nearly came
up to him ; and would undoubtedly have effected his
capture, had not he received an express from Catherine,
as he was preparing to offer combat, commanding him
not to attack the prince, as she hoped to negotiate peace
without having recourse to arms.f Monsieur, mean-
while, was joined by la Noue, Ventadour, Turenne, and
by other Huguenot chieftains of note, who brought him
a force consisting of nearly eighteen hundred men.
Bussy d'Amboise had resumed his influence over the
mind of his royal master, which, together with the
exhortations of la Noue and Turenne, infused some-
thing approaching to consistent design in the duke's
measures. By their advice Monsieur issued a mani-
festo, wherein he declared that he had quitted the court
actuated by no hostile designs against the king; but that
his sole motive was to confer freely with the party in
arms in order to restore peace throughout the realm ;
that he was resolved to obtain a reformation of the
government, to secure to all their rights and liberties,
Roman Catholic as well as Huguenot. He deemed it,
moreover, his duty to protest against the inroads made
* From Dreux the duke wrote a hypocritical letter to his mother, in
which he feigns to regret that he cannot wait to speak to her in that
place, which Catherine had proposed, hoping thus to arrest her son's
march. " Madame," says the duke, " je ne sais ni ce que j'e'cris, ni 1&
oil je suis, tant je suis trouble" du regret que j'ay qui me point jusques
en I'&me, voyant que 1'espe* ranee que j'avois pour cre"ance certaine est
vaine, puisque vous n'avez eu agre*able de venir au jourd'hui ; 6* tant de tout
impossible que je puisse retarder plus longuement en cette ville, que je
suis force* de partir demain avec mes troupes," &c. — Lettre du Due
d'Alencjon & la Keine Catherine sa mere: Dreux, 23 Septembre, 1575.
Fontainieu, 337-8, MS. Bibl. Imp.
f Me"m. du Due de Nevers, tome i.
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 59
•on the public treasure by unworthy favourites ; finally,
to obtain these indispensable concessions on a solid
basis, he demanded the convocation of the States-general,
and prayed the king to believe that these demands pro-
ceeded not from personal ambition or resentment, but
from a heart which throbbed with patriotism and fervour
for the glory of God and his king.* Monsieur, more-
over, wrote letters to the queen of England praying her
majesty to judge his actions equitably, and to retain
for him her gracious favour. He also despatched
letters to the pope explaining his views and projects,
and protesting his desire to live and die a humble son
of the one true church. In reply to missives privately
sent to him by the queen-mother, the duke consented
to confer with her majesty, provided that she trusted
herself to his honour and affection and came without
escort ; but adding that no articles of peace could be
seriously discussed until the marechals de Cosse and de
Montmorency were released.
The evasion of Monsieur occasioned the most varied
surmises and predictions. It was, nevertheless, popu-
larly believed that the queen-mother herself had con-
nived at the departure of the prince. In her hatred of
the Huguenot faction, it was said that the queen, dis-
mayed at the progress made by Conde, Thore, and
Meru in their negotiations with the German princes,
determined to rend the unity of their counsels by divid-
ing their chieftains. Conde, as first in dignity, had
hitherto been regarded as the leader of the hostile
movement; but the queen foresaw, it was reported, that
her son d'Alenyon, in virtue of his royal rank, must
supersede Conde in his command, in case he went over
* Manifesto de M. Frere du Roi, publi<§ & Dreux, Septembre 17,
1575. De Thou. Lettre du Roi j\ M. de Humieres, Gouverneur de
Picardie: MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de B(§th, 8820, fol. 28— date's Paris, le
16eme jour de Septembre, 1575.
60 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
to the cause. Catherine well knew Monsieur's poverty
of resource, and appreciated his excess of self-esteem.
She was aware that private interests and resentments
had alone moved the duke to revolt ;* and his desires
conceded, she trusted to reclaim him at pleasure, after
his jealousies, vacillations, and misconduct had ruined
the cause of the confederates. It must be acknow-
ledged that the subsequent conduct of Catherine tends
to confirm this view of her proceedings, though her
language offered the sternest protest against such sus-
picion. The counter- orders which she had sent secretly
to the due de Nevers, meanwhile becoming known to
the king, produced the first coldness between Henry
and his mother. The marquis du Guast, moreover,
presumed to use language highly offensive to the
queen, and commented severely on her dubious policy.
Catherine, nevertheless, induced the king to send the
marechal de Cosse — whose health had compelled his
majesty shortly before Monsieur's evasion to grant him
leave to exchange his cell in the Bastille for a prison
in his own hotel — and Villeroi, secretary of state to the
due d'Alenyon, on a mission of expostulation ; while the
queen herself made preparations to depart to adjust the
duke's grievances, and bring him back in triumph to
the court. The due d'Alen9on refused to make re-
sponse whatever to the mission of the royal envoys :
he listened to Villeroi, which Monsieur flippantly said
was in itself a great concession, considering the prosy
mannerism of the secretary.f Catherine shortly after-
wards quitted Paris, greatly offended at the conduct of
the king, and journeyed to Chatelleraud; and from thence
* Monsieur clamorously demanded, amongst other matters, an aug-
mentation of appanage with the title of due d'Anjou— a concession which
the king had steadily refused.
f " Fervaques luy faisoit (& Villeroi) les oreilles d'ane par derriere."-
Mathieu, liv. vii. p. 425, &c.
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 61
to Blois. The due d'Alen9on had a first and private
interview with the queen at Chambord, where he again
demanded the release of Montmorency as the prelimi-
nary of any concession.
No sooner had his mother quitted the capital than
Henry became overwhelmed with compunction for his
suspicions of her faithful attachment. He therefore
despatched Cheverny to explain and to assure her
majesty " of his respect, obedience, and perfect love."
Cheverny, moreover, placed in the queen's hands powers
from her son to negotiate, according to her knowledge,
of what was requisite for the realm. Henry's ambas-
sador found Catherine at Chatelleraud suffering from
cold and fever, the result of her hurried journey and
her chagrin at the conduct of the king. At the same
time news arrived of the defeat at Chateau-Thierry of
a, detachment of 2000 German troops and a body of
500 French cavalry under Thore by the due de Guise.
These troops were a first instalment of the levies made
by Conde. Thore, whose wealth had so greatly ac-
celerated the success of Conde's mission, no sooner
heard of Monsieur's evasion than he demanded per-
mission to lead this detachment to the duke's succour.
He therefore crossed the frontiers of Lorraine, and
entered Champagne near to the town of Langres. On
learning the advance of Thore, Catherine sent him word,
before leaving Paris, " that, if he did not disband his
army, she would send him the head of his brother the
marechal de Montmorency." Thore replied, "that
no threats would induce him to act so cowardly and
unworthy a part ; but that, if the queen performed
her menace, there would be nothing which he and his
should not conspire to overthrow." * The victory of
the due de Guise over Thore and his 2000 Germans
"Ligues : Vie de Duplessis-Mornay, p. 31 et suivantes. Mathieu :
Hist, du Regne de Henri III. p. 423.
62 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
was not surprising, inasmuch as he opposed an over-
whelming force of upwards of 12,000 men led by
Strozzi and the due de Mayennje against their advance.
The rout was of course complete. The due de Guise
received in this engagement a severe wound on the
cheek from the discharge of an arquebuse, which left so
ghastly a scar as ever after to earn for him the sobriquet
of "le Balafre." Thore escaped with a few of his prin-
cipal officers, and safely joined the due d'Alen9on at
Vendome.* Catherine, meantime, sent missive upon
missive inviting her son to a conference at Blois before
the ruin of the kingdom was consummated. Monsieur
accordingly, attended by Bussy, Thore, and Simiers,
repaired to Blois ; but receiving a hint before the in-
terview with the queen, that Catherine, emboldened
by the victory of Chateau-Thierry, intended to arrest
him in case he proved obdurate to her representations,
the duke precipitately retired at midnight and retreated
to Romorentin.f
In Paris Henry solaced his cares by the most frivo-
lous diversions. The Parisians looked on in amaze at
the inaction of the hero whom in former days they had
so greatly lauded. The people beheld " les vaincus de
Jarnac et de Moncontour " rising in every province, and
yet the prince who had once been hailed as their trium-
phant conqueror indolently wasted the day in ignoble
occupations. Henry, it was true, was gracious and fluent
as ever in his speech ; the majesty of his presence had
suffered no eclipse ; and the ceremonial of his court sur-
passed that of any of his predecessors in elaborate mag-
nificence. The greater part of the day Henry spent
in debate with his " mignons " on matters of costume
and etiquette, or in adjusting their disputes. He then,
if the weather was propitious, took recreation on the
* Me'm. de Bouillon : de Thou, liv. Ixi.
f L'Etoile : Journal de Henry III.
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 63
river, reclining in his painted gondola. A drive with
the queen his consort followed ; during which their ma-
jesties visited the convents of the capital, carrying away
with them specimens of fine needlework, confectionery,
and little dogs, for Henry's strange passion for these
animals commenced about this period. The gentle
manners and beauty of Louise rendered her very popular
with the nuns ; and the liberal donations of the king,
and his gracious manners, made him also a welcome
visitant. Henry, moreover, took pleasure in discussing
and reforming the rules of many of the religious houses.
On the return of the king he entered his cabinet to
transact, as he called it, public business — in fact, to
affix his signature to the documents prepared by his
secretaries and favourites. The evening Henry spent
surrounded by the ladies of his court ; that brilliant
band adorned by the beauty of Marguerite de Valois,
the wit of the duchesse de Retz, and the sprightly grace
and magnificence of the duchesse de Nevers. Balls,
theatrical representations, and ballets, in which the
most lovely women of the court danced before the king,
were of nightly occurrence. Sometimes the three
pastimes were enjoyed during the same evening. The
king often entertained the principal ladies of the court
at splendid banquets, when the revelry that ensued was
exuberant if not refined. The most splendid of these
entertainments during the summer of 1575 was the
banquet given by Henry in honour of the nuptials of the
due de Mercoeur, brother of queen Louise, with Marie
daughter and heiress of the due de Penthievre. The pre-
sents of jewels given by his majesty to the bride were
of the most costly description. The king imparted
greater zest to these revels by occasionally leading his
court, barefooted and clad in sackcloth, through the
streets of Paris on a pilgrimage to some shrine. During
the absence of Catherine a penitential excursion on a
64 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
large scale was undertaken by the king on the Feast of
St. Denis, to pray for the success of her mediation. All
the relics from the Sainte Chapelle were paraded through
the streets, followed by Henry barefooted and telling
his beads with devotion. None of the ladies of the
court were suifered on this occasion to join in the pro-
cession, the object to be attained being of pre-eminent
moment, as, observed the king, " where ladies are to
be found there is little devotion."
Henry, who really loved learning, and who contem-
plated with pride his own gifts of rhetoric, also at this
period commenced the formation of an academy for the
study of belles-lettres, of which he constituted himself
president. Amongst its members were Pibrac, Ronsard,
Doron, Pasquier, du Guast, Espinac, and other learned
or accomplished men of the age. The members held
periodical meetings, at which a subject named in turn
by each was discussed without previous preparation.
The king duly addressed his academical colleagues when
it fell to his turn, and acquitted himself so eloquently
as to gain much real applause. The king in his enthu-
siasm thinking to improve the elegance of his oratorical
displays, next resolved upon going through a course of
grammar, under the direction of the learned Jean Doron ;
and also to study the Latin language, for greater facility
of quotation from classical authors — a style which was
then much in fashion.* Nothing could have been more
meritorious than that the king, feeling his deficiencies
on these points, should seek to remedy them ; but the
publicity which he gave to his studies, and his childish
elation at his progress, degraded the majesty of the
crown. The Parisians became exasperated beyond con-
trol when province after province raised the banner of
revolt, and clamorous demands were made to recruit
the finances by the agents of the government, to know
*Lettres de Pasqnier, tome ii. p. 483.
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 65
that their king was sitting ttte-d-ttte with Doron gravely
conjugating a verb ! The fatuity of the prince was so
great at this period, that Miron his first physician, a
man of strong intellect and frank of speech, experienced
a temporary disgrace by hinting that the king was pro-
bably suffering from some derangement of the brain,
which might cause his death within the space of a
year.
Epigrams innumerable were penned by Henry's sub-
jects on the return of their royal master to the dominion
of the pedagogue and the ferula. The most stinging of
these satires was the one composed anonymously, how-
ever, by Pasquier, his majesty's erudite attorney-general.
The young queen seems to have been quite unable to
prevail upon her consort to adopt a demeanour more
suitable to his dignity. Louise, at this early period,
stood greatly in awe of her husband, and dreaded the
flippant raillery of his favourites. The queen had
neither the energy nor the experience requisite to com-
mand in the circle of the court. She felt uneasy and
often abashed in the presence of her mistress of the
robes the duchesse de Nevers ; and many a regretful
memory did the young queen lavish on the solitary
•chamber of her father's palace of Blamont, endeared as
it was to her by the recollection of her friend and in-
structress madame de Changy, whose society had been
so arbitrarily denied her, as Louise afterwards discovered,
by the counsel of du Guast.
Another severe disappointment further chagrined
Henry's lieges of Paris, that the queen appeared not at
present likely to bear offspring. To obtain this boon
the king and queen, during the month of November,
1576, established oratories in all the churches of Paris,
which they visited in succession, bestowing bountiful
alms.
Beneath the frivolity and dissipation of the court
66 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575 —
there lurked, however, relentless enmities. The marquis
du Guast continued to render himself obnoxious by his
arrogance and by his satirical allusions to the intrigues
of the ladies of the court. Marguerite determined,
therefore, during the absence of the queen -mother, to be
avenged on the marquis, whom she considered as her
chief and most virulent enemy. In after-life queen
Marguerite often bitterly alluded to the irreparable in-
jury she had suffered by the malignity of du Guast's
fabrications at Angers, which she averred had destroyed
both her repute and her happiness. Du Guast, more-
over, had irrevocably offended the due de Guise and
his kindred ; and the hauteur with which the great duke
treated the parvenu favourite had been long most galling
to the feelings of the king. The marquis having, there-
fore, incurred the enmity of all the most powerful per-
sonages of the realm, including queen Catherine, Mar-
guerite deemed that her vengeance might now safely be
executed. Its unscrupulous violence causes a shudder,
especially when the deed is contemplated as emanating
from the most lovely and admired woman of the court
of France ; and great indeed must have been the de-
moralization of all ranks at this period when so perfidi-
ous an act was applauded, and even justified.
Duprat marquis de Nantouillet had a nephew, whose
lawless life had caused him to fly from Paris to save
himself from summary chastisement. During the reign
of Charles IX. this ruffian, who bore the title of baron
de Viteaux, had committed an atrocious assassination
on the person of Allegre sieur de Millaud, and was con-
sequently obliged to live in various parts of the country
to avoid arrest, as king Charles refused to grant letters
of pardon and caused a most energetic search to be in-
stituted for the apprehension of the criminal. This
Millaud was a partisan of the due d'Anjou, and had
arrived in Paris to accompany Henry to Poland, having
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 67
been nominated in the office which Pibrac afterwards
obtained. Henry, therefore, on his accession again re-
fused to grant letters of abolition to Viteaux ; a resolve
sustained by the influence of the marquis du Guast,
whose friend the murdered man had been. About this
period, however, the baron de Viteaux again ventured
to return to Paris in order to present a petition to the
throne, while he himself found sanctuary in the monas-
tery of the Augustinians. This step Viteaux had taken
by the advice of Nantouillet ; who, having been asked to
furnish a loan to the government, trusted to be able to
compound for his nephew's crime. Marguerite, there-
fore, fixed upon this desperate man as the agent of her
vengeance upon du Guast. Accordingly the queen re-
paired in disguise to the monastery of the Augustinians,
and held conference with Viteaux. She explained her
projects, commenting on the detestation in which the
marquis was holden by queen Catherine, the due
d'Alenyon, the due de Guise, the queen Louise, all
which personages he had mortally offended. She next
inflamed the resentment of Viteaux by assurances that
the king would long ago have pardoned the murder of
Allegre, had not his majesty been prevented by du Guast.
Marguerite then promised him her protection and that
of all the above personages, including M. de Villequier,
whose patronage would undoubtedly be given to the
person who removed from his path his envied rival.*
Fewer inducements would have sufficed to buy the mur-
derous weapon of the baron de Viteaux. He promised
the queen of Navarre that her will should be obeyed,
but declined to state the method or period of its execu-
tion.
The queen of Navarre, and those interested in the
fall of the favourite, had not long to await the blow.
* De Thou : Hist, de Notre Temps, liv. Ixi. p. 300. Kecueil des
Choses Me'morables.
68 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
On the eve of All Saints Day, 1575, while the bells of
all the churches of Paris were tolling, as was then cus-
tomary, Viteaux executed his -design. The noise, and
the few persons passing in the streets — for the
churches were filled with worshippers — favoured the
perpetration of the crime. The baron, followed by a
few bravoes, his ordinary associates, proceeded to the
abode of the marquis, and carelessly mingled in the
crowd of lacqueys awaiting their masters who had
attended the coucher of the powerful favourite. Gra-
dually the throng dispersed as the marquis's visitors
took leave, until Viteaux and his followers remained
alone. Viteaux then deliberately gagged the porter,
and leaving him in the hands of two of his compa-
nions, ascended the staircase followed by the remainder,
and knocked at the door of du Guast's apartment. A
page opened the door, and at once admitted them.
The marquis was in bed reading. The baron without
preamble whatever sprang on his defenceless victim,
and stabbed him in several places, and finally rolled the
body from the bedstead on to the floor. So sudden
was the attack, that the unfortunate marquis had not
time even to grasp the sword which lay by his pillow.
Meanwhile the confederates of de Viteaux pursued and
despatched with their poniards three of du Guast's
servants, who attempted to aid their master. Two
Talets threw themselves from a window upon the roof
•of the adjacent house ; another scrambled up the
(Chimney : but not a single domestic opposed the re-
treat of the assassins ; so that nothing was known of
the foul deed until some hours after its perpetration,
when the marquis du Guast was found dead on the
floor of his chamber. Viteaux and his associates made
instantly for the ramparts, which they scaled by a
cord previously prepared, and suspended from the city
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 69
wall.* Horses were in waiting ; the fugitives mounted,
and flying to the camp of the due d'Alenyon, Viteaux
was the first to announce to Monsieur the fall of his
foe.
The fury and grief of king Henry were indescrib-
able ; he sent for the presidents of the parliament, and
commanded a rigorous investigation of the circum-
stances. The servants of the marquis were arrested,
and subjected to severe interrogatories to elicit the
name of the assassin ; but as Viteaux wore a mask of
white crape, the witnesses could not speak positively
to his identity. Gradually, however, the names of du
Guast's potent enemies oozed out ; and there being no
doubt that the assassin, whoever he might be, was their
agent, the king dared not pursue the investigation.
Indeed, after the first vehement outpouring of Henry's
grief, the king himself relaxed in his energy, being
discouraged by the cold disregard manifested by Yille-
quier, who now reigned without rival. " The king also,"
says de Thou, " was not perhaps, in his heart sorry to
lose a favourite whose lofty spirit he deemed suspicious ;
and whom he always feared as a censor, stern and im-
perious— who unsparingly rebuked the luxury which
had so much charm for the king — and who always
tried to inspire him with thoughts and aspirations
becoming to his dignity." Queen Marguerite in her
Memoirs thus alludes to the fall of her enemy : " Le
Guast," says she, " was killed by a just stroke of
Divine judgment whilst he was undergoing a course of
sanative renovation. Nevertheless, his body, polluted
by all kinds of dissipation, was given up to that cor-
ruption which for long had consumed it ; and his soul
* L'Etoile : Journal de Henri III. Becueil des Choses Me'morables.
Dreux de Radier : Vie de Marguerite de Valois. Brantdme. De Coste :
Eloges des Dauphins de France.
70 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
to the demons, whom he served by abominable prac-
tices of magic and every other kind of wickedness."
Marguerite skilfully glosses over" her share in the deed ;
her vengeance, however, had been understood, and
none of the other mignons of the king dared directly
provoke her hostility. Marguerite in her Memoirs
smoothly glides over the various charges made against
her by contemporary historians, by libellers, or by her
own near kindred, and adopts throughout a simplicity
of tone perfectly entertaining, as if she were the most
injured and immaculate of princesses. Assuredly,
however, Marguerite played no insignificant part in the
early annals of a court in which the most unscrupulous
plotter earned the highest distinction. The passions
SQ early sown in the heart of Marguerite — her indig-
nation at the apathy displayed by her relatives to
punish her defamers — and the thirst for vengeance
which she cherished, the more vehement for its
long repression, — now gushed forth. Her beauty and
address were the arms with which she ventured to
combat the power of the throne. The trivial perse-
cutions in which king Henry indulged awoke in Mar-
guerite's mind the bitterest scorn, and constantly irri-
tated the worst points of her character. The weapons
of defiance, ridicule, opposition, and deceit were arrayed
at her bidding whenever fate conducted the queen of
Navarre into the presence of Henry III., the brother
whom she had once loved, to use her own words,
"plus qu'elle-meme." It was this hate that drove the
queen of Navarre to make common cause with Mon-
sieur.* The rebellion against the authority of Henry
III., which Catherine was absent in the hope of appeas-
* The queen of Navarre perfectly appreciated the insincerity of the
character of the due d'Alen^on. Marguerite was often heard to ex-
claim, "Quesi toute Tinfidelit^ e"tait bannie de la terre, Monsieur la
pourroit repeupler ! "
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 71
ing, was as much the revolt of queen Marguerite, as of the
due d'Alenyon. It was with Marguerite that Monsieur
had consulted and arranged his measures ; and to whom
he had submitted the draught of his intended proclama-
tion. The smiles of his sister won for Monsieur adher-
ents without number ; while the keenness of her wit, on
more then one occasion, sheltered him when cowering
beneath the penetrating scrutiny of Catherine de Medici.
With the queen her mother Marguerite was more sub-
missive ; yet Catherine even, she dared sometimes pro-
voke by her ironical retorts. Between Marguerite and
the king her husband there existed not a particle of affec-
tion : they tolerated each other's society, because such
concession was to the interest of both ; for the bonhomie
of Henri de Navarre assimilated ill with the artificial
graces of his consort. By a mutual understanding the
queen of Navarre defended her husband from the machi-
nations of her kindred, by giving him timely notice of
any extraordinary project that came to her knowledge
for the molestation of the Huguenots ; while Henri per-
mitted her to pursue unmolested her brilliant, reckless,
and pleasure-loving career.
King Henry solaced his mortification at the " enterprise
perpetrated on the marquis du Guast," by commanding
most sumptuous obsequies, which all the chief courtiers
attended. He was interred in the church of St. Ger-
main 1'Auxerrois, before the high altar ; and the king
subsequently raised a superb tomb over the remains of
his favourite, to the great indignation of the people
of Paris.
Catherine, meanwhile, still continued at Chatelleraud,
inhabiting the castle which appertained to her son-in-
law the king of Navarre. Finding that she could
prevail nothing with Monsieur to induce him to make
unqualified submission, Catherine determined to release
72 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
Montmorency, and to employ him as a mediator between
the king and the party in arms. Great faith must the
queen have reposed in the virtue and patriotism of
Montmorency to believe, after the unmerited sufferings
which she had inflicted, that in her necessity he would
generously come to her aid. Accordingly the queen
caused the marshal to be visited by agents of her own,
who sounded his intentions, and then offered him
freedom, provided that he laid aside his resentment
and joined her majesty in negotiating a permanent and
advantageous peace. The marshal magnanimously
assented ; and faithfully acting up to his past protesta-
tions, declared that the welfare of his country was his
first solicitude.* He demanded, however, that letters
patent should first pass the great seal restoring him to
freedom, and stating that no crime whatever had been
charged against him. This avowal of his past injustice
Henry hesitated not to make : the letters stated, f " that
the king on his accession found his dear and well-
beloved brother-in-law Fran9ois due de MontmorencyJ
a prisoner in his castle of the Bastille ; and that not
being able to ascertain any crime he had committed,
after due inquiry made from the queen, the princes,
the chancellor, and law officers of the crown, who each
and all attested on oath that the late king never alleged
any offence by the said duke perpetrated, his majesty
having at length been graciously pleased to hear the
statement of the said duke, he finding that he had
been committed to prison on the testimony of false
witnesses, had decreed his liberation."
* Hist, de la Maison de Montmorency. Additions aux Me'm. de
Castelnau, par 1' Abbs' le Laboureur. Eloge du Mare'chal de Mont-
morency: De Thou.
t Lettres Patentes donne'es au Mare'chal de Montmorency verifiers au
Parlement : Kegistres du Parlement de Paris.
J The marshal was the husband of Diane de France, legitimated
daughter of the late king Henry II., the husband of queen Catherine.
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 73
Montmorency set out immediately, accompanied by
Cosse, to meet the queen at Champigny, the mansion of
the due de Montpensier, where Monsieur had readily
promised to confer with her majesty on condition that
the marshal acted as mediator. During the whole of
the month of October the conferences continued ; Mon-
sieur doggedly insisting on the conditions proposed by
his party, and refusing to depart from their exact letter.
The chief points were, toleration for those of the
reformed faith ; and the convocation of the States-
general to remedy the ruined condition in which all
branches of the government had fallen. Catherine
had neither the power nor the will to grant these
articles. She dreaded the meeting of the States ; as
the Huguenot deputies had then announced their in-
tention of proposing " that the queen and her ministers
should give account of their administration, and the
disposal of the public funds during the minority of
Charles IX., and pending her majesty's brief regency on
the accession of Henry III." After much dissension, a
truce for six months was determined upon ; the condi-
tions being eminently favourable to the duke and his
cause. The king undertook to pay 160,000 livres to
the German levies made by Conde, who were to await
on the frontier the negotiation of a permanent peace.
Six towns were to be ceded to the malcontents, namely,
Angouleme, Kiort, Saumur, Bourges, Charite, and
Meziere ; but at the expiration of the truce these
places were to be restored to the king, whether peace
was concluded or not. The king undertook meantime
to defray the expenses of the garrison of these places.
It was, moreover, covenanted that deputies should pro-
ceed to Paris during the month of January, 1576, to
propose articles for a permanent peace.*
* Bouillon. Cheverny. De Thou. Davila. La Popelini&re. Dupleix.
Villegomblain, ann£e 1575.
74 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1575 —
The execution of these conditions met with consider-
able difficulty. The commandants of Bourges and
Angouleme steadily refused to. cede these places to
Monsieur, notwithstanding the repeated mandates sent
by the king. They alleged that, having faithfully served
his majesty against the Huguenots and the lords of the
faction, they, by ceding the towns under their command,
would have no refuge from their enemies ; and alleging
the recent fall of du Guast as a circumstance justifying
their disobedience. The due de Montpensier, therefore,
was forced to retreat from before Angouleme, whither
he had journeyed to place Monsieur in possession. The
queen, aware that the German levies would be across
the frontier ere the king's rebellious lieutenants could
be brought to terms, again summoned the due d'Alen-
£on, and, after much cajolery, succeeded in inducing
him to accept the towns of Cognac and Saint Jean
d'Angely in lieu of Bourges and Angouleme. Bussy
d' Amboise at the same time took possession of Saumur
and Charite, while Niort was ceded to St. Gelais, aide-
de-camp to Monsieur. These humiliating prelimi-
naries achieved, the queen obtained the proclamation
of the truce, November 22d, in the camp of the
malcontents, her majesty having previously consented
to leave the marechal de Montmorency with the due
d'Alen9on.
The king during the latter part of the month of
November commenced to make unusual exertion for the
prosecution of the war, just at the time when policy
required that no hostile indications should be made.
He enrolled a body of 6000 Swiss, and entered into
negotiation with Schomberg, Bassompierre, and the
count Mansfeldt, for a levy of 8000 mercenary troops.
These generals journeyed to Paris to confer with the
king, and agreed to raise the succour demanded on
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 75
condition that Henry paid down 100,000 crowns,* and
promised a further sum of 450,000 crowns when the
troops crossed the French frontier. To enable himself
to adhere to these engagements, the king during the
following month of December convened an assembly in
the Hotel de Ville, and boldly demanded from the city
of Paris an aid of 200,000 crowns. The greatest dis-
content and coldness were manifested by the citizens ;
and, instead of that enthusiastic loyalty demonstrated
for Henry's father when, after the battle of St. Quentin,
Henry II. demanded a similar succour, which was voted
by acclamation, the assembly asked for leisure to deli-
berate. At the expiration of three days a deputation
proceeded to the Louvre to carry the response of his
majesty's liegemen of Paris. The king was attended
by Villequier, the king of Navarre, and the chief lords
of his court. The address was delivered in the name
of the parliament of Paris, the judicial courts, the
clergy, and the burgesses of the capital. Never pre-
Tiously had sovereign of France received so stern a
censure as that conveyed by this address. Those his-
torians who view the subsequent troubles of the League
as the machinations of a faction alone, not participated
in by the people at large, must disregard the repeated
indications of popular hate and distrust shown at this
and other anterior periods for Henry III. The very
tone of the voice of the speakers admitted into the
royal presence, it is said, added bitterness to their re-
monstrances, as their eyes rested on the figure of the
effeminate, befrilled, and bejewelled " homme-femme "
whom it was their misfortune to salute as king. The
address commenced by comments on the deplorable
* Thirty thousand pounds sterling, according to king Henry's own
•computation, given in a despatch to Fe'ne'lon to be communicated to
Elizabeth queen of England.
76 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1575—
condition of the kingdom, torn by feuds, jealousies, and
factions. During the previous fifteen years of warfare
it was shown that the city of Paris had given the sum
of three millions of livres, and the clergy of the capital
the sum of seven millions, for the service of the state.
" And for what purpose have these sums served, but ta
array France against herself, and to render her the
prey of the first tyrant who would crush out her liberty
and prosperity for his own aggrandizement ? Sire, the
anger of the Most High is smiting us for our corrup-
tions and wickedness, our revolts, and the maladmi-
nistration which has caused them ! " The speaker next,
asserted that the scandalous morals and simoniacal
practices of the clergy needed reform ; that the admi-
nistration of justice was corrupted — "for, since the-
shameful traffic in state-oifices, where, sire, do we find
the integrity, probity, and enlightened judgment which
once was the illustrious distinction of our parliament ?
So lofty then being its repute, that foreign princes ap-
pealed to its judgments, and accepted its decrees ! "
The address next touched on the reckless appropriation
of public moneys destined for charitable purposes ; it
commented on the sum of 300,000 crowns which the
king in the space of six months had recently squandered
on his favourites ; it stated that the people of the realm
were reduced almost to penury ; that commerce wa&
annihilated ; and that the universal indigence of all
classes consummated the general ruin. The harangue-
concluded by a direct refusal to levy further funds for
the use of the king, or to grant a subsidy. A stringent
exhortation was added that peace should at any rate be
concluded on terms just, honourable, and therefore
stable. When subjects so addressed the sovereign,
that sovereign being the despotic monarch of France,
the first cloud of the coming troubles rose looming on
the horizon. The orator of the city of Paris next pre-
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 77
sented the king with a copy of the golden rules of St.
Louis, which that saintly monarch left for the guidance
of his posterity, praying the king to heed the counsels
of a prince so faithful and beloved by God and man.
Henry listened to this exordium with frowning impa-
tience. Villequier, who stood on his master's right
hand, suddenly strode forward, and, with his hand on
his sword, demanded "how the orator had dared to
forget his respect for the majesty of the sovereign?"
In reply the speaker presented to the king a written
copy of his oration, signed by the chief members of
the parliament, the courts, and the clergy, stating
that he had been ordered to lay the address at his
majesty's feet after reading it, that it might receive the
royal consideration. Villequier was about to utter
another severe comment, when the king interposed.
Bitterly complaining of the disrespectful tone of the
oration, the king said " that it is now the time for
action, and not for the ill-judged display of affected
patriotism. Without doubt," said his majesty, " I
shall find subjects faithful in their sovereign's emer-
gency to aid me with funds without further appeal to
the city of Paris." The deputation then withdrew, the
king waving his hand in token of dismissal.* This re-
pulse, nevertheless, stung the king into acts of greater
vigour. He wrote to the queen his mother requesting
her instant return ; for Henry began to feel that, with-
out Catherine's tact, judgment, and experience, the bur-
dens of royalty might soon become unbearable.
The queen, therefore, set out, after bidding farewell
to her son d'Alen9on, emphatically entreating him to
observe the conditions of the truce, and dispose those
with whom he was in league to combine for the ratifi-
cation of a final peace. The queen by her dexterous
* De Thou: Hist, de son Temps, liv. Ixi. pp. 296-8. L'Etoile: Journal
de Henri III. M£m. de Nevers.
78 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575 —
manoeuvring had obtained time. Moreover, her majesty's
insinuations, and her frequent private conferences with
Monsieur, had raised a suspicion concerning the nature
of the duke's relations with the court ; and the mal-
contents began to deem it just possible, considering the
antecedents of the prince, that, having stipulated for his
own interests, he might some fine morning plan a re-
turn to Paris as adroitly as he bad quitted the capital.
Two of the aims of Catherine's personal negotiation
being thus achieved, the queen returned in complacent
mood, feeling that the peace so requisite for the realm
would be one of her own dictation rather than that of
the confederates. The contentment of Henry was un-
bounded at the proclamation of this truce, which, at any
rate, as he remarked, would stave off any catastrophe for
the period of six months. He published a proclama-
tion announcing this satisf actionary result of the queen-
mother's journey ; and wrote to Fenelon and his other
ambassadors requesting them to notify the event to-
the courts to which they were accredited ; and, as a
final mark of satisfaction, he set out to meet Catherine
at Etampes, and escorted her back to Paris.*
Such was the situation of affairs when the king's
satisfaction was abated by two startling events, which
must have inspired him with energy to combat the
perils closing hopelessly around, had he ever in his life
been animated by a genuine spirit of heroism. The
army of Conde appeared on the frontier. The king
in his emergency sent to notify the recent articles of
the truce, to signify his willingness to perform the
pecuniary convention he had accepted, and to command
the disbandment of the force. The king's envoy was
joined by an officer despatched by Monsieur, who, in
the name of the due d'Alen9on protested against the
advance of the army pending the propositions about to
* Wednesday, January 28th, 1576.
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 79
be made to the queen-mother. Conde and the palatine
Casimir responded by general assurances of their desire
for peace and their reluctance to offend his majesty.
Nevertheless, the prince continued his march, crossed
the frontier near to Langres, and advancing upon
Dijon, mulcted the place in the sum of 200,000 francs.
The fine old Chartreuse, the burial-place of the ancient
dukes of Burgundy, escaped the brand of the destroyer by
a further donation of 121,000 francs; while the chateau
Lespaille, the magnificent property of the marechal cb
Tavannes, was burnt to the ground. Conde's forces
consisted of 10,000 German mercenaries, of 6,000 Swiss,,
and 2,000 French troops ; in all 18,000 men. This
formidable army crossed the Loire at Marsigny, ra-
vaging the country and laying all the towns on its
route under contribution. The province of Auvergne,
by a gift of 50,000 crowns, succeeded in purchasing ex-
emption from its devastating march. Monsieur, when
informed of the advance of Conde, showed much chagrin,
at least outwardly, and immediately addressed exculpa-
tory letters to the parliament of Paris, protesting the
purity of his intentions ; the which were suppressed by
royal command. The perplexity of the due d'Alenyon
could not be surpassed. The utter disregard shown by
the confederates for the truce which he had been pleased
to conclude was most mortifying ; while by remaining
with the malcontents he subjected himself to the penal-
ties of high treason. On the other hand, he beheld
himself in virtue of his rank upon the eve of being hailed
as generalissimo of the combined forces, the head of a
powerful faction, able to balance the royal authority,
and to arbitrate between the king and his subjects.
Monsieur's vacillations on the part he had to take, how-
ever, were speedily decided by the unexpected flight of
the king of Navarre from Paris ; and the comparative
indifference shown after that event by the confederates
80 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575 —
as to the duke's ulterior proceedings, determined him to
remain faithful to his allies rather than cede the com-
mand to Henri.
The king of Navarre had long pined for the refuge
of his native Beam. At the court of France he beheld
himself oppressed, depreciated, and neglected ; caressed
by Henry when it suited his purpose, but treated in
all matters as a dependent. After the departure of
Monsieur the position of the king of Navarre became
still more isolated : eclipsed by the arrogant favourites,
on bad terms with his wife, and betrayed by his mis-
tress, the fair madame de Sauve, who now began to be-
stow much of her favour upon the nobleman whom she
eventually espoused for her second husband,* Henri
panted for freedom. The rumours of war awoke the
martial spirit in his bosom; and he longed to be restored
to freedom, to serve his country, and to draw in her
service the sword consecrated by the touch of Coligny
and Jeanne d'Albret. Henri, therefore, demanded
from the king some military command by which he
might demonstrate his fidelity. " Mon frere," replied
Henry, with an ironical smile, " I have something
better for you in reserve." The king of Navarre
quitted the royal presence, irritated and depressed, to
learn a few hours afterwards that the king, in defiance
of a promise he had made though Souvre, to bestow
the first vacant captaincy of his body-guard on the
vicomte de Lavardin, a near relative and adherent of
the house of Albret — had nominated a protege of Ville-
quier. After the return of the queen-mother from
Champigny, there had been various rumours that her
majesty counselled the arrest of her son-in-law as a pre-
* The marquis de Noirmoustier, Francois de la Tr^moille, whom she
espoused October 18, 1581. Madame de Sauve was the rich heiress of
Semblan§ay. She lost her first husband, M. de Sauve, November 27,
1579.
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 81
cautionary measure, lest he should join the duke. Mar-
guerite, moreover, admonished her husband to hold him-
self on his guard. The king of Navarre, therefore,
resolved to fly from Paris. The secret was confided to
Fervaques, Roquelaure, and Epernon, young cavaliers
of Henri's suite, brave, true, and loyal. The queen of
Navarre was not admitted into her husband's confidence.
Henri doubted whether Marguerite might not betray a
secret fraught with personal consequences to herself ;
neither did he desire to expose her to the perils of being
accessory to his evasion. When all was prepared, Henri
asked and obtained permission to proceed to Senlis for
the diversion of the chase. For several days he followed
the pastime with ardour, and once during this interval
surprised their majesties by a sudden visit. Every day
he prolonged his excursions, the more easily to conceal
his intended flight, and thus obtain several hours' ad-
vance of any pursuit. Fervaques, meanwhile, being
enamoured of madame de Carnavalet,* inconsiderately
let fall some hints of the project and of his own ap-
proaching departure in the hearing of that lady, who
immediately declared her intention of warning Catherine.
Overwhelmed with distress and remorse, Fervaques, not
daring to quit the capital, despatched Roquelaure and
Epernon to Henri to inform the latter of his indiscre-
tion, and implore him to make the best of the time re-
maining to him. The cavaliers found Henri at Chan-
tilly, where he was taking his mid-day repast. Epernon
drew him aside and delivered Fervaques's message.
With that prompt decision of purpose which during the
* Anne Herault, daughter of the sieur de Beuil. This lady married,
first, Francois de la Beaume, comte de Montreval; second, M. deKerne-
venoy, commonly called Carnavalet, tutor to Henry III. This noble-
man died in 1571, leaving his widow young, beautiful, and rich. Madame
de Carnavalet resisted the matrimonial overtures of Fervaques, and also
of M. d'Epernon before the latter attained, as he afterwards did, to the
summit of courtly power and wealth.
82 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575 —
subsequent wars contributed more than any other quality
to ensure Henri's eventual triumph, the king sum-
moned the sieur de St. Martin, - captain of his body-
guard. " Go to his majesty," exclaimed he, " and say
that I have received positive information, that by the
advice of queen Catherine he has the design to arrest
me on the first convenient occasion ; therefore that I
intend to remain at Senlis until more fully informed
of his majesty's pleasure concerning me." St. Martin
arrived at the Louvre about midnight, and requested to
speak with the marquis de Souvre, Henry's master of
the robes and principal chamberlain. From Souvre
he learned that his majesty had received notice of the
proposed flight of the king of Navarre before retiring
to bed ; and intended early on the morrow to send an
escort to bring his brother-in-law back to Paris, whom
he believed to be ignorant that his project of evasion
had transpired.
St. Martin then requested to be admitted to the
royal chamber to deliver the message intrusted to him,
believing that the king, on being informed of the design
of his brother-in-law to remain at Senlis, would revoke
any orders issued to prevent his flight, and that thus a
public scandal might be avoided. Souvre, always actu-
ated by the most conscientious of motives, assented,
though at some risk of incurring the king's displeasure.
The two accordingly boldly entered the royal chamber
and aroused the king. Henry listened petulantly to
St. Martin's message, and then replied : " My good
Souvre, be assured that this said Henri de Navarre is
no longer at Senlis ! Had I the intentions he is pleased
to ascribe to me, I should not have permitted him to
go from the capital. God help me ! I perceive that
he also has some bad and traitorous intent ! " St.
Martin re-affirmed his belief that the king of Navarre
had no evil intents, and was still at Senlis. The king
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 83
was too much accustomed to these surprises to believe
this assertion ; nevertheless, he ordered Souvre to go to
Senlis ; and if indeed the king of Navarre were there,
to bring him to his lever the following morning. He
also desired that the queen-mother might be informed
of the errand of St. Martin. Souvre, who greatly
esteemed the king of Navarre, before he consented to
undertake the mission, exacted from Henry his word of
honour that he intended no harm to his brother-in-law.
Henry impatiently replied " that, on the contrary, it
was his intent to cherish him more than ever ! " The
marquis therefore set out for Senlis ; but before he had
reached the little town of Louvres information was
brought him of the flight of the king of Navarre, who
by sending St. Martin to Paris had sought dexterously
to avoid immediate pursuit. Henri, accompanied by
Roquelaure, Epernon,* Frontenac, and Lavardin, quitted
Chantilly as soon as St. Martin was off on his road to
Paris, crossed the Seine, and fled to La Fere, from
whence he repaired to Vendome. From Vendome
Henri fled to Saumur, where, under the sheltering
lances of two hundred brave Gascon gentlemen, who
sallied to the succour of their prince, and the bands of
Bussy d'Amboise, the king of Navarre abjured the
Romish faith. His next act was to publish a Declara-
tion, in which he stated that " all he had before done
respecting his change of religion had been extorted
from him by force and constraint. As his personal
liberty was regained, his mental will resumed its empire ;
which he accordingly manifested by returning to his first
religious creed ; the which he protested for the future
to maintain until death, according to the instruction
given him by his deceased mother, queen Jeanne of
* This young nobleman, who afterwards played so conspicuous a role,
was at this time called le chevalier de la Valette; but, to avoid confusion
his subsequent appellation has been given to him.
84 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
glorious and revered memory."* It is recorded by a
gentleman of Henri's cortege, that before crossing the
Loire at Saumur, the king seemed oppressed with
melancholy. Presently he heaved a deep sigh, and
reining in his horse by the banks of the river, he ex-
claimed, half in soliloquy, " Thanks be to God who has
delivered me ! My mother the queen died in Paris ;
there they slew M. 1'amiral, and all our best and most
trusty servants ; for myself they had the same inten-
tions, if God had not interposed." Then turning and
addressing the gentlemen of his suite, Henri jestingly
said : " Messieurs, I regret only two things that I have
left behind me in Paris — the mass, and my wife ! For
the mass, I will try and dispense with it ; but my wife
I intend and will have her again." Followed by his
companions, Henri pushed onwards. He was received
with enthusiasm as he traversed the province of Guy-
enne ; the flag of every fortress waved at his approach,
and the people sallied forth in bands to welcome the
son of Jeanne d'Albret. In his own principality the
presence of the king of Navarre was celebrated by a
general ovation ; he had returned to his people — who
remembered the tears shed by Jeanne d'Albret, and the
bitter grief of her farewell as she departed from Pau
for the court whence she never came back — safe, one
with themselves again in faith, and too sternly ad-
monished by the terrors of past events to yield again
to the delusive flatteries of Catherine. The brave and
patriotic heart of the Bearnnois Henri throbbed at such
a welcome." f
* Mathieu, liv. vii. p. 427. Me'moires de la Beyne Marguerite. De
Thou. liv. Ixi. ann^e 1576.
f Soon after the escape of the king of Navarre his friend and faithful
ally, Elizabeth, queen of England, wrote him a letter of condolence and
encouragement. " When I reflect, my very dear brother," writes her
majesty, •' that nothing saps the sources of life more surely than despon-
dency, or that few things act more fatally on the health than the senti-
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 85
The condition of the " right noble realm of France,"
during this spring of 1576, presented indeed an aspect
most ruinous and desolate ; and unhappily the strong
but corrosive cement of the League alone proved
potent enough to bind together again the shattered
fragments. The people obeyed the chieftain ruling
over each province, and forgot that a king reigned in
Paris. Languedoc, Provence, and Dauphiny owed
allegiance to the brothers of Montmorency — Damville,
Thore, and Meru. Beam, Guyenne, and a portion of
Vendommois rallied under the standard of Albret.
The midland provinces of the realm bowed before the
due d'Alen9on. On the frontier, and encamped in the
interior of Burgundy, Bourbonnois, and on the plains
of Soze, lay an army of mercenary troops now thirty
thousand strong, commanded by a Conde. In the
ports of La Rochelle the English flag floated in hostile
array against the effete and treacherous government,
pouring treasures, troops, and provisions into the city,
the storehouse and arsenal of the Calvinists.
Socially all things displayed a like desolation. Jus-
tice was corrupted — a ban from one of the powerful
favourites being sufficient to blast the most righteous
cause. Unscrupulous appropriations were made by one
branch of the government, commencing with the court,
upon the funds destined for the due discharge of the
functions of another. The power of veto was almost
denied to that august body the parliament of Paris — a
privilege once exercised so beneficially during the reigns
of Louis XII. and Francis I. The registration of
ment of passionate indignation, I assure you that the delay and pro-
crastination of the princes of Germany, and the tardy resolutions of those
most tardy allies, inflict upon me almost a daily death. I beg you, how-
ever, to believe that, as far as regards my own actions, I hold your wel-
fare too much at heart to fail in aught that I have undertaken on your
behalf." — Lettre d'Elisabeth Beyne d'Angleterre au Roy de Navarre:
MS. Bibl. Imp. Colbert, vol. xxix. Fontanieu, portef. 337.
86 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
edicts was now enforced by absolute royal command ;
while the remonstrances of the chambers met with such
discountenance and ridicule that they virtually ceased
to be offered. Public morality was sunk to the lowest
ebb ; the profligacy of the court infected all classes.
The wife and daughter of no man, whether of rank
illustrious or humble, was safe from pollution ; while
during this reign such became the fearful ascendency
of vice, that even women deemed virtue a reproach, and
deliberately participated in orgies the most obscene. The
clergy contributed their share to this universal declen-
sion ; incited during the first outbreak of the reformed
tenets to the practice of something resembling outward
morality and zeal, all restraint had been now cast aside.
The convents of Paris were converted into resorts for
the young lords of the court ; the abbesses being fre-
quently the ail-but recognized mistresses of potent
nobles. The religious controversies of the past fifteen
years had had the most deplorable effect on the faith of
the people ; they had forgotten the high and holy
principles contended for in these discussions ; their
hearts were hardened and their intellect confused, as it
so often happens, by propositions and counter-tenets,
until the faculty of descrying truth departed from them.
The majority of the people, therefore, had become
atheists or rationalists : they scoffed at the ceremonies
-of the church, and derided that system of penance and
absolution which one day exhibited to them their king
parading the streets, arrayed in tattered garments of
sackcloth, attended by the pompous adjuncts of the
Romish Church ; and the next, voluptuously drifting
down the Seine in his painted gondola, surrounded by
a troop of courtezans.
The universal disorganization of society, morals, and
religion must before this period have terminated in
anarchy, before which every vestige of the ancient
1576.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 87
regime would have disappeared, but for queen Catherine,
who was the ballast that gave semblance of steadiness
to the sinking vessel of state. The government being
suspended, as it were, on her policy, when one fine
thread of diplomacy broke, Catherine supplied another ;
so that, by ever originating new devices and counter-
acting old ones, she had continued to temporize and to
rule.
The return of Souvre with the intelligence that the
king of Navarre was on his road into Guyenne roused
the anger of the king to such a degree, that his minis-
ters began to believe it possible that Henry would
himself take the field, and signalize his valour as in
days of yore. The royal wrath, however, fell chiefly
upon queen Marguerite, whom Henry accused of con-
spiracy with his foes, and of treason in not having
notified the intentions of her husband to the council of
state. " Such was the anger of the king," writes
Marguerite, " that I believe, had he not been restrained
by the queen my mother, he would have executed some
enterprise against my life." Henry had more than
one grudge to avenge on his sister ; and he therefore
determined that the flight of her husband should be the
pretext for Marguerite's arrest. Perceiving that her
son was too exasperated to listen to expostulation, Ca-
therine agreed to the measure, stipulating, however,
that she herself should break the king's determination
to Marguerite. It is doubtful, however, whether the
queen, despite her protests, did not covertly approve of
the project of arrest ; for in the consternation arising
from the occurrence of one portentous event after an-
other, it was dangerous to leave so keen an observer as
the queen of Navarre at liberty, without knowing
exactly how far she might be implicated. Catherine
accordingly proceeded to the apartment of the queen of
Navarre, whom she found at her toilette ; for Margue-
88 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1575—
rite was impatient to hear particulars of the flight of
her husband and of its consequent effect. " Ma fille,"
commenced the queen; " you need not to-day take the
needless pains of arraying yourself. Do not be angry
at hearing that which I am here to tell you. You
have great understanding, therefore I feel assured that
you will not be surprised at hearing that the king is
strangely incensed against your brother and the king
your husband. His majesty being aware of the inti-
macy between you three, believes that you were privy
to the evasion of both, and has therefore determined to
regard you as a hostage. The king has, therefore,
commanded that guards shall be stationed at your
doors, to prevent you from leaving your apartments.
His majesty's counsellors have, moreover, represented
to him that, if you were suffered to mingle freely
amongst us, you would betray our plans and movements
to your brother or to your husband. . I pray God, my
daughter, that you may take these precautions in good
part, and submit cheerfully." Marguerite replied by
acknowledging that she had aided in Monsieur's deli-
verance ; but denied participation in the evasion of the
king of Navarre ; stating that, since the dismissal of
mademoiselle de Torigny, she had scarcely spoken a
word to her husband. " Ma fille," rejoined the queen,
" what you state is only a confession of a matrimonial
squabble, which will soon pass over ; a few loving
letters from your husband will win you back. You
know, madame, that if your said husband were to bid
you go to him, you would obey, and escape from us
yourself ? "
Catherine then took her leave, first praying her
daughter not to feel herself aggrieved if she could not
visit her as often as the desire might arise. Margue-
rite's grief and indignation were excessive, for her arrest
proved not a lenient or a mere nominal restraint. On
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 89
the departure of the queen, guards were posted at the
door, and in the corridor upon which Marguerite's
apartments opened, and, according to their orders, re-
fused the pass to any one. In this sad condition Mar-
guerite remained for upwards of two months, " during
which," writes she, " I saw no one, not even my most
intimate friends, for no one dared ask to visit me, fear-
ing to achieve their own ruin." Catherine never paid
her daughter a single visit ; which fact tends to confirm
the supposition that Marguerite's durance had her assent ;
for the queen was not habitually awed by the threats
of her son the king, nor yet did she think herself bound
to obey his mandates. One personage alone braved
the anger of the king, and persisted in demanding oc-
casional permission to visit queen Marguerite — and
this was her husband's valiant friend Crillon. The
latter brought her several letters from the king of
Navarre, who wrote most consolatory epistles, praying
Marguerite to pardon his past defections, and still
to continue his good friend and ally. These letters
Marguerite acknowledges afforded her much comfort ;
her melancholy isolation disposed the queen to grant
their prayer ; so that once more confidential communi-
cations were revived, as Catherine had predicted, be-
tween the royal pair. Marguerite's feelings of hostility
towards the king were not lessened by his oppression ;
for of the immediate cause occasioning her arrest she
was innocent. Moreover, Henry in his insane passion
proceeded to execute other and subsidiary schemes of
retaliation, which exhibited his character in a light as
puerile as it was contemptible. It appears that the
king still nourished a vehement grudge against made-
moiselle de Torigny, who, as it has been related, in
obedience to a previous mandate, had retired from the
service of the queen of Navarre and taken up her
abode with her near connexions, M. de Chastelus and
90 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575 —
his wife. The king and Villequier, in discussing the
flight of the king of Navarre, made out to each other's
satisfaction that mademoiselle de Torigny was privy to
the plot ; and that she had not only aided in its exe-
cution, but had encouraged her late royal mistress to
persevere in a deportment so contumacious and offen-
sive. Henry, accordingly, despatched a troop of archers
of his guard to conduct mademoiselle de Torigny to
his presence, there to answer for her alleged connivance.
The soldiers had directions to perpetrate on the road
the most scandalous outrage, by plunging their trem-
bling captive in the Seine. Marguerite asserts that
the king gave orders that mademoiselle de Torigny
should be drowned ; other narrators, however, ascribe
to Henry the scarcely less flagrant intent of so terrify-
ing her as to make her avoid for the future the perilous
game of politics. The royal guards, accordingly, set
forth. They surrounded the abode of M. de Chastelus,
and some of them entering the house, seized mademoi-
selle de Torigny, and roughly bound her hands. They
next locked her up in a chamber while they sat down,
at the invitation of the master of the house, to make a
hearty meal. This ruse enabled M. de Chastelus to
gain time to seek for succour to rescue his young
cousin from the death which his majesty's envoys de-
clared themselves commissioned to inflict. He accord-
ingly sent emissaries forth ; and most providentially one
of them met a party of horse, commanded by M.
d'Avantigny, en route to join the due d'Alen9on before
Moulins. On hearing the peril of mademoiselle de
Torigny, d'Avantigny immediately proceeded to the
rescue, partly from humane motives, but more espe-
cially on account of the entente which existed between
the queen of Navarre and her brother. They found
the ruffians about to tie the poor girl on a horse ; for
in such ignominious plight had Henry decreed that the
1576. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 91
daughter of one of his greatest generals should enter
Paris. Mademoiselle de Torigny lay weeping in the
arms of her cousin, who was vainly expostulating against
such outrage. A skirmish ensued, in which d'Avan-
tigny's troop, being much the most numerous, had the
advantage, the archers of the guard flying for their
lives. Mademoiselle de Torigny was then placed in a
coach, and, accompanied by Madame de Chastelus,
escorted by her deliverers to Moulins, where she was
received by the due d'Alenyon, who " treated the said
de Torigny with the same honour and respect as if her
mistress the queen of Navarre had been present." *
So cowardly an outrage upon his young daughter
could not have increased the ardour of the marechal
de Matignon for the royal cause, although a feeling of
patriotism, or the less pure motive of personal interest,
then induced him to dissimulate his indignation. As
for the queen of Navarre, neither prudence nor regard
for the repute of her brother the king, induced her to
repress her transports of wrath when she heard of the
indignities to which her favourite Torigny had been sub-
jected. Fortunately, perhaps, for herself, Marguerite
at this juncture was a captive, else her irritation might
have rendered her capable of some enterprise which,
as a daughter of France, she must eventually have re-
gretted.
During this interval the king's pecuniary necessities
had been temporarily alleviated by the loan made to
him by the due de Nevers of the proceeds of the sale
of some estates in Flanders appertaining to his consort
the duchesse Henriette,f who was understood to be
greatly averse to such a disposal of her patrimony.
M. de Pienne followed the example of Nevers, and
* M£m. de la Keyne Marguerite. Dreux de Kadier. Vie de Mar-
guerite de Valois. Hist, de la Maison de Matignon.
f Heiress of a junior branch of the house of Cleves.
92 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
presented Henry with a seasonable benefaction. The
king assigned to these nobles, as security for the debt,
a revenue on the royal domains in the duchy of
Bretagne.
The greatest and most unusual activity, meanwhile,
prevailed in Paris to provide funds, men, and, above all,
a general to command the army preparing to oppose
the princes. The command-in-chief was again offered
to Montpensier, and this time by the queen in person.
The duke, however, again declined to serve against the
due d'Alen9on, " ne voulant mettre le doigt entre deux
pierres" His wife, Catherine de Lorraine, sister of the
due de Guise, vehemently opposed such a project. This
princess was ever actuated by passions the most fervid
and unrestrained. A bigot in faith, a despot in prin-
ciple, of courage that no peril could daunt, of spirit
astute as that of the queen-mother's, a hand that dared
all, and a tongue eloquent with the power of flaying sar-
casm,— such was the duchesse de Montpensier. These
formidable characteristics were rendered the more to
be dreaded by the beauty of the duchess, the dignity
of whose lineage of Lorraine shone in every outward
act ; while she never forgot the splendour of her de-
scent from Charlemagne and St. Louis. From Henry's
accession unsparing warfare had been declared between
himself and the duchesse de Montpensier. The mas-
culine mind of Catherine de Lorraine scoffed at the
royal puerility ; and her wit was exercised so auda-
ciously when in the presence, that Henry writhed with
indignant mortification. The king testified his dis-
pleasure by repeated acts of petty spite ; from the
ashes of which, however, the sarcasm of the duchess
rose, invested with points still more racy and piquants.
The empire which the duchess exercised over her hus-
band, who was many years her senior, was great ; and
in the matter of the command-in-chief offered to him,
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 93
as her wishes coincided with the duke's political theo-
ries, her aid proved eminently useful in helping him
to resist the importunity of the court. As no conces-
sion was to be obtained from Montpensier, the due de
Mayenne was appointed generalissimo ; yet so doubtful
did their majesties feel of the loyalty of their general —
who was the brother of Guise and the duchesse de
Montpensier — that they forthwith began to concert for
the means of concluding a peace, if only to disband the
levies encamped within the realm. This expedient had
formerly been successfully adopted by the queen during
the religious war which convulsed France in the early
years of the reign of Charles IX. The peace of Lonju-
meaux, A. D. 1568, had been signed by Catherine for
the express purpose, as it afterwards appeared, of dis-
solving the hostile confederation between Coligny and
the Protestant princes of Europe. The differences
which already divided the councils of the confederates
seemed to Catherine to afford an opening for the fresh
exercise of that marvellous political craft which was
now designated by the disaffected of the realm as " les
enchantements de la reyne-m&re"
The active correspondence continually going on be-
tween Monsieur and the court occasioned amongst the
confederates great and reasonable jealousies. On the
plains of Soze the due d'Alen9on had been saluted as
generalissimo of the army levied by the tact of Conde
and the wealth of M. de Thore. These chieftains
naturally felt chagrin at relinquishing their posts
of pre-eminence to a prince of no military or moral
repute, and whose adhesion to the cause was held in
doubt. Damville, at this juncture, when the success
•of the cause was thus in balance against the private in-
terests of individuals, deviated from his general patri-
otic disinterestedness. He feared lest the triumph of
the allies would lead to the loss or diminution of his
94 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1575—
rule over Languedoc, which province he governed with
the irresponsibility of hereditary dominion. His pre-
tended aid in the pacification of the broils and jealousies
of the camp, therefore, tended rather to the promotion
of discord. The palatine Casimir, on his side, mani-
fested the greatest discontent, having marched into
France, as he averred, " to conquer and to acquire," and
not to remain in camp absorbed by insignificant cavils.
The vigilant eye of the queen-mother carefully scanned
the surface of this outwardly compact confederation,
to detect any fissure through which, by the skilful
insertion of the wedge of royal concession, a passage
might be driven so as in due time to annihilate
the whole. By her counsel, therefore, the king gave
condescending greetings to the two envoys sent by the
confederates to state the grounds of their complaints-
and the demands of the princes, ere the hostile army
advanced on the capital. They were dismissed with
assurances of redress ; and departed the harbingers of
Catherine's second visit to the camp of her son the due
d'Alen9on.
Before taking this momentous progress the queen-
earnestly insisted on the release of her daughter Mar-
guerite ; at the same time showing the king a letter
from Monsieur, in which he admonished his mother
that her journey would be useless unless she was ac-
companied by his sister. " For," said the duke, " never
will I listen to overture of peace whatever until my said
sister is satisfied and at liberty." The queen, therefore,
advised Henry to countermand the guard he had set ;
to send for Marguerite, and by promises, apologies, and
caresses to allay her resentment. Henry knew his
mother too well to resist her counsels, especially in so-
grave an emergency as the present. Catherine, there-
fore, immediately sent one of her chamberlains with an
order from the king commanding the presence of the-
1576. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 95
queen of Navarre in the royal closet. After some con-
siderable delay, Marguerite made her appearance,
haughty, resentful, and not one whit subdued by the lone-
liness of her prison. She found her mother alone. " Ma
fille," commenced Catherine, " I have, by the mercy of
God, disposed all things for a general reconciliation.
You and your brother Alen9on have always desired to
promote a solid and universal peace, and now is the time
for the realization of that wish. Aid me, therefore,
ma fille, in this work : you will rescue me thereby from
the great affliction of witnessing the triumph of one of
my sons over the other. Employ your good offices to
this end with your brother. Forget the harshness
with which you have been treated. No one now
regrets it more than your brother the king, whom I
have often seen to shed tears over this dissension, and
who is ready to make you every reparation in his
power." Marguerite loftily replied " that she should
never prefer her own interests to the welfare of the
realm ; and that she was ready to sacrifice her just
resentment to promote that end, and would therefore
aid in the negotiation of peace." The king then en-
tered as if by accident, and advanced towards his
sister, kissed her hand, and then embraced her with
seeming cordiality. The king then informed Mar-
guerite " that their mother was about to take a second
journey into Champagne to negotiate a peace, and that
he prayed her very earnestly to deign to accompany
her majesty, and to contribute her good offices thereto."
Marguerite merely curtseyed, and then retired. She
found that the news of her intended liberation had
already spread over the court, and that many of her
friends awaited her in her apartments, amongst whom
was the duchesse de Nevers. It was during her cap-
tivity of two months that Marguerite acquired, as she
states, that love for literature and poetry for which she
96 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1575—
was afterwards distinguished ; and that subsequently,
during two decades of virtual incarceration, ameliorated
her destiny. Many books were given to her by Crillon
during his visits. Marguerite rejected with disgust the
manuals of devotion liberally supplied for her use by
command of king Henry, who ever deemed himself a
paragon of propriety while perpetrating acts of most
flagrant injustice. She perused Homer during this
interval, and expresses herself ravished with the vigour
of his phraseology and the grandeur of his imagery.
Marguerite also essayed her hand at the composition of
poetry. But, despite the resources supplied by her
needle and her books, the queen found the period of
her arrest one of unsurpassed ennui and weariness. It
is difficult to picture the beautiful and coquettish Mar-
guerite de Valois, with her love of independence, her
sumptuous toilette and numerous adorers, confined
during eight dreary weeks in three small chambers of
the Louvre, with only a single occasional visitor to
break the spell of her solitude. Queen Louise seems
to have had little sympathy for her enterprising sister-
in-law. The feuds and the depravity of the court op-
pressed the gentle queen ; besides, the extraordinary
character of her husband was for long the subject of her
perpetual speculation.
Queen Marguerite, therefore, joyfully made prepara-
tion to accompany the queen-mother to the more conge-
nial scene of the camp of the allies. Catherine selected
a brilliant band of ladies for her escort — allies potent,
as she had found, during many a political crisis, to
charm, seduce, and persuade. For the subjugation of
Monsieur madame de Sauve again went forth — the
beautiful widow madame de Carnavalet appointed a
trysting-place for Fervaques and Epernon in the camp
of Moulins. Besides, there was a bevy of young beau-
ties, such as mesdemoiselles de Bretesche, d'Estrees, de
1576.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 97
Montal — the stars of the court. The duchesse de
Nevers also followed the queen, who had often observed
the effect produced by the coquettish blandishments of
the former. The duchess gave the most brilliant re-
unions in Paris, and was universally popular and sought.
Then, to sting into vigour the torpid intellects of Mon-
sieur, of Conde, and his officers, when satiated with the
allurements and pleasures set before them, went forth
the duchesse de Montpensier ; and last of the queen's
suite, though not least in influence, madame de Ville-
quier, the wife of the dominant favourite.
By the end of April Catherine set out for Touraine, in
which province the conferences were to be holden, ac-
companied by her brilliant convoy and by the marechal
de Montmorency, without whose assistance the queen
pretended to be unable to accomplish anything. Her
majesty proceeded to Plessis-les-Tours, where she took
up her abode, pending her communication with the due
d'Alen9on and the princes his allies.
98 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576 —
CHAPTER IV.
1576—1577.
Council of the confederates at Moulins — Articles there agreed upon
— Conferences at Beaulieu — Articles of peace — Schemes of king
Henry to levy money — His success — Indigaation excited through-
out the country by the clauses of the treaty of Beaulieu — Rise
of the League — Its objects and various articles — Retreat of prince
Casimir — The king visits Rouen and Dieppe — Libels and satiri-
cal verses circulated respecting king Henry — Edict for the con-
vocation of the States-general to meet at Blois — Departure of the
king and queen for Olinville — Don Juan of Austria visits France
— His conferences with the due de Guise at Joinville — Interview
between the king and his brother M. d'Anjou — Their mutual
dissatisfaction — The states of Blois — Extravagant costume of
king Henry — Relations of Marguerite queen of Navarre and the
due de Guise — Closing of the States — Condition of the realm —
Exploits of the due d'Anjou — Banquets given by the court —
The king departs for Poitiers — Edict of Poitiers — Assassination
of madame de Villequier — Comet of 1577.
THE confederated princes, meanwhile, held council in
Moulins to decide upon the terms to be proposed to
king Henry and his mother as the alternative of imme-
diate hostilities. Deputies from the king of Navarre,
from the due de Damville and the Protestant popula-
tion of " les trois eveches " of Toul, Verdun, and Metz,
arrived to take part in the deliberations. The articles
agreed upon were sixty-two in number, and were so
subversive of all past edicts ratified by the parliaments
of the realm, that it is surprising the princes, unwarned
by past experiences, could delude themselves by believ-
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 99
ing that such clauses would be received by the people
at large, even if the emergencies of the government
forced them upon the king. It was demanded, in the
first place, as regarded the Huguenots of the realm,
that unrestrained liberty should be given them in the
exercise and promulgation of their religious worship
and tenets, provided only that they obtained the assent
of the nobles and lords of the manor in the various
localities within which they desired to hold their prdches.
The confederates demanded that all public offices should
be open to the Calvinists — their rights as citizens being
as fully defined and conceded as those of their Roman
Catholic brethren ; and that the children of married
priests who had made abjuration should be declared
legitimate. The king, moreover, was required to deny
all share and connivance in the massacre of Paris, and
to express his regret at so accursed a treachery. The
processes instituted against Coligny, Montgomery,
Cavagnes, and Briquemaut, la Mole, Coconnas, and Jean
de la Haye, were to be annulled and erased from the
registers of the courts, and these personages declared
innocent, and good, and faithful subjects. The king
was to recognize the due d'Alen9on, Conde, the king of
Navarre, Damville, and other malcontents in arms, as
loyal subjects ; and to accept, ratify, and approve all
their past acts. He was, moreover, to refund the sums
expended in the levy of the German army ; to pay all
arrears for succours furnished to the Huguenots or to
the royal cause during the past fifteen years ; to augment
the appanage of the due d'Alen9on ; to convene the
States-general ; and to cede certain towns in the chief
provinces of the realm as cities of refuge, and for
guarantees to all concerned in the cause of freedom
and political reform. The allies, moreover, reserved to
themselves the right of proposing various subsidiary
articles during their negotiation with the plenipotentiary
100 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
appointed by his majesty to treat for peace.* The dues
de Nevers, Nemours, and Montpensier, and the prin-
cipal councillors of state, unanimously rejected such
conditions, as contrary to the constitution of the realm
and the principles, desires, and welfare of his majesty's
subjects. They argued that a peace, to become bene-
ficial, must necessarily be regarded as stable ; while its
stipulations ought not only to receive their ratification
from the sign-manual of the king, but to find response
in the minds of the people. The Protestant deputies
from Moulins, Beauvais le Nocle, and Davet, met with
insulting taunts in the royal cabinet when admitted be-
fore the privy council to unfold their mission ; while in
the streets of Paris they were assailed with hootings
and stones. The king, indirectly through Yillequier,
lieutenant-governor of Paris, again sounded the dispo-
sitions of his faithful lieges to aid him with pecuniary
supplies ; the parliament and municipality, however,
obdurately declined to sanction the levy of a single
livre. This resolve placed the king in a position of
great perplexity. The treaty, as proposed by the con-
federates, had been rejected with universal indignation ;
but at the same time funds were refused for the pro-
secution of the war by the commons of the realm ;
while it was after the display of much reluctance that
Henry had induced any of his generals to take the
field. Catherine, as usual, in this emergency, was
hailed the arbitress. Unhesitatingly she advised her
son to accept the treaty as drawn by " his rebel kins-
men."— " Sire," exclaimed she, " accept ! These articles
which you are called upon to confirm will work their
* De Thou. Mezeray. Me'moire pour dissuader le Due d'Alen^on de
la Guerre, &c. : MS. Bibl. Imp. Fontanieu, 339-40, 1575. Justification
de Catherine de Medici siir sa Conduite entre Henri III. et le duo
d'Alen<jon pour r<§tablir la Paix entre eux : MS. Bibl. Imp. B£th. 9118,
fol. 56, 57, 58. Fontanieu, 339, et seq. MS.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 101
own destruction. France will rise against the assump-
tion of these heretics ; war will again flame forth ;
your brother will be detached from their cause ; their
army dispersed — and we shall eventually dictate the
final terms of a pacification." The due de Guise
offered no counsel ; he foresaw and waited for the rise
of that third party, composed of men fervid in their
outward zeal for the faith, and therefore opponents of
the convention about to be concluded between the crown
and the united factions of " Politiques and Huguenot."
Catherine likewise predicted this new combination, but
anticipated herself to be its oracle and leader. She,
however, miscalculated its strength, fervour, and dis-
trust. She forgot that, shaken by the political convul-
sions of the past sixteen years, the power of the crown
would be too enfeebled to resist the innovations of a
faction which assumed the title of protector of the
civil and religious liberties of the people ; for the
ancient loyalty towards the descendant of St. Louis
wavered. A most grievous error committed by the
queen was her neglect to secure the sympathy and co-
operation of that potent family which had originated
the league of Peronne — the key, since the year 1558,
to all subsequent troubles. Catherine, with all her
astuteness, also forgot that which the Spanish ambas-
sador Chantonnay, during the minority of Charles IX.,
had often been insolent enough to assure her of, " that
the prosperity of Spain was the humiliation of France,
and that the troubles of France were the exultation of
Lorraine ! "
Queen Catherine, therefore, set forth, and, attended
by her train of beautiful women, met "son fits 'egare"
as she termed Monsieur, at the abbey of Beaulieu, near
to Loches, in Touraine. The duke arrived, accom-
panied by Conde, the palatine Casimir, and a staff of all
the principal officers of the confederated army. The first
102 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1576—
interview passed in greetings, compliments, and con-
gratulations. Monsieur and his sister tenderly embraced,
and conferred apart, when the duke offered to include
any stipulations, pecuniary or otherwise, in the ap-
proaching treaty, which Marguerite might suggest or
deem to her advantage. The shrewd wit of the queen of
Navarre induced her to decline this proposal, although
not a livre of her dowry as a daughter of France had
been paid. Marguerite understood the sentiments and
mental reservations of queen Catherine in offering to
the malcontents peace on their own terms ; and she
comprehended that to be included in such a treaty
would subject her just claims to the fate of that con-
vention. The following four days were spent in con-
ferences at which Catherine presided ; her majesty also
discussing the treaty privately with each chieftain of
note. The articles formally presented by the deputies in
Paris soon after Henry's accession were at length accepted
in the name of king Henry, including the stipulated dis-
claimer of connivance in the massacre of Paris sought
from his majesty. The appanage of the due d'Alen9on
was augmented by the gift of the duchies of Berry,
Touraine, and Anjou, with the right of appointing to
all civil posts and ecclesiastical benefices. The yearly
revenue of the duke by these additions was raised to
the sum of 400,000 gold crowns ; * the king, moreover,
volunteered, in his royal generosity, to present Mon-
sieur with an additional 100,000 crowns, and granted
the latter permission to assume the title of due d' Anjou.
The prince de Conde was gratified by the government of
Picardy ; and the town of Peronne, of fatal nomencla-
ture, was assigned to him as his residence, until he
could be placed in authority over the province ; as re-
sistance was anticipated to the rule of a Huguenot
* One hundred and twenty thousand pounds sterling ; an enormous
revenue, considering the relative value of money in those days.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 103
prince in that territory, a stronghold of Catholicism.
The due de Damville was conciliated by the confirma-
tion of his government of Languedoc, which, though
an office always conferred for the life of its occupant,
the marshal had forfeited by his recent treasonable
league; and by the registration of the decree proclaim-
ing the innocence of the marechal de Montmorency of
crimes and designs subversive of the monarchy.* The
towns of Beaucaire and Aigues-Mortes in Languedoc,
of Perigueux and Le Mas-de-Verdun in Guyenne, of
Nions and Serres in Dauphiny, Issoire in Auvergne,
and Tour in Provence, were ceded to the confederates,
in addition to the places already acquired by the re-
cent concession of territory in governments and ap-
panages to the princes. f The most arduous part of the
treaty was to find funds in order to satisfy the pecu-
niary claims of prince Casimir, which amounted to the
sum of four millions of crowns. Catherine solved this
difficulty by persuading the palatine, after several
private interviews, to waive his present claims by accept-
ing the principality of Chateau-Thierry, with a pension
of 14,000 crowns, the payment of 700,000 crowns, and
the donation of several valuable jewels in pledge for the
future payment of the remainder of the debt. The
estates belonging to the house of Chalons, including
the town of Orange in Provence, were to be restituted
to the prince of Orange. J Finally, the king plighted
his royal word to assemble the States-general within a
period of six months from the proclamation of the
treaty.
The Huguenots at length thus obtained, on parch-
*DeThou. Bouillon. Cheverny. Davila. Dupleix. L'Etoile.
t Ibid.
| Henri de Nassau married the sister and heiress of Philibert de
Ch&lons, prince of Orange, during the reign of Francis I. The prince
died while under attainder for rebellion.
104 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
ment, the concession of all they had fought for. In a
financial point of view Catherine had lavished millions
of treasure, when not a tenth portion of the sums
which she had so assigned were to be found in the
exchequer of the state. She had ceded to the confed-
erates provinces and towns which she knew would
resist, and refuse obedience to Huguenot rule. Again,
the assemblage of the States so clamorously demanded
by the princes, and which before the signature of the
treaty had been reluctantly contemplated by the king,
Catherine now welcomed as the weapon by which she
might sever the knot so deliberately tied. The States,
she believed, would repudiate the treaty of Beaulieu;
and as an act consistent with such protest, furnish
funds for the resumption of the war. The due
d'Alen9on and Conde, who were novices in the art of
chicane in comparison with the subtle Catherine, to her
majesty's intense delight, insisted pertinaciously on the
concession of this point, which three months later they
would have given much to abrogate. It was, however,
conceded with much parade and pretended reluctance
by the queen.
The greatest consternation prevailed at court when
Catherine's pecuniary liberality became known. As
for the king, his dismay was extreme, knowing that
the coffers of the state were empty, and that he had
money scarcely sufficient for what his majesty chose to
term " les frais de ses menus plaisirs ." At length a
notable scheme was concocted betwen the king, Yille-
quier, and St. Luc, another mignon, just about this
period rising into importance. Accordingly about ten
days after the departure of Catherine for Beaulieu,
Henry sent a summons to the presidents of the parlia-
ment, and the officers of la Chambre des Comptes, and
other chief functionaries of state, to meet him in the
hall of the Louvre. When these personages had as-
1577.] ins COURT AND TIMES. 105
sembled, the king made a speech, in which he stated
his pecuniary difficulties, commenting bitterly on the
past refusals of the high court and municipality of
Paris to mulct the inhabitants to defray the expenses
of the war. The king terminated his oration by de-
manding a private loan from each personage present.
The president de Thou, after a momentary hesitation,
stepped forward and offered the king 5,000 livres : the
other presidents and officers followed the example of that
illustrious magistrate. The king thanked and dismissed
his loyal senators. The following day these personages
met together at the Palais to arrange the conditions
of the loan which each had engaged to furnish. To the
surprise and disgust of all concerned, however, a few
days subsequently the minister of finance, Pother,
despatched a treasury mandate calling authoritatively
upon each contributor to the loan to bring his quota
to the royal coffers within a stipulated period. By
this expedient Henry raised a sum of 100,000 livres;
and again nearly double that sum by making the same
humiliating application to the principal merchants,
notaries, and factors of his capital. It was also resolved,
in the council of state, to despatch Gondy, bishop of
Paris, to Rome, to petition the pope to grant a bull
enabling the king to apply to the public service the
annual 200,000 livres paid by the state to the clergy of
the realm in compensation for certain ecclesiastical
alienations effected during preceding reigns.
The proclamation of peace was made on the 14th
day of May, 1576, the king proceeding in state to
notify the same to the assembled chambers. The
concessions made to the Huguenots, and the vast sums
of money distributed, so incensed the public, that in
the capital, and in many of the principal towns, the
heralds were received with hissing and throwing of
stones. The people of Paris, moreover, refused to
106 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576 —
permit bonfires to be lighted; and smashed the windows
of any who, in obedience to the royal order, attempted
an illumination. The placards announcing the peace,
and the copies of the treaty signed at Beaulieu and
posted in the public squares, were torn to shreds.
When the King quitted the Chambers he desired to
proceed to the celebration of a Te Deum in Notre
Dame ; but the exasperation of the Parisians caused
the ceremony to be deferred to the following day.
This being accordingly done, not one individual of the
chapter of Notre Dame was then to be prevailed upon
to officiate at the thanksgiving — canons, chaplains, and
choristers, one and all, refused to sing a Te Deum for
the dishonor done, as they averred, to the holy Roman
faith. The clergy and choir of the royal chapel in the
Louvre, therefore, were directed to intone the Te Deum,
at which no personages of note assisted, excepting the
public bodies present by mandate or state-precedent,
and the nobles and ladies in the suite of the king and
queen.* "All the chieftains of the Catholic party,"
says de Thou, "made ceaseless agitation and protests
against the disastrous precipitation of the queen-mother,
who, actuated by an unhappy eagerness to recall the
prince her son, concluded a shameful and unjust peace,
as ruinous as could be to the religion and prosperity of
the orthodox." A fortnight scarcely elapsed after the
signature of the treaty of Beaulieu before an attempt
was made to give organization to popular discontent.
Two persons of the name of la Bruyere, perfumers in
the capital, heralded that monstrous confederation
afterwards termed La Ligue. A paper was secretly cir-
culated by these persons for the signature of the ortho-
dox, by which they bound themselves to maintain the
Catholic faith and the supremacy of the church. The
stern censures of the president de Thou, on learning
* L'Etoile : Journal de Henri III. La Popelini&re. De Thou, liv. Ixi.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 107
this expedient, and his observations on the danger of
establishing such a precedent, had the effect of arresting
for a time this movement in the capital. In the pro-
vinces, however, its promoters, chiefly at first persons
of the middle classes, had more success in the develop-
ment of their design. The idea was not novel ; the
model had been furnished by the convention of Peronne,
A.D. 1558, concluded between the cardinal de Lorraine
and Francis due de Guise and their adherents with
Philip II. of Spain — Christine duchess-dowager of Lor-
raine being the negotiator of this league, and the dukes
of Ferrara and Savoy its first foreign allies. This
primary league had been negotiated to check the pro-
gress of the Reformation in France, independently, if
requisite, of the authority and power of the king ; and
to procure the re-enactment of the edict of Chateau-
briand promulgated by Henry II. on his accession, and
subsequently repealed. The treasonable correspondence
of the princes of Lorraine with Spain had complicated
and prolonged the civil wars : the Spanish envoys, then
all powerful in most European courts, had been rather
accredited to the due de Guise and his brother the car-
dinal than to the sovereign of France. Numerous off-
shoots of this league had developed themselves in the
provinces, to the great misery of the inhabitants. Thus
in Languedoc a league was formed between the cardinals
Strozzi and d'Armagnac ; in Guyenne one flourished, of
which the marquis de Trans was general. After the
massacre of Paris the ardour of the orthodox for La
Sainte Union declined ; they vainly hoped that reform
had received a fatal blow ; and priests and prelates re-
joiced, and thenceforth deemed themselves, their riches
and sinecures, secure from the prying comments and
bolder censure of their apostate children.
But eventually the misgovern ment of the queen, her
duplicity and reckless devotion for her son Henry, and
108 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576
the encroachments of her Italian proteges, gave rise to
a third party — that of Les Politiques. The junction of
this faction with the remnant of the old Huguenot Con-
federation enabled the principle of reform once more to
develope itself, backed by the prestige of the greatest
names of the realm and by a standing army. Con-
cessions thereupon, it was averred, the most disastrous,
had been made at Beaulieu : the Huguenots, as a body,
had obtained recognition in the state ; soon their power,
it was apprehended, would be such as to enable them to
insist upon the convocation of a national council to re-
form the polity of the Gallican church — that ancient
bugbear of Rome and Spain. Catherine, by a single
stroke of the pen at Beaulieu, had apparently relin-
quished the policy of the preceding reigns, and made,
at last, ignoble concession to the heterodox. The people
remembered how on a similar emergency, during the
early years of Charles IX., a great chieftain had risen
to defend the cause of the church, abandoned, as now,
by the state ; and naturally they looked for some guiding
indication from the son of that Catholic prince, himself
also a chieftain of repute. But the due de Guise gave
as yet no sign of sympathy : at his beautiful chateau of
Nanteuil he was maturing his plans away from the tem-
porizing policy of the queen — which would have com-
mitted him — the coldness of the king, and the insolent
assumptions of his majesty's privileged chamberlains.
In the province of Picardy, and especially in the
town of Peronne, the most strenuous opposition was
made to the reception of Conde as the king's lieutenant.
Jacques seigneur d'Humieres, governor of Peronne,
Roye, and Montdidier, a noble amongst the chief est
of the province, was the first provincial organizer of
the League — his object being to defend the church by
opposing the entrance of Conde. In Peronne, there-
fore, the birthplace of the League, the League again
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 109
sprang into vitality. The seigneur d'Humieres bore
mortal hatred to the Montmorency on account of a
process recently decided in favor of M. de Thore,
and which had placed the latter in possession of the
barony and estates of Humieres.* The emissaries of
d'Humieres, therefore, headed by a young cavalier of the
name of Haplincourt, made a progress throughout the
province of Picardy, and visited from house to house
throughout the town of Peronne to procure signatures
to the league, or La Sainte Union. The inhabitants of
Peronne, to a man, signed the compact and took oath
of fidelity. The authorities thereupon declined to
receive Conde, and elected M. de Haplincourt as
commandant of Peronne with the sanction of M.
d'Humieres, who meantime busily occupied himself in
extending the action of the confederation. The for-
mula of the union was drawn in the name of the Holy
Trinity : its members swore to live and die faithful
members of the League organized for the re-establish-
ment of the Holy Roman Catholic Faith, abjuring
and repudiating all other tenets ; to defend the king
from all conspiracies, and to render him the obedience
that subjects owed to their prince, the limits of such
obedience to be denned by the approaching States-
general. Such were the broad principles advertised
by the League : its venom, however, was displayed in
the subsidiary articles, which every member was re-
quired to subscribe upon oath. No compact could be
* M. de Thore" espoused Ele"onore d'Humieres, heiress of the house.
Madame de Thore" died suddenly of horror, after witnessing the execu-
tion of Poltrot for the murder of the due de Guise, leaving a daughter
who survived her mother a few months only. Thore*, therefore, claimed
the great heritage appertaining to his deceased wife in virtue of her
contract of marriage ; a claim opposed by the uncle of the deceased
lady, who claimed her estates as male heir and representative of her
house. The parliament of Paris had decided the claim in favour of
M. de There". De Thou, liv. Ixiii.
110 HENRY 111. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
more specious and subversive of royal power ; no code
has ever surpassed it in subtilty, or has been concerted
with greater subtilty so as to -gain empire over the
actions and consciences of its members, excepting, per-
haps, the Jesuit Constitutions, to which it bears a
striking similarity. The articles stipulated that each
individual must sacredly engage to devote to the ac-
complishment of the designs of the League their lives
and property ; also to defend the Union from conspira-
cies and enterprises calculated to overthrow it. If any
member received hurt or injury from any one, however
highly placed such aggressor might be, the confederation
undertook to avenge such injury, either by means of the
ordinary courts or by resort to arms. " Should any of
the members — by a misfortune, which Heaven ought
daily to be invoked to avert — break his engagements,,
he shall be punished with the utmost rigour as a traitor
in the sight of the Most High, without harm or retalia-
tion being suffered to fall on the appointed minister of
such holy vengeance." That a chieftain should be
elected to whom the members were to swear fealty
and implicit obedience. If any member neglected his
duties, or showed repugnance to obey mandates ad-
dressed to him, the chief of the League was alone com-
petent to decide his fate, and to ordain, without appeal
whatever, the penalty such culprit was to suffer. That
all towns, villages, and hamlets throughout the world
should be invited to join the confederation ; and that
each member, on subscribing the League, was to bind
himself to furnish as far as lay in his power men,,
money, and arms. That whoever refused to join the
League was to be regarded as a public enemy ; and that
the mandate of the chief was to be deemed sufficient to
authorize any enterprise against opponents of the Holy
League ; and that the said chief became sole judge of
the life of the delinquent and of the disposal of his pro-
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. Ill
perty, without the intervention of any judge whatever
appointed by the state. Finally, all members were to
swear on the Holy Gospels to keep and to maintain
these articles inviolate.* Such were the conventions
of the terrible League : they daringly superseded the
royal authority, and transferred to the elected chief the
prerogatives of the crown. The power of life or death;
obedience, irrespective of other authority whatever ; the
claim of disposing at pleasure of the wealth and influence
of its members, and of directing political bias and action,
were monstrous and fatal usurpations of the kingly office.
The resolution of the citizens of Peronne not to admit
Conde was viewed with secret complacency by Henry;
though he was perfectly aware of the combination or-
ganized to thwart one of the clauses of that treaty which
he, as supreme ruler, had recently accepted. Even the
queen, gratified at perceiving that her hidden designs,
while signing the compact of Beaulieu, promised speedily
to be realized, failed with her usual astute sagacity to
detect the dangerous element threatening the very ex-
istence of royal power. She, therefore, opened a parley
with Conde,f and with many courteous regrets again
requested the prince to accept, in lieu of Peronne, the
two southern towns of St. Jean d'Angely and Cognac
*Me'm. delaLigue. Edition de Tabb6 Goujet, tome i. Cayet :
Chronologie Novenaire. Me'm. de Nevers, tome i. pp. 627-8, et seq.
Davila.
f The queen wrote a most fair sounding, and plausible letter to
Cond<§ (MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de Colbert, vol. xxix.) ; in which, after ad-
vertising the prince of the condemnation to death by the parliament
of one Abraham, an adherent, she adds : " As for the rest, mon cousin,
I tell you frankly that, when you choose to act upon the counsel which I
have always offered to you — i. e. to refuse your confidence to the people
round you, and to return into righteous paths and render to the king
the allegiance which you owe him — it is my belief that you will live in a
much happier condition than you now do. I entreat you again to reflect
well, and to select the career worthy of you, and suitable to your birth,
and to your nearness of kin to this royal crown."
112 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576 —
— places which had always, with but short intervals,
been garrisoned by the Huguenots. Conde, who
throughout the negotiations had -maintained an aspect
of sombre discontent, sullenly assented. The due
d'Alen9on, who, on the contrary, seemed joyful and
satisfied, pressed the prince to take refuge with him in
Bourges, the capital of his new appanage of Berry,
where on quitting the camp of duke Casimir he had
been magnificently received. "No, monseigneur,"
tartly responded Conde, " my presence would mar
your joy. Moreover, amongst the throng of your
new adherents, there might possibly be found one
whose pleasure might consist in sending a ball through
my head. This said rascal would, no doubt, be hanged
by your highness ; but Conde, nevertheless, would be
dead ! I have no desire, monseigneur, that you should
hang rascals on my account." * Conde, therefore, at
the head of fifty horse, proceeded to La Rochelle, after
first despatching a gentleman, the sieur de Montaigu, to
Paris to protest against the imperfect ratification of the
treaty, as regarded his own interests. After a short
sojourn at La Rochelle, where he was joined by the king
of Navarre, Conde proceeded to St. Jean d'Angely.
The army of Casimir, during these transactions, re-
treated from Bourbonnois to the frontiers of Burgundy ;
where it encamped pending the performance of the
engagements contracted by the queen at Beaulieu.
The palatine sent an envoy to the king, complaining of
the unsatisfactory treatment experienced by his late
allies ; who all, with the exception of Monsieur, deemed
themselves aggrieved and betrayed by the delay in the
execution of the treaty. Henry despatched Bellievre
to treat with Casimir. His majesty notified his wil-
lingness to execute what he had promised ; but insisted
that time must be allowed to overcome the prejudices
* Journal de Henri III.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 113
of the French, who, as in the case of the inhabitants of
Peronne, had refused obedience to the royal mandate.
The argument which, however, the palatine deemed to
be the most conclusive of his majesty's pacific intents, was
the payment of the sum promised to himself ; while
Bellievre presented him with jewels of immense value,
the property of queen Catherine, as security for the re-
mainder. The two noblemen nominated as hostages for
his majesty's eventual payment of the debt, also arrived
in camp. Thus personally satisfied, Casimir struck his
flag, and, at the head of his levies, returned to Heidelberg.
The king was now free from the immediate calamity
of civil war. The realm was delivered from foreign
invaders — the princes had laid down arms. The price of
Catherine's astute intrigues, however, was the renewal of
an intestine league of vast dimensions — the disaffection
of the clergy — the still more complete impoverishment
of the finances — and the formal refusal of the governors
of three important cities to obey the royal commands.
After the return of Catherine to Paris, the king and
queen departed to make a brief progress through Nor-
mandy. The parliament of Rouen, it was hoped, might
show itself more accessible, when requested to aid in
replenishing the royal exchequer. Henry was accom-
panied by the cardinal de Bourbon, archbishop of
Rouen ; and by Villequier, St. Luc, d'O., and Quelus ;
besides a suite of the senior officers of his household.
The royal pair proceeded to Rouen, where Henry made
but a brief sojourn. The only incident which diversi-
fied the king's residence there was an outburst of ill-
timed zeal on the part of the cardinal de Bourbon. The
prelate, hearing that the Huguenots were assembled at
worship, conformably to the permission given them under
the recent treaty, proceeded in full pontificals, attended
by the chapter of his cathedral, to the place where the
prdche was holden. There, commanding the preacher to
114 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
leave the tribune, the cardinal himself ascended, and
addressed the assemblage in terms more vigorous than
courtly. Such at length became the excitement of
the prelate, and so menacing his denunciations, that the
people, fearing it might be the preliminary tirade to an
onslaught, took to flight in the greatest confusion. *
Some one boasted, in the presence of Henry, of the car-
dinal's exploit, and of the power of the " scourge of the
cross." "Ah!" carelessly responded his majesty, "je
voudrois qrfon pttt aussi facilement chasser les autres
(heretiques) du royaume, y dttt-on ajouster le benistier ! "
From Rouen Henry proceeded to Dieppe, where he
made a large purchase of little dogs, parrots, and apes,
the dealers in which having received a notification to
meet the royal pair at this port. The king's sojourn
lasted only three days ; he then returned to Paris, the
excursion altogether not extending beyond a fortnight's
absence. Paris, meanwhile, rung with satirical allu-
sions to Henry and his favourites of both sexes. On
his majesty's return from Normandy he found the fol-
lowing placard posted almost in every street, enumerat-
ing the titles which Henry had alone the right to assume,
the rest, according to the wit, being " moonshine : " —
"Henri, par la grace de sa mere inerte roi de
France et de Pologne imaginaire, concierge du
Louvre, marguillier de St. Germain 1'Auxerrois, bas-
teleur des eglises de Paris, gendre de Colas, gauderon-
neur des colets de sa femme, friseur de ses cheveux,
mercier du Palais, visiteur des etuves, gardien des
quatres mendians, pere-conscript des Blanc Battus, et
protecteur des Capuchins."
Fresh pasquinades were issued when, a fortnight
after his return, Henry again appeared barefooted in the
* La sainte et tres chre"tienne Resolution de M. le Cardinal de Bour-
bon pour maintenir 1'Eglise Catholique et Romaine, par Jaques Ber-
son. Archives Curieuses, tome xi.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 115
streets of . Paris, " holding in his hand a rosary of
large beads, and mumbling his ave*s." This exhibition
of devotion the king, it was popularly believed, made at
the suggestion of the queen his mother, to revive be-
lief in his allegiance to the church, which had been
somewhat shaken by his majesty's acquiescence in the
treaty of Beaulieu. The Parisians, however, perversely
attributed Henry's zeal to a desire to extract money ;
and, consequently, the following verses were circulated
over Paris, and were pasted during the night on the
gate of the Lonvre: —
Le roy pour avoir de 1'argent
A fait le pauvre, 1'indigent,
Et 1'hypocrite ;
Le grand pardon il a gagne !
Au pain, jU'eau, il a jeune
Comme un hermite.
Mais Paris, qui le connoist bien
Ne voudra plus lui prater rien
A sa requite ;
Car il en a j& tant preste
Qu'il a de lui dire arrete,
Allez en qu£te !
The king, feeling extremely incensed at the insolence
of his subjects of Paris, departed thence for Olinville,
after first issuing an edict, August 16, 1576, convening
the States-general to meet at Blois at the end of the
month of November. Queen Catherine remained in Paris
with her daughter Marguerite, who manifested great
indignation that she had not been permitted to rejoin
the king her husband, in accordance with a demand
recently made by the sieur de Duras, a special envoy
sent by the king of Navarre, to escort his consort to
Nerac. The queen of Navarre, however, found conso-
lation in the splendour of the entertainments by which
her mother sought to soothe and divert the disaffection
of the Parisians. " To keep the French nobles in good
116 HENKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1576—
humour," said the wily Catherine in her famous epistle
of counsel addressed to Charles IX., " it is requisite to
have a ball twice a week, that -they may live in peace
and be loyal, besides other sports ; for the French are
of such vivacious temperament, that, unless you afford
them occupation, they are certain to apply themselves
to mischievous and dangerous enterprises." Catherine,
at this period, received Don Juan of Austria, illegiti-
mate son of the late emperor Charles V., and enter-
tained him magnificently at the Tuileries. Don Juan
had been invested by his brother Philip II. with the
command in the Low Countries, whither he was pro-
ceeding. In passing through Champagne, the prince
visited the due de Guise at Joinville. Secret and
important conferences had there been holden between
Don Juan and the duke, relative to the political and
religious affairs of the realm of France. It is even
conjectured that they discussed the ambitious designs
which the subsequent conduct of each unfolded — the
due de Guise in his attempts to supersede the royal
line of Bourbon on the throne of France, as the lineal
descendant of Charlemagne — Don Juan to obtain the
Low Countries in independent sovereignty — or even,
as it has been surmised, to dethrone Philip II., aided
by the armies of Elizabeth of England.* The details of
the League, as far as then developed, were canvassed by
the princes at Joinville ; and fresh measures concerted
to crush the Protestant faction of France, and that in
the Netherlands, headed by the house of Nassau,
which Don Juan was about to assail. They, more-
over, agreed upon a cypher to be used as the medium
of their future correspondence. The key of this cypher
being afterwards discovered amongst the papers of Don
Juan at his decease, was sent to Philip II., with all the
* Le Laboureur : Addit. aux M£m. de Casteluau, tome ii. De Thou.
Mathieu : Hist, du Re"gne de Henri III.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 117
documents found emanating from the pen of Guise.
By this means the king of Spain, by holding in his
possession the secret of the most daring designs ever
conceived by subject, subsequently compelled the duke
to act in some measure in accord with them, to serve the
political purpose of Spain, by the threat of disclosing
all to Henry III., when Guise showed inclination to
moderate his ambitious aspirings. After his visit at
Joinville, Don Juan proceeded to Paris, where he re-
ceived cordial greeting from queen Catherine, to whom
he brought letters from Philip II., and from her two
granddaughters the infantas Isabel and Catalina. The
beauty of the queen of Navarre made a deep impres-
sion on Don Juan. He danced several times with
Marguerite, and appeared to take infinite delight in her
conversation. After the conclusion of the ball, Don
Juan, nevertheless, remarked, in lofty Castilian, " that,
although the beauty of the queen partook rather of the
divine than the human, yet that such attractions were
more calculated to ruin men than to save them ! " *
King Henry and his consort, during this interval,
were sojourning at Olinville, a castle and domain
in the neighbourhood of the town of Chartres, which
the king, despite his poverty, had recently purchased
to present to queen Louise. The king expended 60,000
francs for its acquisition, and an additional 100,000
francs in furniture and decorations ; to superintend the
latter being the reason of Henry's sojourn at Olinville.
He was attended only by Villequier, d'O., Quelus, and
St. Luc ; and the queen by one lady of honour, madame
de Dampierre.
During Henry's sojourn at Olinville, Monsieur came
from Bourges to visit his brother, vanquished by Ca-
therine's reiterated entreaties that he would become
personally reconciled to the king before the meeting of
* Brantome : Vie de Marguerite de Valois.
118 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1576 —
the States. Henry received his brother with the utmost
coldness, and told Monsieur that he was aware his sub-
mission was made only in deference to his pecuniary
interests and to the prayers of the queen their mother.
The due d'Anjou — as Monsieur was now termed — re-
sented extremely the conduct of the king, and made
bitter complaints in a letter addressed to the secretary-
of-state Villeroy ; * he also wrote angrily to the queen-
mother, after his first interview with Henry. Henry
could not certainly be expected to greet with paternal
affection a brother, who had thrice perfidiously plotted
his overthrow, and whose flippant jests had greatly con-
tributed to entail obloquy on the royal person. The
wholesome effect of Henry's severe reception of his
brother was, however, dissipated when, two days after-
wards, the king was advised to announce the fact of
their personal reconciliation as an event to be greatly
thankful for, by letters-patent addressed to the muni-
cipalities of the realm. Monsieur made a sojourn of
two days at Olinville ; and then proceeded to Paris to
escort queen Catherine et sa soeur bien-aimee Margue-
rite to Blois, where the deputies were already assembling.
This important assembly was regarded with feelings
of the deepest anxiety by both parties in the state.
'The Huguenots, satisfied with the terms they had ex-
torted by the last edict of Pacification, would fain have
"prorogued the assembly ; for it was to be feared lest the
discussions might have the effect of annulling privileges
obtained at the cost of nearly a quarter of a century of
warfare. The king of Navarre, and especially la Noue,
Turenne, and Thore, understood how thoroughly they
had been abandoned by the due d'Anjou, and by the
lords of the Catholic faction of Les Politiques, his ad-
herents. When the stipulation respecting the States-
* Me'm. du Due de Nevers, tome i. p. 148. Th« interview commenced
on the 6th day of November, 1576.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 119
general had been inserted in the convention of Beau-
lieu, the two parties were far from having anticipated
so abrupt and complete a severance. The purely Pro-
testant party, therefore, in the approaching States was
likely to form a small minority. Never before had the
Huguenots felt how cruel a blow had been struck by
the massacre of Paris and its preceding catastrophes.
The eloquence and diplomacy of Coligny, the zeal of
Montgomery, the wealth of la Rochefoucauld, the
penetrating intellect of Jeanne d'Albret, the valiant
arm of Montemart, — all now were lost to their brethren
in faith and in arms. Queen Catherine, as she watched
with eager attention the election of the deputies
throughout each province, beheld with mingled satisfac-
tion and dismay the repugnance of the people to the
concessions she had made at Beaulieu ; and the conse-
quent prevalence of the principles of the League, which,
under the due de Trimouille, had now spread its
noxious ramifications throughout Poitou and the adja-
cent districts. Nevertheless, Catherine trusted that her
own diplomacy would prove still more subtle. The king
viewed the pending assemblage with sentiments of the
utmost complacency and indiiference. Under the sanc-
tion of the representatives of the people, Henry hoped
to obtain the abrogation of the treaty he had been com-
pelled to sign, and the replenishment of his finances.
These two ideas dominated over the mind of his majesty.
On the sixth day of December, 1576, the States
were opened. The deputies assembled in the great hall
of the castle of Blois. A superb platform of state had
been erected at the upper end, upon which stood the
throne. Henry took his seat thereon attired in the
most elaborate style. On his right hand sat queen
Catherine ; and below her majesty the cardinal de
Bourbon, the two brothers of Conde, the due de Mont-
pensier, his son the prince-dauphin of Auvergne, the
120 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [157C—
due de Mercoeur, brother of queen Louise, and the due
de Mayenne. The due de Guise had excused himself
from being present at the opening of the States — an
absence from which was considered inauspicious by the
majority of deputies. On the left of the king sat his
consort queen Louise and the queen of Navarre, the
duchesses de Nevers * and de Nemours,f and the bishops
of Langres, Laon, and Beauvais. Behind Louise stood
the duchesses de Retz and d'Usez and madame de
Dampierre ; and near them, in a group on the right of
the throne, the chamberlains of the king, whose fantas-
tical attire was afterwards commented upon with wonder
and disgust. Henry rose and addressed the assembly
at great length ; J he touched upon the miseries of the
kingdom, and the want of respect and sympathy shown
towards himself personally, with pathos and eloquence.
A majesty of demeanour, from which not even his fri-
volity could detract, and a ready fluency of words were
Henry's chiefest endowments. Had the actions of the
king coincided with the justice and patriotism of his
sentiments, doubtless few reigns would have been more
prosperous than his own. " Our vices," said his ma-
jesty, " lie at the root of our miseries ; they have
poisoned all classes of the community, so that I no
longer behold that attachment to the faith, and that
love and veneration for the person of the king which
formerly were so admirable. — No ! scarcely a vestige
remains. Therefore, I deplore my sad lot and destiny,
and look back with envy to the happy and glorious
reigns of the kings my father and grandfather. Often,'*
continued his majesty, " have I made my prayer to the
* Henrietta de Cl&ves, whose mother was Marguerite de Bourbon,
sister of Antoine king of Navarre.
fAnne d'Este*, daughter of Be'ne'e de France, duchesse de Ferrara,
and granddaughter of Louis XII.. mother of the due de Guise.
J "Le roy apres avoir leve* son bonnet & 1'honneur de I'assemble'e luy
tint ces propos de gr&ce et action fort belle," says the due de Nevers.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 121
Most High that the tomb might close over me, rather
than that I should witness the calamities which ha-
rassed the reigns of my deceased brothers."* Henry
continued to exhort his subjects to peace — a peace holy
as well as advantageous ; to banish dissensions and to
unite heartily nobles, prelates, and commons to relieve
the necessities of the realm ; to put down leagues and
confederations ; to reform morals ; and to restore to the
laws their ancient vigour. These exhortations were
applauded ; but they lost their force, and belief in the
sincerity of the king's sorrowful reminiscences vanished,
as the deputies surveyed the bedizened and foppish figure
of their monarch — a king, as it seemed, in masquerade.
The following day the States commenced their de-
batings by carrying a proposition moved by the Tiers
Etat " that the king should be petitioned to nominate
a certain number of capable personages, the which,
in conjunction with a deputy from each province of the
realm, should be empowered to consider and finally
resolve the general and special questions debated by the
States ; the said States reserving to themselves the
liberty of challenging such individuals nominated by
the king ; the decisions approved by the personages so
nominated to be held inviolable and as fundamental
laws." The king dryly refused the petition, which
would have abrogated the functions of the council of
state. At a subsequent period, however, Henry showed
himself well inclined to sanction the measure, it having
been shown to him by Espinac archbishop of Lyons that
it would be no difficult matter to gain over the chosen
members of this council ; for that twelve men were more
easily influenced than the assembled States. The deputy
Bodin,f however, in the name of the Tiers Etat, then
* De Thou, liv. Ixiii.
f Ibid. "Bodin," says the historian, " £tait un homme fort docte,.
grand jurisconsulte, et bien Eloquent."
122 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
protested against the measure as pernicious and cor-
rupt ; perceiving, as he then did, that the sentiments of
the majority of deputies coincided with the views of
his own party, that of the League. The day following
his majesty's rejection of the first proposition, the States
unanimously petitioned the king to declare lawful and
valid all that the assembly might decree by acclama-
tion. This petition Henry rejected, angrily saying,
" that he could not subscribe to the request, not know-
ing what propositions might be brought to him." On
the 15th of December, eight days after their assemblage,
the question of religious toleration was discussed. The
three orders unanimously resolved, " that for the future
one religion should be alone tolerated throughout the
realm — the Catholic, apostolic, and Roman." *
This resolution was satisfactory to the king in the
abstract, but he dreaded its precipitancy ; being by no
means prepared for the immediate renewal of the war.
He accordingly contrived that the assembly should agree
to despatch the due de Montpensier to the king of Na-
varre and to the due de Damville, to invite them to join
the session, or show cause for protest. The king, never-
theless, to satisfy the zeal of the deputies, publicly in-
timated his approval of the proscription of the Huguenot
faith ; and in the presence of the queen-mother and
Monsieur he commended the principles of the "Asso-
ciation," as the League was primarily termed. The most
violent upholders of the "Association" were Cheverny,
the due de Nevers, and the due de Mayenne. Catherine
also declared that she approved of the principle of non-
toleration of the reformed creed, but stated that she
would never assent to a renewal of the war. Such
was the menacing aspect of affairs and the violence of
* Journal de Nevers — term k Blois, Samedi, 15 de De'cembre. Couriers
were despatched to the king of Navarre, to Cond£, and to the pope, to
intimate this resolution ; also to the town of La Charite'.
1577.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 123
the deputies during the first fortnight of the session of
the States of 1576, that its Protestant members threat-
ened to withdraw; and war broke out again in the south,
where Turenne and the king of Navarre captured several
small towns. The majority of the deputies had already
signed the League, or were prepared to do so; and, more-
over, to exact a pledge from the king that he would
annul every edict favourable to reform. Henry hesitated.
He feared the objurgations of Catherine, who, while
declaring for the Association, feigned to repudiate the
notion of a renewal of hostilities ; he dreaded the
pressure of the Catholic peers of the privy council ; he
doubted the due d'Anjou ; he distrusted the princes of
Guise, and that apparently disinterested policy which
kept their chieftain at Joinville. Finally, his majesty
not having a sou in his coffer, naturally desired that the
question of finance should precede that of war. An
incident occurred, meanwhile, which keenly aroused the
apprehensions of the king. A certain advocate named
David, a devoted adherent of the house of Guise, died
about this period. Amongst his papers was found a
memorial addressed to the pope, for the reformation of
the realm of France and the destruction of heresy ; a
copy of which, it was stated, had been deposited in the
hands of the cardinal de Pellve, and purported to be
an expose of the enlightened designs of the house of
Lorraine for the support of the true faith. This memo-
rial fell by chance into the hands of certain Protestants,
who made it public,* and circulated copies amongst the
deputies at Blois. The pamphlet commenced by a
genealogy comparing the descent of the princes of Capet
* The title of the pamphlet was " Summa Legationis Guisianse ad
Pontificem .Maximum, deprehensa nuper inter Chartas Joannis Davidi,
Parisiensis, Advocati, et Gallico in Latinum con versa:" Printed in Me*-
moires de la Ligue, Edit. Goujet, tome i. Also in a voluminous pam-
phlet entitled " Scripta utriusque Partis, Frankfort, 1586."
124 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1576—
and Lorraine, showing the latter to be the true de-
scendants of Charlemagne, and therefore entitled to
claim the triple fleur-de-lis. The- writer then proceeded
to prove his assertion ; and showed, by appealing to the
misfortunes of the Valois, their early deaths, broken
constitutions, military reverses, profligacy, and luke-
warm faith, that the curse of the Omnipotent rested
on their usurpation of the sceptre. He stated that
their lineage was all but extinct ; that a feeble king
and a profligate heir-presumptive, both childless, and
likely to remain so, alone stood between the throne
and a heretic successor. A scheme of startling bold-
ness was then sketched to neutralize such disasters. It
was proposed to compel the king to acknowledge the
due de Guise as chief of La Sainte Ligue, with un-
limited and irresponsible powers. That the ancient
right possessed by the States-general over the life and
prerogative of the sovereign should be re-asserted. That
the canons of Trent should be enforced, and a public
profession of faith made by every deputy of the realm.
The due de Guise was then to march and exterminate
the Huguenots, reinforced by aids from all the corpo-
rate bodies of the realm, the nobles, clergy, Tiers Etat,
the benediction of his Holiness, and the bienveillance of
Spain. That on the termination of the victorious cam-
paign the duke should cause the arrest of Monsieur, and
his arraignment and condemnation, for his late revolt.
That the king should finally be relegated to a monas-
tery, and the crown again placed on the sacred brow of
the representative of Charlemagne.* The due de Guise
and his brothers vehemently denied knowledge of the
writer, or participation in his designs ; and in proof of
his sincerity Guise arrived at Blois. Nevertheless, the
conspiracy suggested by the advocate David was, with
* Davila: Hist, de Guerres Civiles, tome ii. De Thou, liv. Ixiii.
Me'moires de la Ligue, tome i.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 125
a slight variation, the subsequent design adopted by the
League ; and if in reality the memorial was only a
political ruse, concerted to rouse Henry from his
lethargy, it was one singularly prophetical. The king
perused the pamphlet, and seemed inclined to reject it
as a forgery, when, to his consternation, the ambassador
in Madrid * sent his royal master a fac-simile, stating
that the memorial had been secretly forwarded to the
king of Spain by agents in Rome. It now behoved
Henry to show himself worthy of his crown and name
by authoritatively suppressing the League ; by declaring
the signature of its clauses to be penal ; and by calling
upon the princes of Guise publicly to disavow and con-
demn its diffusion. Such a course might have occa-
sioned a renewal of the war ; but never had Henry a
more favourable opportunity for subduing this especial
faction. The due de Montpensier at this period would
have stood by his sovereign ; the princes of Lorraine,
unprepared, and not, as subsequently, reinforced by
foreign influence, must have obeyed the mandate of the
sovereign. The chieftains in revolt — Damville, the king
of Navarre, and Conde — offered to join the king in a
crusade against the Leaguers. The reiters of duke
Casimir were still banded ; while the people, astonished
at the unusual energy of their sovereign, had he so
acted, would probably have cordially defended the
crown. The temporizing policy of queen Catherine
unhappily intervened. Morvilliers, keeper of the seal,
seconded her majesty's arguments, and represented that
to condemn as treasonable that League which the great
majority of deputies had signed and clamorously up-
held, was a hazardous proceeding, and one which might
thoroughly subvert the royal power and prestige. It were
therefore better, they pleaded,that the king should himself
become nominal chief of the League for the defence of the
* This ambassador was Jean de Vivonne, sieur de Saint-Goart.
126 HENRY III. KIJSG OF FRANCE, [1576—
faith, and direct from the royal cabinet the machinations
deemed to be so pernicious. The favourite theory of
the king and his mother — the .rivalry of parties and
absolute government — forbad the extinction of either of
the three factions. The king, therefore, at length re-
solved to sign the League,and to enforce its acceptance on
all his Catholic subjects holding offices under the crown.
To diminish the influence of the Lorraine princes, an
ordonnance was further issued forbidding any person to
ask a favour from the king excepting for himself, his
majesty intending for the future to be the sole channel
of grace. This mandate created a crowd of malcon-
tents ; the adherents of the princes, furious that their
patrons had no longer power to realize their promises,
vehemently espoused the League. Morvilliers, being in-
discreet enough, after the promulgation of the mandate,,
to ask for the reversion of the bishopric of Orleans for
his nephew, met with a decided refusal from his majesty j
it was supposed, however, that his request had been
made at the suggestion of Henry, who desired to give
positive proof of the inflexibility of his resolve in this
matter. The utmost division, meanwhile, existed be-
tween the king, their queen, and the counsellors ; dis-
putes were of daily occurrence, and Henry's peevish
petulance, when opposed by the stronger will and more
wily calculations of his mother, gave rise to many in-
decorous scenes. The principal occupation of Villequier,.
during the session of the States, seems to have been in
mediating between Henry, his mother, and brother.
The most violent harangues continued to be made by the
States ; the zeal of the majority of deputies often render-
ing them oblivious of the respect owing to the king :
while a few members maintained that his majesty's re-
ligion was orthodox, and that before the assembling of
the States he had privately resolved to accept the League.
The due de Nevers maintains this view of the king's
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 127
intention ; and in his " Journal des Etats " intimates that
the apprehension conceived by Henry at the suspicious
apathy displayed by the due de Guise had determined
him to supersede the latter as chief of the pending
League. Fresh envoys were sent to the king of Navarre,
Conde, Damville, to the queen of England, and to duke
Casimir, notifying the firm resolve of the legislature to
tolerate only one religion in the realm.*
In the interval the king of Navarre and Conde pub-
lished a declaration protesting against the decision of
the States, and refusing to acknowledge the legality of
the assembly. Damville received the envoy courteously ;
but declined to disarm, or to proceed to Blois ; but ac-
quiesced in the departure of the Huguenot deputies from,
the States.
On the 17th of January, 1577, the king proceeded
again in state to the hall of the assembly to receive
the addresses of the three orders — a ceremony which the
feuds on religious matters, and the delay of Guise and
some few members of note to present themselves at
Blois, had retarded. The extravagant luxury again dis-
played by the king in his attire aroused strong indigna-
tion at a time when it was well known that disgraceful
expedients were resorted to, to defray the daily expenses
of the royal household. Even the sententious Guil-
laume de Taix, the eye-witness and most trusty his-
torian of this national assembly, breaks off the thread
of his narrative to describe the king's cloak — " a most
surprising mantle, neither little nor big, of cloth of gold,
lined with silver cloth, and trimmed so richly with
* "Le roy declara qu'il trouvoit bonnes les associations qui avoient
e'te f aites, et qu'il en avoit commands* d'autres et le dit devant les secre-
taires d'etat, et commanda de les diligenter. La reyne dit qu'elle avoit
fait la paix en esperance que voyant son fils ag4 de 25 ans qu'elle le sup-
plieroit de ne pennettre qu'une religion en son royaume. Le roy dit
qu'il avoit tel volonte1, quand il parvint & la couronne, et fut sacreV' —
Journal des Etats de Blois 1'an 1576, par M. le Due de Nevers.
128 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
passementerie of pure bullion, that upon the said mantle,
doublet, and chausses there were more than four thou-
sand yards of the said passementerie of pure gold." *
Ear-rings of lustrous diamonds hung from his majesty's
ears ; " for," says the due de Nevers, " the king at this
period commenced again to wear ear-rings, a fashion he
had for some time abandoned." The king being seated
on his throne, the due de Guise holding the sword of
state, the harangues commenced. The archbishop of
Lyons f was the orator of the clergy — his oration lasting
an hour and a quarter. He eloquently upheld the
unity of the church, the necessity for the immediate
publication of the canons of Trent, and denounced
schism. In behalf of his order, the prelate offered his
majesty an aid of 5,000 infantry and 1,200 horse. Next
spoke the orator of the nobles, Claude de Beauffremont,
baron de Senecy. The court had fallen in repute with
the chivalrous aristocracy of France — gallant cavaliers
whose ancestors had followed the banner of their king
to conquest and renown. The brief oration of the
baron de Senecy placed at his majesty's disposal the
lives and services of his peers. A deputy named Pierre
Versoris, and the president 1'Huillier harangued for the
Tiers Etat. This discourse was an acrimonious diatribe
against schism ; before the discerning eyes of Catherine
the orator developed the furious prejudice and malignity
of faction : the lesson was not lost on the queen. The
orator of the people, after supplicating the king with
vehemence to exterminate the foes and mockers of the
one pure faith, closed his harangue by offering to his
* Kecueil Sommaire de Guillaume de Taix, Doyen de Troyes, des Etats
terms & Blois Tan 1576, fol. 47.
f Pierre d'Espinac ; this prelate was able, factious, and eloquent. The
immorality of his life was, nevertheless, a perpetual scandal to the
church : the pope refused to elevate him to the cardinalate on a formal
charge of incest being preferred, which, however, was never proved. See
Catholicon d'Espagne : Harangue de M. de Lyons.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 129
majesty the bodies, estates, even to the very entrails
(trippes et boyaux) of his people.* Not a hint, how-
ever, was given by the speaker of the Tiers Etat that
the Commons were prepared to aid the king with a stated
subsidy for the prosecution of the war of extermination
demanded with such fanatic zeal.
A privy council was afterwards holden to take into
consideration these addresses, and to debate whether
war should be declared, in union with the forces of the
League, against dissentients in matters of faith. The
king directed that, within a stated number of days, the
principal personages of the realm should deliver to him
their written opinion on the expediency of a war, and
on the best methods of supporting it. The chief par-
ties consulted were Catherine, Monsieur — who with
astute wiliness, forgot to append his signature to the
paper — the dues de Guise, Montpensier, Mayenne,
d'Usez, and several other persons. All these person-
ages, afraid of committing themselves by opining con-
trary to the States assembled, did little else than
endorse its resolution without comment of their own. f
Catherine, the due de Guise, and the due de Nevers
suggested to the privy council that, if war was resolved,
no delay, not even of a single day, should be allowed
to elapse before its formal proclamation ; " for," as her
majesty observed, " the States must then feel compelled
to furnish funds for its prosecution, seeing that the
sovereign acted implicitly on the demand and in the
very presence of the national assembly." It was fur-
ther concerted between the astute trio, that an attempt
should be made to lure the king of Navarre to the
court by the oifer of an alliance between his sister and
* De Thou. Recueil Sommaire de Guillaume de Taix, fol. 48. La
Place : Commentaires de 1'Etat de la Religion et Re'publique, fol. 124.
Monnier : Etats Ge'ne'raux, p. 136.
t De Thou, liv. Ixiii.
130 HENKY III. KING OF FllANCE, [1576.
the due d'Anjou ; that he should then be arrested ; and
that the same fate should befall Monsieur. It was the
intention of the queen to detain the princes until a
general pacification ; though her majesty proposed to
treat them in prison with every honour consistent with
their safe keeping. Henry, however, shrank from this
bold measure ; and insisted that a succour of money
should be asked from the States in regular form before
the proclamation of the war. " Sire, it will be refused
your majesty, and with contumely," responded the
queen. "You will become the jest of your enemies,
not having a single sou in your exchequer to pay the
rations even of your soldiers ! " The due de Guise, at
this juncture, offered to the king the levy of troops
secretly enrolled in each province by the chiefs of the
Sainte Union. Henry surveyed the future king of the
League in mute consternation. Memory must then
have recalled to his majesty a similar offer made by
Coligny to Charles IX. — a proposition which had been
deemed treasonable by the council, and one worthy of
death by Henry and his mother. The king, therefore,
resolved no longer to delay his acceptance of the League,
which he signed February 12th, 1577. The following
day his majesty despatched Nicholas 1'Huillier to carry
the Act of Union to Paris, and to enjoin, in his name,
its reception by all classes, and especially its signature
by the members of the executive. Henry's envoy first
waited upon the chief president of the parliament of
Paris, Christopher de Thou. This venerable magistrate
took the roll, and while he perused it tears of grief and
indignation fell from his eyes ; he declined to sign the
act ; but, taking up a pen, he indicated those articles he
deemed of most fatal import, adding marginal com-
ments. He then desired 1'Huillier to carry the docu-
ment to the king.* Henry afterwards despatched
* De Thou. Journal de Nevers.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 131
Claude Dorron, a Master of Requests, to proceed to
Paris, and learn more thoroughly the objections of de
Thou, and to ask his counsels for the guidance of his
majesty, now that the irrevocable step had been taken.
" We have delayed too long before consulting M. de
Thou," said his majesty ; " let us now, at any rate,
profit by his enlightened judgment."
The mind of king Henry was so disturbed on the
day he set his signature to La Sainte Union, that, to
solace himself, he departed about four o'clock in the
afternoon with queen Louise on an expedition into the
country. Their majesties alone occupied the coach,
having with them a tribe of little dogs and two
monkeys. The excursion was unfortunate ; for, on
returning to the castle of Blois about midnight, the
coach overturned on a flagged pathway skirting the
royal domain. The king and queen managed to extri-
cate themselves from the vehicle, and returned on foot
to the castle. Daily, during the tracasseries of the
States, a round of festivities continued, the king enter-
taining in turn certain members of the assemblage.
Balls, tiltings at the ring, jousts, and banquets followed
in rapid succession ; and gambling and masquerades
afforded the provincial deputies a full insight into the
vices of the court. Such was the profusion of the
king, that he had projected f£tes during the carnival
of 1577, the cost of which was calculated at 300,000
francs. The decease of the comte de Yaudemont,*
father of queen Louise, caused the postponement of
his majesty's revels. The king presented himself at
many of these fetes attired in the most extravagant
fashion, pften appearing with his habit open at the
throat. His majesty, when so arrayed, wore three
ruffs — one of lace thrown back on the shoulders, after
* Nicholas de Vaudemont deceased January 28th, 1577.
132 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
the fashion of the ladies of the court ; and two smaller
ones, very stiff, which joined the open doublet. The
front of the pourpoint was studded with jewels and
little chains, " which made a musical tinkle whenever the
king moved ;" and round his throat Henry often wore
a carcanet of pearls. Rings, ear-rings, embroidered
gloves and shoes, sword-knot, and a peruke frizzed and
perfumed, completed Henry's costume. The mania of
the unfortunate king was truly deplorable ; the more so,
as the contrast presented by the noble simplicity and
manly dignity of the due de Guise failed not to exalt
that ideal hero of the orthodox, and proportionally to
sully the repute of his master. The people even began
to dwell with veneration on the memory of their late
king Charles IX., whose paroxysms of mad violence
seemed almost preferable to the inane frivolity of the
present occupant of the throne. The profligate young
lords of the chamber rivalled their royal master in his
luxury and foppery. They were dreaded and avoided
by all — by the nobles for their fierce insolence, and by
the women of the court for their mendacity and slander.
The fairest and most unsullied reputation was often
shamelessly impugned ; and unless Catherine called the
delinquent to severe account, as she frequently did, the
aggressor remained unpunished. The king delighted
in the scandalous stories of his favourites ; and is said
to have taken especial relish in retailing them again to
the sage and pious Louise. Marguerite and the duchesse
de Nevers made common cause, and often avenged
themselves summarily on their assailants. The queen
of Navarre adorned the fetes of Blois by her wit and
beauty. She seems to have there renewed the closest
relations with the due de Guise. Catherine tried to
turn this circumstance to account by writing, about
this period, to the princess Catherine of Navarre, that
1577.] ins COUKT AND TIMES. 133
the due de Guise "faisoit Vamour d la reyne sa fille" *
in the hope that this intelligence might aid in bringing
the king of Navarre to Blois. The due d'Anjou was
strictly watched by his royal mother, lest, on the one
hand, he should make undue overtures to the States ;
or escape to join Damville in Languedoc, now that the
war seemed likely to be renewed. Monsieur, however,
employed himself, on the whole, decorously, writing
love-letters to queen Elizabeth, or diversifying his
leisure by gallant attentions to madame de Sauve.
The duchesse de Montpensier, of all the courtly throng
assembled at Blois, appears to have been the least dis-
turbed by care. The only sister of Guise, a princess
of the blood by marriage, abhorring all but political
intrigue, madame de Montpensier moved loftily along,
placing no restraint on the bitterness of her sarcasm,
the which found abundant scope amid the scenes she
daily witnessed.
The king, during the month of February, at length
took courage to make the important demand of a sub-
sidy of 2,000,000 of francs from the States. This re-
quest was flatly refused, the deputies declaring "that
they had no powers from their electors to treat of
matters of finance." The members then, in their turn,
demanded the dissolution of the States, as the matter
concerning religion had been settled by their abrogation
of the convention of Beaulieu ; and many deputies
made preparation for departure. The king met this
device by issuing a mandate commanding that every
member, before his departure, should ask an audience
of farewell. The deputies, continuing obdurate, and
firmly refusing a subsidy, or to sanction the imposition
of fresh taxes, the due d'Anjou entered the hall, and
* " Une autre fois la reyne (Catherine) dit & M. de Guise que le roy de
N^arre ne trouvoit bon qu'il recherchat sa femme!" — Journal de Nevern.
134 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
petulantly reproached the members with their incon-
sistency in driving their sovereign to make a declaration
of war, and then to refuse him. the necessary succours
for its prosecution. " The king," says Guillaume de
Taix, " in spite of these his expedients, obtained
nothing. The Tiers Etat turned a deaf ear to every
remonstrance, and declined to offer aid whatever, ex-
cusing itself on the poverty of the people ; also, that
its powers were only entrusted to legislate on matters
of religion, and to relieve the people from the burden-
some taxation which already ground them to the dust."
In reply to the remonstrances of Monsieur, several
deputies rose, and denied that they had advised the
king to make war on the heretics ; * " but," said they,
with a flippant disingenuousness which proceeded from
the distrust inspired by the king, " we advised his
majesty to enforce one holy and pure religion on his
subjects by kind and gracious methods, converting apos-
tates by the power of the Word, and not with the
sword ! " The same declaration was afterwards actually
made to the king by the first president of the parlia-
ment of Bordeaux. The deputies who so opined sought
only to extricate themselves from a predicament which
placed their zeal in a suspicious light, as inferior to
their love of pelf ; the miserable contests of the past
years, and the expedient they had themselves sanctioned,
of an armed union for the defence of the faith, demon-
strated how slender was their trust in the efficacy of
the ministrations of the priesthood. Catherine was
extremely incensed when she heard of this declaration,
saying, " that it was dishonourable and base so to
abandon the king after urging him to break the peace."
* " La reyne pleure & son cabinet, se plaignant avec la reyne sa fille
des trois qui avoient conseill£ le roy & la guerre, et qu'ils s'en exemptoi-
ent de 1'avoir dit." — Journal de Nevers. The due de Nevers was one of
the delinquents of whom Catherine so bitterly complained.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 135
Various ways were then debated for a reformation
of the existing system of taxation, so that it might
yield a larger revenue. A plan was proposed by some
astute financier, to compound all the taxes into one
general impost, to the annual amount of 15,000,000 of
livres, levied on all households of the realm, the highest
rate of taxation not to exceed fifty francs, and the
lowest 12 deniers. This scheme was rejected, by an
immense majority of the States, on the ground that
there would be no security, the king having obtained
this concession, that his majesty might not gradually
re-impose the taxes abandoned ; or, at any rate, aug-
ment at pleasure the rate of the new impost.
The king next sent a message to his unruly legis-
lature, to ask its sanction to alienate a sum of 300,000
livres from the royal domain, to relieve his immediate
necessities. It was also stated that his majesty's debts
amounted to the sum of 101,000,000 of livres ; that
the expenditure of the state had, during the last few
years, exceeded the revenue by 11,000,000 of livres
annually. Catherine, meantime, despatched the abbe
Guadagne to ask a loan of 2,000,000 of gold crowns
from the king of Fez, the most fabulous stories being
current at this period, respecting the vast treasures
amassed by that African potentate. The queen found
her Mahometan ally more liberal than the king did his
senate ; for his majesty's demands again met with
positive denial by the majority of members, although
some of the deputies protested against so rigorous a
procedure. The majority suggested that the necessity
of the king should be relieved by one of the three
following expedients — proposals, the harbingers indeed
of a national revolution, social as well as civil — that
the nobility of the realm should be called upon to
serve his majesty gratis, the cost of their levies to be
defrayed by themselves, not, as heretofore, by the realm ;
136 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
that, rather than the domains of the crown should
be alienated, the temporalities of the church might be
seized, and employed to replenish the empty exchequer
of the State ; or that the property, real and personal,
of all Huguenots should be confiscated, and applied for
the benefit of the commonwealth. Should his majesty
dissent from either of these alternatives, he was in-
solently admonished to maintain, if he could, the recent
edict of Beaulieu, when his ordinary revenues of the
domain must suffice for his private use.* Tears of
anger and mortification, it is stated, fell from the eyes
of the weak monarch, when informed of the obduracy
of the assembly. "It is too cruel a treatment," ex-
claimed he ; "they refuse to aid me with their sub-
stance, and deny me the use of my own ! "
The due de Montpensier at this juncture returned
from his mission to the king of Navarre. He found
that prince well disposed for the maintenance of peace,
provided that he was not molested, and was suffered to
retire into Beam. At the same time the duke brought
news of a counter-league on the point of ratification
between the Huguenots of France, the queen of Eng-
land, and the kings of Sweden and Denmark. He re-
presented the feverish condition of the country — already
in arms against the royal authority — and the immediate
necessity for action, did the king desire to repress the
threatened movement. He advised Henry to annul his
late edict of Beaulieu ; but to undertake no campaign
against the allied princes ; to content himself with recap-
turing the places recently surprised ; and to show a firm
front against their extortions. The queen seconded this
counsel ; indeed, the exhausted finances admitted of
no alternative. It was determined, therefore, to set
on foot two bodies of troops to act on the defensive ;
the command of one of which was conferred on Mon-
* Eecueil Sommaire de Guillaume de Taix, fol. 63.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 137
sieur, with la Chastre for his marechal-de-camp, his
lieutenants being the dues de Guise, d'Aumale, and de
Nevers. The second corps-d'armee was intrusted to
the due de Mayenne — a command-in-chief having been
refused to the due de Guise, so great was now Henry's
distrust. The States were then closed on the first day
of March, 1577, by king Henry, who departed greatly
dejected from Blois, and joined the queen-mother at
Chenonceau.
If affairs before the assemblage of the States were
complicated, they had become doubly so at the close
of the session. The sole act of the States had been to
annul the treaty of Beaulieu ; while the deputies abso-
lutely refused to vote a subsidy for the prosecution of
the consequent war. The debates had roused the
fiercest passions and enmities. The power of the
princes of Lorraine, which before had been undefined,
was acknowledged : their pretensions, moreover, pro-
claimed to the nation by the pamphlet of the advocate
David, had excited no indignant protest. The League
had been confirmed and rendered legal by the sanction
of the king and his acceptance of the title of its chief.
The king himself, therefore, by a strange fatuity, had
placed himself at the head of a combination, the aim
of which was to overthrow and usurp his royal pre-
rogatives, committing the fatal and inconceivable error
of consenting to exercise those his kingly rights in the
capacity alone of a chief of the League ! The penury
of the government was proclaimed to the malcontents ;
who, rejoicing in the refusal of the States to replenish
the treasury, boldly prepared fresh enterprises.
The due d'Anjou, meanwhile, acting now in the
capacity of royal general, marched and laid siege to
the town of La Charite * with an army of 15,000 men.
* La Charite had been captured by the Huguenots during the session
of the states of Blois.
138 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1576—
The town capitulated on the 2nd of May, when Mon-
sieur and the due de Guise, leaving the due de Nevers
in command, returned to participate in the festivities
to be given in honour of this success, which was mag-
nified by the court poets into a magnificent victory.
The first entertainment was given by the king at
Plessis-les-Tours to Monsieur and the principal officers
of the army, which had captured La Charite. The
details of this most profligate revel of a profligate court
arouse feelings of disgust and indignation. The ban-
quet was holden in the park of Plessis ; the guests were
served by the most beautiful women of the court, whose
streaming tresses were their only covering to the waist.
The orgies lasted from midday to midnight. Coloured
lamps were suspended amid the trees, besides a grand
illumination of torches and cressets. The cost of the
green silk vestments worn by the ladies, and given by
the king, amounted to the sum of 60,000 francs.* Such,
nevertheless, was the hypocritical inconsistency of the
court that, shortly before the king quitted Blois, one of
Catherine's maids of honour — mademoiselle de la Motte
Mesme — had been dismissed ignominiously by her royal
mistress when it was discovered that she had consented
to a midnight, assignation in the grand avenue of the
castle with the marquis d'Elboeuf ; " such proceedings,"
his majesty observed, " being contre Vhonnetete" Four
days after the banquet of Plessis, Catherine entertained
the kinjg and court at her castle of Chenonceau, at a
cost of 100,000 francs. This entertainment was holden
round the margin of a beautiful fountain, and seems to
have been exempt from the gross indecorum of Henry's
fete at Plessis. The ladies were attired in robes of
tricoloured brocade. The duchesse de Retz acted as
mistress of the ceremonies, being aided in her duties
by madame de Sauve. Other festivities followed : and,
* L'Etoile : Journal de Henry III. Brant6me.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 139
at any rate, amid such profuse expenditure, Henry had
cause to thank the deputies for their peremptory refusal
to alienate any portion of the royal revenue.
The due de Mayenne during these transactions
steadily made progress in Poitou against Conde, and
pursued him to the very gates of La Rochelle. The
king was at Chenonceau when he received this intelli-
gence, and also that of the capture of Issoire by Nevers.
In the fulness of his satisfaction Henry bestowed the
name of Chateau de Bonnes Nouvelles on his mother's
palace of Chenonceau. Mayenne then laid siege to
Brouage, and pushed the assault with such vigour that
th capitulation of the place was deemed inevitable.
Henry, therefore, determined to proceed to Poitiers.
His arms had hitherto been successful ; but his majesty
desired nothing more intensely in the position of his
finances than peace. To ensure this desirable event,
Henry suddenly offered again to his malcontent sub-
jects the edict of Beaulieu with certain modifications.
Such concession, however, was in direct opposition to
the principles and interests of the League, and to his
majesty's obligations as its chief and leader ; thenceforth,
in the eyes of the members of La Sainte Union, Henry
appeared a traitor to his solemn oath, perjured, and a
faithless interloper in the cause. The power of his
Huguenot subjects in arms saved the king from imme-
diate rebellion; but instinctively the allegiance of the
ultra-orthodox reverted to the due de Guise, and men-
tally, if not openly, they hailed him as a worthy chief
and leader. The queen, however, heartily combined to
bring about the peace which was to bestow temporary
repose on the harassed realm; and to rescue her son
from the overwhelming difficulties resulting from the
recent deliberations. The new edict contained sixty-
three articles, modifying the clauses of the treaty ne-
gotiated at Beaulieu; the privilege of worship, according
140 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1576—
to the reformed tenets, being confined to the districts
conceded in former edicts under Charles IX. No prec/ie
might be holden within thirty miles of Paris ; the
towns recently captured remained in his majesty's pos-
session; the marriage of converted priests was acknowl-
edged to be legal, while a general amnesty was conceded.
The king of Navarre hastened to ratify the treaty,
whitth was also signed by Conde, and published by his
command at La Rochelle by torchlight amid the firing
of artillery.
The concession again of this peace was the only in-
dependent act performed by Henry III. throughout his
troublous reign. The king ever afterwards complacently
alluded to this pacification, which he specially termed,
" Mon Edit de Poitiers."
The joy of the king was rudely interrupted by the
tumult occasioned by the cowardly assassination com-
mitted by the reigning favourite Villequier on the
person of his wife, in the castle of Poitiers, within sight
of his majesty's apartments. Madame de Villequier
was the natural daughter of the comte de Montbazon.
United to such a man as Rene de Villequier, her life
had been miserable, though the splendour of her position
drew upon her much envy. It appears that the jealousy
of her husband was excited as to the nature of her
relations with one Barbizy, a young lord of the court.
During the sojourn of the king at Poitiers, Villequier
received an anonymous letter accusing his wife of
criminal misdemeanours, and it stated that a plot had
been formed to poison Villequier before her dishonour
should become manifest. Villequier accordingly caused
a secret search to be made in the cabinet of his wife,
when a packet of letters, addressed to madame de Ville-
quier by Barbizy, was found; and, moreover, a cake of
white-looking compound, which was supposed to be the
poison destined to slay him.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 141
De Thou asserts his belief that madame de Ville-
quier was innocent of the crime alleged against her;
but that she had incurred the detestation of the king
and of her husband by boldly rebuking their excesses.
This opinion, however, is confirmed by no other con-
temporary writer. One morning, therefore, Villequier
entered his wife's bedchamber ; the unfortunate lady
had just risen, and was combing her hair before a
mirror held by one of her women. Villequier rushed
upon her, and buried a poniard to the hilt in her side ;
he then inflicted several severe wounds with his sword,
and left her dead on the floor. He then pursued the
waiting-maid, and despatched her also with repeated
thrusts of his dagger. These atrocious deeds accom-
plished, the assassin proceeded to the king's bedside and
coolly recounted his crime, requesting letters of pardon
under the great seal, as the provocation extenuated his
offence.
The uproar in the castle was tremendous when the
bodies of madame de Villequier and her maid were
found weltering in blood, life totally extinct ; and the
outcry against the assassin was so vehement, that Henry
hesitated whether it were not more prudent to yield up
his favourite to justice.* Catherine, who had accom-
panied the king to Poitiers, joined in the clamour, and
exhorted her son to punish so vile a crime with ex-
emplary rigour. Villequier, however, by the favour of
his royal master, departed secretly for Paris ; and by the
time the court returned thither, the horror occasioned
by his crime had diminished; while fresh deeds of violence,
committed by the profligate favourites, helped to cast
a veil of oblivion over the past. The magnificence of
Villequier's public entertainments at the Hotel de Ville
as lieutenant-governor of Paris, also helped to allay
* De Thou : Journal de Henri III. Brant6me. Castelnau : Additions
par le Labour eur, tome ii.
142 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1576—
popular indignation. Before long another lady was
announced as having condescended to Villequier's suit,
and to have declared her willingness to accept his blood-
stained hand. Mademoiselle de la Bretesche,* therefore,
became Villequier's second wife ; a lady young, well
dowered, and a special favourite with queen Catherine.
Villequier's deportment in his second alliance is stated
to have been exemplary. Madame de la Bretesche, the
mother of his wife, had been a woman of passions so
vehement, that men quailed before the fierceness of her
wrath ; and it is related that on three occasions during
her life she set forth in male attire to waylay and
poniard persons who had incurred her enmity ; achieve-
ments which she not only accomplished successfully,
but with impunity. It is possible, therefore, that
Villequier's amiable conduct may have resulted from
personal misgiving, after taking this lion's whelp to his
arms.
The court made sojourn at Poitiers until the end of
the month of October, when Henry repaired to Paris
and took up his abode in the Louvre, and queen
Catherine in the Tuileries. The appearance of a large
and fiery comet during the month of November, 1577,
caused great terror to many illustrious personages, it
having been declared by Ruggieri, and other astrologers,,
to denote the approaching decease of the queen-mother,
or of some great French lady. The prediction oc-
casioned the queen the most exquisite solicitude, as
she placed implicit faith in signs, omens, and spells.
Throughout the dreary winter months, therefore, the
Parisians watched with curious interest the pale-blue
light which night after night glimmered through a
casement at the summit of the lofty tower behind the
hotel de Soissons, built by the queen-mother for astro-
* Louise de la Savonni&re, daughter of Jean baron de la Bretesche,.
one of the beauties of the court of Henry III.
1577.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 143
logical observations. That small chamber was Cathe-
rine's nocturnal resort, and the scene of many mystic
conferences with Cosmo Ruggieri and other professors
of the occult sciences, her proteges.
The wits of Paris, however, offered to the queen that
solution which the stars refused, in the guise of a cut-
ting epigram, in which her majesty's panic was ridi-
culed ; and the author, a fiery Leaguer, proved that the
comet had been sent as a political diaphoretic, in order
to dissipate the vapours which obscured the queen's
diplomatic judgment.
Queen Catherine and her seers, nevertheless, obtained
what they considered to be a satisfactory elucidation of
the portentous omen, by the demise, on the second day
of April of the following year, 1578, of the little
daughter of the late king Charles IX., madame Isabel
Marie de France.
BOOK IV.
CHAPTER I.
1578—1579.
Diversions of the court during the winter of 1578 — The cham-
berlains— Their luxury and amusements — Paris in 1578 —
Journey of queen Marguerite to the Netherlands — Her intrigues
Political condition of the Low Countries— The sovereignty of
the Netherlands is offered to the due d'Anjou — Unpopularity of
Henry III. — Quarrels of the minions — MM. de Bussy-d'Amboise
and de Quelus — Marriage of M de St. Luc — Disaffection of the
due d'Anjou and of his sister queen Marguerite — Meditated
flight of the duke — Details — Arrest of Monsieur and the queen
of Navarre — Catharine insists on the release of the prisoners —
Flight of the duke— His proceedings — Anger of King Henry —
Demeanour of Marguerite — Correspondence of the duke with
the king — His letter to Villeroy — The duke is joined by many
adherents — Journey of Catharine to Angers — Its results — Polit-
ical consequences of the duke's evasion — Processions of peni-
tents— The chancellor Cheverny — Correspondence of Monsieur
with the Flemish malcontents — His departure for Mons— Opin-
ion of king Henry upon the conduct of his brother M. d,' Anjou.
THE winter of 1578 was spent by Henry III. in the
enjoyment of festivals and pageants. Although the
national penury was so great that the credit even of
the sovereign sufficed not to raise a loan, the splendid
revels of the court augmented rather than decreased in
number ; while the people waited in vain for the com-
mencement of that more provident career which Henry
had emphatically promised during his contentions with
the members of the recent States-general. The royal
revenue, which in former reigns averaged the sum of
thirty-one millions of crowns, and which had amply
148 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
defrayed the costs of the magnificent court of Francis L,
was reduced by more than two-thirds ; yet Charles IX.
died leaving few debts chargeable on the privy purse.
The pecuniary difficulties of the king appeared to make
no salutary impression on his mind ; he still gave or
squandered away sums to an incredible amount. When "
the public treasure failed, Henry and his favourite
Villequier issued edicts authorizing levies of money on
various wealthy individuals or corporate bodies, which
they called " edits bursaux." Henry was frequently
obliged to carry these bills to the parliament in person,
and command their registration, forbidding discussion
or remonstrance whatever.
The number of the king's privileged chamberlains, at
the commencement of the year 1578, amounted to ten
personages. These young cavaliers filled the court with
broils, exacting almost servile homage from the nobles
of the court, fighting, assailing the reputation of the
noblest ladies with impunity, gambling, and perpetrating
fraudulent appropriations of the revenue. Their effemi-
nacy and luxury, on the other hand, when in attendance
on their royal master, and in the adornment of their
person, surpassed the most extravagant of antecedents.
Henry liked his proteges to assume in public the fierce
swagger of bravoes ; while in private, to please their
royal master, they put on the garb of women, curling
and perfuming their hair, cutting out attire, manufac-
turing perfumes and cosmetics, singing licentious songs
to the accompaniment of guitars and mandolins — or enter-
taining this royal Sardanapalus with mendacious stories
respecting the profligacy of various personages of the
court, in contrast to which they made the royal turpi-
tude shine as virtue. For hours, during the heat of
the day, it was now Henry's custom to repose on a
divan surrounded by his crew, lazily drinking sherbets
in lieu of wine, of which his constitution forbad the
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 149
use — plenishing his mind by such villainous recitals
for the random taunts which, during the evening revel,
brought many a blush to the cheeks of the truly
decorous of his court. On the cushions by the king
lay a number of little dogs, which Henry sometimes
fondled or incited to make deafening clamour. The
number of lapdogs thus kept in his majesty's apart-
ments often exceeded a hundred — seldom fewer. One
of the favourite chamberlains observing that it cost the
king emotion to select from this pack, the dogs which
were to accompany him in his daily airing with queen
Louise, invented the novel expedient of a light basket,
richly lined with crimson satin, to be slung from the
royal neck, wherein from twenty to thirty of Henry's
diminutive pets might be comfortably stowed. The
king adopted the device, bestowing many eulogiums on
the ingenuity of his favourite. Parrots and a small
species of ape also monopolized a great share of Henry's
attention. To the former he taught any libellous slang
which then might be in vogue ; while the apes were re-
served as a medium of special intimidation to unwished-
for intruders in the royal apartments ; or of vengeance
on individuals obnoxious to the chamberlains. The
king's hours of indolent pastime were often abruptly
brought to a close by a sudden inspiration to perform
some devout progress with which Henry pretended to
have been smitten. The royal dressers were then sum-
moned, and after elaborate labour Henry was equipped,
and proceeded with most sanctified mien to spend the
afternoon on his knees in one or other of the oratories
he had founded in the churches of the capital. At
other seasons Henry broke up the luxurious conclave
for the more mundane excitement of a foray with his
troop to the saloon of the maids of honour. The in-
sults which then sometimes befell the noblest maidens
of France, the pen of Brantome even shrinks from
150 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
recording. The door of the apartment was rudely
dashed open ; and fortunate was that damsel considered
who could make a timely escape to the queen's cabinet,
where Louise sat over her embroidery frame absorbed
in religious meditation, pensive and sad. During these
royal escapades Catherine held her council of state at
the Tuileries, or in her hotel des Filles Repenties.*
Her majesty opened all despatches, decreed laws, re-
ceived the ministers and other functionaries, and for-
warded instructions to the foreign ambassadors — her
responsibilities being limited to a daily visit to the
Louvre to request the sign-manual of her son to the
documents she laid before him. The due d'Anjou
plotted and betrayed — trusting, however flagitious
might be his design, to escape its judicial reprisals
under the good favour of one or other of the partners
in the government.
In one of the most pungent satires composed during
this reign, the author relates the ceremonies used at
the lever of Henry's minions. It has been supposed
that Quelus was the personage falling peculiarly under
the lash of the satirist. " On entering the chamber of
the royal mignons" says he, " I first beheld three cava-
liers whose hair was being seized with hot pincers,
heated in a chafing-dish, so that their heads were
smoking. Such a sight I deemed at first alarming,
and was about to cry for succour ; but on a closer
examination I perceived that no hurt was being in-
flicted. One of the victims was reading, another joking
* This celebrated palace was inhabited during five hundred years by
the most illustrious personages of the age. It changed its owners during
this interval twenty times, and its name five times. It was successively
designated as I'hdtel de Nesle, I'h6tel de Boh&me, I'hdtel du Couvent
des Filles Bepenties, I'h6tel de la Reyne, and, finally, I'h6tel de Sois-
sons. The hotel was situated in the Quartier de St. Eustache, and its
site is now occupied by the Halle au Ble*. Queen Catherine's celebrated
obelisk still remains.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 151
with his valet, and a third discoursing on philosophy.
From this chamber I entered into a second, where I
beheld a single cavalier seated helplessly in a chair, and
surrounded by several attendants. One was holding
before him a mirror ; another had a large box of cypress-
wood filled with powder, into which he repeatedly
plunged a large puff and powdered the head of his
patient. This achieved, a third individual advanced
holding a fine instrument, with which he tore super-
fluous hairs from his master's eyebrows, leaving an
arch clear and defined. In a corner of the room a
thick vapour was rising from a vessel, which they
called a sublimatum, the which being condensed, they
brought and applied to the cheeks, lips, forehead, and
neck of our victim. Another then came, and kneeling,
opened the patient's mouth by gently pulling his beard ;
then wetting his finger, he rubbed a white powder on
his gums, and from a little box he took some false
teeth and fastened them in wherever there was space.
Next, the personage who had coloured out victim's
cheeks again approached, and with a brush he painted
over his beard, which until now had been of fiery hue,
afterwards washing it with perfumed waters and soaps.
They then brought silk stockings, and a pair of shoes
marvellously small and dainty. During this ceremony
a fourth valet-de-chambre was airing before the fire a
shirt adorned with exquisite needlework. This being
slipped over our patient's head, the collar was set up-
right, and his doublet brought, which was so tight that
it took all the strength that we could muster to button
it.'' He then describes how"cette demie-femme " was
equipped with two pairs of perfumed gloves, handker-
chief, rings, chains, a mirror, fan of delicate lace-work,
pomander, and comfit boxes, a hat and plumes, and a
sachet. Next the author introduces us into the royal
bedchamber. Henry was sleeping in a room the floor
152 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
of which was plentifully strewn with roses and other
flowers. The bed was a magnificent edifice of gilding
and cloth of silver. The king reposed in the middle
of the bed, supported by crimson satin pillows. His
face was covered by a half -mask made of some shining
material dipped in odoriferous oil, which the chief valet
carefully readjusted after he had offered his majesty an
early collation of sweetmeats and rolled meats spiced.
His majesty's hands were covered with gloves richly
embroidered ; and his manteau-de-nuit was composed
of white satin, adorned round the neck with silver
spangles and tags.* The example set by the king in
effeminate costliness of attire produced the most ruin-
ous consequences. " The novelties in dress at this
court," says the Venetian Lippomano,f " succeed each
other daily, and even hourly. If the shape of our
raiment varies, so does the mode of wearing it alter.
At present the cloak is placed over one shoulder, and
allowed to fall from the other ; one sleeve of our dou-
blet is worn loose (at the wrist), and the other is but-
toned up tight. When on horseback it is now the mode
for cavaliers to ride with a drawn sword in the hand,
as if pursuing the enemy, in the fashion of Polish mag-
nates. No man is esteemed at court unless he pos-
sesses from twenty-five to thirty suits of raiment, so
that he may appear every day in different attire. Old
men dress more soberly, wearing suits of extremely fine
silken or woollen fabrics." About this period Henry
introduced the fashion of the tall ruff, so stiffened,
" that when handled it cracked like coarse parchment."
This fashion never became popular beyond the precincts
* Description de 1'Isle des Hermaphrodites, Satyre, par Thomas
Artus. Edited by Godefroy.
f Viaggio del Signor Girolamo Lippomano, Ambasciator in Francia
nelF anno 1577, scritto del suo Secretario. — Tommassio : Amltassadeurs
Venitiens.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 15S
of the Louvre ; it, however, enabled his majesty's
enemies to infuse another pungent point in their satires
and caricatures. Soon after Henry made his public
appearance in the obnoxious "fraise" his majesty hap-
- pening to visit the Foire de St. Germain, observed some
of the students of Paris caricaturing his attire by wear-
ing immense ruffs of stiff paper, and shouting, " d la
f raise on connoit le veauf" The king sentenced his
irreverent mimickers to imprisonment for the space of
seven days in the Conciergerie. As for the fair dames
of the court, their extravagance equalled the profusion
of their lords. The queen of Navarre was hailed by
universal consent as the oracle in matters relating to
female costume. " Frenchwomen," says the Vene-
tian Lippomano, in his record, " have very slight
waists ; they take pleasure in puffing out their robes
by means of hoops, which render their figure very
elegant. They take pains to procure fine stockings
and shoes. They all wear corsets which hook behind,
and give a most becoming shape to the bust." From
describing the attire of the courtiers, the Venetian
ambassador proceeds to give most interesting details of
the mode of living in Paris in 1578, and of the luxu-
rious households maintained by the great nobles. " Paris
furnishes an abundance of all that can be desired,"
says Lippomano. " Merchandise from all parts of the
world is here congregated. Food is brought on the
Seine from all the provinces ; and although the popula-
tion is dense, nothing is wanted. The price of eatables,
nevertheless, is high ; but the French never disburse so
willingly as to buy food and to make what they term
bonne chere. This is the reason why butchers, restaura-
teurs, pastry-cooks, tavern-keepers abound. There is
not a street in which they are not to be found. Do
you desire to buy live animals, or meat, you are able
so to do hourly. Do you wish your provision to be
154 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
dressed, the pastry-cooks and cooks, in less than an
hour, can furnish you with a dinner or a supper for
ten, or twenty, or even for a hundred persons. The
rotisseur provides the meat ; the pastry-cook the pies,
tarts, entrees, and dessert ; the confectioner contributes
the jellies, sauces, and ragouts. The art of gastronomy
is so advanced in Paris, that you can name a repast at
any price, from a teston, or for from one crown to
twenty. For this last sum I verily believe you could
obtain manna soup, a roast phoenix, or anything that is
most precious in the world." The ambassador states,
that on Wednesdays and Saturdays a market was
holden for the sale of hares, rabbits, kids, and sucking
pigs ; wine being also sold every Wednesday. Hay,
wood, corn, and coal, being commodities brought by
barges on the Seine, were generally exposed for sale at
the wharves. The houses were rented by the week or
the month ; and the ambassador informs his senate,
that the poorest furnished lodging in Paris costs from
two to three crowns the month. The finest private
hotels in Paris were those appertaining to the dues de
Nevers, de Montmorency, and de Montpensier, the
palace of the prince de Conde, and the hotels de Sens
and de Brienne. There were more than eighteen hun-
dred tennis-courts in various parts of the city ; and it
was calculated that the sum of one thousand crowns was
daily spent in the purchase of rackets. "In short,"
says Lippomano, "Paris is a chaos of confusion and
luxury — a condition admirable and astonishing to be-
hold ! "
The queen of Navarre, after the closing of the States
of Blois, had quitted the court to make a sojourn of
some months at Spa, the mineral waters, it was pub-
licly announced, having been recommended for her
health. Marguerite's journey, however, had a twofold
cause. During the recent tumultuous discussions she
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 155
had more and more espoused the party and interests of
the due d'Anjou. The insults which she thereupon
experienced from the king and his favourites rendered
the court intolerable, and she longed for the period
when Monsieur, having obtained an independent sove-
reignty, might afford her an asylum. Consequently
Marguerite entered with the greatest eagerness into the
negotiation proposed by the States of the Netherlands,
to elevate the due d'Anjou to the sovereignty of the
Low Countries. The project had been negatived by
the king, courteously declined by queen Catherine, but
secretly entertained by Marguerite and her brother.
The sway of the duke of Alba over the Belgian pro-
vinces terminated in 1573. On his retirement from
his viceroyalty, Alba boasted that he had decapitated
eighteen thousand men ; and that his annual confisca-
tions amounted to more than eight millions of gold
crowns !* Alba was succeeded by don Luis de Reque-
sens, whose tenure of power was brief. On the decease of
Requesens, Philip II. appointed his brother don Juan of
Austria to the dignity of governor of the Netherlands,
— a nomination execrated by the hostile factions and by
the people generally, who demanded a Flemish viceroy
and the recall of the Spanish legions. This demand
being harshly refused by Philip, the Protestant and
Roman-Catholic provinces of the Low Countries and
Holland had entered into a confederation for mutual
protection, moved thereto by the sack of the rich city
of Antwerp by the Spaniards. The Confederation of
Ghent was submitted to don Juan on his arrival, who
sanctioned it in the name of the king, and feigned to
confirm the articles ; no sooner, however, had he conse-
quently been received in Brussels, than, acting with a
dissimulation worthy of the brother of Philip II., he
disowned the convention, and seized the citadels of
* Histoire du Due d'Albe.
156 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
Namur, Charlemont, and Marienbourg. The lords,
parties to the Confederation of Ghent, then entered
into articles of closer alliance j and after electing for
their governor the archduke Matthias,* they boldly
defied the authority of don Juan, and ranged them-
selves under the banner of Orange, who acted in the
capacity of lieutenant to the imperial viceroy. Don Juan,
whose military talents qualified him for any emergency,
waited the advance of Farnesef with reinforcements, and
then offered the confederates battle at Gembloux. Vic-
tory again attended the arms of the hero of Lepanto.
This achievement produced a fresh political crisis.
Sudden jealousy between the faction of Orange and the
lords professing the erthodox faith, and the violence of
some zealots in denuding the churches in Ghent of
their images, occasioned the dissolution of a confedera-
tion which the valour and treachery of don Juan had
shaken, but yet had failed to destroy. The Protestant
provinces, and some few of the Catholic lords, adhered
to Orange and the imperial governor whom he had
nominated ; while Montigny, Lalain, Mansfeld, and
others covertly offered the government of the Low
Countries to the due d'Anjou. Don Juan, meanwhile,
reinforced by fresh aids of men and money, and joined
by several powerful nobles, once supporters of the ex-
tinct Confederation of Ghent, prepared vigorously to
re-assert the supremacy of Spain throughout the revolted
provinces. Marguerite's design, therefore, in traversing
the Netherlands, was to fortify and to intrigue for the
party willing to accept the rule of the due d'Anjou ;
and through the influence of her beauty and address to
* Second son of the emperor Maximilian, and of Marie, sister of the
king of Spain. Subsequently Matthias succeeded his brother the em-
peror Rodolph.
f Alexander Farnese, prince of Parma, son of Marguerite, illegitimate
daughter of the emperor Charles V., and of Ottavio Farnese, second
duke of Parma. The prince had been educated at the court of Madrid.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 157
impress at the same time upon Philip's viceroy the
belief that Monsieur was adverse to enter upon a con-
flict in order to despoil the Spanish crown of her
finest provinces. On the closing of the States Mar-
guerite had requested permission to rejoin her husband
in Gascony ; more, however, in contradiction of the
scandalous reports propagated by the queen-mother re-
lative to her liaison with Guise, than for any real
desire for reconciliation with the king of Navarre. To
this request Henry had given the most positive nega-
tive. "No, no, ma sceur, you shall not go!" replied
his majesty. "If you attempt to escape, as you
threaten, be assured that you can have no more cruel
enemies than myself and the queen your mother. We
would make you feel your disobedience by every means
in our power ; so that you would render still more
perilous the position of the king your husband." Mar-
guerite withdrew from the royal presence thoroughly
exasperated at the taunting tone of the king. Her in-
dignation was augmented on the following day when
she learned that Henry had dismissed the envoy of the
king of Navarre with the contemptuous message, " Tell
your master that I gave my sister to a Catholic, and
not to a Huguenot ! if, therefore, he wishes to see his
consort again, let him change his faith ! " * The due
de Guise and queen Marguerite had neither of them
forgotten or relinquished their ancient compact to
make the king one day feel the weight of their resent-
ment. Their interviews at this season were .frequent :
sometimes the due d'Anjou joined the conferences ; at
other periods, fearful of incurring the displeasure of
Catherine, he refrained. No expedient existed that was
more certain to embroil the realm with Spain than by
presenting Monsieur, the heir-presumptive of France, as
* Me"m. de la Reyne Marguerite. Mongez : Vie de la Reyne Mar-
guerite de Valois.
158 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
Philip's rival in the Low Countries ; no surer method
could, moreover, be devised of driving king Henry into
closer alliance with the League, than the prospect of a
war with his potent neighbour. The south of France
belonged to the king of Navarre and to the Mont-
morenci ; the central provinces appertained by the
treaty of Beaulieu to Monsieur ; Paris ridiculed the
king, and refused to aid him with money or credit ;
the eastern provinces owned the sway of Lorraine ; and
there needed only, therefore, but the terror of the ad-
vancing hosts of Philip II. to drive the king to seek
protection from the League and its champion Guise.
Marguerite accordingly entered her mother's cabinet,,
and demanded permission to accompany madame de la
Roche-sur-Yon * to Spa, " as," said the queen, " it
is neither honourable nor expedient that I should re-
main at this court a witness of the war which your
majesties are about to wage against the king my hus-
band." Marguerite obtained permission to make her
journey to Spa, and set out from Blois at the same
time that the court proceeded to Poitiers. The pro-
gress of the queen of Navarre was triumphant ; every-
where her wit and address gained partisans to her
brother's cause. The count Lalain and his brother
Montigny, chieftains of the army opposed by the States
of Flanders against the enterprises of don Juan and
his Spaniards, and Orange and the Huguenots, came to
a complete understanding with her, according to the
queen's own statement, on the pretensions of Monsieur..
She was also magnificently received and entertained by
don Juan in Namur, on her road to Liege. During
* Philippe de Montespedon, first the wife of the mare'chal de Monte-
jon. Madame de Monte j on, being a beautiful and wealthy widow,
espoused for her second husband the prince de la Roche, nephew of the
great constable de Bourbon. She died in 1578, April 12, of the disorder
for which she sought the baths of Spa.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 159
the interval of the queen's sojourn in this latter place,
don Juan received intelligence of Marguerite's true
designs ; of her intrigues to overthrow the dominion of
Philip II. ; and of her correspondence with Lalain. The
inference even is strong that the Spaniards were in-
debted to the king of France for this notification. The
journey of the queen back again into France, therefore,
was beset with perils ; and she narrowly escaped arrest
by a troop of horse sent by don Juan under the count
de Barlaimont to conduct her to Namur. Through
the prompt succour of Lalain, and other adherents of
the faction of the States, Marguerite at length arrived
at La Fere, the magnificent domain inherited by the
king of Navarre from his ancestors of Vendome.* Here
the queen was joined by the due d'Anjou, who, as
usual, while fighting the battles of his favourite Bussy,
had fallen into disgrace with his royal brother. The
duke and his sister remained at La Fere for the space
of two months,! when they together journeyed to Paris
at the commencement of the year 1578.
The feuds of the mignons of the king and Monsieur
at this period excluded every other debate or negotia-
tion. Nearly the whole of the year was absorbed by
discussions to adjust these disgraceful brawls ; the
mediation of queen Catherine and the privy council,
and even that of the parliament of Paris itself, being
requisite to restore order and decorum at court. Bussy
d'Amboise, the champion of Monsieur, was the chief
cause of contention, by his intemperate and pugnacious
deportment. Four gentlemen in the service of Monsieur,
* M£m. de la Beyne Marguerite. Mongez: Vie de Marguerite.
Brantome.
f The transports of the due d'Alen^on were so great, that he was per-
petually exclaiming, " O, ma reyne, qu'il fait bon d'etre avec vous ! Mon
Dieu, cette compagnie est un paradis cornbl£ de toutes sortes de devices,
et celle d'oii je suis party un enfer rempli de toutes sortes de furies !"
160 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
after the flight of Villequier from Poitiers, abandoned
the duke and took oflice in the household of the king,
deeming their fortune made by- the presumed downfall
of that favourite. Their names were la Vallette,* Li-
varrot, Grammont, and Mauleon. After the return of
the court to Paris, this feud was pursued with virulence,
Bussy taking the lead amongst Monsieur's partisans ;
and Quelus heading his colleagues in the service of the
king. On Twelfth-day, 1578, during the court fes-
tivity, mademoiselle de Pons was proclaimed Heine de
la Feve. After the banquet Henry conducted the queen
of the festival to hear vespers in the chapel of the ad-
jacent hotel de Bourbon. The king and his mignons
were attired with elaborate magnificence. Monsieur
presently appeared, arrayed in a simple black doublet, and
attended by Bussy and other gentlemen. A retinue of
retainers, however, followed ; and conspicuous amongst
these were six pages in the service of Bussy, clad in
sumptuous habits of cloth of gold, and wearing ruffs and
plumes in imitation of the costume of the royal mignons.
" We live in the days when it is the turn of vagabonds to
wear fine habits," observed the insolent favourite as he
took his place behind Monsieur. The following night
an attempt upon the life of Bussy was made as he re-
turned to his lodgings from the Louvre. Gram-
mont being suspected of having led this ambuscade,
was openly assailed the next morning in the court
of the Louvre by Bussy. The royal minions espoused
the defence of Grammont ; and Quelus proposed that a
general encounter between the chamberlains and ad-
herents of the king and those of Monsieur should ensue.
Three hundred champions on either side accepted the
challenge thus to vindicate their frivolous quarrels. The
place of combat was agreed upon ; but before the en-
* Jean Louis Nogaret de la Vallette, after the flight of the king of
Navarre, entered the service of Monsieur, and joined him at Moulins.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 161
counter came off, it was interdicted by the king. The
same evening, nevertheless, the house in which Bussy
lodged was stormed by M. de Quelus and a band of gen-
tlemen, when several persons were mortally wounded ;
and serious consequences must have ensued, but for the
interposition of the marechal de Montmorency, who
promptly called out the royal guard and suppressed the
tumult.* The due d'Anjou, meantime, testified extreme
resentment at the encouragement given by the king to
these attempts to slay Bussy ; and declared to Catherine
that, as his residence at the court under such circum-
stances was hurtful to his honour, he should take the
first opportunity of departing. Yet Monsieur took no
measures to check the insolent bravadoes of his own
favourite ; nor would he be persuaded, as his mother
suggested, to dispense with Bussy's attendance. The
latter offered most provoking defiance to his foes,
" drawing his sword," says a chronicler, " if the wind
blew a blade of straw across his path." One evening,
however, as Bussy was returning from exercising a horse
appertaining to Monsieur, in the court-yard of the
Tuileries, he was set upon by Quelus, St. Luc, d'Arques,
and St. Megrin with swords. Bussy repelled this
cowardly attack with the courage of a hero ; a hot
skirmish ensued, in which one gentlemen, a friend of
Bussy, who happened to come up during the fray, was
mortally wounded. Bussy, being on horseback, at length
escaped from his assailants ; and riding straight to the
Louvre, entered the apartment of Monsieur, and de-
tailed the enterprise. It is recorded that Monsieur
stamped with fury, and ran to the royal apartment to
demand vengence upon Bussy's assailants, or vowing that
he himself would extort it. The king, suddenly roused
from slumber, sent in great alarm for his mother, and
* Relazione de Girolamo Lippomano, Ambasciatore in Francia, 1577.
Journal de Henri III.
162 IIENKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1578 —
for Cheverny, Birague, and Yillequier. The duke, not-
withstanding the efforts made to pacify his wrath by all
these personages, still steadily demanding the punish-
ment of the aggressors, it was resolved to arrest Quelus,
the leader of the outrage. The warrant to that effect
was signed by Henry ; but the following morning, before
his majesty left his bed, he cancelled the order, and
Quelus appeared as usual at the court reception. The
following day the marriage of M. de St. Luc with the
heiress of Brissac was to be performed ; but as both
Monsieur and queen Marguerite angrily declined to
attend the espousals, Catherine, deeming it prudent to
conceal the dissensions between her children from the
public eye, carried off the duke and his sister to dine
privately at Yincennes.
As it was the custom of the king to bestow the hand
of the most wealthy heiresses in the realm upon his
favourites, the marriage between St. Luc and Jeanne
de Cosse excited little surprise. Mademoiselle de Bris-
sac, though plain in person and slightly deformed, was
a woman of high principle and some talent. Her union
with the king's dissipated favourite was contracted, as
may be supposed, in defiance of her protests and en-
treaties. St. Luc, however, admired the genius of his
wife, and respected the dignity of her deportment ; and
when, soon after his marriage, madame de St. Luc be-
came the chosen friend of queen Louise, the harmony
between the illustrious pair suffered little outward in-
terruption. Henry presented the bride with a costly
string of pearls appertaining to the crown jewels of
France. These pearls had formed part of the dowry of
Catherine de Medici ; and the queen had presented a
similar string as her nuptial gift to Mary Stuart, on the
marriage of the latter with Francis II.
Catherine, meanwhile, returned to Paris at nightfall
from Yincennes with her son and daughter, to honour
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 163
the bridal pair with her presence at the ball given by
the king. So effectual had been the queen's remon-
strances to Monsieur during their afternoon promenade,
upon the impolicy of giving mortal offence to his brother
and king for so unworthy a personage as Bussy d'Am-
boise, that the duke suffered himself to be persuaded to
attend his mother at the Louvre ; and even consented to
congratulate the newly-married couple. Marguerite,
however, refused to follow her brother's example ; and,
greatly to her mother's indignation, she conjured
Monsieur to act consistently and in accord with his
previous declarations. The duke, however, went to the
ball, which was holden in the great hall of the Louvre.
The insolent favourites began to laugh and to make signs,
the one to the other, when they perceived the approach
of "le Bossu" as in their ribald mirth they often
presumed to term the brother of their sovereign.
Monsieur advanced to the bride, and was in the act of
addressing her, when M. de Maugiron, the bosom friend
of Quelus, approached, and after some preliminary banter,
sneeringly said, " Monseigneur, your present very sump-
tuous array has been a useless trouble ; we have none
of us previously missed your royal highness. We sup-
pose, however, that you have chosen this evening hour
for your debut as being most propitious to your per-
sonal presence ! " The duke was observed to turn very
pale ; he glanced towards the king, who was dancing
with madame de Nevers, then he whispered a few words
in the ear of M. de la Chatre, and quitted the saloon.
His menacing looks alarmed the favourites, who, sur-
rounding their royal master, clamorously told what had
occurred. Henry jested, but instantly apprised his
mother. Catherine's first measure was to put an end
to the ball. Their majesties had scarcely retired when
Villequier entered the apartment in great agitation, and
warned the king that Monsieur was preparing to leave
164 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
the capital that very night. The king, accompanied by
his mother, by queen Louise, and by the due de Lor-
raine, who had arrived to spend the carnival with his
kindred in France, therefore at once, and without cere-
mony, proceeded to the apartment of Monsieur. They
found him sitting gloomily on the edge of his bed, pull-
ing on his boots, evidently preparatory to a flight. The
room and the adjacent chambers were filled with gentle-
men, all talking loudly, and busy in preparations for
their master's departure. Bussy, however, being within
the duke's private cabinet, did not appear before their
majesties. Henry sat down by his brother, and ex-
pressed his regret at the occurrences which had so
offended Monsieur, and proposed " that the fiery young
cavaliers in their respective suites should vindicate their
disputes by a combat." He graciously represented
that it was needless they should quarrel, for that
Monsieur was his only brother and heir-presumptive,
and therefore that the troubles of France could alone be
renewed to his disadvantage ; that a rupture between
them would only do harm, by disgusting all loyal sub-
jects and giving courage to the evil-disposed. The
two queens entreated the duke, "V enfant gate de la
wiaison" not to drive them to despair by persisting in
so ruinous a determination. Monsieur made only sullen
replies to these expostulations, but ended by promising
to take no final decision for that night.*
The following morning, accordingly, Monsieur pre-
ferred a formal demand that redress should be made
him for the insults he had endured from the mignons
of the king ; and from his majesty's ministers Che-
verny and Birague. Henry made some temporizing
reply ; but so palpable was his disinclination to satisfy
the duke, that Monsieur presented himself at the
* Kelazione de Girolamo Lippomano, ambasciatore nell' anno 1577.
Da vila, vi.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 165
coucher of the queen-mother, and dejectedly requested,
at any rate, that permission should be granted him to
pass a few days at St. Germain, to recruit his spirits
by the diversion of the chase. Catherine agreed, and
sent Villequier to the king to inform his majesty of the
permission she had given. Henry at first negligently
confirmed his mother's promise ; but, after a private
conference with Maugiron, Quelus, and St. Luc, his
majesty became highly excited and vowed that, as
his brother's design was undoubtedly hostile, he should
not quit the Louvre. A great part of the night in
the royal apartment was spent in agitating conference.
About three o'clock, therefore, the king ascended to
the chamber of the queen-mother : every door being
unhesitatingly opened at his majesty's peremptory
summons, Henry himself drew back the curtain of his
mother's bed, and roused her from slumber. " How,
madame, is it possible that you have asked me to allow
my brother to leave Paris ? Do you not perceive the
dangers which menace my realm ? Doubtless this fine
hunt covers some dangerous enterprise. Madame, he
shall not go ! I am this instant going myself to arrest
him ! " Catherine, astonished at the sudden intrusion into
her apartment, immediately rose, and summoning her
women, she threw on a robe-de-chambre, and followed
her son, who had quitted the room without waiting
for a reply. In the corridor she met M. de Losses
and a company of archers of the Scotch guard. Hemy
hurriedly traversed the gallery ; he stopped before the
door of the duke's apartment, and knocked. "Open,
it is I, the king," exclaimed his majesty. The door
being immediately opened by Cange, the duke's valet,
the king, beside himself with anger, rushed to his
brother's bedside, and roughly shook him by the
shoulder. "Will you never cease to trouble me and
my realm? I will teach you the consequences of
166 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
playing the traitor to your king ! " said Henry. He
then commanded the archers to carry into the corridor
all the coffers, drawers, and boxes in the apartment,
and search them, retaining all written documents.
Henry then compelled his brother to rise, while, with
his own royal hands, he searched the bed. It happened
that the same evening Monsieur had received a billet
from madame de Sauve, which he had deposited
beneath his pillow. This letter Monsieur firmly re-
fused to relinquish, closing his hand over it. The
king furiously commanded him to deliver up the paper,
believing that at length he should thus become pos-
sessed of written testimony confirmatory of his brother's
treason. Monsieur resisted as long as he was able ;
and at length, when guards entered the chamber to
wrest the document from him, he gave the letter to
Catherine, who perused it in silence, and then handed
it to her son.* The search in the corridor, meanwhile,
proceeded ; but nothing was found in Monsieur's cof-
fers to furnish the smallest clue to his ultimate designs.
Henry, then, ashamed of his violence, required that
Monsieur should give his solemn promise not to quit
Paris. The duke refused ; and sullenly declined to
reply to any questions. " Since you are, then, resolved
to depart, go, if you can ! "f exclaimed Henry, at length,
menacingly. Then, calling M. de Losses, he commanded
him to consider the due d'Anjou as under arrest, and
to prevent him from setting foot outside his apartment.
Catherine in vain offered herself to guard her son until
the morning ; but the king, taking his mother's hand,
led her back to her apartment, and refused to listen to
a single expostulation. Henry returned in triumph to
his apartment, to detail to his favourites his puerile
* Me'm. de la Eeyne Marguerite. Lippomano. Journal de Henri III.
f " Si adunque voi volete partire, partite si potete ! " — Lippomano :
Eelazione.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 167
achievement. Warrants were then expedited for the
arrest and committal to the Bastille of la Chatre,
Simier, and Bussy d'Amboise, the most obnoxious of
the duke's followers, under pretence that they had
planned and connived at the contemplated treason
of their royal master. The king desired that Bussy
should be conducted into his presence : soldiers, there-
fore, were sent in quest of the unlucky favourite,
whom they found in Monsieur's cabinet, hidden between
two mattresses.* The intrepid spirit of Bussy sank,
it is said, before the peril that menaced him ; for it
seems he deemed his death to be inevitable. He asked
his majesty whether it was his royal will that his head
should fall, or that he should ask pardon of M. de
Quelus ? Henry gave him a severe reprimand for his
past delinquencies, telling Bussy that his fate depended
on the conduct of Monsieur. With edifying attention
Bussy listened to the royal harangue, professed peni-
tence for his past enormities, and was conducted from
the presence to a chamber in the house of the governor
of the Bastille. \
The due d'Anjou, meanwhile, when the day dawned,
prevailed upon M. de Losses to -carry a message to his
sister Marguerite, apprizing her of the events of the
night. The queen listened with indignation to the
recital, and in her turn despatched de Losses to demand
permission to share the imprisonment of her beloved
brother. With an ironical jest, and an abominable
insinuation, Henry sent his sister the license which she
requested. Marguerite, therefore, arrayed herself in
mourning garments, and throwing a veil over her head,
proceeded to visit Monsieur. The brother and sister
* " Fti trovato che Bussi era celato tra il pagliazzo e la trapunta del
letto. E menato innanzi al re pieno di spavento di morire, piuttosto che
certo della quality della morte," <fec. — Lippomano.
f Journal de Henri III.
168 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
wept in each other's arms, vowing to participate in a
common fate. During this interval Catherine, seriously
alarmed at the precipitate and unnecessary measure
into which her son had been betrayed, summoned
Cheverny, Birague, the due de Nevers, and the mare-
chals de Cosse and Montmorency, and confided to them
the arrest of the heir-presumptive. The consternation
of these noblemen was extreme, especially when they
were, moreover, informed by the queen that the king
possessed not a tittle of evidence against the duke to
justify so harsh a measure. After some debate, there-
fore, they proceeded, accompanied by Catherine, to
expostulate with their weak sovereign ; and to conjure
his majesty to leave the matter in the hands of the
queen-mother, who, with her accustomed dexterity,,
they declared would discover a remedy to heal the
wound inflicted on the duke's amour-propre and dig-
nity. Henry was now heartily ashamed of the fracas.
As the consequences of the act became developed,
Henry's counsellors of the preceding night disowned
all responsibility ; protesting that they had only obeyed
his majesty's will, and were far from having presumed
to suggest to their sovereign his conduct towards his
only brother. Villequier retired betimes to the Hotel
de Ville, after entertaining his royal master with a
mimic rehearsal of the scene of the previous night ;
as with all his alleged refinement, the favourite wa&
an accomplished buffoon. Quelus and St. Luc assumed
an attitude of humble deprecation, and entreated that
their lives and the life of Bussy d'Amboise might be
offered as a peace offering to allay the animosity kindled
between the king and Monsieur. The trepidation of
Henry greatly augmented, when informed of the steps
taken by his sister Marguerite, and that she was actu-
ally gone to share the prison of her brother. In his
frequent disputes with Marguerite, the king felt an un-
1579.] ms COUKT AND TIMES. 169
pleasant conviction that the due de Guise became more
or less implicated in their altercation, he being perfectly
well informed of its most salient points, and that with-
out any perceptible understanding with the queen of
Navarre. His brother's resentment, Henry further
foresaw, might probably renew the civil warfare, and
draw down upon France the wrath of Elizabeth queen
of England. When Catherine and the council entered
the presence-chamber, therefore, she found the king in
the most accommodating condition of mind, lamenting
the desertion of his favourites, and the severity with
which his consort queen Louise had thought proper to
comment on the violence of his proceedings. Catherine
instantly perceived that the affair would be adjusted at
her dictation. She commenced by insisting that MM.
de Quelus and de Maugiron should be compelled to
offer Monsieur a humble apology for their past inso-
lence and misconduct. Henry reluctantly granted this
demand. Quelus was summoned ; and the apology he
was expected to make was dictated on the spot by the
queen, and placed in his hands, with the notification
that arrest and the Bastille were its alternatives. War-
rants were next despatched liberating the captives of
the Bastille ; who, therefore, tasted prison fare only for
the period of four hours. De Losses and his Scotch
guards were dismissed from the palace. The queen
then proceeded to visit Monsieur, after enjoining the
king to present himself with the cavaliers of his band
in her saloon at the usual hour.
Monsieur and his sister were solacing their grief
together when their mother entered. The duke rose
and bowed, and Marguerite courtesyed. They then
continued to stand with sullen and haughty mien.
" Mon fils," began Catherine, " it is your duty to re-
turn thanks to Almighty God, who has rescued you
from a peril greater than I can describe. At one
170 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1578—
time, my son, I despaired of saving your life. You
know the king your brother, and that his temper is
such that he not only resents deeds, but even what he
has reason to suspect may be in your thoughts. His
majesty, when under such excitement, attends not to
my counsel, but blindly pursues his will. This morn-
ing the king seems to have forgotten the past. I come,
therefore, to invite you to present yourself before his
majesty, and to imitate his example." Monsieur replied
by declining to quit his prison unless reparation for
the insult was given by his majesty, with the chastise-
ment of his enemies. The queen then informed Mon-
sieur of the steps she had taken to preserve his honour.
She implored him to yield in this affair to her guidance,
and to reconcile himself to the king. The duke at
length assented ; but in so ungracious a tone, that the
queen, addressing her daughter, intimated that she
should hold Marguerite responsible for her brother's
obedience.
The same afternoon, when the court assembled in
Catherine's saloon, the king despatched the governor of
Paris, M. de Villequier, to request the presence of
Monsieur and that of her majesty of Navarre. The
duke entered leading Marguerite, who still wore the
mourning robe she had assumed to share her brother's
captivity. Henry with ready dissimulation advanced
and embraced his brother. " Monseigneur, believe
that zeal for my realm occasioned my proceedings last
night towards your highness, and that I am guiltless
of any intent to offend or annoy you." The duke re-
turned his brother's embrace, and sneeringly assured
his majesty " that he could never take offence at any
act which it should please him to perpetrate." Henry
then commanded that M. de Quelus should approach,
and humble himself at the feet of Monsieur. Quelus
advanced ; and, with the air of one enacting a jest, knelt
1579.] HIS COURT AM) TIMES. 171
and read in lisping accent the apology dictated by
Catherine. Bussy was next introduced, and at the com-
mand of their majesties the two antagonists embraced *
and promised to live for the future in amity. Henry
and Catherine, therefore, for the first time addressed
Marguerite, who had remained a silent and sarcastic
spectator of the scene. " Madame," said the king, " it
is to you that I am willing to owe that our brother
may preserve no resentment likely to cause him to
forget the obedience which he owes to his king."
Marguerite curtly replied, " that she believed Monsieur
to be so good £ subject that no admonition would
be requisite."! This eventful day ended with a
ball given by Catherine at the Tuileries. The duke,
nevertheless, bitterly resented the insult which he had
received, and secretly persevered in his design of quit-
ting the court.
A few hours after his reconciliation with Quelus,
Bussy d'Amboise, on a hint from the queen-mother,
quitted Paris ; a departure which did not soothe the
irritated feelings of Monsieur. The arrest of the duke
had been effected on the evening of Shrove Tuesday ;
the following day he accompanied the king on his pil-
grimages to the shrines and in a procession of peni-
tents, which his majesty in person led through the
streets of Paris. Whenever the duke appeared he had
to run the gauntlet of the sharp wit of Henry's
favourites, who thus sought to avenge the humiliation
of their leader Quelus. At the king's lever on the morn-
ing of Thursday, the 13th, the petulant reports made by
* "Sire," said Bussy, "s'il vous plait que je le baise, j'y suis tout
dispos^ ; et accommodant ses gestes avec les paroles luy fit une embras-
sade & la Pentalone, de quoi toute la campagnie ne se peut emp£cher de
rire." — Me'm. de Marguerite de Valois.
f Me'm. de la Keyne Marguerite : " Je leur reponds, que mon frere
e"toit si prudent, et avoit tant de devotion & son service, qu'il n'avoit
besoin d'y Stre sollicite" ni par moy, ni par autre.— Dupleix.
172 HEN BY III. KING OF FBANCE," [1578 —
M. d'Anjou were repeated to the king ; also that the
latter had been heard to avow it was still his intention
to leave the court. This intelligence kindled renewed
panic in the royal mind ; and, without consulting Cathe-
rine, Henry sent again for de Losses, captain of his
guard, and commanded that Monsieur should be de-
tained if he attempted to leave the Louvre after dusk.
An order was also issued directing that every member
of the duke's household not required to officiate at his
coucher, should nightly quit the palace. This arbitrary
mandate added the last fraction to the discomfiture of
M. d'Anjou ; he determined upon flight, and, in concert
with his sister Marguerite, the duke resolved on a
scheme for immediate evasion. It appears that his
first impulse was to flee and cast himself at the feet of
queen Elizabeth, with whom he continued to carry on
an exemplary correspondence ; but the coldness with
which the English ambassador received an intimation
to that effect from the queen of Navarre, convinced
Monsieur that his suit would best prosper while the
ocean separated him from the realm of England. At
length the town of Angers was selected as the place of
Monsieur's refuge, Simier, the duke's aide-de-camp^
being alone intrusted with the important secret. The
queen of Navarre undertook the conduct of the plot,
and fixed its execution for the evening of Friday,.
February 14th, three days after the duke's arrest ; for
Marguerite sagely observed, "that more than one
promising enterprise had failed, owing to excessive
caution and dilatory delays."
The mandate issued by the king prohibiting his
brother from quitting the Louvre after dark hour, ren-
dered it too hazardous for Monsieur to attempt to pass
the sentinels on guard. Marguerite, therefore, boldly
proposed that Monsieur should descend by means of
a rope from the window of her bedchamber into the
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 173
dry fosse below. She further devised means to com-
municate with Bussy, who still retained his place in
the good graces of the queen ; and directed him to re-
pair secretly on the night of the 14th to the abbey of
Ste. Genevieve, and there await his master. The abbot
de Ste. Genevieve, a partisan and firm friend of the
duke, had acceded to this measure proposed to him by
Marguerite, on condition that, if Monsieur accomplished
his flight, he might apparently redeem his faith to the
king by being the first to notify the event within
half an hour of the duke's evasion. A part of the
abbey being built on the city wall, offered every facility
for Monsieur's evasion. Marguerite then commenced
to enact her own role within the palace with consum-
mate art. Early on the morning of the appointed day
she despatched one of her pages to a tapissier, who was
ready to obey the instructions of his patroness without
comment or inquiry, with the frame of the folding-bed
of one of her women, under pretext that its cord and
sacking had suddenly given way during the night, and
needed repair. By this means the queen obtained a
length of rope sufficient for the descent of Monsieur
into the fosse without exciting the slightest suspicion.
The queen, as the hour approached, arrayed herself
with splendour, and proceeded to sup with queen Cathe-
rine. The day being a fast, and, moreover, the first
Friday in Lent, had been kept by King Henry with
more than usual austerity ; and while Marguerite
plotted the subversion of the policy of the cabinet, his
majesty was on his knees before the porphyry shrine of
the chapel de Bourbon, performing penance. At the door
of the banqueting-hall the queen of Navarre met her
brother d'Anjou. The duke's manner was hurried and
nervous ; and, instead of composedly partaking of the
meal with his mother, as had been agreed, Monsieur,
unable to bear Catherine's penetrating gaze, rose, and,
174 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
under pretence of illness, precipitately quitted the
apartment. As he passed, Monsieur whispered an
entreaty to his sister that she would also hasten to re-
tire. The cowardice of the duke and his want of self-
command nearly frustrated the design, and exposed the
queen of Navarre to imminent peril. A princess less
astute would have betrayed all.
Marguerite, nevertheless, advanced with smiling
countenance, and conversed so brilliantly during the
repast, that Catherine forgot her son's confused deport-
ment. Behind the chair of the queen-mother, however,
stood her chevalier d'honneur, Matignon, " a Norman,
keen and cunning," as Marguerite terms him. As the
queen rose from table, Matignon said something in her
majesty's ear ; but in so sharp a whisper, that Marguerite
overheard these words : " Madame, be assured the
duke meditates flight. See to it betimes." Catherine
changed colour; she then beckoned to the queen of
Navarre to follow her. The queen entered her cabinet.
" You heard what Matignon just now said ? " demanded
her majesty of her daughter. " It was doubtless some-
thing, madame, of importance, as it causes you percep-
tible disquietude," undauntedly responded Marguerite.
"It is true; you are aware, ma jille, that I am respon-
sible to the king for your brother's presence. Well,.
Matignon tells me that to-morrow he will no longer be
in this city." The queen of Navarre replied with a
presence of mind more ingenious than commendable,
that " she was aware of the enmity born by Matignon
towards her brother ; that when Monsieur quitted the
court, undoubtedly the design would not be concealed
from herself ; and that she was willing to give her life
as hostage for the person of the duke." Catherine
sternly surveyed her daughter's countenance. She
then made a peremptory sign of dismissal, saying,
* Heed well what you have just said, my daughter. You
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 175
shall be your brother's surety ; if he escapes, mark well,
madame, you answer for it with your life ! " Mar-
guerite upon this calmly retired to her chamber, and
after submitting to the ceremonial of her coucher, dis-
missed her ladies, and remained alone with three trusty
waiting-women, to whom she had confided the projected
enterprise. Presently a low knock at the door an-
nounced the arrival of the duke. The queen herself
admitted her brother, who was followed by Simier and
by his valet Cange. Monsieur was pale and depressed ;
and but for the admonitions of his sister, would have
abandoned the enterprise. Marguerite's hatred of the
king was unquenchable ; he had deliberately blighted
her reputation, and she had vowed that the crown, once
so coveted, should be worn by him amid disquietude
and foreboding. Henry even found in his sister a
Nemesis — a woman fair, alluring, and brilliant, the
object of whose life it was to thwart his designs. He
beheld her the consort of his opponent Henri de
Navarre, and queen of the French Calvinists — the
confidente of his hereditary foe Guise — the cherished
sister and faithful ally of his brother and rival d'Anjou
— and the accomplished coquette whose favours seduced
both Huguenot and Catholic, loyal or malcontent.
Under every aspect Henry beheld his sister his enemy ;
yet, with a persistency perfectly unaccountable, he for-
bade her departure from court.
Monsieur's fast ebbing courage having been rallied
by the courageous exhortations of his sister, Marguerite
with her own hands lowered the rope by which her
brother was to descend into the moat from the window
of her apartment. The cord had been previously made
fast to a stout bar of wood, which Marguerite's women
and Simier contrived to wedge firmly within the embra-
sure of the casement. The queen without further parley
desired her brother to descend ; and, aided by her wo-
176 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
men, she steadily held the rope whilst he accomplished
his descent. The duke, according to Marguerite, de-
meaned himself valiantly at this juncture, " riant et
gaussant sans avoir aucune apprehension; " and pre-
senting a flattering contrast to her chamberlain Simier,
who shivered with fright lest the enterprise should be
discovered by the palace guard. Cange, the duke's
valet, was the last to escape. As he set his foot on
the ground, a man, who had been concealed in the
shadow cast by the palace-walls, sprang forward, and
after taking a survey of the scene, made off rapidly to-
wards the guard-house. The duke and his companions
then flying, as they believed, for their lives, reached Ste.
Genevieve in safety. At the portal Monsieur was
greeted by his faithful Bussy, who led his master to a
spot where the abbey wall might be scaled with facility.
Without Bussy had provided horses ; and in a hamlet
a few leagues distant a small troop of adherents were
waiting to escort the duke. Other narrators of this,
the duke's second flight, record that Monsieur made
his exit into the open country through a hole bored in
the wall by the enterprising Bussy, who had seized the
abbot and confined him in a cell until after Monsieur's
departure ; and such was the confession made by the
abbot, when he appeared in the middle of the night at
the Louvre to reveal to the king the escape of the heir-
presumptive.
The sudden apparition of the unknown individual
from the moat had occasioned extreme terror to Mar-
guerite and her faithful tiring-women. The queen
believing that Matignon's enmity to Monsieur had
caused him to set a watch over the duke's action
throughout that eventful night, gave up all for lost.
Marguerite, therefore, threw herself despairingly on
her bed, anticipating the extreme wrath of her mother
and the king ; and expecting immediate arrest. Her
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 177
women, meantime, drew up the cord and cast it on a
fire blazing on the hearth ; they then closed the win-
dow, and also simulated sleep. A suspense of some
twenty minutes ensued. A great commotion in the
outer corridor then became audible ; and a volley of
blows was showered on the door of the queen's apart-
ment, while a voice summoned the inmates to give
instant admittance. The peril of her position roused
again the energies of the queen ; a glance at the hearth
showed her that the rope was but half consumed — an
evidence more positive of her participation in the flight
of the due d'Anjou even the king could not desire.
Marguerite accordingly commanded her trembling at-
tendants to demand the errand of the archers without
opening the door. They replied "that flames were
issuing from the chimney of the apartment of the queen
of Navarre, and that they had hastened to extinguish
the fire." The flame arising from the rope, which the
women in their terror had so heedlessly thrown on the
fire, was issuing from the top of the chimney. The
archers were thereupon dismissed by the bedchamber
women with the assurance that the fire could easily be
quenched by the garpon de chambre without aid ; for
that they dare not open the door as their royal mistress
was asleep. Marguerite greatly relieved, and hoping
that Monsieur's evasion had not transpired, prepared
to take repose. The catastrophe, however, was only
postponed. About two o'clock in the morning Mar-
guerite's door was again assailed — this time, however,
more courteously, by M. de Losses, captain of the royal
guard, with a detachment of eight men. A summons
to open, de par le Roy, again fell on the ears of the
trembling listeners. De Losses, leaving his men at
the door, entered the apartment, and unceremoniously
drawing the curtain of the queen's bed, announced that
he had been sent to conduct her into the presence of
178 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
the king, who on the confession of the abbot de St.
Genevieve was apprized of Monsieur's flight. Mar-
guerite arose, and throwing on a manteau-de-nuit pre-
pared to obey the summons, her courage being com-
pletely restored on learning that the due d'Anjou was
beyond the power of his enemies — an event which, she
knew, would compel the king to dissemble his resent-
ment. As the queen was quitting her chamber, one of
her women threw herself before Marguerite, and clinging
to her robe sobbed forth, " that she should never see
her mistress more ! " De Losses sternly commanded
the woman to rise ; and turning to Marguerite, he sig-
nificantly observed, " Madame, that woman would have
ruined you, had I been your enemy. Fear nothing,
however, you are safe, for your brother has escaped ! "
Marguerite made no reply, but passed from her
apartments escorted by the guard to the chamber of
queen Catherine. De Losses opened the door, and
directed the queen of Navarre to enter. Catherine
lay in her bed weeping : at her pillow sat the king —
his countenance agitated and wrathful. On perceiving
his sister, Henry advanced towards her, making a me-
nacing gesture ; but at the entreaty of the queen his
mother, however, he resumed his seat. " Madame,"
said Catherine, " did you not assure me a few hours
ago that your brother had no intention of departing ? "
The self-possession of the queen of Navarre was now
completely restored : she perceived that both the king
and his mother were ignorant of the aid which she had
afforded Monsieur ; and that the means which he had
adopted to escape from the Louvre was still with them
a subject of conjecture. Assuming the utmost inno-
cence of demeanour Marguerite, feigning amazement,
boldly said, " Madame, I did so promise ; but, like
your majesties, I have been deceived. Nevertheless, I
still venture to stake my life that the departure of M.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 179
d'Anjou will not inconvenience the government. He
has, doubtless, retired only within his own dependencies
to prepare for a campaign in Flanders, the which he
had resolved upon." After a further colloquy with the
king, during which his majesty elicited nothing, Mar-
guerite was dismissed again to her chamber by Cathe-
rine, more resolute than ever in her projects of oppo-
sition by the violence of Henry's language and de-
meanour.*
It is difficult to analyse the precise motives which
influenced the conduct of the queen of Navarre at this
juncture. The fact is certain that she did all in her
power to promote strife between the king and the due
d'Anjou. Monsieur's anger, resolution, and resources
were sustained by his sister Marguerite. The queen
seems to have aimed at the renewal of the war ; yet by
the convention of Beaulieu the due d'Anjou was en-
dowed with the richest of the midland provinces of
France — a donation neither diminished nor repealed by
the subsequent edict of Poitiers ; while that edict had
recently confirmed again the possession of peace, liberty,
and semi-toleration in religious matters to the king of
Navarre. The outbreak of war, therefore, in all pro-
bability would have deprived those whose interests were
most interwoven with her own of these advantages ; as
it had been the usual practice hitherto at the com-
mencement of a fresh campaign to annul all edicts
favourable to infractors of the public tranquillity. The
party of the League alone protested against the enact-
ments of Henry's edict of Poitiers ; its chieftain Guise
entertained secret and confidential relations with the
queen of Navarre. In their hatred of the king Mar-
guerite and her quondam lover met on common ground :
from this point, however, widely did their aims diverge.
* Me'm. de la Reyne Marguerite. Dupleix : Hist, de France. The
historian was maltre des requites to queen Marguerite.
180 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
Marguerite, vindictive and unscrupulous, sought merely
to avenge countless insults, and to elevate one brother
by the downfall of the other, her persecutor ; Guise
aimed at the dictatorship of France and at supreme
power over affairs secular and ecclesiastical, by the
humiliation of the royal race. Subsequently, indeed,
the ambition of the house of Lorraine took grander
flight ; but not until after the queen-mother herself
had ventured the perilous suggestion, of substituting on
the throne of France the lineage of Lorraine for the
royal descendants of St. Louis, did Guise presume to
raise his glance to the diadem. At this period it is
more than possible that the influence of the due de
Guise was insensibly at work over the mind of Mar-
guerite, prompting her to foster the rivalry between the
royal brothers — for discord was the element in which
alone the principles of the League could expand or
even survive. A second motive might be her desire
to compel the king to aid Monsieur in reaping the
fruit of the seed which she had so ably scattered during
her sojourn in the Netherlands, under the potent in-
centive of securing thereby the peace of his own realm.
Moreover, Marguerite's hatred of M. de Quelus sur-
passed even the enmity she had borne towards the mar-
quis du Guast ; and she left no means untried to com-
pass his downfall. With her husband the queen of
Navarre maintained an active correspondence. Henry
held his court at the castle of Nerac ; and madame
Catherine his sister presided over the festivities which
ever followed in the train of the pleasure-loving prince.
The most distinguished cavaliers of the court of Navarre
were the comte de Soissons brother of Conde, and the
vicomte de Turenne, who at this period were both rival
suitors for the hand of the princess of Navarre, and
divided the little court by their cabals and contentions.
Many and frequent were the demands made by the
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 181
king of Navarre that his wife might be permitted to
reioin him ; all which petitions Marguerite had clamor-
ously seconded. Whether Henri's empressement arose
from a tender recollection of Marguerite's charms, or
as a matter of policy and self-assertion against the
arbitrary separation decreed by Henry, it were difficult
to divine. The queen of Navarre, nevertheless, made
this refusal of her brother to permit her departure the
foundation of her openly alleged grievances ; but that
the pretext was fictitious is sufficiently demonstrated by
the intimacy of her liaisons with the due de Guise, and
with Bussy and Harlay de Chanvallon, and other cava-
liers of Monsieur s band. The lovely and volatile Mar-
guerite loved too well the gay and luxurious life of the
capital, its busy intrigues, follies, and excitements, to
prefer the comparatively obscure sphere of presiding
over the Bearnnois court ; which still treasured its re-
miniscences of the virtuous example and decorous life
of the deceased queens Marguerite d'Angouleme and
her daughter Jeanne d'Albret.
Henry was not left long to suffer from incertitude
as to the sentiments and ultimate designs of the due
d'Anjou. During the course of the day following his
evasion, a courier arrived in Paris bringing letters from
the duke, addressed to the king, and to de Villeroy, first
secretary of state. Monsieur wrote as follows to the
king :—
THE DUG D'ANJOU TO HENRY III. KING OF
FRANCE AND POLAND.
Monseigneur, — I have never desired any earthly thing with
more intensity than to acquire your favour, and therefore have I
sought it with humility and by obedience minute and unques-
tioned, trusting that at last I might attain the esteem and love
that nature prescribes as due to the fraternal bond, and which no
* MSS. Bibl. Imp. de 1'Abbaye Koyale de St. Germain des Prez ;
MSS. de Seguier, fol. 71.
182 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
consideration ought to supersede. It has been my misfortune
never to attain this position ; for, instead of holding the first rank
about your person, yielding to no one in authority, privilege, or
familiarity, I have been so degraded by the pernicious counsels of
the ministers around your majesty, that they have deprived me of
your favour ; and, moreover, have driven from your court your
most faithful servants, governors of provinces, and others — men
wise and competent. These said persons, sire, desire to possess
themselves of your realm and of your person, in order that by op-
pressive and illegal methods they may sully the majesty of your
diadem. The way they adopt to achieve this evil thing is to drive
the wisest and most illustrious from your court, that at leisure
they may devour the remnant of prosperity which remains to
your poor people, by the shameful and arbitrary imposition of
taxes and subsidies, to squander upon their own sumptuous and
extravagant attire, and other lavish expenditures. These per-
sonages, sire, having forgotten decency and prudence in their
voluptuous pleasures, imagine themselves to be the equals of kings
and princes ; nay, they even surpass us in superb and intolerable
luxury. They so influence you that they have presumed to de-
prive me of your affection — a boon that I prized beyond measure.
They have converted your fraternal affection into rancorous hate.
You, sire, therefore, having wickedly abandoned yourself to their
insatiable malice, and unhallowed covetousness, permitted that my
faithful servants should be by them impudently assailed in the
presence of your court, and at the very portals of your palace
.arrested, assassinated, and persecuted without a possibility of
redress. Instead of referring this outrage to the investigation of
the parliament established by your predecessors, for the punish-
ment and repression of such insolence, your majesty condescended
to lend your palace for the solemnity of the nuptials of one of the
chief aggressors ; nor was your royal indignation excited when
.another of them had the hardihood to say to me that he would
take the life of my servant, even did he seek safety within my
arms ; with other threats of similar import. Within three days
of this last occurrence, these same individuals induced your ma-
jesty to arrest me as a criminal guilty of high treason. They also
caused Bussy to be imprisoned in your palace, and la Chatre in
the Bastille— an indignity not to be tolerated by valiant and true-
hearted men, who have never given your majesty cause to inflict
upon them such contumely. For these causes, therefore, I have
determined no longer to imperil my own fredom, but to rescue
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 183
myself from servitude by absence — having been informed that my
enemies were plotting to achieve my incarceration four days hence
in the Bastille, pending other measures after the fashion of Caesar
Borgia to rid themselves of my presence. I demand, therefore,
nothing from your majesty, nor from this realm, other than per-
mission to spend my days in security and repose ; and I humbly
pray that you will tender me such assurances, with every guarantee
which a prince of my lineage may justly demand.
I pray God, sire, to have you in His holy keeping.
Your humble brother,
FRANCOIS.
To Villeroy the duke vouchsafed a more explicit
statement of his grievances and future intentions. He
commences his relation from the visit which he paid to
Henry when at Olinville, before the meeting of the
States at Blois, and fills a letter of seven pages with a
recital of the various indignities inflicted on him by the
king and his minions.* The tone of Monsieur's com-
plaint is so puerile and querulous that to sympathize in
his wrongs is difficult. In all his letters the duke ex-
plicitly stated that it was not his intention to raise
troubles in the kingdom ; nevertheless, on his arrival
at Angers, the duke thought proper to despatch a gentle-
man to demand the cession of four strongholds in Nor-
mandy, as a further guarantee of the king's pacific in-
tents. The messenger at the same time brought
intelligence of the insurrection of a district of the pro-
vince of Bretagne, which had resisted the levy of some
new imposts. This information greatly alarmed the
cabinet ; and by the counsel of Cheverny, the due de
Montpensier was despatched into Bretagne ; while
Catherine announced her intention to visit the due
d'Anjou, and, by the power of her expostulations, to
induce him to return to court. The absence of Mon-
sieur, moreover, had produced an unpleasant misgiving
in the mind of the Spanish ambassador, who waited on
* Le due d'Alen^on (d'Anjou) & M. de Villeroy. MS. Bibl. Imp. J1,
de Colbert, tome i. p. 164 ; also Fontanieu, 350 and 351, MSB. 1578.
184 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
the king to protest betimes against the probable tam-
pering of the due d'Anjou with Lalain and the faction
of the States of Flanders. To obviate, as far as possible,
the evil consequences of the duke's flight, Henry issued
letters confirmatory of the concessions made in his
edict of Poitiers ; he remitted certain imposts which
had caused vexatious tumults in the province of Bur-
gundy ; he addressed conciliatory letters to Damville
and to the king of Navarre ; and forwarded instructions
to the due de Montpensier to proceed with every pos-
sible indulgence in the suppression of the insurrection
in Bretagne. Henry also wrote to his ambassador in
England. He commanded Castelnau to inform queen
Elizabeth that there existed no hostility between him-
self and his brother, whose designs, he was now assured,,
were pacific, and whom he regarded with the considera-
tion due to a son — heir of the realm. He announced
the intended journey of his mother to Angers, whose
visit to the duke, his majesty stated, had rather a
private object than one important to the welfare of
Europe.
Catherine commenced her journey to Angers about
the 18th day of February. Her departure rendered the
position of the queen of Navarre still more difficult and
irksome. Since the night of the flight of the due
d'Anjou, Marguerite and her brother the king had
never met in private ; and even Catherine herself could
scarcely be prevailed upon to treat her daughter with
courtesy, so assured was her majesty that the queen of
Navarre had been implicated in that untoward event.
Marguerite, however, joyous and insouciant* as ever,
easily consoled herself for her temporary eclipse. Her
visits to the hotel de Nevers, where the due de Guise
paid frequent devoirs to his sister-in-law, and to her
private house in an obscure street of Paris, the Rue
Quin quempoix, were only the more frequent. The due
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 185
d'Anjou, duly informed by his sister of the doings in
the Louvre, was much disconcerted at the approaching
arrival of his mother. Having already obtained in
appanages a large section of the realm by his former
alliance with the malcontents, the duke's designs were
now concentrated on the extension of his relations with
Lalain and the confederates of the Low Countries ;
and, on obtaining the fruition of the long pending
negotiation, to secure the crown matrimonial of Eng-
land. In the hope of arresting his mother's journey,
Monsieur again addressed letters to the king, filled
with professions of fidelity to his government ; assuring
his majesty that he had neither desire nor intention to
treat either with Damville and Les Politiques, with
Henri de Navarre and the Calvinists, or with Guise and
the League. He also wrote similar assurances to the
queen of England, the Venetian ambassador, Lippomano,
and to the pope. Catherine, however, was already on
her road to Angers, where she arrived about the 25th
day of February. Monsieur sent Bussy to meet her
majesty nine miles from Angers ; la Chatre also
greeted the queen. Surprised at not receiving the
personal homage of her son, Catherine asked where
Monseigneur was ? Bussy carelessly replied that he
was sick, and could not leave the citadel. The angry
perplexity of the queen was extreme. On her arrival
in Angers she refused to enter the castle, but proceeded
to the episcopal palace. A day elapsed, and still the
duke took no notice of his mother's presence. Cathe-
rine then prepared to visit her son in his apartment,
resolved that his alleged sickness should not divert her
from obtaining the pledges which she had journeyed
expressly to exact. The castle of Angers is built on
the summit of a steep rock, rising perpendicularly from
the bank of the river Mayenne. The fortress was
anciently flanked with round towers ; it was surrounded
186 HENEY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
by a deep moat excavated in the rock, and its fortifica-
tions were considered impregnable. This stronghold
the resolute Catherine fearlessly invaded, unattended
except by her ladies and pages. Monsieur, still per-
sisting in simulating illness, caused himself to be car-
ried in an arm-chair from his apartment to the portal
of the castle, where he sat with his leg enveloped in
bandages, as if suffering from a fracture of the limb.
A conference then ensued between Catherine and her
son, in which the old grounds of complaint were indus-
triously retraced. Monsieur readily pledged himself to
act a neutral part in the affairs of the realm, but showed
great reserve in discussing the affairs of Flanders. He
listened with imperturbable patience to his mother's
objurgations on this subject, when she represented the
ruinous consequences which must ensue to France, if he
openly espoused the support of the rebel subjects of
Philip II. The duke was at length so wrought upon
by the queen's importunity that he solemnly promised
not to quit Angers without the permission of the king,
except to return to Paris. Moreover, he engaged not
to conclude convention whatever with the States of
the Low Countries, unknown to his brother. Catherine
took her departure, after having wrested from
Monsieur this promise, which, strange to relate, she
relied on, unadmonished by past experiences. " What
more do you wish, madame ? Have I not made the
promises you demand ? " exclaimed the duke fretfully,
wearied by the queen's iteration of her request that he
should escort her back to Paris. Bussy, who had been
constituted governor of the castle by Monsieur, pre-
tending to be suspicious of Catherine's designs, Declined
to order the gates of the fortress opening on to the draw-
bridge to be thrown back for her majesty's egress. The
queen, therefore, with her ladies, was compelled to pass
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 187
through the small wicket ; a studied slight which
eventually Bussy had reason to repent.*
The greatest suspense, meanwhile, reigned in Paris
during Catherine's absence, as none believed the peace
of the realm secure so long as Monsieur remained dis-
satisfied and at large. The excitement was increased by
the arrival of an emissary from Lalain and the States of
Flanders, sent on a secret mission to the due d'Anjou.
•The envoy, on learning the departure of Monsieur, re-
fused to disclose his errand to the king, and privately
withdrew. Henry spent this season of Lent in his
accustomed alternations of levity and devotion. His
majesty fasted with exemplary zeal, and courageously
submitted himself to the discipline of his flagellants.
His offerings to the various shrines of the capital were of
regal magnificence. Clad in sackcloth and attended by
a troop of penitents, the king visited the various
churches of the capital marching barefoot. Yet the
people of Paris still perversely persisted in singing, with
its appropriate refrain, the doggerel commencing with
the lines —
Le roy pour avoir de 1'argent
Fait le pauvre 1'indigent et 1'hypocrite 1
At night the king attended by his chamberlains
sought diversion at the house of madame de Boullen-
cour, where Henry often danced till midnight, with a
rosary and a chaplet of death's heads pendent on one
side of his girdle ; while on the other he wore a profu-
sion of small chains, from which hung either a saintly
* " The queen said : Que c' e*toit la premiere fois qu' on lui avait fait
passer le guichet." — Journal de Henri III. "Laregina madre," says
Lippomano, ' ' il giorno medesimo seguit6 sua altezza in Angiers. Con
quale essenclosi trattenuta qualche giorno, ed avendolo assai ben dis-
posto, ed avuto da lui promessa che non turberebbe le cose del regno,
se ne retorna a Parigi con buona speranza."
188 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
image, or a small medal representing amorous episodes.
The pope, during the absence of the queen-mother,
caused notification to be made to his majesty that the
cardinal's hat so warmly solicited by Catherine for her
trusty ally the chancellor Birague had been granted. Two
other French prelates of the house of Lorraine were,
moreover, elevated to the purple, Charles de Vaudemont,
brother of queen Lonise, and Louis de Lorraine,
archbishop of Rheims, and brother of the due de Guise.
After the death of the old cardinal de Guise,* who was
popularly termed cardinal des Bouteilles from his noto-
rious love of strong potations, during the course of the
same month, the newly-created cardinal archbishop
assumed his uncle's title. Birague f inaugurated his
accession to the ranks of the priesthood by offering a
superb banquet to his royal patrons during the festival
of Easter. Catherine having thus repaid the services
of her protege Birague, offered no further opposition to
the elevation of the subtle Cheverny to the office of
keeper of the great seal. Iri Cheverny the king found a
minister perfectly congenial. To the most insinuating
and even obsequious manners the new lord keeper added
a fund of complaisance to the personal desires of his-
sovereign, contrasting pleasantly with the uncompro-
mising sincerity of Villeroy, first secretary of state.
Before Henry's accession to the crown of France, Che-
verny possessed his confidence ; as chancellor of the
duchy of Anjou he had ably served his master, and had
promoted in no small degree the success of Catherine's
measures after the decease of Charles IX. Cheverny,
though himself of illustrious lineage, paid servile homage
* Louis de Lorraine, son of Claude de Lorraine, duke of Guise, and of
Antoinette de Bourbon. The prelate was born October 21, 1547, and
died March 21, 1578. ' ' Le cardinal ne se meloit gueres d'autres affaires
que celles de la cuisine."
f Rene" de Birague, chancellor of France March 17, 1573, cardinal
February 12, 1578. He died December 6, 1584.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 189
to rank. Versed in the maxims of Catherine de Medici,
principle was nothing with Cheverny, expediency every-
thing. The subserviency of the new minister and his
love of popularity, which always induced him to shrink
from needful measures of severity, occasioned immea-
surable injury to his royal master. Finally, intimi-
dated by the violence of faction, and having a due re-
gard for his own fortunes, Cheverny, as the star of Guise
rose in the ascendant, abandoned his master's interests,
at a period when the exercise of the art of chicane,
in which he excelled, would have effectually served the
royal cause in its contest with the overwhelming power
of the League.
During these transactions the envoy of the Flemish
States had repaired to Angers, where he was received by
the due d'Anjou. As the queen-mother departed thence,
Lalain's agent was presenting his credentials to the duke.
The miserable and distracted condition of the Nether-
lands surpassed all that had been previously experienced
by its bold and warlike people. " Never was a country
more wretched and distracted than the Netherlands
at this juncture," says Mezeray. "The supremacy
of the archduke Matthias was acknowledged by a
portion of the Flemish nobles ; the prince of Orange
ruled over the provinces of Friesland, Holland, Zealand,
and Utrecht ; Don John of Austria claimed the alle-
giance of the whole as the Viceroy of Spain ; prince
Casimir represented the queen of England, while the
due d'Anjou presently appeared on the scene in the
character of supreme protector and ally of the States
and the people of Flanders." Count Lalain's ambassa-
dor presented the most urgent entreaty for the presence
and alliance of Monsieur. The duke was implored to
repair to Mons, of which place Lalain was governor,
that articles of alliance might be discussed in detail.
It was proposed to deliver into the hands of the duke
190 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
as guarantees, the towns of Cambray, Mons, St. Omer,.
and Valenciennes. The States offered to pay the troops
enlisted under the banner of Monsieur ; with other
tempting proposals, the whole conditional, however, on
the duke's immediate appearance on the scene of con-
flict. The substance of these proposals soon transpired,,
and occasioned the utmost consternation in the French,
English, and Spanish cabinets. The restless ambition;
and vanity of the duke rendered him peculiarly liable
to enter into the views of Lalain ; especially when it be-
came known that the queen of Navarre, Bussy, Simier,
la Chatre, and, most significant of all, the veteran
la Noue, warmly advocated an alliance which had been
originally proposed by the deceased amiral de Coligny.
Although the cabinets of France and England were not
indisposed to afford indirect aid to the belligerents in
Flanders — leaders of a revolt which checked the enter-
prises of the Spanish monarchy — neither Elizabeth nor
Henry III. desired to be forced into hostile manifesta-
tions ; nor yet to adopt the alternative — co-operation with
Spain as regarded the government of the Low Countries,
in case of an invasion by the due d'Anjou. The Spanish
ambassador in Paris presented threatening remonstrances,
and demanded that Monsieur's acceptance of overtures-
from the States should be at once authoritatively for-
bidden on his allegiance. Catherine temporized, un-
willing to offend Monsieur's susceptible pride, and pro-
mulgated an edict prohibiting the levy of troops on any
pretext whatever, except for the king's service.* The
ambassador indignantly denounced what he termed the
subterfuges of the French government : — " The edict
palliates the enterprise, and forbids it not. Let their
majesties adopt decisive measures. Let them check
* Kellazioni di Lippomano £ de Bentivoglio : Hist des Pays Bas. ' ' Li
ministri Spagnuoli dicevano che quest! erano remedii piti. tosto apparentl
che essenziali : " Lippomano.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 191
the secret levies progressing in Normandy by breaking
up the roads and bridges if requisite ; let them hang the
captains of bands, and command the inhabitants of the
provinces to cut to pieces such irregular bodies of troops,"
exclaimed he. The dread of intestine tumults, how-
ever, prevailed over every other consideration. Cheverny
directed Catherine's attention to the empty exchequer,
and to the faction of the League ready at a moment's
warning to unfurl its banner, and to aid the duke in
avenging his disappointment. "The king," says Lip-
pomano, " preferred to see his neighbour's house con-
sumed by the fire of civil commotion rather than his
own." The cabinet was willing to expostulate, to
threaten, and energetically to support the remonstrances
of foreign powers ; but the arrest of the duke, or any
alliance counter to his pretensions, was skilfully evaded.
Queen Elizabeth, nevertheless, sent to protest against
the duke's proposed expedition ; as the ardent suitor for
her hand, she prayed Monsieur to reject overtures so
subversive of the peace of Europe ; as the sovereign of
England, she intimated to Henry III. that his brother's
presence in the Low Countries would probably compel
her to espouse the party of Spain. Henry and Catherine
immediately responded to this intimation by assurances
of their extreme disapproval of the projects of Monsieur,
whom they were doing all in their power to divert from
the enterprise. During the months of May and June,
1578, the due d'Anjou held a court of envoys in his
town of Angers, sent by their respective sovereigns to
dissuade him from the enterprise. The pope deputed
the archbishop of Nazareth,* with whom, however,
Monsieur declined to confer ; the Venetian republic
* Fabiano Muerte Frangipani, titular bishop of Nazareth. The pro-
bable cause which induced Monsieur to refuse this prelate audience was
that Henry III. objected to his residence as nuncio in the realm, his
majesty resenting the recall of Jacopo Eagazzony, bishop of Parma.
192 HENKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1578—
despatched the subtle statesman Giovanni Michel ; the
duke of Savoy, the comte de Montreal ; while king
Henry's remonstrances afforded constant employment
to the marechal de Cosse and to M. de la Chapelle. It
is astonishing that the projects of a spirit so noto-
riously inconstant and incapable as that of the due
d'Anjou should ever have been deemed important
enough to rouse such a storm of contention and re-
monstrance.
On the 7th day of July, 1578, the due d'Anjou ter-
minated the controversy by secretly quitting Angers,
accompanied by Bussy, Simier, Rocheguyon, and other
cavaliers. The duke proceeded to Bapaume, and
from thence to Mons, where he was magnificently re-
ceived by Lalain, who on behalf of the States greeted
Monsieur with the pompous title of the Defender of the
liberties of the Netherlander. Shortly after his arrival
the duke issued a manifesto, in which, after protesting
his loyal fidelity towards France, he declared that hav-
ing been summoned by the States of the Low Countries
to defend them against the tyranny of Spain, he had
not deemed himself at liberty to decline so glorious and
meritorious a mission. The treaty between the due
d'Anjou and the States was appended. This conven-
tion had secretly received the signature of the duke, of
Bussy, la None, and others, so early as the 4th day
of April, 1578, so that all the reluctance shown by
Monsieur to act in opposition to his brother's will had
been a feint. It was stipulated that the due d'Anjou
should afford the army of the States of Flanders a re-
inforcement of 10,000 horse and of 3,000 infantry, the
cost of which succour he was to defray for the period
of three months. Monsieur also promised to use his
influence to induce the queen of England, the king of
Navarre, and the palatine Casimir to join the Flemish
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 193
league. The States, on the other hand, engaged to
recognise the duke as generalissimo of their armies, and
in case their emancipation from the yoke of Spain was
achieved, to prefer him to any other candidate for the
sovereignty of Flanders. The towns of Quesnay, Lan-
drecy, and Bavais, were ceded as a refuge for the sick
and wounded of his army ; while the places previously
offered were again confirmed to Monsieur.*
The infatuated wilfulness of the due d'Anjou met
with almost universal condemnation.! The Spanish
ambassador, on learning the departure of Monsieur for
Flanders, retired to his hotel, and suspended relations
with the government pending the arrival of instructions
from Madrid ; while M. de Vaulx, the envoy sent to
Paris by the Flemish Viceroy Don Juan of Austria,
immediately demanded his passport and prepared to quit
the realm. " If his majesty does not speedily obviate
these disorders, and put some constraint on the mad
follies of his brother, my master will right himself at
the head of a potent army, and that on the soil of
France,"| was the envoy's menacing declaration to queen
Catherine at his audience of farewell. The king, un-
able to conceal his chagrin and annoyance at these re-
peated complications, prepared to quit the capital for a
sojourn at Chantilly, leaving queen Catherine installed
at the Louvre to preside over affairs during his absence.
* The towns of Cambray, Mons, St. Omer, and Valenciennes.
t Hist, de M. de Thou. Mathieu. M^moires du Due de Nevers,
tome i. " Qu'il faut lire pour appre"cier parfaitement le caractere l&che
et fourbe de M. d'Anjou."
J "Per la qual cosa vedendo monsignor di Vaulx, ambasciatore del
signor Don Giovanni presso al re, di non sperar altra o poca dissimile
dimostrazione, si Iicenzi6 da sua maestk protestando che quando non si
remediasse da dovero a questi disordini cosi ingiusti, il signor Don
Giovanni sarebbe entrato col suo esercito in Francia." — Relazione de
Lippomano. Dupleix. Mathieu. Papers connected with the flight of
Monseigneur d'Anjou 1578. MSS. Colbert Bibl. Imp.
194 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578 —
Before his departure Henry despatched M. de Ram-
bouillet and his brothers to the courts of London, Vienna,
and Madrid, to express his extreme regret at the step
which the due d'Anjou had taken ; " a resolve," said
his majesty, " that testifies little wisdom, and which the
duke himself will be presently eager to retract and de-
plore."
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 195
CHAPTER n.
1578—1579.
The king and queen visit Gaillon and Dieppe— Duel of MM. de
Qu£lus and d'Entragues — Its fatal results — Despair of the king
at the demise of his favourite — M. de St. Megrin — Scandalous
reports affecting the fame of the duchesse de Guise — Demeanour
of the due de Guise — Assassination of St. Megrin — Condition
of the southern provinces — Progress of queen Catherine in the
south— Her interviews and negotiations with the king of Navarre
and with the marshal Damville — Conferences of Nerac — Recon-
ciliation between the king and queen of Navarre — Designs and
deportment of the due de Guise — Financial difficulties of the
king — Institution of the order of St. Esprit — Splendid festivities
— Progress of M. d'Anjou in the Low Countries— Monsieur
retires from Mons— He repairs to Alencon — Disfavour of M. de
Bussy — Return of the due to Paris — Reconciliation between the
royal brothers— Gifts made to Monsieur by the king — Departure
of M. d'Anjou for England — Synod of Melun — Assassination of
Bussy d'Amboise — Death of the uiarechal de Montmorency —
Negotiations of the queen-mother — Assembly of Mazere — Re-
turn of queen Catherine to Paris — Her magnificent reception.
FKOM Chantilly the king and his consort proceeded to
visit the cardinal de Bourbon at Gaillon. The royal
pair, after making a brief sojourn with their kinsman,
continued their journey to Dieppe, a port greatly
patronized by the king, who usually there made his
purchases of dogs, parrots, and apes.
On the return of Henry to Paris, after an absence of
little more than a fortnight, the feuds in the royal
household were renewed with increased acrimony. The
discord and jealousies rose to such an height that the
merest condescension on the part of the king towards
one of his favourites, was visited by a challenge to
196 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578 —
combat from those who deemed themselves slighted.
In the same fashion were the smiles of the reigning
beauties of the court resented "by their disappointed
admirers ; until the brawls of the Louvre acquired such
disgraceful notoriety that the provost of Paris was on
more than one occasion compelled to wait on his ma-
jesty and offer remonstrance. The coquetry of the queen
of Navarre greatly increased the discord. Marguerite
had apparently pardoned the past misdeeds of M. de
Quelus, who still held the first rank in the good graces
of the king. She also received very graciously the
advances of 'another of the king's minions, Charles de
Balsac sieur d'Entragues. It so happened that after a
visit to the apartment of queen Marguerite a violent
quarrel ensued between these young cavaliers, the pre-
cise cause of which was unknown except to the king,
who carefully kept the secret. As usual the feud ter-
minated in a challenge ; and as the aggrieved parties
were leaders in the privileged band, their quarrel was
vehemently espoused by their companions. Quelus
chose for his seconds MM. de Maugiron and de
Livarrot : Entragues accepted the offers of service made
by Riberac and Schomberg. At dawn the following
morning these cavaliers repaired to the Marche aux
Chevaux, originally the courtyard of the Palais des
Tournelles, and the spot where Henry II. fell by the
hand of Montgomery in the fatal joust of the Rue St.
Antoine. A furious combat commenced ; all the cava-
liers drawing their swords after having first driven away
the night-watch, which attempted to interpose by ar-
resting the parties. Quelus engaged with Entragues,
who dealt his adversary nineteen wounds, leaving him,
as he believed, dead, and himself escaped with a slight
flesh wound in the arm. Schomberg and Maugiron
fell mortally wounded, and expired before aid could be
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 197
obtained. Livarrot was dangerously wounded on the
head, but eventually recovered. Riberac, the opponent
of Maugiron, received a sword thrust in his side and
was carried to the hotel de Guise, where he expired
two days after the combat. The author of the catas-
trophe, Quelus, who amongst other wounds had received
a thrust through the lungs, was transported to the ad-
jacent hotel de Boissy in a dying condition. A mes-
senger was despatched to inform the king of this bloody
fray. Henry's transports of rage and grief alarmed the
spectators ; and but for the presence of Catherine and
the due de Guise, his majesty's vengeance might have
been forthwith felt by Entragues and others concerned
in the cause of the quarrel. Quelus was immediately
visited by his royal master, whose grief demonstrated
itself in the most extravagant fashion. Henry caused
his own physicians and surgeons to be summoned ; and
the skill of Ambrose Pare averted for a short time the
final catastrophe. Every day, and even during the
night, the king spent hours by the bedside of the
sufferer, tending him with fraternal care and dressing
his wounds. Chains were stretched across the Place in
front of the hotel de Boissy, that the noise of passing
vehicles might not disturb the repose of Quelus. The
king, moreover, refused to see Entragues, and even
threatened him with death in case Quelus died. The
wounds of the latter, however, were mortal, and he
survived the encounter only twenty days. He died,
clasping the hand of his indulgent master, murmuring,
" Ah, mon roy, mon roy ! " * The king abandoned him-
self to the most degrading transports of grief for the
loss of his favourite. He threw himself on the body,
embracing the senseless form with frantic despair.
* L'Estoile : Journal de Henri III. Davila, p. 408. De Thou,
liv. 66.
198 HENBY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1578—
With his own hand he severed the fair and flowing
locks of hair,* and unclasped the ear-rings with which
he had some time previously decorated his favourite.
The body of Quelus was by the royal command em-
balmed and laid in sumptuous state in the great hall
of the hotel de Boissy, side by side with the coffin
wrhich contained the remains of Maugiron.f The king,
attended by his officers, came in state to visit this
chapelle ardente. After sprinkling the biers with holy
water, he remained for several hours beside them to
pray and to weep. All amusement was interdicted in
the palace ; and his majesty received the condolences
of his court, arrayed in robes of violet velvet, as if he
had been mourning for his only brother. He, more-
over, composed the following lines, which by royal com-
mand were affixed to the pall at the foot of the coffins: —
Seigneur ! regois en ton giron
Schomberg, Quelus et Maugiron !
The royal grief at length became ludicrous in its excess.
Long before the day appointed for the ceremonial of
the interment of Quelus and Maugiron, caricatures
swarmed in the streets of Paris, holding up to ridicule
the weak and excitable monarch. Pamphlets were pub-
lished relating in language more vehement than decent
the abominable debaucheries of the deceased minions ;
in the recital of which the names of some of the greatest
ladies of the court were not respected. Their rapacity
and profane violence, and the license of their tongue
were sedulously paraded ; while the surviving cavaliers
* The king had the hair he cut from the head of Quelus set in gold
and jewels.
f Henry wrote a letter of condolence to the father of Maugiron :
Bibl. Imp. MS. Fontanieu, 350 & 351— Lettre de Henri III. & M. de
Maugiron, the king says: "Ajamaisme demeurera dans le coeur la
me'moire de feu Maugiron -votre fils, et quand vous en avez quelqu'un
grand et quant vous le ine voudrez envoyer je le tiendrai tant 1'amitie
que la m6rt m' espeche de faire & celluy qui seyt en la gloire de Dieu."
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 199
of the obnoxious band were sternly warned to com-
mence a timely reformation. Despite these ominous
censures, the obsequies of the favourites were celebrated
with royal pomp in the church dedicated to St. Paul.
The funeral cars were followed by the households of the
king and of the two queens Catherine and Louise. The
great officers of the crown officiated by royal command,
and the king viewed the procession from the window of
a house adjacent to the church. Henry subsequently
erected a superb mausoleum of white marble to the
memory of Quelus and Maugiron, adorned with the
recumbent effigies of these favourites. The king, mean-
while, showed himself disposed to execute his threat
concerning Entragues, whom his majesty termed " the
slayer of Quelus." Entragues, however, found a power-
ful protector in the due de Guise,* who had afforded
him refuge after the combat in his hotel. " M. d'En-
tragues," said the duke, " has demeaned himself as a
preux chevalier and a true-hearted gentleman. If any
person seeks to molest him they shall feel the edge of
my sword, which cuts sharply ! " The queen of Navarre,
it was also remarked, displayed marked friendship for
the discarded favourite ; and was even heard to declare
that had Quelus been luckily slain before the flight of
M. d'Anjou, the present complicated condition of affairs
might have been avoided.
The anger of Henry was strongly roused against the
due de Guise ; for the duke's defence of Entragues, in
which the queen of Navarre was in some mysterious
manner concerned, was the first public defiance offered
to his sovereign by the chief of the League. Accord-
* M. d'Aiitragues s'e"tant apper^u de la mesintelligence secrete entre
le roy et M. de Guise se livra entierement au due ; et sachant que ce
due ii'aimoit point Que*lus, il fut bien aise que ce mignon lui donnat un
jour occasion de se battre, tant pour donner des marques de son adresse
et de son courage que pour seconder les desseins du due de Guise son
protecteur." — Journal de L'Estoile.
200 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
ingly Henry set about avenging the slight with his ac-
customed perfidy. Amongst his band of chamberlains
was Paul Stuart de Caussade, comte de St. Megrin, a
young cavalier, accomplished and of most promising
parts, though vitiated by contact with the profligate
court. It was Henry's practice to avenge petty offences
by assailing the reputation of the wives or daughters
of those who had offended him. Women, therefore,
held the king in detestation ; and the League had no
ally so powerful as, nor the king enemies more vindictive
than, the ladies of his court. It so happened that the
king had observed the duchesse de Guise and St.
Megrin converse together on several occasions with
great animation of manner. St. Megrin, when Henry
rallied him on the flattering preference shown for his
society by the duchess, responded by a complacent
smile ; and insinuated that his relations with the greatest
lady of the court out of the royal circle were not limited
to accidental rencontres in the saloons of the Louvre.
Upon this hint Henry determined to act, with the in-
tent of humbling the pride of the duke, by casting a
slur on the unblemished reputation of his wife ; and of
compelling Guise to meet in combat an adversary so
inferior in dignity as St. Megrin, and thereby to commit
that breach of the peace which in the affair of Quelus
he had indignantly censured. It was surmised that
the conjugal attachment between the due and the
duchesse de Guise had never been strong, though their
outward deportment was friendly and decorous. Ab-
sorbed by his vast projects for the aggrandizement of
the house of Lorraine, Guise cared comparatively little
for the wife whom he had been coerced into espousing ;
the more especially when inclination, revenge, and per-
sonal interest, were best consulted in the liaison he had
never ceased to maintain with the sister of his sovereign.
St. Megrin yielded only too readily to the culpable sug-
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 201
gestions of the king, and did all in his power, by his
assiduity and boastings of the favourable notice of
madame de Guise, to establish those intimate relations
which he then only simulated. It was a dangerous
experiment, as all parties soon found, that of tampering
with the honour of Guise. A shameful rumour was
presently circulated, that a certain individual, whose
name was suppressed, had surprised madame de Guise
and the comte de St. Megrin* alone, engaged in con-
fidential converse in the bed-chamber of queen Catherine.
Letters were, moreover, privately circulated, which, it
was said, had been exchanged between madame de
Guise and St. Megrin. The scandal reached the ears
of the due de Mayenne and the cardinal de Guise, who
desired, but yet presumed not, to mention the slander
to their brother the duke, though they believed it to be
groundless, and fabricated in the royal cabinet. At
length M. de Bassompierre, whom the duke admitted
to his closest intimacy, volunteered to break the matter
to his patron; as the conduct of St. Megrin, emboldened
by the rumour, and the consequent apathy displayed by
the duke, began seriously to compromise madame de
Guise. One morning, therefore, Bassompierre sought
the duke in his private cabinet. Guise commenced to
discourse, as usual, upon various secret matters, when,
observing the downcast countenance of his friend, he
asked what afflicted him. " Monseigneur," responded
Bassompierre, " a few days ago a personage whom I
esteem highly consulted me on the way which I should
deem most expedient to impart to a third party the
afflicting fact that it is rumoured his wife is unworthy
* De Thou states, that many years afterwards he perused letters sup-
posed to have been written by St. Me"grin to the duchesse de Guise, then
in the possession of the Abbt§ d'Elbene, and that these epistles were
filled with the grossest abuse of the king. Perroniana et Thuana
(Cologne, 1594), on Pense'es du Cardinal du Peronne et M. de Thou.
202 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
of his confidence, though the party I allude to has not
the smallest suspicion of her faithlessness. Such, mon-
seigneur, is the source of the chagrin which you have
detected. It would, therefore, give me great relief, as
we have fallen on the subject, if you would advise me
as to what counsel I ought to offer to my friend upon
a subject so delicate." The duke instantly compre-
hended, by the manner and adroit allusions of Bassom-
pierre, that it was his object to convey some intimation
relative to madame de Guise. With dissimulation
equally refined, the duke gravely rejoined : " Whoever
the person may be, monsieur, who has consulted you,
if he calls himself the friend of the injured party, let
him avenge his friend's affront. In my opinion, he
who is indiscreet enough to reveal to a husband the
dishonour of which he remains in ignorance heaps in-
sult on injury. As for myself, monsieur, God has be-
stowed upon me a consort virtuous as I could desire.
I thank heaven that I have never yet had cause to dis-
trust her honour; nevertheless, if such a misfortune hap-
pened, and any individual were daring enough there-
upon to enlighten me — you behold this sword ? well, the
life then of that imprudent friend should first pay the
forfeit of his temerity ! " Bassompierre thereupon
wisely held his peace ; but on leaving the duke he re-
paired to the due de Mayenne, and to the cardinal de
Guise, and reported his interview.* The same evening
in the court circle the king flippantly made some coarse
allusions on the good fortune of M. de St. Megrin,
which so exasperated Mayenne that he resolved to
avenge the insult, in the mode his brother had sug-
gested, by taking the life of St. Megrin as he quitted
* Relation of Charles Maurice le Tellier, archbishop of Rheims, e'crite
de sa propre main au marge du MS. de Rigault de Thistoire deM.de
Thou, who states that he received the anecdote from the lips of M. de
Bassompierre.
1579.] HIS COURT AXD TIMES. 203
the Louvre on the following evening. At this period
bands of desperate men were congregated in the capital,
impoverished by the cessation of the war, and inured
to the perpetration of atrocious crimes. It was not,
therefore, difficult for the princes of Lorraine to hire a
band of bravoes to waylay and take the life of this un-
fortunate young cavalier. Before St. Megrin quitted
the Louvre on the evening selected for the ambuscade,
the king received a sudden intimation — probably through
Villequier, and the army of spies which the latter enter-
tained in the capital — that some extraordinary peril
awaited his favourite from the resentment of the princes
of Lorraine. His majesty, consequently, pressed the
count to remain in the palace all night. St. Megrin,
however, ridiculed the intimation, boastfully adding,
" Well, let them come, these Lorraine princes — let them
dare to attack me, and they shall find a man true and
valiant." The king, therefore, reluctantly permitted
his favourite to depart. No sooner, however, had St.
Megrin entered one of the obscure streets which led
from the Place du Louvre to his abode, than he was
assailed by assassins. A page, who preceded his master
carrying a flambeau, was the first victim ; while the
count, after offering a brave defence, was left for dead
on the pavement, bleeding from innumerable poniard
wounds. The clash of weapons, meantime, attracted
the attention of the night watch, which speedily re-
paired in force to the place of combat to arrest the
midnight brawlers. By an individual of this party St.
Megrin was raised and transported, speechless and in
a dying state, to his hotel, while notice was sent to the
king of the catastrophe. Henry, when he learned the
fate of his unfortunate victim, appeared to be deeply
affected ; but investigation was instantly suppressed
concerning the authors of the daring crime. Cheverny
told the king that it was his policy to connive at deeds
204 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
of violence perpetrated by the orthodox chieftains, rather
than endanger the peace of the realm ; while Catherine
added, " that in this case the more especially, the lord-
keeper counselled wisely, as his majesty had himself
provoked the outrage." The body of St. Megrin, by
the command of Henry, was conveyed to the hotel de
Boissy, and there lay in state for eight days. He was-
finally interred in the church of St. Paul, in the same
vault with Quelus and Maugiron.*
The due de Guise, meanwhile, was not so insensible
as he feigned to appear to the rumours affecting the
reputation of his consort. He resolved, therefore, to
check betimes any disposition to levity, on the part of
the duchess, by administering to her a strong practical
lesson. Accordingly, on the same night that St. Megrin
was assassinated the duke entered the apartment of his
consort, holding a bowl in one hand and a poniard in
the other. At the summons of her husband, the duchess
awoke from a deep sleep. The duke approached, and
stood close to her pillow holding the dagger and bowl ;
and without permitting her to speak, he commenced a,
narration of the scandalous stories current respecting
her liaison with St. Megrin. After overwhelming his
wife with reproaches for her levity, the duke imparted
the doom which his vengeance had that night prepared
for the audacious asperser of her honour. "Never-
theless, madame," continued he, " it is fitting also that
your guilt or imprudence should likewise be expiated.
Resolve, therefore ; you too must die by poison or by
this dagger — choose ! " The duchess with a cry of
affright pleaded for mercy ; she threw herself at the
* While the obsequies of St. Megrin were being celebrated, another
brawl happened outside the church, in which a young cavalier was killed
by the comte de Grammont, on some frivolous quarrel relative to a wand
snatched from the hand of one of his pages by de Chavigny, who was-
instantly stabbed.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIME8. 205
duke's feet and solemnly protested that she had never
broken her marriage vow. She entreated him to take
pity on their children ; and declared her willingness to
quit Paris, and retire to Nanteuil or to their castle of
Joinville. The tears of the duchess, however, failed to
move the determination of her husband ; and his threats
at length compelled her to take the bowl which he pre-
sented, and drain its fatal contents to the dregs. The
duchess then fell on her knees, and commending her
soul to God, prayed that at least an ecclesiastic might
be permitted to receive her confession and administer
the last sacraments of the church. Guise made no
reply, but quitted the apartment, locking the door after
him. For more than half an hour the duchess remained
alone suffering pangs of suspense and apprehension, and
so prostrated with terror that she had not strength to move
from the spot where the duke left her on her knees . At
the expiration of this period, Guise returned to the apart-
ment. He then raised his wife from the ground ; and
told her that the liquid which he had compelled her to
swallow was not poison, but simply the soup which he
was himself accustomed to take on retiring to rest, and
that her fears had alone prevented her from discerning
this fact. The duke then proceeded seriously to ad-
monish his consort. He avowed his disbelief of the
reports circulated respecting her intimacy with M. de
St. Megrin ; but added that her own levity of manner
could alone have given the semblance of probability to
the charges. He bade her heed well the lesson she
had that night received ; adding, that if her deviation
in ever so little from the stainless honour which became
the consort of Guise were once ascertained, its retribu-
tion should be signal. Finally, the duke commanded
his consort to present herself on the following morning
at the lever of queen Louise, and to evince no emotion
206 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
unbecoming her honour and his own, when the fate of
the comte de St. Megrin should be canvassed in her
presence. Madame de Guise obeyed her husband to
the letter ; and from thenceforth the king and his
minions refrained from tampering with the reputation
of the duchess — for no one of the frivolous throng pre-
sumed to incur the vengeance of Guise. The episode,
however, did not increase the fervour of the duke's
loyalty, nor that of the house of Lorraine. The duchesse
de Montpensier especially made violent demonstration
of her contempt and indignation ; and, indeed, seldom
afterwards took the pains to pay her court to Henry
and Louise at the Louvre. She continued, however,
assiduous in her homage to queen Catherine ; and re-
quested permission to accompany the latter in her ap-
proaching progress of pacification in the southern pro-
vinces of the realm.
The enterprises hostile to the crown of Spain, in
which the due d'Anjou had embarked in the Low
Countries, had seriously compromised the government
of king Henry. It was not credited at the courts of
Madrid and London that Monsieur had presumed to
espouse the cause of the Flemish confederates, without
the private sanction and connivance of queen Catherine,
however resolutely Henry might disavow the proceeding.
Queen Elizabeth, deeply offended at the manner in which
Monsieur had disregarded the request she had made him,
to refrain from joining the comte de Lalain in the town
of Mons, held frequent conferences with the Spansih
ambassador in London, don Bernardo de Mendoza ; and
seemed at one time inclined to aid the Flemish viceroy
with men to oppose the advance of a body of eight
thousand auxiliaries under la Noue. The levies, already
pouring into Flanders in the train of the due d'Anjou,
had been encountered and defeated near to St. Omer by
Ottavio Gonzaga, brother of the duke of Mantua and of
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 207
the due de Nevers. Under these untoward circum-
stances Catherine perceived that, as the French govern-
ment had declined to arrest and disavow Monsieur's
enterprise, by commanding him on his allegiance to
retire from a contest with the ally of his brother's
crown, Spanish troops might cross the frontier, and
seek to create a diversion by carrying the war into
France. Catherine remembered with uneasiness and
distrust the conferences between don Juan and the due
de Guise at Joinville, when the latter traversed France
on his road to assume supreme command over the Low
Countries. The head-quarters of the League were the
provinces of Poitou and Picardy, the latter lying in
perilous proximity to the Flemish frontier. Would the
loyalty and patriotism of Guise, Mayenne, and la Tre-
mouille, therefore, incline them to stand by the reigning
dynasty in the event of an invasion, even when the
alternative might be to combat the arch-protector of
the League, Philip II. of Spain, the champion of the
orthodox ? Over this grave question Catherine deeply
pondered. She perceived that if by flattery or persua-
sion she could induce the neutrality, and possibly the
loyal adherence, of the revolted chieftains of the south,
the crown under any political juncture likely to result
from the enterprise of M. d'Anjou, would be compara-
tively safe. Having fully convinced herself of the ex-
pediency of this measure, Catherine with her wonted
energy sought the means of achieving her purpose.
The chieftains dominating over the south were Dam-
ville, Bellegarde, Conde, and the king of Navarre.
Damville, the audacious rebel who had sworn never
more to behold the face of his sovereign, still main-
tained almost regal sway over the province of Langue-
doc, obeying the mandates of the government only when
such served for the promotion of his own purposes and
designs. The king of Navarre and Cond6 were too
208 HENKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1578—
wary to be again lured into the queen's toils : Belle-
garde, irritated by his fall from the king's favour, and
by the non-recognition of the services rendered to the
royal cause in Poland, had seized the marquisate of
Saluzzo as the heritage of his wife,* in which usurpation
he was supported by the duke of Savoy. The discerning
eye of Catherine de Medici, however, scanned the private
feuds reigning between these chieftains, outwardly so
strong, and their principal adherents. The channel of
these under-currents of dissension, therefore, she resolved
to widen ; and none could boast of greater adroitness
and skill in this species of warfare than Catherine de
Medici. First, her scrutiny was directed to the en-
tourage of her son-in-law, the king of Navarre. She
beheld the ascendency and rival claims of one mistress
after another ; all, however, yielding before the attrac-
tions of Corisandre d'Andouins, the wife of Henry's
favourite, Philibert comte de Grammont — an accom-
plished and valiant nobleman, as became one of his
lineage. There existed feuds between the king of
Navarre and Biron, the lieutenant-governor of Guienne ;
between the comte de Soissons and the vicomte de
Turenne ; and again between this latter noble and the
potent house of Duras. The due de Damville was now
at issue with the entire Protestant party of the south,
and with the marechal de Bellegarde. On the partial
and temporary rupture which had ensued between the
Calvinist party and the faction of Les Politiques, Henry,
acting with that insidious treachery which it appears to
have been his highest joy to exercise, attempted to over-
reach his two powerful subjects, Damville and Belle-
garde. The king had commenced by proposing to
* Marguerite de Saluzzo, widow of the marechal de Termes, the uncle
of Bellegarde. This marriage was connived in by the due de Savoy e.
Ultimately a papal dispensation was obtained, legalizing the marriage
of Bellegarde with his uncle's widow.
1579.] HIS COURT AND 'ilMKS. 209
bestow the joint command of the royal army of the
south on Dainville and Bellegarde, provided that they
returned to their obedience and declined further inter-
course with the insurgent Calvinists. The seizure of
the marquisate of Saluzzo by Bellegarde, meantime,
being extremely unpalatable to his majesty, he pre-
sently proposed, by the advice of his mother, volun-
tarily to cede the disputed territory to Damville * as a
heritage in all perpetuity, provided that the duke would
resign the government of Languedoc. This important
command, which was hereditary, the king, moreover,
offered in compensation to Bellegarde in lieu of Saluzzo,
provided that the marshal consented to share the govern-
ment with the marechal de Joyeuse, the father of
his majesty's then reigning favourite Anne de Joyeuse.
As a preliminary to this transfer, the king required that
the marechal de Bellegarde and the due de Damville
should resign, the one the marquisate of Saluzzo and
the other the command in Languedoc, to commissioners
appointed by his majesty. Damville had too long ex-
perienced the perfidy of the court to resign his govern-
ment without a tangible compensation ; he therefore
peremptorily refused the king's proposition. Belle-
garde, however, complied, and delivered up the town
and fortress of Saluzzo to Charles de Birague, brother
of the cardinal-chancellor. Bellegarde had therefore
waited in vain for the realization of his majesty's pro-
mise respecting Languedoc, or for the restitution of the
marquisate, as had been previously agreed. At length,
weary of this double dealing on the part of his sove-
reign, he levied a body of troops and marched against
Birague, retook Saluzzo, and soon after reconquered
* The house of Montmorency had a claim on the marquisate from the
alliance of the grandfather of the constable Anne de Montmorency with
a daughter of Saluzzo. So remote, however, was the claim, that it had
never been asserted by the princes of Montmorency.
210 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578 —
the entire territory. This affair had been the cause of
violent recriminations between Damville and the mar-
shal ; the which, for their own tortuous purposes, were
still fomented by king Henry and his mother.
Such being the condition of affairs in the south-
eastern provinces of the realm, Catherine resolved upon
a progress thither during the winter of the year 1578.
As soon as her majesty's intentions were made public
the queen of Navarre requested permission to accom-
pany her mother to rejoin the king her husband. Ab-
sent from Paris Marguerite anticipated greater freedom,
and increased opportunity to intrigue for the aggran-
dizement of her favourite brother ; while in case of the
demise of the due d'Anjou, her residence in Beam
would insure her immunity from any retaliation which
the king might devise for past misdemeanours. On the
other hand, the sight of his sister had become odious to
Henry. The licence of her life, and her unquenchable
resistance to his will irritated him beyond endurance.
Her devotion for the due d'Anjou, who had taken up
arms in defiance of the command of his majesty and
the advice of the council, rendered her temporary with-
drawal from the capital expedient ; while the undis-
guised sympathy which subsisted between Marguerite
and the due de Guise threatened evils of even greater
import. Henry, moreover, owed his sister a still more
deadly grudge ; he regarded her as accessory to, if not
the principal contriver of, the death of Quelus and St
Megrin. He knew that the blood of du Guast had
been shed in expiation of the wrong done to his sister
in her girlhood ; and his majesty remained too uncom-
fortably conscious of that period of secret slander and
persecution ever to hope, to regain Marguerite's friend-
ship. Henry, therefore, was eager at this period to
concede to the queen of Navarre the long-coveted per-
mission to depart. During their farewell interview,
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 211
Henry nevertheless thought fit to comment reproach-
fully on their frequent misunderstandings. He assured
his sister that he harboured towards her no ill-will ; and
he prayed for the benefit of her mediation in the ap-
proaching conferences in the south. " Mad:nnc'," said
Henry, " a little reflection will convince you how bene-
ficial to your interests my friendship might be. The
friendship borne towards you by Monsieur our brother
can only bring you ruin, while mine could endow you with
comfort and prosperity." The king of Navarre having
intimated his unwillingness to confer with Catherine,
unless the queen his wife were first restored to him
content with the treatment she had received from her
brother, and with her dowry paid, Henry commanded
that his sister's pecuniary affairs should be investigated
and settled to her satisfaction. As a parting gift his
majesty assigned the queen an additional pension on his
own resources, and presented her himself with the act
of donation.*
Queen Catherine and her daughter Marguerite set
out at the commencement of the month of August,
1578, attended by a numerous suite. Their first sojourn
after quitting the capital was made at Olinville, where
the king met them, to flatter his sister, and to hold a last
conference with his mother. Catherine was intrusted
by her son with unlimited powers. The king wrote to
Damville and to the other disaffected chieftains letters,
which his mother was to deliver or not at her pleasure ;
powers were moreover confided to the queen to amplify,
if necessary, the concessions granted to the Calvinist
population of the south by the Edict of Poitiers. "Every
one, therefore," writes Davila, " received the decisions
of the queen as so many oracles ; the king her son
having remitted all authority into her hands, solacing
* Vie de Marguerite de Valois, par le Pere Mongez. M«5iu. de Mar-
guerite de Valois.
212 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
himself, meantime, with splendid pageants and banquet-
ings." From Olinville Catherine and her court pro-
ceded to Poitiers ; and from thence to La Reole, at
which place her majesty was received by the king of
Navarre at the head of a brilliant troop of five hundred
cavaliers, his adherents. The meeting between Mar-
guerite and her husband, despite their alleged impa-
tience to rejoin each other, was not cordial. After a
brief interview the king of Navarre returned to Nerac,
while Marguerite and her mother took up their abode
at Port Ste. Marie, a small place six miles distant.
During her residence at Ste. Marie, Catherine occupied
herself in adjusting the dispute which had arisen be-
tween the marechal Biron and the king of Navarre re-
lative to some small places in Guyenne ; as until he had
obtained satisfaction upon this point, the king refused
either to receive back again his wife or to agree to the
conference, the object of her majesty's journey. Ca-
therine, therefore, for greater personal security, returned
to La Reole ; and during the frivolous and angry dis-
cussions which ensued, she quietly effected numerous
reforms for the tranquillity of the provinces of Limou-
sin and Poitou ; re-establishing the Romish ritual in
many places from whence it had been banished ; re-
calling the priests, and restoring to them their revenues.
She moreover received despatches from the Catholic
communities of Guyenne and Lower Navarre. Catherine
likewise made overtures of reconciliation to the prince
de Conde, who was residing at St. Jean d'Angely, aloof
from allies whom he deemed lukewarm, and even apos-
tates from the cause of religion and liberty. The queen
invited Conde to visit her at La Reole, and even pro-
posed for his acceptance the hand of Marguerite de
Lorraine, sister of queen Louise.* The prince made no
objection to the alliance, but excused himself from ap-
* This princess was afterwards married to the due de Joyeuse.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 213
pearing before the queen on the plea of poverty, as his
finances were too low to enable him to present himself
with a suitable cortege.
Meantime, the king of Navarre professed himself
satisfied with the reparations made him by Biron, his
majesty's lieutenant over Guyenne, and therefore avowed
his readiness to receive his consort at the court of
Nerac, provided Marguerite consented that their mar-
riage might previously be solemnized again according to
the reformed ritual. This proposition was firmly re-
jected by queen Catherine, who indignantly reproached
her son-in-law for his dishonourable trifling respecting
the wife whose return he had, on more than one occa-
sion, so strenuously solicited. Whilst this squabble
still pended, Marguerite, as queen of Navarre and con-
sort of the governor of Guyenne, made her public entry
into Bordeaux with extraordinary splendour. The
beauty of the young queen kindled vivid enthusiasm
in the bosom of the loyal Bordelais ; her grace, and
facility of repartee, seemed to them absolutely marvel-
lous, as Marguerite profusely lavished those blandish-
ments which had been found irresistible even by the
most blase of Henry's courtiers. She insisted upon
replying spontaneously to the harangues addressed to
her by the parliament and clergy of Bordeaux ; and the
delight of the people was intense as, radiant in beauty
and attire, Marguerite fearlessly stepped in advance of
her suite, and spoke in those melodious accents upon
which Brantome rapturously expatiates.* Catherine
is said to have experienced intense satisfaction on hear-
ing of the triumphs of her daughter. One of Mar-
guerite's most bitter satirists at the court of Beam had
been the young vicomte de Turenne. In this hour of
* Brantdme : Vie de Marguerite de Valois. Me"m. de Sully, du Due
de Bouillon. Relations des Ambassadeurs Venetiens sur les Affaires de
France au Seizieme Sifecle. Eelazione cli Lippomano.
214 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578 —
triumph, therefore, the queen turned the fascination of
her charms on the vicomte, whom she was aware that
her husband eminently trusted. Like most other men,
Turenne was not proof against the smiles of the royal
siren ; and his feud even with the family of Duras soon
acquired a secondary importance, in his estimation,
to that of pleasing Marguerite. With such a colleague,
the queen of Navarre doubted not to obtain a speedy
and honourable installation at Nerac. She accompanied
her mother, however, to Toulouse, where Catherine was
greeted with acclamation by the inhabitants of that
orthodox city. The queen was here joined by Biron,
Pibrac, Joyeuse, and la Mothe-Fenelon, all statesmen
of zeal and capacity, who presented themselves to aid
her majesty at the approaching conference. The due
de Damville also visited the queen to make " his sub-
mfssion," which, however, comprehended neither the
resignation of his government, nor a dutiful visit of
reparation to the court of Henry III. A courier from
the king, moreover, presented the due with the fol-
lowing condescending letter, written throughout by the
hand of his royal master : —
HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE TO THE MARECHAL
DUG DE DAMVILLE.
Mon Cousin, — I have sent back Chartiers, your secretary.
You know whether I once loved you or not. I write, therefore,
to assure you, that if you will do me the great service of helping
me to restore unity and tranquillity throughout my realm, my
ancient affection will at once revive. It is my earnest desire to
behold my kingdom prosperous and devoted to one faith, and
that the holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic. I explain myself
without reserve to you, as to a true and orthodox son of the
church. I promise, in order that you may trust me more entirely,
always to reserve an ear for you, that you may defend yourself at
any time when others accuse you to me ; as it is my will and de-
sire to accept, and to recognise you as my loyal subject, on the
1579. J HIS COURT AND TIMES. 215
performance by you of those virtuous deeds which your said se-
cretary assured me were contemplated by you.
I pray God, mon cousin, to have you ever more in His holy
keeping.
Your good master,
HENRY.*
Thus conjured, Damville commenced his negotiations
with queen Catherine more in the tone of a victorious
conqueror than in the humble guise of a pardoned
rebel, the penalty of whose treason had been re-
mitted.
Meanwhile, the ecclesiastical restorations effected by
the queen's authority, and other enterprises sanctioned
by Biron, gave great umbrage to the Calvinist chief-
tains ; and Turenne was a second time deputed to re-
monstrate. Catherine gave a cold reception to the
envoy sent by her son-in-law, and told him " that the
king of Navarre might look only for such accidents so
long as he persisted in refusing to receive back his con-
sort, or to appoint a place for the conferences which
were to adjust for the future all similar differences."
Turenne expressed the anxious desire of his master to
receive queen Marguerite. Catherine thereupon inti-
mated that, if such were the case, the king of Navarre
might meet her at Auch, whither she was proceeding
in a few days ; and, meantime, she would write and
command the cessation of the enterprises of which his
majesty complained. Turenne being himself a contu-
macious subject, and a refugee in Navarre from the pro-
ceedings instituted against la Mole and Coconnas dur-
ing the days of Catherine's last regency, her majesty
was pleased, moreover, to add a few obliging expressions
as regarded his own case, provided that he disposed the
* MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de B3th, No. 8844, fol. 4. Paris, 1579. Fon-
tanieu, 348 and 349.
216 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
mind of his royal master to accept the propositions she
was shortly intending to proffer.*
The king of Navarre and his- suite, therefore, re-
paired at the specified time to Auch, and there took up
their abode in a mansion appertaining to M. de Roque-
laure. The queens, on the day that Henri arrived,
were abroad enjoying the pastime of entrapping wild
doves and wood-pigeons in nets, a sport which was
deemed highly entertaining in that part of the country.
"The royal pair" (Marguerite and Henri), says Tur-
enne, who was a spectator of the interview, "saluted
each other, and indicated by their demeanour a greater
inclination to forget their quarrels than they had ever
done before. Afterwards her majesty's musicians ap-
peared, and we all began to dance." f The beautiful
maidens in the suite of queen Catherine had their share
during this day in mollifying the heart of the king of
Navarre, and in rendering him more susceptible of the
political influence which the queen-mother wished to
establish. Madame de Sauve, now a widow, moreover,
was in attendance on Catherine, and scrupulously
obeyed the directions of her royal mistress. But the
charms of mademoiselle Dayelle, a beautiful Italian
girl of comparatively plebeian origin, and of mademoi-
selle Davila, sister of the historian of that name, a
Cypriote by birth, seemed to be fairly winning from
Henri more concessions than the most elaborate of
Catherine's appeals. The rural ball was thus merrily
proceeding, when suddenly d'Armagnac, valet-de-chambre
to the king of Navarre, presented himself, and approach-
ing Turenne, he whispered earnestly in the viscount's
ear. At a sign from Turenne, Armagnac then accosted
his royal master, and imparted the intelligence which
had just arrived of the sudden seizure of the garrison
. du Due de Bouillon, 1'ann^e 1578.
f Ibid.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 217
of La Reole by the Catholic party — which place had
been lent by the king of Navarre for the residence of
Catherine, under the strongest possible pledges for its
eventual restoration. Henri managed to dissemble his
indignation, and continued his discourse. After the
sensation occasioned by the mysterious appearance of
Armagnac had somewhat subsided, Henri rose and an-
nounced his intention of going to meet queen Catherine,
and escort her back to Auch ; for the queen, after re-
maining during part of the afternoon a spectatress of
the fete, had departed to take the recreation of an air-
ing with madame de Montpensier and others, through
the picturesque environs of the town. Henri rode up to
the queen's coach, and raising his cap and white panache,
abruptly said, " Madame, we trusted that your presence
would have extinguished these our troubles, instead of
which, it appears that you excite them. I am his ma-
jesty's true subject. Would that there may be found as
many inclined to promote his majesty's welfare as there
seem to be enemies to retard it." — " My son, what is
this that you are telling me ? " asked the queen, greatly
surprised. " Madame, La Reole has been taken by
your troops ! " rejoined the king of Navarre. Catherine,
appearing still more astonished, turned towards Biron,
who was sitting at the door of the coach, and asked the
marshal if he knew of such event. " No, madame, no,"
replied Biron.* The king of Navarre, nevertheless,
despite this affectation of ignorance, refused to return
with Catherine to Auch ; and putting spurs to his
horse, he entered the same night the little town of
Florence,! in Armagnac, the royal garrison of which he
* Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III. liv. vii. p. 446.
\ When Catherine learned the capture of Florence, she laughed
heartily, exclaiming, "Je vois bien que c'est la revanche de la Re*ole,
et que le roy de Navarre a voulu faire chou pour chou ; niais la mien
est mieux pomme"." — Economies Roy ales, politiques et militaires,
chap. x.
218 IIENKY III. KING OF FllANCE, [1578 —
expelled, and then retired to Nerac. Here the king
resolutely declined to treat until the restoration of St.
Reole had been conceded. A compromise was at length
agreed upon — the place was restored to the Calvinists ;
but the sieur d'Ussac, a faithful adherent of the house
of Valois, although a convert from Rome, was nomi-
nated its governor, instead of Henri's trusty servant
M. de Favas.
The conferences of Nerac then opened, the queen
and her daughter sojourning during this interval at
Agen. The object of this meeting was to explain and
render more precise the meaning and action of the
edict of Poitiers, called by Henry "his own edict."
This treaty, like many others negotiated during this
reign, had been signed, ratified, registered, and never
executed — or, at most, only partially, and in minor de-
tails. During the whole of the winter of 1578, the
royal deputies, and the members of the reformed
churches selected to confer with them by the king of
Navarre, continued to wrangle on the interpretation of
the various clauses of this edict. At length, on the
last day of February of the ensuing year, 1579, twenty-
nine articles being agreed upon — all favourable to the
liberty and extension of the Protestant churches of the
south — were signed by Catherine, and countersigned by
Biron, Joyeuse, Lansac, Fenelon, and Pibrac. Never-
theless, these articles, themselves explanatory of a pre-
vious edict, were, on the departure of the queen, deemed
so indefinite as to require, during the course of the fol-
lowing year, a third conference for their elucidation.
On their signature, however, they were accepted with
vehement joy ; while the fetes given at Nerac on the
occasion were presided over by Marguerite, now out-
wardly reconciled with the king her husband. From
Agen the queen-mother preceded again to Toulouse,
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 219
still attended by Damville. As the penetrating judg-
ment of this princess enabled her to descry and obviate
the cause of much bitterness to ward the government,
so the insinuating condescension of her demeanour re-
vived the waning loyalty of the south. The majority
of the inhabitants of Guyenne, Beam, and of portions
of Languedoc associated the era of bigotry, ignorance,
and retrogression with the rule of the Valois ; they were
men who, under the vigorous and enlightened sway of
Jeanne d'Albret and her son, had been taught to reason
acutely, and to act deliberately. Their reformed faith,
and its consequent hardy speculations and analysis of
motives and doctrine, had shaken the notion so sacredly
cherished during preceding centuries of their responsi-
bility to kingly power. Catherine carefully avoided
collision with these newly aroused convictions. Her
mission was one of conciliation. Instead of promul-
gating edicts by the absolute authority of the crown,
she assembled the States of Languedoc at Castelnaudry,
and there had the art to make it appear that the re-
forms which she deemed indispensable for the main-
tenance of the royal authority, were concessions granted
by her to the importunity of the members. She, more-
over, presented the edict of Poitiers and its commentary
of Nerac to the parliament of Toulouse, and commanded
that august body to institute processes, and deliver
judgments only in strict obedience to its enactments.
Having thus calmed the exasperation which before
her arrival threatened to overthrow the government,
Catherine bade farewell at Castelnaudry to the king
and queen of Navarre, and proceeded to Narbonne.
From thence she journeyed to Beziers, Pezenas, La
Verune, and to Grenoble, pacifying the feuds of the fac-
tions by wise concessions and promises. At Grenoble
the due de Savoye met the queen, to mediate between
220 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
her majesty and the marechal de Bellegarde, whose
treasonable seizure of Saluzzo had inspired the greatest
alarm throughout Italy, lest war should once more en-
velope that devoted land. The queen had sent a man-
date commanding Bellegarde to appear at Grenoble and
justify his violent proceedings. The duke of Savoy,
however, prayed her majesty not to take it ill if Belle-
garde failed to obey her command and present himself
within the French territory ; nevertheless, if the queen
would proceed within the dominion of Savoy, the mar-
shal was willing and anxious to cast himself at her feet.
Catherine, though indignant at this bold demand, had
too much at heart the pacification she was negotiating
to recede. She therefore replied that, during her ap-
proaching sojourn at Lyons, she would proceed to the
duke's frontier town of Monluel, and there grant
audience to M. de Bellegarde.
King Henry, on the departure of Catherine from
Olinville, continued his progress to Fontainebleau,
where he made a sojourn of several months. The
favoured abode and hunting palace of Francis I. and
Henry II. was, however, little appreciated by their suc-
cessor Henry III. The gardens, once unrivalled in
the world for the rarity of the flowers and shrubs col-
lected from every known country by Francis I., had
been suffered to grow into a tangled wrilderness ; wrhile
the noble lake, the work of Henry II., was choked up
with rubbish, and its numerous fountains, many of ex-
quisite design, falling into ruin.
After the decease of Quelus, Villequier temporarily
resumed his influence over the mind of Henry, and in-
stalled his son-in-law Franpois d'O in the place of first
chamberlain, rendered vacant by the death of the for-
mer. In the king's band, however, were two cavaliers
destined to distance all competitors for the royal favour,
and whose influence remained pre-eminent. These were
1579.]
HIS COURT AND TIMES.
221
Anne de Joyeuse, son of the marechal de Joyeuse, a
cavalier whose pretensions could scarcely exceed his
illustrious birth ; and Jean Louis Nogaret de la Valette,
the descendant of a noble and valiant race, one of whose
ancestors, the famous Gascon warrior Nogaret, had
raised an impious band to smite the supreme pontiff
Boniface VIIL, when the latter was seized at Anagni
by Sciarra Colonna. Not even the most captious of
Henry's censors found himself at liberty to ridicule his
majesty's new proteges, for none, save, perhaps, the
princes of Guise could surpass them in valour, accom-
plishments, or in princely lineage, then considered as
almost the only legitimate passport to royal favour.
So far the pretensions of Joyeuse and la Yalette were
unimpeachable ; elated, however, by the royal favour
they demeaned themselves arrogantly, and alienated
those who surpassed them in experience, and in that
sagacious penetration which results only from long ex-
perience in politics.
In Paris, meantime, the state of public feeling was
far from reassuring. On the departure of Catherine
for the south, she had incautiously summoned the due
de Guise from his retreat at Joinville and requested
him to reside in the capital. Probably this measure
was adopted in the hope of balancing the influence of
the hostile parties by the presence of Guise ; or perhaps
even with the view of neutralizing during her absence
the political manoeuvres of the princes of Lorraine by
bringing their chief within the observation of the king's
principal ministers, Villequier and Cheverny, men never
renowned for their foresight or powers of penetration;
Thus when the queen of Navarre quitted the capital,
the due de Guise permanently took up his residence
therein. He entered Paris escorted by a body-guard
of six hundred horsemen ; and from this period, while
Marguerite from without continued to intrigue against
222 HENKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1578—
her brother's crown, Guise fomented the divisions and
factions of the capital. Skilfully did these subtle allies
undermine the once fair and -stately fabric of the
monarchy. Stone after stone they gradually dislodged,
until no foundation remained whereon to balance the
lofty pretensions of the princes of Lorraine, which
perished with the dynasty that had originated and
fostered them ; while Marguerite, the last of her race,
lived to behold herself, as partly the result of her rest-
less intrigues, crownless, homeless, and friendless — a
suppliant in the halls of her kindred, then the heritage
of a Bourbon, the son of Jeanne d'Albret.
Neither was the intelligence received from the pro-
vinces likely to inspire greater confidence and obedience
in the capital. The due de Mayenne had partially sup-
pressed the disaffection in Burgundy ; but still the local
parliaments refused to register decrees for the levy of
fresh taxes, and returned the mandates to the privy
council. Other provinces, including Picardy and Bre-
tagne, sent deputies to Paris to represent to the king
the impossibility of levying new imposts, and showing
that such was the impoverished condition of the
country, that the people petitioned to be even relieved
from the payment of the established taxation. The
demonstration made by the rich and important province
of Normandy was still more uncompromising. The
States peremptorily intimated to the governor that no
levy of new taxes would be proposed or permitted.
When the state of public feeling sunk to the lowest
ebb of disaffection, it had always been the practice of
the French government adroitly to open a fresh channel
for popular speculation and discussion ; and thus by a
skilful application of the national characteristic of in-
constancy, the repute of many a statesman had been
rescued and the realm preserved from collapse. Henry,
therefore, immediately on his return from Fontainebleau,,
1579.] HIS COUUT AND TIMES. 223
affixed his royal signature to a resume of the ordinances
made in 1577 by the States of Blois, in so far as they
were thought by the cabinet to be beneficial to the
nation and advantageous to the reigning dynasty.* The
arbitrary withholding of this document during the
period of two years, under the pretext that before these
ordinances passed into laws they needed revision by the
cabinet, had been one of the sharpest of the popular
grievances. The edict as presented by the king to the
parliament of Paris contained three hundred and sixty-
three articles, all of excellent import, and advocating a
legislative progress of astonishing comprehensiveness,
considering the impediments and the cruel controversies
which agitated the deputies assembled at Blois. Many
of these ordonnances still remain on the statute-book of
France to this day, and are distinguished as the Code
Henri. The publication of this important and really
patriotic edict was received as a promising omen of a
more enlightened administration. To restore completely
the good humour of his still sullen liegemen of Paris,
the king resolved to treat them to a grand pageant,
such as their chivalrous ancestors in days of yore de-
lighted in, before financial difficulties and mal-adminis-
tration had induced the people to peer too closely be-
neath the gauds of royalty. The grand cross of St.
Michael the Archangel, the order of knighthood insti-
tuted in 1469 by Louis XL in his castle of Amboise,
had been so abused during the civil wars by lavish dis-
tribution, that it might be seen glittering on the breast
of the imperial chief of Hapsburg and on that of the
lowest of his majesty's maitres-d'hotel. The order,
therefore, had fallen into great disrepute, and was called
in derision " Collier a toutes betes." The king for this
reason had long contemplated the institution of a new
military order of knighthood dedicated to the Holy
* De Thou.
224 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
Ghost, in perpetual commemoration that the most re-
markable events of his life had befallen him on the
day of Pentecost ; thereby meaning, his accession to the
crowns of Poland and France, and his coronation at
Rheims on Whit-Sunday, of the years 1573, 1574-5.
Henry had also a deeper motive for the institution of
his order ; he desired to employ its badge as a brilliant
bribe to lure back into the fold of the church the great
Calvinist nobles, by tempting them to join an illus-
trious militia whose oaths and statutes bound its mem-
bers to the closest communion with Rome, and implicit
obedience to the king. In the institution of this order
another important design had actuated the king, one
originally suggested by Catherine de Medici and the
deceased cardinal de Lorraine ; this was, that while his
majesty implored the benison of the church by the
dedication of his order to promote her temporal pros-
perity, he likewise intended that the collar of St. Esprit
should diminish and restrain the wealth and influence
of the Gallican prelates. In furtherance of this
design, Henry towards the close of the year 1578
despatched M. de 1'Aubespine to Rome to present to
his Holiness the draught of the statutes of the new
order ; and likewise to make urgent petition that a
yearly sum of 200,000 gold crowns* might be charge-
able on the united revenues of old abbeys and priories
throughout the realm, to be applied for the foundation
of Commanderies for his knights of the Holy Ghost.
When ecclesiastical revenues to the amount indicated
by the king had passed from the control of the chap-
ters into the hands of his leading favourites, Henry
would have found his churchmen much more amenable
to the mandates of the crown. The clergy generally,
however, when they learned that it was the king's de-
sign to model the constitution of his order on the great
* Or, 60,OOOZ. sterling.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 225
military fraternities of Spain ; and, moreover, to adopt
the system of the enconiiendas there attached to each
grand-mastership, raised so violent a storm of protest
and clamor that Gregory XIII. declined to authorize
the appropriations demanded. Henry, therefore, was
compelled to content himself with brilliant titles of
honour, and to endow his knights with courtly privi-
leges instead of substantial benefices. The motto of the
new order was Duce et Auspice ; the cross is of gold
enamelled, with eight rays, having & fleur-de-lis at every
angle. In the centre is a dove of silver, and on the
reverse of the cross a St. Michael.
This St. Esprit was suspended from the neck by an
azure-coloured ribbon. The collar was composed of the
letters H and M, entwined and linked with three letters
of the Greek alphabet. These mysterious cyphers
created at the time great scandal, as they were sup-
posed to be the initial letters of the names of Henry's
mistresses.* So great was the sense of the indecorum
of this device, that at the first chapter of the order
holden by Henri IV. after his accession, the collar was
abolished, and another substituted composed of fleurs-de-
lis interwoven with tongues of fire, and the cypher H
crowned with festoons and trophies. The robes of the
knight were so sumptuous and so costly, that eventually
few, during the reign of Henry III., could accept the
order without mortgaging their lands to pay for their
equipment. The grand mantle was of black velvet
lined with orange satin. It was embroidered in gold
with fleurs-de-lis, tongues of fire, and the cyphers and
devices of the king wrought in silver. The cloak was
of cloth of gold embroidered with silver doves, and with
* The mysterious letters were L, D, and I. The knights were limited
to one hundred. — Ce're'monies observees a 1'Institution de 1'Ordre du
Saint Esprit, Janvier, 1579. — Paris, 1579. Archives Curieuses. DeThou.
226
HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578 —
the same devices. The doublet and haut-de-chausses
of the knights were composed of cloth of silver ; their
shoes and the scabbards of their swords were of white
velvet, and their caps of black velvet. Every knight
displayed habitually a large orange cross on his cloak,
and wore suspended from his neck a small St. Esprit,
which was never laid aside. The statutes of the order
were numerous ; the six principal rules, however, de-
creed that each knight should take the oath of alle-
giance to the king, and of obedience to the supremacy
of Rome ; he bound himself to hear mass once a day,
to recite daily ten paters and ten aves, the litany of the
St. Esprit, and the seven penitential psalms. He was
bound to confess his sins at least twice in the year, and
on Whit-Sunday and New Year's day to communicate,
wearing the collar of his order. He was, moreover,
expected to pray for the king daily, and to recite, on
the decease of the sovereign, a De Prof undis and the
psalm " Inclina, Domine."
The ceremony of the installation of the knights took
place in the church of the Augustinians on the last day
of the year 1578. Vespers being chanted, the king
rose from his throne and approached the high altar,
and kneeling took the oath as grand-master, his con-
fessor, the bishop of Auxerre, officiating. His majesty
bound himself and his successors never to dispense with
the statute, which enforced the constant reception of the
Eucharist by the knights ; or to give the order to other
than gentlemen, who could prove three degrees of nobility
on the paternal side, and of repute orthodox and moral.
The prelate then invested his majesty with the robes
and insignia of the order ; after which Henry took
his place on a golden chair, and commenced to create
his knights, the Bishop of Auxerre administering the
oaths. The cavaliers were twenty-six in number.
Amongst those selected for the honour were the dues
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 227
de Nevers, d'TJzez, Mercoeur, and d'Aumale, the comtes
de Tende, de Gonnor, and de Retz, MM. de Villequier,
Balsac, Estrees, de Grammont, and de Strozzi. In this
list of noble personages, it is to be remarked that not
one prince of the house of Guise-Lorraine, excepting
the due d'Aumale, is mentioned. The alienation be-
tween the royal house and that of Guise must at this
period have been notable, when its members were not
included amongst the recipients of an order founded
ostensibly for the defence of the Holy Roman Faith.
The following day being New Year's day, 1579, the
king and his knights attended high mass. The church
of the Augustinians was filled with a brilliant assem-
blage of ambassadors, nobles, and prelates. Queen
Louise, attended by a numerous retinue, was present.
The nave of the church was lined with a double file of
Scotch and Swiss guards, between which the procession
defiled. First marched the three hundred gentlemen
of the king's household, armed with their battleaxes,
preceding the newly created knights, who walked two
and two, arrayed in their robes. Last of all came king
Henry marching alone, and wearing his royal mantle and
the collar and badge of the St. Esprit. The mass was
chanted by the bishop of Auxerre and other prelates,
after which the knights partook of the Holy Sacrament.
During the remainder of the day, high festival was holden
in the Louvre. The palace resounded with revelry ;
banquets were given in different apartments to the
ladies of the court, the nobles, prelates, and ambas-
sadors, each order being separately regaled. The king
entertained the chevaliers du St. Esprit, and that day
admitted no other guests to his table. At vesper hour
all the personages present again repaired to the church,
where, in strange contrast to the festive scene they had
just quitted, the office for the dead was intoned. The
same ceremonial was repeated on the following day,
228 HENEY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1578—
when the knights were declared to be duly inaugurated.
Their number was definitively limited to one hundred ;
and by the express desire of Henry they retained the
title of knight-commanders. In order to give a sem-
blance of reality to that hollow title, the king assigned
to each knight a pension on the privy purse of 1000
crowns.*
The expectations of the due d'Anjou in the Low
Countries, meanwhile, were far from having been realized;
neither had the decided step which the duke had taken
in repairing to Mons been followed by the advantages
anticipated by the Flemings. Instead of sending an
army to the aid of his brother, the king of France
apologized to his royal allies for the rash measure into
which Monsieur had been betrayed. The queen of
England vouchsafed no sign of alliance ; the palatine
Casimir treated Monsieur as an ally uncertain and
possibly treacherous ; Catherine shed profuse tears over
the wilful folly of " son fils egare" and did her best,
when in the south, to impede the levies of la Noue and
to defeat the military projects of the latter.
Under these circumstances comte Lalain excused
himself from yielding either Mons and its province of
Hainault, or the towns stipulated by treaty, to the
French, until Monsieur should have accomplished some
act, other than merely joining the confederates with a
body of mercenaries. Lalain treated the duke with
profound respect, but narrowly watched his movements,
"" every one distrusting the professions of Monsieur,
who, for a few moments, like a fire of straw, blazed
terribly, and then as swiftly subsided." Not one
French trooper beyond the stipulated number would
* Relazione di Girolamo Lippomano, Ambasciadore en Francia, scritto
dal BUG secretaria, nelP anno 1577-9. Journal de Henri III. Dupleix
Harlot : Theatre d'Honneur.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 229
Lalain permit to enter Mons ; and thus coerced and
angered, the petulant spirit of Monsieur rebelled when
he beheld himself controlled by allies over whom he
had hoped to reign. Soon pecuniary straits befell the
duke : his household at Mons was conducted on a scale
^f princely liberality, all persons being entertained who
presented themselves to partake of his hospitality. The
thrifty Flemings, nevertheless, refused to advance a
groschen for the relief of their royal ally, whom, in
truth, they treated more like a prisoner under surveil-
lance than a prince whom they had hailed as their
deliverer. The transmission of the duke's immense
revenue into Flanders had been thwarted in every way,
short of actual prohibition by the king. Accordingly
the debts of Monsieur accumulated ; until one morning
a creditor more rapacious than his fellows, actually
procured an order from Lalain to seize and sell by
auction the silver plate, and the harness, and caparisons
appertaining to the stables of the royal defaulter.* The
just indignation of Monsieur at this insult was so great,
that he vowed to quit the ungrateful and perfidious city.
He first forbade the sale of the property seized ; and
after despatching a courier to Paris, to borrow the sum
required for its redemption from the king his brother,
he retired to Conde, a town thirty-six miles distant.
From thence Monseiur marched and captured the towns
of Bins and Maubeuge ; but Quesnoy and Landrecy,
places which had been assigned to the French as guar-
antees by the States, refused to admit the duke, and
repulsed his efforts to reduce their garrisons. Monsieur
then retired to his own castle of Alen9on very much
* " Ma (ch'era peggio) in quei medesimi giorni con poco respetto della
sua persona erano state vendute lesue vassella d'argento, e le sua stalla
all' incanto publico, per debito fatto per le sue spese in Mons. Oude
sdegnatosi, s'era retirato a CondeV'— Viaggio di Lippomano.
230
HEttKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1578—
chagrined at the issue of the campaign.* From thence
he addressed a letter to the States of Flanders, stating
the cause which had induced him to retire into France,
and making bitter complaints of the discourtesy he had
met with, after having complied with the urgent en-
treaty of Lalain that he would repair to Mons. He
commented angrily on the conduct of the palatine
Casimir, the protege of the English queen, who had
declined at his summons to quit Ghent and join the
army of the States ; and contrasted it with his own
zeal, exemplified, as Monsieur stated, by the presence
of la Noue and his three thousand mercenaries, who
were ready to encounter the veteran hosts of don Juan
and the prince of Parma. Monsieur, nevertheless,
graciously promised not to abandon the party of the
States, and pledged himself to return to Flanders, after
having successfully advocated the cause with the king
his brother and with Elizabeth queen of England.
From Alen9on the duke proceeded to Angers, de-
pressed in spirits, and irritated by the constant feuds
raised by the turbulent Bussy d'Amboise, who, on some
slight quarrel with Dangeau, another of Monsieur's
gentlemen, had challenged and killed his opponent.
The duke, meantime, had formed his resolve to return
to Paris ; he had been made to feel that the united
opposition of his mother and brother was a barrier he
could not surmount. The silence of queen Elizabeth
had testified her resentment at his unauthorized enter-
prise, and at the jealousies subsisting between himself
and her champion the palatine Casimir. Besides, the
death of M. de Quelus removed one grand obstacle
against Monsieur's return to the court. The disturbed
condition of the northern provinces of the realm con-
* MS. Historia tumultuum Belgicorum a discessu Philippi II. His-
paniarum Regis usque ad obitum Fraiicisci Valesii, die 10 Junii, 1584.—
Joannes Asseliers, quoted by Andre, Bibl. des Ecrivains de Flanders.
1579.] HIS COUUT AND TIMES. 231
vinced him of welcome there ; as Henry, with much
want of tact, had betrayed the greatest apprehension
lest his brother should espouse the cause of the mal-
contents. Monsieur was further induced to make con-
ciliatory overtures to his brother by his chagrin at the
conduct of M. de Bussy. When once the hold relaxed
by which any favourite had coerced the feeble will of
the due d'Anjou, his fall was immediate. Monsieur
knew no medium in his impulses — he became either a
victim or a tyrant. With feelings thus alienated, Bussy
had given Monsieur deadly offence, while playing toge-
ther with other cavaliers at a game called gabbes, then
very popular. The pastime consisted in a vituperative
sparring, each personage taunting his neighbour on
some defect, mental, bodily, or accidental ; a dangerous
game at all times, but one especially so when a royal
prince condescended to invite sarcastic comment. The
duke bitterly lashed Bussy on the ferocious violence of
his temper, which, he said, made many shun his society;
and then insisted that he should retort, according to
the laws of the game. Bussy at first declined ; but
irritated by the mocking laughter of his companions,
he rashly replied : " Monseigneur, I might be more
shunned — for everybody would totally avoid me, if my
personal appearance was as ill-conditioned as your own."
The due d Anjou upon this rose and put an end to the
game ; for the sneer of the imprudent Bussy had struck
keenly. The next day Monsieur sent for Bussy, and
coldly informed him that he was about to return to
Paris, but should not require his attendance, " as,"
said Monsieur pathetically, "my former secret flight
having occasioned so many false reports and surmises
prejudicial to the king my brother, I deem it my duty
to dissipate them by returning in the same private man-
ner. You will, therefore, remain here, fulfilling your
duties as governor of my fortress of Angers." In ac-
232 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578 —
cordance with his resolve, the due d'Anjou set out for
Paris, taking in his suite only M. de Chanvallon and two
valets-de-chambre. He reached "the Louvre on the
night of Monday, March 16th, at one o'clock, and,
without announcement whatever, hurried to the king's
bedchamber. Not meeting his brother there, he un-
ceremoniously entered the royal cabinet, where he found
the king. Villequier, d'O., Joyeuse, and la Valette
were leisurely disrobing their royal master, who had
just returned from a pilgrimage to the shrine of Notre
Dame de Chartres. Henry gazed for some moments
in astonishment on the truant ; he then threw his arms
round his brother, and shedding many tears, the two
exchanged a fraternal embrace.* So rejoiced was the
king to see his brother, and to be thereby relieved from
his fears touching Monsieur's probable proceedings, that
he dismissed his gentlemen ; and the brothers, after a
long and earnest conference, passed the night to-
gether, sleeping in the same bed. Monsieur took this
opportunity to request his brother's interposition on his
behalf in the affairs of the Netherlands, protesting his
intention ever to be subject to the crown of France.
He represented that if the king fairly embarked in the
enterprise, it would be a ready and efficient mode of
ridding the realm of France of factious subjects — men
whose bread depended on warfare ; that the queen of
England would gladly aid in driving the Spaniards from
Flanders ; moreover, that the alliance, offensive and
defensive, of France and England with the States, would
greatly aid in promoting his marriage with Elizabeth.
* Mem. de Cheverny. De Thou, liv. Ixviii. Viaggio di Lippomano.
"Monsignore stette quattro soli giorni con sua maest&, poi parti per
Angers, promettendo, come fece, di tornare in corte. E all'ora ogn'uno
rest6 chiaro che il demonio non fe mai cosi brutto come se dipinge. Di
modo che per gratitudine de cosi pronta e buona volontk sua maest& gli
don6 pill di ottocentomila franchi in manco di due mesi," writes the sar-
castic secretary of the Venetian ambassador.
1579.] ins COURT AND TIMKS. 233
The king demurely promised to give his brother every
aid and satisfaction in his power consistently with the
welfare of France. He counselled Monsieur to wait
the return of queen Catherine before further compro-
mising himself with the States ; and, meantime, to sound
the English ambassador as to the present dispositions
and future projects of Elizabeth, his royal mistress.
The following day the king assembled his council,
and communicated the return of his brother, expatiating
with satisfaction on the confidence reposed by Monsieur
in his fraternal affection. Such was his majesty's joy
at this event, that the court during the afternoon pro-
ceeded to La Sainte Chapelle, to return thanks to God
for this happy termination of the difference between the
royal brothers. Henry, moreover, presented his brother
with 800,000 francs ; this sum was to be paid by instal-
ments during the ensuing two months. Louis XI.
was wont to compare his realm of France to a spacious
and fertile meadow, the grass of which he plentifully
cut whenever he required fodder. The emperor Maxi-
milian I. likened the king of France to a shepherd, the
owner of sheep having golden fleeces, which suffered
themselves to be shorn whenever he commanded. The
unexampled profusion of king Henry, who distributed
his gold as if the ocean drifted ingots on his coasts,
must have afforded a subject of saddened reflection to
his people.
The royal gift, nevertheless, was one at the season
peculiarly acceptable to the due d'Anjou. His wooing
of the royal Elizabeth of England had been singularly
unprosperous ; and her majesty's recent replies to the
increased ardour of his suit might, like the Delphic
oracles of old, be equally construed to presage victory
or defeat. In return for the elaborate and respectful
epistles which Monsieur despatched monthly to London,
Elizabeth returned high-flown billets teeming with sen-
234 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1578 —
timent and prudery. The astute princess had many
political objects to serve by thus holding Monsieur in sus-
pense. Thereby she rendered the king of Navarre
and his Calvinists more submissive to her will, lest in a
moment of pique she might abandon their protection,
and become the daughter-in-law of queen Catherine.
Spain suspended for a brief season her dark conspiracies
against the bastard and heretic usurper, fearful for her
Flemish provinces, and lest Elizabeth in despair might
identify her cause with that of the royal house of France.
Henry III., restrained by the hope that at length the
diadem of the Tudor princes might circle the brow of
his brother, and thereby give the death-blow to the
expectations of the Protestants of France, demeaned
himself with indulgent courtesy. He refrained from
interfering in the affairs of Scotland, or from peremp-
torily demanding the release of his sister-in-law Mary
Stuart. He denounced in his despatches as vehemently
as even Elizabeth could desire, the cowardly attempts
made upon the life of the queen by Jesuit regicides. He
promised to endow Monsieur as the queen should dic-
tate ; and engaged to permit the marriage articles to be
drawn under the supervision of Cecil and the English
cabinet in all matters, excepting in such as might cur-
tail the privileges of Monsieur in respect to the private
exercise of his religion. The personal efforts of the
duke to propitiate Elizabeth were no less energetic.
He sent her verses composed by the king's favourite
bard Desportes, presents of the choicest products of
his appanages, and made her the gift of his portrait.
The libels of the day describe the features of the due
d'Anjou as presenting an aspect hideous and revolting.
That Monsieur's figure was diminutive and his face
marked by smallpox is no exaggeration ; and that he
could claim no distinction from beauty of person, even
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 235
his mother repeatedly avowed in her correspondence
with queen Elizabeth. Nevertheless he was far from
being the utterly repulsive object some have repre-
sented. "The due d'Anjou," says the minute and
veracious Lippomano, "has an open, jovial expression
of countenance ; his complexion is brown, and his face
marked with smallpox. His beard has only just com-
menced to grow, and his age is twenty-five. His figure
is not tall, but well proportioned. His hair is black and
curly, growing high on the forehead, which gives length
to his face. The duke does not care for active exer-
cises : he rides sometimes, but without grace. He
adopts a very conciliatory demeanour towards the
princes of Guise." Perhaps it might have been to
contradict the reports everywhere prevalent of his ex-
ceeding ugliness, that Monsieur now took the sudden
resolve of presenting himself before Elizabeth — at least
his subsequent deportment, when at the court of Eng-
land, seems to warrant this supposition. Some few
months previously, Monsieur had accredited his favourite
Simier as a special envoy to Elizabeth ; and the report
sent him by the former was so favourable, that the
duke spoke in positive terms of the eventual success
of his suit. Henry was not so sanguine, and re-
peatedly prayed his brother to await the return of
Catherine. The duke, however, anticipating vexatious
opposition from his mother, and determined at any cost
to accomplish his project, quitted Paris secretly ; and
provided with an ample passport by the English am-
bassador, he proceeded to Boulogne. Contrary winds,
however, detained him there for seven days, when, at-
tended only by Chanvallon and one other personage of
note, Monsieur crossed the Channel.
At Melun, meanwhile, an important synod of Roman
Oatholic prelates assembled during the months of July
236
HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578—
and August, 1579, to devise means for the reformation
of the church, and for appeasing the troubles everywhere
dominant. Henry without due reflection had granted
his license for the holding of this assembly. The saga-
cious Catherine would have observed thereon to her son,
that all previous ecclesiastical discussions had but ag-
gravated the evils they sought to reform ; and that in
the midst of the financial crisis which already had
paralyzed every ordinary resource of the government,
it were worse than folly to sanction this assemblage of
clergy, one of whose avowed objects it was to examine,
and perhaps repudiate, the pecuniary contracts of the
years 1561-7, entered into with the burgesses of Paris,
by which the church had guaranteed the payment of
the interest due on the city debt.* The queen, unfor-
tunately, was absent : this synod, therefore, assembled.
After some brief discussion, the bishop of Bazas was
deputed to remonstrate with the king on the shameful
misappropriation of ecclesiastical revenues. Henry
returned a conciliatory answer, and promised reform.
Two days subsequently the synod deputed 1'Angelier,
bishop of St. Brieu, coolly to propose to his majesty
the immediate publication of the canons of Trent and
the abolition of the concordat of Francis I., in order
to transfer again the right of election to vacant bishoprics
and abbeys from the king to the chapters. The long-
suffering of Henry even was not proof against the in-
solence and presumption of these demands, and he an-
grily dismissed the prelates. The next measure of the
synod, after entering a protest against the arbitrary
proceedings of their sovereign in matters ecclesiastical,
was to examine the financial contracts guaranteed on
the revenues of the Gallican church ; and for the liqui-
dation of the interest upon which, the tenths of certain
benefices had been devoted. After much factious dis-
* Les rentes de 1'Hotel cle Ville.
1579.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 237
cussion, it was unanimously resolved "that the clergy
of the realm, having sufficiently discharged the obliga-
tions contracted by them during the years 1561-7, re-
pudiate all further obligations and claims." * This
decision was duly notified to the municipality of Paris.
A violent tumult raged in the capital when this act
became public. The holders of the bonds disowned by
the prelates, enraged by this dishonest breach of con-
tract, assembled in armed bands, and perambulated the
capital, calling on the people to rise and emancipate
the country from the yoke of both king and priest.
The provost of the merchants, la Perreuse, at length
proceeded to the Palais de Justice to request the inter-
position of the Chambers, as the tumult hourly became
more menacing. The parliament promptly responded,
on the motion of Augustin de Thou, and issued decrees
summoning the recusant prelates to the bar of the
Chamber to prove their right to annihilate the com-
pact concluded between the church and the state, and
authorizing their arrest if found even beyond the juris-
diction of the parliament of Paris. These prompt mea-
sures saved the capital : the people laid down arms, and
waited the result. The prelates, members of the synod
of Melun, protested in consternation against this bold
invasion by the civil power on rights ecclesiastical and
prescriptive ; nevertheless, they were compelled to sub-
mit, after obtaining letters of evocation, which trans-
ferred the hearing of their plea from the Chambers to
the Council of State. Eventually a compromise was
effected, the assembly of Melun agreeing for the space
of ten years to continue to discharge the financial en-
* " On mit lea comptes au net, et 1'avis ge'ne'ral de I'assemblie f ut enfin,
que le clerg£ avait suffisamment satisfait aux obligations porters par ces
contrats, et qu'ils ne les engagoient plus. L'acte de cette resolution
fut dresse" le 15 d'Octobre, et Tassemble'e le fit signifier par un
huissier 11 de Decembre au prevot des niarchands, et aux dchevins." —
Be Thou. liv. Ixviii.
JIKMLY III. KING OF FRANC K, [1578—
gageraents contracted in the States of 1561.* Tims
everywhere throughout the realm assemblies were being
convened to attempt to set aside the acts of former
years and to enter into fresh leagues, often having only
a local action, in order to harass and coerce the govern-
ment. The leading member of each of these petty
leagues aspired to the title of regenerator of the realm,
as minister of state. Gradually, nevertheless, these
political sections were one after the other absorbed in
the mighty confederation gathering under the banner
of Spain and the Church. It was the secret mission
of La Sainte Ligue, during the period between the
closing of the States of Blois in 1578 and the year
1585, to foment the religious hates, to foster the as-
semblages of the factions of a district, to elevate one
grievance sharp and defined in character, above the
seething mass of general disaffection, and then to with-
draw further support. The local ihalcontents, there-
fore, fearful and irresolute, soon eagerly gave in their
adhesion to the Great League, with its princely leaders,
perfect organization, and strength.
The king, notwithstanding his grave altercations
with the synod of Melun, found leisure, during the
absence of the due d'Anjou, to avenge on M. de Bussy
the misdemeanors which had incurred the royal hatred.
The due d'Anjou had never forgiven his former favourite
the taunting speech or the arrogant demeanour, which
had so greatly moved his anger, during his late sojourn
at Angers. Bussy, at this period, was carrying on a
correspondence with the wife f of Charles de Chambres,
comte de Montsoreau, grand-huntsman to M. d'Anjou.
During the early days of the recent reconciliation be-
tween the king and Monsieur, Bussy wrote a confi-
dential epistle to his master detailing this intrigue, and
* De Thou. See last note,
t Marguerite de Maridos.
1579.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 239*
in which he used the expression, " that he had at
length completely lured the grand-huntsman's hind
into his net." The king was permitted by his brother
to peruse and retain the letter. No sooner, therefore,
had the duke embarked for England, than his majesty
summoned M. de Montsoreau, and placed Bussy's epistle
in his hand. The count forthwith returned home, and
while holding a dagger at his wife's throat, compelled
her to write and appoint an interview with Bussy at
La Coutanciere, a lone castle, a league distant from
Saumur. Bussy fell into the snare : he was admitted
to the apartment of the countess, and was there en-
countered by her husband and a band of men-at-arms.
A desperate conflict ensued, in which the bravery and
skill of Bussy insured him a temporary advantage even
when fighting against assailants so numerous. Bussy
at length fearlessly sprang from a window of the apart-
ment, and undoubtedly would have escaped, as he had
received only a slight wound during the fray, had not
his coat caught upon an iron hook which projected
from the wall beneath. Perceiving his advantage,
Montsoreau approached, and passed his sword through
the body of his victim as Bussy hung suspended over
the courtyard. The assassination of Bussy d'Amboise
produced not the slightest sensation at court ; nor could
his relatives, powerful as they were, procure the arraign-
ment of his murderer. A few witty epigrams on the
mode of Bussy's death ; a parody on his favourite boast
" that, though born only a simple gentleman, he had the
heart of an emperor ; " and the religious profession of
madame de Montsoreau, were the sole consequences of
the tragedy.* Brant6me asserts that the king directly
exhorted Montsoreau to avenge his honour ; and not
* Vie de BuBsy d'Amboise. Brantfime : HomineH Illustri-H.
di Lippomano. Fortune de la Cour, liv. iii. Diaconrs de M
Babutin & BOS Enfants.
240 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578 —
only promised him immunity after the contemplated
crime, but a substantial reward in case he succeeded in
slaying M. de Bussy.
These varied excitements, and the responsibility of
government, which during Catherine's absence weighed
heavily on the king, brought on a severe attack of ill-
ness. Henry was assailed with violent neuralgic pains
in the head ; and an abscess formed in his majesty's ear,
attended by the same symptoms as he had suffered
before under a similar seizure, soon after his accession.
During several days Henry continued so ill, that
couriers were despatched by Cheverny and Villequier to
the queen-mother, who was then at Lyons, and to the
due d'Anjou, summoning them to return without delay
to Paris, as the issue of the king's sickness was uncer-
tain. Subsequently Henry himself wrote to contradict
this statement, demonstrating much annoyance at the
hasty intimation, "as," said his majesty, "of all my
late maladies, there now only remains to me but a bad
toothache ! " *
Queen Catherine, during these transactions, had been
pursuing her negotiations in the south. Bellegarde met
her majesty, as had been promised by the due de Savoy,
at Monluel ; and after an ineffectual attempt to justify
his treasonable seizure of Saluzzo, demonstrated so
palpable a resolution not to make restitution, that the
queen, deeming the preservation of peace more im-
portant than the assertion of the king's right in this
affair, granted the marshal letters-patent confirming to
him the marquisate under the title of his majesty's
lieutenant. Still Catherine had failed in a very im-
* After this illness the king's hair fell off, and he continued to suffer
severely at intervals from headache. The royal physicians, therefore,
advised his majesty to keep his head shaved, and to wear a cap & la
Polonnaise, which he was never to remove, even during the celebration
of mass.
1579.] HIS COUUT AND TIMES. 241
portant part of her mission, which was to reconcile the
king with his powerful subject Damville, and to per-
suade the latter to break his vow never to confer per-
sonally with the sovereign. The queen's anxiety to
achieve this purpose was greatly augmented, when,
during her sojourn in the south, news arrived announc-
ing the decease of Damville's elder brother, the marechal
de Montmorency, who expired at Escouan, May 6th,
1579, without leaving issue.* That event which Cathe-
rine had once so dreaded had come to pass — the chief
of Montmorency, formidable from his wealth, his alli-
ances, territory, and from even the chivalrous impulse
imparted by the utterance of that renowned name, was
at variance with the crown, and refused to bend the
knee in homage before the grandson of Francis I. In
disposition the new due de Montmorency resembled his
father the constable — stern, matter-of-fact, practical,
and not to be deluded by professions, he steadily re-
sisted the queen's sophistry. He resolutely refused to
quit his government, but assured the queen that his
majesty would ever find him a loyal subject, and a sup-
porter of the one orthodox faith. He hinted that the
time might be at hand, when Henry would thankfully
turn to the support of a faithful subject whose sword
might avail him ; and he plainly avowed that he had
no desire to contend with the valetaille which ruled his
majesty, or to become the competitor of Guise for the
allegiance of the Parisian populace. With these bold
words the duke took leave of her majesty, and pro-
ceeded to join the king of Navarre at Maze re, where an
assembly of Protestant prelates and warriors had been
convoked.
Montmorency did not visit Mazere to share in these
* The marechal de Montmorency espoused Diana de France, the
legitimated daughter of Henry II. and widow of Horace Farnese duca
di Castro, grandson of pope Paul III.
242 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1578 —
conferences ; his object was to present a remonstrance
from the States of Languedoc against the military en-
terprise of certain of the reformed churches ; and to
demand that his chastisement of these individuals
should not be deemed an infraction of the convention
still existing between the party of Les Politiques and
the Calvinists. The duke also demanded the restitu-
tion of several towns in Languedoc, tendered to the
Calvinists as a guarantee of the good faith of their
allies of the orthodox faith. Montmorency's first de-
mand was conceded ; the latter met with peremptory
rejection.
After the departure of Montmorency, the religious
conferences of Mazere commenced. The deputies of
the churches took a gloomy view of their position and
prospects ; and the discussion consisted but in a regretful
retrospect of the former condition of Beam under
Jeanne d'Albret, and a complaint that the Edict of
Poitiers, and the Articles of Nerac were disregarded,
and the Calvinists, as before, defrauded of their privi-
leges. This statement could not be controverted by
the king of Navarre : the government of Henry III.
had not power to compel general obedience to an
obnoxious edict in favour of the heretics, when the
most ordinary exercise of its authority was disputed and
usually thwarted. War, therefore, was predicted by
all to be again imminent. Such being the opinion of
the members, the king of Navarre, towards the termi-
nation of the conference, rose and called forth Dupleix,
deputy for the reformed churches of Languedoc, and
Calignon, deputy for the churches of Dauphiny. Henry
then, resolved to be prepared for every emergency,
broke in their presence two gold pieces, the half of
which he gave them to carry, the one to M. de Chatillon,
eldest son of the amiral de Coligny, and the other to-
M. de Lesdiguieres, with a message from him to the
1579.] ins COURT AND TIMES. 243
effect, " that whoever should hereafter bring them the
corresponding halves of the crowns was commissioned
by him to impart the day and the mode in which im-
mediate hostilities were to be re-commenced." * The
assemblage then separated ; and thus, before Catherine
reached the capital, the foundation was laid for fresh
calamities, and her mission of conciliation had been
pronounced a failure.
The queen began her journey towards Paris about
the commencement of the month of November, 1579.
The king and queen set out to meet her majesty at
Orleans, the greatest joy being exhibited by all parties
at this auspicious reunion. The due d'Anjou, mean-
while, had returned from his visit to the court of
England ; and though in high good humour at the re-
ception he had there received, yet a coldness had again
risen between himself and the king. Instead, therefore,
of proceeding to Paris, Monsieur retired in high dudgeon
to Alenyon, and from thence had intimated his inten-
tion to travel forwards and meet his royal mother at
Nevers. As soon as Monsieur, however, ascertained
that the king and queen were also preparing to greet
Catherine, he despatched a courier with excuses and a
long letter of explanation to his mother detailing his
grievance ; which, it appears, related to the displeasure
expressed by the king at his sudden journey to England,
and at the elevation of the king's new favourites.
Catherine was greeted with enthusiasm on her route
to the capital. f " The queen-mother," says a contem-
porary, " is a princess of most indefatigable spirit, born
to govern a people so volatile and inconstant as this."
* De Thou : M£m. de Sully. Per^fixe : Vie de Henri le Grand. Le
Grain : Ibid. Mezeray : Vie de Henri III. Dupleix.
f On regarda la reyne comme ayant assez gaign£ en ne faisant aux
Huguenots aucune concession en matiere religieuse, et en lie leur accor-
dant point une chambre de parlement ainsi qu'ils le demanderent.
244 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
She was received a league from the capital by the par-
liament of Paris, the municipality, and by the members
of the high courts. The people rejoiced at Catherine's
return, and demonstrated their satisfaction by vehement
cheers ; for it was felt that, much as the past sway of
the queen-mother had been deemed worthy of depreca-
tion, yet that the future welfare of France depended on
her sagacity, firmness, and knowledge of affairs.
The queen alighted from her coach in the court of
the Louvre, having been absent from Paris, on her
mission of pacification, during the period of eighteen
mouths.
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 245
CHAPTER III.
1579—1580.
Journey of the queen to Angers — Details of the journey made by
the due d'Anjou to the English court — His return to Paris —
Banquets given by the chancelier de Birague and other nobles —
Affair of the Sarbacane — Its results— Disaffection of the great
nobles of the realm — Catherine claims the crown of Portugal —
She nominates M. de Strozzi as admiral of the fleet sent to sup-
port her claims — Madame de Tende — Passion of Strozzi for that
lady — Treachery of the king to defeat the designs of Strozzi,
and to avenge himself upon queen Marguerite — La Guerre des
Amoureux — The due d'Anjou accepts the title of due de Bra-
bant— Conference of Fleix — Visit of Monsieur to the court of
Nerac — He marches for the relief of Cambray — Elevation of
MM. de Joyeuse and la Valette — Their extraordinary favour —
Marriage of the due de Joyeuse with Marguerite de Lorraine —
Festivals of the court — Extravagant luxury of Henry III. — Re-
lief of Cambray by the due d'Anjou.
QUEEN CATHERINE remained four days in Paris to repose
after the fatigue of her southern progress, and then de-
parted for Alengon to visit her son the due d'Anjou,
and, if possible, to adjust his misunderstanding with the
king-
Catherine found the duke elate with the honours and
flattery conferred upon him at the English court, and
sanguine as to the ultimate success of his suit. He
declared himself deeply enamoured of Elizabeth, and
spoke rapturously of her personal charms, and of the
beauty of tbe fair English maidens of her court. Eliza-
beth had received her juvenile suitor with cordiality and
magnificence. His matrimonial overtures she accepted
246 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
with reserve, never giving a negative to his importuni-
ties, nor yet suffering him to feel that such professions
were unwelcome. She invented all manner of pretexts
to delay her decision ; sometimes declaring her inten-
tion of being solely guided by the advice of her privy
council and parliament ; at others coquettishly demand-
ing the written assent of the king and the queen-mother
of France to Monsieur's suit ; then an assurance from
the duke that she never had had any rival in his affec-
tions. The vivacity of the duke's discourse pleased
Elizabeth, and they soon became on most familiar
terms. The queen took her royal suitor to her palaces
of Greenwich and Richmond ; she entertained him at
Hampton Court and Windsor ; and during their private
converse asked Monsieur many pertinent questions re-
lative to the court of France and its leading personages.
Every morning the queen, sa belle maitresse, as the
duke affected to term Elizabeth, brought Monsieur a
cup of soup, which she presented with her own hand ;
while, effectually to disabuse Elizabeth's mind in regard
to the stories current, attributing to him a spinal de-
formity, the duke condescended to submit himself one
day to the queen's scrutiny clad in a tight jerkin of
flesh-coloured silk.* The duke's presents to the courtiers
were on a most regal scale ; and during his brief resi-
dence in London, his expenditure amounted to the sum
of 600,000 francs. The English nation, however, was
averse to the alliance, which, moreover, encountered
the opposition of Leicester and Hatton. A libellous
pamphlet, called the * Gaping Gulf,' was published by
one John Stubbs against the queen's marriage, in which
* "Si disse ancor che la regina gli portava la mattina il boglione a
toevere di ; sua mano, e che monsignor s'era monstrato a lei in giuppone
d'ermesino incarnato for f arle vedere che non era gobbo, come 1'era stato
referto."— Viaggio di Girolamo Lippomano, Ambasciatore en Francia,
1'anno 1577-1583.
1580.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 247
not only was Monsieur ridiculed, and his pretensions
confuted, but inconvenient revelations were made re-
specting the profligacy of the king of France and the
orgies of his court. Stubbs was apprehended by Eliza-
beth's command ; and so greatly was her majesty in-
censed by the libel, that he expiated his indiscreet zeal
by the loss of his right hand, imprisonment, and expo-
sure in the pillory.
On the duke's return from England he bestowed the
post of governor of the castle of Angers on Simier,
latterly his envoy to the queen of England, which office
was vacant by the decease of Bussy d'Amboise. The
tidings that Yillequier had been nominated to the im-
portant command of governor of Paris and the Isle de
France, on the decease of the marechal de Montmorency,
occasioned Monsieur extreme displeasure. This ap-
pointment, and the chagrin which the duke experienced
at the rising power of Joyeuse and la Valette, and at
the execution of one la Primaudaie, an adherent who
was sentenced to death for assassination, are supposed
to be the chief causes which had again alienated Mon-
sieur from his brother. The peevish resentments of
the duke, his undignified mode of manifesting displea-
sure, and his inconsistent abandonment of it at the first
opportunity which suited his private interest, daily
diminished his influence. The self-esteem of the duke
was intense ; this foible soothed and flattered, he be-
came as pliant as could be desired in the hands either
of Catherine, the king of Navarre, or Montmorency,
according to the political bias of the moment. The
duke had assumed for his device a sun shining on the
earth in full splendour, with the motto, " // echauffe, et
il dissipe" Never was there a device more inapplicable.
Instead of dissipating the clouds of faction, Monsieur's
jealousies and puerile passion, and his pandering now
with one party and then another, though ever faithless
248 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
to the throne, emboldened the designs of the house of
Lorraine, which were fostered by these dissensions ;
while the depreciating comments of Guise and his adhe-
rents, relative to the royal brothers, acquired irresistible
credit, when, during their periodical feuds, his majesty
and Monsieur were in the habit of interchanging the
same vituperative accusations.
The year 1580 opened with a round of festivities.
Henry kept with great solemnity the anniversary of his
order of the St. Esprit, and conferred its grand cross on
his brother the duke, who, yielding to the entreaties of
Catherine, had accompanied her back to Paris. The
cardinal -chancellor Birague also offered a splendid
banquet to their majesties on the occasion of the bap-
tism of one of his nephews. The feast is memorable,
in gastronomic annals, from its wonderful display of
meats and confectionery ; there were twelve hundred
dishes of marvellous device, castles, pyramids, and
groups of knights and ladies, all moulded in sugar, and
interspersed with magnificent trophies of silver plate.
A riot amongst the pages and lacqueys occurring after
the royal party left, the greater part of the plate was
stolen, and the cardinal's valuable porcelain dishes were
broken in the conflict. During the following few weeks
Henry partook of a series of banquets given to him by
the cardinal de Guise, the due de Nevers, and the lords
de Lenoncourt and de Villequier. Catherine also
offered his majesty a magnificent fete at the Tuileries,
at which the due d'Anjou was present.
An adventure happened at this period at court, which
created more sensation and confusion than if the com-
bined armies of Damville and the king of Navarre had
been marching upon the capital. Three of the most
distinguished ladies of the court, the duchesses de
Montpensier and de Retz, and madame de St. Luc,
ashamed of its profligate renown, combined in a plot to
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES.
awaken the king to a sense of the turpitude of his con-
duct. They also managed to enlist the aid of MM.
de St. Luc and Joyeuse, the leading favourites. The
character of St. Luc was naturally refined ; his disgust
at the royal debaucheries he was compelled to share
was often intense, and therefore he readily promised
co-operation. Madame de St. Luc, besides, passionately
represented to her husband the disgrace of his weak
subservience to the vices of his royal master, the wrong
he was inflicting on the queen, and the power which
such conduct placed in the hands of the queen-mother.
" If you succeed, monsieur, in a righteous endeavour to
direct his majesty from such vicious courses, can you
doubt that your present power will be increased, and
that the king will not eventually value more the ser-
vice which you will have rendered him, than the vile
applause which you now bestow upon his shameful
license ? You know the temper of the king, and are
aware that, when satiated by pleasures, he is overwhelmed
by remorse. Voluptuous to excess, his majesty is also
devout to superstition. His heart is divided between
pleasures and pious exercises ; he seeks expiation for
the former through the latter. The king's weak point,
therefore, is his excess of credulous devotion ; attack
his majesty, therefore, by that foible ; make him dread
the dire judgments of an offended Creator, and rule him
by his fear of eternal vengeance ! " The words of his
wife produced a salutary impression on St. Luc, and
determined him to join heartily in any device likely to
arouse the conscience of the weak and effete monarch.
Meanwhile, the project was carefully broached to M.
de Joyeuse by the duchesse de Retz. The illustrious
descent of de Joyeuse rendered it difficult for him to
brook the presumptuous familiarity of many of the cava-
liers of Henry's band. Gallant, honourable, and sincerely
devoted to his master, Joyeuse wished to rid the court
250 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1579—
of the sycophants, whose misdeeds and rapacity brought
odium on the royal name. His co-operation in the
fanciful scheme of the ladies was therefore cordially
given. After much consultation, madame de Mont-
pensier procured a tube of brass, which St. Luc, whose
chamber was adjacent to that of his majesty, agreed to
introduce by perforating the wooden partition into the
alcove, close to the king's bed, and through which
he was to whisper denunciations of the Divine wrath.
Accordingly one night Henry was roused from slumber
by a voice close to his ear, uttering words of reproachful
admonition. The king at first paid but little heed to the
sound, believing that he had been dreaming, but again
composed himself to sleep. Again a hissing whisper
caused his majesty to start from his pillow. Appalled
at the supernatural sounds, the king now feeling assured
that he was addressed by an angelic messenger of Divine
wrath, listened in an agony of apprehension and awe.
After a time the mysterious voice ceased, and Henry,
calling his valet-de-chambre from the ante-room, cast
himself from his bed on the floor, and remained in that
attitude of humiliation until dawn. When the hour
arrived for admission to the royal apartment, the usual
reckless and dissipated band waited to give his majesty
their accustomed reveille-matin. But the king, with
wan and downcast countenance, passed through the
midst without accepting greeting whatever, and entered
his private cabinet, the door of which he shut. St.
Luc, charmed at the success of his stratagem, presently
asked to speak to the king on very important matters.
He was admitted with Joyeuse and la Valette. Taking
his royal master aside, St. Luc then pretended to con-
fide to his majesty the terrible apprehension which had
befallen himself during the night, when, he said, an
angel armed with a flaming sword had appeared by his
bedside, and in a voice of awful menace commanded
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 251
him, under pain of eternal damnation, to renounce his
profligate career, and use his influence with his majesty
to exhort him to repentance. Henry received this
statement as a confirmation of his own vision, which,
however, he did not impart to his favourite. When
night approached the king, overpowered by his super-
stitious fears,* retired to the apartments of queen Louise,
and dispensed with the attendance of those whom his
spiritual visitant had adjured him to discard. For
several nights subsequently, however, St. Luc plied his
tube, his nocturnal admonitions being sedulously
strengthened by the exhortations and concern ex-
pressed by Joyeuse, by queen Louise, and by his
majesty's confessor the bishop of Auxerre ; for both
these latter personages believed in the reality of the
supernatural visitation.
The king's depression became at length so visible,
while his reluctant horror at even hearing his former
exploits alluded to, so disconcerted the profligate cohort,
and convinced the cavaliers of their speedy dismissal,
that M. d'O, Villequier's bold and unscrupulous son-
in-law, resolved to extract his majesty's secret. He
commenced by likewise feigning reformation. Henry,
in his newly-aroused anxiety and zeal, sought to confirm
the salutary impression on the mind of this cavalier by
imparting to him the circumstances connected with his
visitation. M. d'O had now obtained the knowledge
he sought in order to elucidate the mystery. He
thereupon instituted so careful a watch, that he dis-
covered the stratagem of M. de St. Luc, and presently
revealed his discovery to the king, and even showed his
majesty the tube used to transmit the sounds to the
royal chamber. Henry's compunctions of conscience
* Le roi devint tout & coup si peureux qu'au moindre coup de
tonnerre il se cachoit sous les lits, et sous les basses voutes du Louvre."
— Aubigne".
IIEJSKY III. KISG OF FUAKCE, [1579—
immediately evaporated in a transport of rage, and he
decided to inflict a prompt but stealthy vengeance on
the offenders. Some few weeks previously the king
had given St. Luc the government of the town and
citadel of Brouage : this command he resolved quietly
to resume, before banishing his former favourite from
the palace. Accordingly Henry secretly summoned
the nephew of Villequier, M. de Lanscome, and com-
manded him to post to Brouage, and close the gates on
St. Luc, whenever he should attempt to take possession
of his government. St. Luc, however, was instantly
apprized of the discovery of the plot and the king's
meditated retaliation by the due de Guise, who, through
his sister madame de Montpensier, had been cognizant
of the design of the ladies, which he ridiculed as chi-
merical. The duke sent to assure St. Luc of his pro-
tection, and advised him to depart without delay and
make himself master of Brouage, as his life was in
peril. When Henry learned that M. de Lanscome was
the party repulsed before the walls of Brouage, having
arrived there seven hours later than M. de St. Luc, his
anger was indescribable. He commanded the imme-
diate arrest of madame de St. Luc, who was conducted
to the Bastille. His majesty, moreover, caused the
seizure of the papers and property left by M. de St.
Luc in the capital. As for M. de Joyeuse, Henry
accorded him a full pardon for his share in the decep-
tion of the Sarbacane, as he had taken no active part
in the nocturnal ruse. The duchesses de Montpensier
and de Retz were personages of a rank too lofty, and of
connexions too powerful, to dread any public manifes-
tation of the king's wrath. These two learned and
witty ladies were, however, constrained to acknowledge
that there were disadvantages to be calculated in in-
curring the resentment of a monarch inspired by im-
pulses so wily — one who actually piqued himself on the
1580.] ins COUKT AND TIMES. 253
rude violence of his deportment towards the ladies of
the court.*
Thus did the king alienate from his service St. Luc
and his kindred of the house of Espinay ; all of whom, to
the close of this reign, either openly or tacitly favoured
the designs of M. de Guise. The imprisonment of his
daughter, madame de St. Luc, did not conciliate the
marechal de Cosse-Brissac, who felt his sympathy kindled
in a greater degree by the indignant comments of Guise
on Henry's harshness, than by the taunting sneers of
his sovereign. The house of Balsac-d'Entragues,f simi-
larly alienated by the king's prosecution, had been drawn
towards the princes of Lorraine by an expression of like
sympathy in their wrongs. Thus insensibly, one after
the other, the great feudal houses of the realm were de-
tached from their allegiance to the Yalois. In the year
1580, before the decease of the due d'Anjou had opened
that vast arena for political speculation, and before the
adhesion of queen Catherine to designs tending to sub-
vert the established order of succession, imparted a
royal sanction to the efforts of the malcontents, the
great houses of Montmorency, Crequy, Vendome, and
Alb ret — represented by the king of Navarre — la Marck,
Lorraine-Guise, la Tremouille, Conde, Cosse-Brissac,
la Force, Chatillon, Turenne, and la Rochefoucault, to
which, before the year closed, were added the names of
de Retz and ISTevers — had openly repudiated and de-
nounced the government of Henry III. To these potent
names, numbers of influential and rising families — such
as those of L:i Chastre, de Lary-Bellegarde, Estrees,
* De Thou, Dupleix, Aubigne", Journal de Henri III., Mathieu,
Brantome, and numerous other contemporary authors relate at length
the affair of the Sarbacane, which created great excitement throughout
the realm. There are also many manuscript relations in the Biblio-
theque Imp^riale.
f D'Entragues was the slayer of M. de Quelus, and was for many
years the object of Henry's especial persecution.
254 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579 —
Humieres, &c., houses which in the following century
represented many of the ancient baronies — had also se-
ceded, disgusted at the favouritism shown at court, and
at the vices of the sovereign. Moreover, the spirit
evinced by the Gallican church towards Henry III. was
hostile, factious, and subversive to a degree never before
demonstrated in French annals. The prelates cordially
despised the pusillanimous monarch, who neither dared
to stand forth as their orthodox champion nor as the
protector of the reformed churches of the realm. With
zealous energy they defended their own temporalities,
and mocked at the puerile and ineffectual attempts of
the sovereign to appropriate the substance of the laity. At
the death, therefore, of the due d'Anjou, the youngest of
Catherine's sons — an event which opened the succession
to the heretic house of Bourbon- Vendome — the troubles
which ensued on the consequent development of this
mass of disaffection, and by the clashing of the great
principles of reform with the prescriptive rights of the
papacy, might almost infallibly have been predicted. The
loyal adherence, nevertheless, of the tiers-etat to the crown
would probably have averted the coming catastrophe.
The people, whose political influence had been fostered
by Louis XL and ground beneath the sternest of despo-
tisms during the reign of Francis L, again vigorously
re-asserted their supremacy. During the period of the
civil wars, anterior to the massacre of Paris, the people,
confounded at the anarchy everywhere prevalent, and
at the alternate ascendency of the policy advocated by
the queen-mother, by Guise, and by Antoine de Bour-
bon, followed blindly in the wake of the favourite leader,
occupied in hot discussions on religious theories rather
than in the dissection of political codes. The conse-
quent exhaustion of the national finances, however, re-
stored to the masses a due appreciation of their political
rights. The established imposts already were regarded
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 255
as insupportable burdens, when the penury of the govern-
ment compelled an attempt to double the existing taxa-
tion. The church proffered the most penurious of aids ;
while the dissensions of the court threatened repeated
outbreaks of the war. The people, therefore, rose to
repel these prospective exactions ; and as the States of
Blois not only refused to permit the imposition of addi-
tional imposts, but actually proposed the sale of church
temporalities and the compulsory mulcting of the great
nobles, to ease the burdens of the state, an able
monarch, foreseeing the approaching depression of the
two highest orders, would have sought the support of
the tiers-etat by wise and timely concessions in matters
religious and political. Henry, however, only shed
maudlin tears, listened in consternation to the presump-
tuous voice of those whom the edicts of his grandfather
designated as " manants et villains" and dismissed the
deputies in confusion. More wary, and a better poli-
tician, Guise banded them in his League by his affected
sympathy for their pecuniary and social wrongs.
During the summer and autumn of the year 1580,
a great project occupied the attention of queen Cathe-
rine and the due d'Anjou — nothing less than to esta-
blish the right of Catherine de Medici to the crown of
Portugal. On the death of Sebastian I., king of Por-
tugal, at the battle of Alcazar, the last legitimate male
representative of the house of Avis was the cardinal
Henry, third son of Emmanuel the Great, and of Maria,
daughter of Ferdinand and of Isabel of Spain. To
prevent the realm from falling into anarchy, and in the
hope of arranging the impending disputes relative to
the succession, Henry had ascended the throne in 1578.
This precedent of a crowned cardinal was not lost upon
the French Leaguers. On the last day of January,
1580, the cardinal-king expired at Lisbon, leaving a
will executed eight months previous to his demise, be-
256 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
queathing the diadem to the candidate who should be
declared its true heir, after a rigorous examination of
the claims of all pretenders before the council of state.
The most noted of these were — first Philip II., king of
Spain, in right of his mother, the empress Isabel, eldest
daughter of Emmanuel the Great ; secondly, the son of
the eldest daughter of the due de Guimaraens, brother
of the cardinal-king, Ranuzio Farnese, heir of Parma ;*
and, thirdly, Catherine duchess of Braganza, youngest
daughter of the due de Guimaraens. By the laws of
ordinary regal succession, the prince of Parma ought
undoubtedly to have been declared heir to the crown ;
but his mother the duchess Marie, was dead, and the
great statute of Lamego excluded foreigners from the
succession.! Amongst the immediate kindred of the
cardinal-king, the competition, therefore, remained be-
tween Philip II. and Catherine, duchess of Braganza,
who was the nearest surviving representative of the due
de Guimaraens, and the consort of a Portuguese prince.
Two other competitors, nevertheless, preferred their
claims : Louis, prior of Crato, the illegitimate son
of the due de Beja, an elder brother of the deceased1
king, but eligible for the succession by the law of
Larnego ; and queen Catherine de Medici, whose right
was stated altogether to supersede that of the late
reigning house. The queen claimed the succession in
* Eldest son of Alexander Farnese, the great duke of Parma, viceroy
of the Low Countries, whose mother Marguerite, duchess of Parma, was
the illegitimate daughter of Charles V. Alexander, duke of Parma, left
three children by Marie de Guimaraens : Ranuzio, who succeeded to
Parma on the death of his father in 1592 ; Oduardo, a cardinal ; and
Marguerite, married, and ultimately divorced by Vicenzio Gonzaga, duke
of Mantua, who then married Ele'onora, the sister of queen Marie de
Medici.
f The king of Spain, moreover, refused to entertain the claims of the
son of his famous general ; and even forbade the duke of Parma to
commence any negotiation with the States of Portugal, to obtain the
recognition of the rights of his young son.
1580.] HIS COUET AND TIMES. 257
right of her maternal ancestors of Boulogne. Alphonso
III., king of Portugal, in the year 1280, it was stated
on the queen's behalf, married for his first wife Mathilde
countess of Boulogne. Mathilde was repudiated after
she had borne her husband a son named Robert, in
order that her faithless spouse might marry the illegi-
timate daughter of the emperor Don Alonso X. of
Castile. From the son of the countess of Boulogne the
house of la Tour d'Auvergne lineally descended, which
ended in the direct line with two co-heiresses, Made-
laine and Anne — the one espousing Lorenzo de Medici,
the father of Catherine, the other the duke of Albany,
by whom she left no offspring. Catherine, therefore,
was the sole representative of the discarded son of
Alphonso III.; while the reigning line descended
only from the son of that prince by Dona Beatriz,
whose posterity had thus usurped the Portuguese crown.
The claims of the queen-mother were pompously
paraded before the Supreme Council of Appeal ; but that
august tribunal proved to the satisfaction of the remain-
ing competitors that Mathilde, first consort of Alphonso
III., deceased without issue ; and though the house of
Boulogne incontestibly descended from Robert I., he
was not the child of queen Mathilde, but the son of
her sister Louise. It was in vain that Catherine de-
clared her anxiety to cede the Portuguese crown to her
son M. d'Anjou, her petition was summarily rejected.
Catherine, therefore, determined to send a fleet to
Lisbon to maintain her right, under the command of
M. de Strozzi. The Portuguese, meantime, rejected
the claims of Philip II., on the plea that, while the
heirs and representatives of the due de Beja and
Guimaraens, the brothers of the empress Isabel, existed
in the persons of the prior of Crato, whose illegitimacy,
by the law of Portugal, was no bar to the succession,
and of Catherine, duchess of Braganza, the king of
258 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
Spain could have no title to the Portuguese realm.
Philip, however, marched an army under the command
of Alba upon Lisbon ; and bidding the Portuguese re-
member that the right of the Spanish monarchs to the
crown of Portugal dated from 1383, when the inherit-
ance of Dona Beatriz, consort of John I. of Castile,
and heiress of Peter the Cruel, king of Portugal, was
usurped by her illegitimate brother after the bloody
battle of Aljubarrota, he challenged the nation to
transfer its allegiance to himself, the lawful sovereign.
Catherine de Medici, therefore, with great complacency
beheld the outbreak of a civil war in Portugal, which,
at any rate, she trusted, would cripple the resources of
Philip II., and facilitate the projects of the due de Anjou
on the Low Countries.
But before Strozzi set out with his squadron to de-
fend the somewhat legendary claims of queen Catherine
on the Portuguese crown, he became the victim of one
of Henry's most heartless perfidies. Strozzi was the
son of the marechal Pietro Strozzi ;* and in consequence
of his father's alliance with the Medici, had been treated
with distinction at court. During the recent residence
of the queen-mother at Toulouse, he had been several
times the bearer of the confidential correspondence be-
tween the king and his mother. On one of these visits
to the court of Kerac, Strozzi became enamoured of
Madelaine de la Tour d'Auvergne, the beautiful sister
of Turenne, and the widow of the comte de Tende.
Aware that his alliance with the great Huguenot house
of la Tour would probably be distasteful to the king
and his mother, Strozzi dutifully tried to vanquish his
passion for the fair widow, but without avail. At
length he confessed his attachment to Henry, and
* The marshal Strozzi was killed by a cannon-ball at the siege of
Thionville in 1558. The marshal was the son of Clarice Strozzi, the aunt
of Catherine de Medici, and daughter of Pietro de Medici.
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 259
earnestly implored the royal permission to prefer his
suit. Henry coldly replied, "that he would confer
on the subject with the queen his mother." Strozzi's
application to his royal master was made soon after
Catherine's return to Paris. The king, meanwhile, had
continued to foster the most intense resentment against
the queen of Navarre. The frequent correspondence
which was still persevered in, between M. d'Anjou and
Marguerite, filled the king's mind with the direst sus-
picion and jealousy. The knowledge, also, that couriers
often quitted the hotel de Guise for the court of Nerac
tended little to restore the royal equanimity. Mar-
guerite's apparently prosperous reunion with her hus-
band, and her friendly relations with Conde, greatly
annoyed Henry. He trembled lest Marguerite might
negotiate an alliance, offensive and defensive, between
the king of Navarre, M. d'Anjou, Guise, and Conde.
The reports which from time to time reached the capital,
respecting the joyous revels of the court of Pau, filled
the king with envy ; for his sister was tranquil, and
apparently happier than she had ever been whilst an
inmate of the Louvre. The king, therefore, resolved
to attempt to destroy Marguerite's domestic happiness,
and, consequently, as he trusted, her political influence,
which he conjectured held close affinity. The incident
of Strozzi's passion for the sister of Turenne, therefore,
inspired the king with an abominable project for creat-
ing the disunion he desired between Marguerite and
her husband ; and for effectually arresting the former in
his pursuit of madame de Tende. It happened that
Catherine, when discussing with the king the circum-
stances of her visit to the territories of her son-in-
law, accidentally mentioned the admiration with which
Turenne had regarded her daughter. This hint was
sufficient to kindle the wanton surmises of the king.
Accordingly, without the knowledge of his mother, who
260 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579 —
was at this period absorbed in the details of her Por-
tuguese expedition, Henry sent for M. de Strozzi, and
formally gave him permission to seek Madelaine de la
Tour, and also to proceed to the court of Nerac. After
Strozzi's gratitude had been sufficiently expressed, the
king, with an air of amiable condescension, produced a
letter addressed to the king of Navarre, which he gave
to Strozzi, charging him on his allegiance to deliver it
personally into Henri's hand. The royal mandate was,
of course, faithfully obeyed. When opened, the letter
contained the most infamous charges, accusing Mar-
guerite and the vicomte de Turenne of a criminal in-
trigue, and warning the king of Navarre against their
perfidious designs — the whole written in the king's
handwriting. The sagacity of the king of Navarre in-
terpreted the base manoeuvre ; and, perhaps, never had
he before adequately valued the entente cordiale which
then subsisted between himself, Marguerite, and M.
d'Anjou, as he now did on witnessing the depth of
meanness to which the king had condescended, to sub-
vert it. Early the following morning, therefore, Henri,
accompanied by Turenne and Strozzi, entered the apart-
ment of the queen of Navarre, and suddenly laid the
letter before Marguerite ; but at the same time expressed
his contempt for, and disbelief of, such an accusation.
Dismayed and overwhelmed at having been made the
instrument of a charge so scandalous against the brother
of the woman whose favour he came to win, Strozzi
vehemently protested his ignorance of the contents of
the royal epistle. His assurances might have been re-
ceived, had Strozzi been willing to accept the test unani-
mously proposed by Turenne, Marguerite, and the king
of Navarre — that he should quit the service of the
craven -hearted monarch who had shamefully betrayed
him on a point which no man of honour could pardon.
Reluctantly, therefore, Strozzi, faithful to the son of
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 261
his royal patroness, queen Catherine, resigned himself
to the alternative — his ignominious dismissal from the
court of Nerac, and the renunciation of his attachment
to madame de Tende, by whom he was not even per-
mitted an interview of farewell. Dejected, irritated,
and humbled, Strozzi returned to Paris to assume the
command of Catherine's armada ; and, had he lived
to revisit France, he also, probably, would have been
found ranged amongst Henry's foes.* Ttirenne, who
was a very model of chivalry, sensible of the evil
rumours which might attend any present intercourse
with queen Marguerite, and also, out of deference to
the feelings of the king of Navarre, requested the com-
mand of Henri's troops in Upper Languedoc, and under
this pretext temporarily withdrew from Nerac. In the
heart of Marguerite, however, the desire for vengeance
glowed with vivid and steady strength. On her knees,
and with passionate fervour, she vowed a signal re-
taliation.
The queen, to embellish her southern home in imi-
tation of her mother, had surrounded herself with a
galaxy of beautiful women. These Marguerite enlisted
in her vengeance. Catherine de Bourbon, her husband's
sister, regretted the absence of Turenne ; Madelaine
de la Tour owed Henry III. no kindly feeling for the
loss of so wealthy and gallant a suitor as Strozzi ;
mademoiselle de Torigny remembered the sack, and her
threatened immersion in the Seine by the king's brutal
troopers : in short, there was scarcely a lady in the
train of queen Marguerite who had not some insult to
avenge. All, therefore, united in promoting the projects
* Additions & 1'Histoire de M. de Thou, tome viii. Amyrant : Vie de la
None, p. 154. Marsolier : Hist, du Due de Bouillon, p. 102, in 4to.
Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III., p. 459. L'Estoile : Journal de
Henri III. Dupleix : Hist, de France. Mongez : Vie de la Eeyno
Marguerite. Bayle : article Navarre.
262 HENKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1579—
of their royal mistress ; the ladies disdaining the devoirs
of any cavalier who deprecated a renewal of the war,
and treating such as poltroons and unworthy knights.
The perfidy of the king, his falsehood and oppression,
were themes perpetually on the lips of the fair dames
of Nerac. Marguerite added fuel to the flame by her
indignant denunciations and her warlike exhortations
to the minor chieftains of the Protestant league, whose
prosperity was promoted by warfare. Perceiving that
her husband was attracted by the charms of mademoi-
selle de Fosseuse,* Marguerite, forgetful of her pique
in her zeal to gratify her resentment, instructed the
former how to inspire warlike ideas into the mind of
the king of Navarre, and promised her protection as a
guerdon. Mademoiselle de Fosseuse proved an apt
pupil, and fully realized the expectations of her in-
structress. The queen then addressed herself to Turenne.
She expatiated on the cowardice of receiving so gross an
affront from the hand even of a sovereign, and she
challenged him, while vindicating his own honour, to
defend her fame. To her husband the queen preferred
a formal demand to be put in possession of the counties
of Agen and Quercy — a territory which had been as-
signed as her dowry, and most unjustifiably detained by
her brother. " The court of Nerac," says Aubigne, " was
adorned by cavaliers of valiant honour, and by ladies of
exquisite beauty ; but luxury soon generated vice, as
the heat of the sun hatches serpents." f The queen of
Navarre soon polished up all wits, and taught her hus-
band this notable maxim, " that a cavalier, when not
enamoured, is like a body without a soul." We have
before adverted to the intense hatred borne by the queen
of Navarre towards her brother the king. To satiate
* Franchise de Montmorency, daughter of the marquis de Thury,
baron de Fosseuse.
Hist. Universelle.
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 263
this hatred, and to cause a renewal of the war, this
most artful princess promoted the passion which her
husband at this period began to entertain for la
Fosseuse, a maiden of fourteen years, in order that the
latter might prepare his mind for her designs. She
next seduced the goodwill of divers ladies served by
the most valiant cavaliers. She herself gained over
the vicomte de Turenne ; and soon they discoursed
together upon nothing save the renewal of the war.
Thus was this war resolved upon, which from these cir-
cumstances was termed " la guerre des Amoureux."
Whilst affairs remained in this precarious condition,
Henry III. imprudently despatched envoys to the king
of Navarre, with a demand that the towns yielded to
the Huguenots, as guarantees of the edict of Poitiers,
should be restored. The royal ambassadors met with
the most unceremonious treatment at Nerac, and were
dismissed with a positive refusal. The coquettes of
the court jeered at these unfortunate envoys, and made
them the victims of the most malignant jests. All
hostile preliminaries having now been well-nigh ex-
hausted between both parties, the king of Navarre
despatched Aramont to carry the halves of the gold
pieces broken at Mazere to Chatillon and Lesdiguieres,
the signal for the outbreak of war ; and himself resolved
to invest Cahors, the capital of queen Marguerite's
county of Quercy. The capture of Cahors is one of the
most brilliant episodes in the career of Henri the
Great. The valour and military ability of Henri were
here especially manifested, and his claims to the title
of a Great Captain recognized by his countrymen.
Cahors was defended by M. de Vesins, governor of
Quercy, and a garrison of two thousand picked men.
Henri, one morning, followed by his brave generals
Salignac, Gourdon, and Roquelaure, made a sudden
descent upon the devoted town. As they approached
264 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
Cahors the sky became darkened, and rain commenced
to fall in torrents attended by thunder. The brave
little band, nevertheless, resolutely proceeded, leaving
behind, however, many stragglers, who were appalled at
the fury of the tempest. They advanced to the prin-
cipal gate, which they stormed, and actually carried,
unknown to the townsmen, who were deafened and
confused by crashing peals of thunder and by the
falling torrents of rain.* Once within the town, Henri
was instantly confronted by de Vesins and a detach-
ment from the garrison, consisting of as many men as
could be thus hastily collected. A fierce conflict en-
sued, in which de Vesins was so severely wounded as to
incapacitate him from further command. The inha-
bitants then threw up barricades of barrels and furni-
ture, and stretched chains across the streets. The
fight continued to rage with unabated fury, every inch
of ground being disputed at the sword's point. Despite
the desperate resistance of the inhabitants of Cahors,
supported by their garrison, the king of Navarre made
triumphant progress. Detachments of royal troops,
which had been sent from Cahors by de Vesins to in-
tercept succours marching to the aid of the assailants,
were beaten by Roquelaure and an officer named Pierre
de Chouppes. Henri's white panache was seen always
towering where the fray raged thickest. Sword in
hand, his exploits of valiant daring roused the courage
of his troops, so as to render their assault irresistible.
No quarter was given or taken — the blood of the
Huguenots, which had been shed in Cahors after the
massacre of Paris, had to be avenged. Street by street
was entered and captured by the brave Bearnnois ; and
* Davila, liv. vi. De Them, liv. Ixxii. This storm is recorded as
having been especially fraught with disastrous consequences. Great
extent of territory was thereby inundated, and much damage done to
the harvest and vintage in various districts in the south.
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 265
after a fight which lasted from nine in the morning
until nine at night, the flag of Albret floated over the
captured city. Cahors, the capital of queen Marguerite's
county of Quercy, however, no longer existed ; the
churches had been fired, the houses burned, the college
— the last resort of the townsmen, and where they had
made a final attempt to entrench themselves — was
riddled with shot, and the roof battered in. Never was
there a more deplorable sight witnessed than the
utterly dismantled condition of a city which, twelve
hours previously, had been flourishing ; nor could an
example be quoted of a more gallant victory than that
gained by Henri de Navarre, even in this era of civil
conflict. Several smaller towns were captured by
Henri ; and Montaigu in Poitou likewise fell. In
Languedoc, Chatillon seized the towns of Lunel, Aigues-
Mortes, and Sommieres ; in Dauphiny, Lesdiguieres
drove the royal garrisons from some insignificant places
of the principality.
Henry beheld the renewal of the war with feelings
of mingled incredulity and dismay. For long he could
not be persuaded that the king of Navarre had actually
espoused the quarrel of "sa grosse Margot," as his
majesty generally called his sister. The proceedings of
the due d'Anjou then became a source of considerable
disquietude to the king : to propitiate his brother,
therefore, who, on hearing of the insult offered to his
sister, had threatened in a rage to leave the court, the
king sent Monsieur letters-patent investing him with
the title of lieutenant-general of the armies of France,
which were presented by Villeroy. His majesty then
wrote to the king of Navarre an earnest expostulation
on the folly of his proceedings ; and predicted, as it
came to pass, that the war, not having been undertaken
for the confirmation of the edicts, and for the extension
of the reformed faith, but only to satiate the private
266 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579 —
vengeance of his consort, the Galilean churches would
not countenance or support the campaign. To this
missive Henry added a second, addressed to queen
Marguerite. He therein threatened her with his
eternal vengeance, if she did not prevent the military
enterprises of her husband, or at any rate act in such
fashion as to convince the privy council that she de-
plored them.* Marguerite, in reply, wrote to the king,
innocently assuring his majesty that he had been
altogether misinformed, and that the king of Navarre
meditated no enterprise that she knew of hostile to the
crown. She had, moreover, the audacity to commission
the chancellor of her counties of Agen and Quercy,
M. de Pibrac, to tender the same pretensions. When
news reached the court of the actual capture of
Cahors, the king's indignation was greatly kindled : he
sent for Pibrac and harshly reproached him in presence
of the court, and even menaced him with imprison-
ment.
The Huguenots of France, though they despatched
•envoys to congratulate the king of Navarre on his bril-
liant exploit at Cahors, yet declined to arm for his
support. The Calvinists of the provinces of Normandy,
1'Isle de France, and Champagne refused to contribute
either men or money, on the ground that the cause of
the war was personal, and regarded only the king of
Navarre and his consort ; and that, though in defence
of their religious liberties the confederates were willing
to sacrifice everything, yet that to obtain payment of
queen Marguerite's dowry, or to avenge her differences
with the king, was not deemed by the churches a legi-
timate cause for the renewal of hostilities. The inhabi-
tants of La Rochelle, by the counsel of La Noue, re-
turned the same response. The prince de Conde, whose
* MS. No. 720, Catalogue de Verdet, 30 Janvier, 1854. Lettre de
Pibrac & la Reyne Marguerite de Valois. Guessard, tome i.
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 267
rigid morals rendered him a severe censor of the levity
of Marguerite's proceedings, refused to take part in the
war which she had kindled ; nevertheless, he availed
himself of the opportunity to quit St. Jean d'Angely,
and suddenly returning to his government of Picardy,
entered La Fere, despite the royal prohibition.* Leaving
a garrison to hold the place in his behalf, Conde then
quitted France to confer with the queen of England
and the Protestant princes of Germany, to negotiate a
new league, having for its single object the extension
of the reformed faith. This unexpected move on the
part of Conde gave the king more concern than the
actual hostilities in the south. Supported alone by his
own subjects — a section merely of the Huguenots of
the realm — Henri of Navarre, it was foreseen, could not
sustain the war on his own resources. Conde, how-
ever, while disavowing participation in the pending
warfare, was unwittingly performing the part of a trusty
and able ally towards his kinsman of Navarre, in re-
cruiting amongst the Protestant states for those very
levies, the interposition of which might effectually
prevent the royal power from resuming its ascendency
in the south. The marshal Biron was, therefore,
promptly despatched to put down the rebellion in
Guyenne ; the due de Mayenne assumed command of
the army sent to check the enterprises of M. de Les-
diguieres in Dauphiny ; while the marechal de Ma-
tignon departed to besiege La Fere, in order to deprive
Conde of his single stronghold in Picardy.
The arms of Biron, in Guyenne, soon checked the
progress of the king of Navarre. After several weeks
* De Thou, liv. Ixxii. "M. le prince £tant & La F&re envoye vers le
roy 1'avertir de son arrived, s'excusant de ce qu'il avoit entrepris cela sans
son commandement, sur la crainte qu'il avoit que sa majesty cut plut6t
defere" aux persuasions de M. de Guise qu'&ses prieres, mais qu'il n £tait
1£ pour re*muer, mais pour faire tout ce quf lui seroit commande*." — Mem.
du Due de Bouillon.
268 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
of warfare, in which the marshal captured most of the
places which had fallen, he defeated a body of 3000
men close to Monterabel, and "pursued the fugitives to
the very gates of Nerac. Queen Marguerite and her
court had taken refuge in Nerac, which was strongly
fortified, and able to hold out during a long siege. The
queen, curious to behold Biron's army as it defiled
past, stationed herself on the ramparts, near to one of
the gates of the town. The royal army passed close
under the ramparts of Nerac, when a division suddenly
halted, and fired three volleys of artillery at the gate of
the town by way of bravade, the balls striking the wall
close to where the queen was standing. The queen
retired with the greatest precipitation.* Biron, however,
had incurred the personal resentment of Marguerite de
Valois ; though, when afterwards expostulated with for
his useless fanfaronnade, he averred, and probably with
truth, that he was not aware of the queen's presence on
the wall of the town.
Another frivolous dispute during these transactions
convulsed the court, which took its rise in some indis-
creet revelations made by the due d'Anjou respecting a
conversation which he had holden with the due de
Montpensier at Angers in the spring of the year. The
subject of discourse was Monsieur's flight from court in
the year 1575. The duke observed "that he felt deeply
indebted to the dues de Montpensier and de Nevers, who
had been commanded by the king to intercept his pro-
gress, that they had preferred rather to mediate between
his majesty and himself than literally to execute the
* Davila. M<§m. de la Keyne Marguerite. De Thou. Mezeray.
Dupleix : Vie du Marechal de Biron. Bazin : Notice sur la Reyne Mar-
guerite, The town of N^rac, it had been agreed, was to be respected
as the refuge of queen Marguerite, so long as the king of Navarre re-
frained from visiting the place. A few days previously Henri, in his
anxiety to see madamoiselle de Fosseuse, had violated this agreement.
Hence arose the assumed right of Biroii to fire on the town.
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 269
orders issued." The due de Montpensier, however, as
has been related, had absolutely refused to bear arms
against the brother of his sovereign. Montpensier,
therefore, piqued that no higher meed of praise was
assigned to him, replied by imparting the facts to Mon-
sieur, adding " that M. de Nevers had exhorted him to
intercept Monsieur at the head of the army of Poitou
on the banks of the Loire, when the said due de Nevers
proposed to join him with troops under his command."
This conversation, being afterwards repeated by the due
d'Anjou, came to the ears of the due de Nevers, and
aroused his indignation as a cowardly attempt on the
part of Montpensier to injure him in the good graces
of the heir-presumptive. When the former was in-
formed of the anger of Nevers, he addressed to him -a
letter in which he recapitulated the discourse which he
had holden with the due d'Anjou, and defied any man
to disprove a single statement. The due de Nevers
upon this wrote to the due d'Anjou, requesting his per-
mission to proclaim that individual, however august his
rank, a liar and def amer, who presumed to declare that
he had " sought and entered into a conspiracy to take
the life or liberty of his highness." Believing that his
honour was compromised by this manifesto, the due
de Montpensier prepared to vindicate himself by arms ;
the usual resort at this period after the most trivial
misunderstanding. But as the rank of both the par-
ties, their age, and services, rendered a personal combat
inexpedient, their quarrel was espoused by their kindred
and allies. The due de Guise and his brothers declared
for the due de Montpensier, the husband of their sister
Catherine de Lorraine, who was herself no insignificant
ally in her lord's quarrel. The prince of Orange,* with
* The prince of Orange had espoused for his third wife Charlotte,
daughter of the due de Montpensier, the ex-abbess of Jouarre, whose
apostacy and marriage her father had not forgiven.
270 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
his kindred of Nassau, sent a solemn deputation to the
due de Montpensier, making many professions of de-
votion, and offering his sword to defend the duke
against the foul aspersions of Nevers. On the other-
hand, the due de Cleves and Juliers * offered himself as
the champion of Nevers, whose cause was vehemently
espoused by his brother the duke of Mantua. The
quarrel having thus assumed formidable dimensions,
compromising most all the nobles of the realm as
kinsmen or allies of the antagonists, Catherine thought
it time to interfere, especially as the king and hi&
brother, who were then reconciled, deemed it a pastime
highly diverting to watch the progress of the feud. Her
majesty therefore sent for the aggrieved parties, and
formally interdicted recourse to arms. She then dis-
coursed apart with the due de Nevers, who, as a coun-
tryman of her own, the queen had always favoured and
trusted. Catherine, therefore, demanded from the duke,
as a return for her past favours, that he should heartily
join in propitiating Montpensier, who, as a prince of
the blood and the brother-in-law of the due de Guise,
possessed influence which might become formidable to
the throne. The duke, therefore, shortly afterwards
published a manifesto, in which he disclaimed any im-
putation on the honour of the due de Montpensier, and
explained that he had applied the terms " liar and
slanderer " only to the person who should venture to
affirm that he had compassed the death of M. d'Anjou.
The due de Montpensier, sternly admonished, on the
other hand, by the queen, declared himself satisfied
with this explanation ; and the two late opponents met
* The duke of Cleves was the near relative of the duchesse de Nevers,
who was the representative of the French branch of the house of Cleves
descended from Engilbert de Cleves, the son of John duke of Cleves and
Isabel de Bourgogne, comtesse de Nevers.
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES.
in Catherine's saloon, and embraced in presence of her
majesty.*
France, during the months of June, July, and August,,
1580, was visited by the plague, and by a singular epi-
demic which the French termed " coqueluche"\ These
two maladies caused fearful mortality, especially in
Paris and in the town of Laon. The epidemic first
showed itself in Italy, where the supreme pontiif, Gregory
XIII., one of its victims, narrowly escaped death. From
Italy the disease ravaged Spain, and carried off at Badajos
Anne queen of Spain, consort of Philip II. It next spread
over France, where hundreds fell before its ravages. Its
symptoms seem to have somewhat resembled those of
the influenza of the nineteenth century. The king and
his mother suffered from a severe attack — a sickness
which prevented his majesty, as it was alleged, from
taking the command of the army sent to besiege La
Fere. The favourites Joyeuse and Epernon, however,
set out for the camp, followed by sumptuous equipages
and by a retinue of royal magnificence. So great was
the luxury of the camp before La Fere, and so feeble
the resistance offered by Conde's garrison to the over-
whelming force under the command of Matignon, that
the siege was ever afterwards termed le si&ge de velours.^
When the place was on the point of capitulating, the
due de Guise arrived in camp ; a visit resented by
Matignon, who believed that the duke had repaired
thither with the malicious intent of depriving him of
the barren glory of terming himself conqueror of La
Fere ! This feud might so far be termed a fortunate
* M£m. de Nevers, tome i. pp. 83, 85, &c.
t This malady seems not to have been the hooping-cough, which is
now called " coquelucke" by the French.
I M. de Joyeuse at this siege lost seven teeth, which was the severest
injury inflicted on any of the young cavaliers.
UENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579 —
incident, that at least it secured one competent general
for the royal cause in its subsequent contest with the
League.
The war in Guyenne and on the confines of Beam,
meantime, consisted merely of a series of skirmishes
and the capture and reconquest of small castles and
towns, the advantage being generally on the side of
the royal arms. Nevertheless, the military resources
of the king of Navarre were exhausted, and his hopes
of foreign succours dissipated by the return of Conde,
who had failed in his negotiations with the Protestant
powers of Europe. The sovereigns, though willing to
aid their co-religionists of France and the Low Coun-
tries, yet desired to treat with the confederates as a
body, and not with one section or party. Conde, there-
fore, after conferring with Lesdiguieres in Dauphiny,
returned to St. Jean d'Angely, after undergoing in-
numerable perils in his journey through Switzerland to
avoid the royal armies. The palatine Casimir was the
only potentate who had shown the least inclination to
levy troops for foreign service; to him, therefore, the
king of Navarre, hotly pressed by Biron, was about to
apply, when propositions of peace were unexpectedly
made through the due d'Anjou. Marguerite de Valois
would scarcely have dared to betray her husband into
a single-handed contest with the realm of France, had
she not relied on the influence possessed by Monsieur,
and on his solemn promise to interpose whenever re-
quested so to do by his sister or by her husband. The
queen had now satiated her resentment. The war which
she had provoked, it was true, had not redounded to
the glory of her husband, save in the one instance of
the triumphant capture of Cahors; but the gloom of
the court of Beam, deprived of its cavaliers and fes-
tivities, was beginning to exercise a depressing influence
on her spirits. Consequently Marguerite hailed with
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 273
transport the project of a visit from the due d'Anjou
to negotiate articles of accommodation.
Anxiously as the duke desired to gratify his sister,
many personal motives prompted him to negotiate a
peace. The affairs of the Low Countries again monopo-
lized his attention. The States-general had despatched
a second embassy during the month of August, 1580,
again to petition the duke to take up arms to deliver
them from the "tyranny "of Spain. The Flemish en-
voys found Monsieur at Plessis-les-Tours, and after
some conferences a treaty was signed, in which the
States, after solemnly declaring Philip II. deposed and
deprived of his sovereignties in the Low Countries,* re-
cognized the due d'Anjou as their sole and legitimate
sovereign. It was stipulated that all privileges, char-
ters, and immunities should be confirmed by the duke,
and that only Flemings born should be nominated to
offices in the government. Until the duke was invested
with, and in full possession of, his ducal dignity, the
States covenanted to pay him the monthly sum of
300,000 silver crowns ; but that six places only should
be delivered into his hands to receive French garrisons,
besides all towns subdued by his arms. The duke,
furthermore, guaranteed the maintenance of religion as
he found it. This treaty, so advantageous to the duke's
aspiring designs, received the approbation of Catherine,
who therein beheld the accomplishment of the prediction
which had given her such disquiet that all her sons
should wear diadems. Partly by the persuasions of
Monsieur, and partly overpowered by the decided tone
* The States-general of Holland made a public renunciation of their
allegiance to the king of Spain, at the Hague, July 26, 1581. — .Traite*
conclu le 11 Septembre entre le due d'Anjou et les Etats-gene'raux des
Pays Bas: MS. Bibl. Imp. Gaignieres, pp. 99, 400. Don Juan of Austria
died in October of the year 1578, when Farnese, prince of Parma, was
elevated to the vacant dignity of viceroy.
274 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, 1579—
in which Catherine alluded to the approaching depar-
ture of the duke for the Netherlands, Henry acquiesced
in the election of the States. On all sides it was re-
peated to his majesty that the war in the Low Countries
would drain his own realm of fractious and unruly
spirits ; and that both Roman Catholic and Protestant
would unite in confirming the possession of a province,
so fertile and so wealthy, to a son of France. The
king loathed the very mention of civil war ; nevertheless,
dissensions in the state seemed always on the increase —
the poison which lurked in the brimming cup of luxury
ever raised to the royal lips. Even the orthodox of the
realm had now caballed together against the zeal dis-
played by certain members of the Gallican church ; and a
wearisome controversy rang in the ears of the king rela-
tive to the publication of the famous papal bull In Ccena
Domini. This decree principally defined the astounding
pretensions of the papacy, and set forth, amongst other
articles, the assertion that the vicar of Christ possessed
the inherent right of excommunicating all civil magis-
trates who maintained that the temporal power of the
prince might check or annul the enterprises of the
church. The bull was secretly introduced into France,
and published by several bishops and priests in the
southern provinces — the arena where all hostile mani-
festations against the state were tested. The parlia-
ment of Paris, however, interposed, and passed a man-
date interdicting the publication of the bull In Ccend
Domini, and authorizing the seizure of the temporalities
of any see where the obnoxious decree had been pro-
pagated by the assent of its bishop.* The due de Guise,
to the infinite surprise of his royal master, joined in
protesting against the ultramontane zeal of these church-
men, and heartily denounced the decree as pernicious
to the welfare of the realm. Harassed by these vexa-
* Begistres du Parlement de Paris. De Thou. Mezeray.
1580.] HIS COUUT AND TIMES. ^75
tious broils, Henry suffered himself to be persuaded to
authorize the visit of the due d'Anjou into Guyenne,
once more to go over the old ground of negotiation dis-
cussed at the conferences of Millaud, Beaulieu, Poitiers,
and Nerac. The king, however, insisted that this con-
cession should be regarded as one made purely and
simply at the prayer of M. d'Anjou, in order to promote
his campaign in the Low Countries. " France and the
royal will," said his majesty, " were still potent enough
to chastise the insolent rebellion of the Bearnnois ! "
Monsieur justly appreciated the valiant arms of the
Huguenot chieftains, and foresaw with what ardour they
would enlist under his banner to fight for the religious
liberties of the Netherlander against the great foe of
reform Philip II. The king, moreover, agreed to con-
nive at the raising of levies of men throughout the
realm, provided that he should not be expected to sanc-
tion the invasion of Spanish Navarre by his brother-
in-law ; he promised also to furnish a stipulated sum of
money, to be placed at the disposal of Monsieur.* To
all these measures the king yielded a reluctant consent ;
he did not participate in the sanguine hopes expressed
by Catherine, that the intervention of the due d'Anjou
in the affairs of Flanders would divert from France the
subtle intrigues of the Catholic king, or break Philip's
alliance with the princes of Lorraine. Neither did
Henry believe the protestations made by Monsieur rel-
ative to his popularity in the Low Countries ; and fre-
quently the king taunted his brother by allusions to
the devotion which had permitted his effects to be put
up to public auction in the town of Mons. In a letter
written by the king at this season to the due de Mont-
pensier he deplores his brother's pertinacious interfe-
rence in the affairs of the Netherlands ; and states his
belief that Monsieur exaggerated the attachment of the
* Registres du Parlement de Paris. De Thou. Mezeray.
276 HEN BY 111. KIJNG OF FRANCE, [1579—
Flemish.* Notwithstanding these strong convictions
of the inexpediency of his brother's proposed demon-
stration, Henry had the weakness to risk the welfare of
his realm and the alliance of Spain rather than combat
the importunity of the due d'Anjou, or the ambitious
aspirings of Catherine de Medici.
The treaty signed at Plessis-les-Tours with the en-
voys of the States, the due d'Anjou departed in haste
for the south. He first repaired to the castle of Fleix,
in Perigord, appertaining to the marquis de Trans, who
had lost two sons in the skirmish near to Monierabel.
Monsieur was there joined by the due de Montpensier,
the marechal de Cosse, and by Bellievre. In spite of
this display of diplomacy, there were no points to dis-
cuss ; a few conferences were holden for the better
elucidation of the edict of Nerac — a little disputation
ensued, when these articles were again for the third
time solemnly countersigned. Henri of Navarre re-
signed all his recent acquisitions, and in exchange for
Cahors accepted the towns of Figeac and Montsegur.f
It was felt, however, that some concession must be
made to the resentments [of Marguerite de Valois ; and
when by her command Turenne, as it is supposed, de-
manded the dismissal of the marechal de Biron from
his office of lieutenant-governor of Guyenne, her ma-
jesty's desire was not opposed. It accorded with the
inclinations and present interests of the royal broth-
ers to conclude a peace with the king of Navarre and
* The king says: — "Je redoute infinyment Tissue du voyage que
mon dit frere a entrepris de faire en Flandre, pour le pen d'occasion
que j'ay d'estre asseure* de la bonne volonte que luy portent ceux qui
1'y ont attire* ; lesquels ne tendent qu'& se conserver aux depens de cet
6tat, et de la reputation de mon dit frere ; lequel estant transport^ de
courage et desire de gloire ne reconnoit le peril ou il getrouve." — Lettre
de Henri III. au due de Montpensier, Bibl. Imp. Be"th. 8824, vol. Ixx.
Paris, 7 Terrier, 1582.
f Davila, tome xi. p. 92. Mem. du due de Bouillon.
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 277
to conciliate his consort ; the claim, therefore, of the
general, whose success had insured the ascendency of
their policy, was not permitted to intervene. The con-
vention of Fleix was immediately ratified by Henry,
who, on account of the ravages of the plague, had
quitted his capital for a sojourn at Blois. The due
d'Anjou then proceeded to Nerac, where he spent sev-
eral months, enjoying the society of his sister queen
Marguerite, to whom the duke appears to have been
most sincerely attached ; and in organizing levies for
the immediate relief of Cambray, which place was
sharply invested by the Spaniards. All the chief cava-
liers of the court of Navarre, as had been anticipated,
fired with martial ardour, volunteered to march under
the duke's banner. Turenne, reconciled to Monsieur by
the good offices of Marguerite, demanded permission to
follow the fortunes of his ancient master. The duke re-
quited his sister by commanding the marechal de Biron
to offer a humble apology to the queen of Navarre * for
his late disrespectful defiance. Biron complied, and
then consented to take the command of the duke's
Flemish army. The king, however, when his permis-
sion to this arrangement was requested, positively re-
fused his sanction. Henry's mind continued for several
months in a miserable state of vacillation. Early in
the year (1581) his majesty received a missive from the
king of Spain, by a messenger sent direct from Madrid.
Philip sharply reproached the king for his inconsis-
tency and insincere expressions towards Spain, his ma-
jesty adding, " that as soon as he should hear of the
advance of the due d'Anjou to the Flemish frontier, he
would grant the demands of the rebels, and command
the duke of Parma to make a descent upon France."
Missives also reached the due de Guise from Philip, in
which that astute monarch reproached the duke for
. de la Reyne Marguerite.
278 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579 —
his inaction, and reminded Guise that, if the reform-
ers of the Low Countries succeeded in establishing their
faith, heresy would never be expelled from the realm of
France. The effect of this remonstrance from his potent
ally was evidenced by the immediate despatch of letters
from the king to all the governors of provinces, pro-
hibiting the further levy of men for other service than
that of the royal army. The imperial ambassador,
moreover, waited upon Henry to present his master's
protest against the duke's expedition, a thing which it
would be impossible for the emperor to countenance.
The king peevishly replied, shrugging his shoulders,
" that he had nothing to do with the project of M.
d'Anjou, and that he took not the slightest interest in
the said expedition, otherwise affairs long ago would
have borne a different aspect in Flanders. M. d'Anjou
never consulted him, but always acted according to his
own good pleasure." *
In such a fashion passed the spring and part of the
summer of 1581, the favourites of the king still filling
the court with jealousies and broils. Henry loved
to promote these disputes ; their adjustment afforded
his indolent mind just the requisite degree of excite-
ment ; and he revelled in the servile homage paid
him by his favourites. Joyeuse and la Yalette, how-
ever, still retained their omnipotence ; M. d'O had
the next largest share of influence. Since the decease
•of Quelus, Maugiron, and Bussy, however, brawls
in the streets of the capital had been less frequent ;
the cavaliers of the suite were now compelled out-
wardly to adopt the bearing of the leading favourite,
and Joyeuse, being truly valiant as well as refined, dis-
countenanced such tumults. Nevertheless, enough of
the old leaven of insolence and mendacity remained in
the band to render its members ready at the command
* Lettres de M. de Busbec, Ambassadeur de 1'Empereur Rodolphe II.
1580.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 279
of the king to commit any kind of profanation or slan-
der. The ladies who, during the spring of/ 1581, were
the victims of the king's heartless pastimes were made-
moiselle de la Mirande and the duchesse de Nevers.
The former, having been for long insulted by the ad-
dresses of Philibert comte de Grammont, whose own
wife was the mistress of the king of Navarre, was lured
by the royal connivance into Henry's private cabinet
under pretence of speaking with his majesty, and there
found herself alone with Grammont. Mademoiselle de
la Mirande was then left to her own resources, far from
all assistance, to escape as she could from the interview.*
The way in which the duchesse de Nevers incurred the
enmity of Henry III. is not exactly known, as in the
affair of the princesse de Conde, her sister, she appears
to have been his stanch ally. The deportment of
madame de Nevers had been, on the whole, as irre-
proachable as that of any of the leading ladies of the
court. Her buoyant and merry temper rendered her
universally popular, and the entree to the hotel de Nevers
was eagerly sought for. The gay and fascinating little
duchess held a sway over the Parisian circles peculiarly
her own. The guests of the duchesse de Montpensier
assembled to hold political reunions in her splendid
saloons, and to pay their homage to the Minerva of
the League, whose pungent speeches, decision, and
learning inspired an awful reverence in the majority
of her hearers. The couch upon which madame de
Montpensier usually reclined, at these receptions, on
account of her slight lameness, was surrounded by the
leading statesmen of the day. Nevers, Cheverny,
Mayenne, Villeroy (then only a humble secretaire de
commandements\ all eagerly listened to the eloquent
tirades and fierce energy with which Catherine de Lor-
raine declaimed against the abuses of the government
* Bibl. Imp. MS. Dupuy, vol. xl.
280 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
and the morals of the court. Near to the head of the
couch, close to his sister, often stood Guise, of whom
men now began to speak mysteriously and to watch
suspiciously. His graciousness of demeanour, according
to the relation of the Venetian Lippomano, was not to
be surpassed. "Duke Henry," says he, "is the same
age as the king, only taller and better formed. His
appearance is most majestic : he has lively eyes, hair of
a light color and curled ; his beard is light and ex-
quisitely trimmed, and he is gloriously marked on the
cheek by a scar. In all bodily exercises he is admir-
able. No one can approach him in the art of fencing.
His rare virtues and accomplishments cause even his
enemies to respect him." * In the saloons of the duchesse
de Montpensier the chief prelates of the realm also as-
sembled— that learned, eloquent, rapacious, and factious
throng ; men who aided in preparing the events which
overthrew the dynasty of Valois, but who, nevertheless,
were the blind instruments of the ambitious designs of
Guise and Philip II. his patron. All these bowed
before the footstool of madame de Montpensier, ap-
plauding her daring religious speculations and her un-
disguised contempt for the king ; and flattering her by
acquiescence, when the intellectual face of the duchess
lighted with enthusiasm while she descanted on the
lofty destinies of the princes of the house of Lorraine.
Another great rallying-point for the disaffected, as
also for the great nobles of the realm, was the hotel
de Guise, where the duchess received twice in the
* Tasso (tomo ii. p. 267) says of the due de Guise : —
" E vieppiu de' narcisi e de' ligustri,
Fai quest' almo paese adorno evago,
Fior di valore e d'arme, e di speranza
Per ch' altri cerchi peregrine errante
La bella Europa ove'l di poggi o'nchini,
Meraviglie maggior de'biondi crini.
Non vide ancora, o de si bel sembrante."
1581.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 281
week. Madame de Guise, though she adorned her
lofty rank by a spotless reputation and a demeanour
gracious and refined, was not an esprit fort like madame
de Montpensier. While Catherine de Lorraine laid her
commands on her consort, despite his years, his royal
blood, and military renown, her sister-in-law demeaned
herself towards the "great duke" with unquestioned
deference, and sedulously promoted his political in-
terests. In the saloons of his consort the duke brought
together the rich roturiers of the capital — the wealthy
merchant, the eloquent advocate, besides many influen-
tial though inferior members of the municipality of
Paris who possessed not the privilege of entree to the
Louvre. So utter a disregard of the great barrier of
" caste " was in the sixteenth century a thing unheard
of and exceptional. The rich citizen, therefore, who
obtained through the saloons of the hotel de Guise a
glimpse of that terra incognita the court, returned to
his home fascinated by the condescension and affability
of his host, and prepared on the first opportunity to
shout with the multitude " Vive Guise ! " Here also
the duke received the eloquent cardinal de Givry and
Espinac, archbishop of Lyons, both eventually fiery-
partisans of the League ; d'Ossat — then just admitted
into the priesthood — learned, shrewd, and subtle, and
perhaps imbibing lessons in diplomacy, in which art he
ultimately became so unrivalled a master, from the skil-
ful tact of Guise ; du Perron, the zealous adherent of
the king, and preacher-in-chief to the fraternity of
"White Penitents ; and Ste. Foy, bishop of Nevers,*
whose zeal for royalty had inspired him with courage
to pronounce a public panegyric on Maugiron, St.
Megrin, and Quelus. Learned jurisconsults also fre-
quented the hotel de Guise ; some devoted adherents of
*The bishop of Nevers, after the decease of Henry III., became a.
violent partisan of the League.
282 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
Lorraine, such as Etienne de Neuilly and Brisson ;
while de Thou, Pasquier, Nicolai, and Commendon were
loyal subjects of the crown.
Another of the leading coteries of Paris at this sea-
son was that presided over by the duchesse de Retz.
Her mansion in the Rue de la Cerisaie was the hotel
Rambouillet of the sixteenth century. There all the
learned of the capital resorted. Sonnets, jeux cT esprit,
and dissertations without end, were laid at the feet of
the graceful and witty duchess, to be by her publicly
criticised or applauded. At her soirees madame de
Retz was frequently heard to discourse fluently with
the English, Spanish, and Venetian ambassadors in
their own language, and then suddenly address some
profound scholar of the Sorbonne, speaking the purest
Attic or Latin. At the hotel de Nevers, however,
learned disquisitions were interdicted, and politics at
discount. The vivacious duchess Henriette entertained
her guests with dancing, tableaux, and by the many
courtly pastimes then in vogue. The king, therefore,
constantly honoured her hotel with his presence. With
the exception of the alleged love episode, between
madame de Nevers and the comte de Coconnas during
the reign of Charles IX., no evil rumours had sullied the
fame of the former ; although Henry, who loved to lower
the reputation which seemed a tacit reproach to his own
excesses, had laid many snares for the duchess. At
length his guileful project succeeded so far, that during
the spring of this year he trepanned madame de Nevers
into an epistolary correspondence with M. d'O, one of
the chamberlains. These billets were treacherously
given to the king by his favourite. To avenge some
unknown affront which the duchess had given him,
the king in the midst of a splendid ball at the Louvre
called madame de Nevers aside, and leading her into
the midst of a group composed of his chamberlains
1581.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 283
and of several ladies whose reputations were compro-
mised, he read aloud the letters written by the duchess
to the individual with whom she had been lured to
correspond.* This scandalous device, as may be sup-
posed, alienated for ever the allegiance of the duchess
and her kindred. Madame de Nevers resigned imme-
diately her office of dame du palais to queen Louise ;
and from thenceforth politics also became the pastime
of the duchess Henriette, whose saloons during the last
years of the reign of Henry III. were thronged with
malcontents. Much of the acrimony displayed by the
chieftains of the League arose not so much from the
dread of beholding a Huguenot monarch on the throne
of St. Louis, as from intense and undissembled hate to
the sovereign, whose mandates, even when acknowledged
to be beneficial, were often rejected solely because they
were edicts promulgated by his authority.
The favourites Joyeuse and la Valette now monopo-
lized all the favour of the king. To prevent their pre-
eminence from being in future disputed, Henry deter-
mined to elevate them by titles and matrimonial alli-
ances above competition. As soon, therefore, as the
due d'Anjou had departed on his expedition to the
Netherlands, Henry commenced his projects of aggran-
dizement. It was in vain that queen Catherine be-
sought her son to reflect well ere he offended his nobility
by authorizing two cadets, although of noble lineage, to
claim precedence above the holders of peerages won for
the most part on the battle-field. Cheverny likewise
entreated his majesty to reward his favourites more in
accord with their pretensions and merits, and hinted
that MM. de Guise, Nevers, Mayenne and Montpensier
would indignantly resent such a project. The old
cardinal de Bourbon emerged from the castle of Gaillon,
* De're'glemens de Henri III. : MSS. Bibl. Imp. F. Dupuy, vol. xl.
284 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
his delicious retreat in Normandy, to expostulate with
the king. Henry, however, was inexorable. M. de
Joyeuse was the first recipient • of the benefactions of
his infatuated master. Henry proposed to queen
Louise that her sister Marguerite de Lorraine should
become the consort of Joyeuse, who traced descent
from the royal house of Vendome. Having secured
the assent of the queen, and of mademoiselle de Lor-
raine, the king despatched an envoy, Henri de Mesmes,
to Nancy, to make a formal demand for the hand of
the princess from her cousin the due de Lorraine. The
following day, Thursday, September 7th, Henry signed
letters-patent erecting the viscounty of Joyeuse into a
duchy, with precedence above all other peerages except-
ing those enjoyed by the descendants of princes of the
blood, or by the issue of sovereign houses.* The favou-
rite on the same day repaired to the Palais himself to
present these letters-patent for registration, accompanied
by the dues de Guise, d'Aumale, M. de Yillequier, and
others. The answer of the due de Lorraine being
favourable to the alliance between Joyeuse and Mar-
guerite de Lorraine, the king proceeded next to examine
the financial prospects of the august pair. The marechal
de Joyeuse, the father of the newly-created duke, who
beheld with amazement the favour lavished on his son,
possessed a fortune too mediocre to permit of his own
habitual residence at court, and therefore he was unable
to present his son with lands or appanage. The marshal,
moreover, resented the abandonment by Joyeuse of the
bride affianced to him from childhood, Marguerite de
Chabot, a rich heiress, and the eldest daughter of the
* MS. Bibl. Imp. Be*th. 888, fol. Ill : Villeroy an Roy, avec rdponse
du Roy en marge k chaque article. Registres du Parlement, et de
l'H6tel deVille. Dreux de Radier : Reines et Rdgeutes de France.
Tie de Louise de Lorraine.
1581.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 285
comte de Charny. The king, however, never having
suffered any obstacle to interfere with his will, proposed
the marriage of mademoiselle de Chabot with the
cousin of the bride-elect, Charles de Lorraine, son
of the due d'Elbceuf. The princess Marguerite, by the
will of the comte de Vaudemont, her father, was en-
titled to only the sum of 25,000 crowns. The due de
Mercoeur, however, at the suggestion of the king, agreed
to increase his sister's dowry to 100,000 gold crowns,
on receiving from Henry a private promise of indemnity
to that amount. This transaction concluded, the king
formally declared Marguerite de Lorraine sister of the
queen, a daughter of France, and entitled to the dowry
of 300,000 gold crowns, or 90,000£. sterling, usually
given as the marriage portion of a French princess.
On Monday, the 18th day of September, the be-
trothal of the pair was performed at the Louvre in the
apartment of queen Louise. A sumptuous banquet
celebrated this event, served in such pompous state as
to surpass all others previously seen in France. The
remainder of the week passed in fetes of the most
gorgeous description, succeeded by midnight revels.
The marriage of the illustrious pair was fixed for the
24th day of September. On the evening preceding
that day the due de Joyeuse and the king retired to
confer privately, his majesty giving strict commands
that no personage should be admitted to his presence,
and expressly excepted by name his first-chamberlain,
the due de Retz. It so happened, however, that the
duke presented himself, and was about to pass into the
royal presence, as his office and rank privileged him to
do, when he was arrested by the usher in waiting, who
informed him that the king and M. de Joyeuse were
together and would see no person. The duke drew
back ; but, after considering for a few minutes, he offered
286 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
the usher 2000 crowns if he would suffer him to pass
quietly. The temptation was too great : the duke
entered the royal cabinet and • walked up to the table
before which the king and Joyeuse were seated, dis-
cussing their array for the morrow. " Sire ! " exclaimed
de Retz, ironically, anticipating the angry words which
hovered on the royal lips, " pardon my intrusion. I
am here to request a favour from your majesty. You
have yet bestowed nothing on M. le due de Joyeuse,
the most accomplished and worthy gentleman of your
court ! Allow me, therefore, to make him a present
of my office in your majesty's household — that of
first gentleman of the chamber ! " So saying, the
due de Retz, the once faithful servant of Catherine
and Henry's early instructor, making a profound reve-
rence to the king, quitted the apartment. During the
days succeeding his betrothal, therefore, the due de
Joyeuse received the appointment of governor of Nor-
mandy, and that of first-chamberlain. The king also,
on the same evening that he conferred this last appoint-
ment, presented his favourite with the estate and man-
sion of Limoux, which his majesty purchased for the
purpose from madame de Bouillon.
The marriage-ceremony between Joyeuse and Mar-
guerite de Lorraine was celebrated in the church of St.
Germain 1'Auxerrois. The habiliments of the king and
the bridegroom were similar, each suit being valued at
the sum of 10,000 crowns. The bride appeared wear-
ing the state jewels and diadem of the queen her sister,
and was led to the altar by Henry. The feasts and
banquets which ensued cost the king the sum of
1,200,000 crowns.* For seventeen subsequent days
the wedding revelries were kept up in the capital, each
great noble offering a banquet to the royal family and
* MS. Bibl. Imp. Bethune. De Thou. L'Estoile : Journal de Henri
III. Brant6me.
1581. J JUS COURT AND TIMES. 287
to the bride and bridegroom. The most superb of these
banquets was that given by the cardinal de Bourbon,
in his abbey of St. Germain des Prez. The city was
illuminated, and the royal party passed down the river
in barges. A grand joust was then given by the king
in the gardens of the Louvre by torchlight. The fol-
lowing days there were games, equestrian feats, joust-
ings with swords, running at the ring, quoits, and tennis,
the festivities concluding by a second illumination of
the capital. The guests at all the entertainments,
which the king and the due and duchesse de Joyeuse
honoured with their presence, were interdicted from
appearing in the same attire ; the jewels of the ladies
even were to be worn in novel devices. The profusion
displayed by the king caused the most indignant mur-
murs throughout the land. u His majesty, neverthe-
less, esteemed himself more fortunate than Alexander
the Great by his acquisition of two such friends as
Joyeuse and la Valette ; and, in truth, the amenity of
mind and manner shown by the due de Joyeuse, and
the refinement of his wit, cause him greatly to shine,"
writes the imperial ambassador.
Having so successfully accomplished the aggrandize-
ment of M. de Joyeuse, the king, during the following
months of October and November, 1581, commenced
to devise measures for the elevation of la Valette.
This young nobleman was the second son of Jean de
Nogaret, marquis de la Valette. He was handsome,
brave, arrogant, profuse, and an adept in that piquante
scandal which afforded Henry delight. La Valette,
consequently, was a greater favourite with the king
than his more refined and intellectual rival Joyeuse.
The first step taken by the king was to purchase from
Strozzi, for the sum of 50,000 crowns, and an an-
nual pension of 20,000 livres, his office of colonel-
general of infantry, the which was immediately be-
288 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579 —
stowed on la Valette. The king next despatched an
envoy into Beam to purchase the county of Epernon
from the king of Navarre ; and when the transfer of
this appanage to the crown was completed, his majesty
issued letters-patent creating his favourite Jean Louis
Nogaret de la Yalette due d'Epernon, with precedence
above all other peers, excepting those of royal or of
sovereign descent, and the due de Joyeuse. On the
same day the king conferred the title of due de Piney
on Fran9ois de Luxembourg, comte de Brienne, whose
imperial descent made the lineage of the favourite seem
very insignificant when both were pompously recited
"before the assembled Chambers. Henry's next pro-
ceeding was to annul the engagement subsisting be-
tween the new due d'Epernon and Jeanne, heiress of
the marquis de Mouy.* He then despatched an em-
bassage to the due de Lorraine, to ask the hand of
madame Christine, youngest sister of queen Louise, for
Epernon. The demand was of course granted ; and the
young princess, who was not then of marriageable age,
was betrothed to the duke. She was declared a daughter
of France, her dowry of 300,000 gold crowns being
immediately delivered to the due d'Epernon.
This alliance, however, was never accomplished ;
nevertheless, restitution of Christine's enormous dowry
was not exacted from the due d'Epernon. He espoused
subsequently the granddaughter of the constable Anne
de Montmorency, Marguerite de Foix, heiress of the
comte de Candale, Captal de Buch. This illustrious
alliance was effected by the king despite the opposition
* To indemnify this lady, who was also an heiress and daughter of
Claude Louis de Vaudray, marquis de Mouy, the king caused her to be
affianced to George de Joyeuse, younger brother of his favourite. The
former dying, in consequence of exposure to the cold during one of
Henry's penitential processions, the young heiress espoused Henri de
Lorraine, count de Chaligny.
1581.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 289
of the due de Montmorency, uncle of the bride. Henry
meanwhile received protest after protest from his nobles
against the precedence granted to the favourites Joyeuse
and Epernon. The due de Montmorency declared that
he never would recognize, nor appear in any assembly,
public or private, at which the favourites might be
present ; and commented with indignation on the fact
that a cadet of the house la Valette should be entitled
to precede the noblest princes of the realm, such as
Montmorency, Luxembourg, Tremouille, and Bouillon ;
and yield the pas only to the princes of the blood and
to the dues de Guise, Nevers, and Nemours, peers of
foreign royal extraction. * All kinds of satirical libels
were launched, in which "le Nogaret," as the due
d'Epernon was contemptuously termed, was compared
to Gaveston, favourite of Edward II. king of England ;
and the parallel ended by predicting for him the same
wretched fate. The king concluded this episode of
folly by presenting Epernon with the sum of 400,000
francs to purchase suitable equipments, dress, and fur-
niture for his new rank. When the chancellor Cheverny
remonstrated upon this lavish expenditure, Henry, after
commenting on the valour of Joyeuse — who, his majesty
said, had lost seven teeth at the siege or La Fere — re-
plied, " Ah ! I shall become wise and thrifty now that
I have married my sons ! " f
The lavish gifts made by Henry to his favourites
* Of the reigning houses of Lorraine, Mantua, and Savoy.
f "Enfin," says Cheverny, " le roy se mit & aymer deux favoris qui
le pos8e"derent si fort qu'il ne f aisoit que ce qu'il leur plaisoit ; le met-
tant mal avec la reyne sa mere et la reyne sa femme, en guerre avec
son frere, firent chasser la reyne de Navarre sa soaur, e"loignant les
vieux serviteurs, et donnerent des dugouts aux princes. Us donnaient
les charges & leurs creatures, epuiserent les finances et furent cause de
mauvais e"dits et de maux inouis." — Caractere de Henri III., par le
Chancelier de Cheverny : Bibl. Imp. MS. Dupuy, fol. 168.
290 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1579—
did not render him more frugal in his private expen-
diture. While the people in many districts of France
were clamouring for bread, the Louvre swarmed with
apes, dogs, and parrots. At his various palaces Henry
had now 2000 lap-dogs. These dogs were divided
into bands of six, each half-dozen having a keeper,
who yearly received from his majesty a stipend of 200
crowns, exclusive of the food cousumed by the animals
under his charge. In each palace an apartment, ad-
jacent to the royal bed-chamber, was appropriated to
the dogs, and fitted with cushions and baskets lined
with green velvet for the repose of the king's dimi-
nutive pets. Sometimes Henry would take a sudden
disgust and give away his lap-dogs, and then buy them
back again at extravagant prices. Usually, however,,
the present of a dog from his majesty to one of his
nobles was indicative of a high degree of personal
favour. When the Venetian ambassador Lippomano
had his audience of farewell, Henry, as a crowning gift
and mark of favour, took from his doublet a diminutive
white dog of Turkish breed, and, after kissing the little
animal repeatedly, gave it to the ambassador to keep
for love of him. Another foible which the king at this
period pursued with an eagerness perfectly incredible?
was to collect illuminated letters and monograms, also
coloured eifigies of saints and of the Madonna. Often
the ladies of the court propitiated his majesty by the
presentation of a packet of these treasures, very greatly
to the destruction of their Missals and Hours. When
he had amassed a sufficient quantity of these paintings,
the king gravely proceeded, with a few favoured atten-
dants, to one or other of the many oratories or chapels
he had established in the churches of Paris, and amused
himself by pa-sting them on the walls of the edifice.
Catherine de Medici deeply mourned these incorri-
gible follies, and resented the elevation of Joyeuse and
1581.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 291
Epernon. From this period commence those bitter
misunderstandings between Henry and his mother,
which at intervals cast the unfortunate king on his own
limited resources. Catherine indignantly deprecated
the influence of the new favourites ; the abandoned
lives and inferior birth of sycophants such as Quelus,
St. Luc, d'O, and St. Megrin, had restrained them from
competing in politics with the queen-mother. The
viziers in the ascendant, however — patricians of lofty
descent and men more than ordinarily gifted, whose
favour commenced when years of voluptuous excess had
destroyed the little vigour which Henry once might
have possessed — soon assumed an authoritative attitude
in affairs of state.
During these transactions the due d'Anjou marched
to Chateau Thierry at the head of a magnificent body of
troops, half of which, nevertheless, in contravention of
every treaty with Spain, were in the pay of Henry III.
The first in command under the duke was the baron de
Fervaques. The force consisted of 10,000 infantry
and a body of cavalry 4000 strong. In the duke's
army were the due d'Elboeuf, M. de St. Luc, the
comtes de Laval, Saint Aignan, Montgommery, and
Silly ; the vicomtes de Turenne, de la Guierche, de la
Chatre, and Bellegarde. The first military operation
was the relief of Cambray, which under de Balagny
had stood an heroic siege of nearly eighteen months.
The army crossed the frontier, harassed by a body of
Walloon soldiers sent to oppose its passage. The
Spanish viceroy, Alexander Farnese, prince of Parma,*
lay encamped before the city, and on the 17th of
August, 1581, the two armies confronted each other.
A disastrous accident then occurred, which depressed
* Don Juan of Austria died October 1, 1578 ; he was succeeded by
Alexandro Farnese, prince of Parma, in his viceregal functions in the
J ow Countries.
292 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1581 —
the ardour of Monsieur. The son of the due de Venta-
dour and Turenne — young cavaliers inspired with mar-
tial ardour, and burning to distinguish themselves —
made an assault at the head of a small body of troops
on a Spanish foraging detachment, and tried to inter-
cept its return to the camp. The conflict ended by the
French being overpowered and by the capture of
Turenne. The following morning Farnese suddenly
raised the siege of Cambray, and retired to Valen-
ciennes, taking with him his illustrious prisoner, and the
due d'Anjou made his pacific entry into the town.
The following days the duke captured the citadels of
Arleux and Ecluse, and then invested Cateau Cam-
bresis, which soon surrendered. The duke after this
triumphant opening of the campaign, leaving strong
garrisons in Cambray and the places he had captured,
departed to visit Elizabeth queen of England, to ask
her co-operation in and consent to his enterprise, and
to notify to her his election as due de Brabant.
1582.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 293
CHAPTER IV.
1582—1583.
Second visit of the due d'Anjou to England — Queen Elizabeth affi-
ances herself to the duke — Retracts her promise — Departure of the
duke for Antwerp — His splendid suite of English and French cav-
aliers— He is invested with the ducal diadem of the Low Coun-
tries— Pilgrimages made by Henry III. — Return of the queen of
Navarre to court — Secret negotiations of the League — Correspon-
dence of the due de Guise with Spain — His conoquies with the
Spanish ambassador — Conspiracy of Salzedo — The king insti-
tutes a new religious order — His public appearance in the streets
of Paris in the garb of a penitent — Disgust of the Parisians —
License of the clergy — Their inflammatory addresses — Position
of the due d'Anjou in the Low Countries — His repulse from
Antwerp— Retires to Chateau Thierry— His failing health— The
queen of Navarre and the marquis de Chanvallon — Her scanda-
lous treatment by King Henry — Arrest of the queen of Navarre
and her ladies — Her departure for Chatelleraud — Ambassage of
MM. d'Aubigny and Duplessis Mornay — Details — Marguerite
corresponds with Philip II. — She retires to Nerac.
THE due d'Anjou was received by queen Elizabeth with
magnificence and honour. Not only did Elizabeth
renew all her former promises and exchange rings with
the duke, but she declared her approbation of the elec-
tion of the States, and promised him efficient aids of
men and money to drive Farnese and the Spaniards
from Flanders. The articles of the marriage contract
were again revised * and formally presented to the
council ; while Monsieur assumed the privileges and
prerogatives appertaining to the betrothed husband of
* The marriage articles between the due d'Anjou and Elizabeth,
queen of England, were drawn June 11, 1581.
294 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
the queen. A violent faction in the court and council
chamber, however, vehemently opposed the nuptials of
Elizabeth. The marriage was hateful to Leicester,
Hatton, and Walsingham — the latter being well able
to appreciate the instability of the duke's character
from his long residence in France ; also it was opposed
by the ladies of Elizabeth's household, and by the nation
at large. Abroad Elizabeth was told that the comple-
tion of the marriage would complicate rather than pro-
mote her interests. It might confirm the deadly en-
mity of Philip II., while France probably would be
less solicitous to propitiate her favour. Moreover, the
condition of the unfortunate captive of Bolton, Mary
Stuart, must of necessity be ameliorated, did her brother-
in-law the due d'Anjou ascend the English throne — a
concession prejudicial, as the queen believed, to the
peace of her realm and the designs of the council re-
specting Scotland. The alliance also would have en-
tailed upon the English nation the sole burden and
responsibility of the war in the Low Countries ; for
Elizabeth and her council, aware how reluctantly Henry
III. had consented to the enterprises of his brother,
were far too well acquainted with the character of the
king to doubt but that, on the first opportunity, he
would reconcile himself with Philip II., and decline
longer to furnish Monsieur either with troops or sub-
sidies.
On the other hand, the queen perceived dangers as
imminent, should her final rejection of his suit convert
Monsieur from her devoted adorer to her bitter foe.
Philip, it was surmised, had more than once revolved
the project of conciliating his turbulent provinces of
the Low Countries, and of procuring at least the re-
cognition of the supremacy of Spain by bestowing that
sovereignty, with the hand of a Spanish infanta, on
a prince of his own selection. Elizabeth, therefore,
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 295
dreaded beyond measure lest the due d'Anjou should
ask and obtain the hand of his niece Dona Isabel,
Philip's eldest daughter, and thus insure the eventual
confirmation of his title of due de Brabant, under the
suzerainty of the Spanish crown, and the cordial recon-
ciliation of Spain and France! This project, the queen
knew, would be highly acceptable to Henry III. as
tending to the aggrandizement of the heir-presumptive
of France, and the overthrow of Guise and the faction
of the Leaguers. Nevertheless, the opposition which
was everywhere demonstrated against the alliance — the
tears of her ladies, the reproaches of Leicester, the
advice of her physicians, and her own misgivings — at
length so wrought upon Elizabeth as to induce her to
demand back the ring of betrothal she had given the
duke and to return his own. A violent scene ensued ;
the duke had recourse to threats and supplications. He
inveighed against the inconstancy of the queen, deplored
her servitude to her ministers, and vowed that he would
quit England and enter into negotiations with the king
of Spain. This last threat proved effectual. Elizabeth,
suddenly pretending to be touched by the duke's dis-
tress, wept at their menaced separation. She prayed
Monsieur not to leave her disconsolate and abandoned
to the mercy of designing courtiers ; and so success-
fully did she cajole the duke that he spent a month in
cheering Elizabeth's dejection, and left London again
possessed of the queen's promise to marry him after his
inauguration as due de Brabant.*
The duke took his leave of Elizabeth at Canterbury
on the 7th day of February. The queen commanded
Howard, lord admiral, the earl of Leicester, and a train
of a hundred nobles and gentlemen, to attend the duke
*M£m. de M. le due de Nevers, p. 475, 569, tome i. Addit. aux
Me"m. de Castelnau, le Laboureur, tome i. p. 687. Louis Guyon :
Nouveaux Me~m. d'Histoire par l'Abb£ d'Artigny, tome v.
296 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582 —
to Antwerp and witness the ceremony of his investiture,
as a mark of her satisfaction at the election of the States.
She furnished him, moreover, with three frigates fully
equipped, and presented him with a large sum of money.
The due d'Anjou landed at Flushing, where he was re-
ceived by the princes of Orange and Epinoy, attended
by a great suite. Orange threw himself at the feet of
Monsieur, and hailed him as Liberator of the Nether-
lands ! Monsieur then proceeded to Middelbourg. As
he approached the town, the members of the States of
Holland, marching two and two, appeared for the pur-
pose of presenting the duke with an address of con-
gratulation. They complimented him on his auspicious
arrival, on the peace which he had recently negotiated
in France, and thanked him rapturously for his great
achievements in relieving Cambray, and for the journey
he had taken the trouble to make into England — all
which events, it was said, greatly redounded to the
glory of the Low Countries. Monsieur then continued
his progress to Lille, and from thence to Antwerp.
The ceremony of his investiture with the ducal diadem
of the revolted provinces was there performed. The
prince of Orange, after receiving the oath of the prince
to preserve inviolate the conventions previously agreed
upon, and especially to respect the independence of
Antwerp and other towns stipulated, placed the ducal
robe round his neck, saying, " Monseigneur, behold
the mantle of our duke ! Clasp it so well that it may
never fall from your shoulders ! " He then put the
diadem on the duke's head, and proclaimed him due
d'Anjou and de Brabant and count of Flanders and
Holland. The due de Brabant next made his solemn
entry into the city of Antwerp, attended by his mag-
nificent train of English and French noblemen. He
was preceded by the nobles of Brabant, led by the
chancellor of the province and by prince Lamoral
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 297
Egmont. The governor of Antwerp rode immediately
before the duke bare-headed, and carrying the ducal
sceptre and hand of justice. The procession was ter-
minated by the singular spectacle of a band of 300
convicts, bound together in file, and having halters
round their necks, who incessantly implored the duke's
mercy. At a given spot the procession halted, and the
criminals were brought into the presence of the duke,
who formally pardoned them all, amidst the firing of
cannon and vociferous shouts of " Vive le due de Bra-
bant!"*
During the triumphant installation of the due d'Anjou,
king Henry was engaged in making a penitential excur-
sion of unusual severity — one which general opinion pro-
nounced to be well-timed, when the king, after spending
the sum of 900,000 gold crowns on his favourites since
his accession, had now apparently reached the climax of
folly by bestowing the baton, at liberty by the decease
of the marechal de Cosse Brissac, on the due de Joyeuse.
Henry and his queen quitted Paris together on the
evening of Friday, January 26th, to make a pilgrimage
on foot to Notre Dame de Chartres, at whose shrine
their majesties offered a Notre Dame of silver gilt, and
performed a neuvaine, that the blessing of offspring might
be granted them. From Chartres the royal pilgrims
proceded to Notre Dame de Liesse to make the same
petition, and from thence they journeyed to Lyons. In
order to propitiate Catherine, Henry had appointed her
regent during his excursion, which was to last two months.
The firm and politic spirit of the queen showed itself,
brief as was the interval during which she reigned, un-
fettered by the cabals and partialities of the favourites.
The due d'Anjou during this absence of the king sent
to borrow 60,000 crowns, as he said the pecuniary levies
*De Thou, liv. Ixxv. Mathieu : Hist, du Begne de Henri III., liv.
vii. Hume.
298 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
of the States were not yet forthcoming. Catherine re-
plied by advancing the sum from her private revenues.
She, however, sent her son word " that it would be the
last supply conceded, unless he could prevail upon the
States to acknowledge the king of France for their
sovereign in case of his own demise." The queen sent
her son, in addition, a succour of 4,000 Swiss, and a
body of Gascon horse. Catherine next wrote to wel-
come back her daughter Marguerite to court, and
entered into a correspondence with the king of Navarre
to induce him to visit Paris. Marguerite had long been
thoroughly wearied of the monotony of the court at
Nerac. She had fallen into extreme dissension with
the king her husband, whose profligate life excited her
jealousy and disgust. She had quarrelled with Pibrac,
the chancellor of her counties of Agen and Quercy ; and
had made a vow never to set foot again within the
principality of Beam in consequence of a feud which
there happened relative to her Romish chapel, until the
orthodox faith was re-established. Moreover, her own
levity of conduct with Harlay de Chanvallon, a gentle-
man in the suite of the due d'Anjou when the latter
was the guest of the king of Navarre at Nerac, had
created such scandal, however cunningly Marguerite
veils the facts in her Memoirs, as to render it advisable
that she should retire for a time from the dominions of
her husband. The king, when he was first informed of
his sister's desire to visit the court, feigned, on purpose
to torment Marguerite, to withhold his consent, though
in reality Henry rejoiced in the opportunity thus aiforded
of again closely scrutinizing his sister's actions. For
many reasons Catherine deemed her daughter's visit
expedient ; she therefore now wrote decisively to desire
Marguerite to set out, and herself repaired to Fontaine-
bleau to meet her.
During her residence at Nerac Marguerite kept up
1583.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 299
close relations with the court. Her chief correspondent
was Fran9oise de Clermont, duchesse d'Usez, upon
whom the queen lavished the most affectionate epithets,
and whom she terms " ma sibille" By the command of
the queen-mother, the cardinal de Bourbon, the dowager-
princesse de Conde, and the duchesse d'Usez, proceeded
to the frontier of Guyenne to receive the queen. From
Fontainebleau Catherine and her daughter journeyed to
Paris. Marguerite seems to have been satisfied with
her reception, and she writes to the king of Navarre to
exhort him to imitate her example and repair to court.
She says that the king of Navarre and herself were
deemed inimical by "les dues," as Marguerite always
calls Joyeuse and Epernon. In the second letter
written by Marguerite to her husband after her return
to Paris, she gives a depreciating picture of the Guises,
representing the duke as having greatly fallen in public
esteem. " As for M. de Guise, he has grown very thin
and aged, while M. de Mayenne has become so fat as to
be absolutely deformed thereby. The two are little fol-
lowed now, although they are always giving parties for
tennis, ball, pall-mall, and other diversions, but all who
go there twice together are sure to meet with a sharp
reprimand, as the dukes are jealous," writes Marguerite.*
In the same epistle she also gives her husband the news
that her brother the due d'Anjou had recently sent
a messenger to queen Elizabeth, to assure her majesty
that he meant faithfully to keep his word and return to
London in a month to espouse her ; " at which happy
intelligence," said Marguerite, " the queen [of England]
commanded a great display of fire-works."
The sagacity of the queen-mother had lately detected
the existence of the most astonishing correspondence
between her son-in-law the king of Navarre, the duo
* Marguerite de Valois au Royde Navarre, MS. Bibl. Imp. Diipuy,
tome ccxvii. p. 19. Guessard : Lettres de Marguerite de Valois.
300 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
de Guise, and the king of Spain — hence, therefore,
arose Marguerite's empressement towards her husband.
The object of this correspondence was to induce Henri
of Navarre and his Huguenots to join the League,
which was nominally arrayed to procure the final over-
throw of the principles of reform. The bravery and
ability shown by the king of Navarre during the recent
war, and especially his gallant capture of Cahors, had
been observed with admiration by Philip II. and by
the princes of Lorraine. On the conclusion of the
conferences of Fleix, therefore, the due de Mayenne
cautiously broached the subject to the baron de Salignac,
by whom the matter was communicated to the king of
Navarre. This was followed by an autograph commu-
nication from the king of Spain. Philip proposed that
the king of Navarre should enter into the League, and
offered, on that condition, to aid him with a Spanish
army to possess himself of the principal strongholds of
Guyenne. His Catholic majesty made comment on the
feeble health of the due d'Anjou, and on the position of
the king of Navarre in relation to the throne in the
event of Monsieur's demise, when the greatest efforts
would be made to exclude him from the succession on
account of his faith. For these reasons Philip exhorted
the king of Navarre to become a leader in the dominant
faction, and offered, in case he were willing to repudiate
his consort Marguerite de Valois, to bestow upon him
the hand of one of his own daughters. This communi-
cation took the king of Navarre completely by surprise.
Its artful plea, on reflection, inspired him with indigna-
tion ; for what could the object of the League be but
treason against the person of the reigning sovereign and
his dynasty, if the motive of religion were thus dis-
carded ? Henri perceived the subtle aim of the house of
Lorraine, and that its princes were not more likely to-
respect his collateral right to the crown, when they
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 301
showed such disregard for the direct claims of their
anointed and orthodox monarch. From this period,
therefore, Henri, convinced that the true aim of the ultra-
Catholic party, headed by the princes of Guise, was to
change the dynasty on the decease of king Henry and
his brother — princes likely to die without legitimate
heirs — felt that his own interests prompted a cordial
reconciliation with the king, and a support as energetic
as he could afford to the royal authority, already so
fallen in public esteem. At this season it must be owned
that the conduct of the king of Navarre had not been
likely to impress the world with the opinion that he
adhered to the reformed ritual for other than political
motives ; the deduction, therefore, might fairly be
hazarded by Philip H. that propositions more conducive
to his interests would lure him to the defence of the so-
called orthodox faith. His life was spent in the indul-
gence of habitual immorality ; and the political position
of the reformed party, rather than the advance of its
members in piety and godliness of life, as had been the
aim of queen Jeanne, seemed to be the sole advantage
regarded by Henri d'Albret. The demeanour of Henri,
when attending the public preches of his ministers, at
this period of his life afforded no edifying example.
The Venetian ambassador relates, that it was generally
believed that the king of Navarre had no religion,
and that he held the reformed ministers in the greatest
contempt.* " One day," continues he, " while one of
these said individuals was preaching, the king of Navarre
diverted himself by eating cherries and throwing the
stones into the minister's face ; one stone hit the latter
in the eye, causing great damage to that member."f
* ' ' E opinione che egli non creda in cosa alcuna, perche Bi dice che
alii suoi predicatori ugonotti medisimi quando sono nel pergamo fa mille
scherni." — Viaggio del Signer Girolamo Lippomano, Ambasciatore in
Francia nel anno 1577.
t Ibid.
302 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
The life of the prince de Conde, on the other hand,
exemplified in greater degree the rigid and self-denying
religion of the deceased queen of Navarre. Conde
practised the same asceticisms ; and published mani-
festoes redolent with stern denunciations against vice
and dissipation, worthy to have issued from the pen of
queen Jeanne and her ministers. Though Conde did
not possess the popularity of le bon et joyeux Henri,
his judgment and consistency of conduct procured him
greater deference. Unfortunately the prince, being
reserved and desponding in temper, could not be per-
suaded to quit his cheerless abode at St. Jean d'Angely.
The little progress made by the reformed party, the
massacre at Paris, the mysterious decease of queen
Jeanne d'Albret, and of his beautiful wife, Marie de
Cleves, seem to have been the subjects of Conde's
melancholy broodings. As for his former comrade in
arms, Henri de Navarre, the prince alluded to him
always as one lost in depravity and worldly lusts ;
and persisted in his refusals to visit the court of
Nerac.
On the arrival of the queen of Navarre in Paris,
Catherine seems to have communicated to her daughter
the proposals made by the king of Spain to her husband.
Soon after the queen-mother received a detail from
the hand of Henri de Navarre, which appears to have
been the first positive intimation possessed by the
government relative to the secret machinations and
ultimate designs of the League. From thenceforth the
due de Guise no longer holds so prominent a share of
Marguerite's favour ; she could not pardon the project
of her own divorce, as proposed by Philip, which he had
appeared to sanction. Besides, another liaison now oc-
cupied the mind of Marguerite — one with her brother's
chamberlain Jacques de Harlay, marquis de Chanvallon.
Marguerite, therefore, heartily co-operated with her
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 303
mother in denouncing the perfidy of Philip's subtle
design, aiding the queen in proving its impossibility of
accomplishment, had the king of Navarre been rash
enough to agree to such proposals ; and earnestly ex-
horting the king to visit the court of France, an event
which Catherine now greatly desired. "Monsieur,"
writes the queen of Navarre to her husband, after the
return of Henry III. to the Louvre, " yesterday I in-
finitely wished to have seen you here. We had music
which lasted all night, the windows of the palace were
opened for every one to hear, and the king danced in
his own saloon. We are to have balls and assemblies
twice in the week, and if you would take my counsel I
advise you to leave your agriculture, and your misan-
thropic humours, in which you resemble Timon, and
come here to enjoy yourself and live again in the
world." * She again wrote, " Believe, Monsieur, that
M. de Guise can do you no harm ; and as for the king,
I will stake my life that you will receive no damage
from him. Come, then ; you will in a week gain more
adherents here, than you will passing all your days in
Gascony ! " f The king of Navarre, nevertheless, was
inexorable ; he knew Henry, and that it was too often
the practice of that monarch to avenge the political
annoyances given, even after the individual suspected
had tendered palpable proofs of fidelity.
The failure of this project to renew the civil war in
France only rendered the Spanish cabinet more re-
solved to accomplish its purpose. Philip deeply resented
the usurpation by Monsieur of the sovereignty of Bra-
bant ; while he felt persuaded that peace would never
be re-established in the Low Countries whilst France
* Lettre de Marguerite de Valois an Eoy de Navarre. MS. Bibl.
Imp. Dupuy, tome ccxvii. fol. 13. Guessard : Lettres de la Reyne de
Navarre.
f Ibid.
304 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, 1582—
remained tranquil. Accordingly, the king of Spain
recommenced an active correspondence with the due de
Guise. He challenged him to- rise in defence of the
faith menaced in France, and more especially in
Flanders ; and even added threats, if he refused to
make the diversion needful to secure the pre-eminence
of the Spanish arms in the Netherlands, to divulge to
the French cabinet certain important minutes of the
conference holden at Joinville, and which had been
found amongst the papers of don Juan of Austria.*
The due d'Anjou, nevertheless, was a formidable ob-
stacle to the designs of the princes of Lorraine, willing
as they were to co-operate with the king of Spain, and
aid him in checking the advance of heresy. As long as
Monsieur lived, no pretext existed for assailing the law-
fulness of his future accession to the crown, therefore
no excuse could be pleaded for rebellion. The death of
the duke once compassed, a formidable rival was re-
moved from the path of the king of Spain ; and the
taking up of arms in France became legitimate in
the eyes of a certain party, to oppose the succession of
the heretic Henri de Navarre, and the consequent over-
throw of the faith. From these considerations and
motives arose the extensive development of a conspi-
racy, which de Thou characterizes as one of the most
important and terrible then on record, and of which M.
de Salzedo was the first agent and victim.
Nicolas de Salzedo was a gentleman of Spanish
origin, and the son of Pierre de Salzedo, whose contests
with the cardinal de Lorraine, seventeen years previ-
ously, had been the cause of a severe local conflict in
Lorraine, called La Guerre Cardinale. The death of
the elder Salzedo at the massacre of Paris had conse-
quently been the penalty for his rash defiance of a
prince of the house of Lorr. ine. His son Nicolas,
* De Thou, liv. Ixxv. p. 622, tome viii.
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 305
meantime, embarked in all kinds of dissipations and
gambling ; and the result was that, reduced by his pro-
fligacy to miserable penury, Salzedo sought to retrieve
his fortunes by forging bills of exchange and by coining
money. His crime was detected, and Salzedo was
condemned to the terrible punishment inflicted in those
days on coiners, that of being thrown alive into a
caldron of boiling oil.* The noble birth of Nicolas de
Salzedo, however, induced the due de Lorraine to in-
terfere, and petition the king for a remission of the
culprit's sentence. The prayer was granted, and Salzedo,
thus delivered from a cruel death, swore devoted loyalty
to the interests of the house of Lorraine. A family
tie, moreover, now subsisted between Salzedo and his
new patrons ; the consort of the due de Mercceur, Marie
de Luxembourg, was the niece of Salzedo's mother ; f
he, therefore, entered heart and soul into the projects
of the Guises, and was judged by them to be a fitting
instrument for the promotion of the designs they medi-
tated. Accordingly the due de Guise wrote at this
period to the due de Lorraine to send Salzedo to Paris.
The latter at once presented himself at the hotel Guise,
and seems there to have been initiated into many of
the counsels of the League. Though guilty of the
most odious crimes, Salzedo was a fanatic in religion.
The duke drew so irritating a picture of the approach-
ing ruin of the orthodox faith, through the follies of
the king and the despicable frivolity of the due d'Anjou,
as to kindle the savage zeal of Salzedo. " Do you riot
perceive that through the horrid misgovernment of the
realm, misery is daily on the increase ? To arrest its
* Lettre de Busbec, liv. viii : & 1'Empereur Kudolphe II.
f Marie de Beaucaire Peguillon, a favourite maid of honour in the
service of Mary Stuart, when queen of France, married Sebastian de Lux-
embourg, seigneur de Martigues ; her sister Frangoise espoused Pierre
de Salzedo, a Spaniard of the lineage of Figueroa cond6 de Feria.
306 IIENKY in. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
accursed progress would be an easy task, were M;
d'Anjou out of the way. The life of this prince will
remain an invincible obstacle to our endeavours. The
success of Monsieur in Brabant is owing to the defeat
of the Catholic arms ! " Several interviews subse-
quently took place between the dues de Guise and
Mayenne and M. de Salzedo, at which, according to
the latter, Villeroy was also present. He was shown
the list of nobles, confederates of the League ; also a
statement of their funds and resources. It was in the
first place agreed that Salzedo should offer his services
to the due d'Anjou, and propose to raise, at his own
cost, a regiment of volunteer troops, the expense of
which, in reality, was to be defrayed by the princes of
Lorraine. It was believed that Monsieur, whose army
was thinned by desertion, would eagerly accept the
offer, and reserve this regiment of his countrymen
for his own body-guard, or to garrison Dunkirk,
either of these plans equally serving the designs of the
League. After some short interval Salzedo departed,
taking with him papers containing important informa-
tion concerning the military position of the realm of
France, which he was to deliver to Farnese in person.
This mission Salzedo accomplished, making a sojourn
of two days in the camp of the viceroy. He then pro-
ceeded to Bruges and obtained an audience of the due
d'Anjou, who accepted his services, and received him
with distinction, believing Salzedo to be still the mortal
enemy of the house of Guise on account of the assassi-
nation of his father.
The arrival of Salzedo, his seeming devotion to Mon-
sieur, and the liberality of his proposition, nevertheless,
aroused the suspicion of the prince of Orange. The
latter, therefore, caused careful inquiries to be made
relative to his antecedent history. The prince thus
discovered his reconciliation with the house of Guise,
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 307
and his suspicious visit to the camp of the viceroy.
Further scrutiny brought the prince additional infor-
mation of the secret intelligence between Farnese and
his visitor — their conference respecting the plot to kill
the due d'Anjou, and their mutual understanding. The
prince of Orange imparted this information to the due
d'Anjou, who, fortunately heeding the counsel of the
prince, resolved first to arrest Salzedo, and then to in-
vestigate the accusation. The same evening, therefore,
Salzedo was arrested in the ante-room of Monsieur's
apartment, as he was proceeding to pay his devoirs to
the duke.*
His life being thus in peril, Salzedo, cowardly as well
as treacherous, unhesitatingly determined to reveal all
he knew relative to the conspiracy. His confession
paralyzed the duke with consternation. After relating
the promises made by the due de Guise to reward his
fidelity, Salzedo, continuing his detail, said : " The duke
sent for me by night. I found him in company with a
gentleman formerly in the suite of don John, and nephew
to the Spanish ambassador. They asked me how many
ships there were off the coast of Normandy, and the
duke commanded me to put it in writing — which I did,
with the number of the crews of the said vessels, which
minute he sent by the Spanish gentleman to the prince
of Parma. I was then commanded to retire to Paris,
where I remained for ten or twelve days."f Salzedo
then stated that he was sent to carry letters into -Lor-
raine from the due de Guise to Bassompierre, Rosny,
and to the comte de Charny ; and from thence he re-
tired into Champagne until the return of the due de
Mayenne from the south, when he was again summoned
to Paris. On his arrival Salzedo was conducted to the
* De Thou, liv. Ixxv. Pierre Mathieu Hist, de France, tome i.
f Deposition de Salcedo sign^e de sa main. Bibl. Imp. Dupuy, vol.
Ixxxvii. MS.
308 IIENKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1582—
hotel de Guise, where he found Mayenne and Villeroy,
when the latter exhorted him faithfully to serve the due
de Guise and the king of Spain. That whilst Villeroy
was talking to him, the dukes walked together up and
down the apartment engaged in earnest conference, and
receiving from time to time papers from the hand of
Villeroy. The latter then told him "that the due
d'Aumale held possession of Picardy ; that Guise and
Mayenne were masters of Champagne and Bourgogne ;
and that the nobles of these provinces had pledged
themselves, in the presence of the comte de Charny,
to adhere to the League. That Jean de Mouy held the
Pays de Caux ; and Matignon, Granville and Cherbourg.
All the ports of Bretagne were, moreover, in the hands
of adherents, and amongst other places Brest — all which
fortresses would prevent the landing of M. le Due. He
then proceeded to inform me," continued Salzedo, " that
Lyons was open for the passage of a papal and Savoyard
army under the command of M. de Nemours, and that
the Spanish forces were about to invade France, passing
through the principality of Beam." The dues de Guise
and Mayenne, having once more exhorted Salzedo to be
faithful and expeditious, placed a roll of documents in
his hands consisting of a letter to Farnese, in which
Guise apologized for his tardy measures, and promised
future alacrity. There was also a document sent to be
forwarded to Spain, explanatory of the resources, num-
bers, and prospects of the Leaguers. A message was
further confided to Salzedo to the effect " that he was
to admonish the duke of Parma not to advance sud-
denly to surprise Calais or Dunkirk, else that his
Christian majesty would find himself compelled to
march to the aid of his brother. As for my own partici-
pation in the plot," continued Salzedo, " it was limited
to asking the permission of the due d'Anjou to raise a
regiment, which I was to promise for immediate ser-
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 309
vice. I was then to obtain the command at Dunkirk,
as, said they, it was expedient to have a port in that
direction. My demand was thought likely to be con-
ceded, if the viceroy Farnese pretended to menace the
town ; as Monsieur, having a whole regiment ready for
service, was sure to send it to garrison Dunkirk."*
Salzedo, moreover, confessed that he had read the fol-
lowing names in the roll of the Leaguers shown to him
by the due de Guise : — The marechal d'Aumont, the
dues de Nevers and d'Elboauf, the governors of Lyons,
Calais, Havre, Caux, Bretagne, and Dieppe, the lords
de Puygaillard, Yillequier, de la Chatre, Balsac En-
tragues, Lansac, d'O, Maugiron, and Philibert de la
Guiche. He also avowed that the princes of Lorraine
declared that the king's favourites Joyeuse and Epernon
were cognizant of the plot, and, as good sons of the
church, had not presumed to counteract projects under-
taken for the resuscitation of the orthodox faith. In
Paris the conspirators held intelligence with the father
of Villeroy, and with a wealthy burgess of the name of
Hothman.
Such was the confession of the sieur de Salzedo.
Scarcely was there a noble family but had one of its
members implicated in the conspiracy. Its alleged
aim was to remove the due d'Anjou by assassination,
and thus to deprive the States of Flanders of the duke
whom they had elected. As sovereign of the Low Coun-
tries and the future husband of the queen of England a
third formidable obstacle would have risen in the person
of Monsieur against the almost universal ascendency of
the Catholic king. The power of Elizabeth of England,
if permitted to become consolidated by her alliance with
a prince of Valois, probably might then have defied his
intrigues — insomuch as an attack upon the realm of
England must have involved a contest with France,
* Deposition de M. de Salcedo signed de sa main.
310 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582 —
and already the design of the Spanish armada agitated
Philip's mind. Thus far was the universal sovereignty
of Philip II. to be promoted by the operations of the
League. But yet another triumph to be achieved
thereby had dawned upon the prolific brain of the
king of Spain. This was the elevation of the infanta
Isabel — the daughter of Philip and Elizabeth de Yalois,
eldest sister of Henry III. — to her uncle's throne. On
the death of the due d'Anjou the succession would
lapse to the house of Vendome, of which the heretic
Henri de Navarre was chief. To prevent the accession
of a heretic dynasty to the throne of St. Louis was a
cause, Philip thought, potent enough to justify a civil
contest. The crown of France, rescued from such pol-
lution, must, as a necessary consequence, be transferred
to the house of Lorraine, the legitimate representatives
of Charlemagne, and a younger branch of Hapsbourg.
This was the lure which bound the house of Guise to
Philip's policy. Henry III., the weak, degraded
monarch, swept from the throne he was unable to
defend, Guise, proclaimed king by alleged priority
of right over the descendants of Hugues Capet, and by
the acclamations of the orthodox and the sanction of
the Holy See, was to consolidate his dynasty by his
•own union with the infanta Isabel ; or, if deemed more
expedient, by the marriage of the princess with his
eldest son, being then the acknowledged heir of France.
In furtherance of these projects, the king of Spain had
agreed to furnish the due de Guise with the sum of
50,000 gold crowns a month.
The due d'Anjou, on receiving the confession of Sal-
zedo, despatched an express to Paris to inform king
Henry of the formidable conspiracy. Filled with com-
punction, when too late, for his fickle and repre-
hensible conduct, Monsieur advertised the king of his
own failing health, and implored him to rouse himself
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 311
from his habitual supine indulgence to combat a state
of affairs which, in case of his demise, would leave his
majesty a prey to the extortions of a disaffected nobility
leagued against their sovereign and his heretic successor.
Never before had the due d'Anjou spoken so wisely, nor
counselled so sagaciously.
The comte de Dammartin, the envoy of the due
d'Anjou, obtained immediate audience of Henry III.
The vastness of the scheme, and the audacity of its
details, rendered the king speechless with dismay and
indignation. His majesty then sent for the queen-
mother, and implored her aid in his emergency. After
some private conference, Pomponne de Bellievre was
summoned to the presence of their majesties. The
king, without previous comment, placed the confes-
sion made by Salzedo into the hand of Bellievre,
exclaiming, " See, read, M. de Bellievre ! Can you
peruse that document without being transfixed with
horror?" Bellievre read and returned the paper, un-
able to utter a word. " Well, M. de Bellievre," re-
sumed the king, " it is my intention to send you and
M. de Brulart this very day to my brother. Never-
theless, you are not to make a mystery of your journey
to Villeroy, who, as you perceive, is compromised,
though I do not doubt his fidelity. You will say to
my brother that my disquietude is intense, and that I
desire that the accused Salzedo, after being submitted
to an interrogatory before you, should be conducted
hither. If my brother consents to this I shall believe
that the confession of M. de Salzedo is genuine ; if he
refuses, I shall deem this accusation to be a fable in-
vented by certain persons of his suite to cause dissen-
sions between us,and to disturb my repose and com-
fort." * It is difficult to follow the course of the royal
* De Thou, liv. Ixxv. Discours tragique et veritable de Nicholas
Salcedo, sur I'empoisonnement par luy entreprints en la personne de
312 IIENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
deductions, and to comprehend how, in his majesty's
opinion, the fabrication of a plot to kill Monsieur and
to dethrone himself, could hate been invented to sow
dissensions between the royal brothers ; but the king*
throughout manifested the greatest disinclination to
credit the details of the conspiracy. The fact was
patent everywhere of the conferences hold en between,
the Guises and the emissaries of Spain at Peronne and
Joinville — to say nothing of the secret correspondence
which passed between Philip and the deceased cardinal
de Lorraine before the conference at Bayonne ; and
nominally, respecting the marriage of don Carlos with
Mary Stuart after the decease of Francis II. The due
de Guise gloried in avowing himself the heir of the de-
ceased cardinal's policy as well as the inheritor of his
temporal possessions. The secretary of state, Villeroy,
stoutly defends himself in his Memoirs from the charge
made by Salzedo. He says : " I swear and protest
in the presence of God and his holy angels, and pray
that eternal wrath may rest upon me and mine, if I have
not in this thing spoken the truth. " * The king en-
tirely believed the asseverations of Villeroy, and refused
to allow him to be molested in any way. The dues de
Guise and de Mayenne, therefore, afterwards demanded
that the same belief should be vouchsafed to their own
most emphatic denial of the charge ; but although at
the time this requisition seemed plausible and just, yet
as after events coincided with Salzedo's deposition — the
precise personages even whom he had named being impli-
cated— the real existence of the plot which he denounced
has never been doubted.
monseigneur le due de Brabant, d'Anjou, et d'Alengon, fr&re du Roy:
Archives Curieuses, tome viii.
*Me"m. de Nicholas de Neufville, Sieur de Villeroy, Secretaire des.
Comman dements des Eois Charles IX., Henri III., Henri IV., et
Louis XIII.
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 313
Bellievre arrived at Bruges with his colleague, and
immediately proceeded to interrogate the criminal, whom
M. d'Anjou delivered into their power to convey into
France, such being the king's pleasure. Salzedo re-
peated his former depositions, adding only, "that he
called God to witness he had never actually taken mea-
sures against the life of Monsieur ; but that the object
of his visit had been to spy out the forces and resources
of the enemies of the king of Spain in Flanders, and
report them by order of M. de Guise to the prince of
Parma." The prisoner was then conveyed across the
frontier into France, and conducted to the castle of
Yincennes. Here he was again interrogated, and still
persisted in his statements, which were reported to the
king by Jerome Augenoust, whom Henry had appointed
as president of the commission issued to try the crimi-
nal. The following morning, August 20th, the king
repaired to Vincennes, accompanied by the queen-
mother, by Birague, Bellievre, Cheverny, de Thou, first
president, and le Guesle, the attorney-general. The
culprit was brought into the royal presence, and was
examined by the lord keeper Cheverny. Salzedo, how-
ever, on this occasion stoutly denied all his previous
statements, which he declared had been extorted by fear,
and persisted in proclaiming MM. de Guise as the king's
loyal subjects, who had never entered into treasonable
negotiations at any time with the king of Spain. Sal-
zedo was then, by the king's command, conducted to the
Bastille ; while Henry returned to Paris, and sending
for Augenoust, he somewhat triumphantly informed him
that "Salzedo had denied every article of his former
deposition." Augenoust replied "that, foreseeing ex-
ceptions might be taken on this matter, as the prisoner
had implicated many personages of the highest dignity,
he had taken the precaution to conduct the examination
of the accused in the presence of three of his majesty's.
'314 HENEY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
members of the High Court, whom he besought the king
to summon." Henry replied by stating his perfect belief
in the truth of the reports, as made to him both by
Augenoust and by Bellievre. Nevertheless, Augenoust
detecting the arri&re pensee in the mind of his majesty,
who would fain have persuaded himself that the re-
ported confessions of the accused had been grossly
exaggerated, respectfully insisted that the king should
summon the persons he had mentioned to corroborate
his testimony ; " for," said Augenoust, " it is essentially
requisite that no doubt should remain on the mind of
your majesty as to the veracity of the reports made to
you concerning Salzedo." The king, therefore, con-
sented that messengers should be despatched to fetch
these individuals. In the chamber with the king were
the personages who had been present at Vincennes when
Salzedo was questioned before his majesty.
During the interval which elapsed Henry went aside
and leaned against a casement which overlooked the
courtyard of the Louvre, in great depression of spirits.
After a time he called Augenoust, and, pointing to the
great assemblage of noblemen who were walking below
in the court, or playing at bowls, he said, sadly : " M.
d'Augenoust, behold, here are many courtiers and
assumed friends. Tell me, on how many of these men
may I rely ? " *
Presently the members summoned by Augenoust
entered the presence, f The latter then stated to them
that his majesty had that morning been present at
Vincennes when Salzedo was interrogated by the chan-
cellor, but that the criminal denied all his previous con-
fessions. They had, therefore, been summoned to
* Belation particuliere de la Mort de Salcedo. Archives Curieuses,
tome x. Bibl. Imp. MSS. Pupuy, tome Ixxxvii.
f These personages were the president Brisson, and MM. de Chartier,
Perrot, and Michon, counsellors.
1583.]
HIS COURT AND TIMES.
315
testify to the fact that the past avowals made by the
prisoner had neither been falsified or exaggerated. The
confession made by Salzedo was then read over and at-
tested, clause by clause, by the witnesses. Still un-
willing to believe in the reality of so foul a conspiracy,
Henry, during the evening, despatched Birague the ex-
chancellor to examine the unhappy prisoner. Salzedo
positively maintained that not a word which he had
previously confessed was true, nor yet had those his
fabrications been correctly given to his majesty. The
following day, the fate of Salzedo was discussed by the
council of state. De Thou, the venerable first president
of the parliament of Paris, advised his majesty, as
the culprit steadily persisted in retracting his confes-
sion, and as consequently no arrests of persons impli-
cated by him could be made, not to suffer sentence of
death to be executed upon the culprit ; but to reserve so
important a witness in captivity, ready to attest the
guilt of any one of the nobles accused of traitorous cor-
respondence with Spain, if at any future time their
treasonable designs should be developed.* This advice
was little to the taste of many members of the council,
who saw themselves or their relatives implicated in the
avowals of Salzedo. Moreover, the prosecution of the
affair had altogether annoyed and wearied the king.
Henry, therefore, gave his opinion that sentence of
death ought to be pronounced and executed upon Sal-
zedo ; his majesty stating as a reason that, if the accused
had been guilty of atrocious libels affecting the character
and loyalty of many of his most illustrious subjects, his
death was demanded as a righteous satisfaction to those
so cruelly aspersed ; when, on the other hand, if the
charges made by the prisoner were true, the knowledge
* De Thou, liv. Ixxv. p. 634. "Le president £tait d'avis de laisser
Salcedo en vie pour intimider ses complices si la conjuration <3tait r^elle,
et pour avoir de quoi les convaincre en besoin."
316 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
that Salzedo existed ready at any moment to testify to
their guilty connivance in the projects of MM. de
Guise, would probably drive such persons, out of sheer
despair, into open and malignant treason. In deference
to this opinion, the tribunal presided over by Augenoust
condemned the accused to suffer death by being torn
asunder by horses, after having first endured tortures
ordinary and extraordinary.*
After the condemnation of the prisoner, it became
more and more apparent that Henry totally disbelieved
the frightful revelations made by the former ; and even
evinced doubt as to the veracity of the proems verbal of
the interrogatories submitted for his perusal. Auge-
noust, therefore, and his colleagues, deeming it their
duty to rouse the king to a full appreciation of the
plots formed to subvert his authority by the great
nobles of the realm, determined to induce Henry to be
a concealed spectator of the last examination of the
prisoner in the torture chamber of the Palais on the
day of his execution. Accordingly, at four o'clock in
the morning of the 25th of October, Augenoust repaired
to the Louvre, and sent through Camusat, the king's
first valet de chambre, a message earnestly imploring
to be admitted to a brief audience by his majesty on a
matter that allowed of no delay. Henry, whose mind
was perturbed and uneasy, immediately returned an
answer in the affirmative. He then directed Camusat
to give him a robe-de-chambre, and to bring the presi-
dent to his bedside. Augenoust then addressed his
royal master in most persuasive language, observing
that the contradictory statements made by the prisoner
having evidently produced some doubts in the mind of
his majesty, it had been judged expedient by the presi-
* Copie de 1'Arrest et Execution de Salcedo, Gentelhomme Normant,
le Roy et les Reynes presents. Bibl. Imp. MS. Be'th. 8830, fol. 356.
Octobre, 1582 : k Paris.
1583.] HIS COURT AND 1I3IES. '617
dents of the criminal tribunal that he should be a con-
cealed spectator of Salzedo's final interrogatory. The
king listened with attention, and did not at first reply.
He then asked " whether any of the kings, his prede-
cessors, had assisted at similar spectacles ?" " No,
sire, " replied Augenoust ; " but let me assure your
majesty that those sovereigns, your predecessors, who
omitted to investigate similar enterprises, fared badly
for their scruples." " I will, then, go with you,"
reluctantly responded Henry. Half an hour afterwards
Henry entered a coach and was 011 his way to the
Palais, accompanied only by Larchant, captain of the
bodyguard. The king there took his seat behind a
curtain drawn across one side of the terrible chamber.
The criminal was brought from the Conciergerie, to
which prison he had been transferred after his con-
demnation, in a coach escorted by a troop of archers
and soldiers of the guard. As the vehicle drove into
the courtyard of the Palais, a person amid the crowd
of spectators exclamed, " Ah, seigneur Salzedo, com-
promise not innocent and honest people! " The criminal
on being led into the presence of his judges, the presi-
dents Brisson and Augenoust, glanced at the frightful
apparatus of torture around, and fell on his knees be-
seeching mercy, and promising a plenary confession.
" What have you confessed ? " asked Augenoust. Sal-
zedo then recapitulated his previous revelations exactly
as he had made them in the presence of the due d'Anjou
and Bellievre ; and concluded by taking a solemn oath
that all he had stated was true. The prisoner was then
bound and the water torture administered ; but nothing
further was elicited excepting his renewed protestations
that he had already confessed all that he knew. Salzedo
was than carried on a mattress to a cell, and left with
a priest to prepare for the scaffold. Augenoust then
advanced and drew back the curtain which hid his
318 HENRY 111. KI.NG OF FRANC % [1582—
majesty from view. Henry sat back in Iris chair with
a countenance pallid and confused, and for some time
made no reply to the greetings of those around. At
length his majesty rose. "Messieurs, " said he, with
a deep sigh, " you have compelled me to witness a
sight which, please God, I will never more see ! Never-
theless, for the best part of my kingdom I would not
have missed to hear with my own ears the confession
of that miserable wretch Salzedo ! " His majesty was
then escorted to la Grande Chambre, where all the
deputies saluted the king, having been previously in-
formed by Augenoust of his presence in the Palais.*
The same day, October 25th, Salzedo suffered on a.
scaffold erected in La Place de Greve, in front of the
Hotel de Ville. By the intercession of the duchesse
de Merco3ur, sister-in-law of queen Louise, the torments
of the unhappy criminal were abridged. His body was
quartered and exposed over the four principal gates of
Paris, and his head sent to Antwerp. f The king and
the three queens, Catherine, Louise, and Marguerite,
witnessed the spectacle from the windows of the Hotel
de Ville. Catherine's young granddaughter Christine,
daughter of the due de Lorraine, was observed to watch
and report every incident on the scaffold to the king,
who reposed in a chair at some short distance from a
window shaded by a gauze blind. On the scaffold
Salzedo a third time retracted his admissions, and died
protesting the innocence of all the personages whom
he had denounced. This denial was attributed to the
* Relation particuliere de la Mort de M. de Salcedo. Archives
Curieuses, tome x. De Thou, liv. Ixxv.
f The Spanish ambassador remonstrated against the liberty which
Henry took in sending the head of this criminal to Antwerp, a town
under the dominion of Spain, though rebellious. The king negligently
replied," qu'il avoit envoy6 cette tete au due d'Alen^on son frere pour
en f aire ce que bon lui sembleroit ; et qu'il en fit des petits pate's s'il
Toulait !"
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 819
counsels of the priest who ministered to his last
hours in his cell at the Palais and on the scaffold. The
due d'Anjou, meantime, had caused the arrest and
execution of one of Salzedo's accomplices in the Low
Countries ; but his principal colleague, one Francisco
Baza, committed suicide in prison.
During these transactions the Portuguese expedition
under Strozzi, that had first sailed to maintain the
rights of the queen-mother on the crown of Portugal,
and which had put back into harbour from stress of
weather, again departed to support this time the claims
of don Antonio, prior of Crato, whom her majesty had
agreed to acknowledge as king of Portugal upon cer-
tain conditions. A few days after the execution of
Salzedo, disastrous intelligence reached Paris of the
destruction of this squadron, off the island of Terceira,
by the Spanish fleet under the marquis de Santa Cruz.
Strozzi fell mortally wounded in the combat ; and when
the fight terminated, he was barbarously stabbed again
with a dirk and thrown overboard by order of Santa
Cruz.* Don Antonio being therefore compelled to
submit to his powerful rival Philip II., found a refuge
in France, where the due d'Anjou lent him his country
house at Ruel, in which he ended his life in 1595.f
The king's pecuniary necessity had been gradually
augmenting during the episode of the trial and con-
demnation of Salzedo. This affair for the moment
disposed of, Henry began to fall back into his old
mode of life ; though his majesty being somewhat
sobered by the startling facts thus revealed, his dissi-
* La Vie, Mort et Tombeau de Philippe de Strozzi, Amiral de I'Arme'e
de Mer dresse'e par la lleyne Catherine de Medici en f aveur du Roy D.
Antoine Roy de Portugal : Archives Curieuses.
f Don Antonio lived at Ruel in great opulence. He had sixty ser-
vants ; and was supplied daily, by order of the king, with two sheep,
a quarter of beef, a calf, and fifty loaves : Lettres de Busbec. He left
two sons, who both died without posterity.
320 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582 — •
pation took a religious turn, and he began to concoct
a code for the establishment of a fresh order of Peni-
tents. In the interval, however, the king proceeded in
a characteristic style to replenish his coffers. The
victims 'of the royal rapacity, at this season, were the
wine-merchants of the capital, upon whom his majesty
arbitrarily imposed a tax according to their means.
Some individuals were mulcted in the sum of 1,000
crowns ; others had to pay 800 crowns ; while all had to
bring the specified sum to the treasury within twenty-
four hours, under pain of imprisonment. The king,
during one of his expeditions to the convent of Bons
Hommes of Nigeon, dreamed the very significant dream
that the lions, panthers, and bears of his menagerie in
the gardens of the Louvre had escaped from their dens,
and rushed with open mouth to devour him. The
reminiscences of this dream so haunted Henry that, on
Ms return to Paris, he caused all his wild beasts to be
shot, and never more could be induced again to provide
his menagerie with denizens.*
The statutes of the Congregation "de 1'Annonciation
de Notre Dame, as king Henry termed his new religious
foundation, were revised and had received royal and
papal approbation about the middle of Lent, 1503.
These rules were as puerile as can be well imagined,
and corresponded with the dress of the order. This
consisted of a coarse canvas sack drawn over the head
of the penitent, having apertures for the eyes, and wide
sleeves. A hood of the same material was sewn, by
way of ornament, at the nape of the neck. The habit
was confined at the waist by a hempen rope, from
which a rosary of wooden beads depended. On the
25th of March, the Feast of the Annunciation of our
Lady, Henry held the first chapter of his order in the
church of Notre Dame. The papal nuncio, the bishop
* L'Estoile : Journal de Henri III.
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 321
of Rimini, officiated and received the oaths of the fra-
ternity, while the Jesuit Auger, who had greatly in-
sinuated himself into the king's confidence, preached
the sermon. The rain fell in torrents ; nevertheless,
Henry proceeded in procession from the monastery of
the Augustinians to the cathedral. His majesty marched
on foot, muffled in his sack, and was preceded by the
cardinal de Guise bearing aloft a cross of silver. The
due de Mayenne followed the king in like attire and
carrying a scourge, which he pretended to use upon
the royal shoulders. Then followed the cardinal-chan-
cellor Birague and his colleague the lord keeper Che-
verny,* the dues de Joyeuse and d'Epernon, the judges
of the realm, Yillequier, governor of Paris, and the
most illustrious of the courtiers, all wearing the habit.
A train of choristers, also wearing sacks, followed,
mumbling the litany of the Virgin. In many parts of
the capital this grotesque procession was greeted with
shouts of laughter by the spectators, who mimicked
what they termed the " faux bourdon " of the unfor-
tunate choristers, whose voices were stifled in their
sacks. The due de Guise had peremptorily refused to
share in this mummery, but stood in stately guise at
a window to see the procession pass. A sheet of paper,
having the following verse inscribed, was afterwards
found blowing about the street in which Guise and
many of his friends had surveyed the procession : —
Apres avoir pille la France
Et tout le peuple depouille,
N'est ce pas belle penitence,
De se couvrir d'un sac mouille ?
The lines were read with avidity, though the verse
* The title of chancellor was never withdrawn except in cases of at-
tainder, even when the great seal passed into the hand of a successor ;
the title of lord keeper was assumed by the de facto chancellor during
the life of his predecessor.
322 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
had little point ; and hundreds of copies were circulated
in print over the capital during the following few
days.
On arriving at Notre Daine the penitents knelt be-
fore the high altar, and devoutly intoned the hymn
" Salve Regina." The badge of the fraternity was then
conferred upon each with a suitable admonition by the
nuncio. On the evening of Good Friday the same
procession was enacted over again by torchlight, the
Pe'nitents of Notre Dame being joined by a body of
Flagellants. The brother of the due de Joyeuse, M. de
St. Dizier, however, fell on this occasion a victim of
the royal folly ; for exposure to the cold and damp
atmosphere brought on so severe an attack of dysentery,,
that he died during the following day.
Henry's exhibition was parodied in numberless
forms by the laughter-loving citizens of Paris. So
great a degradation had the infatuated king inflicted
upon the most august and venerable dignities of the
realm, that puppets were paraded about the streets
muffled in sacks, and publicly sold ticketed with the
names of "the king," "the chancellor, ""the first pre-
sident of the sackcloth parliament," and like irreverent
allusions to the executive. Even his majesty's pages
took diversion one evening in imitating the procession,
and marched round the courtyard of the Louvre with
handkerchiefs over their faces, in which they had cut
round holes for their eyes. Henry was extremely in-
censed when he heard of this mimicry, and caused one
hundred and twenty of the pages and lackeys, who had
joined the escapade, to be flogged in public.
The king's penitential fervour soon passed away, and
he spent the festival of Easter in the indulgence of the
utmost licence. Attended by his riotous band, Henry
made forays into the streets, intruding, masked, into
the private houses of the burghers, and there sanction-
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 323
ing disgraceful acts of violence. These alternations of
bigotry and licence were yearly becoming more fre-
quent. The health of the king suffered severely from
his excesses ; he then became depressed in spirits, stern,
suspicious, and intractable. The easy good nature of
Henry had formerly induced his nobles to look with a
lenient eye on his excesses ; his majesty seldom, during
the early years of his reign, resented a satirical epigram
or a witty caricature, and was the first to laugh at or
to condemn his own follies. The king, however, never
degraded himself by intemperance in meat or drink.
Wine Henry never drank, nor strong beverages of any
description ; the real majesty of his deportment, there-
fore, and his princely address, never lost their influence
when, laying aside his mummeries, he resumed the
dignity appropriate to his position. This abstinence
from intoxicating drinks gave Henry, moreover, a
manifest advantage over his nobles whenever, as was
too frequently the case, their love of carouse over-
powered their sense of self-respect ; and the sharpness
of the royal repartees was remembered in more sober
hours.
The pulpits of Paris, nevertheless, rang with severe
denunciations against the royal dissipations, and the
ludicrous exhibitions of the Penitents, which the clergy
justly considered as calculated to bring contempt on
the faith. " Ah, miserable hypocrites and atheists ! "
declaimed one orator from the metropolitan pulpit of
Notre Dame, " was not the spit laden with choice
meats on the eve of Good Friday for the delectation of
your carnal appetites ? Hypocrites ! you mock God
beneath your hideous masks ! You carry your scourge
at your girdles, instead of using it on your shoulders ;
as stripes for your folly can you never receive
enough."
To one of these uncompromising censors Henry
324 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582 — •
gave the sum of 400 francs to buy, as his majesty sent
word, " sugar and honey to allay the acerbity of the
preacher's temperament." Another, the orator of Notre
Dame, Maurice Poncet, the king branded publicly as
" an old fool," and caused him to be carried off suddenly
from his monastery to Melun, where he remained in
exile some weeks. Before Poncet departed for Melun,
he was visited by the due d'Epernon, who, entering the
chamber in which the preacher was incarcerated, said,
with a swagger, " Well, M. Notre Maitre ! I am told
that you make people laugh famously at your sermons ?
— This is wrong ; a great orator like yourself should
preach to edify, and not to divert." " Monsieur," re-
plied the bold monk, " I ask permission to inform you
that I preach the word of God ; and no one comes to
mock at my sermons, if it be not one of your own
courtly adherents and sinners. Nevertheless, I have not
made half as many persons laugh, as you have caused
others to weep ! "
The anger and disgust of queen Catherine were
strongly evinced at her son's frivolity. Her majesty
now seldom visited the Louvre, but resided at the
Tuileries, or in her palace at the hotel de Soissons. As
for Epernon and Joyeuse, the queen utterly discounte-
nanced their pretensions, and never would tolerate their
interference. The Jesuit Auger, confessor to his ma-
jesty, likewise fell under the displeasure of Catherine,
and she angrily reproached him that, owing to his per-
nicious counsels, the king neglected the affairs of his
realm ; and that, from being a king, Auger had trans-
formed her son into a lazy monk. Many were now
Catherine's melancholy communings alone in the
chamber of her lofty tower. Her retrospect was sad —
her future ominous. The son whom she had pam-
pered and favoured above all her other children revelled
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 325
in licentious indolence, the like of which not even the
annals of les rois faineants afforded example : he was
childless, and likely to remain so ; despised by the
people, and ridiculed by his nobles. M. d'Anjou, un-
stable and capricious, was tossed by his puerile resent-
ments from one party to another — the toy of all, and
his interests the rallying-point of none. His health
was shattered by the excitements and anxiety attending
his Flemish campaign ; and Catherine's maternal fears
were roused by the private intelligence which she re-
ceived concerning the fits of utter exhaustion now fre-
quently experienced by the duke ; and of the bleeding
from the lungs, which followed unusual exertion on his
part. The queen's soothsayers boldly predicted the
approaching demise of the duke, and Catherine put
perfect faith in their divinations. The next claimants
for the crown, which she had preserved through such
innumerable perils, were Henri de Navarre and his
beautiful wife, her only surviving daughter. But Henri
was a Calvinist, and her own mortal enemy ; he was
stricken with excommunication, and his principality lay
under interdict ; moreover, he gloried in avowing him-
self the hereditary and personal foe of Philip II., king
of Spain.
His wife Marguerite, who would with him ascend the
throne of her kindred, had become the scandal of Paris
by the publicity of her liaison with the marquis de
Chanvallon ; while the inmates of the hotel de la
Couture Sainte Catherine, the abode of the queen of
Navarre, testified that in nothing had their royal mis-
tress degenerated from the proverbial profligacy of the
Valois. The king and queen of Navarre were also
childless. Catherine felt persuaded that genius, such as
she had then no reason to ascribe to her son-in-law,
could alone overcome similar disabilities ; or induce the
326 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1582—
French nation to accept sovereigns of position and con-
duct so equivocal. Conde, the next heir to the crown,
was a widower with one daughter ; a man of saturnine
temper, aggrieved and soured by adversity. Beyond
this, the succession in the male line of Valois devolved
on the two unmarried brothers of Conde ; then on the
due de Montpensier. Under these circumstances Cathe-
rine's thoughts naturally reverted to the rights of the
offspring of her daughters. So also did Philip II., king
of Spain, reflect — the husband of Catherine's eldest
daughter, who was the mother of the two infants, Isabel
and Catalina. The queen's second daughter Claude
espoused the due de Lorraine, and died in 1575, leaving
two sons and several daughters. It was on her eldest
grandson Fran9ois de Lorraine, therefore, that Catherine's
political aspirations became fixed. He was a French-
man, the future chieftain of that house whose turbulence
had embittered her own regency and the reigns of the
sons of Henry II., and a prince whose interests she had
every right to suppose that his kinsman of Guise would
espouse. The due de Guise, however, held other views ;
being deceived by the fallacious promises of the king of
Spain, and by a mistaken estimate of his hold on the
affections of the people : neither had Guise sufficiently
appreciated either the ability of the king of Navarre, or
the ruthless ferocity with which Henry III. would assail
an apparently successful enemy.
Other grave anxieties oppressed the mind of queen
Catherine at this season, concerning the position of the
due d'Anjou in the Netherlands, and the refusal of
Elizabeth queen of England to complete the matrimonial
contract drawn, signed, and exchanged with so cere-
monious a form. The ostensible reason for her refusal,
assigned by queen Elizabeth in her letter to Henry III.,
is the relation and secret correspondence maintained by
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 327
the French ambassador in London with Mary Stuart.
Great as was this mortification, it was nothing compara-
tively, in the esteem of the queen -mother, to the appre-
hensions excited by the news of the disasters of the
French in Antwerp during the autumn of 1583. The
position of the due d'Anjou demanded the greatest tact
and forbearance. Though he had been proclaimed due
de Brabant, Monsieur was not permitted to exercise
sovereign sway. The finances were managed by the
members of the States without reference to the will of
their duke ; they disposed of all offices, and they limited
.at pleasure the number of French troops in the pay of
their nominal sovereign. The prince of Orange pos-
sessed in double the power and influence of Monsieur.
In vain the duke applied to the French government to
relieve him from a position so onerous. Catherine,
occupied with the trial of Salzedo, replied, " that
Monsieur in his present condition could not hope to
obtain succour from France." "My son, if you had
possession of five or six good citadels, so that you might
be assured of a free passage to and from this realm into
Flanders, I think the king might be induced to aid you.
As it is now, they will squeeze out of you all they can,
and then will drive you away poor, dishonoured, and for-
lorn."* The queen, nevertheless, had induced Henry
to send the marechal de Biron to Monsieur's aid ; while
a stringent edict was issued, decreeing various pains
and penalties to all French subjects aiding the enemies
of Monsieur brother of the king, with arms or provi-
sions. The language of his royal mother roused the
duke to make the attempt, by which she gave him to
understand that the aid of France might be purchased.
He desired, moreover, to leave the Netherlands for a
visit to the court of England, to try and move the
* Mathieu : Hist, du R&gne de Henri III., liv. vii. p. 480.
328 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582 —
determination of Elizabeth ; and afterwards to make a
sojourn in Paris. The duke, therefore, had proposed
to nominate Biron governor of Flanders during his ab-
sence. The marshal, after some consideration, declined
the office, unless he had certain fortresses assigned to
him for a retreat in case of intestine tumult. The duke
then boldly proposed to Biron to seize the citadel of
Antwerp, in which town they were then abiding. He
called to mind the suspicion with which the Nether-
landers regarded their Gallic allies — a hatred plainly
manifested after the assassin Jaureguy had attempted
the life of the prince of Orange at Bruges,* when but
for the discovery of documents, implicating the Spanish
government, on the body of the assassin, the populace
would have risen and slain the French.} The attempt
was at length resolved, though against the oath which
the duke took at his inauguration, and in direct con-
travention of every treaty made between himself and
the States. The young due de Montpensier, when ap-
prized of the project on the day appointed for its execu-
tian, refused to sanction so flagrant an infraction, by
saying, " Monseigneur, until now the honour of our
house has been stainless : I am not now going to sully
it." Remonstrances, unfortunately, proved of no avail,
and upon some pretext the duke caused his army to
advance closer to the gates of Antwerp. Monsieur on
the 17th day of January quitted Antwerp, attended by
a strong detachment of troops, under pretence of re-
viewing his army, leaving M. de Fervaques in command
of the garrison. The drawbridge was lowered to admit
of the egress of Monsieur, and the cavalcade passed the
* During tlie month of March, 1582.
t " Jamais le due d'Anjou n'eust si belle peur, et il dit depuis que de
sa vie il n'avoit est£ si devot et ne pensa mieux mourir." — Economies
Royales, Politiques et Militaires, p. 36.
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 329
gate. The French troops, however, instead of following
their master, took possession of the bridge, and being re-
inforced by detachments from the main army, which sud-
denly appeared, attempted to fight their way back again
into the town. The French garrison immediately joined
in the assault, and the most terrible conflict ensued in
the streets of Antwerp. The citizens fought with ad-
mirable valour : they repulsed the entrance of fresh
troops, and triumphantly succeeded in regaining pos-
session of the gate of the town. The due d'Anjou, per-
ceiving the adverse state of affairs, feigned that the
tumult arose from misunderstanding, and presenting
himself at the gate demanded admittance. But a merci-
less slaughter of the French had commenced in Antwerp ;
and the infuriated populace turned the guns of the
citadel on the duke, and flatly denied him entrance.
Twelve hundred Frenchmen perished in the subsequent
massacre, and Fervaques was taken prisoner, with other
officers. Monsieur, irritated and mortified beyond ex-
pression, retired to the monastery of St. Bernard, where
he spent the night. The following day, as no signal of
concession had been extended by the indignant city, he
crossed the Scheldt to Tenremonde, from whence he
retreated to Dunkirk.* When the news of the duke's
shameful retreat from before Antwerp was imparted to
Catherine, the queen, in despair at the complications
rising on every side, exclaimed, while tears of mortifi-
cation fell from her eyes, " Would to God, my son, that
thou hadst died rather than to have been the cause of
this slaughter, and of the trouble and difficulties in
which it will involve France !" The king instantly
despatched Bellievre and Mirabel to aid his brother
* Lettres de Busbecq. De Thou, 77. Mathieu. Duplessis Moruay.
Rlchy : Discours veritable de 1'Enterprise d'Anvers. Apologie de»
Etats de Flandre, 1644.
330 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
with their counsels, and commanded a detachment of
the army to advance to the frontier. The due de Guise,
meanwhile, who had now established close relations
with queen Catherine, immediately visited her majesty,
and offered to go in person to the assistance of the due
d'Anjou, provided that a body of 8,000 men was placed
under his command. " Wherever Monsieur may be,
be sure, madame, that I will join him and rescue him
from peril ! " said the duke. Catherine gratefully ac-
cepted the proposition, provided that it met with the
king's approval. By every courier, the queen expected
to hear that her son was a prisoner in the hands of the
.Spanish viceroy ; or had been compelled to surrender to
the army of the States, to abide the consequences of his
infraction of treaties. The queen, therefore, strongly
urged Henry to permit of the departure of the due de
Guise. It so happened that Diane,* the widow of the
late marechal de Montmorency, was present at this dis-
cussion. Madame de Montmorency was greatly es-
teemed by the king, and she was almost the only lady
of the court whose reputation he had not in some way
assailed. The very name of Guise was abhorrent to the
ears of his majesty. Addressing madame de Mont-
morency, therefore, Henry asked her what she thought
of the project of sending the due de Guise into the Low
Countries at the head of 8,000 men ? Diane replied,
" I hold it as if your majesty, in the design of ridding
yourself of Monsieur your brother, should send an
assassin or an executioner to his aid ! Sire ! remember
the confession of Salzedo !"f Henry thereupon peremp-
torily declined to sanction the appointment ; for from
the commencement of his reign it had been the royal
policy never to intrust a command-in-chief to the duo
* Diane de France, legitimated daughter of Henry II. by Philippe
Due.
t Scevole de Ste. Marthe.
1583.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 331
de Guise. On all occasions the king had chosen to
avail himself of the military services of Mayenne in pre-
ference to those of his elder brother ; and thus the
duke's systematic exclusion from state affairs, as from
palace influence, tended not a little to aggravate his re-
sentment. The king, therefore, resolved that no fresh-
troops should be despatched to the succour of the duke,
who was now in comparative safety at Dunkirk, pending
the mediation of Bellievre and Mirabel with the States-
general. Intelligence being also soon received that the
apology which the envoys were empowered to offer to
the citizens of Antwerp, for " la seule faute de M.
(RAiijoU) qui avait expose sa vie et ses biens pour leur
salut" had been benignantly received, and that the States
consented to accept the mediation of the king, all hostile
measures were forthwith abandoned.*
The court, during these transactions, continued a very
focus of contention and profligacy. Paris swarmed with
libels respecting the projects and private lives of all the
members of the royal family ; and pamphlets innume-
rable were published, setting forth the imperial descent
of the house of Lorraine and its ancient superiority
over the Capetian race. The king's patience was some-
times reduced to the last extremity, so utterly did
he find himself involved and assailed. He feared the
Guises, and he hated the king of Navarre. Exasperated
sometimes beyond control by the insolence of the par-
tisans of Lorraine and by their artful misrepresentations,
Henry broke forth into fury and commanded that their
fabrications should be exposed and their agents punished.
The queen-mother and her daughter-in-law queen Louise
invariably then interposed to sooth the royal resentment,
and to explain away any facts disadvantageous to the
due de Guise. Often, when unconvinced Henry wrath-
fully withdrew from their pleadings, and retired to his
* De Thou : Lettres de Busbecq.
332 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582 —
cabinet, the expostulations of the due de Joyeuse com-
menced in their behalf ; for from the period of his mar-
riage with the sister of the queen the duke had become
the active ally of the princes of Lorraine. The two
sisters-in-law of the king, the duchesses de Joyeuse
and de Mercoeur, and his niece Christine de Lorraine,
united in persuading the king to take umbrage at no
assumptions, however flagrant, on the part of Guise or
his brothers. Every where, in the private chambers of
the Louvre, the cabinet, the army, the parliament, and
the city, the name of Lorraine was dominant, repre-
senting all that the realm possessed most illustrious
in genius, talent, military ability, diplomacy, virtue,
chivalrous demeanour, and beauty. The name of Valois
conveyed alone to the mind of the people the image of
a reigning prince sunk in sensuality, an heir-presump-
tive, fickle, frivolous, and incapable, and a princess of
superb beauty, indeed, but depraved and of incorrigible
levity. " Never have I seen or witnessed anything
like the misery and dissensions of the court," wrote
madame de Coeme, mother of the princesse de Conty,
to the due de Nemours ; " it is full of envy, malice,
and discord. The nobles are incensed at the treatment
which Monsieur has met with in Flanders. I have
never seen the queen-mother so distressed and anxious
— so afflicted is her majesty that all her servants grieve.
There are so many malcontents that their name is
Legion ; and as for myself, I am thankful to be here
at this beautiful castle of Gaillon, to recruit my spirits
after a sojourn in Paris of some eight months." * To
add to these tracasseries, a feud broke out between the
* Lettre de madame de Coeme au due de Nemours: MS. Bibl.
Imp. Be'th. 8858, fol. 56. This lady seems quite overwhelmed with
the picture presented by the court, and promises to impart some start-
ling incidents to the due de Nemours when walking with him in his
beautiful gardens at Annecy.
1583.]
HIS COUKT AND TIMES.
333
dukes, each being jealous of the favour shown by his
majesty to the other. Joyeuse went with the onward
stream ; Epernon, whose duchy was situated in Guyenne,
declared for the king of Navarre, and espoused his in-
terests as openly as he deemed it expedient. The duo
d'Epernon was the favoured courtier of the two ; the
aristocratic and refined Joyeuse never obtained such
ascendency over the king as did la Valette, with his
bold reckless disposition, and coarse mirth. To eman-
cipate himself from some of these tribulations, the king
at this period sent the due de Joyeuse to Rome, at the
head of a superb embassy, ostensibly for the purpose of
fulfilling a vow which his majesty had made to visit the
shrine of Notre Dame de Loretto, in order that, by the
intercession of the Holy Virgin, queen Louise might
have a son. The geurdon which Henry offered to the
Virgin was the construction of a new chapel in the
church of Loretto. The political objects of the duke's
mission were to prevail upon Sixtus V. to grant a bull,
authorizing the alienation of church property to the
value of several millions of crowns ; to persuade the
pope to issue a sentence of excommunication against the
due de Montmorency, who persisted in holding the
government of Languedoc which his majesty wished to
confer upon the father of Joyeuse ; thirdly, to solicit a
cardinal's hat for Charles de Bourbon, brother of the
prince de Conde, and for his own brother Fra^ois de
Joyeuse, archbishop of Narbonne. Pope Sixtus V.
blandly refused to sanction the ecclesiastical subsidy,
unless petitioned to do so by the Gallican church. In
respect to the due de Montmorency, the pope — who
then disowned all support of the League, and who beheld
with indignation the manner in which the descendant
of the first Christian baron of France was persecuted by
the government — plainly declared "that he believed
Montmorency to be both a faithful son of the church
334 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1582—
and a true subject, and that the bull of excommunica-
tion ought rather to be launched against his persecutors.
And as to what you tell me, that the king, my very
dear son, has sent you hither to inform me thoroughly
of the condition of his kingdom, I fear that his majesty
himself requires information on that point. Facts, mon-
seigneur, are to be believed before your vain and frivo-
lous presumptions."* The sturdy old pope continued
in this strain to administer a reproof to the duke,
reprimanding him personally for seeking to augment
the enmity between the king and Montmorency, to
the ruin of the kingdom. Joyeuse was so affected by
this objurgation from the supreme head of Christendom
that, on quitting the Vatican, he took to his bed with
bilious fever. The pope's angry reproaches, neverthe-
less, sprang not so much from zeal for the pacification
of France, as from irritation at a project said to be
entertained by Joyeuse and his royal master, to seize
Avignon and the Comte Venaissin, and to compel the
Holy See to exchange this territory for the marquisate
of Saluzzo. Avignon and its adjacent district was then
to be given to Joyeuse, with the title of prince.
Meanwhile an occurrence happened of so scandalous
and public a nature as to rivet the attention of Europe
on the unhappy scenes of folly ever agitating the court
of France. "Africa has never been more fertile in
wonderful phenomena than is the France of this reign
in startling events," wrote the imperial ambassador to
his court. The hatred between queen Marguerite and
the king her brother continued to exist without abate-
ment ; though its public manifestation had not been so
frequent now that the queen of Navarre resided in a
palace of her own, comformable to the advice given by
Catherine to her daughter on her return to the capital.
After the nature of the overture made by Philip II. to
* De Thou, liv. Ixxviii.
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 335
the king of Navarre had been divulged — by which her
own divorce and the re-marriage of Henri with the in-
fanta Dona Catalina * were proposed — Marguerite had
lived in constant apprehension lest some such scheme
might again be discussed. She was aware of the little
hold which she possessed on the affection or the esteem
of her husband ; while the hate felt towards her by
Henry III. would, she also feared, render her re-
pudiation the welcome bond of his reconciliation with
the king of Navarre. Marguerite, therefore, looked
with jealous suspicion on the frequent communications
which passed between the king and the due de Joyeuse,
who was then in Rome — those long letters written upon
two large sheets of paper entirely in the king's hand-
writing, respecting which Busbecq, the imperal ambas-
sador, descants in amazement. In these epistles Mar-
guerite ascertained that her proceedings in the capital
were, at any rate, detailed by his majesty with a ribald
jocularity highly diverting to his correspondent. With
that reckless daring which characterized so many of her
actions, Marguerite resolved to satisfy herself as to the
nature of this correspondence. One of the royal couriers,
therefore, was assailed, when at the distance of a few
stages from Paris, by a party of four armed men masked,
who, after wounding him dangerously, abstracted his
packet of letters which was addressed to M. de Joyeuse. f
When this adventure happened the king was on his road
to rejoin queen Louise at the baths of Bourbon ; but
after he received information of the event, his majesty
immediately returned to Paris in the most uncontrol-
lable fury to investigate the matter, as circumstances
attended the outrage which seemed to affix its perpetra-
* Second daughter of Philip II. and of Elizabeth de Valois. The
infanta Catalina finally espoused Charles Emmanuel, duke of Savoy.
t Lettres d' Auger Gislen, Seigneur de Busbecq, Ambassadeur de Eo-
dolphe II : Lettre 22. Paris, 10 Aout, 1583.
336 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
tion on his sister. The life which the imprudent Mar-
guerite was leading rendered a scrutiny into her conduct
peculiarly undesirable. The marquis de Chanvallon,*
who had been dismissed from the household of the due
d'Anjou for his indiscreet revelation of some trivial
secret concerning his royal master to his friends in
Paris, had been taken by Marguerite into her service,
and resided with the queen in her hotel de la Couture
Ste. Catherine. The familiarity of their intercourse
soon excited public scandal ; reports the most blasting
to the fame of the queen of Navarre became current ;
until at length it was affirmed that during the preceding
months of June or July queen Marguerite had given
birth to a male child, of which Chanvallon was the
father.f This accusation is too strongly confirmed by
proofs to admit of a doubt as to its accuracy ; yet so lost
was Marguerite to a sense of her degradation and the foul
stain that she had inflicted on her illustrious name, that
the orgies of the hotel Ste. Catherine continued with un-
abated profligacy. The letters written at this period by
Marguerite and her paramour Chanvallon were preserved
by some officious hand, and now remain a memorial
against her in the archives of the Bibliotheque Imperiale. J
The king, it is stated, had obtained accurate informa-
tion concerning the irregularities of his sister's life
from a waiting-woman named Marguerite, the daughter
of a tailor, who was herself the mistress of one of
* Jacques de Harlay, marquis de Chanvallon, grand ecuyer du due
d'Anjou, mort en 1630. The marquis was one of the most handsome
men of the court. Dupleix, p. 411. Anselme, tome viii. p. 804.
f Ibid.: Bibl. Imp. MSB. Portef. Fontanieu, 341-342. Amelot de
la Houssaye : M. Historiques et Politiques, tome ii. p. 69.
J MSS. Bibl. Imp. Recueil de Conrard, tome v. p. 113. Guessard :
Me"m. et Lettres de Marguerite de Valois. In these letters Marguerite
terms Chanvallon, "son beau tout, seul soleil de son &me, sa vie, beau
miracle de la nature, ses beaux yeux, seuls soleil de mon &me par eux
tout feu, tout flamme ! "
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 337
Henry's chamberlains.* Upon this information Henry
prepared to act, yielding alone to his wild impulses of
fury. Unfortunately the queen-mother was absent
from Paris, on a visit to her son M. d'Anjou at
Boulogne, who had been taken seriously ill while at
Dunkirk with a vomiting of blood from the lungs.
Marguerite, therefore, utterly unconscious of the out-
rage that awaited her, repaired to a ball at the Louvre
on the evening following his majesty's return to the
capital, at which, in the absence of the two queens
Catherine and Louise, her rank entitled her to preside.
At the height of the festivity, when the royal saloons
were most crowded with guests, the king, attended by
his usual suite of cavaliers, approached the dais upon
which queen Marguerite sat, and commenced in a loud
voice to reproach her with the dissoluteness of her life.
In a tone of passionate vindictiveness his majesty re-
capitulated all the scandalous stories current ; and then
alluded to her intrigue with the marquis de Chanvallon,
who was present, and to the birth of the child, the off-
spring of that liaison.\ Henry then overwhelmed the
unfortunate Marguerite with the grossest abuse ; he
publicly taunted her with all her previous intrigues,
and named the cavaliers, including the due de Guise
and Turenne, whom his majesty was pleased to term
" her sycophants and lovers." Finally, Henry ordered
her sister forthwith to retire from his presence, and
* MS. Bibl. Imp. Dupuy, vol. i. De'rfeglemens de Henri III. Ined.
f " Le roi a reprocb.6 publiquement & la reine de Navarre ses intrigues
•et de"reglemens, lui nommant tons lea amants qu'elle a eu depuis son
mariage, 1'accusant d'avoir eu un fils d'un commerce adultere, pr^cisant
lellement les dates et les lieux qu'il sembloit avoir e"te" te"moin des faits
qu'il citoit." — Lettres de Busbecq & TEmpereur Rodolphe II. : Lettre 28.
Dupleix. " Le fils de Marguerite et de Chanvallon vit encore. II est
pretre Capucin nomm6 Pere Ange ." — Journal de la Vie du Mare*chal de
Bassompierre. Mezeray : Bibl. Imp. Portef. Fontanieu.
338 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
leave Paris within twelve hours.* Marguerite, it is re-
lated, during this terrible ordeal, listened with the
greatest outward composure, and never uttered a word.f
When the king concluded his tirade, she made a pro-
found courtesy and quitted the Louvre, followed only
by Chanvallon and two ladies,J her intimate associates.
This slender mark of sympathy, it will be seen, the
king took care to avenge. The following morning
early, the king sent another message to his sister, reite-
rating his commands that she should quit Paris before
nightfall, "as her majesty would be more suitably
placed under the protection of the king of Navarre ;
for at the court of France her presence was the cause
of more evil than benefit." The king, moreover, issued
commands for the arrest of Chanvallon ; but the latter,
by the advice of his friends, and especially of queen
Marguerite, had secured his safety by an immediate
flight for the German frontier on quitting the Louvre. §
Marguerite, meanwhile, maintained her proud and
fearless demeanour, and employed a part of the night
and the following morning in writing letters containing
a temperate but resolute denial of the charges made
against her by the king, which she sent to the princes
of Lorraine, and to the principal personages of the
court, deeming " such a contradiction more suitable to
her royal station, than to have publicly retorted the
* " Sa majesty ordonna k la reyne de delivrer sur le champ la cour
de sa presence contagieuse ." — D'Aubigne : Hist. Universelle, tome ii.
f " La reine pleine de confusion n'a paru avoir rien & dire pour sa jus-
tification."— Lettres de Busbecq.
t Madame de Duras and mademoiselle de Be*thune, whom the king
branded as "une vermine tres pernicieuse."
§ "Harlay de Chanvallon s'est sauve en Allemagne. Ce Chanvallon
est d'une noblesse tres douteuse, mais sa douceur, sa jeunesse, et sa
beaut6 lui ont acquis la premiere place parmi les amants de la reyne de
Navarre. On m'assure que la reyne-mere a pris en haine sa fille &
cause de cette vie de're'gle'e." — Lettre de Busbecq & sa Majeste* Imperiale.
Paris ce 15 Septembre, 1583.
1583.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 339
abusive epithets of her brother and king." Marguerite's
cool ability generally extracted the sting from the
king's most vindictive assault ; her consummate as-
sumption of innocence in matters afterwards proved
against her, forms not the least wonderful faculty of
the remarkable character of this princess.
The royal decree for her banishment from the court
of France, Marguerite, however, did not consider it
wise to dispute. She accordingly departed from Paris
on Tuesday, the 9th of August, attended by inadame
de Duras and mademoiselle de Bethune, and proceeded
to Bourg-la-Reine, where she dined. During her
sojourn in this place the king passed through on his
road to the castle of Montargis ; but his majesty did
not salute his sister, or take any notice of her presence.
Marguerite, having finished her repast, continued her
journey towards the village of Palaiseau, where she was
to spend the night. When about half-way to this
latter place the queen's litter was suddenly surrounded
by sixty archers of the royal guard, under the command
of Larchant. The curtains of the litter were then
rudely torn open, and Larchant, presenting an order of
arrest signed by Henry, commanded her majesty to
alight. A scene of shameful violence then ensued ;
the litter was searched, every article and paper it con-
tained being seized, in order to be forwarded to Mon-
targis for the royal inspection. The masks, or tourets-
de-nez, worn by madame de Duras and mademoiselle
de Bethune, were torn from their faces ; and they were
subjected to the most scandalous search by certain
archers of the guard, who repeatedly struck the ladies,
and commanded them to give up any papers which
they might carry hidden amid their habiliments.* Ma-
* Hist.de la Vie de Duplessis Mornay, liv. i. p. 71. M^m. du due
de Sully. L'Estoile : Journal de Henri III. MSS. Dupuy Bibl. Imp,
vol. i.
340 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
dame de Duras and her companion were then formally
placed in arrest upon the most odious change * by
Larchant, and compelled to enter a litter, which con-
veyed them to Montargis, escorted by a detachment of
archers. Marguerite was then directed to enter her
litter, which proceeded to the lodging prepared for her
majesty at Palaiseau, and at which place various mem-
bers of her household had repaired to attend their
royal mistress to Chatelleraud, whither she was pro-
ceeding. The queen's first physician, her secretary, her
equerry, and M. de Lodon her first gentleman usher,
were then placed under arrest, and sent to Montargis.
The indignities to which the unfortunate Marguerite
was subjected were not even then terminated. In the
dead of the night Larchant rudely entered her chamber,
and compelling her to rise, searched her bed and coffers,
in obedience to a mandate forwarded to him from
Montargis. No trace, however, of the letters stolen
from the courier despatched to the due de Joyeuse
could be found ; nor indeed any documents calculated
to serve the malevolent intents of the king. Over-
powered by the unmanly insults to which she had been
subjected, the haughty spirit of Marguerite was tem-
porarily subdued. She bitterly exclaimed that she
knew no princess on earth so miserable and persecuted
as herself, excepting the queen of Scots. "Would
that some charitable hand might administer to me
poison so that my calamitous life may end ; but, alas !
alas ! I have neither friend nor enemy so true and
ardent." f " That restless spirit," says d'Aubigne,
speaking of the queen of Navarre, "came to great
griefs ; for her majesty found it impossible, while so-
* " On accusoit ces dames d'incontinence, et d'avortements procures,
etc."— Dupleix. L'Estoile. Mezeray. Vie de Marguerite de Valois par
Mongez.
f Lettre de Busbecq, No. 23.
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 341
journing at the court of the king her brother, to avoid
offending him and the minions by defaming their
morals and by commenting on their voluptuous ex-
cesses."
At Montargis Henry was pursuing, meanwhile, an
investigation into his sister's conduct. Madame de
Duras and mademoiselle de Bethune were subjected
to two separate interrogatories in the presence of the
king, as were also all the persons arrested, though no-
thing criminatory to the queen of Navarre was elicited.*
The ladies were finally sent to the Bastille to answer for
the crimes of which they were accused ; but on the
return of queen Catherine they immediately regained
their liberty. The king next wrote to the king of
Navarre a flippant and insulting relation " of the ad-
ventures which had recently happened to the queen his
wife," enclosing a minute of the examination of Mar-
guerite's ladies and officers, yet commanding him to
receive her at the court of Nerac. Henry then sent
his sister word that she might continue her journey to
rejoin her consort without fear of further molestation.
Marguerite availed herself of the permission, and with-
drew to Yend6me, from whence she wrote letters to the
king of Navarre f demanding vengeance for the affront,
and protesting her innocence. She likewise wrote to
the pope, to her mother queen Catherine, to her brother
the due d'Anjou, and to the due de Guise. "The
king, now his rage is over, already repents having
branded his own blood with infamy," writes the impe-
* L'Estoile : Journal de Henri III. — Harangue au Koi Henri III.
f aite par M. de Pibrac pour le Roy de Navarre : Archives Curieuses,
vol. x.
f " La reyne envoye un manifesto & son mari par un gentilhomme,
disant que si ce que son frfere avoit. dit etoit vray que c'^toit & luy de
la punir, mais non au roy de la renvoyer ; car cette (derniere) injure
^toit faite au mari seul, et sans sujet." — MS. Bibl. Imp. F. Dupuy,
vol. Ixxxvii.
342 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582 —
rial ambassador. " It is notorious that the king suf-
fered himself to be betrayed into the committal of this
act of fury from his resentment at the death of the
courier whom he was sending to the due de Joyeuse.
All persons, acquainted with the character of the queen
of Navarre, predict that she will soon find ample expe-
dients to avenge the flagrant insult which she has re-
ceived."
The intelligence of this fracas created great conster-
nation at the court of Navarre. The misconduct of the
queen, and the insults which she had received, were
known at Pau before the arrival of king Henry's
courier. The king of Navarre immediately sent an
express to his consort, indignantly requesting her not
to presume to continue her journey into Beam until
she had vindicated herself of the crimes of which she
was accused ; * while he despatched MM. Duplessis
Mornay and d'Aubigne to Henry, who was then
sojourning in Lyons, to demand an explanation of his
outrageous proceedings. " The king of Navarre de-
mands, sire, that if the queen his consort, and your
majesty's sister, be guilty of the crimes of which she
has been accused by you, that her punishment may be
exemplary ; if, on the contrary, she has been calumni-
ated, the king desires equally the chastisement of her
slanderers," f said M. Duplessis. Henry sullenly replied
that he had been misled by false reports as to the
amount of his sister's misconduct ; and that now it was
the desire of the queen his mother, whose arrival was
hourly expected, and his own, that the queen of Navarre
should be reconciled with the king her husband, that
* "Le roy de Navarre pria la reyne Ba femme par deux ou trois
de"p6ches pour 1'honneur de tous deux de ne 8'advancer point vers lui
jusques & ce que la dite satisfaction fut effectue'e." — Harangue de Pibrac.
f Lettres de Busbecq. Hist, de la Vie de Duplessis Mornay, liv. i.
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 343
he was weary of the controversy, and had so written
to his brother-in-law. " But, sire, what will the
princes of Christendom say if the king of Navarre re-
ceives back again his wife without explanation or repa-
ration, after her repute has been so cruelly sullied by
your majesty?" — " Say?" exclaimed Henry, haughtily;
" say ? these said princes will say that the king of
Navarre has received back again the sister of his king.
What can he do more or less ? " D'Aubigne then, in-
dignant at the unwarrantable tyranny of the king, re-
plied by stating that his royal master had determined
not to receive queen Marguerite at his court unless her
reputation was cleared, and reparation as signal as the
affront which she had received conceded.* " Go back
again to the king your master, since so you dare to
term him, and say, that if such be the course he in-
tends to take, I will place such a yoke on his neck as
should bend the back of a potentate mighty as the
Grand Seignior. Go and tell him so ! go ! Get out
of my court ! Your master is well served by such
paltry servants as yourselves !"f When Henry's un-
dignified passion had subsided, d'Aubigne replied,
" Sire, my master has long borne the heavy burden
which you threaten. Nevertheless, he places his life,
his person, and his resources at your disposal, but his
honour never !" Before Henry had leisure to reply
the door of the audience chamber opened, and Catherine
entered. " Messieurs," said she, angrily, addressing the
ambassadors, " I entered merely to requst you to
assure M. mon beau-fils that those rascals and knaves
who presumed to slander my daughter to her brother
shall die for it." " Madame, we require nobler repara-
* " D'Aubigne^ luy remit entre less mains 1'honneur de son alliance, et
celuy de son amitieV'-Hist. Universelle, tome ii. p. 415.
f Ibid.
344 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582—
tion," responded Duplessis Mornay ; " bogs were not
slaughtered at the shrine of Diana." * Catherine's dis-
pleasure had been intense, when she learned the fresh
imbroglio in which the folly of the king had involved
the cabinet. Henry now would gladly have annulled
his late proceedings, especially as the examination of
her servants had yielded no positive evidence against
the queen of Navarre to justify such violence. Cathe-
rine wrote to sooth her daughter, and tried to lure her
back to Paris ; but Marguerite refused to listen to any
pacific overture ; while the king of Navarre steadily
declined to receive back his consort whilst a stain re-
mained on her character. At length it was determined
to send Bellievre f to the king of Navarre to assure his
majesty that all had resulted from an unfortunate mis-
understanding, which the king deeply regretted. The
king sent a letter, written with his own hand, in which
his majesty, eloquent in his exhortations, tells his
brother-in-law that " kings, mon frere, have before this
committed errors ; and the most virtuous princesses
have not been exempt from foul slanders, in witness of
which, remember all the libels current respecting that
estimable personage the late queen your mother." On
reading this epistle the king of Navarre burst into a
loud laugh, and, turning to Bellievre, made a witty re-
tort on the choice nature of the implied epithets ap-
plied to his wife and his mother, by which his majesty
sought to extricate himself from an unpleasant predi-
cament. Bellievre further represented that no outrage
* D'Aubigne* : Hist Universelle, tome ii. The queen-mother had
just returned from La Fere, whither she had conducted the due d'Anjou
from Boulogne.
f "Le roy a envoys' Bellievre au Navarrois pour chanter en son nom
la palinodie et raccommoder le mari avec la femme." — Lettre de Busbecq
a 1'Empereur Bodolphe II., No. 29. MSS. Bibl. Imp. F. Dupuy, vol.
Ixxxvii., which contains all the documents relative to this affair, and the
negotiation of Bellievre.
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 345
had actually been committed on the person of queen
Marguerite ; that the king was not obliged to render
account of any language he might have used respecting
his sister ; and that his majesty commanded the king
of Navarre to receive back his sovereign's sister, and
not to embroil the realm by further contentions, as his
majesty acknowledged his error in having deemed the
former to be more guilty than she had proved. The
king of Navarre, justly oif ended at the tone of this ad-
monition, replied, " that it was his intention to send M.
de Pibrac to treat with the king on this subject ; but,
meantime, he declined to see or to receive queen Mar-
guerite."
Marguerite during these negotiations had well em-
ployed her leisure at Vendome in her own behalf. So
resolute and daring was her spirit, that she actually
contrived an ambuscade to waylay the ambassadors of
the king of Navarre, d'Aubigne and Duplessis Mornay,
on their departure from Lyons, to obtain possession of
their letters, instructions, and other documents which,
might enlighten her as to the nature of the negotiations-
pending.* The king of Navarre, by the merest acci-
dent, discovered the design and despatched a courier
to warn the ambassadors against a surprise by the way.
Foiled in that project, Marguerite opened a correspon-
dence with Philip II., king of Spain, through the prince
of Parma, viceroy of Flanders. Philip, ever on the
alert to profit by the troubles of France, had caused
propositions to be made to Marguerite that she should
remove to La Fere, under pretext of visiting .Monsieur,
who was lying there dangerously ill, when, by a well-
concerted movement, a body of Spanish troops under
Farnese should cross the frontier and carry off the
queen. f When once on Spanish territory, it was shown
* Vie de Duplessis Mornay, liv. i. p. 74.
f Cailliere : Hist, du Marshal de Matignon, p. 166.
346 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1582 —
to Marguerite that she could make her own terms with
her persecutors ; or, if her majesty preferred, Philip
bound himself to support her application for a divorce
from the king of Navarre to the Holy See. The pos-
sibility of an alliance with Philip herself, recently a
widower,* was the next bribe offered for Marguerite's
acceptance. That accomplished, the king of Spain pro-
posed, on the death of Henry III. and his brother, to
assert the claim of Marguerite de Yalois to the crown
of France, in defiance of traditional usage, and his own
decision as respected the realm of Portugal — that the
rights of the children of individuals who, had they lived,
would have claimed royal honours, ought to be pre-
ferred before those of the brothers or sisters of their
deceased parents ; thus overlooking the two infantas his
own daughters, and the family of the due de Lorraine. f
The brilliant vista of the Spanish crown seems for a
time to have dazzled Marguerite, and she eagerly entered
into a correspondence with Philip relative to a project
so calculated to assuage her resentment and minister to
her ambition. This dangerous intrigue, however, came
to the knowledge of the wifej of the marechal de Ma-
tignon, lieutenant-governor of Guyenne, but by what
means has never been ascertained. Madame de Ma-
tignon immediately communicated the plot to her hus-
band, by whom it was imparted both to Henry III.
and to the king of Navarre. Their mutual interest,
therefore, arrested the recriminations of the sovereigns,
and, effectually to put an end to so pernicious a design,
the king of Navarre at length reluctantly consented to
receive his consort. Madame de Matignon was sent to
* Anne of Austria, Philip's fourth wife, had died at Badajoz, 1580, of
the fatal epidemic of that year.
t Children of Elizabeth de Valois and Claude de France, Marguerite's
elder sisters.
J Franchise de Daillon de Lude.
1583.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 347
visit the queen at Vendome, and to escort her to Nerac.
Henry III. afterwards acknowledged his obligations to
this lady for the assistance which she thus rendered.
" I thank you," says his majesty in a letter addressed
to the marechal de Matignon,* " for the able assistance
rendered to us by your wife, whom you sent to visit my
sister the queen of Navarre. She indeed effectually
exhorted her to perform that which her duty and her
loyalty to my crown demanded." Marguerite seems to
have been also aware that she owed some gratitude for
the intercession made on her behalf by the marechal de
Matignon and his wife. To be again received by the
king of Navarre seems, after all, to have been her para-
mount desire. By the failing health of the due d'An-
jou Marguerite beheld her husband on the point of be-
coming the heir-presumptive of France ; she, therefore,
already grasped that august rank, which formed the most
tempting allurement offered to her by the diplomacy of
Philip of Spain. Accordingly the queen of Navarre
accepted her husband's overtures, and consented to live
in retirement at Nerac until she could disprove the
statements made by the king relative to the marquis de
Chanvallori. She also wrote to the marechal de Ma-
tignon to thank him for the aid he had rendered her.
Marguerite assumes throughout this letter the lofty tone
of a person deeply injured and forgiving, whose long-
suffering had been partially rewarded by the tardy over-
ture of reconciliation. She says, "As M. de Clervaux
has been to visit me, empowered by the king my husband
to bring me assurances of his good -will and favour, and
of the resolution which he has at last taken to receive
me again, I deem that I have now reason to hope that
I shall soon experience relief from the delays which I
have hitherto found so painful to endure. One of my
chief contentments at the prospect of being soon re-
* Hist, du Marechal de Matignon.
348 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE. [1583.
united to my husband, is the desire that I have to see
you, monsieur, on good terms with the king, for this
is to promote the general welfare, and that of us three
in particular. Experience has demonstrated how per-
nicious is discord between the king my husband and
those who hold your present office.* The king my hus-
band complains in his despatch of the language used
towards him by M. de Bellievre ; while the latter has
written to me that the said king has no ground for dis-
pleasure. I believe there are those whose minds are
solely bent on promoting and coining evil, while I am
compelled — unfortunate that I am — to bear the heavy
burden ! Nevertheless — patience ! In good time I
trust to obtain from God, aid blessed and heavenly, in
measure as I now experience the malicious enmity of
man." f
* The Marshal de Matignon was lieutenant-governor of Guyenne.
f Hist, du Marshal de Matignon. Cailliere, vol. iv. foL p. 166-9,
et seq.
BOOK Y.
CHAPTER I.
1583 — 1585.
Changes in the royal household — Displeasure of queen Catherine —
The assembly of St. Germain — The cardinal de Bourbon — His
character and liaison with the princes of Lorraine — Sumptuary
laws — Colloquy between queen Louise and madame de Neuilly
— Illness of M. d'Anjou — He is visited by queen Catherine —
Arrives in Paris — Interview with king Henry — His sojourn at
St. Germain — Disputes of the courtiers— Decease of the due
d'Anjou — Details — Letters of condolence addressed to the
king — Letter of Henry III. to M. de Villeroy— Ambassage of
the due d'Epernon to the king of Navarre — He refuses to change
his religion — Code of etiquette introduced by the king — Henry
visits Gaillon — The due de Guise signs a convention with Spain
— Condition of the country — Arrival of deputies from the States
of Flanders — They offer the sovereignty of the Netherlands to
king Henry — English ambassage — Henry is invested with the
Order of the Garter — Proceedings of the due de Guise — He
takes up arms — Commencement of the campaign — Interven-
tion of queen Catherine — Demands of the confederates — The
treaty of Nemours.
FKOM Montargis Henry had proceeded to Lyons, ta
meet the due de Joyeuse on his return from Rome.
The duke's health continued feeble, for the depressing
effects of malaria fever still clung to him. After giving
his royal master a detailed account of his mission,
Joyeuse, feeling himself for the present unable to
compete with the due d'Epernon, requested permission to
retire for three months from the court.
A total change, however, was impending in the man-
ners and discipline of the court. The king, palled by
his excesses, and finding delight in nothing, suddenly
352 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1583 —
declared his resolve to effect a thorough reformation in
the state, and to take Louis XII. for his model. His
exchequer was empty, nor did -his majesty perceive any
mode likely to procure its replenishment. His demands
for a subsidy had been met with careless disregard by
the chambers ; * while Catherine declared her inability to
propose any measures likely to relieve the king's irksome
position, and avowed her intent to retire from public life
to her palace of the Tuileries. She bitterly reproached
her son for the folly of his late proceedings towards his
sister ; and for the directions he had forwarded to the
marechal de Matignon to resume hostilities in the south,
unless the king of Navarre obeyed his command and re-
ceived back his consort ; " as if Monsieur, MM. de
Montmorency, and de Lesdiguieres will remain passive
spectators of the campaign ! " The queen next com-
mented on the condition of the court, which was, she
said, composed for the most part of needy men, en-
nobled and enriched at the expense of the State — syco-
phants, therefore, whose gain was to flatter their royal
master, and to maintain the present condition of affairs.
" Where, monsieur, are the great nobles — Guise, Mont-
morency, Nevers, Nemours, and others — noble peers,
whose presence conferred dignity and glory on the courts
of the kings your father and grandfather?" On the
mind of Henry III. when thus stimulated, impulses of
rectitude often dawned, and for a brief interval he
would act up to these inspirations, though always in an
* The king went himself to the chambers to ask for a subsidy. Che-
verny, after his majesty had concluded his oration, arose to enter into
details. While explaining the varied nature of the king's wants, and
the number of gratuities and pensions his majesty conferred, the eyes of
the orator rested on the group of chamberlains behind the throne, while
his gesture unconsciously gave greater force to the indication. The
august senators thereupon so far forgot themselves as to laugh aloud in
the very presence of majesty. " Les sangsues de la cour " was the popu-
lar denomination for the favourites.
1585.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 353
exaggerated form. His intellect, however, weakened
by sloth and unaccustomed to sustained action, soon re-
lapsed into torpidity, and resigned itself to the direc-
tion of the individual, who, to a stirring and enterpris-
ing will, added the highest deference for the sensual
passions of his sovereign.
The first phase of Henry's repentance usually de-
monstrated itself by acts of extravagant devotion. Ac-
cordingly his majesty founded at Vincennes several
religious houses for monks of the order of St. Gero-
nimo — a brotherhood patronized by the king of Spain ;
and shortly after his return to Paris he performed a
pilgrimage on foot to Notre Dame de Chartres, attended
by forty-seven members of the fraternity of Flagellants,
to supplicate for the blessing of offspring, and that right
inspirations might be vouchsafed him for the govern-
ment of his kingdom. Henry then took up his abode
at St. Germain-en-Laye, as the plague was making fear-
ful ravages in the capital.
The king then convoked a general assembly of
princes, nobles, prelates, and deputies, to take into
consideration the condition of the realm, and to give his
majesty advice thereon. Principally, however, the as-
sembly of St. Germain met to receive the report of the
commissioners who had been sent by the king into every
province, during the summer, to inquire into the con-
dition and wrants of his subjects. The choice of these
envoys had been made on the whole judiciously,* yet
they shamefully betrayed their trust : and yielding to
the all-pervading corruption, believed that they should
more surely enlist the good-will of their royal master
by providing, if possible, for his pecuniary necessities
* The principal envoys were Pierre de Villars, archbishop of Vienne,
Pierre d'Espinac, archbishop of Lyons, the lords of d'Angennes, de
Serre, d' Alain, and Philippe du Bee, bishop of Nantes.
354 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583 —
rather than by presenting, on their return, a list of
grievances to be redressed. Consequently, after in-
viting the people to furnish a statement of their condi-
tion and wants, they enlarged on the goodness and
magnanimity of the sovereign, and exhorted their
hearers to contribute towards the replenishment of the
treasury by voluntary donations. In some districts the
commissioners met with sullen disaffection ; in others,,
their ill-timed laudation of the sovereign was received
with hooting and derisive cheers ; at no place, however,,
did they meet with co-operation, or were they aided by
an earnest revelation of grievances. The national dis-
trust had grown and become consolidated ; nine persons
out of every ten in the realm were members of different
leagues. The faction of the royalists had nothing to
recommend it, more than the other cabals, to the people
in general ; on the contrary, it had the disadvantage
of being the small minority universally assailed and re-
viled. The reports of these commissioners, on their
return to Paris, were, nevertheless, received as oracular.
The assembly at St. Germain was convoked, and they
opened the conferences by a detailed account of their
several missions. A committee was then appointed to
consider each of these statements, a prince of the blood
presiding jointly with the commissioner whose report
was under examination.* The remaining members of
the assembly, during the deliberations of their colleagues
in committee, spent their time in dissensions on matters
of privilege, precedence, and immunity. All kinds of
subtle disquisitions were introduced upon matters which,
being already determined on the recognized principles
* Articles et Propositions lesquels le Roi a voulu 6tre delibe're's par
les Princes et Officiers de la Couronne, & I'Assemblee de St Germain,
Novembre, 1583. A Paris, 1584, en 12°. Bibl. Imp. MS. SuppLFram-
fol. 183.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 355
of expediency and usage, admitted of no discussion.*
The folly of the king encouraged debates on the royal
prerogative, and attempts to define in words the pre-
scriptive privileges of the anointed sovereign. The fol-
lowing proposition was submitted to the prelates, despite
the protest and remonstrances of Catherine de Medici :
" And be it enacted that the king, and his officers of
state performing the functions of their office, cannot be
subject to papal interdict, nor to excommunication ;
moreover, the king has a legal right to forbid the pub-
lication of such bulls issued against his royal person, or
against the bishops and magistrates of the realm."
When this clause was laid before the ecclesiastics at St.
Germain they refused to discuss the question, on the
plea "that they had scruples of conscience which they
found it impossible to overcome " — an assertion perfectly
to be credited, inasmuch as the majority of these pre-
lates, being members of the League, relied on the
spiritual weapons of Rome for ultimate victory. The
mooting of this question, nevertheless, was judged to
have been highly inexpedient by the most loyal subjects
of the throne.
It was during this assembly at St. Germain that the
cardinal de Bourbon first demonstrated his adherence
to the principles of the League as expounded by the
princes of Guise. This prelate was the youngest son
of Charles due de Vendome and Fran9oise d'Alenyon,
and the brother of Antoine king of Navarre and the
prince of Conde, slain at Jarnac. The credulity of the
cardinal being unbounded, he was calculated to fill to
perfection the role to be presently offered to him by Spain
and the house of Lorraine. He implicitly believed the
* "Tout ce passa dans cette assemble en discussions oiseuses, et en
discours d'apparat. On y eUeva des disputes sur les rangs et les pr£-
se'ances."
350 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
assertions of his allies, and demonstrated the most in-
tense veneration for their maxims. The career of the
cardinal de Bourbon furnishes no single trait of genius
or benevolence. Essentially selfish, he was never
trusted by any member of his house ; no bond of paren-
tage, alliance, or friendship ever proved strong enough
to avert a perfidious betrayal whereby he might himself
be profited. He was vain, self-sufficient, and ignorant
on most subjects, excepting upon matters concerning
the canons of his church, of which he was a diligent
student. His little mind rendered him peculiarly liable
to fall into the snares of the designing. He loved in-
trigue, and was an adept in all its most odious resources,
such as deceit and equivocation. The instability and
weakness of the cardinal's character fortunately neutra-
lized, in some measure, his defects. Consequently,
until taken up by the due de Guise for his own politi-
cal designs, the cardinal had sunk beneath the negative
contempt which always surrounds those individuals who
are known to cherish the will to harm their neighbours,
if only the power to do so equalled their malice.
Throughout his long life the cardinal had been an assi-
duous courtier ; and from the period of the accession
•of Charles IX. he had devoted himself to queen Cathe-
rine. The character of the latter exercised much con-
trol over the cardinal. From the mind of Catherine
he beheld from time to time his own political ideas
ispontaneously emanate, matured, however, and lighted
by the ray of her rare ability. He dreaded while he
rendered homage ; hence Catherine's power over one
whose nature refused concessions except through the
baser passions of fear or vanity. It is to be doubted
whether the cardinal de Bourbon would ever have had
the hardihood of himself to form close alliance with
Guise, unless in a manner reassured by a certain amount
of assent from the queen. The sole redeeming point
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 357
in the character of the cardinal was the sincerity of his
devotion to his faith. He was usually courtly in his
demeanour, and of very affable address. His large
ecclesiastical revenues were spent liberally, rather, how-
ever, in pacifying the demands of importunate suppli-
cants than in pursuance of any enlightened scheme of
general philanthropy. A character like that of the
cardinal de Bourbon, when it succumbs before a bolder
and more aspiring intellect, ever remains in tutelage.
Louis de Minterne, abbe de Chastrice, confessor to the
cardinal, had during many years inspired his patron
with mistrust as to the proceedings of the due de Guise,
and constantly opposed his political alliance. The abbe
died in the year 1581, and was succeeded by Andre de
Rubempre in his post of confidential counsellor to the
cardinal. Hubempre was a secret though ardent par-
tisan of the League. He perpetually descanted in the
presence of his patron on the miserable condition of the
realm, the profligacy and favouritism of the court, the
all but national bankruptcy, and on the prospect of the
ruin of the church when the heretic Henri of Navarre
became heir-presumptive of France. It was, therefore,
represented to the cardinal that his duty as a faithful
son of the church, and as a Frenchman, imperatively
demanded that he should assert his prior right to the
crown of France. A pamphlet, written in Latin, was
published and circulated over the realm, in which the
rights of the cardinal de Bourbon were demonstrated
and compared with those of his nephew to the disad-
vantage of the latter ; the most extravagant paradox
being used to demonstrate the axiom that a collateral
descent gave a prior claim to succession before that of
the lineal representative of a race.* The credulous old
* De la Succession du Droit de Prerogative de premier Prince du Sang
defer^e k M. le Cardinal de Bourbon, tradit du Latin de Mathieu Zam-
pini. Paris, 1589.
358 IIENKY III. KING OF FEANCE, [1583—
prelate read and approved — believed himself called by
Heaven to interpose his orthodox claims for the rescue
of the church and the crown — and allowed his name to
become the ostensible cri de guerre of the Lorraine
faction.
The deportment of the hitherto suasive cardinal at
the assembly of St. Germain was, therefore, a source of
intense astonishment to the uninitiated. He several
times attempted to address the assemblage upon points
of doctrine and the reformation of abuses, but losing
the thread of his discourse, he was compelled abruptly to
resume his seat. One day, in the presence of the king,
the attorney-general du Guesle eloquently expatiated on
the corrupt practices of the various criminal courts of
the realm, and especially censured the abuse of the right
of sanctuary possessed by the shrine of St. Romain of
Rouen. The cardinal de Bourbon, in the midst of the
oration, rose in a fury from his seat * and threw himself
at the foot of the throne, praying that du Guesle might
be degraded for his heresy, and compelled to make
amende honorable for his flagrant insult to the chapter
and clergy of the diocese of Rouen. The clamour made
by the cardinal roused the king from the state of dreamy
indifference with which he had been listening to the
harangues, and with a gesture of surprise his majesty
hastened to pacify his irate kinsman by the assurance
that his demand should be considered, f The cardinal
de Guise, younger brother of the due de Guise, having
presumed to dispute precedence with Charles de Bour-
bon, archbishop coadjutor of Rouen, on the plea that a
cardinal priest ought to take precedence above a prince
of the blood, if of lower ecclesiastical rank, the cardinal
* "Le cardinal," says de Thou, "entraen fureur et se jetta aux
genoux du roi avec autant d'empressement qui B'il s'4toit agi de la
dignity, des ses biens, et de son salut."
f De Thou : Hist, de son Temps, liv. Ixxviii.
1585.] HIS COURT AND T1MKS. 359
de Bourbon was infatuated enough to support these
pretensions. The king, however, decided that a prince
of the blood took precedence over every subject, lay or
ecclesiastical, which fiat so offended the cardinal de
Guise that he retired from the assembly. Some pre-
lates followed Guise in his retreat ; others deferred to
the decision of the king, and took their places below
the youthful archbishop, who was, however, owing to
the negotiations of Joyeuse in Rome, a cardinal elect.
" Verily, some men do honour to the purple, others de-
rive from it their sole distinction !" was the indignant
speech made by the cardinal de Bourbon, as he swept
past the bench of bishops on the first session of the
assembly, after the departure of monseigneur de Guise.*
The momentous business upon which the assembly
had been convoked, meanwhile, made little progress.
Ample discourses were read, and schemes of reforma-
tion suggested ; but as all the members were intent on
their own interests, and in fighting for the maintenance
of the privileges of their respective orders, the condi-
tion of the miserable and oppressed people, decimated
by civil wars and impoverished by taxation, had little
chance of amelioration. A law was enacted against
usurers, and the king issued an edict proscribing " all
leagues, associations, societies, and confederations."
The king, during the session of the assembly, con-
tinued to employ himself busily on the reformation
of his household. He also published several edicts
tending to promote the domestic prosperity of his
people. Amongst other mandates were some severe
sumptuary laws regulating the attire of the ladies of
liis realm. The extravagance in dress had reached a
frightful climax, for the wives of burghers, it was stated,
arrayed themselves in the habiliments deemed suitable
for a countess in the reign of Francis I. Gold embroi-
* De Thou.
360 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
deries, silk, velvet, and satins, were forbidden, under
penalties of severe fines, to all women below the rank
of a president's wife. The king condescended to enter
into minute details as to what he deemed to be a suffi-
cient wardrobe for the different classes of his female
lieges. The edict was received with angry defiance ;.
but as the king was then in no humour to be disobeyed,,
he sent his provost la Perreuse commands to proceed
rigorously against all infractors of the new laws. The
consequence was, that some fifty or sixty ladies were
summarily arrested and conveyed from their homes to
the prison of Fort 1'Eveque, all offers to bail the fair
prisoners being sternly rejected. This rigorous measure
created great discontent ; and the streets adjacent to
the prison were crowded by the populace, whose re-
marks and gibes on the splendid raiment of the king
and his minions more than avenged the captive dames.
The following morning Henry arrived in Paris in per-
son, and proceeding to the gaol, himself liberated the
ladies and paid their prison fees. They were courte-
ously dismissed by his majesty with a suitable repri-
mand ; but after some further attempt to enforce the
observance of the edict, its evasion was tacitly con-
nived at.*
Some few weeks after this occurrence, queen Louise^
attended by one lady, went to make purchases at the
shop of a celebrated vender of silk brocades in the Rue
St. Denis. A lady sumptuously attired stood before
a counter examining pieces of silk, who, on the entrance
of the queen, continued her survey without offering any
act of deferential homage to her majesty, whose arrival,,
in fact, she appeared not to have observed. The queen
remembered the sumptuary laws recently enacted, and
glanced at the superb habiliments of the lady, whom
* M£m. de 1'Etoile. Lettres de Busbecq, No. 29. Dreux de Radier :
Hist, des Reynes and Re*gentes de France,
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 361
she had never seen at the Louvre. Louise, therefore,
asked her who she was. The lady, still absorbed by
her occupation, replied carelessly, "that out of pity
for her ignorance she was willing to inform her that she
was addressing madame la presidente de Neuilly ! "
" Truly, madame," retorted the queen, severely, " your
attire then seems unsuitable to your condition." " At
any rate, that is nothing to you, ma bonne femme, since
you do not find the money to pay for my said attire,"
replied madame la presidente, in a voice of haughty
insolence. She was proceeding to add more in the
same strain, when the silk-mercer approached, and
whispered in her ear the magical words, " sa majeste la-
reyne !" Madame de Neuilly then turned for the first
time towards the queen, and recognizing her royal
mistress, she threw herself at the feet of Louise and
implored her to pardon the rudeness of her speech,
and her apparent wilful omission of the respectful
homage due to her majesty. Louise reassured her
supplicant, promising to overlook her involuntary want
of deference to the queen ; but, at the same time, she
gravely admonished madame la presidente to show less
arrogance in her address, and carefully to adjust her
attire within the limits prescribed by the recent
edict.*
The zeal of the king, even when commendably
roused, was never tempered by prudence. The reduc-
tions in his household were made without correspond-
ing compensation to the servants summarily dismissed,
many of whom had spent large sums in the purchase
of their appointments. Thus, the king had one hun-
dred and fifty inferior officers of his chamber — persons
whose salaries were lucrative, and their posts almost
a sinecure. At one stroke of the pen Henry reduced
the number of these officers to twenty-four, and dis-
* Mallet : Economie Spirituelle et Temporelle des Grands, p. 595.
362 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1583—
missed the remainder. In all departments of the royal
household the same scrutiny was instituted ; many
offices were totally abolishedj in others the number of
retainers was decreased to one-half. The officers on
the royal domains were next passed in review ; nume-
rous abuses were detected and punished; and many
ancient servants of the royal hunting and hawking esta-
blishments harshly cashiered for indirect participation
in practices which their royal master, in somewhat un-
wonted language, now designated as frauds. The num-
ber of individuals thus dismissed amounted to several
hundreds, and the greater part of them before the end
of the year 1585 were found enrolled under the banner
of the League.
During these transactions, the health of the due
d'Anjou was rapidly declining. The fatigue and ex-
citement of his Flemish campaign had made deadly
inroad on a constitution always feeble. His disgraceful
repulse by the people of Antwerp, and the final rejec-
tion of his matrimonial overtures by queen Elizabeth,
sank deeply into the heart of the duke. At Dunkirk
Monsieur had ruptured a vessel on the lungs, and while
still confined to his bed, the repose of his sick chamber
was invaded by the news of the approach of the prince
of Parma to invest that city. Before the duke was in
a condition to travel he was, therefore, compelled to
quit Dunkirk and embark for Boulogne, from whence
he journeyed to La Fere with queen Catherine. The
failing health of the duke had the natural effect of di-
minishing his energy and desire for conquest. The
resentment of the people of Antwerp for his enterprise
against their liberties was still uncontrollable ; and had
even redounded on the prince of Orange, whose loss of
popularity was followed by his retirement from Antwerp
to Flushing, after the convention of the States to meet
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 363
at Middelbourg. The people of Ghent, hostile to the
rule of the Spaniards, yet jealously refusing to admit
French troops within their territory, still further com-
plicated affairs. The duke of Parma, therefore, after
the capture of Dunkirk, menaced Ostend, and invested
Ipres, which soon capitulated. Town after town sur-
rendered to the Spaniards in Flanders; Ghent, Bruges,
and Ostend offered submission to the viceroy. Ant-
werp, Brussels, Ecluse, and Malines alone stubbornly
refused to recant, and receive a Spanish garrison with
such conditions as the conqueror chose to dictate. This
almost universal retrogression did not comprehend the
Dutch provinces, which proudly maintained their inde-
pendence. Cambray, moreover, repulsed every attempt
to reduce it ; and Balagny and the French garrison
bravely sustained the prestige of their countrymen. The
due d'Anjou bitterly reproached his royal brother for
this condition of affairs ; and commented on the weak-
ness of the king, who while he lavished thousands upon
unworthy favourites, suffered the fame of his only
brother to be thus obscured.
All political considerations, however, were suspended
for the moment by Monsieur's illness. Catherine again
departed from Paris to visit the duke at Chateau
Thierry, whither he had retired, and to induce him to
return with her to Paris. She found Monsieur reduced
almost to the last extremity of weakness — bodily as
well as mental. He wept while lamenting his impending
fate, and besought her majesty to pardon the disquie-
tudes which his conduct might have occasioned her.
He could not, however, be persuaded to visit Paris ; and
declared that he held the king his brother to be re-
sponsible for his untimely end, by the little interest he
had taken in forwarding his projects on the Low
Countries, and his matrimonial negotiations to obtain
364 HENRY III. KI.NG OF FRANCE, [1583 —
the hand of the queen of England.* The varied mis-
fortunes of the past years so weighed upon the mind of
Catherine, that on her return to Paris she fell dan-
gerously ill of fever. The king ridiculed the assertion
that his mother's malady was occasioned by mental
anxiety, and declared that the fever was rather caused
by the proximity of one of the great sewers of Paris to
her abode, the hotel de Soissons. Catherine's illness
showing no signs of speedy abatement, the due d'Anjou
suddenly quitted Chateau Thierry, and arrived at his
mother's abode. The sight of her son proved a great
solace to Catherine ; and at length, at her urgent en-
treaty, he consented to be reconciled to the king his
brother. The duke accordingly repaired to St. Germain.
Henry showed much emotion on beholding the shrunken
features of his brother, and his bent and attenuated
figure, and repeatedly exclamed, " that he could never
have believed such a transformation possible in so brief
a period." Monsieur, likewise, was much affected ; he
prayed his brother to forgive him all that he had done
against his throne and person. " Mon frere," ex-
claimed the king, " we will not use the word pardon.
It is true we have differed in opinion, but the queen
our mother shall decide which of us two held the
right."f The king then affectionately prayed his
brother to take up his abode with him for a period at
St. Germain. Unfortunately the duke agreed, and a
temporary improvement in his health just then occur-
ring, he was persuaded to accompany the king in his
accustomed wild foray through the streets of Paris
during the carnival of the year 1584. "On the eve of
* Abre"g£ de la Vie de Francois Due d'Alengon. par Marin le Roy,
Sieur de Gomberville. This history is to be found in the second volume
of the Me"m. de Nevers.
f Lettre de Busbecq, Ambassadeur imp£riale, & Rodolphe II. : Lettre
32.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 365
Shrove Tuesday," says 1'Estoile, " the king and his
brother, followed by their minions and favourites, went
through the streets of Paris in masquerade, disguised
as merchants, priests, and advocates. They were
mounted on horseback, and rode furiously, running
over people, and beating many whom they met, espe-
cially such persons as wore masks, for the king wished
to reserve this privilege for himself. They then pro-
ceeded to the Foire de St. Germain, where they stayed
committing numberless insolences until ten o'clock on
the following morning, when they retired." The effects
of this night of debauch were severely felt by the unfor-
tunate duke. He was afterwards confined to his bed
for several weeks at St. Germain, and rose to return to
Chateau Thierry, where he alone believed himself to be
in safety.*
On the 13th of March the duke's malady assumed so
serious an aspect that he was thought to be dying, and
an express was despatched to Paris to summon the
queen-mother. Monsieur, however, again rallied, though
he never afterwards left his bed.
In Paris the extremity to which the due d'Anjou
was reduced created no sympathy. His conduct had
alienated the affections of the people ; while the parti-
sans of the League rejoiced that a dispensations of Pro-
vidence was about to remove a prince whose claims, as
heir-presumptive, insuperably interfered with their de-
signs. There were those even unpatriotic enough to
rejoice that the king of Spain would be rid of so ob-
noxious a rival; and that the queen of England was
losing an ally, whose designs on the Low Countries
she, on more than one occasion, had dexterously inter-
* Two assassins were arrested in the apartments of the duke armed
with poniards. While undergoing the torture, they declared that their
intended victim was M. de Fervaques, whose life they sought at the in-
stigation of a personage whom he had injured.
366 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1583 —
posed to ward from her realm the revolutionary enter-
prises of Philip II. The due de Guise and the Spanish
ambassador, don Bernard Mendoza, were frequently
engaged in private discussion during the interval which
elapsed between the period when Monsieur quitted Paris
and his demise. " I have received certain news from
Chateau Thierry that the condition of M d'Anjou gets
worse every day," said the due d'Guise to his mother
madame de Nemours, while sitting at the foot of her
bed one afternoon during a temporary indisposition
with which the duchess had been assailed. " Madame, I
have resolved on my course — Jem* en vaisfaire les doux
yeux d M. le cardinal de Bourbon ! The queen-mother,
according to her old fashion, will join the strongest
side. The king of Navarre is at too great a distance
to hinder our projects ; we shall, therefore, be indis-
pensable to that said little bon homme* and we will
take good heed not to lose Paris ! "f To his mother, to
madame de Montpensier, and to the due de Mercoeur,
Guise alone confided his precise projects at this period.
The due de Mayenne was as yet a faithful servant of
the crown ; and preferred the peaceable possession of
his wealth and honours to the pursuit of any chimerical
schemes of ambition. The cardinal de Guise was arro-
gant and boastful ; besides, the license of his life pre-
cluded the hope that any important secret confided to
his keeping would not transpire. The perfidy of the
due de Mercoeur, however, was signal. The brother
of queen Louise, he had been raised from the inferior
condition of a poor cadet of Lorraine to an equality with
his sovereign ; he had been enriched by the misplaced
bounty of his brother-in-law, who besides bestowed
upon him in marriage the heiress of the elder branch
of Luxembourg. A trivial quarrel with king Henry
* Mathieu : Hist, du B^gne de Henri III., p. 491.
f Lettre de Busbecq & 1'Empe'reur Rodolphe II., No. 37.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 367
was the immediate cause of the duke's desertion. The
duke de Merco3ur had been created governor of Bre-
tagne, while the due de Joyeuse received the appoint-
ment of high-admiral. Mercoeur, in his capacity of
governor, claimed the disposal of all vacant naval ap-
pointments in the ports of Bretagne, a right which the
due de Joyeuse disputed in the exercise of his func-
tions as admiral of France. The queen supported her
brother, and warmly blamed the conduct of Joyeuse.
His majesty, however, decided in favour of the claim
of the due de Joyeuse, in consequence of which a long
wrangle commenced, which ended in the temporary
alienation of the royal pair and the defection of Mer-
coeur from the royal cause.
To queen Catherine, meanwhile, the due de Guise
explained in confidence that the elevation of a puppet,
in the person of the cardinal de Bourbon, was a neces-
sary evil, if her majesty intended to bar the throne to
a heretic pretender. That the French nation was not
altogether prepared to witness the overthrow of the dy-
nasty of St. Louis ; and that such a measure, by famil-
iarizing the mind of the people to the exclusion of the
king of Navarre, would prepare the way for the legal
adoption of her grandson, the eldest son of the due de
Lorraine, by the king, and for its eventual ratification
by a papal mandate. To his sister the duchesse de
Montpensier, Guise ridiculed the credulity of the queen-
mother. "The leg is further from the nose than the
knee ; therefore, I deem myself justified in preparing
our own aggrandizement, rather than for that of MM.
our cousins of Lorraine," observed the due de Guise, jest-
ingly. To Mendoza the Spanish ambassador, the duke
was compelled to be more explicit. That wary di-
plomatist, who had just been ignominiously dismissed
by queen Elizabeth from London for tampering in the
plots which eventually brought Mary Stuart to the
368 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
block, was not to be deceived by a jest, or by a bravade.
The siege of Antwerp, the preponderance of Catholic
arms in the Low Countries, the perdition of Elizabeth
of England, and the institution of the chambers of the
Holy Office in France, were facts and projects daily and
exultingly contemplated by the ambassador. More-
over, a deputation from the States of Middelbourg was
known to be on its way to seek reconciliation with the
due d'Anjou ; or if that unfortunate prince should be no
more, the • despatch of an illustrious arnbassage was in
contemplation, to lay the sovereignty of the Low
Countries and Holland at the feet of the king of
France. The duke represented to Mendoza, " that if he
appeared to intrigue for the elevation of the cardinal,
it was not from any intention of succeeding in such
design ; neither need his Catholic majesty believe him
capable of so paltry a meanness as to depose the reign-
ing family, to elevate the princes of Lorraine, his cou-
sins, as he tried to persuade the queen-mother ; but that
the phantom of the cardinal king was necessary to set
his designs afloat." * It does not, however, appear that
the due du Guise was guilty at this period of conspiracy
against the person of Henry III. His aim was to sub-
stitute his own house as next in succession, before the
heretic though rightful brand) of Bourbon Albret.
The decease of the due d'Anjou, which was to give
life and reality to many of these speculations, was fast
approaching. At the latter end of the month of May,
1584, Catherine once more repaired to visit her son,
and remained three days at Chateau Thierry, f At her
son's request she took charge of his will, and promised
* De Thou.
f " Le due d'Anjou a £t£ & 1'extremite & Chateau Thierry, on a meme
publi^ qu'il 6toit ernpoisonn^, mais on dit maintenaiit qu'il est mieux.
Quelques-uns croient qu'il a les poumons gate's & cause d'un grand vom-
missement de sang. La reine mere est alle le voir, et a reste" aupres de
lui."— Lettres de Busbecq, No. 33. Paris, 24 Mai, 1584.
1585.] ins COURT AND TIMES. 369
to insure its faithful execution. The duke also gave
all his jewels and orders into his mother's keeping, and
commanded that his most valuable furniture at Chateau
Thierry and at Angers should be sent to her palace in
Paris. Monsieur lingered about a week after the queen's
departure. His death was sudden, and resulted from
the rupture of a second blood-vessel, after a violent fit
of coughing brought on by the lodgment of a crumb of
bread in his throat. The duke communicated and re-
ceived the last sacraments of the church with humility
and devotion. His sufferings were intense ; but the final
hours of his troublous life were comparatively free from
pain.* Monsieur was sincerely lamented by the officers
of his household, to whom he had always been an indul-
gent though an injudicious master. They wept round
his dying pillow, and assiduously attended him during
his last conflict.f His confessor Jacques Berson, subse-
quently drew up a narrative of the closing scenes of his
master's life — a touching chronicle, if only certain pre-
vious passages in the duke's career could be obliterated
from the memory, so as to invest, with even a semblance
of probability, the rapturous laudations of the writer.
" M. d'Anjou is just now dead," writes the imperial
ambassador Busbecq.J "He was a prince who never
knew how to avoid the evil counsels of dishonest minis-
ters ; nor could he discern a true friend from a flatterer.
He was inconsistent, restless, volatile, and always ready
to disturb the public tranquillity. The queen his mother
is vehemently afflicted at his decease ; the others appear
to be so, but their grief is insincere. The king has just
clothed himself from head to foot in black robes,
* Regret Funebre, contenant les actions et derniers paroles de Mon-
seigneur Fils de France. Par Jacques Berson, Pre'dicateur de feu Mon-
aeigneur. A Paris, 1584.
f MS. Bibl. Imp. F. de Be"th. No. 8824, fol. 90.— Lettre de M. de
Neuville & M. de Matignon.
1 Lettre 28.
370 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
discarding the usual royal mourning of violet." " The
due d'Anjou," says M. de Thou, " was a prince of rest-
less disposition, lively, affable", magnanimous, eloquent,
magnificent, ambitious, and volatile. France twice
owed the conclusion of peace to his mediation, and his
death precipitated the country into the most disastrous
and deplorable troubles." By his will the duke be-
queathed his rights in the Low Countries to his brother
king Henry. He especially commended the people of
Cambray to the protection and good offices of the king ;
and in a separate codicil he implored his majesty to
pardon all the enterprises of which he had been guilty.
He desired that his debts might be paid, and requested
to be buried as due de Brabant, a desire which Henry
deemed it prudent, with the consent of the queen-
mother, to disregard. He also for the same reasons
declined to accept the title of Protector of the town of
Cambray ; but as Catherine still maintained her claims
to the crown of Portugal against Philip II., his majesty
permitted his mother to take possession of Cambray as
a guarantee for the future satisfaction of her demands.
His jewels, money, and rich personalty, Monsieur left
to his mother.*
The body of the due d'Anjou was embalmed and
transported to Paris, where it was deposited in state
before the high altar of the church of St. Magloire.
On the twenty-fourth day of June the king, arrayed in
a long mourning mantle and attended by a sumptuous
train, proceeded to sprinkle the bier with holy water.
Queen Louise also performed the same pilgrimage with
her ladies. f Catherine was too ill to take part in the
ceremonial. She had been doomed to lament the pre-
* Me"m. de Nevers. Mathieu : Hist, de Henri III., liv. vii. De
Thou: Journal de Henri III. Testament de Francois de Valois, Due
d'Anjou, d'Alen^on, et de Brabant.
f De Marie : L'Ordre observ^^l'enterrement de Francois de Valois,
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 371
mature decease of four of her children. With exceeding
anguish the queen now, moreover, mourned the inca-
pacity of her favourite son, the reigning king ; while
she beheld no resource but an alliance with Guise to
overthrow the legitimate pretensions as heir-presump-
tive of her detested son-in-law, the king of Navarre.
The following day, June 25th, the funeral cortege pro-
ceeded to Notre Dame. The king surveyed the pageant
standing bareheaded at a window of a house close to
the hotel Dieu. He was attended by the due de Guise,
with whom his majesty held most mournful converse,
his sorrow being outwardly reciprocated by the duke,
who is reported to have looked exceedingly melancholy.
The procession proceeded on the fourth day of July to
St. Denis, where the ceremony of the duke's interment
in La Chapelle de Valois was performed with great
pomp.* Renaud de Baune, archbishop of Bourges,
preached the funeral oration ; in which, however, he
made no allusions to the campaigns of the duke in the
Netherlands, such reserve having been deemed expe-
dient by the privy council. "Few princes," says a
contemporary writer, " made such extensive conquests
in so short a period as M. d'Anjou, though not by
arms. It would consume the best part of a hundred
years to conquer the territory which at one time ac-
knowledged his rule ; that is to say, Holland, Zealand,
Friesland, West Friesland, Brabant, Flanders, and
Hainault ; there only remained for him to subdue the
provinces of Franche-Comte and Luxembourg. The
evil counsel which some gave the said duke to seize
and sack the town of Antwerp was the cause of his
ruin." Henry pretended to be so overwhelmed with
sorrow for his brother's loss as to be unable to write
frere unique du Koy. This ceremonial is printed (Godefroy : Grand
C£re"m.) in the edition published in the year 1619 alone.
* Ibid.
372 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
the intelligence to the king and queen of Navarre.*
He therefore confined this task to M. de Bellievre and
to the due de Montpensief. The latter addressed
Marguerite : her letter of acknowledgment is written
in a spirit of extreme sadness. The decease of Mon-
sieur left her without a protector on whose regard she
could rely. The letter is dated from Nerac, where
Marguerite still held her solitary state at bitter variance
with the king her husband. "I try to submit and to
humble myself in the presence of this woeful sorrow,"
wrote the queen of Navarre, " though I cannot yet feel
resignation ; for despite the consolations which you
offer me by your letter, human nature shrinks beneath
this cruel and most lamentable visitation."f
The prince of Orange wrote also to queen Catherine
to condole with the royal family of France in their
affliction. His letter is dated from the town of Delft,
and was written only a little more than a fortnight
before his own assassination. After eulogizing the
qualities which distinguished the due d'Anjou, the
prince implores the intervention of the king in the
affairs of the Low Countries ; " for, madame, our only
refuge is in the majesty of God and of the king to
arrest the progress of our persecutors.''^ The prince
did not exaggerate the extremity of the Netherlander.
All Flanders, excepting the towns of Alost, Antwerp,
Brussels, and Cambray, had fallen again a prey to the
Spaniards ; the latter was garrisoned by Montluc, sieur
de Balagny;§ and Antwerp, straitly invested by the duke
* u La douleur que sa majeste* en recoit ne lui permet pas d'e"crire au
roi de Navarre."— MS. Bibl. Imp. : Lettre de M. de Neuville & M. de
Matignon.
t MS. Bibl. Imp. Be"th. 8829, fol. 13: La Reyne de Navarre & M. de
Montpensier.
t MS. Bibl. Imp. Colbert 337, fol. 203 : GuiUaume de Nassau, Prince
d'Orange, & la Reyne Mere.
§ The sieur de Balagny, the valiant defender of Cambray, was the
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 373
of Parma, was organizing one of the most obstinate and
glorious defences on record. Fines, imprisonment, and
banishment, were the penalties which awaited those of
Philip's Flemish subjects who made submission ; the
towns were mulcted, and citadels constructed and paid
for by public contributions. The duke of Parma, more-
over, took the opportunity, while offering his condolences
on the demise of Monsieur, to remind the king of the
protestations he had so often made, " that his brother
was responsible for his own enterprises, never thinking
fit to consult with him on any matter." The duke's
observations on the decease of his late opponent are
somewhat curious. He writes : —
THE PRINCE OF PARMA TO HENRY III. KING OF
FRANCE.
Sire, — I cannot refrain from notifying to your majesty the ex-
treme regret that I feel for the decease of Monseigneur the due
d'Anjou, to whom may God Almighty accord pardon. I grieve,
not only on account of the nearness of kin between your majesty
and him who is no more, but also because I feel the greatest re-
spect and devotion towards your crown. Believe, therefore, sire,
that I have sincerely sorrowed the loss of Monsieur, your only
brother ; nevertheless, I doubt not that your majesty has received
this affliction with the resignation which we ought to demonstrate
when smitten by the almighty hand of God.
Sire, at the present moment it is also my imperative duty, hold-
ing the place and position I do, to entreat you very earnestly, in
the name of the Catholic king my lord, to act conformably to the
assurances which your majesty has often given me, "that you
could neither prevent nor interfere with the enterprises of the
said deceased duke, nor yet had the deeds of Monseigneui your
sanction," to take the present opportunity to manifest your said
disapproval and good-will, by commanding the restoration of the
town and citadel of Cambray. In doing this your majesty will
avert the misery and calamities which now afflict us, and confirm
the happy and fraternal alliance which ought to exist between
illegitimate son of Montluc, bishop of Valence, by an English lady of
the name of Anne Martin.
374 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
your majesties of Spain and France, the grandest monarchs of
Christendom !
Juan Baptista de Taxis, his Catholic majesty's envoy at your
court, will confer with your majesty on this affair. I implore
your majesty to grant the said de Taxis audience, and that soon I
may experience the gracious effects of your loyal intentions to-
wards my sovereign.
I pray the Almighty Creator to bestow upon your majesty a
long and prosperous life.
From Tournay the 18th day of June, 1584.
From your humble servant,
ALEXANDRO.*
Instead, however, of "showing the gracious effects
of his loyal intentions towards the king of Spain,"
Henry had permitted the sovereignty of Catherine de
Medici to be proclaimed in Cambray. Balagny, the
governor, wrote to assure the queen that " the troops
under his command were prepared to receive and ob-
serve with heart and soul any mandates which her
majesty their sovereign lady and mistress might be
pleased to forward, nor would they shrink from shed-
ding the last drop of blood in maintainiug her behests, "f
Catherine had despatched Choisnin, the able secretary
of legation whom she had formerly sent with the
bishop of Valence into Poland to procure Henry's elec-
tion to that throne, to witness the acceptance of an
•oath of fidelity to her protectorate by the clergy, muni-
cipality, and garrison of Cambray. Henry, therefore,
wrote to the duke of Parma, to explain on what causes
Cambray had been retained, " until such time as his Ca-
tholic majesty should see fit to acknowledge the claims
of queen Catherine on the crown of Portugal, or to
make suitable compensation." The duke, nowever, was
keenly alive to the shallow artifice adopted by the king.
* Lettre du Prince de Panne au Eoi Henry III. MS. Bibl. Imp.
Colbert 337, f ol. 193.
t Lettre de M. de Montluc (Balagny), Commandant & Cambray, & la
Heine Catherine de Medici. Bibl. Imp. MS. Colbert, 337, fol. 179.
1585.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 375
In addition, also, to the refusal of the French council
to restore Cambray, the mission of two notable embas-
sies, then on their way to Paris, occasioned the king of
Spain and his general most vivid anxiety. The States
of Holland had accredited a noble ambassage to oifer
their allegiance to Henry III.; and queen Elizabeth com-
missioned Henry Stanley, Lord Derby, to carry the Order
of the Garter to the king of France, and to exhort his
majesty to give favourable hearing to the Flemish depu-
ties— though in reality nothing was further from Eliza-
beth's desire than that Henry should concede to her so-
licitations.
As soon as the obsequies of the due d'Anjou were
celebrated, the king experienced great annoyance from
personages formerly appertaining to the household of
the deceased, who made application for compensation or
for admission into the royal service. These petitions
"were deemed by Henry highly vexatious and irregular.
At an immense expense of time and resolution, his majesty
had succeeded in diminishing the royal establishments,
and the importunity of these petitioners greatly angered
him. A private and very curious letter, addressed by
Henry to Yilleroy on this and other subjects, is still ex-
tant. This document, which admirably demonstrates the
sarcastic and querulous style of Henry's usual communi-
cations to his ministers, is as follows : —
HENRY III. TO M. DE YILLEROY, SECRETARY OF
STATE.
Villeroy, — By great good fortune I contrived to escape from
the clutches of M. de Biron * and his importunate cohort, now
useless as regards my service. Thank God ! I know how to
«vade such importunities better than the queen my mother 1 You
* The mare*chal de Biron had been compelled to withdraw from Flan-
ders before the victorious arms of Farnese.
376 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
•will, however, make M. le marechal understand that as he fills
no longer any office in the state I can dispense with his counsels.
Also you will inform Quinte,* that he had better not present him-
self again before me, as I have conferred upon him favour enough
by allowing him to exist, in return for the good and agreeable
services which in former times he has rendered me. It will be
also expedient to hint to the queen my mother that the journey
to court of such personages is neither necessary nor agreeable. I
have also been informed that M. d'Avrilly f wishes to exchange his
abbey ; such permutation may not be to his benefit, for it is not
my intention to consort with a person who demeans himself as a
valet of valets. Therefore this said d'Avrilly will do well to depart
and hold his dignity and rank at a distance from my court. It
will then give me satisfaction to befriend him, which you will in-
timate to his friends and his petty satellites, such as Sellincourt
and others. These said people will find themselves mistaken if
they seek promotion from me ; for Chateau Thierry and my court
are, thank God, dissimilar in most respects. M. de Fay has also
asked me to bestow upon him some post in my household, and
his mother joined earnestly in this petition. I replied that I
would consider the request. You will, however, cause it to be
privately intimated to this said de Fay, that his petition cannot
be granted ; for, as I have already told you, at Chateau Thierry-
offices were bestowed as I will not give them. I have also re-
solved that my household shall not be augmented by a single in-
dividual of these said personages. I have faithful followers of my
own to recompense, and more than enough.
Send me the enactments, now in the hands of the president
Brisson, which I signed at St. Firmin, for the better ordering of
my household ; also, any rules issued by me at other periods. I
should wish to have these documents by Wednesday next, or by
Thursday at latest.
Whilst I was occupied in writing this letter to you, your packet
arrived; and in which I have read the amiable advice proposed
by M. de Savoye to alienate my regard from M. d'Epernon.J
M. de Savoye trusts to do it by this marriage which he proposes
for Epernon ; and truly whoever shall seek or obtain that alliance
would lose my friendship. M. d'Epernon is too prudent to be
thus cajoled, and will deem it more to his interest to become the
brother-in-law of his sovereign than the object of my hate ; for
* One of the deceased duke's valets-de-chambre.
f A gentleman of the chamber to Monsieur.
J The duke of Savoy proposed a marriage between the due d'Epernon
and Catherine de Bourbon, sister of the king of Navarre.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 377
• truly, such an event would surely provoke my indignation. Never-
theless, when M. d'Epernon hears of this fine project, I am much
mistaken if he does not treat it with derision.
The queen my mother has written to me that the envoys of the-
States of Flanders have arrived at Rouen. 1 believe that this
negotiation requires the utmost dexterity and tact, and that the
queen possesses the requisite prudence to conduct it ; but it is
also my belief, that however cautiously treated, this negotiation
will cost us dear. The main point is to retain possession of Cam-
bray.
You will answer me on all the above points. Meantime, I am
disquieted at not having received despatches from Guyenne.
When you have intelligence, transmit it to me without delay.
Adieu.
HENRY.*
The king sternly acted up to his assertions, and not
one individual of the due d'Anjou's late riotous house-
hold obtained preferment at court. The most salutary
change seems. at this period to have taken place in the
king's habits ; he became energetic, and, to a certain
degree, industrious. He intimated his royal pleasure
on affairs of state, and adhered to such resolve. The
due de Joyeuse still remained at his country house,
gradually recovering from his attack of fever. The due
d'Epernon was also absent on a secret mission, the ob-
ject of which was to see the king of Navarre, to expose
to him, as heir-presumptive, the perils of the realm, and
to convey the earnest entreaty of the king that he would
now conform to the orthodox faith. The reason pub-
licly assigned for the journey of the duke into Guyenne,
was his desire to visit his mother, madame de la Valette,*
whom he had never seen since his extraordinary eleva-
tion. The due d'Epernon received the most cordial
and complimentary greeting from the king of Navarre,
* MS. Bibl. Imp. Be-th. 8888, fol. 102.
f Jeanne de Lary Bellegarde, Bister of the deceased mare*chal de Belle-
garde. The due d'Epernon travelled with most pompous equipage. He
was attended by a hundred gentlemen, to each of whom Henry present-
ed a gratuity of from 100 to 300 crowns for his equipment.
378 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
to whom he imparted the royal message, and invited
him, in the name of king Henry, to repair to court and
assume his proper position in the councils of the realm.
This overture on the part of the king was one of con-
summate policy ; for had the king of Navarre then con-
sented to apostatize, the intrigues of the due de Guise
must have been neutralized, for no flaw could have
marred the title of the former to the succession. As
it was, the king of Navarre hesitated greatly as to the
answer he should return to the proposal that he should
conform to the established faith ; and he summoned his
faithful servant Roquelaure, and a Protestant divine
named Marmet, to argue the question in his own pre-
sence, and that of Epernon and the chancellor du Fer-
rier. Nothing was decided by the conference, but
Henri at length consented to visit the court, if agreeable
to the king, but declined to change his faith.* Had the
recantation of the king of Navarre been made at this
critical period, instead of ten years later, what woes and
devastation might not have been spared to France !
When the destination of the due d'Epernon was ascer-
tained, the rumour was circulated that the object of his
journey into Guyenne was to make suit for the hand of
Catherine de Bourbon. The due de Savoye, therefore,
officiously wrote to tender his good offices, as the near
relative of the princess, in promoting this marriage, an
interference which drew from the king the wrathful
comment in his letter to Villeroy. Catherine de Bour-
bon was a Huguenot, and, whatever his subjects chose
to assert to the contrary, Henry always as cordially
detested " the heretics " as when the blood of Coligny
flowed at his command.
* D'Aubigne*. On this occasion, the comte de la Rochefoucauld be-
ing present, exclaimed : " MM. lea ministres, I only wish that some one
would offer you in one hand the crown of France, and in the other a
few psalms. I wonder which you would choose ? "
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 370
Henry, meanwhile, steadily continued his reforms
during the absence of Epernon. Catherine retired to
Chinon to recover her health, which had suffered from
her recent bereavement. Queen Louise, on bad terms *
with the king her husband, lived in solitary state at
Olinville, performing perpetual penances of fasts and
other austerities. The king, thus separated from his
accustomed counsellors, solicited the aid of the countess
of Stafford, the English ambassadress, to advise him on
the promulgation of his grand edict for the reformation
and better ordering of the royal household, f The
countess, at his majesty's request, gave a minute detail
of the ceremonial used at the court of queen Elizabeth
— regulations which the king caused to be taken down
on parchment and incorporated in his new code. The
first clause of this code prohibited the use of profane
language at court. Reserves, expectancies, and coadju-
torships were next forbidden in secular and ecclesiastical
offices, " as," said his majesty, " they serve to excite an
unchristian desire for the demise of parties, present
holders of the benefice or office." The king next limits
pecuniary gratuities to a certain rate, which his majesty
avows his resolve not to exceed. He forbids any per-
sonages to solicit favours for others, reserving the privi-
lege alone for the queens Catherine and Louise. Then
follow voluminous details as to the etiquette to be hence-
forth observed at court. There are rules for the most
trivial action that could possibly occur within the en-
chanted purlieus of the Louvre. The mode in which
the king was for the future to be served is carefully
stated ; for instance, two long clauses are devoted to
* ' Le roy est en froideur avec le reyne sa femme ; c'est c'que fait
soupgonner que le roy me'dite de r^pudier la reyne, sous pretexte qu'elle
est ste'rile, et que pour le bien du royaume il est u^cessaire qu'il ait une
femme qui lui donna des h^ri tiers. "— Lettre 37 de Busbecq & 'lEmpereur
Rodolphe II.
* De Thou : Hist, de Bon Temps.
380 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583 —
the ceremonies to be observed when presenting a glass
of cold water to his majesty on awaking in the morning,
while the distance within which each gentleman might
approach the royal sanctum is defined according to their
respective ranks. All the prohibitions, however, are
annulled as regarded the dues de Joyeuse and Epernon,
who, to the great indignation of the nobles of the realm,
were placed in the same category as the princes of the
blood.* The king then reformed the etiquette observed
at the council of state. He limited the number of privy
councillors to fifty-seven lay members, and a staff of six
clerks and six advocates. From the 1st day of October
to the 1st of May the peers were to present themselves
at the council arrayed in robes of violet velvet, and the
prelates in cloaks of crimson velvet ; during the sum-
mer season, satin was to be substituted for velvet. The
publication of these enactments, which was delayed until
New Year's day, 1585, gave great offence, and caused
many murmurs. The repeated mention of the names of
the favourites, and the privileges conferred upon them,
were regarded with irritation and discontent, especially
by the princes of Guise. Many of the nobles, more-
over, could ill afford the expenses consequent on the
alteration of their state costumes. The Huguenot no-
bles preferred grievous complaints of the neglect which
they had experienced at court, especially since the
commencement of the year 1584, and presented a peti-
tion of remonstrance to his majesty. Their exclusion,
however, from all lucrative offices had been precon-
certed by the king as one means of discouraging the
spread of the reformed doctrines. These cavaliers were
* His majesty permits and commands that MM. lesducs de Joyeuse
and d'Epernon be allowed to the king's apartments whenever they
please, at all hours and opportunities. "Les Bfeglements faict par le
Koy le ler Janvier, 1585, pour 1'ordi-e qu'il veut estre gard4 en son con-
seil et en sa maison." — Archives Curieuses de 1'Histoire de France, tome
x.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 881
silenced by a notification that it was the royal intention
for the future to bestow judicial employ or court offices
on individuals only of recognized orthodoxy. A thousand
quibbles were also invented to annoy the ministers of
the reformed faith in the various towns where their
functions had been permitted by edict. When petitions
of redress were presented by the aggrieved parties, no
reparation was given ; in short, it was universally pro-
claimed that the king, now watchful as well as orthodox,
had determined to favour no one who held himself aloof
and alien from the fold of the true church.
Despite these orthodox demonstrations, the Parisians
persisted, at the suggestion of the Guisards, in attribut-
ing heretical inclinations to the king. Coarse engrav-
ings were exhibited in certain localities representing the
martyrdom of the English Romanists. The exhibitor
of these pictures stood by them wand in hand, and ex-
plained the scene ; to the more ardent and credulous
he adroitly intimated that like tragedies would desecrate
the French metropolis after the accession of Henri de
Navarre. Henry ordered the seizure of these pictures
and the destruction of their blocks. After a domici-
liary seach in the most disaffected quarters of the city,
the blocks were found hidden in a closet in an upper
chamber of the hotel de Guise. Scarcely was this
scandal put down when a large picture painted on wood
was exhibited in the churchyard of St. Severin, repre-
senting queen Elizabeth in grotesque attire surveying
the burning of some half-dozen Papists, the pile being
kept ablaze by hideous demons brandishing pitchforks.
The English ambassador insisting that this picture
should be forthwith confiscated and destroyed, the
king wrote a letter witli his own hand, dated from
Meaux, to the first president of the parliament of Paris
ordering that such should be done.*
* Lettre de Henri III. an premier President de Paris pour faire 6ter
382 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583 —
From the pulpits of the capital the most seditious
and treasonable harangues emanated. The turbulent
cures of Paris, all, with few exceptions, in the pay of
the princes of Guise, indulged in stinging satires on
the conduct of their king. They accused him of
atheism, negligent security, tyranny, and of vices too
odious to be named. The due de Guise and the car-
dinal de Bourbon, they termed " holy and acceptable
to the Lord, the chosen, the defenders of the faith,
and the hope of benighted France." The diatribes de-
livered by the monk Poncet from the pulpit of Notre
Dame before crowded congregations outraged public
decency. Jean Prevost at St. Severin edified his hearers
by abusive orations against the king of Navarre and
queen Elizabeth. At the church of St. Germain, Jacques
Cueuilly defamed the reigning dynasty, under the spe-
cial sanction and from the pulpit of one of the churches
of his superior the miserable old cardinal de Bourbon.
The church of St. Benoit rang with the furious decla-
mation of Jean Boucher against the future accession of
a heretic dynasty. In short, since the days of Noel
Beda never had harangues so rancorous been heard by
the citizens of Paris as those which were now howled
forth by the irascible cures of the capital.
Henry proceeded from Meaux to Lyons to receive
the due d'Epernon on his return. As soon as the
favourite had recovered a slight hurt from a fall from
his horse,* the king suddenly delared his intention of
paying the cardinal de Bourbon a visit at the Chateau
de Gaillon, in Normandy. The king now revelled in
the perpetration of these sudden surprises ; " Us me
de la cloitre de St. Severin un tableaux injurieux h, la Keyne d'Angle-
terre. MS. B<§th. 8897, fol. 370, Bibl. Imp.
* The due d'Epernon was popular amongst the court party in Lyons j
and the vivas with which they greeted his entry into the castle where
the king resided caused his horse to spring suddenly aside and unseat
his rider.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 383
font connoitre mon monde" said his majesty. Accord-
ingly the visit was paid, and the cardinal received his
sovereign with great outward deference, for, in truth,
never had the idea occurred to his Eminence that the
due de Guise might possibly entertain designs per-
sonally hostile to the king. One day, while walking
in the delicious pleasaunce appertaining to the castle,
Henry suddenly accosted the cardinal in these words :
" Mon cousin, you perceive that God has not given me
children, nor am I likely, it is said, to have heirs ; my
crown, therefore, will fall into your house of Bourbon.
I am told, however, that you are disposed to dispute
the succession with your nephew the king of Navarre."
" Sire," replied the cardinal, " I pray God to take me
before your majesty — an event very probable and natu-
ral."— " Yes," replied the king ; " but if it should not sc~
please the Almighty to act, shall you contest the crown
with your nephew ? " — " Sire, in that case, I hold that
my own claims seem beyond competition. I, therefore,
should dispute the crown with my nephew, very reso-
lute, moreover, not to cede it to him." The king
laughed, as he surveyed the bent and aged figure of his
kinsman, and patting him condescendingly on the
shoulder, exclaimed, "Va, mon bon ami, le Chatelet
vous donneroit la couronne, mais la Cour vous Poteroit ! "*
the sarcasm of which comment the cardinal failed to
comprehend, f After a sojourn of some days at Gaillon,
during which the king could not detect any mutinous
intent in the superbly ordered household of his kinsman,
his majesty took leave and journeyed to Blois, where
the two queens gave him the rendezvous. Soon after
* This somewhat obscure bon mot of Henry III. meant that the crown
might possibly be given to the cardinal by the Chatelet — i. e. , the rogues
and vagabonds of Paris — but that the nobles and great officers of the
realm would soon despoil him of it.
f Fontanieu : Note— Bibl. Imp. p. 358.
384 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
Catherine wrote to the duchesse de Nemours to an-
nounce his majesty's safe arrival, and the reconciliation
of the royal pair ; but that in consequence of the plague
having appeared in the town of Blois and carried off
one of the maidens of queen Louise, the court was
about to remove for the winter to St. Germain, greatly
to the chagrin of the king, who had desired to spend
some months away from the cabals of his capital.
" The king my son arrived here in good health, looking
well in the face, and fat. The queen his consort is
.also well, but very weakly ; nevertheless, since the re-
turn of the king her majesty's face looks much plumper
and more joyous than it has ever done since her mar-
riage." Catherine gives an improved account of her
own health, though she complains of her sufferings from
gout in her left arm.*
The return of the king to his capital was, despite
his repugnance, an event of urgent necessity. His
•enemies were gathering and organizing their hosts ; and
that hostile confederation with Spain, the existence of
which until now had been stealthily whispered, became,
ere the year closed, recorded on parchment, and boldly
authenticated by the sign-manual of its leaders.
The sudden visit of king Henry to Gaillon, and the
hints he had there been so lavish of respecting his
kinsman's proceedings, seemed to sever the last lin-
gering feeling of shame and reluctance which had re-
strained the cardinal de Bourbon from publicly con-
testing with his nephew for the title of heir-presumptive.
Consequently at the close of the year 1584 Paris beheld
monseigneur de Bourbon emerge from his retreat at
Gaillon clad in the habit of a cavalier, and affect the
* La Beyne Catherine de Medici & Madame de Nemours. Bibl. Imp.
Be*th. 1858, fol. 116, MS. In speaking of the .plague, Catherine says :
" Dieu nous fait bien sentir de ses verges ; je luy supplie avoir pitie* de
nous et de cet pauvre royaume." — Datde Octobre 18, 1584.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 385
rakish airs of the most roue noble of the court. Pre-
viously he had signed a petition to the holy see to be
released from his priestly vows, in order, as he said,
that " he might marry and bring up orthodox heirs to
wear the crown of St. Louis." If a papal dispensation
could be obtained, the cardinal further declared himself
not averse to espouse the termagant duchesse de Mont-
pensier, Catherine de Lorraine.* The king, the par-
liament, and the people at length found a point of
unanimity in the extravagant mirth excited by the car-
dinal's declaration and projects. The due de Guise
and his kindred, however, gravely applauded ; and
the cardinal made his first essay in his new character
of heir-presumptive by sending an envoy to their family
conference about to be holden at the castle of Joinville.
Here there were assembled the dues de Guise and de
Mayenne, a Spanish envoy, Juan Baptista Taxis, Men-
doza the ambassador, also gentlemen sent by the car-
dinal de Guise and the dues d'Aumale and d'Elbo3uf
as their representatives. The object and point to be
debated was a great treaty with Spain, intended as the
resume of all that had been mooted at Peronne in 1558,
and between don John of Austria and the due de Guise
in 1577. The contracting parties commenced by ac-
knowledging the cardinal de Bourbon as the legitimate
successor to the crown, and that in the event of the
demise of Henry III. his claims should be enforced
against that of any other competitor. One faith alone
was to be tolerated in Finance. No future alliance was
to be contracted with the Sublime Porte. The king
of Spain agreed to furnish the confederates with the
*De Thou, liv, Ixxxi. p. 273.— M^m. du Due de Nevers, p. 631, et
seq. The due de Guise paid a furtive visit to the Sorbonne — that hot-
bed of sedition and bigotry — and put the searching question to MM. les
Sorbonnists, " s'ils e*toient assez forts avec la plume ? et sinon, qu'il le
f alloit etre avec 1'ep^e ! "
386 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
monthly sum of 50,000 crowns ; and, furthermore, to
send them troops and money as necessity might dictate.
It was stipulated that Cambray should be restored to
the Spanish crown ; and in the event of the succession
of the cardinal de Bourbon to the throne of France, he
covenanted to repay to the king of Spain all the moneys
advanced for the furtherance of the cause. Foreign
potentates might be invited to join this League ; but no
peace or negotiation was to be entered into singly by
any of the contracting powers. It was also agreed to
hold this convention secret, and not to proclaim it ex-
cept by common consent. The treaty was signed by
don Juan de Taxis, by Mayenne, and the due de Guise ;,
and spaces were left for the signatures of the cardinal
de Bourbon, the dues de Mercoeur and Nevers, Aumaler
and Elbo3uf. Its ratification by all parties was to be
completed by the month of March of the following
year, and the taking up of arms regulated by the pos-
ture of religious and political affairs.
That period, however, was nearer at hand than the
confederates supposed,
The deputies of the States of Holland, who had long
and patiently waited the royal pleasure, at length re-
ceived permission to enter Paris. The embassy had
been detained at Senlis, where, though it received every
honorable treatment, the approach of the deputies-
nearer to the court had been forbidden. The prince
of Orange during this interval had been assassinated
at Delft by Balthazar Gerard,* an emissary of the duke
of Parma, who was still pursuing the sieges of Antwerp
and Brussels. When the Spanish ambassador Men-
doza learned that Henry had decided to hear the
harangues of the revolted subjects of Spain, and to
* The prince of Orange was shot by Gerard, July 10th, 1584, and
died immediately after his wound in the presence of the princess hi*
wife, and madame de Schwarzenburg his sister.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 387
take their overtures into consideration, his rage and
consternation were boundless. Opposed by the alliance
of France and England the duke of Parma, he knew,
must find himself compelled to raise the siege of
Antwerp, and liberate again the elements of strife and
rebellion over the Flemish territory so hardly re-con-
quered. Mendoza, therefore, repaired to St. Germain,
and reproached Henry in a tone of insolent audacity
for his hostile proceeding. He threatened his majesty
with the vengeance of the Catholic king, "that prince
so powerful and fortunate, whom no person defied with
impunity." Finally, he exhorted Henry to dismiss the
deputies from his realm, and to restore Cambray if his
majesty held the welfare of his own realm at heart.
The overbearing tone of this admonition irritated the
king. " M. 1'ambassadeur," replied he, with spirit, " I
do not regard the Flemish people as rebels and traitors ;
I hold them to be a people unfortunate and oppressed.
This nation has always been distinguished for the gene-
rous ardour with which it espouses the cause of the
unfortunate ; France is the asylum of the oppressed.
I have further to inform you that the king of France
heeds neither threats nor insinuations ; nor will he be
hindered from extending protection to an afflicted peo-
ple similar to that which in all ages it was the glory of
his ancestors to afford." *
The deputies, therefore, arrived in Paris at the be-
ginning of February, 1585. The king granted them
public audience in the presence of Catherine and the
court. They then retired privately to submit their
proposals to the king. These offers were of the most
advantageous nature. The States offered to assign
twelve towns to be garrisoned by French troops, and
to pay into Henry's exchequer the monthly sum of
* De Thou, liv. Ixxxi. Aubign<5 : Hist. UniverselJe. Dupleix :
Petite Chronique aux Me"m. ds Nevers, tome i. -
388 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
100,000 crowns for the costs of the war. Henry re-
plied with great majesty and affability : he gave
no decisive answer, but promised to advise with his
council on the proposition. He meanwhile assigned
the deputies lodging in a suburb of Paris and a mag-
nificent entertainment at the national expense.
The following week queen Elizabeth's ambassador
extraordinary, lord Derby,* arrived in Paris. His pub-
lic mission was to present the insignia of the Garter to
king Henry ; his private errand to exhort the king to
accept the offers of the States of Holland, to avenge
the treacherous assassination of the prince of Orange,
and by carrying war into the Low Countries to cripple
the resources of the king of Spain and to frustrate his
league with French Catholics. Elizabeth counselled
Henry to send the king of Navarre or Conde as gene-
ralissimo of the armies of France ; " Your subjects,
sire," said lord Derby, " will then have other foes to
combat than their own countrymen ! " The most ex-
traordinary honours were paid to the English ambas-
sador. The court went out to meet and escort him
into Paris. The hotel d'Anjou was assigned to him
for a residence, where, during his sojourn of twenty
-days in Paris, he was entertained at the cost of the
•crown. f On Thursday, the last day of February ,1585,
Henry was invested with the collar of the Garter in
the church of the Augustinians, in the presence of the
knights du St. Esprit, the foreign ambassadors, and of
the obnoxious Flemish envoys. His majesty afterwards
* Much confusion exists as to the name of Elizabeth's ambassador :
De Thou asserts that he was lord Derby ; the imperial ambassador
states that the ambassador was lord Herbert ; the anthor of le Journal
de Henri III. testifies that the envoy was lord Warwick. The ambas-
sador, however, was, as de Thou states, Henry Stanley, lord Derby.
t " Le pre*texte specieux de son ambassade," says the imperial ambas-
sador, " est de porter au roi les riches ornaments de 1'ordre de la
Jarre 'e-f1 ; mais son veritable motif est la guerre de Flandre."
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 389
entertained the ambassador and his suite at a sumptuous
banquet.* The following day Henry granted a second
audience to the ambassadors of the States in the pre-
sence of the earl and his colleagues. The conference
was long and secret. Elizabeth offered to contribute
a third of the expenses of the war, and to furnish a
contingent of 5,000 infantry and 1,000 cavalry. The
ambassadors went afterwards to the Tuileries to pay
their respects to queen Catherine. Her majesty re-
ceived them very graciously, and even expressed her
desire that her son should accept the protectorate
offered to him. De Thou however, whose position
and penetration enabled him to discern the true and
private motives of the personages concerned in the great
drama then enacting, declares that the queen spoke
against her convictions ; for that since the demise of the
due d'Anjou she had felt no interest in the affairs of
the Low Countries. He even represents her majesty's
mental argument to have been thus : — " If foreign war
should be declared, the generals of the armies will
monopolize all power and consideration ; but a civil
war would restore me to that plenitude of authority
which was mine during twenty years of my life." The
arguments employed by the English ambassador, and
the powerful co-operation offered by Elizabeth, made
great impression on the king. He therefore sent for
the due de Joyeuse, and asked his advice immediately
after the ambassadors quitted the palace. The duke
discouraged the proposed campaign, and drew a terrible
picture of the calamities likely to ensue from a breach
with the Spanish court. The alliance of Joyeuse with
* After the banquet 120 ladies and cavaliers danced a ballet the cost
of which was 20,000 crowns. The entertainment lasted from ten until
three in the morning. The king, furthermore, presented lord Derby
with several gold vases, estimated to have cost 4,000 gold crowns. The
ambassador took his leave on the 14th of March, 1585. — Lettre de Bus-
becq & 1'Empereur Rodolphe IL
390 HENKY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1583 —
the house of Lorraine, at every opportunity industriously
paraded by his rival Epernon, had much diminished the
weight of his counsels in the estimation of the king.
Highly dissatisfied, therefore, with this blunt response,
Henry next appealed to Epernon and the bishop of
Acqs, Fran9ois de Noailles, one of the greatest diplo-
matists of the age, who had ably served Gallic interests
at the courts of England and Constantinople and the
Venetian republic. The due d' Epernon, who hated
the princes of Lorraine, and between whom and the
due de Guise a violent feud existed,* exhorted the king
to accept the overtures of the States and the alliance
of England. Such also was the counsel of the bishop
of Acqs, who addressed the king in an eloquent oration
showing the danger of the realm, and exhorting his
majesty at this crisis to remember the avowals of Sal-
zedo and to anticipate the treachery of his enemies. f
While Henry deliberated instead of at once acting on
this sage advice, his enemies forestalled him — possibly
at the suggestion of the queen-mother, who abhorred
the project of a foreign war which would place her
hated son-in-law at the head of the armies of France,
and for the time restore the ascendency of Protestant
counsels. Catherine maintained an active correspondence
with all the princes of Lorraine, even when their hostile
intents began to be the subject of public discussion.
The eldest daughter of the due de Lorraine, madame
Christine, was the constant companion, and often the
amanuensis, of the queen-mother, who had educated
the princess from her earliest youth. It was prince
Henry of Lorraine — the elder son of her daughter
Claude and the brother of Christine — for whom Cathe-
rine intrigued and tacitly sanctioned those enterprises
* "Jean Louis de Nogaret, due d'Epernon, n'avoit point moins de
haine pour le due, qu'il n'en e*toit ha'i lui mgme." — De Thou, liv. Ixxxi.
t See the bishop's eloquent oration — De Thou, liv. Ixxxi. p. 300.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES, 391
which overthrew the throne of her son, the reigning
king. The Spanish ambassador Mendoza, moreover,
received despatch after despatch from the duke of
Parma, urgently calling upon him to exhort the due de
Guise to act, as the menaced alliance between France,
England, and Holland would overthrow the Spanish
sovereignty in the Low Countries and compel him to
raise the siege of Antwerp. Mendoza, therefore, pro-
ceeded to Joinville and obtained an interview with the
due de Guise.
The mind of Guise, since the signature of the treaty
of Joinville,* had been torn by conflicting emotions of
loyalty, honour, self-interest, and resentment. His zeal
for the faith prompted him to take up arms to oppose
the recognition of a heretic heir-presumptive. His in-
dignation at the slights he had experienced from the
king • and especially that, after faithfully serving Henry
during the bloody episode of St. Bartholomew's day,
the cold disregard of the sovereign should appear to
affix the crime and the responsibilities of that fell deed
on the house of Lorraine, all conspired to harden the
duke in his meditated rebellion. Henry had, more-
over, frustrated his matrimonial projects, and had
refused him scope for the exercise of his military
and diplomatic abilities. Mendoza further drew a
humiliating picture of the duke's probable position in
case war were declared against Spain. " Monseigneur,
Navarre, Conde, Epernon, and others your deadly
foes, will be winning laurels and undermining the legi-
timate influence of your most Catholic house of Lor-
raine-Guise ; and you, hated by the king, — where will
you be ? — Disgraced, and with no other resource than
the cultivation of this your domain of Joinville ! "
* The treaty of Joinville was signed the last day of December, 1584.
A copy had been sent to Philip II. A second copy remained in the
hands of the Leaguers.
392 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
Mendoza then adjured the duke to proclaim himself
the champion of the holy Roman faith ; and to take up
arms for the avowed purpose, of extorting an edict
decreeing the abolition of the reformed ritual, the
banishment of its ministers, and the recognition of that
most Catholic prince, monseigneur de Bourbon, as the
heir of the crown. The Spanish minister took care
to dwell complacently on the great age of the old car-
dinal ; " thus, at any rate," added he, " the reign of the
said cardinal will be brief and one of transition, for the
bringing in of a glorious and orthodox dynasty ! " Men-
doza, during the first portion of his interview, had pre-
sumed to urge the obedience of the duke by the menace
of betraying his projects to the council of state, by
placing a draft of the treaty of Joinville in the hands
of the king ; but the cool irony and self-possession of
Guise compelled him quickly to assume a more insinu-
ating demeanour.*
The due de Guise, nevertheless, moved by these
considerations, and being thoroughly persuaded that a
war with Spain would dissipate his projects of aggran-
dizement and reform, and consign him to obscurity,
took the fatal resolution of commencing the first cam-
paign of the League. He, therefore, wrote letters to
Pheffer, the most noted of the Swiss mercenary chief-
tains, and whom the duke had long suborned, to bring
him the levies previously resolved between them. M.
de Bassompierre and an officer named Othon Plat, had
for some months before been secretly engaged in re-
cruiting throughout Germany. To them, therefore, the
duke wrote commands to advance to the frontiers with
their levies. The majority of the nobles of Champagne
and Burgundy, and of Picardy, on the rumour of these
transactions, declared themselves ready to join the
* Davila, tome ii. lib. 7. Me"m. de la Ligue, tome i. De Thou, liv,
Ixxxi.
1585.] HIS COUKT AND TIMES. 393
standard of Guise, their allegiance having been too long
tampered with by the operations of the League, to re-
strain them from responding to the expected summons
of the popular chieftain. Assemblies were holden
throughout the provinces to applaud the duke's designs
and to give every possible publicity to his manifestoes ;
and the most tumultuous scenes occurred in many dis-
tricts. " These said Guises," wrote the imperial ambassa-
dor,* "have now so won on the favour and confidence of
the people, that it is a common thing to hear indivi-
uals remark that they would rather obey them than
the king. The disaffection of these Guises arises from
several causes, the first of which is jealousy. They
cannot brook the indignity of seeing others preferred
by the king, and laden with benefactions ; while they
are suffered to be crushed beneath the weight of debts
contracted for the weal of the state in times of yore.
Moreover, they suspect that the due d'Epernon is to
marry the sister of the king of Navarre, a rich and
potent heiress ; and that in favour of this alliance, the
king is about to create the said Epernon constable of
France ; and that the king will be therefore reconciled
with the king of Navarre, and maintain his just preten-
sions to the succession." The cardinal de Bourbon,
meanwhile, secretly received deputies from the League
of Picardy at Gaillon, who after formally recognizing
his claim to the succession, escorted him in triumph to
Peronne, where he entered into the closest relations
with the due de Guise.
The king abandoned himself to transports of anger
and grief on learning the sudden outbreak of the rebel-
* Lettre 49. "Le roy," says Cheverny, "e'toit du natural fatal de
la race des Valois, qui ont ton jours & la fin maltraite' ceux qu'ils ont
aim^s — voi'r les sieurs de Lignerolles, Bellegarde, du Guast, St. Luc,
Villequier, Beauvais-Nangis, et enfin MM. de Guise, qu'il avait tant
aime* en jeunesse."— MS. Bibl. Imp. Be"th. fol. 168.
394 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
lion. His condition was most forlorn ; he found him-
self without an army, without funds, and without
popularity. Princes of his own lineage betrayed his
throne : not a single Catholic noble could be relied
upon ; to say nothing of that numerous band of his
most potent subjects alienated by previous ill usage.
The parliaments of the provinces of the realm debated-
whether they should not openly join the confederation.
The majority of the large towns sent deputies to the
due de Guise ; the rest, though nominally faithful, re-
fused to receive garrisons. The due de Mercoeur,
brother of the queen, joined the standard of Guise with
large reinforcements ; the due de Nevers quitted Paris,
as he asserted, to consult the pope on the lawfulness
of the association. Orleans pronounced for the duke,
and Caen followed the same example. The king, in
this emergency, sent an express to Joinville, to inquire
of the princes of Guise their intentions, designs, and
grievances.* The due de Guise replied, " that it was not
his intention to take up arms against the person of his
sovereign, and that he should ever demean himself as
his majesty's humble servant ; moreover, he prayed the
king not to put faith in the mischievous reports disse-
minated to his disadvantage."! Henry, thereupon,
published an edict remitting taxes to the amount of
150,000 crowns, and prohibiting levies of any kind
throughout the realm ; at the same time he ordered the
disbandment of such regiments as had not been levied
for the royal service. If any refused obedience to the
mandate, Henry directed the tocsin to be rung in the
nearest town, and a general onslaught to be made for
* The king sent Maintenon to the due de Guise, M. de Rochefort to
the due de Mayenne, and M. de la Mothe Fe*ne*lon to the cardinal de
Bourbon. — Journal de Henri III.
f Busbecq: Lettre48.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 395
the destruction of the rebels. He next sent directions
to Fleury, his ambassador to the Cantons, to raise
levies of Swiss troops, and despatched Schomberg,
comte de Nanteuil, into Germany for the same purpose.
As the latter passed through the dominions of the due
de Lorraine, he was audaciously arrested by order of the
duke, to be detained until some signal success of the
confederates and the king's consequent concessions
might render Schomberg's recruiting of no avail for the
present campaign.
The measures of the due de Guise were rapid and im-
posing.* No dilatory delays nor misgivings impeded
his advance. Having staked all on the perilous ven-
ture of civil war, he remembered and acted upon the
maxim of Farnese duke of Parma, that "he who draws
the sword against his sovereign ought at the same time,
if he hopes for success, to throw away its scabbard."
The first enterprises of the confederates were made
on the towns of Toul, Metz, and Verdun, which places
the due de Guise had covenanted to cede to the due de
Lorraine as the price of the adherence of the latter to
the League. Toul and Verdun were speedily captured ; f
but the garrison of Metz, reinforced by the wise pre-
vision of the due d'Epernon its governor, was enabled
to make so threatening a demonstration that the surprise
of the city was not attempted. The armies of the con-
federates received daily reinforcements ; 3,000 reiters,
and the same number of Swiss troops, joined the due de
Guise at Rouvray before the end of May. The cardinal
* "Le dnc de Guise pretend Sire en droit de prendre les armes, de
«'opposer aux f aiblesses du roi, et de de"fendre la religion ; le cardinal de
Bourbon s'est declare" en leur faveur centre les intdrets de sa maison.'1
Ibid.
f "Le due de Guise B'est empare* de Toul et de Verdun sans aucune
resistance. On croit que Lyons et Nantes ont quitte" son parti." — De*-
peches de Busbecq.
896 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
de Bourbon, during these transactions, published a Decla-
ration.* In this document the cardinal had the auda-
city to profess the most devoted loyalty towards the
person of the sovereign ; he declared that the over-
throw of heresy was the sole reason for the taking up
of arms ; and he invited the king, as chief of the League
he had signed at Blois, to reconcile himself with the
due de Guise, and to head the armies of the League.
Mingled with this adulation, however, M. de Bourbon,
by the advice of his colleagues, contrived to administer
some unpalatable rebukes likely to inflame the people.
He deplored the dilapidation of the finances, the mis-
government, and the luxury of the sovereign ; the cause,
as he asserted, of the woes which afflicted the realm.
The question of the succession was modestly and dis-
tantly alluded to, that the disinterestedness of the allies-
might shine the more conspicuously. The manifesto
wound up with a magnificent eulogium on the queen-
mother, " to whose indefatigable labours, which I my-
self have shared, France owes her salvation, and our
holy religion its preservation." This Declaration v s
forwarded to the king. A second manifesto, however,
simultaneously appeared without signature, filled with
the most scurrilous libels relative to the proceedings of
the court. These two documents Henry condescended
to answer, and actually entered into a defence of his
past conduct : he pathetically implored his subjects to
beware of the snares laid for them by designing men ;
and assured all classes of his people that, in the royal
wisdom and clemency, they would find more than the
realization of their desires, f
* Me"m. de la Ligtie (Edition de I'Abbe" Goujet), tome i. p. 56, et seq.:
Declaration des choses qui ont mis M. le cardinal de Bourbon et le*
princes de s'opposer & ceux qui par tons les moyens s'efforcent de sub-
vertir la religion Catholique, etc. — De Thou, liv. Ixxxi.
| Davila, tome xi. Me'm. de la Ligue.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 397
The king of Navarre, meantime, sent envoys to Paris
to offer his majesty a large reinforcement of troops, and
his own services. The due d'Epernon, ever the staunch
friend of Henri de Navarre, counselled the king to
accept the offer, and to place himself at the head of
his army. "Instead of writing indifferent manifestoes,
your majesty should act," exclaimed the audacious
favourite. Unable to induce the king to take this de-
cisive step, Epernon in disgust himself departed for
Metz, the garrison of which he strengthened ; he then
returned and took the field, at the head of a gallant
troop of young nobles, for the defence of the capital,
and subsequently defeated several detachments of the
army of the League in the neighborhood of Gien.
The due de Montpensier, at the suggestion of Epernon
and by the king's orders, departed for Bretagne, where
the due de Mercreur was engaged in openly enrolling
troops for the confederates, and, after several severe
skirmishes, the former succeeded in disbanding the
Leaguers. The due de Joyeuse received the royal com-
mands to proceed to Beaugency and arrest the progress
of the due d'Elbceuf, whose mercenaries were ravaging
the country and committing atrocious acts of rapine.
These the temporary successes of the royal arms over
bands of newly levied militia compensated not for the
spirit of disaffection everywhere prevalent. At Lyons
the populace rose and destroyed the citadel, at the old
cry of heresy, incited to this treasonable outrage by
Mandelot the governor, who was disaffected because, by
the advice of Epernon, a new and trusty commandant
had been appointed to the citadel.* At Marseilles a dan-
* The due d'Epernon insisted that Mandelot should be chastised for
his insubordination. The latter, however, had an only daughter, whom,
to save himself, Mandelot offered in marriage to the son of Villeroy.
The astute secretary, therefore, wrung a pardon from his infatuated
sovereign, and accepted the proposal of the hand of the wealthy
heiress.
398 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
gerous conspiracy to yield that important place to the
Leaguers was frustrated, after great bloodshed and com-
motion, by the loyal valour of Bouquier, an opulent
merchant.* During this crisis Henry remained at the
Louvre, occupied in futile plans for the fortification of
Paris. His majesty himself twice a day visited the
gates of the town and showed himself to the people.
The rest of his time was spent in the practice of the
most austere penances and fasts, occasionally enlivened
by a magnificent carouse for his courtiers, and a final
masquerade and ball for the personal delectation of his
majesty.
The due de Guise proceeded on the 2d day of April,
1585, at the head of 12,000 men to Chalons-sur-Marne,
which place he had captured and selected for his head-
quarters and for the junction of his levies. From
thence he repaired to Peronne to pay his respects to
the cardinal de Bourbon, and to conduct him to Chalons.
This old prelate, fully believing that France had armed
in his cause, assumed the most condescending demea-
nour, and expressed the highest gratification at his pom-
pous progress from Peronne to Chalons. No misgiving
arose in the mind of the cardinal as to the permanency
of his honours, as he glanced on the banner of Guise,
borne at the van of his escort, with its proud blazon of
eaglets, and significant motto, " Chacun a son tour."
The designs of Guise had so far succeeded that war
again everywhere convulsed the realm. The duke,
nevertheless, thought it prudent to give a semblance of
legality to his proceedings, by compelling the co-opera-
tion of the king himself in his projects. Hence the
arrest of Schomberg, to prevent the entry into France
of royal levies ; and the concentration of the armies of
the League at Chalons to awe the defenceless monarch,
* Mdm. de la Ligue, tome i. Papon : Hist, de Provence, tome iv.
p. 250.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 399
and to render him anxious for a compromise. The
Huguenot leaders were marshalling their armies to-
fight, if requisite, for their unfortunate king, in defi-
ance, even, of the express commands he had been in his
dire emergency persuaded to transmit to the south.*
The due de Montmorency, orthodox in his faith, and de
facto king of Languedoc, had as yet made no intimation
of his sentiments on the summary proceedings of the
princes of Lorraine. In the bosom of Elizabeth of Eng-
land a flame of Tudor wrath had been kindled when she
beheld the mode in which the king was beset ; and she
forthwith despatched an envoy to Paris to offer Henry
a succour of 6,000 English or Swiss troops to be main-
tained at her own expense. She counselled the king to
place the king of Navarre at the head of his armies,
and speedily to bring the traitors to the block. Another
alloy to the almost unprecedented success which had
attended the enterprises of the League during the short
space of one month was the partial defection of the due
de Nevers, who, nevertheless, though he declined to aid
the confederates, yet equally held himself aloof from
the councils of his sovereign. The duke, on the first
organization of the League in 1577, declared that he
would not bear arms against king Henry unless previ-
ously authorized by the pope. M. de Nevers hoped one
day to succeed to the duchy of Mantua, as his brother
the duke had no male heir ; consequently, the divine
right of sovereign rulers, and the sacred inviolability of
their persons, were principles which he ardently main-
tained. The design of the Leaguers had been to
bestow the government of Provence on Nevers ; but
the failure of the enterprise on Marseilles having
frustrated that project, the duke forthwith repaired to
* " Le roi ne scait de quelc6t£ tourner; il se voit environne' d'ennemis
ouverts, et il n'a aupr&s de sa personne que peu d'amis foibles et impuis-
sans." — Busbecq, Lettre & 1'Empereur Rodolphe II.
400 HENRY III. KING OF FKANCE, [1583—
Borne to consult the sovereign pontiff, to whom he was
introduced by the cardinal de Pellve. Sixtus V., how-
ever, more intent on hanging his Roman brigands than
interested in the feuds of France, which throughout his
pontificate he distrusted as tending more to individual
aggrandizement than to the welfare of Holy Church,
coldly declined to grant the bull necessary to tranquil-
lize the tender conscience of the duke. Neither would
his Holiness vouchsafe a special dispensation; nor would
he even deposit in the hands of the legate at Avignon a
brief, eulogizing generally the zeal of his faithful sons.*
He, however, privately owned that the motives and
objects of the League were holy, laudable, and legiti-
mate ; but that publicly to sanction the rebellion of
subjects against their sovereign was an admission, con-
sidering the troubled condition of Europe, which sound
policy forbade. The due de Nevers, therefore, wrote
to the cardinal de Bourbon, and withdrawing his active
support from the League, retired with his consort to his
castle at Nevers.
The emissaries <of the Spanish ambassador, who still
boldly presented himself in the saloons of the Louvre,
presently caused the rumor to be circulated that the
due de Guise and M. de Bourbon were not averse to
an accommodation, provided that the king vouchsafed
some notable Catholic demonstration. This hope Henry
seized with avidity, despite the representations of the
due d'Epernon, whose valour and judgment at this
perilous crisis cannot be too highly lauded. He im-
* Throughout his pontificate Sixtus behaved in the most disdainful
manner to the Leaguers, reprimanding their chieftains, and indulging
his spleen by the utterance of the most spiteful taunts. The deceased
pope, Gregory XIII., held the League in the utmost distrust, as tending
to the overthrow of sovereign power. A few hours only before his death
he said to the cardinal d'Este, nephew of the duchesse de Nemours,
"La Ligue n'aura pas de moi ny bulle ni bref jusqu'& ce que je voye
plus clair en ses brouilleries."
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 401
plored his royal master to make no terms with the
rebels until they had laid down arms; to maintain the
majesty of his crown; and to call in the aid of the
valiant armies of the south. This judicious counsel,
the adoption of which at this period probably would
have saved the crown, Henry rejected, partly actuated
by his hatred towards the Huguenots, and partly by a
craven fear of the privations and vicissitudes of war.
He therefore appealed to the queen his mother for
counsel, who fearing that the closeness of her relations
with the princes of Guise might cause her to be sus-
pected by her son, had hitherto maintained a grave and
reserved demeanour ; besides, she appreciated the fer-
vency of Epernon's hate. Catherine sighed, shed tears,
and murmured the one word, her palladium — nego-
tiate !
In pursuance of this policy, therefore, the queen
quitted Paris about the commencement of June, 1585,
to confer with the due de Guise at Chalons-sur-Marne.
Her majesty was attended by M. de Lansac, by the
archbishop of Lyons, and by Brulard, under-secretary of
state. Villeroy had likewise been designated to accom-
pany the queen ; but, apprehensive of the results of this
negotiation, he contrived to be excused, out of regard
for his future prosperity and repute.
The deportment of the due de Guise was consummate
in its dexterity. Too often, during the varied vicissi-
tudes of his reign, Henry discovered the genius and
aptitude of individuals amongst his subjects only when
their ability had become the scourge of his misrule.
Confident in his own resources and strength, the due de
Guise consulted few. The due de Kevers was the chief
depositary of his designs ; with the former he had now
no rivalry in arms ; while the moral support which
Nevers, by an ingenious subterfuge, believed himself
authorized to afford to the League, became of immense
402 HENKY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583 — •
value in the duke's esteem. Guise also frequently cor-
responded with the duchesse de Nevers, who, now an
ardent Leaguer, organized — with the duchesses de Mont-
pensier, Guise, and Nemours — that feminine clique be-
fore whose weapons of animosity and flaying sarcasm
so many reputations fell. As for the cardinal de Bour-
bon, he found himself surrounded by obsequious homage;
the duke treated him almost with regal honours, and
never addressed him save with cap in hand. The bold
troopers of the army, puzzled at the veneration demon-
strated towards the prelate, bestowed upon him the title
of "grand due de Bourbon"; while Guise in his pri-
vate correspondence, written in cipher, contemptuously
termed the cardinal " le petit homme" *
It was not without some apprehension that Guise
contemplated the approaching interview between the
queen and the cardinal de Bourbon — for long habits of
intimacy had firmly established Catherine's ascendency
over the weak mind of the prelate — and he even tried to
persuade the latter to retire to Peronne. But the car-
dinal had fallen into anguish and much tribulation of
spirit, lest, perhaps, his royal patroness after all might
disapprove his proceedings ; and he obstinately declined
to forego the interview.
The negotiation at length commenced at Epernay, by
the duke simply tendering to the queen, on behalf of
himself and his colleagues of the League, the following
terms : — The proscription of the Protestants from the
realm, who were to be despoiled of their offices, digni-
ties, and lands, and banished from the kingdom within
one month of the publication of the edict. Permission
might be accorded to them to sell during the interval
their lands and possessions. All heretics were formally
to be declared incapable of inheriting lands or dignities,
or of holding any office in the realm. The concession
* The Huguenots gave the cardinal the soubriquet of " Ane rouge."
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 403
of this clause was the virtual recognition of the designs
of the due de Guise on the throne. The king of Na-
varre and the prince de Conde proclaimed incompetent
to claim the royal succession when it lapsed by the
demise of the king without direct heirs, there only
remained an old cardinal, two cadets of the house of
Conde, and the due de Montpensier to oppose the
power and pretensions of the princes of Lorraine. The
king was further to agree to employ all the forces of the
realm in this crusade against the heretics to drive them
from the land, and to confiscate the great fiefs in their
tenure — a clause especially launched against the king of
Navarre. Catherine at first raised many objections
to these conditions, and declared that the royal power
would not suffice to execute them. The due de Guise
replied that the mode to execute such was the king's
concern and not his own ; nevertheless, to demonstrate
further his disinterestedness, he proposed to add a
clause to the treaty, to the effect " that all the nobles,
members of the League, when once the pre-eminence of
the orthodox faith was achieved, would willingly cove-
nant to resign their honours and dignities, if such were
the king's pleasure." The royal physician Miron was
employed as the medium of communication between the
queen and her son, and made, in this capacity, many
journeys to Paris. The due de Nevers, meantime, had
repaired a second time to Rome to sound again the in-
clinations of the pope, feeling the onerous position in
which the chieftains of the League were placed, who
having taken arms in defence of the faith, beheld them-
selves disowned and slighted by the Holy See. Sixtus,
whose despotic notions were sorely wounded by the de-
fiance offered to the sovereign of France, received the
duke very coldly : consequently the letters written by
Nevers to the due de Guise advocated the utmost mode-
ration. " If you and the king in reality enter upon a
404 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583 —
contest for preponderance, you will surely be the ruin the
one of the other. God grant that my predictions may
not be verified ! but, monsieur, I believe what I assert
as fully as if I witnessed it," wrote the duke.* The
cardinal de Bourbon, also, whether uneasy at the silence
of Rome, or somewhat diverted from his subserviency to
the due de Guise by the private admonitions of Cathe-
rine de Medici, showed some inclination to modify the
articles presented for the ratification of the king. " I
cannot express to you the changeableness and incon-
sistency of ' le petit homme '/ he has given me such
trouble that at times I feel quite beside myself," \ wrote
Guise in his turn to the due de Nevers. But though
all around seemed to waver, Guise firmly held his posi-
tion, and having drawn his sword against his sovereign
" and thrown away its scabbard," he refused to recede
from conditions to obtain which he had armed. Levies
continued to pour in on all sides. Spain advanced
money to her champion ; and the factious prelates of
the Gallican church clamoured for war, and offered
contributions to exterminate the foes of the Church.
Henry, therefore, outwardly yielded, for Catherine
wrote despondingly on the little impression which her
representations had made on the duke. "Monsieur,"
wrote she to her son, " the said duke declares himself
content personally, but as he has devoted himself to
the public good, the public must be satisfied, and all
the places given by you to the heretics of your realm
as guarantees, the League re-demands." The queen
states that to this speech she made reply, requesting the
* Me"m. de Nevers, tome i. p. 677-678. The duke throughout his
despatches describes the pope as being in a state of irascible excitement,
his Holiness snubbing him without respite or mercy.
f Lettre du Due de Guise au Due de Nevers— MS. Bibl. Imp. B£th.
8866, fol. 74. De Chalons, ce vii. de Juin, 1585.
1585.] HIS COURT AND TIMES. 405
duke to attend to his own affairs and leave the welfare
of the realm to the care of those to whom it apper-
tained. The due d'Epernon, meanwhile, perceiving
that the demands of Guise would eventually be con-
ceded, and fearing lest his own exile might also be made
a condition, prevailed upon the king to send him as the
bearer of his assent to the proposed articles, which he
was, moreover, to supervise. Catherine had removed
from Epernay to Nemours, on account of its more salu-
brious site, and there Epernon found her majesty in
much solicitude at the uncompromising deportment of
the due de Guise.* The treaty was eventually signed
by the queen and the archbishop of Lyons, on the 20th
day of June. It was ratified by the king on the 7th
day of July following. Secret articles appended to the
treaty bound the king to continue the war without in-
terval, under the generals chosen by Guise commanding
the same troops, to which those of his majesty were to
be added. The king also engaged to cede to the
Leaguers, as guarantees, the towns of Chalons, St.
Dizier, Soissons, Rheims, St. Esprit, Dinan, Concq,
Dijon, Verdun (in which Henry undertook to construct
a citadel), and Toul. He likewise engaged to furnish
the sum of 200,000 gold crowns for the payment of the
levies made in defiance of his edicts by the due de Guise.
" A miserable and ignominious treaty," says a contem-
porary ; " the king was on foot, the League on horse-
back; while his majesty's sack \ was not proof against
hard blows like the cuirasses of the Leaguers."
When Sixtus V. heard of the ratification of the
* Lettre de M. Pinart & M. Brulart. MS. Imp. F. de B^th. 8874,
fol. 16. Lettre de M. Myron, Premier Medicin au Koi. MS. Bibl.
Imp. F. de B(Hh. 8874, fol. 40.
f In allusion to the garb of Henry's famous penitents de 1'Annoncia-
ilon de Notre Dame, see p. 320.
406 HENRY III. KING OF FRANCE, [1583—
treaty of Nemours, he was lost in amaze. " I never
should have believed," said his Holiness to the due de
Nevers, " that a prince outraged as the king ot France
has been, could have been debonnair enough to meet
his rebels half way, and not ouly to pardon you
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