The Counts of Gruyere Part 3

Repeating in this communication the report that Duke Charles had recovered from his illness and would be within a mile of Fribourg in a few days, Count Louis added that a trusted agent of his own had been sent to the duke's camp and had reported that he was still ill, that his artillery was in poor condition and that some of his supporters had deserted him. Ill as he was, Duke Charles, hastily collecting a new army to avenge his defeat and too proud to confide to paper his real desire for peace, refused the condition of Count Louis, sending a haughty reply that "he was not accustomed to make advances to his foes, that he was, nevertheless, disposed particularly to make terms with Fribourg but not with its confederates." Thus the pride which was the origin of all his woes caused Duke Charles to reject the mediator who would have worked with "soul and body" for his welfare, and thus vanished the fair prospect of peace between Burgundy and the Confederates. Although the latter had been victorious at Grandson, the country captured in their three-weeks' campaign had in a still shorter time been recaptured by the Savoyards, and a strong party in Romand Switzerland was opposed to them.

At this juncture, the German emperor, twice foresworn, deserted their ally the Archduke Sigismond, and the Bernois, alarmed for the safety of their city, hastily invoked the promised aid of Louis XI. No answer came from their perfidious ally and the Swiss Confederates, alone at last, were left to defend their own country and their freedom. Emperor and king alike were absent, all their machinations finished, and although on the memorable day of Morat, Savoy was pitted against its own cities, and the Confederates against their Burgundian cousins in as unnatural and unnecessary a conflict as ever divided ancient friends, the Swiss soldiers then immortally testified to their patriotism and their valor.

Three months had pa.s.sed since Grandson and Duke Charles had succeeded in a.s.sembling a new army--less in numbers than that which had there been annihilated--a motley force of Savoyards and discontented Italian mercenaries ready to desert his cause, but containing three thousand English under Somerset who were eager to fight with the enemy of France.

The duke, still ill and half insane with fury and the determination to avenge his defeat, was in no condition easily to accomplish that revenge. He was determined to let no further time elapse, therefore he a.s.sembled these forces and established his fortified camp within a mile of the little city of Morat, held by a Bernese garrison. Magnificently fighting before the great breaches in the defending walls, the Bernese held the city during ten long days, giving time for their confederates to a.s.semble behind the hills which concealed their approach from the Burgundian camp. Six thousand more men of Berne were joined by the Waldstetten mountaineers, the German troops of Archduke Sigismund, one hundred horse and six hundred foot from Gruyere, "all men of great stature, athletic force and indomitable courage;" and, lastly, by the men of Zurich, who had marched day and night to swell this army of 24,000 which were to meet a like number of Burgundians. On the 22nd day of June, the anniversary of the death of the ten thousand martyrs who had fallen at Laupen, their descendants prepared with ma.s.ses and with prayers to avenge their death. It was a day of pelting rain, and when the Burgundians, advancing to the attack, had waited six hours under the downpour for any sign of an approaching foe, they retired to their camp with soaked powder and loosened bow-strings at the very moment when the clouds dispersed and the sudden sunshine illuminated the serried pikes of the Swiss as they advanced in unexpected numbers over the crest of the hills. Duke Charles had retired to his tent and was surprised at table by a messenger announcing the imminent attack of the enemy. He was compelled to don his armor on the battlefield itself where he took command of his confused ill-arranged forces, fighting beside the English soldiers under Somerset in the thick of the battle as it raged about the green hedge and little moat which divided the two armies. Against them was Duke Rene, battling with the Swiss to regain his lost Lorraine, and Louis of Gruyere with his brave soldiers. Many times the Swiss halberdiers were driven back under the fire of the Burgundian artillery, as many times the Burgundian cavalry charged with brilliant success, and a hope of regaining his lost honor began to smile upon Duke Charles, when a terrible clamor arose from the very midst of his camp. Again the horn of the Alps, the loud appalling roar of the "Bull of Uri," the "Cow of Unterwalden," which had overwhelmed in panic terror the Austrian knights at Sempach and Morgarten and which the Burgundians themselves had heard at Grandson, fell upon their ears; and quickly following the crash of their own guns which had been captured and turned upon themselves by their own adversaries, the mountaineers of the Waldstetten. At the hedge, in the very centre of the conflict, Duke Charles and Somerset still desperately encouraged their men to a hopeless resistance. Here in the midst of the carnage was Duke Rene, leaping from his fallen horse and fighting by the side of Count Louis under the scarlet banner of Gruyere; here fell Somerset and here fell at last the great banner of Burgundy in the arms of its dying defender.

Soon the Burgundians were completely surrounded by the rear-guard of the Swiss, and by the Morat garrison, and Duke Charles breaking his way through his beaten and disorganized army with a force of three thousand cavalry, succeeded in making his escape. Red was the water of the little lake where, in a mad retreat, the Burgundians were drowned in thousands; red was the battlefield where, after all hope was gone, a still greater number were ma.s.sacred in cold blood by the implacable Swiss. "Cruel as Morat" was the saying which, pa.s.sing into common speech, commemorated for centuries this unforgotten conflict.

Ill-prepared to meet the united and well-nigh unconquerable Swiss as was Duke Charles, the irremediable defeat which he suffered in this celebrated battle might have been averted. But like a predestined victim of the G.o.ds, driven mad by pride, and surrounded by rumors of the desertion of his supporters, he had most unhappily chosen the only Savoyard prince who was unalterably faithful to him, for his distrust, and had forbidden Count Romont and his strong army of nine thousand men to take part in the conflict. Thus the able general and the fresh, unbroken force which might have saved the day watched from a neighboring hill the the annihilation of the Burgundian army. Retiring at last from his post of observation when he saw the great banner fall, Count Romont offered to cover the retreat of the duke, who, still refusing his aid although deserted by all but a dozen of his guard, fled madly across country, taking refuge at last at Morges. The fleeing remnant of his army was pursued by the Lorraine and Gruyere cavalry to Avenches, Count Romont and his Savoyards alone escaping the general destruction; while Count Louis of Gruyere, still riding triumphantly at the head of his hors.e.m.e.n, as far as Lausanne, laid that city under contribution. The appet.i.te of the Bernois was by no means appeased by the great spoils of the Burgundian army, and in spite of the injunction of Louis the XI, who did not intend to lose the jurisdiction of Savoy, they again took the field, capturing Payerne, burning Surpierre and Lucens; while the chateau of Romont, besieged by their allies of Fribourg and defended gallantly to the last by Count Romont himself, fell also. At Lausanne, the rage and cupidity of the Bernois knew no restraint, and the city and cathedral were sacked remorselessly, thus bringing to an end an utterly unwarranted campaign of wanton destruction.

d.u.c.h.ess Yolande, who had hastened to the relief of Duke Charles, was also so suspected by her defeated ally that he caused her to be arrested by his maitre d'hotel and some brutal Italian soldiers and cast into the Burgundian fortress of Rouvres, whence, finally convinced that her brother was the most powerful as well as the most friendly of her foes, she appealed to him for deliverance. Brought by his agents to France after three months' imprisonment, Louis summoned her to his presence at Plessis-les-Tours: "Madame la Bourguignonne," he said with his evil smile, "you are welcome." "I am a good French woman," replied his sister, "and ready to obey the will of your Majesty."

Whether, as has been recorded, Louis really loved his sister, who was almost as able and far more attractive than himself, he kept her in strict imprisonment until she signed a paper of perpetual fidelity to him, and then he sent her back to Savoy and reestablished her on her ducal throne. The prince bishop of Geneva was even more eager than his sister-in-law to desert Duke Charles, and fearing that his city would suffer the fate of Lausanne, offered to a.s.sist the Bernois in invading Burgundy, there to complete the duke's destruction; whereupon the Bernois at the price of an enormous indemnity consented to spare Geneva, and to cease all further conquests in the Pays de Vaud. They also agreed, under the repeated commands of King Louis to send their deputies to a convention of the amba.s.sadors of all the powers to meet at Fribourg in July, 1476. A great and imposing company were these amba.s.sadors, who from France and Austria, Savoy, and the confederated cities and cantons of Switzerland met to treat of the long needed peace.

Among them were Duke Rene of Lorraine and Count Louis of Gruyere, who together with a representative of Archduke Sigismund, were chosen as arbitrators to decide the terms of the proposed treaty. Acting for Savoy, the count of Gruyere, who only by _force majeure_ had sided with its foes, now ably and happily proved his real fidelity to its interests, providing for the restoration of all its possessions in the Pays de Vaud. At a second conference at Annecy, when the alliance between the Confederates and Savoy was amicably regulated, he was also present, receiving from the Genevan delegates rich donations for his invaluable services. For Duke Charles, also Count Louis was as before willing to negotiate a peace with Fribourg, but when a second deputation of the same messengers whom the duke had before despatched to him, was again unable to furnish the written authority he required, he was once more unable to mediate on the duke's behalf. But when his friend and co-arbitrator, Duke Rene of Lorraine, appealed for a.s.sistance to the Swiss to repel Duke Charles' final attack upon his duchy, no answer was forthcoming from Gruyere, and among the German-Swiss confederates at whose hands Duke Charles suffered his cruel death before the walls of Nancy, Count Louis' soldiers had no part. Small benefit was destined to accrue, as the history of Europe unrolled through the succeeding years, from the fall of the house of Burgundy. For while Louis XI by his evil plotting had enlarged his kingdom, by obliterating the barrier of Burgundy between France and Austria he had at the same time made way for centuries of wars. "Here," said the 15th Louis before the tomb of the last duke of Burgundy, "is the cradle of all our wars." As for Switzerland, the system of mercenary service inaugurated by Louis debased its honor and divided its sons, who, fighting in the opposing armies of Europe, delayed for many years the development and the independence of their country. For a few years only, Savoy and Romand Switzerland enjoyed peace. d.u.c.h.ess Yolande, although still threatened by the Savoy princes, was sustained upon the throne by her brother who in this one instance was faithful to his promises. She reestablished the customs of the ducal court and organized plays and festivities; and surrounding herself with a train of musicians, with the soothing sounds of flutes and harps, attempted to forget the fierce trials and tumults of her reign. But her spirit and her strength were broken, and, succ.u.mbing to an early death, she left her young son Philibert to succeed to the duchy under the governorship of the Count de la Chambre, who had been chosen by King Louis. The influence of this agent, however, became too great for the designing king who intended to preserve his jurisdiction over Savoy. He, therefore, instigated a revolt in the Piemontaise provinces of the duchy with the connivance of its ruler the Savoyard prince, Count Philippe de la Bresse. Realizing the necessity at once to control this revolt, which favored the never slumbering desires of the Count de la Bresse to grasp the control of Savoy, the Count de la Chambre, accompanied by the Count de Gruyere and his brother, journeyed to Piemont. The Count de la Bresse, on the arrival of these representatives of his nephew, caused the Count de la Chambre to be arrested in his bed and by acts of dangerous violence imperiled the lives of the Count of Gruyere and his brother. The lately renewed alliance with the powerful cities of Berne and of Fribourg now proved of invaluable a.s.sistance to the threatened duchy of Savoy, for at the appeal of the count de la Chambre they exacted an indemnification for these injuries, and reduced the Count de la Bresse to submission.

After the death of Duke Philibert, his brother and successor Duke Charles III renewed the useful alliance with the confederated cities, and confirmed the appointment of Count Louis de Gruyere as "conseiller"

and "chambellan" of his court with the grant of additional pensions.

It was not long before Count Louis had a fresh opportunity of proving his loyalty to Savoy, an opportunity doubtless welcomed by him to obliterate the memory of his former and enforced opposition; for when the warlike margrave of Saluzzo revolted from his allegiance to Savoy, Count Louis practically organized an army of Bernois and Savoyards to reduce him to submission, supplying a far greater number of Gruyeriens than was required of him, and financing the expedition with loans from Fribourg for which he was personally liable. Before the walls of Saluzzo, it was he who led the a.s.saults, preserved the a.s.sailants from destruction when the garrison made an unexpected sortie, dispersed a relieving army, and at last made a triumphant entry into the city behind the allied banners of Berne and Gruyere. Engaged thus in the mutual support of Savoy, Count Louis, always working heart and soul for peace if he could, for war if compelled, so merited the approbation of the Bernois that their captain wrote that "Count Louis de Gruyere and his brother had conducted themselves as faithful and valorous friends of their allies." Count Louis was also enthusiastic over this new alliance of the Confederates with his beloved Savoy, and declared that "he was resolved to live and die with his allies and that with G.o.d's help their united strength would prevail against all foes."

Count Louis' new allies warmly appreciated the chivalry, generosity and independence for which he was justly renowned, and in the various differences which arose among the restless subjects of Gruyere, advised them to trust to the justice of their ruler. Preserving to his last day the enthusiasm and the frank amenity of a singularly charming and well-balanced character, Count Louis was wise in the management of his estates, encouraged printing at Rougemont, and sharing the love of pomp and beauty of the Savoy court, was an amateur in architecture and as enthusiastic in his religion as he was in all things else. When a tornado followed by a disastrous fire destroyed a part of the city and the chateau of Gruyere, he planned and partially executed an extensive enlargement of his ancestral manor, rebuilding it in the later style of the fifteenth century. He also rebuilt the adjoining chapel of St. Jean, asking and receiving from the pope a grant of indulgence for the faithful who should communicate therein on the anniversary of its second foundation and on the fete of its patron saint. The chapel richly furnished with sacred books, chalices, luminaries, and ecclesiastical ornaments still preserves with its commemorative inscription the name and fame of Count Louis.

CHAPTER VII

STRUGGLE FOR SUCCESSION

In view of the tender age and delicate health of his only son, Count Louis, having long enjoyed a formal alliance with Fribourg, thought it wise to make a like treaty with Berne; and foreseeing that his son's life would probably not be a long one, he drew up a will in which he appointed his successors. In this will, he decreed that his brother Francois should be the next heir, after him his daughter Helene, and next, in default of male heirs of the direct line, the son of his brother, Jean de Montsalvens. The signing of the treaty with Berne was the last political act of his reign of twenty-three years, in which, from beginning to end, he had well seconded the constructive administration of his father. Inheriting Count Francois' brilliant qualities, with less extended powers over Savoy, his opportunities for the display of his soldierly abilities were greater; and although wars and disasters had reduced his revenues and lessened the growth of the estates, he was able to pay a debt to Fribourg incurred by his father, and besides rebuilding the chapel and chateau made various important acquisitions of property. Through his wife he was connected with one of the oldest and most powerful families of Savoy whose representatives were distinguished like those of Gruyere for honorable offices at the ducal court, and whose vast possessions extended over a large part of Savoy, including the city of Aix-les-Bains. The Countess Claude, left to the charge of a young and delicate son, who after a brilliant debut in the tournaments and festivities at Chambery died at the early age of seventeen, was surrounded by a mult.i.tude of annoyances and demands from the powerful republic of Berne, which she met with more courage than discretion. Although during her popular husband's reign, the people of Gruyere voluntarily a.s.sisted in the a.s.semblage of the materials for the restoration of the chateau, they revolted when the countess imposed taxes upon them for the continuation of the work, and a most unusual bitterness of feeling arose, which was only pacified by the arbitration of the Council of Fribourg. Little understanding her people--who, as always, could be ruled by love and not by force--she was not only compelled to yield in this matter, but conceded to the Bernois the fortress of Mannenburg, to keep the peace with her formidable neighbor.

The countess, grief-stricken at the death of her only son, was for a brief period relieved from her onerous responsibilities by her brother-in-law, Francois III, who, according to Count Louis' will, followed his nephew in the rule of Gruyere. Although succeeding at an advanced age to the throne of his ancestors and occupying it for less than a year, Count Francois III had shared the offices of "conseiller"

and "chambellan" at the court of Savoy with his brother Louis, and was held in equal honor by the cities of Fribourg and Berne. Like Louis, he was admitted to the diplomatic councils of the European powers, and allying himself with the prince of Orange, who, with the Orleans league, disputed the control of France with Louis XII, prevented the threatened intervention of the Swiss Confederates. Astonishing as was the influence of so small a princ.i.p.ality as that of Gruyere, containing at no time more than twenty thousand inhabitants, it was due not only to its intermediate situation between the republics of Berne and Fribourg and the possessions of Savoy but to the great personal importance of its rulers--particularly of Count Francois and his two sons Louis and Francois, who were not only supreme in their control of the duchy of Savoy, but were unquestionably the greatest n.o.bles in Romand Switzerland. Holding its sovereignty directly from the emperor, Gruyere had long been an independent state, and by the grant of Wenceslas its rulers were not only empowered to issue money but had always possessed unqualified rights of justice and administration over their subjects. An interregnum of discord was unfortunately destined to lessen the power and diminish the prosperity of Gruyere, for Count Francois III, who had accompanied the prince of Orange in his unfortunate invasion of Italy, succ.u.mbed to the fatigue of the campaign, leaving the countess and her daughter to a long and bitter struggle for the latter's rights to the succession.

Although by the old Burgundian law, the right of female succession was not without precedent, the general inclination of popular sentiment was definitely against it; and while Helene by her father's will was authorized during her life to claim the rule of Gruyere, that will directed that his nephew Jean of the cadet branch of the family should succeed her. But the wills of Count Antoine as well as of his son Francois provided for the immediate and direct succession of the next in line of that cadet branch, Jean de Montsalvens, the brother of Count Louis, and not the young son designated by the latter. Fully foreseeing the impending difficulties which would beset his wife and daughter when they should attempt to carry out his designs, Count Louis could never have imagined that the Countess Claude would a.s.sist the family which had already disputed the right of his own line to the throne by consenting to a marriage of her daughter with Claude de Vergy. Legitimized by the pope, sustained by Savoy, Count Francois had by his incomparable ability brought Gruyere to such a height of power and prosperity that, after the first attempt to dispossess him, he had been left undisturbed. Count Louis, however, had been violently attacked by Count Guillaume de Vergy, who had instigated during the Burgundian wars, the seizure of Aubonne and the invasion of Gruyere, while during the short reign of his son Francois raids of undisciplined marauders sent out by the same family only too plainly announced their hostile intentions. With the rapidly succeeding deaths of the young Francois II and his uncle Francois III, the astute Guillaume de Vergy--a very great n.o.ble, head of his family and marechal of Burgundy--saw an opportunity of grasping the long coveted succession for his son Claude by means of a marriage with Helene of Gruyere. But he reckoned without the well founded claims and stout opposition of Jean de Montsalvens, between whom and his son on one side and Helene and her mother on the other side such a contest arose as nearly plunged Switzerland into civil war. While Berne was on Helene's side, Fribourg supported Jean de Montsalvens. The duke of Savoy supported the two ladies, but could find no better solution of their difficulties than to ask them to receive the rival pretendant as a guest in the chateau. When finally their friends the Bernois and their enemies of Fribourg proposed to install Jean provisionally at Gruyere under the protection of an armed force, the countess thought prudent to retire, leaving the chateau to the management of her chatelain. But while the duke of Savoy and the two cities were temporizing and hesitating between the rival claimants, the mountaineers of Gessenay, leaders of the German-Swiss people of Gruyere, and who were violently opposed to the marriage of Mdlle. de Gruyere with the detested family of de Vergy, formally acknowledged Jean de Montsalvens as their ruler. In spite of the popular opposition, Helene's marriage was duly celebrated and her rival soon after installed himself at the chateau. Whereupon, the duke of Savoy indignant at the disregard of his futile propositions, sent a messenger to Berne commanding their intervention in favor of Helene, and another to Jean himself with a mandate immediately to evacuate the chateau. Berne informed the men of Gessenay of its intention to support Helene, and commanded them to keep the peace. The prospect of a general war seemed so imminent that the king of France sent his amba.s.sador, the Cardinal d'Amboise, to investigate the matter, and the marechal of Burgundy so influenced the emperor that he issued an imperial mandate recognizing Claude de Vergy as ruler of the disputed province. But Jean de Montsalvens, supported by his mountaineers, with an enrolled force of four thousand men, dismissed with calm politeness the messenger of Savoy, ignored the threats of the two cities as well as the mandate of the emperor, and preserved so bold a front against all his foes that he gained the a.s.sistance of Berne and the unanimous support of all his people, and was formally recognized as count of Gruyere. The duke of Savoy and the two cities now proposed a council of all the parties concerned by which the rival claims should be decided, but refusing at first to submit his rights to arbitration, Count Jean delayed until he was a.s.sured by popular consent of the success of his cause, and then appearing before the council at Geneva, was formally confirmed in his already established succession.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TERRACE OF THE CHaTEAU]

The Countess Claude, although supported by such friends as the marechal of Burgundy, the duke of Savoy, the king of France, and the emperor of Germany, had been reduced to sad straits. From her retreat at the chateau of Aubonne, without heat, without food, she had appealed to the guard which Berne and Fribourg had established at Gruyere for a little of her home b.u.t.ter and cheese to keep her from actual starvation. The council at Geneva provided for her necessities by requiring the restoration of the amount of her dot, and to her and her daughter possession of the chateaux of Aubonne and Moliere for their lives, with a purchasable reversion in favor of Count Jean. But when, dying early, Helene, in defiance of this provision, left these properties to her husband and his family, there were more quarrels about their possession, and again the European powers were invoked by Guillaume de Vergy, who procured from Louis XII of France a protest as unheeded as the mandate of the emperor, against their diversion to Count Jean. But the marechal at last succeeded in his long considered plan of amicably uniting the rival claims, for in a family council it was finally agreed that his daughter Marguerite should marry Count Jean's son and successor, and that the purchase money of the two chateaux, supplied by Count Jean, should const.i.tute her dowry. So was concluded a quarrel of more than sixty years, begun and ended by a marriage.

The estates so manfully won by Count Jean were not destined to bring him unmixed satisfaction. The men of Gessenay demanded pay for their support in the form of costly enfranchis.e.m.e.nts from contributions or taxes; the revenues of Gruyere had already been decreased by the long legal processes of the succession, the maintenance of the army of defence, and the payment of Countess Claude's dot and her daughter's pension, as well as by the heavy purchase money of the chateaux of Aubonne and Moliere.

While still preserving its appearance of luxury the court of Gruyere was now supplied and maintained by loans from Berne and Fribourg, while Count Jean, who had prevailed against so powerful an array of foes, was like his predecessors, despoiled by the bishop of Lausanne, who demanded the cession of his rights over a rich part of his possessions. Thus the reign which had begun by an astonishing display of courage and firmness was so embarra.s.sed by the expenditure incident to its establishment, that it ran thereafter a very inglorious course unmarked by the happy prosperity of former years. When Maximilian I prepared to proceed to Italy to be crowned emperor of the Romans, the Bernois consented to enroll Count Jean's son, his son-in-law, the seigneur of Chatelard, and Claude de Vergy, under the Gruyere banner in the army of confederates which was to swell the imperial forces. But with the refusal of Venice to permit the pa.s.sage of Maximilian this dream of worldly experience and adventure was necessarily abandoned. Except for the service of the Count's illegitimate son Jean, who fought with a force of Gruyeriens in the battle of Novara, when the Swiss preserved Milan to its dukes against the invading army of Louis XII, no military honor accrued to Gruyere during his reign.

CHAPTER VIII

RELIGIOUS REFORM

The death of Count Jean in the beginning of the 16th century left to his son Jean II the task of upholding the old ideals of the Gruyere house against the continually growing democracy in Switzerland, as well as against the advance of religious reform. Endowed with all his father's firmness, he possessed the chivalric ardor of his predecessors and a full share of their personal charm. The long and intimate relation of Gruyere and Savoy which had been interrupted by his father's maintenance of his rights of succession against the will of Duke Philibert II, were renewed by Count Jean II, who soon merited the t.i.tle so worthily won by his predecessors of the "greatest n.o.ble in Romand Switzerland."

When Count Philippe de Bresse, after a lifetime spent in envious agitations against the ruling dukes at last succeeded to the throne of Savoy, he splendidly atoned for his ill-treatment of Count Louis de Gruyere and his brother by immediately investing Count Jean II with the offices held by his predecessors; and when he magnificently celebrated his reconst.i.tution of the Order of the Annonciata in the chapel of Chambery, he invested Count Jean with the order, and at the ensuing fetes gave him a seat at his side. The gift of this order, bestowing upon its possessor the privilege of diplomatic negotiations with the thrones of Europe, brilliantly recognized the position already held by the counts of Gruyere of arbitrators for Savoy and Romand Switzerland in the continual differences which arose between them and the monarchs of France and Austria. Although still only a duchy, Savoy had long been related by marriage with all the kingdoms of Europe. It was triply related to France through the wife and the sister of Louis XI and through Louise de Savoie, mother of Francois I; it was doubly related to the latter's great rival, the emperor Charles V, through Philibert's wife, the able Marguerite d'Autriche, and again through the emperor's sister-in-law, the d.u.c.h.ess Beatrix of Portugal, wife of Philibert's successor, Charles III. Fortified and elated by this imperial alliance, Duke Charles III began his unfortunate reign with a magnificent progress through Piemont and Savoy, where, particularly in the Pays de Vaud, he was cordially welcomed. At Geneva "the youth of the city were gayly decked out in damask, velvet and cloth of gold, while a corps of the most beautiful women, superbly dressed as amazons carrying lances and shields, were led by a fair Spaniard in honor of the d.u.c.h.esse." At Vevey, bells rang, and a great procession of soldiers in parti-color followed by others in pure white, with a hundred pages also in white, carrying the white cross of Savoy, came out from the gates to meet him.

Presenting his suzerain with the donations of the Pays de Vaud at Lausanne, Count Jean was also present with the bishops of Tarentaise, Lausanne and de Bellay at the general a.s.sembly of the Savoy estates at Morges, and at the chateau of Oron received the duke and his suite at a splendid banquet.

The Swiss, divided by religious wars, and since the battles of Grandson, Morat and Nancy the actual arbiters of Europe, were constantly solicited for their alliance, and yielding to their cupidity and a widespread spirit of adventure, continually divided their forces into mercenary bands, fighting for Italy and then France in the long series of disastrous Italian campaigns undertaken by Charles VIII and his successors, Louis XII and Francois I. "_Point d'argent, point de Suisse_," a saying only too well merited by the conduct of these mercenary armies, originated from these French-Italian campaigns. In 1499 the Swiss, fighting with France, betrayed the duke of Milan to Louis XII. At Novara, fifteen years later, they fought for the duke, and took for themselves a large part of Piemont. At Marignan, the young Francois I at the head of a brilliant army of the French n.o.blesse, furnished with all the accoutrements and artillery of modern warfare, received his baptism of fire, and Bayard won his shining immortality.

There also the Swiss in a second battle of giants, although defeated, won as they had at St. Jacques the admiration of their conqueror; and just as Louis XI had tempted them by unlimited pay to join his cause, again Francois I induced them by promises of permanent pensions to a perpetual alliance, and to the peace called "perpetual" which afterward was maintained between Switzerland and France.

With the strictest historical justice this alliance, based on cupidity, was by the same ign.o.ble motive made void of result. When the great Emperor Charles V, allied with the pope and England, threatened the French possessions in Italy, the Swiss soldiers compelled the French general to engage the imperial forces under the most unfavorable conditions, and in the disastrous battle of the Bicoque brought about the defeat of their allies, the loss of Milan and the evacuation of Italy. Among the 16,000 Swiss who here demonstrated the worst of their national qualities, was a force of 400 men from Gruyere under the command of Count Jean, who fought with his natural son Jean, his brother Jacques and his cousin of Blonay in the thick of the battle. The French were hopelessly outnumbered by the combined imperial and Italian armies and suffered a crushing defeat, and the Swiss soldiers whose pay had been stolen by the mother of Francois I returned to their own country after the battle. Confessing in truth that they were "_mal payes, mal dotes_," Count Jean also declared that the Milanese duchy would never be recovered by the French king unless he came himself to Italy to conduct the campaign. He, therefore, returned to his estates after this disheartening experience where he found the long smouldering resentment against the predatory bishop of Lausanne at the point of explosion. By threat of arms, he exacted payment for his despoiled rights from the bishop, and before a great a.s.semblage of his n.o.bles, communes and people solemnly enacted the cessation of all trade with the bishop's market at Bulle in favor of Fribourg, with whose authorities he also established new commercial relations. But Count Jean, who had great reason to pursue these wise measures for the rehabilitation of his already impoverished and mortgaged estates, was soon drawn into the contest which arose between the democratic and Savoyard parties of Geneva, when the former, making an alliance with the republics of Berne and Fribourg, essayed to shake off the control of Savoy. The severance of the alliance of those cities with Savoy, announced a formidable alignment of the adherents of liberty in Romand Switzerland against the ruling duchy. But before this new combination had become sufficiently consolidated to accomplish its end, there were many efforts at pacification and compromise, and the count of Gruyere most reluctantly was forced to accept the office of arbiter between Savoy and the free cities.

Again as so often had happened before, the ruler of Gruyere was faced with a choice between his suzerain and the republics of Switzerland.

Count Jean unhesitatingly chose the former, and announced in his capacity of arbitrator the dissolution of the alliance of the free cities with Geneva. The result of this exceedingly courageous action was his own arraignment by Fribourg for conduct which they announced as unjustifiable and actionable. But the duke of Savoy was determined to reward Count Jean for his fidelity, and prevailed upon Berne and Soleure to renew their alliances but released Fribourg from all relations with his house, thus delivering Count Jean from its threatened revenge. This treaty, regulating the relations of Savoy with the cities of Berne and Soleure, did not, however, finish the contest between the Genevan democrats and the duke of Savoy, for the duke within a month sent an army within sight of the city to reduce it to submission. The feudal powers in Switzerland were now arrayed with Savoy against the rebels of Geneva in a league of young n.o.bles, who a.s.sembled in force at Coppet to attack the city of Geneva. But now, although the heir of Gruyere was among the n.o.bles, the people joined the army of Berne and Fribourg which marched to the aid of the rebellious city. Resorting to their old pastime of devastation, the army of liberty burned chateau after chateau in their march to Geneva, and uniting their forces with the rebels they summoned the duke of Savoy to account for his responsibility in the threatened attack. In an a.s.semblage of the amba.s.sadors of the ten confederated cantons, the duke of Savoy secured his continued control of Geneva, but paid dearly for it in the hypothecation to the greedy cities of Berne and Fribourg of the whole of the Pays de Vaud. Following this important concession, the victorious cities solemnly ratified their treaties with Geneva, and with the establishment of religious reform, which had developed simultaneously with the struggle for political independence, Geneva finally succeeded in freeing itself from the rule of Savoy. Catholic among the Catholics, Count Jean vigorously supported the duke in the defence of their religion, and converted his chateau of Oron into a refuge for the fugitives from the Lutheran persecution.

While the Bernois were breaking the sacred images and wrecking the churches and chapels, Count Jean regularly maintained the celebration of ma.s.s at Oron, and threatened to wreak vengeance upon the Lutheran heretics who fell into his hands. Therefore, the Bernois, with evangelical p.r.o.nunciamentos, commanded him to desist, and under threat of depriving him of the chateau and seigneurie of Oron, forced the adoption in this Catholic stronghold of the Lutheran faith. At Gruyere all the people were faithful, and in large numbers journeyed to Fribourg, declaring they would die rather than abandon their religion.

At the warning that a band of Bernese Lutherans was preparing to invade Gruyere, the Fribourgeois summoned the people to be ready at the sound of the tocsin to take arms to repel them. Epidemics succeeded to these alarms, the restless people continually demanded new concessions, and finally the Bernois, openly declaring war upon Savoy, rapidly conquered the long coveted Pays de Vaud and summoned the count of Gruyere to acknowledge their sovereignty. When Count Jean stoutly rejected the demands of the Bernois, they immediately threatened the invasion of his estates; but their watchful rivals of Fribourg energetically protested, and when an amba.s.sador of Charles V arrived on the scene to lend the Imperial support to the threatened princ.i.p.ality, the Bernois consented to recognize the independence of Gruyere but exacted and at last obtained Count Jean's acceptance of their sovereignty over his possessions in the Pays de Vaud. Berne's demands were no sooner satisfied than Fribourg with an army prepared to take Corbieres, but at this Count Jean's loyal subjects rose in a body, and the Fribourgeois, threatened by the people of Berne, consented to arbitrate their claims at the very moment when the valiant Count Jean was seized with sudden illness and ended his greatly tormented existence.

"Towards the end of the month of November," a contemporary chronicler relates, "died at Gruyere, the n.o.ble and powerful lord Jean, Count of the said Gruyere, who before his death had suffered great troubles and pains, as much from the change in the overlordship and government of his country as from that of religion."

The change of overlordship had been a desolating disaster to the loyal va.s.sal of the good Duke Charles of Savoy, who, when Francois I despoiled him of all but a remnant of his duchy, was sent into a poverty-stricken exile. A less firm resistance on the part of Count Jean against the encroaching powers of the confederated cities would have brought a like fate on Gruyere. In an epoch of transition, when the old feudal order was giving place to the increasingly triumphant democracy in Switzerland, in a period embittered by cruel religious persecutions, involved in the wars and events which altered the political and moral aspect of Europe, he preserved to the last the integrity of his domain and its fidelity to its ancient faith. Personifying all the virtues of the old order of chivalry, greatly honored by his suzerain, loved and respected at home, it cannot be denied that he was at the same time the exemplar of its faults, and of these a great and practically licensed immorality was the chief. From the earliest period in the history of Gruyere, many of the illegitimate sons of its rulers were dedicated to the church, and often rising to high places among its prelates shared in the prevailing laxity and were naturally forced to condone and finally to recognize the continuance of this state of affairs. With even less attempt at concealment than had been observed by his ancestors in the pursuance of these irregular relations Count Jean openly installed his mistress the famous Luce d'Alberguex, at the chateau. An ideal Gruyere beauty was la Belle Luce, with the vigorous perfection of her race and a smile of such nave sweetness and charm as still lingers in the popular tradition. Count Jean gave her his fairest mountain as a gage of his affection and villages and rich pasture lands to her brave son, his namesake, who had fought by his side at the Bicoque. The gallant count was, according to tradition, very prodigal in his favors, and a certain road, leading to the neighboring village of Charmey where the unhappy Countess Marguerite could watch her faithless lord as he rode away on his various adventures, is still known as the "_Charriere de Creve-Coeur_."

Married for reasons of family policy to the daughter of the de Vergys, who resided for the most part in the chateau of Oron, Count Jean pa.s.sed his happiest days with la Belle Luce at Gruyere. After the death of his countess, and the pa.s.sing of his youthful loves, he married Catherine de Monteynard, with whom he honorably pa.s.sed the last decade of his life.

CHAPTER IX

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF GRUYeRE

The three sons of Count Jean II not strangely reflected the conditions of their birth and the widely differing characters of their mothers.

Francois, only son of his second marriage, which was founded on a real preference and esteem, possessed the kindly and charitable nature of his mother and the firm character of his distinguished Gruyere ancestors.

Jean, the illegitimate son of Luce d'Alberguex, was lovable and valorous, but lacking in firmness or dignity of character. Michel, the heir of Gruyere, and the child of Count Jean's loveless marriage with Marguerite de Vergy, while personifying in their perfection the physical beauty and charm of his line, was like the fair fruit of a decaying tree hollow at heart, and was only too well fitted by his fantastic pretensions and his frivolous weakness of character for the tragic role which was a.s.signed to him in the fall of his house.

"_Vela, Michel li preux li beaux Fleur de tous autres damoiseaux._"

a couplet describing the romantic figure of the last count of Gruyere, is still rhymed by the people and still finds its place among their records. Imposing in height as his great forerunner Francois de Gruyere, his features were of a beautiful regularity and n.o.bility, his manner had that princely pride and simplicity which was the greatest charm of Francois I of France. At the French court, as in all Switzerland, he was renowned as "the handsomest knight of his day." With the extinction of the court at Chambery, where his predecessors had received their education in chivalry and where they had so faithfully and honorably served the dukes of Savoy, the young Michel was sent to the still more brilliant court of France. Blazing with the beauty of the great ladies who ruled the adored and adorable young king, the resort of painters and poets, the rendezvous of all the n.o.blesse of France, this court at its highest pitch of pageantry and pride was a dazzling school for the young _damosel_ of Gruyere. Here in the white and gold dress of the "_Enfants du Roi_," and next as king's _Pannetier_, he pa.s.sed eight years of his youth, patterning his ideals only too faithfully upon the young sovereign he served. On his return to Switzerland fresh from this experience in France, he joined the league of young n.o.bles called "_de la cuiller_," from their vow to make a sweet morsel of the rebel republicans of Geneva. In highwaymen raids in company with his mad cousin de Beaufort of Coppet and Rolle, he defied the formidable seigneurs of Berne, and was only saved from their chastis.e.m.e.nt by their regard for his father. After these escapades, he departed for Italy to the court of the emperor Charles the Fifth, who at first treated him with extraordinary confidence, but when he demanded to be appointed prince of the empire and gentleman of the bed-chamber, the emperor refused. Pa.s.sing only enough time at Gruyere to receive the vows of fidelity from his subjects and to make a tour of his estates, he proceeded by way of France to carry out a mission of the emperor in Flanders. At Paris where the emperor halted on his way to deal with his rebellious Flemish subjects, Count Michel was so pleasantly entertained in the round of fetes and _divertiss.e.m.e.nts_ which celebrated the imperial visit, that he postponed again and again the adjustment of the important differences with Fribourg which had been left in abeyance at the death of his father. His mission to Flanders was so carelessly executed that he soon lost the confidence of the emperor who, openly declaring that "he thought little of him," sent him away from Turin. On his return to Paris after another brief visit to his country Count Michel received a better welcome from Francois I, who invested him with the Order of the King and with the Collar of St. Michael. No better example of the personal charm of Francois I is to be found in history than his influence over his Swiss allies. a.s.suring the amba.s.sadors of Berne, when they visited Paris with the hope of being released from their military service, that the disastrous results of his Italian campaigns were due only to the derangement of his finances, he promised personally to lead them in his approaching invasion, beguiled them with fair words and promises, even engaging to place the crown diamonds in their custody as gage of their pay, and professing that he was "_l'ami de coeur_" of the Confederates bound them for weal or woe to his cause. At the battle of Sesia when Bayard fell before the armies of the emperor and the traitorous Constable of France, it was the Swiss who saved the existence of the French forces. At the disastrous defeat of Pavia, losing half of their soldiers, they fought with a desperate courage for the lost cause of the still beloved king, who at the moment of surrender could salute the Swiss guard and say to his captor: "If all my soldiers had fought like these, I would not be your prisoner but you would be mine."

In the complications which arose from Berne's renewed demands for the recognition of their authority over Gruyere, Count Michel became a figure of international importance. When his domain was threatened with invasion, he declared that he had received it from G.o.d and his fathers, and would not submit. The Fribourgeois, in the interests of the Catholic party, were against Berne, and declared they would support him to the full extent of their power. Six other Catholic cities also ranged themselves with Fribourg, and war seemed so imminent that the matter was taken before the Diet, when, with the aid of the French amba.s.sadors and a summons from the emperor Charles V to respect the independence of his imperial fief, Count Michel was able to retain the freedom of Gruyere, but compelled like his father to admit Berne's authority over his possessions in the Pays de Vaud. In the support which Francois I gave to Count Michel, he followed not so much his predilection for a courtier whom he had invested with the Order of St. Michel as his habitual policy of conciliating the Swiss, whose support was indispensable to him in the war he had again declared against the emperor. In December of the year 1543, Count Michel at the invitation of the king joined the French army before Landrecies, where with a small force of cavalry armed and equipped at his own expense he was fortunate enough to a.s.sist his old master in relieving the siege of the city.

But this was the only fortune which fell to the Gruyere banner during the various campaigns in which he was engaged. "Fanfarront" and proud, the new and richly embroidered flag he commanded represented the symbolic and hitherto honorable "Grue," in a guise as "fanfarront" as Count Michel himself. a.s.suming the t.i.tle of prince, and for his poverty-stricken little domain the powers and independence of a royal princ.i.p.ality, he was not content to furnish the two thousand men required by the king, but rashly undertook to double the number. Still more rashly he left the levee of these troops to a delegate, who hastily a.s.sembled a motley and disreputable collection of untrained men from all parts of the country, with a few ignorant peasants from Gruyere itself who were in no way fitted to sustain the valorous reputation of their country. Detained by the quarrels which against all advice he continually pursued with Geneva and Berne, he delegated his command of these troops to the same untrustworthy agent who had collected them, a certain Sire de Cugy of Vaud. At a critical moment in the battle of Cerisolles this helpless band of peasants not surprisingly took to their heels and seriously endangered the victory of the French. The other Swiss soldiers sustained their old reputation with prodigies of valor, but upon the Gruyeriens were lavished every epithet of contempt. The pitiful episode was the object of many royal witticisms. To the king who "supposed that they were of the same stuff as the Confederates," his chronicler du Bellay replied that "it was folly to disguise an a.s.s as a charger"----"Why pay these cowards," asked the king in return, "who fled like _Grues hier_?"

How important the little Swiss province was considered among the great kingdoms of Europe, was again shown in the mult.i.tude and variety of observations in the contemporary memoirs upon the conduct of the men who untruthfully called themselves Gruyeriens. A comment of Rabelais in his Pantagruel, adds to the general reproach. "It has always been the custom in war, to double pay for the day when the battle is won. With victory there is profit and somewhat for payment; with defeat, it is shame to demand reward, as did the runaways of Gruyere after the battle of Serizolles." Thus Rabelais mocked the last Gruyere soldiers as Ta.s.so praised the first, and an undeserved stigma was set on the banner which had been carried unstained through six centuries of warfare at home and abroad.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CHURCH OF ST. THEODATE]

With a persistency which deserved a better reward, Count Michel now determined to redeem his disgrace, and joined the French armies in the prolonged attempt to relieve the city of St. Dizier, besieged by the imperial forces. But fortune on this occasion was unfavorable to the French and no glory was gained and no rehabilitation of the unfortunate Gruyeriens. In a third campaign under the command of the Duc de Guise, Count Michel was again with the French before Boulogne, and a witness of the peace of Crepy which was signed at the moment when that city fell into the hands of the English. Thus although putting forth every effort to restore the ancient reputation of his house, the unlucky Count Michel was forced to return without laurels to Gruyere where, during the last peaceful years of the reign of Francois I, no further military service was required of him. But the Bernois still tormented him for recognition of their sovereignty over the disputed seigneuries of Palezieux, and continued to lend him money, thus gradually and surely laying their hands on his long coveted possessions. With a like calculating generosity, Fribourg accepted mortgages on such portions of his property as were not already mortgaged to Berne, while Count Michel, like a b.u.t.terfly caught in the closing net of its captors, lived gayly in the lingering sunshine of this false prosperity. A romantic imbroglio in which his cousin de Beaufort was involved afforded him congenial distraction, and again served to attract the attention of the king of France and the emperor to the affairs of Gruyere. Pa.s.sing their brilliant youth together at the court of Francois I, where the young sire de Beaufort was also "_Enfant du Roi_," the comrades were also a.s.sociated in the mad escapades of the "_Lique de la Cuiller_,"

against the Geneva republicans, and when de Beaufort carried off the beautiful Marie de la Palud, it was to Gruyere that he fled, riding madly across country to ask Count Michel's protection. The mother of the runaway beauty--a certain Countess de la Varax, was determined to recover her daughter and as a bourgeoise of Berne, denounced the ravisher to the city authorities, but when informed by the countess of Beaufort that she had been married by bell and by book, and had Count Michel's promise to intercede in her favor, they declined to prosecute her or her husband. Fribourg also took the side of the lovers, and sent a letter in their behalf to the king of France. But the Countess de la Varax had already secured the support of both emperor and king, who, thinking the matter of high political importance, sent pressing letters by their amba.s.sadors to Berne and Fribourg and, later, to the Diet of the Confederation, commanding that de Beaufort should give up his bride.