The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria Part 14

'Very dear and much-beloved Son!--Health and apostolical benediction. I have been rejoiced on receiving the letter which your Majesty has written to me with your own hand.... I am fully convinced of the satisfaction which you will derive from my election to the Popedom; and I never entertained a doubt that had it depended alone on your goodwill and affection towards me, your suffrage would have been in my favour; but I was equally aware that it was neither suitable to your own interests nor to the good of the Christian commonwealth, that you should have used any solicitation in my behalf, knowing that such interference would have been fatal to your good understanding with one (Wolsey) who at this moment is of all others most necessary to your welfare in Italy.... Although my election may in one respect be attended with inconvenience, in taking me away from the management of your affairs in Spain, yet this will be so much overbalanced by other considerations, as nowise to diminish the joy which it will occasion you. And in this my election, the feeling which influenced the sacred College of Cardinals, as you will readily believe, and as has been intimated by them to Don John Manuel, was, that it would be a choice agreeable to your Majesty: for no one, it appeared, would have obtained their votes who could be considered objectionable either to you, or to the King of France.

'I cannot, therefore, express my satisfaction in having attained to this elevation without the exercise of your influence, inconsistent as that would have been with the purity and sincerity which divine and human rights require in such proceedings; and in saying this, you will be a.s.sured that I feel as much, if not more truly devoted to your Majesty, than if I had owed to your means and prayers my present advancement....

'Sire, I pray G.o.d to grant you a happy and long life. Written at Saragossa the 3rd of May, _ad tempus sacrae Romanae ecclesiae_.

Entirely yours.'[79]

[79] W. Bradford, _Correspondence of the Emperor Charles V._

Adrian VI. was an upright, conscientious, and honest man, but quite unfitted for the high position he was called upon to fill, and his reign of ten months was unsuccessful and unhappy. As he himself once exclaimed, 'Let a man be never so good, how much depends upon the times in which he is born.' A learned scholar and rigid disciplinarian, he regarded the conduct of the reformers with horror; but at the same time candidly acknowledged the abuses and corruptions that disgraced both the Court and Church of Rome. This moderation, whilst it disgusted the great ecclesiastics in Italy, tended to encourage the reformation in Germany. A host of pamphlets and caricatures were circulated, and helped to popularise the new ideas and spread the reformed religion far and wide. Charles hastened to forbid under pain of death the printing of literature directed against the Pope or the Church of Rome, and ordered Francis Van der Hulst to hunt all Lutherans out of the Netherlands.

On the 15th of March 1522 Margaret convoked the States-General at Brussels. The emperor, through his Chancellor, complimented the citizens on their loyal conduct and bravery at the recent siege of Tournay, which had greatly helped towards its reduction. 'The French,'

he said, 'have sustained a great loss in losing Milan and Tournay, which are of such importance, as every one knows.' His approaching journey to Spain was then announced, and he informed them of the treaties he had made, and the precautions taken for the defence of the country, thanking his brave subjects for the zeal they had shown in his service. He informed them that during his absence the government would be confided to Margaret, 'who for so long has shown by her praiseworthy, memorable services and great experience, that she well knows how to honourably acquit herself of the said government and administration. For which good rule and conduct his Majesty and you are beholden to her through the fervent zeal and natural love she bears you.' The Chancellor ended his long speech by saying that the emperor hoped they would live peaceably with each other during his absence--'for their strength lay in unity....'[80]

[80] _MSS. de la Bibliotheque de Bourgogne._

Charles, who was now preparing to visit England on his way to Spain, was sadly in want of money. Margaret did her best to help him, and in order to raise funds p.a.w.ned her jewels to the Count of Hochstrate.

'My said Lady, obeying the order of his Majesty, has offered to leave her rings with the said Hochstrate, until he has been acquitted and discharged of the last sums he furnished... at the very pressing request and insistence of my said Lady, knowing that in this lies his Majesty's honour, but he has behaved so well that he will not keep them.'[81]

[81] _Correspondance de Marguerite avec Charles-Quint._

Before leaving Bruges the emperor made his will on the 22nd of May 1522, arranging that if he died in Flanders his body was to be buried at Bruges, near his grandmother Mary of Burgundy. He then bade farewell to Margaret and set out for England, sailing from Calais, with a gorgeous retinue of a thousand horse and two thousand courtiers, and landing at Dover towards the end of May, was welcomed by Wolsey in his master's name. It had been arranged that King Henry should meet the emperor on the downs between Dover and Canterbury; but to show him greater honour the king rode into Dover, and after together inspecting the English fleet, which was duly admired by the emperor and his train, the two monarchs made a triumphal progress through Canterbury, Sittingbourne, and Rochester to Gravesend. From Gravesend the splendid processions rowed in royal barges to Greenwich.

At the entrance door of the palace Queen Katharine stood awaiting her nephew, surrounded by her ladies, and holding little Princess Mary by the hand. The emperor, kneeling on one knee, then asked for his aunt's blessing, which was readily granted, and from henceforward for six weeks his visit to England was a continual round of feasting, dancing, hunting, masquerading, and splendid entertainments.

But amidst all this hospitality his thoughts were mainly fixed on Spain, and as he wrote to Margaret, 'the six weeks seemed a thousand years.'

Whilst Charles was at Greenwich a messenger arrived from France bearing a letter to King Henry, in which Francis I. bade defiance to the King of England. The letter was handed to the emperor for his perusal, who must have rejoiced at its contents, for now he and his uncle could join forces against their common enemy France; and soon after an eternal friendship was solemnly sworn between them upon the Sacrament in Saint George's Chapel, Windsor, and an abiding alliance in peace and war cemented by Charles's betrothal to his cousin Mary Tudor. Glittering pageants in London and Windsor, where Charles was made a Knight of the Garter under his uncle's presidency, brought his visit to a close, and on July the 6th the emperor set sail once more for the port of Santander.[82]

[82] Martin Hume, _Wives of Henry VIII._, and _Rutland Papers, The Somers Tracts_ (Camden Society).

A few weeks later an Anglo-Belgian army, under Florent d'Ysselstein, Count of Buren, invaded Picardy, whilst the Earl of Surrey's fleet hovered off the Norman coast, and threatened all French shipping in the Channel.

Margaret meanwhile was busily employed in harrowing the Duke of Gueldres, whose troops appeared before Leyden, and pillaged the village of La Haye. The States of Friesland upheld the regent in her endeavours, but it was not until June the 4th, 1524, that a truce was concluded with Gueldres, and peace restored.

Whilst Charles, Henry, and Francis were thus employed wasting each other's strength, the Turkish sultan, Solyman the Magnificent, invaded Hungary with a large army, and took Belgrade. Encouraged by this success, he besieged the Island of Rhodes, then the seat of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem. The Grand Master of Villers de L'Isle Adam sent imploring messages to the powers of Europe begging for a.s.sistance. Adrian VI. did his utmost to persuade Charles and Francis to forget their quarrels and join forces in saving Rhodes, then the chief bulwark of Christianity in the East. On March the 3rd, 1523, he wrote to Charles exhorting him and all Christian princes to make peace with one another, and wage a common war against the Turks.

He complains that 'so far all his exhortations have been fruitless, and the Turks have conquered Belgrade on one side, and it is said they have taken Rhodes on the other. There is no doubt that the Turks will continue their conquests in Hungary (where the emperor's sister Mary is queen), as well as in the Mediterranean, till they have rendered themselves masters of the whole of Europe. This danger can only be averted by a reconciliation of all Christian princes....' The Pope ends by saying that he has written in the same sense to the Kings of France and England.[83]

[83] _Calendar of Spanish State Papers_, vol. ii.

But the rival princes turned a deaf ear to all these entreaties, and after six months of incredible courage, patience, and bravery on the part of the garrison, the gallant little band of knights were forced to capitulate, and the town was razed to the ground. When too late, Charles, Henry, and Francis, ashamed of their conduct, tried to lay the blame of this misfortune on each other, and Charles, by way of reparation, gave the Knights of Saint John the Island of Malta, which from henceforth became the chief home of their order.

The year 1523 was marked by the revolt and conspiracy of the Constable of Bourbon, a powerful and accomplished French n.o.bleman descended from the Montpensier branch of the Bourbon family, who through his marriage with Suzanne, daughter and heiress of the Duke of Bourbon, had acquired the wealth and honours of that powerful house. Francis I. on his accession had made him Constable of France, and treated him with every mark of favour.

When the king left Italy in 1516, Bourbon remained behind as lieutenant-general of the French forces, and greatly distinguished himself by his military talents and valour; but soon after his return to France he fell into disfavour, and from henceforth became the victim of a vindictive persecution. The cause of this sudden change is generally attributed to a pa.s.sionate attachment on the part of Louise of Savoy, the king's mother, who, on his wife Suzanne's death in 1521, offered her hand to Bourbon; but the Constable declining the honour, the humiliated queen, in revenge, disputed Suzanne's will, herself claiming the succession to the Bourbon estates as next of kin. In this she was aided and abetted by the Chancellor Du Prat, and soon persuaded the king to withhold Bourbon's appointments, and disallow his just claims for money he had furnished during the war in Italy.

The Constable at first bore these indignities with great moderation, but when in presence of the whole army the king pa.s.sed him over, and gave the command of the van to the Duke of Alencon, the injured Constable retired from the Court, and began a secret correspondence with Charles's Ministers, offering his services to the emperor.

The campaign arranged between Henry VIII. and his nephew for the simultaneous invasion of France had not proved successful, but led to a more formidable attempt in the following year. Charles therefore welcomed the proposed advent of so powerful a partisan as Bourbon, from whose revolt he expected great advantages, and warmly received his secret overtures. It was proposed that the emperor should enter France by the Pyrenees, whilst Henry VIII., in co-operation with Margaret, should invade Picardy, and Bourbon with twelve hundred Germans penetrate into Germany. A lengthy despatch sent to Charles from London, on June the 1st, 1523, by De Praet, his amba.s.sador, and Marnix, Margaret's treasurer (both accredited at the English Court), gives a full account of a negotiation with Wolsey on the conditions of the above confederacy, and shows what a large part Margaret played in the arrangements. In the latter part of the despatch mention is made of the King and Queen of Denmark's visit to the Netherlands, where they fled to take refuge from the troubles which threatened them in Denmark.

'... Sire! By our last letters your Majesty has been able to see and understand the offers we have made to the King of England and the Sieur Legate (Wolsey) through the intervention of madame, your Majesty's aunt, in reference to the co-operation and a.s.sistance of the army which the said king would send across the sea against the common enemy of your Majesty and himself.

'... Sire! They could nowise be satisfied with the number we have to offer for the said co-operation, but persisted in pressing for three thousand horse and five thousand foot with the half of the artillery munition and equipage, requiring us to write immediately to the said lady, which we have done, and have, moreover, received her answer.

She, having communicated with M. de Beuren, your Majesty's captain-general, and acting on his advice, declares that it is quite impossible to augment the number she had already offered, to wit, two thousand good horse, and four thousand foot, with twelve pieces of field-artillery; but if they would pa.s.s the sea, we should be ready to give all the a.s.sistance in our power; and were the enemy to offer battle or commence a siege, there would be a force always ready of ten or twelve thousand Flemish foot to come to their a.s.sistance....' The despatch goes on to say that after several days spent in discussions, during which time Wolsey pressed for more troops from the Netherlands, and lost his temper, nothing definite was settled. 'Although I, Marnix, have... pressed for permission to return, the Sieur Legate has nevertheless wished and requested that I should be present and concerned in these proceedings, with me De Praet, in order to make a report of them to madame.

'Sire! The said madame (Margaret) has written to inform us how the King of Denmark,[84] who, with the queen and his children, is, as we have already made known to your Majesty, in your Low Countries, has demanded of her three things. One that she should be willing to render sufficient aid and a.s.sistance to enable him to reconquer his kingdom; a second, that she should grant a pa.s.sport to one of his people whom he intends to despatch to your Majesty, and by him should write to you in his favour; the third, that you should write to monseigneur, your Majesty's brother, and the electoral princes, that right and justice may be rendered to him in his quarrels and contentions against his uncle the Duke of Holstein, who, with the aid of the city of Lubeck, has occasioned his expulsion. To these demands, in as much as regards the two latter, madame has signified her willing acquiescence; but, in respect to the first, she begs to be excused, on account of the impossibility of acceding to it; and refers all to the good pleasure of your Majesty....'[85]

[84] Christian II., King of Denmark, who had married Charles's sister Isabella in August 1515, was hated by his subjects, who combined with the city of Lubeck and the Hansa League to drive him from his kingdom. He then took refuge in the Netherlands with his wife and three children.

[85] W. Bradford, _Correspondence of the Emperor Charles V._

In a postscript of the same despatch De Praet says, referring to Bourbon's intended revolt: 'In truth, Sire, this affair, I know not why, has not long remained a secret, and in a short time cannot fail to be publicly known. Even at this Court there are to my knowledge more than ten people now acquainted with it. The day before yesterday, when the cardinal and I met concerning the present war, he immediately began to talk of the coming over of Bourbon, and related the whole transaction from beginning to end, and this in the presence of the Duke of Suffolk, Messieurs Talbot and Wingfield, three bishops, and the treasurer Marnix. M. de Badajoz and I knew it ever since the past month of January, but we obstinately denied it before the King of England and the cardinal, until your Majesty orders us to be candid on the subject.'[86]

[86] _Ibid._

The emperor sent Adrian de Croy, Lord of Beaurain, to treat secretly with the Duke of Bourbon, and on the 22nd of July he writes: 'Sire! I came into communication with M. de Bourbon the 3rd day of July at Monbrison, which is three days' journey within the French territory, and there treated with him.

'Monsieur de Bourbon is ready to declare himself the enemy of France.... I have despatched... my secretary to the King of England to apprise him of all I have thought necessary, urging him to hasten his army according to the advice of M. de Bourbon; and I have advertised madame (Margaret) that if she should hear of what has pa.s.sed, respecting the said duke from any other quarter, to be cautious, lest any difficulty should be thrown in the way.

'M. de Bourbon has made friends with many rich people who are ready to come forward with several thousand crowns for the payment of his debts, at which I rejoice, for he is a fine fellow....

'I have treated with him according to the secret articles with which you were pleased to charge me. He will take in marriage either Madame Eleanor or Madame Katharine,[87] but would greatly prefer the former.

'M. de Bourbon will stir up a fine commotion in France.

ADRIAN DE CROY'

[87] The emperor's sisters; Eleanor, Queen of Portugal, was now a widow, whilst Katharine was still unmarried--but neither of these ladies was destined to become Bourbon's wife.

On the 9th of August 1523 Louis de Praet also wrote to Charles that 'the Duke of Bourbon declares himself ready to serve him (the emperor) against all and every person, whoever he may be, and to enter into his offensive and defensive league...' but in return 'the duke expects that he (the emperor) will give him his sister (Eleanor, Queen of Portugal) in marriage, or if the queen refuses to be his wife, Madame Katharine. The dower of Madame Eleanor or Madame Katharine to consist of 200,000 ecus, while the duke promises to give his future wife a jointure of 15,000 ecus a year....'

'The Duke of Bourbon also expects that the emperor will give him the command of ten thousand German troops, and 100,000 ecus wherewith to pay the German as well as the other troops... and that the King of England will contribute 100,000 ecus for the maintenance of the German and other troops of the duke....'[88]

[88] _Calendar of Spanish State Papers_, vol. ii. Printed from a copy preserved in the Archives Generales du Royaume in Brussels by M. le Glay.

Soon after Bourbon made good his escape and reached Italy in safety, although Francis, whose suspicions were aroused too late, tried to arrest him.

On hearing of his safe arrival the emperor, writing from Logrono, hastened to send him a warm welcome. 'My brother, on the 16th of September Gracian arrived and gave me news of you, which afforded me the greatest satisfaction.... Anxious as I am for your safety, you may rest a.s.sured there is nothing which the King of England, my good father, and I, as well as all our friends and allies, will not be ready to do for your succour and a.s.sistance; and that, faithful to my promise, you will ever find me a true prince, your good brother, cousin, and friend, who, come what may of good or evil fortune, will never abandon your interest, as I am sure you will never cease to feel and do the like for me....

'I pray you, my brother, if it be possible, that you will speedily unite yourself and yours with my army, at least with that part of it which is in Italy, as I have communicated my desire to them that this junction be accomplished, when and where the occasion may offer....'

At the same time the emperor wrote to Margaret, and, after referring to the difficulties of communication with Bourbon, and lamenting that Francis had seized several of the duke's friends and adherents, he asks her to write to Henry VIII. and request him to order the Duke of Suffolk (then commanding the English troops in Picardy) to detain every prisoner of rank and not allow them to be ransomed. This was no doubt by way of reprisals, but when the English army under Suffolk was within eleven leagues of Paris, it was driven back by Vendome and his troops, and a severe sickness breaking out amongst the soldiers, this unsuccessful campaign was brought to a close. Thus the intended great invasion of France by the allies dwindled from various causes into three separate and unavailing attacks from Spain, Germany, and England.

On the 14th of September 1523 Adrian VI. died in Rome after a short illness, and was buried in the church of Santa Maria dell'Anima. His death again raised Wolsey's hopes of the Papacy. Although Margaret sincerely mourned the loss of her old friend, still she lost no time in doing her utmost to procure the English cardinal's election. De Praet, writing from London to the emperor on the 6th of October, says: 'Moreover, Sire, I have to inform your Majesty that I have received letters from madame (Margaret), dated the 25th of last month, containing the afflicting news of the decease of the Holy Father, which took place on the 14th of the said month, commanding me on this account to repair without delay to the said cardinal (Wolsey) to give him as it may so happen the first intelligence of this event, and to offer him on her part all the favour and a.s.sistance in her power towards his promotion to this dignity. This I lost no time in doing according to her order, as well on the part of your Majesty as on hers; to which he made the most grateful and suitable reply, expressing his profound thanks to madame for such demonstrations of her goodwill in offering her services for his advancement to a dignity of which he felt himself utterly unworthy.

'Nevertheless, in acknowledging her gracious intentions, he could not but bear in mind in what manner your Majesty, when with the king at Windsor, had touched upon this subject, exhorting him to think of it, and promising every possible aid on your part in bringing about its accomplishment.

'He expressed the willingness of one who was always ready to conform with the wishes and advice of both your Majesties, begging that madame, in case such a promotion and election should appear to her as tending to the benefit of Christendom, and to the common interests of your Majesties, would write without a moment's delay to your amba.s.sador in Rome, and to other of your good friends there....'[89]

[89] W. Bradford.