The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria Part 17

Among other causes, it has chiefly arisen, as is pretended, out of the truce made in your country, as well as from the correspondence which has pa.s.sed, and your frequent declarations, that as far as your interest was concerned, you had abandoned all thoughts of war. Concerning this matter I gave a sufficient explanation, and satisfied his said Majesty, as I hope thereupon....'[112]

[110] E. Armstrong.

[111] Nicolas de Perrenot, known as the Sieur de Granvelle.

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

At last, on the 14th of January 1526, the Treaty of Madrid was signed between Charles V. and Francis I., and the emperor at once wrote to Margaret to inform her of the joyful news, enclosing a summary of the treaty. In return for his freedom the French king agreed to give up the much-coveted duchy of Burgundy and the counties of Charolais and Hesdin, to allow the sovereignty of Flanders and other countries of the emperor within France. To renounce all claim to Naples, Milan, Genoa, and Asti, as well as to Tournay and Arras. To reinstate the Duke of Bourbon in all his property; and set at liberty the Prince of Orange without any ransom. It was agreed that all prisoners on both sides should be liberated; and that the Duke of Gueldres should be allowed to retain his t.i.tle during his lifetime, on condition that at his death his duchy should pa.s.s to the emperor.

The king's marriage with Queen Eleanor of Portugal was to take place as soon as possible, the queen bringing 200,000 crowns in gold as her dower, besides the counties of Macon, Auxerre, and Bar-sur-Seine, which were to be settled on her and her heirs. It was especially stipulated that if the king should be unable to restore Burgundy or carry out other parts of the treaty, he should again return to captivity, leaving the Dauphin and his second son as hostages.[113]

[113] _Calendar of Spanish State Papers_, vol. iii.

The emperor also wrote to Margaret on the 15th January asking her to convoke the States-General for the 22nd of May, to inform them of the peace that had just been concluded.

But Francis had no intention of keeping the promises which had been wrung from him under compulsion, and he secretly resolved to break faith with the emperor as soon as he regained his liberty.

A few days after the Treaty of Madrid had been signed Margaret had the sorrow of losing her niece, Isabel, the young Queen of Denmark, who died near Ghent on the 19th of January, at the age of twenty-five, and was buried in that city. Her life with Christian II. had not been a happy one, and it was said that she died of a broken heart. Her three children, John, Dorothea, and Christina,[114] she left to her aunt Margaret's care, 'whom she had always called her mother.' Margaret n.o.bly fulfilled this trust, and tenderly watched over the children until her death. She appointed the learned Cornelius Agrippa, then residing at her Court, as tutor to Prince John, who at the time of his mother's death was only eight years old. In a letter to Ferdinand Charles thus mentions their sister's death: 'I am very sorry for the death of our sister the Queen of Denmark, and have taken care that prayers should be said for the repose of her soul. I would willingly recommend to you her children our nephews, who are at present in the hands of our dear aunt in Flanders.'

[114] Christina married first Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, and secondly the Duke of Lorraine. Her beautiful portrait by Holbein, lent by the Duke of Norfolk, hangs in the National Gallery. Her elder sister, Dorothea, married Frederick, Count Palatine. The portraits of Isabel's three children in one picture by Mabuse are at Hampton Court Palace.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE CHILDREN OF CHRISTIAN II AND ISABEL OF DENMARK IN MOURNING DRESS FOR THEIR MOTHER FROM THE PAINTING BY MABUSE AT HAMPTON COURT PALACE]

On Ash-Wednesday, the 14th of February, Charles de Lannoy wrote to Margaret from Madrid to inform her that the emperor had arrived the day before, and King Francis had gone outside the city to meet him.

After supper they had spent two hours talking together, and seemed well pleased with each other. The king had begged permission to see Queen Eleanor, which was granted, with the a.s.surance that as soon as he set foot in Provence she should be delivered over to him.

Lannoy goes on to say that he has been ordered to attend the king on his way to France.

On February the 26th the Abbot of Najera mentions in a long letter to the emperor that peace had been proclaimed in Milan on St. Matthew's Day, the 24th of February, which was looked upon as a good omen as it was the emperor's birthday as well as the anniversary of the victory of Pavia. But a little later John Jonglet wrote to Margaret from London that 'it was publicly a.s.serted that the King of France would not keep his treaty with the emperor, as the States-General of his kingdom would never sanction the dismemberment of his crown.'[115]

[115] _Calendar of Spanish State Papers_, vol. iii

Charles himself seems to have suspected that Francis might play him false, for, on the 19th of February, he had written to De Praet that ... 'as the said Seigneur King (Francis) is bound to deliver up to us certain hostages, as you will see by this treaty, we desire that you will well and carefully inform yourself who the said hostages are to be, whether the king's two eldest sons, or Monseigneur the Dauphin, and twelve of the princ.i.p.al n.o.bility... that you take especial notice of, and be regardful of the persons of the three children of France, that you make yourself thoroughly acquainted with the visage, physiognomy, size, and person of each, that when it comes to the delivering of them over... there may be no trickery in subst.i.tuting one person for another, and that you may be able of a certainty to recognise them as the identical persons whom we ought to have. Our Viceroy of Naples is to take the charge of the said delivery and acceptation, and as you are aware he can have no particular knowledge himself of the said children, it is a matter of necessity that you should be well acquainted with all these particulars....' In another letter to De Praet he says: 'On Shrove-Tuesday we reached Madrid, where we had the satisfaction of finding ourselves with the Sieur King, reciprocally exchanging such sentiments and good offices as two attached friends and brothers entertain and exercise together....

'We remained at Madrid Tuesday evening, Wednesday, and Thursday, and on the following day departed thence with the said king our brother, and slept four leagues from Madrid, in order to reach Illescas, two leagues further, on Sat.u.r.day. At Illescas we shall find the queen our sister (Eleanor). Here they will meet and see each other, and speak together; and then the king will return to Madrid, and we shall continue his companion in the evening. The next day he will begin his journey direct for Bayonne accompanied by our said viceroy. Soon afterwards our sister the queen will also set off for the same, attended by our Constable of Castile. And as to ourselves, we intend to take the road towards Seville, where we shall find our empress, and where our marriage is to take place.'[116]

[116] W. Bradford.

On the 16th of February Charles wrote to Louise of Savoy:--

'Madame, my good Mother,--Since I have given back a good brother to the king your son, and am offering you the queen my sister for a daughter, it appears to me that, in order not to present you one son only, I should resume the name which I used formerly to give you, and should again address you as my good mother; and seeing that I do so consider you, I pray you to act as such towards the said queen my sister, as well as towards myself. I came to this town of Madrid to see the king your son ... and I was sorry not to have been able to do so sooner, but I am greatly rejoiced at finding both his health and his affections in so different a state from what they were when I last saw him. The love and friendship which he professes to bear towards me have given me no small satisfaction, and I nowise doubt the sincerity of these good feelings, which I hope you will a.s.sist in confirming, as you have promised me by your letters that you would do. On my part I a.s.sure you that the love and friendship I bear towards him are most sincere, and that I am fully prepared to accomplish everything I have promised.

'You request in your said letter that the king... should take the queen, his wife, my sister, with him. As soon as the king ... has ratified and sworn to the treaties, and that all things are concluded between him and me, she shall be given up at Bayonne according to your desire. This shall be done by my Viceroy of Naples after he has liberated the king... and has received the hostages that are to be given.

'And now, madam, that he may no longer distress you by his bad writing, he who looks upon you as his good mother will conclude by recommending himself with all his heart to your kindness, and will sign himself,--Your good son,

CHARLES[117]

'To Madame the Regent of France, my good mother.'

[117] W. Bradford.

From the emperor's Itinerary we learn that Queen Eleanor left off her mourning on being affianced to the King of France. On her arrival at Talavera she was met by the emperor and the Duke of Bourbon. On the 20th of February the emperor and the King of France went together to Illescas, where they paid a visit to the Queen Eleonora and Queen Germaine de Foix, accompanied by the Countess of Na.s.sau and other ladies, who received them on the stairs. They then went into a saloon, where the four sat down under a canopy, and were engaged in conversation, whilst the ladies of the Court amused themselves by dancing.... On the 23rd of February the emperor took leave of his sister, the Queen of France, who remained at Illescas, and pursued his journey towards Seville, where the Princess Isabella of Portugal, his affianced bride, was to meet him on the 9th of March. He made his entry into Seville on that day, and on the 10th his marriage was celebrated with much pomp. At the magnificent festivities which followed, it is recorded that M. de la Chaux opened the ball.[118]

[118] W. Bradford.

In a letter to his brother Ferdinand, Charles thus briefly refers to his wedding: 'I have now entered upon the estate of marriage, which pleases me well.' And yet this marriage, begun under such unromantic conditions, turned out very happily, for Isabella was a capable princess, who, besides her beauty and clear complexion, had a good heart and sound judgment, and Charles, we are told, 'lived in perfect harmony with her, and treated her on all occasions with much distinction and regard.'

Guillaume des Barres, one of Margaret's secretaries, sent his mistress the following description of the bride: 'I would give much that you could see her, for if you have been told of her many beauties, virtues, and goodness, you would find still more, and you should see how happy they are together.'[119] On April 26th, 1526, Margaret sent an emba.s.sy to Spain to congratulate Charles on his marriage, and present her good wishes to the empress, to whom she wrote, 'that she wished that things could be so arranged that she could come and visit the countries over here (Flanders), which are so beautiful and adorned with such fine towns....'[120] Amongst other things her amba.s.sador was ordered to tell the emperor 'that the archd.u.c.h.ess had the greatest pleasure in trying to extirpate the sect of the Lutherans,' and on his own account he added that his mistress lived so simply and economically that there was no chancellor of a province, nor sub-governor or lieutenant in the country, who lived as simply as she did.[121]

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

[120] _Ibid._

[121] _Ibid._

Meanwhile, on the 17th of March, King Francis had been set at liberty.

Charles in a letter to his brother says: 'The King of France was restored to his kingdom on the 17th of this month (February), on my receiving the Dauphin and Duke of Orleans as hostages, whom I have desired to be taken to Burgos; and the said King of France promises to accomplish all that he has engaged in by the treaty of peace....'

Guicciardini gives the following interesting account of the exchange of prisoners at Fuenterrabia: 'By this time the French king was come to Fuenterrabia, a town appertaining to the emperor, standing near the Ocean Sea upon the frontiers of Biscay and the duchy of Guyenne; and on the other side the Lady Regent was arrived with the children of France at Bayonne, which is not far from Fuenterrabia.... Then the 18th day of March, the French king, accompanied by the viceroy, Captain Alarcon, with fifty horse, came to the sh.o.r.e of the river that divideth the realm of France from the kingdom of Spain; at the same time M. de Lautrech, with the king's children, and the like number of horse, presenting themselves on the other side. There was in the midst of the river a great barque made fast with anchors, in which was no person. The king approached to this barque in a little boat, wherein he was accompanied by the viceroy, etc.... all armed with short weapons, and on the other side of the barque were likewise brought in a little boat, M. de Lautrech, with the hostages... after this the viceroy went into the barque... and the king with him.... M. de Lautrech fetched out of the boat into the barque the Dauphin, who being given to the viceroy... was forthwith bestowed in his boat, and after him followed the little Duke of Orleans, who was no sooner entered the barque than the French king leaped out of the barque into his boat with such swiftness that his permutation was thought to be done at one self instant, and then the king being brought to the sh.o.r.e, mounted suddenly (as though he had feared some ambush) upon a Turkish horse of a wonderful swiftness, which was prepared for the purpose, and ran without stay to St. John de Luz, a town of his obedience, four leagues from thence; and being there readily relieved with a fresh horse, he ran with the same swiftness to Bayonne, where he was received with incredible joy of all the Court.'[122]

[122] Published in 1618. Mentioned by W. Bradford in his _Correspondence of the Emperor Charles V._

In a despatch to the emperor, written on March 23rd, Ochoa de Ysasaga announced that 'The day that the King of France was released from his captivity he leaped from the boat, with water up to his knees, mounted a horse that had been prepared for him, and rode without stopping to St. Jean de Luz, where he dined, and was visited by the flower of the French n.o.bility, who came to congratulate him.[123]

[123] _Calendar of Spanish State Papers_, vol. iii.

And thus Charles let slip his chance, and omitted to reap the fruitful August, which Lannoy, in announcing the victory of Pavia, had declared comes to a man once and once only in his life.

CHAPTER XIII

THE LADIES' PEACE

The eventful year 1526 was not to close without further troubles for the House of Austria. The Sultan Solyman, taking advantage of the war in Italy and the consequent absorption of the princ.i.p.al rulers of Europe, had pushed his conquests in the east until his vast hosts encamped before the walls of Vienna. Louis II., King of Hungary, who had married Margaret's niece Mary, seeing his kingdom thus invaded by the Turks, sent urgent appeals for help to all Christian princes. But either the neighbouring powers were too much occupied with their own affairs, or they did not realise the actual danger, for they returned cold and indifferent answers, and even the emperor delayed sending aid to his brother-in-law until too late. On the 29th of August a decisive battle was fought on the plains of Mohacs between the Hungarian army and the troops of Solyman, and ended in the utter defeat of King Louis, who before the day was over lost his crown and his life. Two months after, his body and that of his horse was found sunk in a bog, into which he had ridden during the retreat. His next heir was his sister Anne, who had married Margaret's nephew, the Archduke Ferdinand. And it was in right of his wife that a few months later Ferdinand was elected to the thrones of Bohemia and Hungary.

An interesting correspondence between Margaret and her nephew Ferdinand gives full details of these stirring events. On the 18th of September Ferdinand wrote to Margaret from Lintz:--'Madame, my good Aunt,--The news has just reached me that the Turk with two hundred thousand men met the King of Hungary, my late brother-in-law, about twenty miles from Buda, where he was with forty thousand men to defend his country. On the 29th of August last he gave battle, which (battle) was won by the Turk, and all the late king's large quant.i.ty of artillery was destroyed and he himself slain, some say whilst fighting, others, that seeing the said battle was lost, he retreated, and thinking to escape, entered a mora.s.s, where he remained, which seems most probable. Thus, madame, you can imagine how perplexed I am to be deprived of money and help against such a formidable power as the said Turk.... To-day news has reached me that the said Turk has taken the town of Buda and that he has despatched two of his princ.i.p.al captains, each with a good number of men, one to invade my country of Austria... and the other to do the same in Styria, which they have already begun to do, and have gone within fifteen or sixteen miles of Vienna. And you ought, madame, as a good lady and experienced princess, to help the emperor, my lord and brother, to make peace with our common enemies to his greater honour and safety, as soon as possible... and diligently make every effort to repulse this cursed Turk, which I very humbly beg you to do, for if his Majesty does not quickly find a remedy, not only I, our House of Austria, and all Germany will fall into complete ruin and desolation, but also the whole of Christianity....

'As to the affairs in Italy, they are, madame, also in a very bad way, owing to the enemies' great power and our insufficient number of men.... I have sent Messire George de Fronsberg... to Augsbourg with the best jewels and rings that I have... for, madame, I neither have or know of other means to raise money to send help... so you can imagine to what poverty I am reduced.... And at present I do not know of anything else worthy to write to you about, excepting to beg you, madame, very humbly to send some help and succour if you can... for I am so much in need of money, without which I can do nothing, because of the great expenses I have had since I came to Germany.... And it may be that for lack of help and succour you may soon have the same news of me as of the late King of Hungary. And as to the queen, my sister, she is about ten miles from Vienna, very unhappy and desolate, as you may imagine. I have sent for her consolation and also for her safety some good people and some infantry.... I will inform you of anything more that occurs....' Then follows a postscript in Ferdinand's handwriting: 'Madame, je vous suplie vouloir tenir la main a la pais; car vous voyes bien que c'est plus que besoin.'[124]

[124] _Archives de Bruxelles._

Margaret replied: 'My good Nephew,--I have received your two letters, one of the 18th and the other of the 23rd September, and by them have heard of the sad and pitiable news of the death of the King of Hungary, the loss of the kingdom, and the state of the poor queen, your sister, my good niece, and above all, the danger which you, your country and subjects are in. I do not know how to express to you the regret and sorrow that I feel, and you can believe that it is not less than if the misfortune had befallen me, and that I was in the position of the queen, your worthy sister, or yourself. In any case it becomes us to conform in all things to the will of G.o.d, our Creator, the refuge and consoler of the desolate, who never forsakes or abandons those who pray to Him with their whole heart....