The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria Part 19

The princesses were then conducted with much pomp to their lodgings, and money was thrown broadcast amongst the people, whilst wine flowed freely from fountains in the streets, and the whole town gave itself up to merriment and rejoicing.[139] A beautiful carved wooden mantelpiece was also erected in the council-chamber of the Hotel of the Liberty at Bruges to commemorate the capture of Francis I. at Pavia, and the consequent treaty of peace between the nations at Cambray. In the centre the statue of Charles V. stands in complete armour, surrounded by twenty-seven shields of various kingdoms with which he was allied. On his right are his paternal grandparents, Maximilian I. and Mary of Burgundy, whilst on his left are his maternal ancestors, Ferdinand and Isabella. This beautiful wooden trophy was the work of Hermann Glosencamp, Andreas Rasch, and Roger de Smet, after a design and under the direction of Lancelot Blondel of Bruges and Guyot de Beaugrant of Malines.[140]

[139] A medal was struck in honour of the peace, having on one side three 'marguerites,' and on the other two hands joined, surmounted by a caducus, with this inscription: '_Pacis ego studiosa, quater bella horrida pressi._'

[140] This mantelpiece, in perfect preservation, is in the Palais de Justice, Bruges.

[Ill.u.s.tration: CARVED WOODEN MANTLEPIECE IN THE PALAIS DE JUSTICE, BRUGES, TO COMMEMORATE THE PEACE OF CAMBRAY]

Clemont Marot and Jean Second also celebrated 'the Ladies' Peace' in verse, though their poems are not of a very high order.

Francis I. awaited the issue of the Congress at the abbey of Mont Saint Martin, and on hearing of the conclusion of peace he set out on the 9th of August to pay Margaret a visit at Cambray, and was present at the festivities given by his mother at the Hotel Saint Paul.

Margaret was anxious to conciliate Francis, who was so soon to become the husband of her niece Eleanor, and during the days they all spent together at Cambray she succeeded in making great friends with him; and Ma.s.se, who was an eye-witness, tells us that he left on the 20th for Paris 'quite delighted' with his visit.

A few weeks later we find him writing pathetic letters to Margaret begging her to use her influence with the emperor that his sons (who were kept in Spain until their ransom was paid) might be better treated, for he heard through his officer, Bodin, that they were not as happy as he could wish. Margaret was touched at this mark of the king's confidence, and wrote a long letter to the emperor, begging him to grant Francis's request, for 'Monseigneur, G.o.d has given you the blessing of beautiful children, so that you may better feel what a father's love is worth, and can sympathise with the sorrow of the said king; wherefore I beg of you to... grant his request, which is so just and reasonable....--Your very humble aunt, MARGARET.'

Shortly after, the long-delayed marriage between Francis and Eleanor was consummated, the king receiving his sons from the hands of his bride at Bayonne, where he met them at the frontier. The Marshal of Montmorency, who accompanied King Francis, thus writes to Margaret from St. Jean de Luz:--'Madame, I found the queen, whom I have been to see the last few days since her arrival at the frontier, so wise, beautiful, and honest a lady, who conversed with me in as kind and pleasant a manner as possible... and we ought again to thank G.o.d for having given us so good and virtuous a lady, of whom it seems to me that I cannot express to you a third part of the good and _honestete_ that I found in her.'

Margaret also received constant news from England concerning the progress of Queen Katharine's affairs. In September 1529 Eustace Chapuys had written to her from London telling her of an audience he had had with King Henry, and later with Queen Katharine. The conference with the king, he said, would have been much longer and more to the purpose had not his Majesty been in a hurry to go to dinner in order to repair afterwards to the hunting-field... as he is in the habit of doing at this season of the year. As usual the conversation turned chiefly on the queen's business, the king treating the matter as one in which he was deeply concerned, and which he had much at heart, and trying to appear very learned in canon law. After dinner the king gave permission for Chapuys to be conducted to the queen's apartments in order that he might deliver the emperor's letter to her. During the interview her Majesty thanked him for all he had said in her favour. On the 27th of September Chapuys wrote another long despatch to Margaret giving lengthy details of a further audience with the king, in which the subject of the queen's divorce was once more fully discussed.[141]

[141] _Calendar of Spanish State Papers_, vol. iv.

Immediately after the ratification of the Treaty of Cambray Margaret and Louise entered into a negotiation to consolidate the peace by a double marriage between the emperor's children and those of King Francis. From Bologna, where he had gone for his double coronation, Charles sent Margaret the necessary powers to treat in his name. In this doc.u.ment, which is published amongst the State papers of the Cardinal of Granvelle, he says:--'Because of the very great, perfect, and entire confidence which we have in our said lady and aunt, as in ourselves, and in her experience and prudence, which was shown in the conducting, concluding, and perfecting of the said peace made at Cambray, we have by these presents const.i.tuted and made our aunt our general and special proxy, etc....'

But Margaret did not live long enough to carry out this interesting negotiation which would have worthily crowned her political career. As it was, the Peace of Cambray was her last great diplomatic triumph, but she lived just long enough to see her nephew Charles attain the zenith of his power, and receive the double crowns of Lombardy and the empire from the hands of the Pope, an honour for which her father, Maximilian, had sighed in vain.

CHAPTER XIV

THE MISSION ENDED

Before Charles left Spain for Italy he had concluded a separate treaty with the Pope at Barcelona, the terms of which were more advantageous to the Holy See than Clement VII. could have expected, considering the emperor's recent successes. But Charles was anxious to atone for the insults and outrages committed during the siege of Rome, and if possible win the Pope as an ally, and get him to oppose his aunt Katharine's divorce. Amongst other articles he promised to restore all property belonging to the ecclesiastical state, reestablish the Medici in Florence, and marry his natural daughter, Margaret, to the head of that powerful house; allow the Pope to decide the fate of the Sforza and the possession of the Milanese. In return Clement was to grant the emperor the invest.i.ture of Naples, absolve all who had been implicated in the plundering of Rome, and allow Charles and his brother to levy a fourth of the ecclesiastical revenues throughout their dominions.

On October the 2nd, 1529, Margaret wrote a long letter to the emperor from Brussels, in which she plainly expressed her opinion of the Treaty of Barcelona and its probable results:--'I do not pretend to say,' she says, 'that the alliance with the Pope is not a good and desirable thing; but your Majesty must bear in mind the character of his Holiness, his inconstant humour and fickle disposition; and that he must be greatly changed in temper and general condition if he does not try now, as he did last time, to expel you from Italy after he has got all he wants from you.... Respecting Milan, my opinion is that, considering the expense hitherto incurred, your Majesty ought by all means to endeavour to remain master of it by investing your son with it, and treating with Ma.s.similiano Sforza.... The king, your brother, in the meanwhile, must be fully provided with the means of defence, and money procured for him to carry on a good enterprise against the Turk....

'Your Majesty might attend to your own affairs in Italy, and everything being settled there, depart for Germany at the head of all your forces, leaving only in Italy those strictly required for the defence of Milan and Naples. This would naturally result in great honour and reputation to your army, which might be paid out of the money collected for the intended expedition, and then you could not only succour your brother, repulse the Turk, and perhaps also follow him up to his own dominions, but also increase our faith, which will be a far greater honour and merit than losing your precious time in the recovery of a few towns in Italy....'[142]

[142] _Calendar of Spanish State Papers._

At last the long-looked-for day came when Charles, after a triumphal progress through Italy, entered Bologna, on November the 5th, for his coronation, at the head of twenty thousand veteran soldiers, and, in token of his humility as an obedient son of the Church, kneeled down to kiss the feet of that very Pope whom he had but recently retained a prisoner. On St. Peter's Day, February the 22nd, 1530, he received the iron crown of Lombardy, and two days later (St. Matthew's Day), the thirtieth anniversary of his birth, he was crowned by Clement VII. this ceremony can have been no pleasant task. 'The Pope,' wrote the Bishop of Tarbes, 'tried to show the emperor the best cheer possible; but I think he never in his life performed a ceremony which touched him so near the heart, nor of which less good is likely to come to him. For several times, when he thought no one saw him, he heaved such sighs that, heavy as his cope was, he made it shake in good earnest.'[143] This memorable day in the annals of the House of Austria marked the summit of Margaret's ambitious hopes for the nephew she had mothered with such unceasing care. She had lived to see the children over whose welfare she had so tenderly watched grow up to fill some of the most brilliant positions in Europe. Charles was now a thrice-crowned king and emperor; Ferdinand, King of Hungary and Bohemia (and was shortly to be elected King of the Romans); whilst Eleanor had become first Queen of Portugal and then Queen of France; the short-lived Isabel, Queen of Denmark; Mary, Queen of Hungary; and Katharine, who succeeded her sister, Queen of Portugal.

[143] E. Armstrong.

Although only in her fiftieth year, Margaret began to look forward to the time when she could hand over the government of the Netherlands to her nephew Charles and spend the rest of her days in quiet seclusion.

For her life had been a very strenuous one, full of great responsibility and unceasing work, and now that she felt her mission accomplished, she longed for her nephew's advent and her own retirement from political life. Chiefly owing to her intervention, that peace which it had been her lifelong endeavour to promote, now reigned throughout Europe, and under her wise rule the Netherlands had reached the zenith of their prosperity. Art, industry, and commerce flourished in the Low Countries as they had never flourished before.

Encouraged by Margaret, a brilliant group of artists, poets, and literary men settled at her Court at Malines. Merchants from England, Spain, France, and Italy attended the great fairs, and traded in arms, embroideries, tapestries, velvets, satins, cloth, and leather goods.

Malines became noted for its various industries, and Brussels, Ypres, Liege, Ghent, Lille, and Tournay all rose rapidly into commercial centres. Architecture made enormous strides, and music, painting, and literature received a new birth.

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF COURTYARD IN MARGARET'S PALACE AT MALINES, NOW THE PALACE DE JUSTICE]

In her palace at Malines Margaret collected all that was rare and beautiful, and her rooms were veritable museums, as the inventory written under her direction shows. Priceless tapestries hung on the walls, some of which she had brought from Spain, whilst others were presented to her on various occasions. Many rich and valuable objects are mentioned in her catalogue: Statuettes, gold and silver caskets and mirrors, crystal, chalcedony and jasper goblets and vases, carved ivories, amber, corals, and curiously wrought chessmen, beautiful fans, medallions, clocks of rare workmanship which struck the hours and half-hours, magnificent plate, sometimes inlaid with precious stones, gla.s.s and pottery, suits of armour, ivory hunting horns, and various relics of the chase. Her private library contained many rare and valuable books, chiefly bound in velvet (crimson, green, black, and blue), with gold and silver clasps, besides illuminated ma.n.u.scripts, several bearing her devices in the borders and strewn with painted 'marguerites.' The 'Bibliotheque Royale' at Brussels possesses several ma.n.u.scripts from Margaret's collection. Amongst others, her 'Book of Hours'; four of her alb.u.ms; 'La Bible Historiale,' with portraits of her and Philip kneeling at their 'prie-dieu'; Her 'Alb.u.m Musical,' and her book of 'Ba.s.ses Danses' on black paper, with gold notes and letters, containing a set of dances fashionable in her day--'La Marguerite,' 'l'Esperance de Bourbon,'

'M'amour-m'amie,' 'Filles a marier,' 'Le joyeux de Bruxelles,' etc. A portrait of Margaret in water-colours is also in the library, and is probably by h.o.r.embout. When Margaret undertook the regency of the Netherlands in 1507, her father, Maximilian, gave her as a New Year's gift a beautifully illuminated _Livre de Chants_, in the frontispiece of which the United States are represented swearing fealty to her as regent. Maximilian is seated in the centre on a throne; in front of him sits his grandson Charles, with Margaret opposite; and the three young arch-d.u.c.h.esses, Eleanor, Mary, and Isabel, are grouped seated on the ground, whilst the representatives of the United States stand round, and with uplifted hands swear to uphold the regent's rule. This interesting book was one of Margaret's most prized possessions, and is now amongst the archives of Malines.

From the t.i.tles of the books in her library we learn how large and varied was her taste in reading: Froissart, the _Fables_ of aesop and of Ovid, several editions of Aristotle, Livy, the _Letters of Seneca_, and the _Commentaries of Julius Caesar_, Saint Augustine's _City of G.o.d_, of which she had four copies, and Boethius _On Consolation_.

Besides these, there were _The Golden Legend_, _The Round Table_, _Lancelot of the Lake_, _Merlin_, _The Story of Jason and the Golden Fleece_, etc. Also several books on chess, on the interpretation of dreams, on the nature of birds, and on manners and customs, such as the _Miroir du Monde_ and the _Miroir des Dames_; various works of Boccaccio, _Le Livre du Tresor_, and Phebus on hunting, etc. Besides many missals, breviaries, lives and legends of the Saints, 'Books of Hours,' and other religious works.

Jean Lemaire says: 'Madame Margaret not only read wise books, but she also took the pen in hand to write'... and fortunately many of her poems have been preserved. Through nearly all there runs a strain of sadness, of loneliness, and disappointed hope, for Margaret's life was very solitary in spite of her great position and many duties; every one came to her for help and sympathy, but there was no one on whom she could lean. Her verses are simple, graceful, and to the point, and may well bear comparison with those of her contemporaries. The following charming rondeau in her handwriting is a good example:--

'C'est pour james qu'un regret me demeure; Que sans sesser nuit et jour a tout eure Tant me tourmant que bien voudroi mourir; Car ma vie n'est fors seulement languir, Et s'y faudra a la fin que j'en meure.

De l'infortune estais bien seure Quan le regret maudit ou je demeure Me coury sus pour me faire mourir, Car ma vie n'est fors Seulement languir: Sy faudra que j'en meure.'[144]

[144] In the Bibliotheque Royale, Brussels.

Her poem, 'La complainte de dame Marguerite d'Autriche, fille de Maximilien, Roy des Romans,' is an interesting resume of her life and misfortunes, full of feeling charmingly expressed, but is too long to quote here.

In the following she gives advice to her maids of honour, and warns them not to trust to lovers' deceitful promises:--

'Fies-vous-y en vos servans Dehure en avant, mes demoiselles, Et vous vous trouveres de celles Que en out eu des decepvans.

Il sont, en leurs ditz, observans Motz plus doulx que doulces pucelles, Fies-vous-y.

En leurs cueurs il sont conservans, Pour decepvoir, maintes cautelles, Et puis qu'il ont leurs fa.s.sons telles, Tout ainsi comme abavantz Fies-vous-y.'

And again:--

'Belles paroles en paiement A ces mignons presumptieux Qui contrefont les amoureux Par beau samblant et aultrement.

Sans nul credo, mais promptement Donnes pour recompense a eulx Belles parolles.

Mot pour mot, c'est fait justement, Ung pour ung, aussi deulx pour deulx.

Se devis ils font gracieulx, Respondes gracieus.e.m.e.nt Belles parolles.'

Sometimes she expresses herself resigned to her lonely life:--

'Tout pour le mieux bien dire l'ose Vient maleur qui fault soubtenir, Si c'est pour a mieux parvenir L'endurer est bien peu de chose.

Mon cueur en franchise soy tenir Tout pour le mieux.

De ma part rien je ne propose; Viengne ce que pourra venir Car dire veulx et maintenir Que des emprinses Dieu dispose Tout pour le mieux.'

In the following verses she announces her intention to remain unmarried:--

'Tant que je vive, mon cueur ne changera Pour nul vivant, tant soit il bon ou saige Fort et puissant, riche, de hault lignaige, Mon chois est fait, aultre ne se fera.

'Il peut estre que l'on devisera, Mais je pour ce ne muera mon courage, Tant que je vive.'

These few fragments give an idea of Margaret's style, which was simple, clear, and well expressed, but throughout her rondeaux, songs, and ballads, there is an echo of sadness and disappointment. Many of her words and expressions are now out of date, but the charm of her personality still lingers in her poems with a mournful pathos none the less touching though written in a French of long ago:--