The First Governess of the Netherlands, Margaret of Austria Part 7

[33] Printed in _Correspondance de l'Empereur Maximilian_, by J.

le Glay.

On the 27th of October Maximilian again wrote to Margaret informing her that 'he has heard that she is preparing to go to the Congress of Cambray. As he is told that a great number of strangers are expected, he advises her to engage all the houses on one side of the town, and to leave the other half to the Cardinal of Amboise. She must,' he says, 'take the English amba.s.sadors to Cambray, especially Wingfield, and admit them to the deliberations. If an amba.s.sador from the King of Aragon come, she is to ask him whether he is provided with authority from the king, and if he is, to admit him.'

He tells her that 'his amba.s.sadors have not yet gone to England, because he has not had time to furnish them with instructions. He has now ordered them to set out immediately, and will send the instructions after them.' Breda, 27th October 1508.[34]

[34] _Correspondance de l'Empereur Maximilian_, by J. le Glay.

In November 1508 Edward Wingfield wrote to Margaret to inform her that 'Henry VII. has it much at heart that the affairs of the Emperor and the Prince, his son (Prince Charles, his grandson), should be settled to the greatest advantage in the approaching Congress of Cambray, and that their enemies should be entirely discomfited. As long as the alliance between the King of France and the King of Aragon continues, he says, it is to be feared that the princ.i.p.al enemy of the Emperor and Prince Charles will triumph. For if he be a.s.sisted by France, the King of Aragon will most probably be able, not only to keep the usurped government of Castile in his own hands, and the other dominions belonging to that kingdom, as long as he lives, but also to deprive the Prince of his right of succession. To prevent this, it seems to Henry that the best plan would be to exclude the King of Aragon from the treaties that are to be made at Cambray, and to sever the alliance existing between him and the King of France. The King of Aragon has usurped the government of Castile only by means of the help of the King of France. If he were to be isolated, he would be unable to preserve it, and the Emperor would have it in his power, aided by those who are inimical to the King of Aragon, to take the government of that kingdom into his own hands....'[35] Margaret also kept ostensibly on the most friendly terms with Louis XII., whose correspondence with her about this time shows that to him at least she concealed her hatred of France. In each of his letters he takes a pleasure in reminding her of their early friendship and of their childish games, in the days when she was 'la pet.i.te Reine' at Amboise.

[35] _Lettres de Louis XII._

It is evident that being on such excellent terms with the chief sovereigns in Europe gave Margaret some advantage where negotiations and treaties were concerned. In fact she intervened as arbitrator or negotiator in most of the political events of this time. Her experience and knowledge of different countries made her old for her years. 'Madame Margaret,' says Jean le Maire, 'has seen and experienced more at her youthful age... than any lady on record, however long her life.'

It is, therefore, not surprising that Margaret was deputed by Maximilian and Ferdinand to act as their representative at the forthcoming Congress. Hostilities had continued more actively than ever between the Duke of Gueldres and the provinces of the Netherlands. At last a truce of forty days was declared during which time Margaret went to Cambray to meet the Cardinal of Amboise, and to confer with him with a view to concluding a final peace. She arrived at Cambray in November 1508 with an escort of a hundred hors.e.m.e.n and a company of archers. Half the town was reserved for her and her suite; the other half had been placed at the disposal of the Cardinal of Amboise, who was acting on behalf of the Pope and Louis XII., and was accompanied by etienne de Poncher, Bishop of Paris, and Alberto Pio, Count of Carpi.

Margaret, invested with full powers by Maximilian, was escorted by Mathieu Lang, Bishop of Gurk, the emperor's confidant and secretary; Mercurin de Gattinare, President of the Burgundian Parliament; Jean Peters, President of the Council of Malines; Jean Gooselet, Abbot of Maroilles; and Jean Caulier, President of the Privy Council. She was also instructed to admit Jacques de Croy, Bishop of Cambray, and Edmund Wingfield, the English amba.s.sador, to the negotiations, as well as King Ferdinand's envoy, if he should send one.

The Sieur de Chievres (de Croy) and other members of the Burgundian Council accompanied the princess as far as Valenciennes, and remained there to receive daily reports of the proceedings at Cambray, and to give their help if necessary. Maximilian stayed at Malines to transact the business of the Netherlands during his daughter's absence. Du Bos, speaking of the part that Margaret played in the League of Cambray, says: 'This princess had a man's talent for managing business, in fact she was more capable than most men, for she added to her talents the fascination of her s.e.x; brought up as she had been to hide her own feelings, conciliate her opponents, and persuade all parties that she was acting blindly in their interests.'

Another contemporary writer says: 'This princess received the Cardinal with great honour, captivated him by her courteous, insinuating, and caressing manners, and was so successful in charming him, that he could refuse her nothing.'

Margaret and the Cardinal began by fixing the laws of the dependence of the princ.i.p.al provinces of the Netherlands with regard to France.

Louis XII. did not wish to cede what he called the rights of his crown, and Margaret would not yield any of the prerogatives obtained by the last Dukes of Burgundy. She and the Cardinal had many hot disputes, and several times were on the point of separating. Margaret argued until she often had a headache, and we are told they 'cuydoient se prendre au poil.' Finally they agreed to leave the most difficult questions until the archduke should come of age. It was decided that Charles Egmont should have (provisionally) the duchy of Gueldres and the county of Zutphen, but that he should restore three or four places which he had taken in Holland to Charles, who, on his part, should give up certain castles which he still held in the duchy of Gueldres; that things should remain thus until the respective commissioners nominated by the Emperor Maximilian and the King of England on one side, and by the Kings of France and Scotland on the other, had examined the rights of both sides and given their decision.

With regard to the second part of this treaty, which was to be kept secret until it was executed, no difficulty was raised. It was to share the spoils of the Venetians, and this sharing was done in advance.

Maximilian and Ferdinand agreed to postpone their differences concerning the regency of Castile until this division was successfully accomplished. At last, on December the 10th, 1508, the League of Cambray was signed by Margaret of Austria and the Cardinal of Amboise, 'pour faire cesser les dommages, injures, rapines, et maux que les Venitiens ont faits tant au Saint-Siege apostolique qu'au Saint Empire Romain, a la Maison d'Autriche, aux Ducs de Milan, aux Rois de Naples, etc.' Immediately after the treaty was signed, Margaret, the Cardinal, and King Ferdinand's amba.s.sador took a solemn oath in the cathedral of Cambray to observe the treaty which they had just concluded. 'This League was the result of a new political system which was beginning to prevail in Europe: a coalition was formed between powers having different interests against a single state whose ruin they desired.'

Besides the Emperor Maximilian and Louis XII., Ferdinand of Aragon and Pope Julius II. were included in the treaty and 'whoso else should claim that the Venetians were occupying any of his territory.' A pious preamble set forth the common desire of these princes to begin the crusade against the enemies of the name of Christ, and the obstacles that the Venetians offered to this holy purpose by ambitiously occupying cities that belonged to the Church; these obstacles the allies proposed to remove, in order afterwards to proceed unitedly to such a holy and necessary expedition. 'In the division of the spoils the Pope was to have Faenza, Rimini, Ravenna, and Cervia, which no doubt did belong to the Holy See, in the same way as the rest of Romagna might be said to belong to the Papal States; Maximilian was to have Padua, Vicenza, and Verona, as belonging to him in the name of the Empire, and Friuli and Treviso as pertaining to the House of Austria; the King of France, Cremona, the Ghiradadda, Brescia, Bergamo, and Crema; the King of Spain to have back Trani, Brindisi, Otranto, and the other ports on the Neapolitan coast which had been given in pledge to Venice for sums of money advanced to the late King Ferdinand II. of Naples. The Pope hesitated and temporised, although he had been the original instigator of the League. It was only after he had attempted to make terms on his own account that he ratified the League at the end of the year.'[36]

[36] Edmund Gardner, _The King of Court Poets_.

'It is therefore solely jealousy and cupidity which united so many hostile powers against a state that some had good reason to uphold and others no reason to fear.'[37]

[37] Bryce's _Holy Roman Empire_.

Margaret's joy at the success of this negotiation, so disastrous to the political interests of France and Italy, breaks forth in the letter she wrote to the King of Aragon's amba.s.sadors in England immediately after the treaty was signed. She informs them that 'she has concluded all the affairs she had to transact with the Cardinal of Amboise at Cambray to her satisfaction, and thanks the King of England, whose amba.s.sadors have a.s.sisted her. She has communicated the secret matter to the English amba.s.sadors, in order that they may inform their master of it.' Cambray, December 10th, 1508.[38]

[38] _Lettres de Louis XII._, vol. i.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MARGARET OF AUSTRIA IN WIDOW'S DRESS FROM THE PAINTING BY BERNHARD VAN ORLEY IN THE POSSESSION OF DR.

CARVALLO, PARIS]

The proceedings between the allies were kept so secret that the Venetian amba.s.sador, Antonio Condelmerio, who had followed the Cardinal of Amboise to Cambray, had no idea of the real facts, and even wrote to the republic that they could rely more than ever on Louis XII.'s friendship and support. At last the allies announced their intention of uniting to make war upon the Infidels, and tried to pick a quarrel with the Venetians by reproaching them with placing obstacles in the way of their carrying out this holy object, which, they said, obliged them to force the Venetians to restore what they had usurped, for the glory and good of Christianity. On April 16th, 1509, the French herald formally declared war to the Venetians, in terms which, as the Doge Leonardo Loredan remarked, were 'fitting rather to be used against Saracens and Turks, than made to a most Christian republic.' The French vanguard had already begun hostilities on the previous day. Pope Julius followed on the 22nd, and Louis XII.

crossed the Alps with a large army and arrived at Milan.

On the 14th of May 1509 the battle of Agnadel was fought, which broke the power of Venice and decided the fate of the war, victory being with the French. In writing to inform Margaret of the battle of Agnadel, Maximilian says: 'Our amba.s.sador, Adrian de Burgo, who was present at this victory, writes that he has seen quite four thousand dead. Through other letters from France we hear that there are from ten to twelve thousand men either dead or taken prisoners, and that our said brother and cousin (Louis XII.) has taken forty pieces of artillery. We also hear that the Venetians were twenty thousand strong, and the French force rather stronger.' So far the emperor had not taken an active part in the great struggle. The low state of his finances and the war with Gueldres had kept him in the Netherlands.

On March 31st the States met at Antwerp and had voted a subsidy of 500,000 crowns as a gift to Maximilian and the Archduke Charles in acknowledgment of the services rendered by the former in defence of the country and in concluding the Peace of Cambray. At the same time a sum of sixty thousand pounds was voted for the Archd.u.c.h.ess Margaret in recognition of the trouble she had taken in arranging the peace.

Meanwhile Louis XII. had seized Brescia and Bergamo almost without a struggle. The Venetian army retreated as far as Mestre, whilst the French advanced to Fusino. Maximilian at the head of a powerful force approached Venice from the other side. The Venetians, surrounded by enemies and left without a single ally, shut themselves up in their capital as their last refuge. This rapid success, however, proved fatal to the Confederacy. The memorable decree followed, by which Venice released her Continental provinces from their allegiance, authorising them to provide for their own safety. The allies, who had remained united during the struggle, now quarrelled over the division of the spoil. Old jealousies revived, and the Venetians, taking advantage of their opportunity, recovered part of the territory which they had lost, and appeased the Pope and Ferdinand by concessions in their favour, and at length dissolved the Confederacy which had brought their commonwealth to the brink of ruin.

Prescott says: 'The various negotiations carried on during this busy period, and the different combinations formed among powers. .h.i.therto little connected with each other, greatly increased the intercourse amongst the European nations; while the greatness of the objects at which different nations aimed, the distant expeditions which they undertook, as well as the length and obstinacy of the contest in which they engaged, obliged them to exert themselves with a vigour and perseverance unknown in the preceding ages.'

CHAPTER VII

MARGARET'S CORRESPONDENCE

After a reign of twenty-three years Henry VII. died at Richmond on the 21st of April 1509, and the whole aspect of affairs was suddenly changed. He, like his rival Ferdinand, had been avaricious from deliberate policy; and his avarice was largely instrumental in founding England's coming greatness, for the acc.u.mulated riches he left to his son lent force to the new position a.s.sumed by England as the balancing power, courted by both the great Continental rivals. The new king, Henry VIII., was a very different man from his father. From the time when he ascended the throne, at the age of eighteen, he adopted an opposite policy.

Ambitious and incautious, and immeasurably vain, he courted rather than evaded diplomatic complications. The death of Henry VII. had indeed cleared away many obstacles; Ferdinand had profoundly mistrusted him, but with the younger Henry as king affairs stood differently. Even before his father's death Ferdinand had taken pains to a.s.sure him of his love, and had treated him as a sovereign over the old king's head.

The news of Henry VII.'s death was longer in reaching Spain than might have been expected. First a courier arrived from Flanders, who had met another Spanish courier in France, who came from England, and informed him that King Henry was dead. Thus King Ferdinand remained for some time in uncertainty whether his adversary was dead or alive. He did not wait for the arrival of positive news, but at once ratified the treaty of marriage between Prince Charles and the Princess Mary. King Ferdinand may have preferred a Portuguese alliance for his grandson, or a marriage with the Princess of Bohemia; but the chief advantage was that no immediate danger was attached to the English marriage. As Prince Charles was only nine years old, King Ferdinand could trust to time, and felt tolerably sure to find more than one pretext for breaking off the engagement before the betrothal could become an indissoluble union.

On the 3rd of June 1509 Henry VIII. married Princess Katharine of Aragon, his brother Arthur's widow, and on the 24th of the same month their coronation took place at Westminster.

On the 17th of July the new king wrote to his father-in-law, King Ferdinand, to inform him that he and Queen Katharine had been solemnly crowned on the day of St. John the Baptist. He mentions that his father died a good Catholic, after having received the holy Sacrament; and that his burial had been magnificent.

Henry adds that 'he diverts himself with jousts, birding, hunting, and other innocent and honest pastimes, also in visiting different parts of his kingdom; but does not on that account neglect affairs of state.'

In the meanwhile Maximilian had gone to Trent, and from there had written to thank Louis XII. for having helped him to recover his former territories. As a proof of his eternal grat.i.tude he mentions that he has burnt his 'red book,' which was kept at Spire, in which he entered all his grievances against France. As a sign of friendship Louis sent the Cardinal of Amboise to meet Maximilian at Trent with promises to provide him with four thousand men. The emperor in return conferred upon Louis a new invest.i.ture of the duchy of Milan, including the newly won towns and territories.

A day was fixed for a meeting between the emperor and the French king near the border town of Garde. Louis kept the rendezvous, but Maximilian did not go farther than Riva di Trento; after staying there for two hours, he abruptly returned to Trent and sent word to Louis that he had been recalled on matters of urgent business, but begged for another interview at Cremona, which he promised faithfully to attend. The indecision shown by Maximilian in this instance has been attributed to suspicions he entertained as to his old enemy's good faith. But Louis was naturally annoyed at these marks of distrust, and being anxious to recross the Alps, he returned to Milan without waiting any longer for his ally.

It was fortunate for King Ferdinand that Henry VII. had been excluded from the League of Cambray, as it left his son (Henry VIII.) free to act as he thought convenient. The Spanish king resolved to make use of his son-in-law's liberty, and wrote a letter to his daughter Katharine on the 13th of September in which he spoke in general terms of the affairs of Venice, and referred her to an accompanying letter in cipher, in which his views on the subject were fully detailed. In replying on the 1st of November, King Henry thanked his father-in-law for having communicated to him his views on Venetian affairs, praised his wisdom and moderation in rejecting his confederates' iniquitous proposal to entirely destroy Venice, and enlarged on the necessity of preserving the republic, which formed a wall against the Turks. Before the month was out Henry was a zealous advocate of the Venetian republic, and interfered in its behalf in Rome, in France, and with the emperor, furnishing King Ferdinand at the same time with an excellent pretext for advising his allies to reconsider the question whether Venice should be destroyed or not. The voice of England was, after a long interruption, heard once more in the councils of Europe on a measure of general policy. The King of France seems to have regarded the unexpected audacity of his young neighbour with a feeling of surprise mingled with contempt. King Louis' answer was very uncivil, and Frenchmen boasted openly that they would soon make war upon England in order to punish her for her arrogance. As for these threats King Ferdinand truly observed that France was not in a position to attack England.

In 1509 the Venetians, taking advantage of Maximilian's vacillation, recaptured Padua. The surrounding population and peasantry immediately rose in favour of the republic, which recovered the town and fortress of Legnago. Padua's capitulation did not prevent Louis XII. from recrossing the Alps after he had concluded a new treaty with Pope Julius II. at Biagra.s.sa, in which they mutually promised to help each other. Maximilian now decided to crush the republic by a decisive blow in laying siege to the capital. But although Louis seemed to agree with this plan, the Pope disapproved, and Ferdinand formally opposed it.

The emperor finding it impossible to lay siege to Venice without help from his allies, prepared to retake Padua; but after sixteen days of firm resistance from the Venetian garrison, he withdrew to Limini, on the way to Treviso. From there he went to Vicenza and Verona, bitterly complaining of the treatment he had received from the Pope and the King of France, because the former had consented to receive the Venetian amba.s.sadors, and the latter had caused the loss of Padua through his delay in sending help. Having failed to retake Legnago, Maximilian seemed inclined to make a truce with Venice, but the republic turned a deaf ear to his advances, and he returned to Trent discontented with himself and his allies.

Julius II.'s changeable policy increased the dissensions which undermined the League. In spite of remonstrances from Maximilian's and Louis' envoys, Julius wished to receive the Venetian amba.s.sadors and pardon the republic. He was secretly encouraged in this by the King of Aragon and openly by the Archbishop of York, representing Henry VIII.

Julius thought he could save the republic by overthrowing the French rule in Italy, and for this reason he made friends with England, and encouraged the Swiss in their discontent with France.

In a long letter to his daughter Queen Katharine, written on November 18th, 1509, King Ferdinand says 'that he has touched on the subject of the preservation of Venice in his negotiations with the King of France, but very cautiously and without discovering his plans, his intention being to keep his negotiations secret until he has won over Maximilian. He tells Katharine that a short time ago Madame Margaret sent her secretary to him. The secretary spoke about the alliance, but he (Ferdinand) intends to make a further communication to Madame Margaret, who is the person who has the greatest influence with her father, and she would think herself honoured if so important a business as the conclusion of the alliance were intrusted to her hands. He begs Katharine to see that the English envoy who is sent to Madame Margaret is an honest, intelligent, and discreet man,' and adds, 'he must go alone and not be accompanied by any other person, and it is necessary that he should be able to speak and express himself well on the subject he has in hand.'[39]

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

In the following December Miguel Perez Almazan, King Ferdinand's First Secretary of State, wrote to Margaret's secretary to inform him that news had arrived that the King of France intended seizing the cities of Verona and Vicenza; and that he was also making preparations to besiege Venice on every side. 'If he should carry out his designs he would probably become master of Italy and perhaps of Christendom, unless the emperor and King Ferdinand take prompt means to stop him, which they ought to do for the sake of their common grandson, Prince Charles.' Almazan goes on to state that Henry VIII. had sent a letter to King Ferdinand, in which he expressed a wish to enter into a close alliance with Spain and the emperor. If such an alliance were concluded the King of France would be kept from injuring the allies.

'This letter,' he says, 'is sent in order that the secretary may use his influence with Madame Margaret, and induce her to help forward the alliance between the emperor, Spain, and England; a task which is certainly not difficult for her, and the execution of which would secure her lasting fame.'[40]

[40] _Ibid._

Whilst Maximilian was trying to extract a subsidy for the continuance of the Venetian war from the Diet at Augsburg, Julius II. was maturing his plans. When the Venetian amba.s.sadors accepted his proposed treaty (24th of February 1510), he took them back into favour, and solemnly gave them absolution.