Henri II: His Court and Times (34 page)

Henri's favourites stood like a bodyguard around the throne
to prevent any one else approaching it. Enormous as were
the benefits which they received, they were never satisfied,
for their greed was absolutely insatiable, and the Vieilleville
Mémoires
²²
accuse them of stooping to the basest methods, and
even to crimes, in their endeavours to gratify it:

"If one inquires why this great King was unable to advance
a worthy and deserving servant whom he loved [Vieilleville
himself], in accordance with his own inclination, it is easy to
reply that it was out of the question, when those who had
taken possession of him were unabashed, and vying with one
another in their insensate desire to aggrandize their families.
For estates, dignities, bishoprics, abbeys, offices, no more
escaped them than do the flies the swallows. There was not
a choice morsel which was not snapped up in a moment.
And, for this purpose, they had, in all parts of the kingdom,
paid agents and servants to give them notice of all the deaths
which occurred, so that they might demand any vacant inheritance or confiscated estate. Further, they had doctors in
Paris, to which all the great people in France resort, who did
not fail to keep them informed as to the progress of the
maladies of their patients, when these happened to be rich,
and very often, in consideration of a gift of a thousand écus or
a benefice of a thousand livres a year, caused them to die. So
that it was almost impossible for this good-natured prince to
extend his bounty in other directions. For there were four
who devoured him as a lion his prey, until they had wrested
from him even what he had given to his domestics, in order
to provide for their own, to wit, the Duc Claude de Guise,
who had six children [sons], whom he made very great; the
Constable, who had twelve; the Duchesse de Valentinois,
²³
with her daughters and sons-in-law, and the Maréchal de
Saint-André, who was surrounded by a great number of
nephews and other relations, all poor, whom he himself had
to provide for. And, if the King desired to bestow a benefice
upon any one else, he was obliged to lie to them and to say,
when they demanded it of him, that it was already disposed
of. Even then, so impudent were they, that they would argue
with him that this could not be, alleging that they had received
immediate information when the vacancy occurred."

The chronicler relates an instance of this. One day, the
Abbey of Saint-Thierry-lez-Rheims became vacant. It was a
choice morsel, for, besides a revenue of some 12,000 livres,
there was an extensive vineyard, noted for the abundance and
excellence of the white wine which it yielded; and no sooner
did the news reach the Court than the Duc de Guise, the Constable, and Diane all
three applied for it simultaneously. The duke wanted it for his second son,
Charles, though that young gentleman was already loaded with benefices; Montmorency for his eldest nephew, Odet, Cardinal de Châtillon, and
Diane for a relative of her late husband. This appears to have
been the first which the King had heard about the vacancy, but,
as his favourites of late had been more than usually importunate
in their demands, and he was also anxious to provide for
Vieilleville, who, we are assured, had never yet asked for anything, he answered that, much to his regret, he was unable to
oblige any of them, since, two hours earlier, he had despatched
a courier to Saint-Michel-en-Bois to inform Vieilleville that he
had granted the abbey to him. The "three harpies" retired
grumbling, whereupon the King sent for his secretary and
ordered him to lose not a moment in advising the new holder
of his good fortune.

Carloix adds that his master, disgusted with the rapacity of
the favourites, and "desirous of showing them how a gentleman
should behave when honoured by the King's generosity,"
gave the abbey to his brother, who was in Holy Orders, without
retaining any part of the revenues; the furniture and tapestry
to the relatives of the late abbot; the linen, which happened
to be of very fine texture, to Diane and two ladies to whom he
was related; the wine in the cellars to the nobles of the Court,
and the corn in the granaries to the monks and the poor. Two
greyhounds, reputed to be of great swiftness, were all that he
kept for himself. Wonderful disinterestedness!

If many persons had reason to complain of
the shameful
rapacity of the favourites, a few found in it cause for thankfulness. Among these were Madame d'Étampes and her friend
Longueval. In consideration of the surrender to her of the duchess's estate of
Benne, the new left-handed queen consented to forgo the rest of her revenge and to leave her
fallen rival in possession of the greater part of her property.
On his side, Longueval "sold" his lordship of Marchais, near
Laon, to the Cardinal Charles de Guise, who thereupon
engaged to prove his innocence to the King, which he did so
effectually, that the prosecution which was pending against
him for treasonable correspondence with the Emperor was
allowed to drop, and he was set at liberty. He could not, of
course, have been brought to trial without involving Madame
d'Étampes, and the King, according to Varillas, was persuaded by the cardinal "not to stain the beginning of his
reign by a signal and gratuitous affront to the memory of his
father, by abandoning to the vengeance of Justice the object
whom he had so tenderly loved for nearly twenty-two
years."
²⁴

Madame d'Étampes lived to see the last of the Valois upon
the throne, though very little is known of the rest of her life.
The lawsuit which her husband had brought against her
dragged on for some years, and in the course of it her
relations with the late King were ruthlessly exposed. Then
Henri II, suddenly seized by a tardy consideration for his
father's memory, put a stop to the proceedings,
²⁵
so that its only result was to stir up a great deal of mud and put many
thousands of livres into the pockets of the gentlemen of the
long robe.

In 1565, the Duc d'Étampes, who "was wanting in that
delicacy of soul which assures domestic happiness,"
²⁶
and appears to have been separated altogether from his wife for
the past fifteen years, died, leaving a will in which he stated
that "since the duchess had been unwilling to occupy the
place of a wife, she was unable to demand her dowry."

After her husband's death, Madame d'Étampes, who was
henceforth free to reside where she wished, retired to the
Château of Heilly, which was now the property of her
nephew, Jean de Pisseleu, and here she passed the rest of her
life. She had no child either by her husband or by the King,
but she seems to have been much attached to her nephews and
nieces and to have been very generous to the poor. She died
in September 1580. Mézeray asserts that, during her later
years, she was "much addicted to the exercises of the
Protestant religion, and protected with all her power those
who professed it"; but this statement, like a good many
others made by that historian, appears to be without
foundation.

(1)
The écu, or crown, at the time of the accession of Henri II, represented two
and a quarter livres, or about ten francs in money of to-day.

(2)
Anne, Duc de Montmorency, Connétable et Pair de France, sous les Rois
Henri II, François II et Charles IX
.

(3)
Jean Bertrandi, or Bertrand (1470-1560), had been First President of the
Parlement
of Toulouse, but in 1538 he became, through the influence of
Montmorency, Third President of the
Parlement
of Paris. On the disgrace of
Lizet in 1550, he was appointed First President, and shortly afterwards the
Seals were entrusted to him, though Olivier still retained the title of Chancellor.
Having lost his wife, he abandoned the Law for the Church, was appointed
Bishop of Cominges, then Archbishop of Sens, and, finally, in 1557, at the age
of eighty-seven, was created a cardinal.

(4)
The King's Council, or
le Conseil des affaires politiques
, in which questions of
State and finance were discussed, must not be confounded with the
Conseil d'État
, which occupied itself with questions
of administration. The
Conseil d'État
was composed of the members of the King's Council, with the
Cardinals de Bourbon, de Châtillon, de Ferrara, and du Bellay, the Bishops of
Soissons and Coutances, the Ducs de Guise, de Nevers, and d'Étampes, and the
Président Raymond. Of these, the Cardinal de Châtillon, the Bishop of
Coutances, and the Ducs de Nevers and d'Étampes had been summoned to it by
Henri II. Étampes appears to have been indebted for his selection to the fact
that he was now on very bad terms with his wife.

(5)
A few weeks after the death of François I, Queen Eleanor, who had been
almost as complete a cypher at the Court of France as her predecessor, poor
Queen Claude, retired to Brussels. Her last act before leaving France was to
procure the disgrace of one of the minor mistresses of the late King.

(6)
Despatch of May 1547 to the Queen-Dowager of Hungary, Governess of the
Netherlands. This and another despatch of Saint-Mauris, written in the following
month, are preserved in the Royal Archives at Brussels. Both are of great
length and contain a great deal of curious information about the first few weeks
of Henri's reign. They have been published by M. Charles Paillard, in the
Revue historique
in 1877, but appear to be very little known.

(7)
Saint-Mauris. The Ambassador means the tax paid on the accession of a
new sovereign by the holders of venal offices, and by the corporations of towns
who wished to be confirmed in their privileges and immunities.

(8)
Despatch of Matteo Dandolo,
in Armand Baschet,
la Diplomatie vénitienne.

(9)
Beaucaire.

(10)
Saint-Mauris.

(11)
That is to say François de Guise, Charles, Archbishop of Rheims, who later
in 1547 was created a cardinal, and Claude, who was about to marry Louise
de Brézé, Diane's younger daughter.

(12)
Madeleine de Mailly, widow of Charles, Seigneur de Roye, Comte de Roncy,
and mother of Éléonore de Roye, Princesse de Condé.

(13)
Côme Clausse, Seigneur de Marchaumont in Picardy. He was Henri II's
secretary.

(14)
Probably a relative of Claude de l'Aubespine, Secretary of Finance. For the
Secretary himself could scarcely be described as a "vulgar person."

(15)
Vieilleville,
Mémoires
.

(16)
Tavannes.

(17)
Henri Martin.

(18)
Castelnau,
Mémoires
.

(19)
L'Aubespine,
Histoire particulière de la Cour de Henri II
^e
, in Cimber and
Danjou.

(20)
The
Parlement
of Paris protested vigorously against this erection, on the
somewhat singular ground that, as Charlemagne was supposed to have created
twelve peers in remembrance of the twelve judges of Israel and the twelve
apostles of Our Lord, the number ought not to be increased. Apart from the
life-peerages of Alençon and Berry, possessed by the Queen of Navarre, there
were at this time seven lay peerages in France, viz.: Flanders, Artois, Eu,
Nevers, Vendôme, Guise, and Montpensier.

(21)
Decrue,
Anne, duc de Montmorency.

(22)
It should be remembered that
the
Mémoires de Vieilleville
were not written
by the marshal himself, but by his secretary, Vincent Carloix.

(23)
Diane de Poitiers was
created Duchess de Valentinois in October 1548.

(24)
Varillas,
Histoire de François I
^er
.

(25)
Henri, however, had already given
evidence in person in favour of Jean de Brosse.

(26)
Desgardins,
la Duchesse d'Étampes.

Obsequies of François I — The remains of the deceased King and those of the
Dauphin François and the Duc d'Orléans conveyed to Saint-Denis — Henri II
incognito watches the passage of the funeral
cortège
through Paris — La Châtaigneraie and Jarnac — An innocent remark of the latter is maliciously misconstrued, and he is accused of having misconducted himself with his step-mother, Madeleine de Pontguyon — Fury and despair of Jarnac — Henri II (then
Dauphin) suspected of having originated the report, though the real culprit is
probably Diane de Poitiers — Embarrassing position of the prince — La Châtaigneraie takes the responsibility upon himself, and he and Jarnac apply to
François I for permission to fight a judicial duel — The King forbids them to
meet, but, on the accession of Henri II, La Châtaigneraie renews his request —
Cartels of the two adversaries — The duel is sanctioned by Henri II — Preparations of Jarnac — Arrogance of La Châtaigneraie, who, in anticipation of an easy
victory, invites the Court to a sumptuous supper after the combat — The King
makes no secret of his sympathies for La Châtaigneraie — The duel is fought at
Saint-Germain in the presence of Henri II and the whole Court — "
Le coup de Jarnac
" — Extraordinary behaviour of the King — Death of La Châtaigneraie

T
OWARDS
the middle of May, Henri II visited Paris
for the first time since his accession to the throne,
to transact some business of importance with
the Chancellor and the law officers of the Crown. He
came, however, in a very unostentatious manner, since it
was customary for a new sovereign to dispense with all
public ceremony until his predecessor had been conveyed
to his last resting-place at Saint-Denis.

The obsequies of François were, of course, preceded by
the lying in state. A wax effigy representing the deceased
King was laid upon a state bed at Saint-Cloud, in a room
magnificently decorated with his arms and colours, where it
remained for forty days, all who desired to pay a last tribute
of respect being admitted to see it. The people, we are told,
made no distinction between the real and the imaginary, and
wept copiously as they filed past the counterfeit presentment
of their late sovereign.