Henri II: His Court and Times (53 page)

The correspondence of the time gives some curious details
concerning the education of Élisabeth and Claude. They
both slept in the same cradle, rode out in the same coach,
received the same toys, and were dressed in the same colours.
At the end of 1557, Élisabeth had the smallpox, and her
condition was very critical, when the Constable sent Madame
d'Humières "a piece of the horn of a unicorn" — it was
probably an elephant's tooth — with directions that it was
to be dissolved, "but not in warm water," and administered
to the august patient, whose subsequent recovery was no
doubt ascribed to this potent charm. The gruff old soldier,
it should be mentioned, always showed great solicitude for
the royal children. To do so was, of course, good policy,
but, since he was the author of eleven himself, the paternal
fibre in him must have been pretty strongly developed.
When they travelled, he provided them with horses, litters,
and coaches; he selected nurses and doctors for them; he
gave Humières all kinds of recommendations in regard to the
Dauphin, on one occasion telling him to see that the prince
used his pocket-handkerchief, as it was most essential to his
health; he presented
"petites poupines
," elaborately
dressed, to Madame Claude, and, speculating on a precocious coquetry,
sent
Madame la Connétable's
dressmaker to cut out bodices for
the little princesses.
¹³

Élisabeth and Claude were frail and delicate children, but
Marguerite seems to have been the picture of robust health;
and pretty and intelligent as were her elder sisters, she gave
promise of altogether surpassing them. "If she preserves the
grace, beauty, and quick intelligence that I have observed in
her," writes Michieli, "there is no doubt that she will become
a very beautiful and rare princess and far superior to her two
sisters, Élisabeth and Claude." We have no information about
her early years that is to say up to the time of Henri II's
death, when she was six except the incident we have already
related though she hints, in her
Mémoires
, that "some other
of her childish actions were as worthy of being recorded as
those of Themistocles and Alexander."

The little princesses and Mary Stuart received, like the
young princes, a most elaborate education, Latin, Greek, and,
in the case of the little Queen of Scotland, at any rate, Spanish
and Italian being included in the curriculum. The reading of
Plutarch left very marked traces on Marguerite's mind, and we
find in her
Mémoires
frequent allusions to the heroes of
antiquity.

Catherine, who had all the Medici admiration for learning, carefully
supervised the girls' studies, and not a few of the themes set for Mary Stuart
to translate into Latin and address under the form of epistolary conversations
to Madame Élisabeth and others, were probably dictated by her.
¹⁴
"Is it not," asks Armand Baschet, "Catherine, the queen and the mother,
who is speaking here?"

"The true greatness and excellence of the Prince, my most
beloved sister, consists not in dignity, in gold, in purple, in
jewels, and other pomps of Fortune, but in wisdom, in
knowledge, and in understanding. And, inasmuch as the
Prince desires to be different from his people, in habit and in
fashion of living, so ought he to be far removed from the
foolish opinions of the vulgar. Adieu, and love me as much
as you can."
¹⁵

The Household of the Children of France had been
established by Henri II on his accession on a very imposing
scale, and, as the number of the little princes and princesses
increased, it received fresh accessions. At the end of the
reign it included ten chamberlains, seven
maîtres d'hôtel
, seven
butlers, nine cellarers, eight equerries, eight equerries of the
stables, thirty-seven pages of honour, eight secretaries, nine
ushers of the chambers, twenty-eight
valets-de-chambre
, four
maréchaux des logis
, four masters of the wardrobe, two
comptrollers-general, five doctors, three surgeons, four apothecaries, four barbers, four ladies of the bedchamber, five demoiselles of the bedchamber, and ten
femmes de chambre
. What
it must have cost to feed the royal children and the army of
officials and servants who surrounded them may be conjectured
from the fact that the kitchen staff numbered fifty-seven
persons, and the provisions for a single day comprised twenty-three dozen loaves of bread, eighteen pieces of beef, eight
sheep, four calves, twenty capons, one hundred and twenty
pullets or pigeons, three kids, six goslings, four leverets, etc.
After March 1553, the Dauphin had an establishment of his
own, which numbered over three hundred persons, whose
salaries alone amounted to 68,000 livres.

Before leaving the subject of Henri's family, a few words
must be said concerning his legitimated daughter, Diane de
France, the widow of Orazio Farnese. Diane appears to have
been the only one of Henri's children who at all resembled
him. This resemblance, according to Brantôme, was "as
much in habits and actions as in features of the face, for she
loved all the exercises that he loved, whether arms, hunting, or
horses." She was a tall, handsome girl, with a superb figure,
and the finest horsewoman at the Court. "I think," continues
Brantôme, "that it is not possible for a lady to look better on
horseback than she did or to have better grace in riding. She
was born to it, and she was so graceful that she resembled in
this respect the beautiful Camilla, Queen of the Volsci; she
was so splendid in stature and shape and face, that it was
hard to find any one at Court so superb and graceful at that
exercise."
¹⁶

Diane had more substantial claims to the admiration of her
contemporaries than good looks and a graceful seat in the
saddle. She was one of the most sweet-tempered and kind-
hearted of women, and no breath of scandal ever tainted her
good name. The royal children were devoted to her, and—
what is more — she retained their affection when they grew up.

After the death of Orazio Farnese at the taking of Hesdin,
Henri II proposed to the Constable to give the young widow's
hand to Montmorency's eldest son, François. The Constable
was, of course, transported with joy at the idea of an alliance
with the Royal Family, which could not fail to discount to
some extent the advantages which the Guises would obtain
from the approaching marriage of Mary Stuart with the
Dauphin; and, without troubling his head about his son's
feelings in the matter — François was at this time a prisoner in
the Netherlands — accepted with gratitude his Majesty's gracious
proposal.

The arrangements for the projected union were soon made.
Henri II assured to his future son-in-law the governments of
Paris and of the Île de France, which would keep him near
the Court, the collar of the Order of Saint-Michel, and the
reversion of his father's office of Grand-Master. To his
daughter he gave as dowry the counties of Mantes and Meulan, with a sum of 100,000 livres;
and he also contributed a sum of 72,000 livres towards the princely ransom
which the Imperialists demanded for the prospective bridegroom.

The Constable could scarcely contain his elation, but; alas!
a rude shock was in store for him. For, when François had
recovered his liberty and returned to France, he learned, to
his indescribable mortification, that his son's affections were
already engaged: he had succumbed to the attractions of one
of the Queen's maids-of-honour, Mlle. de Piennes, "one of
the most beautiful, virtuous, and wise ladies of the Court,"
¹⁷
had made her a solemn promise of marriage, in the presence
of witnesses, and had proceeded to act as if they were already
wed.

For a fortnight the Constable remained shut up in his hôtel
in Paris, "weeping and groaning," while all the Court came to
offer him their condolences, some no doubt sincere, but most,
we fear, ironical, since the old gentleman was not exactly
beloved. Then grief gave way to the most terrible rage,
which his family vainly endeavoured to pacify. No matter
how great the scandal might be, he swore that François should
be separated from this designing minx who had persuaded
him to forget the duty which he owed his father; and on
October 5, 1556, the two lovers were summoned before a commission
of bishops and Councillors of State at the Louvre.
They pleaded that they were not aware that clandestine
marriages were culpable; but this excuse was judged insufficient,
and Mlle. de Piennes was shut up in the Couvent des
Filles-Dieu, while François, terrified by the paternal threats,
started for Rome to solicit from the Pope the annulment of
his promise.

Three months later, one of François's gentlemen presented
himself at the Couvent des Filles-Dieu and handed Mlle. de Piennes a letter from his master, in which he informed her
that, "repenting of the offence which he had committed
against God, the King, and his parents," he had demanded
and obtained from the Pope a dispensation releasing him from
his promise of marriage, and that, in consequence, he
released the lady, in his turn, from hers, "being resolved to
have no more private communication with her, notwithstanding the esteem in which he held her." Mlle. de Piennes, after
reading the letter, told the bearer that "she saw very clearly
that M. de Montmorency preferred to be a wealthy rather than
an honest man," and that, since he did not wish to keep faith
with her, she would release him from his promise. And a
legal document to that effect was drawn up.

Now the feeble lover had lied, by the orders of his father —
his letter had, in fact, been composed on the model of one
sent him by the Constable — for Paul IV had not granted the
dispensation demanded; and in February 1557 he pronounced
definitely against François, on the ground that the Church,
previous to the Council of Trent, had recognised marriages
contracted on a simple mutual promise. Probably, the Guises,
all-powerful just then at Rome, were no strangers to this decision.

The civil power, however, came to the Constable's aid, and
on March 1, 1557 a royal edict appeared — the famous
Édit ambitieux
— which declared all promises of marriages, past and
future, made by children without the parental sanction, null
and void, even if the parties were of full age.

Thus all impediment to the alliance of the House of Montmorency with the Royal Family was removed; and on the
following May 4 the marriage of François and Diane was
duly celebrated at La Ferté-Milon. Contrary to what one
might expect, it proved an exceptionally happy one.

As for the victim of the Constable's ambition, she was
released from her convent, and, in due course, found a husband.

But he was not the heir to a dukedom.

Up to the time of his accession to the throne, Henri,
contrary to the fashion of the time, had been in the habit of
shaving, but three years later we learn that he wore "a pointed
beard of two fingers' length." This served to conceal his
rather coarse mouth and heavy jaw, and added dignity to his
appearance, since Contarini tells us that "the whole
ensemble
of his countenance is extremely prepossessing, and breathes a
fine air of majesty."
¹⁸
On the other hand, it made him look
many years older than he was, for he grew grey very early, and
at thirty-five might have been taken by a stranger for quite an
elderly man. If, however, that stranger had been privileged
to follow his Majesty from his
lever
to his
coucher
any day of
the week, he would have soon had cause to revise his opinion,
for never was there a more energetic monarch.

He rose very early, "in summer, at dawn; in winter, with
the light."
¹⁹
The doors of his bedchamber were thrown open,
and the princes, nobles, captains, chevaliers of the Order,
gentlemen of the Chamber,
maîtres-d'hôtel
, and gentlemen
servants,
²⁰
who had been waiting in the ante-chamber,
entered and stood in a circle round the royal bed, each
occupying the place prescribed by his birth or the importance
of his functions. The prince of the highest rank present
handed the King his shirt, and his Majesty dressed, talking the
while with first one and then another of those present, "which
pleased them greatly." His toilette completed, he knelt before
a little altar which stood in the room and said his prayers,
after which all the courtiers withdrew. His Majesty then read
his despatches and held his
Conseil étroit
, or Privy Council,
in which questions of peace and war, of military organisation,
and of the administration of the kingdom were deliberated
upon. At ten o'clock, the King heard Mass "very devoutly,"
after which he gave audience to the Ambassadors and other
persons of importance.
²¹
At noon came dinner, when the
etiquette which had marked the
lever
resumed its sway. The
dinner was brought in in solemn state, one of the gentlemen
of the Chamber heading the procession, followed by the
maitre-d' hotel and the officers of the pantry and the cellar.
There was a great variety of dishes, for in the culinary art the
French had already attained a high degree of excellence, and
"all the foreign princes sent to France to seek
chefs
and
pastry-cooks";
²²
but the King had a very small appetite, and
merely tasted a few of those which were presented to him,
while he also drank very sparingly. Roses, carnations, and
other sweet-scented flowers in beautifully-chased gold and
silver bowls graced the board, the table-linen was delicately
perfumed, and during the meal musicians played in a gallery
at the end of the room.

After dinner, the General Council met, at which, however, the King seldom
assisted. On two afternoons a week, and sometimes oftener, he hunted, always
accompanied by a great many nobles and gentlemen and a considerable number of
ladies. Henri II was, like his father, passionately devoted to the chase, and
his game-laws were almost as severe as those of Louis XI, of whom it was said
that it was much easier to obtain his pardon for having slain a man than for
having killed a stag. In the year of his accession, he issued an edict which
decreed that all persons, not of gentle blood, who presumed to hunt big game should be fined 25 livres for a
first offence, and whipped until the blood flowed in default of
payment; while a repetition of the offence was to be punished
by banishment, and death was to be the penalty of a defiance
of the ban. His hunting establishment was a magnificent one,
and the Grand Veneur had under his orders nearly sixty persons. He kept two
packs of hounds, "those of a grey colour, which had come down to him from the
Kings his predecessors, and those of a white colour, which he had bred
himself." The white, we are told, were the swifter, but the
grey had the keener scent. Sometimes the King hunted with
one, and sometimes with the other, and occasionally with a
mixed pack. He had also a pack of little dogs, called
"les
régents,"
for the pursuit of small game, and we find him
writing to Humières to express his satisfaction at the
pleasure which the Dauphin had derived from hunting with
them.
²³