Henri II: His Court and Times (55 page)

Although, feeling that her dignity as a woman and as a
Queen was at stake, Catherine always took the part of her
filles
d'honneur
in their quarrels with the courtiers, if one of these
damsels committed any breach of decorum, she would
summon the delinquent before her and rate her till the girl
trembled in her shoes; while should one be so unfortunate as
to be detected in a transgression against the moral law, she was
pitiless. Thus, being informed one evening at Saint-Germain
that all was not as it should be with Mlle. Françoise de Rohan,
³¹
in the early hours of the following morning, accompanied by
Diane de Poitiers and
Madame la Connétable
, she invaded that
young lady's chamber, and satisfied herself that rumour had
not lied.
"Quelle honte vous me faites!"
cried Catherine in
tones of righteous horror, and the unfortunate girl was
summoned to her cabinet, where, with the King, the Constable, the Cardinal de Lorraine,
Madame la Connétable
,
Diane de Poitiers, and the Duchesse de Montpensier, she sat
in judgment upon her, with the result that Mlle. de Rohan
was sent home to her parents, and the Court knew her no
more.

Mlle. Rohan had committed the unforgivable sin of being
found out,
³²
but there were, we fear, a good many others among
the three hundred ladies about the Court who shared her
unfortunate sensibility to admiration, although they contrived
to avoid or, at any rate, to conceal, the consequences, and to
preserve an appearance of virtue. And that was all that was
required of them; for, notwithstanding all this ostentatious
regard for morality, the Court of Henri II was just as corrupt
as that of François I.
³³
The only difference was that between
an open grave and a whited sepulchre.

(1)
Armand Baschet,
la Diplomatie vénitienne
.

(2)
See
p. 241
supra
.

(3)
Henri I de Lorraine, Duc de Guise, eldest son of the defender of Metz and
likewise called "
le Balafré
." He was assassinated at Blois, December 23, 1588.

(4)
Henri de Bourbon; he died in 1560.

(5)
Marguerite's early opinion of Henri de Guise did not prevent her falling
very much in love with him when she grew up. See the author's "Queen
Margot."

(6)
Ruble,
la Première Jeunesse
de Marie Stuart
."

(7)
Ibid.

(8)
La Diplomatie vénitienne.

(9)
He was very proud of the suppleness of his body, and at the age of thirteen
made a wager for an immense sum that in three years' time he would be able to
kiss his foot. We are not told whether he won it.

(10)
Giovanni Michieli, in Armand Baschet.

(11)
Mémoires de Bouillon
.

(12)
Mémoires de Marguerite de Valois
.

(13)
F. Decrue,
Anne, duc
de Montmorency
; A. de Ruble,
la Première jeunesse de
Marie Stuart
.

(14)
Sixty-four of these themes written by Mary in her twelfth and thirteenth year
are preserved in the MSS. Department of the Bibliothèque Nationale.

(15)
La Diplomatie vénitienne
.

(16)
Dames illustres.

(17)
Brantôme.

(18)
La Diplomatie vénitienne
.

(19)
Giovanni Capello.

(20)
Letter of Catherine de' Medici
to Charles IX, 1563, in Le Laboureur,
Additions aux Mémoires de Castelnau
.

(21)
A nephew of Giovanni Capello, who accompanied his uncle to France in
1551, left a
diario
, which contains some very interesting details of the first
audience accorded by Henri II to that diplomatist, at which the writer was himself present: "We were introduced," he says, "into the room in which his
Majesty is accustomed to take his meals, in the palace called the Louvre, overlooking the Seine. . . . His Majesty was standing near a window, dressed in a
doublet of black damask bordered with velvet and very handsomely ornamented,
and a
justaucorps
of white leather embroidered with two golden crescents
united and joined by the embrace of the two "D's," even as the two souls of the
two lovers are united and reunited in a close attachment. His Majesty wore
round his neck a chain of wrought gold, and on his head a black velvet cap
with a little white plume. The Swiss and the men of the King's Guard are all
habited in the same livery, with a silver crescent on the front and back bearing
this motto:
Donec totum impleat orbem
[Until it fill the whole world]. There
were present his Majesty, the most illustrious Constable, the very reverend
Cardinals de Lorraine, de Bourbon, and de Vendôme, and many other nobles.
When the Ambassadors had made their customary salutations in the middle of
the room, they approached the King and saluted him again. His Majesty
embraced with great marks of kindness the most illustrious Capello, who presented to him his letters of credit. His Majesty opened them and wished to
read them himself. The Ambassador then explained the object of his mission. I
was a little far away, as were all the others, but I saw,
nevertheless, that, although the most illustrious Capello spoke at considerable length, his Majesty listened
most attentively to everything, and refused to allow either of the two Ambassadors to remain uncovered. . . The King replied to them in perfect fashion."

(22)
Mémoires de Vieilleville
.

(23)
Brantôme; La Ferrière,
les Grandes Chasses au XVI siècle.

(24)
Salomon de la Brue,
Préceptes de la cavalerie
.

(25)
Brantôme.

(26)
Brantôme.

(27)
Ibid.

(28)
Capello.

(29)
Ibid.

(30)
So called because the dancers passed a torch from one to another.

(31)
Daughter of René de Rohan and Isabeau d'Albret, daughter of Jean d'Albret,
King of Navarre.

(32)
In justice to Mlle. de Rohan, it should be mentioned that the fascinating
Duc de Nemours, who was responsible for her condition, had promised her
marriage, though not in the presence of witnesses. He declined to perform his
promise, and Mlle. de Rohan and her relatives instituted proceedings against him
before the
Parlement
of Paris, the King's Council, and the Pope, with the object of
compelling him to do so. The affair dragged on for years, but was ultimately
decided against the lady, and Nemours married the widow of François de Guise.

(33)
It was, perhaps, a good deal worse, since it was being slowly permeated by
Italian corruption, and vices to which François's courtiers had happily been
strangers had crept in.

Intrigues of the Guises with Paul IV — Their audacious projects in Italy —
Despatch of Cardinal Carlo Caraffa to France — Treaty of Fontainebleau between
France and the Pope against Philip II of Spain — Guise's Italian expedition —
Futile invasion of Naples — War on the northern frontier — England declares war
against France — Saint-Quentin is besieged by the Spaniards — Disastrous defeat
of the Constable in an attempt to revictual the town; Montmorency and Saint-André taken prisoners — Consternation in France — The heroic defence of Saint-Quentin by Coligny saves the situation — Expedition of Guise against Calais —
Failure of the English Government to reinforce the garrison — Calais and Guines
are taken, and the English expelled from France

T
HE
Court of France seems to have concluded the
Truce of Vaucelles for the mere pleasure of breaking
it; in a few months the dogs of war were again
slipped.

The termination of hostilities in February 1556 had been a
grave check to the Guises, who had built great hopes on the
anti-Spanish proclivities of the new Pope and formed audacious
projects on Italy for their personal aggrandizement. Six weeks
before the truce, the Cardinal de Lorraine had concluded, at
Rome, a secret treaty with Paul IV, in the name of the King,
whereby it was agreed that the two sovereigns should make a
combined attack upon the Spaniards and their allies in Italy,
and re-establish the Republic of Florence by the expulsion of
Cosimo de' Medici. In the event of the Spaniards being
expelled from the Milanese, the Pope promised the investiture
of the duchy to the King's second son, the Duc d'Orléans.

The Guises, however, themselves proposed to be the principal gainers by this alliance. The duke hoped that a great
conflagration of Italy might afford him the chance of seizing
the Crown of Naples, which his ancestors of the House of
Anjou had worn; the cardinal aimed at the Papal tiara, and
believed that, when the aged Pontiff should lay it aside, the
presence of the French armies in Italy might not be without
influence on the decision of the Conclave.

Paul IV shared the disgust of the Lorraine princes at the
conclusion of the truce, and, urged on by his nephew, Carlo
Caraffa, forthwith determined to use every possible persuasion
to induce France to break it. This engaging personage, whom
Paul had recently created a cardinal, notwithstanding the fact
that he had once been a leader of
condottieri
and had committed
at least two assassinations, was nominated Legate in France,
with the avowed mission of bringing about a definite peace
in Europe, but with the secret task of engaging the French
Government in a fresh Italian enterprise.

The cardinal arrived at Fontainebleau, bearing a sword and
a rosary both blessed by the Holy Father, which he presented
to the King and Queen respectively. As a concession to the
obligations of his official charge, he discoursed eloquently at
his first audience on the blessings of peace, but no one doubted
that he brought war under his red robe. The Guises had
already prepared the way; Madame de Valentinois supported
them; and, though the Constable urged that the truce should
be observed, the war party, as in 1551, was too strong for him,
and, fearing to compromise his position by a too strenuous
resistance, he yielded,
⁰¹
predicting, however, that "they would
set out on horseback and return on foot." On July 31,
war was decided upon; the Legate, in the name of the Pope,
absolved Henri II from his oath to observe the truce, and it
was agreed that the army of Italy should be entrusted to
François de Guise.

Paul IV had not waited for this decision to provoke
Philip II, and in September, Alva, now Viceroy of Naples,
invaded the Campagna and compelled his Holiness to sign
a truce until the end of the year. The mitred adventurer
intimated his willingness to betray his new allies in return
for the cession of the town of Siena; but this the King of
Spain had already promised to Cosimo de' Medici.

Alva's invasion furnished France with a
casus belli
, but the
efforts of Henri II to draw into the Pontifical alliance several
Italian States met with little success; the Republic of Siena
and the Duke of Ferrara alone joined it. In the last days of
December, François de Guise crossed the Alps at the head of
some 13,000 men and a crowd of noble volunteers, and having
been joined in the plain of the Po by Brissac and the Army of
Piedmont, marched on Valenza and carried it by assault
(January 20). Almost simultaneously, hostilities began on the
northern frontier, where Coligny, after an unsuccessful attempt
to surprise Douai, took and burned Lens, in Artois, and on
January 31, 1557 war was officially declared.

If Guise had confined his operations to the Milanese, in
which the Spaniards were just then extremely weak, he must
have speedily reduced the whole duchy to submission. But he
sacrificed the interests of France to his own views on Naples
and to the importunities of the Pope, who feared an attack
by the Spaniards on Rome and a repetition of the horrors of
1527; and pushed on to the Eternal City, which he entered on
March 2. Here he wasted a full month in disputes with the
Caraffi, who urged him to invade Neapolitan territory, but
failed to furnish him with the money and troops promised.
"The Pope was content to be the soul of the enterprise of
which France was to furnish the body."
⁰²

On April 5, he quitted Rome, penetrated into the Abruzzi,
stormed and sacked Campi, and laid siege to Civitella. But
the place was stubbornly defended; the besiegers were
decimated by disease, and, on the approach of Alva at the
head of an army superior to his own, Guise raised the siege
and fell back to Tivoli, and finally to Rome, where, at the
beginning of August, he received orders to return to France.

Paul IV's indignation on finding himself abandoned by the
French knew no bounds. "Go, then," said he, when Guise
came to take leave of him; "you have done little for your
King's service, still less for the Church, and nothing at all for
your own honour!" Such language came rather badly from
the Holy Father, who, for some weeks past, had been negotiating
with his "prodigal son" — as he called Philip II — behind
his allies' back; and it was, in point of fact, the discovery of
these intrigues by the French Government that had led to
Guise's recall.
⁰³
On September 14, the Pope made peace
with Spain on terms very much more advantageous than
he deserved, and turned his energies to the suppression of
heresy.

The war on the northern frontier was carried on in desultory
fashion for some months. The best French troops were with
Guise and Brissac in Italy; the reserves, disgusted at being
summoned again into the field after so brief an interval of
repose, answered the call slowly and reluctantly; while in the
landsknecht
market the supply just then was quite unequal to
the demand, and it was only with great difficulty that the
services of some 10,000 mercenaries were secured. France
was therefore obliged to remain on the defensive; but Henri II
and the Constable acted as though they had little to fear, and
made no attempt to strengthen the Picardy frontier. Philip II,
on the contrary, showed commendable energy, and assembled
an army of some 60,000 men in the Netherlands under the
command of the Duke of Savoy.